Willis Towers Watson and the World Economic Forum are urging businesses to embrace a shift toward valuing people over shareholder profits in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a white paper published this month. The new paper, titled "Human Capital as an Asset: An Accounting Framework to Reset the Value of Talent in the New World of Work," embraced a call from 181 of the nation's leading CEOs last year that corporations should serve the interests of all society rather than simply maximizing shareholder wealth. And it laid out a framework for companies to reshape how they value their workforces as employees begin to return to work in a post-pandemic world. "COVID-19 has accelerated a shift to new ways of working, prompting companies to rethink how, where and by whom work gets done," said Ravin Jesuthasan, managing director at Willis Towers Watson and co-author of the paper. Related: U.S. losing ground on human capital performance "As companies look to reset their business models, they need an approach to valuing talent not as an expense but as an asset so that boards and management can be held accountable for their investment in people and for delivering better outcomes," Jesuthasan added. The paper, which drew on ideas developed by Willis Towers Watson and the World Economic Forum in an earlier publication, emphasized seven "guiding principles" for firms to follow, including shifts from profit to purpose; corporate policy to social responsibility; stand-alone entities to ecosystems; and employees and jobs to people, work and skills. Read more about them in the slideshow above. The World Economic Forum said it had been advocating for a form of stakeholder capitalism for 50 years. Wider thinking on the issue, however, began to turn last August, when the Davos Manifesto 2020 rejected the notion that corporations are solely a means of generating wealth and instead are mechanisms for fulfilling "societal aspirations as part of the broader social system." As a result, the paper argued, companies should substitute a traditionally stand-alone and self-sustaining view of business for one that reflects the broader community and favors collaboration with partners, suppliers, ancillary industries and even competitors. They should also incorporate a series of "micro bite-sized on-demand learning opportunities" that place a greater emphasis on "higher-value, non-routine work," the paper said. "As companies enter a new normal following the COVID shock, they must place talent at the heart of their business," said Saadia Zahidi, managing director of the World Economic Forum. "By fundamentally revaluing and investing in their workforces, organizations will be better able to do what is right for their business, their employees and societies." Read more:

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