Chapter 17

Human Resource
Policies and Practices

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
S T E P H E N P. R O B B I N S
E L E V E N T H E D I T I O N
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. WWW.PRENHALL.COM/ROBBINS PowerPoint Presentation
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 Selection Devices
 Interviews
– Are the most frequently used selection tool.
– Carry a great deal of weight in the selection process.
– Can be biased toward those who “interview well.”
– Should be structured to ensure against distortion due
to interviewers’ biases.
– Are better for assessing applied mental skills,
conscientiousness, interpersonal skills, and person-
organization fit of the applicant.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 17–2

 Selection Devices (cont’d)
 Written Tests
– Renewed employer interest in testing applicants for:
• Intelligence: trainable to do the job?
• Aptitude: could do job?
• Ability: can do the job?
• Interest (attitude): would/will do the job?
• Integrity: trust to do the job?
– Tests must show a valid connection to job-related
performance requirements.

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 Selection Devices (cont’d)
 Performance-Simulation Tests
– Based on job-related performance requirements
– Yield validities (correlation with job performance)
superior to written aptitude and personality tests.

Work Sample Tests

Creating a miniature replica of a job to evaluate
the performance abilities of job candidates.
Assessment Centers
A set of performance-simulation tests designed
to evaluate a candidate’s managerial potential.
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 17–4
 What About Ethics Training?
 Argument against ethics  Arguments for ethics
training training
– Personal values and – Values can be learned
value systems are fixed and changed after early
at an early age. childhood.
– Training helps employees
recognize ethical
dilemmas and become
aware of ethical issues
related to their actions.
– Training reaffirms the
organization’s
expectation that
members will act
ethically.

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 Training Methods

E-training Formal Training

Individual and
Off-the-Job
Group Training Informal Training
Training
Methods

On-the-Job
Training

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 Individualizing Formal Training to Fit the
Employee’s Learning Style

Readings Lectures

Learning
Styles
Participation and
Experiential Visual Aids
Exercises

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 Career Development Responsibilities
 Organization  Employees
– Clearly communicate – Know yourself.
organization’s goals – Manage your reputation.
and future strategies.
– Build and maintain
– Create growth network contacts.
opportunities.
– Keep current.
– Offer financial
assistance. – Balance your generalist
and specialist
– Provide time for competencies.
employees to learn.
– Document your
achievement.
– Keep your options open.

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 Performance Evaluation
 Purposes of Performance Evaluation
– Making general human resource decisions.
• Promotions, transfers, and terminations
– Identifying training and development needs.
• Employee skills and competencies
– Validating selection and development programs.
• Employee performance compared to selection evaluation
and anticipated performance results of participation in
training.
– Providing feedback to employees.
• The organization’s view of their current performance
– Supplying the basis for rewards allocation decisions.
• Merit pay increases and other rewards

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 Performance Evaluation (cont’d)
 Performance Evaluation and Motivation
– If employees are to be motivated to perform, then:
• Performance objectives must be clear.
• Performance criteria must be related to the job.
• Performance must be accurately evaluated.
• Performance must be properly rewarded.

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 Performance Evaluation (cont’d)
 What Do We Evaluate?

Individual Task
Behaviors
Outcomes

Performance
Evaluation

Traits

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 Performance Evaluation (cont’d)
 Who Should Do the Evaluating?

Immediate
Supervisor

Peers

Self-Evaluation

Immediate
Subordinates

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 Methods of Performance Evaluation

Written Essay
A narrative describing an employee’s strengths,
weaknesses, past performances, potential, and
suggestions for improvement.

Critical Incidents
Evaluating the behaviors that are key in making the
difference between executing a job effectively and
executing it ineffectively.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 17–13

 Methods of Performance Evaluation (cont’d)

Graphic Rating Scales

An evaluation method in which the evaluator rates
performance factors on an incremental scale.

Keeps up with current

policies and regulations.
1 2 3 4 5

X
Completely Fully
Unaware Informed

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 Methods of Performance Evaluation (cont’d)

Behaviorally Anchored
Rating Scales (BARS) Passes next examination
and graduates on time.
Scales that combine major
elements from the critical Pays close attention and
incident and graphic rating regularly takes notes.
scale approaches:
Alert and takes
The appraiser rates the occasional notes.
employees based on items
along a continuum, but the Stays awake in class
points are examples of actual but is inattentive.
behavior on a given job rather
Get to class on time,
than general descriptions or
but nods off immediately.
traits.
Oversleeps for class.

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 Methods of Performance Evaluation (cont’d)
 Forced Comparisons
– Evaluating one individual’s performance relative
to the performance of another individual or
others.

Group Order Ranking

An evaluation method that places employees into a
particular classification, such as quartiles.

Individual Ranking
An evaluation method that rank-orders employees
from best to worse.
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 17–16
 Methods of Performance Evaluation (cont’d)
 Forced Comparisons (cont’d)
Paired Comparison
An evaluation method that compares each employee
with every other employee and assigns a summary
ranking based on the number of superior scores that
the employee achieves.

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 Providing Performance Feedback
 Why Managers Are Reluctance to Give Feedback
– Uncomfortable discussing performance weaknesses
directly with employees.
– Employees tend to become defensive when their
weaknesses are discussed.
– Employees tend to have an inflated assessment of their
own performance.
 Solutions to Improving Feedback
– Train managers in giving effective feedback.
– Use performance review as counseling activity than as
a judgment process.

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 17–18

 Providing Performance Feedback (cont’d)
 Why Feedback Is Important?
– Provides employees with information about their
current performance
– Affects employee motivation to continue performing.
 What About Team Performance Evaluations?
1. Tie the team’s results to the organization’s goals.
2. Begin with the team’s customers and the work process
the team follows to satisfy customer needs.
3. Measure both team and individual performance.
4. Train the team to create its own measures.

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 International HR Practices: Selected Issues
 Selection
– Few common procedures, differ by nation.
 Performance Evaluation
– Not emphasized or considered appropriate in many
cultures due to differences in:
• Individualism versus collectivism.
• A person’s relationship to the environment.
• Time orientation (long- or short-term).
• Focus of responsibility.

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 Managing Diversity in Organizations (cont’)
 Diversity Training
– Participants learn to value individual differences,
increase cross-cultural understanding, and confront
stereotypes.
– A typical diversity training program:
• Lasts for half a day to three days.
• Includes role-playing exercises, lectures, discussions,
and sharing experiences.

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