Recently our kitchen has undergone a renovation with new cabinets, countertops and appliances. While we were not excited for the process, we are thankful for the end result and the kitchen looks so much better and is far more functional than it was before. So, before I go further, thank you to the owner of our townhouse (we're renters) for green lighting the project!

The funny thing is the genesis of the kitchen remodel was that our (OLD) dishwasher was no longer cleaning dishes well. When we approached the owner about replacing the dishwasher, she actually suggested the full kitchen remodel. Score!

When I first started using the dishwasher I was confused because the wash cycles were so much longer than our older model. When I saw that a load was supposed to take about 3 hours I couldn't fathom why this was the case, especially since our old dishwasher's cycle was about an hour long! After doing some research I discovered that in order to meet new (and far more stringent) energy and water consumption requirements, manufacturers designed these machines to run longer.

In other words, since new dishwashers need to use less water and energy, dishes will only get clean if the cycles run longer than older generation machines. 

As my high school economics teacher would have said, "There is an opportunity cost for saving water and energy...and that cost is a dishwasher that runs three times longer than an older model."

What does this have to do with you??

Let me tell you another story. I recently did a sales and leasing "master class" for the leasing associates for a great company in California. At the end of this training some of the associates said that their managers did not like the idea of sending their people to a training class, because they were busy. In fact some managers didn't send anyone to this awesome (yes, I'm biased!) training. 

BTW: The company authorized the managers to hire temporary associates for the day, to ensure the office had staffing coverage-yet a few managers still refused, citing that it was "too busy" to send people to get trained on how to do their jobs well. Sadly, this scenario plays out all over the nation wherever I speak! I hear often from leasing professionals that while they keep asking to get trained, they're often told "I'm sorry, we're too busy to have you leave the office today!" 

WHAT??

I don't get this at all, people. I do not. Why would you NOT want your people to get trained? The opportunity cost of giving your people the tools they need to succeed, so that YOU succeed may be a day where your agenda flies out the window and you just deal with the craziness of the office alone. The price might be that you have to help everyone who walks in, or answer the dozens of questions a temp has to ask you, or find yourself at the end of the day running towards your local pub for "Happy Hour!" 

But, if your people come back better prepared to do their jobs, is it worth it? 

YES!

If you lead people I'm sure you want (need!) them to perform at their best. That means they will require ongoing training, coaching and development at every step of their career path to ensure they are their very best. There is a price for it, and you might have to pay it up front, so that you can get paid for it on the back end!

When I was a community manager I would block out huge chunks of time to work with my brand new people. Did I like the stack of work this created for me? No. Did I like working late at night to get my stuff done, because my day was spent training? No. 

Did I like my new associates scoring 90s and up on their first shops. Heck yeah! Did I like not having to answer the same questions over and over again because I took the time to train my people right, or sent them to training that would help them (and me)? YES!

There is a price for success, yours and your people's...and it's worth it....trust me!