Investing in

People Assets
by Bernard Sia

Maintaining a happy and engaged workforce while keeping people poachers at bay
have kept many CEOs awake at night. Research has shown that there are bigger
movers than money and the genesis of a conducive work environment begins with
deeply understanding and harnessing your people asset.
The traditional accounting practice of defining employee as cost is an
anachronism in action. Unless the IT organization manages and owns physical
assets which they lease or sell, they are essentially running a People Business1
and the model of ascertaining performance via return on assets (physical assets
e.g software/hardware sales) can not apply. Although organizations are aware
that lost people assets entails investment to groom the replacement, the
corrective actions and solutions swing between lukewarm and ignorance. To
tap into the fountain of human capital, organizations have to consciously and
continuously focus on the retention and refinement of their people assets.

Employee Retention
A Different Way of Thinking
Peter Cappelli, a George W. Taylor Professor of Management Studies reversed
the common understanding of staff retention policies.

"If managing employee retention in the past was akin to tending a dam that
keeps a reservoir in place, today it is more like managing a river. The object is
not to prevent water from flowing out but to control its direction and speed." ~
Cappelli.

Quoting UPS, which was suffering from high turnover rates of their drivers,
UPS realized that unless the problem is resolved, they are loosing valuable
people assets that take considerable time to train. Especially when drivers are
required to understand the idiosyncrasies of traffic flow and getting from point
A to B in the shortest amount of time. When the situation was analyzed
further, UPS discovered that the reason for the departure was the arduous task
of loading the goods before each delivery. Rationalizing the situation, UPS
hired loaders, and the drivers were left to what they do best, ensuring timely
delivery of UPS parcels. The loaders continue to suffer from high turn
overrates, but because the minimal amount of training required and ease in
hiring replacements the situation was manageable.

The lessons learned from UPS meant that organizations would have to
customize jobs to fit the employees’ peak performance quadrant. The
challenge is in the impetus and willingness for the organizations to proactively
seek to understand their employees better. The danger behind Cappelli’s idea
however, would be the ethics behind selectively slicing job descriptions into
areas where the organization consciously define job scopes of high value and

1
Defined as companies with high employee costs as a percentage of sales and low investment in
capital (BCG 2005),
low value to the company. Those that fall under the low value quadrant would
then be denied opportunities for staff development and be expected to leave at
any point in time.

The ethical way to promote Cappelli’s idea is by being transparent in

presenting what is expected and offered between these two jobs areas. This
will allow the employee opportunities and benchmarks to move from one area
of employment to the next, especially towards better advancement and value to
the company.

How the Best Organizations Operate

With data quoted from Accenture Human Capital Development Framework
implementations and study done on Forbes best 100 employers to work for, 10
attributes2 were discovered to positively influence employee engagement, two
of which warrants further discussion.

The first is Human Capital Infrastructure, that is, the groundwork to ensure
that managers are provided with the correct manpower resources and the
appropriate tools for the same resources to function effectively. An efficient
support structure needs to be in place to ensure rapid performance and
confidence in the ability of the company to help the employee to perform.
“An engaged workforce
can accept meritocracy
The human capital infrastructure must include up to date and accurate when it is well
information that will allow the projection resource usage (tracking workload),
analyzing productivity and more importantly use the information to justify as
documented and
well as cross reference performance review matrices. In order to create this performance criteria
infrastructure for direct feedback between employee readily accessible. When
performance/utilization/state of mind, the human resource department can no
longer work behind closed walls but be part and parcel of the workforce. To policies are inconsistent
further reduce the gap and eliminate boundaries between human resources and and there are perceived
the workforce it is also recommended that members of the human resources unfairness in treatment
team comprises actual vertical experts that are able to relate to and understand
the requirements of the business and market. and career advancement
between business units,
Secondly, Human Capital Strategy ensures that HR programs are consistent
and fair for all individuals. An engaged workforce can accept meritocracy
the situation creates
when it is well documented and performance criteria readily accessible. When resentment and lack of
policies are inconsistent and there are perceived unfairness in treatment and faith in the basic fairness
career advancement between business units, the situation creates resentment
and lack of faith in the basic fairness of the company. As such, it is highly of the company”
imperative that the organization publishes job grade ranking and establish it as
a standard across business units.

Having said that, the IT industry is unique that within the same vertical of
business, sub branches have different market forces that make it almost
impossible to align the whole organization (due to the demand/supply
dynamics that is tied to the specific technology i.e. SAP, Microsoft or if we

2
See bibliography on “Harnessing an Engaged Workforce”, Accenture Outlook
take knowledge domains – networks vs. mainframe). The challenge lies not in
determining remunerations (this will be affected by external market forces),
but in creating:
a) A fair and transparent career development plan inline with
corporate strategies and objectives.
b) A performance plan that promotes meritocracy and correlation
between performance and succession.

In the 1997 Mckinsey study dubbed as a “A War for Talent”, they surveyed
6,500 managers from 56 mid size to large American corporations, and a follow
up survey in 2000 canvassed 13,000 executives from 112 large U.S companies
concluded that the calibre of the company’s talents will determine the level of
success of the organization. The study prescribed new ways of thinking about
talent management while reflecting on old thought processes. The table below
emphasizes 5 areas of thought and the contrasting values of the 2 viewpoints.

Thinking The Old Way The New Way

Talent Mindset Having good people is one of
many important performance
levers HR is responsible for
people management including
recruiting, compensation,
performance reviews, and
succession planning
Employee Value We expect people to pay their
Proposition dues and work their way up the
line before they get the top
jobs and big bucks. We have a
strong value proposition that
attracts customers
Having the right talent throughout the
organization is a critical source of
competitive advantage. Every manager –
starting with the CEO – is responsible for
attracting, developing, exciting, and
retaining talented people; indeed every
manager is explicitly accountable for the
strength of the talent pool he/she builds
We think of our people as volunteers and
know we have to try to deliver on their
dreams now if we are to keep
Them We also have a distinctive employee
value proposition that attracts and retains
talented people

Recruiting Recruiting is like purchasing; Recruiting is more like marketing and

it’s about picking the best from
a long line of candidates
We hire at entry levels only,
primarily from the same 6 or 7
schools
selling; it’s a key responsibility of all
Managers We hire at all levels – entry, mid,
and top – and look for talent in every
conceivable field

Growing Development is training Development happens through a series of

Leaders Development happens when challenging job experiences
you are fortunate enough to and candid, helpful coaching Development
get a really good boss is crucial to performance and
retention…and it can be institutionalized

Differentiation Differentiation undermines We shower our top performers with

teamwork opportunities and recognition. We develop
and nurture mid-performers. We help our
lower performers raise their game or we
move them out or aside
Source: Mckinsey & Co.
For companies that are running people based businesses, the personnel are
synonymous with talent and in order to excel beyond the boundaries and
horizon of its forebears, one needs to inculcate the correct culture of growth
and a performance based environment for the people to spread their wings and
supplement the existing business strategies and objectives.

However, focusing on talent is insufficient, more importantly, the organization

must reinforced talent management with the required nurturing and supervision
or it may turn into an Enron debacle where executives had free reign of the
company. Such that Enron was exemplified for an organization that values
accreditation over character through its large hiring of MBAs from established
B-schools. Sterling Livingston in “The Myth of Well-Educated Managers”,
Harvard Business Press, wrote that many MBA students lack the “will” to
manage however aspire towards better career prospects.3 Short of spelling
greed on their foreheads one can only surmise that talent is a gift but it must be
accompanied with attitude, ethics and passion. The balance comes in having an
organization that is capable of building leadership with the “character” for
excellence without the penchant for scrutiny from jurisprudence.

Why do people Leave?

Expectations
According to Gallup Corporation’s Q12, series of questions that reflect
employee satisfaction and commitment to the company:

“I know what is expected of me at work”, came out tops.

However, expectations work both ways, not only does the employee need to
know what is expected of them,4 the employer have to reciprocate by
understanding the employee’s expectations.

The first error in expectation management often happens during the

recruitment and interview process. Due to staffing constraints (the reason why
recruitment was done!) or desperation in staff replacement, the interviewer
may embellish the corporation’s ability to function in fundamental areas of
employment. Likewise the interviewee repeats the same mistake by
acquiescing to oddly or openly defined job descriptions and responsibilities.

A thorough interview process is often overlooked with the assumptions that

since one would only require an employee with a series of skills; any senior
personnel may handle the task. Unfortunately, interviewers are often incapable
of providing information such as micro-expectations, work dynamics and
micro-culture of other departments or the company as a whole. Always ensure
that the most relevant interviewers handle the interview process.

3
Mintzberg, Henry, “Managers Not MBAs”
4
Which is already hard enough, according to a 2004 Gallup poll of Thailand’s workforce, only 1
in 5 of employees know what is expected of them
.

As brutal as this sounds, if the company is still in a state of flux, by all means
detail the challenges that the employee will face. State clearly, workload,
different roles and responsibilities and more importantly emphasize
areas/situations that the candidates will be uncomfortable in. By providing
only broad swaths, the organization is delaying the inevitable or worst,
creating false hopes and expectations that were never verbalized. A disgruntled
or disengaged employee will mean further productivity losses as well as
disruptions to the company from frequent staff resignations.

Leadership “…Level 5 Leaders,

Jim Collins in his book, “Good to Great” notes that one of the essential executives in whom
ingredients for taking a company to greatness is having "Level 5" leaders, extreme personal humility
executives in whom extreme personal humility blends paradoxically with blends with intense
intense professional will; ferocious resolve, and the tendency to give credit to
others while assigning blame to themselves. “BCG Way - The Art of professional will,
Developing Leadership" by Hiroshi Kanno also highlights five abilities ferocious resolve and the
required for executives - strong will, courage, insight, tenacity, and soft
leadership-for showing the vision, sharing the dream, and attracting people.
tendency to give credit
while assigning blame to
Such qualities are rare, and more often than not leadership has been entrusted themselves” – Jim Collins
to individuals who have one or more of the attributes above but rarely a
prerequisite to have them all. The emotional attitude of the immediate
supervisors has been cited as one of the most prevalent reason why staffs
leave. Lack of Emotional Intelligence5 and constant outbursts, rumour
mongering as well as a demeaning attitude towards staff create toxic work
environments. Common mistakes include attributing negative situations as a
reflection of the organization as a whole to their subordinates. Essentially, this
places the supervisor to the same level of the staffs, projecting helplessness
and reducing confidence that subordinates have towards the leader. Unless
otherwise noted, the manager/team lead should only limit all negative
comments within the management council or within parties of the same or
higher level. Better still would be to address the situation and recommend
actions to restore as well as understand it better.

5
Daniel Goleman popularized Emotional Intelligence and he identified 5 criterias for an
individual which is emotionally capabled –

• To identify and name one's emotional states and to understand the link between
emotions, thought and action
• To manage one's emotional states — to control emotions or to shift undesirable
emotional states to more adequate ones
• To enter into emotional states associated with a drive to achieve and be successful
• To read, be sensitive to and influence other people's emotions
• To enter and sustain satisfactory interpersonal relationships
Leadership is highly important in creating confidence, according to Rosabeth
Moss Kanter, there are fundamentally 3 levels of confidence: Confidence in
one self, confidence in your teammates and finally, confidence in the system.
The 3rd level includes having confidence in the organizational structures and
routines for accountability, collaboration, and initiative. Not only do leaders
need to look at the bigger picture and accept “change” rather than the contrary,
they would also have to be sufficiently mature in explaining concerns as well
as well drivers behind processes rather than enforcing conformity as an
undeniable truth. The question to ponder on is how could you best work with
the process rather than against it? The organization has to promote a culture of
open discussion that focuses on improvements rather than gripe and groan on
the inefficiencies. The conform or die culture leads to stagnation and rust.

Secondly, leaders imbue culture into the organization and it must primarily
consist of accountability and trust, one depends on leaders for advice and
values that the organization upholds. Secondly, one also look upon leaders as
mentors and exemplars of honour and respect, failing which the lack of
confidence towards the leader as well as the “system” will devolve the
organization into sympathetic dejection, creativity ebbs and productivity non-
existent as unquestionable rules reign over every action where inaction (from
fear of breaking rules and meeting consequences) meekly preferable over
nascent initiative. Finally, the organization must eschew the practice of
installing narcissistic leaders.

Narcissistic Leaders, whose energy, self-confidence and charm lead them

inexorably up the corporate ladder, are terrible managers. They resist accepting
suggestions, thinking it will make them appear weak, and they do not believe
that others have anything useful to tell them. “Narcissists are biased to take
more credit for success than is legitimate,” Hogan and his co-authors write,
and “biased to avoid acknowledging responsibility for their failures and
shortcomings for the same reasons that they claim more success than is their
due.”~ excerpt from The Dark Side of Charisma

Lack of Career Development

In order to build a fulfilling and attractive career development plan, HR folks
have to be the strategic partner with the senior management and in order to do
so requires the necessary business skills to understand strategy as well as their
roles in implementing it. According to Nancy Rothbard of Wharton, "If top
management doesn't see value in having HR as a strategic partner, and if HR
can't think out of the box in that role, then the partnership is probably not
going to happen." Without which, the whole HR department would function no
more than an administrative body where that function can be easily
outsourced.

A career development plan ensures that staffs have a sense of purpose and
direction to strive towards higher goals rather than seek those challenges and
opportunities outside of the company. One would rather have people (assets)
who are champions and winners (that will continue to grow and bring in more
profitability) than be fuelled by complacency (fixed assets, or worst – sunken
costs). As such, organizations would have to move their mindset from fixed
asset development to higher yielding investment platforms with human capital
management.

However, Andy Grove from Intel in “Only the Paranoid Survive” has this to
say about career development “… nobody owes you a career. Your career is
literally your business. You own it as a sole proprietor. You have one
employee: yourself… you need to accept ownership of your career, your skills
and the timing of your moves… nobody can else do that for you”.

It is when organizations can accept and understand the dynamics of free agent
inclinations of skill-based employees that they can better address the issue of
staff retention.

Empowerment
With 1 for 1 odds of winning, your returns are as much as your investments;
with empowerment, the odds are limitless.6 Kotter highlighted the following
problems to empowerment succinctly within the diagram below:

“Failure may hurt the

organization, but fear of
Failure may hurt the organization, but fear of failure will cripple it, along the failure will cripple it…”
same token, people who are cowed by factors outlined above will slowly but
surely maim the organization. The investment is no longer akin to fix assets,
but synonymous to continuously placing more money on stocks while the
organization is in a depression!

6
It is not the author’s intention to equate human capital investments with gambling.
Unfortunately, with the nature of human resource management, the association is rather
tempting.
One of the many ways towards empowerment starts by including staff in the
strategic development of the company. Therefore taking the reigns of destiny
away from an autocratic management and into the hands of employees. Here
are some tips to empower the people who work for you:

Encourage innovative thinking.

Regularly demonstrate respect for employees.

Delegate, and don’t micromanage.

Extend trust. If you are dissatisfied with the result, identify the cause and
work on it.

Encourage risk-taking and be tolerant of failures.

Spread decision-making authority around.

Empowerment could be summarily reduced as an individual with a confident

state of mind compared to a debilitating helplessness in determining one’s fate
within the company to meet KPIs. Faced with such a scenario, morale becomes
an issue. The fastest way to fix the problem is by reducing KPI expectations
but would not it be better to truly empower your staffs, than to fake the
measurement of performance.

Placing employees where they work best, matching experience and/or

preference is also quoted as a basis for empowerment. This is achieved by
understanding both emotional types as well as aptitude of your employees.
According to the Gallup Corporation, an employee’s strengths can be divided
into 2, talent vs skills. Talent is inherent to the person while skills can be
taught. With the correct combination, it separates a happy and productive
employee against someone who is working just for money. However, the same
high measures for performance still apply, we expect nothing less.

Human Capital Development

Companies must now focus on intangible assets7 and the most important of
which is “Human Capital”- The collective knowledge, experience and
attributes of employees that they choose to invest in their workplace. While the
consulting model of charging by time and material can infer profitability of an
employee, the common challenge that organizations face is ascertaining Return
on Investment on Human Capital Investments – i.e. training and staff
development.8 Without such justifications, allocations for training and career
development have been lacklustre if not a knee jerk reaction to project
requirements.

Another axe to grind would be the issue of employee loyalty as organizations

are constantly plagued by resignations after investing heavily on expensive
trainings and certification. The argument here is that the situation is

7
Weatherly quoted 4 intangible assets, human capital – the collective knowledge and experience
of employees. Structural Capital – codified knowledge within the organization (patents,
copyrights, methodologies), Social Capital (relationships within the organization that facilitates
transfer of knowledge – Collegial networks, team relationships, culture) and Organizational
Capital – The company’s external relationships (License agreements, customers, brand
credibility). Among the 4, Human capital is the most fragile, as well as influencing the growth of
the other 3 intangible assets.
8
Mercer Human Resource Consulting –2003, Human Capital Institute – 2002
symptomatic of something larger and should the working environment be
conducive and nurturing towards the staff’s advancement (both via
competitiveness and opportunities), there should be no reason for a staff to
leave.

Hence, to alleviate the situation training bonds are introduced. Unfortunately,

this is both counter productive to the working environment and implies that the
employer’s trust towards the employee is non-existent to the point that it
requires legal assurance. Secondly, the underlying message delivered is that
the employees are required to work their way out of the bond, both negative
connotations. To the company, a training bond is insurance that warrants “It is important that
“potential” return on investments. Often however, wasted as trainings are training is based on
sporadic and lacks the momentum and commitment to reach identified goals.
constant collaboration
Introducing retention bonuses as well as perks for acquired certification and and alignment between
qualifications would be a better solution; this is both inline with general HR the company’s strategic
practices (particularly with recruitment) and creates an environment of
excellence. It is important that training is based on constant collaboration and
direction and the vertical
alignment between the company’s strategic direction and the vertical of of knowledge to be
knowledge to be attained. Like all endeavours, there are no hard and fast rules attained”
with regards to quantum of perks; each engagement requires constant pruning
and evaluation of policies to fit the area of work that the employee is in. The
IT industry is a challenge in itself as market forces are driven by different
verticals of technology that are further fuelled by demand for that technology.
Considering that each vertical has their own market rates the organization that
fails to react to this constant flux will risk losing their staffs, even WITH
training bonds.

There is no reason why poachers would be unwilling to pay for the training
investment made by the prospect’s originating company, essentially because
the premium makes up for time incurred. In order to avoid unnecessary staff
movements, the CFO, HR and Technology departments would have to work
closely to ensure competitiveness as well as necessary budgets for staff
development, not forgetting all the elements discussed within this article.
Without which, employees will react negatively towards any form of training
and constantly search for avenues to avoid the limelight, choosing to reside
below the radar in complacency. An organization where the employees exhibit
opportunistic “flight/flee” reactions is a sure sign that major weaknesses in the
organization requires immediate rectification.

As a whole, the company would have to work doubly hard to ensure staff
retention for both continuity and consistent performance. There will naturally
be an interplay of employer-employee relationships that requires close
observation. For instance, does the employee’s character includes ‘loyalty’, or
is that personnel simply too comfortable in his current position? Organizations
have to celebrate performing staff but censure inactivity, in order to do so, a
keen eye is required to understand what priorities drive the individuals and
whether they are a diamond in the rough or just plain rocks.
Training should be aligned with the following 3 areas:
o Relevant to the existing project implementation.
o Relevant to the company’s technological and strategic paths
o Relevant to the individual’s career development and interests.

Failing which, most training will go to waste, a survey by A.T Kearney

showed that the individual in their daily work uses only 20% of the knowledge
gained from trainings attended. This implies that the organization would have
to seriously consider a concerted training development plan as the first stage in
recouping the investment made. Simply said, frequent entry and exist trades
leads to high management costs and reduces profit taking to the short term.

Remunerations
Remunerations and rewards are important factors, as we cannot deny the
impact so much as we can attempt to deny gravity. Fundamental to any
organization is the ability to be a consistent paymaster. Malaysia has had a
long battle with employers that abuse their own employees with delayed if not
no payments to the Employee Provident Fund. Regardless of the rational
behind such decisions, the outlook to the industry as a whole is far reaching.
Bad employers breed bad employees. The negative experience creates a
demoralized and cynical work force and devalues the consistent element that
sustains any organization – loyalty. The Malaysian Government has to come
down hard on defaulters to ensure that there will be no more abuse of this
system. As of 2005, EPF has issued 403 civil actions against corporations as
compared to 14000 suits in 2004, however, there were no mention of the
efficacy in terms of returning the funds to EPF subscribers.

Adopting Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”, at the lowest level will be a

consistent paymaster, the 2nd level is reflected by timely provisioning of
increments and at the 3rd level bonuses. The final level warrants a highly
transparent remuneration scheme where employee performance is measurable
and performance criteria readily available as well as being reflective of the
financial standings of the organizations. Meeting employee expectations at all
levels and avoids any implication of unfairness.

Performance based perks,

profit sharing, ownership

Bonuses

Yearly Increments

Consistent Paymaster, timely, No EPF or Tax fraud.

The biggest faux pas that an organization can commit is a disjoint between
corporate and employee expectations, one cannot harp on increasing earnings
and revenues without consistently reflecting those achievements to the
employees. To further exacerbate the situation of people leaving for greener
pastures, remunerations have taken a sharp hike over the years, most notable of
which is the area of SAP Consultancy with an increase of 36.5% between 2004
and 2005. The table below provides some information of salary movement for
major job descriptions within the Malaysian IT industry for 2004 and 2005.

Title Qualific Job Description Salary in Salary in %

ations/ 2004 2005
No. of for Central for Central
Years Region Region
Exp (KL/SEL) (KL/SEL)
(min – max) (min – max)

Analyst Degree Design, code & test programs to 2500-3500 2500-3500 0

Programmer 2 support the Application

Systems Degree Systems Analyst Perform systems 3600-5000 4000-5500 10.5

Analyst 3-5 feasibility studies, analysis &
design to meet user requirements
& application. Work closely with
engineers & technical support to
resolve customer
issues. Provide technical
application support to users
Technical Degree Effective & efficient tracking 3000-5000 3500-5000 0
Consultant 2-3 problems & changes.
Continuity of ownership &
documentation of IT
operational problems from
occurrence to resolution,
including post resolution analysis.
Provide solutions to
IT-related service problems.

SAP Degree Provide and roll out application 3500-6500 5000-8000 36.5
Consultants 3–5 support on SAP system.
Maintenance of comprehensive &
accurate documentation &
services that conforms fully with
established policies, standards,
procedures & guidelines
IT Manager Degree Troubleshoot & assist the 4000-6000 4500-7000 14.6
4–6 organization in any IT matters or
problems. In tune with all the new
IT
developments in the required
fields.

IT Project Degree Plan, direct & execute project 4000-6500 5000-8000 24.0
Manager 3–5 management activities for an
area/division. Monitor progress
against schedule & project budget.
May allocate or assist in the
allocation of appropriate resources
to deliver project results.
Source: Kelly Services (M) Sdn Bhd.

Management now scrambles to meet market expectations, employee needs

whilst juggling company profitability, this further heightens the requirements
for a performance-oriented approach to remunerations. The issue with
performance-based pay is balancing between a system that coddles mediocre
staff and a capitalistic approach to job rewards. At both ends we may have
extremes of failures, the former, institutions that lives off complacency while
the latter sees risks of abuse.
To ameliorate the situation, Konig and Miller (Gallup 2003) recommend that
not only should expectations be clearly stated but pay by performance systems
must be transparent.

• Their performance-measurement systems consist of a limited number of

metrics -- usually between three and six.
• Associated compensation is clear and straightforward: For every perfect box
an employee assembles, he gets $1; for every project he leads, he gets $1,000;
for engaging his clients, he gets $500. Made simple and communicated
effectively, plans like this clarify what is expected from each employee in
each role.

As such, organizations are left with 2 choices, be totally transparent in profit

reporting and operations, or manoeuvre clandestinely hoping that the personnel
involved are sufficiently proficient in cloak and dagger management.

A New Beginning
Organizations need to continuously analyze and reinvent themselves, focusing
on people and the supporting infrastructure for the people. Self-healing and
self- learning the organization has to behave like a sentient being, capable of
reasoning, awareness and introspection to achieve ascendancy.

In order to self-heal, the organization requires openness to accept criticisms

and a willingness to learn from mistakes. A culture of discourse as well as
mentoring for the new generation of leaders .To self learn the organization
must no longer allow the migration of hard earned knowledge and intelligence,
wasting time on retraining when the same energy can be well used for
improvements. One way to achieve this is through building confidence towards
the company via clear roadmaps of growth and direction.

Confidence can further be achieved by helping the employee aid the employer.
It comes as no surprise that one of the major reasons for an employee to leave
is the lack of expectations and the necessary resources to do the job, or worst,
processes within the company that dishevels momentum and any good natured
intension by the staff. By all means, stop the bleeding before it becomes
profuse, detect the weaknesses and open your eyes, ears and heart to even the
smallest of cries.

We have also worn down the traditional model of having a separate human
resource and finance department. All dealings with regards to personnel
department will require a concerted effort between Finance, Human Resources
and the immediate superiors that the employees interact with. Why waste
crucial company resources hiring human resource staffs to do nothing more
than administrative duties revolving around leave entitlements and punctuality.
HR should outsource all administrative duties and focus on crucial strategic
elements – fine tuning recruitment, staff retention, business and market
competitive research, resource management, matching talents as well as skills
and career development.
When personnel are assets and the company’s growth directly tied to the
asset’s performance, the CFO would have to invest and budget for Human
Capital Development, ensuring that the very asset are well maintained and
continues to perform. Again, the human resource department can no longer
function as a separate entity that peruse over KPI Score cards but operate
within the functional area of the employee to gain both direct feedback and
instant input on the progress of the human capital.

Leaders need to be inculcated from within, let them grow and flourish but at
the same time play the talent game and fish for assets that can further improve
on your existing stable from outside the company. The important point to
remember about leaders is that they are what they are because they have
followers, not mercenaries. Finally, a strong sense of responsibility and
humility is required to breed loyalty and respect. No longer can an
organization function with narcissistic leaders9 or emotional speechmakers
with larger than life visions but lacking the gumption or the required focus to
drive through their ideas. Lesser still are leaders who win situations through
unscrupulous tactics or power plays where the end justifies the means. We
need great leaders, visionaries and champions with the professionalism to be
remembered as a gentleman, thus creating a legacy of leaders to guide the
organization into the next century.

To end, the road to a winning, lasting and profitable organization begins with
the people.

Author’s email: bernardsia@gmail.com

Appendix
Forman ,David C.; “HARNESSING THE ELUSIVE ASSET:Developing Intangible
Organizational Capital”, Sage Learning Systems, Chair, Human Capital Institute Education
Board

Weatherly, L. “The value of people.” SHRM Research Quarterly. 3, 2003.

Cantrell, S; Benton, J. M. “Harnessing the Power of and Engaged Workforce”, Accenture

Outlook, April 2005

Kanter, Rosabeth M; “Confidence - How Leaders Create Winning Streaks (and Avoid Losing
Streaks)”. Harvard Business School Publishing Virtual Seminar

Koning , Guido M.J. de; Miller, Jane, “Giving Them What They Deserve - Your company’s pay
system should reward your best people -- not drive them away”. Gallup Corporation

Cappelli, Peter“Rethinking Employee Retention in a Competitive Economy”, Harvard Business

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