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Preface

Competing books are focused on the academic part of HRM, which is necessary in a university or college setting. However, the goal with this book is not only to provide the necessary academic background information but also to present the material with a practitioner's focus on both large and small businesses. While the writing style is clear and focused, we don't feel jargon and ten-dollar words are necessary to making a good textbook. Clear and concise language makes the book interesting and understandable (not to mention more fun to read) to the future HRM professional and manager alike. It is highly likely that anyone in business will have to take on an HRM role at some point in their careers. For example, should you decide to start your own business, many of the topics discussed will apply to your business. This is the goal of this book; it is useful enough for the HRM professional, but the information presented is also applicable to managers, supervisors, and entrepreneurs. Besides these differences, other key differences include the following: This book utilizes a technology focus and shows how HRM activities can be leveraged using technology. We have also included a chapter on communication and information about motivational theories. Since communication is a key component of HRM, it makes sense to include it as a full chapter in this book. Human motivation is one of the cornerstones of HR, which is why we include information on this as well. Rather than dividing certain chapters, we have combined some chapters to provide the entire picture of related topics at once. For example, in Chapter 6 "Compensation and Benefits", we discuss both pay and benefits, instead of separating them into two chapters. The exercises and cases utilize critical thinking skills and teamwork to help the points come through. The Fortune 500 boxes focus on the concepts and how large companies apply these concepts. However, we still focus on small- and medium-sized businesses. Practical application is the focus of this book. We want you to be able to read the book and apply the concepts. We feel this approach makes the material much more useful, instead of only academic. We use several YouTube videos in each chapter. The author introduces each chapter in a video format. How Would You Handle This? situations in the book utilize critical-thinking skills to think about ethical situations in HRM. Each situation also includes audio examples on how an HRM professional or manager could handle the situation.

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These features and pedagogical components make the book easy to read and understand while still maintaining an academic focus.

Organization

The organization of the book is intuitive. The book follows the process HR professionals or managers will go through as they ensure they have the right employees at the right time to make sure the company is productive and profitable. In Chapter 1 "The Role of Human Resources", we discuss the role of human resources in business and why, in a constantly changing world, the HRM function is key to a successful business. In Chapter 2 "Developing and Implementing Strategic HRM Plans", we discuss HR strategic plans and how those plans should be developed. Strategic planning is necessary to tie company objectives with HRM objectives, but it is also important to have a "people plan" and address the ever-changing work environment. In Chapter 3 "Diversity and Multiculturalism", we discuss the diversity aspect of business and why multiculturalism is so important to ensuring a healthy organization. In Chapter 4 "Recruitment", recruitment, the process for getting the most qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds, is the focus. We discuss some of the important laws to consider when hiring people and methods to recruit highly qualified individuals. In Chapter 5 "Selection", we talk about the selection process. Once you have recruited people, you must organize the process that selects the best candidate. This can include interviewing, employment tests, and selecting the criteria by which candidate performance will be measured. In Chapter 6 "Compensation and Benefits", we discuss how you compensate individuals through pay, benefits, vacation time, and other incentives. Chapter 7 "Retention and Motivation" discusses the talent management approach--that is, how you can retain the best employees through retention strategies and motivation techniques. The training and development aspect of HRM is likely one of the most important aspects of HRM. After you have gone through the time and effort to recruit, select, and compensate the employee, you will need to ensure career growth through continuing training, which is the focus of Chapter 8 "Training and Development".

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 Since communication is a key component to any and all aspects of HRM, we have a detailed discussion on communication and management style. While some of the information may be covered in other classes on topics in which people (such as HRM) are the focus, a review on communication is important. In Chapter 9 "Successful Employee Communication", we also discuss management styles, since this is an important form of communication, and in fact, many people leave organizations because of their managers.

Chapter 10 "Managing Employee Performance" discusses some of the possible performance issues and how to handle those performance issues. We also discuss employee discipline and how to handle layoffs.

Chapter 11 "Employee Assessment" focuses on how to assess performance of the employee. We address performance evaluation systems and methods.

Most HRM professionals will work with unions, the focus of Chapter 12 "Working with Labor Unions". The unionization process, how to negotiate union contracts, and history of labor unions are discussed.

Employee safety and health are necessary to a productive workplace. Chapter 13 "Safety and Health at Work" addresses some of the health and safety issues, such as drug use, carpal tunnel, and other issues relating to keeping employees healthy at work.

Finally, Chapter 14 "International HRM" looks at the differences between international HRM and domestic HRM. We discuss the recruitment, selection, and retention components of international HRM.

Features

Each chapter contains several staple and innovative features as follows: Opening situation: The opening situation is used to show how the chapter topics have real-life

applications for HR professionals and managers. The short openings are straightforward and show the practical application of the concepts. Learning objectives by section: Instead of a long list of learning objectives at the front of the chapter, we divide the learning objectives by section and offer exercises and key terms for every section in the book. This is a great way to "self-check" and make sure the key concepts are learned before moving to the next section. How Would You Handle This? situation: These situations are created to utilize critical-thinking skills that are necessary for strategic HRM. The situations are ethics-based in nature and also include audio that discusses the situation.

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 Introduction video: Every chapter includes an introductory video by the author, discussing the importance of the chapter to HRM.

YouTube videos: Since the book is technology focused, it makes sense to use the free technology available to cement many of the concepts. Each chapter has at least two YouTube videos, with some chapters including up to five or six.

Figures: There are numerous figures in every chapter. I think you will find they are clear and focused but are not a series of endless graphs and charts of statistics that are interesting but of little value to learning the key strategic concepts in HRM.

Case study: The case study at the end of every chapter is a good way to make sure students have learned the material. The case presents real-world situations and utilizes HRM knowledge and skills to complete. The case studies are often tied to not only the current chapter but also past chapters to ensure continued application of past concepts.

Team activities: The team activities will sometimes require students to work in small groups but may also involve the entire class. These activities are designed to promote communication, teamwork, and of course, the specific HRM concept, which are all valuable skills in HRM.

Instructor's Manual: The instructor's manual includes PowerPoint slides with notes, author teaching notes, exercise solutions, extra discussion questions, video to accompany the case study, and an additional case study. In addition to these features, additional YouTube videos are included to share with your class if you wish. A 1,400 question test bank is also included, with true-or-false, fill-in-the-blank, multiplechoice, and essay questions.

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Chapter 1: The Role of Human Resources

Human Resource Management Day to Day

You have just been hired to work in the human resource department of a small company. You heard about the job through a conference you attended, put on by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Previously, the owner of the company, Jennifer, had been doing everything related to human resource management (HRM). You can tell she is a bit critical about paying a good salary for something she was able to juggle all on her own. On your first day, you meet the ten employees and spend several hours with the company owner, hoping to get a handle on which human resource processes are already set up. Shortly after the meeting begins, you see she has a completely different perspective of what HRM is, and you realize it will be your job to educate her on the value of a human resource manager. You look at it as a personal challenge--both to educate her and also to show her the value of this role in the organization. First, you tell her that HRM is a strategic process having to do with the staffing, compensation, retention, training, and employment law and policies side of the business. In other words, your job as human resources (HR) manager will be not only to write policy and procedures and to hire people (the administrative role) but also to use strategic plans to ensure the right people are hired and trained for the right job at the right time. For example, you ask her if she knows what the revenue will be in six months, and Jennifer answers, "Of course. We expect it to increase by 20 percent." You ask, "Have you thought about how many people you will need due to this increase?" Jennifer looks a bit sheepish and says, "No, I guess I haven't gotten that far." Then you ask her about the training programs the company offers, the software used to allow employees to access pay information online, and the compensation policies. She responds, "It looks like we have some work to do. I didn't know that human resources involved all of that." You smile at her and start discussing some of the specifics of the business, so you can get started right away writing the strategic human resource management plan.

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What Is Human Resources?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Explain the role of HRM in organizations. 2. Define and discuss some of the major HRM activities.

Every organization, large or small, uses a variety of capital to make the business work. Capital includes cash, valuables, or goods used to generate income for a business. For example, a retail store uses registers and inventory, while a consulting firm may have proprietary software or buildings. No matter the industry, all companies have one thing in common: they must have people to make their capital work for them. This will be our focus throughout the text: generation of revenue through the use of people's skills and abilities.

What Is HRM?

Human resource management (HRM) is the process of employing people, training them, compensating them, developing policies relating to them, and developing strategies to retain them. As a field, HRM has undergone many changes over the last twenty years, giving it an even more important role in today's organizations. In the past, HRM meant processing payroll, sending birthday gifts to employees, arranging company outings, and making sure forms were filled out correctly--in other words, more of an administrative role rather than a strategic role crucial to the success of the organization. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric and management guru, sums up the new role of HRM: "Get out of the parties and birthdays and enrollment forms.... Remember, HR is important in good times, HR is defined in hard times." [1] It's necessary to point out here, at the very beginning of this text, that every manager has some role relating to human resource management. Just because we do not have the title of HR manager doesn't mean we won't perform all or at least some of the HRM tasks. For example, most managers deal with compensation, motivation, and retention of employees--making these aspects not only part of HRM but also part of management. As a result, this book is equally important to someone who wants to be an HR manager and to someone who will manage a business.

Human Resource Recall

Have you ever had to work with a human resource department at your job? What was the interaction like? What was the department's role in that specific organization?

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The Role of HRM

Keep in mind that many functions of HRM are also tasks other department managers perform, which is what makes this information important, despite the career path taken. Most experts agree on seven main roles that HRM plays in organizations. These are described in the following sections.

Staffing

You need people to perform tasks and get work done in the organization. Even with the most sophisticated machines, humans are still needed. Because of this, one of the major tasks in HRM is staffing. Staffing involves the entire hiring process from posting a job to negotiating a salary package. Within the staffing function, there are four main steps: 1. Development of a staffing plan. This plan allows HRM to see how many people they should hire based on revenue expectations. 2. Development of policies to encourage multiculturalism at work.Multiculturalism in the workplace is becoming more and more important, as we have many more people from a variety of backgrounds in the workforce. 3. Recruitment. This involves finding people to fill the open positions. 4. Selection. In this stage, people will be interviewed and selected, and a proper compensation package will be negotiated. This step is followed by training, retention, and motivation.

Development of Workplace Policies

Every organization has policies to ensure fairness and continuity within the organization. One of the jobs of HRM is to develop the verbiage surrounding these policies. In the development of policies, HRM, management, and executives are involved in the process. For example, the HRM professional will likely recognize the need for a policy or a change of policy, seek opinions on the policy, write the policy, and then communicate that policy to employees. It is key to note here that HR departments do not and cannot work alone. Everything they do needs to involve all other departments in the organization. Some examples of workplace policies might be the following:

Discipline process policy Vacation time policy Dress code Ethics policy

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