ACQUIRING AND RETAINING TALENT
Signature Assignment: Written Communication, Reinforced level
In this assignment, your written communications skills will be assessed. The written communications rubric will be useful for this purpose. In the course MGT302, written communication skills were assessed at the “introduced” level. In MGT407, they will be assessed at the “reinforced” level. Finally, in MGT491 your written communication skills will be assessed at the “mastered” level. The grading rubric for written communication at the undergraduate level has been developed to measure student success in meeting the MGT407 Case 3 expectations. Rubrics for the other two courses are included in their respective assignments.
In an interview with Dr. Edward Hallowell, Harrison (2011) discussed Hallowell’s Cycle of Excellence as a five-step process that managers can use to foster high performance in their organizations.
According to Hallowell, to manage employees, managers must first employ them, which is the first step—(1) Select.
(2) Connect is the next is to determine if a new employee fits into the organization.
The next two steps, (3) Play and (4) Grapple and Grow, go together because they are actions taken by employees along with their managers. These growth opportunities go a long way to increase job satisfaction and productivity levels.
The final step, (5) Shine, occurs when managers recognize employees for a job well done.
Reference: Harrison, J. (2011, March). Interview with Edward M. Hallowell, MD, author of Shine: Using brain science to get the best from your people. Human Resource Management International Digest, 19(4), 43-45. Available in the Trident Online Library.
Use the following search terms in the library search box: Human Resource Management International Digest Interview with Edward M. Hallowell. The article should appear. Click on either ‘full text” or “Full text-PDF”).
Assignment
Draw on the material in the background readings and conduct additional research to prepare a magazine article in which you:
· Briefly analyze the five steps of the Cycle of Excellence and use it as a springboard to create your own cycle of excellence.
· Develop your own cycle of excellence and explain its steps. Your cycle should show creativity and critical thinking and consideration for diversity/equity/inclusion.
· Discuss how the cycle of excellence you have developed is the optimum approach for managing human capital.
· The magazine article you are writing should be similar to an article you might find in TD: Talent Development (magazine of the Association for Talent Development) or in HR Magazine (magazine for the Society for Human Resource Management, SHRM). Both are found in the Trident Online Library, and samples found on their respective websites.
· Utilize at least three other reference sources to build your article. Cite sources within your paragraphs and include them in a references list at the end of your article. (Note: Even though practitioner magazine articles at times do not cite sources or have a reference section, they are needed for our academic purposes. See the Introduction to APA 7th Edition for additional information.
· Include a cover page and a reference page.
· Note that the deliverable for this assignment is not an essay paper, but rather a journal article formatted like other published journal articles. (Most articles are written in columnar form, with some color and graphics to provide visual appeal. The more interesting the article is the better.)
Citation and reference style instructions are available at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/ . Also see Trident University’s Introduction to APA 7th Edition
You will find the following useful as you critique sources:
Cornell University. (2015). Critically analyzing information sources: Critical appraisal and analysis. Retrieved from http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/skill26.htm
Cornell University. (2014). Evaluating Web sites: Criteria and tools. Retrieved from http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/webeval.html
Submit your 3- to 4-page paper (not counting the cover page and reference page) to the drop box by the Module 2 due date.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Your submission will be assessed on the criteria found in the written communications grading rubric for this assignment:
· Context and purpose for writing
· Content
· Adherence to conventions in specific disciplines
· Sources of evidence
· Syntax control and mechanics
· Timeliness
Module 2 – Background
ACQUIRING AND RETAINING TALENT
Before we jump further into Talent Management—and specifically the topics of acquiring and retaining employees—we need to briefly discuss job analysis.
Job Analysis
Job Analysis is a process to identify the particular job duties and requirements and the relative importance of these duties for a given job. Job Analysis is a process where judgments are made about data collected about a job.
An important concept of job analysis is that job analysis studies the job, not the person. While job analysis data may be collected from incumbents through interviews or questionnaires, the product of the analysis is a description or specifications of the job, not a description of the person.
The purpose of job analysis is to establish and document the job-relatedness of employment procedures such as training, selection, compensation, and performance appraisal.
Source: HR Guide to the Internet; Job Analysis: Overview. Saylor.org, BUS301-2.1.1.
The Staffing Process
Creating valid recruitment and selection processes is critical to building a strong workforce. Knowing the job content is key to designing valid recruitment and selection activities.
HRM professionals design recruitment processes and selection systems to find talent that best fits the organizational needs. Staffing normally includes both recruitment and selection.
Recruitment
Recruitment is the process of identifying qualified candidates and encouraging them to apply for jobs with an organization. Recruitment processes include developing job announcements, placing ads, and defining key qualifications for applicants.
Recruitment is the systematic process of hiring and promoting personnel, and includes the search for potential applicants for actual or anticipated vacancies. It is the first step in the hiring process. No matter how a company recruits, the goal of a recruitment strategy is to produce viable applicants who fit in with the company’s needs and values. Therefore, it is beneficial to attract not just a large quantity of applicants, but a group of individuals with the necessary skills for the position. It includes developing job announcements, placing ads, defining key qualifications for applicants, and screening out unqualified applicants.
There are a number of methods of recruiting the right talent. Some firms prefer to use specialized recruiting firms, while others ask their current employees for recommendations. The point is that a firm needs to cast the widest net possible in order to secure a large applicant pool.
This wide net begins with the development of a job announcement that contains just enough information to attract a potential job candidate’s interest. Read the Roberts (2020) article that identifies exactly what should be on your job announcement. Keep in mind that you are marketing your company to prospective employees.
Most people have an attention span of not more than eight seconds. This is much too short to read and comprehend a bulleted list of job duties. Instead, speak in broad terms about the tasks rather than in specifics. Job ads must trigger job seekers’ emotions. Identify what it is about your company that makes you unique and attractive. What’s in it for them? Why should they care?” A key point is that you want to wrap the information in a way that is appealing to the audience. Create your flyer to attract the type of person you want to fill the job!
Roberts, M. (2020). How to post a great job listing. The Balance Careers. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-information-is-included-on-a-job-posting-1669554 .
Selection
Selection is the systematic process of hiring and promoting personnel. Selection systems employ evidence-based practices such as interviews, personality inventories, psychomotor and physical ability tests, and work samples to determine the most qualified candidates.
Good selection processes include evaluating the reliability and validity of selection measures to determine whether or not those practices actually relate to the job.
· The reliability of a measure refers to whether the measure gets repeatable results. If their processes get good results every time, those measures can be said to be reliable.
· Validity is a quality of a measurement indicating the degree to which it measures what it is supposed to measure.
View the following video that gives a good overview of reliability and validity:
The next step is selecting new employees from the pool of qualified candidates. After obtaining a large, qualified applicant base through recruitment, managers need to identify the applicants with the highest potential for success in the organization. Selective hiring is critical because it reduces future staff turnovers and costs, and increases morale and productivity.
Selection systems employ evidence-based practices to determine the most qualified candidates for a job. To find the best fit, managers should create a list of relevant criteria composed of critical skills and behaviors for each position. It is important that candidates are selected based on fit with the culture of the organization, as well as technical skills and competencies. Common selection tools include ability tests, knowledge tests, personality tests, structured interviews, the systematic collection of biographical data, and work samples.
Types of Selection Measures
HR professionals use a variety of measures to select applicants who are the best fit for a position. The main goal of these tests is to predict job performance, and each test has its own relative strengths and weaknesses in this regard. When making a hiring decision, it is critical to understand the applicant’s personality style, values, and motivations. Technical competency can be acquired by new employees, but personality is not easy to change.
Interviews: Interviews are one of the most common ways that individuals are selected. The best interviews follow a structured framework in which each applicant is asked the same questions and is scored with a standardized rating scale. In this way, structured interviews provide more reliable results than unstructured interviews.
The firm must face the challenge of selecting the right applicant by determining whether he or she possesses the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed. Like it or not, the interview method of selection is one of the weakest forms of selection. Critics argue that it is too subjective. While subjectivity is not a bad thing, it must be paired with the right objective measures.
Lewis, G. (2018, January 29). 5 new interviewing techniques that you should start using. LinkedIn Talent Blog. https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/blog/interview-questions/2018/5-new-interviewing-techniques-that-you-need-to-know-about
Personality Testing: Another tool sometimes used for selection is personality testing. Personality tests can provide an accurate analysis of an applicant’s attitudes and interpersonal skills. These tests can reveal a variety of things about an applicant, such as how well the applicant gets along with others, self-discipline, attention to detail, organization, flexibility, and disposition.
Ability Tests: Psychomotor ability tests are sometimes used to measure fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. These skills are important in jobs like carpentry that require a lot of hand-eye coordination. Unlike psychomotor ability tests, physical ability tests measure gross motor skills, such as lifting and running. These skills are important in jobs such as construction, where strength is needed.
Work Sample: Another selection technique is to have the applicant complete a hiring assignment. The applicant is asked to complete a task that simulates the actual job. The goal is to assess how well the applicant learns and performs the tasks.
Source of the above: The Psychology of Recruiting and Selecting Employees. Boundless Psychology. Boundless, 26 May, 2016. Licensed under CC-BY-SA
One of the key points to remember when recruiting and selecting human capital is that you should identify individuals who share the company’s ideal about the goals and objectives of its business. You should work to identify unique individuals with shared and complementary skill sets in order to build an effective team. Recruiting and selecting human capital should be carried out in order to provide the organization with a strategic advantage.
Read Hire the Right People , which explains why hiring and retaining the best people will result in a high-performing company.
Onboarding
Onboarding is the process employers plan for welcoming a new employee. Hopefully it is a well-thought- through plan that makes the new employee feel welcomed and ready to work. The following video provides important information on designing the perfect onboarding process:
People processes: Onboarding – From LinkedIn Learning
Retaining Employees
Once quality employees are on board, how do you keep them? See Recruiting, Motivating, and Keeping Quality Employees .
A major piece of the Starbucks success story has been the superior service provided by its motivated employees. But how do you keep employees motivated? Watch the video below:
Identifying the secrets of employee motivation – From LinkedIn Learning
How do hiring decisions affect a company’s success? Zappos is well known for consistently providing excellent customer service. The video below explains how company values and desired culture drive the company’s hiring decisions.
Young, T. D. (2019). Content marketing for PR: How to build brand visibility, influence and trust in today’s social age. Digital Citizen.
Required Material
People processes: Onboarding – From LinkedIn Learning
Chapter 7: Recruiting, Motivating, and Keeping Quality Employees (first page only) in: An introduction to business. (2012). Saylor Academy. https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/an-introduction-to-business-v2.0/s11-00-recruiting-motivating-and-keep.html
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2019). Occupational Outlook Handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
Foundations of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging – From LinkedIn Learning
The selection process – From LinkedIn Learning
Hire the right people. (n.d.). Saylor Academy. https://resources.saylor.org/wwwresources/archived/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/BUS208-6.1.1-Hire-the-Right-People-FINAL.pdf
Lewis, G. (2018, January 29). 5 new interviewing techniques that you should start using. LinkedIn Talent Blog. https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/blog/interview-questions/2018/5-new-interviewing-techniques-that-you-need-to-know-about.
Improve employee engagement and retention – From LinkedIn Learning
Roberts, M. (2020). How to post a great job listing. The Balance Careers. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-information-is-included-on-a-job-posting-1669554
Rozsa, Z., & Machova, V. (2020). Factors affecting job announcement competitiveness on job listing websites. Journal of Competitiveness, 12(4), 109-109–126. Available in the Trident Online Library.
Developing and motivating employees – From LinkedIn Learning
Optional Material
Bariso, J. (n.d.). Do you want your best employees to leave? If not, stop doing these 10 things. Inc. https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/10-things-employers-do-that-make-their-best-people-quit.html
SHRM. (n.d.) Developing employee career paths and ladders. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/developingemployeecareerpathsandladders.aspx
Chapter 5: Maintaining an Inclusive Workplace, in: Walters, C. (2017). From hello to goodbye: Proactive tips for maintaining positive employee relations. Society for Human Resource Management. Available in the Trident Online Library.
Module 2 Summary
We hope you realize that the talent management area is a critical, if not the most critical responsibility that HR professionals are charged with. Poorly planned and executed recruiting, staffing, and onboarding strategies set the stage for employer (and employee) headaches
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