TABLE OF CONTENTS In the first three chapters we gained an appreciation and understanding of human capital and the ensuing human capital crisis in the U.S. federal government. We also learned about approaches for developing a human capital strategy and what various federal agencies are doing in this domain. Now, we turn to describing the essential components of a human capital strategy that is, what we are calling the four pillars of human capital.
Before examining the underpinnings of a human capital strategy, let's first take a look at the general workplace environment in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Americans are now working more hours, on average, than employees in any other industrialized nation. In an article titled "Take this Job and ..." ( Johns Hopkins Magazine, November 2002), Ed Bernacki, with the Department of Occupational Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, indicates the following statistics:
24 percent of U.S. employees are putting in more than 50 hours per week
22 percent of U.S. employees work six and sometimes seven days per week
25 percent of U.S. employees never use their vacation time
40 percent of U.S. employees find their jobs "very" or "extremely" stressful
The message is that American workers today are more stressed out than ever before. Increased stress can lead to ill health and injury among workers, and reduced productivity. Additionally, high stress can affect the human capital assets in an organization.
Let's look at other statistics regarding the American labor force. The...
