Boost profit by taking care of employees

The shortage of quality candidates for job openings will continue indefinitely, barring a major recession or depression. Smart companies will focus on hiring and developing quality staff. Retention programs will be created, implemented and modified to ensure professional and personal growth for all individuals.

Low turnover means happy associates.

Satisfied employees significantly impact profit by rendering exceptional customer service, doing whatever it takes to guarantee client retention and growth, and providing services and products according to, and oftentimes exceeding, customer specifications. It is a very wise chief financial officer who can equate these factors into quantified financial statistics suitable for the profit-and-loss statement.

People vs. equipment

Traditionally, equipment, accounts receivables and the assets in financial portfolios have primarily been considered the most valuable holdings of an organization. All are used as a measurement of worth reflected on the profit-and-loss statement. Although these are important, a change in paradigm is needed.

Accounts receivables and money to purchase assets are generated by the work of people. And people are far more valuable than equipment – an indicator of success during the industrial period.

This is the information age. Knowledge is found in people.

The key to surpassing the competition and realizing higher profits is not in purchasing the right piece of equipment, but in the cutting-edge knowledge found in each team member. An associate is not like a piece of equipment. You do not buy an associate and sit back, knowing with a little maintenance, the employee will consistently work as hard as possible every day. Each individual is unique, with his own set of motivations and personality traits.

Positive managers who invest time to effectively supervise employees are required.

Achieving maximum capacity

Using energy, taking time, facing personnel challenges and handling interpersonal problems are not job duties most managers like to do. However, these areas of accountability are a daily reality.

If an enterprise wants to be profitable, the owner and managers must stop being in denial by cutting costs in the human resource arena and simultaneously hoping all the problems associated with supervising people will go away if they bury their heads deep enough in the sand. Instead, thought, foresight, attention and a financial investment are needed to ensure associates work at maximum capacity the majority of the time.

Owners and supervisors who choose to remain in denial will find themselves trying to achieve sales goals while feeling like they are fighting the air, working in a negative-energy environment that is sucking the life out of them and their staff. Poor-performing workers will result in low sales, poor customer service and retention, and little to no profit.

Cultivating good performers who will stay and thrive with the company requires time and financial investment in thorough orientations, tactful discipline, effective conflict resolution, morale-boosting programs that work, well-thought-out retention plans, management training and performance reviews that increase motivation and goal attainment. Mentoring and in-house training also may be required.

As an example, view it in the way an owner of a baseball team sees the players. Instead of moaning about costs, the owner enjoys watching each player grow in skills and the team form together. For any organization to attain a solid profit, development of the players must be the major focus.

Lynne Haggerman, M.S., is president/owner of Haggerman & Associates, a firm specializing in management training, retained search, outplacement and human resource consulting. She can be reached at lynne@haggermanandassociates.com.