human resource exam 5
ensuring that employees are satisfied with their rewards?
1) Training 2) Pay & Benefits
OSHA's Four-pronged Strategy
1. Issue guidelines for specific industries (nursing homes, grocery stores, and poultry-processing plants) 2. Enforce violations 3. Advise employers 4. National Advisory Committee on Ergonomics defines research needs
Which of the following are top qualities employers look for in employees?
1. Teamwork skills 2. Decision making, problem solving 3. Planning, prioritizing tasks 4. Verbal communication skills 5. Gathering/processing information 6. All the above
Transitional matrix
A chart that lists job categories held in one period and shows proportion of employees in each of those job categories in a future period. It answers two questions: "Where did people in each job category go?" "Where did people now in each job category come from?"
Corporate Social Responsibility
A company's commitment to meeting the needs of its stakeholders.
Reengineering
A complete review of the organization's major work processes to make them more efficient and able to deliver higher quality
HR Information System (HRIS)
A computer system used to acquire, store, manipulate, analyze, retrieve, and distribute information related to an organization's human resources. HRIS can: support strategic decision making help the organization avoid lawsuits provide data for evaluating programs or policies support day-to-day HR decisions
Disparate Impact
A condition in which employment practices are seemingly neutral yet disproportionately exclude a protected group from employment opportunities.
Job Description
A list of tasks, duties, and responsibilities (TDRs) that a particular job entails.
Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ)
A necessary (not merely preferred) qualification for performing a job. Supreme Court has ruled that BFOQ's are limited to policies directly related to a worker's ability to do the job.
Training Employees
A planned effort to enable employees to learn job-related knowledge, skills, and behavior.
Flextime
A scheduling policy in which full-time employees may choose starting and ending times within guidelines. A work schedule that allows time for community and family interests can be extremely motivating.
Core Competency
A set of knowledge and skills that make the organization superior to competitors and create value for customers. Organizations are most likely to benefit from hiring and retaining employees who provide a core competency.
Job Redesign
A similar process that involves changing an existing job design. To design jobs effectively, a person must thoroughly understand: job itself (through job analysis) and its place in the units work flow (work flow analysis)
What is it?
A standardized job analysis questionnaire containing 194 questions about work behaviors, work conditions, and job characteristics that apply to a wide variety of jobs.
Job Sharing
A work option in which two part-time employees carry out tasks associated with a single job. Enables an organization to attract or retain valued employees who want more time to attend school family matters.
A public accounting firm of 250 employees realizes they have a surplus of 15 support personnel (not auditors). What should they do?
A. Hire temporary workers B. Offer early retirement C. Downsize people in those positions D. Wait for attrition and implement a hiring freeze for those positions There may be more than one good answer depending on the student's rationale. D would have the least negative impact but may take a long time. "B" Early retirement would likely entice more than just support personnel and perhaps more than just 15 people which could cause a labor shortage. Downsizing would be fast but could create morale problems and a poor public image although with the small numbers this may not be much of a problem. "A" is not appropriate until the surplus is managed.
Thirteenth Amendment
Abolished slavery in United States. Has been applied in cases where discrimination involved symbols and incidents of slavery.
Development
Acquisition of knowledge, skills, and behaviors that improve an employee's ability to meet changes in job requirements and in customer demands.
Civil Rights Act (1991)
Adds compensatory and punitive damages in cases of discrimination under Title VII and ADA. Amount of punitive damages is limited by the act and depends on size of the organization charged with discrimination.
HR Product Lines
Administrative services and transactions Business partner services Strategic partner
Providing Reasonable Accommodation
An employer's obligation to do something to enable an otherwise qualified person to perform a job. Companies should recognize needs based on individuals' religion or disabilities. Employers may need to make such accommodations as adjusting work schedules or dress codes, making the workplace more accessible, or restructuring jobs.
HRM and Sustainable Competitive Advantage
An organization can succeed if it has sustainable competitive advantage. HR give organizations advantages because human resources are valuable, cannot be imitated, have no good substitutes and with needed skills and knowledge are sometimes rare.
High-Performance Work System
An organization in which technology, organizational structure, people, and processes all work together to give an organization a competitive advantage.
Sustainability
An organization's ability to profit without depleting its resources, incl. employees, natural resources, and support of surrounding community.
Internal Labor Force
An organization's workers includes its employees and people who have contracts to work at the organization Internal labor force has been drawn from the external labor market.
Recruiting
Any activity carried on by the organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees.
Forecasting
Attempts to determine supply and demand for various types of HR to predict areas within the organization where there will be labor shortages or surpluses.
Today's Workforce
Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964)) Generation X (born between 1965-1980) Millennials (born from 1981 to 1995)
Determine Labor Surplus or Shortage
Based on forecasts for labor demand and supply, planner can compare figures to determine whether there will be a shortage or surplus of labor for each job category. Determining expected shortages and surpluses allows the organization to plan how to address these challenges.
Job Enlargement
Broadening types of tasks performed in a job
Civil Rights Acts (1866 & 1871)
Civil Rights Act of 1866 granted all persons same property rights as white citizens. Civil Rights Act of 1871 granted all citizens right to sue in federal court if they feel they have been deprived of some civil right.
Evidence-based HR
Collecting and using data to show that human resource practices have a positive influence on the company's bottom line or key stakeholders.
Apply HR Planning to Affirmative Action
Comparison of employees in protected groups with proportion that each group represents in relevant labor market. Steps in a workforce utilization review are identical to steps in HR planning process. Organization must assess current utilization patterns, then forecast how they are likely to change in near future. If analysis forecast underutilization of certain groups, then goals and a plan will be established.
Trend Analysis
Constructing and applying statistical models that predict labor demand for next year, given relatively objective statistics from previous year.
Vocational Rehabilitation Act (1973)
Covered organizations must engage in affirmative action for individuals with disabilities. Employers are encouraged to recruit qualified individuals with disabilities and make reasonable accommodations to them.
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
Covers not being paid the same as one's co-workers, where the difference is due to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability.
Promoting Safety Internationally
Cultural differences make this difficult. Laws, enforcement practices, and political climates vary from country to country. Companies may operate in countries where labor standards are far less strict than in U.S.
SHRM Success Categories
Define knowledge and skills associated with success in HRM Four clusters of categories technical interpersonal business leadership
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (1978)
Defines discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related form of medical condition to be a form of illegal sex discrimination. Benefits, including health insurance, should cover pregnancy and related medical conditions in the same way as other medical conditions.
Organizations can prevent sexual harassment by:
Developing and communicating a policy that defines and forbids it Training employees to recognize and avoid this behavior Providing a means for employees to complain and be protected
Disparate Treatment
Differing treatment of individuals based on the individuals' race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability status.
HR dashboards
Display HR metrics
Cost Control
Downsizing Reengineering Outsourcing
General Duty Clause
Each employer has a general duty to furnish each employee a place of employment free from recognized hazards that cause or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.
Sharon is a very smart and conscientious worker. Lately, she has felt that her ideas were disregarded and she was denied autonomy in completing her work. This situation is probably caused by a lack of
Employee Empowerment
A Psychological Contract
Employer and employee both contribute to the relationship Employees expected to take more responsibility in their training, etc., but expect the company to offer them more flexibility, better training
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008
Employers may not use genetic information in making decision related to terms, conditions, or privileges of employment Includes a person's genetic tests, genetic test of the person's family members, and family medial histories Forbids unintentional collection of this data Forbids harassment of employee because of genetic information
Specific Duties
Employers must keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses. Employers must post and annual summary of these records from February 1 to April 30 in the following year.
Uniformed Services Rights Act
Employers must reemploy workers who left jobs to fulfill military duties for up to five years. Should be in the job they would have held if they had not left to serve in the military.
Job Enrichment
Empowering workers by adding more decision-making authority to jobs. Based on Herzberg's theory of motivation. Individuals motivated more by intrinsic aspects of work.
Job Extension
Enlarging jobs by combining several relatively simple jobs to form a job with a wider range of tasks
Job Rotation
Enlarging jobs by moving employees among several different jobs
Applicants respond more positively when the recruiter is an HR specialist than line managers or incumbents.
False
Realistic job previews should highlight the positive characteristics of the job rather than the negative.
False
Company's founders
First supervisors
Fourteenth Amendment
Forbids states from taking life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Prevents states from denying equal protection of discrimination. Applies to decisions or actions of government or private groups whose activities are deemed government actions.
Forecasting steps
Forecast labor demand Determine labor supply Determine labor surplus or shortage
An aging workforce-
From 2012 to 2022, the fastest-growing age group is expected to be workers 55 and older. The 25- to 44-year-old group will increase its numbers only slightly, so its share of the total workforce will fall. Young workers between the ages of 16 and 24 will actually be fewer in number. This combination of trends will cause the overall workforce to age.
Employee Engagement
Full involvement in one's work and commitment to one's job and company. This is associated with: higher productivity better customer service lower employee turnover
Employee Empowerment
Giving employees responsibility and authority to make decisions regarding all aspects of product development or customer service.
Ensuring Compliance with Labor Laws
Government requirements include: filing reports and displaying posters avoiding unlawful behavior Managers depend on HR professionals to help them keep track of these requirements. Lawsuits will continue to influence HRM practices concerning job security. Employment at will, age discrimination, etc.
HR Implications of an Aging Workforce
HRM spends much time on retirement planning, retraining and motivating workers. Organizations struggle to control rising costs of health care and benefits Managers will supervise older employees. Organizations must find ways to prepare youth labor force.
Declining Union Membership
Has been declining since the 1980s
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
Has enacted a number of laws governing HR activities.
Self-Managing Work Teams
Have authority for an entire work process or segment Team members motivated by autonomy, skill variety, and task identity.
International Labor Pool
Hiring at home may may involve selection of employees from other countries. Immigration Expatriates
Reengineering affects HRM in two ways:
How HR accomplishes its goals may change. Change requires HR to help design and implement change so that all employees will be committed to the reengineered organization's success.
Planning Pay & Benefits
How much salary, wages bonuses, commissions, and other performance-related pay to offer Which benefits to offer and how much of the cost will be shared by employees
Which of the following has FIRST priority for inspection by OSHA officials?
Imminent danger
Reinforcing Safe Practices
Implementing a safety incentive program to reward workers for their support of and commitment to safety goals. Start by focusing on monthly or quarterly goals. Encourage suggestions for improving safety.
HRM notes
In terms of business strategy, an organization can succeed if it has a sustainable competitive advantage (is better than competitors at something, and can hold that advantage over a sustained period of time). Organizations need the kind of resources that will give them such an advantage. HR have these necessary qualities: HR are valuable. High-quality employees provide a needed service as they perform many critical functions. Rare in the sense that a person with high levels of the needed skills and knowledge is not common. An organization may spend months looking for a talented and experienced manager or technician. HR cannot be imitated. To imitate resources at a high-performing competitor, you would have to figure out which employees are providing the advantage and how. HR have no good substitutes. When people are well trained and highly motivated, they learn, develop their abilities, and care about customers. These qualities imply that HR have enormous potential. An organization realizes this potential through the ways it practices HRM.
Sources of Job Information
Incumbents - people who currently hold the position in the organization. Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) - published by U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Information Network (O*NET) - an online job description database developed by the Labor Department
External Labor Market
Individuals who are actively seeking employment. Number and kinds of people in external labor market determine kinds of human resources available to an organization.
Key sections:
Information input Mental processes Work output Relationships with other persons Job context Other characteristics
Established (OSHA). Responsible for:
Inspecting employers Applying safety and health standards Levying fines for violation
JUDICIAL BRANCH
Interprets the law. The Supreme Court is the court of final appeal. Its decisions are binding.
Advantages of Using Internal Sources
It generates applicants who are well known to the organization. These applicants are relatively knowledgeable about the organization's vacancies, which minimizes the possibility of unrealistic job expectations. Filling vacancies through internal recruiting is generally cheaper and faster than looking outside the organization.
Key components
Job Title Brief description of the TDRs List of the essential duties with detailed specifications of the tasks involved in carrying out each duty
The process of getting detailed information about jobs
Job analysis Job descriptions Job specifications
Importance of Job Analysis
Job analysis is so important to HR managers that it has been called the building block of all HRM functions. Almost every HRM program requires some type of information determined by job analysis.
What is it?
Job analysis technique that asks subject-matter experts to evaluate a job in terms of the abilities required to perform the job.
Adding more tasks to an existing job is called ____________, while adding more decision- making authority to jobs is called _________.
Job enlargement; job enrichment
Ensuring that knowledge workers will share information and store it so that it is easily retrieved by others is the concern of which of the following HR activities?
Knowledge Management
Designing Jobs That Meet Mental Capabilities and Limitations (continued)
Limit amount of information and memorization that the job requires. Organizations can provide: adequate lighting easy-to-read gauges and displays simple-to-operate equipment clear instructions
Job Specification
List of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAO needed to perform a particular job. Knowledge: factual or procedural information necessary for successfully performing a task. Skill: an individual's level of proficiency at performing a particular task. Ability: a general enduring capability that an individual possesses. Other Characteristics: job-related licensing, certifications, or personality traits.
In an organization, who should be concerned with HRM?
Managers, supervisors and HR
Equal Pay Act (1963)
Men and women in an organization doing the same work must be paid equally. Equal is defined in terms of skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Mergers - two companies become one Acquisitions - one company buys another HR involved in conflict resolution, differences in companies' practices
Technic of Operations Review (TOR)
Method of promoting safety by determining which specific element of a job led to a past accident.
TQM Core Values
Methods and processes are designed to meet the needs of internal and external customers. Every employee receives training in quality. Quality is designed into a product or service so that errors are prevented from occurring. Organization promotes cooperation with vendors, suppliers, and customers to improve quality and hold down costs. Managers measure progress with feedback based on data.
Offshoring
Moving operations from the country where a company is headquartered to a country where pay rates are lower but the necessary skills are available.
Goal Setting and Strategic Planning
Numerical goals focus attention on the problem and provide a basis for measuring the organization's success in addressing labor shortages and surpluses. Goals should come directly from analysis of supply and demand. For each goal, organization must choose one or more HR strategies. Organizations should retain and attract employees who provide a core competency (what makes it better than competitors).
Leading Indicators
Objective measures that accurately predict future labor demand.
Trends in Job Analysis
Organizations must analyze jobs in the context the organization's structure and strategy. Jobs change and evolve over time, job descriptions need to be flexible.. Downsizing has affected organizations in the nature of their jobs. Expanded use of project-based org structures
Implementing and Evaluating the HR Plan
Organizations must hold individuals accountable for achieving goals. They must also have authority and resources needed to accomplish those goals. Regular progress reports should be issued. Evaluation of results should look at actual numbers and identify which parts of planning process contributed to success or failure.
Flexibility
Organizations seek flexibility in staffing levels through alternatives to traditional employment relationship: outsourcing, temporary and contract workers flexible work schedules - including shortened work weeks moving employees to different jobs to meet changes in demand
Maintaining Positive Employee Relations
Preparing and distributing employee handbooks and company publications Dealing with and responding to communications from employees' questions Negotiating union contracts and maintaining communication with union representatives
Job Posting
Process of communicating information about a job vacancy: On company bulletin boards In employee publications On corporate intranets Anywhere else organization communicates with employees
Job Design
Process of defining the way work will be performed and the tasks that a given job requires.
Job Analysis
Process of getting detailed information about jobs.
e-HRM
Processing and transmission of digitized HR information Has potential to change all traditional HRM functions
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
Prohibits discrimination against workers who are over the age of 40. Age discrimination complaints make up a large percentage of complaints filed with EEOC.
Title VII Civil Rights Act (1964)
Prohibits employers from discriminating based on: Race Color Religion Sex National origin Applies to organizations that employ 15 or more.
Executive Order 11246
Prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Employers whose contracts meet minimum size requirements must engage in affirmative action.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990
Protects individuals with disabilities from being discriminated against in the workplace. Prohibits discrimination based on disability in all employment practices. Employers must take steps to accommodate individuals covered by the act.
Enhancing the Recruiter's Impact
Recruiters should provide timely feedback and avoid offensive behavior. They should avoid behaving in ways that might convey the wrong impression about the organization. Organization can recruit with teams rather than individual recruiters.
Reshoring
Reestablishing operations in North America
Preventing Sexual Harassment
Refers to unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature when: Submission to such conduct is made explicitly or implicitly a term of condition of an individual's employment, Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or Such conduct has the purpose of effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.
Three trends in high-performance work systems
Reliance on knowledge workers Empowerment of employees to make decisions Use of teamwork
Cloud computing
Remote server computers do the user's computing tasks
Employees have the right to:
Request an inspection. Have a representative present at an inspection. Have dangerous substances identified. Be promptly informed about exposure to hazards and be given access to accurate records regarding exposure. Have employer violations posted at work site.
Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Act (1974)
Requires federal contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action toward employing veterans Vietnam War veterans. Covers veterans who served between August 5, 1964 and May 7, 1975.
Executive Order 11478
Requires federal government to base all its employment decisions on merit and fitness. Also covers organizations doing at least $10,000 worth of business with federal government.
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Procedures (OFCCP)
Responsible for enforcing executive orders that cover companies doing business with federal government. Audits government contractors to ensure they are actively pursuing goals in their affirmative action plans. Plan must include utilization analysis, goals and timetables and action steps.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Responsible for enforcing most EEO laws. Investigates and resolves complaints about discrimination Gathers information Issues guidelines Monitors organizations' hiring practices Complaints must be filed within 180 days of incident. EEOC has 60 days to investigate complaint.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Responsible for enforcing the laws. Includes the regulatory agencies that the president oversees.
Four-Fifths Rule
Rule of thumb that finds evidence of discrimination if an organization's hiring rate for a minority group is less than four-fifths the hiring rate for the majority group. Compares rates of hiring, not numbers of employees hired.
Job Hazard Analysis Technique
Safety promotion technique that involves breaking down a job into basic elements, then rating each element for its potential for harm or injury.
The Job Characteristics Model
Skill variety - extent to which a job requires a variety of skills to carry out tasks involved. Task identity - degree to which a job requires completing a "whole" piece of work from beginning to end. Task significance - extent to which the job has an important impact on lives of other people. Autonomy - degree to which the job allows an individual to make decisions about the way work will be carried out. Feedback - extent to which a person receives clear information about performance effectiveness from the work itself.
Organizations have the best fit between their
Social system (people and how they interact) and Technical system (equipment and processes)
Ergonomics
Study of interface between individuals' physiology and characteristics of physical work environment. Goal is to minimize physical strain on the worker by structuring physical work environment around the way the human body works. Redesigning work to make it more worker- friendly can lead to increased efficiencies. Use of mobile devices can result in RSIs.
HR Implications Toward Undocumented or Illegal Immigrants
Supply of and demand for labor Need to comply with laws
Self-Service
System in which employees have online access to information about HR issues and go online to enroll themselves in programs and provide feedback through surveys Especially useful with mobile computing devices
Administering Pay & Benefits
Systems for keeping track of employees' earnings and benefits are needed. Employees need information about their benefits plan. Extensive record keeping and reporting is needed.
Total Quality Management (TQM)
TQM is a companywide effort to continuously improve the ways people, machines, and systems accomplish work
Personnel policies are more important than the recruiter when deciding whether or not to take a job.
TRUE
Telework
The broad term for doing one's work away from a centrally located office. Advantages to employers include Less need for office space Greater flexibility to implement for managerial, professional, or sales jobs. Difficult to set up for manufacturing workers. Flexibility to employees with special needs
Employees and customers tend to be more satisfied when
The companies tend to be more innovative have greater productivity develop a more favorable reputation in the community
stakeholders. Corporate Social Responsibility
The parties with an interest in the company's success (typically, shareholders, the community, customers, and employees.)
Outsourcing
The practice of having another company, such as a vendor, third-party provider, or consultant, provide services. Outsourcing gives the company access to in-depth expertise and is often more economical as well. HR helps with the transition to outsourcing.
Selection
The process by which the organization attempts to identify applicants with the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that will help the organization achieve its goals.
Job Design
The process of defining how work will be performed and what tasks will be required in a given job.
Performance Management
The process of ensuring that employees' activities and outputs match the organization's goals. HR may be responsible for developing or obtaining questionnaires and other devices for measuring performance.
Recruitment
The process through which the organization seeks applicants for potential employment.
HR planning helps meet business objectives and gain a competitive advantage over competitors.
Three stages: forecasting, goal setting and strategic planning, and program implementation and evaluation.
Work Flow Design and an Organization's Structure
Within an organization, units and individuals must cooperate to create outputs. The organization's structure brings together people who must collaborate to efficiently produce desired outputs. Centralized Decentralized Functional Product or Customer
Designing Jobs That Meet Mental Capabilities and Limitations
Work is designed to reduce information- processing requirements of the job. Workers may be less likely to make mistakes or have accidents. Simpler jobs may be less motivating. Technology tools may be distracting employees from their primary task resulting in increased mistakes and accidents.
Categories of Abilities:
Written comprehension Deductive reasoning Manual dexterity Stamina Originality
A male manager frequently engages in sexual activity with selected female subordinates. Other women in this work environment who are not involved with the manager complain of sexual harassment due to favoritism. Do they have a case?
Yes, because the manager is making others feel uncomfortable.
Evaluating the Quality of a Source
Yield ratio expresses the percentage of applicants who successfully move from one stage of the recruitment and selection process to the next. By comparing yield ratios of different recruitment sources, we can determine which source is best or most efficient for type of vacancy. Find cost of using a particular recruitment source for a particular type of vacancy. Divide that cost by number of people hired to fill that type of vacancy. A low cost per hire means the recruitment source is efficient.
Talent Management-
a systematic, planned effort to attract, retain, develop, and motivate highly skilled employees and managers.
Human capital
an organization's employees described in terms of their: training experience judgment intelligence relationships insight
The policies, practices, and systems that influence employees'
behavior attitudes performance
Ethical behavior
behavior that is consistent with those principles.
Equal employment opportunity (EEO)
condition in which all individuals have an equal chance for employment, regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin
Federal government's efforts in this area include:
constitutional amendments legislation executive orders court decisions
Employees whose contribution to the organization is specialized knowledge of:
customers processes profession
During an interview it is legal to ask only women if they have child-care needs.
false
Ethics
fundamental principles of right and wrong.
Establishing and Administering Personnel Policies
hiring discipline promotions benefits
HR planning
identifying the numbers and types of employees the organization will require to meet its objectives.
OSHA
is responsible for inspecting businesses, applying safety and health standards, and levying fines for violations. regulations prohibit notifying employers of inspections in advance.
Employers are looking for skills:
mathematical verbal Interpersonal computer
Work teams often assume many of the activities traditionally reserved for managers:
selecting new team members scheduling work coordinating work with customers and other units of the organization
Industrial Engineering
study of jobs to find simplest way to structure work to maximize efficiency. Reduces complexity of work. Allows almost anyone to be trained quickly and easily perform the job. Used for highly specialized and repetitive jobs.
Applicants respond positively to recruiters whom are warm and informative
true
Hiring only men to model male underwear is legal.
true
If a company unintentionally hires a disproportionate number of non-minorities, they can be held liable for discrimination.
true
Organizations can screen candidates using a test that reliably predicts on-the-job performance.
true
Workforce Analytics
use of quantitative tools and scientific methods to analyze data from human resource databases and other sources to make evidence-based decisions that support business goals.