HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION OF BUSINESS

LAWS PROTECTING EMPLOYEES WITH DISABILITIES AND OLDER EMPLOYEES

EFFECTS LEGISLATION

LAWS AFFECTING HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

One of important pieces of social legislation passed by Congress was Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title of that act brought the government directly into the operations of human resource management. It prohibits discrimination in hiring, firing, compensation, apprenticeships, training, term, condotions or privileges of employment base on race, religion, creed, sex or national origin

In 1972,the Equal Employment Opportunity Act(EEOA) was added as an amendment to title . It permitted the EEOC to issue for acceptable employer conduct in administering equal employment opportunity.The EEOC also mandated specific record-keeping producers, and Congress vested it with the power of enforcement to ensure these mandates were carried out.It become a formidable regulatory force in the administration of human resource management.

The most policy enforced by the EEOC involved affirmative action, designed to “right past wrong” of by increasing opportunities for minorities and womenReverse discrimination has been defined as discriminating against members of dominant or majority group and it was designed to correct previous discrimination. The issue has generated heated debate as well as many lawsuit.The Office of Federal Contract Complience Program (OFCCP) ensures that employers comply with nondiscrimination and affirmative actions laws and regulations when doing business with the federal government.

LAWS PROTECTING EMPLOYEES WITH DISABILITIES AND OLDER

EMPLOYEESThe Vocational Rehabilitions Act of 1973, extended protection to people with any physical or mental disabilityADA( The Americans with Diabilities act of 1990) requires employers to give applicants with physical or mental disabilities the same consideration for employment as people without disabilities.It also protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination in public accommodations, transportation and telecommunications.ADA requires making ‘’making reasonable accommodations” for employees with disabilities

EFFECT OF LEGISLATIONEmployers must know and act in accordance with the legal rights of their employees or risks costly court casesLegislation affects all areas of human resource management from hiring and training to compensationCourt cases demonstrate that it is sometimes legal to provide special employment and training to correct discrimination in the pastNew court cases and legislation change human resource management almost daily, the only way to keep current is to read the business literature and stay familiar with emerging issues

SELECTING EMPLOYEES WHO

WILL BE PRODUCTIVE

An organisation needs employees who are dedicated, efficient, good knowledge & skills and trustworthy to be part of the team. Thus, an employer will definitely need to look into the required criteria’s before recruiting a staff.In order to do the hiring, an employer will need to advertise the job vacancy. It can be done through internal or external sources.

Internal sources are:-

a) Internal hiring from other departmentb)Internal promotionc) Recommendation

External sources are:-

d)Newspaper Job Advertisemente)JobStreetf) Company’s websiteg)Company’s facebook

THE STEPS TO BE TAKEN IN THIS SELECTION PROCESS ARE:-a) Application form – the candidates short-listed for the job will be required to fill in the necessary information, such as, name, address, age, contact number, education backgrounds, work experiences and references. Although these information can be obtained from the resume but it is a formality by an organisation to do so. b) Interview – The candidate will be interviewed by a panel of interviewer and during the interview the candidate will be asked questions on her interests, education backgrounds, work related experiences and other relevant issues pertaining to the post applied for. Here, the interviewer will study on the candidate professionalism, confident level, expressions, personality, language and general knowledge. Every organisation has its own standard interview form to evaluate the candidate, that, each interviewer will need to rate the candidate.

c) Employment test – there are organisations that may require potential candidate to undergo employment test. A set of questions will be set, for example, in hiring a Communication & Information Executive, the potential candidate may be required to write a half page press release with a topic given with a specific time given. This is to evaluate the candidate knowledge on the topic given, language, speed and skill. This employment test is very important for those in technical or engineering line, in order, to know the level of the potential candidate understanding of the machine to be handled or work related.

d) Confirming Background Information – This is also known as reference checks or cross checks on the potential candidate with the references given on the application form or resume. There are organisation that may go to the extend calling the potential candidate’s previous employee to do some background checks.

e) Medical Check-Up – Multinational organisations will usually require a medical check-up be done before any hiring be done. This is to ensure the potential candidate is in a way “fit” and “healthy”. The person is not suffering from any kind of chronic diseases that may be at the cost of the organization. The check-ups are done at selected panel clinics and the cost is borne by the organisation.

f) Establishing Trial Period – Once the organisation is satisfied with the Reference Checks & Medical Check-up, the candidate to be issued Letter of Employment. In the Employment Letter, states, name & identity card of the employee, post of offered, salary, date joined, reporting time, working hours, probation period and other benefits

TRAINING AND DEVELOPING

EMPLOYEES FOR OPTIMUM

PERFORMANCES

Training focus on short-term skill while development focus on long-term abilities. This includes three steps:

1.Assessing organization needs and employees skills in determining training needs.2.Designing training activities to meet identified needs.3.Evaluating the training’s effectiveness.

Some common training and development activities are employees orientation, on-the-job training, apprenticeship, off-the-job training, vestibule training, job simulation and management training

OrientationAn activity that initiates new employees into the organization,fellow employees,immediate supervisor and to the policies,practices and objectives of the firmOn-the-job TrainingThe employees will learn by doing,or by watching others for a while and then imitating them at the workplace.ApprenticeshipsThe trainees work alongside the experienced employee to master the skills and procedures of a craft.Off-the-job trainingThis training occurs away from workplace and consists of internal or external programs to develop variety of skills or foster personal development.

Online TrainingThis training demonstrate how technology is improving the efficiency of many off-the-job training programs.Most universities and colleges offer online classes.Both nonprofit and profit-seeking business make extensive use of online training.Vestibule TrainingIt is done in the classroom with equipment similar to that used on the job so that employees learn proper method and safety procedures before assuming a specific job asssignments.Job SimulationUse of equipment that duplicates job condition and tasks so that trainees can learn skills before attempting them on job.It differs from vestibule training in that it duplicate the exact combination of condition that occur on the job.

MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENTManagers need to learn skills and empathy.They also need time

management,planning and human relation skills.This is the process of training and educating employees to become good managers and then monitoring the progress of their managerial skills.Most management training programs include: 1.On-the-job coaching. 2.Understudy positions. 3.Job rotation. 4.Off-the-job courses and training.

NETWORKINGProcess of establishing and maintaining contacts with key managers in your own and other organizations.Diversity in Management DevelopmentWomen learned importance of networking and having mentor.Unfortunately, women often have more difficulty in men in networking or finding mentors since most senior managers are males.Companies that take initiatives to develop female and minority managers understand three crucial principle:Grooming women and minorities for management position is not about legality but rather about bringing more talent in the door.The best women and minoritie will become harder to attract and retain.Having more women and minorities at all level lets business serve their increasingly female and minority customers better.

COMPENSATING EMPLOYEES: ATTRACTING AND KEEPING THE BEST

COMPENSATION PROGRAMSTo be precise, compensation is what an employee gets in return to his contribution to the organization. The term compensation includes pay, incentives, and benefits offered by the employers for hiring the services of employees. Compensation planning plays an important role in any HR department’s efforts to obtain, maintain and retain an effective workforce.

A managed and competitive compensation program helps:

Attract the kinds of employees the business needs. Build employee incentive to work efficiently and productively. Keep valued employees from going to competitors or starting

their own firm. Maintain a competitive market position by keeping costs low

due to high productivity from a satisfied workforce. Provide employee financial security through wages and fringe

benefits.

TYPES OF PAY SYSTEMSSalary

Salary is a fixed amount of money or compensation paid to an employee by an employer in return for work performed. An employee who is paid a salary is expected to complete a whole job in return for the salary.Hourly Wage/Day Work

The term “hourly wage” describes a rate an employer agrees to pay a worker per hour worked, such as $12 per hour or $17.50 per hour. The “average” is an estimated hourly rate calculated using the varying hourly rates of a group of workers in a specific occupation.

Piecework systemPiece work (or piecework) is any type of employment in which a

worker is paid a fixed piece rate for each unit produced or action performed regardless of time.Commission plan

A commission plan is defined as an arrangement made in which people are paid based on performance. An example of a commission plan is when salespeople are paid 10 percent of every sale they make.Bonus

Bonus systems are payment systems designed to increase production by the awarding of incentives to employees.Profit sharing plan

A profit sharing plan is a type of plan that gives employers flexibility in designing key features. It allows the employer to choose how much to contribute to theplan (out of profits or otherwise) each year, including making no contribution for a year.

Gain sharing planGain sharing is a system of management used by a

business to increase profitability by motivating employees to improve their performance through involvement and participation. As their performance improves, employees share financially in the gain(improvement).Stock options

A stock option is a contract between two parties in which the stock option buyer (holder) purchases the right (but not the obligation) to buy/sell 100 shares of an underlying stock at a predetermined price from the option seller (writer) within a fixed period of time.

COMPENSATING TEAMSThe two most common methods for teams involve:-Skill-Based: compensation system that rewards employees with additional pay in exchange for formal certification of the employee’s mastery of skills, knowledge, and/or competencies. Pay will increase as the skill also increase.-Gain-Sharing: The pay will increased as the performance of the employees increase.

FRINGE BENEFITSDefinition

An employment benefit (as a pension or a paid holiday) granted by an employer that has a monetary value but does not affect basic wage rates. Its include health insurance, group term life coverage, education reimbursement, childcare and assistance reimbursement, cafeteria plans, employee discounts, personal use of a company owned vehicle and other similar benefits.

EXAMPLES OF FRINGE BENEFITS: • Retirement benefit plans

• Group health insurance • Medical, prescription, dental, and vision plans• Long-term care insurance plans• Life insurance coverage• Relocation assistance• Legal assistance plans• Transportation benefits• Child care benefits• Adoption assistance • Employee discounts (e.g. wellness programs, hotels and resorts, movie theatre, theme parks, business establishments, etc.)

EXAMPLE OF SPECIAL PERK AT GOOGLE

At Google’s cafeterias, gourmet chefs create a wide variety of healthy and delicious meals every day. Google also offers snacks to help satisfy its employees in between meals. It’s all on the company’s tab.Employees can relax after a long day by playing billiards, braving the rock climbing wall, or taking a dip in the company pool. There’s an onsite beach volleyball pit, video games, Foosball, ping pong and roller hockey.Google is a pet-friendly campus. Owners are responsible for cleaning up after pets at all times.

Employees can do their laundry for free in company washers and dryers; Google even provides free detergent. Dry cleaning is also available.Tired employees can take a break in a decompression (stress) capsule that is impermeable to sound and light.If employees need a break from their desks, they can work out in the gym or take exercise classes. If the employees is in the mood for a mental workout they can also study Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish and French, or visit the mobile library.Additional perks include ski trips, company movie days, summer picnics, Halloween & holiday parties, health fairs, quarterly group off sites, a credit union, saunas, roller hockey, outdoor volleyball courts, discounts for products and local attractions.

CAFETERIA PLANAn employee benefit plan that allows staff to choose from a variety of benefits to formulate a plan that best suits their needs. Cafeteria plan options may include health and accident insurance, cash benefits, tax advantages and/or retirement plan contributions. These plans become more useful as diversity within workforces continues to grow. For example, the benefit needs of young families may differ greatly from those of a single person.

SCHEDULING EMPLOYEES

Among the many roles of the manager in a business, one of the most important thing is scheduling the employees. Scheduling employee provides efficiency in the workplace. Adhering to a daily schedule helps office workers manage their time more effectively, which supports individual performance and overall company productivity.

FLEXTIME PLANSThis plan gives employees some freedom to choose which hours to work, as long as they work the required number of hours or complete their assigned tasks. The most popular plans is the employees need to arrive at the job station at 7:00 or 9:00 a.m. so that they can leave between 4:00 or 6:00 p.m. Flextime allows employees to adjust to work or for life demands. Unfortunately, flextime plans generally incorporate core time.

Another option that about one four of companies uses is compressed workweek. An employee works the full numbers of hours but in fewer than the standard number of days. For example, en employee may work for four 10-hour day and then enjoy the long weekend.

HOME-WORK BASEDHome-work based is where the workers can choose their own hours, interrupt work for child care or other tasks, and take time out for personal reasons. It requires discipline to stay focused on the job and not easily distracted.Benefit for the employers; Increase productivity Broadens available talent pool Reduces cost of providing on-site office space

Benefit for the employees; Makes more time available for work and

family Reduces expenses of buying and

maintaining office clothes Avoid office politics More opportunities for individuals with

disabilities

JOB-SHARING PLANS

This plan lets two or more part-time employees share one full-time job. Students and parents with small children, for instance, may work only during school hours, and older workers can work part time before fully retiring or after retiring

Benefits of job sharing; Provide opportunities for those who cannot

or prefer not to work full-time. Reduce absenteeism and tardiness Productive workforce Ability to schedule part-time workers into

peak demand periods