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specialists in enhancement and management of human performance |
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Most businesses are squandering their most valuable resource. Is yours one of them? What can you do about it? For that matter, WHY are people your most valuable resource? Human capital begins with filling jobs with workers, but goes far beyond this simple mechanical action. Most firms view their employees as production units that they hope will perform adequately, at minimal expense. They want to minimize tangible costs and increase tangible benefits. When a simple tool won't perform properly, you replace it: you don't expect it to double its functionality. Companies make similar simplistic decisions about their people. Imagine replacing a brand new car that was running poorly, only to discover you were putting bad gasoline into that car. That would be foolish and wasteful, wouldn't it? People clearly impact the impressions others have of you: clients, prospects, and community. People come up with the innovations that keep your company competitive, and solve impasses. They draw on hidden reserves when a crisis threatens your firm. They keep an eye on quality, beyond the defined requirements of their job. They find ways to save you money, and warn you of impending problems. ...Or SOME employees do. MOST would... if given a chance, and the wherewithal to do so. Certainly, some just don't care. Do you look for this attribute of "attitude?" How do you know for sure someone has it? How do you consistently support this quality in your people? If you're not nurturing it, you're killing it! You are the leader in your firm, ultimately accountable for the results. It does no good to blame employees for your firm's failures. Do you hire great people (those who far exceed your capabilities in each area)? Do you thoroughly prepare them for what you expect of them? Do you give them all the tools, training and motivation they need to be great at their job? Or do you substitute brute force: increase pay or benefits, try to control employees' every action, hire more people, and replace existing people that don't measure up? Most companies would apparently rather be lazy, expecting employees to make exceptional results happen, with little support and frequent impediments. They might give lip service to good practices, but aren't accountable for employees performing brilliantly. When employees don't deliver on your (unrealistic) expectations, do you fire them, or try to figure out what they need to excel? When a company isn't doing well, staff is eliminated, rather than engaged in solving the crisis. When job seekers greatly outnumber the available positions for any given type of job, companies spend less. They STILL don't invest in guaranteeing their staff's abilities to perform at exceptional levels. In today's tight labor market, employers are struggling to find and keep good employees. Employers are settling for less desirable candidates, paying higher wages, increasing benefits, and losing employees at an unprecedented rate. (Attrition is currently estimated to be 20% in high tech industries.) The costs for replacing someone can be 40% of the annual compensation for that position. This is an inexcusable waste! Of course people want to do well, materially. But studies show that, beyond a fair salary for quality work, more money and benefits won't be a lasting motivator for greater job performance! Yet this is what most organizations focus on. These studies show the main motivators are intangibles: challenge, responsibility, recognition, autonomy, better communications, more involvement in planning and decisions. Only one area necessitates expense: more training. Most companies focus on specific technical skills, education and apparent history of results in candidates. Some throw big salaries, weekly beer busts, and other benefits at their staff, and obviously these are alluring. Few identify the intangible assets that the candidate brings to the company, fewer still structure their firm to reinforce the qualities they'd most like their staff to have. What's generally not recognized are the subtle and untapped contributions their staff can make. Everyone in the firm can be involved in improving the quality of the product, the business processes, relations with clients, vendors and the community. Few companies structure themselves to encourage ownership, resourcefulness, and absolute commitment to what's important. But most workers love to work this way, if given the chance! Tapping this resource could magnify your profits, market share, capabilities, and more. Can you afford NOT to take advantage of such assets? As a matter of fact, do YOU know, with reproducible certainty, what you need to be your most productive, creative, happy, and committed? What are YOU doing to invest in your own ability to lead ever more brilliantly and effectively? If you're not investing in your own excellence, or that of your organization, how can you expect your company to do well?
Your company could attract and retain more, and better qualified people, and get much more out of the staff. If you knew you could get more performance from a machine by following a different procedure, you'd do that! People can radically increase their value if given the right resources and support. Most managers never learn how to make more effective use of their people. The lesson is, people want to contribute more, and often know exactly what they need to be able to do well. When they don't, they nearly always are willing to, if they have the means. What's missing, in most companies we encounter, is that management isn't giving their staff the means or environment needed to contribute more. The companies that convey and pursue high ideals, a big vision, and excellent business practices attract and retain the best people. They go beyond Friday beer bashes and big benefits packages to create an environment for every employee to personally excel and contribute to the fullest. They recognize that NOTHING gets done without the people to do it, and they cherish and nurture their most valuable asset. Do you? (NOTE: Allies Consulting offers several programs that can meet or exceed your expectations in the area of maximizing the effectiveness of your staff: they are designed to deliver real results. They also leverage our other programs, magnifying your ROI!)
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"Economic development today, and the success of a company,
is about the development of people." -- Ruben Barrales,
President & CEO, Joint Venture Silicon Valley