Organization

Data warehouses

Provide a centralized repository of selected HR data that is managed separately from live data.

Data mining

Tools with advanced statistical data analysis techniques help to uncover relationships among policies, procedures, practices, and organizational outcomes that may not be readily apparent.

Workplace of the future

the impact technology will have over the actual space where people work. 1st place: Corporation office 2nd place: Work from home 3rd place: Any location ex: "hoteling"

Sample Investments

Finances (costs of delivery and lost opportunities); time (time invested versus time spent); reputation; relationships.

Delphi Technique

Forecasting Technique that progressively that collects info from a group without physically assembling the contributors. Stops group thinking EX: Questionnaire/survey

Staffing plans

Must support an organization's strategic plans. HR planning must consider the organizational strategy in order to anticipate EE skill and labor needs.

Peer review

Establishes a panel of EEs or EEs and managers, trained to work together to hear and resolve EE complaints.

Organization Product structure

Two examples of hybrid structures are the front-back structure and the matrix organization. In the front-back structure, the organization is divided in two types of functions: "Front" functions, defined by geographic locations or customer" In an organization with a product structure, functional departments are grouped under major product divisions. An automobile company, for example, may have separate divisions for cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles. Each division will have its own marketing, sales, manufacturing, and finance functions. More employees are required to staff this type of organization, but presumably this is offset by accumulated experience and expertise" "product structure can be global in nature. All global resources, talent, and systems needed to plan, design, develop, and distribute a single product family might be located in one geographic location "global product structure, the world is viewed as one market and talent pool. Employees and systems cross borders to provide economies of scale in developing and distributing worldwide products. Decision making is dispersed and decentralized to the product groups." "geographic structure is very similar to a product structure, with the exception that geographic regions—rather than products—define the organizational chart. Each region has its own complete and self-sufficient set of functions. More employees are required to staff this type of organization than in a purely functional enterprise, but value is achieved because each division can be more responsive to local markets. "domestic organization may be structured around regions within its country. Hybrid Structures Hybrid structures combine elements of the functional, product, and geographic structures." "common use of hybrid structure occurs when an organization first goes global. An export department or international division may be attached to a functional organizational structure. A similar arrangement may be made when a company enters global markets through alliances, partnerships, licensing, or even an acquisition" "Back" functions, defined by product or business unit The "front" functions provide a single point of contact with customers or market groups, while the "back" functions design and develop products and services. The "front" units are close to customers and can bring reports of customer dissatisfaction and emerging needs to the "back" units. Front-back organizations may therefore be more responsive to customer needs. For example, the front end of an athletic clothing and shoe corporation may be organized by geographic region (e.g., EMEA [Europe, Middle East, and Africa], Latin America, or eastern region/western region) or by customer type (e.g., global accounts, mass merchandisers, professional sports, or institutional). The back end might be composed of units specializing in clothing (men's and women's) or shoes (for different sports)." "matrix structure combines departmentalization by division and function to gain the benefits of both. It creates a dual rather than single chain of command. As a result, some employees report to two managers rather than one, with neither manager assuming a superior role. For example, a safety training manager could report to both the vice president of manufacturing and a product management chart on page 31 1. Functional: Easy to understand, specialization develop economies of scale, communication within functions, career paths, fewer people. Disadvantages: Weak customer or product focus, weak communication among functions, weak grasp of broader Org issues, Hierarchical structure. 2. Product: Economies of scale, Product team culture, product expertise, Cross-functional communication:l. Disadvantages: Regional or local focus, more people, weak customer focus 3. Geographic: Proximity to customer, localization, quicker response time, cross functional communication. EX: Fewer economies of scale, more people potential quality control. 4. Front-back: High level customer service, flexibility (units can be added to meet demand for new products or emergence of new customers. Disadvantages: Possible conflict between front and back (IE explain drops in sales by mutual accusations of poor performance) Necessity for developing new skills (customer market focus) for all employees. 5. Matrix: Balance of standardization and localization. availability of best global talent. Disadvantages:, Complexity, unclear lines of autherity and Bureaucratic behavior "Network structures consist of a core enterprise and external satellite enterprises (usually external) that perform essential functions, such as manufacturing."

Force-field Analysis

Type of analysis in which factors that can influence an outcome in either a negative or positive manner are listed and assigned weights to indicate their relative strenghts

Goals

Typically refer to broader and longer-term endpoints and they do not state a specific plan for reaching the desired endpoint

7 Sustaining Tactics

1. Periodic team meetings - Support problem solving; reinforce institutional character initiative 2. "Sensing" meetings - Monitor reactions and attitudes throughout organization 3. Periodic intergroup meetings - Evaluate an improve new collaborative processes 4. Dedicated renewal conferences - Allow leaders to evaluate and discuss organizational interventions from a strategic perspective 5. Goal-directed performance reviews - Provide clarity in expectations 6. Periodic 3rd party assessments - Provide objective assessment of the effectiveness of change 7. Rewards - Align rewards and recognition with new performance goals.

Greiner's 5 Phases of Organizational Growth

1. The first revolution occurs after leaders have emerged from the entrepreneurial chaos of creativity to provide direction and allow the organization to reap the rewards of its creativity. HR helps new leaders develop necessary skills and build more effective management processes. 2. Second revolution as the organization becomes larger and more complex. The leaders mis begin delegating decisions and responsibility. HR develops transformational other than directive leaders and in designs effective organizational structures. 3. Third revolution is a counterpoint to the trend toward dispersing power, The centers of power created through delegation bedroom increasingly autonomous, and the organization's leaders feel as if they have lost control. Step back and centralize authority or find some way to coordinate these centers of power. *Centralizing management usually fails because organizations have simply grown too large* 4. Fourth revolution is a reaction to the movement toward control and coordination. The process that once created order now discourage action and innovation. Headquarters may be increasingly to of ouch wit local conditions, HR focus on creating cultures that value diversity and teamwork, and designing supportive structures. 5. Fifth revolution is about the individuals within the organizations and their reactions to increasing work demands. This is supported by comments today about the 24/7 EE who (because of technology) never really leaves work.

Radicalism

A belief that management-labor conflict is an inherent characteristic of capitalism and can be resolved only with a chance in the economic system.

Cloud computing

A broader term for a stye f computing in which scalable IT-enabled capabilities are delivered as a service using internet technologies, Applications and services are offered over the internet from data centers all over the world (collectively referred to as "the cloud"). ADV: Sharing of resources enables communities of service providers to facilitate a more diversified yet customized end-user experience.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

A business metric used to evaluate factors that are crucial to the success of an organization. KPIs differ per organization; business KPIs may be net revenue or a customer loyalty metric, while government might consider unemployment rates.

Database

A data structure that stores organized information (numeric information as well as loud clips, pictures and videos). Most databases contain multiple tables, which ma each include several different fields. Users access, update and search information based on the relationship of data stored in different tables.

Intervention Design and Implementation

A poorly designed intervention represents a waste of resources. An intervention that does not meet stakeholder exception damages the credibility if the HR team. *Before design and implementation* - Gain senior management support and necessary resources are in place. - The right problem has been targeted. - The organization can accept change. - Realistic expectations have been created - realistic time frames and measurable objectives have been set.

Sustainable EE relations

Balances the needs of EEs and their families and communities with the needs of the ERs, so that EEs can continue to work productively over time and ERs can continue to operate in an economically feasible manner. Organization that enforce long hours and put working conditions and rely on short-term employment to meet economic goals will see decreased workforce productivity over the long run as well as unstable communities and decreased acceptance of the organization by key social stakeholders.

License software

lient buys a license and implements and customizes software; pays vendor for ongoing support. EX: Word, Excel, Powerpoint CONSIDERATIONS: Typically, software can be implemented on premises by IT staff or a third party, although off-remises hosting is becoming more common as companies look to reduce costs.

Quality strategic initiatives

Focused on implementing quality values and processes. Often undertaken to create differentiation in the marketplace Amed at improving the organization's efficiency. Quality depends on data. Must include processes designed to produce continuos improvement. Members must embrace change. Quality must demonstrate impact on an organization's value. EX: *Six Sigma* - quality approach that can produce significant benefits and is applicable to many industries and processes, It aims at reducing the occurrence of defects,

Industrial action

From British usage and includes various forms of collective EE nations (or concerted activities - US phrase) taken to protest work conditions or ER actions. Intend to interfere with an ERs ability to fulfill its commercial interests. Actions can be caused by unions. TYPES: *General strike* - Work stoppage *Sit-down Strike* - Refusal by workers to work; also refusal by workers to leave their workstations making it impossible for the ER to use replacement workers. *Sympathy strike* - Action taken in support of another union that is striking the ER. *Wildcat strike* - Work stoppages at union contract operations that have NOT been sanctioned by the union. *Secondary action or Boycott* - Attempt by a union to influence an ER y putting pressure on another ER - for example a supplier. *Work-to-rule* - Situation in which workers slow processes by performing tasks exactly to specifications to according to job or task descriptions, *Picketing* - Positioning of EEs at the place of work targeted for the action for the purpose of protest. There is NO work stoppage.

Global HRM (HR Management)

HR must work with separate and differing legal and cultural environments to create a positive global workplace. Emphasizes the need for policies that are consistent, fair , and transparent throughout the organization. Fully standardized policies and procedures re not always possible because of the need for legal compliance and cultural adaptation, If standardization is achieved, the policies may not be fair for all. If global assignees find different expectations and treatment in their assignments, the discrepancies an lead to conflicts that harm retention of valuable EEs. Stories of personal experiences can spread quickly and undermine the organization's image with its EEs.

Single designated officer

Identifies a specific individual chosen by senior management to conduct investigations and dispute resolution. The credibility of this individual may depend on the credibility of management.

Managing change

It is really about managing people and managing meaning so that people become and remain engaged through change. HR professionals support change by: - Involving everyone. Effective change recognizes that people are more likely to accept what they themselves have participated in creating. - Using their communication competency. Use knowledge of communication channels to make sure tat information is delivered truthfully and completely, and is fully understood. - Recognizing emotional reactions to change. People cannot be hurried through the change process. HR monitors actions and makes the pace of the change more realistic. Recommend stress-reductio mechanisms in change initiatives. - Creating a vision. HR provides specific examples of how the change will improve the organization and the EE's own situations. - Building support - Find champions for change and influential allies who can help change their coworker's perceptions of the change. - Making sure the change is fair. No one group should be made to bear a larger share of the inconvenience and loss associated with the change. - Building required performance. Change is rooted in behavior not words*. For permanent change, EEs need to begin to perform as required. They need to be equipped to succeed, supported with the KSA necessary.

S.M.A.R.T.

Specfic Measurable Attainable Relevant Timebound

Sustainable corporation

"A corporation that creates profit for its shareholders while protecting the environment and improving the lives of those with whom it interacts. This is where the sustainable EE relationship comes in." ~ Andrew Savitz

Conducting an investigation - 10 steps

1. Ensure confidentiality 2. provide protection 3. Select the investigator 4. Create a plan 5. Develop interview questions 6. Conduct interviews 7. Make a decision 8. Close the investigation 9. Delvelop written summary investigation results.

Business to Business (B2B)

AKA: B2B / E-commerce Any activity or program conducted between businesses through the use of a computer nurture connection instead of an intermediary.

Performance problems

- Behavioral - deficiencies most often in communication of expectations. - Cognitive - Deficiencies in knowledge or skills - Technological - Deficiencies with equipment, materials, information - Process related - May stem from inefficient systems outdated practices, cumbersome reporting - Cultural - workplace atmosphere

Human Resource Information System (HRIS) - Steps for implementation

- Determine requirements - Identify constraints (budget) - Evaluate available packages - Select implementation team - Identify vendor requirements - Solicit vendors - Screen qualified vendors - Choose between finalists

HR's role in managing technology

- Helping identify new technologies that aid in the achievement of the organization's strategic HR goals - Facilitating the change caused by the rapid growth of new technologies. - Managing cultural and strategic changes resulting from the introduction of new technologies.

Groupware

"Groupware is an umbrella term for specialized collaborative software applications. The goal in using groupware is to facilitate interaction between individuals or groups who are not collocated—to support person-to-person communication and collaboration and help people to work together more efficiently. There are numerous groupware products, and the level of sophistication varies. The range of groupware options includes: Teleconferencing. A simple application of groupware that delivers a simultaneous presentation to multiple sites distributed via audio (phone or other audio) or satellite. A teleconference requires only a telephone and a telephone connection. Videoconferencing. Uses interactive telecommunications technologies (e.g., cameras and software) to simulate a face-to-face communication or meeting without having to be in the same location. Two or more locations interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously. Webconferencing. Facilitates real-time interactions that take place over the Internet using integrated audio and video, chat tools, and application sharing. It includes the ability to centrally control the simultaneous presentation of text, graphics, images, and video on every participant's screen from one location. In the simplest form of a webconference, the presentation is not interactive; participants view information on the screen but cannot make any changes "Multifaceted groupware. A form of groupware that relies on VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and has other supporting features "such as the inclusion of presentation software and social media. For example, a presenter may use a whiteboard (to draw or write information), text-based chat, voice interaction (using a microphone), or video (using a webcam). Participants may respond using a polling feature, and they may also use a microphone or webcam. Telepresence. Highly integrated, multi-monitor, multi-microphone, and multi-channel speaker systems that present interactive video and audio between locations with near life-like audio quality and with near life-size video images. This sophisticated technology provides a conferencing experience that is closest to an in-person experience. "Effective Collaboration Policies and Approaches Typically, companies do not issue policies on collaboration per se. It is more common for an organization to issue a general umbrella policy that addresses the acceptable use of information, devices, and technology topics such as (but not limited to): Use of personal devices for company business (BYOD). Personal use of company-provided devices and technology. Use of passwords and company-provided credentials. Physical protection of devices. Use of company, client, and other third-party information. Use of company e-mail addresses and systems. Information rights management." "To address these challenges, many organizations have introduced communication practices designed to maintain structure while, as much as reasonably possible, allowing for the natural aspects of human interaction to come out. Some of these effective practices include: Setting meetings at times that can accommodate the most participants. Creating meeting agendas with estimates of time allocated to each topic. Providing the host of the meeting with full control over the technological tools being used. Using overlapping technologies (groupware, VoIP, a web browser, smartphones, etc.) concurrently to help ensure multiple means of participant access. Recording discussions/meetings to allow stakeholders unable to participate in real time to access and review the outcomes. Using passcodes to ensure that only invitees are able to gain access and participate. Including hierarchies of authority access (read/write) to source documents to protect the source's integrity while tracking any changes made or proposed. Including legal disclaimers in all documents/projects that outline the rights and responsibilities of the participants. Balancing the need for security and rights "and responsibilities of the participants. Balancing the need for security and rights protection with user-friendly accessibiliity

Information security awareness

"Information Security Awareness When it comes to social media (as well as networking, which is the next topic), protecting the integrity of personal information is an increasing concern. Historically the term most commonly associated with IT threats deliberately committed by people is hacking. Hacking refers to the act of deliberately accessing a computer without permission. It is important to note that within the field of technology the word hacking (or hack) has evolved to hold a double meaning. Originally hacking was a reference to constructive IT problem solving or learning by way of trial-and-error exploring using technology. To this day, a leader in the social media market still conducts internal "hack-a-thons"—intensive problem-solving exercises designed to leverage the open-ended creativity that can emerge in a highly challenging, time-bound, peer-prestige competition. However, over time, hacking has come to be associated with a more negative meaning as the underlying intentions of some hackers started to reflect inappropriate, unethical, or illegal problem solving for personal gain. This negative exploitation can take many forms. Some of the most common tactics include: "Phishing. E-mails, phone calls, texts, or instant messages that appear to be legitimate and from a trustworthy source and attempt "to trick you into revealing your password or other personal information (e.g., in order to fix a problem or verify an account). RSA, the Security Division of EMC2 and a very well-known provider of intelligence-driven security solutions, identified more than 62,000 phishing attacks in October 2013, the highest ever recorded by RSA in a single month. Fake e-cards or job openings. E-mails pretending that an attachment is an electronic greeting card or job opening from a friend or some other trustworthy source when the attachment actually contains a harmful program that could infect your computer. Phony security alerts. E-mails or pop-up windows claiming to be from a trusted source and warning that your computer is at risk of being infected or hacked. A link or attachment that is supposed to fix the problem will infect your computer. "Click this link" scams. E-mails or social networking sites enticing you to click a link in order to take advantage of a great offer, see a picture or video, claim an award or reward, and so forth. While the links often look legitimate, they take you to a harmful website and steal your information or "infect your computer. The term "social engineering" is also being used to describe the mindset and tactics of unethical hacking. Perhaps this term is emerging to avoid the confusion associated with the dual meaning of hacking as well as to expand upon the forms of manipulation being used. Somewhat ironically, the most common way hackers gain access to sensitive IT information remains blatantly low tech and highly unsophisticated: They simply find creative ways to ask for it. "To mitigate the threat of unethical hacking and social engineering, it is good policy to:" "Never disclose a password to anyone, even if the source seems legitimate. Not give private information to anyone you do not know or who does not have a legitimate need for it (in person, over the phone, via e-mail or the Internet). Click links only from trusted sources. Never click a link from a source you are unfamiliar with unless you have a way to independently verify that it is safe. Delete unsolicited e-mails; do not open, forward, reply to, or click links or attachments in them."

Organization Understanding the problem

"Problem solving starts with a thorough understanding of what must be corrected and why the problem is occurring. The OED team must understand the problem that is being perceived by the intervention client and also all underlying issues that may be causing the perceived problem or amplifying the problem's impact. This is essential to designing a sustainable solution and to developing a consistent measurement of that solution. The problem posed by the client may need to be reframed to get at root causes." "Planning the OED Project" "A schedule, staffing plan, and budget are developed. This initial stage of the intervention usually begins with a plan to gather data. This plan is often shared with the client, who can suggest specific sources of information "Managing Interventions Interventions are usually managed as finite projects distinct from normal HR tasks" "Project Management Principles and Practices Project requirements will differ, even in the same industries, but the discipline of project management is consistent. Its major principles emphasize: Coordination and integration. A project must have a designated leader with clearly defined authority to make decisions, allocate resources, and lead team members. Team roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined. The project manager and the team must recognize and plan for the interdependence of their activities. When changes are proposed, their effect on other parts of the project and the project's ultimate goal must be analyzed before they are accepted. Importance of stakeholders. Stakeholders are individuals inside or outside the organization who may be affected by the project's results. They can provide information that can improve the outcome and the acceptance of the project's results by the organization. For example, an HR team designing a recruiting process using social media should consult with the functions that HR is serving. Their input can guide development of the system and increase their later acceptance of its use. Planning. Early planning can reduce the cost and time required for projects by increasing the team's understanding of what must be accomplished (the project's result or deliverable will be monitored and managed throughout the project. (Principles of risk management are discussed in more detail in the Risk Management Functional Area in the Workplace module.) The outcomes of planning include agreement about the project's deliverable, development approaches, the time frame in which it will be developed, and the cost of development. The team also plans for how the deliverable will be implemented in the organization upon completion of the project. This may involve additional effort in communicating with project stakeholders and preparing those affected for any changes caused by the project. The processes for managing progress toward the project goals are also defined. For example, the project team can decide how they will communicate and resolve disagreements. Control and quality assurance. Project management processes include gathering data at defined intervals to determine if the organization's quality requirements are being satisfied, the project's processes are being performed as defined, and the project is on track to deliver what has been promised. Organizations are increasingly committing to quality as one of their key values. Disciplines such as Six Sigma have been developed to help organizations implement quality practices in all their functions "Communication. Project managers encourage thorough communication, making sure that team members have the direction they need from above and the freedom to communicate with each other to identify and resolve issues quickly. Project managers also report regularly to their stakeholders, especially the organization's leadership. Project Management Tools" "There are a multitude of project management tools that have been developed over time. Some of them should be very familiar to HR professionals: brainstorming, surveys and questionnaires, audits. Here are just a few of the more well-known tools associated with specific project activities: Project tasks. The tool of decomposition is used to break down the final deliverable into its most basic tasks. In project management terminology, this is the work breakdown structure. Knowing what has to be done is critical to developing a work schedule. Responsibility matrixes (which are covered in the Structure of the HR Function Functional Area in this module) may be used to describe the different roles team members may play in different tasks: decision maker, person responsible for completing tasks, people who should be kept informed, people who should be consulted for advice, and so on. Project timeline. The most efficient development schedule is often discovered by using a technique called the critical path method. The critical path describes the shortest amount of time required to complete a project, taking into account all project task relationships—for example, whether task C must be completed before task E and whether tasks A and B "Project control and quality. Variance analysis is used to study the differences between what has been planned and what is being achieved—for example, the difference between current expenditures

Changing Culture - 4 Steps

1. Describe the current culture 2. Identify the aspirational culture 3. Identify gaps and conflicts 4. Develop change initiatives

Conflict resolution - Models

1. Direct confrontation - involves forcing resolution, appeals more to individualistic cultures (EX: US) 2. Regulative - appeals to cultures that value rules (EX: Germany) 3. Harmony - avoids direct confrontation either from passivity r concern for others, is a common approach to conflict resolution in collectivist societies (EX: Asian) NOTE: Conflict resolution systems that incorporate fairness and transparency appear to be associated with greater satisfaction - even in hierarchal cultures.

Unitarist

A belief that ERs and EEs can act together for their common good, HR Management (HRM) aimed at a more individualist relationship with EEs - the relationship and the range of HR activities that develop and support that relationship.

Trade unions

Attempted to equalize the power structure between ERs and EEs while maintaining the advantages of a competitive capitalist system.

Workforce analysis

Examines the current and future workforce needs and helps provide answers to questions that shape an organization's staffing strategy. *Standard workforce analysis process* - SUPPLY ANALYSIS (current state) - DEMAND ANALYSIS (current state) - GAP ANALYSIS (current state) - SOLUTION ANALYSIS (future state)

Statistical forecasts

Generally fall into two categories: 1. Regression analysis 2. Simulations

E-procurement

Refers to the use of electronic communications and transaction processing when buying supplies and services. Streamline processes and increase efficiency and compliance by using intuitive pages and powerful search capabilities to guide requestors through the steps of procurement.

Whistleblowing

Reporting an ER's illegal activity to authorities.

Simulations

Representations of real situations in abstract from; they are often referred to as "what if" scenarios. They provide organizations with the opportunity to speculate as to what would happen if certain courses of action are pursued.

HR Structure - Front-Back Model

The HR generalist is at the front of the organization, identifying and communicating business partners' needs, and the Centers Of Excellence (COEs) work at the back to develop strategies.

Employee Self Service (ESS)

Websites (often enabled through an HR portal) provide EEs access to their personal HR data and the ability to handle many questions and job-related transactions (such as expense reports, updates to personal information, and access to company information) that otherwise would fall to management or administrative staff. HRIS feature allowing EEs to access and update their personal information, benefits administration, etc.

Attrition

When leaving workers are not replaced

Appraisal meeting

"A critical aspect of the performance management system is that performance standards demonstrate content validity. Content validity describes the degree to which a measurement is assessing (or describing) only aspects of the performance in question and not irrelevant aspects. In other words, a performance management system has content validity when performance appraisals assess behaviors that represent a job's responsibilities. Performance management systems may also have construct validity (they measure performance accurately) and criterion or predictive validity (they measure behaviors that are agreed to be good indicators of success in a position). Appraisal Meeting The effective performance appraisal is a job-related planning activity that is shared by the employee and the supervisor. Input from both is essential for a successful outcome. The performance appraisal process can provide both the appraiser and the employee "with a sense of accomplishment, direction in priorities, and commitment to a specific career path. Employees need to know how they have been rated so they have a clear understanding of how they fared in the eyes of their appraiser and the organization. The appraisal meeting gives the appraiser an opportunity to discuss the rating, the rationale, and future development "After the discussion about performance, the appraiser and the employee work together to create a performance improvement plan, a plan of actions that will help the employee meet or exceed organizational, departmental, and/or individual goals. At this point in the appraisal meeting, the appraiser and the employee must: Gain agreement on the appraisal ratings. Set specific objectives that the employee is to achieve before the next appraisal period. Create an implementation plan for how the employee will meet the objectives. Discuss how the appraiser" "will follow up with the employee to see that the objectives are being met. Discuss what must be accomplished before the next review period."

Aligning the HR Function with the Strategic Plan

"Aligning the HR Function with the Strategic Plan The value of the HR function will be measured by the function's strategic contributions. Therefore, the function must allocate its resources with an eye toward the organization's strategic goals and the goals of all other functions." "HR must partner with other functions to ensure that the organization's human capital matches its needs: that there is the right amount of the right talent and that processes accurately support the organization's mission and values and produce the desired value. Because of its traditional role as an expert in workforce planning and management, HR can play a pivotal role in helping other functions achieve their long- and short-term objectives." "Recognize that HR's purpose is to serve the needs of both the organization as a whole and its constituent functions. HR professionals need to represent themselves as service providers for the entire organization. Efforts to prove that HR has a strategic business focus may be unsuccessful if the needs of HR are put first in strategic planning discussions. Instead, HR must show how it can identify and help the organization manage strategic planning's implications for all employees. Explicitly aligning the HR business plan with the organization's strategic plan demonstrates an awareness of HR's strategic relationship with the organization. New programs and services and recruitment and hiring goals should be tied directly to strategic objectives." "Position HR as an expert on strategic human resource planning that can provide valuable support at an organizational and functional level. As a member of the strategic planning team, HR forecasts the organization's human resource needs in light of the strategy, identifies areas that are not presently aligned with strategy, and works with leaders and functional managers to implement solutions. HR is also responsible for measuring the strategic strength of the organization's workforce and the organization's employee relations." 1. inovation 2. employee attitudes 3. worforce stability 4. human capital 5. Leadership 6. Productivity 7. Worforce profile 8. Compensation and benefits 9. Compliance and saftey 10. Employee relations "Ensure that HR fulfills its basic mission. HR's mission is to support the creation and maintenance of a highly motivated and participative workforce. This involves using essential HR practices, such as efficient recruiting of candidates whose strengths can contribute to the organization's growth, identifying and building essential and new skills for the organization's workforce, developing creative compensation and reward systems that retain valued employees, and implementing complaint and feedback/communication processes to convey the organization's commitment to listen to employees and be fair and transparent. Understand the roles of other functions within the organization and the processes they perform. To fulfill this expert role, HR must understand how other functions perform their work and their priorities, values, and business plans. (Section 2 in this Functional Area discusses typical roles played by functions in organizations.) Build partnerships across the organization and create relationships and alliances with key individuals and groups outside the organization. The task of aligning HR with the strategic plan will be made easier if you can develop working relationships with key individuals and groups throughout the organization and in its larger community—such as HR peers and business professionals in other organizations, service groups, and local business organizations. These relationships provide insight into these groups' perspectives on the organization and the community. The broader your perspective, the more accurately you will be able to represent the needs of the entire organization and make recommendations that are strategic and appropriate. Establishing relationships with outside groups and "your industry knowledge by networking with other departments and becoming involved in task forces or cross-functional projects outside the scope of traditional HR duties. This will help you build the necessary organizational knowledge to make useful recommendations during strategic planning. Researching best practices of other organizations also helps to build industry knowledge. Use facts and objective data as support for your suggestions. As a consultant to the strategic planning process, you will need to provide tangible evidence to back up the recommendations you propose. You may not be comfortable with numerical analysis and reports, but an HR professional in a strategically managed organization must become fluent in measuring strategic outcomes in order to leverage HR's power and authority and build solid business cases for your recommendations. Contribute to measuring strategic success. Since organizations must be able to demonstrate the effects of chosen strategies, HR must move from simply measuring the effect of HR initiatives to measuring the effect of the organization's strategic initiatives. HR can play an important role here by identifying key benchmarks early in the strategic business management process, gathering data during and after implementation, analyzing data, and planning responses." "HR management to ensure that the perspectives and interests of all HR units and staff throughout the organization are taken into account. 1. Identify the key HR constituencies 2. Establish an HR planning team 3. Participate in developing strategy maps that link financial, customer operations and learning growth measures 4. Develop working committee to review strategy maps 5. Assign working teams to align HR with each strategic objective. 6. Create an HR alignment matrix that includes motivation and training and coaching line managers 7. Develop a motivation, communication, and training program for HR employees and partners 8. Continue to involve employees in strategy implementation

Appraisal Methods

"Appraisal Methods A common approach to performance appraisal involves the employee and the direct supervisor. In some organizational cultures and environments, peers and subordinates may be asked to provide input on an individual's performance. This may be done with a 360-degree approach to performance appraisal. There are several methods available for conducting an appraisal: Category rating methods. The least complex means of appraising performance, in category rating methods the appraiser marks an employee's level of performance on a designated form. Examples include: Graphic scale. The appraiser checks "appropriate place on the scale for each task listed. A typical example is a five-point rating scale where 1 is significantly below standard, 3 is standard, and 5 is significantly above standard. Frequently, a "Comments" section is included in which the appraiser can provide more detail about the employee's performance. The limitation of this method is that sometimes separate activities may be grouped together and rated as a unit rather than individually. Checklist. The appraiser is given a list of statements or words and checks the items on the list that describe the characteristics and performance of the employee. Sometimes the items are weighted and then tabulated to arrive a "appropriate place on the scale for each task listed. A typical example is a five-point rating scale where 1 is significantly below standard, 3 is standard, and 5 is significantly above standard. Frequently, a "Comments" section is included in which the appraiser can provide more detail about the employee's performance. The limitation of this method is that sometimes separate activities may be grouped together and rated as a unit rather than individually. Checklist. The appraiser is given a list of statements or words and checks the items on the list that describe the characteristics and performance of the employee. Sometimes the items are weighted and then tabulated to arrive a "a quantifiable result. This system is limited in that different words or statements may be interpreted differently by each appraiser. Forced choice. This is a variation on the checklist method. The appraiser is required to check two of four statements: one that the employee is most like and one that the employee is least like. The items are generally a combination of positive and negative statements. One limitation of this rating method is that constructing valid statements is difficult. Comparative methods. The appraiser directly compares the performance of each employee with that of the others. Examples include: Ranking. The appraiser lists all employees from "highest to lowest. If there are 20 employees, the appraiser ranks them in order from 1 to 20—best to poorest in performance. This system is limited in that the amount of difference between the varying numbers is not prescribed. There may be little difference between numbers 2 and 3 and a big difference between 10 and 11. Appraiser bias and/or varying performance standards may also limit this method's effectiveness. Paired comparison. Each of the employees is paired with every other employee and compared, one at a time, using the same scale for performance. This method provides more information about individual employees than ranking. A limitation of this technique is the time required to evaluate each possible pair of employees. Forced distribution. Employees are rated and placed at different percentage points along a bell-shaped curve The limitation with the forced distribution method is that some employees must be placed in the lowest section and some must be placed in the highest section regardless of their ability. It can be difficult for the manager to explain the employee's position on the curve. Narrative methods. The appraiser submits written narrative performance appraisals. Examples include:" "Essay. The appraiser writes a short essay describing the performance of each employee during the rating period. Ordinarily, the appraiser is given several topic areas for comment. One limitation of this method is that appraisers have varying writing abilities that may influence the quality of the rating. Another limitation is that the method is time-consuming and difficult to quantify for administrative purposes. Critical incidents. A record of employee actions is kept in addition to actual ratings. Both positive and negative actions are recorded for the entire rating period. A limitation of this method is that critical incidents may be identified and "defined differently by each supervisor. Additionally, cataloging these incidents for each employee on a daily or weekly basis may be time-consuming. Field review. The supervisor or manager and a human resource professional cooperate in this method. The HR professional interviews the supervisor and takes notes concerning the performance of each employee. After the interview, the notes are compiled by the HR department and comparison ratings are arrived at for each employee. Then the ratings are submitted to the supervisor for approval or changes. The effectiveness of this method may be limited by the amount of control the HR department has in establishing the rating, and it "may also be time-consuming if a supervisor is responsible for a large number of employees. There are two special appraisal methods that can be used to overcome some of the difficulties associated with appraisal. In management by objectives (MBO), the employees help set objectives for themselves, defining what they intend to achieve within a specified time period. The objectives are based on overall goals and objectives for the organization. When the employee has set goals and objectives, there is a dialog between the employee and the manager, so mutual agreement may be used to finalize the goals and objectives. In this way, the goals and objectives are not imposed upon the employee but still reflect the goals of the organization. Assumptions that form the "foundation for MBO include the following: A strategic plan is in place. A higher level of commitment and performance results from employees who plan and set their own goals. The employee will better accomplish objectives that are clearly defined. Performance objectives are measurable and specify desired results. "Several critical issues have been noted as difficulties related to the MBO method, including: Goals may be unachievable or too easy to reach. Goals may not measure performance that adds value to the bottom line. Managers and employees may not be trained. Employees may give equal importance to each objective rather than prioritizing. It may be difficult to compare the success of one individual to that of another. Another special appraisal method is the behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS). The BARS method was designed to overcome the problems of category rating by describing examples of desirable and undesirable behavior. Examples are then measured against a scale of performance levels. Clearly indicating the behavior associated with each level of performance "helps reduce some of the limitations inherent in other appraisal methods." "This method requires extensive time and energy to develop and maintain. Additionally, different BARS must be developed to measure employee performance for different jobs. For example, in a printing company, keyliners, plate-burners, printers, and quality control workers would each need their own BARS. Developing BARS typically requires an organization to: Generate critical incidents. Develop performance dimensions. Reallocate incidents. Scale the incidents. Develop the final instrument

Evaluating

"At the onset of succession planning, standards should be established about what success looks like and metrics identified as to how program success will be measured. Standards and metrics used to evaluate succession planning will vary but should generally attempt to assess: Employee satisfaction with personal development initiatives. Management satisfaction with employee performance and job readiness. The extent of goals achieved and the time to full-function attainment."

HR and Works Councils

"Because requirements and practices vary from one location to another, it is important to understand: Whether a works council is mandated by statute and, if so, under what circumstances. The procedures for forming a works council. The scope of the employer's obligations with respect to works councils (e.g., the types of issues about which a works council must be consulted, whether agreement is required, and the timing of such consultation in relation to planned implementation). As with unions, works councils offer an avenue for addressing difficult organizational challenges and finding solutions that avoid workforce disruptions. Organizations should also consider the potential for engaging with works councils proactively when issues and business decisions address the future welfare of both the firm and the employees, such as the need for expansion, downsizing, transfer, or outsourcing. Works councils can be ways to develop options, to gather reactions from employee representatives to plans, and to use their input to adjust solutions and evaluate outcomes."

Organization Assessing change readiness

"Before developing OED plans, the team must also consider and assess the organization's, group's, or individual's readiness to change. Change is difficult for most individuals, so proactively preparing for possible issues will assist the change process." Assessing Readiness for Change What is the nature of the change? What is the expected duration? What is the milestones are associated with the change? Where is the Org in the change process? Who will have primary responsibility for implementing the change? What role will HR play in implementing the change? What fears might people have about the change? How much resistance anticipated? How will the Org deal with the temporary drop in productivity that may result from the the change? What benchmarks will be established? How will local interests and needs be gathered and considered during change planning and implementation

What big data means to hr

"Big data aggregates information in ways never before possible and allows companies to vastly improve their understanding of their customers and markets. For example, big data provides companies with incredibly detailed descriptions of consumer preferences and how people purchase goods and services. Using big data, companies can also monitor supply chains, sales, and equipment functioning 24/7 across the globe. The applications do not end there, and much potential remains untapped. "Analytics 1.0 Era Born in the 1950s and predominate until the mid-2000s. Computing technologies facilitated "fact-based comprehension" to go beyond intuition when making decisions. While not perceived as "competing on analytics," greater operational efficiencies facilitated making better decisions on certain key points to improve performance. Analytics 2.0 Era Began when Internet-based and social network firms (primarily in Silicon Valley, e.g., Google and eBay) began to amass and analyze new kinds of information. Distinguished from small data because it was not generated purely by a firm's internal transaction systems; it was externally sourced, too, coming from the Internet, sensors of various types, public data initiatives, and captures of audio and video "recordings. Necessitated innovative technologies because big data could not fit or be analyzed fast enough on a single server. Much information was stored and analyzed in public or private cloud computing environments. Data did not remain in "back offices" and was used to help shape businesses through new product offerings and so forth. Pioneering big data firms began investing in analytics to support customer-facing products, services, and features; viewers were attracted to their websites through better search algorithms, recommendations from friends and colleagues, suggestions for products to buy, and highly targeted ads, all driven by analytics rooted in enormous amounts of data. Analytics 3.0 Era Other large organizations will get on board with big data (e.g., firms in every industry) and capture increasing amounts of data on myriad activities. Every device, shipment, and consumer will "leave a trail, " and firms will have the ability to "analyze those data sets for the benefit of customers and markets. Organizations can embed analytics and optimization into every front-line business decision made. According to Levenson, HR needs to expand and improve what it knows, and he identifies three ways big data can help: Collecting new data. New data collection about when, where, and how employees do their jobs to provide business process insights, reduce errors, and increase efficiencies. Using existing data more effectively. To better understand employee engagement and motivation and why employees do what they do. Better strategic analysis. Mapping how information flows in organizations and the relationships that people rely on to do their work. Levenson says that a pivotal requirement is "the right questions. Fancy analysis alone, for example, does not translate to improved insights. Asking the right questions means "being clear about what causes what" so that statistical correlation and causation are distinct. Causal models are critical and must be tested so that the analyses truly provide insights to improve performance. Challenging, but certainly not unachievable. Therein is the great potential of big data for HR. The take-away here is that big data is here to stay. According to Davenport, there may be some faddish elements that will come and go, but to ignore it would potentially put HR managers at risk. The point of big data is not to be dazzled by the volume of data but rather to convert it into insights, innovations, and business value. Davenport cautions that too many people (vendors, in particular) erroneously use the term "big data" interchangeably with "analytics" or to be synonymous with the reporting of conventional business intelligence. "Davenport tells us, "big data" should not be confused with reporting, data-driven decision making, or conventional analytics. In some organizations, big data may necessitate more specialized jobs in the HR department, such as statisticians to gather data and project managers to bring it all together. In any organization, HR professionals who are well versed in analytics and at least understand the fundamentals of big data will be enormous assets to their organization.

The impact of big data

"Big data refers to high-volume, high-velocity, and high-variety information assets that require innovative forms of information processing for enhanced insight and decision making. The phrase "big data" does not refer to a specific amount of data but "rather a data set that cannot be stored or processed using traditional database software. The IT industry's given name of "big data" is a bit misleading. Strictly speaking, data has no size; there is no "end" or last number, and data cannot be finite. Data is a collection of facts, and facts are inert and infinite. "Thomas Friedman (a renowned New York Times columnist) and many others concur about the confusion of the "big data" name. Friedman considers big data as part of a larger global trend—what he calls the "hyper-connected" world. As Friedman tells us, what is important about big data is not the volume of data that businesses are able to access (as that has been growing at incredible rates since the dawn of the Internet) but instead the speed at which businesses should be able to access it. Organizations want to see important data in near real time, quickly adjust how they respond, and speed their time to action. "data as a continuous feedback loop means accessing it fast, all the time, from internal and external sources, making insights intuitive, and then taking the numbers and feeding them right back into the process for continuous business improvement. It is the unprecedented nature of this scale and scope of "natural" human activity that is exposing patterns in human behavior that were not previously measurable.

He in the area of big data

"Business Case for HR Measures, Metrics, and Analytics HR's challenge with metrics and analytics is to provide business leaders with actionable information that helps them make decisions about people with the same kind of rigor, logic, and facts they use to make decisions about investments, marketing strategies, and new products. HR should support evidence-based talent decisions with HR metrics and workforce analytics. Stated another way, HR needs to be able to communicate compelling data-based narratives that can inspire appropriate action. "Why Measures and Metrics Matter Without measurement information and HR metrics, it is difficult for an organization to know which talent management initiatives have worked and which ones have not. "Jac Fitz-enz is often credited with bringing HR metrics to the forefront of the profession. Fitz-enz proposed that HR activities and their impact on the bottom line could—and should—be measured. During the 1970s he carried out the original research that led to the first human resources metrics in 1978. (Fitz-enz is acknowledged as the father of human capital strategic analysis and measurement. In addition to publishing the first human resources metrics, he founded the Saratoga Institute in 1980 and developed the first international HR benchmarking service. "Fitz-enz started out by creating definitions for basic HR metrics for compensation, staffing, hiring, and retention. "HR professionals must: Provide organization-wide and appropriate training on the purpose and use of key metrics and measurement tools. Provide measurement reports and supply data required for organization-wide assessment. Assist the organization in analyzing and interpreting measurement information. Create and implement specific programs that directly address the measurement and evaluation of HR-specific programs and initiatives. How to Select Appropriate HR Metrics HR metrics can be broadly categorized as either activity-based or outcomes-based. "The danger of focusing too much on outcomes is the moral hazard associated with "the ends justify the means," which can incent unethical behavior. Conversely, the danger associated with focusing too much on activities is a mismatch or misalignment of resource allocations, most notably time wasted." "A more prudent approach is to start with a few core, generally accepted (standardized) activity-based metrics followed by outcomes-based metrics. The advantage of this approach is to first ensure that the more objective activity metrics have validity and reliability before attempting to introduce outcomes-based metrics, which tend to be unique to each organization or business unit's competitive advantage. Thereafter, the outcomes should be used to help further focus or refine the activity-based metrics all "toward mutually reinforcing alignment with the organization's broader strategic goals. In doing so, the entire process and feedback loop is closed to create a performance management system similar to what happens in quality control management. Quality control techniques tend to emphasize activities, while transformational HR change interventions tend to emphasize outcomes. Success in either necessarily involves the use of both types of metrics in a mutually reinforcing manner. HR metrics simply mean measuring something related to HR. However, not all metrics are important. (Think about the 80/20 rule.) HR key performance indicators (KPIs) emphasize what is most important to HR or the organization as a whole. KPIs can be either activity- or outcomes-based metrics. In both cases, KPIs should be fundamentally related (causative) to organization or strategic business unit (SBU) success rather than just loosely co-related with more generalized objectives. "Boudreau reinforce that the demand for accountability in business requires that HR be able to articulate the logical connections between progressive HR practices and organizational performance. HR must demonstrate those connections with evidence-based data. In evidence-based management, organizations incorporate more objective criteria in their decision making. When senior executives ask for performance information, HR professionals need to evaluate the information they share and ensure that it adds value to strategic decision making. A sound approach is to focus on the metrics that impact progress toward business goals. "Metrics provide a number of factors that can be measured to show how HR contributes to the business. There are many metrics from which to choose. Remember that when selecting metrics and analyzing data, it is important to identify outcomes and measure quantifiable results rather than only the activities associated with the intended results. 1. Review business strategy and goals with executives 2. Identify the hr functions to be measured that align with strategy, goals, and objectives 3. Define each hr metric and its formula 4. Decide what data must be collected and what collection methods are available. 5. Be sure to get accurate data 6. Decide how often hr metrics info will be collected and reported 7. Choose what format will be used to report the data and who will receive the report 8. Review the metrics used on a regular basis It is important to measure things correctly (e.g., the measures must be valid and reliable). It is even more important to measure the correct things. Some metrics may not be appropriate for your organization's strategy, location, or culture. The metrics your organization chooses to measure and evaluate should be based on the needs (activities) and objectives (outcomes) unique to your organization." "HR metrics can be used to: Compare to metrics from previous years to evaluate whether organizational performance has improved or declined. Compare to the metrics of other organizations (benchmarking) to identify best practices, areas of excellence, and areas requiring improvement.

Codetermnation

"Codetermination is a form of corporate governance that requires a two-tiered corporate board structure—a typical management board and a supervisory board—that allows management and employees to participate in strategic decision making. Codetermination rights can be extensive and provide a means for employees to influence managerial decisions. Codetermination topics include anything that affects workers, such as the company's organization, working conditions, employee relations, economic decisions concerning company development, working hours, occupational safety and health, HR policies and practices, and compensation. There are three models of codetermination: Dual system. In addition to the typical management board, there is a supervisory board. Depending on the size of the company, as many as half of the supervisory board members may be workers. Because this supervisory board has the authority to accept or reject the management board's decisions, firms are essentially prohibited from implementing workplace changes without employee consent. Single-tier system. There is only one board of directors, but employee representatives are included as members. Mixed system. Employee representatives are included, but they are only advisors (i.e., in a nonvoting capacity)."

Collaboration

"Collaboration Collaboration describes the strategy of enabling highly diversified teams to work together—inside and outside an organization—both physically and virtually to create value.

Collective bargaining

"Collective bargaining is the process by which management and union representatives negotiate the employment conditions for a particular bargaining unit. It covers items such as wages, benefits, and working conditions and may include other matters deemed important by the members. As has been mentioned previously, bargaining may occur between individual employers and unions or multi-employer groups and trade union associations. The process may be centralized at the national level, with government participation. The combined factors influencing collective bargaining may be generally categorized as "Legal and regulatory factors—government regulations that make collective bargaining agreements compulsory for employers or enforceable. Bargaining precedents—factors during the bargaining process that led to previous agreements and/or the existing agreement. Public and employee opinion—public sentiments about the organization and the union and what employees deem to be pertinent. Economic conditions—the state of the local and national economy." "Contract Negotiation Process The negotiating process is designed to balance the rights and interests of employees, the union, and management through a two-way flow of communication. Most employees, supervisors, and managers are not directly involved in negotiating the collective bargaining agreement. The negotiating team for collective bargaining is usually composed of a small group of management and union officials. The general process followed is that the union submits a contract proposal to the employer. The employer then has a certain amount of time to respond to the proposal and to negotiate its terms. In Chile if an employer does not respond to the proposal within a certain time frame, the proposed contract is automatically enacted. "Mediation (also known as conciliation) is a method of nonbinding dispute resolution involving a third party who tries to help the disputing parties reach a mutually agreeable decision. It is aimed at keeping labor and management negotiators talking so they can voluntarily reach a settlement. Mediators have no power to compel the two parties to reach an agreement. Instead, they seek to find common ground and persuade the parties that it is in their best interest to reach an agreement without resorting to a strike. Arbitration is a negotiated procedure in which labor and management agree to submit disputes to an impartial third party and abide by the arbitrator's decision. The arbitration process is more informal than court proceedings. As a result, it can usually concentrate on key issues and resolve disputes faster than litigation. Arbitration is the dominant third-party method of settling labor disputes. It is designed to permit uninterrupted operations during the existence of a contract and to substitute for the historical remedy—a union strike or an employer lock" "lockout. If negotiations are successful, the result is a contract or collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA governs the day-to-day relationship of the employer and the employees in the bargaining unit for the period of time it specifies. Contract provisions are enforceable through internal grievance and arbitration procedures, labor tribunals, or, in some countries, the couRts

Critical Success Factors for Knowledge Management Systems

"Critical Success Factors for Knowledge Management Systems Organizations that excel at knowledge management focus on several key factors: Creating an environment and structure that encourage the capture of best practices and facilitate sharing and cross-fertilization Recognizing that "information must travel within and be retained in the organization Appreciating the role and importance of personal networks in knowledge and information transfer Establishing a knowledge-friendly, data-sharing culture (Individuals across cultures and across hierarchical levels must feel encouraged to share their knowledge and ideas.) Seeing where knowledge exists and where it is liable to be lost or underutilized Helping people develop information management and data access skills Addressing the "What is in it for me?" question (Those who "borrow" knowledge from the system should also "deposit" knowledge. In other words, employees should be both givers and takers of knowledge. Seeing the process as reciprocal and mutually rewarding encourages its use and vitality.) Developing criteria to define and measure successful KM projects Identifying and addressing multicultural challenges, such as multiple languages within the organization and different preferences for screen design Social Sharing of Knowledge Most employees recognize that much of what they need to perform better, improve their skills, and gain more knowledge is around them all the time: learning by observing colleagues, receiving coaching from a supervisor, and having access to proven ideas and best practices as well as simply getting on-the-job experience every day. Knowledge transfer is especially important and attractive in a global organization

Governments and Other Groups

"Employer or industry associations. In some countries, contracts may be negotiated at a multi-employer level. The contracts may be "at an industry level (e.g., steel manufacturers) or at a national level. National governments and agencies. To a certain extent, national governments are always a part of the labor relationship in that they legislate and regulate aspects of the employee relationship and the employers' relationship with unions and works councils. In the Philippines, for example, the Department of Labor deals with issues related not only to working conditions but also to overseas work, workforce training and technical skills development, and voluntary arbitration. Tripartism—a collaboration of governments, employers, and unions—is a norm in Singapore. Particularly during economic crises, governments may step in to protect employees' social welfare, taking steps to increase hiring, encourage employers to provide some levels of employment during retrenchments, or invest in skills development. International groups. In response to the global recession starting in 2008 to 2009, the ILO—with governments, employers, and employee groups—created a Global Jobs Pact that issued recommendations for steps that all parties could take to meet the economic crisis. Governments could invest in jobs and provide social protections, while employers could recommit to ILO labor standards and apply flexible work arrangements, such as rotating workers into jobs. "Local governments, nongovernmental organizations, religious institutions, and community groups. These groups are usually more active at a local level, applying pressure on social justice issues and helping to support social programs during economic crises. In the Philippines, the national government includes such groups as social partners in its efforts to address employment levels. These organizations may also provide representatives to national-level task forces and arbitration groups on employee relatios

Managing the realationship

"Employers' relationships with labor unions are highly influenced by local laws and business practices "HR professionals understand both the laws that shape employer-union relationships and the cultural differences that have shaped the laws—the moving spirit behind a country's laws" "Creating a positive organizational culture can promote a positive relationship with union representatives, avoid problems, and improve grievance resolutions and collective bargaining outcomes. A more cooperative labor-management relationship is generally characterized by: A greater acceptance of labor-management partnerships. An increased willingness to share power. More open and candid sharing of information. Joint decision making on issues of common concern. "Win-win" bargaining techniques. Shared responsibility and accountability for results. HR can help create and promote an organizational perspective that values positive and productive relations between management and union representatives."

"Evaluating the Performance Management System"

"Evaluating the Performance Management System In a SHRM Foundation report, Elaine Pulakos recommends the following actions to evaluate performance management systems: Track completion of training among the system users. Track completion of performance management activities. Secure periodic manager review of performance standards used in ratings to ensure continued content validity. Secure senior management review of alignment of the system with the organization's strategic goals. Periodically align performance appraisal results with promotions and pay increases to confirm that there is a positive relationship. Solicit feedback from users. Many of these activities will be easier if the performance management system and required training are integrated into the HR information system. Succession Planning Succession planning is an important talent management strategy to help identify and foster the development of "high-potential employees. Succession plans focus on positions that are the most critical to the future needs of the organization. The goal is to "keep talent in the pipeline" and have people in place for future roles in the organization. It is important to recognize that succession planning, like other aspects of talent management, applies to employees at all levels of the organization. It should not be applied exclusively to senior management. Succession planning must be closely tied to and aligned with several other human resource management functions, including the following: Career management. Succession plans help to ensure that individuals in specific talent pools obtain the insights, awareness, and field experience necessary to make ongoing contributions to the organization. Training and learning. Structured training "experiences provide the knowledge and skills necessary for success in various positions on the career advancement ladder. Performance management. Succession planning must also be carefully aligned with the organization's performance management process to ensure that future managers and functional experts receive the ongoing developmental feedback, critical evaluation, and mentoring required to maintain their professional development. Succession planning is a strategy that targets long-range needs and focuses on the cultivation of talent to satisfy those needs. Replacement planning concentrates on immediate needs and a "snapshot" assessment of the availability of qualified backups for individuals in key positions. Replacement planning is an important element in business continuity planning in the event of an emergency or business intruption

HR Metrics

"Formulas for the same metric can vary; it is important to use a consistent formula throughout your org and when bench marking 1. Absence rate 2. Accruals 3. Applicant Ratio 4. Cost per hire 5. Human capital on return 6. Human capital value added 7. Key Talent retention 8. Promotion 9. success ratio 10 training return on investment 11. Transfer 12. Turnover costs 13. Turnover rate 14. Vacancy costs

Implementing Workforce Management Strategies

"Global assignment of personnel may also be a workforce management strategy. It involves developing a pool of talent with the unique skills and knowledge needed for these types of assignments, equipping them for success, overcoming the challenges of distance and culture to manage performance, reintroducing them after assignment, and capturing the unique knowledge they have earned so that it can benefit the organization and future assignees. Flexible Staffing Alternatives No workforce planning and employment strategy is complete without consideration of flexible staffing alternatives. Also referred to as alternative staffing, flexible staffing uses alternative recruiting sources and workers who are not regular employees. Many staffing approaches are possible other than conventional full-time arrangements where the organization directly hires, supervises, and provides compensation and benefits to regular employees. Today's labor market presents many situations where flexible staffing alternatives are appropriate. To name but a few scenarios: Shortages of available workers for open positions Seasonal peak demands for operations "Operational upturns and downturns that make permanent head count impractical Special projects that demand specific skills.

Effective Social Media Policies and Approaches for Organization-Sponsored Social Media

"Guerin outlines the following characteristics for an effective policy: Identification of who may post Guidelines for employees who post (e.g., be respectful and professional, avoid inappropriate topics, respect intellectual property, protect the company's trade secrets, maintain customer and employee privacy) Authorship and disclaimers (e.g., asking employees who post to identify themselves by name and title) Guidelines for handling comments (e.g., how to moderate comments and when to share complaints and comments with the appropriate person or department

Contract administration and enforcement

"HR does what it can to make sure that the contract provisions are met. This may include educating managers and supervisors about the new contract provisions, specific ways in which their actions should reinforce the contract, and how to proceed if questions or problems arise. Effective education may prevent many grievances from occurring. Handling Grievances A contract almost always includes a formal grievance procedure. This process provides an orderly way to resolve the inevitable differences of opinion in regard to the union contract that develop during the life of the agreement." "The employee grievance process involves several steps. Although the process may vary somewhat from contract to contract and from country to country, the following represents the general steps. Immediate supervisor. Employees who feel mistreated or think that their contract rights have been violated file a grievance with the immediate supervisor. At this point, the filing of the grievance may be written or oral; most grievances are written. The supervisor must attempt to accurately determine the reason for the grievance and try to solve the problem. Supervisors and union representatives or stewards can work together to solve the problem. If the union representative agrees that no valid grievance has occurred, the process ends. Next level. If the employee, supervisor, and union representative cannot solve the problem together, the formal written grievance proceeds to the next level in the hierarchy—the intermediate supervisor, department head, or unit manager and a higher-level union official. To promote free discussion, the employee with the grievance is usually not present and is represented by the union. It is, therefore, important for both sides to fully document their facts and their positions. Higher-level management. If the grievance is not resolved within the time period"set under the union contract, it usually goes to the next level, where, on the union side, a member of the grievance "committee or a representative from the union structure is involved. In some companies, the complaint can go only as high as the local plant manager; in others, it can go all the way to top corporate officials. If the grievance is not resolved within the time period set under the union contract, it usually moves to the final stage. Third-party determination. If the grievance is still not settled, a neutral outside arbitrator may be called in to settle the issue. At this stage, the highest levels of each side are usually represented. For the employer, this may include the corporate vice president for HR (or equivalent) and/or legal counsel. For the union, this may include the local union president, a national union representative, or legal counsel.

Leveraging analytics

"HR must do more than use technology and data to report on past performance, process administrative tasks, and generate compliance reports. Analytics help HR translate that into practice. "describes a process of connecting talent management performance to business performance as "a ladder of analytical capabilities" that build on each other, starting with a foundation of accurate, consistent, integrated, accessible, and relevant data. "HR must do more than use technology and data to report on past performance, process administrative tasks, and generate compliance reports. Analytics help HR translate that into practice." "The report describes a process of connecting talent management performance to business performance as "a ladder of analytical capabilities" that build on each other, starting with a foundation of accurate, consistent, integrated, accessible, and relevant data." "the progressive build of human capital analytical applications; it begins with an employee database and ends with an adaptable and scalable talent supply chain. Comprehensive employee database—to track skills and performance Critical talent management—the use of analytics to identify key segments of employees (e.g., high performers, high potentials, pivotal workforces) Differentiated actions to focus HR investments—to manage critical workforce segments accordingly Customized employee value proposition—the use of analytics to predict employee preferences and behaviors and tailor HR practices to attract and retain valuable talent Sophisticated workforce planning—causal models and the identification of leading indicators to anticipate talent requirements and align them with business requirements Real-time talent supply chain—where processes rapidly adapt to meet changing business conditions, objectives, and competitive threats and provide the best possible mix of skills and talent supply Benefits of Analytics In a special issue of HR People and Strategy, "Using Human Capital Analytics to Make Excellent Business Decisions," various articles discuss how organizations can benefit from leveraging analytics. In addition to providing an evidence-based approach to management, analytics have the potential to improve individual and organizational performance because they: Embed workforce intelligence as a cornerstone in management decision making. Improve workforce planning and forecasting. "Shorten recruiting cycles. Reduce recruiting and separation costs. Retain critical talent. Drive succession planning. Use on-demand insights to avoid costly mistakes regarding the workforce. Redirect money spent on wrong employee initiatives to more beneficial programs (e.g., initiatives that impact critical business metrics and outcomes instead of unquantified HR activities that promise to make employees happier, more engaged, and satisfied). Standards in HR "One of the biggest challenges that arises when proposing to create and adopt generally accepted standards starts with a fundamental question: What is meant by a standard? According to ISO: A standard is a document that provides requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose. Standards in professional services represent the minimum requirements to be considered effective as a profession and as a professional, not just effective as a general workplace activity or job. "If any activity or minimum threshold cannot be achieved or agreed upon as being universally applicable, it cannot, by definition, be adopted as an international standard. The core value that comes from standardizing professional services is usually derived from being able to benchmark activities or outcomes against quality control objectives. Benchmarking on quality then allows for more-objective assessments of the service's relative performance as well as becoming a basis for future performance improvement." "Implementing standards in any professional practice is a long-term, ongoing process of continuous improvement," with many recurring obstacles and lessons to be learned. To date, some of the key lessons learned regarding the international HR standards project include: Professional standards in HR represent change. An ongoing, evidence-based corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign directed toward key stakeholders is required to elicit and maintain support for such a change. Professional standards are not meant to be best practices. However, if an HR practitioner, organization, or nation is not delivering HR services at the threshold as defined by international standards, then those standards may in fact be perceived as aspirational. Established professional service standards have a reputation of being too focused on activities and not focused enough on outcomes or values. Knowing this, a concerted effort by the HR community must be made to "develop standards that are more balanced. Diversity and inclusion on a global scale are imperative to ensure that the standards developed are as universally applicable as possible. Standards are developed by the majority who choose to participate; abstaining effectively translates to acceptance of the outcome.

Core Business Functions

"HR professionals need to understand the core functions and business lines within their organizations, including the goals, perspectives, and challenges of the functions/business lines." "Executive management (often referred to as the C-suite) is ultimately responsible for all of the core business functions and their effect on the organization's performance. The primary responsibilities of executive management are to: Develop and communicate strategy to the organization's components. Monitor and control implementation of strategic and operational activities through control of financial resources. Be the primary interface with the organization's stakeholders, from investors to regulators to customers and communities. Lead the organization through a shared vision and the values they model in all interactions." "Executive management commonly includes a chief executive officer (CEO) who holds ultimate control of organizational resources and "responsibility for performance. In a publicly held company, the CEO reports to a board of directors, compensated individuals from outside the organization. (Many nonprofit organizations also have boards whose members are compensated for expenses.) The board is responsible for reviewing and approving strategic plans, appointing and approving compensation of executive management, and overseeing organizational governance. Executive management positions vary in organizations but may include a chief operating officer (COO), responsible for managing daily activities and physical assets, and a chief financial officer (CFO), responsible for managing financial assets. There are many other possible titles, from president to chief vision, innovation, or organizational effectiveness officer. Some of these positions may be "double-hatted"—they may be held by someone in the organization in addition to that person's primary responsibilities. HR leadership interacts directly with executive management. HR contributes to the development of organizational strategy, advising on the human capital implications of strategic decisions. It may work directly with the board to advise on executive compensation and matters of governance and with other members of the C-suite as they manage the development and implementation of operations and strategic initiatives. Finance and Accounting The role of finance and accounting is to "process, document, and account for the financial resources of the organization "Accounting manages the day-to-day finances and cash flow of the business. It is concerned with accounts receivable (monies received" "accounting can become much more complex in global organizations. Financial metrics (examples include the balance sheet, liabilities, and assets)" "Finance generally provides investment, capital acquisition, financial planning, budgeting, and higher-level financial services to other parts of the organization and its shareholders. The financial organization is involved in decisions regarding global expansion, technology investments, and structuring strategic alliances. One of the recurrent ways in which HR interacts with finance is through finance's recommendations for and reviews of annual budgets. Finance departments apply different approaches to budgeting. Figure 4 describes four commonly used budgeting methods, each of which might be appropriate in different situations." 1. Zero Based: All objectives and operations are given a priority. Each unit or goal is ranked and then avail funds are given in order. All expenditures must be justified for each new period and budgets start at zero. EX: dept would need to justify its entire budget and show how its funding helps the Org meet its goals. 2. Incremental: AKA line item budgeting. Traditional form of budgeting. Prior budget is the basis for the next budget The prior budget is simply increased by set percentage. EX: installing a new computer equip. or providing training would increase the budget. 3. Formula: Different units operations receive varying percentages of the budgets. general funding is changed by a specific amount and the unit budget are adjusted accordingly. EX: A government agency could experience a system wide 5% budget decrease which would be spread among its units according to different percentages. 4. Activity based: This type of budget recognized the interrelationships among various activities required to create value in an Org. The basis for budgeting is not how to divide a set amount of money but how much it costs to perform different enterprise activities. EX An Org asks functions what resources they will need to produce specific output levels. More resources are transferred from lower priority areas with excess capacity However, HR's strategic interactions with finance involve much more than budgeting. Finance and accounting have achieved more prominence recently because of the greater public interest in the transparency of fiduciary responsibilities and actions and accountability for financial reports. A number of countries now have laws requiring varying degrees of corporate governance. HR may play a role in communicating ethical expectations and governance policies to the entire organization, and especially to new employees. This directly supports the governance responsibilities of finance. Accounting is also involved in the trend toward globalization. The two primary organizations responsible for promulgating accounting standards are the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), based in London, United Kingdom, and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), based in Norwalk, Connecticut, United States. The IASB, which issues International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and the FASB, which issues the U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), work together closely when developing new accounting standards. A goal of this collaboration is to move toward one set of accounting standards that would be accepted anywhere in the world..

HR's Role in Contract Negotiations

"HR professionals will probably not be directly involved in contract negotiations, but they play a valuable role in improving the quality of the contract. Based on their experience and metrics, they can: Suggest work processes that are most cost-effective and identify management proposals that may be ineffective in terms of creating a productive workplace (e.g., job restructuring that increases stress). Contribute suggestions based on HR's understanding of employee needs. In some cases, nonmonetary concessions can be as significant to employee groups as wages and benefits. Analyze contract language to identify potential misunderstandings or difficulties in administration that could result in grievances later. Provide negotiators with data about employee demographics and payroll and benefits costs that can be used to analyze the cost implications of proposals and concessions. Identify unintended consequences of contract provisions so that they can be more fully considered. For example, an employer's offer might not be economically sustainable over the life of the contract, or it might be too low, encouraging other employers who are not locked into multiyear contracts to lure employees away "with higher wages once the contract has been approved. Identify clauses from preceding contracts that may be in conflict with new employment laws

Errors in Performance Appraisal

"Halo/horn effect. The halo effect may occur when an employee is extremely competent in one area and is therefore rated high in all categories. Conversely, the horn effect may occur when one weakness results in an overall low rating. Recency. The recency error occurs when an appraiser gives more weight to recent occurrences and discounts or minimizes the employee's earlier performance during the appraisal period. It may occur because of the inability of the appraiser to remember employee performance of 8 or 12 months ago. Additionally, as a performance review draws near, many employees may improve their performance in anticipation of a higher evaluation. Primacy. The primacy error occurs when an appraiser gives more weight to the employee's earlier performance and discounts or minimizes recent occurrences. This may be due to the primacy effect, where individuals tend to pay more attention at first and then lose attention. Bias. When an appraiser's values, beliefs, or prejudices distort ratings (either consciously or unconsciously), the error is due to bias. Strictness. Some appraisers may be reluctant to give high ratings. In the case of strictness, appraisers who believe that standards are too low may inflate the standards in an effort to make the standards meaningful in their eyes. These appraisers have higher expectations than appraisers of the same performance in other departments. So although the employees of the strict appraiser may be performing better than employees in other departments, their ratings may be lower. Leniency. Leniency errors are the result of appraisers who do not want to give low scores. All employees in this case are given high scores. If an employee is discharged after being the beneficiary of such "overevaluation," the appraisal may belie the legitimacy of the reason articulated for the discharge. "overevaluation may give rise to a finding of pretext in litigation. Additionally, employees who have not received clear, honest feedback have limited opportunity for improvement and thus future success. Central tendency. Central tendency errors occur when an appraiser rates all employees within a narrow range, regardless of differences in actual performance. Contrast. The contrast error occurs when an employee's rating is based on how his or her performance compares to that of another employee instead of on objective performance standards. However, it is legitimate for an employer to rank employees and compare them with one another as long as their performance is judged initially against objective standards.

Organization HR

"Human Resources Organizations today realize that the most effective strategies are not driven by a single function, such as marketing/sales or operations, but are produced by cross-functional collaboration." "As a result, HR is well positioned to serve as a cross-functional bridge. It can: Facilitate the high degree of cross-functional understanding and collaboration required to deliver results. Use its mission to advise core functions on how to align with the organization's strategy. Identify and support the need for additional resources or training. Locate necessary talent resources dispersed throughout the organization. For example, HR can increase employees' understanding and awareness of a new branding strategy. It can identify the best change agents in the organization and help develop powerful role models for the desired behaviors and attitudes." Cross functional Relationships with HR 1. Executive mgmt and board of Directors 2. Finance and Accounting 3. marketing and Sales 4. Research and Development 5. Operations 6. Information Technology

Selecting and integrating technology

"In "Transforming HR Through Technology," Johnson and Gueutal write: Collection of data for HR measurement may be relatively simple for small organizations and can be easily done on a spreadsheet, while larger organizations will need more robust systems. Smaller organizations may require support for only basic personnel information (typically related to payroll and time and attendance). These organizations may not require a special HR system. Large, complex, and geographically dispersed organizations have a greater need for broad-based employee information to help leaders make effective decisions. A special HR system will be required." "When selecting and integrating technology for the purpose of measurement, metrics, and analytics, HR professionals should seek answers to the following key questions: What are the technological requirements and effects regarding the tools needed to support the organization's measurement, metrics, and analytic needs? How are the technological requirements different for each stakeholder or critical user? How will these technologies affect existing technologies inside and outside HR? (Owners of existing technologies need to be fully involved in the implementation of any new HR tools.) In "Realizing the Full Potential of Workforce Analytics," Joanne Bintliff-Ritchie outlines the following criteria as particularly important to the choice of technology: Flexibility. The solutiOn "should be flexible enough to integrate with an organization's existing technology and anticipated future technology. Scalability. The solution should grow efficiently and economically along with the organization. Security. The solution should be secure and integrate seamlessly with the security implemented for existing technology. Usability. Users should find the technology easy and intuitive. Extensibility. The solution should be easily extended to incorporate data from existing technology and anticipated additional new technology in the future. One type of system that supports the HR function is the organization-wide enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Many large organizations have implemented such systems. Enterprise resource planning is an integrated information system that "serves all departments in an organization. "As shown in the figure, a human resource information system (HRIS) may be part of an ERP system. HRIS systems are the focus of our next section." ERP System 1. Frm (finance and accounting) 2. Scm (supply chain) 3. Hrm ( hr mgmt his) 4. Crm ( customer relationship) 5 mrp ( manufacturing resources planning )

Complex Labor Environments

"In a right-to-work state, a union or an employer is prohibited from requiring union membership or the payment of union dues as a prerequisite for hiring or as a requisite for retaining a job.)" "HR professionals working for global organizations should be aware that other types of employee-employer intermediary bodies have evolved in different countries, often because of legal restrictions. Their goal is often the same as unions—to bargain about working conditions

Types of flexible staffing

"Independent contractors provide another type of flexible staff alternative. They are self-employed individuals hired on a contract basis for specialized services. "contractors generally have a high degree of independence, judgment, skill, and discretion. Employers' legal relationship with independent contractors can be subtle and affected by local laws (e.g., taxation, access to compensation and benefits, training). HR professionals should be mindful of legal restrictions when using this workforce management strategy. Types of Flexible or Alternative Staffing Arrangements Employers can define their relationship with staffing firms through different service arrangements. The choice of a particular flexible arrangement depends on a variety of operational, financial, and legal factors, including: The function to be performed. The level of supervision required. Time constraints. Financial constraints. Concerns about legal risks and liability.

Organization Information Technology

"Information Technology The information technology (IT) area manages the storage, access, exchange, and analysis of information across the enterprise through hardware and software systems. IT oversees networks used for voice and data communication as well as hardware components and supports data storage and processing needs throughout the organization. The chief information officer, or CIO, is the executive in charge of the IT function. Increasingly, IT's major task is to support integration of data from different organizational processes through an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system." "include different modules according to an organization's needs: Financials—examples include the general ledger, an assets register, accounts payable and receivable, and financial statements. Management—examples include budgeting and costing. Operations—examples include inventory management, work-flow management, work orders, quality control. Supply chain management—processes from selection to claims payment. Customer relationship management—examples include sales account information and activity. Project management—processes from schedules and budgets to resource tracking. Human resources—examples include employee records, payroll, benefits programs, training, and performance management. IT faces a number of major challenges. First, IT systems grow over time. This means that some modules may be proprietary while the rest come from an assortment of vendors." "Second, IT is charged with maintaining the security and reliability of the organization's data—an ethical, legal, and business requirement "Third, it must manage the system for efficiency as well as security. System capacity and function must be weighed against the benefit of added storage and processing tasks"

Knowledge Management Process

"Knowledge Management Process Knowledge management systems in organizations tend to be either informal or formal. Informal systems arise as employees and teams gain experience and develop the ability to recognize and identify critical information, best practices, and experiences. While informal systems are very influential and important to organizations, they tend to be based on personal networks and consist heavily of personal contact information. Formal systems are characterized by a structured, formal procedure for capturing information and a specific" "Knowledge Management Process Knowledge management systems in organizations tend to be either informal or formal. Informal systems arise as employees and teams gain experience and develop the ability to recognize and identify critical information, best practices, and experiences. While informal systems are very influential and important to organizations, they tend to be based on personal networks and consist heavily of personal contact information. Formal systems are characterized by a structured, formal procedure for capturing information and a specific repository for the information that is gathered. Figure 23 describes the steps to a formal KM system. Uses of Knowledge Management Systems Organizations adopt and use KM systems in a variety of ways: KM systems have been implemented by law enforcement agencies to manage large volumes of information while streamlining and systematizing each step of criminal investigations. A growing number of retailers such as Walmart are mining their knowledge databases to identify consumer buying trends. By identifying items that consumers frequently purchase at the same time, retailers can create point-of-purchase and other product promotions to spur sales of multiple products." "Pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly often use knowledge management systems to help them manage the exceptionally long product development and approval cycles that are typical in this industry. A knowledge management system can help ensure that critical information gathered during the early years of an investigational compound's development flows through the organization and is accessible at the time of regulatory approval and eventual product launch."

Knowledge Management Systems

"Knowledge Management Systems In today's complex and highly competitive environment, an organization must capture, house, and share its knowledge, information, practices, and policies. It is equally important to prevent the knowledge loss that can occur through layoffs, retirements, reassignments, and voluntary resignations. Knowledge management (KM) is the process of creating, acquiring, sharing, and managing knowledge to augment individual and organizational performance. KM" programs typically focus on two key elements: Expertise sharing and organizational learning Knowledge retention and the reduction of knowledge loss due to employee attrition HR professionals play a key role in fostering KM. They instill a knowledge-sharing attitude in new employees and use training and performance management systems to encourage creativity, innovation, and knowledge transfer. There are many types of information that can be the focus of organizational KM efforts, such as: Leadership characteristics and behaviors. Supplier management information and techniques. Process control in operations. Information management practices, techniques, and specifications. Problem-solving techniques. Innovation best practices. People commitment procedures, policies, and "practices. Customer satisfaction practices, programs, skills, and techniques. New product, service, or technology launch and introduction practices. Change management practices and capabilities."

Labor or trade unions

"Labor or Trade Unions A labor or trade union is a group of workers who coordinate their activities to achieve common goals (e.g., better wages, hours, or working conditions; job security; training) in their relationship with an employer or group of employers. Members elect representatives to interact with management. In some countries, trade unions may include managers and professionals as well as skilled and unskilled workers." "Briscoe, Schuler, and Tarique describe the evolution of the trade union movement: European labor or trade unions have their historical roots in the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. The movement spread throughout Europe and, later, to other parts of the world. At first, unions saw their identities as international, embracing universal worker rights and goals. However, the two world wars of the 20th century and different levels of industrialization redefined union identities according to nationality. As a result, there was no significant cooperation between unions in various countries and little sense of solidarity with workers in undeveloped or developing economies. The Cold War further divided labor groups according" "to pro-Western or Communist ideologies. Today there is interest among trade unions in collaborating across borders to accomplish their objectives. This interest comes in part from the growth of multinational enterprises and the increased need for labor groups to agree on common interests and cooperate on strategies. The new unionism movement, which is actually a rebirth of a 19th-century labor movement, focuses on grass-roots organizing, increasing workplace democracy, and internationalizing the focus of traditional unions. In the same way that businesses in saturated markets have pursued new opportunities abroad, labor unions have turned their attention to emerging economies. Having achieved most of the rights unions historically pressed for in the developed world, unions have experienced steady declines in membership in developed countries. During this same period, however, union membership has been stable or rising in many developing economies (examples include China, India, and South Africa). Unions have focused on basic issues of sustainable wages, benefits, and working conditions in developing economies where these rights have not yet been established"

Measurement and feedback

"Measurement and Feedback The typical method of measuring employees' adherence to performance standards and providing feedback is the performance appraisal. This process measures the degree to which an employee accomplishes work requirements. Performance appraisals accomplish three purposes:" "Provide feedback and counseling. Help in allocating rewards and opportunities. Help in determining employees' aspirations and planning developmental needs. Administered on an individual or group basis, effective performance appraisals can: Improve productivity through constructive feedback. Identify training and developmental needs. Communicate expectations. Foster commitment and mutual understanding. In some countries performance appraisals can have legal implications. "Group appraisals use standards that are applied evenly across the group rather than to individuals. Such a system can be beneficial for self-directed work teams. While performance appraisals are a formal method of evaluating and giving feedback, managers can also give feedback informally on the results of more casual observation. Good performance should be rewarded, but rewards are not limited to salary increases or bonuses. Well-phrased praise is often an effective reward for good performance. To ensure effectiveness, evaluations of performance—whether individual or group—should be communicated continuously, not just conducted as an annual appraisal."

Measuring talent management

"Measuring Talent Management Effectiveness All talent management programs should be evaluated on a regular basis to ensure the effectiveness of each program in helping to maintain a high-performance workforce. Methods for measuring talent management effectiveness include: Evaluating the percentage of positions for which there are internal successors. Comparing the number of external hires to internal promotions. Evaluating the differentiation of pay between performance levels. Identifying high-potential employees and reviewing their corresponding retention rates. Tracking retention and turnover rates at all levels of the organization. Performance Management An important element of talent management is an organization's performance management system. Performance management is the process of maintaining or improving employee job performance. It involves the use of performance assessment tools. When skill gaps are identified by an employee's manager, that information is provided to HR, who can conduct a gap analysis and advise on appropriate intervention strategies—for example, learning and development tools, such as training and coaching, continuous feedback, and improved communication between the individual employee and the performance manager. "Performance management systems can be fully effective only if: They have the support of senior leaders. The managers who must implement the system accept the system's value to the organization and thoroughly understand how to implement it. Employees are educated about the system—how to get the most value from it and how to ensure their rights to provide responses and feedback. The implementation of the system is regularly evaluated and improved and its alignment with strategy and culture adjusted as needed. Aligning Performance to Organizational Values and Goals An organization's values and goals reflect its structure and philosophy. When organizations establish and communicate clear values and goals, employees have a sense of "purpose and know how to prioritize their activities. A considerable amount of executive attention may be required to arrive at a consensus regarding the organizational values and goals. Values are principles, standards, or qualities considered inherently worthwhile or desirable. Values for an organization describe what is important for how the organization does business. Highly regarded values include: Putting the customer first. Treating employees as well as the customers are treated. Conducting business fairly and honestly. Demonstrating creativity and innovation. Utilizing teamwork to achieve goals. Values are usually expressed in the organization's mission statement and displayed through the behavior of the organization's employees and management. For this reason, it is essential that management throughout the organization

"Measuring and Demonstrating HR

"Measuring and reporting results has several important benefits for HR: Reinforcing HR's role in strategic development by measuring the effectiveness of HR strategies and senior management's implementation of those strategies Identifying opportunities for redirection and improvement through periodic measurement of progress on strategic objectives Strengthening HR's relationship with internal business partners by measuring the impact of HR activities Supporting future investment in HR programs" "Performance Measures Performance measures compare current performance against key performance indicators (KPIs). Measuring strategic performance is discussed in the section on the Business Acumen competency in the HR Competencies module. HR performance measurement tools include balanced scorecards and audits. HR Balanced Scorecards Balanced scorecards provide a concise yet overall picture of an organization's performance. They can be used to measure the effectiveness of specific initiatives, entire departments, or the entire organization. The balanced scorecard includes performance metrics from four organizational perspectives: financial, customers, internal business processes, and learning and growth "By linking clearly defined department objectives and performance to the company's strategic business goals, a balanced scorecard for HR can serve as a way of focusing human resource staff on activities that will support the company's goals. An HR balanced scorecard also demonstrates HR's strategic value by defining and measuring HR's contribution in concrete, clearly understood terms "Using the area of recruiting as an example, an HR balanced scorecard would look something like this. Objective: Reduce turnover costs. Description: Develop effective recruiting methods and new-hire orientation methods to optimize the retention of new hires. Actions: Identify key attributes of successful employees who stay at the company for two or more years. Use technology more effectively for recruiting and screening applications. Identify selection methods that will contribute to successful hires. Integrate branding efforts into recruiting. Revise the orientation program to ensure new-hire retention. Measures: Cost per hire (financial) Turnover rates and costs (financial) Time to fill (internal business process) Customer satisfaction with new-hire performance (customer) New-hire satisfaction with orientation (learning and growth)" "Supervisor satisfaction with orientation (learning and growth) For an HR balanced scorecard to be truly effective, it must: Contain accountability and measurable results. Be valid; the measurement system must contain understandable measures, metrics, and targets that are aligned to the objective and can be supported with solid data. Contain only those measures that are most important to the objective and the company's strategic plan; that is, the measures must result in actionable items. Focus on results; simply measuring turnover or time to fill is ineffective if no action is taken as a result. More meaningful measures that are aligned clearly with the company's strategic plan include productivity and retention. Be carefully planned and executed." "HR Audits In an HR audit, an organization's HR policies, practices, procedures, and strategies undergo a systematic and comprehensive evaluation. This helps to establish whether specific practice areas or processes are adequate, legal, and/or effective. Audit results also help to identify gaps in HR practices; these can then be prioritized for corrective action." 1. Compliance: Focuses on how well the Org is compiling with current employment laws and reg's 2. Best practices: Helps the Org maintain or improve a competitive advantage by comparing its practices to those of companies identified as having exceptional HR practices 3. Strategic: Focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of systems and processed to determine whether they align with the HR dept and/or the org strategic plan 4. Function specific: Focuses on a specific area in the HR function (ex payroll, performance mgmt, records retention etc) "Most lawsuits and charges of discrimination can be traced to issues related to hiring, performance management, discipline, the work environment, and termination. If regulatory compliance is not the objective for an audit, deciding what to audit depends largely on the perceived weaknesses in the organization's HR environment and the constraints of time, available resources, and/or budget." "Depending upon the type of HR audit, the scope may be either comprehensive or focused. HR professionals can perform an audit in-house—if they have the expertise, the time, a willingness to objectively acknowledge "inadequacies in current procedures, and, most importantly, the clout to make or influence necessary organizational changes the audit identifies. It is important to note, however, that for any audit (conducted by internal staff or an outside consultant who is not a lawyer), everything connected with the audit is subject to discovery in litigation relating to employment practices Audit step..........................................Description 1. Determine the scope and type of audit: Identify what areas should be targeted for review 2. develop the audit questionnaire: Development of a comprehensive document that elicits info during the inquiry 3. Collect the data: Use of the audit questionnaire as a road map to collect info 4. Benchmark the findings: Comparison of the audit findings with HR benchmarks (EX other similar size firms, national standards or internal Org data) 5. Provide feedback: review data and presentation of summarized findings and recommendations 6. Create action plans: Development of action plans fro implementing the changes suggested by the audit, with the findings separated by order of importance high, med, low 7. Foster a climate of continuous improvement: Continuous improvement of the Org policies, procedures, and pratices

Organization Helping groups generate and sort data

"Mind mapping and affinity diagramming. Mind mapping begins the "discussion with core ideas. The group members add related ideas and indicate logical connections, eventually grouping similar ideas. This can be done on paper or a whiteboard or with sticky notes. Affinity diagramming is a way of sorting a large amount of data that has already been collected. The group categorizes and subcategorizes data until relationships are clearly drawn. Nominal group technique (NGT). This technique proceeds through rounds in which participants each suggest ideas. The rounds continue until no further ideas are proposed. Then the group discusses the items, eliminates redundancies and items considered irrelevant, and agrees on the importance of the remaining items. NGT can be practiced with idea generation by individuals, subgroups, or the entire group. Similarly the initial sorting of ideas can be done in subgroups before returning to the main group to reach consensus. Delphi technique. This technique progressively collects information from a group on a preselected issue. After the coordinator identifies the issue and participants, each participant lists his/her ideas about the issue in question in a brief, concise manner and returns the list anonymously to the coordinator. No attempt should be made to evaluate or justify the ideas at this stage. Then "on a cloud or shared drive, thus using technology to enhance communication choices and shorten the time necessary for completion.

Networking

"Networks (or social networks) generally refer to the online clustering of individuals in groups with common or shared interests. Social networking services (SNSs) or social networking sites connect individuals with similar interests, regardless of their geographic locations. The sites allow users to create profiles and interact with others in a variety of ways (such as the exchange of private or public messages). A variety of tools may be embedded in social network sites, including e-mail, blogs, instant messages, text, podcasts, photographs, and videos. Types of social networks in the workplace may be grouped into categories such as: Informational—interactions with customers or other people seeking answers to questions or problems. Professional—networks that help participants to advance within "their career or industry. Academic—the ability for academics to pursue interests with experts and other like-minded individuals. Training and development—the ability for learners to access course content online and/or share information with other classmates. Social networks have a variety of business applications such as recruiting, connecting employees, brainstorming, dialoging about common issues, sharing project documents, and more. Many organizations use their portals to enable social networks.

Organization OED Benefits

"OED initiatives can be proactive and help an organization develop the competencies it needs to compete externally. They can also be remedial and address the possible internal consequences of strategic action. "Proactive OED To keep pace in a constantly evolving business world, large and small organizations often need to implement enterprise-wide changes affecting their processes, products, and people. Organizational leaders must be able to identify and respond quickly to market changes and unexpected challenges. Agile leadership—from CEOs down to line-level managers—separates high-performing from lower-performing organizations." "five critical enablers of company agility emerged. Agile companies had leaders that: Actively build seasoned, diverse leaders and management teams. Leaders ensure that managers up and down the organization are fully accountable and have the right competencies to handle a diverse set of circumstances. Speed up decision making. They establish a culture of making "critical decisions at speed—always ensuring that those decisions are tuned to market conditions. Prioritize strategic decisions. They distinguish between the decisions that affect everyday operations and the bigger decisions that concern the company's strategic direction. Prepare their ecosystems to act quickly. They arm their business ecosystems—suppliers, customers, and a range of third-party partners—with the resources, information, and tools to take decisive, well-orchestrated action—and to quickly measure the results and correct their course when needed. Invest in and make more use of data and analytics to run the business. Leaders understand the competitive value of deeper insights and know how to mine many sources of data—not just their own—to obtain those insights Remedial OED "adopting a "do more with less" operating style. Many companies have reaped some short-term benefits due to cost savings. However, these short-term benefits might inflict long-term problems on the organizations' overall capabilities, organizational structure, business processes, and levels of workforce engagement, such as: Diminished capacity, capability, and agility. Not being properly staffed can directly influence a company's cost structure, cash flow, and ability to deliver goods and/or services. Ultimately, diminished capacity and lagging response times will affect an organization's ability to remain competitive." "Misaligned organizational structure. Many of these reorganizations produced structural gaps in roles, work processes, accountabilities, and critical information flows. Structural gaps may occur if companies eliminate jobs without eliminating the work, forcing employees to take on additional responsibilities. This can create problems because lower-level employees who step in may be ill-equipped to perform the required duties and higher-level executives who must take on more-tactical responsibilities may feel that their leadership skills are being minimized. Broken business processes. Many organizations will admit that, even prior to the economic downturn, many core business processes were not documented, were not supported by technology, and relied too heavily on the "tribal knowledge" of long-term employees. Many businesses have not analyzed the impact from their cuts and the corresponding critical gaps that have developed. By failing to address these issues in a timely manner, companies risk losing core efficiencies, thus damaging the customer experience—a primary driver of revenue sustainability. Declining workforce engagement. While doing more with less can improve productivity, it can also damage employee morale. More workers (managers and individual contributors alike) are juggling additional responsibilities, working longer hours, missing family time, and performing jobs

Organization Operations

"Operations This part of the organization develops, produces, and delivers the company's products and services to customers "for building the products and services that marketing and R&D define and that sales monetizes. It is therefore the source of the revenue for the enterprise. "Products" can cover a far-ranging spectrum from the tangible (automobiles) to intangible (software) to services (consulting engagements). Operations is almost always concerned with efficient use of resources, but issues of quality, environmental impact, and worker health and saftey

"Organizational effectiveness and development (OED)"

"Organizational effectiveness and development (OED) can be seen as a process or tool to identify and clear away internal obstacles to an organization's drive toward its strategic goals" "OED helps ensure that the organization and its business units are poised to achieve the strategic goals and objectives. At its heart then, OED is about change: Finding what needs to change to align the organization and its members with the future that has been envisioned Designing changes that are effective (in terms of meeting business goals) and sustainable (in terms of engaging the members of the organization) Making sure that changes are in fact implemented and implemented correctly, that they are effective, and that their effects are long-lasting." "HR professionals may be involved in these projects directly as internal consultants or may participate indirectly with third-party consultants, contributing their knowledge of the organization, its people, and its processes and their expertise in managing workforce capabilities and productivity." "HR can play a dual role in OED by initiating and leading change and by serving as a facilitator for changes that other leaders and departments have initiated. The HR department usually performs a variety of functions associated with the communication, implementation, and tracking of major changes. By championing change, HR can help the organization increase buy-in, comfort, and support for change across departments, thereby increasing the success of OED initiatives."

HR Structure - Dedicated HR Structure

Allows business wit different strategies in multiple units to apply HR expertise to each unit's specific strategic needs. Corporate HR articulate basic HR values, develops tools to be used by company-level HR functions, and creates programs aimed t enhancing global literally and leadership skills. ADV: promotes strategic alignment between headquarters and units. DIS: Risks isolation of dedicated HR units and loss of shared knowledge and experience, May head to duplications and inefficiencies.

Performance standards

"Perf"Performance management standards should be objective, measurable, realistic, and stated clearly in writing (or otherwise recorded). The standards should be written in terms of specific measures that will be used to appraise performance. Performance standards are the expectations of management translated into two key elements that employees can deliver: Behaviors. What the organization wants the employees to do. Results. What the organization wants the employees to produce or deliver. Performance standards tell employees both what they have to do and how well they have to do it." Measures of employee performance include: Quality. How well the work is performed and/or how accurate or how effective the final product is. Quantity. How much work is produced. Timeliness. How quickly, when, or by what date the work is produced. Cost-effectiveness. Dollar savings to the organization or working within a budget. With executive-level support, these performance standards should be communicated throughout the organization. Employees should be told what management expects relative to performance. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, including" "Employee Performance Because individual contribution drives the business results of the organization, managers need to help translate the organization's business goals, objectives, and performance standards to individual employee goals. There should be a direct relationship between the employee's job description, the job competencies required, and performance plan goals and objectives "Organizations can foster a high-performance workplace by: Demonstrating executive-level support for performance management. Providing a positive and challenging work environment. Attending to employee engagement activities. Training managers in performance management, including legal issues. Holding managers accountable for their role in performance management. Providing continual feedback from managers, peers, customers, and others—not just at performance appraisal meetings. Providing the proper resources and tools. Maintaining consistent management practices"

Organization development HR roles

"Peter Capelli has noted that in good times—when labor resources are ample—HR may revert to an administrative role and sacrifice its relationship with the organization's leaders" "constantly reassessing business practices to meet current and future needs and always aligning development initiatives with the organization's strategic plan." "HR should be involved in major organizational changes from the beginning. Early involvement of HR can facilitate improvement of employee understanding of changes and communication between management and nonmanagerial employees. Positive outcomes of communication efforts can include: Identification and mitigation of potential risks. Increased employee buy-in and satisfaction. Increased trust between management and nonmanagerial employees. Identification of needed change-related training initiatives to improve employee skills and proficiency throughout the change process. Increased leadership cohesiveness. Mee-Yan Cheung-Judge and Linda Holbeche note that there is a natural alignment between HR's strategic contributions and OED interventions. HR is responsible for: "Acquiring the right workforce. This may require OED interventions to realign existing workforce competencies and job descriptions with those needed to support a new strategy or to respond to a new competitive environment. It may require defining a new employment brand to support recruitment, developing leadership and other critical skills, or designing communication processes. Acquiring and developing the right leaders. HR is responsible for recruiting and developing leaders whose values and abilities align with the organization's culture and strategy. Creating the right culture. HR controls many of the levers that must be pulled when an organization decides to change its cultural course. Through onboarding activities, performance management systems, diversity programs, and employee engagement practices, HR turns the organization's values into actions, which then become culture. Creating the right structure. Strategic, nimble, and innovative performance requires the right structure, decision-making processes, and reward systems. "The panel identified the following trends. HR professionals must: Increase focus on the development and engagement of high professional talent—high-potential employees who possess deep expertise, drive innovation, and uniquely contribute to the organization's value proposition." "Take responsibility to educate line management and help them acquire skills to become more proactive in managing and coaching talent. Become skilled in organizational design and change management required to effectively implement enhanced organizational structures. Develop superior communication and situational leadership skills, motivation, energy, and learning agility. Leaders must have the ability to recognize and respect cultural differences and to reconcile the issues cultural diversity creates. Integrate the workforce planning process with career planning and employee engagement to provide information and support for employees to help them identify and choose from available career paths and job opportunities. Interact with technology specialists to produce accurate models to use in planning and managing the workforce, including decision support tools and predictive analytics. Use creative development tools such as mobile technologies for just-in-time learning via "pull" rather than "push" instruction." "HR professionals should be involved, like all business leaders, in assessing the organization for gaps, developing action plans, implementing those plans, and evaluating organizational effectiveness and development initiatives."

Communication

"Policies and practices related to communications can help to provide a balance between a congenial workplace where talent is prized and one that protects the organization's proprietary information, security, and legal interests. Effective Communications Policies and Approaches Situations can and do arise that require an organization to read or monitor employee e-mails, Internet browsing histories, blogs, and so forth. The best strategy here is to tell employees ahead of time that their communications may be read or tracked. Notifying employees about potential monitoring may serve as a deterrent for inappropriate communications. As Guerin notes, employees' legal right to communication privacy is partially determined by how much privacy they expect to have. If an organization tells employees that their communications are not private, it may be problematic for them to contest confidentiality. Characteristics of effective communications policies include clear statements that: Indicate that the organization reserves the right to monitor all technology use and communications made, accessed, sent, or received on the organization's equipment, from office-based hardware to employer-provided devices (such as cell phones and portable computing devices). Explain monitoring policies to remove the expectations of privacy." "Clarify situations in which an employee must obtain approval for Internet postings regarding the employer's facilities, products, or services. Specify that employees are prohibited from posting or disclosing any confidential, proprietary, or intellectual property information. Establish that employees will be held accountable for any violation of laws and policies (including anonymous postings). Once developed, organizational policies should not be treated as fixed or static documents. In the past, hard-copy versions of policies and procedures were considered the definitive source (in fact and law). Today, to be in compliance with ISO 9000, many organizations maintain their content as online, "living" documents, which, in turn, are deemed to be the definitive source. One reason for this shift is that policies and procedures in many organizations can and do change quite frequently. This is especially true in the technology arena, as new technology-related concerns are always fluctuating. The only way to guarantee that any reference to a specific policy and procedure is up-to-date and factual is to direct employees to the online living document as a reference. Hard copies are deemed "unofficial" because they are, by definition, disconnected.

Organization Analyzing data

"Sort data into categories. Tools like affinity mapping are useful here. Plot statistical data. This allows analysts to identify the most common issues as well as data that appears to be statistical "outliers"—for example, very rare reports of a certain behavior or event. Conduct a root cause analysis. For each significant issue identified in research, a cause-effect diagram can be used to identify possible problem areas. The diagram begins with the effect and then works backward to identify contributing factors. Generally, these causes relate to the work environment, the process (by itself and in the context of other processes), and the people involved. The 5 Whys, discussed earlier in this Functional Area, can be used here. Determine if data is trending in a certain direction. The frequency and severity of events can be plotted against time. Addressing emerging and rapidly growing issues will be a priority." Providing Feedback "The team must lead all stakeholders through the findings so that they can discover the need for change themselves and develop their own sense of urgency about action. Data must be summarized and made available to internal clients in an oral presentation and/or written report." "Relevance. Researchers will probably uncover numerous issues, but they should focus on those issues that are related to the internal client's original direction. Additional issues that are judged significant but not relevant at this time can be included in a section of the research report described as items for future consideration. Influenceable or manageable. The most impactful feedback will target conditions that can realistically be changed, given the organization's environment and resources and given the attitudes of the organization and the receptiveness of its members to change. Fact-based and objective. The problem should be described neutrally, by referring to examples and statistics and avoiding blame. Anderson notes that clients who feel judged will be less likely to correct a situation. Selective. The report should recommend areas of focus, prioritizing data findings by frequency and impact on strategic performance. Again, too many points of action may lead to client paralysis. Sufficient and specific. Enough information should be provided to support action. General or vaguely described causes (e.g., low "employee engagement) will not stimulate action the way that specific diagnoses will (e.g., employee discontent with opportunities for development and advancement Presenting Feedback "It is a good practice to review research findings and recommendations with a few key individuals within the organization before presenting the data to the entire group. "This resistance mirrors some of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's stages of grief: Denial, seen in lack of reaction to the findings or doubt about their accuracy Anger and perhaps an attack on motivations behind the findings Bargaining, seen in shifting causes and the need for change to others ("This is really someone else's problem. They're the ones who have to change.") Depression or doubting whether anything can be done to change things at all Acceptance and a focus on solutions The best strategy is to help the audience move through these stages by acknowledging and validating their reactions, providing necessary information, and emphasizing in an optimistic manner what can be done to reach the agreed goal. While the OED team can describe possible solutions now, fully develop "descriptions of solutions should be made separately and represented for support and necessary resources.

"Aligning the HR Budget with Strategy"

"Strategies are implemented through the allocation of resources, a process that is formalized in functional and project budgets" "one of the challenges of developing a strategic HR budget is being aware of the human resource needs of internal business partners." "The Budgeting Process Budgets are rarely entirely new; they are usually modifications of previous budgets. However, budgets based on previous years require the same level of analysis as zero-based budgets. The budgeting process requires understanding the organization's practices, strategy, and environment: How does the organization allocate costs? What HR-related costs are assigned to the various functions? Are all costs assigned to HR? Which costs are variable (dependent on the number of employees and use of a service or asset) and which are fixed for the budget year?" "When do costs occur? For example, are temporary workers hired at particular seasons? What organizational and functional strategic plans will affect HR? For example, how will a planned reorganization or a change in job requirements affect HR work? What risk factors affect the budget? Should contingency funds be included to manage unexpected threats and opportunities? Most effective budgets are created in a collaborative manner, with HR leaders communicating strategy and objectives downward and managers communicating a more granular perspective on necessary resources and risks upward. Final budget items include ongoing operational costs related to HR's essential services: Recruitment and selection (e.g., advertising, agency costs, screening, referral rewards to employees) Employee engagement (e.g., surveys, websites, newsletters, recognition programs) Employee relations (e.g., outside dispute resolution services, legal and other expert advice) Compensation and benefits Talent management (e.g., training and development, mentoring programs) Compliance (e.g., audits) Health and safety (e.g., wellness programs, accident prevention projects) Technology (e.g., acquisition, maintenance, and upgrade of HR information systems) Strategic planning Corporate social responsibility (e.g., donations, reimbursements to employees for volunteer expenses)" "One-time project costs (e.g., an executive salary review) and the purchase of physical resources (e.g., IT systems, equipment, and furnishings may be included in HR's budget, the budget of other functions, or the organization's capital expenditures budget."

Organization Surveys and questionnaires

"Surveys and questionnaires are relatively inexpensive ways to gather a large amount of data from a large and dispersed group of subjects. Dispersed can mean physical location but also time or work shift. Technology—the Internet, mobile devices and networks, survey creation tools—has made these tools even easier to create and administer. Serious challenges remain, however: Obtaining a valid sample. The OED team must make sure that survey results are truly representative—that the number of returned surveys is sufficiently large to be representative and the group responding accurately reflects the attributes of the entire group. Explaining the purpose and importance of the survey may improve the response rate, as will making it easier to complete—i.e., shorter and easier to understand. Designing the survey with analysis in mind. Questions should be asked in a way that makes compiling and comparing responses easier. This usually means relying heavily on quantifiable responses (e.g., the Likert scale, which asks respondents to choose ratings, usually from 1 to 5 points). Freeform feedback (i.e., narrative comments, examples, suggestions) can be included as well and will enrich the research report. Asking the right questions. To understand an entire organization, experts often turn to "that are based on organizational models that map various internal and external environmental factors that can affect attitudes and work. Internal factors generally "include strategy and purpose, leadership, rewards, and relationships. External factors include opportunities and threats included in SWOT and PEST analyses. (SWOT and PEST analyses are discussed in the Business and HR Strategy Functional Area in the Strategy module.) In global or diverse organizations, OED teams must also be mindful of language and cultural differences that could complicate the communication task." "Using Existing Data Existing data can include a variety of information: Official documents, such as organization histories and vision and strategy statements, that can help the team understand the organization's business and culture Performance data over multiple periods from the organization's financial records, as well as data from other organizational databases Performance data from the organization's HR information system (e.g., turnover rates, employee complaints, incident reports) Correspondence and reports" "Industry data that can provide information about external environments and performance benchmarks Physical workplaces that can suggest characteristics of organizational culture (e.g., the presence of personal artifacts, an emphasis on diplomas and certificates, playful environments) Virtual environments (Social media can provide clues about how the organization is perceived by outsiders and by employees Advantages of using existing data 1. Eliminates the effects of observation and involvement and possible bias of facilitator/interviewer/observer 2. Rich, multi-perspective source of data Challenges of using existing data 1. Can be time intense 2. Requires experience to extract key data 3. May Require ingenuity to find data

Talent pools

"Talent Pools The creation and management" "Talent pools: Represent an essential component of strategic business planning. When talent management is carefully aligned with long-term business and strategic planning, the organization can develop a well-planned approach to giving employees with specific skill sets the developmental experiences they need to prepare them for the future. Allow the organization to "maximize and more effectively target employee and career development efforts. Can be a useful tool for identifying and cataloging the developmental experiences of employees who are candidates for future international assignments. Represent a valuable resource during crisis management. When an organization makes the effort to identify and catalog critical skills sets and experiences, they can quickly draw on these resources to fill in or supplement workforce gaps in times of organizational crisis. Some additional uses for talent pools include the following: Talent pools can be used to help organizations identify and recognize the value of solid performers—those individuals who keep the organization running on a daily basis but are not typically singled out for recognition or special development experiences because they are not part of or have not expressed interest in specialized talent pools. Defined talent pools may aid in clarifying or guiding compensation decisions to be sure you are rewarding and motivating key talent, including high potentials, leadership candidates, etc. Talent pools represent an additional contributor to effective knowledge management, especially in global organizations. Talent pools of functional experts and historians serve a vital function in preserving essential knowledge and proprietary information." "As part of their talent management responsibilities, human resource professionals must be able to anticipate the future talent needs of the organization and foresee what the potential employee pool will look like when those organizational needs become a reality. Used appropriately, talent pools can be created and developed to fill the gaps between the talent that the organization will need and the talent that is likely to be available. Talent Management Strategies There are many ways that organizations can develop and support successful talent management programs, such as: Anticipate future staffing needs via workforce planning. Develop a positive workplace culture. Devise effective and efficient recruitment, orientation, and onboarding programs. Create systems to attract talent (e.g., advertising "career fairs). Study retention through turnover data, attitude surveys, exit interviews, and other relevant HR data. Put a formal retention plan in place. Support employee engagement and reward programs. Identify and develop future leaders and other critical talent. Offer professional advancement opportunities such as international assignments. Create succession and replacement plans. Develop core competencies and corresponding development opportunities. Support managers in development of their teams. Support training and career development programs, including those in communities from which you recruit. Sponsor effective performance management programs. Collect and analyze metrics regularly to assess talent programs."

Organizational Development, Defined

"The OD discipline has its roots in social science research interested in group problem solving and participative decision making—the type of workplace behaviors described in the research of MacGregor (Theory X and Theory Y) and Blake and Mouton (the managerial grid "globalization and technology have increased competition (for both domestic and international enterprises) and the pace of change. This has added interest in strategic management and organizational "nimbleness"—an organization's ability to respond quickly to challenges and to assimilate what its members have collectively learned through their experiences. These roots are evident in the term "organizational effectiveness and development," which is often used interchangeably with OD. "Development" emphasizes the human and social aspects of workplaces (empowerment, involvement, engagement, personal growth, collaboration), while "effectiveness" focuses on actions that promote the achievement of strategic business objectives through the development of necessary workforce competencies."

Works Councils StructureS

"Works councils are distinguished by their composition, which can include: Both management and worker representatives. Only worker representatives who are overseen by a member of management. Only worker representatives with no management oversight. The number of works council members generally varies with the number of local employees. These positions are filled through an election process, and worker representatives typically are afforded significant employment protections. Employers generally must advise works councils of proposed management decisions, actively seek their input, and carefully consider their views before taking any action. Those in Germany and the Netherlands are required not only to consult with works councils in this way but also to obtain their agreement before implementation. In some countries, such as Germany, works councils also must be kept apprised of the general conditions, financial status, and future plans of the enterprise."

Organization Data gathering and sorting

"The goals during this stage are to gather as much information as is needed to understand the problem—but not more, since having too much information can make analysis more difficult" "The goals during this stage are to gather as much information as is needed to understand the problem—but not more, since having too much information can make analysis more difficult" "Donald Anderson lists five ways in which these skills can be used to collect useful data: Interviews Focus groups Surveys and questionnaires Observation Unobtrusive measures (These tools look for data that already exists—for example, in financial data, industry benchmarks, or correspondence "Interviews Individual interviews offer the opportunity for follow-up questions that may not be possible in a survey or may be discouraged by the size, composition, or timing of a focus group. Interviews may be used for different purposes: Sometimes they are useful in identifying topics that can be explored in focus groups or surveys. They may focus on specific, high-value employees and uncover targeted retention information—or, in the case of exit interviews, engagement failures. Organizational "heroes," people who are recognized and respected throughout the organization, may add a cultural perspective. Interviews are rarely the sole form of gathering data from those involved because of the amount of time and labor required to conduct them. If multiple interviewers are used, they must be carefully trained and prepared so that all interviews are conducted in the same manner and without bias." "All means should be taken to establish a positive and trusting relationship with the interviewees. The time and location should be convenient for them. The planned length of the interview should be reasonable, and the actual length should not exceed what the interviewees have been told. Confidences should be respected. Reactions to comments should be neutral and not judgmental." "Anderson recommends starting interviews with safe questions to allow time to build rapport and ending interviews by inviting subjects to offer information that may not have been included in the interview guide. Interviews may yield richer data if the interviewer gently urges the subject to provide examples that illustrate points." Interview Advantages: 1. Safer, confidential environment may generate significant information. 2. Comments can suggest direction for further group research (focus groups and surveys) Interview Challenges: 1. Can be time intensive 2. Requires strong relationship building skills 3. Requires vigilance to avoid bias from influencing questions and interpretation of answers

HR's Role in Flexible Staffing

"The terms of a flexible agreement will naturally vary depending on the circumstances. But there are a few general guidelines that can be helpful. Be cautious of preprinted or standard forms. You must understand and agree with everything in the agreement; anything you don't understand should be explained to satisfaction or it should be eliminated. Ensure clarity. An agreement should be simple and straightforward. Respective rights and obligations of both sides must be defined. Ambiguous provisions subject to later interpretation are dangerous. Negotiate competitive pricing. Ask for volume discounts, rebates based on usage, and free value-added services. Consider including an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provision. It's wise to be prepared should disputes arise. Include a simple opt-out procedure. Be wary of fixed-term agreements. The organization should be able to opt out of an agreement if dissatisfied for any reason. Negotiate clear and precise provisions for what happens when the agreement expires or the relationship ends. Spelling out terms of the closing can help to prevent unnecessary litigation. Co-Employment Issues The term co-employment, or joint employment, generally "describes a situation in which an organization shares responsibility and liability for their alternative workers with the alternative staffing supplier. A co-employment agreement summarizes the legal relationship, rights, and obligations for some flexible staffing arrangements. Potential liability can vary dramatically depending upon the nature of the staffing agreement. In traditional temporary staffing models, the staffing firm and the client organization are most likely viewed as co-employers or joint employers under most employment law regulations. The less control one organization has over the terms and conditions of employment, the more difficult it becomes to prove that a co-employment relationship exists. Restructuring Restructuring is the act of reorganizing legal, ownership, operational, or other organizational structures. It is a proactive adjustment to meet changing business needs. Restructuring intersects with workforce management when an organization makes changes in the size, number, or relationship of departments. After restructuring, certain groups will report to different departments; some new departments may be created while others are disbanded. HR plays a crucial role in restructuring, helping the organization "right-size" resources relative to market demand or take advantage of cost synergies after a merger, acquisition, or joint venture. Restructuring can also release least-productive resources and cut costs to boost profitability. Organizational effectiveness interventions may be required to help affected employees through the period of transition, equip them with new skills and processes, manage changes in organizational cultures, and establish new structures (e.g., decision making, team building). Drivers of "Restructuring Organizations restructure for a number of reasons. Dr. Gaanyesh Kulkarni, CEO and Principle Consultant of envertis, a Mumbai-based consultancy, identifies four major drivers of restructuring: Strategy. When organizations change their strategy, they may create new divisions to facilitate new products or services or to move into new markets. The new strategy may mean staff increases in some areas and decreases in others, which will then require restructuring. Structure. Organizations may rearrange their structure to follow a new business model, improve efficiency, or reduce costs. Restructuring is then required to meet the needs of the new organization. Downsizing. Organizations commonly downsize to remain functional during a loss of revenue. They may choose to close departments, drop product lines, lay off staff, or sell"facilities. Restructuring may then be required to meet the needs of the new, smaller organization. Expansion. When an organization expands, new departments may be required to accommodate new products or facilities. The structure is then rearranged to include new staff and departments. Forms of Restructuring Competition, the drive for greater productivity, and the need for quick response to marketplace changes have made traditional organizational boundaries more fluid." "Redistribution of Decision-Making Authority" "decision-making authority may move downward in the organization—toward line managers—and outward—from headquarters to field. These shifts affect HR as well. The responsibilities in the operational HR role will continue to be shared with line management. A variety of activities, such as recruiting for open positions and resolving employee complaints, are daily management functions that can often be handled by or shared with the line manager. The shift in responsibilities to line managers may require a matching decentralization of HR, a sharing with line management of some of the historical HR functions, or a relocation of many operational activities from headquarters to regional offices. Extended Organization The extended organization is becoming more common today as supply chain partners create processes and information channels that allow their organizations to "communicate and collaborate fluidly at many different functional points. The businesses remain separate entities but may appear to outsiders as one entity. Extended organizations are formed through the use of outsourcing, strategic alliances, or partnerships. HR may be involved in performing due diligence on a supplier's human resources practices, making sure that suppliers conform to international labor standards and local laws and ethical expectations. In strategic alliances and partnerships, HR can help identify competencies needed for liaison positions and consult on team-building and communication processes. Merger and Acquisition (M&A) and Divestiture Organizations may also try to enhance their productivity and competitiveness by adding to the value of the firm (e.g., increasing assets or accessing new markets) through merger and acquisition (M&A) or by shedding assets that do not contribute "HR will be involved in identifying duplication of resources, managing executive compensations plans and different union contracts, assessing and supporting necessary culture changes, and planning a long-term strategy regarding differences in HR policies and practices. In a divestiture, HR must analyze the skills and functions of the divested unit and, if the divestiture leaves a gap, determine if the cost of filling the gap outweighs the financial benefits of the divestiture Downsizing When an organization is facing financial pressures or changing marketplace conditions, it may downsize by reducing staff, eliminating departments, or otherwise restructuring. Downsizing can be accomplished through layoffs, reductions in force, or termination. When determining which employees should be laid off, employers usually consider skills, work record, and seniority. A straight seniority approach is most objective but may not meet the employer's long-term needs. In white-collar workforce reductions, less consideration is customarily given to seniority and more is given to the performance and skills of the individual as matched against the requirements of the post-layoff organization. Possible alternatives to downsizing include asking employees to sustain pay cuts, offering voluntary termination and/or retirement with additional benefits, or asking employees to accept a reduced work schedule. HR must also help the retained employees confront challenges such as: Diminished job security. Increased workload. Different work assignments. Changed organizational priorities. Departure of leaders and managers who once defined the organization's character. Departure of long-term employees who were knowledgeable about operations. Loss of colleagues, possibly friends ("survivor guilt"). Fear that their own jobs may be in jeopardy, causing them to look for other employment. HR can take the following measures after downsizing: Clearly communicate the rationale for the new goals and structures." "Provide employees with specific examples of behaviors that are appreciated as well as what will not be tolerated. Ensure that the transition period is as speedy as possible; the longer things get dragged out, the more likely employees are to view the situation as leadership failure. Support leaders and managers in leading by example and helping employees see how new challenges can be met. Clearly define job definitions and responsibilities. Realign rewards as necessary to support organizational goals."

Sample Human Capital Metrics

"These analytical measures reflect the value of human capital and are consistent with those currently used and commonly respected in finance, accounting, and other business communications to an organization's investors and stakeholdeRs. He metrics 1. Spending on human capital 2. Ability to retain talent 3. Leadership depth 4. Leadership quality 5. Employee engagement 6. Human capital discussion and analysis "Why Analytics Matter HR metrics can provide useful data, but they also have limitations. Metrics provide raw information about what has happened or is currently happening; they focus on the past and the present (for example, turnover or time to hire). However, they are less mature or certain when it comes to being used for predictions (leading indicators. "What metrics do not provide are insights regarding the "why" behind the data. Assessing the "why" is what allows HR and organizational leaders to make important competitively differentiating business decisions. This is where HR professionals have a genuine opportunity to use analytics and impact the organization's strategy. "Analytics can expose the important connections and patterns in data to make better workforce decisions because they: Consider the past and present and forecast the future. Connect multiple data items. Provide computational analysis of data or statistics. Provide visual outputs of patterns and trends. Provide insights that can drive strategy. "analytics can enhance turnover metrics to shed light on retention practices. Analytics related to turnover could be used to predict the risk of exit or resignation drivers by assessing the compensation ratio, promotion wait time, and training opportunities, among other factors.

Organization Roles and Responsibilities

"This is often addressed simply by better defining the roles and responsibilities of each member in the structure. The RACI matrix is commonly used for this purpose. A sample matrix is shown in Figure 10. RACI stands for responsible (R), accountable (A), consult (C), and inform (I). For any given activity, individuals will be assigned a certain role: A responsible member will perform the activity. Multiple people may be assigned responsibility for a single activity and must coordinate performance with each other. The accountable member is in charge of the activity and answers to management for the activity's performance. This individual approves and allocates resources. To avoid confusion, there should be only one accountable role. An accountable member, however, may also be a responsible or consulting member—directly involved in performing the activity or providing guidance and expertise. A consulting member provides advice or information necessary to perform the task. For example, an IT person might consult with HR on the creation and operation of an employee self-service website. Members to be informed receive communication about activities" "but do not perform or consult. For example, a function leader who is a customer for an HR service may be informed about HR activities—perhaps reports on usage of certain services by function employees or resolutions of employee queries or issues." See chart on page 33 in organization book

Labor/Trade Union Strategies

"Union responses are limited, however, by the fact that union activity in a specific locale is ultimately controlled by national laws. "Unions have responded thus far to globalization by: Increasing formal internationalization of unions. Pressing for national and international compliance with labor standards. Implementing international framework agreements. Forming networks and alliances. Increasing Formal Internationalization of Unions According to Briscoe, Schuler, and Tarique, international confederations allow national unions to exchange information and coordinate strategies. Major international unions and labor associations include the following: The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) was previously composed of unions from Communist countries but now focuses on unionization in developing countries. The WFTU holds a consultative status with the OECD. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is the world's largest union federation. It focuses on promoting international cooperation among trade unions and global campaigning and advocacy within global institutions. The UNI Global Union was founded in 2000 to represent service-sector employees around the world. It includes 900 affiliated "unions located in 150 countries. It has negotiated directly with global employers to secure workers' rights in Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. Pressing for National and International Compliance Trade unions are working with national and international bodies to implement the ILO's core labor standards and enforce compliance." "Pressing for National and International Compliance Trade unions are working with national and international bodies to implement the ILO's core labor standards and enforce compliance. The World Bank now requires borrowers to commit to the ILO's "Implementing International Framework Agreements International framework agreements (IFAs) are negotiated between unions, global union federations (GUFs), and multinational enterprises" "Forming Networks and Alliances The ILO has expressed interest in promoting organizing efforts directed along the supply chain rather than in discrete locations. Understanding Individual Labor or Trade Unions Unions in different countries often appear to have little in common. Understanding how a specific union operates doesn't yield an understanding of how unions in general function. What employees in Belgium and what employees in China expect from their unions differ vastly "Dowling, Festing, and Engle attribute this variation among unions to various factors, including: The moment at which the union movement occurred in the country's industrial and technological development. German unions are among the oldest labor organizations, and the employer-union relationship there reflects a mature accord that has been worked out through an array of legal mechanisms and social expectations. The national government's attitude toward business and labor and its tendency to become involved. As we will discuss later in this section, in some countries, such as France, the government has a seat at contract negotiation tables and consults with union leaders on social and economic issues. In the U.S. attitudes toward organized labor are highly divided along political lines, and the government becomes involved in work actions in the nongovernmental sector only when they threaten national security. The website for the Federation of European Employers (www.fedee.com/labour-relations/industrial-relations-across-europe/) offers summaries of labor environments across Europe. These summaries provide a good picture of what variations exist and how great they can be. The union's own ideology and the presence of ideological divisions. The Austrian Trade Union Federation is a centralized trade union association that comprises "union density. There is not always a direct relationship between the number of members a union has and its ability to shape agreements, since employees who are not members of a union may still be covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Membership. Is membership in a union compulsory? Do employees join a union as individual members, as in a trade union for skilled workers? Or is membership aligned with employment by a specific firm? (In other words, if you work for Company A, do you have to join Union Y?) Are managers allowed to be members? In terms of membership, unions can represent low-skilled workers and highly skilled professionals. This can affect negotiating topics and style. Relationship with management. Is the relationship historically stormy or more cooperative? Role government will play. How likely is the government to become involved in the labor relationship? What may trigger its intervention? What concerns will it bring to the table? Briscoe, Schuler, and Tarique counsel that, in addition to learning about labor and trade unions in their countries of operation, HR professionals should monitor changes in economies and workforces that could affect workforce relations strategies, such as changing political climates "HR professionals should monitor changes in economies and workforces that could affect workforce relations strategies, such as changing political climates and the types of jobs in the economy.

Effective networking policies and approaches

"When establishing an organizational policy, Guerin recommends: Review the organization's employee handbook for related policies and practices and to determine if they are working and whether employees have to sign an acknowledgment. Consult with appropriate IT staff to establish what technologies the organization supports and what it prohibits. Consult with the organization's legal counsel to determine if there are specific business or industry issues that need to be included in the policy. Determine the technology resources that management and employees use and whether the organization or the individual owns the equipment or devices. Develop policies (draft, review, and revise) for each technology. Communicate the policies and require acknowledgment signatures for them. Enforce the policies consistently. Keep the policies up-to-date and revise as necessary.

Workplace policies

"Workplace Policies A policy is a formal statement of a principle or rule that members of an organization must follow. HR policies support the way an organization defines roles and rules, explain consequences of actions and behavior, and provide employees with the tools necessary to do their work. "Lisa Guerin notes that many organizations do not recognize the need for workplace technology policies or erroneously think that existing policies address new technologies. She advises that procrastinating on drafting or updating technology policies puts an organization at risk, exposing organizational assets and creating the potential for legal issues. Content in this section examines effective technology workplace policies and approaches in four areas: Collaboration Social media Networking Communications"

Work councils

"Works councils are permanent bodies composed of workforce members that represent employees, generally on a local or firm level. Their primary purpose is information and consultation—to receive from employers and to convey to employees information that might affect the workforce and the health of the enterprise. They are not involved in contract negotiation, which is conducted by unions. The closeness of the relationship between a works council and a related union can vary by country. Unions may support the election of certain members to councils. Works councils evolved primarily in Germany during the 20th century. The councils were intended to cooperate with management to increase efficiency, promote harmony in the workplace, provide a means of addressing grievances, supervise compensation, promote safety and health, and help administer welfare programs. They have become a common feature of the European workplace, institutionalized by local regulations that require employers of certain sizes to establish councils. Other countries have works councils as well, including Argentina, Bangladesh, Japan, Thailand, and South Africa. There are no works councils in the U.S. because they are seen as violations of section 8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act, which prohibits company-dominated unions. "works councils varies business by business and country by country. In some cases, works councils may actually participate in a business's employment-related decisions." "national level (for example, Germany), works councils may form constituencies to elect representatives to national legislatures. Works councils also may be associated with an entire industry or occupational group." "Works councils might be seen as complementary to unions, barred from negotiating but empowered to apply contracts at a workplace level and to contribute to a workplace's cultural and social life. Members of a works council are not necessarily union members, and the relationship between a works council and a union operating in the same workplace may vary. In one instance a works council may be an extension of a union presence, while in another workplace the works council may operate independently of the union. Often, however, information gathered through the works council is used during union-employer negotiations. European expert Milan Jetić has noted that many unions see works councils as competitors, a force contributing to the weakening of labor unions."

Organization Focus group

"focus group is a small group (normally six to twelve) invited to actively participate in a structured discussion with a facilitator. Focus groups typically last from one to three hours, depending on the topic and purpose." "follow up on a survey, providing a more in-depth look at specific issues raised during the survey. In this respect, focus groups collect qualitative data that enriches quantitative survey results. Focus groups should be conducted in a room where participants are free from distractions and interruptions (e.g., a conference room, not the break room). Provisions should be made for refreshments and a planned break as appropriate. When planning a focus group, HR professionals should consider the following. The importance of planning. Effective planning is critical. Focus group objectives must be clearly defined, as they influence all subsequent focus group questions and the structure and flow of the discussion. Any stimulus materials should be designed and debugged in advance. The context in which a focus group might occur. Cultural effects, both organizational and national, could affect participation, and legal environments could affect the information gathered. The importance of the facilitator. Similar to planning, having a good facilitator (or moderator) contributes to a successful focus group. A focus group facilitator should: Know the topics reasonably well. Be a good listener." "Possess a good understanding of group dynamics and skill at conflict resolution (should differences in opinions arise). These skills are described in the section on the Relationship Management competency in the HR Competencies module. Allow group perspectives to emerge without interjecting any bias or allowing any one individual to dominate. Have enthusiasm for the session (which can be contagious in a group setting). Possess competent facilitation skills for any focus group activities and exercises. Be conscious of time allocation and usage. If the organization does not have qualified staff to act as facilitators, it could consider hiring an outside facilitator who possesses the characteristics listed above. The following are some important considerations regarding focus groups: A focus group is intended to provide a microcosm of the population being studied. Participants must, therefore, adequately represent that population to ensure representative information. Ideally, random selection should be used so that every employee has an equal chance of being selected and the diversity of the employee population is represented. Along with random selection, voluntary participation is another "important consideration. Voluntary participation can help to ensure that the focus group will be a productive session with employees who are willing to share their views and opinions. A focus group should have a person designated as a note taker to record comments on flip charts, etc. A designated note taker allows the facilitator to remain focused on group dynamics that enrich the focus group experience." Focus Group Advantages: 1. format that is flexible and comfortable for discussion 2. Allows fro group brainstorming decision making and prioritization 3. Can provide group consensus 4. Enables HR to learn about employee needs attitudes and opinions in a direct format 5. Gives ee direct input Focus Group Challenges: 1. Tends to foster "Group Think" and can be influenced by what others say 2. May be difficult to control: can become a forum where participants go off on tangents 3. Generally don't allow for deep discussions, depending on time constraints and the number of participants 4. Can provide skewed or biased results if participants are not rep's

Organization Marketing and sales

"part of the organization that brings in revenue. It is responsible for positioning (marketing) and selling products and services (sales) to customers. The responsibility of marketing is often described as managing the 4 Ps: price, product, promotion, and place." "Sales and marketing are very different functions, but they depend on each other for success and often report to one senior executive with "responsibility for both functions." "The product name, its key features, the price points, positioning, and promotional campaigns are all highly susceptible to local or regional differences. Without local market intelligence and decision making, sales can be dramatically impacted. Market and brand messaging is very important and also very country- and culture-specific. The sales operation also needs to be close to its customers. There are several different organizational alternatives for the sales function, including a direct sales force, distributors, dealers, or a strategic sales alliance.

Organization Departmentalization

"refers to the way an organization groups its jobs and aligns effort. There are several possible structures" "functional structure, departments are defined by the services they contribute to the organization's overall mission, such as marketing and sales, operations, and HR. (Even though an HR unit may be located in the field rather than at the organization's headquarters, it is still considered part of the HR function.) Traditionally, this has been the most common organizational structure. A related method is departmentalization by process. If the organization's work is divided according to a linear process, the organization might be divided into departments like design, supplies procurement, manufacturing, sales and marketing, distribution, and customer service." Chart on Page 28: -HQ- R&D-Production-marketing-IT-HR -HQ- World Wide Product Group A- WPG B- WPG C -HQ- Europe-Asia Pacific- Africa- Americas "Line units are work groups that conduct the major business of the organization, such as the production or marketing functions. Staff units assist the line units by performing specialized services for the organization, such as accounting or HR."

Organization Research and development

"research and development (R&D) or new product design and development is responsible for future revenue. The function depends heavily on talent acquisition and "R&D also exists in the public sector, in the form of national research institutes or centers associated with universities. Public-interest R&D often focuses on performing theoretical research (as opposed to applied research), promoting science and new technologies, performing public-interest scientific research (such as research into public health issues), and developing sustainable technologies. "The main point here is that investment in R&D will vary by industry. When an organization's primary value is created through intellectual property, R&D is a major internal force and its needs are usually met." "The "2014 Global Innovation 1000" study noted that, when one considered three financial performance metrics (revenue growth; earnings before interest, taxes, and depreciation, or EBITDA; and market capitalization growth), the top ten innovators outperformed the top ten R&D spenders. The study's authors note, "Innovation success isn't about how much money companies spend but how they spend it." This may be because these organizations excel at aligning their investments with their strategy—making sure they focus on the right products but also on retaining the right people, on understanding trends and implementing lean product development. In short, they "concentrate on a shorter, more coherent list of innovation capabilities rather than trying to be good at everything."

Using technology for hr measurement, metrics, and analytics

"statistics show that fixed (wired) broadband Internet access continues to grow, albeit slowly, whereas mobile broadband uptake is growing at a double-digit rate. The growing popularity of smartphones and tablet computers will continue to drive growth in mobile broadband. In some locales, however, a "digital divide" exists—a gap between those organizations and economies with access to technology and those without access or with marginal access. This gap can impede the collecting and sharing of information in organizations with subsidiaries that operate in regions or communities without high-speed Internet access.

Social media

"the use of the word "social" in social media is unfortunate as it discounts the business and other more-practical, value-added uses of the technology. In any case it cannot be emphasized enough just how much social media has changed the world and, in the process, also changed HR. Many employers are creating social media-enabled websites to better connect with their customers and advertise for talent; at the same time many are restricting access to their employees while at worK "Social media use by employees (even during the workday) is here to "stay. In the workplace, a comprehensive social media policy coupled with appropriate IT usage role-modeling by leadership (no double standards) may help to leverage the robust positive aspects of social media and reduce risks associated with employee misuse. Generally, effective workplace social media policies and practices: Are aligned with the organizational culture. Focus on smart and ethical use. Reflect the organization's key legal and reputational risks (e.g., privacy for a health-care provider).

HR Processes

*Actively participating in the creation and implementation of the organization's strategies* - Performance management process - Job and organizational design - Communication platforms - Knowledge management - Risk management - Selection and implementation of HRIS - Participation in strategic projects *Creating and implementing a strategy to find, develop, manage, and retain human capital* - Developing stuffing plans - Attracting and recruiting talent - Assisting managers in selecting the bet candidates - Preparing selected EEs for effective participation in the organization's culture and strategy - Developing and implementing programs for training, communication, benefits and incentives. *Collecting and analyzing data as it relates to organizational success* - Developing a systematic approach to capturing, tracking, and analyzing relevant data - Identifying conditions and trends in the workforce and int he external environment that can support strategic decision making - Identifying effective practices and processes to create organizational standards *Ensuring legal compliance* - Complying with all relevant laws, rules, and regulations - Resolving EE disputes - Conducting labor relations - Working through legal issues related to merger/acquisition, divestiture, and reductions in force. *Completing daily HR operations* - Processing requests - Record keeping - Using the HRIS - Answering EE and business partner requests

Reductions in Force (RIFs) / Workfore Reductions (WFRs)

*Permanent reductions* in EE headcount, necessitated perhaps by loss of customers or contacts or a change in business conditions.

Due Process in EE Discipline

- An EE is informed of the ERs expectations and the process and consequences attached to failure to meet those expectations. - The ERs disciplinary actions are consistent and predictable - The ER decision is bed on factual evidence - The EE has a right to question the evidence and defend himself - The EE has a right to appeal the disciplinary decision'- A constructive discipline process is used. - The EE is considered as an individual.

Basic rights

- Freedom of association - Collective bargaining - Safe and health work environment

Sustaining Improvements Through Intervention

- Maintain continuous vigilance and reinforcement of the new behaviors - Model a positive approach to problem solving - Identify and resolve unanticipated conflicts with existing systems and processes

Organization Characteristics of Effective OED Interventions

1. Strategically Aligned 2. Collaborative 3. Supported by top Mgmt 4. Producing sustainable results 5. Supporting continuous improvement 6. Using common tools 7. Using common language 8. Explicit assumptions 9. Fact-based 10. Oriented toward systems and process 11. Flexibility 12. Multiple perspectives

New realism

20th century unions chose a more collaborative relationship with management. More highly skilled workers were less likely to be unionized but were more valuable to ERs. Many of the basic rights that initiated labor strife were gradually adopted as ethical standards and national laws.

Organization OED Model

4 steps "Step 1: Define Problem. The OED team collects data to define the gap between desired and actual performance and identify possible causes for the gap (e.g., misalignment of competencies, leadership models, structures, or cultures). Information that will affect the eventual plan is also gathered. Data should be collected from all those affected—decision makers, managers, and staff. Information gathered at this point will help in the design of an effective and efficient initiative. Step 2: Design and Implement a Solution. Objectives are defined and an appropriate tactic for development is chosen—for example, job assignments or a mentoring program. Those affected by the change are also involved in the design and implementation of the solution since this will improve acceptance. The team leader uses traditional project management skills to direct and control the initiative and make sure that it meets the defined objectives within the allocated budget and resources. Necessary changes in direction, scope, and resources are communicated to management and documented. Step 3: Measure Effectiveness of the Solution and the Initiative. The solution's effects are measured to determine if the initiative's objectives have been met and if the change has had the desired strategic impact. The team's effectiveness addressed "Step 4: Sustain Improvement. The team monitors activity and provides guidance to leaders about ways in which new values, attitudes, or practices can become institutionalized Why Interventions Fail "The most commonly cited reasons are lack of senior management buy-in and support and poor planning by the intervention team "the effect of change on the organization and may hold back. They collect data, they analyze it, they discuss possible actions, but in the end they fail to act. This is often called "analysis paralysis," but the analysis is not the problem. The real issue is a reluctance to take reasonable risks. Other interventions fail because their objectives are too grand or the number of changes necessary are too great. The hurdles may be limited resources or an organization that is not skilled at change "The gaps between the current and envisioned organizational cultures may be too great to overcome in the amount of time allocated "Some interventions fail because the planners focus on their solution and not on the people who will make the solution work. Reactions need to be anticipated and communication planned accordingly. Leaders must present a compelling reason why the intervention is being introduced and why everyone's work lives are being disrupted. Champions must be found and involved in the intervention in more active roles. Resistors must be monitored for negative influences. Processes—communication, work, rewards—must be aligned."

Decision-maker access

A key capability of an HRIS to create reports and to support managerial decision making

Co-sourcing

A third party provides dedicated services to HR, often locating contractors within HR's organization. ADV: More managerial control over the contractor

Outsourcing

A third party vendor provides selected activities ADV: Cost savings DIS: Loss of managerial control PROCESS STEPS: 1. Analyze the needs and define goals 2. Define the budget 3. Create a request for proposal (RFP) 4. Send RFPs to the chosen contractors 5. Evaluate contractor proposals 6. Choose a negotiator 7. Negotiate a contract 8. Implement the project and monitor the schedule 9. Evaluate the project.

Request for Proposal (RFP)

A written request asking contractors to propose solutions and prices that fit the customer's requirements Ensures that responses actually meet HR needs and consistency among responses so that they can be more easily compared. CONTAIN: *Executive summary* - Contains a synopsis of the vendor's product or service and usually included an understanding of the client's needs. *Company info* - Provides info in the vendor company's size, financial stability, business viability and expertise in the field. *Deliverables* - outlines how the vendor will meet client needs/objectives. *Project team/resources* - Explains who will be involved in the project from both the client an vendor companies. *References* - Lists previous clients *Outlined development process* - includes a detailed description of the project pan, with the objectives, the scope of effort, and a time line *Cost* - Lists potential charges and prices for all products and services involved in the project.

HR Structure - Centers of Excellence (COEs)

AKA Center of expertise Established as an independent department that provides services within a focused area to internal clients. Can be created for different purposes, such as quality assurance, project management, and business process engineering. They practice the most current and sophisticated approaches to HR functions such as teal acquisition, performance management, or assigned administration. May be located anywhere in the global organization. ADV: Offers expertise efficiently, reducing load of transactional activity in favor of value-creating activity, Balances standardization and localization. DIS: Risks underuse of service centers when their existence is not widely known.

HR Team - Specialists

AKA Functional experts Expertise in specific areas such as compensation and benefits design, talent management, metrics, IT, occupational health and safety, organizational development, and workforce relations, Their role is to apply best practices in their discipline to advance the HR strategy.

HR Team - Generalists

AKA HR Practitioners The HR "jack of all trades". May be the first point of contact for EEs and managers for all HR-related issues. They may have expertise in one or more specialty areas of HR but are generally proficient enough in each are to provide sound advice and direction to EEs and managers.

Objectives

Address the specific plan. They support the organization's goals by answering the question, "How do we get there?". Quantifiable statements of future expectations that include a deadline for completion, hence the label "tactical". Tactical objectives may focus on a single function component of staffing, such as recruitment, selection, or relocation, or they may apply to multiple functions. EX: Tactical objective: By the end of the Q4 of year 2, attrition rates for the top 10% of scientists and sales representatives will be reduced to 11% based on year two data. By the end of year 3 the attrition rate will be 7%. *Indicates that significant progress will be made short-term in closing the gap

Manager Self Service (MSS)

Applications are tools that are also largely accessed via a portal. These tools allow supervisors to handle many HR transactions online and receive HR reports in real time. HRIS feature allowing managers to access and update their personal information, benefits administration, etc.

Judgmental forecasts

Apply expert judgment to information from the past and present to predict future conditions and staffing needs and to understand opportunities and threats that can affect the staffing plan. The success of this method is entirely dependent upon the quality of information provided to managers to use in making estimates. - Research into industry standards and benchmarks - Interviews with management and industry and economic experts - Questionnaires for operational managers - Focus groups with managers, using nominal group technique and the Delphi technique to focus on likely outcomes and reach consensus.

Regression analysis

Can be subdivided into two types: 1. *Simple linear regression* - A projection of the future demand baed on a past relationship between employment level and a single variable related to employment. 2. *Multiple linear regression* - Operates the same as simple linear regression except that several variables are utilized to project future demand.

Sustainable workforce

Characteristics: *Trust* - ERs fulfill commitments and apply policies consistently. Organization complies with legal requirements. Leaders are good role models for the organization's values *Respect* - ERs treat EEs with dignity. Conflict is handled in a positive and constructive manner. There is an expectation that all workplace relationships will be conducted respectfully. *Well-being* - EEs feel safe at work. Workplace physical conditions support productivity. Policies support EE health by reducing stress i.e. flexible schedules *Communication* - There is an active system of communication in both directions. Is enjoy frequent, constructive feedback. Clear process for raising concerns and resolving grievances. *Rewarding* - EEs are rewarded for their efforts in ways that are meaningful to different EEs. Meaningful includes monetary rewards, challenging work, and public recognition. *Focused on Improvement* - Performance management approaches use correction as part of a continuous improvement process. Is have fair access to the means to improve their present and future skills. *EE Involvement* - EE input is sought and heeded when possible. Leaders regularly advise EEs on issues that involve the organization's and the EE's futures.

HR Structure - Centralized HR

Characterized ny having all HR personnel located within the HR department and from there delivering services to all parts of the organization. Headquarters makes all HR policy and strategy decisions and coordinated all HR activities and programs. The goal is to ensure standardized HR policies and processes throughout the organization. ADV: More control and consistency across the organization. DIS: May inhibit flexibility and responsiveness and can create an information bottleneck

Statement of purpose

Clearly describes the link between the tactical plan and the HR strategic objectives. It documents then staffing gaps that are derived from comparing the future vision with he current state and becomes the basis for the tactical objectives. Reminds people of the significance of the plan and serves as a benchmark to compare subsequent aspects of the plan. *ELEMENTS* - Statement of purpose - Stakeholders - Activities and tasks - Team members - Resources - Communication plan - Cotinuous improvement

Prioritizing gaps

Consider the following criteria: - Permanence / Ongoing - Impact - Control (is the solution more expensive than the problem itself?) - Evidence (quality of data) - Root cause (is there a deeper problem?) - Sufficient management support - EEs willing to make it there priority

Affinity Diagramming AKA Mind Mapping

Data sorting Tech in which a group categorizes and subcategorizes data until relationships are clearly drawn. its a a way of sorting a large amount of data that already has been collected. Begin with discussion with core ideas. The group member add related ideas and indicate logical connections, eventually grouping similar ideas

Mulit-Criteria decision analysis (MCDA)

Decision making tool in which a team determines critical characteristics of a successful decision: a Matrix to score each alternative and compare results

Gamification

Derived from the premise that doing and playing enhances learning. It is the selective use of game design and game mechanics to drive EE engagement in non-gaming business scenarios.

Staffing Plan

Describes in some detail how the tactical objectives are going to be achieved through the delegation of tasks and the application of resources. - Consistent with other HR planning initiatives - Collaborative and easily understood by all participants - Accepted by those responsible for implementing the plan

Ombudsperson

Designates a neutral 3rd party from either inside or outside the company) to investigate EE complaints confidential and help mediate disputes. Usually not empowered to settle grievances, My advance unresolved issues to Alternative Dispute Resolution

HR Structure

Designed and structured to serve the strategy of the overall organization as well as the HR strategy It is designed to: - Assist in implementing and supporting strategy - Facilitate the achievement of organizational and HR goals - Be consistent with the overall structure design of the company.

Electronic record keeping

ERs are free to maintain their employment records either on paper or electronically, Electronic document retention relieves the ER from having to provide physical storage space for employment records that span many years.

HR Structure - Decentralized HR

Each part of the organization controls its own HR issues. Strategy and policy may still be made at headquarters, with HR staff within each function, business unit, or location carrying out the required activities. Allows HR to position itself closer to its internal business partners and create stronger relationships. ADV: Allows for morediregct contact between HR and other functions and facilitates communication and responsiveness. DIS: Lack of consistency among HR policies and standards.

Electronic signatures (ESIGN)

Electronic Signature in Global and National Commerce Act of 2000 (ESIGN) facilitates the legal use of electronic signatures, or e-signatures, in the US. The act enables organizations to legally use e-signatures o election documents including applications, contrast, and verification procedures.

Workforce management

Encompasses all of the activities needed to ensure that the skills, knowledge, abilities and performance of the workforce meet current and future organizational ad individual needs. HR ensures the right purple are in the right job with the right skills at the right time. It is a form of risk management. HR managers human resources to maximize the organization's opportunities for success and minimize its exposure to threats. Workforce management is closely aligned with other HR activities, such as talent acquisition and retention strategies and practices, learning and development policies and programs, organizational effectiveness and development interventions and business and HR strategic management.

Open-door-policy

Encourages EEs to m it with an immediate supervisor to discuss workplace problems.

Profession

Five characteristics: 1. A national organization or another type of recognized soon voice that represents its members and promotes development of the field (SHRM) 2. A code of ethics that identifies standards of behavior, fairness, justice, truthfulness, and social responsibility. 3. Research as a developed practice that encourages application to advance the new field. 4. An established, comprehensive outline of necessary knowledge and competencies 5. A credentialing organization that set the professional standards for the field

EE relations

Focuses on building a culture that promotes a stable, productive relationship between ER and EE as a group. Connected with a movement toward ER-EE relationship without is marked by trust, respect, and EE empowerment. History begins with Industrial Revolution.

HR Structure - Shared Servies Model

Frequently used by organizations with multiple business units. Each unit can supplement resources by selecting what it needs from a menu of shared services that the units agree to share. HR transactional work is shared by a network of centers, allowing HR professionals to spend more time working on strategy or transformational activities that help generate value. EX: Outsourcing of payroll and benefits ADV: Offers expertise efficiently, reducing load of transactional activity in favor of value-creating activity, Balances standardization and localization. DIS: Risks underuse of service centers when their existence is not widely known.

Nominal Group Technique

Group of individuals who meet face to face to forecast ideas and assumptions and prioritize issues.

HR Portals

HRIS feature - provide a single, targeted, and often customized entry point via the internet of each EE to access resources, applications, and data relevant to his own personal situation. DESIGN FEATURES Easy navigation, personalization, notification, online decision support, efficient search feature, really simple syndication (RSS) feeds.

HR Team - Leaders

Have a strategic role They are typically part of the organization's senior team and often report directly to the CEO or COO. They bring information about SWOT to the organization's strategy to other leaders and participate in the development of overall strategy. Additionally, they develop and direct the strategy, priorities, and focus of their HR team. Titles: CHRO, HR Director, or VPHR

HR Structure - Functional HR Structure

Headquarters HR is staffed with specialists who craft policies. HR Generalists implement these policies and adapt them as needed and interact with EEs. Often found in the least diversified, but not necessarily small, businesses.

de facto employee

In fact / In reality

HRIS Approach: Big Bang

Individual HRIS components are to integrated until everything is ready. All components are integrated simultaneously, after which everything is tested as a whole. ADV: HRIS is finished before integration testing starts. DIS: Testing is typically time consuming and can cause system failures that are difficult to trace because of late integration.

Organization understanding structure

Initiatives aim at improving structure or aligning it with strategy org structure. "Understanding structure allows the HR professional to: Become fluent in the language of business. Increase the credibility of HR. Make interdepartmental connections during strategic planning. Educate the organization on HR's value "Understanding structure allows the HR professional to: 1. Become fluent in the language of business. 2. Increase the credibility of HR. 3.Make interdepartmental connections during strategic planning 4.Make interdepartmental connections during strategic planning. 5. Educate the organization on HR's value."

Layoffs

Intended as *temporary employment separation*. Is may be recalled to work, or the separation may become permanent. The criteria for return to work are usually defined in collective bargaining agreements or legislation.

Forecasting

Involved identifying expected future conditions based on information about the past and the present. It is a helpful planning method when considering HR supply and projecting future demand May be influenced by internal factors (EX: age of the workforce) and external factors (EX: Skill availability).

Flow Analysis

Is can flow in, up down, across and out of an organization. *Three methods to accomplish flow analysis* 1. Analyze the career development plans for EE son an aggregate basis by job function, division or other organizational classification. 2. Obtain estimate from each division of transfers and promotions into, out of, and within divisions. 3. Project future movement through statistical analysis. Past transition rates and probabilities may have limited value in predicting future trends. *INFLOW* ---> *CURRENT STAFF* ---> *OUTFLOW*

Data privacy

Maintaining the privacy of personal data has become a workplace issue. Views differ between countries: US privacy is your own issue / Europe considers privacy a basic right that the government is expected to protect. *Principles:* - Legitimacy (necessity of data collection and EE consent) - Proportionality (Relevant data is collected) - Finality (Used only for stated purposes) - Notice to EEs of collection and use of data - Accuracy and retention (Currency of info and maintained only as long a needed) - Security of the collected data - Access by EEs to their own data

Skip-level interviews

Managers spend time with each EE two levels below them on an annual basis. This method reduces the perception of "we/they" in the organization and facilitates upward communication, Requires the support of and signifiant time commitment from top management.

Force-field analysis

May be used to process some of the issues raised during a brainstorming session. Designed to analyze the forces favoring and opposing a particular change. The factors that could influence and outcome in either a negative or positive manner are listed an then assigned weights to indicate their relative strengths.

Department / unit communication meetings

Meetings often used as a means of regular upwards communication. Is within a particular unit are asked to meet with the manager to discuss current developments and seek areas for improvement.

Open-door / person-to-person meetings

Meetings can be initiated by the ER or the EE and can be held in locations other than the superior's office. Simply remaining open to receiving EE complaints is not enough to create a sustainable workplace. Soliciting feedback without responding to it signals to EEs a lack of genuine interest in EE concerns.

Sustainable technology

More efficient energy use but can also address the use of toxic products in production, the percentage of recycled material used in production, and the degree to which the product can be disassembled and its parts recycled. Reduce the carbon footprint.

Turnover analysis

Must be analyzed and factored in when estimating human capital requirements. It is a metric that is normal expressed using an annualized formula that tracks the number of separations and the total number of workforce EEs per month. *TO CALCULATE THE ANNUALIZED EE TURNOVER %* - Divide the total number of EEs of the year by 12 months. This yields an average monthly workforce - Divide the number of separations for the year by the average number of EEs per month. EX: total EEs for the year 2,704 divided by 12 months = 225 EEs average workforce per month. THEN divide 225 by the total number of separations 65 to get the percentage = 28.9% Common methods of projecting turnover: - Examining of previous turnover rate and adjusting them to reflect knowledge of changing condiments such as pay rates and the economy. - Analyzing trends in turnover rates or particular geographic locations or occupational categories.

Staffing gaps

Must be analyzed and prioritized to determine which ones will be addressed in one to three years. High-priority gaps are used as the basis of defining the plan's tactical objectives. TYPES *Skill gap* - New skills are needed to perform new jobs *Competency gap* - New attitudes and behaviors needed *Distribution gap* - Talent not properly spread out *Diversity gap* - The organization is too homogenous *Time gap* - It takes too long to achieve results *Succession gap* - Where will the next generation of leaders come from?

Managers and Supervisors

Must understand the organizational employee relations strategy and how that strategy is aligned with specific management practices. They should be able to explain the organizations labor strategy and posture, whether it is acceptance or avoidance. Selection and promotion criteria for these positions should include competent communication skills, emotional intelligence, and ethical behavior. They should receive training on the organization's policies and procedures, especially regarding the handling of conflict and discipline and development opportunities. Their performance evaluations should include metrics that demonstrate and ability to fulfill the ER strategy in daily work with EEs.

OED

Organizational Effectiveness and Development Use metrics to measure effectiveness (measure before and after OED). The change should be noted (positively or negatively) in the metrics the organization uses to measure its performance (financial performance, quality, time to market, innovative practices, customer satisfaction). OED initiatives often are developed to remediate an identified business gap or performance problem.

Organization as System

Organizational structure refers to the way in which work groups are related. the organization's mission and vision and the strategies it is pursuing to reach its goals. The way decisions are made. The way information is communicated. The processed used to perform work. The systems used to align the organization's needs with the resources required.

Democratization

Organizations provide internal and external groups - executives, EEs, managers, job applicants, and others - access to HR data.

Chosen officer

Permits the EE to select and arbitrator from a group of individuals. This allows EEs to feel some control over their futures.

Hoteling

Providing services and workspace to EEs on an occasional basis only.

Workforce Analysis - Step #4 *Solution Analysis*

Q: What can we afford? How will we get what we need? Final stage of the workforce analysis process. An examination of how the organization can get what it needs to meet the tactical objectives within budget constraints. Considers whether an organization should have a continuos recruitment program or wait until vacancies appear before engaging in an intensive effort to fill openings. Consider labor market trends - jobs, wages, labor force, employment and unemployment, layoffs, etc. Organizations decide whether to "build", "buy", or "borrow" the talent needed to attain the staffing levels and KSA required to meet the tactical objectives. *Building* - refers to deploying as well a training nd developing the current workforce to meet the future needs of the organization *Buy* - refers to recruiting and hiring EEs *Borrow* - refers to outsourcing, leasing and contracting with others to get the work done.

Workforce Analysis - Step #3 *Gap Analysis*

Q: What is laking What KSA currently exist and are needed in the future? The process of campaign the SUPPLY ANALYSIS to the DEMAND ANALYSIS to identify the differences in staffing levels and KSA needed for the future. This establishes the goals and objectives for the STAFFING PLAN. May identify deficiencies in staffing needs as well as any surplus of staffing levels in certain jobs and/or KSA. A surplus can result from a number of factors, including operation efficiencies, new technology, lower attrition rates, and changes in fate business or industry.

Workforce Analysis - Step #1 *Supply Analysis*

Q: Where are we now? What do we have? Identifies the staffing level and KSA that are currently available. Accurate supply forecasts account for movement into and outside the organization (new hires, promotes, and internal transfers) and out of the organization (resignations, retirements, involuntary terminations, and discharges). Consult with local line managers. Skills ad time utilization are examined to determine ways the organization can use its existing human resource capabilities more fully. - Are EEs using time appropriately? - Do jobs need to be redesigned? - Are productivity rates changing? - Are skills not being applied or missing? The information from this analysis identified time and skills that aren't being appropriately applied. VARIABLES - Will the job remain the same? - What are the anticipated and required EE skill sets? - Will some jobs be eliminated while others are added or combined?

Workforce Analysis - Step #2 *Demand Analysis*

Q: Where do we want to be? What do we need? Determines the staffing levels and KSA that will be needed in the future Considers the model organization of the future and is human capital needs Data can be compared to the demand analysis projections and gaps can be identified, including numbers of EEs and gaps in skills, Should not just project the most probable future, Other future scenarios should be considered, as the potential impact on gaps may be considerably different. Requires an understanding of both internal and external environments that may affect demand. - Environmental scanning - SWOT analysis - Judgemental forecasts - Statistical forecasts

Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA)

Ratio of value created to cost of creating that value: allows mgmt to determine the financial impact particular activities and programs have on an Org profitability.

Dashboards

Reporting mechanisms that aggregate and play metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), providing a quick overview before further investigation using additional business analytics tools. Provides high-level, real-time data regarding critical measures of HR success.

Union avoidance strategy

Removing the appeal of unions requires the ER to make a convincing case they unionization is not in the best interests of the firm or EEs and to educate EEs about union-organizing tactics.

HR Team - Managers

Responsible for units within the HR functions, such as EE relations talent acquisition, and organizational development. They plan, direct an coordinate activities or their unit and provide input to the leader for HR strategy.

Defining tactical objectives

Result from identifying high priority gaps. Focus on closing high-priority gaps in the near term (as opposed to long-term). They specify in concrete and measurable terms which gaps must be closed and when.

ROI

Return on Investment

Labor productivity

Sales / number of EEs

Focus Groups

Small group (normally 6-12) invited to actively to participate in structured discussion with a facilitator

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software that is owned, delivered, and managed remotely by one or more providers. The software is delivered over the internet, rather than installed on a computer, to contracted customers at any time, on a pay-for-use or as a subscription based on use metrics. Users need only a compatible browser in order to access the software. EX: Paychex COSIDERATIONS: Data security is a key concern, Some vendors claim to be multi tenant but have different software instances for each client - a cost burden that may get passed on.

Organization Systems Theory

Systems theory is widely applied in OED interventions and is essential to the quality movement. A system is composed of interacting "parts that work together to achieve an objective. A system is intended to absorb inputs, process them, and produce outputs "Inputs are all the requirements, tangible and intangible, needed to produce an output. The process includes all the tools and techniques that are applied to these inputs to produce the output "HR must understand the project as a system with: Inputs: leadership, team member expertise and personalities, strategic direction from management, business and industry data. Process: meetings, group discussion and consensus building, communication, problem solving, negotiation, conflict management, analytical skills. Outputs: new businesses processes and roles and responsibilities, changes in business results "Competencies Required to Perform OED Donald Anderson has also noted that OED requires a distinct set of competencies, many of which overlap with HR competencies: Relationship management, including the ability to build trust, emotional intelligence, political awareness, and influencing, negotiation, and conflict management skills Personal characteristics, including honesty, openness to differences, objectivity, willingness to take risks, consistency, and imagination Professional skills, such as communicating results orally and in writing Critical evaluation, including the ability to gather and analyze data Consulting, including diagnostic and design abilities and managing the OED project Business acumen, which spans the perspectives within the organization and includes awareness of the organization's environment Expertise in various interventions, including quality management, team building, coaching and mentoring, restructuring, and business process analysis OED in dispersed and diverse organizations requires additional skills and knowledge. Gathering information, implementing plans, and sustaining results requires awareness of the effect of culture on communication, group interactions, conflict, and change management. Designing plans requires knowledge of organizational policies, processes, and resources as well as local resources, local business practices, and local laws."

Talent management

Talent management refers to the development and integration of HR processes that attract, develop, engage, and retain the knowledge, skills, or abilities of employees that will meet current and future business needs. The goal is to increase workplace productivity by supporting the development, engagement, and retention of high-value employees. Organizations are realizing the importance of talent management and retention in today's marketplace, especially due to several key factors: "Economy and job market Demographic trends that include a likely labor shortage Increasing reliance on contingent workers Retirement of baby boomers Increasingly diverse workforce Technological growth and change Demand for and shortage of knowledge workers Low levels of workforce readiness in new high school and college graduates Competition for talented resources at the local level Talent management is a strategic approach to managing human capital and as such must be aligned with the organization's strategy and strategic business goals. It should be perceived as a long-term and continuous process that requires effective alignment of business strategies and human capital objectives to support long-term achievement of organizational goals. Talent management strategy is most effective when it is an integrated effort and is implemented as a "continual process, always evolving with the business direction of the organization. Effective talent management requires that an organization believe in its talent. Talent management focuses on the talent of all employees, not just key leaders, and, because it is a comprehensive process, it spans the entire career of an employee. An effective talent management strategy is shaped by an organization's: Expectations regarding the differentiation of talent. Overall philosophy regarding integration versus local differentiation. View of the role that line leaders have in the development of people. Philosophy regarding the movement of people across borders, businesses, and functions. View of the role of diversity in staffing strategy. Beliefs about hiring for potential versus hiring for position

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

The part of a service contract were the vice expectations are formally defined. Terms negotiated between the service provider and the customer or client representative. Two distinct periods: 1. The original service contact is negotiated 2. Real-time monitoring of service needs.

Conflict resolution - Technique: ONE-ON-ONE

Technique fausses on training EEs to resolve their own conflict and managers/supervisors to listen and focus on problem solving

Workforce planning

The process if analyzing the organization's workforce and determining steps required to prepare for future needs. It strategically aligns an organization's human capital with its business direction. Staffing the organization: identifying organizational human capital needs and then providing an adequate supply of qualified individuals for the jobs the organization, Through staffing, the organization's current need future needs for KSA must be met.

Power distance

The degree to which the hierarchal distribution of power is accepted by all the culture's members. Is may be strongly inclined to wait for a leader to provide direction.

Risk

The effect of uncertainty n one's objectives and that effect can be both positive and negative - presenting ERs with opportunities or threats.

Intellectual Property (IP)

The ownership of innovation by an individual or business enterprise. It is the product of EE creativity and enterprise resources It can represent a considerable art of the value of a commercial enterprise, particularly in technology and communication companies. Includes: patented, trademarked, or copyrighted property such as inventions and processes, graphical images and logos, names, indication of geographic origin, architectural design, and literacy and artistic works. It also includes trade secrets and proprietary or confidential information that are nt specifically protected under patent, trademark or copyright law. This type of IP could include statements of strategy, secret recipes, lists of customers or prices, EE work product, and financial information.

Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA)

The team determines critical characteristics of a successful decision. EX: Ability to meet project requirements, likelihood of success, etc.)

Information Management (IM)

The use of technology to collect, process, and condense information with a goal of efficient management of information as an organizational resource. It evaluates the kinds of data/information an organization requires in order to function and progress effectively.

Pluralist

There are multiple forces at work in the labor relationship, each with its own agenda. ERs must coordinate their business strategies with unions, EE groups, and government bodies operating in a pluralist framework Conflict can be overcome in a pluralist structure through negotiations.

Goal of change

To establish a new normal

Trend and ratio analysis

Use statistics ti determine whether relationships exist between two variables. looking at past performance as a predictor of the future. When figures are projected into the future, the key determinant is whether relationships will remain the same.

HRO - Human Resource Outsourcing

Used for activities that are not strategic by are resource-tensive or that require specialized expertise. EX: Health and welfare plans, benefits programs, EE self-service centers, Learning and development systems, training and knowledge management, EE data retention and analytics, recruitment programs.

Mediation

Uses a neutral 3rd party trained in mediation techniques to help with ides assess the strengths and weaknesses of their positions, The goal is to negotiate a mutually acceptable, voluntary settlement. NOT BINDING

Feedback mechanisms

- Serve as devices to learn of and respond constructively to EE problems - Seek to create a climate of openness in which the EEs of not fear directing their questions, suggestions or complaints to the attention of management - Attempt to remove the barriers to upward communication created by lower level management reporting only what it thinks top management wants to hear - Communicate facts and information about the future, growth, and barriers to profitability that the organization is experiencing. - Supplement and validate overall supervisor/EE relationships and take corrective action where necessary. - Help EEs with job-related and sometime personal problems because personal problems are often barriers to EE productivity. *Examples:* - Attitude (climate) and opinion surveys - solicit EE feedback on fair treatment, recognition and appreciation, quality of supervision, working conditions, job demands, job security, adequacy of communication, and satisfaction with compensation, benefits, and other conditions of employment.

Outsourcing technology

Entire business process is managed by vendor. EX: Outsourced IT staff located in India CONSIDERATIONS: Requires high level of trust. Has become more complex as vendors partner with SaaS providers, putting the onus on the contract to spell out who is responsible for what.

Human resource information system (HRIS)

A type of technology that supports HR functions and enables HR to gather, store, maintain, retrieve, and revise HR data. It offers great potential to increase efficiency, improve results and lower costs. It may be part of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, it may also be a stand-aloe software application. It is a virtual version of a file cabinet - an application supplied by a cloud-based vendor, requiring no in-house HRIS. During selection, all appropriate stakeholders should be involved in a collaborative decision-making process. The first step is to evaluate the need and determine if the organization should invest. It is a valid consideration: - Free HR time for more strategic work - Have EEs take charge of their own HR activities - Replace a legacy system You can either *BUILD* (in-house development), *CUSTOMIZE* (COTS = customized off the shelf pre-packaged commercial product), or *OUTSOURCE* (Outside vendor - when you don't have technical skills in-house)

Integrated solutions

ADVANTAGES Features a common interface "look and feel" across applications, Uses integrated date and technological infrastructure, One vendor, Can be less expensive than BoB, DISADVANTAGES Minimal customization options (or expensive to customize), may not be the best solution for each functional area, Upgrades are complex.

Independent Contractors

AKA - Consultants / Freelancers Allows ERs grater workplace flexibility to manage uncertainty associated with entering a new market.

Employment at Will (EAW)

AKA - EAW ERs have the right at any time, with or without prior notice, to her, fire, demote, or promote whomever they choose for no reason or for any reason. Similarly, EEs have the right to quit a job at any time for any reason, with or without prior notice. In the US individual employment contracts are the exception rather than the rule. *Exemptions* - Public policy exemptions - cannot violate state or federal laws - Implied contract exemptions - not written contracts - Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing exemptions - applies to only a few states. It restricts actions that are seen s unjust or malicious.

International Labor Organization (ILO)

AKA - ILO Formed in 1919 as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. Standards serve as the foundation for the vast majority of employment laws and acceptable management practices throughout the world, and play a key role in business decision making. Strategic objectives: 1. Fundamental principles / rights at work 2. Men / Women have the same opportunities for a decent income 3. Social protection for al 4. Social dialogue

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

AKA - OECD The objective is to help both member and non-member countries address globalization issues by researching and promoting changes in environmental, social, and economic policy. Provides a forum for governments to collaborate and strategize. In 1976 the OECD issued: "Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises" - widely recognized as an international code of conduct for global enterprises, They address various areas, from science and technology and combating bribery, to employment and workforce relations, Each chapter is preceded by what is referred to as a chapeau statement or agreements which states that the OECD's recommendations must be applied within the framework of local laws.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

AKA - WTO Mission is to open trade opportunities and to facilitate relocation of trade disputes, its work is issued in the form of negotiated agreements. They look to the ILO as the competent body to negotiate labor standards with member countries. Members commit to four standards: 1. Freedom of organization 2. No forced labor 3. No child labor 4. No discrimination at work

Separation of Employment

AKA Out-processing Includes termination of the employment relationship due to *voluntary* reasons )EX: resignation, job abandonment, retirement) and *involuntary* reasons (EX: dismissal, layoff, death of EE, close of the ER) Considered a potentially high-risk activity by HR.

Dismissal

AKA Termination Process can be highly regulated and it varies among countries. HR professionals must be knowledgable about laws regarding dismissal or termination. To ensure compliance HR professionals should: - Be careful to hire a workforce that the organization can sustain long term - Understand local laws and cultural obligations, demonstrate compliant procedure, and ensure compliance of local HR practices. - Be able to show that employment has been terminated or a lawful basis.

HRIS Approach: Continuous Integration

AKA Waterfall approach HRIS system integration where all HRIS components are integrated as they are developed into multiple mini-versions of the HRIS system. ADV: HRIS is working and being developed as its being used - developers can verify performance rather than relying on models or simulations. Also decreases integration risk because problems are troubleshooted.

Conflict resolution - Technique: 3RD PARTY AKA: Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

AKA: Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Uses an intermediary to create solutions and dispel conflict. TYPES: Open-door-policy, Ombudsperson, Single designated officer, Chosen officer, Peer review, mediation, arbitration

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

AKA: BYOD Refers to the policy of permitting EEs to bring their own computing devices (ex: smartphones, laptops, tablets) to the workplace and to use those devices for connectivity on the organization's secure network.

Mobile learning

AKA: M-Learning Digitized instructional content delivered to wireless mobile devices (ex: smartphones, tablets, notebooks). It facilitates learning with materials and resources that learners can access wherever and whenever they choose.

Constructive Discipline (Progressive discipline)

AKA: Progressive discipline Implements increasingly severe penalties each time an EE is disciplined for any of the following during a defined period, such as a rolling calendar year. - the same work rule violation - a similar work rule violation - a serious work rule violation - a series of frequent but dissimilar work rule violations. It can help and ER defend against civil suits. EX: 1. Problem solving session and open dialogue 2. First formal warning 3. Second warning 4. Final warning - should include a deadline for improvement and state termination is next step 5. Discharge or termination.

Unfair Labor Practices (ULP)

AKA: ULP A violation of ER or EE (or union) rights under labor law. They can occur with or without the presence of a union. charges are commonly heard by labor boards commissions,, or tribunals. ER can be fined ordered to negotiate, refrain from the practices in question, or make public admission of wrongful actions.

UN Global Compact

Adopted in 2000, it is a policy framework designed ti help businesses develop, implement, and disclose policies and practices that it sustainable goals in the areas of ham rights, labor, environment, and anticorruption, Over 10k corporations and stakeholders from over 130 countries participate in the Compact. Framework is built around 10 principles -7 that affect HR: 1. Support and respect thwprotection of internationally proclaimed human rights 2. Make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuse 3. Uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining. 4. Uphold the elimination of all forms of forces or compulsory labor 5. Uphold the effective abolition of child labor 6. uphold the elimination of discrimination is respect of employment and occupation 7. Work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

Merger and acquisition

An expansion strategy that requires multiple interventions to address the multiple cultures and systems in the merged entity and possible redundant or inefficient structures. The acquiring organization can choose to impose its own culture, or try to integrate the best characteristics of each future into a wholly new cultural identity

Sample Returns

Average value of increased production or service units; increased quality of units; proficiency; reduced occurrence of errors, accidents, waste, damage, repetition, and down time; reduced absenteeism; reduced time spent by other EEs instructing or waiting o others; improved customer/EE/public relationships

Best of Breed (BoB)

Choosing the best software option for each function - NOT a single vendor (integrated systems). Three approaches to choosing: - *On-premise* - the organization purchases and installs hardware and software on internal machines, supported by internal IT staff. (EX: Quickbooks) - *Hosted* - applications are purchased and installed for the organization, but they are located at the vendor's site and are supported by eternal IT staff. (EX: Optimum Solutions) - *Software as a Service (SaaS)* - the firm does not purchase or install any software. Instead, the organization subscribes to software that is developed and deployed remotely over the internet and accessed via a web browser. (EX: TFI) ADVANTAGES Develop a "best fit" solutions for each functional area. Quicker implementation. Do not lock into a single vendor for all needs. Allows vendors to be more responsive. Only buy the needed functions. DISADVANTAGES Pose difficulties in integrating data across applications, Increased learning curves due to lack of consistent interfaces, Management of multiple vendors.

EE Involvement

E.E. Lawler "High Involvement Management" A set of management practices that extend decision-making power, business information, technical and social skills, and rewards for performance to the lowest levels of the organization. EE involvement is necessarily part of a system, not a transaction with an individual EE, It requires delegation of decision-making power and the sharing of information and skills needed to make decision. EEs are more involved and engaged in their work and workplace. *Strategies* 1. Suggestion involvement - allows EEs to suggest but not enact changes. Most commonly used strategy. ER takes action from recommendations. 2. Job involvement - allows EEs control over their daily work i.e. self management teams. Teams are empowered to decide priorities, schedules assignments, and solutions. 3. High involvement- allows EEs to participate in managing the organization, EEs have the power to make decisions, but it also requires more transparency - through sharing more informaiton about the firm's plans and finances - and more substantial ER investment in EE development, focusing on higher-level skills such as analytical thinking, decision making, and leadership. Least common. *Benefits* - Fosters consensus decision making, EE commitment to decisions, improves commitment to organizational goals and objectives, produces better decisions, improves quality of work life.

Organizational Effectiveness Development (OED) Strategy

Should include the correct number and type of interventions, aimed to the correct audiences and sequenced and scheduled for the maximum effectiveness. *Individual interventions* - Directed at improving individual skills and performance Targets for development may be high-potential EEs who lack skills needed to deliver fully on their potential. EX: Personality or communication style inventories; 360-degree feedback; career development planning meetings; caching; and mentoring. *Team or Unit interventions* - Focus on processes and interactions within and between teams. Common targets include: New groups; dysfunctional groups; existing groups; virtual teams. - Team building activities may focus on: goals and priorities, role and responsibility, process for team activities, and interpersonal relationships. *Organizational interventions* - look at how design, structure, and or culture of the organization is helping or hindering its strategic progress. Used to manage and focus the change crated during: cultural transformations, reorganization, new strategy implementation.

In the event of a strike

Strategies include: - Organizing and training managers to take the place of workers - Identifying and arranging for contingent workers if using replacement workers is illegal. - Educating managers ans supervisors about what they can and cannot do, thus helping avoid unfair labor practices (ULP)

Arbitration

Submits disputes to one or more impartial persons who listen to both sides and then makes a final determination. BINDING.

Cost benefit analysis (CBA)

The quantifiable and non quantifiable benefits are divided by the direct and indirect costs of implementing each alternative. The key to using this tool is to capture all costs, especially indirect costs, and to vale unquantifiable benefits accurately.

Workplace retaliation

When an ER takes and adverse action against an EE often resulting from a conflict or complaint. PREVENTION: - Adopt and disseminate a strong antiretaliation policy - inform EEs about the process for porting alleged retaliation. - Train managers on retaliation - Remind supervisor of the organization's policy. - Monitor the treatment of EEs - Investigate allegations and take corrective action if necessary.