Myths of HR Metrics: The Obstacles to a Human Capital Decision Science

I've always been a math geek. My father, who was a math and science teacher, actually started me on algebra when I was in kindergarten, calling our little exercises "number puzzles." And, after years of preparing me for a career in the sciences or engineering, he listened eagerly when I came home for winter break in my sophomore year of college to announce that I had found the profession to which I was ready to devote my life. While my dad has always been proud of me and unequivocally supportive, he couldn't disguise his disappointment when I said the words "Human Resources." It's sad to say that parents don't typically dream of a future for their children that includes them working in HR, but I genuinely believed (and continue to believe) that the mission of HR was to help to demonstrate that employees really are the "most important asset of the company. Unfortunately, I also believe that we have generally failed at this mission, largely by failing to develop a clear decision science for talent that helps demonstrate the empirical links between human capital and business performance.