Exam 11: Managing Human Resource Systems

What is the term for the form of sexual harassment in which employment outcomes,such as hiring,promotion,or simply keeping one's job,depend on whether an individual submits to sexual harassment?

What can be done to provide a positive aspect to downsizing?

Narrative 11-1 At Domino's Pizza, company-wide turnover is 158 percent. That means Domino's must recruit, hire, and train 180,000 people a year just to fill its company's 114,000 jobs. And with that much turnover, the company can't consistently produce a quality product. Making and delivering one million pizzas each night, as Domino's does, is not easy, especially if it is always working with inexperienced workers. Even a simple job like order taking has a learning curve when you're taking 45 to 50 orders an hour. In fact, a new order taker usually requires 80 hours to become as reliable as an experienced one. Until they learn their jobs, new workers make lots of mistakes, such as getting orders wrong, giving out the wrong change, and showing up at customers' homes with the wrong pizza. Those mistakes are costly in two ways. First, if the order is wrong, late, or missing, customers get angry and may not do business with Domino's again. According to a leading consumer satisfaction index, Domino's ranks in the bottom half of fast-food companies. Second, to right those wrongs, Domino's often says the pizza is free, and that hurts profits. Turnover is costly in other ways. It costs time and money to find and hire new workers. Domino's estimates that it costs $2,500 to replace each hourly worker who leaves and $20,000 to replace a store manager. New workers take time and money to train-each new worker spends the first 30 days in training, learning to take orders, handle the cash register, make pizza dough, and ultimately, how to make a pizza in less than a minute. Turnover costs Domino's several hundred million dollars a year, or 15 to 20 percent of revenues! The question, of course, is what to do about it. Robert Chabot owns a series of Domino's franchise stores. He says it's all about hiring people who want to do good work. Consequently, Chabot relies heavily on employee referrals to first identify good job applicants. Chabot assumes that if current employees are satisfied with their jobs, they'll tell others, and those people will, in turn, want to work for him. He also pays employees $25 for each person they recommend who gets hired and then stays for at least 90 days. Domino's has improved the screening and selecting of potential managers. Anyone who wants to manage a Domino's store has to pass a 30-minute online test of their financial and management skills. If you're not familiar with financial concepts such as "break-even" and "cash flow," and you're not sure how to handle poorly performing employees (hint: yelling and screaming isn't the preferred answer), then you're unlikely to pass the test. -Refer to the Narrative 11-1.Which selection method is used to determine that prospective employees do not have a criminal record?

Sharron Grant-Burton was a marketing director for Covenant Care,an owner of skilled-nursing and assisted-living facilities.During a discussion of the fairness of the company's bonus structure with other marketing directors,Grant-Burton said she did not receive a bonus because her executive director "did not believe in them." Several days later,Grant-Burton was fired and told she had been terminated for several unspecified reasons,including her comments about bonuses.What is this an example of?

Full compliance with federal law is enough to ensure that an organization cannot incur liability in sexual harassment complaints.

What is sexual harassment? Identify the two kinds of sexual harassment from a legal perspective.Describe some frequent misunderstandings about sexual harassment,and specify steps that companies can take to make sure that sexual harassment laws are followed and not violated.Give one example of possible sexual harassment that you have heard or read about,and explain which of the steps just described could have averted or resolved that situation more effectively.

One reason items manufactured in Southeast Asia can be imported into Canada so cheaply is that workers are paid a small amount of money for each item produced.Which type of pay plan do manufacturers operating in Southeast Asia use?

Which type of error did the manager commit when she rated all of her subordinates as above-average in all performance areas?

Which of the following provides employment counselling services for employees faced with downsizing?

Which practice is recommended to managers to improve traditional performance appraisal feedback sessions?

Narrative 11-1 At Domino's Pizza, company-wide turnover is 158 percent. That means Domino's must recruit, hire, and train 180,000 people a year just to fill its company's 114,000 jobs. And with that much turnover, the company can't consistently produce a quality product. Making and delivering one million pizzas each night, as Domino's does, is not easy, especially if it is always working with inexperienced workers. Even a simple job like order taking has a learning curve when you're taking 45 to 50 orders an hour. In fact, a new order taker usually requires 80 hours to become as reliable as an experienced one. Until they learn their jobs, new workers make lots of mistakes, such as getting orders wrong, giving out the wrong change, and showing up at customers' homes with the wrong pizza. Those mistakes are costly in two ways. First, if the order is wrong, late, or missing, customers get angry and may not do business with Domino's again. According to a leading consumer satisfaction index, Domino's ranks in the bottom half of fast-food companies. Second, to right those wrongs, Domino's often says the pizza is free, and that hurts profits. Turnover is costly in other ways. It costs time and money to find and hire new workers. Domino's estimates that it costs $2,500 to replace each hourly worker who leaves and $20,000 to replace a store manager. New workers take time and money to train-each new worker spends the first 30 days in training, learning to take orders, handle the cash register, make pizza dough, and ultimately, how to make a pizza in less than a minute. Turnover costs Domino's several hundred million dollars a year, or 15 to 20 percent of revenues! The question, of course, is what to do about it. Robert Chabot owns a series of Domino's franchise stores. He says it's all about hiring people who want to do good work. Consequently, Chabot relies heavily on employee referrals to first identify good job applicants. Chabot assumes that if current employees are satisfied with their jobs, they'll tell others, and those people will, in turn, want to work for him. He also pays employees $25 for each person they recommend who gets hired and then stays for at least 90 days. Domino's has improved the screening and selecting of potential managers. Anyone who wants to manage a Domino's store has to pass a 30-minute online test of their financial and management skills. If you're not familiar with financial concepts such as "break-even" and "cash flow," and you're not sure how to handle poorly performing employees (hint: yelling and screaming isn't the preferred answer), then you're unlikely to pass the test. -Refer to the Narrative 11-1.What is Domino's using when it asks those who want to manage a Domino's store to pass a 30-minute online test of their financial and management skills?

Pedro comes from a culture where people are shorter than most nations.Pedro was not selected for a job by a security firm and feels the firm is against hiring people from his culture.What is this an example of?

Cognitive ability tests are also called "aptitude tests."

If an HR manager were allowed to use just one selection test,cognitive ability tests would be the one to use.

What are the two most important results of a job analysis?

Identify two common problems that occur during the performance appraisal process.Recommend one approach for avoiding each of these problems.

Which of the following helps companies meet the legal requirement that their human resource decisions be job related?

In setting their pay structures,companies use a procedure known as performance assessment,which determines the worth of each job by determining the market value of the knowledge,skills,and requirements needed to perform it.

Diana works for a hospital.Her day started with placing an ad for X-Ray technicians.She then reviewed the progress of a training program she organized for volunteers in the emergency department.Later in the day she will meet with the vice president of operations to determine which administrative employee should be promoted to a new management position that was created.What is Diana's role with the hospital?

What potential problem do résumés pose for companies?