Workforce Planning and Employment PDF

WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:13 Page 109 A Guide to The Human Resource Body of KnowledgeTM (HRBoKTM), First Edition. Sandra M. Reed.  2017 by Human Resources Certiﬁcation Institute, Inc. Published 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 3 Workforce Planning and Employment The Renaissance of Personality Testing at Work The rise and fall of personality psychology has been occurring for more than 40 years. Scientists of the 1960s such as B. F. Skinner and Victor Vroom believed that employee actions are dependent upon external circumstances, not internal drivers. The dismissing of the effects of personality traits hasn’t been only by the academics from 40 years ago. Skepticism of personality psychology continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and even drew ﬁre from the evolutionists of the 1990s. Regardless of the noise, there has been progress in building empirical, scientiﬁc evidence on which to base best HR practices in the use of personality tests in employment situations. Trait theories—when used as stand-alone theories—were ﬂawed in that factors such as honesty or friendliness were studied only as descriptors of personality differences; they lacked causal relationships to explain behavior (Hogan 2004). For HR this was troubling, because practitioners could not use personality traits to explain, and therefore predict, future behavior on the job. As a result, trait-based personality descriptions in the workplace were viewed as being limited in value and, worse, having low validity. As the discipline of industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology has become better organized, a renewed effort to understand personality and its effect on the job has emerged. The focus of these efforts has been to expand beyond traitbased assumptions and to link personality traits within other psychological (continued ) 109 WEBC03 04/02/2017 110 4:25:13 Page 110 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of KnowledgeTM (continued ) functions. Bandura (1997) described personality as an integrated system in which people act in identiﬁable patterns. This changes the usability of personality tests for HR professionals (HRPs) of today in that individual traits can be viewed as baked into a person’s personality type, which may then be used to predict on-the job behaviors. In functions such as hiring or promoting into leadership roles, the personality trait of conscientiousness has been linked to overall success in any job. Traits such as extroversion correlate to success in positions requiring successful interaction with others, such as leadership, whereas neuroticism is linked to higher levels of job anxiety (Mount and Barrick 1998). Personality studies and assessments are conﬁrming that people’s systems of internal characteristics lead them to both select and inﬂuence their environments. A 1999 study by De Fruyt and Mervielde found that extroverts would seek out jobs that have more engaging social settings. Similarly, individuals scoring high in the trait of agreeableness chose roles requiring social interactions. In another study, participants who scored high in neuroticism were less likely to be attracted to work environments that were highly innovative, and conscientious individuals were more likely to be attracted to organizational cultures that were detail and outcome oriented (Judge and Cable 1997). In addition, assessing leaders prior to hiring or promotion can help HR identify those with the necessary skills to achieve strategic outcomes. An organization trying to build a culture of innovation will be less served by authoritarian leaders than by those more open to new things. By successfully linking personality traits to the benchmarks of successful job perform ance, the assessment’s predictive validity is increased. When based on personality constructs linked to the job, the construct validity is improved. This makes the tests more legally defensible than the assessments of old. Personality studies in the current day seek to focus on the use of assessments in employee selection procedures. Tools such as structured interviews, assessment centers, and biodata will continue to have prominence in selection literature, and bear watching for HR application. References Bandura, A. 1997. Self-Efﬁcacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: Freeman. De Fruyt, F., and I. Mervielde. 1999. “RIASAC Types and Big Five Traits as Predictors of Employment Status and Nature of Employment.” Personnel Psychology 52:701–727. Hogan, R. 2004. “Personality Psychology for Organizational Researchers.” In B. Schneider and D. Smith (Eds.), Personality and Organizations. Oxfordshire: Routledge. Judge, T. A., and D. M. Cable. 1997. “Applicant Personality, Organizational Culture, and Organization Attraction.” Personnel Psychology 50:359–394. Mount, M. K., and M. R. Barrick. 1998. “Five Reasons Why the ‘Big Five’ Article Has Been Frequently Cited.” Personnel Psychology 51, issue 4 (December): 849–857. doi:10.1111/j.1744–6570.1998.tb00743.x. WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:13 Page 111 Workforce Planning and Employment 111 Introduction If you didn’t show up to work today, would anyone notice? Organizations spend up to 70 percent of their revenue on their people resources, giving HR perhaps the greatest opportunity to demonstrate value as a business partner by effectively managing the interaction between people and the work. How HR professionals perform the tasks found in workforce planning and employment (WPE) will shape whether they are greeted every day with excitement and conﬁdence or are met with dodged phone calls and prepared counterarguments to suggestions. As referenced in the book’s Introduction, the value of HR professionals is dependent upon their ability to exist as strategic business partners. In the functional area of WPE, this includes activities that: Assess workforce supply and demand to identify current and future talent gaps. Understand factors of job design and work structure to improve productivity and employee job satisfaction. Manage person-to-job and person-to-organization ﬁt by designing effective recruiting, selection, and on-boarding procedures. Align stafﬁng and people management strategies to company goals and objectives. Examine business core competencies and make recommendations for outsourc ing or third-party management. Manage employer risk by understanding labor laws. Build relevant compliance programs to protect all stakeholders. Advise executive teams using data from internal and external trends and metrics to drive organizational response plans. Workforce Planning: A Cascading Strategy A workforce plan is a form of HR strategy that cascades down directly from the company’s strategic plan, goals, and objectives. Delivered from a formal workforce planning process, the resulting written plan is tied to the company’s strategic plan— where one goes, so must the other. Identifying workforce requirements begins by conducting a supply analysis in order to understand the competencies of the current employees. This review is followed by a demand analysis, completed by gathering data related to the current and future needs of the company. Finally, a gap analysis is used to identify the organization’s short- and long-term objectives. Working with a desired outcome in mind, goals and objectives typically will trickle down from a strategic plan, and will align with broader interventions designed to maximize internal strengths and minimize weaknesses. This is in pursuit of taking advantage of external opportunities, or reducing competitive threats through stafﬁng activities. A com pany’s head count or manpower is usually analyzed and addressed through the ﬁlter WEBC03 04/02/2017 112 4:25:13 Page 112 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge of achieving strategic objectives. A labor surplus or redundancy may require rede ployment of talent or a company-wide reduction in force (RIF). In these cases, employee mobility factors must be considered. A labor shortage will require employee training or hiring or other viable stafﬁng strategies such as hiring temporary workers or initiating short-term transfers of talent. Work furloughs are short-term reductions in work hours based on business or economic factors. They differ from layoffs in that furloughed employees continue to work, just on a reduced schedule. Notice that a company strategy may change from year to year, based on both internal and external forces. In fast-changing industries or innovative companies, HR must be prepared to respond by creating replicable systems where possible. Plan for the plannable, and save reaction for the surprises. Stafﬁng strategies are highly dependent on many external factors, not the least of which is the availability of talent in the operating area of the business. The information from the supply, demand, and gap analysis will result in a written plan, dependent upon accurate analysis and interpretation of the labor market data. This has been made much easier by the efforts of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) over the past decade or so with its creation of a jobs database. The Occupational Information Network (O∗ NET for short) is a website dedicated to the process of job analysis, which is covered in an upcoming section. For purposes of federal and state data reports, O∗ NET assigns each job a Standard Occupational Classiﬁcation (SOC) code, which individual states have adopted to organize their own job databases. This means that if an employer is looking for wage data for a speciﬁc job, it can search the O∗ NET database for the corresponding job title, identify the SOC code, and then search the state and local databases for comparable information. The DOL assigned SOC code 13-1199.04 to the job of business continuity planner. The national annual median pay for this job is $68,170. In Kansas, the annual median pay is $61,900. In California, the annual pay for a 13-1199 position is $74,490. But if an employer is hiring in the city of San Jose, this position’s average median salary is $92,680—a whopping $24,000 difference from the national average, and a $30,000 difference from Kansas. These differences are important to know when making geographic and budget decisions to aid in strategy formulation and development of the workforce plan and budget. Information such as what is provided on O∗ NET allows HR to build a business case either for or against a workforce strategy. A business case often will justify the need for change, but will also provide practical information to help a company change for the better. In the case of hiring business continuity planners, a company can more accurately predict the true return on invest ment (ROI) of the role thanks in part to the continuity between federal and state reports. WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:13 Page 113 Workforce Planning and Employment 113 There are other helpful government ofﬁces on a state level that provide useful information for a workforce plan. Accessing data related to workforce capabilities at a particular location or grouped by industry or occupation provides important information for a workforce plan. Sourcing is the practice of identifying the available skill sets of workers. This allows employers to engage in recruitment activities that successfully tap into an area’s talent pool. HR efforts are aided by states and counties, which collect demographic data, including educational levels, work experience, and trends within the local labor market. Other data may identify the availability of transportation resources such as rail or interstate highways. Locations with universities may have speciﬁc degree programs for skills that are in high demand, such as in the nursing industry. Grand Rounds Inc., a San Francisco– based Internet medical start-up, expanded to Reno, Nevada, in 2015. The company is relying on graduates from the University of Nevada to achieve its growth strategy from 50 to 200 employees by 2017. Once the data is collected, HR analyzes it to make recommendations that are directly related to strategic interventions. These recommendations relate to many functions of a human resource department, including the design of programs such as compensation, training, and equal employment opportunity (EEO) compliance. The data also helps predict the efﬁcacy of certain recruitment sources, and forecasts costs related to recruiting or relocating workers. In some cases, the demographic data drives executive decisions on plant locations—decisions that have great impact on successful intervention activities born of competitive strategies. Workforce Planning Analyzing the type and number of employees Identifyingandanalyzingwhatanorganizationneedstoachieveitsgoals,intermsof the size, type, and quality of its employees Head Count Number of employees The number of employees an organization has on its payroll Manpower An organization’s workforce The total number of individuals who make up the workforce of an organization (continued ) WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:13 114 Page 114 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge (continued ) Redundancies Elimination of jobs Elimination or reduction of jobs because of downsizing or outsourcing Redeployment Moving employees from one location or task to another A change in an employee’s location or task, often to reduce layoffs or to make the best use of employees Reduction in Force (RIF) Temporary or permanent layoffs Loss of employment positions due to lack of funding or change in work requirements Mobility The ability to move from one place to another An HR term that refers to employees and their families who move from one location to another Stafﬁng Hiring and ﬁring employees The act of selecting, hiring, and training people for speciﬁc jobs, as well as reducing the workforce when needed Sourcing Finding qualiﬁed people for a job Identifying candidates who are qualiﬁed to do a job by using proactive recruiting techniques Recruitment Process of identifying and hiring qualiﬁed people Process of attracting, screening, and hiring qualiﬁed people for a job WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:13 Page 115 Workforce Planning and Employment 115 Talent Pool Group of available skilled workers A group of available skilled workers, or a database of resumes that a company can use to recruit in a particular location The ability to compete often rests squarely on the deployment of resources at the right time and in the right direction. A company struggling to survive may need to shrink assets by offering only the products and services in the highest demand, or in which the company has an extreme competitive advan tage. By shrinking offerings, it may need to reduce the workforce or shut down locations. Companies that are in high-growth mode will need an expansion plan, which HR contributes to by identifying the skill sets of the current workforce and analyzing what is available in the relevant labor market. Demo graphic shifts, economic forecasts, and the regulatory environment all act with enough force to make or break a company’s success if not planned for and executed properly. The use of third-party vendors may be necessary to address hard-to-ﬁll positions or executive-level skill sets. Executive placement agencies (headhunters) may be engaged to scour the national market for talent. Stafﬁng agencies may be con tracted to help build up a workforce on a short-term basis through temporary assignments. In some cases, professional trainers may need to come in to set up work processes, or to train on new technology when necessary to meet strategic outcomes where labor supply is lacking. HR supports these efforts by identifying resources and building a business case using metrics such as return on investment or cost-beneﬁt analysis. Placement Placing applicants in jobs Finding suitable jobs for applicants Headhunter An employment recruiter An informal name for an employment recruiter, sometimes referred to as an executive search ﬁrm (continued ) WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:13 116 Page 116 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge (continued ) Short Term A brief period of time Occurring over a brief time (for example, a short-term loan or a short-term assignment) Assignment Job or position A job, usually in a new location In addition to using data to anticipate the supply and demand of labor, HR may use judgmental forecasts, which use information from the past and the present to predict labor ﬂow. This of course requires that HR has the information from its data collection both from the internal strategic plan and the external labor market demographics. Examples include: Managerial estimates, in which managers with a history of addressing work ﬂow are called together as experts to anticipate changes. Rule of thumb techniques, in which general guidelines are applied, such as one HR professional for every 80 employees. Delphi and nominal techniques, which use groups of experts to analyze data and make projections. Statistical forecasting is also useful, particularly when HR has a data set to use for source material. Regression analyses are used to identify relationships between variables, in which a single constant is compared to one variable or to multiple variables. A simple linear regression predicts future demand of labor based on a (single) past indicator and represents it in a visual model. A graph shows how the constant variable behaves when other factors are introduced. For example, a retail store that predicts an increase in sales every October for the holiday season may show on a regression model that when sales go up, so do the number of employees. These variables are said to be correlated (co-related) to each other. In multilinear regression, there are more variables present that inﬂuence the criterion HR is trying to predict. In the retail store example, holiday sales remain the constant, but the variables intro duced can be number of employees, expanded holiday hours, and other conditions. A simulation model attempts to apply computer-based modeling to real-world scenarios. This method often begins by hypothesizing what-if scenarios such as “What if sales stay ﬂat?” “What if 10 percent of our workforce retires over the next ﬁve years?” WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:13 Page 117 Workforce Planning and Employment 117 Productivity ratios calculate the number of units produced per employee. Employers then may calculate labor needs based on projected sales. In all of the above, benchmarks are established to deﬁne what is normal, and variables are often built up as deviations from standard operating conditions. As discussed previously, workforce planning efforts must be aligned with company strategy. Actions and interventions that are out of alignment with corporate strategy will result in missed targets and confusing messages. Think of it as a robot that is programmed with a set of instructions that include measurements, outcomes, and error messaging. If the robot’s arms and legs suddenly start to act independently, the company may be crippled by the disparities. HR is the central system through which strategy ﬂows, and in the case of workforce planning, it goes straight through jobs and people. These are discussed in the next sections. Job Design The process of designing jobs within a company is focused on the need for formalization—organizing the work and job structures into coherent sets to meet output and support needs. Tasks, duties, and responsibilities must be sorted and grouped into a productive unit of work: the job. These are then grouped into job families—similar positions based on skill requirements or other common factors. HR must also take into consideration the structure of the organization to design jobs that are in line with a horizontal, product-based, or matrix structure (described in the Business Management and Strategy chapter). Job design also affects employee performance, particularly when motivation is a factor in productivity. Factors in designing or redesigning jobs include improving worker safety and health or working conditions, identifying the necessary tools and equipment, ensuring that the proper levels of authority are in place, and orienting the work group as individuals or teams. Job restructuring is another form of job design in which changes are made to meet evolving demands. Restructuring efforts include removing responsibilities or building alternative stafﬁng strategies such as job sharing or telecommuting, techniques described in a later section. Formalization Structured work roles and rules The degree to which processes and procedures deﬁne job functions and organizational structure (continued ) WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 118 Page 118 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge (continued ) Responsibility Duty A task that is part of an employee’s job description Job Family A set of related jobs performed within a work group or occupation Groups of occupations based on the type of work performed, skills, education, training, and credentials In some cases, a contingent workforce may need to be considered, made up of part-time or temporary workers for a ﬁxed period of time. These employ ees are used to cover entry-level work that is seasonal in nature, or for more skilled positions that are project based. A job that may be critical for only three months out of the year may be designed to include very task-speciﬁc respon sibilities. In this case, the job design would help HR build an appropriate stafﬁng strategy—including wage/beneﬁt budgets and costs to recruit—into the workforce plan. Contingent Worker Part-time or temporary employee A person who is hired part-time to work under a contract or for a ﬁxed period of time Many HR staff walk into their roles with preorganized jobs; rarely is there the opportunity to build work processes from the ground up, so the idea of job design seems unnecessary or irrelevant. However, elements of job design and redesign are considered every time a new hire is selected, job performance criteria are created, jobs are added to meet new business, or job descriptions are updated for accuracy. Additionally, simplifying jobs such as when there is a low supply of skilled workers in the relevant labor market may incorporate elements of job design/redesign. At other times, it may be necessary to increase the complexity of the work to satisfy the developmental needs of a high-potential worker. HR is evolving from hiring or changing a person to ﬁt the job to instead focusing on designing jobs to ﬁt the strengths of the talent. WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 Page 119 Workforce Planning and Employment 119 As with many HR activities, there are a few best practice approaches. They include: Job enlargement Increasing the scope of a job by extending duties and responsi bilities, generally without changing pay or status. This strategy is effective when an incumbent desires a more challenging job with different tasks or responsibilities. Job enrichment A way to motivate employees by giving them greater responsibil ities and more variety in their work. This generally involves giving the employee more control over planning and organizing the results. Job rotation A developmental tool that allows employees to practice skills by moving from job to job. This helps the employer by increasing depth in depart mental skills through cross-training. Job sharing A strategy in which the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a full-time job are split between two part-time workers. Another element of job design is the work scheduling. Many organizations are open to ﬂexible stafﬁng techniques that widen their talent pool. For example, telecommuting is increasing in popularity, and involves employees accomplishing their work from home or from a virtual ofﬁce. Issues that HR must prepare for include building out policies that describe expectations and performance mea sures, as well as accounting for time zone differences where applicable. Other alternative work schedules are also developing. In addition to job sharing and telecommuting, traditional work may be modiﬁed by adding shifts, changing start times, and changing the order of the days in which work gets done. HR supports ﬂexible work options such as compressed workweeks by ensuring that laws regarding compensation and overtime are not violated. Performance criteria must also be created that are legally defensible, consistent in application, and clearly communicated. Insourcing is an HR activity for which job design may need to accommodate. A company that decides to bring in fabrication tasks that used to be done by a thirdparty vendor will need to make several decisions before integrating the work into production. Options include rearranging existing jobs to take on the new produc tion tasks or adding a new job from scratch. Telecommuting Working from home via computer A ﬂexible work arrangement that allows part-time or full-time employees to work at home via a computer (continued ) WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 120 Page 120 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge (continued ) Insourcing Assigning a job or function within a company Assigning a job to an internal department instead of to an outside organization; opposite of outsourcing Job Analysis: Characteristics of Jobs As reviewed earlier, O∗ NET is built around a systematic job analysis process that derives from a competency model. These competencies are focused on describing benchmark job content, context, and work styles that are required to perform the work. This information is summarized in the ﬁnal job description, which lists the essential functions and job competencies. Regardless of the enterprise being conducted, the job analysis, essential functions, and job competencies are used to perform every single HR activity. In selection, it is the building block of hiring criteria. In performance management, it deﬁnes the criteria from which employees will be measured. In compensation, the job data forms the benchmarks from which jobs are priced in the relevant market and is used to properly classify employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In short, the successful execution of an HR department’s role within an organization is built upon the information gleaned from a job analysis. Job Analysis Review of job tasks and requirements A study of the major tasks and responsibilities of jobs to determine their importance and relation to other jobs in a company Competency Model A description of the skills needed for a speciﬁc job A list of the behaviors, skills, and knowledge needed to do well in a speciﬁc job Job Description Description of work tasks and responsibilities Written document describing an employee’s work activities WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 Page 121 Workforce Planning and Employment 121 Essential Functions Required job duties An employee’s main responsibilities or tasks to succeed in a job Job Competencies Skills needed for a job The skills and behaviors that will help an employee succeed in a speciﬁc job Methods for conducting job analysis are dependent upon the type of analysis required. Task-based analysis focuses on the tasks, duties, and responsibilities (TDRs) of a particular job. A task is the most fundamental activity of a worker, whereas a duty is made up of several tasks. Responsibilities are the obligation the worker has to complete the tasks and duties, along with the responsibility to comply with other, more departmental or organizational requirements beyond the speciﬁc job outputs. A competency-based job analysis looks more toward the knowledge and skills that are necessary to do the work. Questionnaires are easy-to-use tools that survey workers about the types of tasks they do, the frequency of the efforts, and to whom they are dependent for task completion. Questionnaires also capture information about the neces sary knowledge, skills, and abilities used to perform the work. In some cases, HR may ﬁnd that one-on-one interviewing is more appropriate to record the data about each job. Employees may also be asked to keep a log of their daily or hourly activities, or to participate in a focus group that evaluates the work content. Having a system in place to complete the somewhat onerous task of job analysis is critical. Communicating the reasoning behind the effort to both managers and supervisors is the responsibility of HR. Employees may feel apprehensive about the employer’s motives, and supervisors may resent the intrusion into their productivity efforts if the reasoning is not clearly explained. Employees tie the importance of their jobs to their own personal worth, which reinforces the tendency toward inﬂation. While legal issues are covered more extensively in Appendix A, there are two that are worth mentioning in the context of job analysis (see the following features). WEBC03 04/02/2017 122 4:25:14 Page 122 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge GRIGGS VS. DUKE POWER In 1971, the Supreme Court decided a landmark case in Griggs vs. Duke Power that shaped the use of educational achievement in employment decisions. The court found that seemingly neutral employment requirements must be job related, and not result in adverse impact against a protected class group. Adverse impact occurs when there is a signiﬁcantly different rate of selection (for hiring, for promotion, or to participate in training) of protected class groups than of nonprotected groups. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it unlawful to discriminate against individuals based on their race or national origin. Duke Power had a history of noncompliance with the relatively new law. Duke continued to segregate black workers into the labor department, and hire only white people with high school diplomas for the better jobs in other departments that paid higher wages. It is also important to note that the diploma and baseline skills testing became a require ment after Title VII was passed, preventing African American workers from transferring to better jobs. Thirteen employees ﬁled suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, stating that this requirement resulted in disparate or adverse impact against African Americans, as this group at the time had substantially lower rates of high school graduation than whites had. The Supreme Court agreed. The diploma requirement in and of itself was a neutral hiring tool; however, the impact of this tool resulted in the substantial underrepresentation of a protected class group, rendering the outcome discriminatory. To ﬁnd out more about this historic court case, check out an audio version of the oral arguments in the case online at the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) deﬁned as essential the tasks, duties, and responsibilities that are the reason for the job’s existence; they validate the job functions upon which performance needs are measured. Essential functions are determined by considering: Percentage of time spent on each job The frequency of the task How important it is to the overall purpose Example The task “answering calls on a multiline phone system” is clearly essential based on frequency and importance for a receptionist position, but less so for a telecommuting data entry specialist. Under the ADA, employers may consider the qualiﬁcations of a worker in regard to the successful completion—with or without reasonable accommodation—of the essential functions of a job. As jobs and organizations change, the essential functions must be reviewed for continued relevance. Often, job responsibilities morph into a reﬂection of the incumbent skill set WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 Page 123 Workforce Planning and Employment 123 or preferences. This may or may not be conducive to the original job outcomes or needs, and could potentially create a challenge to the necessity of a competency. During any review, HR must document the job analysis process to provide evidence that the job descriptions and essential functions are up to date and valid. The ultimate output of the job analysis process is the ﬁnal job description. Understood to be the readable form of all the data collected through the analysis process, it serves as documen tation of the speciﬁcations and competencies necessary to perform the work. A job description provides a summary of the job and its purpose, along with a listing of the essential duties. The job speciﬁcations describe the individual knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to complete the work, the education and work experience requirements, along with the physical and mental duties of the job. A job description will include a summary of those to whom the person reports, the wage classiﬁcation, and necessary disclaimers to avoid the job description reading as a contract for employment. It should also reserve the right of the employer to make any changes as necessary to the work duties. Be careful, though! The ADA does not consider the statement “other duties as described” to be essential, as it does not meet the standards for importance, frequency, or reason for position existence. Job Speciﬁcation Requirements for an employment position A description of employee qualiﬁcations required to perform a speciﬁc job The outputs from the job analysis process will also be useful in other ways. HR must have the ability to deliver job descriptions with the corresponding job competencies for use in the recruiting and selection process. These efforts will improve the accuracy of hires based on job or organization ﬁt, which also improves the legal validity of selection procedures when all criteria are based on documented job or company requirements. Note that the output from job analysis is not just to hire external candidates. It may also be used to determine internal promotions to identify successor candidates, create developmental action plans for employees desiring to grow in their roles, and help employees see an established career path as they stay with the organization. Strategically, the documented job competencies will aid in the development of the workforce plan, as they may identify the gaps in current organizational competencies to meet future needs. The process of job analysis is focused on analyzing the work to be done and identifying the tasks, duties, and responsibilities necessary for completion. While the job analysis process also identiﬁes the worker competencies, HR still must be able to screen for the people characteristics. This is the function of recruiting, which is examined next. WEBC03 04/02/2017 124 4:25:14 Page 124 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge Recruiting: Characteristics of People The business of work is heavily dependent upon worker characteristics. A com pany’s ability to compete is largely dependent upon its ability to attract qualiﬁed workers. Employer branding is the process of establishing a corporate identity that is communicated to a target audience. Establishing an employer brand is accom plished through the use of systematic and thoughtful approaches to market a company as an employer of choice to a diverse local and global market. An employer brand is most often built upon a differentiation strategy: what makes the company different from its competitors. In the case of recruiting, HR’s competi tors are every other company within range that is vying for similar talent. Under standing the transformational and strategic elements of the business such as the mission, vision, and values along with the more transactional details of employment such as wages and beneﬁts all contribute to the employment branding effort. HR’s goal is to manage the message to create a desire in qualiﬁed applicants to come and work for the organization. Employer Branding How a company presents itself to the public The image an organization presents to its employees, stakeholders, and customers Employer of Choice An organization highly valued by employees An organization that people want to work for because it attracts, motivates, and keeps good employees Employment Branding Changing how others perceive an organization Process of turning an organization into an employer of choice Effective branding techniques will increase the visibility of a company within its market. Strong branding efforts increase the ﬂow of qualiﬁed applicants based on the company’s reputation. A desirable company with a reputation of being good to its people will attract more talent than one with a reputation as a slave driver. In some cases, targeted branding messages will focus on speciﬁc demographics based on the skill sets necessary or in high demand. Regardless of a general or WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 Page 125 Workforce Planning and Employment 125 speciﬁc target group, the company may communicate its brand by identifying its employer value proposition. The HR value proposition is the unique product or service offered to HR’s customers. Similarly, the employer value proposition communicates the unique set of offerings, associations, and values that are reasons people should come to work for the company. An effective employer value proposition reﬂects what the target population desires from an employer, and may be expressed via both tangible and intangible elements. The HR value proposition is not only about attracting external talent. According to Dave Ulrich, it is critical for HR to demonstrate the right competencies and focus more on deliverables than “doables” to maximize the value of an HR team (Ulrich and Brockbank 2005). Value Proposition The beneﬁts of a product or service The unique beneﬁts, costs, and value that a business delivers to its customers As with any marketing effort, the key is to control the message. This can be tricky if an employer is not living the brand or the values expressed in its recruiting campaigns. One technique used to communicate the brand that continues to gain popularity is videos. Employee testimonials are a form of digital resume for the company in which brand ambassadors rise up from the ranks of workers. On video, these successful employees describe the working conditions or the workplace values that make the company a great place to belong. Social media is another way to embed the employer brand into the community. Sharing company strengths, highlighting efforts that reﬂect the mission or values, and inviting others to contribute in a meaningful way are all branding techniques used to control the message to the target audience—in this case, qualiﬁed applicants. Social Media Technology that helps people connect Technology that lets people communicate over the Internet to share information and resources (for example, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and podcasts) The employer brand is a broad effort to deliver a macro message about the general beneﬁts of employment with the company. It is designed to get people in the door, and HR must then have a system in place to—as O∗ NET describes— identify the enduring traits of workers that inﬂuence performance on the job. A job WEBC03 04/02/2017 126 4:25:14 Page 126 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge requisition will often launch the prerecruiting effort of review (or development) of a job description to ensure HR is recruiting for the right qualiﬁcations. See Table 3.1 for an example of worker characteristics that O∗ NET describes as necessary for an HR professional. Job Requisition Request to hire a person for an open position A procedure used when a company wants to hire a new employee to ﬁll a position Once HR practitioners have a shopping list of skill sets, they can begin to accom plish the task of identifying resources from which to source talent. Internal Recruiting Sources Investing in internal resources for open job positions serves several positive business outcomes. After an employee has been working with a company for a period of time, the employer has a good sense of the person’s capabilities and work style. Promoting from within takes advantage of previous training investments in the worker, giving him or her an opportunity to practice natural abilities and build other skills. Internal candidate promotion sends a message to other employees that there are opportunities for advancement, and that the company is paying attention to their hard work. Employee relocations, transfers, and other workforce rotation techniques are another tactic in which current workers are moved to a different location on a short- or long-term basis to manage stafﬁng levels, either in the country or as expatriates. In some cases, internal recruitment is not the best source. Bringing in fresh views and different ways of doing things can be motivating for companies seeking to innovate or pace their competitors. When several employees are vying for a particular promotion, competitive conﬂict may emerge as a disrupter to operations. Internal promotions in which the individual is not completely ready may reduce productivity overall while the employee gets up to speed and other workers ﬁll in the gap left behind. Also, what happens if a newly promoted candidate is failing in the new role? Will the employee have the opportunity to move back if it doesn’t work out? These and similar considerations should be identiﬁed in a process for promoting from within. Internal sources for talent may be overlooked when supervisors view certain employees as “too good to lose,” which is a ﬂawed short-term strategy. Keeping the strong performers in a single role increases the likelihood that the job will stop being challenging for the worker. Lack of challenging work is one of the top reasons WEBC03 04/02/2017 Table 3.1 4:25:14 Page 127 O∗NET OnLine Report for 11-3121 Human Resource Manager Abilities Interests Enterprising, social, Oral Expression and conventional The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand Work Style Work Values Relationships Initiative Occupations that Job requires a satisfy this work willingness to take value allow on responsibilities employees to and challenges. provide service to others and work with coworkers in a friendly, noncompetitive environment. Corresponding needs are moral values and social service. 127 Knowledge Skills Active Listening Personnel and Human Resources Giving full attention to what other people Knowledge of are saying, taking principles and time to understand procedures for the points being personnel made, asking recruitment, questions as selection, training, appropriate, and not compensation and interrupting at beneﬁts, labor inappropriate times relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 128 Page 128 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge why employees leave. But supervisors have needs, too, and the savvy HR profes sional anticipates and addresses these needs before a situation becomes a crisis. Building a leadership pipeline and identifying the training and development needs of this source for workers is an HR critical task. Replacement planning and succes sion planning are tools used to accomplish this, and are reviewed toward the end of this chapter. Relocation Changing residence, moving employees Transferring employees to another location for work Workforce Rotation Moving employees when work requirements change The regular movement of employees from one function, time, or place to another, as needed Leadership Pipeline Source of future leaders The people in a company who will be developed to move into higher levels of leadership over time Replacement Planning Identifying employees to ﬁll future vacancies Using past performance to identify employees who can ﬁll future vacancies (unlike succession planning, which focuses on future potential) Succession Planning Determining and preparing for future talent needs Identifying and developing high-potential employees for the organization’s future success WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 Page 129 Workforce Planning and Employment 129 Regardless, an internal recruitment strategy will require HR tools for execution. Job posting is the effort by HR to notify internal candidates that a job opening exists. In union organizations, the process is highly formalized and quantiﬁed using metrics such as seniority levels. The Internet and company intranets are also useful methods for deploying information about internal opportunities. Job posting is done most often before external candidates are considered, and HR should manage the job posting process carefully to ensure there is clarity regarding application procedures and other issues. For example, are employees obligated to tell their current supervi sor that they are applying for another role? Can employees who are under a current disciplinary action be considered for a job promotion or transfer? How long will the job be posted internally before the company turns to external sources? HR will also have to consider the effect a nonselection will have on employee morale. Another useful tool for identifying internal candidates is a skills inventory, which is used to catalog employee skill sets. HR may refer to a skills inventory to identify candidates with other knowledge, ability, work experience, or education not being used in their current positions. By collecting and organizing the data ahead of time either through a formal intervention project or as a process at the time of hire, HR creates a database of the unknown or forgotten skills of current employees. This enables internal job matching, which utilizes the skills inventory to place internal candidates into correct positions. Job Matching A process of placing employees in the right positions The use of objective skill assessment data combined with common sense to determine the best ﬁt for an employee to a speciﬁc job An internal source for candidates with an external orientation is an employee referral program. Current workers are well positioned to provide applicants with a realistic job preview—an accurate portrayal of the work and work environment. Employee referrals can streamline the recruiting process, unburying the resumes of otherwise qualiﬁed candidates that may get lost in the volume of responses to a recruiting ad. Be careful, though—disparate impact may occur if employees refer homogeneous groups. Relying only on employee referrals can result in underrepresentation of protected class groups if employees consistently refer applicants that are similar to themselves in race, age, or gender. Remember what you learned from Griggs vs. Duke Power. Employee referrals are another example of a seemingly neutral employment practice that can become discriminatory in outcome. WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 130 Page 130 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge An employee referral program is a low-cost way to recruit qualiﬁed talent. Current employees are able to provide applicants with a realistic job preview, articulating clearly both the beneﬁts and challenges of the workplace. However, in addition to disparate impact, employee referrals may also run afoul of an employer’s nepotism policy—the giving of preferential hiring treatment to family members. HR can support compliance by having a clear antinepotism policy in the handbook, and applying consistent practices to all levels of employment. Many policies allow for the hiring of family members, but restrict family members from managing each other or, in some cases, working in the same department. Referral Program Using employees to recruit applicants Recruitment method that rewards employees for recommending candidates Job Preview A method that gives applicants an understanding of job duties before being hired A strategy for introducing job candidates to the realities of the position, both good and bad, prior to making a hiring decision Homogeneous The same or similar Description of a group whose members are all the same or similar (for example, people from the same background and heritage); opposite of heterogeneous Nepotism Favoritism shown to relatives and friends A practice where people of inﬂuence appoint their relatives or friends to positions in a business, even though they may be less qualiﬁed than other candidates Re-recruiting is the effort of HR to reach out to past applicants and employees. This practice can save time and improve the quality of the hire, especially when the target is a former employee who left in good standing. This is an excellent example of when job design may inﬂuence decision making. A retired worker may be interested in returning to work part-time, opening up an opportunity for job sharing. WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 Page 131 Workforce Planning and Employment 131 Employees who left for other opportunities may be disillusioned if the promise made to entice them to the other company does not come to fruition. For this reason, re-recruiting efforts may be heavily inﬂuenced by the nature of the exit interview and separation process. If an employee who gives notice is marched off the premises under guard by a security agent or bullied through an exit interview, he or she would be much less likely to consider returning. In highly competitive labor markets, these separation tactics may not serve long-term goals. Exit Interview Final interview before leaving an organization An interview that HR has with an employee to get feedback about the job the employee held, the work environment, and the organization External Recruiting Sources External recruiting sources may be both traditional and nontraditional. The use of media outlets such as newspapers, radio announcements, and billboards may still be effective in some markets. Increasingly, however, employers are sourcing external candidates through social media, personal networks, and online job boards. Internet recruiting has many advantages, including lowering the cost per applicant due to high levels of exposure for a single price, and the tendency of people to share job ads via their own social network. Applicants often are able to respond quickly by submitting their resume online, with many employers having formal resume databases to sort applicants and store resumes for future openings. In some cases, passive candidates who are not actively looking may come across a job posting or employer brand video that encourages them to consider an employer’s openings. A popular professional networking site is LinkedIn. Employers pay to post formal job ads or simply post openings on their personal or company pages. The ability to upload videos, share news, and describe upcoming events all shape the impression of an organization that many candidates will form even before they decide to apply for job openings. Current employees may also share job openings with their friends on their personal social pages, causing a job ad to get quite a bit of exposure for free and making social media one of the fastest-growing recruiting sources for HR. Job fairs continue to be fairly popular methods, especially when targeting a speciﬁc group such as veterans or a speciﬁc industry such as construction. General job fairs may not have a reﬁned enough skill set for all openings, whereas other times they provide a good opportunity to communicate the employer brand for future needs. Virtual job fairs are a type of recruiting campaign in which a webbased link is advertised online and via social media. It can be a quick yet effective WEBC03 04/02/2017 132 4:25:14 Page 132 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge way to get the word out about job openings, and to stock an employer’s resume database for future job openings. Universities, trade schools, and high schools can become a continuous recruit ment source for local employers. Most schools have career placement services; some are free and others charge a fee. Companies may post their jobs on the university website, or have e-mail blasts sent to alumni with degrees in the desired domain. The relationship with the school should be maintained throughout the year by participating in job fairs on campus, or helping prepare candidates through mock interviews. These activities create depth in the relationship and positions educa tional institutions as a long-term resource. Diversity groups such as the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce or Disability Resource Centers are an active way to attract a diverse qualiﬁed workforce. Also called minority recruiting, these recruiting activities take a multicultural approach to seeking qualiﬁed workers. The effort aims for diverse targets that may be under represented in a work group, or attempts to gather employees with a speciﬁc skill set such as language. Other sources for diversity recruiting include advertising at minority colleges and universities, or minority-based trade and professional asso ciations where available. Social Network Group of people with similar interests A group of people who interact because they have a common interest. The group communicates either in person or by using technology (for example, Facebook or Twitter) Multicultural Refers to a group of people from several cultures or ethnic groups Employees of diverse cultures and backgrounds who are part of an organization’s workforce IN REAL LIFE: AUTISM SPEAKS AT SAP “SAP values the unique skills and abilities that people with autism bring to the workplace.” So said Jose Velasco, head of SAP’s initiative to hire qualiﬁed individuals on the autism spectrum. SAP started by capitalizing on the coveted skill sets of detail orientation and software trouble shooting required for its products and services that individuals on the autism spectrum often possess. Information technology (IT) positions were the starting point for SAP, which now boasts WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 Page 133 Workforce Planning and Employment 133 an international program providing job opportunities for the valuable skills and diverse ways of thinking that are critical to jobs in graphic design, ﬁnance, and marketing. Components of the program include a speciﬁc recruiting approach to ﬁnd qualiﬁed individuals, many of whom are underemployed. This includes selection procedures that acknowledge some of the social skill difﬁculties many with autism experience, focusing instead on the professional and technical skill sets of each individual. SAP is one of many companies that partnered with Specialisterne, a Danish company that prepares individuals with autism and Asperger’s syndrome for the workplace. Providing training for these employees is a pillar of the program, as is training for the managers who direct them. Training employees in soft skills and managers on the need to provide clear and precise direction increases the odds of professional and project success. SAP now has implemented the program in Europe, Asia, and South America.1 Another source for external candidates is employment agencies. A stafﬁng agency may be sponsored by the state, such as the New Hampshire Employment Security Department. This agency helps employers with the job postings, and also can advise them of tax credits or training reimbursement availability. These types of agencies may also be able to assist employers meet their diversity goals, such as accessing qualiﬁed individuals with disabilities or the hiring of veterans. In other cases, private agencies may be engaged to conduct headhunting, seeking to tap into passive job seekers. These services are billed as a percentage of the ﬁnal wage of a candidate who accepts an employment offer. Most of these agencies have large databases from which they draw applicants. While expensive as a standard form of recruiting, they may reduce the cost of recruiting if the time-to-ﬁll rate is low and the candidate hired is the proper ﬁt. As with any outsourced function, conducting the ROI is important before contracting. Headhunting Recruiting employees The practice of recruiting employees from one company to work at another company Time-to-Fill Average time to hire people for job vacancies The average number of days that a certain job position remains open A professional employer organization (PEO) is a type of employee-leasing company, with the PEO remaining the employer of record after a successful WEBC03 04/02/2017 134 4:25:14 Page 134 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge recruiting. For a fee, the PEO handles all of the HR administrative responsibilities of an employer. This includes processing payroll and managing personnel records. In some cases, an employer shifts all of its current or nonessential personnel over to the PEO in order to better concentrate on its core competency and manage shifting overhead costs, with the PEO leasing back the employees to the company. These agreements generally create a joint employer obligation. See the In Real Life feature for other types of joint employer issues plaguing fastfood giant McDonald’s. IN REAL LIFE: MCDONALD’S AND THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The prospect of joint employment liability is not to be taken lightly. Just look at the headlines targeting McDonald’s Corporation and its franchisees. Joint employment was addressed on two legal fronts in 2016, with the logic behind the verdicts just as interesting as the outcomes. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Unfair labor practices (ULPs) had been ﬁled by unions against franchisee owners of McDonald’s fast-food restaurants. The unions ﬁled complaints with the NLRB, charging that the ULP claims should be also held against McDonald’s Corporation as a joint employer of the franchisee employees.2 The NLRB agreed with the unions, ﬁnding that McDonald’s corporate could be held liable for charges because McDonald’s corporate tells its franchisees how to staff restau rants, when to clean the bathrooms, and where partially completed orders should be placed on counters. The NLRB found merit in claims of “discriminatory discipline, reductions in hours, discharges, and other coercive conduct directed at employees in response to union and protected concerted activity, including threats, surveillance, interrogations, promises of beneﬁt, and overbroad restrictions on communicating with union representatives or with other employ ees about unions and the employees’ terms and conditions of employment.” It is telling that the joint employer relationship with regard to franchise owners may also impact rulings on similar associations between employers and their stafﬁng resources as well as in the design of corporate structures. HR in positions of uncertainty should be sure to review the degree of control in any alternative arrangements to help manage these types of risks. Wage and Hour Disputes In October 2016 McDonald’s agreed to pay $3.75 million to settle a class action wage and hour dispute brought against both corporate and franchise owners in California.3 This settlement agreement reﬂects the uncertainty of employers regarding the NLRB’s decision to hold McDonald’s corporate as jointly liable for employment decisions made by independent franchise owners. It is important for HR to understand that these recent interpretations and NLRB decisions are new territory in the application of labor law theories in practice. One attorney for the more than 800 class action members was quoted as saying, “We developed legal theories in this case that set the standard and lay the foundation for future litigation against franchisors and other companies that maintain ultimate economic control over the workplaces run by related companies.” He was referring to the “ostensible agency” theory. The attorney said that even if McDonald’s was not deemed to be a joint employer in the cases, the plaintiffs could have “ostensibly” (appearing as such) believed that they were employees, and that was enough for liability. The attorney said that the company led employees to believe that the franchisee was WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 Page 135 Workforce Planning and Employment 135 acting on behalf of McDonald’s corporate as their “agent,” which was enough to hold the corporate owners liable. In addition, after a conﬂicting ruling against joint employer vicarious liability in a suit against Domino’s Pizza, and in response to another case, the NLRB revised its deﬁnition of joint employment to include “indirect control,” such as McDonald’s providing the computer system for which franchisees calculate overtime. Independent contractors are another external source for talent. An independent contractor is very strictly deﬁned under the Internal Revenue Service, so it is important that employers are aware of the implications and costs for misclassifying employees as independent contractors. IRS.gov describes independent contractor status as a matter of degree of control. Factors include: Behavioral control Does the company control or have the right to control what the worker does and how the worker does his or her job? Financial control Are the business aspects of the worker’s job controlled by the payer? (These include things like how the worker is paid, whether expenses are reimbursed, who provides tools/supplies, etc.) Type of relationship Are there written contracts or employee-type beneﬁts (i.e., pension plan, insurance, vacation pay, etc.)? Will the relationship continue and is the work performed a key aspect of the business? The IRS goes on to say that there is not one set magic number of conditions under which an employee is either an employee or a contractor, but rather the degree that each factor is present. The key is to document the factors inﬂuencing the entire relationship. Independent Contractors People who provide goods or services under an agreement Workers who contract to do speciﬁc work for other people or organizations and are not considered employees Labor unions are an example of an external recruitment source that is industry speciﬁc. Many unions have hiring halls where information about employer jobs and worker qualiﬁcations may be shared. Hiring halls aren’t necessarily brick-and-mortar places; in some cases unions use the Internet to supply job listings online, including Facebook pages and job listings by state. The National Labor Relations Board reminds us that “Unions that operate exclusive hiring halls must notify workers how the referral system works (and of any changes in that system) and maintain WEBC03 04/02/2017 136 4:25:14 Page 136 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge non-discriminatory standards and procedures in making job referrals from the hiring hall.” Labor unions are covered in more detail in the Employee and Labor Relations chapter. Labor Union A trade organization or works council A group of employees with the same job who join together to ask their employers for things such as better wages, beneﬁts, or working conditions Job analysis identiﬁes the characteristics of jobs. Recruiting identiﬁes the char acteristics of people. The selection process matches the two to determine ﬁt. Employer Retention Efforts The best offense is a great defense, and this cliché holds true with recruiting as well. HR can advocate for resource allocation toward employee retention programs, arguing that money spent on reducing turnover is a better investment than the cost of recruiting. All of these activities require efforts that engage workers with their jobs, the company, and their peers. Supervisors play a vital role in retaining workers, with many exit interviews showing that employees leave because of their boss, not necessarily the job or company itself. Another common reason for leaving is pay. Many employees report that they are dissatisﬁed with their levels of compensation in relation to the effort and commitment required to do their jobs. In some cases, employees do not feel valued for their contributions, or they believe there is a lack of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. For HR, conducting periodic surveys that address each issue is a valuable exercise that will provide insight into employee job and company satisfaction. In some cases, HR may conduct stay interviews—face-to-face conversations with workers about why employees continue to stay with the company. Collecting this type of data is a critical component of building retention strategies that actually work. Tenure is another retention strategy often employed in academic settings. It grants a permanent job or position with a contracted worker, in some cases with better employment beneﬁts or leave allocations to encourage employees to stay. Globally, brain drain is a very real problem in which talented individuals relocate from their home country to ﬁnd work in areas with higher wages, better technology, and more stable living conditions. Because the majority of migration occurs from developing countries to developed countries, there is concern that areas already WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 Page 137 Workforce Planning and Employment 137 ﬁghting poverty, unavailability of clean water, and lack of health care services suffer from this loss of talent. For this reason, many employers are well served by investing in glocalization efforts to increase awareness and help improve conditions around the world. Some companies are choosing to reverse the trend of brain drain by exporting work from more developed countries into the less developed countries through the design of joint ventures, subsidiaries, outsourcing, and offshoring efforts. In this way, the business comes to the worker instead of the worker moving to the job. Take a look at the In Real Life feature about R. Riveter to see how one business builds its workforce speciﬁcally based on the mobility of military spouses. Employee Retention Keeping employees Methods of motivating employees to stay with the organization and making sure employees are satisﬁed and rewarded Reduce Turnover Lower the number of unﬁlled positions To retain employees and lower the number of vacancies in a company Workplace A place where people work A place, such as an ofﬁce or factory, where people work Stay Interview A method of determining why employees remain with the organization A retention strategy that helps organizations understand why their employees remain with the organization and how the organization can motivate them to continue their employment Tenure Permanent position Holding a permanent job or position without the need for periodic contract renewals (continued ) WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 138 Page 138 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge (continued ) Brain Drain Loss of skilled workers When smart and talented people leave their own country for better opportunities Glocalization A strong local and global presence Characteristic of a company that “thinks globally, but acts locally”; when a company has a strong presence both in its own country and around the world IN REAL LIFE: RETAINING A MOBILE WORKFORCE AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE—R. RIVETER Permanent change of station (PCS): the movement of an American soldier and his or her family to another location The American handbag manufacturer R. Riveter, named after the World War II poster girl Rosie the Riveter, was launched in an attic by two military spouses determined to ﬁnd a way to add dollars to their families’ incomes despite being PCS’d (moved) several times in just a few short years. The initial effort has grown to encompass a business model of incorporating a mobile workforce as part of the primary manufacturing processes. As many as ﬁve Riveters contribute to the sewing of a single handbag made from military uniforms, tents, and other up-cycled textiles, providing a portable career for military spouses and retaining a skilled workforce for the company. The bag components are then sent to the company’s central location for quality inspection, assembly, and shipment. Selection: Matching Jobs to People Once qualiﬁed applicants have been identiﬁed through the branding and recruiting efforts of HR, the process of selection by differentiating between the competencies of the candidates begins. This is a form of acknowledging the job-related differ ences between candidates, and using tools that attempt to predict successful performance on the job. Preemployment Testing The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESPs) are excellent resources for certiﬁcants and current HR practitioners. These guidelines address an WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 Page 139 Workforce Planning and Employment 139 absolute legal right of all applicants to be treated fairly and to be considered only for their job-related qualiﬁcations. Furthermore, any requirement an employer has in the hiring process is con sidered a test—including an application form that collects biodata and interview questions, two examples of screening tools that the employer uses to predict future performance. All tools must demonstrate reliability, which is a scientiﬁc term that means the degree to which a test consistently predicts what the employer thinks it predicts. The UGESPs also outline the validity criteria for employment tests that are acceptable to use in employment situations, including those used in targeted selection procedures. The UGESPs provide information for HR about designing legally defensible preemployment tests. The guidelines are built from court interpretations of existing law, precedents, and labor law directly to inform employers of the proper use of selection tests in the workplace. They include standards for reliability and validity, and the obligation of employers to ensure that tests are job-related and nondiscriminatory. Selection Choosing employees Method for choosing the best candidate for a job Biodata Information about a person A shortened term for “biographical data”: information about a person’s educa tion, background, and work history Screening Tool An instrument used to assess an employee’s suitability for a particular job An instrument used in employee selection to help assess job suitability (for example, in-basket exercises, psychometric tests, and cultural adaptability inventories) Reliability Being dependable or consistent Having the same results after many tests (continued ) WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 140 Page 140 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge (continued ) Validity Reliability, true evaluation The extent to which something is accurate (for example, the extent to which an exam actually measures what it claims to measure) Targeted Selection Evaluation of a candidate’s abilities based on past behavior An assessment of job-related behavior from the candidate’s previous employ ment to predict future performance Interpretation Explanation of meaning An explanation of the meaning of something; translating spoken language There are several types of test validation techniques described by the UGESPs that are used to improve the prediction of outcomes and job relatedness of tests; all seek to measure the link between an employment test and performance. It’s useful to know that validity studies rarely result in an identiﬁcation of causes of perform ance. Most tests are only able to identify correlations (relationships, either positive or negative) between a test score and performance. They include: Criterion-related validity A criterion is simply a work-related behavior that an employer is trying to predict or measure through the use of a test or assessment. Often built from the job analysis, the study determines whether a test is built upon job-related criteria. The UGESPs give employers a pass from using the job analysis as a basis for assessment if the employer can show that the criteria are important in the employment context. This may include performance related to production and error rates, attendance factors, and length of service requirements. It’s helpful to remember that any performance measurement is a test subject to the principles of validity. So evaluating an employee’s attendance for purposes of a performance review would meet the criterion-related standard for validity. In hiring, if an applicant who scores well on a test also has high performance, the test would be said to be a valid predictor of performance on the job. There are two subtypes of criterion-related validity, and the main difference between the two is timing. Concurrent validity Concurrent validity is the measurement of a new test against an old test, most likely one that had been previously validated. (It may also refer to two WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 Page 141 Workforce Planning and Employment 141 groups of employees or applicants tested at the same time.) For example, a hospital evaluates nursing interns using a practical, hands-on exam via observation, and a computer-generated test with multiple-choice questions. If the interns who score well on the practical exam also score well on the written test, the tests have been concurrently validated against performance on the tests. If, however, a group of students score well on the practical exam but poorly on the written exam, then one or both of the tests may not be valid predictor(s) of performance. The goal is to align the testing criteria so that the results are positively correlated (when performance on one test is high, so is performance on the other; when performance on one test is low, there is also low performance on the other); they have been validated against each other. Predictive validity If the two tests in the previous example are not given at approximately the same time, but rather are used as a measurement against future performance, then the exam makers are using predictive studies to validate a test. The practical exams given to nurses are conducted within their ﬁrst 90 days of performance, with the results reviewed and compared to their performance at six months. If the test scores at 90 days are high and the performance scores at six months also are high, the test has been predictively validated based on a positive correlation between the test and performance at a future date. Similarly, if an employee scored low on the written test and also received a below-average six-month review, the written test has been positively correlated as well. Content validity An assessment is said to be content valid if it measures the knowledge, skills, or abilities necessary to perform the work. To be content valid, the test must assess actual work content. For example, in an interview for an HR job a work sample test is administered asking an applicant to complete Form I-9 using information for a ﬁctional new hire. The form must be completed correctly, completely, and with no errors. The interviewer may also ask the applicant a series of questions related to ﬁlling out the form to measure the applicant’s knowledge of the process. Construct validity A construct is nonobservable behavior constructed from differ ent mental processes. Often trait based, constructs include intelligence and personality, as well as abilities such as problem solving or teamwork. For example, the American Psychological Association deﬁnes the construct of self-efﬁcacy as the degree of belief one has in one’s own ability to perform a task. In training, an employer may select participants based on the construct that they must have a high degree of self-efﬁcacy in order to be selected. The instrument (tool) used to measure that construct must be related to the job and must accurately measure that trait in order to be considered valid. Most employers leave construct validation studies up to the professionals. As with many other processes, however, if the professionals make a mistake that HR doesn’t catch, the employer is often just as liable as if HR had completed the study in-house. WEBC03 04/02/2017 142 4:25:14 Page 142 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) has also adopted standards for selection testing. Titled “Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures,” these guidelines are useful for employers who wish to develop their own assessments. You can ﬁnd more information about these resources online at: www.uniformguidelines.com www.apa.org www.siop.org Criterion A standard or rule A test, standard, or rule on which something is judged or measured Predictive Validity Relationship between a test score and a work task The extent to which a score on a scale or test predicts future behavior Verifying Applicant Information Many employers will conduct a reference check to help make an informed decision about the work habits and responsibilities of the applicant. Generally HR will contact two or three past employers and ask questions about the employee’s work, verifying dates of employment, position titles, and responsibilities in the process. Some employers hesitate to provide information regarding former employees due to privacy laws. A general guideline is that the best defense against a charge of defamation is the truth. As long as the information provided is factually accurate and given in good faith, most states will protect an employer from legal action. Reference Check Veriﬁcation of a job applicant’s employment history Contact with a job applicant’s past employers, or other references, to verify the applicant’s job history, performance, and educational qualiﬁcations Verifying an applicant’s work history is just one type of reference check. Employers may also want to verify an applicant’s educational record to conﬁrm WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:14 Page 143 Workforce Planning and Employment 143 information presented on the application for employment. Financial references, such as credit checks, may also be used by the employer to predict future on-the job performance. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) closely governs what employers may collect and how they may use the information. After amendment in 2003 by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT), employers must disclose to applicants in writing that a credit report will be obtained, and the candidate must authorize the employer, also in writing, to do so. A more comprehensive type of employment veriﬁcation is the background check, which includes much of the aforementioned checking, plus a criminal record check. HR often outsources these services to a professional investigative record search company. Any negative information related to convictions of substance abuse, violent crime, or theft should be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis. Safety-sensitive functions or jobs requiring security clearance are allowed to have more restrictive requirements of applicants. When negative information is uncovered, employers should consider the length of time that has passed since the conviction, the age of the applicant when the conviction occurred, the type of risk this conviction may present to customers and coworkers, and, most important, how the behavior is related to the job for which the applicant is applying. Criminal record checks are a type of consumer report, and therefore are subject to the requirements of the FCRA. As a best practice, if an employer decides not to hire an applicant based on the candidate’s criminal history, the employer must provide notice to the candidate in writing, and give him or her the time to respond. Background Check Process of conﬁrming a job candidate’s personal and public information Gathering data to determine the accuracy of a candidate’s experience and records during employment screening (for example, verifying personal data, checking credentials, determining any criminal activity) Special Issues: Negligent Hiring and Polygraph Testing Employers may be held liable for the actions of a new hire if they knew or should have known about a person’s history prior to hiring that endangered coworkers, customers, vendors, or others. Employers may protect themselves against a claim of negligent hiring by consistently conducting reference and background checks for all new hires within the scope of the laws. Obtaining records related to past employment, driving records, educational achievements, and drug screening are all ways employers may guard against a successful negligent hiring claim. Polygraph testing is a controversial preemployment check that attempts to verify an applicant’s background by asking questions and measuring the truth of the WEBC03 04/02/2017 144 4:25:15 Page 144 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge answers. The Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 limits the use of these types of tests to be administered only for employees of federal contractors or subcontractors with national defense, security, or FBI contracts; to applicants for armored security or car services; and to candidates who would have access to the manufacture, storage distribution, or sale of pharmaceutical products. Any poly graph must be administered by a licensed practitioner. Employee Selection Procedures HR uses information about the job (job analysis), the company (mission, vision, values) and the management style and needs of the direct supervisor (leadership style, skills gap analysis) to determine proper ﬁt of a potential hire. When done correctly, better person-to-job and person-to-organization ﬁt is achieved and turnover is reduced. Selection Interviewing Qualiﬁed applicants are invited to the facility for a face-to-face interview, of which there are several types. Because interviews are a form of employment test, HR should have a process that is consistently documented and followed. An HR best practice is to have a list of structured interview questions so that the same questions are asked of all applicants for the position. This is because structured interviews have higher validity than their counterparts, unstructured interviews, in which interviewers ask more free-form questions and allow the applicant to guide the conversation. Structured and unstructured interviews are often referred to as directive/nondirective. These types of interviews may take on many forms, including: Behavioral Behavioral interview questions ask applicants to describe how they have handled situations in the past. Situational Situational interview questions ask applicants about how they would handle hypothetical situations that could occur on the job. Patterned In a patterned interview, also called a targeted interview, a bank of questions is used that focus on speciﬁc job-related areas. While the job content area remains constant, the question type will vary. Knowledge questions may be asked of college graduates, whereas practical questions may be asked of the more experienced. Stress In a stress interview, interviewers take an aggressive approach to candidates to see how they respond. Because this method must be reﬂective of the job, only WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:15 Page 145 Workforce Planning and Employment 145 highly stressful industries employ this method, including law enforcement and air trafﬁc controllers. Panel A panel interview is less about the type of questions and more about the number of interviewers. Several individuals take turns asking questions of a single applicant. Notes and ratings are then compared to identify the most qualiﬁed applicant. Face-to-Face Being physically present with another person Interacting while in the presence of another person, as opposed to on the telephone, in a webinar, or by e-mail Behavioral Interview Job interview method based on past work behavior Interview process to predict future performance based on how the candidate acted in past work situations Situational Interview Technique for assessing a job candidate’s problem-solving skills A method of assessing job candidates’ skills by asking them how they would respond to speciﬁc work-related issues and problems As mentioned in the section introduction, interview questions must be tied to job or company capabilities and needs. Unlawful interview questions are those that inquire into a person’s protected class characteristics, or characteristics that have no bearing on successful job performance. Questions related to age, gender, family status, arrest records, religion, afﬁliations, military service, and disability must very clearly link to job outcomes for an interview question or job criterion to be lawful. In some cases, these personal characteristics may be a bona ﬁde occupational qualiﬁcation (BFOQ), a condition that is reasonably necessary to conduct business operations. For example, religious institutions may make a person’s religion a qualiﬁcation criterion. Or a movie about Native Americans may choose to cast only American Indian actors. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a minimum age for pilots and copilots, and does not hire individuals over the age of 60. WEBC03 04/02/2017 146 4:25:15 Page 146 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge An HR best practice is to only ask questions directly related to job activities, and only collect protected data such as birthdates after a conditional offer of employ ment has been made. Interview Bias As with any human activity, bias may be introduced and unintentionally inﬂuence the ultimate impression the interviewer forms of a candidate and therefore who is selected. Types of bias include: Average/central tendency This error occurs when an interviewer rates all appli cants with about the same score, usually right in the middle of the rating scale. Stereotyping Stereotyping occurs when a rater applies beliefs about the character istics of groups, such as that women with children prefer not to work. Generalization is a similar type of bias in which the raters form opinions of candidates based on what they have observed. Contrast error Contrast error happens when an interviewer compares all candi dates against a single candidate. For example, if the ﬁrst candidate interviewed is really weak, all subsequent applicants may appear to be stronger than they actually are. First impression A ﬁrst impression is formed based on a small bit of information gleaned right at the beginning of an interview. For example, a candidate who appears to be extremely anxious at ﬁrst, but then calms down as the interview progresses, may be bypassed because of the earlier behavioral anxiety. Halo effect/horn effect These biases occur when a rater places particular emphasis on a positive trait (halo effect) or a negative trait (horn effect) at the exclusion of other candidate criteria. Question inconsistency A potential legal pitfall, this error occurs when interviewers ask different questions of different applicants, such as asking female candidates to describe their past job weaknesses but asking male candidates to describe only their successes. Cultural noise Cultural noise exists when a candidate attempts to respond to the interviewer’s questions based on what the applicant thinks the interviewer wants to hear, and the rater fails to recognize it. Nonverbal bias This occurs when a rater is inﬂuenced by body language, appear ance, or eye contact. An applicant whose leg bounces up and down during an interview may trigger this error. A strategy to guard against the inﬂuences of these biases is to interview with another person and compare notes after the rating is complete. Basing (and WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:15 Page 147 Workforce Planning and Employment 147 documenting) opinions based only on a candidate’s person-to-job or person-to organizational ﬁt is the best defense against charges of interview bias. Stereotype Fixed opinion or belief An oversimpliﬁed opinion, image, or attitude that people from a particular group are all the same Generalization An objective conclusion A perception based on observations (for example, “Americans are usually friendly”); different from a stereotype (for example, “All Americans are friendly”) Halo Effect Transfer of positive feelings The transfer of the positive qualities of a person or thing to related people or things Systems Approach As with many HR activities, a systems approach that is standardized is a best practice for recruiting and selection activities. Applicant tracking systems (ATSs) help HR keep track of the thousands of resumes and applications for employment that are received. The system docu ments an applicant all the way through the recruiting process, with a resulting resume database from which employers may draw from for future positions. ATSs can stand alone or be part of a human resource information system (HRIS) in which a person can seamlessly transition from applicant to employee upon hire. A robust HRIS system will have the capability to manage all stages of the employee life cycle from hiring through training and for any other activity related to employ ment decisions. ATS Applicant tracking system Computer software that helps an organization recruit employees WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:15 148 Page 148 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge Negotiations, Offer Letters, and Employment Contracts Once a selection decision has been made, it’s time to develop and extend employ ment offers, write employment contracts, and, in some cases, conduct negotiations. These are reviewed next. Negotiating Once the decision to hire an applicant has been made, an offer of employment is the next step for HR. Many employers make a verbal offer, which is where negotiating begins. During the selection process, HR collects information about what the applicant is looking for from the employer, whether it be a relocation package, ﬂexible work hours, tuition reimbursement, or vacation time. International employees who don’t want to relocate may request an international commuter assignment, along with premiums and covered expenses. When making an offer, HR should address any needs expressed by the applicant, and be prepared to either meet those needs or make a counteroffer by getting approval for how far the employer is willing to go to successfully hire the candidate. Negotiating tools that HR may employ include paying a sign-on bonus to offset lost time off or bonuses a new hire may experience by accepting the offer. HR may also work from a salary range and not offer the highest salary amount the company is willing to pay as a ﬁrst move. Discretion and balance are critical skills for HR at this stage; if an applicant feels HR is being dishonest, or is not prepared to honor what was discussed during the interviews, he or she may decide not to take the job offer after all. Offer Letters Once a verbal agreement has been made, a written offer of employment is drafted by HR. At minimum, an offer letter should include the position title, salary classiﬁcation, deadlines for acceptance, and any contingencies required prior to beginning work. A statement of employment at will (EAW) should be included in an offer letter. While basic in form, a best practice is to have legal review or prepare an offer letter template to ensure that care is taken to avoid the legal land mines any written document can cause. Employment Contracts The intent of a contract is to bind two parties to agreed-upon conditions of employment. An employment contract therefore binds an employer and an WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:15 Page 149 Workforce Planning and Employment 149 Table 3.2 Difference between an Offer Letter and an Employment Contract Written Position title and duties Salary classiﬁcation Compensation and beneﬁts Length of employment Contingencies Employment at will Restrictive clauses, such as noncompete or nonsolicitation Disability or death of employee clauses Conditions under which an employee may be ﬁred Noncash compensation and perks Offer Letters Employment Contracts ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ employee to all of the conditions outlined in an employment offer, but also to a length or term of employment. Whereas noncontracted workers are considered at will, employees with a contract may be terminated only in accordance with the terms of the contract. Much broader in scope than an offer letter, an employment contract typically includes the terms and conditions of employment, restrictive clauses such as noncompete agreements and nonsolicitation agreements, reasons an employee may be terminated plus any severance payment expectations, and base salary and bonuses. One important note: Take care to not list salary in annual amounts, as courts have interpreted this to be a promise of a contract, even if the employee does not complete the year. Table 3.2 illustrates a few of the differences between employment contracts and offer letters. Relocation Services Support provided to transferring employees Help given to relocating employees (for example, predeparture orientation, home-ﬁnding assistance, tax and legal advice, and in-country assistance) Tuition Reimbursement Payment for an employee’s school fees A beneﬁt whereby the employer provides full or partial payment for educational courses completed by employees WEBC03 04/02/2017 150 4:25:15 Page 150 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge Employment at Will (EAW) Understood to be a common law doctrine, EAW is the right of the employer and the employee to terminate the relationship at any time, and for any reason, immediately upon notice to the other. EAW applies to all employment conditions—whether hiring, ﬁring, training, or promotion. This also means that an employee is not obligated to give what is considered the traditional two weeks’ notice. However, many court decisions over the past few decades have identiﬁed several exceptions to the doctrine of EAW. These exceptions include: Covenant of good faith and fair dealing exception Employees have the right to be treated fairly in their relationship with the employer. Longevity of service may be a factor in a wrongful termination issue. For example, an employee may have a wrongful termination claim if ﬁred under the doctrine of EAW right before becom ing eligible for the employer’s pension plan. Contract exceptions If a written contract exists, employees may be disciplined or terminated only in accordance with the contract conditions. An implied contract may be created by length of service and positive employee reviews. If, for example, an employee has worked for a company for 20 years and has had only positive reviews during that time, the courts have found that the worker may reasonably expect to not be ﬁred as long as the employee continues to do satisfactory work. An express contract may be verbally created when statements are made to employees expressly telling them, “As long as you do your job right, you’ll have a job for life.” Public policy exceptions Employees cannot be ﬁred for complying with public policy, or for refusing to break the law for their employer. For example, an employee cannot be terminated for ﬁling a workers’ compensation claim or for reporting unlawful employer activity. Postoffer and Prehire Activities Most employers use conditional offers of employment at this stage of the hiring process in order to complete additional hiring requirements. Employers may make the job offer contingent on the new hire passing a series of additional tests. The two most common contingencies are explored next. Preemployment Physicals and Drug Screens Preemployment physicals are another type of test to give to applicants once they have been identiﬁed for hire to ensure the employee is ﬁt for duty. These exams are legal provided they are closely linked to future job performance (are predictive of WEBC03 04/02/2017 4:25:15 Page 151 Workforce Planning and Employment 151 success on the job), and must be required of all applicants for the same position. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers may make a job offer conditional on the new hire passing the exam. Preemployment drug screening is a postoffer activity because not all drugs are unlawful. Many individuals take legal prescription drugs that could be related to a disability. Typical drug screen panels test for the nine most common drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Any positive result is ele vated to a medical review ofﬁcer for conﬁrmation. Urine samples are the most legally defensible type of drug screen, followed by saliva tests. Blood and hair analysis are considered more intrusive and likely to reveal conditions that may not be considered as part of the hiring criteria; therefore, they are considered the riskiest of all drug screening methods. With the legalization of marijuana in states such as Colorado, Oregon, and California, there has been some concern over applicants who have medical marijuana cards. HR should know that marijuana use remains illegal under federal law. A potential employee with a medical marijuana card who tests positive for the drug may generally be treated in accordance with an employer’s substance abuse policy. Note, however, that there are conﬂicting practices on a state-by-state basis. California allows employers to enforce zero tolerance policies for substance abuse in the workplace. Arizona law expressly prohibits employers from termi nating employees for using marijuana under an authorization card. HR practition ers should know their particular state guidelines, and be especially knowledgeable in exemptions to the requirements to accommodate medical marijuana use in the workplace. E-Verify and Form I-9 E-Verify is a partnership between the United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). The E-Verify system is designed to help employers comply with obligations under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) to verify new hire employment eligibility, and to verify employee identity. The E-Verify system electronically compares the informa tion found on documents provided by new hires with the SSA’s database. A “match” or “tentative non-conﬁrmation” is returned almost instantaneously. As of 2009, federal contractors are required to use E-Verify if and when they are awarded a federal contract or subcontract in which E-Verify use is a term of the contract. Contracts in excess of $100,000 will require an E-Verify clause, with employers also being obligated to reverify status of existing employees who are assigned to the contract. E-Verify is voluntary for private employers, and, contrary to federal contrac tors, private employers may not use E-Verify to go back and verify eligibility or WEBC03 04/02/2017 152 4:25:15 Page 152 A Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge identity of existing employees. Form I-9 must still be completed, regardless of E-Verify participation. Employers are required to complete Form I-9 for all newly hired workers within 72 hours of their ﬁrst day of work for pay. The form is designed to document an employer’s effort to verify a new hire’s identity and eligibility to work in the United States. The form is periodically updated, and employers must use the most updated version for employees hired within that period. IRCA also prohibits discrimination against individuals on the basis of national origin or citizenship. For this reason: Form I-9 is a postoffer, prehire doc

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