Investment in skills
Paul Healy, chief executive of Skillnets, outlines how the skills of the owner-manager are central to the challenge of future-proofing businesses
The most recent Competitiveness Scorecard for Ireland released by the National Competitiveness Council noted that facilitating workplace innovation and delivering an uplift in management skills is vital for our competitiveness. Leadership, complex problem solving, collaboration and innovation are particularly prized.
It is widely understood that engaging in management development creates a powerful multiplier effect – leaders who undergo training themselves are significantly more likely to invest in the long-term development of their business and of their people.
Most Irish businesses recognise the value of lifelong learning and skills development, but in practice, investing in the training of staff is often not prioritised and perhaps even viewed as a luxury.
From our interactions with owner managers, we can see that they operate in work environments with rich opportunities for learning. However, we also know that they are faced with a multitude of competing priorities on a daily basis.
We understand the pressures on owner managers in terms of taking some time to work on their business rather than simply continuing to work hard in their business. Additionally, the lack of peer support and guidance can be a significant deterrent to owner-managers to seeking out available practical options.
First of all, we recommend that business owners conduct a skills audit in their company. This simple task of assessing what skills your company has, needs, and will need in the future can provide valuable insights into where you must look to for up-skilling. Finding and solving these gaps will have quick and tangible results for your bottom line and will stand you in good stead as you face the exceptional pace of change in the evolving world of work.
Secondly, we would encourage business owners to avail of all the supports available. A great place to start is to engage with Skillnets. We can provide you with access to heavily subsidised training and, importantly, a facility to work with peer companies through our 67 business networks.
Through these networks, businesses can work with other companies in terms of solving the serious skills challenges facing any particular sector or region of the economy. Courses are designed with the input of SME firms, which keeps them grounded in the reality of day-to-day
business and process challenges.
Our bespoke management development initiative (Management Works) continues to develop the leadership skills of Irish SMEs through a suite of targeted programmes developed and designed for smaller and medium businesses.
Companies we work with report seeing both immediate and long-term benefits to training staff. These include a return on investment through increased efficiency of operations, increased competitiveness, enhanced product or service quality, greater staff engagement and retention, and crucially, improvements to the bottom line in the form of increasing turnover and sales.
The return on investment is often at its highest when the owner-manager engages personally and directly in learning programmes as these can drive the most significant and impactful business improvements.
“We understand the pressures on owner managers in terms of taking some time to work on their business rather than simply continuing to work hard in their business”