BUSINESS BASICS NUMBER 14
Invest in your people. That is business basic that pays continual dividends. Your employees are your most important asset. They beat out your facilities, your sales system, your supply chain, your strategy, your products, your services, and your profit.
Your people can see whether the company is investing in them. Your people can immediately respond to your investment. Your people are filled with ideas, insights, abilities, perspectives, and innovation. The company that chooses to invest in its people is the wise company indeed.
Some rightly argue whether employee loyalty is a going concern. We all understand the seismic shifts in the work world that have contributed to that argument. I can’t fault any company or any individual worker for making decisions that advance its own “enterprise” in any given situation. People will come and go, as will companies. Nevertheless the giving of oneself—whether as an individual or a corporation—somehow has a way of bringing its own payback, often in diverse and interesting ways.
Therefore, why not invest in your people? It is ultimately a win-win situation. I don’t think anyone wants to say no to that.
