HUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENT: ANALYSING GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT AND RETURN IN SELECTED BSE FIRMS

Abstract

Human capital is a vital asset for organisational success and sustainability. Investing in workforce training enhances innovation, productivity, and adaptability in a dynamic market. Skilled employees drive business growth, job satisfaction, and retention. This strengthens industries, boosts the economy, and supports national development. The study explores the important role of human capital investment in driving organisational performance and economic growth, with a focus on four export-dominant sectors in India: Information Technology, Petrochemicals, Pharma and Healthcare, and Automobile. Analysing data from 20 companies over 10 years (2014-2024), the research highlights trends in Human Capital Investment (HCI), training expenditure, and returns from HCI, employing metrics such as CAGR and Human Capital Return on Investment (HCROI) and along with descriptive statistics to evaluate performance outcomes. The study reveals that IT companies invest the most in human capital, followed by the automobile and pharmaceutical sectors, while the petrochemical industry invests the least. Despite lower investment, petrochemicals show the highest HCROI. Automobile and pharma sectors yield similar returns, whereas IT has the lowest. These findings highlight industry-specific investment patterns and their impact on returns.