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In a world increasingly defined by technology, automation, and shifting market forces, it is easy to forget the one element that truly sustains progress: people. Financial capital builds systems, but it is human capital—creativity, resilience, empathy, and skills—that drives innovation and ensures sustainability. In this thought-provoking essay, Prithijit “Bobby” Lahiri, social entrepreneur and human capital innovator, argues that the greatest return on investment any organization or society can make is in its people. The Human Dividend explores why investing in talent, training, and human potential is not just a moral imperative, but also the smartest strategy for long-term growth.
1. You’ve transitioned from a long corporate career in finance, insurance, and taxation into social entrepreneurship and training. How has this journey shaped your philosophy that people are the greatest investment?
Bobby: It has been an interesting journey full of learnings and challenges. Through my years in my family business followed by a short stint in sales going on to finance &compliance with entrepreneurship stints and now in the social sector I have always placed the human at the centre of all activities. Organizations and departments are, ultimately build by people, are of people and for people. Without people even the most beautiful cities are called abandoned and serve no purpose.
2. What inspired you to move from traditional measures of ROI in corporates to focusing on “human capital” as the real driver of success?
Bobby: I have always been a people’s person. I think my primary motivation and skill has always been to connect with and learn from other people. After climbing to a certain position in corporate life the air becomes rarefied and one often cannot interact with others in the true sense because of the hierarchical construct of such organizations. That led to a bit of stifling and I sought out the social sector and more particularly human capital to help me reconnect with others and, through that, with my own self at a deeper level.
3. In your view, why is human capital more important than financial capital in driving long-term sustainability and innovation?
Bobby: There are three means of production – Land, Labour and Capital. Capital includes money. Land cannot be created and all life forms have access to it. Capital is basically a human construct and is not naturally occurring. Capital can be in the form of money or technologies or machines, etc. All these are created by humans to make our lives easier and to facilitate large scale collaboration and sharing of knowledge and resources. Central to all these factors is labour. Labour means the human mind and effort that is put in to create value out of thin air. Left to itself and without human intervention capital can neither produce nor serve any meaningful purpose. This obsession over accumulating money (capital) beyond the rational requirements can drive our planet and out species to the brink of extinction.
4. Can you share an example—either from your corporate experience or social entrepreneurship journey—where investing in people delivered measurable impact beyond financial outcomes?
Bobby: My career has been about investing in and developing people. One such example is was in the dry realms of the accounts department of a large hospital where one of my fresher juniors came in from a very small town. He was good at his technical understanding but lacked the confidence and thus could not connect with people in the office. Egging him out of his shell and grooming him slowly and surely he transformed into an asset for the organization and was able to handle all banking relations by himself persuading the financial institutions to see our point of view. Today he is at a senior position at a large company and, more importantly, has a vibrant social and personal life.
5. You often highlight resilience as a key leadership quality. How does investing in people foster resilience in organizations and communities?
Bobby: The job of the leader is to build assets for the organization. In his book Anti Fragile author Nissim Taleb talks about making people and systems in a way that adversities make them stronger. Life is full of ups and downs and being able to navigate these twists and turns of life makes a person or a collection of persons (organization) anti fragile and resilient. In a quest for this it is not about how to pander or pamper the team but how to give them the lens and the approach to see and face tough times. When tough times come upon organizations it is only the trust in and love for the leader that keep the team working even harder to get through the storm.
6. How do you see the connection between human capital and innovation? Are empowered people truly the starting point for breakthrough ideas?
Bobby: As I spoke earlier, Capital is a construct of human intellect and effort. Without humans there is no use or application of technology. Innovations are breakthrough developments that transform any field. Anything that we have ever invented started in a human brain. All brains are equally powerful but how we nurture and empower them is what prepares the soil to be more productive and innovative. There are a million companies in the world but merely a handful of them are known to consistently produce innovations. Bell Labs, Apple, NASA are some of the examples that come readily to mind. Give a thought to why these organizations have consistently produced world altering breakthroughs. It is only because of creative liberty, lateral thinking and failure have been encouraged by these organizations. Counting pennies cannot yield innovation. Even frugal innovation required elbow room. Not all companies are designed or destined to be such crucibles of change but those which are will lead the charge for a better world.
7. In the age of ESG and sustainability, how should organizations reframe “investment in people” as part of their long-term strategy?
Bobby: I believe that ESG and the trend towards sustainability are the correctional measures for a disbalance of priorities. Over a long period we have pursued growth and wealth maximization at the cost of the environment, of communities, of equity and at any cost. This movement is to reset the key stakeholders in the process of conducting business to ensure that employees, suppliers, community, environment and shareholders. You will notice that three of the give stakeholders are human capital.
8. Gen Z and millennials bring very different expectations to workplaces. How should leaders adapt their approach to investing in younger talent?
Bobby: Millennials and Gen z come from a completely different context than their previous generations. They have not been brought up with the scarcity and zero sum game mindset. Because of this they value meaning and purpose at workplace. They are against ill treatment, exploitation and societal bias and discrimination. Unfortunately the leadership is manned by older generations who do not understand the motivation of this generation and that leads to a disconnect and misunderstanding. To manage the current and future generations we need to retrain leadership to inculcate meaning, values and balance in the workplace. Millenials and Gen Z are out of box thinkers and can be huge assets to organizations only if they can match the wavelength of the organization.
9. What role do you see for lifelong learning and continuous skilling in building “the human dividend”.
Bobby: There was once an age where we used to acquire a skill and perfect it at the workplace through our entire careers. In today’s fast changing technological world where skills go redundant and entire professions face extinction we have to embrace change and continuous learning as a way of life. I generally do not hire for skills and rather hire for the right attitude and learnability of my team members. Adaptability is the key to thriving and becoming anti fragile in times of accelerating change.
10. You’ve spoken about empowering people collectively rather than individually. What does this mean in practice for leaders and institutions?
Bobby: Empowering people collectively basically means creating frameworks of processes of trust and commitment where talents can flourish and innovation can breed. A culture of openness is critical where team members can openly air their ideas, criticisms and views on all matters results in a greater circulation of ideas and increased value creation. This culture of trust and openness starts at the top and pervades the organizations. These values need to be reinforced through repeated communication and leading by example.
11. If you were advising a CEO or policymaker today, what three steps would you recommend to put human capital at the heart of decision-making?
Bobby: To put human capital at the core my recommendations would be:
A. Be clear about the purpose of the organization and how it creates value for all stakeholders. Focus has to be on how the work of the company makes the lives of the consumers better and contributes to overall community good.
B. Lay down clear expectations from the employees and emphasise on how the company supports continued growth and learning. Put value on the contribution and feedback of each employee
C. Create a just and equal workplace where team members can be free of fear and discrimination. Reward behaviours rather than dry results so that the culture of excellence and cooperation can be fostered.
12. Finally, what message would you like to leave with readers of Asia Education Digest about why the future belongs to those who invest in people?
Bobby: In the age of AI, robotics and automation threatening to displace millions of jobs, the one thing that will always be valuable is human connect, empathy and innovation. The technologies mentioned are merely tools for human progress. Use those tools but keep the human at the centre of it all. To touch as many lives is what we should strive for.
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