HR Chapter 5.1

In the context of recruitment sources, referrals are people who apply for a vacancy without prompting from the organization.

False

Personnel policies influence the kinds of job applicants an organization attracts.

False

Recruitment sources affect both the characteristics of vacancies and potential job applicants.

False

Research suggests that realistic job previews have a strong and consistent effect on employee turnover

False

Which of the following is true of companies that use a "lead-the-market" pay strategy?

They would pay more than the current market wages for a job.

Identify a disadvantage of using temporary and contract workers.

These workers tend to be relatively less committed to the organization.

Contracting with another organization to perform a broad set of services is called outsourcing.

True

Juliette intends to approach Kaskade Inc. to fill a vacant position they have in the organization. She conducts a background check to find the merits and limitations of the vacancy. In the context of the behavior of the recruiter, Juliette is checking the ________.

realistic job preview

Which of the following observations is true of utilizing the services of independent contractors?

A company is not supposed to directly supervise the contractors.

In the context of options for avoiding a labor shortage, identify the similarity between outsourcing and overtime strategies.

Both strategies have high revocability.

Jonathan, the CEO of Maxofan Inc., finds that the company needs to eliminate a labor surplus to avoid financial difficulties. To deal with this problem, he chooses a strategy that gives him fast results. However, the amount of suffering caused to employees is high. Jonathan is most likely using the ________ strategy to reduce the labor surplus.

Downsizing

Identify the correct statement regarding downsizing.

Downsizing often disrupts the social networks through which people are creative and flexible.

Joe, the CEO of TexTel Inc., studies the structure of his organization and finds that many of its processes are inefficient. His company has a team-oriented culture in which people perform as groups and complete short-term projects to earn revenue. He decides to downsize the organization to increase profits and use the profits to enhance the organization's efficiency. Emily, the company's HR manager, thinks downsizing is detrimental to the organization's growth. Which one of them is right?

Emily is right because downsizing will affect the organization's team culture and result in poor productivity.

Steve, a production manager at Winsfeld Inc., finds that productivity in the organization is low compared to the cost of labor. He plans to reduce labor costs by hiring highly skilled labor that results in greater productivity at lower costs. In the context of determining labor surplus and shortage, which of the following should Steve focus on to accomplish his goal?

Employing workers with a core competency

________ states that if there is no specific employment contract saying otherwise, the employer or employee may end an employment relationship at any time, regardless of cause.

Employment at will

Which of the following is an element in the final stage of human resources planning?

Evaluating outcomes

In human resource planning, forecasting is an intermediary step.

False

The most widespread methods for eliminating labor shortages are reducing work hours and endorsing early-retirement programs.

False

The second step in human resource planning is performance evaluation.

False

To ensure success with an outsourcing strategy, companies should outsource work that requires tight security.

False

Which of the following is the first step in the human resource planning process?

Forecasting

Gordon, a supervisor at AutoMate Inc., realizes that a couple of months from now he might experience a labor shortage for approximately two weeks due to increased demand for the company's products. Which of the following is the ideal option for dealing with this labor shortage?

He should encourage employee overtime because it helps to increase productivity for a short period of time.

Which of the following are the most widespread methods for eliminating labor shortages?

Hiring temporary workers and outsourcing work

Rhodes Group, a financial services corporation, advertises itself to cultivate a favorable picture of the organization by using the slogan, "Investing innovatively." This scenario is an example of ________ advertising.

Image

Identify the correct statement regarding internal recruitment sources.

Internal recruiting minimizes the possibility of unrealistic employee expectations.

Why is temporary employment popular with employers?

It gives them flexibility in operations.

Which of the following best describes outsourcing?

It refers to contracting with another organization to perform a broad set of services.

Which of the following best describes a phased-retirement program?

It refers to reducing the number of hours older employees work, as well as the cost of these employees.

Which of the following is an internal source of recruitment?

Job Postings

Nicole, a manager at an electronics firm, believes that the firm has to create many early-retirement programs with incentives to minimize a labor surplus, as the employees who are reaching the traditional retirement age are not interested in leaving the organization. Which of the following statements explains the reason for this trend among older employees?

Jobs are becoming less physically demanding

A small company that manufactures special-order wood furniture has kept its employees busy on a 40-hours-a-week schedule for the past two years. The company just received a large contract from a Japanese company that is opening offices in the area. The Japanese company has given a month's time for completion of its order. To complete the contract in the required one month, the furniture company needs additional skilled labor on short notice. Which of the following strategies is best suited to avoid this short-term labor shortage if the company desires to find a simple and cost-effective solution?

Overtime

Which of the following aspects of recruitment is most likely to affect the nature of the positions that are vacant?

Personnel Policies

Steve applies for a job at Texel Inc. because his friend Dan, who is a manager there, prompts him to do so. In this scenario, Steve is a(n) ________.

Referal

In the context of HR planning, implementation that ties planning and recruiting to an organization's strategy and to its efforts to develop employees becomes a complete program of:

Talent Management

Yienze Inc., a manufacturer of electronic goods, is experiencing financial losses, and company management is trying to less the fiscal losses. The company is also facing the problem of labor surplus due to low demand for its products. In this context, which of the following is the best way to deal with this labor surplus?

The company must consider downsizing because it is the quickest way to deal with a labor surplus that results in financial losses.

Grexel Tools Inc. is a large manufacturing company with branches in different countries in Asia. The company desires to gain competitive advantage by reducing unnecessary process costs. Which of the following is most suitable for this company to gain competitive advantage?

The company must outsource their work to a location where they can get inexpensive labor that still provides quality output.

Jackson, a production manager at Crenzel Inc., is expecting a labor shortage in the next six months due to increased demand for the company's products during the holiday season. He thinks the best way to deal with this labor shortage is to hire new employees. However, Pamela, the HR manager, thinks this idea would prove expensive and would lead to a labor surplus in the future. Which of the following statements, if true, supports Pamela's argument?

The demand for products will fall after the holiday season.

Identify the benefit of relying on internal recruitment sources.

They are generally cheaper and faster than other means.

Which of the following is true of executive search firms?

They serve as a buffer, providing confidentiality between an employer and a recruit.

Betty, a production manager at Renton Inc., needs to avoid a labor surplus in the company in a fast and effective way. She wishes to do so with minimal suffering to the employees in terms of lay-offs and salary. Which of the following strategies will help Betty accomplish her goal?

Transfers

A transitional matrix is a chart that lists job categories held in one period and shows the proportion of employees in each of those job categories in a future period.

True

Downsizing can be used to reduce surplus labor because it yields fast results.

True

Downsizing disrupts the social networks through which people are creative and flexible.

True

In general, all companies have to make decisions in three areas of recruiting: personnel policies, recruitment sources, and the characteristics and behavior of the recruiter.

True

In the context of employing temporary and contract workers, if the person providing the service is a contractor and not an employee, the company is not supposed to directly supervise the worker.

True

In the context of recruiter traits and behavior, the recruiter affects the nature of both the job vacancy and the applicants generated.

True

Many of the people reading classified ads are either over- or underqualified for the position.

True

The steps in a workforce utilization review are identical to the steps in the HR planning process.

True

When implementing an HR strategy, the organization must hold some individual accountable for achieving the goals.

True

Identify a benefit of applying statistical forecasting methods.

Under the right conditions, they provide predictions that are much more precise than judgmental methods.

Gilbert, an HR manager at MaxNet Inc., hires 50 employees in five months. He has used different sources of recruitment to recruit these employees. He desires to determine the success rate of the recruitment sources. Gilbert must use the ________ to achieve his objective.

cost per hire

People who apply for a vacancy without prompting from an organization are referred to as a(n):

direct applicants.

Carmella, an HR manager at Crexion Inc., is dealing with labor shortage problems due to a sudden increase in production levels at the company. Among the following options, the fastest way to fix this problem is to ________.

hire temporary employees

Bob, an HR manager at Delair Inc., is expecting a labor surplus in the company in the month of December. Bob has nearly eight months to deal with this problem. In order to reduce labor surplus, Bob must use a ________ strategy, which causes less suffering for employees.

hiring freeze

Margaret, HR manager at Frexotel Inc., recruits her cousin Linda as production manager in the company. This results in resentment among several of the company's employees. This practice of hiring relatives is called ________.

nepotism

In the context of evaluating the quality of a recruitment source, yield ratios express the:

percentage of applicants who successfully move from one stage of the recruitment and selection process to the next.

In the context of managing human resources, the process of ________ creates a buffer between planning and the actual selection of new employees.

recruiting

Nazir, an HR manager at Solomon Beverages, recognizes and attracts potential job seekers to his organization. In the context of HRM functions, Nazir is carrying out the ________ process.

recruiting

Ron, an HR manager at Franton Inc., needs to determine how the number of administrative staff increased in the last two years. He observed that there was a decrease in the accounting department by the same number of staff. In the context of determining labor supply in the accounting department, Ron must use a(n) ________.

transitional matrix

Keri, a trainer at Klemens Inc., plans on finding out how many candidates moved from the initial interview stage to the training selection stage in the past month in the company. She needs to compare the ________ to accomplish her task.

yield ratios