Small businesses drawing promising prospects but not making deals may have to spend more time listening to their customers. The best way to get a client is to sell them what they want. When one business knows more about a client than another company does, it has the upper hand. Customer service training is crucial for meeting this goal. Clients must always be handled one person at a time, and instructing a business' employees will give a company a leg up over rivals who do not train. Training includes market/product awareness, so that when the client contacts the business, employees are completely ready to conduct the sale. Training is the leading protection against higher competition. Although some small businesses worry that they could lose their workers after training them, that risk needs to be compared to what could occur if they do not train their employees and they remain.

 

In order to increase employee loyalty and productivity, each business needs to invest in team building or motivational events and training programs to ensure workers understand their roles in the overall business strategy. These programs should build morale, increase internal communication efficiencies, and create rewards and recognition in order to help firms remain competitive in the virtual and global marketplace. Crystal Interactive reports that many workers prefer to feel like part of the company, and most find it more rewarding than additional pay, bonuses, and flexible working conditions. The group also indicated that team-building programs can save businesses up to 1,000 pounds per employee annually in terms of retraining and replacement costs. Moreover, experts note that these programs can uncover hidden worker talents and leadership skills during various exercises.

 

When companies strive to restructure or gain greater efficiency, experts warn that moving too quickly or failing to carefully implement changes can be detrimental to the process and ultimate result. First, executives or other players in the firm need to assess potential risks and stir up a sense of urgency among workers and stakeholders in order to generate the motivation to spur change within the firm. However, this sense of urgency has to be strong enough and perpetuated by outside analysts, consumers, and other voices in order to propel change forward. Once change is identified as the best solution to market share, profit losses, or other catalysts, leaders throughout the organization have to band together to guide the transformation process, and these leaders can include board members, consumers, union leaders, executives, chairmen, and others. The group then coalesces to create a shared vision for corporate change, and this vision should go beyond the normal five-year forward looking plan generated at most firms annually and be easily communicated and clear. A clear vision should also include transformation steps that are coordinated and propel the organization toward the overall goal, and these visions should be communicated in not only words and speeches, but also actions of managers, supervisors, and executives. The transformation of a company should also include short-term goals that can be tracked to show executives and workers that progress is being made toward the ultimate vision and that the long journey will be worth it, even in spite of short-term job cuts for instance. Experts warn, however, that transformations can take between five and 10 years to complete, and should not be declared as complete until the company culture has transformed to meet the vision. Leaders will know to tackle other processes and structures reflecting the old culture of the firm and to engrain the new behaviors and procedures into workers in order to make the change complete.

 

In order to be successful and improve wages, workers can do several things to make themselves more desirable employees, according to Clarence Otis Jr., chairman and CEO of Darden Restaurants. Employees must improve the soft skills that are a prerequisite for almost every job-- proper attitude, communication and interpersonal skills, teamwork, and common sense-- as well as the hard skills that are acquired from education or work-force training, because in Central Florida alone, employers currently need skilled workers for more than six in 10 positions. However, workers need help gaining these skills. Traditional and non-traditional educational institutions must teach these skills to future workers, and employers must train their workers well, not only for the employees' benefit but to also improve the company's competitive edge. Businesses that invest in work-force training and development can reduce turnover, improve employee satisfaction, increase productivity, and create a better future for their employees. When workers are given the tools for advancement, improvements can be seen in the company, community, and economy.