George B. Thomas
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HubSpot's World Certification Week is right around the corner. So, while education is always on my mind as a lifelong learner, it's especially top-of-mind right now.
Specifically, I want to take a moment to talk to you business and agency owners out there to talk about the importance of investing in the education of your employees, and creating space for it to happen within your organization.
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Yes, there are the obvious reasons for that — reduce employee turnover, improve staff knowledge and outputs, etc. — but I want to dig more deeply into why the professional development of the humans who work for you is more important than ever.
The deck is stacked against us
When I say the deck is stacked against us, what I mean by that is too many of us are letting entertainment rule our lives.
What's good on Netflix?
What's good on HBO Max?
What's good on TikTok?
We spend countless hours every day, every week wasting away in front of screens that don't add anything of value to our lives, particularly when consumed in mass quantities. That's why, a long time, ago, I came up with a simple philosophy:
Education trumps entertainment.
That means I'm going to spend more time educating myself than entertaining myself. This is a philosophy I'd love to see others embrace within themselves and encourage with others. (For example, the folks who work for you!) The reason being we become what we read, watch, and consume. Like my grandfather used to say, "Garbage in, garbage out."
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So, as an agency owner today here, I prioritize the education of the people who work with and for me, I want to enable their ability to travel down the road of their career (and their life overall) with as much ease as possible.
For instance, when folks sit down at their GBT desk when they work for me, they have access to HubSpot Academy, LinkedIn learning, and other platforms that will help them develop and excel as humans. We also have weekly internal trainings to augment what they're learning and experiencing. '"
"Folks can learn on their own time"
OK, so here's the problem with this "my people can educate themselves" mentality. Are you willing to incentivize them at all to do so? Are you communicating to them in any way that you're invested in seeing them become the best, well, "thems" they can be?
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Or, are you just trying to leverage your people for the tasks you've hired them to complete and nothing more?
On the flip side of this, if you have the expectation that your folks will educate themselves, you need to consider what kind of example you're setting as the owner or leader of your organization.
Where are you in your education journey? How many HubSpot certifications do you have? Have you shared any learnings with your people recently from books, courses, or events that sets the conditions for a culture of learning?
"But I need my people billable"
I hear this a lot in agency circles, and as an agency owner myself, I totally get it. Profitability is important. Maximizing your resources efficiently is important. That said, you still need to give your people room to breathe. You need to give them space to do some professional development during business hours.
Now, there is a fine line here that we need to walk, right?
If I, as an agency owner, know that the only time you're working on your education is during business hours, that's not fair. You've got to meet me halfway. If I'm willing to give you 20% or 25% of your week and invest in you financially to give you that time to work on your certifications, I really want to make sure I have the type of human that's going to take that and amplify it with on the weekends or in the evenings or early in the morning.
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Of course, even if you're sitting there nodding along with what I've said so far, I know creating the space for education within an organization where, previously, there wasn't any, isn't exactly simple.
So, how do you make the pivot?
Let's talk about it, because you've really got to commit.
How to prioritize education at your company or agency
Raise your prices
If profitability and billable hours are keeping you up at night when you think about inserting education into the equation, your first step is simple — quit making excuses and up your prices.
One of the smartest things I did when I first started my agency was charge three times the amount I thought I was worth — and folks are paying it. Because I did that, we have more freedom.
Lead by example
Next, like I said earlier, you need to model the learning and professional development you want to see in your people. So, while I know that, as the owner, your days/nights/weekends are likely completely stacked, you've got to make the time do so some self-educating and then share it with your team.
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Plus, it's not as hard as it might seem. HubSpot Academy, for instance, has some lessons that are as short as 30 or 45 minutes.
See, when you put in the effort yourself and set the tone for your people to do the same, you're priming the pump. Instead of being directive like, "Hey, you need to go take whatever certifications you can find on HubSpot's Marketing Hub," you're there in the trenches with them.
Give them the time and encourage them
Finally, give them the time to actually do the professional development work at work. Whether that's 10% of their time or 25% of the time (or some other number), it doesn't matter. Mandate it (in a positive way), make it part of your culture, and make it clear education is a priority where you work.
Then, encourage folks along in their learning journey and to share with others — offer opportunities for lunch and learns, book clubs, or have people show off what they've learned during team or all hands meetings.
"But I don't want people to leave"
Education is a wild thing, in that it can open the minds of humans to explore passions and roads they might have never otherwise considered. Sometimes that growth can take place within your organization, but in other cases, that may mean they spread their wings elsewhere.
If you're trying to avoid employee turnover, I can imagine that may feel scary at first. Personally, I'd encourage you to consider my point of view. My only focus with my team is to find ways to help them become 1% better each and every day.
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I'd rather empower the humans who serve alongside me to grow and flourish, rather than stifle their potential out of fear. I want to be part of their success story, not someone creating friction against it.
To be fair, I'm not saying that's your intention if employee churn is a fear. However, keep that context in mind. Employees will come and go; how will they remember you as part of their story of growth? If you treat your employees well and they move on, they'll always be a part of your network.
Your employees are humans
Specifically, they're humans who have needs. They want to show up each day, do good work, not be bothered too much, and not get bogged down with some of the bureaucracy that can sometimes crop up at companies and agencies.
Yes, your clients need work done, and you need to be profitable.
But give your humans a good place to work and an easy way to develop themselves through education. Show them a vision for their own future — or help them create one, if they're struggling to see what's possible.
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To be fair, whether or not this resonates with you depends on your definition of success as a business or agency owner. If you're consumed by your P&L, you might be shrugging your shoulders at me — and hey, that's OK. It's your business.
On the other hand, for those of you out there who at the helm of companies and agencies who want to genuinely have a positive impact on the humans who pass through your doors, look at how you're investing in them.
And education is a great place you can start.
