288 THE ROI OF HUMAN CAPITAL
human capital investment. High degrees of success yester-
day do not guarantee similar returns tomorrow.
Leading In dic ators
There are a number of intangible factors that can be turned
into leading indicators. A short list would include engage-
ment, leadership, culture, commitment, readiness, and
knowledge management. In addition, lagging indicators
such as turnover can be reverse engineered and turned into
leading indicators. Issues such as manager tenure and ab-
senteeism are signposts for the knowledgeable professional.
Note that leading indicators are often intangible. Tangi-
bles are measures of the past or current state and therefore
are lagging indicators. Intangibles can be leading or lagging.
This does not mean