Human Resource Management

Assignment # 1

Submitted to:
Ms. Ayesha Kiyani

Submitted by:
(AH524979)
Question #1: Why HR is called the most important asset and competitive advantage
of any organization in the world?

Answer:

HUMAN RESOURCE
Human resource is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an
organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or
even whole nations. Human resources is also the name of the function within an organization
charged with the overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the
management of individuals (i.e. the human resources). This function title is often abbreviated to
the initials 'HR'.

The origins of the function arose in organizations that introduced 'welfare management'
practices and also in those that adopted the principles of 'scientific management'. From these
terms emerged a largely administrative management activity, coordinating a range of worker
related processes and becoming known, in time, as the 'personnel function'. Human resources
progressively became the more usual name for this function, in the first instance in the United
States as well as multinational or international corporations, reflecting the adoption of a more
quantitative as well as strategic approach to workforce management, demanded by corporate
management to gain a competitive advantage, utilizing limited skilled and highly skilled
workers.i

HR - THE MOST IMPORTANT ASSET

Technology, good marketing campaigns, competitive prices, excellent products/services and
many other factors are key for any organization; without them, no company could be
competitive. But they are nothing without the most important assets that any organization has;
human resources. They are the most important factor in determining the success or failure of
any company. They tend to be the first thing that customers and the general public notice about
a company. Even if the economy is weak, companies need to find, hire and keep people that can
successfully do what they got hired for, because they are the one who communicate with the

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customers and are equally responsible for the profits of the company. This is common sense, but
many companies try to save money by reducing staff and/or hiring people that is not qualified
enough or who is not as experienced as required. That is why human resources professionals
are very important for any organization. They need to be able to find good candidates, train
them, evaluate them, and manage anything that has to do with them; to do this, they need to
know the organization they work for.

"The business's nature has shifted from a concentration on scarce financial capital to a
concentration upon scarce human capital." There is no doubt that financial capital is a key
strategic capital in the period of industrial society. In that time the economic growth depends on
the financial capital and work force. However, the strategic capital of today's society, the
information and knowledge society is human resource. Peter F. Drucker (1993) explains it as
follow: 'The most important, and indeed the truly unique, contribution of management in the
20th century was the fifty-fold increase in the productivity of the manual worker".ii

No matter what kind of company and organization we are talking about. Technology and
money are important, but women and men are the ones who make decisions, negotiate and
execute plans. That is why there are many jobs in HR available, even when the economy is
weak. Organizations understand the importance of HR management; good HR policies are

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necessary to be able to compete. Some jobs in HR include Vice-President Human Resources jobs
and Human Resources Manager jobs. There are also many other start-up positions for recent
graduates and less experienced job-seekers.iii

HR – COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF ANY ORGANIZATION

In today's highly competitive world a key question facing virtually every organization is,
"What will be the human resource strategies of the effective company in the highly competitive
21st century?" This is the basic, yet multi-dimensional, question that stimulated IBM to initiate
this project. The study design was developed in conjunction with Towers Perrin who
subsequently conducted A 21st Century Vision: A Worldwide Human Resources Study The
study reinforces the growing view that the management of human resources is as important to
organizational competitiveness as are the traditional areas of technology, marketing strategy,
and financial prowess. It gives meaning to the acknowledgment in virtually every shareholder
report that, "our employees are our most important asset.

THE VRIO FRAMEWORKiv

HR plays a vital role to create Competitive Advantage, by creating Value, Rareness, Difficult to
imitate and good organization. There are three basic resources that can provide competitive
advantages:

1. Physical capital resources include the firm’s plant, equipment, and finance
2. Organizational capital resources include the firm’s infrastructure, planning, controlling,
coordinating, and HR systems
3. Human capital resources include the skills, judgment, and intelligence of the firm’s
employees

This article will focus on the characteristics of the firm’s Human Resources, including all of the
knowledge, experience, skills, and commitment of a firm’s employee and their relationships
with each other and with those outside the firm and examine the Value, Rareness, Imitability,
and Organization (VRIO) framework for analyzing sources of competitive advantage, which
can provide Human Resources executives with the tools necessary to analyze how they can

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manage the function to develop a firm’s people as a source of sustainable competitive
advantage.

VALUE
Firms create value through either decreasing the cost or differentiating the product/ service so
they can charge at a premium price. The goal of Human Resource Executives is to create value
through the Human Resource function.

RARENESS
The value of the company’s Human Resource is important, but not sufficient as a competitive
advantage. If the same characteristic of Human Resource is found in many rivals then that
characteristic cannot be used as a source of competitive advantage. Valuable but common
characteristics of Human Resource provide only competitive parity. The challenge of Human
Resource executive is to examine and develop rare characteristics of the company’s Human
Resource to gain competitive advantage.

IMITABILITY
Valuable and Rare characteristic of a company’s Human Resources can provide above normal
profits for the company in short term, however if other firms can imitate these characteristics,
then over the time these characteristics will become competitive parity. The Human Resource
executives should attempt to develop and nurture the characteristics that cannot easily imitate
by the rivals. The point is focus to the importance of a unique history and culture of an
organization. This corporate history and culture will provide a foundation to create competitive
advantages which will be impossible to imitate.

ORGANIZATION
Organization focuses and gives attention on systems. In Order for any characteristic of the
firm’s Human Resources to provide a source of sustained competitive advantage, the firm must
be organized to exploit the resource. Organization requires systems and practices that allow
human resources characteristics to bear the fruit of their potential advantages. This can include
the employee involvement to improve the system and process in the organization. In this
employee involvement, the employee can participate in the decision making and to utilize their
cognitive skills.

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CONSEQUENCES OF POOR HUMAN RESOURCE
Human Resources (HR) Planning is integral to the efficient running and continued success of
businesses, enterprises and even start-up companies. At times, many corporations and business
owners due to circumstances, certain business factors or extraneous issues have a badly
mismanaged top management tier and inconsequential HR departments. The resultant poor
human resource planning has an immediate and long-term impact on organizational
functioning, employee recruitment and management policies and corporate profitability.v

POOR HR PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

An incompetent and poorly functioning human resources department reflects the overall state
of affairs of an organization and its possible uncompetitive position in the marketplace. There is
a disconnect between the HR department and the executive management leading to
miscommunication, poor decision making on operational aspects and critical mistakes.
Employee training and development programs are not properly budgeted for and hiring
practices are skewed. Bad HR planning ensures that the HR assets of the organization are not
aligned to organizational goals and objectives.

UNMOTIVATED EMPLOYEES
The indifferent attitude of top management and HR quickly filter across organizational levels
and employee hierarchies. Work ethics get affected, there are personality conflicts and

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teamwork becomes non-existent. There is gross underutilization of skills and capabilities of
experienced employees. Other talented professionals are not groomed in a generally negative
working environment. Poor motivation and lack of incentives and recognition lead to poor
performance and even production of poor quality of goods and services.

EMPLOYEE DEMAND-SUPPLY MISMATCH

Recruiting and selecting employees is a continuous cycle. Based on business growth, expansion
plans and requirements for specific projects and assignments, employees need to be hired. In a
mismanaged organization, HR personnel with a lackadaisical attitude and lack of
communication with departmental managers and supervisors are hard-pressed to address
workforce requirements. Vacancies and job postings don't get filled in time and key business
functions and operations get affected--having a knock-on affect across the organization.

HIGHER STAFF TURNOVER

Poor human resource planning begins to reflect on the corporate ethos of an organization. The
working culture is affected and is generally negative. Performance reviews and performance
appraisal systems are badly managed and employees uncertain about their immediate and
future prospects. Employee safety practices and working conditions can be compromised at
factories and manufacturing facilities. Poor working conditions force many workers to quit.
Many other employees are also forced to leave the organization.

IMPACT ON BOTTOM LINE

A dysfunctional HR roadmap or ineffective HR management strategy has long-term
consequences for an organization. It affects the performance of a business and the productivity
levels of employees. Customer service on all fronts gets affected. The loss of customers and
medium-term revenues is quite immediate. Over a period of time, the freefall leads to an impact
on the bottom line of an organization.

CONCLUSION
HR is called the most important asset because the organization run by the human being and
human resource are the image of any organization. If the employees are well trained and skilled
then they do work for the organization and show well performance and by which the

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organization earn profit as well as build good image in the competitive environment. The
employees struggled to get competitive advantage by get profit against the competitor.

Human resources are the most important assets a modern organization has because only human
beings can make, transfer and exercise knowledge. And also only human being s can create the
holistic values by planning all the other resources as a whole. So, human beings are the key
roles organization, organization should pay more efforts on HRD. Moreover, organizations
should conform to the new environment of the strategic plans. And the strategic plans of HRD
must relate with the organization's mission and objectives. All in all, people are an
organization's most precious resource, so, organization must attach importance to HRD.

Question #2: (a) What is meant by job analysis? Explain how you would conduct a
job analysis? And how can you make use of the information it provides?

Answer:

JOB ANALYSIS
Job Analysis is a process to identify and determine in detail the particular job duties and
requirements and the relative importance of these duties for a given job. Job Analysis is a
process where judgments are made about data collected on a job.

The Job; not the person An important concept of Job Analysis is that the analysis is conducted of
the Job, not the person. While Job Analysis data may be collected from incumbents through
interviews or questionnaires, the product of the analysis is a description or specifications of the
job, not a description of the person. vi

PURPOSE OF JOB ANALYSIS

The purpose of Job Analysis is to establish and document the 'job relatedness' of employment
procedures such as training, selection, compensation, and performance appraisal.

Determining Training Needs

Job Analysis can be used in training/"needs assessment" to identify or develop:

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 training content
assessment tests to measure effectiveness of training
equipment to be used in delivering the training
methods of training (i.e., small group, computer-based, video, classroom...)

COMPENSATION
Job Analysis can be used in compensation to identify or determine:

skill levels
compensable job factors
work environment (e.g., hazards; attention; physical effort)
responsibilities (e.g., fiscal; supervisory)
required level of education (indirectly related to salary level)

SELECTION PROCEDURES
Job Analysis can be used in selection procedures to identify or develop:

job duties that should be included in advertisements of vacant positions;

appropriate salary level for the position to help determine what salary should be offered
to a candidate;
minimum requirements (education and/or experience) for screening applicants;
interview questions;
selection tests/instruments (e.g., written tests; oral tests; job simulations);
applicant appraisal/evaluation forms;
orientation materials for applicants/new hires

PERFORMANCE REVIEW
Job Analysis can be used in performance review to identify or develop:

goals and objectives

performance standards
evaluation criteria
length of probationary periods
duties to be evaluated

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METHODS OF JOB ANALYSIS
Several methods exist that may be used individually or in combination. These include:

review of job classification systems

incumbent interviews
supervisor interviews
expert panels
structured questionnaires
task inventories
check lists
open-ended questionnaires
observation
incumbent work logs

A typical method of Job Analysis would be to give the incumbent a simple questionnaire to
identify job duties, responsibilities, equipment used, work relationships, and work
environment. The completed questionnaire would then be used to assist the Job Analyst who
would then conduct an interview of the incumbent(s). A draft of the identified job duties,
responsibilities, equipment, relationships, and work environment would be reviewed with the
supervisor for accuracy. The Job Analyst would then prepare a job description and/or job
specifications.

The method that you may use in Job Analysis will depend on practical concerns such as type of
job, number of jobs, number of incumbents, and location of jobs.

WHAT ASPECTS OF A JOB ARE ANALYZED?

Job Analysis should collect information on the following areas:

Duties and Tasks The basic unit of a job is the performance of specific tasks and duties.
Information to be collected about these items may include: frequency, duration, effort,
skill, complexity, equipment, standards, etc.
Environment This may have a significant impact on the physical requirements to be able
to perform a job. The work environment may include unpleasant conditions such as

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 offensive odors and temperature extremes. There may also be definite risks to the
incumbent such as noxious fumes, radioactive substances, hostile and aggressive people,
and dangerous explosives.
Tools and Equipment Some duties and tasks are performed using specific equipment
and tools. Equipment may include protective clothing. These items need to be specified
in a Job Analysis.
Relationships Supervision given and received. Relationships with internal or external
people.
Requirements The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) required to perform the job.
While an incumbent may have higher KSA's than those required for the job, a Job
Analysis typically only states the minimum requirements to perform the job.

CONDUCTING A JOB ANALYSIS

I will consider the following steps while making a job analysis:

1. Review the company’s documents.

2. Research other job description resources.
3. Interview the staff currently involved with the position.
4. Have employees write job duties.
5. Review materials and reduce to minimum requirements.
6. Have employees evaluate the list.
7. Revise and submit for final approval.

REVIEW THE COMPANY’S DOCUMENTS

The first step of a job analysis- To review all of the company’s documentation on the job. This
includes the prior job description (if available), newspaper advertisements related to the job in
question, recruiting brochures, and evaluation forms.

RESEARCH OTHER JOB DESCRIPTION RESOURCES

To review other companies’ descriptions of similar jobs. I may even want to check out a book
containing job descriptions in order to locate standard duties for specific positions like

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secretary, executive assistant, accountant, clerk, etc. Use these resources to get a few ideas on
how to word your job description, and how to generate a list of minimum qualifications.

INTERVIEW THE STAFF CURRENTLY INVOLVED WITH THE POSITION

After you have a list of duties that are normally associated with the job in question, the next
step would be to interview the employee, or employees, who is or are currently occupying the
position. I will ask them about the minimum qualifications that are needed to successfully meet
the requirements of the job, tasks and duties the job normally entails, and any ―as needed‖
duties that this job requires.

HAVE EMPLOYEES WRITE JOB DUTIES

When employees are asked to write out the minimum qualifications and duties required to be
successful in the position, try to stress the importance of only including ―minimum‖
qualifications and only ―essential‖ duties. I will include all other acceptable combinations of
schooling and work experience.

REVIEW MATERIALS AND REDUCE TO MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

At this point in the job analysis I would have quite a bit of information about the job. In this step
will compile all of the vital information and get rid of any unnecessary information. I will go
through the list of duties, eliminate duties that are duplicated or that are optional. At the end of
this step I will have a list of minimum qualifications and duties required to perform the job in
question.

HAVE EMPLOYEES EVALUATE THE LIST

I will give the employees occupying the job and their manager a copy of the list that I generated
and will ask them to check it and give their suggestions.

REVISE AND SUBMIT FOR FINAL APPROVAL

Using the notes from the employee’s job description list will be revised and final draft would be
made. The draft would be sent to the manager or head of the department for the final approval
of the job description list. Once approved, official job description would be written.

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WRITE A JOB DESCRIPTION (USING DATA TAKEN FROM JOB ANALYSIS)
Once the job analysis has been completed you will be in a better position to:

Develop objective job-related interview questions.

Write current and accurate position descriptions. Position descriptions should be
updated on a regular basis and a job analysis done if any factors outlined above have to
be altered.
Perform objective performance appraisals.
Determine if accommodations can assist a person with a disability to perform the job.
Conduct personnel functions in a non-discriminatory manner.

However, the data extracted from Job Analysis is used to write job specifications. One can either
follow the company’s model for a job description, or can use any other template. Remember to
include a ―revised on date‖ and a mention who made the revision at the bottom of the job
description to help make sure that personnel is using the most up-to-date revision.

Job title: ***

Job Code: ***-***
Hours per Week: ***
Job Location: ***********
Department: *****
Supervisor: ********
Qualifications: *******
Responsibilities: 1. *******
2. *********
3. ***********
Where to Apply: ********
Contact Information: XXX-XXX-XXXXXXX
Revised on: DD/MM/YYYY
By: ********

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Question #2: (b) Describe the types of information typically found in job
specifications.

Answer:

JOB SPECIFICATION
When compiling the job description you should focus entirely on the functional or operational
side of the position in question. There may be some simple information here, job title, for
example, but it is important that you are clear about what the role entails. It is also important
not to give a false impression of the job to prospective candidates.

The purpose of the job should be clearly stated. This is more than the job title. It is a sort of
overview of the role, for example, 'To maintain all software applications within the business.'
Beyond this, the next step is to outline the main duties associated with the position. This should
not go into minute detail, but should provide enough information to give any applicants a good
feel for what will be required of them.

Other information to be included in the job description might be whom the successful applicant
would be reporting to. It is also important to be clear about any key working conditions, such as
the hours worked, shift patterns and so on. Think about any aspects of the job itself, which
would be central to its successful delivery. Another example might be to state that the job will
require the successful applicant to spend up to 5 nights a month working and living away from
home.vii

INFORMATION IN JOB SPECIFICATIONS

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.

As its name suggests, this where you need to think very carefully about the type of person you
are looking for with regard to the job in question. At this point, managers need to be mindful of

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the implications of Employment Legislation. Nothing within the person specification should be
seen to be discriminating either directly or indirectly against any of the six categories specified
in the law.

Having said that, you can state anything you want within the person specification, providing
that you can justify it in terms of the job in question. That is why you should concentrate on the
job description first and then think about the type of person required second. You can, for
example, specify a maximum height, if the job involves working in a confined space, such as for
cabin staff on an aero plane. This can be justified on grounds of health and safety, as someone
too tall would be required to spend each shift stooping.

The person specification should contain information about things like any qualifications
required. These could be academic, professional, or practical (such as clean driving license).
Sometimes companies are looking for someone who has previous experience in a similar role.

Managers should think carefully about the skills, abilities, and aptitudes they are looking for
from the person. Something as basic as cheerful disposition is always good for those, say,
working on reception in a hotel. Try, however, to avoid just putting in clichéd wish-list words:
'Must be a good team player'. This is not necessary if the job is sitting at a desk inputting data
into a machine all day. viii

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.

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 It also helps in designing training and development programs.
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.

Question #3: Do you think job rotation is a good method to use for developing
management trainees? Why or why not?

Answer:

JOB ROTATION
Job rotation is an approach to management development where an individual is moved through
a schedule of assignments designed to give him or her a breadth of exposure to the entire
operation. Job rotation is also practiced to allow qualified employees to gain more insights into
the processes of a company, and to reduce boredom and increase job satisfaction through job
variation.

The term job rotation can also mean the scheduled exchange of persons in offices, especially in
public offices, prior to the end of incumbency or the legislative period. This has been practiced
by the German green party for some time but has been discontinued.

At the senior management levels, job rotation - frequently referred to as management rotation,
is tightly linked with succession planning - developing a pool of people capable of stepping into
an existing job. Here the goal is to provide learning experiences which facilitate changes in
thinking and perspective equivalent to the "horizon" of the level of the succession planning.

For lower management levels job rotation has normally one of two purposes: promotability or
skill enhancement. In many cases senior managers seem unwilling to risk instability in their
units by moving qualified people from jobs where the lower level manager is being successful
and reflecting positively on the actions of the senior manager. Many military jobs use the job

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rotation strategy to allow the soldiers to develop a wider range of experiences, and an exposure
to the different jobs of an occupation.

ADVANTAGE OF JOB ROTATION

A growing trend in business management is to implement a job rotation strategy. Strategies can
differ drastically, but business owners can be certain that implementing a job rotation strategy
will enhance organizational success thanks to more satisfied, motivated, skilled, and committed
employees.

Many businesses, small and large, are attempting to improve work design systems by
incorporating a job rotation strategy. Job rotation exists when employees rotate across many
positions, in varying intervals and durations, in order to gain exposure to different roles and
functions. When implementing a job rotation program, companies can have employees rotate
only within their home department or across positions in many departments. Although job
rotation strategies may not be practical for all businesses, strategies that are implemented across
lower-level and less specialized positions provide many advantages to businesses and
employees.

BURNOUT REDUCTION
The first advantage of job rotation is burnout reduction. When employees perform the same job
functions each day without variation, they are likely to experience greater feelings of fatigue,
apathy, boredom, and carelessness. Burnout is detrimental to businesses because it tends to
promote decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, and increased likelihood of turnover,
which all lead to organizational dysfunction. However, when employees rotate across different
positions regularly, they experience less boredom, greater task variety, and decreased feelings
of needless repetition.

EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION
The second advantage of job rotation is increased employee satisfaction. Business owners know
that when employees are not satisfied with professional endeavors, they feel demotivated,
unhappy, and irritated, which are detrimental to productivity. However, by allowing
employees to engage in job rotation, employees are likely to experience greater satisfaction by

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identifying strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, employees are able to test many positions
and subsequently focus on rotating between positions that enhance performance capacity,
which increases their sense of worth and importance within the company.

EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION
The third advantage of job rotation is increased employee motivation. It is important for
business owners to provide opportunities to increase employee motivation because greater
motivation promotes higher levels of organizational commitment and desire to grow within the
company. When employees are given the opportunity to rotate between different positions,
they enhance and improve their skills, abilities, and competencies, which leads to better job
performance and greater likelihood of promotional advancement. Furthermore, employees that
are engaged with a number of different positions throughout a company experience increased
appreciation for coworkers and the interrelation between positions, which decreases animosity
and enhances organizational commitment.

TWOFOLD
The last benefit is twofold, and it is an indirect benefit of job rotation. Job rotation strategies
reduce employee burnout, increase employee satisfaction, and increase employee motivation
and organizational commitment. These three benefits cumulatively influence a business's
turnover rate and workplace injuries. Turnover is greatly reduced because employees do not
experience the fatigue, boredom, and dissatisfaction associated with performing the same job
every day. This, in turn, greatly increases an employee's level of awareness and attention to
detail, which decreases the likelihood of workplace injury or stress.

MANY UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESSES AND EMPLOYEES

Job rotation presents many unique opportunities for businesses and employees. The rationale
for implementing a job rotation design system may vary depending on business goals and
human resource strategies. However, whatever the reason, one thing is certain - businesses that
implement a job rotation strategy unquestionably reap the benefits of added organizational
success and more satisfied, motivated, and committed employees.

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JOB ROTATION FOR DEVELOPING MANAGEMENT TRAINEES
In past job rotation was taken with different perspectives, from studying past literature we can
argue that job rotation is helpful for Management training officers (MTO's) to develop their
career. The previous literature of Job rotation was focusing on different areas; let's have a look
what they say. Macleod (2006)says, through job rotation we can improve products flexibility,
employee's satisfaction and reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Job rotation is
a process which decreases employee's monotony, fatigue and boredom created by mass
production and job specialization (Yoder et al. 1958). Job rotation can be used to develop a good
schedule for work (Carnahan et al.). It develops the workers' skills where they can be used in
the absence of other workers.

Job rotation provides a learning opportunity through which MTO's will able to develop their
career. Workers are one of the most important assets that any company possesses
(Tharmmaphornphilas & Norman, 2007). Therefore research on job rotation has been focused
that it is the process of management of employees and to develop their career (Campion et al.,
1994; Hall, 1984; Wexley and Latham, 1981).

Seibert SE et al. (2001) declared job rotation as cross-training, through which employees of any
type of department can learn variety of job skills it is also a practical approach to improve and
expand the job assignments. It is also on-the-job training system to cultivate the future of
management trainee by transferring from one department to another department to increase
their understanding and credentials in different areas (Seibert SE et al. 2001). Job rotation can be
also considered as an alternate for job designing, (Dunning et al. 2005).

When organization implementing job rotation then they must keep in mind about employees
work experience quality rather than quantity. Organization should keep care about employee's
interest, capacity and arrangement of timing, when organization plan for next rotation
(Campion et al., 1994).Therefore again and again job rotation may not be productive; factors
such like employees learning attitude, background, and task similarity should be taken in
consideration for job rotation process.ix

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JOB ROTATION AND EMPLOYEES LEARNING
The relationship between job rotation and employees learning show, that if there is job rotation
then MTO,s will get opportunity of learning. Several models (Campion et al., 1994, Eriksson &
Ortega, 2002) link Job Rotation to employees learning. Erikson and Ortega (2006) explained job
rotation with some theories, according to employees learning theory rotation will make
employees more versatile, employer learning theory says by job rotation employer would able
to know about employees capability. By taking job rotation as an employee's learning tool in an
efficient way, it develops employee (MTO) abilities. According to Campion et al. (1994) job
rotation offer two different effects, first an employee who get rotation opportunity he gets
experience more quickly than other who do not avail rotation. Hence it is a good tool for career
development. Secondly if an employee who gets rotation opportunity acquires experience in
more areas as compare to those who do not get this opportunity. Employees must rotate when
they learn more about their old job, but if new technology is introduced in organization than
employee should focus more on their current job (Ortega, 2001). According to employee
learning theory, employees that are rotate more gain more experience than others. (Eriksson &
Ortega, 2002). Jaime Ortega has clearly explained that there is positive relation between job
rotation and employees learning. According to Jaime Ortega Job rotation provide an
opportunity to employer to learn about employees abilities, It is a learning phenomena and
much profitable than specialization, learning theory claim that employee should be rotated if he
has learnt enough about his current job (Jaime Ortega 2001).By applying statistical tools we
have found that there is a positive relation between job rotation.

LEARNING AND MTO'S CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Learning behavior of workers is associated with career development (Dijk, 2004).The concept of
career development was first advanced by Axelrad et al. (1951) who proposed that occupational
choice is a developmental process that occurs over a number of years. The objective of career
development, is that development should be for all employees, not only for potentials
employees (McLean, 2002). Career development is the total constellation of psychological,
economic, physical, educational, sociological, and enhance factors that combine to shape the
career of an individual over the life span (Sears, 1982). Management should requires to rotate
their employee in predetermined fashion to train and multi-skilled them (Anselmi &
Sundarrajan 2000). Job rotation enhances employees' business Knowledge more than technical

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skills. (Stites-Doe). Job rotation is a process of on-the job Training for improving the skills and
understanding of the management trainee. (Chang, 2009)

To learn new ways of cooperating and planning in organization, this will not make effective in
present responsibilities, but will also help them in creating new practices for future (Boud &
Garrick, 1999). Different researcher argue that learning is now important for organization to
survive against competitor (Senge, 1990; Argyris, 1993; Schein, 1993; Boydell et al. 199). They
argue that learning has more importance because organizations have to response quickly to
external environment changes. (Marsick & Watkins, 1999; Chivers et al., 2000). Organization
must anticipate the environment and to highlight the changes to survive in market. Some
scholars say that due to change in external environment, new technology and product arising in
market for those organizations have to acquire new skills and knowledge. Learning is also
important for organizational survival and it also a give competitive advantages to organization.

Career development is remained as a shared responsibility of employer and employees

Boudreaux (2001); Brown (1997). Some scholars have determined the impact of learning
behavior and opportunities to learn during their work, they also find out that career
development depends on both things, the working environment which provides learning
opportunities to employees and individual characteristics in form of learning attitude.

Question #4: Describe the significance of on-job and off-job training methods in
organizations with examples. What major benefits each of these training methods
provide to employees and organization?

Answer:

TRAINING
The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of
the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful
competencies. The quality of employees and their development through training and education
are major factors in determining long-term profitability of a small business. If you hire and keep

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good employees, it is good policy to invest in the development of their skills, so they can
increase their productivity. Training often is considered for new employees only. This is a
mistake because ongoing training for current employees helps them adjust to rapidly changing
job requirements.

ON-JOB TRAINING
On-the-job training takes place in a normal working situation, using the actual tools, equipment,
documents or materials that trainees will use when fully trained. On-the-job training has a
general reputation as most effective for vocational work.

On-the-job training focuses on the acquisition of skills within the work environment generally
under normal working conditions. Through on-the-job training, workers acquire both general
skills that they can transfer from one job to another and specific skills that are unique to a
particular job. On-the-job training, typically includes verbal and written instruction,
demonstration and observation, and hands-on practice and imitation. In addition, the on-the-job
training process involves one employee—usually a supervisor or an experienced employee—
passing knowledge and skills on to a novice employee.

Companies use a variety of job training programs. These may include:

 Co-operative education – university students alternate study semesters with paid work
terms where they work on projects and gain job skills.
 Internship – a short-term position with an emphasis on education, not employment.
 In-house training – the employer offers formal or semi-formal sessions to help you learn
new systems, applications, procedures or work duties.
 External training – the employer sends you to an off-site training program to help you
learn new systems, applications, procedures or work duties. Some employers may send
you to college or university courses.
 Computer-based training – you receive training through interactive computer software.
 Video learning – you watch videos to learn new information.
 Mentoring – you’re paired with a more senior employee and given personal coaching to
help you get up to speed.

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  Job rotation – you rotate through several positions in a company, so that you have a
good feel for various parts of the enterprise. For example, some banks have new
managers rotate through positions as tellers, customer service reps, loans officers and
financial planners.

BENEFITS OF ON-THE-JOB TRAINING FOR EMPLOYEES

 Less disruptive to the business - i.e. employees are not away from work
 Training an employee in their own working environment, with equipment they are
familiar with and people they know can help they gain direct experience to a standard
approved by the employer
 Employees may find that they have more confidence if they are supervised and guided
as they feel they are doing the job right.
 Employees may feel more at ease being taught or supervised by people they know
rather than complete strangers at an external training course
 Managers or supervisors can assess improvement and progress over a period of time
and this makes it easier to identify a problem intervene and resolve problems quickly
 On the job training is also productive, as the employee is still working as they are
learning
 As training progresses and the employee begins to feel more confident, this confidence
would allow them to work at a higher standard and ultimately be more productive
 Training "on-the-job" provides an opportunity to get to know staff.
 Training increases employee productivity. In addition to learning how to complete new
tasks and take on more responsibility, employees can learn advanced techniques to help
them complete everyday tasks more efficiently. For example, sending your book keeper
to an advanced Excel class may help him or her learn shortcuts to simplify the
accounting processes.
 Training reduces turnover. Employees who don't receive guidance or have difficulty
learning the ropes are much more likely to leave your company. Employees are less
likely to leave if they have the opportunity to learn new skills and keep up within their
industry.
 Training improves job satisfaction. Investing time and money in employees’ skills makes
them feel valued and appreciated, and it challenges them to learn more and get more

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 involved in their jobs. Higher job satisfaction ultimately results in reduced turnover and
higher productivity.
 Training reduces the need for employee supervision. Not only does skill-based training
teach employees how to do their jobs better, but it also helps them work more
independently and develop a can-do attitude.
 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.
 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.x

BENEFITS OF ON THE JOB TRAINING FOR ORGANIZATION

 Training and Development helps to provide an opportunity and broad structure for the
organization and give following benefits;
 Productivity - Training and Development helps in increasing the productivity of the
employees that helps the organization further to achieve its long-term goal.
 Team spirit - Training and Development helps in inculcating the sense of team work,
team spirit, and inter-team collaborations. It helps in inculcating the zeal to learn within
the employees and work effectively for orgranization.

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  Organization Culture - Training and Development helps to develop and improve the
organizational health culture and effectiveness. It helps in creating the learning culture
within the organization.
 Organization Climate - Training and Development helps building the positive
perception and feeling about the organization. The employees get these feelings from
leaders, subordinates, and peers.
 Quality - Training and Development helps in improving upon the quality of work and
work-life.
 Healthy work-environment - Training and Development helps in creating the healthy
working environment. It helps to build good employee, relationship so that individual
goals aligns with organizational goal.
 Health and Safety - Training and Development helps in improving the health and safety
of the organization thus preventing obsolescence.
 Morale - Training and Development helps in improving the morale of the work force.
 Image - Training and Development helps in creating a better corporate image.
 Profitability - Training and Development leads to improved profitability and more
positive attitudes towards profit orientation.
 Decision Making-Training and Development aids in organizational development i.e.
Organization gets more effective decision making and problem solving. It helps in
understanding and carrying out organizational policies
 Good Leaders:-Training and Development helps in developing leadership skills,
motivation, loyalty, better attitudes, and other aspects that successful workers and
managers usually display.

OFF-JOB TRAINING
Employee training at a site away from the actual work environment. It often utilizes lectures,
case studies, role playing, simulation, etc. See also on the job training.

Off-the-job training takes place away from normal work situations — implying that the
employee does not count as a directly productive worker while such training takes place. Off-
the-job training has the advantage that it allows people to get away from work and concentrate

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more thoroughly on the training itself. This type of training has proven more effective in
inculcating concepts and ideas.

Off the job training involves employees taking training courses away from their place of work.
This is often also referred to as "formal training". Off the job training courses might be run by
the business' training department or by external providers.

OFF-JOB TRAINING COURSES

The main types of off the job training courses are:

 Day release (where the employee takes time out from normal working hours to attend a
local college or training centre)
 Distance learning / evening classes
 Revision courses (e.g. in the accountancy profession, student employees are given blocks
of around 5-6 weeks off on pre-exam courses)
 Block release courses - which may involve several weeks at a local college
 Sandwich courses - where the employee spends a longer period of time at college (e.g.
six months) before returning to work
 Sponsored courses in higher education
 Self-study, computer-based training (an increasingly popular option - given that
attendance at external courses can involve heavy cost)

Typical Topics of Employee off the Job Training:-

 Communications: The increasing diversity of today's workforce brings a wide variety of

languages and customs.
 Computer skills: Computer skills are becoming a necessity for conducting
administrative and office tasks.
 Customer service: Increased competition in today's global marketplace makes it critical
that employees understand and meet the needs of customers.
 Diversity: Diversity training usually includes explanation about how people have
different perspectives and views, and includes techniques to value diversity

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  Ethics: Today's society has increasing expectations about corporate social responsibility.
Also, today's diverse workforce brings a wide variety of values and morals to the
workplace.
 Human relations: The increased stresses of today's workplace can include
misunderstandings and conflict. Training can people to get along in the workplace.
 Quality initiatives: Initiatives such as Total Quality Management, Quality Circles,
benchmarking, etc., require basic training about quality concepts, guidelines and
standards for quality, etc.
 Safety: Safety training is critical where working with heavy equipment , hazardous
chemicals, repetitive activities, etc., but can also be useful with practical advice for
avoiding assaults, etc.
 Sexual harassment: Sexual harassment training usually includes careful description of
the organization's policies about sexual harassment, especially about what are
inappropriate behaviors.

ADVANTAGES OF OFF-THE-JOB TRAINING

 This type of training gets employees away from their work environment to a place
where their frustrations and bustle of work are eliminated. This more relaxed
environment can help employees to absorb more information as they feel less under
pressure to perform.
 Can be a source to supply the latest information, current trends, skills and techniques for
example current employment legislation or other company law and regulations, current
computer software or computerised technologies or improved/innovative
administrative procedures. These new skills can be brought back and utilised within the
company.
 Experts in their field would cover these courses, and this would mean that training for
staff members would be taught to a reasonable standard.
 As the courses are held externally, our company would not have added costs incurred as
a result of extra equipment or additional space.
 Sending an employee on a course could help to make an employee feel more valued as
they would feel as if they are receiving quality training.

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  As many courses or seminars invite employees form other companies to attend, this
would allow employees to network and perhaps drum-up business.
 Use of specialist trainers and accommodation
 Employee can focus on the training - and not be distracted by workxi

Question #5: If an organization is going in profits then why there is need of

performance management. Discuss with arguments?

Answer:

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Performance management encompasses two different categories of management. In one
category the performance of the company is analyzed as whole, on the other hand the
employee’s performance is analyzed, or in more explanatory terms an analyst views the
complete performance of a company along with evaluating the efficiency of managers as well as
the heads of companies in achieving goals on the other hand a system is created to evaluate
employee performance to assist them in reaching rational objectives to ensure that the
organization executes tasks in a better way.

 Performance management consist activities that ensure that organization goals and
objectives are being met in an effectual and proficient way.
 It focuses on the routine of work of the organization, different departments, the process
in building products/service and employees.

Experts say that: ―Employee performance management works best when work is planned and
goals are consistent. This may mean having a clear way to communicate regarding work
expected at the moment and upcoming work. Planning also includes defining expectations of
the employee so that he or she is not broadsided by evaluation criteria not included in
planning.‖

Basically performance management of individual employees is varied; it usually consists of the

following:

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  Setting goals
 Planning work
 Offering Feedback/reviews
 Offering opportunities to learn more in a particular field
 Rewarding employees who perform well.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS

When talking about organizational development or (OD), performance can be considered as
―Actual Results vs. Desired Results.‖ Any inconsistency where Actual is seen less than Desired
might represent the performance improvement zone; however it is easier to understand if
performance management and performance improvement are thought of as a cycle. This
presumption is explained in the following points:

Performance Planning: This is the point where the goals and objectives are recognized

Performance Coaching: This is where a manager intervenes, to give feedback and amend
performance

Performance appraisal: This is where individual performances are formally documented and
the feedback is delivered.xii

A performance problem is any gap that is between the Actual Results and the Desired Results
whereas performance improvement is any effort that is targeted at closing the gap between
Desired Result & Actual Result. However other organization development definitions are
somewhat dissimilar; the Government Office of Personal Management (US) signify that,
―Performance Management consists of a system or process whereby: Work is planned and
expectations are set, Performance of work is monitored, Staff ability to perform is developed
and enhanced, Performance is rated or measured and the ratings summarized and Top
performance is rewarded.‖

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APPLICATION OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
The principles of performance management are required wherever people interact with their
surroundings to generate the desired outcomes. The performance management approach is
regularly used in the workplace but it can apply wherever people network for instance, society
as a whole, schools, community meetings, sport teams, governmental organizations, political
settings, parties etc. The laws of behavior are same everywhere in the world in spite of the
cultures being varied. Authors Armstrong & Baron (1998) define performance management as
―A strategic and integrated approach to increasing the effectiveness of organizations by
improving the performance of the people who work in them and by developing the capabilities
of teams and individual contributors.‖

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF EMPLOYEES & ORGANIZATION GOALS

Performance management makes it possible to get all employees to reunite individual goals
with organization goals. It helps to convert any secondary business into a profitable
organization as well as increasing its productivity. It can be used by large organization, single
departments or by sections inside an organization as well as by individuals.

The most known performance management system is known as the Self-Propelled Performance
Process (SPPP) It is a self-inspired performance process and has the following characteristics:

 It is the fastest known method for career promotion

 It is the quickest way for career advancement
 It is the surest way for career progress
 It is the best ingredient in planning careers
 It ensures career success
 The complete application of performance management
 It is the best way to incorporate human behavior research findings with organizational,
management and leadership development values
 It is a way to increase motivation and productivity
 It helps improve performance and increase profitability for the individual as well as the
organization
 It helps to inspire employees to get things moving

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  It helps employees to utilize their own talents

EMPLOYEES DEVELOPMENT
―Employees must also be given ways to grow and develop in their field. This means giving
opportunities to work on harder projects, pairing less-skilled employees with expert employees,
and offering team models where employees can direct and make decisions. Greater
responsibility and opportunities to advance in one’s field are essential to maintaining happy
and productive employees.‖ Rewards are a big component in performance management.
However, the greatest rewards are in the monetary form that could be either in salary raises or
even bonuses when the employee’s perform well. Also employees who are considered qualified
to work in a higher level of their work field should also be placed in such positions, that are
higher in rank and have a greater share of responsibility, with an increase in the share of pay of-
course.

Organizations should make sure while conducting a performance management process that
they focus as much on the positive performances as they do on the negative ones. The rewards
announced for positive performances should be tangible; otherwise the organization runs the
risk of being known as a ―negative action‖ organization only.

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES

Besides being the most popular method for performance management it is also the most
neglected, when it comes to teaching about management and leadership principles. Any how,
before starting a performance management process it is essential to conduct commitment
analysis deriving information from the strategic plans of the organization, where the job
mission statement is drawn for each job needed to be done.

The job mission statement is actually a definition of the job, in terms of the purpose of the job
keeping in view the product, scope and customers. The objective of this analysis is specifically
to determine the standards of employee performance and key goals for each work position.

After the commitment analysis is the work analysis of a specific job, in terms of the structure of
the job along with reporting and job description. In any case that a job is not available, then an
analysis of the system can be done to draw up a description of the job. The aim of this analysis
is to establish the constant critical objectives as well as the performance standards of all the jobs.

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BENEFITS ACHIEVED WITH PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT (WHEN ORGANIZATION
IS ALREADY IN PROFITS)

―Planning and setting goals in performance management also creates a system of predictable
rewards for good performance, and consequences for poor performance. This way the employee
can reasonably assume the consequences of work performance, whether good or bad.‖ The
management of systems performance or employees smoothes the process in the successful
delivery of operational and strategic goals; there is a visible and instant connection that links the
use of performance management programs or software’s and the organizational results and
improved business.

The usage of integrated software’s rather than spreadsheet based recording systems proves to
deliver better and significant returns on investment when calculating employee performance.
These results can be derived through a range of direct as well as indirect sales benefits along
with operational efficiency benefits. These results also help in unlocking the dormant
prospective in each employee’s work day, that is the time that each employee spends in the
office, not doing their assigned work/job. Such benefits include the following:

(DIRECT) FINANCIAL GAINS:

 Reduction in costs
 Growth in sales
 Discontinuing project overruns
 Decreasing the time it takes to construct operational or strategic changes, by
communicating the changes via a set of goals & objectives.
 Supports the organization to directly follow the CEO’s aim/purpose.

MOTIVATING WORKFORCE
 High confidence in bonus payment process
 Improving employee engagement because everyone understands how they directly
contribute to organizations high level aims and objectives
 Creates transparency in the achievement of goals
 Professional development programs work better when aligned directly with achieving
business level goals

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  Optimizing incentive plans to particular goals for over achievement and not just
standard business.

IMPROVING MANAGEMENT CONTROL

 Helps comply with legislative requirements
 Simplifies communication of strategic goals through scenario planning
 Provides well documented and communicated process documentation
 Displays data relationships
 Flexible and responsive to management needs‖

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK

The purpose of performance management is basically to improve quality of work, but it also
involves giving feedback to employees; however this feedback is given on a much more
consistent basis than that of the annual review (performance appraisal). However the ability of
an employee in meeting goals or their failure in meeting goals can be monitored on a monthly
basis rather than on annual basis. This process gives the employee’s an opportunity to receive
compliments and fair rewards on a regular basis or to make any changes in behavior soon
enough, in any case it is not up to par.xiii

It also happens that employees tend to feel that end of the year reviews/performance appraisals
consist of criticisms of the work done in the past year, which was not candidly discussed with
the employee’s. Employees are considered to benefit more from consistent models of
performance management assessments as these give people time to take in hand any issues and
change them.

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REFERENCES

i http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resources
ii http://www.writework.com/essay/human-resources-most-important-assets-
modern-organization
iii http://www.articlesbase.com/human-resources-articles/human-resources-the-
most-important-asset-3090210.html
iv http://bizcovering.com/employment/role-of-hr-in-gaining-competitive-
advantage/
v http://www.ehow.com
vi http://www.hr-guide.com
vii http://www.helpwithmanagement.com/employees/write-job-descriptions-
person-specs.php
viii http://www.helpwithmanagement.com/employees/write-job-descriptions-
person-specs.php
ix http://www.articlesbase.com/training-articles/job-rotation-as-career-
development-mechanism-for-management-trainee-officers-mtos-3948197.html
x www.cookeryonline.com/Thesis/Training... - Im Cache - Ähnliche Seiten
xi http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_and_disadvantages-of-
off-the-job-training
xii http://www.mba-tutorials.com/human-resource-management/456-
performance-management.html
xiii http://en.wikipedia.org/iki/Business_performance_management

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