In the changing world of human resources: Matching measures to mission

Human resource professionals continuously search for methods to demonstrate the impact of their work to managers in their organizations. The authors of this article contend that the traditional measures of human resource productivity have been inappropriate and irrelevant because they have focused on tracking administrative activities and costs. Given the expanding role of many human resources organizations, the authors suggest that more appropriate measures must be closely aligned with the mission of the human resource organization. This article describes the expanding nature of human resource organizations, along with the corresponding implications for the appropriate metrics to evaluate effectiveness.