We're all busy, and that often means we just don’t have the time to develop our most prized asset: our people. We care about them and have a shared interest in their success.

An ongoing training program will help our employees become more productive, reduce costly turnover and provide us with a competitive advantage. The problem is that developing a useful training program can be an overwhelming task. Not that we can’t do it; but we would have to gather and coordinate all of the training materials and then follow up to make sure it is up-to-date. Then, we need to ensure that everybody understands the material, and this has to be accomplished while we conduct our daily business.

Even though our best intentions are to get it done today, training plans often end up in the "next year" category. So, who suffers? We do, since the company, as well as the employees, miss opportunities. And who benefits? The competition.

Sometimes, it is as basic as communicating our mission -- our vision to get everybody on the same page. Sometimes it involves educating our employees to get better at what they do today, or in the future. And sometimes, it is just something we have to do so we don’t get in trouble with some of those ever-changing laws. How do we do this without an extra day in the week, or without hiring a consultant or full-time training staff?

As a premium member of the Hub, with an additional fee, you will have the ability to complete a basic questionnaire that will keep your employees on track for continued learning and development, while at the same time making sure you meet workplace compliance laws. Once the questionnaire is completed, each of your employees will be provided with their own development plan. This may include a training program that includes industry-specific skills as well as classes in sales, general management or accounting.

You also have the ability to add your own specific procedures and policies, so that when you have a new hire or a promotion from within, you won’t have to take the time from an existing employee to teach them the ropes. And, you will be assured that every employee learns it the same way and completely understands the policy. Since this is web based, you will be able to check the status of their development at any time with the click of the mouse.

Coming soon in 2006!