Certified Human Resource Associate (CHRA) Comprehensive Study Guide - Set A

Introduction to Human Resource Management

• The Management Process: The basic functions of the management process consist of:

  • Planning: Establishing goals and standards, and developing rules and procedures.
  • Organizing: Giving subordinates specific tasks, establishing departments, and delegating authority. For example, a manager like Consuela delegating project authority is performing the organizing function.
  • Staffing: Determining what types of people should be hired, recruiting, selecting, and training employees.
  • Leading: Managing the efforts of people to accomplish goals, including motivating subordinates and maintaining morale.
  • Controlling: Establishing standards and using metrics to assess performance, then developing strategies for corrective action.

• Manager Defined: A manager is the individual responsible for accomplishing an organization’s goals by managing the efforts of the organization’s people.

• Human Resource Management (HRM) Activities: These include:

  • Orienting and training new employees.
  • Appraising employee performance.
  • Building employee commitment.
  • Note: Developing customer relationships is typically not a personnel activity categorized under HRM.

• Line Manager Responsibilities: Line managers often handle HR duties, especially in small organizations. These duties include:

  • Maintaining department morale.
  • Controlling labor costs.
  • Protecting employees’ health.
  • Note: Marketing products is not an HR responsibility of a line manager.

• HR Organizational Roles:

  • Recruiter: Maintains contacts within the community and travels to search for qualified applicants.
  • Compensation Manager: Charges with developing pay plans and managing employee benefits programs.
  • Training Specialist: Focuses on employee learning and development.
  • Job Analyst: Researches occupations and job descriptions.

• Authority in HR:

  • Line Authority: HR managers generally exert line authority within their own HR department.
  • Staff Authority: HR managers generally exert staff authority outside the HR department, acting as advisors to other managers.

• HR Service Structures:

  • Shared HR Teams: Centralized services available to the entire company.
  • Embedded HR Teams: HR generalists assigned to specific departments (e.g., Sales) to provide localized management assistance.
  • Corporate HR Teams: Dedicated members assisting top management with long-term strategic plans.
  • Centers of Expertise: Specialized units focusing on specific HR areas.

• Key Concepts in Modern HRM:

  • Human Capital: The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) of a firm’s workers.
  • On-Demand Workers: Freelancers or independent contractors who work when they want and when the company (e.g., Uber) needs them.
  • Unbalanced Labor Force: A trend where unemployment is low in some sectors (e.g., high-tech) but high in others, making it difficult for recruiters to find candidates despite a general wealth of candidates inOther areas.
  • Evidence-Based HRM: Relies on scientific rigor, existing data, and research studies rather than qualitative opinions.
  • Technology Trends: Recent trends include listing positions on Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com, and using gaming features to enhance training and appraisals.

Training and Development

• Employee Orientation: A process to introduce new employees to their jobs, coworkers, and benefits.

  • Goals: Making employees feel like part of the team, socialized into the firm, and teaching them about firm history and strategies.
  • Note: Assisting employees in selecting a labor union is NOT a goal of orientation.
  • Orientation programs can range from brief introductions to lengthy, formal courses. Even highly skilled employees require orientation.

• The ADDIE Training Process:

  1. Analyze: Identify the training need.
  2. Design: Plan the program.
  3. Develop: Acquire or create training materials.
  4. Implement: Hold training sessions (e.g., on-the-job training).
  5. Evaluate: Assess the program's success.

• Training Methods:

  • Training: Methods used to give employees specific skills for their current jobs.
  • Strategic Training Needs Analysis: Identifies training needed for future jobs.
  • Job Rotation: Moving a trainee to various jobs/departments for a set period (e.g., nine months) to gain broad experience.
  • Apprenticeship Training: A structured process combining classroom instruction and on-the-job training (OJT) for skilled worker status.
  • Step-by-Step Training (On-the-Job): The first step is familiarizing the trainee with equipment, tools, and trade terms.
  • Job Instruction Training (JIT): Used when jobs consist of a logical sequence of steps taught one at a time.

• Training Effectiveness:

  • To motivate attendees: Provide an overview, use logical sections, and use visual aids. Avoid jargon or new terminology without explanation.
  • Training sessions should be half or three-quarter days because the learning curve declines late in the day.

Personnel Planning and Recruitment

• The Recruitment Process:

  1. Deciding what positions to fill (Personnel Planning).
  2. Building a pool of candidates (Recruiting).
  3. Performing initial screening interviews.
  4. Performing candidate background checks.

• Forecasting Personnel Needs:

  • Trend Analysis: Studying a firm’s past employment needs over several years to predict future needs.
  • Ratio Analysis: Using a causal factor (like sales volume) to predict staffing needs.
    • Calculation Example: $\text{PHP 4,000,000 sales goal} \div \text{PHP 800,000 per salesperson} = 5 \text{ New Salespeople needed}$
  • Succession Planning: The process of deciding how to fill executive or key leadership positions.

• Internal Recruiting Tools:

  • Skills Inventories: Manual or computerized records of employee education, career development, and special skills used for choosing internal candidates for promotion.
  • Job Posting: Publicizing open jobs to current employees via intranets or bulletin boards.
  • Advantage: Internal sources are cost-effective but can lead to losing employees who are not promoted.

• Outside Candidate Recruitment:

  • Tools: Newspaper ads, employment agencies, online job boards.
  • Job Advertisement: The best medium is determined by the specific skills needed for the job.
  • Employment Agencies: Used to fill specific openings quickly. Employers must provide them with accurate job descriptions.
  • Employee Referral Campaigns: An advantage is that applicants have frequently received a realistic job preview through their contact.

• Contingent Workers: Individuals like nurses who work on temporary assignments as needed.

Performance Appraisal

• Performance Appraisal Definition: Evaluating an employee’s current/past performance against established performance standards.

  • Purpose: Correcting work-related deficiencies (performance feedback), determining salaries and bonuses, and making promotion decisions.
  • Responsibility: Primarily the direct supervisor. HR monitors the system but usually does not perform the ratings.

• The Appraisal Process Steps:

  1. Setting work standards.
  2. Assessing performance.
  3. Providing feedback to remove deficiencies.

• Appraisal Techniques:

  • Graphic Rating Scale: The easiest and most popular method for appraising performance.
  • Forced Distribution: Categorizing employees into set percentages (e.g., 15% high performers, 20% above average, 30% average, 20% below average, 15% poor).
  • Alternation Ranking: Ranking employees from best to worst on specific traits, alternating between the highest and lowest until all are ranked.
  • Management by Objectives (MBO): Setting specific, measurable, organizationally relevant goals and periodically discussing progress.
  • 360-Degree Feedback: Performance appraisal based on surveys from peers, supervisors, subordinates, and customers.
  • Upward Feedback: Allows subordinates to rate their supervisor's performance anonymously.

Job Analysis and Talent Management Process

• Talent Management: A goal-oriented, integrated process of planning, recruiting, developing, managing, and compensating employees. Effective systems align competencies with strategic goals.

• Job Analysis: Determining the duties of positions and the characteristics of the people to hire.

  • Data Collected: Work activities, human behaviors, job context, job descriptions, and job specifications.
  • Note: Employee benefits options are NOT collected via job analysis.

• Job Analysis Steps:

  1. Deciding how the information will be used.
  2. Reviewing background information (like organizational charts).
  3. Selecting representative positions to assess.
  4. Collecting data on activities and conditions.
  5. Verifying data with the worker.

• Documentation:

  • Job Description: A written statement of the duties and responsibilities.
  • Job Specification: Outlines requirements like education, experience, and personality traits.
  • Organizational Chart: Indicates the division of work and lines of authority.

• Job Design Techniques:

  • Job Rotation: Systematically moving workers from one job to another.
  • Job Enlargement: Adding more tasks at the same level of complexity.
  • Job Enrichment: Redesigning jobs to increase autonomy and responsibility.
  • Business Process Reengineering: Using computerized systems to combine separate tasks.

• Data Collection Issues:

  • Reactivity: When workers alter their normal activities because they are being watched (common in observation).
  • Diaries/Logs: Employees record every activity they participate in along with the time taken.

Employee Testing and Selection

• Test Quality:

  • Reliability: The consistency of a test; yielding consistent scores when an individual takes two alternate forms of the same test.
  • Validity: The accuracy with which a test fulfills the function for which it was designed.

• Types of Selection Tests:

  • Physical/Motor Ability: Tests measuring finger dexterity, reaction time, or strength (e.g., jumping rope or lifting weights).
  • Personality Dimensions (The Big Five): Includes Neuroticism, Extroversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness. (Note: Transcript specifies Neuroticism, Extroversion, and Conscientiousness).
  • Achievement Testing: Measuring current knowledge or skills.
  • Miniature Job Training: Training candidates on job tasks and then assessing them before hiring.
  • Management Assessment Center: A multi-day simulation where candidates perform realistic tasks in hypothetical situations.

• Background Investigations: Primarily conducted to uncover false information provided by job applicants.

Definition of Terms

• 360-degree Feedback: An appraisal method involving input from multiple levels (supervisors, self, subordinates, peers) and external sources (customers).
• Achievement Testing: Assessments designed to measure specific job-relevant knowledge or competencies.
• Advanced Interviewing: A strategic approach beyond traditional interviews to gain comprehensive insights into candidate potential.
• Alternation Ranking: An appraisal method where the assessor selects the best and worst employees on a trait until all are ranked.
• Applicant Personality Test: Evaluates traits and characteristics to predict fit for a role or culture.
• Appraisal Interview: A formal discussion between employee and manager regarding performance, improvement, and growth.
• Apprenticeship Training: Formalized program combining on-the-job training (OJT) with classroom instruction.
• Background Check: Investigation of education, criminal records, and work history to confirm candidate accuracy.
• Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS): Combines rating scales and critical incidents; describes performance along a scale in terms of specific job behaviors.
• Benchmarking Jobs: Comparing job roles within or across organizations to determine relative value and competitive pay structures.
• Bonuses: Monetary rewards on top of base salary based on performance.
• Buddy System: Onboarding process where a new hire is assigned a mentor for guidance.
• Candidates: Individuals seeking employment by submitting a resume or curriculum vitae.
• Campus Recruitment: External recruitment source providing students with employment information at colleges and universities.
• Career Development: Formal approach to ensure people with proper qualifications are available when needed.
• Case Studies: In-depth descriptions (5-30 pages) used in training to show manager experiences.
• Central Tendency Error: Appraisal error where employees are incorrectly rated near the average or middle of a scale.
• Coaching (Understudy Method): Training where a superior trains a subordinate as an assistant to take over duties.
• Cognitive Ability Test: Measures problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
• Compensation Manager: Specialist responsible for designing and managing pay and benefits programs.
• Competency Model: Framework defining the skill and knowledge requirements for successful job performance.
• Contingent Personnel: Workers performing tasks for an organization without being permanent employees.
• Corporate HR teams: Centralized units managing HR strategy and policy across the organization.
• Critical Incident Method: Appraisal method based on keeping written records of highly favorable or unfavorable behaviors.
• Depth Interview: Semi-structured interview requiring detailed qualification and experience info.
• Direct Recruitment: Placing a notice on the organization's notice board regarding a job vacancy.
• Embedded HR teams: HR units integrated into specific departments for localized support.
• Employee Benefits Program: Non-wage compensation (insurance, retirement) offered in addition to salary.
• Employee Development: Process of improving existing competencies and developing new ones.
• Employee Engagement: Level of commitment and willingness to stay and go beyond the call of duty.
• Employee Matrix: Management structure where employees report to both a functional and a project manager.
• Employee Orientation: Process of introducing new hires to jobs, coworkers, and workplace.
• Employee Referrals: Hiring via the references of current employees.
• Employee Selection: Process of choosing individuals from an applicant pool to fill vacancies.
• Employee Testing: Assessing candidates through tests to evaluate skills, knowledge, or traits.
• Employment Agencies: External firms that assist in finding and pre-screening candidates.
• Employment Exchanges: Government entities where job seeker details are deposited for employers.
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC): Organization enforcing federal laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, religion, gender, etc.
• Essay Method: Appraisal method where the rater writes a narrative of employee performance.
• Exit Interview: Conducted for employees leaving to determine their reasons.
• Forced Distribution Method: Assigning individuals to limited categories based on a normal frequency distribution to avoid leniency.
• Formal Interview: Pre-planned interview with advanced notice of dates and times.
• Group Interview: Multiple candidates are interviewed together.
• Halo: Error where a manager generalizes one positive feature to all aspects of performance.
• Human Capital: Economic value of a worker's experience, skills, and intelligence.
• HR Generalist: HR employee handling daily core functions like recruitment and employee relations.
• Human Resource Planning (HRP): Systematic planning to achieve optimum use of employees and avoid shortages/surpluses.
• Human Resources Forecasting: Predicting future staffing needs over time.
• Human Resource Management (HRM): Coordinating and managing human capital to move organizational goals forward.
• In-basket Exercises: Simulation assessing problem-solving and administrative skills by handling memos and requests under pressure.
• Induction: Process of welcoming employees and providing training to settle them into the organization.
• Informal Interview: Unstructured interview without written communication, often held anywhere.
• Internal Recruiting: Filling vacancies from within the existing workforce.
• Interviews: Discussions between job analyst and employees/supervisors to gather job info.
• Intranet Job Postings: Posting openings on the internal organizational network.
• Job Analysis: Procedure determining position duties and the traits needed for them.
• Job Analyst: HR professional researching occupations and worker relationships.
• Job Context: Physical and cultural conditions in which a job is performed.
• Job Description: Written statement of duties, tasks, and requirements.
• Job Enlargement: Expanding scope by adding tasks of similar complexity.
• Job Enrichment: Redesigning jobs to increase autonomy and decision-making authority.
• Job Instruction Training (JIT): Structured method for teaching tasks with logical sequences.
• Job Posting: Displaying advertisements of open jobs to employees.
• Job Rotation: Moving employees through various positions.
• Job Specification: Outlines qualifications and traits needed for effective performance.
• Legal Hiring Practices: Rules and ethical standards ensuring fairness and compliance in recruitment.
• Leniency: Giving undeserved high ratings.
• Management Assessment Center: Evaluation method used to assess leadership potential through simulations.
• Miniature Job Training: Providing condensed job tasks for candidates to practice and learn.
• Outsourcing: Hiring an external firm to handle HR needs.
• Onboarding: Moving a hire from applicant to employee status (including paperwork/orientation).
• Online Job Boards: Platforms where employers post jobs and seekers apply.
• Panel Interview: Candidate is interviewed by a committee of 3-5 members.
• Performance Appraisal: Systematic assessment of job performance, accomplishments, and weaknesses.
• Performance Management: Continuous process of setting objectives and providing feedback to meet goals.
• Promotion: Advancement to a higher position with more responsibility and status.
• Salaries: Fixed amount of money paid over a specific period (monthly/annually).
• Situational Judgment Test (SJT): Psychological test presenting hypothetical job scenarios.
• Succession Planning: Identifying and developing future leaders to fill key vacancies smoothly.
• Training: Process of teaching specific skills for current roles.
• Transfer: Shifting an employee between departments or locations without changing designation.
• Understudy: Individual trained to take over a position if the current holder is unable to perform.
• Upward Feedback: Subordinates provide anonymous feedback on their supervisor's performance.
• Vestibule Training: Training in a simulated work environment.
• Work Sampling Event: Assessing time spent on tasks through random sampling of activities.
• Work Standards Method: Comparing performance to a predetermined level of output.