BUSN 1200 - Chapter 8 PDF

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BUSN 1200Chapter 8 – Managing Human Resources and Labour RelationsHuman Resources Management:  HR managers are involved in developing, administering and evaluating programs to attract, retain and enhance the quality and performance of employees within an organization.  All managers within an organ...

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BUSN 1200 Chapter 8 – Managing Human Resources and Labour Relations Human Resources Management:  HR managers are involved in developing, administering and evaluating programs to attract, retain and enhance the quality and performance of employees within an organization.  All managers within an organization have some HR aspects in their roles as managers.  They are responsible for areas including recruitment and selection, orientation and training, performance management, legal issues related to HR, compensation and benefits as well as down-sizing and terminations. Employee Information Systems:  Computerized systems that contain information about employees, and which can be used to track availability and suitability for upcoming jobs  HRIS (Human Resources Information Systems) Information may include o Education o Work experience o Skills o Career aspirations  HRIS helps in managing employee files in a more efficient and effective way. It replaces the traditional filing cabinets filled with employee hard copy files (saving lots of physical space). Also, HR staff can more easily search through the database by inputting specific search requirements (saving time). HRIS can be very expensive if the organization is looking for customization but there are many cheaper off-the-shelf programs that can be used, especially for smaller businesses. Plus, the costs can be amortized over time. Human Resource Planning:  The first thing that HR managers need to do is to determine what the company’s future and current HR needs are.  HR needs to “take inventory” of what is now vs. what the org. will need in the future.  This usually begins with a job analysis, which is a detailed study of the specific duties of a particular job and the qualities needed by an individual to be successful in that position. Foundations of Human Resource Management: Human resource (HR) planning involves job analysis, forecasting the demand for and supply of labor, and matching supply and demand.  Job Analysis - detailed study of the duties of a specific job and the required qualifications. o Job Description – Lists the duties/responsibilities of the job, working conditions, tools and materials needed and reporting relationships. o Job Specification – Lists the skills, abilities, education, attitudes, physical abilities and credentials needed to do the job.

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HR forecasting entails determining the organization’s demand for employees and then trying to identify the likely supply of employees (both internally and externally) to meet the demand. HR managers must address the shortage or surplus of required skills in the labor market and within the organization itself (internal vs. external supply).

Foundations of HRM:  Forecasting HR labor demand and supply o Internal Supply – The current workforce of a company. o External Supply – People outside the company who you may want to bring in. o Replacement Charts - At higher levels of the organization, managers plan for specific people and positions. The technique most commonly used is the replacement chart, which lists each important managerial position, who occupies it, how long he or she will probably stay in it before moving on, and who is now qualified or soon will be qualified to move into it. This technique allows ample time to plan developmental experiences for people identified as potential successors to critical managerial jobs. o Skills Inventories – To facilitate planning or to identify people for transfer or promotion, some organizations have skills inventories which are systems that are usually computerized and contain information on each employee’s education, skills, work experience, and career aspiration. Recruiting Human Resources:  Recruiting – The process of attracting qualified persons to apply for jobs that are open o Internal recruiting – Considering present employees as candidates.  Promoting or transferring existing staff.  Internal sources – Internal job posting, personnel files, referrals from others in the organization.  Builds morale and employee retention.  Closed promotion system - Managers alone choose who will be considered for a promotion.  Open promotion system - Allows individual employees to apply for positions of interest.  Benefits of Internal Promoting: • May encourage other employees to also work harder (and therefore also get promoted in the future). • Higher morale for the employee being promoted leading to increased productivity and loyalty to the organization. • Lower or no hiring costs (less time/money searching for candidates and interviewing). • Lower or no orientation costs (employee is already familiar with the organization). • Employee is known and therefore less risk is involved to the organization.

Drawbacks from Internal Promoting: • No “new blood” or new ideas. Concerns of “group think” from those who have moved up the ranks for years. • Lack of skills for the new position, needing more training than external hire who already has the right qualifications and skills. • Excessive competition among employees who want the promotion creating resentment and negatively impacting teamwork. • Resentment from those not selected. • Trouble seeing former peer as new boss. o External recruiting – Attract people from outside the organization.  External Recruiting Sources • Internet job postings • Internships • Employee referrals • Job fairs – Face-to-face • Walk-ins – Applying when there are no job postings. • Private employment agencies – Clerical & technical jobs. • Executive search firms – For top managers. • Newspaper ads – For a wide audience. 

The Selection Process - The process of selecting from the pool of candidates/applicants.  Resumes/applications o May be the first and only opportunity to make a good impression o Allows employers to gather information relevant to the hiring decision  History  Education  Work experience  Job-related demographic information  Interviews o Often there is a short telephone interview conducted to screen out most applicants. o The final 5 to 10 candidates are then taken to the next step. o Interviews usually last from 30 minutes to 1 hour. o Interview Types:  Structured - Involves the use of a common set of questions across all candidates – allows for better consistency and therefore, easier comparisons.  Unstructured - Questions may vary from candidate to candidate. More often used for managerial or professional candidates.  Mixed - Combination of both structured and unstructured. o How to Conduct Effective Interviews

Plan the time and place Before the interview, review the candidates resume Listen and keep neutral. Avoid making early judgements Maintain control and keep the interview on track Keep the candidate at ease and avoid intimidation (they will be more forthcoming with information)  Stick to a schedule  Be honest about the job and the company. o Interview Errors  Halo effect and stereotyping  Doing a rush job and not spending enough time to assess candidates properly  Unfair or inappropriate comparisons  Overselling the job or company (not being honest about key factors about the job or organization)  Asking inappropriate or illegal questions o Initial vs. in-depth Tests o Tests must be  job-related and predictive (valid)  consistent (reliable across time)  non-discriminatory o Must be administered and scored consistently  Aptitude and ability tests  Intelligence or personality tests  Video assessment Simulation exercises - Applicants perform work-related exercises under the supervision of expert appraisers. Gives an opportunity to watch someone perform “under fire”. o For entry-level positions, it is called work sampling and includes simple tasks such as a typing test. o For managerial positions, can use assessment centers that give applicant inbasket exercises to see how they would react. o Medical and drug testing - Any kind of drug testing or physical examinations as a condition of employment must be directly job-related (e.g. drug testing for pilots). Reference Checks - Used today mostly for data verification rather than getting personal opinions on applicants. o Legally, companies do not have to provide references for former employees.     

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Developing Human Resources:  Orientation - Process of introducing new employees to the company’s policies and programs, the co-workers and supervisors they will interact with, and the nature of their job. Orientation allows new employees to feel like part of a team and to become

effective contributors to the organization more rapidly. It also plays a key role in job satisfaction, performance, and retention.  Training – Beyond orientation, employees must be trained to improve the quality of their work. o Commonly given to new hires before they start jobs o Also, refreshes or updates skills needing improvement for existing employees o Employees with serious performance problems may benefit o Canadian companies spend less on training than U.S. firms do o Some companies resist training older workers.  On-The-Job Training – Employees learning while performing on the job.  Advantages – Less expensive and learning under actual conditions.  Disadvantages – Distractions, Lack of standardization, Errors in actual job setting.  Off-The-Job Training – Off site training that may involve classrooms and simulators.  Advantages – No distractions, and standardized.  Disadvantages – Artificial and expensive.  Management Development Program –  Mentoring  Networking  Performance Appraisals – Formal evaluations of employee performances. o Actual performance is compared to goals or objectives set out at the beginning of the process o Performance needs to be regularly reviewed or monitored o Performance expectations need to be communicated clearly and early o Results may be used for pay increases, training needs, promotion opportunities or even dismissal. o Many companies use 360-degree feedback which gathers information from selfassessments, peers, subordinates, superiors and customers. o Methods for Appraising Performance  Ranking Methods  Simple ranking (rank order from top to bottom)  Forced distribution (group into predefined frequencies of performance ratings) Rating Methods   Graphic rating scale (statement with rating scale)  Critical Incident Method  Recall and discussion of especially good, or poor, performance  Compensation o Base pay – wages and salaries o Performance-Based pay

Merit Pay - Employees are paid based on their relative contribution to the firm for some of their compensation – permanent.  Skill-Based Pay - Employees are paid for acquired skill level, rather than specific performance.  Piece-rate Pay - Employees are paid for every unit they make.  Commission - employees are paid based on unit, or dollar, sales.  Team and Group Incentive Systems o Gainsharing programs - Employees get a bonus if the firm’s costs are reduced due to increased work efficiency. o Team Performance rewards - Awards directed to a team of employees to reward combined effort. o Profit-sharing plans - The profitability level of the firm is used to determine the bonus level for its employees.  Benefits – Nonfinancial rewards. o Mandated Protection Plans – These are benefits that employers have to provide as per the law. Some of them are Employment Insurance, CPP, Worker’s compensation. o Optional Protection Plans - health, dental, life insurance. o Paid Time Off - Vacation time, sick leave, personal leave. o Other Types of Benefits - Wellness programs, child-care benefits. o Cafeteria-Style Benefits Plan: - Employees choose their own benefits.  Equal Employment Opportunity - Regulations protecting people from unfair, or inappropriate, discrimination in the workplace. o Decisions are made whenever employees are hired or promoted. o The regulations are there to prevent such decisions from being made on any basis other than job-related reasons. 

Bona Fide Occupational Requirement:  Allows an individual to be chosen over another due to job characteristics o When only a particular type of candidate is acceptable because of the nature of the job  For example: can a hotel only hire women to be a matron in a women’s washroom?

Employment Equity Act:  Federally legislated  Designates four groups as employment disadvantaged o women o visible minorities o aboriginal people o people with disabilities

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Companies covered by the act are required to publish statistics showing their employment of individuals from the four groups.

The Legal Context of HRM:  Sexual Harassment - requests for sexual favours, unwelcome sexual advances, or verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature. o Dealing With Sexual Harassment  Develop clear and enforceable policies  Inform all employees of the policies  Train employees to recognize and refrain from sexual harassment  Take complaints seriously  Establish a procedure to deal with complaints  Take action against those involved  Quid Pro Quo Harassment  Hostile Work Environment  Health and Safety Programs o Government regulations exist to insure safe workplaces and are getting stricter. o Reduce absenteeism and labour turnover. o Raise productivity. o Boost morale. o Make the workplace safer and healthier. o On the job injury can result in jail terms for offenders. o Injury can result in high risk situations (such as mining or logging) or from repetitive tasks like keyboarding. Downsizing and Terminations:  Layoffs – Not for cause. Many affected.  Terminations – For cause. Reason why individual is fired.  Attrition – Not filling jobs as they are vacated by employees.  Early retirements – Allowing employees to retire early with no impact on their pensions. Retirement:  Regular retirement age is 65 years, but not mandatory in most provinces. o Workers over the age of 65 are almost four times more likely to die from workrelated causes than younger workers are and have double the health-care costs.  Retirement plans may allow early retirement, usually after the age of 55. o Retirement is happening at earlier ages than ever before in Canada. In 1991-95 the median retirement age was 62.3 years, compared to 64.9 years in 1976-1980.  Those staying past 65 are usually most productive ones. o Often, firms need the expertise of those who could be retiring, encouraging them to continue to work. New Challenges in the Changing Workplace

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Managing Contingent Workers o Non-permanent or part-time workers o Hiring of contingent workers is on the rise o Contingent hiring at top levels is increasing o Management issues  Fairness and cost issues  Understanding and planning strategies

Dealing with Organized Labour:  Labour Unions - Groups of individuals working together to achieve job-related goals.  Collective Bargaining - The process by which union leaders and management negotiate terms and conditions of employment o Pay o Working hours o Job security o Benefits o Working conditions  Organizing a Union o Determine and seek government approval o Identify the nature of the bargaining unit employees o Certification vote - Supervised by a government representative to determine whether the union can be certified, and therefore, legitimately exist o Decertification - The process by which employees terminate their union’s right to represent them  Craft Unions o Craft: Organized by trades (skilled workers)  Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, pilots, etc. o Organized by skill, not by industry. o Members may work for many employers on a contractual basis throughout one year. o Usually require an apprenticeship (training) program of all new members.  Industrial Union o Organized by industry, not skill  Steel, auto, truck drivers, etc. o May include workers with different skills and skill levels. o Often work for a single employer for a long period of time.  The Legal Environment for Unions in Canada o Level of Union Security  Closed Shop - an employer can hire only union members  Union Shop - an employer can hire non-unionized workers, but they must join the union within a certain period  Agency Shop - are not required to join the union but must still pay dues if benefit from collective agreement

Open Shop - an employer may hire union or non-union workers. Employee does not have to join union. Collective Bargaining o Collective bargaining begins (union-management) o bargaining zone is established (reasonable range of options) o A ratification vote is taken to accept or reject a tentative agreement  If the ratification vote is accepted, the contract is signed and becomes the Collective Agreement.  If is rejected, management and union resort to different tactics to influence the process. 

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o When Bargaining Fails  Impasse: management and labour unable to agree on a contract  Union Tactics • Strikes • Picket • Boycott • Slowdown  Management Tactics • Lockout of workers • Close down the business • Contract jobs out of non-union workers • Hire strike-breakers  Conflict Resolution Methods • Mediation • Appoint a neutral third-party to hear and advise. • Has no legal authority to enforce the recommendation.

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Arbitration • Appoint a third-party to devise and impose a solution. • Has legal authority to do so. • May be voluntary or compulsory....