Human resource management summary

CHAPTER 6 - STAFFING AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES (PPT 6-2, 6-3)

After reading this chapter students should be able to:

1. Describe the human resource management process.

2. Identify the influence of government regulations on human resource decisions.

3. Differentiate between job descriptions and job specifications.

4. Contrast recruitment and downsizing options.

5. Explain the importance of validity and reliability in selection.

6. Describe the selection devices that work best with various kinds of jobs.

7. Identify various training methods.

8. Explain the various techniques managers can use in evaluating employee performance.

9. Describe the goals of compensation administration and factors that affect wage structures.

10. Explain what is meant by the terms “sexual harassment,” “labor-management cooperation,” “workplace violence,” and “layoff-survivor sickness.”

Opening Vignette
SUMMARY

In some organizations, the concept that whatever occurs in the office should be related to organizational efforts is elusive. Federal Express learned that lesson when Marion Shaub’s experiences in their Middletown, PA facility cost them more than $3 million.
Shaub was the only female tractor-trailer driver who worked for FedEx in the Middletown facility. She was often subjected to anti-female comments and questioned as to why she wanted to work a man’s job. Shaub tried to ignore the comments directed toward her, but they became more pronounced and mean-spirited. She reported to her supervisor that the “guys” were creating a threatening work environment for her. She had hoped that her male supervisor would speak to fellow employees and have such abuse stopped. However, after filing her complaint, Shaub was subjected to even more abuse, this time including the sabotage of the brakes of her truck. And, no one would help her when a package required two employees.
After FedEx officials in Middletown did nothing to stop the harassment, Shaub filed a suit against FedEx for sex discrimination and retaliation. She won, and was awarded over $3 million. This included monies for her lost wages, for the pain and suffering she endured, and $2.5 million in punitive damages as punishment because FedEx didn’t protect her civil rights as an employee.

Teaching notes
1. Begin the discussion of this case by asking the students to consider the situation from both Shaub’s perspective and that of the “guys” working at the FedEx facility.

Then, discuss these issues.

 In what ways can employees be educated about harassment (how/when/where does an employee learn when a joke is harassment, etc?)

 What is unique or different about an industry dominated by one gender when compared with an industry with an equal mix of men and women? (You might want to guide the discussion toward the concept of majority/minority norms in general vs. those stereotypical to specific genders, etc.)

 What message is FedEx sending its employees by not correcting harassment?

 How does this translate into a company culture?

I. MANAGERS AND THE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PROCESS

A. Introduction (PPT 6-4)

1. The quality of an organization is determined by the quality of people it employs.

2. Staffing and human resources management decisions and methods are critical to ensuring that the organization hires and keeps the right personnel.

a) In many organizations, specialists do human resources management activities.

b) In other cases, HRM activities may be outsourced to companies like HR Tech.

c) Many small business managers must do their own hiring without the assistance of HRM specialists.

d) Managers in larger organizations are frequently involved in HRM activities (e.g., recruiting candidates, reviewing application forms, interviewing applicants, inducting new employees, making decisions about employee training, providing career advice to employees, evaluating employees’ performance, etc.).

3. Exhibit 6-1 introduces the key components of the human resources management process. (PPT 6-5)
a) It represents eight activities, or steps, that if properly executed, will staff an organization with competent, high-performing employees.

4. The first three steps represent employment planning, the addition of staff through recruitment and the reduction in staff through downsizing, and selection.

a) Executed properly, these steps lead to the identification and selection of competent employees.

b) They are important to assist organizations in achieving their strategic directions.

5. Orientation and training and development assist people in adaptation to the organization and ensure that their job skills and knowledge are kept current.

6. Finally, the HRM process helps to identify performance goals, correct performance problems if necessary, and help employees sustain a high level of performance (e.g., performance appraisal, compensation and benefits, and safety and health).

7. The external environment influences the entire employment process.

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II. THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF HRM (PPT 6-6)

A. What are the Primary U.S. Laws Affecting HRM?

1. See Exhibit 6-2 for examples. (PPT 6-7)

2. Not many major federal employment discrimination laws were passed in the past decade.

3. Many state laws have been passed during the past decade which add to the provisions of federal laws.

a) Example, in many states, it is illegal to discriminate against an individual based on sexual orientation.

4. Today’s employers must ensure that equal employment opportunities exist for job applicants and current employees.

a) Example, decisions regarding who will be hired or which employees will be chosen for a management training program must be made without regard to race, sex, religion, age, color, national origin, or disability.

b) Exceptions can occur only when special circumstances exist.

c) Example, a community fire department can deny employment to a firefighter applicant who is confined to a wheelchair.

1) But if that same individual is applying for a desk job, such as fire department dispatcher, the disability cannot be used as a reason to deny employment.

d) Example, employment laws protect most employees whose religious beliefs require a specific style of dress (robes, long shirts, long hair, etc.).

1) But if the specific style of dress may be hazardous or unsafe in the work setting (e.g., when operating machinery), a company could refuse to hire a person who would not adopt a safer dress code.

5. Balancing the “shoulds and should-nots” of complying with these laws often falls under the realm of affirmative action.

a) The organization not only refrains from discrimination but actively seeks to enhance the status of members from protected groups.

6. American managers are not completely free to choose whom they hire, promote, or fire.

B. Does HRM Face the Same Laws Globally? (PPT 6-8)

1. You need to know the laws and regulations that apply in your locale.

a) Canadian laws pertaining to HRM practices closely parallel those in the United States.

1) The Canadian Human Rights Act provides federal legislation that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion, age, marital status, sex, physical or mental disability, or national origin.

2) There is more decentralization of lawmaking to the provincial level in Canada.

b) In Mexico employees are more likely to be unionized than in the United States.

1) Labor matters in Mexico are governed by the Mexican Federal Labor Law.

2) An employer has 28 days to evaluate a new employee’s work performance and then the employee has job security—termination is difficult and expensive.

3) Infractions of the Mexican Federal Labor Law are subject to severe penalties, including criminal action.

c) Australia’s discrimination laws were not enacted until the 1980s.

1) Generally apply to discrimination and affirmative action for women.

2) A significant proportion of the work force is unionized.

3) The Workplace Relations Bill, passed in 1997, gives employers greater flexibility to negotiate directly with employees on pay, hours, and benefits and simplifies federal regulation of labor-management relations.

d) HRM practices in Germany are similar to those in most Western European countries.

1) Legislation requires companies to practice representative participation.

2) Goal of representative participation is to put labor on a more equal footing with the interests of management and stockholders.

(a) Work councils—groups of nominated or elected employees who must be consulted when management makes decisions involving personnel.

(b) Board representatives—employees who sit on a company’s board of directors and represent the interest of the firm’s employees.

III. EMPLOYMENT PLANNING

A. Defined (PPT 6-9)

1. Employment planning is the process by which management ensures that it has the right number and kinds of people in the right places at the right times, who are capable of effectively and efficiently completing those tasks that will help the organization achieve its overall objectives.

2. Employment planning translates the organizational mission and objectives into a personnel plan.

a) Assessing current human resources needs.

b) Addressing future human resources needs and developing a program to meet these needs.

B. How Does an Organization Conduct an Employee Assessment? (PPT 6-10)

1. Management begins by reviewing its current human resource status through a human resource inventory.

a) The input for this report is derived from forms completed by employees (e.g., name, education, training, prior employment, languages spoken, capabilities, specialized skills, etc.).

b) This inventory enables management to assess what talents and skills are currently available in the organization.

2. Another part of the current assessment is the job analysis.

a) Job analysis is more fundamental than an inventory and is a lengthy process, one in which work flows are analyzed and skills and behaviors that are necessary to perform jobs are identified. (PPT 6-11)

b) Ultimately, the purpose of job analysis is to determine the kinds of skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to successfully perform each job.

c) This information is then used to develop or revise job descriptions and job specifications.

3. A job description is a written statement of what a jobholder does, how it is done, and why.

a) It typically portrays job content, environment, and conditions of employment.

4. The job specification states the minimum qualifications that an incumbent must possess to perform a given job successfully. (PPT 6-11)

a) It identifies the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to do the job effectively.

5. Both are important documents for recruiting and selecting.

a) The job description can be used to describe the job to potential candidates.

b) The job specification keeps the manager’s attention on the list of qualifications necessary for an incumbent to perform a job, and assist in determining whether candidates are qualified.

C. How Are Future Employee Needs Determined?

1. Future human resources needs are determined by the organization’s strategic direction.

2. Demand for human resources is a result of demand for the organization’s products or services.

3. Using estimated total revenue, management can attempt to establish the number and mix of human resources needed to reach that revenue.

a) When particular skills are necessary and in scarce supply, the availability of satisfactory human resources determines revenues.

b) Example, upscale chain of assisted-living retirement facilities where revenues are limited by ability to locate and hire a qualified nursing staff to fully meet the needs of the residents.

4. In most cases, the overall organizational goals and the resulting revenue forecast provide the major input determining the organization’s human resources requirements.

5. After assessing current capabilities and future needs, a program can then be developed that matches these estimates with forecasts of future labor supply.

IV. RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION (PPT 6-12)

A. Introduction

1. Once managers know their current staffing levels—whether they are understaffed or overstaffed—they can begin to do something about it.

2. To fill vacancies, they use recruitment—the process of locating, identifying, and attracting capable applicants.

3. If employment planning indicates a surplus, management will want to reduce the labor supply and initiate downsizing or layoff activities.

B. Where Does a Manager Look to Recruit Candidates?

1. Candidates can be found by using several sources, including the World Wide Web.

a) See Exhibit 6-3. (PPT 6-13)

2. The source that is used should reflect the local labor market, the type or level of position, and the size of the organization.

3. Are certain recruiting sources better than others?

a) Employee referrals generally produce the best candidates.

(1) Applicants referred by current employees are prescreened by those employees.

(2) Current employees often make referrals when they are reasonably confident that the referral won’t make them look bad.

b) Employee referrals may not increase the diversity and mix of employees.

4. How does a manager handle layoffs?

a) Downsizing has become a relevant means of meeting the demands of a dynamic environment.

5. What are a manager’s downsizing options?

a) See Exhibit 6-4. (PPT 6-14)

b) Regardless of the method chosen, employees may suffer.

C. Is There a Basic Method of Selecting Job Candidates?

1. The selection process is a prediction exercise—it seeks to predict which applicants will be “successful” if hired.

2. Successful in this case means performing well on the criteria the organization uses to evaluate its employees.
3. Any selection decision can result in four possible outcomes. (See Exhibit 6-5.) (PPT 6-15)

4. A decision is correct when

a) the applicant was predicted to be successful (was accepted) and later proved to be successful on the job, or

b) the applicant was predicted to be unsuccessful (was rejected), and, if hired, would not have been able to do the job.

5. Problems occur, however, when we make reject errors or accept errors.

a) Reject errors occur when we reject candidates who, if hired, would have performed successfully on the job.

b) Reject errors can open the organization to charges of employment discrimination.

c) Accept errors occur when we accept those who subsequently perform poorly.

d) Accept errors cost the organization—training costs, costs generated or profits foregone because of the employee’s incompetence, the cost of severance, and subsequent costs of additional recruiting and selection screening.

6. Major thrust of any selection activity: reduce probability of making reject errors or accept errors while increasing the probability of making correct decisions.

7. What is reliability? (PPT 6-16)

a) Reliability addresses whether a selection device measures the same characteristic consistently.

b) If a test is reliable, an individual’s score should remain fairly stable over time, assuming that the characteristics it is measuring are also stable.

c) No selection device can be effective if it is low in reliability.

d) To be effective predictors, selection devices must possess an acceptable level of consistency.

8. What is validity? (PPT 6-16)

a) Any selection device that a manager uses where there is a proven relationship between the selection device used and some relevant measure.

b) The law prohibits management from using any selection device that cannot be shown to be directly related to successful job performance.

c) This constraint also applies to entrance tests. Management must be able to demonstrate that, once on the job, individuals with high scores on this test outperform individuals with low scores.

d) The burden is on management to verify that any selection device it uses to differentiate applicants is related to job performance.

D. How Effective Are Tests and Interviews as Selection Devices? (PPT 6-17)

1. Managers can use a number of selection devices to reduce accept and reject errors.

2. The best-known devices include written and performance-simulation tests, and interviews.

3. How do written tests serve a useful purpose?

a) Typical written tests include tests of intelligence, aptitude, ability, and interest.

b) Written tests were widely used for twenty years after World War II.

c) They fell into disfavor in the late 1960s, frequently characterized as discriminatory.

d) But, since the late 1980s, written tests have made a comeback; many of them are Internet-based.

1) Managers have become increasingly aware that poor hiring decisions are costly and properly designed tests reduce their likelihood.

2) The cost of developing and validating written tests for a specific job has come down.

e) Tests of intellectual ability, spatial and mechanical ability, perceptual accuracy, and motor ability are moderately valid predictors for many semiskilled and unskilled operative jobs.

f) An enduring criticism of written tests is that intelligence and other tested characteristics can be somewhat removed from the actual performance of the job itself.

4. What are performance-simulation tests?

a) Determine if an applicant can do a job by having him/her do it.

b) Based on job analysis data and therefore are more job related than written tests.

c) Performance-simulation tests are made up of actual job behaviors rather than substitutes.

d) The best-known performance-simulation tests are:

1) Work sampling—a miniature replica of the job.

(a) Suited to routine jobs.

2) Assessment centers—simulating real problems one may face on the job.

(a) For selecting managerial personnel.

e) The advantage of performance simulation over traditional testing methods—because content is essentially identical to job content, performance-simulation should be a better predictor of short-term job performance and should minimize potential employment discrimination allegations.

f) Well-constructed performance-simulation tests are valid predictors.

5. Is the interview effective?

a) The interview, along with the application form, is an almost universal selection device.

b) The value of the interview as a selection device has been the subject of considerable
debate.

Ethical Dilemma in Management
SUMMARY

Your interview day has finally arrived. The first few moments appear mundane enough. The questions to this point, in fact, seem easy. Your confidence is growing. Suddenly, the questions get tougher. Mrs. Wenslow leans back and asks about why you want to leave your current job. You explain—for personal reasons. Mrs. Wenslow begins to probe deeper. You explain, its due to conflict with your boss. Mrs. Wenslow challenges your reason and asks if you’re confident enough to make it in this company. You respond with an angry tone in your voice and fall victim to the stress interview.
Stress interviews are becoming more commonplace in today’s business. Interviewers want to observe how you’ll react when you are put under pressure. Those who demonstrate the resolve and strength to handle the stress indicate a level of professionalism and confidence. On the other hand, they are staged events. It’s possibly humiliating; at the very least it’s demeaning.

Questions
1. Should stress interviews be used?

2. Should human resources advocate their use?

3. What’s your opinion?

Teaching notes
1. Before opening this entire lecture, consider staging a stress interview in front of your class. Due to the touchiness of the process, you should stage the entire thing, including briefing the “candidate.”

2. Select a student from the class or a student assistant—someone you know fairly well.

3. Explain what you want to do, stage a stress interview in front of the class, and rehearse just a bit in your office so the student feels what it will be like.

4. At the beginning of class, announce that as you are going to be talking about selection you want to show students what an interview should look like. Explain that since you are looking for a student assistant anyway, you thought you’d interview one candidate in front of the class.

5. Introduce the student, begin the interview.

6. Follow the pattern in the vignette. As you enter the “stress” portion of the interview, raise its intensity and keep it going only to the level and length of making your point. This will be a highly stressful experience for the students.

7. End the interview, excuse the student, and ask the class to “critique” the interview.

 You may have to draw the students out, as they will be reluctant to criticize you.

 Make a list of the strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes of the students, for use in the discussion of the questions in the vignette.

8. Now reveal that this was a stress interview and ask and discuss the questions listed in the vignette.

 One caution. Be sure to emphasize several times during the discussion and at the end of the exercise that this was all staged and that you would NOT conduct an interview like this, regardless of the validity of the technique. Otherwise, you might not see any more of your students in your office for the rest of the semester! 

b) Interviews are reliable and valid selection tools when structured and well organized.

c) The typical interview often provides little in the way of valuable information.

d) All kinds of potential biases can creep into interviews. (PPT 6-18, 6-19)

1) Prior knowledge about the applicant will bias the interviewer’s evaluation.

2) The interviewer tends to hold a stereotype of what represents a “good” applicant.
3) The interviewer tends to favor applicants who share his/her own attitudes.

4) The order in which applicants are interviewed will influence evaluations.

5) The order in which information is elicited during the interview will influence evaluations.

6) Negative information is given unduly high weight.

7) Deciding on an applicant’s suitability within the first four or five minutes of the interview.

8) Forgetting much of the interview’s content within minutes of its conclusion.

9) Most valid in determining an applicant’s intelligence, level of motivation, and interpersonal skills.

10) Structured and well-organized interviews are more reliable.

e) Managers can make interviews more valid and reliable.

1) See Developing Your Interviewing Skill in this chapter’s Management Workshop
(page 222).

f) Behavioral or situational interviews are becoming more popular. (PPT 6-20)
1) Candidates are presented with a situation (which often involve role-playing) and interviewers look to see how the candidate behaves under stress.

2) Research in this area suggests behavioral interviews are nearly 8 times more effective for predicting successful job performance.

g) How can you close the deal?

1) Selling applicants on the job and only exposing positive characteristics may lead to a work force that is dissatisfied and prone to high turnover.

2) Every job applicant acquires a set of expectations about the company and the job.

3) Excessively inflated information can have negative effects on the company.

(a) Mismatched applicants are less likely to withdraw from the search process.

(b) Inflated information builds unrealistic expectations, quicker dissatisfaction.

h) A realistic job preview (RJP) includes both positive and negative information about the job and the company.

1) Applicants given a realistic job preview hold lower and more realistic job expectations.

2) The result is fewer unexpected resignations by new employees.

3) For managers, realistic job previews offer a major insight into the HRM process; retaining good people is as important as hiring them.

V. ORIENTATION, TRAINING, AND DEVELOPMENT

A. How Do We Introduce New Hires to the Organization? (PPT 6-21)

1. Once selected, the job candidate needs to be introduced to the job and organization— orientation.

2. The major objectives of orientation:

a) Reduce the initial anxiety.

b) Familiarize new employees with the job, the work unit, and the organization.

c) Facilitate the outsider-insider transition.

3. Job orientation expands on the information the employee obtained during recruitment and selection.

a) This is the time to clarify the new employee’s specific duties and responsibilities and to rectify any unrealistic expectations new employees might hold.

4. Work-unit orientation:

a) familiarizes the employee with the goals of the work unit.

b) makes clear how his/her job contributes to the unit’s goals.

c) provides introduction to his/her co-workers.

5. Organization orientation informs the new employee about the organization’s objectives, history, philosophy, procedures, and rules.

6. Should also include relevant personnel policies such as work hours, pay procedures, overtime requirements, and benefits, as well as a tour of the organization’s physical facilities.

7. Management has an obligation to make the integration of the new employee into the organization as smooth and as free of anxiety as possible.

B. What Is Employee Training? (PPT 6-22)

1. Employee training is a learning experience in that it seeks a relatively permanent change in employees such that their ability to perform on the job improves.

a) It involves changing skills, knowledge, attitudes, or behavior.
b) Determining training needs typically involves generating answers to several questions. (See Exhibit 6-6.) (PPT 6-23)

2. Warning signals indicating training may be necessary—decreases in production numbers, lower quality, more accidents, and higher scrap or rejection rates.

3. How are employees trained?

a) Most training takes place on the job.

1) On-the-job training (OJT) can disrupt the workplace and result in an increase in errors while learning.

2) Some skill training is too complex to learn on the job.

4. What are some of the typical methods used?

a) Two ways of classifying training are on the job and off the job.

b) See Exhibit 6-7 for typical training methods. (PPT 6-24)

5. How can managers ensure that training is working?

a) Measure results—evaluate the training program.

b) Training programs are typically evaluated by asking several managers, representatives from HRM, and a group of workers who have recently completed the program to provide their opinions.

1) The reactions of participants or managers, while easy to acquire, are the least valid.

2) Their opinions are heavily influenced by factors that may have little to do with the training’s effectiveness—difficulty, entertainment value, or the personality characteristics of the instructor.

3) Trainees’ reactions to the training may provide feedback on how worthwhile the participants viewed the training to be.

c) Training must also be evaluated in terms of how much the participants learned, whether their behavior changed, and whether the training program achieved its desired results.

VI. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

A. What Is a Performance Management System? (PPT 6-25)

1. A performance management system is a process of establishing performance standards and evaluating performance in order to arrive at objective human resources decisions as well as to provide documentation to support any personnel actions.

2. See Exhibit 6-8, performance appraisal methods. (PPT 6-29)

3. The written essay requires no complex forms or extensive training to complete.

a) A “good” or “bad” appraisal may be determined as much by the evaluator’s writing skill as by the employee’s actual level of performance.

4. The use of critical incidents focuses the evaluator’s attention on those critical or key behaviors that separate effective from ineffective job performance.

5. Adjective rating scales are one of the oldest and most popular methods of appraisal. (PPT 6-26)

a) This method lists a set of performance factors (e.g., quantity and quality of work, job knowledge, cooperation, loyalty, attendance, honesty, initiative).

b) The evaluator then goes down the list and rates each factor on an incremental scale.

6. Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS).

a) Combines the major elements from the critical incident and graphic rating scale.

b) The appraiser rates an employee according to items along a numerical scale, but the items are examples of actual behavior on a given job rather than general descriptions or traits.

7. The 360-degree appraisal seeks performance feedback from oneself, bosses, peers, team members, customers, etc. (PPT 6-26)

a) Used in approximately 90 percent of the Fortune 1000 firms.

8. Traditional performance evaluation systems may be archaic.

a) Due to downsizing, supervisors have greater work responsibility and more direct reports.

b) The growth of project teams and employee involvement places the responsibility of evaluation where people are better able to make an accurate assessment.

9. The 360-degree feedback process also has some positive benefits for development concerns.

a) Many managers simply do not know how their employees truly view them and the work they have done.

b) Research studies into the effectiveness of 360-degree performance appraisals report positive results from more accurate feedback, empowering employees, reducing the subjective factors in the evaluation process, and developing leadership in an organization.

10. Should we compare people with one another or against a set of standards?

a) Multi-person comparisons compare one person’s performance with that of others.

1) They are relative, not absolute, measuring devices.

b) The three most popular forms: group-order ranking, individual ranking, and paired
comparison. (PPT 6-27, 6-28)

c) The group order ranking.

1) The evaluator places all employees into a particular classification such as “top one-fifth,” “second fifth,” etc., including “bottom fifth.”

2) If a rater has 20 employees, only 4 can be in the top fifth and 4 must be relegated to the bottom fifth.

d) The individual ranking approach.

1) The evaluator merely lists the employees in order from highest to lowest.

2) Only one can be “best” and there can be no ties.

e) The paired comparison approach.

1) Each employee is compared with every other employee in the comparison group and rated as either the superior or weaker member of the pair.

2) Each employee is assigned a summary ranking based on the number of superior scores received.

3) This approach can become unwieldy with large numbers of employees.

11. Isn’t MBO an appraisal approach too? (PPT 6-28)

a) Introduced in Chapter 3.

b) MBO is also a mechanism for appraising performance.

c) Employees are evaluated by how well they accomplish a specific set of objectives that
have been determined to be critical in the successful completion of their jobs.
d) MBO’s popularity among managerial personnel is probably due to its focus on end goals.

1) Managers tend to emphasize such results-oriented outcomes as profit, sales, and costs.

e) This emphasis meshes with MBO’s concern with quantitative measures of performance and allows managers to choose the best path for achieving their goals.

12. Self Assessment #43 “How Good am I at Giving Performance Feedback?”

B. What Happens When Performance Falls Short? (PPT 6-30)

1. What if an employee is not performing in a satisfactory manner?

2. A manager needs to find out why.

a) If it is because the employee is mismatched (a hiring error), something relatively simple can be done.

b) If the problem is associated with the desire to do the job, it becomes a discipline problem.

1) A manager can rely on employee counseling and/or can take disciplinary action. (See Exhibit 6-9.) (PPT 6-31)

3. Employee counseling is a process designed to help employees overcome performance-related problems.

a) It attempts to uncover why employees have lost their desire to work productively.

b) It is designed to find ways to fix the problem.

c) The premise is fairly simple: it is beneficial to both the organization and the employee.

d) If the employee can’t or won’t accept help, then disciplinary action must be taken.

VII. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

A. How Are Pay Levels Determined? (PPT 6-32)

1. The goals of compensation administration are

a) to design a cost-effective pay structure that will attract and retain competent employees.

b) to provide an incentive for these individuals to exert high energy levels at work.

c) to ensure that pay levels will be perceived as fair by all employees.
1) Fairness means that the established pay levels are adequate and consistent for the demands and requirements of the job.

2. The primary determination of pay is the kind of job an employee performs.

a) Different jobs require different kinds and levels of skills, knowledge, and abilities, and these vary in their value to the organization as does the responsibility and authority of various positions.

3. Pay levels may be influenced by the kind of business, the environment surrounding the job, geographic location, and employee performance levels and seniority.

a) Private-sector jobs typically provide higher rates of pay than comparable positions in public and not-for-profit jobs.

b) Employees who work under hazardous conditions, work unusual hours, or work in geographic areas where the cost of living is higher, are typically more highly compensated.

c) Employees who have been with an organization for a long time may have had a salary increase each year.

4. The most important factor is management’s compensation philosophy.

a) Some organizations don’t pay employees any more than they have to.

b) Others commit to a compensation philosophy of paying at or above area wage levels.

B. Why Do Organizations Offer Employee Benefits? (PPT 6-33)

1. When an organization designs its overall compensation package, it has to take into account another element, employee benefits.

2. Employee benefits are nonfinancial rewards that are designed to enrich employees’ lives.

a) Once viewed as “fringes,” today’s benefit packages reflect a considered effort to provide something that each employee values.

3. The benefits offered by an organization will vary widely in scope.

4. Most are required to provide social security and workers’ and unemployment compensations.

5. Organizations also provide an array of benefits, such as paid time off from work, life and disability insurance, retirement programs, health insurance, etc.

a) Costs of some of these, such as retirement and health insurance benefits, are frequently paid by both the employer and the employee.

VIII. CURRENT ISSUES IN HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

A. How Can Work Force Diversity Be Managed? (PPT 6-34)

1. Consider how work force diversity affects recruitment, selection, and orientation.

2. Improving work force diversity requires managers to widen their recruiting net.

a) To increase diversity, managers must increasingly turn to non-traditional sources such as women’s job networks, over-50 clubs, urban job banks, disabled people’s training centers, ethnic newspapers, and gay rights organizations.

3. Once a diverse set of applicants exists, efforts must be made to ensure that the selection process does not discriminate.

a) Applicants need to be made comfortable with the organization’s culture and be made aware of management’s desire to accommodate their needs.

4. Orientation is often difficult for women and minorities.

a) Many organizations provide special workshops to raise diversity consciousness among current employees as well as programs for new employees that focus on diversity issues.

b) The thrust of these efforts is to increase individual understanding of differences.

c) A number of companies also have special mentoring programs for female and minority managers who have few role models.

B. What Is Sexual Harassment? (PPT 6-35, 6-36)

1. Sexual harassment is a serious issue in both public and private sector organizations.

a) More than 15,000 complaints are filed with the EEOC each year.

b) It is estimated that more than 20 percent of the women and 7 percent of the men working in today’s organizations have reported being sexually harassed.

c) Sexual harassment is estimated to be the single biggest financial risk facing companies today—and result in upwards of a 30-percent decrease in a company’s stock price.

1) Mitsubishi paid out more than $34 million to 300 women because of sexual harassment.

2) Results in millions lost in absenteeism, low productivity, and turnover.

d) Sexual harassment is a global issue.

2. Sexual harassment is defined as any unwanted activity of a sexual nature that affects an individual’s employment.

a) It can occur between members of the opposite or of the same sex.

b) It can occur between employees of the organization or involve an employee and a non-employee.

c) Such an activity was generally protected under Title VII (sex discrimination) in the United States.

d) In recent years, this problem has gained more recognition.

3. Much of the problem is defining what constitutes this illegal behavior.

4. In 1993, the EEOC cited three situations in which sexual harassment can occur where there are instances of verbal or physical conduct toward an individual.

a) Creates an intimidating, offensive, or hostile environment;

b) Unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work; or

c) Adversely affects an employee’s employment opportunities.

5. For many organizations, it’s the offensive or hostile environment issue that is problematic.

6. The Supreme Court case of Meritor Savings Bank vs. Vinson supported the hostile environment concept; it also identified employer liability.

a) An organization can be held liable for sexual harassment actions by its managers, employees, and even customers!

7. How do organizational members determine if something is offensive?

a) It depends on the people in the organization and the environment in which they work.

b) We all must be attuned to what makes fellow employees uncomfortable—and if we don’t know, then we should find out!

1) This means understanding one another and respecting others’ rights.

8. What can a company do to protect itself?

9. The courts want to know two things:

a) Did the organization know about, or should it have known about, the alleged behavior?
b) What did management do to stop it?

10. In 1993, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc. that victims do not have to suffer substantial mental distress to receive a jury award.

11. In June 1998, the Supreme Court ruled that sexual harassment may have occurred even if the employee had not experienced any “negative” job repercussions.

a) Case of Kimberly Ellerth, a marketing assistant at Burlington Industries.

b) What the Supreme Court’s decision in this case indicates is that “harassment is defined by the ugly behavior of the manager, not by what happened to the worker subsequently.”

12. Whenever involved in a sexual harassment matter, the harasser may have rights, too.

a) No action should be taken against someone until a thorough investigation has been conducted.

b) The results of the investigation should be reviewed by an independent and objective individual before any action against the alleged harasser is taken.

c) The harasser should be given an opportunity to respond to the allegation, and have a disciplinary hearing if desired.

d) An avenue for appeal should also exist for the alleged harasser—an appeal heard by someone in a higher level of management who is not associated with the case.

C. Can Unions and Management Cooperate? (PPT 6-37)

1. Historically, the relationship between a labor union and management has been based on conflict.

2. Times have changed somewhat.

a) Management has become increasingly aware that successful efforts to increase productivity, improve quality, and lower costs require employee involvement and commitment.

b) Some labor unions have come to recognize that they can help their members more by cooperating with management rather than fighting it.

3. Current U.S. labor laws may have been a barrier to both parties becoming cooperative partners.

a) As a case in point, the National Labor Relations Act was passed to encourage collective bargaining and to balance workers’ power against that of management.

b) It also sought to eliminate the then widespread practice of firms setting up company unions to undermine the efforts of outside unions to organize their employees.

c) So the law prohibits employers from creating or supporting a “labor organization.”

d) Ironically, labor laws—like the National Labor Relations Act—may have also presented a minor roadblock to management and labor cooperation in setting up employee committees.

4. The current legal environment doesn’t prohibit employee-involvement programs in the United States.

a) To comply with the law, employee-involvement programs must have independence.

b) What kinds of actions would indicate that management does not dominate an employee-involvement program?

1) Choosing program members through secret ballot elections.

2) Giving program members wide latitude in deciding what issues to deal with.

3) Permitting members to meet apart from management.

4) Specifying that program members are not susceptible to dissolution by management whim.

5. The key theme that labor laws appear to be conveying is that where employee involvement programs are introduced, members must have the power to make decisions and act independently of management.

D. Can Managers Prevent Workplace Violence? (PPT 6-38)

1. Today a much greater emphasis is being placed on the increasing violence that has erupted on the job.

a) More than 1000 employees are murdered, and more than 1.5 million employees are assaulted on the job each year.

b) Homicide has become the number two cause of work-related death in the United States.

2. Two factors have contributed greatly to this—domestic violence and disgruntled employees.
3. Because circumstances of each incident are different, a specific plan of action for companies to follow is difficult to detail.

a) First, the organization must develop a plan to deal with the issue.

b) Organizations can review all corporate policies to ensure they are not adversely affecting employees.

c) Organizations can assure that all employees are treated with respect and dignity.

d) Organizations must also train their supervisory personnel to identify troubled employees before the problem results in violence.

1) Employee assistance programs (EAPs) can be designed specifically to help these individuals.

e) Organizations should also implement stronger security mechanisms.

4. Organizations must be prepared to deal with the situation and to offer whatever assistance they can to deal with the aftermath.

E. How Do “Survivors” Respond to Layoffs? (PPT 6-39)

1. Many organizations have done a fairly good job of helping layoff victims by offering a variety of job-help services, psychological counseling, support groups, severance pay, extended health insurance benefits, and detailed communications.

2. Although some affected individuals react very negatively to being laid off, the assistance offered reveals that the organization does care about its former employees.

3. Unfortunately, little is done for those who retain their jobs and have the task of keeping the organization going or even of revitalizing it.

4. Both victims and survivors experience feelings of frustration, anxiety, and loss.

5. A new syndrome: layoff-survivor sickness.

a) It is a set of attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors of employees who survive involuntary staff reductions.

b) Symptoms include job insecurity, perceptions of unfairness, guilt, depression, stress from increased workload, fear of change, loss of loyalty and commitment, reduced effort, and an unwillingness to do anything beyond the required minimum.
6. Managers may want to provide opportunities for employees to talk to counselors about their guilt, anger, and anxiety.

7. Group discussions can also provide an opportunity for the survivors to vent their feelings.

8. Every attempt should be made to ensure that those individuals who are still working in the organization know that they are valuable and much-needed resources.

Review, Comprehension, Application
Chapter Summary

1. The human resources management process seeks to staff the organization and to sustain high employee performance through its various functions.

2. Since the mid-1960s, the U.S. government has greatly expanded its influence over HRM decisions by enacting new laws and regulations.

3. A job description is a written statement of what a job holder does, how it is done, and why it is done. A job specification states the minimum acceptable qualifications that a potential employee must possess to successfully perform a given job.

4. Recruitment seeks to develop a pool of potential job candidates. Typical sources include an internal search, advertisements, employee referrals, employment agencies, school placement centers, and temporary services. Downsizing typically reduces the labor supply within an organization through options such as firing, layoffs, attrition, transfers, reduced workweeks, early retirements, and job sharing.

5. All HRM decisions must be based on factors or criteria that are both reliable and valid. If a selection device is not reliable, then it cannot be assumed to measure consistently. If a device is not valid, then no proven relationship exists between the criterion and successful job performance.

6. Selection devices must match the job in question. Work sampling works best with low-level jobs; assessment centers work best for managerial positions. The validity of the interview as a selection device increases at progressively higher levels of management.

7. Employee training can be on the job or off the job. Popular on-the-job methods include job rotation, understudying, and apprenticeships. The more popular off-the-job methods are lectures, films, and simulation exercises.

8. Managers can use several techniques in evaluating employee performance, such as comparing employee performance against some set performance standard, comparing employees with one another, or measuring performance on the basis of preset objectives. One of the newer performance evaluation methods used in contemporary organizations is the 360-degree evaluation, whereby an employee is evaluated by bosses, peers, direct reports, if any, and possibly customers.

9. Compensation administration attempts to ensure that pay levels will be perceived as fair by all employees. Fairness means that the established levels of pay are adequate and consistent for the demands and requirements of the job. Therefore, the primary determination of pay is the kind of job an employee performs.

10. Sexual harassment encompasses sexually suggestive remarks, unwanted touching and sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal and physical conduct of a sexual nature. Labor-management cooperation involves mutual efforts on the part of a labor union and the management of an organization. Workplace violence refers to the increase in violent crimes being committed at the work site. The layoff-survivor sickness is the set of attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors of employees who remain after involuntary staff reductions.

Companion Website
We invite you to visit the Robbins/DeCenzo Companion Website at www.prenhall.com/robbins for the chapter quiz and student PowerPoints.

OneKey Online Courses
We invite you to visit www.prenhall.com/onekey for the part-ending ethics scenarios, diversity exercises, and learning modules.

 Enhancing your Skill in Ethical Decision Making
New to this edition is an online interactive feature designed to give students experience in making management decisions about hypothetical yet realistic ethical issues. Introductory paragraphs at the ends of Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 provide background about the company (Boeing) and set up the situation for each set of exercises. After they have studied the chapters in each part, have students log onto www.prenhall.com/onekey and work through the two multiple choice questions and two short-essay questions. You may want to hold classroom debates, assign students to conduct role-plays, or have students work in teams to explore the decision alternatives involved in some of these ethical challenges.

 Diversity Perspectives: Communication and Interpersonal Skills, by Carol Harvey and June Allard
1. Why was Melanie’s perception of her performance in regard to the diversity-training program so different from the CEO’s?
From her perspective she had provided a training opportunity in a cost effective and timely manner. However, the CEO realized that her training program was ineffective because it was not compatible with the organization’s growth strategy, which was making the company’s workforce increasingly diverse. However, he should have brought this issue to her attention as soon as he became aware of the problem rather than waiting until her annual appraisal.

2. Assume that you are an outside consultant who has been given the task of creating a new diversity-training program for Columbia. What is your assessment of the problems with the existing plan?
When an organization substantially increases the diversity of its workforce, systemic changes in the way that the organization manages its employees are often necessary. Training alone, especially a passive training method such as watching a video, will not necessarily resolve differences in perspectives. In addition, many workers did not speak English as a first language and may not have totally understood the film. Changing employee attitudes and behaviors around diversity requires a more comprehensive training program that is developed to meet the particular needs of the organization.
Currently, only the new hourly workers are receiving the training. After a new training program is developed, all members of the workforce, from the CEO on down need to participate in the program. Lastly, if Melanie developed a feedback system to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program in the beginning, she would have been aware that it was not working long before her performance appraisal.

Reading for Comprehension
1. How does HRM affect all managers?
Answer – The quality of an organization is determined by the quality of people it employs. Staffing and human resources management decisions and methods are critical to ensuring that the organization hires and keeps the right personnel. Many small business managers must do their own hiring without the assistance of HRM. Managers in larger organizations are frequently involved in HRM activities.

2. Contrast reject errors and accept errors. Which one is most likely to open an employer to charges of discrimination? Why?
Answer – Reject errors can open the organization to charges of employment discrimination because acceptable candidates are rejected prematurely or inappropriately. Accept errors cost the organization—training costs, profits foregone because of the employee’s incompetence, the cost of severance, etc. These errors exist when the wrong candidate is hired.

3. What are the major problems of the interview as a selection device?
Answer – The interview, along with the application form, is an almost universal selection device. The value of the interview as a selection device has been the subject of considerable debate. Interviews can be reliable and valid selection tools when structured and well organized, and when interviewers hold to common questions.

But the typical interview often provides little in the way of valuable information. All kinds of potential biases can creep into interviews.
• Prior knowledge about the applicant will bias the interviewer’s evaluation.
• The interviewer tends to hold a stereotype of what represents a “good” applicant.
• The interviewer tends to favor applicants who share his/her attitudes.
• The order in which applicants are interviewed will influence evaluations.
• The order in which information is elicited during the interview will influence evaluations.
• Negative information is given unduly high weight.
• The interviewer may make a decision concerning the applicant’s suitability within the first four or five minutes of the interview.
• The interviewer may forget much of the interview’s content within minutes of its conclusion.
• The interview is most valid in determining an applicant’s intelligence, level of motivation, and interpersonal skills.
• Structured and well-organized interviews are more reliable than unstructured and unorganized ones.

4. What is the relationship between selection, recruitment, and job analysis?
Answer – Job analysis is more fundamental than an inventory and is a lengthy process, one in which work flows are analyzed and behaviors that are necessary to perform jobs are identified. Ultimately, the purpose of job analysis is to determine the kinds of skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to successfully perform each job. This information is then used to develop job descriptions and job specifications. The job description can be used to describe the job to potential candidates. The job specification keeps the manager’s attention on the list of qualifications necessary for an incumbent to perform a job and qualifying candidates.

5. How are orientation and employee training alike? How are they different?
Answer – Once selected, the job candidate needs to be introduced to the job and organization. Job orientation expands on the information the employee obtained during the recruitment. The major objectives of orientation are
• Reduce the initial anxiety.
• Familiarize new employees with the job, the work unit, and the organization.
• Facilitate the outsider-insider transition.

Employee training is a learning experience in that it seeks a relatively permanent change in employees such that their ability to perform on the job improves. It involves changing skills, knowledge, attitudes, or behavior. Determining training needs typically involves generating answers to several questions. See Exhibit 6-6.

6. What can managers do to help prevent workplace violence?
Answer – Even though the circumstances of each incidence of workplace violence may be different, making it difficult for companies to detail a specific plan, managers can help develop a plan to deal with workplace violence. Managers can also review all corporate policies to ensure they are not adversely affecting employees and can assure that all employees are treated with respect and dignity. Managers can also request to receive training in how to identify troubled employees before the problem results in violence. Managers can be familiar with employee assistance programs (EAPs) that may be available to help these individuals. Finally, managers can work to see that stronger security mechanisms are implemented to screen people who don’t belong on company premises.

Linking Concepts to Practice
1. Should an employer have the right to choose employees without government interference in the hiring process? Explain your position.
Answer – Students’ positions will vary. They should seek a balance in their answer. While no businessperson likes someone from the “outside” telling him/her what to do, the reality is that the government interference “balances” the power relationship between an employer and a job candidate.

2. Do you think there are moral limits on how far a prospective employer should delve into an applicant’s life by means of interviews, tests, and background investigations? Explain your position.
Answer – This will be a touchy issue. Most students will probably feel their private lives are their own business. A few will not. Key here is discussing the relationship between nonwork-related behaviors having an impact on work. For example, if someone has an alcohol or drug problem, even if it isn’t practiced on the job, can it, will it eventually impact their job performance? Probably.

3. What in your view constitutes sexual harassment? Describe how companies can minimize sexual harassment in the workplace?
Answer – Sexual harassment is a serious issue in both public and private sector organizations. It is defined as any unwanted activity of a sexual nature that affects an individual’s employment. It can occur between members of the opposite or of the same sex. A workplace environment that is free from sexual harassment is generally guaranteed under employment discrimination laws.

The EEOC cites three situations in which sexual harassment can occur. These are instances where verbal or physical conduct toward an individual (1) creates an intimidating, offensive, or hostile environment; (2) unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work; or (3) adversely affects an employee’s employment opportunities. For many organizations, it’s the offensive or hostile environment issue that is problematic.

A company can do some things to protect itself. The courts want to know two things—did the organization know about, or should it have known about, the alleged behavior; and what did management do to stop it? Therefore the organization needs to educate all employees on sexual harassment matters and have mechanisms available to monitor employees.

4. Why should managers be concerned with diversity in the workplace? What special HRM issues does diversity raise?
Answer – Society and the work force are becoming more diverse, therefore the labor pool and future workers are going to be more diverse. In order to be humane and effective, managers need to be conscious of these changes. Improving work force diversity requires managers to widen their recruiting net. Managers increasingly must turn to nontraditional sources.

Once a diverse set of applicants exists, efforts must be made to ensure that the selection process does not discriminate. Applicants need to be made comfortable with the organization’s culture and be made aware of management’s desire to accommodate. Orientation is often difficult for women and minorities. A number of companies also have special mentoring programs to deal with the reality that lower-level female and minority managers have few role models with whom to identify.

5. Victims of downsizing are not those employees who were let go. Rather, the victims are the ones who have kept their jobs. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Defend your position.
Answer – Students can have a variety of responses, but they should consider the validity of this statement. Both victims and survivors experience feelings of frustration, anxiety, and loss.
There is a lot of trauma to downsizing and “survivors” share it. They may ask themselves why they weren’t cut, when will the next cut take place, will they get caught in that one—after all the others have taken the available jobs in the marketplace as well.
A new syndrome layoff-survivor sickness. It is a set of attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors of employees who remain after involuntary employee reductions. Symptoms include job insecurity, perceptions of unfairness, guilt, depression, stress from increased workloads, fear of change, loss of loyalty and commitment, reduced effort, and an unwillingness to do anything beyond the required minimum. Managers may want to provide opportunities for employees to talk to counselors about their guilt, anger, and anxiety. Group discussions can also provide an opportunity for the “survivors” to vent their feelings.

6. Workplace violence is indicative of the violence that exists in our society. Accordingly, no amount of prevention can eliminate all workplace violence occurrences. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain.
Answer – A much greater emphasis today is being placed on the increasing workplace violence. Two factors have contributed greatly to this—domestic violence and disgruntled employees. Companies can reduce workplace violence and reduce their liability.
• First, the organization must develop a plan to deal with the issue.
• Organizations must also train their management personnel to identify troubled employees before the problem results in violence.
• Employee assistance programs (EAPs) can be designed specifically to help these individuals.
• Organizations should also implement stronger security mechanisms.
• Organization must be prepared to deal with the situation.

Management Workshop
Team Skill-Building Exercise
Laying Off Workers

Every manager, at some point in his or her career, is likely to be faced with the difficult task of laying off employees. Assume that you are the manager in the internal auditing department of a 4,500-member corporation. You have been notified by top management that you must permanently reduce your staff by two individuals. Below are some data about your five employees.

Objective: To increase student understanding of the difficult task of managing laying off employees.

Time: 50 minutes.

Instructions:
1. The students are to assume the role of the manager in the accounting department of a large firm.

2. Place some students
• in groups of three to five.
• allow other students to make their decisions individually.

3. The student must lay off two of his/her five staff.

4. Students should begin by deciding on criteria for a layoff.
• You can have each student develop his/her own.
• The class could brainstorm criteria.

5. Whichever method you use, consider having students justify and defend their criteria in a class discussion.
• Helping students think through their reasons can be as valuable as making the decision itself.

6. Once students choose their criteria, they should individually read the data about the five employees and make their choices.

Employee data:
1. Emma Connor: African-American female, age 32, employed with your company for five years, all in the accounting department, and her evaluations over the past three years have been outstanding, above average, and outstanding. Emma has an MBA from a top-25 business school. Has been on short-term disability due to birth of her second child; scheduled to return in 20 weeks.

2. Ron Johnson: White male, age 49, recent hire four months ago, has eleven years of experience in the company in Payroll. Has an associate’s degree in business administration and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting. Is a CPA. Evaluations over the past three years have been average but saved the company $150,000 on a suggestion he made regarding electronic time sheets.

3. Jose Hernandez: Hispanic male, age 31, has been with the company almost four years, his evaluations over the past three years in your department have been outstanding. He is committed to getting the job done and devoting whatever it takes and has shown initiative. He took job assignments no one else wanted and even recovered a number of overdue and uncollected accounts you had thought should be written off as uncollectable.

4. Julie Sapp: White female, age 35, employed with your company seven years, four years ago she was disabled while traveling on business to a customer’s location and is wheelchair-bound. Rumors indicate she is about to receive several million dollars from the insurance of the driver that hit her. Performance during the past two years has been above average. Has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and specializes in computer information systems.

5. Bobby Hayden: African-American male, age 43, just completed his joint masters’ degree in taxation and law, recently passed the bar exam, and has been with your department the past four years. His evaluations have been good to above-average. Five years ago, Bobby won a lawsuit against your company for discriminating against him in a promotion to a supervisory position. Rumors indicate Bobby is actively pursuing another job outside the company.

Instructions – (continued)
1. Students should offer a layoff recommendation.

2. They may offer an alternative to layoffs.

3. They need to defend their decisions on the basis of their criteria, the humanity of the decision, and its legality.

4. They should offer how they would assist the two individuals who have been let go.

5. They should have a plan for dealing with the remaining three employees.

6. At the end of the exercise, discuss the impact of doing this as an individual versus making a group decision. How did the group choose?

Understanding Yourself
Before you can develop other people, you must understand your present strengths. To assist in this learning process, we encourage you to complete the following self-assessments from the Prentice-Hall Self-Assessment Library 3.0:

 Am I Experiencing Work/Family Conflict? (#46)

 How Good am I at Giving Performance Feedback? (#43) (Also available in this chapter, pp. 209)

After you complete these assessments, we suggest that you print out the results and store them as part of your “portfolio of learning.”

Developing Your Interviewing Skill
Every manager needs to develop his or her skills at interviewing. Here are the key behaviors involved.

Steps in Practicing the Skill
1. Review the job description and job specification.

2. Prepare a structured set of questions you want to ask all applicants for the job.

3. Before meeting a candidate, review his or her application form and resume.

4. Open the interview by putting the applicant at ease and by providing a brief preview of the topics to be discussed.

5. Ask your questions and listen carefully to the applicant’s answers.

6. Close the interview by telling the applicant what is going to happen next.

7. Write your evaluation of the applicant while the interview is still fresh in your mind.

Practicing the Skill - Interviewing
1. Review and update your resume.

2. Then have several friends critique it who are employed in management-level positions or in management-training programs.

3. Ask them to explain their comments, and make any changes to your resume that they think will improve it.

4. Now inventory your interpersonal and technical skills and any practical experiences that do not show up in your resume.

5. Draft a set of leading questions that you would like to be asked in an interview that would give you a chance to discuss the unique qualities and attributes you could bring to the job.

Developing Your Diagnostic and Analytical Skills
The Benefits of Benefits
For some people, benefits are critical to whether they take and keep a job. Patsy Sechrest is in her 28th year as an employee at a Hardee’s restaurant outside High Point, NC, and works over 50 hrs per week for $8.50/hr. Sechrest, like many others over 50 years of age continue to work simply because they need the money and the health benefits that working provides.
Sechrest makes just over $20,000 annually and receives health insurance. She needs this health insurance, as she is dealing with health ailments post-triple bypass surgery that require monthly physician visits and prescription medicines. Even with her health insurance, Sechrest pays $600 month in co-pays for her office visits and prescriptions (which she must have to stay alive!)
Patty Sechrest is not bitter at the hand she’s been dealt, but rather she is thankful that Hardee’s has provided a paying job and health insurance. And she plans on hanging on to both as long as she can!

Questions:
1. How do benefits, such as those that Hardee’s provides, assist organizations in competing for and retaining employees?
Answer – With the rising costs of health insurance, a low wage company such as Hardee’s could have a competitive advantage over its competitors (in recruiting) by offering health insurance. For many workers, health insurance would not be affordable if they were paying it themselves, and so they would drawn to working for a company that offers it. Similarly, it would assist in retention in the same fashion---employees would not be able to afford to leave and go to a competing organization that does not offer health insurance.
2. Do you believe employee benefits should be membership based (you get them simply because you work for the company) or performance based (you earn them)? Defend your position.
Answer – Student opinions will differ on this largely along political lines. Those who believe it is an organization’s role to take care of its employees in ways that society doesn’t will see benefits as an entitlement that everyone working for the organization should be entitled to. Those who are very Darwinian and meritocracy based may feel benefits should be a reward, and therefore be performance based.
3. Do you believe providing health insurance for employees is a competitive necessity or a socially responsible action by the organization? Defend your position.
Answer – Again, student answers will vary on this. This is always a great question and gets students worked up and involved. Many students feel that organizations have a responsibility to society to provide for its workers, while others will feel that organizations should offer benefits for the good of the organization, as it can be an effective mechanism for recruiting and retaining employees.

Enhancing Your Communication Skills
1. Visit you campus career center and make an appointment with a career counselor. During your meeting, ask the counselor for advice about how to succeed in interviews. Focus specifically on the kinds of things campus recruiters are looking for today, how you should prepare for the interview, and what kinds of questions you can expect in the interview. Once your appointment is completed, provide a 3-5 page summary of the interview, highlighting how the information can be useful for you in a future job search.

2. College faculty are frequently evaluated by their peers, their department chair, their students, and oftentimes, other academic administrators. Do you believe this process is reflective of a 360-degree appraisal? Discuss and support your position. Are there other constituents that you believe should be part of a faculty member’s appraisal. Explain.

3. Go to the EEOC’s Website at www.eeoc.gov. Research the procedure one must follow to file an EEOC charge. Also, review the sexual harassment data and summary statistics that the EEOC collects. Ascertain the number of cases filed during the past three years for which data has been kept, how many cases were settled, and the amount of the monetary benefits awarded.

Team Exercises Based on Chapter Material

1. Break the class up into random groups of 5. Assign each group a difference performance management technique from Exhibit 6-8 on page 207 and tell the group to create a manual of instructions of how you should use that technique to evaluate students in your class. They must include the pros and cons of you adopting that technique. Give the groups 25 minutes to create the instructions and then have them present their conclusions to you in front of the class. Once all the presentations are made, have the class vote on which technique they feel would be best for you to utilize next semester in class.

2. Break the students into groups of 5 and ask them to decide on one company they’d like to learn more about (3-5 minutes). Then, have them identify an entry level position one of them or their peers would be eligible for upon graduation (e.g., Jr. accountant, Jr. consultant, HR representative). (3-5 minutes) Then, send them off for 30 minutes to find out how their company handles training for that position. Tell them they can go anywhere on campus, use their telephones, etc. but that they must come back with a description of training offered to someone in that position (e.g. on the job, off the job, rotation, lectures, videos, etc).

When the groups return to class, have them present their findings to the class. Then, ask the class which jobs and companies seem most appealing and why. Ask them how training and development can aid in recruitment and selection? Retention?

3. Break the class into random groups. Give each group one of the following scenarios, and ask them to determine the steps the focal individual should follow to handle their given situation. Tell them they can leave the classroom to get information to aid in their decision.
Ask them to think about a) what they’d probably do and why and b) what they’re likely to be legally able to do.

Give them 30 minutes to determine their solution. Then have the groups reconvene and share their scenarios and solution with the class.

Scenarios: (1 per group)
a. Your professor asks you to stop by his office after class. You do, and are uncomfortable when he puts his hand on your knee once you sit down in his office. He then says to you “I love to go camping but have nobody to go with…if you’d like to go, we could work together on your paper that’s due for me next week.”
b. You tend bar on weekends to help pay for school. You are the only male that works in the organization, and all the women there consistently talk about how “hot” you are and how they’d like to set you up with their friend. There aren’t many jobs around and you really need the money for tuition.
c. You are in a job interview, and the recruiter says “I see from your ring that you’re married. Are you planning on starting a family soon?.”
d. You’re on a consulting job, and the client asks you your age.
e. You apply for a job, and are not chosen for the position. Your friend gets the job. The employer tells your friend (not knowing you are friends) that you were a great candidate, but were just too young.
f. You blow a big job. Your boss yells at you, calls you stupid, and tells you you’d better shape up and watch your back because she’ll be watching you.

All of the scenarios above indicate a potentially hostile work environment and/or discrimination--- and the organization could potentially be liable if they don’t address or correct the situation. However, these scenarios will bring up the difficulties associated with taking action—the personal risks, the dependency issues a victim faces, etc. They bring up a perfect opportunity to describe the systemic nature of these offenses and why culture and clear statements of norms, etc. are necessary.

Source: http://www.aui.ma/personal/~O.Elhalimi/fom5_im06.doc

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Human resource management summary

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