Setting Human Resources Objectives

The overall aim is to maximise the contribution of employees on an individual and group level to the organisation's overall objectives. These HR objectives will be derived from the targets of the business as a whole. 

Employee engagement 

Companies simply cannot assume that hiring and training staff is enough. According to Gallup Poll, only 13% of staff worldwide are fully engagement in their job. If they aren't engaged and interested they will never give 100%. 

The problem is that there is no reason to suppose that HR professionals have any real solution to this problem. 'Employee engagement' is little different from 'motivation' can best be addressed through job enrichment, the HR approach is quite different. Job enrichment requires jobs to be redesigned, with high division of labour replaced by giving people a complete unit of work. Yet this is outside the scope of HR professionals, who can't advise an operations manager  about how to lay out a factory or a supermarket checkout. So the HR approach is to pretend that employee engagement can be achieved through financial devices and beurocratic devices such as staff appraisal. 

Talent development 

For most businesses, the key to long-term success is trainign and motivation of the staff as a whole. In some circumstances, though, it is underdtandable that the focus may be on the talented few rather than the entire staff. 

For other businesses, hraduate 'fast-tracl' schemes have long existed, with the view that those with extra talent should be given every opportunity for career progression as rapid as their talents allow. There is a risk, though, that the focus on the talented few could seem to come at the expense of the majority. This is unlikely to help morale. 

Training

Hertzberg once said that the 'more a person can do, the more you can motivate them'. Therefore training people to be able to do more, and do it with confidence, represents a big potential step forward for a business. Yet there is little evidence that UK firms understand this fully. They like to blame schools and universities for failing to prepare students for the world of work, but their own reluctance to train is quite odd. 

Diversity

Diversity within businesses high up is rare. It tends to be white, middle aged men which is a disadvantage as the UK grows more diverse. 

This is why some companies have set theselves the objective of diversifying their middle and senior management teams. 

Alignment of values

Business author Jim Collins had said that businesses spend too long worrying about their new mission or vision. They would be stronger if they spent more time aligning staff to the organisation's core values. 

Collin's suggests that firms should work at identifying their core values, then make sure that every employee sees these values as central to decision-making throughout the business. Accordingly, recruitment and induction training should focus on makins sure that there is a true fit between staff and values. This will ensure that ethical issues are tackled in a consistently moral way, but should also help build a sense of purpose throughout the staff - helps motivation and retention levels. 

The number, skills and location of employees 

Organisations are continually changing in terms of the work being done and the way it's done. This reshaping requires change in the HR input. For example, it may require more poeple, greater flexibility or different skills. The HR function is responsible for making sure the business has the right number of people at the right time, with the right skills and attitudes. A lack of appropriate staff can lead to delays for customers, rushed and poor-quality work, and an inability to accept some contracts. By comparison if the HR requirements are not met, a business is more likely to be able to provide a high-quality service and fulfil the expectations of customers. Achieving the right number of staff may be relatively easy if you can simply recruit more people when you need them. However, it can also be a very long term process that involves enormous planning. 

A further factor is the location of the staff. HR departments like staff to be willing to work in Portsmouth for 6 months, then move to Manchester. For many staff this flexibility is impossible, so careful planning is required to make sure that Manchester has the right manager at the right time. 

Internal influences

• the past experiences, character & ambitions of any newly appointed chief executive. 
• any financial pressures felt by the business, for example, cash flow problems requiring a quick fix.
• changing marketing objectives. 

External influences

• economic factors
• whether the business is a stock market-quoted plc or a large family run business - affects timescales for HR and other objectives
• the social & ethical climate - sometimes the media and the public seem to develop concern for specific issues such as Fairtrade; HR objectives must take these things into account
• legislation 

Regards employees as a necessary cost; people are an input required to get the job done, but add little to the overall value created by the business. Managers see themselves as the thinkers; they develop the best way of doing things and employees are expected to get on with it (Taylor).

Adopts a top-down style where employees are directed and controlled. Managers instruct and moniter their actions. Jobs tend to be broken down into relatively small units so that one person doesn't have much control over the process and a replacement can easily be recruited, selected and trained. Can often be seen in call centres, where the work of operatives is very closely monitered, or in highly controlled outlets such as McDonalds. 

Benefits include:

• Outcomes are predictable as employees do what they're told
• Employees easily replacable
• managers retain control for decision-making - reduces risk of major errors being made. 

Disadvantages include:

• failure to build on skills, experience and insights of the employees
• no input from lower level - relies too heavily on managers - risk of failure. 

Employees can add great value to organisation, & the business should develop, enhance and build upon their interests, skills and abilities. Managers see themselves more as facilitators. They are there to coach and help employees to do their job properly, perhaps by ensuring sufficient training is provided and that the employee can develop in their career. 

Advantages:

• Organisation is buildign on the skills and experience of their employees - may enable the business to be more creative, more innovative and differentiated from competition. 
• May be able to keep and develop highly skilled employees with expectations of a career within the business. 
• Individuals throughout the business are enouraged to contribute, which may make the organisation more flexible and adaptive to changing markt conditions. 

Disadvantages:

• Time is taken in discussion and conclusion rather than getting the job done. 
• Employees may not have the ability or inclination to get involved; they may just want to be told what to do and be rewarded for it. In this case a soft approach to HRM may be inappropriate and ineffective.