The Power of Human Talent

By: Kelly Barnhard

Overview

Aligning human talent effectively and efficiently to achieve organizational goals is the core principle behind human resource management. Traditionally, majority of an organizations attention would be centered around economic capital, which is the financial and tangible assets. However, today’s environment requires a larger degree of flexibility, innovation and effectively developing and managing human capital in order to sustain organizational performance. In terms of strategic planning, which is defining an organizations strategy, human capital must be fully integrated in the decision making process if the organization desires to pursue their strategy.  The article I will be referencing not only emphasizes the importance of human capital, but also takes it a step further. Specifically, it goes beyond economic, social, and human capital and embraces what the articles terms as “positive psychological capital”.

Article Description/Connection to Text

The article, Positive psychological capital: Beyond human and social capital, reveals how to expand capital for greater competitive advantage. The article’s content declares that psychological capital lies beyond human and social capital and basically consists of “who you are” rather than what or who you know. Specifically, the article guides the reader through four positive psychological capacities of confidence, hope, optimism and resilience. The following paragraphs will describe how these four points pertain to the business world today and how they contribute to positive psychological capital. Particularly, how these points improve performance, productivity, customer service, and employee retention.

• Confidence: An individuals conviction of his or hers ability to perform a task is strongly linked to positive work-related performance.
• Hope: Having a positive motivational state can impact how one performs.
• Optimism: By interpreting bad events as being only temporary and making specific attributions can lead to desirable workplace outcomes, and higher performance and retention.
• Resilience: If leaders, associates, and overall organizations can bounce back from hard times then desired outcome are more attainable.

This article explores the possibility of creating a greater competitive appeal through the use of human talent, which greatly relates to our text. In the first chapter of our text, we are informed that managing people as human resources is essential to accomplishing organizational goals. Specifically, how people in organizations can be a core competency which can differentiate them from competitors. Our text states that it is not solely the people that add value, rather it is their capabilities, knowledge, skills, and life experiences. The four positive psychological capacities discussed in the article are what the people bring and contribute to organizational success.  

Take Away Points

There is no question that an organization’s human capital and social capital have significant roles in an organizations success. However, this article goes beyond both of these types of assets and embraces positive psychological capital. What can be gained from this concept is that people should be viewed as human assets. The practical guidelines and the four psychological points discussed in this article can be used to achieve desirable performance, increase productivity, and improve customer service and retention. After reading this article, we can better recognize the importance of the human factor  and the  role it plays in an effective organization.

Works Cited

Luthans, F., Nielson, T., Grant-Vallone, E. (2004). Positive psychological capital: Beyond human and social capital. Business Horizons, 45-50. Retrieved from http://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=Human+capital+improved+performance+of+HR&hl=en&as_sdt=0,23

Mathis, R. L., & Jackson, J. H. (2010). Human resource management. (13 ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.