Jack T.
Vice President of Sales at Deyta LLC / B2B Marketer / Business Process Improvement Specialist / Writer / Speaker
Human capital, Human resource, Human asset ...
Which of these terms for employed people do you dislike the most, and why?
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Steve S.
Process and Equipment Consultant at Independent Contractor, Business and Manufacturing
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Jack,
I do not like any of them,
I believe the HR industry on a whole needs to think of re-branding.
The terms “Human Resources”, "Human Assets" and “Human Capital” delegate the industry to a place of lesser importance than it really holds. These terms make people out to be something just to be used by a company, not the most important part.
People are not just one of the four types of fixed capital as Adam Smith wrote ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_capital ), but the base of any organization.
You can have machines, instruments (tools) of the trade and buildings, but without people you still have nothing.
On the other hand, people without machines, tools or buildings can and are capable of making a difference and earning profits.
Using people is not the best way to think about things. When you use something it does not get any benefit from it. Whatever you use will eventually wear out and be of little or no use.
More realistically, instead of just being another “resource”, people at all levels in an organization should be thought of as partners. Partners work together for the betterment of each other. Value is being added to both parties so instead of "wearing out" they are improving continuously.
If the HR industry can sell themselves as a facilitator for partnering in organizations it would be more reflective of the real part they play.
Steve
Anil S.
Business Partner, Senior Consultant at The Coffman Organization, Inc.
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Jack - This is a really interesting question. One of the reasons that many people dislike working for an organization is that it feels impersonal. Putting "Human" in front of each one of these words puts and adjective (description) for something that feels clinical. It baffles me that we are still working with Human Resources. I know that is accepted, but it seems silly. We don't call Information Technology "Computer Capital" or "Technology Resources". We don't call Marketing "Creativity Asset" or "Imagination Capital". I think that organizations need to think about what do they want that department or part of the company to provide. Then name it accordingly - Here are some that might be kind of cool:
- People Practices
- Employee Focus
- People Systems
- Workforce Services
In the end though it is not what you call the department, but the impact it makes on employees and the bottom line.
Michael K.
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They're "trendy" words, if not faddish, and sometimes can substitute for the overused "our people are our most important asset..."
I dislike them because one probably needs to watch out for his/her job when a company starts using the terms with abandon. The use of any one of the terms sometimes camouflages a cynical approach/view of the "workforce."
In my always humble opinion.
Mark H.
Changing how people and organizations work together
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Jack:
Quite honestly I dislike them all. They all "de-humanize" people. The conceptual framework I like to work in is partner or associate. We are working together towards a common set of goals and interests. The job of the manager is to make and reinforce that connection.
People may not be with you forever, but you shouldn't think of them in terms of a depreciable or disposable asset. Just my opinion.
I am committed to creating engaged environments and both the data and my experience demonstrate that leads to superior performance across all KPI's.
Links:
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Frank F.
►CEO/Bd Director ►IT Governance Advisor ►Future-Proof Strategy ►Keynotes ►Inno-Change ►Social Media Mktg ►China Advisor
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Depends in which context you are using the terms.
I think HR is common practice for the function,
though I have seen People Division used and I
like that, but I feel it not necessary if you have
a people-oriented culture.
I think I would not use Human Asset Division,
as it sounds too much like a hard physical
asset such as a building or a machine.
Clarification added June 28, 2010:
That said, I think it is perfectly fine to say
things such as "people are our main asset."
Each of the terms human capital, human resources, and human assets are used with the intent of communicating the understood value an employee has to the company. Viewed in those terms they are fairly equivalent; of those Human Resources sounds the least like a "cash equivalent" term.
Human Development is sometimes used for the (human resources) function in an effort to demonstrate that the company wants to provide value and opportunity to the employee.
Other companies have selected "employee" terms that may be intended to reduce an inference of subservience: e.g. associate, collaborator, partner.
Frank Feather's assertion that concern about the words is "not necessary if you have a people-oriented culture" is an appropriate summation.
Hi Jack,
its not an easy question to answer because although the terms are often used interchangeably they are quite distinct. Human Capital is also referred to as 'intellectual capital.' Often a term used by consulting firms to place a value on the knowledge and expertise they have acquired. Human Resource is often used within the context of the HR department or within a project management system. For example, resource leveling is a process to balance out any risks associated to a project due to excessive amount of work to a small number of the human resources available. Lastly, Human Asset refers to an aggregated pool of people with a specific set of skills that can be valued. Closely related to Human Capital but very different. With Human Capital you can acquire the intellectual capital through learning without actually acquiring the person. However, with Human Assets you can not separate the person from the asset, the person is the asset.
That's a long answer I know...in the end I don't dislike either of them. I hope that helps.
Bernard G.
Programme, Project & Change expert
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Human capital is worst as suggests we are just something to be spent - capital is spent once and then it's gone. Human resource is least worst of the three, human asset is a bit too de-personalising.
Deb H.
Full cycle recruiter, sourcer, recruiting manager
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Human capital........sounds like someone went out, pulled their staff off of a shelf somewhere & paid for it at the register.
Daniel B.
Forward thinking HR strategist and Speaker
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Jack,
Consider the response from the perspective of some thoughts from Russ Moen from Express Personnel. In a seminar I attended recently he suggested that when we moved from the industrial age to knowledge age, employees evolved from an expense item to a non-owned corporate asset. Companies can thrive or fail on the level of engagement of their human assets. I would suggest that from this view we should consider our employees to be either assets or capital-either term fits.
Kevin H.
Web Business Consultant since 1998
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Human Capital, or Human assets.
That's BS, and here is why: People are not ASSETS of the company, or CAPITAL of the company.
They ARE the company.
Wallace J.
Multimedia Producer, i3D Programmer, Acrobat 3D PDF, Android App, Virtual World & iTV Design, Kindle, Nook & Sony eBooks
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Human Asset. An asset is an intangible, not a living, breathing human being!
Nay Lin M.
Student at the Silicon Valley
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I do not like the term of human resource because we are not resources.
Clarification added July 1, 2010:
In my opinion, we are human capital and human asset to the companies because we represent the companies.
Mathew S.
Sr. Systems Administrator at Synopsys
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Meh.
I sometimes wonder if that is an attempt to make people feel valued again especially after the era of downsizing, the global economy and now the recession.
Labels are fine if something backs them up. Otherwise, they simply become trite phrases.
Mitch K.
Author, Top-rated Speaker, Leadership Coach and World Traveler
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They are all despicable. No balance sheet includes these 'values'.
What should be fundamental is that any business IS the sum of its people. Otherwise why hire people at all? Who would be there to hire them? The equipment, tools, machines, structures, vehicles are all there to empower the humans, not the other way around.
