MOS 1021: Midterm 1

Human resource management

The practices, policies and systems that influence employees' behaviour, attitudes, and performance

Important strategies for HRM

Workforce planning, recruiting, selection, training and development, performance management, compensation and rewards, employee and labour relations

Ethics in HRM

Provides the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Respects legal requirements. Treats employees and customers equitably and fairly

Human capital

An organization's employees, described in terms of their training, experience, judgement, intelligence, relationships and insight

High performance work system

An organization in which technology, organizational structure, people, and processes all work together to give an organization an advantage in the competitive environment

Job analysis

The process of getting detailed information about jobs. Considered to be the foundation or building block of HR management. Has a strong legal basis (how things are)

Steps of job analysis

Review background information. Choose sources of job information. Gather job information. Develop job descriptions and specifications

Job design

The process of defining the way work will be performed and the tasks that a given job requires (how to change things)

Selection

The process by which the organization attempts to identify applicants with the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics that will help the organization achieve its goals

Training

A planned effort to enable employees to learn job-related knowledge, skills, and behaviour

Development

The acquisition of knowledge, skills, and behaviours that improve an employee's ability to meet the challenges of a variety of new or existing jobs

Performance management

The process of ensuring that employees' activities and outputs match the organization's goals

Workforce planning

Identifying the numbers and types of employees the organization will require to meet its objectives

Evidence based HR

Collecting and using data to show that human resource practices have a positive influence on the company's bottom line or key stakeholders

Corporate social responsibility

An organization's commitment to meeting the needs of its stakeholders

Productivity

The relationship between an organization's outputs and its inputs

Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations

The body that considers the ethical practices of organizations professionally

Careers in HRM

HR manager, HR exec, compensation analyst, employee training specialist, HR generalist, staff recruiter, employee benefits manager

Current trends in HRM

1. Deal with skill deficiencies

2. Handle the constantly changing technology

3. Manage organizational and employee needs for flexibility

4. Manage an aging, increasingly diverse workforce

Independent variable

Predict or cause variation in the dependent variable. Ex; training people in groups or alone

Dependent variable

Vary as a result of changes to the independent variable. Ex; performance or reaction of participants

Contrived settings

Settings that are not natural, settings where we wouldn't normally behave

Laboratory experiments

Conducted in contrived settings where investigator manipulates independent variables and randomly assigns participants to different conditions

Quasi-experiments

Conducted in field settings where the researcher may be able to manipulate some independent variables

Meta-analysis

Statistical procedure that combines the results of many individual, independently conducted empirical studies into a single result (the average). Reduction in sampling error is an advantage

Direct discrimination

Policies or practices that clearly make a distinction on the basis of a prohibited ground

Indirect discrimination

Policies or practices that appear to be neutral, but have an effect on the basis of a prohibited ground

Correlation

A way to analyze data, reflects the degree of linear relationship between two variables. Ex; relationship between height and weight, intelligence and performance

The Jones case

About a member of Jehovahs witness and his employer asked him to put out poinsettia plants which we associate with Christmas. Jehovah witnesses don't celebrate Christmas so Mr Jones said he didn't feel comfortable to put the plants out for Christmas which is indirect discrimination because it wasn't something that he should be required to do

The Meiorin case

Female forrest fighter who was fired because she didn't meet the aerobic fitness requirement, sued and won the case. Discriminates against women who don't have the same aerobic abilities as men. Established criteria for BFOR

Bona fide occupational requirement

Practice that is established as an essential requirement of the job and is thus not discriminatory. Ex; only males as guards in a men's prison

Accommodation

Employer's responsibility to eliminate rules, practices, or barriers to meet the needs of a protected group

Undue hardship

The point where accommodation is too expensive or where it impacts the morale of employees. The employer is no longer required to accommodate at this point

Four designated groups

Employment equity legislation focuses on eliminating employment barriers to women, members of visible minorities, aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities

Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)

Federal law that provides rules for how private sector organizations can collect, use or disclose personal information

SEWR

Determines relative value; skills, effort, working conditions, responsibility

Differential treatment

Differing treatment of individuals where the differences are based on a prohibited ground

Job description

A list of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities that a particular job entails

Job specification

A list of the competencies an individual must have to perform a particular job

Competencies

Knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics associated with effective job performance

National occupational classification (NOC)

Tool created by the federal government to provide a standardized source of information about jobs in Canada's labour market

Position analysis questionnaire (PAQ)

A standardized job analysis questionnaire containing 194 questions about behaviours, work conditions, and job characteristics that apply to a wide variety of jobs

Fleishman job analysis system

Job analysis technique that asks subject-matter experts to evaluate a job in terms of the abilities required to perform the job

Competency framework

Competencies the entire organization requires to be successful

Criteria

Standards used to help make evaluative judgments about objects, people, or events

Three major sources of job information

Job incumbent, supervisor, and job analyst

Passive job seekers

People who are not actively seeking a job

Nepotism

Practice of hiring relatives; employees resent this

Job incumbents

Good job knowledge and accurate at estimating the time spent performing job tasks, but may exaggerate what they do

Supervisor

Good at reporting information about the importance of job duties, but may be less aware of what happens day-to-day on the job

Job analyst

Good at making comparisons across jobs, but lack inside knowledge of the organization

Advantages to PAQ

Standardized, reliable, personal factors have little impact

Disadvantages to PAQ

Expert vs. naive raters are not equivalent, more suited for blue-collar jobs, behavioural similarities vs. task differences, reading level is high

Advantages to Fleishman

Reliability/validity, simple administration, cost efficient

Disadvantages to Fleishman

Only focuses on abilities

Parts of a job description

1. Title of the job

2. Administrative info about the job

3. Statement of the job's purpose

4. Essential duties of the job

5. Additional responsibilities

Parts of a job specification

Knowledge, skill, ability, other (personality traits, licensing etc)

Competency modelling

Tying competencies to an organization's strategy rather than to specific tasks

Core competencies

Characteristics that apply to all members of the organization (ex; trust and interpersonal communication)

Functional competencies

Characteristics that apply to members of common job groups or occupations (ex; map reading, courtesy)

Job-specific competencies

Characteristics that apply to only specific positions (ex; skills to fly a plane)

Recruiting

Any activity carried on by the organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees (internal vs external)

Three influences on recruitment outcomes

1. HR policies

2. Recruitment sources

3. Characteristics and behaviour of the recruiter

Lead the market pay strategies

Paying more than market wages gives firms an advantage. Sometimes used to attract applicants to jobs with less desirable qualities

Employer branding

A strategic approach of attaching a visual, emotional, or cultural brand to an organization

Direct applicants

People who apply for a vacancy without prompting from the organization

Referrals

People who apply for a vacancy because someone in the organization prompted them to do so

Internal sources

Employees who currently hold other positions in the organization. Recruited through job postings and managerial recommendations

External sources

Employees who are brought in from outside of the organization to fill positions. Recruited through direct applicants and referrals, advertisements, employment agencies, schools and websites

Advantages to internal sources

Applicants are well-known to the organization. Applicants are familiar with the organization are less likely to have unrealistic expectations. Cheaper and faster

Advantages to external sources

Often necessary for entry-level and specialized positions. Exposes the organization to new ideas

Yield ratio

A ratio that expresses the percentage of applicants who successfully move from one stage of the recruitment and selection process to the next

Cost per hire

Cost of using a particular recruitment source for a particular type of vacancy based on the number of people hired to fill that type of vacancy. Low level means qualified candidates at minimal cost

Characteristics of the recruiter

Some studies suggest that HR specialists are viewed as less credible than job experts. Other studies suggest that candidates are less attracted to jobs when recruiters are HR specialists instead of experts at particular jobs. Applicants respond positively to recruiters they perceive as warm and informative

Behaviour of the recruiter

Applicants are sensitive to negative information and high-quality applicants may be less willing to pursue jobs when they hear negative information about them

Realistic job preview

Has a small effect on job satisfaction (slightly increases), turnover (slightly lowers), commitment (slightly increases) and attrition (slightly increases)

Steps in the selection process

1. screen applicants and resumes

2. test and review work samples

3. interview

4. check references and background

5. make a selection

Criteria for evaluating selection methods

Reliability, validity, ability to generalize, practical value, legal acceptability

Reliability

The extent to which a measurement generates consistent results. Focuses on consistency not accuracy

Validity

The extent to which performance on a measure is related to what the measure is designed to assess. Focuses on accuracy

Validity evidence

Construct validity, criterion-related validity, content validity, face validity

Construct validity

Degree to which a test is an accurate measure of the construct it purports to measure. Two components, convergent and discriminant

Construct

Abstract, theoretical concept proposed to explain aspects of behaviour (ex; intelligence, leadership, motivation)

Convergent validity

Scores on a test converge with scores on other known tests of the construct

Discriminant validity

Scores on a test are unrelated to scores on tests of other constructs

Criterion-related validity

Degree to which a test forecasts or is statistically related to a criterion. Criterion is often job performance. Two types; predictive and concurrent

Content validity

Degree to which tests or test items cover a representative sample of the content that they are supposed to measure. Assessed by subject matter experts

Face validity

Appearance that items in a test are appropriate for the intended use of the test, based on the judgments of individuals who take the test. Related to test-taking motivation, decreased chance of lawsuits, perceptions of fairness

Generalizable

Valid in other contexts beyond the context in which the selection method was developed

Utility

Extent to which the selection method provides economic value greater than its cost

Legal standards for selection

The selection process must avoid human rights and privacy complaints. Gather job-related information and avoid asking for information about prohibited grounds of discrimination

Job applications

Low-cost method for obtaining basic data in a standardized way, unlike resumes

Cognitive ability tests

Tests designed to measure such mental abilities as verbal skills, quantitative skills, and reasoning ability. Among the most valid methods of selection, inexpensive to use, but some applicants react negatively to their use

Physical ability tests

Evaluate muscular power, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, balance, coordination, and other such abilities. Exclude women and people with disabilities

Sensory ability tests

Assess visual acuity, colour vision, hearing sensitivity. Most predictive of job success in clerical jobs

Motor ability tests

Assess fine or gross motor coordination

Personality inventories

Do not have right or wrong answers. Used often for managerial selection. Susceptible to faking. Related to performance, absenteeism, theft, motivation. People who are more outgoing tend to be more absent from work

Big 5 personality

1. Openness to experience

2. Conscientiousness

3. Extroversion

4. Agreeableness

5. Neuroticism (negative)/emotional stability (positive)

Integrity tests

Designed to assess honesty, character, or integrity. Identify job applicants who will not engage in counterproductive behaviour on the job. Poor applicant reactions can occur

Mechanical aptitude tests

Require a person to recognize which mechanical principle is suggested by a test item (e.g., heat, sound, gravity, force). Predictive of performance in manufacturing and production jobs. Women tend to perform worse than men