INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this project is to get a comprehensive knowledge about Human

Resource Management (HRM), Selection procedure, health and safety in HRM and
the importance and the need of standard global HRM system. HRM is the basis for all
management activity not business activity. HRM is all about getting people to make
things happen in a productive way efficiently.

HRM can be defined as the process of acquiring, training, appraising, and

compensating employees, and of attending to their labor relations, health and safety,
and fairness concerns. (Dessler, 2011). HRM is a series of activities which: first
enables working people and the organization which uses their skills to agree about the
objectives and nature of their working relationship and, secondly, ensures that the
agreement is fulfilled. (Torrington, Hall & Taylor, 2005).

The role of HRM mainly depends on several factors which includes size of
organization, employees’ demographic profile, the industrial sector to which the
business belongs and the importance the company gives to the human resource
development which solely depend on the top management. There are seven basic
HRM elements which are involved in HRM process. They are staffing, training &
development, appraisal, health & safety, labor relations, fairness and compensation.
(Dessler, 2010). The staffing function is the most important element of HRM as it
involves recruitment, selection, development and compensation of subordinates.
(Haimann, 1978). In this project I am going to focus on selection topic in great detail.

This project will highlight the meaning of selection, its importance and its role on
health & safety in HRM in the context of UAE. This will be explained by providing
examples to make the topic more illustrative. Also this project will explain the need,
importance, advantages and effectiveness of having a standard global HRM system.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SELECTION

Selection is the process of picking individual who have the relevant

qualifications to fill jobs in an organization. The basic purpose of the selection is to
choose an individual who can most successfully perform the job form the pool of
qualified candidates. In simple words selection is all about choosing the best person
for a particular job.
The importance of selection these days have increased because there is no perfect
mechanism for selection and many imperfect methods are being used to predict which
applicant will be most successful. Also selection is very important as because it
directly affects the organization as it can cost a great deal in terms of money, time
especially in terms of training and operating cost if the selection is mismatched or is
bad.
Effective selection is quiet demanding and constant monitoring and evaluation
techniques are required. Selection practices these days also need to be well validated
to meet legal requirements. Selection process should be very stringent and should be
technology oriented for the proper evaluation of the capabilities of the applicants as it
always difficult to find the right person for the right job and overall organizational
performance depends on proper selection. Proper selection can increase the efficiency
of the organization and is very much essential to achieve the goals and objectives of
the organization. The HRM role is very important in selection as they have to find out
new ways and methods based on advance selection techniques and provide the human
resource managers the necessary skills and training for the selection of right candidate
for a particular job. These days various companies have readymade evaluation criteria
and have a standardized recruitment policy. A very good example is the recruitment
policy of Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) which has an online selection
mechanism on its website and is quiet stringent and effective. (Appendix A)

EVALUATE THE IMPORTANCE OF SELECTION

Selection is a two way process in provision of information of all is involved. These
days it has become more complicated as the market has grown larger and more and
more jobs are being created everyday. So the applicants also choose between
organizations through evaluation of contacts and developing relationships with
prospective employers. Applicants are influenced by the way their interactions are
managed by the Human resource departments of various companies. Also the
selection process involves not only selecting a suitable candidate but elimination
hundred of unfit applicants. Selection is tedious and long process and the complexity
of the process increase with the level of staff to be selected. The selecton process may
involve the following procedure:

1. Advertising the vacancy

2. Pre interview screening & Preliminary interview

3. Application form

4. Selection Committee

5. Selection test

6. Personal interview

7. Medical examination/ criminal record

8. Reference check

9. Final approval

10. Job Offer

11. Induction

12. Follow-up evaluation(Probationary period)

The above steps can be employed for the selection process to make a perfect
selection. This selection process and mechanism is quiet effective and can lead to
increased productivity and efficiency in the organization and meeting the
organizational goals and objectives (Snell & Bohlander,2010).

A very good example of selection process is in the selection of defense personnel in

UAE armed forces as they have to pass the psychometric analysis test which checks
the decision making skill, apart form the physical endurance test which involves team
building exercises and effective communication skills as well as to test their physical
strength. (Appendix B)
INDUSTRY EXAMPLES IN TERM OF SELECTION
ADNOC or Abu Dhabi National Oil Company follows a stringent selection policy to
recruit the right candidate which can be profitable for the company. It starts with a
tough screening process in which only the most suitable and qualified candidates pass
the preliminary screening criteria. After this the evaluation of the position is done
through a proper selection committee who are the professionals in the job for which
selection has to be made. Such jobs may involved specific field of engineering such as
petroleum engineering, electrical or mechanical engineering, mining etc. After an
initial assessment done by the HR Department the candidates are subjected to the
interview with the Senior Engineers from various fields as the case may be. There the
candidate are tested for the requisite skills theoretically as well as practically. After all
this is cleared successfully inquiry is done about the background of the candidates and
the references provided by them. The last process involves proper medical and health
examination which is the requirement of the job. (Appendix C)

Another example is of a construction company (Name not revealed) who does not
follow the right process of selection and tries to save the cost of selection by going
through the selection process in a unprofessional way. This has resulted in bad
selection in terms of skills, job knowledge, and health factors and even sometimes a
candidate with criminal record has been selected. This has brought a bad name for the
company and various accidents and safety hazards offences has been filed in their
name. Even for the selection of Engineers and Safety officers’, proper norms have not
been followed and that has resulted in low productivity, financial losses for the
company and has posed severe risk and health related problems for the labours.

THE ROLE OF HEALTH AND SAFETY IN HRM IN THE UAE

The government of UAE is doing a lot to ensure the health and safety of the working
class in various industry sectors. For this Government of UAE has laid down stringent
laws and guidelines through various enforcing agencies as well so that all the
companies follow the minimum norms and standards for the health and safety of the
employees working in their companies. It is the prime duty of the HRM to ensure
health and safety of its employees and practice all means and follow all the norms and
standards laid down by the government of UAE. Proper regular medical check ups of
all the employees and issuing health insurance cards for them are obligatory for all the
companies working in the UAE. Also verification of their past criminal record is to be
done before hiring of any employee. These procedures have really brought down
accidents, illness and health related issues among the working class people in UAE.

Apart form this HRM department of various companies are doing an awareness
campaign from time to time related to General health, blood donation, breast cancer,
health hazards, safety training and many more to name a few. These practices have
overall placed UAE high in the world arena with respect to its concerns on health and
safety of its working class and especially also to the large number of expats
population who are working in this country.

HEALTH AND SAFETY ASPECTS

The Abu Dhabi Airport Company (ADAC) has very high standards of health and
safety facilities for its employees. ADAC has introduced Safety Managements System
training for all its employees. This training is provided on a regular interval at both
Abu Dhabi airport as well as airport in Al Ain. This training program is up to the
world standards and is in line with ICAO standards and GCAA requirements. Also
ADAC conducts regular health check ups for all its employees. The HRM of the
ADAC is striving continuously for the safety and training of its employees. Various
drills, exercises and training programs are conducted to fight against emergency like
fire or any accident at the airport. The HRM at ADAC has excellent health and safety
policy and guidelines laid out to its employee. Various safety instructions are also
distributed and displayed at all major working stations for its employee to remind
them continuously that safety is first above all. (Appendix D)

The HRM role is to ensure safety at all costs for its employees. For this special
department of safety and securities has also been established to monitor and train the
employees as per their job requirement. Various jobs such as cleaning jobs at airports
requires all time surveillance as well proper sign boards to be placed at working sites
and at stairs etc. The safety gadgets should be wore at all times and proper vigilance
of the runways is to be done because anything obstructing such as hard objects,
aircraft parts, broken pavement, sharp objects etc can cause accidents. Also proper
inspection and monitoring of the Aircraft has to be done before clearing it for the
flight to take off.

During the selection procedure HRM should ensure that the candidate should have
prior skills, experience and knowledge about working in such conditions especially
when it comes to working at Airports where safety is the prime concern.

GLOBAL NEED FOR INTERNATIONAL HRM SYSTEMS

Defining International Human Resource Management (IHRM) because the job of HR

manger varies from firm to firm and the location of the Multinational company’s
network varies the role. SO in broad term IHRM is defined as the process of
procuring, allocating, and effectively utilising human resources in a multinational
corporations. A truly global firm must integrate human resource policies and practices
across a number of subsidiaries firm operating in different countries so that overall
organizational goals and objectives can be achieved. Although a IHRM system has to
be quiet flexible in terms of HR policies and practives which might vary due to the
different businesses and cultural settings. IHRM can increase the efficiency of the
organization, avoid redundancy, limit error margin and save time on unnecessary
paper work. (Hugh Scullion, and Margaret Linehan)

Advantages of IHRM

IHRM has many benefits:

• It is simple and easy to use through a computerized system.

• Generation of various types of reports is much easier.

• Decision making process is easier as all the information is available

easily.

• Management and maintenance of the account of the decision is easy.

• Easy to track details of employees and as such evaluation is easy.

 • Communication with the employee is much more integrated and easy.

• Avoids redundancy and errors

ADVANTAGES OF IHRM SYSTEM

There are several advantages of having an IHRM system. A standard IHRM system
has enormous capabilities in terms of managing day to day activities of management
of Human Resources through a more centralized and integrated system. It increases
the overall productivity and efficiency of the organization. An integrated IHRM
system can save lot of time and avoid paper work since everything is stored on the
database and any information required can be available with just the click of the
mouse. The whole human resource management is automated on a server based
system and the multi national company’s subsidiaries can be managed locally as well
as internationally through this. Also it is much easier in the selection process and right
person can be transferred to the right job through this system. Also such system can
easily can avoid financial irregularities concerning with over time hours and
attendance. Also IHRM system can analyze and keep an eye of the progress of each
employee as well as monitor where more staffs is required. Another primary
advantage is that it will cut costs on more staffs and save time and improve the overall
efficiency of the HRM department and the organization as a whole.

CONCLUSION

HRM role is very much important in the success of an organization as it forms the
backbone of the Organizational strategy and is concerned with the employee
resourcing and its development through proper training means. Also HRM formulates
reward management policies and creates a cordial atmosphere between the employee
and the management apart from it main role of recruitment and personnel
administration. The core to the successes of the any business is finding the right
candidates for the right job and for that a proper HR policy and strategy is required.

The selection of right candidate is quiet a complex process but can be overcome
through proper evaluation and a strategically developed selection process. This will
include cross examining of the candidates’ skills, experiences, background,
qualification and heath related issues. Also HRM should ensure the health and safety
of all the employees as it is very crucial for achieving the goals and objectives of the
organization as well increasing the productivity and efficiency of the employees.

References

1. Dessler, Gary (2010).Human Resource Management, 12th ed., Prentice Hall:

New York
2. Haimann, Theo. Scott, William G. Connor, Patrick E. (1978). Managing the
modern organization. 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
3. http://rphrm.curtin.edu.au/2009/issue1/emiratisation.html
4. http://www.hrmasia.com/country-reports/hr-in-the-united-arab-emirates/32963
5. http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?
StoryId=1093373600&src=MOEN
6. http://www.uaeinteract.com/docs/Gulf_facing_human_resource_challenges,_s
ays_Mohammed__/34097.htm
7. http://www.uaeinteract.com/docs/Gulf_facing_human_resource_challenges,_s
ays_Mohammed__/34097.htm
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Human Capital: ‘Project Emiratisation’, Research and Practice in Human
Resource Management, 17(1), 71-91
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11. Torrington, D. Hall, L and Taylor, S (2008) Human Resource Management
(7th edition.) FT Prentice Hall : New York