EMPLOYMENTChapters 5-7

Chapter 5

Planning for People

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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How can business strategy be integrated with strategic workforce planning?

How might job-design principles and job analysis be useful to the practicing manager?

What is strategic workforce planning, and how should I begin that process?

How can organizations balance “make” versus “buy” decisions with respect to talent?

How should organizations manage leadership succession?

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Strategy formulation answers the basic question, “How will we compete?”

Strategy analysis defines the crucial elements for the strategy’s success

In strategy implementation, firms take the necessary actions to implement their strategies

How firms compete with each other and how they attain and sustain competitive advantage is known as strategic management

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SMART objectives - Specific, Measurable, Appropriate, Realistic, Timely

Business strategy provides an overall direction and focus for the organization as a whole, including for each functional area of the business

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A set of priorities a firm uses to align its resources, policies, and programs with its strategic business plan

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High-performance work practices include the following features:◦Pushing responsibility down to employees

operating in flatter organizations◦Increased emphasis on line managers as HR

managers◦Instilling learning as a priority◦Decentralizing decision making to

autonomous units and employees◦Linking performance measures for

employees to financial performance indicators

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Who specifies the content of each job? Who decides how many jobs are necessary? How are the interrelationships among jobs

determined and communicated? Has anyone looked at the number, design, and

content of jobs from the perspective of the entire organization?

What are the minimum qualifications for each job?

What should training programs stress? How should performance on each job be

measured? How much is each job worth?

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Job analysis describes the process of obtaining information about jobs

Job design focuses on the processes and outcomes of how work is structured, organized, experienced, and enacted.

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The dominant approach to job design in the industrial society of the 20th century

Frederick W. Taylor was its prophet◦ Taylor believed that once the best way to

perform work was identified, workers should be selected on the basis of their ability to do the job, trained in the standard way to perform the job, and offered monetary incentives to motivate them to do their best

◦ This approach to designing work is fully consistent with a cost-leadership business strategy

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Job description is an overall written summary of task requirements

Job specification is an overall written summary of worker requirements

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Job analyses are not legally required under the ADA, but professional practice suggests they be done for three reasons:◦ Applicants must be able to understand what the

functions of a job are before they can respond to the question “Can you perform the essential functions of the job for which you are applying?”

◦ Existing job analyses may need to be updated to reflect additional dimensions of jobs

◦ A written job description may result in some candidates self-selecting out

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Competency models attempt to identify variables related to overall organizational fit and identify personality characteristics consistent with the organization’s vision and mission (e.g., drive for results, persistence, etc.)

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Structured questionnaires

Critical incidents

Observation

Interview

Job performance

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Information input Mental processes Work output Relationship with other persons Job context Other job characteristics

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An effort to anticipate future business and environmental demands on an organization, and to provide qualified people to fulfill that business and satisfy those demands

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A talent inventory A workforce forecast Action plans Control and evaluation

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Forecasting external workforce supply◦ Agencies regularly make projections of external

labor market conditions and estimates of the supply of labor

◦ Organizations find such projections helpful Forecasting internal workforce supply

◦ The simplest type is the succession plan◦ The overall objective is to ensure the availability

of competent executive talent

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Five key lessons:◦The CEO must drive the talent agenda◦Identify and communicate a common set of

leadership attributes ◦Use performance reviews as the building

block for assessment, development, and management consensus about performance and potential

◦Keep to a schedule for performance reviews, broader talent reviews outside one’s functional area, and the identification of talent pools

◦Link all decisions about talent to the strategy of the organization

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Identify pivotal talent Assess future workforce demand Accuracy in forecasting the demand for

labor varies considerably by firm and by industry type: roughly from 5 to 35 percent error factor

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Guidelines for determining when “buying” is more effective than “making:”◦ How accurate is your forecast of demand? If not

accurate, do more buying◦ Do you have the “scale” to develop? If not, do

more buying◦ Is there a job ladder to pull talent through? If

not long, do more buying◦ How long will the talent be needed? If not long,

do more buying◦ Do you want to change culture/direction? If yes,

do more buying

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Quantitative objectives make the control and evaluation process more objective and measure deviations from desired performance more precisely

In newly instituted SWP systems, evaluation is likely to be more qualitative than quantitative, with little emphasis placed on control

The advantage of quantitative information is that it highlights potential problem areas and can provide the basis for constructive discussion of the issues

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Key steps to take to avoid a future crisis in leadership succession:◦ Ensure that the sitting CEO understand the

importance of this task and makes it a priority◦ Focus on an organization’s future needs, not past

accomplishments◦ Encourage differences of opinion◦ Provide broad exposure◦ Provide access to the Board

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• Job analysis• Job design• Job description• Job specification• Competency models• SMART objectives

• Business strategy• Competencies• HR strategy• Workforce forecasting• Succession planning• Strategic workforce planning