Unit 10: Human Resources Management Flashcards
Describe the role of Human Resources Management (HRM) in large and small organizations Identify and describe the 5 steps of the Employee Lifecycle (Recruitment, Onboarding, Development, Retention, Offboarding) Provide examples of laws and regulations that impact employees in the workplace Describe the common trends in HRM today
what happened when microsoft piloted a 4-day workweek in japan
- Managing people - how to organize a company’s key resources (management, operations management, HRM)
- Productivity increases (operations management)
- Organizational culture and employee motivation - satisfaction, retention (HRM)
- Potential to save on other resources (CSR - Sustainability, Operations management)
what is human resource management
- How to manage people, a valuable (and expensive) resource
- Organizations need to focus on their future people needs, how to attract top talent, how to keep them long-term as they grow
- Organizations want motivated employees that can drive a company towards its vision and mission
what is HRM like in large organizations
an entire team of professionals dedicated to support the employee experience throughout the duration of their employment
what is HRM like in small organizations
- can manage employee experience through key roles or its founders
ex. Finance Manager manages employee experience since they work on payroll - As newer companies scale up and grow, there should be plans to manage the success of employees, while being aware of the laws and best practices to manage their people
how has the role of CFOs evolved
- Taking a strategic view + being strategic partners for all departments
- Meeting the challenges of all kinds (ex. Economic stability, labour shortages)
- Developing human skills - listening to team’s needs + collaborate
- A role that will continue to evolve - requires an entrepreneurial spirit
What is the employee lifecycle (ELC)
Considers how employees move through a company & can help a company design the overall employee experience as carefully as they would plan out the customer experience
what can proper development and implementation of the ELC support a company in
attracting/retaining top talent, enhancing overall reputation for a company & its brand
what are the stages of ELC
- recruitment
- onboarding
- development
- retention
- offboarding
then repeats
what happens in the recruitment stage
- Attracting/selecting talent that best fits the roles in the company
- Trying to gain awareness and generate interest in the job opportunities available
- Done by conducting active search for qualified candidates, deciding who is best based on company’s needs
what is the 5 step recruitment plan
- prepare an effective job description
- use the right recruitment tools
- conduct an initial screen of the applicants
- interview the best candidates
- offer the job
what happens in the 1st step of the recruitment plan
Prepare an effective job description:
- Can include minimum expectations in abilities, education, past professional experiences, or professional designations
- Well-written job description can be helpful in the onboarding process for a newly hired employee
- Identifies key responsibilities employees need to perform
what is a job description
Specifies the responsibilities, working conditions, connection with other roles, and experiences or skills an employee should possess to be successful in a role
what happens in the 2nd step of the recruitment plan
Use the right recruitment tools
- Consider both internal and external candidates
- internal: qualified candidates that are already working inside the company that can transfer or be promoted
- external: reaching an optimal pool of qualified applicants
why might a company consider internal candidates when they are choosing which recruitment tools to use
- Allows employees to grow in a new area
- Can develop new technical abilities working with new people
- Promotions let strong performers take on new responsibilities and more leadership roles
- Some companies have jobs be advertised internally first
- Promotes a culture of growth & development
what are ways a company consider putting up job offers for external candidates when they are choosing which recruitment tools to use
- A section on the company website, highlighting career opportunities
- Social media to raise awareness of the company & their postings
- Online job boards, like LinkedIn
- Advertising in industry publications, like CPA magazine to reach professional accountants
- Employment agencies; enlisting them to advertise, screen, reference check, and interview candidates for them
- Word of mouth; current engaged employees may know other qualified individuals that can be interested
what happens in the 4th step of the recruitment plan
Interview the best candidates
Interviewing includes:
- Deciding who should be involved (ex. people in the department of the new position, HRM personnel)
- Managing interview logistics (ex. When people are available, booking the rooms)
- How to evaluate each interview
- How to choose the best candidate(s)
- Interviews can be used to showcase the company’s brand, showing how the desires of the candidates align with the companies needs
what happens in the 3rd step of the recruitment plan
Conduct an initial screen of the applicants
- Use software to help screen applications for keywords, attributes, or questionnaire responses and make the reduce the list of candidates
- then do phone interviews to decide on stronger candidates and invite them for in-person interviews
- Can also review social media profiles of the candidates to see how they present themselves personally & professionally (can impact the company’s brand)
- After interviews, can also do background checks to confirm past work experiences, degrees, and police checks
- These checks are more important for jobs that need employees to be trustworthy (ex. Caring for others, working with large volumes of money, or handling sensitive information)
what happens in the 5th step of the recruitment plan
Offer the job
- After interviews, a job may be offered to the candidate
- Decision should take into account the company’s needs & interests of the individual (can support employee satisfaction and long-term success)
- Besides qualifications, company should also consider how well candidate would adapt to company’s culture (especially for roles that value team dynamics)
what are questions that can be asked in an interview
- Job ability; Gauge their knowledge, strengths, abilities, Behavioural questions to understand how well candidates can perform on the job from past situations
- Personality; Asking what they value or prefer to understand how they can work in a team, handle conflict, or adapt to the company’s culture
- Ask for their questions; Gauging their motivation, interests, and preparedness for the position
- Employment assessments; Written or oral assessments to gauge abilities, Can be assignments, tests, or have them perform actual job tasks (ex. Mock presentations), Should be directly related to the job
Common questions should be asked so that responses of each candidate can be compared
Questions should be legally acceptable (not discriminatory or personal)
what happens in the onboarding stage
- Process of providing new employees with time and resources to learn more about the company, their responsibilities, and meeting their coworkers (orientation)
- Usually happens in the first week
- Helps employee get up to speed so they can start fast
- Orientation usually reinforces a company’s vision, mission, and values
- New employees should know how to take these into account while making decisions
what policies and procedures can also be shared in the onboarding stage
- Codes of conduct
- Dress codes
- Work hours
- Workplace health & safety
- Confidentiality requirements
- Performance evaluation
- Security
- Emergency procedures
what happens in the development stage
- Enhancing the potential of employees, both professionally and personally, by providing learning opportunities to develop their skills & abilities in the short & long term
- Empower employees to shape their own careers by providing opportunities to set goals for performance (achieve company goals) and personal growth (develop skills and abilities)
what other stuff should be shared and done in the onboarding process
- Details that employees care about (like compensation, benefits, development opportunities) should also be shared during this process
- Should check in with new employees to see how they are doing and if additional support is needed
- Helpful to make sure they know who their key contacts are; who they work with directly, who they can report to, who they can ask for help
how can companies support personal growth
can recommend specific training from the first couple years for employees to work towards career interests/pathways
what is the benefit of having both professional and personal goals
ensures that the company and employee can both succeed
what can companies do to develop their employees
set an employee development plan
what are the benefits of investing in employee development
- benefit company long-term
- Can get a 3-5% return on investment if more is spent on training programs
- Can also increase employee satisfaction (many leave their jobs because there isn’t much training and advancement opportunities)
what are some examples of development opportunities
- on the job training
- off the job training
- online training
what is shown on social media when companies showcase their brand as an employer?
- fun ways to showcase their employees, what they do each day, and unique aspects of their workplace
- showcase a company’s culture and why they would be a great place to work
- The images and stories shared aim to attract top talent by highlighting the employee experience
You’re about to land your first job (e.g., part-time, summer, co-op, or full-time). What would you expect in a job offer? List the details that you would want to know about in a job offer.
- Compensation
- Vacation
- Work hours
- Start date (and end date if it’s for a fixed period)
- Requirements (e.g., dress code, equipment)
- Terms of acceptance (e.g., background check, date to respond by)
what is on the job training
- Employees can learn by watching others
- They typically learn 10% from classroom-style training, 20% from semi-formal setting (ex. mentoring, job shadowing, focused reading), and 70% from experience on the job (10-20-70 rule)
what is off the job training
- Employees learn off-site & in a comfortable environment
- Removing them from the workplace and their day-to-day tasks shows importance and commitment to learning
- Can be external conferences (let employees network with others in the industry while enhancing their knowledge and skills)
what is online training
- Online & employees can learn when its convenient for them, or delivered just-in-time and made available to all
- Can include live webinars or online courses
- E-learning can be more cost-effective than hosting in-person training
- Can also reach those that aren’t always in the office
why should companies also provide leadership development opportunities
- Employees usually are promoted for their job skills & not leadership
- Companies should focus on how to nurture leadership potential in any organization
- Leaders need to focus on human relations and conceptual skills
what are some leadership skills
- coaching; one-on-one discussions to support emerging leaders with their goals and career direction
- understudy positions; Emerging leaders (ex. Assistant vice president) support leaders with planning and tasks
Taking on more and more responsibilities they might inherit in the future - job rotation; Providing exposure to different areas of business, gaining new skills/perspectives, and connecting with many others in the company, Helps emerging leaders understand the big picture for the company to succeed
what are performance evaluations (appraisals)
- Measures performance against standards
- Can be used to make decisions like where needs training
Ex. what does an employee need to help refine their skills or help them take on additional responsibilities and lead? - Performance appraisals are a control process
- Standards are set (responsibilities & expectations), then actual performance is measured against these standards, and informed decisions are made (ex. Changes to compensation)
what are the steps of performance appraisals
- establish/communicate standards; Set performance goals, Discussing standards at orientation, involving employees in goal setting, or self-evaluation throughout the year, Includes stuff on the balance scorecard to consider performance related to financial, customer, business process, and learning/growth metrics
- evaluate performance; Collecting feedback from all stakeholders around the employee (ex. customers, colleagues)
- share/discuss results; Find a way to communicate what was done well, next steps for improvement, concerns to the employee
- make decisions; Can include decisions on training, additional resources, compensation, or promotions
what happens in the retention stage
- Continuously motivating and engaging employees, with the aim to manage employee satisfaction to keep top talent
- A lot of time and money is spent on hiring employees, they should try to retain them
why should companies set some time for the performance appraisal process for all of their employees
This dedicated time ensures the importance of the process and shows how growth and success of employees is valued
how can a company achieve long-term success in managing their employees
- more than just compensation
- To believe in the business and the management, employees want career opportunities
- Want to believe in what the brand stands for & the company’s reputation
- Employees also need to believe in the company’s vision, mission, and values
- Companies can survey their employees to gauge the engagement and motivation of their employees
what are engagement motivation drivers
- Career opportunities
- Organization reputation
- Pay
- Brand alignment
- Innovation
- Managing performance
- Valuing people/people focus
- Recognition
- Work process
- communication
how are engagement motivation drivers ranked throughout all perspectives
- Career opportunities ranked high for all perspectives
- Pay didn’t rank top five for North America, but it did by generation (for millennials) and job level (team member); means that pay is more important for people launching their careers
- Organization reputation and brand alignment was in the top 5 for most perspective
what is compensation
- Remuneration provided to employees in exchange for their services
- can be used to motivate and retain the best employees
- Can be a large operating expense & must be competitive in the marketplace (comparable to competitors or industry averages) or a company could risk losing employees
what is the overall compensation package employees will examine
pay system, benefits, additional workplace perks
what are the common pay systems
- hourly wage; Based on number of hours of work, Usually for entry-level or part-time roles
- Salary; Fixed amount of pay each year, Can change annually based on employee performance
- Commission plans; Compensation based on % of sales, Usually for sales professionals, Encourages employees to sell more
- Bonus plans; Additional money or gifts for excellent performance of achieving goals
- Profit sharing; Bonus awarded if the company is able to reach certain targets (ex. profits) and shared with the team that helped them
- Stock options; Opportunity to purchase a company’s stock at a preferred price
what else can companies provide their employees beside just compensation
- set of benefits that meets the needs of their employees and can be provided in a cost-effective manner
- Benefits can be optional or required by law
- Those required by law must be provided to all employees
which benefits are required by law
- holiday pay
- contributions to the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP)
- Employment Insurance (EI)
- workers compensation if injured
what are fringe benefits
Optional benefits that a company may grant which can help attract and retain employees
what are examples of fringe benefits
- Extended health care plans
- Dental plans
- Life & disability insurance
- Pension or RRSPs
- Wellness benefits
- Additional paid time off (extra vacation or personal days)
what are cafeteria-style (flexible) benefits plans
Employees can choose from a select set of benefits that best suits their needs up to specific dollar amounts
what other benefits may employers provide & what are the benefits of it
- wellness benefits where they provide money for gym memberships and equipment b/c healthy & active employees have greater morale, productivity, and reduced absenteeism
- Workplace perks that make the work environment more convenient or comfortable
Ex. catered meals or snacks/drinks that are available throughout the day
what is something else employees see as an additional work benefit
- flexible work arrangements
- Being able to balance personal and professional lives is important for employees
what are common work arrangements
- Flextime plans; Employees can arrive and leave at times that can accommodate their personal and professional responsibilities as long as they are at work within core times (ex. Between 10 am - 12 pm)
- Compressed workweek; Working more hours in less days to have a longer weekend, Ex. working 40 hours in 4 days instead of 5, and get a 3-day weekend
- Telework (or telecommuting); Option to work remotely (at home or outside the office), Can help companies (less office space, fewer resources, attracting those that want to be able to work from home)
what are some of lululemon’s employee benefits
- Lululemon continues to expand employee benefits, raising minimum base pay
- Time off work
- Mental health and health benefits
- Parenthood program and support groups
- Sweaty pursuits and employee discount
- Employee resource groups
- Training and development programs
- Professional coaching
- IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Action)
when PwC offered US employees full time remote work, what are the impacts they faced
- Business suffering ‘commitment issues’ on flexible working
- Not having work flexibility means losing or not attracting top talent
- Consider fairness among employees within a company
- Too much flexibility and potential risk to organizational culture, creativity, and collaboration
what happens in the offboarding stage
- Managing employee departures, both voluntary and involuntary
- Supporting departures, managing the transition of knowledge/responsibilities, planning for a replacement
is turnover costly?
- yes, from additional costs associated with an exit (severance pay, legal costs) and hiring and training new employees
- Cost of losing an employee can be tens of thousands of $$ up to twice their annual salary depending on the role, company, and industry
why do companies want to ensure offboarding process is a positive experience
Those that leave can talk about what they thought about the company to others (ambassador)
what are the types of employee exits
- End of term; temporary workers like co-op students
- Voluntary departures; quitting or retiring
- Termination; fired
what is turnover rate
- Percentage of employees that leave the company each year
- Key performance indicator that company leadership and HR may monitor for departures
- Turnover rates can vary by industry
what should be done regarding turnover rates
- Rates above average should be investigated to determine what can be done to prevent employees from leaving
- Companies can conduct exit interview to collect feedback on what they can do to reduce further losses
how can companies plan for future changes (when people are retiring)
- understanding employee timelines and intentions
- also have a succession plan can ensure a smooth transition of leadership roles and responsibilities
Knowledge management; capture the wealth of knowledge and best practices that could be lost upon the departure of the retiring employee
when could terminations be done
if a company needs to reorganize or downsize to reduce costs
what could companies do if they are letting go a bunch of employees
- companies establish counselling services (outplacement services) to help employees find new jobs
- Should also monitor the workplace environment b/c there can be low morale for those that remain (fear their jobs are no longer secure)
- Need to manage morale to avoid decrease in productivity
- If remaining employees need to take on more responsibilities, companies need to make sure they’re recognized or compensated fairly
if employees are terminated due to poor performance or inappropriate behaviour, what should a company do
- if it was with cause, companies need to have evidence for proof to avoid legal issues
- When there are terminations without cause, companies need to provide an adequate notice period (or pay in lieu) and severance given an employee’s years of service
what are HRM trends and issues that will impact decision-making when it comes to the ELC
- changing demographics of the workforce
- managing workplace diversity
- pay equity
- harassment policies
- mental health wellness
- a global workforce
- evolving knowledge and skill requirements
- shift in employee attitudes
- contingent workers
what is HRM legislation
- Laws and regulations that influence HRM activities
- Important for companies to have dedicated experts or HRM team that can navigate evolving laws and regulations and their impact on all HRM activities over time
what are some HRM laws you should be aware of
- Employment standards; Ensures employments are treated fairly, Looks at minimum wage, annual vacations and other leaves, holidays, hours of work, overtime, emergency requirements
- Workplace health and safety regulations; Protect employees from work-related injuries and illnesses
- Employment equity and human rights; Ensure employees are treated with respect, Employers are responsible for protecting employees from discrimination or harassment in the workplace
what are the changing demographics of the workplace
- Older employees are going to retire, are there enough qualified employees to take on leadership roles
- How to manage a multi-generational workforce
- All employees are in different stages of their careers & have different interests and goals
what is managing workplace diversity
- Employees that can reflect diversity of customers can better serve customers, bring more perspectives and ideas to the table, supporting innovation and creativity
- Diversity in the workplace can be more effective, produce higher quality work, and have deeper engagement
what is pay equity
Equal pay for work of equal value where all employees are assessed on neutral performance factors (ex. skills, effort, responsibility)
what is the trend in pay equity
- Internal equity looks at if people are compensated fairly
- External equity looks at how compensation compares to competitors or industry averages
what are harassment policies
- Ensure all employees feel safe at work
- Policies ensure inappropriate behaviour is not tolerated
what is the trend of having mental health wellness
Greater focus on promoting mental health and wellbeing to ensure employees have the support they need
what is the trend of having a global workforce
- Managing cultural differences and expectations from managing a global (and more mobile) workforce
Ex. workplace behaviours, benefits
what is the trend of evolving knowledge and skill requirements
Retraining or adapting workers to the jobs of tomorrow (with increase in technology and automation)
what is the trend of shifting employee attitudes
- Employees want jobs with growth opportunities
- More emphasis on flexible work arrangements for work-life balance
what is contingent workers
- Workers who don’t have regular full-time employment that take on short-term projects or can fill temporary needs
- Include part-time workers, temporary/seasonal workers, co-op students
what is the trend of having contingent workers
- Are cost-effective b/c they are compensated differently and are a flexible workforce
- When economy is slow, contingent workers can be used instead of hiring full-time employees
