Evolving school leadership: the shift from managing human resources to managing human capital

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Abstract

The transition from human resource management (HRM) to human capital management marks a significant evolution in the way organizations value and develop their workforce. Within the educational sector, this shift reflects a growing recognition of the important role that the knowledge, skills, and capabilities of the school staff play in achieving educational excellence. Whereas traditional HRM emphasizes administrative efficiency and resource allocation, human capital management focuses on the strategic development of individuals as essential to organizational success. This article explores the existing knowledge about human capital management in schools by tracing its roots in HRM and strategic management traditions. Drawing on these frameworks, we examine how schools can move beyond conventional HR practices to better nurture and leverage their human capital. Through this analysis, we aim to identify best practices that align educational goals with the strategic priorities of human capital management, ultimately enhancing both the performance of the school staff and student outcomes.

Original languageEnglish
Article number08920206251389837
JournalManagement in Education
DOIs
StateAccepted/In press - 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 British Educational Leadership, Management & Administration Society (BELMAS). This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Keywords

  • educational leadership
  • human capital management
  • human resource management
  • strategic human resource management

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