Are People really No.1 Asset in Companies?
How many companies have triumphantly declared that their employees are their most valuable asset? The now famous Dilbert cartoon strip once tackled this topic and announced that employees were now the ninth most valuable asset and losing out to a closely fought eighth place with carbon paper. While this represents an exaggerated view it clearly demonstrates an astute observation by the author, Scott Adams.
In this series of articles I will bring you through some of the common sense approaches to making this a reality (employees at No.1 and not 9!!) and help organisations (big and small) to deliver better bottom line performance through their employees.
Many organisations rightly believe that their employees are valuable -they do important work, they sell and make things and services and ultimately are key in ensuring a healthy revenue stream for their company. Some organisations make this statement but the reality goes a long way towards contradicting that belief. However, best in class organisations recognise that their people can be the differentiator between themselves and their competitors. They recognise that the culture of their company and how things get done is a critical element to achieve that level of differentiation.
It is well documented, that in this age of rapidly developing technological advancement, replicating products and service offerings has never been easier. Often pricing ranges are very similar from one organisation to the other and the evolution of the web has brought significant transparency to pricing globally, ultimately placing pressure on pricing.
So, what can organisations do to leverage their people to make a difference?
You will be glad to hear that the key to unleash the potential of your employees in your business is not necessarily financially intensive, it generally requires following some important interventions and behaviours. It is also important to note that employees have an equal responsibility in playing their part in this journey and creating that accountability within your workforce is key, a fact often overlooked.
Employees essentially want a number of things to exist for them to stay motivated:
- Know what is happening to the business, how it is performing and what the main challenges and threats are
- Be clear on what it is they are being measured on and paid for
- Be clear on how they are doing against those objectives (whether positive or negative)
- See their working environment as fair and transparent
- Understand the challenges the business has and contribute to resolving them
- Be fairly rewarded for their effort and performance
- Feel that they can manage their career
Next week, I will look at a topic that is often either misinterpreted or sometimes misused – Communication. I will deal with the other topics over the coming weeks.