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9609 · 7.4.1

Approaches to human resource management (HRM) — practice questions

Practice and worked examples for 9609 Approaches to human resource management (HRM). Short previews only — attempt the full question in MarkScheme against the official scheme.

Worked example 1

Budget airline pursues cost leadership; cabin crew on zero-hour contracts with minimal training spend. Premium rival invests heavily in crew service training and career paths. Compare HRM approaches.

Show solution outline

Airline A — hard HRM: Flexible labour cost, quick hire/fire to match routes — fits cost leadership (6.2.1). Risk: Service failures, union disputes, reputation damage if incidents occur.

Airline B — soft HRM: Training and empowerment support differentiation on service (3.3). Higher wage/training cost but customer loyalty and lower turnover (2.1.6).

Verdict: Neither universally right — align HRM with strategy; hybrid possible (hard ops, soft customer-facing roles).

Worked example 2

A tech support call centre with 100 employees is deciding between two HRM strategies. Analyse the financial implications of each approach using the data below to advise the management.

Approach 1: Hard HRM

  • Annual salary per employee: 35,00035,000
  • Staff turnover rate: 40% per year
  • Recruitment & induction cost per new hire: 3,0003,000
  • Productivity: 2,000 support tickets resolved per employee per year

Approach 2: Soft HRM

  • Annual salary per employee: 42,00042,000
  • Annual training & development cost per employee: 2,0002,000
  • Staff turnover rate: 10% per year
  • Recruitment & induction cost per new hire: 3,0003,000
  • Productivity: 2,500 support tickets resolved per employee per year
Show solution outline

The goal is to compare the total costs and the cost-effectiveness of each approach.

Step 1: Calculate Total Annual Cost for Hard HRM

  • Wage Cost: 100 employees × 35,000=35,000 = 3,500,000
  • Recruitment Cost: (100 employees × 40% turnover) × $3,000 per hire = 40 hires × $3,000 = 120,000120,000
  • Total Hard HRM Cost: 3,500,000+3,500,000 + 120,000 = **3,620,000∗∗3,620,000**

Step 2: Calculate Total Annual Cost for Soft HRM

  • Wage Cost: 100 employees × 42,000=42,000 = 4,200,000
  • Training Cost: 100 employees × 2,000=2,000 = 200,000
  • Recruitment Cost: (100 employees × 10% turnover) × $3,000 per hire = 10 hires × $3,000 = 30,00030,000
  • Total Soft HRM Cost: 4,200,000+4,200,000 + 200,000 + 30,000=∗∗30,000 = **4,430,000**

Step 3: Evaluate Cost-Effectiveness (Cost per Ticket)

  • Hard HRM Output: 100 employees × 2,000 tickets = 200,000 tickets

  • Hard HRM Cost per Ticket: $3,620,000 / 200,000 tickets = $18.10 per ticket

  • Soft HRM Output: 100 employees × 2,500 tickets = 250,000 tickets

  • Soft HRM Cost per Ticket: $4,430,000 / 250,000 tickets = $17.72 per ticket

Conclusion & Recommendation: Although the total annual cost of the Soft HRM approach is $810,000 higher, it is more cost-effective when measured by productivity. The cost per resolved ticket is lower ($17.72 vs $18.10). This demonstrates that investing in employees can lead to greater efficiency. Furthermore, the Soft HRM approach is likely to yield non-financial benefits such as higher quality service, improved customer satisfaction, and a stronger employer brand, which are not captured in this calculation. Therefore, the Soft HRM approach is recommended for long-term sustainable performance.

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