Member Article

Increase skills and drive business

By Suzanne McCreedy of Business Link

All great teams have a relentless desire to improve and attain ever increasing standards in their quest for success. A fear of failure, lack of dynamism or overriding sense of complacency often prevents businesses from achieving their potential. As we face the economic downturn, there has never been a greater incentive to enhance your skills and create a winning formula.

At Business Link we recognise that the primary skill an owner or director needs is leadership. You can give leadership to your staff in many different ways. Involving them in decision-making, giving personal encouragement, recognising and rewarding good performance and inspiring them with a vision for success are just a few examples of how to get the best out of your team.

For further information on leadership and where to access leadership courses visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/northeast and go to the skills and training for directors and owners section.

Developing the skills of your workforce is key to boosting productivity, competitiveness, morale and profit. Training should be invested in on an ongoing basis and not just as an occasional novelty.

It is important to assess your existing talents and the gaps in your skills base. This is essential to understanding what areas you need to develop.

A formal development review process is the best way to keep track of the skills and training possessed by staff at all levels in your business. It also allows you to draw up skills-development plans which marry the needs of your business with the personal goals of your employees. Utilising your staff’s full range of skills and deploying them in a suitable role is good for productivity and moral.

A training needs analysis (TNA) can help you assess the gap between the skills you have and the skills you need.

An improved awareness of your strengths and weaknesses will leave you in a better position to identify and tackle the challenges you face. Give your staff the leadership they need and the substantial Business Link team of expert brokers will be there to support you every step of the way.

For further information about Business Link and how our team can help you to meet all your business needs visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/northeast or call 0845 600 9 006.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by BENE .