The most valuable asset of any business is not the buildings, the equipment or the inventory. 

The most valuable asset of any company are the employees. 

Most business owners don’t realize their employees think differently than they do.  And even if they are aware of this fact, it tends to not be kept in the forefront of daily business thought and practice.  

During this time of economic upheaval, we need to make sure we are in constant communication with our employees from two different perspectives: 1) We need to review what we want from every single employee.  What are their goals?  What is their productivity?  How do they fit into the business?  During these difficult business times it’s extremely important we get the most out of every single person that works for us.  Now that doesn’t’ mean working them to death or working them any harder  But it does mean rethinking  job descriptions so our employees know what is expected of them and are doing what’s important as it relates to their specific job; and as a company, we get the desired results from every employee.  2) Our employees are employees - they are not business people.  You, the business owner, may be in fear of the current uncertain business conditions and how that will affect the business but your employees are in fear of losing their jobs or having their hours or wages cut.  How will they feed their families, pay their mortgages or even find other jobs if your company were to radically downsize suddenly or worse yet, go out of business?  This is the time to show your employees that you care about them and value what they do for the company.

Not only do you need to do everything you can to increase productivity with each employee but you need to do everything you can to keep the lines of communication open with all your employees so they understand what is going on within the company.  You need to determine how you can motivate and give each employee as much confidence as possible that their job will be there tomorrow and for how ever long they wish to remain with the company.  And as a business owner, you need to make sure your business is strong and secure.  You expect your employees to work for you; but just as important, you need to work for them.  In order to be successful, business is a two-way street between you and your employees.  In these challenging business times, you and your employees need each other even more.