People are your greatest asset

As the saying goes, ‘people are your greatest asset’!

While it might be an old saying, can you, hand-on-heart, say it’s true in your business? Do you value all of your people, regardless of the position they hold? If you do that’s great, but do you actually show them they’re valued?

Scott Adams once described this saying as one of the ten lies of business management, and personally I think that’s a crying shame!

Let me explain why this saying matters with a story I was once told…

The elderly lady & the porter

An elderly lady was at the airport when she lost her handbag and, with it, her boarding pass, passport and holiday money.

She was very distressed and stopped a porter who was wearing an airline branded top. She told him her tale of worry and loss in the hope he’d be able to help her. However, she was shocked when he replied by saying, “I’m afraid you’re confusing me with someone who gives a ****!”

Now, how likely do you think it is that the lady and her friends and family will ever fly with that airline again?!

How well do your people behave?

My hope is that your people would behave much better than this porter – I’m sure you’d like to think so! But can you be sure?

More importantly, are you giving them the chance to do that?

Put yourself in the porters shoes for a moment. Why would someone act that way?

• Did he clearly understand the principles of the company he works for?

• Does he actually feel valued by the company?
• Does anyone ever notice and appreciate how hard he works or has he become one of those invisible team members?

The work he does may be described and viewed by many as ‘unskilled’ but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard work, or that what he does doesn’t bring value to the company. Apart from anything else, this story shows us clearly that his role has the ability to positively or negatively impact a customer’s decision to return again or not.

How content can make a difference

Content is a valuable tool for helping you engage clearly with the people who work for and with your business.

It covers things like:

• How you communicate with your people during uncertain times
• What you tell people when they start
• The ‘official’ content of employers
• How your business handles change
• Keeping your team up to date and engaged
• How you manage someone when they want to leave

I appreciate this may sound like a lot. Keep in mind though that much of this can either be automated or done once and reused. Over the course of the next few weeks we’ll be exploring these content areas in more detail, so you have a clearer understanding of why the what and how if the communication you have with your people is so important.

If you think it’s time to look at or revisit your internal communications, book a free content review where we’ll be happy to give you some advice and tips.