HRMgt

This is a repository of materials on "Human Resource (H.R.) Management", especially on Recruiting, Selection, Training and Development. I shall update its contents over time.

Human Resources Management

Assembled by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry out these activities themselves because they can't yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees have -- and are aware of -- personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have.

Note that some people distinguish a difference between between HRM (a major management activity) and HRD (Human Resource Development, a profession). Those people might include HRM in HRD, explaining that HRD includes the broader range of activities to develop personnel inside of organizations, including, eg, career development, training, organization development, etc.

There is a long-standing argument about where HR-related functions should be organized into large organizations, eg, "should HR be in the Organization Development department or the other way around?"

The HRM function and HRD profession have undergone tremendous change over the past 20-30 years. Many years ago, large organizations looked to the "Personnel Department," mostly to manage the paperwork around hiring and paying people. More recently, organizations consider the "HR Department" as playing a major role in staffing, training and helping to manage people so that people and the organization are performing at maximum capability in a highly fulfilling manner.

From http://www.managementhelp.org/hr_mgmnt/hr_mgmnt.htm

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* From “Human Resource Management” by John M. Ivancevich (Chaps. 7 & 8)

Recruitment refers to organizational activities that influence the number and types of applicants who apply for a job and whether the applicants accept jobs that are offered. Thus, recruitment is directly related to both human resource planning and selection.

RECRUITING AND SELECTION PROCESS

• • Do workforce planning

  • Build a pool of candidates

  • Initial screening interview

  • Send candidates to the supervisor

  • Final interviews

The recruitment process begins with an attempt to find employees with the abilities and attitudes desired by the organization and to MATCH them with the tasks to be performed. Whether potential employees will respond to the recruiting effort depends on the attitudes they have developed toward those tasks and the organization on the basis of their past social and working experiences. Their perception of the task will also be affected by the work climate in the organization.

External influences on the recruitment process include the Labor Market Conditions. If there is a surplus of labor at recruiting time, even informal attempts at recruiting will probably attract more than enough applicants. However, when full employment is nearly reached in an area, skillful and prolonged recruiting may be necessary to attract any applicants who fulfill the expectations of the organization. Obviously, how many applicants are available also depends on whether the economy is growing. When companies are not creating new jobs, there is often an oversupply of qualified labor.

The Employer’s View of Recruiting

Several aspects affect recruiting from the organization’s viewpoint: the recruiting requirements, organizational policies and procedures, and the organization’s image. Recruiting requirements: The recruiting process necessarily begins with a detailed job description and job specification. Without these, it is impossible for recruiters to determine how well any particular applicant fits the job. It should be made clear to the recruiter which requirements are absolutely essential and which are merely desirable. This can help the organization avoid unrealistic expectations for potential employees. Organizational policies and practices: In some organizations, HRM policies and practices affect recruiting and who is recruited. One of the most significant of these is promotion from within. For all practical purposes, this policy means that many organizations recruit from outside the organization only at the initial hiring level. Most employees favor this approach. They feel this is fair to present loyal employees and assures them of a secure future and a fair chance at promotion. Some employers also feel this practice helps protect trade secrets. Other policies can also affect recruiting. Certain organizations have always hired more than their fair share of the disabled, veterans, or ex-convicts, for example, and they may look to these sources first. Others may be involved in nepotism and favor relatives. All these policies affect who is recruited.

The Potential Employee’s View of Recruiting

The applicant presumably has abilities, attitudes, and preferences based on past work experiences and influences of parents, teachers, and others. These factors affect recruits in two ways: how they set their job preferences, and how they go about seeking a job.

Preferences of recruits for organizations and jobs Just as organizations have ideal specifications for recruits, so do recruits have a set of preferences for jobs. Recruits, in general, do not necessarily find quickly their “ideal” job. Job markets currently predict that, in general, graduates are likely to be either unemployed or underemployed (i.e., working in positions that require lesser qualifications than they possess). Recruits also face barriers to finding their ideal job, barriers created by economic conditions, government and union restrictions, and the limits of organizational policies and practices. The recruit must anticipate compromises, just as the organization must. From the individual’s point of view, choosing an organization involves at least two major steps: First, the individual chooses an occupation—perhaps in high school or early in college. Then she chooses the organization to work for within that broader occupation. What factors affect the choice of occupation and organization? Obviously, there are many, many factors that influence these decisions. But a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (U.S.) found that occupational choice is most heavily influenced by parents, followed by teachers, career counselors, friends, and relatives. Choice of an organization, on the other hand, might be influenced by corporate image, among others. Research also suggests that satisfaction with the communication process in recruitment is critical to attracting applicants. In reality, however, this decision isn’t always purely rational; it is also affected by unconscious processes, chance, and luck.

Job search and finding a job: The recruit People who are successful at finding the “right job” tend to follow similar research processes. It is not always enough to simply be in the right place at the right time. The effective job searcher creates opportunities in a systematic way. An effective job search involves several steps including self-assessment, information gathering, networking, targeting specific jobs, and successful self-presentation.

The job search is a process that begins with self-assessment. The purpose of self-assessments is for job searchers to recognize their career goals and their strengths and weaknesses, and preferred lifestyles. This information is used later in the search to help the applicant assess whether there is a fit with a particular job offer. The assessment is similar to what organizational recruiters will be doing, but from the perspective of the applicant. (see guidelines below)

Career Self-Assessment:

(any normal person who wants to build a career would ask herself…)

v Does what I’m doing for work resonate with my values?

v Do I find my work to be meaningful?

v How does my organization treat me?

v How do I use my talents at work?

v What is my manager like?

v What is MY LIFE like?

Self-Development: Development Suggestions*

1. Create your own personal mission statement

2. Take responsibility for your own direction and growth

3. Make enhancement, rather than advancement, your priority

4. Talk to people in positions to which you aspire and get their suggestions on how to proceed

5. Set reasonable goals

Self-Development: Advancement Suggestions*

1. Remember that performance in your function is important, but interpersonal performance is critical

2. Set the right values and priorities

3. Provide solutions, not problems

4. Be a team player

5. Be customer oriented

6. Act as if what you are doing makes a difference

Guidelines for Today’s Leaders*

• Take an entrepreneurial perspective

• Embrace chaos

• Some risk is needed

• Breadth is the key

• Soft-skills can make or break you

* from “Managing Human Resources” by Gómez-Mejía, Balkin and Cardy.

Information gathering and networking are methods for generating lists of potential employers and jobs. Sources of information include newspapers, trade publications, college recruitment offices, websites, and organizational “insiders”.

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