Chapter 1 – Foundation and challenges of human resource

management

1.1 People Practises in South Africa

-South Africa remains highly ranked compared to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa
-the people component needs to be managed as one integrated whole to enable an
organisation to obtain and maintain its competitive advantage
-all HR practises needs to be in sync

1.2 Human Resources: Past and Present

-the scientific management approach
-the human relations approach
-the human resource approach

1.2.1 Scientific management approach

-was considered as the most effective means of managing employees
-constant supervision and threat of the loss of their jobs
-how work could be efficiently designed
-resulted in work methods and techniques that showed great concern for employee output and
little concern for employee satisfaction
-employees were expected to produce at a maximum level to satisfy what was believed to be
their only work-related need: money

1.2.2 Human relations approach

-employee productivity was affected not only by the way the job was designed and the way
employees were rewarded economically, but also by a certain social and psychological
factors
-employees’ feelings, emotions and sentiments were strongly affected by work conditions
like group relations, leadership styles and support from management which in turn have a
significant impact on productivity
-therefore it is important to treat employees with dignity in order so enhance employee
satisfaction and enable the achievement of higher productivity
-the shift to human relations was also influenced by growing strength of unions
-this approach was instrumental in improving the working environment of many employees,
but achieved minimal success in increasing employee output and job satisfaction

1.2.3 The human resource approach

-organisations benefit in two significant ways: an increase in organisational effectiveness and
the satisfaction of each employee’s needs
-rather than addressing organisational goals and employee needs as separate and exclusive,
the human resource approach holds that organisational goals and human needs are mutual and
compatible
-managing people as resources rather than as factors of production
-organisations have challenges within this approach: changes in the environment,
introduction of technology, balancing work and personal life and diversity of their workforce.
1.3 Strategic Human Resource Management
- Long term planning s risky, but essential
-how organisations make decisions about their future in this complex and changing world-
process of strategic management
-strategic human resource management (SHRM): a focus on the integration of all HR
policies with one another and with the overall strategy and direction of the organisation
-SHRM involves making those decisions that define the overall mission and objectives of the
organisation, determining the most effective use of its resources, and crafting and executing
the strategy in ways that produce the intended results
-business strategy is a management’s game plan
-SHRM activities address a wide variety of people issues relevant to the business strategy
-human resource management crosses all the functional areas and is fully integrated with all
the significant parts or the organisation: operations, marketing, finance etc.
-the process is led and coordinated by top management

Strategic human resource approach

Strategic vs. traditional human resource management

-in the past, people issues were the sole province of the personnel department
-today, strategic human resource problems are the responsibility of every manager in every
department
-the HR staff are themselves resources to be called on in support of operating managers
-HR managers need certain competencies to be successful:
 Business mastery: know the business strategies of the organisation
 HR mastery: stay informed about changes relating to issues such as staff,
development, appraisals, rewards, team building and communication
 Change mastery: be able to manage change process so that HR activities are
effectively merged with the business needs of the organisation
 Personal credibility: must establish personal credibility which they can do by
standing up for their beliefs and being fair-minded in dealing with others

Model of strategic human resource management

1.4 Human Resource Functions

-activities included in the HR department will vary from organisation to organisation
-different management activities can be assigned to the HR department either exclusively orr
in conjunction with other departments in the organisation
-these activities can be placed in the HRM model and can be exclusively assigned to the HR
department:
 Compensation and benefits issues
 Affirmative Action & Employment Equity
 Job Analysis programmes
 Pre employment testing
 Attitude surveys (research)
-HR department is likely to carry out some activities jointly with other departments:
 Interviewing
 productivity/motivation programmes
 training and development
  career planning
 disciplinary procedures
 performance appraisals

1.4.1 Job Analysis and Job Design

-for employees to perform satisfactory, their skills, abilities and motives to perform must
match the job requirements.
-a mismatch may lead to: poor performance, absenteeism, turnover and other problems
-job analysis: determines the skills and abilities required to perform a specific job
-SA still resembles that of scientific management

1.4.2 Recruitment, selection, orientation and internal staffing

-to a great degree the effectiveness of an organisations depends on the effectiveness of its
employees and recruitment is therefore very important
-external recruitment of human resources is a critical HR function
-analysis of the labour market, long term planning, interviewing and testing
-once employees are placed in their positions, it is important that they are introduced to the
organisation and their tasks, superiors and co-workers. This process is also known as
induction, socialisation, orientation. Or onboarding
-the internal movement of employees by means of promotions and transfers is also important

1.4.3 Performance appraisal, training and development, career management

-the growth of the organisation is closely related to the development of its human resources
-appraisal of employee performance is an important developmental function
-during the appraisal process, employees become aware of any performance deficiencies they
may have and are informed of what they must do to improve their performance and therefore
become promotable
-career development is difficult to implement, but brought about improvements in the
decision making processes that affect employees’ careers

1.4.4 Compensation and health

-important part of compensation is employee benefits
-with the changing workforce, flexibility in terms of benefits is also becoming more
important

1.4.5 Labour relations

-labour unions exert a powerful influence on employers and help shape the HR policies and
programmes for union employees
-built around the Labour Relations Act, No. 66 of 1995 and the Equity Act, No. 55 of 1998

1.5 HR Department Roles

-the primary task of the HR department is to ensure that the organisation’s human resources
are used and managed as effectively as possible within the ever-changing environment

1.5.2 HR policies
-HR policies are guides to management’s thinking and they help management achieve the
organisation’s HR objectives
-policies also help define acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and establish the
organisation’s position on an issue

1.5.3 Critical policy issues

-most of the critical issues facing HR management are included in four broad areas:
1. Employee influence
2. Personnel flow
3. Compensation and reward systems
4. Work systems

1.5.4 Communication
-all organisations depend on communication
-it binds various elements, coordinates activities and allows people to work together and
produce results
-Upward communication with other departments : suggestion programmes, complaint
procedures, e-mail, surveys, open door meetings, apps
-Downward communication with other departments : New employee orientation/onboarding,
Bulletin boards, Communication meetings, Newsletters, Employee handbooks
1.5.5 Advice and services
-due to a restrictive legal environment, sophisticated technologies, less obedient labour force
and demands by various societal groups for more socially responsible activities are a few
pressures that managers feel
-to cope with these complex issues, managers turn to experts for advice

1.5.6 Control functions

-like quality control departments, the HR department performs important control functions
for the management of human resources:
 Collection and analysis of hiring, selection, placement and promotion data to ensure
that EE laws and policies are being observed
 Analysis of performance appraisal records to determine whether the appraisals are
being conducted in an unbiased manner
 Analysis of statistics on absenteeism, grievances and accidents to determine where
problems are most critical and what may be done to reduce them
-due to the nature of these activities, HR employees generally have the authority to carry out
control functions

1.5.7 Policies and procedures

-HR must ensure that all these aspects are dealt with fairly consistently and within the
prescribed legislative requirements
-proper policies and procedures must be developed, communicated, implemented and
enforced to insure adherence, compliance and fairness

1.6 The structure of The HR Department

-the HR department normally contains clerical jobs (clerks, data, capturers, receptionists,
administrative assistants), professional jobs (specialists in fields, counselling, employee
development, employee testing, labour relations) and managerial jobs (oversee the clerical
and professional employees and coordinate the organisation’s personnel activities)

1.7 Current issues and challenges

1.7.1 Employee productivity
1.7.2 Quality improvement
1.7.3 Downsizing, delayering & decruiting
1.7.4 The changing workforce
1.7.5 Global economy
1.7.6 The impact of government
1.7.7 Quality of working life
1.7.8 Technology and training

1.8 21st century challenges for HR managers

-Management of personnel
-Changing Workforce
-Changing Work environment
-Organisations must identify:
1. Future talent needs
2. The desired makeup of the organisation’s human capital
 3. Internal talent to be grown and leveraged
4.Competencies and skills that will have to be acquired externally
5. The organisation’s demographic profile will need to be engaged and energised

1.11 Professionalism of HRM

-a profession is characterised by the existence of a common body of knowledge and a
procedure for certifying members of the profession
-these characteristics apply to the field of HR
-SABPP (South African Board for People Practices):
 to regulate the HR profession in SA
 involved in research, certification

1.11. 1 Ethics and HR management

-ethics: the discipline dealing with what is good and bad, or right and wrong, or moral duty
and obligation
-SABPP code of ethics

1.11.2 SIOPSA (Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology in South Africa)
-mission: help develop a fair and humane work environment, enabling people to reach their
full potential and experience a high quality of work life in SA. Strives to create conditions in
which industrial organisational psychologists will be able to deliver efficient and effective
services to the benefit of all in SA

Summary
 Strategic HR activities address a broad range of issues relevant to the successful
formulation and implementation of company plans.
 The management of people has seen three distinct approaches since the turn of the last
century: scientific management, human relations and the HR approach. The trend has
been toward the HR approach, whereby two complementary goals are sought:
increased organisational effectiveness and the satisfaction of individual employee
needs. HR policies and programmes strive to achieve both goals.
 A number of critical issues face HR managers and administrators in South Africa
today. Improving worker productivity through HR programmes, policies and
techniques remains a challenge. Increasing the quality of working life (QWL) is a
goal of many organisations, and programmes such as the redesign of jobs have been
implemented to enhance QWL.
 Hiring and motivating today's changing workforce is a major HR challenge.
Innovative HR programmes must meet the needs of a diverse labour force while
enabling the company to compete successfully in a global economy.
 Although the HR programmes of different organisations will vary, the HR
departments of most organisations have these common responsibilities: job design and
analysis; recruitment and selection; orientation and internal staffing; appraisal,
training and development; compensation; and labour relations.
 HR managers and administrators play a number of roles in achieving effective HR
management. These include creating HR policies, offering advice to line managers,
providing services (e.g. recruiting, training, and research), and controlling activities to
ensure that employment legislation and HR policies are being followed. Also, it is
usually HR's responsibility to design and maintain effective communication flows.
 Jobs in the HR department include clerical, professional and managerial positions.
  Free trade and globalisation are putting most firms in fiercely competitive markets
where success depends on the quality of HR management.
 Work itself will be redefined in the future; more high order thinking, constant learning
and flexibility.

Questions

How do scientific management, human relations and human resource approaches

differ?

(It is indirectly associated)

1. Scientific management
2. Human relations
3. Human resource approaches

Karabo is the HR officer I. Traders Inc and she has to develop a policy which deals with
aspects such as re-engineering, total equity management, cooperative labour
management relationships and other forms of employee participation. What area of HR
management does this policy cover?

C- employee influence

Are line managers also responsible for HR activities or is this the sole responsibility of
HR managers?

Yes, the responsibility for performing HR functions does not reside only with HR
department. All managers at all levels of the organisation share in that responsibility.

To be successful in SHRM the HR Professional: will need to acquire a complementary

set of competencies. These include:

Change (be able to manage and lead), business (know the business) HR (know the HR),
Personal Mastery

The....Approach

Human Resource Approach: It involves an employee and employer, it has to do with the
employee satisfaction as well as the success
Chapter 3 – Managing Diversity and Regulatory Challenges

Diversity

3.1 South Africa’s diverse population

3.1.1 Population groups
3.1.2 Women
3.1.3 The age of the workforce
3.1.4 People with disabilities
3.1.5 Sexual/affectional orientation
3.1.6 HIV and AIDS
3.1.7 Religion
-Important population stats:
- Population – 60,14 mil
- Female: 51.1% (approximately 30 mil)
- Population younger than 15 years- 28.3% (17 mil)
- Population 60 years and older 9,1% (5.5 mil)
- Life expectancy at birth-estimated at 59,3 years for males and 64,6 years for females.
- Estimated overall HIV prevalence rate – 13,7%
- Total number of people living with HIV – 8,2 mil
- For adults aged 15–49 years, an estimated 19,5% of the population is HIV positive
- People living with disabilities – 3 million (about 7.5% of population)(2011)

3.2 Managing Diversity

-an organisation must be clear about motivation in managing diversity
-the organisation must recognise the business necessity of having a diverse workforce and
tapping the potential of that workforce
-the motivation is outlined in an organisation’s mission statement or strategic plan and
articulated in a strategic plan of action aimed at creating a diverse and inclusive workplace
-long term process that demands top management identification and commitment to set
mechanisms in motion to access the potential of all employees

3.2.1 What is diversity?

-diversity: any collective mixture characterised by differences, similarities and related
tensions and complexities
-in the HR field and in SA organisations diversity has three major focus areas:
 Legal imperatives in the form of employment equity and affirmative action
 The unique work-related challenges experienced by minority groups
 The broad range of common traits and differences that impact on relations between
individuals and groups

3.2.2 Stereotypes and prejudices

-stereotype: fixed, distorted generalisation about the members of s group
-it forms the primary dimensions of diversity: race, age, gender, physical abilities or sexual
orientation and assigns incomplete, exaggerated or distorted qualities to members of this
group
-stereotyping is not generalisation
-it usually comes from outside sources and not individual experiences

3.2.3 Assimilation
-assimilation assumed that the dominant group’s performance and style were superior to
those of people who were not in the dominant group
-this assumption devalued diversity in the organisation and reinforced the value of
homogeneity
-some organisations may be contended that assimilation is a proper response to diversity
-for organisations that value diversity, assimilation is not the ideal
-the basis for assimilation is bias

3.2.4 Valuing diversity

-first step to get an organisation to value diversity is to acknowledge the fundamental
difference between valuing diversity, on the one hand, an employment equity and affirmative
action on the other
-employment equity: legal approach to workplace discrimination. It is against law to deny a
person a job or job advantage because of race, gender, age, sexual orientation or other
primary characteristics
-affirmative action: a response to the under-use of protected groups in various job categories
in which a business attempts to attract and advance people from

3.2.5 Diversity programmes

-the most common policies or programmes that employers classify as diversity are sexual
harassment policies, providing physical access for employees with disabilities and the
recruitment and selection of disadvantaged groups and women
-HR professionals are generally positive about diversity and recognise the need for a diverse
workforce while line managers are more sceptical and believe diversity makes their jobs
more difficult

3.2.6 Diversity education and awareness training

-diversity education begins the process of cultural change within an organisation that has the
motivation and the requisite leadership to change attitudes
-should be aimed at providing concepts, principles and frameworks that will facilitate quality
decisions in the midst of differences, similarities and related tensions and complexities
-first group that should be educated is top management
-awareness training seeks to motivate employees to recognise the worth and dignity of
everyone in the workplace and to treat them with respect
-also seeks to diminish the negative impact of individual prejudices by getting each person to
accept responsibility for the problem
-may however cause a backlash if not implemented properly
-different forms of diversity training: values clarification, perceptual differences, problem
solving cases, exploring cultural assumptions, personalising the experience

3.2.7 Problems with diversity training: language sensitivity

-the effect of diversity training programme depends on different factors: motivation for
training, support from leadership and the duration of the training, support from leadership and
the duration of the training

3.2.9 When is diversity training effective?

-diversity training can have a positive or a negative impact
-to affectively shape attitudes and behaviour in the workplace, diversity training should not
be a once off event

3.2.10 The multicultural organisation

-multicultural organisations: organisations leading the pack in terms of diversity and reaping
the greatest benefits
-they encourage members of different groups to learn from another
-characteristic is organisational culture – better suited to deal with an increasingly
multicultural and rapidly changing marketplace
-the question remains: how can an organisation truly become a multicultural organisation?
-according to the model for managing diversity this can be realised through a model of
planned change consisting of three phases
-all three phases must be addressed to be successful

Model for managing diversity (model of planned change)

- Model based on Lewin and Shein
Step 1: unfreezing
-unfreezing the current culture by changing the system within which it operates
-diverse company leadership
-devote adequate company resources to the diversity process
- Diverse top management, Top management commitment & vision, Top management
symbolic communication & actions, Adequate resources, Goal setting
Step 2: moving
-practices targeted at under-presented groups
- Recruitment & outreach programmes, Co-op and internship programmes Training &
education, Mentoring & career development
-these practices should be done as part of a planned approach to organisational change and
not done separately
-while these practices are done, existing staff must receive diversity training
Step 3: refreezing
 -the changes of the moving stage (step 2) should be institutionalised
-this objective can be accomplished by aligning the organisational policies, procedures and
reward systems to the new culture
-this step can begin by reviewing existing policies and procedures to insure they support
rather than conflict with the new culture of diversity
-also look at the appraisal and compensation packages
- Policies & procedures, Job descriptions, Reward system
Step 4: competitive advantage
- Improved creativity & decision-making, More agile & adaptive workforce, Broader
demographic market, Increased market share

3.3 Response to Diversity Government Legislation

-government legislation:
• The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (No.108 of 1996)
• Employment Equity Act (EEA) (No. 55 of 1998) (as amended)
• Labour Relations Act (LRA) (No. 66 of 1995)
• Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) (No. 75 of 1997) (as amended)
• Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) (Nr.4 of 2000) (B-BBEE)
-unfair discrimination on the following grounds:
- race
- gender
- sex
- pregnancy
- marital status
- family responsibility
- ethnic/social origin
- colour
- sexual orientation
- age
- disability
- religion
- HIV status
- conscience
- belief
- political opinion
- culture
- language
- birth

3.4 Sexual Harassment

-undermines equality and negatively impacts on victim’s pay, career progression and working
conditions
-victims seldom report it mainly due to a fear of retaliation
-instead of seeking for help, victims tend to withdraw from their jobs in an attempt to avoid
the harassment
-sexual harassment in the workplace is by nature a form of discrimination
-Employees are protected by: EEA, CCMA, the protection of Harassment Act, No. 17 of
2011, Department of Employment and Labour published a code of Good Practise on Sexual
Harassment, SABPP, the Employment Equity Act
3.4.1 Defining sexual harassment
-any unwanted conduct of sexual nature that is intended to affect or interfere with a person’s
work performance or meant to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment
-Reasons for non-reporting of sexual harassment:
 fear of losing one’s job
 concern jeopardizing a future job reference
 possibility of being labelled a troublemaker
 assumption that nothing would be done
 concern about being accused of inviting the harassment
 reluctance to draw public attention
 prospect of the emotional stress of litigation
 prospect of long, costly legal procedures

3.4.2 “This for that” or Quid pro quo harassment

-relates to a situation in which a victim is coerced into acceding to the sexual advances of a
superior in exchange for work-related benefits

3.4.3 “Can’t take it anymore” or Hostile work environment harassment

-occurs when unwelcome sexual conduct interferes with job performance or creates an
intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment
-anyone in the workplace can be the perpetrator
-whistling, lewd jokes, foul language, offensive e-mails or pictures

3.4.4 Measuring & researching sexual harassment

-may be difficult to get an accurate reading of the extent of sexual harassment in an
organisation
-some techniques include: grievance data (formal complaints), oral complaints to
management and HR officials, exist interviews and survey data
-most accurate way is well-designed, anonymous employee survey

3.4.5 Different forms of sexual harassment

-sexual harassment can take many forms of a physical, verbal or non-verbal nature
3.4.6 HR’s responsibility
-three potential challenges for the HR manager:
1. identify, recognise sexually harassing behaviour or personalities
2. compile a comprehensive harassment policy
3. provide effective sexual harassment training

1. identifying, recognising the characteristics of sexual harassment:

-typical characteristics of sexual harassers: narcissism, psychopathy, machiavellianism, moral
disengagement
2. drawing up a good sexual harassment prevention policy:
-drawing on the International Labour Organisation’s guidelines, the SABP provides
recommendations
3. provide effective sexual harassment training:
-implementing training programmes for all employees is vital

Employer’s responsibility regarding sexual harassment

• involve employees / unions
• have a formal, written, visible policy
• (with a) recognised complaint & disciplinary procedure
• ensure employee awareness through training
• treat all allegations as serious offence
• have complaints put in writing
• ensure careful examination of all evidence at a hearing
• ensure objectivity and strict procedural behaviour

Summary

 The rapid diversification of the South African workforce is changing the way in
which managers succeed in administrating organisations. They must be able to
harness the energies, talents and differences of a more diversified workforce. This
requires an ability to recognise value and to manage individuals from diverse cultures
and perspectives.
 Diversity education and awareness training and diversity programmes strive to
increase employees' recognition of the value of everyone in the workplace. Some
programmes, however, have caused problems among certain employees. To achieve
diversity, HR managers must: (1) hire a diverse workforce; (2) enforce policies and
laws on discrimination; and (3) learn to value and manage employees' differences
 Affirmative action programmes by employers seek to determine areas of under-use of
women and other disadvantaged group members. Employers need to establish goals
and timetables to increase recruitment and selection of women and other groups in
underutilised job categories.
 Government legislation has greatly affected the selection process. Employers must
ensure that their recruitment and retention practices are non-discriminatory, and that
each applicant is given an equal opportunity.
 Sexual harassment has developed into a complex but critical HR issue. Both quid pro
quo and hostile environment forms of harassment are clearly prohibited. Employers
realise that developing complaint investigation procedures and training supervisors to
respond must be done before a complaint is filed to provide objectivity.
Questions

Should new employees be assimilated into the organisation’s culture?

No, it is the assumption that the dominant groups performance and style is superior

Vusi is a worker at a factory . He wants to join a trade union, but his supervisor has told
him that it is against the factory’s policy that they don’t want unions to com e make
trouble. Which right is infringed?

B- right to freedom of association

These are three important steps in increasing...

C-re-freezing

What is the difference between diversity management and employee Equity/

Affirmative Action?

Affirmative Action: Led by government, legislation, assimilation

Valuing Diversity: Organisation driven, competitive edge, individual performance, utilisation

of work force

The EEA applies to all employees except for certain groupings, Which of the following
groups are covered

Yvonne is being sexually assaulted by her co-worker, which type of harassment is this
an example of?

A-Hostile environment harassment

Chapter 4 – Strategic HR Planning and Research

Human Resource Planning (HRP) - the process of anticipating and providing for the
movement of people into, within and out of an organisation with the aim of finding the best
fit between employees and jobs

Strategic Human Resource Planning (SHRP) - the process by which organisational goals,
as put forth in the mission statements and organisational plans, are translated into HR
objectives to ensure that the organisation is neither over nor understaffed, and that employees
with the appropriate talents, skills and desires are available to carry out their tasks/duties in
the right jobs at the right times

4.1 Types of Human Resource Planning

-proactive or reactive approach
-broad or narrow focus
-formal or informal plan
-fully integrated with company strategic plan or loosely tied

4.1.1 Types of linkages

-input linkages: HR information is made available either before or during the strategic
planning process
-decision inclusion linkages: personnel are either directly or indirectly involved in the
organisation’s strategic planning process
-review and reaction linkages: personnel can respond to a proposed or final strategic plan

4.2 Planning Horizon

-objectives that companies set are usually expressed in terms of a time frame
-short range objectives : 1 year or shorter (specific objectives)
-intermediate objectives : 2-4 years (specific objectives)
-long range objectives : 5-15 years (objectives are more general)

4.3 Strategy Linked Human Resource Planning (SHRP)

-SHRR: process through which organisational goals, as put forth in mission statements and
organisational plans, are translated into HR objectives
-helps to ensure that the company is neither over-nor understaffed and that employees with
the appropriate talents, skills and desire are available to carry out their tasks in the right jobs
at the right times
4.4 Who is responsible for SHRP?
-main responsibility rests with the HR managers at all levels within the organisation

4.5 Importance of strategic human resource planning

-the reason for integrating HR planning with strategic organisational planning is to ensure
that the HR programmes and policies function in such a manner that they achieve immediate
and long-range organisational goals
-creates competitive advantage
-achieve immediate and long-term goals
-improve profitability of the organisation
-a better understanding of the human resource implications of organisational strategies
-recruiting experienced talent well in advance of needs
-improved planning of assignments and other employee developmental actions
-strategic change (radical and incremental): major transformation in the structure, size or
functioning of an organisation for the purpose of achieving strategic objectives

4.6 Elements of strategic human resource planning

-HR objectives for change: what is to be achieved with regard to the organisation’s human
resources (quantitative, qualitative)
-HR plans: (who, when, where, how)

4.7 Steps in the strategic human resource planning process

Step 1: Establish the mission, vison & values

-establishment of the purpose of the organisation
-it’s mission and why it exists
-where it is heading in the future (vision)
-it’s main principles and belief system (values)

Step 2: Conduct an external analysis

-competitors, customers, new organisations have an influence
-economic factors, legislative matters, changes in technology, demographic changes, social
changes and trends in the market may provide opportunities or pose threats
-external strengths and weaknesses
Step 3: Conduct an internal analysis
-should also look at internal strengths and weaknesses so that the organization can determine
what it needs to change or improve and what needs to stay the same

Step 4: Forecasting demand

-determining the organisation’s total manpower requirement
-types, numbers and location of employees during the planning period must be determined
-look at productivity trends
-take into account: absenteeism, management philosophy, technology, economics

Step 5: Forecasting supply

-evaluating the future supply of labour that the organization will need
-internal supply (history of employee characteristics)
-external supply (derived from an assessment of demographics, government policies,
unemployment rates and labour mobility)
-the aim is to balance supply and demand

Step 6: Developing, formulating and implementing a strategy

-corporate strategy: keeping the overall organisational strategy in mind
-can use the SWOT analysis
-business strategy: the domain in which they operate
-functional strategy: translating the corporate and business strategies into the functional areas
of the organisation

Step 7: Succession planning

-not formally part of the SHRP because it does not focus on the lower-level jobs like mostly
in the SHRP
-succession planning: the process of identifying a longer-term plan for the orderly placement
of key employees

Human resource forecast conditions and plans

1. labour demand exceeds labour supply: training, succession planning, promotion, transfer,
recruitment, subcontracting, part time or temporary workers, overtime
2. labour supply exceeds labour demand: pay cuts, reduced work hours, work sharing,
voluntary early retirements, inducements to quit, retrenchments
3. labour demand equals labour supply

4.8 Common Pitfalls in the Strategic Human Resource Planning

-the identity crises
-top management support
-size of effort
-coordination with other functions
-integration with company plans
-non-involvement of operating managers
-the technique trap

4.9 Human Research and Metrics

-specific uses of HR research:
  measuring and evaluating present conditions

 predicting conditions, events and behavioural patterns

 evaluating current policies, programmes and activities
 discovering rational bases for revising current policies, programmes and activities
 appraising proposed policies, programmes and activities

4.9.1 Types of research

Basic research:
-advance knowledge through theory
-explain underlying principles/processes

Applied research:
-discovery through application
-solve problems/improve situation

4.9.2 The researchers

-governement
-private organisations
-personnel associations
-universities
-businesses

4.10 Research Techniques

-many different research techniques but the choice of a particular one depends on the purpose
of the research and the type of problem study

4.10.1 surveys
-employee survey is the most widely used research technique
-wage survey and job satisfaction survey are the most common

4.10.2 exit interviews

-organisations conduct exit surveys with employees who have voluntarily decided to leave

4.10.3 historical study

-tracking certain data over time helps gain greater insight into human behaviour

4.10.4 controlled experiments

-it is not possible to manipulate and control variables like in lab experiments

4.11 Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)

-high quality research required
-timely
-accurate
-relevant

4.12 Cost-benefit analysis CBA)

-HR activities are increasingly being measured and evaluated in economic terms
-by attaching rand-and-cents criteria to HR programmes and problems they can do a CBA
-activities that may be analysed:
-employee turnover
-absenteeism
-human resource information systems
-employee attitudes
-labour contracts

Summary
 SHRP is the process of getting the right number of qualified people into the right job at
the right time.
 To be effective, the SHR plan must be derived from the long-range plans of the
organisation.
 Strategy-linked HRP is based on a close working relationship between HR staff and line
managers.
 Various methods for forecasting HR needs exist.
 Sound HR research can significantly strengthen an organisation’s HR programmes. Some
specific uses of research include measurement and evaluation of current personnel
policies, programmes and activities, and appraisal of proposed policies, programmes and
activities.
 Research is generally classified as basic or applied. Most HR research is applied research
to solve a particular problem or evaluate a proposed HR programme or activity.
 HR research is conducted by a variety of individuals and public and private organisations,
including government departments, private organisations, personnel associations,
universities and individual business organisations. In a business organisation, HR
research is usually conducted by a member of the HR staff. Results are available in a
number of journals and other publications.
 Techniques that are frequently used in HR research include surveys, specific-use
questionnaires, interviews and historical studies. The controlled experiment has only
limited use because of the difficulties in applying this technique in an organisational
setting. The primary uses of surveys, questionnaires and interviews are to gather
employees’ feelings and perceptions about areas of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction
and to evaluate present and proposed HR programmes and policies. The correct methods
must be used to do research on a specific matter.
 An important requirement for HR research is a valid HRIS. Without relevant information,
it will not only be difficult to carry out meaningful research, but the HR staff’s day-to-day
effectiveness will also be limited.
 Whenever possible, HR professionals should analyse HR problems and evaluate their
programmes using a cost-benefit analysis.
 Although HR professionals and line managers must confront a wide array of people
problems, a small, hardcore group of problems seem to permeate many organisations and
consume an inordinate amount of the time of line and staff decision-makers. These
problems typically include absenteeism, turnover, job dissatisfaction and unfairness. For
problems such as these, decision-makers must, through the use of HR research,
systematically analyse the extent of the problem in their organisations, determine where
the problems exist and develop strategies to overcome them.

Questions (Case Study)

Question 1: which process and steps should Nazeer follow to correct the staffing
problems
-getting more employees so that the current employees are not so overworked
-part time workers
-needs to conduct strategic human resource planning (SHRP)

Step 1: establish the mission, vision and values (online store, expand his business, custom
candy bouquets, delivery option to any location ins south Africa)
Step 2: conduct an external analysis
Step 3: conduct an internal analysis
Step 4:forecasting demand
Step 5: forecasting supply (the employees are working overtime to manage the huge store
while also meeting the demands of online orders
Step 6: developing , formulating and implementing strategy (strategic objectives translated
into HR objectives)
Step 7: Success planning (Jessica resigns)

Question 2: two weeks later...he cannot understand why the employees are leaving,
what can he attempt to retain his remaining employees

He should conduct an exit interview with the employees who have left the organisation.
These employees can provide valuable information about the work environment that might
not otherwise be available. Research techniques: Exit interviews- voluntary, no affect on
future prospects, HR rep not immediate supervisor
Chapter 5 – Job Design and Job Analysis

5.1 Diving Work Into Jobs

-work: an effort directed towards producing or accomplishing particular results

5.1.1 Workflow Analysis

-job: the grouping of tasks, duties and responsibilities that constitute the total work
assignment for an employee
-workflow analysis: studies the way work moves through the organisation (desired and
actual outputs, activities and inputs)
-it provides an understanding of how work is done
-by using a workflow analysis, organisations can establish whether there are too many steps
involving too many different jobs. If this is the case, the process will have to be redesigned
-the use of an integrated workflow analysis could lead to increased employee involvement,
increased efficiency and greater customer satisfaction

5.1.2 Re-engineering Business Process

-generates the needed changes in the business processes. The purpose is to improve such
activities as product development, customer service and service delivery. It may ultimately
require the use of work teams, training employees to do more than one job and reorganising
operations, workflow and offices to simplify and speed up the work.

Dividing work into jobs- re-engineering may ultimately require: work teams, training
employees to do more than one job, reorganising operations to simplify and speed up the
work

5.1.3 External Organisational Factors

-environmental uncertainty, availability and introduction of new technology

5.1.4 Internal Organisational Factors

-management and leadership style, technology within the organisation and systems

5.2 Designing jobs

-two of the most important concerns of HR managers in South Africa today: productivity and
job satisfaction
-job design: the manipulation of the content, functions and relationships of jobs in a way that
both accomplishes organisational goals and satisfies the personal needs of individual job
holders. It determines how work is performed and affects how an employee feels about a job,
how much authority an employee has over the work, how much decision making the
employee performs on the job and how many tasks the employee should complete.

-Job design Determines:

 how much work is performed and greatly affects how an employee feels about a job.
 how much authority/autonomy an employee has over the work
 how the decision making/responsibility the employee performs on a job
 how many tasks/complexity tasks/variety tasks the employee should complete

A comprehensive model of job design:

Dimensions of job design

-job design determines the way in which, and the extent to which, tasks are completed by the
job holder
-content: variety tasks performed, autonomy of worker, job holder, routines of tasks
performed, complexity/difficulty of task, the identity of job holder, extent to which the whole
job is performed by the person involved
-functions: work methods used, responsibility, authority, coordination of work
-relationships: activities shared by job holders and others
-three approaches to job design are available for managers: specialisation-intensive,
engineering approach, motivation-intensive approach, sociotechnical approach

5.2.1 Specialisation-Intensive Jobs

- Implies the job specialisation is the job simplification, jobs are characterised by fewer and
more repetitive tasks. Specialisation determined two dimensions:
1. scope: how long it takes to complete a task
2. depth: determines the degree of specialisation
- Managers drives the performance standards for the job and determines the best way to do
the job
- Factory workers, call centres
- Benefits: employee can learn quickly through training, little or no mental effort, reduces
cost due to low skilled workers
- Problems: limit creativity, unable to learn new skills, repetition (often bored), absenteeism,
automated which replaces the workforce, little social interaction, no input by employee,
oversimplification of work (alienated), cannot see the end product

5.2.2 Motivation-Intensive Jobs

- creates interest and motivate employees
-Job rotation (alienating jobs and tasks- expanding the scope, breaks routine, does not
change depth of job)(benefits: prevents health problems associated with repeated work,
broadens skills, deals with frequent absenteeism)
-Job enlargement (increasing the number of tasks performed, depth of job not increased,
scope of job is increased)
-Job enrichment (increases motivation, employees have greater say of how job will be done,
jobs redesigned according to scope and depth, applied to organisations with large work force
and skills)

Societal approach
-self managed work teams and virtual teams
-teams that are empowered to manage themselves, divides up tasks, learn multiple jobs, train
each other, elect their own leader, evaluate each other’s job performance

5.3 Newer Organisational Approaches

5.3.1 Total Equity Management (TQM):

-total equity management: a philosophy aimed towards the continual improvement of the
quality of products/services of the organisation and its processes to meet/exceed the
expectations of customers/clients
• focuses on the equity of all the processes that lead to the final product or service
• requires support of top management and the belief that quality is a key part of every
employee’s job
• customer focus in the process of designing and improving quality
• proper implementation requires a clear vision and support of top management and a
focus on results and not the process
-South African Quality Institute (SAQI): coordinates total equity effort
-Companies can obtain TQM by accreditation by applying for certification in ISO
-South African National Accreditation System (SANAS): coordinates accreditation in
South Africa

5.4 The Office Environment

-work environment (space, workstations, light) affects employee morale, productivity and
quality, absenteeism and turnover
-creativity can happen anywhere
-retain the services of an architect or design consultant

5.5 Robotics
-the use of robotics to perform routine tasks
-industrial robots: Anthropomorphic, Nonanthropomorphic
-Anthropomorphic: approximate the appearance and functions of humans
-Nonanthropomorphic: machine-like with limited functionality
-new robots perform most of the shaping, bending and drilling work that workers used to
perform
-in SA many of these robots are found in the motor manufacturing industry
-employees need to re-skill to perform augmented jobs

5.6 Ergonomics
-taking into account the human factor in designing the employee’s workstation
-relationship between the employees and their workstations: machines, lighting, noise, chairs
can affect productivity
-consider the following aspects in designing employee workstations: posture, the hand, the
back, the environment

5.7 Productivity Measures

-productivity: measure of output of goods and services directly relative to the input of
labour, material and equipment
-quantity and volume produced
-accurate measure of productivity is vital to organisational improvement effort
-gain competitive advantage
-strategies to improve productivity and quality

Major components of productivity

-three major components of productivity:
1. Utilisation: the extent to which we use the resources
2. Efficiency: doing things right
3. Effectiveness: doing the right things

5.8 Other Job Design Issues

-5.8.1 work schedules: flexitime, compressed workweeks
-5.8.2 alternative physical work locations: telecommuting

5.9 The Nature of Job Analysis

-job analysis: is the systematic way to gather and analyse information about the content,
context and the human requirements of the jobs
-also known as job review and job classification
-end products of job analysis is job description and job specification
-job analysis investigates:
• levels of decision making
• skills employees need to do a job accurately
• autonomy of the job
• mental effort required to perform the job
 • machines operated, reports completed and special financial and other responsibilities
• working conditions (levels of temperature, light)

5.10 Importance of Job Analysis

new realities:
• organisational restricting due to downsizing
• the need to motivate and reward people
• the impact of technology on jobs throughout the organisation
• labour legislation pertaining to employment equity and general discriminatory policies
• the implementation of teams
• depth and breadth of teams

5.11 Components of a Job

-to understand a specific job and to be able to make comparisons among or between jobs, it is
important that anyone analysing a job should know that it can be broken down into several
components and arranged into a hierarchy of work activities

Job Description
-written statement of that the job holder actually does, how he/she does it, under what
conditions the job performed and the compensation value that is attached to the job

Uses:
• induction
• job evaluation
• recruitment and selection
• training and development
• performance appraisal
• industrial relations

Content:
1. Job identification
• job title
• job location within the organisation
• title of immediate supervisor
• job status (professional/administrative)
• pay grade/range
• name of compiler
• name of person who approved the job description
• date of approval

2. Job summary
• 1-3 line description of the essence of the job (start each entry with a verb)
• most common function, primary output or the objective of the job

3. Job duties and responsibilities

• start each entry with a verb
• group tasks into major functional categories incl.
3.1 duties and responsibilities: what must each person be able to do and how well
3.2 relationships: who does the job holder report to, supervise, work with, liaise with
 3.3 authority/accountability: decision making (hiring staff, discounting goods),
supervisory, budgetary
3.4 working conditions: work schedules (shift work, overtime), out of town travel,
environmental factors (noise, temperature, light)

Job Specification
-written statement of the minimum competencies, knowledge, abilities, experience and
qualifications required to perform a specific job

Content:
-physique, sensory perceptiveness (colour discernment)
-disposition/personality (calm, self-reliant)
-knowledge
-competencies
-education
-training
-work relevant prior experience
-qualifications

Hierarchy of work activities

• job family
• occupation
• job
• position
• duty
• task
• element

5.12 Programme Implementation

5.12.1 Committee Review

-participants are representatives from labour unions, all major departments in the organisation
and professional bodies and with increased workplaces forums there is greater involvement of
employees
-the quality of job analysis depends on the accuracy of information gathered, the objectivity
of job analysis and evaluation and the ability of committee to make critical decisions

5.12.2 Information Collection

-general methods:
• sit observations (observing people at work) (positives: can minimise incumbent basis,
embellishment of duties or overlooking important aspects of job)
( negatives :employees may resent being observed and some types of jobs cannot be
observed)
• work sampling (a variation of site observation, random sampling of the content of a
job instead of observing all the employees’ behaviours) (positives: useful for highly
repetitive jobs) (negatives: analyst must ensure that it is done correctly)
• interviews (job analyst uses structured interviews- one on one sessions or meetings
with a sample of groups) (positives: job analyst can probe uncertainties or
complexities) (negatives: time consuming process, data collected may not be
standardised or comparable)
 • diaries (job holders keeps a diary of work activities and it is maintained for 2-4
weeks) (positives: cost effective and comprehensive) (negatives: time consuming
process for the employee, there might be employee bias and jobs, or tasks could be
added)
• questionnaires (instrument consisting of a series of questions for the purpose of
gathering information from respondents) (positives: most efficient method, results are
standardised and comparable, data can be converted into quantitative scale)(negatives:
questionnaire requires thoughtful planning and can be expensive)
-specific methods:
• job element method
• ability requirement scales
• the comprehensive occupational data analysis programme (CODAP)
• the management position description questionnaire (MPDQ)
• functional job analysis (FJA)
• the common-metric questionnaire (CMQ)
• the work profiling system (WPS)

5.12.3 Information Review

-assemble and review information, data factual, correct and complete, data analysis is
comparable and objective, establish standard categories about the job, create a draft)
`
5.12.4 product completion
-completion of whatever products are desired by management
-job description, job specification

5.12.5 Job Description (JD)

-written summary of task requirements for a particular job
-most common end product of a job analysis process
-have no exact format

5.12.6 Uses of a Job Description

• recruitment
• interviewing
• orientation
• training
• job evaluation
• job design
• wage/salary survey
• performance appraisal
• health and safety
• outplacement

5.12.7 Elements of a Job Description

• job identification
• job summary
• job duties and responsibilities

5.12.8 Job Specification

• skills
• knowledge
 • abilities

5.12.9 Future Use and Updating

-determine how the information will be stored for future use
5.13 Job Analysis Problems
-employee fear
-need to update information regularly
-job is held by only one or two employees
-managers often feel restricted as they are of the opinion that the job analysis and job design
have an impact on the flexibility that they have

5.14 Newer Research on Job Design

-job crafting
-generational differences and reactions to jobs
-transformational leadership
-job design and new work arrangements
-job design in a digitised gig economy

Summary
• Understanding how people are motivated – that is, their needs and goals – is critical to
modern job design.
• The task employees perform on the job and the variety, difficulty level and autonomy of
the job greatly affect job satisfaction, engagement and productivity.
• Employees, individually or in work teams, are being asked to take on greater
responsibility for the design and control of their jobs. Simple, repetitive tasks are
eliminated whenever possible, generally resulting in jobs that are more motivating and
challenging. At the same time, some degree of job specialisation is necessary so that new
employees can learn their jobs quickly and make fewer errors.
• Programmes such as job enrichment, self-managed work groups, TQM and re-
engineering have resulted in redesigned jobs that were previously highly specialised and
boring. There is also a trend toward multiskilling, whereby team members learn multiple
tasks. Organisations are adopting work teams and giving them more freedom and
responsibilities.
• Total Quality Management (TQM) is one of the fastest-growing productivity
improvement programmes in the world. It is based on the principle of commitment to
continuous improvement and meeting customers' needs. It is largely a bottom-up change
effort.
• Re-engineering is more radical. It involves more than tweaking old procedures; it is the
redesign of business processes to achieve major gains in cost, service or time. The process
begins with the simple but powerful question: If we could start from scratch, how would
we do this? It is different from TQM because it comes from the top down.
• Technology plays an important role in modern job design. Robotics and AI, ergonomics
and the office environment can improve employee creativity, productivity and quality.
The introduction of other technology might also be useful but should be properly
governed by policy in organisations to ensure that it does not negatively influence
productivity.
• In addition to job design, organisations may choose to implement programmes that
increase workplace flexibility. These programmes tend to adopt a scheduling mix
between employees' needs and the organisation's staffing requirements in ways that are
consistent with the company's culture. Compressed work weeks, flexitime programmes
 and telecommuting are the most common approaches. Employees who desire greater
control over work hours, who would like easier commuting, or want a different lifestyle
will be attracted to organisations that offer these types of programmes.
• A sound JA programme produces many benefits for an organisation. Information critical
to employment and compensation is collected on a systematic basis. JDs, JSs and JEs can
easily be produced from the JA data. Thus, critical HR practices such as hiring, wage
determination and administrative record-keeping are assisted by job analysis.
• Information collection should always begin by conducting a background search. Internal
sources can include previous job analyses, interviews with job incumbents and job
supervisors, site observations by the analyst, questionnaires and diaries.
• There are several job analysis methods, with each having certain advantages, depending
on the purpose, cost and time. The most popular method is the PAQ. A more complex
method that demands computer analysis and that can handle thousands of jobs and people
is the FJA.
• Job analysis is necessary to comply with the primary employment provisions. The process
helps to determine essential functions and whether an individual can carry out the
essential functions with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Job descriptions generally should contain a complete identification of the job and its
location within the organisation. The section on duties and responsibilities should group
all tasks into major functional categories, and each entry should begin with verbs. Job
specifications should include all SKAs needed to perform the job, as well as other
minimum qualifications
• Pandemics and national disasters can affect an employee’s job design. Not only are they
required to work from home, but they must rely on information technology to
communicate and complete their tasks. Working from home might affect an employee’s
productivity and performance, job satisfaction and work-life balance, if not correctly
managed. It is therefore important for organisations to continuously update an employee’s
JD during a pandemic or national disaster as they employee’s duties and workload might
change.

•
Chapter 6 – Recruitment and Selection
-Recruitment: the process of acquiring applicants who are available and qualified to fill
positions in the organistation. Encourages individuals to seek employment
-Selection: the process of choosing from a group of applicants the individual best suited from
a particular position. Identify and employ the best-qualified individuals for specific positions

6.1 Linking The Role of Recruitment and Selection

-The key role of recruitment and selection in its simplest form:

6.2 The recruitment Process in a Diverse Workforce

-The recruitment process consists of a sequence of steps that should be followed to ensure
that the organisation obtains the best selection of possible applicants who could be above-
average employees
-Political, demographic and economic factors in SA require employers to use more flexible
and innovative recruitment methods
-The largest potential source of employees in SA is non-working women caring for their
families at home

Recruitment Strategies in a Diverse Workforce

-Non-traditional recruitment strategies:
• Training programmes for disadvantaged groups: cover basic writing, maths skills and
job-specific instructions. Takes place under Adult Basic Education and Training
(ABET) Scheme
• Mentoring: on the job approach to training and development
• Learnerships/apprenticeships and mentoring programmes
• Career exhibitions: special incentives designed to attract older applicants, such as
bursaries, housing, transport and free education for children
• Tele-recruiting
• Diversity data banks
• Talent acquisition

6.3 Labour Market Information

-Labour market is the geographical area from which employees are recruited for a particular
job.
-Surveys are conducted to obtain labour market information
-In SA – Payscale
-Important stats used for the recruitment process: unemployment rate in the country, labour
force participation rate

6.3.1 Labour market sources

-Most available people for recruitment are the unemployed who can be contacted through
direct application, employment agencies or advertisements . Other sources when recruiting
candidates:
• Part-time employees
• Underemployed individuals
• Pirating (companies recruit employees from other organisations)

6.3.2 Operation of the labour market

-In reality, the labour market does not operate according to the simple economic model of
salary levels and labour supply. Most of the people looking for jobs are not even aware of the
labour market in the area

6.4 Recruitment Sources

-once management has determined an organisation’s staffing requirements, the recruitment
process begins
-first decision is whether a job opening should be filled by someone already employed
(internal - transfer or promotion) or by an applicant from outside (external)
-Normally they start internal and then move to external sources
Advantages of internal and external recruitment

Disadvantages of internal and external recruitment

Methods of Recruitment

6.4.1 Internal sources (internal applicants)

 Employee relocation in the business
 Problem with internal promotions - glass ceiling: practices that have prevented
women from advancing to executive level jobs
 COVID-19 pandemic has led to organisations looking at internal talent pool

6.4.2 External sources (external applicants)

 Peter Principle

6.5 Methods of Recruitment

E-recruitment and online recruitment

• Define corporate culture
• Remember employer branding
6.5.1 Internal Recruitment Methods
Job posting
-a system in which the employer provides notices of job openings and employees respond to
apply
-one of the most popular methods of filling positions
-includes at least four proven, effective processes: traditional bulletin boards, e-mail-based
systems, telephone voice-mail based systems, the organisation’s intranet
-job posting can create serious employee morale problems if not handled properly
-if properly used, it can help employees feel that they have some control over their future in
the organisation

6.5.2 External Recruitment Methods

Direct applications
-for many organisations, direct applications by mail or in person are the largest source of
applicants
-new university graduates as applicants are sometimes e-mailed to fill a position

Employee referrals
-one of the best means of recruiting
-employees can be encouraged to help their employees locate and hire qualified applicants by
rewards or by recognition for those who assist the recruitment process
-employees who recommend applicants place their own names of the line

University/school campus recruiting

-employers’ pre-screening of students has replaced the old method of selection from the
university CV repository
-pre-screening programmes are designed to identify top students and begin to introduce them
to organisations

Private employee/recruitment agencies

-some HR departments have increased their use of private employment agencies, some use
them as last resort as it is quite expensive

Advertising
-in a growing number of fields (engineering, healthcare) employers are having a difficult time
attracting suitably qualified applicants
-they are increasingly relying on recruitment advertising and have begun using more creative
adverts

Direct mail
-direct mail campaign
-used to lure professionals who are currently employed but willing to consider a job with
greater opportunities

Rerecruiting
-strategic approach in which relationships with employees formerly employed by the
organisation are maintained and in which the organisation keeps track of them to determine
whether they would be willing to return to the organisation
E-recruitment, online recruitment and the use of technology in recruitment
-online recruitment is attractive because it is cheaper to use and the response rate is quicker.
-tips for organisations who are interested in e-recruiting:
• Define corporate culture
• Don’t forget employer branding
• Create interactive self-assessment tools
• Make career opportunities accessible
• Organise job postings to make viewing manageable
• Update job openings weekly and remove jargon
• Integrate e-mail
• Build repeat business
• Observe best-practice sites
• Outsource
• Navigability

Advantages and disadvantages of internet recruiting

6.6 Hiring alternatives

6.6.1 Assigning overtime

-of temporary nature]-choosing overtime means using experienced, knowledgeable
employees who don’t require any additional training
-overtime also means additional fatigue for employees who have already worked their full
shift

6.6.2 Temporary help

-may be less costly
-can quickly be trained to be productive on the job

6.6.3 Leasing employees

-or they use labour brokers
-organisations may lease employees for several reasons: cannot afford a pension programme
or other benefits, so they may lose good employers to large organisations
-the leasing organisation is also responsible for all HR functions thus relieving the hiring
organisation of this burden

6.7 Recruitment and the law

• Labour Relations Act No. 66 of 1995 (amended) (LRA)
• Basic Conditions of Employment Act No. 75 of 1997 (amended) (BCEA)
• Employment Equity Act No. 55 of 1998 (amended) (EEA)

6.8 Selection
-the ideal situation, selecting involves choosing the best applicant to fill a position
-after the position opens, the HR manager reviews the available, qualified applicants and fills
the position from that pool
-the selection process involves making a judgement -about the fit between the applicant and
the job

6.9 An HR responsibility
-selection process is usually cantered in the HR department
-New employment legislation makes this process more complicated
-Centred in the HR department
-Involves individuals from other departments
-Effective selection influences productivity
-Technology has become integrated into selection process, especially since COVID-19
-while the HR department is usually responsible for selection, individual managers are often
involved in the interviewing process
-selection process also relies on managers to assist in developing job specifications and
writing job descriptions, which are critical for determining the needs for the particular
position and the best qualified applicants

6.10 Selection and the law

-Employment Equity Act, No. 55 of 1998
• All forms of discrimination not allowed
• Preferential treatment to previously disadvantaged (black people, coloured people,
Asian people, women and people with disabilities)
-with the implementation of this act, the selection process itself has become critically
important to organisations
-direct discrimination: racial grounds, where person is treated less favourably
-indirect discrimination: applying a requirement/ conduction is such that a considerable
smaller portion of a particular racial group can comply with it and cannot be justifiable on
grounds other than racial grounds

6.11 The Selection Process

Organisational goals and objectives
-hiring policy of organisation
-establish how the employees fit into the overall framework of the organisation

Job design
-determining duties and responsibilities each job will entail

Criteria used to determine success on the job

-discovering which employees are successful will determine what kind of employee to recruit
and select in the future

Job descriptions and specifications

-generated from job analysis, which specifies the duties and responsibilities as well as which
traits, skills, qualifications and background an individual must have to qualify for the job

Recruitment efforts
-the end result should be a pool of applicants from which the most suitable is chosen

Instruments/techniques used to identify the most suitable applicant to select for job
-which combinations of interviews, tests or selection devices to use in the selection process
for each particular job

6.12 Steps in the Selection Process

Step 1: Initial screening

-Minimises the HR department must spend on the selection process by removing obviously
unqualified/undesirable applicants
-Determines whether the applicant has the critical job specifications or requirements of EEA
-CV red flags: warning signs that might require further investigation
-CV tracking system: for an initial CV screening, putting in all CVs received into a computer
database, each CV is edited and stored by key words and a response letter is sent to applicant
Step 2: Application blanks (forms)
-Information obtained is compared to JS to determine if there is a potential match
-Best method is weighted application blank: placing a value or score on the application blank
that has been found to predict successful job performance. Applicants receive points
according to the info they report on the form and can then be ranked on the basis of total
points
-CV method: provide background info to prospective employers

Uses of application blank:

• To do background checks and develop interview questions and verification of
applicant’s past work history and references
• Used as screening devices to generate bold assessments in which the HR specialist
reviews the applications and determines the general desirability of each applicant
• A more objective screening technique using application blanks: HR specialist can rate
each applicant on particular job related areas

Step 3: Interviews
-The purpose of the interview is to determine if the applicant has the ability to perform the
job and to be motivated to perform the job and to determine if the applicant's needs match
those of the organisation
-Reliability & validity of interviews: selection interview is low in both.
-Structured & objective process: traditional interviews process usually result in the
interviewer hiring who they felt most comfortable with. Today, they have developed
structured & objective processes with the goal of achieving controlled subjectivity
-Problems with interview:
• personal biases
• all interviews & interviewees are different
• setting of the interview may affect the outcome
• maximum number of people to interview & deadline for filling the position =
additional pressure placed on interviewer
• Online interviewing may present discomfort
-Effective interviewing:
 Setting
 Documentation
 Standardisation
 Scoring
 Reviewing specifications
 Reviewing the application blank
 Training the interviewer
 Job-related questions
-Types of interviews:
 Panel interview: board of interviewers question and observes a candidate
 Structured interview (directive/patterned): same set of predermined questions
is asked for all applicants
 Unstructured (not advisable)
-Realistic job preview: The process through which a job applicant receives an accurate
picture of a job.
Step 4: Pre-employment testing
-Reliability: The consistency with which a test measures an item.
-Validity: The extent to which a test actually measures what it says it measures.
-Employment Equity Act Section 8 of Chapter II
-Managerial selection devices
 Assessment centres
 In-basket techniques

Step 5: Reference checks

-Methods (personal visits, telephonic, mail)
-Telephone – advantages:
• Immediate clarification of significant issues.
• More information can be obtained than through mailed forms.
• Relatively inexpensive.
• Additional areas of enquiry can be uncovered during the conversation.
• A structured form can be used, which makes a fast, efficient conversation
possible and provides the necessary documentation of the findings.
-Personal references
• Verify data received on application blank of during interview
• Evaluate the quality of the personal recommendation
• Determine how well the person knows the applicant
• Include a specific person as a reference
-Previous employers

Step 6: Medical examination

-After job offer has been made
-Contingent to passing the medical examination
-EEA Section 7(1) and (2) & Section 50(4)
• Can test if it can be justified

6. 13 The Selection Decision

-Deciding which applicant should be offered the postion can be accomplished by one of two
processes: Compensatory selection and Multiple hurdles selection
-Compensatory selection: All applicants who pass the initial screening will be tested,
interviewed etc.
-Multiple hurdles selection: Applicant needs to pass each hurdle (step)

6.14 Recording Keeping

-EEA and the LRA: it has become necessary for organisations to keep a complete set of
records pertaining to the recruitment and selection staff
-Keep complete set of records of the recruitment and selection process
-It acts as roof of non-discrimination
-Keep documents such as advertisements, contract with employment agencies etc.

6.15 Selection and Technology

-HRIS is used in the recruitment & selection process
-Storing resumes of applicants electronically
-Internet & search engines used during recruitment & selection
-HRIS & other software used to keep track of applications & scores during selection
Summary
• Recruitment requires the HR specialist to acquire a pool of available and qualified
applicants. The recruiters can tap a variety of sources, including current employees,
part-time employees, the unemployed and employees of other organisations who feel
they are underemployed. Various methods can be used.
• Job-posting programmes are widely used to recruit applicants for positions. Voicemail
and e-mail systems offer several advantages over traditional bulletin boards.
• Effective recruitment advertising has increased because of the use of common
marketing research tools. The need for advertising has increased because of dual-
career couples and a general unwillingness to relocate on the part of professional and
technical employees.
• Current employees are often the most common source of applicants for higher-level
positions. They offer the organisation several advantages over external applicants and
give all employees the incentive of knowing that they may be promoted as a reward
for hard work.
• Overtime, temporary help and leasing are alternative sources of additional labour.
Depending on the number of hours and skills needed, these recruitment sources may
be more desirable than hiring permanent employees.
• University/school campus recruitment has become more competitive and employers
are more sophisticated in their methods. A poor economy should signal to students the
need to use innovative job leads.
• The selection process generally centres around the HR office. It is one of the most
critical functions in HR because an organisation’s effectiveness depends on its
employees. The selection process is not, however, one of scientific precision. Instead
of finding the single best person, managers strive to select an applicant who has the
ability and motivation to perform the job for many years.
• The interview tends to be the most commonly used tool. Subject to reliability
problems, the structuring of the interview questions, training and the scoring of
answers can greatly improve reliability and usefulness of the interview as a decision
tool.
• Pre-employment tests can be effective tools in the selection process. If carefully
selected, validated and monitored, they can help select applicants who will match the
position’s requirements.
• Reference checking has increased in use but has been subjected to legal challenges.
Employers can legally provide factual and accurate information, but they should be
able to verify any job-related information they release.
• Technology is increasingly being used in the recruitment and selection of employees.
• The COVID-19 pandemic allowed organisations to adopt virtual recruitment and
selection strategies. Consequently, more organisations will adopt virtual recruitment
technologies, change their efforts to attract remote candidates, consider internal
applicants, and focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Chapter 7 – Employee Onboarding, Motivation and Retention
-Onboarding: A process that starts before the employee joins the organisation, continuing
for several months and which aims to develop employee behaviours and knowledge that will
ensure the long-term success and commitment of the employee to the organisation
-Orientation: The process of integrating the new employee into the organisation and
acquainting them with the details and requirements of the job

7.1 Purposes of Onboarding and Orientation

-Employee needs to know how he/she fits into the organisation.
-Employees must understand the goals, policies & procedures of the organisation.
-Must understand ‘How things are done around here’.
-The importance of becoming a member of the team
-Employees must be made aware of the developmental opportunities inside the organisation
and externally.
-Creating a sense of belonging – how their job fits into the overall organisation
-Identifying the basic responsibilities of the job
-Indicating the required behaviour patterns for effective job performance
-Building a bond with the new employee by means of effective communication & guidance

Objectives of Orientation:
-Main objective of orientation: integration of the new employee into the organisation quickly,
so that they can become an effective employee as soon as possible.
-Focus of onboarding is to strike a balance between providing information & equipping the
new employee with knowledge of the job & the work environment whilst making a positive
long-term impact on the employee that will influence their behaviour & commitment to the
organisation.

7.2 A Model of Orientation

Phase 1 – Anticipatory socialisation

-encompasses all the learning that occurs before a new employee joins the organisation
1. Realism about the organisation
2. Realism about the job
3. Congruence of skills and abilities
4. Congruence of needs and values

Phase 2 – Encounter
-new employees see what the organisation is truly like and in which some initial shifting of
values, skills and attitudes may occur
1. Management of outside-life conflicts
2. Management of intergroup role conflicts
3. Role definition
4. Initiation to the task
5. Initiation to the group

Phase 3 – Change and acquisition

-relatively long-lasting changes take place
1. Resolution of role demands
2. Task mastery
3. Adjustment to group norms and values
Three Effective Outcomes for the Model:
• General Job Satisfaction
• Internal work motivation
• Job Involvement

7.3 Benefits of Orientation

-An effective orientation programme will reduce the adjustment problems of new employees
by creating a sense of security, confidence and belonging for them
-For the newcomer:
• Feeling secure and welcome
• Reduced stress
• Understanding how to contribute to the employer
• Avenue to share thoughts, feelings and ideas to role
-For the employer:
• Lower staff turnover
• Greater commitment to values & goals
• Higher performance as a result of faster learning times
• Fewer costly & time-consuming mistakes
• Better customer service through heightened productivity
• Improved manager/subordinate relationships
• Better understanding of company policies, goals & procedures

7.4 Reasons for Ineffective Onboarding and Orientation

-Supervisors responsible for the task either lack the time or ability to fulfil this obligation.
-Organisations do not regard anxiety and stress, owing to insecurity and unfulfilled
expectations, as a primary cause of labour turnover among new employees. They therefore
consider orientation to reduce anxiety and stress as unnecessary.
-Organisations regard effective recruitment, selection, training and development as
substitutes for orientation.
-Where orientation programmes are introduced, the key components are lacking.
-Orientation is aimed at inducing new employees to adhere to organisational practices and
procedures while little attention is paid to instilling loyalty and commitment to the
organisation.
-Employees who are transferred or promoted within the organisation are not subjected to
orientation programmes.
-Orientation programmes are not followed up, i.e. the success of these programmes is not
determined.
-Orientation programmes often concentrate on promoting the image of the organisation.

7.5 Responsibility for Onboarding and Orientation

-The supervisor ensures that the employees in the section receive all the information
necessary to enable them to function as efficiently and effectively as possible (introduction of
new employees to co-workers, explaining job duties and responsibilities as well as policies,
procedures, rules and regulations and also taking the employees on a familiarisation tour of
the workplace)
-The chair/head of department meets all new employees and briefly explains to them the role
and responsibilities of the particular department within the organisation
-The HR department the employment contract, compensation, loan facilities, medical
schemes, pension plans and the development and monitoring of the success of the induction
programme
-A ‘mentor’ or ‘buddy’
-The shop steward/staff representative
-New employees
-A 'mentor' or 'buddy‘: responsible for assisting the new employee regarding how to
operate basic equipment such as photocopiers, telephones and faxes and how to dispose of
the mail. He/she may also demonstrate how to log on to computers, generate passwords and
use basic programs (junior member of the workgroup).
-The shop steward/staff representative: explains issues such as grievance and disciplinary
procedures
-New employees: responsible for the completion of induction evaluation forms. They must
also provide informal feedback to the HR department and supervisors if requested

7.6 Who Should Be Exposed to Onboarding and Orientation?

1. New employees: do not assume that new employees would immediately know what it has
taken others months or years to learn
2. Transferred/promoted employees: current employees who have been transferred or
promoted within the organisation should receive induction training (especially if it involves a
significant change of environment)
3. All current employees: reinduction programme involving all current employees should
take place periodically (important if significant changes in organisational policies or
structures have taken place e.g. if one organisation is purchased by another)

7.7 The Scope of Orientation

-Two levels:
• General organisational orientation – affects all employees in the organisation
• Specific departmental orientation – tailored to the new employee’s specific
department

7.7.1 Employee handbook

-Consists of the policies, procedures, working conditions and expectations that guide
employees.
-Traditionally, these were in printed format, but most organisations today use an electronic
format that is accessible via the HRIS.

7.8 Approaches to Orientation

-Two types of employee orientation:
• Formal orientation: The organisation plans and officially conducts it at a given time.
• Informal orientation: This type of orientation is unplanned and unofficially
conducted by co-workers, as well as the individual.
-Five approaches followed during the orientation programme:
1. Verbal
 2. Written
3. Audiovisual
4. Systems-based
5. Digital

7.9 How Long should the Orientation Training Be?

-Avoid cramming all orientation (detailed information) into one long session
-Sessions should not be longer than 2 hours
-Period of orientation should be linked to time it takes to become effective
-Follow-up sessions are important after ± 2 months

7.10 Planning an Orientation Programme

-Developing an orientation programme takes 3-6 months
-Key planning considerations:
• Orientation policy: A properly formulated orientation policy, drawn up jointly by
management and employees, should be officially adopted by top management before
the programme is designed.
• Budget: An adequate budget should be made available.
• Other planning considerations. Several other aspects must also be considered:
– Time to plan & implement the programme
– Programme goals, topics to be included, methods/systems to
organise and present
– Duration of sessions
– General organisation topics versus department and job topics to be
covered
– Qualifications and training needs of HR personnel, line managers &
supervisors
– Programme flexibility to accommodate employee differences in
education, skills & work experience

7.11 Designing an Orientation Programme

-Different groups in the organisation require different orientation programmes (e.g.
management & non-management).
-Design programme to include all the information the newcomer will ‘need-to-know’ and the
‘nice-to-know’.
-‘Need-to-know’: information the newcomer requires as soon as possible to fit in & be
effective
-‘Nice-to-know’: can be given over a period of time as they settle in
-When using written material and video presentations it is important that the newcomer
understands them
-The information to the newcomer can be divided into two main categories of information:
• Job-related information: This information describes what the job entails and how it
is done.
• General information: This includes a great deal of information, such as fringe
benefits, safety and accident prevention, and physical facilities.

7.12 Implementing the Onboarding Process and Orientation Programme

-Onboarding starts even before the new employee joins the organisation and orientation
normally begins begins on the first day
-Steps to take when implementing the onboarding process & orientation programme:
• Pre-employment preparation: onboarding process begins during the recruitment and
selection stage. First impressions of the organisation are formed at this stage
• Pre-employment information: once selection process has been finalised, a formal
letter of appointment congratulating the new employee must be written. This forms
part of the onboarding process
• First-day instructions
• The welcome pack: contains more information about the organisation
• Organising the work: duties that the new employee will perform
• Briefing colleagues
• Administrative arrangements: office must be prepared
• Training
• Duration: first day should be a short one
• On arrival
• Basic information: should be first introduced to a senior manager or may proceed
directly to the HR department
• The initial discussion: once all paperwork is completed, the employee meets the
department head
• Building the relationship
• Immediate supervisor
• The buddy or mentor

7.13 Evaluation of the Orientation Programme

-One of the most important steps in the onboarding process
-Benefits:
• To ensure that the organisation is spending its money wisely and achieving positive
results
• To ensure that the methods used to assist new employees, to integrate and become
effective workers in the organisation, are the most suitable
-Quantitative information: labour turnover statistics; accident, sickness and absenteeism
rates:
• Gather information from: questionnaires, surveys, exit interviews, course evaluation
forms
-Qualitative information:
• Who should be involved?
• What will be measured?

7.14 Problems with orientation programmes

-Too much emphasis on paperwork
-Information overload
-Scare tactics
-Overselling the organisation
-Emphasis on formal, one-way communication
-One-shot mentality
-No diagnosis or evaluation of the programme
-Lack of ‘follow-up’
-Not adjusting orientation when work changes, e.g. due to a pandemic that led to remote
working
Mistakes in the onboarding process
-Failure to:
• Engage the new employee on their first day
• Articulate clear responsibilities
• Address culture fit
• Link onboarding to desired skills
• Deliver feedback early & often
• Engage with newcomer regularly when needs change
• Provide support to newcomers or changing onboarding measures when newcomers
work virtually

7.15 Motivation
-Motivation: The force that energises behaviour, gives direction to behaviour and underlies
the tendency to persist, even in the face of obstacles.
-Completing the orientation process does not guarantee satisfactory employee performance
-Many factors affect the performance of individual employees – their abilities, the effort they
expend and the continued organisational support they receive
-HR should analyse and address these areas
-Motivators are specific to an individual
-A manager should attempt to meet the employee’s important needs/basic requirements for
worker productivity
-Increased diversity of workforce

7.15.1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Se
lf-
ac
tu
ali
sa
tio
Self-esteem
n
Social needs

Security needs

Physical needs

7.15.2 Alderfer’s ERG Theory

-Closely related to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
-ERG theory: (existence, relatedness and growth)
-Differences do exist, however
-Alderfer proposes that, when one need is frustrated, we simply concentrate on the others

7.15.3 Achievement motivation

-David McClelland
-Three needs are emphasised: achievement, affiliation & power
– The need to achieve (nAch)
– The need for affiliation (nAff)
– The need for power (nPow)

7.15.4 Goal-setting
-Edwin Locke
-Job performance can be increased through goal setting – when individuals are given
measurable goals rather than vague performance standards
-Best-known expression of goal setting theory is management by objectives
-Goal-setting strategies involve a systematic process  manager & subordinate discuss and
agree on a set of jointly determined goals
1. -Present a case for or against each goal
2. -Final result: a set of goals that is in keeping with the overall goals of the organisation
3. -Feedback on progress is periodically supplied, enabling the worker to make
necessary corrections
4. -Link between performance & rewards is clear (emphasis on what is achieved rather
than on how)

7.15.5 Positive Reinforcement

-The practice of giving valued rewards to someone who has engaged in a desired behaviour
-Law of effect: behaviour that leads to a pleasant response will be repeated, whereas
behaviour that results in an unpleasant response tends not to be repeated.
-Reinforcement is at the heart of merit increases
-For reinforcement to continue to affect employees’ future behaviour manager must make
certain that rewards are meaningful and desired by each employee
-Manager must tailor the reward, whether it be recognition, pay or changing job
requirements, to fit the employee
-Manager must be sure that employees realise that rewards are contingent on correct
behaviour.

7.15.6 Herzberg’s Two-factor Theory

-Frederick Herzberg
-Motivator-hygiene factors – applied to the workplace and job design
-Herzberg noticed that people identified different things as sources of work dissatisfaction
(hygiene factors) from those that were sources of satisfaction (motivators)
-Satisfaction and dissatisfaction not simple opposites
7.15.7 The great debate: for love of money
-There is an intense debate over the roots of human motivation
-Behaviourists: human behaviour is the product of consequences; money is a motivating
factor in work
-Anti-behaviourists: Monetary rewards do not bring employees happiness and may work
against employers; natural rewards motivate people (e.g. giving people a variety of
worthwhile work)

7.16 Individual/Organisational Relationships

-Individual performance is the result of motivated employee behaviour
-It is also known that motivated employee behaviour is best achieved by integrating personal
goals with the goals of the organisation
-Personal goals can only be integrated with those of the organisation if employees’
expectations of their employer as well as the employer’s expectations of the individual
employees are clearly spelt out during the negotiation phase of the ‘joining-up’ process
-The psychological contract: Unwritten mutual expectations/obligations employees and
employers have about the nature of their work relationships

7.16.1 The psychological contract

-Physical contracts that lay the foundation of employment relationships involve employees’
beliefs about what they are entitled to receive or should receive because they perceive that
their employer has made promises to provide these things
-Managers or supervisors should be trained to properly manage the psychological contract of
newcomers as unfulfilled psychological contracts, or breach, can have a negative impact on
the ability of the newcomer to fully adjust to their new work environment
-Violations of the psychological contract: two types - reneging and incongruence
-Changing of the psychological contract (differences between the old and new contract):
• Old contracts: organisation is ‘parent’ to the employee ‘child’, primary route for
growth is through promotion, the employee’s identity and worth are defined by the
organisation, those who stay are good and loyal others are bad and disloyal
• New contracts: the organisation and employee enter into ‘adult’ contracts focused on
mutually beneficial work, employee’s identity and worth are defined by the
employee, employees have different needs from a few years ago, primary route for
growth is a sense of personal accomplishment, long term employment is unlikely,
regular flow of people in and out of the organisation is healthy

Practical implications for companies regarding psychological contract: not all questions can
be answered fully, physical contracts can serve as a basis for helping practitioners and
researchers to predict individual behaviour
Employee engagement: focuses on the psychological commitment of an employee to the roles
assigned to him or her in the organisation

7.17 Retention of Human Resources

-Organisations expect the obligations from employees to:
• work contracted hours
 • do a quality piece of work
• deal honestly with clients
• be loyal and guard the organisation’s reputation
• treat property carefully
• dress and behave correctly
• be flexible and to go beyond one’s job description if necessary
-Employees expect employers to:
• Provide adequate onboarding and training
• Ensure fairness in selection, appraisal and promotion procedures
• Be fair in the allocation of benefits
• Provide what job security they can

Retention Factors

Summary
• Starting a new job is not easy. It is important to pay careful attention to the
introduction of newcomers to the organisation, their co-workers and their jobs. This
also applies to transferred and promoted employees. Organisations can achieve this
with a well-designed onboarding process and orientation programme.
• Implementing the orientation programme successfully requires a joint effort from the
HR department, line managers and existing employees, and alternative delivery
methods have to be considered when staff work from remote locations.
• Whereas the first day of the new employee at the organisation is critical, there are
limits to what can be achieved, so onboarding often has to be spread over a longer
period. As more and more employees work from remote locations, these meetings and
training sessions are facilitated by means of Zoom or MS Teams.
• When planning the orientation programme, it is important to note not only the content
of the programme but also the best way of implementing it. The programme will also
have to be monitored and evaluated regularly to correct any problems and to see
whether any redesign is necessary.
• Successful onboarding will lead to better-motivated employees and higher
productivity within the organisation.
• When onboarding has been completed, it is important that employees receive proper
training to improve their skills within the job environment. This can be done by
means of MS Teams, Zoom, or other online/digital platforms or apps.
• Individual performance components include individual ability, effort expended and
organisational support.
• Motivation deals with the needs and desires of human behaviour. Various theories of
motivation have been developed.
• A psychological contract contains the unwritten expectations that employees and
employers have about the nature of their work relationship. Those contracts are
changing, along with employee loyalty to their employers.
• Retention of employees is a major focus of HR efforts in organisations. The
determinants of retention can be broadly divided into four categories.
Chapter 15 – Human Resource Management in Virtual
Organisation

Technology Has:
-Prompted changes in company structures (e.g. virtual organisation)
-Modified work arrangements (e.g. virtual team)
-Influenced how people are managed (e.g. virtual workplace)

15.1 Virtual Organisations

-Virtual organisations: multi-site, multi-organisational and dynamic organisations
consisting of a grouping of units of different organisations that have joined in an alliance to
exploit complementary skills, in pursuing common strategic objectives.
-Virtual organisations are characterised as those organisations in which the ongoing
relationships with partners are salient.
-Core business activities are reduced, leaving the partners to focus on some of the key
business functions.
-Core (or central organisation) is connected with the partners through technology.
-Virtual organisations tend to be characterised as flexible, and their structure as transitory and
fluid.
-Many definitions of the concept tend to see groups as important. Some appear to see virtual
teams as a sufficient condition for an organisation to be called a virtual organisation.
-Virtual organisations must have partners, a core, be flexible, have the capacity to connect all
the partners with the core, have a focus on teams and be perceived by those working either
internally or externally as an organisation

15.2 The Virtual Workplace

-Virtual workplace: A new organisational form based on the idea of working anytime,
anywhere in real space or in cyberspace
-Three forms of virtual work arrangements: 1) Telecommuting: where people work away
from the office (home) 2) The frontline: where people work away from the office (customer’s
site) 3) Cyberlink: where teams of people are linked to the same process in a virtual space

15.2.1 Telecommunicating
-Telecommuting: Work carried out in a location, for example a home, that is remote from
the central offices, where the employee has no personal contact with co-workers but is able to
communicate with them by electronic means.
-Aspects to consider:
§ The location the employee is working from is suitable
§ The equipment provided is user-friendly
§ Employees are provided with logistical support
§ Performance is monitored
§ Changes in job roles, personal circumstances & organisational goals are monitored
-Benefits of telecommuting:
§ Advantages for employers: happier and more satisfied employees, reduction in
expensive office space, increased flexibility, reduced relocation costs
 § Advantages for employees: ability to concentrate, reduced time in traffic, less money
spent on petrol and lunches, flexible working time and improved well-being
§ Disadvantages for employers: need to have the appropriate technology in place to
handle telecommuters, deciding which jobs are telecommuting-appropriate, dealing
with morale issues of those employees not eligible for telecommuting
§ Disadvantages for employees: career stagnation, lack of connectivity or social
interaction, potential lack of direction, feeling lonely
-Skills needed:
§ Organisational skills
§ Decision-making skills
§ Motivation
§ Communication skills

15.2.2 The frontline model

-Moving employees (e.g. sales and service) out of the office and into the field to work from
remote locations, mobile offices and customer locations is characteristic of the front line
model.
-At these remote locations employees can share offices which can result in huge cost savings
for the organisation. It can also contribute to better service delivery to customers, as
employees are physically closer.

15.2.3 The Cyberlink model

-Found whenever teams involving customers, suppliers and/or producers form to manage
work collaboratively. These groups work together face to face and in cyberspace to realise a
product or service goal. The groups can also be called virtual teams.
-Goal of the cyberlink model is to capture the hearts and minds of the customer and
encourage repeat business.
-The core of the cyberlink model thus consists of virtual teams.
-Virtual teams: team, of people who use telecommunications technology to link team
members who are dispersed geographically, primarily interact electronically and may meet
face to face occasionally

Characteristics of virtual teams:

§ Group must have some charter for working together.
§ Group must be interdependent.
§ Group must be committed to working together.
§ Group must be accountable as a unit to someone or something in the bigger organisation.
§ Thrive on interdependence
§ Enjoy ambiguity in job responsibilities
§ Strong communication skills
§ Motivated and energetic
§ Shared leadership

Types of virtual teams:

-Project teams: group of members come together for the duration of a specific period
-Service teams: solve problems and provide advice
-Process teams: members are called upon to address the challenges the team is facing

Why virtual teams?

-Cost benefits of implementing virtual teams
-Complexity of virtual teamworking
-Technology for virtual teams

15.3 HRM Practises in Virtual Organisations

-Different generations of employees:
• Traditionalists
• Baby Boomers
• Generation X
• Millennials
• Generation Z

15.3.1 Virtual HR departments

-If the virtual HR department is to deliver its services effectively, its backbone will have to be
IT
-It will enable the department to store and retrieve large amounts of information quickly and
inexpensively and to combine and reconfigure data rapidly and accurately to create new
information

15.3.2 The role of the HR professional in the virtual organisation

-Access the best available intellectual capital in the world
-There are five roles that the HR can play to contribute to the virtual organisation:
1. Coach: HR professionals coach senior business leaders how they can personally build
stronger organisations
2. Architect: HR architects help turn general and generic ideas into blueprints for
organisational action. They further shape the way work flows, making it consistent with
the ideas of business leaders and they ensure that the organisation’s capabilities cross
boundaries
3. Designer/deliver: HR designers/deliverers shape and encourage employee behaviour.
They craft HR practices to ensure that desired behaviours occur every time
4. Facilitator: HR facilitators make change happen and sustain that change, they ensure that
teams have the capacity to focus and function effectively, they build and coach teams
5. Leader: HR leaders must have credibility to pay an effective role in the organisation or
they will be ignores

Job analysis - systematic way of gathering and analysing information about the content and
human requirements of a job
Staffing - process of matching appropriate people with appropriate jobs
Recruitment – identifying where to recruit and whom to recruit
Selection & onboarding - selection is the process of choosing qualified individuals who have
relevant qualifications to fill jobs in an organisation
Training & development – training is the process in which people acquire capabilities that
will enable the organisation to achieve its goals
E-learning & M-learning – E-learning is the use of the internet, electronic media and info and
communicating technology (ICT) to conduct training online. M-learning is a subset of e-
learning, educational technology and distance education, which focusses on learning across
contexts and learning with mobile devices
Performance appraisal – process of evaluating how well employees perform their jobs
compared to a set of standards, and then communicating that info to them
Compensation – all forms of financial returns and tangible services and benefits that
employees receive as part of an employment relationship
Negotiation – process of conflict management
Synchronicity (face-to-face)
Message interpretation
Message content
Information richness
Knowledge transfer

Summary
• There is a fast-growing interest in another way of working that combines changes in
technical and organisational systems of choice. This is virtual working and, by
extension, virtual teams.
• Different types of teams within the virtual organisation are project, service and
process teams.
• The key for any company at the outset of a virtual teamworking implementation is to
be technologically aware and open, not technologically deterministic and closed.
• Success of virtual teams will not come from tight managerial control: this inhibits the
extent of the interactions within the network.
• The team will benefit most from acknowledging the fact that they are all individuals,
and then drawing on their individual strengths to create a microcosm within the wider
organisation that embodies a shared culture and operating principles that they believe
will enable them to deliver the best results as a team.
• Virtual organisations need to adapt their recruiting processes to the changing skill
base and nature of the labour pool from which they are recruiting to fit the new world
of work.
• For the virtual organisation with its geographically dispersed global labour pools, the
traditional idea of candidates having onsite testing batteries and interviews is not
practical.
• The virtual organisation's geographically dispersed supervisors, peers and
subordinates offer a unique environment for understanding performance evaluation,
and monitoring the employee’s outputs may be a way of making performance
evaluations work under these conditions.
• E-learning is training conducted using the Internet and intranet, and both the
advantages and disadvantages should be considered in its development.
• In the area of compensation, the following methods may be used in the virtual
environment: person-based systems, broadbanding and classification.
• While the process of negotiation has been written about extensively, little has been
done regarding this activity in the virtual environment. This environment will dictate
new rules for negotiating.
Chapter 9 – Performance Management and Appraisal

-Performance appraisal (PA): The process of evaluating how well employees perform their
jobs when compared to a set of standards, and then communicating that information to
employees.
-Performance management (PM): A process that significantly affects organisational
success by having managers and employees work together to set expectations, review results
and reward performance.

Organisational Performance Management Cycle

-The model provides guidance to managers and the individuals and the teams they manage on
the performance management activities for which they will be responsible

9.1 South Africa’s Performance Appraisal Dilemma

• Existence of negative working culture
• Changes in corporate strategy did not result in corresponding behaviour changes
• Insufficient line management support for performance management
• Periodic and formal performance reviews:
- Lack of follow-up of performance reviews
- Overemphasis on the appraisal aspect at the expense of development
- Inadequate performance information and inadequately maintained objectivity
• A large number of organisations do not have a formal performance management system.
9.2 Performance Criteria
-3 types: Trait-based, behaviour-based, results/outcome-based
1. Trait-based criteria: Focus on the personal characteristics of an employee, for example
loyalty, dependability, creativity and communication skills. Here, the focus is on what a
person is and not on what he or she does or accomplishes on the job.
2. Behaviour-based criteria: These are concerned with specific behaviours that lead to job
success. For example, instead of ranking leadership ability (a trait), the rater is asked to
assess whether an employee exhibits certain behaviours, (for example ‘works well with
co-workers’).
3. Results or outcome-based criteria: Focus on what was accomplished or produced rather
than how it was accomplished or produced. It is important to note that this type of
criterion is not appropriate for every job and that often it is criticised for missing
important aspects of the job, such as quality.

9.3 Performance Appraisal Objectives

-PAs are often considered unpleasant and time consuming processes
-There are several important objectives of a PA programme that cannot be achieved by ant
other HR programme
-PAs are a key element in the use and development of an organisation’s most vital resource-
its employees
-The objectives of PA fall into two categories: evaluative and developmental

Evaluative and Developmental Objectives in PA

9.4 The Appraisal Process

-There are many appraisal techniques for measuring employee performance
-In creating and implementing an appraisal system, administrators must first determine what
PAs will be sued for, and then decide which processes to use
-If employees believe that the appraisal was undertaken lightly or haphazardly, they may take
the process less seriously than they should

9.4.1 Steps in developing a PA System

1. Determine performance requirements: administrators must determine which skills,
outputs and accomplishments will be evaluated during each appraisal. Policy makers must
determine exactly which areas of performance are going to be reviewed and how these areas
are related to the organisation’s strategic goals
2. Choose an appropriate appraisal method: the manner in which a supervisor conducts
the PA is strongly determined by the method. Within an organisation different appraisal
methods may be used for different groups
3. Train supervisors: (critical step) supervisors/ raters should be trained so that they prepare
fair and accurate appraisals and effectively communicate the evaluation to the employee.
Supervisors also have to change the manner in which they manage performance, keeping in
mind the different preferences of employees from the various generations. There are many
negative consequences to unfair ratings
4. Discuss methods with employees: prior to the appraisal interview, supervisors should
discuss with employees the method that will be used
5. Appraise according to job standards: the PA should evaluate the employee’s work
according to predetermined work requirements. Comparison with specific requirements
indicates what the employee has or not done well
6. Discuss appraisal with employees: make sure that supervisors discuss the appraisal with
their employees, allowing employees to discuss areas of agreement or disagreement
7. Determine future performance goals: critical aspect of PA is the use of goal setting
because it gives the employee direction for continued or improved performance.

9.5 Performance Problems

Performance analysis
-Analysing a performance problem properly is a critical managerial skill
-If an employee is not performing satisfactorily, the organization could follow the following
steps:
Step 1: Define expectations
• An employee’s perception of good performance may differ markedly from that of the
manager
• One of the manager’s major responsibilities is to define clearly and precisely what good
performance means

Step 2: Identify causes

• Recognising that a gap exists between ideal and actual employee performance brings the
supervisor to another issue: what causes the performance gap?
• Four major causes: lack of skills, lack of motivation, lack of respect of the rules, personal
problems
Step 3: Select corrective approach
• There is a rage of possible tactics the manager may take to solve performance problems
• The best approach will be one that is based on the proper analysis of the cause of the
performance problem

9.6 Legal Considerations

• Conduct written appraisals regularly
• Train supervisors
• Apply consistent, explicit and objective standards
• Audit the system
• Document problem areas in detail
• Establish how to improve problem areas, through specific goals and timetables.
• Give employee clear opportunity to respond
• Employer should be able to prove that employee received the appraisal
• Restrict circulation of PA
• Check past PAs

9.7 Methods of Appraising Performance

-The methods chosen, and the instruments (forms) used to implement these methods, are
critical in determining whether the organisation manages its performance successfully
-Traditionally, PA methods were broken down into two categories based on the standards for
success chosen
-Comparative methods, such as ranking or forced distribution, rate the overall performance of
one employee directly against that of other employees
-Objective methods, such as rating scales or management by objectives (MBO), rate the
employee against some objective, selected or imaginary goals

Performance Appraisal Methods

9.7.1 Work standards

-Work standards are used primarily to measure the performance of clerical and manufacturing
employees whose jobs are production- output-orientated
-Work standards establish the normal or average production output for employees on the job

9.7.2 Category rating methods

• Graphic rating scale: Rates the employee-rater on some standard or attribute of work,
traditionally the focus was more on personal traits but more recently has been on work
behaviours and outcomes. The rating is often done on some 1-3 or 1-5 Likert-type scale
• Non-graphic rating scale: Usually more valid than a graphic scale because the former
contains a brief description of each point on a scale rather than simply low and high
points of a scale. The rater can give a more accurate description of the employee’s
behaviour regarding a particular attribute, because a description clarifies each level of the
rating scale
• Checklist of critical incidents: May also be used in PA by developing a checklist of
critical behaviours related to an employee’s performance. The supervisor simply ticks
whether the employee has performed in a superior manner in any one of the incidents

9.7.3 Comparative methods

• Ranking: Ranking employees from most effective to least effective is another appraisal
method. The ranking method is comparative- supervisors judge employees’ performances
in relation to one another instead of against an absolute standard
• Forced distribution: Requires that supervisors spread their employee evolutions in a pre-
described distribution. Ratings of employees’ performance are distributed along a bell-
shaped curve
• Paired comparison: Raters pair employees and chose one as superior in overall job
performance

9.7.4 Narrative methods

• Critical incidents: The critical incident method of PA uses specific examples of job
behaviour that have been collected from supervisors, or employees, or both
• Annual review file or calendar: One form is for the supervisor or appraiser to keep an
ongoing record of employees’ critical incidents contemporaneously during the period of
appraisal
• Essay method: The supervisor/appraiser writes an essay, in narrative style, describing the
employee’s performance, specifying examples of strengths and weaknesses

9.7.5 Behavioural/objective methods

• Behaviourally anchored rating scales (BARS): A behavioural approach to performance
appraisal that consists of a series of vertical scales, one for each important dimension of
job performance. They are also job related and more developmental than typical rating
scales because the items being evaluated are those that are so critical to good
performance. It requires a separate rating scale for each job in the organisation
• Management by objectives (MBO): Rates performance on the basis of employee
achievement of goals set by mutual agreement between the employee and manager
- Goal setting: Begins with the formation of long term objectives and cascades
through the organisational objectives, departmental goals and finally individual
goals
- Action planning: Goals specify what is to be achieved; action plans specify how
goals are to be achieved. They provide direction as well as a mechanism for
measuring progress toward accomplishing goals
 - Self-control: Employees will accomplish their goals if given management and
organisational support
- Periodic review: Important to discuss problems than an employee may be
experiencing in reaching goals; perhaps goals need adjusting to account for
problems that could not be forecast during the goal setting process

9.7.6 Combination methods

• Appraisal schedule: Fixes a specific interval between formal appraisals. The schedule
provides consistency in the evaluation process because all employees are evaluated for
the same period of time. When goal achievement does not have to be tied to a specific
time period, it can be linked with the organisation’s standard appraisal period to maintain
appraisal consistency

9.8 Common Rater Errors

-Rating problems should be recognised and minimised by trained supervisors and raters
-All methods of PA are subject to errors, but training and information can minimise many of
them
• Rater bias: errors than occurs when a rater’s values or prejudices distort the rating (not
related to job performance)
• Stereotyping: mentally classifying a person into a group and identifying the person as
having the same assumed characteristics as the group
• Halo effect: rating a person high on all items because of performance in one area
(negative halo also exists)
• Central tendency: common error in performance appraisal that occurs when employees
are incorrectly rated near the average or middle of a scale
• Leniency: giving an underserved high performance appraisal rating to an employee
• Strictness: being unduly critical of an employee’s work performance
• Recency/primary effect: a rating error occurring when an appraiser assigns a rating on
the basis of the employee’s most recent performance rather than on long term
performance
• Overall ratings: supervisor provides an overall rating of an employee’s performance

9.9 Who Should Do The Rating?

9.9.1 Supervisors
-The person in the best position to observe the employee’s behaviour and determine whether
the employee has reached specified goals and objectives is the best person to conduct the
appraisal
-Traditionally the best choice and still today
-The supervisor directly and constantly observes the employee’s performance and knows
which level of performance should be expected

9.9.2 Peer evaluations

-In some situations, if an employee is working very closely with other employees in a non-
competitive work group environment, peers may be in the best position to evaluate a
co0worker’s performance

9.9.3 Customer/client evaluations

-Because a number of jobs are now being considered service jobs, evaluations by customers
and clients are becoming more valuable as part of the multiple-rater PA procesws
9.9.4 Self-ratings
-Self-ratings that employees give themselves
-Critical to success in appraising white-collar employees
9.9.5 Reverse appraisals
-Or upwards evaluations, the employees rate the supervisor

9.9.6 Team portfolio appraisals

-Closely related to peer-review which is the multiple-rater approach of having a team
appraise the performance of individual team members
-They also interview prospective team members and management consultants

9.9.7 The human asset accounting method

-Links human capital to the amount of income that a specific employee is generating, or sales
leads that he or she has established, or how satisfied customers are

9.10 Assessment Centres

• Many of the employee performance appraisal systems focus on the employee’s past
performance
• Using the assessment centre method, it is also possible to, at the same time, attempt to
assess a candidate’s potential for future advancement
• Assessment centres are used increasingly to:
- Identify employees who have higher level management potential.
- Select first-line supervisors.
- Determine employee development needs.

9.11 Monitoring Employees On The Job

• Possible to evaluate employee performance electronically
• Video surveillance is used to discourage theft and other rule violations
• Telephone surveillance of service representatives has been used for a long time to
monitor the timing and content of customer contacts
• Computer programs can monitor keystrokes to track employee performance, eavesdrop
on employee electronic mail (e-mail) and record who accesses which databases at what
times
• Monitoring employees by computer or any other method is open to serious invasion and
privacy issues
• MS Teams can be used to check in and provide feedback, together with the HRIS

9.12 Effective PA Systems

-PA systems are designed to do more than fulfil some evaluative and developmental
objectives

9.12.1 Design input

• HR department input
-In creating or modifying a PA system, employee involvement has become the standard
approach (different from the past)

Step 1: Group formation

A cross functional team should be assembled and the charge for this team from management
should be clear
Step 2: Objectives and concerns
Team members should discuss their own goals and the problems they would like the new PA
system to overcome. Employee surveys, customer inputs and inputs from other sources
should be considered
Step 3: Dimensions of performance
The team should identify the dimensions of performance that need to be evaluated
Step 4: Policies and Procedures
The team should prepare guidelines for implementing the new PA system that support the
objectives established in Step 2. The team must decide such issues as how often the forms
will be completed, who should receive copies, how formal the process will be and which
appeals process will be available

• Total quality management or systems approach

-Argued that TQM should be focused on system factors instead of personal factors of
performance
-Founded on the philosophy that quality products are a function of the system in which they
are produced
-TQM should promote a systems assessment and should minimise the individual differences
between employees that are the focus of traditional PAs
-Organisations have shifted to the continuous improvement and total quality responsibility
tenets of TQM
Recommendations:
-Raters need to be trained in person and system factors
- Performance ratings should be collected from multiple perspectives and multiple
raters
-PA interviews should focus on potential barriers (system and person) to individual
improvement
-PA system should be aimed at group-based rater rather than individual-based
evaluation

9.12.2 Training appraisers

• Modern approaches
- the purpose of performance appraisal
-how to avoid problems (hao, bias, central tendency etc.)
-how to conduct non-discriminatory appraisals
-the ethics of appraisals
-how to conduct effective appraisal interviews

• Impression management
-Topic that is often overlooked in training programmes on PA systems: the strategy that the
employee-ratee uses to get a favorable rating
-Employees care very much about what the supervisors and other raters think and therefore
they disguise their shortcomings and dramatize their strengths to create a PA rating that I
higher than their actual performance
-Impression management: when such employees manage and disguise the impression they
make

9.12.3 Formal & informal methods

-Regular informal appraisal sessions let employees know how they are doing and how they
can improve their performance
9.12.4 Appraisal system evaluation
-An organisation’s PA programme is generally created and implemented to meet both
evaluative and developmental objectives
-The periodic evaluation of the organisation’s PA programme indicates good management
-Appraisal system can be evaluated through: interviews, analysis of employees’ records,
analysis of the relationship between the employees and their ratings, analysis of PA systems
in compatible settings

9.13 The Appraisal Interview

• Types of information the supervisor raters try to relay in PA:
- Performance improvement feedback
- Corporate goal feedback
- Salary information

9.13.1 Problems with the appraisal interview

- Playing God: simultaneously playing helper and judge
- Inability to give criticism: many employees have difficulty accepting criticism
- Personality biases: some supervisors attempt to bring about personality changes that may
improve job performance
- Inability to give effective feedback: supervisors cloak criticism in vague, subjective terms
and phrases

9.13.2 Interview Format

-Various problems associated with interviews may be minimised by the following planned,
standard approach
9.13.3 Problem-Solving interviews
9.14 Performance Management and Technology
-Technology has affected many areas of HR, including performance management
-Technology can automate the process by: tracking goals, scoring, approving appraisals and
processing data to inform compensation, training, succession planning, personal development
& recruitment

Summary
• Employees generally dislike and fear PA, and even supervisors find the process stressful.
Employees tend to be satisfied with the process if the appraisal interview is constructive
and if the chosen method is job-related and provides specific direction for future
performance.
• The PA process generally has two goals: (1) the evaluation of employees' past
performance for salary and selection decisions; and (2) the improvement of future
performance as a part of career development. The evaluative objective tends to dominate
specific organisational uses of appraisal information.
• The appraisal process should contain certain features. A standardised process should
evaluate all employees in a consistent manner. Job analysis should be used in the content
development to ensure job-relatedness. Supervisors should be trained in the process and
should give employees direct written feedback from the process.
• Certain rater errors, such as supervisor bias, halo effect or recency, can only be
minimised; others, such as leniency or central tendency, can be eliminated. But forms that
eliminate these problems generally have their own problems. Each appraisal method has
unique advantages and disadvantages but rating scales continue to be used most often by
HR managers.
• There are many possible tactics the manager may use to solve performance problems. The
best approach is the one that analyses the cause of the performance problem properly.
• The appraisal interview is the most important element in the PA process. Supervisors who
dislike ‘playing God’ find it hard to act simultaneously as judge and friend. Supervisors
need to be trained for, and give adequate attention to, the appraisal interview. Employee
preparation can also see employees giving useful input into the discussion and being
psychologically prepared for any possible negative feedback.
• Organisations can benefit by periodically evaluating their appraisal programmes. The HR
department can provide feedback to supervisors about the quality of their appraisals and
check for rater problems, such as the halo effect or leniency. Multiple raters – such as
peers, customers and team ratings – may be used as information added to supervisors’
ratings.
• Changes in technology have a dramatic effect on performance management and can
enhance an organisation’s digital footprint in the new world of work.
Chapter 11 – Managing Compensation and Benefits
-Compensation: Extrinsic rewards such as salary and benefits; intrinsic rewards such as
achieving personal goals, autonomy and more challenging job opportunities.
-Compensation/total rewards refers not only to extrinsic rewards such as salary and
benefits, but also to intrinsic rewards such as achieving personal goals, autonomy and more
challenging job opportunities.
-Wage and salary administration usually refers strictly to the monetary rewards given to
employees.
11.1 Compensation Objectives
-Organisations have many objectives in designing their compensation systems
-Primarily, the goals of any organisation in designing a compensation system should be to
attract and retain talented employees
-The system should be motivational for employees and it should comply with all legal
requirements

Objectives of a compensation system

11.2 Job Evaluation (JE)

• Job evaluation: process of systematically analysing jobs to determine the relative worth
of jobs within the organisation that results in an organisation’s pay system.
• Result is a pay system with pay rates for each job depending on the status of the job
according to the hierarchy.
• Should not be confused with performance evaluation, the process of determining how
well employees are accomplishing their goals
• Does NOT review the employees in the job but the worth of the position.
• Thus, employees in positions of less worth to the organisation are paid less than
employees in positions of greater worth
• Through job evaluation, management can recruit productive employees to fill positions
and maintain internal perceptions of pay equity by paying each position fairly in
comparison with all other positions within the organisation
• Internal equity: the relationship between the pay structure and the design of the
organisation and the work
• External equity: comparing what an employee earns in the organisation for which they
work to similar jobs in other organisations
• Comparable worth: jobs with the same difficulty requirements should receive the same
pay
• Wage rate compression: an internal equity problem which occurs when the starting
salaries for newly appointed staff members are higher than those of experiences staff
members whom the organisation already employs
• Job ranking: the simplest and oldest method of job evaluation by which jobs are placed
in order by which jobs are placed in order of their relative worth (most popular method in
SA)
• Work evaluation: a system in which work is valued relative to the goals of the
organisation and not by the point method that is applied internally

11.2.1 Popular job evaluation methods

Different job evaluation methods:

• Qualitative methods: use observation or descriptions to define the job
- Job ranking method
- Job classification method
• Quantitative methods: use facts based on data that have been collected to define the job
- Point method
- Factor comparison method

11.2.2 Job evaluation committee

-Because it is impossible for one individual to have adequate knowledge of all the jobs within
the organisation, a job evaluation committee is necessary
-The members of the committee should have adequate knowledge of all work in the
organisation and a basic familiarity with the jobs within each department
-Members should be trained in the basic concept of job evaluation and specifically in the
method chose by the organisation to develop job evaluation

11.2.3 Outside assistance

-The first decision the job evaluation committee makes it whether the organisation should
produce a job evaluation system or hire outside consultants
-A better alternative is to hire an evaluation consultant to organise the evaluation process and
train the job evaluation committee

11.3 Pay Systems

-The method by which individuals are paid for performing their job constitutes the pay
system of the organisation
-Time-based systems: are used for jobs in which employees are paid by the hours they work
(hourly) or by the fraction of an annual rate of pay (salaried), such as week or month
-Blue-collar jobs and unskilled positions are usually hourly paid while white-collar
employees are usually salaried employees who are paid monthly, semi-monthly or weekly
- Employee-based systems: Paying people for the skills they learn and use
-Performance-based systems/ incentive pay systems: jobs that pay employees according to
their performance

11.3.1 Time-based systems

-More common type and in SA as well
-Most time-based systems use a schedule of pay grades & steps. The matrix can include
hourly rates or annual rates of pay, depending on whether the jobs are hourly or salaried. Jobs
are assigned to a particular pay grade depending on the results of the job evaluation
• Number of steps: in developing a compensation system, the number of steps within each
pay grade must be decided. Pay grade is divided into equal increases. If too many steps
are included, employees’ motivation for good performance will be very small because the
increase will be very small
• Red circle employees: indicates that an individual is currently being paid more than the
maximum for that pay grade (red circle rates). Individuals who are currently paid below
the minimum step of their pay grade are in green circle jobs and receive green circle rates
• Overlap of pay grades: the organization must also decide whether to overlap pay grades
so that the maximum of one pay grade is higher than the minimum of the next higher pay
grade. The compensation system allows pay grades to overlap. Employees can be
transferred or promoted from one job to the next without necessarily being given pay
increases. Management has the option of not paying individuals higher salaries but
offering them higher salaries if they prove themselves and receive merit increases, thus
moving up in the pay grade. Employees are rewarded with merit and seniority increases
while they stay in the same job and pay grade
• Pay increases:
- Across the board increases: everyone in the organization receives an equal pay
increase (normally based on a percentage). Simply changes the rand amounts for
each grade and step in the compensation system; it does not move any employee or
job within the system
- Merit increases: selected individuals receive pay increases. After a performance
appraisal of their work, employees receive increases in pay If their work record is
judged meritorious. Are designed to motivate employees by tying at least part of their
 pay to their performance. Employees who receive merit increases move up one or
more steps within their pay grades

11.3.2 Person-based systems

• Broadbanding: A compensation technique that collapses many pay grades (salary
grades) into a few wide bands in order to improve organisational effectiveness. It
eliminates multiple salary grades in favour of just a few. Encourages flexibility in moving
employees from one job to another without being constrained by narrow salary grade
• Skill/competency/knowledge-based pay: Pay based on how many skills employees have
or how many jobs they can perform. It can significantly affect the reward culture within
an organisation so that individuals will no longer be paid simply by moving up a job
hierarchy, but will be paid for the skills and competencies they acquire and for
developing themselves

11.3.3 Performance-based systems

-Purpose is to relate employees’ pay directly to their performance
• Individual incentive plans: include a guaranteed based rate of pay for individuals who
fail to achieve a standard level of production.
- Piece-rate systems: each worker is quoted a fixed, or standard, rate of pay for each
unit of output produced
- Standard hour plans: a standard time is set to complete a particular job instead of
paying the employee a price per piece
- Commissions: individual incentive system widely used in sales positions where
employees are given a percentage of sales
- Special incentive programmes: that awards individuals for performance over time
• Team-based incentive systems: a pay system that encourages competitive behaviour
may find that the competitor is often a worker’s colleague, not an external business
competitor. When situations such as too much competition begins to disrupt operations,
or when new team-building programme such as TQM is implemented, team-based
incentives need to be considered. Goals and results are clarified and established for teams,
not for individuals and teams are evaluated on the degree to which performance targets
are met
• Organisational incentive plans: Employers want employees to realise the link between a
portion of their compensation and the performance of their group or the entire
organisation
- Gainsharing: programmes under which both employees and the organization share
the financial gains according to a predetermined formula that reflects improved
productivity and profitability
- Profit-sharing plans: any procedure by which an employer pays, or makes
available to all regular employees, in addition to base pay, special current or
diferred sums based upon the profits of the enterprise (employees receive a share
of the organisation’s profits)
- Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs): incentives that allows employees to
buy shares in the company by ‘borrowing’ against corporate assets

11.4 Guidelines for Incentive Plans

• Bold incentives: provide bold financial incentives to everyone and the ultimate
recognition should be that their performance is linked to improved organisational
performance
• Emphasis on team performance: Everyone in an incentive programme must clearly
perceive how they can influence the results
• Quick feedback: Give feedback at least monthly about group or individual performance
and the resulting bonus
• Above-average base: Base pay should be set above the norm for comparable jobs in the
geographical area
• Simple formula: Keep the formula and process straightforward. People’s motivation to
increase productivity and profits will not improve if they do not understand the formula

11.4.1 Problems with incentive plans

-Individual-based plans are limited to jobs in which the employee can directly increase his or
her output without affecting the productivity of others and without having output affected by
others
-Quality standards must be carefully maintained to ensure that quality is not sacrificed for
quantity
-Individual-based systems can also escalate rivalries among employees, which can be
counterproductive
-Major morale problem can occur if employees start to rely on their bonus cheques and then
receive smaller bonusses because of unanticipated declines in productivity or profits
-Employees can also develop a short-term mentality and not make decisions with maximum
long-term profits in mind
-If plans are poorly designed, they can lead to employee apathy or even a decrease in
productivity if employees perceive that they are being used or misled

11.4.2 Economic value added (EVA)

-A measure of an organisation’s financial performance based on the residual wealth
calculated by deducting cost of capital from operating profit.
-This system is used to measure performance
-To get the maximum value out of performance-based incentive schemes, organisations can
use EVA

11.5 Executive Compensation

• Four forms of pay:
1. Base salary: at the centre of executive pay and are generally determined through job
evaluation and serve as the basis for the other types of benefits
2. Annual bonus: include both cash and stock payments and are usually tied to the
performance of the organisation as a whole for the previous year or, for division
managers, to their particular area
3. Long-term incentives: designed to allow the executive to accumulate wealth.
Individuals should have a stake in the long-term future of the organisation
4. Benefits and perquisites (‘perks’): range from the traditional executive motor
vehicle and dining room to the more unusual country club membership, private use of
the organisation’s aircraft and personal legal counselling

11.5.1 Golden parachutes

-A perquisite that protects executives in the event of their organisation being acquired by
another
-A clause in the employment agreement that provides certain compensation if the executive’s
employment is terminated for certain reasons
-Two main purposes: 1. Retain key executives
 2. Discourage the takeover for a specified period

11.5.2 Stock options

-An incentive plan in which managers can buy a specified amount of stock in their company
in the future at or below current market price
-The executive is given the right to buy the company’s shares at an option price up to a fixed
future point in time

11.6 Benefits
11.6.1 Types of benefits
1.Those that are required by law
2. Retirement benefits
3. Paid time off work
4. Insurance
5. Employee services

11.6.2 Benefits required by law

-The organisation mut provide certain benefits to its employees whether it wants to or not,
and these must be provided in a non-discriminatory manner
1. Unemployment insurance
-The Unemployment Insurance Act, No. 63 of 2001, provides insurance of employees who
are contributors to the Unemployment Insurance Fund against the risk of loss of earnings
arising out of unemployment dye to the termination of their employment, illness, maternity,
payments to female contributors who adopt children and for payments to the dependents of
deceased contributors
2. Compensation for occupational injuries and diseases
-The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, No. 130 of 1993, regulates
the payment of compensation to people who are injured or who contract a disease while
working

11.6.3 Voluntary benefits

• Retirement benefits
-In SA, individuals are expected to provide for their retirement through either a private
government pension, or through personal savings
-Today, it is not unusual for someone to have several pensions, by means of a number of
annuities obtained from companies like Sanlam, Old Mutual etc.
• Financing
-Organisations fund the pension benefits that employees receive primarily through two plans
1. Contributory pension plan: the employee and employer share the cost of providing
pension benefits in the future
2. Non-contributory pension plan: the costs of providing a pension plan are financed entirely
by the employer
• Retirement flexibility
-Members are allowed to make their own flexible investment choices suitable to their
particular circumstances from a range of investment options

11.6.4 Paid Time Off

-Employees expect to be paid for holidays and miscellaneous days they do not work
• Public holidays
• Sick leave
• Vacations
• Time off to vote
• Study leave
• Relocation leave
• Acting as an election official
• Lunch and tea time
• Witness in court
• Paternity leave
• Sport leave
• Sabbatical leave
• Family responsibility leave
• Maternity leave

11.6.5 Insurance
-Many employers provide employees with life and medical insurance plans to contribute
partially to the costs of these
• Medical aid schemes
• Life/group life/disability insurance

11.6.6 Employee services

-Organisations vary greatly in the services they offer and the services costs they pay
-Employee services have been developed to increase employee loyalty to organisations to
decrease absenteeism and turnover
• Child-care programmes
• Food services
• Education expenses
• Transportation programmes
• Housing subsidy
• Other allowances or subsidies

11.7 Total Benefits Planning

-Due to the large amounts spent on benefits by organisations, employers are re-evaluating
their total benefit packages
-When given the choice between additional benefits or disposable income, employees
overwhelmingly choose additional disposable income
Flexible benefit plans:
-An alternative to providing employees with a fixed combination of employer-provided
benefits is a flexible benefit package
-Originally created as a means of better meeting employee needs
-Employees are allowed to choose the benefits they believe will best meet their needs
- Cafeteria plan: allows employees to make their own choice of benefits from a proffered
‘menu’ of benefits

Types of flexible plans:

1. Cafeteria plan: provides employees with core (min) coverage in several areas and allows
them to choose either additional benefits or cash, up to a max total cost to the employer.
The employee has a choice of several items plus a cash amount
2. Buffet plan: starts employees with their exact current benefit coverage and allows them
to decrease coverage in some areas (life insurance, medical insurance, etc.) to earn credits
for other benefits (dental care, day care, etc.)
3. Alternative dinners plan: provides a number of predetermined packages (‘dinners’) to
choose from. Example- one package may be aimed at the employee with a non-working
spouse and children, another at the single employee, and a third at an employee with a
working spouse and no children. The total cost of each ‘dinner’ would be approximately
the same

Advantages of flexible plans:

• Meet diverse needs of employees
• Control benefit costs
• Improve benefits offered
• Attract and retain employees
• Avoid unions
• Avoid duplicate coverage

11.8 Employee Compensation Audits

-The evaluation of employee salary, benefits and incentives to determine their effectiveness,
competitiveness and legal compliance.

Summary
• Organisations use both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to compensate employees for their
time and effort. Pay systems are designed to attract, retain and motivate employees while
complying with government legislation.
• Job evaluation is used to evaluate jobs systematically and to assign them to pay grades.
The HR specialist strives to maintain a pay system that employees view as equitable, both
internally and externally. Standard methods of evaluation include ranking, classification,
and point and factor comparison. Each offers different advantages.
• Pay systems are usually designed to compensate people for the amount of work they
produce (piecework), the skills they learn and use, or the time they spend on the job
(hourly and salaried). Most employees in South Africa are paid through time-based
systems.
• Individual employee, team-based and organisation-wide systems, such as profit-sharing
and gainsharing, are replacing automatic pay increases to relate pay to performance.
• Executive compensation has become a complex area of HR functions. Top executives
often receive compensation in as many as four areas, including salary, bonuses, long-term
incentives & benefits.
• Employee benefits are not just a fringe cost to employers; they represent a substantial
percentage of the total payroll. Benefits are usually awarded to all employees or on a
seniority basis.
• Certain benefits are required by law, including unemployment insurance and
compensation for injuries and diseases.
• Retirement income is provided through private/government pension plans and personal
savings. Employers believe that they directly or indirectly provide all these sources –
which constitute the single most expensive benefit area.
• Health insurance programmes provided by employers have expanded to include
life/disability insurance, as well as the traditional medical and hospitalisation coverage.
• Paid time off from work represents a major benefit cost.
• Flexible benefit plans are of great interest to employers because they help contain benefit
costs and provide employees with more individualised benefit programmes.
• Changing employee demographics have caused employers to offer child-care
programmes to help employees meet their family needs.
• Salaries have to be audited on a regular basis to ensure that the packages are fair,
equitable, market related, effective and that they comply with legal requirements.
Organisations have to adjust and adapt their policies and employee benefits as job
requirements change, for example the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in many
employees working from home.

Chapter 2 – Human Resources and Technology

2.1 HR and the Internet

-An excellent source to finding information related to HR management is the Internet
-The information most useful for HR managers on the Internet can be classified into two
broad categories:
• Conversational resources: allows to have conversations in which individuals
anywhere in the world, social media has become very popular conventional resources
• Reference sources: (1) the World Wide Web which uses hypertext mark-up language
(HTML) to transfer text, sound, graphics or video and (2) Gopher sites which are
usually maintained by government agencies and educational institutions

2.1.1 HR Intranet applications

Intranet: an organisational network that serves as an information hub for the entire
organisation
-An organisational network that operates over the internet
-Access is limited to those who have login details, including a password
-It connects people to one another and to information and knowledge within the organisation,
and serves as an information hub within the organisation
-Possible HR uses of the intranet include providing leave status information, managing
succession planning, providing electronic payslips and distributing an electronic handbook
-Further development has been the creation of self-service capabilities like employee self-
service (ESS) and management self-service (MSS)

2.1.2 HR Extranet applications

Exranet: an Internet-linked network that allows employees access to information provided
by external entities
-Employees can access benefit information maintained by a third-party benefits
administrator, such as the medical aid scheme to which they belong

2.1.3 HR portal applications

HR portal: usually hosted a company’s intranet, it provides employees with a single access
point (gateway) to all HR-related information
-Offers a personalised, Web-based point to all the information sources, tools and systems that
users need to use the HR services offered via the Internet effectively

2.2 Human Resource Information System (HRIS)

-With organisations striving to streamline information and the need to have information
readily available, the HRIS has become popular
HRIS: The human resource information system (HRIS) is an electronic system used to
acquire, store, manipulate, analyse, retrieve and distribute information regarding an
organisation’s human resources. It maintains employee, organisational and HR data sufficient
to support most, if not all of the HR functions depending on the various modules installed.
-The system maintains employee, organisational and HR data sufficient to support most, if
not all, of the HR functions, depending on the various modules installed

2.2 The Nature of an HRIS

• The HRIS is part of the organisation's larger management information system (MIS)
which includes the marketing, production, financial and accounting functions
• The scope of an HRIS is determined by the need for HR data.
• All HR functions, namely staffing, training and development, performance management,
compensation, benefits and HR planning, can be, and usually are, included in the scope of
an HRIS.

Functional Component of an HRIS

-The HRIS is based on an open system model involving three main activities: inputs,
transformation and outputs
-The system usually has a form of control to monitor its functioning
-This control is achieved through feedback which elements help to ensure that the outputs are
those that the system seeks to achieve

2.3 Benefits of an HRIS

• Improves the quality, speed and accessibility of information.
• Reduces the administrative burden.
• Improves decision-making.
• Enhances competitiveness.
• Improves the services to employees and employee satisfaction.
• Shifts the focus of HR from transaction processing to strategic HRM

-The benefits can only be achieved if the HRIS forms an integral part of the organisation’s
functions, the information is updated regularly, and the users are properly trained to use all
the functions

2.4 Components of an HRIS

-For an HRIS to function, a number of components have to be present:
• Hardware
• Software
• Data
• Clear procedures and trained users

2.4.1 Hardware
-Different types of hardware can be used to operate an HRIS which can include: a central
processing unit (CPU) that executes the program instructions so that the data can be read,
stored, written or otherwise processed; input devices such as scanners and keyboards;
communication devices such as 3G/4G capability; storage devices such as CD-ROMs, DVDs,
hard drives, external hard drives, USB enables devices, flash discs; and output devices such
as printers
-This equipment performs the input, storage, manipulation and output formation
-Also different types of computers

2.4.2 Software
-Set of programs used to operate the computer
-There are different HR software packages, ranging from single-user programs that can track
applicants or maintain organisational charts to multiple-function integrated programs

2.4.3 Data
-Data is necessary to solve HR problems
-Can include personal information about employees

2.4.4 Clear procedures and trained users

-For operating the system and trained users
-Procedures should be in place that document clear and concise instruction for using the
system
-These instructions should tell users to do if the system crashes pr if they encounter a
problem, and should include instructions about obtaining particular information such as
reports

2.5 Typed of HRISs

-Depending upon the organisation’s size and philosophy, the HRIS can function on a small
personal computer or a large supported network
-Different types of systems are used at different levels, as they provide different information
• Decision support system (DSS): systems that support management to make a variety of
decisions, including answering ‘What if’ questions and looking at the skills currently
available in the organisation
• Management information system (MIS): systems that provide important information
and data for use in HR metrics and to produce specific reports such as employment equity
reports
• Transaction processing system (TPS): systems that automate routine transactions such
as payroll and clock systems while reducing the cost of these transactions
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software: systems that integrate all the functions
in the organisation; examples of off-the-shelf products include SAP, Oracle, Orange, Sage
and CRS

2.6 Reasons for the Slow Introduction of Computer-Based Systems in HR

Departments
• Lack of support by top management: investment in an HRIS in most organisations is a
low priority, because top management cannot see the relationship between HR functions
and profit, as they can with capital and fiscal resources
• Satisfaction with the status quo: Because of vast amount of tedious work involved in
the development of an HRIS, as well as the lack of additional staff to assist them in doing
so, many HR managers see no need of an HRIS
• Defensiveness about revealing HR operations: a computer-based system can make the
operations of the HR function more public. HR managers are fearful of losing ownership
of the function and are thus not eager to computerise
• HR managers’ lack of HRIS skills & knowledge: as professional HR education and
training does not usually include HRIS component, many HR managers and professionals
are poorly prepared to develop and implement such a system
• Poor or incomplete needs analysis: if organisations do not analyse their need for an
HRIS properly, the decision-makers may not be able to see the need for one, and may not
regard the implementation of such system as a priority
• Lack of proper communication: an HRIS can make a huge difference in an
organisation, but it could also be seen as a threat, or unnecessary, if no proper information
about the system and its purpose is communicated

2.7 Skills Requirements of an HR Professional in HRIS Work

-In addition to knowledge about the latest trends and developments in HR ,management, the
HR professional working in an HRIS unction also needs other skills and capabilities:
• A systems view of HR and its relation to its environment
• Systems concepts as they apply within the HR context
• Management skills in designing and justifying an HRIS
• Knowledge of the technical language that programmers use
• Analytical skills that will enable them to identify the specific HRIS needs for the
system and end-users
• Good communication skills
• Computer skills for understanding the interface between computer technology and
HR functions
• An understanding of the nature of the HRIS field

2.8 Modules of an HRIS

-It is important for the HRIS in an organisation to be flexible
-For this purpose, most HRISs are built on a modular basis
-Each of these modules are designed for specific departmental or functional applications in a
fully developed HRIS

Fully Developed HRIS Database

2.9 Application of the HRIS Database Modules

1. Apllicant Tracking Module

2. Training and Development
3. Position Control Module
4. Wage, Benefits and Salary Administration Module
5. Human Resource Planning Module
6. Skills Inventory Module
7. Talent Management Module
8. Labour Relations Module
9. Time and Attendance Module
10. Onboarding/Orientation Module
11. Performance Management
12. HR Metrics/Analytics and Reports
13. Basic Employee Module

Expanding the use of HRIS modules during pandemics/changed work environments

• Working from a remote location
• Employee engagement
• Communication
• Training and development
• Recognition and rewards

2.10 Most Common Reasons for HRIS Failures

Leadership
-Lack of: executive support, good leadership and change management skills, recognition for
the team’s efforts, accountability for implementing the change

Planning
-No clear vision for the change
-Lack of a comprehensive project plan
-Insufficient funding for the project
-Failure to meet budget deadlines

Change management
-Culture and level of readiness for change are not assessed before the project starts
-No strategies are in place to cultivate or grow a new culture
-Failure to plot the change
-End users are not involved in the process

Communication
-Lack of comprehensive communication plan
-Ineffective ongoing communication will all affected parties

Training
-Incorrect timing of the training
-People are not enabled or encouraged to build new skills
-Absence of continuous training

2.11 Selecting, Implementing, Maintaining and Evaluating an HRIS

-Before an HRIS can be implemented, a number of aspects have to be considered
-Firstly, the organisation has to identify the purpose for which it needs the HRIS

Steps to be followed when selecting and implementing an HRIS

2.12 Securing the Integrity of HR Data
-Biggest risk is to integrity of information in HR files
-The issue of keeping records unaltered and safe from tampering is complicated by the issue
of the type of technology that is being used
-Two main approaches to maintaining record integrity:
• Controlling access: employees would fill out a request form for certain
information, and this request would be routed and approved through some internal
procedure
• Security technology: through which a computer user is limited either in (1) which
information he or she can use; or (2) type of access.

2.13 Technology in HR
-Technology is developing rapidly and employees’ needs are changing
-Pressure is put on HR to embrace technology to ensure that the organisation does not fall
behind and that the available technology is used to the organisation’s advantage
-Technological advances include:
• HR dashboards: visual displays of various HR metrics that are available at the click of
a button
• Cloud computing: hosted software services on demand that are fully managed by a
provider via the Web with no software or hardware to install
• Recruitment: video-based recruitment, the use of social media in recruitment and
online recruitment via the Web
• Social media: used to recruit, collaborate, improve group cohesion, manage talent, and
improve communication and networking
• Training, development & learning: training form remote locations using the
Web/HRIS, social media, skype or other technology, social learning and e-learning
 • Performance management: metrics can be used, performance can be tracked and
personal development plans monitored by HRISs
• Succession planning: HRISs can assist in tracking progress and identifying suitable
candidate
• Orientation/onboarding: provision of materials with access from anywhere with a
tracking system to check compliance and progress
• Talent management: being able to identify talent that is not fully utilised
• Applications (Apps) for mobile devices: used to share information such as training
videos
• Gamification: Deloitte makes use of gamification, integrating levels, ‘badges’ and top-
scoring leader boards
• Assistive devices: not limited to employees living with disabilities but also includes
devices such as voice and speech recognition, screen readers etc.
• Bring your own device (BYOD): where employees bring their own devices (tablets,
smartphones) and use them to connect to the organisation’s network to perform their
duties
• Augmented reality (AR): integration of digital information with the employee’s real
environment

2.14 Predictions for the Future Workspace

-Aspects that currently influence the workspace: change in demographics, the knowledge
economy, globalisation, the digital workplace, new culture of connectivity, participation in
society, social learning, corporate social responsibility and millennials in the workplace
-Challenges and things to keep in mind for the future:
• Multiple generations in the workplace
• Employee engagement in the future
• Recruitment – different platforms such as YouTube/Facebook/Twitter
• Being very connected
• Accelerated leadership
• Social learning
• Increased remote working and use of technology

Summary
• Automation came late to the HR department. When it did, the system put in place
resembled payroll more than personnel.
• The appearance of the PC, perhaps more than any other single event, shifted information
control away from the data processing/MIS department.
• The computer is becoming an integral part of the HR department. As a tool, it has moved
beyond producing simple reports to helping HR managers make complex decisions.
HRISs are making this possible. As a whole, the HRIS creates more opportunities for the
HR profession to influence the company.
• A typical HRIS is composed of a database, computer software and hardware.
• There has been an explosion of PC hardware improvements and software offerings that
greatly expand the possibilities of HRISs. Small employers can now benefit by getting the
same results on PCs and minicomputers that could only be obtained using mainframes a
few years ago.
• The choice between PCs is complicated and will depend on the needs of the organisation
and its users. Technological improvements are levelling the playing field between
competitive technologies, and a likely scenario is that a medium-sized to larger employer
will employ a combination of networked computer systems.
• Improvements in computer technology allow more tasks to be accomplished than ever
before. Very sophisticated analyses can be performed on an ad hoc basis. Even PC
programs answer complicated ‘what if?’ questions.
• Modern HRISs place HR professionals in a better position to play a more integral role in
the strategic management of today's organisation. Computer technology, which first
seemed to divide departments, now serves to bring them closer together as they share
information, and more of it, to implement the business strategy.
• For an HRIS to be effective, users must be properly trained to use it, and it must be used
by those whom it is intended to serve.
• HRIS concerns about the privacy of information that the database contains are very
important. Proper care must be taken to restrict access to the system to those individuals
who have a legitimate need for its information
• Technology has a huge impact on HR and how things are done in organisations. With this
also comes changed attitudes and expectations of employees.
• The future workplace will be different from the current workplace as people are more
connected and they have different expectations.