What are human resource objectives and how is HR performance measured?
Common HR objectives such as employee engagement, talent development, diversity, alignment of values and the number and skills of employees, the hard and soft HR approaches, and key HR metrics.
A focused answer to AQA A-Level Business 3.6, covering common HR objectives such as employee engagement, talent development, diversity and workforce planning, the hard and soft approaches to HRM, and the key metrics used to measure HR performance.
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What this dot point is asking
AQA wants you to describe common HR objectives, distinguish the hard and soft approaches to HRM, and explain and calculate the metrics used to measure HR performance. The labour turnover calculation appears regularly, so be ready to compute and interpret it.
Common HR objectives
These objectives flow from the corporate objectives. A firm pursuing rapid growth sets recruitment and talent-development objectives; a firm under cost pressure may target productivity and a leaner headcount. They are most useful when SMART, for example raising the staff engagement score from 65 to 75 percent within a year.
Hard and soft HRM
Neither is universally right. Hard HRM can suit low-skill, high-volume, cost-driven work; soft HRM suits skilled, customer-facing or creative work where motivation and retention drive quality. Many firms blend the two across different roles.
HR metrics
HR performance is tracked with metrics including labour productivity (output per worker), labour turnover (the percentage of staff leaving), absenteeism (the rate of staff absence), and retention (the percentage of staff staying). Rising turnover or absenteeism is an early warning of problems with motivation, pay or management.
Influences on HR objectives
HR objectives are shaped by the corporate objectives, the firm's culture and leadership, the labour market (skills shortages push firms to focus on retention and development), and the law (equality, minimum wage, working time). A growing firm prioritises recruitment; a struggling one may target cost control through a harder approach.
How the approach links to the metrics
The choice between hard and soft HRM shows up directly in the metrics. A soft approach that invests in development, engagement and good conditions tends to lower labour turnover and absenteeism and raise productivity over time, because committed, well-supported staff stay and perform; the cost is higher pay and training spend. A hard approach that minimises labour cost can look efficient in the short run but often pushes turnover and absenteeism up, which then raises recruitment and training costs and loses experience, so the apparent saving can be illusory. This is why the metrics are read as a set: a falling unit labour cost achieved by cutting development might be undone by a rising turnover figure a year later.
The wider point is that HR objectives are a means to the firm's overall performance, not an end in themselves. Engaged, well-trained, well-led staff are what deliver the quality, productivity and service that meet the corporate objectives, which is why HR is treated as a strategic function rather than just an administrative one.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA 20204 marksA call centre employs an average of 250 staff and 75 leave during the year. Calculate its labour turnover and comment on what the figure suggests. (4 marks)Show worked answer →
Show the formula and the figure for the method marks.
Comment: 30 percent is high, meaning almost a third of staff leave each year. For a call centre this is not unusual, but it implies heavy ongoing recruitment and induction costs and lost productivity while new starters get up to speed, and may point to weak motivation, pay or management. Markers reward the correct formula, the correct percentage, and a comment that interprets the figure (high, with a cost or motivation implication) rather than just restating it.
AQA 20189 marksAnalyse the case for a luxury hotel chain adopting a soft rather than a hard approach to human resource management. (9 marks)Show worked answer →
Define the contrast, then apply it to the context.
Soft HRM treats employees as the firm's most valuable asset, to be developed, trusted and motivated; hard HRM treats labour as a resource to be deployed as cheaply and tightly as possible. For a luxury hotel, the guest experience depends directly on attentive, skilled, motivated front-line staff, so a soft approach (training, empowerment, involvement, good pay) should raise service quality, build the loyalty that justifies premium prices, and cut the high turnover that would otherwise mean constant retraining.
The counter-argument: soft HRM costs more in pay and development, and in a low-skill, high-volume part of the operation (laundry, basic cleaning) a harder, cost-focused approach may be efficient. Judgement: for a luxury chain whose competitive advantage rests on service, the soft approach is likely worthwhile for customer-facing roles. Markers reward a clear definition of both approaches, application to the luxury service context, and a supported judgement.
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Sources & how we know this
- AQA A-level Business (7132) specification — AQA (2015)