Investing in staff a great way to achieve success

Russell Bell PHOTO/FILE

Some projects that come along when you are a professional in an advisory role make you excited each day about progressing with the client. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing a business, its owners and staff develop and achieve new levels of success.

This week, the theme has been on training and development. At Arthur Andersen we were told from day one the firm's most important asset was its people. Throughout my career my employers, with one exception, promoted that in client-centred materials.

Investment in developing staff is money well spent, not only can it raise the skill level of your team but it can also broaden the horizons of your staff and empower them to be better at what they do.

And the training doesn't necessarily need to be core to be of great value. For example, the best training course I did at Deloitte was about marketing and being able to better communicate with customers. At KPMG I learnt how to speed read, write marketing plans and about how to work in other countries where as a chartered accountant I am required to do 40 hours of 'continuous professional development' each year.

It enhances the professionalism of chartered accountants and it is about developing skills and remaining at the cutting edge. Some of the courses are pretty turgid but you get to choose and there are others which are enlightening.

I have written before about how mistakes can happen in business and they need to be managed in the right way. Rather than getting upset at a mistake, why not see the mistake as an opportunity to upskill? Better still, utilise training and development in a proactive way to upskill the team to prevent mistakes from happening.

This year Zenith Solutions celebrates its fourth anniversary and we are proud to have served the Wanganui business community since 2010.

Over the years we have developed tailored solutions and professional development for Wanganui businesses including strategic management, lean basics and understanding risk. These courses have been refined to meet needs specific to the local and regional business environment - the needs and the understanding we have developed being key drivers of value in what we deliver.

For example, in the strategic management course, I'm helping business owners to be more strategic in their approach to actual challenges in today's economy - it's a combination of mentoring and training.

What I know now is that my clients are making better decisions now because of the development programme that we have embarked on.

While some courses in the market are "Johnny-come-latelys" or derivatives of trendy buzzwords, truly effective training should be designed and shaped by the realities and needs of the market. It is not a "one size fits all" by any stretch.

So, investing in your people and developing their skills is the right thing to do, but make sure you choose carefully and make the right choice. After all, if you were training to build a house you wouldn't ask a plumber with little experience to train you in electrical wiring.

Russell Bell's Zenith Strategic Solutions is a specialist Wanganui business advice and consultancy practice - 021 2442421.