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ASSIGNMENT DRIVE: SPRING 2014

SIKKIM MANIPAL UNIVERSITY-DDE
Master of Business Administration-MBA Semester III
Subject: - MANPOWER PLANNING AND RESOURCING - 4 Credits
Subject code: MU0010
(Book ID B1765)
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Q. No. 1. What do you mean by forecasting? Describe the various types of
forecasts? 10
Explain the meaning of forecasting 3
Explaining the types of forecasts 7
Ans: - Manpower forecasting is the first step or feature of the entire manpower
planning activity. Forecasting is the process of making statements about events whose
actual outcomes (typically) have not yet been observed.
'Need' refers to the number of people required to provide an ideal level of service. What
is ideal is never achieved, because of structural, technological and other constraints.
'Requirements' are the functional composition of employment that will be necessary to
produce goods and services within a specified timeframe to achieve social, cultural;
economic and technological targets.
'Forecasts', on the other hand, refer to a prediction of the outcome when normal course
of events are influenced and altered by external forces. Forecasts usually take into
account both the projections and the estimates. For example, forecasts at the macro level
could result in a statement of what would happen if economic growth was deliberately
manipulated by government policy

HR forecasting constitutes the heart of the HR planning process, and can be defined as
ascertaining the net requirement for personnel by determining the demand for the
supply of human resources now and the future. The success of HR plans depends on
the accuracy of HR forecasting.

Types of forecasts
Having understood the objectives of manpower forecasts one needs to know that
manpower forecasts could be categorized differently, depending on the purpose for
which forecasts are made. Some of the major types of forecasts are briefly described
here.

1) Short-Term Forecasts
Short-term forecasts are very useful at the micro-level or we can also say company level,
e.g., a chain hotel makes financial statement for its expenditures keeping in view both
the ongoing projects and the projects in the pipeline. The financial provisions have to be
made for both the expected and unexpected expenditures. Short-term forecasts are
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usually made for a period not exceeding two years aiming to facilitate estimation of
financial provision for wages/salaries in the programmes/projects initiated.

2) Medium-Term Forecasts
For most countries medium term is about two to five years - the horizon for planning.
Medium term forecasts are useful in those offices where manpower is concerned with
advising ministers or preparing contingency plans to meet the 'twists and turns of
economic circumstances or international events'.

3) Long-Term Forecasts
Forecasts for a period more than five years are considered as long-term forecasts. These
forecasts are useful in educational planning, particularly relating to the highly skilled
professional categories of manpower. They are also useful in the preparation of
corporate plans incorporating productivity changes, technological changes and major
organisational developments.

4) Policy Conditional Forecasts
Policy conditional manpower forecasts are those which are determined by the policy
towards the factors which influence the demand for manpower. Such manpower
forecasts may be based on a rule of thumb, or on professional judgement, or on an
explicitly specified model or any combination of the three.

5) Optimising Forecasts
Optimising manpower forecasts are those which are obtained as solutions to an
optimising model in which numbers demanded of various categories of manpower are
so determined that either the end benefits are maximised, or cost of resources used in
achieving a pre-determined end objective is minimised.

6) Macro and Micro Forecasts:- Macro forecasts are done usually at the national,
industry sector and region state levels whereas Micro forecasts are made at the
enterprise or department level. Macro manpower forecasts are used for planning,
education and training facilities as well as to make decisions regarding choice and
location of industries for development whereas Micro manpower forecasts are needed
primarily for planning recruitment, promotion, training and counselling in accordance
with the plan for the development of enterprise or department concerned. Forecasts at
this level are, therefore, required to be in greater details as well as precise. The micro
forecasts are usually expressed in terms of numbers required for each occupation,
source and stage of recruitment, and scheduling of training.

Q. No. 2 What do you mean by Human Resource Accounting (HRA)?
Discuss the objectives and advantages of HRA. 10
Definition of Human Resource Accounting 2
Describing the objectives of HRA 4
Describing the major benefits of HRA 4
Ans: -
Human Resource Accounting :- According to, The American Accounting
Associations committee (1973), human resource accounting is the process of
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identifying and measuring data about human resources and communicating this
information to interested parties. HRA also quantifies the value of employees in an
organization.

According to Eric Flamholtz (1971) HRA is defined as the measurement and reporting
of the cost and value of people in organizational resources.

Therefore, HRA can be defined as the process of identifying, recording, measuring
human resources and communicating related financial information associated with the
human resource to the interested users.

HRA related information is not a statutory requirement as per the Companies Act
(1956).

Objectives of HRA:-

Human resource accounting is capable of helping the management in various ways it
can support managerial decisions involving human resource allocation, projection and
scheduling in the organization. The purpose of human resource accounting is to
facilitate the managers in planning, superviing and controlling human resource in the
most effective manner.

The objectives of Human Resource Accounting are:
To provide cost/value information of Human Resource and associated processes
to the management and assist decision making
Serve as a basis for decisions concerning the human resource of the organization.
Provide methods and standard for evaluating the worth of people to the
organization effectively.
Enable effective management and monitoring of resources
To report progress or retardation of human assets
Form the base for developing management principles by reporting financial
outcomes of decisions taken
According to Likert (1971), HRA serves the following purposes in an organisation:
It furnishes cost/value information for making management decisions about
acquiring, allocating, developing, and maintaining human resources in order to
attain cost-effectiveness.
It allows management personnel to monitor effectively the use of human
resources.
It provides a sound and effective basis of human asset control, that is, whether
the asset is appreciated, depleted or conserved.
It helps in the development of management principles by classifying the financial
consequences of various practices.

Major benefits of HRA : -
Apart from reporting the value of HR and HR processes, HRA also implies whether the
processes are genuinely necessary and are adding value. It also highlights reducible and
unnecessary costs.
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HRA not only helps in internal decision making but also influences external decisions.
It helps investors and stakeholder to make investment decisions. For instance the cost of
training and development will feature under expenditures in the balance sheet;
whereas the returns on investment (ROI) of training, will not feature in the balance
sheet.

HRA can also be deployed to gain a competitive edge over other organizations.
HRA highlights the organizations efforts towards development of its employees and
measures the performance of Human Resource Development Function. In conclusion,
the major benefits of HR accounting are:
It checks the corporate plan of the organisation. The corporate plan aiming for
expansion, diversification, changes in technological growth etc. has to be worked
out with the availability of human resources for such placements or key
positions. If such manpower is not likely to be available, HR accounting suggests
modification of the entire corporate plan.
It offsets uncertainty and change, as it enables the organisation to have the right
person for the right job at the right time and place.
It provides scope for advancement and development of employees by effective
training and development.
It helps individual employee to aspire for promotion and better benefits
It aims to see that the human involvement in the organisation is not wasted and
brings high returns to the organisation.
It helps to take steps to improve employee contribution in the form of increased
productivity.
It provides different methods of testing to be used, interview techniques to be
adopted in the selection process based on the level of skill, qualifications and
experience of future human resources.
It can foresee the change in value, aptitude and attitude of human resources and
accordingly change the techniques of interpersonal management


Q. No. 3 Define Talent Engagement. Discuss the importance and levels of
Talent Engagement 10
Definition of Talent Engagement 2
Describing the importance of Talent Engagement 3
Explaining the levels of Talent Engagement 5

Ans:-
Definition of Talent Engagement;- Talent engagement is the concept which explains
the degree to which a talent (employee) is emotionally bonded to his organization and
passionate about his work. Talent engagement is the level of commitment and
involvement a person has towards his organization and its values.
Talent engagement is creates an atmosphere for employees to go beyond job
responsibilities to delight customers and promote business. It is a powerful retention
strategy. The definition of a fully engaged talent might be any of the following:
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One who is intellectually & emotionally bonded with an organization
One who gives hundred percent effort
One who feels passionately about achieving organizations goals
One who lives the values of the organization

Importance of Talent Engagement
Managers should essentially cultivate engagement in the organization because failure to
do that causes a lack of commitment and motivation amongst employees. Talent
engagement is linked to talent turnover, customer satisfaction, loyalty and profitability.
The importance of talent engagement is that it helps
Create and sustain world class processes
Contribute greatly to society at large
Lower stress and allows more healthier lives
Achieve greater work-life balance
Allows more peace on earth
Increase ability to attract new talent
Increase ability to innovate
Levels of Talent Engagement:-
Studies revealed that there are 3 levels of engagement:
Engaged Talent
Engaged talent performs consistently at high levels. Engaged talent is always ready to
find out peoples expectations from them or their role so that, they can meet and exceed
them. They are more curious about their company and their position in it. They work
whole heartedly using their talent and strengths at workplace every day for the
betterment of their organization. They work towards driving innovation in the
organization and for moving it forward.

Not Engaged Talent
This is a kind of talent that tends to concentrate more on the tasks allotted to them
rather than the goals and outcomes expected. They have to be repeatedly told their
responsibilities, so that they can complete their work. Consequently the focus shifts
from accomplishing tasks rather than achieving an outcome. Employees who are not
engaged tend to feel that their contributions are being overlooked, and their potential is
not being tapped. The reason behind them feeling like this is that they do not have
productive relationships with their managers or colleagues. And they do not produce
any positive results for the organization also.


Actively Disengaged Employee
These employees are consistently against almost everything. Apart from being unhappy
at work they are far busier demonstrating their unhappiness. Actively disengaged
employees undermine what their engaged colleagues accomplish. Actively disengaged
workers cause great damage to the organization in general. It is better to retrench such
employees.


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Q. No. 4 Discuss in details the Employee Exit Process
Explaining the Employee Exit process in detail 10

Ans: -
The employee who wants to resign will discuss with his Manager, submits his resignation
to his Manager. The Manager should put his comments on the resignation letter and
forward it to HR. (these comments can be To be relieved by dd/mm/yyyy, or some other
special comments)

HR on receipt of the Resignation letter, enters in the software, the date of receipt of
resignation letter, terms and conditions of resignation if any special is there. and comments
of Manager, the payroll changes are made accordingly as per the relieving date decided, the
software generates the receipt of resignation letter, along with a no dues format, with
employee name, roll no, dept already preprinted on the no dues format. These letters and
format are handed over by HR to employee, + details of PF transfer forms, withdrawal
forms as applicable. All the payroll changes, PF changes are scheduled to take action on the
relieving date in software.

HR prepares the matter of Relieving letter and gives it to the Manager for suggestions /
comments. The relieving letter is kept ready.

Usually before / on the relieving day or some 2 days ago, the employee submits all no dues,
and other forms to the HR and takes his relieving letter. The sample questions below will
help to facilitate these goals. They must be used as soon as the employee and the
organization are aware that the employee will be leaving. It is only appropriate not to leave
these questions
until the exit interview.

How will the employees knowledge be advantageous to the organization; their opinions,
experience, introductions to their contacts, colleagues etc., before the employee leaves?

Will the employees meet up happily with managers or successor or colleagues to advice
them so that the organization will benefit from their knowledge and experience before their
departure?

How to help the employees to pass on knowledge and experience to their successor before
they leave the organization?

How and when will the employee prefer to pass on knowledge to the successor?

How does the organization agree for this knowledge to be transferred? Are employees
happy to help the organization by naming a successor?

Employers or HR managers will get the most for the organization and be able to best help
to the departing employee by being positive, constructive, understanding and helpful, prior
to and during the exit interview process. Treat people with respect and dignity, and usually
they will respond in kind.

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Operational Responsibilities
This is termed as basic housekeeping. Immediately before or on the date of departure the
employee looks into basic housekeeping issues. Many organizations have a chain of
standard Exit Checklists for use. Here are suggested examples:

IT Checklist
Clean-up local hard drive
Clean-up network drives (personal & work)
Let them know what to do with network job files
Return manuals and disks
Delete organization software from personal laptops or other home computers
Signature of Employee who reviews the checklist: _____________

Administration Checklist
Return all Office Keys
Clear out the office desk, files; return all stationary /supplies/ equipment
to production; take all personal belongings
Return Credit Cards (if any)
Have address changed on letters, bills/forwarded at post office/ courier
Hand in all copies of reports, files, manuals etc
File all work, or arrange with someone responsible for filing work file when job is
complete (do not leave any work files in office) Signature of Employee who reviews
the checklist: _____________

HR Checklist
Leave forwarding address
Telephone Number
Facsimile (fax) Number
Mobile Number
Hand in all appropriate forms
Signature of Employee who reviews the checklist: _____________

Standardized Exit Survey
This is documenting, employees general impressions, of the organization. Employers
document the employees impressions of their work experience for later use in improving
the organization functionalities. Forward thinking HR managers track the circumstances of
employee exits as well as the outgoing perceptions of those employees. This information
offers valuable insights for enhancing SOPs, employee incentive programs, organizational
structure, managerial approach etc.

To ensure that basic employee exit information can be evaluated reliably with statistical
analysis, it must be collected in a standardized format and procedure. There are companies
that specialize in this type of evaluation. Employee Exits should meet professional
standards and legal requirements.

Face-to-Face Exit Interview
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This is viewed as the personal and professional closure. The employer and employee
accomplish proper closure with a face-to-face exit interview.

An exit interview is generally conducted by impartial persons such as an HR manager or a
senior leader of the organization. The idea is that employee should tend to be more
forthright than disagreeable. Some organizations engage a third party to conduct such
interviews and provide honest feedback.

The objective of an exit interview is to gather information to improve upon the lacunae it
may have in its working conditions so that it helps in retaining other employees. A
questionnaire includes common questions such as reasons for leaving, job satisfaction level,
frustrations and feedback concerning the organization.


Q. No. 5 As an HR, you are asked to focus on the Talent Development
Process in your organization .How would you define Talent
Development? Explain the necessity of Talent Development from an
HR perspective. Explain the model for achieving
excellence in Talent Development 10
Definition of Talent Development 2
Explain the necessity of Talent Development 5
Factors responsible for achieving Talent Development 3

Ans; -Definition of Talent Development;- Talent Development is preparing your employees
for current and future successes

Organizations seeking talent development do much more than just looking at individuals;
they seek for people or groups of people whove talent at different levels in the
organization. They search for people who have great potential, experience, performance
record, and who are seasoned, matured but still aggressively driving forward. And from
this group they will select a few people to be organizational leaders or leaders of specialist
functions within the organization. The organization has to take the responsibility of
creating and maintaining the HR systems that help in attracting, selecting, deploying,
developing, rewarding and retaining these talents.

Talent development does not include only this much. The organization also needs to see
that the careers of these talented people are well-managed and provide them enough
opportunities to develop the skills and judgment they need as they move into key
leadership roles. Organization must prepare and enable them to select the right practices
for their organization and leading it in the right direction.

The talent development architecture in todays corporate environment involves four
dimensions. They are talent requirement, conversion from potential to polished performers,
HR systems and processes and organizational programs.

Necessity of Talent Development; -

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Talent development is necessary in any organization because of the following:
This is the only way of improving employees productivity through automated and
integrated learning management, performance management, and compensation
management systems to drive business results.
Effective talent development in an organization reduces turnover at critical
positions, manages succession plans, minimizes business disruptions, and also takes
care to reduce the risk of non-compliance and litigation.
Talent development is necessary to achieve extra ordinary goals. Extraordinary goals
require extraordinary talent.

With the growing economy in the 21st century, employee retention and recruitment
will be the key issue for different organizations. So finding the proper talent and
creating opportunities for its development would be reasons enough for a talent to
stay in the organization.
Identifying and developing talent are the critical steps in retaining the top talents in
an organization. The cost of replacing a valued employee is enormous.
Organizations need to promote diversity and design strategies to retain people,
reward high performance and provide opportunities for development.
High Performing organizations anticipate the leadership and talent requirement to
succeed in the future. They do understand that it's critical to strengthen their talent
pool through succession planning, professional development, job rotation and
workforce planning. Hence, for that they need to identify the right talent and groom
it the right way.

Factors responsible for achieving Talent Development

Model for Achieving Excellence in Talent Development
In order to achieve excellence in talent development, companies should focus on the
following factors:

Structure Functional profiles, competency models, and describing paths for growth are
the things companies should implement. Other than these a yearly performance
management cycle with some achievable targets should be set and incentive structures,
career- and succession planning are some things which form an integral part of the talent
management system.

Selective Development Most of the successful organizations carry on a close examination
of which are the talent programs and interventions that will be necessary to realize the
company strategy.

Process The total infrastructure for talent development should be such that it is a part of
the day-to-day leadership culture. Coaching and training skills are to be developed by the
managers who have an experience to execute talent management effectively.


Q. No. 6 Write short notes on the following:-- unit-6 or 12
a)Recruitment
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b)Succession Planning 10
a) Meaning and objectives of Recruitment 5
b) Concept of Succession Planning 5

Ans: - a). Meaning of Recruitment; -
The process of finding and hiring the best-qualified candidate (from within or outside
of an organization) for a job opening, in a timely and cost effective manner. The
recruitment process includes analyzing the requirements of a job, attracting employees
to that job, screening and selecting applicants, hiring, and integrating the new employee
to the organization.
William F Glueck Recruitment is a set of activities and organization uses it to attract
potential job candidates possessing appropriate characteristics to help the organization
reach its objectives.

Byars & Rue Recruitment Involves seeking & attracting a pool of people from which
qualified candidates for job vacancies can be chosen.

Recruitment of applicants is a function that comes before selection. It help to create a list
of prospective employees for the organization so that the management can choose the
right person for the right job at the right time from this list. The main goal or objective
of the recruitment is to help in the selection process.

Recruitment can be defined as: A process of finding and getting capable applicants or
employees or manpower for employment. This process begins when new people or
employees are sought or found. It ends when applicants matching the job description
submit their resume and application. The result is a list of applications from which new
employees are selected or
chosen.

Edwin B. Flippo has defined recruitment as, The process of searching the candidates
for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization.

Recruitment is a continuous process. The firm attempts to develop a list of qualified
candidates for the future manpower resource needs. The vacancies may or may not
exist in the firm. Usually, the recruitment process begins when a manager realizes that
there is a possibility of a vacancy or an anticipated (there may be) vacancy in the
organization.
Objectives of Recruitment; -
The objectives of recruitment are:
To support the organization such that it is able to get, maintain and improve the
best talent and skills.
To be certain about the present and future manpower needs of the organization
in relation with planning & job evaluation activities.
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To recruit competent employees who can achieve organizational goals &
objectives.
To get a lot of candidates so that the management can select the right candidate
for the right job from this list.
To persuade and get more and more candidates interested to apply for jobs in the
organization.
It acts as a link between the employers and the job seekers or job hunters and
ensures that the placement of the right candidate at the right place at the right
time.

Manpower planning helps in finding out the number of employees or manpower an
organization needs. The manager of an organization knows the kind of job openings
available, the description of the job i.e. the tasks, duties and responsibilities and hence
he can decide the job specifications i.e. employee or manpower skills, qualification,
experience etc. required of the candidates.

The next step is recruiting the right kind of people/manpower, with the right skill and
at the right time. Recruitment is an un-ending process. It means that it is an on-going
process for an organization. Why do we say that recruitment is an un-ending process?
For the simple reason that some employees resign, some retire and some may die. More
importantly organizations diversify, open new branches, launch new products in new
markets. Hence new employees are required to join the organization.

Recruitment is an important part of an organizations human resource planning and
their competitive strength. Efficient human resources hired at the right time in the right
place in the organization are important and can be a core competency or a critical
advantage for the organization

Concept of Succession Planning : -

Succession planning is a process for identifying and developing internal people with
the potential to fill key business leadership positions in the company. Succession
planning increases the availability of experienced and capable employees that are
prepared to assume these roles as they become available. Taken narrowly, "replacement
planning" for key roles is the heart of succession planning. Effective succession or
talent-pool management concerns itself with building a series of feeder groups up and
down the entire leadership pipeline or progression (Charan, Drotter, Noel, 2001). In
contrast, replacement planning is focused narrowly on identifying specific back-up
candidates for given senior management positions. For the most part position-driven
replacement planning (often referred to as the "truck scenario") is a forecast, which
research indicates does not have substantial impact on outcomes.

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Succession planning is a process whereby an organization ensures that employees are
recruited and developed to fill each key role within the company. Through your
succession planning process, you recruit superior employees, develop their knowledge,
skills, and abilities, and prepare them for advancement or promotion into ever more
challenging roles. Actively pursuing succession planning ensures that employees are
constantly developed to fill each needed role. As your organization expands, loses key
employees, provides promotional opportunities, and increases sales, your succession
planning guarantees that you have employees on hand ready and waiting to fill new
roles
One of the types of career planning is succession planning. Succession planning is a
technique for identifying and developing internal employees with the potential to fill
important organizational positions. Succession planning ensures the availability of
experienced, skilled and competent employees that are prepared to assume these roles
as they become available. Succession planning increases the progress of qualified
employees from individual contributors to managers and leaders. Thus:
It prepares present employees to undertake key roles
It develops talent and long-term growth of employees
It improves workforce capacities and performance of employee
It improves employee commitment and thus enables retention of employees
It ensures its support to employees throughout their employment term
It meets the career development requirements of existing employees
It understands the increasing difficulty of recruiting employees externally
It focuses on leadership continuity and improved knowledge sharing
It provides more efficiency in monitoring and tracking of employee proficiency levels
and skill gaps. Succession planning is an essential part of an organization's ability to
reduce risks, ensure smooth business continuity, create a proven leadership model, and
improve employee morale. There are four stages to developing an effective succession
plan: Identifying roles for succession; Developing a clear understanding of the
capabilities required to undertake those roles; Identifying employees who could
potentially fill and perform highly in such roles; and Preparing employees to be ready
for advancement into each identified role, without the implementation of a succession
plan, there can be significant negative impacts on an organization including; Loss of
expertise and business knowledge, loss of business continuity, damaged client
relationships, time and effort to recruit and train and replacement of employees