HR Management

• Mandated and non-mandated benefits

-mandated: social security, workman's comp, mandated healthcare -nonmandated: private pension plans, paid time off, wellness programs, cafeteria style benefit plans

• Career planning - stages

1. individual assessment phase 2. developing a potential career path an employee may take up the corporate ladder 3. communication 4. career counseling

• Difference between performance management and performance appraisal

Appraisals play a role of performance-management process. The goal of performance management is to improve employee performance. Part of this process is letting employees know how well they are currently doing so they can correct their deficiencies, capitalize on their strengths, and improve their overall contributions to their jobs.Performance appraisal should provide this information to employees.

• Compensation based on performance

For such systems to succeed, however, the organization has to be certain that it has an effective system for measuring performance

• Most frequently used sources of information in performance appraisals

Supervisors are perhaps the most frequently used source of information

• Career management

if an entry-level position is not particularly demanding, then it is possible for an organization to hire people whose skills and abilities match a higher-level job that they might be expected to move into later.

• Employee assistance plans

a job benefit designed to assist employees who have chronic problems with alcohol or drugs or who have serious domestic problems.

• Maturity curve

a schedule specifying the amount of annual increase a person will receive.

• Executive compensation - what is it typically based on?

base salary and some form of incentive pay. The traditional method of incentive pay for executives is in the form of bonuses. Bonuses are typically a function of the performance of the organization and are less dependent on the perceived performance of the executive.

• Correlation of benefits to job satisfaction

better benefits means better job satisfaction as long as the employees are aware of the benefits

• External equity

comparing your compensation with that of someone with similar skills and tasks in another company. (asking for a raise because the same job across the street gets paid more)

• Promoting equity and motivation with compensation

compensation serves a "signaling" function. Organizations signal to employees what they feel is important (and less important) for an employee to focus on by paying for certain kinds of activities or behaviors (and not for others).

• Theory that justifies high cost benefit programs

efficiency wage theory

• Stages in a career

exploration, establishment, maintenance, and disengagement. early career stages are more volatile

• Measures that will ensure performance appraisals are accurate

follow up and discussion

• 360-degree evaluation

gather performance information from people on all sides of the manager: above, beside, below, and so forth.subordinates, customers, peers, supervisors, self

• Paired comparison method of performance appraisal

involves comparing each individual employee with every other individual employee, one at a time

• Job-classification systems

jobs are grouped together and classified, usually 8 to 10. easy to use.

• Errors that can occur in appraisal of performance

raters tend to be biased by the employees most recent behaviors. supervisor may have been promoted from another part of the organization and not have a good understanding of the job tasks. supervisor can be biased. - contrast: compare people against one another instead of against an objective standard - distributional: grading everyone too harshly or lenient - halo: one positive performance characteristic causes the manager to rate all other aspects of performance positively - horns: downgrade other aspects of an employee's performance because of a single performance dimension

• Contextual performance

refers to tasks an employee does on the job that are not required as part of the job but that nevertheless benefit the organization in some way. include willingly staying late at work to meet deadlines, helping co-workers get their work done. never formally told that he or she is expected to do these tasks. not as important as task behaviors, but they matter.

• Critical incident

relies on instances of especially good or poor performance on the part of the employee. relies on instances of especially good or poor performance on the part of the employee.

• Evaluating importance of jobs

second step in job classification

• Performance appraisal process - who is typically the rater?

the supervisor of the employee being appraised.

• Appraisals - role in performance-management process

they work despite the fact that people hate them. Provide a benchmark to show how well recruiting and selecting processes are functioning. Legal reasons, to prove not discriminating. basis for incentive and pay. improves employee performance.

• Fundamental purpose of compensation

to provide an adequate and appropriate reward system for employees so that they feel valued and worthwhile as organizational members and representatives.

• Compensation rates - above market, below market, at market - advantages/disadvantages

- above market: advantages: minimize voluntary turnover among employees, creates and fosters a culture elitism and competitive superiority disadvantages: the cost - below market:advantages: lower labor costs, if a high level of unemployment exists they may be able to attract decent workers still disadvantages: morale and job satisfaction might not be as high, high turnover, higher-level employees are the most likely to leave - at market: advantages: lower turnover rates than below market rates disadvantages: higher turnover than above market rates

• Job evaluation methods

- classification system: jobs are grouped together and classified, usually 8 to 10. - point system: requires managers to quantify, in objective terms, the value of the various elements of specific jobs - factor-comparison method: assesses jobs, on a factor-by-factor basis, using a factor-comparison scale as a benchmark

• Types of benefit plans - ex. Cafeteria-style, defined benefit, private pension, wellness program,...

- pension plans: defined benefit plans: the size of the benefit is precisely known and is usually based on a simple formula using input such as years of service and salary. Under defined contribution plans, the size of the benefit depends on how much money is contributed to the plan. -Wellness programs concentrate on keeping employees from becoming sick rather than simply paying expenses when they do become sick. -cafeteria-style benefits plans allow the employee to choose the benefits that he or she really wants

• Types of distribution error in rating employees

- severity-too low - leniency-too high - central tendency-uses only the middle

• Appraisal methods - Simple, BARS, 360, MBO, etc.

- simple ranking method: rank the best to worst - paired comparison method: compare each worker against the other - forced distribution method:grouping employees into predefined frequencies of performance ratings - graphic rating scale: consists of a statement or question about some aspect of an individuals performance - critical incidents method: use specific indigents to prove positive or negative behaviors. - BARS: an appraisal system that represents a combination of the graphic rating scale and the critical incident method - BOS: developed from critical incidents like a BARS but uses substantially more critical incidents to define specifically all the measures necessary for effective performance - MBO: based largely on the extent to which individuals meet their personal performance objectives

• Factor-comparison method - steps

-The comparison factors to be used are selected and defined. The five universal factors are used as starting points, but any given organization may need to add factors to this set. -Benchmark or key jobs in the organization are identified. These jobs are typically representative of and common in the labor market for a particular firm. Usually, ten to twenty benchmark jobs are selected. -The benchmark jobs are ranked on each compensation factor. The ranking itself is usually based on job descriptions and job specifications determined by a job analysis. Part of each benchmark's job wage rate is allocated to each job factor based on the relative importance of the job factor. Each manager participating in the job evaluation might be asked to make an independent allocation first, without consulting with other managers. Then the managers would meet as a group to develop a consensus about the assignment of monetary values to the various factors. -The two sets of ratings are prepared based on the ranking and the assigned wages to determine the consistency demonstrated by the evaluators. -A job-comparison chart is developed to display the benchmark jobs and the monetary values that each job received for each factor. This chart can then be used to rate other jobs in the organization as compared to the benchmark jobs.

• Evaluating effectiveness of performance-appraisal systems

If performance-appraisal and performance-management systems are doing what they were designed to do, the organization as a whole should perform better.

• Individual's role in managing their career

Individuals obviously have an important stake in their own careers. They experience most directly the benefits and rewards of successful careers and incur the costs and frustrations of unsuccessful careers. A person's perceived and experienced career success or failure is also likely to have a major effect on his or her self-esteem and similar indications of self-worth.

• Life-cycle benefit plans

The most common are child-care and elder-care benefits. Child-care benefits are becoming more popular because the changing nature of the workforce and the fact that being considered a family-friendly organization. elder-care typically take the form of referrals for employees with a disabled parent or one who needs constant care. Long-term health-care insurance is also becoming a more common benefit, and these plans provide for nursing homes or at-home care.

• Eligibility for unemployment insurance

an individual must have worked a minimum number of weeks, must now be without a job, and must be willing to accept a suitable position if one is found through a state's unemployment compensation commission or department.