HR Fundamentals: Ch 1-6 for Midterm Flashcards
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
automation
(#2 out of 3 technological forces)
the shift toward converting work that was traditionally done by hand to being completed by mechanical or electronic devices;
organizations automate to: increase speed, provide better service, increase flexibility, increase predictability in operations, and achieve higher standards of quality;
robots can replace boring or hazardous jobs
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR)
human resource (HR) practitioner, formally accredited to practice;
reflects a threshold professional level of practice
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
cultural mosaic
the Canadian ideal of encouraging each ethnic, racial, and social group to maintain its own cultural heritage;
forming a national mosaic of different cultures
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
demographic changes
changes in the demographics of the labour force (e.g., education levels, age levels, participation rates) that occur slowly and are usually known in advance
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
economic forces
economic factors facing Canadian business today, including global trade forces and the force to increase one’s own competitiveness and productivity levels
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
the 4 critical economic forces
- economic cycles,
- global trade,
- productivity and innovation improvement,
- knowledge workers
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
economic cycles
(#1 out of 4 critical economic forces)
Canadian economy goes through boom and bust cycles;
during boom cycles, HR must consider how to recruit and develop talent;
during recessionary periods, HR faces challenges (layoffs, wage concessions, lower morale)
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
global trade
(#2 out of 4 critical economic forces)
international trade has always been crucial to Canada’s prosperity and growth;
Canada ranks high among exporting nations;
Canadian jobs and economic prosperity depend upon international trade
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
productivity
and innovation improvement
(#3 out of 4 critical economic forces)
productivity = ratio of an organization’s outputs to its inputs;
productivity improvement is essential for long-term success;
for over a decade, U.S. productivity has been consistently
outpacing Canada;
without innovation, productivity differences tend to increase
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
educational attainment
the highest educational level attained by an individual worker, employee group, or population
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
functional authority
HR department may be provided authority to make decisions (e.g., deciding type of benefits);
authority that allows staff experts to make decisions and take actions normally reserved for line managers
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
gamification
the use of rules, competition, and teamwork to encourage engagement by mimicking games
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
human resource audit
HR audit (#1 of 3 internal supply estimates)
an examination of the human resource (HR) policies, practices, and systems of a firm (or division) to eliminate deficiencies and improve ways to achieve goals;
includes:
1) skills inventories (summary of worker skills and abilities)
2) management and leadership inventories (reports of management caapabilities)
3) replacement charts (list of likely replacements fo each job)
4) replacement summaries (lists of likeley replacements for each job and their relative strengths and weaknesses)
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
human resource management
the leadership and management of people within an organization using systems, methods, processes, and procedures that enable employees to optimize their performance and in turn their contribution to the organization and its goals
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
knowledge workers
(#4 out of 4 critical economic forces)
members of occupations generating, processing, analyzing, or synthesizing ideas and information (e.g., scientists and management consultants)
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
line authority
possessed by managers of operating departments;
authority to make decisions about production, performance, and people
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
mission statement
a statement outlining the purpose and long-term objectives of the organization
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
organization structure
organizational structure
the product of all of an organization’s features and how they are arranged—people, objectives, technology, size, age, and policies;
HR strategies should be formulated only after a careful look at the organization’s structure;
structure reflects the past and shapes the future
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
organizational culture
the core beliefs and assumptions that are widely shared by all organizational members
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
organizational goals
an organization’s short- and long-term outcomes that human resource (HR) management aims to support and enable
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
organizational strategy
determine the
appropriate array of HR practices;
HR strategies enable the successful completion of the
organization’s strategies
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
environmental scan
and the 5 major forces
continuous monitoring of economic, technological, demographic, and cultural forces;
the major forces:
(1) economic,
(2) technological
(3) demographic
(4) cultural
(5) legal
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
technological
forces
(there are 3 critical forces)
(1) connectivity and work design;
(2) automation;
(3) data and analytics
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
connectivity and work design
(#1 out of 3 technological forces)
connectivity influences organizations and the way
people work;
access to information has affected the way organizations conduct business;
technology has brought flexibility such as when and where work is carried out (i.e., telecommuting), has also brought increased cybersecurity concerns
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
data and analytics
(#3 out of 3 technological forces)
the role of data and analytics have shifted due to AI/ML and rapidly increasing computing power;
intranets and integrated information systems help store and access information quickly and accurately;
information management systems capturing digital information about employees give rise to human
resource (HR) data analytics
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
demographic forces
(there are 4 critical forces)
- gender balance,
- educational attainment of workers,
- aging population,
- generational shift
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
gender balance
(#1 out of 4 demographic forces)
47% of the workforce assigned female at birth
(2020);
participation rate of biologically female in health care and professional, scientific, and technical services continues to grow;
more women than men work part-time
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
generational shift
(#4 out of 4 demographic forces)
although the differences within groups may be wider than the differences between groups, some managers find benefit through understanding that not all generations view the world through the same lens that they do;
Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y (Millennials), and Generation Z and soon Generation Alpha, are all in the workforce;
different people have different expectations from their workplaces;
generational diversity creates an interpersonal dynamic for all leaders
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
productivity
the ratio of a firm’s outputs (goods and services) divided by its inputs (people, capital, materials, energy)
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
sociocultural forces
challenges facing a firm’s decision makers because of cultural differences among employees or changes in core cultural or social values occurring at the larger societal level
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
cultural forces
(there are 2 critical forces)
- diversity and social justice;
- ethics
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
diversity and social justice
(#1 out of 2 cultural forces)
Canadian society is a cultural mosaic;
Canada encourages maintaining unique culture and heritage vs. U.S. “melting pot”;
continued inequalities articulated by social justice advocates for Indigenous, Black, and other racialized people of colour attributed to systemic bias;
social justice has become central to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the workplace
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
ethics
(#2 out of 2 cultural forces)
ethical conduct of business is becoming an increasingly important issue;
managers should understand ethical perspectives and consider ethical implications
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
staff authority
HR departments are service departments;
authority to advise others, not direct
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
strategic human resource management
integrating the strategic needs of an organization into the organization’s choice of human resource (HR) management systems and practices to support the organization’s overall mission, strategies, and performance
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
model of strategic human resource management (HRM)
5 steps
(1) organizational mission, goals,
and strategy analysis,
(2) environmental scan,
(3) analysis of organizational
character and culture,
(4) choice and implementation of HR strategies,
(5) review, education and audit
of HR strategies
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
choice and implementation of
human resource (HR) strategies
HR must continuously focus on the following activities:
(1) identifying opportunities, risks, and challenges;
(2) making data-informed decisions aligned to strategy;
(3) optimizing for high performance
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
review, education and audit
of HR strategies
HR strategies should be examined periodically in consideration of changing factors (e.g., technology, environment);
conduct HR audit (holistic review of HR strategies to identify and correct deficiencies);
HR activities aimed at productivity improvement, succession planning, and cultural change are critical to competitive survival
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
small HR department
(in a small organization)
separate HR department emerges when HR activities becomes a burden;
often emerges as a small department or individual reporting to a middle-level manager
(i.e., HR Administrator reports to Office Manager who reports to Owner)
Ch 1: Strategic HR Management
large HR department
(in a large organization)
as the organization grows, the HR department usually grows in impact/complexity;
specialists are added (e.g., recruitment, compensation and benefits, health and safety, labour relations, client services);
there might be a Vice President of HR (head of department, reports directly to President/CEO)
(i.e., Recruiters report to Manager of Recruitment, who reports to VP)
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
autonomy
in a job context, autonomy is independence;
having control over one’s work and one’s response to the work environment
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
competency
a knowledge, skill, ability, or behaviour associated with successful job performance;
broader in scope than KSAOs
i.e., communication
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
competency matrix
a list of the level of each competency required for several jobs at an organization
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
competency model (competency framework)
a list of competencies required in a particular job
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
efficiency
achieving maximal output with minimal input;
scientific management and industrial engineering principles;
stresses efficiency in effort, time, labour costs, training, and employee learning time
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
employee log
an approach to collecting job- and performance-related information by asking the jobholder to summarize tasks, activities, and challenges in a diary format
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
environmental considerations
the influence of the external environment on job design;
includes:
(1) workforce availability (abilities and availability of people who will do the work);
(2) social expectations (expectations of larger society and workers);
(3) work practices (set ways of performing work)
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
ergonomics
ergonomic considerations
the study of relationships between physical attributes of workers and their work environment to reduce physical and mental strain and increase productivity and quality of work life;
considers the physical relationship between the worker and the work;
fitting the task to the worker rather than forcing employees to adapt to the task;
can lead to significant improvements such as efficiency and productivity, and workplace safety
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
feedback
information that helps evaluate the success or failure of an action or system
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
focus group
a face-to-face meeting with five to seven knowledgeable experts on a job and a facilitator to collect job- and performance-related information
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
interview
an approach to collecting job- and performance-related information by a face-to-face meeting with a jobholder, typically using a standardized checklist of questions
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job
a group of related activities and duties;
may be held by one or several employees
i.e. 1 supervisor, 2 animators, and 7 programmers = 10 positions, 3 jobs
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job analysis
systematic study of a job to discover its specifications and skill requirements;
used for wage-setting, recruitment, training, performance management, and/or job-design purposes
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
3 phases in job analysis
- preparation for job analysis
- collection of job analysis information
- use of job analysis information
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
phase 1: preparation
(in job analysis)
step 1: become familiar with the organization and its jobs
step 2: determine uses of job analysis information
step 3: identify jobs to be analyzed
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
phase 2: collection of job analysis information
(in job analysis)
step 4: determine sources of job data; human and nonhuman sources
step 5: identify the data required, which may include…
(a) job identification (i.e., job title);
(b) duties (i.e., the job tasks), responsibilities (e.g., equipment operation, supervisory responsibility);
(c) human characteristics (e.g., lifting, hearing);
(d) working conditions (e.g., exposure to hot or cold);
(e) performance standards (i.e., how well the job needs to be performed)
step 6: choose the method for data collection…
(a) interviews,
(b) focus groups,
(c) questionnaires,
(d) employee logs,
(e) observation,
(f) combinations
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
phase 3: use of job analysis information
job descriptions,
job specifications, job standards, competency models
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
HRM activities that rely on job analysis
(there are 10)
(1) careful study of jobs to improve employee productivity levels;
(2) elimination of unnecessary job requirements that can cause discrimination in employment;
(3) creation of job advertisements used to generate a pool of qualified applicants;
(4) matching of job applicants to job requirements;
(5) planning of future human resource requirements;
(6) determination of employee onboarding and training needs;
(7) fair and equitable compensation of employees;
(8) identification of realistic and challenging performance standards;
(9) redesign of jobs to improve performance, morale, and quality of work life;
(10) fair and accurate appraisal of employee performance
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job analysis questionnaires
checklists used to collect information about jobs, working conditions, and other performance-related information in a uniform manner
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job code
a code that uses numbers, letters, or both to provide a quick summary of the job and its content
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job description
a recognized list of functions, tasks, accountabilities, working conditions, and competencies for a particular occupation or job;
key parts of a job description:
- job identity,
- job summary,
- duties and responsibilities,
- working conditions,
- approvals
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job summary
summarizes the job in a few sentences (indicates what the job is and how the job is done);
explains what the job requiress (each major duty is described in terms of the actions expected)
approvals
reviewed by jobholders and supervisors
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job design
identification of job duties, characteristics, competencies, and sequences, taking into consideration technology, workforce, organization character, and environment;
key considerations include: organizational, ergonomic, employee, job specialization, and environmental considations
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job enlargement
adding more tasks to a job to increase the job cycle and draw on a wider range of employee skills
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job enrichment
adding more responsibilities and autonomy to a job, giving the worker greater powers to plan, do, and evaluate job performance
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job families
groups of different jobs that are closely related by similar duties, responsibilities, skills, or job elements
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job identity
the key part of a job description, including job title, location, code, and status;
National Occupational Classification (NOC);
skill level and skill type;
industry and occupational mobility
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job performance standards
the work performance level expected from an employee;
includes objectives or targets for employee efforts and criteria for measuring job success;
sources of standards: (1) job analysis information and (2) alternative sources (i.e., industry standards)
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job rotation
moving employees from one job to another to allow them more variety and to learn new skills
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job specification
a written statement that explains the human knowledge skills, abilities, and other characteristics/attributes (KSAOs) needed to do a job;
includes experience, specific tools, actions, education and training required;
includes physical and mental demands on jobholders
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
National Occupational Classification (NOC)
an occupational classification created by the federal government, using skill level and skill types of jobs
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
observation
an approach to collecting job- and performance-related information by direct observation of jobholders by a specialist
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
position
a collection of tasks and responsibilities performed by an individual;
single position
i.e. 1 supervisor, 2 animators, and 7 programmers = 10 positions, 3 jobs
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
social expectations
the larger society’s expectations about job challenge, working conditions, and quality of work life
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
task identity
the feeling of responsibility or pride that results from doing an entire piece of work, not just a small part of it
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
task significance
knowing that the work one does is important to others in the organization or to outsiders
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
variety
an attribute of jobs wherein the worker has the opportunity to use different skills and abilities, or perform different activities
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
work flow
the sequence of and balance between jobs in an organization needed to produce the firm’s goods or services
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
work practices
the set ways of performing work in an organization
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
working conditions
facts about the situation in which the worker acts; includes physical environment, hours, hazards, travel requirements, and so on, associated with a job
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job characteristics model
5 job charactertistics, 3 psychological states, 4 outcomes
5 job characteristics (employee considerations):
- variety, task identity, task significance,
- autonomy,
- feedback
3 psychological states:
- meaningfulness of work
- responsibility of work outcomes
- knowledge of results of work
4 outcomes:
- high motivation
- high performance
- high satisfaction
- low absenteeism and turnover
Ch 2: Job Analysis & Design
job specialization
increase quality of work life by including:
(1) job rotation
(2) job enlargement
(3) job enrichment
(4) employee involvement and work teams
Ch 3: HR planning
attrition
loss of employees due to their voluntary departures from the firm through resignation, retirement, or death
Ch 3: HR planning
Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS)
provides up to 10-year projection of Canadian economy and human resource needs
Ch 3: HR planning
consultant
(source service provider)
hired to provide expert advice and counsel in a particular area
Ch 3: HR planning
contract (or contingent) worker
a freelancer (self-employed, temporary, or leased employee) who is not part of the regular workforce who provides goods or services to another entity under the terms of a specific contract
Ch 3: HR planning
outsourcing
outsource
contracting tasks to outside agencies or persons
Ch 3: HR planning
crowdsourcing
crowdsource
the act of a company or institution taking a function once performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined (and generally large) network of people in the form of an open call
Ch 3: HR planning
co-source
a form of contracting that brings an external team to support and work with an internal team
Ch 3: HR planning
promotion
movement of an employee from one job to another that is higher in pay, responsibility, and/or organizational level
Ch 3: HR planning
Delphi technique
the soliciting of predictions about specified future events from a panel of experts, using repeated surveys until convergence in opinions occurs;
surveys of groups of experts, summaries are shared back with the group, and they are surveyed again until opinions converge
this is one form of 3 expert projection forecasts
Ch 3: HR planning
employee self-service (ESS)
a feature of an HRIS that allows employees to access and view their own records and make changes where applicable
Ch 3: HR planning
enterprise-wide systems
systems that link an organization’s entire software application environment into a single enterprise solution
Ch 3: HR planning
extrapolation
extending past rates of change into the future
this is one form of 3 trend projection forecasts
Ch 3: HR planning
flexible retirement
programs that provide retirees with the opportunity to work after they have retired and provide them with significant flexibility in terms of how they work, what they work on, when they work, and where;
target those employees close to retirement to extend their contributions (e.g., retiree return)
Ch 3: HR planning
forecasts
estimates of future resource needs and changes
Ch 3: HR planning
forecasting
identifying the cause that will drive demand
strategic plan; demographic impacts; turnover; legal changes; technological changes; competitors; budgets and revenue forecats; new ventures; organizational and job design
Ch 3: HR planning
forecasting techniques
for estimating HR demand
expert:
- informal and instant decisions
- formal expert survey
- Delphi technique
trend:
- extrapolation
- indexation
- statistical analysis
other:
- budget and planning analysis
- new venture analysis
- simulation models
Ch 3: HR planning
budget and planning analysis
organizations that need HR planning generally have detailed budgets and long-range plans
this is one form of other forecasting methods
Ch 3: HR planning
new venture analysis
planners estimate HR needs by making comparisons with similar operations
this is one form of other forecasting methods
Ch 3: HR planning
simulation and predictive models
more sophisticated approaches
other forecasting methods
Ch 3: HR planning
full-time employees
employees who work 37.5 to 40 hours in a workweek
Ch 3: HR planning
human resource accounting (HRA)
a process to measure the present cost and value of human resources as well as their future worth to the organization
Ch 3: HR planning
human resource information system (HRIS)
a system that gathers, analyzes, summarizes, and reports important data for formulating and implementing strategies by HR specialists and line managers;
collects, records, stores, analyses, and retrieves data concerning an organization’s HR
stakeholders = HR professionals, managers, and employees
Ch 3: HR planning
choosing a human resource information system (HRIS)
what are the key considerations?
key considerations:
- size
- information that needs to be captured
- volume of information transmitted
- firm’s objectives
- technical capabilities
- reporting capabilities
Ch 3: HR planning
access to human resource information system (HRIS)
determining who should have access and who should have the right to change input data with consideration for privacy
Ch 3: HR planning
human resource information system (HRIS) as a tool for strategic HRM
- increasded efficiency (enhanced service delivery)
- increased effectiveness (helping stakeholders make better decisions)
- increased contribution to organizational sustainability (talent management)
- increased visibility (enhanced HR competencies)
Ch 3: HR planning
human resource planning
determine future HR requirements and the business processes that will be needed to support and enable those resources by anticipating future business demands, analyzing the impacts of these demands on the organization, determining the current availability of HR and the applicable business processes, and making decisions on how to effectively adapt and utilize firms’ HR;
forecasts an organization’s future demand for and supply of employees, and matches supply with demand;
HR department contributes to success:
- proper staffing is critical
- different strategies require varying HR plans
- HR planning facilitates proactive responses
- successful tactical plans require HR plans
- HR planning can vary from capturing basic information to live-time predictive analytics
HR plans can vary in sophistaction across organizations
Ch 3: HR planning
steps in the workforce planning process
(5 steps)
step 1: forecast demand for resources;
step 2: assess supply of resources;
step 3: develop HR objectives;
step 4: design and implement workforce systems to balance demand and supply;
step 5: establish and conduct evaluation
Ch 3: HR planning
no formal planning
(HR planning)
small companies where HR activities may be done in a reactionary way
Ch 3: HR planning
basic planning
(HR planning)
companies recognizing the need to plan for HR activities;
may engage in a mix of proactive and reactionary planning focus on the short term (1-2 years)
