Say what now????
This topic is definitely not something I sit around on the weekend bantering about, so believe me when I say I was not 100% excited to write about it…. well, at first anyway, then I gave myself the “Knowledge is Power” pep talk and took to Google for some assistance!
Human Resources vs Human Capital
Human resources is the set of individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, or economy.
Human capital is the stock of knowledge, habits, social and personality attributes, including creativity, embodied in the ability to perform labour so as to produce economic value. (not limited to the work place)
So from what I can gather, Human capital is the development of your work force. This in theory gives them a feel-good feeling, encouraging performance and in turn grows your company revenue. 😉
This seems like the most logical way to run an organization right?
Well I remember being in my early 20s in my first few interviews and being shot down right after being asked “So what experience do you have?”… “ummmm well I’m 20… so anything other than how to wait tables and a killer coinage hand… not much!”
Where exactly would I acquire this experience they are all talking about????
Yes I understand its important to hire employees who can come into your organization and pick up right where possibly the last person left, but…. wouldn’t it be more important to hire some one who WANTS to do that? Eager and ready to learn, grow, develop and improve their skills?
So what I’m getting at is, Attitude has to trump Experience!
Now for obvious reasons, this strategy is only going to work if you follow through and actually grow your newbies. Hiring someone with zero experience followed by no development is going to break your business!
So where do you start?
How do you improve your companies Human Capital?
- Don’t let employees become complacent or stagnant.
- Offer and encourage education in terms of in-house courses, training, webinars and literature.
- Reward – this will inspire your workforce to do more and be more.
Now Human capital goes both ways, it is not solely the employers responsibility.
As an employee, you need to initiate development within yourself.
- Know the philosophy of the company you work for, this will give you an idea of where your employer is striving to take his company, giving you an advantage over the rest of your colleagues that are only interested in collecting their monthly pay cheque.
- Don’t limit yourself, further your education where possible, this doesn’t have to be formal if finances don’t permit it, but use the resources the world-wide-web so readily provides us with.
- “Wear more than one hat” meaning don’t be scared to learn every aspect of what your company does.
Ultimately realise that Human Capital is personal, better yourself where ever possible, learn a new language, a new skill, read about a topic you would not usually read about, broaden your vocabulary, start a blog, get involved in a community sport or fund raising activity, get creative!
Learning something new has to be one of the most rewarding feelings and very seldom goes unnoticed, not to mention, more often than not, this will inspire the next person:) So here’s my final food for thought.
Something for the employer to think about…
CFO asks CEO: “What happens if we invest in developing our people & then they leave us?” CEO: ‘What happens if we don’t, and they stay?”
And something for the employee to think about…
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
― Dr. Seuss,
And look…. I just wrote about something I started out knowing NOTHING about, and now I think I may possibly have the ability to hold a 2 minute uninterrupted conversation about it…. ahhhh look at me grow!
About Sherina Shawe
"You have to do everything you can, you have to work your hardest, and if you do, if you stay positive, you have a shot at a silver lining." from: Silver Linings Playbook.