The i4cp Research Methodology

We're all about what makes high-performance organizations tick.
What sets i4cp research apart?
We are obsessed with high-performance organizations. These companies are the role models of the business community, representing what most organizations aspire to be. They are agile, innovative, and consistently outperform competitors.
We want to know what sets them apart—and the people practices that fuel that separation.
I4cp Research Methodology
The Market Performance Index™
We’re known worldwide for our Market Performance Index (MPI), which measures organizations over a five-year period on:
  • Revenue growth
  • Market share
  • Profitability
  • Customer satisfaction
The Index is used to identify high-performance organizations and the unique practices that correlate to market performance.
Next Practices
Next practices are specific human capital approaches that are highly correlated to market performance—but are used by relatively few companies to date.
While our research reveals plenty of useful best practices, most do not have any real impact on business results. However, the most innovative companies in our membership community are using cutting-edge strategies and techniques to further lead ahead of the competition— it's these next practices that we seek to uncover.
We believe so strongly in next practices that we run a highly popular virtual series titled Next Practices Weekly, honor cutting-edge companies with Next Practice Awards, and have branded our prestigious annual event the i4cp Next Practices Now Conference.
Global HR Research
World-class research
Many of the organizations in our membership are global corporations. To support the complexities HR leaders in these companies face, we ensure that:
  • Nearly 50% of our major study data comes from executives outside of North America
  • We seek guidance from our global CHRO communities
Research Advisory Councils
Every major study is guided by an executive group representing cross-functional HR leaders, including CHROs and heads of talent, learning, total rewards, DE&I, talent acquisition, people analytics, and the future of work.
Benchmarks
We’ve collected data from thousands of companies on dozens of topics, and make much of the filterable data available so you can benchmark against others in your region, industry, or company size.
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Research into action
Research is helpful, but it’s not enough. That’s why we arm our member community with tools, templates, models, case studies, and other resources to allow the thousands of HR practitioners we work with to put research into action.
Research meets community.
The magic of i4cp’s model lies at the intersection of our research and communities. Through hundreds of meetings, community experiences, and online discussions each year, we encourage peers to collaborate, share ideas, and discuss lessons learned.
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