If you studied Accounting 101 during high school, you will probably remember that a Balance Sheet is divided in three parts, (e.g., Assets, Liabilities and Equity). Assets are everything a company owns that has value, Liabilities are amounts owed by the company to third parties and Equity is what’s left after the debts are paid. That’s it—easy as pie.
Now, if you take a hard look at the Assets section of a Balance Sheet you will find that all of the accounts are organized in order of liquidity, being the first one, the most liquid of assets, which is of course cash. Then you go all the way down the ladder until you reach Real Estate, Property, Plant and Equipment and so forth. All are elements of value that a company needs in order to generate a profit to keep the investors happy. Good for Capitalism.
No matter how hard you look at the financial document, you won’t find the most important resource a company has—its people. This resource is essential for the success or failure of any enterprise, no matter whether it is profit oriented or not. However, few managers pay any attention to the well-being of their human resources. Happy employees will augment the bottom line; disgruntled employees will destroy it. Pretty obvious you might think, but often neglected by detached upper management.
Having said all the above, I would like to introduce you the precious human resources of a place I recently visited. Yep you’ve guessed it—Hotel Finca Lérida. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you the people who make this wonderful hotel spin, giving immense satisfaction to its privileged guests. Here we go.
Employees of the Laundry Department, responsible for keeping our sheets and towels snow-white. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Please meet Briana of the Purchasing Department. She could easily be identified as a high fashion model or a candidate for a Miss Universe Pageant. She will surely get me vote. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
This employee is responsible for quality control of the coffee that Finca Lérida exports to the United States, Canada and Europe. He’s a walking encyclopedia as far as coffee is concerned. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of one of the manual workers of the coffee plantation. When you sip a hot cup of coffee in the morning, it could very well be, that your coffee could be traced back to him up in the mountains of Boquete. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of one of the security guards at the entrance gate of the hotel complex, posing for the camera. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
And now you know some of the anonymous heroes of this magnificent hotel nestled on the purple mountains of Boquete. These are the precious assets of Hotel Finca Lérida. Good Day.
