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HR WEEK 1 What is HRM & OB ? - human resources management Formal system devised fo the management of people within and the employment relationship with an organisation Influence employee behaviour, attitude and performances - Strategic human resource...

HR WEEK 1 What is HRM & OB ? - human resources management Formal system devised fo the management of people within and the employment relationship with an organisation Influence employee behaviour, attitude and performances - Strategic human resource management A pattern of planned HR deployment and activities intended to enable an organization to achieve its its goals - Organisational behaviour Organisational behaviour is a field of study that investigate the impact that individuals,groups and structure have on behaviour within the organization for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization effectiveness Work - Work is seen by some as a curse, by other as a freedom, it has been viewed alternately zs z commodity and as a route to citizenship; as a disutility ans as the basis of both personal filfilment and identity formation The workforce of future; Dominant changes in work and working relationship Dominant changes in work and working relationships" and presents six key factors that are influencing modern work dynamics. Here's a breakdown of each component: 1. Advanced Technology: The continuous evolution of technology (AI, automation, digital tools) is shaping the way work is done, making processes more efficient, and transforming job roles. 2. Demographic Trends: Changes in the population, such as aging workforces, diversity, and shifts in generational expectations, are influencing how organizations manage talent and work. 3. Use of Time-Spatial Flexibility: The rise of flexible work arrangements (remote work, freelancing, gig economy) is altering traditional workspaces and the ways employees interact with their work environment. 4. Flexibility of Employment Relationships: The trend toward more dynamic employment models (e.g., part-time, contract work, freelancing) is becoming more prominent, as both employers and workers seek flexible arrangements. 5. Flexibility in Organisational Structures: Companies are adopting more agile and less hierarchical structures to quickly adapt to changing markets, promoting cross-functional teams and fluid roles. 6. Worker Skills and Education: Continuous learning and upskilling are essential for workers to stay relevant as job requirements evolve, influenced by the rapid technological advancement WEEK 2 Psychological contracted as the basis of recruitment Challenge for HRM; managing and aligning different type of contracts Pmhsycological contract - Its the unwritten, informal agreement and expectation btw the employee and their employer. It highlights how both parties perceive their role, obligation, and what they are getting from the employment relationship 1) Reciprocal expectation - Individual contributions, employee contribute factors such as effort, ability, loyalty, skills, time and competency - Orgnaziation’s inducement: the orga provide pay, benefit,job security,status, promotion and career development 2) Consistent patterns of inducement over time - For the psychological contract to be maintained, the organization must consistently meet the employee’s expectation over time. This involve fulfilling promises and maintaining a fair balance in the exchange. 3) Trust experienced i the relationship - Trust is built over time as both the employee and the employer consistzntly meet each other’s expectations. Trust is a key component in maintaining a healthy psychological contract 4) Psychological contract (beleif in an obligation of reciprocity) - The psychological contract is based on the belief that both parties, employer and employee are committed to fulfilling their mutual obligations. It is not a formal contract but a set of perceived promises and obligations Example of pret à manger Recruitment - Is a process which aims to attract appropriately qualified candidates for a particular position from which it is possible and practicable to select and appoint a component person Aims - To obtain a pool of suitable candidates for vacant posts - To use a fair process and be able to demonstrate that the process is fair - To ensure that all recruitment activities contribute to organisational goals and a desirable organisational image - To conduct recruitment activities in an efficient and cost effective manner Recruitment process What technique can organisations use to attract candidates - advertisement : Searching personnel trough advertisements on newspaper and magazines - Consultants and labor agencies Agencies find and prescreen applicants,referring those who seem qualified for further assessments and final selection - Internal recruitment With this method, internal employees can achieve new professional positions - Referrals - Social media - Campus recruitment Human capital theory focusing on the portability of different types of human capital. Human capital refers to the skills, knowledge, and experience possessed by an individual that is valuable to an organization. Slide 1: Portability of Human Capital The first slide organizes human capital into five types based on how portable they are, meaning how easily these skills can be transferred from one organization or context to another. The types range from general (highly portable) to company-specific (less portable). More Portable: 1. General Human Capital: Skills like leadership and decision-making, which are useful across many industries and organizations.  2. Strategic Human Capital: Expertise developed in high-level decision-making that can be applied across different contexts and companies. 3. Industry Human Capital: Knowledge specific to a particular industry (such as regulations or technical expertise) but not necessarily tied to a single company. Less Portable : 4. Relationship Human Capital: The value of interpersonal relationships and networks within the company, which may not be easily transferred to another setting. 5. Company-Specific Human Capital: Knowledge about a specific company’s processes, culture, and internal systems, which is highly valuable within that company but not easily applicable elsewhere. Detailed Explanation of Each Type of Human Capital Better off growing stars or buying them? dilemma that companies face when deciding whether to grow their own talent (develop stars internally) or buy talent (hire star performers from outside the company). Both strategies—developing talent internally or hiring external stars—can be seen as substitutes, but they often lead to different outcomes for the organization. Key Points and Research Findings: 1. Stars Are Less Effective When They Switch Firms: ○ Research shows that higher-level employees like "star analysts" often experience a decline in performancewhen they move to a new firm, especially when they switch firms on their own. The performance drop can last up to 5 years. This suggests that the skills and expertise of these employees are tied not only to their individual capabilities but also to the environment, resources, and team dynamics at their previous firm. 2. Comparable Firm Transitions Also Lead to Performance Declines: ○ Even when star employees move between two comparable firms, which presumably have similar resources and structures, they still exhibit a drop in performance for about 2 years. This highlights the challenges stars face in adjusting to new teams, cultures, and ways of working, even when they are in comparable roles or industries. 3. Impact on Team Dynamics: ○ The transition of a star employee can cause a sharp decline in the functioning of the team they are joining. High-level employees often rely on existing team members, processes, and organizational knowledge, which are difficult to replicate in a new setting. When a star employee leaves their original team or joins a new one, it can disrupt team cohesion and effectiveness. 4. Drop in Company Market Value: ○ The movement of stars can also lead to a drop in the company’s market value. When a high-level employee leaves, the company loses some of the key knowledge, expertise, and influence that contributed to its market standing. Similarly, when a star is brought into a new company, their initial performance decline can affect the company's ability to meet market expectations, causing a dip in value. Implications for Companies: Growing Stars Internally: ○ Investing in internal talent development allows employees to grow within the organizational culture, giving them the time to build relationships, understand company dynamics, and develop unique organizational expertise. This approach reduces the risks of performance drops and team dysfunction.  Buying Stars Externally: ○ Hiring external talent, particularly "star performers," might seem attractive in the short term but can lead to performance declines, team disruptions, and even financial losses. Stars from other firms often take time to adjust to new environments and might not perform at the same level as they did in their previous organization. Conclusion: While companies may be tempted to hire external stars to gain immediate expertise or prestige, research suggests that this approach can lead to long-term performance and value challenges. Developing talent internally can foster more sustainable performance, ensuring that stars are well-aligned with the company’s culture and team dynamics. However, the decision between growing or buying talent will depend on the company’s specific circumstances, resources, and long-term strategy. Based on research we know that: - Every job require specific knowledge about the formal processes and informal routines used to do the work, about how to work with specific colleagues, the tools and technologies required on the job and so on - External hires often have skills acquired through in house training program and on the job experience which have no applicability outside the firm - Firm have better information about current employees than other workiers allowing them to better assess this match What to consider when hiring externals? important considerations for companies when hiring external stars—highly skilled, high-performing employees from outside the organization. The goal is to ensure that external hires not only meet expectations but also integrate smoothly into the organization without causing disruptions to existing teams or workflows. Key Considerations When Hiring Externals: 1. Hire as Replacements or to Raise Standards: ○ External stars can be hired as replacements for departed high-performers to maintain performance levels, or they can be brought in to raise the standards of the existing team. Either way, the goal is to ensure that the external hire adds value to the company. 2. Detailed Plans for Assimilation: ○ It’s critical to have a structured plan to assimilate external stars into the company. This includes gathering "insider" information on the new hire's strengths, potential challenges, and preferences. The assimilation process  should involve guiding them through the company’s culture, practices, and workflows so they can adapt quickly and efficiently. 3. Design Long-Term Performance Goals: ○ It’s essential to set long-term performance goals rather than expecting immediate high-level performance. External stars need time to adapt to their new environment, so the company should establish clear, measurable goals over a longer horizon to track their integration and success without undue pressure. 4. Avoid Demotivating Existing Employees: ○ Hiring a star from outside can demotivate existing employees, especially if they feel overlooked for promotions or opportunities. It’s important to communicate the value the external star brings and to ensure that internal employees continue to feel recognized, valued, and motivated in their roles. Maintaining internal morale is crucial for smooth integration. 5. Careful Selection Process: Avoid Hiring from Rivals: ○ While hiring from competitors might seem appealing, it can bring potential downsides such as legal risks (non-compete clauses) or strained relationships. The idea is to ensure the new hire isn’t a source of conflict or that they don't bring cultural mismatches from a competitor that might disrupt team dynamics. Careful vetting ensures that the star fits into the company’s long-term strategy. 6. Team-Based Hiring Process: ○ Involving the team in the hiring process is important because the external hire will work closely with them. Team-based hiring helps ensure that there is a cultural and personality fit, making the onboarding process smoother. It also makes the team feel invested in the decision, which can help avoid friction or resentment later on. 7. Training and Mentoring: ○ Even external stars benefit from training and mentoring programs tailored to their needs. Despite their experience, they may need guidance to understand company-specific processes or systems. Mentorship from senior leaders can also help them align with company goals and build relationships internally, which is essential for long-term success. Informal VS formal sources The differences between informal and formal recruitment sources and why employees hired through informal sources tend to have better outcomes, such as lower turnover rates, compared to those hired through formal sources. The slides present two key hypotheses to explain these findings: the "Realistic Information" hypothesis and the "Individual Difference"hypothesis. Key Research Findings: Studies by Ullman (1966), Gannon (1971), and Zottoli and Wanous (2000) show that employees recruited via informal sources (like employee referrals or direct applications) experience lower turnover rates and better outcomes than those hired via formal sources (such as newspaper advertisements or employment agencies).  This research suggests that informal hiring methods lead to more successful hires compared to formal hiring methods. Two Hypotheses (Saks, 2005) Explaining Why: 1. "Realistic Information" Hypothesis: This hypothesis proposes that candidates recruited through informal sources receive more accurate information about what the job entails, leading to better alignment between their expectations and the reality of the job. This alignment reduces dissatisfaction and turnover. Referrals: ○ Employees who refer someone for a job are likely to give them a realistic preview of the job’s demands, culture, and working conditions. This insider knowledge helps potential candidates make more informed decisions before applying or accepting an offer (Breaugh, 1992). Direct Applications: ○ People who directly apply for a position (without being solicited) often have researched the company more thoroughly and have a better understanding of the job and company culture. They may have more realistic expectations compared to those responding to formal job advertisements (Breaugh & Mann, 1984). In both cases, the candidate has a clearer idea of what to expect from the job, which can lead to better job satisfaction and lower turnover. 2. "Individual Difference" Hypothesis: This hypothesis suggests that candidates recruited through informal sources, such as employee referrals, are likely to be better suited to the job because current employees pre-screen individuals before recommending them. Referrals: ○ Employees are unlikely to refer someone who they feel is not capable of performing the job well, as their reputation may be at stake. This means referred candidates tend to have the necessary skills, competencies, and fit for the organization, which improves job performance and retention (Ullman, 1966; Rynes, 1991). Summary of the Hypotheses: "Realistic Information" Hypothesis: Informal recruits have a clearer understanding of the job, leading to better alignment of expectations.  "Individual Difference" Hypothesis: Referred candidates are often pre-screened for their abilities and fit by the employee making the referral, resulting in a higher quality of hire. Conclusion: Informal recruitment (through referrals or direct applications) can result in hires that are better informed about the job, more aligned with company expectations, and more capable of succeeding in the role. Formal recruitment methods, while structured, may attract candidates with less accurate expectations, leading to higher turnover or lower job satisfaction. Social media recruitment - Social media employee referral programs,and job boards are the recruiting areas most likely to see increased financial investment in the next 12 month - Male recruiters use social media more than female recruiters - Linkedin , facebook and twitter are the most popular channels used for recruiting Precise VS vague information - Many job advertisement fail to include clear information about job titles, workplace location, required skills and salary levels - Salary: problem with other employees who see advertisement and compare their own package unfavorable to the offer to the new job applicant - Companies want existing employees to remain ignorant to the recruitment process - Some compagnies want to have on their books as many potential job applicant as possible Latest trend: digital recruiting artificial intelligence 1: Latest Trends – Digital Recruiting and Artificial Intelligence Introduces AI as a key trend in recruitment. It defines AI as a field of computer science focused on solving cognitive problems related to learning, problem-solving, and pattern recognition. In recruitment, AI is being applied to processes like screening candidates, identifying patterns in resumes, and making hiring recommendations. AI in Recruitment: By using AI, companies can streamline complex recruitment tasks, such as identifying the best candidates from a large pool or automating repetitive tasks like interview scheduling. AI’s ability to learn and recognize patterns makes it a powerful tool for improving efficiency in the hiring process. CV Screening – AI Looks for Relevant Lead Strings How AI is used in CV (resume) screening, identifying key strings (or relevant keywords) that match job requirements. AI can quickly sift through large volumes of applications to find the best candidates based on specific criteria. Challenges: ○ Process Manipulation: Candidates may "game" the system by overloading their resumes with keywords to pass AI filters, even if they are not fully qualified. ○ Missing out on the story: AI might focus too much on technical criteria and keywords, overlooking other important candidate qualities, such as creativity or potential cultural fit. Benefits: ○ AI is faster: The process is much quicker compared to human reviewers manually screening CVs. ○ AI might be less biased: While AI aims to eliminate human biases in the hiring process, there is still an ongoing debate about whether AI can truly reduce biases, as the data used to train AI models could reflect existing biases. Chatbots as First Point of Contact The use of chatbots as a way to automate the initial interaction with candidates. Chatbots like TARA (Talent Acquisition and Recruiting Automation) help manage the early stages of the recruitment process by answering questions, scheduling interviews, and collecting initial candidate information. TARA and similar chatbots can: ○ Act as an automated assistant, reducing the workload on HR teams. ○ Help manage hiring contractors and oversee basic project management tasks, creating a more efficient and seamless recruitment process. Recruitment often fails bcs: - Often applicant have an incomplete and/or inaccurate understanding of what a job opening involves - Applicant expectation generally are inflated: many employers try to make themselves appear to be a good place to work. Instead an employers should provide recruits with candid information concerning a job opening - If hired, individuals possessing inflated job expectations are thought to be more likely to become dissatisfied with their positions and mor elikely to quit than applicant who have more accurate - Applicants often are not sure what they want from a position - Do not have a self insight with regard to their knowledge,skills and abilities and cannot accurately predict how they will react to the demands of a new position WEEK 3 Use the right tools to hire high perfomorming employees - Hiring the right employees is integral to executing strategy effectively - With the right people, goals get met , strategy gets executed and organizations succeed - Employees are the organization - You must pick winners- the kind of people who are able to take action in alignment with the organization’s goals Selection tools overview - The golden three: situational interviews, behavioral interviews, job simulations - Not as great selection tools: cognitive ability tests, personality test What doesn’t work? Unstructured interview - Tell me about yourself - Where did you go to school - How much do you know about our company - Why are you interested in this job - Do you have any questions for me? This is because - Different applicants typically are asked different questions - The questions are often not related to the job - Interviewers are often unable to agree among themselves what constitutes a great response versus a not so great response.  Situational Interview 1. Assessing intentions for job-related situations: ○ The situational interview aims to evaluate how an applicant intends to handle scenarios that are likely to come up during the job. 2. Assumption about intentions predicting behavior: ○ The approach assumes that what candidates say they would do in a given situation will reflect how they will actually behave in similar real-life situations. 3. Standardized questions: ○ All applicants are asked the same set of job-related questions, ensuring fairness and consistency in evaluating different candidates. 4. Use of a scoring guide: ○ A pre-made scoring guide with sample answers is used to evaluate each candidate's responses. This helps interviewers assess the quality and relevance of the answers objectively. 5. Dilemmas presented: ○ Each question in a situational interview is designed to present a dilemma, forcing the candidate to explain what they would do in that specific situation. The focus is on the candidate's intentions for handling the scenario, rather than what they believe the interviewer wants to hear. In essence, a situational interview assesses a candidate’s future behavior based on how they intend to handle job-related dilemmas, with consistent questions and a structured evaluation process. Steps for creating situational interview questions Conduct a job analysis using the critical incident technique: Start by analyzing the job role using the critical incident technique, which involves reviewing specific incidents related to the job. This includes: ○ Reviewing incidents: Identifying past critical events related to the role. ○ Collecting facts: Gathering detailed data about these events. ○ Analyzing data: Looking at the outcomes and evaluating how problems were solved. ○ The goal here is to understand key moments or challenges that are critical to success in the job. Create situational interview questions: Based on the analysis, you create interview questions. These questions should reflect the critical job-related situations identified during the job analysis. They should cover the different dimensions of the role to ensure that all key aspects are assessed. Develop a scoring guide for each question: For each question, create a scoring guide to evaluate responses objectively. This guide will help interviewers avoid disputes about what constitutes a "good" or "poor" answer and reduce interviewer bias. The scoring guide is typically structured as a 5-point scale with illustrative answers ranging from most acceptable to least acceptable. The data generated from the critical incident analysis and pilot testing with top employees (referred to as "star" employees) is used to design this scale. Behavioral Interview The Behavioral Interview is used to predict an applicant's future job behavior by analyzing how they behaved in the past. It assumes that past behavior is a strong indicator of future behavior in similar situations. Steps to conducting a behavioral interview: 1. Conduct a job analysis using the critical incident technique: ○ Similar to the situational interview, you start by identifying critical incidents relevant to the job. 2. Design interview questions: ○ Develop questions that ask about past behavior in situations related to the job. 3. Develop a scoring key: ○ A scoring guide helps standardize evaluation across candidates. Past Behavior Predicts Future Behavior. Based on job analysis: The questions are rooted in a thorough analysis of the role. Probing is allowed: Interviewers are allowed to ask follow-up or clarifying questions. Often, "stem questions" are pre-planned to ensure comprehensive data collection on the candidate's behavior. No check for social desirability: The focus is on genuine past behavior, not on the candidate trying to guess what the interviewer wants to hear. Example: A typical question might be: “We stress teamwork in our organization. Can you recall a time in your recent past where you engaged in teamwork and demonstrated team-playing skills?” The interviewer may probe deeper into: 1. What were the circumstances? 2. What exactly did you personally do? 3. What was the outcome? In summary, behavioral interviews gather specific examples of past behavior to predict how a candidate might handle similar situations in the future, with probing allowed to ensure depth and clarity in responses. Focus on “what’ not “why” - People tend to misuse the behavioral interview technique by asking applicants “why” an action was taken - Doing so invites applicants to speculate on reasons for their actions and invites self promotion - An emphasis on “what” focuses on actual behavior Conducting the interview - Start with a sample or two unscored questions  - Use a panel where one member asks the questions and the other take notes - Each panel member should score independently of everyone else interviewing errors and provides strategies to reduce their occurrence. Common Interviewing Errors: 1. Halo/horns effect: ○ Allowing one good (halo) or bad (horns) trait to influence the entire assessment of a candidate. 2. Contrast effect: ○ Comparing candidates against each other rather than against the job requirements or standard criteria. 3. Hiring people like yourself: ○ Preferring candidates who share similarities with the interviewer (e.g., background, interests). 4. Stereotyping: ○ Making assumptions based on generalized characteristics like gender, race, or age. 5. Making assumptions: ○ Imposing personal views or jumping to conclusions without sufficient evidence. 6. Gathering insufficient or irrelevant information: ○ Failing to collect enough relevant data during the interview process, leading to incomplete evaluations. How to Reduce Interviewing Errors: 1. Be aware of the natural propensity to succumb to errors: ○ Recognize the common biases and errors that can affect decision-making during interviews. 2. Use situational and/or behavioral interview questions with a scoring key: ○ Standardized questions and scoring guides help focus on job-related behaviors and minimize bias. 3. More than one interviewer: ○ Involving multiple interviewers (panel interviews) helps reduce individual biases and provides a more balanced assessment. 4. Only trained people involved in interviews: ○ Ensuring that interviewers are properly trained in conducting structured interviews and recognizing biases. 5. Allow sufficient time: ○ Give enough time for interviews to avoid rushed judgments and ensure thorough evaluation of each candidate. Factors influencing initial impressions: Job Qualifications: The relevance of a candidate's skills and experience to the job, with a correlation of.18. This means that qualifications have a moderate influence on the initial impression. Extraversion: This has a significant positive correlation (.27), indicating that candidates who display outgoing, energetic behavior can leave a stronger initial impression. Conscientiousness: Scoring.18, this trait (associated with being reliable and organized) also moderately influences initial impressions. Emotional Stability: This has a very low, almost negligible, influence (-.03) on initial impressions, suggesting it may not play a large role. Agreeableness: Also has a low influence (-.04), meaning that being kind or cooperative has little effect on the initial impression. Openness to Experience: A small but positive effect (.24), indicating that showing curiosity and a willingness to learn slightly improves initial impressions. Verbal Skill: Shows a small correlation (.07), suggesting communication skills contribute, but not strongly, to initial impressions. Interview Experience: Almost no correlation (.04) with initial impressions, meaning prior interview experience does not seem to make much of a difference. Relationship to Structured Evaluation: Initial impressions have a notable effect on structured evaluation, with a correlation of.56, suggesting that the first impression influences how candidates are ultimately rated during more formal evaluations. Conclusion: While job qualifications and personality traits like extraversion and openness have some influence, initial impressions are strongly correlated to how candidates perform in structured evaluations. However, interviewers should be cautious not to let these initial impressions bias the final decision, which is ideally based on job-related competencies. Neurodiversity in modern recruitment slides discuss the importance of neurodiversity in modern recruitment and how companies can benefit from hiring neurodiverse candidates by implementing more inclusive recruitment processes. First Slide: New Trends in Selection: Investing in Neurodiversity The Status Quo: ○ Neurodiverse candidates often possess highly sought-after skills (e.g., pattern recognition, memory, mathematics). However, their talents frequently remain untapped due to traditional recruitment techniques. Why?: ○ Many recruitment techniques (like one-size-fits-all job interviews) disadvantage neurodiverse candidates by not accounting for their unique skill sets or ways of thinking. Moving Forward: ○ Companies such as SAP, Microsoft, and EY have started shifting away from standardized, conformity-driven HR practices. Instead, they are embracing neurodiverse employees who bring fresh perspectives and skills to the table. By allowing flexibility and focusing on individual talents, these companies enhance their overall ability to innovate and leverage the full potential of their workforce. Enabling Neurodiversity Programmes: How to Unleash Unique Superpowers This slide outlines steps to create a supportive work environment for neurodiverse employees: 1. Team with experts for neurodiverse knowledge you lack: ○ Collaborate with experts to understand the strengths and needs of neurodiverse individuals. 2. Train colleagues and managers: ○ Equip managers and colleagues with the tools to foster understanding, set appropriate expectations, and encourage collaboration. 3. Implement non-traditional assessment formats: ○ Design alternative recruitment assessments that allow neurodiverse candidates to showcase their abilities more effectively, avoiding standard interviews that may not play to their strengths. 4. Set up a support ecosystem: ○ Create support systems, like work buddies, to help neurodiverse employees build relationships and thrive, fostering loyalty and trust within the organization. Overall, these slides emphasize the need for companies to rethink their hiring practices to better include neurodiverse talents, enabling them to fully utilize their unique capabilities for organizational benefit. slide addresses personality tests as selection tools and why they are generally advised to be avoided in the hiring process. Key Points: 1. Example: The Big Five Personality Traits: ○ The slide refers to the Big Five personality traits commonly measured in personality tests: Conscientiousness Emotional Stability Agreeableness Extraversion Openness to Experience 2. Low Correlation with Job Performance: ○ Research indicates that the relationship between scores on personality tests and actual job performance is typically weak. This low correlation suggests that personality tests do not provide a reliable prediction of how well someone will perform in a job, making them not worth the time or financial investment for selection purposes. 3. Legal Safety of Personality Tests: ○ Despite their limited predictive value, personality tests are considered safer from a legal perspective compared to cognitive ability tests. This is because  personality tests do not tend to show score discrepancies across different demographic groups (e.g., race or gender), reducing the risk of discrimination claims. Conclusion: While personality tests like the Big Five may be useful for understanding individual traits, their effectiveness in predicting job performance is generally too low to justify their use in the hiring process. However, from a legal standpoint, they present fewer risks than cognitive ability tests because they are less likely to lead to claims of biased outcomes.