Human resource is used to describe both the people who work for an organisation and the department responsible for managing resources related to employees. Here, I shall focus on people who work for the organisation rather than the department as a whole. The earlier one is also termed as ‘human capital’.

In today’s world, it is easy for organisations to invest in different directions. But before doing so, it is important to question ourselves where the investment will be the wisest to stand ahead of the competitors. Should we expand our business by investing aggressively on marketing? Should we open a new branch? Should we acquire some other business? One of the most important investments overlooked and sometimes ignored by most of the organisations is investing in human capital - their people.

The statement that human capital is the most important capital of a company is not new. This statement has been used time and again by CEOs, consultants, human resource management advisers and other stakeholders in a company. However, when they are asked, why “human capital” is not a part of the company’s financial balance sheet as such, then the question is not understood, and they say that the cost of the staff is in the exploitation account of the company it belongs to.

This is a major bottleneck: Personnel are considered a cost item for the company. However, this is not the case as employee satisfaction leads to ultimate increase in profitability of an organisation. Working condition and resources, work relationships, compensation and benefits and employee recognition are the four key attributes of employee satisfaction.

Further, if an organisation takes these things into consideration positively, favouring investment in the employees rather than seeing them as a mere expense to the company, the outcome would be exciting. Employee satisfaction leads to employee commitment and engagement, thereby driving business results.

Lastly, my request is to focus on employee satisfaction in their organisation. In the short run, it would look like a mere expense to an organisation, but in the long run, it will give returns just as an investment. Employees will be advocates of your firm, increasing the client base and quality of work. Some of the best companies of the world take employee satisfaction as one of the major factors for what they are today.