Home > Talent > Expert Contributor

Learning, Education: The Best Investment to Protect Your Company

By Daniel Marcos - Growth Institute
CEO

STORY INLINE POST

By Daniel Marcos | CEO - Thu, 03/23/2023 - 11:00

share it

A learning culture is essential for growth and success. These stories of a “learn-it-all” culture show why training is the key to organizational performance.

If you’re looking for evidence of the value of training and development, a fast-food restaurant might not be the first place you’d consider. But Tennessee-based Pal’s might convince you otherwise.

Pal’s is the only restaurant chain to receive the “Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award.” Its food delivery is the fastest in the industry, four times quicker than the next-fastest restaurant. It makes a mistake only once out of every 3,600 orders.

What’s the reason for Pal’s success? The restaurant chain is relentless in continuously educating and training its employees.

Pal’s CEO Thom Crosby told Harvard Business Review: “People go out of calibration, just like machines go out of calibration. So, we’re always training, always teaching, and always coaching.”

And, lest you think this commitment is any less important during today’s time of economic upheaval, think again. After all, no less than business magnate Warren Buffett noted training’s value when asked how companies can weather the current storm. He replied to the question by saying: The best protection against inflation is investing in your own skills.

Ife business entities ranging from a high-achieving fast-food restaurant to a legendary investor are sold on training and development, it’s a good bet it’s a solid investment for your company too.

Why Is A Learning Culture Important For Your Company?

In a recent webinar I hosted with my colleague Verne Harnish, founder and CEO of Scaling Up, Verne shared why he believes learning and training is the No. 1 performance driver for a thriving business. Here are three reasons why:

1. Learning and development shows strong leadership

It makes sense that entrepreneurs, CEOs, and other executive-level leaders should focus on training as they grapple with rising inflation, talent shortages, and a host of other business concerns. Helping employees adapt as headwinds swirl around them is part of the job.

In fact, it was Greg Brenneman, author of Right Away & All At Once: Five Steps To Transform and Enrich Your Life, who said it best: “Great leaders absorb fear and exude hope.”

One of the most effective ways to show that you’re focused on the future is to invest in your employees’ growth. And that means working closely with them to determine what roadblocks they face in doing their work and improving their skills — and then taking action to remove those obstacles.

2. Growth mindset cultures attract employees

As large companies lay off employees in this uncertain business climate, small- and midmarket organizations can take advantage.

Those talented, A-Player employees who are victims of larger companies’ downsizing often seek smaller companies as their next stop, hoping for an opportunity to make a greater impact. Here’s where your business can set itself apart.

Make a name for your organization among prospective employees by showing your commitment to training and certification. In a world that doesn’t require continuing education of business leaders, become the rare organization that displays that type of commitment to talent and quality.

Pal’s: A profile in leadership, teaching, and retention

To continue our look at Pal’s, think about what it can teach us about the value of consistently fine-tuning leadership skills — and the impact that effort can have on making your business attractive to employees.

Pal’s commitment to continuous improvement

For example, consider these facts about Pal’s:

  • New employees get 120 hours of training before they can work independently.

  • Employees must receive certification and regular recertification on each of the specific jobs they do.

  • Each shift, two to four randomly selected employees must pass recertification tests. If they fail, they receive additional training until they can pass the test.

  • All of the company’s high-level employees have a list of 21 business leadership books to read. Every other week, five selected managers meet with CEO Thom Crosby to discuss one of the books.

  • Each day, Thom identifies one subject that Pal’s leaders must teach to at least one other person at the company. In fact, the expectation is that they will spend at least 10% of their time teaching.

Pal’s learning and culture-driven results

As a result, Pal’s displays not only outstanding quality and service but also noteworthy employee satisfaction.  In the five decades since Pal’s began:

  • It has lost only eight of its restaurant managers voluntarily.

  • It has a 1.4% turnover rate among assistant managers.

  • Its employees leave at one-third of the industry average rate.

And these achievements in employee satisfaction are occurring in an industry that often faces crushing realities in finding and retaining staff.

3. ‘Learn-it-all’ attitudes foster business growth

Like Thom Crosby at Pal’s, many business titans embrace an emphasis on learning and development. For instance, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has credited his company’s re-emergence to his commitment to building knowledge.

He describes it as having a “learn-it-all” culture instead of a “know-it-all” culture. He developed the concept by building on the understanding that children who are continually learning achieve greater success as adults.

Photo by:   Daniel Marcos

You May Like

Most popular

Newsletter