Human Capital For Organizational and National Development

Harvesters 
1565
Pieter Brugel the Elder

Human capital is the power in each of us to accomplish great things. Everyone is endowed with something special they can do and enhancing human capital means finding those higher performance levels. Our environments often limit our ability to excel. When this is occurring throughout an organization or even throughout a nation it is time to rethink how we are doing things. Sometimes making tweaks and adjustments to the environment can create broad based development that sparks further development in other economic sectors (Human capital is broad and fundamental to the economy. It maximizes infrastructure. If both are advanced, your society is advanced and enlightened. i.e. Digital Era Renaissance.) 

Deloitte's 2023 Human Capital Report has some interesting information. consider this quote below. Deloitte Human Capital Report 2023 

“Many of the boundaries that used to provide the structure of work have been dismantled. Now the boundaries that remain are much more focused on human dynamics, and how people interact with and engage with work.” — Chris Ernst, CLO, Workday

The Digital Era brings with it opportunities to magnify human capital and develop it in a way that can transform society. The environment will determine whether or not we are able to maximize that human creativity to encourage new and competitive products. The next decade belongs to rapid advancement through matching higher human performance with technology performance.

Mass human capital blossoms won't happen in environments where there are not broad based opportunities to develop and access to the technology needed to maximize those outcomes. Where there are disparities in opportunity that are not based on actual performance, there will be some limitations on human capital. If we do this long enough we have quiet quitting (i.e. it doesn't matter what I do thinking. It is also why younger generations are likely changing their perceptions of work-life balance.).

The environmental factors is why discussions on education, justice, fair compensation, opportunity, safe schools, etc. all become part of the long term solution. They are important discussions for our leadership and for our economists. Figuring out what we can do to maximize national human capital in the Digital Era is important. The World Bank has something on the Human Capital Project that highlights how lack of strong human capital can impact nations.

Just so we have a good understanding of how environments limit maximum human potential I want to present three quick studies. 

The first is on an individual level- gifted children (I would say by extension adults as well who had similar experiences) and their limited performance in poor environments. Thus, for those with high potential they are sometimes able to maximize them when the environment is conducive to enriching experiences. The key point is the environment can make a huge difference in people's lives and bring forward skills society needs. Environments Influence Performance/Talent Levels. 

The second study is related to workplace environments influence on human capital development. The environment in which people work also influences their overall performance level. Proper balance in everything is needed. The workplace environment should maximize performance through understanding human characteristics and needs. See Improved Performance Workplace

Janet Yellen the Federal Reserve Chair published her perception of educations influence on human capital in Invest in Human Capital.  Education/training impact our ability to reach new heights of performance throughout a nation. That requires commitment of companies, education total life, government, and other entities to really provide new pathways so as to further our an organizations best and brightest (Not dictated by social class, race, religion, or other defining characteristics not related to specific performance.)