CHAPTER 4 - LISA



CHAPTER 4 - LISA

Answers to Review and Discussion Questions

Question 1: Differentiate between radical organisational change and incremental organisational change.

Answer: Radical change occurs when organisations make major adjustments in the ways they do business. Radical change is relatively infrequent and takes a long time to complete. Radical change is undertaken intentionally, often requiring huge investments in planning and implementation. Radical change is an organisational "big bang" affecting all key stakeholders. Incremental change is an ongoing process of evolution in which many small changes occur routinely. The cumulative effect of these changes may transform the organisation.

Question 2: Discuss the impact of the external environment on HR planning.

Answer: Government influences include rules and regulations, tax credits, educational policies, and immigration policies. Economic conditions such as inflation, growth, and unemployment affects labour supply. Geographic and competitive concerns impact the supply of labour, in addition to changes in the composition of the workforce and the use of flexible staffing.

Question 3: Why must HR planning be seen as a process flowing from the organisational strategic plan?

Answer: Human resource planning is the process of analysing and identifying an organisation's need for and availability of human resources so that the organisation can meet its objectives. While HR specialists prepare the plan based on external data, operating managers play a pivotal role in identifying the supply and demand factors of future job needs for their respective departments and divisions. Managers also are involved in reviewing and discussing the HR plans and suggesting appropriate modifications.

HR planning must conform to the organisation's strategic plan since each department's plan must result in efforts that contribute to achieving the goals of the organisation. HR planning, therefore, is little different from planning that occurs in all other departments.

Question 4: Why are the time frame and methods used to forecast supply and demand for human resources so important?

Answer: Organisations commit resources as a result of forecasts. The common denominator of resources is money. For example, a forecast of an economic expansion could result in an organisation increasing its plant size and number of employees. Should the forecast prove erroneous, workers face layoffs, and unused plant capacity places a financial strain on the organisation. The forecasting time frame extends from short-range ones of about six months to long-range forecasting. Accuracy generally becomes less as the forecast time period increases.

The forecasting methods range from a manager's "hunch" to ones developed through the use of powerful computers. Regardless of the existence of sophisticated forecasting methods, the more common forecasting models remain judgmental. Managers feel their experience provides an ample basis upon which to forecast future needs for the areas of an organisation's operation.

The time frame determines the period to be included in the forecast. If too short a period is used, major factors that influence an organisation's survivability may not be noted. Similarly, selecting a time period too long for a particular firm or industry may be too far in advance and rely on too many "what-if" factors to guide its predictions. Regarding the methods, the complexity of the methods used is dependent upon the skills of the HR specialists and their associates, as well as on the degree of sophistication desired by top management. Both the size and diversification of an organisation will be important determinants.

Question 5: Assume that as a result of HR planning, a hospital identifies a shortage of physical therapists but a surplus of administrative workers. Discuss the actions that might be taken to address these problems, and explain why they must be approached carefully.

Answer: The changing nature of health care, insurance coverage, and human longevity have, no doubt, contributed to the situation facing this hospital. As people live longer, they have greater need for physical therapy. The combination of people being more health-conscious and improved technology for medication has contributed to the bed surplus in hospitals that results in an excess of administrators. A hospital cannot meet its objectives with an imbalance of skilled personnel.

With respect to the shortage of physical therapists, the hospital administration should consider such alternatives as recruiting where qualified persons might apply for the positions, using "search" firms that specialise in locating persons having needed skills, raiding the ranks of other employers, contact with training institutions, and working with its trade association to make its needs better known in the professional community.

The surplus of administrative workers cannot be ignored because of the potential financial drain on the hospital. The least disruptive method is to allow attrition to bring about the needed reduction since as people quit, retire, or die, no replacements are sought. Other methods include transferring persons to areas where they are needed and providing retraining as necessary. Contacts can be made with other institutions to determine if they have shortages that could be filled. Should the surplus persist, buy-out plans may be considered, but with the danger that persons in specialties of short supply will take advantage of the buy-out, and leave the hospital in worse condition. The last resort is that of discharging persons because of economic factors, but perhaps with such palliative as severance benefits, and assistance in obtaining new employment.

Regardless of the method of resolving either the shortage of physical therapists or the overabundance of administrators, care must be exercised to avoid creating new problems of more magnitude than the ones being resolved. For instance, in the case of discharging an employee, the procedure must be such that the employee could not prevail in a wrongful discharge lawsuit. Regardless of which problem is being addressed, there is also the overall possibility of the remaining employees perceiving the methods used to have been unfair, and they now prepare to seek other employment.

Question 6: Describe the following key elements of the HRP process: making forecasts, performing supply analysis and balancing supply and demand considerations.

Answer: Employment forecasting involves estimating in advance the number and type of people needed to meet organisational objectives. It may involve a quantitative approach using statistical analysis and mathematical models for a qualitative approach focusing on employee performance and promotability.

Supply analysis determines if there are sufficient numbers and types of employees available to staff anticipated openings. Sources of supply can be external or internal.

HR planning should strive for a proper balance between the emphasis placed on demand considerations and that placed on supply considerations. Demand considerations are based on the forecast of trends in business activity. Supply considerations involve the determination of where and how candidates with the required qualifications are to be found to fill vacancies.

Question 7: Describe the primary uses of HR research.

Answer: The primary uses of HR research include the following: (1) the measurement and evaluation of present conditions; (2) the prediction of future conditions, events, and behavioural patterns; (3) the evaluation of current policies, programmes and activities; (4) the discovery of rational bases for revising current policies, programmes, and activities; and (5) the appraisal of proposed policies, programmes, and activities.

Question 8: Discuss the areas in which a business firm may find it beneficial to conduct applied research.

Answer: Basic research seeks to advance knowledge in the area being examined, primarily for the sake of science, and leaving it for others to attempt to apply the findings. Applied research takes place in practically any area related to HRM (EE, recruiting and selection, job design, PA, labour and employee relations, T&D, etc.), and within many business functions. Consider the use of historical studies - examining past records to attempt to predict or learn something which can be used now or in the future. Almost all managerial functions perform such applied research. Production, planning, engineering, finance, accounting, marketing, HR, and all other functions and departments which rely on the use of data/information today find themselves performing what can be called applied research.

Question 9: What are the steps involved in conducting a controlled experiment?

Answer: The experiment (which implies "control") includes the following steps: (1) define the problems; (2) evaluate alternatives and select an alternative; (3) state the hypothesis; (4) select the experimental and control groups; (5) measure experimental and control groups prior to the intervention or manipulation (for a pretest-posttest design); (6) conduct the experiment (e.g. administer the intervention); (7) measure experimental and control groups after the intervention or manipulation; and (8) analyse data, draw conclusions, and report the results.

Actually there are many other controlled experiment designs, but this pretest-posttest design is one of the most popular and illustrates the points of control.

Question 10: What causes employee absenteeism? How may absenteeism be reduced?

Answer: In broad terms, two factors affect employee attendance - motivation to attend and ability to attend. In general, this would suggest that an employee is absent when s/he is not motivated to show up (and this can be broken down into many factors), and/or it was impossible or difficult to show up. An interaction between the two might also yield some possible explanations.

Reducing absenteeism is one of the HR manager's toughest problems, and the task should begin by researching very carefully the causes of absenteeism. Research techniques including interviews, surveys, and the historical analysis of personnel records (attendance records, medical leave records etc.) should be considered. Strategies currently in place - policies, rewards punishments, etc. - should also be examined to attempt to determine what effect, if any, they are currently having on this problem.

Any new strategies should be implemented only after a careful analysis is completed. Remember that, for instance, while there is a positive correlation between job dissatisfaction and absenteeism (and turnover) the causal relationship is not clear, and simply knowing that there is a high level of dissatisfaction does not indicate any one specific tactic to use. Some tactics and strategies which might be productive in reducing absenteeism include: (1) strengthening the match between the employee and the job; (2) enriching the job; (3) rewarding good attendance; (4) human relations skill improvement for the supervisors; (5) using positive disciplinary and counselling techniques; (6) creation of small, cohesive work groups; (7) clarifying attendance standards; (8) creating safe, healthy working environments; (9) day care facilities; (10) assistance for the troubled employee; and (11) involvement of employees in the design of any attendance program/policy.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download