Human capital is possibly the most vital, yet overlooked, means of establishing competitive advantage for companies today. For generations the field of human resources has been a discipline of faith, embedded in a business/economic system dependant on hard evidence. Advances in research, technology, and techniques for measuring intangibles — along with a timely convergence of academic disciplines — may have produced a solution that allows Human Resources practitioners to stay true to their faith, yet gives them the means of producing business cases that appeal to the senses. Evidence-Based Human Resources applies scientific standards of causality to demonstrate how intangible human capital can be observed and shown to add tangible business results.

This literature review of Evidence-Based Human Resources marks the beginning of what is anticipated to be a series of reports dedicated to exploring the application of rigorous empirical methods and "standards of evidence" to assist executives in integrating strategy and talent.