The components of a quality assurance program for human resources services could
include:
● service reviews; where feedback from all users of the service is obtained
● checklists used by service providers to ensure that all steps of a process are
followed
● policies and procedures that provide rules of how services are to be completed
● benchmarks and performance objectives or standards that provide service
providers with guidance on acceptable service levels.
Example JMH Insurance
The human resources manager at JMH Insurance has developed the following quality
assurance program to ensure that job advertisements are produced at a consistently
high standard each and every time.
● Line managers are provided with a template to complete a ‘Request for Hire’
form to ensure the service provider receives all the necessary information to
complete a job advertisement.
● Line managers are provided with a checklist and template to ensure that all
position descriptions contain all of the information required to produce a quality
job advertisement.
● Job advertisement templates are provided to the service provider to ensure a
consistent format.
● Benchmark costs are provided to the service provider to provide guidance with
regards to acceptable job advertisement costs.
● JMH Insurance recruitment and selection policies and procedures include
specific information and guidance with regards to the production of job
advertisements.
● Feedback is sought from all candidates who are interviewed regarding the quality
of the job advertisement and how useful it was in providing them information
about the job and whether it had any impact on their decision to apply for the
role.
● Reporting is completed regarding the number draft advertisements completed
before a final advertisement is approved.
Learning activity: Quality assurance program
Develop a quality assurance program for the delivery of HR services at Australian
Hardware or CoffeeVille in accordance with the service level agreement that you have
created.
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Monitoring the quality of delivery
Once the components of the quality assurance program have been agreed, it is time to
agree on how and when the program will be monitored. Most organisations use a quality
assurance audit to check that the program is being implemented to agreed standards.
How regularly the audit is completed depends on the risks associated with poor quality
service being provided.
Monitoring could also vary depending on the services being provided. For example,
monitoring of payroll or work health and safety would be conducted far more regularly
than programs for learning and development. Whatever the timeframes for monitoring, a
schedule needs to be developed and agreed on to ensure that all parties are aware of
how and when service delivery will be checked.
It is important to monitor service delivery against agreed service specifications
benchmarks, standards and objectives.
Example JMH Insurance
The human resources manager at JMH Insurance has developed the following audit
tool and schedule for monitoring the quality assurance program implemented for the
development and posting of job advertisements.
JMH Insurance Quality Assurance Audit Tool – Job Advertisements
Audit Question Yes/No Is further review required? If yes, detail
requirements.
Have all line managers used
and completed the ‘Request for
Hire’ form correctly?
Have all line managers used the
position description checklist
and template?
Has the service provider used
the templates provided for
completed job advertisements?
Has the service provider
completed advertisements
according to the cost
benchmarks provided?
Are line managers and service
providers completing job
advertisements in accordance
with organisational recruitment
and selection policies and
procedures?
Section 2 – Deliver Human Resources Services Student Workbook
1st edition version: 1 BSBHRM501 Manage human resource services
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Audit Question Yes/No Is further review required? If yes, detail
requirements.
Feedback from candidates
interviewed meets or exceeds
85% satisfaction rating?
Data demonstrates that 80% or
more of draft advertisements
produced do not require
amendments?
Audit Outcome (please tick)
Meets requirements Further review required
JMH Insurance Quality Assurance Audit Schedule – Job Advertisements
Audit No. Date to be completed Result
1 1 March 201X
2 1 June 201X
3 1 September 201X
4 1 December 201X
Obtaining agreement on quality assurance programs
Agreement from all responsible parties in the provision of human resources services must
be obtained for the overall approach to quality assurance as well as the method used to
monitor that programs are being implemented as required.
The most effective way to obtain agreement is to document the components of the
program including the audit plan and schedule of activities and circulate those
documents to all parties for feedback and agreement. This will ensure that all parties are
given the opportunity to contribute ideas that may improve the tools that have been
developed and also ensure that all parties are aware of the program being implemented
and support the process.
Learning activity: Quality assurance audit tool
Develop a quality assurance audit tool for the quality assurance program you
developed in the previous learning activity.
Student Workbook Section 2 – Deliver Human Resources Services
BSBHRM501 Manage human resource services 1st edition version: 1
© 2015 Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd Page 71 of 121
Quality Assurance Audit Tool
Audit Question Yes/No Is further review required? If yes, detail
requirements.
Audit Outcome (please tick)
Meets requirements Further review required
Protecting the expected return on investment
In the previous section, we discussed risk management and return on investment. As you
manage the provision of HR services you will need to implement monitoring and audit
strategies to ensure services comply with the organisation’s HR requirements. Doing so
will help minimise risk to your organisation’s investment in the HR delivery strategy and
ensure financial and other benefits are ultimately realised.
After a specified or appropriate term of service has elapsed, it is good practice to
calculate actual return on investment and compare this with projected figures. Regularly
recalculating ROI can help managers to evaluate the business impact of service delivery
early and take appropriate actions to address underperformance.
Section 2 – Deliver Human Resources Services Student Workbook
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Learning activity: Ensuring the effectiveness of the services provided
What strategies have you used in the past to ensure that a service provider (in any
area) was appropriate for providing the services you required, and how did you
measure the effectiveness of services provided?
This could be an example of service provided in the workplace by an internal or external
service provider.
How effective were these strategies and why?
Were the strategies you deployed able to minimise the risk posed by poor service
provision and protect your anticipated return on investment?
Could you apply these same strategies when implementing a services agreement for
the provision of human resources services? Why?
Student Workbook Section 2 – Deliver Human Resources Services
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© 2015 Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd Page 73 of 121
Identify and rectify underperformance
Services provided under a service level agreement need to be regularly monitored and
reviewed to ensure that any underperformance is identified early and rectified before
major damage is caused.
You should monitor the services being provided to ensure that:
● services are being provided as per service specifications
● performance standards and timeframes are being met
● clients are satisfied with the services being provided
● costs remain within budget
● there is a positive return on investment.
Performance can be monitored using a number of methods, for example, by reviewing:
● graphs and charts, such as those that appear in dashboard reports for project
implementation and monitoring business key metrics
● organisational, divisional, business unit, personal or individual balanced scorecards
● data gathered through HR management systems such as absenteeism rates,
service completion times
● formal evaluation reports
● feedback (informal, through surveys or audits)
● interviews with line or senior managers affected by service performance
● financial records (statement of financial performance, statement of financial
position, cash flow) and account balances.
Monitoring is a process that assists human resources professionals measure or assess
the performance of service providers. When there is unsatisfactory performance, prompt
action needs to be taken to ensure the situation is rectified and organisational goals are
achieved.
There are five types of corrective action that can be used:
Interim Adaptive Corrective Preventative Contingency
Let’s look at these types of corrective action in more detail.
Interim action
This is action that aims to buy time until the real cause of the problem can be identified
and fixed. Interim measures aim to minimise the damage of a performance problem until
it can be properly addressed, so the actions are temporary actions, for example,
temporarily using manual systems to deliver services until technologies can be restored.
Section 2 – Deliver Human Resources Services Student Workbook
1st edition version: 1 BSBHRM501 Manage human resource services
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Adaptive action
Sometimes performance targets for HR services are set unrealistically high. There may be
a number of valid reasons: errors, over enthusiasm, changes in circumstances and so on.
At some point it becomes clear that a performance deficit is inevitable. Adaptive action
involves reviewing the performance standards and bringing them in line with the new
reality. Care should be taken that this response is not used to ‘cover-up’ poor
performance by service providers.
Corrective action
Corrective action targets the cause of the substandard performance. It is designed to get
the performance back on track. Examples of corrective action with respect to personnel
delivering services include training or coaching.
Preventative action
Preventative action removes the cause of potential performance shortfalls before they
occur. Effective monitoring provides the early warning system that enables appropriate
preventative action to be taken.
Contingency action
Contingency action is action taken ‘just in case’, or ‘plan b’. It includes actions that are
planned during the service delivery planning process, to be taken should risks be
realised. Your monitoring system may hint that there is a problem looming that is deemed
to be serious enough to warrant contingency action. In many cases the contingency action
would be guided by the contingency plan developed as part of the planning process for
service delivery.
Learning activity: Identify and rectify underperformance
What strategies would you use to identify underperformance for the services provided
to Australian Hardware or CoffeeVille?
Imagine that you have identified that the service provider is failing to provide the
services as agreed in the service level agreement. Detail how you would rectify this
situation.
Amend action planning you completed in Section 1 to include contingency planning for
anticipated risks to return on investment.
Section summary
You should now understand how to manage the delivery of human resources services.
Student Workbook Section 2 – Deliver Human Resources Services
BSBHRM501 Manage human resource services 1st edition version: 1
© 2015 Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd Page 75 of 121
Further reading
● Cole, K., 2001, Supervision: The theory and practice of first-line management,
Pearson Education, NSW.
● Kramar, R., et al., 2013, Human Resource Management in Australia, 5th edn,
McGraw-Hill Australia, Part 1: Ch. 6–7; Part 3: Ch. 10.
● Ulrich, D., Younger, J., Brockbank, W., Ulrich, M., 2012, HR from the outside in: Six
competencies for the future of human resources, McGraw-Hill, USA, Ch. 5–9.
Section checklist
Before you proceed to the next section, make sure that you are able to:
develop and communicate information about human resources strategies and
services to internal and external stakeholders
develop and negotiate service level agreements between the human resources
team, service providers and client groups
document and communicate service specifications, performance standards and
timeframes
identify and arrange training support if required
agree and arrange monitoring of quality assurance processes
ensure that services are delivered by appropriate providers according to service
level agreements and operational plans
identify and rectify underperformance of human resources team or service
providers
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