Slide OB 13e chapter 018 human resource policies and practices

Stage 1: Initial Selection• Initial selection devices are used to determine if basic qualifications for the job are met • Devices include: – Application Forms • Good initial screen • Mus

Robbins & Judge

Chapter Learning Objectives

• After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

– Define initial selection and identify the most useful methods – Define substantive selection and identify the most useful

methods.

– Define contingent selection and contrast the arguments for and against drug testing.

– Compare the four main types of training.

– Contrast formal and informal training methods, and on-the-job and off-the-job training.

– Support the use of performance evaluation.

– Show how managers can improve performance evaluations.

– Explain how diversity can be managed in organizations.

– Show how a global context affects human resource

management.

The Selection Process

Stage 1: Initial Selection

• Initial selection devices are used to determine if basic qualifications for the job are met

• Devices include:

– Application Forms

• Good initial screen

• Must be careful about questions asked – legal issues

– Background Checks

• Most employers want reference information, but few give it out – litigation worries

• Letters of recommendation are of marginal worth

• May use criminal record or credit report checks

Stage 2: Substantive Selection

• These devices are the heart of the selection process

• Based on job-related performance requirements

• Work Sample Tests

– Creating a miniature replica of a job to evaluate the performance abilities of job candidates

• Assessment Centers

– A set of performance-simulation tests designed to evaluate a candidate’s managerial potential

Another Substantive Selection Device

• Interviews

– Are the most frequently used selection tool

– Carry a great deal of weight in the selection process

– Can be biased toward those who “interview well”

• Types of Interviews

– Unstructured (randomly chosen questions)

• Most common, least predictive, and prone to bias

– Structured (standardized sets of questions)

• More predictive of job success; less chance for bias

– Behavioral structured (asking how specific problems were handled in

the past)

• Past behaviors may be good predictors of future behavior

• Interviews most often used to determine organization-individual fit

Stage 3: Contingent Selection

• Final checks before hiring

– Drug testing

• Controversial: perceived to be unfair or invasive

• Supreme Court ruled that this is not an invasion of rights

• Expensive but accurate

• Alcohol not generally tested for

Training and Development Programs

• Types of Training

– Basic Literacy Skills

• One half of U.S high school graduates do not have the basic skills necessary for work

What About Ethics Training?

Argument against

– Personal values and value

systems are fixed at an

– Training reaffirms the organization’s expectation that members will act

ethically

Training Methods

• Formal

– Planned in advance with a structured format

• Informal

– Unstructured, unplanned, and easily adaptable

– 70% of all current training is of this type

Individualized Training and Learning

Evaluating Training Effectiveness

• Many factors determine training

ability, and high self-efficacy learn best

– Training climate: ability to apply the learning to the job

Performance Evaluation

• Evaluation affects performance level

• Purposes of Performance Evaluation

– Provides input to general human resource decisions

• Promotions, transfers, and terminations

– Identifies skill training and development needs

– Provides performance feedback to employees

– Supplies the basis for reward allocation decisions

• Merit pay increases and other rewards

• For OB specialists: the key purposes of

performance evaluation are the last two - a

mechanism for feedback and reward allocation

What Do We Evaluate?

• Individual Task Outcomes

– These are the metrics that directly result from employee effort such as sales, turnover, or quality

• Behaviors

– When direct results are difficult to determine, may be

evaluated on behavior and documented actions such as sales calls made, promptness in submitting reports, or

non-productive activities like volunteering for charity

drives

• Traits

– Weak because they don’t reflect productivity; often used these include attitudes, confidence, and looking busy

Who Should Do the Evaluating?

• Immediate Supervisor

• Peers

• Subordinates

• Customers

• The person being evaluated

• 360o feedback: all these and more

Exhibit 18-2

Methods of Performance Evaluation

More Methods of Performance

Evaluation

• Graphic Rating Scales

– An evaluation method in which the evaluator

rates performance factors on an incremental scale

Keeps up with current policies and regulations.

Completely Unaware

Fully Informed

X

Another Performance Evaluation

Method

• Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)

– Scales that combine major elements from the critical incident and graphic rating scale approaches: The

appraiser rates the employees based on items along a continuum, but the points are examples of

actual behavior on a given job rather than general descriptions or traits.

Punctuality

• 1: Never late for work

• 2: Late 1-2 times per

month

• 3: Late 3 or more times

per month

Even More Evaluation Methods

• Forced Comparisons

– Evaluating one individual’s performance relative to the

performance of another individual or others

– Who is “better,” A or B?

– Group Order Ranking

• An evaluation method that places employees into a particular classification, such as quartiles

• 10 % are A’s, 20 % B’s, 40 % C’s, 20 % D’s, and 10 % F’s

Suggestions for Improving Evaluations

• Use multiple evaluators to overcome rater biases

– Halo and leniency errors

• Evaluate selectively based on evaluator competence

• Train evaluators to improve rater accuracy

• Provide employees with due process

– Individuals are provided with adequate notice of

performance expectations

– All relevant evidence of a violation is aired in a fair

hearing, with the individual given an opportunity to

respond

– Final decision is based on the evidence and is free of bias

Providing Performance Feedback

• Why Managers Are Reluctant to Give Feedback

– They are uncomfortable discussing performance

weaknesses directly with employees

– Employees tend to become defensive

– Employees tend to have an inflated assessment of

their own performance

• Solutions to Improving Feedback

– Train managers how to give effective feedback

– Use performance review as a counseling activity

rather than as a judgment process

Managing Diversity: Work-Life

Conflicts

• Since the 1980s the line between work and personal life has begun to blur

• Solutions include:

– Flexible scheduling and benefits

– On-site personal services (like dry cleaning or a gym)

– Time-, information- or money-based strategies available

• Stress is caused not by time constraints but the

psychological incursion of work into the family domain and vice versa

– Some like greater integration of work and family; others need greater separation

Diversity Training

• Used to increase awareness and to examine stereotypes

• Participants learn to value individual

differences, increase cross-cultural

understanding, and confront stereotypes

Global Implications

• Selection

– Practices differ by nation: global policies need to be

modified to fit within local customs

– Use of educational qualifications may be universal

• Performance Evaluation

– Not emphasized or considered appropriate in many

cultures due to differences in:

• Individualism versus collectivism

• A person’s relationship to the environment

• Time orientation (long- or short-term)

• Focus on responsibility

Summary and Managerial Implications

• Selection Practices

– Proper selection devices increase likelihood of hiring the right person for the position

• Training and Development Programs

– Can be used to improve employee skills

– Increase employee self-efficacy

• Performance Evaluation

– A major goal is to assess an individual’s performance

accurately as a basis for reward allocation decisions

– Should be based on behavioral, results-oriented criteria, take a long-term view and allow employees input into the process

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