HRM 402 - Final

What did employers do in response to the Norris-LaGuardia Act? (4)

• Industrial Espionage → spying on union leaders and destroying faith in unions

• Attacks on Union Leaders → physical, mental, and reputational attacks

• Strikebreaking → refusing negotiations, provoking strikers, hiring professional strikebreakers

• Company Unions

What is the order of events and conditions that led to the passage of laws that govern labor management relations? (7)

1. Pre-Depression Anti-Union Weapons

2. Norris-LaGuardia Act

3. Employer’s Responses the Norris-LaGuardia Act

4. Wagner Act

5. Taft-Hartley Act

6. Widespared union fraud, mob influence, etc.

7. Landrum-Griffin Act

What were the Pre-Depression Anti-Union weapons used in the early days of the labor movement? (4)

• Anti-Trust Laws

• Criminal Conspiracy Doctrine → collective bargaining was seen as a conspiracy to harm trade

• Court Injunctions → the court can legally stop strikes

• Yellowdog Contracts → employees are forced to sign contracts, agreeing not to participate in union activities

What is the role of the NLRB?

• The board that oversees union negotiations and enforces labor laws

• Exclusively for labor relations

What is “right-to-work,” what do people say for or against it, and what legislation makes these laws possible?

• Certain states that are considered “right-to-work” states have laws where employees can refuse union membership, even if the majority choose to have a union represent them

• Some say it is necessary to guarantee basic individual freedoms, others say it is unfair for nonunion members to enjoy the benefits of union membership without paying union dues

• Taft-Hartley Act makes it possible

What are the major provisions of the Norris-LaGuardia Act? (5)

• Allows unions to excist

• Legislature determines whether a strike is illegal or not, not the courts

• Courts cannot prevent aid from labor unions

• Courts generally cannot interfere with union picketing/messaging except in cases of violence or fraud

• Yellowdog contracts are legall unenforceable

What are the major provisions of the Wagner Act? (3)

• Unfair Labor Practices → employers cannot interfere with collective bargaining efforts nor “restrain or coerce” employees

• Created the NLRB

• Employers must bargain in good faith with employee representatives

What are considered unfair labor practices under the Wagner Act? (2, 1)

• No threatening to fire or change any term of employment to encourage or discourage union membership

• No retaliation against those who file complaints or otherwise engage in “concerted activity”

  • Concerted Activity → 2+ employees take action for mutual aid or protection regarding employment terms and/or conditions

What are the major provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act? (8)

• Unions cannot “restrain or coerce” employees

• Unions must bargain in good faith

• Unions cannot boycott suppliers or purchasers

• Featherbedding is illegal (cannot make a cushy job to hire a person just to hire them)

• No excessive membership fees/dues

• Bans certain union agreements and allows states to pass “right-to-work” provisions

• Federal employees are prohibited from striking

• The President can intervene when a strike creates a national emergency

What are the major provisions of the Landrum-Griffin Act? (2, 5)

• Regulates the internal conduct of unions

• Five Key Areas

  • Union Member bill of Rights

  • Unions report to the Secretary of Labor

  • Unions trusteeship controls

  • Conduct of union elections

  • Financial safeguards

What do companies need to do to be bargaining “in good faith”? (5)

• Provide relevant information to the union

• Actively participate with an open mind and a sincere desire to reach an agreement

• Meet at reasonable times and intervals

• Have an authorized decision-maker at the table

• Make counterproposals (but there is no requirement to reach agreement or make concessions)

What is a Closed Shop?

• Only union members can be hired

• Illegal under the Taft-Hartley Act

What is a Union Shop?

• Employees are required to join a labor union soon after hire and must remain a member for the duration of the job

• Prohibited in right-to-work states

What is a Modified Union Shop?

• If you join the union, you must remain a member as long as you keep the job

What is an Agency Shop?

• You don’t have to join the union, but you still have to pay union dues

• Illegal for government/public employees

What is an Open Shop?

• Employees are not required to join a union

What are the steps for a union to become certified? (9)

1. Workers want to unionize

2. Employee(s) contact the union

3. The union helps employees unionize by having an initial organizational meeting and forming an in-house organizing committee

4. The organizer petitions the NLRB for an election (30% authorization cards needed)

5. Government gets involved with a Notice of Election

6. There is a publicity campaign seeking votes and an election is held

7. If elected, the agreement is negotiated

8. There is either an agreement or an impasse

9. The agreement is administered

What are unfair labor practices for an employer during an election? (6)

• Cannot restrain, coerce, or threaten for or against the union

• Cannot promise benefits for or against the union

• Cannot try to settle grievances (it’s too late at this point)

• Cannot surveil or interrogate employees (large group discussions are okay)

• Cannot reward employees to campaign against a union

• Cannot enforce nonwork areas during nonwork time

What are unfair labor practices for a union during an election? (3)

• Cannot restrain, coerce, or threaten for or against the union

• Generally cannot distribute campaign literature in work areas during work hours

• Cannot demand “equal time” to address employees at work

What are the three different types of strikes?

• Economic Strike

• Unfair Labor Practices Strike

• Lockout

What is an Economic Strike?

• Result of an impasse over terms and conditions of employment

• Strikers may be temporarily or permanently replaced

What is an Unfair Labor Practices Strike?

• Protesting an unfair labor practice

• Strikers may be temporarily replaced

What is a Lockout Strike?

• An employer refuses to allow employees to work

• Temporary replacement workers may be hired

• Only permissible as a result of impasse over terms and conditions of employment

What is involved with the mandatory negotiated items that must be discussed during labor contract negotiations? (4, 6)

• Must discuss in good faith

• Can lead to impasse

• Can be basis for strike

• Includes:

  • Wages

  • Hours

  • Benefits

  • Workloads

  • Production Standards

  • Rules

What is involved with the voluntary negotiated items that could be discussed during labor contract negotiations? (4, 6)

• No obligation to discuss

• Cannot lead to an impasse

• Cannot be the basis for strike

• Includes

  • Dues check-off

  • Designation of negotiators

  • Punishment for crossing picket lines

  • Contract duration

  • Ratification of supervisor promotions

  • Type of “shop”

What are the illegal negotiated items that cannot be discussed during labor contract negoations? (3)

• Yellowdog contracts

• Closed shop arrangements

• Compulsory dues check-off

What are the three most common reasons workers will want to unionize?

• Economic Conditions → wanting a better work environment/condition

• Lack of trust with management

• Social and leadership concerns

How can organizations reduce the likelihood of unionization occuring? (6)

• Pay above market

• Promote from within and give employees a path through the company

• Attempt to make work as desirable as possible

• Cultural audit to keep your finger on the pulse

• Share information with employees about the state of the organization

• ERGS → give people a group to identify with and socialize within while also providing some leadership opportunities

What are the 5 steps of the grievance procedure?

1. A complaint is submitted to the supervisor

2. Grievance is written. Someone represents the employee and another represents the employer.

3. The grievance committee represents the union and the director of industrial relations represents the employer.

4. Top corporate officers meet with representatives of the international union to settle grievances

5. Binding arbitration by an outside third party that is acceptable to both management and the union

What is a progressive discipline system?

• Disciplinary actions become increasingly severe

What are the five steps of a progressive discipline system?

1. Verbal Warning

2. Verbal Reprimand

3. Written Reprimand

4. Suspension

5. Discharge

What is due process?

• Disciplinary actions must follow an accepted procedure that protects an employee from arbitrary, caprcious, and unfair treatment

• Usually involves providing individuals with written statements of the charges against them as well as the reasons for the penalties

What is just cause?

• Disciplinary action should only be taken for good and sufficient reason

What are the four different types of justice perceptions and what are the questions they seek to answer?

• Distributive Justice → is the outcome fair?

• Procedural Justice → is the process for determining outcomes fair?

• Interpersonal Justice → was I treated fairly and with respect and dignity?

• Informational Justice → am I kept informed in a timely manner?

When are workplace investigations required by law? (4)

• Harassment

• Discrimination

• Retalliation

• Safety/Threats

What is recommended for determining witness credibility in workplace investigations? (1, 5)

• Think holistically on the following five factors:

  • Plausability → is it believable at face value and does it make sense?

  • Demeanor → did they seem to be telling the truth? make sure to explain your reasoning in your objective observations

  • Motive → do they have a reason to lie?

  • Corroboration → does other witness testimony or evidence support their story?

  • Past Record → do they have a record of lying or telling the truth in the past?

What are natural consequences?

• Occurs when behavior violates the laws of nature or society

• Example: Being injured because you followed unsafe work procedures

What are logical consequences?

• Punishments that contain a logical relationship to the violated rule

• Example: Requiring employees to wait for an assigned secretary to make copies for them because they misused the copy machine

What are contrived consequences?

• Punishment for wrongdoing where the punishment is unrelated to the misbehavior

• Example: Revoking an employee’s use of a company privilege for a late report

What is the Systems Model of Training and Development? (2, 3, x)

• Three Phases:

  • Assessment Phase

    • Assess training needs and resources

    • Identify training objectives

    • Develop criteria

  • Training and Development Phase

    • Pretest trainees

    • Select training methods and learning principles

    • Conduct training

  • Evaluation Phase

    • Monitor training

    • Compare training outcomes against criteria

• Feedback occurs at every step within all of the phases

How do you perform a training needs assessment? (3)

• Organizational Analysis

  • Examines the kinds of problems an organization is experiencing and where they are located

• Task Analysis

  • Identifies:

    • The tasks that must be performed

    • The conditions which they are performed

    • A description of when and how often they are performed

    • The quantity and quality of performance required

    • The skills and knowledge required to perform each task

    • Where the skill and knowledge is best required

• Individual Analysis

  • Identifies how well individual employees perform their jobs and what deficiencies could be corrected through trianing

What is are the two key ideas behind learning?

• Learning occurs when practice or experience leads to a relatively permanent change in potential behavior

• No learning has occured unless there is a change in overt behavior

What are the major learning theories?

• Classical Conditioning

• Operant Conditioning

• Social Cognitive Theory

What is Classical Conditioning?

• Consists of connecting or pairing a neutral stimulus with a reflexive response, which consists of a response controlled by the automatic nervous system

• Example: Pavlov’s Dogs

What is Operant Conditioning?

• Focuses on learning bheaviors that are under the control of the muscle system of the body, focusing only on observable behavior rather than motives, feelings, and other internal processes

• Thinking of rewarding or punishing to enforce desirable behavior

What is Social Cognitive Theory?

• Behavior is influenced by the consequences of the behavior

• Includes not just the environment but also an individual’s behavior

• Focuses on learning through observation, modeling, and internal mental processes

How do you write effective learning objectives? (2, 3)

• Effective objectives contain three things:

  • Performnace → what the trainee is expected to do

  • Conditions → important circumstances under which the performance is to occur

  • Criteria → description of acceptable performance in a quantifiable and objective way

• Begin with the end in mind!

What are the various on-the-job training methods? (5)

• Job-Instruction Traiing

• Apprenticeships

• Internships and Assistantships

• Job Rotation and Cross Training

• Coaching and Counseling

What are the various off-the-job training methods? (5)

• Independent Study

• Corporate Universities

• Conferences and Discussions

• Case Studies

• Mobile Learning

What are the advantages of on-the-job training methods? (5)

• No special space or equipment is usually required

• Practical, as employees produce and earn while learning

• Provides an immediate transfer of learning

• Allows employees to practice what they are expected to do after training ends

• Allows trainees to associate with their future coworkers and to observe and model the behavior of these coworkers

What are the disadvantages of off-the-job training? (1)

• Does not provide the immediate transfer of training to real job situations

What are the advantages of on-the-job training? (7)

• Removes the learner from the actual job situation, which can facilitate the learning process

• Expensive equipment is not tied up during the learning process

• Errors and waste does not become a problem because it is not holding up the actual production process

• Provides trainees with an environment that is conducive on concentrating on new ideas and engaging in reflective thought

• Executives get away from job pressures

• Provides resouce people and materials to contribute suggestions and ideas

• Challenges executives to increase development and motivate them to improve

What are the four possible outcomes in transfering training?

• Large Positive Transfer → similar stimulus environment and similar learned response

• Large Negative Transfer → similar stimuls environment and different learned response

• Small Positive Transfer → different stimulus environment and similar learned response

• No Transfer → different stimulus environment and different learned response

What are the four different learning curves?

• Negatively Accelerating Learning Curve

  • Increments in performance are large in early stages of practice, but becomes smaller as practice continues

• Positively Accelerating Learning Curve

  • Learning proceeds slowly at first and then gradually improves

  • Typically appears when the material being learned is difficult or complex or when motivation is low in the beginning to increase over time

• S-Shaped Learning Curve

• Learning Curve with Plateau

What are the three explanations for a pleateau in a learning curve?

• Hierarchy of Habits

• Motivation Decline

• Unlearning Incorrect Responses

What are the three learning styles and how do you address them?

• Visual Learners

  • Individuals who learn best through seeing

  • Use PowerPoint presentations, videos, and diagrams

• Auditory Learners

  • Individuals who learn best through hearing

  • Use lectures, discussions, and audio recordings

• Kinesthetic Learners

  • Individuals who learn best through touching

  • Let them handle objects and construct models

What are the four learning strategies?

• Funnel Learning

• Inverted Funnel Learning

• Hourglass Learning

• Tunnel Learning

What is Funnel Learning?

• Taking broad concepts and applying them to specific situations

• Deductive reasoning → take a general rule and apply it to a specific situation

• Example: Management training

What is Inverted Funnel Learning?

• Taking specific situations to generalize broad concepts

• Inductive Reasoning → specific observations lead to a general rule

• Example: Learning new software

What is Hourglass Learning?

• Taking broad concepts and applying them to specific situations, then using those situations to create new broad concepts

• Example: Learning to write a business plan

What is Tunnel Learning?

• Uniform Presentation to Step-by-Step Instructions

• Example: Learning to drive

What are the four kinds of learning?

• Motor Response Learning

• Rote Learning

• Idea Learning

• Value Internalization

What is Motor Response Learning?

• Physical acts that involve various muscle groups

• Largely depends on sensory control, so learning them is done through actual performance of the activity

What is Rote Learning?

• Memorizing arbitrary associations between words, symbols, objects, or events

What is Idea Learning?

• There is a connection between the stimulus and the response, where there is a development of symbols and associations within an individual’s frame of reference

What is Value Internalization?

• The process of acquiring personal values based on moral behaviors

How do you teach using motor response learning? (4)

• Familiarize the trainee with the equipment, materials, and surroundings

• Demonstrate the activity

• Let the trainee begin practicing the activity

• Provide adequate guidance and feedback to make sure correct responses are acquired and incorrect responses are eliminated

How do you teach using rote learning? (5)

• Briefly familiarize learners with the material to be learned

• Identify patterns of association that can help learners remember material

• Provide opportunities for learners to practice repeating the new material

• Provide accurate and immediate feedback so that the learners’ errors can be corrected as soon as they are made

• Require repetitive practice so overlearning occurs and trainees can demonstrate their learning

How do you teach using idea learning? (5)

• Ideas are divided into a sequential pattern of concepts and subconcepts

• Learners are allowed to master one concept before proceeding to the next

• Learners practice each response and demonstrate mastery of each concept

• Reinforcement is provided to reward each step

• Learners review the material frequently to avoid forgetting

How do you teach using value internalization? (2, X)

• Induction

  • All forms of verbal explanation

  • Providing cognitive information by describing appropriate behaviors and justifying why such behaviors are important

• Modeling

  • The example individuals observe in others’ behavior

What are the four criteria for evaluating training programs, what are the questions they seek to answer, and how do you measure that critera? (4,2)

• Reactions

  • How well did the trainees like the program?

  • Obtain reactions by having participants complete a simple questionnaire at the end of a training program

• Learning

  • To what extent did the trainees learn and retain the information presented in the training program?

  • Use evaluations or exams

• Behavior

  • To what extent did the behavior of the trainees change as a result of the program?

  • Two methods to assess:

    • Individuals self-report

    • Individuals are observed

• Results

  • What final results were achieved from the training?

What are the seven research designs used to evaluate training?

• Post Test Only Design (Case Study)

• Pretest-Post-Test Comparison

• Pretest-Post-Test Control Group Design

• Post-Test-Only Control Group Design

• Solomon Four-Group Design

• Time-Series Design

• Separate Sample Pretest-Post-Test control Group Design

What is a Post Test Only Design (Case Study)?

• There is only one group

• Observations are recorded only after the training or change

What is a Pretest-Post-Test Comparison?

• There is only one group

• Observations are recorded before and after the training or change

What is Pretest-Post-Test Control Group Design?

• There are two groups: Experiment Group and Control Group

• Observations are recorded before and after the training or change in both groups

What is Post-Test-Only Control Group Design?

• There are two groups: Experiment Group and Control Group

• Observations are recorded only after the change in both groups

What is Solomon Four-Group Design?

• There are four groups:

  • A control group with observations before the change

  • A control group with NO observations before the change

  • An experiment group with observations before the change

  • An experiment group with NO observations before the change

What is Time-Series Design?

• There is one group with multiple observations (example showed four observations) recorded, then the training or the change takes place, and then there are multiple observations (another four observations in the example) are recorded

What is Separate Sample Pretest-Post-Test Control Group Design?

• Ther are two groups, a control group and an experiment group

• Each group is split in half, where one half is observed before the training/change and the other half is observed after

What are the main takeaways from the HBR, Parker article? (4)

• Job Design!

• We need to look through different perspectives and scopes when it comes to job design

• Don’t just the use the mechanistic approach!

• Four appraoches to job design

What are the four approaches to job design?

• Mechanistic Approach → maximize job efficiency, can be monotonous and boring

• Motivational Approach → psychological perspective that looks to fulfill worker needs, uses the job characteristics model

• Perceptual Approach → looks through the eyes of the worker and simplifies mental demands and creates visual aids

• Biological Approach → focuses on health and physical functioning by providing ergonomic tools, etc.

What are the main takeaways from HBR, Rivera? (4)

• Recruiting!

• When companies go to the same core/targeted campuses year after year, students tend to have the same charactierstics, so you get a fairly standardized “product” and have a lack of diversity in thought nad processes

• However, top schools mean they have done the filtering for companies to get top students and performers

• Seomtimes, when someone is hired from an outside school, the employee has a chip on their shoulder and works harder

What are the main takeaways from HBR, Cappelli? (5)

• Selection!

• Cautions against using AI in selection

• When people promise systems that have great outcomes, but you don’t know how that system makes the decision it gives you, you are liable for that decision (for better or for worse)

• Make sure systems measure performance well and that the measures are valid and reliable → make sure you use selection processes well and are testing for the right things

• Unless you know how those tools work, perhaps work a little more slowly so you know how the decisions are being made

What are the main takeaways from HBR, Priestland & Hanig? (3)

• Training

• Looks at what sound training and development processes look like at an oil company

  • They got buy-in from the leaders of the company and met with current managers

  • Front line manager training was the biggest need in the company

  • They brought in people for a week to do the training, then asked if they wanted to continue as a manager

• Front-line managers training can bring the biggest impact

What are HR Generalists?

• Individuals who possess a broad comprehension of all the human resource functions and how they interact with other departments in the organization

What are HR Specialists?

• Professional and technical individuals who have special expertise in oen functional area

What are the protections provided by the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act?

• Prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

• Applies to employers with 15+ employees, employment agencies, labor organizations, state and local governments, and educational institutions

What is disparate treatment?

• When a person is intentionally treated differently because of protected class membership

What is disparate impact?

• When an activity may appear neutral at face value significantly and adversely affects the members of a particular protected class, as shown by statistics

What are the verification requirements of an I-9 form?

• Something to prove your identity and provide evidence of employment authorization

• A U.S. Passport or Permament Residency Card covers both requirements

Who is covered by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act?

• Prohibits discrimination in employment for persons age 40+ in hiring, promotion, discipline, and terminations

• Employers cannot give different benefit plans based on older age

What is the purpose of human resource planning?

• The process of deciding how management vacancies will be filled with the goal of having highly trained replacements ready to fill vacant positions in all key jobs

What is the purpose of employment branding?

• Consists of projecting an image that makes people want to work for the company through their employee value proposition (EVP)

• Goal:

  • Improve an organization’s reputation and exposure

  • Increase the number and quality of applicants for available jobs

  • Reduce turnover rate

  • Increase overall workforce productivity

What is validity?

• You are actually testing for what you are hoping to measure

• For something to be valid, it must be reliable

What is reliability?

• You get the same (or similar) result when you test something repeatedly

What is the relationship between validity and reliability?

• You can reliably test anything, but you need to be sure that what you are testing relates to what you are trying to predict for it to be valid

What is criterion-related validity?

• The extent to which a predictor variable is correlated with a criterion variable

• You look at an outcome you care about (such as job performance) and test to see if there is a correlation between a test’s data and employees’ scores

What is the qualified privilege doctrine?

• A legal shield that protects an employer from allegations of libel or slander when the employer shares relevant information in good faith with another employer about an employee

What are the four major provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act?

• Minimum Wage Standards

  • Federal Minimum Wage is $7.25

• Overtime Pay Standards

  • Time and one-half of the “regular rate of pay” for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week

• Child Labor Restrictions

  • 18+, any job

  • 16-17, no hazardous labor

  • 14-15, limited jobs outside school hours

  • At any age:

    • Deliver newspapers

    • Perform

    • Work for parents’ business

    • Gather evergreens and make evergreen wreaths

• Recordkeeping Requirements

  • Employers need to keep records of wages, hours, and other related items for 2-3 years

What is the Department of Labor’s Economic Realities Test for?

• A list of factors that can be used to decide whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor