“Employees are our most important resource” is a sentiment that appears in many corporate values statements.  But how often do managers in these organizations walk the talk.  If you asked their employees, what would they say?  More importantly, in your organization, despite what your values statement says, where do you think employees fall on managers’ list of priorities?

I found one rather cynical answer to these questions in, of all places, a Dilbert cartoon.   Dilbert’s pointy haired boss tells him that he’s decided that people aren’t his most valuable resource. Dilbert, looking surprised, asks where people do fit as a priority. His boss replies “Eighth, right after carbon paper.”

If you read Dilbert regularly you’ll agree that the pointy haired boss seldom says or does anything one would call “enlightened”. But in this case, I thought “Now here’s an honest man!”  He doesn’t believe that employees are number one, and he has the good sense to say so.  But how many other pointy haired bosses are out there who don’t realize that their stated “number one value” is not reflected in their every day behaviour; that employees are seldom number one, and in fact are often far down the list.

Although I don’t have any rigorous scientific evidence, my sense is that there are many. And here are three pieces of anecdotal evidence I can offer in support.

Higher Than Carbon Paper?

First, for many years, as part of a strategic discussion, I’ve asked teams of managers to list the most important drivers of business success over which they have some control. I then ask them to choose their three highest and lowest priorities. In other words which drivers have the greatest impact on organizational success?  After conducting this exercise with hundreds of managers over many years, two strong trends have emerged. First, the concept of employees, in some form, usually makes the list (carbon paper never makes it).   Secondly, employees very, very seldom make the top three.   In most organizations they simply aren’t perceived as one of the most important drivers of business success! 

The second item of evidence comes from employee surveys. I have surveyed employees in a vast array of organizations both public and private often followed by  in-depth focus group discussions. I have surveyed employees in organizations which appear to be both terrific places to work as well as the opposite and have never found a critical mass of employees who believe that they are close to being treated as “the most valued resource”. Even the most satisfied employee groups would stop short of such a statement.

Finally, when you work in a wide range of different organizations, one thing that becomes obvious is that the managers I described earlier who were ranking important drivers may be right.  There seems only a weak to moderate correlation between managers placing an extremely high value on employees and their organization’s business success.  Many companies don’t focus a great deal of energy on employees and still find success.  I’m not claiming there’s no relationship. I’m saying that many companies are extremely successful and show no true appreciation of their human resource. These are the organizations in which it is most difficult to play a meaningful HR role. The unspoken response to implementation of new employee-centred practises is, “we’re very successful now, and so why should be change”.  Of course the answer is that they would be even more successful if they optimized the full value of their employees.  But old habits die hard, and most managers aren’t convinced.

So What Can We Learn?

First I must confess that the evidence I’ve outlined can be viewed as exaggeration in order to prove a point.  Of course there are companies that treat their employees as their most important resource. In industries  where there are critical skill shortages, success does depend on being perceived as an employer of choice, attracting and retaining the best employees, and thus treating them as a most valued resource.  The real point I’m making is that many companies don’t, and if they don’t they shouldn’t say they do. There is nothing to be gained and a great deal of credibility to be lost.  So here are some learning points to take away.

• When including statements about employees as part of your values, think about it and choose your words carefully to ensure that they reflect reality.  
• If you are attempting to change your organization’s culture, you can present value statements as aspirations as opposed to current reality. But if you do, say so. One of my clients took a new position as Vice President Human Resources. At the first strategy meeting he noted that nowhere in the values statement were employees mentioned, and suggested strongly that a new statement be added. But this was an aspiration statement.  It was actually saying that in future, we as an executive team are going to strive to show employees that they are valued highly. We aren’t there yet, but we are moving in that direction.
• If you are in an influential HR role you should be the champion of the human resource. In other words, you should be continually gathering evidence that paying attention to employees adds real value to the organization.  Directly or indirectly effective people management will add to the bottom line.
• Finally, as a continuous learner, remember that insight can come from many unusual sources, even Dilbert’s pointy haired boss.

For more information contact Bob Power