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Human Capital. A term we are increasingly encountering as societies and economies evolve. Essentially, human capital encompasses the education, knowledge, skills, know-how and health of individuals which allows them to do their job more productively. In the context of the Indian economy, development of this Human Capital by cultivating talent and building trained and healthy human power provides one of the keys to economic growth. It is always the human behind the machines that count, not the machines behind the human. And yes, that is true even in this age of fascinating automation. Skill enhancements are shaping the prosperity of global societies today. Considering this global economic canvas, India enjoys a demographic dividend and strategic advantage globally owing to its large youth population. Integrated and collaborative efforts between industry, educational institutions and intellectuals for skill enhancement of our youth, to bridge the gap between academia and industry, will certainly establish a strong pillar for India’s robust economic growth. The ripples of which will benefit world economic activity. In a nutshell, it is becoming increasingly imperative to focus on the development of our human capital. In the context of an economy, growth is greatly dependent on the development of human capital by building trained and healthy human power. Having said that, how do we train the human capital to develop into their best avatars and contribute at their highest potential to society and economy? One of the first steps is to get them ready beyond academia, so they fit in seamlessly into industry. Skill enhancement, practical application, personality development and continuous professional development are imperative in shaping the fresh graduates and early career cohorts. And who better to deliver this than those who have gathered the experience and knowledge over years of invested learning and work in their chosen domains? Yes, educators and professionals who have two decades and more of experience are the ones who need to pick up the mandate of training the future. Integrated and collaborative efforts between mature industry experts and educators, to bridge the gap between academia and industry, can certainly establish a strong pillar for economic growth. In a nutshell, it is becoming increasingly imperative to focus on shaping our human capital by utilising the experiential knowledge of those who have already travelled that path. The world is hurtling towards a work environment driven by artificial intelligence. And this is no longer something just looming in the future. It is a disruptive way of business operation which has not only arrived with a bang but is here to stay, grow and consume various familiar ways of life. There is a snowballing feeling of apprehension and insecurity as humans are relieved of more and more tasks which get delegated to AI. Let’s peek into a very common occurrence. Ali, who worked full time assigning customer queries to the correct department, is now employed for half the hours. AI has taken over the job and performing fantastically – the process now runs faster and with the lowest error margin. While Ali needs to come to terms with his reduced income and how to use the time in hand, the business and most customers are happier with the resource savings. Now let’s take a step back and look at the macro picture. How does this affect the economy and the human capital at large? How does it affect wealth distribution and skill development? Are we moving towards focussing on a handful of skill sets and losing various others which thrive on the human touch? Or, are we better manifesting the 3E’s – economic, efficient, effective – on which economies ride? Having said that, it was our own choice to create and nurture AI to make life a better fit for the innovation-driven, faster-paced, precision-based future of working and living which we aspire to. We, the human capital, chose to give birth to AI and raise it as the favourite child. On the one hand we champion efforts to nurture and improve our human capital while on the other, that same human capital is assigned the task to develop more efficient AI to replace it. What a pickle! Come to think of it, why do we continue to develop AI and push its limits? Does it not have anything to do with proving our own intellectual prowess? Because much of AI development rests on two pillars – technologies and trained human capital availability. And, it’s a no brainer that both these pillars are made of one category of bricks – human capital. This brings us to a very interesting thought. To develop AI we need to nurture human capital. So, our blue-eyed boy AI is essentially by the Human Capital, of the Human Capital, for the Human Capital…yet, to an extent, against the Human Capital. We see a continuously evolving bittersweet relationship. Yet, a relationship which has immense prospect of becoming a mutually beneficial one if built with balance.
In the modern world, a trend has emerged wherein professional attire has ceased to hold a place of utmost importance. And, courtesy some contemporary work sectors and their relaxed way of working and communicating, turning out in professional attire is losing essence very fast. Although it would perhaps be unfair to emphasize about your exterior self instead of your skills and abilities but one’s attire has an important role to play to make a required impression. And not just that, being dressed according to time, place and work also gives a confidence boost knowing that you look good and are dressed appropriately. Please share your thoughts on dressing up in a decent manner and keeping your surroundings in mind.
1. The need or the consumer insight : is it strong enough, big enough, global enough, and mist importantly is it going to last enough as a need. 2. The business model and ability to pivot as the start up moves to scale up. Netflix was a VHS library in its first days and Amazon was an online bookseller it's initial days. So how fast can the start up change shift gears and renew focus? 3. Undying belief, faith and determination of the founders in the business model 4. Get the user experience right first time. Consumers are unforgiving and have very short attention spans. One small glitch and they move.
Almost on a daily basis we suffer due to inadequate and often non-existent customer service which leaves us with loss of time, resources and outcomes. Is this just because of cost-cutting leading to bare minimum and continuous training or is there a shift in culture happening for the worse?
Chris Williamson
Market Analyst at HML
Chris Williamson
Market Analyst at HML
Chris Williamson
Market Analyst at HML
Chris Williamson
Market Analyst at HML