CFO:”What happens if we invest in training and developing for our people and they leave the company?”
CEO:”What happens if we don’t, and they stay?”
CFO:”Is investment in the area of training and development linked to the bottom line within the business?”
…you get the picture right? In my corporate life, these situations came across rather often. Worked for an amazing people oriented company – Telindus- and felt the difference in every atom of my body.
I think sending the CFO on a development program would be a first wise thing to do in this situation! If you think these discussions don’t exist anymore, good for you and you’re probably part of a great company, but make no mistake: those rational guys are still out there! 🙂
Just take the recession as an example. During that very interesting period, there were only two types of companies: the once that kept on investing in people (maybe a bit more focussed and skipping the programs without return) and the once that saw people as a huge cost. As I’m in the team-experience-business, I could clearly see the difference on a day-to-day basis. We had fans in tears because their manager didn’t want to spend 170 EUR per person to improve teamwork…
And what happens now? The War on Talent is back in a lot of sectors! Who’s leaving the company? The ones with the most talent who were seen as a cost. Would you blame them?
But then…everybody knows this right?
Met two lovely people for an interview in the FIT magazine today and when you explain people how much the business world can learn from the sports world, they immediately grasp it.
“Do you want to participate in the Olympics or would you prefer to have your company in an amateur league?”
“The Olympics! Yeah!”
“Do you want to win? Go for Gold? Do your people know that? Do they wake up every morning with the Olympic dream?”
“Do they have the talent? Do you help them develop that talent?”
“So what are you all doing today, right now, to reach the Olympic minimum in a few years and the Olympics in 4 years from now? Or is that something to worry about later? Or will “The Others” do that for you?”
“Do people know that you can not accomplish anything by yourself? That awesome teams are the only way of achieving outstanding results? That you need amazing networks of customers and suppliers to help you achieve your goal?”
“What happens if you get injured (like a recession) during the preparations? Do you fight or do you give up and blame The Others?”
But then…everybody knows these typical statements right?
Or do you need a blog like mine to remind you from time to time? 🙂
Have a Herculean day and let’s go for Gold!