Chapter 12

HUMAN
RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.1

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
You should be able to:
Explain the strategic importance of human
resource management
Describe the human resource management process
Differentiate between job descriptions and job
specifications
Contrast recruitment and decruitment options
Describe the selection devices that work best with
various kinds of jobs

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.2

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
(continued)
You should be able to:
Identify the various training categories
Explain the various approaches to performance
appraisal
Describe what an organizations compensation
system should include
Discuss the current issues affecting human
resource management
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.3

WHY HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT IS IMPORTANT
All Managers Engage in Human Resource Management
Activities
interview job candidates
orient new employees
evaluate work performance
Achieving competitive success through people requires a
fundamental change in how manages think about employees
High performance work practices--work practices that lead to
both high individual and high organizational performance

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.4

EXAMPLES OF HIGHPERFORMANCE WORK PRACTICES

(Exhibit 12.1)

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.5

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT PROCESS
Necessary for staffing the organization and sustaining high
employee performance
Identify and select competent employees
Provide up-to-date knowledge and skills
Retain competent, high performing employees
Influenced by the external environment
Labour union - represents workers and protects their
interests through collective bargaining
Government regulations to assure equal employment
opportunities

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.6

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

PROCESS (Exhibit 12.2)
Environment
Human
Resource
Planning

Recruitment

Selection

Identification and selection

of competent employees

Decruitment

Orientation

Training

Performance
Management

Career
Development

Adapted and competent

employees with up-to-date
skills and knowledge

Compensation
and
Benefits

Competent employees who

are capable of sustaining high
performance over the long term

Environment
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.7

HUMAN RESOURCE
PLANNING
Ensures:
That organization has the right number
and kind of people in the right places and
at the right time
Employees are capable of effectively and
efficiently performing their assigned
tasks

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.8

HUMAN RESOURCE
PLANNING (continued)
Current Assessment
Job analysis - defines jobs and the behaviors
necessary to perform them
Job description - statement of what job holder
does, how it is done, and why it is done
Job specification - statement of the minimum
qualifications that a person must possess to
perform a given job
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.9

JOB ANALYSIS PROCESS

Direct observation
of the worker
Filming workers
on the job
Interviewing
employees
in groups
Job experts
identify major
job characteristics
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Structured
questionnaire

Job
Analysis

Interviewing
employees
individually
Employee
diaries
12.10

HUMAN RESOURCE
PLANNING (continued)
Meeting Future Human Resource Needs
Determined by the organizations goals and
strategies
Demand for employees is a result of demand
for the organizations products and services
Comparison of current HR capabilities and
future needs determines areas of overstaffing or
understaffing
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.11

RECRUITMENT AND
DECRUITMENT
Recruitment

Process of locating, identifying, and attracting

capable applicants
Choice of recruiting source determined by:
local labour market
type or level of position
size of the organization
Employee referrals typically produce the best
applicants

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.12

MAJOR SOURCES OF POTENTIAL

JOB CANDIDATES (Exhibit 12.4)

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.13

RECRUITMENT AND
DECRUITMENT (continued)
Decruitment
Process of reducing the size of the
organizations workforce or restructuring its
skill base
Used to meet the demands of a dynamic
environment

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.14

DECRUITMENT OPTIONS
(Exhibit 12.5)
OPTION

DESCRIPTION

Firing
Layoffs
Attrition
Transfers
Reduced workweeks
Early retirements

Permanent involuntary termination

Temporary involuntary termination
Not filling openings
Moving employees to job openings
Working fewer hours per week
Providing incentives for people to
retire before normal retirement
Having employees share one fulltime job

Job sharing

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.15

SELECTION
Selection Process
Screening job applicants to ensure that the most
appropriate candidates are hired
Prediction exercise to determine which
applicants will be successful if hired
Selection decisions may be correct or incorrect

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.16

SELECTION DECISION
OUTCOMES (Exhibit 12.6)
Selection Decision
Successful

Reject

Correct
Decision

Reject
Error

Unsuccessful

Later Job Performance

Accept

Accept
Error

Correct
Decision

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.17

 Validity

SELECTION
(continued)

Degree to which there is a proven relationship between the

selection device and some relevant criterion
Law prohibits the use of selection devices unless there is
evidence that, once on the job, individuals with high test
scores outperform those with low test scores
Organization has burden to provide evidence of validity

Reliability

Degree to which a selection device provides consistent

measures
No selection device can be effective if it has low reliability

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.18

SUGGESTIONS FOR
INTERVIEWING (Exhibit 12.8)
1. Structure a fixed set of questions for all applicants
2. Have detailed information about the job
3. Minimize any prior knowledge about the applicant
4. Ask questions that require detailed answers about actual job
behaviors
5. Use a standardized evaluation form
6. Take notes during he interview
7. Avoid short interviews that encourage premature decision
making
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.19

QUALITY OF SELECTION DEVICES

AS PREDICTORS (Exhibit 12.10)

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.20

ORIENTATION
Work Unit Orientation
Familiarizes new employee with goals of the
work unit
Organization orientation
Informs new employee about the organizations
objectives, history, procedure, and rules
Successful orientation
May be formal or informal
Makes new member feel comfortable, lowers
likelihood of poor performance and resignations
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.21

TRAINING
Skill Categories
As jobs change, employee skills have to be
updated
Technical skills - basic and job-specific
competencies
Interpersonal skills - ability to interact
effectively
Problem-solving skills - useful in non-routine
jobs
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.22

PERFORMANCE
Performance Management System
Process of establishing standards and
appraising employee performance

Performance Appraisal Methods

Each method has advantages and disadvantages
Written essay - written description of
employees strengths and weaknesses
Critical incidents - focus is behaviour that
defines effective and ineffective performance

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.23

PERFORMANCE
(continued)
Performance Appraisal Methods
(continued)
Graphic rating scale - list of performance
factors
Behaviourally anchored rating scale (BARS) critical incident and graphic rating scale
approaches combined
Multiple comparisons - compares one persons
performance with that of one or more others
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.24

PERFORMANCE
(continued)
Performance Appraisal Methods (continued)
Objectives - employees evaluated by how well
they accomplish a specific set of goals
Management By Objectives (MBO) - preferred
method of appraising managers and
professional employees
360 degree feedback - utilizes feedback from
supervisors, employees, and coworkers
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.25

COMPENSATION
(WAGES AND BENEFITS)
Goals of Compensation Programs

Attract and retain competent and talented individuals

Positively impact organizations strategic performance

Skill-based pay

Rewards employees for their job skills and competencies

Job title doesnt define pay category
Mesh nicely with the changing nature of jobs

Trends in compensation

Make pay systems more flexible

Reduce the number of pay levels

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.26

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE

COMPENSATION/BENEFITS
(Exhibit 12.13)
Employees
tenure and
performance

Size of
company
Geographical
location

Management
philosophy
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Company
profitability

Level of
Compensation
and
Benefits

Kind of job
performed

Kind of
business

Unionization
Labour or
capital-intensive

12.27

CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Career
Sequence of positions held by a person during
her or his lifetime
The Way It Was
Employees advanced their work lives within a
single organization
Career development was a way to attract and
retain quality employees
Uncertainty brought organizational changes that
undermine principles of traditional career
development
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.28

CAREER DEVELOPMENT
(continued)
You and Your Career Today
Boundaryless career - individual, not
organization, responsible for career
Career choice - optimally offers the best
match between persons aspirations and
her or his abilities and market
opportunities
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.29

SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR A

SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT
CAREER (Exhibit 12.14)

2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.30

CURRENT ISSUES IN HUMAN

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Managing Workforce Diversity
Recruitment - recruiting net must be widened
Use nontraditional recruitment sources
Outreach will broaden applicant pool

Selection - process must not discriminate

Must accommodate needs of diverse applicants

Orientation and training - transition often

more challenging for some groups
Workshops to raise diversity awareness issues
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.31

CURRENT ISSUES IN HUMAN

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
(continued)
Sexual Harassment
Any unwanted activity of a sexual nature that
affects an individuals employment
Harassment creates an unpleasant work
environment and undermines workers ability to
perform their jobs
Illegal behaviour includes verbal or physical
conduct toward an individual
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.32

CURRENT ISSUES IN HUMAN

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
(continued)
Work-life Balance
Employees cant (and dont) leave their families and
personal lives when they walk into work
Managers cant be sympathetic with every detail of
an employees family life
Family-friendly benefits - provide some help in
dealing with family problems
Dual-career couples - both partners have
occupations
2003 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

12.33