As with any other business, Technalink always tries to ensure that when something is invested in, there’s a return on that investment. However, investing is more than just putting money into equipment or infrastructure. It is the people that make a business work, and investing in those people can have both tangible and intangible benefits for any business, big or small.
Here are a few ways that investing in your people can help your business to thrive.
Respect Professional Goals
This is especially important for small businesses where your business dream may not align with your staff’s. If, for example, you operate a restaurant or café, your staff may be students or may even be pursuing other professional ambitions, such as acting. The best way to retain reliable staff and have them respect your business dreams is to respect their professional dreams.
When it comes time to write finals, or submit final papers, show flexibility in the work schedule. If a normally reliable employee has an important audition to attend, respect that. Extending these professional courtesies ensures they give it their all when it comes time to work for you.
Be Receptive To Professional Development
For larger companies, employees may be interested in expanding their skillset, climbing the professional ladder, and being promoted. However, as with any growth, this is often best accomplished through training and education. Professional development with existing staff is always a good idea. By investing in their professional development, you take someone already familiar with your corporate structure and working methods and give them the tools they need to make greater contributions to your operations and productivity.
Think about creating a pathway for professional development within your own business. Whether that is allowing access to courses for other skillsets, or a mentorship program with senior staff, this can make a big difference in giving your existing team more ability to grow both themselves and your business.
Encourage Networking
Professional development is not just about what you know but who you know. Networking is a crucial skill that can do everything from open up new partnership opportunities to unveiling ways to expand your operations through a fortuitous professional connection. However, it’s not just you that should be good professional networking; your staff often plays a crucial role in this as well.
With every trade show you attend, business conference, or everyday interactions with customers, clients, or existing vendors and partners, networking can yield surprising, productive results.
Make Adjustments For Stress Management
Stress is an inevitable part of any business, whether it’s the good stress from an unexpected, lucrative job coming in with a tight deadline or the bad stress of inter-office conflict due to friction between personality types. It’s not helpful to order employees to pretend nothing is happening and continue working. Stress impacts the ability to focus and buckle down, affecting the final results of any work that needs doing.
Allowing staff to manage stress doesn’t have to be a big, organized effort, although it can be if that’s the direction you’d like to go. Stress management is often just a matter of taking a few crucial minutes to recenter and calm nerves, something that meditation is good at. Meditation is not something that requires a dedicated room, a specific sitting position, and hours of time to participate in. With the right tools, appropriate training, and even just a few minutes sitting at a desk, meditation is easily carried out in an office with positive results for focus and stress management.
If you’re interested in incorporating meditation in your workplace, you can look into accessories like mala prayer beads, which can help to facilitate the process as a tool for focusing your efforts.
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