DME-III: IM

Human Resource Management

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I I N N D D U U S S T T R R I I A A L L M M A A N N A A G G E E M M E E N N T T
Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management (HRM) refers to activities undertaken to attract, develop, and maintain an
effective workforce within an organization. HRM deals with the design of formal systems in an
organization to ensure effective and efficient use of human talent to accomplish organizational goals. In
an organization, the management of human resources means that they must be recruited, compensated,
trained, and developed.

HR Management Activities
To accomplish these goals, HR management is composed of several groups of interlinked activities.
However, the performance of the HR activities must be done in the context of the organization, which is
represented by the inner rings in Figure above. Additionally, all managers with HR responsibilities must
consider external environmental forcessuch as legal, political, economic, social, cultural, and
technological oneswhen addressing these activities. The HR activities are as follows:
Staffing (HR Planning and Analysis, Recruitment, Selection, Placement)
Training & Development (Induction Training, Skill Upgradation)
Motivation (Job Design, Compensation and Benefits, Performance Appraisal)
Maintenance (Health, Safety, and Security, Employee and Labour/Management Relations)

HR Planning and Analysis
HR planning and analysis activities have several facets. Through HR planning, managers attempt to
anticipate forces that will influence the future supply of and demand for employees. Having adequate
human resource information systems (HRIS) to provide accurate and timely information for HR planning
is crucial. The importance of human resources in organizational competitiveness must be addressed as
well. As part of maintaining organizational competitiveness, HR analysis and assessment of HR
effectiveness must occur. The internationalization of organizations has resulted in greater emphasis on
global HR management.

HR Planning Process
The steps in the HR planning process are shown in Figure 2-6. Notice that the HR planning process
begins with considering the organizational objectives and strategies. Then both external and internal
assessments of HR needs and supply sources must be done and forecasts developed. Key to assessing
internal human resources is having solid information, which is accessible through a human resource
information system (HRIS). Once the assessments are complete, forecasts must be developed to identify
the mismatch between HR supply and HR demand. HR strategies and plans to address the imbalance,
both short and long term, must be developed.

HR strategies are the means used to aid the organization in anticipating and managing the supply and
demand for human resources. These HR strategies provide overall direction for how HR activities will be
developed and managed. Finally, specific HR plans are developed to provide more specific direction for
the management of HR activities.

Human Resource Planning is the forecasting of human resource needs and the projected matching of
individuals with expected vacancies. HRP begins with several questions:
What new technologies are emerging, and how will these affect the work system?
What is the volume of business likely to be in the next five years to ten years?
What is the turnover rate, and how much, if any, is avoidable?
The responses to these questions are used to formulate specific questions pertaining to HRM activities,
such as the following:
How many senior managers, technicians, secretaries etc. will we need during this time period?
What type of engineers will we need and how many?
Are persons with adequate computer skills available for meeting our projected needs?

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Human Resource Management
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Selection & Recruitment
Selection is the process of choosing from among candidates, from within or from the outside, the most
suitable person for the current position or for future positions. Selecting an employee effectively requires
different types of interviews.
Recruitment is the process of identifying the prospective employees, stimulating and encouraging them to
apply for a particular job in an organisation. Recruitment process involves the following elements:
a. Recruitment policy
b. Recruiting dept.
c. Forecast of manpower requirement
d. Development of manpower resources
e. Techniques for utilizing these sources.

Methods of recruitment: There are three methods, which are:
a. Direct method: includes on-campus & off-campus recruitments.
b. Indirect method: involve advertising in newspaper, journals, on TV, etc.
c. Third-party method: include private & commercial employment agencies.

Types of Interviews
There are six types of selection interviews: structured, situational, behavioural description, nondirective,
stress, and panel interviews.

Structured interview: The structured interview uses a set of standardized questions that are asked of all
applicants. Every applicant is asked the same basic questions, so that comparisons among applicants can
more easily be made. This type of interview allows an interviewer to prepare job-related questions in
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Human Resource Management
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advance and then complete a standardized interviewee evaluation form. Sample questions that might be
asked of all applicants for a production maintenance management opening are as follows:
Tell me how you trained workers for their jobs.
How do you decide the amount of work you and the maintenance crew will have to do during a
day?
How does the production schedule of the plant affect what a mechanic ought to repair first?
How do you know what the needs of the plant are at any given time & what mechanics must be
doing?
How did you or would you go about planning a preventive maintenance program in the plant?
As is evident, the structured interview is almost like an oral questionnaire and offers greater
consistency and accuracy than some other kinds of interviews. The structured interview is especially
useful in the initial screening because of the large number of applicants in this step of the selection
process. Obviously, it is less flexible than more traditional interview formats, and therefore it may be less
appropriate for second or later interviews.
Even though a series of patterned questions are asked, the structured interview does not have to be
rigid. The predetermined questions should be asked in a logical manner. The interviewer should probe
until he or she fully understands the applicants responses. Research on interviews consistently has found
the structured interview to be more reliable and valid than other approaches.

Situational interview: The situational interview is a structured interview that is composed of questions
about how applicants might handle specific job situations. With experienced applicants, the format is
essentially one of a job knowledge or work sample test.
Interview questions are based on job analysis and checked by experts in the job so they will be
content valid. There are three types of questions:
Hypothetical: Asking applicant what he or she might do in a certain job situation
Related to knowledge: Might entail explaining a method or demonstrating a procedure
Related to requirements: Explores areas such as willingness to work the hours required and meet
travel demands
For some situational interviews job experts also write good, average, and poor responses to the
questions to facilitate rating the answers of the applicant. The interviewer can code the suitability of the
answer, assign point values, and add up the total number of points an interviewee received.

Behavioural description interview: When responding to a behavioural description interview, applicants
are required to give specific examples of how they have performed a certain procedure or handled a
problem in the past. For example, applicants might be asked the following:
How did you handle a situation in which there were no rules or guidelines on employee
discipline?
Why did you choose that approach?
How did your supervisor react?
How was the issue finally resolved?
Like other structured methods, behavioural description interviews generally provide better validity than
unstructured interviews.

Nondirective interview: The nondirective interview uses general questions, from which other questions
are developed. It should be used mainly in psychological counselling, but it is also used in selection. The
interviewer asks general questions designed to prompt the applicant to discuss herself or himself. The
interviewer then picks up on an idea in the applicants response to shape the next question. For example,
if the applicant says, One aspect that I enjoyed in my last job was my supervisor, the interviewer might
ask, What type of supervisor do you most enjoy working with?
Difficulties with a nondirective interview include keeping it job related and obtaining comparable
data on various applicants.

Stress interview: The stress interview is a special type of interview designed to create anxiety and put
pressure on the applicant to see how the person responds. In a stress interview, the interviewer assumes
an extremely aggressive and insulting posture. This is used for jobs individual who will encounter high
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Human Resource Management
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degrees of stress on the job, such as a consumer-complaint clerk in a department store or an air traffic
controller.
The stress interview is a high-risk approach for an employer. The typical applicant is already
somewhat anxious in any interview, and the stress interview can easily generate a very poor image of the
interviewer and the employer. Consequently, an applicant that the organization wishes to hire might turn
down the job offer. Even so, many interviewers deliberately put applicants under stress.

Panel interviews: Usually, applicants are interviewed by one interviewer at a time. But when an
interviewee must see several people, many of the interviews are redundant and therefore unnecessarily
time consuming. In a panel interview, several interviewers interview the candidate at the same time. All
the interviewers hear the same responses. On the negative side, applicants are frequently uncomfortable
with the group interview format


Performance Appraisal:
A process and a system for knowing how effectively and efficiently the assigned work is carried out by
employees to identify need for training/counselling, suitability for other jobs, increments,
demotions/retrenchment, etc.

Elements of Performance Appraisal System: The key elements of Performance Appraisal system
include:
Setting of performance standards
Establishing performance measures
Performance Appraisal
Employee Feedback
HR Decisions, Employee Records

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Human Resource Management
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Methods of Performance Appraisal:
Traditional Methods
1
: 1 & 2 are comparative methods; 3-6 are non-comparative methods.
1. Straight Ranking Method: All employees are compared, and performance rank is
given. Used in small enterprises. Very subjective.
2. Point Allocation Method: Each employee is assessed on a number of qualities, & points
are allocated. Sum total of all points gives the performance rating. This method is
commonly used.
3. Rating Scales Method: Each employee is given a rating such as Poor, Above Average,
Average, Good etc. on a set of pre-determined traits.
4. Check-list Method: In this method, Yes/no type answers are collected for a pre-
formatted questionnaire with items such as: Is he/she knowledgeable about job?
Punctual? Positive attitude?
5. Free essay method: Evaluator writes an essay on the employee covering various
aspects. Very subjective, since all do not possess good writing skills. Outdated method.
6. Critical Incidents method: Only specific exceptional incidents such a bad behaviour,
irresponsibility, outstanding performance etc. are recorded.
Modern Techniques:
1. Human Resource Accounting method: The amount expended on the employee is
compared with his contribution to the companys income.
2. Management by Objectives: Employees are set specific goals, which then are used for
planning, performing, evaluating and rewarding the employees.
3. 360
o
Appraisal Method: Employees are assessed by superiors, colleagues and
subordinates for total review.

Training & Development
Training implies acquiring skills and increasing the knowledge to do a specific job. It increases
knowledge and skills, and promotes awareness regarding rules & procedures. It makes an employee
perfect in mechanical & technical operations. Training is a short term phenomenon, with narrow aims
Development means all round improvement in job performance, personality, proficiency, maturity,
eventually leading to enlightened citizenship. Development aims to improve the educational, conceptual
and philosophical dimension. It is a long-term phenomenon with broader aims.

Training Methods:
On the Job Training Off the Job Training
Job Instruction Training: Hands-on training
at worksite
Class room Training (Lecture): Best for
theoretical/conceptual trng for large no of ppl
Vestibule Training: Classroom simulation
of work environment
Conferences: Presentations by experts, Group
discussions, latest progress in field.
Coaching & Mentoring: Demonstration Case Studies: A written hypothetical / real
situation for detailed discussion / analysis.
Job Rotation: Periodically shifting through
a number of jobs in planned sequence.

Apprenticeship: Oldest method. Both
theoretical & practical training


Industrial Safety
Accidents are unplanned, unwanted and improper occurrences involving motion of persons, objects or
substances which results in injury, damage or loss of personnel and / or equipment.

Every accident need not cause injury, but every accident causes some disturbance in productive activity.
Accidents are not inevitable they are mostly avoidable by proper attitude on part of management, and
proper training of employees.


1
Methods 1 & 2 are considered Comparative Methods. Methods 3 to 6 are considered Non-comparative
Methods.
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Human Resource Management
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Causes of Accidents
1. An injury is the result of an accident only
2. Accidents occur due to unsafe conditions, or unsafe acts or both
3. unsafe conditions, or unsafe acts exist due to human faults
4. Causes of faults
a. Unsuitable anatomical, physiological or psychological characteristics
b. Improper mechanical or physical conditions
c. Lack of knowledge or skill

Unsafe acts:
1. Ignoring rules
2. Operating without authority
3. Unsafe equipment
4. Not using safety equipment
5. Improper dress, lifting postures,
6. Distraction at work place

Unsafe conditions
1. Unguarded or insufficient fencing
2. Hazardous arrangement (Plant Layout)
3. Poor Illumination
4. Poor ventilation
5. Poor house-keeping (slippery floor, waste lying around)

Measures to prevent Accidents
1. Eliminate Unsafe conditions (Responsibility of Management)
2. Sensitize the employees

Accident Prevention:
1. Plant safety inspection
2. Job safety analysis
3. Accident Investigation
4. Safety education & Training
5. Good house-keeping
6. Use of safety equipment
7. Systematic maintenance of plant

Module 3 Questions
1. Write short notes on a) Performance Appraisal b) Industrial Safety. (7+7) 2010
2. What is recruitment? Briefly enumerate the stops involved in different modes of selection process for
recruitment. (2+12)2009, 2011
3. Enumerate the common causes of accidents taking place in industries. State the policy measures to prevent such
accidents (7+7) 2008, 2011
4. Distinguish between recruitment and selection. Point out the sources of recruitment (4+10) 2007
5. What are essentials of a sound performance appraisal? How does Performance Appraisal differ from potential
appraisal? (7+7) 2006
6. Distinguish between recruitment and selection. Point out the sources of recruitment (4+10) 2007