THE HUMAN RESOURCE PROCESS
CH.8
The Human Resource Process
•Human Resource Management
•The process of determining human resource needs and then recruiting, selecting, training and developing, compensating, appraising, and scheduling employees to achieve organizational goals
HR
•Human resource departments have broad responsibilities
•The are involved in the legal aspects of employment, such as monitoring for illegal immigrants and also responsible for motivating people to laying off people because of jobs being relocated overseas
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The Human Resources Process
•There are 3 processes
•(a) determining human resource needs
•(b) recruiting from a diverse population
•(c) selecting employees
HR
•Determining Human Resource Needs
•All management, including human resource management, begins with planning
•5 steps are involved in the human resource planning:
•(a) Prepare a human resource inventory of the organization’s employees – this inventory or stock list should include names, education, capabilities, training, specialized skills and other information which is important to the organization, eg languages spoken
HR
•Such information revels whether or not the labour force is technically up-to-date, thoroughly trained, and so forth
•(b) prepare a job anlaysis – a job analysis is a study of what is done by employees who hold various jobs titles. Such analysis are necessary in order to recruit employees with the skills to do the job and decide what extra training is needed
HR
•The results of job analysis is two written statements: job descriptions and job specifications
•Job description – this specifies the objectives of the job, the type of work to be done, the responsibilities and duties, the working conditions and the relationship of the job to other functions
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•Job specifications – a written summary of the minimum qualifications (education, skills, etc) required of workers to do a particular job
•They are statements about the job, whereas job specifications are statements about the person who does the job
•(c) assesses future human resource demand – because of rapid changes in technology, training programmes must be started long before the need is apparent or visible
•In this way trained staff are available when they are needed
HR
•4 Assess future supply – the labour force is constantly shifting; people are getting older, becoming more technically oriented, being aware of diversity, and so forth. There are likely to be increased shortages of some workers in the future and an oversupply of others
•5 Establish a human resource strategic plan – this plan must address recruiting, selecting, training and developing, appraising, compensating and scheduling the labour force – the previous 4 steps build into this plan
HR
•Recruitment – this is the set of activities used to obtain a sufficient number of the right people at the right time; its purpose is to select those who best meet the needs of the organization
•Recruitment may sound simple, but that is not always the case for the following reasons:
HR
•Some organizations have policies that demand promotions from within, operate under union regulations, or offer low wages, which make recruiting and keeping employees difficult or subject to outside influence and restrictions
•The emphasis on corporate cultures, teamwork and participative management make it important to hire people who not only are skilled but who fit the culture and leadership style of the organization
HR
•Sometimes people with the necessary skills are not available in this case, workers must be hired and then trained internally
•The geographic area or location of the business can make recruiting difficult. If a business is in a small town it may be difficult to find qualified people to fill open positions
•Globalization is adding a new challenge. As companies expand into overseas markets, recruiting becomes more complex because customers and cultures are different
HR •Because recruiting is a difficult task that involves finding, hiring, and training people who are appropriate technical and social fit, human resource managers turn to many sources for assistance
•These sources are classified as either internal or external
•Internal sources include employees who are already within the firm (and may be transferred or promoted) thus such prospects are called internal candidates
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•Sometimes employees recommend to hire others from within the firm
•It is cheaper to hire from within
•Maintaining employee motivation is one of the greatest advantage of hiring from within
•It is not always possible to find qualified workers within the company, so human resource managers must use external recruitment sources to hire external candidates
HR
•External candidates are people who are not currently working within the company
•They can be hired through online or print advertisements, public and private employment agencies, college placement agencies, professional organizations, referrals and walk in applications
•Recruiting qualified applicants is not always easy for small business because they do not have enough staff and cannot offer competitive conditions
HR
•Selection of employees – this is the process of gathering information and deciding who should be hired, under legal guidelines, for the best interests of the individual and the organization
•A typical selection process involves six steps:
•ONE -Obtain complete application forms – these forms can help the employer find the applicant’s educational background, past work experience, career objectives, and other qualifications directly related to the requirements of the job
•TWO – Conduct initial and follow up interviews – a staff manager from the HR department often screens applicants in a first interview
•If the interviewer considers this is a good applicant the manager who will supervise the applicant interviews the applicant as well
•It is important to prepare well for the interview and ask the correct questions because to ask the wrong ones may be expensive
•Sometimes the first interview is done over the phone
•You must not ask personal questions or about the applicant’s family
•THREE- Give employment tests – these may help to measure basic competencies in specific job skills, eg word processing
•The assessment must be related to the job
•FOUR – conduct background investigations
•Most organizations now investigate a candidate’s work record, school record, credit history, and references more carefully than they have in the past
•Background checks often help an employer identify which candidates are more likely to succeed in a given postion
•FIVE – Obtain results from physical exams
•There are obvious benefits to hiring physically and mentally healthy people
•SIX – Establish trial (probationary periods)
•Sometimes organizations hire employees conditionally, which allows the person to prove his or her worth on the job
•After the probationary period the organization may keep or drop the employee
•Instead of hiring full time workers organizations may hire contingent workers – these are workers who do not have the expectation of regular, full time employment
•These include part time workers, temporary workers, contractors, etc.
