Human Capital Matters
Imagine you came to work tomorrow morning to find that the buildings, plant and equipment are all in place. The computer is chugging away collecting and processing data but there are no people. They have all gone.
How much would it cost to replace your entire workforce? These are people with expertise, knowledge and experience. People with an understanding of your industry and your company. People with professional competence.
Add to this the cost of lost profits and lost customers… the impact on your suppliers, shareholders and other stakeholders.
The figures are horrific!
While this is a most unlikely scenario it does bring home the critical importance of people to any organisation and reminds us that talent loss at any level is a potentially debilitating.
While we know that people provide us with our only sustainable competitive advantage and differentiate us from our competitors, global and national research clearly indicates that far too many senior executives are failing to pay sufficient attention to the management and development of their people.
The result is a pathetic under-utilisation of human capital capability.
This is a great challenge for the management teams in medium sized enterprises around the world, as many cannot (or choose not to) employ a human resources professional. As a unique selection of growing medium sized enterprises I would be very interested to hear from you – First 5000 members – what you have done to successfully manage the human capital in your business?
Les Pickett is Partner for Australasia and South East Asia for international human capital management organisation McBassi & Company and Chief Executive of Pacific Rim Consulting Group. His professional career has taken him to over twenty countries. Former roles include General Manager Management Services with Coles Myer and Deputy Director United Nations System Staff College. He is an Ambassador to Tomorrow’s Global Company, a UK based business led think tank and a past international president of the Institute of Business Administration.
Les Pickett is an adjunct of Victoria University, member of the Australian Government Consultative Committee on Knowledge Capital, member of the International Board of Advisors International Public Management Association for Human Resources, former Deputy Director United Nations System Staff College, Past National President Australian Institute of Training and Development, Past Chairman Executive Board International Federation of Training and Development Organisations and International President Institute of Business Administration.
