Employees:
Major Business Asset or Startup Source Failure?

Today we’re going to take a look at an interesting topic in the business world. As you can tell from the title, this article will revolve around employees. The reason for this is simple. There are many conflicting opinions surrounding employees. Many business experts will tell you that you need a large team of employees. You must have large staff numbers, as they’re a major business asset. However, you also get entrepreneurs saying there’s no need for employees. In this modern age, you can run a successful small business without having to hire many people. In fact, there are arguments that employees can be the source of startup failure for many companies.

It’s interesting to see how there can be two completely opposite opinions on this matter. Today we’ll look at each argument and break it down. I’ll look at the reasons people believe employees are a benefit to business, and why they’re not. If you own a business, or are planning on starting one, then this information can be extremely valuable to you.

Employees as a Major Business Asset

There are many reasonable arguments for why employees are a major business asset. At the top of the pile is the argument that they make a business more productive. With more hands on deck, more tasks can get done, right? If you have a team of hardworking employees trying their best, then you will see increased productivity levels. Coinciding with this are increased levels of efficiency too. Productive employees should work well together, and keep your business moving along as an efficient unit.

The second argument is that employees bring past experience to your business. What this means is that you could hire people that can give vital advice. They’ve been in the industry longer than you and may provide help when you need it. More to the point, experience also has another big benefit. It means your staff will have contacts within various industries that they’ve worked in. When they work for your company, you now have access to contacts you didn’t have before. It can be very helpful when you’re trying to generate new leads. Or, if you want to publish a press release and need media contacts. You may have a staff member with relevant media contacts that ensure your release gets the most exposure possible.

Third, many people argue that employees are a big part of your marketing strategy. Mainly, they can help reinforce your brand image. Good employees can provide great customer service that helps build your brand. People will see your business as very professional if they walk into your office and your staff is wearing nice suits and smart clothing. Also, with employees, you can get them involved in your marketing campaigns. They can share information on social media to get more visibility for the business. Think about it, you can leverage your staff to share (almost) anything you want to their followers. This includes links to your social media pages and your company website. Let’s say you have ten employees and they all post links. Now, you have ten links going out and appearing to ten separate audiences. It’s a great and easy way to generate traffic to your website or social media pages.

When you look at these arguments, it looks as though employees are an incredible asset. They seem to help your business in so many ways, what could be negative about them?

Employees as the Source of Startup Failure

While you can’t deny employees bring some benefits, they can also have negative aspects too. The argument that they make a business more productive is very simplistic. It tends to miss out on an important factor. Good employees make a business more productive, and bad ones have the opposite effect. If you have employees that don’t fit your business, they can hold everyone back. They struggle to get to grips with the work and require constant help. Then, you have people that don’t work well within teams, and rarely collaborate. What this means is that your company struggles to be efficient too. There’s one cog that’s not moving at the same pace as the other cogs in the machine.

You have to remember that employees are human beings with their own thoughts and ideas. Sometimes, this can be good, as they come up with ideas to benefit the business. Other times, it can be bad, as they tamper with things that don’t need changing. A great example of this is with document management in a company. You have all your business document templates created and ready for employees to use. But, they decide to add different icons and text to the templates, changing the way they look. It can be bad as you specifically designed the templates to align with your brand image. Any changes can alter the image, and make your company look less professional. When your staff starts doing things that you’ve told them not to do, it can lead to issues. To go along with this point, there’s the argument of human error. Human employees can often make mistakes that have a big impact on your business.

Finally, let’s address the point on employees being good for branding. Again, you can’t deny there are some benefits here. The social media linking is definitely a plus point. However, employees can also destroy your brand image. How many people do you know that complain about their job? A large percentage of workers will go off and moan about why they hate working for your company. They carry on working as they need the money, and it’s unwise to leave a stable job. But, all the bad words they say could be heard by many other people. These people can then have a negative view of the company, all thanks to the employees.

After looking at both arguments, it’s clear employees can bring mixed things to a company. However, it’s important to differentiate between good and bad employees. If you say employees in general, then you’re covering both sides. So, by saying employees are a major business asset, you’re not strictly truthful. Good employees are a major business asset, bad ones are the source of startup failure. If you want to make employees beneficial for your company, then they have to be the best of the best. Below are some quick tips to ensure your employees become a major business asset, rather than a source of failure: