Investors’ Views of People Management

This study investigated the potential for improving the quality of information available to investors on the management and development of people within companies. Sixty‐eight exploratory interviews were held with four key ‘constituencies’ who were hypothesized to hold different views on the relevance of people management factors in assessments of corporate performance. These were fund managers, brokers’ analysts, corporate management (chief executives, finance directors, investor relations directors) and human resource directors. The findings, to a large extent, confirm the stereotype that the investment community does not greatly take account of people management factors in their estimation of companies. But this is not for the reasons often assumed. Additionally, while there is great scepticism about the value and efficacy of highly specified ‘hard’ measures of HR performance, the findings reveal the potential for an alternative approach that can provide information of more value to investors.