Evidence Based Strategic Human Capital Management

The concept of human capital considers people as the most important asset for the growth and sustainability of the organization. Investment in people in the form of training and development, improvement of the quality of work life, support of work life balance, general health improvement, among others, improve the asset value of people. The renewed focus on human resources, naming it as human capital, is a major transition from control to commitment approach, as asset percepts legitimize investment on people for incremental benefits in terms of performance and productivity, which can strengthen the organizations. This study explores the legitimacy of strategic human capital management (HCM), first in the context of theoretical support, through relevant literature review, and then examines it in the context of organizational practices. A large steel manufacturing unit of one public sector enterprise in India (i.e., Durgapur Steel Plant [DSP]) with more than a half-century of existence and a track record of growth has been selected for this purpose. The study tries to understand the degree of fit of strategic HCM practices of the sample organization, and assesses whether such practices really contribute to their sustenance and growth over the last 50 years.