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People are our greatest asset. Really?
For great assets, I see a lot of companies treating people poorly. Why are people mentioned as an asset in one breathe and then the biggest expense item in the next? When a downturn hits, the first thought for many leaders and organizations is to cut people. Is that really the first choice – the best decision – the only alternative?
Imagine you are the executive in charge of a division with 80 employees. The division operates in a rural community with the average tenure of employment being more than 20 years – 20% of the people have been with the company for over 35 years. The workers are mainly general laborers with education at the high school completion level. The economic environment of the area is poor – there are many small businesses but no real industries and unemployment is high. The senior executive team wants growth – although marginally profitable your division has not posted growth for the past five years. The leadership brass tells you that they want to shut the division down, let all of the employees go, and shift resources to higher growth divisions of the company. Your instructions are to manage the wind up of the division.
What would you do?
Is letting everyone go the best decision? What are the ramifications? Are there other options that would be better for the company overall?
The scenario is real. Send me your thoughts on what you would do in this situation. Next month, in Part Two, I will tell you what happened, compare notes on what you thought, and see what would work best.
Your opinions and perspectives matter. Leadership needs to hear it. Take a few minutes and think about these people’s lives. The company is in business to make money – that is how we all work. Link the two and email your thoughts on the best direction in your opinion.
Thank you for taking the time to send me your perspectives.
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