Imagine this familiar scenario: it’s January 1st. As you set resolutions for 2020, you tell yourself you’ll go to the gym more. You’ll lose weight. And you’ll start following the popular low-carb, high-fat Keto diet. So you pay for the gym membership, you stock your fridge with cheese and salami, and you buy a $45/month Keto-friendly subscription box.
Make a resolution to invest in your team this year
In a recent article on Linkedin, Lindsay Gaskins, the President of The Bike Cooperative suggested business leaders adopt a different kind of resolution this year.
“What if in 2020, we as business leaders decided to have the resolution to improve our teams’ skill set and knowledge by providing the tools, training, and opportunities for our team members to improve themselves. The outcome of this type of New Year’s resolutions is a win-win for both our team members and our businesses.”
Lindsay Gasksins
President, The Bike Cooperative
It’s hard to argue with a win-win. So what does investing in your team look like? There are numerous ways to invest in your people, even if you’re on a tight budget like most companies are during Q1.
Imagine this familiar scenario: it’s January 1st. As you set resolutions for 2020, you tell yourself you’ll go to the gym more. You’ll lose weight. And you’ll start following the popular low-carb, high-fat Keto diet. So you pay for the gym membership, you stock your fridge with cheese and salami, and you buy a $45/month Keto-friendly subscription box.
January 12th rolls around and instead of the idealistic “resolution-driven” life you’ve imagined, you’re on the couch bingeing on Netflix with pizza in hand as dust accumulates on your running shoes. You realize you couldn’t even last 12 days, much less a whole year, and you immediately feel like a failure.
But what if you considered an alternative path?
As business leaders and small business owners, thinking differently about yearly change is beneficial. Instead of self-focused resolutions, consider a commitment to the well-being of your employees.
Online Resources
Need someone in your store to beef up on local marketing, event planning, or social media? There are a wide variety of online training courses and e-learning sites that can deepen an employee’s skill set while supporting development. Show that you’re willing to expend energy furthering an employee’s growth. In many cases, the online courses are free or moderately priced.
Training with Industry Experts
Employees will feel more like valued team members when they’re offered deep, focused industry-specific training that gives them the soft (and hard) skills to thrive in their career.
This is why The Bike Cooperative has organized numerous training events with The Mann Group. Learn more here.
If you don’t have time to give them helpful feedback, what message does that send?
Rethink your employee evaluation process
Sometimes running a small business is so consuming that you can’t fathom spending time doing quarterly or year-end employee evaluations. But stop for a minute and think about how that makes the employee feel. If you don’t have time to give them helpful feedback, what message does that send?
Carve out time to sit down with each employee you manage. Give them feedback on performance, areas for improvement, and a raise/bonus if at all possible. It is equally important to give them time to voice concerns.
