Chapter 5

Concept and Brief Discussion:

Referrals: This is when an organization hires someone because someone within the organization prompted them to do so. The book says that the largest share (about one-fourth) of new employees hired by large companies came from referrals. An advantage of hiring this way is that the selection of the applicant will be one based on performance within the organization already. It is easy to see if the applicant has fit well into the company. The major downside of referrals is that they limit a company's exposure to fresh viewpoints. Also, referrals sometimes seem unfair or can lead to nepotism, or the hiring of relatives.

The Hook:

You have applied to an organization many times with no job offers, but your friend, who knew someone in the organization, got offered a job within the first few tries. What can you do to "get in" to an organization that they will consider you, since they are so big on referrals?

Key Points to Elicit in Discussion:

Referrals can be an effective way to find employees to fill positions in an organization. It costs less, the process is faster, and there is usually a good track record or name to those that are referred. The downside is that organizations who do too much hiring of referrals may become stagnant, not open to fresh perspectives on the company.

Facilitative Questions:

How have referrals been helpful or harmful to you in your job searching?

Reflection on yesterday's class

Yesterday in class we discussed issues in chapter 4. One of the things that was discussed in length about was creating job descriptions. A job description is a list of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities that a particular job entails. My understanding of job descriptions increased in how important they are for HR professionals. We talked about how job descriptions are a valuable part of job analysis and how they help employers and employees understand the expectations of a particular job. Doing so helps with screening for proper applicants, which shortens the hiring process and decreases cost.

Another thing job descriptions do is help with performance appraisals. Employers and their workers can get on the same page and often times, updates to job descriptions are made during this time. At my current employment, the job description for Mentor's is really broad and general. I did not realize that my job would entail so many things. For me, this was a good thing, because my employer allows me and my co-workers to do many things and get involved in many aspects of operations and treatment. For some, a general description could be a hard thing to deal with. Some people don't like new things and don't like to feel that their employer is giving them things to do that aren't included in their job description. They feel like they're not getting paid for what they were hired to do.

I personally don't like a really strict and defined job description. I feel like it limits my opportunities for advancement and knowledge and I'm glad that I am given the freedom to expand my job description at my current job.

Chapter 4

Concept and Brief Discussion:

Job Enrichment: This is the idea of "empowering workers by adding more decision-making authority to their jobs" (p. 105). The idea comes from the work of Frederick Herzberg. His thoughts were that individuals are more motivated by intrinsic aspects of work. I believe strongly in this idea, having experienced this first hand myself. Here are the five factors he associated with motivating jobs:

• achievement
  
• recognition
• growth
• responsibility
• performance

An example of job enrichment in my own life could include Telos (my current place of occupation) allowing me to expand my role as a mentor and even encouraging me to participate in many aspects of the operations that exist in the company. Another thing they do is allow me to be a decision maker in the moment, when things are in crisis with a troubled boy. This to me is job enrichment.

The Hook:

Some jobs, and often manufacturing or production line jobs, do not let employees make any decisions at all. They are there to be a body and to perform their function. There are no doubt competent employees who work those jobs and know of ways to increase efficiency in the production of their product. Many times, those employees don't have much of a say in the decision making, because their bosses are not connected to the process and the people they manage as well as they should. Job enrichment is most likely quite low for employees in this situation.

Key Points to Elicit in Conversation:

Job enrichment empowers employees and promotes internal motivation, which is much more effective than external factors. Employees who are able to experience job enrichment usually find their jobs more rewarding and enjoyable. As employers give more decision-making authority to their workers, there may need to be more extensive training, which in turn may cost more initially but will be made up with efficiency and lower turnover rates.\

Facilitative Questions:

What has or hasn't your employment done to use the principle of job enrichment?

Reflection on Thursday's class

During class on Thursday, we went over some of the major legal issues involved with HR management. I really enjoyed the group activity we did where we split up the laws between groups and presented them. Since our group did ours on the Americans with Disabilities Act this naturally left an impression on me.

Reading about the ADA really gave me a new perspective on the provisions employers have to take to ensure discrimination is not taking place. There are three parts to the definition of a disability as described by the ADA. The first part refers to individuals who actually have serious disabilities, such as epilepsy, paralysis, blindness, etc. The second part refers to individuals who have a history of disability like cancer patients in remission, or someone with a history of mental illness. The third part refers to people's subjective reactions to a disability they may have, such as a disfigured face. This may not inhibit their physical performance, but could cause other social or mental limitations.

The most interesting part of the ADA is what is not included in it. Currently obesity, substance abuse, eye color, hair color, and lefthandedness are not included. However, in class we talked about substance abuse and how you can't fire someone for being an alcoholic, just for poor performance if that affects it. This seemed to be a touchy subject for some in the class, and I certainly hadn't thought about some of the angles that were discussed.

I think the ADA is an important act that helps many people, however I can see how some employers could struggle with this. One thing I am learning quickly in this class is how strict the process of HR management is and how much it affects people.

Legal Issues/Concerns in HR

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on Jan. 6th of this year that 93,277 workplace discrimination cases were filed with the federal agency nationwide during Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, the second highest level ever, and monetary relief obtained for victims totaled over $376 million. The EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru said that the work of the commission was far from finished, noting the high numbers of cases. An article on the EEOC's website said, "Continuing a decade-long trend, the most frequently filed charges with the EEOC in FY 2009 were charges alleging discrimination based on race (36%), retaliation (36%), and sex-based discrimination (30%)."

According to the EEOC, the reasons for the near-record number of cases filed for the Fiscal Year 2009 could be many. The article mentioned the following as possible factors for the high discrimination cases last year:

• greater accessibility of the EEOC to the public
• economic conditions
• increased diversity and demographic shifts in the labor force
• employees’ greater awareness of their rights under the law
• changes to the agency’s intake practices that cut down on the steps needed for an individual to file a charge.

Whatever the reasons, this article reminded me of how much problems we can encounter in the workplace. People use their autonomy to make poor decisions and many times do not think of the affects they have on an organization. Hopefully, as the EEOC continues to monitor and resolve discrimination cases, there will be a downward trend in the number of cases.

Info found at www.eeoc.gov

Reflection on yesterday's class

Yesterday in class, one of the prominent issues talked about that impacted me was the aging population and its effect on the future of our economy. Currently, people are working at older ages than they have in the past, due to financial hardships related to the recession and other factors. Still, within the next 10 to 20 years, there will be a lot of jobs opening up without enough to fill them. We talked in class about the strain this is to HR professionals due to the intense planning and training that needs to occur to survive the coming trend.
This discussion changed my thinking about the role of HR professionals and the responsibility I have to get myself into a position where I can accept a mid-to-high management level job during that time. While I am excited about the prospect of many high level executives retiring within the next ten years, I understand that for HR professionals this will pose a difficult task: to find enough well-trained leaders to carry the economy.
Another thing that was talked about in class was outsourcing and offshoring. The effects of having an expensive labor force, (older workers is one factor) has influenced companies to use these practices to decrease cost. I wonder how much this will continue to grow in popularity for production and manufacturing companies. I also wonder what industries that currently don't use these practices will begin to do so in the next few decades.

Chapter 3

Concept and Brief Discussion:

Reasonable Accommodation: This refers to situations where an employer is, "obligated to do something to enable an otherwise qualified person to perform a job " (p. 72). This can include many things and can sometimes lead to conflict between worker and employer. In most cases, however, this principle is not a problem in the workplace and allows for more diversity in an organization. As long as the accommodation does not present an undue hardship on the employer, he or she should do what they can to provide reasonable accommodation for employees. An example in the book of this principle is from a case involving Electrolux Group. Some Muslim workers from this company complained that they were being disciplined by management because of their observance of religious beliefs. The Muslim workers were taking unscheduled breaks as prayer time to comply with their 5 X a day prayer belief. Ultimately, it was found that the employer needed to be more accommodating due to their strict religious observance desires. Better communication between employers and employees in the hiring proccess would have helped prevent problems like this.

The Hook:

As part of a support team that is assisting medical staff working on patients in surgery, one of its workers demands that they be relieved and replaced during the middle of a procedure. The worker desires to observe the scheduled prayer in his religion. The medical staff mentions to the worker that he cannot be accommodated in that manner in the middle of the procedure. The worker gets angry, but decides to stay in the operating room. The worker decides to file a complaint against the medical team, saying they did not try to accommodate for his situation. When does reasonable accommodation become unreasonable and who decides this line? How does this principle affect other workers in the organization? Does it cause conflict between workers?

Key Points to Elicit in Conversation:

The concept of reasonable accommodation can be useful when trying to provide an emotionally safe and flexible organization for employees. Applying this concept will promote more equal employment opportunities and a generally more diverse workplace. It is important to note that communication in the hiring proccess is key to understanding potential accommodations for employees, and an examination of the organizational and operational structure of your own company may need to be done to ensure that conflicts will not arise.

Facilitiative Questions:

How have the companies you've worked for made reasonable accommodations for you or another employee?

Reflection on today's class

Today in class we got into groups to talk about concepts included in chapter two. The two most prevalent topics we discussed in our group was teamwork and the rapid change that is taking place in the business world. It was interesting to hear what the rest of the group had to say about these two things. I think everyone has been in a situation where a teammate isn't pulling their weight, so understanding how to approach slacking teammates is important. We didn't get too into it because it was said by Jon that we would cover it more thoroughly in the future.

I think the most interesting part of the class today was when we watched the movie clip about Pikes fish market. This clip went over a little bit of the history of the business and showed how the value of human capital made a difference in their success.

The owner's perception of his employees when he began his business was that they were just objects and manpower to accomplish tasks. He watched over them closely and did not empower them or value them as he should have. It was interesting to see this man's testimonial about how his mindset had to change. He realized, with the help of the HR guy in the clip, that his employees and business would only thrive and be sustained through a positive and trusting culture where the employees are empowered and respected.

This success story shows how important human capital is and how principles of human resources can be applied to real life situations. I hope to visit Seattle someday so I can see the flying fish at Pikes!

Chapter 2

Concept and Brief Discussion:

Teamwork: The book describes teamwork as, "the assignment of work to groups of employees with various skills who interact to assemble a product or provide a service " (p. 35). Teams are used often in organizations as a way to give decision making power and authority to its employees. Work teams often do things that managers traditionally do such as, selecting new team members, scheduling work, and coordinating work with customers and other units of the organization. Teams can be very effective in the workplace and can motivate employees by making work more interesting and significant to them. With the advancements in technology, some teams can function with members spread out in different locations. These are called virtual teams, and they rely on communications technology to keep in touch and to coordinate activities. This type of teamwork can reduce costs for the employer. Teams often have a leader and other assigned roles to its members. Effective teamwork requires good communication, hard work, and members who are able to share a vision to accomplish great things.

The Hook:

You are assigned to work on a team whose goal is to reduce costs in your department at the hospital. What are the roles of the team members? How will you balance accountability for the team? How will your teamwork affect others in the organization?

Key Points to Elicit in Discussion:

Teamwork can be a valuable tool to empower employees and unite individuals to accomplish strategic goals. Effective teamwork can lead to positive change or production in an organization. As team members fulfill their roles with a shared vision and hard work, success will follow. Weak links in a team can bring down morale, burden other team members, and lead to mediocre results.

Facilitative Questions:

How do you approach team members at work or school that fail to perform to expectations?