Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2019, the President of Costa Rica shared that his country has “managed to protect its environment while also investing in its people”.
When I think about the challenges that we all face, countries and companies alike, I am not sure the environmental issues, as important as they are, make it to our top 3 list.
What keep you up at night? Let me guess:
Top issues keeping you up at night
- Your competition
- Finding the right talents
- Innovation
- The motivation of your staff (and maybe your own as well!)
- Politics (office or public – the one that doesn’t add value but hinders collaboration)
Those are all “people issues”. So, how does investing in people help me when my budgets are tight?
CEO and CEO on investing in people
This reminds me of the story about a CEO and a CFO:
The CFO told the CEO “What if we invest in people and they go?”,
the CEO asked back “What if we don’t invest in people and they stay?”
5 Benefits of investing in people
What are the benefits of investing in people?
1. Increased engagement
The engagement of people is improved. Research has shown that 85% are disengaged and comply with the minimum they are expected to do. Stinginess generates stinginess!
2. Attitude of intrapreneurs
People can turn into
3. More productivity due to fewer conflicts
It is often overlooked: fewer conflicts reduce the waste of time. I am not discussing healthy discussions generating critical thinking or comparing perspectives to bring innovation. I am discussing withholding information, retaliation, personal attacks, and mobbing. Therefore what is needed is to learn how to collaborate and communicate efficiently.
4. Higher sales closing rates
A better understanding of the client leads to higher closing rates. How does this happen?
By training your sales team on the product, they are selling interpersonal/soft skills, and they can develop long-term relationships with the client, build more loyalty, and close each deal more successfully through a better understanding of the client’s actual needs.
5. Attracting talents
Even if you invest in people and they leave your company/organisation, this will send a clear message to the market: your company cares for people, trains and develops them, and it is an excellent workplace. This will offset the perceived loss of people leaving by attracting people already trained and looking for a place to bring their skills and competence.
Conclusion
Hence, when investing in people, your organisation will experience more productivity by reducing conflict, generating more engagement, creating more imitative and innovation, and attracting top talents.
Additional resources
Managing team FAQ
How to come to an agreement in a team?
The cheapest and most powerful way to motivate your team
Team Impact Executive Report and Debrief
Leadership Game
Sell Like A Doctor
Leadership
