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Human Resources Training

For the Non-HR Manager
print-on-demand courseware

fully customizable ● print-on-demand ● unlimited number of users ● no annual renewal fees

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Human Resources Training

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For the Non-HR Manager

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Student Workbook
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Copyright

All rights reserved world-wide under International and Pan-American copyright

agreements. No part of this document can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of Velsoft International Inc.

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 Table of Contents
Session One: Course Overview ...................................................................................................................... 1
Session Two: Defining Human Resources ..................................................................................................... 2
The Basics of HR Management ............................................................................................................ 2
Case Study: Expansion Staffing............................................................................................................ 3
Session Three: Skills Inventory...................................................................................................................... 5
Session Four: Forecasting............................................................................................................................... 7
Session Five: Job Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 9
Understanding Job Analysis.................................................................................................................. 9
Performing an Analysis....................................................................................................................... 11
Job Analysis Formats.......................................................................................................................... 15
Session Six: Job Competencies .................................................................................................................... 17
Session Seven: Position Profiles/Job Descriptions....................................................................................... 20
Preparing a Profile .............................................................................................................................. 20
My Job Description............................................................................................................................. 22
Session Eight: Do You Really Need to Hire?............................................................................................... 25

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Evaluate All Options........................................................................................................................... 25
The Real Cost of Employee Turnover ................................................................................................ 26
Session Nine: Finding Candidates................................................................................................................ 28

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Session Ten: Advertising Guidelines............................................................................................................ 31
Session Eleven: Screening Resumes ............................................................................................................ 33
Using a Resume Screening Guide....................................................................................................... 33

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Developing a Resume Screening Guide.............................................................................................. 36
Session Twelve: Preparing for the Interview................................................................................................ 37
Session Thirteen: Conducting the Interview................................................................................................. 39
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History of the Interviewing Process.................................................................................................... 39
An Objective Interview....................................................................................................................... 40
Basics of Behavioral Interviewing ...................................................................................................... 43
Purpose of Behavioral Interviewing.................................................................................................... 44
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Asking Questions ................................................................................................................................ 46

Provocative Statements ....................................................................................................................... 48
Understanding BDI Questions ............................................................................................................ 49
Developing BDI Questions ................................................................................................................. 51
The Critical Incident Technique ......................................................................................................... 52
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Creating a Critical Incident ................................................................................................................. 54

Session Fourteen: After the Interview .......................................................................................................... 55
Session Fifteen: Employee Orientation ........................................................................................................ 56
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Why Have Orientation? ...................................................................................................................... 56

How Did Your Orientation Rate? ....................................................................................................... 57
Problems to Avoid .............................................................................................................................. 59
Planning the Orientation Program....................................................................................................... 60
Session Sixteen: Planning Training.............................................................................................................. 62
The Training Cycle ............................................................................................................................. 62
Internal vs. External Training ............................................................................................................. 63
Session Seventeen: Working With External Providers................................................................................. 64
Session Eighteen: Performance Reviews...................................................................................................... 65
Performance Review Problems ........................................................................................................... 65
Debrief ................................................................................................................................................ 66
Case Study: Who Will be the Best? .................................................................................................... 68
Dissecting a Performance Review ...................................................................................................... 69
Identifying Behaviors.......................................................................................................................... 71
Session Nineteen: Absenteeism.................................................................................................................... 72
The Cost of Absenteeism .................................................................................................................... 72
The Case of Gretchen Washington ..................................................................................................... 73
 Dealing with Absenteeism .................................................................................................................. 75
Session Twenty: Diversity............................................................................................................................ 76
Dealing with Diversity........................................................................................................................ 76
Your Experience with Pigeon Holes ................................................................................................... 78
Session Twenty-One: Privacy Issues............................................................................................................ 80
Session Twenty-Two: Compensation and Benefits ...................................................................................... 81
The Role of Compensation and Benefits ............................................................................................ 81
Pre-Assignment Review...................................................................................................................... 83
Case Study: It’s Not You, It’s Me....................................................................................................... 84
Session Twenty-Three: Discipline................................................................................................................ 85
Session Twenty-Four: Termination .............................................................................................................. 87
Letting Staff Go .................................................................................................................................. 87
Case Study: How to Fire an Employee? ............................................................................................. 88
Session Twenty-Five: Exit Interviews.......................................................................................................... 89
A Personal Action Plan ................................................................................................................................ 92
Recommended Reading List......................................................................................................................... 94

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 Human Resources Training for the Non-HR Manager | 1

Session One: Course Overview

Course Overview

In today’s fast-moving world, many managers and supervisors are expected to deal with
some human resource issues. They may be asked to take part in developing job
descriptions, sit in on interviews, or take responsibility for discipline. This three-day
workshop will introduce those managers to human resource concepts. We will walk you
through the hiring process, from performing a skills inventory to conducting the
interview; discuss orientation; and cover some issues that arise after the hiring (such as
diversity issues, compensation, and discipline).

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Learning Objectives

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At the completion of this workshop, you will be expected to know and understand:
• The latest trends in the human resource field and the changing role of the human
resource professional.
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• How to write job specifications and identify core competencies.
• Methods of finding, selecting, and keeping the best people using behavioral
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description interviewing techniques.

• How to get employees off to a good start.
• How to deal with compensation and benefits.
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• How to maintain healthy employee relations.

• How to make performance appraisals a cooperative process.

Personal Learning Objectives

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 Human Resources Training for the Non-HR Manager | 2

Session Two: Defining Human Resources

The Basics of HR Management

What is Human Resources?

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What is your HR role?

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In your position, can you be a strategic partner with the organization?

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What are some of the things you might do to be more of a player?

What are some of the trends and issues facing HR professionals?

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 Human Resources Training for the Non-HR Manager | 3

Case Study: Expansion Staffing

Case Study

As the Director of Human Resources for KBH Video Stores in New York, Virginia Todd
knew that she had her work cut out for her. Company management was moving forward
with a goal of opening ten new stores in twelve months.

KBH already employed 480 people in 35 stores across the state in addition to the
headquarters staff of 31. Virginia knew that staffing the 10 new stores would require

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hiring and training about 150 people. She felt that her own small office was inadequately
funded and staffed to handle this task. She sat at her desk mulling over how to present a
recommendation for her own staffing needs.

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One of her concerns was broaching the subject with her boss, because she had not

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officially been told of the expansion plans. Virginia had learned about them through the
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office grapevine. While she did not like being kept in the dark, she was not surprised that
she hadn't been told. Glenn Sullivan, the president of KBH, was noted for his autocratic
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leadership style. Virginia had been warned early on that Glenn told his managers only
what he wanted them to know and that he expected everyone who worked for him to
follow orders without question.
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He was not an unkind person, though, and Virginia had always gotten along with him
well enough. She had never confronted Mr. Sullivan about anything so it was with some
concern that she approached him in his office later that day.
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“Mr. Sullivan,” she began, “I hear that we are going to be opening 10 new stores next
year.”
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“That's right, Virginia,” said Mr. Sullivan. “We've already arranged the credit lines and
picked out several of the sites.”

“What about staffing?” asked Virginia.

“Well, I assume you will take care of that, Virginia, when we get to that point.”

“What about my own staff?” asked Virginia. “I think I will need at least three or four
more people. And we are already crowded for space so I hope you plan to expand the
human resource office.”

“Not really,” said Mr. Sullivan. “The new demands on the human resource staff will be
temporary. It wouldn't be cost effective to hire and train additions to your staff that will

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 Human Resources Training for the Non-HR Manager | 4

only be cut the next year. I am counting on you to plan the expansion staffing within our
current proposed budget allowances for the human resource department. It may require
some reallocations but I'm sure you can handle that.”

Discussion Questions

What should Virginia do? Explain.

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Can you put an effective argument together for Virginia to convince Mr. Sullivan
she needs additional help?
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Have you dealt with any similar situations, where you needed help but were unable
to convince the higher-ups that it was necessary?

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 Human Resources Training for the Non-HR Manager | 5

Session Three: Skills Inventory

One of the buzz words out in the marketplace right now is emotional intelligence. In
simple terms, that really means making the most of the knowledge, skills, and abilities of
your employees.

How? By doing a skills inventory, to start. A skills inventory evaluates an employee’s:

• Knowledge
• Skills
• Abilities
• Qualifications
• Interests
• Motivation to learn new skills

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• Future plans (retirement, advancement)

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 Human Resources Training for the Non-HR Manager | 6

Skills Inventory Form

IDENTIFICATION
Name:
Job Title:

EXPERIENCE
Years with Company:
Years on Current Job:
Years on Similar Jobs in Other Companies:

EDUCATION
High School Yes No
Vocational School Yes No Type of Course:

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University Yes No Type of Course:
Job Training Yes No Type of Course:

SKILLS
Skills Used on Present Job
1.__________________
2.__________________
3.__________________
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4.__________________
5.__________________
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6.__________________
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7.__________________
8.__________________
9.__________________
10. __________________

Skills Possessed but not used on Present Job

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1.__________________
2.__________________
3.__________________
4.__________________
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6. __________________
7. __________________
8. __________________
9. __________________

5.__________________ 10. __________________

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Machines & Equipment Abilities and Level of Proficiency

1.__________________
2.__________________
3.__________________
4.__________________
5.__________________

READINESS FOR PROMOTION

To What Job(s):
Current Deficiencies:
Actions Needed to Correct Deficiencies:
1.
2.

© 2007, Velsoft International Inc.

 Human Resources Training for the Non-HR Manager | 7

Session Four: Forecasting

Human resource forecasts are attempts to predict an organization's future demand for
employees. If you know your department is going to grow, you’ll want to pay attention to
these tools.

Forecasting techniques range from the informal to the sophisticated. Even the most
sophisticated methods are not perfectly accurate; instead they are best viewed as
approximations.

Perhaps the quickest forecasting technique is to project past trends. The two simplest
methods are extrapolation and indexation.

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Extrapolation

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For this technique, you must first have data for the same time period that you’re
forecasting. Let’s say we want to predict how much our company is going to grow over
the next four years. We’ll say our current year is Year 4.
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Year Revenue Employees
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1 $10,000 10

2 $15,000 10
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3 $30,000 20

4 $90,000 20
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We can easily see a trend: revenue grew by 50% in Year 2 and employees stayed the
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same, while revenue and staff doubled in Year 3. From Year 3 to Year 4, revenue tripled
but staff stayed the same. Let’s use the same chart and fill in the known data for the
current year, Year 4.

Year Revenue Employees

4 $90,000 20

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 Human Resources Training for the Non-HR Manager | 8

If we look at the first table of actual data, you can see that from Year 1 to Year 2, our
revenue increased by 50%, but our employees stayed the same. If we presume that the
same thing will happen in the next four year period, we can apply that formula to Year 4
to come up with figures for Year 5.

Year Revenue Employees

4 $90,000 20

5 $135,000 20

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If we continue applying the trend, we can extrapolate the remaining years.

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Year Revenue Employees

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5 $135,000 20
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6 $270,000 40

7 $810,000 40
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This shows us how our staff should develop (if the past trends continue) and how the
revenue stream should also flow. Of course, this isn’t guaranteed to be accurate, but it
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may help you plan for the future.

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Indexation

Indexation matches employee growth with another factor (such as sales or revenue). Let’s
say that the Acme Widget Company indexes its employees by widgets sold. They know
that they need ten employees for every hundred thousand widgets sold. So, if they
forecast that they are going to sell 400,000 widgets next year, they know that they will
need forty employees. Then, human resources can look at that number and determine
what hiring and recruitment processes need to be put into place.

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 Human Resources Training for the Non-HR Manager | 9

Session Five: Job Analysis

Understanding Job Analysis

To ensure job descriptions are as precise as possible, a job analysis should be performed.
This will ensure that the job description accurately reflects the tasks that the job entails.

What is a job analysis?

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A job consists of a group of tasks that must be performed if an organization is to meet its
goals. A job may be held by only one person or by many people.

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A job analysis is the process of determining systematically the skills, knowledge, and
duties required to perform jobs in an organization. It is performed by obtaining answers
to six questions:
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• What physical and mental tasks does the worker accomplish?
• When is the job to be completed?
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• Where is the work to be accomplished?
• How do the workers do the job?
• Why is the job done?
• What qualifications are needed to perform the job?
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There are at least three different times when a job analysis should be performed:
• When new jobs are created
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• When jobs have changed because of new technology, methods, etc.

• When they have not been analyzed for a period of time and a new worker is
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required for the job

The information from a job analysis is used to identify competencies, prepare position
descriptions, and develop job specifications.

Who should you go to if you are doing a job analysis?

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 Human Resources Training for the Non-HR Manager | 10

Research is very conclusive that managers who understand what a job involves do a
much better job and have a much lower rate of hiring error than those who run in at the
last minute and begin the interviewing process.

An occasional job analysis can serve another very useful purpose. Sometimes we don’t
really stop long enough to take stock of a position, especially if it’s a position that has
been in place for a long period of time. Occasional job analyses will help you evaluate
positions and any new tasks or requirements that have come into play.

Hiring the right person the first time takes more than a gut feel. It takes planning and
preparation, both of which begin with:
• Understanding the job and what it involves
• Understanding the technical skills the job requires
• Understanding the performance skills the job requires
• Describing those skills in objective, behavioral terms

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There are several ways of doing a job analysis.
• Direct observation: Often used by a first line supervisor or manager. Has serious

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limitations, particularly if the job requires mental effort or specialized
skills/knowledge.
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• Interviews: A step beyond observation, as there is an exchange of information.
• Combined observation and interview: This can make for a complicated process.
• Questionnaires: They can be customized to the job and they are relatively
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inexpensive to do.
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 Human Resources Training for the Non-HR Manager | 11

Performing an Analysis

Job Analysis Worksheet

Job Title:

Grade/Salary Level:

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Position Reports To (Title):

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This form is designed to help define the qualities and talents needed for a particular job.
The questions are designed to give data useful not only to determine technical
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requirements (can do), but also the motivational factors (will do) and the
interpersonal/environmental factors (fit).
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Use this form to analyze a job prior to an interview by completing it yourself or use it as
a guide when gathering job information from others.

1) Job Information
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a) List the most important duties and responsibilities.

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 Human Resources Training for the Non-HR Manager | 12

b) Describe key involvement with others; superiors, subordinates, peers, vendors,

customers, or other contacts.

c) What are the potential sources of satisfaction? (List up to 5)

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d) What are the potential sources of dissatisfaction? (List up to 5)
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e) What jobs or career opportunities might be available? (Indicate even if limited)

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© 2007, Velsoft International Inc.