people are our greatest asset is a tired cliche. discuss
Answers
This comment has become so hackneyed it’s also achieved a kind of post modern status – you can’t be serious. When people hear it they smile wryly, waiting for the ironic or platitudinous punch line, never expecting to discover any real evidence or intention that gives the statement meaning or weight.
Look at how much organisations pay annually in servicing and licensing costs above the original purchase/installation cost, thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands per annum. And then look at the per-captia spend reinvesting in their people – the lowest pay settlement the company can get away with and a few hundred £/€/$ per person spent on training (which is often the first thing to be cut in difficult trading conditions). Not a very compelling justification of the ‘greatest asset’ claim.
Let’s look more positively at how an organisation might live up to the statement. Take the material valuing of someone. If we ignore market-rate pay and benefits, treating both as a base line required minimum investment, the valuing part of the statement would be demonstrated in the premium invested above that base line.
Bonuses are an interesting area. If they are paid for individual performance they are being paid conditionally, if the performance wasn’t there then neither would the bonus. This is why people can earn huge sums of money and still view their employment transactionally, because their employer views them in the same way.