Human Capital

Reading the blog posts from this week brings back a conversation I once had with a former employee of In-N-Out. The concept is well-known and loved in California, and for that matter fairly well-known and loved across the rest of the country as well. I mean, have you ever seen any other fast food restaurant chain T-shirts being sported around town? Taco Bell? McDonald’s? I didn’t think so.

I was not at all surprised to learn from this person that she loved working at In-N-Out. After all, anytime I’ve been there, there always seems to be a slew of happy, young, vibrant, boisterous people behind the counter wearing aprons and these ridiculous looking deli hats running around and they’re smiling ear to ear. It actually looks like fun. What I was surprised to learn was that she was paid $10/hr (and keep in mind this was at least a few years ago) and even had the option of buying health insurance through the company after a short waiting period.

There are companies out there doing the right thing. In-N-Out is just another case in point. Planet Smoothie is another. Chick-Fil-A is yet another. Sure, these companies are cool and unique in their products and images, which is very important, but they also share at least one common corporate value. They see their employees as Human Capital, their greatest asset and their greatest investment not just a means to an end. And although employees may not know this term specifically, they feel its effect everyday they show up on the job.
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