For most of us, capital means a huge bank balance or hundreds of shares. These are all form of capital, in the sense that they will yield you with a good income after a long period of time. But such tangible capitals are not the only forms of capital. Knowledge, understanding, ability, efficiency – all these are also forms of capital. These capitals determine the worth of a human resource. Since human resource plays the most important role in the success of an organization, such factors need to be assessed carefully and used to the optimum to help an organization climb the ladder of success.
Most organizations will agree that their growth, development and competitiveness are dependent on attracting qualified, smart employees, and retaining them. Such employees work together to achieve the strategic objectives of the organization and hence are often termed as human capital. Each employee plays an important role in the success of that organization. Therefore, it’s important that each employee understands the relevance of his/her job, has the talent and skill required for the completion of the job, and understands how the job is aligned to the bigger objective of the organization.
It is necessary that the organization and the management appreciate this huge human capital from time to time; else, there is a chance that the organization might fail to retain its valuable employee and end up in depreciating the value of its human assets.
Segmentation of human capital is also extremely important. Employees at different segments are motivated by different concerns and aspirations. Their need for training and development is also quite different. Again, employees have different value propositions, which should be considered to attract and retain them. So, it is important that the HR professionals do talent segmentation before appreciating any employee.
This is especially true in the present global business scenario. The focus of some companies’ talent management strategy in the past was simply on the top performers who contributed the highest to the growth of the organization. But in the contemporary business scenario, this approach has not been very successful. To stay competitive in business, it is important that the HR team considers the diversity of workforce based on various parameters such as gender, nationality, age, experience, education and family background, before appreciating the human assets of an organization.
Appreciating human assets without considering these factors can bring about a result that is not desirable. To maintain the growth and development of an organization, to stay competitive in the business, and to retain the human assets, an organization should appreciate its employees from time to time.
