Continuous Effective Learners

Our theme for the current period is Long Term Employee Development. Founder and CEO, Jerry Houston weighs in on this important factor that continually improves your people power and advantage over your competitors.

One of the things I have learned over the 26+ years in this industry is that the real strength of an organization lies in the knowledge, skills and abilities of its people. And… there is another factor. When people are given opportunities to gain additional knowledge through the support of the organization that they work for, it increases engagement in their work.

So what should an organization do?

• Provide continuous learning opportunities. Some can be provided by in-house experts. Each of your team members have special skills, ability, experience, and education that can assist their colleagues in various areas of business acumen, that will help other team members to grow.
• Provide formalized training and education in a variety of disciplines such as:
  • Leadership
  • Communications
  • Public Speaking
  • Time Management
  • Financial Management
  • Dealing with Negative Employees
  • Project Management
  • Six Sigma and Lean Certification
  • Sales Development
  • Teambuilding
  • Emotional Intelligence and Behavioral Training
  • And the list goes on! Training given by outside experts allows an openness in discussions that highlight issues and concerns and builds a sense of team in the culture.
• Encourage team members to further their education. Provide tuition reimbursement based on good grades and education that benefits your organization. Make a big deal out of it when they graduate or gain a certification.
• Make sure you have evaluated employees and have set standards for how people are selected for learning opportunities. Fairness is always an issue!
• Provide a good tracking system for the processes employees are participating in and ensure that they are meeting the requirements of the processes in order to have satisfactory completion and graduation recognized.

Being diligent in your efforts will pay big dividends in terms of employee engagement, longevity, increasing intellectual strength of your team for problem-solving, creativity and innovation.