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12 chapter Let’s Get Real: Meet the Manager Jose Quirarte HR Manager D&W Fine Pack, LLC Fort Calhoun, NE MY JOB: You’ll be hearing more from this real You’ll be hearing more from this real manager throughout the chapter. manager throughout the chapter. I am the human resources manager for D&W Fine Pack, LLC, at the Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, location. BEST PART OF MY JOB: The ability to change people’s lives by explaining how they can maximize their group health benefits, mentoring them to success, or changing the way people live their lives through continuous education and training that will allow them to become better individuals personally and professionally. Managing Human Resources 12.1 12.1 12.2 12.2 12.3 12.3 12.4 12.4 12.5 12.5 Explain the importance of the human resource management process and the external influences that might affect that process. page 312 Discuss the tasks associated with identifying and selecting competent employees. page 318 Explain the different types of orientation and training. page 323 Describe strategies for retaining competent, high-performing employees. page 326 Discuss contemporary issues in managing human resources. page 328 LEARNING LEARNING OUTCOMES OUTCOMES WORST PART OF MY JOB: As a workers’ compensation administrator, I find it difficult to interact with employees who have suffered a work-related injury. This is the worst part of my job because I don’t like seeing my employees get injured, causing them to change the way they live their lives and interact with their family members. I try to overcome this by always discussing the importance of thinking about safety prior to performing any given task. BEST MANAGEMENT ADVICE EVER RECEIVED: “Choose your own battles.” I am passionate about my field and love to make a difference in the way people live their lives and to influence them to make the right choices at and away from work. Sometimes I let my passion take over and seek perfection in everything that I do. During a stressful time, a manager told me, “Choose your own battles,” meaning, I must pursue the things that will have an overall impact on the organization and those things that will allow the HR department to become a better strategic partner. 311 A Manager’s Dilemma It’s probably one of the hardest that layoffs are coming. That’s when the situation things a manager may have to do.1 can become especially raw as those being Telling an employee that he or she laid off respond with expressions of shock and is being laid off. And some 8 million disbelief and sometimes crying. Americans who have been laid off since the economic At Ram Tool, a small family-owned manufactur- recession ing company in Grafton, Wisconsin, the task fell to began in early 2008 have been Shelly Polum, the company’s vice president of given that news by someone. In administration. After the nine-member manage- smaller businesses, it’s especially ment team met to consider which employees difficult because it’s often more per- would be laid off, Shelly had to inform four workers sonal and employees are more like that they were being let go.“When it was over, trying family. In delivering that news, man- to maintain her composure, she rushed back to her agers may fear that employees will office and shut the door quickly. Then she sank to get highly emotional or angry, the floor and burst into tears.” How could this although those reactions don’t hap- process be made less stressful? pen often. Such reactions are more likely when workers have no notice What Would You Do? With the organization’s structure in place, managers have to find people to fill the jobs that have been created or to remove people from jobs if business circumstances require. That’s where human resource management (HRM) comes in. It’s an important task that involves having the right number of the right people in the right place at the right time. In this chapter, we’ll look at the process managers use to do just that. In addition, we’ll look at some contemporary HRM issues facing managers. A major HRM challenge for managers is ensuring that their company has a high-quality workforce. Getting and keeping competent and talented employees is critical to the success of every organization, whether an organization is just starting or has been in business for years. If an organization doesn’t take its HRM responsibilities seriously, performance may suffer. Therefore, part of every manager’s job when organizing is human resource management. All managers engage in some HRM activities such as interviewing job candidates, orienting new employees, and evaluating their employees’ work performance, even if there is a separate HRM department. 12.1 LEARNING OUTCOME Explain the importance of the human resource management process and the external influences that might affect that process. The Human Resource Management Process “At L’Oreal, success starts with people. Our people are our most precious asset. Respect for people, their ideas and differences, is the only path to our sustainable long-term growth.”2 Many organizations profess that their people are their most important asset and acknowledge the important role that employees play in organizational success. However, why is HRM important and what external factors influence the HRM process? Why Is HRM Important? HRM is important for three reasons. First, it can be a significant source of competitive advantage as various studies have concluded.3 And that’s true for organizations around the world, not just U.S. firms. The Human Capital Index, a comprehensive study of more than 2,000 global firms, concluded that people-oriented HR gives an organization an edge by creating superior shareholder value.4 Second, HRM is an important part of organizational strategies. Achieving competitive success through people means managers must change how they think about their employees 312 CHAPTER 12 | MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES 313 and how they view the work relationship. They must work with people and treat them as partners, not just as costs to be minimized or avoided. That’s what people-oriented organizations such as Southwest Airlines and W. L. Gore do. Finally, the way organizations treat their people has been found to significantly impact organizational performance.5 For instance, one study reported that improving work practices could increase market value by as much as 30 percent.6 Another study that tracked average annual shareholder returns of companies on Fortune’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work For found that these companies significantly beat the S&P 500 over 10-year, 5-year, 3-year, and 1-year periods.7 Work practices that lead to both high individual and high organizational performance are known as high-performance work practices. (See some examples in Exhibit 12-1.) The common thread among these practices seems to be a commitment to involving employees; improving the knowledge, skills, and abilities of an organization’s employees; increasing their motivation; reducing loafing on the job; and enhancing the retention of quality employees while encouraging low performers to leave. Even if an organization doesn’t use high-performance work practices, other specific HRM activities must be completed in order to ensure that the organization has qualified people to perform the work that needs to be done—activities that comprise the HRM process. Exhibit 12-2 shows the eight activities in this process. The first three activities ensure that competent employees are identified and selected; the next two involve providing employees with up-to-date knowledge and skills; and the final three ensure that the organization retains competent and high-performing employees. Before we discuss those specific activities, we need to look at external factors that affect the HRM process. External Factors That Affect the HRM Process The administrative assistant job opening paying $13 an hour at a Burns Harbor, Indiana, truck driver training school for C. R. England, a nationwide trucking company, was posted on a Friday afternoon.8 By the time the company’s head of corporate recruiting arrived at work on Monday morning, there were about 300 applications in the company’s e-mail inbox. And an inch-and-a-half stack of résumés was piled up by the now outof-paper fax machine. Out of those 500 plus applicants, one person, who had lost her job EXHIBIT • • • • • • • • • • Self-managed teams Decentralized decision making Training programs to develop knowledge, skills, and abilities Flexible job assignments Open communication Performance-based compensation Staffing based on person–job and person–organization fit Extensive employee involvement Giving employees more control over decision making Increasing employee access to information Sources: C. H. Chuang and H. Liao, “Strategic Human Resource Management in Service Context: Taking Care of Business by Taking Care of Employees and Customers,” Personnel Psychology, Spring 2010, pp. 153–196; M. Subramony, “A Meta-Analytic Investigation of the Relationship Between HRM Bundles and Firm Performance,” Human Resource Management, September–October 2009, pp. 745–768; M. M. Butts et al., “Individual Reactions to High Involvement Work Practices: Investigating the Role of Empowerment and Perceived Organizational Support,” Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, April 2009, pp. 122–136; and W. R. Evans and W. D. Davis, “High-Performance Work Systems and Organizational Performance: The Mediating Role of Internal Social Structure,” Journal of Management, October 2005, p. 760. high-performance work practices Work practices that lead to both high individual and high organizational performance 12-1 High-Performance Work Practices 314 PART FOUR | ORGANIZING External Environment Human Resource Planning Recruitment Selection Identify and select competent employees Decruitment Orientation Performance Management Training Compensation and Benefits Provide employees with up-to-date skills and knowledge Career Development Retain competent and high-performing employees External Environment EXHIBIT 12-2 HRM Process four months earlier, impressed the hiring manager so much that the job was hers, leaving the remaining 499 plus people, including a former IBM analyst with 18 years’ experience, a former director of human resources, and someone with a master’s degree and 12 years’ experience at accounting firm Deloitte & Touche, still searching for a job. This is not a unique example. The economic slowdown has made filling a job opening an almost mind-boggling exercise. Such is the new reality facing HRM. The entire HRM process is influenced by the external environment. Those factors most directly influencing it include the economy, employee labor unions, governmental laws and regulations, and demographic trends. THE ECONOMY’S EFFECT ON HRM. The global economic downturn has left what many experts believe to be an enduring mark on HRM practices worldwide. For instance, in Japan, workers used to count on two things: a job for life and a decent pension. Now, lifetime employment is long gone and corporate pension plans are crumbling.9 In European Union member countries, it’s anticipated that the jobless rate will continue to increase, with Spain being hit hardest.10 And in Thailand, employees in the automotive industry dealt with reduced work hours, which affected their pay and their skill upgrades.11 In the United States, labor economists say that although jobs may be coming back slowly, they aren’t the same ones that employees were used to. Many of these jobs are temporary or contract positions, rather than full-time jobs with benefits. And many of the more than 8.4 million jobs lost during the recession aren’t coming back at all, but may be replaced by other types of work in growing industries.12 All of these changes have affected employers and workers. A Global Workforce Study survey by global professional services company Towers Watson confirmed that the recession has “fundamentally altered the way U.S. employees view their work and leaders. . . . U.S. workers have dramatically lowered their career and retirement expectations for the foreseeable future.”13 Such findings have profound implications for how an organization manages its human resources. EMPLOYEE LABOR UNIONS. A planned series of three five-day work stoppages by Unite, the union representing British Airways cabin crews, had the potential for a serious negative effect on Europe’s third-largest airline in an industry already struggling from the prolonged economic downturn.14 If negotiations between management and the union didn’t resolve the disputes over work practices, then employees vowed to hit the airline with more strikes CHAPTER 12 | MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES during the busy summer period. Then, in China, strikes at Honda and Toyota factories highlighted that country’s struggle with income inequality, rising inflation, and soaring property prices. Factory workers, who had been “pushed to work 12-hour days, six days a week on monotonous low-wage assembly line tasks, are pushing back.”15 Work stoppages, labor disputes, and negotiations between management and labor are just a few of the challenges organizations and managers face when their workforce is unionized. A labor union is an organization that represents workers and seeks to protect their interests through collective bargaining. In unionized organizations, many HRM decisions are dictated by collective bargaining agreements, which usually define things such as recruitment sources; criteria for hiring, promotions, and layoffs; training eligibility; and disciplinary practices. Due to information availability, it’s difficult to pin down how unionized global workforces are. Current estimates are that about 12.3 percent of the U.S. workforce is unionized.16 But the percentage of unionized workers tends to be higher in other countries except in France, where some 9.6 percent of workers are unionized. For instance, in Japan, some 19.6 percent of the labor force belongs to a union; in Germany, 27 percent; in Denmark, 75 percent; in Australia, 27.4 percent; in Canada, 30.4 percent; and in Mexico, 19 percent.17 One union membership trend we’re seeing, especially in the more industrialized countries, is that the rate in private enterprise is declining while that in the public sector (which includes teachers, police officers, firefighters, and government workers) is climbing. Although labor unions can affect an organization’s HRM practices, the most significant environmental constraint is governmental laws, especially in North America. LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF HRM. $250 million. That’s the amount a New York City jury awarded in punitive damages to plaintiffs who claim drug company Novartis AG discriminated against women.18 Billions of dollars. That’s the staggering amount that Walmart stores could potentially be liable for in a class-action sex discrimination suit.19 As you can see, an organization’s HRM practices are governed by a country’s laws. (See Exhibit 12-3 for some of the important U.S. laws that affect the HRM process.) For example, decisions regarding who will be hired or which employees will be chosen for a training program or what an employee’s compensation will be must be made without regard to race, sex, religion, age, color, national origin, or disability. Exceptions can occur only in special circumstances. For instance, a community fire department can deny employment to a firefighter applicant who is confined to a wheelchair; but if that same individual is applying for a desk job, such as a dispatcher, the disability cannot be used as a reason to deny employment. The issues, however, are rarely that clear-cut. For example, employment laws protect most employees whose religious beliefs require a specific style of dress—robes, long shirts, long hair, and the like. However, if the specific style of dress may be hazardous or unsafe in the work setting (such as when operating machinery), a company could refuse to hire a person who won’t adopt a safer dress code. As you can see, a number of important laws and regulations affect what you can and cannot do legally as a manager. Because workplace lawsuits are increasingly targeting supervisors, as well as their organizations, managers must know what they can and cannot do by law.20 Trying to balance the “shoulds and should-nots” of many laws often falls within the realm of affirmative action. Many U.S. organizations have affirmative action programs to ensure that decisions and practices enhance the employment, upgrading, and retention of members from protected groups such as minorities and females. That is, an organization refrains from discrimination and actively seeks to enhance the status of members from protected groups. However, U.S. managers are not completely free to choose whom they hire, promote, or fire, or free to treat employees any way they want. Although laws have helped reduce employment discrimination and unfair work practices, they have, at the same time, reduced managers’ discretion over HRM decisions. labor union affirmative action An organization that represents workers and seeks to protect their interests through collective bargaining Organizational programs that enhance the status of members of protected groups 315 316 PART FOUR | ORGANIZING Laws Law or Ruling Year Description Equal Pay Act 1963 Prohibits pay differences for equal work based on gender Civil Rights Act, Title VII 1964 (amended in 1972) Prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, or gender. Age Discrimination in Employment Act 1967 (amended in 1978) Prohibits discrimination against employees 40 years and older Vocational Rehabilitation Act 1973 Prohibits discrimination on the basis of physical or mental disabilities Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 Prohibits discrimination against individuals who have disabilities or chronic illnesses; also requires reasonable accommodations for these individuals Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act 1990 Requires employers with more than 100 employees to provide 60 days’ notice before a mass layoff or facility closing Family and Medical Leave Act 1993 Gives employees in organizations with 50 or more employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year for family or medical reasons Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 1996 Permits portability of employees’ insurance from one employer to another Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act 2009 Changes the statute of limitations on pay discrimination to 180 days from each paycheck Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1970 Establishes mandatory and health standards in organizations Privacy Act 1974 Gives employees the legal right to examine personnel files and letters of reference Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act (COBRA) 1985 Requires continued health coverage following termination (paid by employee) Equal Employment Opportunity and Discrimination Compensation/Benefits Health/Safety EXHIBIT 12-3 Major HRM Laws We do want to mention three current U.S. laws—one has been signed by the president and the other two are still being debated in Congress—that each have the potential to affect future HRM practices. The first of these, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly called the Health Care Reform Act), was signed into law in March 2010.21 Employers are beginning to sort through the requirements of the law and the deadlines for compliance. For instance, one employer disclosure requirement says that by 2012, all employers must disclose the value of the benefits they provided in 2011 for each employee’s health insurance coverage on the employees’ annual Form W-2s. Other parts of the law include compliance deadlines for additional specific information that must be disclosed or provided and protections for employees who provide information or testimony about possible employer violations of Title 1 of the law.22 Another proposed law—the Work–Life Balance Award Act—is still being debated. This particular piece of legislation would highlight the importance of workplace flexibility issues.23 The other proposed law stalled in Congressional debates—the Employee Free Choice Act—would amend the National Labor Relations Act and make it easier for workers to form a union.24 What about HRM laws globally? It’s important that managers in other countries be familiar with the specific laws that apply there. Let’s take a look at some of the federal legislation in countries such as Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Germany. Canadian laws pertaining to HRM practices closely parallel those in the United States. The Canadian Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion, CHAPTER 12 | MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES 317 age, marital status, sex, physical or mental disability, or national origin. This act governs practices throughout the country. Canada’s HRM environment, however, is somewhat different from that in the United States in that it involves more decentralization of lawmaking to the provincial level. For example, discrimination on the basis of language is not prohibited anywhere in Canada except in Quebec. In Mexico, employees are more likely to be unionized than they are in the United States. Labor matters in Mexico are governed by the Mexican Federal Labor Law. One hiring law states that an employer has 28 days to evaluate a new employee’s work performance. After that period, the employee is granted job security and termination is quite difficult and expensive. Those who violate the Mexican Federal Labor Law are subject to severe penalties, including criminal action that can result in steep fines and even jail sentences for employers who fail to pay, for example, the minimum wage. Australia’s discrimination laws were not enacted until the 1980s, and generally apply to discrimination and affirmative action for women. Yet, gender opportunities for women in Australia appear to lag behind those in the United States. In Australia, however, a significant proportion of the workforce is unionized. The higher percentage of unionized workers has placed increased importance on industrial relations specialists in Australia, and reduced the control of line managers over workplace labor issues. In 1997, Australia overhauled its labor and industrial relations laws with the objective of increasing productivity and reducing union power. The Workplace Relations Bill gives employers greater flexibility to negotiate directly with employees on pay, hours, and benefits. Lisa Brummel, a successful It also simplifies federal regulation of labor–management Microsoft product development relations. Our final example, Germany, is similar to most Westmanager with no HR experience, ern European countries when it comes to HRM practices. was named HR chief in 2005. Legislation requires companies to practice representative Her mandate: improve the mood participation, in which the goal is to redistribute power around here.25 Lisa, who had within the organization, putting labor on a more equal footing with the interests of management and stockholdalways been a strong people ers. The two most common forms of representative particleader, stepped up to do just that ipation are work councils and board representatives. Work and looked for ways that the councils link employees with management. They are company could reshape HR at groups of nominated or elected employees who must be consulted when management makes decisions involving Microsoft. With any HR issue that personnel. Board representatives are employees who sit arose, Lisa used her people skills to find a solution. For instance, one thing on a company’s board of directors and represent the intershe did was to introduce innovative office designs that allowed employees to ests of the firm’s employees. reconfigure their workspaces for the task they were working on. The cusDEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS. Back in 2007, the head of BMW’s 2,500-employee power train plant in Dingolfing, Lower Bavaria, was worried about the potential inevitable future decline in productivity due to an aging workforce. 26 That’s when company executives decided to redesign its factory for older workers. With input from employees, they implemented physical changes to the workplace—for instance, new wooden floors to reduce joint strain and special chairs for sitting down or relaxing for short periods—that would reduce wear and tear on workers’ bodies. As this example shows, demographic trends are impacting HRM practices, worldwide and in the United States. tomized workspaces included options such as sliding doors, movable walls, and features that made the space seem more like an urban loft than an office. When beginning a workspace redesign, “employees are first divided into four worker types: providers (the godfathers of work groups), travelers (the types who work anywhere but work), concentrators (head-down, always-at-work types), and orchestrators (the company’s natural diplomats).” Based on their “type,” employees then pick the kind of workspace that works best for them. By allowing their creative, quirky, and talented people freedom to design their workspaces, the company was able to give them some control over their chaotic and often hectic environment. work councils board representatives Groups of nominated or elected employees who must be consulted when management makes decisions involving personnel Employees who sit on a company’s board of directors and represent the interests of the firm’s employees 318 PART FOUR | ORGANIZING HRM responsibilities I have include: • Promote the company’s safety program. • Oversee the hiring process. • Oversee and assist in the execution of the plant’s affirmative action plan. • Ensure compliance with state and federal laws and regulations. • Develop and conduct employee training to minimize skill gaps. • Address employee concerns and resolve complaints. • Implement ideas that will allow the HR department become a better strategic partner within the organization. Much of the change in the U.S. workforce over the last 50 years can be attributed to federal legislation enacted in the 1960s that prohibited employment discrimination. With these laws, avenues opened up for minority and female job applicants. These two groups dramatically changed the workplace in the latter half of the twentieth century. Women, in particular, have changed the composition of the workforce as they now hold some 49.1 percent of jobs. And that percentage may increase as some 82 percent of jobs lost during the economic crisis were ones held by men. Why the disproportion? Because women tend to be employed in education and health care industries, which are less sensitive to economic ups and downs.27 If this trend continues, women are set to become the majority group in the workforce. Workforce trends in the first half of the twenty-first century will be notable for three reasons: (1) changes in racial and ethnic composition, (2) an aging baby boom generation, and (3) an expanding cohort of Gen Y workers. By 2050, Hispanics will grow from today’s 13 percent of the workforce to 24 percent; blacks will increase from 12 percent to 14 percent, and Asians will increase from 5 percent to 11 percent. Meanwhile, the labor force is aging. The 55-and-older age group, which currently makes up 13 percent of the workforce, will increase to 20 percent by 2014. However, labor force analysts who had predicted a mass exodus of baby boomers into retirement have pulled back somewhat on those forecasts, especially since many baby boomers lost significant personal financial resources as the economy and stock market floundered. Many baby boomers are postponing retirement until they can better afford it. Another group that’s having a significant impact on today’s workforce is Gen Y, a population group that includes individuals born from about 1978 to 1994. Gen Y has been the fastest-growing segment of the workforce—increasing from 14 percent to over 24 percent. With Gen Y now in the workforce, analysts point to the four generations that are working side-by-side in the workplace28:     The oldest, most experienced workers (those born before 1946) make up 6 percent of the workforce. The baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) make up 41.5 percent of the workforce. Gen Xers (those born 1965 to 1977) make up almost 29 percent of the workforce. Gen Yers (those born 1978 to 1994) make up almost 24 percent of the workforce. These and other demographic trends are important because of the impact they’re having on current and future HRM practices. LEARNING OUTCOME Discuss the tasks associated with identifying and selecting competent employees. 12.2 Identifying and Selecting Competent Employees Is a job in the insurance industry on your list of jobs you’ll apply for after graduation? Unfortunately for the insurance industry, it’s not for many college graduates. Like many other nonglamorous industries including transportation, utilities, and manufacturing, the insurance industry is not “particularly attractive to the so-called ‘millennials’—people who turned 21 in 2000 or later.” In all these industries, the number of skilled jobs is already starting to overtake the number of qualified people available to fill them.29 Every organization needs people to do whatever work is necessary for doing what the organization is in business to do. How do they get those people? And more importantly, what can they do to ensure they get competent, talented people? This first phase of the HRM process involves three tasks: human resource planning, recruitment and decruitment, and selection. Human Resource Planning Human resource planning is the process by which managers ensure that they have the right number and kinds of capable people in the right places and at the right times. Through CHAPTER 12 | MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES 319 planning, organizations avoid sudden people shortages and surpluses.30 HR planning entails two steps: (1) assessing current human resources, and (2) meeting future HR needs. CURRENT ASSESSMENT. Managers begin HR planning by inventorying current employees. This inventory usually includes information on employees such as name, education, training, prior employment, languages spoken, special capabilities, and specialized skills. Sophisticated databases make getting and keeping this information quite easy. For example, Stephanie Cox, Schlumberger’s director of personnel for North and South America, uses a company planning program called PeopleMatch to help pinpoint managerial talent. Suppose that she needs a manager for Brazil. She types in the qualifications: someone who can relocate, speak Portuguese, and is a “high potential” employee. Within a minute, 31 names of possible candidates pop up.31 That’s what good HR planning should do—help managers identify the people they need. An important part of a current assessment is job analysis, an assessment that defines a job and the behaviors necessary to perform it. For instance, what are the duties of a level 3 accountant who works for Kodak? What minimal knowledge, skills, and abilities are necessary to adequately perform this job? How do these requirements compare with those for a level 2 accountant or for an accounting manager? Information for a job analysis is gathered by directly observing individuals on the job, interviewing employees individually or in a group, having employees complete a questionnaire or record daily activities in a diary, or having job “experts” (usually managers) identify a job’s specific characteristics. Using this information from the job analysis, managers develop or revise job descriptions and job specifications. A job description is a written statement describing a job— typically job content, environment, and conditions of employment. A job specification states the minimum qualifications that a person must possess to successfully perform a given job. It identifies the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to do the job effectively. Both the job description and job specification are important documents when managers begin recruiting and selecting. MEETING FUTURE HR NEEDS. Future HR needs are determined by the organization’s mission, goals, and strategies. Demand for employees results from demand for the organization’s products or services. For instance, Corning’s expansion into developing countries was slowed by the lack of qualified employees. To continue its growth strategy, it had to plan how to find those qualified employees.32 After assessing both current capabilities and future needs, managers can estimate areas in which the organization will be understaffed or overstaffed. Then they’re ready to proceed to the next step in the HRM process. Best ways to find the best job candidates are networking with local community organizations and also being descriptive about the job requirements and qualifications in a job ad. Recruitment and Decruitment Competition for talent by India’s two largest technology outsourcing companies has led to an all-out recruiting war. In the United States, the tech sector is also in a hiring push pitting start-up companies against giants such as Google and Intel in the hunt for employees.33 If employee vacancies exist, managers should use the information gathered through job analysis to guide them in recruitment—that is, locating, identifying, and attracting capable applicants.34 On the other hand, if HR planning shows a surplus of employees, managers may want to reduce the organization’s workforce through decruitment.35 human resource planning job description recruitment Ensuring that the organization has the right number and kinds of capable people in the right places and at the right times A written statement that describes a job Locating, identifying, and attracting capable applicants job analysis An assessment that defines jobs and the behaviors necessary to perform them job specification A written statement of the minimum qualifications that a person must possess to perform a given job successfully decruitment Reducing an organization’s workforce