Great Ideas for your Small Business:
Offer to Train Your Employees
Spending on training and education pays off big for you and your employees. For a modest sum, your employees can learn a new skill, build confidence, and boost productivity. Subsequently, you and your business benefit from happier, healthier, and more energetic workers.
Ask your employees what skills they would like to learn or develop. If you are doing business globally, maybe they would like to study a foreign language or brush up their conversational skills for a language they already know.
Maybe taking a weekly yoga or tai chi class would relieve stress. Learning a new graphic design or financial spread- sheet program might make their life easier. Assign someone on your staff to collect catalogs, brochures, and class schedules from local community colleges, extension programs, the Learning Annex, Learning Tree University, and other adult education programs in your area.
Figure out how much you want to spend on a quarterly, semiannual, and annual basis. If money is tight, you might provide a one-time $100 bonus to pay for books and materials. Or if you can afford it, reward your key managers with a day-long seminar of their choice. Many seminars cost under $300.
Once you’ve decided to offer training as a perk, be fair, and don’t play favorites. You can establish a policy making these educational perks available only after six months or a year of service. Be sure to keep track of who is taking which classes and encourage people to share their experiences and knowledge with coworkers.
An alternative to sending workers offsite for educational programs is to hire your own trainers. Another option is to hire a trainer and split the cost with other small business owners whose employees also need training.
Finally, take advantage of your state’s extensive and afford- able community college system. For just a few dollars a course, your employees will learn valuable skills that they will bring to work every day.