When did our business community reach the point where we need to be told to invest in the assets of our business?
When did we need a legal mandate, essentially a parent, to force the good business practice of investing in the upkeep, the enhancements, of a corporate asset?
Have we reached the extreme end of this pendulum swing where assets are churned, as customer accounts are?
There’s no mandate required to change the oil in the cars of their fleets. Businesses are thought smart when they buy extended warranties or online support to maintain the upkeep and care of their equipment. Companies regularly consider it a smart decision to purchase insurance on their office assets (computers, desks, furniture). There’s no mandate required to invest in the current technology to remain competitive. There’s no need for any regulatory body to issue laws requiring businesses to protect their intellectual property.
But when it comes to investing in their number one asset, well, all those rules of the obvious kind are just thrown out the window.
That number one asset for a company is the human asset. That’s the asset that differentiates a brand. That’s the asset that delivers the brand. That’s the asset that makes all other assets valuable. Take the same non-human asset of a company and bring in a different group of human assets and you’ll see a completely different level of efficiency, of customer loyalty, of market share gain (or loss) or word-of-mouth and customer evangelism.
And yet, the idea of investing in this asset in the same way you invest in the upkeep of a front-end loader is considered... what...
socialist... or handled with the response of ‘
no one’s going to tell me how to run my company.’ Well, no one would have to tell you how to run your company if you treated your human assets with the same care as you treated your inanimate assets.
Yes. I’m talking about investing in the healthcare of your employees.
Tell me, please:
- How you expect to grow a business with unhealthy employees?
- Which adds greater sustainable value to your company, a health employee or an ad agency?
- What better way to recruit top talent than by word of mouth initiated by your employees?
- What better way to generate high levels of engagement and loyalty and commitment, inspiring your employees to become volunteers with that same level of passion and commitment that volunteers bring to a purpose... than to invest in the care for their health and that of their family.
Do you know how many hours an average employee spends on personal healthcare issues while at work?
Buddy, that’s downtime for your business. Pretending it doesn’t exist by not investing in a solution with them is the same as pounding your head on the wall and pretending it doesn’t hurt.
There’s a name for that kind of behavior. It’s called denial. Usually, angry denial. And it’s seen in adults who constantly seek to blame others (the employees, the federal government, the competition...somebody) and use ideological terms to mask the truly absurd proposition that you can ignore an asset’s upkeep and still expect it’s top performance.
It’s a company’s responsibility to its shareholders as well as stakeholders to maximize the value of their assets. And that requires constant investments in those assets that generate the highest return. ROA.
Why do so many companies then choose to ignore their most important, most valuable asset?
Talk, instead, turns to why should they be forced to do make the right business decision. The terms fall into the realm of ideology and dogma. Those are always so useful.
And you’re right. No one should be forced to invest in their most important asset. No one should need to force you to do that. (You know. The logic is like that with smokers and laws prohibiting smoking.
It's my right... they claim. Uh-huh. No one should need to tell you to not or to stop smoking. It's kinda obvious. )
Sure, it’s expensive to invest in your employees' training and health. But like all good leaders and managers you make choices. Which investment in which asset generates the highest? Which doesn’t? Stop the latter. Expand the former.
Do you really think your investment in... any other asset generates the rate of return as an investment in the health of your employees? Show me.
If you’re thinking of the healthcare expenses for the union employees with the former Big Three automakers, think again. Back in the day, when they made models people wanted, their corporate leader bragged that their workers were the most productive in the world.
Then they continued to make big engine trucks and Suvs while the market repeatedly told them they wanted energy-efficient cars. Employees were still the most productive. But they were productive making the cars no one wanted. It wasn't their healthcare costs. It was the products they were told to make.
Yes, it’s the responsibility for each of us to maintain our health. We are not a valuable asset to anyone, company or community or family, as we fail to invest in our health. Denial in us is as ugly and absurd as it is in corporate leaders. And as unproductive.
It’s kinda like children and vegetables. Children don’t like to eat vegetables.
Sure, it’s expensive. Vegetables and fruit are more expensive than soda and fast food. That is until you tally up the lost wages from chronic health problems caused by obesity or the inability to learn with children unable to focus after a rush of sugar and starch.
On the other hand, what are the options? Don’t eat vegetables and
eventually become unhealthy, unproductive, unhappy, unnecessary?
Don’t invest in your employees and eventually see your brand become unhealthy, uncompetitive, unhappy and irrelevant?
Children complain about eating their vegetables because we haven’t educated them to the value of a healthy diet. We're the adults for our children and in our companies. We shouldn't need a parent at our work to tell us to do the right thing when there's so much logic and data to support doing it.
This issue of mandated health insurance for all companies is a false flag. The issue is why we need someone, a parent in the form of the federal government, to mandate we do what’s best for our business. We, the most competitive nation in the world, have forgot how to compete in the global marketplace. It starts with a healthy well-trained workforce. It stops there, too.
Be creative. God gave all of us a brain. That's a faith-based assumption. But I'm sure of it. Though data in our business leaders leads me to doubt my faith on this point.
Find a way to take care of your employees’ health. Health insurance is but one element. That's an expense that gets higher as you ignore the health of yourself and your employees.
Don’t first refuse to invest in your most important asset, your employees, and then complain at not having a healthy company. Or pout that someone makes you do that. Did your mom ever let you pout? No, otherwise, you'd never have grown up. So buck up and do the right thing. Invest in the care and training and motivation of your most important asset: your human asset, those who make the other assets and your brand, their brand, a great brand.