Question

Employees are a company’s greatest asset. Yet many companies treat their employees poorly. Sadly,
our system has fallen into a self-reinforcing command loop construct as follows: Increase shareholder
value at all costs without regard for the human factor.

The greatest investment you can make is in people. Employees are the backbone of any
organization. According to research conducted by Gallup, disengaged employees cost companies
$450-to-$550 billion in lost productivity each year because of poor performance and high
absenteeism. Investment in people improves the performance of the organization. Additionally,
developing staff is one of the most effective motivators for retaining them. One of the top reason
employees leave a company is the lack of development opportunities. Employees can interpret an
employer’s unwillingness to invest in training as a disregard for their professional development.

Research shows, there is an economic link between employee satisfaction and company financial
performance. A happy workplace culture does translate into better stock returns. Happy Employees =
Happy Customers = Happy Shareholders.

Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they
don't want to (Richard Branson)

Your front-line employees know your customers best; they interact with them daily. They have the
answers on how to improve customer service and your products. They use your internal tools and
systems every day. They have the solutions on how to improve systems which can save money by
driving efficiencies. When you empower employees, you promote entrusted interest in the
company. This allows creativity and innovation in the workplace which is necessary to succeed in
today's volatile marketplace.
Your employees are your most asset - Don't take them for granted or treat them poorly. They are your
best brand ambassadors. Employees who have been pushed to the point where they no longer care,
will not go the extra mile. They will not take the initiative to solve problems. They will end up
treating customers the same way you treat them.

If you believe, that employees are your most asset, you will create a healthy work atmosphere and
provide them with the tools and support to do their jobs effectively.

Instead of just focusing on the bottom-line; Why not invest in the people responsible for the
bottom-line? At the University of Pennsylvania, researchers discovered that businesses that spent
10% of their revenue on capital improvements saw a 3.9% productivity increase. But get this—when
that same 10% was invested in employees, productivity went up 8.5%.

Employees are the heartbeat of the company. And if the heart stops beating...What will happen?

1. Is greatest investment being in people? What were the main findings of Gallup’s, research?
Do you agree with Gallup, support your answer with reasoning?

2. Is there any link between employee satisfaction and company financial performance? How
company can retain trained and skilled employees?

3. What do you understand by, “Instead of just focusing on the bottom-line; why not invest in
the people responsible for the bottom-line”? Elaborate with reasoning

Answer 1

Answer 1= As per the research conducted by Gallup, the different organizations may face the loss of productivity of almost $450-to-$550 billion due to poor performance and increased absenteeism of the employees. This seems quite relevant and realistic as the low-level of the motivation of employees definitely hampers the firms as the employees do not put their best in the service of the organization that will cause the employers to lose the production, having defective products, loss of customers and so on.

Answer 2= Yes there is a positive relationship between the employee satisfaction and the financial performance of the organization as satisfied employees will always put their best to the service of the organization. This will cause the company to overcome unwanted wastages, facilitate better customer services, having greater productivity and all this will help in having better financial performance.

By offering better career advancement opportunities, facilitating better working culture and workplace, greater compensation and rewards and incentives, the companies can ensure to retain the talented individuals in their organization.

Answer 3= The stated line indicates that the organizations mainly focus on improving their profitability but they tend to neglect the employees who are the real tools to have greater profitability. The companies need to invent on the employees who can provide the firm greater revenue generation by their high motivation, dedication, and participation in the financial wellbeing of the firm.