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Concept check

1.Spell out what can make people search for jobs.

2.Read each statement and decide whether it is true or false. 1) The importance of HRM is difficult to overestimate.

2) The work of the HRM function is similar all over the world.

3) The soft approach to HRM assumes the focus on the workforce as a resource.

4) The hard approach to HRM assumes the focus on the workforce in the context of human relations. 5) Devotion and loyalty to the job are achieved in the short run under the soft HRM.

6) Social welfare is one of the long-run outcomes under the soft HRM. 7) Personal growth does not contribute a lot to company development.

8) Hard HRM starts with individual behaviours at work and then adjusts these to organisational

strategies.

9) In practice, companies try to combine the soft and hard concepts in conducting HRM policies. 4. Summarise the details of the HRM soft and hard approaches in the table below.

READING II

ACTIVITIES OF THE HRM FUNCTION

Think ahead

Interview another student about the “job” of a student. Write down a student’s responsibilities listing the tasks and behaviours required by this job. Then write down the characteristics required to be a successful student. Be specific. Remember that such information must often be used in organisations by people who have little familiarity with the job in question.

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Key concepts and terms

Match up the words on the left with the definitions on the right.

Text 5.2. Read the text and clarify the implications of the word “appropriate” in the context of HRM.

Appropriate Human Resource Planning

Human resource planning systematically forecasts an organisation’s future supply of and demand for employees. It allows personnel specialists to provide the proper work force needed by the employer. Ideally organisations should identify their short-term (relating to the coming year) and long-term employee needs through planning.

Human resource planning is likely to be more frequently practiced by large organisations because it allows them to improve the utilisation of their human resources; match efficiently future organisational objectives and personnel management activities; expand the personnel management information base; coordinate different personnel management programmes, such as recruitment needs with an equal opportunities programme.

A smaller organisation could expect similar advantages but, in practice, the gains are usually considerably less. Indeed, the benefits of human resource planning for the small organisation may not justify the time spent and the costs incurred.

What are appropriate human resources? Quite simply, the term “appropriate human resources” refers to those individuals within the organisation who make a valuable contribution to organisational goal attainment. This contribution, of course, is a result of their productivity. On the other hand, the term “inappropriate human resources” refers to those organisation members who do not make a valuable contribution to the attainment of organisational objectives. Essentially, these individuals are ineffective in their jobs.

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The task of providing appropriate human resources is very important to the manager. Such factors as background, age, job-related experience, and level of formal education all have some role in determining the degree of appropriateness of the individual to the organisation.

Appropriate human resources must be provided for the organisation as various positions become open. The process of staffing involves four main steps, performed in sequence. These steps are (1) recruitment,

(2) selection, (3) training and (4) performance appraisal.

Text 5.3. Read the text and briefly outline the peculiarities of the first step in staffing.

Recruitment

Introduction

Recruitment is the first step in providing appropriate human resources for the organisation once a position becomes open. Recruitment means finding staff whose attributes match available jobs; it is the initial screening of the total supply of prospective human resources available to fill a position. The purpose of recruitment is to encourage suitable applicants to apply but not to maximise their number, and after that to narrow a large field of prospective employees down to a relatively small number of individuals from which one person can eventually be hired.

The process of satisfying needs for human resources is certainly to be planned ahead. In planning, you first decide whether a new person is required. This means defining the requirements of the job and clarifying that it cannot be done by current employees, or removed altogether. Then efforts are made to ensure that a sufficient number of appropriate candidates come forward for selection. To be effective at recruiting, the recruiter must know

•where potential human resources can be located;

•how the law influences recruiting efforts; and

•what exactly is required in the job to be filled.

Sources of Potential Human Resources

Many companies will try to fill a position that comes open with someone who is already a member of the organisation. Internal recruiting is thus finding employees within the company who are willing or able to be promoted or transferred to another job. Internal recruiting is usually less expensive than outside recruiting. In addition, first-hand data about skills and past performance are available and, finally, promotion can be a motivational factor. But promotions and transfers will not remove all necessity for outside recruiting and, if for some reason a position cannot be filled from within the organisation, employers address the external recruiting. There are numerous sources of prospective human resources outside the organisation.

•Competitors. Luring human resources away from competitors has the following advantages: (1) the competitor will have paid for the individual’s training up to the time of hire; (2) the competing organisation will probably be weakened somewhat by the loss of the individual; and (3) the individual, once hired, becomes a valuable source of information regarding how to best compete with the former organisation. Recruitment, especially through an agency, of executives from one company to another, often rival company, is known as headhunting.

•Employment agencies. An employment agency is an organisation that specialises in matching individuals seeking a position with organisations in need of them. Both private and public agencies help people find jobs and help organisations find people.

•Mass media, which are the most widely addressed source of potential human resources.

•Educational institutions. Recruiters apply directly to educational campuses to interview students close to graduation as prospective human resources.

Knowing the Law

Modern legislation has a major impact on organisational recruitment practices. The law of most countries of the world prohibits discriminatory employment practices based on race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin. These practices include recruitment, hiring, firing, layoffs and all other factors involved in employment.

Recruiting procedures must be fair and discrimination must be avoided. Direct discrimination occurs when an organisation unlawfully selects on the grounds of gender, race and disability. There are two exceptions: authenticity, for example, in acting or clothes modeling where gender can be specified; and in some kinds of personal service, such as childcare or home nursing. Indirect discrimination (glass ceiling) is

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more subtle and occurs when an organisation’s behaviour has unintended consequences that restrict the rights of groups of people. In recruitment, bias can be introduced innocently, for example, through choice of language or advertising media.

Equal opportunity legislation also protects the rights of a citizen to work and to get a fair wage rate, which is based primarily on merit and performance and maintains the existence of these rights by holding labour unions, private employers, educational institutions and governmental bodies.

Knowing the Job

In order to be effective, recruiters must also thoroughly understand the job they are trying to fill. Job analysis is one procedure that can help recruiters gain such understanding about jobs. Job analysis determines which activities a job entails and the type of individual needed to perform the job. A lot of job-analysis methods are commonly used, for instance, interviews, surveys, self-reports, expert-observer rating scales, etc. Each of them has the same purpose – the systematic differentiation of one job from another in terms of work activities, machines, tools, the products made or services performed. The result of job analysis is a job description. It is an organised, factual (should contain a date) statement of the duties and responsibilities of a particular work role. It states what is done, how it is done and why it is done. This information allows a personnel manager to write a job specification. It is the term used to refer to the type of individual needed to perform the job; the statement of the skills, abilities, physical characteristics and education required to perform a job. The job specification is the basis for staffing because it allows a realistic assessment of the employee’s skills and abilities.

W o r t h y o f N o t e

•Job analysis is the process of determining the tasks that make up a job and the skills, abilities and responsibilities an employee needs to accomplish that job.

•Job description is a statement that provides information about the job title, duties, machines used, supervision, working conditions, and organisational position of a job.

•Job specification is a statement of the human qualifications needed to perform the job: education, work experience, judgement, vision, physical skills, communication skills and responsibility.

Text 5.4. Read the text and outline the purpose of selection.

Selection

After recruiting, the second major step involved in furnishing appropriate human resources for the organisation is selection. Selection is the stage of creation of the workforce. It involves choosing an individual to hire from among all those recruited.

The firm considers how the choice is to be made. There is a series of filters to remove less suitable prospects until a shortlist is presented for the final choice. Filters may include different screening techniques, such as preliminary screening, applications, resumes, checks on qualifications, skills and experience, physical, psychological tests, interviews, reference checks, physical examinations, final interviews and so on.

The selection process is typically represented as a series of stages through which prospective employees must pass in order to be hired. All prospective employees are screened for such things as education and past performance in other jobs. A well-designed application form which includes specific information about years of past experience, salary history, amount of education, type of school attended and hobbies can help recruiters make a correct choice. Candidates may be given intelligence or aptitude tests in the form of written assignments and simulation exercises. Then an interviewer will talk to candidates and evaluate their personality, personal ambitions and physical appearance.

Each successive stage has the effect of reducing the total group of prospective employees, until finally only the individual who will be hired remains.

Today, many firms use assessment centres as excellent predictors of job performance for selection, training, appraisal and promotion. An assessment center is a programme, not a place, in which trainees engage in individual and group exercises designed to simulate important activities which participants will be performing on the job. However, such centres are costly and therefore usually used only by large, successful companies.

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Text 5.5. Read the text and justify the necessity of life-long learning.

Training

Training is the next step in providing appropriate human resources for the organisation. It is the process of developing qualities in employees that will ultimately enable them to be more productive and, as a result, contribute more to organisalional goal attainment. Training can focus both on workers and managers. The purpose of training is to increase the productivity of individuals in their jobs by influencing the behaviour under which they perform. Its benefits are greater confidence, commitment and motivation of staff; recognition and greater responsibility matched by improvements in pay; feelings of personal satisfaction and achievement with enhanced career prospects; improved quality of staff.

The process of training individuals essentially consists of determining their training needs, then designing, administering and evaluating the training programme.

1) Determining training needs

Planning a training programme starts with determining an organisation’s training needs. Only if training focuses on these needs, it can be of some benefit to the organisation. The training needs analysis identifies specific gaps and the training plan is designed to fill them.

2) Designing the training programme

Designing a programme entails assembling various types of facts and activities needed to meet the established training needs. Obviously, as training needs vary, the facts and activities designed to meet those needs will vary.

3) Administering the training programme

The next step of the training process is administering the training programme, or actually training the individuals. Training takes place either at the workplace or away from it. On-the-job training is a training method through which workers learn a job by doing the job in the actual work situation. More experienced employees help the trainee learn. Off-the-job/vestibule training is a training method through which workers learn a job by operating equipment similar to that used in the actual job situation. This type of training is done in a place (room or vestibule), which is away from the actual work location. A combination of onand off-the-job modes should ensure retention and optimise the application of new skills.

4) Evaluating the training programme

After the training programme has been completed, it should be evaluated for its effectiveness. After all, training programmes represent a cost investment from which management should obtain some reasonable return. These costs include materials, trainer time and production loss because the individual being trained is not doing a job. Basically, the training programme must be evaluated to determine if it meets the needs for which it was designed.

Text 5.6. Read the text and outline the essence of performance appraisal.

Performance Appraisal

Definition and Purpose of Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal means evaluating people in their jobs to make relevant decisions. These cover pay, promotion, training and development, counselling and human resource planning. The appraisals are usually carried out once a year. The manager makes an evaluation of the performance of the subordinate. This involves filling out a form or writing a report on the person concerned. After this, there is a meeting at which the two parties discuss the appraisal. A performance appraisal is, then, a judgement on how well a person is doing his/her work. Performance appraisal also permits management to identify the outstanding performers and in effect raise their performance standards promoting them to more challenging positions.

In basic terms, performance appraisal serves three general purposes: informational, administrative and motivational.

1)Informational function. Performance appraisal is needed to provide people with information about their relative level of performance, strengths and weaknesses and areas that could be improved.

2)Administrative functions: promotion, demotion, transfer and termination. Promotion helps the organisation to fill job openings with employees who demonstrate effective performance in their current positions and helps the individual by satisfying needs for achievement, challenge and self-esteem. When making promotion decisions, managers should promote only those individuals who they think have the capabilities to perform effectively in the new job. Transfer may be used to give a person a broader range

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of experience or because management feels he or she will be more effective in a different job. Sometimes transfer is used when a person is not performing effectively. A transfer in such situations is a demotion.

In situations where an individual has been given feedback and sufficient opportunity to improve performance, but is unwilling or unable to meet the organisation’s standards, termination is necessary for organisational objectives to be met.

3) Motivational function. Performance appraisal is also an important means of motivating people. By identifying strong performers, management is able to reward them fairly with praise, pay and promotion. Consistent and positive reinforcement of behaviour associated with high performance should lead to similar behaviour in the future.

W o r t h y o f N o t e

The informational, administrative and motivational functions of performance appraisal are interrelated – information leading to an administrative decision to promote a person should have a positive effect on motivating a person to perform well.

Planning an effective and equitable performance appraisal system means answering the following questions.

•What is the purpose of the appraisal scheme?

•Who should be appraised?

•Who should appraise?

•What training and preparation do appraisers need?

•When should appraisals be conducted?

•Who sees the results?

•What about monitoring?

•What problems can arise?

Methods of Performance Appraisal

There are many methods of evaluating a person’s performance at work. A traditional method is to give a “rating”. The subordinate’s evaluation is based on traits (qualities) that he/she shows in his/her work. Subordinates are judged on such things as knowledge of the job, reliability, initiative and sense of responsibility. The manager rates the subordinate by marking a letter or figure on a scale. For example, the rating could be A-E, where A indicates outstanding and E unsatisfactory. This type of rating sometimes includes performance factors such as quality of work, productivity and attendance. The form below gives an example of such a rating form.

Reviewed by _______________

Employee’s signature and comments _______________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Date: __________________

However, the most popular form of appraisal, in Britain and the United States, is Management by Objectives. This appraisal is based on a person’s performance and how well he/she is achieving his/her goals. The manager and the subordinate agree on a certain number of objectives, which should be achieved in a given period of time. The focus is on results, not personality traits. An example of an MBO evaluation report for sales representatives is given in the form below.

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Another appraisal method is the Critical Incident Method. With this system, the manager keeps a record of good and unsatisfactory examples (incidents) of a person’s work. These are kept in a file and reviewed with the manager when the interview takes place. An advantage of the system is that the manager has to think about the subordinate’s performance throughout the year. Furthermore, specific examples of the person’s work can be looked at and discussed at the appraisal interview. Below are some examples of critical incidents for a factory manager, recorded by his/her superior, in this case the Production Director.

In spite of the need for performance appraisals, people do not like them. Many managers see appraisals as their most unpleasant duty and those who are appraised rarely have a good word to say for the system used by their organisation. One problem is that the manager is expected to criticise the subordinate and to give guidance at the same time. However, it is not easy for a manager to combine those roles. Many people are naturally suspicious of appraisals. They think managers are trying to find out their weaknesses, so they are on the defensive. Moreover, managers are often unwilling to say that a subordinate’s performance has been “outstanding” or “bad”. So, the individual is described as being “just above average”. This means that high fliers in the organisation do not get a good enough evaluation while the work of poor performers may be overvalued. Finally, many managers do not like to criticise, in writing, a subordinate with whom they are working closely, day-by-day.

Yet, appraisal can be a valuable process. At the interview, the manager should act as a guide to the subordinate, not as a judge. The purpose of the interview should be to discuss how the individual can “grow” in the organisation and make an effective contribution. The situation allows both parties to review the work of the individual, fix realistic targets and plan that person’s career development.

Concept check

1.What is the role of human resource planning for large and small organisations?

2.Identify the dividing line between appropriate and inappropriate human resources.

3.Fill in the chart concerning the four stages of staffing.

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•Sketch a model of the recruitment process.

•Give examples of direct and indirect discrimination.

•Define training.

•Ennumerate at least four benefits of training.

•Identify the difference between on-the-job and off-the-job training.

•Explain the term “glass ceiling”.

•List various methods of performance appraisal and briefly explain their essence.

OVER TO YOU

Make yourself aware of the five hints for managers to become successful themselves through increasing the quality of their human resources. Share your point of view about these tips.

Staffing provides the manager with the human resources needed to get the job done. When managers provide information about jobs, make decisions about filling jobs with people, evaluate employee performance, as well as recommend and encourage staff training and development, they influence the quality of those resources and, ultimately, their own success. From this perspective, you as a manager should take into account the following tips.

1)Get involved in staffing decisions. Grumbling about “the kind of people personnel sends me” has never corrected staffing problems nor earned respect. If other people recruit, select and place people for you, make sure they know your staffing requirements. Update job descriptions and provide those who make staffing decisions with feedback about their decisions.

2)If you do your own hiring, make sure you know what you are looking for. Be able to define success for each job and to recognise its critical characteristics. Be realistic in describing the job to prospective employees. Give them enough information to make informed decisions about their own suitabilities. If you hide something about a job from candidates, they will eventually resent it.

3)Work with those responsible for training and development to identify useful employee skills that can be upgraded or learned. Don’t send employees to programmes simply “for additional training.” You and they should have specific training goals in mind before you agree to their participation. Few things are more damaging to an employee’s morale than being sent off for training without knowing why or returning from training with new skills nobody values.

4)Develop your own skills in performance appraisal. This may require reading, practice and training, if available. It is a critical task that most managers perform inadequately because they lack training and experience.

5)Don’t underestimate the importance of good staffing. Do all you can to see that competent, qualified personnel are placed in positions that use their talents. Once they are there, see that they are encouraged and rewarded. Help them develop their talents, remembering that your own behaviour as a manager provides the clearest example for your subordinates.

ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSION

1. Think, find out and share

Work in groups. Read the following questions, statements and tasks, analyse and discuss them. Choose a spokesperson in the group to make a presentation to the whole class, summarising the opinions in the group. Hold a Questions & Answers (Q&A) session.

1)How are recruitment, selection, training and performance appraisals of university students similar to what has been described in this unit for employees? How are they different?

2)What is job analysis and how is it used? What can job analysis do for training? For appraisal?

3)What are the effects of laws and regulations on staffing? Assess the impact of equal opportunities legislation. What is the situation like in Russia?

4)Based on your reading so far, describe the training process for first-level, middle-level and upperlevel management.

5)Compare onand off-the-job training, using your own examples to illustrate circumstances where each may best be used.

6)Find out how a small business recruits staff and why it chooses its methods.

7)Visit an organisation’s personnel office to see what steps are followed in staffing. Report on the procedure used.

8)Choose a firm and assume that you are asked to improve its recruitment and selection process. Determine how it can be improved.

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