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

Most companies that have tried job sharing have concluded that the extra cost of hiring and training additional workers outweigh its benefits.

Charlie is the director for a small non-profit company that provides jobs for disabled Americans. One of his most time consuming responsibilities is finding companies that are willing to hire his company to perform tasks such as bulk mailings and other small jobs that his employees can do in a reasonable amount of time. He needs to recruit an outside sales representative who can dedicate time to meeting with other firms and selling the services of the non-profit operation. Under the circumstances that Charlie's non- profit is similar to a small business with a small amount of funds dedicated toward the sales position, which of the following strategies may be a suitable approach to finding a good sales person?

According to the Reaching Beyond Our Borders box, titled, "Working Worldwide", companies must consider a number of compensation related issues for employees who work abroad. These may include currency conversion issues, special concessions such as travel and housing allowances, differences in health care standards in different countries, and even vacation benefits.

If you aspire to become a sous chef (the second in command in a large restaurant kitchen), you will pursue several types of training and development. Your will include learning how to perform as a line chef, as you work your way through pastry, grill, pantry, and sauté. The only way you will learn the variations in the line jobs is to experience them! As a(n) , you will work alongside another sous chef for a few years in order to learn how to juggle all the middle management type of activities expected of this professional. Your training will be extensive, as you go to Culinary School, attend a community college, and/or take management classes to help you learn to minimize conflict in the kitchen as well as improve the productivity of those you manage.

Because of legal implications, managers should not use the results of performance appraisals to make decisions about promotions and compensation.

A job is a statement that identifies the objectives of a job, the type of work to be done, the responsibilities and duties that are associated with the job, the working conditions, and the relationship of the job to other functions.

Job analysis helps a manager answer the question: "How many workers in my organization have this particular skill"?

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.

Steve is gathering information about the names, ages, education, specialized skills, and capabilities of all of his firm's employees. The information Steve is acquiring suggests he is working on a:

Liz hired Max Maxwell right out of college! Max had brought a lot to the plate at the Brooklyn Sporting Goods firm where Liz served as Marketing Director over the baseball, basketball, and hockey lines. Yesterday, Max submitted his resignation after only one year on the job, and disclosed that he is leaving sporting goods and taking a job in Canada where he will be marketing a hockey arena. Liz is beside herself and has decided to personally conduct an exit interview. In evaluating this situation, you agree that Liz is probably the best person to conduct this interview.

Hillary is a human resource manager with Golden Years Elder Care Services. The company is considering offering some new services, and she wants to know how many current employees have certain types of skills and training to adequately perform the new services. A document that would help Hillary answer this question is the firm's:

HR is focused on issues directly related to a person's job and with things that happen at work, as opposed to concerns that may affect one's work such as elder care and child care, but are not directly related to work.

Recent federal law clearly and strongly supports the notion that companies must use strict employment quotas to correct for past discriminatory actions.

A(n) 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.

In a compressed workweek, employees work more hours each day, but work fewer days each week.

Skill-based pay is a method of compensating teams in which base pay is raised when team members learn and apply new skills.

Helen Caldwell is a human resource manager for a firm that is planning to switch to a more sophisticated production method. As a human resource manager, one of Helen's duties will be to forecast the demand for the type of labor needed to implement the new method.

According to the Thinking Green box titled, "Green Eggs and Ham", your firm stands to benefit more by encouraging employees to eat healthier.

Some firms have found that employees prefer cafeteria-style benefit plans. For these plans, the employees vote on the benefits that they prefer, and only those benefits receiving the highest votes are offered to employees.

On-site haircuts and free breakfasts are examples of soft benefits some firms provide for employees.