Maximize Human Capital

Human Capital – Forgotten Asset

Many companies chose to (or were forced to) have massive layoffs in 2020. What did they lose? Human Capital.

Dr Gary Becker, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, invented the concept of human capital.

Many economists discuss capital and mention factory machinery, warehouse square feet, or other hardware a company owns. They may even mention software. But they forget about what is probably a company’s biggest asset—people (or human capital).

The other economists advise companies to improve their use of capital (resources), but Dr. Gary Becker took a different approach.

He advised companies to:

• Improve human capital,
• Optimize human capital,
• Focus on human capital,
• Retain human capital, and
• Apply human capital to its best advantage.

One might say that the layoffs during COVID were short-sighted. Many companies lost valuable human capital because they didn’t see it as one of their most important assets. Now, post-COVID, companies are having a hard time hiring experienced employees. Human capital has become even more valuable.

Maximize Human Captial

What is your company doing to maximize human capital?

• Training programs for new employees?
• Mentoring programs for new hires?
• Bonuses to attract experienced employees?
• Programs to retain talent or bring back retirees?

Here are two additional ideas to consider…

1. Problem Solving Training

Finding the root causes of problems is not a natural skill. It requires training. But you need to pick the right training. The 5-Whys method is substandard even for simple problems.

So what should you do?

To train people to find the root causes of low-to-medium risk problems, we recommend the 2-Day TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Course. The 2-Day RCA Course course is excellent for learning the essential root cause analysis techniques and improving problem-solving skills. See the course outline HERE. See the dates and locations of our upcoming public training HERE. Or CLICK HERE for a quote for a course at your site.

If you need to train people to troubleshoot equipment failures and find their root causes, we suggest the 2-Day Equifactor® Troubleshooting and TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Course. See the course outline HERE. See the dates and locations of our public courses HERE. Or CLICK HERE for a quote for a course at your site.

Do your people need complete training for simple issues, equipment failures, and serious human errors, including those that cause major accidents? Then, they should attend the 5-Day TapRooT® Advanced Root Cause Analysis Team Leader Course. This course teaches the essential techniques (SnapCharT® Diagrams, the Root Cause Tree® Diagram, and the Corrective Action Helper® Guidebook), plus advanced techniques, including:

• Change Analysis
• Critical Human Action Profile
• Generic Cause Analysis
• Equifactor® Troubleshooting
• Safeguards Analysis
• Cognitive Interviewing
• Changing Behavior
• Becoming Proactive
• Human Error Analysis
• Grading Investigations

See the complete course outline HERE. See the dates and locations of our public 5-Day TapRooT® Advanced Root Cause Analysis Team Leader Courses HERE. Or CLICK HERE to contact us for a course at your site.

The 5-Day Course has great ROI and will help your investigators make major improvements in their investigation results and corrective action effectiveness. See these two success stories to get an idea about how much TapRooT® Training can improve human capital and return great return on investment:

• 4,000% ROI Using TapRooT® RCA to Improve Process Reliability
• Example of Money Saved

If you aren’t convinced that TapRooT® RCA Training will improve your human capital, consider this:

GUARANTEED TRAINING

Our root cause analysis training comes with this guarantee:

Attend a course. Go back to work, and use what you have learned to analyze accidents, incidents, near-misses, equipment failures, operating issues, or quality problems. If you don’t find root causes that you previously would have overlooked and if you and your management don’t agree that the corrective actions you recommend are much more effective, just return your course materials, and we will refund the entire course fee.

STOP – There is one more course you should consider to improve human capital – the 2-Day Stopping Human Error Course. You need this course to learn best practices to improve human performance and develop a custom plan to improve human capital by reducing or eliminating human errors. Do you think it is impossible to eliminate human errors? Then, you need to attend this course. See the course outline HERE. See the dates and locations of the upcoming public Stopping Human Error Courses HERE. And talk to us about having a course at your site by calling 865-539-2139 and ask for Alex.

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2. Improve Your Skills and Network with Industry Leaders

If you have already attended a TapRooT® RCA Course, you may wonder how you can improve your root cause analysis and performance improvement skills even further. I have two ideas for that challenge.

FIRST, attend one of the pre-Summit advanced courses. There are 11 to choose from, including:

• Analyzing and Adjusting Safety Culture
• 2-Day Advanced Communications/Presentations Skills
• The Best Ways to Use Data to Improve Performance
• 2-Day TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Training
• 2-Day Equifactor® Equipment Troubleshooting & TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis
• TapRooT® Advanced Case Study Workshop
• Stopping Human Error
• TapRooT® Software Training
• Auditing & Proactive Improvement Using TapRooT® RCA
• Interviewing & Evidence Collection
• 2-Day Developing an Incident Command System

These courses are being held on September 29-30, 2025. Click on the link above to learn more about a course that interests you. And when you register for a pre-Summit Course and the Summit, SAVE $300 OFF the course fee.

SECOND, I would recommend attending the 2025 Global TapRooT® Summit.

What makes the Summit such a valuable experience for those interested in root cause analysis and performance improvement?

• Five outstanding Keynote Speakers
• Eight enlightening Best Practice Tracks
• The best networking and benchmarking you have ever experienced
• Fun!

CLICK HERE for complete information about our Keynote Speakers.

Our eight Best Practice Tracks to choose from include:

• Investigations & RCA Best Practices
• Safety & Risk Management Best Practices
• Human Performance Best Practices
• Improvement Program Best Practices
• High-Reliability Organization Best Practices
• Maintenance & Reliability Best Practices
• Psychology of Improvement Best Practices
• Instructor Recertification Track

To see all the sessions in each track, click the links above.

For more about the networking, benchmarking, and fun, see THIS LINK.

You won’t be disappointed because the Summit also comes with a guarantee:

Attend the Global TapRooT® Summit. Go back to work and implement your roadmap to success. If you don’t save 10 times the cost of the Summit fee, let us know and return your Summit materials and we will refund 100% of the Summit registration fee. This guarantee shows how certain we are that you will learn valuable best practices to take your team’s performance—and that of your whole organization—to the next level.

Summit registration is open NOW! CLICK HERE to register.