A human resources, or HR, objective represents a way to assist your company in achieving its goals. HR objectives are most effective when aligned with the purpose of your business. Ideally, they are defined as you write your business plan and determine its goals. Once goals are established, HR objectives describe actions to be undertaken to achieve the goals. HR objectives differ for every aspect of your business, including legal and compliance, organizational and personnel.
HR objectives relate to managing your greatest asset, your employees, to keep your business on track. For example, one of your business goals might be to increase sales. An HR objective aimed at achieving this goal would be to "optimize workforce potential," and a description would follow on how best to facilitate this objective, such as, "Through training, ensure salespeople are performing at their maximum skill level."
Unique HR objectives exist for the various goals of every type of business. If, for example, your business has employees working in potentially hazardous conditions such as with heavy equipment, one goal may be to have an injury-free workplace. An applicable HR objective could be, "Reduce workplace injuries, resulting in no workers' compensation claims for six months," which you could achieve through implementing ongoing safety meetings and awards for employees who stay injury-free.
Your business might have just one goal toward achieving success, requiring only one or two HR objectives. For example, you might be in the business of providing a dog-walking service. Your goal might be to achieve 100 percent customer satisfaction. Your HR objective could be, "Maintain a dog-friendly staff who excels in customer service." Actions needed to achieving your objective might be: "Carefully screen and hire applicants with an high level of appreciation for dogs; provide excellent customer service training."
An easy-to-remember directive to use in creating an HR objective could be: Goal > HR Objective > Actions. Following this directive will ensure your HR objectives are consistent and integral to your company's expectations. The directive will result in a detailed and well-written living document that can be used to guide your business through the opening of another location or larger expansion or simply remain in your business's historical archives.
