Human Resource Management

Finding and Keeping the Best Employees

Human resource management (HRM) is the process of determining human resource
needs and then recruiting, selecting, developing, motivating, evaluating, compensating, and
scheduling employees to achieve organizational goals.
I. Explain the importance of human resource management, and describe current issues
in managing human resources:

As this figure shows, human resource

management is more than hiring and firing
personnel. All activities are designed to achieve
organizational goals within the laws that affect
human resource management.

Figure 11.1

Many of the changes that have had the most dramatic impact on U.S. business are those in the
labor force. The ability to compete in global markets depends on new ideas, new products, and
new levels of productivity—in other words, on people with good ideas. These are some of the
challenges and opportunities in human resources:

Human Resource Challenge

• Shortages of trained workers in growth areas, such as computer technology, biotechnology,
robotics, green technology, and the sciences.
• Unskilled workers who are unemployed or underemployed and need retraining.
Underemployed workers are those who have more skills or knowledge than their current jobs
require or those with part-time jobs who want to work full-time.
 • A growing percentage of new workers are undereducated and unprepared for jobs in the
contemporary business environment.
• A shortage of workers in skilled trades due to the retirement of aging baby boomers.
 This led to a shift in workforce composition.
• An increasing number of both single-parent and two-income families, resulting in a demand
for job sharing, maternity leave, and special career advancement programs for women.
• A shift in employee attitudes toward work. Leisure time has become a much higher priority,
as have flextime and a shorter workweek.
• Continued Downsizing a severe recession that took a toll on employee morale and increased
the demand for temporary and part-time workers.
• A challenge from overseas labor pools whose members work for lower wages and are subject
to fewer laws and regulations than U.S. workers. This results in many jobs being outsourced
overseas.
• Customized Benefits an increased demand for benefits tailored to the individual yet
costeffective to the company.
• Employees With New Concerns Growing concerns over health care, elder care, child care,
drug testing, workplace violence, and opportunities for people with disabilities.
• Laws & Regulations changes through the Affordable Care Act that have added a large
number of new regulations that employers must read, interpret, implement, and track.
• A decreased sense of employee loyalty, which increases employee turnover and the cost of
replacing lost workers.

Given these issues, you can see why human resource management has taken a central place in
management thinking. However, significant changes in laws covering hiring, safety, unionization,
equal pay, and affirmative action have also had a major influence. Let’s look at their impact on
human resource management.

II. Illustrate the effects of legislation on human resource management:

 Employment equity - employment activities designed to “right past wrongs” by increasing
opportunities for minorities and women.
 Laws that protect Disabled
Businesses cannot discriminate against people on the basis of any physical or mental
disability. Employers are required to give disabled applicants the same consideration for
employment as people without disabilities. It also requires that businesses make “reasonable
accommodations”
 Laws that protect older employees
Generally speaking, employees are guaranteed protection against age discrimination in
the workplace
Reverse discrimination - The unfairness that unprotected groups (say, whites or males) may
perceive when protected groups receive preference in hiring and promotion.
 In 1972, the Equal Employment Opportunity Act (EEOA) was added as an amendment to Title
VII. It strengthened the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which was created
by the Civil Rights Act, by giving it rather broad powers.
Năm 1972, Đạo luật Cơ hội Việc làm Bình đẳng (EEOA) được bổ sung như một sửa đổi cho
Tiêu đề VII. Nó củng cố Ủy ban Cơ hội Việc làm Bình đẳng (EEOC), được thành lập bởi Đạo luật
Quyền Công dân, bằng cách trao cho nó những quyền hạn khá rộng rãi.
 EEOC: The U.S.Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a
federal agency that was established via theCivil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and
enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates
discrimination complaints based on an individual's race, color, national origin,
religion, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information,
and retaliation for reporting, participating in, and/or opposing a discriminatory
practice. (Ủy Ban Cơ Hội Việc Làm Công Bằng Hoa Kỳ (Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, EEOC) chịu trách nhiệm thực thi các luật liên bang quy định việc phân biệt đối
xử với người xin việc hoặc nhân viên vì chủng tộc, màu da, tôn giáo, giới tính (gồm cả việc
đang mang thai, tình trạng chuyển giới và xu hướng tính dục), nguồn gốc quốc gia, tuổi tác (40
tuổi trở lên), tình trạng khuyết tật hoặc thông tin di truyền của họ là bất hợp pháp.)
As I said above, laws prohibit discrimination related to race, sex, or age in hiring, firing, and
training.
 Effects of Legislation
- Employers must know and act in accordance with the legal rights of their employees or risk
costly court cases.
- Legislation affects all areas of human resource management, from hiring and training to
compensation.
- Court cases demonstrate that it is sometimes legal to provide special employment (affirmative
action) and training to correct discrimination in the past.
- New court cases and legislation change human resource management almost daily; the only
way to keep current is to read the business literature and stay familiar with emerging issues.
- Người sử dụng lao động phải biết và hành động phù hợp với các quyền hợp pháp của người
lao động, nếu không sẽ phải chịu rủi ro về các vụ kiện tốn kém.
- Pháp luật ảnh hưởng đến tất cả các lĩnh vực quản lý nguồn nhân lực, từ tuyển dụng và đào
tạo đến lương thưởng.
- Các vụ kiện của tòa án chứng minh rằng đôi khi việc cung cấp việc làm đặc biệt (hành động
khẳng định) và đào tạo để sửa đổi sự phân biệt đối xử trong quá khứ là hợp pháp.
- Các phiên tòa và luật mới thay đổi việc quản lý nguồn nhân lực gần như hàng ngày; cách duy
nhất để duy trì tính cập nhật là đọc các tài liệu kinh doanh và làm quen với các vấn đề mới nổi.
 Figure 11.2 Government legislation affecting human resource management

and now, I will talk to you about

III. Summarize the five steps in human resource planning.

1. Preparing a human resources inventory

 This inventory should include ages, names, education (e.g./ˌiː ˈdʒiː/ , languages spoken),
capabilities(/ˌkeɪpəˈbɪləti/ ), training, specialized skills, and other information pertinent to the
specific organization.

 2. Preparing a job analysis.

 Job a’nalysis- A study of what is done by employees who hold various job titles. Such
analyses are necessary to recruit and train employees with the necessary skills to do the job.
The result is two written statements - job descriptions and job specifications.

 Job description→A summary of the objectives of a job, the type of work to be done, the
responsibilities and duties, the working conditions, and the relationship of the job to other
functions.

 Job specification→ A written summary of the minimum qualifications required(/rɪˈkwaɪər/

) of workers to do a particular job (prerequisits).

3. Assessing future demand.

 Because technology changs rapidly(/ˈræpɪdli/ ), training programs must be started long

before the need is apparent(/əˈpærənt/ ). Ensure that trained people are available when
needed.

4. Assessing future supply.

 The labour force is constantly(/ˈkɑːnstəntli/ ) shifting - getting older, becoming more

technically oriented(/ˈɔːrient/ ), attracting more women, and so forth. There are likely to be
increased shortages of some workers in the future (e.g., computer and robotic repair
workers) and an oversupply of others (e.g., assembly(/əˈsembli/ ) line workers).

5. Establishing a plan for recruiting, hiring, educating, appraising(/əˈpreɪz/ ),

compensating, and scheduling employees. (The plan must
address recruitment, selection, training and development, evaluation, compensatio
n, scheduling, and career management for the labour force. For this plan to have
impact, the HR department must have upper management support for its acceptance and
implementation)
IV. Describe methods that companies use to recruit new employees, and explain some of
the issues that make recruitment challenging

Recruitment - the set of activities used to obtain a sufficient number of the right
employees at the right time.
 Its purpose is to select those who best meet the needs of the organization. You might think a
continuous flow of new people into the workforce makes recruiting easy. Besides that, it also has
many difficulties with recruitment.
* Difficulties with recruitment:
 Offering low wage
 There are legal guidelines(/ˈɡaɪdlaɪn/ ) that surround hiring practices.
 The emphasis on corporate(/ˈkɔːrpərət/ ) culture, teamwork, and participative
management makes it important to hire people who not only are skilled but also fit in
with the culture and leadership style of the organization.
 Sometimes people with the necessary skills are not available; in this case, workers
must be hired and then trained internally
V. Outline the six steps in selecting employees:
 Selection is the process of gathering information and deciding who should be
hired, under legal guidelines, to serve the best interests of the individual(/ˌɪndɪˈvɪdʒuəl/ ) and
the organization. A typical selection process has six steps
 Obtaining complete application forms.
 Conducting initial(/ɪˈnɪʃl/ ) and follow-up interviews.
 Giving employment tests
 Conducting background investigations
 Obtaining results from physical exams.
 Establishing a trial(/ˈtraɪəl/ ) period of employment.
The selection process is often long and difficult, but it is worth the effort to select new
employees carefully because of the high cost of replacing them. Care helps ensure that new
employees meet all requirements, including communication skills, education, technical skills,
experience, personality, and health.
 Hiring contingent workers

 contingent workers
- Employees that include part time workers, temporary workers, seasonal(/ˈsiːzənl/ )
workers, independent contractors, interns, and co-op students.
- Receive few benefits; they are rarely offered health insurance, vacation time, or company
pensions. They also tend to earn less than permanent workers do.
VI. Illustrate employee training and development methods:
Training and development - All attempts to improve productivity by increasing an
employee’s ability to perform. Training focuses on short-term skills, whereas(/ˌwerˈæz/ )
development focuses on long-term abilities.
 Three steps for Training and Development
  Assessing - The needs of the organization and the skills of the employees to
determine training needs
 Designing training - Activities to meet the identified needs;
 Evaluating the effectiveness of the training.
Some common training and development activities are employee
 Employee Orientation /ˌɔːriənˈteɪʃn/ - The activity that introduces new employees to the
organization - to fellow employees; to their immediate supervisors; and to the policies(/ˈpɑːləsi/ ),
practices, values, and objectives of the firm.
 On-the-job training - Training in which the employee immediately begins his or her tasks
and learns by doing, or watches others for a while and then imitates(/ˈɪmɪteɪt/ ) them, all right at the
workplace.
 Apprentice(/əˈprentɪs/ ) programs - Training programs involving a period during which a
learner works alongside an experienced employee to master the skills and procedures(/prə
ˈsiːdʒər/ )of a craft.

 Off-the-job training - Training that occurs away from the workplace and consists of
internal(/ɪnˈtɜːrnl/ ) or external(/ɪkˈstɜːrnl/ ) programs to develop any of a variety of skills or to
foster personal development.
 Online training - Training programs in which employees “attend” classes via the Internet.
 Vestibule training (near-the-job training) - Training done in schools where employees
are taught on equipment similar to that used on the job.
 Job simulation - The use of equipment that duplicates(/ˈduːplɪkeɪt/ ) job conditions and
tasks so that trainees can learn skills before attempting them on the job.
Managers need special training. To be good communicators, they especially need to learn listening
skills and empathy. They also need time management, planning, and human relations skills.
 Management development - The process of training and educating employees to
become good managers and then monitoring the progress of their managerial(/ˌmænəˈdʒɪriəl/ )
skills over time.
 On-the-job coaching - Senior manager will assist a lower-level manager by teaching
him or her needed skills and generally providing direction, advice, and helpful feedback.
 Understudy position - So that they can learn about different functions of the
organization, managers are often given assignments in a variety of departments.
  job rotation- top managers gain the broad picture of the organization necessary to
their success.
 Off-the-job courses and training - Managers periodically(/ˌpɪriˈɑːdɪkli/ ) go to
schools or seminars for a week or more to hone their technical and human relations skills.
  Networking - The process of establishing and maintaining contacts with key
managers in one’s own organization and other organizations and using those contacts to
weave(/wiːv/ ) strong relationships that serve as informal development systems.
 Mentor - An experienced employee who supervises, coaches(/kəʊtʃ/ ), and guides
lower-level employees by introducing them to the right people and generally being their
organizational sponsor(/ˈspɑːnsər/ ).

9. Demonstrate how managers use scheduling plans to adapt to workers’

needs:
Scheduling employees to meet organizational and employee needs
 Flextime plan - work schedule that gives employees some freedom to choose when to
work, as long as they work the required number of hours.
 Core time - in a flextime plan, the period when all employees are expected to be at
their job stations.
 Compressed workweek - Work schedule that allows an employee to work a full
number of hours per week but in fewer days. .
At this company, employees can start work anytime between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. They take a
half hour for lunch anytime between 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and can leave between 3:00 and
6:30 p.m. Everyone works an eight-hour day. The blue arrows show a typical employee’s flextime
day
 Home-Based Work also known as telework
 Telework (Telecommuting) - Taking most of the office job home.

 Nearly 13 million U.S. workers now work from

home at least once per week.
 Approximately 12 percent of businesses use
some home-based work.
 Homebased workers can choose

 their own hours

 interrupt work for child care or other tasks

 take time out for personal reasons.

But working at home isn’t for everyone.

 It requires discipline to stay focused on the job and not be easily distracted.

 Job-Sharing - An arrangement where two part-time workers share one full-time

job.
 Benefits
 1. Employment opportunities for those who cannot or prefer not to work full time
2. A high level of enthusiasm and productivity.
3. Reduce absenteeism and tardiness
4. Ability to schedule people into peak demand periods (banks on payday)
5. Retention of experienced employees who might have left otherwise
 Disadvantages include having to hire, train, motivate, and supervise twice as many
people and to prorate some fringe benefits.

10. Describe how employees can move through a company: promotion,

reassignment, termination, and retirement:
 MOVING EMPLOYEES UP, OVER, AND OUT
Employees don’t always stay in the position they were hired to fill. They may excel and move up
the corporate ladder or fail and move out the door. Employees can also be reassigned or retired.
Of course, some choose to move themselves by going to another company.
1. Promoting and reassigning employees. Reassignment is one way of motivating
experienced employees to remain in a company with few advancement opportunities.
2. Terminating employees - One reason is that the cost of terminating employees is pro-
prohibitively high. The cost of firing comes from lost training costs as well as damages and
legal fees paid in wrongful discharge suits. To save money, many companies are either using
contingent workers or outsourcing certain functions.
3. Retiring employees - Another tool used to downsize companies is to offer early
retirement benefits to entice older (and more expensive) workers to retire. Such benefits
usually involve financial incentives such as one-time cash payments, known in some
companies as golden handshakes.
4. Losing employees - employees can just leave your company. You should conduct a
goodbye interview and ask the reason for their choice.
Employees can be moved up (promotion), over (reassignment), or out (termination or
retirement) of a company. They can also choose to leave a company to pursue opportunities
elsewhere. Attracting and retaining the best employees is the key to success in the competitive
global business environment. Dealing with controversial issues employees have on the job is
challenging and never-ending. Chapter 12 discusses such issues.