Final Material Flashcards
What is the definition of employee relations?
how the organization handles relationships with its employees
What can change the way employees regard each other? (3)
- Economic conditions
- Political atmosphere
- Management change
What is the definition of employment relationships?
The vehicle for reconciling needs of employees and needs of organizations
What are organization needs of employment relationships? (6)
- time
- flexibility in the way they use their labor
- skills
- increase productivity/effort
- expectations are higher in economic hard times
- retain managerial discretion
What are employee needs of the employment relationship? (6)
- meaningful, interesting work
- recognition/ feeling valued
- job security
- opportunity to grow/develop
- benefits
- desire to have other parts of life that aren’t related to work
What are the 4 governing rules of employment relationships?
- contracts
- collective bargaining
- legislation
- Custom and Practice
How do employers react to legislation?
- go along with it
- fight it
- go above and beyond it
What are the 4 general approaches to the employee relations? Describe them
- adversarial: only exercise power by refusing to cooperate, employees expected to fit in and adapt,
- traditional: decent, daily working relationship, attention paid to employees but management retains decision making
- partnership: employee involved in planning and organization, final decision still management, work for good of each other and share values
- power sharing: consensus to reach decision, group can rule, compromise, rare to get here
What is the definition of employee branding? How does one go about developing an employee brand?
A deliberate process of creating an image as a great place to work. Deliberately establishing, managing, monitoring the brand
What does HR get out of employee branding?
- higher retention
- internal benefits (executives sees what HR brings to business)
- people choose organization with best brand
What are lessons from marketing in regards to employee branding?
- just like marketing wants to appease to it’s target market, employee branding should compliment the target/most valued employees
What 3 components should be managed as a process of managing the brand?
- firm’s reputation
- firm’s culture
- firm’s value proposition
What’s important about managing a firm’s reputation?
- because you want image and talk of the brand to be positive
- must correct negative brand reputation before building a positive
- hard to convince good product if in new lawsuit
What’s important about managing the firm’s culture?
- motivate employees to act in the way the organization would like
What is important about managing a firm’s value proposition?
- decide on one
- tell employees what it is and constantly reinforce it
- keep employees informed
What are the 4 levels of branding?
- Build HR department’s internal image
- Get yourself talked about
- Get on a “Best Place to work” list
- Become an employer of choice
What are characteristics of building HR internal image?
- has to be seen as profit center
- market HR function as aggressively as others
- HR must market itself
What are characteristics of getting yourself talked about?
- media, business, industry publications, get people quoted
- participate in benchmarking
- word of mouth, employees, most effective
How is the employee brand measured?
Metrics
What do employee brand metrics measure? (4)
- media exposure (+/- trends)
- positive name recognition (how many people recognize your organization as a good place to work )
- detail knowledge
- action results (does your HR brand cause people to take action )
What is the definition of employee planning
assessing future business needs and identifying how many and what kind of people you are going to need
What are the 5 steps involved in employee planning?
- ID Key employees
- forecast your supply
- forecast demand
- analysis of gap: what you can get and what you say you are going to need
- Put together a plan to address gap(s)
What is the goal of employee planning?
to enable an organization to obtain it’s business goals and execute it’s strategy
What are the benefits to employee planning ( 4)
- anticipates imbalances and shortages before it becomes a disaster
- gives you time to find the talent you need because you have anticipated
- better opportunity to include people of diversity in your future plans
- helps you plan your development of internal people
What are problems of employee planning? (3)
- organizations talk about it a lot but they don’t do it
- We don’t have enough research to study it because not enough of it is being done
- we don’t do it because it’s too hard to forecast the future and we need to wait to see things become more clear
What is involved in identifying critical employees (step 1)
- Should be clear in mission vision
- Partition the work force
- plan for people who will provide the most value
- identify level of variability in performance of employees
Out of key employees, who should get the most resources poured into them?
employees with high variability
What questions does supply forecasting answer? (3)
- what competencies are available? What is the supply of talents or people we will need
- If this is what I need, can I get this internally? Can I promote/develop people)
- Will I be able to find them externally?
How do you forecast your internal supply? (4)
- take the number of employees in a position at the beginning of a forecast
- subtract the number we anticipate losing
- add any you anticipating gaining (through promotions)
- if there is a gap then have to go to external market when looking for supply of people
What tools are used for internal supply forecasting? (3)
- transaction analysis
- skills inventory
- replacement charts
Describe transaction analysis
tells you how many people of the people you have are going to be exiting and entering, uses data to predict surplus or deficit
Describe skills inventory
-profile of your currently employees, demographics, skills, languages spoke, career progression data, lets you know who’s currently available and who will be available in the future
Describe replacement charts
- used for succession planning for higher level positions
What questions does external supply forecasting answer? (5)
- What’s happening in the labor market?
- What talent is available in the labor market and at what price?
- Supplies the workforce and occupational forecasts
- Are there others in our industry experience the same problems
- Can we connect with a trade school who can provide desired workers?
What does Demand forecasting answer? (3)
- Will the demand for my product/service shrink/grow/stay the same?
- Will I need new competencies, am I changing the work that we are going to do?
- What are my future needs for certain kinds of competencies?
What needs to be considered when discussing demand for product/service?
If demand is growing, hire more people unless automating, than hire different kinds of people.
If demand is falling, there is going to be a surplus of workers so need to figure out what you’re going to do with them
Where do we get external forecasting info (sources)? (5)
- Seasonal forecasts
- interest rates forecasts
- competition forecasts
- industry and economic forecasts
- legal factors
How do interest rates help forecast demand?
if interest rates are low, businesses tend to try to expand/ go after new opportunities
How does competition forecast help forecast demand?
- new competitors will dilute the demand of employees
2. competitors leave the market, demand will increase, think online schools
How does industry and economic forecasts help forecast demand?
- helps predicts if demand will go up or down
2. when economy is weak, switch to cheaper brand
What tools are used to forecast demand? (3)
- ratio analysis
- trend analysis
- scatter plots
What actions do we need to take if there is a temporary surplus of workers? (3)
- cut hours
- JIT scheduling
- voluntary lay off
What actions do we need to take if there is a long term surplus of workers? (5)
- Try to fit surplus of people into different area
- fire/downsize/permanent layoffs
- hiring freeze
- offer early retirement
- contigent workforce (interim)
What actions do we need to take if there is a temporary short term deficit of workers?
temp agencies
What actions do we need tot take if there is a long term deficit of workers? (5)
- do less of what it is we can’t do more of (classes ex)
- cut departments
- make organization more attractive
- use intensive recruiting practices
- move off shore (outsource entire function)
Describe engagement, include the 5 main components
- a state experienced by an individual in relation to their work
- involves investing intellectual energy
- involves physical energy and being absorbed in task
- involves positive emotional energy and enthusiasm in relation to the task
- may include a social dimension in connection with others
What is unique about the definition of engagement?
There is no one common definition, it has construct validity but we don’t know what is being measured
What are consequences of engagement?
Research only illustrates correlation not causation; good correlation is not to be ignored, however it’s not to be misunderstood as causation
What are the four antecedents of engagement?
- Individual variables
- job-related variables
- line management behavior
- organization variable
What are some individual variables of engagement?
- women are more likely to be engaged than men
- older workers are more likely to be engaged than younger workers
- early indication that there may be personality factors
What are some job-related variables of engagement?
- the more an employee finds work personally meaningful, the more engaged they are
- the more an employee believes engagement is safe, the more engaged they will be
What are some line management behavior of engagement?
- degree of trust, the more trust in a line manager, more engaged
- if your immediate supervisor is predictable and supportive the more engaged you will be
What are some organization variables of engagement?
- the more voice, the more engaged that employee will be
- match between employee and organization values
- the level of engagement in your colleagues will affect your engagement
What is the definition of employee retention?
deliberate strategy by an organization to create an environment to keep employees for the long time
What is the purpose of employee retention?
to prevent the loss of competent employees
What is the relation between retention and employee turnover?
Retention strategies are aimed at reducing voluntary turnover
What costs are involved in voluntary turnover? (5)
- recruiting/selection costs
- money employee would have been generating
- loss of productivity
- training new employee
- taking skills to competitors
What are reasons for turnover? (7)
- attraction of new job
- period of economic good times
- employee relocates
- managers/work environment
- lack of fit in organization/job
- poor recruiting/selection decisions
- money
What are 8 reasons for employee retention?
- feel they can grow/opportunities
- relationship attachments to others
- clear expectations and frequent feedback
- flexible wrok arrangements
- proximity of workplace
- perceptions about fairness of the organization
- organization prestige
- degree to which people feel there jobs are more meaningful
What are blanket retention strategies? (8)
- Track retentions (metrics - know where stand)
- trains first level managers ( clear goals/feedback)
- hiring practices
- performance goals/feedback
- communication
- fun environment
- recognition and thanks
- promotion-from-within policy
What are targeted strategies for employee retention? (4)
- career development
- pay for performance
- re-evaluate benefits packet
- organization prestige
What is the common factor of the target strategies?
They are targeting the most valued/high performers/desired employees
What are the 5 components of resource strategy?
- workforce planning
- resource planning
- retention strategy
- flexibility strategy
- talent management strategy
What is resource strategy concerned with? (4)
- identifying how many/what kind of employees are required
- how to obtain/retain those people
- manage diversity
- selecting/promoting people who “fit in culture/strategic requirements
What is the aim of a resourcing strategy?
to ensure that a firm achieves competitive advantage by employing more capable people than it’s rivals
What might a strategic bundle look like for a resource strategy? (4)
- recruitment/selection strategies
- learning and development strategies
- performance management processes
- competency frameworks
What is human resource planning?
HR planning is concerned with matching resources to business needs in the long-term but also deals with short term requirements. Addresses people needs both in quantitative and quantitative terms.
What three important activities does planning entail?
- identifying the right number of people with the right skills
- motivating them to achieve high performance
- creating interactive links between business objectives and people-planning activities
What does the research show about the success of human resource planning?
*there has been little evidence of increased use or of its sucesss
What is demand forecasting?
estimate future needs for people and competences by reference to corporate and functional plans and forecasts of future activity levels
What is supply forecasting?
estimate the supply of people by references to analyses of current resources and future availability after allowing for wastage
What three steps must be taken next?
- forecasting future requirements
- action planning (deals with surplus/deficits)
- develop retention and flexibility strategies
What is the employee value proposition?
a statement of what an organization will provide that people will value
What is the employee value proposition? And what are 5 factors crucial to retaining people?
a statement of what an organization will provide that people will value
- attractiveness of organization
- responsibility
- respect
- work
- opportunities for growth
What is the employer brand?
defines what is special about an organization what will attract people to join it and encourage those who are there to stay
What three options are available to management if an analysis shows a shortage of the right people?
- internal resourcing
- external resourcing
- retention strategies
What are the three aims of an external resourcing strategy?
- make the organization the employer of choice
- plan the best methods of defining precisely what is needed in terms of skills/competencies
- planning to use the most effective methods of obtaining the number and type of people required
What is the aim of a retention strategy?
to ensure that key people stay with the organization and that wasteful and expensive levels of employee turnover are reduced
How can an organization find out why people stay and why people leave?
Through attitude surveys (stay), conducting attitude surveys regularly could help provide information of why people leave (rather than exit interviews which tend to be unreliable)
What pay problems cause employees to leave?
uncompetitive, unequitable or unfair pay systems
What job design problems cause people to leave?
if jobs are unrewarding/ don’t maximize skills, tasks, autonomy, feedback, opportunties to grow
What learning and development problems cause people to leave?
- not proper training
- demands are too high without proper training
- people arn’t learning
What group cohesion problems cause people to leave?
- people feel isolated and unhappy or if they are bedeviled by disruptive power politics
What mangement/superior problems cause people to leave?
- bullying,
- not fair treatment
- poor leadership
What are the three steps in a flexibility policy?
- Find alternatives to full-time, permanent staff
- Outsourcing
- multiskilling to increase ability of people to switch jobs
What is a talent management strategy?
a declaration of intent on how the objective of acquiring and nurturing talent wherever it is and wherever it is needed should be achieved
What is the CIPD definition of talent?
Talent consists of those individuals who can make a difference to organizational performance, either through their immediate contributions or in the longer term by demonstrating the highest levels of potential
What are the five talent management imperatives
- Create a winning value proposition
- move beyond recruiting hype to build long term recruitment strategy
- Cultivate potential in managers by using job experience, coaching, and mentoring
- Strengthen talent pool by investing in A players, Developing B players, being decisive on C players
- have a pervasive mindset- shared by leaders throughout company
What is employment relations strategy?
the intentions of the organization about what needs to be done and what needs to be changed in the ways in which the organization handles relationships with employees and, if any, their trade unions
What does the employment relationship describe?
How employers and employees work together and relate to one another
What is the psychological contract?
expresses assumptions and expectations about what managers and employees have to offer and are willing to deliver
What is an employment relations climate?
the perceptions of mangement, employees, and their representatives about the ways in which employment relations are conducted and how the various parties behave when dealing with one another
What is a mutuality strategy?
policies of mutuality (goals, influence, respect, rewards, responsibilities) will elicit commitment, which in turn will yield both better economic performance and greater human development
How can trust be developed in an organization?
management acts fairly, equitably, consistently, if they have transparency, reasons for decisions are communicated, reward processes are developed, mutual expectations are agreed on through performance mangement
What are the four approaches to employment relations strategy?
- Adversarial
- Traditional
- Partnership
- Power Sharing
What does employee voice mean?
the say that employees have in matters of concern to them in their organization; two way dialogue that allows employees to influence events at works and includes involvement, participation, upward problem solving and upward communication
