Give a little thought to this hypothetical exchange: The CEO asks CFO: “What happens if we invest in people and they leave us?” The CFO responds: ”What happens if we don’t, and they stay?”
There are multiple possible “learning messages” in this story. What you take away from the story might include:
The “better performance” that is realized by tapping into the talents and capabilities of employees will be a positive ROI for the employer and the employee.
Growing and developing employees is more than just words. Growing and developing people shows you have respect for them and value them. That can influence a person to stay a part of such a workplace.
It may also communicate that the Employers/Supervisors have the power to create self-fulfilling prophecies of success or failure in their employees.
(Or, as Richard Bransom is quoted: “Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t want to.”)
Then there is this take: “There’s rarely a good time to invest in people. There’s only the right time…and that’s now.” Anonymous
And then there is this sort of “reverse logic” perspective: If I’m able to “train people up” to perform to their capability and to their capacity, the end result will be that I “get more time back; to be able to do more of the things I don’t have time to do now. Hmm, am I being selfish? Hmm, that refers to that 28,800 seconds in my workday, doesn’t it? IKR
Net, net, bottom-line. However, you get there…just do it. Invest in people.