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Deanna Saylor Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations Y505 Exam One 5/25/2010 1. In your own words, what is a psychological contract? Why is this concept important to studying human resources? Explain. Give an example of a psychological contract you had with an employer and what, if anything, happened when it was broken. A psychological contract is what the employee expects to receive from the employer and vice versa.
For example, in my job, I expect that my employer is going to acknowledge my accomplishments and give praise and incentives for doing a job performance that goes above and beyond what is written on my job description. I think that this concept is important to studying human resources because it can be used as an incentive to hiring desirable candidates for a position. I believe that every prospective employee is interested in working somewhere that not only pays them a salary but also gives them the respect and acknowledgement from their employer for things that they can uniquely bring to the table.
Just like in personal relationships, a person wants to feel needed, secure, appreciated, invaluable and respected, if those things are present in the relationship you can expect to get 100% from both sides. The concept of psychological contracts is important to studying human resources because a human resources manager that can determine from the potential employee what they think their psychological contract needs are going to be can really use that to their benefit in hiring the candidate that will be the most productive and loyal to the company.
Entering into the position that I hold currently I believe that my psychological contract was more about earning a higher salary and having better benefits than I was receiving from the job that I was doing. Educationally, I am overqualified for my current job just as I was over qualified for the job that I was working at the time. I expected to be able to get my foot in the door and work my way up the corporate ladder so to speak.
My current employer has not been able to hold up their end of the bargain with the psychological contract because I was given the impression that upward mobility was constant and always available in this organization and that has not been true, in addition to that they are financially unstable and that affects their ability to compensate the employees it has now adequately for the experience and on the job training that we have.
I can speak from experience that it does not make me want to work harder for the organization, quite the opposite in fact, I have been steadily looking for the opportunity to leave the organization for something better. 2. Consider the evolution of public personnel administration. Describe in your own words the different periods. Which would you consider to be the preferred mode of personnel administration? Why? Explain. The government of gentlemen relied on hiring by association, the ability to get a good job it seems was based on who you knew, who you were related to or who you gave your support to that could benefit you professionally.
It seems to have come to light that this method of public administration wasn’t working very well because every time the leaders changed, all public service employees had to change as well and there was extensive turnover. So leading into the next period “government by the common man” the Pendleton act was passed to create an opportunity for more politically neutral competence in government service. The theme of this period was developing a more egalitarian political system. Next the government of the “good” was marked by efforts of social equality and idealistic changes in public personnel administration.
The Civil services commission used entrance exams to filter out Civil service employee’s that would be less likely to be corrupt and could enforce the new rules and regulations. The government by the efficient and new deal from 1906-1937 focused mainly on changing government practices from being based on corrupt practices to being more efficient and based on social values like goodness, merit, morality, neutrality and science. During this period agencies were developed as well to plan and manage new programs that could make basic changes in the role of government in American society.
The American society for public administration or ASPA was founded in 1939 after the start of the next government evolutionary period “government by administrators”. The political portion of government began to merge with administrative duties and given a more managerial role than their traditional public administration. During the government by professionals period from 1955-1995 the federal service entrance examination was established to provide a single point of entry into the US civil service.
This exam is meant to highlight potential employees that can grow with the service and become the leaders and professionals of the future. More emphasis was placed on recruitment of college educated candidates. Last, the government by citizens, experts, and results began to accommodate for the introduction of the internet and electronic technology which allowed people to gain access to information and services on a much larger scale, this resulted in government agencies being more market driven and results oriented.
As the periods moved on through time, the basic theme was constantly evolving and creating laws that made work environments fair and limited corruption and favoritism from being the basis on which personnel were hired. I believe that this last era would be my more preferred mode of personnel administration of course because it is the method that I am most comfortable with. It is easy to access a wealth of information, to complete multiple tasks simultaneously and reach people who you normally wouldn’t be able to get the time to present your issues to. . Explain some of the societal changes affecting public and nonprofit organizations that human resources managers must effectively address. Give examples as appropriate. The biggest societal changes that are affecting public and nonprofit organizations are increased economic uncertainty, social and cultural changes, generational challenges, and educational challenges. In order to stay competitive and change with the times so to speak, human resource managers have to develop strategies to adapt to these societal changes.
To deal with the financial challenges of a public or nonprofit organization, human resource managers have to get creative with finding sources of funding. The text states that “nonprofits are expected to diversify their revenue streams and eliminate their reliance on public monies or foundation grants. Human resource managers have to focus more on performance outcomes and indicators of effectiveness. ” Eliminating the reliance on public monies confuses me though on where the money could then come from if the nonprofits are unable to receive taxable donations.
Also the funding that is left will have to basically be fought over to see which nonprofit will get the funding which is unfair because that limits the resources available to people who need them especially when there are two nonprofits who are in competition for the same funding, one gets it and the other has a very worthy service to provide as well but can’t because they don’t have the financial ability to do so. Social and cultural changes are important to effectively address ecause it is the biggest change that is affecting how employees view the workplace and what is important to them as far as what they expect from their employer. The vast demographical changes that have taken place in the world require human resource managers have to “accommodate for ethnic and cultural differences, provide for the needs of working families and individuals with disabilities, and address gaps in literacy and job skills among some immigrant populations. ” (Pynes, 2009) making these accommodations requires money and investing in training programs to keep the organization competitive.
The generational and educational challenges that human resource managers must address are that the core of the workforce, like the baby boomer generation, is on the verge of retirement and they will be taking the specific skill set that they bring to the workplace with them when they leave. Human resource managers will have to make some accommodations to encourage them to stay or train the newcomers who can bring with them the technology skill set and also be able to learn some of the traditional skills that the organization will be losing.
Academically, jobs in this field require more education and training beyond high school but minorities are earning baccalaureate degrees at a much lower rate than white students. 4. Explain why it is important for HRM to evolve from an administrative and operational role to a strategic role. Give examples as appropriate. The ability to outsource the basic HR functions of payroll, benefits, retirement and other routine operational jobs at lower expenses has forced HRM to evolve into a more strategic role.
The textbook cites a study called “HR: an occupation in transition” stating that they developed HR competency roles that will be necessary for an effective HRM to have in order to be valuable to a company. Of those five competency roles, the change consultant, in my opinion, is the most important role because change is inevitable and having the ability to help the organization “see the need for change, provide training, install new information systems, and adjust compensation strategies to meet changing job requirements” will be an invaluable asset in making you marketable to a company as a human resource manager.
The organization I work for currently has been through a few changes in the past year from changing physical locations of the offices, restructuring the administrative staff responsibilities and adding the use of computers in the field and a computer program for recording and managing the payroll of the company are just a few of the changes that have been introduced. Shortly after these changes were implemented, we began to have meetings about the state of the company’s financial situation and how we are not reaching our projected goals as far as revenue to continue to successfully do business and make a profit.
This is where I think that strategic management planning could have been very useful in the process of forecasting the needs of the organization, better calculating the high turnover rate that occurs in this particular field and determining that we need to recruit and hire additional direct care staff so that we aren’t relying so much on the current staff to do excessive overtime and therefore spending a lot more money than we had budgeted on the payroll. 5. Explain employment discrimination in relation to human resources management.
Give examples as appropriate. Employment discrimination can take many different forms in the workplace and can be very costly to an organization. Discriminatory policies can hurt a company’s reputation and send the wrong signals to potential clients that can cause conflict because people can tell when employees do not like their job or don’t believe in their company. Human resources management must be knowledgeable about the different types of employment discrimination because it affects all aspects of the employment relationship.
All functions of the HR job like recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, promotions, and terminations have to be conducted in a nondiscriminatory manner. The equal employment opportunity and affirmative action laws make it a legal responsibility for employers to make sure that all employees are handled in the same way when it comes to these areas. It is of course important that human resources management effectively prevent employment discrimination because if the employees are not happy with their work environment or the practices of the organization they are not going to do their best for that organization.
They will be looking for alternative places of employment where they can be treated fairly and have equal opportunities in all areas. Managers will have to have the skills to advocate for the employees, uphold the policies of the organization, build relationships between the employees and the organization and make connections with desirable candidates in the community that will mesh well with the company and employees that are already there. 6. Discuss the following statement: “U. S. onprofit organizations must adjust to diversity if they are to be effective in managing the workforce of the present and future. ” Give examples as appropriate. Today’s labor pool is very different that what it was 50 or 60 years ago, the available talent is now overwhelmingly represented by people from different backgrounds. Organizations cannot allow discriminatory practices to prevent them from recruiting and hiring the most qualified candidates. There are many factors that can motivate an organization to diversify its workforce.
First, providing opportunities for the more “disadvantaged” groups of people in the community is a good way to give people the chance to earn a living and accomplish their goals. Second, people who are not employed and utilizing public services can benefit from a chance to get into the labor pool through work incentive programs and become tax-paying citizens, which benefits the community as well as the organization. Third, diversity in the workplace can be used as a marketing strategy.
Buying power is represented by people from all different walks of life and to ensure that products and services are marketable to broad customer base, organizations can hire people from diverse backgrounds based on not only their ability to bring new insight and different approaches to the job but also because they make people more comfortable to buy their products In order for these motivators to be put in action by the human resources management team, they have to have the support from those in a leadership role within the organization according to Cox’s change model for work on diversity.
The HRM has to convince these leaders that they will benefit from going above and beyond what is minimally regulated by law to provide for diversity. If organizations do not strategize on how to effectively adjust to diversity in the workforce now while they still have an opportunity to do so along with the rest of the word then they will lose out in the future when those that did make these adjustments are prospering and growing while they are left behind.
Some examples of successfully implemented diversity strategies that I have researched include a small company in Connecticut, that had an employee go through a major change. Over the course of time, one of its supervisors, a woman, had altered her look, and then one day, came to work after an operation and was now a male. As a manufacturing company, the company president understood what could happen. Instead of waiting for disaster to strike, he proactively decided to intercede and make things more comfortable for his supervisor, and let other employees know the company position.
He and his human resources director made sure every employee knew to treat this supervisor with respect, both before and after the operation. They decided to support the supervisor’s sex change, and the company has never missed a beat. (Zouhali-Worrall, 2009) Another example is Disney World’s decision to offer health benefits for gay couples. The backlash from religious groups outside the organization was very bad. Many boycotts were formed, yet Disney held firm, and now Disney is regularly recognized as one of the top diversity-friendly companies in the United States.
Disney, known as a family-friendly organization outside of its walls, had figured out that it needed to be family-friendly on the inside also. They also saw it as a legitimate business decision, following along with policies that were being established in movie studios throughout the industry. (Navarro, 1995) References 1. Human Resource Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations, 3rd edition by Joan E. Pynes. Jossey-Bass, 2009. 2.
Public personnel Administration and Human Resources Development classroom handout, source unknown. 3. Zouhali-Worrall, M. (2009, April). When a staffer switches genders. Fortune Small Business http://money. cnn. com/2009/04/27/smallbusiness/workplace_tolerance. fsb/index. htm 4. Navarro, M. (1995, November). Disney’s Health Policy for Gay Employees Angers Religious Rights in Florida. The New York Times http://www. nytimes. com/1995/11/29/us/disney-s-health-policy-for-gay-employees-angers-religious-right-inflorida. html