Role in Managing Human Capital
Today’s Human Capital Management approach perceives employees as assets (human capital) whose current value can be measured with metrics and whose future value is also measurable and can be enhanced through investing in the development of employees.
At the same time, the HR department must show compassion for the various situations in which employees find themselves.
Small organizations often have team members performing multiple HR roles, such as benefits administration, recruitment, selection, payroll, and employee development/training. Normally, larger companies have at least one person in each of these areas. If a company’s HR team is too small for its number of employees, it is likely that employee dissatisfaction will rise because of delayed response times regarding resolution of issues. For example, an HR manager may not understand the timeliness needed for hiring replacement employees for various departments. If that happens, improvement in communications among departments is needed. If a new employee must wait for a busy HR staff member to update insurance records, filing deadlines could be missed.
Legal Compliance
All organizations, however, must follow employment laws and regulations related to discriminatory practices, retaliation for whistle blowing, or other serious issues.
(Business Management Dailey, 2013)
Business Management Daily. (2013, May 21). The top five manager mistakes that cause lawsuits [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHHNk-VtwfA.
This SLP assignment looks at an interesting contrast between company ideals and actual practices. For example, we are looking ahead to how employees should be viewed as assets. First, watch the following video:
ADP, 2015 )
ADP. (2015, March 3). Rethink human capital management [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipxtwod-W9o.
Let’s compare this concept with an adverse management practice—utilizing children as workers. Think about companies that do business overseas, and more specifically ones who use child labor. Phillpott (2019) explains that the following U.S. companies overseas still use child labor: Nestle, Philip Morris, Microsoft, Apple, and Hershey’s.
Phillpott (2019). 10 Companies that Still Use Child Labor. Retrieved from https://www.careeraddict.com/10-companies-that-still-use-child-labor
For this SLP 1 assignment, consider what you have learned about the “Human Capital Management” approach to Human Resource Management and contrast that with child labor practices that are reported to still be occurring in some U.S. companies overseas. Discuss the contrasting/conflicting roles of HRM that this might create — one that approaches employees as “assets” that should be nurtured and valued, and one that utilizes child labor.
