Train Your Employees to Grow Your Business

When you do a great job for your customers, your marketing is easy and cheap. And, to make sure your business performs well, you need to help your employees perform well.

Here are a few quick tips to help new employees get up to speed so they can hep your company grow.

Every new employee should be trained. Of course you want to cover the basics like company policies and benefits. But more important is helping your new employee understand these five things:

1. What do you expect the employee to do (his or her actions)?
2. What outcomes do you want them to produce?
3. What role will their manager play in helping them be successful?
4. What does a "win" look like? (How do they know when they have done their job well?)
5. How does their success connect to the success of the organization?

If an employee does not understand these things, it's almost impossible for them to be successful. And if they are successful, they won't necessarily know it because they don't have any way to measure their success. It's like trying to drive a car with only two tires - you're setting them up for failure.

After these five items, your training should be sufficient to get them started. But don't overdo it. Generally, it's best to let people learn on the job. The key is to make sure they understand part of their job is to learn as they go. You need to help them understand they can always get help from their manager. The best training takes place in the real world so they can develop their own solutions to the challenges of their job.

Finally, make sure the employees know how they are being measured. Your expectations of them them (in terms of the actions and outcomes described above) should be objective and measurable. They should be able to see their "score" whenever they want so they know how they're doing. (Rather than waiting for a 6 month review and then blasting them because they're not doing their job well.)

Work with your employees this way and you'll find they are more effective in their jobs. When this happens, your customers get better service and they will be much more likely to come back and bring others with them.