HP (NYSE: HPQ) is a technology company founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The company provides infrastructure and business offerings spanning from handheld devices to supercomputer installations. HP India Sales operates as a subsidiary of HP. where Sailesh Menezes heads HR for HP India Sales Pvt Ltd and is responsible for people strategy, engagement & development, employee relations and talent management for the India business.

The concept of "Return on Investment (ROI)" has always been considered a financial metric; a metric that measures the solidity of an organizations investment philosophy, be it business or capital. It is rarely heard off for an organization to continue to invest in so called dead investments or those without measurable returns. Then, why do we still have a different approach when it comes to investing in our people? Is it because every people rupee or dollar is more often considered an expense, rather than an investment?

The value a share holder places on an organization is based on a number of different factors including revenue and profit. But that premium is not just restricted to financial parameters alone, rather to certain intangible factors related to the future potential of an organization and chief among them is the quality of business leadership and the perceived return on people investment.

We are in an era characterized by scarcity of resources and an abundance of knowledge. Measuring and analyzing a return on people investment can improve an organizations performance, identify optimal areas for investment and drive organizational effectiveness. However, before we begin to do so, we would first need to re-position our people investment strategy.

Organizations have for long, encouraged a socialistic ethos in the allocation of scarce resources to its employees. This widely practiced method is because of its ease and ones inert desire to please all. However, for any organization that harbors an intent of driving industry leading growth, one would need to create strongly differentiated people programs that will help allocate precious people dollars to employees with the highest ROI. So, how does one measure a return on investment made in each employee?