Board QuestionDescribe a balanced life. Why is it so difficu.docx

Board Question
Describe a "balanced life". Why is it so difficult to live a
"balanced life"?
~ 12
M anaging Workforce Flow
Outline
Improving Onboarding at Hilton
Orienting and Socializing New Employees
Tbe Phases of Socialization
Socialization Cho ices
What Makes a Socialization Program Effective?
Global Mobility
Managing the Flow of the Workforce
Types of Turnover
The Causes o f Voluntary Turnover
Analyzing the Causes of Turnover
Developing Retention Strategies
Mergers and Acquisitions
Managing Succession
Redeploying Talent
Involuntary Employee Separations
Downsizing
Layoffs

Alternatives to Layoffs
Discharging Employees
Dealing w ith the Risk of Violence
Develop Your Skills: Discharging Tips
Improving Onboarding at Hilton
Summary
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studyi11g this chapter, you should be able to:
Discuss ways to make socialization more effective.
Describe the s ix d ifferent types of turnover.
Discuss employee re tention strategies.
Discuss various ways of downsizing a company's workforce.
Describe how to effectively tem1inate an employee.
329
330 Chap1cr 12 • Managing Workfon."C' Flo"
Improving On boarding at Hilton 1
Wilh o, cr 500 hotC'l.s " orldidc. 1-lllcon depends on 11.s call
ccnler rcscrvadons Ind
rcpn:~ ntJIICS 10 manage rcscrv1uions and customer conccms.
Hilton rc1t that it W:"'<>rner etrt,
~mplo)cr. offering cmployres travel benefits. a strong brand.

and the opportunity ror some
1 ~
tJ , C'$ 10 -...on. from home. Bui H,hon olso n.•aliLcd tha1 the
11nnual turnover rate or SS ~
thoc cmplo) C'CS -... as c, pcnsivc lllld resulteJ in Josi
produc11,•ity. pcrcaq llllcllta
. Aficr m,c.stiga11ng its rumo,cr paucms m greater dc1a1l. 1-
Ulton lcamcd that half or U
vauoru and rustomcr care reprcscnuu.he hires ien before 90 days
of cmploymcnL Tlus
I
or lb ltltr,
sug~tcd that its scl«tion and onboarding process could be
improved earl) ~
. lm~ ~ that the company asks for your opm1on as 10 how it can
dccrcasc the earl
us r'CSCr"i lllons and customer care t't'presentath cs and
impro,·e thrir retention and pcri )' lunao.eror
reading this chapter. you ~hould ha,c some good ideas to share
with the finn. 0nN.nce After
Beca':'5" st1111egic s1affing manages the now of people inlo,
through, and ou1 of the
uon. 11 docs noi end when job offers an, acccp1cd. As we have
explained, once 1 °'llai4-
agn,cd 10 be hired. a company's human resource departmen1
lurns its anenlion lo enh~ bas
employ~e·s commi1mcn1 10 the organizalion. Even simple
things like following u~-;.'i"lbt
hires pnor 10 thcU" start da1cs can be useful. One sludy found
chat when linns 1eleph<>ncd .._

n~w hires 10 encourasc, them to mamtain their cornmi1mcnt to
their new Jobs, fc;cr of:-
fo1lcd 10 report 10 work.·
Of co= . once employees report 10 work. they need 10 "learn
the ropes" ofthe1r ne
Coming Glass Works found tha1 employees who aucnded a
struclurcd orieniation prog....:Jok
69 percen1 more likely 10 rcmarn w11h the company after three
years than lhose who did ,_'fllfle
through , uch a program. Texas lnstrumcnlS found 1ha1
employees whose orientatlon PfOtlU
10
carefully ancndcd 10 reached full productivi1y 1wo months
earlier than did olhcr ne,., baa,: :
expert says, "With a thorough oricn1a1ion and ·onboarding'
process, the probabili1y oflldilniag
the goals of 1hc business and the employee arc grcally
increased. Withoot 1~ the Probabililiea 1
di, appoinuncnt. employee turnover. rework, and dissa1isfied
clients all grow unnecessanly _.
0
In addition 10 smoo1hing 1he 1ransilion of new hires inlo the
company and gclb.al lhcm
productive as quickly as possible, 11 is also necessary 10
manage the movement of people Ullo
differcnl projects and jobs 1hroughou1 the company, and
possibly around the world. SeJ)3lalJOns,

including termina1ions, layoffs, and downsizings, arc another
importanl part of s1n11egie sllll'mg
and ialen1 managemenL In IJ1is chapter, you will learn how 10
inlegrate new hires 1n10 their"ul;
groups and the company. manage the now of 1alen1 1hroughou1
the organizauon, and manage
employee separ:uions. Aflcr reading chis chap1er, you should
have a good unders1and1ng of how
10 manage the now of talent in 10. 1hrough. and ou1 of a firm.
ORIENTING AND SOCIALIZING NEW EMPLOYEES
Many organiza1ions inves1 more money in hiring new
employees than in helping them acc:hnwe
and become productive. Mose new hires wane 10 get off 10 a
good sc.an bul need help dorng ,o.
Even in resUlurants and ho1els, ii can lake aboul 90 days for a
new employee 10 atl4Jn the pn,-
ducli vi1y level of an existing employcc.5 On average, the time
for new ex1cmal lw'cs 101<Juc,e
full productivi1y is eight weeks for clerical jobs, 20 weeks for
professionals, and more llwl 26
weeks for executives.6
Employers have only one opportunity 10 make a good firsl
impression on new employees

The bes1 sourcing, recruiting, and s1affing prac1ices are
useless if the people who :in, hired CU·
no1 be re1ained. To give new hires a big welcome during their
firsl day of orientation 11 bllel.
they walk a path lined with ln1cl S1udios· pho1ographers and
vidcographcrs, mlroduce chem-
selves onswgc, and receive their welcome packages along with a
round of applause from lheu
new colleagues. 7 Because mos1 cu mover occurs during the
firsl few months on the JOb, linns can
increase the rclention races of their new employees by helping
them adjust 10 their companies
and jobs.8 Because organizations ha1e liulc opportunity 10
recover the re1um on thc,r in,csUnenl
,n new employees who quit. newcomer 1urno1cr is problemauc
and expensive. Many man•8~ •
,n face. say that high 1umovcr races arc 1he biggesl obs1acle 10
1heir companies' growth effoll'
Chapter 12 • Managing Workforce Flow 331
oricnt•1Jon, or 011boar<!i11g, is 1h~ r ro~ess o~eompleung
new hires' employmen1-rcla1ed
. , l,r~. pro,'IJmg 1hcm ~tlh keys, 1dcn11rica11on cards,
workspaces, and technology s~ch
r,1r,:

11
Ull•r:,, company e-mail addresses, a~d lclc~honc numbers. It
also includes introd~c.mg
;-
1 r hires 10 their coworkers (who will be important to their
success), and fom1har-
th~ rit: , w,1h 1hcir jobs and with the company's work policies
ond benefits. Orienting
c 111' 111 d h . I · . ·I , •. ri~ 1,>ccs can spec up
I c lime I takes them to reach 1he brcakevcn point at wh1c 1
'"'.,., ,•nlP ~osung 1hc firm money and start gcncmtfog a return
on the company's investment
,~.:~ ~wr
,, ih<~,, coffeehouse chain S1arbucks thoroughly oricn1s its
new hires. A '"Firsl Impression
•i:" helps new employees undcrsland their job roles and ensures
that their pcrfonnancc
C••:
1
J1100, arc clear. _The Starbucks Supp
ort Cen1cr then offers both ~If-guided and supported
,,r-... tJII0n actl'tttcs. 1nclud~ng a tw0+day program m which
new hires learn aboul the co_m·
.,~, ., 1111~~ion s1atcmcn1. h•~!ory: and future goals as well
as Lhc finn 's products and skills
I'"· ,J , ihc "an of espresso, which employees need 10 know 10
do their jobs weli.

10 Al QVC,
ri:IJ!, _.!'ni! coachc~ help new hires make decisions and form
relationships consistent with the
,,nl°"(U rv l ~ I I
"' ·) , alucs .
• ,,mp.iO;1cnwtion 1s no
t the same 3S training, however. Training provides employees
with the
n,ii,kd~c and ~k,11s they need to do their j~bs, ~here.as
orientation is about a~ employee ~tting
L organizational member. To make onentallons more fun, some
companies send their new
1
" " "0 ,cJ,cngcr hunls to gather infonnalion about the compan
y, including ics financial facts
h...:>t1
d rrJuct infonnallon. The new hires either gather the infonnation
from other employees or
Jn t~I.' company's intranct 10 find the information. This can
increase the number of employees
11
~ n,•w hire) mcc1. and can familiarize them with how to find
various types of infonnotion on
~; ,nmp>n) ·s in1ranc1 as well. Tcchnol~gy can also faci li1n1e
the orientation of a fi'."''s ne~
h re~ One ,oftY.are product enables candidates to review and

sign documents clcctromcaJly via
',ompJny'" ~ccurc Vcb site. The new hires con occcss their
employment applications, hir•
:,, ,En:cmcnls. personal hislory stalements, and offer lcners and
then sign and re1um them
,.;th,n 1111nu1cs nuhef
2
than days. This can help the new hires save time and reduce a
company's
~m,n1,1rat1c costs.
The most cffcc1ive orientation programs focus on more 1han
jus1 logistical de1ails and
1
,1ung , new hire up lo speed. Allhough those things can help
new hire
s become productive
mm:- qutckl~. they do not create an emotional connection to the
company or influence retention.
5,...,rh• c,1 Atrlincs' Director of Onboarding states, "If you
want them 10 slay, if you wane them
10 t,:em11c engaged, you need 10 make sure you do the 'feeling'
part of 1he process,
and you do
,h,i h, , howing them how they will make a diffen:nec, giving
them examples of how their fel-

t,," ,;11pio)ces make a difference, making them feel welcome ..
.. ll's those kinds of things 1hat
hl ,., noi JUSI beuer re1cntion, bul a more inspired workforee."
13
Ho1elier Rilz-Carlton's orientation program balances two
importan1 messages: "You are
'''" p,,n of an eli1e. best-in-class organization," and ''We' re
lucky to have you." It plays a video
J.:,-11hing "ha1 i1 would mean 10 be in the cop I percent in
various fie lds. As images of Bill
G,1<, and 01hcrs in 1hc top I percen1 of their fields Oash
across the screen, inspiring music wilh
the lim·, , ·Whal have you done today to make you feel proud?"
plays in the background. The
.,J,o lh<n tran, i1ions in10 Jelling the new hires know Iha! by
being wilh Ritz-Carlton they arc
Jlll"ng 1he 1op I percent in the hospitality indus1ry.
14
Socializalion ,s a long-1crm process of planned and unplanned,
formal and informal
" ' " 11,c, and experiences through which an individual acquires
the a11i1udes, behaviors, and
Ln,"' lcdg,· needed 10 successfully panicipale as a member of
an organization and learns the

fim1·1 ,uhun:.15 Socializa1ion helps new employees understand
the values. processes, and tradi-
t •n, ol 1hc compan,'6 and prepares them to lit into the
organizalion and establish productive
•01, rcl,11 1<11hl11p,. 1 The process is important for all
employees, including part-time and 1empo-
r.ir~ l' lllr,lo)ce~. and cmplo)CCS moving to new jobs within
their companies.
IN an organi1a1ion's traditions and values to survive, new
members must be taught to
~-. 1h< "rp n11a11onal 11 orld as do their more experienced
collcagues.
18 The primary goal of
""Jl11auon ,, 10 gee new employees up 10 speed on 1hcir jobs
and familiarize them wi1h the
l'rt=Jn11J11on·~ culture. which consists of the company's
norms. values. behavior patterns. ri tu-
• l.m~UJfc, and 1radi1ions.19 A company's cullure provides a
framework chat helps employees
in1erprc1 and undcr,tand their everyday work experiences. One
of the mosl importan1 funclions
ORIENTATION
lht pr,xtSf of complt t111g nt'W JurtJ'
,mploymtn t•rt luttd f"'~n, t1rk "
nd

Ju,ru/ior,unx llitm K ,rh ,,,,,r ;obs,
cOK'o,Urs, ,,urL fp,Kt .J. wo r.l too/I,
ond tltr comrxmy's pol1cin ,md INntfits
SOCUUUTIO.V
o l011g•ttrm proct n of pfomitd ,111d
u,1pl01111t d./om 1al and lf,/omkJI
act frit1t'S and t:q•tnrnas tlirvugl,
" lucl, 1111 md11 idual acquirts the
att1tudtJ, b t lun iors. and bto"ftdgt
nl'tdtd to succtss/ully panm patt aJ
on org,1111:at,mwl mtmlxr mid ltt1n1J
tht fintt 's c1.1lt11rt
CULTURE
,w m,s, ralut .1. 1Nha1 ,or (Hltturu.
nt11al1·, langungr, a11d rrad,ru,,u
that prO 1de a fromtwork tlral lat lps
tmplo)rts mtrrprrt and undrr:stand
tht'lr t tr)day "Ork o ,ptritncn
112 Ctup1cr 12 • l.uuimg Worlfr-.,"'C A l''-'
£.//'LO I £ £ E. "GAGE./£.7

1hr CUirrr 10 k h1<h <"'l'io)trr arr
cngaccd in W,r "ort and ltn-.. " 1U111,
11,n arr ro put m £U1TJ rj/Pf'f
of <.ocoalo,auon os h> help nc" hon:, aJJU>l to the comf.:"'y'S
culture. According 10 no
ornuon <ehol~ John lw, ~l:iancn anJ Edgar Schein -0 led "'<QI.
Any 0'l?anozational cultun: con,o,IS broadly of long-,1nnd1ng
rules of thumb
" hJI spcc,nl language and ideology that help cJot n mcmbcr·s
everyday c." a some.
shan-d siandan:b of n:lcvancc os 10 !he cnucal ru.pcm of the
"°"' ~1 pc":.,""'·
:lC'COmploshcd. ma11cr-of-foc1 preJudocc~. model< for social
etiqueuc and dcos ••&
ccna,n cus1oms 311d n1wtls w~csllC of ho" members arc 10
relate 10 col;;c-nor,
subord1na1e,. supcnol', 311d ou1sodcr.., and a ,on of residual
ca1egory of som ~-
pl;un "horse sense" n:gardong " hnl os appropnn1c nnd "sman"
behavior w ~ rather
<J1l!nnw11ion and " hal o, nol All of these cultural modes of
thonkln• f,-.1
1
on the
d . r O • - ong. Ind
oong arc. o cou=. fragmented 10 some degree ~" ''"8 me within
large organ,
co vanous '"subcuhurc~" or "organizauonal ~ gmenb ." lalJons
Clear I}; good soc,ah,auon can con1nbu1c 10 both the

comP'lny's and emplo ,
1cnn success.· ' In fact. people "ho arc socoal JLed " ell on
terms of their organizauonJ:
10111-
to ha,e htghcr mcomes. be more SJ tJ~licd, be more 1n,ohed
wilh their careers and es lnkl
nblc. and ha,c a belier sense of pcr..onal 1dcnu1y than those" ho
arc less "ell soc,o.1:=221dapi
soc1al11auon can significantly lengthen a new h,re·s
ndJustmcnt period and dramaucall Poor
the odd, that the cmpl0}CC woll lcavc.13 Y •ncrta,,
When the -.ondow 1rea1mcn1 manufacturer Hunter Douglas
improved ns socialiuuon
CC>S. the finn d1,co,crcd that 11S new-cmplo} cc lumovcr 31
the Six-months marl., fell from 1r
16 pcm:nt In add11ton. the aucndancc and producll ny of the
finn's new cmplo}ccs
10
did !he qualny of Ihm "'orl... Loke" ose, a, Designer Blond,.
omprovong 1hc socialol&IJ.:'°.,
cess hclp..-d reduce employee turno,cr from 200 percent
annually to under 8 pcrcenL TluJ r
helped the company reduce 11,, annual rccrunmg budget from
SJ0,000 10 just S2,()()()_2A one
A succc,sful soc1ah,atoon program can help Jc»en the rcalw
shock newcomers f~ d
fac1l 11;11e lhcor adjustment and 1n1egra11on into the
organ11.auon.' Valero Ener8JI Corpoflllan
bclocves that effccuvc hinng doc, no1 end "'th an emplo}ce·s
acceptance of the firm's off:
Instead. the company "rconforces the sale" so 1ha1 new horcs

feel good abou1 the1rdccmon IOSlp
on. Follo" 1ng an on1 11al oncntauon on an employee·, fir..t
day !hat co,·crs !he ~,cs of wodu,
al Valero, the company's pres1Jcn1 lead, a half-day " VIV ..
(welcome 10 Valero) soc,alwu.!
exiravagan,a. The fir..i half of the c.tra, agan~a covers ··"·hat
Valero will do for }OU," and the
second half JS an elaborate pn:,cntJU0n about the key clemcnis
of Valero·s corporate culture :?6
One study found 1ha1 companies " ho invested the most ume
and resources on soc,aliz.auon
enJO}cd the highest lc, els of employee engagement !7
Employee engagement, or how engaged
cmplo)CCS an: m their 11,ork and how "ilhng they arc 10 pu1
in exira cffon, has become I COIII•
ponenl of competlllc advan1agc for many companies Soc,ahzcd
employees who fi1 1n 1<ell 11,11h
lheor Jobs. "'ork groups. and organ11auons and who share their
finns' values arc more engaged
Research hos ; hown that 1he engagement of a finn 's employees
will determine the com:"> ·s
succc» and that Joyal and dcd1ca1cd employees " 111
outperform less engaged emplo)ecs.
The Phases of Socialization
The soc,ali,auon of emplo} ccs ,s an ongoong process that can
last for a year ns new ht res adapt.
form " Ork relauonsh,ps. and find theor place on the
organi,a1ion. The socializa1ion proccs, l}p<-
cally includes three phoscs:29
I. Anticipato,J' socialization. Jn1crac11ng wnh the company's
n:prescntauves (e.g., ns rccrwl·

crs and managers) before cntcnng the company develops new
hires' expec1a11ons about the
company and the Job. Ensunng lha1 all cmplo}ccs who interact
with recruits reonfOftC
the company's culture and cApcc1a1ions of cmplo)ccs can
enhance the effccuvcncu of
the an11c1pa1ory <Ll£e.
2. Encourlltr. When stanong a ne" Job. employees receive
iraining and begin lcamoni about
the compan> ·• culture and nonns. and how to do the JOb. A
higher qualuy work relilllon
sl11p is crcJtcd " hen managers help new employees undersland
their roles and duues and
undcr,1and the messes and issue> they arc hkely 10 experience,
3. Stllling in. When they begm feclmg comfonahle wnh their
jobs and " ork rclauomhlps.
nc" hires become mlerc,tcd tn the company's evaluation of their
pcrfonnance and pos
S1hly about potenual career opponuno11es wuh,n the company.
j
I
II
I
Ch.1pta 12 • ~l.inJ~mg Wor~forcc f )IJ,~
333

• 1. ation Choices so''' ,z
,,~ri:-nt l)f'l'' "r nc,, cmplo)ec,;; need difl crcnl socmlitat1on
c~pcncnccs A college rccrull "11h
p, ,J i'r n,, ,ork experience need, a different and more c, tcm,l
c ~oc,allLation proce~s than
tll
11~ ~•, ,ll.•ncnccd n~w lure or nn employee rccc1, ing a
promotion or lransfcr Soc1ali1at1on
J ~
1rJn
1
.. <.hould nol o, cf' hclm new hires " 1th too much
1nfom1:111on to retain. TI1erc :ire many
r:.,·111 3) .. to soc1ah,c OC cmplO) cc~ Table 12- 1
sumrnar11cs these choice~. " h1ch we
• • • 1110 rc detail ne.i
Ji..,U'" '"
.f lfl'IE VERSUS STAGGERED PROGRAMS To prc,cnt
onformauon overload, many com-
o~E,, u-< 3 , 1,•pped or staggered approach to socoalizauon.
Holding brief meetings the first day
rJJ iticn r , r r the nc,t few YC~ks can help prc'ent
"infom1a1ion overload."' Alt.hous h a onc-umc
~.,:ing can be cheaper. holding the mcc11ngs 111 different
departmcnis or different ports of the
.,.rJnitJUOn hd ps nc,v lures get a more co~ plctc
u~dcrstandm,g of the breadth of the company. r: h
,(Xtali1JIIOO ac ti v ity or Mcp can be glcn a umc frame for
complcuon or left open, and

"": .. ~•nii:r- cJn be rcqu1rc_d to complete )OC1ahLal1on
cxpcnenccs an a set order or randomly.
When Qualcomm hired more than 2,000 new employees on a
single year. 11 faced a chai-
r.,. hs pre, u,us ~oc1al1ta.tion program was a stand-alone c, cnt
v. ith lntlc reinforcement once
• ' ,p.,nt, lcfl the clas<room, The company recognized it needed
10 change. 11 partnered a small
r.lfml'lf kJrmn£ professionals with business leaders, managers,
human resources and scoffing to
•r~~. :m cnJ to-end 4iiocializauon and on boon.Jing program.
Now, Quak omm's ~cw cmplo)cCs
~-n:J ; ipJIC in one-on-one conversations with people farnilinr
with the linn. on line and classroom
:ur'n M fJl·1l11atcd group discussions. and peer mcn1oring 1hnt
begins as soon as fin3hs1s acccpl
~
1
1r·c;1;phl) mi:nt offers. JO
INDIVIDUAL VERSUS COLLECTIVE SOOALIZATION
PIIOGRAMS Individual socialization
iniiilh' soc1all11ng newcomers individually. An apprenticeship
is u good example. Vnh
collrrti,r socialization. new lures arc socinli,cd collccti, ely and
go through a common sci of
,,l"n,n,« as a group. Collccu,·e soc1al i1a11on is bcs1 " hen
many people have been hired 10
fi'I , r .1111cul''; type of Job. This can occur, for cumplc. hen
the finn is expanding and hinng

-,1) J"Opic
FORMAL VERSUS INFOIIMAL SOCIALIZATION
PROGRAMS fom,al socialization i< a struc-
lU!ld ;cx 1al11auon process conduc1cd outside of the work
,cu,ng using specifically designed
&H•Jfj■ Socialization Program Choices
(re •,me versus staggered programs programs that put
newcomers through one long
stss o,, versus many smaller ones
Cc eave versus ind1vrduaf programs programs that put
newcomers through a common set
c' ellperiences as a group versus soc1al1Z1ng them one•on•one
Fc•ma 1,,e,sus informal programs: programs prov1d1ng
structured soc,al1zat,on using
SFe: ' cat y des19ned formal act1v1t1es and matenals away from
the work setting versus
"'or..,al social zat1on done by a new hare's coworkers on the
10b
Se, .. er t al versus random programs programs that require
recruits to pass through a series of
a st "ct steos to obtain full employee status versus using a
random sequence of act1v,11es
F ,.ed ve•sus var1abfe programs: programs prov1d1ng
newcomers with a fixed timetable
ass=c a:ed w1th completing each stage in the transition from
one role to another versus
p·o~ d .,g no consistent timetable and few cues as to when to
expect the next stage
Tc.,rr1ment versus contest programs· programs treating each

soc1al1zat1on stage as an
e - rat 0 " tournament" Y.here failure means that a new hire ,s
out of the organization (fired)
•t·s .. s a · concest" in which new hires bu,ld up a track record
and "'batting average"' over time
Ser a' ..,ersus d1s1unct,ve programs. programs using
expenenced orgamzat+onal members as
·:: e models or mentors who groom newcomers to follow 1n
their footsteps versus prov1d1ng
"'Otoe riodels or mentors
"•est,ture versus d ,vest,ture programs· programs that ta~e
advantage of a new hire's unique
s- s ve·s1.1s trying to deny or stnp ~way personal
charactenst1cs through soc1alizat1on
/ , 'Dll' IDUAL SOCUUI'.A T/0 ,V
a JiK 1<1li:at1on proco, 1ihrrtb)'
nC"<mni'rt urt J0<1a/t:,,d mdiuduall),
cu m un appuntirrJlup
COLU:CT/1£ SOCUUZ'.AT/0.V
o "'"iuh:a11on proa u o l1trrb1
,ir,iromrr1 go through u co,11111011 u r
of r..qwrit'lC't S tu a group
FOR.I/AL SOCUUI'.AT/0./
a uruc-ruu d .1000l1:.,mun proaSJ

rondun rtl ouuldt o/rht 1ior, 1rtnnG
u1111,.: 1pr<1fir ally dn,gnrd ,,rm mr1
andmnttna/J
J
I
;
I
334 Clurt<r I! • l.uup"!' on.fom: ~lo"
I FOlllAL WCI <LIZ.< TIO
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st111ar l'll"ntbtN HJ/11, 1hr J.,un,.U'dtr
fPld pawn.al clwru, trrurtr1 of tltr
"'"'~"
0 /'HT/Tl RE SOCUULI TIO '
tnrJ to t!r,n IJlld ,,np a1o1u' crrtam
f'('T11MI tharactrnu1t1
acu, 111..:'.) .inJ matcna.ls lnfom,aJ socialization 1s an
uMtructun-d ,oc,nhzat,on procc
on-lh<:-Job b) • new h1re's co,.orl c~ More ,1nJc1urcd, formal
soc1oh,auon incrc " <oncJu,l<d
JOb sau~tacuon :ind rrducc~ Lumm er Add1uonally,
~oc1al1tJUon mcn:a,cs cmplo.15C:.s nc" hire,
to be Pl"OJClJ,c. Although It nught !teem that a more ,tructurcd
oncntauon -... ould 1~;::,•cndtr'IC)
CC!t fmm acung on their O, n, in fact the op~11c ,~ true
SlrJCturc promotes proacti,c crnplO)
on the p;u, of new emplo)CC>, ,uch as their a,l1ns quesuons.

secling fccdb:i.:i._ • nd bcli.1 10r
relationship, " 'th Olhcr r,:opk in 1he orgon1Lat1on TI111 con
increase the Job , bu,1J,n1
comm1tmcnt oi the nclA hu-C!t '~ '
3
U),actJon ~
SEQUENTIAL VEltSUS RANDOM PROGRAMS Sequential
socialization " 0 '«i,l)
procc~ thiu folio"':, a :,pct:1fic :,equl!ncc of Me~ Random
M>Cialiuuion occurs v.t~..alKin
~~1aJwmon step:, arc amli1guuu, or chJng,ng B~coming a
doclor 1, often ~equcnt1n.l, "~ tht
becoming a manger 1, ol1cn random In ranJom :.oc1a11a11on.
"hat nc,,comc~ learn rtb
things tn "h1ch the) an: mo,1 1n1erc>1cd ma} be lhc
FIXED VE.RSUS VARIABLE PROGRAMS Scqucnual and
random soc1al1tat1on address lhc
of" ent,, 8) contr.1>1, rixcd and , anablc soc1al11auon oddn,ss
1hc tcmpor:il na1ure of ••- onlct
Fi -~ ._,. . f ""''""" L''h . .,,. sot.1wtzat1on proce~scs in orm
new hires in ad, ancc " hen their proballOIUJ)·
will end Vuh variable socialization. emplO)CC:S receive few
dues b 10 when to c:~ ~:ls
probauonary pcnod, to end Moreover. the umchnc •~n·t
nc:ccss:1nly con~1slent ac~ 1
~
ccs, 'A'tuch dc-cn:a.Cs the ah1hty of cohorts 10 rcm:un
collCS1e o,cr lJme p 0)
TOURNAMENT VERSUS CONTE.ST PROGRAMS With
tournament sociullzation. each l.l

of sociahuuon 1s an "chnunauon tournament," and a OC hue 1s
out of the organtL:ihon ,f:
or she fw ls.H Many law lim1, Ul;jC tournament s.oc1ahtauon.
If 3 manager •~ puni)hcd or fircJ
because his or her pcrfom,ancc falls short of cxpcctallons or
because he or she fo.1 ls 10 folio•
accepted nonns. ,;;urv11ng cmplo)CCS quickly learn how to a,
01d a s11mlJr fate and become
n~k a,erse Tou.mo.mcnt i.oc1al11auon tends to s110e mno,auon
and n)l 1akmg and ~ucti 1
cl<bely conltollcd culture and a homogcncou> '" orl forcc with ,
cry s1m1lar norms. Because
tournament ,;;oc1ah13uon lends 10 make cmplo)eCfii more
in.secure: and ,ubm1ss1vc 10 authonty,''
11 1s 1ncons1stent "•th the 10.lcnt ph1losoph1c:fii of man)
organ1a uons ll also often n:ndt" ill
organ1,a11on copoblc of miling only ,lo" , incremental changes
10 11s culture ond •ay or dolnr
busmc.ss.36
Vuh contest socioliLDlion. each socialwrnon ~tage 1s a
"contest," 11nd each new hire eann
o uuc:k record and "battmg :i,cragc" o, cr ume A person's
failure 1~ generally con~idcrcd 1
learning cxpcncncc and no1 grounds for pun1fiihmcn1 or
tcrmma11on
SERIAL VERSUS DISJUNCTIVE PROGRAMS Stria!
socialization IS O soc1•hzauon proct

"hereby supJX)ftlC organ11allonJI mcmbe~ sen e as role
models and mentors for otw bun
Newcomers an: generally .-peeled 10 follow in their mento~·
fooisleps. At bolh Macy·, and
Cisco Systems, all en1ry-lc, cl hires an: mentored 37 With
disjuncth·e soclllll,.atlon, nc~comm
arc left alont: to develop their own 1ntcrprcuu1onfii of 1hc
organ1zauon and si1ua1ions they obsme
Sena) soc1al11.,3uon maintain~ the conunu1ty of a finn and 1b
~ nsc of history, Under a <hsJUl'IC·
uvc soc1ahLauon procc~, nc"comcr5 dc,elop their role:~ in
1solauon Disjunctive scxial1Z1U011
often happens "hen 1hc "old guard'" or a com pan) ,s remo'ed
ond new cmplo)CC5 111.c lhc~
place llus can occur, for eumplc, "hen a firm mcrses or ,s
bough1 ou1 by anOlhtr complllt
and new manage~ and emplO)CCS on: broughl inlo the
company
INVESTITURE …
I 13
Staffing System Evaluation
and Technology
Outline
Staffing Technology at Osram Sylva nia
Staffing Outcomes
Evaluating Staffing Systems

Key Per formance Indi cators
Staffing M e tri cs
Six. Sigma Initiati ve s
The B alanced Scorecard Approac h
Staffi ng Eval uati o n Elhic s
Technology and Staffing Evaluation
RCs um e Screeni ng Software
Applicant Tracki ng Sys te ms
Compan y Web sites
Digital Staffi ng Dashboards
Develop Yo ur Sk ills: Crearing a Digital Staffing Dashboard
Staffing Technology a t Osram Sylvania
Summary
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After study ing this chapter, yo u should be able to:
De sc ri be th e effec ts staffl ng ac:tiv 11 ic s have o n app lica
nt s. ne w hires, and organi zatio ns.
Ex pl a in th e differ e nt ty pe s of staffi ng metric s and how
eac h is used be st.
• De sc ri be a bala nced swffin g sco re ca rd .
Ex: pl ai n how di g ita l staffin g dashb oa rd s ca n help mana
ge rs monitor and im prove the staffing process.
Desc ri be how srn.f1ing te c hn o logy ca n imp rove lhe
efficiency and effec ti veness o r th e s1a ffin g run c1i on.
359
360 Chapit"r 13 • SuffingS},1t"mE,:i.luat1onw,dTt'>:hnology

STAFFl.'G El'ALU,lTJO.V
tht wmlym of" JWjfi11~ S) <1em
toaJJtJ!1fJ pr,f"nn,.inr r,111d
rffrctnrnrn
Staffing Te chnology at Osram Sylvania 1
llic North Amcrit"D.11 busu'K:'$S Of0sram AG of Gt"m1any.
Osrnm s,1v11ni11, is ht-lldqlJaJtcred .
~13SSae hu~ tts. Empl o)mg _01w 11 .000 peop le . Osram
S)·l1Mia has provided lightmg
50
: Danitn,
~~:,s:~s;~:1~~~::~;~e;1::~47-As :i manuf!lt"turing organi
zation. the err~::
TIit- rompany reC"OgnizC's tha1 its r('(n,11u ng process 1s
costing ii un~ssary lime and
fills 80 or more open positions a month Osrsm S)lvania"s rrc ru
iten ga.1herc-mai J r6 money II It
ro m~y Web site lllld varioos Job boards. then cul. pa,tc. and
forwanl them 10 hiring ;mes from the
recnnlt-r spench 6 IO 10 hours per '"-'.'C'k jusc cumng. pa.sting
. and forwarding the e- ma.i] ~atffl. F.aci,
company also 1!¥.'.ks ::i sl.indanl rt'Cru1ting process acrus~ its
26 Nonh America locations. UITM!s. The
As a government con1r.1c1 or . Osram Syh·ania. is subject to
the Office of federal C
Compliw,ce- Progrnm' s (OFCCP) lmemet Applicant Guidelines
that ii Is finding diffirult I O!llflCt and
out so me form of technol ogy. The compD.lly wanis to

screamline its rttruiting Process.es. pr: i =~ "1th·
::s:~y~:~:~.6 locations. and mcorpora1e external staffing
veodon to effecth·ely source C:
Imagine that Osram Sylvama as ks )OU for !ldv1cc on how it nn
beucr incorponue tech
mate ::i more effecti1·e staffing system. After reading this
chapicr. you should have some
tJut you can share with the company
Executing a busi ness stra1cgy is often harder than creatmg
o.ne. One slud y found that of the
90 ~rccn! of 1.800 1:rrge cor1panics that had detailed. strateg
ic plans, only about one in eight
achieved their strategic goals.- Wh y so few ? Not trackmg
pcrfonnance is one reason .J Another
reason goals go unmet is because it's unclear who within the
finn is accountable for their execu-
tion .~ The same is true for the staffing fun ction . A key goal
of strategic staffi ng is to get the nght
people with the right competencies mto lhc nghtjobs at the right
time . But doing so requ ires that
the cffon be continually monitored, tracked. and evaluated.
Few companies make inves tment decisions about recruitment
and staffing b!lSCd on hard
data. rather than anecdotal C idence . Yet some companies do
success fully use data 10 create 1
competi tive staifing advantage. HR tech nolog y company SAP
is using data ana lytic tools to bet-
ter suppo n company goals. including analyzing recrui tmg
mctncs and learning and development
program outcomes 10 get new hire up to speed even foster.'
Corni ng Inc. gets mont hl y reporu
from its recruiting vendor showing the number of applicants
versus hires from each rcerunmg

source. includmg all maJor and ni che job boards. This helps
Corning 10 decide what percentage
of its budget to spe nd on each sourcing channel. Corn ing
believes that JI wou ld spe nd 50 ~ft"ent
more on its recruiting function if it didn't analyze thi s
infonnation regularly because it .Ould
throw money at the wrong so urce s.6
Technology makes n possible to monitor the recruitment process
in real time. making 11
possible to identify bottlenecks or a possible bias and corrcc1 it
quickly. Quali fi ed candidates
can be identified as soon as they submit an application.
allowing th e extension of an immed1111c
mterv icw offer. This bo th speeds up the hiring proce ss and
improves the applicant experience
It can also be poss ible to ha ve an apphcant track ing system
hide pcnona l dc1ails when recrui1-
ers arc assessing applica nts, reducing tl1e pok'ntia l for bias.
Appli cant tracking sysl ems can also
id entify and flag differential job offer rates across
interviewers. For example. if one incerv1e 11 cr
is ad vancing 50 percent of the candidates interviewed an d
another is advancing only JO percent,
the reason s can be examined and training provided tis nccdcd.7
To maximize the effectiveness of a staffing sy stem and the
investment made in 11, e1·al11at-
ing the process 1s cntica l. A sta ffin g: eva lu ation enables a
lirm's hum an reso urce de~mcnt
lO justify .,.,hat it has done and 10 ide ntify how 1ts acti vities
contribut e to the organiw tion's
bottom line. Pan of making sure that the human resource
department is effec ti ve is sho11 1ng •
Jinn' s top managers the hard numbers related to the company" s
s1affing. Measuring and evalu-

ating the staffing function ca n al so provide a rim1 with
feedback about how we ll its vanou s
policies arc be ing implemented . For examp le , ma ny finns
claim 10 have a '"promotion from
within"" policy, bu t don ' t actua lly promote many employee s.
Unfortun:nely, these rinns con-
tinue to claim success because the y Jack systematic
information about actual in1cm:il promouon
rate s. Add1t1 onally, as we di sc ussed in Chapter 8. things
1hat arc measured arc more likely tobe
Chmpter 13 • Staffing Sy~cem Ev.1J uauon and Technology 361
,i,,nJcd hJ :rnJ addn::sM'd.~ The fccdbac~ pro vided by th e
cvaluauon effort is nece ssary to refine
J further Jcclop a finn s staffing pohc 1es and prac tices. as
11c1l as to learn how well they an:
""i,i c.inft hcirintc nd cdi:csults. .
;, f ,·c hnol 0g) ,s an im ponant tool tn the staffing proce ss
Technol ogy can enhance Lhe
u-.11'-ihl) and efficiency of sourcing , recruiting, and
assessment tools. It can also create a positive
J Jitc c,pcncncc that enhances the company's employer brand
and helps candidates better
:~~--~~ ;.ind the company, its j_o?s, and its can=er
opponunities. The JntcmeL can also be used
. ,nJ uc1 rn1c~·1ews or adm1m s1cr assessme nts, sav in g time
, improving standardization, and
1
' ' .l~11.111 ng a~,,cssmc nt vmlid:n ion, analysis, and im
provement. The data sets created by onlinc or
:.i~'.t!'l>ni( ally adn~inistercd tests al~ facilitate the
development of optimal scoring algo rith ms

JtliciJ,·n t1fic:it1onofany adverse unpact.
JO 'c h.ie disc ussed aspects of staffing evaluation at various
points in the book. The pur-
,..c ofthi~ chapter 1s not to review them but to discuss the
broader issues re lated to evalu ating a
~; lr"ing ,ptcrn . We fi rst describe different types of staffing
outcomes, and then di sc uss the te~h-
ni~u•·~ and tool s used to evalua te them as well as the s1affing
system as a whole. We 1hen dc scnbe
1 n,k technology plays in tenn s of the staffing and evaluating
process. After readi ng thi s chap-:ir. )OU should unde rstand
why C'valu::itio n is.cri tical to stra tc gi~ staffing , how to
evaluate stafling
,:,tcin,. and how to leverage technology to 1mpro·e the
effectiveness of staffin g systems.
STAFFING OUTCOMES
H,'" far-ft"aching arc the clTccts of staffing activities? Staffing
activities extend far beyond simply
h,n nf :mJ promoting peop le . An organization"s staffing
activities affect m finn's applicants. nc'.v
hin:,. customers. and the organization as a whole . Before they
ever become em ployees, the .strategic
,:.iffing process rnnucnces people"s willingness to apply and
stay tn Lhccandidatc pool, theirexpcc-
1,m,n~ about the job and organization as an employer.
perceptions of fairness. and willingness to
r1.'( r mm cnd the employer to others and accept its job offers.
The innuence of strategic staffing on :i
<'. Jr.JidJtC doc s not end once a candidate is hired. For
example, if the finn recruits and screens for the
1>.ri• rl £ cand1d:ite characteristics. it will hurt its chances that
a new hire who accepts the company" s

1,ikr-;,_il l ,m:cecd in the organization. It will nlso mean that
the talents andeffons the organ.i1,a1ion
n.: cd, Ill b,: mi ssing. 1bc negative spillover effects related to
poor staffing practices can hurt the
<w·;in 11auo n' s future recruiti ng success and image as an
employe r as well. As a rcsuL, it may take
l(l~W for 1hc firm to fi ll jobs. create higher turnover and lower
new hire quality. reduce the finn' s
,;pl' li oi internal leadership ta lent. and lower the return on ~e
~ompany's staffing in,i:s_tmc_m.
By contra~!. hiring the right people allows the orgamzat10n to
leverage the contnbuuons of
11 , em plo)ecs right away rather th an ha ving to in'CSt the
time and resources necessary to change
hr" they bchaC and think . Pcrfonn ing staffing activities
strategically reduces the time to fill
open po, 111ons by increasi ng the number of em pl oyees
qualified for promotion. It also increases
tPe return on the investmen t a company has m::ide in its
staffing system . Figure 13- 1 shows
ho " ci!ec tlcly designed staffing systems can create a positive
cycle of employee outcomes
that enhance an organization"s effectiveness. Similarly. poorly
de sig ned systems can create a
n~ca1i1c cic k that can derai l an organilatio n·s expansio n
efforts. impede its strateg ic implc-
111,;ntJ ion. and ]unit its long-term profitability. Granted,
other factors including training, the
1u~r1 1,or·s management ski ll s and style , and compensation
can also innuence some of Lhc new
h1r,, outcomes li sted m Figure 13- 1. Howe'cr, staffing prac
tices can stro ngly innuence thc~c
r u1.·0rn,·~. and the wuy s in which 1hcy do so are relevant to
sLrategic staffi ng.

Bl'l h good and bad stafli ng practices have financial conseq
uences for organi£ations. A
li rm ofte n incurs large direct costs if cri tica l positions arc un
filled for longenhan necc~sary. for
ru mplr Dm:ct costs arc those charges inc urred as an im media
te result of some staffing activ-
11) I ur C'-. ampl e. poor hiring increases a firm "s direct costs
in the areas of training, su pcrvi ~ion.
1urnu1n. and lo'er produc ti vity. Direct costs arc relatively
easy to n_ic_~ure and track over ~1mc .
I ndin•c t costs arc those not directly attributable to staffing
ac11 v1t 1c s, suc h as lost bu smc ss
l pp,.•1tu n1t1.: s. missed deadlines, los1 market share , cost
ovcmins, reduced organiz~ti_onal ncx -
1h1lit)'. and declmc s in the mora le of a finn"s workforce. The
indirect costs of poor .hmng can be
c1 ~n mor..: ig nificant th an the direct costs but more di~cu!t
to measurc._Conductm g a staffing
,1 .1h1.11i0n c:in help a firm calculate both the direc~ an d
md1rc~t costs of its staffing sys tem and
11kn1 1f~ ,,.,ay ~ to improve the company's return on its
staffing mvcstmcnt .
!)IJll-:CTCOSTS
roJtJin,11 rrt ,las <1dirtcfrf! 1<h of<1
Jt,iffinga,muy
INl)/RECTCOSTS
<altJt10/d,rr <1/y<11trobawbfrto
J/affi1111<1<111 111 r1 (rg . lm1bu1mtH
opf'<m""' 11 nandlo,.rr11um.1 /r!
362 O~,u~r 13 • Staffing Sysicm faaluation and T«hnology

KEY PERFOR.H,t,·CE
lNOICATORS (KPISJ
nvaJ11rablt fat"fOrt fflrical to tlot
fiT111 "s 1wcctutllld~tllld 1/ton ·
""" 'ooh
ApplicWltOutcomcs
Sclf-Scl« tion
Job ~p«laUOOS
Fairness Pcn:t'plions
lmagcofEmplo)cr
JobO!TerAcccp1anCI.'
Ncw ll ire
Outcomes
Su~s
Promotab1luy
Retention
Comm1lmcn1 10 Job
and Organization
r----
Employer Image
FIGURE 13-1 Str11teg ic St11ffing Outcom,s

EVALUATING STAFFING SYSTEMS
-Org11n11 .. at1ona1
Outcomes
StrucgyEx«-utmn
Organizational
Ptrformancc
SU!l;choldcr Galntl
'-'"~•
Emplo)·cr lmagc
f--------- Spillovcr Effctts
Time to Fill
Return on
ln ve!itmcm
Leadc~hi pPi pelmc
As we ha ve explained, eval uating a staffing system allows a
firm to objective ly assess how 11 ell
its different staffing in iuau,·es arc working and to subseque
ntly improve them. As you learned
in Chapter 8, regularly measuring key pieces of information and
correlating different staffing
measurements can be extremely val uable . Tracking data and
making comparisons o,·er time 11
one way 10 do th is . For example , tracking turnover rates fo r
the organization as a 11hole and for
its individual departments and jobs can help a company identify

tre nds in its staffing; so 11 ill
tracking the firm' s headcount in combination with othe r
factors, such as its revenue or produc-
tion volumes . Thi s will allow the firm to identify how close ly
one factor leads or lags anothtr
and und erstand how the firm 's staffing acti vities affect th e
rest of the organization's operations,
Establishing meaningful trends and relation ships enables a firm
to make more accurate proJIX·
ti ons and action plans as well . Next, we di sc uss key
performance indicators, stnffing mctncs, Lhc
role Six Sigma can play in terms of improving the staffing
process , and how the staffi ng c~al111-
tion process is implemcnted.
Key Performance Indicators
Staffing evaluation begins with an understanding of the
requirements of the company's busines:s
strategy, talent phil osophy, human resource strategy, and
staffing strategy . These foctorsdcicr•
mine what the firm' s most imponant staffing ou1comes are .
Once we identify these outromcS,
we id entify key performance indica to rs(KPls) that arc
measurab le factors critical to the finn '1
success and long- and short-term goals .01 KP !s are the
outcomes against which the effcc1.1vencn
of the staffing system is evaluated .
To desi gn effective KP!s, it is essential to understand what is
imponnnt to the busmess -1
what key business measure s exist.. 10 Many factors can be use
ful to measure and track.. HovoCtr,
the KPls that will result in an organi zation's succe ss are those
best able to enhance a firm's SUSI)
o:ecution. These KPJs can include things such as finan ci al
measures of revenue growth, cl.l)(l'mlCf

satisfaction. innovation, and a firm ' s globalizaiion efforts.11
For example, an evaluation that demOll-
strates that a new staffi ng system increased a firm 's revenue
because the company's new hues 11-ae
of higher quality and generated revenue more quickly shows
how staffing can oontnbutc to the td·
tom line. In this exam ple. the KPI is employee rt·enuc ge
nerati on, and the related staffi ng eva!U3IJOII
metrics are new hire qual ity and time to productivit y. It is also
important to focus on companyculon
Chaptcr13 . Stamng SystcmEvaluationandTcc hnology 363
pl ti~ :~~:
1
~~~ r;~~:,:i;!:~~f:Se~:~:~:~~:S:n:~~s:~s~~~:;!:n~~ rt""J~., anJ
employees and where they were rttruitcd so t.h:it those sources
can be leveraged ..
o nd1 / crms of eva luating staffing systems, it is imponant to
unde~tand Jag gi ng and leadin g
~r, A laggi ng Indicator is a factor lhat becomes known only
after a staffi ng dec ision has UCCilSG INDI CATOR
inJi-Jl• ,Jc A lagging indicator might be a meas ure or a
recruitin g source 's effecth'ene ss , the o, fi,«, ...
~:~~~:;,::,,/;,;,:":::Z 01't'
i,.:,-~ n,afill a posiu on, or the lit, performance, or
promotability of a firm 's new hi res .. Laggi ng ,w,,.,,
t11 '" to,,r; measure various aspects of the success or failure of
a slaffing sys tem but do not help
1"Ji,J~n) un prove its staffing efforts midstream . That is, the
indiealorli do not identify exac tly
i , i,n:, cn l wrong or right. or indicate how to improve. In
general, lagging indicato~ arc not use-
"~J;,,r managmg staffing on a day- to-d~y basi s but can identi

ff areas of a staffing system that
fu lJ l>e further anal yzed and perhaps 1mpro,·ed llfte r the
facL 2
,1,,.,u B~ contrast, a leadin g ind icator precedes or predicts a
staffing outcome. For example, ::~~•::;:;:~::prtdim
0
I~~• c~, a;;~c:;;0~u£~;
1
~:~:~~tn:~~~=:~::i~~=r ;!t:::::!e1:e::t~~.t:t:i;~;; sraffing o
~rconv
1
'''
1
1< er Leadmg indicators nrc useful for monitoring the progre ss
or a staffi ng effort. In othe r
::~:. the y can provide the fi~ with timely informati_on it can
use to adju~t a_mt improve the
,,,n;:~);:~s;~~~~:;; ~
1;:i:;::1~~:7;:;,r1:~.:~~is1~~i;~i;::r;~t:1~:os;::1~0:::!
1
~ :iJi uonal ~ourci ng and recrui ti_ng acti ':'i tics. bef~rc the
staffing effon progre sses too much
furthl:r. and the risk of a poor candidate _being h1rtd ~nc~. . .
Some indicators can be bo1h leading and lagging indicators ..
Th!S, of course. can comph -
CJl: ~~~-~1;~~d~;:;~;.1i~::.~r::: ~; O.::t::1;;: ; s/:~tiu;~: : 11::!
:~~"ing indicator of a company 's employer image. Table 13-1

describes several indicat0!"5 and
~n~c ~~t~~;aensi:~i:~~~l=~:r ~:~ of a dedicated staff to deve
lop, trnc k, and analyze
ihc finn ·s ~tarfing metri cs, it must make careful choices about
which metri cs and indicators ~ st
,.:I C its nee ds. In one small company of 400 employees that
sells and leases health care equ1p-
~~~nct~i1:~~~~a:s~l~u~;:; s:;:;:~~~1:::i~~n:~s:,~:~:
:c;a~:~~;t:;:::
the firm's rc,cnucs and pro fit s. Four of the metrics tracked and
benchmarked against prior years
arc IJcgi ng ind1ca10~: employee cost divided by sales revenue,
employee cost divided by net
1"CJ n;c hcfo rc taxes, turnover, and ratings of human
resources' performance. Absenteeism and
umcto fillarl•lc adingindieatorsY
Lml mg people meas ures to KPls in a re liable way can require
large amounts of data for
t.rgc companie s, such as American Express. American Express
keeps a close eye on IS to 20 dif-
fm nt mc tm:~ a.~sod ated wi th its key positions, including how
Jong it tak es to fill the pos iti ons.
~o" many offer.. the company makes before a position is filled,
and retention rates. Successfu ll y
hJn, l11 ng such an evaluati on depends heavily on the firm
being able to use techn ology to gather
Et!JID Leading and Lagging Staffing lndkaton
Staffing Ind icator _ _:cO.cc"'c.' o_m_c•l_;_•I ____________ _
lead,r, g/nd,c 11tors
E~plcy er 1mage
Apoltuntqual,ty

Ap:; cantquan11ty
,..i gg,~g fnd,cators
l-rp101e r,mage
T~rrover
Appl1cat1on rates, applica nt quality, new hire quality, staffing
RO
Tim e to fil l, new hire quality, turnover, the satisfaction of hiri
ng
man11ge~. le adeM ip skills in an organization , st11ff,ng ROI
Ab1hty to hire , quality of hire. time to fill , hinng manager
sa11slact1on
Poor hiring deas1ons, poor staffin g process. poor recruitm g
Poor hmng decis ions, poor sourcing , poor recru iting
-~b su·._"_" ____ P_oo_, :_P''_"_"'"_c.9_, '_'"_'°_"9_,
_'"_ru_,,,_og_, ,_o_d •-•'_"_,,o_" ____ _
364 Chapter 13 • Suffing S}stem fa'llluauon arnJ Teehnolo~)
STA.FHVGEFFICIESC)"
1/w>"""""'1 0/u1owra1~<td111rhe
•raffin, pn:,a u
lhc data. To galhcr the infom1a11o n and mclm:s sought, a fi rm
·s h uman resource de
work clo..Cly with lhe company 's infom1al 1on technology a
nd finance department:.~~um mu11
::gg~:";~~i"uta:f

0
~ta aho requires both tn:i l and error and patience o n the pan o
f those c:O:':!,~
Staffing Metrics
Because people pay an cnuo n 10 what gets mca.,ured, carefu ll
y selec ting key mctn
can help focus cmplo)ces o n J...cy behaviors and outcomes .
But too much 1nfonnatio:s ~o ~l
d1ffi_cult to focus al(.'ntton o n the mctnc~ and ou1comcs that
arc the most imponant To :cs it
ate Its s1affing s uccess, tclcrommun1eallon c~mpan y Avaya se
ts goals for how man ex "llu.
enccd emplo)'ecs u intends to acqu m: _from its compcutors.
The company al so me;u:·
performance of md1,·1dual, ,,ho mo, c in ternally from o ne
business to another co mJ)aftd lht
the a, erage pcrfonnancc of emplo) ees i n th al d1v1~1on . One
company represcntau,e 53 .. ~wil}i
companies will say their rce ru11ment ,s succcs~ful 1f lhe y
retain the peop le lhat the Y~- . fast
look beyond that and set ,cry spec ifi c goah for oursc hes." 14 y
ire We
Southwest Airlines mcasures key mctncs including cost per hire,
new hire qualny COl!I
:~~!:n~~1:cn::i:~~:~~t;~ ;;:ti~~:~1~~:;~~,-~r~;1;~~;n;~c;d
~~l~i:t~::;:i~c;~pioy~
If Southwest notice s that a n opcrauonal group is logging
abo"c aver.1gc 01•cnime for c~~s.s.
works with tha t group to reducc o, erumc by decreasing tum
o'er o r increas ing s;affing. •s p e, 11
Staffing metrics ca n be though t of as long term or shon term .

an d can be effici
or cffccti,cness oncntcd. Nelli. we discuss these diffrre nt types
of mctncs an d how the~ -- '
LONG -TERM AND SHORT-TERM METRICS Mctncs can be
tracked O'Cr inany differ-en, bmc
pc n OOs . Short-tcnn metn cs he lp a firm evaluate th e success
of its staffing system in 1cnns oflhc
rccrulling and new hi re ou tcomes achieved . These mctncs
include :
• The perccnloge o f hire s fo r eac h Job or JOb fam il y
coming from e:ich recrui ting sou«c and
rccru 1tcr
• The number of h1g h-q uahty new hires coming fr om cnch
recruiting source and rttruitcr
• The nurnber of dncn;c hires coming from cac h recru iting
sourc e and recruiter
• The average time to s1art (b)' posmon. source, and recrui ter)
• The avcragc umc to contn bu11on (by ~n1o n. source. and
recnutcr)
Long -temt mctn c s h~·lp a fimi cvuluatc the ~uccess of it s s
taffing system i n tcnns oftht
o utcomes Lhat occ ur some lime after employees arc hired.
These metric s in clude :
• Emplo)·eeJobsucccios byrccru iti ng sourccandbyrecruitcr
• Employce tcnurebyrccru111ngsourcca ndby rccru ,ter
• Promouo nratc~byrccru1t1ng sourccandbyrecru11cr
Shon -term mctncs arc usefu l as leading md1ca1or.; ofa
rompany·s ability to ha,·e thcnght
people m the nght Jobs at thc rig ht time to execu tc ,ts busmc s
~ strategy and to meet itS immedi.ale
staffing goal s. Long-tem1 metrics are use ful as lagg ing inJ

1cators . lllCy ure best used for eVII•
uatmg the cffcrJvcnc )~ of the firni· s long-term staffi ng sys
tem - fo r example , 1hc long-knn.
on -thc·JOb s ucce ss ofcmplo)cesandthe1r tu mo1crund
promot10n rates.
STAFFING EFFICIENCY METRICS Staffi n g pfficie ncy
refers to the amou nt of rcsourcesustdlll
the 5Laffin g proce ss. Efficiency metncs arc analyLcJ to make
process mipro ve ments dcs1goedl0
minim1le the amou nt of resources needed tostaffa firm -
~pccifica ll y, the finn 'sh,ri,igcos1sll!ld
rep!actmenr coin . A firm's himrg con1 mcludc sourcmg. recru
it ing , scn·cni ng, refcml bonuses.
travel expenses, :idver11~emen ts. 1hc co,t of asscs,ing an d
doing bad.grou nd chC( ks on candi·
dates, and the meals and lran,portation associated with their
rccrui1ing proce sse s. RtplactMtnl
CUJfs include hmn g eo~ts as well as lhe pro,Juctm ty losses
that occur 11,hil e posmons n:maiu
unfilled . Staffing effic1cm:y mclncs mcludc thc cost per l11re,
the time to fill posi ti ons, and the
number ofn:qu1~i11ons handkd per full t1111e cq u1alcnl
(FICJ Maffi ng membe r. Many finnsalso
calc ulate o nbo arding cos r, , suc h a~ traming and t1mc-to
•tontnb11lion cos ts. 11h ic h can also be
u,ed as mdic:itor~ 10 meas ure a fin11 ·~ ,taffing efficiency .
Cllllpter 13 • S1offmg S) ~lcm E1.aluauon and Tcchno!og~ 36 5
the ,nuca l facto r lo n:member hen l!ad; in g staffing effic
iency memcs is that 111s nccc s•
,.10 w t,c efficient but a lso_ meet the needs _of a fim1's
customers. On thc o ne hand. umc -10- fi ll
n:;, thJl :ire below a ct rt:u n bench~ar k _m1~ht reflect th at
the firm is staffin g itse lf efficie ntl y.

C
1
th' C1tha hand. the same ra~cs mig ht md1ca1e that hiring
manage rs arc no t spcn.dmg e nough
1· -,:
1
~:1;
1
1~:t,: cc"o0~~~t:a~~1f~~~; :~ri::~ ta~lh: y pe~t~:;: ~; 1~
5~::~~L o f new hire s·
,,•iir,:n,J LL0n The s1affi11s ~ffirie~icy ratio _can be
calculated by d1v1dmg a firm 's 101:11 stu ffing >
1
, t,~ the total com pensatio n of its ne w hires recrui 1ed . and
Lhcn mu lt iplying the res ulL by JOO.
Fllf c,:unpk, a staffing effi ciency o f 12 pe rcent mean s 11
costs S0.12 ce nts to bnng in Sl .00 of
,n, r,:n,auon, or S 2,000 to hire someone who make~ SI00,000 a
year. 16 An organ1LOtio n Lhat
~'.n:, ~00 cm plo)ces annually . each w,th :1compcnsation
ofS40,000 annually, wou ld save about
5120,C{l() 1n ,iaffing cos tse i cry ycarby _impro,·ing its
staffmg c ffic1cncy by jus1 2 percent (400 x
)liJ.O'.Xl == S!6 nulh on total compen sation recruited; 2
percent ofSl6 m,lhon = S320,000). By
rd )i~f more on 1echnoloty 10 ~?urec17recnm , and scree n their
emplo)"Ces, many firms could cas-
il) achic1c,uch a2percentsavmgs.
sTAfF IN G EFFECTIVENESS METRICS Strategic staffing is
not simply hinng u large number

nf r,.,,plc or hmng lhcm qui ckly or cheaply . Strateg ic staffing
is h irin g people who becom e
, u,,. ,,·"lul in the ;ob. are a good fit with the compan y. and
stay with the o rganizallo n. Although
d f, , icnc) and co,t are ofte n the in itial focus of a firm's
staffing e'u!uuuon effon s. man y com•
rJn,c, subsequcn ll y shift their focu s towarJ measun ng the,r
staffin g l'fTecth ·e n es.s .18 Staffing
_rfccu icnc ~, relate s to how well Lhe s1affin g process mccS
the needs of a firm 's s takeholder
n,·,J, and co ntribute ~ Lo the organua tion·s strategy execution
and perfonnancc . S taffi ng effcc-
tntn ~" mwics help anser questions suc h as "Is the number and
cali ber of finnli ~ts bem g se nt
1,, hinn£ 1n:1nagcrs mcc un g thei r nccds?" and ~ls thehirin gc
xpericncc a nd speed accep table to
(Ji J id.11c , , .. Staffing efficiency is ofte n eus,c r 10 me asure
and evalu ate than s laffing effccuve-
re " for n am plc , it 1s rcl :uively easy to measure how man )'
jobs each recrui ter 1s fill ing (staff-
rn~ cff,, 1e nc) l. bu1 1 hat is often mon: imponant 1s whether
Lhe Jobs arc being filled with th e
nf ht r,:Pp k(, 1affi ngc ffrcti1cnc ss) .
Th,-rc .ire man y po%1ble measures of staffin g cffccth·e ncss.
Perhaps the mos t obviou s
rne ~-u ic ,,f ~1~ffing effectivene ss is new hire job succrH .
Job s uccess refers to jo b perfor -
11•4n~c J , "'ell a, the ne w hire ·s fi t with hi s or he r wo rk
group. unit , and o rgani1.atio n, and
1h, J~~ 1,·,· 10 11h1ch hi s o r her values arc co nsistent with
the comp;i.ny'sc ulture and va lue s.
l ra,~ 1ng th 1~ metric by recru itin g so urce, recru iter. and
hirin g manager ca n he lp improve a
, , ~1r Jn) · , fut un.- ,taffi ng e fforts. Th t q uality of lure

reflects whe ther the com pany h ire d the
r,.·, ~h: 11 "'lout 10 as defined b)' hiring managers'
predetermined job perfo rmanc e require·
..,,,m, Ne"" hire job ~uccess s tarts with the quality oflhc pe
ople hired . The quality o f hire can
~, J"''"cd uo1ng new hi res · performance ratings a fter an
appropriate time on the job. hiring
11>.1oa~ .-r ,,111,furnon i>Url'C)'S. objcc tive employee
produc tivity mcasun:s, ond even safet y,
J~,, 11 1c ,·1,m. and turn ove r rate s. New hire qual ity matters
when ii comes to an orga niza tion's
r. rf,,rm ,in ce The Var for Talent s tudy, publi shed in 200 1
by Mc Km sey & Co .. rc,·ca led thal
h1 i:ti rafnrmcrs in ope rat io ns ro les inc reased the
productivity o f their firm s by 40 percent ;
h fh r-: rfo1mer~ m managerial ro le s i nc n:ascd thei r firms'
profib by 49 pcrccnt : a nd h igh-
rcrf1•r1n mg , ::ik<pcopk c reated 67 percent mo re revenue for
th e ir firms than a verage o r low -
f'( rfnnning cmployces
O, crnll retc11rio11 o r wrnol'er rates might seem like good
metrics, but remember lhat rc tain-
1rf r,.w ~rforrna~ can ac tuall )' impo~ a cost on the firm.
Tracking Lhe i-olimta l)' t1m10"tr rate
ol ,,,p pe,fo m1en a, well as measuring the wmo,•er rote
ofbo11om pt rfomiers. as we di sc ussed
1; the IJ, t chap ter. can provide …
Strategic Staffing
Third Edition
Chapter 13

Staffing System
Evaluation and
Technology
Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All
Rights Reserved
Rights Reserved
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
• Describe the effects staffing activities have on applicants,
new hires, and organizations.
• Explain the different types of staffing metrics and how each
is best used.
• Describe a balanced staffing scorecard.
• Explain how digital staffing dashboards can help managers
monitor and improve the staffing process.
• Describe how staffing technology can improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of the staffing function.

Rights Reserved
Strategic Staffing Outcomes
Rights Reserved
Direct and Indirect Costs
Direct costs: charges incurred as an immediate result of
some staffing activity (e.g., higher training costs, lower
productivity)
Indirect costs: not directly attributable to staffing activities
(e.g., lost business opportunities, lower morale)
Rights Reserved
Staffing System Evaluation
• Staffing evaluation: the analysis of a staffing system to
determine its performance and effectiveness.
• Evaluating a staffing system allows us to objectively identify

which staffing activities are related to business strategy
execution
and company performance, assess how well different staffing
initiatives are working, and improve the staffing system based
on
what is learned.
• Competitive advantage can be created through staffing by
identifying the staffing activities that drive business success
and
strategy execution, evaluating them, and improving them.
• Measurement occurs at a single point in time, and isn’t as
useful
as is tracking and making comparisons over time.
Rights Reserved
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Key performance indicators: measurable factors critical to the
firm’s success and long- and short-term goals that can help
understand, track, and improve organizational performance and

the bottom line.
• KPIs are the outcomes against which the effectiveness of the
staffing
system is evaluated.
To design effective KPIs, it is essential to understand what is
important to the business and what key business measures exist.
The KPIs that promote and lead to organizational success are
those best able to enhance strategy execution and organizational
performance, such as financial outcome measures (e.g., revenue
growth) and strategy execution and performance drivers (e.g.,
customer satisfaction, innovation, and globalization).
Rights Reserved
Leading and Lagging Indicators (1 of 2)
Lagging indicator: information that is available only after
staffing decisions have been made.
Leading indicator: information that precedes or predicts
staffing outcomes.

Some indicators can be both leading and lagging indicators.
• For example, while the availability of talent is generally
thought of
as a leading indicator of the quality of hire (the larger the talent
pool, the more likely you are to hire more qualified people), it
can
also be a lagging indicator of a company’s employer image.
Rights Reserved
Leading and Lagging Indicators (2 of 2)
Table 13-1 Leading and Lagging Staffing Indicators
Staffing Indicator Outcome(s)
Leading Indicators Blank
Employer image Application rates, applicant quality, new hire
quality, staffing ROI
Applicant quality Time to fill, new hire quality, turnover, the
satisfaction of hiring
managers, leadership skills in an organization, staffing ROI
Applicant quantity Ability to hire, quality of hire, time to fill,
hiring manager

satisfaction
Lagging Indicators Blank
Employer image Poor hiring decisions, poor staffing process,
poor recruiting
Turnover Poor hiring decisions, poor sourcing, poor recruiting
Job success Poor planning, sourcing, recruiting, and selection
Rights Reserved
Long- and Short-term Metrics
Short-term metrics help to evaluate the success of a staffing
system in terms
of recruiting and new hire outcomes and include:
• Percentages of hires for each job or job family coming from
each recruiting source
(e.g., college hiring, employee referrals, job fairs, newspaper
advertisements,
Internet advertisements, etc.)
• Number of high-quality new hires coming from each recruiting
source and recruiter
• Number of diverse hires coming from each recruiting source
and recruiter

• Average time-to-start (by position, source, and recruiter)
• Average time-to-contribution (by position, source, and
recruiter)
Long-term metrics help to evaluate the success of a staffing
system in terms
of outcomes that take place some time after hire and include:
• Job success by recruiting source and by recruiter
• Employee tenure by recruiting source and by recruiter
• Promotion rates by recruiting source and by recruiter
Rights Reserved
Staffing Efficiency Metrics (1 of 3)
Staffing efficiency: the amount of resources used in the
staffing process.
• Hiring costs include sourcing, recruiting, screening, and hiring
costs
including referral bonuses, travel expenses, advertisements,
candidate
assessments, meals, transportation, and testing including drug
tests

and background checks.
• Replacement costs include hiring costs as well as the
productivity
loss while the position is unfilled. Reducing time-to-fill and
improving
socialization and onboarding can reduce replacement costs.
Rights Reserved
Staffing effectiveness: how well the staffing process meets
stakeholder needs and contributes to strategy execution and
organizational performance.
• Help answer questions such as, “Is the number and caliber of
finalists
being sent to hiring managers meeting their needs?” “Is the
hiring
experience and speed acceptable to candidates?”
Rights Reserved

• Job success
• Quality of hire
• Retention rates
• Voluntary turnover rate of top performers
• Voluntary turnover rate of bottom performers
• Value of top performers
Rights Reserved
Return on Investment
• When using metrics and evaluating staffing activities, it can
be easy to focus on staffing efficiency and lose sight of
staffing effectiveness.
• A balance must be struck between staffing efficiency and
staffing effectiveness.
• ROI can be calculated for a firm’s investment in individual
staffing activities, such as the ROI of different recruiting

sources or assessment methods, or for the staffing system
as a whole.
Rights Reserved
Six Sigma (1 of 5)
• Six Sigma: a data-driven quality initiative and
methodology that uses statistical analysis to measure and
improve business processes and their outcomes to near
perfection
• Six Sigma can be used to improve a variety of staffing
outcomes, such as:
‒ Lowering turnover among high performers
‒ Improving applicant quality
‒ Improving new hire fit with corporate culture
‒ Reducing time-to-fill
‒ Increasing the return on the company’s staffing investment

Rights Reserved
Six Sigma (2 of 5)
• Six Sigma methodology begins with a process map that
defines
and graphically maps out the process to be improved.
• The process map represents the entire process, and is helpful
in
identifying important metrics for analysis.
• After identifying the source of any defects, an improvement
program is created to remove the cause of the defects.
• To improve the quality of a staffing process, each step of the
process must maximize the probability that the selected
candidate meets the hiring manager’s expectations by
maximizing the chances that unqualified candidates are
screened out at each step, and enhancing candidates’ interest
in the job and in the organization as an employer.
Rights Reserved
Six Sigma (3 of 5)

Rights Reserved
Six Sigma (4 of 5)
For existing internal processes, use DMAIC (Define,
Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control)
• Define the problem: reduce unwanted turnover among high
performers.
• Measure: identify key measurements underlying turnover.
• Analyze: understand key factors and trends that create
turnover.
• Improve: identify and execute a plan to address those factors.
• Control: implement controls to lower turnover on an ongoing
basis.
Rights Reserved
Six Sigma (5 of 5)
To create new processes, use DMADV (Define, Measure,

Analyze, Design, and Verify)
• Define project goals and customer deliverables, such as
improved new-hire quality
• Measure: determine hiring manager needs
• Analyze the process of sourcing, recruiting, screening, and
making job offers
• Design the staffing process to screen out undesirable
candidates and maximize new-hire quality
• Verify the performance of the process and its ability to meet
hiring manager needs
Rights Reserved
Balanced Staffing Scorecard (1 of 3)
Balanced scorecard: a tool for managing employees’
performance
and for aligning all employees with key business objectives by
assigning financial and non-financial goals and monitoring and
assessing performance

Balanced scorecards help organizations to:
• Compare performance within the organization
• Track trend performance within the organization
• Benchmark the organization against other organizations
• Identify best performers in the company and its best practices
Rights Reserved
• Balanced staffing scorecard: contains objectives, targets, and
initiatives for each activity that adds value to the staffing
process.
• The company’s goals and strategies should guide scorecard
development, with most measures focusing on value creation
and
staffing effectiveness and a smaller number addressing staffing
efficiency and cost control.
• The choice of scorecard criteria can be based on company
strategy and
goals, anticipated challenges such as a tightening labor market

or
changing workforce demographics, current problems such as
difficulty
staffing key leadership positions, and practical reasons such as
ease of
communication to hiring managers.
• When choosing what to include on a staffing scorecard, be
sure to
consider the company’s talent philosophy, and HR strategy. Set
clear
and consistent goals, and carefully balance cost, time, quality,
and
customer satisfaction.
Rights Reserved
Rights Reserved
Staffing Evaluation Process
Identify a problem area and assess how to measure and improve

it.
The metrics you use shouldn’t be too complex or numerous to
understand or
explain to others.
It is often a good idea to implement a staffing evaluation
program incrementally,
rather than taking on the entire staffing system at once.
• Evaluate one component of the system at a time by calculating
its impact on relevant KPIs
such as a division’s productivity, tenure, performance, labor
costs, and promotions. For
example, a firm pursuing a cost-leadership strategy based on an
operational excellence
competitive advantage might be very concerned about labor
costs.
Evaluating the impact of employee turnover and new hire
quality on labor costs
helps build the case that these factors are important.
• Involve other units like finance and operations to acquire
needed information and data.
This process helps build your case that staffing activities
influence important
organizational outcomes and can secure the buy-in needed to

make staffing
improvements and increase the scope of the evaluation program.
Rights Reserved
Résumé Screening Software
• Screens résumés for certain words or phrases so that
recruiters do not have to look at every résumé.
• Saves recruiters a lot of time, and makes Internet recruiting
much more manageable for companies that receive
thousands of responses to a job posting.
• Relying too heavily on software can lead to overlooking
highly qualified candidates who do not match specific
criteria.
Rights Reserved
Applicant Tracking Systems
• Applicant tracking system: software that allows you to

maintain a database of both applicant and job information to
facilitate finding matches between openings and applicants.
• Allow human resources and line managers to oversee the
entire recruitment and staffing process, from mining
résumés to identifying qualified candidates to conducting
background checks and facilitating onboarding by tracking
completed tasks and activities and automatically sending
new hires relevant information.
• Reduce costs, speed up hiring process, and improve the
company’s ability to find people who fit its success profile.
Rights Reserved
Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
Rights Reserved
Human Resources Information
Systems (HRIS)

• Human resources information system: a system of
software and supporting computer hardware specifically
designed to store and process all HR information and keep
track of all employees and information about them
• Combine separate HR systems into a centralized database
that performs the majority of HR transactions.
• HRIS include reporting capabilities, and some systems are
able to track applicants before they become employees.
Rights Reserved
Company Web Site
• In addition to providing information about current job
openings, the careers site can also contain information
about the corporate culture and mission.
• Online applications are possible, and prescreening tests
can be administered.
• Thoughtfully developed careers sites can also result in more
effective interviews because applicants’ basic questions will

already have been answered by Web site content and poor
fits are more likely to have self-selected out after learning
more about the organization and job opportunity online.
Rights Reserved
Digital Staffing Dashboards
Digital staffing dashboards: interactive computer displays
of indicators of how the staffing function is meeting its goals
Well-crafted staffing dashboards help companies monitor and
manage their workforce and chart progress toward meeting
strategic and tactical staffing objectives.
Rights Reserved
Seven Tips for Creating Digital
Staffing Dashboard (1 of 2)
1. Identify drivers of staffing and business success.
2. Set specific goals. Each metric should have a target level or

range that reflects a business
priority (e.g., hiring and retaining more top performers,
promoting from within) or financial
return (e.g., reducing turnover saves money).
3. Prioritize. Dashboards are ineffective if they contain too
much information. Identify which
metrics are key, and put them on the main dashboard page.
4. Identify how best to present the data. Bar charts, tables, pie
charts, graphs, and even
speedometer-style displays are all possible. Test formats and
warning colors with the people
who will be using it to identify what works best.
5. Assess user comprehension. Ensure that users are not
misinterpreting the data and that
the communicated information is being quickly and clearly
understood.
6. Consider including dynamic capabilities on the dashboard to
allow for scenario planning
and growth projections.
7. Create data entry accountability. If data is not entered
accurately or on time, the
dashboard will not be accurate. Assess and reward managers for
maintaining the database.

Rights Reserved
Seven Tips for Creating Digital
Staffing Dashboard (2 of 2)
Rights Reserved
Technology Enables Evaluation
• By creating a database of applicant and employee information,
and automating many of the steps of the staffing process,
technology greatly facilitates the staffing evaluation process.
• When properly created and kept current and accurate,
databases
enable the relatively fast generation of reports and analyses of
every step of the staffing process.
• Digital staffing dashboards can pull information directly from
the
database to reflect real-time staffing information.
• Technology can also facilitate the administration of employee

surveys that can help evaluate the effectiveness of the staffing
system.
Rights Reserved
Discussion Questions (1 of 2)
1. What might prevent organizations from evaluating their
staffing systems, and what can be done to remove these
barriers?
2. In your opinion, what three metrics might a university use
to evaluate the effectiveness of its efforts to fill instructor
positions?
3. If your manager was reluctant to invest in an applicant
tracking system, how would you persuade him or her to
make the investment?
Rights Reserved
Discussion Questions (2 of 2)

4. As an applicant, how would you feel knowing that
technology was used to make an initial decision to screen
you out of the hiring process?
5. What information do you want to see when you visit the
careers section of a potential employer’s web site?
Rights Reserved
Develop Your Skills Exercise
In this chapter’s “Develop Your Skills” feature, we gave you
some tips for creating a digital staffing dashboard. Using this
information, create a dashboard for Osram Sylvania (featured
in this chapter’s opening vignette) reflecting the following
metrics. Use color coding to indicate whether or not a metric
is within the parameters the company desires.
Metrics:
• Top five staffing vendors
• Job applicant quantity

• New hires’ time-to-contribution rates by recruiting source
• Diversity by recruiting source
• Osram Sylvania’s staffing efficiency ratio
Rights Reserved
Opening Vignette Exercise
This chapter’s opening vignette illustrated how Osram
Sylvania used technology to improve its staffing system.
Reread the vignette, and answer the following questions:
• In what ways did technology improve the company’s staffing
function?
• Do you think it is appropriate for Osram Sylvania to rank-
order
applicants based on their answers to the online prescreening
questions? Why or why not?
• If you were a hiring manager at Osram Sylvania, what metrics
would you most want to have available about your hires?

Rights Reserved
Chern’s Case Assignment
a) Create a digital staffing dashboard with the five most
important indicators of the overall staffing process.
b) Recommend various staffing technologies to enhance the
performance and efficiency of the staffing system.
c) Thoroughly explain your recommendations and persuade
the company to consider adopting them.
d) Write an executive summary of the entire set of
recommendations and place it at the front of the report.
Rights Reserved
Copyright
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the
prior written

permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of
America.
Strategic Staffing
Third Edition
Chapter 12
Managing
Workforce Flow
Rights Reserved
Rights Reserved
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
• Discuss ways to make socialization more effective.
• Describe the six different types of turnover.
• Discuss employee retention strategies.
• Discuss various ways of downsizing a company’s

workforce.
• Describe how to effectively terminate an employee.
Rights Reserved
Time for Productivity
• Many organizations invest more money in hiring new
employees
than in helping them acclimate and become productive.
• Most new hires want to get off to a good start, but need help
doing so.
• It takes mid-level managers an average of six months to get up
to speed in a new job.
• Even in restaurants and hotels it can take about 90 days for a
new employee to attain the productivity level of an existing
employee.
• On average, the time for new external hires to achieve full
productivity is eight weeks for clerical jobs, 20 weeks for
professionals, and more than 26 weeks for executives.

Rights Reserved
Orientation and Socialization
Orientation (or onboarding): the process of completing new
hires’ employment-related paperwork, and familiarizing them
with
their jobs, coworkers, work spaces, work tools, and the
company’s
policies and benefits
Socialization: a long-term process of planned and unplanned,
formal and informal activities and experiences through which an
individual acquires the attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge
needed to successfully participate as an organizational member
• The primary goal of socialization is to get new employees up
to speed
on their jobs and familiarize them with the organization’s
culture, or
the norms, values, behavior patterns, rituals, language, and
traditions
that provide a framework that helps employees interpret and

understand everyday experiences
Rights Reserved
Socialization
• Can speed up the time it takes new hires to reach the point at
which they start generating a return on the company’s
investment
in them.
• Can improve employee retention and employee engagement,
lessen the impact of reality shock, and facilitate new hire
adjustment and integration.
• People who are well socialized in their organizational roles
tend
to have higher incomes, be more satisfied, more involved with
their careers and more adaptable, and have a better sense of
personal identity than those who are less socialized.
• Socialization prepares employees to perform their jobs
effectively,
fit into the organization, and establish productive work

relationships.
Rights Reserved
Socialization Program Choices
Table 12-1 Socialization Program Choices
One-time versus staggered programs: programs that put
newcomers through one long session versus many
smaller ones
Collective versus individual programs: programs that put
newcomers through a common set of experiences
as a group versus socializing them one-on-one
Formal versus informal programs: programs providing
structured socialization using specifically designed
formal activities and materials away from the work setting
versus informal socialization done by a new hire’s
coworkers on the job
Sequential versus random programs: programs that require
recruits to pass through a series of distinct steps
to obtain full employee status versus using a random sequence
of activities
Fixed versus variable programs: programs providing newcomers

with a fixed timetable associated with
completing each stage in the transition from one role to another
versus providing no consistent timetable and
few cues as to when to expect the next stage
Tournament versus contest programs: programs treating each
socialization stage as an “elimination
tournament” where failure means that a new hire is out of the
organization (fired) versus a “contest” in which
new hires build up a track record and “batting average” over
time
Serial versus disjunctive programs: programs using experienced
organizational members as role models or
mentors who groom newcomers to follow in their footsteps
versus providing no role models or mentors
Investiture versus divestiture programs: programs that take
advantage of a new hire’s unique skills versus
trying to deny or strip away personal characteristics through
socialization
Rights Reserved
Effective Socialization
Actively involve new employees

• Encourage them to ask questions
• Clarify new roles and their connection to business strategy
Manager must take the time to get the employee up to speed
Pairing coworkers with new hires for days or weeks can
facilitate their transition
Assess transition progress using metrics including
engagement, 30-, 60-, and 90-day retention rates, and
supervisor satisfaction
Rights Reserved
Managing the Flow of the Workforce
Having the right people in the right jobs to execute
business strategy requires effectively managing turnover
and retention, succession management, redeployment,
and separations.
Rights Reserved

Turnover
Table 12-2 Types of Turnover
Type of Turnover Description
Voluntary turnover The employee chooses to leave due to
personal or
professional reasons
Involuntary turnover The employer initiates the separation due
to the
employee’s poor performance, misconduct, a
reorganization of the firm, and so forth
Functional turnover The departure of a poor performer
Dysfunctional turnover The departure of an effective performer
the company
would have liked to retain
Avoidable turnover Turnover that the employer could have
prevented
Unavoidable turnover Turnover that the employer could not
have prevented
Rights Reserved

Why Top Performers Leave (1 of 2)
Table 12-3 Why Top-Performing Employees Leave
Organizations
Reasons
Percentage of Top-Performing
Employees’ Responses
Percentage of Employers’
Responses
Pay 71 45
Promotion opportunity 33 68
Work-life balance 26 25
Stress 24 8
Career development 23 66
Health care benefits 22 0
Rights Reserved
Why Top Performers Leave (2 of 2)
Table 12-3 Why Top-Performing Employees Leave

Organizations
Note: The numbers do not total to 100 percent because each
respondent chose three reasons.
Source: Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved, Towers
Watson. For more information, visit
towerswatson.com. Agnvall, E., “Exit with the Click of a
Mouse: Exit Interviews Go High-Tech,” Society
for Human Resource Management, October 2006,
www.shrm.org/hrtx/library_published/nonIC/CMS_018960.
Reasons
Percentage of Top-Performing
Employees’ Responses
Percentage of Employers’
Responses
Length of commute 18 4
Nature of work 18 8
Retirement benefits 17 2
Company culture 13 10
Relationship with
supervisor/manager

8 31
https://www.towerswatson.com/
https://www.shrm.org/hrtx/library_published/nonIC/CMS_0189
60
Rights Reserved
Identifying Turnover Causes
• Exit interviews: asking departing employees why they are
leaving to acquire information that can be used to improve
conditions for current employees
• Employee satisfaction surveys can identify problems
that can be addressed to prevent additional turnover
Rights Reserved
Retention Strategies (1 of 2)
Table 12-4 Retention Strategies
Clarifying promotion paths: A clear career path helps retain
talented people
interested in moving up

Challenging employees: Developing skills and learning new
things can keep
employees engaged
Developing better supervisors: Fair managers whose
subordinates trust them
can improve employee retention
Giving employees work flexibility: Giving employees work
flexibility can
improve their retention by enabling them to better balance their
work and life
demands
Choosing a good location: Locating the company in a desirable
area or in an
area with few competitors for the same talent can boost
retention
Rights Reserved
Retention Strategies (2 of 2)
Table 12-4 Retention Strategies
Providing competitive wages and benefits: Giving employees
competitive pay

and benefits help improve retention
Holding managers accountable: Holding managers accountable
for retaining
top performers and for challenging and developing their
subordinates can
improve their retention
Providing Employees with Support: Staying in touch with new
hires and
helping them overcome the obstacles they face to perform well
can result in their
retention
Creating mobility barriers: Embedding employees in the
company in such a
way that their value is greater inside than outside the firm due
to their firm-
specific knowledge decreases the chance that they will leave
Creating a strong corporate culture: Creating a strong culture
that employees
find attractive can enhance their commitment to the company
Rights Reserved

Retention During Mergers and
Acquisitions
Create financial agreements with key talent that serve as golden
handcuffs and create mobility barriers.
Financial incentive packages such as retention bonuses or stock
options that mature over time can retain essential employees,
and
increase their commitment to making the merger successful.
Companies can also increase the value of severance packages
offered to workers who stay until a merger or acquisition is
completed to keep important talent from leaving prematurely.
• These types of agreements are typically solidified in a written
contract
that specifies the financial incentives that the employee will
receive if
they stay with the company for a specified time.
Rights Reserved
Managing Succession

Succession management should integrate talent management
with the organization’s strategic plan.
• Succession plans need to support the organization’s long-term
direction,
growth, and planned change, and should enable an organization
to
have the right people in the right place at the right time to
execute the
business strategy.
• Career planning and succession management are often
integrated to
ensure that employees are motivated to accept the higher-level
jobs.
Mobility policies: specify the rules by which people move
between
jobs within an organization and clearly document the rules for
opening notification, eligibility qualification, compensation and
advancement, and benefit changes related to advancement.
• Mobility policies should be well developed, clearly
communicated, and
perceived as fair by employees.

Rights Reserved
Workforce Redeployment
Workforce redeployment: the movement of employees to
other parts of the company or to other jobs the company
needs filled to match its workforce with its talent needs.
• Workforce redeployment software and services help
organizations
match their talent to specific business needs in the most
profitable way.
• Matching employees’ expertise and knowledge to customers’
needs and
deploying the right people is the same way a supply chain
deploys
assets.
• For firms trying to maximize the efficiency of their workforce,
which is
particularly important for companies pursuing a low-cost
strategy,
workforce optimization is critical.

Rights Reserved
Involuntary Employee Separations
Downsizing: the intentional reduction of employees intended
to improve the efficiency or effectiveness of the firm.
• Can improve the financial standing of a firm by reducing and
changing the
workforce structure in a way that improves operational results.
• Downsizing is usually done in response to a merger or
acquisition, revenue or
market share loss, technological and industrial change, new
organizational
structures, and inaccurate labor demand forecasting.
• Downsizing is a popular intervention for organizations looking
to improve
flexibility, reduce bureaucratic structure, increase decision-
making efficiency,
and improve communication.
• Private sector employers often downsize to reduce costs to
maximize
shareholder returns, and to remain competitive in an
increasingly global

economy.
• Public sector downsizings are driven by budget reductions and
technology
improvements that allow fewer workers to do the same amount
of work.
Rights Reserved
Downsizing (1 of 2)
Table 12-5 Downsizing Targeting Methods
Targeting Method Description
Across-the-board downsizing All units reduce their headcount
by the same percentage
Geographic downsizing Specific locations are targeted for
downsizing
Business-based downsizing Only some segments of the business
are targeted (e.g.,
employees associated with one product line)
Position-based Downsizing Specific jobs are targeted (e.g.,
accountants or
salespeople)

Function-based Downsizing Specific functions are targeted
(e.g., the firm’s human
resources department might be downsized), usually
during an organizational redesign
Rights Reserved
Downsizing (2 of 2)
Table 12-5 Downsizing Targeting Methods
Targeting Method Description
Performance-based
Downsizing
Poor performers are targeted for separation
Seniority-based Downsizing The last people hired are the first
downsized
Salary-based Downsizing The most highly paid employees are
targeted
Competency-based Downsizing Employees with the
competencies the company expects
to need in the future are retained, and employees without
those competencies are targeted

Self-selection Downsizing The firm encourages employees to
self-select out of the
company by offering them inducements, such as buyouts
or early retirement packages
Rights Reserved
Effective Downsizing
Fully planning the downsizing is important to reduce the
negative consequences the
downsizing has on employees and the company.
Unintended outcomes of a downsizing include:
• Increased costs from voluntary turnover, training, and
consultants
• Reduced shareholder value
• Decreased efficiency due to the loss of expertise
• Reduced morale and motivation (waves of downsizing are the
worst)
• Increased absenteeism and turnover of desirable employees
due to stress and uncertainty
• Lower employee trust in the company

• A damaged reputation as an employer
• When a company’s employees take advantage of
unemployment insurance, the company’s
future premiums rise
• Higher cost of attracting top talent after a downsizing
Given that downsizing is a traumatic event, no matter how well
prepared the workforce is for
the impending change, the process should be carried out in the
most expedient manner
possible.
Rights Reserved
Survivor Syndrome
Survivor syndrome refers to the emotional effects of the
downsizing on surviving employees, during and after a
downsizing.
• These effects include fear, anger, frustration, anxiety, and
mistrust,
which can threaten the organization’s survival.
Survivors often are preoccupied with whether additional layoffs
will

occur, and feel guilty about retaining their jobs while separated
coworkers are struggling.
• Can lead to a variety of adverse effects including higher
turnover, lower
commitment and loyalty, and less flexibility among surviving
employees.
Although some studies suggest that “survivor’s guilt” leads to
increased effort, other studies suggest that job insecurity
reduces
productivity.
Rights Reserved
Downsizing Assistance to Displaced
Employees
• Help in locating listings of vacant jobs and central pools of
displaced workers for whom the employer attempts to find
positions.
• Many large organizations help employees find employment
elsewhere in the organization through central processing

points that bring together displaced employees and vacant
positions.
• Employers frequently provide résumé coaching, job fairs,
and access to office equipment to facilitate employee
transitions out of the company.
Rights Reserved
Seven Typical Downsizing Activities
1. A workforce demographics review including retirement and
other loss projections and assessments of the age, diversity,
and skills of the workforce;
2. Assessment of available options to avoid involuntary
separations, such as a hiring freeze, buyouts, early retirement,
retraining, and relocations;
3. Detailing full-time employee reductions by year, location,
program, occupation, position, and person;
4. Conducting the downsizing or reduction in force;
5. Providing career transition/job placement assistance;
6. Providing assistance for survivors of downsizing; and
7. Ensuring that an adequate retraining program is in place.

Rights Reserved
Layoffs
Layoff: temporary end to employment.
Employers tend to dislike layoffs compared to other downsizing
methods, in part
because they are forced by law (in the case of most public
sector employees) or by
bargaining agreements to employ seniority-based criteria in
deciding which employees
to separate during layoffs.
• This does not guarantee that the right competencies will
remain in the company to allow it to
execute its business strategy and emerge from the downsizing in
a more competitive position,
and often means the retention of the most expensive employees.
• Layoffs also increase employee health problems and
withdrawal behaviors.
• Layoffs often have a negative impact on employee diversity,
since women and minorities tend to
be disproportionately affected by seniority-based layoff

policies.
During a layoff, career transition assistance is usually provided
to employees along with
job placement and training assistance, severance pay, and
continuation of benefits
such as health insurance for a period of time.
Layoffs have a negative impact on a firm’s reputation that is
significantly stronger for
newer than for older firms.
Rights Reserved
Some Layoff Alternatives
• Attrition due to retirement, death, or resignation
• Hiring freeze: not hiring any new employees
• Early retirement incentives: allow retirement with full or
reduced pension
benefits at an earlier age than normal
• Buyout incentives: a lump sum payment to encourage
voluntarily quits
• Leave without pay

• Flexible work arrangements
• Workforce redeployment
• Cross training and retraining
• Reducing work hours and/or pay
• Sharing company ownership with workers in exchange for
lower pay
• Increasing the use of temporary or contract employees who are
let go
rather than laying off core workers
Rights Reserved
Best Downsizing Practices
• Senior leadership should play a vital role
• Frequent two-way communication
• Involve the right people in downsizing planning
• Identify work processes that will not be needed in the future
• Incentives such as early retirement and buyouts work well and
are
popular with employees
• Using multiple strategies and techniques to accomplish goals

for
downsizing helps to leverage the outcome
• Provide transition assistance to separated and surviving
employees
• Monitor progress
• Successful downsizing depends on the survivors’ trust,
fairness
perceptions, and belief in firm’s future
Rights Reserved
Evaluating Downsizing Effectiveness
• Meeting authorized full-time employee headcount goals
• Increase in the ratio of supervisors to employees
• Employee loss due to attrition versus incentive programs
• Demographics of buyout recipients
• Impact on diversity goals
• Ability to meet budgetary limits
• Productivity changes
• Reduction in total cost of wages and salaries
• Number of grievances, appeals, or lawsuits filed

• Number of voluntary participants in incentive and career
transition programs
Rights Reserved
Discharging Employees (1 of 2)
May happen immediately after a policy violation or other job
misconduct (e.g., a safety violation, failure to renew a
professional license, etc.), or after a long pattern of poor
performance
Rather than separating multiple people from the company as
happens with downsizing, terminations focus on individual
employees
Rights Reserved
Discharging Employees (2 of 2)
Even in an age of employment at will, it is important to
document the
termination and keep thorough and accurate records regarding

the cause
of the termination.
Having terminated (or laid off) employees sign a severance
agreement
that includes a release stating that the departing employee gives
up some
or all rights to sue you can reduce the risk of future litigation.
• Employee releases are most often used when a company does
not have proper
documentation to fire an employee but wants to end the
employment
relationship and reduce the possibility of a lawsuit.
• To be most effective, the release needs to involve some sort of
consideration,
usually money beyond any standard severance agreement; the
employee needs
to be given appropriate time to consider the offer and even
change his or her
mind after signing it; and the employee should be able to
negotiate some of its
contents to show that it was willingly signed.

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