The difference between investing in people and training

Toyota may well train their employees, but the real investment is allowing these employees to engage their brains at work - giving them time and space to make continuous improvements. And yes, they may well need a little help in learning how to do this.

The "investment" here is time away from immediate productive work - which in the short term results in cost. But time taken today, saves time for the future, and the return on investment is achieved.

This requires a long term view. When the pressure is on, especially in an economic downturn, we look for the simple ways to cut costs - training budgets, biscuits in the meeting rooms, and a general reduction in investment. In a flash, we begin to move in the wrong direction through the Deming cycle - quality drops, costs increase, competitiveness decreases.

In difficult times, we must re-double our efforts in improving quality, not cut it out - and it starts with making sure the whole team know where they're heading, fully focussed on purpose.

See the full story in LinkedIn.