How to Train and Develop a Winning Team
“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to …”
Richard Branson
One of the biggest complaints of business owners at the moment is that they cannot find enough qualified, competent people to fill their vacant positions.
As every successful entrepreneur knows, human capital is the greatest asset of any company. A winning team makes it possible to accomplish powerful objectives, at the same time providing deeper and richer career satisfaction along the way. But human resources can also be the biggest liability, and that is far too often blamed on the individual themselves – not on the people whose job it is to train and develop them.
To build a well-trained winning team, business leaders need to become qualified to train and develop superior employees. Charity begins at home - give attention to business basics, and the organization becomes a magnet for top talent and teamwork. Once that happens, the team-building process will self-reinforce in a way that makes hiring easier, retention a cinch, and team success a given.
There are 3 key stages for training and developing a Winning Team in your business:
The Skills and Competency Matrix
Before you can begin the process of training and developing individuals in your team, you must have a starting point of knowing what the individuals skill and competency level is in a range of core skill attributes that are deemed important within your business.
The purpose of the Skills and Competency matrix is to identify the key skills and competency levels in each employee (include yourself and other key staff members in this register) AND to identify where you may have any gaps in your core skills that need to be filled through training and development.
The core skill attributes will not only include the key skills associated directly with the tasks to be completed, but may also include core attributes such as:
Business Awareness - Knows what you do as a business and how you do it. Understands the importance of customer satisfaction and shareholder value
Customer Service - Identifies and prioritises customer needs and recognises constraints. Is reliable and delivers on promises. Seeks to find out more about your customers and provide a better service
Initiative and Independence - Takes responsibility for own time and effectiveness. Able to spot and implement opportunities for improving situations. Alert to opportunities to contribute appropriately without being told
Analytical/Problem Solving - Able to manipulate and interpret information from a range of different sources, spot patterns and trends in information and to deduce cause and effect from this analysis
Quick Learner - Able to pick up and assimilate relevant information quickly and easily. Can think on their feet in rapidly changing environments. Learns new tasks rapidly
Planning and Organising - Sees priorities, plans the efficient use of resources, and monitors progress against objectives. Able to achieve results in a quality, timely, and cost- effective way. Anticipates crucial stages in projects
Leadership and Teamwork - Actively participates in team and encourages 100% involvement and inclusion. Aware of the needs of others and responds flexibly. Prioritises team goals over individual goals
Communication - Able to communicate information and ideas clearly and articulately both in oral and written form. Uses appropriate language, style and methods depending on audience and the purpose of communication
Interpersonal Effectiveness - Able to adapt behaviour to a wide range of people. Able to influence the views and behaviour of others through persuasion and encouragement. Manages conflict or other sensitive issues tactfully and effectively
Self Confidence and Resilience - Stays calm in a crisis. Measured confidence to take on demanding work or put forward views when they may be challenged. Handles competing demands. Overcomes setbacks
Decision Making - Takes balanced view of situations incorporating different perspectives. Recognises priorities, weighs up different options and evaluates risks. Reaches logical conclusions and decides on appropriate plan of action
Quality and Results Focused - Sets high but achievable standards for self and others. Seeks opportunities to improve process and outcomes. Constantly reviews performance to identify areas to develop
Personal Motivation - Sets personal goals which are challenging but achievable. Pursues these with energy, persistence and determination. Enthusiastic and committed to improving personal performance levels
Once the skill level is identified then you can apply a competency level rating associated with that skill for each employee.
The Training and Succession Plan
Once you have completed the skills and competency matrix for each employee, it will become very apparent where your skill and competency gaps exist within the business.
Using the information you can now conduct an analysis for creating a training plan for each individual in your organisation that will narrow the skill gaps that you have identified in the business.
It is important to take into consideration each employee, their current skill and competency, their ability to learn and take on more skills, their capacity to step into a new role or leadership level, just to name a few.
One of the biggest fears that business owners have is investing money in training their team members and then have them leave. A bigger fear should be that when they are not investing in training or developing their employees, and they stay …!! The last thing you need is an incompetent team who will only ever achieve a mediocre job.
Using Richard Branson’s quote that we started with in this article, this is the reason why you need to treat them well so that they do stay after you have trained them.
The Appraisal Process
The performance appraisal can be defined as the process of identifying, evaluating and developing the work performance of team members to help achieve the goals and objectives of the organisation. At the same time, appraisals benefit team members by providing them with recognition, feedback, career guidance and personal development.
The Appraisal system is implemented to give everyone in the organisation the chance to discuss their job, performance, forthcoming objectives and future aspirations with their Manager and ensure that everyone has a common understanding and vision.
The appraisal meeting must be a two-way communication between the manager and the team member. It is not a meeting to counsel an employee for poor attitude or behaviour, if this is an issue, it should have been dealt with well before the appraisal meeting.
The performance appraisal involves the manager and their team members meeting on a one-on- one basis at regular intervals (at least annually) to discuss work performance in relation to:
The appraisal system is made up of 3 sections:
The Skills and Competency Matrix, Company Policies & Procedures Manual, as well as the Position Profile, will be used as the reference material for the Appraisal Review. Effective performance appraisal relies on clear performance standards being established and discussed with each team member.
The 6 Steps To A Successful Performance Appraisal
In most effective performance appraisal processes, a team member and their manager will meet at regular intervals to:
Training and developing your team is just one of all of the important aspects of developing a successful business. In todays business environment, there are industries who are experiencing significant labour shortages, therefore it is very pertinent that you invest in training your team and then treat them so well that they never want to leave.
Staff training and development will lead to better staff retention and will be a big factor in determining the success of businesses in the future, what steps are you going to take to better train and develop your own team?
If you have any questions, please reach out, I am here to help …
Phil Badura
Business Coach