Please make sure that you read all the professor instructions because it will affect the grade. Watch out for spelling and grammar errors. Please read the study guide.
Book Reference: Gomez-Mejia, L. R., Balkin, D. B., & Cardy, R. L. (2016). Managing human resources (8th ed.) [VitalSource Bookshelf version]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780133953718
Instructions
In Unit VI, you will write a research paper that analyzes the hiring and selection process. In this unit, you will conduct research and examine how a good hiring process can work to prevent voluntary employee separations. You will also conduct research about the various types of employee separations and the challenges that these can pose.
In preparation for your research paper (due in Unit VI), you will locate four articles to support your paper. Your articles should focus on the following points:
- an explanation of the hiring process, a summary of the challenges in the hiring process, and an evaluation of the ways to meet the challenges in the hiring process;
- an appraisal of the tools that can be used in the selection process, and an assessment of how the hiring process can ultimately affect the other end of the spectrum—employee separations;
- a summary of the different types of employee separations; and
- a critique of how to effectively manage employee separations, downsizing/layoffs, and outplacement services.
Using the CSU Online Library, locate at least four peer-reviewed journal articles, one that supports each of the points listed above.
Submit a two- to three-page annotated bibliography of the four articles you will use to support your research paper for Unit VI. Include an explanation of how the sources were selected and how they are of value to the topic. Use APA style for your annotated bibliography.
Resources
The following resource(s) may help you with this assignment.
Unit V Introduction
In Unit V, we discussed the issues of recruiting and selecting employees. There is a great deal of planning involved in these processes. When bringing in employees, it is important to have a solid foundation to support this process. The other side of this spectrum, employee separations, also requires a solid process in which to work. In some ways, the separation process can be more important than the hiring process. There is the voluntary separation when an employee submits his or her resignation; however, there is also the involuntary separation that can occur when there are layoffs or downsizing. This is a much more delicate time for the organization and the employees (those who are separating and those who are remaining) when the separation is involuntary. This is especially true when the separations are done in large employee numbers or rolling waves. The motivational levels for employees who are not separating can plummet quite easily when employee separations are handled poorly. Additionally, those employees who are separating are naturally upset about this impact. Supporting employees appropriately in this delicate time and addressing their needs in a respectful way will also provide them with an honorable exit. Those employees who are merely cast aside, or who may feel this way because of a poor separation process, can be those who may sabotage a file, a process, or even a product on the way out. Therefore, it is in everyone’s best interests to be aware of how to handle employee separation processes in a supportive and respectful manner. Employee separations occur at any point when an employee leaves the organization. Again, these can be voluntary or involuntary. The issue of turnover rate measures how often employees voluntarily leave an organization. Organizations should manage this carefully and be aware of how to identify the causes of turnover and work to correct them. On the hiring side, with recruitment and selection, there is a great deal of cost involved in finding the right job candidate. Therefore, insightful organizations know that they must understand what may cause turnover once the candidate becomes an employee. You do not want to be wasteful regarding the funds spent on hiring. If a company has a high turnover rate (higher than its industry average), then that is a sign there are problems to be addressed in the organization. While a position is UNIT VI STUDY GUIDE From Recruitment and Selection to Employee Separations, Part II DBA 7553, Human Resource Management 2 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title empty, someone else can cover it; however, only parts of that job can be appropriately addressed. Therefore, there is lost productivity. Ultimately, all of these issues affect a company’s bottom line. With regard to voluntary separations, there are two types: unavoidable and avoidable. Unavoidable voluntary separations occur when there is a larger life issue at hand, such as an employee’s spouse transferred to another city or country. There are recent studies, however, that demonstrate that about 80% of voluntary separations fall into the avoidable category (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2016). This represents a level of dissatisfaction with the job at hand and/or the organizational culture, and it also represents the opportunity for finding a replacement position. When an organization is focused on the working atmosphere at the company, there can be a better understanding regarding these avoidable voluntary separations. This involves having a strong human resource management team in place to oversee recruiting, selecting, and training or developing opportunities for employees. Quality hiring practices go hand-in-hand with preventing these costly avoidable employee separations. There are two different subtypes of voluntary separations. These are called quits and retirements. Quits occur when there is a tipping point regarding an employee’s satisfaction level on the job. Another factor is the availability of replacement positions. If these are plentiful, then the decision to quit can be made more easily. With regard to retirements, things are a bit different. Retirements occur at the end of someone’s career, while a quit can happen at any time in someone’s career. Those who retire also receive certain retirement benefits while those who quit do not receive benefits. Strategic human resource will work with those who are looking toward retirement ahead of time; they can help with planning for workload reductions. Many times, people who are retiring may not want to just stop working. They may desire to cut back on work hours over time. This can be beneficial for that employee and also the organization because a new replacement employee can be recruited and selected, and then the retiring employee can have some overlap to provide useful training. Because of budgetary reasons, sometimes organizations may want to provide an inducement for some employees to retire early. Packages of incentives can be provided and planning can be made in this way. This can be an effective way to provide for a workforce reduction. This takes forward-thinking pre-planning by the company and the human resource management team. Keeping the dignity of the employees affected at the forefront will make this process successful in the long run. In involuntary separations, the management of the company seeks to terminate the relationship it has with an employee. This could be due to budgetary or economic reasons, or it could be due to there being a poor fit between the company and the employee. While managers will be the ones to initiate the decision to terminate, they must work with human resource management to ensure that there is due process and that the correct policies, regulations, and laws are followed. It is important that there be a strong partnership between managers and human resource management in this process. Overall, involuntary separations include discharges, layoffs, and the selection of a strategy that could encompass layoffs, downsizing, or rightsizing. Discharges occur when there is that poor fit between the organization, the employee, and his or her work. This, of course, is done after employing various methods to address this poor fit, which has been well documented. Layoffs can be a way for a company to cut costs. When there are swift changes to an industry, economic conditions can change quickly as well. At times like this, layoffs may be considered in order to address the new financial conditions facing the whole industry as well as the company. Layoffs have a far-reaching effect on the whole company. Those who are laid off, obviously, are greatly affected; however, those who survived a layoff often can feel a form of survivor’s guilt for having avoided it. These employees may also be asked to take on some additional duties, and they are fearful that they may be next to be laid off. Morale is always an issue to contend with, and plan for, in layoff situations. Effective human resource management can help with planning for how to successfully address this going forward. Additionally, layoffs can possibly keep investors away, as they may perceive that the company has deep-rooted problems. Again, planning appropriately will allow companies to be prepared for a variety of these morale and financial impacts. Sometimes a company will need to define a strategy for going forward when economic conditions change. Planning allows these companies to assess and implement various strategic options with regard to staffing functions. Utilizing a downsizing strategy would reduce the size or scope of a company’s business in a bid to improve finances. Using layoffs may be part of this type of strategy; however, it is important to note that layoffs are only one possible option. Layoffs can be done in conjunction with another option. This other option is called rightsizing. This involves reorganizing the employees in order to provide for improved efficiency. This often involves restructuring organizations that have too many middle management layers. Utilizing layoffs DBA 7553, Human Resource Management 3 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title may be a part of such a strategy, but it may be a reduced portion because of the opportunities to provide for more restructuring of employees. There are additional options to use to further blunt the need for more layoffs. One choice can involve policies; for instance, companies can achieve employee reduction through attrition so that when employees in certain areas voluntarily separate, their positions are not filled and their duties are redistributed. Hiring freezes can be implemented for most positions in a company; however, there are usually a set number of high-impact positions that may be exempted from this. Changes in job design, such as transfers between departments to even out need and relocation, can also be implemented. Job sharing may be another way to keep employees in place in part-time positions to cover the duties of one fulltime job. Another area that can be utilized as an alternative to layoffs involves pay/benefits policies; pay freezes can be implemented, and the opportunity for overtime pay can be restricted. Even highly-targeted pay cuts can be utilized to keep employees rather than having to lay off. Ultimately, it can be quite important to provide useful communication to employees about such issues. Their understanding of the issues at hand and how the company is seeking to address things while maintaining respect for the employees can be a powerful motivator in such difficult times. Reference Gomez-Mejia, L. R., Balkin, D. B., & Cardy, R. L. (2016). Managing human resources (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
