Lurking through the business groups on Linkedin, I note that small business owners seem to believe there is a dearth of skilled employees ready and willing to take roles in their businesses.  You listen to the news and there is a dearth of jobs available to all these highly skilled wannabe employees!…  So who is accurate?

A strange situation, indeed.

What is your opinion? 

What is your opinion on the type of employees to work with?

Depending on who you prefer to listen and read, people in the E-Myth camp, believe you should take on unskilled, pliable workers and train them to work with you.  Other Business coaches think you should get people that work at the right level for your business or possibly slightly more skilled so that they come ready to go.  There are merits to both ideas.

One thing you cannot dispute however is that for your small business to grow, you need to build a team around you.  Employing staff, having volunteers (usually family or friends) or working with subcontractors is an essential part of remaining in business.

If work/life balance is important to you, then it is best to get rid of any ideas you may have about trying to do it alone, unless this is just a hobby to you.

Now that we have got that out of the way, lets talk about the 3 employees skills you must consider training them in, regardless of the role of the employee within your firm.

Employee Skills 1 – Communication

Excellent people skills are an absolute essential for any member of your team.  In my property management business, my cleaners and property managers are chosen partly because of their ability to make others feel at ease around them.  All businesses have to deal with people in one form or another and also, you as the small business owner have to deal with the member of staff.  Ensuring they can communicate well, is necessary.

Employee Skills 2 – Problem Solver

Do you really want to be called about every little thing that goes on at the business?  Do you really want to be making all the decisions, from the miniscule ones to the gigantic ones?  I think not and if you do want to be called about everything, you may need training on your ego!

Training employees to solve problems themselves where possible will save you time and enable you to keep building your business, instead of spending all the time in world putting out fires.  Train them to look for solutions rather than moan and groan.

This leads me to my final point…

Employee Skills 3 – Being a Creator

Most people in the world live life passively.  They can be victims when faced with any challenge.  They feel life is happening to them rather than being able to change their outcomes by refining their reaction to events.  Having employees that demonstrate this in the workplace is not fun to be around.

They tend to be the whiners and moaners who only see problems.  They show no initiative.

When you take on a new hire, make it a must to ensure they receive training on taking ownership of everything that comes their way.  Help them understand that in your small business, everyone has to play their part and ensure the business keeps running smoothly.  It is pretty surprising the results business owners have when training workshops about creating their workspace rather than just reacting to it are put on for their employees.

Sales go up, customer complaints go down when people are empowered to be fully present at their work.

With the amount of money spent on hiring staff and the disruption that occurs when staff turnover is high, ensuring that you create a great environment by training your staff in these three skills means you are head and shoulders above other employees and are able to attract the right people to work for you.

Deliberately choose to create the right mix of employees, not necessarily by hoping and praying that you picked the right person but by choosing to train them in essential skills that will enable them to become the right person for your team.