After hiring the right people into your company, the next step is to drive these employees to excel in their capabilities by providing adequate resources with the help of your human resource department.

Resources do not necessarily need to be a physical resource like a laptop or stationery. Basically, anything that helps an employee get the job done in the quickest possible way, is a resource.

As such, resources can also mean assigning a mentor to that new hire, providing your employees with general Standard Operating Procedure, or even a training and development plan.

The last thing you want to happen in the company is to hurt your staff retention rates with your top talents are leaving you simply because they cannot work fast enough for you!

How important is it to provide the right resources?

In a study by Wynhurts Group, it was found that employees create an impression about how comfortable they are in the workplace in the first three weeks of working. If we cannot create a good impression by even giving them the the tools they need to work effectively, it is only natural that they would start searching other companies as options. 

1. Mentor

Mentorship can also be seen as a leadership tool. You can give your employees a mentor or access to business leaders who can provide them guidance when it comes to making career decisions and building their career. Even if they are not currently on a mentorship program, you can simply get them to have lunch with that senior executive and observe how he handles certain situations. The feeling of learning how to perform certain tasks from someone who has been there and done that will prove to be very useful for them.

Bonus tip! When implementing mentorship in your company, request the employees to not only learn the information of what the mentor is teaching, but HOW the mentor is teaching it. Doing so helps you double up the mentorship as a long term succession plan in your company as people learn how to teach too.

2. Standard Operating Procedures

Often, Small and Medium Enterprises (especially the smaller ones) tend to frown upon the idea of SOPs because these documents take up a lot of time to write, and are not frequently referenced. What's worse is that the business situation changes too quickly, making business owners think that having SOPs are a waste of time.

However, to run an effective company, you need a well-thought-out procedure. Yes, it does not matter if you are dealing with marketing or accounting; a well-defined standard operating procedure will make the entire process of how you function run smoothly.

We have a client company that has implemented one specific standard operating procedure for every department! They have a requirement checklist to be carried out by all the sales representatives and warehouse managers of the company. And they have quarterly reviews to assess the performance of the respective department's business operations. They have a process in place to evaluate how the employees are performing and strive to upgrade their expertise. In return, the performance of their new joiners are brought up to speed at lighting pace. Also, your business leaders are not held in captivity by those who hog’s knowledge in hopes that they become “irreplaceable” or attain an "iron rice bowl" employment in the company.

What software platforms are there to create SOP?

A SOP do not need to be in a document format. It can be a variation of videos, checklists, or even a software that records the process. For free software platforms, you can consider Trello - a project management tool that shows your task in a 'kanban' style. If you prefer recording your computer's screen to create instructional video, consider OBS Studio.

3. Training and Development Plans

Another way you can push your employees to perform better is by giving them an opportunity to train and improve their skill levels. Sometimes leadership guide, developmental tools or a training and developmental plan would suffice.

But if you want to run a marathon, it is better to invest in specially tailored training and development plans. By providing your employees the training and development plan and the subsequent employee trainings, you are also making it clear to your employees that you are willing to invest in their development and thus encouraging them to get the best out of themselves.

You can also encourage them to bring their training schedules to the office or send it to the employees in their email address or messaging app. It can be a powerful motivator for your staff and they will love receiving their training schedule on a regular basis, instead waiting to be informed together with the rest of the company.

For ideas on training and development courses, you can visit SkillsFuture Singapore website.