Professional Chefs Association - Continuing Education                   PCA – edu

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Table of Content

Open Learning Program

 

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

 

While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the author nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions. The publisher has attempted to ensure that all copyright clearances have been obtained. Please bring any errors or omissions to the attention of Professional Chefs Association.

 

© Professional Chefs Association

 

 

 

Introduction

This course is not designed for people who are training to be human resources specialists, but rather for those, specifically supervising chefs, whose jobs entail responsibility for managing people, along with their other responsibilities. All organizations are managed and staffed by people. Indeed, the challenges and the frustrations of running any type of organization are more often than not people related. In turn, people problems are often the result of improper management processes. Unions exist not because people long for yet one more organization to belong to, particularly an organization that is made up of strangers, will cost them money, and possibly restrict their activities despite their own feelings. They exist because at some previous point business policies, practices, and processes quite literally encouraged employees to unionize for their own protection.

If recruiting and hiring processes are poor, a business is going to get less than optimum quality employees. If orientation is poor then even good employees will not know all that is expected of them, and poor job design can result in low productivity and morale, and wasted resources. If managers do things properly, that is, develop not only human relations skills but also a well honed system of human resource procedures, they are likely to succeed in building the workforce that they want. Research has shown that human resource management practices have a direct, practical and major impact on three important business outcomes: quality of work life, productivity, and profit.

 

Course Objectives

The objectives of this course are to develop knowledge and skills necessary to the effective practice of Human Resources Management. Specifically this course will develop competencies in understanding the legal environment, designing jobs and job descriptions and applications, recruiting, interviewing and selecting, orientation, team-building, employee training and development, performance appraisals, and in disciplining and termination.

 

Participation and Evaluation

Students will be obliged to read all required materials, complete all assignments, activities, and projects, participate in discussions, give presentations, and complete a final examination. The material will also be re-examined as part of Certification requirements established by outside agencies.

Grading

Candidates will be tested by examination or otherwise. A minimum of 70% must be achieved on all testing.

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  Module One  -  Part 1

Human Resources Management

OBJECTIVES

· To create a basic understanding of the importance of Human Resources Management to any supervisor/manager.

· To develop a grasp of the concepts of the chef supervisor, total quality management, and the field of human relations.

· To highlight the differences (and the connections) between the management of human resources and the managing of human (interpersonal) relations.

· To develop skills in writing effective job descriptions for positions within the food service industry.

P A R T 1:   HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT


Introduction

To understand the importance of the proper management of all aspects of the human resource function.

Put simply, human resources management is the management of people within any organization. HRM is made up of all the activities, regulations, rules, policies and practices that go into the determination of personnel needs, and the recruiting, selection, training, development, scheduling, evaluation, disciplining, and termination of employees.

An effective manager wants to maximize every employee's contribution so as to optimize their productivity and effectiveness in achieving organizational goals, while at the same time both understanding and (as much as possible) fulfilling individual objectives (a desire to enjoy the workplace, receive respect and recognition, be challenged and encouraged to learn), and understanding and fulfilling the objectives of society at large. This includes understanding and obeying the law, as well as demonstrating an awareness of social responsibility.

Human resources management is the responsibility of every manager, regardless of the level he or she is at, since no one can meet their goals without the efforts of others.

Simply because you are not, nor intend to be, a human resources specialist does not mean that the information this course contains is in any way peripheral to your career or of little impact upon your ultimate success. Every person whose success relies on the coordinated efforts of others needs to know how to effectively manage people.

Human resources management versus the management of human relations.

 

To succeed means to build and maintain a truly functional team. To do this you must have a management strategy, for the finest kitchen facilities in the world will not produce average, let alone great, cuisine without the right people working in harmony. These days you need knowledge and skills that are in addition to your knowledge and skills in the preparation of food, regardless whether you manage a small kitchen or a multi-faceted organization.

To manage people effectively involves both human relations skills and human resource skills. Developing skills in interpersonal behaviour and human relations involves the study of employee motivation, reward systems, effective communication, leadership and the different bases of authority and power, stress management, change management, managing conflict, managing diversity, and other such issues.

In management, human relation skills are usually taught under the heading of Organizational Behaviour, and in general will be beyond the purpose of this course. Various issues in the management of human relations are examined in the textbook, Part One, Chapters 1 - 8, and should be read, though they will not be the substance of this course.

The field of Human Resources Management (HRM) is the other side of the coin of people management. Human resource management is a specialized and applied discipline that in many areas involves the law, written rules and agreements, and specific procedures.

Human Resources Management deals with such issues as strategic organizational planning, job analysis and description, recruiting, hiring, orientation and training, career development, wage and compensation management, benefits management, labour relations and collective bargaining, performance appraisal, occupational health and safety, disciplining employees, and dismissal. HRM involves a knowledge of relevant federal and provincial laws, all current agreements and union contracts in effect with the organization, and a sense of societal attitudes.

Both are important and are very much complementary skill sets, and many issues cross between. The issue of managing diversity (that is, dealing with people from outside the traditional hiring pool) is a case in point. It involves interpersonal skills as well as a (HR) knowledge of relevant laws and statutes, the role of specialized regulatory bodies (eg. Human Rights Commissions) and current attitudes in society that can have an impact of your organizational goals. Again, stress management and employee disciplining involve inter- personal skills as well as knowledge of company policies and legal obligations.

While your interpersonal skills can have a great impact on staff morale, (a crucial factor to achieving success) these skills will be rendered ineffective if your recruiting, selection, training, orientation or discipline practices and procedures are faulty, or if rules and policies are perceived to be unfairly instigated and applied. Motivating is a tremendous human relations skill, but to be successful and to avoid problems you must be aware of what you legally can and cannot do as you attempt to motivate others.

The knowledge and skill sets this course will cover are not esoteric items only of interest to human resource professionals, but are absolutely necessary for all managers. The chef supervisor may see him- or herself as a chef first and foremost, but in fact he or she is a manager in an increasingly complex world of laws and regulations, competition, scarce resources, and changing customer tastes and employee attitudes. (See specifically the article on page 9 of the textbook.)

The key strategic activities of managers who want to succeed by having the best people available doing the best job possible.

"Good people will enable you to survive bad times far better than good times will enable you to survive bad people."

The successful chef supervisor knows (as does every wise manager) that his or her success is based upon the obtaining, and retaining, of the very best people, and on the making of these people, through training and guidance, into a powerful supportive team that finds pleasure in achieving their goals. Doing this is an ongoing dynamic process where each step below leads to the next, as well as back to the beginning. Though it may seem frustrating to some managers, this process never ends but is forever continuous.

· Determine the culture and goals of the organization.

· Analyze job needs and develop job descriptions to fit those needs.

· Attract the quality and quantity of people required to fill these jobs.

· Fill the open positions in a fair, open, and effective selection process that obeys the spirit as well as the intent of all laws, and judges all applicants by who they are, not what they are.

· Continue this process by a thorough orientation program, and by supporting a working climate that encourages all employees to constantly develop and fully utilize their potential.

· Design rules and policies that are understandable, achievable, enforceable, consistent, rationally connected to your mission, and are clearly publicised.

· Develop and maintain performance standards that are clear, achievable and challenging.

· Maintain an open and effective communication network and a harmonious working environment.

· Establish an atmosphere of trust that encourages continuous feedback* and design a performance appraisal system that is clear, open, valid, and constructive rather than critical.* Remember: "What you want to hear isn't always what you need to know."

· Understand the economic, psychological and social needs of employees and create rewards that are effective.

· Create a safe and healthy working environment that is in accordance with all federal and provincial laws.

· Foster an organization that, having hired the best, retains these employees.

· Strive continuously to improve productivity and service.

Something to Remember Very Early in the Game, ... or the 85 / 15 Rule

It is widely assumed that most organizations would have very few problems indeed, if only the employees would just do their jobs as they are supposed to. This attitude is most often incorrect. In fact, at least 85% of all problems (perhaps at a minimum) are systemic or process problems, and not personnel problems. That is, the problems lie within the systems and processes of an organization, rather than with the abilities and attitudes of the workers. For example: employees that do not have the right equipment can not do a good job, employees whose time is absorbed in obeying rules and procedures that serve no provable purpose will have little time (and eventually little desire) to produce at any reasonable level, and employees whose desire to innovate is stifled by policies and the cultural norms of an organization will eventually lose interest in doing much other than the minimum necessary to collect their wages.

What the 85/15 rule of thumb communicates to us is that in many organizations 85% of all problems can only be corrected by changing the system (which is to a great extent controlled by management) while only the remaining 15% (or less) are under the direct control of employees. Even when workers do something wrong it is more likely that their errors are do to improper training (a system problem) than worker attitude. Granted, there will always be some whose attitude or abilities simply do not suit them to a job, but eventually these few people can be dealt with as legitimate personnel issues, and decisions made accordingly.

Managers who truly wish to correct problems must look to the systems and processes to determine the sources of problems, and if their employees are to be held responsible for such matters then they must also be empowered to assist in system and process design.

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    Module One   -  Part 2

 

Writing The Job Description

In any organization, work has to be divided into manageable units, and eventually into individual jobs that can be performed by employees. This part will look briefly at the concept, purpose, and activities involved in the following:

job analysis

job design

job description

job specification

job performance standards

Definitions

The Definition of a Job

A job consists of a group of related activities and duties. Ideally, these duties should be clear and distinct from those of other jobs, and entail logical units of work that are similar and/or related. A job may be held by a single employee, or by a number of people.

The Definition of a Position

The collection of duties, tasks, and responsibilities performed by one person is a position. Therefore, if a restaurant has one supervisor and ten servers it has two jobs, but eleven positions.

The Definition of Job Analysis

Job analysis is the process by which information concerning the duties, tasks, and responsibilities of each job is gathered, as well as determining the necessary employee attributes and behaviors required to successfully perform the job. Job analysis is considered by many HR professionals to be one of the basic cornerstones of human resources management. Job analysis and job design are both dynamic processes; that is, they are not done simply at the beginning of an organization's life, but continuously as a job's environment changes. Police and fire departments in Canada have been found in violation of Human Rights Acts by having traditional minimum height requirements for applicants that upon analysis could not be shown to have any impact on performance or productivity when challenged.

Why Job Analysis?

The information gathered in job analysis is used in developing:

31478. job descriptions,

31479. job specifications,

31480. job performance standards, and

31481. in designing satisfying and (more) productive jobs.

The Definition of Job Design

Job design is the process of systematically organizing tasks that are necessary to perform a specific job by considering not just the required duties, but also the sequences of these duties, the skills needed to perform them, the unique characteristics of the job, as well as the technology, organizational culture, nature of the work force, and other environmental factors.

The difference between job analysis and job design is that job analysis concerns itself with hard information, objective and verifiable, about actual job requirements, whereas job design is more subjective and is concerned with the characteristics of a job and how they can best be used (designed) to maximize goals. Job design can be a motivational tool if the proper core characteristics are incorporated into work. Poorly designed jobs do not attract or retain the best people. Core job characteristics are those that allow employees to experience three psychological outcomes from their work. Studies indicate that three key core characteristics appear to be:

Meaningfulness (the employee sees the work as being important, valuable, and contributing to goals that he or she perceive to be desirable).

Responsibility (the employee has a sense of personal responsibility and accountability for the work they do).

Awareness of results (the employee is regularly provided with clear, constructive feedback on his or her effectiveness).

A job description is a written list of the duties, responsibilities, working conditions, reporting relationships and any other aspects of a specific job. While there is no standard format for a job description, almost all contain - or should contain - the following key pieces of information.

Contents of a Job Description

Job Identity* (title, location, status [eg. is job legally exempt from overtime] grade level, pay range, etc.)

Job Summary (a brief description - overview - of the job's main purpose)

Relationships* (reports to, supervises, works with, deals with)

Responsibilities and Duties (concise detailed list of all that is required in work attitude)

Authority (decision making, spending authority, direct supervision, authority to hire, discipline, reward, etc.)

Standards of Performance (specific levels of achievement expected [eg. all pots are to be cleaned and stored before leaving each day])

Working Conditions (environment, hours of work, special conditions, etc.)

*Key content items. The other categories may not be necessary, or may be collapsed into the key ones.

The Definition of Job Specification

While the job description defines what a job does, a job specification is a document that lists job demands and profiles what human characteristics and traits are required to do the job. These include education, training, experience, physical and mental demands and other competencies needed by the specific job requirements. Job specification can be a separate sheet, or contained below or on the back of the job description, or as is often the case, simply combined with the job description as a single document. But they are separate, though complementary, pieces of information.

An example: while the job description for a pot washer might say under the 'working conditions' heading "work takes place in a busy kitchen environment", the job specifications could say "will be expected to work in hot, wet environment; will be required to regularly lift items weighing up to 25kg; will be exposed to a continuous high level of noise...." Among other advantages, this information given up front can help reduce new employee turnover.

Note: Human Rights
Job descriptions and specifications are important, for they determine the type of people who will apply, and describe what you have hired them to do. But remember, provincial human rights legislation requires employers to actively ensure that there is no discrimination on any prohibited grounds in any of the terms or conditions of employment. You cannot assume, for example, that women can't regularly lift 25kg loads and refuse to hire on that basis. (This subject will be discussed a bit more fully in Module Three.)

The Definition of Job Performance Standards

Job performance standards were mentioned briefly above, and as indicated they can be included on the job description. More often though they are separate, and are discussed at, or after, the hiring stage. Standards serve two key purposes. One is that they serve as objectives for employee efforts; meeting fair but challenging standards can be a motivator to good employees, and achieving them will produce a sense of satisfaction and encourage performance.

Secondly, standards are the basis against which a manager can measure job success; without standards it is impossible to evaluate job performance. But to be of use, standards must be clearly laid out, and achievable, measurable, and relevant. As well, actual performance in relation to expected standards must be part of a continuous feedback loop to every employee.

Hints to Writing a Job Description

Be clear, detailed and specific. The job should be described. Applicants should not have to refer to other descriptions, call for basic information, or waste your valuable time interviewing for jobs they don't want or can't do.

Indicate authority. Indicate all important reporting and customer relationships and what authority is included in the position.

Be specific. Avoid generalities as much as possible. Lay out the kind of work, the degree of complexity, the levels of skills needed, types of problems involved, extent of responsibility, and the job's accountability.

Be brief. Use short succinct sentences with simple action words (eg. communicate, deliver, supervise, store, clean, prepare, etc.). But never be so brief that clarity and accuracy are sacrificed.

Check it. Does it comply with human rights requirements, does it cover everything, and will desirable applicants understand the job from it?

 

Note:

It is recommended that job descriptions contain a line at the bottom stating that the organization is an equal opportunity employer and / or stating that it invites applications from women, visible minorities, aboriginal peoples, and those with disabilities. This clearly indicates that the organization is in compliance with human rights legislation. But of equal importance is the fact that it may encourage a very fine candidate to apply who may otherwise have not. To not encourage all qualified people to apply is simply bad management and bad business. Since the law requires that hiring must be in accordance with human rights legislation, it may as well be stated on the job descriptions and employment applications.

Designing Jobs; A Final Note

Jobs are not just 'designed' when they are first formed; rather, in an effective organization they are continuously observed and restructured as skills, needs, technology, physical layout, society, employees attitudes, and other environmental factors transform and change. It is a dynamic ongoing process that incorporates change as the driving force for total quality, high performance, and employee satisfaction. If a chef supervisor wishes to build an effective team (with real teamwork attitudes), it is not sufficient to make an announcement of expectations. One of the key parts of team building is the redesigning of 'traditional' jobs into new jobs insofar (at least) as accountability, discretion, reporting, and relationships are concerned. Many duties will of course remain the same, but some will change, and even with the others the ways of doing them may be different. Managers who wish to make changes but are who are unwilling to take the time necessary to examine and then properly (re)design jobs in accordance with what they want to achieve will often end up not achieving much change at all, if they don't end up worse off.

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  Module Two  -  Part 2

 

 

Recruitment
Introduction

Recruitment is the process of searching for and attracting an adequate pool of capable and qualified job applicants from which the organization may select the best candidate to fill its staffing needs. The recruitment process begins when the need to fill a position is identified and approved. It then involves the determination of job requirements, usually by reviewing the job description and job specifications and updating them if necessary. Next the most desirable recruiting sources and methods are decided upon; there is no one best method for what is appropriate for each situation and position, for each is different. The process ends with the receipt of résumés and completed applications. Following recruiting the selection process starts.

The Purposes of Recruiting

To ensure that an adequate pool of candidates is generated at minimum possible cost.

To attract the very best quality candidates, those who not only meet or exceed the job requirements, but also have the necessary attitudes (belief in customer service, desire to achieve, enthusiasm, team players) and the ability to fit the organization's particular culture and environment.

To increase the success rate of the selection process by minimizing the number under-qualified candidates who apply, mainly by designing job descriptions, recruiting procedures, and applications that will not attract or encourage the unqualified.

To help the organization achieve other goals, such as fulfilling its legal obligations by increasing the diversity of its work force, or responding to (sometimes local) social requirements or customer needs.

Constraints on Recruitment

Anyone planning to recruit employees must be aware of the constraints on the recruitment process. These can come from both inside and outside the organization, and from the attitudes of the recruiter. Constraints may vary due to a number of factors, including the size of the organization. Constraints are factors whose objectives are unrelated to the purpose of recruiting but that have an impact on the recruiting process. The most common constraints are:

 

 

Organizational Policies

Promote-From-Within Policies Many businesses require (often by collective agreement) that all jobs must be internally posted first, even if it is known that there are no suitable internal candidates. As well there may be pressures to hire internally, regardless.

Compensation Policies Pay and benefits policies can have an impact on recruiting, since they make a job more or less attractive to potential applicants. For example, policies may prevent paying higher salaries in a competitive market.

Employment Status Policies Policies that restrict hiring full-time employees so that jobs are only part-time or causal, or vice versa.

International Hiring Policies International organizations often have policies that encourage hiring only within the host country.

 

Employment Equity Programs
Both a company's own voluntary employment equity plans and compulsory legal requirements must be consulted and incorporated into all recruiting procedures.

Recruiter Habits
People who hire can develop a tendency to rely on the methods and behaviours that have been successful in the past.

Environmental Conditions
Such factors as the local employment scene, the availability of qualified applicants and wage rates all can work as constraints.

Job Requirements
Some of the requirements of any job will work as a constraint: skill level (highly skilled people usually need to be hired externally, often after a longer and more expensive process), working conditions, hours, location, etc.

Costs
The cost of attracting - and interviewing - the best applicants is almost always a constraining factor.

Competition
The inducements offered by the competition impose a constraint, since other businesses must usually meet these or offer alternatives.

 

 

 

Sources of Job Applicants

There is a wide variety of sources from which an employer can access job candidates. These different sources are often referred to as recruitment channels and are being used more and more. Unlike the past where there were a few simple methods for employers and job seekers to come into contact, these days both parties are utilizing a much broader base to attract each other.

Recruiting from Within

Studies have indicated that a majority of jobs overall are filled from within the business. The advantages can be that employees see competence and performance being rewarded, which can be a powerful motivator for all employees. Internal recruiting promotes people who are a known quantity, who understand the culture and goals of the firm, who need less training and orientation, and who are committed.

But recruiting internally can (as is true of all recruiting channels) have negative ramifications. Unsuccessful employees can become upset and less productive; as well, managers must often explain to unsuccessful candidates why they were unsuccessful and what they need to improve upon. People promoted from the ranks often have trouble with their old groups who are less than willing to take orders from someone who was previously a peer. However, the greatest problem can be the possibility of "inbreeding", where there slowly develops an attitude to do things as they've always been done, and to shun change and innovation.

If jobs are advertised internally first, the process of notifying current employees about vacant positions is referred to as job posting. A job posting is a form posted within the firm that covers most of the information about the job that would be found on the job description and specification, plus posting (and closing) dates.

Employee Referrals

There are numerous advantages to referrals. Often they are cost efficient (no agency or advertising costs), candidates can be of high quality (employees are unlikely to refer people in whom they are not confident), recruits tend to have been given a realistic and positive insight to the business, and employees with hard to find skills may know others in their field. Employee referrals tend to be very popular.

There are disadvantages to referrals as well. Drawbacks include the potential for inbreeding, and nepotism (hiring relatives), and perhaps most importantly, in systemic discrimination, particularly in homogenous workplaces. Since people associate with others similar to themselves, referral hiring can result in maintaining the status quo with regards to sex, race, religion, and so on. This not only limits an organization's human resources, but can lead to charges of discrimination.

 

 

Walk-ins and Write-ins

Walk-ins are individuals who arrive unsolicited looking for work. They can be an excellent and inexpensive source of potential candidates, particularly for unskilled and entry-level jobs. It is usually worthwhile for an organization to take an application or résumé from such individuals and keep it on file for a certain length of time. Treating walk-ins discourteously achieves no advantage for the business.

Write-ins are individuals who submit unsolicited written applications (which in some cases they may have previously obtained from the business) or résumés. Again, such applications can be a useful and inexpensive source of candidates, often for more skilled positions, and should be kept on file for a period of time (three to six months). With potentially desirable candidates some businesses even send a brief note thanking the individual for their interest.

Advertising
Advertising can be a very effective means of reaching a wide audience; however, there are two issues that are of concern: the medium to be used, and the structure of the advertisement. For most foodservice and hospitality industry firms, the most common by far are newspapers and professional or specialized magazines. Alternative channels, such as radio, television, signage, point-of-purchase, or other such, are generally far less practical. Whether to use newspaper or magazine depends solely on the potential applicant market you are in, and the job you wish to fill. With newspapers there are two general types of advertisements:

Want ads give all pertinent information about the job and as well they provide the employer's name, address and phone/fax/email. Some disadvantages with want ads is the possibility of a flood of calls and faxes, unwanted visits from applicants, and, if a current employee is being replaced, a lack of confidentiality.

Blind ads are identical to want ads, except that they omit the identity of the employer, and give only a box number (post office or at the newspaper) to respond to. These allow for confidentially, freedom from calls and visits, and avoid negative reactions from disappointed recruits. Their disadvantage is that good applicants may not respond because they may be sending out a résumé to a current employer, or to someone they dislike or would rather not have know of their plans and history.

Private Employment Agencies
Such firms can be highly effective, if used properly. Agencies however, differ substantially in what they do. Some will screen applicants, while others will send all names on to the employer. All will charge for their services, and in many provinces it is illegal to charge this fee to the applicant. Therefore the cost should be determined up front; it may be a flat fee, or a percentage of the wage being offered (not unusual is one month's salary). Agencies are most useful when an employer is looking for people on a temporary or casual basis, or has a critical position to fill quickly, or is willing to pay money to avoid the original paperwork.

 

 

Educational Institutions

For many positions, particularly lower- to mid-level ones in the food- service industry, educational institutions can be an excellent source of trained, eager, and ambitious employees who though they may have little experience, are in a 'learning mode', open to new ideas, and haven't yet developed poor habits.

Human Resources Development Canada

The government operates over 800 Human Resource Centres. Previously known as Employment Centers, their purpose is to put job seekers and employers together at no cost to either. Employers need only call a Centre to place a posting into the Job Bank. Applicants can access the bank in their area and apply for relevant positions. They are then interviewed by HRDC counsellors and if qualified are referred on to the employer.

Professional Search Firms

These firms specialize in specific, usually senior positions, and will actively go after candidates that fill the employers' needs rather than just advertise for applicants ("head-hunting").

Professional and Trade Associations

Labour Organizations and Military Personnel

The Increasingly Diversified Workforce

Hiring and managing a diverse workforce (managing diversity) is not only a social responsibility, but also a necessity. According to government projections, the average employee profile will be anything but a young white male. Within a few years the majority of workplace entrants will be women (as many as 3 out of 4 single mothers may be employed), visible minorities, and people with disabilities. By 2015 more workers will be age 40 than 20. And as the immigration patterns change, new peoples continuously arrive, while maintaining their own ways of seeing the world.

 

Appendix B

Newspaper Advertising

Advertising generally appears to be among the most common of recruiting methods. While this encompasses a media range from radio, television, magazines, journals and newspapers, to billboards, posters and subway cars, the most popular appears to be newspaper advertising. But dropping a badly planned advertisement into the local paper is not likely to be wildly successful on its own. To succeed with printed information the employer / recruiter must first make a decision as to which vehicle will best serve the purpose - local, provincial, or national newspaper, trade or professional journal, etc. Reaching those looking for work is different from attracting those currently employed and perhaps not actively searching. Other points are timing (when to run the ad), and whether it will be a want ad or a blind ad.

A good advertisement should be successful; that is, it should achieve the best results possible given the marketplace. What makes a good advertisement? Professionals suggest that there seem to be a number of attributes that are important.

Advertisements should draw the reader's attention. This can be done with borders, logos, color, attractive layout, and visual appeal.

Advertisements should employ words and language that are fitting to the target market. And regardless of the target, short, active, and succinct sentences are the most effective.

Advertisements should contain all necessary information - they are not job descriptions, but it should be clear who you are looking for. This will build interest in those who are eligible while encouraging the less qualified not to apply. Include job specifications whenever they are important to qualifications.

Advertisements should make the organization sound attractive and create a desire for the reader to respond. To this end they should indicate special features such as training, travel, responsibility, and/or the vision and goals of the business.

Advertisements should be proofread for clarity, logical sequencing, style, human rights provisions, and proper non-offensive use of language.

Appendix C

Developing The Job Application Form

The job application form is the means by which a business collects required verifiable information about an applicant. A standardized form* allows an organization to collect the same information in the same order from all applicants, and should include - other than name, address and other allowable personal requests - information on the applicant's education history, previous work experience, and job related skills. Job application forms can provide a variety of information to the employer. First, it allows the employer or recruiter to make objective judgments about the basic qualifications - does the applicant have the required education and experience. It also allows an employer to see an applicant's career history and previous progress and development. Third, it can indicate stability, though recruiters should be careful not to automatically assume that an applicant with a greater than average job turnover rate is unreliable without at least seeking an explanation.

Why have an application form when candidates can simply present resumes?

Standardized forms allow ease of comparison among candidates.

Forms require information that the business wishes to know, rather than information that the applicant wishes to give.

Forms completed on premise are a sample of the applicant's own work. Resumes can be professionally prepared, but the application indicates the candidate's grammar and spelling skills, as well as their ability to organize and present their thoughts.

Today many employers and educational institutions will not give out information or references without the applicant's written authorization. The application form can and should request such signed authorization.

Applicants are asked to sign the form, declaring that the information contained is true to the best of their knowledge, and (quite often) under a statement concerning the consequences of lying (eg. " I understand that a false statement may disqualify me from employment, or cause my dismissal."). This will offer at least some protection against applicants who have falsified credentials.

The form can contain the business' acknowledgement of human rights and employment equity principles.

* Having said this, a business may want different standardized forms for different levels of employment, focusing on particular required skills.

What Information Should A Job Application Form Request?

NAME AND ADDRESS

Personal date such as name, address, telephone number. Other requested information, unless shown to be job-related, could lead to charges of discrimination. The same is true of requests for weight, height, health, handicaps and major illnesses.

EMPLOYMENT STATUS

Type of job sought, date available, salary desired, willingness to work specific schedules, and other such information.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Among the more important pieces of information to be gathered is the applicant's education, training, and skill levels. There should also be a space for skills that may have been learned, but that do not have official credentials attached.

WORK HISTORY

Most applications require job recruits to list the particulars of previous employment. Such information can indicate (advisedly) an applicant's stability, career progression (does the candidate appear to be advancing in his/her career), and potential capabilities.

NOTE: Work experience should often be blended with a sense of the applicant and the job. One candidate may only have a year of experience but can be ready to learn, while another may have many years experience though for them this still amounts to also one year's experience simply repeated year after year.

MILITARY BACKGROUND

For a variety of reasons this information is occasionally requested.

MEMBERSHIPS, AWARDS, HOBBIES

These can give an employer a larger picture of the candidate's concerns, ambitions, achievements, cultural fit.

REFERENCES

References are usually requisite, although their reliability can be suspect. (applicants seldom give names of those who will bad-mouth them; as well, employers are reluctant to give critical references since it can leave them open to legal action.). Other references, eg. credit or criminal history can sometimes be approached if they can be justified as job related.

SIGNATURE LINE

As discussed previously. Needed for both references and to protect against possible falsified material.

 

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    Module Three  Part 1

Interviewing and Selection

OBJECTIVES

To understand the different types of interviewing questions and interviewing styles available

To develop efficient and effective interviewing techniques, and to minimize interviewing and selection biases.

To learn how to select the best candidate from the interview pool.

To develop skills in conducting an effective orientation for new employees.

P A R T 1: I N T E R V I E W I N G a n d S E L E C T I O N

Introduction

The purpose of the selection process is to obtain the most qualified people available to fill the particular job. Every employer wants individuals that possess the skills, education, knowledge, competencies, personality and values to fit well into their organization. Proper selection is important for at least four reasons: organizational performance, hiring cost, the unsuccessful or "marginal" employee expense, and legal implications.

Performance. Particularly in a service industry, the quality of its human resources is likely the single key factor in business success.

Hiring Costs. The cost of advertising, recruiting, interviewing and training is high, as is the time and effort contributed by management; repeating all this after a short space of time is an unjustifiable expense. Adding to training costs to attempt to rectify a bad hiring choice is not only expensive, but also is seldom effective and rarely overcomes the problems incurred by the hiring mistake.

Marginal Employee Expense. A "marginal" employee is one who, due to poor selection procedures, not only slips through the screening process, but is also not seen as less than adequate until it is too late and they have been on the payroll for some time. Such people then become very difficult to terminate.

Legal Implications. These were discussed previously. Incompetent or improper selection can create a variety of problems with labor relations and human rights. Organizations required to base hiring on an employment equity program must ensure that they adhere to it. Employers are also being found liable for wrongful hiring, where poor background checks have allowed for the hiring of unsuitable persons who later commit criminal acts within the scope of their employment. And an employer's case in a wrongful dismissal suit is badly weakened when the incompetent employee was hired as a result of incompetent selection.

THE SELECTION PROCESS

The selection process has a number of steps to it which can include any or all of the following:

Design of the application blank (form)

Preliminary compilation of completed applications

Initial screening of applicants

Testing

Interviewing selected applicants

Background and reference checking

Supervisory interview (if immediate supervisor is not part of original interview)

Realistic job previews

Medical evaluation

The hiring decision

Evaluation of the selection process

Not all the above steps are a part of every selection; different organizations hiring for different jobs will often need only some of these steps. In this part, we will look at the role of interviewing, and the concurrent issues of testing, background checks, job previews and medical evaluations.

Testing
Testing during the selection process is a fairly common screening tool, and is useful for obtaining relevant and objective data. Tests can be used, not just for job related skills, but also to access personality, interests, intelligence, problem solving abilities, and motor skills.

Interviews, tests, and other screening procedures must, to be effective, be both valid and reliable.

Validity
Validity implies that a test (or interview procedure) measures what it is supposed to measure; that is, that the data gained relates or is predictive to a significant degree to job performance. Without validity there is no logical or legal justification to continue using these screening methods. Indeed, invalid testing / screening can cause legal challenges. For example, if a job requires no more than basic reading skills sufficient to read a few signs, a test or interview screening that incorporates measuring advanced language skills is not valid, and could even be the basis for legal action if a person was refused employment based on them.

Reliability
Screening devices must not only be valid but also reliable. Reliability means that the selection procedures yield data that over time remains consistent and comparable. If, for example, the same person takes the same test three times and achieves varying scores (perhaps due to luck or other factors) then the test is not reliable and is of little use to an employer.

 

INTERVIEWING

Selection interviews are probably still the most popular and common selection tool used; even though studies have shown that they may score low in both reliability and validity, and are not really an effective predictor of future performance. Studies have also indicated though that the proper design and handling of an interview can increase its usefulness to the employer. For example, human resources professionals generally agree that some form of structured interview is usually more effective than unstructured ones.

Despite problems and potential flaws, interviews retain their popularity for a variety of reasons. In addition to those given on page 274 of the text (confirmation of written submissions, determination of attitudes, skills and personality, sense of fit with the organizational culture and the team), they give the employer a chance to sell the organization to desirable candidates, to answer a candidate's questions on the job and the organization, and to observe the candidate's behavior and demeanor.

Types of Interviews

As mentioned in the text, there are a number of types of interviews. As well as structured and unstructured, there are mixed interviews (a format that combines structured and unstructured questions), team (also known as group or panel) interviews, stress, behavioral, and situational interviews. Stress interviews are used for high stress jobs; by putting the candidate under pressure with rude or challenging questions the interviewer hopes to see how a person reacts to stressful situations. Behavioral and situational interviews are based on the logical premise that one of the best predictors of future behavior is past behavior. These interviews involve both projecting future situations and asking a candidate how it would be handled, or asking about past situations and how they have been dealt with. Interviews can, of course, be a mixture of any number of the above types.

It should be noted that the text mentions a few other types of interviews (bottom of page 274): counseling, evaluation, and exit interviews. These are not hiring interviews. Counseling and job evaluation (performance appraisal) interviews are held with current employees, for the purpose assisting or evaluating them, while exit interviews are held with departing employees to get feedback on why they are leaving and how they see the organization (see text page 295).

Common Interviewer Errors

Mistakes are often made by interviewers with the effect that an interview can become increasingly less useful. The text mentions some possible errors on pages 276 - 277, to which the following can be added.

Poor Planning. Interviewer has not designed strategy, questions or criteria.

Negative Bias. Interviewers tend to be more influenced by negative than positive information about a candidate. Indeed, many interviewers seem to regard the purpose of the interview to be a search for negative information, thus putting the interviewee at a disadvantage from the start.

 

Lack of Job Knowledge. Interviewers who are unaware of all aspects of a job or the employee characteristics needed will usually have an inaccurate idea of who the ideal candidate is.

Directing Answers. Interviewers can be so keen to fill a job (particularly with a candidate who 'appeals' to them) that they can indicate the answers they require. Questions like: "You must have the attitude that the customer always comes first. You certainly would agree with that, wouldn't you?" or "Do you feel very strongly that a spotless kitchen is a key ingredient to success?" are good examples of telling the candidate what answer you want to hear.

Contrast Bias. Candidates are often rated by who they follow than on their own merits. A very favorable (or unfavorable) interview can have a profound - but unfair - impact on the next one.

Nonverbal Language. While on page 277 the text correctly points out that nonverbal language or behavior is important and useful in judging people, be very cautious here. You may correctly read non-verbal language when interviewing someone from your own culture, but be aware. The major problem with non-verbal language is that most such communication is directly tied to culture, ethnicity and gender. To the Japanese, direct eye contact is rude; to a Korean public disagreement or giving a strongly expressed opinion can be considered improper; to a Hispanic individual, praise can be embarrassing. In Hong Kong, winking at someone is impolite, while to many native Americans pointing with a finger is rude. And in Turkey and Iran (among others) nodding the head up and down means "no" and shaking it back and forth means "yes". And so on forever.

Looking for Deeper Meanings. Interviewers sometimes try to search for hidden meanings in the responses of a candidate. This can be quite risky as few managers are also trained psychologists.

Stereotyping Job Types. Often managers and interviewers harbor views of personality types vis-à-vis certain jobs that are prejudicial to an applicant. (Believing that bankers are dull can rule out hiring the perfect management trainee simply because that person was an extrovert.)

 

 

Designing the Interview

Properly designing an interview can go a long way in avoiding the problems mentioned above. The following steps outline a procedure for doing this.

31482. Decide who will be part of the selection process.

31483. Determine the criteria that will be used in selection. This can be achieved by looking at the job description and specification. In fact this step should be done before recruiting so that the job descriptions accurately match (or are updated to match) the selection criteria that will be used.

31484. Determine the must criteria and the want criteria. Must criteria are those that are essential for the job, have measurable standards, and can be screened for on the application form (level of education., certification, prior experience, as long as they are Boors) and they should be noted as such in advertising. These can be, and should be, verified at some point. Want criteria are the other criteria; they are less measurable, sometimes subjective, and can be prioritized on a numeric scale (attitude, team skills, non-essential education/skills/certification, etc.).

31485. Plan how to access a candidate's skills in the must and want criteria categories, and design a form that will allow for a working comparison across candidates.

31486. Develop structured questions. These should include situational, behavioral, and job knowledge and skills questions, as well as questions to determine attitudes, willingness, and ability to handle requirements (egg. shifts, night work, etc.).

31487. Review each application and résumé and develop questions that are specific to each candidate's experience and history.

Conducting the Interview

There are five steps to conducting an effective interview.

31493. Prepare for the interview in detail, as outlined above.

31494. Create a high level of rapport with the candidate. Nervous or uncomfortable people will make it tough for an interviewer to determine the candidate's real suitability.

31495. Conduct the interview, asking questions in a preplanned order (though if a candidate should indicate during a response something specific it can be pursued). Good note taking is a very desirable skill for interviewers.

31496. Close the interview. Most interviews terminate by the interviewer asking if the applicant has any questions. Interviews should be ended positively, and the candidate should be informed of the next possible steps.

31497. Evaluate the interview. Immediately after each interview the interviewer's) should review questions and answers, make any further notes, and evaluate the applicant against the criteria.

 

Background and Reference Checking

Almost all employers attempt to check some of the information of an applicant, and it appears that a large percentage of these do so by telephone. Employers who do not, at the very least, try to confirm a candidate's previous or current employment, salary, credentials and education are clearly remiss and may have very serious problems later. Recently a couple of American universities that had not confirmed the credentials of new faculty were prevented from dismissing them when their "fraudulent" backgrounds were uncovered. Other organizations have been held legally to blame for the behavior of employees when they (the organizations) failed to uncover the employees' previous behaviors prior to hiring. Interviewers can protect themselves by (I) asking applicants to give written permission allowing checking with reference sources (some employers will not release any information without such authorization); (ii) by having applicants sign a line on their application declaring all contained information is true, and (iii) by being thorough and persistent in doing background checks.

How effective is reference and background checking? Obviously, it is a very practical means of confirming basic and factual information regarding an applicant, including duties, responsibilities and dates of employment. However, personal references are usually of little value, as they are mostly written by friends and relatives, and say little that is impartial about a candidate's work habits, ability, and performance. Even written references from a previous employer are often less than candid, as many employers, for both personal and legal reasons, avoid putting impressions and events into print. Consequently, many interviewers who are seeking references prefer telephone interviews. To make a telephone check more productive, the employer should have all questions written down prior to calling, being certain that the information requested does not violate any of the applicant's human rights. Also, an ear tuned to inflection and hidden meaning will assist, as will direct questions (egg. "knowing this person as you do, would you hire them now?") rather than general questions that will impart no useful or measurable data (eg. "from what I've told you, do you think that s/he would fit into our business?").

Supervisory Interview

If the immediate supervisor was not part of the original interview, he or she should interview the short-listed candidates and be the one to have real input as to the final hiring. There are a number of good reasons for this, not the least being that when a direct supervisor has recommended hiring someone, they have made a commitment to see this person fit into the organization.

Realistic Job Previews

A realistic job preview (RJP) is used to present applicants with realistic information about the job, both positive and negative. This involves providing the candidate with information about expectations, demands, working conditions and other aspects of the job. Studies seem to indicate that turnover is reduced when new hires go into a job knowing what to expect, and that trust and communication are improved. The down side to RJP is that some candidates withdraw after a such a preview; as well, some organizations assume that warning employees about unpleasant conditions will prevent them from becoming dissatisfied with these conditions, which is usually quite untrue. RJPs should be a part of the final interview stage, involving only the most desirable candidate's).

Medical Evaluation

If the selection requires a medical evaluation it should also be done before hiring. This usually involves the candidate being asked for information regarding their health. Generally, medical evaluations should only be done when they can be argued as necessary to job requirements, or charges of discrimination can be levied if a candidate is subsequently refused employment (some health problems may be considered to be a form of disability). Due to this, and to the costs of medical evaluations, employers overall have tended to avoid medical testing. One exception to this however has been the increase in drug-use testing for potential and newly hired employees (as well as on-going testing of current employees). Such testing is becoming more and more common, and Canadian court decisions have so far seemed to allow it to be used in selection screening.

The Hiring Decision

The end of the selection process is the hiring decision. This should be done using all the information gained throughout the selection process, identifying the candidate that best fits the selection criteria determined at the beginning of the process. All information collected on each applicant and used in the selection process should be kept. This can be of great importance if there is a human rights or employment discrimination challenge, a union grievance, or other complaint. For the hired employee, the application and other data contains all the basic information that starts an employee's personnel file.

Evaluation of the Selection Process

Once selection is complete, the procedure should be evaluated to determine the strengths, weaknesses and efficiency of the process itself and whether it could be improved. New employee's) should also be monitored to determine if the process has indeed provided the organization with the best people.

 

 

    Module Three -  Part 2

Orientation

A GOOD SELECTION PROCESS THAT PROVIDES RECRUITS WITH THE NECESSARY COMPETENCIES ADDED TO AN EFFECTIVE, WELL CONSIDERED ORIENTATION INTO THE ORGANIZATION ADDED TO PROPER, WELL DESIGNED AND ONGOING TRAINING CAN CREATE EMPLOYEES THAT CAN FULFILL OR EXCEED ALL JOB DEMANDS

Introduction

Employee orientation is the set of procedures that are designed to introduce the new employee to the organization, and to the job. Orientation is part of the overall process of socialization. Socialization is a continuous process intended to bring an employee into the organization by helping them identify and adopt to the culture, norms, values, policies, rules, attitudes and desired behaviors. Orientation and training go together, since a proper orientation program will create an environment within which training will make sense to the employee and will be much more likely to be effective. People will not fit well into an organization that they don't understand, and no matter how hard they try they will never understand most aspects of any organization without assistance. Norms and other patterns of behavior that are seemingly obvious to insiders are often not seen, or seen but misunderstood by outsiders, and often a new employee will violate existing norms unawares. Sometimes, not realizing the importance of norms of behavior to a team, a new employee will intentionally violate them in hopes of standing out and being noticed, of making their mark on the group and the organization.

A Caveat

While orientating a new person into any organization is the job of all employees, one mistake that is sometimes made by managers is to allow bad habits and informal group norms to be passed on. Managers sometimes avoid addressing (at least minor) problem behaviors for a variety of reasons, but feel that they can break these behaviors as new people are hired and are instilled with the desired way of doing things. The problem with this idea is that after managers have spent some time explaining how things are supposed to go, they turn the new person over to the rest of the employees in the group who immediately inform the new person as to how things really go (ie. the new employee is instructed in the old bad behaviors) and who can apply the power of group pressure to make certain that the status quo remains unchanged.

Thus many managers don't bother with any serious attempts at orientation of new employees because they see it as futile in the longer term. This is because they expect orientation procedures to do their job for them in correcting current employees. Simply "orientating" new employees properly will not succeed in stopping old habits and behaviors, nor prevent new people from adopting those behaviors, without effective training and proper management of current employees.

One other major problem with some detailed orientations is that a new employee can be deluged with an excess of information, forms, and policy manuals over too brief a time period. While too little information will not allow new employees to maximize their contribution, too much too quickly can overwhelm people and leave them confused and detached.

To appreciate what impact a lack of any real orientation into an organization can have on a new employee, see the author's own experience on page 228 of the text.

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    Module Four

 

Developing and Training Teams

OBJECTIVES

To understand the importance of training as part of a long-range organizational strategy.

To appreciate the different approaches for assessing training needs.

To properly design an employee training program.

To be able to carry out and evaluate an employee training program.

D E V E L O P I N G a n d T R A I N I N G T E A M S

Introduction

Groups and teams are not the same thing, although the two terms are often used interchangeably by many people. In organizational settings a group may be defined as two or more people who are aware of each other and who interact in such a manner that each influences and is influenced by each other person. (This is different from a simple collection of individuals.) But a group likely does not have a common goal. A team on the other hand is a group of people who are committed to a common goal.

A Definition

But teams can be more than that and effective teams can be described as a (small) number of individuals holding complementary skills and who are committed to a common purpose, goals and method of achievement of those goals for which they see themselves as mutually accountable.

Studies have indicated that teams that work to reach consensus on goals, and that set goals that are challenging and specific tend to be high performing teams. Teams where each member holds himself or herself accountable to the team's goals are teams where there is a high level of commitment and trust, and where each member feels that they have earned the right to express their ideas and have them received in a fair and constructive manner. This in turn increases trust and communication, and improves the quality of decision making.

Consensus

A group's goal should be to reach decisions that best reflect the thinking of all members; this is called reaching consensus. Consensus does not mean that decisions must be unanimous. It does mean that although some members of the group remain in disagreement they can accept the decision and are willing to stand behind it.

Consensus is generally reached when each person who disagrees feels that he/she has had his/her opportunity to have his/her say and that it has been understood by the others. Therefore,

consensus is:

finding a proposal acceptable enough that all members can support it and that no member truly opposes it.

consensus is not:

a unanimous vote - a consensus may not represent everyone's first choice.

a majority vote - in a majority vote only the majority get something that they are happy with, while the people in the minority may get something they don't want at all; this is not consensus.

everyone totally satisfied.

consensus requires:

time.

active (and encouraged) participation of all team members.

skills in communication: listening, feedback, conflict resolution, discussion facilitation.

creative thinking and open-mindedness.

Not every decision need have the support of every member; in fact, it is impossible to have such agreement in any group. And there are decisions that due to the matters they deal with, or due to time constraints, do not require or permit consensus. Groups should decide ahead of time when they will push for consensus. Decisions that may have a major impact on the direction of the project or the conduct of the team - such as which problem to study, or what ground rules to establish - should belong to the whole team and be supported by consensus.

Some guidelines for reaching consensus:

Avoid arguing for your own position. Present your ideas as lucidly and as logically as possible, but observe and consider seriously the reactions of the group in any subsequent presentations of the same point.

Avoid "win-lose" stalemates in the discussion of the subject. Discard the notion that someone must win and someone must lose in the discussion; if (or when) impasses occur, look for the next most acceptable alternative for both parties.

Avoid changing your mind only in order to avoid conflict and/or to reach agreement and harmony; withstand pressures to yield which have no objective or logically sound foundation. Strive for enlightened flexibility, but avoid outright capitulation.

Avoid such conflict-reducing techniques (if you want consensus) as majority vote, coin tossing, averaging, bargaining, and the like. Treat differences of opinion as indicative of an incomplete sharing of relevant information on someone's part and press for additional sharing, either about task or emotional data, where it seems appropriate.

Do view differences of opinion as both natural and helpful rather than as a hindrance in decision-making. Generally, the more ideas expressed the greater the likelihood of conflict will be, but the richer the array of resources will be too.

Do view initial agreement as suspect and explore the reasons underlying apparent agreement; be sure that people have arrived at similar solutions for either the same basic reasons, or for complementary reasons, before incorporating such solutions into a team decision.

Team Development

Teams are not static, but change and develop over time. One four-stage model of team development (Tuckman) provides a good outline of the evolutionary process any team goes through. The four stages are called forming, storming, norming, and performing.

Forming
This first stage is a period of testing and orientation, where members test each others reactions to determine what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior, depend on each other for cues as to what is expected in the way of contribution and personal conduct, and evaluate the benefits and costs of continued membership. People tend to be polite during this stage and will defer to existing authority of the formal or informal leader who is expected to provide a set of rules and structures. The basic problems associated with starting any group are a part of this stage (eg scheduling, meeting locations, resources needed).

Storming
During the storming stage, individual members become more proactive by taking on specific roles and task responsibilities. This stage is marked by interpersonal conflict as members compete for leadership and other positions within the team. Hostility and disagreement arise as members wrestle with how power and status will be divided; some members may resist the formation of a group structure and ignore the desires of the group's leader. Coalitions may form to influence the team's goals and means of goal attainment, and members will try to establish norms of appropriate behavior and performance standards. This is a tenuous stage in team development and sometimes teams get stuck here and have great difficulty in progressing to the next stage, particularly if the leader is autocratic and/or lacks good conflict management skills.

All groups of people, regardless of purpose, have two sets of roles (behaviors and expectations) that help them to survive and be more productive. One set helps focus the group on objectives, such as coordinating activities, summarizing current and previous discussions, and providing information. The other set of roles tries to maintain good working relations among members. These roles include resolving conflict among members, reinforcing positive behaviors, keeping communication channels open, and making team members aware of group process problems as they emerge. During the storming stage team members will begin to sort out the specific features of these roles and identify members responsible for each.

Norming
In the third stage, feelings of cohesiveness develop as new standards and roles are established; consensus forms around group objectives, and opinions about task accomplishment are freely voiced. By now members have developed an attraction to the group and a set of expectations and rules to help them interact efficiently. Job satisfaction grows as members, through feedback and exposure become better able to understand and accept each other. Cooperation and a sense of shared responsibility are primary themes at this stage.

Performing
In the performing stage the group has established a flexible network of relationships that facilitates task accomplishment. The team becomes task-oriented because it shifts from establishing and maintaining relations to accomplishing its objectives. Internal hostility has reached a low point as members have learned to coordinate actions and resolve conflicts. Though necessary improvements in coordination may occasionally have to be addressed, in high performance teams members are highly cooperative, have a high level of mutual trust, are committed to group objectives and identify with the team.

While the above model provides a useful framework, it is not a perfect representation of the dynamics of team development. Team development is a continuous process. Membership can change and new conditions emerge, and this can cause the team to cycle back to earlier stages. As well, some groups remain in a particular stage longer than others, and stages of development can overlap.

Individual Roles

Every member of a team has a differentiated set of activities to perform. The set of expected behaviors relating to an individual's position within a team is simply called a role, and these roles can be viewed in different ways.

31488. Evaluators' standards are the expectations held by supervisors, peers, subordinates.

31489. Expected role is the formal role defined by job description or assigned duties.

31490. Perceived role is the set of activities that an individual believes that he or she is expected to perform. This role may or may not overlap with the expected role that originates with other members.

31491. Enacted role is a person's actual conduct, and in many cases is much more likely to reflect the perceived role than the expected role.

The simple diagram below indicates how individuals receive information about their role and adjust their behavior accordingly.

STEP 1	STEP 2	STEP 3	STEP 4
Evaluators' Standards→	Expected Role→	Perceived Role→	Enacted (Emergent) Role

 

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   Module Five  -  Part 1

Performance Appraisal

OBJECTIVES

To understand the importance of performance appraisals to any organization.

To develop a professional, efficient and effective appraisal system.

To understand what is meant by professional development, and its importance to management.

To develop skills in assisting employees in career / professional development.

P A R T 1: P E R F O R M A N C E A P P R A I S A L a n d E V A L U A T I O N

Introduction

A performance appraisal (or performance evaluation) may be defined as any personnel decision that affects the status of employees, whether it deals with rotation, promotion, demotion, transfer, termination, salary changes, the entering of training programmers, or otherwise. Some specialists regard an appraisal as a contract between the employee and the company that explicitly defines individual requirements. Further, it serves as an audit on the effectiveness of each employee, which enables the organization to specify what an employee should be doing and not doing. However the primary purpose of performance appraisal is to provide feedback and specific goals based on that feedback. By doing so, performance appraisal can fulfill two of its most important functions: employee counseling and employee development. These are key functions since motivation and training are the basis for making decisions concerning any employee's future.

The Importance of Performance Appraisal:

Organizations wishing to avoid litigation concerning employee grievances, as well as avoid conflict with equal opportunity regulations are in a better position to do so when they can justify their decisions with valid and acceptable appraisal standards. Good appraisal systems increase the odds that these organizations will retain, motivate and promote productive people, and facilitate the hiring process by providing a data base of information on successful (and the less successful) employees that can be used to validate selection procedures.

But for all that appraisal systems are criticized widely. Employees often complain that they are subjectively biased (and courts often agree), while managers often find appraisals distasteful, particularly when criticisms must be put in writing. Consequently they sometimes find rather ingenious methods to avoid them. Worse of all, many organizations find that these appraisals do not generate any positive change in employees' behavior; indeed, many current appraisal systems are regarded as a nuisance, or an actual detriment to efficiency. And endless personnel files filled solely with ratings of "good", "satisfactory" or "outstanding" are useless as necessary documentation or to improving worker effectiveness. Consequently many appraisal systems are less than efficient or effective, and sometimes can be worse than nothing at all. And negative weakness-based appraisal methods can undermine the very factors they were intended to promote.

Perhaps the four most important issues in the effective management of human resources are selection, training, motivation and performance appraisal. It could be argued that of these the appraisal function is the most important since it is a prerequisite for the effective management of the other three. To the degree that an employee has the knowledge and skill to do a job but is not doing it as satisfactorily as could be, motivation may be the problem. There are a number of components to developing effective employee motivation: goal-setting, feedback, job enrichment, money rewards/incentives, alternative work schedules, team building, and non-cash rewards are some. One other major contributor to motivation is performance appraisal. Performance appraisal is a key component of motivation since it is via the appraisal procedure that feedback is received, goals are set relative to this feedback, and rewards made contingent upon performance levels.

A preliminary matter that must be addressed even before information is obtained about job performance is what is meant by "job performance". It is truly useful to define the thing that organizations or supervisors want to obtain information about, before deciding how to obtain it. The fundamental question in determining the content of job performance is whether performance should be defined in terms of behavior or in terms of results (of that behavior). Emphasis solely on results can tend to produce dysfunctional behavior, or motivate employees in a less than desirable direction as incumbents maximize key outcomes at the expense of other vital activities, ethical standards, or overall organizational well-being. Also, results are a function of both the individual and the environmental situation they are in, and result oriented measures tend to ignore key behaviors that aren't a direct part of any task but are critical to the effectiveness of the organization. Finally, results can be negatively influenced by organizational processes (rules/regulations/policies) that individuals are required to follow. Therefore, in most cases the more general opinion is that performance measures must be in terms of behavior as well as results.

The next question then is to determine what kinds of behavior define any particular job's performance? That is, what behaviors does the evaluator need to be aware of in order to effectively evaluate a position? Reasonably, the definition here cannot include all behaviors that occur, but rather only some subset of relevant ones. To define 'relevant' is the real question. One way to go is to define relevant in terms of behaviors that can be clearly linked to the accomplishment of specified tasks included in the incumbent's job description. (Thus performance would be defined as the quality of task-oriented behavior.) But if job performance is to be equated with task performance, then there must be better than average job descriptions, and an ability to combine measurements of behavior from several tasks into one overall measure of performance.

With many jobs there are reasons to believe that job performance cannot be directly equated with task performance. For one, workers often spend very little time in doing what would be regarded as aimed at the accomplishment of specific, or even identifiable tasks (in the sense of the job analysis' explicit assumption that all relevant tasks are identifiable). Also, many systems use measures only casually related to tasks (eg. absenteeism or motivation). Finally, task performance is job or unit specific, rather than taking in the larger organizational whole, so that an individual who displays successful task performance may not display acceptable behavioral performance (as, for example, the person who diverts resources away from other units to successfully complete their own tasks). Therefore, some specialists feel that a more effective approach would be to define the performance domain as encompassing all behaviors that are relevant to the goals of the organization, or at the least the organizational unit within which a person works. For instance, that could include short-term goals (such as task completion) and long-term goals (such as maintaining relationships with other units and workgroups or with customers).

What about accuracy? If the appraisal is strictly in the style of a cost-benefit analysis, then accurate performance appraisals are likely not worth the bother; there are usually few rewards though often many penalties even when this type of appraisal is done accurately. Employees will often see any appraisal that is less than perfect as a punishment, even if the appraisal is dead accurate; as well, honest appraisals tend to lead to bad feelings between management and staff. Therefore it seems that any organization interested in accurate performance appraisals must look at two issues.

The first is that conditions must be created which will allow for adequate direct observation, as well as develop a plan that permits the collecting of information from other sources which are logically related to the basic purpose's) of the appraisal. Thus the question that should be asked is who can do the appraisals, rather than who should be doing them. For example, it is usually assumed that the immediate supervisor will do the appraising; indeed most likely as the only source of evaluation. While this makes sense insofar as the organizational hierarchy is concerned, it may not make as much sense in attempting to obtain accurate appraisals, particularly from sources other than direct observation. In these cases formal channels should be opened up to gain relevant material from other sources.

The second thing that must be done is for the organization to create conditions that truly motivate those doing the evaluations to seek and utilize relevant information to do accurate appraisals. To do this, the evaluators must be protected from the negative consequences of giving low ratings; negative consequences are such things as unpleasant confrontations. Other reasons evaluators give high ratings (particularly when they are also supervisors) are their feelings that they are unable to properly counsel employees who receive lower ratings, or a desire to avoid disapproval from others within the organization, or to use ratings as a means to achieve other goals. (An example of the last point would be that if the evaluator believes the appraisal is to be used for promotion decisions, then the ratings given may reflect predetermined opinions as to who does or does not deserve a promotion.) And lastly, there should be some means of distinguishing effective from ineffective evaluators, and of rewarding the latter.

Rewards:

What is a reward? Is it allowing people to be creative? Encouraging pride in someone's performance? Time off? More money? Day care? Promotion? Recognition? A challenge? A private space? Autonomy?

The thing with rewards is that they mean different things to different people: money, time off, benefits, awards, more freedom, more structure, changed job design, flextime, day-care, parking, responsibility, recognition, etc. Not only is money often not available, but it is not necessarily a reward or a motivator to many people. If one fact of rewards is this difference of perceived value, then the way to determine what people value is to ask them. It may be that rewards can be suitably and acceptably tailored to many individuals. Further, one must determine when rewards should be team based (and how to be divided among team/group members) rather than based on individual performance.

Performance Management

A manager's job can or should involve three roles: manager, evaluator, and coach. If supervisors wish to develop employees to the benefit of both, then the skill of coaching should be incorporated into their management style. It has been argued that all organizations that wish to achieve excellence should encourage managers to be mentors to their employees. The result of such a style in many companies has been to develop stronger teams at all levels, enhance performance, and reduce stressful environments. Performance improvement is a positive modification of work behavior. While people are inclined to blame factors outside themselves when they achieve less than complete success, they are generally disposed to expand their capabilities and improve their performance (ie modify behavior) when they know that these actions are expected, and perceive that this change will be non-threatening and in their own self-interest. Coaching is based to a great extent on focusing on strengths and feedback. Performance management cannot be done effectively without performance appraisal / review. Here again a coaching climate is useful if the appraisal process is to be strength-based rather than weakness-based. Traditionally, performance reviews tended to focus on weaknesses or on what's lacking, resulting in an attitude that something needs to be 'fixed' to be of value (the deficiency model). A more current approach that has been successful in many places and that has focused on a different approach is outlined in Appendix A at the end of this Module.

 

Perceptual Biases

Some perceptual biases were mentioned in Module 3 under possible interviewing errors. Since our own biases have a tremendous impact on our dealings with other people, particularly where we have power over them and are judging them accordingly, it is worth looking at a few more potential errors at this point. Well over two thousand years ago, the Greek philosopher Plato wrote in The Republic that as human beings what we perceive as real are in fact only shadows of reality thrown by a fire onto the uneven wall of a cave. What this means is that all our beliefs and values (which drive our behavior) are formed by our experiences filtered through a very human but imperfect perceptual process. Thus we all have our biases, and wisdom is not so much attempting to negate them (an impossible task) but becoming aware of them and how they may influence or decisions to our detriment.

Selective Attention. One of the biggest problems is that our senses are continuously bombarded by information. Consequently, we indulge in a process of controlling and filtering all this data, a process that has been called selective attention. This process allows us to get on with life; to concentrate on a particular task in a busy kitchen without be driven to distraction by other noises and activities. Many factors influence selective attention, including motion, intensity, expectations, repetition, unusualness, and even ambiguity, so that like witnesses in a bank robbery, we report what we think we saw rather than an accurate description of events and participants. To deny having biases is simply to deny the truth. Effective people attempt to understand themselves and to minimize the impact of their biases on their decision making.

Halo Effect (Text Pg 277). The halo effect occurs when we form a general impression of a person that then proceeds to influence our perceptions of the person=s other characteristics. This general impression is based upon one or two characteristics of the other person that we latch on to. Usually the characteristic's) that we judge upon are those that we regard as important to us, and would expect to be judged well or badly accordingly. If one believes that a gentleman always has short, well combed hair, and polished lace-up shoes, then one dresses this way oneself, and may tend to make an immediate and conscious judgment of another based on their shoes and grooming. This impression then can act as a filter through which more important information about the individual must pass, sometimes with great difficulty.

The halo effect has receive a fair amount of attention in relation to performance appraisals. It has been shown that two employees performing at identical levels of performance can have different evaluation ratings due to a single (and often unrelated) factor that matters to a supervisor. For example, if a supervisor dislikes idle chitchat the quiet employee will often be rated higher than the talkative one, though performance is equal and talking causes no other problems.

Expectations and Self-fulfilling Prophesy. Self-fulfilling prophesy occurs when we see what we expect to see. But there is a second layer to it as well. Often our expectations of what others can do directly influences how they actually do perform. One restaurant owner knows that people can achieve high levels of performance when their boss believes that they can. For years he has managed by holding high expectations of his employees' capabilities and then seeing them become self-fulfilling prophesies. Studies have been done with children, soldiers and workers. In one case, school children were tested for intelligence and aptitude and the results filed. Their teachers however, were given falsified scores randomly assigned to each child indicating who had scored higher or lower. Without ever being aware of it, the teachers then tended to treat the 'bright' children differently than the 'slower' ones. When retested at year end, the 'bright' ones scored higher in all aspects than the 'slow' ones, and when the scores were compared to the first tests, the supposedly smarter ones had generally increased their score while in most cases the supposedly slower ones had lost ground. It appears we communicate our expectations of others to them in powerful, but tremendously subtle ways, consequently creating self-fulfilling prophesies along the way. But a wise manager will see the powerful motivator that exists here too. High expectations can also become self-fulfilling prophesies when they lead individuals to high performance.

Regency Effect. This common judgmental error occurs when more current information about someone is more powerful (usually because it is remembered more easily) than performance whose memory has faded over time. Some employees depend on this by improving performance levels in the period just before their performance appraisal date.

Attribution Theory. This is where we tend to decide whether another person's behavior is due to internal or external circumstances. (Internal causes are those under a person's control, whereas external ones are not.) For example, is an employee who is late simply lazy or were they just unlucky with the traffic? To a great extent (unless we check) we will likely answer this for ourselves by basing our observation on previous behaviors and events. While our assumptions may often be right, and even if we find later that our answer was right, it was not correct because we had done our homework in the present situation, but rather because we made a lucky guess.

There are two common types of attribution error. One - the actor-observer error - is a tendency to blame our own - usually unsatisfactory - behavior on external factors while attributing the same behavior by others as internally driven ("I'm unlucky, but he's just lazy"). The other error is what is known as the self-serving bias. Here individuals tend to attribute their successes to internal factors ("I passed the test because I worked hard") and their failures to external sources ("I'm not surprised I didn't do well on the test, the room was freezing cold and uncomfortable, my pencil broke, and the material is boring"). Again, there may be truth in our answers, but truth more arrived at by luck than honest (self-?) investigation.

Projection Bias. This bias is a very human one and happens whenever we believe (without investigation) that others have similar beliefs and would act the same way we do. Often, we project things that we don't like about ourselves onto others as a self-defense mechanism. Because it is easier to live with our undesirable behaviors if others feel or act the same way, we can be quick to believe that they do or would. Employees who hate their job usually become convinced that others feel the same way, just as those who cheat on their expense accounts will say that everyone does it. But we also can project good attributes as well. People who respect others will likely assume that others treat them the same way, as do honest people assume others are honest. (This is not necessarily a naivety; such people know there is dishonesty around but they don't assume it on anyone's behalf until personally faced with it.) Projection is a dangerous way of forming judgments and can lead to very poor decision making. Whether one assumes that everyone is hateful or honest or anything else is irrelevant; basing decisions on the assumption that others see the world as you do is often guaranteed to cause you trouble.

  Module Five

Part 2
Professional Development

Introduction

Professional career development within an organization is the process that encourages employees to determine what their competencies, goals, and interests are, and to apply these to realistically available opportunities. Employees are then further encouraged to develop plans for achieving these career goals, and to discuss their plans and ambitions with management.

Over the last ten or fifteen years there has been an increased emphasis on career planning and professional development. Employers are no longer seeing career development as a luxury that employees do on their own time with their own money, but as important as job training for maintaining an organization's competitive edge. Those who support professional development argue that it is not simply a matter of an employer's obligation to maximize employees' potential and assist them in being successful, but that it provides the means by which an organization develops people who can respond to a constantly changing world, and a method for motivating people and maintaining productivity in an environment where opportunities are becoming increasingly scarce.

Career Cycle

Research into the progression of people's careers indicates that there is a career cycle that influences a person's competencies and preferences. The main stages of the cycle are as follows:

Growth Stage. This stage from birth to about 14 years of age is the period where a person develops their basic personality. By the end the young person is starting to think about possible career alternatives.

Exploration Stage. From ages 15 to 24 a person seriously explores career alternatives, matching them against their education and abilities. It is important that by the end of this period the individual has a realistic understanding of their capabilities, talents and skills.

Establishment Stage. This stage roughly covers the next two decades. While a person in this period may have decided on a profession early on, most people continue to sound out their competencies and ambitions against their jobs, challenging themselves in a variety of ways.

Maintenance Stage. The next two decades following the above are often given over to securing and maintaining their place in the workplace. While not everyone at this stage is interested in much further career development, these are key, knowledgeable employees that a wise organization can motivate to advantage by encouraging continuous learning professional development.

Decline Stage. A period (~65+) where many people are faced with less power, physical prowess, and responsibility. This is a time when such people can become mentors and trainers for younger people, and/or start to develop other interests.

Whose Responsibility?

Professional development is employment initiated and management supported.
Employees are responsible for :

Identifying their own specific competencies, interests, and career goals.

Making a preliminary assessment of positions and advancement directions that might be reasonably available to them within the organization.

Determining their own strengths and weaknesses, and deciding what personal performance improvements will be needed or what additional training will be required.

Communicating all the above to their managers in an intelligible package.

Managers, and the organization, are responsible for:

Encouraging, discussing, listening to and considering employees aspirations.

Guiding employees into designing career goals that are realistic in terms of both the employees competencies and the requirements of the organization.

Providing resources necessary to assist in employees professional development.

The Benefits of Professional Development

Advantages to Employees:

Links career ambitions to organizational needs.

Helps develop realistic professional goals.

Encourages employees to seriously determine where their real strengths and skills lie.

Creates a system of communi