Chapter 2: Trends in HR Management

Today's workplaces often bring together employees representing THREE or FOUR generations:

1) Silent Generation 2) Baby Boomers 3) Generation X 4) Generation Y

HRM

Employees can go online to select from items in a benefits package and enroll in the benefits they choose. They can look up answers to HR-related questions and read company news, perhaps downloading it as a podcast. **This processing and transmission of digitized HR information is called electronic human resource management (e-HRM).

Expatriates

Employees who take assignments in other countries.

Skill Deficiencies of the Workforce

Employers are looking for skills: - mathematical - verbal - Interpersonal - computer Gap between needed and available skills has DECREASED companies ability to compete. Companies may lack capacity to upgrade technology, reorganize work, and empower employees.

Labor Force

General way to refer to all the people willing and able to work.

_____________________ differences also can affect how managers approach policies about social media.

Generational

Companies must develop _______________markets, keep up with competition from overseas, hire from an international labor pool, and prepare employees for global assignments.

Global

HR Implications of An Aging Workforce

HR professionals will spend much of their time on concerns related to retirement planning, retraining older workers, and motivating workers whose careers have reached a plateau. Organizations will struggle with ways to control the rising costs of health care and other benefits. Many of tomorrow's managers will supervise employees much older than themselves. Organizations will have to find ways to attract, retain, and prepare the youth labor force.

Members of the Generation X

(1965-1980) Tend to be pragmatic and cynical, and they have well-developed self management skills.

Aging Workforce

From 2012 to 2022, the fastest-growing age group is expected to be workers 55 and older. The 25-44 year-old group will increase its numbers only slightly, so its share of the total workforce will fall. Young workers between the ages of 16 and 24 will actually be fewer in number. This combination of trends will cause the overall workforce to age. **Skill deficience diverse workforce

Employee Engagement

Full involvement in one's work and commitment to one's job and company. This is associated with: higher productivity better customer service lower employee turnover

Generation Y aka Millenials

(1981 to 1995) Are comfortable with the latest technology, and they want to be noticed, respected, and involved.

Silent Generation

(born between 1925 and 1945) Tend to value income and employment security and avoid challenging authority.

Baby Boomers

(born between 1946 and 1964) Tend to value unexpected rewards, opportunities for learning, and time with management.

International Labor Pool

- Hiring at home may may involve selection of employees from other countries. - Immigration

e-HRM

processing and transmission of digitized HR information especially using computer networking and Internet. e-HRM has potential to change all traditional HRM functions.

______________ challenges HRM create practices that ensure they fully utilize the talents, skills, and values of all employees.

Diversity

Important issues that HR experts can help companies weigh includ:

Whether workers in the offshore locations can provide the same or better skills, how offshoring will affect motivation and recruitment of employees needed in the United States, and whether managers are well prepared to manage and lead offshore employees.

Data Mining

Uses powerful computers to analyze large amounts of data, such as data about employee traits, pay, and performance. Managers can identify high-potential employees throughout a large organization and offer them development opportunities. employees enroll in and participate in training programs online.

In a recent survey of executives at large global corporations, ______% said a "diverse and inclusive workforce" is important for encouraging innovation.

85%

One important source of racial and ethnic diversity is ______________________.

Immigration

Projected Racial/Ethnic Makeup of the US Workforce, 2022

78% White 12% African American 6% Asian 4% Other Minorities The FASTEST GROWING of these categories are Asian and "other groups" because these groups are experiencing immigration and birthrates above the national average. In addition to these racial categories, the ethnic category of Hispanics is growing even faster, and the Hispanic share of the U.S. labor force is expected to reach 19% of the total by 2022. GENDER DIVERSITY: More women today than in the past are in the paid labor force, and the labor force participation rate for men has been slowly declining. During the economic recession and slow recovery, women's labor force participation rate also declined slightly, but between 2012 and 2022, women's share of the labor force is expected to remain steady, at around 47%.

Top Quality Management (TQM)

A companywide effort to continuously improve the ways people, machines, and systems accomplish work. TQM APPROACH provides guidelines for all the organization's activities, including HRM. TQM CORE VALUES: • Methods and processes are designed to meet the needs of internal and external customers (that is, whomever the process is intended to serve). • Every employee in the organization receives training in quality. • Quality is designed into a product or service so that errors are prevented from occurring, rather than being detected and corrected in an error-prone product or service. The organization promotes cooperation with vendors, suppliers, and customers to improve quality and hold down costs. • Managers measure progress with feedback based on data. Based on these values, the TQM approach provides guidelines for all the organization's activities, including human resource management. To promote quality, organizations need an environment that supports innovation, creativity, and risk taking to meet customer demands. Problem solving should bring together managers, employees, and customers. Employees should communicate with managers about customer needs. Quality improvement can focus on the HRM function itself. One area where managers are increasingly pressing for improvement is performance management

Reengineering

A complete review of the organization's critical work processes to make them more efficient and able to deliver higher quality. Ideally, reengineering involves reviewing all the processes performed by all the organization's major functions, including production, sales, accounting, and HR. Affects HRM in TWO ways: 1) How HR accomplishes its goals may change. 2) Change requires HR to help design and implement change so that all employees will be committed to the reengineered organization's success.

HR Information System (HRIS)

A computer system used to acquire, store, manipulate, analyze, retrieve, and distribute information related to an organization's human resources. HRIS can: - support strategic decision making - help the organization avoid lawsuits - provide data for evaluating programs or policies. - support day-to-day HR decisions **HRIS can help HR professionals think strategically and support talent management by integrating data on recruiting, performance management, and training to fill positions.

Psychological Contract

A description of what an employee expects to contribute in an employment relationship and what the employer will provide the employee in exchange for those contributions. It describes unspoken expectations that are widely held by employers and employees.

Sharon is a very smart and conscientious worker. Lately, she has felt that her ideas were disregarded and she was denied autonomy in completing her work. This situation is probably caused by a lack of ____________________.

A. Employee Empowerment B. Knowledge Management C. Turnover D. Teamwork ANSWER: A

Ensuring that knowledge workers will share information and store it so that it is easily retrieved by others is the concern of which of the following HR activities:

A. Turnover B. Employee Empowerment C. Knowledge Management D. Employee Selection ANSWER: C

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

Agency of the Department of Labor, that tracks changes in the composition of the US labor force and forecasts employment trends. The BLS has projected that from 2012 to 2022, the total U.S. civilian labor force will GROW from 155 million to 163 million workers.

Users of _______________ software development say it increases customer satisfaction and speeds up the time from concept to usable software.

Agile

Internal Labor Force

An organization's workers (its employees and the people who have contracts to work at the organization). Internal labor force has been drawn from the external labor market.

Knowledge Workers

Are employees whose main contribution to the organization is specialized knowledge, such as knowledge of customers, a process, or a profession. Knowledge workers are in a position of power, because they own the knowledge that the company needs in order to produce its products and services. They must share their knowledge and collaborate with others in order for their employer to succeed. They are especially needed for jobs in: health services business services social services engineering management

High Performance Work Systems

Are organizations that have the best possible fit between their social system (people and how they interact) and technical system (equipment and processes). THREE trends in high-performance work systems: 1) Reliance on knowledge workers 2) Empowerment of employees to make decisions. 3) Teamwork

As forecast by the Bureau of Labor Statistics between 2012 and 2022...

By 2022, all baby boomers will be at least 55 years old, swelling the ranks of workers nearing retirement at 26% of the US Labor Force. Those age 25-54 will account for 63% of the US Labor Fore. Those age 16-24 will account for 11% of the US Labor Force.

Creative organizations are applying social networking tools to _______________.

HRM. **Information technology is changing the way HR departments handle record keeping and information sharing. HR employees use technology to automate much of their work in managing employee records and giving employees access to information and enrollment forms for training, benefits, and other programs. As a result, HR employees play a smaller role in maintaining records, and employees now get information through SELF-SERVICE.

3 HRM Controls Cost

How to manage the costs while meeting the requirements is complicated. Employers need to weigh factors such as legal requirements, the costs and types of plans available, the impact on departments' budgets, and the effect on employee morale and retention, as well as on the ability to recruit new employees. Management relies on well-informed HR managers to identify alternatives and recommend which ones will best support the company's strategy. Beyond specific issues such as health insurance and the Affordable Care Act, HRM can support strategic efforts to control costs through DOWNSIZING, REENGINEERING, and OUTSOURCING.

Flexibility

Includes flexible staffing levels and flexible work schedules. A flexible workforce is one the organization can quickly reshape and resize to meet its changing needs.

The ____________________ use of computers to do routine tasks has shifted the kinds of skills needed for employees in the U.S. economy.

Increasing

External Labor Market

Individuals who are actively seeking employment.

Top 10 expected to grow at the fastest rate:

Industrial-organizational psychologists Personal care aides Home health aides Insulation workers, mechanical Interpreters and translators Diagnostic medical sonographers Helpers: brickmasons, blockmasons, stonemasons, and tile and marble setters. Occupational therapy assistants Genetic counselors Physical therapist assistants

The future U.S. labor market will be both a ________________ economy and a ________________ economy

Knowledge, Service

Employee Empowerment

Means giving employees responsibility and authority to make decisions regarding all aspects of product development or customer service. Employees are held accountable for products and services. In return, they share resulting losses and rewards. Employee empowerment shifts the recruiting focus away from technical skills and toward general cognitive and interpersonal skills. Employees who have responsibility for a final product or service must be able to listen to customers, adapt to changing needs, and creatively solve a variety of problems. HRM must design jobs to give employees latitude for decision making and train employees to handle their broad responsibilities. Feedback and rewards must be appropriate for the work of empowered employees. HRM can also play a role in giving employees access to the information they need.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Merger: two companies becoming one. Acquisition: one company buying another. HRM should have a significant role in carrying out a merger or acquisition. Differences between businesses involved in the deal make conflict inevitable. Training should include conflict resolution skills. There is a need to sort out differences in the two companies' practices regarding compensation, performance appraisal, and other HR systems. Also, HR professionals have to sort out differences in the two companies' practices with regard to compensation, performance appraisal, and other HR systems.

Alternative Work Arrangements

Methods of staffing other than the traditional hiring of full-time employees (for example, use of independent contractors, on-call workers, temporary workers, and contract company workers).

Offshoring

Moving operations from the country where a company is headquartered to a country where pay rates are lower but the necessary skills are available. This requires HR expertise in selecting employees for international assignments and preparing them for those assignments.

Often, reengineering results in employees being laid off or reassigned to new jobs, as the organization's ______________ change.

Needs

Need For Flexibility Affects HRM:

Organizations seek flexibility in staffing levels through alternatives to traditional employment relationship: 1) outsourcing, temporary and contract workers. 2) flexible work schedules - including shortened work weeks. 3) moving employees to different jobs to meet changes in demand. Many organizations are taking steps to provide more flexible work schedules, to protect employees' free time, and to more productively use employees' work time. Workers consider flexible schedules a valuable way to ease the pressures and conflicts of trying to balance work and nonwork activities.

Top 10 occupations expected to gain the most jobs between 2012 and 2022:

Personal Care Aides Registered Nurses Retail salesperson Home health aides Combined food prep/serving workers Nursing Assistants Secretaries/Admin Assistant Cust. Service Reps Janitors & Cleaners Construction Laborers

Employability

This means they want their company to provide training and job experiences to help ensure that they can find other employment opportunities. he key to survival in a fast-changing environment is flexibility.

Downsizing

Presents a number of challenges and opportunities for HRM. HRM must "surgically" reduce the workforce by cutting only the workers who are LESS valuable in their performance. Achieving this is DIFFICULT because the best workers are most able (and often willing) to find alternative employment and may leave voluntarily before the organization lays off anyone. HR should maintain open communication with remaining employees to build their trust and commitment, rather than withholding information. All employees should be informed why the downsizing is necessary, what costs are to be cut, how long the downsizing will last, and what strategies the organization intends to pursue. Finally, HRM can provide downsized employees with outplacement services to help them find new jobs. Such services are ways an organization can show that it cares about its employees, even though it cannot afford to keep all of them on the payroll.

Cloud Computing

Refers to arrangements in which remote server computers do the user's computing tasks. Access to cloud computing makes powerful HRIS tools available even to small organizations with limited computer hardware.

Outsourcing

Refers to the practice of having another company (a vendor, third-party provider, or consultant) provide services. Outsourcing gives the company access to in-depth expertise and is often more economical as well.. Functions most likely to be outsourced were employee assistance, retirement planning, and outplacement.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts that between 2012 and 2022, most new jobs will be in:

Service occupations, especially health care and social assistance. **Construction jobs also are expected to increase, but mostly to replace jobs that were lost during the financial crisis and recession of a few years ago.

Strategic Business Issues Affecting HRM

Strategic issues include emphasis on quality (TQM) and decisions about growth and efficiency. HRM can support these strategies, including efforts such as quality improvement programs, MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS, and RESTRUCTURING. Decisions to use REENGINEERING and OUTSOURCING can make an organization more efficient and also give rise to many HR challenges. IINTERNATIONAL EXPANSION presents a wide variety of HRM challenges and opportunities.

Self Service

System in which employees have online access to information about HR issues and go online to enroll themselves in programs and provide feedback through surveys. Self-service is especially convenient when combined with today's use of mobile computing devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. More companies are combining employee self-service with management self-service, such as the ability to go online to authorize pay increases, approve expenses, and transfer employees to new positions.

____________________ can motivate employees by making work more interesting and significant.

Team Work

__________________ is enabling teamwork even when workers are at different locations or work at different times.

Technology

HRM Applications for Social Networking

Technology trends that are shaping Internet use are also shaping e-HRM such as social networking. This chart provides some ways that creative organizations are applying social networking tools to HRM.

Teamwork

The assignment of work to groups of employees with various skills who interact to assemble a product or provide a service. WORK TEAMS often assume many of the activities traditionally reserved for managers: - selecting new team members - scheduling work - coordinating work with customers and - - other units of the organization VIRTUAL TEAMS rely on communications technology such as videoconferences, e-mail, and cell phones to keep in touch and coordinate activities.

HR professionals need to be aware of trends in the composition of the external labor market because:

These trends affect the organization's options for creating a well-skilled, motivated internal labor force. The number and kinds of people in the external labor market determine the kinds of human resources available to an organization (and their cost).

Rising costs of benefits, especially health insurance, have demanded ______________ in planning compensation packages.

creativity