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Chapter 17 Human Resource Policies and Practices Page
a.
B. Methods of Performance Evaluation
1. Written essays
suggestions for improvement.
b. No complex forms or extensive training is required, but the results often
reflect the ability of the writer.
2. Critical incidents
ineffectively.
b. The appraiser writes down anecdotes that describe what the employee did
that was especially effective or ineffective.
the employee.
3. Graphic ratings scales
attendance, honesty, and initiative.
b. The evaluator then goes down the list and rates each on incremental
scales. The scales typically specify five points.
4. Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS)
rating scale approaches.
b. The appraiser rates the employees based on items along a continuum, but
the points are examples of actual behavior.
performance dimensions with varying levels of quality.
5. Forced comparisons
a. Forced comparisons evaluate one individual’s performance against the
performance of one or more. It is a relative rather than an absolute
measuring device.
b. The two most popular are group order ranking and individual ranking.
i. The group order ranking requires the evaluator to place employees
into a particular classification, such as top one-fifth or second
one-fifth.
(a) This method is often used in recommending students to graduate
schools.
ii. The individual ranking approach rank-orders employees from best to
worst.
(a) This approach assumes that the difference between the first and
second employee is the same as that between the twenty-first and
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twenty-second.
(b) This approach allows for no ties.
(c) One parallel to forced ranking is forced distribution of college
grades.
(d) Why would universities do this?
(i) As shown in Exhibit 17-3, the average GPA of a Princeton
University undergraduate has gotten much higher over time.
C. Improving Performance Evaluations
1. Introduction
a. The performance evaluation process is a potential minefield.
error).
c. Some appraisers bias their evaluations by unconsciously favoring people
who have qualities and traits similar to their own (the similarity error).
demonstrates that many managers deliberately distort performance ratings
in order to maintain a positive relationship with their subordinates.
2. Use multiple evaluators
accurate information increases.
b. A set of evaluators judges a performance, the highest and lowest scores are
cumulative scores of those remaining.
c. If an employee has had ten supervisors, nine having rated her excellent
3. Evaluate selectively
to the individual being evaluated.
4. Train evaluators
accurate raters.
b. Most rater training courses emphasize changing the raters’ frame of
5. Provide employees with due process
a. The concept of due process increases the perception that employees are
treated fairly.
b. Three features characterize due process systems:
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them.
ii. All relevant evidence is aired in a fair hearing so individuals affected
can respond.
scores exactly as the supervisor enters them.
i. One company that did so found employees believed rater
accountability and employee participation were higher when appraisal
information directly.
D. Providing Performance Feedback
1. Managers are often uncomfortable discussing weaknesses with employees.
likely to ignore this responsibility.
constructive feedback sessions.
4. An effective review—in which the employee perceives the appraisal as fair,
determined to correct them.
E. International Variations in Performance Appraisal
1. Let’s examine performance evaluation globally in the context of four cultural
dimensions: individualism/collectivism, a person’s relationship to the
environment, time orientation, and focus of responsibility.
performance evaluation systems more than informal systems.
3. In Korea, Singapore, and even Japan, the use of performance evaluation has
without controversy.
validity of their performance evaluation results.
differences across countries in performance appraisal practices.
6. Formal performance appraisals were used more frequently in countries that
collectivism.
7. Another study found that individuals who were high in power distance and
high in collectivism tend to give more lenient performance appraisals.
II. The Leadership Role of HR
A. Introduction
1. HR also plays a key leadership role in nearly all facets of the workplace
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environment, from designing and administering benefit programs to
conducting attitude surveys to drafting and enforcing employment policies.
a. HR is on the front lines in managing adversarial employment conditions
such as work-life conflicts, mediations, terminations, and layoffs.
b. HR is on the scene when an employee joins and leaves, and all along the
way.
2. HR departments uniquely represent both the employee’s and the company’s
perspective as needed.
a. Companies have only recently begun to recognize the potential for HR to
influence employee performance.
b. Researchers have been examining the effects of a high-performance work
system (HPWS), a group of “mutually reinforcing, overlapping, and
synergistic individual human resource practices” that some organizations
have been developing.
i. Recent research has shown that having an HWPS may increase
organizational performance, but higher organizational performance
may also reinforce high-performance work practices by providing
more resources to an HWPS.
ii. HPWS may also have more of an effect on organizational performance
when leadership is not oriented towards organizational goals (e.g.,
improving customer service).
3. Because employers and employees alike benefit from strong human resource
practices, let’s consider some of the leadership functions of human resources.
B. Communicating HR Practices
1. Leadership by HR begins with informing employees about HR practices and
explaining the implications of decisions that might be made around these
practices.
2. It is not enough to simply have a practice in place; HR needs to let employees
know about it. When a company successfully communicates how the whole
system of HR practices has been developed and what function this system
serves, employees feel they can control and manage what they get out of
work.
3. The evidence supporting the contribution of communication and perception to
HR effectiveness is considerable.
a. For example, one study of different business units within a large
food-service organization found that employee perceptions of HR
practices, rated at the workgroup level, were significant predictors of
OCB, commitment, and intention to remain with the company, but the HR
practices led to these positive outcomes only if employees were aware
they were in place.
4. The effectiveness of HR practices also depends on employee attitudes.
a. One review found that HR practices were more likely to lead to positive
outcomes when employees felt motivated.
5. Practices tend to be perceived differently in various business cultures.
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a. For example, the use of educational qualifications in screening candidates
seems to be a universal practice, but aside from this, different countries
emphasize different selection techniques.
b. Structured interviews are popular in some countries and nonexistent in
others.
6. Communication is the bridge for HR to demonstrate fairness intentions.
C. Designing and Administering Benefit Programs
1. The responsibility for designing and administering an organization’s benefit
program falls to the HR department, with input from executive management.
2. Ideally, a benefit program should be uniquely suited to the organizational
culture, reflect the values of the organization, demonstrate economic
feasibility, and be sustainable in the long term.
a. Such benefits will likely improve employees’ psychological well-being
and therefore increase organizational performance.
D. Drafting and Enforcing Employment Policies
1. Employment policies that are informed by current laws but go beyond
minimum requirements will help define a positive organizational culture and
set high standards for performance.
a. Policies differ from benefits in that they provide the guidelines for the
behavior, not just the working conditions.
2. Any policy must have enforcement to be effective. Human resource managers
are responsible for setting the organizational consequences of infractions, and
often for enforcing the policies as well.
3. Sometimes, human resource managers will need to take action even when the
law is at issue.
E. Managing Work-Life Conflicts
1. Work-life conflicts grabbed management’s attention in the 1980s, largely as a
result of the growing number of women, with dependent children, entering the
workforce.
more family friendly.
a. They introduced on-site childcare, summer day camps, flextime, job
sharing, leaves for school functions, telecommuting, and part-time
employment.
3. But organizations quickly realized work-life conflicts were not limited to
female employees with children.
responsibilities.
4. Organizations are modifying their workplaces with scheduling options and
benefits to accommodate the varied needs of a diverse workforce.
a. Employees at NestléPurina can bring their dogs into the office; SAS
Institute has on-site child care, a health care center, and a fitness center;
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and free child care.
b. Exhibit 17-4 lists some initiatives to help employees reduce work-life
conflicts.
thinking about work problems at home.
b. This suggests organizations should spend less effort helping employees
with time-management issues and more helping them clearly segment
their lives.
c. Keeping workloads reasonable, reducing work-related travel, and offering
endeavor.
6. Not surprisingly, people differ in their preference for scheduling options and
benefits.
a. Some prefer organizational initiatives that better segment work from their
personal lives, as flextime, job sharing, and part-time hours do by allowing
responsibilities.
b. Others prefer ways to integrate work and personal life, such as on-site
childcare, gym facilities, and company-sponsored family picnics.
F. Mediations, Terminations, and Layoffs
1. Human resource departments often take center stage when unpleasant events
company’s perspective.
4. The HR human resource professional should be well trained in mediation
techniques and rely upon company policies to seek positive resolution.
a. Sometimes, human resource managers are integral to the termination
process, when employees are not able to resolve issues with management.
can confound the situation.
i. In Spain, for instance, labor laws have traditionally protected older
workers with near-guaranteed employment.
5. For departing employees, the HR department is often the last stop on their
way out the door.
layoffs.
c. Employees who think the layoff process was handled fairly are more apt to
recommend the company to others and to return to work if asked.
d. Employees who survive a layoff and stay employed with the company also
evaluate the fairness of the downsizing process, according to another
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study, particularly in individualistic countries.
competitive.
III. Summary and Implications for Managers
A. An organization’s human resource (HR) policies and practices create important
forces that greatly influence organizational behavior (OB) and important work
outcomes.
composition of the organization’s workforce.
B. First, as more organizations have turned to internal recruitment methods, HR
departments have taken the lead in creating online portals and other easy-access
methods for candidates to learn about the organization and be attracted to apply.
C. Second, HR departments are involved in all phases of selection: initial selection,
substantive selection, and contingent selection.
D. In effective organizations, HR remains present throughout an employee’s time
with the organization.
E. HR departments create and administer training and development programs, and
they set policies and practices with top management that govern the performance
evaluation system.
layoffs.
G. HR should bring an awareness of ethical issues to all stages of an individual’s
experience with the organization.
H. Knowledgeable HR professionals are therefore a great resource to all levels of the
organization, from top management to managers to employees. Specific
implications for managers are below:
are looking to fill.
2. Use training programs for your employees to achieve direct improvement in
the skills necessary to successfully complete the job. Employees who are
motivated will use those skills for their greater productivity.
3. Training and development programs offer ways to achieve new skill levels
programs include and ethical component.
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4. Use performance evaluations to assess an individual’s performance accurately
process.
EXPANDED CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Recruitment Practices
A. The first stage in any HR program is recruiting, closely followed by selection.
first place.
B. Strategic recruiting has become a cornerstone for many companies, in which
recruiting practices are developed in alignment with long-term strategic goals.
C. As for defining “success” in recruiting, most research suggests that the best
system attracts candidates who are highly knowledgeable about the job and the
organization.
roles they may be occupying.
3. Companies are increasingly turning away from outside recruiting agencies
and relying on their own executives and HR professionals for talent searches.
D. The most effective recruiters—internal or external—are well informed about the
job, are efficient in communicating with potential recruits, and treat recruits with
consideration and respect.
to job offer acceptance.
2. They also use a variety of online tools, including job boards and social media,
to bring in applications.
II. Selection Practices
A. Introduction
the requirements of the job.
2. When companies hire the right people, they increase their human capital
resources.
3. Human capital resources are the capacities available to an organization
through its employees.
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B. How the Selection Process Works (Exhibit 17-1)
1. Applicants go through several sections: initial, substantive, and contingent.
C. Initial Selection
basic qualifications for a job.
2. Application forms
a. Not a good predictor of performance.
b. Good initial screen.
c. Apply online.
3. Background checks
a. 80 percent of employees check references.
b. Rarely is useful information gained.
c. Letters of recommendation are another form of background check.
i. These also aren’t as useful as they may seem.
to find hidden meaning there.
d. Many employers will now search for candidates online through a general
Internet search or through a targeted search on social networking sites.
i. The legality of this practice has come into question, but there is no
doubt that many employers include an electronic search to see whether
employment.
ii. For some potential employees, an embarrassing or incriminating photo
circulated through Facebook may make it hard to get a job.
(a) A study found that independent raters viewing candidate Facebook
profiles were able to accurately determine candidate
conscientiousness, agreeability, and intelligence that later
supervisors.
(b) On the other hand, more recent research found that recruiters’
ratings did not predict job performance and turnover beyond
normal selection and screening measures (e.g., traditional
personality measures).
female candidates.
e. Finally, some employers check credit histories or criminal records.
i. A bank hiring tellers, for example, would probably want to know about
an applicant’s criminal and credit histories.
ii. Increasingly, credit checks are being used for nonbanking jobs.
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g. To further complicate matters not checking can carry a legal cost.
III. Substantive and Contingent Selection
A. Introduction
1. Heart of the selection process.
2. Used after passing initial screening.
B. Written tests
and integrity.
2. Long popular as selection devices, they declined in use because between the
late 1960 and mid-1980s they were characterized as discriminating, and they
were not validated.
3. Intelligence or Cognitive Ability Tests.
cognitive complexity.
4. Personality Tests
a. Personality tests are inexpensive and simple to administer, and their use
has grown.
b. However, concern about applicants faking responses remain, partly
faking.
5. Integrity Tests
a. As ethical problems have increased in organizations, integrity tests have
gained popularity.
b. These paper-and-pencil tests measure dependability, carefulness,
responsibility, and honesty.
6. Performance simulation tests
a. Although they are more complicated to develop and administer than
written tests, performance-simulation tests have higher face validity
(which measures whether applicants perceive the measures to be accurate),
and their popularity has increased.
assessment centers and situational judgment tests.
c. Work sample tests
i. Hands-on simulations of part or the entire job that must be performed
by applicants.
ii. Each work sample element is matched with a corresponding job
performance element.
d. Assessment centers
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i. Assessment centers use a more elaborate set of performance
managerial potential.
ii. Assessment centers are good predictors of performance. However, it is
debatable how much of this is valid, as ratings may be confounded by
many factors. For example, assessment center exercises may be
impacted by whether it is easy for applicants to guess the traits needed
simulate real problems.
e. Situational judgment tests
i. To reduce the costs of job simulations, many organizations have
started to use situational judgment tests, which ask applicants how
they would perform in a variety of job situations and compare their
answers to those of high-performing employees.
although the difference was not large.
iii. Ultimately, the lower cost of the situational judgment test may make it
a better choice for some organizations than a more elaborate work
sample or assessment center.
f. Realistic job previews
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