Did you know what people resent the most about working for a small business? Well, although you can enjoy a more personal work relationship in a small company, there is one major turnoff: Lack of employee training. Many perceive this as inherited, due to smallish size in capital and budget, but I can assure you, small business owners, what you are going to watch next will change your perception about the whole idea of employee training – check this out:
Okay – what you’ve just watched is Shell’s Graduate Programme intro video. Can you notice a pattern in what you’ve heard? That’s right: Opportunity to grow.
If you look at Shell’s Glassdoor reviews, you’ll learn that Shell is doing a great job with their Graduate Programme. Employees and former employees feel challenged since day one, and this is exactly what the program is all about.
Not only training courses and workshops, the Graduate Programme focuses on custom development plan which support growth through hands-on role and assignments. Click here for more information about the career growth and benefits.
Now, learning from the information I mentioned above, I think small business employers can do better in growing their staffs without spending much on the budget.
Here is a couple of ideas:
1. The keyword is “hands-on role”
That’s right – if you want to get started in helping your employees to grow professionally, the best thing you can do is to give hands-on role.
https://www.onsmb.com/wp-admin/admin.php?page=pretty-link
Typically, a small business features overlapping job descriptions. This might not seem ideal, but you can take it as an opportunity to develop your employees via hands-on experience.
2. Courses don’t have to be expensive
Some small business owners I know don’t train their employees not because they don’t want to. They assume that training would burn a hole in their pocket, with questionable ROI.
Well, lo and behold: The power of the Internet.
Google for how to guide. Watch YouTube video. Read WikiHow, MakeUseOf, and similar sites. Create mini-courses for your employees; or better yet, just give your links or online bookmarks to your employees and empower them to learn on their own.
Still have doubts?
My nephews – both Gen Z – learn new skills just by watching publicly available YouTube videos. One is learning guitar by himself (now, he performs for his high school.) one is learning conversational English as his second language (now, he speaks English better than me.)
No more excuses!
Takeaway
There are definitely some perks getting training from a big company such as Shell, but that doesn’t mean you can create the “light” version of it for your own staffs.
What you need are a bit of brilliance and go-getter attitude. Just consider employee training as an entrepreneurial endeavor, and you’ll see that growing your employees can make you feel as achieved as generating big profits or closing big deals.
Running a small business is not all about money and profits, don’t you think?
Photo credit: Royal Dutch Shell
