Does jiffy lube hire 16 year olds

Major Questions You Should Be Able to Answer

9.1

Strategic Human Resource Management

Major Question: How do effective managers view the role of people in their organization’s success?

9.2

Recruitment & Selection: Putting the Right People into the Right Jobs

Major Question: How can I reduce mistakes in hiring and find great people who might work for me?

9.3

Managing an Effective Workforce: Compensation & Benefits

Major Question: What are the various forms of compensation?

9.4

Orientation, Training, & Development

Major Question: Once people are hired, what’s the best way to see that they do what they’re supposed to do?

9.5

Performance Appraisal

Major Question: How can I assess employees’ performance more accurately and give more effective feedback?

9.6

Managing Promotions, Transfers, Disciplining, & Dismissals

Major Question: What are some guidelines for handling promotions, transfers, disciplining, and dismissals?

9.7

The Legal Requirements of Human Resource Management

Major Question: To avoid exposure to legal liabilities, what areas of the law do I need to be aware of?

9.8

Labor-Management Issues

Major Question: What are the principal processes and issues involved in organizing labor unions?

Page 261the manager’s toolbox

Soft Skills & Social Graces: Boosting Your Advantage in the Hiring World

Didn’t get hired? Maybe you’re lacking in the right soft skills: appearance, manners, punctuality, ability to communicate well—in other words, professional behavior. It’s what employers complain they can’t find in many job applicants, especially among Millennials. 1

Dress for Success

If you dress casually on campus, rethink your wardrobe before showing up for a job interview (or a career fair). No sandals or flip-flops, torn jeans, tank tops, short skirts, or revealing dresses. Wear simple earrings (men not at all), cover tattoos, and don’t try to look sexy. Employers are “looking for people who can assume the role of a business professional,” says one recruitment manager. 2 For men, this could mean wearing a suit and tie and leather shoes with dress socks. For women, it could be a blazer and a blouse with a skirt or slacks, along with low heels and hosiery. Do the same the first day at work on a new job. 3

Going Forward with Fork & Knife

If you’re asked to lunch, be aware that observing applicants’ dining etiquette has become an informal part of the selection process. (To sharpen their competitive advantage, Chinese executives are now trained in Western table manners and social graces before trips abroad.) 4 Keep your fingers clean (don’t order greasy sandwiches, pasta, or sushi), so you can deal with any paperwork and shake hands when you leave. Break bread or rolls into bite-size pieces, butter them, and eat them one at a time. Scoop the spoon away from (not toward) you when consuming soup. Don’t chew the ice cubes from your drink. Put your napkin on your chair (not the table) if you have to leave the table in mid-meal. Above all, chew with your mouth closed. And don’t talk until you’ve swallowed your food. 5

Avoiding Bad Tech Habits

Sixty percent of U.S. smartphone users in one survey said they couldn’t go an hour without looking at their devices. 6 In research involving human resource managers, 76% of respondents said breaches of tech etiquette hurt work life. 7 The most annoying smartphone behaviors at work: having loud private conversations (65%), not silencing the phone (59%), checking the phone during conversation (52%), and checking the phone in a meeting (38%). 8 We hope you’re not one of those who doesn’t participate in meal conversations (or meetings) because you’re texting or gaming or Facebooking. Or who sets the ringtone at full volume. Or who talks or texts in public restrooms. 9

Watching What You Do on Social Media—Today

Having good manners starts even before you meet any company recruiters. If you tweet obscenities, show a lack of spelling skills on Google+, post sexy photos of yourself on Instagram, or talk about alcohol, drugs, or guns on Facebook, you may already have blown a good job opportunity, since human resource departments regularly check applicants out on social media. 10

For Discussion Which of the activities described above do you need to work on? How will you go about doing it?

This chapter considers human resource (HR) management—planning for, attracting, developing, and retaining an effective workforce. We consider how this subject fits in with the overall company strategy, how to evaluate current and future employee needs, and how to recruit and select qualified people. We describe orientation, training, and development and how to assess employee performance and give feedback. We discuss how to manage compensation and benefits, promotions and discipline, and workplace performance problems. We go over basic legal requirements. Finally, we consider the role of labor unions.

Page 262

Strategic Human Resource Management

How do effective managers view the role of people in their organization’s success?

THE BIG PICTURE

Human resource management consists of the activities managers perform to plan for, attract, develop, and retain an effective workforce. Planning the human resources needed consists of understanding current employee needs and predicting future employee needs.

How do you get hired by one of the companies on Fortune magazine’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list—companies such as Google, SAS Institute, Boston Consulting Group, Edward Jones, and Quicken Loans, which are on the 2014 list? 11 You try to get to know someone in the company, you play up volunteer work on your resume, you get ready to interview and interview and interview, and you do extensive research on the company (as by talking to customers). 12

And what kinds of things does an employee of a Fortune “Best” company get? At Google, the Mountain View, California, search engine company (ranked number 1 in 2007–2008 and 2012–2014 and number 4 in 2009–2011), you’re entitled to eat in 1 of 11 free gourmet cafeterias, as well as to visit free snack rooms that contain various cereals, candy, nuts, fresh fruit, and other snacks. You can bring your dog to work, get haircuts on-site, work out at the gym, attend subsidized exercise classes, study Mandarin or other languages, have your laundry done free, or consult five on-site doctors for a checkup, free of charge. The company has also launched numerous compensation incentives, special bonuses, and founders’ awards that can run into millions of dollars. 13

The reason for this exceptional treatment? “Happy people are more productive,” says former CEO Eric Schmidt. 14 That productivity has made Google an earnings powerhouse; in 2013, for example, it reported a 22% growth in revenue and 28% profits. 15 Google has discovered, in other words, that its biggest competitive advantage lies in its human resources—its people.

Human Resource Management: Managing an Organization’s Most Important Resource

Human resource (HR) management consists of the activities managers perform to plan for, attract, develop, and retain an effective workforce. Whether it’s McKenzie looking for entry-level business consultants, the U.S. Navy trying to fill its ranks, or churches trying to recruit priests and ministers, all organizations must deal with staffing.

The fact that the old personnel department is now called the human resources department is not just a cosmetic change. It is intended to suggest the importance of staffing to a company’s success. Although talking about people as “resources” might seem to downgrade them to the same level as financial resources and material resources, in fact, people are an organization’s most important resource. Indeed, companies ranked number 1 on Fortune magazine’s Best Companies list in the past—which, besides Google, include software developer SAS (2011 and 2010), data storage company NetApp (2009), biotechnology firm Genentech (2006), supermarket chain Wegmans Food Markets (2005), jam maker J. M. Smucker (2004), stockbroker Edward Jones (2003 and 2002), and box retailer The Container Store (2001 and 2000)—have discovered that putting employees first has been the foundation for their success. “If you’re not thinking all the time about making every person valuable, you don’t have a chance,” says former General Electric head Jack Welch. “What’s the alternative? Wasted minds? Uninvolved people? A labor force that’s angry or bored? That doesn’t make sense!” 16

How would you rate the quality of the human resource practices at your current or a past employer? You can find out by taking Self-Assessment 9.1 .

Page 263SELF-ASSESSMENT 9.1

Assessing the Quality of HR Practices

This survey is designed to assess the quality of HR practices at your current place of employment. If you are not currently working, consider a previous job when completing the survey. Go to connect.mheducation.com and take Self-Assessment 9.1 . When you’re done, answer the following questions:

1. How did you rate the quality of the company’s HR practices?

2. Based on your responses, what advice would you give the senior HR leader about how to improve its HR practices? Be specific. What are the consequences of having poor-quality HR practices? Explain.

Human Resources as Part of Strategic Planning Some companies—those with flat management structures, for instance—have done away with HR departments entirely, letting the regular line managers handle these tasks. But most workers say they feel the absence of an in-house HR staff, especially when it comes to resolving pay problems and mediating employee disputes. 17 So what should organizations do in regard to investing in human resources? Based on research findings, we come down on the side that people are an organization’s most important asset and it’s important to invest in human resources. All told, studies show that companies have higher levels of employee satisfaction, financial performance, and service performance when the company has high-quality human resource practices and programs. 18 At many companies, human resources has become part of the strategic planning process. Thus, HR departments deal not only with employee paperwork and legal accountability—a very important area, as we describe in Section 9.7 —but also with helping to support the organization’s overall strategy.

Example: Is it important, as Wegmans’s owners think, to have loyal, innovative, smart, passionate employees who will give their best to promote customer satisfaction (the grocery chain’s mission)? Who, then, should be recruited? How should they be trained? What’s the best way to evaluate and reward their performance? The answers to these questions should be consistent with the firm’s strategic mission.

The purpose of the strategic human resource process, then—shown in the yellow-orange shaded boxes at right—is to get the optimal work performance that will help the company’s mission and goals. 19 (See Figure 9.1 .)

Three concepts important in this view of human resource management are human capital, knowledge workers, and social capital.

FIGURE 9.1 The strategic human resource management process

Human Capital: Potential of Employee Knowledge & Actions “We are living in a time,” says one team of human resource management authors, “when a new economic paradigm—characterized by speed, innovation, short cycle times, quality, and customer satisfaction—is highlighting the importance of intangible assets, such as brand recognition, knowledge, innovation, and particularly human capital.” 20 Human capital is the economic or productive potential of employee knowledge, experience, and actions. 21

Thinking about people as human capital has an obvious basis: “Attracting, retaining, and developing great people is sometimes the only way our organizations can keep up with the competition across the street or around the globe,” says Susan Meisinger, president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management. “Research has shown that highly educated, knowledgeable workers—the most in demand—are the hardest to find and easiest to lose.” 22

Knowledge Workers: Potential of Brain Workers A knowledge worker is someone whose occupation is principally concerned with generating or interpreting information, as opposed to manual labor. Knowledge workers add value to the organization Page 264by using their brains rather than their muscle and sweat, and as such they are the most common type of worker in 21st-century organizations. Because of globalization and information technology, the United States no longer has an advantage in knowledge workers. Indeed, because of the advancement of China, India, Russia, and Brazil; the offshoring of sophisticated jobs; the decrease in math and science skills among today’s younger Americans; and other factors, the United States may be in danger of slipping behind. 23

Social Capital: Potential of Strong & Cooperative Relationships Social capital is the economic or productive potential of strong, trusting, and cooperative relationships. Among aspects of social capital are goodwill, mutual respect, cooperation, trust, and teamwork. Relationships within a company are important: In one survey, 77% of the women and 63% of the men rated “good relationship with boss” extremely important, outranking such matters as good equipment, easy commute, and flexible hours. 24

That relationships matter is shown by the brothers running family-owned J. M. Smucker, who follow a simple code of conduct set forth by their father: “Listen with your full attention, look for the good in others, have a sense of humor, and say thank you for a job well done.” 25 (The company’s voluntary employee turnover rate is a mere 5.5%.)

Planning the Human Resources Needed

When a building contractor, looking to hire someone for a few hours to dig ditches, drives by a group of idle day laborers standing on a street corner, is that a form of HR planning? Certainly it shows the contractor’s awareness that a pool of laborers usually can be found in that spot. But what if the builder needs a lot of people with specialized training—to give him or her the competitive advantage that the strategic planning process demands?

Here we are concerned with something more than simply hiring people on an “as needed” basis. Strategic human resource planning consists of developing a systematic, comprehensive strategy for (a) understanding current employee needs and (b) predicting future employee needs. Let’s consider these two parts.

Understanding Current Employee Needs To plan for the future, you must understand the present—what today’s staffing picture looks like. This requires that you (or a trained specialist) first do a job analysis and from that write a job description and a job specification. 26

Job analysis. The purpose of job analysis is to determine, by observation and analysis, the basic elements of a job. Specialists who do this interview job occupants about what they do, observe the flow of work, and learn how results are accomplished. For example, FedEx has specialists who ride with the couriers and time how long it takes to deliver a load of packages and note what problems are encountered (traffic jams, vicious dogs, recipients not home, and so on).

Job description and job specification. Once the fundamentals of a job are understood, then you can write a job description , which summarizes what the holder of the job does and how and why he or she does it. Next you can write a job specification , which describes the minimum qualifications a person must have to perform the job successfully.

This process can produce some surprises. Jobs that might seem to require a college degree, for example, might not after all. Thus, the process of writing job analyses, Page 265descriptions, and specifications can help you avoid hiring people who are overqualified (and presumably more expensive) or under-qualified (and thus not as productive) for a particular job.

In addition, by entering a job description and specification with their attendant characteristics into a database, an organization can do computer searching for candidates by matching keywords (nouns) on their resumes with the keywords describing the job. A position in desktop publishing, for instance, might be described by the kinds of software programs with which applicants should be familiar: Adobe PageMaker, Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress, Adobe FrameMaker, and Corel Ventura.

What kind of job is this? A FedEx driver’s problems of driving in a big city—traffic, double parking, addressees not at home—are different from those of driving in rural areas, where there may be long stretches of boredom. Specialists in job analysis can interview drivers about their problems in order to write job descriptions that allow for varying circumstances.

Predicting Future Employee Needs Job descriptions change, of course: Auto mechanics, for instance, now have to know how computer chips work in cars. (Current 7-Series BMWs and S-class Mercedes have about 100 processors apiece.) And new jobs are created: Who could have visualized the position of “e-commerce accountant” 10 years ago, for example?

As you might expect, predicting future employee needs means you have to become knowledgeable about the staffing the organization might need and the likely sources for that staffing:

The staffing the organization might need. You could assume your organization won’t change much. In that case, you can fairly easily predict that jobs will periodically become unoccupied (because of retirement, resignations, and so on) and that you’ll need to pay the same salaries and meet the same criteria about minority hiring to fill them.

Better, however, to assume the organization will change. Thus, you need to understand the organization’s vision and strategic plan so that the proper people can be hired to meet the future strategies and work. We discussed strategic plans in Chapter 6 .

The likely sources for staffing. You can recruit employees from either inside or outside the organization. In looking at those inside, you need to consider which employees are motivated, trainable, and promotable and what kind of training your organization might have to do. A device for organizing this kind of information is a human resource inventory , a report listing your organization’s employees by name, education, training, languages, and other important information.

In looking outside, you need to consider the availability of talent in your industry’s and geographical area’s labor pool, the training of people graduating from various schools, and such factors as what kind of people are moving into your area. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau issue reports on such matters.

One way to attract potential employees. One of the first places companies are apt to look for potential employees is online, such as the social networking sites Facebook, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor, as well as Twitter (although sometimes searches can lead to discrimination against some candidates). Creative users also post unusual digital resumes featuring eye-catching graphics, YouTube videos, and PowerPoint slides on Pinterest, the popular online pin board for photos. As for job seekers, they can find useful job-hunting apps on Monster.com. Are you up to speed on these job-hunting advantages?

Page 266

Recruitment & Selection: Putting the Right People into the Right Jobs

How can I reduce mistakes in hiring and find great people who might work for me?

THE BIG PICTURE

Qualified applicants for jobs may be recruited from inside or outside the organization. The task of choosing the best person is enhanced by such tools as reviewing candidates’ application forms, resumes, and references; doing interviews, either structured or unstructured; and screening with ability, personality, performance, and other kinds of employment tests.

“Hiring great people is brutally hard,” write Jack (former General Electric CEO) and Suzy Welch. “New managers are lucky to get it right half the time. And even executives with decades of experience will tell you that they make the right calls 75% of the time at best.” 27

However difficult it may be, it’s important to try to get hiring right. “We’re essentially in an innovation economy where good people come up with really good ideas,” says one CEO. “Companies want to hit home runs with the next greatest product, and the imperative is making sure you have great people to do that.” 28

Recruitment: How to Attract Qualified Applicants

At some time nearly every organization has to think about how to find the right kind of people. Recruiting is the process of locating and attracting qualified applicants for jobs open in the organization. The word qualified is important: You want to find people whose skills, abilities, and characteristics are best suited to your organization. Recruiting is of two types: internal and external.

1. Internal Recruiting: Hiring from the Inside Internal recruiting means making people already employed by the organization aware of job openings. Indeed, most vacant positions in organizations are filled through internal recruitment, mainly through job posting , placing information about job vacancies and qualifications on bulletin boards, in newsletters, and on the organization’s intranet. (Companies looking to make strategic changes do better hiring CEOs from within the ranks rather than from outside, according to a recent study. 29 )

2. External Recruiting: Hiring from the Outside External recruiting means attracting job applicants from outside the organization. In years past, notices of job vacancies were placed through newspapers, employment agencies, executive recruiting firms, union hiring halls, college job-placement offices, and word of mouth. Today more and more companies are using social media to recruit. 30 For example, experts estimate that 89% of U.S. organizations use social networks to recruit. LinkedIn, a social network with more than 259 million members in over 200 countries, accounts for 94% of the people hired via social media, followed by Facebook and Twitter. 31 In one survey of 3,500 U.S. college students, 80% said they use smartphones for job hunting or see themselves doing so in the future. 32

Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. (See Table 9.1 , next page.)

Which External Recruiting Methods Work Best? In general, the most effective sources are employee referrals, say human resource professionals, because, to protect their own reputations, employees are fairly careful about whom they recommend, and they know the qualifications of both the job and the prospective employee. 33 Other effective ways of finding good job candidates are e-recruitment tools, such as “dot-jobs” websites; membership directories for associations and trade groups; social networking sites; and industry-specific blogs, forums, and newsgroups. 34 Netflix makes a point of “hiring, rewarding, and tolerating only fully formed adults”—people who will put the company’s interests first. 35

Page 267TABLE 9.1 Internal & External Recruiting: Advantages & Disadvantages

How do you feel about the job you are in now, if you have one, or the last job you had? Do you feel like you are a “good fit” for the job? That is, do you like the work and does the work match your skills? Research shows that we are happier and more productive when our needs and skills fit the job requirements. If you would like to see whether or not you fit with your current (or last) job, complete Self-Assessment 9.2 . You may find the results very interesting.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 9.2

Assessing Your Person-Job Fit

This survey is designed to assess your job fit. If you are not currently working, consider a previous job when completing the survey. Go to connect.mheducation.com and take Self-Assessment 9.2 . When you’re done, answer the following questions:

1. What is your level of fit?

2. Whether you have high or low fit, what are the main causes for your level of fit? Explain.

3. What questions might you ask a future recruiter to ensure a higher level of person-job fit? Be specific.

Realistic Job Previews A realistic job preview (RJP) gives a candidate a picture of both positive and negative features of the job and the organization before he or she is hired. This recruiting technique is very effective at reducing turnover within 30–90 days of employment. Many organizations, such as AT&T, Hilton, the Idaho State Police, and Assess Systems, reduced turnover and enhanced employee satisfaction by using RJPs.

Page 268Selection: How to Choose the Best Person for the Job

Whether the recruitment process turns up a handful of job applicants or thousands, now you turn to the selection process, the screening of job applicants to hire the best candidate. Essentially this becomes an exercise in prediction: How well will the candidate perform the job and how long will he or she stay?

Three types of selection tools are background information, interviewing, and employment tests.

1. Background Information: Application Forms, Resumes, & Reference Checks Application forms and resumes provide basic background information about job applicants, such as citizenship, education, work history, and certifications.

Unfortunately, a lot of resume information consists of mild puffery and even outrageous fairy tales—as many as 35% of resumes, by one estimate. 36 InfoLink Screening Services, which does background checks, reported that 14% of the tens of thousands of applicants it had screened had lied about their education. 37 Vermont-based ResumeDoctor.com, a resume-writing service, surveyed 1,133 resumes that had been uploaded to its site and found that nearly 42.7% had at least one inaccuracy and 12.6% had two or more factual errors. 38 And Background Information Services, a preemployment screening company in Cleveland, found 56% of resumes contained falsehoods of some kind. 39 It is risky to lie about your background information because it can be used as a reason for terminating your employment.

PRACTICAL ACTION

Would You Lie Like This on Your Resume?

What kind of lies do people put on their resumes? Consider the following examples.

Lying about Education. Lying about education is the most prevalent distortion (such as pretending to hold a degree or an advanced degree). A few years ago, RadioShack CEO David Edmondson achieved some notoriety and had to resign after a newspaper discovered he had falsely claimed on his resume to hold degrees in psychology and theology. 40 In 2012, Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson was revealed to not have earned a college degree in computer science, as claimed on his resume and on the company’s website. 41 Automatic Data Processing of Roseland, New Jersey, which has studied employee background verification, reported that 41% of education records showed a difference between the information provided by an applicant and that provided by the educational institution. 42

Lying about Employment Histories, Ages, Salaries, & Job Titles. Another common fabrication includes creative attempts to cover gaps in employment history (although there are straightforward ways an applicant can deal with this, such as highlighting length of service instead of employment dates). 43 People also lie about their ages for fear of seeming to be too experienced (hence expensive) or too old. 44 As you might expect, people also embellish their salary histories, job titles, and achievements on projects.

Lying about Criminal Background or Immigration Status. In 2007, it came out that the foundation that runs online encyclopedia Wikipedia had neglected to do a basic background check before hiring Carolyn Doran as its chief operating officer; she had been convicted of drunken driving and fleeing the scene of a car accident. 45 Now, more and more job seekers are seeking to legally clear their criminal records—to have their arrests