Topic: Human Resource Management Summary of the lesson: Hiring the Right Employees. Job Analysis. Employee Recruitment. Selecting Employees. Placing and Training Employees. Compensating Employees. Employee Discipline and Termination

Hiring the Right Employees One of the most important decisions a owner makes is the hiring of the first and then successive employees. Not only do employees cause an increase in costs, but also hiring a bad employee can negatively impact the business.

Finding the Right One Check out the attitude. New employees can be taught appropriate skills and “how to” a variety of tasks. Changing a less-than-positive attitude likely isn’t possible. Make sure their attitude fits your business culture. Check for intensity. How hard is the employee willing to work? Let them know your expectations up front. Better they know now and you don’t hire than to find out later they only want to work a 20-hour week. Check for product passion. Does the potential employee know what you sell? Do they use the product? Do they think that product is the best? That level of enthusiasm is difficult to develop. Check to see if it is present from day one. Check for great skills and abilities. Too often managers hire people with the same level of skills or less. Hire better than you to move your business forward and into the future. Check for the fit. Does the potential employee fit within your organization? Everything from the way this employee deals with customers to their work ethic needs to fit within the culture of your organization. “More than 50 percent of your decision to hire should be based on fit,” according to Paul Spiegelman. Check for communication ability. The line of communication need to remain open between you and the potential hire. Make sure you check the communication fit during the interview process.

Job Analysis The recruitment process involves attracting talented individuals to your company. To achieve this goal, you must be able to: define the positions to be filled state the qualifications needed to perform them successfully. This endeavor requires that you conduct a job analysis, prepare a job description, identify a list of job specifications, and identify alternative sources of employees. While this list may seem long, time spent defining the job, describing the job, and determining the needed employee abilities is time well spent. Since the goal is to hire employees who fit the organization and who will stay, the following steps become critical in order to effectively hire.

Job Description A job description identifies the duties, tasks, and responsibilities of the position. Although a standard format for the job description (often termed the position description) does not exist, it is generally agreed that each job description should include the following elements: Job identification. Job summary. List of essential duties. Task statement. General working conditions, travel requirements, equipment and tools used, and other job-related data may also be included in the job description.

Job Specifications The job specifications indicate the skills, abilities, knowledge, experience, and other personal requirements a worker needs to successfully perform the job. In writing the specifications, take care to ensure that the stated requirements are truly necessary for successful performance of the job. Under the anti-discrimination laws, you may not discriminate based upon gender, religion, race, color, or national origin.

typical job (position) description Job Title: Marketing Researcher Department: Marketing Reports To: Marketing Manager Status: Non-Exempt Summary: Employee is responsible for monitoring market conditions in local, regional, and national areas to determine sales potential for company’s products and services.

continue Essential Duties and Responsibilities: All of the following, plus other duties as assigned. Employee will: Conduct marketing research and analyze data on customer demographics, preferences, and buying habits for the purpose of making intelligent marketing decisions. Prepare reports of marketing research conclusions, illustrating data graphically and explaining findings in written copy. Monitor internal and external environments including financial, technological, competitive, regulatory, and demographic factors so that market opportunities may be capitalized upon. Measure customer and employee satisfaction.

Continue Coordinate research to implement the organization’s Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) including print, broadcast, and online messages. Forecast and track marketing and sales trends. Measure effectiveness of marketing strategies and individual campaigns. Gather data on competitors and analyze price, sales, and distribution comparisons. Establish effective controls and corrective action needed to achieve marketing goals within designated budgets. Prepare monthly marketing activity reports.

Continue Supervisory Responsibilities: None. Marketing Researcher is an autonomous staff position with no direct subordinates. Qualifications: Requirements listed below represent the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required to perform the job satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Education and/or Experience — Bachelor’s degree (BA, BS, or BBA) or equivalent required, Master’s degree (MBA) preferred; Language Skills — Fluency in the English language with ability to analyze financial reports & legal documents. Mathematical Skills — Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics and their applications. Physical Demands — Employee is regularly required to sit for extended periods of time. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, and lift up to twenty-five pounds.

Employee Recruitment You may recruit employees from a variety of sources, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. The six major sources are help: Wanted ads Employment agencies Internet job sites Executive recruiters (headhunters) Employee referrals Relatives or friends.

Selecting Employees Once you have a pool of applicants from which to choose, you should match the applicants with the job requirements outlined in your job description and specifications. Four commonly used tools for selecting employees are: The application form The résumé The selection interview Testing.

Placing and Training Employees You have hired your new employee—now what? Employee orientation is the process of introducing the new person to your business, to the current employees, and to your company culture, your way of doing things. The first few days and sometimes weeks on the job are critical for both employee success and productivity, and can be the difference between someone staying and leaving the organization.

Placing and Training Employees There are five general purposes that should be accomplished during orientation: 1. Introduce the company. 2. Get the employee excited about working for you. 3. Provide mechanisms to help the new employee adjust to this new environment. 4. Define job expectations. 5. Discuss employee policies and benefits.

Compensating Employees Employees expect to be paid a fair and equitable wage. Determining what is fair and equitable is a challenging and ongoing task that involves primarily two components: wages and benefits.

Employee Discipline and Termination Despite your best efforts at maintaining harmony in the workplace, sometimes problems may arise. When they do, you need policies established for discipline or dismissal of employees.