Human capital measurement: an approach that works

Purpose This paper draws on research undertaken by the Institute for Employment Studies exploring what human capital measurement means to organizations and how HR can use it as a means to raise its profile as a strategic business partner within its organization. Design/methodology/approach During 2007/2008, 14 organizations participated in action learning workshops, to help them devise a set of relevant people measures for use within their organizations. Findings Involvement in measuring people appears to raise HR's status, but only if certain conditions are met. In particular, the information must be genuinely useful to managers and there needs to be a clear link between measures and performance. Originality/value Measuring the value people bring to a business can be tricky but is vital to monitoring the health of an organization. Early discussions reveal that the term “human capital measurement” is not in common use and there is confusion around how this type of measurement is best approached.