bake - August 2014 - 14

labor front

Hired Guns
It's no secret that for a business to grow and thrive, managers
and employees must constantly improve their skills through
ongoing instruction.
But not all skills are created equal, and the same goes for
training. There's a lot the boss can teach: The correct procedure for greeting the customer, mopping the ﬂoor or closing up
at night. But there are also big-picture skills best left to professional instructors. Specialized abilities usually require special-

In-house leadership training
may not give you the needed
perspective that comes with
an outside point of view.

ized teaching.
Here are four areas in which training is best farmed out to

Google AdWords - Present-day darling of the marketing trade,

professionals, rather than tackled in-house.

AdWords offers a way to laser-target potential customers,
monitor trends and compile effectiveness data on the ﬂy to

Shrinkage - In retail, internal and external theft together make

enable quick changes in strategy. But this isn't a game for

up one of the top reasons for losing money. This is one area

amateurs, says Vin Ferrer, social-media strategist with Graphic

where the boss typically doesn't have the expertise to train the

D-Signs. "With a constantly evolving service such as this,

employees, says Robert D. Sollars, president of Sollars Security

anyone worth their mettle needs to have the fundamentals

Shield. The trouble is, loss can take a number of forms: There's

committed to memory. That means taking part in an extensive

theft, scam, embezzlement, creative conspiring between

training program to get up to speed, something that is going

employees and outside actors. Even if businesses know how to

to run at least 15 hours if it is comprehensive. If you're serious

tackle any one of these, they probably won't know all the ﬁner

about utilizing AdWords, you need to be able to navigate its

points.

complex user interface with conﬁdence. Otherwise, you could
end up quickly losing any money put into it."

Lean Operations - With its process-improvement tools and
efficiency concepts, Lean Six Sigma has proven a useful tool

Leadership - So here's the thing about leadership and devel-

for improving business patterns-ﬁrst in manufacturing and

opment training: Most likely you are trying to ﬁx problems or

lately across diverse verticals. With its problem-solving meth-

enhance capabilities that, by nature, are part of your in-house

odologies and quality-enhancement techniques, it's a potential

operations. Doing this training in-house, you probably won't

powerhouse, says Becky Boyd, content-marketing specialist

have the needed perspective that comes with an outside point

at Rea & Associates. But it can't be taught by a layman with a

of view. "It's very possible that attempting to do this in-house

Dummies guide. It typically requires a team of skilled facilita-

could actually further complicate existing challenges," says

tors to bring the concept to life.

Nathan R. Mitchell of Clutch Consulting. SOURCE: WWW.NFIB.COM

14 < AUG 2014 | bakemag.com

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bake - August 2014

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