Financial Resource

Ladies and Gentlemen the facts are clear:  We as business owners – as well as those in management – have the daunting task of figuring out how to keep our businesses afloat in the middle of this economic perfect storm.  The global economy is in the beginning of a recession that has the potential of making the Great Depression look like a walk on the beach.  Although much hot air has passed through the lips of the “experts” on the duration of this mess, the truth is no one has any idea of how long we will be facing this ogre.  One equalizing truth is that regardless of their size, companies that are still in business once we’ve passed this point in history will be positioned to grow exponentially. 

The strategies for staying in business during this recession and possible depression will be plentiful but all will have one common element and that is finding, training, and keeping quality employees.  For decades one of the most cliché phrases thrown around in the business arena has been “people are our company’s most valuable asset” but the truth of the matter was if an individual wasn’t productive or was causing strife with others or simply wasn’t “getting it”, the simplest solution was to replace them with one of a thousand other qualified candidates.  However, the days of constant employee replacement are a thing of the past; it takes time, effort and most importantly money to properly train a new employee regardless of the position that individual is filling.  During the 80’s and 90’s companies would roll through dozens of people for one position until they found one that was “a perfect fit”.  As someone certified in human behavior, let me assure you that no one is a perfect fit.  Companies must find quality people with the background, experience, and education they are looking for and as long as the job is getting done to quality standards they must stick with them… period.  Personality quirks and differences be damned; we are all on this journey together and together is how companies and employees will come through this successfully (which is to say, still in business).

As weeks turn into months and months into years, the employees that you keep — we’ll call them the lucky ones — are going to be called on to pick up the slack for those employees that you let go. You’ll be asking them to not only work longer hours and take on additional responsibilities but quite possibly you’ll be asking them to take a cut in pay; tensions will be increasing and productivity will quite possibly be hindered.  How then will it be possible to succeed under such circumstances?   The answer is with proper training.

You’ve heard “practice makes perfect” hundreds of times.  The untold truth is that statement is B.S.!  The statement should read “practice makes permanent”; “proper practice (training) makes perfect.”  Proper training is imperative and in today’s world that doesn’t simply mean sit a new employee down and teach them the job, it means determining each individual’s primary personality type or types and utilizing them in the areas that are most effective for the common goal: a successful company.  When people operate in areas that are outside of their primary personality type or types, they do it under stress; and when people work under stress, they can only last for so long. 

Let’s consider a “numbers person” (these are the people that tend to be engineers or programmers):  Generally speaking these people like details, organization, and have a tendency to be or seem standoffish when it comes to dealing other people.  This makes absolute sense because often times other people tend to bring disorganization along with them, making the numbers person uncomfortable. This being the case, does it seem logical to hire a “numbers person” into a position that has to deal with hundreds of people a week such as a customer service rep?  Of course not!  But companies make decisions like that every day because all H.R. saw was that the person’s experience and education seemed to fit the bill.  Placing this “numbers person” in a customer service position will create stress in the employee and has the potential of being a customer relations nightmare.

Regardless of the size of the organization or how hi-tech or low-tech the industry the understanding of human behavior and incorporating that understanding into job placement and job training can literally save companies of all sizes time and money.   And in this growing maelstrom of economic uncertainty, time and money are two of your most valuable assets.

Kevin A. Caron is the Founder of Imperative Corporate Training, LLC; He is a Certified Human Behavior Specialist and Certified Sales Specialist through Sell Naked Systems.  Kevin lives in Cocoa Beach, FL with his two children.  Kevin can be reached at kevinacaron@gmail.com

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