Chapter 1

Introduction to Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management at Work

What Is Human Resource Management (HRM)?

The process of acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating employees, and of
attending to their labor relations, health and safety, and fairness concerns.

Human resource Management process/ Planning Process:

ACQUISITION.

Acquisition duties consist of human resource planning for employees, which includes activities
related to analyzing employment needs, determining the necessary skills for positions,
identifying job and industry trends, and forecasting future employment levels and skill
requirements. The acquisition function also encompasses activities related to recruiting
workers, such as designing evaluation tests and interview methods.

Training:

The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a
result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to
specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability,
capacity, and performance.
Compensation:

Compensation is the remuneration that an employee receives in exchange for the

service they perform for their employer. Typically, this consists of monetary rewards,
also referred to as wage or salary. A number of complementary benefits are also
included in this like Annual bonus Travelling Allowance House Rent Allowance
Compensation

Performance appraisal:

Performance appraisal is a systematic and periodic process that assesses an individual

employee’s job performance and productivity in relation to certain pre-established
criteria and organizational objectives It helps the HR manger in finding out the
deviations timely removal of that problem by providing assistance, training or motivation
to the employee Performance appraisal

Employee and Labor Relations

a business firm is required by law to recognize a union and bargain with it in good faith if
the firm’s employees want the union to represent them. In the past, this relationship was
an accepted way of life for many employers. But most firms today would like to have a
union-free environment.

Safety and Health

Safety involves protecting employees from injuries caused by work-related accidents.

Health refers to the employees’ freedom from illness and their general physical and
mental well-being. These aspects of the job are important because employees who
work in a safe environment and enjoy good health are more likely to be productive and
yield long-term benefits to the organization.

Personnel Aspects of a Manager’s Job

 Conducting job analyses
 Planning labor needs and recruiting job candidates
 Selecting job candidates
 Orienting and training new employees
 Managing wages and salaries
 Providing incentives and benefits
 Appraising performance
 Communicating
 Training and developing managers
 Building employee commitment
Human Resource Managers’ Duties

Human Resource Manager s Duties

In providing this specialized assistance, the human resource manager carries out three
distinct functions:

1. A line function. The human resource manager directs the activities of the
people in his or her own department, and perhaps in related areas (like the plant
cafeteria).

2. A coordinative function. The human resource manager also coordinates

personnel activities, a duty often referred to as functional authority (or
functional control). Here he or she ensures that line managers are implementing
the firm’s human resource policies and practices (for example, adhering to its
sexual harassment policies).

3. Staff (assist and advice) functions. Assisting and advising line managers is
the heart of the human resource manager s job. He or she advises the CEO so
the CEO can better understand the personnel aspects of the company s strategic
options. HR assists in hiring, training, evaluating, rewarding, counseling,
promoting, and firing employees. It administers the various benefit programs
(health and accident insurance, retirement, vacation, and so on).

HR Specialties

Recruiters: Search for qualified job applicants.

Equal employment opportunity (EEO) coordinators: Investigate and

resolve EEO grievances, examine organizational practices for potential
violations, and compile and submit EEO reports.

Job analysts: Collect and examine information about jobs to prepare job
descriptions.
Compensation managers: Develop compensation plans and handle the employee
benefits program.

Training specialists: Plan, organize, and direct training activities.

Labor relations specialists: Advise management on all aspects of union–

management relations.

Meeting Today’s HRM Challenges

They Focus More on Strategic, Big Picture Issues

Today s human resource managers are more involved in longer term, strategic big
picture issues. That strategic human resource management means formulating and
executing human resource policies and practices that produce the employee
competencies and behaviors the company needs to achieve its strategic aims.

They Use New Ways to Provide Transactional Services

But then, how do employers perform these day-to-day transactional tasks? The answer
is that today s human resource managers must be skilled at offering these transactional
HR services in innovative ways. For example, they outsource more benefits
administration and safety training to outside vendors. They use technology, for instance,
company portals that allow employees to self-administer benefits plans, Facebook
recruiting to recruit job applicants, online testing to prescreen job applicants, and
centralized call centers to answer HR-related inquiries from supervisors.
 Chapter 3

Strategic Human Resource Management and the HR Scorecard

HR’s Strategic Challenges

Strategic plan: A company’s plan for how it will match its internal strengths
and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats in order to maintain a
competitive advantage

The Strategic Management Process

Strategic management: The process of identifying and executing the

organization’s mission by matching its capabilities with the demands of its
environment.

Strategy :A strategy is a course of action. The company’s long-tem plan for

how it will balance its internal strengths and weaknesses with its external
opportunities and threats to maintain a competitive advantage.

Strategic management tasks:

STEP 1: DEFINE THE CURRENT BUSINESS The logical place to start is by defining
one s current business. Specifically, what products do we sell, where do we sell them,
and how do our products or services differ from our competitor s. For example, Rolex
and Casio both sell watches. However, Rolex sells a limited line of expensive watches.
Casio sells a variety of relatively inexpensive but innovative specialty watches with
features like compasses and altimeters.
STEP 2: PERFORM EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL AUDITS. The next step is to ask,
are we heading in the right direction? No one is immune to competitive pressures.
Yahoo! s search tool predominated until Google. Amazon s Kindle Reader forced even
more bookstores to close. Sensible managers periodically assess what s happening in
their environments.
Managers need to audit both the firm’s environment, and the firm’s strengths and
weaknesses. The environmental scanning is a simple guide for gathering relevant
information about the company s environment. This includes the economic, competitive,
and political trends that may affect the company. The SWOT is the strategic planning;
everyone uses it. Managers use it to compile and organize the company strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The aim, of course, is to create a strategy that
makes sense in terms of the company s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats.

STEP 3: FORMULATE A NEW DIRECTION The question now is, based on the
environmental scan and SWOT analysis, what should our new business be, in terms of
what products we will sell, where we will sell them, and how our products or services will
differ from competitors products? Managers sometimes formulate a vision statement to
summarize how they see the essence of their business down the road. The vision
statement is a general statement of the firms intended direction; it shows, in broad
terms, what we want to become. Whereas vision statements usually describe in broad
terms what the business should be, the company s mission statement summarizes
what the company s main tasks are now.

STEP 4: TRANSLATE THE MISSION INTO STRATEGIC GOALS Next, translate the
mission into strategic objectives. The company and its managers need strategic goals.
At Ford, for example, what exactly did making Quality Job One mean for each
department in terms of how they would boost quality? The answer is that its managers
had to meet strict goals such as no more than 1 initial defect per 10,000 cars.

STEP 5: FORMULATE STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE THE STRATEGIC GOALS

Next, the manager chooses strategies courses of action that will enable the company to
achieve its strategic goals. For example, what strategies could Ford pursue to hit its
goal of no more than 1 initial defect per 10,000 cars? Perhaps open two new high-tech
plants, reduce the number of car lines to better focus on just a few, and put in place new
more rigorous employee selection, training, and performance appraisal procedures.

STEP 6: IMPLEMENT THE STRATEGIES Strategy execution means translating the

strategies into action. The company s managers do this by actually hiring (or firing)
people, building (or closing) plants, and adding (or eliminating) products and product
lines.

STEP 7: EVALUATE PERFORMANCE Things don t always turn out as planned. For
example, Ford bought Jaguar and Land Rover as a way to reduce reliance on lower-
profit cars. With auto competition brutal, Ford announced in 2009 it was selling Jaguar
and Land Rover (to Tata, a company in India).
Types of Strategic Planning

Corporate-level strategy: Identifies the portfolio of businesses that, in total,

comprise the company and the ways in which these businesses relate to each
other. Diversification strategy implies that the firm will expand by adding
new product lines.
Vertical integration strategy means the firm expands by, perhaps, producing
its own raw materials, or selling its products direct.
Consolidation strategy reduces the company’s size
Geographic expansion strategy takes the company abroad.

Business-level/competitive strategy Identifies how to build and strengthen

the business’s long-term competitive position in the marketplace.

Cost leadership: the enterprise aims to become the low-cost leader in an

industry.

Differentiation: a firm seeks to be unique in its industry along dimensions

that are widely valued by buyers.

Focus: a firm seeks to carve out a market niche, and compete by providing a
product or service customers can get in no other way. for instance, how Pizza Hut
will compete with Papa Johns or how Walmart competes with Target.

Functional strategies: Identify the basic courses of action that each

department will pursue in order to help the business attain its competitive
goals.

Translating Strategy into HR Policy and Practice

The HR Scorecard Approach

HR scorecard: Measures the HR function’s effectiveness and efficiency in producing

employee behaviors needed to achieve the company’s strategic goals.

1. On-time starts. When one surgeon or anesthesiologist frequently starts late, it

creates pattern of inefficiency across the schedule, leading to increased costs. "Late
starts can have a domino effect on the surgery center and can be a patient unhappy

2. Professional dressed. The white coat gets a specific emotional response from
patients the coats lend an air of professionalism and evoke feelings of a doctor's
superiority and intelligence in patients. Some hospitals use the white coat to
differentiate between nurses and doctors.

3. A caring, sincere, and empathetic attitude Bedside manner isn't everything, but it's
important to find a physician you trust and feel comfortable with. In the case of your
child's doctor, your child needs to feel comfortable too.

4. Cost of staff per case. Measuring the cost of labor per case can identify surgeons
who are taking longer to complete a case, using more staff per case or using more
expensive staff, such as all RNs and no techs. "This metric explains variances and
provides opportunity for improvement
5. Hand washing compliance. Frequent hand-washing is one of the best ways to avoid
getting sick and spreading illness. Hand-washing requires only soap and water or an
alcohol-based hand sanitizer — a cleanser that doesn't require water.

6. Thorough. A mistake in the medical field can have disastrous results. It is important
to know that your doctor has not overlooked a part of your care which could lead to an
inaccurate diagnosis. A good doctor needs to pay careful attention to their patients,
schedules appropriate follow-ups and take the time to administer whatever care is most
appropriate.

Chapter 4

Job Analysis.

Nature of Job analysis

Job analysis: The procedure for determining the duties and skill requirements of a job
and the kind of person who should be hired for it. Job analysis produces information for
writing Job description: A list of a job’s duties, responsibilities, reporting relationships,
working conditions, and supervisory responsibilities—one product of a job analysis.
Specifications (what kind of people to hire for the job). Virtually every personnel related
action you take interviewing applicants, and training and appraising employees, for
instance depends on knowing what the job entails and what human traits one needs to do
the job well.

Application/Uses of Job Analysis Information

job analysis is important because managers use it to support just about all their human
resource management activities.
RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION Information about what duties the job entails and
what human characteristics are required to perform these activities helps managers
decide what sort of people to recruit and hire
.
EEO COMPLIANCE Job analysis is crucial for validating all major human resources
practices. For example, to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers
should know each jobs essential job functions which in turn requires a job analysis.

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL A performance appraisal compares each employee s

actual performance with his or her duties and performance standards. Managers use
job analysis to learn what these duties and standards are.
COMPENSATION (such as salary and bonus) usually depends on the job s required
skill and education level, safety hazards, degree of responsibility, and so on all factors
you assess through job analysis.

TRAINING The job description lists the job s specific duties and requisite skills and
therefore the training that the job requires. Job analysis is important in helping
employers execute their overall strategic plans. The accompanying Strategic Context
feature illustrates this.

Types of Information Collected

* Work activities. First, he or she collects information about the job s actual work
activities, such as cleaning, selling, teaching, or painting. This list may also include how,
why, and when the worker performs each activity.
* Human behaviors. Information about human behaviors the job requires, like sensing,
communicating, lifting weights, or walking long distances.
Machines, tools, equipment, and work aids. Information regarding tools used,
materials processed, knowledge dealt with or applied (such as finance or law), and
services rendered (such as counseling or repairing).
* Performance standards. Information about the job s performance standards (in terms
of quantity or quality levels for each job duty, for instance).
* Job context. Information about such matters as physical working conditions, work
schedule, incentives, and, for instance, the number of people with whom the employee
would normally interact.
* Human requirements. Information such as knowledge or skills (education, training,
work experience) and required personal attributes (aptitudes, personality, interests).

Conducting a Job Analysis/Steps in Job Analysis

There are six steps in doing a job analysis, as follows.

STEP 1: DECIDE HOW YOU LL USE THE INFORMATION This will determine the data
you collect. Some data collection techniques like interviewing the employee are good for
writing job descriptions. Other techniques, like the position analysis questionnaire we
describe later, provide numerical ratings for each job; these can be used to compare
jobs for compensation purposes.

STEP 2: REVIEW RELEVANT BACKGROUND INFORMATION SUCH AS

ORGANIZATION CHARTS, PROCESS CHARTS, AND JOB DESCRIPTIONS11
Organization charts show the organization-wide division of work, and where the job fits
in the overall organization. The chart should show the title of each position and, by
means of interconnecting lines, who reports to whom and with whom the job compulsory
communicates. A process chart provides a more detailed picture of the work flow. In its
simplest form a process chart shows the flow of inputs to and outputs from the job you
re analyzing WORKFLOW ANALYSIS AND JOB REDESIGN Job analysis enables the
manager to list what a job s duties and demands are now. Job analysis does not answer
questions such as Does how this job relates to other jobs make sense? or Should this
job even exist? To answer such questions, it s necessary to conduct a workflow
analysis.

STEP 3: SELECT REPRESENTATIVE POSITIONS Whether or not the manager

decides to redesign jobs via workforce analysis, process redesign, or job redesign, he
or she must at some point select which positions to focus on for the job analysis. For
example, it is usually unnecessary to analyze the jobs of 200 assembly workers when a
sample of 10 jobs will do.

STEP 4: ACTUALLY ANALYZE THE JOB BY COLLECTING DATA ON JOB

ACTIVITIES, WORKING CONDITIONS, AND HUMAN TRAITS AND
ABILITIES NEEDED TO PERFORM THE JOB In brief, analyzing the job involves
greeting participants; briefly explaining the job analysis process and the participants
roles in this process; spending about 15 minutes interviewing the employees to get
agreement on a basic summary of the job; identifying the jobs broad areas of
responsibility, such as calling on potential clients ; and identifying duties/tasks within
each area interactively with the employees.13

STEP 5: VERIFY THE JOB ANALYSIS INFORMATION WITH THE WORKER

PERFORMING THE JOB AND WITH HIS OR HER IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR
This will help confirm that the information is factually correct and complete and help
to gain their acceptance.

STEP 6: DEVELOP A JOB DESCRIPTION AND JOB SPECIFICATION The job

description describes the activities and responsibilities of the job, as well as its
important features, such as working conditions. The job specification summarizes the
personal qualities, traits, skills, and background required for getting the job done.

Methods of Collecting Job Analysis Information:

The Interview
Job analysis interviews range from completely unstructured interviews ( Tell me about
your job ) to highly structured ones containing hundreds of specific items to check off.
Managers may conduct individual interviews with each employee, group interviews with
groups of employees who have the same job, and/or supervisor interviews with one or
more supervisors who know the job. They use group interviews when a large number of
employees are performing similar or identical work, since this can be a quick and
inexpensive way to gather information.

Questionnaires:
Have employees fill out questionnaires to describe their job-related duties and
responsibilities. Some questionnaires are very structured checklists. A typical job
analysis questionnaire might include several open-ended questions. A questionnaire is
a quick and efficient way to obtain information from a large number of employees
developing the questionnaire and testing it can be time consuming and expensive.

Observation
Direct observation is especially useful when jobs consist mainly of observable physical
activities assembly-line worker and accounting clerk are examples. Provides first-hand
information Reduces distortion of information

Participant Diary/Logs
Workers keep a chronological diary/ log of what they do and the time spent in each
activity. Produces a more complete picture of the job Employee participation Distortion
of information Depends upon employees to accurately recall their activities

Writing Job Descriptions

Job Description

Job description includes basic job-related data that is useful to advertise a specific job
and attract a pool of talent. It includes information such as job title, job location,
reporting to and of employees, job summary, nature and objectives of a job, tasks and
duties to be performed, working conditions, machines, tools and equipment’s to be used
by a prospective worker and hazards involved in it.

Application/Purpose of Job Description

 The main purpose of job description is to collect job-related data in order to

advertise for a particular job. It helps in attracting, targeting, recruiting and
selecting the right candidate for the right job.
 It is done to determine what needs to be delivered in a particular job. It clarifies
what employees are supposed to do if selected for that particular job opening.
 It gives recruiting staff a clear view what kind of candidate is required by a
particular department or division to perform a specific task or job.
 It also clarifies who will report to whom

Writing Job Specifications

Job Specification

Also known as employee specifications, a job specification is a written statement of

educational qualifications, specific qualities, level of experience, physical, emotional,
technical and communication skills required to perform a job, responsibilities involved in
a job and other unusual sensory demands. It also includes general health, mental
health, intelligence, aptitude, memory, judgment, leadership skills, emotional ability,
adaptability, flexibility, values and ethics, manners and creativity, etc.
Purpose of Job Specification

 Described on the basis of job description, job specification helps candidates

analyze whether are eligible to apply for a particular job vacancy or not.
 It helps recruiting team of an organization understand what level of qualifications,
qualities and set of characteristics should be present in a candidate to make him
or her eligible for the job opening.
 Job Specification gives detailed information about any job including job
responsibilities, desired technical and physical skills, conversational ability and
much more.
 It helps in selecting the most appropriate candidate for a particular job.

Chapter 6

Employee Testing and Selection

Why Careful Selection is Important

PERFORMANCE
First, your own performance always depends on your subordinates. Employees with the
right skills will do a better job for you and the company. Employees without these skills
or who are rude or obstructionist won t perform effectively, and your own performance
and the firms will suffer. The time to screen out undesirables is before they are in the
door, not after.

COST
Second, it is important because it s costly to recruit and hire employees. Hiring and
training even a clerk can cost $5,000 or more in fees and supervisory time. The total
cost of hiring a manager could easily be 10 times as high once you add search fees,
interviewing time, reference checking, and travel and moving expenses.

LEGAL OBLIGATIONS
Third, it s important because mismanaging hiring has legal consequences. For one
thing equal employment laws require nondiscriminatory selection procedures.
Furthermore, someone can sue an employer for negligent hiring. Negligent hiring
means hiring employees with criminal records or other problems who then use access
to customers homes (or similar opportunities) to commit crimes.

Basic testing Concepts

Reliability
is a test s first requirement and refers to its consistency: A reliable test is one that yields
consistent scores when a person takes two alternate forms of the test or when he or she
takes the same test on two or more different occasions. Reliability is very important. If a
person scores 90 on an intelligence test on a Monday and 130 when retested on
Tuesday, you probably wouldnt have much faith in the test.
Validity
Reliability, while indispensable, only tells you that the test is measuring something
consistently. It does not prove that you are measuring what you intend to measure. A
mismanufactured 33-inch yardstick will consistently tell you that 33-inch boards are 33
inches long. Unfortunately, if what you are looking for is a board that is 1 yard long, then
your 33-inch yardstick, though reliable, is misleading you by 3 inches.

Evidence-Based HR: How to Validate a Test.

STEP 1: ANALYZE THE JOB

The first step is to analyze the job and write job descriptions and job specifications. The
point is to specify the human traits and skills you believe are required for job
performance. For example, must an applicant be verbal, a good talker? Must the person
assemble small, detailed components?

STEP 2: CHOOSE THE TESTS

Once you know the predictors (such as manual dexterity) the next step is to decide how
to test for them. Employers usually base this choice on experience, previous research,
and best guesses. They usually don t start with just one test. Instead, they choose
several tests and combine them into a test battery.

STEP 3: ADMINISTER THE TEST

Next, administer the selected test(s). One option is to administer the tests to employees
currently on the job. You then compare their test scores with their current performance;
this is concurrent validation.

STEP 4: RELATE YOUR TEST SCORES AND CRITERIA

The next step is to ascertain if there is a significant relationship between test scores and
performance. The usual way to do this is to determine the statistical relationship
between (1) scores on the test and (2) job performance using correlation analysis,
which shows the degree of statistical relationship.

STEP 5: CROSS-VALIDATE AND REVALIDATE

Before using the test, you may want to check it by cross-validating in other words, by
again performing steps 3 and 4 on a new sample of employees. At a minimum, have
someone revalidate the test periodically.

Chapter 7
Interviewing Candidates
Interview
An interview is more than a discussion. An interview is a procedure designed to obtain
information from a person through oral responses to oral inquiries. Employers use
several interviews at work, such as performance appraisal interviews and exit
interviews.
A selection interview (the focus of this chapter) is a selection procedure designed
to predict future job performance based on applicants oral responses to oral inquiries.

Types of interviews: There are many types of interviews that an organization can
arrange. It depends on the objectives of taking the interview. Some important types of
interviews are stated below:

1. Personal interviews: Personal interviews include:

o Selection of the employees
o Promotion of the employees
o Retirement and resignation of the employees

Of course, this type of interview is designed to obtain information through

discussion and observation about how well the interviewer will perform on the
job.

2. Structured interviews: Structured interviews tend to follow formal procedures;

the interviewer follows a predetermined agenda or questions.
 3. Unstructured interviews: When the interview does not follow the formal rules or
procedures. It is called an unstructured interview. The discussion will probably
be free flowing and may shift rapidly form on subject to another depending on the
interests of the interviewee and the interviewer.
4. Stress interviews: It is designed to place the interviewee in a stress situation in
order to observe the interviewees reaction.
5. Panel (broad) interview: An interview in which a group of interviewers questions
the applicant.
6. Mass interview: A panel interviews several candidates simultaneously.

Designing & Conducting -Structured Interviews

STEP 1: Job Analysis- Write a job description with a list of job duties; required
knowledge, skills, and abilities; and other worker qualifications.

STEP 2: Rate each job duty, say from 1 to 5, based on its importance to job success.

STEP 3: Create interview questions for each of the job duties, with more questions for
the important duties.

STEP 4: Next, for each question, develop ideal (benchmark) answers for good (a 5
rating), marginal (a 3 rating), and poor (a 1 rating) answers.

STEP 5: Select a panel consisting of three to six members, preferably the same ones
who wrote the questions and answers. It may also include the job’s supervisor and/or
incumbent, and a human resources representative. The same panel interviews all
candidates for the job, conduct the interview.

Rate of the Job’s main duties

Development of Institution

Questions:

1. EVER YOU WERE INVOLVED IN A DEVELOPMENT POLICIES OF AN

INSTITUTION?

2. HOW WILL YOU FIND WAYS, IF THERE WILL INADEQUATE FUNDS

AVAILABLE FOR INSTITUTION?

3. WHAT ARE MY INSTITUTION’S STRENGTHS AND AREAS OF GROWTH?

4. WHAT SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES HAVE YOU DEVELOPED AND

IMPLEMENTED IN THE PAST?
 5. WHY SHOULD I HIRE YOU?

Benchmark Answers:

How to Conduct an Effective Interview

There are 8 steps to conducting an effective interview
1- Make sure you know the job
Do not start the interview unless you understand the job and what human skills you’re
looking for. Study the job description.

2- Structure the interview

Base questions on actual job duties. Use job knowledge, situational, or behavioral
questions, and know the job to be able to evaluate the interviewee’s answers. Use
descriptive rating scales (excellent, fair, poor) to rate answers. If possible, use a
standardized interview form.

3- Get organized
Hold the interview in a private room where telephone calls are not accepted and you
can minimize interruptions.

4- Establish rapport
The main reason for the interview is to find out about the applicant. To do this, start by
putting the person at ease. Greet the candidate and start the interview by asking a
noncontroversial question, perhaps about the weather or the traffic conditions that day.
Also, let the candidate know what the timeframe is for the interview. Mention how much
time you will likely use and how much time he or she will have to ask questions.

5- Ask questions
Try to follow the situational, behavioral, and job knowledge questions you wrote out
ahead of time.

6- Take notes
Take brief, unobtrusive notes while conducting the interview. Doing so may help avoid
making a snap decision early in the interview, and may also help jog your memory once
the interview is complete.

7- Close the interview

Leave time to answer any questions the candidate may have and, if appropriate, to
advocate your firm to the candidate. .

8- Review the interview

After the candidate leaves, review your interview notes. Then score the interview guide
answers (if you used one), and make a decision. Do this as quickly as possible so your
thoughts and perceptions are as fresh as they can be.

Chapter 8
Training and Developing Employees

ORIENTING AND ONBOARDING NEW EMPLOYEES

Carefully selecting employees doesnt guarantee they ll perform effectively. Even high potential
employees can t do their jobs if they don t know what to do or how to do it. Making sure your
employees do know what to do and how to do it is the purpose of orientation and training. The
human resources department usually designs the company s orientation and training programs,
but the rubber hits the road with the supervisor. He or she does most of the day-to-day orienting
and training. Every manager therefore needs to know how to orient and train employees. We
will start with orientation.

The Purposes of Employee Orientation/Onboarding

Employee orientation involves more than what most people realize.

Employee orientation still provides new employees with the information they need to function
(such as computer passwords and company rules); ideally, though, it should also help new
employees start getting emotionally attached to the firm. You want tom accomplish four things
by orienting new employees:
1. Make the new employee feel welcome and at home and part of the team.
2. Make sure the new employee has the basic information to function effectively, such as e-mail
access, personnel policies and benefits, and what the employer expects in terms of work
behavior.
3. Help the new employee understand the organization in a broad sense (its past, present,
culture, and strategies and vision of the future).
4. Start the person on becoming socialized into the firms culture, values, and ways
of doing things.

Training:
The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a
result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to
specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability,
capacity, and performance.

Training Methods

On-the-job training (OJT) means having a person learn a job by actually doing it.
Every employee, from mailroom clerk to CEO, gets on-the-job training when he or she
joins a firm. In many firms, OJT is the only training available.

Apprenticeship training is a process by which people become skilled workers, usually

through a combination of formal learning and long-term on-the-job training. It
traditionally involves having the learner/apprentice study under the tutelage of a master
craftsperson.

Lecturing is a quick and simple way to present knowledge to large groups of trainees,
as when the sales force needs to learn a new product’s features. Here are some
guidelines for presenting a lecture.

Intelligent tutoring systems are computerized, supercharged, programmed instruction

programs. In addition to the usual programmed learning, intelligent tutoring systems
learn what questions and approaches worked and did not work for the learner, and
therefore adjust the suggested instructional sequence to the trainee’s unique needs.

Learning management systems (LMS) play an important role in Internet training. They
are special software packages that support Internet training by helping employers
identify training needs, and in scheduling, delivering, assessing, and managing the
online training itself.

Chapter 9

Performance Management and Appraisal