Human Resource Management and Decision Science
Boudreau and Ramstad (2002) have asserted that the human resource management (HRM) profession is at a critical inflection point, poised between its traditional focus on support services and program delivery to organizational clients and its potential role as a true decision science. For HRM to evolve into a decision science, it will be necessary in the view of Boudreau and Ramstad (2002) for professionals in the field to become more focused on the use of sophisticated measurement techniques and statistical procedures to assess "talentship," defined as the capacity to identify actual and potential talent in workers, to mold and motivate emergence of that talent, and to link organizational needs to available talent (skills, expertise, knowledge and so forth). At issue herein is a description of the research surrounding the measurement of HRM and its relationship to efficiency, effectiveness and impact to the organization รป leading ultimately to a practical model applicable to the Health Care industry.
A central research effort in this area was undertaken by Boudreau and Ramstad (2002), who note that contemporary organizations seeking efficiency and a viable return on investment (ROI) on all expenditures including those under the aegis of HRM and attention to human capital must demonstrate with data that their HRM strategies significantly enhance competitive advantage. It is no longer sufficient, in their view, to have HRM report on such data as hours of training, number of employees trained, varieties of training offered, employee turnover/absenteeism, and results of performance assessments. What is needed, as noted by Boudreau and Ramstad (2002), is the use of information technology systems (ITS) that measure the concept of "talentship," employing decision matrices and models that examine the efficiency of HRM operations (e.g., cost-per-hire, time-to-fill, training, ratio of H...