Human capital management

We live in an age when work has changed as radically as the world around us. The improvements in productivity once brought about by automation, technology and developments in management techniques have inevitably started to bring diminishing returns. In the future, information, and the people who possess and deploy it, will become at least as important as the technology they use.

Economic growth will no longer come only from putting more people to work, as in the past, or from greater consumer demand. It will come from a continuing increase in the resource that developed countries still hold as a competitive advantage — the productivity of knowledge workers.

But the increasing value of knowledge workers lies at the heart of a paradox. In the past, employers owned the means of production. Today's knowledge workers own the means of production — the knowledge in their heads. As a result, they have become both assets and costs. But while costs must be managed and reduced, assets have to be increased. How do you square this apparent circle?

The answer lies in an approach IBM has used with successful organizations all over the world. Our approach is simple, direct, powerful and effective. It drives out fixed costs and replaces them with variable costs. It increases efficiency. It empowers your workforce to do more and more in a way that makes your business resilient and responsive. It places vital management information in the right hands, at the right time, and eases the communication process across the enterprise. Your business becomes so lean and responsive that profits can go up, even if revenue falls.

"In order for enterprises to grow, they need to innovate, and in order to innovate, they must have the right people, with the right skills, in the right jobs, at the right time to drive innovation." Tim Ringo, Global Leader, Human Capital Management

Business challenges

• Collaboration across organizations, connecting individuals and groups separated by organizational boundaries, time zones and cultures
• Predicting future skill requirements
• Providing future leaders with the knowledge and tools necessary to develop innovative solutions and results
• Upgrading skills of employees and understanding and tackling issues related to employee engagement, and turning attention to attracting talent from the outside
• Aligning HR with the business units to engage in an ongoing dialogue about strategic workforce investments and transformation programs