Module 1 – SLPMANAGING HUMAN CAPITALOverview
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.
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, view the four potential futures identified by Deloitte for the worker-employer relationship:
- Work as fashion
- War between talent
- Work is work
- Purpose unleashed
Each video is less than 5 minutes long and is found in the following link:
Deloitte (n.d.). On the line: A video series on the worker-employer relationship: From the 2021 Deloitte Global Human Capital Special Report. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/consulting/articles/employer-employee-relationship-human-capital.html.
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, such as the popular coffee company, Starbucks (Cousins, 2019).
Cousins, F. (2020, March 7). Starbucks is using child labor overseas to pick coffee beans [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/AH-Nq-DiZJ0
Phillpott (2019) explains that the following U.S. companies overseas still use child labor in the following article: Nestle, Philip Morris, Microsoft, Apple, and Hershey’s.
Phillpott. (2019). 10 companies that still use child labor. Career Addict. https://www.careeraddict.com/10-companies-that-still-use-child-labor
SLP Assignment
For this SLP 1 assignment, consider what you have learned about the “Human Capital Management” approach to Human Resource Management and child labor practices that are reported to still be occurring in some U.S. companies overseas.
Using the Trident Online Library, research two US companies that have been found to use child labor. In your submission, discuss what the companies are doing to dispel the shadow over the companies because of this practice. Also discuss what role the HRM has to develop a culture where all employees, regardless of age or nationality, are valued and treated as assets.
In addition to the three background readings listed above, find at least one other high-quality source from the Trident Online Library to support your essay. (High quality sources are found in peer-reviewed journals and textbooks.)
Submit the 2- to 3-page SLP Assignment submission into the appropriate drop box by the Module 1 due date. The page count does not include the cover page or reference list page. The title at the top of page two should be the title you give your submission, not “Introduction” although the first paragraph of a paper is always an introduction. There is also a conclusion required at the end of this assignment that is a synopsis of your findings uncovered during the process of completing this assignment.
