Human resource management

The management function concerned with getting, training, motivating, and keeping competent
employees.
1. The addition to staff through recruitment
2. The reduction in staff through downsizing
3. Selection
Result: selection of competent, talented employees
4. Orientation
5. Training
Result: help them adapt to the organization and ensure that their job skills and knowledge are kept
current
6. Identify performance goals
7. Correct performance problems
8. Help employees sustain a high level of performance over the entire work time: appraisal, benefits
The entire process is influenced by the external environment
What is legal environment of HRM?
HRM practices are governed by laws, which vary from country to country
1. Primary laws in the US affecting HRM
 Equal employment opportunities exist for job applicants and current employees
 Employees must be chosen without the regard to race, sex, religion, age, color, national
origin, or disability
Trying to balance these laws often falls within the realm of
1. EEO – Equal Employment Opportunity initiatives
2. Affirmative action programs – programs that ensure that decisions and practices enhance the
employment, upgrading, and retention of members of protected groups.
Hugo Munsterberg – a pioneer in the field of industrial psychology. He stressed the importance of
efficiently using workers to achieve economic production. His research and work in showing
organizations ways to improve the performance and well-being was fundamental in the emerging field
of management
Today, industrial-organizational psychology is defined as the scientific study of the workplace. Industrial
organizational psychologists use scientific principles and research-based designs to generate knowledge
about workplace issues.
Selecting competent employees
1. Employment planning
Employment planning is the process by which managers ensure that they have the right number and
kinds of people in the right places at the right times, people who are capable of effectively and
efficiently completing those tasks that will help the organization achieve its goals.
Employment planning translates the organization’s mission and goals into an HR plan into two steps
 Assessing current human resources and future human resource
needs

Human resource inventory – a report listing important information about employees such
as name, education, training, skills, languages spoken, and so forth.

1. Managers begin by reviewing the current human resource status. This review is typically
done by generating a human resource inventory.
2. Job analysis – an assessment that defines jobs and the behaviors necessary to perform
them.
Another part of the current assessment is job analysis. Ultimately, the purpose of job
analysis is to determine the kinds of skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to
successfully perform each job. Job analysis results in JOB DESCTIPTION and JOB
SPECIFICATION.
Job description – a written statement that describes a job
Job specification – a written statement of the minimum qualifications that a person
must assess to perform a given job successfully.

 Developing a plan to meet those needs.

 Future human resource needs are determined by the organization’s strategic goals and
direction.
Demand for human resources (employees) is a result of demand for the organization’s
products or services. On the basis of an estimate of total revenue, managers can attempt to
establish the number and mix of people needed to reach that revenue. In some cases, the
situation may be reversed. When particular skills are necessary and in scarce supply, the
availability of needed human resources determines revenues.

SUMMARY 1: AFTER ASSESSING BOTH CURRENT CAPABILITIES AND FUTURE NEEDS,

MANAGERS CAN ESTIMATE TALENT SHORTAGES AND HIGHLIGHT AREAS IN WHICH THE
ORGANIZATION IS OVERSTAFFED. THEY CAN DEVELOP A PLAN THAT MATCHES THESE
ESTIMATES WITH FORECASTS OF FUTURE LABOR SUPPLY. EMPLOYMENT PLANNING NOT
ONLY GUIDES CURRENT STAFFING NEEDS BUT ALSO PROJECTS FUTURE EMPLOYEE NEEDS
AND AVAILABILITY.
 2. Recruitment and downsizing
2A: How do organizations recruit employees?
Recruitment – the process of locating,
identifying, and attracting capable applicants.
Recruiting sources:
1. Internet/social media
2. Employee referrals
3. Company Web Site
4. College recruiting/job fairs
5. Professional recruiting organizations

2B: how does a manager handle layoffs?

What are downsizing options?
1. Firing
2. Layoffs
3. Attrition
4. Transfers
5. Reduced workweeks
6. Early retirements
7. Job sharing
3. Selection
Selection process – screening job applicants to
ensure that the most appropriate candidates are
hired.
A decision is correct when
1. The applicant who was predicted to be
successful (was accepted) proved to be
successful on the job or
2. The applicant who was predicted to be
unsuccessful (was rejected) would not
have been able to do the job if hired

The major intent of any selection activity is to reduce the probability of making reject errors or accept
errors while increasing the probability of making correct decisions. How? By using selection procedures
that are both reliable and valid.
Application forms, tests, interviews, or physical examinations must demonstrate reliability and validity
Reliability – the degree to which a selection device measures the same thing consistently

Validity სანდოობა – the proven relationship between a selection device and some relevant criterion

The best-known devices include written and performance-simulation tests

and interviews:
1. Written tests include: tests of intelligence, aptitude, ability, and interest. Most of them are
internet based
2. Performance-simulation tests – selection devices based on actual job behaviors. They are based
on job analysis and data. Best known performance simulation tests are work sampling (a miniature
replica of the job) and assessment centers (simulating real problems one may face on the job)
3. Interview – interviews can be reliable and valid selection tools, but often they’re not. To be
effective predictors, interviews need to be:
1. Structured
2. Well organized
3. With interviewers asking relevant questions
There are also potential biases that creep into interviews if they’re not well structured an
standardized: prior knowledge about the applicant, stereotypes of good applicants, favor towards
some applicants, the order in which applicants are interviewed…
How can I be a good interviewer?
1. Review the job description and job specification to help in assessing the applicant
2. Prepare a structured set of questions to ask all applicants for the job
3. Review an applicant’s resume before meeting him or her
4. Ask questions and listen carefully to the applicant’s answer
5. Write your evaluation of the applicant when the interview is still fresh in your mind

4. Behavioral or situation interview

Realistic Job preview RJP – a preview of a job that provides both positive and negative information about
the job and the company
When the information an applicant receives in excessively inflated, a number of things happen:
1. Mismatched applicants are less likely to withdraw from the search process
2. Inflated information builds unrealistic expectations so new employees are likely to become quickly
dissatisfied and to resign prematurely
3. New hires are prone to become disillusioned and less committed to the organization when they face
the unexpected harsh realities of the job
4. In many cases, these individuals feel that they were misled during the hiring process and may
become problem employees.
How are employees provided with needed skills and knowledge?
New hires must be acclimated to the organization’s culture and be trained and given the knowledge to do
the job in a manner consistent with the organization’s goals
1. How are new hires introduced to the organization?
Orientation – introducing a new employee to the job and the organization
The major goals of orientation:
1. Reduce the initial anxiety all new employees feel
2. Familiarize new employees with the job, the work unit, and the organization as a whole
 Job orientation: 1. Expands on the information the employee obtained during the
recruitment and selection stages 2. Clarifies the new employee’s specific duties and
responsibilities 3. Corrects any unrealistic expectations
 Work unit orientation 1. Familiarizes an employee with the goals of the work unit 2.
Clarifies how his or her job contributes to the unit’s goals 3. Provides an introduction to
his or her coworkers
 Organization orientation 1. Informs the new employee about the organization’s goals,
history, philosophy, procedures, and rules 2. Clarifies relevant HR policies such as work
hours, pay procedures, overtime requirements, and benefits 3. May include a tour of the
organization’s physical facilities.
3. Facilitate the outsider-insider transition
What is employee training?
Employee training is a learning experience that seeks a relatively permanent change in employees by
improving their ability to perform on the job. Thus, training involves changing skills, knowledge, attitudes,
or behavior.
Determining when training is needed: