You must’ve heard or read this good ol’ platitude of a quote at countless places:
“To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace.”
Doug Conant wouldn’t have thought that his quote would make it to countless office soft-boards and Google Images search results. Yes, we agree that this one’s a cliché, but a thought portraying how employees can be the biggest asset for an organization isn’t clichéd at all.
It is the employees who build a business and we have to treat them the way it is.
Employers love calling their workforce an asset, but do they make them feel like one?
Whenever managers and bosses stand in the conference room, they often blurt out some truths about how the organization wouldn’t be where it is if it wasn’t for their employees. Of course, by doing that they’re ticking off another mark on “how to be a good manager” checklist, but that doesn’t justify an employee’s contribution.
If an employee or a group of employees carry morose vibes in their backpacks, then it’s not just the salary that’s going down the drain.
Discontent employees have a tendency to cause havoc amongst the organization.
The organization’s functioning would go as hollow as a fungi-infested log of wood and it’ll be too late for the damage will be irreparable.
The bosses dread incapable employees. So how do we ensure that employees are productive for majority of their time at work: Do we treat them like Kings and Queens? Do we show them the stick or hang the carrot?
We don’t have to go into extremities—all we have to do is treat the employees like an asset they are, for that’d solve majority of the problems.
With extensive automation and robotics, the machinery input has severely rocketed in the last decade. But there isn’t a machine without a man and your employees actually make things happen directly. Employees strive for better results and efficiency—the qualities which can only be a result of strong work ethic.
The employees’ work makes them an asset and their work ethic actually takes an organization where it wants to go. Fun Fact: Employees’ salaries are shown as an expense in the company’s statement, but this expense is a huge catalyst to organization’s income.
When the employer actually vests power in the employees, s/he takes one crucial step to vest their interests in organization’s favor. The workplace resultantly turns into a battleground, allowing employees to play around with their creativity and innovativeness, something that is a must to succeed in today’s market.
Many employees talk all recognition, success and climbing on top of the proverbial corporate ladder because that’s what makes them feel like an asset. But when you put all the big talk aside and talk basics, it comes to notice that there are some basics that an employee craves for but won’t explicitly name them because, well, they’re so basic.
When managers skim through all that major-league talk with employees, they come down to an unfortunate conclusion: Remuneration and Designation are two of the most crucial factors that make employees feel valued.
Compensation to employees is more than just a paycheck. It clearly exemplifies (or horridly misinterprets) an employee’s value to the organization.
An employee’s designation tells him where s/he stands in the organization.
It’s not like employees with more zeroes on their paychecks are happier than the ones with lesser salaries, for a manager might be satisfied in leading a team of two people at the same amount of money which a writer gets paid in the same organization.
This chair shot reality shows that no matter how important an employee is for an organization, how long they stay in the organization depends on their pay and what comes after their names. Sure, this makes it sound like an employee can be engaged with cash on the go, but there’s more than what meets the eye.
Let’s talk numbers—the American Psychological Association conducted a survey where it was found that more than 49% of workers believe that the reason their stress levels were going up was insufficient pay. People are so exhausted in financial jitters, they just don’t pay any heed to what’s going on at work—goodbye, creative solutions!
It all comes down to how an organization treats its employees—throwing money around has never been the solution and it has ghastly counter-effects. Employees have to be content and motivated in times when they are doing their daily jobs.
It’s a mere fact proven by all the earth’s sciences that a happy and productive employee has a higher probability of making significant contributions to the organization. Every organization’s employees have the power to be their greatest asset, but it’s dependant on how the organization treats them.
They bring value to the organization. There are countless research papers to show that when an employee is engaged enough, the business takes flight for the better. This is where the economic factor comes in between employee satisfaction and the organization’s overall performance.
If you think about it, a workplace full of good vibes leads to better stock returns. Isn’t that what an asset does? All employees crave for is a favorable job description, recognition, mutual respect and opportunities to grow (let’s not forget money). All of these are basic psychological needs—is that too much to ask?
In the new age of happening work cultures and passionate employees, employees are your most valuable asset. If you want employees to take high road for you, then treat them like they’re actually involved in the organization.
Invest in your employees for they are ones who’ll change things for the better.
An organization investing in employee betterment programs shockingly increases its productivity at a faster rate than investing the same money in capital investments.
Mary Kay Ash rightly said that a company is only as good as the people it keeps. The question is not whether your employees are good enough to be called an asset, but if you can treat them like an asset.
