For most businesses and companies, their greatest investment year in and year out is in their payroll. If you’re like most business owners, you think of that payroll and see those people as a cost.

The way we use the word ‘cost’ immediately has a negative connotation. We see these people as what they’re not doing, or being, or delivering for us; we might even see them as a potential liability down the road. So we’re always looking at payroll as a problem. But the conflict arises when we realize: without them, we cannot achieve our hopes, dreams or aspirations for our business! So today I challenge you with a different way of thinking about your employees: What if you thought of your employees like any other investment?

Think about it. If you bought a commercial building, well, before you ever signed the paperwork you’d already have calculated the return. Wouldn’t you? You’d anticipate and be actively looking for ways to increase the return on that investment, every day, all the time. So my thought for you to ponder on this subject is: Why aren’t you doing that with your employees right now?

If you did that, and had a simple, systematic way to adjust how you thought about them — so you could see your employees as an investment instead of a cost — what would that be worth to you in profit, in peace of mind, and for the culture of your company, over the next three years? Want to make a game plan?