Anyone that has worked in a company with more than one person knows that eventually people lose sight of the common goal.

One way that reality bites is when plans should go one way, but somehow take a detour and go another way in a totally wrong direction that leads to a dead-end. When this happens, we scratch our heads and wonder if somehow we woke up in the middle of “Opposite Day.”

Research says that many employees manufacture work to make themselves look better, look busy and look important. But what does this type of behavior do for the bottom line? How can that energy be turned toward something good?

How do new employees feel when they start? Are you making sure that new employees are set up for success? What are you doing to give new employees knowledge? How are you going to make them feel like part of the pack?

Are you making sure that training is acted on? What steps are you taking to make sure that there is follow through after training? Do you encourage people to use knowledge from recent training? How do you make sure that training is being put to use?