ORG 535 Wk 1 – Practice: HRM Roles and Responsibilities

HRM Practices

Human resources management is critical to the success of organizations as human capital becomes an important source for competitive advantage. With the changing role of the HR professional to a strategic partner, the Society of Human Resources has defined the sets of knowledge and skills associated with success.

Today is it not enough for an HR professional to know only how to perform tasks specific to human resources management. HR professionals must be proficient in the nine categories of HR success competencies clustered into four areas: technical, interpersonal, business, and leadership.

The goal of this activity is to classify employee responsibilities by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) success competency.

Virtual Workplace: Out of Office Reply

In many ways, technological advances have improved the nature and design of work, including employees’ ability to telecommute—perform work from home rather than in an office setting. This activity is important because managers must be able to determine whether or not telecommuting is appropriate for each employee and their roles. In the video that follows, manager Ralph Ramos is having difficulties with an employee (Angela Zononi), who is now working from home. The goal of this activity is to determine the best solution for Ralph Ramos and Angela Zononi.

Three months ago, Ralph Ramos assigned a number of employees to work as telecommuters to alleviate overcrowding in the company’s office building. Among them was Angela Zononi, an employee and friend for over four years, who was delighted to work from home since her commute to the office was particularly time consuming. Although things went relatively smoothly for the first six weeks, since then communication and performance have taken a steady downturn. Angela has biweekly meetings with Ralph in his office. Lately they have had unprecedented arguments and frequent misunderstandings.

Social Media Woes

Technology has reshaped the way we play, communicate, plan our lives, and where we work. The Internet and social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikis, and blogs not only have changed the way we live but also how we work. These social media tools have also redefined what is acceptable behavior in a work environment and how HRM practices need to reflect this new type of activity. Some companies embrace social networking tools as part of employees’ everyday activities, while others are not so sure employees need another reason to be distracted during the workday. In the following case, you will learn about Kate Slattery and what challenges she faces as a manager with regard to social networking activities.

In this exercise, please read the mini-case below and answer the questions that follow.

“Hi, Jack, got a minute?”

“Sure, Kate, what’s up?”

Kate Slattery is a supervisor at a BestCo, a consumer electronics company, and she is having trouble with some of her young employees. Jack Richards is the company’s HR manager, responsible for the 45 employees in the BestCo Midwest regional office. BestCo has a good reputation in the local labor market of hiring energetic, young talent and giving them the experience they need to take the next step in their professional careers. Most of Kate’s direct reports are recent college grads, experiencing “work life” for the first time. So, it doesn’t seem odd to them to check their Facebook page or Twitter account during the day at work—they have grown up in the social media era of communications and feel the need to check in on a frequent basis.

Kate supervises a group of eight employees, who are responsible for sales support. Recently, she received complaints from sales reps in the field that they can’t get quotes, product specs, or application information from her group. She did some investigating and found employees on the Internet watching YouTube videos, checking Facebook pages, and tweeting about personal events. She is in a quandary. Employee access to the Internet could be blocked, but there are many times when access to competitors’ websites and general product information needs to be available instantaneously to help the support staff do their jobs. Moreover, BestCo has invested time and money in developing a company website for both consumers and business customers, and her staff should be able to access the site during the workday. Kate has asked Jack for his take on how the company should view social media and the impact it should have on the day-to-day activities in the BestCo office.

Manager’s Hot Seat: Virtual Workplace

Three months ago, Ralph Ramos assigned a number of employees to work as telecommuters to alleviate the lack of space in their office building. Among them was Angela Zononi, an employee and friend for over four years, who was delighted to work from home since her commute to the office was particularly time-consuming. Although things went relatively smoothly for the first six weeks, since then communication and performance have taken a steady downturn. Angela has biweekly meetings with Ralph in his office. Lately they have had unprecedented arguments and frequent misunderstandings.

Shocking Event at Suprima Bottling Company

Although concern for worker safety would seem to be an important societal goal, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)—the most comprehensive legislation regarding worker safety in the United States—did not become the law until the 1970s. The OSHA legislation authorized the federal government to establish and enforce occupational safety and health standards for all places of employment engaged in interstate commerce. In the following activity, you will read about an employee incident at a bottling plant and how OSHA regulations and inspections help keep workers safe.

In this exercise, please read the mini-case and answer the questions below.

Michael Smith is a recently hired maintenance worker at the Suprima bottling plant in central Pennsylvania. While doing routine maintenance on the facility’s main water bottling conveyor, Smith sustained an electrical shock that resulted in burns to both of his hands. Smith’s supervisor filed a report with the HR department, which in turn notified the local OSHA office. An OSHA compliance officer made an unannounced inspection of the facility. As a result of the inspection, the compliance officer found that Smith was not given adequate training to implement the lockout procedure to the main electrical breaker before working on the conveyor, which caused the accident.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Over the last 150 years, Congress has passed numerous laws to ensure equal employment opportunity for all Americans. The courts and various regulatory agencies are responsible for enforcing these laws through sanctions such as fines and, in some cases, incarceration. Congress has passed several laws to ensure that all Americans receive fair treatment in employment regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, age, or physical condition.

In this exercise, please read the mini-case and answer the questions that follow.

The Plain Paper Company was determined to lead its industry in promoting minorities to supervisory positions. But Joe Sammon, a 56-year-old Caucasian who sought the position of vice president, felt he was passed over for the position when the company named a black female to the job. Joe threatened to sue the company claiming “reverse discrimination.”

Identifying Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances and can occur either through quid pro quo—when some kind of benefit or punishment is made contingent on the employee submitting to sexual advances—or through creating a hostile working environment that makes it difficult for individuals of a particular sex to work. Sexual harassment can affect men or women and can be committed by either gender as well. Organizations should create an environment free of sexual harassment by creating and communicating a policy expressing intolerance for any form of harassment, training all employees to identify and eliminate inappropriate workplace behaviors, and dealing with any complaints quickly, decisively, and consistently.

Unfortunately, sexual harassment happens in the workplace more often than many employees are aware of or would like to admit. It is important to be able to identify sexual harassment when it occurs. This activity is important because it will help you understand whether or not certain types of situations constitute sexual harassment.

The goal of this activity is to identify instances of sexual harassment.

EEOC Process of Investigating and Resolving Discrimination

The executive branch is the main federal government entity responsible for enforcing all equal opportunity laws passed by the legislative branch as well as executive orders issued by the president. The two agencies that bear these responsibilities are the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).

Read the mini-case and answer the following questions.

Jenna and John were both hired three years ago by HaySta Corporation. HaySta is a call center with approximately $190,000 in annual sales. The company has an average of 150 employees. Jenna and John hold the same sales position at HaySta’s corporate office.

Jenna is 47 years old and has five years of experience in sales and operations at another call center. She has two children in elementary school, which has caused her to miss seven days of work this year. Jenna is African American, has an associate degree, and has exceeded her sales goals for the last three years.

John has two years’ experience in sales and operations at another call center, is a 37-year-old Caucasian, is single, and has a bachelor’s degree. John has not missed any days of work this year, but he has not met his sales goals for two of the three years.

Jenna and John have had good performance reviews for the last three years. For the first two years, they both made the same base salary; however, after this year’s performance review, John received a $2.00 raise, while Jenna received a $0.75 raise. Jenna feels as though she is being discriminated against, but how can she prove it and what steps should she take?

If Jenna files a complaint, which of the following are responsible for investigating her claim?