HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER TWO
 HRM ENVIRONMENT

• Environment is the totality of factors that influence an organization and its sub
systems such as HRM.
• External Environment -forces external to a firm that affect the firm’s
performance but are beyond the control of management.
• In order to adopt to the external environment constant monitoring of the
external environment for opportunities and threats is important.
• Internal Environment- are concerns or problems internal to the organization.
 HRM ENVIRONMENT
• External environment: composed of General and Task environment.
1. General environment
 Economic environment: unemployment, demand and supply, inflation, labour
markets…
 Technological environment: reduced number of jobs, training needs…
 Socio-cultural environment: Views, customs, values and demography of the
society
 Political-Legal environment: Governmental laws and regulations
 Physical environment: climate, location…
2. Task environment
Individuals, groups and organizations that directly affect an organization but not as
part of it. Example, customers, suppliers, policy makers, owners, competitors …
 HRM ENVIRONMENT
Internal Environment: an environment that exists within an
organization.
 Mission: organizational reason for existence
 Policy: guideline to provide direction in decision making.
 Organizational culture: a system of shared values, beliefs and
habits of an organization
 Organizational structure
THE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING HRM

5
 STRATEGIC CHALLENGES FACING HRM
• Invest on HR professionalism
• Understanding and Managing people
– How to find, motivate , nurture, develop and keep them
• Learn and adapt to evolving role of HRM
• Discern, create, and adapt organizational culture
• Availing Skilled and motivated workforce
• Maintain cost while retaining top performing employees
• Managing workforce diversity
• Globalization
THE LEGAL ASPECTS OF HRM
 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY (EEO)

• Is the condition in which all individuals have an

equal chance for employment, regardless of their
race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national
origin. (without discrimination)

• The treatment of individuals in all aspects of

employment should be fair and nonbiased manner.
 D I S PA R AT E T R E AT M E N T

• One sign of discrimination is disparate treatment —differing

treatment of individuals, where the differences are based on the
individuals’ race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or
disability status. (different standards to judge individuals and
same standard not related to the job)
• Example:-
• hiring or promoting one person over an equally qualified person
because of the individual’s race.
• Failing to hire women with school-age children but hiring men with
school-age children.
 TO AVOID DISPARATE TREATMENT

 Standardized evaluating interview questions and

 Job related decision criteria
 B O N A F I D E O C C U PAT I O N A L Q U A L I F I C AT I O N ( B F O Q )

• A quality or an attribute that employers are allowed to consider

when making hiring decisions of employees, when considered in
other contexts would constitute discrimination and violation of
employment law. (except race)
Example:
Age limits for bus drivers and airline pilots
Religion of staffs of religious school
Ability to lift a certain amount of weight
 AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

• A strategy intended to achieve fair employment by urging

employers to hire certain groups of people who were discriminated
against in the past.
• An organization’s active effort to find opportunities to hire or
promote people in a particular group.
• taking extra effort to attract and retain minority employees.
• Affirmative action measures are temporary interventions
 A F F I R M AT I V E A C T I O N A N D E T H I O P I A N L AW

• Article 35
• The historical legacy of inequality and discrimination suffered by women in
Ethiopia taken into account, women, in order to remedy this legacy, are entitled
to affirmative measures. The purpose of such measures shall be to provide
special attention to women so as to enable them to compete and participate on
the basis of equality with men in political, social and economic life as well as
in public and private institutions.
 A F F I R M AT I V E A C T I O N A N D E T H I O P I A N L AW

• Proclamation 515/2007
In recruitment promotion and deployment preference shall be
given to:
• female candidates
• candidates with disabilities; and
• members of nationalities comparatively less represented in the
government office, having equal or close scores to that other
candidates.
 REVERSED DISCRIMINATION

• Increasing the proportion of minority or female candidates hired or

promoted, it necessarily reduces the proportion of majority or male
candidates hired or promoted.
• The act of giving preference to members of protected classes to the
extent that unprotected individuals believe they are suffering
discrimination
 HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE

• Sexual Harassment

• Unwelcome advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical
conduct of a sexual nature in the working environment

• Sexual harassment includes any type of behavior, comments, gestures, and

actions of a sexual nature that create a hostile work environment for an
employee.
 SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE

Quid pro quo sexual harassment

• Harassment that occurs when sexual activity is required in

return for getting or keeping a job or job-related benefit.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE
Hostile work environment
• A more subtle, and possibly more pervasive, form of sexual
harassment
• This occurs when someone’s behavior in the workplace
creates an environment in which it is difficult for someone
of a particular sex to work.
 SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE

Psychological harassment
• Repeated and hostile or unwanted conduct, verbal
comments, actions, or gestures that affect an employee’s
dignity or psychological or physical integrity and that result
in a harmful work environment for the employee.
 ACTIVITY

• Are you for, against or neutral regarding

Affirmative action? Why?
• Discuss on some examples of Sexual harassment
• What can you do as a human resource manager
to deal with harassment in the workplace ?
 HOW TO DEAL WITH HARASSMENT
• Have clear well communicated harassment prohibiting policy
– Definition of sexual harassment (physical conduct, verbal conduct & non-verbal
conduct)
– Refreshment training programs
– Compliant procedure
– Disciplinary measures (from warning to dismissal)
• In place effective complaint procedure
• Guard against retaliation
• Quickly investigate all claims
• Take remedial action to correct past harassment
• Follow up to prevent continuation of harassment