From 'Human Capital' to 'Talent'

For those of you who were never comfortable with the term "human capital" (and there were a lot of you, judging from the e-mails I've received and comments I've seen on stuff we've published in recent years), change apparently is on the way. Today's OPM unveiling of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey marked the end of its former name, the Federal Human Capital Survey, and provided just the latest piece of evidence that Obama administration officials seem to share many feds' queasiness with describing the human beings employed in government as a form of "capital."

Does this mean old terms like "personnel" and "human resources" are ready for a comeback? Don't hold your breath. The new term of art seems to be "talent." Just look at the name of one of the categories in which OPM ranked agencies in the survey: "Talent Management Index." Or count the number of times John Berry has talked about talent since he took over the agency.

Chief human capital officers, take note: Your days may be numbered. Or at least your titles.