Personal Blogs

Bayes’ application to HRM is limited to event probability but is a topic that is mentioned in passing in a paper on shirking and presenteeism by S. Brown (2004) recommended by Dr. Andrew Bryce (Sheffield), which was written over 20 years ago this year.

Brown (2004) reads as follows:

“Such ‘shirking’ is potentially costly to firms and may incite them to undertake monitoring. BST** envisage a monitoring technology in which there is some probability, α < 1, of each absentee’s true state of health being revealed to the firm.”

After deciding to initiate a brief scoping review for the B812 literature topic of choice (‘Wellbeing’). I thought I would check in with the blog and provide some justification and background for this choice of theme.

This spurious love affair with Bayes’ theorem has loomed over my educational learnings but only in its form as sub-game perfect in non-cooperative game theory. Big thanks to Melvyn Coles, Pierre Regibeau, and Franco Squintani for their lectures and classes from our days in Colchester on Economics. 

I started the HRM course in Nov 2023 and while I am still somewhat aware of some concepts surrounding Bayes, things have changed. Nowadays, Bayes’ theorem (10+ years on) is being used in combination with what we call supervised learning and algorithmic techniques such as neural networks.

So, how do we proceed? Perhaps, it is wise to proceed with caution. A brief scoping review will get me up to speed and updated with new research as much as is feasibly possible.

References

Brown, S. and Sessions, John (2004) “Absenteeism, Presenteeism and Shirking”, Economic Issues, 9(1), pp. 15-22 – Available at: https://econpapers.repec.org/article/eisarticl/104brown.htm (Accessed on 13 March 2024)

**Barmby, T. A., Sessions, J. G. and Treble, J. G. (1994) “Absenteeism, Efficiency Wages and Shirking”, Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 94(4), pp. 561-566 – Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3440797 (Accessed on 13 March 2024)

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This post was written by Alfred Anate Mayaki, a student on the MSc in HRM, and was inspired by the author's previous learnings and experiences.

The experiences I have had when applying for entry-level roles as an Economist in the past have not been the best, which is why I try to work ten times harder to ensure my work in recruitment is all the more exceptional for the candidates that I engage with professionally. All the more reason why I felt the need to attend the Royal Economic Society’s online Zoom event today, entitled: “Rethinking Inclusive Recruitment” which took place this morning. The Zoom event took an insightful look at the landscape for pathways into academia for female and Black Economists. We also discussed how to improve the application processes, recruitment practices, and the inclusive culture of practitioners in industry when advertising jobs associated with higher education and private-sector policy research in the field of Economics.

I did feel a sense of pride in listening to RES academics describing their respective experiences either with respect to recruitment successes in their own careers or in their respective companies. I took a lot of notes, as you do at such events. Conclusively, among the points that were delivered, the slides on female and ethnic minority recruitment in the field of Economics (by Lisa-Dionne Morris), HR’s involvement in creating a culture of inclusivity (by Faith), and strategies for increasing diversity in Economics (by Kieran) were notable.

I am thankful that RES speakers and delegates took the time to exchange ideas on the importance of social mobility, the value of the university careers centre (and its resources) in communicating career options to future Economists, and the role of student-focused charitable organisations in promoting the ethnic-minority employment gap. I very much valued the mention of the view that more needs to be done to minimise unconscious bias in recruitment - which is true. But the highlight of the event was undoubtedly when Elaine spoke on the value of workforce projections, and the landscape for health economics in research and policy.

A quick thank you to Sam from the RES and Ann for allowing us all to learn more about pathways for student recruitment - Check out SEO and Discover Economics. The next installment of the Rethinking Inclusive Recruitment events will be in person on 24 April 2024 (between 12:00 and 16:00) at the University of Westminster’s Marylebone Campus. I look forward to seeing everyone there.