The old saying that "some employees will strive to be average" is all too true. Some employees will hide in the middle of the bell shaped productivity curve.

The superior manager will strive to move the average to the right of the curve thereby improving productivity. Achieving this will increase market share in a slow economy and accelerate growth in the coming recovery.

The current hesitant economy gives the smart manager an opportunity to upgrade their staff by getting the competitions stars while cutting the employee dead wood.

The management guru Peter Drucker, wrote a fascinating article in the Economist a few months ago. Drucker described "knowledge" workers and pointed out that almost any management position can be out-sourced in the 21st century. "The most profitable way to organize can be to disintegrate" wrote Drucker. Safety training happens to be an example of this concept. Because of the specialized nature of much safety training, in can be often be profitably and effectively out-sourced Also, out-sourced safety training can be used to supplement on-staff trainers in specialized knowledge areas. The question is not only do I out-source, but if I do, who do I out-source from?

Materials Handling Equipment Company has 50 years experience in material handling and safety. MHECO has a full time safety training department dedicated to risk management advice, safety training and loss prevention. Isn't it time to look at some of the the tasks that should be out-sourced to MHECO?