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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Q.1. Define HRM. Briefly explain various functions of HR. Ans: Human resource management (HRM, or simply HR) is the management of an organization's workforce, or human resources. It is responsible for the attraction, selection, training, assessment, and rewarding of employees, while also overseeing organizational leadership and culture, and ensuring compliance with employment and labor laws. In circumstances where employees desire and are legally authorized to hold acollective bargaining agreement, HR will typically also serve as the company's primary liaison with the employees' representatives (usually a labor union). HR is a product of the human relations movement of the early 20th century, when researchers began documenting ways of creating business value through the strategic management of the workforce.. Functions of HRM Job Design (JD) JD can be defined as the function of arranging tasks duties and responsibilities in to an organizational unit of work for the purpose of accomplishing a certain objective. Job Analysis This includes the systematic analysis of the job and the characteristics of the desired job holders. The information collected through a Job Analysis is of two forms; Job Description: Describes the job, its tasks, responsibilities and service conditions of a job. Job Specification: Describes the requirements of the person for the job, including abilities, educational qualifications, special physical and mental skills, training, experience etc. Human Resource Planning (HRP) HRP can be identifies as the strategy forecasting the organizations future requirements for different types of workers, their acquisitions, utilization, improvement, employee cost control, retention and supply to meet these needs. Recruitment This is the initial attraction and screening of the supply of prospective Human Resources available to fill a given position/s.In other words, it is the process of involving the attraction of suitable candidates to vacant positions from both internal and external sources of the organization. Selection This is a systematic process of selecting the most appropriate and suitable person to a particular job. In other words, Selection is choosing an individual to hire from all those who have been recruited/ attracted. Background Investigations: this is assessing the appropriateness of an applicant by investigating into his/her family, financial positions, Residential Background, criminal background etc. Medical Tests: this involves assessing the applicants physical fitness for particular jobs. Hiring This is the process of appointing the person selected for a particular job. In this process, letters of appointments will be prepared, employment contracts will be signed and the new employee will be sent in for a probationary period. Induction This is concerned with introducing an employee to the company, job and staff in a systematic way Performance Evaluation This is a regular systematic assessment of an employees performance in order to review whether his/her performance matches the expected performance levels. Compensation Management The main objective of the function is to develop and maintain a good salaried and wages system which is reasonable both internally and externally. Training and Development Training is the process by which the employees are taught skills and given the necessary knowledge to carry out their responsibilities to the required standard. In other words, it is the improvement of the performance to carry out the current job. Welfare Administration This refers to all the facilities and comforts given to the employee by the employer apart from wages, salaries and incentives. Medical facilities Canteen facilities Housing facilities Transport facilities Recreation facilities Loan facilities Educational facilities Health and safety Administration This is concerned with maintaining required and reasonable levels of professional Health and safety in the job and its environment. The organization should ensure the employees physical and mental health. The work place should be free of hazards. Grievance Handling A grievance can be identified as a situation where the employee is in metal distress, dissatisfies or has a bad attitude, due to a work related unreasonable or unjust situation. Labour Relations The continues relationship between the labour force and the management. Since labour forces are organized as Trade Unions, it is actually a relationship between Trade union representative and the management. However the Government is also an involved as a third party in order to regulate this relationship by ways of laws.

Q.2. What are the factors influencing wage structure? Ans: Factors influencing wage and salary structure of an organization
The wage policies of different organization vary some what. Marginal units pay the minimum necessary to attract the required number of kind of labour. Often, these units pay minimum wage rates required by labour legislation, and recruit marginal labour. At the other extreme, some units pay well about going rates in the labour market. They do so to attract and retain the highest caliber of labour force. Some managers believe in the economy of higher wages. They feel that, by paying high wages, they would attract better workers who will produce more than average worker in the industry. This greater production per employee means greater output per man hour. Hence, labour costs may turn those existing in firms using marginal labour. Some units pay high wages because of a combination of a favorable product market demand, higher ability to pay and the bargaining power of trade union. But a large number of them seek to be competitive in their wage programme, i.e., they aim at paying somewhere near the going rate in the labour they employ. Most units give greater weight to two wage criteria, viz, job requirements and the prevailing rates of wages in the labour market. Other factors, such as changes in the cost of living the supply and demand of labour, and ability to pay are accorded a secondary importance. A sound wage policy is to adopt a job evaluation programme in order to establish fair differentials in wages based upon differences in job contents. Beside the basic factors provided by a job description and job evaluation, those that are usually taken into consideration for wage and salary administration are: The organizations ability to pay Supply and demand of labour The prevailing market rate The cost of living Living wage Productivity Trade unions bargaining power Job requirements Managerial attitudes and Psychological and sociological factors Levels of skills available in the market The organizations ability to pay: Wage increases should be given by those organizations which can afford them. Companies that have good sales and, therefore, high profits tend to pay higher those which running at a loss or earning low profits because of higher cost of production or low sales. In the short run, the economic influence on the ability to pay is practically nil. Supply and demand of labour: The labour market conditions or supply and demand forces operate at the national, regional and local levels, and determine organizational wage structure and level. If the demand for certain skills is high and supply is low, the result is a rise in the price to be paid to these skills Prevailing market rate: This is known as the comparable wage or going wage rate, and is the widely used criterion. An organization compensation policy generally tends to conform to the wage rate payable by the industry and the community. This is done for several reasons. First, competition demand that competitors adhere to the same relative wage level. Second, various government laws and judicial decisions make the adoption of uniform wage rates an attractive proposition. Third, trade union encourages this practice so that their members can have equal pay, equal work and geographical differences may be eliminated The cost of living: The cost of living pay criterion is usually regarded as an automatic minimum equity pay criterion. This criterion calls for pay adjustments based on increases or decreases in an acceptable cost of living index. In recognition of the influence of the cost of living. escalator clauses are written into labour contracts. When the cost of living increases, workers and trade unions demand adjusted wages to offset the erosion of real wages. However, when living costs are stable or decline, the management does not resort to this argument as a reason for wage reductions. The living wage: Criterion means that wages paid should be adequate to enable an employee to maintain himself and his family at a reasonable level of existence. However, employers do not generally favor using the concepts of a living wage as a guide to wage determination because they prefer to base the wages of an employee on his contribution rather than on his need. Also, they feel that the level of living prescribed in a workers budge is open to argument since it is based on subjective opinion. Psychological and Social Factors: These determine in a significant measure how hard a person will work for the compensation received or what pressures he will exert to get his compensation increased. Psychologically, persons perceive the level of wages as a measure of success in life; people may feel secure; have an inferiority complex, seem inadequate or feel the reverse of all these Skill Levels Available in the Market: With the rapid growth of industries business trade, there is shortage of skilled resources. The technological development, automation has been affecting the skill levels at faster rates. Thus the wage levels of skilled employees are constantly changing and an organization has to keep its level up to suit the market needs

Q.3.What are the causes of employee turnover? Ans: Common causes of employee turnover and workforce managers role in how to prevent them. Workforce managers, workforce management systems, human resources professionals as well as industrial psychologists all have their own theories on the question of What causes employee turnover. Among the most common causes of employees leaving a company are: 1. Excessive workload, an employee doing the work of more than one person. This often entails overtime and necessitating the employee having to take work home. Many employees say that they become overwhelmed and overloaded with work. The increase in stress levels and pressure means that they cannot sustain it and will eventually seek employment elsewhere. 2. Management not giving the employee sufficient recognition for the work done, or taking the credit themselves of giving it to the wrong person. 3. Not giving the staff member sufficient power to make decisions to get the job done and to progress in the organization. 4. Ongoing change initiatives giving the employee a sense of instability. 5. Management not giving clear briefs and clear guidelines on their expectations of the employee. 6. Poor leadership skills Other reasons could range from anything from job mismatch, inadequate training or even inadequate compensation plans. The costs of turnover in a company are huge. It is necessary to understand the role that turnover of employees play and the reasons for it.

Q.4.What do you understand by Discipline? What are essentials for a good disciplinary system? Ans: Discipline means systematically conducting the business by the organizational members who strictly adhere to the
essential rules and regulations. These employees/organizational members work together as a team so as to achieve organizational mission as well as vision and they truly understand that the individual and group aims and desires must be matched so as to ensure organizational success. A disciplined employee will be organized and an organized employee will be disciplined always. Employee behaviour is the base of discipline in an organization. Discipline implies confirming with the code of conduct established by the organization. Discipline in an organization ensures productivity and efficiency. It encourages harmony and co-operation among employees as well as acts as a morale booster for the employees. In absence of discipline, there will be chaos, confusion, corruption and disobedience in an organization. Discipline is viewed from two angles/dimensions: Positive Discipline: Positive Discipline implies discipline without punishment. The main aim is to ensure and encourage selfdiscipline among the employees. The employees in this case identify the group objectives as their own objectives and strive hard to achieve them. The employees follow and adhere to the rules and regulations not due to the fear of punishment but due to the inherent desire to harmonize in achieving organizational goals. Employees exercise self-control to meet these goals. Negative Discipline: Employees adhere to rules and regulations in fear of punishment which may be in form of fines, penalties, demotions or transfers. In this case, the employees do not perceive organizational goals as their own goals. The action taken by the management to ensure desired standard of behaviour/code of conduct from the employees in an organization is called negative discipline. The fear of punishment prevents the employees from going off-track. Characteristics of a Sound Disciplinary System (Red Hot Stove Rule) Discipline should be imposed without generating resentment. Mc Gregor propounded the red hot stove rule which says that a sound and effective disciplinary system in an organization should have the following characteristicsImmediate- Just as when you touch a red hot stove, the burn is immediate, similarly the penalty for violation should be immediate/ immediate disciplinary action must be taken for violation of rules. Consistent- Just as a red hot stove burns everyone in same manner; likewise, there should be high consistency in a sound disciplinary system. Impersonal- Just as a person is burned because he touches the red hot stove and not because of any personal feelings, likewise, impersonality should be maintained by refraining from personal or subjective feelings. Prior warning and notice- Just as an individual has a warning when he moves closer to the stove that he would be burned on touching it, likewise, a sound disciplinary system should give advance warning to the employees as to the implications of not conforming to the standards of behaviour/code of conduct in an organization. In short, a sound disciplinary system presupposesAcquaintance/Knowledge of rules- The employees should be well aware of the desired code of conduct/ standards of behaviour in the organization. This code of discipline should be published in employee handbook. Timely action- Timely enquiry should be conducted for breaking the code of conduct in an organization. The more later the enquiry is made, the more forgetful one becomes and the more he feels that punishment is not deserved. Fair and just action- There should be same punishment for same offence/ misconduct. There should be no favouritism. Discipline should be uniformly enforced always. Positive approach- The disciplinary system should be preventive and not punitive. Concentrate on preventing misconduct and not on imposing penalties. The employees should not only be explained the reason for actions taken against them but also how such fines and penalties can be avoided in future.

Q.7.Define selection. Briefly explain various test used in selection process. What type of test would you suggest for selecting a marketing manager?

Ans: Employee Selection is the process of putting right men on right job. It is a procedure of matching organizational requirements with
the skills and qualifications of people. Effective selection can be done only when there is effective matching. By selecting best candidate for the required job, the organization will get quality performance of employees. Moreover, organization will face less of absenteeism and employee turnover problems. By selecting right candidate for the required job, organization will 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. But selection must be differentiated from recruitment, though these are two phases of employment process. Recruitment is considered to be a positive process as it motivates more of candidates to apply for the job. It creates a pool of applicants. It is just sourcing of data. While selection is a negative process as the inappropriate candidates are rejected here. Recruitment precedes selection in staffing process. Selection involves choosing the best candidate with best abilities, skills and knowledge for the required job.

The following are the type of tests taken: 1). Ability tests: Assist in determining how well an individual can perform tasks related to the job. An excellent illustration of this is the typing tests given to a prospective employer for secretarial job. Also called as ACHEIVEMENT TESTS. It is concerned with what one has accomplished. 2). Aptitude test: Aptitude tests measure whether an individuals has the capacity or latent ability to learn a given job if given adequate training. The use of aptitude test is advisable when an applicant has had little or no experience along the line of the job opening. Aptitudes tests help determine a persons potential to learn in a given area. 3). Intelligence test: This test helps to evaluate traits of intelligence. Mental ability, presence of mind (alertness), numerical ability, memory and such other aspects can be measured. 4). Interest Test: This is conducted to find out likes and dislikes of candidates towards occupations, hobbies, etc. such tests indicate which occupations are more in line with a persons interest 5). Personality Test: The importance of personality to job success is undeniable. Often an individual who possesses the intelligence, aptitude and experience for certain has failed because of inability to get along with and motivate other people. It is conducted to judge maturity, social or interpersonal skills, behavior under stress and strain, etc. 6). Projective Test: This test requires interpretation of problems or situations. For example, a photograph or a picture can be shown to the candidates and they are asked to give their views, and opinions about the picture. 7). General knowledge Test: Now days G.K. Tests are very common to find general awareness of the candidates in the field of sports, politics, world affairs, current affairs. 8). Perception Test: At times perception tests can be conducted to find out beliefs, attitudes, and mental sharpness.etc. 9). Graphology Test: It is designed to analyze the handwriting of individual. It has been said that an individuals handwriting can suggest the degree of energy, inhibition and spontaneity, as well as disclose the idiosyncrasies and elements of balance and control. 10). Polygraph Test: Polygraph is a lie detector, which is designed to ensure accuracy of the information given in the applications. Department store, banks, treasury offices and jewellery shops, that is, those highly vulnerable to theft or swindling may find polygraph tests useful. 11). Medical Test: It reveals physical fitness of a candidate. With the development of technology, medical tests have become diversified. Medical servicing helps measure and monitor a candidates physical resilience upon exposure to hazardous chemicals.

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