In many of the trade publications I am reading these days I see a recurring theme. Companies are remaining profitable today because of their ability to control costs. The top-line is not growing so to protect the bottom-line they are more cost focused than ever.

Of course, the best way to get costs under control is to get the entire team involved. And the primary way you do that is to educate about what things really cost. If you run a restaurant and the deputy assistant cook doesn’t know the 10 chicken breasts he just burned cost $1.65 each and they could have sold for $9.99 then you are missing an opportunity. If you run a construction operation and the loader operator doesn’t recognize the cost of the new engine after not checking the oil then you have missed an opportunity. If the office staff doesn’t proofread a document before printing 100 of them then you have missed an opportunity. And in each of these cases there is a labor cost issue also.

Each of these conversations can be ongoing and quick. You don’t need a formal class to communicate this message. On the spot coaching will do the trick.

Time are tough, we know that. You can make them easier by getting everyone involved. Protect your margins and you will protect the bottom-line.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 7th, 2009 at 2:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.