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Understanding Business, 6/e
William G. Nickels James M. McHugh Susan M. McHugh
Chapter 11: Human Resource Management: Finding and Keeping the Best Employees
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eLearning Session
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PROFILE: "Getting to Know DIANNE CHARNESS
of FLEXTIME STAFF INC." Her company helps place people in flexible
work arrangements.
- WORKING WITH PEOPLE IS JUST THE BEGINNING.
Explain the importance of human resource management and describe
current issues in managing human resources .
- HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT is the process of evaluating
human resource needs, finding people to fill those needs, and optimizing
this important resource by providing the right incentives and job environment,
all with the goal of meeting the objectives of the organization.
- DEVELOPING THE ULTIMATE RESOURCE.
- There is a major shift from traditional manufacturing
industries to service industries that require more technical job skills.
CONCEPT CHECK
- A major problem is retraining workers for new, more challenging
jobs.
- EMPLOYEES ARE THE ULTIMATE RESOURCE.
- This resource has always been plentiful, so there was
little need to nurture and develop it.
- Qualified labor is more scarce today, and that makes
recruiting more difficult.
- Historically, most firms assigned the job of recruiting,
selecting, training, motivating, and firing people to functional departments.
- Today’s human resource departments go beyond the clerical
functions of the old personnel departments.
- Human resource management may become the most critical
function as it is responsible for the business’s most critical resource—people.
- The role of the human resource management is A FUNCTION
OF ALL MANAGERS, not just one department’s.
- Most human resource functions are shared between the
human resource manager and other managers
CONCEPT CHECK .
- THE HUMAN RESOURCE CHALLENGE.
- Changes in the labor force has created problems in the
human resource area.
- Some of the PROBLEMS discussed in the text include:
- Shortages in people trained to work in high tech areas.
- Abundance of unskilled workers in obsolete fields who
need retraining.
- Growing number of undereducated and unprepared workers.
- A shift in age composition in the work force, including
many older workers.
- A complex set of laws and regulations.
- An increasing number of single parent and two-income
families.
- Shifts in employee attitudes toward work.
- Continued downsizing.
- More competition from overseas labor pools.
- Increased demand for benefits tailored to the individual.
- Growing concern over health issues, elder care, child
care, etc.
- A decreased sense of employee loyalty.
- DETERMINING YOUR HUMAN RESOURCE
NEEDS .
Summarize the six steps in planning human resources.
- PREPARING FORECASTS OF FUTURE HUMAN RESOURCE NEEDS.
- PREPARING A HUMAN RESOURCE INVENTORY of the organization’s
employees.
- PREPARING A JOB ANALYSIS.
- A JOB ANALYSIS is a study of what is done by employees
who fill various job titles.
- The results of the job analysis are two written statements.
- A JOB DESCRIPTION specifies the objectives of
the job, the type of work to be done, the duties, and the relationship
of the job to other functions.
- JOB SPECIFICATIONS specify the minimum qualifications
required of a worker to fill specific jobs
CONCEPT CHECK .
ASSESSING FUTURE DEMAND—HR managers who are proactive
anticipate future needs of their organizations.
ASSESSING FUTURE SUPPLY in a shifting labor market.
ESTABLISHING A STRATEGIC PLAN addressing recruiting,
selecting, training and developing, appraising, compensating, and scheduling
the labor force.
RECRUITING EMPLOYEES FROM A DIVERSE POPULATION.
Describe methods companies use to recruit new employees and
explain some of the issues that make recruitment challenging.
- RECRUITMENT
is the set of activities used to obtain a sufficient number of the right
people at the right time to select those who best meet the needs of the
organization.
- RECRUITING IS DIFFICULT for several reasons:
- People with the necessary skills are not available, and
must be hired and then trained.
- The emphasis on corporate culture and teamwork makes
it important to hire skilled people who also fit in with the culture.
- Some organizations operate under union regulations, have
unattractive workplaces, or offer low wages
CONCEPT CHECK .
Human resource managers turn to many SOURCES for
assistance.
- INTERNAL SOURCES include hiring from within the
firm and employee recommendations.
- Internal sources are less expensive.
- Hiring from within helps maintain employee morale.
- However, it isn’t always possible to find qualified workers
within the company, so HR managers must use EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT
sources.
- Recruiting qualified workers may be particularly difficult
for small businesses.
SELECTING EMPLOYEES WHO WILL BE PRODUCTIVE .
Outline the six steps in selecting employees.
- SELECTION is the process of gathering information
to decide who should be hired, under legal guidelines, for the best interest
of the individual and the organization.
- STEPS OF THE SELECTION PROCESS:
- OBTAINING COMPLETE APPLICATION FORM
.
CONDUCTING INITIAL AND FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEWS.
- A member of the human resource department staff often
screens applicants in a first interview.
- Potential employees are then interviewed by the manager
who will supervise the new employee.
GIVING EMPLOYMENT TESTS.
- Although testing has been severely criticized, organizations
continue to use tests to measure basic competencies.
- It is important that the test be directly related to
the job.
CONDUCTING BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS help weed
out candidates least likely to succeed and identify those most likely
to succeed.
OBTAINING RESULTS FROM PHYSICAL EXAMS.
- Medical tests cannot be given just to screen out individuals.
- Preemployment testing to detect drug or alcohol abuse
or AIDS screening is controversial.
- Eighty percent of U.S. companies now test their employees
and applicants for drug use.
ESTABLISHING TRIAL PERIODS allows organizations
to hire an employee conditionally.
HIRING CONTINGENT WORKERS.
- Sometimes it is more cost-effective to hire contingent
workers when a company has a varying need for employees.
- CONTINGENT WORKERS are workers who do not have
the expectation of regular, full-time employment.
- TEMPORARY STAFFING is a $40 billion industry.
- An increasing number of contingent workers are educated
professionals.
- Contingent workers receive few benefits and earn less
than permanent workers do.
- About 40% of temporary workers are eventually offered
full-time positions.
- Managers see using TEMPORARY WORKERS as a way
of weeding out people and finding good hires.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPING EMPLOYEES FOR OPTIMUM RESULTS
CONCEPT CHECK .
Illustrate the use of various types of employee training and
development methods.
- TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT involves all attempts to
improve performance by increasing an employee’s ability to perform through
learning.
- Training is short-term skills oriented; development is
long-term career oriented.
- The process of creating training and development programs
includes:
- ASSESSING THE NEEDS of the organization and
the skills of the employees to determine training needs.
- DESIGNING TRAINING ACTIVITIES to meet the identified
needs.
- EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS of the training.
- TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.
- EMPLOYEE ORIENTATION are the programs that introduce
new employees to the organization and its policies, practices, and objectives.
- ON-THE-JOB TRAINING.
- In an ON-THE-JOB TRAINING PROGRAM, employees
immediately start their tasks. They learn by doing or watching others.
- This type of training is EASY AND EFFECTIVE
for learning low skill, repetitive jobs, BUT CAN BE DISASTROUS
if used in areas demanding more knowledge and expertise.
- INTRANETS can create cost-effective on-the-job
training programs.
- APPRENTICE PROGRAMS.
- APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS involve a period of
time when a learner works alongside an experienced employee to master
the skills and procedures of a craft.
- Many skilled crafts require a new worker to serve several
years as an apprentice.
- There may be more, but shorter, apprenticeship programs
in the future as jobs require more intense training.
- OFF-THE-JOB TRAINING occurs away from the workplace
and consists of internal or external programs to develop skills and foster
personal development.
- ONLINE TRAINING, training programs in which employees
"attend" classes via the Internet, is sometimes called DISTANCE
LEARNING.
- VESTIBULE TRAINING is training done in schools
where employees are taught on equipment similar to that used on the job.
- JOB SIMULATION is the use of equipment that duplicates
the job conditions and tasks so that an employee can learn without endangering
himself or the company’s expensive equipment (pilots, astronauts, etc.)
- MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
.
- MANAGERS NEED SPECIAL TRAINING— They must learn
communication, planning, and human relation skills.
- MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT is the process of training
and educating employees to become good managers and then developing managerial
skills over time.
- MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
- ON-THE-JOB COACHING by a senior manager.
- UNDERSTUDY POSITIONS as assistants who participate
in planning and other managerial functions.
- JOB ROTATION to expose managers to different
functions of the organization.
- OFF-THE-JOB COURSES AND TRAINING expose managers
to the latest concepts and create a sense of camaraderie.
NETWORKING.
- NETWORKING is the process of establishing and
maintaining contacts with key managers in one's own organization and in
other organizations and using those contacts
to weave strong relationships that serve as informal development systems.
- MENTORS are corporate managers who supervise,
coach, and guide selected lower-level employees by introducing them to
the right people and just acting as their organizational sponsors.
- Most mentoring is informal, but many organizations use
a formal system of assigning mentors.
DIVERSITY IN MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT.
- Since most older managers are male, women often have
more difficulty finding mentors and entering the network.
- "Men only" clubs were declared illegal, allowing
women access to areas where contacts are made.
- African-American managers also are learning the benefits
of networking.
- Principles to develop female and minority managers:
- Grooming women and minorities for management positions
is the key to long-term profitability.
- The best women and minorities will become harder to
attract and retain.
- More women and minorities means that businesses can
serve female and minority customers better.
APPRAISING EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE TO GET OPTIMUM RESULTS.
Trace the six steps in appraising employee performance.
- A PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL is an evaluation in which
the performance level of employees is measured against established standards
to make decisions about promotions, compensation, additional training, or
firing.
- The SIX STEPS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS ARE:
- ESTABLISHING PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.
- COMMUNICATING THOSE STANDARDS.
- EVALUATING PERFORMANCE.
- DISCUSSING RESULTS WITH EMPLOYEES.
- TAKING CORRECTIVE ACTION.
- USING THE RESULTS TO MAKE DECISIONS
CONCEPT CHECK .
The latest form of performance appraisal is the 360
REVIEW because it uses feedback from all directions in the organization:
up, down, and all around.
COMPENSATING EMPLOYEES: ATTRACTING AND KEEPING THE BEST.
Summarize the objectives of employee compensation programs
and describe various pay systems and fringe benefits.
- Compensation is one of the main marketing tools used to
attract qualified employees.
- The long-term success of a firm may depend on how well
it can control employee costs.
- The primary cost of service operations is the cost of
labor.
- Manufacturing firms have asked employees to take reductions
in wages to make the firm more competitive.
- Compensation and benefit packages are begin given special
attention.
- The OBJECTIVES of compensation and benefit programs
include:
- ATTRACTING THE KINDS OF PEOPLE NEEDED in sufficient
numbers.
- PROVIDING PRODUCTIVITY INCENTIVES.
- KEEPING VALUED EMPLOYEES from leaving the company.
- MAINTAINING A COMPETITIVE EDGE by increasing productivity.
- PROVIDING EMPLOYEES WITH SOME FINANCIAL SECURITY.
- PAY SYSTEMS.
- An organization’s pay system can have a dramatic effect
on efficiency and productivity.
- Many companies use the HAY SYSTEM, based on job
tiers each of which has a strict pay range.
- Another system begins with base pay and gives all employees
the same percent merit raise.
- COMPENSATING TEAMS.
- Compensating teams is a complex issue.
- Some studies have shown that team-based pay programs
may not be effective.
- When pay is based strictly on individual performance,
it erodes team cohesiveness.
- Experts recommend basing pay on team performance.
- SKILL-BASED PAY is related to the growth of both
the individual and the team.
- Base pay is raised when team members learn and apply
new skills.
- The skill-based pay system is complex, and it is difficult
to correlate skill acquisition to bottom-line gains.
- In GAIN-SHARING SYSTEMS, bonuses are based on
improvements over a performance baseline.
- It is important to reward individual team players, also.
- FRINGE BENEFITS.
- FRINGE BENEFITS include sick-leave pay, vacation
pay, pensions plans, and health plans that represent additional compensation
to employees beyond base wages.
- In recent years benefit programs grew faster than wages.
- Many employees want more fringe benefits instead of
more salary to avoid higher taxes.
- Fringe benefits can include everything from paid vacations
to child care programs, use of the company condo, and more.
- SOFT BENEFITS help workers maintain the balance
between work and family life by freeing them from spending time on errands.
- Some companies offer CAFETERIA-STYLE FRINGE BENEFITS
from which employees can choose the benefits they want based on their
personal needs.
- Because of the cost of administering benefit programs,
many companies are contracting with outside companies (OUTSOURCING)
to run their benefit plans.
SCHEDULING EMPLOYEES TO MEET ORGANIZATIONAL AND EMPLOYEE
NEEDS.
- Managers and workers are demanding more flexibility and
responsiveness from their jobs.
- FLEXTIME PLANS are work schedules that give employees
some freedom to choose when to work, as long as they work the required hours.
- Most flextime plans include a period known as CORE
TIME in which all employees are expected to be at their job stations.
- Flextime plans are designed to allow employees to adjust
to the demands of the times.
- There are disadvantages, as well.
- It does not work in assembly-line processes or for
shift work.
- Managers often have to work longer days in order to
supervise employees.
- Flextime makes communication more difficult.
- Some employees could abuse the system.
- A COMPRESSED WORKWEEK is a work schedule that allow
an employee to work a full number of hours per week but in fewer days.
- There are advantages for employees in working only four
days.
- But some employees get tired working such long hours,
and productivity could decline.
- Few employees take advantage of flexible schedules.
- HOME-BASED AND OTHER MOBILE WORK.
- Telecommuting has grown tremendously in recent years.
- To be successful, a home-based worker must have the discipline
to stay focused on the work.
- Telecommuting can be a cost saver for employers.
- A JOB SHARING PLAN is an arrangement whereby two
part-time employees share one full-time job.
- Job sharing lets parents work part-time while their children
are in school.
- BENEFITS INCLUDE:
- Employment opportunities for those who cannot or prefer
not to work full-time.
- A high level of enthusiasm and productivity.
- Reduced absenteeism and tardiness.
- Ability to schedule people into peak demand periods.
- Disadvantages: having to hire, train, motivate, and
supervise twice as many people.
- Most firms have found the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
MOVING EMPLOYEES UP, OVER, AND OUT .
Describe the ways employees can move through a company: promotion,
reassignment, termination, and retirement.
- Employees don’t always stay in the position they were initially
hired to fill.
- PROMOTING AND REASSIGNING EMPLOYEES.
- Promotions are COST-EFFECTIVE ways to improve
EMPLOYEE MORALE.
- Due to flatter corporate structures, it is more common
today for workers to transfer over to a new position than to move up to
one.
- TERMINATING EMPLOYEES.
- Human resource managers are struggling to manage layoffs
and firings due to downsizing and global trends.
- The COST OF TERMINATING employees is so high that
managers choose to use TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES or OUTSOURCE
certain functions.
- "EMPLOYMENT AT WILL."
- "EMPLOYMENT AT WILL" meant that managers
had as much freedom to fire workers as workers had to leave voluntarily.
- Most states now have written employment laws that limit
the "AT WILL" DOCTRINE to protect employees from wrongful
firing.
- RETIRING EMPLOYEES.
- Another tool used to downsize companies is to offer early
retirement benefits, called GOLDEN HANDSHAKES, to entice older
workers to resign.
- The advantage of offering early retirement benefits rather
than laying off employees is that early retirement offers INCREASE
THE MORALE OF THE SURVIVING EMPLOYEES.
- Retiring senior workers increases PROMOTION OPPORTUNITIES
for younger employees.
- LOSING EMPLOYEES.
- Some employees will inevitably choose to leave the organization.
- One way to learn why employees leave is to have a third
party conduct an exit interview.
LAWS AFFECTING HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT .
Illustrate the effects of legislation on human resource management.
- Legislation has made hiring, promoting, firing, and managing
employee relations complex and subject to legal complications.
- Since the 1930s legislation and legal decisions have
greatly affected human resource management.
- One of the most important laws ever passed by Congress
was the CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.
- TITLE VII prohibits discrimination in hiring,
firing, compensation, apprenticeships, training, terms, conditions,
or privileges of employment based on race, religion, creed, sex, or
national origin (age was added later.)
- Specific language in the law often made its enforcement
difficult.
- The EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY ACT (EEOA) was
added as an amendment to Title VII in 1972.
- It strengthened the EEOC, which issues guidelines for
administering equal employment opportunity.
- Congress gave the EEOC broad powers, making it a formidable
regulatory force.
- AFFIRMATIVE ACTION.
- AFFIRMATIVE ACTION are activities designed
to increase opportunities for minorities and women.
- The EEOC enforces affirmative action, which is designed
to "right past wrongs" made against women and minorities.
- Interpretation of the law was often controversial,
and enforcement difficult.
- This has led to problems including REVERSE DISCRIMINATION,
the feeling of unfairness unprotected groups have when protected
groups are given preference.
- The CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1991 expanded the remedies
available to victims of discrimination by amending Title VII of the CRA
of 1964.
- LAWS PROTECTING THE DISABLED AND OLDER EMPLOYEES.
- The VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION ACT.
- The Act, passed in 1973, extended the same protection
given to minorities and women to people with disabilities.
- Businesses cannot discriminate against people with
disabilities on the basis of their physical or mental handicap.
- The AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990 (ADA)
requires that disabled applicants be given the same consideration for
employment as people without disabilities.
- It requires that businesses make "reasonable accommodations"
to people with disabilities.
- Most companies are having more trouble making cultural
changes than structural changes to be accommodating.
- In 1997, the EEOC issues new guidelines for the ADA that
tell employers how they are to treat workers and applicants with mental
disabilities.
- The AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT ACT protects
older employees (40-69.)
- It outlawed mandatory retirement before age 70.
- Many companies are voluntarily phasing out mandatory
retirement after age 70.
- EFFECTS OF LEGISLATION.
- Legislation affects all areas of human resource management.
- IN SUMMARY:
- Employers must know and act in accordance with the
legal rights of their employees.
- Legislation affects all areas of human resource management.
- It is sometimes legal to go beyond providing equal
rights for minorities and women to provide special employment to correct
discrimination in the past.
- New court cases and legislation continuously change
human resource management; it is important to keep current
CONCEPT CHECK .
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