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HRM strategies: leadership, job design, recruitment, training, performance management, rewards, global labour, bargaining and workplace dispute resolution (HSC Business Studies)

Syllabus dot point

“Strategies - leadership style, job design, recruitment, training and development, performance management, rewards - monetary and non-monetary, individual or group, performance-based; global - the costs, skills and supply of labour; workplace disputes - resolution of disputes through negotiation, mediation, grievance procedures, involvement of courts and tribunals”

17 min read

Quick answer

HRM strategies are the choices a business makes about leadership style, job design (general or specific tasks), recruitment (internal or external, general or specific skills), training and development (current or future skills), performance management (developmental or administrative), rewards (monetary and non-monetary, individual or group, performance pay) and global labour (costs, skills, supply). Workplace disputes arise over pay, conditions, job security, change and treatment; they are resolved through negotiation, mediation, grievance procedures and, if needed, courts and tribunals such as the Fair Work Commission. Know two real disputes, their causes and how they were resolved.

Jump to a section
  1. What this dot point is asking
  2. Leadership style
  3. Job design
  4. Recruitment strategy
  5. Training and development strategy
  6. Performance management strategy
  7. Rewards
  8. Global HR strategies: costs, skills, supply
  9. Negotiating agreements and contracts
  10. Workplace disputes
  11. Resolving disputes
  12. How this dot point appears in the HSC
  13. Exam-style questions

What this dot point is asking

The syllabus lists: "strategies in human resource management: leadership style; job design (general or specific tasks); recruitment (internal or external, general or specific skills); training and development (current or future skills); performance management (developmental or administrative); rewards (monetary and non-monetary, individual or group, performance pay); global (costs, skills, supply); workplace disputes; resolution (negotiation, mediation, grievance procedures, involvement of courts and tribunals)". The "students learn to" points ask you to "analyse the causes of two workplace disputes and the strategies used to resolve them" and "compare the process of negotiating enterprise/collective agreements with the negotiation of individual contracts".

Leadership style

Style Features Suits
Autocratic Manager decides and directs; little consultation Emergencies, safety-critical tasks, inexperienced teams
Persuasive Manager decides, then explains and "sells" the decision When commitment matters but decisions are already made
Consultative Manager seeks views before deciding Most workplaces; builds commitment
Participative (democratic) Manager and employees decide together Skilled, motivated teams; knowledge work
Laissez-faire Employees largely self-directed Highly skilled, self-motivated professionals

The trend in Australian workplaces is towards consultative and participative styles, which also fit legal consultation requirements for major change. The best leaders adapt their style to the situation.

Job design

Job design is deciding the tasks, responsibilities and methods of each job.

  • Specific tasks: narrow, specialised, repetitive work; quick to train and efficient, but can be boring and demotivating.
  • General tasks: broad, varied work with more responsibility; more motivating and flexible, but needs more training and skill.

Techniques include job rotation (moving between tasks), job enlargement (more tasks at the same level) and job enrichment (more responsibility and autonomy). Job design links operations and HR: automation and algorithmic monitoring change jobs, and the 2024 Woolworths warehouse dispute (below) was partly about how work speed was measured.

Recruitment strategy

  • Internal or external: internal recruitment motivates and retains staff and is cheaper; external brings new skills and ideas.
  • General or specific skills: recruit for general skills and attitudes and train for the job (suits flexible, changing roles), or recruit for specific, job-ready skills (suits technical roles needed immediately).

Training and development strategy

  • Current skills: training for today's job (product knowledge, systems, compliance, safety).
  • Future skills: developing capabilities the business will need, such as data and AI skills, leadership and adaptability. As businesses adopt AI (Telstra said in February 2026 that it would use partners' AI capabilities as it changed some roles), future-skills training and redeployment become central.

Performance management strategy

  • Developmental: focuses on improving performance through goal setting, feedback, coaching and training; builds capability and motivation.
  • Administrative: uses performance information to make decisions on pay, promotion, bonuses, warnings or termination; needs objective, well-documented evidence.

Effective systems set clear goals linked to business objectives, give regular feedback (not just an annual review) and are fair and consistent. Poorly designed targets can backfire: in September 2025 the Federal Court ordered Optus to pay $100 million for unconscionable sales practices towards vulnerable customers, showing the risks when sales performance is pursued without proper controls on how results are achieved.

Rewards

Type Examples Advantages Limitations
Monetary Wages and salary above minimum, bonuses, commissions, profit-sharing, shares, allowances, extra superannuation Directly rewards effort and results; attracts and retains staff Costly; effect on motivation fades; can encourage short-term or risky behaviour
Non-monetary Recognition, flexible work, extra leave, training, career development, interesting work, wellbeing programs, a good culture Builds engagement and loyalty; often low cost Must be genuine and valued; cannot replace fair pay
Individual Individual bonuses, commission, merit pay Rewards personal contribution Can undermine teamwork
Group Team bonuses, profit-sharing, gain-sharing Encourages cooperation Free-riding; top performers may feel undervalued
Performance pay Pay linked to measured results Aligns effort with goals Needs fair, measurable targets; can drive unethical shortcuts

Legal floor. Rewards sit on top of legal minimums: award and national minimum wages (award wages rose 4.75 per cent from 1 July 2026), the NES and superannuation guarantee of 12 per cent.

Global HR strategies: costs, skills, supply

Businesses operating globally, or competing with global firms, consider:

  • Costs: labour is much cheaper in some countries, encouraging offshoring of services and processing, but costs include management, travel, quality control and reputational risk.
  • Skills: some skills are concentrated in particular countries (for example large software and IT services workforces in India).
  • Supply: shortages at home lead businesses to recruit overseas (skilled migration) or move work to where workers are available.

Example. In February 2026 Telstra said some work in its Service and Delivery team would move to Infosys and some data and AI work would go through its joint venture with Accenture, including to Accenture's hub in India. The strategy responds to cost, skills and supply, but brings local job losses, data security obligations and reputational scrutiny (see role of HRM).

Negotiating agreements and contracts

Enterprise (collective) agreement Individual contract
Parties Employer(s) and a group of employees, usually with union or other bargaining representatives Employer and one employee
Process Notice of employee representational rights; good-faith bargaining; protected industrial action possible after a ballot; employee vote Direct negotiation of terms, often with the employee's own adviser
Approval Fair Work Commission must approve (better off overall test, genuine agreement) No Commission approval needed
Floor Must pass BOOT against the award and include NES Cannot provide less than the NES and any applicable award
Suits Large, unionised or award-covered workforces Managers, professionals, high earners, award-free roles
Bargaining power Collective, stronger for employees Depends on the individual

Since 2023 the Fair Work Act has also allowed multi-employer bargaining in some circumstances (for example the supported bargaining stream for low-paid sectors), and individual flexibility arrangements allow an award or agreement term to be varied for one employee if they are better off overall.

Workplace disputes

A workplace dispute is a disagreement between employer and employees (or their representatives) about work matters.

Common causes:

  • Pay and conditions: wage increases (especially when living costs rise), penalty rates, hours and rosters;
  • Job security: redundancies, outsourcing, offshoring, casual and contract work;
  • Workplace change: new technology, automation and monitoring, restructures;
  • Working conditions and safety: workloads, psychosocial hazards, equipment;
  • Management style and treatment: unfair performance management, bullying, discrimination, dismissal.

Indicators of disputation range from grievances and absenteeism to work bans, go-slows, pickets and strikes (industrial action).

Resolving disputes

Method How it works
Negotiation The parties discuss directly to reach agreement; quickest and cheapest, keeps control with the parties
Mediation A neutral third party helps the parties reach their own agreement; the mediator does not impose a decision
Grievance procedures Formal steps in the award, agreement or policy for raising and resolving issues: discuss with the supervisor, escalate to management, then outside help (such as the Fair Work Commission)
Courts and tribunals The Fair Work Commission can conciliate, mediate and arbitrate some disputes, deal with industrial action, approve agreements and hear unfair dismissal claims; the Federal Court (and Federal Circuit and Family Court) enforce workplace laws and impose penalties; appeals can reach the High Court

Most disputes are resolved by negotiation; tribunals and courts are expensive and slow and are used when other methods fail or legal rights are at stake. Conciliation (the Commission helping parties reach agreement) comes before arbitration (the Commission making a binding decision), which is available only in limited circumstances.

Dispute 1: Woolworths warehouse strike (2024)

  • Parties: Woolworths and more than 1,500 warehouse workers in Victoria and New South Wales, members of the United Workers Union.
  • Causes: enterprise bargaining over pay and conditions, and the Coaching and Productivity Framework, a system introduced in 2023 to measure the speed of workers' tasks, which the union said was used to discipline workers and put them at risk.
  • Action: a strike from 21 November 2024 lasting 17 days, with pickets that disrupted supply to stores.
  • Resolution: negotiation within bargaining; the Fair Work Commission ruled that picketers blocking the entrance to a Melbourne distribution centre were acting unlawfully; the dispute ended when union members voted to endorse Woolworths' revised enterprise agreement offers, which included pay increases and, according to the union, a commitment that the framework would not be used to automatically discipline workers.
  • Effect: Woolworths' F26 results referred to cycling the impact of industrial action in the prior year.

Dispute 2: Qantas ground handling outsourcing (2020 to 2025)

  • Parties: Qantas, about 1,820 ground handling workers and the Transport Workers Union.
  • Causes: in 2020, during the COVID-19 downturn, Qantas outsourced ground handling work to third-party providers, citing cost savings; the union argued the decision was unlawful.
  • Resolution: the dispute went to the courts. The Federal Court found that one reason for the decision was to prevent employees taking protected industrial action, breaching the Fair Work Act's general protections; the High Court dismissed Qantas's appeal in 2023. Qantas agreed to a $120 million compensation fund in December 2024, and the Federal Court ordered a $90 million penalty in August 2025.
  • Effect: large financial and reputational costs; a lesson that cost-driven restructuring must respect workplace rights.
Comparing the two disputes

Negotiation and tribunal (Woolworths): resolved in weeks, with a negotiated agreement both sides accepted; the tribunal's role was to set limits on unlawful picketing.

Courts (Qantas): took about five years, ending in penalties and compensation imposed on the employer; there was no negotiated settlement of the original decision.

Judgement: negotiated resolution is faster and preserves relationships; courts are needed when legal rights are breached but are costly for all parties.

Listing strategies without the syllabus dichotomies

Each strategy has a pair in the syllabus: general or specific tasks, internal or external recruitment, current or future skills, developmental or administrative performance management, individual or group rewards. Use them.

Using the Fair Work Commission as the first step

Most disputes should be resolved by negotiation and grievance procedures first. Tribunals and courts come later.

Describing a dispute without causes and resolution

The syllabus asks for the causes of two disputes and how they were resolved. Name the parties, the causes, the actions and the resolution method.

Treating performance pay as always effective

Poorly designed targets can encourage unethical behaviour or unsafe work. Evaluate performance pay, do not just describe it.

How this dot point appears in the HSC

  • Section I: identify a leadership style, job design choice, reward type or dispute resolution method from a scenario.
  • Section II: explain rewards, performance management or dispute resolution (3 to 6 marks); compare enterprise agreements and individual contracts.
  • Section III: recommend HR strategies for a business with low morale, high turnover or disputes.
  • Section IV: evaluate HRM strategies and analyse two disputes and their resolution.

Exam-style questions

Questions in the style of NESA exam questions on this dot point, each with a worked answer. They are written by ExamExplained unless tagged "Past paper"; the year shows the paper a question is modelled on.

Original5 marks
Explain how a business can use monetary and non-monetary rewards to improve employee performance.
Show worked answer →

Marks guide (Original, modelled on NESA criteria). 5 marks: explains both types of reward and how each affects motivation and performance, with examples and a limitation. 3-4 marks: describes both types. 1-2 marks: some relevant information.

Monetary rewards are financial: wages and salaries above the minimum, bonuses, commissions, profit-sharing, share plans and allowances. They reward effort and results directly, help attract and retain staff in a competitive labour market, and can be linked to targets so employees focus on what the business values. However, pay alone has limited lasting effect on motivation once employees feel fairly paid, and poorly designed incentives can encourage the wrong behaviour.

Non-monetary rewards include recognition, flexible work, extra leave, training and career development, interesting and responsible work, and a supportive culture. They meet employees' needs for esteem, growth and work-life balance, which often drive long-term engagement and loyalty, and can cost relatively little.

Using both. Businesses combine fair, competitive pay (to attract and keep staff) with non-monetary rewards (to build engagement), and choose individual or group rewards to match whether the work is independent or team-based. The mix should be monitored through indicators such as staff turnover, absenteeism and worker satisfaction.

Original6 marks
Analyse the causes of a workplace dispute and the strategies used to resolve it.
Show worked answer →
Marks guide (Original, modelled on NESA criteria)
5-6 marks: analyses the causes and the resolution strategies of a real dispute, linking them and judging effectiveness. 3-4 marks: describes causes and strategies. 1-2 marks: some relevant information.
Dispute: Woolworths distribution centre strike (November to December 2024)
More than 1,500 workers at Woolworths warehouses in Victoria and New South Wales, members of the United Workers Union, went on strike from 21 November 2024 for 17 days.
Causes
The immediate causes were enterprise bargaining over pay (workers sought cost-of-living increases) and working conditions, especially Woolworths' Coaching and Productivity Framework, a system introduced in 2023 that measured the speed of workers' tasks, which the union said could be used to discipline workers and put them at risk. Underlying causes were rising living costs and concern about algorithmic management of work.
Resolution strategies
The parties used negotiation within enterprise bargaining; the dispute involved the Fair Work Commission, which ruled that picketers blocking the entrance to a Melbourne distribution centre were acting unlawfully; and it ended when union members voted to endorse Woolworths' revised enterprise agreement offers, which included pay increases and, according to the union, a commitment that the productivity framework would not be used to automatically discipline workers.
Analysis
Protected industrial action pressured both sides, but the costs (empty shelves, lost wages) encouraged compromise. The tribunal clarified the limits of lawful action, and negotiation produced the settlement. Woolworths' F26 results later referred to cycling the impact of industrial action in the prior year.
Original4 marks
Compare the process of negotiating an enterprise agreement with the negotiation of an individual contract.
Show worked answer →
Marks guide (Original, modelled on NESA criteria)
4 marks: identifies similarities and differences in the two processes, with reference to the legal framework. 2-3 marks: describes both. 1 mark: some relevant information.
Enterprise agreement
Collective bargaining between an employer (or employers) and a group of employees, usually represented by a union or other bargaining representatives. The employer must notify employees of their right to be represented; the parties must bargain in good faith; protected industrial action may be taken after a ballot; employees vote on the proposed agreement; and the Fair Work Commission approves it only if it passes the better off overall test against the award and was genuinely agreed.
Individual contract
Negotiated between the employer and one employee, usually for managers, professionals and higher earners. The terms are agreed directly, often with less formality and no Fair Work Commission approval, but cannot provide less than the NES and any applicable award.
Comparison
Both must meet the legal minimums, but enterprise bargaining is collective, regulated and approved by the Commission, giving employees more bargaining power; individual contracts are flexible and tailored but depend more on the individual's bargaining power.

Practise this

Sources & how we know this

Based on the official NESA syllabus and published NESA past papers and marking guidelines. Not yet individually reviewed by a person; always check NESA and your school's materials for current rules.

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