What Training do Small Business Owners Really Need/Want?

Each year we put together a schedule of business skills development workshops. The topics we choose are based on a combination of core skills and knowledge that we know every small business owner needs, plus the feedback that we gather on the evaluation sheets, and through conversations and surveys.

Among those businesses that have at least one employee (other than the owner), the topic of recruiting, selecting, hiring and cmanaging people comes up time and again as an area where more information is needed. Starting a business is one thing - finding and keeping good people is something else all together.

For some reason, in spite of this recurring theme, HR workshops just don't generate registrations - even when we offer them at no charge.

We struggle with the apparent disconnect.

In April, we offered a series of HR related workshops. Admittedly, one had to be rescheduled because the facilitator had to pull out on short notice - but one was cancelled due to insufficient registration and another was poorly attended. Since the marketing workshops in May were all very popular, our natural reaction is to assume there is not a lot of interest in HR related topics.

So why do we keep seeing it as a suggestion on our evaluations forms? And why does it keep coming up as one of the most pressing issues when we do Organizational Needs Assessments for particular industry sectors?

If finding, hiring, managing, and keeping good people is a priority for your business - and you'd really like to see some support and training offered locally to help you do a better job of it - please let us know.

In the meantime, here are a few resources if you are interested and workshops are just not an effective way for you to access this type of information.

HR Policies Report

HR Best Practices E-Book (4mb)

Canadian Goverment Resources for Employers

One web-based HR management system for small business