Business Innovation through Human Capital Management

by | October 19, 2010

Our guest blog comes from Ken Realmuto, Talent Acquisition Expert and Human Capital Strategist.  Ken owns the firm Real Enterprises, Inc. and is a Founder/Partner Advantage Consortium. 

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In 2001 Allen Greenspan announced that we are entering a new age. He called it the “Conceptual Age”. Currently we have a universal agreement that we are indeed in a new age. Some call it the Conceptual Age, while others call it the Talent Age. The underlining reality is the same; there is a change taking place with talent.

“In the New Economy human capital is the foundation of value creation. This presents an interesting dilemma, the asset that is most important is the least understood, least prone to measurement and least susceptible to management”. David Norton

“The ability to make good decisions regarding people presents one of the last reliable sources of competitive advantage-since very few organizations are very good at it”. Peter Drucker

In the future we will not be able to continue to repave old roads. In the 1990’s a generation of computing arose with the simple idea that it’s not the computer anymore that is critical but the network; it’s not the node, it’s the connection that count. Talent management is in the same situation. It’s not the individual practice but how they relate and connect to the business objectives that will separate the successful companies from those that don’t get it in time.

One key element to success is to treat talent management not as simply as  an extension of what is already being done, but as a fundamentally new way to think about attracting, hiring, engaging, developing and retaining top performers.

There is not a doubt that people and organizations are on a new journey from the safe, secure world of their present reality to an uncertain future. This journey will be confusing at times and contradictory as the force and pace of change accelerates. It is difficult to give up our past practices and mindsets that were successful at one time and are now barriers or even inhibitors of future success.  As Ralf Schneider from PricewaterhouseCoopers had said:  “We are living in a time when first generation leaders are working in second generation companies on third generation problems”.

Strategic Human Capital Management is the most powerful lever for innovation and growth in today’s knowledge economy. Corporate market value is increasingly defined as a sum of human intangibles-ranging from the public perception of a company’s intellectual capacity, to its perceived ability to create new solutions, enter new markets and respond to change. In this new world, new leadership models are emerging. 

These models enable executives to tap into previously unknown and untouched value within their existing organization.  These models enable a better hiring plan that is aligned to the companies plan.  And lastly these models enable innovation to happen consistently across organizational boundaries. Talent has entered new age. New leadership models are emerging. The hidden value of human capital is being found. Business value is increasing because of it.