RFL: Developing Your Bench

We are all on the same path...finding ways to do more with less. It is widely known that workforces are becoming leaner and leaner, while most are still faced with maintaining and even growing market share and productivity. It seems like an impossible task: reduce the number of people working for you, and increase your revenue. Unfortunately, as markets have become more crowded and competitive over time, most businesses have routinely been increasing expectations and output of their workforces to drive profits. Because of this well-established culture, economic belt-tightening has proven to be even more difficult than in times past. We ALL ran lean operations BEFORE the economy started its decline.
So where exactly do we go from here?

The first step on the path toward success is to look within. That doesn't mean we need to set up meditation schedules and personal reflection time, though those aren't bad ideas, but rather that we need to figure out just what our companies are made of. Specifically, what skills our workforce is made of. I am willing to stake my reputation on the fact that there are employees working in all our organizations today who have valuable skills that we are completely unaware of. That is, our current employees may present us with the skills we need to operate lean and thrive while other businesses merely survive.

There are numerous studies available that provide statistics on the dollar-value of engaged employees, and the damages caused by bored ones. For access to a number of these reports, visit SHRM, and type "engaged employees" or "bored employees" in their search engine. You'll find volumes of surveys and articles to this point.

The Life Cycle of an Employee, Used With Permission from SHRM

To be continued....