Investing in Human Capital - Coursework Example

 According to the article, “Putting People First”, there are seven practices that boosts the performance of a given organization. These ranges from, employment security, selective hiring, decentralization of the organization and management of the team, high contingent compensation based on organizational performance, extensive and intensive training, reduction of staff differences and finally sharing information. Investing in human capital is the new dimension the current organization are taking. This is an approach were more emphasis is given to people than to anything else. Employees are seen as assets current and future value which can be improved through investing resources on them, especially knowledge. Organizations which upholds these practices always communicate to their employee on a regular basis. After analyzing this article, the practice I found interesting is selective hiring. The following paragraphs critically analyses this point and gives reason for the choice of the practice. The practice of employee’s security is the one that is surprising. The business world is rapidly changing and companies are embracing policies that not only affect the operations of the organization but also the employees. It is for this reason that employees need a guarantee that despite in the internal changes that occur within a given organization will not affect then. If however they are affected negatively, then, the organization would be able to compensate them accordingly. Employee security takes place in many forms for instance, in manufacturing industries where employee are exposed to machines every day, there are risks involved. Some of them include the risk if being cut by machines, exposure to chemical compounds among other. The employer of such an organization must ensure that his employees have medical assurances and cover. This will motivate employees to keep working in spite of the unconducive working environment. This is because, in case of any accident, the company will be liable and they will not have to dig their pockets to cater for any medical expenditure. Employment status of an employee is also a security to them. During time of economic booms many companies employ a lot of people. On the other hand, during recession, these organization dismiss a lot of employees. This is discouraging and such organization end up building bad image and this may lead to it collapse. Business should are encouraged to have policies that define how many employees they need, despite economic boom and recession respectively. This will ensure steady employment of workers who will not have to fear losing their jobs during recession. Also, government should ensure that organizations, which fire workers during economic recession times, are heavily charged and the fired workers compensated for damages. Secondly, most people want to get employed to earn money so that they can meet their material needs and needs of their families. If a company, on the other hand, does not provide this security, it will end up losing employees and this may mark the beginning of its downfall. As an employees it is good to be sensitive and some of the indicators of a company insolvency are late payment, reduction on the level of payment. HR are therefore encouraged to ensure that workers get paid on time and that their salaries are not deducted anyhow (Prefer and John, 37). The future of an employee is also worth of protection. Employers should ensure that all workers, especially full time workers, have life insurance cover. This makes one feel that the lives of their beneficiaries is covered and protected in the instance of death of the policy holder. In addition to that, getting this policy under the umbrella of and organization, is cheaper than getting the same policy cover on a private basis. Companies are however cautioned against this. This is an expensive practice and it is therefore not suitable to business that are not yet established. They are however encourage to give such benefits when they are strong and healthy economically. It is worth noting that in all working environments, workers may fall sick since this is something that cannot be avoided. Organizations should therefore ensure that the days an employees is not working, due to sickness, are paid for. This gives employee confident and strengths to work even harder and better (Prefer & John, 39) as opposed to deducting their salaries which kills their morale. Employees who are employed on fulltime basis work knowing that at a certain period in life they will have to retire. This means that they will no longer be on a payroll unless one has a business that he or she is managing. Organization should therefore have a scheme of providing retirement benefits to all fulltime employees. To some organizations, this plan is too expensive to then, as a result government comes in to ensure that organization do not default paying pension for their employees. With such a future guarantee of lump sum of payment, workers will focus on their jobs and hence improving the productivity of the firm. As to conclusion, investing on human capital pays a lot to the success of an organization. Workers should feel that their work is secured and that their efforts are recognized. rganizations are therefore urged to provide financial security to their workers, medical covers, future retirement benefits, life insurance covers and finally organizations are encouraged not to terminate and dismiss employees due to reasons that cannot be explained. Organizations which upholds these practices always communicate to their employee on a regular basis. The employer of such an organization must ensure that his employees have medical assurances and cover. This will ensure steady employment of workers who will not have to fear losing their jobs during recession. In addition to that, getting this policy under the umbrella of and organization, is cheaper than getting the same policy cover on a private basis. Finally, while organizations and business focus on ensuring employee security, they should also consider their ability to provide them else they might end up making loses rather than success (Prefer & John, 37). Work cited Prefer, Jeffrey and John F. Veiga. The Human Equation: Building Profits While Putting People First. Boston: Harvard Business School, 2000. Read More