Learning objective for Unit 4

Question 1

HR policies:
- Definition
- Function & Purpose
- Common types of HR policies

Answer 1

Definition: HR policies are formal rules and guidelines that businesses put in place to manage their employees.
When designing HR policies, four main influencing factors to consider are:
i) Laws of the country.
ii) Social values and customs.
iii) Management philosophy and values.
iv) Financial impact.

Function & Purpose:
- Providing legal protection to the company.
- Communicating the conditions of employment transparently.
- Setting employee expectation with regard to their career growth.
- Addressing employee grievances and disputes.
- Quickening the decision-making process on various HR matters.
- Ensuring all employees are treated equally and fairly.
- Creating a safe and healthy working environment.

Common types of HR policies:
1. Employee Communications policies
It is important to set policies that facilitate meaningful and necessary communication for employee productivity and morale. Having good communication policies in place reduce conflicts and misunderstandings, as well as ease transitions such as layoffs or mergers.

Several Areas of Consideration:
* Workplace communications.
* External & Internal communications.
* Electronic & Wireless communications.
* Social Media.

2. Equal Employment Opportunity policies
   Ensures that the work environment free is from all forms of unlawful discrimination and harassment. It also ensures that employment decisions are based on real business needs without regard to non-relevant criteria or distinctions, and decisions relating to employment issues are based on merit.

Several Areas of Consideration:
* Gender
* Pregnancy/potential pregnancy
* Marital/Family status
* Disability
* Ethnicity
* Age
* Sexuality
* Etc

2. Performance Management policies
   It provides managers with a framework and guidance that will enable them to communicate the standard of work expected and ensure the standards are met.

Several Areas of Consideration:
* Performance goals
* Career Development goals
* Competencies
* Performance Management process
* etc

3. Employee Conduct policies
   An employee code of conduct is a set of principles guiding how employees should behave on an everyday premise. It supports the day-by-day tasks, beliefs and organisation culture.

Several Areas of Consideration:
* Work Harassment
* Sexual Harassment
* Conflict of Interest
* Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure

4. Leave policies
   Documents that lay down the rules and regulations related to various types of leaves that an employee can take. The leave policy reflects the company’s professionalism and culture through its language, tone, and friendliness quotient. Having a defined leave policy and consistent implementation signals the professionalism of the company.

Several Areas of Consideration:
*Weekend policy.
*Public holidays for the year.
* Eligibility: who is entitled to this type of leave.
* Approvals: who can approve and approval limits.
* Clubbing & covering: rules for intervening weekends or holidays.
* Encashment: what types of leaves can be converted to cash, limits, the salary components on which to encash.

5. Layoff and Recall policies
   Prepares a company for challenging times of business transition.

Layoff policies should consider the following:
* Specifics of factors used in the layoff selection process.
* Process and procedures.
* Strategies for communicating the layoff.
* Length of time before considering a permanent reduction.
* Calculation of tenure.

Recall policies should consider the following:
* Criteria to determine which employees to recall.
* Details on any preferences to be offered to laid-off employees for open positions.
* Process for contacting former employees concerning open roles, and a period for replies.

6. Termination policy
   Written document that details the process of employee termination, outlining each step of the process and providing guidelines for management and HR staff.

Several Areas of Consideration:
* Compliance with employment laws.
* Transparency as an employer.
* Managing economic layoffs.

Question 2

Talent acquisition process.

Answer 2

• Workforce planning
  Workforce planning is a process to ensure the right number of people with the right skills, are employed in the right place, at the right time, to deliver an organisation’s short and long-term objectives.

Process:
Stage 1: Analyse current workforce
This first stage is concerned with analysing and investigating the condition of the internal and external labour markets, as well as the current capability of the organisation in terms of knowledge, skills and competence.

Stage 2: Forecasting HR Demand
This stage is a data-gathering process that involves identifying the kinds of knowledge, skills and competences that will be required:
Where in the organisation the requirements exist, when they are needed and in what quantities.

Stage 3: Planning
The third stage in the planning process involves identifying imbalances between demand and supply.

Stage 4: Implementation and control
This phase is where the decisions, which were taken as a result of logically working through the three previous stages, are implemented.

• Succession Planning and Management (SPM)
  Succession management is the process of ensuring that pools of skilled employees are trained and available to meet the strategic objectives of the organisation. It is a proactive approach to manage talent, as it involves identification of high potentials for anticipated future needs and the tailored development of these people. This ensures that there is a talent pool or leadership pipeline available to meet organisational demands as they arise.
• Checklist for Evaluating a Workforce Plan
• Types of workers

1. Permanent employees
   Permanent employees work for an employer and are paid directly by that employer. Permanent employees do not have a predetermined end date to employment. In addition to their wages, they often receive benefits like subsidised health care, paid leave, holidays, sick time or retirement benefits.
2. Contingent workers
   When the current number of employees or their skills sets are insufficient to accomplish the work, given the anticipated business future, contingent staffing may be used to fill that gap.

• Job analysis
  Job Analysis has a central part to play in the determination of pay differentials, the identification of training needs, the setting of performance targets and the drawing-ups of new organisational structures.
  The list of information to collect as part of a comprehensive job analysis exercise is shown as follow:
• Job duties.
• Job responsibilities.
• Machines, equipment, tools and materials used.
• Controls over work (i.e. nature and methods of supervision).
• Performance standards or output expectations.
• Interactions with others.
• Organisational relationship (i.e. how the job fits into wider structure).
• Physical factors and the job environment.
• Education, training, experience and personal requirements.
• Job Description
  A written job description or job summary is the main output from the job analysis process.
  The job description is used in five specific ways:

i) As a tool in recruitment - Job descriptions are used to assist in the writing of job advertisements and will be given to recruiters to undertake all or part of the recruitment process.

ii) As a tool in selection - Decisions about who to employ from among a range of possible candidates can be taken with reference to job descriptions. This helps to ensure that there is a clear match between abilities and experience of the new employee and the requirements of the job.

iii) As the basis of employment contracts - Frequently organisations make specific reference to job descriptions in their contracts of employment. Thus, they have an important legal significance if an employee is dismissed for failing to reach expected performance standards. Another scenario is whereby an employee resigns and claims constructive dismissal, when the employee has been unreasonably told to undertake duties that lie outside the terms and conditions of employment.

iv) As part of an employer’s defence in cases of unfair discrimination - Where an individual is refused employment or promotion ad believes that this is on account of direct or indirect discrimination, the employee may threaten the employer with legal action. The presentation in court of a job description can be used as part of a case to and that other candidates were judged to be more suitable than the complainant.

v) To communicate employer’s expectations, priorities and values to new members of staff: Statements can be included in job descriptions that make clear what the employee is expected to achieve and how he or she will be rewarded for doing so.

• Stages in the Hiring Process

1. Recruitment

The stages of recruitment:
1. Identifying the vacancy
2. Gain authority to recruit
3. Carry out job analysis
4. Write or revise job description and person specification/role profile
5. Advertise the vacancy

2. Selection

Steps:
1. Screen applications
2. Communicate with candidates
3. Conduct interview
4. Make the decision

3. Induction
   Induction is the final part of the recruitment and selection process, whereby new employees become familiar with an organisation, learn its norms and begin to share its values

• Process to Assimilate New Employees

Before new hires report to work:
* New hire’s workstation.
* Employee handbook.
* Induction pack (a copy of the corporate structure, a brief history of the organisation and a site map of the building with the main facilities identified, and some company plans for the future).
* A welcome letter from departmental manager or the CEO.
* An agenda for their first day at work.
* A nameplate or employee ID.

New employee orientation:
* Safety.
* The work environment.
* The new job description.
* Benefits and benefits eligibility.
* The employee’s new manager and co-workers.
* Company culture and history.

For new hires’ who are holding senior positions:
* Company’s overall operations.
* Organisation’s structures.
* Company’s regulation and objectives.
* Code of conduct of directors.

A number of staff involved in induction training:
- HR: Welcomes the new recruit and deals with the paperwork.
- Line managers/supervisors: Explains about the departmental organisations, the job itself, any probationary period and performance management.
- Senior managers: Gives an overview of the organisation, its history, products and services, quality system and culture.
- Health and safety officer: Explains on health and safety issues.
- Learning and development Manager: Describes available training services; helps to develop a personalised training plan; provides details of other sources of information during induction such as company intranet or interactive learning facilities.
- IT department: To discuss the IT systems and data security efforts required by employees.
- Trade union representative: Gives details of membership and its benefits.
- Workmate or ‘buddy’: A colleague who is there to offer help during those first few weeks to help the new hire to settle in. For more senior jobs, this may be a mentor who will give advice and guidance.

Periodic check-ins:

i) First day
The first day will include delivering all the basic information, including a tour of the facility, introduction to key staff and review of all new-employee paperwork.

ii) First week
During the first week of employment, the organisation should provide more detailed information for the new employee and reinforce key points delivered previously. The HR professional, supervisor, mentor or some combination of them should check in to determine how the new employee is adjusting and whether the organisation is delivering on promises made. This should also serve as an opportunity for the employee to air any concerns.

iii) First month
During the first month of employment, the person or team responsible for onboarding should continue to reinforce key issues and introduce the new employee to additional staff, including key members of the leadership team, and check in to determine whether the employee’s questions and concerns are being addressed.

iv) First year
The onboarding process should continue by providing a touchback to the new employee to ensure that all necessary information has been shared and that the organisation is addressing the employee’s questions and concerns.

Question 3

Employee training and development process.

Answer 3

• Purpose of Training and development:
• Organise and facilitate learning and development.
• Expedite acquisition of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for effective job performance.
• Provide employees with career growth opportunities consistent with corporate goals, objectives and strategies.

Benefits of Training and development:

i. Positive employee retention:
Offering programmes within employment contracts establish an employee’s sense of value within the company,and fosters loyalty, staff retention and lower turnover rate.

ii. Training future leaders:
Targeting skills and employees for future leadership will help establish a business for growth and change. Having established leadership development programmes ensures that an organisation is always considering the future organisational goals by preparing promotable talent.

iii. Employee empowerment:
Leaders who feel empowered within the workplace will be more effective at influencing employees and gaining their trust. Consequently, those employees will feel a greater sense of autonomy, value, and confidence within their work.

iv. Increase workplace engagement:
Regular development initiatives can prevent workplace boredom. Having frequent training programmes will also establish re-evaluation of employees, skills, and processes. Training and development will also influence company culture by instilling an emphasis on planning.

• Ways to Establish Training Needs:

> Performance Appraisal: Managers identify training needs in their day-to-day monitoring of staff performance and in the performance appraisal sessions.
Performance Data: When faced with the task of evaluating training, a common approach is to solicit feedback using smile sheets – post-training satisfaction surveys, which gather data about the training content, the instructor and the immediate reaction to the training sessions. This data is useful for the providers of learning and development (L&D), so that they can improve how they administer training courses.
Observation: Through careful observation of both verbal and non-verbal cues, one can detect happiness, anger and sadness. These same senses and observation skills can be used as part of a robust training needs to develop programmes in a workplace.
Interview: By conducting interview with the stakeholders on the job skills and knowledge to perform the job at the optimum level, HR practitioners can determine the training needs required.
Assessment/Survey: It reduces gaps between employee skills and the skills required by the job and department.
Employee Journal: This is helpful in determining the training needs as it covers all the necessary steps required to complete the work tasks and how to improve the processes to make the work more efficient.
Performance Software: Giving employees access to online tools can help them keep their manager up to date and help them plan out any and all necessary actions required to address the training needs.

• Steps to Organise Training:

1. Identify training needs:
   identify the competency gap and determine the difference between what the jobholder is not able to do.
2. Set training objectives:
   The objective of training is to develop the knowledge and understanding, skills and competence that employees need to meet required performance standards.
3. Design the programme:
   Types:
   > On-the-job training
   > Off-the-job training
   > Simulations
4. Implement the training
5. Evaluate:
   Training evaluation takes into account of whether the trainees learnt anything that they can apply back in the workplace. Common espoused model of evaluation has tended to be that of Kirkpatrick, four-level framework:

Levels:
1 - This is where trainees state what they thought of the course, whether they enjoyed it and whether it was useful.
2 - Has the trainee actually learnt anything? Have the learning objectives been achieved?
3 (Behaviour or performance) - Has the training actually made any difference to the trainer at work? Can they do their job better as a result?
4 (results) - Has the training has any impact on the organisation? Have sales increased? Are things being run more efficiently? Are there fewer accidents? Has the training resulted in less waste or fewer errors?

• Approaches to Developing Employees:

> Training: This method includes developing employee skills. It includes both formal and informal approaches to skills development. Each option will be specific to an organisation’s needs, and the subject at hand.

> Task/job rotations: Employees could volunteer to rotate roles with colleagues on a shift/team, to put some of those new skills into practice. The goal is to rotate the tasks and roles to learn something new or have a chance to practice what has been learned.

> Mentoring: This method involves senior leaders/management taking junior staff under their wing to help develop important skills that the mentored individual might lack.

> Coaching: This method of skills development typically involves senior staffers working one-on-one with less experienced individuals. This can fast-track an employee’s understanding of a variety of topics.

> Committees/Working groups: These are methods that give employees an opportunity to interact with peers/colleagues from within and external to the organisation.

> On-the-job development: The main goal of on-the-job development is to provide everything to the employee for self-study while at work. Employees learn how to use something or apply the methods as they complete the assigned tasks.

> Career planning: Employers can identify existing skills that need to be enhanced across the organisation, or prospective new skills that the business must acquire.

Question 4

Employee relations

Answer 4

ER is the term that defines the relationship between employers and employees. It focuses on individual and collective relationships in the workplace, with an increasing emphasis on the relationship between managers and their team members. ER covers the contractual, practical, physical and emotional dimensions of the employee-employer relationship.

With regard to ER, the HR department has two primary functions:

i. To prevent and resolve problems or disputes between employees and management.
ii. To create and enforce policies that are fair and consistent for everyone in the workplace.

Some examples of ER ‘gone wrong’:

• Have excessive unplanned absences from work.
• Always late for meetings.
• Watch sexually explicit material via the company internet.
• Show little to no respect when speaking to their supervisor.
• Getting into disputes with co-workers.

Four Pillars to maintain positive ER:

1. Open communication
2. Show recognition
3. Provide constant feedback
4. Invest in employees

Question 5

Employee engagement and retention.

Answer 5

Engagement is employees’ willingness and ability to contribute to organisational success.

Employee retention refers to an organisation’s ability to retain its employees.

Maintaining employee engagement is important when businesses want to retain their employees. It offers them an environment that makes them motivated to go to work daily and be productive.

Contrasting behaviours:
(Engaged - Disengaged)
> Optimistic - Pessismitic
> Team-oriented - Self-centred
> Solution-oriented - Negative attitude
> Selfless - Egocentric

HR professionals should aim to keep employees engaged from the following aspects:

i. Hire Based on Culture Fit:
HR professionals should hire employees with similar values, especially in terms of teamwork and group interactions.

ii. Maintain Culture and Values:
When organisations lose focus, it is the organisation’s culture and values that help management and employees to stay engaged. HR professionals may have to mitigate tensions between employees to maintain a positive culture.

iii. Recognise Achievements:
HR professionals can work with managers of different departments to recognise extraordinary employees who helped their co-workers or complete an important project. Recognising employees shows that the company cares.

iv. Offer Feedback:
HR professionals can offer feedback to individuals from different departments, especially in areas that need improvement. Like recognition, employees know that their efforts are noticed.

v. Create Incentives:
Creating incentives can help to promote a positive work culture and improve employee engagement.

vi. Offer Support:
HR professionals should offer support to employees, whether it is personal matters or work dynamics. HR should ensure that they are able to help employees in various situations and communicate that they are available to offer assistance when needed.

vii. Employee Engagement Programmes:
HR practices have a significant impact on employee engagement.

To increase employee engagement, organisations should introduce the programmes below:
> Job enrichment
> Training & development
> Strategic compensation
> Performance management

Question 6

Compensation and benefits.

Answer 6

Types:

• Direct financial:
  Refers to any sort of compensation that results in money being directly paid to an employee in exchange for labour.

Examples:
> Salary
> Commissions
> Bonuses
> Allowances
> Overtime pay

• Indirect financial:
  Refers to various forms of non-monetary pay offered to an employee that include everything from common contractual features to useful, attractive benefits.

Examples:
> Insurance plans
> Social benefits
> Paid leave

• Non-financial:
  differs from direct and indirect as it is has no monetary value. Non-financial incentives are the types of rewards that are not a part of an employee’s pay.

Examples:
Achievement awards, team leadership opportunities, trophies and paid training.

Factors:

i. Job determinants:
> Skill
> Geography
> Experience
> Education

ii. Environment:
The environment is an external factor that can have a significant impact on salary package. When unemployment rates are high, there are many people looking for work than there are jobs. In this case, employers might lower their starting wages because they anticipate job seekers may settle for lower wages.

iii. Corporate Culture:
Culture is important because it reinforces the values in the organisation, which in turn shapes team members behaviour. It includes the values, norms, systems, beliefs, attitudes and habits of the organisation and affects the interactions of the employees with each other, and with customers.

Payment system types:

i. Performance-based pay:
Performance-based pay describes a system of pay progression where advancement through the grade or band is dependent on some evaluation of an employee’s individual performance by a supervisor or manager.

ii. Single rate:
A job is paid at asingle or flat rate, typically the marketrate for the job. There are nopayvariations for experience, skill, seniority, or performance.

iii. Time based pay:
Time-based pay compensates the employee according to the number of hours worked during the pay period. Compensation is not linked to employee performance but to employee presence at the workplace.

iv. Productivity based pay:
Also known as output-based, this payment system links employee pay to performance. Employees are paid based on their output and not on the number of hours they work. The higher the productivity, the higher the wages for the employees.

v. Person based pay:
The person based pay is determined by many factors such age, seniority, experience, qualifications, competence, behaviour/traits, attitudes, knowledge and skills.