Explain key aspects of the field of human resource management
Your project must be submitted as a Word document (.docx, .doc)*.
: Answer each of the following questions in one or more
complete paragraphs.
1. Outline and explain the four steps of the career management
process.
2. Describe and discuss the family-friendly schemes that fall into the
category of “other employer-provided benefits.”
3. Briefly discuss the process of organizing a union, including the
typical strategies adopted by management and union
representatives.
4. Compare the following employment interview approaches:
Nondirective interview
Structured interview
Situational interview
Behavioral descriptive interview
Panel interview
Answer each of the following questions in about five to
seven sentences.
1. Summarize the right-to-work provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act and
their effects on organized labor in general.
2. Briefly describe the Fleishman Job Analysis System.
3. What’s a transition matrix, and what’s it used for?
4. Describe the Scanlon Plan.
5. Outline the emotional cycle typically experienced by employees
who are posted overseas.
6. Compare the advantages of internal hiring as opposed to external
hiring.
7. In establishing pay structures, what’s benchmarking and how is it
useful to human resource managers?
8. Explain the concepts of validity and reliability. Offer simple
examples.
9. Compare the expectations and assumptions one finds in the
traditional psychological contract and the currently predominant
psychological contract.
10. Describe the nature of a learning organization.
ANSWER
Key Aspects of the Field of Human Resource Management
Four steps of the career management process
Career management plays a vital role in career development. The process involves four sequential steps: self-assessment, reality check, goal setting, and action plan. Self-assessment is the first step in the career management process, and it assists employees set goals, values, skills, and behavioral trends. Self-assessment involves employees doing psychological tests that help employees identify their professional goals and the value of work (Antoniu, 2010). In self-assessment, career counselors journey with workers in the self-evaluation and interpretation of test results. Second is the reality check, where employees get to know how to assess their skills and knowledge. The direct managers provide information on employees’ reality checks in the performance evaluation.
Third is goal setting, where workers establish short and long-term career objectives. The findings in self-assessment and reality check are applied in the setting of objectives. Setting career objectives is involving and includes systematic investigation and collection of information of the job in question. Individual employees get to discuss these objectives with the manager, who then records them in the personal development plan (Antoniu, 2010). The final step is putting in place the action plan, where employees determine the activities to achieve the set career short and long-term goals. The planning activities involve attending lectures, seminars, workshops, and applications for filling vacancies in a company.
Family-friendly schemes fall into the category of “other employer-provided benefits.”
Family-friendly schemes are policies that allow employees to balance family and work and easily. Through family-friendly schemes, parents are can take adequate care of their children, the elderly, and disabled members of the family. Family-friendly schemes go a long way in improving employee performance since satisfied employees have a higher level of commitment to their employers (Trask, 2017). Some of the family-friendly schemes under the employer-provided benefits include; maternity/paternity leave, flex-time, job sharing, working away from the worksite, and family medical leave.
Maternity/paternity leave is also part of the employee benefits package which can either paid or unpaid leave for birth, adoption of a child for both parents. On the other hand, flex-time involves a flexible work schedule (Ramirez & Kenyon, 2019). Employees with family obligations need to control of their time to strike a balance between work and family. Additionally, job sharing is when two or more employees share the same position, which allows one to work. At the same time, the other takes some time to spend with family whenever necessary. Further, being allowed to work away from the worksite enables an employee to fulfill their role in the workplace while at the same time spending quality time with family. Family medical leave is time that an employee uses to take care of aging parents or terminally ill family members.
The process of organizing a union
Different workplaces have varying workers’ needs; however, workers follow some basic steps when forming unions. Before forming a union, workers with similar interests converge and agree to voice their voice through the union. The process of organizing a union starts with building an organizing committee. Building an organizing committee entails identifying leaders from different departments and representing racial, ethnic, and gender diversity. Committee members must be educated about workers’ rights and the principles of democracy. Additionally, the committee members should educate their fellow workers about the union. This step also involves gathering information on the structure of the workplace, employee and employer information.
The second step involves the committee adopting an issues program. The committee’s adoption of issues program involves taking worker’s demands and issues into consideration. Third is to sign for majority on union cards, where employees support the union by signing membership cards. The signing of membership cards is meant to sign a sizable number of members and is necessary to hold union elections. The signed membership cards allow for the committee to petition the state for elections. The labor board takes some time to the determine of who should be allowed to vote. If the union wins the petition, the employer acknowledges and bargains with the union. For the union to win, the organizing committee must be strong, diverse, and have solid issues at hand.
The final step is negotiating a contract; winning the elections is not the end of the campaign but after signing a union contract. The contract is a document negotiated and sighed by the union and the employer covering matters such as wages and how to solve disputes should they arise.
Comparison of the employment interview approaches
A non-directive interview also referred to as an unstructured interview, involves the interviewer asking open-ended questions, allowing the interviewee to guide the direction of the interview. The open-ended questions allow the interviewee to speak freely and emphasize their knowledge, skills, and experience. Open-ended questions start with what, why, when, where, and how and are effective as the interview encourages the candidate to speak at length.
In structured interviews, a standardized set of questions is set based on individual job analysis. The interview follows predetermined steps to offer a specific way to gather information from the interviewee. The interviewer asks the same initial questions to all candidates; however, the follow-up questions may differ. In a situational interview, the interviewer offers the interviewee a sample of situations and asks how they would behave. Situational interviewers ask candidates how they would act under hypothetical situations (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).
A descriptive behavioral interview involves the interviewer asking a candidate questions on how they acted under specific situations in the past, giving the interviewer a hint of how they would behave under similar conditions. Panel interview happens when a group of interviewers interview each candidate at the same time, then they combine their ratings for the final score. Although panel interviews can be nerve-wracking for a candidate, it is more effective in time-saving.
The right-to-work provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act and their effects on organized labor in general.
The Taft-Hartley Act passed over President Harry S Truman’s veto in 1947 to amend the National Labor Relations Act. The initial Wagner Act paid attention to asserting workers’ rights and organized labor; however, the amended Taft-Hartley maintains equality between employers, employees, and labor unions. According to the act, neither of the parties has the right to engage in activities that threaten public health, safety, and interests. The Taft-Hartley Act provided the labor unions with a stronger bargaining power in addition to prohibiting closed shops to allow workers the right to decline joining a union (Collins, 2012). Additionally, the act permitted the president to appoint a board of inquiry to investigate labor disputes. The act further restricted political contributions by unions and prohibited certain types of strikes and boycotts.
Fleishman Job Analysis System.
Fleishman Job Analysis System is a system that necessitates experts in different fields to assess a job position and its performance requirements in terms of knowledge and skills. The system is applicable in employee selection, training, and career development. FJAS gives definitions of the abilities that experts use for tasks requirements (Woods et Al., 2017). FJAS differentiates tasks through the knowledge and skills required to perform them. Although the method is applicable in different jobs, it has a long been applied in aviation.
Transition Matrix
Transition matrix is a model used in forecasting the value of a variable whose projected value is influenced by its present status rather than previous activities. The transition matrix determines the possibilities of position holders maintaining their jobs for the forecasted time. The model shapes the internal flow of employees and the shift from one position to another. The matrix shows the computer simulations of how human resources flow through a large organization over time. The Markov method considers staff promotion prospects and aids in solving human resource internal supply forecast problems in large organizations with complex staff categories.
The Scanlon Plan
This is a cost-saving, benefit-sharing initiative where savings are shared among workers in an organization. The benefits are shared among the employees according to their effort and input. The Scanlon plan is meant to increase profits by establishing a direct correlation between work and reward. The plan has five main elements: cooperation, involvement, identity, competence, and sharing of benefits (Black, Gardner, Pierce, & Steers, 2019). Cooperation refers to a group of people working together to achieve common goals and objectives—involvement in creating an environment where all employees participate in organizational work. Further, identity refers to the unique characteristic that identifies a person’s competence. On the other hand, competence involves an employee’s knowledge and skills across diverse situations. Finally, sharing benefits consists of sharing benefits among workers in accordance with their effort and contribution.
Emotional cycle experienced by employees who are posted overseas
When posted to work abroad, employees and their families undergo a predictable cycle of ups and downs. The first stage is the honeymoon stage, where one feels the fascination and excitement of a new environment. The new language, culture, neighbors, and co-workers invoke some excitement. Nevertheless, the honeymoon stage lasts for a maximum of two months as one settles in. Once the honeymoon ends, culture shock sets in as reality begin to dawn on an individual. The realization of cultural differences and difficulties settling down and adjusting to the new culture may make one angry and lash out or withdraw from the society. The third is the recovery stage, where an individual attempts to understand the people and their environment and begin to blend with the culture. Adjustment is the final stage where one accepts the situation they are in and adjusts to the environment to enjoy the culture.
Advantages of internal hiring as opposed to external hiring
Internal hiring occurs when an organization fills a vacancy from within its workforce instead of looking outside the company. Although most institutions often overlook it, internal hiring is highly beneficial. Benefits that accrue during internal hiring rather than external include employee motivation, cost-effectiveness, and reduced hiring time. Internal hiring motivates employees and creates loyalty as it indicates that the management acknowledges their work and effort instead of hiring from outside (DeVaro, 2020). Since internal candidates are already part of the workforce, the time needed to engage them is often less, unlike external candidates who require advertisement, evaluation, and interviewing. External hiring is both costly and time-consuming.
Benchmarking in establishing pay structures
Salary benchmarking is the process that compensation professionals use in matching internal job descriptions in a salary survey to determine the market rate for each position. Through salary benchmarking, human resource managers ensure that their pay remains competitive within the local market. An organization can also assess its position relative to the market, enhancing intelligent decision-making to attract and retain top talent. Organizations strive to stay at the top in offering compensation benefits since it’s the best way to attract the most talented workers.
Concepts of validity and reliability with examples.
Reliability is the measure of stability and consistency; therefore, a test is viewed as reliable if different researchers can use it. For instance, two interviews conducted at different places and times with different interviewers and questions but under similar conditions and the same candidates will produce similar results. The results should be the same such that the best candidate in the first situation should appear best in the second situation. Validity refers to how well a test measures what it is intended to measure. A selection process is termed as valid if it helps one increase the chances of hiring the right person for a position. Successful hiring decisions can be tested through a candidate’s performance at work, low absenteeism, discipline, and a good safety record.
Differences between expectations and assumptions in the traditional psychological contract and the currently predominant psychological contract.
A psychological contract is an agreement between an employer and employee regarding the perception of the two on their mutual responsibility towards each other. Traditionally, employees received an increase in salary depending on their experience and seniority in an organization (Natolooka et Al., 2018). However, employers expect highly skilled employees for their organizations in the present day, monitor and reward their efforts afterward. Unlike the traditional psychological contract, employers monitor and reward employees’ efforts irrespective of their seniority or experience. Additionally, employee expectations have changed from receiving the basic necessity to getting substantial monetary compensation and non-monetary benefits to boost their morale.
Nature of a learning organization
A learning organization facilitates and encourages learning among its employees to improve the organization’s performance. Employees in a learning organization are inclined to gain more knowledge hence develop a more rational way of thinking. Characteristics of a learning organization include having a shared vision, team learning, mental models, systems thinking, and personal mastery (Liu, 2018). Benefits that a learning organization accrues include being competitive, effectively responding to external pressures, having the know-how to link customer needs resources, and improving output quality.
References
Antoniu, E. (2010). Career planning process and its role in human resource development. Annals of the university of petroşani, economics, 10(2), 13-22.
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/25868578.pdf
Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2014). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. Kogan Page.
Black, S., Gardner, D. G., Pierce, J. L., & Steers, R. (2019). Individual and Group Incentive Plans. Organizational Behavior.
https://opentextbc.ca/organizationalbehavioropenstax/chapter/individual-and-group-incentive-plans/
Collins, B. (2012). Right to Work Laws: Legislative Background and Empirical Research
DeVaro, J. (2020). Internal hiring or external recruitment? IZA World of Labor.
https://wol.iza.org/articles/internal-hiring-or-external-recruitment/long
Liu, H. (2018). A brief analysis of learning organization practice from the perspective of the fifth discipline model theories—a case study of jatco (Guangzhou). American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 8(11), 2143.
http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=88294&#abstract
Natolooka, K., Emuron , L., & Kwagala, M. (2018). Old and New Psychological Contracts: are they Different or the Same Wine in Different Bottles? International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 4(2).
http://ijah.cgrd.org/images/Vol4No2/5.pdf
Ramirez, R., & Kenyon, K. F. (2019). Family-friendly Workplace Policies and Practices. Los Angeles.
Trask, B. S. (2017). Alleviating the stress on working families: Promoting family-friendly workplace policies. National Council on Family Relations (NCFR), 2(1), 1-6
http://www.ncfr.org/sites/default/files/2017-01/ncfr_policy_brief_january_2017.pdf
Woods, S. A., Hinton, D. P., Fraccaroli, F., & Sverke, M. (2017). What do people really do at work? Job analysis and design. An introduction to work and organizational psychology: An international perspective, 1-24.
