Ethical Issues in Human Resource Management

Human resource management (HRM) is the science of managing people systematically in organizations. The unique individual actor in the organization - a given executive, manager, line worker - is not the focus of HRM, per se. Rather, human resources practices and policies concerning recurring cycles of staffing, reward and compensation, and performance management inform how any person or group of people is introduced into the organization, managed while there, and exited from the organization. When these three overarching aspects of human resource management are designed effectively, the organization benefits from a management system that enhances the sustained competitive advantage of the organization. A critical part of designing these aspects effectively requires consideration of ethical concerns at each stage.

Staffing is comprised of systems designed to recruit and select employees to undertake required roles in the organization. The purpose of recruiting is to provide the organization with a group of candidates large enough for the organization to select the qualified employees that it needs.

Society for Human Resource Management

English: Facade of Ives Hall, Cornell University

Organisation

Needs are formalized by (1) job or position descriptions, which are written statements of content and organizational level of the job; and (2) hiring specification, which details background, experience, and skills requirements.

Selection is the mutual process in which the organization decides whether to make an offer of employment and, if offered, the candidate decides whether or not to accept. Typically, selection procedures follow several steps. The applicant completes a formal job application, participates in a screening interview, takes tests, submits to a background check, participates in a more in‐depth interview, and receives a job offer. Of course, different employers may only use a subset of these steps.

Ethical dilemmas emerge at a number of junctures within the staffing process. Within recruiting, organizations distribute descriptions and specifications to labor pools - the sites within...