Create an Investment Fund for Training and Development

If you are an owner or president of your company, you need to create and keep a training and development fund for your employees and yourself. Ben Franklin, who was one of the first individuals to earn over a million dollars in the United States, summed it up best by his statement, “If you take the coins of your change purse and empty them into your head, your change purse will never be empty.” In other words, one of the best ways to grow the value of your company, is to invest in the development of your people and yourself.

Your People Are Your Greatest Asset
Typically in a recession, the training budget is usually the area that most companies cut first. This type of myopic knee jerk reaction sets up a chain of consequences that lead to the weakening of the company. When you cut back on developing your people, you are limiting the value they can create for your company. This leads to an even greater weakness when it comes to developing a favorable advantage over your competitors. Your people are your greatest asset; to limit their potential is limiting the company’s earning power.

Excuses
Some company presidents and owners give the excuse that they don’t want to invest in employees who will leave and take their knowledge elsewhere. Zig Ziglar, motivational speaker, answers it this way, “What’s worse than training your workers and losing them? Not training them and keeping them.”

Training Pays
Motorola calculated that every dollar spent on training yields an approximate 30 percent gain in productivity within a three-year period. Motorola also used training to reduce costs by over $3 billion and increase profits by 47 percent (source: Tim Lane et al., "Learning to Succeed in Business with Information Technology," Motorola).

In summary, if you want to keep your company growing, keep investing in the minds of both your employees and yourself.

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Tom Borg is president of Tom Borg Consulting, LLC. He is a business consultant, speaker, coach and author. He helps companies and organization become more profitable by increasing their value and lowering their costs through the professional development of their managers and employees.