Human Resource Management

Human resource management plays key roles in recruiting and eventually placing successful applicants in various roles within an organization. What we have learned is that every single decision that occurs in these processes can affect the quality of the hire, and eventually the quality of that person’s service to the organization. Those decisions are reflected in a variety of metrics that help us measure the quality of HR’s work. For example:

• Who we recruit can help determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the hiring process (e.g., cost per hire);
• How we select applicants can have a profound impact on the quality of work (e.g., average performance of new hires during first year of employment).
• How we onboard staff can help connect new employees more effectively to the organization’s mission, values and vision.

We also spend considerable time developing compensation and benefit packages designed to respond to employee motivations and organizational strategy.

Retaining Employees

Once hired, those employees represent the successful applicants that HR and others speculate will be successful in their roles. Many, probably most, will perform with sufficient competence to remain employed. One of the important metrics valued by most organizations is the voluntary turnover rate. In most organizations, the lower the rate, the better. Given the cost of recruitment, selection and training, voluntary turnover represents a phenomenon most organizations wish to avoid.

By the same token, even if staff choose to remain, organizations continue to be engaged with staff in order to create outcomes that are as effective and efficient as possible. In this context we often read about the role of “discretionary effort”, that amount of energy that a person is willing to expend beyond that required to perform consistent with expectations. In other words, what will encourage staff to extend themselves beyond expected levels of achievement?

Dan Airley is the James P. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University. His TedTalk discussion related to employee engagement helps us understand the complex motivations that affect the degree to which employees are truly  connected to their work.[1]

As you work through the readings in this lesson, reflect on Dr. Airley’s message. Does the video connect with any passages, for example, in the text?

In summary, to the extent an organization is able to retain desired employees (i.e., reduce voluntary turnover), that result reduces the need to recruit replacements. Also, merely satisfying staff will help retain them; finding ways to engage staff will additionally encourage them to exhibit greater productivity.