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C. Job descriptions and Job Specifications
The output from analysis of a job is used to develop a job description and its job
specifications. Together, these two documents summarize job analysis information in a
While the job description describes activities to be done, the job specifications list the
knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) an individual needs to perform a job
VII. Individuals at Work
The relationship between the individual and his or her employing organization helps
A. Individual Performance Factors
The three major factors that affect how a given individual performs are:
Individual ability to work
Effort expended
Organizational support
The relationship of those factors is widely acknowledged in management literature as
follows:
Performance ( ) = Ability ( ) Effort ( ) Support ( )P A E S´ ´
Individual performance is enhanced to the degree that all three components are present
B. Individual Motivation
Motivation is the desire within a person causing that person to act. Motivation is a
goal-directed drive, and it seldom occurs in a void. Understanding motivation is
C. Management Implications for Motivating Individual Performance
A common theme in the motivation literature is the motivating effect of making
successful progress in meaningful work. Some would argue that is the single most
important event for motivation. Managers can undermine the meaningfulness of work
Motivation provides the effort necessary for an individual to work on his or her own as
a self-starter. It also provides the necessary effort for teamwork and collaboration with
Financial rewards are often mentioned as motivators, and indeed for some people in
some circumstances they can be. A good financial reward system must differentiate
between good, average, and poor performers and the financial rewards to performance
Many organizations spend considerable money to motivate their employees using a
wide range of tactics. For example, some firms have motivational speakers to inspire
VIII. Individual Workers and Organizational Relationships
The relationship between an individual and his or her employer can be affected by HR
practices and can vary widely from favorable to unfavorable. The economic health of most
A. Psychological Contract
A concept that has been useful in understanding individuals’ relationships with their
employers is that of a psychological contract, which refers to the unwritten
expectations employees and employers have about the nature of their work
Unwritten psychological contracts between employers and employees encompass
expectations about both tangible items (e.g., wages, benefits, etc.) and intangible items
Employers Will Provide Employees Will Contribute
Competitive compensation and
Continuous skill improvement
Flexibility to balance work and
Reasonable time with the
Career development opportunities Extra efforts and results when
needed
Psychological contracts can be violated, not only by personal mistreatment, but from a
perception that the organization has abandoned an important principle or cause.
B. Job Satisfaction and Commitment
In its most basic sense, job satisfaction is a positive emotional state resulting from
evaluating one’s job experiences. Job dissatisfaction occurs when one’s expectations are
One way employers address job satisfaction, and ultimately retention, is by regularly
surveying employees. One specific type of survey used by many organizations is an
attitude survey, which focuses on employees’ feelings and beliefs about their jobs and
The degree to which employees believe in and accept organizational goals and want to
remain with the organization is called organizational commitment. Job satisfaction
Higher unemployment rates usually mean more dissatisfied workers in the workforce
since it is more difficult to change jobs. People stay longer with jobs they do not like.
C. Employee Engagement and Loyalty
Employee engagement is a term that has received much attention in the HR
practitioner literature but less academic attention. Employee engagement includes
satisfaction, support from management, using effort beyond a minimum, intention to
Although the concept of engagement is still evolving, a working definition might be the
IX. Employee Absenteeism
A major issue in the relationship between employee and employer relates to employees
Concern over uncontrolled absenteeism must be weighed against the problem of
“presenteeism,” which occurs when people are sick and should be at home to avoid
contagion but come to work anyway. This may occur for many reasons including the belief
A. Types of Absenteeism
Employees can be absent from work or tardy for several reasons. Some absenteeism is
inevitable because of illness, death in the family, and other personal reasons. Though
absences such as those that are health related are unavoidable and understandable, they
Many employees see no real concern about being absent or late to work because they
feel that they are “entitled” to some absenteeism. In many firms, a relatively small
number of individuals are responsible for a large share of the total absenteeism in the
organization. Regardless of the reason, employers need to know if someone is going to
B. Controlling Absenteeism
Voluntary absenteeism is better controlled if managers understand its causes, costs, and
believe absenteeism can be controlled. Once they do, they can use a variety of
Methods employers use to address absenteeism can be placed into several categories.
Five of the more prominent are as follows:
Disciplinary approach: People who are absent the first time receive an oral
Positive reinforcement: Positive reinforcement includes such actions as giving
Combination approach: A combination approach ideally rewards desired
No-fault policy: With a no-fault policy, the reasons for absences do not matter, and
Paid-time off (PTO) programs: Some employers have PTO programs, in which
Labor Department estimates on what percentage of employees are absent at any given
time run from 3 to 5 percent with some firms/industries as high as 8 percent. A major
Various methods of measuring or computing absenteeism exist. One formula suggested
by the U.S. Department of Labor is as follows:
( ) ( )
Number of person-days lost through job absence during period × 100
Average number of employees × Number of workdays
The absenteeism rate can also be based on number of hours instead of number of days.
X. Employee Turnover
Turnover occurs when employees leave an organization and have to be replaced. Many
organizations have found that turnover is a costly problem. The extent to which employers
High turnover rates have negative impacts on several dimensions of organizational
performance especially safety, productivity, and financial performance.
A. Types of Employee Turnover
Turnover can be classified in many ways. One classification uses the following
categories, although the two types are not mutually exclusive.
Involuntary Turnover Voluntary Turnover
Employees are terminated for poor
Employee leaves by choice
Involuntary turnover is triggered at all levels by employers terminating workers due to
organizational policies and work rule violations, excessive absenteeism, performance
Functional Turnover Dysfunctional Turnover
Lower-performing or disruptive
Key individuals and high performers leave
Not all turnover is negative for organizations; on the contrary, functional turnover
Dysfunctional turnover also occurs.
B. Measuring Employee Turnover
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that the cost of replacing an employee ranges
from one-half to five times the person’s annual salary. The turnover rate for an
organization can be computed as a monthly or yearly cost. The following formula, in
which separations means departures from the organization, is widely used:
Number of employee separations during the year × 100
Total number of employees at midyear
Common turnover rates range from almost 0% to more than 100% a year and vary
XI. HR Metrics: Determining Turnover Costs
Determining turnover costs can be relatively simple or very complex, depending on the
nature of the efforts made and the data used. Other areas in addition to lost productivity to
be included in calculating detailed turnover costs include the following:
Separation costs: HR staff and supervisory time; pay rates to prevent separations;
Vacancy costs: Temporary help; contract and consulting firm usage; existing
Replacement costs: Recruiting and advertising expenses; search fees; HR interviewer
Training costs for the new person: Paid orientation time; training staff time and pay;
Hidden/indirect costs: Costs that are not obvious, such as reduced productivity;
XII. Retention of Human Resources
In one sense retention is the opposite of turnover. However, the reasons key people choose
to stay with an employer may not be the opposite of those that compel others to quit.
A. Drivers of Retention
Because both people and jobs are so varied, managers and HR professionals need to
realize that individuals may remain or leave their employment for both job-related and
Organizational and Management Factors
Many organizational/management factors influence individuals’ job satisfaction and
their decisions to stay with or leave their employers. Organizations that have clearly
established goals and hold managers and employees accountable for accomplishing
A factor affecting how employees view their organizations is the quality of
organizational leadership. If a firm is not effectively managed, then employees may
Work Relationships
Work relationships that affect employee retention and include
supervisory/management support and coworker relations. A supervisor or manager
builds positive relationships and aids retention by being fair and nondiscriminatory,
Additionally, many individuals build close relationships with coworkers. Such work-
Rewards
The tangible rewards that people receive for working come in the form of pay,
incentives, and benefits. Employees often cite better pay or benefits as the reason for
leaving one employer for another. Employers do best with retention if they offer
Another reward is employee recognition, which can be both tangible and intangible.
Tangible recognition comes in many forms, such as “employee of the month”
Training
Many employees in all types of jobs consistently indicate that organizational efforts
to aid their career training and development can significantly affect employee
XIII. Managing Retention
Retention is important because turnover can cause poor performance in otherwise
productive units.
A. Retention Assessment
Calculating both turnover and retention provides a more complete view of worker
To ensure that appropriate actions are taken to enhance retention, management decisions
Analysis of turnover data is an attempt to get at the cause of retention problems.
Some of the first areas to consider when analyzing data for retention include the work,
pay/benefits, supervision, occupations, departments, demographics of those leaving and
