People: the competitive edge or the weak link in the chain?

Maintaining employee perceptions that management is operating in good faith with employees, having their best interests in mind and maintaining the best possible balance between the interests of customers, investors and employees will become increasingly important. `Trust, fairness and the delivery of the deal´ are the basis for the psychological contract. Given this we may be able to achieve performance improvements that have somehow always seemed to be well beyond management´s grasp - to get and keep the competitive edge we have been looking for. People may turn out to be the weak link in the performance chain but if so the weak link will be one of management´s own making