Do We Really Believe What We Say at the Company Annual Dinner?

Noticed how every opening speech of a company annual dinner invariably begins something like this : " It is a great pleasure to be with all of you today. You have all worked very hard this past year and the management would like to say thank you to all of you. For us, you are our biggest asset. Without you this company is nothing. So, please enjoy yourself and remember that we are a team...."

I have often wondered what is the meaning of the phrase "you are our biggest asset"? Why do managers love to say that at every opportunity they get? Is it because they really believe in it or is it similar to our preferred way of beginning an official speech at an even more official function by saying "Tan Sri, Tan Sri...Datuk, Datuk..." although there are no Tan Sri present. Not even a Datuk K! I suspect its merely to satisfy convention. Nothing more.

Are our people our biggest asset? Damn right they are! One thing is true : A company is NOTHING without its people. I cringe when I hear senior managers lament that they wish they can do more for their employees in terms of flexibility and rewards but they just dont want the rotten few to enjoy the benefits that they dont deserve. I just don't understand this! If there are 'a rotten few' why are they still being employed in the company? In which MBA module is it that our senior managers are thought that its perfectly alright to deny the productive many for the sake of the un-productive few?

I have worked for others, I have worked for my self and I have seen others work. I stand by what I have always said to senior managers : Stop the rhetoric and begin to show some action. Talk to your people, get to know them, identify what makes them tick and go back to your cosy conference rooms and re-design your business processes to utilize the talents that you have in your midst. Take people in good faith and let them go in good faith. Don't be beholden to anybody and don't neglect anybody.

I am convinced that there are rarely bad employees only a mis-match between what drives a person and the environment in which he or she is placed.