Loss of highly skilled and talented staff need not be the norm. Their knowledge is valuable, to them and to your organisation. Learn how to retain knowledge and nurture talent at the same time.
This line of questioning comes from the story of the two managers who were debating staff training. “If we train them, they are hardly qualified and they get better job offers. What happens if they all leave after we have trained them?” – frustrated manager number one.
“What happens if we don’t train them and they all stay?” – enlightened manager number two.
Whilst staff training is often seen as an investment in the industry and goodwill, it is not the only mechanism that can help you improve your staff knowledge and organisational knowledge at the same time. There is a large body of knowledge that supports the idea that happy and talented staff are a product of their environment, specifically their work environment.
To this end you as the business owner or manager are almost obliged to ensure you create just the right type of environment for your staff to become their best without wanting to leave. Google has some amazing physical premises worldwide but their staff still leave. A job for life is almost a sentence in this modern world so how do you keep and nurture that talent.
The answer that I propose is seemingly simple and hugely complex at the same time. It is simple because at it’s core it is no more than a slightly more formal structure to how we approach work. It is highly complex because once you set this philosophy in motion you need to be able to manage and learn from the processes that you go through so that you too will survive the significant transformation you and and organisation will experience.
So what’s the secret? In a word – processes! Yes, I know, it’s been done a million different ways and we have all spent a cumulative billion on the variations of software and knowledge management systems which have brought us nothing but administrative nightmares. I’m not talking about changing your systems or trying to invent new novel ways of storing processes. What I am more interested teaching you are the actual importance of the processes themselves and the mechanics that you use to create, maintain, improve and implement your processes. If done correctly you should be inspiring your staff to be their best whilst it is still being the best for your organisation. This management of knowledge and talent is not something a bit of software can do but rather a skill you and your management team need to learn.
To find out more about how you can get these skills, teach them and make your organisation better whilst simultaneously improving the talent within your employees, then sign up below and I will send you details of the year-long coaching and mentoring program I have designed to address these issues.