FEATURED POST OF THE WEEK

Our long-form article of the week. You can always view the current and past featured posts on Empower’s blog.

It’s time to invest in taking your team to the next level

It’s hard to believe, but next week marks the beginning of the last quarter of the year. If you haven’t started, you’ll likely soon begin 2025 planning — reviewing 2024 performance, refining key 2025 objectives, evaluating resources and defining success for the coming year.

As part of your planning efforts, think about opportunities for your team’s professional development. Upskilling sometimes gets overlooked, but recent reports and ongoing trends highlight the value of investing in your workforce.

Compelling stats and macro factors

While upskilling employees is not the only factor contributing to talent retention, engagement and overall business success, several recent studies stress the need to focus on continuous development. Macro trends also reinforce the need to make this a priority.

The facts:

• The 2023 Future of Jobs report by the World Economic Forum found that 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted by 2024.

• A 2021 report by McKinsey revealed that 87% of companies surveyed expected to experience skills gaps within their organizations over the next few years (so, right about now).

• In 2022, stats from Lorman showed 70% of employees would be somewhat likely to leave their job for a company that invested more heavily in training and development.

• Hiring externally or replacing staff is often more costly than developing an employee from within.

The macro factors:

• Small business challenges attracting and retaining top talent.

• Inflation has driven significant increases in labor costs.

• Technological advances, particularly with AI and automation, will continue to leave businesses behind that fail to adapt.

How to prioritize learning and development initiatives

• Set a clear strategy and objectives: Knowing where you’re headed and how you deliver differentiated value helps you better understand the most pressing skills gaps that need to be addressed.

• Identify the most important skills requirements and gaps: What skills are essential to delivering on your objectives? What gaps exist on your team? Once you’ve established the cracks and single points of failure, you’ll be able to focus on where to make upskilling investments.

• Maximize ROI: Develop your team’s skills in the areas that will yield the highest return for your business. For example, training in relevant applications of AI may yield more results than providing more people exposure to how your point-of-sale (POS) platform works. Or vice versa. Bottom line: make sure you’re investing in what makes the most sense for your business.

• Balance next year’s needs with longer-term trends: Don’t just get lost in the short term. Be sure to factor in long-term industry trends that could shape your business’s future.

What’s the connection? Addressing skills gaps and overall business operations.

I often write about the importance of talent and building strong teams in this newsletter. You may wonder why since Empower’s core focus is streamlining operations; not HR.

Here’s why it’s relevant: people and processes are deeply connected. Both are essential to run a successful operation, and they must complement one another.

Investing in upskilling your team can positively impact operations by:

• Increasing productivity.

• Enhancing creativity and problem-solving.

• Reducing turnover costs.

• Having a more versatile and adaptable workforce.

• Strengthening competitive advantage.

Still unsure?

Try committing to developing your talent next year and establish metrics for success, such as:

• Output per employee.

• Year-over-year change in company goal achievement.

• Year-over-year change in individual employee performance.

• Reduction in recruiting costs.

• Change in on-time delivery.

Then, report back on your performance.

WEEKLY DOSE OF EMPOWERMENT

The weekly dose of Empowerment is meant to provide one weekly tip that’s both practical and approachable, to help drive incremental improvement to your day-to-day. We’re always open to your contributions as well. If you would like to submit a tip to be shared with the Empower community in a future newsletter, please reach out at [email protected] with the subject line “Weekly Dose of Empowerment Submission.”

ABL: Always be learning

In the spirit of our featured post, this week’s weekly dose of empowerment also centers around development, more specifically becoming a continuous learner.

In Edition 017, I mentioned how I strive to be an avid learner. I believe it’s a crucial element to entrepreneurial success. Expanding your knowledge — both within and outside your area of expertise — will make you more nimble and innovative, among other benefits.

The good news?

Learning doesn’t have to be super formal. You don’t need to go after a new degree or time-intensive certification. Those are great, but not always feasible.

Accelerate your learning today

As always, I encourage starting small. Early wins can create momentum that makes learning more habitual and routine.

Here’s an approach to start:

• Build a learning list: Find a place to keep a running list of topics and skills you want to learn.

• Establish an annual learning goal: Integrate this into your objectives so it gets prioritized.

• Start small: Build manageable learning increments into your weekly calendar and block off the time. For me, this works best on Fridays.

• Find the opportunities and credible sources:

  • Newsletters (like this one 😀)

  • Podcasts

  • Webinars

  • Books

  • Local meetups and communities

  • Business bookclubs

  • Engage in a virtual networking group

  • Online resources like YouTube, Coursera and others for tutorials or courses on specific topics of interest.

JESSICA’S READ, OR LISTEN, PICK OF THE WEEK

A little something that got my gears turning this week and might pique your interest as well!

From the Grit, Grace & Growth podcast: Episode 37 - Implementing Technology for More Efficient Workflows

TL;DR

This week’s listen of the week features yours truly. I recently had the opportunity to chat with Laura Navaquin, entrepreneur and host of Grit, Grace & Growth, about several topics relevant to how growing businesses can approach working technology into their business to drive efficiency and improve how it runs on a day-to-day basis.

We covered a lot of ground, including:

• The genesis of Empower.

• My approach to identifying solutions for operational efficiency (you may recognize a few tips from prior newsletters).

• Challenges I’ve faced with implementation.

• How I stay up-to-speed on tech trends.

• A little perspective on AI.

We had fun recording this episode and I think the conversation will resonate with this community.

If you have a listen, reply to the newsletter and let me know what you think!

JUST FOR FUN

Really, this section is just for fun. Who knows what will be in store each week?

I was recently introduced to a project by Steve Ballmer called Just the Facts. Ballmer launched this series a month ago, in conjunction with his organization USAFacts. He intends to provide unbiased, data-driven information about key issues and concepts facing U.S. citizens.

In an election cycle filled with jargon, I appreciate how Just the Facts tries to make everything easier to understand, while also taking an objective stance. The videos are short and informative. Ballmer lays out the facts and data — you can make up your mind.

Why am I highlighting this in the “Just for Fun” section? Because these videos are an engaging, inclusive, approachable and, yes, even fun, way to learn about issues that affect all of us.

LOOKING FOR MORE EMPOWERMENT?

You’ve worked hard to build your business. Let’s work together to make it last. We want to be your partner in the journey to develop the business that lives into your vision.

There are four primary ways Empower can partner with you to support getting your business to the next level. Click the image below to learn more about our core offerings.

If you’re ready to take the step, reach out to discuss how we can support your goals. 

If you were forwarded this newsletter and enjoyed it, I encourage you to subscribe and join the Empower community.