How to invest in your people without spending a cent

The CFO asks the CEO "What if we invest in our people, and they leave?" The CEO snaps back "What if we don't and they stay?" [Click to share on Linkedin]

Customer Success has the greatest amount of influence over the value of your SaaS business. So, when we ask leaders about how they develop their Customer Success team, we're disappointed when they say:

"Oh, my CSMs? They are rockstars. They will figure it out."

"We just don't have the time."
"We don't have the budget for training."
"We're focused on dialing in our processes right now."
"Let's look at that next quarter…"

There is always room for improvement, especially when it comes to developing the most valuable asset in your company - your people. In the "Millennials at Work: Reshaping the Workplace" survey, PriceWaterhouseCoopers asked 4,364 respondents aged 31 or under to rank their most valued work benefits. The #1 most valued benefit is training and development.

Hmm… so that might explain why 70% of employees are demotivated and spend most of the day searching for their next role?

If you are 'too busy' to invest in your people, your people will become 'too busy' looking for somewhere else to work.

Let's look at what established companies can teach us about people development. The enterprises that have stood the test of the time invest in their people. Here are a few examples:

Heinz (founded 1869) has an academy to help employees develop their leadership skills. Deloitte (founded 1845, $32.5B revenue in 2015) has an employee university which is dedicated to people development. Procter and Gamble (founded 1837, $72.4B revenue in 2014) has a leadership development model to coach people to success.

There are dozens more F1000 companies who invest in the development of their staff. CIGNA (founded in 1792), State Street (1792), Jim Beam (1795), DuPont (1802), Colgate (1806), Wiley (1807), Citigroup (1812), Remington (1816) and HarperCollins (1817).

The common thread among these companies is they have dedicated time, effort and resources to developing their people. As an employee at one of these companies, you always have access to a course, a coach or a classroom. Your employees are loyal when you give them a clear pathway to career growth, versus having them 'figure it out' for themselves.

A lot of companies "don't have time" to invest in their people. Startups are juggling the launch of a new product while simultaneously driving sales and recruiting rock stars. Even though startups advertise team retreats, rocketship career paths, and an Amazon Kindle allowance, the reality is very different to what's promised. Here's what it sounds and feels like in Customer Success.

A new Customer Success Manager, Tegan, joins a fast-growing SaaS startup. Their Director doesn't make the time to coach, train and develop Tegan because other things take priority. Tegan is left to 'figure it out' and self-manage. She struggles, working 70+ hours a week to stay on top of her ever-increasing workload.

Tegan becomes stressed out and starts to resent her Director. Her frustration overflows into her personal life, but she sticks it out. Tegan jumps through dozens of mental hoops to rationalize staying on board. She tells herself that this is startup life and that her equity value will be meaningful, someday. She becomes completely consumed with her work. Tegan's health, friends, and family take a backseat as she gives the company everything she has.

A few months later, her Director moves into a VP role, and Tegan takes on the Director role. History repeats itself. Tegan misses one on ones, forgets important team milestones and deflects her team to go and 'figure it out' for themselves. Instead of celebrating success, she bludgeons her team with dozens of metrics and drives them into the ground. Finally, she realizes her CSMs are checked out. Apathy has replaced empathy. Frustration has renewed focus. Tegan knows she needs to 'motivate the team', but the damage is done, and it might just be too late.

How do you avoid this vicious cycle? Take a small step and develop your Customer Success team for free.