HRM 601

Human Resources
Management

Study Materials

NAME: Obada Alaswad

ID: 1332
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 Exercise # 1 Case Study

THE HOTEL PARIS CASE

The New Recruitment Process

The Hotel Paris’ competitive strategy is to use superior guest service to differentiate the Hotel Paris
properties, and to thereby increase the length of stay and return rate of guests, and thus boost revenues and
profitability. HR manager Lisa Cruz must now formulate functional policies and activities that support this
competitive strategy by eliciting the required employee behaviors and competencies.

As a longtime HR professional, Lisa Cruz was aware of the importance of effective employee
recruitment. If the Hotel Paris didn’t get enough applicants, it could not be selective about who to hire. And, if
it could not be selective about who to hire, it wasn’t likely that the hotels would enjoy the customer-oriented
employee behaviors that the company’s strategy relied on. She was therefore disappointed to discover that the
Hotel Paris was paying virtually no attention to the job of recruiting prospective employees. Individual hotel
managers slapped together help wanted ads when they had positions to fill, and no one in the chain had any
measurable idea of how many recruits these ads were producing, or which recruiting approaches worked the
best (or worked at all). Lisa knew that it was time to step back and get control of the Hotel Paris’
recruitment function.

As they reviewed the details of the Hotel Paris’ current recruitment practices, Lisa Cruz and the firm’s
CFO became increasingly concerned. What they found, basically, was that the recruitment function was
unmanaged, totally. The previous HR director had simply allowed the responsibility for recruiting to remain
with each separate hotel, and the hotel managers, not being human resources professionals, usually took the
path of least resistance when a job became available, such as by placing help wanted ads in their local papers.
There was no sense of direction from the Hotel Paris’ headquarters regarding what sorts of applicants the
company preferred, what media and alternative sources of recruits its managers should use, no online recruiting,
and no measurement at all of recruitment process effectiveness. The company ignored recruitment source
metrics that other firms used effectively, such as number of qualified applicants per position, percentage of jobs
filled from within, the offer- to-acceptance ratio, acceptance by recruiting source, turnover by recruiting source,
and selection test results by recruiting source.

It was safe to say that achieving the Hotel Paris s strategic aims depended on the quality of the people
that it attracted to and then selected for employment at the firm. What we want are employees who will put our
guests first, who will use initiative to see that our guests are satisfied, and who will work tirelessly to provide
our guests with services that exceed their expectations said the CFO. Lisa and the CFO both knew this process
had to start with better recruiting. The CFO gave her the green light to design a new recruitment process.
Discussion Questions:

Help Lisa design a new recruitment process by answering the following:

1. What initial steps should be taken to start the recruiting process?

Steps to be taken to start recruiting is be using Workforce Planning so we can identify and address the
gaps between the workforce of today and the human capital needs of tomorrow and to in order to apply it,
we should consider the following:
- Align Workforce requirements to the organization’s strategic and annual business plans.
- Develop a comprehensive picture of where competency gaps exist.
- Identify and implement gap reduction strategies.
- Make decisions how best to structure the organization and deploy the workforce.
- Address internal and external barriers affecting strategic workforce execution.

2. What recruiting sources (internal, external) would you suggest they use, and why?

Recruitment is the process of seeking and attracting a pool of applicants from which qualified candidates
for job vacancies within an organization can be selected. Paris hotel should use external recruiting sources
such as Employee Referrals, and Internet Recruiting. The reason for choosing external sources due to the
lack of competency internally, because of this is Lisa should look outside. Perhaps after bringing an
experienced crew and intensive training, in the future they can look internally to fill such positions.
Employee referrals is a great method for recruitment because referrals from employees often make
good new hires. Generally an employee who solicits a candidate for a position know the culture of the
workplace and understand the job requirements. The employee will know which potential candidate would
be good for that particular position. The best recruiters are your own employees. Since most major
companies use Internet recruiting, Hotel Paris could also use Internet Recruiting to build their company
image. Internet Recruiting can bring a wide range of applicants with a large diverse background and work
experience. Posting positions on that company website ensures they are getting interested applicants that are
browsing their website for specific vacancies.

3. What key information should appear in a Hotel Paris job opening announcement?
Job opening announcements provide a wealth of information to potential applicants about positions
being advertised and they can vary depending on the size of organization, these information can be as
follow:
- Position title.
- Salary range.
- Promotion potential.
- Location of position.
- Duties.
- Qualification.
- Contact information.

4. What initial screening processes should be utilized?

Screening can be very effective method for narrowing the number of candidate who meets a specific
requirement for the job. Depending on the size of organization, we can determine the screening method.
Small companies, screening can be based on the number of years’ experience or verifiable credentials.
Where as in big companies or organization, screening process can be in a bigger scale, like:
a. Criminal history screening.
b. Social security number screening.
c. Drug testing.
d. Lie detector history.
e. Education verification.
f. Skill Assessment.
 5. Who should be involved in the interviewing process?

The people who should be involved in the interviewing process can be:
a. Hire Manager.
b. HR Manager.
c. Supervisors.
d. Head of specialized departments.

6. What type of interview techniques would be most effective?

The interview techniques will differ depending on the job position. For example, front desk clerk,
behavioural interview should be followed because this approach is based on the belief that past performance is
the best predictor of future behaviour where applicants respond to questions that relate to specific experiences.
For Security guard position, Structured and situational interview questions could be used. First to identify skills
and experience, and the second to respond to hypothetical situations that he/she might encounter.

7. How would you suggest they measure the effectiveness of their recruiting efforts?

To measure the effectiveness of their recruiting efforts Hotel Paris can use:

 Participants reaction
 Retention of new information
 Application of new procedures
 Changes in behavior on the job
 Change in the organizational performance
 Exercise 2: MCQs
Circle the correct answer:

1. Giving undeserved high ratings on an appraisal to avoid confrontation is called:

A. Leniency
B. Strictness
C. Playing chicken
D. Recent behavior bias

2. When employees are incorrectly rated near the average or middle of the scale, this error is referred to as:

A. Leniency
B. Central tendency
C. Halo error
D. Recent behavior bias

3. Discharging an employee for theft, fraud, or assault is commonly referred to as:

A. Incompetence
B. Redundancy
C. Misconduct
D. Tardiness

4. A type of interview where applicants respond to questions using specific experiences:

A. Structured interview
B. Behavioral interview
C. Panel interview
D. Stress interview

5. A benefit of recruiting internal employees is:

A. Increase of employee moral
B. Different culture perspective
C. More diversity
D. They already have parking spaces

6. A performance review performed by multiple raters is called:

A. Diverse evaluation
B. Panel review
C. 360-degree appraisal
D. Subjective review

7. Employees who are putting in their time and doing their work with little energy or passion, but not
interfering with others are considered:
A. Engaged
B. Non-engaged
C. Actively disengaged
D. Expatriates
8. Who has the primary responsibility for being proactive and managing career development?
A. Employees
B. Managers
C. HR professionals
D. Organization leaders

9. HR information that is presented using a variety of charts and graphics such as bar charts, pie charts, line
chart and area charts is called:
A. Interview analysis
B. Employee surveys
C. Dashboards
D. Manager feedback

10. The first step in implementation and delivery of a new training program is:
A. Revise the content
B. Run a pilot program to a sample audience
C. Select the trainer
D. Announce the program

11. In a “management by objectives” program, employee objectives should be written by:

A. The manager
B. The employee
C. The department head
D. Both the employee and the manager

12. A retirement plan that calculates the monthly benefit paid to the employee after retirement is called:
A. Defined benefit plan
B. Defined contribution plan
C. Gainsharing plan
D. Profit sharing plan

13. The evaluation of whether reward systems are fair is referred to as:
A. Interactional justice
B. Procedural justice
C. Distributive justice
D. Blind justice

14. An employee who is terminated by lay-off due to economic reasons is considered:

A. Involuntary termination
B. Voluntary termination
C. Discharged for cause
D. Resignation
Exercise 3: Video Case. List and define the 10 Criteria Professor Ulrich believes will
shape HR in the Future: https://www.youtube.com/watch?vonsfsf =57PmDk73u7I

1) Value: Are we focuses on HR from the outside in? Does HR add value? Are we focused on HR in a way that
will shape and create value for the company? Do I understand HR Value creation? Which means we don’t look
at HR in terms of what we do, but in terms of what we create for other people.

2) Context: It is the context in which we work. What’s the setting in which we do our work? We like to talk
about the social, technological, economic, political, environmental and demographic trends. Those trends
should be a part of what we think about because, if we are going to create value from the inside-in, the HR
needs to be aware of the context of that work.

3) Stakeholders: they are the stakeholders who we serve. These stake holders can be inside the company such
as the employees, the organization linking HR with strategy and outside the company. Are we doing HR in a
way that serves our customers, our investors, and our community? Stakeholder model of HR forces us to go
outside. We don’t want to just be the employer of choice, but we also want to be the employer of choice of
employees our customers would choose. Do I understand and link HR with stakeholder both inside and outside?

4) Talent: Individual is talent. This is what the HR will focus on. Will I help my company have the right
people? Will I have the right talent? Will I have the right systems to sustain and build talent in the organization?
HR is all about talent and we believe the talent is the individual and the organization.

5) Leadership: Do we have the right leadership?

It’s not just the individual leader, but leadership deep inside the company. Leadership has a set of dimensions:
 Leadership code: Doing the basics well
 Brand: do we have differentiated leaders? Do the leaders in our company separate themselves
from somebody else?
 Sustainability: do we actually sustain the change in both individual leader and collective
leadership behaviour in the company so

6) Organization: how the talent works together as a team? It’s the culture, it’s the capabilities, and it’s what
we’re good at. We have to manage innovation, service, collaboration, efficiency. And we can identify what we
need as an organization’s identity that allows us to succeed. Usually, 15 to 20% of the time talent will succeed
and 70 to 80% of the time it’s the organization. The integrator between talent and the right organization is
Leadership.

7) Structure: do I build the right HR department? Have we put our HR resources together in a way that delivers
value?

8) HR Practices: have I aligned, integrated and innovated my practice? Or design one of the key practices
staffing training compensation?

9) HR people: have I invested in my HR people? Are we taking care of ourselves?

10) Measurement: do I have the right analytics and metrics to track what we do?
Exercise 4: List, define and provide examples of the 6 types of interviews.

1. Structured Interview: Pre-determined questions which are same for all applicants. More reliable and
valid as all candidates are asked the same set of questions. It enhances consistency across candidates.
Questions are closed-ended type.
Example: What prompted you to apply for this job? Why are you the best person for this job?  What
would you describe as your key strengths? What would you describe as your main weaknesses?

2. Non-structured Interview: Flexible, no pre-planned questions or follow up questions. It’s usually more
conversational and less formal in tone than a structured interview. Questions are usually open-ended
type which enables the respondent to answer in as much detail as they likes in their own words.
Examples: can you tell me how happy you feel right now? What are your hobbies? What do you do on
the weekends?

3. Behavioral Interview: Applicants respond to questions that relate to specific experiences. Also referred
to “Competency-Based” Interview.  This approach is based on the belief that past performance is the
best predictor of future behavior. 
Examples: Give an example of an occasion when you used logic to solve a problem. How do you
handle a challenge? Did you ever postpone making a decision? Why? What do you do if you disagree
with your boss?

4. Situational Interview: Applicant respond to questions with hypothetical experiences.

Examples: If our competitor, X, released a new product, Y, how would you advise our team to respond?
If you had two important deadlines coming up, how would you prioritize your tasks? When you
undertake multiple projects with tight deadlines, how do you stay on track?

5. Stress Interview: Measures applicant’s reaction to stressful situation.  utilize an array of psychological
assessments to determine how individuals react under pressure
Examples: Why were you fired from your last job? Was the stress of your last job too much for you to
handle?

6. Group Interview: Panel or multi-rater interview.

Examples: How would your colleagues describe you? How do you work in a team? Who would you
hire from your group? Why?
Exercise 5: Define and give examples of Ulrich’s 6 B’s of Workforce Planning

1. Buy: Hiring talent from outside the organization.

Requirements:
 The ability to identify, attract and secure the best talent within the external market.
 A strong internal talent development system.

Challenges:
Difficulty in finding individuals in the external market who have the specialized skills needed for many
manufacturing roles.

Risks:
40% of talent that is imported from the external market fail within 18 months, affecting morale and
career progression abilities (HCI).

Guidelines:
Turn to the external market if the candidates’ skills would be 25 to 35% better those of your current
employees or if you need an infusion of talent (HCI).

2. Build: Developing talent within the organization.

Requirements:
A strong internal talent development system to increase skills and capabilities of your employees.

Challenges:
Securing the investment needed for training and development resources.

Risks:
Long lead time until the employee is fully proficient and productive.

Guidelines:
Utilizing a 70/20/10 model when approaching development measures.

3. Borrow: Obtaining outside talent through consulting, outsourcing or contingent labor to access skills
and ideas needed.

Requirements:
 A trusted network of partners.
 An assessment of which skills should be borrowed instead of housed internally.

Challenges:
 Effectively managing projects with managed talent.
 Being able to transfer knowledge internally to have a return on your investment.

Risks:
 Reduction in quality.
 Becoming too dependence on partners.

Guidelines:
Make this decision strategically rather than reactively.
4. Bind: Retention of critical employees.

Requirements:
 Knowledge of what roles are critical in the organization.
 Identification of who are high performers in those roles and/or those that have high-potential for
those positions.

Challenges:
 Being able to accurately assess and identify the talent within your business.
 Understanding how to effectively engage these employees and being able to act upon those
needs.

Risks:
 Good employees will leave if you do not effectively challenge or recognize them.

Guidelines:
 Be proactive and focused on engagement, especially with your talent.
 Do not wait until these employees are already dissatisfied.

5. Bounce: Removing your bottom performers, eliminating unproductive roles, or re-skilling employees
with “old” skill set.

Requirements:
 Clear and understood performance expectations.
 Having a flexible exit strategy if possible.
 Providing opportunities which will effectively re-skill those employees you want to retain.

Challenges:
 Keeping engagement and morale up with those employees that remain.

Risks:
 Unintended departures.
 Diminished skill sets.

Guidelines:
 Carefully and respectfully manage the reductions in force process and communication.
 Reallocate resources effectively.

6. Balance: Developing an appropriate combination and balance of all other previous approaches.

Requirements:
 Input from the workforce planning process and the other B’s.
 Several strategic scenarios to model the future.

Challenges:
Difficulty in predicting future influences in order to adjust scenarios.

Risks:
Unpredicted circumstances affecting your success.

Guidelines:
Develop different case scenarios which each contain varying internal and external factors.
Exercise 6: Video Case

https://youtu.be/Y1sre3ay0Jg

Dr. David Ulrich discusses the four phases of a successful HR transformation. After viewing the video, present
a written narrative, highlighting the main points of the video and how each phase is important in the
transformation, and how the transformation can impact overall business results.

Phase 1: Why we are doing it? We are doing HR transformation to respond better to a business context. The
context has general environmental conditions political, social, economic, global and demographic that change
the world in which we live. Context also has specific stakeholders: investors, customers’ regulators, suppliers,
competitors, and union groups. These stakeholders in these general conditions give me the rationale as to why
we should do HR transformation. If we're doing HR transformation, the first piece of that agenda is answering
why?

Phase 2: What do we get if we do HR transformation? This question defines the outcomes. The benefits of
an HR transformation are the capabilities that a company needs to compete and win which means, what the
company is good at doing. Ex: Apple and Google are good at innovation, Walmart is good at cost, Nokia is
good at global distribution, General Electric is good at building their leadership depth, and UPS and Federal
Express are very good at accountability. Whatever the organization needs to be good at and known for, that
becomes the outcome of an HR transformation phase.

Phase three: How do we do it? How do we do transformation?

 How do we change the HR department? HR department needs a structure, a strategy so that it can
deliver against the expectations.
 HR also means the set of HR practices that are aligned, integrated and innovative.
 HR also means the people we hire, the performance management systems we have, the communication
systems we have in the organization we structure.

Phase four: Who does it? Who has what responsibilities? Line managers are often the owners; they're the ones
accountable ultimately for transformation. HR professionals are the architects. To really take the lead at
designing transformation, the employees of the recipients, the consultant’s advisors are the counsellors. All of
those people come together.

Our overall model of HR transformation is very simple:

1) Why are we doing it? What is the context?
2) What do we get if we do it well? That is the outcomes.
3) How do we do it? The department, the practices, and the people.
4) Who does it? The line managers, the employees, and the HR professionals. When all of those phases
come together we have begun to effectuate a successful HR transformation you
 Exercise 7: Evening Assignment Group Project

PART ONE:

Read the following article: “On-Boarding – A Critical Component to Talent Management”

“On-Boarding – A Critical Component to Talent Management”

Training Magazine Middle East, December 2014

By: Allan Gardner, MHRM, PHR, SPHRi, CAHRI, SHRM-SCP, Chartered MCIPD

Employee orientation is certainly not a new concept. Organizations have been using various levels of
orientation for many years with varying degrees of success or return on investment. In recent years, orientation
has been recognized as a key element in the lifecycle of employees, and has been expanded to help bridge the
gap between recruitment and retention. It has long been recognized that the initial impression and experience of
new employees during the first hours of a new job has long-reaching and permanent effects toward the
successful motivation and retention of that employee.

On-Boarding expands this concept, creating a nurturing strategic vehicle for fast-tracking new talent through the
organizational and cultural maze of the new employer, and creating a pathway to insure a productive and
engaged employee. Although on-boarding is an element of the talent management process and is a subject that
can be developed as a separate discussion, this writer will provide a brief overview of this process as means of
complementing the overall recruitment model.

“The aim of an effective on-boarding process should be to align the new employees’ talents with the
employers’ business objectives, inspire the employee to help meet those objectives and reinforce the
decision made by employee and employer to join forces. It is an on-going process, integrated into the
attraction, selection, induction, performance and initial development stages of the employee lifecycle.”

.…. Dr. Ray Glennon, Psychologist &Business Solutions Manager, SHL People Performance,
Princeton, N.J. USA

On-boarding has become a major factor in many organizational talent management programs recognizing its
importance to the financial stability and long term planning. Companies today must do more than just attract
new talent. They also need to lay the groundwork that will encourage new employees to grow and stay.
Investing in effective on-boarding helps new employees get up to speed quickly, equips them with the
information they need to excel at their jobs, and creates a sense of commitment to the organization. It has
evolved into an essential step in the employee retention process.

Although the time period for on-boarding programs can vary from a few days to many months after an
employee begins their new job, most organizations are recognizing the need for continuing programs through a
minimum of six months after hire. This period coincides with research that shows 90% of new employees
decide whether or not they will stay at an organization or, begin looking for a new position during their first 3
months on the job. (“Getting on Board”, Booz, Allen, Hamilton) Because of these statistics, inculcating
employees into the organization and its culture, making them feel welcome and valued, and, keeping employees
motivated and engaged "early and often", is key to a successful retention program.
Prior to First Day
Extend personal welcome
Communicate logistics
Send information via online
or FDF portal
Prepare office & equipment
for employee
First Day
Focus on mission and values
Meet senior leadership
Orient to office and
organizational norms
Introduce mentor
Discuss immediate job
requirements
First Week First 90 Days First 6 Months
Ensure managerial Provide essential training Recognize employee
involvement Monitor performance & contributions
provide feedback
Set performance Provide formal and
Obtain feedback from
expectations employees through new hire
informal feedback on
Assign meaningful work surveys or other processes performance
Communicate resources or Create employee
networks required for work development plan

Figure 1 Suggested on-boarding program and timeframes

Careful monitoring throughout the on-boarding process is required to keep employees focused and to measure
employee levels of comfort, satisfaction and engagement. The best method for determining employee attitudes
is through the survey process. Satisfaction and engagement surveys can be conducted online, through written
process, or personal interview. Consistent attention to new employees by both Managers and Human Resources
during the initial on-boarding phases is essential for success of the program. Perhaps the best solution to insure
an effective day-to-day employee monitoring during the on-boarding process is the appointment of a mentor to
each new employee. The job mentor can be an experienced employee from the same department who guides
the new employee through daily processes and helps eliminate fear and anxieties that are normal during new job
orientation. The mentor can be instrumental in anchoring the new employee and helping them to become
established in both the social and business development process that is required during the orientation period.

On-boarding requires investment of time and resources. Considering the replacement cost of employees, which
is approximately two and one-half times their annual salary, most organizations cannot ignore effective
retention strategies which begin with On-boarding programs. As competition for skilled talent increases
globally, employers need to find ways to better recruit, retain, develop and reward their people assets.
 PART TWO

Scenario: As an HR Manager for your organization, one of your assigned objectives for 2017 is to create a
comprehensive new employee Onboarding Program that will increase employee motivation, engagement, and
retention. Prepare a short power point presentation that you will present to senior management that will outline
and discuss the following topics:

1. How does the onboarding program differ from the orientation program currently used?

2. How long should an onboarding program for new employees be in place?

3. What HR strategies specifically support an onboarding program?

4. What is the potential return on investment (ROI) from an onboarding program?

5. When should the onboarding program begin? First day on the job? Or earlier? Explain.

6. Who should have responsibility in implementing and executing the elements of an onboarding program?

7. What are the major components of your onboarding program? Provide details.

8. What are the goals, deliverables and expected outcomes of the onboarding program?

9. Is the program employee focused, organization focused, or both? Explain your answer.

10. What elements can be built into the program to insure its effectiveness? How would results be measured?