Chapter 1
The Changing Nature of HRM
Fall 2008

• Due to budget constraints, I will no longer be handing out course syllabi. You may download the syllabus from my WebPage: http://faculty.bus.olemiss.edu/brobinson/

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INDUSTRY: Manufacturing
TITLE: HR Manager
LOCATION: Gulfport, MS
COMPENSATION: $60-90K flex, Benefits
RELOCATION: Paid
SUMMARY: A world leader in providing engineering thermoplastics materials solutions in more than 60 countries worldwide, we help redefine the way OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] design -- from concept to reality. The candidate will be responsible for all Human Resources (HR) activities . Provide client support for all functions of
120 employee-based world-class plastics manufacturing facility. The candidate is required to:

• Provide overall HR responsibility for exempt/non-exempt teams including staffing , training , leadership development/coaching , career planning , performance management , compensation , salary planning , policy interpretation/development, communications, benefits , early
ID program, leadership programs, cultural diversity , affirmative action , integrity policy enforcement/application & employee satisfaction.
• Lead all staffing , employee development , compliance/business leadership processes as integral member of the site leadership staff.
• Implement strategic HR initiatives to create strong culture of leaders
& high-performing teams.
• Lead change initiatives to drive organizational effectiveness, talent development for operations, both technology & commercial.
• Participate in Company-wide HR initiatives including leadership development.
• Responsible for community/public affairs including community donations, appearance & all media contacts.

• Physical (Plant & Equipment)
• Financial (Fiscal)
• Intangible (Information)
• Human

• Human Capital (Organizational) - The sum of capabilities, knowledge, skills, life experience, and motivation of an organizational workforce.
• It is the KSA that a business needs in order to accomplish its goals.
• It is also known as intellectual capital .
• Human Capital produces demonstrable value for an organization, especially in labor intensive industries (hospitality, retail, service, e.g.).

• Core Competency - a unique capability that creates high value for customers and differentiates a firm from its competitors.
• Possessing a unique technology (product or manufacturing).
• Possessing a workforce with unique capabilities
(skills competitors cannot access, more motivated employees, etc.)

• Strategic HRM (a.k.a., HRP)
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Equal Employment Opportunity (a.k.a.,
Regulatory Compliance)
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Staffing (a.k.a., Recruiting & Selection)
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Talent Management ( a.k.a. Training &
Development, HR Development )
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Total Rewards (a.k.a., Compensation & Benefits)
• Risk Management & Worker Protection (a.k.a.,
Health, Safety, & Security)
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Employee & Labor Relations (a.k.a., Industrial
Relations)

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HR Planning (HRP)
• Anticipating/forecasting future HR supply and demand.
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HR Measurement
• Providing for measures of HR effectiveness
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HR Technology (HRMS/HRIS)
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HR Retention

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Regulatory compliance with employment laws.
• Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII
• ADEA
• ADA
• EPA (Equal Pay Act)
• FLSA
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Diversity
•
Affirmative action

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Job analysis.
• Job descriptions.
• Job specifications.
• Performance standards.
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Recruiting.
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Selection.

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Employee orientation.
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HR Training.
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Training needs analysis.
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Job skill training.
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HR Development.
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Career planning.
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Performance management (assessing employee performance).

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Compensation
• Wage & Salary Administration
• Performance v. entitlement pay systems.
• Merit-based v. seniority based pay systems.
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Incentives
• Individual
• Group
• Organizational
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Benefits
• Cost v. employee retention.

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Health
– reducing work-related illnesses.
• Employee assistance programs (EAP).
• Wellness programs.
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Safety
– reducing work-related injuries.
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Security
–providing a secure work environment.
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Disaster and Recovery Planning

• Employee rights and responsibilities in the workplace.
• Privacy concerns.
• Developing HR policies, employment practices and work rules.
• IR in organized (unionized) work places, contract administration.

• HR’s job varies based on the size of the organization.
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HR Generalist are typically found in small to medium size businesses.
•
HR Specialists do not usually appear until large HR departments can be supported, usually large companies.

• Small businesses account annually for 60-
80% of new job growth and > 50% of total
U.S. employment.
• Primary concerns
• Shortage of qualified workers
• Increasing benefits costs
• Increasing taxes
• Regulatory compliance.

•
[ 50% (59%)]
•
[ 30% (35%)]
•
[ 20% (6%)]

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Administrative Role
– focus is on clerical administration and records keeping.
• Day-to-day administering benefit programs.
• Preparing EEO reports.
• Conducting new employee orientations.
• Two major changes are projected to reduce the time allocated to administrative tasks. :
• IT improvements
• Outsourcing

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Operational Role
– identifying and implementing needed policies related to implementation of strategic plans.
• Cooperation with operational managers is crucial.
• Developing EEO compliance policies.
• Recruiting and selecting candidates for current openings.
• Employee advocate role (grievance resolution, litigation avoidnce).

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Strategic Role
– Helping top management to define strategy and effectively use of human capital to gain a competitive advantage.
• HR Planning.
• Monitoring evolving legal issues.
• Community workforce development.
• Organizational restructuring.
• Evaluating acquisitions and mergers.
• Planning compensation strategies
.

• Examples of HR contributions:
• Evaluating the viability of mergers & acquisitions (KSA, Staffing needs, structural changes, etc.)
• Conducting HRP
• Identify attrition of critical KSA
• Planning for workforce expansion or contraction.
• Leading site selection for new facilities or transferring operations internationally based on workforce needs..

• Examples of HR contributions:
• Instituting a HRMS/HRIS to reduce administrative time and expenses (including staff reductions).
• Working with top management to develop compensation strategies to motivate employees.
• Sales incentives.
• New product/service incentives.
• Profit sharing or gainsharing plans.

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Globalization of Business
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International outsourcing
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Global competition
• Manufacturing to service economy (IT, Health care, retail services, financial services)
• Labor costs are increasingly important
• Labor markets are international
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Global expansion
•
HSS issues related to security and terrorism.

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Off-shoring
– contracting out goods or services to unaffiliated companies in another country (licensing, e.g.).
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In-shoring
– foreign business shifting their business activates to the U.S.
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Outsourcing - contracting out goods or services to unaffiliated companies either at home or overseas .

• HR is a transnational process in MNCs.
• Expatriates
• Host country nationals
• Third country nationals
• Continued outsourcing of jobs to the developing world, especially India, PRC,
Philippines, Mexico, etc.

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Occupational Shifts
• U.S has shifted from manufacturing economy to a service economy (>80% of
GDP is from services)
• Heaavy growth predicted in healthcare

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Occupational shifts Projected growth in jobs thru 2014 [BLS]:
• Home health aides
• Medical assistants
• Computer software engineers
• Personal and home care aides
•
Postsecondary teachers
56.0%
52.1%
48.4%
41.0%
32.2%
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Accountants and auditors
•
Janitors and cleaners
22.4%
18.5%
• Retail salespersons 17.3%
• General and operations managers 17.0%

• Increased demand for certain skills and knowledge, less demand for unskilled labor
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Education & Training
• Over 50% of workforce will need training.
• Increasing illiteracy (About one in 20 adults is not literate in
English).
• Poor math/computer skills.
• Public education system is failing to produce job-related KSA.
• In 2005, half of all Cal. State freshmen need remedial courses.
• Over 57% of University of Illinois-Chicago freshmen took remedial math.
• We do poorly in international educational comparisons.

• Education & Training
• Standardized test scores have decline to the point that some are normed annually.
• Foreign students account for nearly 40% of graduate students in science and engineering [Michael Mandel, Business Week Nov. 20, 2006]
• In 2005, only 61% of high school seniors performed at or above the Basic level, and 23 percent performed at or above Proficient . (National
Assessment of Education Progress)
• HR responses :
• Emphasis on accurately assessing education skills of current and potential employees.
• More in-house literacy programs.
• More training at all levels in the organization.
• Hiring inpatriates [H-1B visas]

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Growth in the Contingent Workforce
• Temporaries
• Independent contractors
• Part-time
• Leased employees
• Reasons for the increased demand for Contingent workers:
• Paid less
• Fewer benefits
• Reduced exposure to litigation

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Technological Shifts & the Internet
• Technology enables more people to work from home.
• Technology means that more people (i.e., managers) are more “available.”
• Technology means that more employees are “on call.”
• There is a rise of virtual employees , those who do not work on site.
• Computers also mean appropriate use policies.
• Technology enhance HR functions through HRIS and OCI.

• More representation of ethnic minorities in workforce
• Multilingual workplaces.
• Educational & skill deficiencies.
• Underrepresentation in sciences and professions.
• More individuals are calling themselves multi-racial (“two or more races”) indicating that the “melting pot” is very much alive.

• Women are increasing in their participation in the workforce.
• Demand for more flexible work hours.
• Careers may have gaps.
• Job sharing child care concerns.
• Flexible leave.
• More dual career couples (60% of all married couples).
• People are marrying later (27/24).
• Same-sex arrangements

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Balancing Family & Work
• Two groups of female managers [Felice
Schwartz, Harvard Business Review , 1989] an idea not popular in feminist circles
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Career-Primary - career first, family second.
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Career-and-Family - gravitate to middle management jobs, accept less pay to devote more time to families. May account for much of the pay inequity statistics.

• Re-engineering
• Identifying & eliminating marginal activities.
• Downsizing (a.k.a., Right-sizing) Intentional reduction of the workforce.
• May result from closing facilities.
• Look out for
Organizational Anemia.
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Outsourcing (subcontracting)
• Merging with other companies (consider the airline and computer industries).
• Outplacing workers

• Human Resource Management System
(HRMS) –an integrated system provided information used in HR decision-making.
• Enable more accurate and time work flow analysis.
• Reducing data collection and analysis.
• Reduction of “paperwork.”
• A.k.a., HRIS

• Typical uses of HR Technology:
• Bulletin boards
• Databases access by employees (intra- and extranet access to information)
• Employee self-service (benefit enrollment, e.g.)
• Extended linkage
• Access to venders and HR resources
• On-line training
• On-line recruiting

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Ethics - what ought to be done.
• More than just legal compliance (there is right, there is wrong and there is the law).
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Ethical codes must answer two questions:
(1) Does the behavior conform with applicable laws, regulations, and government mandates?
(2) Does the behavior conform to both company standards and professional standards of behavior?

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Examples of ethical dilemmas:
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Should employees be forced to quit smoking.
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Should employees be fired for objecting to alternative life styles on religious grounds?
• Should coworkers be informed if an employee has a serious communicable disease.
• Should employees be informed that they are under video surveillance while at work?

• Four elements of effective ethics programs:
• A written code of ethics/standards of conduct.
• Training on ethical behavior at all levels in the organization (executive, management, rankand-file).
• Provides a a means of employees to obtain advice on ethical situations.
• Provides a system for confidential reporting of questionable or unethical behavior.

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Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
– requires publicly-trade companies to follow certain accounting controls to reduce the likelihood of fraudulent or unethical behavior.
• A response to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals (i.e., Enron & WorldCom).
• Compensation records have come under increased scrutiny (attendance).
• Enhance financial disclosure.

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Five Sets of HR Competencies:
• Strategic Contribution – focus on long-term organizational success.
• Business Knowledge
• HR Delivery
• HR Technology – HRMS/HRIS
• Personal Credibility

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HR Generalist - performs a variety of HR activities (i.e., T&D, recruiting, regulatory compliance, staffing, etc.).
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HR Specialist - in-depth expertise in a limited HR area (i.e, Employee Relations
Specialist, Industrial Relations Specialist,
Benefits Administrator, Classification
Specialist).

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PHR Professional in Human Resources, a minimum of two years practical HR experience and passing the HRCI’s PHR examination.
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SPHR Senior Professional in Human
Resources, a minimum of six years practical experience and passing the HRCI’s PHR examination.

• CCP - Certified Compensation Professional 1
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CBP - Certified Benefits Professional 1
• CEBS - Certified Employee Benefits Specialist 2
• CPT - Certified Performance Technologist
• CSP - Certified Safety Professional
• OHST - Occupational Health & Safety Technologist
• 1
American Compensation Association
• 2
International Foundation of Employee Benefits