Ebook Management - A practical introduction (8th edition): Part 2

www.downloadslide.com 9 Human Resource Management Getting the Right People for Managerial Success Major Questions You Should Be Able to Answer 9.1 Strategic Human Resource Management Major Question: How do effective managers view the role of people in their organization’s success? 9.2 Recruitment and Selection: Putting the Right People into the Right Jobs Major Question: How can I reduce mistakes in hiring and find great people who might work for me? 9.3 Managing an Effective Workforce: Compensation and Benefits Major Question: What are the various forms of compensation? 9.4 Orientation, Training, and Development Major Question: Once people are hired, what’s the best way to see that they do what they’re supposed to do? 9.5 Performance Appraisal Major Question: How can I assess employees’ performance more accurately and give more effective feedback? 9.6 Managing Promotions, Transfers, Disciplining, and Dismissals Major Question: What are some guidelines for handling promotions, transfers, disciplining, and dismissals? 9.7 The Legal Requirements of Human Resource Management Major Question: To avoid exposure to legal liabilities, what areas of the law do I need to be aware of? 9.8 Labor-Management Issues Major Question: What are the principal processes and issues involved in organizing labor unions? www.downloadslide.com THE MANAGER’S TOOLBOX Soft Skills and Social Graces: Boosting Your Advantage in the Hiring World Didn’t get hired? Maybe you’re lacking in the right soft skills: appearance, manners, punctuality, ability to com-municate well—in other words, professional behavior. As discussed in Chapter 1, it’s what employers com-plain they can’t find in many job applicants, especially among Millennials.1 Dress for Success If you dress casually on campus, rethink your ward-robe before showing up for a job interview (or a career fair). No sandals or flip-flops, torn jeans, tank tops, short skirts, or revealing dresses. Wear simple earrings (men not at all), cover tattoos, and don’t try to look sexy. Employers are “looking for people who can assume the role of a business professional,” says one recruitment manager.2 For men, this could mean wear-ing a suit and tie and leather shoes with dress socks. For women, it could be a blazer and a blouse with a skirt or slacks, along with low heels and hosiery. Do the same the first day at work on a new job.3 Wearing formal clothes, research suggests, can boost your con-fidence and abstract thinking ability, as well as raise others’ perception about how successful you are.4 Going Forward with Fork and Knife If you’re asked to lunch, be aware that observing appli-cants’ dining etiquette has become an informal part of the selection process. (To sharpen their competitive advantage, Chinese executives are now trained in Western table manners and social graces before trips abroad.)5 Keep your fingers clean (don’t order greasy sandwiches, pasta, or sushi), so you can deal with any paperwork and shake hands when you leave. Break bread or rolls into bite-size pieces, butter them, and eat them one at a time. Scoop the spoon away from (not toward) you when consuming soup. Don’t chew the ice cubes from your drink. Put your napkin on your chair (not the table) if you have to leave the table in mid-meal. Above all, chew with your mouth closed. And don’t talk until you’ve swallowed your food.6 Avoiding Bad Tech Habits Sixty percent of U.S. smartphone users in one survey said they couldn’t go an hour without looking at their devices.7 In research involving human resource man-agers, 76% of respondents said breaches of tech eti-quette hurt work life.8 The most annoying smartphone behaviors at work: having loud private conversations (65%), not silencing the phone (59%), checking the phone during conversation (52%), and checking the phone in a meeting (38%).9 We hope you’re not one of those who doesn’t participate in meal conversations (or meetings) because you’re texting or gaming or Facebooking. Or who sets the ringtone at full volume. Or who talks or texts in public restrooms.10 Watching What You Do on Social Media—Today Having good manners starts even before you meet any company recruiters. If you tweet obscenities, show a lack of spelling skills on Facebook, post sexy photos or even selfies, or talk about alcohol and marijuana, you may already have blown a good job opportunity, since human resource departments regularly check applicants out on social media.11 For Discussion Which of the activities described above do you need to work on? How will you go about doing it? FORECAST What’s Ahead in This Chapter This chapter considers human resource (HR) management—planning for, attracting, developing, and retaining an effective workforce. We consider how this subject fits in with the overall com- pany strategy, how to evaluate current and future employee needs, and how to recruit and select qualified people. We describe orientation, training, and development and how to assess employee performance and give feedback. We discuss how to manage compensation and ben- efits, promotions and discipline, and workplace performance problems. We go over basic legal requirements. Finally, we consider the role of labor unions. www.downloadslide.com 280 PART 4 Organizing 9.1 MAJOR QUESTION Strategic Human Resource Management How do effective managers view the role of people in their organization’s success? THE BIG PICTURE Human resource management consists of the activities managers perform to plan for, attract, develop, and retain an effective workforce. Planning the human resources needed consists of understanding current employee needs and predicting future employee needs. How do you get hired by one of the companies on Fortune magazine’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list—companies such as Google, SAS Institute, Boston Consulting Group, Edward Jones, and Genentech, which are on the 2016 list?12 You try to get to know someone in the company, suggests one guide.13 You play up volunteer work on your resume. You get ready to interview and interview and inter-view. And you do extensive research on the company—far more than just online research, as by talking to customers. And what kinds of things does an employee of a Fortune “Best” company get? At Google (now part of Alphabet), the Mountain View, California, search engine com-pany (ranked No. 1 Best Company seven times in the last 10 years), you’re entitled to eat in 1 of 11 free gourmet cafeterias, take your dog to work, get haircuts on-site, work out at the gym, study Mandarin or other languages, have your laundry done free, and get virtual doctor visits. You may also be a candidate for millions of dollars in com-pensation incentives, special bonuses, and founders’ awards.14 The reason for this exceptional treatment? “Happy people are more productive,” says Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO, now executive chairman of Alphabet.15 That productivity has made the company an earnings powerhouse; for 2015, for example, it reported a 14% growth in revenue and 38% growth in profits for its core Internet busi-nesses.16 Google has discovered, in other words, that its biggest competitive advantage lies in its human resources—its people. Human Resource Management: Managing an Organization’s Most Important Resource Human resource (HR) management consists of the activities managers perform to plan for, attract, develop, and retain an effective workforce. Whether it’s McKenzie looking for entry-level business consultants, the U.S. Navy trying to fill its ranks, or churches try-ing to recruit priests and ministers, all organizations must deal with staffing. The fact that the old personnel department is now called the human resources de-partment is not just a cosmetic change. It is intended to suggest the importance of staffing to a company’s success. Although talking about people as “resources” might seem to downgrade them to the same level as financial resources and material resources, in fact, people are an organization’s most important resource. Indeed, companies ranked No.1 on Fortune magazine’s Best Companies list in the past—which, besides Google, include SAS, NetApp, Genentech, Wegmans Food Mar-kets, J. M. Smucker, Edward Jones, and The Container Store—have discovered that putting employees first has been the foundation for their success. “If you’re not think-ing all the time about making every person valuable, you don’t have a chance,” says former General Electric head Jack Welch. “What’s the alternative? Wasted minds? Uninvolved people? A labor force that’s angry or bored? That doesn’t make sense!”17 Clearly, companies listed among the best places to work become famous by offering progressive and valued programs, policies, and procedures.18 Are you curious to see if a current or past employer is one of these progressive companies? You can find out by taking Self-Assessment 9.1. www.downloadslide.com Human Resource Management CHAPTER 9 281 SELF-ASSESSMENT 9.1 Assessing the Quality of HR Practices This survey is designed to assess the quality of HR practices at your current place of employment. If you are not currently working, consider a previous job when completing the survey. Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instruc-tor has assigned Self-Assessment 9.1 in Connect. 1. How did you rate the quality of the company’s HR practices? 2. Based on your responses, what advice would you give the senior HR leader about how to improve its HR practices? Be specific. What are the consequences of having poor-quality HR practices? Explain. Human Resources as Part of Strategic Planning Some companies—those with flat management structures, for instance—have done away with HR departments en-tirely, letting the regular line managers handle these tasks. But most workers say they feel the absence of an in-house HR staff, especially when it comes to resolving pay problems and mediating employee disputes.19 So what should organizations do in re-gard to investing in human resources? Based on research findings, we come down on the side that people are an organization’s most important asset and it’s important to invest in human resources. All told, studies show that companies have higher levels of employee satisfaction, financial performance, and service performance when the com-pany has high-quality human resource practices and programs.20 At many companies, human resources has become part of the strategic planning process. Thus, HR depart-ments deal not only with employee paperwork and legal accountability—a very impor-tant area, as we describe in Section 9.7—but also with helping to support the organization’s overall strategy. Example: Is it important, as Wegmans’s owners think, to have loyal, innovative, smart, passionate employees who will give their best to promote customer satisfaction (the grocery chain’s mission)? Who, then, should be recruited? How should they be trained? What’s the best way to evaluate and reward their performance? The answers to these questions should be consistent with the firm’s strategic mission. The purpose of the strategic human resource process, then—shown in the gold shaded boxes at right—is to get the optimal work performance that will help the com-pany’s mission and goals.21 (See Figure 9.1.) Three concepts important in this view of human resource management are human capital, knowledge workers, and social capital. Human Capital: Potential of Employee Knowledge and Actions “We are living in a time,” says one team of human resource management authors, “when a new economic paradigm—characterized by speed, innovation, short cycle times, quality, and customer satisfaction—is highlighting the importance of intangible assets, such as brand recognition, knowledge, innovation, and most particularly human capital.”22 Human capital is the economic or productive potential of employee knowledge, experi-ence, and actions.23 Scripps Health, a nonprofit health care system in San Diego and 42nd on Fortune’s 2016 list of “Best Places to Work For,” helps employees develop human capital by providing career coaching and up to $7,300 per year in tuition reimbursement and scholarships. The company also offers a wide variety of internal courses that focus on employee development.24 It’s also important to take responsibility for your own human capital. You may find this surprising, but a recent study showed that lack of sleep depletes your human capital and lowers performance.25 To perform at their best, people need their full ra-tion of sleep. FIGURE 9.1 The strategic human resource management process Establish the mission & the vision Establish the grand strategy Formulate the strategic plans Plan human resources needed Recruit & select people Orient, train, & develop Perform appraisals of people Purpose: Get optimal work performance to help realize company’s mission & vision www.downloadslide.com 282 PART 4 Organizing Knowledge Workers: Potential of Brain Workers A knowledge worker is some-one whose occupation is principally concerned with generating or interpreting information, as opposed to manual labor. Knowledge workers add value to the organization by using their brains rather than their muscle and sweat, and as such they are the most common type of worker in 21st-century organizations.26 Over the past three decades, automation has threatened a lot of routine jobs, but the rise of knowledge workers has been accelerating. Social Capital: Potential of Strong and Cooperative Relationships Social capital is the economic or productive potential of strong, trusting, and cooperative relation-ships. It can help you land a job. For example, a national survey of recruiters revealed that 74% had found the highest-quality job applicants came through employee refer-rals. Employees hired through referrals also tend to stay longer at their jobs, a result of better person–organization fit.27 Social capital is also beneficial beyond the early stages of your career, particularly when you are developing trusting relationships with others. Trusting relationships lead to more job and business opportunities, faster advancement, greater capacity to inno-vate, and more status and authority.28 All told, it pays to have a rich network of good relationships, and social capital helps makes this possible. Planning the Human Resources Needed When a building contractor, looking to hire someone for a few hours to dig ditches, drives by a group of idle day laborers standing on a street corner, is that a form of HR planning? Certainly it shows the contractor’s awareness that a pool of laborers usually can be found in that spot. But what if the builder needs a lot of people with specialized training—to give him or her the competitive advantage that the strategic planning process demands? Here we are concerned with something more than simply hiring people on an “as needed” basis. Strategic human resource planning consists of developing a systematic, comprehensive strategy for (a) understanding current employee needs and (b) predicting future employee needs. Let’s consider these two parts. Understanding Current Employee Needs To plan for the future, you must un-derstand the present—what today’s staffing picture looks like. This requires that you (or a trained specialist) first do a job analysis and from that write a job description and a job specification.29 ■ Job analysis. The purpose of job analysis is to determine, by observation and analysis, the basic elements of a job. Specialists who do this interview job occu-pants about what they do, observe the flow of work, and learn how results are accomplished. For example, UPS has specialists who ride with the couriers and time how long it takes to deliver a load of packages and note what problems are encountered (traffic jams, vicious dogs, recipients not home, and so on). ■ Job description and job specification. Once the fundamentals of a job are understood, then you can write a job description, which summarizes what the holder of the job does and how and why he or she does it. Next you can write a job specification, which describes the minimum qualifications a person must have to perform the job successfully. This process can produce some surprises. Jobs that might seem to require a college degree, for example, might not after all. Thus, the process of writing job analyses, de-scriptions, and specifications can help you avoid hiring people who are overqualified (and presumably more expensive) or underqualified (and thus not as productive) for a particular job. In addition, by entering a job description and specification with their attendant char-acteristics into a database, an organization can do computer searching for candidates by matching keywords (nouns) on their resumes with the keywords describing the job. ... - tailieumienphi.vn