Valuing People

Rating:
Summary: Highly informative, thought-provoking
Review: With the increasing shortage of qualified skilled labor, concern for human capital has grown. Major consulting firms have established whole departments around the concept, much has been written, and there's even a magazine called "Human Capital."

We used to talk about "personnel," then the term shifted to "human resources." The same thing, but different words? No. The human resources concept is more broad, more comprehensive, and hopefully more strategic. So what's the difference with this newer term of "human capital?" This concept emphasizes measurement---measuring the value of people to their employing organization. The human capital value doesn't show up on the balance sheet, at least not yet, like other forms of capital. Investors, however, are paying more attention to concerns like staffing levels, worker competency, employee performance, and workforce stability.

Interestingly, while chief human resource officers typically have strong relationships with their chief executive officers, their least effective relationships are with chief financial officers. These results from a recent survey of senior HR executives was quite revealing, demonstrating that human capital valuation has not yet reached all those who should be concerned about it. This book will help. It's written for people who have responsibility for generating revenue, increasing profitability, or enhancing productivity.

The author, a nationally-known consultant and speaker in the field of strategic growth and leadership development, marries the two concepts well in these pages. She starts with The Strategic Importance of Human Capital with three chapters that do a fine job of positioning, education, and stimulating thought. Each chapter is recapped with a summary of key ideas and thinking points. Just flipping to the of each chapter and reading these pages will give you your money's worth from this volume. These chapters cover the broad spectrum of relevant trends and issue to give readers insight into the "why" as well as the "what."

Part Two, Measuring Human Capital, provides an in-depth survey of the measurements being used to value employees today, as well as the organizations that are engaged in this work. In spite of a brief section on moving from theory to practice on page 81, the author does not present any specific recommendations about which process should be used.

Part Three shifts to How to Develop Human Potential in the Firm. The more modern concepts are presented here: attracting talent, developing employees, virtual capital, building leadership, and looking at human capital as an investment in the organization. As an appendix, Aldisert offers her Valuing People AuditSM. It's a check-off list with a 5-point Likert scale exploring how much attention is given to issues that affect the people side of the business. Thus, the book explores well the concept of valuing human capital, but does not definitively provide a step-by-step specific method. There isn't a standard yet, but this book builds the understanding that could provide a platform for such development. First, corporate executives need to understand the concept of valuing their employees as human capital. This book will certainly help.

Good notes section and strong index.