Human capital is now the primary driver of value in most organizations, and yet the HR profession has no standard measures or reports to manage its contribution. Implementing talent development reporting principles (TDRp) will result in better strategic alignment with the organization’s goals and better execution of HR initiatives—all leading to a higher bottom-line impact at no additional cost. To achieve this dramatic improvement in HR’s impact requires new knowledge and skills on the part of HR leaders, which TDRp can help provide.

It also requires their willingness to set specific, measurable goals, and then be held accountable for achieving those goals. Guiding principles provide direction for the standards, reports, and analysis just as the GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) provides direction for accounting concepts, statements, analysis, and reports. It is important to have a balanced set of measures to obtain a holistic view of performance and to reduce the probability of unintended consequences.

TDRp employs management principles to bring business discipline to HR and offers a standard framework for measurement and reporting—all new to the profession. Adoption of these principles has the potential to significantly increase the impact of HR on an organization’s success, especially in light of the dominant role human capital now plays. By starting with an organization’s goals, aligning HR initiatives to them and actively managing the initiatives, HR can deliver much greater impact for any given budget or staffing level.

Similarly, by starting with department goals, choosing the right effectiveness and efficiency measures, reaching agreement on a plan for each, and actively managing them, HR can deliver much higher levels of effectiveness and efficiency. Diligent work will be required, but the potential payoff is tremendous in terms of impact on our organizations, professional growth, and personal satisfaction.