Human resources - accountability

Published by the Business and Management Faculty (formerly the Finance and Management Faculty)

Central to the long-term success of any enterprise are the productivity of its employees and the quality of their performance. Accordingly, the human resources (HR) function plays a major role in the achievement of organisational goals and strategies by providing policies, programmes and services for the company's employees.

Even as other functional areas contribute to administrative efficiency and overall operating results, so too must HR be held accountable for meeting strategic and performance goals, and appropriate measures must be developed to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of HR operations.

This special report describes the role of HR, and discusses general concepts and specific techniques for measuring the performance of the HR function. Concrete examples of different types of analysis and a case study are also provided. In organisations without an HR function, the approaches and material presented can be of assistance in personnel administration.

This special report is published by arrangement with The Society of Management Accountants of Canada. It has already appeared as a Management Accounting Guideline in Canada , as part of CMA Canada's 'strategic management' series of publications.