Advice to the Human Asset

It has been almost a year since I have been working after getting my MBA degree, and despite the very short period, I have experienced a good deal of how the real world can treat an ignorant employee. In other words, I have gained a few insights worth sharing to those who are willing to hear them.

I recently was in a discussion with a friend in the office. She was a fresh graduate, and after 8 months in her first job, she was already feeling the tension of the real life of work, and was already ready to transfer to another company. I learned, in my further discussions with her, that she always did not see eye to eye with her boss, and she always seemed to fall short from the boss' expectations. To make the long story short, she was unhappy. She knew she was better than how she was treated, and she could maximize her skills somewhere else.

I have heard many stories like this in my one year of managerial work. And it seems that it's the employee's fault all the time. She or he is, after all, the perfect fall person. And I have been in a similar position, both on the manager's side and on the employee's. Because my experiences are still rather fresh, I could remember each perfectly. With that, I shared to her some of' the things I learned from these experiences, especially those I got while doing work in Human Resources:

1. It is not always the employee's fault. The direct supervisor is just as much to blame. These squabbles usually arise because expectations were not set for each of the parties involved. Whenever you get a new job, in the interview or the first day of work, make sure you ask what is expected of you and how the supervisor can assist you in reaching that expectation.
2. When you get a job, always choose one with a training program before actually working. I like to look at every talent that comes into a company as a diamond in the rough; the employer should invest to smooth out the rough edges. This small investment may turn out to bring out the true value of an individual. After all, it is still a diamond.
   
3. If the employer cannot train you, ask to be mentored. Mentoring has been practiced ever since the dawn of man: fathers teaching their sons to hunt; masters teaching their students to become the greatest fighter; artists passing on their skills to the younger generation. In short, mentoring is a tool that has been poorly utilized yet is cheap and effective. Experience is useless if not shared.
4. It is always better to inspire people than to insult and degrade them. I have seen an inspired workforce perform a whole lot better than one that has been put under the whip. Anyone with a workforce below them should understand that inspiration generates performance and ideas with better quality. Also, an inspired workforce tends to take initiative because you give them that leeway to decide and learn from any consequence that comes from it. I know a lot of managers are afraid to do this because it also ruins her/his performance, but I assure you that it gets a whole lot more work done.
5. Your employer needs you more than you need them. I know you'd wonder why there is a lot of unemployment if employers need their employees. The unemployment in the country usually arises from the fact that there is a mismatch of the demand of skills and the supply of the workforce. In other words, many are not qualified for the jobs in the market. Which makes it even harder for employers to lose any of their workforce: it is hard to find people. More so, it is expensive to retrain and reinvest on new hires. As an employer, taking care of your people is key in long-term success.

With the current trends in human resource management, many are becoming to realize the true value of the human asset. The company that can fully understand this will be very successful, for sure.

As we ended our discussion, I could see she was satisfied. She was now ready to move.