Wednesday 17 December 2008

Remaining arguments for investing in human capital

 

   Here are my top five arguments for investing in human capital.  As I noted in my last post, the first of these is currently rather debatable (I think you can make a case for people being less important than cash at the moment), but I strongly believe that all of the other points still apply:

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1
Human capital has become increasingly important to future returns (and therefore to market value)
2
Human capital will become more important again in the future, and will be key to turning the corner as well
3
Financial capital may have become more important again, but cash still needs people to spend it
4
People need even more support at the moment (see for example this post by Erik Berggren on SuccessFactors' Performance & Talent Management blog)
5
People account for a substantial proportion of organisational costs and this expenditure needs to be optimised.

 

What arguments would / do you use, and how have they changed over the last year?

 

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1 comment:

  1. My arguments depend upon what is needed for the firm in case.

    I find the explanations for redundancies in the press rather weak. I think we should make an alliance with key business journalists to help them ask the right questions. A firm who lets people go is saying one of two things: they had used people like Christmas decorations or they have lost market. Neither says a lot for it.

    Anyone investing in that firm or intending to join it should be asking a lot of questions about its future and its leadership. I would like to see those questions asked.

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