Human Resources

Human resource flow in the organisation, reward system fallowed by management, influence of the employee and work system in the organisation. The result that HR policies need to attain are commitment, competence, equivalence and cost effectiveness to maintain mutual trust and improve performance. Line managers set HR policies. It is extended through four policies first is setting goal. Integration of strategies, highly commitment to the goal, And giving high quality.Introduction to Online Recruiting

There are several methods used by employees to recruit job applicants. Human resource recruiters can use traditional methods such as posting a job listing in a newspaper or hire an employment agency to search for job applicants. They may also choose to communicate with career office employees at universities and colleges to attract candidates, use networking methods at professional organizations, advertise in newspapers or on television, or use more recent recruiting sources such as the internet to find potential future employees. Recruiting job seekers over the Internet is a recent trend that allows organizations to successfully hire qualified applicants to join their corporation’s workforce at a low cost compared to some other recruiting procedures.

In recent times, many firms advertise job opportunities by placing a job posting on the Internet for external job hires. Some companies even use the Intranet to hire employees internal to the organization. The Intranet is used for internal recruiting purposes within a company and is a system that allows employees to view job openings at the company they currently work for. Through both the Internet and Intranet, job applicants can view the available positions and submit their resumes online. Employees can review several resumes and follow up by contacting candidates for interviews. Job recruiting over the Internet allows candidates and corporations a chance to connect.

Online recruiting is a fast growing, popular service of the World Wide Web that many organizations are using for recruiting purposes. The employment industry has taken a big step towards recruiting in cyberspace. Applicants can be quickly located and recruited to join a team at a corporation. “Recruiting is the process of generating a pool of qualified applicants for organizational jobs.” (Mathis and Jackson, pg. 70)

Recruiting over the Internet is not a replacement for traditional methods like radio advertising, newspaper listings, networking or attending career fairs, but is becoming very popular in our society. It is a good resource when an applicant is in search of a career opportunity. Lately, many newspapers place their job ads online for job seekers to view. Electronic advertising is a method of recruiting that corporations should consider when searching for qualified applicants to fill an opening in an organization. Companies should use this tool to attract qualified people.

It is very important to recruit productive, trustworthy employees that will fit in the corporation’s cultural environment and help the company achieve the established goals. Employees should follow the mission of the organization and work to help the business succeed. People, our human resources, need to be trained to meet these corporate goals. It is very costly to hire an employee that steals from the business or leaves the company after several training and recruiting dollars have been spent. Human resource managers want to obtain people that can grow with the company and are motivated employees. Electronic recruiting can be used to find employees with these skills. “The net has spawned a national marketplace for professional, managerial, and technical jobs.” (“Life on the web”)

In the book, Smart Strategies, the author suggests you consider five approaches if you want to recruit online. First, you should “create your own web page on which you describe your company and list your employment needs.” Many organizations use this resource for applicants already interested in the company to view. It is also important to use an online headhunter for specialized or hard-to-find positions. Make sure the headhunter has a good reputation and is experienced in this field. Next, use search engines to locate applicants.

The employer can simply type in a keyword such as accounting to narrow the search. Also, post your job listing on a Usenet newsgroup. Last, communicate with applicants through listserves. This means that you can specify your job openings and users are allowed to narrow their field of search. An applicant may search by state, company name, job title, or qualifications for the position. As you can see, subscribers receive a list on a specific topic of interest through electronic mailings. “The Internet opens a whole new world to the recruiting process. Online recruiting is definitely an employment tool of the future for companies of all sizes.” (Outlaw, pg. 80)

Career sites such as The Monster Board allow individuals with various interests an opportunity to place their resumes online. “About 45 percent of the 50,000 jobs on The Monster Board are for one sort of technician or another, about 20 percent of the listings involve product management and development, and roughly 35 percent are completely nontechnical, such as marketing and retailing positions.” (Maynard, pg. 2) Large employers and smaller organizations use the Internet to find a person to fill a vacancy at their company.

Roberta Maynard says, “about 70% of the companies recruiting on The Monster Board have under 50 employees.” Also, “the latest statistic revealed 1 million resumes online, 1.2 million jobs offered, 3,500 employment Web sites and 5,800 recruiting companies online in 1996, according to Internet Business Network’s 1997 Electronic Recruiting Index.” (Wells, pg.1) More recent data probably indicates more resumes entered online, more jobs offered through this method, and an increase in organizations specializing in this area. This method of recruiting is becoming very popular for businesses to use.

III. Advantages to the Job Candidates

There are several benefits to candidates who use computerized services to find a job position. Many college graduates and professionals take advantage of Electronic Search Firms such as Online Career Center, CareerPath, CareerBuilder, and JobCenter to search for employment opportunities or view the websites of corporations they are interested in.

Web sites such as Careermosaic offer advantages to the applicant by as giving the candidate the ability to gather information on organizations and various job opportunities, send out mass quantities of resumes to be viewed by several employers, state geographic preferences, and enjoy cost savings benefits for the applicant. Job candidates also save a tremendous amount of time using this method compared to other job hunting processes, may be able to look for internal jobs, and might find a site that allows them to look for a position by area of specialty or interest.

A. Information Gathering on Organizations and Various Job Opportunities

Applicants can read about current positions and jobs that have been listed for awhile and find out the necessary qualifications for the career opportunity. The candidate may even have a chance to view the salary given for a particular position. This system is very easy to use to locate a job position. Also, it is fairly easy to research a company to find background information to enhance interview preparation, areas of expertise, and job postings over the internet and apply for a position that interests you. Some websites even allow you to scan your resume instead of typing it in to apply for potential future employment opportunities.

B. Mass Quantities of Resumes Viewed

Many recruiters can view your resume by simply placing it on one of these popular sites. It would take a lot of time to send each employer you resume through another method. The candidate can choose a resume web site to submit their resume and wait for organizations to contact them when there is a possible fit for a job position.

The ideal geographic location as well as other preferences can be listed on the online resume. For example, a candidate in Michigan graduating from Michigan State University may search for a job position in California and find out the responsibilities for the job, qualifications needed for the position, and which facility is hiring. When the candidate is viewing employment opportunities he or she can look for jobs in a desired location.

Placing your resume online and searching company websites is free of charge so the candidate can benefit from cost savings over traditional methods of job searching. It can be very expensive to purchase high quality paper and envelopes as well as stamps to send a company your resume and cover letter. The electronic method also is less expensive compared to fax machines for long distance calls.

This automated hiring process speeds up the procedure for both the employee and employer. The submitted resumes can be processed very quickly. You don’t have to wait as long as it would take a typical resume submitted by mail to get into the hands of a human resource recruiter. By placing your information on the Internet, you can save time compared to the time that would be spent on the more traditional methods of sending resumes and cover letters. For example, a computer company in Dallas could place an advertisement for a job on their website or through another service over the Internet. A candidate can view the opening and express his or her interest immediately instead of waiting a few days for a mailed resume to reach the employer.

For internal employees searching for a new job in their current place of employment they may have the option of using the Intranet for internal transfers within a company. According to Samuel Greengard, for HR groups today, the most action is on corporate Intranets, which allow secure Web-based communication within a company. Employees that work for an organization and wish to look for an opening in another department or a different position in the area they are currently working in can review the job postings internal to the company on the intranet if the firm has established this service. Dave Taylor, author of “Hire the best with internet, intranet resume databases,” believes companies can keep their competitive edge by designing a job database on your intranet to help retain employees, move them into their ideal position, and lower the cost of hiring.

There are Career Sites that are designed primarily for applicants with certain backgrounds. For example, an applicant interested in being a physician, nurse, pharmacist, or physician’s assistant can search for a job on the Medical Economics Online site. Someone wanting a job in a field like Information Systems can locate a search company that specializes in this area. Candidates can sort through jobs by geographic area, by job type such as marketing or accounting, by company name, or other desired preferences to specify an interest. A job applicant will enjoy the benefits of searching numerous positions that fit their credentials from home or at work.

There are also several advantages to the employer that recruits employees online. The recruiter will realize they have a wide audience to reach over the Internet for available job openings and save time compared to other recruiting methods. They may also enjoy the benefit of saving money in this area, can get feedback to find out how many candidates have viewed the job opportunity, and bring attention to the organization. The human resource person also has the ability to sort through resumes submitted to their department, can find a person interested in a specific location to work, and enjoys the benefit of managing the large amounts of resumes received.

The Human Resource recruiter discovers the benefit of reaching a wide audience by having a good advertising distribution through electronic websites. This means that the ad for the job position reaches many applicants all over the world. It would take a lot of time to place advertisements on television, in many local papers, or on the radio in several locations to find a suitable individual for a job. Advertisements placed over the Internet tend to reach greater numbers of people. Reaching a wide volume of people is an important factor to many recruiters.

A recent term used by some corporations is Just in Time Recruiting (JITR) which brings the candidates to employers at the time that the company needs to hire someone. (Electronic Recruiting News, pg.1) This is very helpful when a company needs a replacement for an employee that left the corporation suddenly or a departmental need is realized. The employer can receive many resumes within hours of a job opening rather than waiting weeks to get resumes in the mail or through fax machines. Applicants can be found in cyberspace within a short time period.

One of the most important advantages to the employer looking for possible hires online is the cost savings aspect of this recruiting method. Recruiting over the Internet costs much less than the typical methods of recruiting like advertising in a newspaper. This allows companies an opportunity to slash costs that are spent on recruiting. In comparison, a typical ad placed in a newspaper has a fee of versus an average cost of to place a listing on the Internet.

“Web recruitment sites are free to the searcher, and the employer typically pays $2,000 to $2,500 a month to advertise as many as 100 job openings.” (“Life of the Web”) The cost to advertise on commercial sites will vary depending on what services the company offers and how long the posting is listed. Some of these sites want to increase the size of their database and do not charge for the service. “Those that do set fees typically charge $25 to $150 per job listing, with the duration of listings averaging four weeks.” (Maynard, pg. 3) There are some companies that offer the benefit of unlimited postings but charge an annual rate.

Dr. Jim Jones from Colombia/HCA, Trident Medical Center said in his round table discussion with our Human Resource Management class that his department uses the internet at times to recruit employees to the hospital and it only costs about $20 a job posting. This is a small amount for such a large hospital. He has found some successful candidates using this method of recruiting employees.

In an article on the topic of online recruiting there is a good example given about a Human Resource employee’s experience using this method of attracting applicants and the benefits of this procedure. It says, “West decided to pay $125 for a classified ad listing that ran for 60 days with an Internet recruiting service. She not only found the right person to fill the job but also saved her company money – a weekend ad in her local paper would have cost three times as much.” (Maynard, pg. 1)

“Some sites offer feedback to the employer, such as tracking the number of resumes that a given job listing generates.” (Maynard, pg. 3) The human resource individual can simply go into the site they posted a job on and look to see how much interest the position has received.

Companies can stand out by putting more detail in their listings and can even create their own website to discuss their products and services as well as other corporate characteristics. Corporations should not assume applicants know to go to their website to find a position for future employment but can use their website to advertise job postings. Companies need to bring the individuals looking for employment to their site to use these features. An organization may go through an Electronic Search Firm to attract people to their business.

The organization can match an applicant with the desired qualifications to the position. They can simply type in keywords to identify applicants with the necessary skills. “Adding a section composed entirely of keywords is useful because employees often search resumes for specific skills on a keyword basis.” (Martin, pg. 1) This can be very beneficial to both the recruiter and the job candidate.

The Human Resource employee can search through several resumes and choose candidates that match the description of the job. The applicants could have a technical background since they are using a computer source to find a job. Employers have realized applicants in many fields use this service. The resumes are collected and entered into a database that allows employers to search through, store, and sort for keywords or by job type. Recruiters can use sites to search through resumes such as The Monster Board, which is an established service that several job seekers use to find employment and is located at http://www.monster.com.

G. Geographic Location Specification

If a company chooses to interview international applicants from other countries, the recruiting online method works because it reaches people all over the world. Recruiters can look through resumes to find candidates interested in working in a specific city in a country or even overseas.

Online recruiting gives employers the benefit of managing the mass quantities of resumes received. It can be very overwhelming for a human resource representative at a large company to place applicants in various areas and have to read many resumes received for a particular position that may not fit the qualifications the company is looking for in a job candidate. Global Computer News, “GCN says the office now takes between 8000 and 10,000 applications over a four-day period without being overwhelmed.” (Appleton, pg. 4)

V. Things to Consider When Applying Online

Although, there are many benefits to recruiting online, there are also some things you should consider when applying for an opportunity at an organization through this method. You should consider the fact that you are only a name or number in a database and do not have personal contact with a recruiter at a company. It is important to differentiate yourself from other candidates. “Industry experts indicate that job candidates must still differentiate themselves even if a resume is delivered by fax or E-mail.” (Vitello, pg. 1) Some applicants chose to follow up with a phone call to introduce themselves to a representative of the corporation they are trying to work for.

Also, remember your current employer may have access to the Internet if you wish to keep your job searching to yourself. There can be a risk to submitting your resume over the net. “On those databases, resumes can be just as easily accessed by a present employer as any other.” (Bergstrom, pg. 3) “Sending highly personal resume information electronically involves security risks.” (Appleton, pg. 1)

It is not always the applicants with great qualifications that search the web either. Human resource employees at some corporations may not use the Internet to recruit employees so applicants may not be able to use this source in all situations. Not everyone has technological skills. A disadvantage for the job candidate that wants to apply for employment opportunities online is that they don’t always know where to go to submit their resume. Another thing to consider when putting your credentials online is that the user of a career site should make sure they have the option to make edits to the resume they submit online.

Jeff Walker, Major Accounts Receivable Manager from Automatic Data Processing (ADP) discussed the topic of electronic recruiting at the Society of Human Resource Management Association meeting on June 15, 1999. He said ADP does recruit employees over the Internet and can offer this opportunity to other companies interested in using this method. Mr. Walker believes the costs of recruiting are increasing and organizations should use the electronic recruiting methods to help locate candidates that match the skills needed for the job position. The web has a wide reach of potential applicants, can offer faster access to information on candidates, and is convenient. Employers like internet recruiting because it gives “faster results via electronic medium, has access to new talent base, cost less than traditional methods, is easy to integrate existing technologies with recruiting methods, and provides quality candidates.” (Jeff Walker Presentation to SHRM, June 15, 1999)

Nancy , a Human Resource recruiter from Mecosa, located on Daniels Island, says their company is starting to think about recruiting job applicants online but is focusing on other important issues currently. She does wish to recruit over the Internet but it will take some time before the company is ready to step into this area. A guest at the SHRM meeting, Deborah Coleman, a human resource employee from Berkeley – Dorchester EDC has used this process to find employees a few times. Clint and Maxine from Williams Technology in Summerville, South Carolina have used this recruiting method to find a few employees but have not used this process extensively. Many companies realize there are many benefits to recruiting employees online but most organizations using this procedure currently are large businesses or smaller companies that have available resources. For example, Allison Dennis, from Santee Cooper does use electronic recruiting to locate potential applicants and enjoys the benefits of the process.

Although there are some things to consider when using online recruiting methods for hiring or job searching purposes, many individuals and corporations enjoy the advantages of electronic recruiting to find employment opportunities or to place an individual in a job opening. Online recruiting is a way to recruit job candidates that has been growing in popularity in our society and probably will continue to be used by many organizations to find qualified applicants for job openings. It has been a successful procedure for human resource recruiters all over.

I. Introduction to Employee Selection Tests

When deciding on hiring a job applicant or not there are various tests we might decide to administer to the individuals to access their potential for a job opening. We may consider the accuracy and usefulness of the different options to screen employees including selection exams. Also, many question the validity of these tests when deciding on administering them or not to jobseekers. If used correctly the various selection tests can provide useful information on candidates to an organization. “Proper selection can minimize the costs of replacement and training, reduce legal challenges and result in a more productive workforce.” (Ranner, pg. 1)

Many think the popularity of these exams is growing and more corporations are administering these tests to prospects of employment. Employers would like to predict which candidates would be successful if offered a position with the company so they use selection tests. “Some employers purchase prepared tests, whereas others develop there own.” (Mathis & Jackson, pg. 79)

Blackbaud does use various selection tests such as

There are several selection tests that employers give to potential candidates to access their potential as future employees. Employers may use skills tests such as math or computer exams, genetic screening, drug and alcohol tests, handwriting analysis, medical exams, and psychological or personality tests to select employees. They may also choose to give honesty and written integrity exams, emotional intelligence exams, and AIDS tests to determine if the individual will receive a job at a company.

Many organizations give skills exams like math tests or computer examinations to determine the capabilities of a potential employee. Often times clerical exams or another type of knowledge test is given to determine the applicant’s skills. The employer needs to know this information to decide if it is worth training an applicant that lacks some abilities for the job or hire an individual who can perform the given duties. If the exam relates to the job responsibilities than employers should not worry about being sued for asking job seekers to take a skills test.

A recent trend in corporations is to perform genetic screening before deciding to hire an individual. These tests can explain the background of the applicant. This screening process can “identify individuals who are hypersensitive to harmful pollutants in the workplace.” (Schuler and Huber, pg. 251) These employees can be placed in other positions that are not hazardous to their health if it is determined there is a risk. There is a debate over the ethics of using this method to screen applicants for a job. “Believe it or not, some big companies are using gene testing to screen out job applicants vulnerable to expensive and debilitating diseases.” (Cronin, pg. 1)

Many organizations use drug and alcohol screening to eliminate hiring employees that may not be productive because of bad habits. It is important to employ individuals that do not have problems of substance abuse. Often times, employees with drug or alcohol addictions come to work late, are not motivated, and do not perform their job responsibilities adequately. “Drug studies have been done to help indicate problems that may occur with people that have drug problems. These studies indicate that a single pre-employment drug test can differentiate groups of persons at higher risk for certain poor job behaviors.”  Many applicants expect to be tested for drugs and know methods to pass these exams so organizations should be aware of this possibility.

“Preplacement tests are administered after a company makes a job offer contingent upon a clean result.” (Cronin, pg.4) Candidates should fill out a questionnaire before tested for drug usage because prescription drug use can show up in the laboratory results. A sample of urine, hair, or blood can be taken from the prospective employee to identify possible drug usage.

The accuracy of drug tests varies according to the type of test used, the item tested, and the quality of the laboratory where the test samples are sent.” (Mathis and Jackson, pg.82) Companies that provide care-giving services usually test for drug usage because employees need to be prepared to respond to emergencies. Several organizations administer these exams to their employees.

Handwriting analysis (graphology) is useful if the expert predicting it is experience in interpreting handwriting samples. The candidate may be asked to write a one -page summary on why they would be a good fit for the job and signs it at the bottom. This procedure only takes about ten minutes but will be analyzed also to determine the analysis of the handwriting. Handwriting exams are inexpensive, simple, and can reveal a lot about the personality of an applicant. There is a fee of about $150 for a two-page evaluation of a person’s handwriting. A behavioral style analysis in the shorter versions runs for a cost of around $90-$150 for a two-page evaluation.

As far as handwriting analysis in business, “In the selection of personnel, handwriting analysis is an invaluable tool for helping to choose the most suitable person for the job.” “For job seekers handwriting analysis provides an added bonus in that it requires no painful or embarrassing interview which a sensitive candidate is likely to see as an invasion of privacy.”

Medical exams might be given to employees during the screening process. “After you make an offer, you can, under federal law, require a complete head-to-toe physical and access to all medical records.” (Michael P. Cronin, pg.4) In the United States, eleven of the states limit the use of this medical information to job-related needs. There is a high cost to the employer to give physical exams to potential employees so this is often done after other screening procedures are completed. “According to the Uniform Guidelines, physical examinations should be used to screen out applicants when the results indicate that job performance would be adversely affected.” (Huber and Schuler, pg. 250)

“The Americans with Disability Act prohibits a company from rejecting an individual because of a disability and from asking job applicants any questions relative to current or past medical history until a conditional job offer is made.” (Mathis and Jackson, pg.82) These exams are valid if the physical characteristics of the candidate are essential to the job responsibilities. The American and Disabilities Act prohibits companies with more than 15 employees to ask questions about a candidates medical conditions before a job offer is given. Employers need to have a valid reason for not hiring someone based on a medical exam.

F. Psychological or Personality Examinations

Psychological or personality examinations may be given during the selection of future employees process. An exam may be used as a personality tool and could give results such as showing how aggressive a future sales representative will act. Companies may screen for emotional disorders but organizations should be careful because these tests should only be used for employees that work in security positions only because you don’t want an employee that is considered dangerous to have a gun. The federal government in 1988 banned lie-detector tests and psychological tests became popular. These exams can test for an applicant’s propensity to steal. They are used to look for emotional disorders in job candidates.

Convergys is one of the world’s leading providers of customer care, human resources and billing outsourcing services. The company’s business is divided into several units, Customer Care, Business Support Systems (BSS) and HR Services. Customer Care, the largest of the subdivisions, offers customer service care services for businesses through 77 contact centers as of June 2008. In fact, Convergys is the No. 1 provider of outsourced customer service in the world and the clear market leader in the United States, with 8 percent of the outsourced customer care market (or more han twice as much as its closest competitor).

HR Services provides employee care services to some 1. 2 million employees in 40 countries in areas such as benefits and payroll operations, staffing and training. With BSS, Convergys manages telecommunications billing and business support system software for large communications companies around the world. As a leader in customer management for over 30 years, Convergys is uniquely focused on helping companies find new ways to enhance the value of their customer relationships and deliver consistent customer experiences across all channels and geographies.

Every day their 75,000 employees help their clients balance the demands of increasing revenue, improving customer satisfaction, and reducing overall cost using an optimal mix of agents, technology, and analytics. Their actionable insight stems from handling billions of customer interactions annually for our clients. Among Fortune 500 companies, over half of the top 50 are clients that trust their most important relationships to Convergys. Convergys has approximately 89,000 employees in 68 customer contact centers and other facilities in India, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, United States, Canada, Costa

Rica, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. In the western United States, Convergys uses a business model that offers entry-level customer-service work at pay not much above minimum wage, geared toward students and other beginning-level workers. It pays generous tuition reimbursement for enrolled students, and seems prepared to manage the turnover rates that such a comparatively mobile”one could say ‘restless’”workforce tends to cause. Large numbers of especially first- and second-year employees leave its ranks.

As a result, Convergys is virtually always hiring and training phone center workers. Convergys as recently been phasing out the staff of their call centers in the United States, and increasing staffing in their Pune/Bangalore/Manila call centers. This reduces the salary and benefits cost, which should prove to increase revenue. Unfortunately this has not helped the stock prices. Convergys develops detailed training programs for these new employees, and offers support for front-line call center workers dealing with customer problems.

Convergys recruits a significant portion of its call center, chat & email support staff from India and the Philippines. The business of this company is centered around labor cost arbitrage. Not possessing any other significant strength may work against this company in the long term. As tar as short-term prospects go this company seems well positioned to profit. Convergys claims to be highly flexible when it comes to client relationships. They offer to come up with the best possible solution in every possible situation.

Convergys Mission: Provide Customer Relationship Management software and services that create valuable relationships between our clients and their customers. Convergys Vision: Convergys will be the recognized global leader in innovative Customer Relationship Management solutions, and: Provide for our clients: Leading-edge products and services that offer a compelling value and create a competitive edge. Create for our employees: An environm

Jinnikins Jeans’ (JJs) people management is informal and loosely structured making it a method of managing personnel without completely adopting HRM structure and strategic components. JJs people management approach loosely aligns with HRM. The informal and loose approach of JJs is not sufficient to enable the exercise of control and direction to link activities with goal achievement through guidelines and rules. This created human resource problems relating to job specification, performance management, organisational communication, and diversity.

The company has to find a way to reconcile good HRM practices and its thrust towards informal processes to support creative thinking. JJs flexible and personal performance management process is not sufficient to support its business objectives. Motivation of performance and competency building is insufficient. There are no objective criteria for individual performance evaluation. Without objective evaluation, JJs is having problems understanding de-motivation and other performance-related problems. There is no feedback system. The flaws in its performance management activities require resolution.

Specific areas of improvement is the establishment of clear job functions, basic but complete rules covering performance targets and measures, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and transparent communication to ensure feedback sharing. Jinnikins Jeans’ (JJs) people management is informal and loosely structured making it a method of managing personnel without completely adopting HRM structure and strategic components. The company is run as a family business, with family members and old friends holding executive and management positions.

Informal social relations get transferred into the manner of handling people (Moores and Barrett, 2002). The atmosphere at JJs is casual and relaxed, which the founders, George and Trevor, intended to support their vision of the company as an organisation of creative thinkers (Mathews, 2005). The company has a unique approach to people management that worked for the company but the downsides are catching up as JJs expanded and faced greater competition. These have implications on the human resource problems faced by the company and its competitive positioning.

Assessing JJs people management approach points to the degree of formality and structure of people management as the underlying consideration. Drucker (2001) strongly advocated the formalisation of management to achieve the economic and social goals of personnel management. Pursuing economic goals lead to efficiency. Addressing social goals result to workforce effectiveness and improved performance. The formalisation of people management ensures efficient and effective day-to-day functioning to achieve short and long-term goals. JJs approach to people management deviates from the idea of formal management.

It was only through the initiative and lobbying of the financial director that the top executive agreed to have a formal mission statement. There are no formal written rules and procedures governing a number of human resource functions including selection, training, promotion and termination. The lack of processes and rules governing these basic human resource functions could explain the human resource problems faced by the company. The organisation life cycle theory also supports the need for internal structures and people management systems to exercise control.

These could be formal or informal provided the internal structures and systems enable control and direction. (Moores and Barrett, 2002) JJs informal and loosely structured people management approach aligns with this theory. Nevertheless, consideration of the company’s approach points to insufficiency expressed by the loss of its marketing director to its competitor and de-motivation of employees that translated into quality and delivery problems (Mathew, 2005). The informal and loosely structured approach of JJs gave rise to four encompassing issues in HRM.

The first issue covers job specification, description and design. Job specification, which forms a strategic HRM practice, refers to the identification of basic qualifications needed in performing a particular job. The basic qualifications form part of the job description in the recruitment process. Job design, which is another strategic HRM practice, involves the identification of the specific tasks involved in a particular job, the methods applied in doing the tasks, and the manner that the job relates to other jobs within the organisation.

(Dessler, 2004) There are other factors given more weight other than job specification in personnel selection at JJs. George and Trevor decide the people to hire, especially in the management positions and the people hired do not necessarily meet the basic job qualifications according to standard practice (Mathews, 2005). Second issue is on performance management, which refers to the process of developing a common understanding between management and employees over expectations on job functions, achievement of business goals, integration of work contributions, and corresponding incentives or motivators (Bacal, 1999).

This is integral to HRM. Performance management practices including performance assessment and training ensure work efficiency that contributes to improved performance and job satisfaction (Dessler, 2004). The practices at JJs indicate there are no clear criteria of individual performance assessment to support compensation increases and bonuses as well as no measurement of the impact of involvement in seminars and workshops. Problems of absenteeism and tardiness also abound.

The organisation also has no succession plan, which performance management covers. This adversely affects the career development prospects of personnel. (Mathews, 2005) Third issue is organisational communication, which is an HRM tool. Apart from establishing open communication channels, communication should cover the identification of clear objectives and awareness building over these objectives by all managers and personnel (Schein, 1997; Drucker, 2001).

Effective communication builds identification with the company that in turn promotes teamwork and collective results (George and Jones, 2007). The informal and loose structure of JJs establishes open communication lines between employees and their immediate supervisors to facilitate teamwork. However, there is a communication gap between frontline employees and top executives as shown by employee perception that they are not heard by top management and the rejection of George and Trevor of unionisation intended as a mode of communication (Mathews, 2005).

This gap also prevents the communication of clear objectives as the common ground for team building and collaborative outcomes such as bridging creative and financial considerations. Fourth issue is diversity, which refers to the adoption of human resource practices that accommodate socio-demographic characteristics including age, gender, ethnic background, religion and disability (Chemers et al. , 1995) by setting objective criteria for selection, retention, promotion and encouraging inter-cultural exchange or interaction in the workplace (Muncherji and Gupta, 2004).

The company accepts ethnic diversity expressed through its workforce composition and roots in London’s East end. However, there are only a few women in management and the human resource director has no idea of the other components of diversity, discrimination issues and laws, and implications on the firm (Mathews, 2005). JJs people management approach loosely aligns with HRM. It is clear that present approach cannot sustain the company. There are a number of weak areas that require improvements.

The company has to find a way to reconcile good HRM practices and its thrust towards informal processes to support creative thinking. It could adopt strategic HRM that links company goals with practices to ensure targeted outcomes (Salaman et al. , 2005). This means JJs have to identify clear basic people management guidelines, processes and systems. There is room for creative freedom by adopting a more formal and structured system since creativity is channelled towards goal fulfilment.

Line, Staff and Human Resources Management Authority What does it take to get the right organizational design for Human Resources? In today’s constantly evolving environment, developing an organization that makes the right decisions, while directing others’ work and giving orders requires having line and staff authority in place. In this essay, we will explain what authority is and explain the difference from line authority and staff authority. Also we will explain what type of authority human resource managers have. So what is authority?

Authority is “the power to determine, adjudicate, or otherwise settle issues or disputes; jurisdiction; the right to control, command, or determine” (Dictionary. com, n. d. ). Power is the ability to get things done either to enforce one’s own will or to enforce the collective will of an organization. This tells us that all managers have some form of authority. Now, let us distinguish between line authority and staff authority. Line authority gives management individuals the formal power to direct and control immediate subordinates. Staff authority gives managers the right to advise, recommend, and counsel other managers and employees.

It is a communication relationship with management. It has an influence that derives indirectly from line authority at a higher level. According to Dessler (2008), line authority creates a superior-subordinate relationship and staff authority creates an advisory relationship. The authority of human resources is delegated by the top management of organizations. How much authority it derives from top management is a policy matter. With today’s workforce becoming increasingly diverse and organizations doing more to maximize the benefits of the differences in employees, human resource managers are key players.

Organizations are relying on managers to get the people who get the job done, and of course, make the company money. Human resource managers have three fundamental functions: 1) line function – directing activities within the department and related areas while having implied authority, 2) coordinative function – coordinating personnel activities and 3) staff functions – assisting and advising line managers. In conclusion, line, staff and human resources personnel must work together closely to maintain the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization.

To ensure that line, staff and human resources personnel do work together productively, management must make sure all groups understand the organizational mission, have specific objectives, and realize that they are partners in helping the organization reach its objectives.

References Authority. (n. d. ). Dictionary. com Unabridged. Retrieved July 18, 2010, from Dictionary. com website: http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/authority Dressler, G. (2008). Florida International University. In G. Dressler, Human Resources Management – 11th ed. (p. 4). Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458: Pearson Prentice Hall.

In this report I will outline the work of the different functional areas at Tesco. To begin with I will explain the term ‘functional area’. A functional area is a specific part of a business that deals with certain activities, roles and responsibilities within that company. For instance for Tesco, their functional area is that they (Tesco) are split up into departments to carry out a range of tasks or responsibilities to support their activities (business) for example Finance or Human Resources.

The reason that this is a better term than the term ‘department’ is because in some businesses specific departments do not exist but there still has to be someone performing the function. An example of this is a small sole trader business. Small sole trader businesses do not have functional areas. This is because the owner of the business will be in charge of the business and will be responsible of everything, for instance they would be responsible for recruiting people to work in the business and therefore they would perform the function of Human Resources. They might also be responsible for producing the accounts of the company and therefore they would also be performing the function of finance.

Tesco has many different functional areas, all of which are in charge of certain tasks or functions. The specific functions I will outline in this task are:At human resources, they are responsible for recruitment, retention and dismissal. Tesco’s Human resources department is responsible for the workers and to make sure they have good working conditions, health and safety, employee organisations and unions and training, development and promotion.

At Tesco, this area of the business is responsible for recruiting employees as pointed before. Tesco have a Head Office that is accountable for appointing area managers and other senior people in the business. However, the recruitment of people to each individual store would usually be done by the store manager or PA manager. Each individual store does not have a Human Resources department, but the manager performs this occupation. Christmas is an example of a hectic time of year when Tesco will recruit more workers into the organisation to deal with the increase in customer numbers.

Another job which relates to the Human Resources function is retaining good staff. Tesco do not want good staff to depart because they are a plus point to the business and also Tesco will have used up a lot of time and money getting the employee to this benchmark. Tesco will not want this employee to leave and join one of their competitors such as Asda. To ensure that staff can be retained, Tesco will have in place progression opportunities for employees to move up the pay scale and opportunities for people to apply for more superior positions within the business through advertising promotion opportunities internally. Read also about functional areas of McDonald’s

Sadly the people performing the Human Resources function at Tesco also have to dismiss (give notice to) people. There are a number of reasons why business might dismiss someone. This might be when they have done something wrong or when they are no longer needed because they business does not have enough customers. This is often referred to as redundancy. If an employee at Tesco stole something, they would probably be dismissed straight away, but if it was arriving late to work they would probably receive a number of warnings before being sacked. Because Tesco is a successful and profitable business, it is unlikely to make people redundant.

The Human Resources area of Tesco is also responsible for looking at the working conditions of employees. This includes making certain that employees get the right number of breaks, have a safe working environment, a place to rest during their breaks and holidays. Working conditions also extends to health and safety. Human Resources will be responsible for making sure that employees are protected and logging any accidents that occur so that they can prevent this from happening again.

The Human Resources people at Tesco are also responsible for training. They have to make sure that new employees are able to access the training that they need to do their job and that existing employees are kept up-to-date. An example of this at Tesco is when new technology is introduced, for example new tills or self service areas. In order to their job properly, Human Resources will be responsible for making sure that the right people get this training.

Employees at Tesco have the right to be members of a Trade Union. A union is an organisation that represents the interests of employees in the work place. The employees at Tesco are likely to be members of USDAW (Union of Shop Distributive and Applied Workers). It is the responsibility of the Human Resources to negotiate with Trade Unions. An example of this is if the employees at Tesco want a pay rise and demand this through the union, the Human Resources department within the Tesco Head Office would be in charge for discussing this with the union and avoiding possible industrial action such as strikes.

For the banking institutions in the UAE to effectively undertake the process of manpower planning, it would be necessary that the organizations project their future requirements and needs (Ashwini 2009). What would follow is that the banking institutions in the UAE would then compare the considered present and future requirements and needs with the present HR figures and future resources (Ashwini 2009). Having done that, the banking institutions in the UAE would then embark on appropriate measures aimed at bridging the gap and attaining the optimum HR figures that they need (Bratton & Gold 2003).

Manpower planning should form part of the HR strategy of the banking institutions in the UAE (Bratton & Gold 2003). This is because a detailed HR strategy plays a very significant role in achieving the strategic objectives that the banking institutions in the UAE would want to achieve (Workinfo. com 2008). The detailed HR strategy would also demonstrate that the HR function of the banking institutions in the UAE clearly understands the future the organization wants to take.

What this implies is that the HR strategy would be seeking to portray the people perspective of what the banking institutions in the UAE hope to accomplish in the future in the medium to long-run (Bratton & Gold 2003). A detailed HR strategy will also go along way in supporting the particular strategic objectives of the other departments of the banking institutions in the UAE (Workinfo. com 2008). For instance, the strategy would support the strategic objectives of the financial, marketing and operational functions of the banking institutions in the UAE.

In essence the HR strategy seeks to ensure that the banking institutions in the UAE have the right manpower in place and that the people are rightly skilled. In fact, there is a relationship between manpower planning process, and the achievement of the organizational strategies and targets (Bratton & Gold 2003). Therefore, HR strategy is supposed to add value to the banking institutions in the UAE thereby having several importances to the banks. One importance of manpower planning to the banking institutions in the UAE is that it reduces wastages when it comes to the way the recruitment of people is done.

In the same way, it reduces uncertainty pertaining to the prevailing personnel levels and future needs. The other importance of manpower planning is that reduces mistakes in the process of recruitment (Yogesh 2009). Manpower planning by the banking institutions in the UAE also seeks the shortage of workers and skill and eliminating the under of overstaffing (Bratton & Gold 2003). At the same time, manpower planning assists in the preparation of succession plans as well as in restructuring the optimum future work force by way of recruiting the right employees in terms of skill, numbers and competence (Yogesh 2009).

What the above implies is that manpower planning is undertaken to map out the HR requirements of the banking institutions in the UAE. As they do this, the banking institutions in the UAE make consideration as to their short term and long-term organizational needs (Yogesh 2009). From the above discussion, it can be seen that there are several advantages of manpower planning. It is worth noting that the advantages are founded on the basic principle that manpower planning seeks to obtain the optimal utilization of the available employees (Yogesh 2009).

The first advantage is that manpower planning is useful not only to the banking institutions in the UAE, but it is equally important to UAE as a country. In other words, the advantage of manpower planning cuts across both the organizations and the country of UAE (Yogesh 2009). Perhaps the most common advantage of manpower planning is the fact that it enables organizations such as the banking institutions in the UAE to establish not only the number skills of employees they are in need of (Ashwini 2009).

This is a very strong advantage for the reason that the process highlights to the banking institutions in the UAE the employees whose recruitment should be done and the sources where they can be found. This has the implication that a well undertaken process of manpower planning ensures that the recruitment process is not done in a haphazard manner (Bratton & Gold 2003). Manpower planning therefore goes a long way in eliminating issues of over or understaffing which can be very costly to the banking institutions in the UAE.

The Law enforcement agency being considered is the Police department of Lawrence Township, New Jersey. The Police force is committed to improving the overall quality of life in the township by running several community programs. Its detective bureau deals solving with crucial issues such as crime and thereby reducing the fear associated with it. The department plans to achieve these goals by working hand-in-hand with the people of the community and by adopting a pro-active approach.

The fundamental values of the police force are to defend the honor of serving the people of its community and maintaining the highest ethical standards, while fostering continuous growth of knowledge. The financial budget of the Lawrence Township police department needs to be well-planned to enable law enforcement officers to effectively perform their job of serving the community as well as maintaining law and order. It has to consider factors such as salary and wages of police officers, patrol car maintenance, cost of weaponry and information technology infrastructure.

It also has to allocate some money for the contingency fund, which would come in handy during a natural calamity or financial crisis. Effective HR staffing, proper equipment allocation and periodic accounting would help to accomplish the department’s goals with the available resources. An Integrated Database Management System (IDMS) would help in integrating all the personal information and human resource data pertaining to officers employed in Lawrence Township police department. The data collected for building this database has been acquired from the Office of the Police Chief and Lawrence Township’s official website.

This information is stored as tables using MS Access database program. The data can be modified by appending records in the stored tables. Furthermore, the data can be used by setting up queries for desired fields. The IDMS can help identify suitable officers for particular tasks by setting up filters to choose records matching a particular criterion. However, the database needs to be regularly updated with new data for optimal utilization.

Reference: Police Department. (2007). Lawrence Township. Retrieved 14 August, 2007 from, <http://www. lawrencetwp. com/police. html>.