These Guidelines are the result of a joint project conducted on behalf of the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, EUROCONTROL, and the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, BAuA.

The economic evaluation of Human Resources (HR) programmes should be understood as an important task of HR and line managers. These Guidelines were written for practitioners in these areas. It offers structuring and planning aids for the operation of economic evaluations in HR. A roadmap was developed which considers in particular four aspects:

1. the addressees of evaluation results (HR managers, line managers, chief executive officers, capital investors)
2. the structure of data to be included, for example performance, behaviour or process data
3. the process of the evaluation
4. the timing of the evaluation.

Following this roadmap three kinds of economic evaluation of HR are described. The function-oriented evaluation considers the effects, efficiency, and profitability of single HR interventions on the level of the individual worker (function). The performance-process-oriented evaluation analyses and optimises the value creation chain. Thus, it gives particular consideration to process costs, process quality, and process time. The strategy-oriented evaluation investigates whether the HR work is aligned with the organisational strategy and to what extent it supports strategic success. Therefore, the strategy-oriented evaluation focuses HR effects on an organisational level.

The Guidelines elaborate these three cases and describe in each case how an evaluation should be conducted. The Human Resources Performance Model, which was developed by the authors, offers a structure and process template. At the same time, established instruments like the Balanced Scorecard can also be effectively used for example in the strategy-oriented evaluation.

Beyond the three addressees within the organisation (HR managers, line managers, chief executive officers), capital investors might be interested in economic evaluation results. This case is elaborated in Chapter 6 on "Human Capital Management".

The Guidelines contain tools, further reading, recommendations to practitioners, and a Frequently Asked Questions tool to ensure economic evaluations in HR are conducted efficiently.