What is human capital? Why it matters now, more than ever.
By Jess Lane, Founder of The Full Cup Co. [Career Design for the Future of Work] | 20+ Years Fortune 500 and High-Growth Tech | MA Psychology, Pepperdine University
Whatever work looks like for you these days, here’s why your human capital matters more than ever.
And, how to determine your own.
What is your human capital, anyway?
I wish more people knew what a goldmine of human capital they’re sitting on. AI needs it to succeed.
Human capital is your combination of skills, knowledge, judgment, relationships, and experience that creates value.
And AI can’t replicate it.
We’re seeing this play out real-time in the workforce, too.
For example, Meta’s latest “Project OT” aimed at reducing team sizes up to 60% with AI agents?
It just got cut due to employee pushback and low productivity.
Nice try, Zuck.
It’s the latest example of why combining human capital with AI fluency is the way forward, not one replacing the other.
Where There is Disruption, There is Also Opportunity
Human capital is most valuable to you in the future of work, because it cannot be replicated. Especially if you have decades of life and experience.
If you want to understand your unique advantages even better through this lens, do a quick audit of the functional, relational and contextual human capital you have.
Functional: Write down every major problem you have solved in your career. What needed fixing, what your role was in fixing it, the impact and results.
Relational: Who are the people in your network that you have the best relationships with? What do they come to you for, and what can you go to them for?
Contextual: What are the situations where your instincts are consistently right? Where do people seek your counsel? What do you see that others miss?
Through each lens, understand your strengths and weaknesses as it relates to the market, and the key themes that can set you apart. The best place to focus is on what human problems are you best situation to solve with your unique human capital.
The Future of Work isn’t coming, it’s here. Understanding this now sets you apart from others that think their title or company is going to project them.
But where there is risk there is also opportunity.
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Jess Lane is the founder of The Full Cup Co., the career design company for the future of work, creator of the Full Cup Method and Strategic Executive Exit. She has 20+ years of marketing and business leadership across Fortune 500 and high-growth IPO and unicorn technology companies including Porsche, Visa, Michelob ULTRA, and TheRealReal, and a Masters in Psychology from Pepperdine University. She helps experienced professionals design their next chapter and the career meant for them.