Ever wanted to tell your boss that he’s an idiot? Workplace consultant, Robert Flower says, “It is the responsibility of workers to tell their managers that they are stupid. Who isn’t going to pay attention when they hear that?” But wait - before you rush off to see the boss, there’s more that you should know.

Flower continues with advice on just how to go about saying such things without getting fired. “Obviously, you can’t say it like that,” he says. “You have to find a way to show how changing your job makes sense for the company. Managers will listen to that and appreciate it.”

The point is really that the employees are best-placed for understanding what is wrong with their jobs and how to make them better. If they can get this across to their managers and supply well thought out ideas and suggestions, everyone will benefit.

Flower sees it as the employee’s responsibility to work out how best to approach his boss and to sell new ideas. A part of the problem is that the workplace culture often does not encourage such openness from employees, but the employees themselves assist in this by not devising ways to be heard. They do not see it as their responsibility to assist the company to greater efficiency and productivity.

If these attitudes can be changed, the company will benefit from an untapped source of informed and practical ideas for improvement. And that has to be good for everyone involved.

You can read more of Robert Flower’s ideas at Signonsandiego dot com.

What if, instead of having to spend precious commuting minutes in the drive-thru for coffee and a donut, your workplace served up a continental breakfast every day? And saving you more time, offered a concierge service that picked up your dry-cleaning? What if you had a standing invitation to the bosses house for dinner every Tuesday night? Tuition reimbursement? On-site chair massages? Stock ownership?

Winning Workplaces has announced its 2006 list of the 18 Best Bosses to work for. Innovative styles and attention to the personal needs of their employees make these bosses stand out and working for their companies an enjoyable experience.

See the article and the 2006 List of Best Bosses at the Winning Workplaces website.

Winning Workplaces is a not-for-profit organization that provides information, training and consulting in helping small and midsize business create high-performance workplaces.

Rising fuel prices are taking a larger bite out of everyone’s budget but are increasingly a problem for small business owners who may not have the reserve to absorb higher expenses without passing on much of the costs to the customer. Yet they are the first to feel the crunch.

A small business owner may be less inclined to increase prices in response to higher fuel costs. Customers may go elsewhere for that product or service. But the bottom line is that some way must be found to offset the increased cost of doing business without losing business as a result.

Customers are already paying for the jump in fuel prices; at the gas pump, at the supermarket, in their heating and cooling bills. Being charged a surcharge for delivery when delivery used to be free, for instance, may cause that customer to go elsewhere.

Holding prices down for now may retain some business but eventually, if the future holds no relief from climbing fuel costs, the future of the small business owner may reside in his ability to offset these increases without losing cutomers.