Exam 11: Human Resource Management: Finding and Keeping the Best Employees

Lani wants to know how many workers in her company have certain specialized skills and have received training to update their qualifications within the past year.She could use a human resource inventory to help her find this type of information.

As a project manager for a large construction company,Tyler decided to make the performance appraisal process as painless as possible for his work crew.He spent a considerable amount of time creating performance standards he felt were reasonable,and after six months time,he scheduled individual appointments with each worker to discuss strengths and weaknesses and areas that needed improvement according to the standards he privately set.Some employees were sent to vestibule training,and one even got a promotion with additional compensation.What did Tyler fail to do correctly?

Today's workers tend to be very loyal,as evidenced by declining turnover rates in most industries.

Which of the following statements about performance appraisals is the most accurate?

Ben is a project manager for a large construction company.Each day his job requires him to prepare detailed reports of the progress of current projects assigned to him.Since this responsibility is something that Ben does on a regular basis,the HR professional for his company would list it as part of the ______________ for Ben's project management position.

An)__________ is prepared as part of the human resource planning process,and indicates the characteristics and qualifications of the organization's labor force,thus helping the firm determine whether its employees are technically up-to-date and adequately trained.

Early in the year,manager John Jacobs set reasonable,understandable,and measurable performance standards and communicated these standards clearly to all team members.Because of these efforts,he should be prepared for the next step in the appraisal process.

Employee training focuses on short-term skills,while employee development focuses on long-term abilities.

A golden handshake refers to the severance pay that is offered to a worker that is laid off when the firm downsizes.

In just a few short weeks,Jake would arrive back in the states from his semester abroad.He was already in a temp agency's database from the previous summer,when he spent 8 weeks working for an accounting firm.Jake will again try to hire on as a ___________ during the summer months.The company that hired him last summer typically hires several college students each year,mainly because they have good computer skills,and the company does not need to offer college students benefits.

Because current legal guidelines limit the types of questions that can be asked,completed job application forms contain very little useful information about job candidates.

The most common reason for hiring contingent workers is that they improve worker morale.

Identify and describe three common methods of training and developing employees.

Which of the following strategies is used by a human resource manager whose goal is to fill an open position from within the company?

As part of the HR planning process,the manager begins by assessing the current labor situation at his/her company.Essentially,this means:

The Krandall Corporation wants to reduce its labor force,but is concerned about the impact downsizing will have on its remaining employees.One policy that might allow Krandall to reduce its labor force without adversely affecting morale is to:

The reason that companies use the gain sharing pay system and the skill based pay system to compensate teams of employees is that both are closely tied to profit performance.

Jorge Martinez hates to do performance appraisals of his subordinates because he always struggles when he has to evaluate their performance.In order to make the actual performance evaluations a better experience for all,Jorge should:

It is not unusual to find persons with a variety of skills and skill levels serving as contingent workers.Contingent workers in the U.S.are usually under 25 years of age and may include independent contractors,middle management positions,and even college students who only want to work during the summer months.

Most firms today are checking the backgrounds of job applicants more carefully than they did in the past.