The Role That Employees Play - Essay Example

Employees as Organizational Assets and Liabilities Name Institution Employees as Organizational Assets and Liabilities Introduction In a mid of increasing use of technology which seems to replace human resources, it is evident that most organizations still consider people the greatest assets. Even though technology is important in improving efficiency and ensuring effective service to the potential customer, human resources continue to dominate the activities of most businesses. Most employees seem to think that the managers are mean. The concept of treating the employee as assets has been around for centuries; however, not all organization considers such when it comes to treating the employees (Stone, 2013). Succeeding through the people’s talent is the fundamental concept used by most business entities; nonetheless, an important point to note is that businesses have to nurture and create an environment that enables the employees to free their talents which also empowers them for efficient organizational success. The Concept of employees as assets There are many theories citing that if the organizations were to lose all their human resources at once, then it would hell of a mess for them; but without their valuable assets, these organizations would be worthless. In today’s competitive business environment, the key to success depends on the satisfaction of the customers (Kramar, 2013). Therefore, effectively servicing the customers has become the priority for many businesses. On the other hand, the organizations have failed to act on the satisfaction of the employees who are the internal organizational customers. Employees are the most valuable assets to any business and the key to success. The employers should understand that contented and motivated workers have higher chances of making a significant contribution to the business (Deadrick & Stone (2014). Good employees are irreplaceable; even though the current market is ripe with candidates eager and willing to take the jobs. The managers, especially those that think that it is simple to hire people with great skills or of prestigious pedigree, seem to be fooling themselves. When the business has a truly great employee, such an employee carries an irreplaceable value associated with deep business knowledge. Great employees hold client relationship that they have been able to build for many years and carry a high level of experience on the activities that work and which do not work for the business. Although the businesses could be in a position of replacing such employees, the information they hold are irreplaceable. Employee considered organizational assets have camaraderie great influence on other employee; therefore, loosing such employee means negatively affecting the corporate culture and time wastage in bringing up the employees with such great ability (Deadrick & Stone, 2014). Losing great employees offers other employee reasons for pausing and thinking on the reason why the person leaves the organization, why the business failed to pursue the person, or if there is something wrong with the company they need to worry about. These activities would not only leave the employees thinking but also the potential clients. As a result, employee performance would decline leading to poor overall organizational performance. Without the employees, an organization is nothing since people lie at the heart of the business. Without the people to maintain the equipment the business considers sophisticated and powerful, it likely that such equipment would cease to function. Moreover, without the employees doing their daily operations, the business would cease to function. Of course, it is important to note that not every person would view people as the most organizational valuable assets considering the manner in which they are treated throughout the history. Most businesses consider their employee as expendables. Most businesses still believe that the workers need to what they are told and in turn receive the paychecks for the services rendered. To some extent, the employees are not expected to challenge or question the decision of management. This top down approach fails to consider the views of the employees result in pitfalls. Additionally, some businesses also do not provide adequate health and safety measures for the employees while other do so in a bid to comply with various government regulations and enforcement. The aim of every business is to make a profit. The profitability is determined by the market share and ability of the organization to attract potential customers. As a result, businesses often focus on the customers while losing sight on the employees and their critical role in the achievement of required profitability. Normally, it is instructive to remember that organizations are made of the employee and the success of different factors depends on their skills and motivation including customer service and quality. It is important to see employee as assets rather than expenses (Desouza, 2007). Through various investment opportunities such as offering training facilities, better remunerations, and involvement in the management process, the businesses are in positions of achieved their desired competitive advantage. One of the undisputed facts is that the frontline employees, those considered to interact on daily basis with the customers, know organizational potential customers best. Additionally, they are people with familiar business processes in place and poses perceptive ideas on the methods of improving these factors (Kramar, 2013). Unfortunately, the management are usually trained to think they are in a position of knowing all the answers which is never the case. Employees as Liabilities Some of the organizations view employee as liabilities rather than assets. In addition, they consider them as resources that cost money. Most businesses also consider employees as “cost center” and do not produce revenues or add to the organizational bottom line. In the annual report of most publicly listed entities, they proudly state that people are their best organizational assets (Desouza, 2007). However, research indicate that viewing people as assets has become cliché considering that these are the same businesses that while experiencing economic difficulties which require cost cutting as the solution, the first to experience the negative impacts of laying off, cutting the wages, and reduction in the organizational expense on training are the employees. Initially, businesses considered employees are the greatest organizational assets; however, such notion came to an end in the 1980s when most businesses experienced economic challenges. With increased competition, businesses focused on increasing the profitability of their entities while integrating the practices that would reduce the cost of production and management (Kramar, 2013). Every business considers having few but effective employees with the ability of meeting organizational needs; as a result, organizations are keen on the selection of employees with their qualification requirements. Thorough scrutiny of the selected employees, businesses aim at reducing the cost associated with training the employees (Deadrick & Stone, 2014). There are several expenses associated with employing the workers. With the current regulations, employers are suppose to meet certain insurance policies, compensation, and health and safety measures for the employees. However, some businesses consider these as liabilities and to deal with them; organizations often focus on employee reduction. To compete effectively, businesses are focusing on maximizing profitability rather than investing in the costly human resources. Technology is currently on the rise as business entities are committed to technological integration to meet the needs of the customers efficiently and in a cost effective manner; nonetheless, continued technology means the need for training the employees (Kramar, 2013). These activities are costly that most organizations are not in a position of fulfilling. As a result, they would consider retrenchment of old employees and replacing them with few but effective new workers. Unfortunately, remuneration and designation are the chief factors determining the longevity of an employee in an organization. Customer consumption behaviors are increasingly changing which coping with is becoming a challenge. Organizations view employees as extra cost considering their associated expenses so they keep building on the restructuring strategies to reduce the management cost (Desouza, 2007). Consequently, to reduce the cost, businesses focus on lying off the employees and calculation of the amount saved while getting rid of some employee. With these activities, employers consider the workers as the interchangeable liabilities. Conclusion Irrespective of the current prevailing market conditions and technological advancement, the role played by the employees in delivering organizational goals and objectives are irreplaceable. This reflects the important role they play as assets. There are consequences of viewing employees as liabilities. With such, the employees would constantly live in fear that they might lose their jobs, their morale could reduce, and poor organizational performance. In addition, these businesses often fail to concentrate on the resource development, which leads to failure in exploiting the full potential of employees. Employee play important role in linking the business and potential customers especially when product demonstration is required. Even with improved technology, there are activities that only human resources have the capacity of accomplishing. Organization cannot perform effectively without the employee undertaking their normal responsibilities. These factors make it important to note that employees are the greatest organizational assets; therefore, viewing employees as liabilities means setting a business path that could fail. References Deadrick, D. L., & Stone, D. L. (2014). Human resource management: Past, present, and future. Human Resource Management Review, 24(3), 193-195. Desouza, K. C. (2007). Managing knowledge security: Strategies for protecting your company's intellectual assets. London: Kogan Page Ltd. Kramar, R. (2013). Beyond strategic human resource management: is sustainable human resource management the next approach? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(8), 1069-1089. Stone, R. J. (2013). Human resource management. Milton, Qld: Wiley Australia. Read More