MANAGING HUMAN CAPITAL PROJECT

Managing Human Capital Project



Managing Human Capital Project

Introduction

Human resource (HR) plays a critical function in achieving organizational excellence, for it is with and through people that organizations thrive, prosper and transform. Leaders and professionals within HR units have never been better positioned for strategic leadership within their organizations due to the growing awareness of the value of human capital (knowledge) as a competitive advantage. It is human and intellectual capital that leverages all other forms of intangible corporate assets (e.g., R&D and Customer Service).

Today more than ever before, HR departments need to show value to their organizations by aligning their goals and activities with the strategic goals of the larger enterprise. Our knowledge-based economy, ever-changing market, competitive threats, and consumer needs require the optimal leverage of human talent and potential.(Winstanley,2000,5) A successful company achieves client satisfaction, provides technically sound and good quality products and services, and maintains a supportive and rewarding working environment for its people. The key to accomplishing all three of these corporate objectives begins and ends with excellent "human capital."(Schuler,1996,224)

Discussion

We are witnesses to some sweeping changes in the nature of the relationship between individuals and organizations. The geneses of these changes lie not in the managerial rhetoric to empower the workforce: they have occurred as a response to fundamental changes in society, in the nature of labor markets and in the talents and aspirations of individuals. The present temporary reversal notwithstanding, changes in the demographics of most countries have placed young talent at a premium across the globe, and with this 'war for talent' has come the opportunity for the new generation to shape the way they work. (Flood,1996,124) At the same time the 'generational markers' of those entering the workforce are very different from those of the 'baby boomers' who are currently running industry.

These changes in the relationship between the employer and the employee echo a broader revolution which is reshaping social institutions all around us. At the heart of this revolution lie the democratizing forces that push for modernity. The concept of democracy is built around some foundational principles: the creation of circumstances in which people can express their potentialities and their diverse qualities; protection from the arbitrary use of authority and power; involvement of people in determining the conditions of their association; and expansion of opportunity to develop available resources. (Winstanley,2000,5)

The concept that links these various elements of democratization is the primacy of individuals and their capacity to behave with autonomy, i.e. their capacity to be self-reflective and self-determining 'to deliberate, judge, choose and act upon possible courses of action'. At the same time there has been an enormous flourishing of variety in the models of working: work part-time or full-time; work for a large company or a small start-up; work as a freelance or as a member of the core; build a company or work for a company. The aspect of the ongoing transformation from an industrial to a post-industrial society that perhaps deserves the greatest celebration is the blossoming ...