Get your best staff involved in training

In today's flexible job market, workers move between jobs with increasing regularity, changing roles and even vocations in the pursuit of new challenges and fresh opportunities.

This can pose a problem for small businesses that can ill afford to lose key members of staff.

Involving key staff in training can boost their sense of worth within the organisation, and may increase their commitment to the company.

It can also serve to inspire others, as they see positive contributions being acknowledged and rewarded.

Avoiding over-dependency

At the same time, involving your best staff in training also ensures that they impart their skills and knowledge to others.

As the trainees start to acquire some of the knowledge and skills of the star employee, you gradually lessen your dependence on a few key staff members and as a result boost your overall, long-term productivity.

So if your star employee does decide to move on to pastures new, other staff will be able to step into their shoes.

Evaluate your training needs

Training its staff in new skills not only can make a firm more efficient, it can also have the equally beneficial, morale-boosting effect of creating workers who are motivated and clear-eyed about their role.

Set up a training programme

Skills are precious commodities in a world where knowledge - knowing how to exploit technology, knowing how to adapt to change - is increasingly the difference between achievement and underperformance.