Human Resource Management Gaining A Competitive Advantage 10th Edition Noe by Raymond Andrew Noe - Test Bank

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FALSE

The first step in the planning process is forecasting.

TRUE

A leading indicator is an objective measure that accurately predicts future labor demand.

TRUE

Statistical planning models are useful when there is a long, stable history that can be used to reliably detect relationships among variables.

TRUE

The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning. The purpose of setting specific quantitative goals is to focus attention on the problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus.

TRUE

The purpose of setting specific quantitative goals is to focus attention on the problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus.

FALSE

There are several options to avoid an unexpected labor shortage. Hiring employees from external sources is a slow option to avoid an unexpected labor shortage, and its revocability is low.

TRUE

The typical organizational response to a labor shortage has been either hiring temporary employees or outsourcing, responses that are fast and high in revocability.

TRUE

A reason that downsizing efforts often fail is that employees who survive the purges often become narrow-minded, self-absorbed, and risk averse.

TRUE

Downsizing is the planned elimination of large numbers of personnel designed to enhance organizational effectiveness. One of the reasons for downsizing is that, for economic reasons, many firms change the location of where they do business.

FALSE

A popular means of reducing a labor surplus is to offer an early retirement program. Although many Baby Boomers are approaching traditional retirement age, early indications are that this group has no intention of retiring anytime soon.

TRUE

The use of temporary workers frees a firm from many of the administrative tasks and financial burdens associated with being the “employer of record.”

TRUE

Whereas a temporary employee can be brought in to manage a single job, in other cases a firm may be interested in getting a much broader set of services performed by an outside organization; this is called outsourcing. Outsourcing is a logical choice when a firm simply does not have certain expertise and is not willing to invest time and effort into developing it.

FALSE

Offshoring is a special case of outsourcing in which the jobs that move actually leave one country and go to another. The stereotype that “call center” staffing is the only type of work being offshored is increasingly invalid, as countries such as China, India, and those in eastern Europe try to climb the skill ladder of available work.

FALSE

Despite having to pay workers time-and-a-half for overtime production, employers see this as preferable to hiring and training new employees—especially if they are afraid that current demand for products or services may not extend to the future.

TRUE

The proportion of workers in protected subgroups can be compared with the proportion that each subgroup represents in the relevant labor market. This type of comparison is called a workforce utilization review. This process can be used to determine whether there is any subgroup whose proportion in the relevant labor market is substantially different from the proportion in the job category.

TRUE

Promote-from-within policies make it clear to applicants that there are opportunities for advancement within the company.

FALSE

If the research on recruitment makes one thing clear, it is that characteristics of a vacancy are more important than recruiters or recruiting sources when it comes to predicting job choice.

FALSE

Research indicates that job applicants find companies with due process policies more attractive than companies with employment-at-will policies.

TRUE

Even though it does not provide any information about any specific job, image advertising is often effective because job applicants develop ideas about the general reputation of the firm and then this spills over to influence their expectations about the nature of specific jobs or careers at the organization.

FALSE

Direct applicants are people who apply for a vacancy without prompting from the organization.

FALSE

Advertisements to recruit personnel are ubiquitous, even though they typically generate less desirable recruits than direct applications or referrals—and do so at greater expense.

TRUE

Public employment agencies serve primarily the blue-collar labor market; private employment agencies perform much the same service for the white-collar labor market.

FALSE

Newspaper ads generate the largest number of recruits, but relatively few of these are qualified for the position.

FALSE

Some studies indicate that applicants find a job less attractive and the recruiter less credible when he or she is a personnel specialist.

FALSE

Two traits stand out when applicants’ reactions to recruiters are examined. The first, which could be called “warmth,” reflects the degree to which a recruiter seems to care about the applicant and is enthusiastic about her potential to contribute to the company. The second characteristic could be called “informativeness.”

The human resource planning process consists of forecasting, goal setting and strategic planning, and program implementation and evaluation. The first step in the planning process is forecasting.

In personnel forecasting, an HR manager attempts to ascertain the supply of and demand for various types of human resources.

Statistical methods are excellent for capturing historic trends in a company’s demand for labor, and under the right conditions they give predictions that are much more precise than those that could be achieved through subjective judgments of a human forecaster.

Statistical methods are excellent for capturing historic trends in a company’s demand for labor, and under the right conditions, they give predictions that are much more precise than those that could be achieved through subjective judgments of a human forecaster.

A leading indicator is an objective measure that accurately predicts future labor demand.

Statistical planning models are useful when there is a long, stable history that can be used to reliably detect relationships among variables. However, these models almost always have to be complemented by subjective judgments of people who have expertise in the area.

Transitional matrices show the proportion (or number) of employees in different job categories at different times.

As per the figure, only 5 percent of the HR assistant managers were promoted to the position of HR manager. At the same time, 86 percent remained in the same role, and 9 percent of the HR assistant managers left the organization.

Of all the HR coordinators who were employed in 2012, none were promoted to the position of HR assistant manager in 2013. Additionally, 14 percent of the HR coordinators left the organization.

Of the total HR officers employed in 2012, 5 percent were demoted to the position of HR practitioner, while 2 percent were promoted to the position of HR coordinator. Five percent of the HR officers left the organization in 2013.

Of the total HR practitioners employed in 2012, 10 percent were promoted to the category of HR officer in 2013, while 77 percent remained in the same position. The remaining 13 percent left the organization.

Of the total HR coordinators in 2012, 14 percent left the organization, the highest of any position. Additionally, none of the remaining HR coordinators were promoted to the position of HR assistant manager.

Matrices such as the transitional matrix are extremely useful for charting historic trends in a company’s supply of labor. More important, if conditions remain somewhat constant, they can also be used to plan for the future.

The goals in the human resource planning process should come directly from the analysis of labor supply and demand and should include a specific figure for what should happen with a job category or skill area and a specific timetable for when results should be achieved.

The purpose of setting specific quantitative goals is to focus attention on a problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus. The goals should come directly from the analysis of labor supply and demand and should include a specific figure for what should happen with the job category or skill area and a specific timetable for when results should be achieved.

The purpose of setting specific quantitative goals is to focus attention on a problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus.

The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning. As part of this step, many organizations determine that they might have surplus staff in the future. One of the options for reducing an expected labor surplus is early retirement, which is a slow option to reduce surplus staff, but it has a low impact on human suffering.

The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning. As part of this step, many organizations determine that they might have surplus staff in the future. One of the options for reducing an expected labor surplus is demotions, which is a fast option to reduce surplus staff, but it typically results in high human suffering.

The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning. As part of this step, many organizations determine that they might have a labor shortage. One of the options for avoiding an expected labor shortage is hiring temporary employees, which is a fast solution to the problem and is easily revocable.

The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning. As part of this step, many organizations determine that they might have a labor shortage. One of the options for avoiding an expected labor shortage is adopting technological innovation, which is both a slow solution to the problem and not easily revocable.

The second step in human resource planning is goal setting and strategic planning. One of the options for avoiding an expected labor shortage that is a slow solution and is high on revocability is retrained transfer.

Early retirement is a slow option to reduce an expected labor surplus, but along with hiring freezes, natural attrition, and retraining, it causes low human suffering.

Downsizing is the planned elimination of large numbers of personnel designed to enhance organizational effectiveness.

Methods such as transfers, work sharing, pay reductions, and demotions are relatively faster methods of reducing an expected labor surplus than retraining.

One of the reasons downsizing efforts often fail is that employees who survive the purges often become narrow-minded, self-absorbed, and risk averse. Motivation levels drop off because any hope of future promotions—or even a future—with the company dies out.

Hiring new external recruits is a method that is low on revocability. The other options are high on revocability.

The key to a successful downsizing effort is to avoid indiscriminant across-the-board cuts, and instead perform surgical strategic cuts that not only reduce costs but also improve the firm’s competitive position.

The improved health of older people in general, in combination with the decreased physical labor in many jobs, has made working longer a viable option.

Several forces fuel the drawing out of older workers’ careers: the improved health of older people in general, the fear of Social Security being cut, employers being increasingly constrained by age discrimination legislation, and employers’ fear of losing the experience that older workers bring to the company.

In the face of demographic pressures dealing with an aging workforce, many employers try to induce voluntary attrition among their older workers through early retirement incentive programs.

Low levels of commitment to the organization and its customers on the part of temporary employees often spill over and reduce the level of customer loyalty.

Hiring temporary workers enables a company to respond to increases in consumer demand. These employees are often let go if consumer demand drops. An increase in temporary hires no longer indicates a definite expansion of permanent hires. Temporary employees offer labor flexibility to match the flexibility of consumer demand.

Outsourcing is a logical choice when a firm simply does not have certain expertise and is not willing to invest time and effort into developing it.

Offshoring is a special case of outsourcing where the jobs that move actually leave one country and go to another. This kind of job migration has always taken place; however, rapid technological changes have made the current trends in this area historically unprecedented.

The stereotype that “call center” staffing is the only type of work being offshored is increasingly invalid, as countries such as China, India, and those in eastern Europe try to climb the skill ladder of available work.

Quality control problems, security violations, and poor customer service experiences have in many cases wiped out the cost savings from paying lower offshore wages.

Despite having to pay workers time-and-a-half for overtime production, employers see this as preferable to hiring and training new employees—especially if they are afraid that current demand for products or services may not extend to the future.

A “furlough” is a short-term elimination of paid workdays applied to salaried workers, as opposed to “hourly workers.”

The programs developed in the strategic-choice stage of the process are put into practice in the program-implementation stage.

A critical aspect of program implementation is to make sure that some individual is held accountable for achieving the stated goals and has the necessary authority and resources to accomplish this goal.

The final step in the planning process is to evaluate the results.

It is important to plan for various subgroups within the labor force. The proportion of workers in these subgroups can be compared with the proportion that each subgroup represents in the relevant labor market. This type of comparison is called a workforce utilization review.

A comparison of the proportion of workers in protected subgroups with the proportion that each subgroup represents in the relevant labor market is called workforce utilization review.

Human resource planning is an important function that should be applied to an organization’s entire labor force. It is also important to plan for various subgroups within the labor force. For example, affirmative action plans forecast and monitor the proportion of various protected group members, such as women and minorities, that are in various job categories and career tracks.

Human resource recruitment is defined as any practice or activity carried on by an organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees.

All companies have to make decisions in three areas of recruiting: (1) personnel policies, which affect the kinds of jobs the company has to offer; (2) recruitment sources used to solicit applicants, which affect the kinds of people who apply; and (3) the characteristics and behaviors of the recruiter. These, in turn, influence both the nature of the vacancies and the nature of the people applying for jobs in a way that shapes job choice decisions.

Employment-at-will policies state that either party in an employment relationship can terminate that relationship at any time, regardless of cause. Companies that do not have employment-at-will provisions typically have extensive due process policies.

Due process policies formally lay out the steps an employee can take to appeal a termination decision. Organizational recruiting materials that emphasize due process, rights of appeal, and grievance mechanisms send a message that job security is high.

The U.S. Army has to rely on more intrinsic rewards related to patriotism and personal growth opportunities that people associate with military service rather than extrinsic rewards such as monetary and material benefits.

Because pay is an important job characteristic for almost all applicants, companies that take a “lead-the-market” approach to pay—that is, a policy of paying higher-than-current-market wages—have a distinct advantage in recruiting.

Even though it does not provide any information about any specific job, image advertising is often effective because job applicants develop ideas about the general reputation of a firm (i.e., its brand image) and then this spills over to influence their expectations about the nature of specific jobs or careers at the organization.

Even though image advertising does not provide any information about any specific job, it is often effective because job applicants develop ideas about the general reputation of a firm and then this spills over to influence their expectations about the nature of specific jobs or careers at the organization.

Relying on internal sources offers a company several advantages. One of them is that it generates a sample of applicants who are well known to the firm.

Direct applicants are people who apply for a vacancy without prompting from the organization.

Direct applicants are people who apply for a vacancy without prompting from the organization. In this case, Ron is a direct applicant applying for the vacant position at Ios Inc. without any prompting.

Referrals are people who are prompted to apply for a job by someone within the organization.

Referrals are people who are prompted to apply for a job by someone within the organization. Hector is a referral applying for a job at the Louisiana refinery after being prompted by his friend Ronald.

Direct applicants are to some extent already “sold” on the organization. Most of them have done some homework and concluded that there is enough fit between themselves and the vacancy to warrant their submitting an application. This process is called self-selection.

Advertisements to recruit personnel are ubiquitous, even though they typically generate less desirable recruits than direct applications or referrals—and do so at greater expense. However, because few employers can fill all their vacancies with direct applications and referrals, some form of advertising is usually needed.

A way for organizations to use the Web is to interact with the large, well-known job sites. These sites attract a vast array of applicants, who submit standardized resumes that can be electronically searched using key terms. The biggest downside to these large sites, however, is their sheer size and lack of differentiation.

The Social Security Act of 1935 requires that everyone receiving unemployment compensation be registered with a local state employment office.

Executive search agencies almost exclusively work with people who are already employed. The nickname “headhunters” reflects the idea that they poach talent from other employers.

Yield ratios express the percentage of applicants who successfully move from one stage of the recruitment and selection process to the next.

Two traits stand out when applicants’ reactions to recruiters are examined. The first, which could be called “warmth,” reflects the degree to which a recruiter seems to care about the applicant and is enthusiastic about her potential to contribute to the company. The second characteristic could be called “informativeness.”

Organizations can take steps to increase the impact that recruiters have on those they recruit. They can do this by providing timely feedback.

Forecasting refers to the attempts to determine the supply of and demand for various types of human resources to predict areas within the organization where there will be future labor shortages or surpluses.
Forecasting, on both the supply and demand sides, can use either statistical methods or judgmental methods. Statistical methods are excellent for capturing historic trends in a company’s demand for labor, and under the right conditions they give predictions that are much more precise than those that could be achieved through subjective judgments of a human forecaster. On the other hand, many important events that occur in the labor market have no historic precedent; hence, statistical methods that work from historic trends are of little use in such cases. With no historic precedent, one must rely on the pooled subjective judgments of experts, and their “best guesses” might be the only source from which to make inferences about the future. Typically, because of the complementary strengths and weaknesses of the two methods, companies that engage in human resource planning use a balanced approach.

In the goal setting step of human resource planning, an organization sets specific quantitative goals to focus attention on a problem and provide a benchmark for determining the relative success of any programs aimed at redressing a pending labor shortage or surplus. Goals should come directly from the analysis of the labor supply and demand and should include a specific figure about what should happen with the job category or skill area and a specific timetable for when results should be achieved.
Once the goals are established, the firm needs to choose from the many different strategies available for redressing labor shortages and surpluses. This stage is critical, since the options available to the planner differ widely in their expense, speed, effectiveness, amount of human suffering, and revocability.

Options that are fast but result in high human suffering include downsizing, pay reductions, and demotions. Transfers and work sharing reduce suffering somewhat. Slower approaches include attrition, early retirements, hiring freezes, and retraining. These tend to reduce human suffering greatly.