Health Psychology Week 5 Quiz and Answers

Health Psychology Week 5

Pain has important medical consequences because 
A. patients' delay behavior is related to the experience of debilitating pain.

B. practitioners are trained to devote a significant amount of time to diagnosing the source of pain, which often impairs the quality of medical interactions.

C. it is the symptom most likely to lead an individual to seek treatment.

D. after death, pain is the most feared aspect of illness or medical treatment.

Athletes who continue to play, despite being injured, may be experiencing a short-term reduction of pain sensitivity due to 

A. sympathetic arousal.

B. parasympathetic arousal.

C. effective training and coaching.
D. activities that focus their attention on the pain.

Pain behaviors 

A. are observable, measurable behaviors that are manifestations of chronic pain.

B. have proven useful in identifying the dynamics of different pain syndromes.

C. are used in assessing the impact of pain on quality of life.
D. All of these.

Nociception is the _______________ of pain. 

A. physiological process

B. chemical process

C. sensation

D. perception 

Endogenous opioids are 

A. substances produced by the substantia gelatinosa that help regulate pain.

B. substances produced by the brain and glands that help regulate pain.

C. specialized receptor sites that play an active role in the regulation of pain.

D. drugs, such as heroin and morphine, that help control pain.

Chronic low back pain and myofascial pain syndrome are examples of 

A. acute pain.

B. chronic benign pain.

C. recurrent acute pain.

D. chronic progressive pain

In comparison with acute pain patients, chronic pain patients

A. share a similar psychological profile. 
B. experience higher levels of pain.

C. are more responsive to pain management techniques.

D. suffer from a syndrome involving physiological, psychological, social and behavioral components.

Chronic pain patients _______________ compared to persons without chronic pain. 
A. experience pain more acutely

B. have increased sensitivity to noxious stimulation

C. have impairment in pain regulatory systems

D. All of these.

According to Ciccone et al. (1999), chronic pain patients whose spouses provide support and positive attention 
A. experience good marital and sexual functioning.

B. may inadvertently maintain or increase the expression of pain.

C. restrict their social contact to members of their immediate family.
D. take smaller amounts of pain killers than patients who do not receive such support.

According to research investigating personality variables observed in chronic pain patients, 
A. there is a pain-prone personality, which, like the disease-prone personality, is characterized by negative affectivity.

B. a significant proportion of the population appears to be predisposed to experience pain.

C. personality change is often a consequence of pain, but personality variables are seldom involved as causes.

D. different personality factors may be involved in different types of pain.

Antidepressants combat pain by 
A. reducing anxiety.

B. improving mood.

C. affecting the downward pathways from the brain that control pain.

D. All of these.

Pharmacological control of pain 
A. is dangerous in that it usually leads to addiction to prescription drugs.

B. is of no concern to researchers and practitioners.

C. has a low probability of leading to addiction to prescription drugs.

D. is the treatment of last resort.

Counterirritation involves 
A. influencing the central control mechanism.
B. inhibiting pain in one part of the body by stimulating another area.
C. creating lesions in pain fibers and receptors.

D. influencing the transmission of pain impulses from the peripheral receptors.

Relaxation training strategies are 

A. seldom effective by themselves and need to be combined with other methods of pain control.

B. generally less effective in reducing chronic pain than are meditation techniques.

C. effective in alleviating chronic but not acute pain.
D. All of these.

Hypnosis relies on 

A. physiological relaxation.

B. distraction.

C. reinterpretation of sensations.

D. All of these.

In general, distraction is most effective in reducing pain when 

A. the pain is of high intensity.

B. the pain is of low intensity.

C. the pain is chronic.

D. suggestion or sensory redefinition is impractical.

Cognitive-behavioral pain interventions 
A. encourage patients to entrust the management of their pain to the treatment team.

B. attempt to modify maladaptive cognitions but not overt and covert behaviors.

C. encourage clients to attribute their success to the treatment intervention.

D. None of these.

Pain management programs incorporate 
A. individualized treatment.

B. an interdisciplinary team of practitioners.

C. an evaluation of the patient's physical, emotional, and mental functioning. 
D. All of these.

Placebo effects vary according to 

A. how a provider interacts with the patient.

B. how much a provider believes in the power of the placebo.

C. a provider's warmth, confidence, and empathy.
D. All of these are correct.

Pain

A. is directly related to the severity of physical symptoms.

B. has an important survival function.

C. has little medical significance outside of motivating most patients to seek treatment.

D. is an important component of most medical school curricula.

OL-442-X6290 Human Resource Strategy/Development

Chapter One: Human Resource Management in Organizations

CLASS NOTES:
-“ Human Resources isn’t a thing we do, it’s the thing that runs our business”. –Steve Wynn, Wynn Las Vegas.
-Collaborative, Capacity, Commitment: The three C’s
-Patience two sided: upper management & human resource side.
-“ Great people without a great vision, you have nothing at all”
– 7 Basic Categories of Human Resources:
1. Total Rewards EX) Money, Benefits, Social Security, & Promote ability
2. Staffing: (102 days): Responsibility of HR & is a difficult process.
3. Talent Management: Right person for the right job & understanding the job.
4. Equal Employment opportunity: “Affirmative Action” “Doing with things incorrectly= lawsuits”.
5. Employee & Labor Relations: Unions have different rules, point of grievances changes.
6. Risk Management: EX) In Ohio if you don’t clean your driveway= walkers beware! / If you do clean your driveway= you are liable!
7. Strategic HR Management: Trying to know what is coming next for a company.
How to do This:
1. Look to the past
2. Technology (helps with strategies)
3. Administrative Process EX) E-check , making sure the right things are in the right place.
4. Corrective rather than punishable “This is not the right job for you, can I find you something else?”
5. Output driven rather than input oriented.

Basic Categories of Human Resources:
-“If any company is making money, someone will always try to match it, or break it.”
-David Ulrich/ Human Resource Champions : “ The next agenda for adding value & delivering results” Boston: Harvard Business School Press:
1. Strategic partner/ helps others to be successful
2. Administrative Experts
3. Change Agent
4. Employee Champion
-Competencies: What a company does well/ what a company is known for/ what is their culture?
-SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, & Threats: Use this to find competencies.
-Internal: Strengths & Weaknesses –External: Opportunities & Threats
-Managing Shift to Human Resources: – Field Human Resources: Where you can know each other.
-Companies merge- No longer need as many Human Resource people.
-Centers of Excellence: Companies that merge make more specific HR jobs &/OR EX) no more overtime.

Chapter Outline:

Human Resources as Organizational Core Competency
-Core competency: Unique ability that creates high value and differentiates an organization from its competition.
Human Capital and HR
-Human Capital: The collective value of capabilities, knowledge, skills, life experiences and motivation of an organizational workforce.
HR Functions:
1. Strategic
2. Talent Management
3. Staffing
4. Equal Employment Oppurtunity
5. Total Rewards
6. Risk Management & Worker Protection
7. Employee and Labor Relations
Organizational Culture & HR.
-Organizational Culture: The shared values and beliefs in organization.
-Five dimensions useful in identifying and comparing cultures:
1. Inequality in power
2. Individualism
3. Masculinity
4. Uncertainty
5. Long-term/ Short-term orientation
Organizational Productivity:
Productivity: Measure of the quantity and quality of work done, considering the cost of the resources used.
Unit Labor Cost: Computed by dividing the average cost of workers by their average levels of output
-HR management efforts designed to enhance organizational productivity are as followed:
1. Organizational restructuring
2. Redesigning work
3. Aligning HR activities
4. Outsourcing analyses
Social Responsibilities of HR
-Sustainability: Being able to continue to operate, survive and adjust to significant changes.
-Global Social Responsibility and HR: Collecting/donating money for local charities or national disasters & numerous other activities.
Ethical Behavior and Organizational Culture:
Four Elements of Ethics Program:
1. A written code of ethics and standards of conduct
2. Training on ethical behavior
3. Advice to employees on situations they face
4. Systems for confidential reporting
-Organization for Economic Coorperation has emphasized the effects of ethics.
-People must be guided by values and personal behavior “codes” including these two questions:
1. Does behavior or result meet all applicable laws, regulations and government codes?
2. Does the behavior or result meet both organizational standards and professional standards of ethical behavior?
-Talent Management and Development: Some forces behind the emphasis on talent management have included:
1. The impending retirement of baby boomers
2. Shortages of skilled workers of certain types and at certain levels
3. Increasing global competition for human resource talent
4. Growth in technology capable of automating talent management processes
Globalization of Organizations & HR:
-Expatriate: A citizen of one country who is working in a second country and employed by an organization headquarted in the first country.
-Host-county National: A citizen of one country who is working in that country and employed by an organization headquarted in a second country.
-Third-country national: A citizen of one country who is working in a second country and employed by an organization headquarted in a third country.
HR Management Roles:
1. Strategic: Helping to define the strategy relative to human capital and its contribution to organizational results.
2. Operational and Employee advocate: Managing HR activities in line with the strategies and operations that have been identified by management and serving as employee “champion: for employee issues and concerns.
3. Administrative: Focusing on clerical administration and recordkeeping.
HR Competencies:
1. Strategic knowledge and impact means
2. Legal, administrative, and operational capabilities
3. Technology knowledge and usage abilities

HR Professionalism and Certification:
-HR generalist: A person who has responsibility for performing a variety of HR activities
-HR specialist: A person who has in-depth knowledge and expertise in a limited area of HR

Critical Thinking Activities:

Question 1: Discuss several areas in which HR can affect organizational culture positively and negatively.

Answer:
Human resources can affect organizational culture positively by helping organizational performance of culture by developing or revising current and new products and services, acquiring new businesses and performing other activities with competitive advantages. HR can positively play a significant role in organizations by helping to create a culture that emphasizes effectiveness and productivity. Human resources can affect organizational culture negatively by not utilizing workers and businesses in various countries. They may also affect organizational culture negatively by not treating their members of the company correctly or not addressing the problems of the members of that particular company. It is HR’s responsibility is to use values that are inherent in the company that affect the nature of the organizational culture.

Question 2: Give some examples of ethical issues that you have experienced in jobs, and explain how HR did or did not help resolve them.

Answer:

I have experienced several ethical issues at jobs where I have worked. I currently work as a server at a restaurant and I notice sexual harassment of other employees occasionally. This happens when certain male cooks say derogatory comments to female servers. This problem has not ever been reported to HR or any of our management, however I believe that It is ethically wrong and a issue in my workplace. Moreover, where I work a server once stole another servers book with their money in it. The server reported the theft to HR, and the server who stole the money was terminated, and had to return the money. This is an example of employee relations, and is without a doubt an ethical issue.

Question 3: Why is it important for HR management to transform from being primarily administrative and operational to becoming a more strategic contributor?

Answer:

It is important for HR management to transform from being primarily administrative and operational to becoming a more strategic contributor because they will have more effectiveness, and will increase effectiveness, metrics, technology, planning, and retention. They need to focus on more than one primary aspect of management. If they become a more strategic contributor they will help to define the strategy relative to human capital and its contribution to organizational results, and they are proactive in addressing business realities and focusing on future business needs.

Question 4: Assume you are an HR director with a staff of seven people. A departmental objective is for all staff member to become professionally certified within a year. Using Internet resources of HR associations such as http://www.shrm.org andhttp://www.WorldatWork.org develop a table that identifies four to six certifications that could be obtained by your staff members and show the important details for each certification.

Answer:

1. Certified Recognition Professional sponsored by the Recognition Professionals International
2. Certified Professional in Learning and Performance sponsored by the American Society for Training and Development
3. Certified Graphics Communications Manager and Certified Mail Manager sponsored by the International Personnel Management Association
4. Certified Compensation Professional
5. Certified Benefits Professional

Case Study:

Question 1: How does the integration of HR with the organizational culture contribute to the success of Google, Scripps, and UPS? To find ideas go to the corporate website for each of these companies and search for insights.

Answer:
The integration of human resources with the organization culture contributes to the success of Scripps because human resource functions are used to support the culture and core values at Scripps. They have a pay-for-performance system and that is how they reward their employees to make them more successful, which leads to a more successful company.
For Google the integration of HR with the organizational culture contributes to its success because HR establishes an innovative effort for its people and the overriding key of HR at Google is its emphasis on organizational culture. The following passage is displayed on Google’s website, “It’s really the people that make Google the kind of company it is. We hire people who are smart and determined, and we favor ability over experience. Although Googlers share common goals and visions for the company, we hail from all walks of life and speak dozens of languages, reflecting the global audience that we serve”. This passage is describing Google’s very own culture, which informs me that they are such a successful company because they are a diverse company that integrates this one of a kind culture with their human resource branch.
The integration of HR with the organizational culture contributes to the success of UPS because there HR is linked with business objectives and uses communication intranet programs to ensure that employees are kept constantly informed on business objectives. Their culture is based around a code of conduct and the integrate that with HR by reviewing this code with their employees. Diversity is also a big part of UPS and their culture that allows them to be so successful. On their website they state “UPS is in the business of linking people, cultures, and commerce, with diversity as an integral part of its global strategy”.

Question 2: Describe how some of the cultural facets mentioned compare to those among employers you have worked for, and explain the difference in the views of these various employers.

Answer:

There are a variety of cultural facets that were mentioned in the excerpt that can compare to employers I have worked for. One of UPS’s cultural facets was a code of conduct. This can compare to a job I once had at the YMCA. There, I too had a code of conduct that I had to follow, and I was constantly reminded of it as well at work. Another cultural facet that comparative to a previous job I had was Google’s approach to giving its employees flexibility to produce results, not just following core job requirements. This contrasts with my old job and the YMCA and compares with most recent job as a server at Margaritaville. At Margaritaville, they are extremely flexible to produce results, whereas at the YMCA everything was strictly by the book and core job requirements.

1/16/14
Chapter Two: Human Resource Management in Organizations

CLASS NOTES:

Strategic HR:
What is the difference between a strategic plan and a tactical plan?
-A strategic plan is a course of action to achieve long-term goals, generally up to five years.
-A tactical plan is a course of action to achieve short-term goals, generally within a year or less.
1. Compliance function
2. Consultative services
3. “Miracle workers”
-Corporate strategy: How HR can become a player
-A number of HR practices and programs are significantly associated with a stronger strategic role for HR including:
-Having an HR strategy that is integrated with the business strategy
-The use of info technology
-Focusing on HR talent development
-Having HR activities that focus on organization design, organization development, change management, employee development, and metrics
-Using computer systems for training and development
-Having effective HR metrics and analytics
-Having an HR staff with technical organizational dynamics, business partners and metric skills
-Levels of global competition: Firms differ in the extent to which they participate in global competition, depending on the level they participate in the global market
-Domestic: In the United States
-International
-Multinational
– Transnational
-HR as a pool of national capital:
-HR is valuable
-HR is rare: EXAMPLE: If you’re a coin collector and someone has a double eagle for sale, everyone will line up because they are rare and valuable.
-HR as limitable: We should be able to teach people so they can do it themselves: It is bad when HR people try to be the holders of all knowledge.
-HR should be seen as non-substitutable: You do it all, not half way.
-Two aspects of HR work together to create a competitive advantage for the firm.
-There are knowledge’s, skills, and abilities (KSAS) inherit in the individuals who make up the organizations or the power information, knowledge, and rewards (PIKERS) that can be developed for these individuals.
-There are the employee behaviors that are necessary for translating these into productivity for the firm.
-Capitalizing on multiple labor pools:
1. Managers from specific countries bring to the process tactic knowledge of aspects of that countries political, cultural, legal and economical situation.
2. Having managers from a variety of cultures increases the diversity of viewpoints in terms of values, problem definition, and problem solving
-The role of HR in mergers and Acquisitions: if this is not handled well each company will go out of business
1. Talent Acquisition goes Social-forcing a reinvention of agencies and job boards
2. New models, diversity and “girl-power” will drive leadership strategies
3. Performance management will go agile

Chapter Outline:

-Strategic planning:
-The process of defining an organizational strategy, or direction and making decisions on allocating the resources of the organization to pursue this strategy.
-Organizational mission: The core reason for the existence of the organization and what makes it unique.
-Strategic HR management: Refers to the use of employees to gain or maintain a competitive advantage
-Strategic Competencies for HR professionals refer to:
1. Credible Activist
2. Talent Manager/Organizational designer
3. Strategy Architect
4. Operational Executor
5. Business Ally
HR as Organizational Contributor :
-Hr management plays a significant role in the following strategies:
1. Organizational productivity
2. Customer service and quality
3. Financial contributions
-High- Performance Work Practices: Some recognized that HR’s best practices include:
1.Incentive compensation
2. Training
3. Employee participation
4.Selectivity
5.Flexible work arrangements
-HR Effectiveness and Financial Performance:
– Efficiency: The degree to which operations are done in an economical manner
-Environmental Analysis:
-Environmental Scanning: The assessment of internal and external environmental conditions that affect the organization.
-Succession planning: The process of identifying a plan for the orderly replacement of key employees.
-Geographic and Competitive Concerns: Where an organization locates it operations plays a role in how well it performs
-Multinational corporation: (MNC): A corporation that has facilities and other assets in at least one country other than its home country
-Off shoring: The relocation by a company of a business process or operation from one country to another
-HR Planning in Mergers and Acquisitions
-Due diligence: A comprehensive assessment of all aspects of business being acquired
-Before the Deal: Conduct due diligence, Assess Risks, Identify possible conflicts
-During Integration: Address key processes, Retain key talent, Recognize cultural differences
-Post Integration: Optimize workforce, Identify and establish new culture
-Four important factors in changing culture are:
1. Define the desired behaviors
2. Deploy role models
3. Provide meaningful incentives
4. Provide clear and consistent messages
-Best practices for companies carrying out layoffs include:
1. Identify the work that is core to sustaining a profitable business
2. Identify the knowledge, skills, and competencies
3. Protect the bottom line and the corporate brand
4. Constantly communicate with employees
5. Pay attention to the survivors
-Severance benefits: Temporary payments made to laid-off employees to ease the financial burden of unemployment
Managing a Talent Shortage
-Companies can use a number of alternative tactics to manage a talent shortage:
1. Use overtime
2. Outsource work
3. Implement alternative work arrangements
4. Bring back recent retirees
5. Use contingent workers
6. Reduce turnover
-Alternative work arrangements: Nontraditional schedules that provide flexibility to employees
-Outsourcing: Transferring the management and performance of a business function to an external service provider
-Electric human resource management systems: The planning, implantation, and application of information technology to perform HR activities.
-HR metrics: Specific measures tied to HR performance indicators
-Benchmarking: Comparing the business results to industry standards
-Balanced scorecard: A framework used to report a diverse set of performance measures

Critical Thinking Activities:

1. Discuss how technology has changed jobs in an organization where you have worked. What are some HR responses to those changes?

Answer:
Technology has changed jobs in an organization where I have worked because everything is computerized. I work at a restaurant where we use computers to send in all of our orders to the kitchen and the bar. At a previous diner I have worked at we did not do this nor have a computer to send our orders in. HR has responded to this change by changing with the technology. If we have any computer problems management is always willing to help out because they have been trained to use our computer systems effectively.

Question 2. What steps can HR professionals take to ensure that mergers and acquisitions are successful? How can HR help during the integration process?

Answer: Before the deal HR professionals can conduct due diligence, access risks, and identify possible conflicts. During integration HR professionals can address key HR processes, retain key talent, and recognize cultural differences. Post integration HR can optimize workforce and identify and establish new culture.

Question 3. How can an organization maintain its image while dealing with a talent surplus? If layoffs are necessary, what would you recommend managers do to ensure that survivors remain committed and productive?

Answer: Managers can keep survivors committed and productive by reminding them that they can be laid off as well. They also need to have one center person that talks to everyone that works for the company. If they do not have this, they need to make sure everyone is saying the same thing because it is painful to be laid off and to lay off others.

Question 4.As the HR manager for a multinational corporation, you want to identify HR competencies that are critical for global companies. Visit the website for the World Federation of People Management Association to research the topic and to identify differences in the body of knowledge in different parts of the world.

Answer:
As the HR manager for a multinational corporation you must understand the different language barriers, currencies and gender roles.

Case Study:

Question 1: What are some reasons that more organizations do not implement HR analytics? How would you make the case for adopting HR analytics?

Answer:
Organizations do not implement HR analytics because they rely more on their intuition and gut feelings. HRIS are commonly used to capture and store data about employees; however organizations do not mine their data to progress human capital decisions. Organizations should however adopt HR analytics to enhance the strategic contribution of HR executives and lead to better decisions and organizational outcomes.

Question 2: How can HR professionals develop the needed skills to analyze and interpret metrics? What resources could an HR professional consult to begin building expertise in this area?

Answer:
Human Resource professionals can develop the needed skills to interpret metrics by doing research and utilizing that research to keep employees happy where they work. For example, at the food service and convenience company Wawa, Inc. they did research to find that their employees were less likely to quit and be happy if they worked 30 hours or less a week. They took this information and applied it to their jobs, and in return their company was more successful.
An HR professional could use the resources of their own employees to consult to begin building expertise in this area. They could give their employees surveys to find out what will make them happy in their workplace, and find out what needs to improve in their specific branches of the companies. For example, at the Superior Energy Services in New Orleans, the blue-collared workers were staying, whereas the more skilled workers were leaving their jobs. With proper training and coaching, HR found that the skilled workers were more likely to stay with their jobs. If they were to ask these skilled workers in advanced what they needed (coaching and training) , they would not have experienced this.

1/23/14

Chapter Three: Equal Employment Opportunity

Chapter Notes:

What is the purpose of Equal Employment Opportunity?
-The purpose of equal employment opportunity is to ensure fairness in hiring, promotion, and other workplace practices.
-EEP laws prevent employers from withholding job opportunities based on a workers sex, race, age, national or, origin, certain health conditions, and other reasons.
-Affirmative Action: EX) You are fishing, 20 % are good fish: $ 5/lb , 30% mediocre fish: $2/lb, 50% worthless fish. Competitors start fishing and take good fish. You find two more lakes, with a total of three lakes. Conclusion of fish story: We want good fish regardless of which lake they come from. Look for the best fish!
-Affirmative Action in Action: Affirmative Action’s first victim
-Ed Stevens.
-Rickey wanted the most talented players regardless of where they came from
-By concentrating on white players only, mediocre and bad players were filling the rosters
-The Dodgers spent money sending scouts into the Negro Leagues to find the most talented players
-The Dodgers didn’t wait for African-American players to knock down the doors demanding equal treatment.
-Bertrand and Mullainathan Study: More male call backs for job, rather than female, More white people being called back, rather than African-Americans
-Utilization analysis: Are there any pools that are not being tapped? Compare your workforce to the relevant labor force
What Affirmative Action is Not:
-Not a government mandate for many employers
-Not reverse discrimination
-Not quotas
-Equal Employment Opportunity
– Equal Pay Act of 1963: Women and men get paid the same amount
-250,000 Americans of all race march in Washington DC, in August 1963 to listen to Martin Luther King give his famous I have a dream speech
-In September 1963, four black children are killed when Birmingham’s 16th street Baptist church is fire bombed by individuals opposing integration efforts, the American public said “that was it”
-In 1964 there was the longest debate in history; the US Senate finally passes the Civil Rights Act of 1964
-LBJ appoints Franklin D. Roosevelt JR., Richard Graham (creator for NOW) , Aileen Hernandez= a political organization
-Under the original Title VII, EEOC has no authority to bring lawsuits of its own. However, private individuals may file actions in court and EEOC can recommend to the Department of Justice that it bring pattern and practice lawsuits.
-EEOC Chairman Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr. appoints Charles T. Duncan an African American Howard University law professor, as EEOC’s first general counsel
-In January 1966, EEOC opens its first field office in Dallas, Texas. By years end, the office is relocated to Austin, Texas. Three other field offices open this year—Atlanta , Chicago and Cleveland
-President Lydon B. Johnson nominates Stephen N. Shulman to be chairman of EEOC. The Senate confirms Shulman within two weeks, when nominated Shulman is General Counsel of the U.S Air force
-In 1967 Congress passes the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 protecting individuals who are between 40-65 years of age from discrimination
-EEOC shifts the focus of its relationship with state and local Fair Employment Practice Agencies from research to action orientation
-EEOC now has seven regional offices and 27 district offices nationwide. Field directors are delegated authority to issue Findings of Fact to the parties to charge. The parties then have the right to file exceptions to the Findings before the Commission makes its decision.
-The 1970’s “The Toothless Tiger gets it’s Teeth”:
1.EEOC now has litigation authority.
2. Educational institutions are subject to Title VII.
3.State and local governments are no longer exempt from Title VII
4. The Federal Government is subject to Title VII
5.The number of employers covered by Title VII is increased by reducing the number of employees needed for an employer to be covered by the act.
-In Albermarle Paper Co. V. Moody, the Supreme Court decides that after a court has found an employer guilty of discrimination
-President Jimmy Carter nominates and the Senate confirms Eleanor Holmes Norton to be the fist African-American chair
-In 1978 amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of of 1973 make the processes for federal employees claims of discrimination on the basis of disability and the available remedies virtually identical to federal sector Title VII
-Ronald Regan nominates the Senate confirms Clarence Thomas: The first black Supreme Court justice. President George Bush then selects Thomas to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC circuit and two years later nominates him and the Senate confirms Thomas to be an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court
-The Commission settles a sex discrimination suit against Teachers Insurance and Annuity Equities Fund. This suits results in recalculating pensions
-George Bush signs into law the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990- the world’s first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities
-In February of 2000 President Clinton signs an Executive Order prohibiting federal departments and agencies from making employment decisions based on genetic information. Ex) Does anyone in your family suffer from Cancer?
-“What you don’t know, can hurt you! I’ve never had this problem before.. I use common sense.”
CASE EXAMPLES:
– I do not want my employee to have a nose ring, and the girl says it is a part of her religious background, she is fired, and now she is suing the company. The employer wins this case, and the EEOC does not like this.
-EEOC represents this women: A Muslim women has a job operating with printing equipment, she wears loose clothing because of religious company. The employer determines her clothing as a safety hazard, the court sides with the employer. “Could there be a better job fit?”.
Understanding the EEOC: They are responsible for enforcing Federal Laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetic information
-It is also illegal to discriminate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination or participated in an employment discrimination lawsuit or investigation
-Most employers with at least 15 employees are covered in EEOC laws
-The EEOC has the right to bring lawsuits against employers, but only has cone this in a small percentage of claims
-Often the will offer to organize a settlement conference to resolve the complaint
-EECO considers its mission to be valuable public service: Employers have expressed frustration with the EEOC and its pro-employee viewpoint
What should you do if your business receives a notice of a charge of discrimination from the EEOC?
1. Get organized and provide a thorough response within the assigned deadlines
2. Supporting documentation should be sued to provide evidence of your written records. It is a good strategy to give examples where you consistently used the same approach for all employees
3. Check your companies insurance policy
4. Do not retaliate
5. Cooperate with the investigation

Chapter Outline:

Nature of Equal Employment Opportunity:
-Protected category: A group identified for protection under EEO laws and regulations
-Disparate treatment: Occurs when members of a group are treated differently from others.
-Disparate Impact: Occurs when members of a protected category are substantially underrepresented as a result of employment decisions that work to their advantage
-Equal Employment Opportunity Concepts:
-Business necessity: A practice necessary for safe and efficient organizational operations.
-Bona fide occupational qualification: Characteristic providing a legitimate reason why an employer can exclude persons on otherwise illegal bases of consideration.
-Burden of Proof: What individuals who file suit against employers must prove in order to establish that illegal discrimination
-Retaliation: Punitive actions taken by employers against individuals who exercise their legal rights
-Equal employment: Employment that is not affected by illegal discrimination
-Blind to differences: Differences among people should be ignored and everyone should be treated equally
-Affirmative Action: Employers are urged to employ people based on their race, age, gender or national origin to make up for historical discrimination
-Affirmative action plan: A document reporting on composition of an employers workforce, required for federal contractors
Sex/Gender Discrimination Laws & Regulations:
-Availability Analysis: Identifies the number of protected-class member available to work in the appropriate labor markets for given jobs
-Utilization analysis: Indentifies the number of protected-class members employed in the organization and the types of jobs they hold
Equal Pay and Pay Equity:
-Pay equity: The ideas that pay for jobs requiring comparable levels of knowledge skill, and availability should be similar, even if actual duties differ significantly
-Sexual harassment: Actions that are sexually directed are unwanted and subject the worker to adverse employment conditions or create a hostile work environment
-Glass ceiling: Discriminatory practices that have prevented women and other protected class members from advancing to executive job levels
-Nepotism: Practice of allowing relative to work for the same employer
-Types of sexual harassment:
1. Quid pro que: Sexual harassment in which employment outcomes are linked to individual granting sexual favors
2. Hostile environment: Sexual harassment in which an individual’s work performance or psychological well-being is unreasonably affected by intimidating or offensive work conditions
Americans with Disabilities:
-Essential Job functions: Fundamental job duties
-Reasonable accommodation: A modification to a job or work environment that gives a qualified individual an equal employment opportunity to perform
-Undue hardship: Significant difficulty or expense imposed on an employer in making an accommodation for individuals with disabilities
-Disable person: Someone who has a physical or mental impairment that limits life activities who has record of such impairment, or who is regarded as having such an impairment
-Reasonable Accommodation:
1. Modified work schedules
2. Special Equipment
3. Job restructuring
4. Job reassignment
5. Employer-Provided assistance
Religion and Spirituality in the Workplace:
-Phased Retirement: Approach in which employees gradually reduce their workloads and pay levels
Managing Religious Diversity in the Workplaces:
1. Accommodations of Religious beliefs in Work Schedules
2. Respect for Religious practices Affecting Dress and Appearance
3. Accommodation of Religious Expression in the Workplace

Critical Thinking Activities:

Question 1: If your employer asked you to review the decision not to hire an African American applicant for a job, what would you need to consider?

Answer:
If my employer asked me to review the decision not to hire an African American applicant for a job, I would consider whether the African American applicant fits the requirements for the job, fits the qualifications needed and the experience. If this person does fit the requirements I would consider the consequences of the EEOC. However, if they don’t fit the requirements I would consider my other hiring options and other candidates. I would try and find the best person for the job.

Question 2: Explain why you agree or disagree with affirmative action and how affirmative action may be affected by growing workforce diversity?

Answer:
I agree with affirmative action and how it may be affected by growing workforce diversity. I agree with it because it promotes the plan to get companies to become more varied and helps companies to have a more open mind when they are hiring applicants.

Question 3: From your own experience or that of someone you know, give examples of the two types of sexual harassment.

Answer:
The two types of sexual harassment are quid pro quo and hostile environment. Quid pro quo is sexual harassment in which employment outcomes are linked to the individual granting sexual favors. An example of this is when someone I knew had a boss that had a sexual relationship with a employee, and both employees are fired. Hostile environment is sexual harassment in which an individual’s work performance or psychological well-being is unreasonably affected by intimidating or offensive working conditions. An example of this that someone I knew felt violated at work when another employee kept making sexual passes, and remarks at her.

Question 4: Use this text and the U.S. Department of Justice website (www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/) to identify what is reasonable accommodation and how it is determined. ‘

Answer:
Reasonable accommodation is a modification to a job or work environment that gives a qualified individual an equal employment opportunity to perform. EEOC guidelines are used to determine reasonable accommodation with guidelines that encourage employers and individuals to work together to determine what are appropriate reasonable accommodations, rather than employers alone making those judgments. Reasonable accommodation is restricted to actions that do not place an undue hardship on an employer.

Case Study:

Question 1: What is the legal basis for the EEOC to hold the JBS-SWIFT had violated the employees civil rights?

Answer:
The EEOC ruled that JBS-SWIFT had violated the civil rights of the employees that they had fired because it is those employees had the constitutional right to pray at work for their religious holiday. Conversely, instead these specific people were fired, which in turn is illegal.

Question 2: Contrast the solutions to the Tyson situation and the JBS-SWIFT situation. Which is likely to have the greatest positive impact on the company and why?

Answer:
The solutions to the Tyson and JBS-SWIFT situations contrast because they had two different outcomes. In the JBS-SWIFT situation, the EEOC ruled that the company was wrong and had violated the civil rights of their employees, whereas in the Tyson situation they said the employers may not treat people more or less favorably because of their religion. The solution to the JBS-SWIFT situation is more likely to have the greatest impact on the company because they later on set up prayer rooms at its plants and allow Muslims workers to meet their religious obligations.

1/30/14

Chapter Four: Workers, Jobs, and Job Analysis

CLASS NOTES:
Workforce Composition Transformation: To support the success of their operations, an analysis of the workforce composition is an essential tool.
1. Do we need to hire more employees in a specific function or career level?
2. Do we have too many employees in a specific function or career level?
3. How many people are necessary to manage our financial or career level?
4. How does our staffing situation compare to those careers?

-Judgmental forecasts allow human resources to rely on the opinions of informed experts (usually managers), who provide their estimates of current and projected productivity levels.
– Human resource objectives are to state in quantitative or qualitative terms what is to be achieved with regard to the firm’s human resources.
-Organizational analysis is the assessment of the external and internal environments.
-SWOT: Used in marketing and HR: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, & Threats.
-Strategic Alignment: When we have the systems that facilitate the growth of the company
-Human resource planning refers to the activities associated with scanning and accessing the environment; specifying the objectives to by achieve by HR activities, along with the measures to be used to assess the achievement of those objectives; and developing specific plans for HR policies and practices along with timetables for implementing the plans.
-Bringing about change in a worker and their job design can affect negatively. A person could get anxious because they do not like the change. HR’s job is to fix this.
-So, how is that done? : Workers and job design, Workflow analysis, & Job enrichment
-The Job Characteristic Model: Core Job Characteristics, Outcomes, Psychological States
-Job Hierarchy /Needs Of a Job:
1. Self-Actualization
2. Loving/Fulfillment
3. Belonging

4. Safety
5. Food, Clothing, Shelter ( work because I have to)
-Human Relations Movement:
-Performance can be improved by good human relations
-Managers should consult employees
-Leaders should be democratic instead of authoritarian
-Employees are motivated by social and psychological rewards and are not just “economic animals”
-The work group plans an important part in influencing the performance
– Soci-technical systems aim on jointly optimizing the operation of the social and technical system; the goods and services would then be efficiently produced and psychological needs of the workers fulfilled
-Anticipatory change: When an organization takes action in anticipation of upcoming events or early in the cycle of a new trend
-Reactive Change: Occurs when an organization is forced to change in response to an unanticipated event in the eternal or organizational environment
Hackman and Oldman’s theory:
– Making larger work units by coming smaller more specialized tasks
– Mandating for workers to be responsible in have direct contact with clients/customers
– Having employee evaluation done frequently to provide feedback for learning
– Allowing workers to be responsible for their jobs by fiving them authority and control
-Scenario planning begins with information about the changes likely to occur in the external environment, such as the characteristics and size of the labor force, new government regulations, and competitors actions
-Incremental change is an ongoing process of gradual evolution, during which many small changes occur routinely
-Human resource metrics is the measurements that are used to assess progress against HR objectives
-Radical Change: When organizations must make major adjustments in the ways they do business
-Learning organizations continually find new ways to satisfy customers and other stakeholders by skillfully integrating the resources of information, technology and people to produce and then effectively use new knowledge
-Job Analysis begins by understanding the requirements of the job being filled:
1. The mental/physical tasks involved
2. How is the job done
3. The reason that the job exists
4. The qualifications that are needed
-The analysis may include these activities:
1. Reviewing the job responsibilities
2. Reviewing similar job responsibilities
3. Analyzing the work duties, tasks, and responsibilities
4. Researching and sharing with other companies
5. Articulate the most important outcomes or contributions
-Human resource plans are thought of as blueprints for developing and designing an organization
-Human resource forecasts estimate the firm’s future HR needs:
1. Statistical forecasts: Rely heavily on objective data
2. Replacement chart: The titles of key jobs in the organization are displayed along with names of both the incumbents and the employees who might be used to fill potential vacancies
3. Talent Pool: A list of employees who have been identified as having high potential for advancement, usually because they are the top performers in their positions
-Timetables specify when each planned activity will be completed
-Succession planning is the planning to ensure that the organization is prepared to fill key positions when the incumbents leave for any reason
-Vertical alignment exists when the HRM system fits with all other elements of the organizational environment
1. Judgmental Forecast: To rely on the opinions of informed experts (usually managers), who provide their estimates of current and projected productivity levels, market demand, and sales, as well as current staffing levels and mobility information
2. Human Resource Objectives: To state in quantitative or qualitative terms what is to be achieved with regard to the firms human resources
3. Organizational Analysis: The assessment of the external and internal environments

Chapter Outline:
Workforce Composition:
-The tangible indicators of diversity that employers must consider include the following:
1. Race/ethnicity
2. National origin/immigration
3. Age/generational differences
4. Gender
5. Marital and family status
6. Sexual orientation
7. Disabilities
8. Religion
Business Contribution of Diverse Workers:
-Diversity: Differences in human characteristics and composition in an organization
-The business cases for diversity include the following:
1. New talent and ideas from employees of various backgrounds, which can enhance organizational performance
2. Helps recruiting and retention
3. Allows for an increase of market share
4. Can lead to lower costs because there may be fewer discrimination lawsuits
Race and Ethnicity:
Some common age/generational groups are labeled as follows:
1. Matures (born before 1946)
2. Baby-boomers (born 1946-1964)
3. Generation Xers (born 1965-1980)
4. Generation Yers (millenials/born 1981-2000)
Nature of Jobs & Work:
-Work: Effort dedicated toward accomplishing results
-Work flow analysis: Study of the way work moves through an organization
-Job: Grouping of tasks, duties, and responsibilities that constitutes the total work assignment for an employee
-Business process reengineering (BPR): Measures for improving such activities as product development, customer service, and service delivery
Job Design:
-Job design receives attention for three major reasons:
1. Performance
2. Satisfaction
3. Physical and mental health
-Job design: Organizing tasks, duties, responsibilities, and other elements into a productive unit of work
-Types of workers in one firm may include:
1. Full-time employees
2. Part-time employees
3. Independent contractors
4. Temporary workers
5. Contingent workers
– Contingent worker: Someone who is not an employee, but a temporary or part-time worker for a specific period of time and type of work
-Person-job fit: Matching characteristics of people with characteristics of jobs
Common Approaches to Job Design:
-Job Enlargement: Broadening the scope of a job by expanding the number of different tasks to be performed
-Job Enrichment: Increasing the depth of a job by adding responsibility for planning, organizing, controlling, or evaluating the job
-Job rotation: Process of shifting a person from job to job
-Job sharing: Scheduling arrangement in which two employees perform the work of one full-time job
-Skill variety: Extent to which the work requires several different activities for successful completion
-Task Identity: Extent to which the job includes a “whole” identifiable unit of work that is carried out from start to finish and that results in a visible outcome
-Task Significance: Impact the job has on other people
-Autonomy: Extent of individual freedom and discretion in the work and its scheduling
-Feedback: The amount of information employees receive about how well or how poorly they have performed
Using Worker Teams in Jobs:
-Special-purpose team: Organizational team formed to address specific problems, improve work processes and enhance the overall quality of products and services
-Self-directed team: Organizational team composed of individuals who are assigned a cluster of tasks, duties, and responsibilities to be accomplished
-Virtual team: Organizational team composed of individuals who are separated geographically but linked by communications technology
Jobs and Work Scheduling:
-Telework: Employees work with technology via electronic, telecommunications and Internet means
Work Schedule Alternatives:
-Compressed workweek: A workweek in which a full week’s work is accomplished in fewer than five 8-hour days
-Flextime: Scheduling arrangement in which employees work a set number of hours a day but vary starting and ending times
Purposes of Job Analysis:
-Job analysis: Systematic way of gathering and analyzing information about the content, context and human requirements of jobs
-Information coming from job analyses that can be helpful in making the distinction among jobs includes the following:
– Work activities and behaviors
-Interactions with others
-Performance standards
-Financial and budgeting impact
-Machines and equipment used
-Working conditions
-Supervision given and received
-Knowledge, skills, and abilities needed
-Task: Distinct, identifiable work activity composed of motions
-Duty: Work segment composed of several tasks that are performed by an individual
Competency-Based Job Analysis:
-Responsibilities: Obligations to perform certain tasks and duties
-Competencies: Individual capabilities that can be linked to enhanced performance by individuals or teams
-Stages in the Job Analysis Process:
-Planning the Job Analysis
-Preparing for and Introducing job Analysis
-Conducting the Job Analysis
-Developing Job Descriptions and Job Specifications
-Maintaining and Updating Job Descriptions and Job Specifications
Behavioral and Legal Aspects of Job Analysis:
-The three major considerations used in determining essential functions and marginal functions are as followed:
1. Percentage of time spent on tasks
2. Frequency of tasks done

Critical Thinking Activities:

Question 1: Describe how diversity of workers has been impacting organizations, including organizations for which you have worked recently.

Answer:
Diversity of workers has been impacting organizations by making it a broader employee base and generating more income for companies in the form of broader sales and greater productivity. Diversity affects the organization where I work by making it a more dissimilar environment where we can all learn from each other.

Question 2: For many individuals, the nature of work and jobs is changing. Describe these changes, some reasons for them, and how they are affecting both HR management and individuals.
Answer:
The nature of work and jobs are changing because of technology, there are more flexible hours, and people are also working from home. This in turn is affecting the communication of HR management and individuals.

Question 3: Explain how you would conduct a job analysis in company that has never had job descriptions. Utilize the O Net as a resource for your information.

Answer:
I would conduct a job analysis in a company that has never had job descriptions by gathering information from the employers about their expectations of an employee. I would also I would also examine data, people and things. I would also identify what currently is being performed in the job and what should be getting done.

Question 4: You need to convince upper management of the usefulness of a companywide diversity program. How will you define diversity, and what arguments can be made for so defining it? Use the website http://www.diversityinc.com and other sources to gather the necessary information.

Answer:
Diversity can be defined as the differences in human characteristics and composition in an organization. One can argue this definition because diversity is when people from different cultures, races, backgrounds, and ethnicities come together to work. Upper management should be aware of the usefulness of diversity because it allows new talents and ideas from employees of different backgrounds, which can enhance organizational performance. Diversity allows for an increase of market share because customers can be attracted to purchase products and services with varied demographic marketing activities, and it can lead to lower costs because there may be fewer discrimination lawsuits. Nevertheless diversity helps recruiting and retention because protected-class individuals often prefer to work in organizations with coworkers of various demographics.

Case Study:
Question 1: Discuss how a ROWE-type program would fit in organizations where you have worked. Explain why it would or would not work.

Answer:
ROWE-type program would both work and not work in organizations where I have worked. The ROWE-type program would not fit into the job where I am currently working at because I am a waitress. I have most certainly have to work during the hours of the restaurant because they are only open at a specific time, and always have to make sure of customer satisfaction when I am at work. However, management at my work could benefit from a ROWE-type program because they put in a strenuous amount of hours and if they focused more on employee performance meeting expectations and not just being a work I believe they would be more successful and happy.

Question 2: Identify factors in the ROWE program that might make using it for retail employees more difficult than using it for managers and employees in corporate offices, technical centers, and nonretail jobs and locations.

Answer:
Managers and employees in corporate offices, technical centers and nonretail jobs and locations would have a less difficult time using the ROWE program rather than retail employees because they do not have to be at work to get their job done. They can focus more on how employees are performing and meeting expectations rather than being at work majority of the time. It is more significant for retail employees to meet clock hours, whereas managers and employees in more corporate offices can focus on getting their work done.

2/6/14
Chapter Five: Human Resources Management & Staffing

Class Notes:
-Overview and Definition: HRM is the management of various activities that are designed to enhance the effectiveness of the manpower in an organization in the achievement of organizational goals.
-Human Resource Management (HRM) may be defined as the function of planning for human resource needs and recruitment, selection, development and compensation.
-Workforce planning is a continual process used to align the needs and priorities of the organization with those of its workforce to ensure it can meet its legislative, regulatory, service and production requirements and organizational objectives.
-Workforce planning is the business process for ensuring that an organization has suitable access to talent to ensure future business success. Access to talent includes considering all potential resources.
-Strategic Workforce Planning is the framework applied for Workforce planning and development..
-Operational Workforce planning is the initially processed based and focused on building understanding and capabilities in workforce planning, supported by simple tools.
-Human Resource Management Process: Staffing, Recruitment, Selection, Training, Developing, Performance Appraisal and Compensation.
-Human Resource Planning is the process of determining the future human resource needs relative to an organizations strategic plan and devising the steps necessary to meet those needs.
Parts of HRM: Forecasting Manpower demand, Forecasting manpower supply, & Human resource actions
-Resources Supply Forecasting:
1. Current Inventory
2. Productivity Levels
3. Turnover Rate
4. Absenteeism Rate
5. Movement among Jobs Rate
-Human Resource Actions: Hiring, Training, Career Management, Productivity Program, Reduction in Force
-Disadvantages of Manager Inventory Chart:
1. Doesn’t show which positions someone should be promoted to
2. Data insufficient for Fair Assessment of an Individual
3. Updating chart time consuming and requires a lot of effort
4. Top level Managers fear losing to competent subordinates to other organizational units
-Implementation : Determining your project & it is goal oriented

Chapter Outline:

Organizational Size and HR Planning:
-Human resource planning: Process of analyzing and identifying the need for and availability of human resources so that the organization can meets its objectives.
HR Planning Process:
1. Review Organizational HR Strategic Plans
2. Asses External and Internal Workforce
3. Compile HR Planning Forecasts
4. Develop HR Staffing Plans and Actions
Changing Workforce Consideration:
-When scanning the potential and future work-force, it is important to consider a number of variables including:
1. Aging of the workforce
2. Growing diversity of Workers
3. Female workers and work-life balancing concerns
4. Availability of contingent
Current and Future Jobs Audit:
-The following questions may be some key ones addressed during the internal assessment:
1. What jobs exist now and how essential are they?
2. How many individuals are performing each job?
3. What are the reporting relationships of jobs?
4. What are the vital KSAs needed in the jobs?
5. What jobs will be needed to implement future organizational strategies?
6. What are the characteristics of those anticipated jobs?
-Forecasting: Using information from the past and the present to identify expected future conditions
-Psychological Contract: The unwritten expectations employees and employers have about the nature of their work relationship
Individual Motivation and Management Implications:
-Motivation: The desire within a person causing that person to act
-Performance=Ability X Effort X Support
Nature of Satisfaction:
-Job Satisfaction: A positive emotional state resulting from evaluating ones job experience
-Attitude Survey: A survey that focuses on employee’s feelings and beliefs about their jobs and the organization
-Organizational commitment: The degree to which employees believe in and accept organizational goals and desire to remain with the organization
-Turnover: The process in which employees leave an organization and have to be replaced
Types of Employee Turnover:
-Uncontrollable Turnover: Employees leave for reasons outside the control of the employer
-Controllable Turnover: Employees leave for reasons that could be influenced by the employer
-Churn: Hiring new workers while laying off others
-Detailing Turnover Costing:
1. Separation Costs
2. Vacancy Costs
3. Replacement Costs
4. Training Costs
5. Hidden/ Indirect Costs
-Exit interview: An interview in which individuals who are leaving an organization are asked to give their reasons

Critical Thinking Activities:

Question 1: Discuss the major components of HR planning and forecasting efforts.

Answer:
The major components of HR planning are reviewing organizational HR strategic plans, accessing external and internal workforce (external conditions and influences, and internal workforce capabilities) , compile HR planning forecast (demands for human resources, and supply of human resources), and developing HR staffing plans and actions such as selection process and actions and recruiting sources and means. Forecasting is using information from the past and the present to identify expected future conditions.

Question 2: Describe your expectations for a job. How well does your employer meet the expectations you bring to the psychological contract?

Answer:
Some of the expectations that I require for my job is that I am paid an expected wage, I have benefits such as health insurance and career progression over a given period of time. Currently I am a waitress and a full time student. My job does not meet my expectations that I wish to have in the future after I graduate, however I am thankful for my current job.

Question 3: If you became the new manager at a restaurant with high employee turnover, what actions would you take to increase retention of employees?

Answer:
If I became the manager of a place with high employee turnover, I would increase retention of employees by rewarding employees for performance and with benefits, have a relationship with my employees, and give them proper career training and development.

Question 4: As the HR manager, you must provide the senior management team with turnover costs for the following high-turnover position. Use websites such ashttp://www.talentkeepers.com andhttp://www.keepemployees.com to calculate turnover and analyze the variables involved. Also identify any other data that might be relevant and then discuss how you would reduce the turnover.

Answer:
To reduce turnover costs one must decide how the organization is going to record departures and what calculations are necessary to maintain and benchmark the turnover rates. For example, if a job pays $20,000 and benefits cost 40% , then the total annual cost for one employee is $28,000. Other areas to be included in calculating turnover costs would be replacement costs, vacancy costs, separation costs, training costs, and hidden/indirect costs. If one wants to reduce turnover, they must increase work relationships, organizational and management factors, job and work-life, and create rewards and compensation for employees!

Case Study:

Question 1: Identify how some Accenture-type efforts have and have not occurred in your current and previous workplaces. Also, discuss why focusing on employee retention pays off for Accenture clients, and not just for Accenture itself.

Answer:
Some of Accenture type efforts have occurred in my previous and current workplaces because all of the jobs I have had have HR services, and leadership training and development. For example, I am currently a trainer at my job as a waitress, and I would not have got this position without leadership training and development. Focusing on employee retention pays off for Accenture clients because they have 60,000 employees and more than 170,000 employees.

Question 2: Go to the Accenture website, http://www.accenture.com, to research and gather job-and career related information that might need to be adapted by other employers. As part of this research, examine how Accenture markets itself to current and potential employees.

Answer:
Some of the research and information I have required through the Accenture website that might need to be adapted by other employers is that they are “Drawing on the extensive experience of our management consultants around the world, we help clients identify and deliver value with pace, certainty and strategic agility.” They also use “Accenture Technology to provide a broad, deep spectrum of technology services to help organizations translate their strategic business agendas into IT initiatives and solutions that measurably improve performance.” Accenture markets itself to current and potential employees by using mission statements about the company on their webpage to attract those to their company.

2/6/14

Chapter Six: Recruiting and Labor Markets

Class Notes:

-Staffing: is defined as filling and keeping filled positions in the organization
-Take into account internal factors of the firm such as Personnel Policies, Climate in Organization, Appraisal System
-For example with changes in technology need for hiring workers who can work with high technology demands
-Advantages of Internal Recruitments:
1. Familiarity with the candidate
2. Available information and observation by superiors
3. Selection and socialization of job incumbents involves less time and money
4. Enhances employee morale by offering opportunities for upward mobility
5. Prevents high-quality employees from leaving the organization
-Disadvantages of Internal Recruitment:
1. Lack of new ideas
2. Need for expensive training program
3. Can breed nepotism and political maneuvers
4. Leads to “ Ripple Effect”
5. May leave unsuccessful contenders disgruntled
-External Recruitment Disadvantages:
1. Influx of new ideas
2. Candidates who are recruited from competitors provide valuable information about competitor’s moves and strategies
3. Facilitates recruitment of candidates with diverse skills, expertise and vast experience
-External Recruitment: Advertising, Educational Institutions, Employment Agencies, Voluntary Applicants, Referrals by current employees
-Job Analysis:
1. Analyzing the environment in which employees work
2. Determining duties and responsibilities to be discharged
3. Observing and recording the various tasks of the jobs as they are actually performed
-Functional Job Analysis:
1. The data, people and jobs pertaining to individuals job.
2. Methods and techniques that the individual uses on the job
3. Tools and equipment used by the worker
4. Products and services produced by the worker
-First three dimensions-Input and job activities
-Fourth Dimension: Output and job performance
-Selection Process: Preliminary screening, application blank, selection test, comprehensive tests, reference check, physical examination, making the selection
-Socialization: Process of adaptation by new employee

Chapter Outline:

-Recruiting: Process of generating a pool of qualified applicants for organizational jobs
-Recruiters require an employer to:
1. Know the industry and where to successfully recruit qualified employees.
2. Identify keys to success in the labor market
3. Cultivate Relationships with sources of prospect employees
4. Promote the “Company Brand”
-Labor Markets: External supply pool from which employers attract employees
-Labor Force population: All individuals who are available for selection if all possible recruitment strategies are used
-Applicant population: A subset of the labor force population that is available for selection using a particular recruiting approach
-Applicant pool: All persons who are actually evaluated for selection
Recruiting Diversity:
-Nontraditional diverse recruits for certain jobs may include:
1. Persons with different racial/ethnic backrounds
2. Older workers over 40 years of age
3. Single parents
4. Workers with disabilities
5. Welfare-to-work workers
6. Homeless/Substance abuse workers
Internet Recruiters :
-The growth in Internet use is a key reason that the following employer actions occur:
1. Adjusting general employer recruiting systems to use new approaches
2. Identifying new types of recruiting for specific jobs
3. Training managers and HR professionals on technical recruiting sources, skills and responsibilities
-Job postings: System in which the employer provides notices of job openings and employees respond by applying for specific openings
-Yield Ratio: Comparison of the number of applicants at one stage of recruiting process with the number at the next stage
-Selection Rate: Percentage hired from a given group of candidates
-Acceptance Rate: Percentage of applicants hired divided by total number of applicants offered jobs
-Some common activities that are reviewed during evaluation are:
-Resume mining
-Applicant Tracking
-Employee Career Website
-Internal Mobility
-Realistic Job Previews
-Responsive Recruitment

Critical Thinking Activities:

Question 1: What labor markets should be considered when recruiting to fill an opening for a sales representative for a pharmaceutical manufacturer?

Answer:
The labor markets that should be considered when recruiting to fill an opening for a sales representative for a pharmaceutical manufacturer are educational and technical labor markets.

Question 2: Discuss ways a regional bank could use the internet effectively to recruit loan officer professionals.

Answer:
A regional bank could use the internet to effectively recruit loan officer professionals by using internet job boards such as Monster and Hotjobs. Also, they could use professional/career websites and employer websites to find candidates.

Question 3: Describe how a local firm might be able to utilize college/university interns to generate future applicants for jobs planned within the next one to years.

Answer:
A local firm might be able to utilize college interns to generate future applicants for jobs planned because they will know the interns by already previously working with them, and will know if they would make good candidates for the opening positions.
Question 4: Assume you are going to look for a current job of interest to you. Utilize a broad websites such ashttp://www.Job.com, Yahoo! Hotjobs, Monster, Taleo and others to learn about job possibilities for yourself.

Answer:
I am a business management major; therefore I am looking for a job in the corporate world. I have found summer internships at P & G in the administrative branch that I am interested in. This is valuable to me because I would hope to get the internship and then later a position at this company. Another job I found that I would be interested in that I found on Monster.com is a product manager in San Francisco, California.

Case Study:

Question 1: Describe how employing a large number of new workers require strategic recruiting planning and operational efforts, and discuss what aspects might be different in smaller firms

Answer:
Recruiting a large number of new workers requires strategic recruiting planning and operational efforts and Kia gives a strong example of these efforts. Kia was able to hire 500 employees within six months, and later on 1,200 more employees were added. They did this by using technology to have people apply only online, where they made an efficient selection process. They also sorted these employees into electronic buckets and divided them by their work and educational experiences. Aspects might be different in smaller firms because they might not be able to hire so many people in such a short time period. They also might not have enough employees to do the research of the applicants that are applying for the company.

Question 2: Discuss how utilizing the Internet, like Kia did and other employers do, is changing how recruiting efforts are occurring for a variety of jobs in employers of different sizes.

Answer:
Utilizing the internet, like Kia did and other employees do is changing how recruiting efforts are occurring because companies are able to become more efficient and sort employees applications electronically, instead of paperwork which will take much more time.

2/20/14

Chapter Seven: Selecting Human Resources

Class Notes:Placement:
-Person-job fit: Matching the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) of people to the characteristics of jobs (tasks, duties and responsibilities-TDRS).
-Benefits of person-job fit
-Higher employee performance
-Lower turnover and absenteeism
-Person-organization Fit: The congruence between individuals and organizational factors
-Criteria, Predictors and Job Performance
-A characteristic that a person must have to do a job successfully
-Predictors: The measurable or visible indicators of a selection criterion
-Validity: The correlation between a predictor and job performance
-Reliability: The extent to which a predictor repeatedly produces the same results over time
-Elements of job Performance:
1. Quantity of work
2. Quality of Work
3. Compatibility at Work
4. Length of Service
5. Flexibility
-Multiple Hurdles: Establishing a minimum cutoff for each predictor and requiring that each applicant must score at least the minimum on each predictor to be considered for hiring
-Compensatory Approach: Scores on all predictors are added together allowing a higher score on one predictor to offset a lower score on another predictor
-The Selection Process: Legal concerns in the Selection Process: Equal employment opportunity laws and regulations
-Non-discriminatory job-related selection practices ‘
-Who is an applicant?
-This employee must have taken steps to fill a particular job.
– The individual must follow the application procedure.
-Recruitment: The process of attracting, screening, and on-boarding a qualified person to a specific job
-The stages of the recruitment process include: Job analysis and developing same person specification, the sourcing of networking, advertising and other search methods, matching candidates to job requirements and screening individuals using testing.
-The recruitment process also includes the making and finalizing of job offers and the induction and on-boarding of new employees.
-Depending on the size and the culture of the organization, recruitment may be under taken in-house by managers, human resource generalists and specialists.
-Applicant Job Interest: Realistic Job Preview: The process through which a job applicant receives an accurate picture of the organizational realities of the job.
– On average 250 resumes are received for each corporate job offering, First resume is sent in within 200 seconds after it is posted, and 427,00 other resumes are posted on Monster alone each and every week
-The Hiring Funnel:
– 1,000 individuals see a job post
-1-3 individuals will be back for a final interview
-25 resumes will be seen by the hiring manager
-Keywords portray the candidate as a highly qualified applicant for the job:
1. Match your application with the skills required by the employer
2. Show the hiring manager how and why you are highly qualified for the job
-Keyword Example: – Increased – Reduced –Upgraded –Recognized –Chosen –Credited
EX) “ I reduced turnover among the first year”.
-Applications: Purposes of Applications:
1. Record of applicant’s interest in job
2. Provides a profile of the applicant
3. Basic record for applicants who are hired
4. Research effectiveness of the selection process
-Employment-at-will: Indicates the right of the employer to terminate the employment relationship at any time with or without notice or cause
-Reference Contacts: Obtains applicants permission to contact references
-Employment Testing: Notifies applicants of required drug tests, physical exams and other tests.
-Application Time Limits: Indicates how long the application will remain active
-Biographical Testing: Use a paper and pencil, they are demonstrated to produce valid outcomes, and they do not require skill administrators.
-The most popular testing is the simple Interview: This provides a measure of skill, and this can reduce the costs of testing.
-Applications should not contain illegal questions concerning:
-marital status
-Height/ weight
-Number and ages of dependents
-Information on spouse
-Date of High school graduation
-Contact in case of emergency
-Controversial and Questionable Tests:
-Graphology: (Handwriting analysis) Analysis of the characteristics of an individual’s writing that purports to reveal personality traits and suitability for employment
-Psychics: Persons who are supposedly able to determine a personals intellectual and emotional suitability for employment
-Legal Concerns and Selection Testing: Job-relatedness of selection tests, Compliance with EEOC and ADA laws and regulations
-Proper use of tests in selection: Use for additional information, not disqualification
-Reliability and Validity of Interviews:
-Intra-rater reliability: interviewers who are consistent in their ability to select individuals.
-Nondirective Interview: Applicants are queried using question that are developed from the answers to previous questions.
-Stress Interviews: An interview designed to create anxiety and put pressure on a applicant to see how the person responds.
-Competency Question Example: Describe a time when members of your team did not get along, how did you handle the situation?
-Problems in an Interview: Snap judgments, Negative Emphasis, Halo Effect, Biases and stereotyping
-Types of Global Employees: Expatriate, Host-Country National , Third Country National

Chapter Outline:

Selection and Placement: Selection: The process of choosing individuals with the correct qualifications needed to fill jobs in an organization.
-Placement: Fitting a person to the right job.
-Person/job fit: Matching the KSAs of individuals with the characteristics of jobs
Selection, Criteria, Predictors, and Job Performance:
-Person/organization fit: The congruence between individuals and organizational factors.
-Selection criterion: Characteristic that a person must possess to successfully perform work.
-Predictors of selection criteria: Measurable or visible indicators of selection criteria
Validity:
:
-Correlation coefficient: Index number that gives the relationship between a predictor variable and a criterion variable
-Concurrent validity: Measured when an employer tests current employees and correlates the scores with their performance ratings.
-Predictive validity: Measured when test results of applicants are compared with subsequent job performance.
Pre-employment Screening
-Realistic Job Preview: Process through which a job applicant receives an accurate picture of a job.
Application Forms:
Application disclosures:
1. Employment-at-will
2. Reference Contacts
3. Employment Testing
4. Application time Limit
5. Information Falsification
Ability Tests:
-Cognitive ability tests: Tests that measure an individual’s thinking, memory, reasoning, verbal and mathematical abilities.
-Physical ability tests: Tests that measure an individual’s abilities such as strength, endurance, and muscular movement
-Psychomotor Tests: Tests that measure dexterity, hand eye coordination, arm-hand steadiness, and other factors
-Work Sample Tests: Tests that require an applicant to perform a simulated task that is specified part of a target job.
-Situational judgment Tests: Tests that measure a person’s judgment in work settings.
-Structured Interview: Interview that uses a set of standardized questions asked of all applicants
-Behavioral Interview: Interview in which applicants give specific examples of how they have performed a certain task or handled a problem in the past
-Situational Interview: Structured interview that contains questions about how applicants might handle a specific job situations
-Nondirective interview: Interview that uses questions developed from the answers to pervious questions
Effective Interviewing:
-Stress Interview: Interview designed to create anxiety and put pressure on applicants to see how they respond
-Panel interview: Interview in which several interviewers meet with the candidate at the same time
-Team interview: Interview in which applicants are interviewed by the team members with whom they will work
-Legal Constraints on Background Investigations:
-Negligent hiring: Occurs when an employer fails to check an employees background and the employee injuries someone on the job.
-Negligent Retention: Occurs when an employer becomes aware that an employee may be unfit for work but continues to employ the person

Critical Thinking Activities:

Question 1: Develop a set of soft skills necessary for a college professor’s job.

Answer:
Some of the skills necessary for a college professor’s job are speaking, doing presentations, instructing, critical thinking skills, active listening and reading comprehension.

Question 2: Put together a structured interview for hiring assistant managers at a large retail store.
Answer:
For a structured interview I would ask my candidates to tell me about themselves, what brings them here today, why are they interested in working in the company, how do they handle stressful situations. I would also ask them more questions such as, what separates you from other candidates, what type of work environment best fits you, and what are your past work experiences.

Question 3: How would you do a complete background investigation on applicants to minimize concerns about negligent hiring?

Answer:
I would complete a background investigation to minimize negligent hiring because this will save me money and time because if I were to find out something bad about a new employee, I would have to start over again. I would go about doing this by running a background check.

Question 4: Your Accounting Manager has decided that a behavioral interview to select accountants will solve many hiring problems. What can you tell the manager about this type of interview and whether it is likely to be effective?

Answer:
I could tell the manager that a behavioral interview is an interview in which applicants give specific examples of how they have performed in a certain task or handled a problem in the past. These interviews are better at identifying achievement at work, and can help hiring managers predict how these employees will behave in future situations.

Case Study:

Question 1: Discuss what a manager should do in each of the two Michigan cases?

Answer:
I personally believe that a manager should take action in the second case in Michigan. I do not think that the man who had served 10 years for child pornography should not be allowed to work with children. However, I think the man who attacked the women on the jogging path should keep his job because it is not as serious as an offense as the other man. He is also considered an excellent employee.

Question 2: What circumstances might lead you to make different decisions in different cases under Megan’s Law?

Answer:
If I was a manager I would be extremely opposed to hiring any type of sex offender. I also believe that everyone should be able to search the backgrounds of those who are being employed. I also think that Megan’s Law is a good tool to keep children and families safe.

Courtesy of TIFFANY GUMZ