Effective Human Resource
Management
Finding & Managing
Quality Seasonal Staff/Volunteers

Agenda
Importance of job descriptions & employee
and employer evaluations
Pros and Cons of hiring through friends vs
hiring through employment ads and
programs
How to determine quality staff
How to work with lesser quality staff

Agenda ctn’d
Tips & tools to help determine your pay
scale and pay raise system
Job perks (discounts, benefits, freebies,
training, bonuses) How and when?
How to deal with problem staff. How to
effectively let a staff member go.

Objectives of Human Resources in
Organizations
Productivity
Outputs (goods/services) /
Inputs (people, capital, material, energy, etc.)
Efficiency
Produce more with a few people

Therefore…
HRM aims to improve the
production contribution of
individuals while simultaneously
attempting to attain other societal
and individual employee objectives

Human Resources Strategies
Planning
1.
Attracting
2.
Placing, Developing & Evaluating
3.
Motivating & Rewarding Employees
4.
Maintaing High Performance
5.

Planning Human Resources
Importance of Job Descriptions

Some Definitions
« A recognized list of functions, tasks,
accountabilities, working conditions, and
competencies for a particular occupation or job. »
- reference
« It is, primarily, a statement of what functions
(duties and responsibilities) the employee is
expected to accomplish . »
-Philip C. Grant

Key parts of a Job Description
Job identity
- position title, location, status, reporting relationships
Job summary
-job in a few sentences, telling what the job is, how it is done, and why
Job duties
-A very detailed statement of tasks and activities, desired performance
outcomes, generals means for achieving the outcomes, responsibilities
Working conditions
-physical environment, hours, hazards, travel requirements, and so on.

Uses
Job specification (what the job demands)
Basis for Writing Recruitment Ads
Helps Identify core competencies for
performance assessment
Human resource planning
Training and development
Reward systems and pay scales

Inacurate job descriptions will create…
Recruitment and hiring of unqualified or
overqualified staff
Possible high turnover rate (unrealistic job
preview = job dissatisfaction)
Increase the need for training
Inacurate performance evaluations + low
performance

Paid vs volunteer staff
Some differences in the job description of volunteers
might include
voting privileges, if any (board, committee)
budget (who prepares, guidelines for expenses,
etc.)
term of office, options for reappointment or re-
election
Goals

Job description - Important tips
Always include approvals from the supervisor and the
jobholder
The focus is on what the employee does, not on how- and
not on how accomplishments will be measured

Importance of Performance
Evaluations

Definition
« The process by which organizations
evaluate employee job performance »
-source

Set performance standards
Two functions
Objectives or targets for employee efforts
1.
2. Criteria against which job success is
measured

Performance standards features
Performance is quantified
Performance is easily measurable
Performance standards are understood by
workers and supervisors; and
Performance requires little interpretation

Performance of volunteers
Set goals
- Increases employee commitment, morale,
satisfaction and motivation
*** Is also effective with paid staff
(participative goal setting)

Uses of employee performance
evaluation
Performance improvement
Compensation adjustments
Placement decisions
Training and development needs
Career planning and development
Deficiencies in staffing process
Informational inaccuracies
Job design errors
Avoidance of discrimination
External challenges

Employee Opinion Surveys
Way of determining what employees think
of their organization:
-working conditions, supervision , how managers are
perceived, etc.
Evaluate specific concerns
Provide feedback
Take action

Recruitment of staff & volunteers

Identify the job openings
Review job descriptions, job specifications
Determine your recruitment methods
- school, college, university campus visits,
advertisements, contact with profesional
and labour associations, use of government
agencies, etc.

Recruitment Adds & Programs
More expensive
Target specialized
labour Recruits may already be
employed (don’t read ads)
Reaches a wider
May receive thousands of
audience
résumés
Insufficient when labour
markets are tight

Hiring through Friends
Less costly Can create
discrimination
Knowledge of
organization
Similar interest to
organization
Similar work habits
and attitudes

Selection of employees

How to determine quality staff
Experience
1.
Background
2.
Attitude
3.
Reliability
4.
References
5.

How to Get the Truth out of References
Use the phone
Seek information on job-related behaviour (tardiness, absenteeism)
Ask direct questions (« Would you rehire this employee now? Or
« How is this person’s behaviour in a group setting? »)
Combine reference with other predictors
Use credible sources (Former work supervisor are the most useful.
Letters from friends or acquaitances are worthless for predicting future
job success)
Note frequency of job changes
Watch out for phrases with hidden meanings

Motivating and Rewarding
Pay scales, pay raises and job perks

Steps to determining
your pay scale
Phase 1 - Job Analysis
a) Position descriptions
b) Job descriptions
c) Job standards

Phase 2 - Job Evaluation
What is Job Evaluation?
A systematic process of determining
the value of jobs in relation to other
jobs within the organization.

Principle of a job evaluation
focus on the work done not on the
individual doing the work
concerned with what is done, how it’s done
and why - not with how well
job worth is measured using factors (e.g.
safety of others, product/service quality)

Phase 2 - Job Evaluation
Refers to Internal Equity
Perceived equity of a pay system in an
organization (job worth more are paid more)
Methods to determine job worth
a) job ranking
b) job grading
c) point system

Phase 3-
Wage and salary surveys
Refers to External Equity
Perceived fairness in pay relative to what
other employers are paying for the same
type of work

How to find the information
Labour Canada
HRDC offices
Employer Associations
Professional Associations
Self-conducted surveys

Phase 4 - Pricing job
Establish appropriate pay level
-Reflects its relative and absolute worth
- Relative: ranking in job evaluation
- Absolute: influenced by labour market
Group pay levels in a structure

Phase 5 - Pay structure
Based on your job rank, job grading or point
system, are grouped in categories.
Each category offers a different wage

Pay raises System
Pay range for each job class
Ex: Average wage 10$/ hour for a particular
category
Wage range is 2$
Marginal performer is paid 9$/hour
Average performer is paid 10$/hour
Above average performance is given a merit
raise of .50$ per hour until 11$ per hour is
reached

Indirect incentives
Employee benefits
Training
Discounts
Freebies

Managing difficult employees &
employee dismissal

Identify the problem
Look at yourself first!
Is it emotionally based
Is it performance based
Take appropriate action

Employee discipline
Preventive discipline
– Communicate standards to ensure compliance
– Build a positive spirit of self-discipline

Corrective discipline
Seeks to:
reform the offender
to deter others from similar actions
maintain consistent, effective group standards
Ex: warning or suspension without pay

Progressive discipline
stronger penalties for repeated offences
Usually used when offences are minor
Progessive discipline system
Verbal reprimand by supervisor
1.
Written reprimand, with a record on file
2.
One - to three day suspension from work
3.
Suspension for one week or longer
4.
Discharge for cause
5.

Positive discipline
Acknowledgement from employee that a
problem exists and that he or she must
assume responsibility for the behaviour, and
the use of a problem-solving approach to
resolving the problem.

Positive discipline - key steps
Focus on the specific problem rather then the
1.
employee’s attitude or personality
Gain agreement with the employee that a
2.
performance problem exists and that the
employee is responsible for changing his or her
behaviour
Approach discipline as a problem solving
3.
process
Document suggested changes or commitments
4.
by the employee
Follow up to ensure that the employee is living
5.

Dismissal
Just cause
Reasonable notice

Managing dismissal
Prepare for the interview and conduct
rehearsal
Consider the dismissal process from the
employee’s perspective and ask « how
would I like to be treated in such a situation
Get to the point. Some experts suggest that
you convey the message of termination
within the first few sentences

Select the time and place. Experts often suggest a
meeting in the morning and during the middle of
the week
Have any necessary information ready
Notify others in the organization and ensure that
the individual’s duties are covered
In some instances, special security arrangements
may be necessary
Discuss the process with other colleagues who
have had to terminate employees.