The Pulse On… Steering the future of human capital
Dysfunctional. Burnout. Siloed. Disillusioned. The amount of single descriptive words used to explain work in this day and context is staggering. On the one hand, workers experience issues ranging from hypercompetitive colleagues seeking a way up the ladder to incompetent and self-preserving managers piling problems more than solving them. On the other hand, they face other structural issues ranging from gender-biased pay packages to worker exploitation and blocked advancements. The internal human capital management headache remains an ongoing challenge that weighs in hundreds of millions of dollars annually in inefficiency and ineffectiveness compounded over time. Dealing with human capital management is a multi-pronged approach. While there is no one-size-fits-all formula, one thing is clear for the future of human capital management – it needs to be addressed in a preventive rather than a prescriptive manner. The bulk of current preventive measures that are used to sift out unaligned individuals from potential hires rely too heavily on input from applicants. In fact, for CEO-level executives, research has shown that past the 150-point mark, any further increase in the CEO’s IQ has negligible contribution to his/her performance. Written tests, verbal examination, puzzle and problem solving are all good in theory, and to a certain extent, in practice. However, the limitations are just as clear – test performance is often contingent on preparation. This is where big data, artificial intelligence and, most definitely, pattern recognition are pulled together to chart the way forward in this sector. The possibilities are endless once we are able to use genetic information to determine predisposition and potential. Marry this granular information with job creation and we are at once presented with the perfect ‘job-perfect hire’ fit. They say that the job-hire marriage is only the beginning. Well, this novel approach will be able to keep hires sufficiently engaged in the job to contribute, value-add and feel motivated, incenting them to act in the best interests of the organization through a robust reward system that keenly boosts their esteem as an employee.
How about insurance and health benefits?
Not meaning to be Orwellian in any way, human capital technology is now looking at the future of work-health issues and tying in HR costs with the insurance schemes necessary to see an individual through his/her entire work life. This means that potential hires that are likely to be future star-performers can have their rating reduced significantly should the technology reveal the possibility of not just escalated HR costs, but also reduced contribution in man-hours. With every human now reduced to a dollar value in future terms, the ‘given all else equal’ phrase will become an eventual reality in a crude, stark sense.
Where does this leave us?
Well, this thinkpiece is not meant to be dystopian in any sense. Technology, like money, takes on the character of its wielder. As much as it is a double-edged sword, the sword is only as effective on the edge that we sharpen. Exploitation happens when we think of human resource in costs, commodities, assets – all of which are incidentally, economics terms. As such, we need to sharpen our senses and develop a good heart for people. To manage human capital, think people, think legacy, think longevity. Crafting the future of any organisation requires a sense of ‘togetherness’ rather than an ‘I-pay-you-I-use-you’ rhetoric. Perhaps we can all start a corporate cultural revolution by targeting not the technology that we use to deploy human capital, but the language and thinking behind loving and caring for people first before putting them to work.