Learned friends

In the new age of austerity, we all know that HR needs to be seen to deliver business benefits. But how? For me, making connections is crucial: between our activities and organisational aims, between HR inputs and business outputs. To quote E M Forster: “Only connect.”

We talk a lot about return on investment, both despite and because of the fact that no one’s really cracked it. But a recent IBM study of global CEOs implies that those at the top are less worried about ROI than we might think. It suggests that if HR is deemed credible, top managers are less likely to require hard evidence of its worth. So put as much effort into forging relationships as churning facts and figures.