To survive and sustain growth, an enterprise needs to have certain core competencies. Human resource is at the center of those core competencies. The three key elements of human resource development and management are to attract the best, utilize the best and retain the best. To achieve these key elements, an enterprise needs to be first-class in the following four areas: first class total compensation, first class leaders, first class work environment and first class management.
1. First class total compensation includes salary, benefits, allowances, cash incentives and stock options that will signify and satisfy an employee's self value, position and social status. This total package need not be immediately available to potential or existing employees. To convince them, the enterprise must demonstrate it has a long-term development plan and the strategy and tactics to deliver as promised. With it, the enterprise will be able to best utilize the best and the best will remain. People with high intellect, high capability and a strong commitment are more interested in developing their careers and the opportunity to demonstrate their competency.
2. First class leaders are highly intelligent, very capable, determined, courageous and passionate. Only those leaders who possess these qualities have the vision, the ability to grab opportunity, and the ability to plan and to execute. These leaders are also able to recognize, accept and empower the best.
3. First class environment consists of hard environment and soft environment. Soft environment means interpersonal relationships. It covers the working relationships between the boss, the peer and the subordinates. It includes mutual respect, trusting each other, supporting each other, the depth and the width in communicating and the way to reconcile conflicts and to work together. Simply put, it demonstrates each employee's self-esteem, respect and dignity in an enterprise. It also measures the degree of each employee's freedom to demonstrate his/her competency. Hard environment includes things like the building, office design, furniture and fixtures, the air and the space each employee occupies. The soft environment is more important than the hard environment. Hard environment can be improved in accordance with the enterprise's financial strength. The majority of employees understand that an enterprise's hard environment is connected to its financial situation. Soft environment is a people issue and cannot be resolved via financial means. The real reason that many good employees leave their position is because of dissatisfaction with the soft environment.
4. First class management consists of both people-oriented management and transparent management. It allows every employee to do his/her best. It encourages risk taking. It rewards creativity and innovation. People-oriented management concerns employees' feelings, understands employees' needs and is based on the enterprise's ability to satisfy employees' needs based on each employee's career goal and the needs of the enterprise to coach, train and develop the employee. Transparent management means letting all employees know the future of the enterprise, its current situation, and the challenges and the opportunities facing the enterprise. Through communication, the enterprise convinces all employees to accept and to support the enterprise decision. Every employee is aware of and has quantified and qualified objectives to accomplish. There are clear performance measurement standards that each employee has to follow. Employees will not be penalized as a result of taking risks. Management believes risk taking will bring about creativity and innovation. Creativity and innovation will raise the ability to compete.
In summary, financial strength alone will not be able to achieve the four first-class attributes that enterprises need to attract, utilize and train the best. To achieve it, an enterprise needs to have good leaders and good management systems. It requires all employees be of high quality and totally committed. It also requires a cohesive, high-caliber management team.
