Beyond HR June 20, 2008 The New Science of Human Capital (Harvard Business School Press, $35)
By Nataliya V. Balabanova, Ph.D
It isn't news that the importance of human resources has grown alongside the competitiveness of the national and world economy—which have become stronger, merciless, and of high priority for all organizations struggling to succeed. The quality of people in the organization determines strategic success and failures. HR as a field matured through long years of selecting best practices and interventions, but is that enough? Doesn't every HR professional have a vision of an HR VP strategic role on the board equal to that of the CEO or CFO? If you want to see that reality approaching, Beyond HR is to be read, promoted, and delivered to an army of executives and managers worldwide.
Authors John W. Boudreau and Peter M. Ramstad take the risk of proclaiming HR theoretical, methodological, and capable of "improving [organizational] decisions that depend on or impact talent resources." Their new book shows that HR evolution into a decision science is what the field is missing as a mature discipline.
"Talentship" is a term created by the authors to describe a new decision science that embraces the very essence of HR's future role. Talentship impacts organizational strategy analysis and performance, future potential and current assets, organizational policy and practices, investments and, finally, talent management. It links effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of HR to enhance quality and performance of human capital.
Loaded with practical illustrations, this book is a destination to start a journey of uncovering new decision science—talentship, or, for that matter, a new approach to align business goals with strategic talent decisions.
Nataliya V Balabanova, PhD is an Master's of Science in Information Media candidate at the Center for Information Media at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, MN.
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