Cost cutting has become a necessary and important reality in the modern corporate world. Yet many executives do not realize that their people are actually the best source of cost reduction ideas.

There are several reasons for this.

For starters a highly motivated workforce that understands the bottom-line and its significance to the future of a business and by extension their own future in employment can make a huge difference in any cost reduction effort. It also means that any cost-cutting ideas they suggest will be received much better by other workers and will therefore be implemented much more enthusiastically than a directive from the board or senior management. In other words, it will be much less painful for people to implement it.

Then there is the fact that the workers on the job are in a much better position to recognize and identify waste. They are actively involved in the processes as opposed to managers who rarely go into the details but are in fact hired to keep their focus on the big picture or final product.

Non-management staff also has more time to think and come up with ideas for improvements. This is in sharp contrast to managers who have numerous tasks like writing reports and analyzing figures among a host of other tasks with tight deadlines that they usually need to accomplish. This usually leaves them with very little time to think of ideas that they can implement to improve the business. Unfortunately, the reality is that many managers spend most of their time desperately putting out fires.

These are just some of the factors that have made all workers in corporations throughout the world, the most valuable source of improvement ideas that businesses need to survive in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Chuck Yorke is an organizational development and performance improvement specialist, trainer, consultant and speaker. His specialty is helping companies improve by tapping into the creative ideas of their workers. He is also co-author, along with Norman Bodek, of All You Gotta Do Is Ask, a book that explains how to promote large numbers of ideas from employees. Chuck may be reached at ChuckYorke@yahoo.com http://www.peoplekaizen.com/

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