I have heard a lot of organizations make the statement, “Our People are Our Greatest Resource”. I believe they mean that. They recognize that their people are an integral part of their success. Without their years of effort and their collective knowledge the organization could not function.
For 15 years of my career I was the People Development Director of a manufacturing company in the supply chain to automotive, office furniture, farm implement, etc. This was an organization with four locations in two countries. I was part of the Leadership Team and because of that understood the organizational short-term and long-term direction. My job was to make sure the proper talent was available when needed by recruiting, hiring, training and developing the careers of all our employees at all locations. To do that I had to “know” each employee. That took time. I needed to be in each location ensuring the managers and employees “understood” each other. We instituted a quarterly “Employee Continuous Improvement Assessment” that each employee received from their manager. It created an open one-on-one dialog that reviewed the employee’s performance and allowed the employee to discuss future desires and opportunities. I was the overseer guiding the managers and making sure it worked for everyone.
Not actually being a Human Resources person, having spent the earlier years of my career in Engineering, Purchasing, Plant Management and Quality Systems Management, I did not recognize the concept we had of People Development was unusually. The owner of our organization understood that people were his greatest resource and he invested in a position at the Leadership table for that very reason.
Now that I have been out of that setting for a few years and have spent time working with multiple companies in a consulting role I have come to this question. Do organizations really believe people are the greatest resource? If they do believe it, do they care for that resource the way they do their other resources?
Every manufacturing facility I have ever been involved with had a “Facilities Director” at the Leadership level involved in short-term and long-term facilities planning. People directly responsible to ensuring the physical resources, buildings, equipment, etc, were available when needed, well maintained and capable to produce the needed product. This involves knowing the company’s strategic plan to ensure facilities matched the needs. Depending on the size of the organization, they had staff supporting the effort at all locations and on all shifts.
Every organization that deals with inventory has a “Supply Chain Director” that is involved in short-term and long-term planning of purchasing the proper inventory at competitive pricing and to ensure the proper inventory is where it needs to be when it needs to be there and it is in acceptable condition. This involves knowing the company’s strategic plan, interaction with the supply pipeline, establishing relationships with suppliers, creating long-term contracts, etc. This person also has inventory planning and material handling staff depending on the size of the organization.
These are two examples of company resources. The organization shows the value of the resource by the effort and expense they apply to support their investment in the resource. Are you starting to see my question? If people are the organization’s greatest resource, who is responsible for the support and investment of the resource? This is often given to Human Resources as just one of the pieces on the “plate” of the already very busy and usually under staffed department. Rarely is there a separate “People Development” group that knows the strategic plan, the short and long-term needs to support the strategic plan and is focused solely on the “company’s greatest resource”.
Do the people recruiting and hiring in your organization know where your organization wants to be in 5 to 10 years according to your strategic plan? Are they hiring the type of people who will get you there? Do you have people responsible to ensure your current employees feel connected and are experiencing job and culture satisfaction? Can you imagine an organization where everyone is “rowing in the same direction” to accomplish your strategic goals? An organization where employees are not interested in the next recruiter’s call because they love what they do? Can you imagine turn over below 2% and the continuous interruption of training new people slowed to a trickle? I have seen it happen.
If your employees really are your greatest resource, are you supporting and treating them that way? Would your employees tell you they are loyal to you and they feel valued? Have you ever asked them in a blind survey where you will get “gut-level” truth? We did and it changed our world.
Christian Life Coach 