There is a hackneyed old phrase we all have heard—it is trotted out often enough by business owners, advisors and managers. “Your people are your biggest asset”, they chant in unison. And who has not rolled their eyes at the sound of yet another hollow platitude that makes not one iota of difference to the lives of staff and business owners? Greg Mitchell, Principal Consultant at HR Success in Penrith, says it is not the cliché we should listen to, but the sentiment underpinning it. An asset—as any trusty dictionary will tell you—is a positive quality, a benefit, a thing or a skill that gives an advantage. In business, we tend to use it to talk about objects—the equipment or premises that belong to the business. And that is perhaps where the problem lies: we think of assets as sunk costs. “I actively encourage many of the business owners and managers I work with to see their staff as one of their most critical investments,” Greg says. It is an important shift in terminology—an ‘investment’ …