Human Capital Management

If every employee is like a muscle, good Human Capital Management is like a full-body workout for your organization – when every muscle is at its strongest, there’s nothing the body can’t accomplish.

• Is Human Capital Management the same as Human Resources?While Human Resources (HR) largely encompasses the procedural side of hiring and managing an organization’s workforce, Human Capital Management (HCM) is all about optimizing the workforce so that every individual is contributing the most value possible to an organization. Think of HR as the base upon which your workforce is organized, while HCM builds on that base and uses it to elevate the organization to the next level. While an HR department might handle things like scheduling interviews and managing employee benefits, an HR department that practices an HCM strategy may start thinking in terms of how to increase employee retention, how to develop employees professionally for advancement within the company, and how to coach managers to offer more constructive and useful feedback, as just a few examples.
• What makes for effective Human Capital Management?Effective Human Capital Management encompasses every part of an employee’s life cycle within a company, from the initial recruitment effort all the way until retirement. It looks like fast, effective onboarding efforts to ensure new hires don’t feel discouraged or put off as they integrate into the culture, professional development to help current employees do their best work and prepare for advancement, and clear feedback to help all employees feel encouraged and confident in their paths forward with the organization.And as an organization’s HCM efforts start to become more ingrained, they in-turn offer a plethora of data and actionable insights so that HR can more effectively ensure that future generations of employees are optimized and supported even further.
• Is Human Capital Management good for employees?While it’s easy to just think of HCM in terms of economic benefit to the organization, effective Human Capital Management fundamentally works by supporting employees. HCM efforts focus on identifying and honing employee skills, promoting professional development, and building long-term, stable, and rewarding careers for the best people within the organization. Not only does this result in the best workers for the company, but it results in those workers being their best because they feel happy, appropriately challenged, and professionally fulfilled.
• How does Human Capital Management help recruiting?Recruiting is one of the most important areas that Human Capital Management can help benefit! When you have a strong HCM framework, you can more easily identify knowledge gaps in your company, build a clear understanding of what sorts of workers succeed within the organization, and find the best possible candidates to fill your positions. Additionally, effective HCM that fosters growth from within will over time build your organization a reputation for being a desirable place to work, attracting the strongest talent no matter the position you’re looking to fill.