Taking Care of Employees: Human Resource Management
1. List six main functions of human resources departments.
Human resources departments:
1. plan for a company’s staffing needs,
2. recruit and hire new employees,
3. train and develop employees,
4. appraise employee performance,
5. administer compensation and employee benefits, and
6. oversee changes in employment status.
2. Cite eight methods recruiters use to find job candidates.
Recruiters find job candidates by
(1) promoting internal candidates,
(2) advertising in newspapers and on the Internet,
(3) using public and private employment agencies,
(4) contacting union hiring halls,
(5) recruiting at college campuses and career placement
offices,
(6) attending trade shows,
(7) hiring corporate “headhunters,” and
(8) soliciting referrals from employees or colleagues in the industry.
3. Identify the six stages in the hiring process.
The stages in the hiring process are
(1) narrowing down the number of qualified
candidates,
(2) performing initial screening interviews,
(3) administering a series of
follow-up interviews,
(4) evaluating candidates,
(5) conducting reference checks, and
(6) selecting the right candidate.
4. Discuss how companies incorporate objectivity into
employee performance
appraisals.
Employee performance appraisals are an effective way to inform
employees if they are doing a good job and how they can improve
their performance. To ensure objectivity and fairness, most firms use
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Taking Care of Employees: Human Resource Management
a standard, company-wide format, provide a written record of
appraisals for future reference, and solicit several perspectives by
engaging superiors, peers, and colleagues at different levels in the
organization in the review process.
5. List six popular types of financial incentive programs for
employees.
The most popular employee incentive programs are bonuses,
commissions, profit sharing, gain sharing, pay for performance, and
knowledge-based pay.
6. Highlight five popular employee benefits.
The two most popular employee benefits are insurance (health, life,
disability, and long- term care) and retirement benefits, such as
pension plans that help employees save for later years. Employee
stock-ownership plans and stock options, two additional benefits,
allow employees to receive or purchase shares of the company’s
stock, and thus obtain a stake in the company. Family benefits
programs, also popular, include maternity and paternity leave, childcare assistance, and elder-care assistance.
7. Describe four ways an employee’s status may change and
discuss why many employers prefer to fill job vacancies from
within.
An employee’s status may change through promotion or through
reassignment to a different position; through termination (removal
from the company’s payroll); through voluntary resignation; or
through retirement. Employers like to fill vacancies created from such
changes by promoting from within for these reasons: the employee
has been trained by the company and knows the ropes; it boosts
employee morale; and it sends a message to other employees that
good performance will be rewarded.
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