IHOW ARE EMPLOYEEES PROVIDED WITH NEEDED SKILS AND
KNOWLEDGE?
A. How Are New Hires Introduced to the Organization?
1. Once selected, the job candidate needs to be introduced to the job and organization
—orientation.
2. The major objectives of orientation:
a) Reduce the initial anxiety.
b) Familiarize new employees with the job, the work unit, and the organization.
c) Facilitate the outsider-insider transition.
3. Job orientation expands on the information the employee obtained during
recruitment and selection.
a) This is the time to clarify the new employee’s specific duties and
responsibilities and to rectify any unrealistic expectations new employees
might hold.
4. Work unit orientation:
a) Familiarizes the employee with the goals of the work unit.
b) Makes clear how his/her job contributes to the unit’s goals.
c) Provides introduction to his/her co-workers.
5. Organization orientation:
a) Informs the new employee about the organization’s objectives, history,
philosophy, procedures, and rules;
b) Clarifies relevant personnel policies such as work hours, pay procedures,
overtime requirements, and benefits;
c) Includes a tour of the organization’s physical facilities.
6. Management has an obligation to make the integration of the new employee into
the organization as smooth and as free of anxiety as possible.
Technology and the Manager’s Job
Social and Digital HR
HR has gone digital and the field is using software to assist in a variety of HR functions.
Technology has allowed HR departments to cut cost and improve performance (i.e. through
programs that reduce turnover). Specifically, training has benefitted as e-learning techniques are
utilized to develop employees’ skills, knowledge, and abilities. Several examples are given of
companies that have successfully utilized new training technologies to improve performance of
sales representatives. IT is applied to help company’s productivity and the way they conduct
business.
Discuss This:
Does the use of all this technology make HR—which is supposed to be a
“people-oriented” profession—more or less so? Why or why not?
You want a job after graduating from college. Knowing that you’re likely to encounter
online recruitment and selection procedures how can you best prepare for making
yourself stand out in the process?
B. What Is Employee Training?
1. Employee training is a learning experience in that it seeks a relatively permanent
change in employees so that their ability to perform on the job improves.
a) It involves changing skills, knowledge, attitudes, or behavior.
b) Determining training needs typically involves generating answers to several
questions. (See Exhibit 7-6.)
2. Warning signals indicating training may be necessary—decreases in production
numbers, lower quality, more accidents, and higher scrap or rejection rates.
3. How are employees trained?
a) Most training takes place on the job.
1) On-the-job training (OJT) can disrupt the workplace and result in an
increase in errors while learning.
2) Some skill training is too complex to learn on the job.
4. What are some of the typical methods used?
a) Two ways of classifying training are traditional and technology-based.
b) See Exhibit 7-7 for typical training methods.
5. How can managers ensure that training is working?
a) Measure results—evaluate the training program.
b) Training programs are typically evaluated by asking several managers,
representatives from HRM, and a group of workers who have recently
completed the program to provide their opinions.
1) The reactions of participants or managers, while easy to acquire, are the
least valid.
2) Their opinions are heavily influenced by factors that may have little to do
with the training’s effectiveness—difficulty, entertainment value, or the
personality characteristics of the instructor.
3) Trainees’ reactions to the training may provide feedback on how
worthwhile the participants viewed the training to be.
c) Training must also be evaluated in terms of how much the participants learned,
whether their behavior changed, and whether the training program achieved its
desired results.
IV. KEEPING GREAT PEOPLE: TWO WAYS ORGANIZATIONS DO THIS
A. Performance Management System
1A performance management system is a system that establishes performance
standards that are used to evaluate employee performance.
6. See Exhibit 7-8 – performance appraisal methods.
a) The written essay is simple to use, but a “good” or “bad” appraisal may be
determined as much by the evaluator’s writing skill as by the employee’s actual
level of performance.
b) The use of critical incidents focuses the evaluator’s attention on those critical or
key behaviors that separate effective from ineffective job performance.
c) Adjective rating lists a set of performance factors (e.g., quantity and quality of
work, job knowledge, cooperation, loyalty, attendance, honesty, initiative).
d) Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) combines the major elements from
the critical incident and graphic rating scale.
e) MBO’s popularity among managerial personnel is probably due to its focus on end
goals.
f) The 360-degree appraisal seeks performance feedback from a variety of sources
for the person being rated. It is more thorough than other performance
management options but is very time-consuming.
g) Multi-person comparisons compare one person’s performance with that of others.
7. The three most popular forms: group-order ranking, individual ranking, and paired
comparison.
a) The group order ranking.
1) The evaluator places all employees into a particular classification such as “top
one-fifth,” “second fifth,” etc., including “bottom fifth.”
2) If a rater has 20 employees, only 4 can be in the top fifth and 4 must be
relegated to the bottom fifth.
b) The individual ranking approach.
1) The evaluator merely lists the employees in order from highest to lowest.
2) Only one can be “best” and there can be no ties.
c) The paired comparison approach.
1) Each employee is compared with every other employee in the comparison
group and rated as either the superior or weaker member of the pair.
2) Each employee is assigned a summary ranking based on the number of
superior scores received.
3) This approach can become unwieldy with large numbers of employees.
B. What Happens if an Employee’s Performance is not up to Par?
1What if an employee is not performing in a satisfactory manner?
8. A manager needs to find out why.
a) If it is because the employee is mismatched (a hiring error), something
relatively simple can be done.
b) It could be a lack of training that needs to be provided.
c) If the problem is associated with the desire to do the job, it becomes a
discipline problem.
1) A manager can rely on employee counseling and/or can take disciplinary
action.
(a) Employee counseling is a process designed to help employees
overcome performance-related problems.
(i) It attempts to uncover why employees have lost their desire to work productively.
(ii) It is designed to find ways to fix the problem.
C. Compensating Employees: Pay and Benefits
1Managers must develop a compensation system that reflects the changing nature of
work and the workplace in order to keep people motivated.
2An effective and appropriate compensation system will help attract and retain
competent and talented individuals; impact strategic performance; and keep
employees motivated.
9. The primary determination of pay is the kind of job an employee performs.
a) Different jobs require different kinds and levels of knowledge, skills, and
abilities, and these vary in their value to the organization as does the
responsibility and authority of various positions. (See Exhibit 7-9.)
10. Skill-based pay systems reward employees for the job skills and competencies they
can demonstrate.
11. Variable pay plans are systems in which an individual’s compensation is
contingent on performance.
a) 90 percent of U.S. organizations use variable pay plans
D. Compensation-Employee Benefits
1Employee benefits are non-financial rewards that are designed to enrich
employees’ lives.
12. The benefits offered by an organization will vary widely in scope.
13. Legally required benefits include social security and workers’ and unemployment
compensations.
14. Some organizations also provide an array of other benefits, such as paid time off
from work, life and disability insurance, retirement programs, health insurance,
etc.
V. WHAT CONTEMPORARY HRM ISSUES FACE MANAGERS?
A. How Can Managers Manage Downsizing?
1Downsizing is the planned elimination of jobs in an organization (See Exhibit
7-10).
15. After downsizing, disruptions in the workplace and in employees’ personal lives
are to be expected. Stress, frustration, anxiety, and anger are typical reactions of
both individuals being laid off and the job survivors.
16. Many organizations help layoff victims by offering a variety of job-help services,
psychological counseling, support groups, severance pay, extended health
insurance benefits, and detailed communications.
17. Although some affected individuals react very negatively to being laid off, the
assistance offered reveals that the organization does care about its former
employees.
18. Unfortunately, little is done for those who retain their jobs and have the task of
keeping the organization going or even of revitalizing it.
19. Both victims and survivors experience feelings of frustration, anxiety, and loss.
20. A new syndrome: layoff-survivor sickness.
a) It is a set of attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors of employees who survive
involuntary staff reductions.
b) Symptoms include job insecurity, perceptions of unfairness, guilt, depression,
and stress from increased workload, fear of change, loss of loyalty and
commitment, reduced effort, and an unwillingness to do anything beyond the
required minimum.
21. Managers may want to provide opportunities for employees to talk to counselors
about their guilt, anger, and anxiety.
22. Group discussions can also provide an opportunity for the survivors to vent their
feelings.
23. Every attempt should be made to ensure that those individuals who are still
working in the organization know that they are valuable and much-needed
resources.
A How Can Work Force Diversity Be Managed?
24. Consider how work force diversity affects recruitment, selection, and orientation.
25. Improving work force diversity requires managers to widen their recruiting net.
a) To increase diversity, managers must increasingly turn to non-traditional
sources such as women’s job networks, over-50 clubs, urban job banks,
disabled people’s training centers, ethnic newspapers, and gay rights
organizations.
26. Once a diverse set of applicants exists, efforts must be made to ensure that the
selection process does not discriminate.
a) Applicants need to be made comfortable with the organization’s culture and be
made aware of management’s desire to accommodate their needs.
27. Orientation is often difficult for women and minorities.
a) Many organizations provide special workshops to raise diversity
consciousness among current employees as well as programs for new
employees that focus on diversity issues.
b) The thrust of these efforts is to increase individual understanding of
differences.
c) A number of companies also have special mentoring programs for female and
minority managers who have few role models.
C. What Is Sexual Harassment?
1Sexual harassment is a serious issue in both public and private-sector
organizations.
d) Between 7,000 and 8,000 complaints are filed with the EEOC each year.
e) More than 17 percent of the complaints are filed by males.
f) Sexual harassment is estimated to be the single largest financial risk facing
companies today—and result in upwards of a 30-percent decrease in a
company’s stock price.
1) Mitsubishi paid out more than $34 million to 300 women because of
sexual harassment.
2) Results in millions lost in absenteeism, low productivity, and turnover.
g) Sexual harassment is a global issue.
28. Sexual harassment is defined as any unwanted activity of a sexual nature that
affects an individual’s employment.
a) It can occur between members of the opposite or of the same sex.
b) It can occur between employees of the organization or involve an employee
and a non-employee.
c) Such an activity was generally protected under Title VII (sex discrimination)
in the United States.
d) In recent years, this problem has gained more recognition.
29. Much of the problem is defining what constitutes this illegal behavior.
30. In 1993, the EEOC cited three situations in which sexual harassment can occur
where there are instances of verbal or physical conduct toward an individual.
a) Creates an intimidating, offensive, or hostile environment;
b) Unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work; or
c) Adversely affects an employee’s employment opportunities.
31. For many organizations, it’s the offensive or hostile environment issue that is
problematic.
32. How do organizational members determine if something is offensive?
a) It depends on the people in the organization and the environment in which they
work.
b) We all must be attuned to what makes fellow employees uncomfortable—and
if we don’t know, then we should find out!
1) This means understanding one another and respecting others’ rights.
33. What can a company do to protect itself?
34. The courts want to know two things:
a) Did the organization know about, or should it have known about, the alleged
behavior?
b) What did management do to stop it?
35. Whenever involved in a sexual harassment matter, the harasser may have rights,
too.
a) No action should be taken against someone until a thorough investigation has
been conducted.
b) The results of the investigation should be reviewed by an independent and
objective individual before any action against the alleged harasser is taken.
c) The harasser should be given an opportunity to respond to the allegation, and
have a disciplinary hearing if desired.
d) An avenue for appeal should also exist for the alleged harasser—an appeal
heard by someone in a higher level of management who is not associated with
the case.
D. How and Why Are Organizations Controlling HR Costs?
1HR costs are skyrocketing, especially those related to employee healthcare and
employee pensions.
2Healthcare costs are skyrocketing and companies are trying to control the costs.
e) Since 2002, health care costs have risen to $3.8 trillion in 2013. The actual
dollar amounts for 2014 were not available but increased by 5 percent over the
previous year.
f) A recent study indicated that nearly 90 percent of companies planned to
aggressively promote healthy lifestyles to their employees during the next
three to five years.
36. Pension plans have been around since the 19th century, although costs have
increased and need to be controlled as well.
a) Many companies—like NCR, FedEx, Lockheed Martin, and Motorola—no
longer provide pensions.
b) Organizations want to attract talented, capable employees by offering them
desirable benefits such as pensions, but they have to balance the costs of
providing such benefits.