# Managing Human Resources and Labor Relations

## Introduction


### Learning Outcomes

After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer these questions:
1. What is the human resource management process, and how are human resource needs determined?
2. How do firms recruit applicants?
3. How do firms select qualified applicants?
4. What types of training and development do organizations offer their employees?
5. How are performance appraisals used to evaluate employee performance?
6. What are the types of compensation and methods for paying workers?
7. What is a labor union and how is it organized, what is collective bargaining, and what are some of the key negotiation issues?
8. How are grievances between management and labor resolved, and what tactics are used to force a contract settlement?
9. What are the key laws and federal agencies affecting human resource management and labor relations?
10. What trends and issues are affecting human resource management and labor relations?
This chapter looks at the role of human resources within an organization, from the general processes of developing and planning to the more specific tasks of employee evaluation and compensation.
Human resource management and labor relations involve acquisition, development, use, and maintenance of a human resource mix (people and positions) to achieve strategic organizational goals and objectives. Successful human resource management is based on a company’s ability to attract and hire the best employees, equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to excel, compensate them fairly, and motivate them to reach their full potential and perform at high levels. Today’s business environment presents numerous challenges to effectively managing employees:
1. Technology continues to advance, which places great importance on knowledge workers, especially when demand outstrips the supply of high-talent individuals.
2. Global business operations involve rapid data transfer and necessitate accelerated decision-making by executive and technical employees.
3. The workforce is increasingly more diversified and multicultural, which places increased emphasis on communication and cultural understanding.
4. Work, life, and family priorities are more difficult to balance as dual-worker families populate the labor force.
5. Employment and labor laws continue to greatly influence employee recruitment and hiring, compensation decisions, and employee retention and turnover in both union and nonunion organizations.
Each day, human resource experts and front-line supervisors deal with these challenges while sharing responsibility for attracting and retaining skilled, motivated employees. Whether faced with a large or small human resources problem, supervisors need some understanding of difficult employee-relations issues, especially if there are legal implications.
In this chapter, you will learn about the elements of the human resource management process, including human resource planning and job analysis and design, employee recruitment and selection, training and development of employees, performance planning and evaluation, and compensation of the workforce. The chapter also describes labor unions and their representation of millions of American workers in construction, manufacturing, transportation, and service-based industries.