Goals:

• Describe the nature of today's workforce
• Identify important goals and activities of human resources

Key Terms:

• workforce
• downsizing
• outsourcing

Human Resources Basics  

• The Changing Workforce 

The workforce is made up of all the people 16 years and older who are employed or looking for a job.

• More than 150 million people have full or part-time jobs in the United States workforce
• Most jobs require at least a high school education
• They often require some special training
• Some are high paying and some are low paying
• Some involve mainly working with machines  and technology
• Others involve working mainly with people and information
• Types of Jobs
• The business world consists of hundreds of thousands of companies
• Wide variety of jobs
• Jobs in the business world may be arranged in many ways
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
  •  part of the US Department of Labor
  • Publishes the Occupational Outlook Handbook
  • Up-to-date information about the US workforce
  • Businesses arranged as
    • Service-producing industries
    • Perform services that satisfy the needs of other businesses and consumers
      • Health care facilities
      • Insurance companies
      • Retail stores
      • Transportation businesses
    • Goods-producing industries
    • Produce or manufacture products used by final consumers
      • Construction
      • Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Agriculture
  • The US economy has changed from goods-producing to service-producing businesses
  • BLS estimates that nearly all the job growth over the next 10 years will be in the service businesses
  • The BLS arranges occupations into 11 groups
  • Professional
  • Business and financial operations
  • Service
  • Construction and extraction
  • Installation, maintenance, and repair
  • Management
  • Transportation and material moving
  • Sales and marketing
  • Office and administrative support
  • Production
  • Farming, fishing, and forestry
  • Occupations are also referred to as white-collar and blue-collar
  • White-collar worker is one whose work is more mental than physical and involves the handling and processing of information
    • Office workers
    • Stores employees
    • Professional services businesses
    • Managerial
    • Clerical
  • Blue-collar worker is one whose job requires a great deal of manual work, including the operation of machinery and equipment or other production activities
    • Factory workers
    • Construction
    • Farming
• Changing Job Requirements
• White-collar and blue-collar workers are equally important in the workforce.
• Increased use of computers and information technology in factories and construction is changing the nature of both types of work.
• Resulting in the need for higher levels of education and training
• Both types of workers need to satisfy economic needs and wants
• Jobs in the workforce are subject to a variety of factors that can cause the need for these jobs to change
  • Some of these changes may cause jobs to be eliminates
  • Others will cause the work to be modified
  • Changes may require employees to develop new skills and get different training
• Consumer Preferences
  • Preferences by consumers affect available jobs
  • New products may make old products obsolete
  • Jobs may be eliminated
• Business Cycles
  • Stages in the business cycle affect job opportunities
  • Businesses expand – new jobs created
  • Businesses contract – jobs disappear
  • High prices = decreased demand = fewer jobs
  • Higher interest rates = difficult to borrow money = decreased demand
• New Technology
  • Technology refers to the use of automated machinery, electronic equipment nod integrated computer systems to help increase efficiency
  • Improved technology is important in the workplace
  • Computerized systems reduce the need for production workers in many manufacturing jobs
  • Sophisticated computer and communications systems have also reduced the need for office employees
  • New technology continues to change the types of jobs in production and manufacturing
• Business Competition
  • Companies must be competitive to stay in business
  • When costs begin to increase, the business must look for ways to stay profitable.
  • Installing new equipment and streamlining processes make workers more productive.
  • Businesses may also decide to downsize.
  • Downsizing is the planned reduction in the number of employees needed in a firm to reduce costs and make the business more efficient
  • Outsourcing removes work from one company and sends it to another company that can complete it at a lower cost.
  • Today many US jobs are being outsourced to companies in other countries that pay much lower wages.
• Human Resources Overview
• The work of every company is completed by the people who work for the organization
• Employees who contribute to the success of a business:
  • Have the knowledge and skills needed
  • Are motivated to work efficiently
  • Complete their jobs with quality
• Companies will have trouble remaining competitive meeting the cutovers needs if they
  • Cannot find qualified employees
  • Have a poor work environment
  • Suffer from quality issues and waste
  • Employee errors
• Human resources are the people who work for the company
  • Properly managing human resources is one of the most important responsibilities if a business
  • Most medium to large sized businesses have a department dedicated to human resources management
  • Owners of small businesses will be responsible for managing human resources
• Human Resources Goals
  • Must be able to work with the vast differences and unique capabilities or each employee and develop a workforce that is productive and efficient
  • Seven Major Human Resource Goals
  • Identify the personnel needs of the company
  • Maintain an adequate supply of people to fill those needs
  • Match abilities and interests with specific jobs
  • Provide training and development to prepare people for their jobs and to improve their capabilities as job requirements change
  • Develop plans to compensate personnel for their work
  • Protect the health and well-being of employees
  • Maintain a satisfying work environment
• Human Resources Activities
  • Four categories of activities
  • Planning and staffing
    • Jon Analysis
    • Recruitment and selection
    • Job placement
  • Performance management
    • Performance assessment
    • Performance improvement
    • Managing promotions, transfers, and terminations
  • Compensation and benefits
    • Wage and salary planning
    • Benefits planning
    • Payroll, benefits, and personnel records management
  • Employee Relations
    • Health and safety planning
    • Labor relations
    • Employment law and policy enforcement
    • Organizational development

Asssignment 1

Outsourcing is a common practice in the business community. The unemployment rate in the United States is nearly 10%.

You own a company located in the United States. Your company has been in existence in its current location for 52 years. Some of your employees have been with you for their entire working lives. Some of their children and their children's children work for you. These people are your loyal friends. They are your “Family.”

International competition is eating into your profit margin.

You are faced with the dilemma of whether or not  outsource some of your work. If you outsource, you will have to reduce your work force. If you do not outsource, you will have to come up with a plan whereby you can be competitive and remain in business.

Using Word, write a paper defining the pros and cons of outsourcing. Based on your findings, what will you do with your business? You must give a minimum of five reasons for the decision you make and write a brief speech that you will make to your employees explaining the direction in which you have chosen to take the company.

Assignment 2

After reading the article "Extreme Outsourcing: Five Surprising Examples" see Link below), answer the following questions in a Word document entitled "Extreme Outsourcing.".

By definition, employing extreme outsourcing means that you are delegating important parts of your business system to third-party entities. You are giving up control of important parts of your business. The ability to delegate everything except what you do best is an essential attribute for anyone who wants to be a successful go-it-alone entrepreneur.

1. To appropriately leverage what you do best and achieve the necessary focus to create value, how do you decide what should be outsourced and what should be handled in house? 
2. Are there specific ways to operate your outsourced efforts so that you realize the greatest possible benefits from this system? 
3. Are there specific types of business strategies or innovations that are particularly effective when combined with extreme outsourcing?