Assessing Your Investments

How are your investments doing? In these economic times, this is probably one of the more common opening comments when business leaders get together. The response depends on the investments each is considering. Some will focus on the investment in the stock market. Others may be more interested in the heavy investment in technology required to keep their company at the leading edge for their industry.

I recently asked Mark Parrish an Investment Advisor with RBC Dominion Securities what questions he is getting from his clients about their investments in the market. A couple examples were:

• "Is my portfolio OK?" 
• "What are the opportunities for growth right now?"

Knowing Mark's excellent understanding of the markets and passion for helping clients I will defer answers to these questions to his expertise. mark.parrish@rbc.com or www.markparrish.ca.

Instead, let's take a look at one investment often overlooked, investment in your people. These investments easily relate to the two questions above.

First; "Is my portfolio OK?" The concept here is the investment you have made in getting the right people on board. Regardless of whether you recruit using an internal HR department or rely on one of the many professional recruiting firms, there is a cost AKA investment in hiring.

This investment then becomes something like an annuity fund where you continue to make deposits, salary and benefit payments, in the expectation of receiving a positive return. Like buying the right investment items, you need to ensure you have the right people in the right place doing the right things in the right way. If that is the case, then your portfolio is probably OK.

Turning to the second questions; "What are the opportunities for growth right now?", again this is readily adapted to your human resources investment. By and in large firms recruit based on attributes or the ability to grow with the company. These attributes must be developed to ensure the proper growth. That development can take many forms. It could be cross-training within the company to expand the employee's knowledge and enable them to fill in during emergencies. It could mean funding formal learning workshops / seminars attended either in-house or externally. Another means of growth and development is the assignment of a mentor or coach to individuals you wish to develop.

If there is one truism that applies regardless of the nature of the industry any firm is involved in it is:

Your competition can easily purchase the technology or equipment used by your firm;

what sets you apart is the people who use that equipment and technology.

Are you looking at the investment in your human resource assets as an investment in the future growth and prosperity of your company? If not, why not?

[expert=Gordon_Newman]

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