By Dr. Abiola Salami

If people really are our greatest asset, how seriously do we measure the return on that asset?

We measure revenue. We measure profit.We measure customer acquisition.We measure market share.We measure costs.We measure inventory.We measure cash flow.But when it comes to people, organisations often stop atHow many people do we have?That is not enough.

When the real question should be What measurable value are our people producing and what are we doing to increase their capacity to produce more?That is the next frontier of human capital management.

The Expensive People Conversation
Imagine a company with 500 employees.It spends millions every year onsalaries,recruitment,onboarding,training,leadership development,employee engagement,technology,benefits,conferences and retreats.

Now imagine the CEO asks the HR Director“What did all this investment produce?”and the response is“We trained 327 employees.”

It is good to train but that is an activity metric. The answer should rather direct us towards a productivity metric to answer what changed guided by one or more of the following questions (1) Did productivity increase? (2) Did customer complaints fall?(3) Did sales conversion improve? (4) Did managers become better? (5) Did employee turnover reduce? (6) Did innovation increase? (7) Did execution speed improve? (8) Did operating costs decline? (9) Did leadership capability strengthen? (10) Did revenue per employee rise?These are performance questions.

The World Is Already Warning Us
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2026 reports that only 20 per cent of employees globally were engaged in 2025 and estimates that low engagement cost the world economy about $10 trillion in lost productivity i.e. roughly 9 per cent of global GDP. (Gallup.com)

That is not just an HR issue.That is an economic issue.

Nigeria has an additional challenge.The World Bank’s 2025 Human Capital Index Plus data shows Nigeria’s education pillar at 64, compared with a median of 88 for lower-middle-income countries. (World Bank)

We therefore have two problems to solve simultaneously(a) How do we build capable people? and; (b) How do we create organisations capable of converting that capability into performance?Because having skilled people is only half the equation.

The Employee Who Attended Every Training
Let me introduce a familiar character. Let’s call him Kunle.Kunle has attended training programs on Leadership Essentials, Advanced Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Strategic Thinking, Effective Communication, Time Management, Negotiation Skills, AI for Managers and, for good measure, “Leading Through Disruption”.

The People-to-Performance Gap™
Since 2012 that I started my journey as a Performance Strategist, I have carefully observed the distance between investment in people and measurable organisational value produced through people.This is what I call the People-to-Performance Gap™

You invest in talent.Then build a system that prevents talent from performing.That is not a talent problem.It is a leadership and organisational design problem.

The Repositioning Shifts Every HR Leader Must Make
At the CIPM 2026 International Conference& Exhibition this week, under the theme “Repositioning for Value and Impact,” the conversation about HR’s role in organisational performance is particularly relevant. Here are my recommendations about the 5 HR Repositioning Shifts.

1. The Capability Shift
A shift fromHow many people do we manage? to How much organisational capability are we creating?

2. The Learning-to-Capability Shift
A shift from How many people did we train?to What capability did we build?

3. The Engagement-to-Enablement Shift
A shift fromHow engaged are our employees? to What does engagement enable?

4. The Talent-to-Value Shift
A shift from What does our talent cost?to What value can our talent create?

5. The Performance Shift
A shift from What did HR deliver? to What did the organisation become capable of achieving?

This is not about reducing people to numbers.It is about taking people seriously enough to understand whether our systems are helping them thrive.

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About Dr. Abiola Salami
Dr. Abiola Salami is the Principal Performance Strategist at CHAMP – a full scale professional services firm trusted by high performing business leaders for providing Executive Coaching, Workforce Development & Advisory Services to improve performance.He is the Convener of Dr Abiola Salami International Leadership Bootcamp ; The Peak PerformerTM FestivalMade4More Accelerator Program and The New Year Kickoff Summit. You can reach his team on [email protected] and connect with him @abiolachamp on all social media platforms.