Human capital is an essential aspect of any company, so important that it can be difficult to explain in a few lines. Let’s start by saying that by human capital we mean the set of implicit skills, abilities and experiences that are part of each person within the company.
Making the most of human capital: invest in corporate culture!
- Human capital can be seen as a combination of several factors:
- The individual qualities that each person brings to their work (intelligence, energy, positive attitude and so on);
- The ability to learn (quickness, imagination, creativity); The willingness to share information (teamwork, orientation towards shared goals).
Recently, more and more companies have chosen to focus on these elements and are therefore creating programmes aimed at improving their employees’ experience.
The main aim is to generate satisfaction, well-being and a sense of belonging towards the company.
One example is the account of Raffaella Padula, psychologist at an IT company.
The first step, then, is to make the company a pleasant place for workers, where everyone can fully express their abilities.
Investing in the employee experience means investing in human capital and building a strong, winning corporate culture. That is why companies today are choosing to value their workers in order to make the business more competitive and productive.
How can you invest in corporate culture?
At this point you may be wondering how to gain an advantage for your company’s business by investing in corporate culture. Here are 3 aspects you can start with:
- Select people with implicit skills that are close to your company’s culture. In this way you can build a cohesive team that reflects the qualities most important to your business.
- Instil the company’s values at every level of your organisation. Values are like a compass for the organisation, a fixed point of reference in difficult times and a guide for decision-making processes.
- Ask yourself what makes your company special and, based on your answer, build a strong value system that makes your business competitive. You can ask your employees for help: who better than them can point out the strengths and the weaknesses that need improving?
HUMAN CAPITAL: The 4 key elements for its development.
“Human Capital is represented by the knowledge, abilities, skills and other attributes of individuals that facilitate the creation of personal, social and economic well-being.”
The World Economic Forum’s Global Human Capital Report highlights the four key elements for the development of human capital. The path to improvement runs first of all through culture: we need to consolidate the idea that human capital is now the indispensable resource for any organisation.
It is also necessary to develop the skills to make the most of it, not so much in HR functions (where they already exist), but at the level of operational and business management.
The most far-sighted companies have already put in place performance management, talent retention and coaching systems, because they have understood the importance of this cultural shift.
In other words, they have understood that the human resources function must no longer be confined to the administrative sphere, making the development of human capital a central theme.
Close collaboration between Business and HR is essential, with new organisational solutions such as, for example, the role of HR Business Partner placed directly within the operational and business divisions.
In short, we believe that development-centred human capital management brings with it a series of significant advantages for companies that are by now evident.
Despite this, Italian organisations seem to struggle to accept change, and all too often managers show little knowledge of the management systems required.
We think it is essential to reaffirm the importance of human capital and to keep showing that it is people who give companies a future. As Walt Disney said:
“You can imagine, create and build the most wonderful place on earth, but it will always take people to make the dream a reality.”
