Broadly speaking, staff tend to fall into one of two groups. Those who want more money and those who want personal development and value learning at work. There is a third group, but they don’t have an opinion either way. They have their coats on and fingers hovering over the off button on their computer at 4.59pm!
Financial reward v. personal development
It’s not an uncommon or undesirable trait to want more money. Plenty of people are ambitious and want the finer things in life and that requires additional income. It’s also not uncommon to be motivated by learning at work and gaining new skills, safe in the knowledge that increasing your skillset may well provide you with future promotional opportunities.
Employers need to consider the third group too. Is there a role in the workplace for someone who doesn’t want more money AND doesn’t want to develop? If they’re doing their job well and meeting expectations, should you be concerned that they’re not overly ambitious? Maybe ‘safe and steady’ wins the race!
If you’re a business owner, which of these two groups would you prefer to have in your business? It may well depend on what industry you’re in and whether you’ve got a clearly defined skillset in mind for the job holder.
The times they are a-changin’
At the end of the day, there are probably jobs to suit all these groups. However, it’s still necessary for businesses to evolve in changing times. Currently, we’re inching our way out of a pandemic and don’t really know what the world will look like in the future. If businesses need to evolve, it stands to reason that staff have to evolve too to meet the demands of a changing work environment.
What do you need to do?
Every business owner should be considering what they can do to ensure the needs of their business are being met. Ultimately, this means ensuring staff have the necessary knowledge and skillsets to deliver what your business needs now and in the future. Perhaps it feels hard to make long-term predictions right now, but standing still isn’t the way forward – literally!
As a business owner, a significant part of your role is to ensure learning at work is a key component of your business. The benefits are too many to mention here but it’s food for thought, isn’t it? If your staff get left behind as the world moves on, you’ll find that your business soon gets left behind too.
Don’t let changing times leave you frozen like a deer in headlights. We’re here to help you adapt and make the most of your staff. Call me for a chat on 0345 095 0139 or email [email protected].