Quiz 2 Flashcards
1
Q
What is human resources planning?
A
- The continual process of anticipating the future workplace needs of the organization
- Steps to get the RIGHT number of RIGHT people in the RIGHT place at the RIGHT time
2
Q
Why is human resources planning important?
A
- Avoid having too many people (labour surplus)
- Avoid having too few people (labour shortage)
- Risk of wrong people (overqualified, underemployed)
3
Q
Describe the major external environmental influences on the organization’s ability to find and secure talent from the external labor market, and give relevant examples.
A
- Environmental scanning: an assessment of external factors that may influence organization’s ability to find talent from external labour market
• Economic conditions (eg. mass layoffs = people will be looking for jobs)
• Competitive trends (eg. compensation policy)
• New or revised laws relating to HR (eg. minimum wage laws)
• Social concerns (eg. childcare)
• Technological changes (eg. new IT devices)
• Demographic trends (eg. international students)
4
Q
What are the steps in human resources planning?
A
- Forecasting Labour Supply
- Employees should report changes to their qualifications to HR department
- Skills and management inventories must be updated regularly - Forecasting Labour Demand
- Identifies future workforce requirements needed to maintain the organizations mission and goals
- Main factors in demand analysis:
• New products
• Estimated productivity
• Budgets or financial resources
• Competitive pressures (eg. hire employees to prevent them from going to rivals) - Gap Analysis
- Comparing forecasted demand to forecasted supply to determine if there is a projected labour equilibrium, shortage, or surplus - Solutions Analysis
5
Q
What 4 methods can you use when forecasting labour supply?
A
SKILL INVENTORIES:
- Summary of current employees’ education, experience, interests, and skills
- Used to identify eligibility for transfer/promotion
MANAGEMENT INVENTORIES:
- Summary of management employees’ qualifications, skills, interests, and managerial responsibilities
- Used to identify eligibility for transfer/promotion
REPLACEMENT CHARTS:
- Depiction of who will replace whom in the event of a job opening
- Should pick the person who is ready and has sufficient performance
- Internal candidates age and education, present performance rating, and promotional potential are listed
REPLACEMENT SUMMARIES:
- Lists of likely replacements for each position
- Can often be found below the replacement charts to offer more details
- Indicates relative strengths/weaknesses, current position, performance, promotional potential, age, and experience
6
Q
List the techniques used to forecast labour demand.
A
QUANTITATIVE: useful to predict # of employees needed
- Trend Analysis
- Ratio Analysis
- Scatter Plot
- Regression Analysis
QUALITATIVE: used when we lack data for a quantitative model or we are interested in quality/human capital (judgement is necessary)
- Delphi Technique
- Nominal Group Technique
7
Q
What is trend analysis?
A
- Predicts labour demand based on projections of past relationship patterns between an operational index and # of employees
• Use historical data (over time) - Eg. If a housekeeper can clean 20 rooms/day (an operational index), the hotel has 1,000 rooms, and projected capacity in the winter is 80%, how many housekeepers do we need?
• 40
8
Q
What is ratio analysis?
A
- Predicts labour demand using ratios between assumed causal factors and # of employees need
- Key difference from trend analysis = no requirement for significant historical data (only 1 year is sufficient)
- Eg. Each salesperson can bring in $200K per year. We want 600K in revenue, so need 3 employees.
9
Q
What is scatter plot?
A
- Summarizes relationship between 2 factors using a correlation coefficient (-1 to +1)
• Positive correlation ⟶ increasing sales revenue with more salespeople
• Negative correlation ⟶ increasing sales revenue with less salespeople - Cannot determine causality
10
Q
What is regression analysis?
A
- Determines the line of best fit to investigate the effect of 1 variable on another
• Collect data at 2 different time points - Determine the magnitude and direction of the relationship between variables to develop future predictions
• Can establish causality!
11
Q
What is the Delphi technique? What are the cons?
A
- Process in which judgements of a selected group of experts is solicited and summarized in an attempt to determine the future HR demand
• Experts do not meet face-to-face and work independently (less personal bias, group conformity pressures, and issues with shyness)
• Good equalizer and can elicit feedback from a wide range of experts - Cons ⟶ difficult to integrate diverse opinions, costly, time-consuming, results cannot be validated statistically (evidence is opinions), project coordinators may be burnt out (high workload)
12
Q
What is the nominal group technique? What are the cons?
A
- Experts (managers) meet face-to-face
- Group discussion facilitates exchange of ideas
- Cons ⟶ possible subjectivity, group pressure could lead to a less accurate assessment
13
Q
What is a staffing table?
A
A pictorial representation of all jobs within the organization, along with the number of current incumbents and future employment requirements (monthly or yearly) for each
14
Q
What is a labour surplus? Discuss the differences between layoffs and terminations.
A
- Internal supply of employees exceeds the organization’s forecasted demand
SOLUTIONS:
- Layoff: temporary of permanent withdrawal of employment due to business or economic reasons (not the employee’s fault)
- Termination: permanent separation from the organization because of job performance reasons (the employee’s fault)
15
Q
What is employee turnover? What is the difference between voluntary and involuntary?
A
- The end of an individual’s employment within an organization
- Voluntary
• Initiated by employees, dysfunctional for employers
• Uncontrollable and unpredictable
• Threat to organizational effectiveness - Involuntary
• Initiated by employer (termination or layoff)
• Traditionally seen as functional
• Within the control of organizational leaders
16
Q
What must organizations consider when initiating involuntary employee turnover?
A
- NO evidence that involuntary turnover leads to improved organizational performance
- May actually generate detrimental effects (fear, insecurity, uncertainty, distrust of organization) for the remaining members as well as the entire organization over time
- Organization must consider the impact of turnover on remaining employees
- Turnover is contagious; observing withdrawal behaviours of coworkers is a key determinant of an individual’s likelihood of engaging in those same behaviours
17
Q
What is labour shortage and its solutions?
A
- The internal supply of human resources cannot meet the organization’s needs
SOLUTIONS:
1. Scheduling overtime hours (+overtime pay)
Internal:
2. Transfer: movement of an employee from one job to another that is relatively equal in pay, responsibility, or organizational level
- Promotion: movement of an employee from one job to another that is higher in pay, responsibility, or organizational level
External:
- Recruiting the right quality and quantity of talent needed in an organization to meet the long-term goals and strategy of the company
- Can be more effective than internal solutions
18
Q
What is recruitment?
A
- Process of searching out and attracting qualified job applicants
- Begins with identification of a position that requires staffing
- Ends when resumes are received from an adequate number of applicants
19
Q
What is the recruitment process?
A
- Identify job openings
- Specify job requirements
- Select methods of recruitment
- Generate pool of qualified applicants
20
Q
What is employer branding?
A
- The image of an organization based on the benefits of being employed by that organization
- Important in recruitment to attract high-quality talent and retain valued employees
- To develop, use main marketing channels to connect with potential job applicants
21
Q
What is the theoretical background of filling open positions with inside candidates?
A
- Human capital theory
- A human capital resource is intangible and internal resource that is created from the emergence of individual’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (eg. social relationships)
• Firm-specific knowledge (eg. knowlege of Courselink is applicable for UofG) should be developed so they are not transferable to competitors
• Changeable; can be enhanced via education and training - Involves an investment by both employee and employer
• Both parties benefit from maintaining a long-term relationship
22
Q
What is the yield ratio?
A
- Percentage of applicants from a recruitment source that makes it to the next stage of the selection process
- # of hirable candidates resulting from stage/total # of candidates that came in stage
- Helps to estimate the suitable candidate number required in the future
• Eg. if the yield ratio is 0.2% and we want to hire 10 individuals, we need 5000 candidates to apply
23
Q
What should an effective recruiting ad have?
A
- Info on the job and application process
- Job title & responsibilities
- Location of jobs
- Starting pay range
- Closing date for application
- Whether or not to submit a resume and cover letter
- Whether or not calls are invited
- Where to mail application or resume - Desired candidate qualifications (job specification)
- Years of experience
- 3-5 specific characteristics of successful candidates - Information on the organization
24
Q
What is selection?
A
- A series of specific steps used by an employer to decide which recruits should be hired
- Begins when recruits apply for employment (after recruitment)
- Ends with the hiring decision
25
Q
What is the multiple-hurdle strategy?
A
- An approach to selection involving a series of successive steps or hurdles
- Only those who clear the hurdle are allowed to move on to the next step
26
Q
What is the selection process?
A
- Preliminary applicant screening
- Reviewing application forms and resumes and removing candidates that do not meet selection criteria - Selection testing
- Using tests such as knowledge, physical abilities, intelligence, etc. - Selection interview
- Formal, in-depth conversation conducted to evaluate applicant - Background investigation/reference checking
- Verify accuracy of information provided - Supervisory interview and realistic job preview
- Allows employee to understand job setting before hiring - Hiring decision and candidate notification
- Notify applicants who were and were not selected
27
Q
What should you consider for selection testing?
A
- Reliability: test yields consistent results
- Validity: test scores significantly relate to job performance
- Differential validity: selection tool accurately predicts the performance of everyone (eg. white males, visible minorities)
- Criterion-related validity
• Is it testing work-related skills?
• Eg. strong sales ability in an interview will predict ability on the job - Content validity
• Does the test measure what it should to adequately assess suitability for job?
• Eg. asking a candidate for a sales position to demonstrate communication skills - Construct validity
• Measuring theoretical constructs (eg. leadership) using previously validated tests
28
Q
What is an IQ test?
A
- Measures general mental ability (GMA)
- Abilities including memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency, and numerical ability
- Strongest predictor of job performance
29
Q
What is an EI test? What are the limitations?
A
- Measure ability to monitor one’s own emotions and the emotions of others and to use that knowledge to guide thoughts and actions
- Not shown to be linked to performance
30
Q
What is an aptitude test? What are the limitations?
A
- Measures a person’s ability in a particular skill or field of knowledge (eg. logical reasoning, numeracy, linguistics)
- An individual’s potential to perform a job, provided he or she is given proper training
- However, we don’t know the effectiveness of aptitude tests in predicting job performance
31
Q
What is a personality test? What are the limitations?
A
- Measure of an individual’s personality to predict future job performance (eg. extrovert for sales)
LIMITATIONS:
- People can fake personality when motivated to do so
- You can lie on the test
32
Q
What are the types of interviews for selection? If applicable, discuss pros and cons. ✰
A
- Situational
- Individuals project what their future behaviour would be in a given situation
- Based on the idea that intentions predict behaviours
- “What would you do if…” - Behavioural
- Based on the idea that past behaviour is the best predictor of a person’s future behaviour
- “Tell me about a time when you…” - Skype (Zoom, Join Me, FaceTime, etc.)
- Pros ⟶ lower costs, time saving, screening remote candidates, less pressure on candidates
- Cons ⟶ internet connection issues, poor video quality - Stress Producing
- Use a series of harsh, rapid-fire questions to learn how the applicant handles stress
- Try to make you uncomfortable and put you on the spot
- Controversial; has a negative impact on employer brand
33
Q
What is the STAR method of interviewing?
A
Way to answer behavioural questions:
- Situation ⟶ provide context and background (where, when)
- Task ⟶ describe challenge and expectations (what, why)
- Action ⟶ what did you do, how
- Results ⟶ explain results (accomplishments)
34
Q
What are interviewer errors?
A
- Halo effect: use of limited information about candidate to bias interviewer’s evaluation
- Leading question: communicating the desired answer
- Stereotypes: harbouring prejudice or exhibiting personal bias
- Interviewer domination: using the interview to oversell, brag etc.
35
Q
What are interviewee errors?
A
May be due to attempting to cover job-related weaknesses or nervousness
- Playing games (eg. acting nonchalant, like you’re friends)
- Talking too much
- Boasting
- Not listening
- Being unprepared (lack of knowledge about company)
