Our People Are Our Greatest Assets

How many times have you heard the phrase "our people are our greatest assets"? 

I see and hear this quoted so many times on social media yet when I ask how organisations how they are maintaining and protecting this “asset” to yield the best results 9 times out of 10 they cannot give me an answer that shows that they are.

In the workplace, organsations have been applying the best-in-class practice and techniques for years. There have also been hundreds of books written on various subjects such as;

-          Lean manufacturing

-          Machine optimisation

-          Six Sigma

-          PDCA

-          Continuous improvement

So taking the theme of “assets” let’s have a look at that new piece of manufacturing kit you have just invested in:

·       You do the machine set up to ensure that you are getting the optimum performance and output from your investment

·       You determine a maintenance schedule.  Maybe this is a service contract, or someone internally trained to know how to deal with and fix things that go wrong from time to time.

·       You carry out a health and safety risk assessment as you have a legal obligation to do so.

Next, let’s also take a look at your company car fleet. 

·       You may employ a Fleet Manager

·       You will have servicing agreements in place to ensure that you maintain the cars so that they run well and do not breakdown

These are all standard practices.  A part of our day-to-day business when maintaining the longevity and efficiency of our assets.

The “assets” that probably cost you the most in your business are your staff so wouldn’t logic follow that you should invest in the long term maintenance and wellbeing of them too? Where is the maintenance program for your people? 

Like any other “asset” you will be able to measure the return on your investment in a well-executed workplace wellbeing program through measuring.

·       Productivity

·       Efficiency

·       Sickness Absence

·       Intention to quit

Are you treating your people like they are your greatest assets?

#workplacewellness #iso45001 #iso45003 #assetmanagement #maintenance '#investment #roi #thereisabusinesscaseforworkplacewellbeing