Individuals should strive to improve their skills
because that is the only way we grow as a person. Imagine if you stopped
learning as a high school or college graduate. Your skills, though
current when you graduated, would not be supplemented by real world
experience. You would not keep up with new technology, or the latest
within your industry.
As children, we learned to speak,
walk, learn to play a musical instrument or to hit and catch a ball. As
we grow older, our continued learning continues, just the topics we
learn change as we do.
People who resist learning new things
often find themselves with limited career advancement opportunities or
find it impossible to find a new or better job with their outdated
skills.
By continually updating our skills on
a daily basis, we can build skill upon skill and form a solid framework
on which to build. Rather than trying to learn something all at once, it
is better to continually look for ways to improve the skills you have,
and to learn new skills as they are developed. Learning in life should
not be like cramming for a final exam.
Rather, it should be treated like a
continual journey that never really ends. The journey will be as
interesting or as rewarding as we make it. You owe it to yourself, and
those around you, to make the best out of what you have to offer.
Keep one thing in mind: Regrets are
hard to swallow sometimes. Some opportunities come along just once in a
lifetime. Make sure you do the best to prepare yourself so that you are
ready. It is one thing to lose an opportunity to someone else because
they are more qualified. It is another matter when you lose because you
didn't make the effort earlier. The first case we learn from our
mistakes and move on. The other case we live with the regret that may
never go away.
It's your choice. Make the right one. |
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Your employees are like "ambassadors"
for your business. They interact with your customers on a daily basis.
They address their needs, solve their problems, and try to develop
relationships that will last over time.
Just like you would not expect a
technician to repair a product without being trained on how it works,
you should not expect an employee to instinctively know how to interact
with customers.
Studies have shown that it is up to 10
times more expensive to get a new customer than it is to keep an
existing one! That is an astonishing fact that should not be overlooked!
In business we strive to make as much
profit as possible without sacrificing quality or service. We put
resources into research and development, machinery and warehouses. We
develop marketing plans and advertising campaigns.
Everything we do is geared into
getting people to buy from our company. After all this time, effort, and
expense, does it make sense to turn these prospective customer over to
employees that are given no guidance in how you want
these customers treated?
Of course not! This is your business!
It is your responsibility to provide each and every employee with all
the skills they need to properly do their job. This may mean technical
skills, accounting skills, or whatever specific skills that are needed
for a certain position. It is important, however, that we do not forget
that the single most important skills set that a person can have is the
skills used to interact with others.
Without these skills everything else
falls apart. Without these skills, customers may go elsewhere. Existing
customers may feel their needs are not being addressed. Problems may go
unresolved or un-noticed.
This clearly is not a recipe for
success but rather a blueprint for sure failure. |
