Employment and Human Capital Essay

Submitted By jackiesmith2
Words: 852
Pages: 4

Patagonia

Intellectual Capital * Slow process to hire the “right” person * Work has to be fun – they value their employees * Flexibility allows to keep valuable employees * Great benefits to mothers

Human Capital * Slow hiring process * Hire from within as much as possible – keep culture strong * The need to attract serious athletes * On-site child-care to help parents not worry about their children’s safety and well-being * Children growing up with a concept of work * Women occupy high level management positions

Social Capital * Not uncommon for several groups of four to six people in interviews * Hire from within * Flexible workplace * Value healthy social interactions

Still there is room for improvement
Patagonia is still learning how to run a business themselves
“Studies have shown that it costs a company an average of fifty thousand dollars to replace an employee” (Human Resource Philosophy, 17)

Patagonia’s human resources philosophy is to take a slow process and wait to hire the right person. Patagonia is looking not only for skilled employees but they are also looking for employees to fit the “athletic” persona. Patagonia has laid it out in the first page of this chapter that they are looking to hire for attitude and train for skill. Social interactions are very important for Patagonia and they have taken many great strides to make sure these interactions are prevalent in the workplace. Patagonia has many excellent benefits in place such as childcare and their “let my people go surfing” approach. Patagonia has created these benefits to attract lasting employees that love their positions.

Solarpanel.ca
Shane Johnson of solarpanel.ca is a one man team. When it comes to his human resource management, it is all about making himself happy and furthermore, doing everything he can to make his customers long lasting, happy customers. Shane Johnson has perused something that he was very passionate about which is making his career exciting. Coming up in our interviews with Shane Johnson, we will talk about the importance of his career versus the importance of his hobbies, family and other experiences his time might take up.

How do these different approaches influence the work environment?
Developing and retaining intellectual capital at a company is hugely important. A company that takes time to hire the right people and takes the necessary time to train them will see the benefits quicker than a company that has hired 10-20 employees quickly, thrown them into their positions and figured out that they are not fit for the position.
“Nevertheless, most surveys show that money is not the most important reason why people take or leave jobs and that money, in some surveys, is not even in the top 10” (Strategic Management, 105)

Human capital may not be very important in a company like solarpanel.ca but in many companies of more than 2 employees, human capital could be a make or break to profit. When employees work together as a team, far more things get finished. When working in a team environment, employees should have the time to sit down and bounce ideas off of each other at least once per day. Email has made it quite