human resources employment and development.pdf

8/12/2019 human resources employment and development.pdf

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KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF OPEN LEARNING

CBA 608: HUMAN RESOURCES EMPLOYMENT AND

DEVELOPMENT

BY LUCY MUGWERE

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINSTRATION


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PART 1: RECRUITMENT AND

SELECTION

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LESSON 1 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE

WORKPLACE

Introduction

Before we begin studying the topics required of us in this course, I feel that

it is important that we remind ourselves about what the field of human

resources management entails.

What is Human Resource Management?

Several authors have offered various definitions of Human Resource

Management. Let us examine some of these definitions .By examining each

of these definitions we will get more insight into what human resources

management really is.

Human Resource Management can be defined as the management of

activities undertaken to attract, develop, motivate and maintain a high

performing workforce within an organization. Human Resource

Management involves moving towards corporate goals by integrating the

desires of individuals for growth and development with organizational goals.

(Bowin & Harvey, 2000)

Graham (1998) has defined human resource management in this way

Human Resource Management concerns the human side of the management

of enterprises and employees relations with their firms. Its purpose is to

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ensure that the employees of a company i.e. its human resources are used in

such a way that the employer obtains the greatest possible benefit from their

abilities and the employees obtain both material and psychological rewards

from their work. Human Resource Management is based on the findings of

work psychology and uses the techniques and procedures known collectively

as personnel management i.e. that part of human resources concerned with

staffing the enterprise, determining and satisfying the needs of people at

work and the practical rules and procedures that govern relationship between

employees and the organization.

Gary Dessler (1997) defines Human resources management as the practices

and policies you need to carry out the people or personnel aspects of your

management job.

These include:

- Conducting job analysis

- Planning labor needs and recruiting job candidates.

- Selecting job candidates

- Orienting and training new employees.

- Managing wages and salaries.

- Providing benefits and incentives.

- Appraising performance.

- Communicating (interviewing, counseling, disciplining)

- Training and developing

- Building employee commitment

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Human Resource Management may also be defined as a process consisting

of the acquisition, development, motivation and maintenance of human

resources.(Decenzo, 1998)

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The Human Resource Management model shown below shows the Human

Resource Management components. It reflects the major activities existing

within the functions of acquisition, development, motivation and

maintenance.

Figure 1 HRM Components

ACQUISITION

- Human ResourcePlanning

- Recruiting-Internal- External

- Employee

Socialization

DEVELOPMENT

Employee training Management

Development Career Development

EXTERNAL

INFLUENCES

MAINTENANCE

Safety and Health Employee/Labour

Relation

MOTIVATION

Job Design Performance

Evaluation Rewards Job Evaluation

Compensation/Benef

Source: Adapted from Meg Isaac Sternberg Organizational Model for

Human Resource Planning (Unpublished paper, Baltimore, 1984)

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right number and kinds of people, at the right places, and at the right times,

capable of effectively and efficiently completing the work required so that

the organization can achieve its overall objectives. The onset of much of the

human resources planning is job analysis. If human resource planning,

uncovers the need to hire additional employees, one must discover potential

applicants. This requires locating candidates recruiting sources, which we

shall discuss in the lesson on recruitment. These potential applicants must be

screened to identify job applicants who are likely to be successful if hired.

We shall also discuss the selection process and specific selection devices.

The acquisition function is completed when the selected applicants have

been placed in the organization and have adapted to the organizations

culture and their work environment.

The organizations culture conveys how things are done and what matters.

When employees have adapted to the organizations culture they have

learned the ropes. This is also called socializing the new employee.

3. Development of Human Resources

Competent employees will not remain competent forever. Some are

minimally qualified upon entering the organization but require additional

training or education. Others enter the organization capable of performing at

an optimal level but their skills become obsolete over time. And of course,

organizations change over time, and management must ensure that there is

an appropriate match of individual abilities with organizational needs for the

future. Each of these issues is considered in the development function.

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Employee training gives individuals specific skills that they will use on the

job. Management development looks at practices for ensuring a continual

flow of managers.

These 3 topics.

- Employee training

- Management development

- Career Development

are the focus of the course.

When human resources have been developed effectively, one can expect to

have competent employees with up-to-date skills and knowledge.

3. Motivation of Human Resources

High performance depends on both ability and motivation. Many employees

with extraordinary talents do not perform satisfactory because they will not

exert the necessary effort. Therefore we desire to have capable employees

who are also highly motivated.

If a person is to perform effectively extrinsic factors such as job design,

working conditions, job security must be seen as satisfactory. But that alone

is not enough. Many people also look for intrinsic factors such as

achievement, recognition and responsibility from their work. For individuals

who place high value on intrinsic factors, the absence of these factors can

reduce ones willingness to exert high degrees of effort.

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But other factors can also influence motivation. The performance appraisal

process and its outcome will affect an employees motivation. People expect

their work to be objectively evaluated if they think their efforts will be

unfairly judged, motivation will decrease.

So its important to consider performance appraisals and how they are done.

Furthermore the rewards or punishments that follow the appraisal will influence

motivation. Rewards, compensation administration, benefits are considered in

the motivation function. Discipline too has an effect on motivation.

At this juncture if we have effectively motivated the individual who has up to

date skills and knowledge we can expect to have a competent employee who

desires to exert a high level of effort.

4. Maintenance of Human Resources

The objective of the last function is to retain people who are performing at high

levels. This requires that the organization provide safe and healthful working

conditions and satisfactory labor relations. If these activities are performed

effectively we can expect to have competent employees who are committed to

the organization and satisfied with their jobs.

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Summary

In this lesson we have seen what comprises the field of human resource

management is. We have examined various definitions but we can simply

define it as a process consisting of the acquisition, development, motivation and

maintenance of human resources. We also examined the various components of

the field of human resources management.

Questions

1.What is human resource management and how does it relate to the

management process?

2.What specific functions does the Human Resources Manager perform?

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LESSON 2 RECRUITMENT

Introduction

One of the most important Human Resource activities is the recruiting process:

the attracting of a high performing workforce. We exist in a society of large,

medium and smaller organizations. In these organizations, managers and

employees work together to accomplish goals that are too complex to be

achieved by any single individual. Before the organization can hire employees

it must locate and attract people who want the job. More and more it is

recognized that the most significant factor in determining the success of any

organization is the quality of its people.

As Nations Bank CEO put it Employees are our number one priority. They

will continue to be. If you look after employees they will look after customers.

And that is good for shareholders.

HRM activities focusing on recruitment of new employees are becoming a toppriority in organizations.

Emphasizing the essential nature of the recruiting function in todays business

environment, Peter Drucker notes that every organization is in competition for

its most essential resource; qualified, knowledgeable people

An organization needs to hire the most qualified people it can at the most

competitive price. Before an organization is able to hire an individual it must

locate qualified applicants who are looking for work.. How does a company

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Figure 2: Steps in the recruitment and selection process

Once you have been authorized to fill a position, the next step is to develop an

applicant pool probably using internal recruiting or one or more of the

recruitment. sources we shall discuss next.

But first let us define recruitment.

Defining Recruitment

Recruiting may be defined as the process of seeking, attracting and identifying a

pool of qualified candidates in sufficient numbers to fill current and future work

force needs.

Recruitment is the first part of filling a vacancy; it includes the examination of

the vacancy, the consideration of sources of suitable candidates, making contact

with those candidates and attracting applications from them.

Recruiting is therefore the discovering of potential candidates for actual or

anticipated organizational vacancies. Or from another perspective it is a linking

activity, bringing together those with jobs to fill and those seeking jobs.

The ideal recruitment effort will attract a large number of qualified applicants

who will take the job if it is offered. It should also provide information so those

unqualified applicants can self-select themselves out of job candidacy. A good

recruiting program should therefore attract the qualified and not attract the

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unqualified. This dual objective will minimize the cost of processing

unqualified candidates. The recruiting process is generally aimed at finding a

pool of applicants with abilities desired by the organization.

Successful recruiting involves attracting an adequate number of qualified

candidates within a specified time frame.

The vacancy may arise because of some new or increased activity. Then in all

probability the need for the new employee has been established and a job

specification complied. The majority of vacancies however occur as

replacements for people who have left the company or as the final event in a

chain of transfers or promotions following on a re-organization.

Even if the vacancy arises and is filled internally ,in the end the vacancy has to

be filled from an external source.

Note: the vacancy may be filled from an internal or an external source.

Both the external and internal sources have various advantages and

disadvantages.

Internal Recruiting

Internal recruiting seeks applicants for positions from among those currently

employed. Most organizations seek to fill positions with current employees.

Organizations can use job or skills inventories for identifying applicants for job

openings. It is however unlikely that the Human Resource Manager is aware of

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all employees who are interested in a job opening. One method of solving this

problem is:

1. Job posting or job bidding- announcements of positions are made available

to all current employees through company bulletin boards and other

information sources.

2. Referrals Another internal source of recruitment, is one in which present

employees are asked to encourage friends or relatives to apply. This is an

often-used tool for small organizations.

Before determining how many outside candidates to hire you must forecast how

many candidates for your projected job openings will come from within your

organization from the existing ranks.

A qualification inventory can facilitate forecasting the supply of inside

candidates. Qualification inventories contain summary data like each

employees performance record, educational backgrounds and promotability

compiled either manually on in a computerized system. Qualification

inventories on hundreds or thousands of employees cannot be adequately

maintained manually. .Many firms computerize this information.

Computerized information systems. A number of packaged systems are

available for accomplishing this task. Some employers use personnel

replacement charts to keep truck of inside candidates for their most important

positions. These show the present performance and promotability for important

positions.

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The advantages of filling a vacancy internally rather than externally are:

1. Better motivation of employees because their capabilities are considered and

opportunities offered for promotion.

2. Better utilization of employees, because the company can often make better

use of their abilities in a different job.

3. It is more reliable than external recruitment because a present employee is

known more thoroughly than an external candidate.

4. A present employee is more likely to stay with the company than an external

candidate.

5. Internal recruitment is quicker and cheaper than external.

Although recruiting may bring to mind employment agencies and classifieds

ads, current employees are often your largest source of recruits.

Some surveys have indicated that up to 90% of all management positions are

filled internally.

Filling open positions with inside candidates has also other advantages:

Employees see that competence is rewarded and morale and performance may

thus be enhanced. Having already been with your firm for some time inside

candidates may be more committed to company goals and less likely to leave

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.Promotion from within can boost employee commitment and provide managers

a longer-term perspective when making a business decisions.

It may also be safer to promote employees from within since you are more

likely to have a more accurate assessment of the persons skills that you would

otherwise.

Inside candidates may also require less orientation and training than outsiders.

Yet promotion from within can also backfire.

Employees who apply for jobs and dont get them may become discontented;

informing unsuccessful applicants as to why they were rejected and what

remedial actions they might take to be more successful in the future is thus

essential.

Similarly, many employers require managers to post job openings and interview

all inside candidates .Yet the manager often knows ahead of time exactly whom

he or she wants to hire and requiring the person to interview a stream of

unsuspecting inside candidates is therefore a waste of time for all concerned.

Groups may also not be as satisfied when their new boss is appointed from

within their own ranks as when he/she is a newcomer; sometimes for instance it

is difficult for the newly chosen leader to shake off the reputation of being one

of the gang

Perhaps the biggest drawback however is inbreeding. When an entire

management team has been brought up through the ranks, there may be a

tendency to make decisions by the book and to maintain the status quo, when

an innovative and new direction is needed.

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Balancing the benefits of morale and loyalty with the drawback of inbreeding is

thus a challenge.

To be effective, promotion from within requires using job posting, personnel

records and skill banks. Job posting means posting the open job and listing its

attributes like qualifications, supervisors, working schedule and pay rate. Job

posting which is basically posting of job openings on company bulletin boards

is an effective recruiting method. Forecasting the supply of inside candidates is

especially important for succession planning. Succession planning refers to

plans a company makes to fill its most important executive positions.

External Sources

Very many vacancies are filled from external sources even when an internal

candidate is transferred or promoted. The final result is usually a vacancy

elsewhere in the company, which has to be filled from outside.

External recruitment can be time consuming, expensive and uncertain, although

it is possible to reduce these disadvantages to some extent with forethought and

planning.

External sources can be divided into 2 classes:

Those which are comparatively inexpensive but offer a limited choice e.g.

walk-ins, unsolicited applications.

Those which are comparatively expensive but give the employer access to a

wider range of candidates e.g. advertising, use of private agencies.

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Even when unemployment is high certain categories of employees who possess

scarce skills are difficult to find and the employer may have to use the more

expensive means of recruitment. Other types for example unskilled workers can

be found very easily using inexpensive means, the problem then lies in selecting

the suitable candidate from among a very large number of applicants.

Let us consider several external sources of candidates.

1. Advertising as a Source of Candidate

The most popular method of recruitment is to advertise the vacancy and invite

candidates to apply to the company. To use advertisements successfully you

need to address 2 issues.

- The media to be used.

- The ads construction

The selection of the best medium-be it the Daily Nation, the Times or a

technical journal depends on the type of positions for which you are recruiting.

To recruit professionals for example a C.E.O or Accountant you should choose

a suitable medium like the East African Standard, for blue collar help you may

choose other more suitable medium. It would not be appropriate for example to

advertise for the position of CEO on a placard outside the factory building or in

the classified help-wanted section of the dailies nor would it be appropriate to

advertise for a sweeper in the Times. You must always choose the correct

medium

For specialized employees you can advertise in trade and professional journals.

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One draw back to this type of trade paper advertising is the long lead-time that

is usually required; there may be a month or more between insertion of the ad

and publication of the journal.

Some media for example the Nation is particularly good for its wide

geographical coverage such that the entire country can be targeted for coverage.

The advertisement can become the first stage in selection by describing the job

and qualifications required so comprehensively that borderline candidates will

be deterred from applying and good candidates encouraged.

The small amount of research that has been done in this field shows that

information about the job contributed much more to the effectiveness of an

advertisement that its style or size. There is also general agreement that

including the word training in an advertisement increases the response.

Advertising may be also made more effective and less expensive if the

following principles are observed.

a. The advertisement should contain a job specification and job description in

miniature, including the following:

- Job Title

- Description of job and employer

- Experience, skills and qualifications required.

- Age range

- Working conditions e.g. wage/ salary, fringe benefits

- Training given

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- What action the candidate should take e.g. write a letter, telephone for an

application form, etc.

b. It should appear in the appropriate publication e.g. professional journal for

specialists.

c. Experiments should be made to test the response for different sizes

headings, wordings, page position, day of the week.

d. Careful records should be kept showing

- Which publication was used

- Which date and day of the week

- Which position on the page

- Which style and size

- Names of the candidates replying to each advertisements

- Names of the candidates who are selected for the interview

- Name of the candidate who was successful.

e. The response should be analyzed so that advertising expenditure can be

directed towards the publication and style of advertisement which give the

best result for a particular type of vacancy.

f. Rejected candidates should be sent a prompt and courteous letter;

Inconsiderate treatment will eventually detract from a companys reputation

and adversely affect the response to future advertisements.

The small amount of research that has been done in this field shows that

information about the job contributes much more to the effectiveness of an

advertisement than its style or size.

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Sometimes other considerations besides cost and response must be kept in

mind. The company may decide that small advertisements are not consistent

with its prestige or image and that large advertisements must be used even

though they can be shown to be wasteful. In this case part of the cost of the

advertisement should logically be paid out of the companys general

advertisement account as it is concerned as much with public relations as with

recruitment.

On the other hand, prestige of the company can sometimes be made use of; a

recruitment campaign is very often more successful if it follows a national

advertising campaign for a new product which has brought the company into

the public eye.

Other media, which may be used in advertisement, are billboards, subway and

bus posters, radio and television. For example radio is best when multiple jobs

are involved, such as staffing a new facility. Ads need to be carefully prepared.

If the company name is used, too many people may respond and screening

procedures for a large number of applicants can be costly. This is one of the

decisions in preparing a recruiting advertisement.

In addition the firm must be careful not to violate EEO requirements by

indicating preferences for a particular race, religion, national origin or sex..

While most employers know that discriminating ads are generally illegal,

questionable advertising still appears. Therefore, its important to remember that

ads that are sex-specific (calling for man, woman) are questionable as are sex-

related gender terms like yard man, repairman or ads implying a certain age (

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such as student, recent graduate or referee). Similarly also terms like bilingual

or Japanese are also questionable. Employers using ads like these may have to

defend their rationale for limiting their search to the type of person identified in

the ad.

2. The Internet

Many company recruiters are now using the Internet as an easy and subtle

method to contact employed job candidates. This controversial turn is not

restricted to the highly aggressive technology companies but is now spreading

to airlines, banks, oil and biotechnology companies. Some companies have

websites where they post vacant positions.

It is fast and one can recruit globally.

3. Employment Agencies as a source of Candidates

There are 2 basic types of employment agencies.

1. Government owned agencies

2. Privately owned agencies

Private agencies which are run as commercial enterprises for supplying

employers with candidates for jobs are also of 2 main types.

i) Office staff employment agencies-which mainly deal with clerical, typing

and office machine operator vacancies.

ii) Selection agencies for senior staff which usually undertakes the complete

recruitment process and the first stages of selection for managerial and

professional vacancies. The agency analyzes the job, prepares job and

personnel specifications, advertises, sends out application forms, and

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There are several other reasons to use as employment agency for some or all of

your recruiting needs advantages like

cut down on your interviews

Interview only the right people

Selecting only the most qualified candidates for your final living process.

Employment agencies are no panacea. For example an employment agency

prescreens applicants for your job but this advantage can also backfire. The

employment agencies screening may let poor applicants by pass the preliminary

stages of your own selection process.

Unqualified applicants may thus go directly to the supervisors responsible for

the hiring, who may in turn naively hire them.

Such errors show up in high turnover, absenteeism rates, morale problems, low

quality and productivity. Suitably successful applicants may be blocked from

entering your application pool.

To help avoid such problems

1. Give the agency an accurate and complete job descriptions.

2. Periodically review data on accepted/rejected candidate.

3. Specify devices/tools the employment agency should use in screening.

4. Develop a long-term relationship with one or two agencies.

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4. Head Hunting

Very senior managers are sometimes recruited by a process known as

executive search or head hunting. Its advocates believe that the best

candidates are not those who reply to advertisements or look for new jobs in

other ways but those who are successful in their present jobs and are not

thinking of moving elsewhere.

On receipt of a commission from a client the headhunter will search for

potential candidates.

i) In competing businesses (possibly obtaining names from company

reports brochures)

ii) In the membership lists of professional bodies, trade association year

books.

iii) Through confidential head hunting networks.

Selected individuals are then approached discreetly and following a discussion

regarding the job and its remuneration, one or two of them are introduced to the

client firm.

Advantages to Headhuntingare:

1. Headhunters should possess expert knowledge of the salary levels and fringe

benefits necessary to attract good calibre candidates. Also they will analyze

the vacancy, and offer an opinion about the type of person required, will

conduct initial screening, administer psychometric tests etc.

This saves the client many administrative and advertising expenses.

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2. Possibly, top managers already in employment will not bother to read job

advertisements, newspapers and other conventional means and so might not

be reached by these means.

3. Senior managers prepared to make a move sometimes make this known to

leading headhunters even though they would not openly apply to competing

companies.

4. If a targeted candidate does not want the job, he/she may suggest someone

else who is equally suitable and who may be interested.

5. Recruiting firms are assured that candidates presented to them will almost

certainly be well equipped for the vacant position.

6. The anonymity of the recruiting organization is preserved until the final

stage in the procedure.

Criticisms of Executive Search Include:

1. Headhunting is highly disruptive to successful businesses, which stand to

lose expensively-trained senior manager.

2. It can be used to avoid equal opportunities laws on recruitment and

selection.

3. A headhunted individual might subsequently be enticed by other headhunted

to leave his/her new firm after a short period.

To avoid this some companies attach golden handcuffs to senior

management positions i.e they pay large cash bonuses, which are only

available to executives who stay with the firm a certain number of years.

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finding one who will really do the job. Therefore be prepared for some in-depth

dissecting of your request.

Guidelines:

1. Make sure the firm you hire is capable of conducting a thorough search.

2. Meet the individual who will be handling your assignment.

3. Ask how much the search firm charges.

4. Choose a recruiter you can trust

5. Talk to some of their clients.

5. College Recruiting as a Source of Candidates.

Many promotable candidates are originally hired through college recruiting.

This is therefore an important source of management trainees, as well as

professional and technical employees. There are two main problems with

campus recruiting. First it is relatively expensive and time consuming for the

recruiters. Second recruiters are some times ineffective or unprepared. Many

recruiters often do not screen their student candidates. For example students

physical attractiveness often outweighs more valid traits and skills. One main

function as a recruiter is screening, which means determining whether a

candidate is worthy of further consideration and then attract to your firm.

A sincere and informal attitude, respect for the applicant as an individual and

prompt follow up letters can help you sell the employer to the candidates.

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Many employers maintain connection with universities, colleges and schools

but candidates are usually available from these sources only at one time of the

year.

Computerized Employee Databases

Some firms sell resume databases. Organizations can quickly and efficiently

gain access to prospective applicants by using a database.

In general data bases can be classified into 5 categories:

1. Databases maintained by executive search firms.

2. Data bases maintained by University alumni groups.

3. Databases owned by private agents .

4. Corporate data bases.

5. Databases open to the general public.

Organization can also gain access to a large pool of potential applicants by

developing partnerships with government affiliated job services

Walk-ins

Direct applications made at your office- are a major source of applicants.

They should be treated with respect. Remember to always give a positive image

of your firm as a recruiter.

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Recruiting a more diverse work force

It is not just socially responsible, it is a necessity.

Older workers as a source of candidates

Is it practical in terms of productivity to keep old workers on?

The Answer is Yes!

Age related changes in physical ability, cognitive performance and personality

traits have little effect on workers output except in the most physically

demanding tasks.

Similarly creative and intellectual achievements do not decline with age andabsenteeism drops as age increases.

Older workers also usually display more company loyalty than youthful

workers, and tend to be satisfied with their jobs and supervision and can be

trained or retrained as effectively as anyone.

However the company must do several things to make it an attractive place in

which the older worker can work specifically:

- Examine your personnel policies

- Develop flexible work options

- Create or redesign suitable jobs

- Offer flexible benefit plan

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Other Recruiting Sources

More and more employers are turning to relatively non-traditional sources of

applicants.

Moonlighters

Moonlighters have often been shunned by employers on the assumption that

workers with full-time jobs at other firms might not have the required

commitment to a second employer. Yet more employers are finding that

moonlighters take a second job because they must and that their commitment

to their second employer is thus high enough to do their jobs well.

Retired and exiting military personnel are another source that a firm may

consider

Note:

Line and staff cooperation in recruitment as in all other functions is essential.

The HR manager who recruits and initially screens for the vacant job is not

usually the one responsible for supervising its performance. He must know

exactly what the job entails and this, in turn, means speaking with the

supervisor involved. For example the HR Manager might want to know

something about the behavioral style of the super visor and members of the

work group.

Is it a tough group to get along with, for instance? He/ she might also want to

visit the worksite and review the job description with the supervisor to ensure

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that the job has not changed, ensure the description was written and to obtain

any additional sight to the skills) and talents the worker will need.

Summary

Recruiting may be defined as the process of seeking, attracting and identifying a

pool of qualified candidates in sufficient numbers to fill current and future work

force needs. Recruitment is the discovering of potential applicants for actual or

anticipated organizational vacancies.

One can consider several external sources so as to build a pool of applicants:

advertising ,the internet ,employment agencies, headhunting, college recruiting

walk-ins, moonlighters, retired or military personnel.

Certain influences constrain managers in determining recruiting sources:

a) Image of the organization

b) Attractiveness of the job

c) Internal policies

d) Union requirements

e) Government requirements

f) Recruiting budgets

Popular sources of recruiting employees include

a) Internal search

b) Advertisements

c) Employee referrals/ recommendations

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d) Employment agencies

e) Temporary rental services

f) Schools, colleges and universities

g) Professional organizations

h) Casual or unsolicited applicants

In practice recruitment methods appear to vary according to job level and skill.

Questions for review

1. What is the dual objective of recruitment?

2. What factors influence the degree to which an organization will engage in

recruiting ?

3.What specific constraints may prevent a manager from giving the best

candidate?

4. What recruiting source gets the most acceptable candidates?

5. Why would a company pay a private employment agency to recruit

candidates for a position when a public employment agency provides its

services for free?

6.What are the advantages and disadvantages of recruiting through?

a) Internal search

b) Employee referrals

c) Casual or unsolicited applicants

7.How can a professional association reduce the supply of qualified labor?

8. What are the most popular recruiting sources for unskilled jobs?

9.What are the most popular recruiting sources for managerial jobs?

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Discussion Questions

1. Compare and contrast 5 sources of job candidates.

2. Discuss how equal employment laws apply to personnel recruiting activities?

3. What types of information can an application form provide?

ACTIVITY

Working individually or in-groups develop an application form for the position

supervisor of manufacturing operations. Compare the application forms

produced by different individuals or groups. Are there any items that should be

dropped out due to equal em0ployment opportunity restrictions?

Are there any items you would add to make your application form more

complete?

Activity

Working individually or in groups develop an application form for the position

of customer service representative.

Compare the application forms provided by different individuals or groups.

Discussion Questions

1.An organization should follow a promotion from within policy.

Do you agree or disagree?

2.When you go looking for a job upon college graduation.

What sources do you expect to utilize? Why?

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4. What improvements might you expect in the make up of an organization

human resources as a result of having an affirmative program?

5. The best candidates are the ones who are hard to find. That is why it is

imperative to pay a service to find these people Do you agree or disagree?

Discuss,

6 Compare and contrast 5 sources of job candidates

6. What types of information can an application form provide?

8. Discuss how equal employment laws apply to personnel recruiting activities.

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Importance of Selection

The selection process is a critical one for any manager. One must take into

account not only the fact that an incorrect decision can lead to a tremendous

cost in terms of resources and opportunity, but also that many people will be

affected by the decision.

The right choice can mean growth and increased productivity for the entire

work group associated with the new hire. The wrong selection can result in

months of frustration, repetitive training, documentation and low morale prior

to the eventual termination of the recently hired person, after which the

selection process begins all over again. Employee selection is a decision that

needs to be made right the first time.

Although this is true in organizations of any size, the imp act of a wrong

selection decision is magnified in a smaller firm. In a larger organization, one

inappropriate placement can perhaps be reassigned or retrained in the smaller

organization. There may be no such luxury in a smaller organization. Selection

is critical.

Hence employee selection is important firstly because your performance always

depends in part of your subordinates.

Employees who havent the right skills or are abrasive or obstructionist wont

perform effectively and your performance in the firm will suffer. The time to

screen out undesirables is before they are in the door, not after.

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Secondly effective screening is important because it is costly to recruit and hire

employees. The total cost of hiring a manager is very high once search fees,

interviewing time, reference checking and travel and moving expenses are taken

into consideration.

The cost of hiring non-executive employees, although not as high

proportionally, is still high enough to warrant effective screening.

Goals of Selection

The basic goal of selection is to hire the employees most likely to attain high

standards of performance. HR managers and all involved in the selection

process most concentrate on the most promising candidates, being as selective

as possible. Identifying potential employees is a highly developed art if not a

science. In the past this meant selecting candidates who had the skills the

company needed now.

Now it means selecting employees who can function at a high level in one jobor with one work group today and later be trained or promoted as needs dictate.

An effective selection process has several goals including:

1. Developing a high performance workforce one which can implement

organizational strategy and achieve bottom line results within legal

considerations

2. Increasing the rate of return on recruiting costs (selection expense as an

investment to reduce turnover, training and receive a good value for salary

expenditures.

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3. Selecting top performers who will be able to attract others like themselves

and continue a winning process.

4. Legal Implications and Negligent Hiring -Good selection is also important

because of the legal implications of ineffective or incompetent selection.

Equal employment legislation guidelines and court decisions require you to

systematically evaluate the effectiveness your selection procedures to ensure

that you are not unfairly discriminating against minorities, women, the

elderly or handicapped.

Secondly, courts are increasingly finding employers liable for damages when

employees with criminal records or other problems take advantage of access to

customer homes or other similar opportunities to commit crimes. Hiring

workers with such backgrounds without proper safeguards is called negligent

hiring.

Examples of such cases

In one Ponticas V. K. M.S Investment -an apartment manager with a pass key

entered a womans apartment and assaulted her. Negligence by the owner and

the operator of the apartment complex in not properly checking the apartment

managers background prior to hiring him was found to be the cause of the

womens personal injury.

In another case Henley S. Prince George Comly an employee who turned out to

have a criminal background murdered a young boy; management, aware of the

mans prior murder conviction was held liable.

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5. Keep in mind the need to balance the applicants privacy rights with others

need to know when damaging information is discovered.

6. Take immediate disciplinary action if problems develop.

The Selection Process

In many organizations employee hiring is a continuous process. There are

continuing vacancies due to retirement, turnover and other normal attrition.

Even an organization that is downsizing may well be hiring in specific areas.

The selection process begins with the application blank and ends with a

successful hiring decision. The purpose of the selection process is to

differentiate among applicants to predict likely job performance. The selection

process must meet the criteria of efficiency and effectiveness .This is reflected

in measures of absenteeism, turnover, retention and promotion.

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The selection process can be illustrated by the diagram shown next:

The Selection Process

The Application BlankStep 1

The Screening Interview

The employment Interview

Step 2

Step 3

Employment Testing

Reference Checks

Step 4

Step 5

The Conditional Employment DecisionStep 6

Step 6

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The Final Employment Decision

The Physical ExaminationStep 7

Step 8

STEP 1

The Application Blank

The application blank provides an opportunity to gather certain basic selection

data in a short time period. Whatever methods of recruitment are used the

candidate should be asked to fill in an application form. Firstly to ensure that no

important details are omitted and secondly to provide information about the

candidate in a logical and uniform order.

Several surveys suggest that all organizations, except the very smallest have

applicants complete an application form.

Once the initial screening has been completed, applicants are asked to complete

the organizations application form. The amount of information may be only the

applicants name, address and telephone number. Some organizations require

the completion of a six to ten page comprehensive personal history profile.

In general terms, the application form gives a synopsis of what applicants have

been doing their adult life their skills and their accomplishments.

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The application blank is probably the best known form to most employees and

is the most widely used it can be verified for accuracy, it is easy to use and it

has face validity. Perhaps because of this general familiarity its significance in

human resource work is often overlooked or taken for granted. The unfortunate

result may be that the information collected is not fully utilized.

The application form/blank has a variety of uses. It is not only the basis of

selection but its the fundamental document in an employees personnel record

and has legal importance in the contract of employment.

Application forms are also useful for

1. Projecting a favorable image of the recruiting organization.

2. Obtaining names and addresses of people to contact when future vacancies

arise.

3. Researching the effectiveness of various recruitment advertising media.

4. Monitoring the effectiveness of equal opportunities policies.

Evidence indicates that a property validated application blank in the hands of a

human resource specialist increases the effectiveness of a companys selection

process. After all, the purpose of using the application blank in the first place is

to assist in predicting the likely future success of the candidate.

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The application form/ blank becomes a key link between recruiting and the final

selection process for 3 reasons.

1. It provides the usual record keeping information, date, name, ID no, home

address and telephone number and who to contact is an emergency (name,

address, phone no.

2. It contains information to be used in evaluating the candidate, education,

work history and references.

3. It contains the sign-of section where the recruit agrees to certain

conditions by signing their name and dating it. For blue collar jobs and

possibly other positions, a common statement is

In the event of termination, the employee will promptly return all comp

any property

4. Other affirmations include the truthfulness of statements, falsehoods which

will lead to termination and permission to contact references. An important

disclaimer that may be included (depending upon the laws) in this section

concerns employment at will. That is the company may terminate

employment at any time with or without good cause.

Further the company may change human resource policies regarding pay,

benefits and employment unilaterally without the persons consent.

Any oral statements causing a person to accept employment that are

inconsistent with the employee handbook or company policy are to be

considered invalid. Finally the applicant, by signing the disclaiming, releases

the company from any liability.

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In most organizations, application blanks provide an initial screening process.

Before making application forms too detailed, several factors should be

considered.

First, excessively long and complex forms may discourage potential applicants

second, all items should be job related.

Finally all questions most adhere to guidelines set forth by the equal

employment opportunity laws. Basically, any application form question which

could which could be constructed as discriminating against a protected class

must be demonstrably job related, or it must be eliminated from the application

blank.

The application blank can therefore serve many purposes at once. The

disclaimers such as the employment at will clause may help if it later

becomes necessary to dismiss an employee.

But the main purpose is to aid in the selection process; with this in mind you

can see why some application blanks are complex such as the weighted

application blank.

The weighted application form appears to offer excellent potential. The WAB is

a form designed to be scored as a systematic selection method. The purpose of

the WAB is to relate characteristics to job performance.

To create such a form, individual form items such as no. of years of schooling,

no. of previous jobs, no. of months on last job, reason for leaving last job,

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salary increase over all previous jobs military experience, are validated against

performance and turnover measures and given appropriate weights.

Let as assume for example that management is interested in developing a

weighted application form that would predict which applicants for the job of

insurance claims adjuster will, if hired, stay with the company. They would

select from their personnel files the application forms from each of two groups

of previously hired adjusters-one a group that had a short tenure with the

organization (adjusters that stayed less than one year) and the other, a group

with long tenure (say 5 years or more).

These old application forms would be screened, item by item, to determine now

employees in each group responded. In this way, management would discover

items that differentiate groups. These items would then be weighed relative to

their magnitude of differentiation. If 80% of the long tenure group had a college

degree while only 20% of the short tenures had such a degree, then possession

of a college degree might be given a weight of 4 but if 30% of the long tenure

group had prior experience in like insurance industry while 20% of the short-

tenure did this item might be given a weight of only 1.

Notice of course, that the procedure would have to be done on every job. Items

that predict long tenure for an insurance claims adjuster may be totally different

from items that predict long tenure for a grocery clerk.

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Other application forms however are the utmost in simplicity. The layout of

application forms varies but most of them contain the following headings,

usually in this order.

It usually starts with instructions on how to complete the form and should

include a statement complete the form and should include a statement that any

applicant who includes unrequested or false information will automatically be

rejected.

An typical application form will therefore include :

a) Job applied for

b) Name, address, telephone number

c) Date and place of birth

d) Nationality

e) Education

f) Training and qualifications

g) Medical history e.g. any serious illness whether disabled.

h) Employment history (names of previous employers, description of jobs held,

dates of employment reasons for leaving.

i) Any other information the candidate wishes to provide.

j) A signature under the words This information is correct to the best of my

knowledge

k) Date

As noted some application forms are complex and others simple.

McDonalds restaurant from time to time, print attractive application blanks and

the place mats!

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The goals here is to get a pool of applicants quickly. What their application

blank lacks in detail, makes up in utility.

A well designed application blank will be legal. The application blank needs to

be as legally defensible as possible.

Step 2: The Screening Interview

The screening interview is usually done after the applicant fills out the

application. The interview is used to determine key information regarding job

requirements in order to get a general impression of the applicant when the

screening interview process is complete, the result should be a satisfactory pool

of candidates. Although many in the company may participate in the interview

process it is still the responsibility of the HR manager to optimize the solution.

Perhaps because so many untrained individuals participate in interviewing,

several studies criticize the validity of the interview as an appropriate selection

technique.

A historic study by W.D Scott found that interviewers for sales positions could

not agree whether the candidates should be placed in the top or bottom ranking.

This amazing result has unfortunately been replicated in other studies. Such

initial studies have continued with may field reviewing 20 years of

interviewing Harvey caupion also finding wise variation among interviewers.

However despite the criticism of the interview its widespread use indicates

the importance it is awarded in selection. This is due in past to the fact that in

an interview, applicants can be asked questions about application black

information and test scores .Also, the interview permits going beyond the

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collected data to probe deeper in areas the company is interested in. This might

include probing into the applicants interpersonal skills, central life interests and

value system as they relate to the job. Will the applicant fit in well with the

work team? An application black will not help answer this key question.

The screening interview effectively fills the gaps that are bound to occur

within the tiem limits for obtaining accurate data. Of course the more exposure

to liability for claws of discrimination.

The screening interview would be the first attempt to discover how applicants

are handling stress in their present environment. This early approach in the

interviewely process world be very appropriate for jobs with high demand and

little control over working conditions. This type of job presents the greatest

health risk to employees.

STEP 3: The Employment Interview

The employment interview is the most widely used selection technique.

Organizations incurs tremendous annual expenses in interviewing applicants.

Despite the costs of research suggesting tat the selection interview is not as

other techniques, it nevertheless plays a very important role in the selection

process.

Several studies suggest that it is one of the most important steps in selection.

Depending upon the importance of the job, an applicant may be interviewed by

one person or by several members of the organization although their is some

doubt about the validity of the interview as a selection method, other

researchers suggest several key features of the interview.

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When interviewing such a job candidate, It should be challenging &

conformational not comfortable & cosy. Values should match those of the

organization. The interviewee may have response that are not politically correct

or not typically expected. This means the candidate is answering the questions

honestly at the risk of not getting the job. Interviewing requires an awareness

of developing trends affecting people. Years of prospering appear to have bred

a culture of risk takers. A measure of those who voluntarily left their taste job is

called the quit rate. If is at its highest now. The glamour of job hopping is at a

record pace.

Dunny the interview the interviewer has certain hard data available assist in

the final decision to accept or reject. Such data may include the application

blank, references, resume, psychological test scores of intelligence and

personality and perhaps background checks. While the mix of these data will

vary, the one constant is that an interviewer will make the initial decision to

accept or reject the candidate. Despite all attempts for objectivity, subjectivity

will be present in varying degrees, contributing in large measure to the selection

of effective performers.

When highly paid professional leaves in a short time this can cost the company

quite a great deal in advertising, travel, interview time, training and other costs.

Few people fail in their new jobs because they cannot do them technically. It is

the soft skills that do them in, yet these are the hard ones to deter mine soft

skills such as personality motivation and creativity is through face to face

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interviews yet the interview is not perfect with corporate turnover averaging

16%.

A study by Harvard University reports nearly 80% of turnover results from

hiring mistake. One must always be careful during the interview process to

avoid any discriminatory bias.

Also, the personal blas of the interviewer needs to be considered to eliminate

as much as possible blased input in the decision making process.

Various interviewing methods have been devise to eliminate a large measure of

this subjective error.

For instance in the structured or patterned interview the interviewers ask a

predetermined list of questioned of all the applicant is similar.

A true structured interview would apply not only to the questions but to the

answers as well.

The answers would be structured similar to a multiple-choice test.

Under these conditioned there would be little or no interview bias. The more

generally used structured interview applies only to the required question with

the applicant replies reflecting

The attitudes and personality of the individual.

Although this format suffers from a lack of flexibility it doe improve the

validity o interviewers judgements.

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The unstructured interview

The candidate controls the flow of topic discussed and the interviewer refrains

from directing the applicants remarks. The interviewer merely nod assent on

repeats statements made by the applicant.

STEP 4

Employment Testing

Another step I the selection process is the employment test. An employment test

is method that attempts to measure certain characteristics of job applicants.

These tests include

-Aptitude tests

-Personality tests

- achievement tests

- Polygraph / honesty tests.

- A test is basically a sample of a persons behavior. Some tests are more

clearly representative of the behavior being sample that others.

- A test must meet certain criteria.

1.Valid-validity is the accuracy with which a test /interview measures what it

purports to measure.

2.reliable-reliability refers to the consistency of scores obtained by the same

person when tested with the identical equivalent tests.

Management assessment centers are situations in which management

candidates are asked to make decisions in hypothetical situations and are scored

on their performance.

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Step 5. Reference checks

One of the final steps in the selection process is to check references. Generally

telephone checks are preferable because they save time and provide for greater

candor, usually the most reliable information comes from immediate

supervisors who are able to report on an applicants prior work attitudes and

performance.

Step 6. The Conditional Employment Decision

At this time a preliminary decision to hire is made. However, final approvals

still is independent upon the results of the physical Examination.

Step 7. The Physical Examination

The physical examination is usually one of the last steps in the selection process

because of costs.

The use of pre employment medical examination varies among industries but

about half of the companies surveyed in one study used pre employment

physical examinations to the test prospective employees.

In the past some unqualified job applicants were eliminated from employment

consideration because of some physical exam result unrelated to the task to be

performed. In the United States this practise eliminated so many otherwise

qualified workers that congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act of

1990.

Employers can still required exams after job off has been made, but must be

ready to accommodate applicants who can be helped to do the job.

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Step 8: The Final Employment Decision.

The final step in the selection process is the decision to accept or reject the

applicant based on the results of physical examination. This is an important step

because of the costs of recruiting and selecting, legal considerations the

relatively short probationary time in the most organizations and turnover of

many new employees.

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Summary

This lesson focused on several major selection issues. One is that organizations

operate in a dynamic and changing environment and consequently most be

elective in choosing new employees.

We also discussed the selection process and the ways in which it is used to

improve organizational effectiveness.

In order to match the individuals skills knowledge and abilities to

organizational needs the HR manager must be sensitive to changes in markets,

people and competition and be aware of the need for a continuing source of

adaptive and flexible employees for the organization.

The selection process involves an assessment of an individuals predicted

performance. The steps in the process are typical of most organizations. In a

changing environment, managing human resources effectively involves

selecting and developing a high performing work force. In todays global world

learning now to select a multicultural workforce is an emerging challenge.

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6. To be an effective predictor, a selection device should:

a. Be reliable

b. Be valid

c. Predict a relevant criteria.

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PART 11 : TRAINING AND

DEVELOPMENT

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LESSON 4 :TRAININGLESSON 4 :TRAINING

Behavioural Objectives

When you finish studying Part 2 on Training you should be able to:

Define training

Explain how to develop an orientation and socialization program.

Describe the basic training process.

Discuss at least two techniques used for assessing training needs.

Explainthe pros and cons of at least five training techniques.

Describe how to evaluate the training effort.

Explain how the learning theory and learning principles relate to training

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LESSON 4A:INTRODUCTION TO TRAINING AND

DEVELOPING HUMAN POTENTIAL

Objectives:

By the end of this lesson you should be able to:

Define the concept and purposes of training in an organization

Explain why training is important

4A.1 Background Information:

Todays managers face greater challenges than ever to maintain their position

among the top economic powers. Most businesses are realizing their place at the

top is not guaranteed, and that they must find solutions to the declining

productivity, competitiveness, motivation and creativity of the workforce. One

Human Resource Director said, If you want to be a world-class manufacturer,

the greatest resource is the force working for you.

Every organization needs to have well-trained and experienced people to

perform the activities that have to be done. If current or potential job occupants

can meet this requirement, training is not important. When this is not the case, it

is necessary to raise the skills levels and increase the versatility and adaptability

of employees.

As jobs have become more complex, the importance of employee training has

increased. When jobs were simple, easy to learn, and influenced to only a small

degree by technological changes, there was little need for employees to upgrade

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or alter their skills. But the rapid changes taking place during the last quarter-

century in our highly sophisticated and complex society have created increase

pressures for organizations to readapt the products and services produced, the

manner in which products and services are produced and offered, the types of

jobs required, and the types of skills necessary to complete these jobs.

In fact, trainings purposes are broader today than they have been in the past.

Companies used to emphasize production process training-teaching the

technical skills required to perform jobs, such as training assemblers to solder

wires or teaches to devise lesson plans. However, training and development

programs and their objectives changed in the 1980s and 1990s. Employers had

to adapt to rapid technological changes, improve product and service quality,

and boost productivity to stay competitive. Improving quality often requires

remedial-education training, since quality improvement programs assume

employees can use critical thinking skills, produce charts and graphs, and

analyse data. Employees must also use or acquire skills in team building,

decision making, and communication. Similarly, as firms became more

technologically advanced, employees require training in technological and

computer skills (such as desktop publishing and computer-aided design and

manufacturing) And as increased competition has put a premium on better

service, employers have turned abilities to customers-service training to provide

employees with the tools and abilities they need to deal more effectively with

customers, such as effective listening skills. All told, this shift from purely

production-process training helps to explain whey in one recent year an average

production worker received 37 hours of training compared with only 31 hours

in the previous year.

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More employers today are taking advantage of the fact that training can

strengthen employee commitment. Few things illustrate a firms commitment to

its employees more than continuing developmental opportunities to better

themselves, and such commitment is usually reciprocated. This is the reason

why high-commitment firms like Toyota provide about two weeks of training

per year for all employees.

We can therefore say the expansion of trainings role reflects that fact that the

game of economic competition has new rules. In particular, its no longer

enough to just be efficient. Thriving today requires that the firm be fast and

responsive. And it requires responding to customers needs for quality, variety,

customisation, convenience, and timeliness. Meeting these new standards

requires a work force that is more than just technically trained. It requires

people who are capable of analyzing and solving job-related problems, working

productively in teams and switching gears and shifting from job to job as

well.

Unfortunately, a training gap exists and may even be widening. While some

companies IBM, Xerox, Texas Instruments and Motorola, for instance devote

5% to 10% of their payroll dollars to training activities, the average training

investment by U.S. firms (while large in dollar terms) is less than 2% of payroll.

Experts estimate that between 42% and 90% of U.S. workers need further

training to get them up to speed. Unfortunately, in Kenya, when the monies are

low training is the first to be slashed off the budget. In any case, training is

moving to centre stage as a means of improving employers competitiveness.

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Nearly 50 percent of all jobs currently being done in the United States did not

exist half century ago. It is becoming increasingly common for individuals to

change careers several times during their working lives. The probability of

any young person learning a job today and having those skills go basically

unchanged during the forty or so years of his or her career is extremely

unlikely, maybe even impossible.

During the 2000s, employee training will become increasingly important

because of the pressure to reduce costs and increase productivity. The

combination of increasing global competition, an expensive workforce, and

cheap computers has severed the link between economic growth and job

growth. Most companies are learning that they cant compete in world markets

unless they boost productivity and invest in a higher-trained and skilled

workforce. Employee training is a key factor in improving levels of

organisation productivity. Therefore, it is important that the organisation enable

employees to upgrade their skills and knowledge to meet these changing

conditions.

There is a growing body of evidence that suggests workplace training offers a

significant return on the investment. A study reported that firms who spent an

average of $900 per employee increased net salary $386,171 on average per

employee from one year to the next. Firms who spent $275 per employee

increase net salary $245,000. this represents a difference of net sales per

employee of $141,170.

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and then provide links to a variety of course work to fulfil deficiencies. This is

all structured system the employees complete the instruction at their own pace.

In addition, the trend toward high technology in work processes requires

programmable automation of robots and multifunctional machines and a more

highly trained workforce. So the question becomes: How do we train these less

skilled workers to become more effective performers? In the following sections,

we will provide some possible solutions.

From the HRM viewpoint, it is important to recognise that technology dose not

take away jobs. What it does is create more demands on skills, which require

more training programs. In essence, work is an endless experience because

peoples expectations grow.

The issue for employees is not to worry about their present jobs continuing to

exist, but rather whether they will have the new skills for future employment.

Studies indicate employees will have at least four major job changes in their life

time. Training and retraining programs will be their salvation.

Training is a process that begins with the orientation of the new employee and

continues throughout an employees career. Therefore, it is important that the

HR manager develop training programs to improve employee skills and

performance in a changing labour force. IBM reportedly spends over $1 billion

yearly on the education of its employees.

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What are Training and Development

Training can be defined as the process of teaching new employees the basic

skills they need to perform their jobs. Training gives new or present employees

the skills they need to perform their jobs. Training might thus mean showing a

machinist how to operate his new machine, a new salesperson how to sell her

firms product or a new supervisor how to interview and appraise employees.

Training may also be defined an attempt to improve performance by the

attainment of specific skills such as typing, welding, running a computer and so

forth, to do the current job. The goal of training is to ensure that a number of

job skills will be performed at prescribed quality levels by training employees.

In essence, training is investing in human resources. It tends to broaden the

focus of the employee being training.

Training is a learning experience in that it seeks a relatively permanent change

in an individual that will improve his or her ability to perform on the job. We

typically say training can involve the changing of skills, knowledge, attitudes,

or social behavior. It may mean changing what employees know, how they

work, their attitudes toward their work, or their interactions with their co-

workers or their supervisor.

Although training development are similar, and both critical, there are some

important differences. Whereas training focuses on skills needed to perform

employees current jobs, management development, which we will discuss later

in Part 2 of this module is training of a long-term nature. Its aim is to develop

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current or future employees for future jobs with the organization or to solve an

organizational problem concerning, for instance, poor interdepartmental

communication. The techniques used in both training and development are

often the same, however, and the distinction between the two is always

somewhat arbitrary.

For our purpose, training will be presented as it applies primarily to operate

employees in the organization. By that we mean production, clerical, and

maintenance workers. Our emphasis here is on the development of those

employees who do not supervise the activities of others. What an organization

can do to develop supervisory and managerial employees will be the subject of

the lesson 4 on Management Development in Part 2 of this module.

Purposes of Training

Under favorable circumstances, training has the important dual function of

utilization and motivation. By improving employees ability to perform the

tasks required by the company, training allows better use to be made of human

resources; by giving employees a feeling of mastery over their work and of

recognition by management their job satisfaction is increased. When

circumstances are unfavorable, these results may not be obtained, for example

when the trainees see no purpose in the training, when it is regarded as a

punishment or a sign of displeasure or when the training seems irrelevant to the

trainees needs.

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Reasons for Training

Sometimes training is routine, for example all new employees in certain jobs

automatically go through a training course. More often training is given as a

response to some event, for example.

a) The installation of new equipment or techniques which require new or

improved skills.

b) A change in working methods.

c) A change in product, which may necessitate training not only in production

methods but also in the marketing functions of the company.

d) A realization that performance is inadequate.

e) Labor shortage, necessitating the upgrading of some employees

f) A desire to reduce the amount of scrap and to improve quality.

g) An increase in the number of accidents.

h) Promotion or transfer of individual employees.

Training which is routine and traditional sometimes becomes out of date,

irrelevant or inadequate. A review may show that the purpose, methods and

standards of the training should be changed.

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LESSON 4B : ORIENTING EMPLOYEES

Objectives:

By the end of this lesson you should be able to:

Explain how to develop an orientation and socialization training program

Introduction

Once employees have been recruited and selected, the next step is orientation

and training. In this lesson well see that orienting and training employees

means providing them with the information and skills they need to successfully

perform their new jobs. Well start with employee orientation.

What is Employee Orientation

Employee orientation provides new employees with basic background

information about the employer, information they need to perform their jobs

satisfactorily, such as what the work hours are. Orientation is actually one

component of the employers new-employee socialization process.

Socialization is the ongoing process of instilling in all employees the prevailing

attitudes, standards, values, and patterns of behavior that are expected by the

organization and its departments.The new employees initial orientation if handled correctly, helps him or her

perform better by providing needed information about company rules and

practices. It can also help reduce the new employees first-day jitters and the

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reality shock he or she might otherwise experience (the discrepancy between

what the new employee expected from his or her new job, and the realities of

it).

Orientation programs range from brief, informal introductions to lengthy,

formal programs. In the latter, the new employee is usual given a handbook or

printed materials that cover matters like working hours, performance reviews,

getting on the payroll, and vacations, as well as a tour of the facilities. Other

information to be given in an orientation program typically includes employee

benefits, personnel policies, the employees daily routine, company

organization and operations, and safety measures and regulations.

Note that there is the real possibility that courts will find your employee

handbooks contents represents a contract with the employee. Therefore,

disclaimers should be included that make it clear that statements of company

policies, benefits, and regulations do not constitute the terms and conditions of

an employment contract either express or implied. Think twice before including

statements in your handbook such as No employee will be fired without just

cause or statements that imply or state that employee have tenure; they could

be viewed as legal and binding commitments.

The first part of the orientation is usually performed by the HR specialist, who

explains such matters as working hours and vacation. The employee is then

introduced to his or her new supervisor. The latter continues the orientation by

explaining the exact nature of the job, introducing the person to his or her new

colleagues, and familiarizing the new employee with the workplace. An

example of a comprehensive orientation program is presented in the following

box.

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Building employee commitment

Orientation and socialization

In many firms today orientation goes well beyond providing basic information

about such aspects of the job as hours of work. More and more companies are

finding that orientation can be used for other purposes, such as familiarizing

new employees with the companys cherished goals and values. Orientation

thus begins the process of synthesizing the employees and the companys

goals, one big step toward winning the employees commitment to the firm.

Orientation (it is called assimilation) at Toyota Motor Manufacturing USA is

a case in point. While it covers traditional topics such as company benefits, its

mostly intended to socialize new employees, that is, to convert Toyotas new

employees to the firms ideology of quality, teamwork, personal development,

open communication, and mutual respect. It lasts four days, as follows:

Day one. The first day begins at 6.30a.m with an overview of the program, a

welcome to the company, and a discussion of the firms organization structure

and human resource department by the firms vice president for human

resources. The vice president devotes about an hour and a half to discussing

Toyota history and culture, and about two hour to employee benefits. Another

two hours are then spent discussing Toyotas policies about the importance of

quality and teamwork.

Day two. The second day starts with about two hours devoted to

communication training-the Toyota Motor Manufacturing way of listening.

Here the importance of mutual respect, teamwork, and open communication is

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emphasized. The rest of the day is then devoted to general orientation issues.

These include safety, environment affairs, the Toyota production system, and

the firms library.

Day three. This day also begins with two-and-a half to three hours devoted to

communication training, in this case making requests and giving feedback.

The rest of the day is spent covering matters such as Toyotas problem-solving

methods, quality assurance, hazard communications, and safety.

Day four. Teamwork is stressed in the morning session. Topics include

teamwork training. Toyotas suggestion system, and the Toyota Team Member

Activities Association. This session also covers what

Documents

human resources employment and development.pdf