Investing in Your Company’s Human Capital: Strategies to Avoid Spending Too Little—or Too Much

Chapter 4. Invest Until It Hurts

While some organizations invest at the same level of other organizations, many operate under the guise that more is better. They over-invest in human capital. The results of such an approach can be both disappointing and disastrous. A few executives do this intentionally; others do it unknowingly. Either way, this is a strategy that deserves serious attention.

The Basic Strategy

With this strategy, organizations invest in human capital beyond what is needed to meet the goals and mission of the organization. Executives implement almost every program or project they see, provide every employee benefit available, and teach every new idea that comes across the horizon. For most over-investing organizations, this strategy ...