With all the conflicting news on the economy lately – the mainstream press is Armageddon, doom and gloom, while the facts just don’t support this view. Survey after survey is showing that business, at least the small business sector, while being much more careful is planning on a flat year if not outright growth.

This has instigated many conversations among small business owners and their own business’ health. Many have stated that they may have to lay off some people as they won’t be able to afford them if things don’t pick up. This has me completely at as loss for words. People are not chattel to be discarded at the first sign of trouble.

I let them know that in my opinion too many business owners are taking a very short term and tactical view of the situation. Instead, I say if they don’t take the long term or strategic view now when things do turn around they will be slaughtered by their more astute competition who managed their business strategically. The strategic business owner will find a long term (important but not urgent) project for those people to do and when the up tick comes they will be ready to fire.

Then I came across an email from one of my favorite authors (James Womack of www.LEI.org) to back up my assertions, he stated:

Most organizations will face a different choice in this recession. They can either treat their employees as an expense to be pruned quickly to protect earnings in the short term. Or they can treat their employees as an asset to be protected for their ability to create value in the long term. And lean managers will do the latter. They will view their employees — with their accumulated knowledge of how to solve problems in order to continually reduce muda, mura, and muri (these are types of waste) — as their organization’s core advantage for success in the future even if there is cost to the organization in the short term.

Thank you Jim…