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PAGE 14t' WHITYFRE= PRESS, ED AY.FEUARY 26,19M businessnews Developin portaâble work skils for the 90s Ini the 1990e, companies that' are going te succeed in, a competitive economy are the ones who are bringing innovation and tearo spirit bFck inte the workplc. TheSe1-DreedWork Team (SDWT) uses th collective brainpower of ail employees -as a competitive strategy, emowering them with the r pns foIi r ail fonctions of the business, Including areas pr Vy reservedT for matnagement. It àe one of the beet approaches te' realizing a paybackin quality ,and customer service, as well as being the ultimate productivityr teol. Mangemntbas begon te, realize¶tat their employees are ln the best, poition te mû.e certain, decisions andscive probleme ith mnial nterference and they have now begon te concentrate on providn them with the necessary ekile. g These skiills include inter- persnal >communication, deciion-makring, problem aeoving and team building. Ail are generic, ail are portable, ail are agreed as being necessary skiil componients for a vital co.mpetitive workforce. TMm.result in that more training dollars are beinf investéd in the hourly empoye,, iththe mgjérity of courses being government- funded. The. Government of Ontao, in. dealing w ýith thé issues of trinng and skiil development assertathe need te concentrate on providing the employeellearner, and especially the hor0 okr wihgeneric, portable kIlse, and te lessen the emphasis te, train only in highly job-specific areas. Tii... new generic akille are more developmental in nature and provide the individual with greater job and career opportunities. One. of the moet important elements i team direction is training:skiil training, business knowledgei problem soiving and team dynanncs.., Training *spcally training in communicati-on, helýpe te eas the transition from -traditional systeme te -teams, helping everyone te understand. change and communicate their -eellgs Tii. Durhanm Regipýn Action Committee for ' *in bas put together a program teo mt the challenges of the nnties. The. prograin ledesigned te ailow. individuale te obtain a;varietvy of technical and non-technical kille required te increase their probability of maintainiîng em- pboynt y.obtaining portable skllnreasing job satisfaction and Job security. The rprogram cglIed the Multi-SilledWorker Certificats (rgr m SOW)J, le Tided 'by DrimRegion ACT and ls con ried othree 7 *ebuilding ekille, leadereNip andasilpervision ùskiland qualityskifla. The. program .-,hýs been etructured in such a way that it can b. ta ilored te many different industries sucb as! service, manufacturing, electroice, etc. The. MSWP has been, approved !?y Canada Employaient and Immigration and the- Provincial Mlnistry of idils Deve' lopment, Ontario Skis.Development office. SDWiTs have, produced impressve improvements in quality, product!vity And customer service, in bath the service and manufacturing industries. The. concept of a' self-directed workforce ha. been around for more than 20 years Today, however, tiiere le a strong commitment te, thie concept on the, part of management and many others are experimenting at a rapid rate. Tii. concept goes by many different names: self-directed work teanie self-mangn teame, high-involvement WO;r- force, etc. Thi. teains tiimselves vary according te, the particuiar needs of an organization. A general definition is a group of employees (from five te, 15 on average) who are responsible for a whea prouctor procese. The teai pansand carrnes out-the work, ini addition te nianaging thinge that supervisors or managers used-te do. Team direction "Ir different fr-oman.of its predcessors, such as quality.circies a4,i employee- involvement etrategiegs, because teani-directed employees have the responaibility to ix a probiem, rathr tanjuet -point it out. :On. of the. biggeet changes in teain 'direction ivalves -the traneformed '.rôIes of bath managers and employeee. Managers go from bosses- dictatora te coaches-facilitators. Employees- become -team memibere or players. Facilitators help guide, direct and support th& teani, but they do not contrai it. The brame, talents and bard work of everyone at work muet b. mxnied if the. economy le te sorvive and* produce world-ciass quality and service. Learning je the key ýte self-directed work teanis. Members have te learn two types of ekille: multiple technical ekillé and multiple team skiils. Tii. tehnical eille depend nature of the job. on the. Durham Region Action Committee for Trainng ie on. of 57 non-p rofit Community Industrial Training Comnittees (CITCs) oporating i Ontario. The. committees were e"stihed jointly by the federal and provincial governments i 1979 te, provide- input on comniunity training needs. Further information may be obtained by contacting the. Durham - Region ACT office* at 416-430-8511.< Maintenance limited Servlng Ontarils Sanltatlon Supply Needs For Over 39 Veairs INDUSTRIAL PHOTO COPY PAPER STRENGTH Preium White Dual Garbago Baga Purpose 26x36or30x38 8.5 xl11201bBond SURPASS 2 PLY OVEN MASTER, TOILET TISSUE GldeadFyrdme 500S1heetsx*48 Rails 'GIdeadFy ln B $1415pe t The Mutual Group Herb G. Tran 40 King Street West, Suite 710 Oshawa, Ontario Li H 1 A4 Bus. 725-6564 Lloensed wI!h Mulua l e of Canada and Mutafnvetco Inca AISTHORPE WILSON - & ASSOCIATES. 1 Certified Management Accountants Taxes, B ookkéeping, Accounting. Drap-off or pickup in -Whitby or Toronto 898 Kingston Road 330 Byron Street South Toronto -Whltby 691-3704 666-5988 Nor Com Cellular£_ Mobile Communicationsm Sales eService,@ Installation, 35.0 Wentworth Street Eàst, Oshawa Tel: 432-0088 *BeII Cellular- if this paper was. not delivered- to your business iiiWhitby-,> please letus know. 668-6111- Stock market timing Buy:and hold » hi s prbaly the moot, common strategy advboe utul fndsivetr e . How many limes bave 0o, seen ads that laim "If ouivse$100 n 1955, your mvestment would be worth almoot $2 million ini 1989." Hard to argue with that, snt it? As wel fonds .based "on, commo 1n stocks have been nown to outpri rmmn9oie investmenta during theélongterm. Moét mutuel fonds ,investors are content with leaving. ail investment- decisions te fond managers.. They behieve managersa have the expertise, tme and temperamette juggle, the {rtfolio, dropping over-prioed stocks while adding otherstht '17e'growth potential. Meanwhile, managers, accumulate more cash so they can buy up-,iorestocks whenthéemarket'falls. However some investors. are not satisfied le avigal the decision-ýma dgUp te fond mngr~Terga smarket. timing, lcnowing iwhen to buylIow and seil, highe' Its not easy. Even experts will admit thir failures in'mrket timing, secal those swamped by the Octobeôr 1987 crash. 'Begting the makt takes.a lot of work and involves many, factors, that have te b. monitored. For example, te predict -a falling, or bear market investors have te predict. slumps. This. requires evaluating trends' In consumer',-,confidence house-building activity, levels of corporte profitability as l as other economie measures. Other trend indicaters include intereat rates and retail spending. Professionals believe that bull and bear markets precede turne in'the economy on an, average of Il months. So investers have te b. able te look for more than one year into the future without the help of a crysta ball. The. challenge in second-guessing the market!s direction is that the invester bas te b. right both limes. He/she bas te know when te get out and when te, get back iii again. To mitigate potential errors, investers may only trade1 part'of thefr fonds, or only-those invested in speclalty fonds tbat have a tendency te b. volatle, such as. energy, gold and foreignf mutual fonds. However, there ie often a price for switcblng mutual fonds. No caste are charged if the investor switchee within a 'no bod' family of fonde. But there je often a charge if the inVestor switches. within a family' that charges a. sales'^com.isono boad. Ail in ail, successfulmarket timing je nearly imposs'ible.;' Indeed, buy and hold' is a sensible strategy *for many invesitors. Yet buy and holdt does not mean 'sit back and coast.' Investers should continua]ly, monitor their 0portfolst ensure the fund ie performing -conistently»and note any 'changes in management pollcy. For example, ifnagement changes could lead te the fund's perforance deteriorating, then the investor- should consider switching fonds. Also, most investere, do not want te holdà.the same fonds forever. As - they get older and are less willing te take rieke, investors likely wi]l want te, shift away from aggressive growth fonds te more conservative balanoed fonds or income funds. With mutual funde, there ie something, for'everyone te 'buy* andhold!, Corne seS aur sfowrvrfr aam te mo fSy dheoi 666-1224 500 Hopkins Street, Whity j ILN