Small Business With a New Team in Place?

Practical Advice from Michelle Mook at Pro-Development 

If you’ve recently developed a new team, you’re probably most worried about getting them up to speed so they can do their jobs in the present. But how much time are you spending thinking about retaining the team to secure your future? 

We’ve been chatting with Michelle Mook (Managing Director, Pro Development) who shared her wisdom on developing and retaining an engaged team. 

There is lots of talk at the moment about the challenges in recruiting and retaining staff. What’s the most common reason a business owner asks for your help? 

“The most common reason a business owner asks for our help is when they are losing many of their good people and are starting to feel the struggles around recruitment. Many business owners have no idea of the actual cost associated with losing good people which is worrying. 

Most people tell us that their staff leave for more money, but in most circumstances, this is not the case. People leave because they don’t feel valued, they don’t feel connected to the vision, or they don’t feel like they are being developed. The best time to start working on employee engagement and training is NOW!” 

What would you say are the biggest opportunities to help businesses scale at the moment? 

“People, without a doubt! People are key to any successful business and investing in them will help ensure that businesses become more profitable, productive and efficient. Focusing on employee engagement always sees a rise in customer satisfaction, advocacy and innovation. This is where the opportunities lie.” 

How would you describe the return on investment to a business owner considering investing in their team’s development? 

“Research shows the cost attributed to losing talent can be more than £30,000 per vacant position. In most cases, if a small portion of this was invested into engagement and development activity, it would likely have prevented losing key talent and will more than pay for itself. The employers we see doing the best around retention and also attracting great talent, are those who invest every year in their employee engagement and training. They don’t leave it until there are issues and take a more proactive approach, understanding that investing in the right development for their people will always give a return on any investment made.” 

Over the decade of Pro-Development’s work, has there been one stand-out offer that always creates a big impact? 

“All of our programmes have a big impact but there are a few where we see real transformational change. 

Workplace Engagement is a programme where we see significant change across the whole business. Ultimately, this programme helps leaders identify their current levels of engagement and what, if anything, might be getting in the way. We then work closely to build an action plan to support and increase retention, engagement and productivity. The results are phenomenal, and several clients who have undertaken this have subsequently been nominated for employer of the year awards! 

Our 7-month Leadership Programme has now run for many years and we have many examples of how it has initiated transformational change and made a huge difference to attendees both in their work and personal lives. 

We always find that the individual coaching we do at any level from business owner to team members gives many opportunities to see people transform. The support of coaching and the challenge to overcome barriers that hold people back has a significant impact on people’s performance and engagement.” 

How do you see team development and training evolving over the next five years? 

“We are definitely seeing more team development in the last few months and with hybrid working, we believe this trend will continue as it helps teams to find a way to reconnect together, often in a fun way. We are also seeing more focus on employee engagement projects too and believe that this will continue in the years to come as businesses look to find more ways to improve productivity and retain their talent. 

Every year, leadership and management development continue to grow, and we anticipate this trend will continue as more businesses understand the key role that leaders and managers play in talent retention and recruitment. 

It has also been good to see coaching becoming more popular for businesses as we catch up with other countries where most business leaders have a coach. We have also found that face-to-face is definitely back for training and development and imagine this will continue.” 

Thank you so much to Michelle for her valuable insight! 

Pro-Development will be delivering a workshop on the ‘five strategies to retain and engage your people’ as part of York Business Festival’s ‘Building a Resilient & Agile Workforce’ event (Wednesday 23rd November). Book your free place! 

If you are interested in hearing more about any of the above, book a free consultation with one of our Business Engagement Advisers. By working with the Business Scale Up Programme, you can save 30% on the cost of training and consultancy from Pro-Development as well as a number of other expert providers.