Optimizing Human Capital in School Management: The Principal’s Role in Enhancing Educational Service Effectiveness

(1) Satya Wacana Christian University Salatiga, Indonesia
(2) Satya Wacana Christian University Salatiga, Indonesia
(3) Satya Wacana Christian University Salatiga, Indonesia

Copyright (c) 2025 Stefen Res Lanmai, Bambang Ismanto, Wasitohadi Wasitohadi
Article Metrics→ |
Indexing & Metadata Harvesting→ | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |

Abstract
Optimizing Human Capital in School Management: The Principal’s Role in Enhancing Educational Service Effectiveness. This research evaluates school principals' performance in improving education quality through a human capital approach. School principals have a strategic role in managing school human resources to create effective and quality educational services. This research uses a qualitative approach with evaluative methods to analyze the implementation of human capital at Lentera Ambarawa Christian Elementary School. The research results show that strategies for increasing the competency of teaching staff, optimizing administrative staff, and implementing a data-based evaluation system contribute to improving the effectiveness of schools as public services. However, there are still challenges in strengthening the reward system and continuous training for education staff. Therefore, a more systematic and sustainable human capital management policy is needed to ensure that every policy implemented positively impacts the quality of education.
Keywords: principal, human capital, education quality, performance evaluation, public services.References
Ahmed, Z., Nathaniel, S. P., & Shahbaz, M. (2021). The criticality of information and communication technology and human capital in environmental sustainability: Evidence from Latin American and Caribbean countries. Journal of Cleaner Production, 286, 125529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125529
Bellibaş, M. Ş., Gümüş, S., & Liu, Y. (2021). Does school leadership matter for teachers’ classroom practice? The influence of instructional leadership and distributed leadership on instructional quality. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 32(3), 387–412. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2020.1858119
Blimpo, M. P., & Pugatch, T. (2021). Entrepreneurship education and teacher training in Rwanda. Journal of Development Economics, 149(March 2020), 102583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2020.102583
Boon, C., Eckardt, R., Lepak, D. P., & Boselie, P. (2018). Integrating strategic human capital and strategic human resource management. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(1), 34–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2017.1380063
Brauckmann, S., Pashiardis, P., & Ärlestig, H. (2023). Bringing context and educational leadership together: fostering the professional development of school principals. Professional Development in Education, 49(1), 4–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2020.1747105
Chen, M. Y. C., Lam, L. W., & Zhu, J. N. Y. (2021). Should companies invest in human resource development practices? The role of intellectual capital and organizational performance improvements. Personnel Review, 50(2), 460–477. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-04-2019-0179
Cooke, F. L., Xiao, M., & Chen, Y. (2021). Still in search of strategic human resource management? A review and suggestions for future research with China as an example. Human Resource Management, 60(1), 89–118. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22029
DeMatthews, D., Carroll, P., Reyes, P., & Knight, D. (2021). School leadership burnout and job-related stress: recommendations for district administrators and principals. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 94(4), 159–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2021.1894083
Fernández-Batanero, J. M., Montenegro-Rueda, M., Fernández-Cerero, J., & García-Martínez, I. (2022). Digital competencies for teacher professional development. Systematic review. European Journal of Teacher Education, 45(4), 513–531. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2020.1827389
Fisher, D. (2021). Educational leadership and the impact of societal culture on effective practices. Journal of Research in International Education, 20(2), 134–153. https://doi.org/10.1177/14752409211032531
Gisbert Cervera, M., & Caena, F. (2022). Teachers’ digital competence for global teacher education. European Journal of Teacher Education, 45(4), 451–455. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2022.2135855
Gómez‐Hurtado, I., Valdés, R., González‐Falcón, I., & Vargas, F. J. (2021). Inclusive leadership: Good managerial practices to address cultural diversity in schools. Social Inclusion, 9(4), 69–80. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v9i4.4611
Guest, D. E., Sanders, K., Rodrigues, R., & Oliveira, T. (2021). Signaling theory as a framework for analyzing human resource management processes and integrating human resource attribution theories: A conceptual analysis and empirical exploration. Human Resource Management Journal, 31(3), 796–818. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12326
Günçavdi-Alabay, G. (2023). The correlation between school administrators’ solution-focused approach and conflict management strategies. African Educational Research Journal, 11(1), 64–73. https://doi.org/10.30918/aerj.111.23.012
Hirose, M., & Creswell, J. W. (2023). Applying core quality criteria of mixed methods research to an empirical study. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 17(1), 12–28. https://doi.org/10.1177/15586898221086346
Jacobson, W. S., & Sowa, J. E. (2015). Strategic human capital management in municipal government. Public Personnel Management, 44(3), 317–339. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091026015591283
Lepak, D. P., & Snell, S. A. (2002). Examining the human resource architecture: the relationships among human capital, employment, and human resource configurations. Journal of Management, 28(4), 517–543. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920630202800403
Mackiewicz, J. (2018). A mixed-method approach. In Writing Center Talk over Time. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429469237-3
Mustafa, P. S. (2021). Model Discrepancy sebagai Evaluasi Program Pendidikan. Palapa, 9(1), 182–198. https://doi.org/10.36088/palapa.v9i1.1067
Pardosi, J., & Utari, T. I. (2022). Effective principal leadership behaviors to improve teacher performance and student achievement. F1000Research, 10, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.51549.2
Parveen, K., Quang Bao Tran, P., Kumar, T., & Shah, A. H. (2022). Impact of principal leadership styles on teacher job performance: an empirical investigation. Frontiers in Education, 7(May). https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.814159
Rodchenko, V., Rekun, G., Fedoryshyna, L., Roshchin, I., & Gazarian, S. (2021). The effectiveness of human capital in the context of the digital transformation of the economy: The case of Ukraine. Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research, 8(2), 202–213. https://doi.org/10.15549/jeecar.v8i2.686
Sancar, R., Atal, D., & Deryakulu, D. (2021). A new framework for teachers’ professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 101, 103305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103305
Sánchez-Santamaría, J., Boroel-Cervantes, B. I., López-Garrido, F. M., & Hortigüela-Alcalá, D. (2021). Motivation and evaluation in education from the sustainability perspective: A review of the scientific literature. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13(7), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13074047
Semenova, V. V., Zelenyuk, A. N., & Savinov, Y. A. (2021). Human capital development: development of professional competencies through soft skills. Revista Tempos e Espaços Em Educação, 14(33), e15253. https://doi.org/10.20952/revtee.v14i33.15253
Shen, J., Ma, X., Mansberger, N., Wu, H., Palmer, L. A. B., Poppink, S., & Reeves, P. L. (2021). The relationship between growth in principal leadership and growth in school performance: The teacher perspective. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 70(April), 101023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2021.101023
Singerin, S. (2021). The impact of academic supervision on teacher pedagogical competence and teacher performance: the role moderating by teacher efficacy. International Journal of Elementary Education, 5(2), 496. https://doi.org/10.23887/ijee.v5i3.34072
Suprapto, N., Prahani, B. K., & Cheng, T. H. (2021). Indonesian curriculum reform in policy and local wisdom: Perspectives from science education. Jurnal Pendidikan IPA Indonesia, 10(1), 69–80. https://doi.org/10.15294/jpii.v10i1.28438
Suryani, E. L., Sudharto, S., & Roshayanti, F. (2021). Pengaruh gaya kepemimpinan dan supervisi kepala sekolah terhadap persepsi kompetensi pedagogik guru sekolah dasar di kecamatan suruh kabupaten semarang. Jurnal Manajemen Pendidikan (JMP), 10(1). https://doi.org/10.26877/jmp.v10i1.9431
Teo, T., Unwin, S., Scherer, R., & Gardiner, V. (2021). Initial teacher training for twenty-first-century skills in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0): A scoping review. Computers and Education, 170(April), 104223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104223
Waziana, W., Andewi, W., & Suningsih, S. (2022). Analysis of the role of education personnel in school administration. JLCEdu (Journal of Learning and Character Education), 2(2), 43–54. https://doi.org/10.56327/jlcedu.v2i2.41
Wright, P. M. (2021). Rediscovering the “Human” in strategic human capital. Human Resource Management Review, 31(4), 100781. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100781
Yang, D., Chen, P., Wang, K., Li, Z., Zhang, C., & Huang, R. (2023). Parental involvement and student engagement: a review of the literature. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(7), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075859
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
View My Stats