Our clients are always teaching us about game-changing behaviours. During the first quarter of 2016, I focused on the disciplines of some businesses and how this helps them to grow and achieve more than their competitors.
I recognized that most of the top companies possess effective and highly functioning professional teams with the right skills, experiences, and styles. These companies also consistently performed strategic planning activities yet remained flexible to adapt to changing market conditions.
However my most substantial learning came through observing their abilities to build on existing competitive advantages and diversify product or service offerings. It’s through these disciplines that businesses can grow to their potential and provide their customers or clients with a consistent, superior offering that builds trust and encourages repeat engagement.
Related Blog: The Factors Most Relevant to Predicting Performance – Evaluating the emotional quotient (EQ) of a potential employee can be even more important than evaluating their intelligence quotient (IQ). Discover tools to recruit qualified employees that fit in your organization’s culture.
Top Performing Businesses Instill Discipline through Continuous Improvement
My most valuable insight seeks to identify how businesses accomplish this. As you would expect, their success is defined and measured based on financial data and other ‘hard evidence’. However, the brilliance of these organizations is displayed through their ability to instill financial and operational disciplines through every level of the business.
It was surprising to me how focusing on these disciplines had driven a ‘state of order’ in all aspects of organizational excellence; not just financial and other hard performance metrics, but in all activities that the business performed. Empowering team members enables them to address data requirements, removes frustration and rework, and solves repetitive issues and problems caused by poor workflow.
When team members are able to deliver value to their workflow, they control how they deliver profitable growth for the company. As I observed these business cultures, I considered how the same principles could improve ongoing projects happening within my own organization.
How Mentor Works’ Recently Used These Tactics
At Mentor Works, these same principles were experienced as we upgraded to a new CRM/OPS system. My learnings were to:
- Never ignore the workflow and process management gains that should be made;
- Pay attention and solve the waste for life satisfaction and balance; and
- Create internal conditions that make it easier for team members to excel in their position, including providing them with a sense of accomplishment for a job well done.
Discipline is a Behaviour That Employees Can Learn
Let’s not forget that discipline is not a genetic trait. In my experience, discipline is a trained behaviour that presents itself in our work and recreational activities. Fortunately for businesses, there has been no better time to invest in professional development to attract and retain top talent in our organizations.
If your business could benefit from Canadian government grants to implement hiring and training initiatives, consider the small business funding opportunities listed below. Taking this first step, businesses can instill greater discipline and skill within their employees.
Canadian Government Grants for Hiring and Training Employees
Recruit Recent Graduates with Hiring Grants
When instilling financial and operational disciplines within your team, hiring a recent post-secondary graduate may be a great opportunity. Recent graduates are relatively easy to train, and you can ensure that they have not developed poor disciplines from other companies.
A variety of hiring grants will offset up to 50% of a recent graduate’s wages for up to a year of employment. With this Canadian government funding, businesses will be able to recruit and train young employees with less financial impact during the onboarding process.
Develop Employees’ Skills with Government Funded Training Programs
Additionally, Canadian small business funding can help train your workforce. Government funding for training programs, such as the Canada-Ontario Job Grant (COJG), enable businesses to receive up to 66% of training costs to upgrade their employees’ skills.
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