Human Capital. by, Joe Clementi
Human capital is an intangible asset or quality not listed on a company’s balance sheet. Arguably the most valuable asset of any organization and perhaps the most volatile. The most essential element of a service-oriented business is its people.
The digital economy has created efficiencies, optimizations, and moved innovation forward at an accelerated pace. This digital age has created challenges as organizations learn to adapt to a new climate of production and consumer consumption. The disrupted workforce presents a far more complicated equation for a post pandemic business climate.
Evolving technologies and the integration of artificial intelligence present and interesting dichotomy in the people equation. Income is more cyclical and imbalanced as assets like education, training, experience, intelligence, skills, and loyalty are leveraged to an interrelation of the balance sheet.
Elongated isolation, loss of income, and fear of job scarcity are triggering mental health conditions and exacerbating existing ones. Many people may be facing increased levels of alcohol and drug use, insomnia, and anxiety. (World Health Organization, 2020) https://www.who.int/news/item/05-10-2020-covid-19-disrupting-mental-health-services-in-most-countries-who-survey
The critical nature of mental health in the workforce expands far beyond the boundaries of a work environment. The immeasurable effects are far reaching, impacting even the healthiest of organizations. The business world braces to absorb the impact of increased stress as employees attempt to manage a work life balance. As mental health and the work environment make every effort to strike a critical balance.
People provide the creativity, imagination, spirit, and energy behind a healthy work climate. Their abundance and scarcity are equally transcendent to earnings per share growth rate. Talented people and teams bring a vision to life, create a winning culture, and execute the strategies outlined on a business plan.
Human capital are the emotions, securities, and well-being of its cast of people. The human element of uniqueness is a key tenet of the business growth mindset. Building a culture of inclusion whereby the individual can contribute to their own success as well as; their teams’ success is omnipotent. A mission and strategy of developing an environment of diversity and inclusion. An organization where the collective team espouses the core values of diversifying its human capital that mirrors the diversity of the very clients it intends to serve.
Here are 5 creative methods to individualize leadership and reconnect:
- Performing an internal health check of your teams is a leadership expectation in today’s work environment. Recognize individuals through public acknowledgment!
- Using one-on-one formats, leaders should clearly identify key areas of performance growth and define success criteria with specificity.
- Foster a healthy and unambiguous feedback loop. Ongoing process of improving performance and results through timely feedback.
- An environment that bolsters leadership that is vested in the success of each member of the team.
- Build a foundation of trust and mutual respect.
Bonus: Stay in a high-support-high-challenge zone. Provide ambitious goals and make sure feedback moves the person/team past limiting beliefs and overused strengths. Notice the blind spots that might derail their positive momentum.
#COACHJOE