Thursday 26 December 2013

What is a Business Coach?

So you have seen some advertisements online about getting a business coaching certificate to help others become more successful in life and think that it seems like a rather interesting career path. But what is a business coach exactly?

Well, a business coach is an individual who helps employees become more efficient and effective at their jobs. You can be a business coach for hire, but any employer who wants to be more involved with the progress of their employees can take up some business coaching courses too. It is a great way to personally guide your employees to become more adaptable and productive.

All in all, coaching is about management and teaching the individuals under your tutelage about proper management themselves. Coaching is all about teaching a special set of skills that will allow your student to become more adept, improving their performance to deliver the best results possible.


You use various techniques that will allow you to lead your employees. In fact, it transfers the role of being the manager to yourself so that you can be the best leader possible. You provide them with the right amount of tests and challenges to bring out any problem areas that they may have, while simultaneously giving them the skills to achieve the best possible results. You also teach them how to become more adaptable so that they can eventually work self-sufficiently with little prodding from the outside.

Try to remember that business coaching also means that you are a mentor. A coach is a mentor, a manager, and a teacher. You basically carry on as a mentor to your employees, involving yourself fully, helping them to build their confidence and their skills. Coaching is a continuous development process for you and the individuals under your tutelage. Just remember that for business purposes, development is key.

Wednesday 25 December 2013

Staff Training for Improving Your Company

One of the many aspects of business development is staff training. Training your staff lays down the groundwork that will make them more efficient at their assigned tasks. While many employers choose experienced candidates that already have the necessary skills for the tasks at hand, training your staff is still imperative as each company has a different workflow.

After all, no two companies operate in the exact same way, as similar products are produced in varying ways. Teaching your staff to adapt the company's work ethics and procedures is a crucial part of business development that help streamline the production or design process.

Well-trained employees are simply better accustomed to dealing with clients. They provide more satisfactory services and can rise up to the expectations of the firm that they work for. Having good service and a competent staff is also highly valued by customers, and it can attract new clientele and winning contracts.

There are many elements to staff training. I have compiled a few of them for your reference: First off, you should be able to rehearse procedures with your staff and emulate how the task will play out without actually trying it. This is particularly true for companies that work with machinery or for companies that deal with a lot of customers. They should have the know-how to operate with the machines or how to deal with people.

Rehearsals, drills, and exercises will also reveal any weaknesses or problem areas that need to be corrected before the trainees are made regulars of the company.

For jobs that have very specific tasks, on going training for the employee should be provided constantly so that they can deal with specifics of each role. Depending on the type of work that they will be doing, regular assessment of their work is also needed. You would have to provide them with proper feedback and correct any issues that may arise. Your employee should be allowed to improve over a reasonable amount of time. On top of that, refresher courses should be given if needed.

Periodically conducting staff surveys are also an important aspect of business development. Since the quality of your company's work is based on your staff's performance, regular quality checks are needed to ensure that they are upholding the standards of your company. As much as possible, be consistent and transparent, sharing the results with your staff to allow them to improve.

Finally, try to communicate clearly with your staff. Proper training should not have unnecessary jargon. Always entertain questions and encourage them to seek out your opinion if they encounter something they are not familiar with. Make sure that you properly explain any new terms, and that you freely provide procedural documents.