Invest In People
For years, I have been trying to impress on growing businesses that their people are their greatest asset. People think; people create; people solve problems. They lead to the dollars we generate.
We can measure our capital expenditures and our hard business assets in machines and inventory, but these key components of our businesses are inanimate. They play a minor role in dictating growth. It is the people who produce product and provide services that truly impact our businesses’ growth.
Business leaders will line up and swear to the fact that people are their greatest asset. They will share story after story about how they can’t find the top talent they need. However, the investments they make in their people are often the first thing they cut during tough economic times.
We see it everywhere on the news. The numbers are staggering and the cutting is often done without looking at the real impact. According to a recent American Management Association study of companies that have downsized, only about 34 percent of these business reported any productivity gain. In fact, 30 percent of the companies surveyed admitted that productivity actually fell. Managers in these companies and in companies that drastically reduced an investment in people have responded that survivors of such a decision tend to feel overworked (54 percent), overwhelmed (55 percent), lacking time for reflection (56 percent), or without the time to get the work done (56 percent). If more than 50 percent of people are saying they can’t get the work done, does this seem like a good investment in time and effort?
Compare this to a recent study on attracting top talent to business that showed an investment in developing people tends to provide a sevenfold return on investment. Seven times! Where do you want to put your money?
I know we have fundamental business realities to deal with, but investing is not a short-term strategy. In a time when we know our dollar is valuable and our business tight, we need to be very intentional about where we put our money.
Realistically, what can we do as business leaders? Our goal should be to come out of this slow economy strong and ready to run. Now is the time to identify our top and emerging talent and invest in them. It is these people that are the muscle of your business. It will be these people that enable your business to continue to grow and attract new top talent.
To do this is not rocket science, but it is an intentional decision and should be a well thought-out process. Just offering learning programs and training for the sake of having them is not the answer I am suggesting.
It is time for you to distinguish yourself from your competition and from others looking for the same talent you are trying to attract.
To do this you need to:
Get crystal clear on your company’s direction and purpose;
Determine the skill sets you will need to support that direction and purpose, continue to grow and attract top talent;
Find the appropriate means to deliver specific learning and development programs for these skill sets;
Encourage, reinforce, support, and stress the importance of using this learning in your business;
Measure, measure, measure for results.
This is not a magic formula or one that is probably unfamiliar to you. But we as business leaders need to take some time, go back and work our numbers. I believe you will find that in these tough economic times, investing in your people is now more important than ever.
© 2002 American City Business Journals Inc.
Jason Wolf is a principal and senior partner of 4results – Workplace Solutions, a people and organization development firm based in Nashville. [email protected]