Chap 4 Designing Jobs that motivate
When we talked about "task significance" about the extent that your job effects other peoples lives, it reminded me of a story I heard about a company in New York. It was an investment firm that had their offices located in one of the twin towers. After 911 they lost almost 40% of their employees during the attach. Once the firm was able to start business again they set a new company goal. 50% of all positive revenue would be donated to the families of their former coworkers that had died in the attach. After that, all the employees had a common goal to do better for the company and increase their performance. The following year their company grew by some crazy measure like 400% and it all came from a team effort and a desire beyond themselves that really made them push.
Another good idea came from Apple. How they do a weekly job rotation for their employees to join any other project throughout the week for one day. That brings in new ideas and innovation.
Chap 5
There are obviously huge labor surpluses in the job market right now. One of the few areas that are still looking for more employees is in health care, engineers, and apparently math teachers.
UVU did about every option available last year of downsizing to stay within their budget.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Chapter 5 – Planning for and Recruiting Human Resources
Concept and Brief Description
To plan for an organization’s human resource needs, you first need to determine your personnel forecasting. By knowing your company’s strategy, you can start to build positions that will implement that strategy efficiently. Through analysis and good judgment, the planner needs to determine the supply and demand for various positions. They can look at several indicators to predict labor needs. To reduce a surplus of labor in your company, downsizing, pay reductions, and demotions are a very expedient way but also very costly to current employee motivation and loyalty. Transferring employees and sharing work are fast methods that are less severe. Hiring freezes, natural attrition, and early retirement packages is a slower method but less painful than layoffs. It can be easier to have a slimmer size of employees and either require them to work overtime, or hire temps during the busy season. Recruiting for positions can come from within the organization or by offering attractive salaries to hire from outside the company. There are many sources to compare and select job applicants. Some of the best come from recommendations. The recruiter has many roles. The quality and quantity of his recruits depends highly on his personal and ethical behavior.
Emotional Hook
We’ve all been hired, fired, or quit a job. If we know going into those jobs what we found out within the first two weeks of actually working, how would we have acted differently? Is it better to get a job that will “do for now” or wait for the “perfect job” that fits our personality and work style?
Key Points To Elicit In Discussion
Will how you compensate your employees have an effect on the applicants that apply? Will how you pay your recruiter? Will his pay have an effect on the quality of his recruits?
Facilitative Question
What is the best plan of action for staffing your new company?
To plan for an organization’s human resource needs, you first need to determine your personnel forecasting. By knowing your company’s strategy, you can start to build positions that will implement that strategy efficiently. Through analysis and good judgment, the planner needs to determine the supply and demand for various positions. They can look at several indicators to predict labor needs. To reduce a surplus of labor in your company, downsizing, pay reductions, and demotions are a very expedient way but also very costly to current employee motivation and loyalty. Transferring employees and sharing work are fast methods that are less severe. Hiring freezes, natural attrition, and early retirement packages is a slower method but less painful than layoffs. It can be easier to have a slimmer size of employees and either require them to work overtime, or hire temps during the busy season. Recruiting for positions can come from within the organization or by offering attractive salaries to hire from outside the company. There are many sources to compare and select job applicants. Some of the best come from recommendations. The recruiter has many roles. The quality and quantity of his recruits depends highly on his personal and ethical behavior.
Emotional Hook
We’ve all been hired, fired, or quit a job. If we know going into those jobs what we found out within the first two weeks of actually working, how would we have acted differently? Is it better to get a job that will “do for now” or wait for the “perfect job” that fits our personality and work style?
Key Points To Elicit In Discussion
Will how you compensate your employees have an effect on the applicants that apply? Will how you pay your recruiter? Will his pay have an effect on the quality of his recruits?
Facilitative Question
What is the best plan of action for staffing your new company?
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Reponse for class - Chapter 4
Sounds like if you work for any government organization in New England, your damned if you do and damned if you don't. I understand you have to take discrimination seriously but sometimes it gets a little carried away. If they were smart about it, they would have thrown out the test results and not tell anyone. It was only until they advertised the results that people got mad about them.
The burden of proof is always on the employer. I understand the business owner who only wanted to hire Polynesian LDS workers, but where he messed up was by getting caught. I wouldn't have been to hard to still hire those guys and have all the documentation you'd need to justify the hires.
One problem with job descriptions is the fact that they usually change once you actually start working. Allot of employers tailor each job to what the individual is good at and has them focus at that.
A good job description will help find the right person for the right job. You don't want to put someone with an "engineers" personality into a customer focused sales position, and vice verses.
The burden of proof is always on the employer. I understand the business owner who only wanted to hire Polynesian LDS workers, but where he messed up was by getting caught. I wouldn't have been to hard to still hire those guys and have all the documentation you'd need to justify the hires.
One problem with job descriptions is the fact that they usually change once you actually start working. Allot of employers tailor each job to what the individual is good at and has them focus at that.
A good job description will help find the right person for the right job. You don't want to put someone with an "engineers" personality into a customer focused sales position, and vice verses.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Chapter 4 Analyzing Work and Designing Jobs
Concept and Brief Discussion
Work flow analysis identifies the amount and quality of work being performed, and identifies the inputs to carry it out and produce the outputs. Organization’s structure depends on the jobs or services being performed. The structure may be centralized or decentralized depending on their functions. Job analysis provides a foundation for carrying out many HRM responsibilities. The Labor Department publishes general background information about jobs in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Many organizations are “dejobbing” and viewing work as what needs to be done instead of a series of jobs. The goal of ergonomics is to minimize physical strain on the worker by structuring the physical work environment around the way the human body works. Employers are always looking for ways to reduce mental and physical strains.
Emotional Hook
If someone was to do a work flow analysis for my job, what would it look like? Does my job even really qualify for a physical analysis or is it all mental? How do you know your personality best fits the job your performing?
Key points to elicit in discussion
Designing an organization all starts with the lowest person on the totem pole. How does each step have an effect on the next?
Facilitative Questions
How can applying work flow analysis help me in my current job? How can it help is starting a business?
Work flow analysis identifies the amount and quality of work being performed, and identifies the inputs to carry it out and produce the outputs. Organization’s structure depends on the jobs or services being performed. The structure may be centralized or decentralized depending on their functions. Job analysis provides a foundation for carrying out many HRM responsibilities. The Labor Department publishes general background information about jobs in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Many organizations are “dejobbing” and viewing work as what needs to be done instead of a series of jobs. The goal of ergonomics is to minimize physical strain on the worker by structuring the physical work environment around the way the human body works. Employers are always looking for ways to reduce mental and physical strains.
Emotional Hook
If someone was to do a work flow analysis for my job, what would it look like? Does my job even really qualify for a physical analysis or is it all mental? How do you know your personality best fits the job your performing?
Key points to elicit in discussion
Designing an organization all starts with the lowest person on the totem pole. How does each step have an effect on the next?
Facilitative Questions
How can applying work flow analysis help me in my current job? How can it help is starting a business?
Reponse for class 1/21 Chap 3 & Articles
One of the best nuggets I got out of class was about how to fire someone. When you fire someone, you MUST document your reasons for the termination. With HR, allot of it falls back on documentation. The lady in class told a story about how the employee that wreaked the company truck got his job back through "affirmative action". That obviously shouldn't have happened, but if there was no supporting evidence, I can see how it got caught up. Based on this lesson I can tell that we really need to know our Civil Rights Act, Title VII, and Americans with Disabilities Act. Know what is covered and not covered. Another thing I learned was that alcoholics are covered under the disabilities act. Makes sense if your not a drunk but they're trying to fire you because you still go to AA. Another tid-bit was about Affirmative Action. It only really applies to government agencies or companies that are so big the government steps in and says it has to apply.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
HR Legal News Articles
I chose two different articles in regards to workplace legal issues. One is "Are Non-compete Agreements Valid?" and the other on "Religion and the Workplace" both by Jeffery Steinberger in Entrepreneur Magazine.
"Are Non-compete Agreements Valid?"
I’ve always thought the idea of having an employer make you sign a non-compete clause was always such a weasel thing to do, if not totally illegal. I remember when my wife was working at a car dealership in Provo and was forced to sign one or be “terminated”. I thought to myself, why would a SECREATARY really need to sign a non-compete? How can you tell someone that they can’t work anywhere else? What if you fired them, created a hostile work environment, or just because they wanted to make more money by going somewhere else? That’s crazy. Based on this article, as a general rule, non-compete rules aren’t valid. Most states have specific laws that allow people to seek lawful employment.
"Religion and the Workplace"
Another problem is religion in the workplace. How do companies handle people’s “Religious Beliefs” or “Holidays” like the ones you see in the Las Vegas commercials? Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that an employer must provide “reasonable accommodation” of an employee’s religious beliefs and practices, unless accommodation would constitute “undue hardship” for the business. An employee must first notify the employer of the conflict between his or her religious beliefs and an employment requirement. Without such notification, an employer can legally discharge an employee for excessive absences from work, regardless if they’re for religious purposes.
"Are Non-compete Agreements Valid?"
I’ve always thought the idea of having an employer make you sign a non-compete clause was always such a weasel thing to do, if not totally illegal. I remember when my wife was working at a car dealership in Provo and was forced to sign one or be “terminated”. I thought to myself, why would a SECREATARY really need to sign a non-compete? How can you tell someone that they can’t work anywhere else? What if you fired them, created a hostile work environment, or just because they wanted to make more money by going somewhere else? That’s crazy. Based on this article, as a general rule, non-compete rules aren’t valid. Most states have specific laws that allow people to seek lawful employment.
"Religion and the Workplace"
Another problem is religion in the workplace. How do companies handle people’s “Religious Beliefs” or “Holidays” like the ones you see in the Las Vegas commercials? Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that an employer must provide “reasonable accommodation” of an employee’s religious beliefs and practices, unless accommodation would constitute “undue hardship” for the business. An employee must first notify the employer of the conflict between his or her religious beliefs and an employment requirement. Without such notification, an employer can legally discharge an employee for excessive absences from work, regardless if they’re for religious purposes.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Providing Equal Employement Opportunity and a Safe Workplace
Concept and Brief Description
The legislative branch of the government develops laws to govern equal employment opportunity, worker safety, and health.
The executive branch creates agencies to enforce the laws.
The judicial branch hears cases related to employment laws and interprets the law.
Many federal laws have been passed requiring equal employment opportunity:
The Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1871 gives all citizens equal legal rights.
Equal Pay Act of 1963 "Equal jobs receive equal pay"
Title VII of CRA forbids discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 for employees over 40
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires affirmative action for people with disabilities
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1973
Americans w/ Disabilities Act of 1978
Executive Order 11246 Requires affirmative action in hiring women and minorities
Civil Rights Act of 1991 same as Title VII
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994
Employers can avoid illegal discrimination by having standard hiring practices that don't discriminate.
Organizations can prevent sexual harassment developing policies that train employees to spot it, the procedures to follow if it occurs, and the consequences associated with it.
Employers can keep their work environment safe by following the OSHA's guidelines.
Emotional Hook
What kinds of discrimination have you seen in the workforce? How can a culture of sexual harassment affect your business?
Key points to elicit in discussion
Does "Reverse Discrimination" happen very often? In Utah? Outside of UT?
Facilitative Question
How can a fair hiring process and safe work environment benefit your business?
The legislative branch of the government develops laws to govern equal employment opportunity, worker safety, and health.
The executive branch creates agencies to enforce the laws.
The judicial branch hears cases related to employment laws and interprets the law.
Many federal laws have been passed requiring equal employment opportunity:
The Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1871 gives all citizens equal legal rights.
Equal Pay Act of 1963 "Equal jobs receive equal pay"
Title VII of CRA forbids discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 for employees over 40
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires affirmative action for people with disabilities
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1973
Americans w/ Disabilities Act of 1978
Executive Order 11246 Requires affirmative action in hiring women and minorities
Civil Rights Act of 1991 same as Title VII
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994
Employers can avoid illegal discrimination by having standard hiring practices that don't discriminate.
Organizations can prevent sexual harassment developing policies that train employees to spot it, the procedures to follow if it occurs, and the consequences associated with it.
Employers can keep their work environment safe by following the OSHA's guidelines.
Emotional Hook
What kinds of discrimination have you seen in the workforce? How can a culture of sexual harassment affect your business?
Key points to elicit in discussion
Does "Reverse Discrimination" happen very often? In Utah? Outside of UT?
Facilitative Question
How can a fair hiring process and safe work environment benefit your business?
What A Crazy Start To The Semester
Better late than never I guess :) I hate being late or out of the loop in class but this first real week of class really kicked my "U Know What" My wife had our fourth child last Monday January the 11th. Little Brylee Helen Christensen weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces. She's my "reason" for missing class Tuesday and playing catch up this week. With the new baby, our 18 month old other daughter who "wants to be baby still", my 5 year old daughter w/ ammonia, and spending 40+ hours at work, HYRUM'S BEEN A BUSY BOY!!
Well no more pitty seasons or excuses for being late from me. Looking forward to a great semester.
Well no more pitty seasons or excuses for being late from me. Looking forward to a great semester.
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