WEEK FOUR
Staffing
Staffing
2





Overview
Job Characteristics
Organizational Structure
Job descriptions
HR Issues
 Performance
Evaluations
 Legal Considerations
Types of Library Staff
3
Professional librarians
master’s degree in library or information science
 tend to be specialists

Support staff
wide range of skills and responsibilities
 handle the routine work of most library departments
 varying education and experience levels

Part-time employees
often are students
 do mostly repetitive tasks

Changing Nature of Library Work
4


Shift from traditional, functional specialist positions
to “multi-skilling” positions
Increasing requirements for behavior skills
 ability
to communicate internally and externally
 work effectively with others
 flexibility
 creativity
 innovative
Diversity
5



Broad term encompassing not only race, ethnicity, and
gender but also characteristics such as age and
physical ability
Diversity brings a variety of points of views and
approaches to problems and opportunity that
strengthens organizations
Managers must promote and commit to diversity as a
principle and value that is part of the organizational
culture
Training and Staff Development
6


Every library needs a planned, staff training and
development program
Training
 primarily
focuses on teaching staff to perform their
current jobs and helping them to acquire the knowledge
and skills they need to be effective performers
 also needed to keep employees current
Training and Staff Development
7

Staff Development
 staff
development focuses on building staff knowledge
and skills so that they will be prepared to take on new
responsibilities
 includes additional activities such as varied work
experiences and formal education
 professional
 it
conference programs and workshops
is critical that managers promote transfer of the
knowledge and skills to the actual work situation
Staffing
8



Personnel costs are half of the financial resources
allocated to the library
In times of economic downturns, what gets cut? How
do we prioritize?
Some academic libraries are being asked to cut 510% of budget (this could mean $3 million dollars).
ARL Budget Roundup 2009
9

Staffing


Emory- 10 vacant positions won’t be filled (African-American
studies, economics, LGBT, etc.), other searches on hold
University of Washington



8% cut= 20 vacant positions, closing/consolidating of three branches
and two service points
12% cut= 34.5 vacancies, 24 service hours cut in undergrad library,
branches to close at 5pm everyday.
Umass Dartmouth loses Vice Chancellor of Library Services
position- dutires relocated to Adminsitration & Fiscal Affairs
Staff Development

Reductions in travel and staff development- training, conference
attendance, etc.
10
Organizational Structure
In Academic Libraries
Organizational Structure
11

Organizations:
 are
groups of individuals joined together to accomplish
some objective
 have their own characteristics
 have rules and norms which have evolved over time
 interact with other organizations
 change internally to keep up with external pressures
To Organize Structure
12
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


Group tasks into individual jobs
Group jobs into functions and divisions
Allocate authority in the organization among jobs,
functions and divisions
Coordinate or integrate jobs, functions and divisions
Grouping Tasks into Jobs: Job Design
13


Job design is the process by which managers decide
how to divide into specific jobs the tasks that have to
be performed
J.R. Hackman and G.R. Oldman developed a job
characteristics model that explains how to design jobs
that are interesting and motivating
Job Characteristics Model
14




High motivation on the job is related to three psychological
states:
Meaningfulness of the work: work has meaning to you, is
something you relate to, not just a set of tasks/movements
Responsibility: you have the opportunity for success or
failure, because you have sufficient freedom of action.
Includes ability to make changes/ incorporate learning on
the job
Knowledge of Outcomes: 1) you get feedback so you know
how successful you’ve been & can learn from your mistakes,
2) you can connect emotionally to the customer of your
product
Job Characteristics Model
15

Each of the three states derives from job
characteristics:
 Meaningfulness:
 Skill
variety: uses an appropriate variety of skills (too many
is overwhelming, too few is boring)
 Task identity: the extent to which a job requires a worker
to perform all the tasks required to complete the job
 Task significance: the degree to which a worker feels the job
is meaningful
Job Characteristics Model
16

Responsibility:
 Comes
from autonomy- the degree to which the job
gives the employee the freedom and discretion needed
to schedule different tasks and decide how to carry
them out

Feedback:
 The
extent to which actually doing the job provides a
worker with clear and direct information about how
well the job has been performed
Job Characteristics Model
17
Job Characteristics Model
18

Once we know what contributes to high motivation in a
job, we can design jobs around key components:
Varying work to enable skill variety
 Assigning work to groups to increase the wholeness of the
product produced and give a group to enhance significance
 Delegate tasks to their lowest possible level to create
autonomy and hence responsibility
 Connect people to the outcomes of their work and the
customers that receive them so as to provide feedback for
learning


Taken from
http://www.arrod.co.uk/archive/concept_job_characteristics.php
Job Characteristics Model
19
20
Organizational Structure
Job groupings
Grouping Jobs into Functions and Divisions
21
There are at least six structures used in libraries:
functional structure
 subject structure
 divisional structure
 form structure
 matrix structure
 hybrid structure

Jobs in Functions and Divisions
22

Functional structure
a function is a group of people, working together, who
posses similar skills or uses the same knowledge, tools or
techniques
 most common structure found in libraries


Subject structure

used by libraries to organize based upon the classification
of knowledge


humanities, social sciences, etc.
then, functional by including functional responsibilities within
the subject structure, such as acquisitions and reference
Jobs in Functions and Divisions
23

Divisional structure
 an
organizational structure composed of separate units
within which are the functions that work together to
produce a specific output for a specific customer
 we often see geographic divisional structures -- campus
branch libraries
Jobs in Functions and Divisions
24

Form of resources structure
sometimes referred to as a divisional/product structure (the
form is the output)
 use of materials format to organize, such as map, microform,
audio-visual, serials, electronic services, and government
documents
 often, the form of resources structure handles all functions
related to the format: acquisitions, cataloging, shelving, etc.
 example: Government Documents Departments.

Jobs in Functions and Divisions
25

Matrix structure
workers are grouped by first by function, then into product
teams. Members of different functions work together to
develop a specific product.
 each person reports to two bosses: the function boss and the
product boss
 to keep matrix structure flexible, product teams are
empowered and members are responsible for making
important decisions.
 not seen often in libraries because of its complexity and
problems with unity of command (two bosses)

Jobs in Functions and Divisions
26

Hybrid structure
 usually
based in a large organization that has many
divisions and simultaneously uses many different
structures (for example, function and product, etc.)
 essentially used to break large organizations into
smaller, more manageable units
Integrating Staff
27



Mechanisms are used to increase communications
and coordination among functions and divisions
Direct contact
Liaison roles
 useful
for transmitting information across an
organization
Integrating Staff
28

Task forces
a committee from various functions or divisions who meet to
solve a specific problem
 temporary; once the problem is solved, the task force
dissolves


Committees
members are usually appointed
 have a specific charge and are results-oriented
 may be temporary or permanent standing
 example: Public Relations Committee; Staff Development
Committee

Integrating Staff
29

Cross-functional teams


Quality circles


to address recurring problems, use permanent cross-functional teams
groups of employees that meet regularly and voluntarily to recommend
solutions to quality and productivity problems
Self-managing teams




internal groups that manage themselves
members are those who do the work
process-oriented
managers are responsible for developing the talents and skills of team
members, motivating them, and fostering effective working relationships
Organizational Structures in Libraries
30
The current thinking is:
 flexible
and adaptable to change
 few levels of formal hierarchy
 loose boundaries among functions and units
 work unit is teams
 focus on end user services
Organizational Structures in Libraries
31

Results:
 job
descriptions are becoming broader
 combining units internally
 some flattening of the hierarchy
 empowerment of team-based staff to make decisions
for which they have the appropriate information,
knowledge, skills and abilities
 use of interdepartmental committees to cross functional
departments
Organizational Structures in Libraries
32

Results (continued)
 liaisons
to the faculty (selection; research; instructional,
etc.)
 new user services (virtual reference)
 elimination of user services (such as reference librarians
doing database searching on behalf of the user)
 new partnerships with other organizational units (usually
IT- which others?)
Job Descriptions
33


Job analysis is the HRM process of identifying the
tasks, duties and responsibilities that make up a job
-- the job description
Job descriptions specifies the duties associated with
the job
Job Descriptions
34
Usually contain the following elements:

Job identification


Job summary


job title and department
description of the major responsibilities and why the job
exists
Job activities and procedures
description of tasks to be performed
 clear delineation of the duties and responsibilities of the job

Job Descriptions
35

Relationship of job to the organization
lines of authority
 number of employees to be supervised
 internal and external relationships required of the job


Job requirements
identifies the minimal qualifications required
 education; experience; special skills; knowledge or abilities
necessary
 could also identify “preferred” qualifications including
additional educations and specific experiences

36
Human Resources Management
In Academic Libraries
Legal Environment of HRM
37


There are a number of local, state, and federal
laws and regulations concerning labor
Local laws are usually centered around minimum
wage; although there is a federal minimum wage,
Boston has set its own minimum wage level
Legal Environment of HRM
38

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
mandates that non-managerial workers (non-exempt
employees) receive overtime pay at the rate of 1.5 times
their regularly hourly rate for any hours worked beyond the
standard 40 hour week
 exempt employees are classified as managers who make
important decisions affecting the organization, supervise
two or more subordinates, or can hire and fire employees
are “exempt” from the 40 hour workweek and overtime
pay.
 most professional librarians are classified as exempt
employees

Legal Environment of HRM
39

Equal Pay Act - 1963


requires men and women to be paid equally if they are
performing equal work
Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO)
Civil Rights Act, Title VII – 1964
 equal right of all citizens to the opportunity to obtain
employment regardless of their gender, age, race, country
of origin, religion, or disabilities.
 covers a wide range of employment decisions, including
hiring, firing, pay, promotion, and working conditions.

Legal Environment of HRM
40

Age Discrimination in Employment Act - 1967


prohibits discrimination against workers over the age of 40
and restricts mandatory retirement
Equal Opportunity Employment Act - 1972

amends Title VII to cover all private employers of 15 or
more people, all private and public educational institutions,
state and local governments, employment agencies, labor
unions, and apprenticeship and training programs.
Legal Environment of HRM
41

Pregnancy Discrimination Act - 1978


prohibits discrimination against women in employment
decisions on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, and related
medical decisions
Americans with Disabilities Act - 1990

prohibits discrimination against with disabled individuals in
employment decisions and requires employers to make
accommodations for disabled workers to enable them to
perform their jobs
Legal Environment of HRM
42

Civil Rights Act - 1991
 prohibits
discrimination (as does Title VII) and allows for
the awarding of punitive and compensatory damages,
in addition to back pay, in cases of intentional
discrimination

Family and Medical Leave Act - 1993
 requires
employees to prove up to 12 weeks of unpaid
leave for medical and family reasons including
paternity and illness of a family member
Legal Environment of HRM
43

Sexual Harassment
form of sexual discrimination protected by Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964
 quid pro quo sexual harassment: occurs when a supervisor
or someone in authority demands a sexual favor in
exchange for some type of employee benefit
 hostile work environment of sexual harassment: occurs when
an employee is forced to work in an environment where
behaviors considered offensive to an employee, such as
sexual teasing or jokes, occur. The plaintiff must only
demonstrate that the environment created by the offensive
conduct was hostile and abusive.

Legal Environment of HRM
44

Library managers responsible for HR must keep
current with ever-changing laws, case law, and
regulations.
Performance Appraisal and Feedback
45

Performance appraisal is the evaluation of the
employees’ job performance and contributions to
the organization
Performance Appraisal and Feedback
46

Who appraises performance
immediate supervisors are the most common appraisers of
performance
 also, self-evaluation, peer-evaluation, subordinates and
clients


Establishing standards of performance
standards of performance must be established against
which an employee’s work is evaluated
 articulate expectations; do not assume that everyone’s
definition of “being on time” is the same
 employees should have a say in the standards to be used
since they are closest to the work

Performance Appraisal and Feedback
47

Methods of performance appraisals



there is no standard for performance appraisal
most are form-based, and the form is developed by the institutional
level HR department
Instruments used


narrative essay
ranking systems



simply ranks attributes from 1- 5 or high to low
graphic rating: uses a short phrase to describe the level of performance “meets”, “exceeds expectations” etc.
behavior anchored rating scales


assesses job behavior, such as “knowledge,” “attitude,” “judgment,” etc.
difficult to administered because each job is different
WHAT IS EFFECTIVENESS
in context of teams?
“LEADING GROUPS IN ORGANIZATIONS,” BY J.
RICHARD HACKMAN AND RICHARD E. WALTON
In Designing Effective Work Groups, edited by Paul S.
Goodman and Associates, 1986, pp. 72-120
Effectiveness: task-performing groups in
organizations
50

Results: the degree to which the group’s productive output
(service) meets the standards of quantity, quality, and
timeliness of the people who receive, review, and/or use that
output

Collegiality: the degree to which the process of carrying out
the work enhances the capability of members to work together
interdependently in the future

Individual Development: the degree to which the group
experience contributes to the growth and personal well-being
of team members
Team Effectiveness
Personal
criteria
Outputs (results)
Social
criteria
51
52
“The relative weights one would assign to the three criterion
dimensions vary across circumstances. If a temporary team
were formed to perform a single task of extraordinary
importance… the second and third dimensions would be of
little relevance in judging the team’s effectiveness. On the
other hand, teams sometimes are formed primarily to help
members gain experience, learn some things, and become
competent as a performing unit. The task of such a group may
be more an excuse for the team than the reason for it, and
assessments of the team’s effectiveness would depend far
more on the second and third dimensions than on the first.”
LEADING TEAMS: SETTING THE
STAGE FOR GREAT PERFORMANCE
J. Richard Hackman (Harvard Business School Press,
2002)
Five conditions foster “team effectiveness”
54
1.
2.
3.
Real team (not name only): a team task(s). Clear
boundaries, clearly specified authority to manage
their own work processes, and membership stability
over some reasonable period of time
Compelling direction for its work (someone in
authority sets the direction for the team’s work)
Enabling team structure (facilitates , and does not
impede, teamwork)
55
4.
5.
A supportive organizational context (operates within
such a context): work motivation, necessary skills, careful
attention to team formation and execution, etc. Some
essential ingredients include: training and technical
assistance, a reward system, reinforcement, an information
system that provides the data and projections that members
need to plan their performance strategy
Expert team coaching (there is ample expert coaching):
Coaching involves direct interaction with a team that is
intended to help members use their collective resources well
in accomplishing work
Many organizations might have accomplished
56



Points 1-3
Not 4-5
All five are critical
Supportive organizational context
Enabling structure
Compelling direction
Real team
Expert team coaching
57
Team
Effectiveness
Team Effectiveness: A team will perform well if:
58
It is a real work team, well bounded and reasonably stable over
time. It has a compelling direction that energizes, orients, and
engages the talents of team members. Its structural features—
task design, core norms of conduct, and composition—promote
rather than impede competent teamwork. It has an
organizational context that actively supports and reinforces
excellence through systems, policies, and managerial practices
that are specifically tuned to the team’s needs. And ample,
expert coaching is available to the team at the times members
most need it and are ready to receive it. (p. 237)
Some elements then of team effectiveness
59


Meeting
“expectations”
(mission, goals,
objectives, tasks/
activities, schedules
Teams become a
growing organism

Individual team
members learn and
contribute. They also
assume leadership
roles
To add ….
60


Leadership exists
throughout the
organization: different
team members rise to
the occasion
Director creates an
environment for
effective teams

A.J. Anderson adds:
need to factor in
leadership styles