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If you are new to HR or not involved formally with this profession, provide a 3-page analysis on the trends of HR Management as summarized in Chapter 2, focusing on the impact to you and your organization. If not currently working, evaluate a previous place of employment.
My thoughts:
The other thing is that the clientele of the company did not allow them to use the latest technology during sales-pitch because most people had a hard time to pay their bills. This discovery was the sales manager’s because he realized that even though using the latest technology like (iPad online forms etc) with no cost is attractive to prospective employees but not for the home owners because of the extreme hardship they sometimes live in.
The key skill for the sales representatives to be able to “get in house” is to become trustworthy quick and make people believe in their good intentions, showing up with these expensive and desirable tools does not help their process to sell a product.
The other thing would be a contrast between the current trend in recruiting compared to the recruiting process on this field. Since most of these companies employ people with various backgrounds such as job postings on internet vs word of mouth. These people mostly go after the word of mouth because since their job is sales they rather believe in their former co-workers trainers managers then a well worded craigslist add. They also mainly did not have an electronic resume they had numbers ($ in sales) , statistics, lists of satisfied customers.
At the final paragraph i would like to emphasize how much i enjoyed working for these smaller organizations because i was a 1 person hr department and also got a good insight how complicated the structure of these small companies are.
Here is chapter 2:
The Impact of Technology
Think about the technology you’ve used today. Did you use a smart phone to check voice- mail or Facebook? Check driving directions on a GPS? Check your e-mail? Use a wireless Internet connection on a laptop or iPad? Take a digital picture on a camera or phone? Maybe you’re even taking this class online. It’s hard to imagine daily life without these, but they are all on CNN’s list of the top twenty-five innovations of the last twenty-five years.9
Many organizations have explored expansion to other countries to find new markets and labor sources. McDonald’s started expanding internationally in 1967. They now have over 30,000 res- taurants in 118 countries.
(Source: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images, Inc.)
6 Chapter 1
The Dynamic Environment of HRM
Knowledge-work jobs are designed around the acquisition and application of information.
increased competition with other countries, it has also generated an increase in the demand for service producing and technology positions. Employment in information technology is expected to be among the fast- est growing job sectors in the next decade, along with Internet publishing and wireless telecommunications.11
knowledge workers
Individuals whose jobs are designed around the acquisition and application of information.
Peter Drucker, the late management scholar and consultant, held that the key to the productivity of knowledge workers depends on the ability to use technol- ogy to locate and use information for decision making.12 Knowledge workers include pro- fessionals such as registered nurses, accountants, teachers, lawyers, and engineers. It also includes technologists—people who work with their hands and with theoretical knowl- edge—commonly referred to as information technologists. Computer programmers, soft- ware designers, and systems analysts are examples of jobs in this category. Knowledge workers as a group—individuals in jobs designed around the acquisition and application of information—currently make up about a third of the U.S. workforce.
How Technology Affects HRM Practices
Technology has had a positive effect on internal operations for organizations, but it has also changed the way human resource managers work. HRM professionals have become the primary source of information in many organizations. Information can be communicated quickly and easily via company websites and intranets, e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter.
The Internet was the clear winner in CNN’s reader poll of the most influential inno- vations of the last quarter century. The influence of the Internet on our lives, employers, the way we work, and the economy was on the mind of Thomas Friedman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times author, as he explored the foundations of globalization in his best-selling book, The World Is Flat.
Friedman contends that there are three eras of globalization, the first driven by trans- portation, the second by communication, and the third by technology. The first is called Globalization 1.0 and extends from Columbus’s 1492 discovery of the new world to 1800. Dur- ing this time, countries tried to establish their place in the world by conquering or collaborat- ing with other countries and territories. The emphasis was national identification and eco- nomic domination. During this era, the world shrank from a size large to a size medium.
Globalization 2.0 began in 1800 and ended in 2000. Multinational companies emerged, seeking labor and markets for the goods of the industrial revolution. Expansion was fueled by lower costs and increased speed of transportation and communication, shrinking the world from a size medium to a size small.
Globalization 3.0 arrived around 2000 as countries, companies, and individuals were able to compete on an almost level playing field, aided by cheap, instantaneous commu- nication via fiber optics and the Internet. Fast, inexpensive transportation of people and goods aided this transition of power that further shrank the world from a size small to a size tiny. Individuals are now empowered to compete globally regardless of country of origin. Friedman projects that world economies will be dominated by empowered indi- viduals, creating a business environment that is more diverse and less dominated by organizations in Western countries.
You’ve already experienced the impact of Globalization 3.0. A shift has taken place in geographic labor supply and demand. Just as the industrial revolution changed national economies by shifting jobs from craftsmen to mass manufacturing, Globalization 3.0 has shifted demand for manufacturing and services such as customer service to low-cost providers in Mexico, India, and China.
Friedman points out that these forces can’t be turned back and will only grow in their impact. Organizations operating in this global environment recognize that this diverse world includes many different nationalities, languages, and cultures. HR professionals need to be prepared for the challenge in welcoming diversity and adapting training.10
What Is a Knowledge Worker?
Technology has been a good news/bad news proposition for workers. While technology has reduced the demand for manufacturing jobs through automation and
Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) allow HRM professionals to better facilitate human resource plans, make decisions faster, clearly define jobs, evaluate performance, and provide cost effective benefits that employees want. Technology helps to strengthen communications with both the external community and employees. How? Let’s look at some specific examples.
Recruiting Contacting a pool of qualified applicants is one of the most critical aspects of recruiting. Word of mouth, newspaper advertisements, and college visits have largely been replaced by job postings on the Internet. Posting jobs on company websites, or through specific job-search websites such as careerbuilder.com and Monster.com, help human resource managers reach a larger pool of potential job applicants and assist in determining if an applicant possesses basic technology skills. Additionally, rather than ask for a paper copy of a résumé, many organizations are asking applicants to submit an electronic résumé—one that can be quickly scanned for “relevance” to the job in question.
Employee Selection Hiring good people is particularly challenging in technology- based organizations because they require a unique brand of technical and professional skills. Employees must be smart and able to survive in the demanding cultures of today’s dynamic organizations. In addition, many such “qualified” individuals are in short supply and may be offered a number of opportunities for employment. Once applicants have been identified, HRM must carefully screen final candidates to ensure they fit well into the organization’s culture. Many Internet tools make background searches of applicants quick and easy. The realities of organizational life today may focus on an informal, team- spirited workplace, one in which intense pressure to complete projects quickly and on time is critical, and a 24/7 work mentality dominates. HRM selection tools help to “select out” people who aren’t team players, can’t handle ambiguity and stress, or are a poor fit with company culture. Companies like Southwest Airlines and Four Seasons Resorts recruit employees who convey a positive attitude, which to them is a better indicator of job success and fit with company culture than experience.
Training and Development Technology is also dramatically changing how human resource managers orient, train, and develop employees and help them manage their careers. The Internet has provided HRM opportunities to deliver web-based training and develop- ment to employees on demand, whenever the employee has the time to concentrate on the material. Four Seasons Resorts, for example, has discovered the advantages of delivering language training and management development classes online. Teleconferencing technol- ogy allows employees to train and collaborate in groups regardless of their location. Organi- zations that rely heavily on technology find an increased need for training. Online training and teleconferencing also allow HR departments to deliver cost effective training that helps stretch the HR budget.
Ethics and Employee Rights Electronic surveillance of employees by employers is an issue that pits an organization’s desire for control against an employee’s right to privacy. The development of increasingly sophisticated surveillance software only adds to the ethical dilemma of how far an organization should go in monitoring the behavior of employees who work on computers (see Ethical Issues in HRM). One major example is our increased reli- ance on technology, providing a good news/bad news situ- ation in the workplace. As mentioned earlier, technology is a valuable resource for knowledge workers, yet it provides ample opportunity for misuse and nonproductive work behaviors. The American Management Association reports that 66 percent of employers monitor employee’s Internet use and 28 percent have fired employees for e-mail mis- use.13 We will take an extensive look at the privacy rights of employees in Chapter 4, and we will study the ethics of HRM throughout this book.
Wireless Internet and smart phones help companies maximize productivity and effectiveness of workers regardless of their loca- tion. Mobile workers need access to the same applications and cor- porate data that they have in the office. (Source: Masterfile)
Motivating Knowledge Workers What are some of the unique challenges in moti- vating knowledge workers in organizations? Knowledge workers appear more suscep- tible to distractions that can undermine their work effort and reduce their productiv- ity. Employers often believe they must monitor what employees are doing because employees are hired to work, not to surf the web checking stock prices, placing bets at online casinos, or shopping for presents for family or friends. “Cyber Monday,” or the Monday after Thanksgiving, as a day to do personal holiday shopping has increased dramatically in recent years, and recreational on-the-job web surfing costs over a bil- lion dollars in wasted computer resources and billions more in lost work productivity annually. That’s a significant cost to businesses in terms of time and money.
Paying Employees Market Value It’s becoming more difficult today for organiza- tions to find and retain technical and professional employees. Many companies have implemented an extensive list of attractive incentives and benefits rarely seen by non- managerial employees in typical organizations: for instance, signing bonuses, stock options, cars, free health club memberships, full-time on-site concierges, and cell phone bill subsidies. These incentives may benefit their recipients, but they have downsides. One is the perception of inequity if they are not offered to all employees. Another is the problem created by offering stock options as a benefit to employees. While they look good when a firm is growing and the stock market is performing favorably on the com- pany’s future, stock options can reduce employee motivation when market conditions reduce the value of the stock. Pay plans and employee benefits will be addressed in depth in Chapters 11 and 12.
Communications Technology allows employees to communicate with any individual directly without going through traditional channels. Instantly, anytime, with anyone, anywhere. These open communication systems break down historical organizational communication pattern flows. They also redefine how meetings, negotiations, supervi- sion, and watercooler talk are conducted. For instance, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media allow employees to keep in close contact regardless of position or location. Moreover, it’s now easier for employees in Baltimore and Singapore to covertly share company gossip than for offline employees who work two cubicles apart.
Decentralized Work Sites For human resource managers, much of the challenge regarding decentralized work sites revolves around training managers to establish and ensure appropriate work quality and on-time completion. Decentralized work sites remove traditional “face time,” and managers’ need to “control” the work must change. Instead, greater employee involvement will allow workers the discretion to make decisions that affect them. For instance, although a due date is established for the work assigned to employees, managers must recognize that offsite employees (or telecommuters) will work at their own pace. Instead of focusing work efforts over an eight-hour period, the individual may work two hours here, three hours at another time, and another three late at night. The emphasis, then, will be on the final prod- uct, not on the means by which it is accomplished. Working from home may also require HRM to rethink its compensation policy. Will it pay workers by the hour, on a salary basis, or by the job performed? More than likely, jobs such as claims process- ing that can be easily quantified and standardized will earn pay for actual work done.
Skill Levels What are the skill implications of this vast spread of technology? For one, employees’ job skill requirements will increase.14 Workers will need the ability to read and comprehend software and hardware manuals, technical journals, and detailed reports. Another implication is that technology tends to level the competitive playing field.15 It provides organizations, no matter their size or market power, with the ability to innovate, bring products to market rapidly, and respond to customer requests. Remem- ber that Globalization 3.0 allows individuals to compete worldwide in purchasing or providing services. Many companies have found that services in technology, programming, radiology, and financial analysis can be provided by skilled employees in India an easily as an employee in the United States.
A Legal Concern Every organization needs a clear policy that thoroughly explains what is appropriate and inappropriate use of company Internet use, e-mail, and social media. Employees need to understand that there is no privacy when they use e-mail, blogs, and social media, and that personal comments and photos are often grounds for discipline if they can be interpreted as discriminatory, harassing, or defamatory. We will address employee privacy rights further in Chapter 4.
ETHICAL ISSUES IN HRM
Invasion of Privacy?
Technological advances have made the process of operating an organization much easier, but these advancements have also provided employers with a means of sophisticated employee monitoring. Although most of this monitoring is designed to enhance worker productivity, it could become, and has been, a source of concern over worker privacy. These advantages have also brought with them difficult questions regarding what managers have the right to know about employees and how far they can go in controlling employee behavior both on and off the job. What can your employer find out about you and your work? You might be surprised by the answers! Consider the following:
? The mayor of Colorado Springs, Colorado, reads the e-mail messages that city council members send to each other from their homes. He defended his actions by saying he was making sure that their e-mails to each other were not being used to circumvent his state’s “open meeting” law that requires most council business to be conducted publicly.
? TheU.S.InternalRevenueService’sinternalauditgroup monitors a computer log that shows employee access to taxpayers’ accounts. This monitoring activity allows management to see what employees are doing on their computers.
? AmericanExpresshasanelaboratesystemformonitoring telephone calls. Daily reports are provided to supervisors that detail the frequency and length of employee calls, as well as how quickly incoming calls are answered.
? Employersinseveralorganizationsrequireemployeesto wear badges at all times while on company premises. These badges contain a variety of data that allows employ- ees to enter certain locations in the organization. Smart badges, too, can transmit where the employee is at all times!
Just how much control should a company have over the private lives of its employees? Where should an employer’s rules
and controls end? Does the boss have the right to dictate what you do on your own free time and in your own home? Could, in essence, your boss keep you from riding a motorcycle, skydiv- ing, smoking, drinking alcohol, or eating junk food? Again, the answers may surprise you.
Employer involvement in employees’ off-work lives has been going on for decades. For instance, in the early 1900s, Ford Motor Company sent social workers to employees’ homes to determine whether their off-the-job habits and finances were deserving of year-end bonuses. Other firms made sure employees regularly attended church services. Today, many organizations, in their quest to control safety and health insur- ance costs, are once again delving into their employees’ private lives.
Although controlling employees’ behaviors on and off the job may appear unjust or unfair, nothing in our legal system prevents employers from engaging in these practices. Rather, the law is based on the premise that if employees don’t like the rules, they have the option of quitting. Recently, companies with policies that prohibit employees smoking off the job have been supported in the courts after firing employees that were found to be smoking.
Managers typically defend their actions in terms of ensur- ing quality, productivity, and proper employee behavior. For instance, an IRS audit of its southeastern regional offices found that 166 employees took unauthorized peeks at the tax returns of friends, neighbors, and celebrities.
Ethical Questions:
When does an employer’s need for information about employee performance cross over the line and interfere with a worker’s right to privacy? Is any employer’s action acceptable as long as employees are notified ahead of time that they will be moni- tored? What about the demarcation between monitoring work and non-work behavior? When employees engage in work- related activities at home during evenings and weekends, does management’s prerogative to monitor employees remain in force? What’s your opinion?
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Posted on May 12, 2016Author TutorCategories Question, Questions