HRM New Notes

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Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA

MACHILIPATNAM
THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM
Copyright@prasad2011
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
Human Resource Management (HRM)

We often hear the term Human Resource Management, Employee Relations and Personnel Management used in the popular press as well as by Industry experts. Whenever we hear these terms, we conjure images of efficient managers busily going about their work in glitzy offices. In this article, we look at the question what is HRM ? by giving a broad overview of the topic and introducing the readers to the practice of HRM in contemporary organizations. Though as with all popular perceptions, the above imagery has some validity, the fact remains that there is much more to the field of HRM and despite popular depictions of the same, the art and science of HRM is indeed complex. We have chosen the term art and science as HRM is both the art of managing people by recourse to creative and innovative approaches; it is a science as well because of the precision and rigorous application of theory that is required. As outlined above, the process of defining HRM leads us to two different definitions. The first definition of HRM is that it is the process of managing people in organizations in a structured and thorough manner. This covers the fields of staffing (hiring people), retention of people, pay and perks setting and management, performance management, change management and taking care of exits from the company to round off the activities. This is the traditional definition of HRM which leads some experts to define it as a modern version of the Personnel Management function that was used earlier. The second definition of HRM encompasses the management of people in organizations from a macro perspective i.e. managing people in the form of a collective relationship between management and employees. This approach focuses on the objectives and outcomes of the HRM function. What this means is that the HR function in contemporary organizations is concerned with the notions of people enabling, people development and a focus on making the employment relationship fulfilling for both the management and employees. These definitions emphasize the difference between Personnel Management as defined in the second paragraph and human resource management as described in the third paragraph. To put it in one sentence, personnel management is essentially workforce centered whereas human resource management is resource centered. The key difference is HRM in recent times is about fulfilling management objectives of providing and deploying people and a greater emphasis on planning, monitoring and control. Whatever the definition we use the answer to the question as to what is HRM? is that it is all about people in organizations. No wonder that some MNCs (Multinationals) call the HR managers as People Managers, People Enablers and the practice as people management. In the 21st century organizations, the HR manager or the people manager is no longer seen as someone who takes care of the activities described in the traditional way. In fact, most organizations have different departments dealing with Staffing, Payroll, and Retention etc. Instead, the HR manager is responsible for managing employee expectations vis--vis the management objectives and reconciling both to ensure employee fulfillment and realization of management objectives. In conclusion, this article has briefly touched upon the topic of HRM and served as an introduction to HRM. We shall touch upon the other topics that this field covers in other articles.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
3 Importance of HRM for Organizational Success We have discussed the basic concept of HRM and the ways in which it helps the organization meet its goals. In this article, we discuss the reasons for organizations to have a HRM strategy as well as the business drivers that make the strategy imperative for organizational success. It is a fact that to thrive in the chaotic and turbulent business environment, firms need to constantly innovate and be ahead of the curve in terms of business practices and strategies. It is from this motivation to be at the top of the pack that HRM becomes a valuable tool for management to ensure success. The Evolving Business Paradigm One of the factors behind organizations giving a lot of attention to their people is the nature of the firms in the current business environment. Given the fact that there has been a steady movement towards an economy based on services, it becomes important for firms engaged in the service sector to keep their employees motivated and productive. Even in the manufacturing and the traditional sectors, the need to remain competitive has meant that firms in these sectors deploy strategies that make effective use of their resources. This changed business landscape has come about as a result of a paradigm shift in the way businesses and firms view their employees as more than just resources and instead adopt a people first approach. Strategic Management and HRM As discussed in the articles on modern day HRM practices, there is a need to align organizational goals with that of the HR strategy to ensure that there is alignment of the people policies with that of the management objectives. This means that the HR department can no longer be viewed as an appendage of the firm but instead is a vital organ in ensuring organizational success. The aims of strategic management are to provide the organization with a sense of direction and a feeling of purpose. The days when the HR manager was concerned with administrative duties is over and the current HRM practices in many industries are taken as seriously as say, the marketing and production functions. Importance of HRM for Organizational Success The practice of HRM must be viewed through the prism of overall strategic goals for the organization instead of a standalone tint that takes a unit based or a micro approach. The idea here is to adopt a holistic perspective towards HRM that ensures that there are no piecemeal strategies and the HRM policy enmeshes itself fully with those of the organizational goals. For instance, if the training needs of the employees are simply met with perfunctory trainings on omnibus topics, the firm stands to lose not only from the time that the employees spend in training but also a loss of direction. Hence, the organization that takes its HRM policies seriously will ensure that training is based on focused and topical methods. In conclusion, the practice of HRM needs to be integrated with the overall strategy to ensure effective use of people and provide better returns to the organizations in terms of ROI (Return on Investment) for every rupee or dollar spent on them. Unless the HRM practice is designed in this way, the firms stand to lose from not utilizing people fully. And this does not bode well for the success of the organization.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
4 Scope of Human Resource Management Human resources are undoubtedly the key resources in an organization, the easiest and the most difficult to manage! The objectives of the HRM span right from the manpower needs assessment to management and retention of the same. To this effect Human resource management is responsible for effective designing and implementation of various policies, procedures and programs. It is all about developing and managing knowledge, skills, creativity, aptitude and talent and using them optimally. Human Resource Management is not just limited to manage and optimally exploit human intellect. It also focuses on managing physical and emotional capital of employees. Considering the intricacies involved, the scope of HRM is widening with every passing day. It covers but is not limited to HR planning, hiring (recruitment and selection), training and development, payroll management, rewards and recognitions, Industrial relations, grievance handling, legal procedures etc. In other words, we can say that its about developing and managing harmonious relationships at workplace and striking a balance between organizational goals and individual goals. The scope of HRM is extensive and far-reaching. Therefore, it is very difficult to define it concisely. However, we may classify the same under following heads: HRM in Personnel Management: This is typically direct manpower management that involves manpower planning, hiring (recruitment and selection), training and development, induction and orientation, transfer, promotion, compensation, layoff and retrenchment, employee productivity. The overall objective here is to ascertain individual growth, development and effectiveness which indirectly contribute to organizational development. It also includes performance appraisal, developing new skills, disbursement of wages, incentives, allowances, traveling policies and procedures and other related courses of actions. HRM in Employee Welfare: This particular aspect of HRM deals with working conditions and amenities at workplace. This includes a wide array of responsibilities and services such as safety services, health services, welfare funds, social security and medical services. It also covers appointment of safety officers, making the environment worth working, eliminating workplace hazards, support by top management, job safety, safeguarding machinery, cleanliness, proper ventilation and lighting, sanitation, medical care, sickness benefits, employment injury benefits, personal injury benefits, maternity benefits, unemployment benefits and family benefits. It also relates to supervision, employee counseling, establishing harmonious relationships with employees, education and training. Employee welfare is about determining employees real needs and fulfilling them with active participation of both management and employees. In addition to this, it also takes care of canteen facilities, crches, rest and lunch rooms, housing, transport, medical assistance, education, health and safety, recreation facilities, etc. HRM in Industrial Relations: Since it is a highly sensitive area, it needs careful interactions with labor or employee unions, addressing their grievances and settling the disputes effectively in order to maintain peace and harmony in the organization. It is the art and science of understanding the employment (unionmanagement) relations, joint consultation, disciplinary procedures, solving problems with mutual efforts,
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
5 understanding human behavior and maintaining work relations, collective bargaining and settlement of disputes.
The main aim is to safeguarding the interest of employees by securing the highest level of understanding to the extent that does not leave a negative impact on organization. It is about establishing, growing and promoting industrial democracy to safeguard the interests of both employees and management. The scope of HRM is extremely wide, thus, can not be written concisely. However, for the sake of convenience and developing understanding about the subject, we divide it in three categories mentioned above. Difference between Personnel Management & HRM Many students of management and laypeople often hear the term HRM or Human Resource Management and wonder about the difference between HRM and the traditional term Personnel Management. In earlier times, the Personnel Manager of a factory or firm was the person in charge of ensuring employee welfare and interceding between the management and the employees. In recent times, the term has been replaced with HR manager. This article looks at the differences in usage and scope of functions as well as the underlying theory behind these nomenclatures. In the section on introducing HRM, we briefly looked at the main differences. We shall look into them in more detail here. Personnel Management Traditionally the term personnel management was used to refer to the set of activities concerning the workforce which included staffing, payroll, contractual obligations and other administrative tasks. In this respect, personnel management encompasses the range of activities that are to do with managing the workforce rather than resources. Personnel Management is more administrative in nature and the Personnel Managers main job is to ensure that the needs of the workforce as they pertain to their immediate concerns are taken care of. Further, personnel managers typically played the role of mediators between the management and the employees and hence there was always the feeling that personnel management was not in tune with the objectives of the management. Human Resource Management With the advent of resource centric organizations in recent decades, it has become imperative to put people first as well as secure management objectives of maximizing the ROI (Return on Investment) on the resources. This has led to the development of the modern HRM function which is primarily concerned with ensuring the fulfillment of management objectives and at the same time ensuring that the needs of the resources are taken care of. In this way, HRM differs from personnel management not only in its broader scope but also in the way in which its mission is defined. HRM goes beyond the administrative tasks of personnel management and encompasses a broad vision of how management would like the resources to contribute to the success of the organization. Personnel Management and HRM: A Paradigm Shift ?
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
6 Cynics might point to the fact that whatever term we use, it is finally about managing people. The answer to this would be that the way in which people are managed says a lot about the approach that the firm is taking. For instance, traditional manufacturing units had personnel managers whereas the services firms have HR managers. While it is tempting to view Personnel Management as archaic and HRM as modern, we have to recognize the fact that each serves or served the purpose for which they were instituted. Personnel Management was effective in the smokestack era and HRM is effective in the 21st century and this definitely reflects a paradigm shift in the practice of managing people. Conclusion It is clear from the above paragraphs that HRM denotes a shift in focus and strategy and is in tune with the needs of the modern organization. HRM concentrates on the planning, monitoring and control aspects of resources whereas Personnel Management was largely about mediating between the management and employees. Many experts view Personnel Management as being workforce centered whereas HRM is resource centered. In conclusion, the differences between these two terms have to be viewed through the prism of people management through the times and in context of the industry that is being studied. PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT Personnel management can be defined as obtaining, using and maintaining a satisfied workforce. It is a significant part of management concerned with employees at work and with their relationship within the organization. According to Flippo, Personnel management is the planning, organizing, compensation, integration and maintainance of people for the purpose of contributing to organizational, individual and societal goals. According to Brech, Personnel Management is that part which is primarily concerned with human resource of organization. Nature of Personnel Management Personnel management includes the function of employment, development and compensation- These functions are performed primarily by the personnel management in consultation with other departments. Personnel management is an extension to general management. It is concerned with promoting and stimulating competent work force to make their fullest contribution to the concern. Personnel management exist to advice and assist the line managers in personnel matters. Therefore, personnel department is a staff department of an organization. Personnel management lays emphasize on action rather than making lengthy schedules, plans, work methods. The problems and grievances of people at work can be solved more effectively through rationale personnel policies. It is based on human orientation. It tries to help the workers to develop their potential fully to the concern. It also motivates the employees through its effective incentive plans so that the employees provide fullest co-operation.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
Personnel management deals with human resources of a concern. In context to human resources, it manages both individual as well as blue- collar workers. Role of Personnel Manager Personnel manager is the head of personnel department. He performs both managerial and operative functions of management. His role can be summarized as : Personnel manager provides assistance to top management- The top management are the people who decide and frame the primary policies of the concern. All kinds of policies related to personnel or workforce can be framed out effectively by the personnel manager. He advices the line manager as a staff specialist- Personnel manager acts like a staff advisor and assists the line managers in dealing with various personnel matters. As a counsellor,- As a counsellor, personnel manager attends problems and grievances of employees and guides them. He tries to solve them in best of his capacity. Personnel manager acts as a mediator- He is a linking pin between management and workers. He acts as a spokesman- Since he is in direct contact with the employees, he is required to act as representative of organization in committees appointed by government. He represents company in training programmes. Functions of Personnel Management Following are the four functions of Personnel Management: Manpower Planning Recruitment Selection Training and Development Following are the elements of Personnel Management: Organization- Organization is said to be the framework of many activities taking place in view of goals available in a concern. An organization can be called as a physical framework of various interrelated activities. Right from manpower planning to employees maintainance, all activities take place within this framework. The nature of the organization is dependent upon its goal. The business concern goal being profit- making. Clubs, hospitals, schools,etc. their goal being service. The objective of consultancy being providing sound advice. Therefore, it is organizational structure on which the achievement of goals of an enterprise depends upon. In personnel management, a manager has therefore to understand the importance of organizational structure. Job- The second element, i.e., jobs tell us the activities to be performed in the organization. It is said that the goals of an enterprise can be achieved only through the functional department in it. Therefore, seeing
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
8 the size of organization today, the nature of activities are changing. In addition to the three primary departments, personnel and research department are new additions. Various types of jobs available are : Physical jobs Creative jobs Proficiency jobs Intellectual jobs Consultancy jobs Technical jobs People- The last and foremost element in personnel management is people. In a organizational structure, where the main aim is to achieve the goals, the presence of manpower becomes vital. Therefore, in order to achieve departmental goals, different kinds of people with different skills are appointed. People form the most important element because : The organizational structure is meaningless without it. It helps to achieve the goals of the enterprise. It helps in manning the functional areas. It helps in achieving the functional departmental goals. They make a concern operational. They give life to a physical organization. The different types of people which are generally required in a concern are : Physically fit people Creative people Intellectuals Technical people Proficient and skilled people In personnel management, a personnel manager has to understand the relationship of the three elements and their importance in organization. He has to understand basically three relationships:Relationship between organization and job Relationship between job and people Relationship between people and organization. Relationship between organization and job helps making a job effective and significant. Relationship between job and people makes the job itself important. Relationship between people and organization gives due importance to organizational structure and the role of people in it.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
Manpower Planning / Human Resource Planning

Manpower Planning which is also called as Human Resource Planning consists of putting right number of people, right kind of people at the right place, right time, doing the right things for which they are suited for the achievement of goals of the organization. Human Resource Planning has got an important place in the arena of industrialization. Human Resource Planning has to be a systems approach and is carried out in a set procedure. The procedure is as follows: Analysing the current manpower inventory Making future manpower forecasts Developing employment programmes Design training programmes Steps in Manpower Planning Analysing the current manpower inventory- Before a manager makes forecast of future manpower, the current manpower status has to be analysed. For this the following things have to be notedType of organization Number of departments Number and quantity of such departments Employees in these work units Once these factors are registered by a manager, he goes for the future forecasting. Making future manpower forecasts- Once the factors affecting the future manpower forecasts are known, planning can be done for the future manpower requirements in several work units. The Manpower forecasting techniques commonly employed by the organizations are as follows: Expert Forecasts: This includes informal decisions, formal expert surveys and Delphi technique. Trend Analysis: Manpower needs can be projected through extrapolation (projecting past trends), indexation (using base year as basis), and statistical analysis (central tendency measure). Work Load Analysis: It is dependent upon the nature of work load in a department, in a branch or in a division. Work Force Analysis: Whenever production and time period has to be analysed, due allowances have to be made for getting net manpower requirements. Other methods: Several Mathematical models, with the aid of computers are used to forecast manpower needs, like budget and planning analysis, regression, new venture analysis.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
10 Developing employment programmes- Once the current inventory is compared with future forecasts, the employment programmes can be framed and developed accordingly, which will include recruitment, selection procedures and placement plans. Design training programmes- These will be based upon extent of diversification, expansion plans, development programmes,etc. Training programmes depend upon the extent of improvement in technology and advancement to take place. It is also done to improve upon the skills, capabilities, knowledge of the workers. Importance of Manpower Planning Key to managerial functions- The four managerial functions, i.e., planning, organizing, directing and controlling are based upon the manpower. Human resources help in the implementation of all these managerial activities. Therefore, staffing becomes a key to all managerial functions. Efficient utilization- Efficient management of personnels becomes an important function in the industrialization world of today. Seting of large scale enterprises require management of large scale manpower. It can be effectively done through staffing function. Motivation- Staffing function not only includes putting right men on right job, but it also comprises of motivational programmes, i.e., incentive plans to be framed for further participation and employment of employees in a concern. Therefore, all types of incentive plans becomes an integral part of staffing function. Better human relations- A concern can stabilize itself if human relations develop and are strong. Human relations become strong trough effective control, clear communication, effective supervision and leadership in a concern. Staffing function also looks after training and development of the work force which leads to co-operation and better human relations. Higher productivity- Productivity level increases when resources are utilized in best possible manner. higher productivity is a result of minimum wastage of time, money, efforts and energies.This is possible through the staffing and it's related activities ( Performance appraisal, training and development, remuneration) Need of Manpower Planning
Manpower Planning is a two-phased process because manpower planning not only analyses the current human resources but also makes manpower forecasts and thereby draw employment programmes. Manpower Planning is advantageous to firm in following manner: Shortages and surpluses can be identified so that quick action can be taken wherever required. All the recruitment and selection programmes are based on manpower planning. It also helps to reduce the labour cost as excess staff can be identified and thereby overstaffing can be avoided. It also helps to identify the available talents in a concern and accordingly training programmes can be chalked out to develop those talents.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
11 It helps in growth and diversification of business. Through manpower planning, human resources can be readily available and they can be utilized in best manner. It helps the organization to realize the importance of manpower management which ultimately helps in the stability of a concern. Obstacles in Manpower Planning Following are the main obstacles that organizations face in the process of manpower planning: Under Utilization of Manpower: The biggest obstacle in case of manpower planning is the fact that the industries in general are not making optimum use of their manpower and once manpower planning begins, it encounters heavy odds in stepping up the utilization. Degree of Absenteeism: Absenteeism is quite high and has been increasing since last few years. Lack of Education and Skilled Labour: The extent of illetracy and the slow pace of development of the skilled categories account for low productivity in employees. Low productivity has implications for manpower planning. Manpower Control and Review: Any increase in manpower is considered at the top level of management On the basis of manpower plans, personnel budgets are prepared. These act as control mechanisms to keep the manpower under certain broadly defined limits. The productivity of any organization is usually calculated using the formula: Productivity = Output / Input. But a rough index of employee productivity is calculated as follows: Employee Productivity = Total Production / Total no. of employees Exit Interviews, the rate of turnover and rate of absenteesim are source of vital information on the satisfaction level of manpower. For conservation of Human Resources and better utilization of men studying these condition, manpower control would have to take into account the data to make meaningful analysis. Extent of Overtime: The amount of overtime paid may be due to real shortage of men, ineffective management or improper utilization of manpower. Manpower control would require a careful study of overtime statistics. Few Organizations do not have sufficient records and information on manpower. Several of those who have them do not have a proper retrieval system. There are complications in resolving the issues in design, definition and creation of computerized personnel information system for effective manpower planning and utilization. Even the existing technologies in this respect is not optimally used. This is a strategic disadvantage.
Types of Recruitment
Recruitment is of 2 types Internal Recruitment - is a recruitment which takes place within the concern or organization. Internal sources of recruitment are readily available to an organization. Internal sources are primarily three Transfers, promotions and Re-employment of ex-employees. Internal recruitment may lead to increase in
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
12 employees productivity as their motivation level increases. It also saves time, money and efforts. But a drawback of internal recruitment is that it refrains the organization from new blood. Also, not all the manpower requirements can be met through internal recruitment. Hiring from outside has to be done. Internal sources are primarily 3 Transfers Promotions (through Internal Job Postings) and Re-employment of ex-employees - Re-employment of ex-employees is one of the internal sources of recruitment in which employees can be invited and appointed to fill vacancies in the concern. There are situations when ex-employees provide unsolicited applications also. External Recruitment - External sources of recruitment have to be solicited from outside the organization. External sources are external to a concern. But it involves lot of time and money. The external sources of recruitment include - Employment at factory gate, advertisements, employment exchanges, employment agencies, educational institutes, labour contractors, recommendations etc. Employment at Factory Level - This a source of external recruitment in which the applications for vacancies are presented on bulletin boards outside the Factory or at the Gate. This kind of recruitment is applicable generally where factory workers are to be appointed. There are people who keep on soliciting jobs from one place to another. These applicants are called as unsolicited applicants. These types of workers apply on their own for their job. For this kind of recruitment workers have a tendency to shift from one factory to another and therefore they are called as badli workers. Advertisement - It is an external source which has got an important place in recruitment procedure. The biggest advantage of advertisement is that it covers a wide area of market and scattered applicants can get information from advertisements. Medium used is Newspapers and Television. Employment Exchanges - There are certain Employment exchanges which are run by government. Most of the government undertakings and concerns employ people through such exchanges. Now-a-days recruitment in government agencies has become compulsory through employment exchange. Employment Agencies - There are certain professional organizations which look towards recruitment and employment of people, i.e. these private agencies run by private individuals supply required manpower to needy concerns. Educational Institutions - There are certain professional Institutions which serves as an external source for recruiting fresh graduates from these institutes. This kind of recruitment done through such educational institutions, is called as Campus Recruitment. They have special recruitment cells which helps in providing jobs to fresh candidates. Recommendations - There are certain people who have experience in a particular area. They enjoy goodwill and a stand in the company. There are certain vacancies which are filled by recommendations of such people. The biggest drawback of this source is that the company has to rely totally on such people which can later on prove to be inefficient.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
13 Labour Contractors - These are the specialist people who supply manpower to the Factory or Manufacturing plants. Through these contractors, workers are appointed on contract basis, i.e. for a particular time period. Under conditions when these contractors leave the organization, such people who are appointed have to also leave the concern.
Employee Selection Process

Employee Selection is the process of putting right men on right job. It is a procedure of matching organizational requirements with the skills and qualifications of people. Effective selection can be done only when there is effective matching. By selecting best candidate for the required job, the organization will get quality performance of employees. Moreover, organization will face less of absenteeism and employee turnover problems. By selecting right candidate for the required job, organization will also save time and money. Proper screening of candidates takes place during selection procedure. All the potential candidates who apply for the given job are tested. But selection must be differentiated from recruitment, though these are two phases of employment process. Recruitment is considered to be a positive process as it motivates more of candidates to apply for the job. It creates a pool of applicants. It is just sourcing of data. While selection is a negative process as the inappropriate candidates are rejected here. Recruitment precedes selection in staffing process. Selection involves choosing the best candidate with best abilities, skills and knowledge for the required job. The Employee selection Process takes place in following orderPreliminary Interviews- It is used to eliminate those candidates who do not meet the minimum eligiblity criteria laid down by the organization. The skills, academic and family background, competencies and interests of the candidate are examined during preliminary interview. Preliminary interviews are less formalized and planned than the final interviews. The candidates are given a brief up about the company and the job profile; and it is also examined how much the candidate knows about the company. Preliminary interviews are also called screening interviews. Application blanks- The candidates who clear the preliminary interview are required to fill application blank. It contains data record of the candidates such as details about age, qualifications, reason for leaving previous job, experience, etc. Written Tests- Various written tests conducted during selection procedure are aptitude test, intelligence test, reasoning test, personality test, etc. These tests are used to objectively assess the potential candidate. They should not be biased. Employment Interviews- It is a one to one interaction between the interviewer and the potential candidate. It is used to find whether the candidate is best suited for the required job or not. But such interviews consume time and money both. Moreover the competencies of the candidate cannot be judged. Such interviews may be biased at times. Such interviews should be conducted properly. No distractions should be there in room. There should be an honest communication between candidate and interviewer. Medical examination- Medical tests are conducted to ensure physical fitness of the potential employee. It will decrease chances of employee absenteeism.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
14 Appointment Letter- A reference check is made about the candidate selected and then finally he is appointed by giving a formal appointment letter.
HR Planning
Human resources (HR) planning HR planning is one of key function in HR management. HR planning include subs as follows: 1. HR forecasting. 2. Analyze existing HR of corporate/organizations 3. Build a HR plan for short-term and long-term. 4. Competency mapping
Competency Mapping
What are competencies? Competencies are the human capabilities and work-related behaviors that provide a competitive advantageto an organization. What is competency mapping? Competency Mapping is a process of identify key competencies for an organization and/or a job and incorporating those competencies throughout the various processes of the organization. Types of competencies Knowledge: Information and understanding needed to fulfill the responsibilities. Skills: Acquired ability or experience needed to fulfill the responsibilities. Attitudes: Way of thinking or behaving needed to fulfill the responsibilities. Aptitudes: Natural ability that prepares the person to fulfill the responsibilities. Methods of conducting competency mapping In Basket Exercises Stress Interviews Structured Group Discussion Psychometric Tests Case Studies Peer Coaching & Counseling Exercises Focused Behavioral Event Interview Presentation Vision / Strategy Speeches Leaderless Group Exercises Role Play Business Games
HR Scorecard
1. Balanced scorecard A balanced score card means achievement of balance in 4 aspects in an organization as follows: 1.1 Financial aspect: to succeed financially how should we appear to our shareholders.. how it contributes to profit. 1.2 Customer aspect: to achieve organization vision how should we appear to customerstheir expectations and how much we are successful in meeting it.. It covers market share, customer acquisition, customer retention and satisfaction, customer loyalty, customer profitability 1.3 Internal Business Process: What are the business process should we excel at in attaining growth. It includes CRM,SCM, post sale service process etc. 1.4 Learning and growth: to achieve aim how is the organization sustaining and the ability to change and improvementIt concerns with employee capabilities, IS capabilities, organizational climate for employee motivation, challenging status quo
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
15 2. HR scorecard HR scorecard include components as follows: 2.1 Financial Perspective This perspective tries to answer questions relating to the financial measures that demonstrate how people and the HR function add value to the organization. This might include arriving at the value of the human assets and total people expenses for the company. Examples Compensation and benefits per employee. HR expenses per employee. Turnover cost. Profit per employee. Cost of injuries 2.2 Strategic Perspective. It is the results of strategic initiatives managed by the HR group. The strategic perspective focuses on the measurement of the effectiveness of major strategy-linked people goals. Examples HR budget / actual. HR annual resource plan. Change management capability of the organization Skills/ competency level 2.3.Operational Perspective the operational tasks at which HR must excel. This piece of the Balanced Scorecardprovides answers to queries about the effectiveness and efficiency in running HR processes that are vital to the organization. Examples include measuring HR processes in terms of cost, quality and cycle time such as time to fill vacancies. Examples Training cost per employee Training hours per employee Average employee tenure in the company Lost time due to injuries Time taken to fill vacancies Cost per recruitment promotions Absenteeism by job category Accident costs Accident safety ratings 2.4.Customer Perspective This focuses on the effectiveness of HR from the internal customer viewpoint. Are the customers of HR satisfied with their service; are service level agreements met; do the customers think they can get better service elsewhere? Conducting an HR customer survey might typically arrive at this. Examples Employee perception of the HRM Employee perception of the company , as an employer Customer/market perception of the company, as an employer. 6. HR strategy HR strategy Building HR strategies of key factors in HR planning. (HR management). You can ref all information about HR strategies as below. 1. HR Environmental analysis 2. Internal HR analysis.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
16 3. Identify vision, objectives of company/organization. 4. Building HR strategies: Recruitment strategies HR development strategies HR retention strategies Business strategies and HR strategies 7. Job analysis Job analysis is one of key functions inhuman resources management. 8. Job descriptions 9. Job specifications 10. Person specification 11. KSA model 12. Job design 13. HR audit 14. HR checklists
Human Resources Policies

Building HR policies are one of important activity in HR management. You can ref HR policy samples as follows. If you have any ideas, please take some time to leave your comments at box at the end of this topic. 1. Recruitment and selection Recruitment policy Employment category Sexual harassment policy Probation policy Equal employment opportunity policy 2. Training and development 3. Compensation and benefits Leave policy Bereavement leave policy Adoption leave policy Paternity Leave policy Maternity leave policy Loan policy Working time policy Vacation policy Holiday policy Sick leave policy Overtime policy 4. Health and safety Health and safety policy Smoking policy Visitor policy Corporate security policy Alcohol and drug policy Discipline policy Computer policy Email policy
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
17 Internet use policy Cell phone policy Grievance policy 5. Employee relations Communication policy Problem resolution policy Personal appearance policy Conflicts of interest policy
Recruitment And Selection

Recruitment and selection Recruitment and selection is one of key function in HR management. You can ref more information aboutRecruitment and selection by topic as follows: 1. Recruitment Recruitment methods Recruitment plan Recruitment process Recruitment forms Recruitment tips Recruitment KPI 2. Employee selection Selection process 13 Selection methods Test methods 10 Interview methods Interview process Interview forms Over 1000 sample interview questions 3. Hiring Hiring process. Probationary procedure Hiring forms New employee training Induction program Recruitment Methods Recruitment can conduct by 9 methods as follows: 1. Recruitment by Campus method Campus is the location of a university, college, or schools main buildings. This method is based on recruitment at university, colleges 2. Recruitment by Job centers Job centers often specialize inrecruitment for specific sectors. They usually provide a shortlist of candidates based on the people registered with the agency. They also supply temporary or interim employees. 3. Head hunting. Head hunting are recruitment agents who provide a more specialized approach to therecruitment of key employees and/or senior management.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
18 4. Recruitment by Advertisements They can be found in many places such as: Newspaper Job posting on job sites Ads on websites related to positions recruited. 5. Database search on job sites. Company can buy data from job websites for a week or a month to search candidates. 6. Employee referral This method often refer to as word of mouth and can be a recommendation from a colleague at work. 7. Contract staffing. Company can buy staffing contract from HR outsourcing. 8. Word-of-mouth recruitment 9. Free online ads You can post your recruitment ads at free websites such as forums, blogs 10. Internal recruitment Internal recruitment can conduct by types of: Present permanent employees (based on programs of career development). Present temporary / casual employees. Retired employees. Dependents of deceased disabled, retired and present employees.
Recruitment Plan
This is sample example of recruitmentplan 1. Quantity of recruitment Identify number of employee / staff recruited per department Design a table with columns: No, department, Position, Number ofemployee, date got new employee, remarks 2. Design of recruitment materials Testing tools for the above positions are available? If not, company should have plan to fulfill above materials Job description of the above positions are available? 3. Sources of recruitment You should design a table with columns: No, position, channel, budget, who follow?, remark You can identify recruitment sources by internal or external What are channels for recruitment? You should identify suitable channel for each position. 4. Selection plan Who receive CVs? and when do? Who review CVs? and when do? Who organize to check professional and skills of candidate? and when do? Who interview? and when do? Who make final decision? and when do? You should design a table with columns: No, working contents, who follow, who support, date, remark. 5. Recruitment budget Identify what is budget of this recruitment. 6. Notes (if any) Sign:
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
19 Make byHR ManagerCEO
Recruitment Process
1. Objectives of recruitment process The recruitment process has the following objectives: To ensure that the recruitment is as per the company expectations. (e.g time, skills, etc.,) To attract sufficient applications from potential candidates with the required skills, qualities, experience, and competencies deemed as being necessary to the job. To develop and maintain processes which will assist in ensuring the appointment of the most suitable candidate. 2. Recruitment Process 2.1. Getting Recruitment Request Need to hire a resource can be due to any of the following instances: Non-availability of existing resource to fulfill a new requirement. Replace an existing resource Vacancy created due to the resignation of a existing resource Recruitment as backup resource Other reasons as deemed fit by the CEO and Senior Management A recruitment request has the job specifications detailing the job title, mandatory skills, desired skills, responsibilities, location, start date, and approximate end date of the assignment. 2.2. Make recruitment plan Based on recruitment requests, HR dept make recruitment plan and send to Director for approval. Recruitment plan, including the: Number of employees need to recruit. Job descriptions. Recruitment Sources. Checking Plan for candidates. Budget of recruitment 2.3 Researching of workforce market HR dept need to regularly study the labor market to determine the recruitmentchannels appropriate to each audience. The following factors need to be considered when studying the labor market Ability to provide. Time to provide fast or slow. Cost. Suitable audiences. Based on the requirements of recruitment, HR should propose suitable channels. 2.4 Contact recruitment agencies Based on the channel recruitment approved, HR dept conduct to contact recruitmentchannels to: Determining costs. Determining when recruitment ads are posted. Conducting procedures with recruitment agents such as contracts and payment. 2.5 Issue recruitment ads HR dept should: Design recruitment ads. In some cases, it must be sent to director for approval. Post information to recruiting agents or post to free recruitment channels.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
20 HR manger should check the information which was posted to ensure conformity with the requirements set out. 2.6 Take care of candidates Candidates often call or email to inquire information of recruitment, and HR dept need to build up information channels to answer the requirements of candidates. 2.7 Receiving CVs from candidates After receiving CVs, HR dept perform the next step in the process of selecting candidates.
Selection Process
Selection process include steps from receiving CVs from candidates to interview. Before selection process isrecruitment process. After selection process is hiring process. Steps of selection process include: 1. Get CVs from candidates Resumes are obtained from a variety of sources that include extensive database of company, internet job boards, job fairs, employee referrals, and direct recruitment All applicants are invited to either e-mail or telephone for finishing application form. 2. Pre-check CVs and make short-list candidates After receiving CVs, HR dept check records of candidates by the standards of the company. Potential applicants are screened via telephone, in order to confirm their relevant skills, experience, and availability. After testing is complete, HR dept make a list of potential candidates to prepare for the test below. For some key positions, you can a survey to related people of candidate about candidates background. Unqualified CVs should be kept carefully for the next recruitment. 3. Written Exams The forms of examination can be: English. Computer and internet. Professional knowledge and skills. For the candidates who have to make test, HR dept associate with line managers build system of questions then moved to director for approval. Pursuant to bank of questions, recruitment staff conducted written exams. 4. Interviews Interviews are normally conducted by a panel which will include the line manager, an HR Representative and perhaps more senior members of the Department or Faculty. In some cases, there may be second or even third interviews. Some interviews may need to be conducted by telephone. The interviews include interviews of personnel manager with department heads and interviewed by the director. Before each interview, the company must call or send invitation letter to candidates. 5. Hiring decision After the interview is finished, HR dept perform the next step is the hiring process. HR dept should send letter of notice to candidates who does not meet the requirements.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
21
Selection Methods
I/ Selection methods: 1. Interview methods This is most popular methods of selection. You can use 10 methods of interview to select candidates. 2. Application Forms and CVs This method is used to review all records of candidates such asApplication form, CVs, Certificates 3. References Involves assessment of an individual by a third party, usually a former work colleagueor boss. 4. Work Sample Work samples involve an individual or group of candidates completing exercises that they would be required to undertake as part of the position. 5. Test methods Test methods include Ability testing, Aptitude testing, Personality test 6. Assessment Centres Assessment centres provide an opportunity to review and assess the performance and ability of candidates in a variety of ways including individual and group exercises, case studies, role- plays, and presentations. 7. Presentations method Presentations is a method of recruitment and selection. The applicant is provided with a topic and given a timeframe to deliver a presentation on that topic. 8. Group discussion Group discussion is a method of recruitment and selection. It include 3-5 candidateswho discuss about a topic or some ones given by employer. 9. Online screening and shortlisting It review, screen candidates s knowledge, skills by online checking. 10. Biodata With an increase of CVs in internet, applications have become more and more similar so that biodata (biographical data) forms have been developed to identify selection of people that are similar to those high performers already in the organization. 11. Informal meetings Informal meetings can be used as a way of observing a candidates behavior in a less formal environment, such as lunches or morning tea, cafes. 12. Graphology The essence of graphology is that analysts claim to be able to describe an individuals personality from a sample of their handwriting. Their theoretical basis is that of trait psychology, which holds that personality has a number of fixed dimensions which are relatively unchangeable and do not depend on the situation. 13. Astrology This is a method used mainly in Asia area. II/ Choice of selection method Choice depends on: Practicability: The costs incurred etc. Reliability: Whether the result varies from day-to-day. Validity: Whether the activity measures what is sought. Sensitivity: The measure of differentiation between candidates.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
22
Test Methods
1. Psychometric tests Psychometric means that a mental measure is used. Therefore,psychometric testing covers: 1.1 Ability testing. 1.2 Aptitude testing (over 300 Aptitude test questions) 1.3 Personality test. 2. Knowledge and skills testing These tests are designed to test knowledge and skills of candidates. This method is suitable for workers and staffs not for management positions. 3. Social and economic testing These tests are designed to test social and economic of candidates. This method is suitable for workers and staffs not for management positions. Psychometric Test 1. What is psychometric tests? This term is often called a mental measure. Therefore, psychometric testing covers ability testing, aptitudetesting and personality testing. Psychometric tests aim to measure attributes like intelligence, aptitudeand personality. 2. Types of psychometric tests 2.1 Ability tests. 2.2 Aptitude tests 2.3 Personality tests. 3. Conditions of a psychometric test Objective: The score must not affected by the testers beliefs or values. Standardized: It must be administered under controlled conditions. Reliable: It must minimize and quantify any intrinsic errors. Predictive: It must make an accurate prediction of performance. Non discriminatory: It must not disadvantage any group on the basis of gender, culture, ethnicity
Ability Test
1. What is ability test? Ability is the having inherent physical or mental ability or capacity; able to learn; able to lift This method also called general mental ability tests or general intelligence tests. Tips to search more definitions You can use structures as below for search engines such as: Google, Yahoo, Bing. What is (are) + keyword; define:keyword (no space). We would like to be received your ideas or other definitions from you and we will update your personal information in this post. Thank in advance! 2. Methods of ability test General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB). Ravens Progressive Matrices. Wonderlic Personnel Test. ACER Advanced Tests (eg. AL-AQ, BL-BQ, B40).
Aptitude Tests
Aptitude tests Aptitude test definition of nde.state.ne.us a test used to predict future performance in a given activity, intended to predict success in some occupation or training course (Cronbach, 1984). Cp. achievement test. Aptitude test definition of caps.uss.ualberta.ca
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
23 A standardized test designed to measure a persons skill and/or knowledge in a specific area. This type of test is often used by employers to test potential employees on their ability to perform a particular task or tasks that they will be asked to do if hired. (ex. keyboarding skills). Apart from that, you also ref over 100 aptitude test questions by topics as follows: 1. Aptitude test questions 2. Career aptitude test 3. Online aptitude test 4. Sales Aptitude Test 5. Example aptitude test 6. Sample aptitude test 7. Attitude test 8. Free online aptitude test 9. Free aptitude test 10. Job aptitude test 11. Verbal ability test 12. General aptitude test
Personality Tests
1. What is personality test ? Personality has a significant role to play in deciding whether candidateshave the enthusiasm and motivation that the employer is looking for. Depend on corporate culture and requirements of jobs, candidate must have some personalities to meetrecruitment requirements of employer. 2. Methods of personality tests Numerous models of personality have been suggested eg. Cattells 16PF; Eysencks EPI; Five-Factor Model. Thus various scales and measures have been developed eg. 16PF; Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI); NEO-PI-R; EPQ-R. 3. Factors of personality tests a. Extraversion / Surgency sociable, gregarious, active If people who score high on this factor, he/she will works in cooperation with others, are talkative, enthusiastic and seek excitement. If people who score low on this factor, he/she can be perceived as cold, difficult to understand, even a bit eccentric. b. Neuroticism /Emotional Stability anxious, depressed, angry People who score high on this factor are alert, anxious, sometimes worried. People who score low on this factor are usually calm, relaxed and rational. They may sometimes be perceived as lazy and incapable of taking things seriously. c. Agreeableness / Like ability courteous, flexible, trusting Those who score high on this factor are usually co-operative, can be submissive, and are concerned with the well-being of others. People who score low on this factor may be challenging, competitive, sometimes even argumentative. d. Conscientiousness careful, thorough, responsible, hard-working People who score high on this factor are usually productive and disciplined and single tasking. People who score low on this factor are often less structured, less productive, but can be more flexible, inventive, and capable of multitasking. e. Openness / Intellectance imaginative, cultured, curious People who score high on this factor are neophile and curious and sometimes unrealistic. People who score low on this factor are down-to-earth and practical and sometimes obstructive of change.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
24
Interview Process
I/ INTERVIEW ROUNDS 1. First-Round Interview The first-round interview is an in-depth conversation between HR dept andcandidates to check basic requirements of experience and skills relate to jobspecification. 2. Second interviews This round is conducted between line manager, HR manager and candidates to check background and technical competencies of candidate. 3. Final interview This round usually conduct between director and candidate. This round also include discussion about compensations and benefits. II/ INTERVIEW PROCESS: 1. Before the Interview Inform interview plan to all participants Prepare all interview forms, equipment, book interview room. Determine your options which skills are vital as opposed to convenient. If other people are going to be involved in the interview process, make sure they have taken the time to prepare for the interview. Have detailed information about the candidate. Each person should have a couple of overlap questions to provide insight on the prospective employees responses. Have company information available for candidates. Allow plenty of time for the interview. 2. During the Interview Interview the person. Tell the candidate what to expect in the hiring process. Tell them your expectations: experience expected, career advancement, training, duties the direction the department is headed in. Show the candidate where they would fit into the organization. Ask questions that are, broad, job-related, objective, meaningful, direct, clear, open-ended, understood & related. Be open and honest with the candidate. Dont talk money. 3. Closing the Interview Insure that you and the candidate have concluded on common ground. Review the next steps with a clear and honest timetable (and stick to it). Be friendly and honest to the end of the interview; dont give false encouragement or go into details for rejection. Ask if she/he has any other questions. At the end of the interview, if you are interested in the candidate, let them know. 4. After the Interview Rate the applicant on a 1-5 scale as a potential employee. Discuss the candidates reaction and interest. Take time to update the next person in the interview process. Second Interview 1. Purpose of second interview An interviewer conduct first interviewsto screen candidates based on general qualifications. From the selectedcandidates he or she then applies further screening methods, at a secondinterview, to find out their specific qualities and cultural fits.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
25 In the second interview, the employer is trying to find 1-3 qualified candidatesfrom the shortlist candidates. 2. Interview methods. Second interviews are often panel interviews or are a series of several meetings with individuals or small groups. 3. Contents of second interview Focus on experience and skills, not focus on knowledge. Salary and benefits 4. Types of interview questions These questions may be typical tough questions (e.g., why should we hire you?) or they may involve specifics about technical skills or soft skills (e.g., conflict management). Final Interview 1. Overview of final interview Interviews are usually conducted between the recruiting authorities (director) and candidates. A full checking records should send to director by HR dept before interviewing. 2. Purpose of final interview Check candidate background at final time. Negotiate salary, compensations, benefits and other conditions at labor contract. 3. Contents of final interview Employers usually check family situation of candidate. Corporate culture Benefits of candidates. Salary negotiation
Interview Methods
1. What is candidate interview? The interview process is formed through identification of the key requirements of the job and a list of questions is drawn up. A panel of interviewers works through each set of questions with each candidate and scores them on their answers. 2. When we use interview? Often acts as the final phase of a selection process, after short-listing ofcandidates has occurred. We can use 10 methods of interviews as follows: Unstructured Interviews 1. What is unstructured interview? Unstructured interview are a method of interviews where questions can be changed to meet the respondentsintelligence, understanding. It is designed to use questions based on the candidates responses. Unlike a structured interview they do not offer a limited, pre-set range of answers for a respondent to choose. 2. Advantages of unstructured interviews Unstructured interviews are good in the initial stages of the project as they provide a general understanding of the problem. Permit full exploration of ideals and beliefs. It is more like a conversation and the interviewee is relaxed. 3. Disadvantages of unstructured interviews The information from the expert may be vast and too unrelated for the engineer to unravel. There is a temptation on the part of the expert to discuss more unusual and different areas that he/she deals with, whereas the primary purpose of the interview is to concentrate on the central issues.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
26 They also tend to be time consuming and difficult to analyze, so it is usual to move to a structured interview or special method once the knowledge engineer is reasonably sure of his/her ground. Attention not focused on a given issue. Very little factual information is provided. Less details provided on general concepts and objects. Structured interview 1. What is structured interview? The interviewer has a standard set / sequence of questions that are asked of all candidates. Interviewers read the questions exactly as they appear on the surveyquestionnaire. The choice of answers to the questions is often fixed (close-ended) in advance, though open-ended questions can also be included within a structured interview. This makes it easier for the interviewer to evaluate and compare candidates fairly. 2. Purposes of structured interview The aim of this approach is to ensure that each interviewee is presented with exactly the same questions in the same order. This ensures that answers can be reliably aggregated and that comparisons can be made with confidence between sample subgroups or between different survey periods. 3. Contents of structured interview Instructions to conduct comprehensive and consistent interviews to ensure the best person is hired. Basic entry level test with answer key and scoring sheets. Interview questions specifically for health care mechanics. Job descriptions for three levels of health care maintenance work. Evaluation matrix to score each potential candidate. 4. Advantages of structured interview Provides insight into declarative knowledge used. Study of one concept can lead to the definition of other unknown related concepts. Maintains a focus on a given issue. Provides detailed information on the issue. Provides structural relationships of concepts. 5. Disadvantages of structured interview Concepts unrelated to the interviews focus may not be found. You must be secure in your understanding of the important issues to direct the interview. Provides only weak insight into procedural knowledge such as rules or problem-solving strategies. Screening Interview 1. What is screening interview? Screening interviews are generallyconducted when an employer has a large applicants which they want to narrow down to a more manageable number. The screening interview is usually the first formal step in the interviewprocess. 2. How to conduct screening interview? Screening interviews are usually done by Phone interview Face-to-face interview Chat interview 3. Characteristic of screening interview Tend to be very short. Questions will focus on basic qualifications. These interviews are usually quick, efficient. These interviews save time and money by eliminating unqualified candidates.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
27 4. Results of screening interview Interviewer should ask questions about key requirements to candidates. Output of screening interview is a short list of qualified candidates. Behavioral Interview Behavioral Interview: 1. What is behavioral interview? In behavioral interviews, candidatesare asked to explain their skills, experience, activities etc as examples of your past behavior. 2. Purpose of behavioral interview The purpose of this type of interview is to predict future based on pastexperiences. Standard interviews typically have a 10% predictive value in predicting the future success of an applicant 3. Sample behavioral interview questions Describe the project or situation which best demonstrates your analytical abilities. What was your role? Give a specific example of a time when you had to address an angry customer. What was the problem and what was the outcome? Describe a situation in which you were able to effectively read another person and guide your actions by your understanding of their individual needs or values. Discuss an important decision you have made regarding a task or project at work. What factors influenced your decision? Have you ever been caught unaware by a problem or obstacles that you had not foreseen? What happened? Have you ever been in a situation where you had to settle an argument between two friends (or people you knew)? What did you do? What was the result? Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things your way. Did you have a strategic plan? How was it developed? How did you communicate it to the rest of your staff? Describe a situation when you had to exercise a significant amount of self-control. Stress Interview 1. What is stress interview? The stress interview is designed to find applicants who can handle stress, and handle it well. 2. Why we use stress interview? For some position, jobholder have to work under high pressure so that employer need checking this ability of candidate. 3. How to conduct stress interview? The interviewer may try to stresscandidates in one of several ways such as: Disagreement Conflict Contradictions Argument Hostility Pressure Aggression and intimidation Criticism
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
28 Situational Interview 1. What is a situational interview? A situational interview utilizes hypothetical events in the form of a question. Candidates are asked how they would react if they encountered that event. This type of interview is most often used with college graduates who do not have as much past work experience. In situational interviewing, job-seekers are asked to respond to a specific situation they may face on the job, and some aspects of it are similar to behavioral interviews. 2. Benefits of situational interview This method will help employer check: Analytical skill. Problem-solving skill. Situation-solving skill 3. Relationship of situational interview and behavioral interview Situational interviews are similar to behavioral interviews, except while behavioral focus on a past experience, situational interviews focus on a hypothetical situation. For example In a behavioral interview, the interviewer might ask a question with, Tell me about a time you had to deal with. In a situational interview, the interviewer asks, How would you solve. Phone Interview 1. What is phone interview? Phone interview is a method which is conducted by telephone. 2. When phone interviews is used? Most screening interviews are done by phone interview. A phone interview is also used whencandidates reside in other countries. 3. What phone interviews should dos ? Be well prepared. Use a land line to avoid the possibility of a cell phone call being dropped or poor reception. Ask family members and friends not to disturb you during the interview. Show enthusiasm. Remember that you do not have the advantage of interview body language. Switch your mobile phone off. Switch your computer speaker off. Speak normally or a notch slower. Make sure there is no background music. Switch the front bell off (if you can). Make a list of things to say and of your strengths and keep them handy. Practice a phone interview with a friend. 4. What phone interviews should dont? Never conduct a phone interview in your car you need to focus all your attention onthe interview. Conduct the interview in a quiet private area. No eating, surfing the web, I/M or text messaging during the phone interview Avoid distractions and focus on the interview. Do not smoke, chew gum or drink tea during the interview. Avoid salary discussions in a phone interview. Face To Face Interview
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
29 1. What is face to face interview or one to one interview? Face to Face interview (one to one interview) is most common interview method and just involves interviewer and interviewee alone in a private office. This is also known traditional interview in which job seekers meet the employers in face to face. 2. Advantages of face to face interview Interviewer and candidates can easily display their point of view comfortably. Suitable for low-level candidates. 3. Disadvantages of face to face interview Candidates take a long time because they must participate in several differentinterviews. Group Interview 1. What is group interview ? All the candidates/job seekers will be in the same room during the interview. 2. Topics of group interview: Leadership qualities. Communication with possible team mates. How the candidate will face the public and customers. What level of knowledge candidateshave. How knowledge is used in a discussion. 3. Remarks to group interviews: Show your opinion but let the other candidates speak. Ignore any candidates who are too aggressive or make any personal remarks. Try to avoid getting in one to one conversations. It is always a good idea to have the final statement in a group interview. 4. Output of group interviews: One or two candidates will be chosen. one to one interview should be conducted in next step. Panel Interview 1. What is panel interview? A panel interview is a technique that allows several member of a hiring company to interview a interviewee at the same time. A panel interview include a committeeinterview and one interviewee 2. Who are members of interview team? Hiring manager Line managers Department heads Managers Clients HR personnel Stakeholder representatives 3. Conditions of panel interviews One interviewer should be the leader, and everyone else is in a support position. The panel should include no more than three or four people All member of interview committee must ask question.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
30 4. Advantages of panel interviews You dont make instant judgments about the quality of an answer while the candidate is answering because others are asking for clarifying information. Its a great way for subordinates to meet the candidate without the typical awkwardness. Theyre more objective since there is less personal interaction. Its hard to chit-chat during a panel interview. You have a chance to think more about the candidates responses since youre not the only one asking questions. With a panel interview, youll also see more of the candidates true personality, especially if most of the follow-up questions are about how accomplishments were achieved. It saves time. It only takes three or four people one to two hours to conduct a complete interview versus a whole day. The assessment is more accurate and consistent. Since everyone is using the same information to make an assessment, consistency is achieved. It allows weaker interviewers to be involved. This is especially important if the weaker interviewer is the hiring manager. 5. Disadvantages of panel interviews It is often time consuming and difficult to get the panel together and this delays the hiring process. It can be an expensive exercise. You may find it difficult to reach consensus on the hiring decision due to different views and approaches. 4. Interview purposes a. For candidates: An opportunity to convince the employer of your potential. An opportunity to find out more about the job and the company. An opportunity to expand on the information in application form or resume. b. For the employer: A means to assess your abilities in relation to the requirements of the position, Have you got what they want?. An opportunity to discuss your training, experience, knowledge and abilities in more detail. An opportunity to see what drives and motivates you and to determine whether you will be able to fit in with both the team and the company as a whole.
Orientation and Placement

Once the candidates are selected for the required job, they have to be fitted as per the qualifications. Placement is said to be the process of fitting the selected person at the right job or place, i.e. fitting square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round holes. Once he is fitted into the job, he is given the activities he has to perform and also told about his duties. The freshly appointed candidates are then given orientation in order to familiarize and introduce the company to him. Generally the information given during the orientation programme includes Employees layout Type of organizational structure Departmental goals Organizational layout General rules and regulations
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
31 Standing Orders Grievance system or procedure In short, during Orientation employees are made aware about the mission and vision of the organization, the nature of operation of the organization, policies and programmes of the organization. The main aim of conducting Orientation is to build up confidence, morale and trust of the employee in the new organization, so that he becomes a productive and an efficient employee of the organization and contributes to the organizational success. The nature of Orientation program varies with the organizational size, i.e., smaller the organization the more informal is the Orientation and larger the organization more formalized is the Orientation programme. Proper Placement of employees will lower the chances of employees absenteeism. The employees will be more satisfied and contended with their work.
Training of Employees
Need and Importance of Training Training of employees takes place after orientation takes place. Training is the process of enhancing the skills, capabilities and knowledge of employees for doing a particular job. Training process moulds the thinking of employees and leads to quality performance of employees. It is continuous and never ending in nature. Importance of Training Training is crucial for organizational development and success. It is fruitful to both employers and employees of an organization. An employee will become more efficient and productive if he is trained well. Training is given on four basic grounds: New candidates who join an organization are given training. This training familiarize them with the organizational mission, vision, rules and regulations and the working conditions. The existing employees are trained to refresh and enhance their knowledge. If any updations and amendments take place in technology, training is given to cope up with those changes. For instance, purchasing a new equipment, changes in technique of production, computer implantment. The employees are trained about use of new equipments and work methods. When promotion and career growth becomes important. Training is given so that employees are prepared to share the responsibilities of the higher level job. The benefits of training can be summed up as:
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
32 Improves morale of employees- Training helps the employee to get job security and job satisfaction. The more satisfied the employee is and the greater is his morale, the more he will contribute to organizational success and the lesser will be employee absenteeism and turnover. Less supervision- A well trained employee will be well acquainted with the job and will need less of supervision. Thus, there will be less wastage of time and efforts. Fewer accidents- Errors are likely to occur if the employees lack knowledge and skills required for doing a particular job. The more trained an employee is, the less are the chances of committing accidents in job and the more proficient the employee becomes. Chances of promotion- Employees acquire skills and efficiency during training. They become more eligible for promotion. They become an asset for the organization. Increased productivity- Training improves efficiency and productivity of employees. Well trained employees show both quantity and quality performance. There is less wastage of time, money and resources if employees are properly trained.
Employee Training - Benefits and Steps in Employee Training Programme

Training implies enhancing the skills and knowledge of the employees for performing a specific job. Training tries to improve employees performance in current job and prepares them for future job. The crucial consequence of training is learning. Objectives of Employee Training Programmes To prepare employees to meet the varying and challenging needs of the job and organization To provide knowledge and skills to new entrants and to help them to perform their role and job well. To coach employees for more complex and higher level jobs. To educate employees new and innovative ways and techniques of performing job. Benefits of Trained Employees Training is a significant tool for employee development. Training has assumed great importance because of exceptional rate of change in the internal and external organizational environment. The importance/benefits of trained personnel towards organizational development are as follows Trained employees do not require tight control and supervision as they are well aware of how to perform a job. Trained employees can show higher performance by making optimum and best utilization of the materials, tools, equipments and other resources provided to them. Trained employees minimize wastages of resources in the organization and work both efficiently and effectively. Training makes employees more committed to an organization as the employees are provided with growth, advancement and learning opportunities. Training develops a line of proficient and skilled managers as it prepares employees for complex and higher level tasks. Trained employees adjust to the job better and there are fewer rates of absenteeism and turnover.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
33 Trained employees produce quality and quantity output. Trained employees enable the organization to face competition from rival firms. Trained employees can respond and adapt to the changing technology well. Trained employees become more proficient and, thus, their earning potential increase.
Steps in Employee Training Programme

Training programme involves the following steps: Identifying the training needs- The training needs of each employee should be identified. Programmes should be developed that are best suited to their needs. Prepare the trainer- The trainer must do his home work well. He should know both what to teach and how to teach. Time management is required by the trainer. Training should be delivered in such a manner that the trainee should not loose the interest in the job. Prepare the trainee- The trainee should remain active during training. He should know that why is he being trained. He should put across the trainer questions and doubts. The trainee should be put at ease during the training programme. Explain and demonstrate the operations- The trainer should explain the logical sequence of the job. The trainee should perform the job systematically and explain the complete job he is performing. His mistakes should be rectified and the complex step should be done for him once. When the trainee demonstrates that he can do the job in right manner, he is left to himself. Through repetitive practices, the trainee acquires more skill. Follow up and feedback- The trainee should be given feedback on how well he performed the job. He should be asked to give a feedback on the effectiveness of training programme.
Methods of Training
Ways/Methods of Training Training is generally imparted in two ways: On the job training- On the job training methods are those which are given to the employees within the everyday working of a concern. It is a simple and cost-effective training method. The inproficient as well as semi- proficient employees can be well trained by using such training method. The employees are trained in actual working scenario. The motto of such training is learning by doing. Instances of such on-job training methods are job-rotation, coaching, temporary promotions, etc.
Off the job training- Off the job training methods are those in which training is provided away from the actual working condition. It is generally used in case of new employees. Instances of off the job training methods are workshops, seminars, conferences, etc. Such method is costly and is effective if and only if large number of employees have to be trained within a short time period. Off the job training is also called as vestibule training,i.e., the employees are trained in a separate area( may be a
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
34 hall, entrance, reception area,etc. known as a vestibule) where the actual working conditions are duplicated.
There are various methods of training, which can be divided in to cognitive and behavioral methods. Trainers need to understand the pros and cons of each method, also its impact on trainees keeping their background and skills in mind before giving training. Cognitive methods are more of giving theoretical training to the trainees. The various methods under Cognitive approach provide the rules for how to do something, written or verbal information, demonstrate relationships among concepts, etc. These methods are associated with changes in knowledge and attitude by stimulating learning. The various methods that come under Cognitive approach are:

LECTURES DEMONSTRATIONS DISCUSSIONS COMPUTER BASED TRAINING (CBT)

o o o
INTELLEGENT TUTORIAL SYSTEM(ITS) PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION (PI) VIRTUAL REALITY
Behavioral methods are more of giving practical training to the trainees. The various methods under Behavioral approach allow the trainee to behavior in a real fashion. These methods are best used for skill development. The various methods that come under Behavioral approach are:
GAMES AND SIMULATIONS

o o o o o o
BEHAVIOR-MODELING BUSINESS GAMES CASE STUDIES EQUIPMENT STIMULATORS IN-BASKET TECHNIQUE ROLE PLAYS
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35
Both the methods can be used effectively to change attitudes, but through different means. Another Method is MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT METHOD MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT The more future oriented method and more concerned with education of the employees. To become a better performer by education implies that management development activities attempt to instill sound reasoning processes. Management development method is further divided into two parts: ON THE JOB TRAINING The development of a manager's abilities can take place on the job. The four techniques for on the job development are: COACHING MENTORING JOB ROTATION JOB INSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE (JIT) OFF THE JOB TRAINING There are many management development techniques that an employee can take in off the job. The few popular methods are:

SENSITIVITY TRAINING TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS STRAIGHT LECTURES/ LECTURES SIMULATION EXERCISES
Employee Remuneration
Employee Remuneration refers to the reward or compensation given to the employees for their work performances. Remuneration provides basic attraction to a employee to perform job efficiently and effectively. Remuneration leads to employee motivation. Salaries constitutes an important source of income for employees and determine their standard of living. Salaries effect the employees productivity and work performance. Thus the amount and method of remuneration are very important for both management and employees.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
36 There are mainly two types of Employee Remuneration 1. Time Rate Method 2. Piece Rate Method These methods of employee remuneration are explained below in detail Methods of Employee Remuneration Time Rate Method: Under time rate system, remuneration is directly linked with the time spent or devoted by an employee on the job. The employees are paid a fixed pre-decided amount hourly, daily, weekly or monthly irrespective of their output. It is a very simple method of remuneration. It leads to minimum wastage of resources and lesser chances of accidents. Time Rate method leads to quality output and this method is very beneficial to new employees as they can learn their work without any reduction in their salaries. This method encourages employees unity as employees of a particular group/cadre get equal salaries.There are some drawbacks of Time Rate Method, such as, it leads to tight supervision, indefinite employee cost, lesser efficiency of employees as there is no distinction made between efficient and inefficient employees, and lesser morale of employees.Time rate system is more suitable where the work is non-repetitive in nature and emphasis is more on quality output rather than quantity output. Piece Rate Method: It is a method of compensation in which remuneration is paid on the basis of units or pieces produced by an employee. In this system emphasis is more on quantity output rather than quality output. Under this system the determination of employee cost per unit is not difficult because salaries differ with output. There is less supervision required under this method and hence the per unit cost of production is low. This system improves the morale of the employees as the salaries are directly related with their work efforts. There is greater work-efficiency in this method. There are some drawbacks of this method, such as, it is not easily computable, leads to deterioration in work quality, wastage of resources, lesser unity of employees, higher cost of production and insecurity among the employees. Piece rate system is more suitable where the nature of work is repetitive and quantity is emphasized more than quality.
Job Analysis - Job Description and Job Specification

Job analysis is primary tool in personnel management. In this method, a personnel manager tries to gather, synthesize and implement the information available regarding the workforce in the concern. A personnel manager has to undertake job analysis so as to put right man on right job. There are two outcomes of job analysis : Job description Job specification The information collected under job analysis is :
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
37 Nature of jobs required in a concern. Nature/ size of organizational structure. Type of people required to fit that structure. The relationship of the job with other jobs in the concern. Kind of qualifications and academic background required for jobs. Provision of physical condition to support the activities of the concern. For example- separate cabins for managers, special cabins for the supervisors, healthy condition for workers, adequate store room for store keeper. Advantages of Job Analysis Job analysis helps the personnel manager at the time of recruitment and selection of right man on right job. It helps him to understand extent and scope of training required in that field. It helps in evaluating the job in which the worth of the job has to be evaluated. In those instances where smooth work force is required in concern. When he has to avoid overlapping of authority- responsibility relationship so that distortion in chain of command doesnt exist. It also helps to chalk out the compensation plans for the employees. It also helps the personnel manager to undertake performance appraisal effectively in a concern. A personnel manger carries job analysis in two ways : Job description and Job specification
JOB DESCRIPTION is an organized factual statement of job contents in the form of duties and responsibilities of a specific job. The preparation of job description is very important before a vacancy is advertised. It tells in brief the nature and type of job. This type of document is descriptive in nature and it constitutes all those facts which are related to a job such as : Title/ Designation of job and location in the concern. The nature of duties and operations to be performed in that job. The nature of authority- responsibility relationships. Necessary qualifications that are required for job. Relationship of that job with other jobs in a concern. The provision of physical and working condition or the work environment required in performance of that job.
Advantages of Job Description It helps the supervisors in assigning work to the subordinates so that he can guide and monitor their performances.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
38 It helps in recruitment and selection procedures. It assists in manpower planning. It is also helpful in performance appraisal. It is helpful in job evaluation in order to decide about rate of remuneration for a specific job. It also helps in chalking out training and development programmes.
JOB SPECIFICATION is a statement which tells us minimum acceptable human qualities which helps to perform a job. Job specification translates the job description into human qualifications so that a job can be performed in a better manner. Job specification helps in hiring an appropriate person for an appropriate position. The contents are : Job title and designation Educational qualifications for that title Physical and other related attributes Physique and mental health Special attributes and abilities Maturity and dependability Relationship of that job with other jobs in a concern.
Advantages of Job Specification It is helpful in preliminary screening in the selection procedure. It helps in giving due justification to each job. It also helps in designing training and development programmes. It helps the supervisors for counseling and monitoring performance of employees. It helps in job evaluation. It helps the management to take decisions regarding promotion, transfers and giving extra benefits to the employees.
From the above advantages, we can justify the importance of job analysis and its related products. Both job description as well as job specification are important for personnel manager in personnel management function. Therefore, job analysis is considered to be the primary tool of personnel management.
Job Evaluation
Job evaluation is a process of determining the relative worth of a job. It is a process which is helpful even for framing compensation plans by the personnel manager. Job evaluation as a process is advantageous to a company in many ways: Reduction in inequalities in salary structure - It is found that people and their motivation is dependent upon how well they are being paid. Therefore the main objective of job evaluation is to have external and internal consistency in salary structure so that inequalities in salaries are reduced. Specialization - Because of division of labour and thereby specialization, a large number of enterprises have got hundred jobs and many employees to perform them. Therefore, an attempt should be made to define a job and thereby fix salaries for it. This is possible only through job evaluation.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
39 Helps in selection of employees - The job evaluation information can be helpful at the time of selection of candidates. The factors that are determined for job evaluation can be taken into account while selecting the employees. Harmonious relationship between employees and manager - Through job evaluation, harmonious and congenial relations can be maintained between employees and management, so that all kinds of salaries controversies can be minimized. Standardization - The process of determining the salary differentials for different jobs become standardized through job evaluation. This helps in bringing uniformity into salary structure. Relevance of new jobs - Through job evaluation, one can understand the relative value of new jobs in a concern. According to Kimball and Kimball, Job evaluation represents an effort to determine the relative value of every job in a plant and to determine what the fair basic wage for such a job should be. Thus, job evaluation is different from performance appraisal. In job evaluation, worth of a job is calculated while in performance appraisal, the worth of employee is rated.
Performance Appraisal
Performance Appraisal is the systematic evaluation of the performance of employees and to understand the abilities of a person for further growth and development. Performance appraisal is generally done in systematic ways which are as follows: The supervisors measure the pay of employees and compare it with targets and plans. The supervisor analyses the factors behind work performances of employees. The employers are in position to guide the employees for a better performance. Objectives of Performance Appraisal Performance Appraisal can be done with following objectives in mind: To maintain records in order to determine compensation packages, wage structure, salaries raises, etc. To identify the strengths and weaknesses of employees to place right men on right job. To maintain and assess the potential present in a person for further growth and development. To provide a feedback to employees regarding their performance and related status. To provide a feedback to employees regarding their performance and related status. It serves as a basis for influencing working habits of the employees. To review and retain the promotional and other training programmes. Advantages of Performance Appraisal It is said that performance appraisal is an investment for the company which can be justified by following advantages:
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
40 Promotion: Performance Appraisal helps the supervisors to chalk out the promotion programmes for efficient employees. In this regards, inefficient workers can be dismissed or demoted in case. Compensation: Performance Appraisal helps in chalking out compensation packages for employees. Merit rating is possible through performance appraisal. Performance Appraisal tries to give worth to a performance. Compensation packages which includes bonus, high salary rates, extra benefits, allowances and pre-requisites are dependent on performance appraisal. The criteria should be merit rather than seniority. Employees Development: The systematic procedure of performance appraisal helps the supervisors to frame training policies and programmes. It helps to analyse strengths and weaknesses of employees so that new jobs can be designed for efficient employees. It also helps in framing future development programmes. Selection Validation: Performance Appraisal helps the supervisors to understand the validity and importance of the selection procedure. The supervisors come to know the validity and thereby the strengths and weaknesses of selection procedure. Future changes in selection methods can be made in this regard. Communication: For an organization, effective communication between employees and employers is very important. Through performance appraisal, communication can be sought for in the following ways: Through performance appraisal, the employers can understand and accept skills of subordinates. The subordinates can also understand and create a trust and confidence in superiors. It also helps in maintaining cordial and congenial labour management relationship. It develops the spirit of work and boosts the morale of employees. All the above factors ensure effective communication. Motivation: Performance appraisal serves as a motivation tool. Through evaluating performance of employees, a persons efficiency can be determined if the targets are achieved. This very well motivates a person for better job and helps him to improve his performance in the future.
Performance Appraisal Tools and Techniques

Following are the tools used by the organizations for Performance Appraisals of their employees. Ranking Method Paired Comparison Forced Distribution Confidential Report Essay Evaluation Critical Incident Checklists
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
41 Graphic Rating Scale BARS Forced Choice Method MBO Field Review Technique Performance Test We will be discussing the important performance appraisal tools and techniques in detail. Ranking Method The ranking system requires the rater to rank his subordinates on overall performance. This consists in simply putting a man in a rank order. Under this method, the ranking of an employee in a work group is done against that of another employee. The relative position of each employee is tested in terms of his numerical rank. It may also be done by ranking a person on his job performance against another member of the competitive group. Advantages of Ranking Method Employees are ranked according to their performance levels. It is easier to rank the best and the worst employee. Limitations of Ranking Method The whole man is compared with another whole man in this method. In practice, it is very difficult to compare individuals possessing various individual traits. This method speaks only of the position where an employee stands in his group. It does not test anything about how much better or how much worse an employee is when compared to another employee. When a large number of employees are working, ranking of individuals become a difficult issue. There is no systematic procedure for ranking individuals in the organization. The ranking system does not eliminate the possibility of snap judgements. Forced Distribution method This is a ranking technique where raters are required to allocate a certain percentage of rates to certain categories (eg: superior, above average, average) or percentiles (eg: top 10 percent, bottom 20 percent etc). Both the number of categories and percentage of employees to be allotted to each category are a function of performance appraisal design and format. The workers of outstanding merit may be placed at top 10 percent of the scale, the rest may be placed as 20 % good, 40 % outstanding, 20 % fair and 10 % fair. Advantages of Forced Distribution This method tends to eliminate raters bias
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
42 By forcing the distribution according to pre-determined percentages, the problem of making use of different raters with different scales is avoided. Limitations of Forced Distribution The limitation of using this method in salary administration, however, is that it may lead low morale, low productivity and high absenteeism. Employees who feel that they are productive, but find themselves in lower grade(than expected) feel frustrated and exhibit over a period of time reluctance to work. Critical Incident techniques Under this method, the manager prepares lists of statements of very effective and ineffective behaviour of an employee. These critical incidents or events represent the outstanding or poor behaviour of employees or the job. The manager maintains logs of each employee, whereby he periodically records critical incidents of the workers behaviour. At the end of the rating period, these recorded critical incidents are used in the evaluation of the workers performance. Example of a good critical incident of a Customer Relations Officer is : March 12 - The Officer patiently attended to a customers complaint. He was very polite and prompt in attending the customers problem. Advantages of Critical Incident techniques This method provides an objective basis for conducting a thorough discussion of an employees performance. This method avoids recency bias (most recent incidents are too much emphasized) Limitations of Critical Incident techniques Negative incidents may be more noticeable than positive incidents. The supervisors have a tendency to unload a series of complaints about the incidents during an annual performance review sessions. It results in very close supervision which may not be liked by an employee. The recording of incidents may be a chore for the manager concerned, who may be too busy or may forget to do it. Checklists and Weighted Checklists In this system, a large number of statements that describe a specific job are given. Each statement has a weight or scale value attached to it. While rating an employee the supervisor checks all those statements that most closely describe the behaviour of the individual under assessment. The rating sheet is then scored by averaging the weights of all the statements checked by the rater. A checklist is constructed for each job by having persons who are quite familiar with the jobs. These statements are then categorized by the judges and weights are assigned to the statements in accordance with the value attached by the judges.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
43 Advantages of Checklists and Weighted Checklists Most frequently used method in evaluation of the employees performance. Limitations of Checklists and Weighted Checklists This method is very expensive and time consuming Rater may be biased in distinguishing the positive and negative questions. It becomes difficult for the manager to assemble, analyze and weigh a number of statements about the employees characteristics, contributions and behaviours.
Performance Appraisal Biases

Managers commit mistakes while evaluating employees and their performance. Biases and judgment errors of various kinds may spoil the performance appraisal process. Bias here refers to inaccurate distortion of a measurement. These are: First Impression (primacy effect): Raters form an overall impression about the ratee on the basis of some particluar characteristics of the ratee identified by them. The identified qualities and features may not provide adequate base for appraisal. Halo Effect: The individuals performance is completely appraised on the basis of a perceived positive quality, feature or trait. In other words this is the tendency to rate a man uniformly high or low in other traits if he is extra-ordinarily high or low in one particular trait. If a worker has few absences, his supervisor might give him a high rating in all other areas of work. Horn Effect: The individuals performance is completely appraised on the basis of a negative quality or feature perceived. This results in an overall lower rating than may be warranted. He is not formally dressed up in the office. He may be casual at work too!. Excessive Stiffness or Lenience: Depending upon the raters own standards, values and physical and mental makeup at the time of appraisal, ratees may be rated very strictly or leniently. Some of the managers are likely to take the line of least resistance and rate people high, whereas others, by nature, believe in the tyranny of exact assessment, considering more particularly the drawbacks of the individual and thus making the assessment excessively severe. The leniency error can render a system ineffective. If everyone is to be rated high, the system has not done anything to differentiate among the employees. Central Tendency: Appraisers rate all employees as average performers. That is, it is an attitude to rate people as neither high nor low and follow the middle path. For example, a professor, with a view to play it safe, might give a class grade near the equal to B, regardless of the differences in individual performances.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
44 Personal Biases: The way a supervisor feels about each of the individuals working under him - whether he likes or dislikes them - as a tremendous effect on the rating of their performances. Personal Bias can stem from various sources as a result of information obtained from colleagues, considerations of faith and thinking, social and family background and so on. Spillover Effect: The present performance is evaluated much on the basis of past performance. The person who was a good performer in distant past is assured to be okay at present also. Recency Effect: Rating is influenced by the most recent behaviour ignoring the commonly demonstrated behaviours during the entire appraisal period.
360 Degree Feedback

360 degree feedback is also known as multi-rater feedback or multi-dimensional feedback or multi-source feedback. It is a very good means of improving an individuals effectiveness (as a leader and as a manager). It is a system by which an individual gets a comprehensive/collective feedback from his superiors, subordinates, peers/co-workers, customers and various other members with whom he interacts. The feedback form is in a questionnaire format, which contains questions that are significant to both individual as well as organization from performance aspect. It is filled by anonymous people. The number of people from whom feedback is taken can range from 6 - 20. The individuals own feedback is also taken, i.e., he self-rates himself and then his rating is compared with other individuals ratings. Self ratings compel the individual to sit down and think about his own strengths and weaknesses. The primary aim of a 360 degree feedback is to assist an individual to identify his strengths and build upon them, to recognize priority fields of improvement, to encourage communication and peoples participation at all levels in an organization, to examine the acceptance of any change by the employees in an organization and to promote self-development in an individual. It must be noted that the assessment of individual by other people is subjective. A 360-degree feedback is challenging, promoting and analytical. It should not be regarded as ultimate and concluding. It is a beginning point. Self-assessment is an ongoing process. 360 degree feedback provides a comprehensive view of the skills and competencies of the individual as a manager or as a leader. The individual gets a feedback on how other people perceive and assess him as an employee. 360 degree feedback is beneficial to both an individual as well as organization. It leads to pooling of information between individual and other organizational members. It encourages teamwork as there is full involvement of all the top managers and other individuals in the organization. It stresses upon internal customer satisfaction. It develops an environment of continuous learning in an organization. Based on a 360 degree feedback, the individual goals and the group goals can be correlated to the organizational strategy, i.e., the individual and the group can synchronize their goals with the organizational goals.
The feedback must be confidential so as to ensure its reliability and legitimacy. The feedback must be accepted with positivity and an open-mind. The effectiveness of the feedback must be evaluated and analyzed on a regular basis.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
45 360 Degree Feedback - Advantages & Pre-requisites Advantages of 360 Degree Feedback It is an effective medium for improving customer service and the inputs quality to the internal customers. It encourages participation of all and thus makes HR decisions more qualitative. It pinpoints the favoritism and biases of the supervisors present in conventional appraisal systems.
The employees find 360 degree feedback more acceptable than the traditional feedback approaches. traits. 360 degree feedback is more impartial and objective than a one-to-one assessment of employee
It concentrates and stresses upon internal customer satisfaction.
It broadens the scope for employees to get various says for enhancing their job role, performance, and views. It can act as a supplement and not replacement to the conventional appraisal system. It can be motivating for the employees who undervalue themselves. It encourages teamwork. It is more credible as various people give almost same feedback from various sources.
It brings into limelight the areas of employee development as it confirms the employee strengths and identifies his weaknesses on which he can work upon. It creates an environment of trust and loyalty in an organization.
Basics and Pre-requisites of 360 Degree Approach It is essential that an organization should be prepared for 360 Degree feedback. Not only the organization, but also the candidate (the employee) should be prepared for accepting it. Following are the essentials of an organizations preparedness for the 360 degree approach- The top level management must be keen to spend their time and efforts in giving feedback to their subordinates. Status and ego issues shouldnt overwhelm in the organization.
The subordinates and the peer both should assess and analyze the top-level managers and the toplevel management should be open to accept their feedback. Everyone in the organization should take the feedback considerately and constructively and utilize it for their development. Ethics and moral values should be predominant in the organization.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
46 The organization should encourage teamwork. There should be self- learning in the organization, especially for the managers. The personnel department of the organization should be highly credible. There should be no politics in the organization.
Everyone in the organization should take the feedback seriously and should make an attempt to benefit from the same. It must be ensured that the feedback is confidential.
Following are the essentials of analyzing the candidates (employees) preparedness for the 360 degree approach- The employee should have an intention to be better. The employee should be open to accept the feedback and should respect the views of others. The employee should have a competitive feeling. The employee should be keen in knowing the viewpoints of others towards him. The employee should always learn on the job.
Employee Grievance - Effective Ways of Handling Grievance

Grievance may be any genuine or imaginary feeling of dissatisfaction or injustice which an employee experiences about his job and its nature, about the management policies and procedures. It must be expressed by the employee and brought to the notice of the management and the organization. Grievances take the form of collective disputes when they are not resolved. Also they will then lower the morale and efficiency of the employees. Unattended grievances result in frustration, dissatisfaction, low productivity, lack of interest in work, absenteeism, etc. In short, grievance arises when employees expectations are not fulfilled from the organization as a result of which a feeling of discontentment and dissatisfaction arises. This dissatisfaction must crop up from employment issues and not from personal issues. Grievance may result from the following factorsImproper working conditions such as strict production standards, unsafe workplace, bad relation with managers, etc. Irrational management policies such as overtime, transfers, demotions, inappropriate salary structure, etc. Violation of organizational rules and practices The manager should immediately identify all grievances and must take appropriate steps to eliminate the causes of such grievances so that the employees remain loyal and committed to their work. Effective grievance management is an essential part of personnel management. The managers should adopt the following approach to manage grievance effectively-
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
47 Quick action- As soon as the grievance arises, it should be identified and resolved. Training must be given to the managers to effectively and timely manage a grievance. This will lower the detrimental effects of grievance on the employees and their performance. Acknowledging grievance- The manager must acknowledge the grievance put forward by the employee as manifestation of true and real feelings of the employees. Acknowledgement by the manager implies that the manager is eager to look into the complaint impartially and without any bias. This will create a conducive work environment with instances of grievance reduced. Gathering facts- The managers should gather appropriate and sufficient facts explaining the grievances nature. A record of such facts must be maintained so that these can be used in later stage of grievance redressal. Examining the causes of grievance- The actual cause of grievance should be identified. Accordingly remedial actions should be taken to prevent repetition of the grievance. Decisioning- After identifying the causes of grievance, alternative course of actions should be thought of to manage the grievance. The effect of each course of action on the existing and future management policies and procedure should be analyzed and accordingly decision should be taken by the manager. Execution and review- The manager should execute the decision quickly, ignoring the fact, that it may or may not hurt the employees concerned. After implementing the decision, a follow-up must be there to ensure that the grievance has been resolved completely and adequately. An effective grievance procedure ensures an amiable work environment because it redresses the grievance to mutual satisfaction of both the employees and the managers. It also helps the management to frame policies and procedures acceptable to the employees. It becomes an effective medium for the employees to express t feelings, discontent and dissatisfaction openly and formally.
Employee Discipline and Features of a Sound Disciplinary System

Discipline means systematically conducting the business by the organizational members who strictly adhere to the essential rules and regulations. These employees/organizational members work together as a team so as to achieve organizational mission as well as vision and they truly understand that the individual and group aims and desires must be matched so as to ensure organizational success. A disciplined employee will be organized and an organized employee will be disciplined always. Employee behaviour is the base of discipline in an organization. Discipline implies confirming with the code of conduct established by the organization. Discipline in an organization ensures productivity and efficiency. It encourages harmony and co-operation among employees as well as acts as a morale booster for the employees. In absence of discipline, there will be chaos, confusion, corruption and disobedience in an organization. In short, discipline implies obedience, orderliness and maintenance of proper subordination among employees. Work recognition, fair and equitable treatment of employees, appropriate salary structure, effective grievance handling and job-security all contribute to organizational discipline.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
48 Discipline is viewed from two angles/dimensions: Positive Discipline: Positive Discipline implies discipline without punishment. The main aim is to ensure and encourage self-discipline among the employees. The employees in this case identify the group objectives as their own objectives and strive hard to achieve them. The employees follow and adhere to the rules and regulations not due to the fear of punishment but due to the inherent desire to harmonize in achieving organizational goals. Employees exercise self-control to meet these goals. Negative Discipline: Employees adhere to rules and regulations in fear of punishment which may be in form of fines, penalties, demotions or transfers. In this case, the employees do not perceive organizational goals as their own goals. The action taken by the management to ensure desired standard of behaviour/code of conduct from the employees in an organization is called negative discipline. The fear of punishment prevents the employees from going off-track. Characteristics of a Sound Disciplinary System (Red Hot Stove Rule) Discipline should be imposed without generating resentment. Mc Gregor propounded the red hot stove rule which says that a sound and effective disciplinary system in an organization should have the following characteristicsImmediate- Just as when you touch a red hot stove, the burn is immediate, similarly the penalty for violation should be immediate/ immediate disciplinary action must be taken for violation of rules. Consistent- Just as a red hot stove burns everyone in same manner; likewise, there should be high consistency in a sound disciplinary system. Impersonal- Just as a person is burned because he touches the red hot stove and not because of any personal feelings, likewise, impersonality should be maintained by refraining from personal or subjective feelings. Prior warning and notice- Just as an individual has a warning when he moves closer to the stove that he would be burned on touching it, likewise, a sound disciplinary system should give advance warning to the employees as to the implications of not conforming to the standards of behaviour/code of conduct in an organization. In short, a sound disciplinary system presupposesAcquaintance/Knowledge of rules- The employees should be well aware of the desired code of conduct/ standards of behaviour in the organization. This code of discipline should be published in employee handbook. Timely action- Timely enquiry should be conducted for breaking the code of conduct in an organization. The more later the enquiry is made, the more forgetful one becomes and the more he feels that punishment is not deserved. Fair and just action- There should be same punishment for same offence/ misconduct. There should be no favouritism. Discipline should be uniformly enforced always. Positive approach- The disciplinary system should be preventive and not punitive. Concentrate on preventing misconduct and not on imposing penalties. The employees should not only be
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
49 explained the reason for actions taken against them but also how such fines and penalties can be avoided in future. Types of Penalties for Misconduct/Indiscipline For not following the standards of behaviour/code of conduct in an organization, there are two kinds of penalties categorized asMajor penalties- This includes demotion, dismissal, transfer, discharge, withholding increments, etc. Minor penalties- This includes oral warning, written warning, fines, loss of privileges, etc.
Managing Workforce Diversity

Introduction We live in times when global corporations and their reach across the world bring benefits in terms of innovative HR policies as well as challenges in terms of managing the workforce are concerned. The rise of such corporations means that the workforce is composed of diverse races and ethnicities. Further, the issue of gender diversity in terms of more women participating in the workforce has been a trend that has accelerated in the last two decades in India and much earlier in the developed countries. This article looks at the reasons for managing workforce diversity and the issues that such management brings to the fore. Why is Management of Diversity Important ? When an organization has people of different ethnicities and a greater proportion of women than the industry average, naturally the question arises as to how to reconcile the differences between these employees without causing too much friction in everyday interactions. Managing diversity is important as otherwise the performance of the organization takes a hit and worse, there can be possible lawsuits and legal tangles from disaffected employees who feel aggrieved because of instances of discrimination and harassment based on their ethnicity or gender. Issues in Managing Diversity One of the central issues in managing diversity is to do with the majority and the minority perspective. Usually, it is the case in organizations that there is a predominant majority of a particular race or ethnicity and various others in minority groups. And considering that the most pressing issue in managing diversity arises out of the treatment of women, we get a sense of the issues of race and gender as the primary drivers in managing diversity. In recent times, these issues have come to the forefront of the debate because of greater awareness among the minority groups about their rights as well as stricter enforcement of laws and regulations that govern workplace behavior. Hence, it is in the interest of the management of any firm to sensitize their workforce towards race and gender issues and ensure that the workplace is free of discrimination against minority groups as well as women. Gender Sensitization
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
50 When compared to other issues in managing diversity, this is the most pressing issue because of the preponderance of women in the workforce as well as recent trends that point to the emergence of this single issue as the dominant issue that is taking the mind space of managers. The worrying aspect about this issue is that despite policies and rules governing gender specific issues in most organizations, there is little evidence to show that they are being followed. Hence, what is needed is a mindset change rather than more policies and this can only be done if the workforce is sensitized to the needs of women. Conclusion Though the situation in Corporate India or India Inc. has not yet reached the stage where lawsuits are routinely brought against management for discriminatory practices, nonetheless, the trend in recent years is towards a more vocal disapproval of such practices from industry leaders and management consultants who repeatedly emphasize the importance of a non-discriminatory workplace. Hence, the onus is on the management, senior and middle, to ensure that they follow the norms that is required of them. In our opinion, the middle management and the managers who directly interact with the teams of people have a greater role as they are the Sandwich between the upper management and the workforce and hence are in a position to follow the policies as well as enforce them.
Employee Stress - Strategies for managing stress at workplace

What is Employee Stress ? Employees stress is a growing concern for organizations today. Stress can be defined as a lively circumstance in which people face constraints, opportunities, or loss of something they desire and for which the consequence is both unpredictable as well as crucial. Stress is the response of people to the unreasonable/excessive pressure or demands placed on them. Stress is not always negative. It may also bring out the best in individuals at times. It may induce an individual to discover innovative and smarter way of doing things. This positive dimension of stress is called as enstress. But usually, the term stress has a negative implication and this negative aspect of stress is termed as distress. For instance - When a subordinate is harassed or warned by his superior, unhappiness of unsuitable job, etc. We can say that Stress causes some people to break, and other to break records. Symptoms of Stress Some of the symptoms of stress at workplace are as followsAbsenteeism, escaping from work responsibilities, arriving late, leaving early, etc. Deterioration in work performance, more of error prone work, memory loss, etc. Cribbing, over-reacting, arguing, getting irritated, anxiety, etc. Deteriorating health, more of accidents, etc. Improper eating habits (over-eating or under-eating), excessive smoking and drinking, sleeplessness, etc.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
51 It is thus very essential to have effective stress management strategies in an organization so that the detrimental repercussions of stress on the employees as well as their performance can be reduced and controlled. Sources/Causes of Stress The factors leading to stress among individual are called as stressors. Some of the factors/stressors acting on employees areOrganizational factors- With the growth in organizational stress and complexity, there is increase in organizational factors also which cause stress among employees. Some of such factors areDiscrimination in pay/salary structure Strict rules and regulations Ineffective communication Peer pressure Goals conflicts/goals ambiguity More of centralized and formal organization structure Less promotional opportunities Lack of employees participation in decision-making Excessive control over the employees by the managers Individual factors- There are various expectations which the family members, peer, superior and subordinates have from the employee. Failure to understand such expectations or to convey such expectations lead to role ambiguity/role conflict which in turn causes employee stress. Other individual factors causing stress among employees are inherent personality traits such as being impatient, aggressive, rigid, feeling time pressure always, etc. Similarly, the family issues, personal financial problems, sudden career changes all lead to stress. Job concerning factors- Certain factors related to job which cause stress among employees are as followsMonotonous nature of job Unsafe and unhealthy working conditions Lack of confidentiality Crowding Extra-organizational factors- There are certain issues outside the organization which lead to stress among employees. In todays modern and technology savvy world, stress has increased. Inflation, technological change, social responsibilities and rapid social changes are other extra-organizational factors causing stress. Strategies for Managing Stress Stress experienced by the employees in their job has negative impact on their health, performance and their behaviour in the organization. Thus, stress needs to be managed effectively so as to set off these harmful consequences. Strategies for managing stress are as follows-
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
52 Organizational strategies for managing stress Encouraging more of organizational communication with the employees so that there is no role ambiguity/conflict. Effective communication can also change employee views. Managers can use better signs and symbols which are not misinterpreted by the employees. Encourage employees participation in decision-making. This will reduce role stress. Grant the employees greater independence, meaningful and timely feedback, and greater responsibility. The organizational goals should be realistic, stimulating and particular. The employees must be given feedback on how well they are heading towards these goals. Encourage decentralization. Have a fair and just distribution of incentives and salary structure. Promote job rotation and job enrichment. Create a just and safe working environment. Have effective hiring and orientation procedure. Appreciate the employees on accomplishing and over-exceeding their targets. Individual strategies for managing stress The employees should make a to-do list daily, prioritize the acts in the list and plan the acts accordingly. Take regular breaks during work to relax you. By effective time management, the employees can achieve their targets timely and can meet work pressures and, thus, avoid stress. Do hard work. Strive to achieve your goals but do not do it to the harm of family, health, or peer. Indulge in physical exercises. It helps in effective blood circulation, keeps you fit, diverts mind from work pressures. Encourage a healthy lifestyle. Take a regular sleep, have plenty of water, have healthy eating habits. Promote relaxation techniques such as yoga, listening music and meditation. The employees should have optimistic approach about their work. They should avoid connections with negative approach employees. The employees should have emotional intelligence at workplace. They should have selfawareness, self-confidence and self-control at workplace. The employees should build social support. They should have close connections with trustworthy peer who can listen to their problems and boost their confidence level. This social network will help the employees to overcome stress. Employee counselling is a very good strategy to overcome employee stress. Through counselling, employees can become aware of their strengths and how to develop those strengths; their weaknesses and how to eliminate them; and they can develop strategies for changing their behaviour. Employees are also given career counselling which helps in reducing their ambiguities with regard to career. Find a fun way to release stress, such as, cracking jokes, playing tennis, golf, etc. Do not remain pre-occupied with yourself. Turn your focus outwards. Help others. This will release some stress.
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53
HR Challenges - How to cope with them efficiently ?

Human Resource Management used to be considered as other conventional administrative jobs. But over a period of time, it has evolved as a strategic function to improve working environment, plan out human resources needs and strike a balance between the organization and employers in order to increase organizational productivity and meet organizational goals. Not to exaggerate but in todays highly competitive world it has gradually become one of the most important functions of an organization. It is really a huge challenge to understand the psychology of workforce, retain the best talents of the industry, motivate them to perform better and handle diversity while maintaining unity simultaneously, especially in countries like India, where it is still evolving. Globalization has resulted in many positive developments but it has left many concerns for HR managers. In todays tough world and tight job market, coordinating a multicultural or diverse workforce is a real challenge for HR department. Human resource managers are on their toes to strike a balance between employer and employees keeping in mind the recent trends in the market. They may find themselves in dire consequences if they are not able to handle the human resource challenges efficiently. To remain in business, human resource managers need to efficiently address following human resource challenges: Handling Multicultural / Diverse Workforce: Dealing with people from different age, gender, race, ethnicity, educational background, location, income, parental status, religious beliefs, marital status and ancestry and work experience can be a challenging task for HR managers. With this, managing people with different set of ideologies, views, lifestyles and psychology can be very risky. Effective communication, adaptability, agility and positive attitude of HR managers can bind the diverse workforce and retain talents in the organization. Managing Change: Who wants to change their ideology or way of working? Neither you nor I. How can we expect others to change then? Bringing change in organizational processes and procedures, implementing it and then managing it is one of the biggest concerns of HR managers. Business environment is so volatile. Technology keeps changing every now and then. All thanks to globalization. Upgrading the existing technology and training people for them is a real headache for HR department. The success rate of technology change depends how well HRD can handle the change and manage people issues in the process. Retaining the Talents: Globalization has given freedom to working professionals to work anywhere in the world. Now that they have endless lucrative opportunities to work, hiring and retaining the best industry talent is no joke. Maintaining harmonious relations with them, providing excellent work environment and offering more remuneration and perks than your competitors can retain and motivate them. Conflict Management: HR managers should know how to handle employee-employer and employeeemployee conflicts without hurting their feelings. Although it is almost impossible to avoid conflicts among people still handling them tactfully can help HR managers to resolve the issues. They should be
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54 able to listen to each party, decide and communicate to them in a convincing manner in order to avoid future conflicts. HR professional must be proactive with all strategies and action plans in order to meet the changing needs of the organization. They must be thorough with the basic functions of HR including planning, organizing, leading and controlling human resources.
Need & Importance of Employee Retention

Employee Retention refers to the techniques employed by the management to help the employees stay with the organization for a longer period of time. Employee retention strategies go a long way in motivating the employees so that they stick to the organization for the maximum time and contribute effectively. Sincere efforts must be taken to ensure growth and learning for the employees in their current assignments and for them to enjoy their work. Employee retention has become a major concern for corporates in the current scenario. Individuals once being trained have a tendency to move to other organizations for better prospects. Lucrative salary, comfortable timings, better ambience, growth prospects are some of the factors which prompt an employee to look for a change. Whenever a talented employee expresses his willingness to move on, it is the responsibility of the management and the human resource team to intervene immediately and find out the exact reasons leading to the decision. Need & Importance of Employee Retention Let us understand why retaining a valuable employee is essential for an organization. Hiring is not an easy process: The HR Professional shortlists few individuals from a large pool of talent, conducts preliminary interviews and eventually forwards it to the respective line managers who further grill them to judge whether they are fit for the organization or not. Recruiting the right candidate is a time consuming process. An organization invests time and money in grooming an individual and make him ready to work and understand the corporate culture: A new joinee is completely raw and the management really has to work hard to train him for his overall development. It is a complete wastage of time and money when an individual leaves an organization all of a sudden. The HR has to start the recruitment process all over again for the same vacancy; a mere duplication of work. Finding a right employee for an organization is a tedious job and all efforts simply go waste when the employee leaves. When an individual resigns from his present organization, it is more likely that he would join the competitors: In such cases, employees tend to take all the strategies, policies from the current organization to the new one. Individuals take all the important data, information and statistics to their new organization and in some cases even leak the secrets of the previous organization. To avoid such cases, it is essential that the new joinee is made to sign a document which stops him from passing on any information even if he leaves the organization. Strict policy should be made which prevents the employees to join the competitors. This is an effective way to retain the employees.
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55 The employees working for a longer period of time are more familiar with the companys policies, guidelines and thus they adjust better: They perform better than individuals who change jobs frequently. Employees who spend a considerable time in an organization know the organization in and out and thus are in a position to contribute effectively. Every individual needs time to adjust with others: One needs time to know his team members well, be friendly with them and eventually trust them. Organizations are always benefited when the employees are compatible with each other and discuss things among themselves to come out with something beneficial for all. When a new individual replaces an existing employee, adjustment problems crop up. Individuals find it really difficult to establish a comfort level with the other person. After striking a rapport with an existing employee, it is a challenge for the employees to adjust with someone new and most importantly trust him. It is a human tendency to compare a new joinee with the previous employees and always find faults in him. It has been observed that individuals sticking to an organization for a longer span are more loyal towards the management and the organization: They enjoy all kinds of benefits from the organization and as a result are more attached to it. They hardly badmouth their organization and always think in favour of the management. For them the organization comes first and all other things later. It is essential for the organization to retain the valuable employees showing potential: Every organization needs hardworking and talented employees who can really come out with something creative and different. No organization can survive if all the top performers quit. It is essential for the organization to retain those employees who really work hard and are indispensable for the system. The management must understand the difference between a valuable employee and an employee who doesnt contribute much to the organization. Sincere efforts must be made to encourage the employees so that they stay happy in the current organization and do not look for a change. The management cant completely put a full stop to the process of employees quitting their jobs but can control it to a large extent. Let us go through some strategies to retain an individual: An employee looks for a change when his job becomes monotonous and does not offer anything new. It is essential for everyone to enjoy whatever he does. The responsibilities must be delegated according to the individuals specialization and interests. It is the responsibility of the team leader to assign challenging work to his team members for them to enjoy work and do not treat it as a burden. Performance reviews are important to find out whether the employees are really happy with their work or not. Constant disputes among employees encourage them to go for a change. Conflicts must be avoided to maintain the decorum of the place and avoid spreading negativity around. Promote activities which bring the employees closer. Organize outdoor picnics, informal get together for the employees to know each other better and strengthen the bond among themselves. Let them make friends at the workplace whom they can really trust. Friendship among employees is one strong factor which helps to retain employees. Individuals who have reliable friends at the workplace are reluctant to move on for the sake of friendship. No one likes to leave an
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56 organization where he gets mental peace. It is essential to have a cordial environment at the workplace. The human resource department must ensure that it is hiring the right candidate. Frustration crops up whenever there is a mismatch. A finance professional if is hired for a marketing profile would definitely end up being frustrated and look for a change. The right candidate must be hired for the right profile. While recruiting a new candidate, one should also check his track record. An individual who has changed his previous jobs frequently would also not stick to the present one and thus should not be hired. Employee recognition is one of the most important factors which go a long way in retaining employees. Nothing works better than appreciating the employees. Their hard work must be acknowledged. Monetary benefits such as incentives, perks, cash prize also motivate the employees to a large extent and they prefer sticking to the organization. The performers must have an upper edge and should get a special treatment from the management. Performance appraisals are also important for an employee to stay motivated and avoid looking for a change. The salary hike should be directly proportional to the hard work put by the employees. Partiality must be avoided as it demotivates the talented ones and prompt them to look for a better opportunity. The salary of the employees must be discussed at the time of the interview. The components of the salary must be transparent and thoroughly discussed with the individuals at the time of joining to avoid confusions later. The individuals should be made to join only when the salary as well as other terms and conditions are acceptable to them. The companys rules and regulations should be made to benefit the employees. They should be employee friendly. Allow them to take a leave on their birthdays or come a little late once or twice in a month. It is important for the management to understand the employees to gain their trust and confidence. The consistent performers must also have a say in the companys decisions for them to feel important.
What is Business Communication ?

Communication is neither transmission of message nor message itself. It is the mutual exchange of understanding, originating with the reciever. Communication needs to be effective in business. Communication is essence of management. The basic functions of management (Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling) cannot be performed well without effective communication. Business communication involves constant flow of information. Feedback is integral part of business communication. Organizations these days are verly large. It involves number of people. There are various levels of hierarchy in an organization. Greater the number of levels, the more difficult is the job of managing the organization. Communication here plays a very important role in process of directing and controlling the people in the oragnization. Immediate feedback can be obtained and misunderstandings if any can be avoided. There should be effective communication between superiors and subordinated in an organization, between organization and society at large(for example between management and trade unions). It is essential for success and growth of an organization. Communication gaps should not occur in any organization.
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57 Business Communication is goal oriented. The rules, regulations and policies of a company have to be communicated to people within and outside the organization. Business Communication is regulated by certain rules and norms. In early times, business communication was limited to paper-work, telephone calls etc. But now with advent of technology, we have cell phones, video conferencing, emails, satellite communication to support business communication. Effective business communication helps in building goodwill of an organization. Business Communication can be of two types: Oral Communication - An oral communication can be formal or informal. Generally business communication is a formal means of communication, like : meetings, interviews, group discussion, speeches etc. An example of Informal business communication would be - Grapevine. Written Communication - Written means of business communication includes - agenda, reports, manuals etc. Components of Communication Process Communication is a process of exchanging verbal and non verbal messages. It is a continuous process. Pre-requisite of communication is a message. This message must be conveyed through some medium to the recipient. It is essential that this message must be understood by the recipient in same terms as intended by the sender. He must respond within a time frame. Thus, communication is a two way process and is incomplete without a feedback from the recipient to the sender on how well the message is understood by him. Communication Process The main components of communication process are as follows:
Context - Communication is affected by the context in which it takes place. This context may be physical, social, chronological or cultural. Every communication proceeds with context. The sender chooses the message to communicate within a context. Sender / Encoder - Sender / Encoder is a person who sends the message. A sender makes use of symbols (words or graphic or visual aids) to convey the message and produce the required response. For instance a training manager conducting training for new batch of employees. Sender may be an individual or a group or an organization. The views, background, approach, skills, competencies, and knowledge of the sender have a great impact on the message. The verbal and non verbal symbols chosen are essential in ascertaining interpretation of the message by the recipient in the same terms as intended by the sender.
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58 Message - Message is a key idea that the sender wants to communicate. It is a sign that elicits the response of recipient. Communication process begins with deciding about the message to be conveyed. It must be ensured that the main objective of the message is clear. Medium - Medium is a means used to exchange / transmit the message. The sender must choose an appropriate medium for transmitting the message else the message might not be conveyed to the desired recipients. The choice of appropriate medium of communication is essential for making the message effective and correctly interpreted by the recipient. This choice of communication medium varies depending upon the features of communication. For instance - Written medium is chosen when a message has to be conveyed to a small group of people, while an oral medium is chosen when spontaneous feedback is required from the recipient as misunderstandings are cleared then and there. Recipient / Decoder - Recipient / Decoder is a person for whom the message is intended / aimed / targeted. The degree to which the decoder understands the message is dependent upon various factors such as knowledge of recipient, their responsiveness to the message, and the reliance of encoder on decoder. Feedback - Feedback is the main component of communication process as it permits the sender to analyze the efficacy of the message. It helps the sender in confirming the correct interpretation of message by the decoder. Feedback may be verbal (through words) or non-verbal (in form of smiles, sighs, etc.). It may take written form also in form of memos, reports, etc. Importance of Communication in an Organization Effective Communication is significant for managers in the organizations so as to perform the basic functions of management, i.e., Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling. Communication helps managers to perform their jobs and responsibilities. Communication serves as a foundation for planning. All the essential information must be communicated to the managers who in-turn must communicate the plans so as to implement them. Organizing also requires effective communication with others about their job task. Similarly leaders as managers must communicate effectively with their subordinates so as to achieve the team goals. Controlling is not possible without written and oral communication. Managers devote a great part of their time in communication. They generally devote approximately 6 hours per day in communicating. They spend great time on face to face or telephonic communication with their superiors, subordinates, colleagues, customers or suppliers. Managers also use Written Communication in form of letters, reports or memos wherever oral communication is not feasible. Thus, we can say that effective communication is a building block of successful organizations. In other words, communication acts as organizational blood. The importance of communication in an organization can be summarized as follows: Communication promotes motivation by informing and clarifying the employees about the task to be done, the manner they are performing the task, and how to improve their performance if it is not up to the mark. Communication is a source of information to the organizational members for decision-making process as it helps identifying and assessing alternative course of actions.
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59 Communication also plays a crucial role in altering individuals attitudes, i.e., a well informed individual will have better attitude than a less-informed individual. Organizational magazines, journals, meetings and various other forms of oral and written communication help in moulding employees attitudes. Communication also helps in socializing. In todays life the only presence of another individual fosters communication. It is also said that one cannot survive without communication. As discussed earlier, communication also assists in controlling process. It helps controlling organizational members behaviour in various ways. There are various levels of hierarchy and certain principles and guidelines that employees must follow in an organization. They must comply with organizational policies, perform their job role efficiently and communicate any work problem and grievance to their superiors. Thus, communication helps in controlling function of management. An effective and efficient communication system requires managerial proficiency in delivering and receiving messages. A manager must discover various barriers to communication, analyze the reasons for their occurrence and take preventive steps to avoid those barriers. Thus, the primary responsibility of a manager is to develop and maintain an effective communication system in the organization. Communication Barriers - Reasons for Communication Breakdown Communication is a process beginning with a sender who encodes the message and passes it through some channel to the receiver who decodes the message. Communication is fruitful if and only if the messages sent by the sender is interpreted with same meaning by the receiver. If any kind of disturbance blocks any step of communication, the message will be destroyed. Due to such disturbances, managers in an organization face severe problems. Thus the managers must locate such barriers and take steps to get rid of them. There are several barriers that affects the flow of communication in an organization. These barriers interrupt the flow of communication from the sender to the reciever, thus making communication ineffective. It is essential for managers to overcome these barriers. The main barriers of communication are summarized below. Following are the main communication barriers: Perceptual and Language Differences: Perception is generally how each individual interprets the world around him. All generally want to receive messages which are significant to them. But any message which is against their values is not accepted. A same event may be taken differently by different individuals. For example : A person is on leave for a month due to personal reasons (family member being critical). The HR Manager might be in confusion whether to retain that employee or not, the immediate manager might think of replacement because his teams productivity is being hampered, the family members might take him as an emotional support. The linguistic differences also lead to communication breakdown. Same word may mean different to different individuals. For example: consider a word value. What is the value of this Laptop?
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60 I value our relation? What is the value of learning technical skills? Value means different in different sentences. Communication breakdown occurs if there is wrong perception by the receiver. Information Overload: Managers are surrounded with a pool of information. It is essential to control this information flow else the information is likely to be misinterpreted or forgotten or overlooked. As a result communication is less effective. Inattention: At times we just not listen, but only hear. For example a traveler may pay attention to one NO PARKING sign, but if such sign is put all over the city, he no longer listens to it. Thus, repetitive messages should be ignored for effective communication. Similarly if a superior is engrossed in his paper work and his subordinate explains him his problem, the superior may not get what he is saying and it leads to disappointment of subordinate. Time Pressures: Often in organization the targets have to be achieved within a specified time period, the failure of which has adverse consequences. In a haste to meet deadlines, the formal channels of communication are shortened, or messages are partially given, i.e., not completely transferred. Thus sufficient time should be given for effective communication. Distraction/Noise: Communication is also affected a lot by noise to distractions. Physical distractions are also there such as, poor lightning, uncomfortable sitting, unhygienic room also affects communication in a meeting. Similarly use of loud speakers interferes with communication. Emotions: Emotional state at a particular point of time also affects communication. If the receiver feels that communicator is angry he interprets that the information being sent is very bad. While he takes it differently if the communicator is happy and jovial (in that case the message is interpreted to be good and interesting). Complexity in Organizational Structure: Greater the hierarchy in an organization (i.e. more the number of managerial levels), more is the chances of communication getting destroyed. Only the people at the top level can see the overall picture while the people at low level just have knowledge about their own area and a little knowledge about other areas. Poor retention: Human memory cannot function beyond a limit. One cant always retain what is being told specially if he is not interested or not attentive. This leads to communication breakdown.
Overcoming Communication Barriers There are a lot of communication barriers faced these days by all. The message intended by the sender is not understood by the receiver in the same terms and sense and thus communication breakdown occurs. It is essential to deal and cope up with these communication barriers so as to ensure smooth and effective communication.
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61 As, in the previous section we have discussed the major barriers of communication. Lets talk about how to overcome these barriers of communication. Eliminating differences in perception: The organization should ensure that it is recruiting right individuals on the job. Its the responsibility of the interviewer to ensure that the interviewee has command over the written and spoken language. There should be proper Induction program so that the policies of the company are clear to all the employees. There should be proper trainings conducted for required employees (for eg: Voice and Accent training). Use of Simple Language: Use of simple and clear words should be emphasized. Use of ambiguous words and jargons should be avoided. Reduction and elimination of noise levels: Noise is the main communication barrier which must be overcome on priority basis. It is essential to identify the source of noise and then eliminate that source. Active Listening: Listen attentively and carefully. There is a difference between listening and hearing. Active listening means hearing with proper understanding of the message that is heard. By asking questions the speaker can ensure whether his/her message is understood or not by the receiver in the same terms as intended by the speaker. Emotional State: During communication one should make effective use of body language. He/she should not show their emotions while communication as the receiver might misinterpret the message being delivered. For example, if the conveyer of the message is in a bad mood then the receiver might think that the information being delivered is not good. Simple Organizational Structure: The organizational structure should not be complex. The number of hierarchical levels should be optimum. There should be a ideal span of control within the organization. Simpler the organizational structure, more effective will be the communication. Avoid Information Overload: The managers should know how to prioritize their work. They should not overload themselves with the work. They should spend quality time with their subordinates and should listen to their problems and feedbacks actively. Give Constructive Feedback: Avoid giving negative feedback. The contents of the feedback might be negative, but it should be delivered constructively. Constructive feedback will lead to effective communication between the superior and subordinate. Proper Media Selection: The managers should properly select the medium of communication. Simple messages should be conveyed orally, like: face to face interaction or meetings. Use of written means of communication should be encouraged for delivering complex messages. For significant messages reminders can be given by using written means of communication such as : Memos, Notices etc. Flexibility in meeting the targets: For effective communication in an organization the managers should ensure that the individuals are meeting their targets timely without skipping the formal channels of communication. There should not be much pressure on employees to meet their targets. Seven Cs of Effective Communication
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62 There are 7 Cs of effective communication which are applicable to both written as well as oral communication. These are as follows: Completeness - The communication must be complete. It should convey all facts required by the audience. The sender of the message must take into consideration the receivers mind set and convey the message accordingly. A complete communication has following features: Complete communication develops and enhances reputation of an organization. Moreover, they are cost saving as no crucial information is missing and no additional cost is incurred in conveying extra message if the communication is complete. A complete communication always gives additional information wherever required. It leaves no questions in the mind of receiver. Complete communication helps in better decision-making by the audience/ readers/ receivers of message as they get all desired and crucial information. It persuades the audience. Conciseness - Conciseness means wordiness, i.e, communicating what you want to convey in least possible words without forgoing the other Cs of communication. Conciseness is a necessity for effective communication. Concise communication has following features: It is both time-saving as well as cost-saving. It underlines and highlights the main message as it avoids using excessive and needless words. Concise communication provides short and essential message in limited words to the audience. Concise message is more appealing and comprehensible to the audience. Concise message is non-repetitive in nature. Consideration - Consideration implies stepping into the shoes of others. Effective communication must take the audience into consideration, i.e, the audiences view points, background, mind-set, education level, etc. Make an attempt to envisage your audience, their requirements, emotions as well as problems. Ensure that the self-respect of the audience is maintained and their emotions are not at harm. Modify your words in message to suit the audiences needs while making your message complete. Features of considerate communication are as follows: Emphasize on you approach. Empathize with the audience and exhibit interest in the audience. This will stimulate a positive reaction from the audience. Show optimism towards your audience. Emphasize on what is possible rather than what is impossible. Lay stress on positive words such as jovial, committed, thanks, warm, healthy, help, etc.
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63 Clarity - Clarity implies emphasizing on a specific message or goal at a time, rather than trying to achieve too much at once. Clarity in communication has following features: It makes understanding easier. Complete clarity of thoughts and ideas enhances the meaning of message. Clear message makes use of exact, appropriate and concrete words. Concreteness - Concrete communication implies being particular and clear rather than fuzzy and general. Concreteness strengthens the confidence. Concrete message has following features: It is supported with specific facts and figures. It makes use of words that are clear and that build the reputation. Concrete messages are not misinterpreted. Courtesy - Courtesy in message implies the message should show the senders expression as well as should respect the receiver. The sender of the message should be sincerely polite, judicious, reflective and enthusiastic. Courteous message has following features: Courtesy implies taking into consideration both viewpoints as well as feelings of the receiver of the message. Courteous message is positive and focused at the audience. It makes use of terms showing respect for the receiver of message. It is not at all biased. Correctness - Correctness in communication implies that there are no grammatical errors in communication. Correct communication has following features: The message is exact, correct and well-timed. If the communication is correct, it boosts up the confidence level. Correct message has greater impact on the audience/ readers. It checks for the precision and accurateness of facts and figures used in the message. It makes use of appropriate and correct language in the message. Awareness of these 7 Cs of communication makes you an effective communicator. Guidelines for Effective Communication Effective communication is a part and parcel of any successful organization. A communication should be free from barriers so as to be effective. Communication is a two way process where the message sent by
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64 the sender should be interpreted in the same terms by the recipient. The characteristics of effective communication are as follows : Clarity of Purpose: The message to be delivered must be clear in the mind of sender. The person to whom it is targeted and the aim of the message should be clear in the mind of the sender. Completeness: The message delivered should not be incomplete. It should be supported by facts and observations. It should be well planned and organized. No assumptions should be made by the receiver. Conciseness: The message should be concise. It should not include any unnecessary details. It should be short and complete. Feedback: Whether the message sent by the sender is understood in same terms by the receiver or not can be judged by the feedback received. The feedback should be timely and in personal. It should be specific rather than general. Empathy: Empathy with the listeners is essential for effective verbal communication. The speaker should step into the shoes of the listener and be sensitive to their needs and emotions. This way he can understand things from their perspective and make communication more effective. Modify the message according to the audience: The information requirement by different people in the organization differs according to their needs. What is relevant to the middle level management might not be relevant to the top level of management. Use of jargons should be minimized because it might lead to misunderstanding and misinterpretations. The message should be modified according to the needs and requirements of the targeted audience. Multiple Channels of communication: For effective communication multiple channels should be used as it increases the chances of clarity of message. The message is reinforced by using different channels and there are less chances of deformation of message.
Make effective use of Grapevine (informal channel of communication): The employees and managers should not always discourage grapevine. They should make effective use of grapevine. The managers can use grapevine to deliver formal messages and for identification of issues which are significant for the employees. The managers can get to know the problems faced by the employees and can work upon it.
Employee Relations
Employee relations is
one of key function in HR management.
Employee relations include subjects as follows 1. Employee engagement 2. Work life balance 3. Quality of work life
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4. Conflict, bargaining, involvement and well-being 5. Tribunals and arbitration systems 6. Models of bargaining 7. Employee involvement 8. Employee involvement in practice 9. Health and safety 10. Stress
Employee engagement
1. What is employee engagement?
a) Definition of Wikipedia: Employee engagement is a concept that is generally viewed as managing discretionary effort b) Definition of IES: Employee engagement is a positive attitude held by the employee towards the organization and its values. An engaged employee is aware of business context, and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organization. The organization must work to develop and nurture engagement, which requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee.
2. Features of employee engagement:
Understanding of business context and the bigger picture Respectful of, and helpful to, colleagues Willingness to go the extra mile Belief in the organization
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Desire to work to make things better Keeping up to date with developments in the field.
3. Diagnostic tools of employee engagement
Training and development Performance management Communication Equal opportunity Fair treatment Pay and benefits Health and safety Cooperation Family friendliness Job satisfaction Immediate management
4. Different of employee engagement and employee satisfaction
Employee engagement is what we get when an employee is motivated by the job; is successful in the job; is well managed by the supervisor and paid fairly by management. Employee satisfaction is what we get when we give employees things they want. So that an employee may be fully satisfied but is unsuccessful.
Employee engagement activities

Employee engagement activities / programs 1. Picnic at regular intervals 2. Movie at interval of 2 months
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3. A daily column, written by CEO, on the intranet with company announcements / programs etc. 4. Update via an overhead paging system, which is used to recognize employees for significant business achievements. 5. Employee suggestion systems / quick responses. 6. Replay on the intranet about the presidents / CEOs press conference. 7. Live version of internal house magazine. 8. CEO spending time in face to face communication with staff. 9. CEO based FAQ questions on company business. 10. ONLINE ask the CEO mailbox. 11. Monthly staff awards 12. Annual staff awards 13. Weekly blog related to serious business issues and staff to read / comments. 14. Appointment of disaster management team 15. Appointment of emergency management team
Employee engagement questionnaire

I/ Employee information 1. Employee name: 2. Position: 3. Department: 4. Start working from: II/ Rating scales: 1. Strongly Disagree(1) 2. Disagree (2) 3. Neither Agree nor Disagree (3) 4. Agree(4) 5. Strongly Agree(5) III/ Employee engagement questions
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1. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my job efficiently. 2. I receive the information and communication I need to do my job. 3. I regularly receive recognition/praise for doing good work. 4. The benefits offered here are fair and reasonable. 5. The people here are pleasant and co-operative to work with. 6. There is someone at work who encourages my development. 7. My opinions and ideas seem to matter. 8. My supervisor provides me with feedback and guidance. 9. My supervisor helps me know what is expected of me. 10. My supervisor cares about me as a person. 11. Even if I had the opportunity to get a similar job with another organization, I would stay with my present company. 12. In the last year, I have had opportunities to learn and grow. 13. I would recommend the organization as a good place to work. 14. Overall, I have confidence in the senior managers at the company. 15. Overall, I am extremely satisfied with my job.
Work life balance

1. What is work life balance?
1.1 Definition of flexible-working.org Work life balance is about people having a measure of control over when, where and how they work 1.2 Definition of hr council A range of practices designed to improve the balance between the demands of an employees work and personal life.
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1.3 Definition of Wikipedia Work-life balance is a broad concept including proper prioritizing between career and ambition on one hand, compared with pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development on the other.
2. Benefits of work life balance
2.1 Benefits to employee More value and balance in your life Understanding your best work life balance Increased productivity Better relationship both on and off the job Reduced Stress 2.2 Benefits to the organization Increased return on investment in training as employees stay longer Reduced absenteeism Reduced use of sick leave Reductions in workers stress levels Improved morale or satisfaction Reduced staff turnover rates Lower recruitment and training costs, associated with reduced turnover Becoming a good employer or an employer of choice Greater staff loyalty and commitment Improved productivity
Steps to balance work life

1. Simplify everything Learn to say No. Able to accept failure 2. De Stress Stress higher levels of creativity But Take it easy Take up: Yoga, Painting, Art of Living 3. Be a Child Go on holiday An impulse outing with family.
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NO ones looking!! Read fairy tales to your child Take a pet Eat cotton candy, ice cone 4. Share the Load In family, divide the tasks like Dusting In work place: delegate, dont do their fishing for them, teach them how to fish 5. Slow Down
One step at a time. Let go to see light, discover new ways to get things done. Do not get pulled from different directions
6. Take care of your health

Take up Sport, Pet, Hobby Well balanced food Please SLEEP zzz All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy Take a walk, Go to Yoga or Gym
7. Dont Postpone Never Procrastinate Avoidance takes up more energy than actually doing it 8. Have a positive Approach Look around you. So many things to be grateful about. Make a list of things you are thankful for 9. Take Charge Plan ahead: long/medium/short plan.
How employer manage work life balance?

How employer manage work life balance? Employer can use methods as below to manage work life balance (WLB): 1. Job Sharing
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2. Job Splitting 3. Flexi-time 4. Term-time working 5. Part-time work 6. Annualized hours 7. Work Sharing 8. e-Working You can use employee feedback monthly to chose ways that are suitable for you.
Work life balance questionnaire

1) Age: 2) Gender: Male/ Female 3) Designation: 4) Nature of Org: 5) How many days in a week do you normally work? a) Less than 5 days b) 5 days c) 6 days d) 7 days 6) How many hours in a day do you normally work? a) 7-8 hours b) 8-9 hours c) 9-10 hours d) 10-12 hours e) More than 12 hours 7) How many hours a day do you spend traveling to work? a) Less than half an hour b) Nearly one hour
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c) Nearly two hours d) More than two hours 8)Do you generally feel you are able to balance your work life? a) Yes b) No 9) How often do you think or worry about work (when you are not actually at work or traveling to work)? a) Never think about work b) Rarely c) Sometimes d) Often e) Always 10) Do you work in shifts? a) General shift/day shift b) Night shift c) Alternative 11) Are you married? a) Yes b) No If yes, is your partner employed? a) Yes b) No 12) Do you have children? a) Yes, no. of children____________. b) No Being an employed man/woman who is helping you to take care of your children? a) Spouse b) In-laws c) Parents d) Servants e) Crche/day care centers
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How many hours in a day do you spend with your child/children? a) Less than 2 hours b) 2-3 hours c) 3-4 hours d) 4-5 hours e) More than 5 hours Do you regularly meet your child/children teachers to know how your child is progressing? a) Once in a week b) Once in two weeks c) Once in month d) Once in 6 months e) Once in a year. 13) Do you take care of? a) Older people b) Dependent adults c) Adults with disabilities d) Children with disabilities e) none If yes, how many hours do you spend with them? a) Less than 2 hours b) 2-3 hours c) 3-4 hours d) 4-5 hours e) More than 5 hours 14) How do you feel about the amount of time you spend at work? a) Very unhappy b) Unhappy c) Indifferent d) Happy e) Very happy 15) Do you ever miss out any quality time with your family or your friends because of pressure of work? a) Never b) Rarely
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c) Sometimes d) Often e) Always 16) Do you ever feel tired or depressed because of work? a) Never b) Rarely c) Sometimes d) Often e) Always 17) How do you manage stress arising from your work? a) Yoga b) Meditation c) Entertainment d) Dance e) Music f) Others, specify_________. 18) Does your company have a separate policy for work-life balance? a) Yes b) No c) Not aware If, yes what are the provisions under the policy? a) Flexible starting time b) Flexible ending time c) Flexible hours in general d) Holidays/ paid time-off e) Job sharing f) Career break/sabbaticals g) Others, specify________ 19) Do you personally feel any of the following will help you to balance your work life? a) Flexible starting hours b) Flexible finishing time c) Flexible hours, in general d) holidays/paid time offs e) Job sharing
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f) Career break/sabbaticals g) time-off for family engagements/events h) Others, specify_________ 20) Does your organization provide you with following additional work provisions? a) Telephone for personal use b) Counseling services for employees c) Health programs d) Parenting or family support programs e) Exercise facilities f) Relocation facilities and choices g) Transportation h) Others, specify______________. 21) Does your organization encourage the involvement of your family members in workachievement reward functions? a) Yes, specify the name of such program Annual Day________ b) No. 22) Does your organization have social functions at times suitable for families? a) Yes, specify the name of such programs____________ b) No. 23) Does your organization provide you with yearly Master health check up? 24) Do any of the following hinder you in balancing your work and family commitments? a) Long working hours b) Compulsory overtime c) Shift work d) meetings/training after office hours e) Others, specify_________________ 25) Do any of the following help you balance your work and family commitments? a) Working from home b) Technology like cell phones/laptops c) Being able to bring Children to work on occasions d) Support from colleagues at work e) Support from family members f) Others, specify___________.
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26) Do any of the following hinder you in balancing your work and family commitments? a) Technology such as laptops/cell phones b) Frequently traveling away from home c) Negative attitude of peers and colleagues at work place d) Negative attitude of supervisors e) Negative attitude of family members c) Others, specify___________ a) Yes b) No 27) Do you suffer from any stress-related disease? a) hypertension b) obesity c) diabetes d) frequent headaches e) none f) Others, specify______. 28) Do you take special initiatives to manage your diet? a) Yes b) No What is your preference for food? a) Carrying home made food b) Dieting on vegetables and fruits c) Choosing less calorific food d) Choosing organic food e) Food from the organizations cafeteria f) Spicy/Junk food g) Others, specify__________. How often will you have refreshment drinks/snacks in a day?] a) None b) Once c) Twice d) Thrice e) More than three times 29) Do you spend time for working out?
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a) Yes b) No If yes, how many hours? a) less than half an hour b) half an hour c) half an hour to one hour d) more than 1 hour Where do you usually prefer to do your workouts? a) In your organizations health centers b) Residence c) Nearby Gym d) Walking e) Others, specify_____________. 30) Do you feel work life balance policy in the organization should be customized to individual needs? a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Indifferent d) Disagree e) Strongly disagree 31) Do you think that if employees have good work-life balance the organization will be more effective and successful? a) Yes b) No If so how? __________________________________________________ Your comments. __________________________________________________ Thank you very much for your time.
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Quality of Work Life

1. Definition of quality of work life: What is QWL? QWL can be define as The quality of relationship between employees and the total working environment. Quality of work life refers to temp.,humidity, or any environmental factors, work culture, amenities or facilities you have so that you can say the factors that directly affect your work. Work life balance means is your work life affecting your personal life. For examples, you dont have time to spent with your family, to eat normally etc. 2. Factors influence to Quality of work life Employee attitude Working environment Job opportunities Nature of job People related Stress level Career prospects Challenges Personal and company development Risk and reward 3. Contents of QWL a. Health is wealth: Organizations should realize that their true wealth lies in their employees and so providing a healthy work environment for employees should be their primary objective. b. Personal and career growth opportunities: An organization should provide employees with opportunities for personal/professional development and growth and to prepare them to accept responsibilities at higher levels. c. Participative management style and recognition: Flat organizational structures help organizations facilitate employee participation. Workers feel that they have control over their work processes and they also offer innovative ideas to improve them. Recognition also helps to motivate employees to perform better. Recognition can be in the form of rewarding employees for jobs well done.
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79 d.Work life balance: Organizations should provide relaxation time for the employees and offer tips to balance their personal and professional lives. e. Fair compensation and job security: Pay should be fixed on the basis of the work done, responsibilities undertaken, individual skills , performance and accomplishments. Job security is another factor that is of concern to employees. Permanent employment provides security to the employees and improves their QWL. f.Fun at workplace: This is growing trend adopted by todays organizations to make their offices a fun place to work. Improving the quality of work life Improving work life quality is the satisfactory expression of the important individual needs due to working in an organization. I. Forms of work life quality: 1. Being treated fairly, reasonably and being cared about by leaders. 2. Creating opportunities for every employee to make best of their potential abilities. 3. Creating opportunities for every employee to actively take part in the decision making process that relates to their work. 4. Being paid adequately, fairly and reasonably. 5. Working in a healthy and safe environment. II/ Methods of improving work life quality: To consider an enterprise to have improved their employees work life quality, we should see about: 1. Payment: Employees must be paid quickly and on time, fairly, appropriately and adequately to their work. 2. Benefit: Carry out benefit programs in many aspects, care about employees life and family by many various activities: give birthday presents, hold wedding for employees, and help their families in sudden difficulties.
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80 3. The relationship between leaders and subordinates: Enterprise needs to keep a close, sincere and open minded relationship between leaders and subordinates. Allow straight line managers to be able to appraise or comment on their subordinates. A special fund deduction should be given to managers only to improve their relationship with employees, for example: Having a visit when the employee is sick 4. The Implementation of training programs to improve special skills for managers. 5. Doing research on the opinions, wishes and estimation of all the employees in the company about the firm business activities. 6. Employees performance evaluation period in which managers are required to discuss with employees about the development goals of the company as well as individual employee. 7. The Establishment of quality circle in the company to make opportunities for every employee to be able to take part in the decision making process that relate to their work. 8. The Use of flexible working time system; the reduction of working time in a week, working hours in a day or the change in working schedule to make it the most appropriate, convenient and reasonable for employees to work.
Models and components of quality of working life Various authors and researchers have proposed models of quality of working life which include a wide range of factors. Selected models are reviewed below. Hackman and Oldham (1976)[5] drew attention to what they described as psychological growth needs as relevant to the consideration of Quality of working life. Several such needs were identified : Skill variety, Task Identity, Task significance, Autonomy and Feedback. They suggested that such needs have to be addressed if employees are to experience high quality of working life. In contrast to such theory based models, Taylor (1979)[6] more pragmatically identified the essential components of quality of working life as basic extrinsic job factors of wages, hours and working conditions, and the intrinsic job notions of the nature of the work itself. He suggested that a number of other aspects could be added, including : individual power, employee participation in the management, fairness and equity,
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81 social support, use of ones present skills, self development, a meaningful future at work, social relevance of the work or product, effect on extra work activities. Taylor suggested that relevant quality of working life concepts may vary according to organisation and employee group.
Warr and colleagues (1979)[7], in an investigation of quality of working life, considered a range of apparently relevant factors, including :
work involvement, intrinsic job motivation, higher order need strength, perceived intrinsic job characteristics, job satisfaction, life satisfaction, happiness, and self-rated anxiety.
They discussed a range of correlations derived from their work, such as those between work involvement and job satisfaction, intrinsic job motivation and job satisfaction, and perceived intrinsic job characteristics and job satisfaction. In particular, Warr et al. found evidence for a moderate association between total job satisfaction and total life satisfaction and happiness, with a less strong, but significant association with self-rated anxiety. Thus, whilst some authors have emphasised the workplace aspects in quality of working life, others have identified the relevance of personality factors, psychological well being, and broader concepts of happiness and life satisfaction. Factors more obviously and directly affecting work have, however, served as the main focus of attention, as researchers have tried to tease out the important influences on quality of working life in the workplace. Mirvis and Lawler (1984)[8] suggested that quality of working life was associated with satisfaction with wages, hours and working conditions, describing the basic elements of a good quality of work life as :
safe work environment, equitable wages, equal employment opportunities and opportunities for advancement.
Baba and Jamal (1991)[9] listed what they described as typical indicators of quality of working life, including:
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82 job satisfaction, job involvement, work role ambiguity, work role conflict, work role overload, job stress, organisational commitment and turn-over intentions.
Baba and Jamal also explored routinisation of job content, suggesting that this facet should be investigated as part of the concept of quality of working life. Some have argued that quality of working life might vary between groups of workers. For example, Ellis and Pompli (2002)[10] identified a number of factors contributing to job dissatisfaction and quality of working life in nurses, including:
poor working environments, resident aggression, workload, innability to deliver quality of care preferred, balance of work and family, shiftwork, lack of involvement in decision making, professional isolation, lack of recognition, poor relationships with supervisor/peers, role conflict, lack of opportunity to learn new skills.
Sirgy et al. (2001)[11] suggested that the key factors in quality of working life are:
need satisfaction based on job requirements, need satisfaction based on work environment, need satisfaction based on supervisory behaviour, need satisfaction based on ancillary programmes, organizational commitment.
They defined quality of working life as satisfaction of these key needs through resources, activities, and outcomes stemming from participation in the workplace. Needs as defined by the psychologist, Abraham Maslow, were seen as relevant in underpinning this model, covering health & safety, economic and family, social, esteem, actualisation, knowledge and aesthetics, although the relevance of non-work aspects is play down as attention is focussed on quality of work life rather than the broader concept of quality of life. These attempts at defining quality of working life have included theoretical approaches, lists of identified factors, correlational analyses, with opinions varying as to whether such definitions and explanations can be both global, or need to be specific to each work setting.
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Bearfield, (2003)[12] used 16 questions to examine quality of working life, and distinguished between causes of dissatisfaction in professionals, intermediate clerical, sales and service workers, indicating that different concerns might have to be addressed for different groups. The distinction made between job satisfaction and dissatisfaction in quality of working life reflects the influence of job satisfaction theories. Herzberg at al., (1959)[13] used Hygiene factors and Motivator factors to distinguish between the separate causes of job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction. It has been suggested that Motivator factors are intrinsic to the job, that is; job content, the work itself, responsibility and advancement. The Hygiene factors or dissatisfaction-avoidance factors include aspects of the job environment such as interpersonal relationships, salary, working conditions and security. Of these latter, the most common cause of job dissatisfaction can be company policy and administration, whilst achievement can be the greatest source of extreme satisfaction. An individuals experience of satisfaction or dissatisfaction can be substantially rooted in their perception, rather than simply reflecting their real world. Further, an individuals perception can be affected by relative comparison am I paid as much as that person - and comparisons of internalised ideals, aspirations, and expectations, for example, with the individuals current state (Lawler and Porter, 1966).[1] In summary, where it has been considered, authors differ in their views on the core constituents of Quality of Working Life (e.g. Sirgy, Efraty, Siegel & Lee, 2001[11] and Warr, Cook & Wall, 1979).[7] It has generally been agreed however that Quality of Working Life is conceptually similar to well-being of employees but differs from job satisfaction which solely represents the workplace domain (Lawler, 1982)[14]. Quality of Working Life is not a unitary concept, but has been seen as incorporating a hierarchy of perspectives that not only include work-based factors such as job satisfaction, satisfaction with pay and relationships with work colleagues, but also factors that broadly reflect life satisfaction and general feelings of well-being (Danna & Griffin, 1999).[15] More recently, work-related stress and the relationship between work and non-work life domains (Loscocco & Roschelle, 1991)[16] have also been identified as factors that should conceptually be included in Quality of Working Life.
Measurement
There are few recognised measures of quality of working life, and of those that exist few have evidence of validity and reliability, that is, there is a very limited literature based on peer reviewed evaluations of available assessments. A recent statistical analysis of a new measure, the Work-Related Quality of Life scale (WRQoL)[17], indicates that this assessment device should prove to be a useful instrument, although further evaluation would be useful. The WRQoWL measure uses six core factors to explain most of the variation in an individuals quality of working life: Job and Career Satisfaction; Working Conditions; General Well-Being; HomeWork Interface; Stress at Work and Control at Work.
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The Job & Career Satisfaction (JCS) scale of the Work-Related Quality of Life scale (WRQoL) is said to reflect an employees feelings about, or evaluation of, their satisfaction or contentment with their job and career and the training they receive to do it. Within the WRQoL measure, JCS is reflected by questions asking how satisfied people feel about their work. It has been proposed that this Positive Job Satisfaction factor is influenced by various issues including clarity of goals and role ambiguity, appraisal, recognition and reward, personal development career benefits and enhancement and training needs. The General well-being (GWB) scale of the Work-Related Quality of Life scale (WRQoL)[17], aims to assess the extent to which an individual feels good or content in themselves, in a way which may be independent of their work situation. It is suggested that general well-being both influences, and is influenced by work. Mental health problems, predominantly depression and anxiety disorders, are common, and may have a major impact on the general well-being of the population. The WRQoL GWB factor assesses issues of mood, depression and anxiety, life satisfaction, general quality of life, optimism and happiness. The WRQoL Stress at Work sub-scale (SAW) reflects the extent to which an individual perceives they have excessive pressures, and feel stressed at work. The WRQoL SAW factor is assessed through items dealing with demand and perception of stress and actual demand overload. Whilst it is possible to be pressured at work and not be stressed at work, in general, high stress is associated with high pressure. The Control at Work (CAW) subscale of the WRQoL scale addresses how much employees feel they can control their work through the freedom to express their opinions and being involved in decisions at work. Perceived control at work as measureed by the Work-Related Quality of Life scale (WRQoL)[17] is recognized as a central concept in the understanding of relationships between stressful experiences, behaviour and health. Control at work, within the theoretical model underpinning the WRQoL, is influenced by issues of communication at work, decision making and decision control. The WRQoL Home-Work Interface scale (HWI) measures the extent to which an employer is perceived to support the family and home life of employees. This factor explores the interrelationship between home and work life domains. Issues that appear to influence employee HWI include adequate facilities at work, flexible working hours and the understanding of managers. The Working Conditions scale of the WRQoL assesses the extent to which the employee is satisfied with the fundamental resources, working conditions and security necessary to do their job effectively. Physical working conditions influence employee health and safety and thus employee Quality of working life. This scale also taps into satisfaction with the resources provided to help people do their jobs.
Applications
Regular assessment of Quality of Working Life can potentially provide organisations with important information about the welfare of their employees, such as job satisfaction, general
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well-being, work-related stress and the home-work interface. Studies in the UK University sector have shown a valid measure of Quality of Working Life exists[18] and can be used as a basis for effective interventions. Worrall and Cooper (2006)[19] recently reported that a low level of well-being at work is estimated to cost about 5-10% of Gross National Product per annum, yet Quality of Working Life as a theoretical construct remains relatively unexplored and unexplained within the organisational psychology research literature. A large chunk of most peoples lives will be spent at work. Most people recognise the importance of sleeping well, and actively try to enjoy the leisure time that they can snatch. But all too often, people tend to see work as something they just have to put up with, or even something they dont even expect to enjoy. Some of the factors used to measure quality of working life pick up on things that dont actually make people feel good, but which seem to make people feel bad about work if those things are absent. For example, noise if the place where someone works is too noisy, they might get frequent headaches, or find they cannot concentrate, and so feel dissatisfied. But when it is quiet enough they dont feel pleased or happy - they just dont feel bad. This can apply to a range of factors that affect someone's working conditions. Other things seem to be more likely to make people feel good about work and themselves once the basics are OK at work. Challenging work (not too little, not too much) can make them feel good. Similarly, opportunities for career progression and using their abilities can contribute to someone's quality of working life. A recent publication of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE)[20] emphasises the core role of assessment and understanding of the way working environments pose risks for psychological wellbeing through lack of control and excessive demand. The emphasis placed by NICE on assessment and monitoring wellbeing springs from the fact that these processes are the key first step in identifying areas for improving quality of working life and addressing risks at work.
Quality of work life questionnaire

1. How long have you been working for company? a) Less than one year b) One Two years c) Two Five years d) Five years or more 2. I am satisfied with the working conditions provided by the company. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree
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3. How motivating is the work environment? a) Extremely motivating b) Fairly motivating c) Neither motivating nor demotivating 4. Do the other departments in the hospital cooperate with each other? a) Yes b) No 5. Do you feel free to offer comments and suggestions? a) Yes b) No 6. There is a harmonious relationship with our colleagues in the company. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree 7. Sense of belongingness increase with the cooperation. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree 8. How far training programs helps an employee to achieve the required skill for performing the job efficiently? a) To great extent b) To some extent c) Rarely 9. Do you think the training programs helps in improving relationship among employees? a) Yes b) No 10. How would you rate the programs overall? Very useful 5 4 3 2 1 little use 11. Please comment on the following infrastructure Appraisal from Excellent to Poor a) Classroom/seating arrangement e) Audio visual arrangement f) Quality of lunch g) Traveling facility
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12. I am given adequate and fair compensation for the work I do? a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree 13. My organization will pay salary by considering responsibilities at work a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree 14. The company does a good job of linking rewards to job performance a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree 15. I feel that my work allows me to do in a particular area where I can do best. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree 16. There is a balance between stated objectives and resources provided by the company. a) Strongly agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly disagree 17. Fringe benefits provided to you. a) Insurance b) Retirement benefit c) Health checkup d) All the above 18. Does the company provide you the social security benefits? a) Yes b) No 19. Do you feel comfortable and satisfied with your job? a) Satisfied b) Neutral c) Dissatisfied
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20. Do you feel secured about your job? h) Yes i) No
HUMAN RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEM(HRIS)

The Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is a software or online solution for the data entry, data tracking, and data information needs of the Human Resources, payroll, management, and accounting functions within a business. Normally packaged as a data base, hundreds of companies sell some form of HRIS and every HRIS has different capabilities. Pick your HRIS carefully based on the capabilities you need in your company. Typically, the better The Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) provide overall: Management of all employee information. Reporting and analysis of employee information. Company-related documents such as employee handbooks, emergency evacuation procedures, and safety guidelines. Benefits administration including enrollment, status changes, and personal information updating. Complete integration with payroll and other company financial software and accounting systems. Applicant tracking and resume management.
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The HRIS that most effectively serves companies tracks: attendance and PTO use, pay raises and history, pay grades and positions held, performance development plans, training received, disciplinary action received, personal employee information, and occasionally, management and key employee succession plans, high potential employee identification, and applicant tracking, interviewing, and selection. An effective HRIS provides information on just about anything the company needs to track and analyze about employees, former employees, and applicants. Your company will need to select a Human Resources Information System and customize it to meet your needs.
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With an appropriate HRIS, Human Resources staff enables employees to do their own benefits updates and address changes, thus freeing HR staff for more strategic functions. Additionally, data necessary for employee management, knowledge development, career growth and development, and equal treatment is facilitated. Finally, managers can access the information they need to legally, ethically, and effectively support the success of their reporting employees.
Prof.V.V.S.K.PRASAD

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THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

Human Resource Management (HRM)

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

Manpower Planning / Human Resource Planning

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

Employee Selection Process

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

Human Resources Policies

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

Recruitment And Selection

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

19 Make byHR ManagerCEO

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

Orientation and Placement

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

Employee Training - Benefits and Steps in Employee Training Programme

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

Steps in Employee Training Programme

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

LECTURES DEMONSTRATIONS DISCUSSIONS COMPUTER BASED TRAINING (CBT)

INTELLEGENT TUTORIAL SYSTEM(ITS) PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION (PI) VIRTUAL REALITY

GAMES AND SIMULATIONS

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

SENSITIVITY TRAINING TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS STRAIGHT LECTURES/ LECTURES SIMULATION EXERCISES

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

Job Analysis - Job Description and Job Specification

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

Performance Appraisal Tools and Techniques

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

Performance Appraisal Biases

THE HINDU COLLEGE-MBA, MACHILIPATNAM

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