Lessons on upskilling

Looking to grow your business? Aside from looking at the fundamental aspects of your enterprise such as marketing and sales, perhaps you should look in the mirror as well and work on yourself. Patricia Moore investigates the benefits of short courses for business owners.
Nobody in business sets out to fail – but it happens, and poor or inexperienced management is one of the leading causes. For the owners of small enterprises, ongoing learning is essential. The problem is, many entrepreneurs get so involved in doing the work they forget the plan, says Alen Levis of Indus Recruitment (see separate box story).
“Keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll never get different results. Get off the tools and actually be the manager rather than trying to be everything to everyone,” he advises.
A series of short courses and ongoing mentoring, focusing on the areas he felt least equipped to handle, enabled Levis to achieve this and grow his business way beyond his early expectations.

Lack of time is a frequent excuse for not upskilling.
“[Business owners] are too busy to do the important but not urgent stuff,” says Chris Elphick. “Many small business owners are heads down and bums up – totally reactive. No time to think, reflect and learn. They all say they want to learn how to work on their business but most of them are hooked on working in it. The exceptions tend to be successful businesses!” Interestingly, the slowdown in business during the recession has seen more business owners recognising the necessity to upskill and finding the time to do so.
“When things are quiet they have a little more time on their hands,” says ICEHOUSE Network Director and Growth business leader Liz Wotherspoon.
But is it lack of time or scepticism about the value of training that’s holding them back? Is the Kiwi psyche – our ‘can-do’ attitude – stifling progress for many smaller enterprises? “They’ve learned by doing, grown up in their businesses, so they’re a little harder to convince in terms of the value of taking time out for upskilling,” says Wotherspoon.
“I certainly get lots of supervisors and managers on workshops who say ‘my boss should be here’,” adds Elphick. “There’s no doubt in my mind the best SMEs are lead by people who understand their role as leaders, are focused on doing it better, are committed to getting the best out of their people, take a strategic view to business development and strive to be as proactive as possible for as long as possible.”
Darren Levy, director of short courses at The University of Auckland Business School, believes the majority of business owners are aware of areas where they need to improve.
“I’m also aware that there is a perception the development available is not practical and accessible to them in terms of time and dollars.”
It can take many shapes, he says, all of which are highly transferable into a business, can be customised to work around specific workflows, and vary in investment.
“The question I would like to pose for business owners is what’s really creating the inertia around developing themselves and their team? Why do we acknowledge the importance of development but so rarely take it seriously as a mechanism for growth?”
He points to research – including the NZTE report Management Matters in New Zealand: How Does Manufacturing Measure Up? – which shows the need for development in management and leadership. “This report demonstrated that effective management practices are very closely related to productivity and output in New Zealand business. It also highlighted that leadership and general management are major opportunities for improvement.”
Alen Levis is just one of many business owners who enjoyed fully-funded training through New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. Since mid-2010 this has been replaced by the partially subsidised NZTE Capability Development Vouchers programme for small business, with training available from a number of approved providers across the country.
“The change in government funding altered the market”, says Ian Skelton, WHK business growth consultant. Instead of opting for training as part of a group, business owners are now more likely to invest in specific training.
“Rather than do a course over a number of weeks, they’re investing in a shortcut to gain expertise and get a payback in the business a lot quicker,” says Skelton.
And while they’ve seen a tremendous increase in their one-on-one coaching and advisory support services, Wotherspoon says there’s no doubting the benefit people get from being part of a group. “It’s the opportunity to learn from others’ experiences, including their mistakes, so you don’t have to make them yourself.”
Elphick is also seeing less demand for open workshops and more for one-to-one coaching/mentoring, “probably because of the time and cost.”
So are the days of the traditional ‘short course’ numbered? Elphick is working with colleagues on other ways to help SMEs learn including webinars and e-learning.  
“It’s going to be interesting to see if these other methods are more popular.”
He’s of the opinion that one-off short courses deliver very little. “In-house programmes which might include a number of sessions over a few weeks are always more effective and can produce lasting results.”
And, he says, business owners who are not involved themselves will never get the benefit of their investment. “I’ve seen great staff leave because their boss would not support them to implement things they had learned attending courses.”

Recession provides incentive
Training providers report that the recession stimulated short course activity. Ian Skelton: “Before the recession there were a lot of businesses doing all right but there was a lot of organisational slack in there. I think the recession has caused those business owners to up their game to gain competitive advantage.” This has driven interest in two main areas. “One is around the financial aspects of the business. What drives profit? What drives cashflow? What can I do about it?”
The other area is marketing, with business owners wanting to get a better return on investment. “They want more sales but don’t want to spend more getting them. People need to get a lot smarter in that area and that’s drawn a lot to our Improving Marketing Effectiveness programme,” says Skelton.
Topics attracting business owners are in fact pretty diverse. Strategic planning, building and sustaining winning teams, delivering exceptional customer service and generational issues are all sought after. Chris Elphick says succession planning is “a huge issue for SMEs” but notes that he’s not convinced social media, “currently a trendy issue”, is linked in most instances to strategic business goals.
2012 promises to be another interesting one for business owners. What is certain in these uncertain times is that it’s more important than ever to upskill in the areas that will ensure an enterprise survives and thrives.  
Patricia Moore is an Auckland-based freelance writer. Email [email protected]