Key Points

• For most organizations, human capital is their most important asset.

• Human capital strategy is the last asset with which companies can create a sustained competitive advantage since financial and physical assets, including technology, are typically no longer major points of differentiation.

• Companies tolerate more variance in the performance of human capital than in any other asset because measures and analytics comparable to those used in other parts of the business have not been available.

• Most decisions about people, even in the best companies, are driven by hunches and what the competition is doing.

• One of the greatest risks on the people side of the business is missed opportunity—not knowing how to maximize the return on human capital.

• A new science for human capital management now makes it possible for executives to identify and understand the real human capital drivers of business performance.

About the Authors

Haig R. Nalbantian

A Worldwide partner at Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Haig Nalbantian is a founding member of the Strategy and Metrics group and is cochair of the company’s global R&D Council. He is a labor/organizational economist, well recognized for his widely published work on incentives and organizational performance.

Richard A. Guzzo

Rick Guzzo is a Worldwide Partner with Mercer Human Resource Consulting and is cochair of the company’s global R&D Council. He regularly consults with Fortune 500 companies and other large organizations regarding human capital. He is a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Dave Kieffer

Dave Kieffer helps companies create competitive advantages for themselves by identifying their firm-specific workforce practices that most affect business results. He is also leader of the Strategy and Metrics group and a Worldwide Partner at Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

Jay Doherty

Jay Doherty has more than 20 years of management consulting experience with companies throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. As a partner with Mercer Human Resource Consulting, his expertise includes change management, organization design, and linking management practices to bottom-line results.

About Mercer Human Resource Consulting

Mercer Human Resource Consulting helps clients understand, develop, implement and quantify the effectiveness of their human resource programs and policies. Our goal is to help employers create measurable business results through their people.

We work with clients to address a broad array of their most important human resource issues, both domestically and globally. We have specialist expertise in all areas of human resource consulting, including compensation, employee benefits, communication, and human capital strategy. Of equal importance are our investment consulting expertise and the solutions we provide in program administration.

With more than 13,000 employees in some 140 cities and 40 countries, we have the local knowledge and worldwide presence to develop and implement global human resource solutions.

For more information, visit www.mercerhr.com. For specific information on the book, visit www.LastingAdvantage.com.