Human Capital

I been on my grind, building up my company
Rap guide on the rise, somethin’ to see
Just like every business, it started with a vision
But winnin’ the competition wasn’t just a solo mission
No, I had schemes and revenue streams
But to achieve great things you need a dream team
So, I recruited England’s sickest producer
Mr. Simmonds with the illest skills on a computer
We made some rap guides, reduced the nonsense
In the content, it was just proof of concept
Pretty soon we had a long back-catalogue
With the orders comin’ in, just a mad backlog
Time to get some fresh blood, tap the talent pool
A bunch of young rappin’ brainiacs with attitude
A business has to feel like a family group
It’s only worth as much as its human capital

Human capital, it’s tough to quantify
But without it your business will not survive
Human capital, it’s tough to quantify
You gotta offer people more than just a nine to five

How did I get to be the master of this industry?
Mr. Infomatic? Happiness delivery
You gotta spread love, the top is a lonely place
Peace to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh
Forget the old way, where the realm of business
Was synonymous with the realm of narrow self-interest
We need to reach consensus, breach defenses
And seek the best of each employees’ unique perspective
That’s a corporate policy that’s worth acknowledging
It’s something we’ve been polishing since before the Holocene
Humans are social primates with tribal roots
We thrive in groups to survive and reproduce
Which means gossip and reputation maintain
The invisible fabric of status in the blame game
And the praise game, two sides of the same thing
Just ask Bernie Madoff if he wants a name change

It’s human capital, it’s tough to quantify
But without it your business will not survive
Human capital, it’s tough to quantify
You gotta offer people more than just a nine to five

Whatever industry you’re in, whatever occupation
You need to learn about the science of cooperation
Don’t let the insights of evolution evade you
Especially human behavior, including consumer behavior
Reciprocal exchanges are the most typical arrangements
But individual differences change things
The division of labor needs to be delegated
Internally, within firms, not in the yellow pages
Interns get promoted when they begin to earn
And then recruit their own interns, in turn
While the free market chooses between firms
Usually, some banks get bankruptcy insurance
That’s crazy, that’s when the state needs to regulate hard
That is, unless you want grenades in K-Mart
Fair play starts with the question: who’s interested?
Citizens, families, employees, businesses

That’s human capital, it’s tough to quantify
But without it your business will not survive
Human capital, it’s tough to quantify
You gotta offer people more than just a nine to five