EMPLOYEE TRAINING: Nothing to Prove, Nothing to Lose, Nothing to Hide

 
As Leaders of a Team, an Organization, a Company we must consider these three thoughts, nothing to Prove, Nothing to Lose, Nothing to Hide. My Mom often said, “Have a good time and behave as if I was there.” Phillips, Craig and Dean wrote the following lyrics in their song “Nothing to Prove.”

“You taught me how to ride a bike
Tie my shoes and fly a plane
How to swim and how to fish
To see a star and make a wish

Said it’s ok to make mistakes
Just don’t get stuck in yesterday
Forgive, forget and move ahead
‘Cause life is what you’re livin’ in

Sayin’ live with no excuses
Love with no regrets
Laugh a lot and leave this life
With nothing left unsaid
Make this world a better place
Don’t be afraid to cry
When it’s finally time to say goodbye
There’s nothin’ to prove, nothin’ to lose, nothin’ to hide”

Leaders train. Do you remember in Crimson Tide when Denzel Washington’s Character gives the Captain the missile drill results? The Captain asks,

“Is this the best they can do? Well train on it! Tell your buddy Weps, we are going to do it over and over till it’s less than 5 minutes.”

Training is a key to success. A recent article by a Navy Seal Team Commander offered this thought; Survival is not about who’s the strongest or fastest, but who can best adapt to change. Navy SEALs are masters of adaptation, being able to operate in jungle, desert, or arctic conditions. In comparison, CEOs must adapt to the ever-changing market conditions they face daily and should train their staff to do the same. Study Darwin and Sun Tzu. “If your enemy is superior, evade him. If angry, irritate him. If equally matched, fight and if not: split and re-evaluate.”

Part of the challenge with training is to get started.  A recent blog by C. Kirkwood listed these training positives.

Developing Employee Potential

• Helping existing employees grow in their abilities benefits a company’s ability to perform. Without fostering employee growth, a company can become stagnate and lose the ability to separate itself from competitive companies. Employees will also be unprepared for upward movement in the company, which can lead to failing at promotions or disenfranchisement over the lack of career advancement.

An investment in education always pays the highest returns. — Ben Franklin

• Managing the workforce is more than encouraging high performers. The low performing individuals can spread negativity regarding the organization, potentially infecting others and bringing down the potential of an entire office. Without proper performance management, employees may not meet goals in a timely manner and cause office-wide progress to slow, which can lead to higher than necessary terminations and new hire training costs.

What’s worse than training your workers and losing them? Not training them and keeping them. —Zig Ziglar, success speaker

• High potential employees are those who demonstrate an ability to contribute at a greater level. Identifying these individuals, especially the high potentials who, for whatever reason, are not high performing employees, is vital to HR’s success in getting the best contributions from the workforce. In a company whose product base involves employee performance, such as sales, allowing high potential employees to perform under their potential constitutes a monetary loss. Managers should use assessment tools including maintaining a high level of competence, consisting tangible results that exceed expectations and ensuring the completion of team goals to identify high potential employees.

Engaging People

• Disengaged employees represent a distinct challenge to workforce productivity which can be costly for any company. Keeping employees engaged in their jobs means keeping them comfortable in their positions, respected and engaged in furthering their own personal goals as well as the company’s goals. Happy, engaged employees are more likely to have a personal stake in the company’s progress, which, in turn, can lead to higher production, sales, or a better bottom line.

The proverb says “practice makes perfect”. Practice is training. Repetition is training. Leaders train.