Saratoga Resource Group

"The talented employee may join a company because of its charismatic leaders, its generous benefits, and its world-class training programs, but how long that employee stays and how productive he is while he is there is determined by his relationship with his immediate supervisor." - Buckingham and Coffman, "First Break All the Rules," Simon & Shuster, 1999

What is Human Capital?

What is human capital? Quite simply, it is your employees. This phrase is a way of saying that an organization’s people are a form of capital too. And like other kinds of capital, it is precious, scarce, expensive, and needs to be managed carefully.

Chances are that the following are true:

• In today’s service and information-based economy, your employees are your biggest expense.
• Your employees are the ones who provide the service or information to your customers. They represent you to your customers.
• Managing this human capital effectively is one of your biggest challenges.

Human Capital Is a New Phrase

Human capital is a new phrase. The words “executive”, “manager”, and “supervisor” are not. These are the folks who traditionally are responsible for accomplishing results through that human capital.

It’s a tough job. A lot is at stake.

Buckingham and Coffman wrote in their business best seller, “First, Break All the Rules” that five factors were responsible for how long the average employee stayed at an organization, and how productive that employee was while there. These five factors were:

• Work environment/procedures
• Immediate supervisor
• Team/co-workers
• Overall company/senior management
• Individual commitment/service intention

Buckingham and Coffman found that, “The talented employee may join a company because of its charismatic leaders, its generous benefits, and its world-class training programs, but how long that employee stays and how productive he is while he is there is determined by his relationship with his immediate supervisor.”

How do YOUR managers measure up to this challenge?

Given all this, we can add to the scenario the fact that most managers are chosen for their jobs on the basis of their TECHNICAL skills, not for demonstrated or even potential management skills. The presumption is that because they were good technically that they’ll be good managers. They’re often put into management positions without benefit of any training or education in how to be a manager. The implication is “Don’t worry; you’ll pick it up”. A kind of expensive OJT.

How many of YOUR managers were selected and trained this way?

The Corporate Culture Factor

Then, there are the organizations themselves to consider, the place where human capital lives and breathes. Much has been written about motivating employees in the workplace over the last 60 years. It was true then, and it is true now, that employee motivation is not something done “to” employees, but rather something that is built into the organization and its culture. It’s part of the backdrop of the organization, for better or for worse. We know that organizational culture can have a powerful influence on the behavior of employees who work with that culture. We also know what the ingredients are that provide a healthy, motivating environment in which the organization’s human capital can flourish and prosper.

Organizations have two choices: they can either regard organizational culture as something they’re stuck with, and can do little about. Or, they can be proactive and take steps to influence and shape their organizational culture in positive directions.

Which decision has YOUR organization made?

Are you comfortable with YOUR answers to the questions above?

If not, let Saratoga Resource Group help you develop your human capital. We offer individual employee assessment services such as 20/20® Insight Gold, MAP: Managerial Assessment Proficiency, and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®). Saratoga Resource Group also offers assessment services at an organizational level, identifying the underlying structures of the organizational culture and then highlighting steps for modification of that culture. We also offer a broad range of training and development solutions, including EXCEL and the other resources of HRD Press and other publishers. We also offer a broad range of original course topics, all customized to meet the needs of our clients.