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What’s in It for Me?

Modern-day business lore has its share of stories about fanatical cost-cutters who so excelled at laying off employees that the eliminator’s job became redundant and met with the ax as well.

Anybody can cut staff and the cuts don’t always have the expected outcome. But it takes talent and vision to grow a company. That process begins with your staff. Sure you can continually dismiss problematic employees. As an alternative, though, you could invest in them until you consider them utterly unsalvageable. Why should you? When you invest in any of your staff you increase their chances for success and by extension yours. What’s more, if you know how to develop employees, you’re way ahead of a lot of companies.

Wegmans, a Rochester, New York-based supermarket chain legendary for its customer service, knows the value of investing in employees. Its chairman, Robert Wegman, attributes the company’s reputation for quality service to investment in its workforce.

“No matter what we have invested in our people, we’ve gotten more in return. I have always believed that our path to great customer service began with that investment.”

Employees are your most important assets, and everyone on your payroll should be contributing to your company’s success. As a leader, it’s your job to make that happen.