What are the two major activities involved in the planning function of human resource management?
1. strategic planning
2. short- and medium-range planning
Strategic objectives may include:
increasing market share, revenue growth, product or service diversity, profit margins, and planning for financial obligations, etc
What does staffing involve?
1. recruiting job applicants (also known as candidates)
2. Selecting the most appropriate applicants for the available jobs.
Why is recruiting an extremely important HR function?
If organizations don't attract a wide range of candidates, they will be less likely to successfully fill organizational needs.
What are common selection techniques?
1. obtaining completed application forms
2. interviewing candidates
3. reviewing education and formal training verifications
4. administering various formal and informal tests to determine fit and potential with the organization
What is the goal of the selection process?
To create a match between a candidate's ability and the requirements of the job
Define direct compensation
rewards that are directly linked to performance on the job
Define indirect compensation
compensation that is given simply for being a member of the organization
Define A performance appraisal
(also
known as a performance review, performance evaluation, or career/development discussion)
a method by which an employee's job performance is evaluated
What are the eight separate HR functions and activities
1. planning
2. staffing
3. compensation/motivation
4. performance appraisal
5. training and development
6. improving the workplace
7. relationship
building
8. globalization
True or False: HR policies must work in compliance with the organization's overall strategy?
Answer: True
In order to help the firm achieve its organizational and strategic goals, human resource (HR) policies and practices must be congruent with the organization's overall strategy.
Which of the following is NOT a function of Human
Resource Management?
A. Compensating and motivating employees
B. Planning HR needs
C. Staffing the organization's needs
D. Appraising client behavior
Answer: Appraising client behavior
Human resource management is responsible for the recruitment, selection, training, and motivation of the organization's employees. Human resource management (or HRM) is therefore concerned with the fundamental task of defining and analyzing jobs in organizations.
Other HR tasks include:
* Planning human resource needs within the organization
* Staffing the organization's needs (once those needs have been identified)
* Compensating and motivating employees
* Appraising employee behavior and providing effective and constructive feedback
* Enhancing the human potential within the firm
* Improving the workplace environment and using the human resource capital within the organization to reach strategic goals
* Maintaining effective
work relationships
* Globalizing the human resource management function within the firm
What is an example of indirect compensation when it comes to rewards that are given to employees?
A. Rewards that are linked to the performance on the job
B. Rewards that are given for employee of the month
C. Rewards that are given for simply being a part of the organization
D. Rewards that are only given to managers or above
Answer: Rewards that are given for simply being a part of the organization
Compensation that is given simply for being a member of the organization is often referred to as indirect compensation. Once employees are on the job, it becomes necessary to determine how well they are doing and to reward them accordingly. Although rewards based on performance can increase an employee's motivation to perform, other forms of compensation are given simply for being a member of the organization. Those rewards that are directly linked to performance on the job are often referred to as direct compensation.
Performance appraisals are important for both measuring and monitoring an employee's contribution, but they are also often the basis for deciding what?
A. Whether or not to give promotions
B. Whether or not to implement certain HR strategies
C. Whether or not to implement certain retention strategies
D. Whether
or not to change the management system
Answer: Whether or not to give promotions
Performance appraisals are frequently the basis for promotions, trainings and raises, as well as terminating employees. As such, it is critically important that they accurately reflect the performance of employees.
When working to improve the organization's quality of work life, it is important to look at wAhich part of
the organization?
A. The compensation packages offered by competitors throughout the world
B. The product materials in manufacturing
C. The physical health environment at work
D. The bonuses paid to the CEO
Answer: The physical health environment at work
When working to improve the organization's quality of work life, it is important to look at both the physical health and the safety environment of the organization as well as the psychological aspects. While in the past, the primary health and safety focus was on the physical work environment, a growing concern now exists about the psychological work environment. Many firms realize that their strategic and competitive advantage is directly impacted when the work environment of employees is poor.
What are the basic functions of HR management?
planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling
Why are HR functions and activities important?
they serve to attract, retain, and motivate employees.
What are the four implicit HR objectives:
1. Improve productivity
2. Improve quality of work life
3. Ensure legal compliance
3. Foster ethical behavior
What are the two areas in which HR managers can make a significant contribution toward productivity improvements?
work organization and design
Define Quality of Work Life (QWL)
The quality of life experienced by employees in their work environment
Define Moral Philosophy
the principles, rules, and values that individuals use in deciding what is right or wrong
How do HR professionals create an organizational culture where ethical behavior is encouraged and cultivated?
1. Creating a positive work environment
2. Hiring ethical individuals
3. Providing ethical training
4. Labeling and modeling ethical behavior
5.Creating a well-defined code of ethics
6. Establishing an open-door policy
7.
Providing an employee assistance program (EAP)
Define Business Ethics
The values and principles that are used to evaluate whether the collective behavior of members of an organization are appropriate.
What are the two separate categories of Ethical theories?
1. utilitarian theories
2. deontological theories
Define utilitarian theories
The theory of ethics that evaluates the rightness or wrongness of an action based on the consequences of that action
example: managers can decide what course of action to take by analyzing the results of each possible decision and choosing the option that has the most desirable results.
Define deontological theories
The theory of ethics that evaluates the rightness or wrongness of an action based on how well that action conforms to some rule or principle, regardless of the consequences
Note: Deontological theories do not focus on the results of an action, looking instead at whether an action is good in and of itself. Deontological ethics focuses more on moral obligations and responsibilities of individuals to do the right thing.
HR functions are important because they serve to attract employees (an explicit objective). HR also has a few implicit objectives. Which of the following is an implicit HR objective?
A. Improvement in retaining individuals
B. Improvement in developing individuals
C. Improvement of productivity
D. Improvement of wages
Answer: Improvement of productivity
HR functions and activities are important largely because they serve to attract, retain, and motivate employees. However, it is also widely acknowledged that by doing an effective job in realizing these explicit objectives, HR functions and activities can positively affect the bottom line. Conversely, a poor selection of an employee or a poorly designed program to maintain employee motivation renders the employee unsatisfied, and performance suffers. There are three implicit HR objectives: improvement of productivity, improvement of quality work life, and ensuring legal compliance.
Which position in the organization determines how important human resource management will be to that organization?
A. Middle managers
B. Top management
C. Front-line workers
D. Supervisors
Answer: Top management
Top management often determines how important HRM will be within the organization. If top management minimizes the importance of people and the HR department to the organization's overall success, line managers and others will do likewise. As a result, those in the HR department will likely only perform the most routine activities and resort to responding in a "reactive" manner to needs, rather than making "proactive" contributions. On the other hand, when top management relies on HR to make strategies and other important decisions, others will follow, allowing HR the opportunity to contribute and help achieve organizational goals. As the world has become increasingly complex, managers and others have come to realize the important and critical role of HR.
In the early 1900s, what was Human Resources primarily concerned with?
A. Being a protector
B. Being a strategic partner
C. Engaging in training and development
D. Distributing paychecks and working with unions
Answer: Distributing paychecks and working with unions
The basic functions for HR management include planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. In the early 1900s, HR was primarily focused on distributing paychecks and hiring employees. The 1930s saw the passage of pro-union legislation as personnel staff assumed roles to protect their organizations in interactions with unions. After President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, personnel took on a whole new role as the protector. Today, the HR practitioner is becoming increasingly important as a strategic partner.
Which of the following is not a way HR professionals can create an ethical organizational culture?
A. Creating a positive work environment
B. Constant monitoring of employees
C. Hiring ethical individuals
D. Establishing an open-door policy
Answer: Constant monitoring of employees
The seven ways HR professionals can create an ethical organizational culture are: 1) creating a positive work environment, 2) hiring ethical individuals, 3) providing ethical training, 4) labeling and modeling ethical behavior, 5) creating a well-defined code of ethics, 6) establishing an open-door policy, and 7) providing an employee assistant program (EAP).
What is one way that HR can improve the quality of life for most employees in today's world?
A. Be very detailed in defining employee tasks and responsibilities, creating a very structured work
environment
B. Increase the amount of control employees have over their own jobs
C. Let the employees be less involved in their work
D. Give the employee a specific job without letting them expand beyond that
Answer: Increase the amount of control employees have over their own jobs
Most employee today desire more self-control and a chance to make a greater contriburion to the organization. Many employers are convinced that by providing opportunities for employees to realize these aspriations, employees will be more content and, as a result, the quality of work life within the organization will improve.
Define Strategy
The plan an organization has to compete in a marketplace. A strategy can consist of products and services, employees, and the organization's goals among other things
Refers to how an organization is going to compete