The lie called 'our greatest assets are our employees'.

I worked in HR for almost two decades. I started as a recruiter and then I worked in different capacities in the human resource domain. I was lucky to work in different domains from fertilisers to Information Technology. I am lucky enough to work in startup companies, sinking ships, and MNCs. It was a great roller coaster journey where I learned a lot about human resource functions.

During events, during company meetings, or maybe in conferences, you always hear the following sentences by the top Bosses.

"We are one family and you are all our assets".

"Our important asset is human capital"

"Our people are the company's greatest assets".

"We take care of employees and we are employee first organisation".

"We with our talented associates".

I feel this is a great aspiration to have and based on my experience it is a complete lie. You may say that I am completely wrong and there are exceptions, and being CEOs, being HR Heads, you treat your employees as family members. Let me explain to you in detail.

Let us ask why companies exist.

Companies exist to make a profit, companies exist to maximize the value of their shareholders or the founders. That means the greatest asset of any company is its profit. The greatest asset of any company is its revenue and money it is making. All the companies are 'revenue-first companies, all the companies value revenue more than anything else.

Yes. You read it right. We all have our jobs because companies make money and we are growing financially (and responsibilities-wise) because companies are making profits and growing.

Is there anything wrong with this approach? NO. We have our job because companies are 'revenue-first or revenue-centric.

If you ever been an HR of a sinking ship? Then one can feel this truth better. Because I was an HR of a sinking company where employees struggled to stay and to get out. Unless there is revenue, there is nothing called 'Human Capital'. Companies can not tell this truth as a reality. They can not add this reality to mission statements or vision statements. Imagine a company having its mission statement as "We are a revenue-first organization" or "We exist because of profits".

Society (people) does not like the companies directly telling that they want to make money.

I agree with everyone that the revenue is brought by employees and they are important. Definitely, there is a significance to people who generate value. The companies need to be people-centric and focus on enabling the employees to add more value.

I am mentioning the importance of revenue because employees perceive that the function of HR is only to deal the employment-related issues, not performance-related issues.

A majority of the employees do not like HR when employees are challenged to perform or do not like positive criticism. Employees expect that HR needs to be more sugar-coated (in its communication) and must be more soft.

But let us all understand that revenue is important for any company and we all exist in the companies because companies are making profits.

Let us remember and practice 'Radical Candor'. (Author Kim Scott).

Radical Candor is what happens when managers show that they care personally for employees while also challenging them directly with clear, kind feedback that is not aggressive or insincere.