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Finding time for training is a tall order at a small company, so follow these tips to use limited resources effectively and give your staff the skills they need.
As entrepreneur Richard Branson once said: “If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your clients.” We all know that nurturing and developing people is central to ensuring that a business remains competitive.
In a small business without HR or talent management departments,http://www.wiski.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3815133cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, there may be times when there’s simply no resource to dedicate to that aim. But the start of a new year is a prime time for professionals to consider what they would like to achieve, as well as for businesses to get their budgets and priorities firmed up for the year ahead.
So when it comes to training and development in an SME, where do you start? How can you best identify the skills that your business needs over the coming year and encourage your team to develop them?
At LinkedIn, we researched the top skills of 2016 – the skills that are most sought after among employers, based on the hiring and recruiting activity that has taken place over the past year on our site. Here are some tips based on our findings:
Future-proofing keeps you one step ahead
There’s always a temptation to focus on the skills that you need today, and while that’s important, it’s crucial not to lose sight of your long-term business needs. As the business grows, who will help lead it and what tools will that demand? Will the business need to diversify into new markets or services,cheap authentic jordans, and what skills will complement those offerings? Working out the skills that your business will need going forward is essential for future-proofing your organisation.
Fitting in training for yourself may feel like a luxury, but you're the most important person to consider
Technical skills are going to grow in importance in businesses across every sector. They are currently the most in demand skill from recruiters, according to our data. Tech skills dominate our?Top Skills of 2016 list, with statistical analysis and data mining coming out on top, followed by mobile development, search engine optimisation (SEO), marketing,jordans for cheap, and information security.
With the ever-growing need for businesses to understand data and translate that into action, small companies should consider an injection of skills in these areas.
Flexibility is key
Ideally, every business would have a consistent training programme in place to keep employees firmly on track. But in a small business, flexibility must be built into training, so that it can fit around the demands of day-to-day activities. Online training can offer a great way for people to fit their development around their workload and split it into manageable chunks.
Make it a joint effort
While it’s vital to align training with the needs of the business, it’s equally important to secure employee buy-in. After all, they will only truly engage with the training if it’s something that they're keen to learn.
Try to agree on areas that will satisfy employees both professionally and personally. You never know what interests people harbour, whether that’s a flair for design or a knack for data – both could benefit the business and individual.
Embrace softer skills
Arming your people with the most up-to-date technical expertise that they need to do their job is clearly key,cheap jordans, but so are the soft skills required to manage customers and colleagues effectively.
Employers agree – more than half of UK recruiters told us that a lack of soft skills among candidates, such as strategic thinking and communication, is limiting their company’s productivity. So when mapping what skills are needed across your organisation, make sure that you think about both hee hard and softer skills that will boost performance.
Don’t forget yourself
Running a small business isn't easy; it's a constant juggling act of managing finances, marketing, sales,http://users.atw.hu/lpnw-esports/index.php?site=forum_topic&topic=14947cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, people, admin and everything in between.
Fitting in training for yourself may feel like a luxury,cheap wholesale jordans, but in a role where you need to be an expert in every facet of business,cheap retro jordans, you're the most important person to consider. Putting aside time to invest in yourself is time well spent.
Josh Graff is UK country manager and vice president EMEA at LinkedIn