Human Resources: More tan resources, allies (Part 1)

When our entrepreneurship stops being an idea in a paper and becomes a real business, we have to start to manage different types of resources: financial resources, physical resources and human resources, among others. Even though the physical and financial resources are very important, I will like to write in this post about human resources, because they are the only type of resource that has the capability to think and feel, and this is why their management is not so easy. According to the size of your entrepreneurship you would be able to create a department that manages your employees or maybe this will be your responsibility. In either case, I think it is very important that you take note of the next advices, so that your employees are not just a resource but also an ally that will help your entrepreneurship achieve its goals.

It is true that different things motivate each human being, including motivations at work. This is the reason why some people say they work in a specific place to learn or maybe for professional development, more than for the money they earn. Although this might be true I think that money is definitely very important and a great incentive. Our employees must consider that they are being paid fairly. As entrepreneurs we must have this in mind and be fair with the salaries we pay to our human resources. In this way they will be motivated and will try to reach our entrepreneurship goals.

Additional to the salaries the company has to pay to its employees, there are other types of financial benefits that a lot of businesses use in order to ensure that their employees will try to achieve the company’s goals. These bonuses that are not part of the salary, are only paid provided that they achieve specific objectives. There are personal bonuses that are paid to the employee according to his performance and achievements, regardless of what the company has achieved as a whole. Other types of bonuses depend on what the employee’s peers have achieved. In this way the company promotes teamwork. I consider that an intelligent mix of both types of bonuses will benefit the company because the employee will try to achieve his goals without forgetting that he belongs to a team (the company) that will succeed with teamwork.

As we have seen, the issue of economic compensation is very important in order to convert our employees on allies. However, as I said before this is not the only type of motivation an employee might have. In my next post we will see what other type of nonfinancial incentives might help our entrepreneurship achieve its goals.

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