Whether you believe it or not, many things in business are affected by short-term versus long-term thinking. Many aspiring entrepreneurs strongly believe in Charles F. Glassman’s quote that short-term pain leads to long-term gain. While many entrepreneurs strongly preach this quote to others, their own decisions do not reflect that.
They often focus on the short-term gain that results in long-term pain. Only smart business leaders realise that short-term pain is crucial for long-term gains. Are you willing to endure pain in the short term for long-term business benefits? For example, are you willing to endure the short-term pain of strictly sticking to the budget to gain a more secure financial position in the future?
Over and over, business leaders are faced with decisions that can be boiled down to the tension between short-term versus long-term thinking. However, now you must be wondering whether sticking to this business philosophy is worth it. Read this article to know why short-term pain for long-term gain psychology is crucial for successful entrepreneurship!
Why Does Short-Term Pain Occur in Business Environment?
Many people cannot figure out the reason behind short-term pain in a business environment. Do you fall into a similar category? Short-term pain occurs in a business environment when business leaders set boundaries. Once business leaders set some boundaries, making the workforce understand their importance takes time and effort.
Often the workforce shows a negative emotional reaction when business leaders try to establish a few boundaries. The negative reaction not only causes significant stress to business leaders but also negatively impacts the growth of the business. Business leaders can always reduce the stress they experience in setting boundaries by having face-to-face or virtual meetings with their employees.
These meetings with the employees may not eliminate the possibility of a negative response, but they definitely can reduce the negative reaction to a more manageable level. On the other hand, if business leaders do not conduct these meetings, the negative reaction will increase to a level that they will have no option but to let the matter go and not set boundaries.
However, trying to avoid the short-term pain of not setting boundaries will result in business leaders experiencing long-term pain, as boundaries are often crucial to business growth.
Does Short-Term Pain Actually Lead to Long-Term Gain?
While many people believe that running a successful business requires sufficient funds, resources and business leaders’ expertise, however, there is one thing that often does not get mentioned – business philosophy. Every entrepreneur follows a philosophy that drives their business decisions.
Therefore, if the business leader’s philosophy is effective, the business will succeed. Else, it will fail miserably. Now, you must be wondering how effective the short-term pain and long-term gain philosophy is. Well, it is undoubtedly one of the most influential business philosophies.
Suppose business leaders are willing to bear some difficulties in the short term to make profits in the long term. In that case, they will definitely see a thriving business as the outcome.
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Example of Short-Term Pain for Long-Term Gain – Investing in High-Maintenance Employees
Loyal and hardworking employees are crucial to any business’s success. Whenever you are looking to hire employees for your business, you want candidates with lots of experience, knowledge and potential for a specific position. However, one thing is certain you want them to be loyal to your business for a long time.
Unfortunately, many business leaders are unable to achieve that. Do you wonder why? Because recruiting qualified and experienced employees is expensive. Also, retaining your old employees, that are valuable assets to your business, requires a significant investment. If business leaders refuse to invest in their employees, it eventually results in a high turnover rate.
However, many business leaders think investing in high-maintenance employees is useless, and there is a replacement for every employee they have in the world. What they don’t realise is that this short-term pain of investing in high-maintenance employees can provide them with many long-term benefits.
To help you understand better why it is a long-term gain, here are a few benefits of investing in high-maintenance employees:
Cost Reduction
Employers in the UK spend upwards of $1 trillion on finding and hiring replacement employees annually. These costs include advertising, interviewing, and screening. Also, the costs do not end here. Employers will also have to spend significantly on employee onboarding, like training and management expenses.
However, even after spending a huge amount on hiring new employees, employers will have to deal with a lot of stress in the initial stages. Lost productivity, lower engagement and customer service issues will be a few reasons behind that added stress. What is the Best Pricing Strategy for a Small Business?
Morale Improvement
A high employee turnover rate in a business can result in lower employee morale. Aside from lost friendships and connections, employees who stay back often have to take on heavier workloads and responsibilities. As a result, they will feel dissatisfied and demotivated.
The remaining employees may also decide to leave when they notice others are job hunting or leaving the company for a better opportunity. Therefore, investing in high-maintenance employees may cause short-term pain, but it will definitely prove to be a long-term gain as it will save your business from undergoing a major crisis.
Loss of Experienced Employees
Do you know what the major drawback of a high turnover rate is? Loss of business knowledge, skills and relationships- within the organisation and with customers. Therefore, when your experienced employees leave the business, they will take a lot of your customers and potential leads from you.
Organisations that focus on retaining experienced employees will definitely see significant returns in the future.
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Conclusion:
Are you still unable to understand the importance of “short-term pain for long-term gain psychology” in a business environment? Well, in that case, business coaches at ActionCoach can help you with that.
Contact us today at 01442 773310 or email westherts@actioncoach.co.uk for a business coaching session that can be tailored to your business needs and budget!
