HR Exam 2

Workflows design

Workflows design

The process of analyzing the tasks necessary for the production of a product or service; needed to understand how tasks can be bundled into jobs

Output

product of a work unit and often an identifiable object. It can also be a service or information

Work processes

the activities that members of a work unit engage in to produce a given output

Raw materials

consist of the materials that will be converted into the work unit’s product

Equipment refer to the technology and machinery necessary to transform the raw material into the product

Human skills consist of the works and delegation of work to the lowest-cost employee who can do the work well.

Organizational Structure

the stable and formal network of vertical and horizontal interconnections among jobs that constitute the organization; needed to understand how jobs at different level relate

Centralization

decision-making authority resides at the top of the organizational chart

Centralized

executive has final say

Decentralized

decisions are made more autonomously

Departmentalization

work units are grouped based on functional similarity or similarity of work-flow

Functional

different color groups at school

Work-flow

different color groups for each grade at school

Functional structure

employs a functional departmentalization scheme with relatively high levels of centralization

Divisional Structure

has a work-flow oriented departmentalization scheme with low levels of centralization. Divisions act like separate organizations and are based on product, geographic regions, and clients

Job analysis

the process of getting detailed information about jobs

Job Descriptions

list of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities (TDRs) that a job entails; these are observable

Essential vs. Nonessential Job Functions

Percentage of time on task, frequency of task, importance of task

Job specifications

list of the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) that an individual must have to perform the job

Sources of Information

job incumbents, supervisors, subject-matter experts, social networks, customers and other sources, external job analysis

Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)

cover inputs, outputs, processes, and work context with 194 items assessing work behaviors, work conditions, and job characteristics; rates tasks based on extent of use, amount of time, importance of the job, possibility of occurrence

Occupational Information Network (O*NET)

Uses a common language that generalizes across jobs to describe the abilities, work styles, work activities, an work context required for 1,000 more broadly defined occupations

Job Design

the process of defining the way work will be performed and the tasks that will be required in a given job

Workforce planning, why is important?

• clear idea about the current configuration of the staff (know the strength and weaknesses of employees)

• where the org is going in the future (goal and strat)

• address discrepancies between the current configuration and the needed configuration (strat implementation)

• Effective planning supports the organization’s competitiveness

Societal trends influence labor demand and supply

• Consumer markets affect the demand for goods and services

• Labor markets affect the supply of people to produce those goods and services

Forecasting

determine the supply and demand for various types of human resources

• predicts areas within the organization where there will be future labor shortages or surpluses

Statistical Methods (labor demand)

historical data that predicts future labor demand, best when there is long history that can be used to detect relationships among variables

Judgmental methods (labor demand)

subjective judgement of experts to capture events without historical percent

Statistical method (labor supply)

transactional matrix shows the proportion or number of employees in different job categories at different times

Judgemental methods (labor supply)

consideration of one-time unforeseen events that shock the supply system

Labor demand is greater than labor supply → labor shortage

• temp workers and independent contractors

• outsourcing and offshoring

• Hiring immigrants and refugees

• Overtime

Labor demand is less than labor supply→ labor surplus

• Downsizing

• Early retirement programs and buyouts

• Reduce pay, benefits, or hours - furloughs for salaried workers

Recruitment

The practice or activity carried on by an organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees (comes during labor shortage)

Job redesign

changing the tasks or the way work is performed in an existing job

5 different approaches to job design

• Mechanistic

• Motivational

• Biological

• Structure

• Perceptual-motor

Mechanistic Approach

Hire work able to do the job and train them in the ONE best way

Motivational Approach

Focuses on psychological and motivational potential of a job

Biological Approach

Examines interface between individual’s physiological characteristics and the physical work environment

Perceptual-motor

Focuses on human mental capabilities limitation

Promotion-from-within

policies signal opportunities for advancement

• increase motivation and job secuity

• may reduce potential creativity and innovation

Due process

policies formally lay out the steps an employee can take to appeal a termination decision

• promote perceptions of job security and long-term commitment

Employment-at-will

policies state that either the employer or the employee can terminate the employment relation at any time, regardless of cause

Extrinsic reward

“lead the market” approach to pay, pay as a way to compensate for less desirable jobs or features of jobs, signing bonuses, benefits

Intrinsic rewards

personal growth and learning opportunities, fulfillment and purpose, pride and accomplishment, autonomy, and respect and relationship

Image advertising

organizations promote themselves as a good place to work, this signals the general rep of the organizations

Different recruitment sources

• Internal Sources

• External Sources

• Direct Applicants

• Referrals

• Electronic recruiting

• Other Media

• State employment offices

• Private Agencies

• Colleges, Uni, High Schools

Internal sources

applicants are well known to the organization, they have relatively realistic expectations about the job, insiders often outperform outsiders, and internal recruitment and selection is cheaper and faster

Exeteral Sources

no internal candidates available, exposure to new ideas or ways of doing business, strengthen one’s own company and weaken the competitors at the same time 🡪 poaching through cold calling

Direct Applicants

Individuals who apply for a job vacancy without prompting from the organization

Referrals

Individual who are prompted to apply for a job by someone within the organizations

Electronic recruiting

org websites, job sites, social media

Other media

newspapers, radio, television

State employment offices

the purpose to ensure that  unemployed individuals receiving unemployment compensation regain employment

Private Agencies

charge the employer for referrals, job seekers do not have to be unemployed, primarily serve the white-collar market

Colleges, universities, high schools

placement services help graduate obtain employment

Yield Ratio

determine and compare the quality of the applicant pool per source

Cost-per-hire data

determine efficiency of the source and total cost of source/offers accepted

Warmth

the degree to which the recruiter seems to care about the applicant and is enthusiastic about the applicant’s potential

Recruiting message

realistic job preview lower expectations but also decrease early job turnover

Timing of recruiter

has a bigger impact early in the job search

Reliability

the degree to which a performance measure is free from random error

Test-retest reliability

relationship between scores at Time 1 and Time 2, assume that the characteristics has not changed over time

Inter-rater reliability

the degree of agreement among independent observers who rate, code, or assess the same phenomenon

Validity

the extent to which a performance measure assesses all the relevant aspects of job performance

Criterion-related validation

a method of establishing validity of a personnel selection method by showing a substantial correlation (validity coefficient) between test scores and job performance scors

Concurrent Validation

a relationship between job incumbents’ test score and their current performance on the job

Predictive Validation

a relationship between applicants’ test scores and their eventual performance on the job

Content Validation

a method of demonstrating that the items, questions, or problems posted by a test are a representative sample of the kinds situations or problems that occur on the job

Generalizability

the degree to which the validity of a selection method established in one context extends to other contexts

Utility

the degree to which the information provided by the selection method enhances the effectiveness of selecting personnel

Legality

all selection methods should conform to existing laws and legal precedents

Application Blanks

to collect background information from the applicants

• low costs and follow-up interview increase utility

Cognitive ability test

to differentiate individuals based on their mental capacities

Verbal comprehension

refers to a person’s capacity to understand and use written and spoken lanuage

Quantitative ability

concerns the speed and accuracy at which one can solve arithmetic problems

Reasoning ability

refers to a person’s capacity to invent solutions to many diverse problems

Personally Inventories

categorizing individuals by what they like

Big 5 Dimensions

Extraversion, adjustment, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience

Emotional Intelligence

an individuals effectiveness in fluid and socially intense context

Work Samples

simulate the job in a pre-hiring context to observe how the applicant performs in the simulated job

Interview

selection interviews are a dialogue initiated by one or more persons to gather information and evaluate the qualifications of an applicant from employment

Situational interviews

applicants are confronted with specific issues, questions, or problems that are likely to arise on the job

References, background checks

not conducting these exposes an organization to lawsuit based on negligent hiring