CHAPTER 11, ECONOMIC INFLUENCES ON PAY

CONCEPT:

When trying to find what the company should pay the employees, the company tends to do a few things to try and make sure that they are being competitive. First they look at what the product cost in that area, that way they sell the product high enough to make money but they don't want it too expensive so no one buys it. Next the look at the labor market. The try to find what other companies pay their employees for the same job. Last they look at cost of living in that area, they take all of those into consideration before deciding what is a fare wage to pay employees.

EMOTIONAL HOOK:

What would you do if you got hired by a company and years later you find out that the competitor is paying a lot more money, and are looking to hire experienced workers. You bring this up to your boss who is worried about loosing all of their employees. The company decides not to give you competitive raise, but they give you a little raise and give you big bonuses if you promise to stay. What would you do?

KEY POINTS:

Before you start a job you a little research, find out what other companies are paying, find out what the cost of living is in your area, this way you can negotiate pay.

FACILITATED QUESTION:

How much do you think you are worth? Do you get paid competitively? Would you change your job if you got paid more some where else?

REFLECTION

In class we talked about job withdrawal, which is defined as a set of behaviors which employees try to avoid work. This can be done in a few ways, physically, this is when you call in sick or just don't show up at all. But the most common is psychological withdrawal. This is where you sit at your desk and just day dream, or find ways not to do your work while you are at work.

REFLECTION

Today in class we talked about Training vs. Development. Training should be required, mainly because it is teaching you the basics. It's how you do your job, it is setting the minimum standard for the job. Whereas with Development it should be optional, it's more for future planning. It should teach leadership skills, and should be relevant to the employee.

Alternative dispute resolution

CONCEPT:

There are several different ways to resolve conflicts, open-door policy, peer review, mediation, arbitration. Depending on the personalities and the problem going on would help determine which one should be used.

EMOTIONAL HOOK:

How would you feel if you were having issues with another employee and you boss didn't have an open door policy, what would you do, who would you talk to?

KEY POINTS:

The best policy is for the HR person to be able to do all of the different ways of resolving conflicts. You do not want to be stuck in a one way thing, and because of that you are unable to help some employees because you way does not work for them

FACILITATED QUESTION:

What conflict resolution works best for you?

Development-related challenges

CONCEPTS:

One of the main things that prevent development in a organization and that is the glass ceiling effect. This is were people (mostly women and minorities) can see the top positions in the company, but are unable to get reach those positions.

EMOTIONAL HOOK:

It's hard to sit back and watch as people who work hard for a company only to get to a certain point but never get any higher because you don't "fit" the ideal of what has previously been in that position.

KEY POINTS:

Make sure that when you are interviewing, promoting, or even talking to employees, it's good to remember that just because they are not what you are use to they can still bring new ideas to the plate and just because they are different does not mean they can't do the job.

FACILITATED QUESTION:

How would you feel if you (a white male) walked into an interview knowing that you were qualified for the position. While in the interview you realized that a man has never had the position you were applying for, and because they did not want to change you did not get the job?

Feedback Session

CONCEPT:

When preparing for a feedback session you should always tell the employee ahead of time, giving them time to prepare. You should give them a self evaluation to complete before the session. This evaluation should have the employees thinking about their evaluation and have them set goals for the future.

EMOTIONAL HOOK:

Imagine if your boss came to you in the morning of your work day and your boss told you in one hour you would have an evaluation. What would you feel, nervous, excited, mad, worried, ready to show your boss how good you have been working? Just remember that when you tell employees that they have an upcoming evaluation.

KEY POINTS:

When conducting an evaluation session you want the set up as an tell-and-listen session. You want to hear what the employee has to say. What they think they have been doing well, what their strong points are. You just have to remember that employees tend to exaggerate their good points.

FACILITATED QUESTIONS:

Would you rather have an employee over exaggerate or under exaggerate their good points?

ON-THE-JOB-TRAINING

CONCERT:

Most jobs choose to do on the job training, its a great way to teach the new employee how to do their job. There are a couple of different ways of completing the on the job training. First, apprenticeship which is a combination of on the job training and classroom training.

Then, internship is an on the job training sponsored by an educational institutional.

EMOTIONAL HOOK:

Its hard to get into the job market, everyone is wanting job experience, which is really hard to get it if you don't already have it.

KEY POINTS:

You have to get job experience, the best way to do that is to do an apprenticeship, or an internship. Both have pros and cons to them, and you have to decide which on is best for you.

FACILITATED QUESTION:

What is the best way for you to get on the job training: to graduate from high school and find a starter job or to go to college graduate and hope to find a company will give you an internship?

REFLECTION

In class we talked about checking references, and I have never thought of stocking someone on facebook to see what they were like. Because as we all know that when calling references they can't give too much information, so that's why we need to become creative.

INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES

CONCEPTS:

There are 4 different types of interviewing techniques, each with pros and cons. Non-directive allows for wiggle room with the questions, but can get the interviewer in trouble for asking illegal questions. Structured interview is you know exactly what questions you will ask, this eliminates the problem of asking inappropriate questions. Situational interview you get to see how a person would act and get to know them better. Behavior interview is the highest validity.

EMOTIONAL HOOK:

Going into a interview is a scary experience already, and now even more now that you don't know in which way you are going to be interviewed. Its hard to prepare what you are going to say when you don't know what they are going to ask you.

KEY POINTS:

When you are the one setting up the interview you need to figure out what type of questions you want to ask and what way you want them answered.

FACILITATED QUESTION:

What would you do if you are in a job interview and they asked an inappropriate question, such as your age, marital status or anything like that. What would you do?