Chapter One

Question 1

1. The role of Human Resources in the 21st century organization (Chapter 1)

Answer 1

HR Role - forecasting labor trends, designing new ways to acquire new employees, measure effectiveness, help managers enter new markets
Also
Re engineering - redesign in a company to improve cost, quality, service, and speed.
downsizing - eliminate jobs
outsourcing - contract out work
change management - easy.

Question 2

Reactive Changes
vs
Proactive changes

Answer 2

changes occur after something has already happened

Change initiated to take advantage of targeted opportunities

Question 3

Employer-Employee Contract: Then and Now

Answer 3

THEN: Pre-1990’s
Secure career
Predictable raises
Loyalty valued
Career development a company responsibility; paternalism
Entire career might be spent at one company

1990’s-2010
“New employment contract”
Employees as freelancers (i.e., expenses); high job mobility
Career development an employee responsibility
Rewards: More challenging jobs; pay for performance
Loyalty seen as a negative

NOW:
	“Sustainable HR”
	Employees as assets, not expenses
	Employer wants long-term (not just short-term) inputs
	Renewed focus on loyalty
	Increased job security and benefits
	Annual career interest assessments
	Development a partnership

Question 4

HR – Then and Now

Answer 4

20th Century HR
	Isolated (physically and structurally)
	Low status: seen as barrier by functional managers
	Little role in strategy and planning
	Little role in employee development
	Manual record-keeping

21st Century HR
A key member of senior strategy team
A source of information on marketplace changes
Important role in sourcing, motivating, training, promoting, and replacing employees
Employees viewed as a strategic asset: “human capital”
HRIS

Question 5

HRM Framework

Answer 5

Competitive Challenges
	Marketplace changes
	Economic cycles
	Technology 
	Globalization
	Diversity
	Cost control

HR Roles 
	Planning
	Recruiting
	Staffing
	Job design
	Training
	Compensation
	Benefits
	Appraisal
	Labour relations

Employee Issues
	Job security
	Health care
	Generational issues
	Gender issues
	Employee rights
	Privacy
	Family issues
	Retirement

Question 6

Competitive Challenges and HRM (6)

Answer 6

Responding strategically to market changes

Recruiting and staffing globally

Technology in HRM

Balancing employee retention and cost containment

CSR and Sustainabilty

Diversity (age, immigration, education)

Question 7

Technology and HRM: The HRIS

Answer 7

Tracks talent

Allows functional managers to search online for internal talent

Captures information from job recruiting sites

Scans submitted resumes

Tracks employees’ goals (and allows individual employees to track their progress)

Reduces functional silos: skill sets not needed in one area may be need in another area

Aids in succession planning: who is retiring, and when

Question 8

Cost Containment Options

Answer 8

Downsizing (laying off employees)

Furloughing (temporary layoff)

Offshoring
(contracting work out to different countries)

Emp. Leasing (sharing an employee on contractual basis with another company for certain work)

Outsourcing(contracting work out)

Productivity(giving employees less hours)

Question 9

Diversity: Age Distribution

Answer 9

Pre-Boomers (to 1945)

Boomers
(1946-1964)

Gen X (1965-1979)

Gen Y (1980-1999)

Gen Z (2000+)

Question 10

Cultural Shifts

Answer 10

Education

North America is a “knowledge economy”

Bachelor’s degree worth approx. $1 million over the course of a career

Changes in job creation

Nearly 50% of all jobs created in last 20 years have been part-time, temporary, or contract

Self-employment is also increasing

Changing attitudes toward work

Balance important to Gen Y

Four-day work weeks

Telecommuting

Question 11

Important Competencies of HR Managers

Answer 11

Business knowledge

HR Competency (recruitment and selection, appraisal, training, etc.)

Change mastery

Personal credibility: ethics, internal relationships

Question 12

Responsibilities of the HR Manager

Answer 12

Advice and decision support

Service: testing, training, technical expertise)

HR policy formulation, implementation, and tracking

Employee advocacy: balance organizational interests and interests of individual employees

Question 13

Human Capital

Line manager

Knowledge workers

Answer 13

knowledge, skills, capabilities of individuals that have economic value to an organization

NON- hr manager whom is responsible for overseeing the work of other employees

Workers whose responsibility extends beyond the physical execution of work to include planning, decision making, and problem solving

Question 14

2. Responsibilities of the modern HR Department (Recruiting and Selection, Training, etc.) (Chapter 1)

Answer 14

• corporate social responsibility
• advice and counsel : in house consultant to supervisors, with their knowledge of internal employment issues and external trends their can be valuable in making decisions
• Service: host for service activities, hearing employee concerns, complaints( recruiting, selecting, training), help increase productivity
  Policy formulation : draft policies to address recurring problems or to prevent anticipated policies
  Employee advocacy: listening to employee concerns and representing their needs to managers

Question 15

3. Required skills of HR managers (Chapter 1)

Answer 15

Planning
	Recruiting
	Staffing
	Job design
	Training
	Compensation
	Benefits
	Appraisal
	Labour relations

Question 16

6. Technology and HRM (what? how used?) (Chapter 1)

Answer 16

Collaborative software: workers anywhere, anytime can interface and share info with each other electronically
social media networking
Knowledge workers: increase jobs that require lots of skill, expands employee responsibilities(planning, decision making)
HIRS : system that holds data for purpose of control and decision making,potent weapon for lowering costs, automating routine activities
- Uses? automating payroll processing , maintining employee records, adminstering benefit programs