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Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

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Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#21
post #8
post #2

Calling employees 'lower-value human capital' reveals a lot about a company's internal culture, regardless of the PR walkback. Even if AI can automate certain tasks, language like this completely destroys team morale and trust. Good leaders should view automation as a tool to empower their team, not just a weapon to cut costs.

Yes and no. The company is a bank - it's job is to take money and make money with that. I'm not surprised executive management is publicly saying they want to make investments in assets that will help their clients and they themselves make more money.

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Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#23

That phrase "lower-value human capital" fills me with rage.

If I replace a crew of ten ditch diggers with one guy and an excavator, I have replaced lower-value human capital with higher-value mechanical capital for that task. Does the replacement enrage you in that case, or just the phrasing?

Should we be using spoons instead of excavators, and abacuses instead of computers, in order to maintain a high value on human capital?

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#24
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not what the parent commented on.

"Even if AI can automate certain tasks, language like this completely destroys team morale and trust. " That's what the parent commented on and that was my response.

Saying ‘banks exist to make money’ in response to criticism of dehumanizing language is like responding to criticism of factory pollution with ‘factories make products.’ Yes. That’s the premise...

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#25

That phrase "lower-value human capital" fills me with rage.

If I replace a crew of ten ditch diggers with one guy and an excavator, I have replaced lower-value human capital with higher-value mechanical capital for that task. Does the replacement enrage you in that case, or just the phrasing? Should we be using spoons instead of excavators, and abacuses instead of computers, in order to maintain a high value on human capital?

Depends, was ditch-digging a well paid job that people enjoyed? Did your business grow 10x and you offered excavator training for those 10 ditch-diggers to become machine operators?

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#26
Humans are humans. Not "capital." Not "resources." They're f*cking people.

Business is business and you have to be mindful of costs. But good lord, is it that hard to understand that treating your employees with basic decency is positive for your company?

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#28
post #18
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no. The company is a bank - it's job is to take money and make money with that. I'm not surprised executive management is publicly saying they want to make investments in assets that will help their clients and they themselves make more money.

Where does it stop? Slavery would be fine if only it were legal? I mean that is the logical conclusion of a lot of business efficiency thinking. Business efficiency in a lot of ways is inhuman and against the spirit of "the collective tribe," which was originally about mutual wellbeing, not the ever more efficient extraction of resources to the benefit of the chosen few, although it was perverted that way at some poi…

Considering the unethical practices done in the name of money I wouldn't be surprised that some companies would make use of slaves if it was legal to do so.

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I replace a crew of ten ditch diggers with one guy and an excavator, I have replaced lower-value human capital with higher-value mechanical capital for that task. Does the replacement enrage you in that case, or just the phrasing? Should we be using spoons instead of excavators, and abacuses instead of computers, in order to maintain a high value on human capital?

Depends, was ditch-digging a well paid job that people enjoyed? Did your business grow 10x and you offered excavator training for those 10 ditch-diggers to become machine operators?

Ditch digging is a crap paying job that most people hate, they just need it for food and stuff. After the mechanical resource arrived, I didn't need the other nine guys and just let them go, since I didn't suddenly get 10x the business. How does that change the calculation? Should I have kept paying them until I could find them work?

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#30

That phrase "lower-value human capital" fills me with rage.

If I replace a crew of ten ditch diggers with one guy and an excavator, I have replaced lower-value human capital with higher-value mechanical capital for that task. Does the replacement enrage you in that case, or just the phrasing? Should we be using spoons instead of excavators, and abacuses instead of computers, in order to maintain a high value on human capital?

Do you view yourself as lower-value human capital? Why or why not?
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