Strategic human resource evaluation

Abstract

This article describes a framework for HR evaluation that can help assess the impact of HR on the organization's business objectives. It then presents information that FIR directors from 72 companies in Spain provided regarding their HR evaluation practices, as well as the roles realized by their HR departments. The findings illustrate the current state of HR evaluation and show how, as HR departments assume more strategic responsibilities, their evaluation systems become increasingly sophisticated. Traditionally, many human resource departments measured their accomplishments by how busy they had been (Cascio, 1991): how many people they had recruited or interviewed, how many hours of training they had provided, or how many grievance procedures they had handled. This practice responded to a view of HR as an administrative support function needed to carry out personnel-related activities.