BUS301: Human Resource Management

3a. Explain how to develop a personnel plan

• Define a personnel plan and explain why it is important to ensure the firm's human capital needs are met.
• Describe the six parts of the HRM plan:
  1. Determine human resource needs
  2. Determine the recruiting strategy
  3. Select employees
  4. Develop training
  5. Determine compensation
  6. Appraise performance

Personnel planning refers to the decision-making process businesses undergo to decide which positions they should fill – immediately and in the future – and how they will hire the employees they need to fill any vacancies. This planning stage is the first step to defining the recruitment and selection process to ensure the company has the appropriate number and right kind of employees.

Review Developing and Implementing Strategic HRM Plans.

 

3b. Develop strategies for recruiting, selecting, on-boarding, and retaining valuable human capital

• Describe three primary types of recruiters: executive search firm, temporary recruitment or staffing firm, and corporate recruiter.
• Define and contrast validity and reliability in terms of evaluating and choosing selection tools for hiring new employees.
• Explain how recruiters can incorporate at least three forms of social media into their employee recruitment efforts.
• Define special/specific interest group (SIG).
• What is an employee referral program (ERP)?
• What are the goals of employee orientation and on-boarding?
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of employee leasing.
• Define five laws that impact many aspects of human capital management.
  1. Bonafide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ)
  2. Disparate Impact
  3. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
  4. Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)
  5. Patriot Act

Validity refers to the underlying construct of a measurement, or whether it measures what it purports to measure. Three main types of validity include content, construct, and criterion validity.

Reliability refers to whether a researcher can obtain the same measurement or result time after time or is repeatable. For example, will the recruitment and selection processes a company uses work every time they need to hire someone, or just once?

Figure 4.5: Overview of the Steps to the Recruitment Process describes the evolving sequence of steps – from staffing plans to the selection process.

Overview of the Steps to the Recruitment Process



For example, many companies successfully use employee referral programs (ERFs) to recruit new employees by asking current employees to recommend job applicants. The referrals' quality is generally high and is often an important part of the overall HRM strategic plan and recruitment strategy.

Recruiting through social media (such as via Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook) tends to attract passive candidates who were not actively looking to switch jobs. HRM is challenged to present the candidate with an accurate picture of the job and determine whether this candidate is passionate about the work.

Special or specific interest groups (SIGs) follow a specific profession or area of interest, such as women in project management. SIGs may require membership and may have areas for job posting or discussion boards.

 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Recruiting Methods

Recruitment Method	Advantages	Disadvantages
Outside recruiters, executive search firms, and temporary employment agencies	ᐧ Can be time-saving.	ᐧ Expensive. ᐧ Less control choosing final candidates to be interviewed.
Campus recruiting and educational institutions	ᐧ Can hire people to grow with the organization. ᐧ Plentiful source of talent.	ᐧ Time-consuming. ᐧ Only appropriate for certain types of experience levels. ᐧ Only appropriate for certain types of experience levels.
Professional organizations and associations	ᐧ Industry-specific. ᐧ Networking.	ᐧ May require a fee for ad placement. ᐧ May be time-consuming to network.
Website or Internet recruiting	ᐧ Diversity-friendly. ᐧ Low cost. ᐧ Quick.	ᐧ Could be too broad. ᐧ Be prepared to deal with hundreds of résumés.
Social media	ᐧ Inexpensive.	ᐧ Time-consuming. ᐧ Overwhelming response rate.
Events	ᐧ Access to specific target markets of candidates.	ᐧ Can be expensive. ᐧ May not be the right target market.
SIG (special/specific interest groups)	ᐧ Industry-specific.	ᐧ Research required for specific SIGS tied to jobs.
Referrals	ᐧ Higher quality people. ᐧ Retention.	ᐧ Concern for lack of diversity. ᐧ Nepotism.
Unsolicited résumés and applications	ᐧ Inexpensive, especially with time-saving keyword résumé search software.	ᐧ Time-consuming.
Traditional classified advertisements (print and web-based)	ᐧ Can target a specific audience.	ᐧ Can be expensive.
Employee leasing	ᐧ For smaller organizations may mean the leasing company administers compensation and benefits. ᐧ Can be a good alternative to temporary employment if the job is permanent.	ᐧ Possible costs. ᐧ Less control of who interviews for the position.
Public employment agencies	ᐧ May recruit a more diverse workforce ᐧ No cost to the employer. ᐧ 2,300 points of service nationwide.	ᐧ May receive many résumés, which can be time-consuming to process.
Labor unions	ᐧ Access to specialized skills.	ᐧ May not apply to some jobs or industries ᐧ Builds relationship with the union

 

Most companies provide informal and formal orientation programs that typically inundate recruits with paperwork to sign and explanations about benefits. On the other hand, a strategic onboarding process should be comprehensive and involve other employees and managers. The process should help employees assimilate to company policies and workflow processes to become fully acquainted with the business' culture. Inattention to this step can lead to misunderstandings, employee dissatisfaction, lost productivity, and higher turnover rates.

This table describes the advantages and disadvantages of various recruiting methods, such as executive search firms, employee leasing, and social media. Employee leasing refers to businesses that "rent" employees from a management company because they do not want to manage or keep track of payroll and other HR costs and responsibilities.

These employment laws in the United States impacts many aspects of human capital management. HRM must address them in virtually every step of the recruitment and selection process.

Bonafide occupational qualification (BFOQ) is a quality or attribute that is reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the business, and that can be used when considering applicants. BFOQs are exceptions to the normal laws about discrimination in hiring. An example of a BFOQ exception is a mandatory retirement for airline pilots at a certain age due to safety concerns.

Disparate impact occurs when an organization discriminates through the use of a process that affects a protected group as a whole, rather than consciously intending to discriminate. For example, requiring written tests for hiring, promotions, etc. that do not relate directly to the job.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws ensure that discrimination does not occur in the workplace. Businesses must post these laws at a visible location for employees and include them on job announcements. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the federal agency that administers and enforces civil rights laws against workplace discrimination.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) requires all employers to determine an employee's eligibility to work in the United States. The reporting form is called an I-9 and is the documentation employers must complete and keep on file for a specified time.

The Patriot Act allows the government to access data that would previously have been considered private, such as an employee's records, work voicemails, and emails, without the company's consent. The U.S. Congress enacted this law in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States.

Review these resources:

• The Psychology of Recruiting and Selecting Employees
• Recruitment Strategies
• 15 Social Recruiting Tips Proven to Attract the Best Talent
• The Recruitment Process
• Steps to Take in Training an Employee 
• The Law and Recruitment

 

Unit 3 Vocabulary

• Bonafide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ)
• Corporate recruiter
• Disparate impact
• Employee leasing
• Employee orientation
• Employee referral program (ERP)
• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
• Executive search firm
• Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)
• On-boarding
• Passive candidates
• Patriot Act
• Personnel plan
• Recruitment
• Reliability testing
• Selection
• SIG (special/specific interest group)
• Social media recruitment
• Staffing firm
• Temporary recruitment firm
• Validity testing