Your people are your greatest asset

Many of us have heard this popular maxim. It occurs all over the world and in almost every company. Every CEO when addressing employees emphasizes that they (staff) are the most important assets of any organization. They say this to demonstrate appreciation to their employees for their services and to encourage them to continue the good work. Let’s think the CEO believes it…and he is right.

The company’s employees listen politely but are skeptical…and they are not wrong. They very well know that at the slightest upheaval in business, the least among the most important resource of the company will immediately pay the price, affecting, more often than not, many of those at the lower end of the pecking order. One observes this happening often in the hospitality field – an industry that is very vulnerable to external shocks.

Jim Collins in his book “Good to Great” provided an answer to the question: are people your greatest asset? He claims, “People are not your most important asset. The right people are.” More to the point, the right people with the right skills in the right positions are the most important asset for any organization. Seen from a different angle; employees who are not placed in the right positions that fit their competencies and capabilities can be a liability and not an important asset for organizations.

Arguably, from a financial perspective, the term asset can be ambiguous. How can one provide an accounting value to the company’s most valuable asset, when it leaves the company at five o’clock in the evening to perhaps return at eight o’clock next morning? That though, is another story for another day!

Recruiting talent is a full-time job for HR. The people they choose to hire will ultimately shape the future of your company. They are directly tied to your company’s success. When you read resumes, interview job candidates, check references, run background checks, and screen candidates via social media it’s pretty easy to sift and sort through the applicant pool and find a solid new employee.

When it comes to recruiting, these are some of the most common mistakes that HR people make:

• Writing A Poor Job Description; If you don’t spend the time to write a solid job description, you’ll waste a lot of time later on either sifting and sorting through resumes of unqualified candidates or wondering why no one applied for the job. Nail down the specifics of the job so that you can attract the right people.
• Advertising jobs with contradictory requirements; for instance advertising roles that require 2-5 years of experience as “Entry-Level”. There is nothing ENTRY about it. Entry-level roles were created to give people with little to no industry experience a chance to get their foot in the door. It’s not an opportunity to exploit experienced employees by paying minimum salaries.
• Doing the job improperly and calling the wrong person; don’t mess up. And that’s exactly what can happen when a relatively new hire or rookie is entrusted the task of reading resumes and short-listing / calling applicants.

Too many skilled people were let go during the Covid years and have subsequently been snapped up by firms from other sectors who realise the value of the social and soft skills we teach. Whatever the situation, the hospitality industry is now challenged more by finding the best talent as opposed to volume of staff.

Shafeek Wahab - Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Customer Service Trainer and Ex-Hotelier

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