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Human capital is the productive capacity of labor. This can be used to model the economic potential of nations, cities, organizations, teams and individuals. The following are common elements of human capital.
HealthThe health of individuals influences their productivity. As such, a society with a healthy lifestyle, high quality of life and good healthcare system may be more productive.Practical knowledge that is applicable to creating value.Knowledge that you can't obtain from reading a book such as how to play the violin or hit a baseball.
Situational KnowledgeKnowledge that is highly contextual. For example, a farmer who knows that a particular field has an unusual good terroir for grapes.Systems thinking is the ability to identify and analyze broad end-to-end impacts of actions. The ability to create new things both tangible and intangible that are useful.
The ability to think beyond the obvious to identify valuable ideas that elude others.Social capital is the goodwill, fellowship and cooperation that exists in a society or organization that allows people to work productively as a group. For example, shared language, norms and manners.
The social standing of an individual in a group. For example, an accomplished professional athlete who is viewed with respect and admiration by fans.Cultural capital is the ability to influence within the context of a culture.Relationships between organizations and people. For example, a sales person who knows everyone in your industry.
The ability to influence and motivate groups to achieve common goals.Strategic ThinkingDeveloping plans that achieve goals in a competitive and constrained environment.The ability to make high quality and timely decisions in an environment of change and uncertainty.
Problem SolvingFinding reasonable solutions to problems including the ability to determine the root cause of a problem.ResearchResearch related skills such as information discovery, analysis and experimentation.Placing your accountability and responsibility before more selfish urges. The ability to endure criticism and stresses without losing your enthusiasm.Human Capital vs TalentThe term human capital is somewhat contentious as people don't like to be compared to other types of capital such as money, land and machines. For example, human capital was voted the German Un-word of the Year in 2004 for being a degrading term that views people as financial assets.Historically, human work was referred to as labor by economists and not as capital. Human capital emerged to describe the vast differences in productivity between nations, organizations and individuals that make "labor" a poor description. People may prefer their productive capacity to be described with words such as talent or ability. Well received synonyms of human capital include human resources, knowledge capital, creative capacity, productive capacity, skilled labor and talent pool.|
| Type | | | Definition | The productive capacity of labor. | | Related Concepts | |
Capital
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ReferencesSchlosser, Horst Dieter. "Unwort des Jahres 2004 gewählt." Sprachkritische Aktion Unwort des Jahres, January 18, 2005.
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