ThePeopleLink.com: Investing in Your Employees

Almost any manager or senior executive would agree that the most valuable asset in a business is the employees that work there. There is no other single factor that seems to impact the success or lack of it in a business. Building a better mousetrap wont make a company successful unless there are motivated resources there to make the planning become a reality.

Investing in employees is also good business. It costs a lot less to retain an existing employee than it does to recruit and train a new employee. There is a false perception in the market place that it is better to have a number of different jobs on a resume than a single employer. This false logic seems to think that moving around a lot makes one a good employeenot true, what they are really good at is getting jobs. High turnover of employees is a strong indicator of bad management that gets manifested in low employee moral, low production and expensive turnover.

Japan rose from the ashes of major defeat after World War ll to become an economic super power. Their human resources policies were much differentthe employers basically recruited for life not just for the next quarters earnings report. Joining a Japanese company was a major decision for someone entering the work forcethey even had formal inaugurations for new employees. In exchange for lifetime employment, employees at all levels were fiercely loyal to the company. That translated into greater company production and bottom line profits.

Successful companies appreciate the importance of employee morale and are interested in improving it. A service business like Delta Air Lines recognizes the need to keep workers contented. "In order to provide this level of customer service, our final and perhaps most important area of focus is to ensure a high level of employee morale," Gerald Grinstein, Delta's CEO, told Wall Street analysts. "The quality of that service relies heavily on the spirit, confidence and motivation of our work force. In other words, high employee morale."

You might be surprised if you surveyed your employees as to what they like about their job. You will likely find the reason people stay on the job are: pleasant work environment; good relationship with supervisor; challenging work and management interest. You will probably find that salary is not even in the top five reasons.

We live in turbulent times where change is occurring at a rapid rate, which some employees may not handle well. Employees want to know that if they produce a good product or service that the company will not get rid of them on the premise of downsizing or reorganizing or some other equally ineffective modern management technique.

In the final analysis, it is the manager that most influences the employees that work for him or her. A good manager will have a waiting list of people wanting to work with him. A bad manager (based on his production and not rumor) will blow good employees off faster than new ones can be recruited. From the employee point of view, a primary reason for quitting is manager dislikenot money or he got a better offer as you might think. This does not mean good managers are slovenlythe opposite is true, they are hard working, ethical and expect the same from other team members.

The bottom line is that you need good managers to expand and prosper. While finding them might take some work and expense, good ones are worth their weight in gold. A really good manager will invariably have great people skills and thus be worth even more than gold. Do everything you can to recruit and retain good managers. That will be the best investment you ever made for both your employees and for your companys success.