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

In one year's time,James developed gall bladder problems and needed surgery;he became a single parent;he willingly moved his older mom in to live with him in order to avoid placing her in a nursing home;and,he unexpectedly tore his rotator cuff playing softball during the summer.Overall,these are not considered circumstances that impact job performance because they fall outside of the workplace.HR managers need only be concerned with how James performs when he is at work. Health issues and social issues affect job performance.HR managers must create strategies for addressing these challenges.HR managers cannot compartmentalize these as issues that fall outside of the work environment,because they directly impact workers' abilities to perform well at work.

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

It is sometimes advantageous to hire from within because it _________.

Performance appraisals are very useful for new,inexperienced workers and first-line managers,but have little value for top management.

As a human resources professional for a large company,David is involved with the ___________ process.His goal is to find the right number of qualified people at the right time.He will screen a qualified pool of candidates and send these individuals forward to others in the firm who will make the final selection decision.

In coming years,high tech growth areas such as computers,biotechnology,and robots are likely to experience a:

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. Cafeteria style plans permit employees to choose from a variety of benefits,up to a maximum dollar amount.

Marketing manager Sam Woodall has worked for Family Care Pharmaceuticals for 36 years.He fondly remembers the "good old days" when he could fire a worker for just about any reason.He feels that today's laws and regulations limiting his ability to fire workers undermines his authority and forces him to keep employees that don't measure up to his standards.Sam's views suggest he would favor working in a state that implements the policy of "employment at will." The "employment at will" doctrine said that managers had as much freedom to fire workers as the workers had to leave voluntarily.

Robotek International is a rapidly growing firm specializing in the production of sophisticated robots.One of the major problems Robotek is likely to face is a shortage of qualified workers. One of the major problems faced by firms in growth industries such as robotics,computers,and biotechnology is a shortage of workers with the necessary skills to work in these areas.

Establishing performance standards is a crucial step in the performance evaluation process.

The first step in establishing training and development programs is to:

Probably the most controversial program enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission concerns:

Today,fringe benefits account for approximately ______ percent of total payroll costs.

One of the challenges facing today's human resource managers is a shift in the age distribution of the labor force,including aging baby boomers,many of whom are deferring retirement.

Minority groups have made great strides in creating networking associations.For example,Black Enterprise Magazine sponsors networking forums.

Examples of soft benefits that a firm might offer are: onsite medical physician services,and exercise centers. Soft benefits are the types of services that help employees achieve those types of activities that take them away from work and family.In addition to the ones mentioned above,some businesses offer dry cleaning services,day care services,shoe repair,haircuts,and concierge services that will run errands for employees.

Trial periods are an effective method of reducing the firm's turnover costs.

__________ workers have a higher skill level than their current job requires.

An advantage of a skill-based system of pay for compensating teams is that such a system is easy to apply and administer.

Frank Lehman is a human resource manager at a major corporation.If Frank's company is like most firms today,which of the following statements about Frank's job is likely to be the most accurate?