A Framework for Developing Human Capability at Work

In Chapter 2 we made the case for broadening debate from narrow understandings of skill, and organisationally instrumental notions of capability, to the wider concept of human capability. We explored human capability as characterised by people having the substantive freedom to achieve ‘beings and doings’ that they value, leading a life of value to them. Applied to an employment setting this focuses attention on the social arrangements that lead to the ability of people to achieve things they value. This concluding chapter reports on an attempt to identify the conditions for the optimal development of human capability in New Zealand workplaces. Our research specifically examined influences on these conditions at three levels: institutional, organisational and individual. These conditions are summarised in a framework which is aimed to be of assistance to workplace practitioners in shaping social arrangements which develop human capability. This framework is informed by our reflections from case study interviews; first that institutionally coordinated industry or region-wide responses to product or service markets and commitment to quality jobs are all important contributors to capability, as are clear policy/regulatory signals of acceptable practice. Secondly, that organisations are not fully mobilising the tacit knowledge of production processes which workers possess and this is hindering the capability of workforces.