Core HR Knowledge for Professionals II

Needs Assessment and Analysis

• Describes methods for obtaining the information necessary to make decisions that will best accomplish an organization's goals.
• Measures the needs in any area of business
• The common steps involved are:
• Describe the objective: "Where do we want to be?"
• Define the current situation: "Where are we now?"
• Conduct a gap analysis: This will compare the objective to the current situation and results in a list of people, actions, or items needed to attain the objective described in step 1.
• Set priorities: Prioritizing identifies the gaps most crucial to achieving the primary objective and focuses on closing them first.
• Investigate and develop options: "What is the most effective way to fill this gap?"
• Evaluate options, and determine budget impact: Determine which of the possible options will be the most effective way to fill the gap.
• Recommend solutions: Document the reasons for selecting a particular solution

Third-Party Contract Management

• A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between 2 or more parties in which all parties benefit in some way.
• In a third-party contract, some part of the transaction is provided by an entity other than those who have signed the contract.
• Example of a third-party contract: an agreement w/a temp agency
• A critical factor for a successful contractor relationship is a clear understanding of the product or service to be provided, along with clearly defined expectations for quality and service levels.
• This is best communicated through an RFP (request for proposal)
• A well constructed RFP serves as the basis on which the product or service is obtained, a guide to ensure that the delivery meets the organization's requirements, and a means of evaluation at the end of the project
• An RFP provides vendors with a format to follow when submitting proposals
• The following things on a proposal make it easier to compare and evaluate them:
• Executive Summary
• Vendor Qualifications
• Project Management Plan
• Project Team
• Roles and Responsibilities
• Delivery Schedule
• Pricing Information
• Once the proposals have been submitted the following can be done:
• Proposal Evaluations
• Vendor Selection
• Contract Negotiations
• Execution of the Agreement
• Project Evaluation

Communication Skills and Strategies

• An effective employee communication strategy provides opportunities for top-down communication by management and bottom-up communication from employees
• It must balance management's need to ensure the confidentiality of sensitive company info with the employee's need to know, understand, and feel a part of what is going on with the company
• It also delivers the same information in several ways
• The following questions can help determine which delivery method is most appropriate for communications:
• What information will be provided?
• Who is the intended audience?
• Who will provide the information?
• Is the information time sensitive?
• What is the organization's culture? (Is it formal or informal?)
• What is the employee base? (Is the workforce computer savvy or are they accustomed to receiving information from their managers in small group meetings?)
• Bottom-up communications help employees feel their concerns are heard or addressed
• Examples of Top-Down Communication:
• Intranet
• Public address system announcements
• Posters
• Newsletters
• Individual letters to employees
• Flyers
• Bulletin board postings
• Examples of Bottom-Up Communication:
• Open-door policy
• All-hands meeting
• Staff Meetings
• Brown-bag lunches
• One-on-one meetings
• Email
• Webcasts

Documentation Requirements

• Documentation Requirements fall into 2 categories:
• EMPLOYMENT RECORDS- such as, application forms, tax documents, and benefit records
• EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS- such as, documenting performance issues
• Documenting Records & Actions:
• The maintenance of employment records and actions are important for 2 basic reasons:
• Some are required to be maintained to comply with federal, state, or local employment laws
• Some provide information necessary for effective management of the organization
• Documenting Performance Issues:
• Two key considerations for documenting performance concerns:
• Timeliness: managers should address performance issues when they occur in order to effectively manage the employees who report to them
• Creating and maintaining written documentation for disciplinary action taken as appropriate and warranted based on the seriousness of the performance issues
• The following are typical disciplinary actions that can be administered (pg.31):
• Verbal Warning
• First Written Warning
• Final Written Warning
• Decision-Making Day
• Suspension
• Termination of Employment
• Including a disciplinary process in an employee handbook can void the "at-will employment" doctrine
• With a published disciplinary process, employers are vulnerable to claims of discrimination if the process isn't followed in all cases
• Some employment attorneys recommend that the disciplinary process be used as a guideline for managers to follow in addressing performance issues but that it not be published in an employee handbook

Adult Learning Processes and Styles

• Edward Lindeman (1920's)
• Developed the concept that adult learning styles differed from those of children
• His concept was later expanded by Malcom Knowles
• His work (along with Knowles) is the basis for the study of how adults learn, which is known as andragogy
• Andragogy-is defined as education in which the learner participates in decisions about what will be taught and how it will be delivered (this is today's definition)
• Pedagogy-the opposite of andragogy..is the study of how children learn, which is defined as education in which the teacher decides what will be taught and how it will be delivered
• The following five characteristics form the basis of andragogy today (explanations on page 33):
• Self-concept
• Experience
• Readiness to learn
• Orientation to learning
• Motivation to learn
• The following are the three types of learners (explanations on page 33):
• Auditory
• Visual
• Tactile/Kinesthetic
• All learning styles are represented in the workforce so it's important to incorporate elements of each style when designing training

Leadership Concepts

• Behavioral Theories:
• During the 1940's, researchers moved to a new concept:
• that leadership could be taught: thus anyone could become a leader w/the right information
• However, the research focus shifted from personality traits to what leaders did to inspire people to follow them Two Aspects of behavior became apparent from research:
• Behavior that focused on the structural elements of the job, such as establishing rules and guidelines for employees
• Behavior that considered the needs of employee, such as standing up for them and explaining decisions
• There are leadership characteristics that weren't explained by behavioral theories such as, how or why a given behavioral aspect worked in one situation but not others thus leading to situational theories
• Situational Theories:
• Seeks to explain leader effectiveness in different situations
• Looks at how the leader and followers interact and how the work is structured
• Well-known theories that fall into the above category are (See the "Situational Theory" Mind Map for further review):
• Blake-Mouton Managerial Grid (1968)
• Path-Goal Theory (1971)
• Hersey-Blanchard Theory (1977)
• Situational theories are criticized for being two-dimensional & not allowing for multifaceted situations that occur in the real world of business
• Also, these theories don't account for differences in culture & gender in explaining leadership
• Contingency Theories:
• Fred E. Fiedler developed a model known as Fiedler's Contingency Theory to address the shortcomings of situational theories
• Used a method known as LPC (least preferred co-worker) where leaders identify a co-worker with whom they had the most difficulty working with and rate them on a scale of 1-8 on a series of measures
• a high LPC score indicates that the leader has a greater concern for people than for tasks
• a low LPC score indicates a greater concern for tasks
• these scores could be used to predict the situations in which a leader would have a better chance for success
• Fiedler describes situations in terms of 3 aspects (pg. 41)
• Leader-Member Relations
• Task Structure
• Position Power
• Leadership Styles (pg. 42):
• Authoritarian or Directive - tells employees what to do; this style is best when productivity is concerned
• Democratic - involves employees in the process; this style is best when relationships in the work environment are concerned
• Laissez-faire - abdicates responsibility and leaves employees to figure things out w/o guidance or support; this style is best when employees are highly motivated and can work independently
• Coach - prepares employees to take on additional responsibility
• Transactional - focuses on getting the job done and seeks to do this by offering a reward in exchange for accomplishing organization goals
• Transformational - focuses on the relationships in the group, building them to achieve organization goals; acts as role models; works w/individuals

Project Management Concepts

• Project management describes the process of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing an assignment that is temporary in nature
• They are short-term assignments that will result in a program that will become part of the organization's operations when it's complete, but the process of designing the program isn't an ongoing operation
• There are five phases of a project life cycle:
• Initiation: project requests are evaluated and selected for implementation
• Planning: led by the Project Manager; lays out how the project will be accomplished
• Executing: the project plan is implemented; a project team is created and other resources are acquired
• Controlling: the project manager keeps the project on course and on budget by comparing accomplishments to the original plan and making course corrections as needed
• Closing: the sponsor/customer acknowledges achievement of the project goals
• A list of HR projects that can occur in any of the functional areas can be found on page 43