Are Your People Your Assets?

It is not uncommon to hear people say that, "our people are our assets". In "It's not about the coffee", Howard Behar said that people are not your assets; you own assets but you do not own your people.

I found that thought to be quite profound. As an economist by training, I can't help but think of the law of diminishing returns when I think of assets. Assets have an economic lifespan, during which they are most productive. And after that period, you write them off. Is this the same for people?

Well, depends on our thinking and hence, our beliefs about people.

With assets, or resources, we tend to think of being efficient and effective in the use of resources. Resources, some people think of it as not only physical and financial resources but also human resources. Stephen R. Covey says you can be efficient with a machine but you cannot be efficient with a person. In other words, Stephen R. Covey is saying you need to invest in the emotional bank account. Otherwise, if we have always been efficient with people we will instead be withdrawing, rather than depositing, from their emotional bank account.

To cite an example, let's say I want to be "efficient" with my staff. And as a result, I do not take the time to understand their needs nor explain my rationale of doing things, instead I just tell them what to do and tell them to just do it. Perhaps in the past I have asked them for opinions but were impatient in hearing them out. And overtime I figured they can't give any useful suggestions anyway and hence I decided to be efficient with them. Does that sound familiar?

Then you may ask, what then can we do? To follow from Stephen R. Covey's principles, we first have to make deposits in the emotional bank account. Only by doing so, can we become effective with people.

And if we become effective with people, can we then pick up speed and be efficient with them? The answer is yes. And that can be drawn from Stephen M.R. Covey's book, The Speed of Trust. Only when you have established trust, then can you become efficient with people. Still, the underlying principles of being effective with people must come in first. Otherwise it is not possible to be efficient with people.

Your friend,
Melvyn
(0osted from my iPhone)