Staff - Our Most Valuable Asset

Does your organisation subscribe to the notion that "our staff are our most valuable asset"?

It does?

Then what does this actually mean in practice?

For some keen observers of organisational behaviour this question is a non sequiter. As organisations 'down size' or 'right size' (in other words sack employees) in the search for increased levels of productivity, the meaning becomes obvious. People cost money - lots of money. Thus, one way to fix high overheads is to get rid of this 'most valuable asset' and replace it with assets that are obviously less costly. Automation and cheap outsourced labour come immediately to mind as the solutions which appear to be most in favour at present.

There are some interesting alternative solutions to the problem represented by the cost of labour.

Increase the work load while maintaining the same level of staff.

The technique seems to involve a simple statement to managers at the commencement of each financial year about how much funding they will receive for their operations. "You will get what you got last year, less x% set by the management because of productivity dividends."

A translation of this management gobbledygook is as follows:

"All of you did a fabulous job last year, you figured out how to save the organisation some money by being really efficient and effective and getting the job done.

So, as an organisation we are going to harvest this saving so as to reduce costs.

Given your demonstrated effectiveness, we will also add more work into your work area, without giving you any further staff or money, so that using your ingenuity you will once again have to figure out how to get the work done thereby giving us even more efficient and effective work practices so that next year we can once again cut the amount of money we pay you and load you up with even more work."

There are numerous outcomes from this sort of management practice.

One, of course, is to throw into doubt the oft stated maxim that staff are our most valuable assets. Another is the increase in the number of people who simply fall over at work because they are stressed out of their brains on a daily basis.

There is much pious bleating about the care with which the occupational health and safety of employees are being looked after by the management. The reality and experience from the perspective of most employees is considerably removed from this however.

What is being experienced more and more frequently is the demand that the work be done regardless of the impact on the health of the individual worker.

There is unfortunately more.

The literature and the research of what is needed for sound management in organisations tells us that staff need to be supported by continuing professional development in an environment in which change is the only constant. Organisations set up all sorts of fancy responses to this need and in some cases actually do send their staff to various forms of training on a regular basis.

So let's explore this for a moment. Do they also ensure that the work load of the staff member who is having a developmental opportunity is done by someone else while they are away or is it simply backlogged so that the person can try desperately to complete it when they return? Is there support in the work place for the new things that the person has learned? Is there an opportunity to put the new learning into practice? Is there an acceptance by the organisation of the new practices that the person who is returning from such a developmental opportunity would like to implement?

Generally the answers to all of these questions is negative. This of course means that the benefits which the learning opportunity is supposed to provide is lost while only the cost remains visible.

Another solution to the problem of overwork is to cut corners. Let's explore this for a moment.

One of the most wonderful outcomes of the technological revolution is the destruction of that most boring of all tasks documenting and filing.

Who needs it after all, the stuff is always available on some directory on some server or on some web page somewhere in the world - isn't it?

It probably is - but try finding it. Research has shown that people spend something like 5 - 8 hours per week trying to find things. Think of this as a salary cost and the mind begins to boggle at how much money is being wasted each week in each organisation just trying to find things.

When we fail to document things it has consequences beyond simply not being able to find things.

A new staff member has no idea how things are done in the place and requires someone to teach them. Of course the someone is too busy trying to do his or her own work to be available to the new starter. So he/she learns by trial and error being incredibly inefficient while doing so and annoying the heck out of fellow workers who have to pick up the load.

It also affords people a wonderful way of being unaccountable. If things are not documented then really it's your word against that of someone else about what actually happened.

Let's imagine a conversation between a worker and a manager - have you experienced and of the following?

"Why is the work not done?"
"You never told me to do it"
"Yes I did - last week at the meeting"
"Sorry, there is no record of that in the minutes - you may think you told me to do it but your memory is faulty"
"I want the work done NOW!"
"Now you are victimising me and behaving like a bully. I am offended and stressed by your comments - I can't cope - I think I am going home on stress leave and will submit a claim for compensation and a report to your boss about your inappropriate behaviour."

It's never as neat as that - but I think you get the meaning.

Are we serious about staff being our most valuable asset or are we just kidding around?