What Is Human Capital Management (HCM)? – Forbes Advisor

Human capital management is an important system in any organization and for good reason.

Not only does HCM help organizations meet labor demands, but it ensures employees can maximize their potential through recruitment, onboarding, development and retention-related activities. Once you have proper systems in place, you can create an environment where employees are productive and remain in the organization in the long run.

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of human capital management.

Make a Better Human Resource Management System

HCMs improve workforce management by ensuring alignment between your organization’s structure, business strategy and objectives. They also help talent departments identify workforce needs in terms of training, development and compensation to reduce turnover.

Improve the Recruitment Process

Another advantage of HCMs is that they encourage you to source and find the best talent through intelligent software, social media and employee referral programs. Hiring managers can manage a large pool of applicants and track every candidate’s status in the recruitment process. Also, having an in-depth onboarding process and training program enables you to provide new hires with a strong start.

If you’re having trouble juggling it all, you can use top recruiting software and applicant tracking systems to streamline the recruitment process.

Identify Talent Gaps

HCM identifies labor needs and talent gaps in relation to the organization’s corporate strategy. If a company needs individuals with a particular skill set, it helps you create a plan to source talent and calculate costs ahead of time. You can also launch programs to enrich the skill set of your current employees to fill in gaps for that missing expertise.

Increase Employee Retention

HCM lets employers identify what employees want. It can pinpoint the opportunities and benefits employees want through performance reviews, survey forms and other sources of feedback. Knowing what your workforce needs can help you deliver better results and identify key areas of improvement—which is necessary for the company’s growth.

Boost Return on Investment (ROI)

As with any business decision, it’s important to consider the ROI when hiring and compensating employees. While employees can perform their basic duties, you can improve their outputs by motivating them to perform better.

A good tip is to invest in growth opportunities, bonuses and complementary financial incentives. Alternatively, you can create a culture of collaboration where employees feel valued and appreciated. Research on 200,000 managers and employees revealed that 79% of people who quit their jobs cite lack of appreciation as a major reason for leaving.