Engaging employees in improving their work creates new levels of communication and gives ownership of improvements to worker. We now recognize that “you know your job better then management does because you are one that does it every day.” Since people are expert in their work, who better to come up with ideas to improve it then them. We all want, need and deserve respect.

Claudia designed a fixture to hold bubble wrap she used for packaging. It made her job easier. Ken saw fixture; thought paper would work just as well and asked his customers. The switch to paper saved Ken’s employer about $100,000 a year and a lot of storage space. Engaged people see fruits of their labor as their ideas are implemented. They now receive positive feedback for a “job well done.”

Any process, any product, any service can be made better in some way, somehow. One plant manager said, “It used to be that my problem solvers were solely management team, but now my problem solvers are everybody in building.” How can you beat that?

Copyright © 2005 Chuck Yorke - All Rights Reserved

You and your employees can even learn while commuting to and from work. Imagine popping in a training course on audiotape or CD-ROM and learning while stuck in traffic. Of course, your employees might want to be paid for this time!

Local cable television stations are another valuable training source. These days, everything from learning about software products to preparing for SAT is taught on local cable. The local library is another local source for training materials. Training materials are loaned, not purchased, making this a worthwhile source to investigate. You’ll even find an assortment of e-book titles at library, too.

And for every new software package you purchase to help run your business, find a suitable training guide and require all who will be using it to learn how to properly use all of software’s features. That includes you, too. You’ll never get your money’s worth out of software you purchase if you do not learn how to use it.

Much of software on market includes on-line help, on-line demonstrations, tutorials or some other learning instrument. Software makers also have web sites where users can go to learn more about product. As a software package grows in popularity, so too will number of book titles available for that software.

And one method of instruction that has yet to go out of style is instructor-led training. Whether enrolled in a real classroom environment or a virtual classroom, all will benefit by learning directly from an expert.

The reality is, only properly trained employees and business owners can help your business grow. Classes begin now so don’t be late!