aPHR Certification Study Guide
(2023)
Human Resource Managment (HRM) - Answer-HRM consists of an organization's
"people practices" - the policies,
... [Show More] practices, and systems that influence employees'
behavior, attitudes, and performance.
Explain how HRM contributes to an organization's performance - Answer-Through its
practices or process, The HRM influences who works for the organization and how
those people work. These human resources, if well managed, have the potential to be a
source of sustainable competitive advantage, contributing to basic objectives such as
quality, profits, and customer satisfaction.
HRM Process/ practices - Answer-1) Analysis and Design of work
2) HR planning
3) Recruitment
4) Selection
5)Training and development
6)Compensation
7)Performance Management
8) Employee Relations
Human Capital - Answer-An Organization's employees, described in terms of their
training, experience, judgement, intelligence, relationships, and insight.
Human Resources qualities valuable to the success of organizations - Answer-1)
Human Resources are VALUABLE- high-quality employees provide a needed service
as they perform many critical functions.
2) Human Resources are RARE- a person with high levels of the needed skills and
knowledge is not common
3) Human Resources CANNOT BE IMITATED -
4) Human Resources have NO GOOD SUBSTITUTES
High Performance Work System - Answer-An organization in which technology,
organizational structure, people, and processes work seamlessly to give an organization
an advantage in the competitive environment.
Maintaining a High-Performance Work System may include: - Answer--Development of
training programs
-Recruitment of people with new skill sets
- Establishment of rewards for such behaviors as team work, flexibility, and learning
Ratio of HR employees to total employees - Answer-2 full time HR staff persons for
every 100 employees on payroll.
In small organizations the ratio is much higher
Administrative role of HRM - Answer-Handling administrative tasks ( hiring employees,
answering questions about benefits) efficiently and with a commitment to quality. This
requires expertise in the particular task
Business Partner role of HRM - Answer-Developing effective HR systems that help the
org meet its goals attracting, keeping, and developing people with the skill it needs.
For the systems to be effective, HR people must understand the business so it can
understand what the business needs
Strategic partner role - Answer-Contributing to the company's strategies through an
understanding of its existing and needed HR and ways HR practices can give the
company a competitive advantage.
For strategic ideas to be effective, HR people must understand the business, it's
industry, and its competitors
Job Analysis - Answer-The process of getting detailed information about jobs
Work Flow Design - Answer-The process of analyzing the tasks necessary for the
production of a product or service
Job - Answer-A set of related duties
Position - Answer-A set of duties performed by a particular person
Job Description - Answer-A list of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities (TDRs) that a
particular job entails
Job Specification - Answer-A list if the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other
characteristics that an individual must have to perform a particular job
Job Design - Answer-The process of defining the way work will be performed and the
tasks that a given job requires
Industrial Engineering - Answer-The study of jobs to find the simplest way to structure
work in order to maximize efficiency
Job enlargement - Answer-Broadening the types of tasks performed in a job
Job extension - Answer-Enlarging jobs by combining several relatively simple jobs to for
a job with a wider range of tasks
Job rotation - Answer-Enlarging jobs by moving employees among several different jobs
Job enrichment - Answer-Empowering workers by adding more decision making
authority to jobs
Flextime - Answer-A scheduling policy in which full time employees may choose starting
and ending times within guidelines specified by the organization
Job sharing - Answer-A work option in which two part time employees carry out the
tasks associated with a single job
Telework or Telecommuting - Answer-Means doing one's work away from a centrally
located office
Ergonomics - Answer-The study of the interface between individuals' physiology and the
characteristics of the physical work environment
Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) - Answer-A standardized job analysis
questionnaire containing 194,questions about work behaviors, work conditions, and job
characteristics that apply to a wide variety of jobs
Flesh an Job Analysis System - Answer-Job analysis technique that asks subject matter
experts to evaluate a job in terms of the abilities required to perform
Competency - Answer-An area of personal capability that enables employees to
perform their work successfullyb
Recruitment - Answer-The process through which the organization seeks applicants for
potential employment
Selection - Answer-The process by which the organization attempts to identify
applicants with the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that
will help the organization achieve its goals
Top 5 qualities employers look for in employees - Answer-1)- Teamwork Skills
2)- Verbal Communications Skills
3)- Decision Making, Problem Solving
4)- Gathering / Processing information
5)- Planning/ Prioritizing Tasks
Training - Answer-A planned effort to enable employees to learn job-related knowledge,
skills, and behavior
Development - Answer-The acquisition of knowledge, skills, and behaviors that improve
an employees ability to meet changes in job requirements and in customer demands
Performance Management - Answer-The process of ensuring that employees' activities
and output match the organization's goals.
Compensation and benefits - Answer-This function includes Wage and salary
administration, incentive pay, insurance, vacation leave administration, retirement plans,
profit sharing, stock plans
Employee Relations - Answer-Preparing and distributing employee handbooks,
company publications, answer questions about benefits and company policy, address
problems between employees and supervisors, communication with union
representatives
Workforce analytics - Answer-The use of quantitative tools and scientific methods to
analyze data from human resource databases and other sources to make evidencebased decisions that support business goals.
Organizational Strategy - Answer-Organization's plan for meeting broad goals such as
profitability , quality, and market share
How HR supports the organization's strategy - Answer-Understanding the organization's
business operations, projecting how business trends might affect the
business,reinforcing positive aspects of the organization's culture, developing talent for
present and future needs, crafting effective HR strategies, effective human resource
planning
Human Resource Planning - Answer-Identifying the numbers and types of employees
the organization will require to meet its objectives.
Forecasting - Answer-The attempts to determine the supply of and demand for various
types of human resources to predict areas within the organization where there will be
labor shortages or surpluses
Trend analysis - Answer-Constructing and applying statistical models that predict labor
demand for the next year, given relatively objectives statistics from the previous year
Leading indicators - Answer-Objective measures that accurately predict future labor
demand
Transitional Matrix - Answer-Statistical procedure to determine labor supply
A chart that lists job categories held in one period and shows the proportion of
employees in each of those job categories in a future period
Core Competency - Answer-A set of knowledge and skills that make the organization
superior to competitors and create value for customers
Options for reducing a surplus - Answer-Downsizing, pay reductions, demotions,
transfers, work sharing, hiring freeze, natural attrition, early retirement, retraining
Options for avoiding a shortage - Answer-Overtime, temporary employees, outsourcing,
retrained transfers, turnover reductions, new external hires, technological innovations
Workforce Utilization Review - Answer-A comparison of the proportion of employees in
protected groups with the proportion that each group represents in the relevant labor
market
Talent Management - Answer-A systematic, planned effort to attract, retain, develop,
and motivate highly skilled employees and managers
Evidence-based HR - Answer-Collecting and using data to show that human resources
practices have a positive influence on the company's bottom line or key stakeholders
(employees, customers, community, and shareholders)
Sustainability - Answer-An organization's ability to profit without depleting its resources,
including employees, natural resources, and the support of the surrounding community
Stakeholders - Answer-The parties with an interest in the company's
'success ( shareholders, community, customers, and employees )
HRM professionals' skills - Answer-Successful Members of The Human Resource
department must be able to share information, build relationships, and influence
persons inside and outside the company. The HR department needs to bring together a
large pool of skills. These skills fall into six basic functions: 1-Credible activists, 2-
cultural and change steward, 3-talent managers/ organizational designers, 4-strategic
architects, 5-business allies, 6-operational executors . All of these competencies require
interpersonal skills.
HR responsibilities of supervisors - Answer-Supervisors typically have responsibilities
related to all the HR functions.
They help define jobs ( job analysis and design)
Forecast HR needs( HR planning)
Provide training
Interview ( and select ) candidates
Appraise performance
Recommend increases and promotions
Communicate policies
Motivate, with support from pay, benefits, and other rewards
Ethics - Answer-The fundamental principles of right and wrong. Ethical behavior is
behavior that is consistent with those principles.
HR Ethics and Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) - Answer-Reduce the likelihood of illegal and
unethical behaviors by :
-- Having a written Code Of ethics and conduct standards
--Providing ethical behavior training and advice
-- Establishing confidential reporting systems for ethical misconduct
-- Providing whistle-blower protection
--Supporting HR's role as "keeper and voice" of organization's ethics
Employees Rights/ Kant's Human Rights - Answer-- Right of free consent
- Right of Privacy
- Right of freedom of conscience
- Right of Freedom of speech
- Right to due process
Standards for ethical HR practices - Answer-1) HRM practices must result in the
greatest good for the largest number of people
2) employment practices must respect basic human rights of privacy, due process,
consent and free speech
3) managers must treat employees and customers equitable and fairly
Labor Force - Answer-Is a general way to refer to all the people willing and able to work
Internal Labor Force - Answer-An organization's workers ( it's employees and the
people who have contracts to work at the organization)
External Labor Market - Answer-Individuals who are actively seeking employment
High Performance Work Systems - Answer-Organizations that have the best possible fit
between their social system ( people and how they interact) and technical system
(equipment and processes )
Summarize Areas in which HRM can support the goal of creating a high performance
work system - Answer-Reliance on knowledge workers, empowerment of employees to
make decisions, and use of teamwork. Recruiting and selection decisions are especially
important for organization's that rely on knowledge workers. Job design and appropriate
systems for assessment and rewards have a central role in supporting employee
empowerment and teamwork
Knowledge workers - Answer-Employees whose main contribution to the organization is
specialized knowledge, such as knowledge of customers, a process, or a profession
Employee Empowerment - Answer-Giving employees responsibility and authority to
make decisions regarding all aspects of product development or customer sevice
Employee Engagement - Answer-Full involvement in one's work and commitment to
one's job and company. Is associated with higher productivity, better customer service,
and lower turnover
Teamwork - Answer-The assignment of work to groups of employees with various skills
who interact to assemble a product or provide a service... [Show Less]