Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to understand emotions

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to understand
emotions and motivations in yourself and others. Understanding
how to recognize the emotions of others in different situations
is a big communication tool for the manager. It is not unusual
for people to fail to express what they are feeling verbally and
thus leave the listener with an impression that may be false.
Understanding how to read body language or facial expressions
affords the manager additional knowledge as to the speakers'
true stance. It helps to communicate with meaning to the words
we choose. Managers that have a good understanding of EI find
it especially useful in approaching conflict decision-making and
coaching employees.
In your initial post focus on:
· What is EI and how can managers benefit from understanding
EI?
· What role does “Active Listening” play in communication?
· How does the way you handle communication impact decision-
making and efficiency in the workplace?
*Instructions*
*3 pages
*Use scholarly work
*3 References
*No Dot Com
*Prepare this assignment in the APA Style Guide.

Human Resource ManagementHuman Resource Management
Human Resource ManagementHuman Resource Management
[AUTHOR REMOVED AT REQUEST OF ORIGINAL
PUBLISHER]
U N I V E R S I T Y O F M I N N E S O T A L I B R A R I E S
P U B L I S H I N G E D I T I O N , 2 0 1 6 . T H I S E D I T I
O N A D A P T E D F R O M A
W O R K O R I G I N A L L Y P R O D U C E D I N 2 0 1 1 B
Y A P U B L I S H E R W H O H A S R E Q U E S T E D T H A
T I T N O T R E C E I V E
A T T R I B U T I O N .
M I N N E A P O L I S , M N
Human Resource Management by University of Minnesota is
licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike
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Contents

Publisher Information viii
Chapter 1: The Role of Human Resources
1.1 What Is Human Resources? 2
1.2 Skills Needed for HRM 11
1.3 Today’s HRM Challenges 16
1.4 Cases and Problems 27
Chapter 2: Developing and Implementing Strategic HRM Plans
2.1 Strategic Planning 31
2.2 Writing the HRM Plan 41
2.3 Tips in HRM Planning 49
Chapter 3: Diversity and Multiculturalism
3.1 Diversity and Multiculturalism 56
3.2 Diversity Plans 62
3.3 Multiculturalism and the Law 70
Chapter 4: Recruitment
4.1 The Recruitment Process 82
4.2 The Law and Recruitment 91
4.3 Recruitment Strategies 97
Chapter 5: Selection
5.1 The Selection Process 113

5.2 Criteria Development and Résumé Review 118
5.3 Interviewing 124
5.4 Testing and Selecting 132
5.5 Making the Offer 139
Chapter 6: Compensation and Benefits
6.1 Goals of a Compensation Plan 147
6.2 Developing a Compensation Package 151
6.3 Types of Pay Systems 155
6.4 Other Types of Compensation 170
Chapter 7: Retention and Motivation
7.1 The Costs of Turnover 187
7.2 Retention Plans 193
7.3 Implementing Retention Strategies 207
Chapter 8: Training and Development
8.1 Steps to Take in Training an Employee 224
8.2 Types of Training 230
8.3 Training Delivery Methods 237
8.4 Designing a Training Program 244
Chapter 9: Successful Employee Communication
9.1 Communication Strategies 267
9.2 Management Styles 279
Chapter 10: Managing Employee Performance

10.1 Handling Performance 291
10.2 Employee Rights 308
Chapter 11: Employee Assessment
11.1 Performance Evaluation Systems 325
11.2 Appraisal Methods 332
11.3 Completing and Conducting the Appraisal 345
Chapter 12: Working with Labor Unions
12.1 The Nature of Unions 361
12.2 Collective Bargaining 373
12.3 Administration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement
380
Chapter 13: Safety and Health at Work
13.1 Workplace Safety and Health Laws 390
13.2 Health Hazards at Work 399
Chapter 14: International HRM
14.1 Offshoring, Outsourcing 424
14.2 Staffing Internationally 437
14.3 International HRM Considerations 442
Please share your supplementary material! 462

Publisher Information
Human Resource Management is adapted from a work produced
and
distributed under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA)
in 2011
by a publisher who has requested that they and the original
author not
receive attribution. This adapted edition is produced by the
University
of Minnesota Libraries Publishing through the eLearning
Support Initiative.
This adaptation has reformatted the original text, and replaced
some images and figures to make the resulting
whole more shareable. This adaptation has not significantly
altered or updated the original 2011 text. This work
is made available under the terms of a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.
viii
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Chapter 1: The Role of Human Resources
Human Resource Management Day to DayHuman 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.
The Role of Human ResourcesThe Role of Human Resources
(click to see video)
The author introduces the chapter defining the role of human
resource management.
1

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1.1 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?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” (Frasch,
et. al., 2010).
It’s necessary to point out here, at the very beginning of thi s
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.
2

Human Resource RecallHuman 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?
The Role of HRMThe 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.
StaffingStaffing
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 PoliciesDevelopment 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
1 . 1 W H A T I S H U M A N R E S O U R C E S ? • 3
• Ethics policy
• Internet usage policy
These topics are addressed further in Chapter 6 “Compensation
and Benefits”, Chapter 7 “Retention and
Motivation”, Chapter 8 “Training and Developme nt”, and
Chapter 9 “Successful Employee Communication”.
Compensation and Benefits AdministrationCompensation and
Benefits Administration
HRM professionals need to determine that compensation is fair,
meets industry standards, and is high enough to
entice people to work for the organization. Compensation
includes anything the employee receives for his or her
work. In addition, HRM professionals need to make sure the pay
is comparable to what other people performing
similar jobs are being paid. This involves setting up pay

systems that take into consideration the number of years
with the organization, years of experience, education, and
similar aspects. Examples of employee compensation
include the following:
• Pay
• Health benefits
• 401(k) (retirement plans)
• Stock purchase plans
• Vacation time
• Sick leave
• Bonuses
• Tuition reimbursement
Since this is not an exhaustive list, compensation is discussed
further in Chapter 6 “Compensation and Benefits”.
RetentionRetention
Retention involves keeping and motivating employees to stay
with the organization. Compensation is a major
factor in employee retention, but there are other factors as well.
Ninety percent of employees leave a company for
the following reasons:

1. Issues around the job they are performing
2. Challenges with their manager
3. Poor fit with organizational culture
4. Poor workplace environment
Despite this, 90 percent of managers think employees leave as a
result of pay (Rivenbark, 2010). As a result,
managers often try to change their compensation packages to
keep people from leaving, when compensation isn’t
4 • H U M A N R E S O U R C E M A N A G E M E N T
the reason they are leaving at all. Chapter 7 “Retention and
Motivation” and Chapter 11 “Employee Assessment”
discuss some strategies to retain the best employees based on
these four factors.
Training and DevelopmentTraining and Development
Once we have spent the time to hire new employees, we want to
make sure they not only are trained to do the
job but also continue to grow and develop new skills in their
job. This results in higher productivity for the
organization. Training is also a key component in employee
motivation. Employees who feel they are developing
their skills tend to be happier in their jobs, which results in

increased employee retention. Examples of training
programs might include the following:
• Job skills training, such as how to run a particular computer
program
• Training on communication
• Team-building activities
• Policy and legal training, such as sexual harassment training
and ethics training
We address each of these types of training and more in detail in
Chapter 8 “Training and Development”.
Dealing with Laws Affecting EmploymentDealing with Laws
Affecting Employment
Human resource people must be aware of all the laws that affect
the workplace. An HRM professional might work
with some of these laws:
• Discrimination laws
• Health-care requirements
• Compensation requirements such as the minimum wage
• Worker safety laws
• Labor laws
The legal environment of HRM is always changing, so HRM

must always be aware of changes taking place and
then communicate those changes to the entire management
organization. Rather than presenting a chapter focused
on HRM laws, we will address these laws in each relevant
chapter.
Worker ProtectionWorker Protection
Safety is a major consideration in all organizations. Oftentimes
new laws are created with the goal of setting
federal or state standards to ensure worker safety. Unions and
union contracts can also impact the requirements
for worker safety in a workplace. It is up to the human resource
manager to be aware of worker protection
requirements and ensure the workplace is meeting both federal
and union standards. Worker protection issues
might include the following:
• Chemical hazards
• Heating and ventilation requirements
• Use of “no fragrance” zones
• Protection of private employee information

We take a closer look at these issues in Chapter 12 “Working
with Labor Unions” and Chapter 13 “Safety and
Health at Work”.
Figure 1.1
Caption: Knowing the law regarding worker protection is
generally the job of human resources. In some
industries it is extremely important; in fact, it can mean life or
death.
ReSurge International – Tom Davenport Operating On A Patient
– CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
CommunicationCommunication
Besides these major roles, good communication skills and
excellent management skills are key to successful
human resource management as well as general management.
We discuss these issues in Chapter 9 “Successful
Employee Communication”.
Awareness of External FactorsAwareness of External Factors
In addition to managing internal factors, the HR manager needs
to consider the outside forces at play that may
affect the organization. Outside forces, or external factors, are
those things the company has no direct control

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over; however, they may be things that could positively or
negatively impact human resources. External factors
might include the following:
1. Globalization and offshoring
2. Changes to employment law
3. Health-care costs
4. Employee expectations
5. Diversity of the workforce
6. Changing demographics of the workforce
7. A more highly educated workforce
8. Layoffs and downsizing
9. Technology used, such as HR databases
10. Increased use of social networking to distribute information
to employees
For example, the recent trend in flexible work schedules
(allowing employees to set their own schedules) and

telecommuting (allowing employees to work from home or a
remote location for a specified period of time, such
as one day per week) are external factors that have affected HR.
HRM has to be aware of these outside issues,
so they can develop policies that meet not only the needs of the
company but also the needs of the individuals.
Another example is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act, signed into law in 2010. Compliance with
this bill has huge implications for HR. For example, a company
with more than fifty employees must provide
health-care coverage or pay a penalty. Currently, it is estimated
that 60 percent of employers offer health-care
insurance to their employees (Cappelli, 2010). Because health-
care insurance will be mandatory, cost concerns
as well as using health benefits as a recruitment strategy are big
external challenges. Any manager operating
without considering outside forces will likely alienate
employees, resulting in unmotivated, unhappy workers. Not
understanding the external factors can also mean breaking the
law, which has a concerning set of implications as
well.
Figure 1.2

An understanding of key external factors is important to the
successful HR professional. This allows him
or her to be able to make strategic decisions based on changes
in the external environment. To develop this
understanding, reading various publications is necessary.
One way managers can be aware of the outside forces is to
attend conferences and read various articles on the
web. For example, the website of the Society for Human
Resource Management, SHRM Online1, not only has job
postings in the field but discusses many contemporary human
resource issues that may help the manager make
better decisions when it comes to people management. In
Section 1.3 “Today’s HRM Challenges”, we go into
more depth about some recent external issues that are affecting
human resource management roles. In Section
1.1.2 “The Role of HRM”, we discuss some of the skills needed
to be successful in HRM.
Figure 1.3
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4b0da.jpg

content/uploads/sites/7/2015/03/38f44368950c5a67d7b2c29c536
4b0da.jpg
Most professionals agree that there are seven main tasks HRM
professionals perform. All these need to be
considered in relation to external and outside forces.
Key Takeaways
• Capital includes all resources a company uses to generate
revenue. Human resources or the people
working in the organization are the most important resource.
• Human resource management is the process of employing
people, training them, compensating
them, developing policies relating to the workplace, and
developing strategies to retain employees.
• There are seven main responsibilities of HRM managers:
staffing, setting policies, compensa tion and
benefits, retention, training, employment laws, and worker
protection. In this book, each of these
major areas will be included in a chapter or two.
• In addition to being concerned with the seven internal aspects,
HRM managers must keep up to date
with changes in the external environment that may impact their
employees. The trends toward
flexible schedules and telecommuting are examples of external
aspects.
• To effectively understand how the external forces might affect
human resources, it is important for

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the HR manager to read the HR literature, attend conferences,
and utilize other ways to stay up to
date with new laws, trends, and policies.
Exercises
1. State arguments for and against the following statement:
there are other things more valuable in an
organization besides the people who work there.
2. Of the seven tasks an HR manager does, which do you think
is the most challenging? Why?
1Society for Human Resource Management, accessed August
18, 2011, http://www.shrm.org/Pages/default.aspx.
ReferencesReferences
Cappelli, P., “HR Implications of Healthcare Reform,” Human
Resource Executive Online, March 29, 2010,
accessed August 18, 2011,
http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=379096509.
Frasch, K. B., David Shadovitz, and Jared Shelly, “There’s No
Whining in HR,” Human Resource Executive

Online, June 30, 2009, accessed September 24, 2010,
http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/
story.jsp?storyId=227738167.
Rivenbark, L., “The 7 Hidden Reasons Why Employees Leave,”
HR Magazine, May 2005, accessed October 10,
2010,
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06.
1 0 • H U M A N R E S O U R C E M A N A G E M E N T
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06
1.2 Skills Needed for HRM
Learning Objectives
1. Explain the professional and personal skills needed to be
successful in HRM.
1. Be able to define human resource management and the
certifications that can be achieved in this
profession.
One of the major factors of a successful manager or human
resource (HR) manager is an array of skills to deal

with a variety of situations. It simply isn’t enough to have
knowledge of HR, such as knowing which forms need
to be filled out. It takes multiple skills to create and manage
people, as well as a cutting-edge human resource
department.
The first skill needed is organization. The need for this skill
makes sense, given that you are managing people’s
pay, benefits, and careers. Having organized files on your
computer and good time-management skills are crucial
for success in any job, but especially if you take on a role in
human resources.
Like most jobs, being able to multitask—that is, work on more
than one task at a time—is important in managing
human resources. A typical person managing human resources
may have to deal with an employee issue one
minute, then switch and deal with recruiting. Unlike many
management positions, which only focus on one task
or one part of the business, human resources focuses on all
areas of the business, where multitas king is a must.
As trite as it may sound, people skills are necessary in any type
of management and perhaps might be the most
important skills for achieving success at any job. Being able to
manage a variety of personalities, deal with

conflict, and coach others are all in the realm of people
management. The ability to communicate goes along with
people skills. The ability to communicate good news (hiring a
new employee), bad news (layoffs), and everything
in between, such as changes to policy, makes for an excellent
manager and human resource management (HRM)
professional.
Keys to a successful career in HRM or management include
understanding specific job areas, such as managing
the employee database, understanding employment laws, and
knowing how to write and develop a strategic plan
that aligns with the business. All these skills will be discussed
in this book.
11
A strategic mind-set as an HR professional is a key skill as
well. A person with a strategic mind-set can plan far
in advance and look at trends that could affect the environment
in which the business is operating. Too often,
managers focus on their own area and not enough on the
business as a whole. The strategic HR professional is
able to not only work within his or her area but also understand
how HR fits into the bigger picture of the business.

Ethics and a sense of fairness are also necessary in human
resources. Ethics is a concept that examines the
moral rights and wrongs of a certain situation. Consider the fact
that many HR managers negotiate salary and
union contracts and manage conflict. In addition, HR managers
have the task of ensuring compliance with ethics
standards within the organization. Many HR managers are
required to work with highly confidential information,
such as salary information, so a sense of ethics when managing
this information is essential. We discuss ethics
from the organizational perspective in Section 1.1.2 “The Role
of HRM”.
Dilbert and the Evil HR DirectorDilbert and the Evil HR
Director
Ethics is perhaps one of the most important aspects to being a
great HR professional. This humorous video shows
how unethical behavior can undermine motivation at work.
Think of your current skills. Are there personal or professional
skills you would like to work on?
Finally, while we can list a few skills that are important,
understanding the particular business, knowing the

business strategy, and being able to think critically about how
HR can align itself with the strategy are ways
to ensure HR departments are critical parts of the business. HR
is a specialized area, much like accounting or
finance. However, many individuals are placed in HR roles
without having the specific knowledge to do the
job. Oftentimes people with excellent skills are promoted to
management and then expected (if the company is
small) to perform recruiting, hiring, and compensation tasks.
This is the reason we will refer to management
and HR management interchangeably throughout the chapters.
In addition, these skills are important for HRM
professionals and managers alike.
Having said that, for those of you wanting a career in HRM,
there are three exams you can take to show your
mastery of HRM material:
1. Professional in Human Resources (PHR). To take this exam,
an HR professional must have at least two
years’ experience. The exam is four hours long and consists of
225 multiple-choice questions in a variety of
areas. Twelve percent of the test focuses on strategic
management, 26 percent on workforce planning, 17
percent on human resource development, 16 percent on rewards,
22 percent on employee and labor

relations, and 7 percent on risk management. The application
process for taking the exam is given on the
Human Resource Certification Institute website at
http://www.hrci.org.
2. Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). This exam
is designed for HR professionals who
focus on designing and planning, rather than actual
implementation. It is recommended that the person
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taking this exam has six to eight years of experience and
oversees and manages an HR department. In this
test, the greater focus is on the strategic aspect of HRM.
3. Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR). This exam
is for HR professionals who perform
many of their tasks on a global level and whose companies often
work across borders. This exam is three
hours long, with 165 multiple-choice questions. A person with
two years of professional experience can
take the certification test. However, because the test has the

international aspect, someone who designs HR-
related programs and processes to achieve business goals would
be best suited to earn this certification.
The benefits of achieving certifications are great. In addition to
demonstrating the abilities of the HR professional,
certification allows the professional to be more marketable in a
very competitive field.
Figure 1.4
Caption: Perhaps one of the most important skills in any kind of
management is the ability to
communicate.
Baltic Development Forum – Kristovskis-meeting-41.jpg – CC
BY 2.0.
Most companies need a human resource department or a
manager with HR skills. The industries and job titles are
so varied that it is possible only to list general job titles in
human resources:
1. Recruiter
2. Compensation analyst
3. Human resources assistant
1 . 2 S K I L L S N E E D E D F O R H R M • 1 3

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4. Employee relations manager
5. Benefits manager
6. Work-life coordinator
7. Training and development manager
8. Human resources manager
9. Vice president for human resources
This is not an exhaustive list, but it can be a starting point for
research on this career path.
People Skills in HRPeople Skills in HR
This chapter makes the point that communication and people
skills, or “soft skills,” are necessary to be successful
in any job. This video addresses the importance of these skills.
Key Takeaways
• There are a number of skills crucial to human resource
management. First, being able to organize
and multitask is necessary. In this job, files must be managed,

and an HR manager is constantly
working in different areas of the business.
• Communication skills are necessary in HRM as well. The
ability to present good and bad news,
work with a variety of personalities, and coach employees is
important in HRM.
• Specific job skills, such as computer skills, knowledge of
employment law, writing and developing
strategic plans, and general critical-thinking skills are important
in any type of management, but
especially in human resource management.
• A sense of fairness and strong ethics will make for the best
HR manager. Because HR works with a
variety of departments to manage conflict and negotiate union
contracts and salary, the HR
professional needs ethics skills and the ability to maintain
confidentiality.
• Since one of the major responsibilities of an HR department is
to align the HR strategic plan with the
business strategic plan, critical and creative thinking, as well as
writing, are skills that will benefit
the HR manager as well.
• Many people find themselves in the role of HR manager, so we
will use the term HR manager
throughout this book. However, many other types of managers
also perform the tasks of recruiting,
selecting, and compensating, making this book and the skills
listed in this section applicable to all
majors.
• Certification exams can be taken to make you more marketable

in the field of HRM. These
certifications are offered by the HR Certification Institute
(HRCI).
http://www.youtube.com/v/L1Jfo0Iym94
Exercise
1. What are your perceptions of what an HR manager does on a
day-to-day basis? Research this job
title and describe your findings. Is this the type of job you
expected?
1 . 2 S K I L L S N E E D E D F O R H R M • 1 5
1.3 Today’s HRM Challenges
If you were to ask most business owners what their biggest
challenges are, they will likely tell you that cost
management is a major factor to the success or failure of their
business. In most businesses today, the people part
of the business is the most likely place for cuts when the
economy isn’t doing well.
Consider the expenses that involve the people part of any
business:
1. Health-care benefits

2. Training costs
3. Hiring process costs
4. And many more…
These costs cut into the bottom line of any business. The trick
is to figure out how much, how many, or how often
benefits should be offered, without sacrificing employee
motivation. A company can cut costs by not offering
benefits or 401(k) plans, but if its goal is to hire the best
people, a hiring package without these items will most
certainly not get the best people. Containment of costs,
therefore, is a balancing act. An HR manager must offer
as much as he or she can to attract and retain employees, but not
offer too much, as this can put pressure on the
company’s bottom line. We will discuss ways to alleviate this
concern throughout this book.
For example, there are three ways to cut costs associated with
health care:
1. Shift more of the cost of health care to employees
2. Reduce the benefits offered to cut costs
3. Change or better negotiate the plan to reduce health-care
costs
Health care costs companies approximately $4,003 per year for
a single employee and $9,764 for families. This

equals roughly 83 percent and 73 percent of total health-care
costs for single employees and employees with
families1, respectively. One possible strategy for containment
for health-care plans is to implement a cafeteria
plan. Cafeteria plans started becoming popular in the 1980s and
have become standard in many organizations
(Allen, 2010). This type of plan gives all employees a minimum
level of benefits and a set amount to spend
on flexible benefits, such as additional health care or vacation
time. It creates more flexible benefits, allowing
the employee, based on his or her family situation, to choose
which benefits are right for them. For example, a
mother of two may choose to spend her flexible benefits on
health care for her children, while a single, childless
16
female may opt for more vacation days. In other words, these
plans offer flexibility, while saving money, too. Cost
containment strategies around benefits will be discussed in
Chapter 6 “Compensation and Benefits”.
Another way to contain costs is by offering training. While this
may seem counterintuitive, as training does
cost money up front, it can actually save money in the long run.

Consider how expensive a sexual harassment
lawsuit or wrongful termination lawsuit might be. For example,
a Sonic Drive-In was investigated by the Equal
Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) on behalf of
seventy women who worked there, and it was found
that a manager at one of the stores subjected the victims to
inappropriate touching and comments. This lawsuit
cost the organization $2 million2. Some simple training up front
(costing less than the lawsuit) likely would have
prevented this from happening. Training employees and
management on how to work within the law, thereby
reducing legal exposure, is a great way for HR to cut costs for
the organization as a whole. In Chapter 8 “Training
and Development”, we will further discuss how to organize, set
up, and measure the success of a training program.
The hiring process and the cost of turnover in an organization
can be very expensive. Turnover refers to the
number of employees who leave a company in a particular
period of time. By creating a recruiting and selection
process with cost containment in mind, HR can contribute
directly to cost-containment strategies company wide.
In fact, the cost of hiring an employee or replacing an old one
(turnover) can be as high as $9,777 for a position
that pays $60,000 (Del Monte, 2010). By hiring smart the first

time, HR managers can contain costs for their
organization. This will be discussed in Chapter 4 “Recruitment”
and Chapter 5 “Selection”. Reducing turnover
includes employee motivational strategies. This will be
addressed in Chapter 7 “Retention and Motivation”.
In a survey reported on by the Sales and Marketing Management
newsletter3, 85 percent of managers say that
ineffective communication is the cause of lost revenue. E-mail,
instant messaging, text messages, and meetings
are all examples of communication in business. An
understanding of communication styles, personality styles, and
channels of communication can help us be more effective in our
communications, resulting in cost containment.
In HRM, we can help ensure our people have the tools to
communicate better, and contain costs and save dollars
in doing so. Some of these tools for better communication will
be addressed in Chapter 9 “Successful Employee
Communication”.
One cost-containment strategy for US businesses has been
offshoring. Offshoring refers to the movement of jobs
overseas to contain costs. It is estimated that 3.3 million US
jobs will be moved overseas by 2015 (Agrawal &
Farrell, 2003). According to the US Census Bureau, most of
these jobs are Information Technology (IT) jobs

as well as manufacturing jobs. This issue is unique to HR, as
the responsibility for developing training for new
workers and laying off domestic workers will often fall under
the realm of HRM. Offshoring will be discussed
in Chapter 14 “International HRM”, and training for new
workers will be discussed in Chapter 8 “Training and
Development”.
Figure 1.5
1 . 3 T O D A Y ’ S H R M C H A L L E N G E S • 1 7
Caption: One of the biggest contemporary challenges in HRM is
figuring out the balance between what
benefits to offer versus the impact those benefits have on
employee motivation.
winnifredxoxo – balance scale – CC BY 2.0.
Of course, cost containment isn’t only up to HRM and
managers, but as organizations look at various ways to
contain costs, human resources can certainly provide solutions.
TechnologyTechnology
Technology has greatly impacted human resources and will
continue to do so as new technology is developed.

Through use of technology, many companies have virtual
workforces that perform tasks from nearly all corners
of the world. When employees are not located just down the
hall, management of these human resources creates
some unique challenges. For example, technology creates an
even greater need to have multicultural or diversity
understanding. Since many people will work with individuals
from across the globe, cultural sensitivity and
understanding is the only way to ensure the use of technology
results in increased productivity rather than
decreased productivity due to miscommunications. Chapter 3
“Diversity and Multiculturalism” and Chapter 14
“International HRM” will discuss some specific diversity issues
surrounding a global workforce.
Technology also creates a workforce that expects to be mobile.
Because of the ability to work from home or
anywhere else, many employees may request and even demand a
flexible schedule to meet their own family and
personal needs. Productivity can be a concern for all managers
in the area of flextime, and another challenge is the
fairness to other workers when one person is offered a flexible
schedule. Chapter 6 “Compensation and Benefits”
and Chapter 7 “Retention and Motivation” will discuss flextime
as a way to reward employees. Many companies,

however, are going a step further and creating virtual
organizations, which don’t have a physical location (cost
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containment) and allow all employees to work from home or the
location of their choice. As you can imagine, this
creates concerns over productivity and communication within
the organization.
The use of smartphones and social networking has impacted
human resources, as many companies now
disseminate information to employees via these methods. Of
course, technology changes constantly, so the
methods used today will likely be different one year or even six
months from now.
The large variety of databases available to perform HR tasks is
mind boggling. For example, databases are used
to track employee data, compensation, and training. There are
also databases available to track the recruiting and
hiring processes. We will discuss more about technology in HR
in Chapter 4 “Recruitment” through Chapter 8

“Training and Development”.
Of course, the major challenge with technology is its constantly
changing nature, which can impact all practices
in HRM.
How Would You Handle This?How Would You Handle This?
Too Many Friends
You are the HR manager for a small company, consisting of
twenty-three people plus the two owners, Steve
and Corey. Every time you go into Steve’s office, you see he is
on Facebook. Because he is Facebook friends
with several people in the organization, you have also heard he
constantly updates his status and uploads pictures
during work time. Then, at meetings, Steve will ask employees
if they saw the pictures he recently uploaded from
his vacation, weekend, or backpacking trip. One employee,
Sam, comes to you with a concern about this. “I am
just trying to do my job, but I feel if I don’t look at his photos,
he may not think I am a good employee,” she says.
How would you handle this?
How Would You Handle This?
https://api.wistia.com/v1/medias/1371241/embed
The author discusses the How Would You Handle This situation

in this chapter at: https://api.wistia.com/v1/
medias/1371241/embed.
Cyberloafing, a term used to describe lost productivity as a
result of an employee using a work computer for
personal reasons, is another concern created by technology. One
study performed by Nucleus Research found
that the average worker uses Facebook for fifteen minutes per
day, which results in an average loss of 1.5
percent of productivity4. Some workers, in fact, use Facebook
over two hours per day during working hours.
Restricting or blocking access to the Internet, however, can
result in angry employees and impact motivation at
work. Motivational factors will be discussed in Chapter 7
“Retention and Motivation”.
Technology can create additional stress for workers. Increased
job demands, constant change, constant e-mailing
and texting, and the physical aspects of sitting in front of a
computer can be not only stressful but also physically
harmful to employees. Chapter 13 “Safety and Health at Work”
will deal with some of these stress issues, as well
as safety issues such as carpal tunnel, which can occur as a
result of technology in the workplace. More on health
and safety will be covered in Chapter 10 “Managing Employee
Performance”.

The EconomyThe Economy
Tough economic times in a country usually results in tough
times for business, too. High unemployment and
layoffs are clearly HRM and managerial issues. If a human
resource manager works for a unionized company,
union contracts are the guiding source when having to downsize
owing to a tough economy. We will discuss
union contracts in greater detail in Chapter 12 “Working with
Labor Unions”. Besides union restrictions,
legal restrictions on who is let go and the process followed to
let someone go should be on the forefront of
any manager’s mind when he or she is required to lay off people
because of a poor economy. Dealing with
performance issues and measuring performance can be
considerations when it is necessary to lay off employees.
These issues will be discussed in Chapter 10 “Managing
Employee Performance” and Chapter 11 “Employee
Assessment”.

Likewise, in a growth economy, the HR manager may
experience a different kind of stress. Massive hiring to meet
demand might occur if the economy is doing well. For example,
McDonald’s restaurants had to fill six hundred
positions throughout Las Vegas and held hiring day events in
20105. Imagine the process of hiring this many
people in a short period of time The same recruiting and
selection processes used under normal circumstances will
be helpful in mass hiring situations. Recruiting and selection
will be discussed in Chapter 4 “Recruitment” and
Chapter 5 “Selection”.
The Changing and Diverse WorkforceThe Changing and Diverse
Workforce
Human resources should be aware that the workforce is
constantly changing. For example, in the 2010 census,
the national population was 308,745,538, with 99,531,000 in
2010 working full time, down from 2008 when
106,648,000 were working full time6. For full-time workers, the
average weekly salary was higher the more
educated the worker. See Figure 1.6 for details.
Figure 1.6
The average weekly earnings for workers in the United States
increase with more education.

Source: Data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Usual
Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers,”
Table 5, Economic News Release, July 20, 2010, accessed
August 19, 2011, http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/
2010/ted_20100726_data.htm.
content/uploads/sites/7/2015/03/4410af25d3bfb7a037d14759c00
75cef.jpg
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75cef.jpg
http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2010/ted_20100726_data.htm
http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2010/ted_20100726_data.htm
FortuneFortune 500 Focus500 Focus
Multigenerational is here to stay, and Xerox is the leader in
recruiting of Generation Y talent. This age
group has been moving into the labor market over the last six
years, and this major demographic change,
along with the retirement of baby boomers, has many companies
thinking. Fortune 500 companies know
they must find out where their new stars are coming from. In
recruiting this new talent, Xerox isn’t
looking to old methods, because they know each generation is
different. For example, Xerox developed the
“Express Yourself” recruiting campaign, which is geared around
a core value of this generation, to develop
solutions and change. Joe Hammill, the director of talent
acquisition, says, “Gen Y is very important.

Xerox and other companies view this emerging workforce as the
future of our organization” (Armour,
2005). Besides the new recruiting campaign, recruiters are
working at what they term “core colleges”—that
is, those that produce the kind of talent they need. For example,
they developed recruitment campaigns
with specific institutions such as the Rochester Institute of
Technology because of its strong engineering
and printing science programs. On their company website, they
have a specific tab for the recent college
graduate, emphasizing core values of this generation, including
the ability to contribute, support, and build
skills. With its understanding of multicultural generations,
Xerox has created a talent pool for years to
come.
It is expected that over the next ten years, over 40 percent of
the workforce will retire, and there will not be enough
younger workers to take the jobs once held by the retiring
workforce (Fernandez, 2007). In fact, the American
Society of Training and Development says that in the next
twenty years, seventy-six million Americans will retire,
and only forty-six million will replace them. As you can
imagine, this will create a unique staffing obstacle for
human resources and managers alike, as they try to find talented
people in a pool that doesn’t have enough people
to perform necessary jobs. The reason for this increase in
retirement is the aging baby boomers. Baby boomers
can be defined as those born between the years 1946 and 1964,
according to the Census Bureau. They are called

the baby boomers because there was a large increase of babies
born after soldiers came back from World War II.
Baby boomers account for seventy-six million people in the
United States in 2011, the same year in which the
first of the baby boomers have started to retire.
The impact of the baby boomer generation on our country and
on human resource management is huge. First, the
retirement of baby boomers results in a loss of a major part of
the working population, and there are not enough
people to fill those jobs that are left vacant. Second, the baby
boomers’ knowledge is lost upon their retirement.
Much of this knowledge isn’t formalized or written down, but it
contributes to the success of business. Third,
elderly people are living longer, and this results in higher
health-care costs for all currently in the workforce. It is
estimated that three out of five baby boomers do not have
enough money saved for retirement (Weisenthal, 2010),
meaning that many of them will depend on Social Security
payments to meet basic needs. However, since the
Social Security system is a pay-as-you-go system (i.e., those
paying into the system now are paying for current
retirees), there may not be enough current workers to cover the
current Social Security needs. In fact, in 1950 there

were 16 workers to support each Social Security beneficiary,
but today there are only 3.3 workers supporting each
beneficiary (Wenning, 2010). The implications can mean that
more will be paid by current workers to support
retirees.
As a result of the aging workforce, human resources should
keep abreast of changes in Social Security legislation
and health-care costs, which will be discussed in Chapter 6
“Compensation and Benefits”. In addition, human
resource managers should review current workers’ skill levels
and monitor retirements and skills lost upon
those retirements, which is part of strategic planning. This will
be discussed in Chapter 2 “Developing and
Implementing Strategic HRM Plans”. Having knowledge about
current workers and skills, as well as predicting
future workforce needs, will be necessary to deal with the
challenges of an aging workforce.
Figure 1.7
Developing an HR strategy around retirement of workers is a
key factor in working with a
multigenerational workforce. In addition, HR must understand

the various psychologies of varying ages of
workers and develop benefits and compensation that meet the
needs of all generations.
Christopher Schwarzkopf – Wikimedia Diversity Conference
2013 – CC BY-SA 3.0.
Have you ever worked in a multigenerational organization?
What were some of the challenges in working
with people who may have grown up in a different era?
Another challenge, besides lack of workers, is the
multigenerational workforce. Employees between the ages of
seventeen and sixty-eight have different values and different
expectations of their jobs. Any manager who tries to
manage these workers from varying generations will likely have
some challenges. Even compensation preferences
are different among generations. For example, the traditional
baby boomer built a career during a time of pensions
and strongly held values of longevity and loyalty to a company.
Compare the benefit needs of this person to
someone who is younger and expects to save through a 401(k)
plan, and it is clear that the needs and expectations
are different(Capezza, 2010). Throughout this book, we will
discuss compensation and motivational strategies for
the multigenerational workforce.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Diversity_
Conference_2013_22.jpg
Awareness of the diversity of the workforce will be discussed in
Chapter 3 “Diversity and Multiculturalism”,
but laws regarding diversity will be discussed throughout the
book. Diversity refers to age, disability, race, sex,
national origin, and religion. Each of these components makes
up the productive workforce, and each employee
has different needs, wants, and goals. This is why it is
imperative for the HRM professional to understand how
to motivate the workforce, while ensuring that no laws are
broken. We will discuss laws regarding diversity
(and the components of diversity, such as disabilities) in
Chapter 3 “Diversity and Multiculturalism”, Chapter 4
“Recruitment”, Chapter 5 “Selection”, Chapter 6 “Compensation
and Benefits”, and Chapter 7 “Retention and
Motivation”.
Figure 1.8 Demographic Data for the United States by Race

Source: Map courtesy of the US Census Department.
EthicsEthics
A discussion of ethics is necessary when considering challenges
of human resources. Much of the discussion
surrounding ethics happened after the early to mid-2000s, when
several companies were found to have engaged
in gross unethical and illegal conduct, resulting in the loss of
billions of dollars from shareholders. Consider the
statistics: only 25 percent of employees trusted their CEO to tell
the truth, and 80 percent of people said that
employers have a moral responsibility to society7. Based on
these numbers, an ethical workplace is important
not only for shareholder satisfaction but for employee
satisfaction as well. Companies are seeing the value of
implementing ethics codes within the business.
Many human resource departments have the responsibility of
designing codes of ethics and developing policies
for ethical decision making. Some organizations hire ethics
officers to specifically focus on this area of the
business. Out of four hundred companies surveyed, 48 percent
had an ethics officer, who reported to either
the CEO or the HR executive (McGraw, 2011). According to
Steve Miranda, chief human resources officer for

the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), “[the
presence of an ethics officer] provides a high-
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level individual with positional authority who can ensure that
policies, practices, and guidelines are effectively
communicated across the organization” (McGraw, 2011).
For example, the insurance company Allstate recently hired a
chief ethics and compliance officer (CECO) who
offers a series of workshops geared toward leaders in the
organization, because they believe that maintaining high
ethical standards starts at the top of an organization. In
addition, the CECO monitors reports of ethics complaints
within the organization and trains employees on the code of
ethics or code of conduct (McGraw, 2011). A code of
ethics is an outline that explains the expected ethical behavior
of employees. For example, General Electric (GE)
has a sixty-four-page code of conduct that outlines the expected
ethics, defines them, and provides information on

penalties for not adhering to the code. The code of conduct is
presented below. Of course, simply having a written
code of ethics does little to encourage positive behavior, so
many organizations (such as GE) offer stiff penalties
for ethics violations. Developing policies, monitoring behavior,
and informing people of ethics are necessary to
ensure a fair and legal business.
The following is an outline of GE’s code of conduct8:
• Obey the applicable laws and regulations governing our
business conduct worldwide.
• Be honest, fair, and trustworthy in all your GE activities and
relationships.
• Avoid all conflicts of interest between work and personal
affairs.
• Foster an atmosphere in which fair employment practices
extend to every member of the diverse GE
community.
• Strive to create a safe workplace and to protect the
environment.
• Through leadership at all levels, sustain a culture where
ethical conduct is recognized, valued, and
exemplified by all employees.
Key Takeaways

• One of the most important aspects to productive HRM is to
ensure the department adds value to the
rest of the organization, based on the organization’s strategic
plan.
• One of the major challenges of HRM is containment of costs.
This can be done in several ways, for
example, in the way health care and benefits are offered. Many
companies are developing cafeteria
plans that satisfy the employee and help contain costs.
• HRM can also contain costs by developing and managing
training programs and ensuring employees
are well trained to be productive in the job.
• Hiring is a very expensive part of human resources, and
therefore HRM should take steps to ensure
they are hiring the right people for the job the first time.
Turnover is a term used to describe the
departure of an employee.
• Poor communication results in wasting time and resources. We
can communicate better by
understanding communication channels, personalities, and
styles.
• Technology is also a challenge to be met by human resources.
For example, employees may request
alternative work schedules because they can use technology at
home to get their work done.

• Because technology is part of our work life, cyberloafing, or
employees spending too much time on
the Internet, creates new challenges for managers. Technology
can also create challenges such as
workplace stress and lack of work-life balance.
• The economy is a major factor in human resource
management. HR managers, no matter what the
state of the economy, must plan effectively to make sure they
have the right number of workers at
the right time. When we deal with a down economy, the legal
and union implications of layoffs must
be considered, and in an up economy, hiring of workers to meet
the internal demand is necessary.
• The retirement of baby boomers is creating a gap in the
workplace, related to not only the number of
people available but also the skills people have.
Multigenerational companies, or companies with
workers of a variety of ages, must find ways to motivate
employees, even though those employees
may have different needs. HR must be aware of this and
continually plan for the challenge of a
changing workforce. Diversity in the workplace is an important
challenge in human resource
management. Diversity will be discussed in Chapter 3
“Diversity and Multiculturalism”.
• Ethics and monitoring of ethical behavior are also challenges
in HRM. Setting ethical standards and
monitoring ethical behavior, including developing a code of
conduct, is a must for any successful
business.
Exercises

1. Research the various generations: baby boomers, Generation
X, and the Y Generation
(millennials). Compare and contrast five differences between
the generations. How might these
differences impact HRM?
2. Review news articles on the current state of the economy.
Which aspects of these articles do you
think can relate to HRM?
1“Use Three Strategies to Cut Health Care Costs,” Business
Management Daily, September 9, 2010, accessed
October 10, 2010,
http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/articles/23381/1/Use
-3-strategies-to-cut-health-
care-costs/Page1.html.
2“LL Sonic Settles EEOC Lawsuit for $2 Million,” Valencia
County News Bulletin, June 23, 2011.
3“The Cost of Poor Communications,” Sales and Marketing,
December 22, 2006, accessed October 1, 2010,
http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/4278862-
1.html.
4“Facebook Use Cuts Productivity at Work,” Economic Times,
July 25, 2009, accessed October 4, 2010,
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/Facebook-
use-cuts-productivity-at-work-Study/articleshow/
4818848.cms.

5“McDonald’s Readies for Massive Hiring Spree,” Fox 5 News,
Las Vegas, May 2010, accessed October 5, 2010,
http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/23661640/detail.html (site
discontinued).
-3-strategies-to-cut-health-care-costs/Page1.html
-3-strategies-to-cut-health-care-costs/Page1.html
http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/4278862-
1.html
use-cuts-productivity-at-work-Study/articleshow/4818848.cms
use-cuts-productivity-at-work-Study/articleshow/4818848.cms
http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/23661640/detail.html
6Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey Report,
accessed July 7, 2011, http://www.bls.gov/cps/
earnings.htm#education.
7Strategic Management Partners, “Unethical Statistics
Announced At Business Leaders Event,” news release,
http://www.consult-
smp.com/archives/2005/02/unethical_stati.html, accessed
August 31, 2011.
8“The Spirit and the Letter,” General Electric Company,
accessed August 10, 2011, http://files.gecompany.com/

gecom/citizenship/pdfs/TheSpirit&TheLetter.pdf.
Agrawal, V. and Diana Farrell, “Who Wins in Offshoring?” in
“Global Directions,” special issue, McKinsey
Quarterly, (2003): 36–41,
https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Who_wins_in_offshoring_1
363.
Allen, M., Benefits, Buffet Style—Flexible Plans,” Nation’s
Business, January 1997, accessed October 1, 2010,
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1154/is_v75/ai_4587731.
Armour, S., “Generation Y: They’ve Arrived at Work with a
New Attitude,” USA Today, November 6, 2005.
Capezza, M., “Employee Benefits in a Multigenerational
Workplace,” EpsteinBeckerGreen, August 12, 2010,
accessed October 6, 2010,
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Services, Inc., 2010, accessed October 1, 2010,
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Fernandez, A., “Training the Aging Workforce,” SharpBrains,
August 10, 2007, accessed October 6, 2010,
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aging-workforce-and-their-brains.

McGraw, M., “The HR-Ethics Alliance,” HR Executive Online,
June 16, 2011, accessed July 7, 2011,
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Weisenthal, J., “3 of 5 Baby Boomers Don’t Have Enough for
Retirement,” Business Insider Magazine, August
16, 2010, http://www.businessinsider.com/boomers-cutting-
back-2010-8.
Wenning, B., “Baby Boomer Retirement May Be a Bust,”
Metrowest News Daily, March 21, 2010.
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smp.com/archives/2005/02/unethical_stati.html
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heLetter.pdf
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heLetter.pdf
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aging-workforce-and-their-brains
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1.4 Cases and Problems
Chapter SummaryChapter Summary
• Human resource management is the process of employing
people, training them, compensating
them, developing policies relating to the workplace, and
developing strategies to retain employees.
Three certification exams, which are offered by the Human
Resource Certification Institute, can be
taken to show HRM skills and become more marketable.
• Human resource management involves seven main areas: (1)
staffing, (2) workplace policies, (3)
benefits and compensation, (4) retention, (5) training, (6)
employment laws, and (7) employee
protection.
• Human resource managers need many different types of skills.
Being able to organize, multitask, and
communicate effectively, as well as having specific job skills,
such as how to run a particular
computer program, and a sense of fairness and ethics, is crucial
to a successful career in HRM.
• There are many contemporary challenges associated with
HRM. First, it is up to everyone in the
organization to contain costs. HR managers need to look at their
individual departments and
demonstrate the necessity and value of their functions to the
organization. HR managers can also
help contain costs in several ways, such as managing benefits
plans and compensation and providing
training.
• The fast-changing nature of technology is also a challenge in

HRM. As new technologies are
developed, employees may be able to implement innovati ve
ways of working such as flextime. HR
managers are also responsible for developing policies dealing
with cyberloafing and other workplace
time wasters revolving around technology. Employee stress and
lack of work-life balance are also
greatly influenced by technology.
• Awareness of the changes in the economy allows the human
resource manager to adequately plan for
reductions and additions to the workforce.
• The aging and changing workforce is our final factor. As baby
boomers retire, there likely will not
be enough people to replace them, and many of the skills the
baby boomers have may be lost. In
addition, having to work with multiple generations at once can
create challenges as different
expectations and needs arise from multigenerational workforces .
Chapter Summary
The author provides a video summary of the chapter.
27
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Chapter CaseChapter Case
Changes, Changes
Jennifer, the owner and manager of a company with ten

employees, has hired you to take over the HRM
function so she can focus on other areas of her business. During
your first two weeks, you find out that
the company has been greatly affected by the up economy and is
expected to experience overall revenue
growth by 10 percent over the next three years, with some
quarters seeing growth as high as 30 percent.
However, five of the ten workers are expected to retire within
three years. These workers have been with
the organization since the beginning and provide a unique
historical perspective of the company. The other
five workers are of diverse ages.
In addition to these changes, Jennifer believes they may be able
to save costs by allowing employees to
telecommute one to two days per week. She has some concerns
about productivity if she allows employees
to work from home. Despite these concerns, Jennifer has even
considered closing down the physical office
and making her company a virtual organization, but she wonders
how such a major change will affect the
ability to communicate and worker motivation.
Jennifer shares with you her thoughts about the costs of health
care on the organization. She has considered
cutting benefits entirely and having her employees work for her
on a contract basis, instead of being full-
time employees. She isn’t sure if this would be a good choice.
Jennifer schedules a meeting with you to discuss some of her
thoughts. To prepare for the meeting, you
perform research so you can impress your new boss with
recommendations on the challenges presented.
1. Point out which changes are occurring in the business that
affect HRM.

2. What are some considerations the company and HR should be
aware of when making changes
related to this case study?
3. What would the initial steps be to start planning for these
changes?
4. What would your role be in implementing these changes?
What would Jennifer’s role be?
Team ActivitiesTeam Activities
1. In a group of two to three people, research possible career
paths in HRM and prepare a
PowerPoint presentation to discuss your findings.
2. Interview an HR manager and discuss his or her career path,
skills, and daily tasks. Present your
findings to your class.
Chapter 2: Developing and Implementing
Strategic HRM Plans
The Value of PlanningThe Value of Planning
James stumbled into his position as the human resource
manager. He had been working for Techno, Inc. for
three years, and when the company grew, James moved from a
management position into a human resource

management position. Techno, Inc. is a technology and software
consulting company for the music industry.
James didn’t have a good handle on how to effectively run a
human resources (HR) department, so for much of the
time he tried to figure it out as he went. When Techno started
seeing rapid growth, he hired thirty people within a
one-month period to meet the demand. Proud of his ability to
accomplish his task of meeting the business’s current
needs, James was rather pleased with himself. He had spent
numerous hours mulling over recruitment strategies,
putting together excellent compensation plans, and then
eventually sifting through résumés as a small part of the
hiring process. Now the organization had the right number of
people needed to carry out its projects.
Fast forward five months, however, and it turned out the rapid
growth was only temporary. James met with the
executives of the business who told him the contracts they had
acquired were finished, and there wasn’t enough
new work coming in to make payroll next month if they didn’t
let some people go. James felt frustrated because
he had gone through so much effort to hire people, and now
they would be laid off. Never mind the costs of hiring
and training his department had taken on to make this happen.
As James sat with the executives to determine who

should be laid off, he felt sad for the people who had given up
other jobs just five months before, only to be laid
off.
After the meeting, James reflected on this situation and realized
that if he had spoken with the executives of
the company sooner, they would have shared information on the
duration of the contracts, and he likely would
have hired people differently, perhaps on a contract basis rather
than on a full-time basis. He also considered the
fact that the organization could have hired an outsourcing
company to recruit workers for him. As Jason mulled
this over, he realized that he needed a strategic plan to make
sure his department was meeting the needs of the
organization. He vowed to work with the company executives to
find out more about the company’s strategic plan
and then develop a human resource management (HRM)
strategic plan to make sure Techno, Inc. has the right
number of workers with the right skills, at the right time in the
future.
29
HRM PlanningHRM Planning

The author introduces the chapter on HRM planning.
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2.1 Strategic Planning
Learning Objectives
1. Explain the differences been HRM and personnel
management.
2. Be able to define the steps in HRM strategic planning.
In the past, human resource management (HRM) was called the
personnel department. In the past, the personnel
department hired people and dealt with the hiring paperwork
and processes. It is believed the first human
resource department was created in 1901 by the National Cash
Register Company (NCR). The company faced
a major strike but eventually defeated the union after a lockout.
(We address unions in Chapter 12 “Working
with Labor Unions”.) After this difficult battle, the company
president decided to improve worker relations by
organizing a personnel department to handle grievances,
discharges, safety concerns, and other employee issues.
The department also kept track of new legislation surrounding

laws impacting the organization. Many other
companies were coming to the same realization that a
department was necessary to create employee satisfaction,
which resulted in more productivity. In 1913, Henry Ford saw
employee turnover at 380 percent and tried to ease
the turnover by increasing wages from $2.50 to $5.00, even
though $2.50 was fair during this time period (Losey,
2011). Of course, this approach didn’t work for long, and these
large companies began to understand they had to
do more than hire and fire if they were going to meet customer
demand.
More recently, however, the personnel department has divided
into human resource management and human
resource development, as these functions have evolved over the
century. HRM is not only crucial to an
organization’s success, but it should be part of the overall
company’s strategic plan, because so many businesses
today depend on people to earn profits. Strategic planning plays
an important role in how productive the
organization is.
Table 2.1 Examples of Differences between Personnel
Management and HRM
31

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-12-working-with-labor-unions/
Personnel Management Focus HRM Focus
Administering of policies Helping to achieve strategic goals
through people
Stand-alone programs, such as training HRM training programs
that are integrated with company’s mission and values
Personnel department responsible for managing
people
Line managers share joint responsibility in all areas of people
hiring and
management
Creates a cost within an organization Contributes to the profit
objectives of the organization
Most people agree that the following duties normally fall under
HRM. Each of these aspects has its own part
within the overall strategic plan of the organization:
1. Staffing. Staffing includes the development of a strategic
plan to determine how many people you might
need to hire. Based on the strategic plan, HRM then performs
the hiring process to recruit and select the
right people for the right jobs. We discuss staffing in greater

detail in Chapter 4 “Recruitment”, Chapter 5
“Selection”, and Chapter 6 “Compensation and Benefits”.
2. Basic workplace policies. Development of policies to help
reach the strategic plan’s goals is the job of
HRM. After the policies have been developed, communication
of these policies on safety, security,
scheduling, vacation times, and flextime schedules should be
developed by the HR department. Of course,
the HR managers work closely with supervisors in organizations
to develop these policies. Workplace
policies will be addressed throughout the book.
3. Compensation and benefits. In addition to paychecks, 401(k)
plans, health benefits, and other perks are
usually the responsibility of an HR manager. Compensation and
benefits are discussed in Chapter 6
“Compensation and Benefits” and Chapter 7 “Retention and
Motivation”.
4. Retention. Assessment of employees and strategizing on how
to retain the best employees is a task that
HR managers oversee, but other managers in the organization
will also provide input. Chapter 9
“Successful Employee Communication”, Chapter 10 “Managing
Employee Performance”, and Chapter 11

“Employee Assessment” cover different types of retention
strategies, from training to assessment.
5. Training and development. Helping new employees develop
skills needed for their jobs and helping
current employees grow their skills are also tasks for which the
HRM department is responsible.
Determination of training needs and development and
implementation of training programs are important
tasks in any organization. Training is discussed in great detail
in Chapter 9 “Successful Employee
Communication”, including succession planning. Succession
planning includes handling the departure of
managers and making current employees ready to take on
managerial roles when a manager does leave.
6. Regulatory issues and worker safety. Keeping up to date on
new regulations relating to employment,
health care, and other issues is generally a responsibility that
falls on the HRM department. While various
laws are discussed throughout the book, unions and safety and
health laws in the workplace are covered in
Chapter 12 “Working with Labor Unions” and Chapter 13
“Safety and Health at Work”.
In smaller organizations, the manager or owner is likely
performing the HRM functions (de Kok & Uhlaner,

2001). They hire people, train them, and determine how much
they should be paid. Larger companies ultimately
perform the same tasks, but because they have more employees,
they can afford to employ specialists, or human
resource managers, to handle these areas of the business. As a
result, it is highly likely that you, as a manager or
entrepreneur, will be performing HRM tasks, hence the value in
understanding the strategic components of HRM.
-4-recruitment/
-5-selection/
-5-selection/
-6-compensation-and-benefits/
-9-successful-employee-communication/
-10-managing-employee-performance/
-11-employee-assessment/

-13-safety-and-health-at-work/
HRM vs. Personnel ManagementHRM vs. Personnel
Management
Human resource strategy is an elaborate and systematic plan of
action developed by a human resource department.
This definition tells us that an HR strategy includes detailed
pathways to implement HRM strategic plans and
HR plans. Think of the HRM strategic plan as the major
objectives the organization wants to achieve, and the
HR plan as the specific activities carried out to achieve the
strategic plan. In other words, the strategic plan may
include long-term goals, while the HR plan may include short-
term objectives that are tied to the overall strategic
plan. As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, human
resource departments in the past were called personnel
departments. This term implies that the department provided
“support” for the rest of the organization. Companies
now understand that the human side of the business is the most
important asset in any business (especially in this
global economy), and therefore HR has much more importance
than it did twenty years ago. While personnel

management mostly involved activities surrounding the hiring
process and legal compliance, human resources
involves much more, including strategic planning, which is the
focus of this chapter. The Ulrich HR model, a
common way to look at HRM strategic planning, provides an
overall view of the role of HRM in the organization.
His model is said to have started the movement that changed the
view of HR; no longer merely a functional area,
HR became more of a partnership within the organization.
While his model has changed over the years, the current
model looks at alignment of HR activities with the overall
global business strategy to form a strategic partnership
(Ulrich & Brockbank, 2005). His newly revised model looks at
five main areas of HR:
1. Strategic partner. Partnership with the entire organization to
ensure alignment of the HR function with
the needs of the organization.
2. Change agent. The skill to anticipate and respond to change
within the HR function, but as a company as
a whole.
3. Administrative expert and functional expert. The ability to
understand and implement policies,
procedures, and processes that relate to the HR strategic plan.

4. Human capital developer. Means to develop talent that is
projected to be needed in the future.
5. Employee advocate. Works for employees currently within
the organization.
According to Ulrich (Ulrich, 2011), implementation of this
model must happen with an understanding of the
overall company objectives, problems, challenges, and
opportunities. For example, the HR professional must
understand the dynamic nature of the HRM environment, such
as changes in labor markets, company culture and
values, customers, shareholders, and the economy. Once this
occurs, HR can determine how best to meet the needs
of the organization within these five main areas.
Figure 2.1
2 . 1 S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G • 3 3
To be successful in writing an HRM strategic plan, one must
understand the dynamic external
environment.
HRM as a Strategic Component of the BusinessHRM as a
Strategic Component of the Business

David Ulrich discusses the importance of bringing HR to the
table in strategic planning.
Keeping the Ulrich model in mind, consider these four aspects
when creating a good HRM strategic plan:
1. Make it applicable. Often people spend an inordinate amount
of time developing plans, but the plans sit
in a file somewhere and are never actually used. A good
strategic plan should be the guiding principles for
the HRM function. It should be reviewed and changed as
aspects of the business change. Involvement of all
members in the HR department (if it’s a larger department) and
communication among everyone within the
department will make the plan better.
2. Be a strategic partner. Alignment of corporate values in the
HRM strategic plan should be a major
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objective of the plan. In addition, the HRM strategic plan
should be aligned with the mission and objectives

of the organization as a whole. For example, if the mission of
the organization is to promote social
responsibility, then the HRM strategic plan should address this
in the hiring criteria.
3. Involve people. An HRM strategic plan cannot be written
alone. The plan should involve everyone in the
organization. For example, as the plan develops, the HR
manager should meet with various people in
departments and find out what skills the best employees have.
Then the HR manager can make sure the
people recruited and interviewed have similar qualities as the
best people already doing the job. In addition,
the HR manager will likely want to meet with the financial
department and executives who do the
budgeting, so they can determine human resource needs and
recruit the right number of people at the right
times. In addition, once the HR department determines what is
needed, communicating a plan can gain
positive feedback that ensures the plan is aligned with the
business objectives.
4. Understand how technology can be used. Organizations
oftentimes do not have the money or the
inclination to research software and find budget-friendly
options for implementation. People are sometimes

nervous about new technology. However, the best organizations
are those that embrace technology and find
the right technology uses for their businesses. There are
thousands of HRM software options that can make
the HRM processes faster, easier, and more effective. Good
strategic plans address this aspect.
HR managers know the business and therefore know the needs
of the business and can develop a plan to meet
those needs. They also stay on top of current events, so they
know what is happening globally that could affect
their strategic plan. If they find out, for example, that an
economic downturn is looming, they will adjust their
strategic plan. In other words, the strategic plan needs to be a
living document, one that changes as the business
and the world changes.
Figure 2.2
A good HRM strategic plan acknowledges and addresses the use
of software in HRM operations.
Howard Russell – Lefroy House – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Have you ever looked at your organization’s strategic plan?
What areas does the plan address?
The Steps to Strategic Plan CreationThe Steps to Strategic Plan
Creation
As we addressed in Section 2.1.2 “The Steps to Strategic Plan
Creation”, HRM strategic plans must have several
elements to be successful. There should be a distinction made
here: the HRM strategic plan is different from the
HR plan. Think of the HRM strategic plan as the major
objectives the organization wants to achieve, while the HR
plan consists of the detailed plans to ensure the strategic plan is
achieved. Oftentimes the strategic plan is viewed
as just another report that must be written. Rather than jumping
in and writing it without much thought, it is best
to give the plan careful consideration.
The goal of Section 2 “Conduct a Strategic Analysis” is to
provide you with some basic elements to consider and
research before writing any HRM plans.
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Conduct a Strategic AnalysisConduct a Strategic Analysis
A strategic analysis looks at three aspects of the individual
HRM department:
1.
Understanding of the company mission and values. It is
impossible to plan for HRM if one does not know
the values and missions of the organization. As we have already
addressed in this chapter, it is imperative for
the HR manager to align department objectives with
organizational objectives. It is worthwhile to sit down
with company executives, management, and supervisors to make
sure you have a good understanding of the
company mission and values.
Another important aspect is the understanding of the
organizational life cycle. You may have learned about
the life cycle in marketing or other business classes, and this
applies to HRM, too. An organizational life
cycle refers to the introduction, growth, maturity, and decline of
the organization, which can vary over time.
For example, when the organization first begins, it is in the
introduction phase, and a different staffing,
compensation, training, and labor/employee relations strategy

may be necessary to align HRM with the
organization’s goals. This might be opposed to an organization
that is struggling to stay in business and is
in the decline phase. That same organization, however, can
create a new product, for example, which might
again put the organization in the growth phase. Table 2.2
“Lifecycle Stages and HRM Strategy” explains
some of the strategies that may be different depending on the
organizational life cycle.
2.
Understanding of the HRM department mission and values.
HRM departments must develop their own
departmental mission and values. These guiding principles for
the department will change as the company’s
overall mission and values change. Often the mission statement
is a list of what the department does, which
is less of a strategic approach. Brainstorming about HR goals,
values, and priorities is a good way to start.
The mission statement should express how an organization’s
human resources help that organization meet
the business goals. A poor mission statement might read as
follows: “The human resource department at
Techno, Inc. provides resources to hiring managers and
develops compensation plans and other services to

assist the employees of our company.”
A strategic statement that expresses how human resources help
the organization might read as follows: “HR’s
responsibility is to ensure that our human resources are more
talented and motivated than our competitors’,
giving us a competitive advantage. This will be achieved by
monitoring our turnover rates, compensation,
and company sales data and comparing that data to our
competitors” (Kaufman, 2011). When the mission
statement is written in this way, it is easier to take a strategic
approach with the HR planning process.
3. Understanding of the challenges facing the department. HRM
managers cannot deal with change
quickly if they are not able to predict changes. As a result, the
HRM manager should know what upcoming
challenges may be faced to make plans to deal with those
challenges better when they come along. This
makes the strategic plan and HRM plan much more usable.
Table 2.2 Lifecycle Stages and HRM Strategy
Life Cycle

Stage Staffing Compensation
Training and
Development Labor / Employee Relations
Introduction
Attract best technical and
professional talent.
Meet or exceed labor
market rates to attract
needed talent.
Define future skill
requirements and begin
establishing career
ladders.
Set basic employee-relations
philosophy of organization.
Growth
Recruit adequate numbers and mix
of qualifying workers. Plan
management succession. Manage
rapid internal labor market
movements.
Meet external market but
consider internal equity
effects. Establish formal
compensation structures.
Mold effective
management team

through management
development and
organizational
development.
Maintain labor peace,
employee motivation, and
morale.
Maturity
Encourage sufficient turnover to
minimize layoffs and provide new
openings. Encourage mobility as
reorganizations shift jobs around.
Control compensation
costs.
Maintain flexibility and
skills of an aging
workforce.
Control labor costs and
maintain labor peace. Improve
productivity.
Decline
Plan and implement workforce
reductions and reallocations;
downsizing and outplacement may
occur during this stage.
Implement tighter cost
control.

Implement retraining and
career consulting
services.
Improve productivity and
achieve flexibility in work
rules. Negotiate job security
and employment-adjustment
policies
Source: Seattle University Presentation, accessed July 11, 2011,
http://fac-staff.seattleu.edu/gprussia/web/
mgt383/HR%20Planning1.ppt.
Identify Strategic HR IssuesIdentify Strategic HR Issues
In this step, the HRM professionals will analyze the challenges
addressed in the first step. For example, the
department may see that it is not strategically aligned with the
company’s mission and values and opt to make
changes to its departmental mission and values as a result of
this information.
Many organizations and departments will use a strategic
planning tool that identifies strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) to determine some
of the issues they are facing. Once this analysis
is performed for the business, HR can align itself with the needs
of the business by understanding the business

strategy. See Table 2.3 “Sample HR Department SWOT
Analysis for Techno, Inc.” for an example of how a
company’s SWOT analysis can be used to develop a SWOT
analysis for the HR department.
Once the alignment of the company SWOT is completed, HR
can develop its own SWOT analysis to determine
the gaps between HR’s strategic plan and the company’s
strategic plan. For example, if the HR manager finds
that a department’s strength is its numerous training programs,
this is something the organization should continue
doing. If a weakness is the organization’s lack of consistent
compensation throughout all job titles, then the
opportunity to review and revise the compensation policies
presents itself. In other words, the company’s SWOT
analysis provides a basis to address some of the issues in the
organization, but it can be whittled down to also
address issues within the department.
Table 2.3 Sample HR Department SWOT Analysis for Techno,
Inc.
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staff.seattleu.edu/gprussia/web/mgt383/HR%20Planning1.ppt
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staff.seattleu.edu/gprussia/web/mgt383/HR%20Planning1.ppt

Hiring talented people
Company growth
Technology implementation for business processes
Strengths
Excellent relationship between HRM and
management/executives
No strategic plan for HRM
No planning for up/down cycles
No formal training processes
Weaknesses
Lacking of software needed to manage business processes,
including go-to-market staffing strategies
Development of HRM staffing plan to meet industry growth
HRM software purchase to manage training, staffing,
assessment needs for an unpredictable business cycle
Continue development of HRM and executive relationship by
attendance and participation in key meetings and
decision-making processes
Opportunities
Develop training programs and outside development
opportunities to continue development of in-house marketing
expertise

Economy
Threats
Changing technology
Prioritize Issues and ActionsPrioritize Issues and Actions
Based on the data gathered in the last step, the HRM manager
should prioritize the goals and then put action plans
together to deal with these challenges. For example, if an
organization identifies that they lack a comprehensive
training program, plans should be developed that address this
need. (Training needs are discussed in Chapter
8 “Training and Development”.) An important aspect of this
step is the involvement of the management and
executives in the organization. Once you have a list of issues
you will address, discuss them with the management
and executives, as they may see other issues or other priorities
differently than you. Remember, to be effective,
HRM must work with the organization and assist the
organization in meeting goals. This should be considered in
every aspect of HRM planning.
Draw Up an HRM PlanDraw Up an HRM Plan
Once the HRM manager has met with executives and
management, and priorities have been agreed upon, the
plans are ready to be developed. Detailed development of these

plans will be discussed in Section 2.2 “Writing
the HRM Plan”. Sometimes companies have great strategic
plans, but when the development of the details occurs,
it can be difficult to align the strategic plan with the more
detailed plans. An HRM manager should always refer
to the overall strategic plan before developing the HRM
strategic plan and HR plans.
Even if a company does not have an HR department, HRM
strategic plans and HR plans should still be developed
by management. By developing and monitoring these plans, the
organization can ensure the right processes are
implemented to meet the ever-changing needs of the
organization. The strategic plan looks at the organization as
a whole, the HRM strategic plan looks at the department as a
whole, and the HR plan addresses specific issues in
the human resource department.
-8-training-and-development/
Key Takeaways
• Personnel management and HRM are different ways of looking

at the job duties of human resources.
Twenty years ago, personnel management focused on
administrative aspects. HRM today involves a
strategic process, which requires working with other
departments, managers, and executives to be
effective and meet the needs of the organization.
• In general, HRM focuses on several main areas, which include
staffing, policy development,
compensation and benefits, retention issues, training and
development, and regulatory issues and
worker protection.
• To be effective, the HR manager needs to utilize technology
and involve others.
• As part of strategic planning, HRM should conduct a strategic
analysis, identify HR issues,
determine and prioritize actions, and then draw up the HRM
plan.
Exercises
1. What is the difference between HR plans and HRM strategic
plans? How are they the same? How
are they different?
2. Of the areas of focus in HRM, which one do you think is the
most important? Rank them and
discuss the reasons for your rankings.
de Kok, J. and Lorraine M. Uhlaner, “Organization Context and
Human Resource Management in the Small

Firm” (Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 01-038/3,
Tinbergen Institute, 2001), accessed August 13, 2011,
http://ideas.repec.org/s/dgr/uvatin.html.
Kaufman, G., “How to Fix HR,” Harvard Business Review,
September 2006, accessed July 11, 2011,
http://hbr.org/2006/09/how-to-fix-hr/ar/1.
Losey, M., “HR Comes of Age,” HR Magazine, March 15, 1998,
accessed July 11, 2011, http://findarticles.com/
p/articles/mi_m3495/is_n3_v43/ai_20514399.
Ulrich, D., “Evaluating the Ulrich Model,” Acerta, 2011,
accessed July 11, 2011, http://www.goingforhr.be/extras/
web-specials/hr-according-to-dave-ulrich#ppt_2135261.
Ulrich, D. and Wayne Brockbank, The HR Value Proposition
(Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2005), 9–14.
http://ideas.repec.org/s/dgr/uvatin.html
http://hbr.org/2006/09/how-to-fix-hr/ar/1
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_n3_v43/ai_20514
399
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_n3_v43/ai_20514
399
http://www.goingforhr.be/extras/web-specials/hr-according-to-
dave-ulrich#ppt_2135261
http://www.goingforhr.be/extras/web-specials/hr-according-to-
dave-ulrich#ppt_2135261

2.2 Writing the HRM Plan
Learning Objective
1. Describe the steps in the development of an HRM plan.
As addressed in Section 2.1 “Strategic Planning”, the writing of
an HRM strategic plan should be based on the
strategic plans of the organization and of the department. Once
the strategic plan is written, the HR professional
can begin work on the HR plan. This is different from the
strategic plan in that it is more detailed and more
focused on the short term. The six parts described here are
addressed in more detail in Chapter 4 “Recruitment”,
Chapter 5 “Selection”, Chapter 6 “Compensation and Benefits”,
Chapter 7 “Retention and Motivation”, Chapter
8 “Training and Development”, Chapter 9 “Successful
Employee Communication”, Chapter 10 “Managing
Employee Performance”, and Chapter 11 “Employee
Assessment”.
Compensation Is a Touchy Subject
As the HR manager, you have access to sensitive data, such as
pay information. As you are looking at pay for
each employee in the marketing department, you notice that two

employees with the same job title and performing
the same job are earning different amounts of money. As you
dig deeper, you notice the employee who has been
with the company for the least amount of time is actually
getting paid more than the person with longer tenure. A
brief look at the performance evaluations shows they are both
star performers. You determine that two different
managers hired the employees, and one manager is no longer
with the organization. How would you handle this?
Figure 2.3
41
-4-recruitment/
-5-selection/
-7-retention-and-motivation/

As you can see from this figure, the company strategic plan ties
into the HRM strategic plan, and from the
HRM strategic plan, the HR plan can be developed.
The six parts of the HRM plan include the following:
1. Determine human resource needs. This part is heavily
involved with the strategic plan. What growth or
decline is expected in the organization? How will this impact
your workforce? What is the economic
situation? What are your forecasted sales for next year?
2. Determine recruiting strategy. Once you have a plan in place,
it’s necessary to write down a strategy
addressing how you will recruit the right people at the right
time.

3. Select employees. The selection process consists of the
interviewing and hiring process.
4. Develop training. Based on the strategic plan, what training
needs are arising? Is there new software that
everyone must learn? Are there problems in handling conflict?
Whatever the training topics are, the HR
manager should address plans to offer training in the HRM plan.
5. Determine compensation. In this aspect of the HRM plan, the
manager must determine pay scales and
other compensation such as health care, bonuses, and other
perks.
6. Appraise performance. Sets of standards need to be
developed so you know how to rate the
content/uploads/sites/7/2015/03/360cd7a353758dbb38c20c9ac3
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performance of your employees and continue with their
development.
Each chapter of this text addresses one area of the HR plan, but
the next sections provide some basic knowledge

of planning for each area.
Determine Human Resource NeedsDetermine Human Resource
Needs
The first part of an HR plan will consist of determining how
many people are needed. This step involves looking
at company operations over the last year and asking a lot of
questions:
1. Were enough people hired?
2. Did you have to scramble to hire people at the last minute?
3. What are the skills your current employees possess?
4. What skills do your employees need to gain to keep up with
technology?
5. Who is retiring soon? Do you have someone to replace them?
6. What are the sales forecasts? How might this affect your
hiring?
These are the questions to answer in this first step of the HR
plan process. As you can imagine, this cannot
be done alone. Involvement of other departments, managers, and
executives should take place to obtain an
accurate estimate of staffing needs for now and in the future.
We discuss staffing in greater detail in Chapter 4
“Recruitment”.

Many HR managers will prepare an inventory of all current
employees, which includes their educational level and
abilities. This gives the HR manager the big picture on what
current employees can do. It can serve as a tool to
develop employees’ skills and abilities, if you know where they
are currently in their development. For example,
by taking an inventory, you may find out that Richard is going
to retire next year, but no one in his department has
been identified or trained to take over his role. Keeping the
inventory helps you know where gaps might exist and
allows you to plan for these gaps. This topic is addressed
further in Chapter 4 “Recruitment”.
HR managers will also look closely at all job components and
will analyze each job. By doing this analysis, they
can get a better picture of what kinds of skills are needed to
perform a job successfully. Once the HR manager has
performed the needs assessment and knows exactly how many
people, and in what positions and time frame they
need to be hired, he or she can get to work on recruiting, which
is also called a staffing plan. This is addressed
further in Chapter 4 “Recruitment”.
RecruitRecruit
Recruitment is an important job of the HR manager. More detail

is provided in Chapter 4 “Recruitment”. Knowing
how many people to hire, what skills they should possess, and
hiring them when the time is right are major
challenges in the area of recruiting. Hiring individuals who
have not only the skills to do the job but also the
attitude, personality, and fit can be the biggest challenge in
recruiting. Depending on the type of job you are hiring
for, you might place traditional advertisements on the web or
use social networking sites as an avenue. Some
companies offer bonuses to employees who refer friends. No
matter where you decide to recruit, it is important
2 . 2 W R I T I N G T H E H R M P L A N • 4 3
-4-recruitment/
-4-recruitment/
-4-recruitment/
-4-recruitment/
to keep in mind that the recruiting process should be fair and
equitable and diversity should be considered. We
discuss diversity in greater detail in Chapter 3 “Diversity and
Multiculturalism”.
Depending on availability and time, some companies may

choose to outsource their recruiting processes. For
some types of high-level positions, a head hunter will be used to
recruit people nationally and internationally. A
head hunter is a person who specializes in matching jobs with
people, and they usually work only with high-level
positions. Another option is to use an agency that specializes in
hiring people for a variety of positions, including
temporary and permanent positions. Some companies decide to
hire temporary employees because they anticipate
only a short-term need, and it can be less expensive to hire
someone for only a specified period of time.
No matter how it is done, recruitment is the process of
obtaining résumés of people interested in the job. In our
next step, we review those résumés, interview, and select the
best person for the job.
SelectSelect
After you have reviewed résumés for a position, now is the time
to work toward selecting the right person for
the job. Although we discuss selection in great detail in Chapter
6 “Compensation and Benefits”, it is worth a
discussion here as well. Numerous studies have been done, and
while they have various results, the majority
of studies say it costs an average of $45,000 to hire a new
manager (Herman, 1993). While this may seem

exaggerated, consider the following items that contribute to the
cost:
1. Time to review résumés
2. Time to interview candidates
3. Interview expenses for candidates
4. Possible travel expenses for new hire or recruiter
5. Possible relocation expenses for new hire
6. Additional bookkeeping, payroll, 401(k), and so forth
7. Additional record keeping for government agencies
8. Increased unemployment insurance costs
9. Costs related to lack of productivity while new employee gets
up to speed
Because it is so expensive to hire, it is important to do it right.
First, résumés are reviewed and people who closely
match the right skills are selected for interviews. Many
organizations perform phone interviews first so they can
further narrow the field. The HR manager is generally
responsible for setting up the interviews and determining
the interview schedule for a particular candidate. Usually, the
more senior the position is, the longer the interview
process takes, even up to eight weeks (Crant, 2009). After the

interviews are conducted, there may be reference
checks, background checks, or testing that will need to be
performed before an offer is made to the new employee.
HR managers are generally responsible for this aspect. Once the
applicant has met all criteria, the HR manager
will offer the selected person the position. At this point, salary,
benefits, and vacation time may be negotiated.
Compensation is the next step in HR management.
-3-diversity-and-multiculturalism/
Determine CompensationDetermine Compensation
What you decide to pay people is much more difficult than it
seems. This issue is covered in greater detail in
Chapter 6 “Compensation and Benefits”. Pay systems must be
developed that motivate employees and embody
fairness to everyone working at the organization. However,
organizations cannot offer every benefit and perk
because budgets always have constraints. Even governmental
agencies need to be concerned with compensation
as part of their HR plan. For example, in 2011, Illinois State

University gave salary increases of 3 percent to all
faculty, despite state budget cuts in other areas. They reasoned
that the pay increase was needed because of the
competitive nature of hiring and retaining faculty and staff. The
university president said, “Our employees have
had a very good year and hopefully this is a good shot in the
arm that will keep our morale high” (Pawlowski,
2011).
Figure 2.4
Determination of compensation systems is a balancing act.
Compensation should be high enough to
motivate current employees and attract new ones but not so high
that it breaks the budget.
Nathan Rupert – Venice Beach Tightrope Walker – CC BY-NC-
ND 2.0.
The process in determining the right pay for the right job can
have many variables, in addition to keeping morale
high. First, as we have already discussed, the organization life
cycle can determine the pay strategy for the
organization. The supply and demand of those skills in the
market, economy, region, or area in which the business
is located is a determining factor in compensation strategy. For
example, a company operating in Seattle may pay

higher for the same job than their division in Missoula,
Montana, because the cost of living is higher in Seattle.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nathaninsandiego/7452313252/
The HR manager is always researching to ensure the pay is fair
and at market value. In Chapter 6 “Compensation
and Benefits”, we get into greater detail about the variety of pay
systems, perks, and bonuses that can be offered.
For many organizations, training is a perk. Employees can
develop their skills while getting paid for it. Training
is the next step in the HR planning process.
Develop TrainingDevelop Training
Once we have planned our staffing, recruited people, selected
employees, and then compensated them, we want
to make sure our new employees are successful. Training is
covered in more detail in Chapter 8. One way we can
ensure success is by training our employees in three main areas:
1. Company culture. A company culture is the organization’s

way of doing things. Every company does
things a bit differently, and by understanding the corporate
culture, the employee will be set up for success.
Usually this type of training is performed at an orientation,
when an employee is first hired. Topics might
include how to request time off, dress codes, and processes.
2. Skills needed for the job. If you work for a retail store, your
employees need to know how to use the
register. If you have sales staff, they need to have product
knowledge to do the job. If your company uses
particular software, training is needed in this area.
3. Human relations skills. These are non-job-specific skills your
employees need not only to do their jobs
but also to make them all-around successful employees. Skills
needed include communication skills and
interviewing potential employees.
Perform a Performance AppraisalPerform a Performance
Appraisal
The last thing an HR manager should plan is the performance
appraisal. While we discuss performance appraisals
in greater detail in Chapter 11 “Employee Assessment”, it is
definitely worth a mention here, since it is part of
the strategic plan. A performance appraisal is a method by

which job performance is measured. The performance
appraisal can be called many different things, such as the
following:
1. Employee appraisal
2. Performance review
3. 360 review
4. Career development review
No matter what the name, these appraisals can be very
beneficial in motivating and rewarding employees. The
performance evaluation includes metrics on which the employee
is measured. These metrics should be based on
the job description, both of which the HR manager develops.
Various types of rating systems can be used, and
it’s usually up to the HR manager to develop these as well as
employee evaluation forms. The HR manager also
usually ensures that every manager in the organization is trained
on how to fill out the evaluation forms, but more
importantly, how to discuss job performance with the employee.
Then the HR manager tracks the due dates of
performance appraisals and sends out e-mails to those managers
letting them know it is almost time to write an
evaluation.

Have you ever been given a performance evaluation? What was
the process and the outcome?
Communication Is Key in Performance
EvaluationsCommunication Is Key in Performance Evaluations
Communication is imperative in any workplace, but especially
when giving and receiving a performance
evaluation.
Key Takeaways
• Human resource planning is a process that is part of the
strategic plan. It involves addressing specific
needs within the organization, based on the company’s strategic
direction.
• The first step in HR planning is determining current and future
human resource needs. In this step,
current employees, available employees in the market, and
future needs are all analyzed and
developed.

• In the second step of the process, once we know how many
people we will need to hire, we can
begin to determine the best methods for recruiting the people
we need. Sometimes an organization
will use head hunters to find the best person for the job.
• After the recruiting process is finished, the HR manager will
begin the selection process. This
involves setting up interviews and selecting the right person for
the job. This can be an expensive
process, so we always want to hire the right person from the
beginning.
• HR managers also need to work through compensation plans,
including salary, bonus, and other
benefits, such as health care. This aspect is important, since
most organizations want to use
compensation to attract and retain the best employees.
• The HR manager also develops training programs to ensure the
people hired have the tools to be able
to do their jobs successfully.
Exercises
1. Of the parts of HR planning, which do you think is most
difficult, and why? Which would you
enjoy the most, and why?
2. Why is it important to plan your staffing before you start to
hire people?
3. What is the significance of training? Why do we need it in
organizations?

http://www.youtube.com/v/gdp4sPviV74
Crant, J., “How Long Does an Interview Process Take?”
Jobsinminneapolis.com, December 2, 2009, accessed
October 28, 2010,
http://www.jobsinminneapolis.com/articles/title/How-Long-
Does-an-Interview-Process-Take/
3500/422.
Herman, S., Hiring Right: A Practical Guide (Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage, 1993), xv.
Pawlowski, S., “Illinois State University to Get Salary Bump,”
WJBC Radio, July 11, 2011, accessed July 11,
2011, http://wjbc.com/illinois-state-university-faculty-to-get-
salary-bump.
http://www.jobsinminneapolis.com/articles/title/How -Long-
Does-an-Interview-Process-Take/3500/422
http://www.jobsinminneapolis.com/articles/title/How-Long-
Does-an-Interview-Process-Take/3500/422
http://wjbc.com/illinois-state-university-faculty-to-get-salary-
bump
2.3 Tips in HRM Planning

Learning Objective
1. Explain the aspects needed to create a usable and successful
HRM plan.
As you have learned from this chapter, human resource strategic
planning involves understanding your company’s
strategic plan and HR’s role in the organization. The planning
aspect meets the needs of the strategic plan by
knowing how many people should be hired, how many people
are needed, and what kind of training they need to
meet the goals of the organization. This section gives some tips
on successful HR strategic planning.
Like many Fortune 500 companies throughout the world, IBM in
India finds that picking the best prospects
for job postings isn’t always easy. By using advanced analytics,
however, it aims to connect the strategic
plan, staffing needs, and the hiring process using a simple tool.
The project was originally developed to
assign people to projects internally at IBM, but IBM found this
tool able to not only extract essential
details like the number of years of experience but also make
qualitative judgments, such as how good the
person actually is for the job (Chari, 2011). This makes the
software unique, as most résumé-scanning
software programs can only search for specific keywords and
are not able to assess the job fit or tie the
criteria directly to the overall strategic plan. The project uses
IBM India’s spoken web technology, in which
the prospective employee answers a few questions, creating the

equivalent of voice résumé. Then using
these voice résumés, the hiring manager can easily search for
those prospects who meet the needs of the
organization and the objectives of the strategic plan.
Some of the challenges noted with this software include the
recognition of language and dialect issues.
However, the IBM human resources solution is still one of the
most sophisticated of such tools to be
developed. “Services is very people-intensive. Today, there is
talk of a war for talent, but attracting the right
kind of people is a challenge, yet unemployment is very high.
Our solution applies sophisticated analytics
to workforce management,” says Manish Gupta, director at IBM
Research-India (Chari, 2011).
It is likely that this is only the beginning of the types of
technology that allow HR professionals to tie their
HR plans directly to a strategic plan with the touch of a few
buttons.
49
Link HRM Strategic Plan to Company PlanLink HRM Strategic
Plan to Company Plan
Understanding the nature of the business is key to being
successful in creating a strategic plan for HRM. Because
every business is different, the needs of the business may
change, depending on the economy, the season, and
societal changes in our country. HR managers need to
understand all these aspects of the business to better predict

how many people are needed, what types of training are needed,
and how to compensate people, for example. The
strategic plan that the HR manager writes should address these
issues. To address these issues, the HR manager
should develop the departmental goals and HR plans based on
the overall goals of the organization. In other
words, HR should not operate alone but in tandem with the
other parts of the organization. The HRM plan should
reflect this.
Figure 2.5
The HRM department should operate in tandem with other
departments to meet the needs of the
organization.
Skydive Andes Chile – Tandem Javier Diaz – CC BY-ND 2.0.
Monitor the Plan ConstantlyMonitor the Plan Constantly
Oftentimes a great strategic plan is written, taking lots of time,
but isn’t actually put into practice for a variety of
reasons, such as the following:
1. The plan wasn’t developed so that it could be useful.
2. The plan wasn’t communicated with management and others
in the HRM department.

3. The plan did not meet the budget guidelines of the
organization.
4. The plan did not match the strategic outcomes of the
organization.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/skydiveandes/8794920968/
5. There was lack of knowledge on how to actually implement
it.
There is no point in developing a plan that isn’t going to be
used. Developing the plan and then making changes
as necessary are important to making it a valuable asset for the
organization. A strategic plan should be a living
document, in that it changes as organizational or external
factors change. People can get too attached to a specific
plan or way of doing things and then find it hard to change. The
plan needs to change constantly or it won’t be of
value.
Measure ItMeasure It
A good strategic plan and HR plan should discuss the way
“success” will be measured. For example, rather than

writing, “Meet the hiring needs of the organization,” be more
specific: “Based on sales forecasts from our sales
department, hire ten people this quarter with the skills to meet
our ten job openings.” This is a goal that is specific
enough to be measured. These types of quantitative data also
make it easier to show the relationship between HR
and the organization, and better yet, to show how HR adds value
to the bottom line. Likewise, if a company has
a strategic objective to be a safe workplace, you might include a
goal to “develop training to meet the needs of
the organization.” While this is a great goal, how will this be
measured? How will you know if you did what you
were supposed to do? It might be difficult to measure this with
such a general statement. On the other hand, a goal
to “develop a safety training workshop and have all employees
complete it by the end of the year” is specific and
can be measured at the end to determine success.
What are some of your personal goals? Are these goals
measureable?
Sometimes Change Is NecessarySometimes Change Is Necessary
It can be difficult to base an entire plan on forecasted numbers.
As a result, an HRM department that is willing to

change quickly to meet the needs of the organization proves its
worthiness. Consider a sales forecast that called
for fifteen new hires, but you find out months later the
organization is having a hard time making payroll. Upon
digging deeper, you find the sales forecasts were
overexaggerated, and now you have fifteen people you don’t
really need. By monitoring the changes constantly (usually done
by asking lots of questions to other departments),
you can be sure you are able to change your strategic plan as
they come.
Be Aware of Legislative ChangesBe Aware of Legislative
Changes
One of the major challenges in HRM, as we discuss in Chapter 1
“The Role of Human Resources”, is having an
awareness of what is happening from a legal perspective.
Because most budgets are based on certain current laws,
knowing when the law changes and how it will affect
department budgets and planning (such as compensation
planning) will create a more solid strategic plan. For example,
if the minimum wage goes up in your state and you
2 . 3 T I P S I N H R M P L A N N I N G • 5 1
have minimum wage workers, reworking the budget and

communicating this change to your accounting team is
imperative in providing value to the organization. We will
discuss various legislation throughout this book.
Key Takeaways
• As has been the theme throughout this chapter, any HRM plan
should be directly linked to the
strategic plan of the organization.
• A plan should be constantly updated and revised as things in
the organization change.
• A good strategic plan provides tools to determine whether you
met the goal. Any plan should have
measureable goals so the connection to success is obvious.
• Changes in a strategic plan and in goal setting are necessary as
the internal and external
environments change. An HR manager should always be aware
of changes in forecasts, for example,
so the plan can change, too.
• Legislative changes may impact strategic plans and budgets as
well. It’s important to make sure HR
managers are keeping up on these changes and communicating
them.
Exercises
1. What are some ways an HR manager can keep up on
legislative changes? Do a web search and list
specific publications that may help keep the HR manager aware
of changes.

2. Why is it important to be able to measure strategic plans?
What might happen if you don’t?
Chari, S., “IBM Automates Parsing of Resumes,” iStock
Analyst, July 11, 2011, accessed July 11, 2011,
http://www.istockanalyst.com/business/news/5283887/ibm-
automates-parsing-of-resumes.
http://www.istockanalyst.com/business/news/5283887/ibm-
automates-parsing-of-resumes
2.4 Cases and Problems
Chapter SummaryChapter Summary
• Human resource management was once called the personnel
department. In the past, hiring people
and working with hiring paperwork was this department’s job.
Today, the HRM department has a
much broader role, and as a result, HR managers must align
their strategies with the company’s
strategies.
• Functions that fall under HRM today include staffing, creation
of workplace policies, compensation
and benefits, retention, training and development, and working
with regulatory issues and worker
protection.
• Human resource strategy is a set of elaborate and systematic

plans of action. The company
objectives and goals should be aligned with the objectives and
goals of the individual departments.
• The steps to creating an HRM strategic plan include
conducting a strategic analysis. This entails
having an understanding of the values and mission of the
organization, so you can align your
departmental strategy in the same way.
• The second step is to identify any HR issues that might impact
the business.
• The third step, based on the information from the first and
second steps, is to prioritize issues and
take action. Finally, the HRM professional will draw up the
HRM plan.
• The HRM plan consists of six steps. The first is to determine
the needs of the organization based on
sales forecasts, for example. Then the HR professional will
recruit and select the right person for the
job. HRM develops training and development to help better the
skills of existing employees and new
employees, too. The HR manager will then determine
compensation and appraise performance of
employees. Each of these parts of the HRM plan is discussed in
its own separate chapter in greater
detail.
• As things in the organization change, the strategic plan should
also change.
• To make the most from a strategic plan, it’s important to write
the goals in a way that makes them
measurable.

Chapter Summary
The author provides a video summary of the chapter.
53
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Chapter CaseChapter Case
We Merged…Now What?
Earlier this month, your company, a running equipment designer
and manufacturer called Runners
Paradise, merged with a smaller clothing design company called
ActiveLeak. Your company initiated the
buyout because of the excellent design team at ActiveLeak and
their brand recognition, specifically for
their MP3-integrated running shorts. Runners Paradise has
thirty-five employees and ActiveLeak has ten
employees. At ActiveLeak, the owner, who often was too busy
doing other tasks, handled the HRM roles.
As a result, ActiveLeak has no strategic plan, and you are
wondering if you should develop a strategic
plan, given this change. Here are the things you have
accomplished so far:
• Reviewed compensation and adjusted salaries for the sake of
fairness. Communicated this to all
affected employees.
• Developed job requirements for current and new jobs.

• Had each old and new employee fill out a skills inventory
Excel document, which has been merged
into a database.
From this point, you are not sure what to do to fully integrate
the new organization.
1. Why should you develop an HRM strategic plan?
2. Which components of your HR plan will you have to change?
3. What additional information would you need to create an
action plan for these changes?
Team ActivitiesTeam Activities
1. Work in a group of three to five people. Choose a company
and perform a SWOT analysis on that
organization and be prepared to present it to the class.
2. Based on the SWOT analysis you performed in the first
question, develop new objectives for the
organization.
Chapter 3: Diversity and Multiculturalism
Hiring MulticulturalHiring Multicultural
On a Tuesday afternoon, as you are getting ready to go to lunch,
you receive an e-mail from your human resources
(HR) manager about the need to hire a new project manager, and

there is a $500 bonus for referring a friend who
successfully joins the company. Immediately, you e-mail your
friend Daniel, because you know he would be great
for the job. Daniel is eventually hired for the position, and a
few months later a new e-mail goes out asking for
friend recommendations for a new position. You and Daniel
both recommend someone, and eventually that person
gets hired. Over the next year, hiring notices are not advertised
externally as the organization has had good luck
with this hiring practice. Seems like a great way to recruit new
people, doesn’t it? It can be, but it also can be a
detriment to the diversity and multiculturalism of the
workplace. How, you might wonder?
While not true across the board, people have a tendency to
spend time with people who are like themselves, in
race, income level, and other aspects of diversity such as sexual
orientation. In fact, according to the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development and a study
published in the American Journal of Sociology,
it is much more likely that someone will name a person in their
own race as a friend than someone of a different
race (Moody, 2001). Likewise, even from a young age, people
tend to choose friends who are of the same
race. As a result, when you recommend Daniel for a position, it

is highly likely that Daniel is similar, from a
diversity perspective, to you. Then, when Daniel recommends
someone for a job, it is highly likely that he, too,
is recommending someone with similar characteristics as you
both. This obviously creates a lack of multicultural
diversity in the workplace, which can mean lost profits for
companies.
HRM and MulticulturalismHRM and Multiculturalism
Moody, J., “Race, School Integration, and Friendship
Segregation in America,” American Journal of Sociology
107, no. 3 (2001): 679–719.
55
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3.1 Diversity and Multiculturalism
Learning Objectives
1. Define, explain, and identify your own power and privilege.
2. Provide reasoning as to why diversity is important to
maintain profitability.

Many people use the terms diversity and multiculturalism
interchangeably, when in fact, there are major
differences between the two. Diversity is defined as the
differences between people. These differences can include
race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, background,
socioeconomic status, and much more. Diversity, when
talking about it from the human resource management (HRM)
perspective, tends to focus more on a set of policies
to meet compliance standards. The Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) oversees complaints in
this area. We discuss the EEOC in Section 3.3.1 “Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)” and in
greater detail in Chapter 4 “Recruitment” and Chapter 5
“Selection”.
Multiculturalism goes deeper than diversity by focusing on
inclusiveness, understanding, and respect, and also
by looking at unequal power in society. In a report called “The
2007 State of Workplace Diversity Management
Report1,” most HR managers said that diversity in the
workplace is
1. not well defined or understood at work,
2. focuses too much on compliance, and
3. places too much emphasis on gender and ethnicity.

This chapter focuses on the advantages of a diverse workplace
and discusses multiculturalism at work and the
compliance aspect of diversity.
Power and PrivilegePower and Privilege
As defined in this chapter, diversity focuses on the “otherness”
or differences between individuals and has a goal
of making sure, through policies, that everyone is treated the
same. While this is the legal and the right thing to do,
multiculturalism looks at a system of advantages based on race,
gender, and sexual orientation called power and
56
privilege. In this system, the advantages are based on a system
in which one race, gender, and sexual orientation
is predominant in setting societal rules and norms.
The interesting thing about power and privilege is that if you
have it, you may not initially recognize it, which is
why we can call it invisible privilege. Here are some examples:
1. Race privilege. Let’s say you (a Caucasian) and your friend
(an African American) are having dinner
together, and when the bill comes, the server gives the check to
you. While this may not seem like a big

issue, it assumes you (being Caucasian) are the person paying
for the meal. This type of invisible privilege
may not seem to matter if you have that privilege, but if you
don’t, it can be infuriating.
2. Social class privilege. When Hurricane Katrina hit New
Orleans in 2005, many people from outside the
storm area wondered why so many people stayed in the city, not
even thinking about the fact that some
people couldn’t afford the gas to put in their car to leave the
city.
3. Gender privilege. This refers to privileges one gender has
over another—for example, the assumption
that a female will change her name to her husband’s when they
get married.
4. Sexual orientation privilege. If I am heterosexual , I can put a
picture of my partner on my desk without
worrying about what others think. I can talk about our vacations
together or experiences we’ve had without
worrying what someone might think about my relationship. This
is not the case for many gay, lesbian, and
transgendered people and their partners.
Oftentimes the privilege we have is considered invisible,
because it can be hard to recognize one’s own privilege
based on race, gender, or social class. Many people utilize the

color-blind approach, which says, “I treat everyone
the same” or “I don’t see people’s skin color.” In this case, the
person is showing invisible privilege and
thus ignoring the privileges he or she receives because of race,
gender, or social class. While it appears this
approach would value all people equally, it doesn’t, because
people’s different needs, assets, and perspectives are
disregarded by not acknowledging differences (Plaut, et. al.,
2009).
Another important aspect of power and privilege is the fact that
we may have privilege in one area and not another.
For example, I am a Caucasian female, which certainly gives me
race privilege but not gender privilege. Important
to note here is that the idea of power and privilege is not about
“white male bashing” but understanding our own
stereotypes and systems of advantage so we can be more
inclusive with our coworkers, employees, and managers.
So what does this all mean in relation to HRM? It means we can
combine the understanding of certain systems
that allow for power and privilege, and by understanding we
may be able to eliminate or at least minimize these
issues. Besides this, one of the best things we can do for our
organizations is to have a diverse workforce, with
people from a variety of perspectives. This diversity leads to

profitability and the ability to better serve customers.
We discuss the advantages of diversity in Section 3.1.2 “Why
Diversity and Multiculturalism?”.
Take this week to examine your own power and privilege as a
result of gender, race, or social class. Notice
how people treat you because of your skin color, gender, or how
you dress and talk.
3 . 1 D I V E R S I T Y A N D M U L T I C U L T U R A L I S
M • 5 7
Stereotypes and the Effect on PrivilegeStereotypes and the
Effect on Privilege
This video discusses some racial stereotypes and white privilege
through “on the street” interviews.
Please view this video at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1wztUJ4VVE.
Why Diversity and Multiculturalism?Why Diversity and
Multiculturalism?
Figure 3.1
While there may be no “money fairy,” diversity has proven to
result in higher profits for companies.
Just Another Shot – Fairies!! – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0; Wikimedia
Commons – public domain.

When many people look at diversity and multiculturalism, they
think that someone’s gender, skin color, or social
class shouldn’t matter. So diversity can help us with policies to
prevent discrimination, while multiculturalism can
help us gain a deeper understanding of the differences between
people. Hopefully, over time, rather than look at
diversity as attaining numerical goals or complying with the
law, we can combine the concepts to create better
workplaces. Although many books discuss laws relating to
diversity, not many actually describe why diversity is
necessary in the workplace. Here are a few main reasons:
1. It is the law.
2. We can better serve customers by offering a broader range of
services, such as being able to speak a
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1wztUJ4VVE
content/uploads/sites/7/2015/10/3.1-Collage.png
content/uploads/sites/7/2015/10/3.1-Collage.png
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wideopencode/110357529/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bills_and_coins-
edit.png
variety of languages and understanding other cultures.

3. We can better communicate with one another (saving time
and money) and customers.
4. With a multicultural perspective, we can create better ideas
and solutions.
Hilton is one of the most recognized names in the hotel
industry. Hilton employs 130,000 people in 3,750
hotels in 84 countries. The hotel chain, with some locations
franchised, focuses on diversity and inclusion
as part of its operations. First, it has a director of global
diversity and inclusion, who plays a key role in
executing the Hilton global diversity and inclusion efforts,
which are focused on culture, talent, workplace,
and marketplace diversity strategies. Each Hilton brand must
establish its own diversity performance goals
and initiatives, which are monitored by the diversity council.
The diversity council is made up of the
company board of directors, the CEO, and vice president of
human resources. At any given time, Hilton
has thirty or more diversity initiatives in place (Forsythe,
2005), which are managed by the diversity
council.
Hilton has created several diversity programs within the
communities in which the hotels operate. For
example, Hilton was one of the first hotel chains to develop an
outreach program to educate minority and
female entrepreneurs for franchise investments. One part of the
program includes invitation-only seminars
that discuss what it takes to be a successful hotel owner. Hilton
says its diversity seminars are driven by
the fact that it wants employees to reflect the diversity of the

customers.
In addition to the outreach program, Hilton partners w ith
historically black colleges and universities for
recruiting, which creates an effective tie to jobs once students
graduate. It has developed a supplier tracking
system, so it knows the total number of supplier payments made
and how many of those suppliers are
female or minorities. William A. Holland, the vice president for
workforce planning and analysis says, “It
takes leadership to make diversity work, and our diversity
initiative comes from the highest levels of our
organization” (Forsythe, 2005)
Promoting a multicultural work environment isn’t just the law.
Through a diverse work environment and
multicultural understanding, organizations can attain greater
profitability. A study by Cedric Herring called Does
Diversity Pay? (Herring, 2006) reveals that diversity does, in
fact, pay. The study found those businesses with
greater racial diversity reporter higher sales revenues, more
customers, larger market shares, and greater relative
profits than those with more homogeneous workforces. Other
research on the topic by Scott Page, the author of
The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better
Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies (Page, 2007)
ended up with similar results. Page found that people from
varied backgrounds are more effective at working
together than those who are from similar backgrounds, because

they offer different approaches and perspectives
in the development of solutions. Often people believe that
diversity is about checking a box or only providing
window dressing to gain more customers, but this isn’t the case.
As put by Eric Foss, chairperson and CEO of
Pepsi Beverages Company, “It’s not a fad. It’s not an idea of
the month. It’s central and it’s linked very directly to
business strategy” (Holstein, 2009). A study by the late Roy
Adler of Pepperdine University shows similar results.
His 19-year study of 215 Fortune 500 companies shows a strong
correlation between female executives and high
profitability (Adler). Another study, conducted by Project
Equality, found that companies that rated low on equal
opportunity issues earned 7.9 percent profit, while those who
rated highest with more equal opportunities resulted
M • 5 9
in 18.3 percent profit (Lauber, 2011). These numbers show that
diversity and multiculturalism certainly is not a
fad, but a way of doing business that better serves customers
and results in higher profits.
As managers, we need to recognize this and develop policies
that recognize not only the importance of diversity

but the importance of nurturing multicultural understanding in
the workplace. Many employees, however, may be
resistant to a discussion on diversity and multiculturalism.
Much of this may have to do with their own power and
privilege, but some resistance may be related to the discomfort
people may feel when faced with the realization
that change is a necessity and the cultural makeup of the
workplace is changing. Some people may feel “We’ve
always done it this way” and are less willing to change to the
new ways of doing things.
Perhaps one of the best diversity statements by a Fortune 500
company was made by Jose Manuel Souto, the
CFO for Visa in Latin America. He says, “A diverse workforce
is critical to providing the best service to our
global clients, supporting our business initiatives, and creating
a workplace environment that promotes respect
and fairness2.”
Now that you have an understanding of the meaning of
diversity, power, and privilege, as well as the importance
of diversity, we will discuss specific diversity strategies in
Section 3.2 “Diversity Plans”.
Key Takeaways
• Diversity is the real or perceived differences between

individuals. This can include race, gender,
sexual orientation, size, cultural background, and much more.
• Multiculturalism is a term that is similar to diversity, but it
focuses on development of a greater
understanding of how power in society can be unequal due to
race, gender, sexual orientation,
power, and privilege.
• Power and privilege is a system of advantages based on one’s
race, gender, and sexual orientation.
This system can often be invisible (to those who have it), which
results in one race or gender having
unequal power in the workplace. Of course, this unequal power
results in unfairness, which may be
of legal concern.
• Diversity is important to the success of organizations. Many
studies have shown a direct link
between the amount of diversity in a workplace and the
company’s success.
Exercises
1. Perform an Internet search to find a specific diversity policy
for an organization. What is the
policy? From what you know of the organization, do you
believe they follow this policy in reality?
2. Visit the website http://www.diversityinc.com and find their
latest “top 50 list.” What criteria are
used to appear on this list? What are the top five companies for
the current year?
1Society for Human Resource Management, The 2007 State of
Workplace Diversity Management Report, March

http://www.diversityinc.com/
2008, accessed August 3, 2011,
http://www.shrm.org/Publications/HRNews/Pages/
DiversityBusinessImperative.aspx.
2National Latina Business Women Association, “Women and
Minorities on Corporate Boards Still Lags Far
Behind National Population,” accessed August 24, 2011,
http://nlbwa.org/component/content/article/
64-nationalnews/137-procon-and-asian-global-sourcing-
conference.
Adler, R., “Women in the Executive Suite Correlate to High
Profits,” Glass Ceiling Research Center.
Forsythe, J., “Leading with Diversity,” New York Times, 2005,
accessed July 13, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/
marketing/jobmarket/diversity/hilton.html.
Herring, C., “Does Diversity Pay? Racial Composition of Firms
and the Business Case for Diversity” (paper
presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological
Association, Montreal, Canada, August 11,

2006), accessed May 5, 2009,
http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citati
on/1/0/1/7/9/
pages101792/p101792-1.php.
Holstein, W. J., “Diversity is Even More Important in Hard
Times,” New York Times, February 13, 2009, accessed
August 25, 2011,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/14/business/14interview.html.
Lauber, M., “Studies Show That Diversity in Workplace Is
Profitable,” Project Equality, n.d., accessed July 11,
2011, http://www.villagelife.org/news/archives/diversity.html.
Page, S. E., The Difference: How the Power of Diversity
Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies
(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007).
Plaut, V. C., Kecia M. Thomas, and Matt J. Goren, “Is
Multiculturalism or Color Blindness Better for Minorities?”
Psychological Science 20, no. 4 (2009): 444–46.
M • 6 1
http://www.shrm.org/Publications/HRNews/Pages/DiversityBusi
nessImperative.aspx
http://www.shrm.org/Publications/HRNews/Pages/DiversityBusi
nessImperative.aspx
http://nlbwa.org/component/content/article/64-
nationalnews/137-procon-and-asian-global-sourcing-conference

http://nlbwa.org/component/content/article/64-
nationalnews/137-procon-and-asian-global-sourcing-conference
http://www.nytimes.com/marketing/jobmarket/diversity/hilton.h
tml
http://www.nytimes.com/marketing/jobmarket/diversity/hilt on.h
tml
on/1/0/1/7/9/pages101792/p101792-1.php
on/1/0/1/7/9/pages101792/p101792-1.php
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/14/business/14i nterview.html
http://www.villagelife.org/news/archives/diversity.html
3.2 Diversity Plans
Learning Objectives
1. Be able to apply strategies to create a multicultural work
environment and diversity plans.
2. Be able to create an HR plan with diversity considerations.
While state and federal laws must be followed to ensure
multiculturalism, the culture of the company and the
way the organization operates can contribute to the nurturing of
a multicultural environment (or not). Most
companies have a formalized and written antidiscrimination and
harassment policy. For example, Zappos’s policy
states, “The diversity of Zappos’ employees is a tremendous
asset. We are firmly committed to providing equal
opportunity in all aspects of employment and will not tolerate

any illegal discrimination or harassment. Examples
of such behavior include derogatory comments based on racial
or ethnic characteristics and unwelcome sexual
advances. Please refer to the applicable sections of the
Employee Handbook for further guidance1.”
Implementing a policy is an excellent first step, but what is
important is how the company acts on those formalized
processes and written policies. Let’s say, for example, an
organization has a published policy on inclusion of those
with physical disabilities, but much “schmoozing” and
relationship development with managers takes place on
the golf course on Friday afternoons. While the policy states the
company doesn’t discriminate, their actions and
“traditions” show otherwise and do discriminate against those
with disabilities. If this is where the informal work
and relationship building take place, an entire group could be
left out of this process, likely resulting in lower
pay and promotion rates. Likewise, organizations that have a
“beer Friday” environment may discriminate against
those whose religions do not condone drinking alcohol. While
none of these situations are examples of blatant
discrimination, a company’s culture can contribute to an
environment that is exclusive rather than inclusive.
Many organizations have developed diversity management plans

that are tied to the written diversity policy of
the organization. In fact, in many larger organizations, such as
Hilton, manager- or director-level positions have
been created to specifically manage diversity plans and
programs. Josh Greenberg, a researcher in the area of
workplace diversity, contends that organizations with specific
diversity plans tend to be able to facilitate changes
more quickly than companies without diversity plans
(Greenberg, 2004). He says there are three main steps to
creating diversity plans:
1. Assessment of diversity. Employee satisfaction surveys,
discussions, and open forums that can provide
62
insight into the challenges and obstacles to diversity. Inclusion
of all workers for input is necessary to create
a useful plan.
2. Development of the diversity plan. Based on step 1, a series
of attainable and measurable goals should
be developed regarding workplace diversity.
3. Implementation of the plan. The commitment of executives
and management is necessary. Formulating

action plans based on the goals developed in step 2 and
assignment of implementation and measurement of
those plans must follow. The action plan should be the
responsibility of the entire organization, not just the
director of diversity or human resources.
In Section 3.2.1 “Recruitment and Selection”, we discuss some
of the HR plan considerations in company culture
and “our way of doing things” that are worth considering when
creating a diversity plan.
Recruitment and SelectionRecruitment and Selection
As you saw in the opening of Chapter 3 “Diversity and
Multiculturalism”, sometimes organizations do not
mean to be exclusive or discriminatory, but their practices are
discriminatory and illegal. For example, the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says it is
illegal to publish a job advertisement that
shows a preference for a particular type of person or
discourages someone from applying for a job. For
example, a Facebook post that says “recent college graduates
wanted” might be inclusive to a younger group and
discouraging to a diverse (older) workforce, not making the post
multicultural. Another example might be the
reliance on word-of-mouth advertisement for job openings.
Suppose you have a mostly Hispanic workforce and

use word of mouth for recruitment. It is likely that most new
hires will also be Hispanic. This is also illegal, but
perhaps a consideration is the lack of diversity you will have in
your workplace with these recruitment methods.
Make sure that job announcements aren’t posted only for your
Facebook friends to see; post them in a variety of
places to gain the largest and most diverse response.
We address discrimination in the selection process in Chapter 5
“Selection”. However, a mention of the four-fifths
rule here is important to determine how we can quantitatively
evaluate discrimination in our selection practices.
One way to calculate possible discrimination is by using the
four-fifths rule, or 80 percent rule. The rule states
that a selection rate for any race, sex, or ethnic group that is
less than four-fifths of the rate for the group with the
highest rate could be regarded as adverse impact. Adverse
impact refers to employment practices that may appear
to be neutral but have a discriminatory effect on a protected
group. For example, let’s assume 100 women and 500
men applied to be firefighters. Let’s say 20 of those women
were hired and 250 men were hired. To determine
adverse impact based on the four-fifths rule, calculate the
following:

• Selection rate for women: 20 percent
• Selection rate for men: 50 percent
• Then divide the highest selection rate: .20/.50 = .4
Because .4, or 40 percent, is less than four-fifths, there may be
adverse impact in the selection process for
firefighters.
3 . 2 D I V E R S I T Y P L A N S • 6 3
TestingTesting
If employment tests are required, a test must be in direct
relation to the job. For example, an organization that uses
a personality test in hiring must be able to show that the
personality test results are nondiscriminatory and do not
exclude a population.
In addition, if a reasonable accommodation is needed, such as
an interpreter, and it does not cause financial
difficulty for the organization, this should be granted.
Also consider the type of test and how it might exclude a
certain group of people, such as those who don’t speak
English as a first language. We will discuss multiculturalism
and testing further in Chapter 5 “Selection”.

Pay and PromotionPay and Promotion
Development of policies related to pay and promotion is key to
fairness in a multicultural situation. It is widely
published that women make about 77 percent of what men earn
for similar jobs2. Many studies have tried to
determine a cause for this pay inequity, and here are some of
the possible reasons studied and researched:
1. Hours worked. Studies have said that women tend to work
fewer hours because of child-care and
housework expectations.
2. Occupational choice. A study performed by Anne York at
Meredith College (York, 2008) found that
women tend to choose careers that pay less because they are
worried about balancing family and career. In
addition, numerous studies show that women choose careers on
the basis of gender stereotypes (e.g., nurse,
teacher) and that this leads to lower pay.
3. Stereotypes. The concept of male bias is a possibility. In
many studies, people were more likely to
choose male doctors over female doctors, even when experience
and education were the same (Hekman, et.
al., 2010). There appears to be a perception that men may be
more competent in certain types of jobs.

4. Maternity and family leave. Women leaving the workforce
for a short or extended period of time may
affect the perception of promotability in the workplace.
5. Salary negotiation(Bowles & Babcock, 2008). A study
performed by Bowles and Babcock showed that
men were eight times more likely to negotiate salary than
women. In addition, when women did negotiate,
they received lower monetary returns. Consider a study
performed by Cornell University, which found that
women were often negatively affected in their job when they
negotiated salary, as compared to men not
being viewed negatively after negotiatio ns.
Whatever the reason for pay difference, all managers should be
aware of these differences when hiring and
promoting. Allowing managers to determine the pay for their
employees can also bring out negative
stereotypes—and lead to breaking of the law. Determining a set
pay schedule for all new and promoted employees
can help remedy this situation.
A factor in promotions can also be the mentor-mentee
relationship. Most individuals in organizations will have
an informal mentor who helps them “through the ranks.”
Traditionally, this informal mentor relationship results

in someone “pairing up” with another who has similar physical
characteristics, is the same gender, or has a
similar mind-set. As a result, if the organization has, for
example, mostly men, it is likely the female will not
be informally mentored, which can result in lack of promotion.
Likewise, if the workforce consists of mostly
Caucasian females, it is likely the African American male may
not develop an informal mentor relationship with
his female counterparts. Development of a formal mentorship
program to ensure that everyone has a mentor is
one way to alleviate this situation. Mentorship programs are
discussed in Chapter 8 “Training and Development”.
Now What?Now What?
Now that you have an awareness of the aspects of HR that could
be affected by multiculturalism, you may
consider what steps you can take to create a more multicultural
workplace. The first step would be to create a
diversity plan, as discussed earlier in this section. The second
step would be to look at the operation of the HR
department and to figure out what departmental measures can be
taken to promote diversity.

HR, for example, can provide a training series on power and
privilege and how it relates to the workplace.
Awareness is the first step to creating a truly multicultural
environment. Once employees recognize their own
power and privilege, the training could be developed to include
laws related to diversity, and discussions on bias
can take place. Then discussions can be held on how to improve
HR plans such as job analysis, recruitment, and
selection to create a multicultural work environment. Rather
than thinking about this training as one of many
objectives that must be accomplished, think about the training
from the conversation perspective. Getting the
conversation started is the first step in this personal and
professional development process for employees.
Figure 3.2
Checking your own perceptions on multiculturalism can be a
good first step to creating a more
multicultural and diverse workplace.
Paul Townsend – relics of a bygone age – sounds you’ll
probably never hear again! – CC BY-ND 2.0.
3 . 2 D I V E R S I T Y P L A N S • 6 5

https://www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebornandbred/1166682430
5/
Some of the aspects to creating a training focused on
multiculturalism might include the following:
1. Build a cultural knowledge about customs, religions, and
histories.
2. Discuss treatment of people based on them as individuals,
rather than as part of a “group,” which can
result in stereotyping.
3. Teach employees to listen actively, which can help raise
cultural awareness.
4. Train employees to rethink current policies and how those
policies might be exclusive to a certain group.
5. Work on resistance to change. Many employees think, “This
is the way we have always done it, and now
we have to change it because we have a group of ____ working
here now.”
6. Does your leadership team have a multiculturalism
perspective? Are many ethnic backgrounds and other
multicultural traits represented?
While these suggestions may not eliminate power and privilege,
the ability to talk about differences and

expectations can be a key ingredient to creating a more
inclusive environment. Sometimes this type of training can
help people evaluate their perceptions. For example, suppose a
complaint came through that a woman was making
derogatory sexual comments to only one group of men in an
organization. When talked to about it, she said she
made comments to the “techies” because she thought the
comments would provide them a needed confidence
boost, but she generally wouldn’t make those types of
comments. This is an example of her perception (“techies”
need confidence boosts from women) followed by her action
(the comments) on this perception. When we assume
our perceptions are correct, we are usually wrong. Training can
get people to consider their emotions, stereotypes,
and expectations. Besides training, asking ourselves a series of
important questions can be the start to making
diversity and multiculturalism work. The University of
California, San Francisco human resource department lists
some of these questions, which are shown in the sidebar.
Things to Consider When Creating a Multicultural and Diverse
Work EnvironmentThings to Consider When Creating a
Multicultural and Diverse Work Environment
• Do you test your assumptions before acting on them?
• Do you believe there is only one right way of doing things, or

that there are a number of valid ways
that accomplish the same goal? Do you convey that to staff?
• Do you have honest relationships with each staff member you
supervise? Are you comfortable with
each of them? Do you know what motivates them, what their
goals are, and how they like to be
recognized?
• Are you able to give negative feedback to someone who is
culturally different from you?
• When you have open positions, do you insist on a diverse
screening committee and make additional
outreach efforts to ensure that a diverse pool of candidates has
applied?
• When you hire a new employee, do you not only explain job
responsibilities and expectations clearly
but orient the person to the campus and department culture and
unwritten rules?
• Do you rigorously examine your unit’s existing policies,
practices, and procedures to ensure that
they do not differentially impact different groups? When they
do, do you change them?
• Are you willing to listen to constructive feedback from your
staff about ways to improve the work
environment? Do you implement staff suggestions and
acknowledge their contribution?

• Do you take immediate action with people you supervise when
they behave in ways that show
disrespect for others in the workplace, such as inappropriate
jokes and offensive terms?
• Do you make good faith efforts to meet your affirmative
action goals?
• Do you have a good understanding of institutional isms such
as racism and sexism and how they
manifest themselves in the workplace?
• Do you ensure that assignments and opportunities for
advancement are accessible to everyone?
• What policies, practices, and ways of thinking have
differential impact on different groups?
• What organizational changes should be made to meet the needs
of a diverse workforce?
Source: University of California, San Francisco, “Managing
Diversity in the Workplace,” chap. 12 in
Guide to Managing Human Resources, accessed July 11, 2011,
http://ucsfhr.ucsf.edu/index.php/pubs/
hrguidearticle/chapter-12-managing-diversity-in-the-
workplace/#684.
Why is multiculturalism important in the workplace? What is
your role, as an employee in your
organization, to ensure a diverse workforce?

Refer a Friend
Your manager is very concerned about the cost of hiring the
three new people you need. As a result, she doesn’t
want to post the advertisement in a variety of places; she thinks
it’s best to just use a “refer a friend” recruitment
strategy. When she moves forward with this strategy, ten people
turn in résumés. Upon looking further, it appears
all applicants went to the same private religious college and
graduated around the same time. You are concerned
that this method of recruitment lacks diversity. How would you
handle this with your manager?
3 . 2 D I V E R S I T Y P L A N S • 6 7
http://ucsfhr.ucsf.edu/index.php/pubs/hrguidearticle/chapter -12-
managing-diversity-in-the-workplace/#684
http://ucsfhr.ucsf.edu/index.php/pubs/hrguidearticle/chapter -12-
managing-diversity-in-the-workplace/#684

Key Takeaways
• Oftentimes there are cultural aspects to an organization that
make it resistant to an inclusive
environment. These are often not obvious, but it is important to
be aware of how your own company
culture impacts multiculturalism.
◦ One way to begin the discussion within your organization is to
create diversity action plans, for
which the entire company is responsible and for which HR is
the change agent. In addition to
companywide initiatives, HR can also look within its own HR
plans to see where it may be able
to change.
◦ In recruitment, awareness of how and where you post
announcements is crucial.
◦ Testing should be fair and unbiased and shouldn’t negatively
impact someone based on race,
national origin, gender, social class, or educational level.
◦ There are many reasons for differences in pay. Development
of a set pay scale can alleviate
some of the issues surrounding unfair pay, especially between
men and women.
◦ Formal mentorship programs can create multicultural
understanding and can ensure people do
not stick with their own race or gender when helping someone
move up the ranks in an
organization.
Exercises

1. What are some things we can do, personally, to be more
multiculturally efficient?
2. What are the advantages of having a set pay scale? What are
the disadvantages?
1Zappos.com, accessed August 25, 2011,
http://about.zappos.com/our-unique-culture/zappos-core-
values/build-
open-and-honest-relationships-communication.
2National Committee on Pay Equity, accessed August 25, 2011,
http://www.iwpr.org/initiatives/pay-equity-and-
discrimination/#publications.
Bowles, H. R. and Linda Babcock, “When Doesn’t It Hurt Her
to Ask? Framing and Justification Reduce the
Social Risks of Initiating Compensation” (paper presented at
IACM 21st Annual Conference, December 14,
2008): accessed August 25, 2011,
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1316162.
Greenberg, J., “Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits,
Challenges,
Solution

s,” The Multicultural Advantage, 2004,
accessed July 12, 2011,
http://www.multiculturaladvantage.com/recruit/diversity/Diversi
ty-in-the-Workplace-
Benefits-Challenges-

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