Managing human resources and labor relations

business essentials -- part 8

Human resource management (HRM) is the set a organizational activities directed at attracting, developing, and maintaining an effective workforce. HR planning involves two tasks. Job analysis is a systematic analysis of jobs within an organization. It results in the creation of the job description in the job specification. Managers must plan for future HR needs by assessing past trends, future plans, and general economic trends. Forecasting labor supply is really two tasks -- forecasting internal supply and forecasting external supply. The next step in HR planning is matching HR supply and demand -- dealing with predicted shortfalls or overstaffing. If the shortfall is predicted, new employees can be hired. The external labor forecast helps managers recruit on the bases of which type of workers are available or scarce.

Staffing and organization means recruiting and hiring the right mix of people. Recruiting is the process of attracting qualified persons to apply for open jobs. Internal recruiting means considering present employees as candidates -- a policy that helps build morale and keep high-quality employees. External recruiting involves attracting people from outside the organization. Methods include advertising, campus interviews, employment agencies or executive search firms, union hiring halls, and referrals by present employees. The next step is the selection process -- gathering information that will predict applicants job success and then hiring the most promising candidates. Common selection techniques include application blanks, tests, and interviews. Some organizations also use such selection techniques as polygraphs and drug tests.

New employees must be trained and allowed to develop job skills. On the job training occurs while the employee is at work. Off the job training takes place at off-site locations where controlled environments allow focused study. In larger firms, performance appraisals show how well workers are doing their jobs. Typically, appraisal involves a regular written assessment as part of a multistep process that begins when a manager defines performance standards for employee. The manager then observes the employee, and the process ends when manager and employee meet to discuss the appraisal.

Compensation

A compensation system is the total package that a firm offers employees in return for their labor. The right combination of compensation elements will make employees feel valued while holding down company costs. Wages are paid for time worked (for example, by the hour). A salary is paid for discharging the responsibilities of the job. Beyond a certain point, money motivates employees only when tied directly to performance. One way to establish this link is the use of incentive programs -- special pay programs designed to motivate high performance. Benefits -- compensation other than wages and salaries -- comprise a large percentage of most compensation budgets. The law requires most companies to provide Social Security retirement benefits and workers compensation insurance (insurance for compensating workers injured on the job). Most companies provide health, life, and disability insurance; retirement plans pay pensions to workers when they retire. Many companies are experimenting with cost-cutting plans, such as the cafeteria benefit plan, in which a certain dollar amount of benefits per employee is set aside so that each employee can choose from a variety of alternatives.

HR management is heavily influenced by the law. One area of HR regulation is equal employment opportunity -- regulation to protect people from unfair or inappropriate discrimination in the workplace. Because illegal discrimination is based on a prejudice about classes of individuals, laws protect various classes. Enforcement of equal opportunity legislation is handled by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, which is responsible for federal regulations, and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, for OFCCP, which is responsible for executive orders applying to companies doing business with the government. Other legislation deals with the emerging legal issues, including employee safety and health.

Workforce diversity

Workforce diversity refers to the range of workers attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors that differ by gender, race, ethnicity, age, and physical ability. Today, many U.S. businesses are working to create workforces that reflect the growing diversity of the population as it enters the labor pool. Although many firms see the diverse workforce as a competitive advantage, not all are equally successful in or eager about implementing diversity programs.

Many firms today also face challenges in managing knowledge workers. The recent boom of high technology companies has led to rapidly increasing salaries and high turnover among the workers who are best prepared to work in those companies. Contingent workers are temporary and part-time workers hired to supplement an organization's permanent workforce. Their numbers have grown significantly since the early 1980s and are expected to rise farther. The practice of hiring contingent workers is gaining popularity because it gives managers more flexibility and because temps are usually not covered by employers benefit programs.

Labor unions

A labor union is a group of individuals working together to achieve shared job-related goals. Labor relations describes the process of dealing with employees represented by a union. Their power comes from collective action, such as collective bargaining -- the process by which union leaders and company managers negotiate conditions of employment for unionized workers. Although millions of workers still belong the unions, membership as a percentage of the total workforce has declined at a steady rate since the mid 1950s.

The collective bargaining process begins when a union is recognized as a negotiator for its members. Among issues that are important to union negotiators are (1) compensation, (2) benefits, and (3) job security. An impasse occurs when management and labor fail to agree on a contract. Each side can use several tactics to support its cause until the impasse is resolved. The most important union tactic is the strike, which occurs when employees temporarily walk off the job and refuse to work. Unions may also use picketing, boycotts, and work slowdowns. Management may resort to lockouts -- denying employees access to the workplace. A firm can also hire temporary or permanent replacements called strikebreakers. Rather than use these tactics, labor and management can call in the third party to help resolve the dispute.