MGT 2301 - Human
Resources Study Notes
Chapter 1
Key terms
Human Resources Management (HRM)– The management of people within organizations to drive
successful organizational performance and achievement of the organization’s strategic goals.
Human Capital – The knowledge, education, training, skills and expertise of an organization’s workforce.
Scientific Management – The process of “scientifically “analysing manufacturing processes, reducing
production costs and compensation based on their performance levels.
The Human Resources Movement – A management philosophy focusing on concern for people and
productivity.
Outsourcing – The practice of contracting with outside vendors to handle specified business functions
on a permanent basis.
Employee Engagement – The emotional and intellectual involvement of employees in their work, such as
intensity, focus, and involvement in his or her job and organization.
Strategy – the company’s plan for how it will balance its internal strengths and weaknesses with external
opportunities and threats to maintain a competitive advantage.
Change agents – Specialists who lead the organization and its employees through organizational change.
Environmental scanning – Identifying and analysing external opportunities and threats that may be
crucial to the organization’s success.
Metrics – Statistics used to measure activities and results.
Balanced Scorecard – A measurement system that translates an organization’s strategy into a
comprehensive set of performance measures.
Productivity – The ration of an organizations outputs (good and services) to its inputs(people, capital,
energy, and materials)
Primary sector – Jobs in agriculture, fishing and trapping, forestry and mining.
Secondary sector – Jobs in manufacturing and construction
Tertiary or service sector – Jobs in public administration, personal and business services, finance, trade,
public utilities, and transportation/communications.
Traditionalists – Individuals born before 1946
Baby boomers – individuals born between 1946 and 1964
,Generation X – Individuals born between 1965 and
1980 Generation Y – Individuals born since 1980
Contingent/non-standard workers – Workers who do not have regular full-time employment status.
Globalization – The emergence of a single global market for most products and services.
Organizational Culture – the Core values, beliefs and assumptions that are widely shared by members of
an organization.
Organizational climate – the prevailing atmosphere that exists in an organization and it’s impact on
employees.
Empowerment – Providing workers with the skills and authority to make decisions that would
traditionally be made by mangers
Chapter Recap
- Human resources professionals are responsible for ensuring that the organization attracts, retains,
and engages the diverse talent required to meet operational and performance commitments
made to customers and shareholders.
- HRM involves formulating and implementing HRM systems such as recruitment,
performance appraisal, and compensation
- Studies over the past two decades have confirmed that effective HR practices are related to
better organizational performance.
- Three HR practices, Profit sharing, results-oriented performance appraisal, and employment
security have strong relationships with accounting measures of performance (return on assets and
return on equity)
- The human resources movement consists of 4 phases:
o Phase 1 – early 1900’s personnel administration (as it was then called) played a very
minor role in business. Top responsibilities were hiring and firing, and administering
payroll and benefits. The job largely consisted of following procedures.
o Phase 2 – Start of the scientific management movement – operational efficiencies
increased, but wages did not. This resulted in an increase in unionization. After the 1930’s
and the enactment of more legislation relating to work (incl the minimum wage act,
employment insurance, etc) compliance with legislation was added to HRM
responsibilities. 40’s and 50’s saw the Human relations movement gaining steam, and
Orientation, performance appraisal, and employee relations were added to the
responsibilities.
o Phase 3 – Direct result of legislation passed in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s that effected
employees human rights, wages and benefits, working conditions, health and safety, and
the penalties for failure to meet those requirements - HR roles expanded dramatically.
Tech outsourcing for specific business functions on a permanent basis has again changed
the roles. Pension and benefit admin, payroll, recruitment, management development and
training are all increasingly outsourced.
o Phase 4 – current phase. HR departments have evolved to that of helping organizations
achieve the strategic goals. HR professionals now often serve as subject matter experts
(SME) offering advise on HR-related matters, formulating HR policies and procedures
and
, providing a range of HR services. Five critical pieces of knowledge required by HR
professionals today are:
▪ Business acumen
▪ An understanding of employment law and legislation
▪ Talent management
▪ Broad HR knowledge
▪ Employee-labour relations knowledge
- Core competencies of HR professionals
o Credible activist – must be both credible (respected, listened to, trusted) and active
(takes apposition, challenges assumptions)
o Culture and change steward – The ability to appreciate, help shape, and articulate an
organizations corporate culture includes understanding, guiding, and reacting to
both internal and external stakeholder expectations.
o Talent manager and organizational designer – as traditional career paths change an HR
professional’s ability to manage human resources is more critical as employees enter,
exist and move around an organization. HR professionals play a pivotal role in lowering
labour costs which is the largest operating expense in many orgs.
o Strategic architect – HR professionals contribute significantly to strategy by integrating
internal and external stakeholder expectations. Organizational strategy was traditionally
not formulated with HR input, but today HR professionals are increasingly involved.
o Operational executor – HR specialist are expected to be change agents who lead
the organization and its employees through organizational change.
o Business ally – Hr professionals play a role in what strategic planners call environmental
scanning, which involves identifying and analysing external opportunities and threats
that may be crucial to the organization’s success example: details about a successful
incentive plan used by a competitor, impending labour shortages, and impeding
legislative changes. HR staff also add value by supplying info about a company’s internal
strengths and weaknesses, particularly when in comes to the organization’s workforce.
- Traditional operational measures focused on the amount of activity and the costs of the HR
function (ie # of interviews per month, cost per hire, etc) but today’s measures need to reflect the
quality of people and the effectiveness of HRM initiatives that build workforce capability.
- A new balanced scorecard approach translates an organization’s strategy into a comprehensive set
of performance measures. It includes financial measures that tell the results of actions already
taken. It complements the financial measures with operational measures or organizational,
business unit, or financial success that will drive future performance. It balances long-term and
short-term actions and measures the success relating to financial results, customers, internal
business processes, and human capital management.
- Environmental Influences on HRM
o External environmental influences
▪ Economic Conditions – Economic conditions effect supply and demand for
products ad services, which, in turn have a dramatic impact on the number and
types of employees required as well as the employer’s ability to pay wages and
provide benefits.
▪ Labour market issues –
, • Increasing workforce diversity – these include demographic factors such
as race, gender, age as well as values and cultural norms. In Canada the
proportion of visible and ethnic minorities entering the labour market is
expected to increase faster than the rest of the population.
o Employment rate of women nears that of men.
o Aboriginal population is Yonge and growing at a rate almost
twice that of the rest of Canada’s population.
o Canadians with disabilities – continue to confront physical
barriers to equality. Inaccessibility is still the rule, not the
exception.
o Generational differences – four generations currently in
the workforce
▪ Traditionalists – also known as the silent generation were
born before 1946 in an era of hardship, including world war
and the great depression. Many have retired, but some
remain in the workforce
▪ Baby boomers – born between 1946 and 1964 are the
largest group in the workforce. They grew up in a time
of major optimism and change – moon landing and the
woman’s movement.
▪ Generation X - born between 1965 and 1980 it’s a much
smaller group than the baby boomers and were
originally called the baby busters. They grew up as
divorce rates skyrocketed and were the first technology-
literate generation.
▪ Generation Y – born since 1980 they’re also known as
Millennials. Children of boomers.
o Non-standard or Contingent workers – meaning workers that do
not fit the traditional definition of permanent, full-time
employment with the same employer on an indeterminate basis.
Includes part- time, fixed-term, temporary, home and standby
workers; those who have more than one job and the self-
employed. More woman fall here then men. Jobs are often poorly
paid with no job security.
▪ Technology – ie: twitter, Facebook and teleconferencing can make working in and
managing a dispersed workplace easier. Raised concerns about the blur
between work-time and family time. Also concerns about data control, privacy,
etc.
▪ Government – Laws enacted by government have and will have dramatic impact on
employer/employee relationships in Canada. There are 14 different jurisdictions in
Canada – 10 provinces, 3 territories each have their own human rights, employment
standard, labour relations, health and safety and workers’ comp. legislations.
▪ Globalization – Growing integration of the world economy into a single huge
marketplace which is increasing competition. Means HR professionals need to
become familiar with employment legislation in other countries and need to
manage ethical dilemmas when labour standards are substantially lower than in
Canada.
Resources Study Notes
Chapter 1
Key terms
Human Resources Management (HRM)– The management of people within organizations to drive
successful organizational performance and achievement of the organization’s strategic goals.
Human Capital – The knowledge, education, training, skills and expertise of an organization’s workforce.
Scientific Management – The process of “scientifically “analysing manufacturing processes, reducing
production costs and compensation based on their performance levels.
The Human Resources Movement – A management philosophy focusing on concern for people and
productivity.
Outsourcing – The practice of contracting with outside vendors to handle specified business functions
on a permanent basis.
Employee Engagement – The emotional and intellectual involvement of employees in their work, such as
intensity, focus, and involvement in his or her job and organization.
Strategy – the company’s plan for how it will balance its internal strengths and weaknesses with external
opportunities and threats to maintain a competitive advantage.
Change agents – Specialists who lead the organization and its employees through organizational change.
Environmental scanning – Identifying and analysing external opportunities and threats that may be
crucial to the organization’s success.
Metrics – Statistics used to measure activities and results.
Balanced Scorecard – A measurement system that translates an organization’s strategy into a
comprehensive set of performance measures.
Productivity – The ration of an organizations outputs (good and services) to its inputs(people, capital,
energy, and materials)
Primary sector – Jobs in agriculture, fishing and trapping, forestry and mining.
Secondary sector – Jobs in manufacturing and construction
Tertiary or service sector – Jobs in public administration, personal and business services, finance, trade,
public utilities, and transportation/communications.
Traditionalists – Individuals born before 1946
Baby boomers – individuals born between 1946 and 1964
,Generation X – Individuals born between 1965 and
1980 Generation Y – Individuals born since 1980
Contingent/non-standard workers – Workers who do not have regular full-time employment status.
Globalization – The emergence of a single global market for most products and services.
Organizational Culture – the Core values, beliefs and assumptions that are widely shared by members of
an organization.
Organizational climate – the prevailing atmosphere that exists in an organization and it’s impact on
employees.
Empowerment – Providing workers with the skills and authority to make decisions that would
traditionally be made by mangers
Chapter Recap
- Human resources professionals are responsible for ensuring that the organization attracts, retains,
and engages the diverse talent required to meet operational and performance commitments
made to customers and shareholders.
- HRM involves formulating and implementing HRM systems such as recruitment,
performance appraisal, and compensation
- Studies over the past two decades have confirmed that effective HR practices are related to
better organizational performance.
- Three HR practices, Profit sharing, results-oriented performance appraisal, and employment
security have strong relationships with accounting measures of performance (return on assets and
return on equity)
- The human resources movement consists of 4 phases:
o Phase 1 – early 1900’s personnel administration (as it was then called) played a very
minor role in business. Top responsibilities were hiring and firing, and administering
payroll and benefits. The job largely consisted of following procedures.
o Phase 2 – Start of the scientific management movement – operational efficiencies
increased, but wages did not. This resulted in an increase in unionization. After the 1930’s
and the enactment of more legislation relating to work (incl the minimum wage act,
employment insurance, etc) compliance with legislation was added to HRM
responsibilities. 40’s and 50’s saw the Human relations movement gaining steam, and
Orientation, performance appraisal, and employee relations were added to the
responsibilities.
o Phase 3 – Direct result of legislation passed in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s that effected
employees human rights, wages and benefits, working conditions, health and safety, and
the penalties for failure to meet those requirements - HR roles expanded dramatically.
Tech outsourcing for specific business functions on a permanent basis has again changed
the roles. Pension and benefit admin, payroll, recruitment, management development and
training are all increasingly outsourced.
o Phase 4 – current phase. HR departments have evolved to that of helping organizations
achieve the strategic goals. HR professionals now often serve as subject matter experts
(SME) offering advise on HR-related matters, formulating HR policies and procedures
and
, providing a range of HR services. Five critical pieces of knowledge required by HR
professionals today are:
▪ Business acumen
▪ An understanding of employment law and legislation
▪ Talent management
▪ Broad HR knowledge
▪ Employee-labour relations knowledge
- Core competencies of HR professionals
o Credible activist – must be both credible (respected, listened to, trusted) and active
(takes apposition, challenges assumptions)
o Culture and change steward – The ability to appreciate, help shape, and articulate an
organizations corporate culture includes understanding, guiding, and reacting to
both internal and external stakeholder expectations.
o Talent manager and organizational designer – as traditional career paths change an HR
professional’s ability to manage human resources is more critical as employees enter,
exist and move around an organization. HR professionals play a pivotal role in lowering
labour costs which is the largest operating expense in many orgs.
o Strategic architect – HR professionals contribute significantly to strategy by integrating
internal and external stakeholder expectations. Organizational strategy was traditionally
not formulated with HR input, but today HR professionals are increasingly involved.
o Operational executor – HR specialist are expected to be change agents who lead
the organization and its employees through organizational change.
o Business ally – Hr professionals play a role in what strategic planners call environmental
scanning, which involves identifying and analysing external opportunities and threats
that may be crucial to the organization’s success example: details about a successful
incentive plan used by a competitor, impending labour shortages, and impeding
legislative changes. HR staff also add value by supplying info about a company’s internal
strengths and weaknesses, particularly when in comes to the organization’s workforce.
- Traditional operational measures focused on the amount of activity and the costs of the HR
function (ie # of interviews per month, cost per hire, etc) but today’s measures need to reflect the
quality of people and the effectiveness of HRM initiatives that build workforce capability.
- A new balanced scorecard approach translates an organization’s strategy into a comprehensive set
of performance measures. It includes financial measures that tell the results of actions already
taken. It complements the financial measures with operational measures or organizational,
business unit, or financial success that will drive future performance. It balances long-term and
short-term actions and measures the success relating to financial results, customers, internal
business processes, and human capital management.
- Environmental Influences on HRM
o External environmental influences
▪ Economic Conditions – Economic conditions effect supply and demand for
products ad services, which, in turn have a dramatic impact on the number and
types of employees required as well as the employer’s ability to pay wages and
provide benefits.
▪ Labour market issues –
, • Increasing workforce diversity – these include demographic factors such
as race, gender, age as well as values and cultural norms. In Canada the
proportion of visible and ethnic minorities entering the labour market is
expected to increase faster than the rest of the population.
o Employment rate of women nears that of men.
o Aboriginal population is Yonge and growing at a rate almost
twice that of the rest of Canada’s population.
o Canadians with disabilities – continue to confront physical
barriers to equality. Inaccessibility is still the rule, not the
exception.
o Generational differences – four generations currently in
the workforce
▪ Traditionalists – also known as the silent generation were
born before 1946 in an era of hardship, including world war
and the great depression. Many have retired, but some
remain in the workforce
▪ Baby boomers – born between 1946 and 1964 are the
largest group in the workforce. They grew up in a time
of major optimism and change – moon landing and the
woman’s movement.
▪ Generation X - born between 1965 and 1980 it’s a much
smaller group than the baby boomers and were
originally called the baby busters. They grew up as
divorce rates skyrocketed and were the first technology-
literate generation.
▪ Generation Y – born since 1980 they’re also known as
Millennials. Children of boomers.
o Non-standard or Contingent workers – meaning workers that do
not fit the traditional definition of permanent, full-time
employment with the same employer on an indeterminate basis.
Includes part- time, fixed-term, temporary, home and standby
workers; those who have more than one job and the self-
employed. More woman fall here then men. Jobs are often poorly
paid with no job security.
▪ Technology – ie: twitter, Facebook and teleconferencing can make working in and
managing a dispersed workplace easier. Raised concerns about the blur
between work-time and family time. Also concerns about data control, privacy,
etc.
▪ Government – Laws enacted by government have and will have dramatic impact on
employer/employee relationships in Canada. There are 14 different jurisdictions in
Canada – 10 provinces, 3 territories each have their own human rights, employment
standard, labour relations, health and safety and workers’ comp. legislations.
▪ Globalization – Growing integration of the world economy into a single huge
marketplace which is increasing competition. Means HR professionals need to
become familiar with employment legislation in other countries and need to
manage ethical dilemmas when labour standards are substantially lower than in
Canada.
