Professional Documents
Culture Documents
8
Human Resource Management
Learning Goals
1
Explain the role and responsibilities of human resource management. Describe how recruitment and selection contribute to placing the right person in a job. Discuss how orientation, training programs, and performance appraisals help companies develop their employees. Describe how firms compensate employees through pay systems and benefit programs.
Discuss employee separation and the impact of downsizing and outsourcing. Explain the different methods and theories of motivation. Discuss the role of labor unions, the collective bargaining process, and methods for settling labormanagement disputes.
HR must be creative in searching for qualified employees. Businesses look both internally and externally.
Performance Appraisals
Performance appraisal - evaluation of and feedback on an employees job performance. Some firms conduct peer reviews while other firms allow employees to review their supervisors and managers. May conduct a 360-degree performance review, a process that gathers feedback from a review panel that includes co-workers, supervisors, team members, subordinates, and sometimes customers.
Compensation
Wages - compensation based on an hourly pay rate or the amount of output produced. Salary - compensation calculated on a periodic basis, such as weekly or monthly. Most firms base compensation decisions on five factors: What competing companies are paying Government regulation The cost of living Company profits Employees productivity
Incentive Compensation
Employee Benefits
Employee Benefits - additional compensation, such as vacation, retirement plans, profit-sharing, health insurance, gym memberships, child and elder care, and tuition reimbursement, paid entirely or in part by the company. 30% of total employee compensation. Some benefits required by law:
Social Security and Medicare contributions State unemployment insurance and workers compensation programs
Costs of health care are increasingly being shifted to workers. Retirement plans have become a big area of concern for businesses.
Flexible Benefits
Employees are provided a range of options from which they can choose.
Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance
Many companies also offer flexible time off policies instead of establishing a set number of holidays, vacation days, and sick days. 56% of companies surveyed use paid time off (PTO) programs.
More than claim they have reduced unscheduled absences
Flexible Work
Allow employees to adjust their working hours and places of work to accommodate their personal needs. Flextime allows employees to set their own work hours within constraints specified by the firm. A compressed workweek allows employees to work the regular number of weekly hours in fewer than the typical five days. A job sharing program allows two or more employees to divide the tasks of one job. A home-based work program allows employees, or telecommuters, to perform their jobs from home instead of at the workplace.
More than 70 percent of Generation Y professionals are concerned with balancing career with personal life
Employee Separation
Voluntary turnover: employees leave firms to start their own businesses, take jobs with other firms, move to another city, or retire.
Some firms ask employees who leave voluntarily to participate in exit interviews to find out why they decided to leave. Successful companies are clearly focused on retaining their best workers.
Involuntary turnover: employers terminate employees because of poor job performance, negative attitudes toward work and co-workers, or misconduct such as dishonesty or sexual harassment.
Necessary because poor performers lower productivity and employee morale. Employers must carefully document reasons when terminating employees.
Downsizing/Outsourcing
Downsizing - process of reducing the number of employees within a firm by eliminating jobs Downsizing has negative effects: Anxiety, health problems, and lost productivity among remaining workers Expensive severance packages paid to laid-off workers A domino effect on the local economy Outsourcing transferring jobs from inside a firm to outside the firm To save expenses and remain flexible, companies will try to outsource functions that are not part of their core business. Although outsourcing might work on paper, the reality might be different.
Motivating Employees
Motivation starts with good employee morale, the mental attitude of employees toward their employer and job. High employee morale occurs in organizations where workers feel valued, heard, and empowered to contribute what they do best. Poor morale shows up through absenteeism, voluntary turnover, and lack of motivation.
Goal-Setting Theory
Goal: target, objective, or result that someone tries to accomplish Goal-setting theory -people will be motivated to the extent to which they accept specific, challenging goals and receive feedback that indicates their progress toward goal achievement
Management by Objective
Systematic and organized approach that allows managers to focus on attainable goals and to achieve the best results based on the organizations resources. MBO helps motivate individuals by aligning their objectives with the goals of the organization, increasing overall organization performance. MBO principals:
A series of related organizations, goals, and objectives Specific objectives for each individual Participative decision making Set time period to accomplish goals Performance evaluation and feedback
A third theory from management professor William Ouchi: Theory Z: worker involvement is key to increased productivity for the company and improved quality of work life for employees.
Labor-Management Relations
Labor union: group of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in the areas of wages, hours, and working conditions. Found at local, national, and international levels. The organized efforts of Philadelphia printers in 1786 resulted in the first U.S. minimum wage - $1 a day. 12% of the nations full-time workforce belongs to labor unions.
1/3 of government workers, 8% of private sector
Labor Legislation
National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (Wagner Act) legalized collective bargaining and required employers to negotiate with elected representatives of their employees. Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 set the initial federal minimum wage and maximum basic workweek for workers employed in industries engaged in interstate commerce; outlawed child labor. Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 (Labor-Management Relations Act) limited unions power by prohibiting a variety of unfair practices, including coercing employees to join unions and coercing employers to discriminate against employees who are not union members. Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959 (Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act) amended the Taft-Hartley Act to promote honesty and democracy in running unions internal affairs.
Management Tactics
Lockout - a management strike to put pressure on union members by closing the firm.