ASSIGNMENT DRIVE SUMMER 2014

PROGRAM Bachelor of Business Administration- BBA

SEMESTER 3
SUBJECT CODE & NAME - BBA302 Human Resource Management
BK ID B1596 CREDIT & MARKS 4 Credits, 60 marks

Q.No 1 Explain the various emerging concepts of Human Resource Management

(HRM)
Explaining the concepts of Human Resource Management 10
Answer:
The various emerging concepts of HRM are:
a) The Commodity Concept: As a result of Industrial Revolution, labour was regarded as a
commodity that can be bought and sold. Wages were based on demand and supply of the labour. The
political philosophy of this time was laissez- faire. There was no role of the government to protect the
workers. This approach was criticised.
b) Factor of Production Concept: According to this concept, workers are like any other factors of
production. They were viewed as any physical factor of production such as land, material, money,
etc. There was no special status for the workers. But this concept was found inadequate.
c) Machinery Concept: In the period of scientific management, a new concept known as
machinery concept evolved. Maximisation of profit was the main goal of this era. Father of scientific
management, Fredrick W. Taylor and other industrial engineers like Frank and Gantt emphasised
the selection process for employees, training methods, and appropriate wage policies so that people
can be used effectively the way machinery is used for maximisation of productivity. The
harmonious industrial relation is thus the contribution of scientific management. Workers got the
benefit of better working condition, better pay and incentives. With the establishment of
International Labour Organisation (ILO), industrial peace was restored. Social justice was
emphasised with the improvement of working conditions.
d) Goodwill Concept: In this era, the employer realised that the welfare of the employees had a
direct impact on the productivity. Various welfare measures like incentives, compensation, travel
allowance, safety, first aid, lunch rooms, and rest rooms were provided to the employees.
e) Natural Resource Concept: Natural resource concept says that workers are like natural
resources. They should be protected and any misuse should be avoided. In this era, child-labour
laws, working hours for women, workmens compensation, and health and accident legislations were
passed.

f) Paternalism Concept: This concept says that management must treat employees fatherly and
should have protective attitude towards them. With the emergence of trade union, employers
voluntarily started giving various benefits to the employees to avoid outside interference. The
employer, as a parent, started caring for the different needs of the employees. Decisions were taken
regarding health facilities, wash-up and locker room arrangements, lunch rooms, recreational
facilities, group insurance and pension plans, picnic housing, etc. Eventually, it was found that these
facilities had less impact on increasing productivity and the approaches of the employer was not
genuine all the time.
g) Humanitarian Concept: During 1910 to 1917, employees were considered as the most valuable
asset of the organisation. This concept said that human beings are equal and the rights of every
employee should be respected. To get the co-operation of the employees, employer must provide
security and personal satisfaction. The welfare programmes like pension, gratuity, provident fund,
housing, credit facility, and so on were provided. One of the most important developments in this
period was the application of Social Psychology to the problems of industrial relation. Industrial
Psychology helped HR department in identifying the cause of dissatisfaction of the employees so that
it can be handled effectively.
h) Human Relation Concept: The Hawthorne experiments that were conducted from 1927 to
1932 had a great impact on human relation movements. In this experiment, certain physical and
technical variables were changed to see their impact on productivity. Variables like temperature,
illumination, rest, pause, length of working hour, etc. were changed to see their impact on
productivity. Ultimately, it was observed that social and human factors have more impact than the
physical factors. In the words of Keith Davis, Human Relation is motivating people in organisations
in order to develop team work which effectively fulfils their needs and achieves organisational goals.
There should be a conscious effort for creating a work force with high morale. In other words,
organisations should work as a social system
i) Citizenship Concept: This concept says that as an industrial citizen, workers have the right to
take certain decisions regarding their work. In this concept, human resource is considered as an
investment that gives the workers certain rights and responsibilities.
j) Partnership Concept: According to this approach, the relationship between the worker and the
employer should be as partners. Efforts from both sides are required to attain organisational as well
as individual goals. You must have heard of stock-ownership scheme prevalent in many modern
organisations. This is because it has been felt that both the management and the workers will
mutually be interested and benefited in increasing the production. Here you can see the change a
transition from commodity to the partnership concept. Still, a lot of work needs to be done in this
area.
k) Emerging Concept or Future Concept: It is expected that workers play a more important role
in effective development of the organisation. Through stock ownership, they feel more attached to
the organisation and work sincerely for the betterment. You must have come across various cases in
public sectors in India where a company was revived due to the effort of the management and the
workers. Thus we can say that all the concepts have contributed to the growth of distinct approaches
to study and develop the field of HRM.

Q2 What do you mean by Human Resource Planning? Explain the importance of

Human Resource Planning
(Definition of Human Resource Planning, Explaining the importance of Human Resource Planning)
2+8=10
Answer:
Concept of Human Resource Planning
Human resource planning is a forward looking function. It tries to assess human resource
requirements in advance keeping market fluctuations, demand forecasts and availability of right
candidates, etc., in the background. According to Terry, Human Resource Planning (HRP) is a set of
tasks that include estimation of how many qualified people are necessary to carry out the assigned
activities ; how many people will be available; and what, if anything, must be done to ensure that
personnel supply equals personnel demand at an appropriate time in future.
HRP, as a function, translates the organisations objectives and plans into the number of personnel
needed to meet those objectives. It also involves identifying the organisations human resource
management goals and expected results, identifying strategies and activities to achieve those goals.
According to E. W. Vetter, HRP is a process by which an organisation should move from its current
manpower position to its desired manpower position. HRP is vital for every organisation but
somehow it has been one of the most neglected and undervalued function of Human Resource
Management.
Importance of Human Resource Planning
HRP is emerging as a critical area of HRM because of the significance of its contribution to the
survival and welfare of any and every organisation. Following are the points that highlight its
importance:
a) It makes a careful and accurate assessment of future human resource needs: BSNL
had selected a large number of line-men that went around repairing faults in land line in the mid90s. Because of advent of mobile phones, the number of land lines has gone down and people are not
critically dependent on the existing ones. As a result, BSNL is now under loss. The selected
employees draw high pay, have no job and hence are of no use to the organisation. Had the
authorities of BSNL done a careful HR planning looking into the technological changes, they would
not be going through the current crisis.
b) It is a part of strategic planning: Business today is strategic. Carefully designed strategies are
essential for the survival and wellbeing of organisations. Human resource planning is central to
strategic planning because the accomplishment of the mission, vision and goals of the organization
highly depends on the quality of its human resource. When the strategies are made, input from
human resource planning helps it by taking into account the quality and kind of man-power needed.
On the other hand, once the strategy has been made, executives need to make resource allocation
decisions. HR managers are, consequently, essential facilitators of the strategic planning process.
c) Creating highly talented personnel: Nature of jobs has changed dramatically in the last 30
years. Today we require highly qualified, versatile professionals to do day to day work. There was a

time when an organisation would be having hundred unskilled workers for every five qualified
engineers and managers. Today IT organisations like Infosys and TCS have absolutely no unskilled
staff. All their employees are highly qualified and skilled personnel. Such skilled people keep on
changing jobs rapidly. Thus organisations face shortage of man power on regular basis. Human
resource planning helps in preventing such shortages by developing appropriate retention strategies.
Further, there is a constant need to train and retrain such workers in order to make them competent
as per the market requirement. Human resource planning helps in identifying training needs and
creating highly talented personnel.
d) Succession planning: Human resource planning is essential to facilitate succession planning.
Retirement of a chief executive is full of uncertainties. Many organisations died once their successful
Chief Executive Officer retired. Through planning we can identify suitable candidates much before
any eminent executive retires so that the candidates can be provided with the required knowledge,
skill, ability and exposure. This ensures that the organisation keeps on moving in its well defined
course despite any retirements/exits.
e) Foundation for personnel functions: All the functions of human resource such as
recruitment, selection, transfer, promotion, training and development evolve from human resource
planning. It is the information provided by the human resource planning that should be the base for
designing and implementing such functions.
f) Increasing cost of human resource: Few decades back, the capital cost of any organisation
(land, building, machinery) was a major component of the total cost with manpower cost being
minimal. Today, capital costs have reduced but the cost of human resource has gone very high. An
organisation invests heavily in providing training and development to its employees. It therefore, is
essential that these employees are used effectively throughout their career.
g) International strategies: Globalisation and liberalisation has resulted in growing trends
towards global operations. This has enhanced the need for, as well as the need to blend human
resource planning more closely with organisations strategic plans. The increasing staffing needs
from foreign countries, employees speaking different languages and with different cultural norms
have resulted in complexities that make human resource planning even more important.
h) Emergence of challenging personnel: Personnel today have new definitions of selfevaluation, loyalty and dedication. This has resulted in greater difficulty for the organisations to
move its employees around anywhere and anytime it wants. This also makes human resource
planning important which should come up with handy strategies to tackle the challenging personnel.
i) Uncertainties and changes: Human resource planning overcomes uncertainties and changes to
maximum extent and facilitates organisations to have right men at right time and in right place.
j) Redundant employees: Because of changing needs for knowledge and skill, employees are
getting redundant at a fast pace. Throwing them out of job is inhuman as well as illegal. Human
resource planning helps in identifying such redundancies and also in providing alternative
employment.

Q.3: Define recruitment. What are the factors affecting recruitment?

Definition of recruitment
Factors affecting recruitment
ANS:
Definition of recruitment:
Recruitment is a linking function. It is a joining process in which it tries to bring together job seekers
and employers. The basic purpose of recruitment is to finding the best talent in the job market and
absorbing them in the company. To have good recruitment, it is important to have three elements:
i) Attractive compensation
ii) Better career opportunities
iii) Good organisational image or reputation (Brand image)

Factors affecting recruitment:

The factors that influence recruitment can be broadly divided into internal and external factors.
a) External factors influencing recruitment are:
i. Demand and supply: The organisation must look into the pool of candidates that is available for
a job position, both within and outside the organisation. If the company has a demand for more
professionals and there is limited supply in the market for the professionals demanded by the
company, then the company will have to depend upon internal sources by providing them special
training and development programs.
ii. Economic environment: The economic condition has great impact on the recruitment of a
company. As we have seen in previous units, liberalisation, globalisation and privatisation have
created demand for different types of expertise from the potential employees, such as ability to
understand functions in international context, knowledge in foreign languages, currencies etc.
iii. Social environment: Now a days organisation are becoming more innovative in recruitment.
One of the major causes is changes which is taking place in our society. Social norms and values are
changing. From the traditional career attitude of job security and safety, people now want faster pace
of career growth and a job that is challenging. More women have started working, so giving equal
employment opportunities have become more challenging for recruiters.
iv. Technological environment: The growth and innovation of technology has become the norm
now in our advanced world. With the changes in technology the competencies required from the
potential employees have also changed. You may recollect after the 1990s there was a huge drive for
computeriation in the various banks across India. The old ledgers and account books were replaced
by computers.
v. Political legal environment: The philosophy of the political parties in power influences
business practices. A pro-business attitude on the part of government enables firms to enter into
arrangements that would otherwise not be allowed under a anti business philosophy.
vi. Corporate image: Corporate image or reputation describes the manner in which a company, its
activities and its products or services are perceived by outsiders. The social image of the
organisation also affects the recruitment practices.
vii. Unemployment rate: The rate of unemployment influences the recruitment policies. If the
unemployment rate is high then even simple recruitment plan can work, as there is a large pool of
candidates who would be willing to work.

viii. Competitors: The recruitment policies of the firm always have to be competent in terms of the
recruitment policies of its competitors. Prospective employees give weightage to opportunities from
organisations that have maximum employee benefits.

b) Internal factors influencing recruitment are:

i. Organisational and recruitment policies: Organisations with a philosophy of developing
their human resources and of providing opportunities for growth favor internal recruiting policies.
Organisations looking for fresh talent and new ideas would favor external recruitment.
ii. HR plan: Recruitment happens only after human resource planning is framed. The human
resource plan gives the detailed framework on the recruitment policy that has to be adhered to. It
gives details of what percentage of vacancies have to be reserved for SC, ST, physically handicapped
etc.
iii. Size of the organisation: If the organisation plans to increase its operations or diversify or
expand, it will require more manpower. At the same time, if the organisation plans to downsize, it
will restrict the number of people required or make use of the existing manpower to carry out
functions.
iv. Cost of recruitment: No organisation would want its recruitment process to be very expensive.
Choosing the sources of recruitment depends on the cost involved. The cost of recruitment also
influences if the recruitment has to be done internally or from outside the organisation.
v. Age composition of the workforce: If the majority of the workforce is aged, then the
organisation would prefer to hire younger workforce from outside the organisation. If the workforce
in the organization is young, then the organisation would prefer to train and develop its own
employees to fit into vacancies.
vi. Wage and salary policies: One of the most important attracting forces of any organisation is
its wage and salary policies. People are always attracted to the firms that pay well and at the same
time provide additional benefits such as medical insurance, travel allowance etc.
vii. Nature of operations: The kind of job and its nature also affect recruitment. For example, it is
difficult to find a pool of interested applicants for selling products door to door and meeting sales
targets.

4 Suppose you have joined as an HR Manager in an organization and you are asked to
improve the organizations Induction process. What are the strategies you will
consider in order to improve the Induction process?
Explain the strategies to improve Induction Process 10
Answer:
If I would have joined as an HR manager in an organization, I would have followed the following
strategies to improve induction process:
i. Uses of visuals Researchers have found that 83 percent of human learning occurs visually.
Information is best stored in the mind in the form of pictures. The human brain can process pictures
faster than words. Using more pictures in the form of videos, photos, diagrams and colourful charts
enable employees to remember the information given during the programme.

ii. Including stories Stories and images provide an emotional connection to information and it
helps people to understand and remember information easily. Success stories or instances from the
professional lives of the top management can help not only in motivating and inspiring the
employees but also forming a good relationship with the employees by connecting to their feelings
iii. Usage of positive terms Employees are unsure and tentative when they join an organisation.
They may be anxious about their abilities and also unsure of what is expected out of them. Instead of
scaring the employees with an over emphasis on the drive to perform the best and the organisations
policy of appreciating only the best efforts, it would better to use positive language where employees
are encouraged to be themselves and focus on giving their best so that they achieve success which
will indirectly result in the success of the organisation.
iv. Involve senior management It is the top management who drives the culture of the
organisation. Meeting the top management helps the employees to connect to the ideas and goals of
the organisation and also serves as a special way of welcoming new starters.
v. Answer to queries Induction programmes must be a place to get clarity in all aspects. Only
when the concerns and doubts of the employees are completely answered can the employees work
freely in the organisation. If they find that there is no room for clarification or questioning, then the
employees do not feel a sense of belongingness. This alone could be a reason for employees to leave
the job.
vi. Participative learning methods Lecturing and one way communication does not help
employees to remember the information provided. Employees must be given opportunities to
participate. Demonstrations, group games, solving puzzles, role plays etc. help in better
understanding of the information.
vii. Tests Simple tests and quizzes can help the employees to recall and store information.
Surprise quizzes and riddles can also help in keeping the induction programme lively.
viii. Communicate organisations principles Not only should the new employees know the
organisations core values and principles, they must also know what the organisation will never
tolerate any aberration in terms of principles and value. Some organisations do not tolerate smoking
in the premises while other organisations even have facilities for smoking within the building itself.
ix. The importance of safety While induction programmes are carried out new employees must
be educated on the safety measures that they must keep in mind while working. Safety measures are
important for everyone and all must know the basic safety issues. Information on simple safety
measures such as fire exits and fire alarms can be provided and also be included while carrying out
the guided tour.
x. Standardise training Well-structured induction training removes chances of last minute
problems. Consistent induction training helps all new employees learn the organisation culture and
also ensures that all employees are provided with the same basic information about the organisation.

5 Discuss the features of an Incentive plan. Explain the characteristics of an effective

Incentive System
(Describe the features of an incentive plan, Explain the characteristics of an Effective Incentive
system) 3 + 7 =10
Answer: Features of an incentive plan
An incentive plan has the following important features:
a) An incentive plan consists of both monetary and non-monetary elements.
b) The timing, accuracy and frequency are the basis of a successful incentive plan.
c) The plan should be properly communicated to all employees.
d) There should be an open system of getting feedback and encouraging redirection.
e) It motivates employees to put in their best efforts.
f) It gives employees certain control over the income they can earn.
g) The employee is given more ownership for the work.
h) Identifies more effective means of measuring performance.

The characteristics of an effective incentive system are stated below:

Approval of Management, Workers and Trade Union: All the interested parties must
accept, support and co-operate in the incentive plan. In the absence of employee support, the
programme of incentive cannot be implemented smoothly. The plan should be formulated through
discussion and participation between management and workers.
Workers should get full explanations about the programme and they should be trained by the
management to ensure smooth working of the plan.
Organisation and Methods Analysis: Before a work standard is established, a standardised
procedure or method should be evolved on the basis of organisation and methods analysis of each
operation and activity. Employees must be taught how to perform the work according to the standard
methods and procedure and how they can earn more incentives by performing more than the
standards.
Work Standard: The norm or standard upon which incentive is based should be fixed through
careful work measurement devices e.g., time and motion studies, work sampling etc.
Guaranteed Base Wage: To provide security of income, the wage or salary levels should be
fixed so that the worker is sure about his regular earnings. Only then does the worker get motivated
to work more for extra earnings in the form of incentives.
No Unwarranted Rate Cutting: The work standard or quota should be guaranteed by the
management against unjustified and unwarranted or groundless rate cutting. The practice of rate
cutting by the employers at their will during the early days of scientific management killed the very
purpose of incentive plans, i.e, higher productivity and lower unit cost of labour. A change in the
work standard is justifiable only when there is a change in the method, tooling, equipment or design
of the product.

 Easy Calculation of Earnings: An incentive plan should facilitate ready and easy calculation of
the employees earnings. This builds up the confidence and trust of the workers in the programme.
Management should try to simplify the calculations as for as possible and communicate the same to
workers so that they too calculate their earnings and can rely on their remuneration systems.
Grievance Procedure: An incentive plan of payment should have effective grievance procedure
to deal with complaints and dissatisfaction experienced by employees. The work standard or the
incentive rate that are too difficult to be met can be adjusted through grievance procedure.

6 Write a short note on the following:

a)Employee Counselling
b)Selection
(Concept and types of Employee Counselling, Concept and importance of a Selection
process)5+5=10
Answer: a)
Employee Counselling
Employee counselling is a process where a professional counsellor helps employees sort out
problems by themselves. . It is an enabling service. Counselling is required for employees who are
stressed out of problems, personal or professional. Smith defines counselling as a process in which
the counsellor assists the counselee to make interpretations of facts relating to a choice, plan, or
adjustments which he needs to make. Pepinsky and Pepinsky states that counselling is that
interaction which occurs between two individuals called counsellor and client, takes place in a
professional setting, and is initiated and maintained to facilitate changes in behaviour of a client.
Patterson characterises it as the process involving interpersonal relationships between a therapist
and one or more clients by which the former employs psychological methods in attempting to
improve the mental health of the latter. There are three types of counselling methods, (a) Directive
counselling (b) Non-directive counselling and (c) Participative counselling. Let us now discuss them.
i. Directive counselling It is known to be a full counselling. It provides the function of giving
advice, reassurance and communication. In this type of counselling, the employees problem is heard
carefully, decisions taken along with the employees consent regarding what needs to be done and
then the employee is motivated to implement the decision into action.
ii. Non-directive counselling This is entirely opposite to directive counselling. In this type of
counselling the employee is psychologically independent as a person. The counsellor acts very
skilfully and inspires the counselee to share the problems and to come out with own solutions. It is
the employee who controls the direction of counselling in this type of method.
iii. Participative counselling The most preferred and acceptable type of counselling is the
participative counselling. In this kind of counselling, the counsellor and counselee mutually establish

a relationship among themselves by exchanging their views, ideas, information etc. The technique is
neither counsellor centred nor counselee-centred. Both the counsellor and the counselee apply their
different knowledge, skills and perspectives into the problem and find solutions to it.
b)
Concept of Selection
Selection is the process of putting the right person on the right job. It is a procedure of matching
organisational requirements with the skills and qualifications of people. Effective selection can be
done only when there is effective matching of requirement and potential. By selecting best candidate
for the required job, the organisation gets quality performance of employees.
Moreover, organisations faceless of absenteeism, less employee turnover problems, increased
motivation and job involvement and higher productivity.
By selecting right candidate for the required job, organisations also save time and money. Proper
screening of candidates takes place during selection procedure. All the potential candidates who
apply for the given job are tested after they are screened through the selection procedure. According
to Dale Yoder, the hiring process is one or many go, no-go gauges. Candidates are screened by the
application of these tools. Qualified applicants go on to the next hurdle, while the unqualified are
eliminated.
Importance of Selection Process
i. It removes the ineligible candidates from the list of potential hires.
ii. Employees derive maximum job satisfaction as they are placed in the jobs for which they are best
suited.
iii. It makes the hiring process more open and fair.
iv. It encourages a cordial relationship between the employer and the worker.
v. It helps the applicant to identify their own potential as well as to the interviewer in knowing the
applicants potential.
vi. It reduces the burden of the interviewing every applicant.
vii. It is helpful in saving time and cost.