Introduction to Human Resource Management

Managerial Estimates
The most common method of estimating HR demand. These are typically made by top management (a top-down approach).
Multiple Linear Regression
An extension of simple linear regression analysis. However, instead of relating employment to just one variable, multiple variables are used.
Nominal Grouping Technique
A group process involving problem identification, solution generation, and decision-making.
Redundancy Planning
HR planning associated with the process of laying off employees who are no longer needed.
Replacement Planning
This type of planning uses charts that show the names of the current occupants of positions in the organization and the names of likely replacements.
Simple Linear Regression
A projection of future demand is based on a past relationship between the organization's employment level and a variable related to employment, such as sales and shows how these measures are connected.
Succession Planning
This type of planning tends to be long-term, developmental, and flexible. Although this type of planning is widely practiced, many employers who use it tend to emphasize characteristics of the managers and downplay characteristics of the positions to which the managers may eventually be promoted.
Deontological Theories
These theories of ethics evaluate the rightness or wrongness of an action based on how well that action conforms to some rule or principle, regardless of the consequences.
External Environment
The factors that organizations and their managers have no control over, such as legislation, changes in technology, competition, and so on.
HR
Often referring to the department charged with overseeing an organization's personnel or human resources.
Human Resource Management (HRM)
Is responsible for the recruitment, selection, training, and motivation of the organization's employees and is therefore concerned with the fundamental task of defining and analyzing jobs in organizations.
Internal Environment
Factors that organizations control as they interact in the global marketplace, such as culture, product development, and strategy.
Quality of Work Life
The quality of life experienced by employees in their work environments.
SWOT Analysis
An acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This analysis provides the firm actionable direction for competing in the marketplace.
Strategy
The plan an organization has to compete in a marketplace. A strategy can consist of products and services, employees, and the organization's goals, among other things.
Strengths
A company's core competencies, abilities, and capacities that give it an advantage when meeting the needs of target customers.
Technology
The equipment and knowledge used to produce goods and services. The exact meaning varies widely among industries and fields.
Threats
Conditions, trends, or barriers in the external environment that hinder firm performance.
Utilitarian Theories
A theory of ethics that evaluates the rightness or wrongness of an action based on the consequences of that action.
Define internal factors impacting business strategies.
Internal business strategies are:
* company strategy & culture
* company structure
* company size
* top management
* company HR perceptions
* internal technology available
Define external factors impacting business strategies.
* changing technology
* economy
* competition
* Globalization
* Legislation
Peer Appraisal
Performance Assessment of an employee's performance or future success by his or her work colleagues. Often considered an effective tool when teamwork and participation are part of the organizational culture.
List the Administrative use of Performance Appraisals (PA)/Evaluations.
1. Salary in-/de-creases
2. Demotions
3. Layoff
4. Promotions/transfers
5. Terminations
List the Development use of Performance Appraisals (PA)/Evaluations.
1. Identify training needs
2. Motivate employee improvement
3. Provide feedback
4. Counsel employees
5. Spot performance deficiencies
6. Identify/Acknowledge strengths
Distinguish Performance Management (PM) and Performance Appraisal (PA)
PM is PROCESS aiding employees to understand job objectives, motivate and train to accomplish goals. It begins with knowing company strategy.

PA is FORMAL SYSTEM to measure, evaluate, and influence of employee's job-related attributes, behaviors and outcomes.
Besides feedback what else does a PA do.
1. Ensure company goals are aligned to job anlaysis.
2. Set work standards to clarify performance expectations.
3. Create metrics documenting standards.
4. Assess employee's actual performance relative to stated standards.
5. Provide motivating feedback to do better or doing well.
What terms are used to clarify the person doing the appraising?
superior or rater vs. supervisor or manager.
What terms are used to clarify the person being appraised?
subordinate or ratee. Does not mean ratee is lower level, simply a term of clarity.
In what ways is the PA an agreeemnt b/w the company and employee?
1. Productivity improvement
2. Management development
3. Peformance measurement
4. Feedback
5. HRP
6. Legal compliance
7. Communication b/w Rater & Ratee
8. Supervisory awareness of job
Describe elements of performance measurement.
establishes the employee's work value to company and evaluates employee contributions.
What other areas of HR does performance management impact?
1. Job Analysis
2. Compensation
3. Train (current job) & Develop (future KSAs)
Who conducts Perf Appraisals?
1. Supervisory PA
2. [Employee] Self PA
3. Peer PA
4. Subordinate PA
5. Customer PA
6. Computer Monitoring PA
What are the dis/advantages of using supervisory appraisal?
Advantage - immediate boss most familiar with subordinate work
Disadvantages are 1) supervisor lacks PA delivery; 2) subordinate may feel threatened by power; 3) subordinate alienated
What are the dis/advantages of using Self-appraisal?
Advantage - 1) incumbent involvement; 2) feedback on incumbent role; 3) combined with supervisory PA
Disdvantage - employee subject to systemic biases, gap b/w self and others
What are the dis/advantages of using Subordinate appraisal?
Advantage - 1) rater feedback on effectiveness thru ratee perspective
Disdvantage - 1) personality vs performance feedback; 2) inflate evaluation if threatened by supervisor
What are the dis/advantages of using Computer Monitoring appraisal?
Advantage - 1) fast method; 2) alignment with strategic goals and company culture;
Disdvantage - ethical issues on employee privacy
What are the dis/advantages of using Peer appraisal?
Advantage - 1) rater lack access to ratee performance; 2) great with self-managed team; 3) great with participatory company culture;
Disdvantage validity reduced when - 1) competitive reward system; 2) low trust among team members
What are the various Perf. Appraisal methods?
1. Straight Ranking
2. Alternative Ranking
3. Paired Comparison
4. Forced Distribution Method
5. Narrative Essay
6. Conventional Rating
Describe the dis/advantages of using Straight Ranking method?
Advantage - 1) easiest method; 2) ranks from best to worst; 3) ranks specifc criterion;
Disdvantage - 1) best only with small # of incumbents; 2) difficulty in discerning differences in ranking
Describe the dis/advantages of using an Alternative Ranking method?
Advantage - 1) ranks best to worst on overall performance rating; 2) great for supervisory and subordinate use
Describe the dis/advantages of using Paired Comparison method?
Advantage - one criterion at time comparison with all employees one at time
Disadvantage - time resource hog for large company
Describe the dis/advantages of using Conventional Rating method?
Advantage - 1) widely used b/c easy to develop and compare across departments; 2) can vary in performance criterion like traits ands output indicators
Disadvantage - 1) raters subject to PA errors; 2) trait descriptors meaning change from rater to rater
Development
Activities or actions that help an employee prepare for future jobs.
Job Rotation
A job design technique in which employees are moved between two or more jobs in a planned manner. The objective is to expose employees to different experiences and a wider variety of skills for cross-training and enhanced job satisfaction.
Training
Activities or actions directed toward employees' improvement on the current job.
Straight Ranking Appraisal
A performance-evaluation method in which a superior lists the subordinates in order, from best to worst, usually on the basis of overall performance
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
A federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and ensures equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in all aspects of employment as well as in other public services.
Civil Rights Acts of 1866, 1870, and 1871
These acts prohibit employers from discriminating against minorities.
Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA)
A federal law requiring that employers provide equal pay for men and women who do similar work in the same workplace.
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA)
A federal law that prohibits the use of genetic information in employment decisions and restricts employers from requesting, requiring, or purchasing genetic information.
KSAs
A person's knowledge, skills, and abilities. Knowledge is a theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. Skills are proficiencies developed through experience. Abilities are qualities that a person has to perform a certain task.
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978
An amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this Act makes it illegal to discriminate against a woman because of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
Promotion-within Policy
A policy in which the employer states a commitment to consider current employees for new or replacement job opportunities before hiring candidates from outside the organization.
Business Ethics
The values and principles that are used to evaluate whether the collective behavior of an organization's members is appropriate.
Deontological theories
Evaluate the rightness or wrongness of action based on how well that action conforms to some rule or principle regardless of consequences
4 implicit objectives
Improve productivity
improve quality of work life
ensure legal compliance
foster ethical behavior
Strategy
How the organizing is going to compete
HR functions
Attracting
selecting
retaining
and motivate employees
Internal environment
But is that the organizations Controls such as mission and strategy
External environment
Things that cannot be controlled changes in technology regulation competition
Human Resource Planning (HRP)
Involves forecasting the human resource needs of an organization and planning whatever is necessary to meet those needs.
Empirical Validity ( Or predictive validity)
Only form of validity for making employment decisions (e.g., select, promote) is legally defensible if challenged in court? Describes how closely scores on a test/evaluation correspond (correlate) with behavior as measured in other contexts.
Orientation
The process of introducing the employee to the work environment.
Predictors
The pieces of information obtained from a job candidate that are used to understand how successfully the candidate will perform in a future job.
Reference Checks
Contacting previous employers of a job applicant to determine his or her job history which may also include checking with school(s) or college(s) attended by the applicant to verify educational qualifications.
Selection
The process of gathering information about job applicants to determine who should be hired for an available position.
Planning
Which hr resource function helps the organization understand the number and type of employees the organization will need in the future?
Increased competition and changed in communication technology
What are two societal trends that are influencing the world of work?
Corporate culture
Which factor represents an organization's value system?
Managing succession by creating contingency plans for key employees
Which activity does the strategic hr manager need to be engaged in since orgs survive on adaptation?
Generalist
Which hr resource provides a broad range of support to the overall org?
Mandate that managers of federally funded projects work to eliminate bias in employment practices
What was the purpose of the Executive Order 10925 that established affirmative action?
Cost of selection will increase due to the need to review and assess a high value of applicants
How does recruiting that creates excessively large applicant pool affect employee selection?
Wages
What is a type of direct compensation (i.e.: salary) that plays a strategic role in attracting and retaining qualified applicants?
Compensation
Rewarding attendance at training class is which kind of performance improvement approach?
Champion for change
What strategic role is an Hr dept showing by working on increasing diversity within the organization?
Holding monthly training sessions on integrity
How should HR encourage high ethical standard of conduct in the workplace?
Sold trade secrets to competitor
Example of ethical violation
Implied contract
Exception to the doctrine of employment-at-will
Employee handbook
What is recognized by courts in several states as an implied contract that can be legally binding?
Illegal to discriminate against individuals vase on their protected classes
Goal of Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964?
Enforcing federal anti-discrimination statuses
Function of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)?
Better sense of inclusion
Outcome of effective diversity management within organizations?
Draws attention to diversity commitment
Benefit to promoting organization's efforts to increase diversity on the company website?
Gender discrimination
A woman turned down for a higher-paying position because the manager believes men perform the duties better than women is what kind of discrimination?
Color
A black firefighter is asked to take his bed when changing stations because no white firefighter would sleep in it. What type of discrimination under Title VII is this?
Establishes and maintains accurate budgets
Job duties for marketing coordinator includes: planning international trade shows by identifying, assembling, and coordinating requirements; establishing contacts; developing schedules and assignments; coordinating mail listings....and?
Straight ranking appraisal by a supervisor
Small firm needs to dismiss one worker. Which performance appraisal system should the first use to choose which worker to lay-off in this context?
Internships
How to develop potential job candidates before offering them permanent positions?
Focused on knowledge development across the firm
Characteristic of a learning organization
Peer-appraisal
Performance appraisal method can make managers more aware of their impact on employees without feeling threatened?
Colleges offering the relevant degree
Where to locate candidates who have the most up-to-date knowledge of software development tools, but previous work experience not necessary?
Employee readiness for training
What factor should be considered in selecting the appropriate training media?
Construct Validity
Requires demonstrating that a relationship exists between a selection procedure and a psychological trait or measure
Ensures the right people in the right jobs at the right time
Why is HR planning important?
Developing Data (Step 1 in HRP)
Determine corporate objectives, policies and plans, as well as other HR objectives and policies
Establishing HR Objectives and Policies (Step 2 in HRP)
Understand the firm's human capital needs (demand) and then determine who is available to fill those needs (supply)
HR Programming (Step 3 in HRP)
Actions plans to increase or decrease supply of employees
Control and Evaluation (Step 4 in HRP)
Controlling and evaluating HR plans and programs to show effectiveness
Delphi Technique
A method of group decision-making and forecasting that involves successively collating the judgments of experts. A large number of experts take turns presenting a forecast statement and assumptions. An intermediary passes each expert's forecast and assumptions to the others, who then make revisions to their own forecasts. This process continues until a viable composite forecast emerges.
Nominal grouping technique
A group process involving problem identification, solution generation, and decision-making. Several people sit around a conference table and independently list their ideas on a sheet of paper. After ten to twenty minutes, they take turns expressing their ideas to the group. As these ideas are presented, they are recorded on larger sheets of paper so that everyone can see all the ideas and refer to them in later parts of the session
Simple linear regression
A projection of future demand is based on a past relationship between the organization's employment level and a variable related to employment, such as sales
Multiple linear regression
An extension of simple linear regression analysis. However, in multiple linear regression, instead of relating employment to just one variable, multiple variables are used
Judgmental forecasting
The most common method of estimating HR demand. Managerial estimates are typically made by top management (a top-down approach)
Productivity ratios
Historical data are used to examine the past level of a productivity index
Human resource ratios
Past HR data are examined to determine historical relationships among employees in various jobs or job categories
Time series analysis
In a time series analysis, past staffing levels are used to project future HR needs
Stochastic analysis
Studies flow of people through an organization, translates structure into mutually exclusive states and determines probability of movement
Multiple linear regression and Stochastic technique
What are two statistical projection methods used to determine human resource demand?
Redundancy plan
HR planning associated with the process of laying off employees who are no longer needed
Job posting
What method is a company using to obtain applicants when an email about a job is sent to everyone?
Person
At which level of analysis are annual performance reviews?
Helps new employees understand what is expected of them
Purpose of orientation for new hires
Job analysis
Which hr activity relates to employees concerned about being held to duties that are not a part of their work requirements?
Training is for current job and development is for future job
Difference between training and development
Interview
Selection instrument used to obtain information on the applicants motivation and details of previous experiences to get a more subjective feel for the candidates
Gain-sharing
Incentive that leads to enhanced productivity and subsequently creates additional earnings. Payment is made based on company profit
Benefits
Indirect compensation can be integrated into the organization's strategic planning
Application blank (or resume, CV)
Effective way to gather relevant information about job applicants during the selection process
HR generalists
HR generalists usually provide guidance to employees, support management, and serve as a source of help, information on human resource matters, maintain human resource information system records and ensure compliance with federal and state regulations
Employees who are not a good fit for the organization
Outcome of poor reliability in a selection procedure?
Firm is offering fixed, employee is requesting fixed
firm offers x with insurance, employee counters for x with no insurance...what are the pay structures?
Job evaluation
Company should use to determine appropriate compensation level for new position
Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is any action taken by an employer to overcome discriminatory effects of past or current practices or policies that create barriers to equal employment opportunity.
Affordable Care Act (ACA)
A federal law passed in 2010, which prohibits insurers from denying coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions, sets minimum standards for health insurance policies, includes an individual mandate for individuals to have a health insurance policy, and expands Medicaid eligibility for many individuals and families.
Age Discrimination
The denial of rights or privileges or other unfair treatment of someone (an applicant or employee) because of age.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
A federal law that protects workers age 40 and older from employment discrimination based on their age.
Application
A screening instrument that gathers a large amount of applicant biographical and vocational information for relatively little cost.
BFOQ
Bona fide occupational qualifications are employment qualifications that employers are permitted to consider while making decisions about hiring and retaining employees. However, consideration of these qualities in any other contexts might be deemed discriminatory.
Baby Boomers
People born between 1946 and 1964; in general, they greatly value loyalty, financial security, stability, and a positive work ethic.
Background Checks
Used to verify job-related requirements of the applicant, background checks include reviewing items such as driving record, criminal record, credit history, and academic records.
Cash Plan
Provides for payment of profit shares at regular intervals.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Comprehensive civil rights legislation, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Civil Rights Act of 1991
This Act allows for compensatory and punitive damages for violations of Title VII.
Content Validity
Method used to confirm that a selection test measures what it is intended to measure by comparing the test to the job description (knowledge, skills, and abilities required to complete a job).
Correlation Coefficient
The correlation coefficient reflects the stability of a test over time—the higher the coefficient of stability, the more reliable the measure.
Culture
A culture represents an organization's value system. It includes factors such as employees' willingness to work, their ethics, how the organization thinks they should be treated, and so on.
Defined Benefit Plan
A retirement plan in which the employer commits (and pays) a specific monthly benefit (or amount) to the employee when the employee retires.
Defined Contribution Plan
A retirement plan in which the employer pays a specific amount, or contribution, to an employee's retirement during each pay period that the employee is with the firm. Both the traditional 401(k) and Roth 401(k) plans are examples of defined contribution plans.
Developing Data
The first phase of the process of human resources planning. Developing data includes inventories of the current workforce, projected future needs, and an understanding of what will be required to meet those needs.
Direct Compensation
The money paid directly to employees in exchange for their work, including wages, salaries, bonuses, commissions, and tips.
Disability
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, a disability includes: a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; a record of such impairment; or being perceived as having such an impairment.
Employee Benefits
The parts of the total compensation package (other than pay for time worked) provided to employees in whole or in part by employer payments such as life insurance, pension, worker's compensation, and vacation. Rewards are provided by the organization to employees for their membership and/or participation (attendance) in the organization.
Employee Referral Programs
Word-of-mouth advertisements that generally involve rewarding employees for referring skilled job applicants to an organization.
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
A federal law that sets minimum standards for pension plans in the private sector.
Employment At-will
A common-law rule for employment contracts that presume an employer can generally hire, fire, or promote an employee for any reason at any time. In addition, employees can leave for any reason at any time.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
A federal agency created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, tasked with formal enforcement of employment discrimination law.
Essential Functions
The fundamental job duties of a position.