| Course | HR485 Strategic HRM: Analytics and Business Decision-Making |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 7 |
| Paper type | HR scorecard |
| Length | About 780 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration (Human Resources) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HR485 Unit 7
Six Measures Under Three Goals: A Unit 7 HR Scorecard for a Funeral Group
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HR485: Strategic HRM: Analytics and Business Decision-Making
Unit 7 HR Scorecard
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Gatehouse Memorial Group, its goals, measures and every baseline are composite and illustrative, carried from Units 2 to 6; the sources cited are real.
The Goals, in the Strategic Plan's Words
Goal A. Grow cremation and memorial services 40 percent in three years.
Goal B. Hold family satisfaction on the post-service survey at or above 94 percent through the Slate Belt consolidation.
Goal C. Keep the operating expense ratio flat.
The goals are copied from the plan so that nobody can say HR chose its own priorities. Becker et al. (2001) built the HR scorecard on that principle: a workforce measure earns its place by showing how people affect the strategy the business has already set.
The Scorecard
Each goal carries one lagging result and one leading signal that an owner can move this quarter.
Goal A, result: licensed care-center directors against plan. Baseline 6; target 7 by the end of next year. Owner: care center director. Refresh: quarterly. Source: job code field, graded pass in Unit 3.
Goal A, signal: days to fill a director requisition. Baseline 94; target 75. Owner: recruiting manager. Refresh: monthly. Source: requisition dates, not yet audited, flagged as such.
Goal B, result: first-year voluntary attrition, location roles, cohort definition from Unit 2. Baseline 42.6 percent; target 35.6 percent. Owner: director of location operations. Refresh: quarterly, shown as provisional until each cohort completes. Source: hire and separation fields, graded pass.
Goal B, signal: share of new hires given their 30, 60 and 90-day check-ins on time. Baseline set in the first quarter, since the practice is not tracked today; target 90 percent. Owner: location managers. Refresh: monthly. Source: a new checklist field.
Goal C, result: on-call overtime hours per full-time equivalent, location and care center. Baseline 6.1 a month; target 5.0. Owner: chief operating officer. Refresh: monthly. Source: payroll, graded pass.
Goal C, signal: internal fill rate for location manager openings. Baseline 25 percent, one of four last year; target 50 percent. Owner: vice president of operations. Refresh: annually. Source: requisition and hire records.
How the Attrition Target Was Set
The 35.6 percent target is not a round number chosen to sound ambitious. Of last year's 68 location hires, 26 joined the four high-loss homes and 17 of them left inside a year, 65.4 percent, while 12 of the 42 hired elsewhere left, 28.6 percent. If the four homes closed half their gap with the rest of the network, their rate would fall to 47.0 percent, about 12.2 exits. The whole cohort would then show 24.2 exits in 68, which is 35.6 percent.
The target asks four homes to close half their gap, which makes it a statement about where the effort goes, not a hope for the whole company.
Owners
Owners are operating leaders wherever the lever sits in operations. HR owns days to fill because recruiting controls it; location operations owns attrition because the first ninety days happen in the homes. Levenson (2018) argues that analytics influences strategy only when someone with authority over the work receives the measure, which is the reason no measure here is owned by HR alone except the one HR controls. Marler and Boudreau (2017) found that HR analytics is still adopted unevenly and that its effect depends on whether managers can act on what it shows, so a short scorecard read by the right owners is a better bet than a long one read by none.
Appendix: Measures Retired
Total headcount. Reported in finance's monthly package already.
Company-wide turnover rate. Replaced by the cohort measure, which answers a question someone asked.
Average time to fill, all roles. Averaged two-week attendant searches with year-long director searches; replaced by the director measure.
Training hours per employee. No goal depends on hours rather than on what was learned.
Engagement index. No owner could say which goal it served, and response rates ranged widely by home.
Absence rate. Tracked by location managers in scheduling; no decision at the leadership level used it.
Average tenure. Moves only slowly and duplicates the attrition measure.
Cost per hire. Folded into the Unit 5 cost model.
Open requisitions. A count of work, not a result.
Exit survey satisfaction score. Based on fewer than a third of leavers, per Unit 3.
Performance review completion. A compliance measure kept in HR's own reports.
Benefits enrollment rate. No business goal depends on it this year.
HR service tickets closed. An HR operations measure, reported to the HR director.
References
Becker, B. E., Huselid, M. A., & Ulrich, D. (2001). The HR scorecard: Linking people, strategy, and performance. Harvard Business School Press.
Levenson, A. (2018). Using workforce analytics to improve strategy execution. Human Resource Management, 57(3), 685-700. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21850
Marler, J. H., & Boudreau, J. W. (2017). An evidence-based review of HR analytics. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 28(1), 3-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1244699
HR485 Unit 7 instructions, in plain terms
The seventh unit asks you to build an HR scorecard tied to the organization's strategy. Begin with the business goals in the organization's own words, so the scorecard serves priorities leaders already hold. Under each goal place a small number of workforce measures, and justify each one by the goal it serves. A good scorecard pairs a lagging result with a leading signal an owner can influence this quarter. Every measure needs a baseline, a target with reasoning behind it, a named owner, a refresh cycle and a note on the reliability of its data source. Owners should be the people with authority over the lever, which is often an operating leader rather than HR. The prompt also expects you to explain what you left out, since a scorecard is defined as much by its exclusions as by its contents. Keep it short enough that a leader would read every line.
How the HR 485 Unit 7 example is put together
The scorecard opens with three goals quoted from Gatehouse's strategic plan and cites Becker, Huselid and Ulrich on linking people measures to strategy. Six labeled rows follow, each showing baseline, target, owner, refresh cycle and the source field's audit grade, from six licensed care-center directors against a target of seven to an internal fill rate of 25 percent against 50. A margin note explains the pairing of results with signals. The attrition target section works through the arithmetic: 17 of 26 hires lost at the four homes and 12 of 42 elsewhere, with the four homes closing half their gap. The highlighted sentence states what the target asks. An owners section uses Levenson and Marler and Boudreau to explain why operating leaders own most measures. The appendix lists thirteen retired measures, each with one line, from total headcount to HR service tickets closed.
Where the points sit in the HR485 Unit 7 rubric
The HR485 scorecard is assessed on alignment, discipline and usability. Each measure has to attach to a stated goal, and the student should be able to explain the link in a sentence. Points go to targets that are reasoned rather than round, owners who can act on the measure, and data sources whose reliability is acknowledged. Pairing leading and lagging measures shows understanding of how a scorecard is used during the year. The list of retired measures earns credit because it proves the author made choices. Instructors also check that baselines match earlier units and that the scorecard is short enough to be read in one sitting. Formatting matters more than usual, since a scorecard is a working document. Research on the HR scorecard and on workforce analytics in strategy, cited in APA 7, supports the design.
HR485 Unit 7 help from the desk
Scorecards usually go wrong by including too many measures, often every figure HR already reports, which recreates the dashboard the unit is meant to replace. Others list measures without goals, or attach several goals to one measure so no one knows what it is for. Targets chosen as round improvements, such as ten percent better, invite the question of why. Some students assign every measure to HR, even when the lever sits in operations. Leading measures are often missing, leaving owners to wait a year for results. Do not forget the data note: a measure built on an unreliable field should say so. Write a reason for each excluded measure, briefly. Check that baselines and definitions match the earlier units. If your organization's strategic plan uses different goals, send them and a writer can help you choose measures for each.
Get an HR485 Unit 7 example written to your instructions
Share the business goals your Unit 7 scenario states, the measures currently reported if any, and the rubric. What comes back in 24-48h, free for a first order, is a one-page scorecard placing each measure under a goal, pairing leading with lagging, and naming an owner and target for every cell. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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HR485 Unit 7 questions, answered
How many measures belong on an HR scorecard?
Few enough that a leader reads every one. The sample uses six, two per goal, and lists what it left out. Some sections require a set number or a balanced scorecard layout with four perspectives; follow that structure if so, but keep the discipline of attaching each measure to a stated goal and a named owner.
What is a leading measure?
A signal that moves before the result it predicts and that someone can act on now. Check-ins completed with new hires can be counted this month; first-year attrition for that cohort is known a year later. Pairing the two lets an owner correct course early, and it shows the grader that the scorecard is built for management rather than for reporting.
Where can I find a free HR485 Unit 7 sample paper?
You can read the full HR485 Unit 7 HR scorecard for Gatehouse's funeral homes here, with six measures under three strategic goals, targets, owners, retired measures and margin notes.
How was the 35.6 percent attrition target set?
The four high-loss homes lost 17 of 26 first-year hires and the rest lost 12 of 42. If the four closed half their gap with the network, they would lose about 12.2, making 24.2 of 68 overall, or 35.6 percent.
Why was the engagement index retired?
No owner could say which goal it served or what they would do if it moved, and response rates differed widely across the 21 homes. A measure stays only if it attaches to a goal and an owner.