For the next several Wednesdays, we’ll be featuring a multi-part series of articles titled "Are You Doing All You Can to Keep Your Job?" Each installment offers quick tips to help you succeed at work, and Part 1 focuses on education.

In addition to becoming educated ourselves, we can also focus on helping to educate our coworkers and customers. According to MindTools.com, “Opportunities to help others learn come up all of the time in the workplace. When you help a staff member deal with an angry customer, you have an opportunity to help her learn. When a team member comes to you frustrated by a recent change in a work system, you have an opportunity to help him understand why the change was necessary. Whether you regard this as ‘training’ or not, this kind of learning doesn’t just take place in formal classrooms, seminars or online courses. And you don't have to be a trainer to want to help people learn new things and better understand their roles within the organization. Many people, at many levels, train others at some point—and they have a role in creating a learning environment that affects the way work is done and how their teams are taught new things.”

An added benefit will be the appreciation your supervisor(s) feels when they see you attempting to educate others and improve the business. On the flip side, it’s important to look at everyday challenges as learning opportunities. Be open to new processes and procedures, and try to avoid the “that’s how we’ve always done it” mentality.