Invest in your people

We know it’s hard to spend operating cash on activities that don’t generate revenue, but it’s all about what pays off in the long run. Because you must reinvest in your business to grow, and you should remember to invest in your people.

Here are a few ideas.

Better Computers. Please plan to get new computers every 2.5 to 3 years. Don’t fight it. Don’t stretch it out for the sake of saving a few dollars. Time is money for you, but also for your staff. Newer computers are much faster. Faster computers mean more productive team members, and no one likes having to reboot or call tech support.

Additional Team Members for Support. You’re going to have to be creative with this one, because the answer is different to all organizations. And keep in mind that this can be part-time help. Would your sales team benefit from you hiring a Sales Engineer to handle the technical questions in the sale process? Would your Bookkeeper benefit from having an accountant on staff? Would you benefit from hiring an Executive Assistant to take the nights and weekend duties off your plate? Would your professional staff benefit from hiring a college grad to handle overflow work? Hiring an additional team member allows the team to delegate some of the tasks they’ve mastered, fosters supervisor/mentor skills, and reduces burn out.

Training Dollars and Time. The majority of companies set goals for their team members to help perform better in their current position or even grow into a new position. But your employees may need help in achieving these goals. Did you know that there are affordable monthly training subscriptions that can give your team access to unlimited amount of hours training on software tools? Check out www.lynda.com. With this tool your team can get hours and hours of training on the Microsoft Office Suite as well as SQL Training and web design and on and on. 

However you must do more than simply provide access to the training – you must support time for training. One idea would be to gather a group to turn the lunch hour into a training series—watch a video together, teach one another, and share ideas. These kinds of activities will help bring your team closer together by learning in a shared space. It also creates an opportunity for employees to learn more about what they each do.

Dual Monitors. It seems like a small change, but it can reduce the annoyance and time wasted of switching back and forth between email and Excel, or between Accounting software and Email, or between design software and the web. In addition to multi-tasking, the nature of work has changed and often requires looking at two different things on a computer (and not paper in front of you).

The solution of two monitors can be affordable. Let your staff try it out, and let them tell you if it works for them or not.

Printer/Copy Machine Upgrade. Do you scan documents to email? Does your machine have multiple paper trays? Would you benefit by printing on 11x17 paper? Ask your team what they need in their office technology and bring in a sales representative to provide more information on technology that could benefit your office that is within your budget. Similar to new computers, having the tools and technology that makes your employees’ jobs easier can make all the difference.

Real Vacation Time. Nowadays we’re constantly connected. We receive office emails on our phones, which can make it hard to ever really unplug and get away from the office. Not only should you encourage your employees to take their PTO, you should also allow them to completely get away. Trust me, if they can take a real break to relax and recharge, they will come back ready to work because they were actually able to stop working for a few days.

We hope you agree that investments in your staff provide valuable returns. Happy employee means a great product, a great product means happy customers—leading to more revenues. Ask your employees for their feedback on what they need and include them in the investment process. We promise you won’t regret it!  We would love to hear from you about ways you invest at your company.