Final Exam Flashcards

1
Q

What are some supports for the survivors of downsizing?

A
  • set vision for the future (how is firm going to turn things around?)
  • ongoing career planning and development
  • training for new job duties
  • adjust compensation (to avoid dissatisfaction and compensate for new tasks)
  • two way communication
  • employee surveys
  • employee assurance programs (counselling)
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2
Q

Shortage strategies (external)?

A
  • outsource
  • temp staff
  • expand recruitment channels and sources
  • hiring bonuses
  • improve compensation
  • non traditional labour (group not traditionally employed position could have skills)
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3
Q

Shortage strategies (internal)?

A
  • OT
  • referral bonuses
  • transfer and reassignments
  • postpone retirements
  • improve compensation
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4
Q

How to calculate 4/5 rule?

A
  • calculate % of designated group/ relative comparison group (ex. Women/ men)
  • calculate % of designated group in labour force for the position (ex. % of women in labour force)
  • use % of designated group in labour force to see how many should be in position (total of employees in the position x % women in labour force)
  • % of designated group in firm/ expected number of designated group based on labour force.
  • if less 4/5 (about 80%), then test is adverse to designated group
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5
Q

What are the main points of employment equity?

A
  • take action to make sure workforce matches Canadian diversity
  • remove barriers that prevent this (systemic, bias, active etc)
  • target designate groups (federal designated groups)
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6
Q

Who do employment equity regulations apply to?

A
  • federal government employees
  • federally regulated employers and crown corporations with 100 or more employees
  • federal contractors
  • provincially regulated employers with a 100 or more employees who wish to bid on contracts (greater than $1 million)
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7
Q

What are the Employment equity steps a company can take?

A
  1. Review HR policies and practices to remove potential barriers
  2. Survey internal workforce to determine designated group rep
  3. Collect labour market data
  4. Compare steps 2 and 3, use 4/5 rule to determine if there is significant under representation
  5. Set goals and timeline to close any gaps
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8
Q

What are the steps for recruiting?

A
  1. Identify vacancies through turnover and HRP
  2. Identify sources of recruits (internal and external)
  3. Identify recruiting channels
  4. Screen applicants
  5. Evaluate effectiveness of recruiting measures
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9
Q

Name some recruiting channels

A

Online/ social media
Print media
Private search firms
Employee referrals
Educational institutions
Professional associations
Job fairs

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10
Q

What are some possible constraints on recruiting?

A
  • promote from within policy
  • employment status policies (FT, PT, temp)
  • compensation policy
  • culture of the org
  • union contract clauses
  • employment equity policy
  • budget
  • immigration policy
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11
Q

What do regulators consider when an employer hires foreign workers?

A
  • if job offer is genuine
  • wages and working conditions compared to what a Canadian is offered
  • were reasonable steps taken to hire a Canadian?
  • hiring will not affect a labour dispute
  • brining in new skills or knowledge?
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12
Q

When hiring temporary foreign workers, employers must apply for a _____ and show what?

A

Labour Market Impact Statement (LMIA)
- # of Canadians who applied and were interviewed
- why no Canadian qualified
- no Canadians were laid off or had hours reduced
- caps on low paid TFW
- there is less than 6% unemployment rate in the region

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13
Q

What are some of the top recruiting methods and why?

A
  • online job board (24/7 receiving, global reach, low cost, contains lots of info)
  • personal contact/ referrals (have an accurate description of the company, like minded people, likely already vetted by a current employee)
  • social media (better for younger applicant attraction)
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14
Q

What is gamification?

A

Applicants play games that assess their fit for the position

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15
Q

What are some consequences of hiring a bad employee?

A
  • economic cost: of recruiting, hiring, employing, termination and then starting over
  • opportunity cost: to recruit a good employee
  • time cost: time it takes for the hiring and then rehiring process
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16
Q

What is “validity” of selection techniques?

A
  • does it measure the skill?
  • does it measure how well someone will do the job?
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17
Q

What is “reliability” of selection techniques?

A

Consistency of results over time

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18
Q

What is predictive validity?

A

Validation study predicts certain behaviours that are related to the job

19
Q

What is concurrent validity?

A

A test administered to current employees correlates test prediction to actual performance

20
Q

What is content validity?

A

Test includes simple tasks necessary to do job

21
Q

What is construct validity?

A

Tests for characteristics, aptitudes necessary for the job (ex. Dexterity, clerical aptitude, intelligence)

22
Q

What is a good validity coefficient?

A

> 0.35

23
Q

What is a good reliability coefficient?

A

> 0.7

24
Q

What are common interview errors?

A
  • premature judgment
  • appearance of candidate
  • focus on negative info
  • similarity effect (favour candidates similar to ourselves)
  • contrast effect (compare candidates to candidates instead of candidate to job)
  • halo/ horns effect (a single good or bad action distorts judgement of candidate)
  • poor recall (have trouble recalling candidate)
  • stereotyping
  • order of interviews (strong impression of first and last candidates, middle gets lost without proper recording)
  • poor questions (off topic, leading)
25
Q

What are some ways to overcome interview errors?

A
  • more than one interviewer/ panel interviews
  • structure (standardize questions and rating system)
  • record
  • consider timing (length and the human fatigue factor for later interviews)
  • base questions on job analysis
  • limit access to other info before interview (to avoid premature judgement)
  • rate immediately after interview
  • check references to confirm assertions of interviewee
26
Q

Types of interview questions to include

A
  • biographical facts
  • technical knowledge
  • experience/ activity descriptions
  • self-evaluate info: goals, attitudes, philosophy
  • situational questions
  • behavioural description questions
27
Q

What are the big 5 traits of personality?

A
  • conscientiousness (hardworking, dependable, self directed)
  • extraversion (sociable, outgoing)
  • agreeableness ( considerate, compassionate, willing to work with others)
  • emotional stability (calm, handles stress)
  • openness to experience (creative, innovative, originality)
28
Q

Cognitive ability elements? Valid for which jobs?

A
  • verbal ability
  • numerical
  • reasonable ability (invent solutions)
  • deductive ability (logic)
  • spatial ability (manipulate objects in space)
  • perceptual ability (recognizing detail)
  • memory

Most valid for professional, skilled trades, and sales representatives

29
Q

What are the 5 steps when it comes to training?

A
  1. Preparation (difficult situations, working conditions)
  2. Explanation
  3. Demonstration
  4. Participation
  5. Evaluation
30
Q

What is ROI and how do you calculate it?

A

Return on investment

= (gain from investment - cost of investment)/ cost of investment

31
Q

What HR decisions can perform appraisals be used for?

A
  • promotions
  • compensation
  • succession planning
  • demotions
  • lay offs/ terminations
  • training and development
  • job analysis and job design
  • recruiting and selection
  • validation of BFORs
32
Q

What are some common performance rater errors?

A
  • recency (base on most recent performance)
  • leniency (tend to rate too high)
  • severity (tend to rate too low)
  • central tendency (tend to rate everyone average)
  • halo/ horns (base on single observed performance)
  • contrast effect ( compare workers to workers, instead of worker to the job)
  • attribution (situational vs disposition )
33
Q

Factors when considering a performance appraisal format

A

-Objective
-Job related criteria
-Cost of development
-Cost of use
-Ease of use
-Feedback (for counselling and improving performance)
- info for HR decisions (is info gathered accurate enough to support HR Decisions?)

34
Q

What is BARS and what are the pros and cons of using it?

A

Behaviourally anchored rating scale - identity critical incidents and what a good, average, and poor employee would do

-pros: likely to be objective
- cons: responses will not always fit, large time cost

35
Q

What is BOS and what are the pros and cons?

A

Behavioural observation scale - frequency of behaviour in specific critical incidents

Pros:
Cons: hard to measure frequency unless a system is in place to do so

36
Q

What are critical incidents and what are the pros and cons of using them?

A

Employer identifies examples of good and bad behaviour in certain incidents
-pros:
- cons: vulnerable to decency bias, remember only the really good or bad

37
Q

What are cascading goals?

A

Goals flow from the top to the bottom based on firms overall objectives
-organizational (ex profit, sales)
- departmental (ex productivity, wastage)
- individual (ex production, sales, goals)

38
Q

What are SMART goals (for deciding objectives)?

A

-Specific action
-Measurable result
-Achievable
-Related (to most important job requirements)
- time frame for completion

39
Q

What are some techniques to make performance appraisal more accurate?

A
  • train raters in use
  • developed a standardized rating system
  • ratings used for counselling not rewards
  • ratings confidential
  • do regularly
  • avoid during busy periods
  • raters should observe employees on a regular basis
  • establish an appeal mechanism
  • raters held accountable
40
Q

What are the impacts of unions on staffing?

A
  • recruiting (shop clauses)
  • selection
  • terminations (limit to for just cause)
  • lay offs (usually use seniority for decision)
  • demotions, bumping rights, promotions
  • transfers, change of shift (usually require advance notice to avoid constructive dismissal)
  • contracting out (outsourcing; is limited)
41
Q

What are the three shop clauses for hiring in a union environment?

A
  • closed: can only accept union members as employees
  • union: must join union upon employment
  • agency: don’t have to join union but must pay union dues
42
Q

What are possible restrictions on outsourcing under a union?

A

-Not allowed if results in lay offs
- only if insufficient skills exist in company
- only contract to another unionized firm
- not if staff are laid off as result of outside forces (ie laid off staff have the skills they are outsourcing )

43
Q

What are bumping rights?

A

When lay offs take place, a more senior employee can “bump” a junior employee from a lower paid position, and continue until the most junior employee is laid off

44
Q

Types of seniority clauses (for promotion or filling vacancies)

A
  • straight seniority: only considers basis of seniority (rare to use for promotions)
  • hybrid clause: equally weigh seniority, ability, and qualification
  • relative ability: weigh ability and qualifications, when two employees are equal, seniority is the tie breaker
  • sufficient ability: clear a bar of ability and qualification (ie there is a minimum), at which point seniority rules