Employees are a firm’s valuable asset

In today’s mad rush by employers to cut costs, a vital part of business organizations has been overlooked: employees. You know, the ones who actually do the work.

Carol Kleiman / Syndicated columnist

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001843319_kleiman25.html

To consider workers unnecessary or disposable is a big mistake, according to Bruce Ellig, adviser to corporate boards and author of the comprehensive analysis, "The Complete Guide to Executive Compensation" (McGraw-Hill, $99.99).

Ellig, who has an MBA and is a veteran human-resources expert, points out that most boards put either shareholders or executives first.

"In truth, neither should be at the top of the list," he said. "A more rational thought process would place employees first."

The author notes it’s time to "walk the talk" at those companies that piously state "employees are our most valued assets." No CEO or executive team is going to be successful without outstanding performances by their employees, Ellig asserts.

John Stanek is chairman and CEO of International Survey Research, a global survey and consulting firm based in Chicago. It specializes in human resources.

Stanek puts it this way: "A company’s success depends on its people."

Downsizing, mergers and not paying attention to workers’ needs, even in a slow economy, are a form of "misalignment," says Stanek, who has been conducting professional surveys since 1963. He has published a new survey of 250,000 employees worldwide titled, "Executing Strategy: Alignment Makes the Difference." In it, he emphasizes the importance of workers and the "organization’s ability … to create an environment that doesn’t impede their progress."

In a labor market where many employers’ first reaction to financial setbacks is to fire workers, the idea that employees might really be considered of utmost importance to businesses may be hard for some to believe.

Instead, many jobholders live in a climate of fear: They feel insignificant, even helpless, and they are aware their jobs might disappear in a nanosecond.

If organizations truly believe their workers come first, how do they show it?

"The first thing that employers have to do is keep communicating with their workers," the CEO said. "However horrible the news, the best-managed firms are candid with their people. Instead of treating your staff as pawns on a chess board, regard them as thinking, alert colleagues."

He also offers some practical steps.

"Offer cross-training," said Stanek, who has a bachelor’s degree in sociology and political science. "Job enrichment creates job security — and everyone wins."

Next, listen to your employees. "Ask for and take their input on business matters very seriously," he advised. "Treat them like the skilled professionals they are."

And his last bit of advice is the one I like the best:

"Don’t take the changes or the mood of the marketplace out on the hides of your employees. In the bad old days, when you grew, you hired, and when you shrank, you fired. But not anymore. Today treat employees as valuable multiskilled assets that can be redeployed instead of immediately laying them off."

Stanek adds: "Have a commitment to the work force and make layoffs the very last thing you do, not the first. Once employees realize that this is your philosophy, the rewards are enormous. They’ll say, ‘This is the place for me.’ "

And that comes first.

E-mail questions to Carol Kleiman at [email protected]. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

Copyright 2004, Chicago Tribune