CAPITAL IDEAS UPCOMING EVENTS NOVEMBER 9: THE WORKPLACE COMMUNITY 2015-2020 Join Lorne Rubis as he shares insights on today’s workplace and where we’re headed. ■■ Where: EPL-Stanley A. Milner theatre (7 Sir Winston Churchill Square) ■■ When: 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. ■■ Admission: $25. Details at epl.ca/speakerseries
COMMUNITY QUESTION
WHAT TRAINING STRATEGIES HAVE WORKED BEST FOR YOU? Entrepreneurs talk about how to find time, and the right tools, to train and teach “The internet has been a great benefit to connecting entrepreneurs, even in the training sphere. Review Meetup and LinkedIn because they have some great stuff. And YouTube has training .” schulerlaw.ca
NOVEMBER 16: BREAKFAST WITH GOOGLE: MICRO MOMENTS & CONSUMER JOURNEY Adster Creative and the Google Partners team are talking about customers going to the mobile web. ■■ Where: Startup Edmonton, Mercer Warehouse (10359 104 St.) ■■ When: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m ■■ Admission: Free. Details at adster.ca/events
Laura M. Schuler, general counsel at Schuler Law Group,
“Because I’m just starting my business, I’ve had to train myself in the skills I don’t already have. Luckily, Edmonton has a wide variety of opportunities for business owners to acquire the skills they need, many of which are listed in the Capital Ideas newsletter. Peer-to-peer support is also huge; if I put out an SOS, it usually gets answered. And when all else fails, especially with technical things, Google it. I’m so grateful to the people who post tutorials for the technology I’m learning along the way.” Karen Unland, founder of Seen and Heard in Edmonton, seenandheardyeg.com
“I think that training is something that needs to be built around the needs of the one that you are training. One of the most effective methods I have found is job shadowing. When the person has opportunities to observe, interact, ask questions and then debrief after, that works well.”
For more great events, visit capitalideasedmonton.com/ edmontonevents.
Earl Shindruk, president of Optimax Benefits, optimaxbenefits.ca
“Having checklists, written policies, and templates will generally increase the effectiveness and reduce the time required to train new staff. We also find having scheduled one-on-one and group meetings, where employees can review their questions, helps fill in the missing pieces.”
C A P I TA L QUESTION
How do you maintain motivation in your staff?
Ronda Nedelec, partner and vice-president of new business for Zag Creative (zagcreative.ca), believes a combination of experience and documented process is key. “Visually demonstrate what needs to be done, then go ahead and give it a go. Additionally, provide documentation outlining this new process to ensure a step doesn’t get missed. Using a combination of the senses with both the eyes and ears plus practice seems to increases the overall success rates to having things really stick.” P H O TO S U P P L I E D BY: RO NDA N E D E LE C
“Be open. There are many different ways to train, support and mentor your team members and it is important to remember that everyone learns in different ways. Be a coach, work alongside them and you might learn something along the way as well.”
Mahalia Coniah, program manager at AdaptAbilities, adaptabilities.ca
As most business owners know, a real key to success is keeping staff members inspired and engaged in order to increase productivity and spark innovation. That’s got Wellington Holbrook, executive vice-president of ATB Business, interested to hear your best advice: How do you maintain motivation in your staff? You can answer the question in two ways: Open today’s Capital Ideas email if you’re a member or visit capitalideasedmonton.com. We’ll publish the best answers, along with your business name and website address, on November 12.
“When establishing performance goals and expectations with employees, always place the accountability for the outcome of these expectations with the employee. This is an effective way to ensure employees buy into the performance goals and expectations and more importantly, because they are held accountable for the outcome, to help ensure the goals are achieved.” Lynne Heffel, president and founder of HR Works Inc., myhrworks.com
Josh Spurrell, president of Spurrell & Associates Chartered Professional Accountants, spurrell.ca
“Getting them involved! It’s okay to be unsure but being engaged allows for real life skill development, the building of confidence and success!” Chelsea Krupa, owner of Rehab and Retreat, rehabandretreat.com
“As there are no schools, training or otherwise for our industry we rely on a mentorship training. Our mentor and trainer has 20 years of experience not only in limousines but also in the service industry. He will take his trainees on a step-by-step development from driving, appearance, customer service and what is required by our company policy. He will also clarify the rules and regulations pertaining to our industry. It is quite labor-intensive and thorough and we have had a 100% per cent success rate with this type of training.” Suzan Burtic, president of Legends Limousine, legendslimousine.ca
“I have found success with traditional training concepts. Explain the product and service attributes, explain the process we follow, roleplay the situation and then demonstrate it in a live setting followed by the trainee trying it in a live setting. Follow up with two-way discussion on progress throughout the training.” Bill Dowbiggin, strategic partner at Corporate Solutions Canada, CorporateSolutionsCanada.com
These answers are in response to a question posed by Patrick Binns, president of Abinsi Solutions Group. To find out more about the work Abinsi does to help organizations reach their full potential by shaping attitudes, defining goals, developing operational assets and controlling operational processes visit their website; abinsi.ca If you have a question to ask of other business owners for their advice and experience you can do so at capitalideasedmonton.com/ask
R O U N D U P : R E C E N T P O S T S F R O M C A P I TA L I D E A S M E M B E R S
Business owners helping business owners
JOIN US!
✔ Get expert advice on your biggest challenges
✔ Share insights with entrepreneurs like you
✔ Appear in the Edmonton Journal
S I G N U P AT : capitalideasedmonton.com
Find the full posts on these members’ LinkedIn profiles. We’ll curate a selection every Friday in our LinkedIn group, Capital Ideas Alberta. To bring yours to our attention, email it to hello@capitalideasedmonton.com or post to LinkedIn with the hashtag #capitalideas.
From “Small business week” by Kevin MacDonald, business consultant at L6S Business Consulting Inc ( l6sbc.ca):
“Small business week is a great opportunity to network and add some skills to your tool kit, but what about the other 51 weeks of the year? During the rest of the year, continue to nurture the relationships that have been conceived this week.”
From “Ignoring your financial statements: One of the worst things you can do to your business” by Alexandra Kulas, programs facilitator at Alberta Women Entrepreneurs (awebusiness.com):
From “Measuring for results: Three key principles” by Marie Gervais, CEO of Shift Management Inc. (shiftworkplace.com):
“We all know it is important to measure for re“Financials can be a sults, but often we don’t scary and intimidating know what to measure word for business ownor how to interpret the ers, but the worst thing you can do is avoid them. metrics. Another issue is knowing what to Understanding your fido – how to change our nancial statements can behaviour – based on the improve decision makmetrics.” ing, decrease risk, and better your company’s operations on a day to day basis.”
Join our LinkedIn group: Capital Ideas Alberta • Follow us on Twitter: @capitalideasyeg