Unit V Annotated Bibliography

DBA 7553, Human Resource Management 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit V Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

4. Examine tools used in the recruitment and selection of employees. 4.1 Summarize the challenges in the hiring process. 4.2 Research the tools that can be used in the selection process in today’s workplace.

5. Evaluate the types of employee separations.

5.1 Summarize the different types of employee separations. 5.2 Consider how to handle separations and downsizing in today’s workplace.

Course/Unit Learning Outcomes

Learning Activity

4.1

Unit Lesson Chapter 5 Unit V Annotated Bibliography

4.2

Unit Lesson Chapter 5 Unit V Annotated Bibliography

5.1

Unit Lesson Chapter 6 Unit V Annotated Bibliography

5.2

Unit Lesson Chapter 6 Unit V Annotated Bibliography

Reading Assignment Chapter 5: Recruiting and Selecting Employees Chapter 6: Managing Employee Separations, Downsizing, and Outplacement

Unit Lesson It is important for all managers in an organization to understand the recruitment and selection systems being used. Therefore, it is key for human resource professionals to establish and maintain effective systems and work with all managers to assist them in using these systems. Helping managers to understand labor supply and demand can be a vital part of this process. Human resource planning, or the process of projecting the need for human capital, is an important function in any recruitment and selection system. Forecasting the demand for labor in a company is the first step in planning. If the demand for the company’s product and/or service is projected to increase, then strategic human resource management must work closely with top management to understand the upcoming demand for labor. Ensuring that the company has enough employees with the needed skills is key. This is especially important when a company is growing and adding new departments, products, or services. The next step in human resource planning would be understanding the labor supply. There may be an internal labor supply available within the company. This may entail retraining existing employees and/or providing for succession planning for how current employees may move up in the ranks. There may also be an external labor market outside of the company that must be accessed. Strategic human resource management must

UNIT V STUDY GUIDE

From Recruitment and Selection to Employee Separations, Part I

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identify the key skills needed in the company’s demand for labor and then find the right pool of available candidates with those skill sets. Depending on the industry, it may take some time to identify where the available pools of labor can be found. Then tapping the right labor supply for this need is key in appropriately supporting the growth and development of the subject organization. With the rapid changes in today’s world, forecasting for labor supply requires constant focus and frequent updates. There are quantitative and qualitative techniques used for this. Quantitative techniques involve looking at the data for a supply analysis of labor and then doing a comparison of that with the demand analysis for labor. These quantitative techniques are used more often, but they do have limitations. As our world changes more quickly, assumptions and relationships that quantitative techniques relied on in the past can quickly morph into different functions; therefore, these must be revalidated each time they are utilized. For instance, for an organization that relies on using temporary foreign workers for certain functions at certain times of the year, it is critical to keep a focus on the current laws that regulate the types of visas that these workers would use. Documentation requirements can change annually, so it is key to stay on top of where they could be changing in any given year. It would be easier to stay ahead of any changes and amend plans as needed. Qualitative techniques deal with expert judgments. For instance, human resource management can partner with top management to get an understanding of their expectations for labor demand in the company based on upcoming product growth. This can provide for a more flexible approach to labor demand forecasts, which can be crucial in a fast-changing marketplace. One potential limitation can be that there can be too much subjectivity in the qualitative technique. Another area to stay focused on would be technological changes. These can be exceedingly rapid in today’s world. Human resource professionals must work closely with managers in the organization to understand if there are any new technological changes coming that could affect what skills new employees may need, or even if those technological changes could possibly reduce the need for a supply of certain categories of employees. The hiring process takes place once the staffing needs have been firmly established, and it includes recruiting for qualified candidates, establishing and running the selection process, and socializing new employees within the organization’s culture. This is a critical area for human resource professionals to provide strong guidance for managers. The costs involved in recruitment, selection, and socialization are important. Strategic human resource management understands that hiring the right candidate is key, as the costs involved in recruitment and selection can be high. Therefore, it is important to have a strong hiring process in place to minimize costs and spend effectively and efficiently. In setting the hiring process, it is important to focus on particular challenges that human resource professionals will face. This can include working closely with the hiring managers to determine the key personal characteristics for candidates to have; determining how best to measure for these characteristics; determining how to evaluate the motivation levels of the job candidates; and finally deciding how the selection decision is finalized. In determining the key personal characteristics that a job candidate should have, it is important that human resources work with the hiring manager to clearly establish the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for the open position. With regard to measuring for these, certain scenarios can be developed to test these. The evaluation of motivation can be considered during the interview process. The selection decision process should be developed to include the human resource professional to ensure that all applicable company policies are followed and human resource legal issues are avoided. This process should also address who should be involved, such as hiring managers, co-workers, and even possible subordinates for the ultimate new hire. Getting input from various dimensions can be valuable. With regard to the issue of recruitment itself, it is important to view this with a sales focus. That qualified job candidate would be the “customer” that you are focused on. An applicant-centered approach can be effective. Sources of recruiting can include looking first at current employees as job candidates for an open position. Additionally, referrals from current employees in an organization can be useful. Looking at former employees who perhaps worked seasonally can be helpful. Former military members can also offer excellent recruitment potential. Utilizing current customers can be an effective focus, and advertising in print, radio, and social media are great foundations to find the right kind of job candidates for the open position(s).

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Organizations can also collaborate with employment agencies for targeting employees with specialized skills. Temporary workers can be utilized to meet quickly changing employee demands, while college recruiting can offer valuable opportunities to bring new college graduates into specific job categories. The selection procedure is also an important dimension in the overall hiring process. Strategic human resource management can assist hiring managers in setting up useful and appropriate selection tools for assessing candidate skills, such as letters of reference/recommendation, application forms, ability testing, personality tests, interviews, drug testing, reference validation, and background checks. It is important that application forms, which are so often done online, are not a labor-intensive process. This can discourage even good applicants from pursuing the process to its endpoint. Human resource professionals can ensure that the online application process is not repetitive and time-intensive while still providing the necessary information. Another key area where human resource professionals can assist hiring managers is the development of appropriate ability tests. By understanding the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the open position, these ability tests can be developed in-house for job candidates. This can be useful for understanding if a candidate has the skills that his or her resume indicates. Finally, the best-known part of the selection process would be the interview. Human resource management professionals can train hiring managers to utilize various types of questioning in an interview. Interviews can be set up to include various people, such as managers and co-workers who can then document responses and provide feedback on the candidates. Hiring managers and those employees involved in a hiring process must be trained on what questions can be asked and what cannot be asked of job candidates, per legal standards. Some examples of questions to be avoided include the items below.

 Do not ask if the applicant has children or plans to have children.

 Do not ask if the applicant has childcare available.

 Do not ask the age of the applicant.

 Do not ask if an applicant has been arrested (you may ask whether the applicant has ever been convicted of a crime).

These are just some examples, so it would be important for training to cover all current and relevant issues in this area. In addition, it can be important to understand that each state may have prohibitions on what can be asked of an applicant that are unique to that state. For instance, some states will allow an applicant to be asked about past salary history; however, some states no longer allow this to be asked. Strategic human resource management can provide valuable training for those performing hiring interviews. In this unit, you have learned about different recruitment and selection techniques, but as a human resource professional, you should be aware of the other end of the spectrum. What happens when it is time to release an employee? In the next unit, you will learn about employee separations.