Why Investing Time in Employees Pays Off

If you own or manage a business, you already know there are plenty of demands on your time. In fact, sometimes it’s hard to know which fire is the biggest and should be put out first.

But aside from those things that have to be done immediately, there are still lots of other important details. With so much going on it’s hard to take the time to train other people who may work for you.

Nevertheless, this too is an important detail that you shouldn’t neglect. In fact, there are lots of reasons investing time in employees pays off.

Decreases Stress

Although training new employees takes time, investing time in them in this way is important. After all, how are they going to help you if they are unsure what to do?

The thing to remember is that once they’re trained it will decrease your stress. If possible, give them some tasks you would normally do. That way you’ll be able to relax a bit and feel less pressured.

Frees Up Time

When you invest time in employees it pays off in other ways as well. For instance, as mentioned above, you can give them some of your workload.

By reducing projects on your own list you’ll be able to tackle other things your employees can’t do. This will make your whole business run more efficiently and productively.

Supports Your Team

If you have more than one employee in your business, it’s important for them to know you support them. Working with them as a boss and also part of the team shows that support and improves moral. To put it another way, you’ll need to invest time in them so they know you have their backs.

Provides Employee Growth

One of the big ways it pays off to invest time in employees is through employee growth. When you spend time training and teaching staff, they’ll learn and improve their knowledge and skills.

As they learn and grow in their careers they will be able to do more things for you. If you train them well they should be able to run the business even if you are absent for a while.

A side benefit of investing time in employees is that you may grow and learn from them as well. No one person knows everything, so be open to your own growth as you help them learn and grow too. Your business relationships will be stronger for it.

Encourages Employee Cross-training

Good business owners and managers don’t fear having others know the things they know. They will probably even encourage it. One way to do that is by providing employee cross-training.

Obviously, cross-training staff members takes an investment of your time. However, as employees will be able to cover each other, and you, during absences, it will pay off.

Your business will run smoother and customers won’t experience coverage gaps. Furthermore, staff work schedules will be more flexible. Your employees will be more satisfied because they will be able to help each other in times of need.

A cross-trained employee can complete the work of another when they have the knowledge to do so. That ensures important projects get completed with little to no interruption.

Increases Employee Retention

Another benefit of spending time with your employees is increased employee retention. When you get to know your employees, they will feel that you genuinely care about them.

Find out what changes you can make in their work environment that will make working there better. For example, is the temperature ok? Do they need fans or does the thermostat need adjusting?

Sometimes employees leave simply because they feel management doesn’t care of value them. When they are not treated well, they find employment elsewhere so they can feel appreciated. Believe it or not, you may be able to avoid that simply by treating them well and investing time in them.

Allows for Time Off

Everyone needs time off work now and then, even managers and business owners. That’s another reason investing time in employees pays off. Taking the time to train them may give you a way to take needed time off.

While you are training other staff members, don’t take on new projects if you can help it. You can also block time on your calendar for training so nothing else gets scheduled there. Then you can focus as much time and energy as possible on training your employees.

Let them ask as many questions as needed and provide clear explanations of why things are done a certain way. Try to avoid interruptions.

Additionally, remember everyone works at a different speed. Some employees only need a day or two of training while others may require a week or more.

Provide instructional and reference materials if you can and let your back up fill in occasionally to stay sharp. Always make sure they are aware of procedure changes that could affect their work.

Taking such measures as you train employees will pay off. You just need to put in the required time and you’ll be able to schedule time off on your calendar worry free.

Prevents Burnout

Employee burnout is a very real phenomenon that can happen to workers over time. Fortunately, there are a couple of different ways investing time in employees pays off by preventing burnout.

First, as mentioned above, training other staff to back you up lets you take time off. So, in this way, investing time in employees prevents your own work burnout.

But a second way it prevents burnout is by helping you recognizing the signs in your staff.  If they are constantly exhausted, running behind, and procrastinating, these are a few of the signs to watch for.

You may not notice the signs of worker burnout, though, if you are not close to your employees. Some of the signs may escape your notice if you are not paying attention to your employees.

Still, once you do see it you can redistribute some of the workload to others, if needed. Or, hire and train additional help to take on some of the tasks.

Reduces Illnesses

Burnout isn’t the only consequence of not investing time in employees. Illnesses could be another. When they take on too much they can get worn down and become ill more frequently. That’s why it pays off to invest time in them so you notice frequent sicknesses.

Improves Customer Service

If you’ve invested time training employees well, they’ll have good customer service skills as a result. That is a bonus for you because it will help you keep customers and even increase your business.

Many customers who receive bad customer service never come back. But in addition, many do further damage to your business by telling lots of other people about their bad experience.

You can prevent that by training staff on how you want your business to be represented. Obviously that will take time. But in the end you’ll not only keep your customers, you may gain many new ones.

Increase Business Profits

Along with increasing customer service, you may also increase business profits by spending time with your workers. Friendly, helpful customer service reps will provide solutions and suggestions to patrons.

This helps your customers and, at the same time, can increase your business profits.

It’s certainly true that there’s much to do when you run a business. Investing time in employees may seem less important than some of the other things. However, as you can see, it is important and it pays off in many ways.