Human Resource Assessment and Sustainability - Investigating the Measurability of Human Activity

Abstract

Sustainability, as a complex set of goals, has many possible interpretations and approaches the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out in the document have 169 sub-goals, of which Goal 10 is "reduced inequalities". There are 10 sub-goals linked to this goal, the first of which is aimed at reducing income inequality. Employers have direct responsibility and considerable leeway to develop fair wage systems. For HR professionals, the practical implementation of this is a major task, and their knowledge can therefore be a key factor in achieving SDG 10. In our research, we sought to answer the question of what future HR professionals know about the accounting measurability of human performance and how they assess its monetary valuation. In our view, HR professionals who are aware of the issues of human performance measurement and recognize the fundamental problems can play a significant role in meeting SDG 10. In our primary research, we surveyed 448 undergraduate human resources students from early December 2022 to the end of January 2023 using an online questionnaire. The questionnaire contains closed and open questions in addition to demographic data. Our research shows that the value of human activity is not well expressed in monetary terms, which implies that wages and the value of work are not closely related.