Chapter 5: Human Resource Planning and Recruitment

Transitional Matrix

Matrix showing the proportion (or number) of employees in different job categories at different times

Colleges and Unversities

May be an important source for entry level professionals. To increase effectiveness, organizations employ internship programs to get early access to potential applicants and to assess their capabilities directly

Altering Pay and Hours

-Garner more hours from current employees -Cut salaries -Reduce contributions to 401(k) plans -Reduce number of hours of all workers

Recruitment Sources

-Internal versus external -Direct applicants and referrals -Advertising -Electronic recruiting -Employment agencies -Colleges and universities

Possible Negative Effects of Downsizing

-Lower long-term profit, performance and productivity -Loss of talent -Disrupts social networks needed for creativity and innovation

Options for Reducing Expected Labor Surplus (option: speed, human suffering)

1. Downsizing: fast, high 2. Pay reductions: fast, high 3. Demotions: fast, high 4. Transfers: fast, moderate 5. Work sharing: fast, moderate 6. Hiring freeze: slow, low 7. Natural attrition: slow, low 8. Early retirement: slow, low 9. Retraining: slow,low

Types of Personnel Policies

1. Internal versus external recruiting 2. Extrinsic versus intrinsic rewards 3. Employment-at-will policies 4. Due process policies 5. Image advertising

Options for Avoiding Expected Labor Shortage (option: speed, revocability)

1. Overtime: fast, high 2. Temporary employees: fast, high 3. Outsourcing: fast, high 4. Retrained transfers: slow, high 5. Turnover reductions: slow, moderate 6. New external hires: slow, low 7. Technological innovation: slow, low

Employing Temporary Workers

1. Temporary workers free a company from administrative tasks and financial burdens 2. Temporary workers are often times tested and trained by a temporary agency 3. Many temporary workers brings an objective perspective and experience

Workforce Utilization Review

A comparison of the proportion of workers in protected subgroups with the proportion that each subgroup represents in the relevant labor market -Used to determine whether any subgroups may be underutilized

Internal versus External Recruiting

A decision must be made on whether to recruit from within or outside the organization

Offshoring

A special case of outsourcing where the jobs that move actually leave one country and go to another

Public and Private Employment Agencies

Agencies will search their computerized inventory of individuals searching for work for an organization at no charge. Executive search firms generate a small list of highly qualified, interested applicants, but this is an expensive source compared with other alternatives

Leading Indicator

An objective measure that accurately predicts future labor demand

Outsourcing

An organization's use of an outside organization for a broad set of services -Choose an established, large outsourcing vendor -Jobs that are proprietary or require tight security should not be outsourced -Start small and monitor constantly

Forecasting Stage of HR Planning

Determine labor demand -Derived from product/service demands external in nature Determine labor supply -Internal movements caused by transfers, promotions, turnover, retirements, etc. -Transitional matrices identify employee movements in different job categories over time Determine labor surplus or shortage -Compare forecasts and demand

Recruiters

Functional area Traits Realism Impact

Advertisements

In newspapers and periodicals, typically less effective than direct applicants or referrals and more expensive. The two most important questions to ask in designing a job advertisement are "what do we need to say?" and "to whom do we need to say it?"

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Rewards

Lead-the-market pay strategy is a policy of paying higher than current market wages

Personnel Policies

Organizational decisions that affect the nature of the vacancies for which people are recruited -They impact the organization's ability to recruit -Characteristics of the vacancy are more important than recruiters or recruiting sources

Direct Applicants

People who apply for a job vacancy without prompting from the organization

Referrals

People who are prompted to apply for a job by someone within the organization

Due Process Policies

Policies by which a company formally lays out the steps an employee can take to appeal a termination decision

Employment-at-Will Policies

Policies which state that either an employer or an employee can terminate the employment relationship at any time, regardless of cause

Image Advertising

Promotes an organization as a good place to work in general and may be particularly important for organizations in highly competitive labor markets that perceive themselves as having a bad image

Internal versus External Sources

Relying on internal sources is useful since employees are well known and are knowledgeable about the organization and jobs. However, there may not be business enough internal recruits. Outsiders may bring new ideas or new ways of doing business and strengthen the organization

Forecasting

The attempts to determine the supply of and demand for various types of human resources to predict areas within the organization where there will be future labor shortages or surpluses Can use either statistical methods or judgmental methods

Early Retirement Programs

The average of U.S. workforce is increasing Baby boomers are not retiring early due to: -Improved health -Fear that Social Security will be cut -Mandatory retirement is outlawed -Collapse of the financial and housing markets made it economically unviable to retire -Many employers try voluntary attrition among older workers through early retirement incentive programs

Electronic Recruiting

The growth of the information highway has opened up new vistas for organizations trying to recruit talent such as social networking sites, niche boards, search engine sites as well as job boards. Social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. help recruiters reach applicants

Downsizing

The planned elimination of large numbers of personnel designed to enhance organizational effectiveness Four reasons for downsizing: -Reduce labor costs -Technological changes reduce need for labor -Mergers and acquisitions reduce bureaucratic overhead -Organizations change location of where they do business

Human Resource Recruitment

The practice or activity carried on by the organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees Three Ares of Recruiting 1. Personnel policies, which affects the kind of jobs the company has to offer 2. Recruitment sources used to solicit applicants, which affect the kinds of people who apply 3. Characteristics and behaviors of the recruiter that influence the nature of vacancies and of people applying for jobs that shapes job choice decisions