Human capital measures, strategy and performance: HR managers' perceptions

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a survey and interviews with human resource (HR) professionals to identify and better understand their perceptions and expectations of human capital measures' (HCM) content, links to strategy, and impact on performance. This paper relies on a quantitative analysis of survey questionnaires collected from 104 HR executives, as well as on a qualitative investigation using six interviews. Two types of HCM are derived using principal component analysis. One factor measures employees' work efficiency and cost consciousness (efficiency indicators), whereas the second factor measures employees' entrepreneurial and innovative capabilities (innovation indicators). The results confirm the following hypotheses: first, according to HR managers, the more advanced a company is in the development of HCM, the higher the company's performance; and second, in companies following a differentiation strategy, HR managers are interested in innovation indicators, while in those following a cost reduction strategy, HR managers are interested in efficiency indicators. Results are based on a cross-sectional study of HR professionals' perceptions. However, it underscores the critical role that HCM plays in delivering performance in the HR managers' opinion. It also shows that HR managers are conscious that HCM should be aligned with strategy. Based on HR managers' perceptions, the paper suggests that HR professionals might invest more effort in creating and implementing their HCM to deliver higher levels of performance. It also implies that HR managers and management accounting and control systems experts have a common interest to collaborate when implementing HCM. The paper demonstrates the importance of implementing human capital (HC) metrics into a strategic performance management system to deliver performance from a company's HC. It contributes to a cross-disciplinary (HRs, management control, and strategy) perspective on HC strategy