HR Management and Labour Legislation: Maximizing Workforce Potential

1. INSTRUCTOR'S MANUAL Chapter 11 INSTRUCTOR'S MANUAL HUMAN-RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND THE SA LABOUR LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK

2. Outcomes • The relationship between line management and the human-resources department • Process involved in HR planning • Finding qualified workers • Developing qualified workers • Keeping qualified workers • Motivating employees • Labour legislation that impacts the workplace

3. Introduction • What separates top-performing companies from their competitors is the way they treat their workforce. • Companies that invest in their employees create long-lasting competitive advantages • The process of finding, developing and keeping the right people to form a qualified workforce remains one of the most difficult and most important of all management tasks

4. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH EMPLOYEES

5. The role of HR management in the organisation • Crucial element in organisational success • Role of the human resources function • Human-resources management • Organisational effectiveness • Who performs the human-resources function

6. The HR function • Main role is the strategic partner = show the org strategy regarding people. • Labour productivity has to be addressed for SA to be productive in the global market • Improve skills-base of employees = more profitability. • Legal environment – accountability (NB!) • Importance of recruiting, selecting, training, developing, rewarding, assisting and motivation employees • Focus on integration and teamwork of employees , which leads to…. • Job satisfaction

8. HR management and organisational effectiveness • Effective organisations must have vision, a mission and a strategy • People create ideas, and help companies prosper • Successful companies have following attributes: • A participative style of management • Communication with all levels of employees • Promotion from within • Training of employees • Rewarding of good work

9. HR management and organisational effectiveness • For org. to be really effective, HR must be key element. • Contribution of HR to organisational effectiveness should include: • Assisting everybody to reach goals • Efficient use of skills and abilities • Training and motivating employees • Job satisfaction and self-actualisation • Desirable quality of working life • Maintaining ethical policies and socially responsible behaviour • Managing change to advantage of individuals and public • Executing HR functions in professional manner

10. How can you be effective?

11. Who performs the HR function? • HR specialist – help person do their job asap. • HR department – works with employees • If no HR? - Line managers and direct supervisors • A human resources specialist is normally employed in organisations with 50 to 150 employees • A human resources department is typically created when the number of employees reaches a figure of between 200 and 500.

12. HR planning • Process of using org goals and strategy to forecast the org HR needs in terms of finding, developing and keeping qualified workforce

13. HR planning steps • Step 1: Identify the work being done in the business presently. • Job analysis and job description • Step 2: Identify the type of employees needed to do the work • Job specification • Step 3: Identify number of employees needed in future • HR forecasting and planning

14. Job Analysis • First step: To determine the nature of the work being done • Job analysis: Process of describing and recording information about job behaviours and activities • What questions should be asked when doing a job analysis? • Information can be collected by: • Observation by a qualified job analyst • Video taping, audiotaping, electronic monitoring • Administrative work – interviewing • Questionnaires (Answer specific questions about job)

15. Job Description • Information from job analysis put into writing in a certain format = • job description • Usually prepared in predetermined format that is easily readable. • Starts with a summary of the job • Followed by a brief description of each main task • Practical examples and subdivisions • This document can differ from business to business

17. Job Specification • Personal qualifications of employee in order to perform the duties in the job description • Indicates the knowledge, skills, abilities relevant to the job, includes: • education, specialised training, personal traits & • Physical demands

19. Human resource forecasting • Do forecasts of quantity and quality of employees the business will need in the future • To balance the HR supply with the HR demand • Factors to consider: • Economic growth (exp growth of business) • New developments in business (new branches?) • Labour market (sufficient opportunities)

20. HR PLAN • Final step in HR planning process • Purpose: to provide concrete guidelines and steps that indicate how the business’s short, medium and long-term HR requirements can be provided for • Should dovetail (merge/ unite) with the strategic plan • In the end, HR plan makes provision for an active recruiting campaign, etc…

21. Recruiting: Layout…. • Recruitment from inside • Recruitment from outside • The recruitment procedure • Recruiting techniques • Recruitment through advertisements • Recruitment through consultants and labour agencies • Recruitment through exisitng employees • Recruitment though personal approach • Recruitment through radio, TV and the internet • Sundry recruiting strategies

22. FINDING QUALIFIED WORKERS • Recruiting: • To ensure that a sufficient number of applicants apply for various jobs in the business as and when required • Two basic sources • Inside the organisation • Outside the organisation

23. FINDING QUALIFIED WORKERS • Recruitment from inside: (internal recruiting) • Trying to fill positions using existing staff • People from outside only appointed at lowest levels • Senior jobs filled by means of promotion • When a job at a very senior level becomes vacant, the result is a whole series of promotions • Advantages and disadvantages

24. Advantages: • Career planning becomes possible, there is a future for me in this business • Assessment of applicants is easier.. • Cost of recruitment is lower – no ads needed

25. Disadvantages • Business can stagnate – no new “blood” and ideas • Staff in lower positions, don’t always have ability to fill more senior positions. • Personal competition between employees. Can influence co-operation.

26. FINDING QUALIFIED WORKERS • Recruitment from outside : External recruiting • Advantages and disadvantages p. 297 • Most business use a combination of both internal and external recruitment in one of two ways: • First look inside. Only look outside if you cannot find a suitable candidate • Advertise all jobs above a certain level and allow existing staff to apply

27. Recruiting procedure • Record-system is needed when recruiting from the inside: • HRIS – Human Resource Info System • HRIS – details of all employees. When a job becomes vacant, the HR manager can identify suitable candidates • Outside recruitment: Ideal is that only suitable candidates apply • Requires a thorough analysis of the labour market

28. Labour market? • Social or geographical area from which a business draws its employees. • Every labour market has unique characteristics • SA labour market: Relationship between skilled and unskilled workers is unbalanced • Recruit effectively = good for the org.

29. Recruiting techniques • Recruiting through advertisements: • Costly $$$ (Use professionals if you can afford) • Must be in line with Labour Relations Act and Employment Equity Act – words must be neutral • Give specifics – better chances of getting “RIGHT” applicants • Indicate remuneration – Salary • Recruiting through Consultants/labour agencies: • Suitable for smaller businesses • Undertakes preliminary selection and recruitment • Recommends two or three applicants..

30. Recruiting techniques • Through existing employees: • Employees asked to recruit friends or acquintances • If staff feel positively about their work, they will more easily persuade others to apply • No need for advertisements • Through personal approach: • Head-hunting • An individual known personally to the management • Saves recruiting costs • Selection process takes place before recruitment process

31. Recruiting techniques • Through Radio, TV and the Internet: • Costly/not used often in South Africa • Internet more widely used, e.g. careerjet , careers24.com etc… • Other strategies: • Visiting schools, universities to recruit students • Allocation of student bursaries with a compulsory period of service • Participation in career exhibitions • Distribution of general recruitment brochures

32. Selection • We are going to look at: • Preliminary screening – very short interview • Intensive assessment • Psychological testing • Diagnostic interview • Final selection • Placement and induction • Look figure 11.2 p. 300: Steps in a typical selection process

33. Preliminary screening • Compare the application with the job specification • Application form should require: • Personal details – name, address…. • Work history – jobs held previously • References • Significant achievements • What should be answered by the application form? • P. 301 Questions… • Next step is a short interview – general opinion of applicant based on appearance, articulateness and self-confidence ( step 2)

34. Intensive assessment • Two steps: • Psychological testing Measure applicant’s personality, abilities, management skills. Must ensure tests are not culturally biased (steps 3 & 4) • Diagnostic interviewing Looks for certain characteristics by asking specific questions. See examples in textbook Can’t be discriminatory. May not ask questions about the person’s religious convictions or sexual preferences (step 6)

35. Final Selection • Enough information to compile a short list of candidates • HR manager must consult their references • Useful to interview all three again, record their strengths and weaknesses • Most suitable candidate is offered the job • Advise them of conditions of employment • Might have to undergo medical examination

36. Placement and induction • New employee must report for duty as soon as possible • Copies of documents and certificates • Go through a process of induction (orientation / socialisation) • What will the induction programme achieve? • P. 302

37. Developing qualified workers • We are looking at……. • Human-resources development (HRD) • Development methods • Informal development in the work situation • Formal development in the work situation • Informal development outside the work situation • Formal development outside the work situation • The danger of the “shotgun” approach to development • Performance appraisal

38. HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT (HRD) • HR manager has dual responsibility: ensuring that the company employs sufficient staff/ creating opportunities for employees to make themselves more valuable to the company • Need to distinguish between: • Training and development • Technical and management training

39. Training and Development • Training: providing employees with knowledge and skills needed to do a particular task or job • Developmental activities: • longer-term focus on preparing for future work responsibilities while at the same time increasing capacity of employee to perform current duties

40. HR Development • Set of systematic and planned activities to provide members with opportunities to learn necessary skills for current and future job demands • Technical training: • Any task that has to be performed physically • Management training: • Tasks such as planning, organising, controlling and managing people

41. HR DEVELOPMENT • Should begin when an employee joins an organisation and continue throughout his/her career • Must respond to job changes • Must integrate long-term plans and strategies of the organisation • Must ensure that employees are given an opportunity for training and development and that they are encouraged to higher levels of competence

42. DEVELOPMENT METHODS • Development activities can be executed in four different ways: • Informal development in the work situation • Employee does not follow an official training program • Learn as they work • Works with experienced employee • Coaching by immediate superior • Job rotation – move to new job…. • Important that it does not happen randomly. HR manager should: • Keep a careful record of each employee’s development progress • Encourage line managers to establish this kind of development • Discuss progress and prospects with each employee

43. DEVELOPMENT METHODS 2. Formal development in the work situation • Employee receives formal qualification • Example: Learnerships • Subordinate allocated to a qualified artisan to do practical training • Subordinate must attend a few block courses at a technical institution • Gets a certificate if he/she has passed the compulsory examination • E.g. defence force, banks

44. DEVELOPMENT METHODS 3. Informal development outside the work situation • Does not receive a qualification • Training courses offered inside the company • Training centres where employees receive training in a variety of subjects, e.g. interpersonal relationships • Training material aimed specifically at the company • Public seminars held by outside companies, attended by people from different companies – training material generalised • Programmed instruction (PI): instructional material broken down into small components, each frame must be completed before you can start the next. Development costs are high • Fixed reading programmes

45. DEVELOPMENT METHODS • 4. Formal development outside the work situation • Formal study programmes presented by educational institutions, e.g. universities/ tertiary institutes. • Contributes to employee’s general development • Some companies even pay for their employees to do this….. NICE!

46. DANGER OF SHOTGUN APPROACH • Many HR managers believe that “any training is valuable” • They aim in a general direction and hope to hit something (shotgun approach) • Should rather make a thorough analysis of development needs and choose programmes to comply with these needs • This ensures that training money is spent only on members who show potential

47. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL • Purpose: To determine: • Where employee has performed exceptionally well • Complied with the requirements of the job • Not complied with requirements for the job • Also called: employee rating, employee evaluation, performance review, performance evaluation, results appraisal

48. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL • DONE BY: • Supervisors • Team members • Employees themselves (self-appraisal) • More objective the appraisal is the more successful • Should involve comparison of work results with quantitative objectives • Some performance appraisal methods also provide for the assessment of an employee’s characteristics • Least effective form of performance is where employees are compared to each other – NOT A GOOD IDEA! • 360 degree system – feedback from different sources in the organisation – then manager interprets.

49. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL • The results of a performance appraisal can be used for three basic purposes • To provide a basis for financial rewards • To determine whether the employee should be promoted higher • To provide the employee with feedback on how well he/she is doing