Human Capital And Your Bottom Line

When we talk about Human Capital we have to also talk about the needs of a company’s culture, their mission, their vision and their values. Culture is created by your people and your people matter. How do you view your workforce; as labor and a line item expense or as an investment? When we invest are intentions are to create additional growth and wealth. How we pay attention to our investments can make the difference between a sucking sound coming from the bank or a Cha-Ching sound.

Which do you prefer?

Your employees, your culture have a direct impact on your economic performance. The right culture aligned between your staff and your goals can and will improve your dollars. Overall productivity rests in the capacity of you people and their overall engagement and satisfaction. The difference between functionality and dysfunction is found in your culture, via your people. I loathe the words ‘human capital’ it sounds like property.

Let’s rewrite those words, that view, that typical thought that our employees are a commodity vs. individuals contributing to the success with one common goal – an investment in the company and investment to their future, and to your future.

Lofty?

No, I don’t think so.

‘Human Capital’ sounds so archaic.  

How do you hire?

The hiring process has had a series of evolutions that continues as we speak. Technology alone and the continual push for even more automation is very real. Over the years the process changes have included the additions and subtractions of background checks, drug test,  various assessments and more. In some ways, we have created hurdles and in other ways efficiencies. The reality, there must be a balance of automation to person to person interaction so we don’t leave out groups of people or continue to have unclear expectations of the job, thus causing a continual turnover. Turnover creates stress and profit loss to the entire organization and a negative effect on the economy.

Again, let’s rewrite this a bit.

When was the last time you tried applying to your organization? How did the process feel and flow? Easy? Hard? Warm? Welcoming? What about the interview process? Onboarding? When is the last time you looked at when the turnovers are happening and diving into the root cause? When is the last time you asked those that made it through their first 90 days and a year what was working and what wasn’t? How effective is your automation? How effective is your onboarding process? How clear are the job expectations and aligned training and onboarding in that role? How much feedback do you give? How quickly are you giving that feedback? Are you giving specific examples? Are you giving specific guidance on those intangible improvement areas? What does success look like during the hiring process?

Yes, ask more questions folks – of yourself and your team and your competitors.

If you could rewrite your hiring process, what does it look like, feel like, sound like, smell like? Can you see it, hear it, visualize it as an ‘experience’, a positive experience? One you are dying to repeat?

How do you Retain?

Retention can be hard or easy. Harder if you never get to focus on it and always chasing turnover. Easy if you involve your team. Stop talking about retaining and creating engagement and do something about it. Whoever said talk is cheap, is right – actions are what matters. Your daily actions as the owners, the executive, the contributing team member. How are you showing up? All in? or waiting to see, collecting a check, complaining about what used to be or is missing now?

What is the biggest value you bring to the team? Are you bringing that daily? What is the biggest strength of your team, are you using it daily? If you don’t stop and focus on what is working and capitalize on it, you will never stop chasing your tail. You will keep spending zero dollars on training or some dollars on fixes (checking a box) and spend thousands on turnover.

Retention strategies are different for each company and the individuals working there. If you don’t ask and get them involved, then you are assuming or guessing at the solutions.

If you organization profit is upside down, look at your people – not a reduction in force – but solutions.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

My name is Shelley Smith, your culture curator. A company’s culture can make or break the long-term success and overall profitability. Your employees must be aligned with your mission, vision, and values. Their behavioral needs must be congruent with the needs of your culture and motivated to those needs daily. If you would like to know more about this process of inquiry please contact me directly at Shelley@PremierRapport.com or visit me on my websites to learn more www.ShelleyDSmith.com and www.PremierRapport.com. Calling all Culture Curators to join the conversation, for more information about membership, join-me.