Good human resource (HR) practice can add €50,000 per employee to company revenue, according to research to be published today.

Based on a survey of HR practices in 165 of the State's top employers, the research points to strong links between progressive HR policies and other areas of company performance.

It was carried out by the University of Limerick (UL) for the National Centre for Partnership and Performance (NCPP).

The survey examined staffing, performance management, training and other HR practices in companies selected from The Irish Times Top 1000 Companies.

UL researchers then analysed the relationship between the use of high-performance work systems in the companies and outcomes in terms of employee turnover and productivity.

High-performance work systems are defined as those which use a range of specific HR practices, such as good communication, high levels of training and formal grievance procedures.

Companies which use such systems tend to be innovative in other areas, such as investment in R&D, the researchers found.

They also concluded there was a "striking" increase in productivity in companies which used high-performance systems.

"For example, if a firm were to increase its relative use of the set of high-performance HR practices from 'average' to 'above average', it would increase employee sales productivity by 15.61 per cent," the NCPP said in a statement which summarised the findings.