5 Ways Investing In Your Employees Positively Affects Your Bottomline

In today’s economy, many small businesses are keeping their purse strings tight. However, one place that you don’t want to cut corners is in investing in your employees. Your staff is who runs your business, who enables your business to succeed and grow. They are the business. Investing in the backbone of your business is a top priority, and as employers, we should always be looking for ways to enhance their career experiences with us. If your staff is happy, they will more likely produce well for you, and simply from a personal intrinsic drive to succeed, instead of focusing on how much they hate their jobs.

1. Professional development training keeps your team on top of current trends and cutting edge technology.

One of the things that keeps a business competitive is staying on top of current trends and technology in your industry. Making sure that your staff is continuously proficient in the newest technology or industry procedures allows you to remain highly competitive. Also (and don’t’ be afraid of this, but) it also makes your employees more marketable. Don’t skimp on investing in their profession training for fear they will leave. Guess what? Some employees are going to leave! It’s going to happen. It’s not personal. However, it makes it much more difficult to decide (or want to) leave knowing that you work for a company that will continuously make sure that they are the best of the best, and highly trained in their industry.

2. Investing in your staff creates a sense of loyalty, particularly if your investment adds value to their personal or career development.

I tell my staff “You can take any 5 professional development course you like. You choose”. They may want to be considered for a promotion, and need to improve their management skills. Or maybe there is a new software that would improve their performance in their current position. Taking a class on that software makes them feel more accomplished, more successful, and adds to my bottom line. At our firm we want to create an environment where our employees feel that we care about their growth, both personally and career wise. We want our employees to say either one of two things – 1. I love my company and would never leave. Or 2, I am fully prepared for the next steps in my career, and appreciate my current employer for creating an environment that allowed me to grow, and pushed me to get out of my comfort zone, while making me feel totally supported.

3. Providing great benefits for your staff shows that you are a caring employer, and will make it difficult for other companies to compete with you, and pirate your talented staff.

One of the first things potential employees want to know –  “What are the benefits?” This could be a deal-breaker if a well qualified employee is weighing if he or she should take your offer, or the next. Think of some interesting benefits that you could offer your employees. Think outside the box, like annual complimentary membership at a nearby yoga studio, or a gym membership, or on-site child care. There are many larger companies that provide scholarships for employees continuing their education. You probably provide traditional benefits: health, vision, dental 401k, short and long term disability, etc. However, some small businesses can not afford all of these options. So be creative, negotiate some deals with local businesses or other useful services that you can pass on to your employees.

4. Investing in a pleasant office environment that inspires creativity, focus, and fun can encourage your staff to be more productive and solution oriented.

Don’t you feel more productive working in a beautifully designed environment? So do our employees. Maybe you can’t afford to change your décor or office furniture, but ask yourself “what can I do to make our office more comfortable, more pleasant for our staff”?

5. Investing in the proper tools and technology allows your staff to increase productivity.

Often, when employees do not have the proper tools to do their jobs, they become frustrated and often burn out. This can result in you losing quality staff, as well as the time and training you’ve invested in them. Invest in software, machinery, tools, or technology that will reduce frustration and allow you to enhance efficiency in your operations, create a more productive environment, and deliver a better quality product to your clients. Not only will your products/services improve in quality, you’ll also reduce costs by being more efficient with time and resources.

Again, all of us are in different places regarding discretionary funds to implement some of these investments; but the ROI of investing in your staff is immeasurable. If you can only do one or two things, that’s certainly a great start! Talk to your employees to discover what they value most. At the end of the day, your staff is your most prized investment, so you must invest in them!