The Sigma Project

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‘Human capital’ incorporates the health, knowledge, skills, intellectual outputs, motivation and capacity for relationships of the individual. In an organisational context it includes the elements needed for people to engage in productive work and the creation of wealth, thereby achieving a better quality of life. Human capital is also about dignity, joy, passion, empathy and spirituality.

Why it is important to organisations?
Organisations depend on individuals to function – for instance, they need a healthy, motivated and skilled workforce. Intellectual capital and knowledge management are increasingly recognised as key intangible assets that an organisation can use to create wealth. Health epidemics, such as HIV and AIDS, can damage organisational viability. Damaging human capital by abuse of human or labour rights or compromising health and safety has direct as well as reputational costs. Poverty prevents many people from achieving their full potential¹.

Ways organisations can enhance human capital

Ensure that it is contributing positively towards meeting human needs such as subsistence, freedom and security, but also identity, empathy, creativity and leisure

Give employees (and where possible other stakeholders) access to training, development and lifelong learning.

Create an enabling environment for learning, innovation and sharing of knowledge.

Respect human rights throughout its operations and geographical regions.

Understand and respect human values and their different cultural contexts.

Implement diversity policies that enable an organisation to access the variety of human talent and eliminate discrimination.

Ensure health and safety, incorporating physical and mental well-being.

Support health promotion and education.

Provide a reasonable living wage and fair remuneration for employees and business partners.

Create opportunities for varied and satisfying work.

Adopt fair labour standards, including avoidance of slave, forced or child labour.

footnotes

This is particularly true in areas with high HIV prevalence rate. More than 28 million Africans are living with HIV and in some countries over 30% of the adult population is infected. In the most severely affected African countries, it is estimated that more than one-quarter of the workforce may be lost to the immune deficiency disease by 2020. Source: UNAIDS Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic July 2002.

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