Study: More Measuring Of Human Capital Planned

ByJohn S. McClenahen During the next three years, major American and European corporations will be increasing the investments being made into measuring the impact on the bottom line of low turnover, diversity, empowerment and other human capital elements, says the New York-based Conference Board, a business research group, in a report released late last month. While 40% of the 110 human resource managers surveyed said that senior management support for human capital measures had been high during the previous three years, 76% predicted an increase in senior management support during the next three years. "The major reason that management lends increasing support to people-metrics projects is that they help lower costs and improve the return on people investments while helping align these investments with business strategy," says Stephen Gates, the report's author and principal researcher at the Conference Board. The report was co-sponsored by Pleasanton, Calif.-based PeopleSoft Inc., a provider of business application software.