MIE Ch 10: Managing Human Resources

strikes

(employee walkouts) are one of the most effective weapons labor has. By striking, a union makes carrying out the normal operations of a business difficult at best and impossible at worst. Strikes receive widespread publicity, but they remain a weapon of last resort.

testing

-Ability and performance tests are used to determine whether an applicant has the skills necessary for the job. -Aptitude, IQ, or personality tests may be used to assess an applicant's potential for a certain kind of work and his or her ability to fit into the organization's culture. -Myers-Briggs Type Indicator -drug tests

Assessing an employee's performance (performance appraisal)

-Assessing an employee's performance—his or her strengths and weaknesses on the job—is one of the most difficult tasks for managers. -crucial because it gives employees feedback on how they are doing and what they need to do to improve. It also provides a basis for determining how to compensate and reward employees, and it generates information about the quality of the firm's selection, training, and development activities. -Performance appraisals may be objective or subjective. An objective assessment is quantifiable. -A company can also use tests as an objective method of assessment. Whatever method they use, managers must take into account the work environment when they appraise performance objectively. -Whether the assessment is objective or subjective, it is vital that the manager discuss the results with the employee, so that the employee knows how well he or she is doing the job. The results of a performance appraisal become useful only when they are communicated, tactfully, to the employee and presented as a tool to allow the employee to grow and improve in his or her position and beyond. Performance appraisals are also used to determine whether an employee should be promoted, transferred, or terminated from the organization.

reference checking

-Before making a job offer, the company should always check an applicant's references. -Reference checking usually involves verifying educational background and previous work experience. -An Internet search is often done to determine social media activities or other public activities. Some of the employment trends related to background checks include that criminal background checks are increasingly being delayed until after the interview or offer has been extended. -More companies will engage in continuous or ongoing background checks to keep the workplace safe. Social media screening will continue as nearly half of those using the technique find information that casts a negative light on the candidate. -Background checking is important because applicants may misrepresent themselves on their applications or résumés. -Research has shown that those who are willing to exaggerate or lie on their résumés are more likely to engage in unethical behaviors.

decrease of negative employee feedback

-Executives have begun to recognize that hard tactics can harm employee confidence. -Negative feedback tends to overshadow positive feedback, so employees may get discouraged if performance reviews are phrased too negatively. -it is important for managers to provide constructive criticism on employee weaknesses in addition to their strengths so workers know what to expect and how they are viewed

the application

-In the first stage of the selection process, the individual fills out an application form and perhaps has a brief interview. -The application form asks for the applicant's name, address, telephone number, education, and previous work experience. -The goal of this stage of the selection process is to get acquainted with the applicants and to weed out those who are obviously not qualified for the job. -For employees with work experience, most companies ask for the following information before contacting a potential candidate: current salary, reason for seeking a new job, years of experience, availability, and level of interest in the position. -In addition to identifying obvious qualifications, the application can provide subtle clues about whether a person is appropriate for a particular job

the interview

-The next phase of the selection process involves interviewing applicants. -The interviewer can answer the applicant's questions about the requirements for the job, compensation, working conditions, company policies, organizational culture, and so on. -A potential employee's questions may be just as revealing as his or her answers. - According to a survey by CareerBuilder, at least 60 percent of recruiters use social media sites to research job candidates. -It is also legal and common for companies to monitor employee work habits and e-mails. While this can be important for monitoring outside threats such as hacking or information leaks, employees might view this as the company's way of saying it does not trust them.

transfer

-a move to another job within the company at essentially the same level and wage. -Transfers allow workers to obtain new skills or to find a new position within an organization when their old position has been eliminated because of automation or downsizing

promotion

-an advancement to a higher-level job with increased authority, responsibility, and pay. -In some companies and most labor unions, seniority—the length of time a person has been with the company or at a particular job classification—is the key issue in determining who should be promoted. Most managers base promotions on seniority only when they have candidates with equal qualifications. Managers prefer to base promotions on merit.

external sources of applicants

-consist of advertisements in newspapers and professional journals, employment agencies, colleges, vocational schools, recommendations from current employees, competing firms, unsolicited applications, online websites, and social networking sites such as LinkedIn. -Using these sources of applicants is generally more expensive than hiring from within, but it may be necessary if there are no current employees who meet the job specifications or there are better-qualified people outside of the organization. Recruiting for entry-level managerial and professional positions is often carried out on college and university campuses. For managerial or professional positions above the entry level, companies sometimes depend on employment agencies or executive search firms, sometimes called headhunters, that specialize in luring qualified people away from other companies.

labor unions

-employee organizations formed to deal with employers for achieving better pay, hours, and working conditions

orientation

-familiarizes the newly hired employees with fellow workers, company procedures, and the physical properties of the company. -generally includes a tour of the building; introductions to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates; and the distribution of organizational manuals describing the organization's policy on vacations, absenteeism, lunch breaks, company benefits, and so on. -also involves socializing the new employee into the ethics and culture of the new company

salary

-financial reward calculated on a weekly, monthly, or annual basis. -Salaries are associated with white-collar workers such as office personnel, executives, and professional employees. Although a salary provides a stable stream of income, salaried workers may be required to work beyond usual hours without additional financial compensation.

wages

-financial rewards based on the number of hours the employee works or the level of output achieved. -based on time wages (the number of hours worked)

profit sharing

-form of compensation whereby a percentage of company profits is distributed to the employees whose work helped to generate them -Some profit-sharing plans involve distributing shares of company stock to employee

soft benefits

-include perks that help balance life and work. They include onsite child care, spas, food service, and even laundry services and hair salons. --motivate employees and give them more time to focus on their job. -Insurance firm Acuity provides unlimited sick leave, unlimited education reimbursement, and a 10 percent company contribution to 401(k) plans, in addition to an onsite fitness facility and massage therapists

fringe benefits

-include sick leave, vacation pay, pension plans, health plans, and any other extra compensation. -Many states and cities are adopting new policies on sick leave that mandate a certain number of paid sick days a worker can take. -It is often lower-wage employees who do not receive paid sick leave, yet they are the ones who usually cannot afford to take a day off if it is unpaid.

affirmative action programs

-legally mandated plans that try to increase job opportunities for minority groups by analyzing the current pool of workers; identifying areas where women and minorities are underrepresented; and establishing specific hiring and promotion goals, along with target dates, for meeting those goals to resolve the discrepancy. -Affirmative action began in 1965 as Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first of a series of presidential directives. -It was designed to make up for past hiring and promotion prejudices, to overcome workplace discrimination, and to provide equal employment opportunities for blacks and whites. Since then, minorities have made solid gains.

Equal Pay Act

-mandates that men and women who do equal work must receive the same wage. Wage differences are acceptable only if they are attributed to seniority, performance, or qualifications.

separations

-occur when employees resign, retire, are terminated, or are laid off. -Employees may be terminated, or fired, for poor performance, violation of work rules, absenteeism, and so on. Businesses have traditionally been able to fire employees at will—that is, for any reason other than for race, religion, sex, or age, or because an employee is a union organizer. However, recent legislation and court decisions now require that companies fire employees fairly, for just cause only. Managers must take care, then, to warn employees when their performance is unacceptable and may lead to dismissal, elevating the importance of performance evaluations. They should also document all problems and warnings in employees' work records. To avoid the possibility of lawsuits from individuals who may feel they have been fired unfairly, employers should provide clear, business-related reasons for any firing, supported by written documentation if possible. Employee disciplinary procedures should be carefully explained to all employees and should be set forth in employee handbooks.

turnover

-occurs when employees quit or are fired and must be replaced by new employees, results in lost productivity from the vacancy, costs to recruit replacement employees, management time devoted to interviewing, training, and socialization expenses for new employees. -However, some companies have created innovative solutions for reducing turnover. Part of the reason for turnover may be overworked employees as a result of downsizing and a lack of training and advancement opportunities. turnover is not always an unhappy occasion when it takes the form of a promotion or transfer.

commission

-pays a fixed amount or a percentage of the employee's sales. -Consultants earn commissions on whatever products they sell. -This method motivates employees to sell as much as they can. Some companies also combine payment based on commission with time wages or salaries.

selection

-process of collecting information about applicants and using that information to decide which ones to hire. -It includes the application itself, as well as interviewing, testing, and reference checking. -This process can be quite lengthy and expensive and is increasingly being completed online.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

-prohibits discrimination in employment. -created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal agency dedicated to increasing job opportunities for women and minorities and eliminating job discrimination based on race, religion, color, sex, national origin, or handicap. -As a result of Title VII, employers must not impose sex distinctions in job specifications, job descriptions, or newspaper advertisements

Human resources management (MRM)

-refers to all the activities involved in determining an organization's human resource needs, as well as acquiring, training, and compensating people to fill those needs. -Human resource managers are concerned with maximizing the satisfaction of employees and motivating them to meet organizational objectives productively. In some companies, this function is called personnel management. -Employees today are concerned not only about how much a job pays; they are concerned also with job satisfaction, personal performance, recreation, benefits, the work environment, and their opportunities for advancement.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act

-specifically outlaws discrimination based on age. -Its focus is banning hiring practices that discriminate against people 40 years and older. -Generally, when companies need employees, recruiters head to college campuses, and when downsizing is necessary, many older workers are offered early retirement. Forced retirement based on age is generally considered to be illegal in the United States, although claims of forced retirement still abound.

training

-teaching employees to do specific job tasks through either classroom development or on-the-job experience -On-the-job training allows workers to learn by actually performing the tasks of the job -classroom training teaches employees with lectures, conferences, videos, case studies, and web-based training.

wage/salary survey

-tells the company how much compensation comparable firms are paying for specific jobs that the firms have in common. -Compensation for a specific job is typically determined through a wage/salary survey -Compensation for individuals within a specific job category depends on both the compensation for that job and the individual's productivity. Therefore, two employees with identical jobs may not receive exactly the same pay because of individual differences in performance.

labor contract

-the formal, written document that spells out the relationship between the union and management for a specified period of time, usually two or three years. -Many labor contracts contain a cost-of-living escalator (or adjustment) (COLA) clause, which calls for automatic wage increases during periods of inflation to protect the "real" income of the employees. During tough economic times, unions may be forced to accept givebacks—wage and benefit concessions made to employers to allow them to remain competitive or, in some cases, to survive and continue to provide jobs for union workers.

diversity

-the participation of different ages, genders, races, ethnicities, nationalities, and abilities in the workplace -primary characteristics of diversity that are inborn and cannot be changed. eight secondary characteristics of diversity—work background, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, geographic location, parental status, and education—which can be changed. We acquire, change, and discard them as we progress through our lives.

development

-training that augments the skills and knowledge of managers and professionals. -Training and development are also used to improve the skills of employees in their present positions and to prepare them for increased responsibility and job promotions. -Training is a vital function of human resource management. At the Co -Companies are engaging in more experiential and involvement-oriented training exercises for employees. Use of role-plays, simulations, and online training methods are becoming increasingly popular in employee training

mentoring

I-nvolves supporting, training, and guiding an employee in his or her professional development. -provides employees with more of a one-on-one interaction with somebody in the organization that not only teaches them but also acts as their supporter as they progress in their jobs. -Another benefit of mentoring is that companies can use this process to attract talent from underrepresented areas. For instance, mentoring has been suggested as a way to attract more women into male-dominated industries.

lockout

Management's version of a strike; management actually closes a work site so that employees cannot go to work. Lockouts are used, as a general rule, only when a union strike has partially shut down a plant and it seems less expensive for the plant to close completely.

job description

a formal, written explanation of a specific job that usually includes job title, tasks to be performed (for instance, waiting on customers), relationship with other jobs, physical and mental skills required (such as lifting heavy boxes or calculating data), duties, responsibilities, and working conditions.

arbitration

a neutral third party is brought in to settle the dispute, but the arbitrator's solution is legally binding and enforceable. Generally, arbitration takes place on a voluntary basis—management and labor must agree to it, and they usually split the cost (the arbitrator's fee and expenses) between them. Occasionally, management and labor submit to compulsory arbitration, in which an outside party (usually the federal government) requests arbitration as a means of eliminating a prolonged strike that threatens to disrupt the economy.

boycott

an attempt to keep people from purchasing the products of a company. In a boycott, union members are asked not to do business with the boycotted organization.

conciliation

brings in a neutral third party to keep labor and management talking. The conciliator has no formal power over union representatives or over management. The conciliator's goal is to get both parties to focus on the issues and to prevent negotiations from breaking down

strikebreakers

called "scabs" by striking union members, are people hired by management to replace striking employees. Managers hire strikebreakers to continue operations and reduce the losses associated with strikes—and to show the unions that they will not bow to their demands. Strikebreaking is generally a last-resort measure for management because it does great damage to the relationship between management and labor.

job specification

describes the qualifications necessary for a specific job, in terms of education (some jobs require a college degree), experience, personal characteristics (ads frequently request outgoing, hardworking persons), and physical characteristics.

recruiting

forming a pool of qualified applicants from which management can select employees. There are two sources from which to develop this pool of applicants—internal and external.

internal sources of applicants

include the organization's current employees. Many firms have a policy of giving first consideration to their own employees—or promoting from within. The cost of hiring current employees to fill job openings is inexpensive when compared with the cost of hiring from external sources, and it is good for employee morale. However, hiring from within creates another job vacancy to be filled.

mediation

involves bringing in a neutral third party, but the mediator's role is to suggest or propose a solution to the problem.

human resources

labor, the physical and mental abilities that people use to produce goods and services

bonuses

monetary rewards offered by companies for exceptional performance as incentives to further increase productivity

collective bargaining

negotiation process through which management and unions reach an agreement about compensation, working hours, and working conditions for the bargaining unit. The objective of negotiations is to reach agreement about a labor contract

benefits

nonfinancial forms of compensation provided to employees, such as pension plans for retirement; health, disability, and life insurance; holidays and paid days off for vacation or illness; credit union membership; health programs; child care; elder care; assistance with adoption; and more.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

prevents discrimination against disabled persons. It also classifies people with AIDS as handicapped and, consequently, prohibits using a positive AIDS test as reason to deny an applicant employment.

Cafeteria benefits plan

provide a financial amount to employees so that they can select the specific benefits that fit their needs. The key is making benefits flexible, rather than giving employees identical benefits.

picketing

public protest against management practices and involves union members marching (often waving antimanagement signs and placards) at the employer's plant or work site. Picketing workers hope that their signs will arouse sympathy for their demands from the public and from other unions. Picketing may occur as a protest or in conjunction with a strike

job analysis

the determination, through observation and study, of pertinent information about a job- the specific tasks that comprise it; the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform it; and the environment in which it will be performed.