Evaluation of human resource practices in Spanish banks

Abstract

The new strategic role of Human Resource (HR) management requires that HR systems not only achieve operational excellence in performing their traditional activities but they also contribute to developing the strategic capabilities needed by the organization to maintain its competitive advantage. This new orientation has important implications for the evaluation of an organization's HR system. Traditional measures of the HR function tend to focus on operational efficiency. In order to determine the success of an HR system in achieving its new role as strategic partner, the strategic impact of HR practices must be evaluated. This requires measuring the contribution of the HR system toward building organizational capabilities, including employee skills, behaviors and attitudes, and the impact that changes at this level have on organizational results. This article presents a strategic approach to HR measurement and investigates the current state of HR evaluation in five large Spanish banks.