Human Resources MGMT Test 1
As a business leader, Jackie has always relied on her intuition when it comes to hiring new people, moving them into new roles, and engaging them to stay on board with the company. Which of the following statements is true?
This is a challenge when it comes to implementing people analytics
People Analytics
*Application of analytics to people data or, to avoid the circular reference, insights derived from an organization's employee data* -A data-driven approach to people-related decisions and practices *supports effective action on a range of high-priority issues including diversity, gender pay equity, skills gaps, and retention rates*
Your department is developing a people analytics pilot plan and you've been tasked with identifying potential implementation challenges. Which of the following points would you include in your report?
Develop an education plan to address the HR mindset
Value Matrix
Different HR strategies applied to different employee groups, depending upon uniqueness and strategic value - Strategic ---> Commitment - Core HC ---> Performance - Collaborative HC --> Partnership - Support HC ----> Compliance
The strategic planning process for an organization (Part I)
Goal: To Define organizational strategy (direction), and allocate resources toward its achievement
How is the term "people analytics" defined?
People analytics are insights derived from an organizations employee data
What is the key distinction of people analytics when it's compared to HR metrics?
People analytics makes the connection between people drivers and business outcomes
Purpose of people analytics
Provide HR and business leaders with actionable people insights that improve business outcomes
Purpose of people analytics:
Provide HR and business leaders with actionable people insights that improve business outcomes
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Provides sweeping new legal protection for employees who report corporate misconduct Passed 2002 to reduce the likelihood of illegal and unethical behaviors in publicly traded companies Requires companies to: • Establish ethics codes • Develop employee complaint systems • Have antiretaliation policies for employees who act as a whistle-blower to identify wrongful action
Patrick Coolen's Best Practices
Rule 2: Focus on business relevance Rule 3: Generate actionable insights Rule 5: Involve legal & compliance Rule 6: It's a process Rule 8: Success requires balance
Data Analyses
Run models Discuss intermediate results Decide on extra analyses Run final models
HR metrics
Specific indicators that are used to measure progress or achievement.
What is sustainability concerned with?
Sustainability means managing toward a triple bottom line, including social, environmental, and economic impacts - Highly correlated with financial performance and can yield a number of strategic and operational benefits
5. Unity of Direction
Teams with the same objective should be working under the direction of one manager, using one plan. This will ensure that action is properly coordinated
Subordination of Individual Interests to the General Interest
The interests of one employee should not be allowed to become more important than those of the group. This includes managers.
human capital
The people and the knowledge, skills, abilities, experiences, and other characteristics they bring the skills and knowledge gained by a worker through education and experience
Your manager has asked you to summarize the implications of people analytics for HR professionals. Which of the following points should you include in your summary?
There is a significant people analytics skills gap
Nielsen used twenty pieces of data to determine a solution to its employee turnover issue. How do we classify those twenty pieces of data?
They are classified as HR metrics
8. Centralization
This principle refers to how close employees are to the decision-making process. It is important to aim for an appropriate balance
Business leaders want to rely on "gut feelings" when making HR decisions. Which of the following is a true statement?
This reliance is reason why implementing people analytics can be challenging
Why do companies want to use people analytics in their business
To provide and business leaders with actionable people insights that improve business outcomes
1. Division of work
When employees are specialized, output can increase because they become increasingly skilled and efficient
SWOT analysis
a planning tool used to analyze an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
What continues to be a significant barrier in the use of people analytics?
finding or developing the right talent
A best practice in people analytics suggests that it's not enough to just identify the problem. An HR professional must also:
generate actionable insights
People analytics is a process and ____________________________________can take up 75% of project timeframe
honing in on the research question and model, selecting the data, and so on
Among the best practices of people analytics is understanding that it's a process. What can take up to 75% of your project time?
honing in on the research question, developing the model, selecting the data, and so on.
What are the different types of variables?
independent and dependent variables
People analytics can be described as:
insights derived from an organization's employee data
HR needs to respond to which four dimensions to prepare their organizations for the future?
mindset, focus, lens, and enablers
People Analytics are used in business to:
provide business leaders and HR with actionable people insights that improve business outcomes
People analytics are used in business to:
provide business leaders and HR with actionable people insights that improve business outcomes
What is SWOT used for?
strategic planning *For example, to identify strengths and weaknesses, consider the organization's position relative to the competition on key financial, human and operating dimensions such as leadership expertise, workforce skills, brand and financial strength, capacity for innovation, strategic networks and marketing and distribution infrastructure.* *To identify opportunities and threats, consider the organization's exposure to pending legislation, emerging technologies, societal trends and geopolitical or environmental risks to facilities, personnel or supply chains*
When compared to HR metrics, the key distinction of people analytics is:
that it makes the connection between people drivers and business outcomes
Which of the following is a significant barrier in the use of people analytics?
the ability to find or develop the right talent for interpreting data
Those organizations using AI-aided tools and technologies to collect, integrate and analyze data represent:
the organizations that are most mature in using people analytics
The success of a people analytics program lies not just in data interpretation, but in what other area?
the skill set of the HR business partners and staff
The success of a people analytics program relies on data interpretation and:
the skillset of the HR business partners, analysts, and staff
Deloitte's 2018 Global Human Capital Trends survey results indicate
the use of workforce data to analyze, predict, and improve performance has exploded in practice and importance over the last few years
Where human capital trends are concerned, enterprises are going to need to adapt, because:
the ways people live and work are changing dramatically
What types of questions can "people analytics" answer?
• Use inferential statistics to test hypotheses about the associations amongst organizational and employee variables Definitions: Application of analytics to people data or, to avoid the circular reference, insights derived from an organization's employee data -A data-driven approach to people-related decisions and practices Supports effective action on a range of high-priority issues including diversity, gender pay equity, skills gaps, and retention rates
Mother of Modern Management
Lillian Gilbreth
What is the link between culture/values and strategy?
•Shared beliefs and values established by leaders that are communicated and reinforced through leader behaviors and HR practices • Strong cultures provide a clear understanding of values, norms, and expected behavior, such as beliefs about • How employees, customers, and suppliers should act and interact •An organization's relationship to its stakeholders •Which emotions are appropriate to express • Which outcomes are important and rewarded • There is no one-size-fits-all culture
Administration Industrielle et Générale
1916 book that proposed the following 14 principles of management
ANOVA
Analysis Of Variance - between means of 3 or more groups
Frederick Taylor
"father of scientific management" created efficiency principles Arguments: - The remedy to inefficiency was systematic management, rather than the search for an extraordinary human resource - The purpose of management was to maximize both employer and employee prosperity
Three ways HR supports business/organizational strategy
1) Attracting, Retaining, & Developing Critical Talent: Hiring good employees, placing them in the right jobs, providing training when needed, retaining talent Also known as HR Planning 2) Building high-performance work organizations: Establish accountability for business results, align reward systems with priorities, build values and principles for long -term growth Also known as HR Strategy 3) Aligning people with the business: Involve employees in business planning, building more effective communication and coaching, focus efforts on growth, markets, and customer retention Also known as Org. Culture
Four principles of scientific management
1. Apply the scientific method to analyze work and determine the most efficient way to perform every task. 2. Match workers to jobs based on their capability and motivation and train them to work at maximum efficiency. 3. Provide instruction and supervision to ensure that the "best" method is being used to complete each task. 4. Divide work between managers and workers, with managers focusing on planning and training and workers focusing on production.
Coolen's 4 step approach to the people's analytic process
1. Intake and Design 2. Data Cleaning 3. Data Analyses 4. Sharing Insights
Four main functions of HR
1. Staffing 2. Training and Development 3. Compensation 4. Administration
What is the most time-consuming aspect of People Analytics? What is the first step?
75 % of the time is spent honing in on the research question, developing the model, selecting the data, and so on First step (according to Coolen's 4 step process): Intake and Design: - Contracting senior management - Contracting legal - Determine business question - Determine data sources - Approving research proposal
multiple correlation
A correlation between one variable and a combined set of predictor variables
You're drafting a paper that discusses classical management theories. Which of the following best describes scientific management?
A focus on man as machine; specifically, finding the "one best way" to perform a given job
high performance work system
A set of human resource management policies and practices that promote organizational effectiveness Adopt high-quality HR practices across HR functions Useful for any business strategy Examples; Compensation & Benefits •Pay for Performance, incentive plans Job and Work Design • Decentralized participative decisions, formal job analysis Training & Development •Training for job/firm-specific skills, hours of training Recruiting & Selection •Specific & explicit hiring criteria, employment testing, # of qualified applicants Employee Relations •Job Security, formal grievance procedures Communications •Formal Information Sharing Program (newsletter)
correlation coefficient
A statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other • The strength of linear association between two variables • Values range from - 1 to 1. • Captures magnitude and direction • Closer to -1 or 1, the stronger the relationship • A negative correlation means that as one variable increases, the other decreases; a positive correlation means that one variable increases along with the other.
psychological contract
An unwritten agreement that sets out what management expects from an employee and vice versa - It refers to the unwritten set of expectations of the employment relationship as distinct from the formal, codified employment contract. Taken together, the psychological contract and the employment contract define the employer-employee relationship.
What does HR emphasize
Analyze and identify the need for, and availability of, people so that the organization can meet its strategic objectives Ensures the right number of people with the right capabilities at the right times and in the right places
Business Trends impacting HR
BUSINESS TRENDS IMPACTING HR: • Increased Employee Expectations of Employers • Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility • Increased workforce diversity/changing composition • Technological advancements - AI, Automation • Changing Nature of Work - Knowledge work
Commitment vs. Control
Commitment Better for a differentiation business strategy Includes: • Broadly defined tasks • High employee participation • Highly skilled employees with opportunities for training •High wages and benefits vs Control Better for a cost business strategy Includes: • Narrowly defined jobs • Low participation • Intense supervision • Low skill requirements and little training • Low wages and benefit
t-test
Compares mean values of a continuous variable between 2 categories/groups.
Intake and Design
Contracting senior management Contracting legal Determine business question Determine data sources Approving research proposal
Data Cleaning
Data collection Connecting datasets Descriptive analyses Design models
What are descriptive statistics?
Descriptive statistics are summary statistics that allow the researcher to organize data in ways that give meaning and facilitate insight. They are calculated to describe the sample (ie. demographic statistics) and key study variables. Distributions are also characterized by their spread - Standard Deviation - Variance
2. Authority
Managers must have the authority to give orders, but they must also keep in mind that with authority comes responsibility
Sharing Insights
Discuss final models Interpret insights Create business presentation Discuss with business Advise business on insights Incorporate insights in strategies or activities
What skills, education, certifications are useful for a career in HR?
Education: Most require a bachelor's degree Skills: - Interpersonal skills - Skills in business management, communication, critical thinking, decision-making, leadership, and organization Certifications: - Society of Human Resource Management's Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) Skills for the future: - Producing data-driven insights and creating agile organizations to drive business value - Understanding, selecting, and implementing technology that takes a user-centered approach - Managing relationships with key stakeholders, influencing change, and building credibility
7. Remuneration
Employee satisfaction depends on fair remuneration for everyone. This includes financial and non-financial compensation.
3. Discipline
Employees must obey and respect the rules that govern the organization. Good discipline is the result of effective leadership, a clear understanding between management and workers regarding the organization's rules, and the judicious use of penalties for infractions of the rules.
4. Unity of Command
Employees should have only one direct supervisor
Frank Gilbreth
Father of Motion study Who first studied job motions with bricklayers, studying how fewer hand motions made work faster Frank's major contribution was to categorize human work as a number of individual motions, termed "Therbligs," and then optimize these motions to improve efficiency—a process he applied to operations ranging from bricklaying to surgery
Father of Scientific Management
Frederick W. Taylor
The remedy to inefficiency was systematic management, rather than the search for an extraordinary human resource - Purpose of management was to maximize both employer and employee prosperity
Frederick W. Taylor's arguments
Henri Fayol
French engineer and industrialist first to identify the major functions of management
What is the difference between people analytics and HR metrics?
HR Metrics: Assessments of HR effectiveness and efficiency that are linked to strategic objectives and that facilitated HRM efforts • Use simple calculations (e.g., division) and descriptive statistics to summarize information about the organization and employees • "WHAT are we seeing?" (describe) People Analytics: An evidence-based approach to making HR decisions based on quantitative tools and models • Use inferential statistics to test hypotheses about the associations amongst organizational and employee variables •"WHY are we seeing it?" (explain)
You're drafting a briefing for HR management on metrics and people analytics. Which of the following best addresses the relationship between the two?
HR metrics are inputs to the people analytics process
Human Resource leaders are concerned about which of the following, in regard to people analytics?
HR professionals aren't skilled enough in data interpretation to understand its implications
What role does HR play in promoting an ethical culture?
HR professionals help lay out the expectations for employees by developing written standards of ethical workplace conduct, providing training to make sure everyone is aware of the expectations and equipping managers to reinforce the company's values through their actions
At Nielsen, people analytics showed the lack of internal mobility was an issue where employee retention was concerned. How were people analytics used to solve the issue?
HR professionals reviewed the analytics and then developed an internal mobility program, which decreased turnover by almost 50%
At Nielsen, people analytics showed lack of internal mobility was an issue where employee retention was concerned. How were people analytics used to solve the issue?
HR professionals reviews the analytics and then developed an internal mobility program, which decreased turnover by almost 50%
Elton Mayo
Hawthorne Experiment 1928, founder of the human relations movement - His studies viewed workers in a social context
In her role as an HR leader, Ayesha has delivered some spectacular business outcomes using people analytics. What challenge might she face now that this has occurred?
Her business leaders may have unrealistic expectations around people analytics capabilities
HR practices that shape culture
Hiring practices: - selecting people that "fit" the culture Onboarding programs: - socialize new employees to the culture Reward and recognition: - motivate employees to act in accordance with culture, reward valued behaviors Performance management: -outline expectations, provide feedback about appropriate behavior
Which of the questions below are CHROs attempting to strategically answer for their organizations with people analytic data?
How do we identify and predict our next group of successful leaders
Organizations are at different levels of maturity when t comes to adopting people analytics. Those organizations that are using AI-aided tools and technologies to collect and analyze data are classified as:
Level 4, the most mature in using people analytics data
What kind of goals does HR develop?
Implement strategies imed at getting the best employee performance to meet the firm's goals - Recruit Workers - Hire Quality Employees - Train New Employees - Promote Diversity - Employee Needs - Identify Improvement Needs - Retain Workers
When were people analytics first used by a company?
In 2001, when Merck first started using people data to inform decisions
Companies are greatly expanding the type, nature, and level of data to analyze. What does this behavior indicate?
It illustrates the accelerating pace of people analytics production
If we're examining data and we know that 16% of all employees have been put on some sort of corrective action plan, what is the first problem we have with this information?
It's just one data point, so we don't know if that's low or high
Up until recently, 10-15% of large organizations were engaged in building people teams and databases. Where is that number today?
It's risen to 69% of all large organizations
Lilian Gilbreth
Mother of Modern Management -Strove to find ways to increase production, studied efficiency improvements that reduced the # of motions required to perform a task / were applicable
Your HR team is discussing potential applications for people analytics. Which of the following statements best summarizes the strategic potential of people analytics?
People analytics can impact a broad range of human resource and organizational issues
If a company was looking to set up a new distribution center, how could it leverage people analytics to help decide on the location?
People analytics could provide data on the employees to work at the distribution center in that geographic area
You are having lunch with a HR colleague and mention an article you read on people analytics. Your colleague isn't familiar with the concept and asks you to clarify. Which of the following statements best defines people analytics?
People analytics is the process of deriving insights from an organization's employee data
Approximately how long have people analytics been in use by businesses?
Since about 2001
Through what mechanisms does HR Strategy influence firm performance (customer, operational, and financial outcomes)
When HR strategy is implemented, it affects what employees have, feel, and do
Porter's Generic Strategies
differentiation cost leadership differentiation focus cost focus *Porter's generic strategies describe how a company pursues competitive advantage across its chosen market scope*
As a best practice in people analytics, what should you request for projects resulting from your analysis?
legal approval
