Human Resource Principles Applied to PR

The Hiring Process: The hiring process happens in stages, and for different parties, the hiring process involves different responsibilities. The hiring staged includes (1) advertising, (2) sifting through and creating resumes and cover letters, (3) the interview, and (4) integrating the new employee into a new work environment. The following section outlines the hiring process from two different perspectives, the future employee and the manager.

The Future Employee Advertising Finding a job, for a new employee, begins with looking in the right place. There are numerous places to look when starting the initial search process. Asking friends and family can be a great first start. Dont underestimate the power of networking. Family and friends may already have jobs and may be a great referral source for future employees. Simply asking those people within a close knit network may also be the fastest way to obtain a new job. Some managers may never post a job description online and only work from referrals. Online is another great place to look when searching for a new job. Online job hotlines will post several job openings, but a simple Google or Craigslist search are great resources. Local newspapers will also post job classifieds as well. Advertisements or flyers posted around a school or community is another great source. Finding the right job is only part of the battle. Many jobs require a cover letter and a resume

Creating Resumes and Cover Letters The cover letter and resume are the golden tickets to receiving an interview. As a perspective employee, find all ways to enhance the cover letter and resume. The cover letter should outline how the future employee will benefit the company. The employee will want to mention specific experiences in which he or she has demonstrated the what the hiring manager is specifically recruiting for. It would also be appropriate to ask for an interview at the end of the cover letter. The future employee should use the cover letter to highlight specific skills and qualifications that he or she has. The resume will list the future employees educational background and past work experience. The employee may also want to include some information about his or her interests. One of the best ways that a future employee can use his or her resume to get an interview is to include awards, publications, research, and certificates that the employee has earned. These special items will help the candidate stand out to management.

The Interview If the manager is impressed with the perspective employees resume and cover letter and would like to learn more about the candidate, the manager will call the perspective employee for an interview.

Chapter 7 in Management offers several tips for the future employee in regards to interviews. These include (1) researching about the company before the interview, (2) making a good first impression by smiling and giving a firm handshake, (3) matching the employees appearance with company culture, (4) maintaining good eye contact, (5) answering the

interviewers questions according to his or her requests, (6) getting a full perspective of the job description, (7) relating the future employees experiences to the interviews job qualifications, (8) taking time to answer questionsthere is no rush, and (9) thanking the interviewer for his or her time. The interview is one of the last big barriers that stand between the future employee and his or her dream job. Come prepared.

New Employee Integration A new environment for the new employee will create new social norms and standards for him or her. The following tips might be helpful for a new employee when integrating into a completely new work environment. First, have a good attitude. Expect that things will not be perfect and that there will be a learning curve. Second, dont be intimidated by management. Try to develop an honest and transparent relationship with the superiors. Third, be willing to take on a challenge. Taking on challenges will be one of the best ways that managers can see the new employees willingness to learn. Fourth, be innovative. Dont be afraid to share any creative ideas with top management. Sixth, always look for ways to increase job training and skills. The company has made an investment in the new employee. The new employee would be wise to increase his or her skills to show the manager that he or she is serious and dedicated to the job.

The Hiring Process The key to any successful company is not necessarily the goods and services they provide, but the people who provide the goods and services. The importance of assembling the right personnel cannot be emphasized enough. In the companies, agencies or organizations that will employ public relations specialists, success is highly dependent on the makeup of the workplace. Public relations professionals need to be assembled into teams that will allow them

to thrive and achieve the highest degree of problem solving and collaboration. In order for the public relations team to obtain the right people, it must execute the planning, job analysis, recruiting, selecting and integrating of the new hire.

Planning Planning allows the department to align its goals with the organizations overall goals. Managers have a great amount of responsibility before recruits even sumbit their applications. They need to be able to forecast the demand for personnel and their services. Managers need to understand the organizations strategy and choose the recruit that fits the strategy. Job analysis is crucial in the hiring process because it allows the manager to take an opportunity to conduct an inventory of the skills, knowledge and abilities that are or will be needed in the department (171 textbook). From this point, the manager will be able to create a job description.

Recruiting Next, the recruitment process can begin. This is particularly important in public relations because this is how you attract the kind of people that fit your brand. Many methods can be used to get the word out that there is an opening in the organization. Internal job postings, advertisements, employment agencies, school placement centers, and the Internet are all useful in this process. Employee referrals are especially useful. Referrals can save the manager a lot of time and effort and potential regret. Referrals can be trusted more often because of the nature of the field of public relations. With public relations, there are deliverables that can demonstrate as more support for the employee referral. Whether the deliverable is a media placement or a

strategic campaign, it can back up the words of an employee about a recruit. The referral allows the manager to see someones work that may have been overlooked.

Selecting The selection process is the execution of the planning and the recruitment processes. This is how we, as public relations professionals, determine who will fit in and perform the best out of all the other applicants. Interviews are the most common way to find out who fits and who does not. As a public relations professional, it is important to look for experiences from the interviewee. The experiences should demonstrate an executiong of problem solving that was in line with the organizations strategy. Other selection techniques should focus on the skills and abilities that you are looking to incorporate into the company.

Work sampling or simulation along with written tests can help weed out the prepared recruits from the unprepared. A common simulation is to have the employee demonstrate his or her ability to produce a press release. This is a great example because this is an exact replica of a task that will need to be performed. It also shows the recruits knowledge of AP style and ability to write. Written tests are also useful in addressing the needs of the job in respect to the industry. A sports public relations specialist should understand the general workings of most major sports and a technology public relations specialist should understand basic terms like RAM and server.

Integrating After the employee is hired, they should be trained and integrated into the organization. Orientations serve as the initial method to formally introduce the employee to the company, its goals and its culture. Knowing the company brand is importance in the work of the public relations specialist. This allows the employee to fit in and to contribute workable solutions to the company along with being able to write and produce the deliverables to the be in line with the brand of the company.

Evaluating employees:

After the hiring process has been completed, it is important employees receive evaluations on their work. From a management perspective, evaluating employees is the most difficult function to (verb) correctly. Whether it be an evaluation based on performance or based on some other criteria, it must be done it complete fairness and objectivity in order to both comply to laws stated in the previous section of this paper, as well as maintain an effective and unbiased work environment. This section will consider three principles of evaluation; 1) why evaluation is necessary for PR professionals, 2) what tools are available to managers to make the evaluation process fair, and 3) how to evaluate PR and professionals effectively and fairly.

Why evaluation is necessary. The first principle of evaluation deals with the purpose in performing the evaluations. Performancebased evaluations can take place anywhere from once a year to once a quarter, and any variation in between. The timing of the evaluating depends on the structure, functionality and goals of an organization, but the purpose should always be the same; to measure the impact of employees and their work on the bottom line of the company.

In A Practitioner's Guide to Public Relations Research, Measurement, and Evaluation, evaluation of PR tactics is described as the process through which hard and soft data are recorded and measured for their bottom-line effectiveness, or how well they meet company objectives. Hard data are numbers and figures while soft data are the overall effectiveness of a media campaign. Soft data, or nonfinancial indicators are harder to measure because they do not directly demonstrate how the bottom line of a company has been impacted. For example, one might measure success of a story pitched to the media in its placement in a certain number of major media outlets, or how many press releases were sent out. These demonstrate success in the campaign, but do not show specifically how numeric company objectives are met. In evaluating employees in the workplace, soft data can be more closely examined and employee effectiveness can be determined.

Along with evaluating the effectiveness of each employee's performance, it is important to identify areas of great achievement as well as areas needing improvement. Evaluating gives upper management the opportunity to associate with employees usually unseen by them, which can be used for good if praise and suggestions are given. The motivation of employees can be greatly affected during evaluation periods when there may be a stigma of negative critiques or criticism. If managers use evaluations to instruct employees of proper company etiquette or procedures, the shelf-life of employees will increase.

Performing evaluations on a regular basis is also an effective type of insurance for the company. In the recording and making aware of critical incidents of employees, companies can actually avoid lawsuits if the termination of an employee takes a wrong turn. On the opposite end of the spectrum, evaluations can also serve as an insurance for the company in establishing strong employees for the company's future. Rewarding good behavior is just as important as

pointing out incorrect behavior, in fact, it is probably more important because it not only establishes good practices, but creates an environment of positive attitudes, trust and leadership.

Another principle in the reason for evaluating employees is to make it a daily process for managers aside from a quarterly or semi-annual company-wide procedure. Daily evaluation will help in the day-to-day workings of the company environment. As stated earlier, evaluation for public relations professionals is an opportunity for non-financial factors to be measured. Along with campaign tactics effectiveness, these can also include at-work attitudes and relationships with co-workers. The essence of employee evaluating stems from the overall goals of the company. Whatever those may be, evaluations create a mutual understanding between employees and management that should be used for the perpetuation of the company at large.

Tools for evaluation When the right people are selected to fulfill positions in an organization, managers need to make sure that all employees are performing well and up to company standards. What makes maximum performance and potential for a company or organization is a function of an organizations strategy. In order to evaluate employees equally and fairly, Management suggests a performance appraisal process that establishes standards and objectives and then measures employees up to those established standards and objectives.

Sometimes employees dont measure up to the established standards or objectives that have been made. However, before organizations or managers can correct or encourage actions from their employees, they must know how well their employees are doing and performing in their

corresponding positions and responsibilities. When it comes time to give feedback to those that do not measure up to the standards, few understand how to evaluate an employee fairly and justly. As a consequence, all managers need to know and understand the key factors that drive effective performance appraisal systems. Its also important to know their disadvantages, in order to make a decision on which systems would work best for their organization. Management lists three important evaluating systems that are used in high performing organizations.

Graphic Rating Scales One of the most popular methods of providing performance feedback, this scale lists a set of qualities in which to evaluate an employee. The employees level of performance on each of these qualities is then rated. Graphic scales are quick and easy for manages to complete and the results are easy to quantify for employee performance comparisons. However, managers should keep in mind that since the characteristics being evaluated may not be clearly defined, and this leaves room for individual interpretation.

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) BARS was designed to reduce the disadvantages that are found in graphic rating scales. The characteristics are more detailed and described in terms of behaviors rather than qualities; hence emphasis is placed on specific employee characteristics. The scale reduces, but does not get ridoff the potential for bias.

360- Degree Feedback 360-Degree feedback method is meant to evaluate an employees performance from various, and sometimes differing, perspectives. Information is gathered about an employees performance from appraisal evaluations that are filled out by supervisors, co-workers, peers, subordinates and even customers. Since data is gathered from multiple sources, employees are encouraged to focus on all of the firms standards and objectives, which reduce incentive. However, this feedback method takes up a lot of time and energy to collect, process and effectively give back feedback to the employee.

The Importance of Effective Performance Evaluation Tools Whichever evaluating tool or system is used, the results of the evaluation need to be given back to employees so they can make the necessary changes in their performance. Well-run organizations and effective evaluation tools have well-run evaluating assessments in place and can show progress and achievement through their results and the changes their weakest employees have made. Results come from good management, which is based on great decision making. Great decision making is based off data and information that has been carefully analyzed and implemented. When this can be done, then an organization and its employees only leave room to progress.

For most managers, evaluating is the most important, yet most difficult human resource activity. Since public relations dips into the field of human resource, it is important for those in this field to know how to appropriately and expertly carry-out evaluations, using the right tools that they see fits their organization best.

How to evaluate effectively and fairly. In class and in (the textbook), four steps to evaluating employees fairly have been discussed. The first is to set measurable goals for each employee to work towards between each evaluation period. This creates a sense of belonging and responsibility. It helps the employee know what is expected of them, and it helps company management control the focus of their subordinates. There also should be clear criteria for the actual evaluation. This ensures continuity and objectivity in the grading of employees' performance. These criteria must be as objective as possible. To do this, management should assign quantifiable scales to each criteria point.

Second, managers need to make sure employees know the expectations they will be evaluated on. Transparency in the workplace is important and to be completely fair to all employees, their evaluation criteria should be know. Along with this, a third step could be to record critical incidents. They play a significant role in an employee's' tenure and must be reported and addressed immediately so that nothing is a surprise in the actual evaluation. As was stated before, keeping good records can turn out to be good insurance for a company, and recording all critical incidents will ensure this to happen.

Lastly, employees should be given a written record of critical incidents and of their evaluation reports. Evaluations should be done completely independent of any previous evaluations. Keeping and providing records will ensure fairness and objectivity. Following these steps in the evaluation process will ensure the fair and consistent assessment of all employees. Doing so will provide management necessary information for decisions about rewards or promotions for highperforming employees, or if necessary, the termination of employees with low performance.

The firing process: After the evaluating process, employers are met with a decision on what to do with the employee, either to potentially groom them for advancement, to give them new goals or objectives to correct mistakes, or to fire them or let them go if they did not meet the specified goal that was collectively agreed upon. To prevent unlawful termination, laws have been enacted that employers need to follow when a situation arises when an employee needs to be let go.

The United States government passed several acts that are not only applicable to hiring, but also to firing employees. With that in mind, employers must also be careful that in terminating, the employees are not under the assumption that it was done so based on non-performance situations. Managers must be acquainted with the laws of firing.

The first act is the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which was formed from the 13th Amendment that outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude. The act protected the rights of African Americans, which was necessary after the Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 generalized the Act of 1866 and outlawed forms of discrimination based on color, race, nationality, religion and women. In 1978, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act added to the process of hiring and firing as it prohibited sex discrimination on the basis of pregnancy.

The core of these acts combined to create the Equal Employment Opportunity, which forbids discrimination against applicants based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information ("About the EEOC: Overview"). The EEO, however, only applies to companies with more than 15 employees.

Another exception to the EEO is the Bona Fide Occupational Qualification, which allows companies to essentially discriminate based on the qualifications of the job. For instance, if a man and a woman were to apply for a construction job, the man, due to build and ability to lift many pounds, giving him an advantage, and therefore, the job.

The Civil Rights Acts protect the employees on the basis of equality between genders, race and other forms of discrimination. In the class discussion with Claire Averett, she taught that there are two other forms of law that directly influence the managers and how they can act with their employees.

The Employment-At-Will Doctrine is an unwritten contract between an employer and an employee that can be terminated at any time. This is mostly found in contractual work that is done outside of an agency or a corporation either on the side or as a business. Employees can be fired at any time if the employer is not satisfied with the work being done or there is no need anymore. Because this is most likely done by one individual or a company smaller than 15 employees, there is no need for the employer to follow the Civil Rights Acts. The employee is protected though by certain aspects of the law that state that they cant be fired if they refuse to carry out illegal activities, if they are exercising a legal right or duty or if they are whistleblowing. At the same time, union members can only be discharged if there is a cause.

It is important to know this law as a public relations practitioner because there will probably be times as managers that we will hire outside contractual help and we need to know when it is legally okay to terminate their employment and when we can not let them go.

A second law that directly influences managers is the agency law. Agency law refers to a master/servant relationship in the workplace. Meaning, that if an employee makes a mistake, then it is the responsibility of the manager to correct the mistake or the manager will be held responsible for the consequences.

This is especially important in the public relations profession because we will be producing work that will be for public use and mistakes and problems will cause a negative image to be associated with our employer. If we let a mistake out in our products, then it is will be our fault and we as managers will take the blame for the consequences. This protects lower level employees from being terminated on the spot for problems that the manager should have seen in the first place.

In our class discussion about the situation with the Rutgers basketball coach, the coach at UCLA and the problem at Penn State; agency law can be directly linked to the situation and what happened afterwards. At Rutgers and at Penn State, there was an issue with one of the coaches performing illegal acts and discriminatory acts to players and young children. In both cases, upper-level management at the Universities failed to take the appropriate action when the problem arose and tried to slip it under the rug. In time the problem was brought to public knowledge and the head coach and athletic director were fired at Penn State. As of right now, only the head coach at Rutgers has been fired but in time, the athletic director will either lose his job or he will resign. This is the case because as managers, there were responsible for the actions of their subordinates and they failed to take the appropriate steps to solve the problem from the beginning.

These laws have been enacted to protect both the employee and the employer in the process of termination. If the appropriate steps have been used during the evaluation process, then both parties will understand why there will be a termination and it will be conducted legally. In the case that the evaluation has not been as thorough or complete, these laws will protect the employee from unlawful termination from a company. If as managers and future employees, we understand these laws and abide by them, then we can be sure that we can act legally and ethically in the termination process.

Works Cited "About the EEOC: Overview." EEOC Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2013. <http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/index.cfm>.