Whether you want to increase skill retention in your employees or yourself, the secret is the same – periodic repetition of the basics. Wouldn’t it be nice if you trained your people once and they retained important business skills forever.? Well, a high level of performance requires some maintenance.
I remember once when a store manager proudly told me, “We don’t need customer service training – we had that four years ago.” (As a customer, I can tell you that they did need to refresh those skills!)
Leaders and teams respond well to ongoing development.
Leaders and teams respond well to ongoing development. It gives them the opportunity to refocus and refine their skills And it will increase skill retention. As a leader, you can demonstrate the importance of maintaining a high-performance level by developing your own leadership skills. Your teams will work together more productively if they keep their communication and teamwork skills honed. And your customers will notice the high level of sales and customer service they get from your skilled workforce.
Studies (such as those by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus) show that if you learn a skill today, by tomorrow you’ve forgotten most of it. If tomorrow you relearn it, it will take a week before you forget. If you relearn the skill in a week, it will then take you almost a month to lose it. The more you refresh your skills, the longer you retain them. That’s why workforce development helps your business thrive.
- Top off your service skills so they are fresh when you need them.
- Stay current on your leadership skills because you need them every day.
- Practice effective communication techniques, so they’re top-of-mind.
- Refresh your team by engaging in new techniques to improve relationships.
- Review conflict resolution skills – they always come in handy.
Maintaining a high level of service is not a one-and-done proposition. Keep those business skills current. You, and your team, won’t have time to stop and think about them when you’re on the fly. You haven’t peaked yet!
Get more performance out of your most valuable and expensive business assets – your people. Contact me to find out how.
