Managers need to be aware of the personal development of their employees. They also need to consider their own. Ideally they should invest some time in the necessary management courses such as team building, motivational techniques and time management. It is ironic that the response, when it is suggested that someone go on a time management course is “I don’t have the time”!

However, there are a number of points that are worth considering even if full training is not an option.

There are of course many ideas and rules that are furnished to trainees. Many of them seem to be a statement of the obvious or an attempt by a trainer to make a name for them self by naming some theory in their own honour. One useful rule however is known as the Pareto Principle. To be fair, it is also known as the 80/20 rule. It has a number of applications. One of these is that the best 80% of your output comes from just 20% of your effort. The task then is to work out which 20% of your effort is yielding the best results and see if you can focus your work accordingly. This principle also applies to sales incidentally. In other words 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers. Focus on the most profitable parts of your business.

Every business is anxious to maximise its sales, particularly in times of economic difficulty. This is especially the case when a business is starting up or launching a new product range, but it doesn’t matter how long you have been in business. Even if you are an established market leader, you should reconsider the assumptions you work on regularly. As methods of collecting and interpreting data become more sophisticated, you may find previously reached conclusions no longer apply. Times and people change. It is therefore well worth investing in market research and soft skills training to update your knowledge base.

Many companies specialise in very specific methods of measuring and it is well worth shopping around before parting with your hard earned cash.

The areas to look at include customer demographics such as age, marital status, gender, occupation and education. It is also worthwhile understanding your customers’’ psychological profiles. What that means is examining their attitudes, values, opinions, principles and buying habits.

You should also consider the location of your customers. After all, people in different locations have different needs and buying patterns. You need to ensure your marketing and distribution departments are serving your customers’ needs.

Find out which benefits of your product or service customers most value so that you can direct advertising accordingly.

There is an adage that you should work to live, not live to work. To put it another way, there is more to life than work. Obviously, many people do see their work as a priority and feel they need to work excessively long hours whilst being reluctant to take their full entitlement to annual leave. However, they are not just short changing them self by taking this attitude. They can end up being a drain on their employers.

A good work/life balance pays dividends. Here are some of the benefits that arise when someone takes the time to manage their personal development outside their employment.

Studies have found that these employees have more loyalty and commitment to their employer if they feel they are being valued and treated well. This means that staff retention if higher, thus keeping the costs of recruitment down.

If an employee’s psychological and physical health is good they are far more likely to have good relationships with their co-workers. Similarly they will produce better work both in terms of quantity and quality.

Employees need to think about their values and consider what is really important to them. They should also spend time thinking about their health.