MG 412 Final Exam

Define and explain essential functions (also see chapter 4, pages 88-89)

· Undue Hardship. Reasonable accommodation is restricted to actions that do not place an undue hardship on an employer. An undue hardship is a significant difficulty or expense imposed on an employer in making an accommodation for individuals with disabilities. • Nature of job • Size of company • Union agreements that preclude work-rule changes • Cost of accommodation • Essential job Functions. Fundamental job duties • Position exist to perform those activities • Limited number of employees can perform duties • Highly specialized duties/activities

Discuss the role affirmative action and equal employment opportunity play in a firm's staffing processes

• Affirmative action: the proactive effort to eliminate discrimination and its effects, and to ensure nondiscriminatory results in employment practices in the future An affirmative action plan describes in detail the actions to be taken, procedures to be followed, and standards to be adhered to, when it comes to establishing an affirmative action program • Equal employment opportunity: employment practices are designed and used in a "facially neutral" manner

Define reverse discrimination

The act of giving preference to members of protected classes to the extent that unprotected individuals believe they are suffering discrimination.

3 types of business strategies

1. Cost leadership strategy: strive to be the lowest cost producer for a particular level of product quality (Wal-Mart, Dell, FedEx). • A firm pursuing a cost leadership strategy aggressively seeks efficiencies in production and uses tight controls to gain an edge on competitors. • Competitive advantage based on operational excellence: maximizing the efficiency of the manufacturing or product development process to minimize costs. 2. Differentiation strategy: developing a product or service that has unique characteristics valued by customers (Johnson & Johnson, Nike, 3M). • Involves an attempt to set a company's products or services apart from those of its competitors. • Competitive advantage based on product innovation. 3. Specialization strategy: focus on a narrow market segment or niche and pursue either a differentiation or cost leadership strategy within that market segment (Starbucks, Red Lobster, Seiko). • Competitive advantage based on customer intimacy: deliver unique and customizable products or services to meet their customers' needs and increase customer loyalty.

List and explain the components of the organization's staffing decisions

1. Do we want a core or flexible workforce? 2. Do we prefer to hire internally or externally? 3. Do we want to hire for or train and develop needed skills? 4. Do we want to replace or retain our talent? 5. What levels of which skills do we need where? 6. Will we staff proactively or reactively? 7. Which jobs should we focus on? 8. Is staffing treated as an investment or a cost? 9. Will staffing be centralized or decentralized?

5 requirements of a competitive advantage

1. resource must be valuable to the firm by exploiting opportunities or neutralizing threats 2. must be rare among current and future competition 3. must not be easily imitated 4. must not be easily substituted or replaced 5. company must be organized

Seven components of strategic staffing

1. workforce planning: The process of predicting an organization's future employment needs, and the availability of current employees and external hires to meet those employment needs and execute the organization's business strategy. 2. sourcing talent: locating qualified individuals and labor markets from which to recruit. 3. recruiting talent: all organizational practices and decisions that affect either the number or types of individuals willing to apply for and accept job offers. 4. selecting talent: assessing job candidates and deciding whom to hire. 5. acquiring talent: involves putting together job offers that appeal to chosen candidates, and persuading job offer recipients to accept those job offers and to join the organization. 6. deploying talent: assigning talent to appropriate jobs and roles in the organization. 7. retaining talent: keeping successful employees engaged and committed to the firm

Explain why complying with staffing laws can be strategic

Avoid the expense of lawsuits Avoid the negative public relations that comes with litigation Allows companies to capitalize on the strengths of diversity and perform better because they focus more on performance and merit Be better able to hire quality people from all segments of the labor force Enhances hiring quality Enhances the firm's reputation and image as an employer Promotes fairness perceptions among job candidates Reduces spillover effects (for example, rejected applicants not becoming customers or discouraging others from applying for jobs) Reinforces an ethical culture Enhances organizational performance by ensuring that people are hired or not hired based on their qualifications, not biases Promotes diversity, which can enhance an organization's ability to appeal to a broader customer base

Define, Interpret and explain types of discrimination (e.g., disparate treatment and disparate impact). Specifically, List and explain the types of evidence for a disparate treatment and disparate impact case used in deciding when discrimination has occurred; be able to list the four requirements for disparate treatment. Be able to list and describe the following company defenses against a prima facie case of discrimination for disparate impact: job relatedness, BFOQ, BFSS, and business necessity. Know where the burden of proof falls and when it shifts between plaintiff and defendant

Disparate treatment is intentional discrimination based on a person's protected characteristic To establish this type of case of discrimination, the plaintiff must show: 1. That he or she belongs to a group protected from discrimination (race, gender, etc.). 2. That he or she applied for the job and was qualified for the job for which the employer was seeking applicants. 3. That despite being qualified, he or she was rejected. (The plaintiff does not need to prove that he or she was rejected because of his or her protected status, only that despite his or her qualifications, he or she was rejected.) 4. That after being rejected, the position remained open, and the employer continued to seek applicants whose qualifications were similar to those of the plaintiff Adverse (disparate) impact occurs when an action has a disproportionate effect on a protected group, regardless of its intent. • Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ) • Suitable defense against a discrimination charge only where age, religion, sex, or national origin is an actual qualification for performing the job. • Business Necessity • Work-related practice that is necessary to the safe and efficient operation of an organization. • Job Relatedness• Bona Fide Seniority System

Explain when an organization would use talent-oriented rather than job-oriented staffing

Organizations typically recruit when they need to fill a specific job opening, which is job-oriented staffing. However, when labor markets are tight and good recruits are hard to find, organizations must pursue talent-oriented staffing and pursue scarce talent constantly-not just when a vacancy occurs

Describe the types of contingent work arrangements

Interns: Perform work for an organization while receiving on-the-job training for a limited time. Interns are often being screened for full-time positions while they work as interns Temporary employees: Can be hired directly or through an outside agency that continues to supervise them. They can quickly provide needed skills for a limited time. Part-time employees: Work less than a full work week and may or may not receive benefits. Can be long-term or short-term employees. Seasonal employees: Hired for a short time to do seasonal work. When UPS hires more workers during the busy holiday season, and when growers hire laborers to harvest fruit, they are hiring seasonal workers. On-call workers: Employed by a company but only report to work on an as-needed basis "Gig" workers: Contingent work that is transacted on a digital marketplace (e.g., Uber or MechanicalTurk). Consultants: Typically hired through a consulting firm or contract, they are typically hired for a specific project. Independent contractors: Typically, sole proprietors who work similarly to consultants on an hourly or project basis. Leased workers: Paid and managed by a third-party firm that is the formal employer of the worker. Usually work for a longer term than temporary workers. Outsourced work: Contracting with an outside firm to assume complete responsibility for a specific contracted service—not just to supply workers (e.g., payroll, landscaping, and food service). Offshore workers: These can be company employees or the employees of a third-party outsourcing firm. They can be temporary, part-time, consulting, or independent contractors or occur as a result of a joint venture or partnership.

Strategic HR management

It involves designing and implementing a set of internally consistent policies and practices that ensure a firms human capital contribute to the achievement of its business objectives -This includes both vertical (linking HRM practices with strategic management process) and horizontal (the integration of the various HRM practices) integration as well -Additionally, linking the people of the firm (in terms of their skills and actions) to the strategic needs of the firm

Discuss fraudulent and negligent staffing practices

Negligent Hiring • Based on the common law concept that an employer has a general obligation not to hire an applicant that they knew or should have known, poses a risk of harm to third parties. • In order for a customer, employee, or other third party to win a negligent hiring suit against an employer, the following must generally be shown: 1. The existence of an employment relationship between the employer and the worker, 2. The employee's unfitness, 3. The employer's actual or constructive knowledge of the employee's unfitness (failure to investigate an employee's background can lead to a finding of constructive knowledge), 4. The employee's act or omission causing the third party's injuries, and 5. The employer's negligence in hiring the employee as the most likely cause of the plaintiff's injuries. • Negligent retention is similar to negligent hiring, but it focuses on situations in which a company knowingly retains employees who have a high risk of injuring themselves or others. Negligent Referral Definition: misrepresenting or failing to disclose complete and accurate information about a former employee. A former employer can be sued for negligent referral if the employee is involved in some incident at the new workplace that might have been predicted based on prior behavior. Defamation (an unprivileged publication of false statements to third parties that tends to harm the reputation of the plaintiff in the community) is currently the most common cause of action used by former employees to challenge a former employer's reference. To avoid the risk of a defamation charge it may be best to say as little as possible except in those situations where the employee's behaviors could endanger others in the new workplace.

Staffing goals

Process Goals—during the hiring process Attracting sufficient numbers of appropriately qualified applicants Complying with the law and organizational policies Fulfilling any affirmative action obligations Meeting hiring timeline goals Staffing efficiently Outcome Goals—after hire Hiring successful employees Hiring individuals who will be eventually promoted Reducing turnover rates among high performers Hiring individuals for whom the other HR functions will have the desired impact Meeting stakeholder needs Maximizing the financial return on the firm's staffing investment Enhancing employee diversity Enabling organization flexibility Enhancing business strategy execution Should be aligned with improving the strategic performance of the staffing system. The primary staffing goal is to match the competencies, styles, values, and traits of job candidates with the requirements of the organization and its jobs.

Describe staffing analytics and technology

Staffing Analytics: • Involves the application of software and research methodology to statistically analyze staffing-related data with the goal of optimizing staffing systems • Defining, standardizing, and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) enables employers to analyze trends; understand drivers of diversity, performance, engagement, and turnover; and make better decisions. Staffing Technology: • Recruitment tracking systems • Human resource information systems • Live and asynchronous video interviews • Artificial intelligence • Chatbots • Social media • Blockchain

Explain strategic HR managements relationship and integration to various HRM functions and to the organizations strategic plan

Strategic human resource management aligns a company's values and goals with the behaviors, values, and goals of employees and influences the sub strategies of each of the firm's human resource functions, including its staffing, performance management, training, and compensation functions. The alignment of these separate functions creates an integrated human resource management system supporting the execution of the business strategy, guided by the talent philosophy of the organization

Describe the components of the organization's talent philosophy, HR strategy, and staffing strategies

Talent Philosophy: is a system of beliefs about how its employees should be treated. Typically shaped by its founders, it reflects how an organization thinks about its employees HR Strategy: the linkage of the entire human resource function with the firm's business strategy in order to improve business strategy execution. Staffing Strategies: the constellation of priorities, policies, and behaviors used to manage the flow of talent into, through, and out of an organization over time.

Describe various barriers to legally defensible staffing

The "like me" bias Stereotypes Ignorance Prejudice Perception of loss by persons threatened by EEO practices Hiring managers

Describe human capital advantage and human process advantage and the differences between them

The organization can generate human capital advantage by hiring and retaining outstanding people and producing a stock of exceptional talent. A human process advantage is obtained when the firm's work gets done in a superior way. The phenomenon can be thought of as a function of complex processes that evolve over time because of learning, cooperation, and innovation on the part of employees. Human process advantages are very difficult to imitate

Strategic Staffing

The process of staffing an organization in future-oriented and goal-directed ways that support the organization's business strategy and enhance organizational effectiveness.

How Strategic Staffing Differs from Traditional Staffing

Traditional staffing: Less tied to strategy More reactive and likely to be done in response to an opening Lacks continuous improvement effort Strategic staffing systems incorporate: Both short and long-term planning Alignment with the firm's business strategy Alignment with the other areas of HR Alignment with the labor market Targeted recruiting Sound candidate assessment on factors related to job success and longer-term potential The evaluation of staffing outcomes against pre-identified goals

Staffing with other areas of HR

Training Performance management Compensation Succession planning Career development Recruitment impacts selection activities and the likelihood of successfully identifying good hires

Define an applicant in general and list the four criteria necessary for defining an Internet applicant according to the OFCCP for federal contractors; what are the other issues surrounding defining applicants?

Who is an "Applicant?" • The legal definition of an applicant is particularly important with regard to two employment law issues: 1. Only "applicants" may establish a prima facie case of unlawful discrimination regarding hiring decisions under state and federal discrimination statutes 2. Employers must determine who qualifies as an "applicant" in order to identify the gender and race of all applicants to evaluate whether its hiring practices have an adverse impact on men, women, or minorities • The question of who is an applicant is critical to establishing the proportions of the applicant pool belonging to different legally protected groups (e.g., sex, race, national origin, etc.). • Understanding the definition of an applicant can help employers minimize risk and protect themselves from costly audit defense. • In their 1979 clarification to the UGESP, the agencies (EEOC, DOL, the Department of Justice, and the Office of Personnel Management) defined "applicant" broadly as • "a person who has indicated an interest in being considered for hiring, promotion, or other employment opportunities." How the OFCCP Defines "Applicant"The OFCCP considers a person applying via the Internet and related technologies to be an applicant if all four of the following criteria are satisfied: 1. The individual submits an expression of interest in employment through the Internet or related electronic data technologies; 2. The contractor considers the individual for employment in a particular position; 3. The individual's expression of interest indicates the individual possesses the basic qualifications for the position; and 4. The individual at no point in the contractor's selection process prior to receiving an offer of employment from the contractor, removes himself or herself from further consideration or otherwise indicates that he or she is no longer interested in the position.

The need for laws and regulations, and the US legal system

Why Do Employment Laws Exist? Because the employer typically has disproportionate power in the employment relationship Help to promote fairness and consistent treatment among different employees by prohibiting unfair discrimination in employment and providing equal employment opportunity for everyone --Need for laws and regulations • Balance of power • Protection of employees • Protection of employers --Sources of Laws and Regulations • Common law • Constitutional law • Statutory law • Executive order • Agencies

Define affirmative action and explain when an organization might implement an AAP

• Affirmative action: the proactive effort to eliminate discrimination and its effects, and to ensure nondiscriminatory results in employment practices in the future An affirmative action plan describes in detail the actions to be taken, procedures to be followed, and standards to be adhered to, when it comes to establishing an affirmative action program • Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) • Formal document that an employer compiles annually for submission to enforcement agencies • Three reason to have AAP: court order, federal contract, and voluntary 1. Court ordered • To address previous practices • Stop discriminatory practices • Increase participation from minority or women by using creative recruiting methods 2. Federal contractors: • Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) • Responsible for ensuring that employers doing business with the federal government comply with the laws and regulations requiring nondiscrimination • Provides requirements and suggestions to organizations: 1. Provide an organizational profile that graphically illustrates their workforce demographics 2. Establish goals and timetables for employment or underutilized protected classes 3. Develop actions and plans to reduce underutilization, includes proactive recruiting and selection methods. 4. Monitor progress of the entire AAP. 3. Voluntary AAP • Supreme Court says it must be temporary, have no permanent adverse impact on White workers, and be designed to correct a demonstrable imbalance between minority and nonminority workers.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

• All private employers in interstate commerce who employ fifteen (15) or more employees for twenty or more weeks per year • State and local governments • Private and public employment agencies, including the U.S. Employment Service • Joint labor-management committees that govern apprenticeship or training programs • Labor unions having fifteen or more members or employees • Public and private educational institutions • Foreign subsidiaries of U.S. organizations employing U.S. citizens • It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer - • (1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or • (2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Explain how different staffing strategies support different business strategies

• Business strategy involves the issue of how to compete, but also encompasses: The strategies of different functional areas in the firm. How changing industry conditions such as deregulation, product market maturity, and changing customer demographics will be addressed. How the firm as a whole will address the range of strategic issues and choices it faces.

Explain the employment relationship

• Employee: someone hired by another person or business for a wage or fixed payment in exchange for personal services, and who does not provide the services as part of an independent business • Independent contractor: performs services wherein the employer controls or directs only the result of the work • Contingent workers: any job in which an individual does not have a contract for long-term employment Temporary workers Leased workers Part-time and seasonal workers Unionized workers (e.g., hiring electricians for a project from a union hall) Outsourced work

Executive Order 11246

• Executive order 11246 of 1965 • Prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors and federally assisted construction contractors and subcontractors that generally have contracts that exceed $10,000, or that will (or can reasonably be expected to) aggregate to more than $10,000 in any 12-month period, from discriminating in employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; and it requires them to take affirmative action to ensure that equal opportunity is provided in all aspects of their employment. • For federal contractors with 50 or more employees and government contracts of $50,000 or more are required to develop and implement a written affirmative action program (AAP).

Identify, discuss and/or describe the major court cases in staffing (e.g., Griggs v. Duke Power and McDonnell Douglas v. Green) and the results of each case

• Griggs v Duke Power Company (1971) • The Supreme Court ruled that employer discrimination need not be overt or intentional to be present—employment practices having an adverse impact on protected classes can be illegal even when applied equally to all employees. • Employers have the burden of proving that employment requirements are job-related or constitute a business necessity and are absolutely necessary for job success. • Good intent, or absence of intent to discriminate, is not a sufficient defense of adverse impact. • McDonnell Douglas Test (based on the McDonnell Douglas v. Green Case) 1. Person belongs to a protected class 2. Person applied for, and was qualified for, a job employer was trying to fill 3. Person was rejected despite being qualified (The plaintiff does not need to prove that he or she was rejected because of his protected status, only that despite his or her qualifications, he or she was rejected.) 4. Position remained open and employer continued to seek applicants as qualified as person rejected

Explain The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978)—see the actual document-- http://www.uniformguidelines.com/uniform-guidelines.html, but focus on the items list in the PPT.

• Procedural document published in the Federal Register to assist employers in complying with federal regulations against discriminatory actions • A set of federal regulations specifying requirements for the selection systems of organizations covered under the Civil Rights Acts and Under E.O. 11246; enforced by EEOC • Applies to employee selection procedures in the areas of hiring, retention, promotion, transfer, demotion, dismissal, and referral • Four major sections: General principles, technical standards, documentation of impact and validity evidence, and definitions of terms • Guidelines are not legally binding, but represent the viewpoints of various Federal agencies • Primary reference for court decisions • Assist in preventing adverse impact • Employment Selection: • Eliminate adverse impact • Stop using selection devices or alter it to remove adverse impact • Selection instrument must be valid and have less adverse impact than other available instruments • Job requirements that can be easily trained can not be used to screen-out applicants • Cutoff Scores should be "set so as to be reasonable and consistent with normal expectations of acceptable proficiency within the workforce"

Explain ADA of 1990 and reasonable accommodation

• Prohibited discrimination • Definition of disability • Physical and mental impairments substantially limiting a major life activity • A record of such impairment • Being regarded as having such an impairment. • EEOC clarifications • Impairment - "A physiological disorder affecting one or more of a number of body systems or a mental or psychological disorder." • Expanded major life activities include "sitting, standing, lifting, and mental and emotional processes such as thinking, concentrating, and interacting with others." • Whether an impairment is substantially limiting depends on its nature and severity, duration or expected duration, and its permanency or long-term impact. • To be substantially limiting, impairment must prevent/significantly restrict a person from performing a class or broad range of jobs in various classes.

Describe the resource-based view of the firm and how staffing can contribute to a company's sustainable competitive advantage

• Proposes that a company's resources and competencies (including its talent) can produce a sustained competitive advantage by creating value for customers by: Lowering costs of products or services Providing something of unique value Or some combination of the two • Focuses attention on the quality of the skills of a company's workforce at various levels, and on the quality of the motivational climate created by management. • Human resource management is valued not only for its role in implementing a given competitive scenario but also for its role in generating strategic capability. • Staffing has the potential to create organizations that are more intelligent and flexible than their competitors, and that exhibit superior levels of cooperation and operation.

Civil Rights Act of 1991

• Significant provisions: • Employment practices must be job-related and consistent with business necessity. • Plaintiffs must identify particular employment practice and show that protected-class status was a factor in the employment practice. • Provided limited compensatory damages for intentional discrimination. • Allows plaintiffs to seek jury trials. • Prohibited norming and use of alternative scoring based on protected class membership. • Extended EEO coverage to U.S. citizens overseas.

Why is staffing important to an organization's performance

• Staffing outcomes determine who will work for and represent the firm, and what its employees will be willing and able to do. • Staffing influences the success of future training, performance management, and compensation programs, as well as the organization's ability to execute its business strategy.

Describe the Supreme Court's requirement for a voluntary affirmative action plan

• Supreme Court says it must be temporary, have no permanent adverse impact on White workers, and be designed to correct a demonstrable imbalance between minority and nonminority workers.