IES Human capital measurement

 

   The current issue of Strategic HR Review tackles the broad theme of human capital management by focusing on different perspectives including thes use of metrics and how to realistically measure return on investment in human capital.

In ‘Human capital measurement: an approach that works’, Dilys Robinson of the Institute of Employment Studies describes a hierarchy triangle ‘that constitute a realistic and workable approach to measuring human capital’.  A case study shows how the Civil Aviation Authority, which pioneered the approach, successfully implemented the steps and improved the image of HR:

“CAA decided that the resulting measures for human capital should be arranged into a virtual ‘hierarchy of needs’ with the basic workforce data leading onto measures of efficiency measured through operational data, leading to measures of effectiveness or outcomes, with the ultimate pinnacle of measuring organizational performance through linking the other levels of measurement to CAA strategic performance.”

 

It’s a decent attempt, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near as coherent as my own framework, based upon the value triangle and value chain.

Most of my criticisms are similar to those I provided for John Boudreau’s ‘Beyond HR’, so rather than listing these again, I’ll direct you to that post: Which Direction Beyond HR?.

 

I’ll be attending InfoHRM’s European conference on Wednesday and Thursday, so I’ll be providing some more posts on HR measurement during the rest of the week too.

 

Also see these other posts on the HCM edition of Strategic HR Review:

• Andrew Mayo on Human capital management
• My article on human and social capital.

 

Technorati Tags: Human capital,measurement,IES,Dilys Robinson,Civilian Aviation Authority,CAA

 

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