Developing your employees: a competitive investment strategy
Did you know that in 21% of cases, employees quit because they can’t see any advancement opportunities?[i] Inadequate career management, a lack of training or a sense that management is not invested in developing personnel, all contribute to voluntary departures. Moreover, personnel turnover rate in a business costs between 93% and 200% of the outgoing employee’s annual salary[ii] and an average of 75% of companies need to fill a position because an employee has left the organization[iii]. In light of this information, it is imperative we find solutions to keep our employees.
Another way to develop…
To ensure optimal information retention, and to ensure that the acquired knowledge can be shared in the work environment, it is important to make your skill development initiatives dynamic. Did you know that there are a number of different methods to develop skills such as coaching, switching job positions, or special projects? For your management team, experiential training based on employee development is an innovative and powerful way to discover 16 of these methods, to stimulate discussion on developmental needs with members of their team and to experience the impact of the organization developing its employees.
The ability to sustain the growth of your human resources by developing employee skills should be strategic for your company, either to keep current employee skills up-to-date, to develop untapped talents, or to stand out in a globalized context. Inevitably, the global playground in which contemporary businesses operate exposes them to an increasingly fierce and complex competition. It drives companies to orient their strategies towards innovation and the quality of their personnel, rather than launch price wars. It is therefore advantageous to develop your management team’s leadership skills as well as the technical and relational abilities of all your employees. Needless to say that to meet the particular requirements of the new Y Generation, you won’t have any other choice but to offer professional development opportunities, since this is one of their expectations when choosing an employer. You are now faced with the marvellous challenge of developing your employees, taking into account both your corporate needs (for example, implementing your strategic plan), and your employee’s aspirations.
However, increasing your organization’s skills capital has a direct impact on employee satisfaction, work performance, and, ultimately, the general efficiency of your operations and your profitability. Imagine the attraction, retention and mobilization effect on your employees when you are recognized as an employer geared towards professional development!
Establishing a professional development culture in your organization implies that talent management needs to be done in a practical setting, as supervisors are best suited to target the needs and estimate the potential of their employees. However, the responsibility to implement a system to support professional development (performance management, competency profiles, continuity plan, training plan, etc.) falls on human resources, which must also provide training about these systems for managers and support them in using various tools. You could then put them in charge of devising individual development plans with their employees. In this way, professional development is structured, streamlined and decentralized. It ensures that each employee is in the right place and has the appropriate skills, which promotes efficiency and happiness at work. Employees will be happy… and so will you!
1. BENARROUS, Caroline (2007)
2. JOBDIFFUSION (2008)3. H. PINKOVITZ, W. MOSKAL, J et GREEN, G. (2004)
Experiential marketing: an unequalled tool
We have all experienced products that made us run (or type!) to our friends and family with whom we wanted to share our adventure as fast as possible. The latest electronic gadget, new sports equipment, even a recent find such as a restaurant or a business that at last gives us the service we were looking for. From the smallest widget to the largest machine, the experience is etched in our cognitive memory, but also in our sensory and affective memories. A link was created between us and the object of our desire.
Experiential marketing aims at creating precisely this type of experience in customers. For a product or service to be successful, it is essential that the customer’s first contact be positive and pleasant. A marketing strategy based on experience is much stronger than simple word-of-mouth: it reaches inside the customer and has him or her participate through the different senses that are the front door to his or her memory… Then, he or she will talk about the experience… and about you!
Corporate Adventure knows how to apply this latest development in each company’s unique context, in an original and unforgettable way. For example, we have expertly developed surprising VIP activities, during which your potential or current customers can experience your products, have a memorable experience and, more importantly, create a solid relationship with you.
Our Demo Tours are also another tool that stands out in a dynamic, friendly and fun way, but especially because of how much the conveyed message is remembered. During these Demo Tours, we abandon standard product demonstrations and substitute them for the real experience. Customers actively participate rather than being passive recipients, resulting in a message retention rate of 90%, and a hugely increased customer conversion rate. What an advantage for a business!
Experiential marketing is the basic principle guiding our programs, because we believe, or rather, we know, that nothing equals a customer experiencing a product first hand. One can describe a wine with all the adjectives in the world, but nothing is better than tasting it to actually understand. When comes the time to share the experience with others, all the words in the world will not be enough compared to… the experience!
When your values guide your business decisions
Most businesses proudly display their values and mission, but how far do these framed words really go? How many employees can name these values off the top of their head or even paraphrase them? More importantly, how many use these values to guide them when they must make decisions?
And yet, there is the real reason for an organizational culture. Just like a national culture or family values, they must be strong enough to guide employees and management in their work on an everyday basis. Corporate culture can be seen in both the smallest and the biggest decisions. The accounts receivable clerk who writes quality working instructions, the HR coordinator who is transparent in his communications to other employees, the receptionist who is always polite with customers and suppliers, the director of operations who sets aside a substantial budget for health and safety, are all examples of behaviours you should encourage.
Why not include a section on your values in your recruitment process? You could then target early candidates that fit perfectly with your organizational culture, before you even review their diplomas. Technical skills can be acquired, but it is much harder to adopt behavioural skills.
By looking for employees with values resembling your own, just like you do in friendship or love, you will recruit people who will feel good in the company. These people will be much more likely to rally to the success of your company, as they will feel they are members of its community.
Also promote employees who are the best spokespeople for your values, and who, of course, also possess relational skills. These gems will become your champion trainers! Remember that senior management must always lead by example by not only acting according to your values, but by being guardians of these sacred values.
When the culture is well rooted and respected, it becomes an entity in itself that will be more and more autonomous. It will become so strong that employees who don’t subscribe to it will prefer to leave, following pressure from the environment, or simply to look for another job that better sits their profile, where they will be happy and appreciated.
If you want to reach an additional level, think about linking your values to performance evaluations to recognize behaviours that spread the culture, and to point out employees who are counter-culture. And why not take a step further and associate part of your pay system with these evaluations?
This is a long battle, requiring many years of commitment, punctuated with memorable actions that reinforce the key values and messages. Our team wants to assist you in this great and wonderful challenge by customizing an experiential training for you that will let your employees discover, but mainly experience the values that make up your DNA. In this way, your employees will be forever steeped in your values and will instinctively refer to them at any time they need to make a decision.