Ivan Blanco wrote, in response to Roxanne and Rol's thinking on human
capital in LO7788:
> There could be some support for this notion
> (of people as assets as opposed to liabilities), when we look at how
> organizations pay so much attention to the utilization of the "machine
> asset," and make all efforts to make sure that they utilized as close to
> 100% of their capacity as possible. (snip)
I'd like to supply a framework that people have laughed at (because of its
nearness to the truth, methinks):
The wagon rolls on its Square Wheels while the round wheels are already in
the wagon.
And at his / her desk sits the accounting or staff manager, generating
ideas for improvement. One thought is that a triangular wheel might work.
Now ideas are motivating and we want people to identify ideas. But not
all ideas are good ones. The problem is, "A desk is a dangerous place
from which to view the world." And sometimes, these managers may
implement these ideas without discussion with the wagon pushers.
Thus, the ideas get implemented and the wagon now rolls on triangular
wheels instead of square ones.
Thus we have three conditions found in most organizations:
- Square Wheels to triangular ones represent a 25% cost reduction
- We do NOT measure the cost of human capital -- the impact on pushers and
pullers and what it takes to get the job done,
or most dangerously,
- One Less Bump per Revolution. We can actually measure this change as an
improvement!
My thinking is that we must always value the human capital in the
organization since they bring unique ideas for improvement and develop the
working relationships with customers in all forms. But too often managers
get isolated from the realities and, with good intentions, attempt to make
improvements.
So, as Ivan said, human capital isn't well evaluated: "it may not really
exist, because it cannot be counted."
I'll suggest that there are ways of measuring it, albeit none very good.
But if you don't think it is important, see what happens when your best
customer service rep goes to work with your closest competitor! Anyway,
hope that you liked the metaphor about human capital.
If you want a copy of the main illustration in my series of cartoons, drop
me a snail mail address and I'll send it along,
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For the Fun of It!
Scott Simmerman 74170.1061@compuserve.com
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>