It's the beginning of September in Boston (and everywhere else for that matter!). The weather here is gorgeous. The Pats have started their season. The Sox are neck and neck with Tampa Bay and, as usual, I can't get to my favorite restaurants in the Back Bay or Cambridge. That's because every year, over 250,000 students descend on our town like ants on a picnic. Traffic is snarled, cars are triple-parked in "Haaavaad" Square and Beacon Hill, and the sidewalks are a veritable sea of moving crates.


Is It "Back to School" for Your Team?

While businesses don't have the equivalent of the "first day of class" that our academic counterparts have, September is a great time for managers to turn their thoughts to what they are going to do in the coming year to keep their employees fresh with new ideas, the latest strategies and, most importantly, keep those employees enthused about their jobs.

While I have never seen the statistics on this, I would be willing to venture that companies that spend more on training probably spend less on recruiting. If one of those Harvard professors had written an equation on it, it would look like this:

• Budget: Make sure you have a "per employee" training budget and spend it! If your company is cutting expenses, resist the temptation to cut your training budget. It will hurt you eventually. (If you think training is too expensive, just give me a call and I'll be happy to tell you how much it would cost to replace those precious employees!)



• Individual or Group Training: Assess what your department needs. Do you have some employees who are better trained than others? If so, individual programs may be the answer. Don't make your experienced people sit through basic training or training they don't need. That's not motivational. Instead, find them a program that is at their level and appropriate for their needs.



• Tuition Reimbursement: While many companies offer this, many employees don't take advantage of it. (And, in most cases, it really does not qualify as "job training.") Encourage employees to find, or help your employees find, a training program that is appropriate and use these tuition dollars for this training.



• Training Reimbursement: Many states have programs that will actually reimburse an employer part of the cost for training. Check the website of your state Department of Labor to see if you qualify. (There's a website for Massachusetts companies above on the sidebar.)



• Build Rapport — Have Fun!: This is the unspoken byproduct of training your employees — and it can be invaluable. Building rapport among employees oftentimes happens outside of the work environment with more ease than on the job. Making your team gel as a team can not only make your life easier as a manager, but it can have real financial ramifications when your team does things easier, faster and cheaper!

Great software product directors are as scarce as hen's teeth. And we're very happy to say we found one for our client, VFA. VFA provides software and services for facilities management, listing some of the country's most notable facilities as clients.