Week 11: Sustainable HR practices and organisational effectiveness

Question 1

Quantifiable measure show HR contribution to strategic goals. Why is this important?

Answer 1

Justify the investment in HR

Demonstrate it’s link to achieving strategic goals

Provide a baseline for benchmarking

Monitor trends to reveal impact of change

Question 2

Name the 3 types of HR activities relevant to an organisations strategic value

Answer 2

Transformational – create long term capability / adaptability.

Traditional – the activites HR is known for

Transactional – day to day activities

Question 3

HR metrics are a system of measurements for human performance. What are they used for?

Answer 3

Foundation for decision making

Justify $$$

Provide accountability by determining if the HR function is meeting objectives and using budget effectively.

Gain the confidence of the rest of the organisation

Question 4

Empirical methods of measuring effectiveness are essential to satisfy the growing need for corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. What are these concepts?

Answer 4

Corporate governance the way in which decisions are made about
the deployment of an organisation’s resources and
the resolution of conflicts among an organisation’s stakeholders.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) (and corporate sustainability) the continuing, voluntary commitment by companies to the management of environmental, social, economic and governance issues.

Question 5

Define the 2 main approaches to evaluating HR practices:

Answer 5

Audit approach: involves reviewing customer satisfaction or key indicators (for example, turnover rate, or average days to fill a position) from surveys / records.

Analytic approach:
Cost analysis ($$$ based) - hr accounting, utility analysis, ROI (benefit value/cost)
Benefit analysis - bal scorecard, hr activity index causal chain analysis

Question 6

Define Human Capital Management

Answer 6

aims to capture all efforts related to people in an organisation;

focuses on measuring the effectiveness of HR activities, with an emphasis on enhancing the fit between those activities and strategic goals.

Question 7

Outsourcing entails contracting with an outside vendor to provide a product or service. Reasons?

Answer 7

Externals do it cheaper :
Economies of scale
Simply cheaper

Externals do it better:
Specialisation -
Concentrated function allows for easier training
Develop expertise greater than could be done in house

Question 8

Re-engineering review and redesign of work processes and departments is done to make them more efficient and improve the quality of the end product or service. List the steps in the process.

Answer 8

(1) identify the process to be re-engineered – involve process owners, those involved (experts) and stakeholders.
(2) understand the process – map and audit the process. What scope is there for change, What is the desired outcome? Are all of the tasks necessary? What is the value of the process?
(3) redesign the process - models, tests them, chooses a prototype and determines how to integrate the prototype into the organisation
(4) implement the new processes – test in a limited, controlled setting then distribute

Question 9

List current directions and issues in HR’s future

Answer 9

Customer surveys & analysis as basis of planning to improve.

Process re-engineering

New tech
New technology has allowed companies to find more effective, not simply more efficient, ways of operating.

Outsourcing – aim of performing cheaper and or better