James Mills is a web developer in the North East of England and founder of Refresh Teesside »
Mike Hughes is the Head of Business for the Evening Gazette. He will be blogging on all matters of importance to Teesside businesses - and some that are just worth knowing »
Jez Davison, business writer at the Evening Gazette, is a regular blogger on all things business - particularly finance, entrepreneurship and the state of the Teesside economy » 
Karen McLauchlan is the Evening Gazette's deputy business and features editor - with special interest in all things industry, property and arts related » 
Jeremy Middleton is a venture capitalist and the co-founder of FTSE-200 company HomeServe » 
Deloitte, which has 23 offices across the UK including Newcastle, is among the country's leading professional services firms » 
ClimateNE & Climate Change Schools Project support the move to a low-carbon, resilient economy and help businesses avoid risk and realise commercial opportunities. Posts by Jen Atkinson, Krista McKinzey and Harriet Thew » For this blog I would like to introduce Waterstonsâ Managing Director, Mike Waterston to talk about the revolution of the knowledge worker:
In my time in business I have seen a slow revolution in the attitude of many companies to the people they employ; they are increasingly seen as strategic assets to be nurtured and encouraged rather than driven and exploited.
The recent drive to outsource basic tasks and raw manufacturing has fuelled this new level of interest as companies have had to look at ways of adding value to base products while at the same time vastly improve productivity.
It is clear to many that this can be best achieved if every individual is encouraged to use their skill and initiative in pursuit of improved company performance.
This means that companies in turn must recognise the individualâÂÂs contribution and make them feel part of the action.
If the dynamics are right then companies can leverage massive benefit from treating people right â you donâÂÂt have to be Genghis Khan to succeed.
After all, Toyota appear to have created a position of world domination by harnessing the skills of all its people.
Lest we forget, everyone in this new empowered world is or should be a knowledge worker. So what has that to do with IT you might ask?
An empowered worker needs information, tools to collaborate and communicate and access to his organisations accumulated knowledge.
Technology systems such as instant messaging, Voice over IP (VOIP) and internet conferencing allow workers to work together on projects no matter where in the world they are located.
Similarly document management systems such as Microsoft SharePoint can be used to help streamline processes, share information and promote collaborative working.
Finally software systems such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and other bespoke systems can be harnessed to make sure the right information is visible to the right employees at the right time.
Information technology is a great way to facilitate the efficient transfer of the essential information and knowledge required for the empowered employee, or knowledge worker to function effectively.
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