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This Document Contains Chapters 10 to 12 Chapter 10 Human Resource Management CHAPTER OBJECTIVES • Explain what human resource management involves. • Define the term human capital, and identify at least four of Pfeffer’s people-centered practices. • Identify and briefly explain the seven steps in the PROCEED model of employee selection. • Distinguish among equal employment opportunity, affirmative action, and managing diversity. • Explain how managers can be more effective interviewers. • Discuss how performance appraisals can be made legally defensible. • Contrast the ingredients of good training programs for both skill and factual learning and explain training program evaluation. • Specify the essential components of an organization’s policies for dealing with sexual harassment and alcohol and drug abuse. OPENING CASE The Changing Workplace: Talent Analytics at Google It’s not the free lunch that keeps people happy at Google. The three reasons people stay: the mission, the quality of the people and the chance to build the skills set of a better leader or entrepreneur. Their analytics are built around these three reasons. Part of Google’s people-management practices is to research, analyze and ultimately focus on best practices through their PiLab. This level of commitment to human resources management has helped Google identify eight behaviors that characterize good managers it has helped determine best practices in the recruitment process. Ask Students: • Through the research in the PiLab, Google determined that the ideal number of recruiting interviews is five, down from the previous average of ten. How many interviews did you have for your last job? Can you imagine going on ten? • Why do you think Google commits the time and resources to conduct this many interviews? • Would you want to work at Google? Why or why not? LECTURE OUTLINE Human resource management involves the acquisition, evaluation, retention, and development of human resources necessary for organizational success. Progressive and successful organizations treat all employees as valuable human resources. Figure 10.1 presents a model for the balance of this chapter; it reflects this strategic orientation. I. HUMAN RESOURCE STRATEGY: A PEOPLE-CENTERED APPROACH Conventional wisdom about how employees should be perceived and managed has evolved greatly over the last 60 years. Today, in well-managed companies, HR is being embedded in organizational strategy. The profession is just beginning to come of age but isn’t quite sure where it’s heading. Outsourcing, decentralization and globalization have added another layer of complexity to the HR function. A. The Age of Human Capital This open-system perspective is a “big picture” approach to managing people and staying competitive. The term human capital encompasses all present and future workforce participants and emphasizes the need to develop their fullest potential for the benefit of everyone. A new era has arrived which is characterized by speed, quality and customer satisfaction. Central the human capital perspective is the assumption is that every employee is a valuable asset, not merely an expense item. B. People-Centered Organizations Enjoy a Competitive Advantage In an era of nonstop layoffs, the often-heard slogan “Employees are our most valuable asset” rings hollow. Research by Stanford’s Jeffrey Pfeffer shows a strong connection between people-centered practices and higher profits and lower employee turnover. Pfeffer identified seven people-centered practices: • Protection of job security (including a no-layoff policy) • A rigorous hiring process • Employee empowerment through decentralization and self-managed teams • Compensation linked to performance • Comprehensive training • Recollection of status differences • Sharing of key information Unfortunately, according to Pfeffer’s calculations, only about 12 percent of today’s organizations qualify as being systematically people-centered. II. Recruitment and Selection A survey of CEOs reinforces the importance of getting the right people in an organization. The number one response when asked what the key to their success would be in the next five years was “Getting and retaining talent.” A. Recruiting for Diversity in the Internet Age The ultimate goal of recruiting is to generate a pool of qualified applicants for new and existing jobs. An underlying reality makes today’s recruiting extremely challenging; applicant pools need to be demographically representative of the population at large if diversity is to be achieved. The Internet and social media have become the tools choice for recruiters and job seekers. One important lesson for job seekers is to never post anything on the Web that you wouldn’t want a prospective employer to see. B. The Selection Process: An Overview Equal employment opportunity (EEO) legislation in the United States and elsewhere attempts to ensure the fair and unprejudiced treatment of all job applicants. Résumé screening and reference checking are both very important because an estimated 41 percent of applicants lie about their work histories and education. Background checks for criminal records and citizenship/immigration status are more crucial than ever. The PROCEED model of the selection process encourages managers to take a systems perspective from preparation to the final hiring decision. PROCEED stands for Step 1: PREPARE Step 2: REVIEW Step 3: ORGANIZE Step 4: CONDUCT Step 5: EVALUATE Step 6: EXCHANGE Step 7: DECIDE For more detail, see Table 10.1. Job analysis is the process of identifying basic task and skill requirements for specific jobs by studying superior performers. A job description is a concise document outlining the role expectations and skill requirements for a specific job. C. Equal Employment Opportunity The landmark EEO law in the United States is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Thanks to EEO laws, “it is unlawful to discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disabilities or military service.” Sexual preference and gender identity have been added to the list in some jurisdictions. Selection and all other personnel decisions must be made solely on the basis on objective criteria, such as ability to perform or seniority. • Affirmative Action An affirmative action program (AAP) is a plan for actively seeking out, employing, and developing the talents of those groups that have traditionally been discriminated against in employment. Affirmative action is an attempt to make up for past discrimination; EEO is aimed at preventing future discrimination. AAPs use the following four methods: • Active recruitment of women and minorities • Elimination of prejudicial questions on employment application forms • Establishment of specific goals and timetables for minority hiring • Statistical validation of employment testing procedures There have been both negative and positive findings about affirmative action. • On the negative side, people believed to be hired through affirmative action programs carry a stigma of incompetence, no matter how qualified they are for the job. • Positively, a study found that affirmative action had enhanced the promotion opportunities of black workers in both government and business organizations. • From Affirmative Action to Managing Diversity o The “managing diversity” movement promises to raise the discussion of equal employment opportunity and affirmative action to a higher plane. o Diversity advocates want to replace all forms of bigotry, prejudice, and intolerance with tolerance and, ideally, appreciation of individual differences. o They also want to broaden the message of inclusion to make it globally applicable. • Accommodating the Needs of People with Disabilities o Human disabilities vary widely, but historically, disabled people tended to have one unfortunate thing in common—unemployment. o Today about 20 percent of the U.S. population is disabled. One in five disabled adults has not graduated from high school, and more than 70 percent between the ages of 18 and 55 are unemployed. o With the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), disabled Americans hoped to have a real chance to take their rightful place in the workforce. But according to recent data, added government regulation has made no difference for 61% of disabled adults surveyed. • The ADA, enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to the needs of present and future employees with physical and mental disabilities. Some tips for employers from experts: o Audit all facilities, policies, work rules, hiring procedures, and labor union contracts to eliminate barriers and bias. o Train all managers in ADA compliance and all employees in how to be sensitive to coworkers and customers with disabilities. o Do not hire anyone who cannot safely perform the basic duties of a particular job with reasonable accommodation. D. Employment Selection Tests An employment selection test, according to EEOC guidelines in the United States, is any procedure used as a basis for an employment decision. This includes traditional pencil-and-paper tests, unscored application forms, informal and formal interviews, performance tests, and physical, educational, or experience requirements. See Table 10.2 for an overview of employment testing techniques. Despite questions and potential drawbacks about the practice, in the past three years overall employment testing has been growing at a rate of 10–15 percent. E. Effective Interviewing Interviewing is probably the most common employee selection tool. The unstructured interview has been criticized for several reasons. o It is highly susceptible to distortion and bias. o It is highly susceptible to legal attack. o It is usually indefensible if legally contested. o It may have apparent validity, but it has no real validity. o It is rarely totally job-related and may incorporate personal items that infringe on privacy. o It is the most flexible selection technique and hence is highly inconsistent. o There is a tendency for interviewers to look for qualities they prefer and then use those to justify the hiring decision. o Often interviewers do not hear about the selection mistakes. o There is an unsubstantiated confidence in the traditional interview. The Problem of Cultural Bias Traditional unstructured interviews are notorious for being culturally insensitive. Managers can be taught to be aware of and to overcome cultural biases when interviewing. Structured Interviews A structured interview consists of a set of job-related questions with standardized answers applied consistently across all interviews for a specific job. Having a group of three to six people construct, conduct, and score the interviews helps eliminate bias. Four types of questions are normally found in structured interviews (see Table 10.3). • Situational • Job knowledge • Job sample simulation • Worker requirements Behavioral Interviewing Behavioral scientists tell us that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. In a behavior-based interview, candidates are asked to recall specific actions they have taken in past job-related situations and describe them in detail. If questions are worded appropriately, the net result should be a good grasp of the individual’s relevant skills, initiative, problem-solving ability, and ability to recover from setbacks and learn from mistakes. III. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL Although performance appraisals are considered almost a ritual in modern organizations, both appraisers and appraisees tend to express dissatisfaction with them. Performance appraisal is the process of evaluating individual job performance as a basis for making objective personnel decisions. • Making Performance Appraisals Legally Defensible An appraisal system must meet the following four criteria in order to be defended successfully in a U.S. court. o A job analysis was used to develop the performance appraisal system. o The appraisal system was behavior-oriented, not trait-oriented. o Performance evaluators followed specific written instructions when conducting appraisals. o Evaluators reviewed the results of the appraisals with the ratees. Managers who keep these criteria in mind, along with the elements in Table 10.4 are better equipped to select a sound appraisal system. A. Alternative Performance Appraisal Techniques Many alternative performance appraisal techniques are being developed, but they are often simplistic, invalid, and unreliable. An invalid appraisal instrument does not accurately measure what it is supposed to measure. Unreliable instruments do not measure criteria in a consistent manner. Many techniques are too complex or burdensome to use. Here are some alternative techniques: • Goal setting • Written essays • Critical incidents • Graphic rating scales. One method is to implement behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS), defined as performance rating scales divided into increments of observable job behavior determined through job analysis. These are considered to be one of the strongest performance appraisal techniques. • Weighted checklists • Rankings/comparisons • Multirater appraisals. This label includes any appraisal technique that uses more than one rater in an attempt to limit bias. One of the most popular of these approaches is a 360-degree review, wherein a manager is evaluated by his or her boss, peers, and subordinates. This method has had mixed results. But research reveals that 360-degree feedback is an effective management development technique, especially when paired with coaching. IV. TRAINING Training fills the knowledge gap between what employees do know and what they should know. In 2006, companies in the United States spent nearly $55.8 billion on training. Training is formally defined as the process of changing employee behavior and/or attitudes through some type of guided experience. A. Today’s Training: Content and Delivery The top of Figure 10.2 lists the nine most common types of training. The bottom portion shows how the training was delivered. Surprisingly, the majority of today’s training is remarkably low-tech. B. The Ingredients of a Good Training Program 1. Maximize the similarity between the training situation and the job situation. 2. Provide as much experience as possible with the task being taught. 3. Provide for a variety of examples when teaching concepts or skills. 4. Label or identify important features of a task. 5. Make sure that general principles are understood before expecting much transfer. 6. Make sure that the trained behaviors and ideas are rewarded in the job situation. 7. Design the training content so that the trainees can see its applicability. 8. Use adjunct questions to guide the trainee’s attention. C. Skill versus Factual Learning Effective skill learning should incorporate four essential ingredients: • Goal setting • Modeling • Practice • Feedback With factual learning, the same sequence applies, except that in step 2, “meaningful presentation of the materials” is substituted for “modeling.” The goal in training is learning, which requires thoughtful preparation, carefully guided exposure to new ideas or behavior, and motivational support. D. Training Program Evaluations: The Kirkpatrick Model How do trainers know if anyone really learned anything? Kirkpatrick’s model can. The four levels of program evaluation in the Kirkpatrick model are: 1. Reaction 2. Learning 3. Behavior 4. Results V. CONTEMPORARY HUMAN RESOURCE CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS Modern organizations are a direct reflection of society in general, and people take societal influences and their social, emotional, behavioral, and health-related problems to work. A. Discouraging Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment, defined generally as unwanted sexual attention or conduct, has both behavioral and legal dimensions (see Table 10.5). • Female employees are the primary victims of sexual harassment, but both men and women are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. • Sexual harassment includes unwanted physical contact and/or gestures, displays, joking, and language that create a sexually offensive or hostile work environment. • It is the manager’s job to be aware of and correct cases of sexual harassment. Ignorance of such activity is not a valid legal defense. Research indicates that sexual harassment is commonplace. In a recent survey, 35 percent of women and 17 percent of men said they have been sexually harassed at work. Harassment begins early in our society, with 50 percent of high school students indicating they had been bullied, teased, or taunted at least once. • What Can the Victim Do? There are several choices: try to live with it, fight back, complain to higher-ups, find another job, or sue the employer. Victims of sexual harassment tended to win their lawsuits when • The harassment was severe. • There were witnesses. • Management had been notified. • There was supporting documentation. • Management had failed to take action. Courtrooms are the last line of defense for victims of sexual harassment. As more organizations develop and enforce sexual harassment policies, court battles will be reduced. • What Can the Organization Do? Starting at the top, an organization wide commitment to eliminating sexual harassment should be established. This can include a clear policy statement, disseminated and uniformly enforced; appropriate training, particularly for new employees; and a grievance procedure that provides a fair hearing without fear of retaliation. B. Controlling Alcohol and Drug Abuse In the United States, more than 30 percent of adults have abused alcohol or developed alcoholism at some point in their lives. Alcoholism is now considered a disease in which an individual’s normal social and economic roles are disrupted by the consumption of alcohol. Workplace drug abuse is almost as bad. A 2002 survey showed that 46 percent of people 12 and older had used illicit drugs in their lifetime. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 10.5 percent of full-time employed adults and 11.9 percent of part-time employed adults were classified with dependence or abuse. The impact to businesses: less productivity, ten times more likely to be absent, three times more likely to be involved in an accident and responsible for 300 percent higher health care costs. Drug testing is one way companies are trying to curb this behavior negatively impacting their business. • The Legal Side of Workplace Substance Abuse o Alcoholics and drug addicts are protected from job discrimination by the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973. o Employers with federal contracts exceeding $25,000 are subject to the Federal Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988, which requires a proactive approach to eliminating drugs in the workplace. o These two laws work in combination to make rehabilitation the best option. • Referral and Rehabilitation o A manager has the responsibility to confront employees about a decline in performance. Experts advise managers not to make accusations about alcohol or drug abuse but, rather, to leave the challenge of admitting a problem to the employee. o If an employee admits having a problem, managers should refer her or him to an employee assistance program (EAP) rather than trying to play doctor themselves. o Organizations are finding that money spent on EAP programs is a worthwhile investment, generating as high as a four-to-one return. o Smaller companies can refer employees to community resources such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Chapter 11 Communicating in the Internet Age CHAPTER OBJECTIVES • Identify each major link in the communication process. • Explain the concept of media richness and the Lengel-Daft contingency model of media selection. • Identify the five communication strategies, and specify guidelines for using them. • Discuss why it is important for managers to know about grapevine and nonverbal communication. • Explain at least four ways in which managers can encourage upward communication. • Explain how to deal with information overload, and outline a workplace policy for social networking sites. • List two practical tips for each of the three modern communication technologies (e-mail, cell phones, and videoconferences), and summarize the pros and cons of telecommuting. • Specify at least three practical tips for improving each of the following communication skills: listening, writing, and running a meeting. OPENING CASE The Changing Workplace: Maureen Chiquet, Global CEO, Chanel: “The Best Advice I Ever Got” Chiquet shares her story of working at the Gap early in her career. She was young, smart and passionate about an idea she thought would be a huge success. When she pitched the idea to Mickey Drexler, the CEO of Gap at the time (he now heads up J. Crew) he was not convinced that Chiquet’s idea would work. She did not receive his feedback well and continued to argue for her cause. Later, Drexler shared these words of wisdom, “You’re a terrific merchant. But you’ve gotta learn to listen!” 20 years later, that advice continues to have a profound effect on how Chiquet runs Chanel. According to Chiquet, you have to listen, constantly ask questions, seek diverse opinions and remain humble enough to change your mind – whether about a product or a person. Ask Students: • What are Chiquet’s keys to success? • How does she use social media? • One of the drawbacks to listening can be that people simply tell you what they think you want to hear. How does Chiquet overcome this potential drawback? • Are you a good listener? If yes, how do you know? If no, how can you improve? LECTURE OUTLINE Virtually every management function and activity can be considered communication in one way or another. Studies have shown organizational and individual performance are both positively affected by effective managerial communication. I. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS According to management scholar Keith Davis, communication is “the transfer of information and understanding from one person to another person.” Communication is a social process, a chain made up of identifiable links (see Figure 11.1). A. Encoding • The purpose of encoding is to translate internal thought patterns into a language or code that the intended receiver of the message is likely to understand. • Managers usually rely on words, gestures, or other symbols for encoding. • Greater cultural diversity in today’s global workplace also necessitates careful message encoding. B. Selecting a Medium Possible media for managers to use include face-to-face conversations, telephone calls, e-mails, memos, letters, computer reports and networks, photographs, bulletin boards, meetings, organizational publications and others. • Media Selection in Cross-Cultural Settings The importance of selecting an appropriate medium is magnified when one moves from internal to cross-cultural dealings. Managers moving from low-context cultures to high-context cultures need to select communication media with care. (See Chapter 4.) • A Contingency Approach A contingency model for media selection proposed by Robert Lengel and Richard Daft pivots on the concept of media richness. Media richness involves the capacity of a given medium to convey information and promote learning (see Figure 11.2). Management’s challenge is to match media richness with the type of problem at hand. C. Decoding Effective encoding should allow for rather routine decoding, but with a diversity of languages and cultures, perfect decoding is nearly impossible to achieve. D. Feedback Some sort of feedback, verbal or nonverbal, from the receiver to the sender is necessary to complete the communication process as it lets the sender know if the message was understood. Communication without feedback amounts to flying blind. In one survey of 500,000 employees from over 300 firms, satisfaction with coaching and feedback among the committed employees averaged 64 percent, whereas it dropped to 34 percent among those ready to quit. E. Noise Noise is any interference with the normal flow of understanding from one person to another. Understanding tends to diminish as noise increases. Noise includes everything from garbled technical transmission to negative attitudes. II. DYNAMICS OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION Effective communication is essential for cooperation within productive organizations. A. Communication Strategies Organizational communication tends to be haphazard and often ineffective. A more systematic approach is needed. Here are five basic communication strategies, with an eye toward improving the overall quality of communication. • A Communication Continuum with Five Strategies A useful communication strategy continuum is shown in Figure 11.3. Five common communication strategies are plotted on this quadrant: • Spray & Pray. Passive receivers are showered with information in the hope that some of it will stick. • Tell & Sell. Communicating a more restricted set of messages and taking time to explain their importance and relevance. • Underscore & Explore. This two-way, give-and-take communication strategy includes priorities and justifications. Receivers are active participants. • Identify & Reply. This is a reactive and sometimes defensive strategy wherein employees set the agenda, while executives respond to rumors, innuendoes, and leaks. Requires good listening skills. • Withhold & Uphold. This strategy involves telling people what you think they need to know only when you believe they need to know it. Secrecy and control are paramount, and rumors and resentment are virtually guaranteed. • Seeking a Middle Ground. Both ends of the continuum in Figure 11.3 are problematic. In both extremes, employees have difficulty framing and making sense out of organizational events. To select an appropriate strategy, managers need to follow these guidelines: (1) avoid Spray & Pray and Withhold & Uphold; (2) use Tell & Sell and Identify & Reply sparingly; and (3) use Underscore & Explore as much as possible. • Merging Communication Strategies and Media Richness. Present and future managers who effectively blend lessons from Figure 11.2 (media selection) and Figure 11.3 (communication strategies) are on the path toward improved organizational communication. B. The Grapevine There are two communication systems, formal and informal. Superimposed on the formal network is the grapevine, the unofficial and informal communication system. • Words of Caution About the E-Grapevine Modern Internet and communication technologies such as Twitter and Facebook have vastly and instantly extended the reach of the grapevine far beyond its water cooler days. Savvy employees do not engage in e-gossip, because of the “paper trail” that it leaves behind. • The Grapevine Has A Positive Side Despite Its Bad Reputation • Many managers feel negatively toward the grapevine. First-line supervisors perceive the grapevine as more influential than middle managers, which may mean that the grapevine is more visible or more apparent at lower levels. Small organizations view the grapevine as less influential than large organizations do, possibly reflecting the more informal nature of smaller organizations. • Experts estimate that grapevine communication is about 75 percent accurate. • The grapevine helps satisfy a natural desire to know what is really going on and gives employees a sense of belonging. The grapevine can also serve as an emotional outlet for employee fears and apprehensions. • Grapevine communication can carry useful information through an organization with amazing speed and can help management learn how employees truly feel about policies and programs. • Coping with the Grapevine The grapevine cannot be extinguished. Management can only monitor the grapevine and correct any potentially damaging misinformation. Some managers selectively feed information into the grapevine. Advice: Whether it’s something you’re hearing or something you’re telling, ask yourself: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendship? And finally, will it be beneficial to all concerned? If you answer “no” to even one of those questions, don’t open your mouth. C. Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal communication, sometimes referred to as body language, is an important part of the communication process. One expert contends that only 7 percent of the impact of our face-to-face communication comes from the words we utter; the other 93 percent comes from our vocal intonations, facial expressions, posture, and appearance. Even periods of silence can carry meaning. Silence may indicate doubt, lack of understanding, or polite disagreement. • Types of Body Language There are three kinds of body language: facial, gestural, and postural. Many people in positions of authority ignore or misread nonverbal feedback. This makes them ineffective communicators. • Receiving Nonverbal Communication Sensitivity to nonverbal cues can be learned. (See Table 11.1) If a response seems inappropriate to what one is saying, one needs to back off and reassess one’s approach. Nonverbal behavior can also give managers a window on deep-seated emotions. • Giving Nonverbal Feedback A British research study suggests that nonverbal feedback from authority figures significantly affects employee behavior. Positive nonverbal feedback to and from managers is a basic building block of good interpersonal relations. Nonverbal feedback can lead to subtle discrimination, and women leaders receive more negative and less positive nonverbal feedback than men. Foreign assignments also require monitoring nonverbal messages, because something that is appropriate in one culture can be offensive in another. D. Upward Communication Upward communication results from systematically encouraging employees to share their feelings and ideas with management. There are at least seven options open to managers who want to improve upward communication. 1. Formal Grievance Procedures. These usually consist of a series of progressively more rigorous steps. Peer review programs have developed recently as a promising alternative to the traditional grievance process. 2. Employee Attitude and Opinion Surveys. These help bring employee attitudes and feelings to the surface. Feedback or follow-up action is required. 3. Suggestion Systems. With fairness, prompt feedback, and incentives, suggestion systems can be a good tool. 4. Open-door policy. Proponents say this helps nip problems in the bud. Critics complain that it encourages leapfrogging the chain of command and wastes top management’s time. 5. Informal meetings. Employees may feel free to air their opinions and suggestions if they are confident that management will not criticize or penalize them for being frank. 6. Social media. Some companies use social media and the Internet to encourage valuable upward communication. Nokia uses Bog-Hub, their Intranet as a sort of “virtual water cooler” approach for employees to share opinions and complaints. Of course, this takes managerial courage. 7. Exit interviews. An employee leaving the organization may provide more frank and honest feedback, obtained in a brief, structured exit interview, because there are no fears of recrimination. If done well, exit interviews can show trends and point to potential problems that need to be addressed. Probe the following four categories: Management, Competitive practices, Career potential, and Work/Life balance. III. COMMUNICATING IN THE DIGITAL WORKPLACE Digital technology has permanently altered how, where, and how fast we communicate. The digital revolution is on in the workplace. The challenge is for managers to explore the implications and opportunities. Dealing with Information Overload • Prioritize, be selective and control it. Consider implementing policies like Home Depot did to reduce the number of reports and messages emailed. They went from upwards of 200 emails a day from corporate down to one a day! Developing a Workplace Policy for Social Networking Sites • The survey results are in: employees visit social networking sites during the workday and most employers do not monitor this activity. See Table 11.2 for policy guidelines to control this phenomenon. Getting a Handle on E-Mail Hundreds of millions of people on Earth are capable of sending and receiving e-mail. Many managers and employees find themselves spending hours a day reading and answering their e-mail. By properly managing e-mail, an organization can take a big step toward properly using the Internet. The following recommendations can help when developing an organizational e-mail policy. • A company has a legal right to monitor e-mail’s use (so never assume privacy with company e-mail). • Workplace e-mail is for business purposes only. • Harassing and offensive e-mail will not be tolerated. • E-mail messages should be concise. (See Table 11.3.) Grammar and spelling count in e-mail, too. Typing in all capital letters makes the message hard to read and amounts to SHOUTING in cyberspace. • Using bulleted lists is good because it tends to be more concise. • Long attachments defeat the quick and easy nature of e-mail. • Recipients should be told when a reply is unnecessary. • An organization-specific priority system should be used for sending and receiving all e-mail. • “Spam” (unsolicited and unwanted e-mail) that gets past filters should be deleted without being read. • To avoid file clutter, messages unlikely to be referred to again should not be saved. Hello! Can We Talk About Cell Phone Etiquette? • There were over 293 million wireless subscribers in the United States in mid 2010. Managers need to be particularly sensitive to the risk of inadvertently broadcasting proprietary company information, names, and numbers. • Table 11.4 offers some practical tips to help make the use of cell phones more effective, secure, and courteous. • Camera phones also require restrictions in the workplace because of concerns about privacy and information security. Videoconferencing A videoconference is a live television or broadband Internet video exchange among people in different locations. The decreasing cost of videoconferencing and the desire to reduce costly travel time have fostered wider use of this approach. Communication pointers for videoconference participants: • Test the system before the meeting convenes. • Dress properly. The video image can be distorted by wild patterns, flashy jewelry, and solid white clothing. • Make sure everyone is introduced. • Check to make sure everyone can see and hear. • You can address comments to members in the room as well as to the camera. • Speak loudly and clearly. Avoid slang or jargon if the meeting is being translated. • Avoid exaggerated physical movements that tend to blur on camera. • Adjust delivery to transmission delay, pausing longer than usual when waiting for replies. • Side conversations are disruptive. • Do not tap the table or microphone; do not shuffle papers. Teleworking Teleworking is the practice of working anywhere, thanks to mobile Internet technology. An employee connects to an employer’s place of business through the use of technology tools. There are advantages to teleworking, but there are also drawbacks for employees and employers (see Table 11.5). IV. BECOMING A BETTER COMMUNICATOR A. Effective Listening Listening is the forgotten factor in communication skills training. We can hear and process information much more quickly than others can talk, so we have about 75 percent slack time in a conversation. Some tips for more effective listening: • Tolerate silence. • Ask stimulating open-ended questions. • Encourage the speaker with attentive eye contact, alert posture, and verbal encouragers. • Paraphrase. • Show emotion to demonstrate that you are a sympathetic listener. • Attempt to correct your biases and prejudices. • Avoid premature judgments about what is being said. • Summarize to clear up possible misunderstandings. B. Effective Writing Effective writing is the product of regular practice. Students who do not get the necessary writing practice in school are at a disadvantage when they enter the job market. Good writing is a key form of encoding in the basic communication process. Four helpful reminders can make writing effective. • Keep words simple. • Don’t sacrifice communication to rules of composition. • Write concisely. • Be specific. C. Running a Meeting Meetings are an ever-present feature of modern organizational life. A good first step toward better meetings is to categorize them for a sharper focus. Four general categories are • Daily check-in • Weekly tactical meeting • Monthly strategic meeting • Quarterly off-site review Ten pointers for conducting successful meetings: • Meet for a specific purpose, not simply as a ritual. • Create an agenda and distribute it at least one day in advance. • Communicate expectations to help attendees come prepared. • Limit attendance to essential personnel. • Open meetings with a brief overview of accomplishments and of what lies ahead. • Deal with the most difficult/challenging agenda items early, while energy is high. • Encourage broad participation, while sticking to the agenda. • Selectively use stimulating visual aids. • Make sure everyone understands what action items they are responsible for. • Begin and end the meeting on time, and follow up as necessary. Chapter 12 Motivating Job Performance CHAPTER OBJECTIVES • Explain the motivational lessons taught by Maslow’s theory, Herzberg’s theory, and expectancy theory. • Describe how goal setting motivates performance. • Discuss how managers can improve the motivation of personnel who perform routine tasks. • Explain how job enrichment can be used to enhance the motivating potential of jobs. • Distinguish extrinsic rewards from intrinsic rewards, and list four rules for administering extrinsic rewards effectively. • Explain how employee engagement and retention programs, open-book management, and self-managed teams promote employee participation. • Explain how companies are striving to motivate today’s diverse workforce with quality-of-work-life programs. OPENING CASE The Changing Workplace: Rackspace Needs Fully Engaged Employees It may be surprising to learn that the mission statement for this web-hosting and information technology firm is to be among the world’s greatest service companies. Improving customer service begins with recruiting and being honest about Rackspace’s culture. Part of their recruitment process includes strengths assessments and a focus on hiring for values and placing employees in the right role. This has led to lower than average turnover and improved employee engagement. In addition, they have an open management style that includes sharing company finances and inviting honest, unfiltered feedback. Ask Students: • What steps does Rackspace take to improve employee engagement and retention? • What steps does Wayne Roberts take with his company to achieve their mission to be among the world’s greatest service companies? • Why do you think sharing company financial information and inviting open, honest feedback is important to the company’s success in achieving its mission? LECTURE OUTLINE Motivation is a psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction. Motivation theories are generalizations about the “why” and “how” of purposeful behavior. Figure 12.1 is an overview model for this chapter. In the model, job performance is shown as a combination of an individual’s motivation and ability. I. MOTIVATION THEORIES A. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory Abraham Maslow’s five-step hierarchy of needs, although based on an extremely limited clinical study of neurotic patients, has become one of the most influential concepts in the field of management. This is probably because it is so straightforward and intuitively appealing. Maslow’s message was simply that people always have needs and that when one need is relatively fulfilled; others emerge in a predictable sequence to take its place. See Figure 12.2. His hierarchy of needs, in bottom-to-top order, is 1. Physiological needs 2. Safety needs 3. Love needs 4. Esteem needs 5. Self-actualization needs According to one management writer, the self-actualizing manager has the following characteristics: (1) Projects warmth, closeness, and sympathy (2) Recognizes and shares negative information and feelings (3) Exhibits trust, openness, and candor (4) Does not achieve goals by power, deception, or manipulation (5) Does not project his or her own feelings, motivations, or blame onto others (6) Does not limit horizons; uses and develops body, mind, and senses (7) Is not rationalistic; can think in unconventional ways (8) Is not conforming; regulates behavior from within It has been pointed out that “a truly self-actualized individual is more of an exception than the rule in the organizational context.” Relevance of Maslow’s Theory for Managers • Practical evidence indicates that although physiological and safety needs are arranged in hierarchical fashion, the order of higher needs varies. • Managers can learn one important lesson from Maslow’s theory: a fulfilled need does not motivate an individual. • The self-esteem level presents managers with the greatest opportunity to motivate better performance. B. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory In the 1950s, Frederick Herzberg proposed a theory of employee motivation based on satisfaction. It remains particularly relevant today as a recent survey revealed that only 45 percent over workers are satisfied with their jobs. This is a drop from 61 percent indicating job satisfaction in 1987. Table 12.1 lists the two classes of factors associated with employee satisfaction and dissatisfaction. • Dissatisfiers and Satisfiers • In research, Herzberg found that dissatisfiers were commonly related to complaints about the job context or factors in the immediate work environment. • The satisfiers showed a different pattern, focusing on the opportunity to experience achievement, receive recognition, work on an interesting job, take responsibility, and experience advancement and growth. • Because the satisfiers seemed to be driven by job content, Herzberg concluded that enriched jobs were the key to self-motivation. • Implications of Herzberg’s Theory • One issue Herzberg discovered was that job dissatisfaction in this instance is not the opposite of job satisfaction but, rather, the opposite of no job satisfaction. • Herzberg believed that when trying to motivate employees, the most managers can do with job dissatisfaction factors such as pay, status, working conditions, and other contextual factors is to reach the zero midpoint. • Eliminating dissatisfaction is not the same as motivating someone. Herzberg believed that it takes meaningful, interesting, and challenging work to satisfy and motivate employees. C. Expectancy Theory Expectancy theory is a motivation model based on the assumption that motivational strength is determined by the perceived probabilities of success. The term expectancy refers to the subjective probability (or expectation) that one thing will lead to another. Work-related expectations, like all other expectations, are shaped by ongoing personal experience. • A Basic Expectancy Model • The descriptive model in Figure 12.3 is helpful for basic understanding. • Employees are motivated to expend effort when they believe it will ultimately lead to rewards that they themselves value. • Relevance of Expectancy Theory for Managers a) Although effort performance reward expectations are in the mind of the employee, they can be influenced by managerial action and organizational experience. b) Using a combination of training and challenging but realistic objectives gives people reason to believe that they can get the job done if they put forth the necessary effort. c) Applying effective listening skills can help managers learn an employee’s perceived performance-reward probabilities. Employees tend to work harder when they believe they have a good chance of getting personally meaningful rewards. D. Goal-Setting Theory Many people have achieved success by being goal-oriented: committing themselves to (and achieving) progressively more challenging goals in their professional and personal affairs. Goal setting is the process of improving individual or group job performance with formally stated objectives, deadlines, or quality standards. • A General Goal-Setting Model o Important lessons from goal-setting theory and research are incorporated into the general model in Figure 12.4. o Properly conceived goals trigger a motivational process that improves performance. • Personal Ownership of Challenging Goals o Measurable and challenging goals encourage an individual or group to stretch while trying to attain progressively more difficult levels of achievement. o Participation in the goal-setting process gives the individual personal ownership. o Feedback is equally critical. Researchers have documented the motivational value of matching specific goals with equally specific feedback. • How Do Goals Actually Motivate? o They direct attention to a specific target. o They encourage exerting effort toward achieving something specific. o They encourage persistence, because challenging goals require sustained or repeated effort. o They foster the creation of strategies and action plans in order to bridge the gap between actual and desired. • Practical Implications of Goal-Setting Theory o The motivational mechanics of goal setting are the same, regardless of the targeted performance. II. MOTIVATION THROUGH JOB DESIGN Job design, the delineation of task responsibilities as dictated by organizational strategy, technology, and structure, is a key determinant of individual motivation and ultimately of organizational success. There are two job-design strategies for managers to consider. A. Strategy One: Fitting People to Jobs Steps can be taken to avoid chronic dissatisfaction and bolster motivation when work involves routine and repetitive tasks. Three proven alternatives are listed below. • Realistic job previews (RJPs), honest explanations of what a job actually entails, have been successful in helping avoid employee dissatisfaction due to unrealized expectations. A recent statistical analysis of 40 different RJP studies has revealed that those employees who had realistic job previews tended to have fewer dropouts during the recruiting process, lower initial expectations, lower turnover, and higher performance once on the job. • Job rotation involves periodically moving people from one specialized job to another to prevent stagnation, compensate for a labor shortage, enhance safety, and prevent fatigue. • Limited exposure is another technique for coping with a highly fragmented and tedious job. Contingent time off (CTO), or earned time off, involves establishing a challenging yet fair daily performance standard, or quota, and letting employees go home when it is reached. Although CTO is an extremely effective technique among those using it, only 5 percent of the companies in a recent survey used it. B. Strategy Two: Fitting Jobs to People • Job enlargement is the process of combining two or more specialized tasks in a work flow sequence into a single job. • Job enrichment is redesigning a job to increase its motivating potential. This increases the challenge of one’s work by reversing the trend toward greater specialization. Jobs may be enriched by upgrading five core dimensions of work. o Skill variety o Task identity o Task significance o Autonomy o Job feedback • Figure 12.5 shows the theoretical connection between enriched core job characteristics and high motivation and satisfaction. Three psychological needs at the heart of this job-enrichment model are not usually satisfied by highly specialized jobs: meaningfulness, responsibility, and knowledge of results. • Not all employees respond favorably to enriched jobs. o Employees need to have the necessary knowledge and skills plus a desire for personal growth. o Dissatisfaction with work factors can also neutralize enrichment efforts. o Fear of failure, lack of confidence, and lack of trust in management’s intentions can also stand in the way of effective job enrichment. III. MOTIVATION THROUGH REWARDS Rewards may be defined broadly as the material and psychological payoffs for performing tasks in the workplace. A. Extrinsic versus Intrinsic Rewards • Extrinsic rewards are payoffs granted to the individual by other people, such as money, benefits, promotion, recognition, status symbols, and praise. • Intrinsic rewards are self-granted and internally experienced payoffs, including a sense of accomplishment, self-esteem, and self-actualization. • Usually, on-the-job extrinsic and intrinsic rewards are intermingled. B. Employee Compensation • Money is the universal extrinsic reward. However, compensation plans over the next 25 years will need to be flexible and varied. • Table 12.2 lists and briefly describes ten different compensation plans. • There is no single best plan suitable for all employees. A diverse workforce demands an equally diverse array of compensation plans. C. Improving Performance with Extrinsic Rewards Extrinsic rewards, to be effective in motivating job performance need to be administered in ways that: 1) satisfy operative needs, 2) foster positive expectations, 3) ensure equitable distribution, and 4) reward results. Consider how four criteria can be met relative to ten different compensation plans in Table 12.2: 1. Rewards Must Satisfy Individual Needs There is no motivational impact unless the reward satisfies an operative need for the individual. Cafeteria compensation, also known as life-cycle benefits, is a plan that allows each employee to determine the make-up of his or her benefit package. 2. Employees Must Believe Effort Will Lead to Reward According to expectancy theory, an employee will not strive for an attractive reward unless it is perceived as being attainable. 3. Rewards Must Be Equitable Figure 12.6 shows two equity scales: • Personal equity reflects the relationship between effort expended and rewards received. • Social equity compares our own effort-reward ratio with that of someone else in the same situation. Since perceived inequity is associated with feelings of dissatisfaction and anger, jealousy, or guilt, inequitable reward schemes tend to be counterproductive and are ethically questionable. One example of this is the record-setting executive pay in recent years, during painful downsizings and massive layoffs. • Rewards Must Be Linked to Performance Ideally, there should be an if-then relationship between task performance and extrinsic rewards. Team-based incentive pay has been slow to take hold in the United States for two reasons: • It goes against the grain of an individualistic culture. • Poorly conceived and poorly administered plans have given it a bad reputation. All incentive pay plans should be carefully conceived because undesirable behavior may inadvertently be encouraged. Managers need to make sure goals and incentives point people in ethical directions. IV. MOTIVATION THROUGH EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION AND ENGAGEMENT Participative management is defined as the process of empowering employees to assume greater control of the workplace. One management scholar has identified four key areas of participative management. Employees may participate in (1) setting goals, (2) making decisions, (3) solving problems, and (4) designing and implementing organizational changes. This section focuses on three approaches to participation. A. Employee Engagement and Retention Programs Managers are responsible for hiring, training and appraising performance. In addition, they need to help employees reach their full potential. Out of 42,000 workers surveyed, only 33 percent indicated they engaged at work, passionate about their jobs, innovative and contributing the organizations success. Another 49 percent are putting in time and 18 percent are actively acting out against their employer. These disengaged workers cost American businesses an estimated $350 billion a year. • A Feeling of Progress is Key – when workers believe they’re making progress and receiving support, they feel positive and motivated to succeed. • A Survey-Driven Process A three step approach to employee engagement and retention programs that fit employees’ needs: 1. Short, anonymous employee engagement survey 2. Analyze survey data, identify patterns/problems in departments 3. Develop engagement program to remediate problems from phase 2. Employee engagement and retention programs need to satisfy the following criteria: o Be forthcoming o Keep everyone abreast of good and bad news o Trust employees’ experience and ideas o Ask employees for suggestions, then take action o Remain optimistic o Foster innovation o Don’t waste employees’ time B. Open-Book Management (OBM) involves “opening a company’s financial statements to all employees and providing them the education that will enable them to understand how the company makes money and how their actions affect its success and bottom line.” OBM asks managers to (1) display a high degree of trust in employees, (2) have a deep and unwavering commitment to employee training, and (3) be patient when waiting for results. The S.T.E.P. model for open-book management consists of the following four steps (see also Figure 12.7). Step 1: Share key financial data and stock price in prominent locations Step 2: Teach all employees how to read and interpret financial reports and how to control costs Step 3: Empower employees to make necessary changes and decisions for success Step 4: Pay employees a fair share of profits through bonuses, incentives, and stock ownership There is no magic to OBM. It simply involves doing important things the right was. A systematic approach needed to achieve success with the STEP model. Experts say it takes at least two budget cycles to see positive results. C. Self-Managed Teams, also known as autonomous work groups or high-performance work teams, take on traditional management tasks as part of their normal work routine. Supervision tends to be minimal as employees are assigned to self-managed teams, with managers acting more as facilitators. • Vertically Loaded Jobs In this approach to job enrichment, nonmanagerial team members assume duties traditionally performed by managers. True self-managed teams are still in the early growth stage. • Managerial Resistance Managerial resistance is the number one barrier to self-managed teams. Traditional authoritarian supervisors view autonomous teams as a threat to their authority and job security. For this reason, new facilities built around this concept of self-managed teams, so-called greenfield sites, tend to fare better than reworked existing operations. D. Keys to Successful Employee Participation Programs Four factors build the employee support necessary for any sort of participation program to work. • A profit-sharing or gain-sharing plan • A long-term employment relationship with good job security • A concerted effort to build and maintain group cohesiveness • Protection of the individual employee’s rights A good deal of background work often needs to be done to make sure a supportive climate exists for participative management. Effective participative management is as much a managerial attitude about sharing power as it is a specific set of practices. V. MOTIVATION THROUGH QUALITY-OF-WORK-LIFE PROGRAMS Workforce diversity has made flexibility and accommodation a must for managers today. Modern technology has blurred the lines between work and personal life. Harvard’s Rosabeth Moss Kanter believes employers need to be part of the solution. A. Flexible Work Schedules Flextime is a work-scheduling plan that allows employees to determine their own arrival and departure times within specific limits (see Figure 12.8). PTO Bank (paid-time-off) is when a company lumps together all normal paid days off including vacation, sick and personal days. Employees may draw from this time bank in hourly increments whenever they need to and for whatever reason (no more lame excuses or grandma died for the fourth time). Benefits include high levels of engagement and satisfaction and low turnover. Other scheduling alternatives include: • Compressed workweeks: 40 hours in fewer than five days • Permanent part-time: workweeks with fewer than 40 hours • Job sharing: complementary scheduling that allows two or more part-timers to share a single full-time job • Chronotype scheduling: “morning people” and “night people” are scheduled according to their internal clocks. B. Family Support Services • Family-friendly companies recognize that employees have lives and priorities outside the workplace and make appropriate accommodations. • Top five family friendly benefits: 1. Dependent care flexible spending accounts 2. Flextime 3. Family leave above FMLA 4. Telecommuting 5. Compressed workweeks • The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which took effect in the United States in 1993, has significant holes and limitations. Fortunately, many states and companies have equivalent or more generous parental and family leave laws or policies. • Recent studies of companies with family-friendly practices have documented financial payoffs from easier recruitment, lower absenteeism and turnover, and greater productivity. C. Wellness Programs • Stress and burnout are inevitable consequences of modern work life. • Progressive companies are coming to the rescue with wellness programs. • The ultimate objective is to help employees achieve a sustainable balance between their personal and work lives, with win-win benefits all around. D. Sabbaticals • Some progressive companies in the United States (about 2 percent) give selected employees paid sabbaticals after a certain number of years of service. • The idea is to refresh dedicated employees and, it is hoped, bolster their motivation and loyalty in the process. Instructor Manual for Management Robert Kreitner, Charlene Cassidy 9781111221362
