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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Q1. Describe Human Resource Management and explain its significance.

Human resource management has come to be recognized as an inherent part of management which is concerned with the human resources of an organization. Its objective is the maintenance of better human relations in the organization by the development application and evaluation of policies, procedures and programmes relating to human resources to optimize their contribution towards the realization of organizational objectives. In other words, personnel management is concerned with getting better results with collaboration of people. According to the Institute of personnel Management (U.K), :Personnel management is an integral but distinctive part of management, concerned with people at work and their relationships with in the enterprise. It seeks to bring together into effective organization the men and women who staff the enterprise, enabling each to make his/her best contribution to its success, both as a member of a working group and as an individual. It seeks to provide relationships with in the enterprise that are conducive both to effective work and human satisfaction. SCOPE:The field of personnel management is very wide as is obvious from the fact that it is called by several terms such as labour management, manpower management human relationships, human management and so on. The Indian Institute of personnel Management has laid down the scope of personnel management as follows:(i) The welfare aspect concerned with working conditions and amenities such as canteens, creches, housing, personal problems of workers, schools, and recreation; (ii) The labour or personnel aspect concerned with recruitment placement of employees, remuneration, promotion, incentives, productivity, etc. (iii) The industrial relations aspect concerned with trade union negotiation, settlement of industrial disputes, joint consultation and collective bargaining. All these aspects are concerned with human element in industry as district from the mechanical. IMPORTANCE:1. The personnel function of management deals with the proper handling of personnel in the organization. If people working in the organization are not handling or managed properly, good industrial relations will not develop which will jeopardise the survival of the organization. I t is not possible to achieve the organizational goals without active cooperation of the personnel.

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2. The various aspects of personnel function relate to procurement development, compensation and motivation of the personnel. Every manager has come responsibility towards these areas, but not it has been recognized that the functions cannot be the specialty of every line manager. 3. Personnel function has become a specialized task and so it entrusted to the person who is well conversant with the principles and techniques of personnel management. The personnel manager organizes the personnel department to carry out the functions entrusted to him. Personnel department develops the sources of recruitment, selects the people and helps the line manager to place and adjust them. 4. Personnel department is also responsible for training and development of the employees. It develops various programmes for increasing the knowledge and skills of the employees in consultation with line managers. personnel department also helps the other departments in evaluating the performance of the employees for use in the future by developing a suitable system of merit rating or performance appraisal. Determining the wages and salaries to be paid to different categories of employees in the organization is another important function of the personnel department.

Q2.Give examples of how HR management concepts and techniques can be of use to all managers.

The most successful tool for any organization in dealing with techniques in HR is communication. Every organization has its own way of succeeding in hiring, training, developing and then promoting individuals...and most have a fairly complex structure on how to succeed using the tools. There are managers who have been hiring for years, and thus have extensive knowledge on what an interview should entail, and what characteristics they are looking for while performing the due-diligence in the selection process. Checking references, having multiple managers interview a candidate and even going as far as bringing someone on in a temp tryout. Hiring the best is only the first in many techniques that are essential to finding and retaining the top talent in your industry, and if you don't know how to be open to trying new ideas and talking about what works and what doesn't, then it's a matter of time before your turnover starts getting higher and higher.

3|Page Q3.Describe the various functions of HRM in organizations.

The HRM Functions. In order to achieve the objectives, Human Resource Management undertakes the following activities: 1. Human resource or manpower planning. 2. Recruitment, selection and placement of personnel. 3. Training and development of employees. 4. Appraisal of performance of employees. 5. Taking corrective steps such as transfer from one job to another. 6. Remuneration of employees. 7. Social security and welfare of employees. 8. Setting general and specific management policy for organizational relationship. 9. Collective bargaining, contract negotiation and grievance handling. 10. Staffing the organization. 11. Aiding in the self-development of employees at all levels. 12. Developing and maintaining motivation for workers by providing incentives. 13. Reviewing and auditing manpower management in the organization 14. Potential Appraisal. Feedback Counseling. 15. Role Analysis for job occupants. 16. Job Rotation. 17. Quality Circle, Organization development and Quality of Working Life. The HRM Function can be a strong player in the organization with a significant impact on the overall results of the organization. But also, in the organization its role and responsibility can be reduced on the pure Personal Administration, just taking care of satisfying the needs of the top and line management. The HRM Function in the organization plays the role of the unit taking care of the human capital. The HRM Function is responsible for the processes, which allow the organization to stay competitive on the external market and internally efficient. The HRM Function has to develop its role in the organization from the basis to the processes with the value added to the organization. The common route is to begin with the perfect services in the Personal Administration, Recruitment and Staffing and when the HRM Function is generally recognized as a reliable Business Partner to continue with other processes as the Leadership Development.

4|Page Q4.Explain the Human resource management processes. The key areas of HRM Process are Human resource planning:It ensures that organization has the right number and kind of people in the right place at the right time.it ensure that employees are capable of effectively and efficiently performing their assigned tasks. recruitment :it is a process of locating, identifying and attracting capable applicants. Selection :Screening job applicants to ensure that the most appropriate candidates are hired. Directing:It is a process where the manager checks weather the work is going according to their plan or not. Training and development:Training is a process were they make new candidates to learn how the work and develop it. Performance appraisal:It is a process when the work is done by the candidates then the managers will appraise their work. This will motivate them to work more and harder to achieve the organizational goals. Promote, demote or transfer regarding to performances:-

Q5.Describe recruitment and explain the types of recruitment that can be adopted by the organization.

Recruitment refers to the process of attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people for a job. For some components of the recruitment process, mid- and large-size organizations often retain professional recruiters or outsource some of the process to recruitment agencies. Types of Recruitment and Selection In most organizations, recruitment and selection utilizes several outlets: internally, externally or an internal promotional selection. In most cases, a company will allow current employees to apply for the position before posting the position externally.

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Internal Recruitment When a position opens in an organization, it is typically posted on the company's intranet and in common areas, such as cafeterias, break rooms and departmental information boards. If an employee is interested in the position, she is normally required to go through a similar process as an external candidate. The employee will submit her resume and cover letter to human resources, and if she is qualified, the employee will be scheduled for an interview with human resources and the hiring manager. External Recruitment If no internal candidates are selected for an open position, the company will post the position externally on Internet job boards, local newspapers and ask its employees for referrals. In most cases, employee referral programs are established and if an employee refers an outside candidate that is hired, the employee will receive a cash bonus. Human resources will screen resumes of candidates that applied, and select resumes that are qualified for the position. Selection Methods After an organization selects candidates qualified for the position, it typically contacts them for interviews and testing. Interviewing and testing are determined by the company's guidelines and procedures. In most cases, several candidates are selected and will be screened on a phone interview by human resources and asked to take assessments. Assessments can include personality, technical aptitude or academic assessments depending on the position requirements. Most organizations will require internal candidates go through the required assessments and interviews, even if they were required to take those assessments when they were originally hired. After the initial phone screens and assessments, candidates are selected to interview with hiring managers and human resources. In most cases, candidates will be required to meet with several members of the department that they will be working in and can include managers, peers and employees the candidate will be supervising. This ensures the candidate will be a fit for the organization and department she will be working in. In most cases, candidates will be brought back for additional interviews as the hiring team narrows its selection. The hiring team will then meet and make a collective decision on which candidate it would like to hire. Normally, human resources will contact the candidate and make a verbal offer. Additional Insight The recruitment and selection process may take several weeks or months, which can be frustrating for the candidate applying for the position. Although the process can take time, it ensures the right candidate is being hired. This is important to many companies because hiring and training new employees can be costly. Most organization's hiring and training costs can

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average $7,000 to $30,000 for each new employee, depending on the position. Additional guidelines are put into place for employee retention.

Q6.Discuss the main purpose of performance appraisal. Performance Appraisal is very important for every kind of organization. It is a justification of an individual employee. if we take the literal meaning of performance The act of performing or fulfillment of an obligation or a promise; especially, completion of ones, duty.appraisal An expert or official valuation. Effective performance appraisal systems contain two basic systems operating in conjunction: an evaluation system and a feedback system. The main aim of the evaluation system is to identify the performance gap (if any). This gap is the shortfall that occurs when performance does not meet the standard set by the organization as acceptable. The main aim of the feedback system is to inform the employee about the quality of his or her performance. (However, the information flow is not exclusively one way. The appraisers also receives feedback from the employee about job problems, etc.) One of the best ways to appreciate the purposes of performance appraisal is to look at it from the different viewpoints of the main stakeholders: the employee and the organization.

Employee Viewpoint From the employee viewpoint, the purpose of performance appraisal is four-fold: (1) Tell me what you want me to do (2) Tell me how well I have done it (3) Help me improve my performance (4) Reward me for doing well. Organizational Viewpoint From the organization's viewpoint, one of the most important reasons for having a system of performance appraisal is to establish and uphold the principle of accountability. For decades it has been known to researchers that one of the chief causes of organizational failure is "non-alignment of responsibility and accountability." Non-alignment occurs where employees are given responsibilities and duties, but are not held accountable for the way in which those responsibilities and duties are performed. What typically happens is that several

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individuals or work units appear to have overlapping roles. The overlap allows - indeed actively encourages - each individual or business unit to "pass the buck" to the others. Ultimately, in the severely non-aligned system, no one is accountable for anything. In this event, the principle of accountability breaks down completely. Organizational failure is the only possible outcome. In cases where the non-alignment is not so severe, the organization may continue to function, albeit inefficiently. Like a poorly made or badly tuned engine, the non-aligned organization may run, but it will be sluggish, costly and unreliable. One of the principal aims of performance appraisal is to make people accountable. The objective is to align responsibility and accountability at every organizational level.

Q7. Distinguish the difference between training and development.

Training and development are closely interrelated terms that aim to help in achieving the objectives of the company while at the tame time increasing the efficiency and productivity of the employees. Though similar in a broader sense, there are many differences between training and development that will be highlighted in this article. Training of a new employee is an integral part of his induction and orientation. Training is imparted so that he understands his roles and responsibilities and learns to perform the tasks entrusted to him with ease and with efficiency. It is only after a brief training period that a new employee is able to perform his job at a satisfactory level. Training makes an employee more productive for the organization and is thus concerned with his immediate improvement. Development of an employee is an ongoing process which continues well beyond training. The focus of development process is the person himself where the focus of training is the organization. Development concerns with making the employee efficient enough to handle critical situations in future. So while training concentrates on short term needs of the organization, development looks after long term goals of the organization. Training often takes place in groups, and is an event that is variously called as workshops and seminars. However, training can also be one on one when a supervisor instructs a new employee on a machine. Sometimes a manager deliberately pairs up a new employee with an experienced one. This is done to make the new employee learn to do things correctly. This can be termed as employee development. Sometimes, a manager may entrust an employee the job that may not be a part of his duty but plays a part in his development.

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Sometimes, development refers to techniques such as stress management, breathing exercises through Yoga and meditation that are not directly related with the production process of a company but play an important part in the development of the employee. It is clear then that it is easy to see the tangible effects of a training program but difficult to quantify the benefits accruing to the company through employee development though it really helps employees to grow on a personal level.

Q8.Comment on following All managers are human resource managers, the function of managing an organizations human resources is shared between head of department and HR specialists. The Human Resources (HR) department serves as a link between management and employees. Providing specialized services to staff members, the department's goal is to foster positive relationships, to increase job satisfaction, and to make sure all customer or client needs are met. Specific responsibilities include: administration, recruitment, company compensation and benefits, training and development, health and safety, and employee relations. The Human Resources Director must be knowledgeable of company goals, relevant federal and state laws and union contracts, and needs to be able to recognize and evaluate industry trends. In smaller companies, Directors may be considered Human Resources Generalists who perform all the specialized personnel duties themselves. In larger companies, the Human Resources Directors oversee multiple departments that are equipped with a manager and staff specialists or representatives who head one particular activity. Q9. What are the factors used to determine how much an employer pays its employees. In general, employers are able to determine wages based on personal preferences. Of course, the minimum wage law dictates the lowest amount that he can pay, but an employer is free to pay as much as he wants to his employees. Naturally, the better the wages, the more likely it is that the employer will be able to retain qualified personnel, assuming there are no other issues factored in. Government If an employer happens to be either a state or a government official, the payment rate is actually determined using government guidelines. Factors that are used in determining how much to pay an employee (or to pay a subcontracted worker) can include the price of any bids that have been placed on the project, as well as the type of work being performed, the location where the work is taking place and any other factors that have been outlined in various government directives. Competition One method that an employer can use is finding out what competitors are paying. Since most companies aren't willing to announce the salaries of their workers, this might require some

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research. Going online, for example, and finding out the salaries being offered for positions similar to what you have can be useful. While the figures you find might not be completely accurate, they should serve as a guide to what a typical employer might offer. Benefits When an employer determines how much to pay, she also factors in any benefits that she might offer. For example, if an employer offers a sizable employee discount, she can offset the cost by not paying the employees at the top end of the pay scale. This can actually work out to the employer's benefit, since many employees fail to take advantage of any employee discounts that might be offered to them. Exempt/Non-Exempt Employees that are in positions without any discretionary power in a company are considered non-exempt from the various federal laws in place, including paying overtime when over 40 hours a week are worked. However, if an employer determines that an employee is in a management position, the employer can pay a salary and the employee will be exempt from having to be paid for overtime. State Wages When employers determine wages, they also take into account the state they are operating in. Some states have minimum wages higher than the federal minimum wage -- and the higher wage takes precedence.

Q10.What benefits must be provided by employers to employees by law.

Employee (Fringe) Benefits are forms of pay for the performance of services. For example, an employer provides an employee with a fringe benefit when he/she allows the employee to use a business vehicle to commute to and from work. Fringe benefits received by an employee in connection with his or her performance of services are included in income as compensation unless:

the employee pays fair market value for them; or they are specifically excluded by law

An employee's gross income does include benefits received through an accident or health insurance plan for personal injuries or sickness to the extent such amounts:

are attributable to contributions by the employer which were not includible in the gross income of the employee; or are paid by the employer.

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Q11.What must employers do to comply with occupations safety and health act. Introduction The HEALTH AND SAFETY IN EMPLOYMENT ACT 1992 requires you as an employer to identify and manage risks that arise within the workplace. In summary, the Act requires you to:

generally provide a safe workplace for your staff identify and control hazards train and supervise your staff keep your staff informed, and involve them in health and safety processes record all accidents and report all serious injuries to the Occupational Safety and Health Service (OSH)

New Amendment Act in force May 2003 A significant amendment to the Act takes effect from 5 May 2003 (see the HEALTH AND SAFETY IN EMPLOYMENT AMENDMENT ACT 2002). The effect of this Amendment Act is to:

include work-related stress within the definition of "harm" contained in the Act require you to involve your staff in health and safety processes bring the shipping, aviation and rail industries under the main Act

Your general duty to provide a safe workplace You must take all practicable steps to ensure that your staff are safe while theyre at work. In particular, you must take all practicable steps to:

provide and maintain a safe working environment provide your staff with facilities for their safety and health while at work, and maintain these facilities ensure that machinery and equipment is safe ensure that your staff arent exposed to hazards when in the workplace or when theyre working near the workplace and under your control (see below for the definition of "hazard") develop procedures for dealing with emergencies

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The meanings of "hazard" and "harm" In the HEALTH AND SAFETY IN EMPLOYMENT ACT 1992, "hazard" means anything that is an actual or potential cause or source of harm. This can include a persons behaviour, and in particular behaviour resulting from:

physical or mental fatigue drugs or alcohol traumatic shock, or some other temporary condition affecting the persons behaviour

"Harm"means illness or injury or both. It includes physical or mental harm caused by workrelated stress. Your duty to identify and control workplace hazards You must put in place effective systems for identifying existing hazards in your workplace, and also new hazards (before they arise if possible). You must take steps to deal with all "significant" hazards, which means those capable of causing someone serious harm. Specifically, you must do the following:

You must take all practicable steps to eliminate any significant hazard. If those steps dont eliminate the hazard, you must take all practicable steps to isolate it from your staff. If those steps dont succeed in isolating the hazard, you must take all practicable steps to minimise the likelihood that the hazard will cause harm. You must provide your staff with protective clothing and equipment (and make sure they use it) and monitor their exposure to the hazard.

Your duty to train and supervise your staff You must make sure that your staff have the necessary knowledge for the work theyre doing or that theyre supervised by someone else who has that knowledge. Your staff should also be properly trained in the safe use of machinery and substances with which they work and in the use of protective clothing and equipment. Your duty to record and report accidents You must record all accidents in a special register kept for that purpose. This includes accidents that did not harm anyone but that might have done so. You must also put measures in place to prevent the accident happening again.

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You must notify the Occupational Safety and Health Service (OSH) of any serious injury as soon as possible after you become aware of it. You must then, within seven days after you become aware of it, give OSH a written notice explaining how the injury happened. There are set forms for notifying OSH of accidents and for the accident register: for these, contact OSH, or see the Schedule to the HEALTH AND SAFETY IN EMPLOYMENT (PRESCRIBED MATTERS) REGULATIONS 1993 (SR 1993/70). Your duties to record and report accidents also apply to all accidents involving people whom youve employed as independent contractors (self-employed people), rather than as employees. Your duty to keep your staff and health and safety reps informed Youre responsible for informing your staff, in a way that they can reasonably understand:

about what to do if there is an emergency about hazards that exist or that may be created in the workplace, and about how to deal with those hazards to minimise any potential harm where safety clothing and equipment is kept

Your staff must have ongoing ready access to this information. You must also ensure that your staffs health and safety representatives have ready access to enough information about health and safety systems and issues in your workplace so that they can carry out their role effectively. Your duty to involve your staff in health and safety matters You must provide your staff with reasonable opportunities to participate effectively in ongoing processes in your workplace for improving health and safety. You must take into account any code of practice for staff participation. (You can download OSH codes of practice from www.osh.govt.nz/order/catalogue/index.shtml#ap.) If your workplaces health and safety committee or the staff health and safety rep makes a specific recommendation, you must either adopt the recommendation or provide reasons, in writing, why youre not adopting it. If you have 30 or more staff (whether or not at a single workplace), you and those of your staff who wish to be involved (and any union representing your employees) must co-operate in good faith to develop and maintain a system that sets out the ways in which your staff can participate in health and safety processes. The system must include a process for the system to be reviewed. This obligation to co-operate in good faith to set up a staff-participation system applies also if you have fewer than 30 staff but one or more of your staff, or a union, requires a system to be set up.

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Training for health and safety reps You must allow your staffs health and safety representatives to each have two days paid leave each year to attend approved occupational health and safety courses. But this is subject to a maximum total number of days for all the representatives, which depends on the size of your staff. Are volunteer workers covered by the health and safety laws? The main duties of employers under the health and safety laws apply also to volunteer workers, if:

the volunteers are working on an ongoing and regular basis, and their work is an integral part of your business

But this doesnt include the duties to provide training and supervision and to involve staff in health and safety processes. Even if your volunteers are not working on an ongoing and regular basis, or are not working in an integral part of your business, you must still take all practicable steps to ensure their health and safety while they are working. In particular you must take hazards into account when youre planning their work. Q12. Describe the method an employer could use to attract job seekers to apply for position of HRM . Whether you search inside or outside the organization, you need to publicize the opening. If youre looking internally in a small organization, you can alert employees informally. In larger organizations, HR managers generally post openings on bulletin boards (often online) or announce them in newsletters. They can also seek direct recommendations from various supervisors. Recruiting people from outside is more complicated. Its a lot like marketing a product to buyers: in effect, youre marketing the virtues of working for your company. Starbucks uses the following outlets to advertise openings:

Newspaper classified ads Local job fairs A dedicated section of the corporate Web site (Job Center, which lists openings, provides information about the Starbucks experience, and facilitates the submission of online applications) Announcements on employment Web sites like Monster.com and Vault.com In-store recruiting posters Informative business cards for distribution to customers[184]

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College-campus recruiting (holding on-campus interviews and information sessions and participating in career fairs) Internships designed to identify future talent among college students

When asked what it takes to attract the best people, Starbucks senior executive Dave Olsen replied, Everything matters. Everything Starbucks does as a company bears on its ability to attract talent. Accordingly, everyone is responsible for recruiting, not just HR specialists. In fact, the best source of quality applicants is the companys own labor force.

Q13.Suggest some jobs which may be suited best for males and females and vice versa. Over the centuries men and women have been favored different kinds of works due to the nature of their gender differences genetically. I tend to agree that gender do has a huge impact here in terms of making a career choice. As a matter of fact, men are generally stronger than women physically. That is why there are so many male soldiers in the military force rather than female ones worldwide. It is certainly true because women are unable to carry those heavy guns while move around in wild life as men do so the example approved that gender do matters toward different professions. The 10 Most Male Occupations (highest percentage of workers that are male) Occupation Logging workers Automotive body and related repairers Cement masons, concrete finishers and terrazzo workers Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists Electrical power-line installers and repairers Tool and die makers Roofers Heavy vehicle/mobile equipment service technicians and mechanics Home appliance repairers Crane and tower operators % Male 99.8% 99.4% 99.3% 99.1% 99.1% 99.1% 98.9% 98.6% 98.5% 98.5% Annual Wage $29,430 $34,810 $32,030 $36,620 $50,150 $43,580 $31,230 $39,410 $32,980 $38,870

The 10 Most Female Occupations

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(highest percentage of workers that are female) Occupation Dental hygienists Preschool and kindergarten teachers Secretaries and administrative assistants Dental assistants Speech-language pathologists Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses Child care workers Hairdressers, hair stylists and cosmetologists Receptionists and information clerks Payroll and timekeeping clerks % Female 98.6% 97.7% 96.9% 95.4% 95.3% 94.2% 94.2% 93.4% 92.7% 92.4% Annual Wage $60,980 $21,990 $26,670 $29,520 $54,880 $35,230 $17,050 $20,610 $22,150 $31,360

Q14.To what extent do you agree that rewards can drive employee behavior. Like a child being given a chocolate cupcake and a big hug after bringing home an outstanding report card, rewards and recognition can be powerful tools for employee motivation and performance improvement. Many types of rewards and recognition have direct costs associated with them, such as cash or gift certificates, which provide no lasting value. A wide variety of company-paid perks, like flex-time, paid parking, and paid time off offer things many employees like but these too come at a cost with no direct benefit to the company. On the other hand, praise, appreciation and valuing employees have a greater impact with lasting value. Rewards can be defined as something than increases the frequency of an employee action. This definition points to an obvious desired outcome of rewards and recognition: to improve performance. Rewards and recognition can be very motivating by helping employees build feelings of confidence and satisfaction. Recognition and rewards can help create the right atmosphere for employees to thrive. Rewards and recognition can drive an employees behavior to be more substantial and effective in achieving organizational goals. Studies show that employee morale significantly increases when employees feel that their work is valued. According to the Business Research Lab (2007), rewarding and recognizing positive results is an important factor in retaining employees. Most people are not motivated by money alone. Employees want to feel appreciated, recognized and valued. Having a rewards and recognition program in place lets valued employees know that their contributions are important and efforts are appreciated. Establishing a reward and recognition program or an incentive system is a great step toward improving employee morale and encouraging greater productivity. If employees are happy and motivated, this will show with customers who will be happier and the company will reap the benefits as well. Saying thank you

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to everyone for a job well done is important! The only way an employee will fulfill an organizations vision and mission is to share in the dream. Reward systems are the mechanisms that make this happen. The greatest team management principle is that the things that get rewarded get done. You get what you reward.Create a workplace environment that provides positive reinforcement of behaviors necessary to achieve results and business goals. Q15.You are the president of a small business.What are some ways you expect Going International will affect HR activities in your business. Human Resource management consists in the planning, organization, development and coordination, as well as control of techniques, that enable the company to promote the efficient performance of the personnel and at the same time allows indirectly and directly that the people who collaborate within the company will reach their personal objectives. Managing Human Capital means to conquer and to maintain people in the organization, who will work and give the maximum of themselves, with a positive and favorable attitude. HR represents all those things that cause that the personnel remains in the organization. The reason why going international affects not only HRM but the whole company in general is because organizations are not only based on elements like technology, machines or information; but the key of a right company is its management and the people who participate in it , for this reason if we take in count that each person is a phenomenon subject that is affected for the influence of many variables then we can understand why going international will affect the main resource of the company which is the people and therefore the organization will have to adapt all the different areas of the company in order to meet their goals.