Employees - The most precious resource
Financial
capital is considered the most critical aspect of any company. Top-level
executives keep discussing how to increase capital and draw maximum
profitability. However, financial capital is not the company’s most scarce
resource. In fact, it is relatively easily available and still cheap. As per Bain’s
Macro Trends Group, global supply of capital stands at around 10 times global
GDP. Hence, the demand for investment in projects and R&D is considerably
low than the most scare resource -- human capital.
Yes,
you read it right. Human capital measured by time, skill (talent) and energy of
the workforce is the most important resource of an organisation, which is never
valued its actual worth.
The
time of an employee is counted by hours or days of employee’s career, which is
limited. Even the skill or talent he possesses is scarce. And lastly, energy
too is hard to retain. Though the last two qualities are intangible they could
be easily measured by the number of satisfied employees in the organisation. A
study reveals that satisfied employees are almost three times more productive
than dissatisfied one. Talking about modern human capital, Richard Lobo -
executive vice-president and HR head, Infosys says, “The workforce of today is
diverse, spanning multiple generations, geographies and time zones. This brings
with it numerous opportunities and challenges as well. Rigid systems and
processes, hierarchical structures, inflexible policies and linear modes of
thinking are slowly being phased out to welcome flat organisations, space for
innovation, and a focus on collaboration through creative thinking.”
However,
executives hardly devote time to manage it. The workforce is the last thing
taken care of. Contrary, every parameter of career’s excellence revolve around
finances. People engaged in handling manpower aren’t recognised for their
efforts while those who talk and work for managing and allocating funds are
always in demand.
Ways
to improve human capital
Measuring: There are various ways to measure
financial capital but measuring human capital is a bit tricky. However, we do
have ways to measure it which also forms the basis of one’s growth and
development in the organisation. Deploying productive power index can
effectively measure the cost incurred by the organisation and return received
against it through effective talent and energy use of the employee.
Investing
human capital:
Just as we invest in financial capital, we need to think on similar lines for
human capital too. For this, we need to think about the opportunity cost for a
lost hour. If we start measuring the cost of meetings by adding the number of
hours consumed by meeting, we can calculate the cost of lost hours since there
is no work happening. The lost hours are the loss of productive hours too.
Thus, we need to properly determine the need and benefits of any meeting before
conducting it.
Monitoring: As financial capital is measured by
comparing actual and expected results, human capital should also be measured
through periodic reviews. This is done by comparing how much time is invested
and how effectively we can use the organisational time to achieve results. In
case of skills or talents, management should check if the right candidate is
deployed at the right place.
Recognition
and rewards:
Employees who perform exceptionally well deserve appreciation. Thus they should
be recognised and rewarded for their efforts which further boost their
motivation to stay loyal to the company and work harder. Retaining a motivated
employee is much easier than retaining a de-motivated employee.
Suggesting
ideas on ways to improve Human Capital, Richard Lobo says, “As organisations
hire more millennials, it is up to the organisation and its leadership to truly
utilise the best qualities of this generation for growth. In the process, they
will help the organisation succeed too. At Infosys, we have multiple trainings
and programmes that help employees realise their potential and explore their
interests in domains and technologies, along with soft skills. We also place
the employee’s career in their hands through the Compass platform that empowers
them with enough information to make informed decisions about their next move
within the company. We also apply Data Analytics to the life cycle of our
employees to identify those talents that require extra retention focus. Finally,
we focus strongly on innovation within the company and it is a part of our
culture, therefore, we enable each employee to be an innovator too.”
Suvamoy
Roy Choudhury, director - HR, Vodafone India, says, “At Vodafone, we accelerate
careers for our top talent through segmented leadership programs designed for
various stages of an employee’s lifecycle. We have curriculum led signature
interventions for senior managers, women leaders, technology managers, young
managers – each intervention typically spanning over 12 to 18 months. We
partner with best in class partners to deliver impactful learning experience
through these carefully curated programmes.”
These
basic and simple ways can bring a drastic change in any company’s growth
trajectory. It’s time that we start valuing human capital as much as financial
capital so we can overcome the problem of human capital scarcity.
REACHING FULL POTENTIAL
- Deploying productive power index can effectively measure the costs and return through effective talent and energy use of the employee
- As financial capital is measured by comparing actual and expected results, human capital should also be measured through periodic reviews
The
writer is executive coach & owner of www.thechrysallis.com
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Manager @ Knowledge
Repository
Khaitan & Co
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