We humans are creatures of habit. That is why 90% of all businesses are not growing or improving. The obvious conclusion is that if we get out of our habits we also get out of the 90% and get into the 10%. Skill is one of the ways we can accomplish this.

I am prejudiced, biased and narrow-minded when it comes to skill. Nothing can replace it. Drive, ambition, experience, motivation, and all the other positive attributes cannot replace skill. These positive human traits can help reduce the effects of no skills but they cannot replace skill.

I like a little broader definition of skill -- skill is the set of knowledge and abilities that produce a desired result. The results are the critical point. Skill is useless unless it brings results.

Here are some key points when considering the skill level in your company:

1. Sort out the differences between skill and work ethic. Work ethic is the desire. Skill is the result.
   
   
2. Skill might be cheaper. Supervision and management costs may offset any perceived labor savings. Look first to production and performance levels and work backward to estimate actual costs.
   
   
3. Skill produces higher quality. This means fewer rejects, comebacks and dissatisfied customers.
   
   
4. When the skilled supervise the unskilled, the skilled production level drops. This can sometimes make a substantial difference.
   
   
5. The skilled often prefer not to work with the unskilled. The skilled prefer to work with peers so they can stay sharp and continually learn.
   
   
6. Skill allows for the possibilities of providing different or improved value to your customers or clients. Skill promotes diversification and diversification can bring additional revenue streams.
   
   
7. The skilled feel they often are wasting their potential. This can make them very unhappy. They are most unhappy when feeling they are in a dead end position and that management does not care. No one cares. Except for the competitor that sees this type of employee as a breakthrough employee and strives to create opportunities to attract and keep such an employee.
   
   
8. Skilled employees project a more competent and positive image in the marketplace.
   
   
9. Skilled employees create fewer internal disruptions. The skilled find disruptions annoying, distracting and costly. Continual disruptions eventually drive away the skilled.
   
   
10. Skill allows increased capacity without corresponding overhead. Skill should usually be viewed as a variable cost.
    
    
11. The skilled are the only employees that will realistically reach high levels of performance.
    
    
12. Assessing skill level should be a weekly process. Each employee should be tracked and the business' needs assessed. The best question I have found is "What does the company really need?"
    
    
13. Reward skill with compensation, benefits and status. I find it very easy to look skill in the eye and say 'thank you.' And mean it from the heart.
    
    
14. Skilled employees love to be appreciated. Yes you have to do all the compensation/benefits things to stay competitive. Skilled employees appreciate and admire those that acknowledge their value.
    
    
15. Skilled employees did not get that way by chance. They search out ways to learn and improve. In today's business environment skilled employees are demanding learning opportunities. Companies that ignore this point will attract fewer skilled employees and become less competitive. Companies that understand the learning/skill relationship will be the profitable companies of the future.
    
    
16. The value of skill in the workplace is increasing. Skill and knowledge have all but replaced bulk, strength and volume. Very few industries will be able to ignore skill in the workplace. Skill as a business dynamic will continue to be an increasingly competitive dynamic.

Value follows skill and revenue streams follow value. Skill is the critical compone nt in the value formula.

If all things are equal,always side with skill.

Author's Bio - Jack D. Deal

Jack D. Deal is the owner of Deal Business Consulting. You could visit his website at http://jddeal.com/

How do you find the time to develop your people? Delegation both frees up your time and can develop your people. It also increases productivity, morale and commitment. As the economy becomes more dependent on knowledge, managers need to delegate to be effective leaders. The number one reason for management failure is an inability to delegate.

So, why don't managers delegate? The following are common reasons with my counter-arguments:

1. They think it's easier and more efficient to do it on their own. In the beginning, that is probably true! However, if they continue to do it on their own, their employees will never learn how to do it and they will be stuck doing it, as opposed to having more time to focus on more strategic initiatives.

2. Some managers simply aren't sure how to do it correctly. Delegation is both an art and a science. There are some basics in terms of doing it—find the right person, set clear expectations, settle on a regular check-in time. There is also the art of knowing people well enough to know how much they can handle; to stretch them without breaking them.

3. Other managers have a lack of trust in their people. These managers need to work on developing that trust. If they don't trust their employees, it is quite likely their employees don't trust them. Building trust is essential to retention of employees. That can be done by getting to know them on a more personal level (within reason, of course!) and by showing them trust—including delegation. In other words, one way to start trusting your people is to just do it—delegate to them and trust that it will get done well. When you have put the correct systems in place (discussed in detail below) you mitigate the risk of someone failing in a delegated project.

4. Finally, other managers have the perception that there is nobody they could delegate to. Many managers tell me that everyone is too busy. Realize that delegating may require you to help some of your employees prioritize their work more. In other cases, nobody reports to the person so they assume they can't delegate. There may be other people in your company who would be better suited for some of your tasks. Talk to your manager about who could take on some of those responsibilities.

The University of Michigan did a study that found that 70% of managers' work could be delegated. To delegate more of your tasks do the following exercise:

1. In a two week period, list all of the tasks that you perform. Be as detailed as possible (in other words, instead of listing "responded to e-mails", track which ones take a while to reply to or require action to be taken).

2. At the end of that time period, decide which ones you could delegate to someone else. Focus on full projects, as opposed to individual tasks. Be creative—for example, realize that you do not need to attend every meeting that you are invited to.

3. Decide who would be the best person to delegate to, keeping in mind each person's strengths, needs for improvements and workload.

4. Finally, put in place a structure to delegate, including clear expectations and check-in points. If things are not getting done correctly, evaluate whether it is a training issue or an ability issue. If it is training, work with the person to make sure they get the knowledge they need. Coach them when possible. If it is an ability issue, re-evaluate what responsibilities that person has. If things are not being done in a timely manner, address it immediately with the person.

Finally, make sure that you are delegating authority with a project. This will save you time in not having the person continually coming back to you asking for permission to make decisions.

Delegation is a practice that can be developed over time, learned by observing great managers do it and honed through coaching. It will greatly enhance your abilities as a leader, through helping you develop your people and allowing you to focus on more strategic work.

Author's Bio - Kerrie Halmi

Kerrie Halmi of Halmi Performance Consulting specializes in increasing women's success in business through speaking, coaching and facilitation. Kerrie has over fifteen years of experience in the Human Resources field with such clients as eBay, Wells Fargo and Kaiser. She received her MBA from the University of Michigan and is certified in coaching with Corporate Coach University International. See http://www.halmiperformance.com