Investing in Employees

Chapter 1. Investing in Employees: Training and Educating Staff with Outstanding Results

Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.

Sir Richard Branson

Every company wants brilliant employees who are motivated to do a good job. And most know that one element in achieving that goal is to ensure that its staff is well trained. Doing so rewards the company with productivity, avoids mistakes made in ignorance, and improves employee retention. But it’s one thing to say, “We want to ensure that people improve their skill sets” and another to actually do so. What’s the best way for a company to provide the training its employees need? In the following pages, business people and industry experts share their experiences and their advice.

When Collin started work as a communications specialist at Dish Networks, he was handed an intimidating “to-do” list. Each day listed assignments to acquaint him with his new duties, along with goals to be reached by the end of the month. “As I scanned the list on my first day I thought, ‘Oh boy. What have I gotten myself into?’” says Collin. But that intimidating piece of paper was the best thing for a fresh-out-of-college employee who was taking his first whack at a real job. “That list represented a carefully crafted guide, a map that enabled me to hit the ground running,” Collin says. “Each day I knew exactly what I needed to do. I would read an article and then check a box. I would install a plug-in ...