BUS 381 - INTRO TO HRM - copy

Strategic HRM

Linking HRM with strategic goals and objectives to improve business performance. 

What is HRM?

• Finding and hiring the best individuals available 

• Developing their talent

• Creating a productive work environment 

• Continually building and monitoring human assets

What happens when you don’t do hire well?

• bad hires cost a lot of time, money, and demotivation 

• Turnover of high performers is high 

• Showing up does not = good performance (CWB)

Job affects…

Career, social, financial, physical, and community well-being

HRM Responsibilities

• Training managers to be managers 

• Formulating aligned policies and procedures

• Serving as a consultant and change agent 

• Employee integration and inclusion 

• Offering advice

HRM Challenges

• Policies and policing, and practices are not aligned 

• Don’t know the business 

• Not up to speed on technology tools 

• Hard balance between details and strategic considerations

HRM Measurement: People Measures

• Enagement, satisfaction 

• Turnover, absenteeism 

• Program and practice satisfaction 

• Qualified candidates applying for roles

HRM Measurement: Organizational Measures

• Productivity, performance, revenue, profitability 

• Customer satisfaction

The Changing Environment

• Technology (HR tool) 

• Government (policies)

• Globalization (competition, competitive advantage, multinational corporations and implications)

• EDI (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion)

• Organziational culture, climate

Equality vs Equity

• Equality: Same and evenly distributed tools and assistance for all 

• Equity: Giving everyone what they need. Custom tools that identify and address inequality

Business Case for Diversity

Diversity is not enough. You need inclusion.

Organizational Culture

• The soul, long-term, takes a long time to change. 

• Core values, beliefs, and assumptions that are widely shared by members of an organization. 

• Conveyed through mission statement, stories, symbols, and ceremonies. 

Organizational Climate

The mood, short-term, atmosphere/vibe of the company.

Who is an “Employee?”

• Control (how, when work is done, pay, standards)

• Tools and equipment (owns and maintains)

• Subcontracting

• Financial risk

• Investment and management 

• Opportunities for profit (and losses)

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

• Basic rights are guaranteed to all persons residing in Canada. 

• It allows the right to live and work anywhere in Canada. 

• Right to due process in criminal proceedings. 

• Right to democracy and equality rights.

Human Rights Legislation

•  Protection from discrimination in employment relationships and the delivery of goods and services.

• Prohibits intentional and unintentional discrimination in employment situations and in the delivery of goods and services. 

• Supersedes the terms of any employment contract or collective agreement.

Employment Standards Legislation

 Establishes minimum terms and conditions of the employment relationship within each jurisdiction (e.g. minimum wages, hours of work)

Ordinary Laws

Protection under context or content-specific laws affecting workplaces, like occupational health and safety.

Collective Bargaining Agreement

A legally binding agreement establishing minimum terms and conditions of employment affecting unionized positions.

Employment Contract

A contract between an individual employee and their employer regarding specified employment conditions in specified roles.

Discrimination

A distinction, exclusion, or preference based on someone’s identity or prohibited grounds that harms a person’s right to full and equal recognition, and exercise of their human rights and freedoms.

Intentional Discrimination

• Different or unequal treatment in terms and conditions of employment based on any of the prohibited grounds. 

• Denial of rights due to association with a protected group member.

Unintentional Discrimination

• the most difficult to detect. 

• Embedded in policies and practices that appear neutral. 

• It has a harmful impact on specific groups of people.

Examples of Systemic Discrimination

• Minimum height and weight requirements

• Promotions based exclusively on seniority or experience in firms that have a history of being white-male dominated. 

• Lack of harassment policy and guidelines.

Bona Fide Occupational Requirement - BFOR

• A justifiable reason for discrimination based on business necessity. 

• Legitimate work-related purpose 

• A requirement is necessary for the role 

• Causing undue hardship on the employer

Duty to Accommodate

• Provide equal access to employment by the removal of physical, attitudinal, and systemic barriers. 

• Demonstrate attempts to accommodate to the point of undue hardship, done at minimal cost. 

Reasonable Accommodation

• The point at which employers are expected to accommodate employees under the Human Rights Act. 

• Financial costs make accommodation impossible 

• Health and safety risks to the individual or other employees prevent accommodation. 

Data Segregation

• Collecting identity-based data to track who gets promotions and who's in power. 

• Employers must be aware of the differences between individuals and the differences that characterize groups

Systemic Remedy

ensure compliance with legislation

Restitutional Remedy:

Monetary compensation

Harassment

unwelcome behaviour that demeans, humiliates, or embarrasses a person and a reasonable person would know is inappropriate

Employers and Harassment

• Employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy working environment, and can be charged with the harasser. 

• Includes actions and activities that were tolerated, ignored, and considered horseplay. 

• Includes harassment by clients or customers.

Sexual Harassment

Offensive, humiliating, and unwanted sexual or sex-based behaviour that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment that could be thought to put sexual conditions on a person’s employment (opportunities)

Sexual Coercion

Sexual harassment that leads to direct consequences for a worker’s employment status or benefits.

Sexual Annoyance

hostile, intimidating, or offensive conduct that has no direct link to tangible job benefits.

Harassment Policies

1. Commitment to a safe and respectful work environment 

2. Statement harassment is against the law 

3. Info for victims on identifying harassment

4. Employees' rights and responsibilities 

5. Employers responsibilities 

6. Procedures on what to do 

7. Penalties for retaliation

8. Guidelines for appeals

9. Alternative options 

10. How the policy is monitored and adjusted 

Employment Equity Program

A plan to identify and correct existing and past discrimination, and achieve a balanced representation of the four designated groups in the organization. (Women, Indigenous People, Persons with disabilities, Visible minorities)

Gender

• Women make up 47% of the Canadian workforce, but are underrepresented in leadership 

• Earn 89% of what men earn in the same roles

Why do Women Make Less?

• Systemic 

• Glass ceiling 

• Benevolent Sexism

Benevolent Sexism

attitudes, practices, and actions that seem complimentary or flattering to women but perpetuate negative stereotypes and limit their opportunities. 

Equal Pay

• Equal pay for equal work specifies that an employer cannot pay male and female employees differently if they are performing the same or substantially similar work. 

• Pay differences based on merit, productivity or seniority are permitted. 

• The Pay Equity Act now requires proactive pay equity plans.

Persons with Disabilities

• Lower employment rates, earn less

Visible Minorities

• Knowledge, skills, and abilities are not fully utilized

• Transfer of credentials (Language)

• Implicit association biases, systemic, group exclusions.

Discrimination and Harassment in the Fire Service

• BFOR 

• Poisonous or toxic work environment

• Harassment, bullying 

• Occupational segregation, discrimination 

• Systemic challenges (ex., Pregnancy)

Employment/Labour Standards

• Present in every Canadian jurisdiction 

• Establish minimum employee entitlements (pay, holidays, vacations, overtime pay)

• Max hours of work permitted per day/week 

• Employment contracts may exceed min

Management Steps

1. Decide what positions to fill through job analysis, the workforce

planning, and forecasting

2. Build a pool of job applicants by recruiting internal or

external candidates

3. Obtain applications and do initial screening interviews

4. Use selection tools like tests, interviews, and background checks

to identify viable candidates

5. Decide to whom to make an offer

6. Orient, train, and develop employees so they have the

competencies to do their jobs

7. Appraise employees to assess how they’re doing

8. Compensate employees to maintain their motivation

Talent Management

The holistic, integrated, and results-oriented process of recruiting, selecting, developing, managing, and compensating employees. starts with results and creates a coordinated system.

Job Analysis

The procedure for determining the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of each job, and the human attributes (in terms of knowledge, skills, and abilities) required to perform it

What is Collected with Job Analysis?

• Work activities

• Human behaviours such as communicating

• Machines, tools, equipment, and work aids

• Performance standards in quality and quantity

• Job context, including physical working conditions

• Human requirements such as knowledge, skills, education, training and work experience

Characteristics of job analysis?

• Need internal and external views

• Loaded with assumptions and current and historical biases

• Very important & very difficult

• Often not done well

Job Analysis Steps

1 Organization Information

2 Jobs Selected

3 Data Collected - information + Interviews, questionnaires

4 Verified and Modified - Accuracy

5 Job Descriptions, specifications developed

6 Communicate & Update - Reactive + all necessary parties

What is a job description?

 A written statement of what the jobholder actually does, how they do it, and under what conditions the job is performed. (outside JD as a guide)

job description includes:

• Job Identification

• Job Summary

• Relationships

• Duties + Responsibilities

• Authority

• Performance standards

• Working conditions + environment

Job Specificiations

A list of the human attributes needed to perform the job

Job enlargement

reduces monotony and boredom by assigning workers more same level tasks (horizontal loading) to increase the variety and number of tasks they have to perform

Job Rotation

relieves monotony and employee boredom by systematically moving employees from one job to another

Job Enrichment

makes an employee’s job more rewarding by adding more meaningful, high-responsibility opportunities/tasks (vertical loading) to increase feelings of responsibility, achievement, and growth.

Job Design

• Job enlargement 

• Job rotation 

• Job enrichment

Strength-Based Job Redesign

redesigns jobs around individual strengths, using broad and flexible job descriptions. Capitalizes on differences and allows employees to work in the areas of their strengths

HR Planning

helps avoid staffing shortages, anticipate demand, support succession planning, develop leaders internally, and reduce hiring costs through planning.

Environmental Scanning 

• Economic conditions

• Market and competitive trends

• New or revised laws relating to HR

• Social concerns (health care, childcare, educational priorities)

• Technological changes

• Demographic trends

When HR Planning doesn’t go as planned

Unexpected changes → Ex. Tech boom and bust

HR Planning Considerations

• Organizational growth

• Projected turnover

• New products, services, areas, and industries

• New skills required

• Organizational stage

• Organizational structure change

• Budget

Forecasting

Forecasting predicts future workforce needs using tools like:

• Skills/management inventories

• Replacement charts (show potential replacements)

• Succession planning (grooms for roles)

• Markov analysis - predicts employee movement

• External trends and predictions (stats, news)

Quantitative Trend Analysis

Predict future needs based on past employment levels/data

Quantitative Ratio analysis:

Ratio of business activity and number of employees needed (e.g., sales revenue per salesperson)

Quantitative - Scatterplot:

Visualizes and identify the relationship between business activity and staffing levels

Quantitative Regression Analysis

A statistical method used to examine the relationship between business activity and employees, involving two or more variables.

Qualitative methods - HR Planning

• Management judgment – meetings

• External consultants 

• Delphi technique – anonymous expert rounds to reach consensus

• Nominal group technique – group ideas - ranking

Employee Surplus

• Hiring freeze – non-strategic, often top performers

• Buy-out and early retirement programs – non-strategic, institutional knowledge, discrimination

• Reducing hours (job sharing, reduced workweek, part-time work, work sharing)

• Layoffs & Termination

• Leaves of absence

• Outplacement assistance, severance pay

Survivor Syndrome

range of negative emotions (e.g., guilt, betrayal, detachment) experienced by employees who remain after layoffs or restructuring.

• It can lead to stress, reduced performance, errors, and depression

Labour Shortage

• Overtime

• Hiring temporary employees

• Subcontracting work

• External recruitment

• Transfers (lateral, horizontal)

• Promotions (vertical)

Employer Branding

Image of an organization based on the benfits of being employed there

Based on feelings, emotions, functional, economic

better employer branding

Have a good PR team, better benefits, and professional development for employees

Advantages of internal recruitment

• Enhances morale if competence is rewarded,

• More commitment to company goals,

• Longer-term perspective on business decisions 

Disadvantages of internal recruitment

• Employee dissatisfaction with the insider as the new boss 

• Discontent if unsucessful

• possibly no new ideas or skills

Job Posting

Posting on LinkedIn, letting people apply

Job Slotting

Directly Choosing someone for the job

job posting vs job slotting

Job Posting

• Reduces favouritism risks,

• Provides every qualified employee with a chance, - equal opportunity

Job Slotting

• Avoids tension if an internal candidate was passed over,

• Competition among potential candidates

Advantages of External Recruitment

People could have the skills needed, Less money to train someone, More diverse,

Methods for External recruitment

Employee referrals, former employees, schools, and employment agencies

Most popular external recruitment methods

Online job boards, networking, social media

Online Recruiting

Lots of applications, AI can be biased, screening + prescreening on Job boards

(unqualified applicants too)

Current Recruiter Concerns

Hybrid, many options, people like to switch, compensation policies, diversity

importance of selection

To solve a problem

Implications of Selection done badly

• Company performance,

• cost (wasted salary, new hiring),

• legal issues, - discrimination

• negligent hiring - history

• reputation

The Selection Process

Deterine: Who’s involved, must-haves, questions & tests

Process:

• Prescreen

• Selection Testing

• Initial interview

• References & backround checking

• Interview + job preview

• Offering the job

Requirements for the Selection Process

Ensure all criteria are based on the job description & specifications + legally defensible selction

Main types of Testing

Tests:

• Cognitive abilities – assess thinking and problem-solving

• Job-specific – work sampling, (BFOR)

• Personality – (culture + traits)

• Medical 

• Assessment centres – combine tasks and simulations to assess fit

The interview is like

A date or a conversation

Interviewer objectives

Assess

• applicant’s qualifications,

• behaviours,

• communication skills,

• self-confidence skills

Applicant Interview Objectives

• Present/market a positive image + attitudes

• Learn about the work environment + job

• Explore career opportunities

Types of interviews

Situational and Behavioural

Strutures:

• Structured (ideal responses, rated),

• Unstructured,

• Semi-structured (most common)

Interview Processes

• Sequential (one after another),

• Panel,

• Mass,

• Synchronous and asynchronous

Problems with interviews

• Poor planning,

• biases,

• too much or little talking

Steps/sequence of an interview

• When does it start

• Plan the setting and seating

• Build rapport (not friends)

• Introduce interviewers and describe the role

• Ask questions & take notes

• End interview and invite questions

• Review immediately (no biases)

Why would you want the hiring manager in the interview?

• They know the job,

• Buy In on decision

• Fit,

• Realistic job preview,

• comfortability,

• Increase accountability of the hire

Reference checks

To:

• Verify and validate,

• compare for consistency,

• address any red flag

Providing references 

The process of giving information about a former employee, where the reference giver is protected by qualified privilege if their feedback is honest and fair, but may face negligent misrepresentation if they give overly positive or misleading details

Offering the job

• Make the offer verbally and in writing

• Within reasonable time

• Treat unsucessful candidates respectfully + professionalism