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A Write-Up on the Presentation on

SUBMITTED TO :PROF. SAJEET LAKRA

SUBMITTED BY:

(MEMBERS OF GROUP-8)

SUDHIR KUJUR(43)

ABHA NISHI KUJUR(54)

RAVI KUMAR ANAND(18)

MANSI SHARMA(08)

CHRISTINE D’SOUZA(32)

RAHUL EKKA(74)

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INDEXSL. NO.

TOPIC PAGE NO.

1. ACKNOWLEGDEMENT 32. INTRODUCTION 43. FUNCTIONS OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT:

I. HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING 11

II. EMPLOYMENT 12III. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT 14IV. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY 16V. COMPENSATION 17

VI. LABOR RELATIONS 18VII. EMPLOYEE BENEFITS 18

VIII. MEDICAL AND HEALTH 19IX. SAFETY 19X. PERSONNEL RESEARCH 20

XI. DISCILPINE 21XII. HR AUDITS 22

4. CASE STUDY 245. CONCLUSION 296. BIBLEOGRAPHY 32

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Respected sir,

In the fifth trimester of our course curriculum, group no: 8 got an HRD assignment on the topic “FUNCTIONS OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT”. This gave us a great opportunity to learn the topic and share it with class through a presentation. Thus, we would like to extend our heart- felt gratitude to you sir, for lending us this opportunity.

Thanking you

SUDHIR KUJUR(43)ABHA KUJUR(54)RAVI KUMAR ANAND(18)MANSI SHARMA(08)CHRISTINE D’SOUZA(32)RAHUL EKKA(74)

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INTRODUCTIONThe Human Resource Department deals with management of people within the organisation. There are a number of responsibilities that come with this title. First of all, the Department is responsible for hiring members of staff; this will involve attracting employees, keeping them in their positions and ensuring that they perform to expectation. Besides, the Human Resource Department also clarifies and sets day to day goals for the organisation. It is responsible for organisation of people in the entire Company and plans for future ventures and objectives involving people in the Company. (Handy, 1999)Research has shown that the human aspect of resources within an organisation contributes approximately eighty percent of the organisation’s value. This implies that if people are not managed properly, the organisation faces a serious chance of falling apart. The Human Resource Department’s main objective is to bring out the best in their employees and thus contribute to the success of the Company.These roles come with certain positive and negative aspects. However, the negative aspects can be minimised by improvements to their roles and functions. These issues shall be examined in detail in the subsequent sections of the essay with reference to case examples of businesses in current operation.

Positive aspects of Roles and Functions of the Human Resource Department:

Recruitment of EmployeesThis is one of the most fundamental roles of the HR department. This is because this function ensures that the Company under consideration selects the most skilful and competent person from a sea of applicants at that time. This function involves evaluation of ability and competency of potential employees in relation to what the Company needs. This role falls under the Staffing role of management. If this function is performed well, then the organisation will increase value consequently being on the right pathway to achieve its organisational and departmental goals and objectives. (Hyde, 2004)Effective recruitment can be done through a number of ways. First of all the Company can conducteducational and psychological measurements. This task will involve assessment of abilities, skills and character evaluation of applicants.

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Through psychometric evaluation, the Company can ensure that employees have the right attitude necessary to fit into the organisation. Another method Companies use to recruit members of staff is through interviews. Here, the Human Resource Department can ask applicants questions that evaluate their decision making abilities and how they would deal with certain situations if presented with them. The Department can also employ the use of written interviews where applicants answer questions addressing key issues in the organisation. Through these channels, the Department contributes towards organisational performance. An example of a Company that performs this role well is Tesco Ireland. The Company notifies the public about vacancies. It then posts a questionnaire online and interested parties fill it at that time. This is then evaluated and those who fall within their minimum requirements are invited for an interview. In the interview, applicants are asked a number of questions and those who did extremely well are further analysed and retained. Those who did moderately well are not immediately eliminated; instead, their interview questions are kept on file then these are reviewed after six months. By so doing, the Tesco Ireland makes sure that its employees are highly capable and that they will enrich the organisation. (Hyde, 2004)

Improvement of Compensation PackagesOne of the major functions of the HR department is to motivate employees. This can be done through rewards especially for those who have done well. The HR department needs to evaluate performance of employees and those who have exceeded expectations should be compensated for their actions. Research has shown that rewarding employees for good performance is the number one incentive for keeping up this trend. These compensation packages can come in the following ways;- Holiday Offers- End of Year Bonuses- Equities- Awards- Salary Increments- Provision of Flexible Working Hours- Straight forward Promotion Schemes and Career DevelopmentsIf the HR department includes these incentives, then it will ensure that employees are satisfied with the Company. It will also contribute towards good staff

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retention rates. This is especially crucial in increasing stability within the organisation. It also makes employees identify with the firm and instils a sense of loyalty. (Handy, 1999)

Planning in the OrganisationThe Human Resource Department is placed with the responsibility of ensuring that it plans adequately for all the organisation’s future engagements that will involve people. One important aspect of this is planning for employees in the organisation. It is important that the organisation ensures that all the employees under its wing are just enough to increase value to the organisation.The Department must ensure that staff members are not too many because if they exceed this amount, then the organisation stands too lose. It must plan adequately to ensure that staff members are not too few either, otherwise they will be overworking those who are already in place. Consequently, there will be poor motivation resulting from fatigue.The HR department is also bestowed with the responsibility of planning future organisational goal in relation to people or clarifying these same goals to staff members. This function of the department ensures that people in the organisation have a general direction which they are working towards. Organisations that have a clear direction are always more effective; those members of staff will be more result oriented rather than just working for the sake of it. The Department is also responsible for setting day to day objectives necessary for streamlining activities within the organisation and thus ensuring that work is not just done haphazardly. (Hyde, 2004)

Negative Aspects of Functions and Roles of the Human Resource Department:

There are a number of problems that arise as the department goes about its activities

Problems in RecruitmentThe department may sometimes be unable to adequately coordinate and incorporate all the employees needed in the Company’s operations. One such example is the NHS. In the year 2004,the organisation was found to be wanting in its human resource department’s functions. The Company was recruiting a large proportion of its employees; 40% from Asian and African countries. This means

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that the organisation was draining medical personnel from those needy countries and using them for themselves. (Katherine, 2002)Such a practice showed that the HR department had exercised bad judgement in its staffing function. Instead, it could have used these foreign nurses as temporary measure and put in place a strategy to train local nurses such that it could stop depending on those poor countries for supply of nurses.

Problems in RemunerationIn the process of trying to motivate members of staff to perform better, the Human Resource may make deals that eventually cause problems. A case in point is the Home Depot. This Company has an employee Compensation policy that requires that one should be rewarded for the time they have served the Company.The Home Depot Company offers an end of year bonus, basic salary and grant on stock shares as an incentive for some of its employees The CEO of the Company Robert Nardelli lost his job in the year 2007. This was because the company has experienced a lot of losses under his leadership; its shares fell by eight percent in the stock exchange and he deserved to leave the Company. However, because the Human Resource Department had put in place a policy that requires all members of staff to be given the incentive mentioned above, he left with a lot of money. It was reported that he had with him about two hundred and ten million dollars. The Company had no way out of this payment because HR had already passed that policy and they were bound by the law. This goes to show that sometimes policies made by the HR department do not benefit the Company especially if the parties involved are considered as losses to the Company. (Michael, 2007)

Problems in PlanningSometimes the HR Department can employ people who may not contribute towards organisational principles. A classic example is the Arthur Andersen Company that fell apart in the year 2002. This was an American Company that dealt with audits. It was initially very successful in its operations prior to that fateful year. But in the latter years of its operations, the Company was involved in two accounting scandals that tarnished its name and subsequently caused failure.The Company failed to plan well for the kind of employees it recruited. This was witnessed when one of its employees in the Legal Department called Nancy

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Temple was fined in the Court of law for non adherence to accounting laws. This problem could have been prevented if the HR department had evaluated this employee before hiring her and also evaluation should have been done during her performance. If HR had been extremely critical, then they would have realised that the employee did not adhere to Company principles and would therefore have terminated her employment.Beside this, the Arthur Andersen Human Resource department also failed in its communication function to employees. The department should have ensured that they constantly communicate to members of staff about the goals and objectives of the Company on a day to day basis. This would have made them very clear in the minds of employees and would have prevented the downfall of the Company.

Strategies to Improve Human Resource Department’s Value to the Organisation:

Training and InternshipsIt is not necessarily a guarantee that a candidate who did well in the recruitment exercise is the best in performing an organisation’s functions. New employees need orientation into the Company’s functions and can also improve some inefficiency that these new employees may have in relation to their skills. This is the purpose of placing them on internships. (Norbert, 1967)Training is also essential for members of staff who have been working for the organisation for a long time. This is especially so in the wake of technological advancements, legal changes and changes in service delivery. It is important for an Organisation to keep up with industry trends otherwise it faces the danger of becoming obsolete; especially in the background of increasing competition.Training need not be restricted to improvement of skills; it can also involve improvement of attitudes. This is normally characterised by attendance of workshops and other forms of talks. Training also increases motivation of employees and gives them that extra boost of energy needed to get them through tough times in their jobs. All the above tasks are placed under the Department of Human Resource because it is the one that will asses when training is needed, who needs the training, where and by whom. This aspect is a sure to improve value of the HR Department in the organisation.An example of a company that adheres to this principle is Marks and Spencer retail chain outlet. The Company offers training for twelve moths. Here

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new employees are taught all that is necessary to meet organisational goals and objectives then they can start work when they are ready to do so. (Norbert, 1967)

Making Better Use of TimeThe Human Resource is conferred with the responsibility of ensuring that all members of staff perform to their best ability. It could improve this area by facilitating better use of time in all departments within the organisation. Time is one of the most crucial yet intangible assets of the Company. The proper use of this resource could maximise production and achievement of organisational goals. (Harold, 2003)The Department can do this by planning activities to be carried out in the organisation. It can make schedules for the various activities that have to be done in the organisation and thus facilitate better flow of information. In addition to this, the Company can also ensure that all members of staff are held accountable for not performing a certain task. This is especially in regard to maintenance of the schedules. In so doing, human the Human Resource Department will be ensuring that employees do not simply report to work and that the time spent at work is directly proportional to output.

Improving Organisational CultureThe Human Resource Department can try to improve organisational culture through a three step procedure.The first step of the process is observation. In this step HR finds out what makes ups or what the company’s culture is like. HR should also be very intense on the organisational needs. Here, HR should realise that personal fulfilment works better and therefore should try to ensure that the change is relevant to every staff member. In this stage, HR should try to explain to all staff members or stakeholder the advantage of transforming the culture in the organisation. This should be made clear so that all can see the advantages at the individual level and not simply at the organizational level. (Erica, 2006)Then HR should try to eliminate all inhibitions in staff member’s minds. It is possible that some may claim that they tried one or two strategies before and it did not succeed. This are what are called ‘cries of despair’ and HR should try its best to explain to staff members the need of changing the culture of the organisation.The next step is the analysis of various aspects. Here, there is collection of data needed in making certain that culture changes. This stage involves checking out

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the success features or the factors that can facilitate its success. There should be calibration of data collected. Staff members should be made to understand that there are no perfect situations for implementation of changes. The analysis should involve assessing whether the information is sensible or not. Whether data gathered will be helpful or not and if it is too little or too much. Staff members should be requested for data that will help change the culture.Of course when trying to bring in change HR Department should have perceived benefits, a deadline for execution and also the realised gains in relation to the change in culture. In this step, there should be reality checks which should be done often. There should also be continuous integration. Through this scheme HR Department should be able to change the culture in the organisation and add value to it. (Harold, 2003)

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FUNCTIONS OF HR DEPTT.

1) HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING(HRP)

In governing human resources planning, three major trends are typically considered:

1. Demographics : the characteristics of a population/workforce, for example, age, gender or social class. This type of trend may have an effect in relation to pension offerings, insurance packages etc.

2. Diversity : the variation within the population/workplace. Changes in society now mean that a larger proportion of organizations are made up of "baby-boomers" or older employees in comparison to thirty years ago. Advocates of "workplace diversity" advocate an employee base that is a mirror reflection of the make-up of society insofar as race, gender, sexual orientation etc.

3. Skills and qualifications: as industries move from manual to more managerial professions so does the need for more highly skilled graduates. If the market is "tight" (i.e. not enough staff for the jobs), employers must compete for employees by offering financial rewards, community investment, etc.

In regard to how individuals respond to the changes in a labor market, the following must be understood:

Geographical spread: how far is the job from the individual? The distance to travel to work should be in line with the pay offered, and the transportation and infrastructure of the area also influence who applies for a post.

Occupational structure: the norms and values of the different careers within an organization. Mahoney 1989 developed 3 different types of occupational structure, namely, craft (loyalty to the profession), organization career (promotion through the firm) and unstructured (lower/unskilled workers who work when needed).

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Generational difference: different age categories of employees have certain characteristics, for example, their behavior and their expectations of the organization.

The main essence of the entire HRP can be clubbed into 4 phases:

• Forecasting• Maintaining personnel inventories• Succession planning• Modeling career paths

2) EMPLOYMENT

The stages of employment can be classified in the following sub-topics:

• Recruitment• Selection• Testing• Orientation

Employee Recruitment and Selection Process:

There are many steps to recruiting and selecting qualified employees. First, a department head must inform the HR manager of an opening in their department. Then the HR manager must obtain the job description to formulate a Job Description Sheet for publication either internally, publicly, or both. Then HR must field the (many) responses to that job announcement to weed out the qualified from the unqualified applicants. Once that is completed, the interview process must be coordinated. They prepare the job description, contact the newspaper, run the ad, field the calls, compile a list of potential candidates, submit that list to the department's hiring manager for approval and selection, contact the chosen candidates to set up preliminary interviews, and interview the candidates! Although most interviews are with the hiring manager or their associates, not all applicants get to meet with the department's hiring manager right away. It is not uncommon for a company to

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filter out those who fail to impress the HR manager first. For those select few who make it through, the HR DEPARTMENT.

Employment can be defined as the relationship between an EMPLOYER and an EMPLOYEE which affects the goals and aspirations of the organization. The above mentioned stages can also be explained as follows:-

1. Pre-Recruitment Process  

a. Receipt of requirement of manpower from various department heads. b. Scrutinize them and take approval from concerned authorities if the post is new. c. Prepare a recruitment budget and CTC for the employee and take approval. d. Select the appropriate Recruitment process. 

2. Recruitment Process 

a. Prepare Advertisements etc. for the recruitment. b. Scrutinize and shortlist the applications received. c. Send interview call letters/mails as required. d. Conduct Interviews through panels. e. Preparation of offer letters as required. 

3. Joining Formalities: 

a. Administrating Joining formalities. b. Pre-Employment Reference checks. c. Preparation of Appointment Advice and intimating the same to other departments. d. Preparing and entering new hire paperwork. e. Co-ordinating to get Employee ID Cards. f. Handing over the new hire to the concerned HOD/Manager. g. Preparation of Job Profiles co-ordination with HOD/Managers for new posts. 

4. Employee Personal File Maintenance : 

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a. Opening new file and Closing the Resigned employee’s File. b. Make sure all Employee files are maintained safely with care. c. Make sure all personal records are available in the files. d. Periodic Personal File Auditing. 

5. Employee Data Base: 

a. Keeping Track of Knowledge Management Software. b. Maintenance of HRIS. 

6. Confirmation Formalities: 

a. Intimating the concerned HOD/Manager about the due dates for confirmation. b. Conducting Confirmation Appraisals. c. Co ordinating for Skill Gap Analysis. d. Co ordinating to set Quality Objectives for each job profile. e. Ensuring updation of the existing Job Profiles. f. Processing the Confirmation. 

3) Training and Development :

Training can be provide based on the requirements and needs arising out of the situations in the organization from time to time. It should be imparted when the following situations arises:

a. Conducting Induction Training for new hires. b. Training Need Analysis based on Skill Gap Analysis, Appraisal Feedback and suggestions. c. Co ordinating External and Internal Training Programs. d. Maintaining Training Records. e. Analysis of Training Feedback. 

Definition of Training:

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“A planned programme designed to improve performance and to being about measurable changes in technical knowledge and skills of employees for doing a particular job.”“it is an attempt to improve current or future employee performance by increasing an employee’s ability to perform through learning, usually by changing the employee’s attitude or increasing his or her skills and knowledge.”

Training need = standard performance – actual performance

Need for training  Practical and needed for creating confidence among employees.

To introduce modern methods or for the introduction of rationalization and computer technology in the industrial units.

  For raising the efficiency and productivity of industrial employees. For improving the quality of production and also for avoiding accidents

and wastages of all kinds in the industrial units.  Training is needed as it creates highly skilled manpower in an

organization. Training is needed for preventing manpower obsolescence, for improving health and safety of workers, for improving organizational climate and finally for meeting future personnel needs of the organization.

Defining Development:

“The term Development here refers to those learning opportunities designed to help employees to grow.”Development isn't restricted to training - it's anything that helps a person to grow, in ability, skills, confidence, tolerance, commitment, initiative, inter-personal skills, understanding, self-control, motivation, and more.

Objectives of Development

Attitude Tuning

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Motivation Leadership CommunicationParadigm Shift

Importance of Development Increase in moral and motivation of employees Better human relation Development and promotion Accuracy

4) Equal Employment Opportunity :

• Ensuring EEO Compliance• Administering affirmative action• Handling discrimination complaints

The supervisors and the top management officials should cater to this need of

the individuals working in the organization.

• Provide for supervisory training which includes basic leadership skills, such as setting clear standards of conduct and performance, addressing employee problems promptly, and using the probationary period, performance counseling, discipline, alternative dispute resolution, and other management tools conscientiously.

• Provide technical expertise and consultation to help supervisors determine what course of administrative action is most appropriate in specific situations.

• Determine whether sufficient evidence exists to justify taking disciplinary action once the investigation of any misconduct is complete.

• Help supervisors determine proper reasonable accommodation.

5) Compensation :

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Workers' compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence. The tradeoff between assured, limited coverage and lack of recourse outside the worker compensation system is known as "the compensation bargain."While plans differ between jurisdictions, provision can be made for weekly payments in place of wages (functioning in this case as a form of disability insurance), compensation for economic loss (past and future), reimbursement or payment of medical and like expenses (functioning in this case as a form of health insurance), and benefits payable to the dependents of workers killed during employment (functioning in this case as a form of life insurance).

While compensation package is designed, the HR Department should keep in mind these factors:

– Incentive pay plans– Job analysis– Job evaluations– Wage Surveys– Performance reviews

6) LABOUR RELATIONS:

Employee Relation: 

a. Having formal and Informal counselling with employees. b. Prepared Event Calendar of monthly recreation to motivate employees. c. Handling Corporate Medical Insurance. d. Processing required letters on employee’s request. 

ISO Compliance: 

a. Ensuring all the updation of the ISO documentation and HR Formats. 

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b. Learning and enforcing Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). c. Facing the Internal and External Audits, accountable to enforce the correctional actions. 

Statutory Compliance: 

a. Handling PF and ESI formalities and co ordinating with other departments. b. Handling Apprentice Training, Submitting Periodic Returns to Board. c. Submitting other returns to the labour Department as per Shops and establishment Act. 

7) EMPLOYEE BENEFITS; MEDICAL& HEALTH; and SAFETY :

Companies provide their employees and workers with a variety of benefits. These benefits are basically forms of value or services that are provided by an employer to his employees for their contribution in the performance of the organisation . Such benefits are an important component of a company's remuneration package for attracting and retaining its employees. The benefits serve as incentives to the employees and encourage them to work harder for the organisation. These also help in building up employee job satisfaction.

These benefits may be financial or non-financial,long term or short term,free or at concessional rates.They may include educational, residential, medical, or recreational facilities. Such facilities may be provided individually or collectively and inside or outside the organization. Thus the employee benefits are the comforts and the facilities given  to employees to enable them to work in a healthy and peaceful atmosphere. Few can enumerated as:-

• Design of vacations and sick benefits program(As a small-business owner, you may feel you have little room to provide generous vacation or sick-day benefits. Losing a key employee for weeks at a time may make the difference in closing a sale or missing a shipment date.

However, having a sensible vacation and sick-day policy as part of your employee-benefits plan helps you to recruit and retain

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employees. An employee-benefits manual or Intranet Web site is the perfect place to communicate these policies.)

• Administering policy• 401k plan(There are two main types of employer-sponsored retirement

plans: defined benefit and defined contribution. A defined benefit plan, such as a traditional pension plan, sets the amount that the employer will pay to workers upon their retirement. In defined contribution plans, the plan sets the amount of the contributions that an employer makes, not the benefit it will pay at retirement. In 1978, section 401(k)of the Internal Revenue Code authorized a new kind of defined contribution plan that allows the employee to make pre-tax contributions to the plan.

In a 401(k) plan, the employer sets up a special savings and investment account with an investment company, a bank trust dept, or an insurance company. The employee agrees to put part of his or her salary into the plan through automatic deductions each pay period. This money is deducted before the employee’s paycheck is taxed, so that it remains untaxed until it is taken out of the plan, often years or even decades later.

Employers frequently match employee contributions up to a certain level, sometimes by as much as 100 percent, but are not required to do so. The money in the plan is invested into one or more funds provided in the plan according to choices made by the employee. The plans usually are intended to earn money over a very long period of time, which is much less risky than short-term investing..

Employees like 401(k) plans for several reasons. The tax deferral an obvious plus. Others popular features include the increased portability of this plan from one employer to another, the matching contributions, and the sense of control due to the ability to choose one’s own investments.)

• Health insurance• Conducting health and wellness programs• Ensuring OSHA compliance• Overseeing security• Physical Environment• Conducting accident investigations

8) Personnel Research :

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• Administering opinion surveys (An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals.)

• Conducting HR Audits (A healthy HR function in an organization is as important as the physical and mental well being of a human body. Typically the basic reason why organizations prefer to conduct an HR audit is to get a clear judgment about the overall status of the organization and also to find out whether certain systems put in place are yielding any results. HR audit also helps companies to figure out any gaps or lapses and the reason for the same. Since every company plans certain systems and targets, an HR audit compares the plans to actual implementation.The concept of HR audit has emerged from the practice of yearly finance and accounting audit, which is mandatory for every company, to be done by external statutory auditors.This audit serves as an examination on a sample basis of practices and systems for identifying problems and ensuring that sound accounting principles are followed. Similarly, an HR audit serves as a means through which an organization can measure the health of its human resource function.Organizations undertake HR audits for many reasons:1) To ensure effective utilization of human resources.2 )To review compliance with tons of laws and regulations.3) To instill a sense of confidence in the human resource department that it is well-managed and prepared to meet potential challenges and opportunities.4 )To maintain or enhance the organization's reputation in a community)

• Publishing statistical analysis

9)Discipline :

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Progressive discipline is a process for dealing with job-related behavior that does not meet expected and communicated performance standards. The primary purpose for progressive discipline is to assist the employee to understand that a performance problem or opportunity for improvement exists.

The process features increasingly formal efforts to provide feedback to the employee so he or she can correct the problem. The goal of progressive discipline is to improve employee performance.

The process of progressive discipline is not intended as a punishment for an employee, but to assist the employee to overcome performance problems and satisfy job expectations. Progressive discipline is most successful when it assists an individual to become an effectively performing member of the organization.

Failing that, progressive discipline enables the organization to fairly, and with substantial documentation, terminate the employment of employees who are ineffective and unwilling to improve.

Typical steps in a progressive discipline system may include these.

Counsel the employee about performance and ascertain his or her understanding of requirements. Ascertain whether there are any issues contributing to the poor performance, that are not immediately obvious to the supervisor. Solve these issues, if possible.

Verbally reprimand the employee for poor performance.

Provide a written verbal warning in the employee's file, in an effort to improve employee performance.

Provide an escalating number of days in which the employee is suspended from work. Start with one day and escalate to five.

10) HR AUDIT:

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Definition:

HR Audit means the systematic verification of job analysis and design, recruitment and selection, orientation and placement, training and development, performance appraisal and job evaluation, employee and executive remuneration, motivation and

morale, participative management, communication, welfare and social security, safety and health, industrial relations, trade unionism, and disputes and their resolution. HR audit is very much useful to achieve the organizational goal and also is a vital tool which helps to assess the effectiveness of HR functions of an organization.

Scope of Audit:

Generally, no one can measure the attitude of human being and also their problems are not confined to the HR department alone. So it is very much broad in nature. It covers the following HR areas:

Audit of all the HR function. Audit of managerial compliance of personnel policies, procedures and

legal provisions. Audit of corporate strategy regarding HR planning, staffing, IRs,

remuneration and other HR activities. Audit of the HR climate on employee motivation, morale and job

satisfaction.

Benefits of HR Audit:

It provides the various benefits to the organization. These are:

It helps to find out the proper contribution of the HR department towards the organization.

Development of the professional image of the HR department of the organization.

Reduce the HR cost. Motivation of the HR personnel. Find out the problems and solve them smoothly. Provides timely legal requirement. Sound Performance Appraisal Systems.

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Systematic job analysis. Smooth adoption of the changing mindset.

Approaches to HR Audit:

There are five approaches for the purpose of evaluation of HR in any organization:

Comparative approach Outside authority Statistical Compliance approach and Management By Objectives(MBO)

CASE STUDY

The Other Side of HR FunctionM/s Sukumar Engineering Works, on the outskrits of kolkata, with over 800

employees was making a good amount of profit due to their highly dedicated employees. The level of job satisfaction of the employees was

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very high. HR practices and the relationship with the recognized union were also satisfactory. The management was proud of their employees and the union.

The company had one electric arc furnace and a re-rolling mill. The raw material was steel scrap. The mill was working in three-shift , 7 day operation as the process was continuous. The furnace was producing pencil steel ingots which were sent to re-rolling mills for further operations.

It was 29th

August,2010. On the evening of that day, before leaving the works, the HR manager, Prabir Chatterjee, as usual went to the office of the GM, Alok Bannerjee. He found him in a state of tension and asked him the cause of his worry. The GM asked him to sit down and revealed that due to non-availability of manila rope in the stores, the electric furnace had to be closed down on that night shift and the next morning.

Because of this, there would be a loss of ingots production and the target for the month could not be met. Only 2 days were left. Before the beginning of the month, the MD had particularly had emphasized the need to meet the target due to pressing orders . The GM had assured him that he would definitely produce the required tonnage and would rather try to produce more. Now, almost at the end of the month, he had never expected that he would face a problem like this. 3 employees who requested for urgent leave were also refused due to the commitment of the production. There was absolutely no problem of any raw material. But a small item like manila rope’s non-availability created an acute problem. The GM admitted that the mistake was due to the stores staff, who could have procured the material on time. On enquiry, it was revealed that the production staff had already drawn its monthly requirements from the stores. The consumption of this material this month was little more due to poor quality of manila rope. There might some other unknown reasons too. At that time, the GM, instead of digging out further reasons, wanted an immediate solution first.

Prabir knew the general of this factory. When he joined this company 3 years ago during his orientation program he studied and learnt thoroughly the manufacturing process. He also read a book on ‘Making and Shaping of Steel’ as suggested by the GM. He obtained sufficient knowledge to know the process. Prabir was not a technical person and therefore did not go

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deep into the subject. For some doubts, he got clarifications from technical staff who were quite cooperative.

A brief narration on the function of electric arc furnace was:-

As a first step, the steel scrap would be loaded in the scrap charging bucket which had petals underneath. The petals were tied with a manila rope. When the over head crane took the loaded scrap charging bucket just over the open arc furnace, the manila rope would be burnt due to the heat of the furnace. The petals would open out to drop the steel scrap into the furnace. The electric furnace produced pencil ingots to be rolled in the re-rolling mills for the final finished products, such as rounds, angles, etc., to be used for reinforcement jobs. Thus, the role played by manila rope during the process was very important.

After knowing the problem of non-availability of this material in the stores, Prabir immediately volunteered to procure the rope. He filled up a purchase requisition and got it signed by GM. He then went to the purchase department. Since it was already 6:30pm, all staff members had left the office, except 1 purchase officer, who was busy in clearing out some of his pending jobs. Prabir requested him to help him on this matter. The officer asked him to wait for the next day as manila rope not a material to be procured so urgently. Prabir explained all the steps in the manufacture of pencil steel ingots and the importance of this rope during the process. He also said that the production would be stopped in the night shift and in the next morning. The purchase officer, an engineer, was very happy to know the technical details narrated by a personnel man. He also understood Prabir’s anxiety and contacted on phone 2 or 3 hardware merchants. He wrote down a formal purchase order and directed Prabir to go to the city to collect the material. Prabir took the jeep and quickly drove to the shop before it was closed.

He collected 4 bundles of manila rope and went straight to the factory. When the GM saw the material in the jeep, he thanked Prabir profusely for taking such an initiative to procure the material. That month the target was exceeded. The reason for taking up such a non routine job was his prudence. If the target of production was not met the bad consequences would have been many, including HR problems. The employees would receive less incentive bonus, the cordial relationship with the recognized union would have been damaged, the morale of the GM and the production staff might have plummeted, etc. Prabir Chatterjee, a highly committed and dedicated officer, was always looking out for some

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challenging and non routine jobs of this nature. Once, the company received a notice from the state government, which could not be dealt with by any executive in the company. It was Prabir who took the letter and got a solution after personally contacting some government officials.

On the foundation day of the company, the GM and Personnel manager received special mementos from MD, who made a special mention of Prabir in his speech and thanked him for his involvement. Prabir, in his reply, said that all Personnel officers need not have technical qualification but surely they could, by their involvement know the process of production. They should be thoroughly familiar with all materials required for production right from the raw materials stage to the finished products. This knowledge would definitely help them to grasp and understand the problems much better.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Is it correct for an HR to enter into an area not his own?2. Do you advocate a change of policy for recruitment of HR

managers with technical qualification?3. Do you find every aspect of HR functions working well in M/s

Sukumar Engineering Works?4. Can the HR take all credit for himself where excellent industrial

relations exist?

Solutions:- Is it correct for HR manager to enter into an area

not his own?

Ans. The job of HR manager is a very responsible one and has unlimited scope. Knowledge is power. Acquiring knowledge of other areas, therefore, will enable the HR manager to grasp the problems effortlessly. When an HR executive is dealing with persons, he should preferably have some functioning knowledge of the employees with whom he is working. When

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once he knows the condition of workplace and other matters, he can do his job in an enhanced and efficient manner. Further, this additional knowledge will bring better discipline among the employees. Understanding the area of work of the employees with whom he is involved, day in and out, will undoubtedly bring competence. The HR manager’s knowledge about the occupation of the workers will always help him to discharge his responsibilities very effectively. It is not necessary that he should thoroughly possess the entire process of production, but at least working knowledge will definitely help him in several ways. His scope of work will enlarge. The HR manager, therefore, should devote some time to learn the technical aspect of the department in which he is posted. It should not be misconstrued as entering into the area of work with which he is not connected.

Do you advocate a change of policy for recruitment of HR managers with technical qualification?

It is not necessary. The specialization in HR for personnel of IT, Engineering or Marketing will be an added advantage. There are several engineers who have opted to be HR executives. Some production engineers, with their immense involvement in dealing with a few problems in HR area, are doing very well as HR managers. The dual knowledge of these persons help them take up various crucial HR activities for the benefit of the management. However, there may not be a change of policy basically for recruiting HR managers with technical knowledge.

Do you find every aspect of HR functions working well in M/s Sukumar Engineering Works?

Ans. From the case study, it is known that M/s Sukumar Engineering Works were maintaining a very cordial relationship with the recognized union. The employee’s morale was also high.

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Can the HR manager take all the credit for himself where excellent industrial relations exist?

Ans. Yes, he can. But it is a collective effort. The top management should give all opportunities to line executives to discharge their responsibilities in an efficient manner. Interference of the superiors should be judicious. However, the job knowledge of the executives in all areas including HR should be judged by their performance. Decision-making at their level with regard to IR or HR matters may sometimes bring a negative effect. The intelligent and experienced HR executive will play a vital role in dealing with all IR topics, with the cooperation of all, and give the credit to himself for excellently maintaining a peaceful industrial harmony.

ConclusionThere are many different roles and responsibilities that can be performed by the HR department depending on the size of the organization, the demographic profile of the employees' roster, the industry where the business belongs, values and corporate culture prevalent within, and the priorities of top management, and in the case of a small business, the priorities of its owner .

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The HR in small organizations may take full responsibility for all human resource activities. Whereas in others, it may share the roles and responsibilities of other departments such as the finance or administration. While in others, it  acts as an internal consultant and makes all the HR-related decisions in support of strategic business directions.

In the recent years it is noticeable that more and more organizations are looking at HR professionals as their strategic partners in quality management, corporate planning, business operations, and  business profitability. HR management now takes the forefront in strategic planning and expansions in ways that enhance the image and value of the organization.

Human resource (HR) department deals with wide range of activities from strategic planning level to the day to day operations level. Therefore defining roles and responsibilities of HR manager is a quite complex task but some of the functions carried are summarized below.

Involvement in the strategic planning processHR manager gets involved in the strategic planning process of the organization and identifies HR as a core competency of the organization. When HR is assumed as a core competency HR becomes a competitive advantage for the organization and HR manager is responsible of developing the HR of organizations to bring the stated competitve advantage to the organization.

Forecasting the labour requirementThe HR manager holds the responsibility of forecasting the labour requirement of the organization in the future based on the future level of sales/production level of the organization. The labour forecast may identify the need for need for hiring or firing employees.

RecruitmentOnce the labour forecast is done organization can identify the need for more labour in the organization if the existing workforce is not sufficient to handle the future workload. In such a situation HR manager has to recruit new potential candidates to fill the vacancies. Recruitment is the process of creating a pool of potential candidates who can be employed to fill the vacancies.

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SelectionSelection is the process by which the most suitable candidate is selected from the recruited pool of candidates. Selection is done by carrying out various types of tests and interviews. HR department/manager is responsible of selecting the most suitable employees to fill existing vacancies.

InductionInduction is the process by which new employees are made familiarized with the organizational environment. Once the employees are selected they need to be introduced to other staff of the organization and they should be given necessary guidelines about the organizational culture and the procedures.

TrainingOnce the employees are done with the induction they become an employee of the organization but the skills they possess may not be adequate to carry out required tasks. The need for training arises when the there is a gap between expected level of skills and the current level of skills of an employee. If a there is a training need HR department has to design training programs and execute them.

MotivationHR manager is responsible of motivating employees to carry out their duties of a timely and accurate basis.

Performance AppraisalThis is where the employees performance are evaluated based on expected level and the actual level of the performance. HR department needs to design performance appraisal systems to appraise the employee performance on a fairly manner.

Rewarding employeesOnce the employee performance evaluation is done HR department needs to design good employee rewarding packages to reward well performing employees. These rewards could be of monetary or non monetary in nature.

Managing Carrier Growth of employees/Promotions

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HR department is responsible of managing the carrier growth of employees where they needs to promoted in the carrier ladder if they are suitable to fill existing vacancies in high ranks of the organizational structure.

Managing redundancyWhen the organization decides that thy no longer need the service of certain employee they need to be sent to be given the redundancy notices and have to be paid the redundancy charges. HR department has to manage this process.

Managing employee grievanceHR department needs to accept the grievance and complaints submitted by the employees about their problems. HR department need to listen to grievance and should come up with solutions to solve problems.

Managing complains about employeesThere can be complaints about employees regarding poor performance, bribery, misbehavior and so on. HR department needs to hear those complains and make necessary steps (advising/punishing employees) to solve those issues.

BIBLIOGRAPHY1. http://www.tutebox.com/3072/business/hrm/roles-and-responsibilities-of-human-resource-departmentmanager/

2. http://www.hrmbusiness.com/2008/08/what-responsibilities-and-roles-do-hrm.html

3. http://www.citehr.com/talk-seniors-f38.htmL

4. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resources

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5. humanresources.about.com/od/.../f/hr_job_mgr.htm

6. www.younghrmanager.com/roles-and-functions-of-the-human-resou..

7. HR through case studies by Ravi Dharmarao, excel books, first edition, pp 37-39 and 112-113.

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THANK YOU!!!