Questions and Answers of Managing Human Resources

The things that might lead a person to quit might not be the same things that lead a person to stay with an organization.For example, another job offer or the tendency to always be looking for new
Divide the team into three groups. Each group will choose value, brand, or retention equity. Or, if team sizes are smaller, each team will select an equity component. For each equity component,
Generate survey or interview items that would capture value-, brand-, or retention-equity levels in workers. If possible, ask a sample of your friends and neighbors to take a survey based on your
Your company wants to introduce a series of new policies and procedures covering all interactions with external stakeholders. There is a need to ensure that all employees are trained in the same and
Illiterate workers can suffer from embarrassment and fear that keeps them from admitting their problem. Instead, they may cope by asking questions, observing others, and relying on informal
Your distribution company operates in several remote locations around the world. Annually, there is an opportunity for regional managers to meet with their counterparts for a week’s training and
Organizations recognize that crisis training is a necessary step. The problem is predicting the likelihood of a crisis and its nature. It begs the question as whether it should be preventive or
In 2013, Ryanair were named the United Kingdom’s worst brand for customer service by Which?, a Consumer’s Association that had evaluated 100 companies on factors such as staff attitude and their
The traditional training approach is meant to remove a deficit.The use of social media in training can shift the impact of training to supporting performance. Which approach do you think is better?
Can both the traditional deficit-reduction approach to training and the social media style of training be useful in the same organization? Describe.
Join your teammates and develop your approach to using social media to deliver training. What features would your approach have? For example, would you use a collaborative Facebook-like approach? Why
The use of social media allows training to be on demand and available when needed. Can you still apply the four levels of training evaluation (reaction, learning, application, and financial return)
A workplace situation may be dynamic, but deficiencies in performance can still occur. For example, a selection error might occur and a worker may not have a needed skill. Or, equipment or procedures
The vast majority of organizations have some kind of presence on Facebook or Twitter. Others have LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram accounts, which are an integral part of their overall social media
When employees leave an organization, they will have to be replaced and the replacement will need to be hired and trained. Estimates vary, but in order to recruit and get an employee up to speed in
Given your answers to the previous questions, estimate the combined impact on the bottom line of direct and indirect savings generated by training. Extrapolate this number over a one- or two-year
Skills assessment exercises are designed to identify an employee’s skills. One such skills assessment exercise presents employees with a list of skills they must rate on two dimensions: their level
Do you think social media can be effectively used as a career development tool? Why or why not?Career development is a process that can be viewed as consisting of three phases: assessment, direction,
As discussed in the Manager’s Notebook, “Reaching Out to Develop Careers: Social Media as a Skill and a Tool,” what is the difference between social media being a skill and social media being a
As a team, revisit the topic of self-development at the end of his chapter. Specifically, self-development efforts can be directed toward the categories of development and advancement.Do you think
As a team, consider the career development phases of assessment, direction, and development.a. How could technology, such as social media, be used at each phase? Assume that your team is responsible
Social media is a collaborative tool. Do you think there could be downsides to a collaborative approach to developing your career? For example, might there be repercussions from your boss for you
Walgreens Alliance Boots, a major pharmaceutical retailer, employs some 70,000 workers in the UK, many of whom earn less than $9 an hour. The company is headed by Stefano Pessina, who spearheaded
The concept of career anchors indicates that there is more to career development than having and matching skills to competency requirements. Some managers view development as a moral imperative. That
Consider your use of social media and your career development.How separate are these two activities? Identify ways you could utilize social media for your development and for your enhancement.
What do you think is the role of money as a determinant of a person’s satisfaction at work and with life in general? Should organizations worry about this issue? Explain.
One student will role-play a retail store manager who has traditionally been paid a flat basic salary and a percentage of sales generated by their store. The chain has merged with another company and
The HR director of an investment bank has called a meeting of senior employees to discuss the year’s bonuses.While rival banks are giving out bonuses of over$3 million to each senior employee, the
Would you conclude that an organization that offers greater pay improves employee satisfaction with their pay, their job, and life in general? Review the papers by Easterlin and Stevenson and Wolfers
Research firms that have introduced some of the family-support rewards programs discussed in the case opening. What, if anything, do these firms have in common?Is there sufficient evidence to
Why do you think there is an increase in the number of cases alleging violations of the FLSA, one of the oldest pieces of legislation governing compensation passed back in the 1930s? Explain.Alleged
If you were a manager at one of the affected companies, how would you make sure that the company is in compliance with FLSA regulations when dealing with employees such as Mr. Morimoto?
Do you think that workers who complain against employers for FLSA violations may hurt themselves in the marketplace because other firms may refuse to hire them? If you were in Mr. Morimoto’s shoes,
According to one observer, not too long ago professional employees “bragged about their long hours and disdained overtime pay as the mark of a clock-watcher.” The class is divided into teams of
You have been asked by a company to write a section in its employee handbook that specifically outlines the criteria that must be met before employees are eligible for overtime as required by law.
According to a labor attorney, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) “does not define ‘work’ . . . what is compensable‘worktime’ continues to be one of the most hotly debated issues in
What are the pros and cons of Antle’s compensation policies?Are they attuned to its new business strategies of fostering growth, increasing market share, and enhancing flexibility to respond to
What recommendations would you offer Peter Merton for redesigning Antle’s compensation system?Antle Corporation (a fictitious name for a company known to one of this book’s authors) is a large
Reread the Manager’s Notebook, “High-Priced CEOs: Are They Worth It? ” Develop a list of arguments in favor of the position of Prof. Desai (that CEO pay is irrational) and a list of arguments
In early 2014, video game company Nintendo released its nine-month financial results.In the period ending December 31, 2013, its earnings and profits were down by 8.1 percent and 30 percent
More companies are using a compensation system that incorporates customer satisfaction as a more reasonable formula to give incentives to employees. Discuss how you would use such a system. What are
Do you think offering incentives to key contributors motivates them as well as other employees to do a better job?Why or why not? If not, what alternative ways do you propose?
Are there any potential problems with devoting most compensation dollars to rewarding top performers, even if this means neglecting investments to improve the welfare of all employees (such as day
In examples of profit-sharing with employees, once the total pool is established, the business needs to develop a methodology for providing individual rewards that are clear, logical, and fair. If
Class is divided into two groups. One group must defend and support the awarding of bonuses on the basis of annual financial targets. The second group needs to support a more complex range of goals,
Might it be desirable to use a combination of team-based and individual incentives at Lakeside Utility Company?How might such a plan be structured?Lakeside Utility Company provides electrical power
Students form pairs. One student takes the role of Pamela Johnson; the other, the role of an HRM consultant Johnson has hired to help her decide what to do next.Role-play the meeting between the two.
This experiential exercise involves a group of six students.One will be a manager and five will be part of a team that has worked closely together during the past year. A bonus of $12,000 is to be
Go online and find recent publications and case studies on the use of team-based incentives in industry. Based on this information, would you recommend the use of team-based incentives? Why or why
Divide the class into teams of five. Some teams are asked to defend the position that the proposed plan is fair and reasonable; other teams are asked to argue that this is a dangerous proposal that
Divide the class into teams of five. Each team is asked to evaluate the proposed plan and develop a set of conclusions about whether the plan should be accepted as is or should be modified, and, if
There is much in the literature on gainsharing and profit sharing, and one of the key issues is the extent to which any money generated by that incentive plan should be divided equally among
What can an organization do to ensure that merit pay and other incentives are administered fairly? What kind of data would you gather to ensure that the pay-for-performance system is not biased in
A large retailer wants to link two key issues into one neat solution. Employee purchases are problematic as they are irregular and unpredictable. At the same time, there is a need to overhaul the
What is the average number of paid holidays per year that most employees receive from their employers? What are the usual arrangements in terms of remuneration if employees work on designated
What can retirement benefits specialists in the United States learn from the successful experience of the Australian Superannuation retirement program? Do you think that American citizens would
Although Australia’s Superannuation program has been successful, experts have pointed out a flaw in the design—it does not provide for an annuity option for most of the retirees.An annuity
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index, compiled by Mercer and the Australian Centre for Financial Studies, is a comparison of 18 pension schemes that together account for around 50 percent of the
Although the Superannuation retirement program in Australia uses a defined contribution retirement plan design, retirement benefits in many countries base their retirement system on a defined benefit
What do you think of the fact that Google’s child care is designed for children who are intellectually gifted and uses expensive learning techniques and highly paid teachers?Google provides some of
With a group of four or five students, assume that you are consultants that Google has invited to study the controversy surrounding the change in cost of the child-care benefits policy due to the
Assume you have a child enrolled at an on-site child care facility at the company where you work. This policy lets you have lunch with your child every day, and you can drop in and see your child
Assume that you are working in a company and you believe that your supervisor gave you a pay raise that is unfair and less than you deserve based on your performance.This is not the first time this
Why do companies such as Google let employees play volleyball, roller hockey, and other games at work? Is there a business reason why employees are permitted to play games at the workplace?
Laura Brounstein is the special projects direction for Cosmopolitan magazine. She believes that work and fun should be synonymous. In 2014, she designed the “Fun Fearless Life Weekend”.
In this exercise, think how you would react to some specific situations where you may be required to have fun as a job requirement. Can you see yourself having fun in the situations listed here? If
How do New Belgium’s green business practices contribute to positive employee relations?Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch, the husband and wife founders of New Belgium Brewing Company, envisioned
Terrorism-related stress tends to foster negative attitudes towards the local population and this may compound the adjustment problems of the expatriate and family. How can a multinational help deal
The Internet is having a pervasive impact on how organizations manage their human resources.How has the Internet impacted HR management? What would you consider the most significant impact? Justify
A lot of the growth in the HR practices over the past four decades can be attributed to its crucial role in keeping a company out of trouble with the law. Why has this become such a difficult task?
Why do you think there is such a massive difference in the wages paid to employees across the European Union? The EU is a single marketplace, yet the minimum wages are different. Explain.
What implications are there for businesses that have workers in several different EU countries? What are the ethical issues of offering differential pay?Twenty-two out of twenty-eight governments of
What role, if any, should the HR department play in attempting to harmonize pay across a multinational organization?Explain.Twenty-two out of twenty-eight governments of the European Union member
The class is divided into groups of five and allocated a country in the EU that has either a high or a low minimum wage. Justify the level of wages paid in the country and explain why that makes it
Five students will take the side of the high minimum wage countries and five students will take the opposite side.The two teams will debate the case for a high versus a low minimum wage in front of
There are rumors that the European Parliament is broadly in favor of imposing a blanket EU minimum wage. In traditionally high cost countries, wages will be driven down and in most of the rest of the
For some organizations self-managed teams seem to be the way forward, but why do they need an extended period of time before they are fully effective? It seems to be the case that self-managed teams
Temporary employees are being used with increasing regularity throughout the world. In France, one in five workers is on a temporary or part-time contract, and in the UK more than 25 percent of the
What kind of internship would be ideal for you at the end of this program of study? What opportunities do you think there are in your own country or will you have to travel in order to find the right
Form a small group with several class members and discuss the following scenario: The owner-manager of a small, four-person consulting firm works long hours on multiple projects and expects his three
The concept of work–life balance is applicable if it is possible to retain and sustain your social and family life at the same time as following a career path. For many, the prospect of having to
Do you agree or disagree with the CEO’s decision to ban employees from telecommuting at Yahoo? What is the basis of your position?In February 2013 Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer decided that starting in
Critics of the decision to restrict telecommuting at Yahoo point to the poor financial and stock market performance of Yahoo in the years prior to this order, and they suggest that the CEO’s motive
Form a small group of four or five students and discuss your preference for the type of learning environment in which you can take a human resource management course for university credit and learn
Assume that you are employed at Yahoo as a marketing analyst and you have just been told that you no longer are allowed to telecommute from your home office. Instead, you will now be expected to do
Quotas can be seen as means by which resources and opportunities are transferred from an advantaged group to a disadvantaged group. Some justify this approach by stating that it addresses past
Multi-cultural and multi-religious workforces have complicated the issues surrounding paid holidays for religious festivals and observance. In some countries, where there is a state religion, the
A serious barrier to employment of people with disabilities continues to be a perception problem. Managers and coworkers lack knowledge, awareness, and comfort in working with employees with
The purpose of this exercise is to raise your self-awareness of some of the problems faced by employees with disabilities in the workforce. Assume that you have had an accident that will restrict
Examine the situation of women in senior positions in your own country. Explore the Web sites to learn more about the women who are either the CEO or chairperson at these companies. The Web sites
Form a team with several students and develop a generic noncompete agreement that could be used by a company.Describe the company where the noncompete agreement will be used. Which types of jobs will
In the role of an HR legal specialist, you have been approached by an inventor in your own country who is being threatened by their former employer. The former employee worked for the company for 10
In the UK, there is an estimate of 270 nationalities and 300 languages. Even this is only part of the story as within these figures are hundreds of sub-groups and identities. With an imperfect
Are men really fundamentally suited to positions of authority compared to women?Is that truly the case after five decades of feminism, affirmative action, and countless other initiatives across many
Do you really think that social sites may inadvertently reinforce“segmented communication channels” as discussed in this chapter? Explain.While recommending a friend for a job has always been a
If you were an HR executive in a company that relies on internal referrals using the social media, what steps would you take to prevent this practice from engendering a more homogeneous workforce and
Some companies now use incentives for current employees when new hires are socially linked to them and thus their social sites served as a source of internal referrals. What are the pros and cons of
The director of HR has appointed you to a committee responsible for investigating allegations that reliance on internal referrals through social sites undermines the diversity efforts of the firm.
Research social sites that may be used for internal referrals and those job sites that are open to any potential candidate.Based on this research, do you think that the social sites may promote more
In a role-playing exercise, one of the students is asked to take the position in favor of heavy reliance on internal referrals, in particular by combing social sites. Another student is asked to

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