Building the Landscape of the mind

#56: Building the Landscape of the mind [Feb 2009]

Infosys declared their workforce as an asset years back. That caught attention of many. Some companies named their workforce as Human Capital and so on.

Adam Smith defined four types of fixed. The four types were: 1) useful machines, instruments of the trade; 2) buildings as the means of procuring revenue; 3) improvements of land and 4) human capital. Human Capital refers to the stock of productive skills and technical knowledge embodied in labor.

In the knowledge industry, Human Asset is the key of the four types of assets named by A. Smith. Just having people will not translate into Human Asset. We need to question whether each one of us are Human Capital or not. Are we on the debit side or the credit side of the human capital, depends upon Acquiring, Sharing and Applying model of building this Human Capital.
We need the intellects acquiring relevant knowledge on constant basis, sharing that knowledge with the colleagues, and applying the knowledge to build their skills with intent meet the defined goals.

Process
The company will provide an eco-system to achieve it. Leads would identify areas where training is required that are most relevant to the company. A well define plan is made to clearly state what training required to whom by when. The plan will also elicit where the acquired skills will be used and state the expectations for each of the identified training element.

Monitoring, course correction and reviewing the intent is very critical for the success of this goal. We should probably include “Human Capital” rating in future HR surveys. To me, Human Capital is all about building the landscape of the mind.

Hoping to see the value of Human Capital raise!