Mukesh Flashcards
What is Human Resource Management
A distinctive approach to employment mgmt. which seeks to achieve
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Through the strategic deployment of a
HIGHLY COMMITTED and CAPABLE WORKFORCE
Using an array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques
Name some of the activities involved in HRM
What is involved in HRM?
- Recruitment and selection
- Performance mgmt.
- Career planning
- Training and development
- Job evaluations, descriptions, policies, codes & ethics
- Compensation and benefits packaging
- Dismissals & terminations, legal and compliance
Explain the Matching Model of hard HRM
The Matching Model – Hard HRM
Hard HRM: Deployment of human resources to meet business objectives
- Selection of most suitable people to meet business need
- Appraisal, monitoring performance and providing feedback to organisation & employees
- Performance in the pursuit of business objectives
- Rewards for appropriate performance
- Performance in the pursuit of business objectives
- Development of skills and knowledge required to meet business objectives
Two assumptions underpin this model:
- The most effective means of managing people varies between organisations
- Conflict or at least differing views cannot exist in the workplace
Explain the Harvard Model of soft HRM
The Harvard Model of HRM – “Soft HRM”
Aimed at enhancing the commitment, quality and flexibility of employees
Stakeholder interests and situational factors impact HRM policy choices
Strategic Integration
- Ability to integrate HRM issues into strategic plans
High Commitment
- Behavioural commitment to pursue agreed goals
- Attitudinal commitment reflected in a strong identification with the enterprise
- Goals: (human wellbeing and societal commitment goals)
High Quality
- Of all aspects of managerial behaviour including investment in employees, which in turn affects the quality of products and services
Flexibility
- Adaptable organisational structure to manage and foster innovation
This assumes that it is possible to balance the strategic integration associated with ‘hard’ HRM with the ‘softer’ elements of high commitment practices.
What is an example of soft HRM
An example of soft HRM is the Starbucks College Achievement Plan
They pay for their employees’ (known as “partners”) tuition fees
Adds value to their employees, so that they can be promoted e.g. to head offices
Name the different strategic HRM perspectives
Best-fit
- Lifecycle
- Competitive Strategy
Resource-based view
- VRIO
- Core competency
Best-practice
- High-commitment “bundles”
NB in practice it is extremely rare to use just one of these first two perspectives, and instead all need to be considered when developing an HR strategy:
Where in the lifecycle are you?
What is your competitive strategy?
What is your core competency?
What rare qualities do you have in your people? etc. etc.
What is corporate strategy? Give examples
Corporate strategy:
- Identifies the portfolio of businesses that comprise the company
- Identifies the ways in which these businesses are related to each other
Examples of corporate strategies include:
Concentration
- The company offers one product or product line, usually in one market
Diversification
- The firm expands by adding new product lines
Vertical integration
- The firm expands up or down the supply chain
- E.g. producing its own raw materials, or selling its products directly to consumers
Consolidation
- The company merges two divisions into one
What is competitive strategy? Give examples
Competitive strategy
Determines the advantages that enable a company to differentiate its product or service from those of competitors
Examples of competitive strategies include:
Cost leadership
- The business seeks to become the low-cost leader in an industry
Differentiation
- Seeking to be unique in its industry along dimensions that are widely valued by buyers
- E.g. quality and service
Focus on niche markets
- Seeking to be innovative and creative
What is functional strategy?
Functional strategy
Identifies the basic course of action that each department will pursue in order to help the business achieve its competitive goals
Draw and explain the lifecycle model of strategic HRM
Lifecycle model:
Business and product lifecycle models can be linked to the selection and management of appropriate HR policies:
Start-up phase
- There is an emphasis on ‘flexibility’ in HR
- Enables the business to grow and foster entrepreneurialism
Growth stage
- Once a business grows beyond a certain size, emphasis moves to the development of more formal HR policies and procedures
Maturity stage
- As markets mature, margins decrease and performance plateaus, the focus of the HR strategy may move to cost control
Decline stage
- The emphasis shifts to rationalisation
- This has downsizing and redundancy implications for the HR function
What is strategic HRM?
Best fit models of SHRM focus on alignment between HRM, business strategy and the external context of the firm.
- They assess the extent to which there is fit between business strategy and HRM policies
- This is done by linking business goals to individual objective setting, and measuring and rewarding attainment of that business goal
Draw and explain the competitive strategy of HRM
They defined HR policies and practices to ‘fit’ the generic strategies of cost reduction, quality enhancement and innovation
They argued that business performance will improve when HR practices mutually reinforce the organisation’s choice of competitive strategy.
- The ‘cost-reduction’-led HR strategy is likely to focus on the delivery of efficiency through mainly ‘hard’ HR techniques
- Contrastingly, ‘quality-enhancement’ and ‘innovation’ focus on the delivery of added value through ‘softer’ HR techniques and policies
Explain how the following roles are affected in the different competitive strategies of SHRM.
Creativity, focus horizon, teamwork, quantity, quality and risk taking
Explain the resource based view of SHRM. What is the VRIO framework?
The resource-based view of SHRM explores the ways in which an organisation’s human resources can provide sustainable competitive advantage
This is best explained by the VRIO framework, used to assess how much of a competitive advantage a firm has
- Value
- Rarity
- Imitability
- Organisation
Explain each of the different parts of the VRIO framework
Value
- How can the human resources function of a firm create value?
- Cost reduction (head count) vs. revenue enhancement (enhanced customer service)
Rarity
- What rare qualities do the human resources offer?
- How can the organisation capitalise on these qualities?
EXAMPLE: NORDSTROM
- Focus on individual salespeople as source of competitive ad. Pay twice industry average
Inimitability: if firms can imitate then these advantages are lost over time
- How can an organisation develop characteristics that are difficult to imitate
EXAMPLE: Southwest airlines
- Fun and trust culture that can’t be imitated, tough recruitment process
Organisational compatibility
- How can the business organise to build and exploit resources?
- Allows them to capitalise on the above
Why are resources hard to imitate?
- Historical conditions. Resources that were developed due to historical events or over a long period usually are costly to imitate
- Causal ambiguity. Companies can’t identify the particular resource that are the cause of competitive advantage
- Social complexity. The resources and capabilities that are based on company’s culture or interpersonal relationships
What are the different competitive advantage classifications associated with the VRIO framework?
Explain the core competency model of SHRM, give an example
Core Competency
A bundle of skills and technologies that enable a company to provide particular benefits to customers
- Not product specific
- Represents the sum of learning across individual skill sets and individual organisational units
- Must be competitively unique
- Is not an “asset” in the accounting sense of the word
- Represents a “broad opportunity arena” or “gateway” to the future
EXAMPLE: Dynamatics Technologies
started in gear pumps, high precision
core competency allowed them to move into aerospace components
Explain the different aspects of best practice HRM
Best practice HRM: functional activities and strategic plans that result in enhanced organisational performance
Employment security
Sophisticated/selective hiring
Extensive training
Sharing information/employee involvement
Self-managed teams/team working/ decentralisation
Reduction of status differentials
High pay contingent on organisational performance
What is the workforce? What is it made up of?
The workforce is drawn from the segment of the population of working age
This ranges from 16 up to state retirement age
What is the talent paradox
The current talent paradox is that,
- Despite high unemployment,
- Many companies are facing shortages in the critical areas
- Where they most need to attract and keep highly skilled talent
In other words, a surplus of jobseekers doesn’t mean that talent is available where and when it is needed
What are the different ways of assessing job quality?
The quality of jobs on offer in the labour market varies
Traditionally, economists have used PAY as the measure of job quality
- However, this may no longer be an appropriate measure
Social scientists have stressed the level of skill as a key measure
- Skilled work not only provides workers with better pay but also more variety, personal autonomy and involvement
Ultimately, it gives them more control over their effort
Show graphically how HR planning relates to strategy
What are the different stages in the recruitment process
ESTABLISH THE NEED
IDENTIFY THE REQUIREMENT
ATTRACT CANDIDATES
IDENTIFY THE “BEST” CANDIDATE
EVALUATE THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS
What are the important questions you should ask to establish the need for recruitment
Establish the need
- Is the role required
- Is recruitment appropriate
- Can the need be satisfied using existing resources?
- If not can the work be re-designed to allow this?
- Should the requirement be filled by recruitment or outsourcing?
- Should recruitment be delayed to save costs
What are the ways of identifying the requirement for recruitment
Identifying the requirement
- Job description: purpose; duties; responsibilities
- Person specification: physical; qualifications; intelligence; interests; motivation
- Common to differentiate between requirements that are essential to the job and those that are merely desirable
- Competencies: the work related personal attributes, knowledge, experience, skills and values that a person draws on to perform their work well
- E.g. planning and organising, managing relationships, decision making
What are the different ways of attracting candidates
Attracting candidates
- Informal personal contacts
- Word of mouth
- Formal personal contacts
- Employee referral schemes; open days
- Noticeboards
- Internal or external
- Press/media advertising
- E.g. local newspapers; radio; TV
- Internet advertising
- External sources
- E.g. Job Centres; careers service, “head hunters”
What are the different ways of identifying the best candidate
Identify the “best” candidate
Shortlisting
- Screening CV, cover letter
- Explicit vs implicit criteria
- Self de-selection
- Job previews
- “Killer” questions
- Software-based CV assessment
- Secondary short listing
- Telephone interview
Interviews
- Structured, unstructured
Aptitude tests
- Specific skills; ability
Assessment centres
Job simulation
References
- Employer; Personal
Gamification
What are some recruitment difficulties and their solutions
Problems: Solutions
Lack of necessary skills: Appoint people with “potential”
Insufficient experience/qualifications: Take account of broader range of qualities
Applicants expect more pay than offered: Increase pay or salary
No applicants: Redefining the job, bounty payments to staff
What are the different costs of recruitment?
Cost of recruitment
- Direct recruitment costs
- Sign on bonus
- Work permit
- Relocation
- Training
- Productivity costs
- Downtime associated with jobholder changing jobs
- Start up time required
- Shortfall in productivity
- Psychological impact of “failure” (internal candidates)
- Failure costs
- No appointable candidate
- Wrong decision
Whats the different ways the recruitment process is evaluated?
Effectiveness
- Progress, duration of employment etc
- Difficult to determine, but may be able to assess over large sample
Efficiency
- Cost of process, offer acceptance rate etc. cost per candidate
Fairness
- Often limited to tracking gender, race, disability etc.
Explain the social process model
Social Process Model
- Recruitment and selection is a two way process
- Both candidate and organisation are evaluating
- Assessment process enables exchange of information and evaluation of compatibility
- Matching expectations and needs; culture and values
- Assessment as a learning process
What is performance mgmt.?
A process which contributes to the effective management of individuals and teams
to achieve high levels of organisational performance
It establishes SHARED UNDERSTANDING about what is to be achieve and an APPROACH TO LEADING AND DEVELOPING PEOPLE which will ensure that it is achieved.
What are the goals of performance mgmt?
Goals of performance mgmt.
Performance improvement
- Throughout the organisation, in respect of individual, team and organisational effectiveness
Development
- Unless there is continuous development of individuals and teams, performance will not improve
Managing behaviour
- Ensuring that individuals are encouraged to behave in a way that allows and fosters better working relationships
What are the 5 steps of performance mgmt.?
- Performance objectives (SMART) set (Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time bound)
- Outcomes measured
- Results fed-back
- Rewards linked to outcomes
- Change implemented
What is a performance appraisal?
Performance appraisal
A performance appraisal is a method by which the job performance of an employee is documented and evaluated
What are the various purposes of performance appraisal?
Administrative
- Pay
- Promotion
Developmental
- Feedback
- Identifying areas for improvement
- Weeding out poor or underperforming employees
- Separation or transfer decisions
- Evaluation of contributions made by individuals/departments in achieving goals
- Supporting training and development decisions
- Evaluating success of training and development
- Work planning
What are the key elements of performance appraisal
Measurement
- Assessing performance against agreed targets and objectives
Feedback
- Providing information to the individual on the performance and progress
Positive reinforcement
- Emphasizing what has been done well and providing constructive criticism
Exchange of views
- Regarding performance improvement and support needs
Agreement
- Joint understanding of next steps
What are the approaches to performance appraisal
Self-appraisal
- Not useful on its own, but the norm as a starting point
Verbal or ‘Free text’
- Subjective and difficult to measure
Checklist of knowledge, skills, competencies and behaviours
Ranking of performance against pre-defined criteria or traits
- Need to tailor the criteria according to job roles and responsibilities
What is the CIPD guidance on appraisals?
CIPD guidance on appraisals
- What they have achieved during the review period, with examples and evidence
- Objectives not achieved, with examples and explanations
- What they enjoy about the job and how they might want to develop the role
- Any aspect of the work in which improvement is required and how
- Employee learning and development needs with supporting case
- What levels of support and guidance employees required from the manager
- Employees aspirations for the future, both in the current role and in possible future roles
- Objectives for the next period
Explain the differences between a good and bad appraisal
Good
- Appraisees do most of the talking; appraisers listen actively to what they say
- Performance is analysed, not personality
- The whole period is reviewed and not just recent or isolated events
- Achievement is recognised and reinforced
- The meeting ends positively with agreed action plans to improve and sustain performance in the future
Bad
- Focuses on a catalogue of failures and omissions
- Is controlled by the appraiser
- Ends with disagreement between appraiser and appraisee
- Leaves the appraisee feeling disengaged or demotivated by the process
What are the Potential Biases in Appraisals?
Central tendency effect
- Leniency or mid-way scoring
Halo/Horn effect
- One piece of information used to evaluate unknowns
Recency effect
- Relying on memorable info
Anchoring and adjustment
- Failing to adjust initial impression in the face of evidence
Comparison effect
- Compares performance to an employee performing other tasks
Explain how performance logs are used to avoid biases
Performance logs to avoid biases
- Record performance on an ongoing basis
- Include positive and negative behaviours
- Write observations, not assumptions
- Keep out biased language
- Be as specific as possible
- Track trends, look out for patterns/abnormalities
- Measure only those traits/behaviours that are relevant to the job and company values
Explain 360 appraisal and what is rated?
Performance rated by
- Boss
- Peer
- Subordinate
- Customer
What is rated?
Things you should:
- Stop
- Start
- Continue
- Do more of
- Do less of
- Mission, vision, values
Explain how raters should be trained in 360 appraisal
360 appraisal – rater training
- Goals of the 360-degree feedback process
- Expectations of employees involved in the process
- Methods used in administering the process
- Understanding that the process is confidential, and the meaning of confidentiality
- Understanding and filling out the feedback instrument
- What the organisation will do with the data collected
What are the advantages and problems of 360 Appraisal
Advantages
- Improved feedback from more sources
- Can save managers’ time
- Employees understand how other employees view their work
- Team development
- Teams know more about how members are performing
- Makes teams more accountable for eachother
- Personal and organisational performance development
- Responsibility for career development
- Allows them to take control of their career development
- Improved customer service
- Training needs assessment
Problems
- Design process downfalls
- Failure to connect the process
- to organisational strategy
- Insufficient information
- Usually anonymous
- Focus on negatives and weaknesses
- Rater inexperience and ineffectiveness
- Paperwork overload
What comes after an appraisal?
Employee ranking (EXAMPLE Microsoft crippling innovation)
Deloitte approach
Explain the deloitte approach?
Deloitte’s approach
Managers review performance on a continuous basis
They are asked four questions
- Given what I know of this person’s performance, I would award this person the highest possible compensation increase and bonus (5 point scale)
- I would always want him or her on my team (5 point scale)
- This person is at risk of low performance (Y/N)
- This person is ready for promotion (Y/N)
They are asking team leaders what they would DO with the individual not THINK
What are the different ways to categorise compensation?
Job based Pay
- Banded grade for job
Skill- based Pay
- Basic pay with increments for skills acquired
Seniority-based Pay
- Out-dated, however still relevant in Japan
Pay for Performance
- Links pay to performance of individual, group or organisation
- E.g. piecework, sales commission, stock options, profit sharing
- A “high-performance” work practice
What are the parts that make up contribution related pay
Paying for past performance
- (results)
Paying for future success
- (competence)
What are the different types of rewards in the workplace?
PAY
BENEFITS
LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
WORK ENVIRONMENT
What are the different parts that make up learning?
Skill
- Perceptual-motor skills involve physical, motor responses to stimuli in the external world
Competence
- This is the ability to apply knowledge and skills with understanding to a work activity
(Tacit) Knowledge
- “know how” is defined as the tacit knowledge of how to execute something
- It is acquired through experience rather than instruction
Employability
- This is an indirect outcome of learning and development
- Should be able to find employment elsewhere should their job come to an end
What are the steps in Kolb’s cycle of learning?
Kolb’s cycle of learning
- Concrete experience
- To become fully involved in concrete, new experiences
- Reflective observation
- To observe and reflect on these experiences from many perspectives
- Abstract conceptualisation
- To use concepts and theories to integrate their observations
- Active experimentation
- To use those theories for decision-making and problem-solving
concrete/abstract (involvement/detachment)
active/reflective (actor/observer)
What are the different types of learners from Kolbs cycle?
What are the different types of learners?
Accommodator/activist – learns by doing
Diverger/reflector – learns from different points of view, observing rather than acting
Converger/pragmatist – think and do, prefers the practical and specific
Assimilator/theorist – watch and think, comfortable with concepts and abstract idea
Explain the Lancaster’s cycle of learning
- Represents ‘all forms of learning including cognitive, skill development and affective, by any process’
Identifies three different forms of learning:
- Receipt of input/generation of output (from being taught or told information, or reading)
- Discovery (loop: action and feedback through experimentation)
- Reflection (loop: conceptualising and hypothesising) when making sense of the information they receive and the actions they undertake
As the figure shows, they take place in both the inner and outer world of the individual
Draw the BCG matrix for segmenting talent
Career growth potential vs current performance
Wild Cats
Star
Dog
Cash Cow
What is another way for segmenting talent?
Value add vs unique firm specific skills
Core knowledge workers
- Add high value, unique/firm specific talents
- Relational contracts, “career” focus
Traditional human capital
- Can add value, but not unique
- Transactional contracts
Idiosyncratic human capital
- Highly unique skills
- Externalised (outsourced)
Ancillary human capital
- Engaged in standardised work
- Contract for services
Explain why attrition is often a symptom of mgmt. problem
Attrition is often a symptom of mgmt. problem
See no future
No loyalty from company
Unrealistic mgmt. expectations
Job unexciting
More money elsewhere
Draw a matrix showing turnover risk analysis
Likelihood of leaving vs impact on organisation
Danger zone
Thanks for all you’ve done
Watching brief
No immediate danger
What are the different types of change?
Developmental
- Improvement of existing situation
Transitional change
- Implementation of a known new state; management of the interim transition state over a controlled period of time
Transformational change
- Emergence of a new state, unknown until it takes shape, out of the remains of the chaotic death of the old state; time period not easily controlled
What are the different steps in the Satir Model of Change
- Late status Quo: Encourage to see the need for change
- Resistance: Help people to open up, overcome the natural reaction
- Chaos: Build safe environment and provide support
- Integration: Focus on the positives and help solve problems
- New status Quo: Help people feel safe so they can practice
What are Kotter’s 8 steps to successful change?
- Create urgency (could be accomplished by discussing with them potential threats, or possible solutions)
- Create a coalition (This group manages all efforts and encourages the employees to cooperate and take a constructive approach)
- Develop a vision and strategy
- Communicate the vision (Most important step here is to create support and acceptance among employees)
- Empower action (Removing obstacles can empower the people needed to execute the vision, and can help the change move forwards)
- Get quick wins
- Leverage wins to drive change
- Embed in the culture
What is the code of practice for Dispute Resolution
Principle – resolve at lowest level of formality
- Establish the facts of the case
- Inform the employer/employee of the problem
- Hold a meeting to discuss the problem
- Allow the employee to be accompanied
- Decide on appropriate action
- Provide employees with an opportunity to appeal
- Where disciplinary and grievance procedures overlap suspend disciplinary or hold concurrently
What are the options for dispute resolution
Mediation
Conciliation
Arbitration
What are the differences between internal and external mediators?
Internal
Knows and understands culture
Potentially less briefing required
Little cost
May not be perceived as impartial
May have baggage
Experience level may be low
External
Comes with little knowledge of organisation
May be a more experienced mediator
Likely to gain trust of parties more readily
Able to provide the organisation with fresh view
Charges for services
What are the different management approaches of MNCs
Management approaches of MNCs
Ethnocentric
- Home country oriented
Polycentric
- Host country oriented
Geocentric
- “world” oriented
In reality many MNCs adopt a mixed approach
