Chapter 10: Managing Human Resources P a g e | 16
Preparation
No student preparation is required for this exercise. You may want to decide in advance on assignments to
work groups (3 4 students per group), and to roles (nursing day shift manager, nursing night shift
manager, HR attorney, senior hospital administrator). Groups of four are preferable for this exercise. This
will allow the two nursing shift managers (day shift manager, night shift manager) to collaborate on their
In-Class Use
Once team and role assignments are made, encourage students to use the tools from their HR study in this
exercise. They should be particularly mindful of the major issues and concerns in the areas of recruiting
and selection, as well as legal guidelines important to these HR areas.
You may modify the roles of HR attorney and senior hospital administrator to better suit your class
and/or session objectives. The exercise instructs those holding these roles to remain silent and take notes,
unless one of the nursing shift managers asks them a question or requests input. This role definition
allows the attorney and administrator some space to observe, make notes, and think about possible
issues (and, hopefully, connections to the HR reading). These roles may be recast as active participants. If
you do make these roles active, you may want to set some ground rules regarding hierarchy and
participation. For example, you might set a ground rule that in these meetings rank should not be
1. What are some of the specific concerns or questions that arose in your mind as you played your
particular role?
2. What are some of the tensions that face the managers and administrators in this situation?
3. How might the HR system of a hospital be improved?
4. Why might nurses represent a particularly challenging set of HR concerns?
Managing human resources in todays complex business and legal environment is not easy. Not only must
360-DEGREE FEEDBACK
Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to give students 360-degree feedback from four sources: the boss,
subordinates, peers and co-workers, and the employees themselves.
Chapter 10: Managing Human Resources P a g e | 17
Setting It Up
This is an ambitious assignment and will take a number of class periods to set up.
First, thoroughly review the steps in the assignment: carefully selecting respondents, getting a large
enough number of respondents, ensuring confidentiality, explaining how the feedback will be used, and
asking people to provide specific feedback.
Second, review everything that students are expected to turn in for the assignment:
2. The name of the person they’ve asked to be their feedback facilitator.
4. A one-page summary of the written feedback.
5. A one-page plan in which they describe specific goals and action plans for responding to the
feedback you received.
Since there are so many steps involved in this process, you can spread out the assignment over several
days.
For instance, on day 1, have students turn in the following things:
1. The names and relationships (boss, peers, subordinates, classmates, teammates) of those that
On day 2, have students turn in:
4. A one-page summary of the written feedback.
On day 3, have students turn in:
5. A one-page plan in which they describe specific goals and action plans for responding to the
feedback you received.
360-DEGREE FEEDBACK
Whereas most performance appraisal ratings have traditionally come from just one person, the boss, 360-
degree feedback is obtained from four sources: the boss, subordinates, peers and coworkers, and the
employees themselves. In this assignment, you will be gathering 360-degree feedback from people that
you work with or from a team or group that youre a member of for a class.
Here are some guidelines for obtaining your 360-degree feedback:
Carefully select respondents. One of the keys to good 360-degree feedback is getting
feedback from the right people. In general, the people you ask for feedback should interact
Get a large enough number of responses. In addition to your boss, you should have a
minimum of three peers and three subordinates giving you feedback. Five or six respondents
in each of those categories is even better.
Ensure confidentiality. Respondents are much more likely to be honest if they know that their
comments are confidential and anonymous. So, when you ask respondents for feedback, have
them return their comments to someone other than yourself. This person, your feedback
Heres what you need to turn in for this assignment:
2. The name of the person youve asked to be your feedback facilitator.
4. A one-page summary of the written feedback.
5. A one-page description of your specific goals and action plans for responding to the feedback you
received.
360-Degree Feedback Form
As part of a class assignment, I, ____________, am collecting feedback from you about my performance.
What you say or write will not affect my grade. The purpose of this assignment is for me to receive
honest feedback from the people I work with in order to identify the things Im doing well and the things
that I need to improve. So please be honest and direct in your evaluation.
When you have completed this feedback form, please return it to ____________. He or she has been
Continue doing . . .
Describe three things that ____________ is doing that are a positive part of his or her performance and
that you want him or her to continue doing.
1.
2.
3.
Start doing . . .
Describe three things that ____________ needs to start doing that would significantly improve his or her
performance.
2.
3.
Please make your feedback as specific and behavioral as possible. For instance, needs to adjust attitude
isnt very good feedback. Needs to begin listening to others suggestions is much better because the
person now knows exactly how to change his or her behavior. So please be specific. Also, please write
more than one sentence per comment. This will help the feedback recipient better understand your
comments.
Discussing the Assignment in Class
Other than helping students figure out what is involved, this assignment doesn’t lend itself to discussion
until all students have met with their facilitator and received their feedback. At that point, ask the students
the following discussion questions:
Were you surprised, good or bad, by anything you heard?
What was the most difficult kind of feedback for you to hear?
Ask students: Now that you’ve received the feedback, what would you do different? Use this question
Chapter 10: Managing Human Resources P a g e | 19
Self-Assessment
INTERVIEW ANXIETY
Even though your students will probably be aware of test-taking anxiety and public-speaking anxiety,
they are probably unaware that job-interview anxiety exists as a separate and more complex type of
In-Class Use
Tell your students to imagine that they have been invited to interview for an entry-level management
position at a large company (you can specify the industry as telecommunication, energy, consulting,
consumer-products, or any other industry you think represents one in which students express desire in
working). Give students 5 7 minutes to complete the inventory. The research supporting this inventory
can be found in J. McCarthy and R. Goffin, Measuring Job Interview Anxiety: Beyond Weak Knees and
Sweaty Palms, Personnel Psychology 54, no. 3 (2004) p. 31.
Scoring
Scoring instructions are given at the end of the inventory. Students will compute a raw score, but they
will want to know what it means. Here is what you can tell them:
Higher scores reflect greater feelings of anxiety during the interview process. If your score is high,
however, youre not alone. The job application process is evaluative and competitive by nature and is a
key source of anxiety, stress, and frustration for many people. This particular assessment was used by
researchers as part of a study on interview anxiety. Researchers received feedback from each applicant
(via the questionnaire), but they also asked the interviewer to rate each applicant. Five dimensions of job-
interview-related anxiety were measured.
Communication Anxiety
Communication anxiety reflects feelings of nervousness or apprehension about one‘s verbal
communication skills, nonverbal communication skills, and listening skills. To find your score for
Appearance Anxiety
Appearance anxiety reflects feelings of nervousness or apprehension about one’s physical appearance. In
general, both interviewees and interviewers rate appearance as an important factor that can significantly
Chapter 10: Managing Human Resources P a g e | 20
Social Anxiety
Social Anxiety reflects feelings of nervousness or apprehension about one’s social behavior, for example,
having an acceptable handshake. To find out your score on this subscale, add together your regular scores
for items 3, 8, 13, 18, 23, and 28. High scores indicate a general discomfort with social interaction, which
can have significant impact on the job interview because it is considered a social situation.
Performance Anxiety
Performance Anxiety is conceptualized as “concern” over the outcome of a test, in other words, fear of
failure. Performance anxiety has generally been included in other measurements of anxiety, particularly
test-taking anxiety. To find out your score on this subscale, add together your regular scores for items 4,
9, 14, 19, 24, and 29.
Behavioral Anxiety
Behavioral Anxiety is the level to which your body experiences tension while taking a test. Even though
performance anxiety and behavioral anxiety are elements of test-taking anxiety, they are relevant to the
job-interview situation, which is essentially a test itself. To find your score on this subscale, add together
your regular score for items 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30.
The researchers who developed this inventory found that high levels of anxiety, as rated by the
Management Workplace
Management Workplace videos can support several in-class uses. In most cases you can build an entire
50-minute class around them. Alternatively, they can provide a springboard into a group lesson plan. The
Management Workplace video for Chapter 10 would be a nice companion to your introduction to the
course on the first day of classes.
VIDEO: BARCELONA RESTAURANT GROUP
Managing Human Resources
Summary:
At the Barcelona Restaurant Group, turnover among waitstaff is 60 to 70 percent. One way that Barcelona
tries to reduce turnover is to select the right people, using a three-stage recruitment process. First, leaders
Chapter 10: Managing Human Resources P a g e | 21
Discussion Questions:
1. List the three main activities of human resource management (HRM), and identify which activity
is examined at length in the video.
2. Of the various steps in Barcelonas employee selection process, the job interview is the most
brief. Do you agree with the companys approach to interviewing? Why or why not?
Students opinions will vary. For most firms, the selection process involves multiple tools for
assessing the fit between the job candidate and the organization. While Barcelona makes use of
3. How well does Barcelonas three-stage process for matching job applicants with its
organizational objectives help the restaurant fit job applicants to the needs of the restaurant?
(1) The interview managers at Barcelona use interviews to give candidates information about
(2) The shop this employee assessment activity requires that candidates dine at a Barcelona
restaurant, observe their experience, and write an essay that grades the presentation of food and
(3) The trail this assessment asks candidates to pretend that they have been with the company
for six months, and it asks applicants to take command of the floor, talk to the staff, engage
Chapter 10: Managing Human Resources P a g e | 22
Workplace Video Quiz
Students are able to take the following video quiz on CourseMate. The video is broken into segments, and
each segment has related questions to make sure students understand how the clip connects to the chapter
concepts.
Video Segment 1
Video segment title Managing Human Resources
Start time (in sec) 0:00
Stop time (in sec) 1:23
Quiz Question 1 According to Barcelona Restaurants Chief Operating Officer Scott
Lawton, the way for a business to have enthusiastic, nice, fun employees
is:
a. Pay them
Quiz Question 2 Which of the following statements from the clip gives the forecast of
Barcelonas workforce staffing needs?
a. Human resources is one of the most important things we do in our
business
b. This is a transient businessso were always hiring
c. Were not afraid to let people go
d. This is a high burnout business
Correct option b: This is a transient businessso were always hiring
Feedback Barcelona Restaurant Group experiences a high rate of turnover among its
staff.
Quiz Question 3 Of the many recent innovations in human resource management, the one
most commonly associated with the restaurant industry is:
a. Promoting work-life balance
Instructions
Chapter 10: Managing Human Resources P a g e | 23
Video Segment 2
Video segment title Managing Human Resources
Start time (in sec) 1:23
Stop time (in sec) 3:01
Quiz Question 1 In the meeting, Barcelona Restaurant COO Scott Lawton instructs
restaurant managers on how to provide for the staffing needs of individual
restaurant locations. The focus of the meeting is:
a. HRM (human resources management)
b. MBO (management by objectives)
Quiz Question 2 Which of the following statements from the managers meeting addresses a
specific recruitment tactic?
a. You are famous for friendly service
b. Does everybody have a Craigslist ad in right now for servers?
c. We can train people all day, but we can’t find happy people with good
attitudes; we can’t train that into people
d. None of these
Correct option b: Does everybody have a Craigslist ad in right now for servers?
Feedback Posts on Internet sites like Craigslist are one way to recruit new
employees.
Quiz Question 3 Once these restaurant managers recruit, interview, and select new servers
to work at Barcelona, the next step will be:
a. Promotion
Chapter 10: Managing Human Resources P a g e | 24
Video Segment 3
Video segment title Managing Human Resources
Start time (in sec) 3:01
Stop time (in sec) 6:04
Quiz Question 1 Which statement from COO Scott Lawton conveys Barcelonas philosophy
that human resources management is critical to attaining high quality
organizational performance?
a. I have job candidates eat a few tapas, sit down to have a couple drinks,
and write me an essay; it lets me see whats important to them
b. We as professionals in this industry cannot just go to a restaurant and
not pay attention to whats going on
c. For any company thats involved in customer service, the most
important thing you can do is have the right people in front of your
customers
Quiz Question 2 Scott Lawtons three-step interaction with job candidates matches the
following stage in the strategic human resources management process:
a. Employee separation
b. Selection
c. Training
Quiz Question 3 In Scott Lawtons multi-step staffing process, the step that allows
Barcelona to assess the intelligence and performance of job candidates is:
a. The interview (step one)
b. The shop (step two), where candidates visit and evaluate a restaurant
Chapter 10: Managing Human Resources P a g e | 25
Additional Assignments and Activities
Review Questions
1. Outline the basic process for human resource planning.
The major steps are: (1) determining human resource needs through human resource planning; (2)
2. List and explain the major employment laws affecting human resource practice.
Equal Pay Act (1963): Prohibits unequal pay for males and females doing substantially
similar work.
Civil Rights Act (1964): Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or
national origin.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967): Prohibits discrimination in employment
decisions against persons age 40 and over.
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (1978): Prohibits discrimination in employment against
pregnant women.
3. What are the two types of recruiting? How do companies use job analysis in recruiting?
For internal recruiting, managers can use job posting and career path management. Job posting is a
procedure for advertising job openings within the company to existing employees. A career path is a
planned sequence of jobs through which employees may advance within an organization.
4. What selection procedures do companies use during the hiring process?
Companies use numerous tools to ensure that they hire the right person for the job. Most commonly
used selection devices include:
Résumés and application forms: Résumés are written by the job applicant and usually include
a list of educational degrees and a list of companies for which they have worked. Application
5. Compare structured and unstructured interviews.
In unstructured interviews, interviewers are free to ask applicants anything they want, and studies
6. Describe the types of selection tests that companies use to evaluate job candidates.
In addition to using the devices listed in question 4, managers often choose to administer selection
tests as a means to predict applicants future job performance. Specific ability tests (aptitude tests)
7. Describe several training methods and indicate the objectives each is best suited to meet.
Before training employees, managers must conduct a needs assessment, which involves identifying
and prioritizing the learning needs of employees. Then managers should choose a training method by
considering a number of factors, such as the number of people to be trained, the cost of training, and
8. What methods can managers use to accurately measure employee job performance?
Top managers understand the importance of formal performance feedback to the growth and
development of their workforce. The traditional method for evaluating employee performance is the
appraisal, but workers often have strong doubts about the accuracy and validity of their appraisals.
Studies show that managers are prone to three kinds of rating errors: central tendency, halo, and
leniency error.
9. What kinds of decisions do managers face when designing employee compensation?
Compensation is the financial and nonfinancial rewards that organizations give employees in
exchange for their work. Four basic types of compensation are:
Pay level: Whether to pay workers at a level that is below, above, or at current market wages.
10. What are the four kinds of employee separation?
Chapter 10: Managing Human Resources P a g e | 28
11. What is the difference between functional and dysfunctional turnover? What is the relationship
between turnover and employee separations?
In general, most companies try to keep the rate of employee turnover low to reduce recruiting, hiring,
training, and replacement costs. Not all kinds of employee turnover are bad for organizations,
Additional Activities
Out-of-Class Project: “Employee Benefits.” Divide the class into small groups. Each group should
thoroughly research employee benefits provided by a particular company. Students can use the
organization for which they work as the company researched or any organization in which they have
contacts (parents, family friends, your college personnel). Each group should be ready to present their
findings to the class.
Out-of-Class Project: “Taped Interviews.” Consult your campus career center to find out if they would
help you videotape a couple of mock interviews for your class. (The center might already have a library
of mock interviews for students to consult. If so, borrow a couple.) Put tapes of the interviews on reserve
Assignment: “Adverse Impact.” Give students the following data and assign them to build a spreadsheet
to calculate if adverse impact has occurred (i.e., the four-fifths rule has been broken). Instruct students to
build their spreadsheet in such a way as to be able to play with the data to determine what hiring rates for
each group are required to keep from violating the four-fifths rule.
Blacks: Applied (male=154, female=117); Hired (male=51, female=92)
Chapter 10: Managing Human Resources P a g e | 29
In-Class Activity: “Interviewing Role-Play.” Divide the class into groups of 3 4 students each. One
student in each group will be an interviewer, and one student will be a job candidate. Other students in the
group will be observers and note takers. Provide a fictitious resume for the job candidate to all students
and a relevant job for which the candidate will be interviewing. Have all job candidates wait outside the
above.
“EEOC.” Go to the website of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) at
“Employee Separation and Retraining.” Go to the website of the U.S. Department of Labors