Human Resources Impact

 
 
 
 
 

Human Resources Impact

University of Phoenix

HR 535

October 29, 2002

Elizabeth Stebbins

Human Resources Impact

Human Resource departments need to show value to their organizations by aligning their goals and activities with the strategic goals of the larger enterprise.   Our knowledge-based economy, ever-changing market, competitive threats, and consumer needs require the optimal leverage of human talent and potential. The article “Measure What You Bring to the Bottom Line”, in the 1998 issue of Workforce, Measuring the return on HR investment is the wave of the future, and the time has come for HR to step up to a new challenge: bottom-line accountability.
  Contemporary questions in the minds of many line executives and leaders in HR include:
• Where do we wisely invest our current HR dollars and what types of activities should HR personnel be engaged in so that there is a long-term, strategic benefit to the organization?
• Is it wise to out-source some Human Resource functions, if so, which ones are candidates for outsourcing and what are the implications for doing so?
• How do we show a return on our investments for programs and processes that focus on intangible assets so that we can gauge the utility of our Human Resource effort?
• What programs can be developed today that will have substantial benefit tomorrow?
• How can this benefit be shown to senior executives in terms of bottom line contributions?
  Demonstrating the bottom-line impact of H.R.’s contributions may be a slippery task, but HR must learn the "how to's" of ROI measurement in order to be recognized as a true business partner. Measurement of the results of H.R.’s efforts-H.R.’s return on investment (ROI-is being lauded as today's high-credibility management tool-a must-use formula for every sophisticated HR professional striving to gain respect as a true strategic business partner.
Having impact on the bottom line is something every HR...