Preparing Your Business For The Learning & Growth Perspective

The aspect of the Balanced Scorecard that often gets overlooked is the Learning & Growth perspective. It is so easy to leave growing your business or expanding your knowledge until last, or just put it off another day. But, eventually the day will come where your competitors have kept on top of their learning and growth perspective and will exceed the service or product you offer.

So what goals can you set to make sure that you stay ahead of the game and offer the best service to your customers?

Training

Set a training plan every year featuring both paid and free courses. As new members of staff join your team, ask them about what they might like to learn that would help them in their job role. Organisations such as Business Link and local councils often put on basic business courses for free that can be very beneficial to new members of staff, and even for experienced team members.

Further to learning more about the industry you’re in, it’s really important to stay ahead of technological advances and software options that are available to you. This could be something as simple as learning your way around Office 2010 or investigating into options that can help your internal processes run smoothly – affecting the Internal Business Perspective as well.

Newsletters and magazines

A really simple way to keep up to date is to subscribe to an industry related magazine. For example, if you are in the accounting industry, there are several accountancy specific magazines that can be delivered monthly. They will help you stay aware of developments, trends and upcoming changes that you may need to prepare for.

Blogs

Further to newsletters and magazines, you can now find a multitude of informational blogs online. Set up an RSS feed to your iGoogle homepage or other RSS reader and make time once a week to skim through the top stories. This is free and should not be overlooked.

Review

Every quarter, consider what you have learned, and what needs to be covered. In your staff appraisal or reviews, ask what members of your team feel they need help with. Also, by asking where your staff want to take their careers in your business, you may be able to identify courses that will benefit them.

In an ever changing world, your business needs to be able to adapt. The simple steps above are just the basics of staying ahead. Make sure you invest the time to be able to keep up.

This post is in: Balanced Scorecard