Human Resource Management Flashcards
What is human resource management?
The process of finding, developing and keeping the right people to form a qualified task force
How do companies find qualified workers?
- Recruiting
* Selecting
What is recruiting?
The process of developing a pool of qualified job applicants
What is job analysis?
A purposeful, systematic process for collect information on the important work related aspects of a job
What aspects of a job are included in a job analysis and how is this information collected?
- Work activities
- Tools and equipment used to do the job
- The context in which the job is performed
- The personnel requirements for performing the job
- Through direct observation, interviews, questionnaires or filming employees as they do their jobs
What are the two elements of a job analysis?
- Job description
* Job specificaiton
What is a job description?
A written description of the basic tasks, duties and responsibilities of an employee holding a particular job
What is a job specification?
A written summary of the qualifications needed to successfully perform a particular job
What are the ways in which employees might be recruited?
- Internal Recruiting
* External recruiting
What is internal recruiting?
The process of developing a pool of qualified job applicants from people who already work in the company
What are the pros/cons of internal recruiting?
Improves employee commitment, morale and motivation
What is a job posting?
A procedure for advertising job openings within the company to existing employees
What is a career path?
A planned sequence of jobs through which employees may advance within an organisation
What is external recruiting?
The process of developing a pool of qualified job applicants from outside the company
How is external recruiting done?
- Advertising
- Employee referrals
- Walk-ins
- Outside organisations
- Employment services
- Special events
- Internet job websites - can generate 9 times as many resumes as one newspaper ad
What is worker selection?
The process of gathering information about job applicants to decide who should be offered a job
In employee selection, what is validation?
The process of determining how well a selection test or procedure predicts future job performance
What is an employee reference?
A source such as a previous employer or co-worker who can provide job related information about a job candidate
What are the steps to employee selection?
- Validation of selection tests
- Resume
- Employment reference
- Background check
- Selection tests
- Interviews
What is a background check?
Used to verify the truthfulness and accuracy of information that an applicant had provided about themselves, and to uncover negative, job related backgound information not provided by the applicant
What are the types of selection tests?
- Specific ability test
- Cognitive ability test
- Psychological (psychometric) test
- Work samples tests
- Assessment centres
What is a specific ability test?
Measure the extent to which an applicant possesses the particular kind of ability needed to do a job well - aka aptitude test
What is a cognitive ability test and what are it’s pros/cons?
- Measure the extent to which applicants have abilities in perceptual speed, verbal comprehension, numerical aptitude, general reasoning and spatial aptitude
- Accurately predict job performance in almost all kinds of job
- Almost always the best predictors of job performance
What is a psychological (psychometric) test and what are it’s pros/cons?
- Measures the psychological make up of a candidate and their readiness to undertake the job
- Should not be used as the only selection method
- Objective
- Valid
- Cost effective
What is a work sample test?
- aka performance tests
- Requires applicants to perform tasks that are actually done on the job
What are assessment centres and what are they used for?
- Use a series of job specific simulations that are graded by multiple trained observers to determine applicants abilities to perform managerial work
- Used on applicants who have high potential to be managers
What techniques to assessment centres use?
- In tray exercises, role plays, small group presentations and leaderless group discussions
What are the three types of employee selection interviews?
- Unstructured interviews
- Structured interviews
- Semi-structured
How are qualified workers developed?
- Training
- Performance appraisal
- Sharing performance feedback
What is employee training?
Providing opportunities for employees to develop the job-specific skills, experience and knowledge they need to do their jobs or improve their performance
What is the first step of employee training?
Needs assessment
What is a needs assessment?
The process of identifying and prioritising the learnings needs of employees
In what ways can a needs assessment be performed?
- Identifying performance deficiencies
- Listening to customer complaints
- Surveying employees and managers
- Formally testing employees skills and knowledge
What are ways employees can be trained?
- FIlms & Dvd’s
- Lectures
- Planned readings
- Case studies
- Coaching & mentoring
- Group discussions
- On-the-job training
- Role playing
- Simulations & games
- Vestibule training
- Computer based learning
How is training evaluated?
- Reactions
- Learning
- Behaviour
- Results
What is a performance appraisal?
The process of assessing how well employees are doing their jobs
By what measures can performance be appraised?
- Objective performance measures
* Subjective performance measures
What are objective performance measures?
Measures of job performance that are easily and directly counted or quantified
What are examples of objective performance measures?
- Output
- Scrap
- Waste
- Sales
- Customer complaints
- Rejection rates
What are subjective performance measures?
Require that someone judge or assess a worker’s performance
What are the types of performance appraisal using subjective measures?
- Graphic Ratings Scale
* Behaviour observation scale
What is the graphic ratings scald and what are it’s pros/cons?
Most widely used subjective measure performance appraisal system because easy to construct but very susceptible to rating errors
Rate performance on a scale (1-5 etc)
What is a behaviour observation scale
- A subjective measure performance appraisal system which indicates the frequency with which a worker performs specific behaviours that are representative of the job dimensions critical to successful job performance
- Rate frequency of occurrences (always-never etc)
- Managers tend to prefer over other systems
What is key to good performance appraisal based on subjective performance measures?
Rater training
What is rater training?
Training performance appraisals raters in how to avoid rating errors and increase rating accuracy
What is the technique for rater training?
Frame of reference training
How is frame of reference training conducted?
- Watch instructional DVD
- Perform assessment
- Talk about it
- Repeat until difference between trainers and trainees scores are minimised
What can happen when performance feedback is shared?
- Employees may become defensive and dislike hearing any negative assessment of their work, no matter how small
- Manager too become defensive, and dislike giving appraisal feedback as much as employees dislike receiving it
What is a solution to the problems of sharing performance feedback?
360 Degree Feedback
What is 360 degree feedback?
- Feedback is obtainedanonymously (except bosses) form the boss, subordinates, peers and co-workers, and the employees themselves
- Separate developmental/administrative feedback
- When managers give developmental feedback, designed to improve future performance, they’re acting as coaches
- When managers give administrative feedback, which is used as a reward for past performance, they’re acting like judges
- Should be based on self-appraisals (GOALS not PAST)
- Results matter
What is compensation?
The financial and non-financial rewards that organisations give employees in exchange for their work
What is employee separation?
The voluntary or involuntary loss of an employee
What are the decisions to be made about compensation?
- Pay level decisions
- Pay variability decisions
- Pay structure decisions
What are pay level decisions concerned with?
Whether to pay workers at a level that is below, above or at current market wages
How are pay level decisions made?
Job evaluation
What is job evaluation?
Determines the worth of each job by determining the market value of the knowledge, skills and requirements needed to perform it
What are pay variability decision concerned with?
- The extent to which employees pay varies with individual and organisational performance
- Linking pay to performance is intended to increase motivation, effort and job performance
What are the types of pay variability schemes?
- Piecework
- Sales commission
- Profit sharing
- Employee stock ownership plan
- Stock options
What is a piecework system?
- A compensation system in which employees are paid a set rate for each item they produce
- Once productivity exceeds the standard, employees are paid a set amount for each unit of output over the standard
What are the pros/cons of a piecework system?
Can reduce incentive for employees to work together
What is a sales commission system?
Employees earn a percentage of each sale they make
What are the pros/cons of a sales commission system?
Can reduce incentive for employees to work together
What is a profit sharing system?
Company pays a percentage of its profits to employees in addition to their regular compensation
What is an employee stock ownership plan?
Awards employees shares of company stock in addition to their regular compensation
What are the pros/cons of an employee stock ownership plan?
Gives employees and managers a strong incentive to work hard to make the company successful
What is a stock options system?
Gives employees the right to purchase shares of stock at a set price, even if the value of the stock increases above that price
What are the pros/cons of stock options system?
Gives employees and managers a strong incentive to work hard to make the company successful
What are pay structure decisions concerned with?
Concerned with internal pay distributions
What are the types of pay structures?
- Hierarchal pay structures
* Compressed pay structures
What is a hierarchal pay structure?
Big differences from one pay level to another
What are the pros/cons of a hierarchal pay structure?
- Should motivate people to work harder
- Work best when clear links can be drawn between individual performance and individual rewards
- Little link between organisational performance and the pay of top managers
- Managers are twice as likely to quit when their companies have strong hierarchal pay strucutres
What is a compressed pay structure?
Fewer pay levels and smaller differences between pay
What are the pros/cons of a compressed pay structure?
- Should lead to higher levels of cooperation, feelings of fairness and a common purpose,
- Better group and team performance
- Work best for interdependent work, where employees are required to work together
What are the rules for employee termination?
- Firing should not be the first option - employees should be given a chance to change their behaviour
- Employees should be fired only for a good reason
What is wrongful dismissal?
- Legal doctrine that requires employers to have a job related reason to terminate employees
- No fixed rules about what constitutes job related
- What is harsh, unjust or unreasonable will depend on circumstances
- Employees need to have worked for 12 months in order to make an unfair dismissal claim against small companies
What is downsizing?
The planned elimination of jobs in a company
What should be true of downsizing?
Should always be the last resort
What are the steps to correctly downsize?
- Train managers how to break the news
- Have senior managers explain in detail why it is necessary
- Time the announcement so employees hear it form the company and not other sources
- Do everything to help downsized employees find other jobs
What are outplacement services?
Employment-councelling services offered to employees who are losing their jobs because of downsizing
What are the two types of retirement schemes?
- Early retirement incentive programs
* Phased retirement
What is an early retirement incentive program?
- Offer financial benefits to employees to encourage them to retire early
- To lower costs by eliminating positions/replacing high paid retirees with lower paid, less experiences employees or create openings and job opportunies
What is a phased retirement program?
Employees transition to retirement by working reduced hours over a period of time before completely retiring
What is employee turnover?
The loss of employees who voluntarily choose to leave the company
What are the two types of employee turnover and what are they?
- Functional turnover
- Loss of poor-performing employees
- Dysfunctional turnover
- Loss of high performers
What are the types of discrimination?
- Direct
* Indirect
What is direct discrimination?
Treating someone less favourably because of their discriminatory factor
What is indirect discrimination?
When there is an unreasonable requirement or condition or practice that is the same for everyone but disadvantages a person because of their discriminating factor
What are the pros/cons of diversity?
- Helps companies attract and retain talented workers
- Helps companies grow by improving their understanding of the marketplace
- Helps companies grow through higher quality problem solving
What are the types of diversity?
- Surface level diversity
* Deep-level diversity
What is surface level diversity?
Difference such as age, sex, race/ethnicity that are observable, typically unchangeable and easy to measure
What is deep level diversity?
Differences such as attitudes and personality that are communicated through verbal and non-verbal behaviour and are learned only through extended interaction with others
Give examples of deep level diversity
- Disposition
- Personality
- Extraversion
- Emotional stability
- Agreeableness
- Conscientiousness
- Openness to experience
What is social integration?
The degree to which group members are psychologically attracted to working with each other to accomplish a common objective
What are the diversity paradigms?
- Discrimination and fairness paradigm
- Access and legitimacy paradigm
- Learning and effectiveness paradigm
What is the discrimination and fairness paradigm?
- Focuses on equal opportunity, fair treatment, recruitment of minorities and strict compliance with the equal employment opportunity laws
- Success is measured by how well companies achieve recruitment, promotion and retention goals for under-represents groups
What is the Access and legitimacy paradigm?
Focuses on the acceptance and celebration of differences to ensure that the diversity within the company matches the diversity found among primary stakeholders
What is the learning and effectiveness paradigm?
Focuses on integrating deep-level diversity differences, such as personality, attitudes, beliefs and values into the actual work of the organisation
What are the pros/cons of the discrimination and fairness paradigm?
- Generall brings about procedurally fairer treatment of employees and increases demographic diversity
- Focus on diversity remains on the surface level diversity dimensions
What is organisational plurality?
A work environment where all members are empowered to contribute in a way that maximises the benefits to the organisation, customers and themselves, and the individuality of each member is respected by not segmenting or polarising people on the basis of their membership of a particular group
What are the diversity principles?
- Follow and enforce equal opportunity laws
- Treat group differences as important, but not special
- Find common ground
- Tailor opportunities to individuals, not groups
- Solicit negative as well as positive feedback
- Set high but realistic goals
Concerning diversity, what are the attributes of a positive work environment?
- no one is advantaged or disadvantaged
- ‘we’ is everyone
- everyone can do his or her best work
- differences are respected and not ignored
- everyone feels comfortable.
What are the pros/cons of the learning and effectiveness paradigm?
- Values common ground (all same team with differences not despite them)
- Makes a distinction between individual and group differences (better understanding of diversity)
- Less likely to encounter backlash and divisiveness associated with programs that focus only on group differences.
- Instead of focus on value of being different, focus on brining different talents and perspective together to make best organisational decisions and produce innovation.
- Consistent with achieving organisational plurality
