Both new recruits and old timers need some retooling in order to meet the performance expectations of the organization. Nobody really comes fully ready for a job. For the old timers, there is always a need to refresh, upgrade and acquire greater skills. Even old dogs must learn new tricks.

Retooling people is not just about improving their capabilities. It is also about re- orienting them to the new directions of the enterprise. It is, likewise, about changing attitudes and behavior, about creating a healthier corporate culture, and about adopting more responsive approaches to greater customer service. Retooling is a continuous process of organizational development.

As organisations push to transform operations, it’s a perfect time to take a closer look at her systems and drive efficiency by re-tooling. To create a more efficient and streamlined enterprise, organisations often find themselves tempted to bring in brand new systems that promise major improvements over the status quo.

This can be a viable strategy in some cases –and it will impress stakeholders that prefer to shake things up. But it comes at a cost. Swapping out the old for the new will require heavy doses of training to get everyone up to speed, and that’s just for starters.

There’s another option of optimizing what you currently have. In other words, your current systems may not deliver the best possible experience for your users, but you can change that. Before deciding whether to acquire entire new systems, organisations should take full stock of existing systems and processes.

The goal: to effectively understand where efficiencies can be created by just re-tooling what you already have using various approaches, techniques and practices.