Section Six
In contrast, a narrower evaluation of the human resource
management function would focus on its efficiency in
administering a benefit program or recruiting and screening
applicants. Thus, with broader evaluations, measures of the
company’s use of human resources would be affected by the
performance of the company’s line managers. With narrower
evaluations, the measures are affected only by the performance
of the human resource staff. Human resource departments are
unique in that their activities and responsibilities apply to all
managers and employees in all departments. Thus, the
evaluation of human resource departments is a complicated but
important matter.^5 While it may be tempting to simplify matters
with a narrower evaluation, there are shortcomings with this
approach. Donald Jarrell has cautioned that isolated evaluations
of human resource departments run the risk of communicating
that others have no responsibilities in the area. Because all
managers and departments affect the quality of human
resource management and have related responsibilities, this
would be an undesirable side effect of evaluation. In addition,
another aspect of the scope of evaluation involves a time
dimension.^6
The length of time between implementation of a program
and its impact on performance can vary depending on the
nature of the program. Likewise, its effects may be stable or
may diminish or increase over time. In addition, different