The importance of employee growth for Utah businesses

Although capital and profits are clearly on the mind of most business owners, there is a different kind of organizational growth that can be just as important for the livelihood of your business. Investing in the best and brightest employees is just as important an expenditure as supplies or inventory. 

And, making this happen may be easier than you think.

Although there are certainly some outside organizations that can help with growth potential for employees, there are also simple things any business owner can do. Sometimes it’s as easy as opening up a project to members of the team that have ambitions to be leaders — and that, in essence — is a freebie.

Thinking of ways to develop the careers of your employees should be near the top of your list as a business leader. It’s also wise to find ways to make doing business more convenient and easy, and that’s something First Utah Bank can provide with its merchant services offerings.

Ways to encourage more growth

The job site Indeed gives details on some choice opportunities for growth. Here are just a few of the ones they recommend.

Mentoring: Companies of any size should be open to giving support and advice in a more formal setting to junior employees. This can also be a great boost to employees who have ambitions to be leaders or want to pivot within a company into new careers that could also benefit the company well.

A stronger leadership role: This is where a manager decides that an employee is ready for more responsibility and for some positive challenges. This one is ideal for an employee who is thoughtful about what types of job responsibilities would push their limits.

Continuing education: Utah in particular has some great programs at its colleges and universities for people to earn specialized certifications. A business that truly values this can even offer tuition reimbursement for a certification that makes sense for that employee’s role, either present or future.

Company retreats: When these come up, they should be a chance for employees to get to know each other more and to also feel like they have a stake in the mission and performance of the company. They often feature collaboration exercises, and this is also a good chance for employees to show how well they can work in teams.

A shoulder tap that could last a lifetime

The advice Utah Business gives on employee growth is from Cydni Tetro, the co-founder of the state’s Women Tech Council. She advises leaders to assess the talent of their employees and create opportunities to accelerate their careers, all while becoming a trusted advisor in that growth.

“I like to think of this as tapping someone on the shoulder—telling a coworker or subordinate, ‘We believe you can do this and want to give you an opportunity to jump in,’ and then mentoring them through it,” Tetro writes.

Tetro sees this as vitally important for women in industries, especially ones that are based on technology. Even if a leader makes an informal first step to seek out someone to help with a special project or give someone more leadership responsibility, they can make that employee feel as if the momentum’s on their side. It also means that they can have a greater impact on the current business as a team or even company leader.

Tetro also believes that recognition plays into greater career opportunities, especially if they are done in a company setting such as an award.

“These formal recognitions often get overlooked, but they are powerful and important,” Tetro writes. “Having someone recognize what you’re doing is a huge boost, but when they help elevate it and bring attention to it, it’s even more transformative.”

Any type of focused effort to bring employees more into the leadership circle is encouraged. As Tetro states, “Be the one to accelerate, amplify, and activate them, it could change all of us for the better.”

Merchant services helps with customer service

It’s clear that as your employees grow in their careers, so too will the opportunities for overall growth. One way to maintain that growth going is to use technology that can provide convenience to your customer base. For merchant services, First Utah Bank and our partner Select Bankcard — another business from Utah — allow you to accept electronic payments from the internet or mobile as well as at retail locations.

Having a merchant account can lead to some excellent benefits for businesses, including providing customers with convenient, flexible ways to pay for your goods and services. Accepting cards through online means also can streamline transactions for your business, allowing for better cash flow forecasting and management. There are also fewer instances of bad checks, avoiding the expenses and inconvenience that occur when a check bounces.

For location shopping, there’s also Clover Station, a system for accepting electronic payments with a fast-as-lightning processor, end-to-end encryption and data tokenization, and acceptance of chip, magstripe or contactless payment methods.

Learn more about merchant services in Salt Lake City and how they can help support your business goals at our website.