Business Financial Intelligence – Time Is Money

Time is money – we’ve all heard the phrase but do we always honor it?

For most organizations, the largest expenses (liabilities) are wages, salaries, and the future obligations to employees (such as pensions) . Make no mistake - human resources are expensive and that’s why we constantly see down-sizing, right-sizing, labor force reductions, and constant advances in technology directly or indirectly focused on reducing such costs.

Are you maximizing your personal efficiency and effectiveness during the course of your working day? If you influence the work of others, how are you maximizing the output from their combined input?  Imagine if the organization you work for was instead the business you owned.  Would you spend every dollar on labor as it is presently being spent?

Top tip for job protection and career advancement in an ever-changing world of commerce: focus on doing your own job superbly well and constantly think and implement ways of doing it even better!  Tap into the intrapreneurial spirit that’s within each of us; always asking yourself whether a certain task adds value to the organization or are you wasting resources? Think about your email management, meeting protocols and daily management of your energy and time.

How do we measure productivity in financial statements? Short answer – how does the bottom line of the income statement compare with the top or bottom of the balance sheet? You may have heard phrases such as ROA (Return on Assets, which is Net Income over Total Assets) or perhaps ROE (Return on Equity, which is Net Income over Total Shareholder Equity). These are productivity measures – sometimes called velocity measures. Closer to home of course, we measure quite simply, wages and salary expenses as a percentage of sales.

Regardless of how accountants measure it – lets continue to use time wisely in the workplace and think and act like a business-owner with every dollar of time that passes through our hands. You win and your organization wins when everyone behaves in such a way with this vitally important and incredibly expensive human resource.

Paul Butler ~ (661) 288 1004 ~ paul.butler@newleaf-ca.com

ABOUT NEWLEAF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT (newleaf-ca.com):  Newleaf Training and Development deliver seminars, keynotes, coaching and online to help people and organizations better manage themselves, lead others and build business financial intelligence.