14 THE ROI OF HUMAN CAPITAL
are now clearly the most important issue for companies.
Second, since 1985 there has been a common set of metric
definitions in the marketplace. That was the year we pub-
lished the first benchmark reports at Saratoga Institute.
These definitions are now in common usage. The missing
piece is they have not officially been adopted. That is the
charge for the Society for Human Resource Management.
As the national professional association, it is SHRM’s duty
to step forward and make the defining statement. The defi-
nitions are no longer the exclusive property of Saratoga In-
stitute, so SHRM would not be endorsing one company to
the exclusion of others.
From there, HR ratifies through application the concept
of generally accepted human ...