HUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY

An organizational development strategist discusses the untapped potential of human capital in modern businesses.

Seeking to “reframe human capital as the most overlooked driver of competitive advantage” in the 21st-century business sector, Bentzen-Mercer urges executive leaders to rethink their relationships with employees. At a time when “employee engagement is at an all-time low,” the author makes a convincing case that an organization’s most underutilized asset is its people. The book offers a six-step process for installing what the author calls a “Human Capital Investment Strategy,” which maximizes employee potential for organizations that have previously focused their attention on financial capital. Each of the volume’s chapters in Part One is dedicated to one of the six steps, and each combines pragmatic advice with anecdotes from Bentzen-Mercer’s three decades of experiences in the business sector and from the perspectives of her varied corporate contacts. While some of the steps may seem simplistic—such as identifying overperformers and underperformers—the author effectively argues that too few businesses actually have an internalized process related to human capital investment. In an age when employees increasingly feel alienated in corporate structures that don’t recognize their worth, Bentzen-Mercer advances a compelling argument that human capital and “human dignity can coexist,” emphasizing that “Every person has potential.” Admirably, the author draws on ample evidence that affirms the value—both ethically and fiscally—of having a demographically diverse workforce. With advanced degrees in business and social psychology, Bentzen-Mercer leverages her expertise in both fields in a work that draws heavily on cutting-edge social science and human behavior ideas and is supported by a multipage reference section. The bestselling author of a previous guidebook for businesswomen, Bentzen-Mercer is a skilled author who writes in a jargon-free yet authoritative style; ample textbox asides, full-color graphs, helpful charts, and other visual aids make the text even more accessible. Grounded in a solid theoretical framework, the book is also pragmatic—it includes a glossary and toolkit to help readers implement its six steps.

An effectively argued and engaging case for the value of human capital within organizations.