MGMT 44428 Chapter 1: Managing Employees for Competitive Advantage
HR Resource practices
the practices that a company has put in place to manage employees
How Organizations refer to the members of their workforce
Disney: Cast Walmart: Associates Human Resources and Human Capital
Selection
focuses on choosing the best person from that pool. Does candidate possess the competencies that you have identified as the most important for a particular job. Personality/Past Experience? Based on sound reasoning and doesn't violate employment laws Questions: How do you generate the information that you need to make an effective, and legal, hiring decision? Which tests are most effective for identifying employees with high potential? What questions should you ask candidates during an interview? Who makes the ultimate hiring decision?
Offshoring
sending work that was once performed domestically to companies in other countries, or opening facilities in other countries to do the work, often at a substantially lower cost India, China, Philippines ~23% of surveyed do so.
Labor Force Trends
# of women is expected to grow by 5.8% between 2014 and 2024. White, non-Hispanics are projected to remain the largest group in the labor force, the two fastest-growing are Hispanics and Asians. The size of labor force in 55 and older is increasing faster than rest of workforce. 25% is 55 and older, up from 22% in 2016 Make sure that any potential for direct or indirect discrimination is eliminated. Employers need to educate employees about the value that different backgrounds and perspectives can bring to organizational performance and create an inclusive climate in the workplace.
3 strategic priorities that aim to increase growth, reduce risk, and improve its long-term financial performance
1. grow a balanced global business 2. deliver more products of value 3. simplify the operating model
Regulatory Issues Challenge
At basic level, legislation describes what is legally acceptable in the employment process and focuses on protecting the rights of individuals to have an equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Every company operates in a social environment based on implicit and explicit standards of ethical behavior and social responsibility Equifax, Uber, United Airlines Ethical standards are not always clear Beyond ethics programs, many companies are also taking steps to demonstrate enhanced levels of social responsibility.
Managing employee competencies
Identifying, acquiring, and developing employee talent and skills
Compensation and Incentives
If employees feel that their company does not value them, they may not work as hard possible, or look for other jobs. If employees feel that their company values them, they are likely to work harder to help organization meet their goals. Seniority vs Performance-Based Pay Companies may value efficiency, creativity, knowledge sharing, and teamwork. What factors should you consider when determining the salary range for a job? What is the best way to determine how much employees should be paid? How much of that pay should be guaranteed, and how much should be based on incentives? What types of incentives should you use to encourage the employee attitudes and behaviors the firm wants?
HR Challenges
Organizational demands, environmental influences, regulatory issues
Employee Benefits, Health, and Wellness
Social security, workers' compensation, and family and medical leave are governed by regulations with which most employers much comply. Employee safety is governed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Questions to ask: Which benefit programs are most appropriate for your workforce? What are the legal requirements regarding benefit programs? How do you ensure the safety of your employees?
Performance Management
The criteria that managers use to evaluate their employees need to represent the attitudes and behaviors managers expect of their employees. When managers clearly communicate performance criteria, employees have a good understanding of the steps that they need to take to achieve successful job performance. When the criteria are aligned with organizational goods, managers and employees become more confident that they are focusing their efforts on important activities.
Primary HR Activities
Work design and workforce planning Managing employee competencies Managing employee attitudes and behaviors
Internal Alignment
You must first make sure that the specific practices used within each HR activity are consistent with one another, as well as aligned across the primary HR activities. How to play game, skills required to play, desire to win If employees know the goals of the organization and are motivated to work toward those goals, but do not possess all the competencies to do so, the results will be diminished employee performance and reduced organizational productivity. If employees possess the competencies that they need and know the goals, but lack sufficient motivation, their contributions to the company's success will be limited. If employees are capable and motivated, but are limited in what they can do or if the company is short staffed due to inappropriate or poor job design and workforce planning, their ability to contribute to the organization will be limited.
Regulatory Issues
a special subgroup of environmental influences that includes federal, state, and local legislation that protects the rights of individuals and the company with regard to the employment process
HR Department
a support function within companies that serves a vital role in designing and implementing company policies for managing employees. Record keeping and payroll Compensation and benefits Recruitment Selection Training Performance Management Regulatory Issues Line Managers, however, are still being held accountable for how effectively they attract, develop, and motivate the employees they oversee. Managers must work with HR department to design and implement HR practices that maximize the contributions of their employees.
Competencies
are the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other talents that employees possess recruiting and selecting the right people and training them to succeed in their jobs
Talent Management
company's ability to attract, develop, and keep talented employees Quality of Management Quality of Product and Services Innovativeness Long-term investment value Financial Soundness Talent Management Community Responsibility Global Business Effectiveness Use of Corporate Assets When a company has the right employees in place and properly develops and motivates them, the likelihood of sustaining a competitive advantage increases dramatically.
Job design
decides what employees will do on a day-to-day basis, and how jobs are interconnected. "this" is a function of the tasks that employees are expected to perform. "this" represents the choices that managers make regarding how those tasks are to be carried out. Questions to ask: What tasks should you emphasize when designing a job? How simple or complex are these tasks? How many tasks can your employees perform? How much flexibility do you provide to your employees in terms of how and where they carry out their tasks? when jobs are designed to align tasks with company objectives, employees in those jobs are in a position to add value and increase company success If "this" is omitted, employees may accidentally focus on tasks and activities that are not necessarily the most important. "this" influences employee satisfaction, and intentions to remain with a company
Contingent Workers
defined as workers who do not expect their jobs to last or who report that they have temporary jobs.
Work design and workforce planning
designing jobs and planning for the workforce needed to achieve organizational goals
Employee Mismanagement
employees may not be able or willing to work toward organizational goals. If employees do not have the necessary skills for their jobs and are not provided the training to succeed, they may not know how to work effectively or efficiently which leads to lower performance and greater costs to the company. Employees who feel undervalued or under appreciated will not expend as much effort in performing their jobs. Unhappy employees may be less likely to be responsive to customer needs, which can cost the company customers. Mismanaging can lead to higher levels of employee turnover and absenteeism or even sabotage, injuries, etc
Managing employee attitudes and behaviors
encouraging and motivating employees to perform in appropriate ways to contribute to company goals
Learning and development
ensure that new and current employees know the ins and outs of the organization and have the skills that they need to succeed, both now and in the future training is part of "this" Employees need to know how to use new technology effectively and safely, and the decision to merge with another company may require employees to learn new procedures. Companies prepare employees for future positions. If companies are going to work hard to select the right people, it is important that they focus on providing employees with the specific know-how that they need to be successful in their current position, as well as potential positions that they might assume How do you know which employees need to be trained? How do you design an effective training program? Which training methods are most effective to meet your needs? How do you know if your training efforts have been successful?
Environmental influences
external factors, including labor force trends, globalization, technology, and ethics and social responsibility
Workforce Planning
factors like employee turnover and company growth challenge managers to "this" to maintain the necessary number of employees Companies must allocate employees through promotions, demotions, and transfers to maximize contribution Current employees, hire/promote, outsourcing and send work to other companies, contingent workers, temporary employees, and independent contractors. Uber, Lyft, Freelancer, has increased contingent workers Questions to ask How should you address a labor shortage? A labor surplus? When should you require current employees to work overtime, or hire full time? When should you outsource work rather than hire new employees? What can you do to minimize the negative effects of downsizing?
Organizational demands
factors within a firm that affect decisions regarding how to manage employees
Technology
increasing prominence of the internet and information technologies (IT) has considerable implications for how employees function within companies. Many employees today must possess a basic level of computer proficiency to perform their jobs. IT has created new avenues for how employees interact, share information, and learn from one another . High-speed internet access, videoconferencing, Skype, and email allow a firm's employees to live anywhere in the world. Larger pool of potential employees, managing a virtual workforce introduces a new challenges regarding staffing decisions, performance evaluations, learning and development
Employees
individuals who work for a company
Organizational Demands
internal factors, including strategy, company characteristics, organizational culture, and employee concerns
Competitive Advantage
is its ability to create more economic value than its competitors must provide greater value to a customer relative to the costs of making a product or providing a service Historically, companies focused on getting "this" by holding protected assets, having extensive financial resources, competing based on price, or benefitting from economies of scale Companies considered employees as a cost to minimize rather than as competitive advantage.
Organizational Culture
is the set of underlying values and beliefs that employees of a company share Each organization has a distinct culture that represents the beliefs of the company's founders, decisions of its top managers, types of people who work in the company, and environment in which the company operates "this" influences how employees do their jobs, how managers and employees interact, and acceptable practices for executing primary HR activities. When a culture is positive and consistent with the organization's objectives, employees are likely to have a clear understanding of what needs to be done and can contribute to company's goals and willingness to engage in those activities
Effectively Managed Employees
lead to improved firm performance industries affected: banking, apparel, and manufacturing when employees feel valued by their company, they are likely to display greater levels of commitment, loyalty, and morale. Armed with the skills they need and greater motivation, employees may be more productive. Employees are viewed as asset rather than cost. There is not a single best way to manage employees, every company is different and must manage employees in a way that is most appropriate
Strategy
plan for achieving an competitive advantage over its rivals Competitive advantage when they implement a strategy that has value for customers and that rival firms are unable to duplicate Low-cost leader vs Differentiation "this" influences the primary HR activities Different "this" for different types of businesses Tasks that employees perform in a four-star restaurant, is different from a fast-food establishment
Environmental Influences
pressures that exist outside companies that managers must consider to strategically manage their employees
Recruitment
process of generating a qualified pool or potential employees interested in working for your company or encouraging individuals within your company to pursue other positions within your company. challenge is having a clear understanding of the competencies needed to succeed in a job and designing a strategy for identifying individuals in the labor market who possess those competencies Questions to ask For what competencies do you recruit? What groups do you target with your recruitment message? Do you recruit internally, externally, or both? How do you ensure that you offer an employee value proposition that will attract the right applicants?
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
provides specific guidelines and provisions regarding the treatment of individuals with disabilities in employment situations Interviewing, selection, promotion Other laws: Title VVII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, The Occupational Safety and Health Act, and Civil Rights Act of 1992, have important implications for how companies manage their workforce. Roger Ailes, and the Weinstein company
Effective performance management
providing employees with feedback (positive and negative), and on an ongoing basis, and on using employee learning and development activities to improve current and future performance. continuous improvement= giving clear feedback regarding performance, praising good performance, and disciplining poor performers Questions to ask What is the best way for you to measure employee performance? How should you communicate that information to employees? In addition to performance evaluation, how can managers give employees developmental feedback to improve their performance? How should you manage poorly performing employees?
Line Manager (or manager)
refers to an individual who is responsible for supervising and directing the efforts of a group of employees to perform tasks that are directly related to the creation and delivery of a company's products or services. For many years, "this" had the responsibility for most, if not all, aspects of managing employees.
Employee Concerns
single parenting, caring for aging parents, juggling schedules with an employed spouse Companies are offering more flexibility, flexible work schedules, family-friendly benefits, and telecommuting, to address this growing need
Company Characteristics
size of company Smaller businesses often do not have the same amount and type of resources as larger companies, and they may not be in a position to provide the same level of pay, benefits, and training opportunities Size also relates to the level of autonomy and discretion that mangers may expect employees to display in their jobs. Competencies that employees need in small companies versus large ones may differ. Employee attitudes behaviors also can have different consequences for companies of differing size. A high or low performing employee in a small company will have greater direct influence on company's success that one with thousands of employees
Globalization
the blurring of country boundaries in business activities Many companies are actively competing on an international level, setting up production or service facilities in other countries or establishing international joint ventures and partnerships. Companies that still operate primarily in domestic markets often find themselves competing with international companies. Helping expatriates (employees send to work in company facilities in another country) to work with the local labor force and thrive is paramount
Alignment
the extent to which HR activities are designed to achieve the goals of an organization.
External Alignment
the outcome of ensuring that the design of the three primary HR activities takes into account the HR challenges that companies face
