According to research from Investors in People, a quarter of all managers believe that reporting on human capital management (HCM) should be mandatory.

The finding follows the Government’s decision last year to scrap the Operating and Financial Review, which would have encouraged companies publicly to report information about their employees.

The survey, conducted by Investors in People amongst organisations working with the Standard, also found that 60 per cent of organisations are already measuring their human capital in some way.

In addition, interest in HCM has grown as the issue has become more prominent: 51 per cent of those measuring human capital have started to do so in the last two years; 31 per cent said they have done so for over five years.

The majority of those surveyed – 57 per cent – also admitted they do not currently publish any information about their employees publicly, for example in a company report or on a website.

A lack of time or resources was cited as the primary reason for not reporting in this way, followed by worries about disclosing commercially sensitive data, and a perceived lack of relevant information.

Ruth Spellman, chief executive of Investors in People UK said: “This survey suggests that measurement of human capital is becoming more and more common, but it also shows that there is some way to go.

“A majority of organisations are now collecting and analysing employee information to help them assess the value employees are delivering. Encouragingly, the remainder show some interest in following this lead.

“It’s also interesting to see that one in four managers supports mandatory reporting on human capital. However, employers should view HCM as much more than just a reporting mechanism as it can help employers identify strengths and weaknesses in the way they equip and support employees to make the contribution expected of them.

“It’s a great way of aligning people development with business performance; employers that don’t make this connection will fail to get the real business benefits HCM can deliver.”