1. A Basic Perspective on the Issue
Let us consider how to respond to the issue raised in “Why do organizations keep getting next-generation leader selection wrong?”
What is required to implement human capital management is not simply HR systems or evaluation.
It is for HR to structure and articulate management’s expectations for talent as the talent profile needed to execute strategy and achieve goals.
Strategy is set by management. Business plans are also set by management.
But unless the kind of people required to execute that strategy and make the organization function is defined structurally, implementation cannot happen.
This is the biggest practical dividing line.
2. First Stage: Connect Strategy and Organizational Function
Strategy gives direction. But direction alone does not make the organization move as expected.
Strategy first has to be broken down into organizational functions.
The key question here is whether the organization’s clear reason for existence, value, and meaning have actually been defined.
If the strategy is growth, then functions such as business creation, change leadership, and speed of decision-making become critical.
If the strategy is stability, then control, reproducibility, quality management, and coordination capability become critical.
What must be clarified here is management’s intent regarding how it wants the organization to function.
Unless strategy and organizational function are connected, the talent profile required will remain vague.
3. Second Stage: Define the “Leader” Who Makes the Organization Work
What makes an organization function is the presence of the leader of that organization.
Section manager, department head, business-unit head, executive in charge. Not as a title, but as the core “leader” who makes the organization function.
The real question here is: What exactly do you expect from that leader?
Results alone are not enough. How should that person move the organization? What decision standards should guide their judgment? What kind of leadership and management are required? And what kind of organizational state are they expected to create?
At the executive level, expectations should be made explicit, and then that leader should define the concrete mechanisms and functions required.
Unless this is clearly articulated, appointment and promotion of next-generation leaders will remain result-dependent, and dysfunction after promotion will continue to occur.
4. Third Stage: Structure Management Expectations into the “Talent Profile Required”
This is the core of the issue.
Executives always have expectations about “the kind of person we want.” In most cases, however, those expectations remain tacit knowledge.
HR’s role is to interpret those expectations, structure them into the talent profile required for strategy and goal achievement, and articulate them clearly. Structuring here does not mean simply classifying jobs. Having job categories is not enough. Those are merely definitions of duties based on roles, descriptions of expected output, and not the definition of the person you actually need.
The talent profile required should be clarified through the following structure.
- In terms of work values, what does the person prioritize? What is the source of their motivation? What do they regard as the right judgment? Does that align with the company’s direction?
- In terms of thinking traits, how does the person frame problems, and how do they make decisions? Are they suited to change-oriented situations, or to stable operating situations?
- Emotional traits are also critical. When pressure or conflict arises, does this person remain stable in judgment? Do they spread anxiety, or do they bring stability to the organization?
- Personality traits are the deepest base. What are the enduring personality tendencies this person is likely to display over time? Can they make the role function sustainably?
- Behavioral traits matter as well. To make the required organizational function real, what concrete behaviors does this person actually take? What can this person truly do?
These elements must be integrated to clarify the structure of the leader who makes the organization work. Only when it is defined to this level does the talent profile required truly connect to strategy.
The 5D Profile Assessment includes a function that analyzes fit between the talent profile required by the business strategy and the individual being assessed.
It can clearly articulate what is already present and what is missing against the required criteria, which helps executives, managers, and HR make talent decisions from a management perspective in a more objective and accurate way.
5. Fourth Stage: Turn the Structure into Decision Criteria
Once structured, the talent profile becomes the decision criteria for evaluation, appointment, and placement.
Evaluation is still necessary. But the axis of evaluation has to change.
It must move from result-centered evaluation to evaluation that also includes fit with management expectations.
Even if two people deliver the same results, if one of them does not match the structure required for the next role, appointment becomes a risk.
Conversely, even if current results are not especially outstanding, a person whose structure aligns with strategy may become a future core leader.
Evaluation is not simply a matter of ranking people. It is a fit judgment designed to increase the probability of successful strategy execution.
6. Conclusion
To implement human capital management is to structure management expectations into a talent profile.
Management decides the strategy. HR’s role is to structure and articulate the talent profile capable of executing that strategy, and then translate it into decision criteria.
Unless the structure of the leader who makes the organization function is clearly defined, appointment will remain person-dependent and repeatability will never emerge.
To treat human capital as capital means designing the talent profile required, measuring it, allocating it, and connecting it to strategy.
Only from that point does human capital management move from理念 to implementation.