"Measuring More Than Efficiency"
Stephen Gates
Conference Board, January 2005
Available Online
According to this Conference Board survey of 104 human resources professionals,
84 percent predict that their firms will increasingly track and use human
capital measures over the next three years. Only 12 percent, however, report
that they are using tracking these measures to a significant degree.
The study underscores the difficulty HR faces in becoming recognized as
a strategic resource for their organizations. Human resources practitioners
must choose from hundreds of metrics covering any number of performance
and people measures, making it difficult to choose which measurement best
serves the strategic purposes of their firms. Exacerbating this problem
is the fact that only 31 percent of the respondents reported that their
HR practitioners had a strong understanding of strategic key performance
indicators. Many respondents have reported teaming with other departments
such as finance (54 percent) or strategy (45 percent) in order to secure
buy-in for increased use of people measurements in strategic planning.
The report concludes that people measures can have a positive impact if
used to “evaluate the effectiveness and impact of people investments
and HR activities.” Some key benefits include illuminating the value
of human capital and improved HR decision-making.
