What's the Future for Human Capital?

The issue of human capital, what is it, how to measure it and how to report on it has become increasingly important. Many organisations are beginning to understand that, in a increasingly knowledge-intensive environment, the empty rhetoric of the past must give way to a real understanding of the contribution of people. As a result, human capital evaluation and reporting have been developed as tools enabling managers to make better informed decisions. 

Since 2000 the CIPD has published a number of reports and documents to help develop understanding of the process of evaluating and reporting on human capital. These five essays have been commissioned to help further that understanding. Each author has outlined a personal response to the following questions: 
- What does human capital reporting contribute to the day-to-day operation of business and what are the implications for the personnel practitioner? 
- What benefits has human capital evaluation and reporting brought to date? 
- Will an increasing number of companies be encouraged to report more widely on human capital, both externally and internally? 
- What is the likely impetus for human capital reporting? 
- What does all this mean for HR practitioners and the HR function itself?