Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

The most important investments that businesses and government organizations make are in their people. In addition to direct expenditures on compensation and benefits, organizations invest in technology, outsourcing, professional services, and learning and development programs to make employees successful at their jobs and help the organization achieve its goals. Forrester estimates that organizations will spend more than $7 billion in 2009 on human resource management (HRM) software alone. This document provides an overview and summary of our research to date on HRM topics, including best practices, trends, strategies, and technology product evaluations, as well as planned research as we continue our coverage of topics relevant to HRM professionals and their IT business partners.