If you had visited our offices last week you’d have thought nobody worked here. It was like a ghost office.
This wasn’t planned – but even the best-laid plans go wrong, usually once a year around the summer time in our case.
Unfortunately, not only were some of our staff on holiday, but another was taking leave for unforeseen circumstances and a few were off sick. This also coincided with some staff leaving for new jobs and new staff arriving who needed training.
For those left it was chaos. It was definitely one of those weeks where it was all hands on deck to make sure courses were sent out, exams returned and emails answered. Thank you to all who rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in.
Fortunately, all management here at Business Training are long established and have come up through the college so can turn their hand to most jobs in their respective departments.
Whilst this is handy in one-off situations – it’s not ideal for long periods of time so I was greatly relieved when on Monday morning most staff were back at their desks.
25 Years of Service
I’d just like to say a big THANK YOU to Justine who has been working with us for 25 years. She joined Business Training when she was just 16 and has seen all her major life landmarks while working with us – her 21st birthday, her wedding, her first child and her 40th birthday.
Justine works in our data processing department. She makes sure your details are on our database correctly, she records student payments and answers the phone. You may have spoken to her if you’ve called.
Keeping Staff
We take pride in the fact that we don’t have a high turnover of staff. So, we must be doing something right. So what’s our secret?
Well one reason is our Managing Director, David Pendlebury. He is a genuine people person. He’s great at judging what staff need to be motivated and goes out of his way to make sure everyone is OK. He’ll do anything he can to help those with a problem and gives out praise when it’s due.
Another is that we can be flexible if necessary – so long as people don’t take it too far. For example, if a member of staff has to leave because their child is sick we can usually shuffle things round to let them do this.
One thing we don’t do is over-delegate work to staff. Regrettably for Lynton her boss isn’t so kind. She has asked, ‘What can you do with a nagging supervisor over delegating most of his work to you and you end up with a big work load?’ If you have any advice for her leave a comment on this discussion in our LinkedIn Group.
It’s not only our staff who have longevity – it seems our training does as well. Pik Oloruntola wrote on LinkedIn when he joined our group, ‘As a former student I’m delighted to re-unite after 24 years’ separation. However, the training has been having a lasting effect and its application moves me to the next level’.
And finally, if you want to find out more about Employing and Motivating Staff we have a great course that will help.
