MGT 340 Chapters 1-2 HR and Trends in HR Management

Chapter 1 Managing Human Resources

Define human resource management, and explain how HRM contributes to an organization’s performance.

• Human resource management consists of an organization’s policies, practices, and systems that influence employees’ behavior, attitudes, and performance.

• HRM influences who works for an organization and how.

• Well-managed human resources can be a source of sustainable competitive advantage by contributing to quality, profits, and customer satisfaction.

LO 1-2 Identify the responsibilities of human resource departments.

• Analyze and design jobs.

• Recruit and select employees.

• Equip employees by training and developing them.

• Through performance management, ensure that employees’ activities and outputs match the organization’s goals.

• Plan and administer pay and employee benefits.

• Engage in employee relations—for example, communications and collective bargaining.

• Establish and administer personnel policies and keep records.

• Help ensure compliance with labor laws.

• Support the development and execution of corporate strategy.

LO 1-3 Summarize the types of competencies needed for human resource management.

• Technical competencies involve HR expertise.

• Interpersonal competencies are relationship management, communication, and global and cultural effectiveness.

• Business competencies are business acumen, critical evaluation, and consultation.

• Leadership competencies are leadership and navigation, as well as ethical practice.

• For each competency, the SHRM model provides definitions, specifics, and standards for the behavior necessary for success at every level in an organization.

LO 1-4 Explain the role of supervisors in human resource management.

• Help analyze work.

• Interview job candidates and participate in selection decisions.

• Provide employee training.

• Conduct performance appraisals.

• Recommend pay increases.

• Represent the company to their employees.

LO 1-5 Discuss ethical issues in human resource management.

• Should make decisions that result in the greatest good for the largest number of people.

• Should respect basic rights of privacy, due process, consent, and free speech.

• Should treat others equitably and fairly.

• Should recognize ethical issues that arise in areas such as employee privacy, protection of employee safety, and fairness in employment practices.

LO 1-6 Describe typical careers in human resource management.

• Careers may involve specialized work (e.g., recruiting, training, or labor relations).

• Others may be generalists, performing a range of activities.

• A college degree in business or social sciences usually is required.

• People skills must be balanced with attention to details of law and knowledge of business.

Chapter 2

Describe trends in labor force composition and how they affect human resource management.

• An organization’s internal labor force comes from its external labor market—individuals actively seeking employment.

• In the United States, the labor market is aging and becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, with women constituting roughly half of the total.

• To compete for talent, organizations must be flexible enough to meet the needs of older workers and must recruit from a diverse population; establish bias-free HR systems; and help employees understand and appreciate cultural differences.

• Organizations need employees with skills that may be hard to find: decision making, customer service, and teamwork, as well as technical skills.

• To meet this challenge, organizations may hire employees who lack certain skills, then train them for their jobs.

LO 2-2 Summarize areas in which human resource management can support the goal of creating a high-performance work system.

• To find and keep the best possible fit between their social and technical systems, HRM recruits and selects employees with broad skills and strong motivation, especially in organizations that rely on knowledge workers.

• Job design and appropriate systems for assessment and rewards have a central role in supporting employee empowerment and teamwork.

LO 2-3 Define employee empowerment, and explain its role in the modern organization.

• Employee empowerment means giving employees responsibility and authority to make decisions regarding all aspects of product development or customer service. The organization holds employees accountable for products and services, and in exchange, the employees share in the rewards (or losses) that result.

• Selection decisions should provide employees who have the necessary decision-making and interpersonal skills.

• Job design should give employees latitude for decision making.

• Employees should be trained to handle their broad responsibilities.

• Feedback and rewards must be appropriate for the work of empowered employees.

• HRM can also play a role in giving employees access to the information they need.

LO 2-4 Identify ways HR professionals can support organizational strategies for growth, quality, and efficiency.

• HR professionals should be familiar with the organization’s strategy and may even play a role in developing the strategy.

• In a merger or acquisition, HRM must lead efforts to manage change with skillful employee relations and meaningful rewards. HR professionals can bring “people issues” to the attention of the managers leading change, provide training in conflict-resolution skills, and apply knowledge of the other organization’s culture. HR professionals also must resolve differences between the companies’ HR systems, such as benefits packages and performance appraisals.

• For empowering employees to practice total quality management, job design is essential.

• Cost control may focus on a specific issue, such as managing health benefits, or on support for a strategic move such as downsizing, reengineering, or outsourcing.

• To support cost control through downsizing, the HR department can develop voluntary programs to reduce the workforce or can help identify the least valuable employees to lay off. Employee relations can help maintain the morale of employees who remain after a downsizing.

• In reengineering, the HR department can lead in communicating with employees and providing training. It will also have to prepare new approaches for recruiting and appraising employees that are better suited to the reengineered jobs.

• Outsourcing presents similar issues related to job design and employee selection.

LO 2-5 Summarize ways in which human resource management can support organizations expanding internationally.

• Organizations with international operations hire employees in foreign countries where they operate, so they need knowledge of differences in culture and business practices.

• At home, qualified candidates include immigrants, so HRM needs to understand and train employees to deal with differences in cultures, as well as to ensure compliance with laws.

• HRM helps organizations select and prepare employees for overseas assignments.

• To support efficiency and growth, HR staff can prepare companies for offshoring, in which operations are moved to countries where wages are lower or demand is growing. HR experts can help organizations determine whether workers in offshore locations can provide the same or better skills, how offshoring will affect the motivation and recruitment of employees needed in the United States, and whether managers are prepared to manage offshore employees.

LO 2-6 Discuss how technological developments are affecting human resource management.

• Information systems for HRM are widely used and often are provided through the Internet.

• Internet applications include searching for talent globally, using online job postings, screening candidates online, providing career-related information on the organization’s website, and delivering training online.

• Online information sharing enables employee self-service for many HR needs, from application forms to training modules to information about the details of company policies and benefits.

• Using computers to analyze large amounts of data is often called people analytics. Some of the most powerful applications of people analytics apply artificial intelligence (AI), which simulates human thinking. AI applications can improve decision making or smooth processes in many areas of HRM.

LO 2-7 Explain how the nature of the employment relationship is changing.

• The employment relationship takes the form of a “psychological contract” that describes what employees and employers expect from the employment relationship, including unspoken expectations that are widely held.

• In the traditional version, organizations expected their employees to contribute time, effort, skills, abilities, and loyalty in exchange for job security and opportunities for promotion.

• Modern organizations’ needs constantly change, so organizations require top performance and longer work hours but cannot provide job security. Instead, employees seek flexible work schedules, comfortable working conditions, greater autonomy, opportunities for training and development, and performance-related financial incentives.

• For HRM, the changes require planning for flexible staffing levels.

• For employees, the changes may make job hopping look attractive, but this career strategy may backfire.

• Union membership has been declining, which is consistent with the idea of taking personal responsibility for one’s career.

LO 2-8 Discuss how the need for flexibility affects human resource management.

• Organizations seek flexibility in staffing levels through alternatives to the traditional employment relationship—outsourcing and temporary and contract workers who might be hired on a project basis as part of the gig economy. The use of such workers can affect job design and also the motivation of the organization’s permanent employees.

• Organizations also may seek flexible work schedules, including shortened workweeks, which can be a way for employees to adjust work hours to meet personal and family needs.

• Organizations also may move employees to different jobs to meet changes in demand.