Most spending decisions are about sales and marketing investments to increase revenue. But perhaps you need to increase plant capacity to meet demand or upgrade your IT systems or logistics fleet for better customer service. All worthy items.
What about investing in your team? The pundits will always say your people are your greatest asset. Then it makes sense to spend money on programs and training that enhance the skills of your top lieutenants, build their capabilities, and make them more effective leaders.
There are many ways to go here, so pick an area that will directly benefit your team members and help build the business. Presentation skills can always be improved, as well as storytelling skills. Rather than go the traditional route, you might consider bringing in an outside resource that uses role playing and acting as a means of getting folks out of their comfort zone while enhancing core skills.
Analytical skills and number crunching is another area where it is beneficial to have more than just your finance team as experts. To make it directly relevant, you could bring in an industry veteran who can provide insights into how your customer’s economics work, so your team can better understand how to put together winning proposals.
If your company is at a crossroads with a clear need to reinvent itself or risk being left behind, change management is a vital skill set, particularly for top leaders. This can be an intimidating mountain to climb, so perhaps break it into segments that build upon each other. Start out with a deep industry and company assessment with root causes identified that are barriers to growth. Then tackle the hard work of how to go about reshaping your business for more productivity, greater efficiency, and faster cycle times. Assign specific tasks with milestones for your top leaders, with interdependencies highlighted as you embark on such a journey. And inspect your progress and results on a regular basis. Your agency partners can be a valuable resource, as this is especially hard work.
Another area that merits attention is team effectiveness and collaboration across functional groups. One approach is to have your top leaders complete a strengths or interests profile assessment. Then armed with that data, see how your managers and leaders compare, and even do the same work for all your employees. The insights into how each person thinks and acts can be illuminating and then be used to enhance interactions within teams and across functional groups.
Many companies purchase books with follow up workshops to stimulate dialogue about the topic and explain how to apply those lessons or principles to your business. Examples include driving growth, team leadership, execution, business strategy, personal effectiveness, inspiration, accountability, communication, dealing with conflict. The list is long. To get the most value, in our experience, take the time to bring the team together to explore the “who, what and when” implications for your business from a particular book.
To truly make a difference in the performance of your people, you need a sustained and thoughtful series of investments in your team. Perhaps start out with once a quarter and include some off-site team building, so your folks can strengthen their relationships and build trust and respect for each other.
And rather than assign this responsibility to your HR leader, have your CEO or president be the visible advocate and participant in these investments. Knowing that it is important at the top of the house will get everyone’s attention. And it sets the tone while making a statement about the culture of the company. Be the employer brand of choice!
At Damen Jackson, we have the benefit of 25 years of working with almost 800 clients to help your business and your team thrive. We can be the partner that works through challenges, serve as the devil’s advocate, and function as the vested extended team member.
Our fresh eyes are there to supplement and augment the experience of your leadership team, while multiplying the odds of improving revenue growth or generating new sources of competitive advantage.
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