{"id":15531,"date":"2022-03-10T08:03:02","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T19:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/?p=15531"},"modified":"2022-03-10T08:03:02","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T19:03:02","slug":"secretary-note-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/2022\/03\/10\/secretary-note-march\/","title":{"rendered":"Secretary Note | March"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong><br \/>\nInvesting in your Business and your People.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Helping your people learn and sharing skillsets only makes your business stronger. Learning and development doesn\u2019t have to be expensive, or mean time off from business as usual. Picking up skills and knowledge through coaching and mentoring on the job can be just as effective than courses or qualifications. But it is important to note that no matter how you offer development it should create a culture that values learning, for example you may want to align your employee learning with your business goals, or you may want to implement a skills development policy or plan, however you achieve investing in your people you will need to pay attention to how people prefer to learn and to make sure that you develop opportunities all ages, backgrounds and experiences.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Ways to do it<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3>A coaching mindset<\/h3>\n<p>Day-to-day work is full of opportunities to learn. Focus on the positive. Ask people why they think something worked or didn\u2019t. Show team members how to give constructive feedback and coach colleagues in their areas they\u2019re good at, eg customer service, a piece of software or equipment. Sharing knowledge can help all experience levels and age groups feel valued.<\/p>\n<h3>Tell stories<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s how we have passed on knowledge since the beginning of time. Encourage it informally, eg during breaks, while tidying up, or closing down for the day. Share your experiences \u2014 a narrowly dodged problem, a project you\u2019re proud of and why. Tap into what long-standing team members know. Equally,\u00a0learn from\u00a0your new people who can bring new ideas.<\/p>\n<h3>Make it OK to get things wrong<\/h3>\n<p>Mistakes \u2014 ours and others\u2019 \u2014 are rich in learning. Learning from real life, familiar experiences from your business can be easier to relate to than hypothetical situations from workshops or courses.<\/p>\n<h3>Solve problems together<\/h3>\n<p>Team up to find solutions and new ideas. Staff will learn by observing different thought processes and hearing others\u2019 experiences. It can strengthen working relationships. Plus mixing different viewpoints, eg older and younger, customer facing and behind the scenes, often leads to stronger ideas.<\/p>\n<h3>Job shadowing<\/h3>\n<p>This can be useful for people keen to grow into another role. Or when employees would benefit from understanding what\u2019s involved in another job or task \u2014\u00a0for an example, check out the job shadow case study on this page.<\/p>\n<h3>Buddy system<\/h3>\n<p>Pair people of different ages and experiences, eg an employee experienced in delegating and challenging ideas with a less experienced, less assertive member of staff. When teaming people, be clear what you want each person to get out of it. Pay careful attention to personality types \u2014\u00a0avoid pairing people who might clash or annoy each other.<\/p>\n<h3>Involve employees<\/h3>\n<p>Talk about learning and feedback openly and often. A team talk is a good option, but also give people a chance to speak just with you or a trusted colleague. Take time to answer questions, give and receive feedback and discuss learning goals.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.business.govt.nz\/business-performance\/management-and-leadership\/how-to-communicate-and-give-feedback\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to communicate and give feedback<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Case study<\/h3>\n<h4>Job shadow pays off<\/h4>\n<p>Nico\u2019s top bricklayer Reece is starting to feel the effects of 40 years in the trade \u2014 his back aches constantly. Reece worries about doing permanent damage. Nico doesn\u2019t want to lose such a valued employee. Reece has been the heart and soul of his building firm. The knowledge he holds is invaluable.<\/p>\n<p>Dana, a competent administrator and bookkeeper in her 20s, works in the office. She\u2019s been with the business for two years and wants to take on more responsibility. Nico senses Dana is bored. He worries she may also leave.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For training on common topics, eg health and safety, consider splitting costs with other local businesses.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Formal training<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes outside expertise is needed to upskill employees.<\/p>\n<p>Options include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Online courses and webinars \u2014 a cost-effective way to introduce new ideas and approaches. Useful when you need to train staff across different locations.<\/li>\n<li>Off-the-shelf training courses \u2014 one-size-fits-all courses run by training companies.<\/li>\n<li>Tailored training \u2014 a trainer adapts a course to suit your business needs.<\/li>\n<li>Conferences, seminars and workshops.<\/li>\n<li>Courses run by polytechnics or other tertiary education providers.<\/li>\n<li>Literacy training \u2014 government-funded courses to help with reading, numeracy and communication.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Create a policy and plan<\/h3>\n<p>Having something in writing shows employees you are committed to their development. It helps people understand what\u2019s available, what\u2019s expected, and how they will be supported.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important staff know about your policy or plan. Be sure it\u2019s put into practice \u2014 don\u2019t just write one and file it away.<\/p>\n<p>Your learning and development policy might include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>types of learning you encourage, eg job shadowing, mentoring, diplomas, webinars, workshops<\/li>\n<li>how to apply or flag something is wanted or needed<\/li>\n<li>how you will support employees to learn and use new skills and knowledge<\/li>\n<li>how any costs \/time off work will be handled<\/li>\n<li>how learning should tie to people\u2019s roles, eg build existing skills, help people stretch into new areas<\/li>\n<li>expectations on how knowledge will be shared with the team.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Equal opportunities<\/h3>\n<p>Be fair when deciding who gets learning opportunities, especially if it\u2019s to prepare someone for a new role or to handle poor performance. Offer the same stretch and learning opportunities to new employees and current employees who move into new roles.<\/p>\n<p>Check if stereotypes affect your decisions. Do you develop workers of all ages? Or, for example, do you mainly train people who are starting out?<\/p>\n<p>The Human Rights Act says you can\u2019t make employment decisions based on age, race, gender or other personal characteristics. All employees benefit from continuing to learn, regardless of age, background and experience.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.business.govt.nz\/hiring-and-managing\/managing-people-day-to-day\/managing-age-diverse-workers\/#e-22462\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Clear criteria, fair decisions<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>How people learn<\/h3>\n<p>As people\u2019s personalities differ, so do their learning preferences. Ask your employees how they best take in and retain information. Common styles include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>learning by doing<\/li>\n<li>looking at infographics or watching videos<\/li>\n<li>preferring to hear new information<\/li>\n<li>reading instructions or background info, and writing notes<\/li>\n<li>getting information in chunks over time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Few people learn effectively from being presented to, without the chance to ask questions. It might save you time in the short term, but will likely take longer to get everyone on board and up to speed.<\/p>\n<p>Be prepared for questions \u2014\u00a0this is to allow time for problem-solving and drawing on past knowledge and experience.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a good idea to use real situations to help people learn new skills, systems or knowledge. Encourage your employees to share examples from their work, eg a common task or a customer\u2019s unusual request. Explore together how to solve problems or complete tasks.<\/p>\n<p>Gently check in to see how confident employees feel with new information or skills. People can be embarrassed to admit they haven\u2019t grasped something. For example, an older worker may not want to admit they don\u2019t understand a piece of software, thinking it\u2019s down to their age, when it\u2019s not. A younger worker may be sheepish about finding the same software tricky, thinking a \u2018digital native\u2019 should find it easy.<\/p>\n<h3>Avoid common mistakes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Assuming learning just means formal courses and qualifications \u2014\u00a0learning on the job can be just as valuable.<\/li>\n<li>Thinking time off billable work will be bad for business \u2014 helping your people learn, and share their skills with each other, will make everyone\u2019s job easier.<\/li>\n<li>Only investing in people early in their career \u2014 people of all ages and life stages benefit from ongoing learning.<\/li>\n<li>Not letting your people have a say in what they learn \u2014 encourage employees to help identify any skill gaps or offer up their expertise to others.<\/li>\n<li>Not letting employees have a say in how they prefer to learn \u2014 people pick up information in different ways. Few people learn by being talked at.<\/li>\n<li>Believing learning is only about employees getting better at their jobs \u2014 offering a variety of stretch opportunities makes you a desirable employer. It can help you keep hold of valued workers and attract strong candidates when hiring.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Investing in your Business and your People. Helping your people learn and sharing skillsets only makes your business stronger. Learning and development doesn\u2019t have to be expensive, or mean time off from business as usual. Picking up skills and knowledge through coaching and mentoring on the job can be just as effective than courses or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}