Best practices in human capital management

Companies that invest wisely in their human capital use analytical tools to measure human capital performance, set targets and track progress.

Best Practices

• Tailor their people strategy to their business strategy
• Ensure the right people are doing the right work at the right price
• Design the most efficient possible organizational structure
• Invest in pivotal employees
• Develop outstanding leaders

Common Traps

• Jumping from one “quick fix” to another without stopping to understand what’s causing excess cost or slower growth
• Treating a workforce the same across the organization
• Failing to re-examine traditions and habits as the business grows and changes
• Trying to do too many things at once

Article from CFO Magazine: "The Metric System"

CFOs who want better workforce analytics should be prepared to put more "R" in "HR."

In 2002, when Lee Gelb advocated a rigorous productivity analysis of Starbucks employees, her belief in the value of metrics was regarded as quixotic or worse, by many people in human resources. True, F.W. Taylor had pioneered what came to be known as "scientific management" through detailed labor studies nearly 100 years before, but within HR the idea that productivity could be assessed as if workers were robots flew in the face of the department's ostensible people-first mission.

Click here to read the full article.