Chapter 1 Introduction to human resource

management

Definition (concept for 2 marks) - Edwin Flippo defies HRM as

“planning,
organizing, directing, controlling of procurement,
development, compensation,
integration , maintenance and separation of human
resources to the end that
individual, organizational and social objectives are
achieved.”

Features of HRM or characteristics or nature (3 or 4

marks)

1. HRM involves management functions like planning,

organizing, directing
and controlling

2. It involves procurement, development, maintenance of

human resource

3. It helps to achieve individual, organizational and social

objectives

4. HRM is a mighty disciplinary subject. It includes the study

of management
psychology communication, economics and sociology.

5. It involves team spirit and team work.

Evolution of HRM(for 10 or 5 marks)

The evolution of HRM can be traced back to Kautilya Artha

Shastra where he
recommends that government must take active interest in
public and private
enterprise. He says that government must provide a proper
procedure for regulating
employee and employee relation
In the medieval times there were examples of kings like
Allaudin Khilji who
regulated the market and charged fixed prices and provided
fixed salaries to their
people. This was done to fight inflation and provide a decent
standard of living
During the pre independence period of 1920 the trade union
emerged. Many
authors who have given the history of HRM say that HRM
started because of trade
union and the First World War.
The Royal commission in 1931 recommended the
appointment of a labour
welfare officer to look into the grievances of workers. The
factory act of 1942
made it compulsory to appoint a labour welfare officer if the
factory had 500 or
more than 500 workers.
The international institute of personnel management and
national institute of
labour management were set up to look into problems faced
by workers to provide
solutions to them. The Second World War created awareness
regarding workers
rights and 1940’s to 1960’s saw the introduction of new
technology to help
workers.
The 1960’s extended the scope of human resource beyond
welfare. Now it
was a combination of welfare, industrial relation,
administration together it was
called personnel management.
With the second 5 year plan, heavy industries started and
professional
management became important. In the 70’s the focus was
on efficiency of labour
wile in the 80’s the focus was on new technology, making it
necessary for new
rules and regulations. In the 90’s the emphasis was on
human values and
development of people and with liberalization and changing
type of working
people became more and more important there by leading
to HRM which is an
advancement of personnel management.

Scope of HRM/functions of HRM

The scope of HRM refers to all the activities that come under
the banner of HRM.
These activities are as follows

1. Human resources planning :-

Human resource planning or HRP refers to a process by
which the
company to identify the number of jobs vacant, whether the
company has
excess staff or shortage of staff and to deal with this excess
or shortage.

2. Job analysis design :-

Another important area of HRM is job analysis. Job analysis
gives a
detailed explanation about each and every job in the
company. Based on this
job analysis the company prepares advertisements.
3. Recruitment and selection :-
Based on information collected from job analysis the
company
prepares advertisements and publishes them in the news
papers. This is
recruitment. A number of applications are received after the
advertisement is
published, interviews are conducted and the right employee
is selected thus
recruitment and selection are yet another important area of
HRM.
4. Orientation and induction :-
Once the employees have been selected an induction or
orientation
program is conducted. This is another important area of
HRM. The
employees are informed about the background of the
company, explain
about the organizational culture and values and work ethics
and introduce to
the other employees.

5. Training and development :-

Every employee goes under training program which helps
him to put
up a better performance on the job. Training program is also
conducted for
existing staff that have a lot of experience. This is called
refresher training.
Training and development is one area were the company
spends a huge
amount.

6. Performance appraisal :-
Once the employee has put in around 1 year of service,
performance
appraisal is conducted that is the HR department checks the
performance of
the employee. Based on these appraisal future promotions,
incentives,
increments in salary are decided.

7. Compensation planning and remuneration :-

There are various rules regarding compensation and other
benefits. It
is the job of the HR department to look into remuneration
and compensation
planning.
8. Motivation, welfare, health and safety :-
Motivation becomes important to sustain the number of
employees in
the company. It is the job of the HR department to look into
the different
methods of motivation. Apart from this certain health and
safety regulations
have to be followed for the benefits of the employees. This is
also handled
by the HR department.

9. Industrial relations :-
Another important area of HRM is maintaining co-ordinal
relations
with the union members. This will help the organization to
prevent strikes
lockouts and ensure smooth working in the company.

Challenges before the HR manager/before modern

personnel management

Personnel management which is know as human resource

management has adapted
itself to the changing work environment, however these
changes are still taking
place and will continue in the future therefore the challenges
before the HR
manager are

1. Retention of the employees :-

One of the most important challenge the HR manager faces
is
retention of labour force. Many companies have a very high
rate of labour
turnover therefore HR manager are required to take some
action to reduce
the turnover

2. Multicultural work force :-

With the number of multi cultural companies are increasing
operations
in different nations. The work force consists of people from
different
cultures. Dealing with each of the needs which are different
the challenge
before the HR manager is integration of multicultural labour
work force.

3. Women in the work force :-

The number of women who have joined the work force has
drastically
increased over a few years. Women employees face totally
different
problems. They also have responsibility towards the family.
The
organization needs to consider this aspect also. The
challenge before the HR
manager lies in creating gender sensitivity and in providing a
good working
environment to the women employees.

4. Handicapped employees :-
This section of the population normally faces a lot of
problems on the
job, very few organization have jobs and facilities specially
designed for
handicapped workers. Therefore the challenge before the HR
manager lies in
creating atmosphere suitable for such employees and
encouraging them to
work better.

5. Retrenchment for employees :-

In many places companies have reduced the work force due
to
changing economic situations, labourers or workers who are
displaced face
sever problems. It also leads to a negative atmosphere and
attitude among
the employees. There is fear and increasing resentment
against the
management. The challenge before the HR manager lies in
implementing the
retrenchment policy without hurting the sentiments of the
workers, without
antagonizing the labour union and by creating positive
attitude in the
existing employees.

6. Change in demand of government :-

Most of the time government rules keep changing. While a
lot of
freedom is given to companies some strict rules and
regulations have also
been passed. The government has also undertaken the
disinvestment in
certain companies due to which there is fear among the
employees regarding
their job. The challenge before the HR manager lies in
convincing
employees that their interest will not be sacrificed.

7. Initiating the process of change :-

Changing the method of working, changing the attitude of
people and
changing the perception and values of organization have
become necessary
today. Although the company may want to change it is
actually very difficult
to make the workers accept the change. The challenge
before the HR
manager is to make people accept change.

Significance/importance/need of HRM (5/10mks)

HRM becomes significant for business organization due to

the following reasons.
1. Objective :-
HRM helps a company to achieve its objective from time to
time by
creating a positive attitude among workers. Reducing
wastage and making
maximum use of resources etc.

2. Facilitates professional growth :-

Due to proper HR policies employees are trained well and
this makes
them ready for future promotions. Their talent can be
utilized not only in the
company in which they are currently working but also in
other companies
which the employees may join in the future.

3. Better relations between union and management :-

Healthy HRM practices can help the organization to maintain
coordinal
relationship with the unions. Union members start realizing
that the
company is also interested in the workers and will not go
against them
therefore chances of going on strike are greatly reduced.

4. Helps an individual to work in a team/group :-

Effective HR practices teach individuals team work and
adjustment.
The individuals are now very comfortable while working in
team thus team
work improves.

5. Identifies person for the future :-

Since employees are constantly trained, they are ready to
meet the job
requirements. The company is also able to identify potential
employees who
can be promoted in the future for the top level jobs. Thus
one of the
advantages of HRM is preparing people for the future.

6. Allocating the jobs to the right person :-

If proper recruitment and selection methods are followed,
the
company will be able to select the right people for the right
job. When this
happens the number of people leaving the job will reduce as
the will be
satisfied with their job leading to decrease in labour
turnover.

7. Improves the economy :-

Effective HR practices lead to higher profits and better
performance
by companies due to this the company achieves a chance to
enter into new
business and start new ventured thus industrial development
increases and
the economy improves.

Chapter 2 Job analysis, job design, job evolution

Define job analysis (2 mks concept)

A job is defined as a collection of duties and responsibilities
which are given
together to an individual employee. Job analysis is the
process of studying and
collecting information relating to operations and
responsibilities of a specific job.
It can be explained with the help of the following diagram

1.Job analysis
Job description Job
specification
Job title/ name of the job Qualification
Working hours Qualities
Duties and responsibilities
Experience
Working conditions Family
background
Salary and incentives Training
Machines to be handled on the job Interpersonal
skills

As mentioned in the above table job analysis is divided into 2

parts

a) Job description
where the details regarding the job are given.

b) Job specification
where we explain the qualities required by people applying
for the job.

Need/importance/purpose/benefits of job analysis

Def: - A job is defined as a collection of duties and

responsibilities which are given
together to an individual employee. Job analysis is the
process of studying and
collecting information relating to operations and
responsibilities of a specific job.

The following are the benefits of job analysis.

1. Organizational structure and design :-

Job analysis helps the organization to make suitable changes
in the
organizational structure, so that it matches the needs and
requirements of the
organization. Duties are either added or deleted from the
job.

2. Recruitment and selection :-

Job analysis helps to plan for the future human resource. It
helps to
recruit and select the right kind of people. It provides
information necessary
to select the right person.

3. Performance appraisal and training/development :-

Based on the job requirements identified in the job analysis,
the
company decides a training program. Training is given in
those areas which
will help to improve the performance on the job. Similarly
when appraisal is
conducted we check whether the employee is able to work in
a manner in
which we require him to do the job.

4. Job evaluation :-
Job evaluation refers to studying in detail the job
performance by all
individual. The difficulty levels, skills required and on that
basis the salary is
fixed. Information regarding qualities required, skilled levels,
difficulty
levels are obtained from job analysis.

5. Promotions and transfer :-

When we give a promotion to an employee we need to
promote him
on the basis of the skill and talent required for the future job.
Similarly when
we transfer an employee to another branch the job must be
very similar to
what he has done before. To take these decisions we collect
information
from job analysis.

6. Career path planning :-

Many companies have not taken up career planning for their
employees. This is done to prevent the employee from
leaving the company.
When we plan the future career of the employee,
information will be
collected from job analysis. Hence job analysis becomes
important or
advantageous.

7. Labour relations :-
When companies plan to add extra duties or delete certain
duties from
a job, they require the help of job analysis, when this activity
is
systematically done using job analysis the number of
problems with union
members reduce and labour relations improve.

8. Health and safety :-

Most companies prepare their own health and safety, plans
and
programs based on job analysis. From the job analysis
company identifies
the risk factor on the job and based on the risk factor safety
equipments are
provided.

9. Acceptance of job offer :-

When a person is given an offer/appointment letter the
duties to be
performed by him are clearly mentioned in it, this
information is collected
from job analysis, which is why job analysis becomes
important.

Methods of job analysis (5/10 marks)

Def: - A job is defined as a collection of duties and
responsibilities which are given
together to an individual employee. Job analysis is the
process of studying and
collecting information relating to operations and
responsibilities of a specific job.
There are different methods used by organization to collect
information and
conduct the job analysis.
These methods are

1. Personal observation :-
In this method the observer actually observes the concerned
worker.
He makes a list of all the duties performed by the worker
and the qualities
required to perform those duties based on the information
collected, job
analysis is prepared.

2. Actual performance of the job :-

In this method the observer who is in charge of preparing
the job
analysis actually does the work himself. This gives him an
idea of the skill
required, the difficulty level of the job, the efforts required
etc.

3. Interview method :-
In this method an interview of the employee is conducted. A
group of
experts conduct the interview. They ask questions about the
job, skilled
levels, and difficulty levels. They question and cross question
and collect
information and based on this information job analysis is
prepared.

4. Critical incident method :-

In this method the employee is asked to write one or more
critical
incident that has taken place on the job. The incident will
give an idea about
the problem, how it was handled, qualities required and
difficulty levels etc.
critical incident method gives an idea about the job and its
importance. (a
critical means important and incident means anything which
takes place in
the job)

5. Questioner method :-
In this method a questioner is provided to the employee and
they are
asked to answer the questions in it. The questions may be
multiple choice
questions or open ended questions. The questions decide
how exactly the job
analysis will be done. The method is effective because
people would think
twice before putting anything in writing.

6. Log records :- (2 marks concept)

Companies can ask employees to maintain log records and
job
analysis can be done on the basis of information collected
from the log
record. A log record is a book in which employees record
/write all the
activities performed by them on the job. The records are
extensive as well as
exhausted in nature and provide a fair idea about the duties
and
responsibilities in any job.

7. HRD records :-
Records of every employee are maintained by HR
department. The
record contain details about educational qualification, name
of the job,
number of years of experience, duties handled, any mistakes
committed in
the past and actions taken, number of promotions received,
area of work,
core competency area, etc. based on these records job
analysis can be done.

2.Job design
Definitions: - (2marks)
Job design is the process of
a) Deciding the contents of the job.
b) Deciding methods to carry out the job.
c) Deciding the relationship which exists in the organization.
Job analysis helps to develop job design and job design
matches the requirements
of the job with the human qualities required to do the job.

Factors affecting job design: - There are various factors

which affect job design in
the company. They can be explained with the help of
diagram.

Factors affecting job design

Organizational Environmental
Behavioral
factors factors
factors

1. Task 1. Employee 1. Feed back

characteristics availibity and
ability

2. Process or flow 2. Social and 2.Autonomy

of work in cultural
organization expectations

3. Ergonomics ______ 3. Variety

4. Work practices

I] Organizational factors :-
Organizational factors to refer to factors inside the
organization which affect
job design they are

a) Task characteristics :-
Task characteristics refer to features of the job that is
depending on
the type of job and the duties involved in it the organization
will decide, how
the job design must be done. Incase the company is not in a
position to
appoint many people; a single job may have many duties
and vice versa.

b) The process or flow of work in the organization :-

There is a certain order in which jobs are performed in the
company.
Incase the company wishes it could combine similar job and
give it to one
person this can be done if all the jobs come one after the
other in a sequence.

c) Ergonomics (2 marks concept) :-

Ergonomics refers to matching the job with physical ability
and
characteristics of the individual and in providing an office
environment
which will help the person to complete the jobs faster and in
a comfortable
manner.

d) Work practices :-
Every organization has different work practices. Although the
job may
be the same the method of doing the job differs from
company to company.
This is called work practice and it affects job design.

II] Environmental factors :-

Environmental factors which affect job design are as follows
a) Employee availability and ability :-
Certain countries face the problem of lack of skilled labour.
They are
not able to get employees with specific education levels for
jobs and have to
depend on other countries due to this job design gets
affected.

b) Social and cultural expectations :-

The social and cultural conditions of every country is
different so
when an MNC appoints an Indian it has to take into account
like festivals,
auspicious time, inauspicious time, etc. to suit the Indian
conditions. This
applies to every country and therefore job design will change
accordingly.

III] Behavioral factors :-

Job design is affected by behavioral factors also. These
factors are

a) Feedback :-
Job design is normally prepared on the basis of job analysis
and job
analysis requires employee feedback based on this
employee feedback all
other activities take place. Many employees are however not
interested in
providing a true feedback because of fear and insecurity.
This in turn affects
job deign.

b) Autonomy :-
Every worker desires a certain level of freedom to his job
effectively.
This is called autonomy. Thus when we prepare a job design
we must see to
it that certain amount of autonomy is provided to the worker
so that he
carries his job effectively.

c) Variety :-
When the same job is repeated again and again it leads to
burden and
monotony. This leads to lack of interest and carelessness on
the job.
Therefore, while preparing job design certain amount of
variety must be
provided to keep the person interested in the job.

Methods of job design

There are various methods in which job design can be
carried out. These
methods help to analysis the job, to design the contents of
the and to decide how
the job must be carried out .these methods are as follows :-
(5 marks each)
I.Job rotation
II.Job enlargement
III.Job enrichment

I.Job Rotation :- (def 2 marks concept )

Job rotation involves shifting a person from one job to
another, so
that he is able to understand and learn what each job
involves. The company
tracks his performance on every job and decides whether he
can perform the
job in an ideal manner. Based on this he is finally given a
particular posting.
Job rotation is done to decide the final posting for the
employee e.g. Mr. A is
assigned to the marketing department whole he learns all
the jobs to be
performed for marketing at his level in the organization
.after this he is shifted
to the sales department and to the finance department and
so on. He is finally
placed in the department in which he shows the best
performance
Job rotation gives an idea about the jobs to be performed at
every
level. Once a person is able to understand this he is in a
better understanding
of the working of organization

Advantages of job rotation

1. Avoids monopoly :-
Job rotation helps to avoid monopoly of job and enable the
employee to learn new things and therefore enjoy his job

2. Provides an opportunity to broaden one’s knowledge :-

Due to job rotation the person is able to learn different job in
the
organization this broadens his knowledge

3. Avoiding fraudulent practice :-

In an organization like bank jobs rotation is undertaken to
prevent employees from doing any kind of fraud i.e. if a
person is
handling a particular job for a very long time he will be able
to find
loopholes in th system and use them for his benefit and
indulge
( participate ) in fraudulent practices job rotation avoids this.

Disadvantages of Job Rotation

1. Frequent interruption :-
Job rotation results in frequent interruption of work .A person
who is doing a particular job and get it comfortable suddenly
finds
himself shifted to another job or department .this interrupts
the work in both
the departments

2. Reduces uniformity in quality :-

Quality of work done by a trained worker is different from
that of a new worker .when a new worker I shifted or rotated
in the
department, he takes time to learn the new job, makes
mistakes in the
process and affects the quality of the job.

3. Misunderstanding with the union member :-

Sometimes job rotation may lead to misunderstanding with
members of the union. The union might think that
employees are
being harassed and more work is being taken from them. In
reality
this is not the case.