Week 1 discussion

Select one of the following case studies (located in your textbook):

Case 1-1: Ba-Zynga! Zynga Faces Trouble in Farmville.
Case 1-2: Fracturing the Labor Market—Employment in the Oil Services Industry.
Case 2-1: Catalya Hats: Pulling a Rabbit Out Of the Hat or Coming Up Empty-handed?
Case 2-2: Strategy-Driven HR Management: Netflix, a Behind-The-Scenes Look at Delivering Entertainment.

Then complete the following:

Add your opinion about the choices and decisions being made—if this was your company, would you make this choice?
What would you do differently?

The New Human Resource Management Process

Chapter 1

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Why Study HRM?

Competitive advantage

Employee engagement

Job satisfaction

Willingness to perform

Organizational success

Employee engagement

Effective management

Productivity

Profit

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Why Study HRM?

To learn how to engage employees more effectively. Employee engagement is a combination of both job satisfaction and a willingness to perform for the organization at a high level over an extended period of time.

Organizations that engage and manage their people more successfully than their competitors have a much greater chance of being more productive and profitable than their competition.

HRM Past and Present

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Past	Present
HR managers were paper pushers and simply organized personnel files.	HR managers improve organizational revenues and profits by creating the right working environment.
HR functioned more as a cost or revenue center.	HR functions more as a productivity and profit center.

HRM in the 21st Century

Advocate for workers

Support employees

Reinforce value of workers and their skills

Improve working conditions and benefits

Communicate the company’s values and directives

Maintain best practices and stay within established budget

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

The role of HRM in the 21st century

HR professionals fill a vital role in business:

They are advocates for the workers, that is, support initiatives that reinforce the value of workers and the skills they provide that enhance the success of the company (improve working conditions and benefits).

But HR professionals also are beholden to the company’s values and directives that require them to maintain best practices within the confines of established budgetary constraints.

Company A

Company B

Consider This

Fails to recruit top talent

Does not nurture talent

Has high turnover

Spends time defending their practices in court

Recruits better

Trains and develops better

Retains talent

Avoids lawsuits

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Imagine the future of two comparable companies with similar revenues and identical market share:

Productivity

What is it?

Amount of output organizations receive per unit of input.

What does it require?

Effectiveness in getting the job done.

Think “Did we do the right thing?”

Efficiency in using resources to get the job done.

Think “Did we do things right?”

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Challenges for HR Managers

Challenges

Job satisfaction: the extent to which people like their jobs and the environment in which they work.

Turnover: the permanent loss of workers, which costs the organization in many ways.

Absenteeism: failure of an employee to report to work as scheduled.

Effects

Productivity

Employee and organizational performance

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Challenges for HR Managers

HR managers have no direct control over employees’

Productivity

Job Satisfaction

Turnover

Absenteeism

Therefore, HR managers should

foster employee willingness

create a desire to work

assist in effective and efficient performance.

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

HR managers have no direct control over people, specifically their:

Productivity,

job satisfaction,

Turnover, and

absenteeism.

Therefore, they must create workplace conditions that foster employee willingness and desire to come to work and perform effectively and efficiently.

Types of Turnover

Functional turnover: loss of a poor performer

Dysfunctional turnover: loss of an effective performer

Avoidable turnover: loss of a good worker that could have been avoided

Unavoidable turnover: loss of an employee that could not have been avoided

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Turnover Can Be Both Voluntary & Involuntary

The HRM Strategic View

Took hold within the past 30 years.

Shift from reactive to proactive (i.e., taking on a strategic role).

Gives organization a sustainable competitive advantage.

Carries out organizational ideas and reaches goals of the overall strategic plan.

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

The HRM Strategic View

HRM’s shift from reactive to proactive (i.e., taking on a strategic role), which took hold within the past 30 years, gives the organization a sustainable competitive advantage, because HRM efforts are critical to being able to carry out organizational plans and reach goals that have been defined by the overall strategic plan.

The HRM Strategic View

Gain of HR leaders having a “seat at the table” as it pertains to strategic planning.

Enhance value of HR to be viewed as part of the solution and not the problem.

Dissolution of “us” versus “them” mentality.

Collaboration allows companies to progress rapidly in their pursuit of success.

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

In addition to the movement that has resulted in the role of HR as a proactive force in the business world, there has also been a movement whereby the leaders in HR have gained a “seat at the table” as it pertains to strategic planning.

As HR has come to enhance its value as and been viewed as part of the solution and not the problem, there has also been a dissolution of “us” versus “them” mentality.

This collaboration has allowed companies to progress more rapidly in their pursuit of success.

Main Goals of Strategic HRM

Encourage employees through:

Motivation

Leadership

Environmental analysis

Organizational changes

Engage employees

Increase productivity and job satisfaction

Lower absenteeism and turnover

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

The Main Goals of Strategic HRM

To encourage employees through motivation, leadership, environmental analysis, and organizational changes that work to improve job satisfaction.

Doing so engages employees, which in turn increases productivity and job satisfaction, and lowers absenteeism and turnover.

Personnel of Organizations

HR has positioned itself as a force that supports a well-managed and people-centric business.

Senior executives realize their “personnel” are not headcount, overhead, or subordinates. They are investors and stakeholders in the future potential and prosperity of their business.

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

As HR has become instrumental in the development of company initiatives and positioned itself as a force that supports a well-managed, people-centric business, senior executives have reached the realization that their “personnel” (as the antiquated term was once used) are not headcount, not overhead, not subordinates; but instead are investors and stakeholders in the future potential and prosperity of their business.

Technology and Knowledge

HR managers are experiencing a shift in labor-intensive talents to technology-intensive and knowledge skills.

Technology enhances effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity while “doing more with less.”

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Technology and Knowledge

The job of the HR manager changed from administrator to strategic partner primarily because the type of work we do today has changed from requiring labor-intensive skills to technology-intensive and knowledge skills.

The New Human Resource Management Process

Technology and Knowledge

Technology is a tool that is capable of enhancing both effectiveness and efficiency. When used to its greatest advantage it allows knowledge workers the ability to be more productive while “doing more with less” which is the modern day business mantra.

Talent Pool and Demographic Challenges for HR

Talent pool

HR managers compete to hire and retain technologically skilled employees. There is a shortage of employees with the knowledge to perform these increasingly complex jobs.

Demographics

HR managers must be culturally conscious of employees with different work ethics, cultural norms, and language differences.

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

21st Century Talent Pool and Demographic Challenges for HR managers

They will compete to hire and retain technologically skilled workers due to a shortage of people with the knowledge to perform these increasingly complex jobs.

They will need to be more culturally aware and able to deal with individuals with significantly different work ethics, cultural norms and even language differences.

Advances in preventive medicine are allowing older workers, with high-value skills, the opportunity to be productive later in life.

It is estimated that some 90% of growth in the U.S. labor force between 2006 and 2016 will be from workers over the age of 55.

Skills for Successful HRM

Technological skills: methods and techniques to perform a task.

Human relations skills: ability to work well with individuals and groups.

Conceptual and design skills: ability to evaluate a situation, identify and select reasonable alternatives, and make decisions that implement solutions.

Business skills: analytical and quantitative skills that help the manager understand and contribute to the profitability of the organization.

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

More Skills for Successful HRM

Communication skills: ability to effectively write, speak and present. This requires clear, concise communication skills.

Social media skills: ability to capitalize on the benefits of social networking.

Perceptive and spatial thinking skills: ability to develop lateral thinking and honing a sense perception. This clarity of thinking is valued for senior level managers.

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Technological skills–using methods and techniques to perform a task.

Human relations skills–the ability to work well with individuals and groups.

Conceptual and design skills–the ability to evaluate a situation, identify and select reasonable alternatives, and make decisions that implement solutions.

Business skills–analytical and quantitative skills that help the manager understand and contribute to the profitability of the organization.

Communication skills–of paramount importance among the many skills required to be successful in all future business endeavors, the ability to effectively write, speak and present using clear, concise communication skills is of greatest value..

Social media skill–the ability to capitalize on the benefits of social networking through the effective use of social media will be a critical skill necessary for success in the 21st century.

Perceptive and spatial thinking skills–the ability to develop lateral thinking and honing a sense of being perceptive will also prove valuable in many business settings. People with strengths in these areas have the innate ability to “see how all of the pieces of the puzzle” fit together enterprise wide and this clarity of thinking is valued for senior level managers.

Line Versus Staff Management

Line managers

Control what the organization does by creating processes and assisting employees who produce what the business sells.

Usually depicted in an organization chart with a straight line of responsibility.

Staff managers (HR managers)

Advise line management on issues within their fields of specialized knowledge.

Usually depicted on an organization chart using a dotted line.

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

HR Responsibilities of Line Management

Legal considerations

Labor cost controls

Leadership and motivation

Training and development

Appraisal and promotion

Safety and security of employees

Ethics and sustainability

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Disciplines with HRM

Legal: EEO and diversity management

Staffing

Training and development

Employee relations

Labor and industrial relations

Compensation and benefits

Safety and security

Ethics and sustainability

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

HRM Careers

These are professional associations and certification programs that help employees obtain and advance in HR careers:

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

American Society for Training and Development (ASTD)

WorldatWork.

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Professional Liability

The organization and managers can be sued by employees who feel their rights under employment laws have been violated.

For this reason, it is important to understand HRM concepts as thoroughly as possible.

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

The organization and managers with authority to make organizational decisions can be sued by employees who feel their rights under employment laws have been violated.

Therefore, you need to understand HRM concepts as thoroughly as possible.

Practitioner’s Model for HRM

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Strategy, the legal environment and diversity management are the basis for everything else that a 21st century HR manager does; they are the most critical to the organization’s basic stability and success.

Getting the right people into the right jobs allows the organization to get its work done successfully over long periods of time.

Managing people through training, evaluation, development, counseling, and employee and labor relations to keep them satisfied and productive.

Rewarding and maintaining workers through compensation and benefits packages, and protecting worker safety and health, to ensure ongoing organizational success.

Practitioner’s Model for HRM

Strategy, the legal environment, and diversity management are critical to the organization’s stability and success.

Pair employees with fitting jobs to allow the organization to achieve success over longer periods of time

Maintain employee satisfaction and productivity through training, evaluation, development, counseling, and employee and labor relations.

Reward employees through compensation and benefits packages.

Protect and expand the reach of the organization.

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Getting the right people into the right jobs allows the organization to get its work done successfully over long periods of time.

Managing people through training, evaluation, development, counseling, and employee and labor relations to keep them satisfied and productive.

Rewarding and maintaining workers through compensation and benefits packages, and protecting worker safety and health, to ensure ongoing organizational success.

Strategy-Driven Human Resource Management

Chapter 2

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Strategy and Strategic Planning

Looks at the organization, its environment today, and expected future goals.

Managers must seek employees who embrace the organization’s ultimate strategic goals.

Working in unison accomplishes a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Strategy and strategic planning deal with looking at the organization and its environment–today and in the expected future–and determining what the organization wants to do to meet the requirements of that expected future.

Strategy and strategic planning in the 21st century and the environment

A time-worn business axiom is: “When you fail to plan you plan to fail.” Is there be any greater justification for being PROACTIVE?

Managers must provide the right combination of people in the organization who are accomplishing their designated goals in order for an organization to flourish and achieve its ultimate strategic goals.

Working in unison accomplishes a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Strategic Choice

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

External Influences Managers Cannot Control

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Internal Influences Managers Can Control

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Strategy and Strategic Planning

Strategy

Looks at the external environment and the internal (organizational) environment to create strategic advantages.

Strategic planning

Occurs when organizations analyzes the environments better and react quicker than their competitors.

Lussier, Human Resources Management 3e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Strategy is a plan of action to achieve a particular set of objectives.

It looks at the external environment and the internal (organizational) environment in order to create strategic advantage.

Strategic advantage occurs when the organization analyzes the environment better and reacts quicker than its competitors.

Three Strategic Questions

These questions may appear simplistic, but they are the essence of business success:

What is the present situation?

Where do we want to go?

How do we plan to get there?

Vision and Mission

Vision

Provides a focus for the future.

Mission

Expectations of what the organization will do to realize the vision. The most successful businesses strive for a higher purpose.

Vision + Mission

Focus on the direction for the organization and its people

Types of Strategies

Cost leadership

Focuses on lowering organizational costs required to create products or services.

Broad differentiation

Focuses on developing a distinctive impression of the product or service in customers’ minds.

Focus or niche

Focuses on a specific portion of a larger market.

HRM and cost leadership–maximize employee efficiency and effectiveness through highly specialized jobs that require people to repeat the same task-

HRM and differentiation–maximize employee flexibility and adaptability through jobs that require cross-functional teams to innovate and try new processes in uncertain environments.

How Strategy Affects HRM

HRM and cost leadership

Maximize employee efficiency and effectiveness.

Highly specialized jobs.

Requires employees to repeat the same task.

HRM and differentiation

Maximize employee flexibility and adaptability.

Cross-functional teams.

Innovate and try new processes in uncertain environments.

Michael Porter’s Five-Forces Competitive Analysis

SWOT Analysis

Designing a strategy

Set objectives

Objectives state what is to be accomplished in singular, specific, and measurable terms with a target date.

Create a strategy–weave objectives into a cohesive organizational plan.

Implement, monitor, and evaluate strategies

Controlling is the process of establishing and implementing mechanisms to ensure that objectives are achieved. What gets measured and rewarded gets done!

Designing a Strategy

Set objectives

Create a strategy

Implement, monitor, and evaluate strategies

Controlling is the process of establishing and implementing mechanisms to ensure that objectives are achieved.

How HR Promotes Strategy

Through employees

Recruiting

Selecting

Training

Evaluating

Interacting based on the organizational strategies

Through the organization

Evaluating objectives and company characteristics

Assessing competitors

Analyzing strengths and weaknesses

Organizational Structure

Determines how an organization groups its resources to accomplish its mission.

Complexity: degree of vertical, horizontal, and spatial differentiation within the organization.

Formalization: degree to which jobs are standardized within an organization.

Centralization: degree to which decision-making is concentrated within the organization.

The best structure is one that allows the firm to marshal its resources and implement its strategies successfully.

How Structure Affects Employee Behavior and HRM

Employee behavior

The way organizations combine complexity, formalization, and centralization affects employee autonomy.

HRM

Affects the nature of job expertise, training, evaluation, and appraisal of HR employees.

Organizational Culture

Employees’ shared values, beliefs, and assumptions about appropriate behavior.

HR is not to dictate and impose cultural values, but rather to redefine and shape the culture of an organization.

Individuals typically adapt their actions to conform to those that the culture values.

Social media is one mechanism that manages organizational culture.

Refers to members’ shared values, beliefs, and assumptions about appropriate behavior. The role of Human Resources is not to dictate and impose cultural values but to redefine and shape the culture of an organization.

It affects how and why employees do what they do, because individuals typically adapt their actions to conform to those that the culture values.

Social media is one of the mechanisms that we now use to both monitor and–at least partially–control organizational environments. Parsons, A. (2013). Using social media to reach consumers: A content analysis of official Facebook pages. Academy of marketing studies Journal, 17(2), 27.

Culture Artifacts and Levels of Culture

Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)

HRIS are database management systems that manage and manipulate data that influence organizational performance, like:

Attendance and leave tracking

Job and pay history

Job descriptions

Appraisal scores and review date tracking

Benefits enrollment and tracking

Also used when considering promotions, transfers, team assignments, and other daily activities.

Measurement Tools for Strategic HRM

Economic Value Added (EVA)

Return on Investment (ROI)

Balanced Scorecard (BSC)

HR Scorecard

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