Why Continuous Learning Matters
When you’re a small business, staying one step ahead of the competition is essential. Yet, many small business owners grapple with the decision to invest in employee training and development. With limited resources and immediate financial pressures, it can unintentionally get pushed to the bottom of the priority list. However, investing in your team’s learning and development is a strategic move that can yield significant returns.
Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, famously said, “A business’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.” For small business owners, creating an environment of continuous learning is essential for maintaining competitiveness and ensuring long-term success.
It’s natural to hesitate about investing in training. It can be expensive, and with tight budgets, it’s often seen as a luxury rather than a necessity. Training rarely seems urgent, which can mean that businesses focus on essential, government-mandated training that do have a specific deadline or requirement.
Another perhaps less spoken about view is why change something that’s already working well, or where staff are generally satisfied with what you offer them? And what if you spend money on training and development, only for them to leave? It’s a risk, especially in sectors with low margins and a perception of high turnover like food and beverage, and retail. Because even when training is ‘free,’ it comes with the cost of paying your team for their time, and that’s not time spent working in your business.
However, survey after survey finds that employees consistently cite not feeling valued by their manager and business as a top reason for leaving, far above the desire for a better job or higher pay. Investing in their growth is a powerful way to show your team that you care about them. Richard Branson captures this sentiment well, saying, “Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t want to.”
In fact, the cost of replacing a team member who leaves is significantly higher than investing in their development. Hiring and training new staff can be lengthy, time-consuming, and costly, often far exceeding the cost of investing in your current team’s learning.
But what if the worst happens, and they do leave? Many great leaders share that seeing team members develop and move on to the next step in their careers can be one of the most rewarding experiences as a leader, provided they leave for the right reasons.
While any turnover presents challenges, particularly the difficulty of finding good staff in a small market, it also brings significant benefits. It avoids stagnation, boredom, and mediocrity in your people and, in turn, your business. Having someone eager and willing to learn in your team for two years, who then moves on to bigger things, is arguably far better than having someone mediocre stay for ten years. It keeps the team on its toes and fosters a culture of continuous learning and growth. Without learning, growth, and change, businesses stagnate.
Given the pace of the world around us, small businesses cannot rely solely on the owner to introduce new ideas and innovations. The entire team needs to be engaged in this process to keep the business fresh.
The wonderful thing about our community in Gibraltar is that if all businesses invested in continuously upskilling their teams, the entire talent pool becomes enriched. People moving from business to business bring new skills, perspectives, and energy, benefiting the whole ecosystem. Developing a reputation as a business that values professional growth and truly cares about its team could be a key differentiator, helping you attract the best people to work for you.
One challenge to acknowledge is the misconception that learning only happens in formal settings, such as training courses. In reality, learning should and can be an ongoing, everyday activity. Training courses can be high-cost and often require a full or half day out of work. However, learning doesn’t have to be expensive, nor be something that happens once or twice a year. We can learn every day through podcasts, YouTube videos, and even reading a magazine like Thrive to pick up tips. Many of us scroll through Instagram, where experts in every field share their knowledge in bite-sized pieces. Sharing these micro-insights with others in the business and applying them to our work creates a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
This is useful because many of us learn by doing, implementing, and refining. In fact, learning theory reinforces that individuals tend to learn 70% of what they do at work through practical experiences, 20% by learning from others, and just 10% from dedicated training sessions. As a business owner, encouraging your team to experiment with what they read, listen to, and watch, and then putting that learning into practice, will enhance the entire team’s growth – as well as being more cost and time-effective than a once a year day-long training course.
Creating a culture of learning can start small. By encouraging your team to incorporate new insights into your business, you keep your people motivated and your business fresh. The benefits of investing in your team’s development far outweigh the downsides. Continuous learning is essential for staying competitive and ensuring long-term success.
And by nurturing and investing in your team, you not only improve their skills and job satisfaction but also drive innovation and growth for your business.
The question is not whether you can afford to invest in your team’s development, but whether you can afford not to.
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