Name : Benoy Johnson Kurien.

Subject : Human Resource Management

Date of Submission : 14th August 2007.

Assignment no. : MB0027.

Human Resource Management-MB0027

1. Discuss the difference between Personnel Management and Human Resource Management. The genesis of Human Resource management traces its roots to the erstwhile Personnel management that was prevalent in the companies of a few decades ago. Though the two terms ‘Personnel Management’ and ‘Human Resource Management’ are interchangeably used in many authors, there are some deference between them. Management of Human Resources is a new field of study embodying behavioral science knowledge relating to the working of line and staff officials and union leaders to motivate organizational goals. On the other hand, Personnel management is the phase of management which deals with the effective control and use of manpower. Yoder, Henemen and others agrees that the HRM is a broad concept which covers many personnel aspects and includes social, professional and individual enterprise aspects, whereas Personnel Management focuses only on personnel aspects such as leadership, justice determination, task specialization, staffing, performance appraisal, etc. HRM is more growth-oriented whereas personnel management is slightly narrow. Human Resource Planning is a very vital HRM. This is because it leads to the maximum utilization of human resources, reduces excessive labour turnover and high absenteeism; improves productivity and aids in achieving the objectives of an organization. In, addition to the above function, HRM emphasizes on training, an important area of personnel, which covers the following aspects:

1. Increasing productivity;2. Improving quality;3. Improving organizational climate;4. Ensuring personnel growth etc.

While in practice both pertained to people management philosophically the approach is vastly different. The expectation from personnel management approach is to ‘take care’ of the people working in an organization, addressing grievances and complaints formed a large part of the Personnel Management function. The focus is largely reactive and followed the Theory X approach that believed that people do not naturally like to work and no need to be coerced to work and often need to be driven to work. The philosophy is more the ‘stick’ approach rather than ‘carrot’ approach. Employee welfare is of paramount importance and managing industrial relations as a result of heightened trade union activity formed the highlights of the Personnel Management functions.

Human Resource Management on the other hand adopts a proactive approach to managing people and the focus is on the employee development and the delight. Hiring the right talent, providing for ample opportunities for career growth and job satisfaction are the highlights of this management style. The basic philosophy is driven by the Theory Y approach where the belief is that people like to work and do not prefer to be supervised and made to perform.

2. Explain the Human Resource Planning System.

A. Objectives of Human resource planning: Human Resource Planning fulfils individual, organizational and national goals; but, according to Sikula, “the ultimate mission or purpose is to relate future human resources to future enterprise needs, so as to maximize the future return or investment in human resources. In effect, the main purpose is one of matching or fitting employee abilities to enterprise requirements, with an emphasis on future instead of present arrangements.” The objectives may be laid down for a short term (i.e. for one year).

B. Estimating the Future Organizational Structure or Forecasting the Manpower Requirements: The management must estimate the structure of the organization

at a given point in time. For this estimate, the number and type of employees needed have to be determined. Many environmental factors affect this determination. They include business forecasts, expansion and growth, design and structural changes, management philosophy, government policy, product and human skills mix, and competition.

Forecasting provides the basic premises on which the manpower planning is built. Forecasting is necessary for various reasons, such as:

a. The eventualities and contingencies of general economic business cycles (such as inflation, wages, prices, costs and raw materials supplies) have an influence on the short-range and long- run plans of all organizations.

b. An expansion following enlargement and growth in business involves the use of additional machinery and personnel, and a reallocation of facilities, all of which call for advance planning of human resources.

c. Changes in management philosophies and leadership styles.

d. The use of mechanical technology (such as introduction of automatic controls, or the mechanization of materials handling functions) necessitates changes in the skills of workers, as well as a change in the number of employees needed.

e. Very often, changes in the quantity or quality of products or services require a change in the organization structure. Plans have to be made for this purpose as well.

C. Auditing Human Resources: Once the future human resource needs are estimated, the next step is to determine the present supply of manpower resources. This is done through what is called “Skills Inventory”. A skills inventory contains data about each employee’s skills, abilities, work, preferences and other items of information which indicates his overall value to the company.

D. Job Analysis: After having decided how many persons would be needed, it is necessary to prepare a job analysis, which records details of training, skills, qualification, abilities, experience, and responsibilities, etc., which are needed for

a job. Job analysis includes the preparation of job description and job specifications.

E. Developing a Human Resource Plan: This step refers to the development and implementation of the human resource plan, which consist in finding out the sources of labour supply with a view to making an effective use of these resources. The first thing, therefore, is to decide on the policy- should the, personnel should be hired from within through promotional channels or should it be obtained from an outside source. The best policy followed by most organization is to fill up higher vacancies by promotion and lower level positions by recruitment from the labour market

3 Write a detailed note on training needs identification.

Training could be useful aid in improving the transformation process that takes place in an organization in terms of the processing of inputs to outputs. Training needs have to be related both in terms of the organization’s demands and that of the individual’s. Diversification of product lines, new technology, and hence a new kind of job demands the individual’s growth and development through induction, training, or training necessities by job rotation due to an organization’s internal mobility policies.

A survey conducted by A.D. sinha, listed in rank order the following methods of identifying training needs.

1. Views of the line manager.

2. Performance appraisal.

3. Company and departmental plans.

4. Views of training manager.

5. Analysis of job difficulties.

The model we shall examine here is the Thayer and McGhee model. It is based on the following three factors:

1. Organization analysis.

2. Task analysis.

Total Organizational Analysis:

Total organizational analysis is the systematic effort to understand exactly where training effort needs to be emphasized in an organization. It involves a detailed analysis of the organization structure, objectives, human resources and future plan, and an understanding of its culture, milieu.

The first step in organizational analysis is achieving a clear understanding of both short-run and long-run goals. Long-term objectives are the broad directions in which the organizations would move over long duration. These long term objectives are then broken down into specific strategies and short-term goals for each of the units/departments. In an organization, the cumulative effective of all these would ultimately lead to ling-term goals. Short-term goals are constantly in need of adaptation to the changing environment, both external and internal.

For an organization analysis, there are three essential requirements: (1) an adequate number of personnel available to ensure fulfillment of the business operation; (2) that personnel performance is up to the required standard; (3)that the working environment in their units/departments is conducive to fulfillment of tasks.

In order to ensure the first two requirements a human resource inventory needs to be made. Data regarding positions, qualifications, vacancies, replacements and training time required for replacements have to be worked out. Job standards also should be worked out.

Various efficiencies and productivity indexes, or ratios such as productivity ratios, cost per unit etc, can be worked out to determine not only efficiency but also adequacy, in terms of under-manning or over-manning, of the workforce.

Diagnosing the state of organization “climate” is a less precise exercise than the two indicators suggested above. While rules, procedures, systems and methods all contribute to the making of the environment, much of it is also determined by the attitude that the “people” have in the organization- for instance, the attitude that the top management has towards his subordinates staff and the attitude that the members have towards the work, supervisors and company procedures. These attitude are learnt, they result from the person’s experience both within and outside the organization, and training inputs could be used to effect changes of attitude and consequently of the organizational climate.

Task Analysis

This activity entails a detailed examination of a job, its components, its various operations and the conditions under which It has to be performed. The focus here is on the “task” itself, rather than on the individual and the training required to perform it. Analysis of the job and its various components will indicate the skills and training to perform the job at the required standard.

Standard of performance: Every job has an expected standard of performance. Unless such standards are attained, not only will inter-related jobs suffer, but organizational viability will be affected, and so will be the expected that have been set for that particular job itself. If the standards set for the performance of a job are known, then it is possible to know whether the job is being performed at the desired level of output or not. Knowledge of the “task” will help in understanding what skills, knowledge and attitudes an employee should have.

Methods: If an employee is asked to perform a job, the exact components of a job and the standard of performance must be known. Task analysis entails not merely q simple listing of the various job components, but also of the relatively critical

nature of the various sub-tasks. Conventional methods of job analysis are usually suitable for task analysis. They are:

1. Literature reviewing regarding the job.

2. Job performance.

3. Job observation.

4. Data collection regarding the job interviews.

For blue-collar workers, more precise industrial-engineering techniques, like time and motion studies, could be used, and foe white-collar workers, work sampling observation, interviews, and jobs performance data analysis could be employed. The object of this exercise is to get as much information as possible about the nature of the task and its various components, leading to the performance standard to be set. This information would be useful in establishing the training programme for an employee.

Analysis of the job is but one part of the task analysis. Other areas are the skill required, either in terms of education or training, to perform the job, knowledge, and finally attitudinal pre-dispositions such as the attitudes, towards safety, or interpersonal competence.

Man Analysis:

Man analysis is the third component in identifying training needs. The focus of man analysis is on the individual employee, his abilities, and the inputs required for job performance, or individual growth and development in terms of career planning.

Man analysis is still less precise than the other two analyses, primarily because the available measures are much less objective and there are many individual variations. Yet, through observation and unobtrusive measures it is possible to get an indication of the training requirements of an individual.

Man analysis helps to indentify whether the individual employee requires training and if so, what kind of training. Clues to training needs can come from analysis of

an individuals or a group’s typical behavior. The primary sources of such information are:

(1) Observation at place of work, examination of job schedules, quantum of spoilage, wastage, and clues, about interpersonal relations of the employees; (2) interviews with superiors and employees; (3) comparative study of good vs. poor employees to identify differences, skills and training gaps; (4) personal records; (5) production reports; and (6) review of literature regarding the job and machines used. Job-knowledge tests, work sampling and diagnostic psychological tests also provide information about employees. Thus it must be stated that variety of sources need to be studied.

4 Explain different types of appraisal methods.

When it has been decided who will evaluate, when, and on what basis, the technique to be used will be selected. A number of approaches will be described here. There are several ways to classify these tools. The three categories used here will be; individual evaluation methods; multiple person evaluation methods; and other methods.

Individual Evaluation Methods

There are five ways to evaluate an employee individually. In these systems, employees are evaluated one at a time without directly comparing them with other employees.

Graphic rating scale: The most widely used performance evaluation technique is a graphic rating scale. In this technique, the evaluator is presented with a graph and asked to rate employees on each of the characteristics listed. The number of characteristics rated varies from a few to several dozen. A factor analysis of the result indicates that only two traits were being rated: quality of performance and ability to do the present job.

The rating can be in a series of boxes, or they can be on a continuous scale (0-9) or so. In the latter case, the evaluator places a check above descriptive words ranging from none to maximum. Typically, these ratings are then assigned points. For example, outstanding may be assigned a score of 4 and unsatisfactory a score of 0. Total scores are then computed. In some plans, greater weights may be assigned to more important traits. Evaluators are often asked to explain each rating with a sentence of two.

Forced choice: The forces-choice method of evaluation was developed because other methods used at the time led to a preponderance of higher ratings, which made promotion decisions difficult. In forced-choice, the evaluator must choose from a set of descriptive statements about the employee. The two-, three-, or four-statements items are grouped in a way that the evaluator cannot easily judge which statements apply to the most effective employee.

Typically, personnel specialist prepare the items for the form, and supervisors or the other personnel specialist rate the items for applicability; that is, they determine which statement describe effective and ineffective behaviour. The supervisor then evaluates the employee. The Personnel Department adds up the number of statements in each category (for example, effective behaviour ), and they are summed into effectiveness index. Forced choice can be used by supervisors, peers subordinates, or a combination of these in evaluating employees.

Essay evaluation: In essay technique of evaluation, the evaluator is asked to describe the strong and weak aspects of the employee’s behavior. In some enterprises, the essay technique is the only one used; in other, the essay is combined with other form, such as graphic rating scale. In this case, the essay summarizes the scale, elaborates on some of the ratings, or discusses added dimensions not on the scale. In both of these approaches the essay can be open ended, but in most cases there are guidelines on the topics to be covered, the purpose of the essay, and so on. The essay method can be used by evaluators who are superiors, peers or subordinates of the employees to be evaluated.

Management by objectives: Another individual evaluation method in use today is Management by Objectives (MBO). In this system the supervisor and employee to be evaluated jointly set objectives in advance for the employee to try to achieve during a specified period. The method encourages, if not required, them to phrase these objectives primarily in quantitative terms. The evaluation consists of joint review of the degree of achievement of the objectives. This approach combines the superior and self evaluation.

Critical incident technique: I this technique, personnel specialist and operating managers prepare lists of statements of very effective and very in effective behavior for an employee. These are critical incidents. The personnel specialists combine these statements into categories, which vary with the job. Once the categories are developed and statements of effective and ineffective behavior are provided, the evaluator prepares a log for each employee. During the evaluation period, the evaluator “records examples of critical (outstandingly good or bad) behaviours in each of the categories, and the log is used to evaluate the employee at the end of the period. It is also very useful for the evaluation interview, since the evaluator can be specific in making positive and negative comments, and it avoids “recency” bias. The critically incident technique is more likely to be used by superiors than in peer or subordinate.

Checklist and weighted checklist: Another type of individual evaluation method is the checklist. In its simplest form, the checklist is a set of objectives or descriptive statements. If the Rater believes that the employee possesses a trait listed, the Rater checks the items; if not, the Rater leaves it blank. A rating score from the checklist equals the number of checks.

A more recent variation is the weighted checklist. Supervisors or personnel specialist familiar with the job to be evaluated prepare a large list of descriptive statements about effective and ineffective behaviour on jobs, similar to the critical incident process. Judges who have observed behavior on the job sort the statements into piles describing behavior that is scaled from excellent to poor (usually on a 7-11 scale). When there is reasonable agreement in an item (for

example, when the standard deviation is small), it is included in the weighted checklist. The weight is the average of the Raters to the checklist’s use.

The supervisor or other Raters receive the checklist without the scores, and they check the items that apply, as with an un-weighted checklist. The employee’s evaluation is the sum of the scores (weights) on the items checked. Checklist and weighted checklist can be used by evaluators who are superior, peers, or subordinates, by a combination.

Behaviourally anchored rating system: Another technique which essentially is based on the critical incident approach is the behaviourally anchored rating scale (BARS). This technique is also called the behavioural expectation scale (BES). This is a new, relatively infrequently used technique.

Supervisors give descriptions of actually good and bad performance, and personnel specialists group these into categories (five to ten typical). As with weighted checklist, the items are evaluated by supervisors (often other than those who submitted the items). A procedure similar to that for weighted checklist is used to verify the evaluations (outstandingly good, for example) with the smallest standard deviation, hopefully around 1.5 on a 7- point scale. These items are then used to construct the BARS.

5 Write a note on Motivation Techniques.

Following Michael jaucius, let us see how management may proceed to motivate employees. This activity may be divided into two parts: (a) what is to be done and (b) how and why what is done. The former are steps in motivation and the latter are the rules governing the steps. Botha re performed simultaneously. The steps of motivation are listed below:

1. Size up situation requiring motivation:

The first stage of motivation is to make sure of motivational needs every employee needs motivation. However, all people do not react in exactly the same

way to the stimuli. Keeping this in mind the executive shall size up how much and what kind of motivation is need and when and by which individuals.

2. Prepare a set of motivating tools:

Having determined the motivational needs of a particular person or group an executive must have a list from which he should select and apply specific tools of motivation. An executive from his personal experience should prepare a list of what devices are likely to work with what type of people and under what circumstances.

3. Selecting and applying the appropriate motivator:

Proper application of motivational plan is very important. This involves selection of the appropriate technique, the method of application and the timing and locations. Having selected appropriate techniques thought must be given to its application

4. Follow-up the results of the application:

The last stage of motivation is to follow-up the results of the application of the plan. The primary objective is to ascertain if an employee has been motivated or not. If not some other technique should be tried. A secondary purpose of follow-up is to evaluate motivation plans for future guidance.

Rules of motivating: In following the steps of motivation a manager should be guided by some fundamental rules which should be based upon the following principles:

1. Self-interest and motivation: Undoubtly, motivation is mainly built on selfishness. Psychologically speaking, selfishness is a part and parcel of life. To deny this is to build the theory on unrealistic foundation. To seek some other bases of motivation would be to ignore the real nature of man. The aim should be to learn more about selfishness.

2. Attainability: Motivation must establish attainable goals. What is prescribed for a particular person must be attainable by him. This does not mean that the goal is

realized at once. Such goals are promotion or desirable transfer may take years to attain. But it must be within reach.

Eight Ways to Motivate Plant Employees: Based on a fact-finding study conducted at several manufacturing plants of the General Electric Company, scorcher and Mayer have made the following recommendations for improving the motivation of employees in routine jobs.

1. Provide assembly line employees with more than minimum training. Providing some sort of formal training for a factory employee beyond the required minimum should result in greater personal involvement in the job.

2. Create sub-goals to measure accomplishment. A sense of competition is important to good motivation. When people work towards clearly defined goals they perform better. Moreover, they are likely to be more interested in the work which will reduce monotony and mental fatigue.

3. Provide regular feedback on performance. Psychological studies show that people perform better than when they to be more interested in the work which will reduce monotony and mental fatigue.

3. Provide regular feedback on performance. Psychological studies show that people perform better than when they receive positive as well as negative feedback about their performance on a regular basis.

4. Maintain a neat and orderly work area. If the foreman does not care about neatness, employees may feel that they need not care about it and this attitude may also affect the quality of their work.

5. Arrange work situations so that conversation between employees is either easy or impossible. Experienced workers can do routine jobs with little attention to the task. Conversation while working my reduce monotony and fatigue and thus have a favourable effect on output.

6. If possible, increase the number of operations performed by one employee. This can be done by the simplification of manual operations. It offers several advantages, viz.,

i) The risk of errors is reduced;

ii) Training cost are minimized;

iii) Management can hire employees at lower wages.

iv) Structure jobs, so that workers can, at least occasionally move about the work area. Besides job rotation, there are other ways to provide for physical movement such as setting employees secure their own tools or by adding operations which require some physical activity.

v) Explore ways to assign personal responsibility. Increased responsibility means greater self-esteem and greater job meaningfulness. One way to enlarge responsibility is to let an employee inspect his own work.

6 Elaborate the importance of grievance handling.

At one or other stage of the grievance procedure, the dispute must be handled by some member of management. In solution of a problem, the greater burden rests on management. The clearest opportunity for settlement is found at the first stage, before the grievance has left the jurisdiction of the supervisor. For this reason, many firms have specifically trained their supervisors as to how to handle a grievance or complaint properly. The dispute or grievance constitutes a managerial problem and the specific method is usually most productive in arriving at a satisfactory solution. The following directions help in handling a grievance:

1. Receive and define the nature of the dissatisfaction: The manner and attitude with which the supervisor receives the complaint of grievance is important. As a principle applicable to this step, the supervisor should assume that the employee is fair in prejudged on the basis of past experience with this or other employees. The supervisor should not be too

busy to listen and should not give an impression of condescension in doing so. Thus supervisors who were nearly task-oriented, as contrasted with people-oriented, tended to experience a significantly greater number of grievances being filed in their units.

2. Get the facts: In gathering facts, one quickly becomes aware of the importance of keeping proper records such as performance ratings, job ratings, attending records, and suggestions. In addition, with the increasingly legalistic bent that is characteristic of modern labour-management relations, the supervisor is wise to keep records on each particular grievance. It is also important that the supervisor possesses and exercise some skills in interview conference, and discussion.

3. Analyze and divide: with the problem defined and the facts in hand, the manager must now analyze and evaluate them, and then come to some decision. There is usually more than one possible solution. The manager must also be aware that the decision may constitute a precedent within the department as well as the company.

4. Apply the answer: Though the solution decided upon by the superior is adverse to the employee, some answer is better than none. Employees dislike supervisors who will take no stand, good or bad. In this event of an appeal beyond this stage of the procedure, the manager must have the decision and the reasons for his decision should be properly recorded.

5. Follow up: The objective of the grievance procedure is to resolve a disagreement between an employee and the organization. Discussion and conference are important to this process. The purpose of its follow-up phase is to determine whether the clash of interest has been resolved. If follow up reveals that the case has been handled unsatisfactory or that the wrong grievance has been processed, then redefinition of the problem, further fact-finding, analysis, solution and follow up are required.