“A company is only as good as the people it keeps.”

I stumbled across a quote the other day that I think is particularly relevant for management consultants, or to anyone who has an interest in human resources or human capital management:

“People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. It doesn’t make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps.”

The quote is by Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics.  And whether you knew this or not, this woman was an expert on much more than just beauty products and pink Cadillacs; her book “Mary Kay on People Management” was not only a bestseller, but has also achieved the honor of being included on the reading list for business courses at Harvard.  Here’s another little pearl of wisdom from this celebrated female entrepreneur:

“We treat our people like royalty. If you honor and serve the people who work for you, they will honor and serve you.”

Personally, I think she was on the right track, and it seems that at least some others agree: back in 1998, Fortune Magazine named Mary Kay Cosmetics one of its 100 Best Companies to Work For, citing the high financial priority that the company gives to its profit-sharing plan as well as constant praise from coworkers as two of the reasons why people love to work for this organization. So if you aspire to get your company onto this list one day, try taking a little piece of advice from Mary Kay Ash, and teach your employees to do the same:

“Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, ‘Make me feel important.’ Never forget this message when working with people.”