Conclusion: The Agenda for Action

Abstract

The intent of this book was to expose the business professional to a variety of approaches with which to measure the endeavours of people within the organization who are directly and or indirectly participating in your firm’s value proposition. You may have surmised that in this field of organizational studies there is no consensus on one single way to address this problem. Therefore, you, the professional, must assess which one of these approaches best fits your corporate offers, culture, customers and markets. Your approach may indeed be a combination of some of the approaches described in the previous chapters. In our view, a hybrid approach in which several concepts are blended together is by far the best method of approaching the problem of developing a value of the human activities of the corporation. If a recognized standard evolves over the coming years, the approach you choose will continue remain valid because it will provide your firm with a benchmark by which to measure the value of people relative to an industry measurement. The method you choose must honestly gauge the forces supporting and opposing the adoption of human capital measurement within your organization. Successful adoption usually depends on measurement that is easy to understand, seen as useful at all levels and more importantly linked to rewards.

Management changes behaviour by its actions and its inaction.¹