[W1] - Introduction, Current Topics, Evidence-based Approach

Question 1

The Aims of Human Resource Management

Answer 1

o Achieve organizational objectives through effective use of employees.

o Managing people in organizations (e.g., recruit, train, motivate, allocate etc.,)

o Improve the productive contribution of individuals.

Question 2

The phasing out of HRM for HCM

Answer 2

• HRM was the dominant approach; which focused on ensuring that employees were highly skilled and highly motivated (suggesting an acute focus on selection and recruitment)
• However, this perspective has shifted in recent years due to a reduction in the skilled workforce – signalling the need for an alternate approach where previous skills are not essential.
• HCM is more person-focused, and emphasizes the influence of worker wellbeing on performance.
• It calls on organizations to invest in their employees (via training/development etc.)

Question 3

The stages of strategic HRM

Answer 3

Strategic HRM = making sure that the HRM department takes decisions that are in line with the organization’s strategic plan.

It can occur at many stages including:
- Analysis and design of work
- HR Planning
- Recruiting
- Selection
- Training and Development
- Performance Management
- Compensation
- Employee Relations

Question 4

What is the value of a psychological background for HR personnel?

Answer 4

• Psychological knowledge (e.g., individual differences; social interaction; cognitions, emotions, differing needs/individualised approach)
• A “people focus”; highlighting the costs for wrong personnel decisions for the company and the person, and the value of employee health, motivation, personnel development (e.g., training, coaching - managing human capital)
• Methodological & statistical knowledge (e.g., evaluate the validity of performance measures/tests; design interventions)
• Expertise with deductive reasoning/a theory-based approach.

Question 5

Deductive Reasoning and a Theory-Based Approach.

Answer 5

If I know something to be true in general, it should apply to a specific situation.

It allows us to understand and predict outcomes of interest; or to describe and explain a process/sequence of events.

Additionally, with a theory-based approach, theory identifies what variables are important and for what reasons, specifies how they are interrelated and why, and identifies the conditions under which they should be related or not related.

Theory –> Hypothesis –> Observation –> Confirmation (or do not support)

Question 6

What do the current challenges (societal and economic transformations) happening in Personnel Psychology mean for employees?

Answer 6

o They are expected to cope with a dynamic, uncertain environment; and need high digital skills.

o They need to be creative and proactive (requires autonomy being offered by the organization to facilitate innovation) - and must engage in constant (digital) upskilling to match pace with the present focus on innovation.

Question 7

What do the current challenges (societal and economic transformations) happening in Personnel Psychology mean for organizations?

Answer 7

o Creating humane job conditions and possibilities for all (age) groups.

o Create an environment free from harassment, discrimination; empower “minority” groups at work.

o Technological focus (HRM also has to keep pace with digital developments)!

o Flexibility.

Question 8

What is the Great Resignation? (or Big Quit/Great Reshuffle)

Answer 8

The finding of more employees leaving work voluntarily than before 2021 (when this trend began) - typically to change jobs as opposed to leaving work entirely.

Some sectors have been more affected than others - (primarily healthcare, hospitality; education)

One potential explanation is that the pandemic led many people to reevaluate their work and their priorities and what they want to do.

Question 9

Why is the Aging Workforce an issue?

Answer 9

The issue of an aging workforce faces employers in most Western (but also many Eastern now) countries.

By 2030 in the EU, more than 20% of the workforce will consist of workers aged 55 or older. There was a long-term awareness that this would arrive, but it still brings challenges.

Typically, about three generations are brought together in today’s workforce.

This has forced employees into delayed retirement (older employees are still needed; and so are expected to work longer) - and forced employers to invest in their employees’ lifelong learning; particularly in re-training older workers (or training across generations)

Question 10

Current Issues in Personnel Psychology

Answer 10

• Aging Workforce
• Skill Shortages
• Gig Economy
• New Technology

Question 11

Why are Skill Shortages a current issue?

Answer 11

Skill shortages pose a challenge to recruiting (more difficult to find employees to fit job requirements – longer search times), and also a problem for retention as high-skilled workers have many opportunities and may be more likely to move to other companies as a result.

An example of the impact of this is: lower nurse-patient ratios —> poorer health-care interactions —> lower quality of care.

Question 12

Why is the Gig Economy a current issue?

Answer 12

Freelance workers are increasingly being contracted (i.e., the organization outsources a job with freelancers; like delivery drivers, yoga instructor, blogger, seller of handmade goods etc.).

They may have more autonomy than an internal employee.

For organizations the benefits of gig economy include: less time & costs for hiring, onboarding, training, employee relations + flexibility.

For employees the benefits of gig economy include: flexibility, (autonomy), work-life balance + uncertain career paths (requires greater worker proactivity)

For employees the disadvantages of gig economy include: financial instability, job insecurity (i.e., no work during the pandemic) + lack of social benefits (e.g., healthcare, retirement).

Gig work is typically done during a certain life period for convenience (i.e., new mother, student etc.)

Question 13

What is Decent Work (Seubert) and what are is five dimensions?

Answer 13

Decent work focuses on the importance of fair income and work conditions allow people to fulfill basic needs + creating work that fosters empowerment, justice, occupational pride, job & life satisfaction, wellbeing.

[RM / SC / LI / SR / MSR]
The Five Dimensions are:
1. Reproductive-material
2. Social-communicative
3. Legal-Institutional
4. Status & Recognition
5. Meaningful-subject-related

Question 14

How has new technology impacted HR practices?

Answer 14

New Technologies are diverse (e.g., virtual reality - used for training purposes: “learning by doing”, simulating real-life work situations – like flight simulators, e.g., UPS, Walmart, NASA, DB Schenker).

In HR, avatars can be used for interviewing – there is also automation, artificial intelligence-based technologies, gamification (game learning) etc; which are changing the manner & methods through which HRM practices are conducted.

How can AI chatbots help (and not help – i.e., interpersonal/conflict/emotional tasks) in HR? – They can provide generalized information/answer typical questions to reduce the HR workload; or automate repetitive administrative tasks like schedule construction, training etc.,

Question 15

Big Data and Workplace Analytics (the use of organization-level data)

Answer 15

Organization-level data from the past can be used (i.e., past performance measures and turnover data) to make predictions about the organization’s future.

This can aid in decision making – using this people-related data to improve and inform all types of management & HR decisions/HRM practices.

This data can vary by volume (amount of data collected or generated - typically a minimum of 1 terabyte/220 DVDs), velocity (speed of generating/processing data; real-time processing; connected devices; sources such as mobile phones, social media, smartwatches), and variety (data type – qualitative, quantitative, text, audio, video, self-report etc.).

This is more common in the U.S due to greater E.U limitations on what employee data can be used or tracked.

Question 16

Concerns around New Technology

Answer 16

o Does new technology use attract a certain group of employees and perhaps deter others? (i.e., differing perceptions on an interview avatar)

o There is often a lack of high-quality research, validation & evaluation studies relating to new technology tools in practical settings!

o Such tools can have adverse impacts (e.g., motion sickness in VR – more common in women – mismatch of visual/movement data because you look to be moving but your body is not) and certain practices can differentially exclude subgroups (e.g., a language-based selection test).

o Big data and artificial intelligence rely on data that is not neutral – but relies on the employer’s history of recruiting, retention, promotion, compensation. Hence, if an employer made discriminatory hiring decisions, a model created on the basis of this data may reflect these same biases (or performance evaluations may have been historically biased against a particular (minority) group)

Question 17

What were the recommendations made in light of the emerging science-practitioner gap in personnel psychology?

Answer 17

o Practitioners should look to the scientific literature for guidance on managing human resources.

o Scientists should draw attention to issues that are relevant for practitioners/ organizations (i.e., via collaboration across domains and collaboration with practitioners (listening and conducting targeted research); using open science - making materials available to all; utilising alternate methods of communicating findings - e.g., community science, podcasts, social media etc.

Question 18

Where should data be sourced from when engaging in evidence-based practice?

Answer 18

• Data should be combined/come from multiple sources – scientific research, organisational data, professional expertise, stakeholders’ input (but doing it right is time-consuming and effortful)
• Meta-analyses are of value, as they provide quantitative overviews – allowing the estimation of an ‘average effect’ across several studies; testing moderators; summarizing knowledge.

Question 19

The Six As for identifying an organizational problem/challenge

Answer 19

Ask
Acquire
Appraise
Aggregate
Apply
Assess

o Ask: How to reduce absenteeism rate in call center workers?
o Acquire: Get the input needed to answer this question! - Literature search (meta-analyses if available – although it may not be specified to our particular problem); organizational data available? (Big Data; ask employees- e.g., surveys; experts)
o Appraise: Trustworthiness and relevance of evidence (e.g., quality of search, information)
o Aggregate: Weigh the evidence up based on the level of trust assigned to the evidence above.
o Apply: Change organizational policies, HRM practices
o Assess: Did the absenteeism rates decrease after 1 year? Or do you need to go back to the beginning and try again?

Question 20

What is the basic purpose of science?

Answer 20

The basic purpose of science is to gather reliable information to answer questions about what things are like and how they work.

Science in HR is a response to these problems of relying solely on personal knowledge and cognitive biases that lead to misinterpretations. It focuses on gathering objective, external, trustworthy, relevant information rather than relying solely on subjective, internal knowledge

Question 21

Cognitive Biases of Relevance to HR

Answer 21

Confirmation Bias: Selectively interpreting/searching for information that confirms our existing beliefs and ignoring contradictory information.

Bandwagon Effect/Groupthink: The tendency to do or believe something simply because others do (i.e., blindly following HR best practices, or copying others)

Question 22

The Three Main Reasons Why We Can Never Say Something is Certainly True in Science

Answer 22

[New information; boundary conditions; greater insight]

New Information: New information could emerge to cast doubt on a well-established theory and its body of evidence (i.e., the previous research may have been flawed in ways that produced biased or false results). All claims in science are contingent, and based only on the data we have.

Boundary Conditions: Findings are generally subject to boundary conditions (i.e., depend on the situation). A theory is unlikely to hold true everywhere (e.g., goal-setting theory).

Greater Insight: As we further investigate something, we generally find that our original findings were not quite right/not specific or detailed enough. Example: Organizational Commitment. At first, it was a one-dimensional construct which suggested employees were just more or less committed to their jobs. However, further research highlighted at least three types of commitment which have different effects on outcomes. To claim that commitment has some general effect is no longer permissible as it depends on the type of commitment and which outcomes we’re considering.

Question 23

Define evidence-based practice in H.R

Answer 23

Improving the chances of favorable outcomes from decision-making through the conscientious/careful use of the best available evidence from multiple sources by using the six As.

We should also be explicit in our use of evidence; by writing down, representing, discussing, and explaining the evidence we have (we shouldn’t “just know” things to be right or wrong without justification)

We should also be judicious; by making judgements about the quality of the information we have (because not all evidence is trustworthy/sound and may not deserve our attention). We need to be able to pick out the signal from the noise.

Question 24

Sources of Information in HR

Answer 24

Scientific Research Findings

Organizational Data

Professional (past) experience and judgement

Stakeholder’s values and concerns

[Don’t discount internal data! It ensures context relevance, and may even give better insights than published research if used properly]

Question 25

How to Better Use Scientific Evidence in HR Practice (A step-by-step of the Evidence-Based Approach)

Answer 25

• Work as a team
• Start small and do it quickly
• Be prepared for your HR preconceptions to be challenged
• Include information from other sources
• Don’t aim for perfection
• Do it over and over again (to build the habit)

Question 26

Define work-life balance, and list some of its positive effects

Answer 26

Employees with work-life balance feel their lives are fulfilled both inside and outside of work, and experience minimal conflict between work and non-work roles.

Work-life balance has been associated with:
 Higher levels of work/life satisfaction
 Lower levels of depression and stress
 Reduced employee turnover and absenteeism
 Attracting new hires
 Increases the likelihood of employee pro-social behaviour that goes beyond one’s job requirements.

While there are some mixed-findings regarding its effects on the bottom-line/profits, in general a “running yourself ragged” approach has negative costs, and the employee/organization benefit most from workers’ having a good work-life balance.

Question 27

The development of work-life balance across time

Answer 27

• In the modern perspective, work-life balance/spillover encapsulates the conflicts that can occur between many different work and life roles for all sorts of employees (as opposed to the previous concern for only work-family conflicts, like for women with children)
• Legislation played a role in these early efforts at work-life balance initiatives (e.g., Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pregnancy Discrimination Act, Family Medical Leave Act), to help women to both work and balance the primary caretaking responsibilities they often held.
• However, research shows that employees only feel comfortable attending to non-work-related needs (e.g., taking legally entitled leave) when organizational policies, cultural norms, supervisors, and coworkers also demonstrate a commitment to work-life balance (i.e., organizational support is critical)

Question 28

What can Organizations focus on to improve work-life balance?

Answer 28

• Work hours and job design (restricted hours, minimal work required during off-hours)
• Organizational culture (e.g., minimize negative norms such as “No one leaves until 7pm”)
• Incentives that encourage balancing work and non-work (e.g., take vacation or the cash pay-out is less)
• Leading by example

Question 29

Examples of work-life balance policies

Answer 29

Flexible work hours/job sharing

Child- and elder-care provisions

Paid maternity leave

Adoption assistance

Time off

Education, health, and housing assistance

[Note that advertising a culture of work-life balance but then failing to implement/enforce those policies, can lose an organization its new hires. Furthermore, work-life balance supports should meet the needs of all kinds of employees]

Question 30

The implications (positive and negative) of modern technologies

Answer 30

• Workplaces are often portable now, and push work activities into non-workspaces. This pressure to be “always on” may lower employee satisfaction and productivity. Indeed, rewarding responding to communications outside of work creates a compulsion to check messages, which can interrupt the employee’s personal life.
• In the reverse direction, employees can more easily bring non-work activities (e.g., online shopping, music, texting) into the workplace.
• One benefit of modern technology is telecommuting/working from home. These employees give back at least half of their commute time to work time, and value the greater flexibility and schedule control it provides them with.
• However, it can also further blur the physical boundary between work and home (i.e., telecommuters typically work longer hours than they would in the office).

Question 31

How effectively are employees managing work-life balance in the present day?

Answer 31

• The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 70% of employees report an unhealthy work-life balance in 2002 (although 70% also ranked family as their most important priority, which was an increase from past surveys).
• This suggests that employees are increasingly valuing their family, but also considering it to be less attainable. Many reported failing at any attempts to balance work and non-work demands.
• Why is this? In some organizations, the answer is that work-life balance is still not a genuine priority. Management needs to implement the policies, and front-line managers need to enforce them. Without a supportive work-life culture in which employees feel they SHOULD UTILIZE work-life benefits, they may feel discouraged/punished for taking time away from work to meet external needs.

Question 32

Promoting a positive work-life culture across different organizational levels

Answer 32

• First, at an organization-wide/department-wide level, one or more work-life benefits should be implemented for employees (e.g., telecommuting or flexible work hour options). Other organizations can provide inspiration (e.g., the annual guides with innovative ideas from Families and Work Institute and SHRM)
• Second, remember the impact managers and supervisors can have. Target supervisors to ensure they understand how to implement the relevant policies, and the potential benefits to the company of doing so. Do not ignore the importance of small-scale efforts like day-to-day support from supervisors and coworkers in promoting work-life balance within the organization. Regardless of organizational policy, the best driver of an employee’s work-life balance may be how well the surrounding manager and coworkers balance their own work and life demands.
• Third, make employees aware of what they can do to optimize their own work-life balance (e.g., encourage them to use vacation time for recovery). Employees who physically and psychologically detach from work report greater well-being in general. Breaks and vacations could be particularly valuable recovery periods for employees whose jobs prohibit other kinds of benefits.