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LettersHR strategyHuman capital

HCM is not a ‘derogatory’ term when properly applied

by Personnel Today 10 Jul 2007
by Personnel Today 10 Jul 2007

For two weeks in succession, your ‘Top Job’ contributors have cited the term ‘human capital management’ (HCM) as their most annoying piece of management jargon.

“We deal with people, not human capital,” they exclaim. Well, of course we deal with people, but so does a doctor or a police officer, so we need to be clear about the organisational context.

The term HCM reminds us that people represent a very important form of capital – perhaps the most significant of all. And as an expression, it’s no worse than ‘talent management’, or even ‘human resources’ – although it risks being hijacked by individuals to re-badge the HR or personnel function.

Used properly, the term HCM needn’t de-humanise people at all – in fact, being seen as a creator of value is much more meaningful than simply being labelled a ‘resource’. Let’s call it ‘people capital’ if it helps – but don’t dismiss HCM as a framework for thinking about people management.

Steve Foster, Manager, HR business strategy, Northgate HR




Personnel Today
Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

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