An introduction to human resources
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In common with all resources, a business’s employees — its human resources — need to be managed
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Staff costs can make up a large proportion of a business’s costs, so objective monitoring of employee performance is a key element of effective financial and operational control
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Businesses commonly monitor the following human resources metrics:
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Labour productivity
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Labour turnover
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Labour retention
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Absenteeism
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Labour productivity
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Labour productivity is a measure of output per employee
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It is calculated using the formula
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Figures used in this formula are for a specific time period (e.g. a week, month or year)
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Businesses aim to increase the level of labour productivity to improve competitiveness
Labour productivity and competitiveness

Worked Example
Last year, Marinka Homewares made 424,000 lava lamps with a production workforce of 350 employees. This year, it forecasts that 480,000 lava lamps will be made with a production workforce of 365 employees.
Calculate the percentage increase in annual labour productivity per worker between last year and this year’s forecast.
(4)
Step 1: Apply the labour productivity formula to calculate the labour productivity for both years
<img alt=”Labour space Productivity space last space year space equals space fraction numerator 424 comma 000 over denominator 350 end fraction space equals space 1 comma 211 space units space per space employee Labour space Productivity space last space year space equals space fraction numerator 480 comma 000 over denominator 365 end fraction space equals space 1 comma 315 space units space per space employee” data-mathml=”<math style=”font-family:Arial” ><semantics><mrow><mi mathsize=”14px”>Labour</mi><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mi mathsize=”14px”>Productivity</mi><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mi mathsize=”14px”>last</mi><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mi mathsize=”14px”>year</mi><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mo mathsize=”14px”>=</mo><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mfrac><mrow><mn mathsize=”14px”>424</mn><mo mathsize=”14px”>,</mo><mn mathsize=”14px”>000</mn></mrow><mn mathsize=”14px”>350</mn></mfrac><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mo mathsize=”14px”>=</mo><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mn mathsize=”14px”>1</mn><mo mathsize=”14px”>,</mo><mn mathsize=”14px”>211</mn><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mi mathsize=”14px”>units</mi><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mi mathsize=”14px”>per</mi><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mi mathsize=”14px”>employee</mi><mspace linebreak=”newline”/><mspace linebreak=”newline”/><mi mathsize=”14px”>Labour</mi><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mi mathsize=”14px”>Productivity</mi><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mi mathsize=”14px”>last</mi><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mi mathsize=”14px”>year</mi><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mo mathsize=”14px”>=</mo><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mfrac><mrow><mn mathsize=”14px”>480</mn><mo mathsize=”14px”>,</mo><mn mathsize=”14px”>000</mn></mrow><mn mathsize=”14px”>365</mn></mfrac><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mo mathsize=”14px”>=</mo><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mn mathsize=”14px”>1</mn><mo mathsize=”14px”>,</mo><mn mathsize=”14px”>315</mn><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mi mathsize=”14px”>units</mi><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mi mathsize=”14px”>per</mi><mo mathsize=”14px”> </mo><mi mathsize=”14px”>employee</mi></mrow><annotation encoding=”application/vnd.wiris.mtweb-params+json”>{“fontFamily”:”Times New Roman”,”fontSize”:”18″,”autoformat”:true,”toolbar”:”<toolbar ref=’general’><tab ref=’general’><removeItem ref=’setColor’/><removeItem ref=’bold’/><removeItem ref=’italic’/><removeItem ref=’autoItalic’/><removeItem ref=’setUnicode’/><removeItem ref=’mtext’ /><removeItem ref=’rtl’/><removeItem ref=’forceLigature’/><removeItem ref=’setFontFamily’ /><removeItem ref=’setFontSize’/></tab></toolbar>”}</annotation></semantics></math>” height=”101″ role=”math” 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