Assessing human resource effectiveness: The emergence of the stakeholder approach

Although human resource departments are becoming more critical for organizational success, very little research on HR control and effectiveness is available. Surveys indicate that only handful of firms use formal evaluation procedures to monitor their HR activities. Thus, this paper provides an overview of the methods and procedures for evaluating HR functions, activities and departments, and discusses in more details the emerging approach entitled: Stakeholder Approach. Guidelines are provided for a step by step procedures for using this approach and its relative advantages and disadvantages are discussed as well. Finally, we report on results for using the Stakeholder Approach in two settings: Public Sector (27 hospitals) and Private Sector (22 Paper Mils).