By Barry Robertson – December 6, 2011

Sometimes it’s hard to know when to invest in your people and teams, and when not to.

While most leaders know that organizational success depends on the productivity of people, team and people development is often cut during times when it is needed the most—tough economic times. Leaders can succumb to fear as easily as their employees.

During times of economic uncertainty, fear and stress ramp up. Performance is hindered when people are stuck in fear and the accompanying survival mode. Unless action is taken to address this, productivity and profits will contract.

Investing in people development, team development, and skill building creates positive impacts. People feel they are moving forward and are able to transcend their fears. It is amazing what people can do when the clouds of fear dissipate and creative thinking kicks in again. A collective responsibility develops and they begin to see ways to succeed in spite of external forces.

We enjoy seeing leaders and teams take advantage of uncertainty to grow market share through investing in their people.

When it comes to investing in your people, ask yourself these questions:

Investing In Your People

To increase organizational effectiveness and success: listen receptively to your people. Bring out their fears and have sessions to brainstorm what can be done to get the business moving in spite of the economy. Listening helps ensure a win-win.

Investing in your people will go a long way to drive results now, and ensure you’ll accelerate more than the competition when expansion returns. Also, remember that it’s OK to lighten up and have fun creating a powerful organization!