MB0043 Human Resource Management Assignment -Semester 1

AUGUST 2011

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Semester – 1

MB0043 – Human Resource Management - 4 Credits

(Book ID: B0909)

Assignment - Set- 1

MB0043: Human Resource Management Roll No. : 541110058

Q.1 What are the functions that HR attempts to fulfill in any organization.

Answer:

The variety of human relations problems leads to the conclusion that no one program or single approach can create conditions from good human relations. Therefore, it is common for organizations and individuals in an organization to constantly innovate and resolve challenges that will benefit both the organization as well as the employee. The Functions that HR attempts to fulfill in any organization are as follows:

1. Human Resource Planning

Estimating the need for resources in order achieve the desired business results. HR plans can be both short term/immediate as well as long term/strategic. The HR team partners with the line managers to understand the business goals and targets for the year and together plan the HR needs in order to meet the goals.

2. Acquisition of Human Resources

Staffing the organization with the right mix of skills and competencies at the right time. It also includes HR initiatives like promotions and internal job posting to fulfill this requirement for human resources. Staffing teams in organization are usually separate group of specialists who work closely with the line managers to understand the skills and competencies needed for the job and engage together to elect the best talent for the open position.

3. Training and employee development

Focuses in managing training activities to upgrade skills and knowledge as well as soft skills like the ream building and leadership. The training team is again a group of HR specialist who proposes the training program and consults with the line managers to ensure that the program achieves the desired outcomes.


4. Building performance management systems

Focuses on the right processes to set goals for performance as individual / teams and related measurement methods. This is core HR activity and is supported by the Hr generalist.

5. Rewards systems

Establishing appropriate compensation systems and reward mechanism that would reward the desired outcome and results in accordance with the cooperate values. The again forms a part of HR generalist’s tasks. Hoe employees progress in a organization how they are paid w.r.t internal and external market factors, what employee benefits are offered are some aspects that this function redresses.

6. Human resources information systems

Taking care of operational transactions form the time an employee exits, like personal files, compensation administration, payroll, benefits administration and issuing letters and testimonials. That task is supported by as separate HR operation team who acts as an Hr helpdesk and provides information to the employee/managers.

Q.2 Discuss the cultural dimensions of Indian Work force.

Answer:

Cultural Dimension of Indian Work Force

The foundation for understanding the unique work practices at a country level can be best is understood by first understanding the culture aspects of the


country’s workforce. The pioneering work done by Dutch Scientist, Geert Hofstede is a useful tool in understanding the cultural differences used to differentiate countries. He identified five cultural dimensions around which counties have been clustered.

The dimensions are: power distance, uncertainly avoidance, individualism, masculinity and long term orientation. Geert Hofstede dimension are based on research conducted among over 1000 IBM employees working globally. While their continued to be other studies like the GLOBE (Global leadership and organizational behavior Effectiveness) project and trompenaar’s framework, hofstede’s model is most popular.

Power Distance

Power distance is the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations accept that power is distributed unequally. Countries in which people blindly obey of superior have high power distance.

High power distance countries have norms, values and beliefs that support

In equally is good; everyone has a place; some are high, some are low

Most people should be dependent on a leader,

The powerful are entitled to privileges, and

The powerful should yield the power

India score 77 on power distance , indicating high power distance as a result of the inequalities both at the level of society as well as the at the workplace. Indian organization typically have hierarchical structures, policies yield power and subordination is acceptable. The dimension of high power distance at the workplace can be best understood as:

People dislike work and try to avoid it.


Managers believe that they must adopt theory X leadership style, that is, they must be authoritarian, and force workers to perform and need to supervise their subordinated closely.

Organizational structure and systems tend to match the assumption regarding leadership and motivation.

Decision making is centralized.

Those at the top make most of the decision. Organization tends to have tall structures.

They will have a large proportion of supervisory personal and The people at the lower level often will have low job qualifications.

Such structure s encourages and promotes inequality between people at different levels.

Uncertainty Avoidance

Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situation, and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these India scores 40 indicating low to average uncertainly avoidance characterizes. Countries with low to average uncertainly avoidance have people who are more willing to accept that risks are associated with the unknown, and that life must go on in spite of this specifically, high uncertainly avoidance countries are characterized by norms, values and beliefs which accept that:

Conflict should not be avoided,

Deviant people and ideas should be tolerated ,


Laws are not very important and need not necessarily be followed,

Experts and authorities are not always correct and consensus is not important.

Low uncertainty avoidance society such as ours have organization setting with less structuring of activities, fewer written rules, more risk ± taking by managers, higher labor turnover and more ambitious employees. Such an organization encourages employees to use their initiative and assume responsibility for their actions. Denmark and Great Britain are good examples of low uncertainty avoidance cultures. Germany, Japan and Spain typify high uncertainty avoidance societies.

Individualism

Individualism is the tendency of people to look after themselves and their family only. The opposite of this collectivism which refers to the tendency of people to belong to group and to look after other in exchange for loyalty India score 48 on individualism, indicating somewhat low scores, therefore tending towards a more collectivistic society.

Collectivist countries believe that:

One’s identity is based on one’s group membership,

Group decision making is best, and

Group protects individuals in exchange for their loyalty to the group.

Organizations are collectivist societies tend to promote nepotism in selecting managers. In contrast, in individualism societies, favoritism shown to friends and relatives is considered to be unfair and even illegal. Further organizations in collectivist culture base promotions mostly on seniority and age, where as in individualist societies; they are based on one’s performance. Finally in collectivist


cultures, important decisions are made by older and senior managers as opposed to individualist cultures, where decision making is an individual’s responsibility.

Masculinity

Masculinity refers to a situation in which the dominant values in a society are success, money and other material things. Hofstede measured this dimension on a continuum ranging from masculinity to femininity. India scores 56 tending to be closed to masculinity than femininity. In higher masculine society’s, jobs are clearly defined by gender. There are men’s jobs and women’s jobs. Men usually choose jobs that are associated with short term employment before marriage.

Q.3 Explain the need for Human Resource planning system.

Answer:

Human resource planning system is a mandatory part of every organization’s annual planning process. Every organization that plans for its business goals for the year also plan how it will go about achieving them, and therein the planning for the human resources:

1. To carry on its work, each organization needs competent staff with the necessary qualification, skills, knowledge, work experience and aptitude of work.

2. Since employees exit and organization both naturally (as a result of superannuation) and unnaturally (as a result of resignation), there is an on-going need for hiring replacement staff to augment employee exit. Otherwise work would be impacted.


3. In order to meet for the more employees due to organizational growth and expansion, this is turn call for large quantities of the same goods and services as well as new goods. This growth could be rapid or gradual depending on the nature of the business, its competitors, its position in the market and the general economy.

4. Often organization might need to replace the nature of the present workforce as a result of its changing needs, therefore the need to hire new set of employees. To meet the challenges of the changed needs of technology/product/service innovation the existing employees need to be trained or new skills sets induced into the organization.

5. Manpower planning is also needed in order to identify an organizations need to reduce its workforce. In situation where the organization is faced with severe revenue and growth limitation it might need to plan well to manage how it will workforce. Options such as redeployment and outplacement can be planned for and executed properly.

Q.4 Elucidate the classification of wages in the Indian System.

Answer:

In India wages system is classified as follows:

1. Minimum wages

2. Fair wages

3. Living wages


1. Minimum wages

A minimum wages has been defined by the committee as “the wages which must provide not only for the bare substance of life, but for the preservation of the efficacy of the worker. For this purpose minimum wages must provide for some measure of education, medical requirement and amenities”. In other words, minimum wages should provide for sustenance for the worker’s family, for his efficiency, for the education of his family members, for their medical care, for their amenities. It is very difficult to determine the minimum wages because condition varies from place to place, industry to industry and from worker to worker. However, the principles for determining minimum wages were evolved by the government and have been incorporated in the minimum wages act,1948, the important principles being that minimum wages should provide not only for the bare sustenance of life but also for the preservation of the efficiency of the workers by the way of education, medical care and other amenities.

2. Fair wage

It is the wage which is above the minimum wage but below the living wage. The lower limit of the fair is obviously the minimum wage; the upper limit is set by the capacity of industry to pay. Between these two limits, the actual wages should depend on consideration of such factor as:

i) The productivity of labour;

ii) The prevailing rates of wages in the same or neighboring localities;

iii) The level of the national income and its distribution; and

iv) The place of industry in the economy.

3. Living wages

One which should enable the earner to provide for himself and his family not only there bare essentials of food, clothing and shelter but a measure of frugal


comfort, including education for his children, protection against ill-health, requirement of essential social needs and a measure of insurance against the more important misfortunes including old age´ in other words, a living wage was to provide for a standard of living that would ensure good health for the worker and his family as well as a measure of decency, comfort, education for his children and protection against misfortunate. Generally ascertaining wages and deciding who to pay what is a activity undertaken in the beginning when a organization is set up. There on it are annual reviews to make correction per the country’s economic and market/industry trends. The management considers the state of the labor market and takes into account of what he can afford to pay and the value of the worker to him. The worker¶s willingness for employment at the rate offered implies that they agree to work at that rate; through they have had no part in fixing it.

1. Collective bargaining: It is still in the initial stage in India. Although it is a desirable development in the relation between management and labor, it cannot be imposed upon either side by compulsion and should evaluate naturally from within.

2. Voluntary arbitration: In voluntary arbitration, both parties agree to refer their dispute agreed arbitrator and his award becomes binding on the parties.

3. Wage Legislation: Wages are fixed according to the law in some industries. The central government and state government may fix minimum wages under the minimum wages act 1948 for the industries in which workers are exploited or too unorganized to protect their own interest. In order to advise them in the matter of fixing minimum wages, the government appoints minimum wages committees and the advisory boards. The committees and the advisory boards consist of equal number of workers and employers representative and also independent members whose number should not exceed one- third of the total number of members.


4. Conciliation: The industrial dispute act 1947, provide for consideration in case of dispute between employee and worker. If an agreement is reached in the course of conciliation proceeding, it becomes binding on the parties and takes effects from the date agreed upon or from the date on which it is signed by the two parties. In case no agreement is reached, the conciliation officer sends a full report o the proceeding. On the receipt of the report, the govt. may decide to refer the case to industrial tribunal for award.

5. Adjudication: Labor courts and industrial tribunal are set up under the industrial disputes act 1947. On studying the awards one gets the impression that the adjudication are attempting to justify their decision in social and ethical terms. At the same time, there is desire to satisfy both parties to dispute, and therefore. Economics factors such as capacity to pay, unemployment, profit, condition of the economy or welfare of the industry concerned, are given due prominence.

6. Wages Board: The board is appointed by govt. and consists of seven members- two management, two of labour, two independent and a chairman. The board is expected to take into account the needs of the specific industry in a developing economy, the special feature of industry, the requirement of social justice and the necessity for adjusting wage differential in such a manner as to provide incentives to workers for advancing their skill. Its recommendation may be accepted by the govt. either completely or partly and may be statutorily imposed on the industry in question, or may be rejected.


Q.5 Ms. S. Sharma is the General Manager HR of a private educational group. She is planning for the promotion policy for the faculty members. The norms are also ruled by the government policy and criteria. Moreover the options to promote are limited. Suggest Ms Sharma the alternative way to vertical promotion. What are the challenges in implementing that option?

Answer:

Individually perceived sequences of a attitude and behavior work related activities and experience over the span of a person’s life. In normal parlance the term career has both an internal and external focus. An internal focus refers to the way an individual views his/her career and the external or objective focus and refers to the series of job position held by the individual. The dynamics of career development in an organizational context has two dimensions:

How individuals plan and implement their own career goals , and

How organizations design and implement their career implement their career development programs.

Career planning is a deliberate attempt by an individual to become more aware of their skills, interest, values, opportunities and constraints. It requires an individual thinking to identify career-related goals and establishing plans towards achieving those goals. Often it is self driven process, which every professional appends some time to dwell on and discuss it with peers or superiors and frame it. It is also viewed from time to time that the individual looks for possible new carrier option. Having a career plan builds a commitment towards achieving it and is viewed as an excellent personal goal setting exercise for self motivation.

Career management is considered to be an organizational process that involves preparing, implementing & monitoring career plans undertaken by n individual alone or within the organizational career system. Organizational establishing polices that provide for multiple career path options that an employee can choose from and pursue. This is supported with a lot of training and development


activities that are agreed to with the managers and planned carefully and executed. A variety of career development activities and tools exists for use in organizations. HR managers should be familiar with these components bemuse the managers often serve as internal consultants responsible for designing the career development system. Some of the activities described are individuals career planning tools and other are commonly used for organizational career management.

In general the most effective career development program will use both type of activities Career development program are as follows:

1. Self assessment tools: these are usually technology enabled on line tools that form part of the performance appraisal system and allow the individual to identify areas of strength the best e.g career planning workbooks, career workshop etc

2. Individual counseling: formally the process allows for individuals to discuss this as part of the performance management process with their immediate managers and share and take feedback with their immediate managers and share and take feedback on the appropriateness of the choices and how to go about pursuing it. Often managers recommend relevant other managers and leaders who the employee can link with to seek advice and support. Organizations also provide for formal ‘mentoring programs´ to which an employee can enroll and sign up a mentor who can then provide the support and counseling on the best career option and how to go about it achieving it.

3. Information services: organization has establishing policies on what skills and experience that each job in the organization requires. Jobs with similar skills and experience are clubbed together to create parallel career paths. These are typically called career ladders or career paths and they help an employee to identify what his options are for future growth and identify the appropriate one based on his personal skills and capabilities/limitation. These career path would be supplemented with additional information on


skills and experience that one must have for each role/job in there career path. It would also specify the particular qualification or special certification that the position demands. An employee aspiring to purpose a career option would need to dedicate time and efforts and the expenses towards acquiring the same. Large MNC’s also encourage the reimbursement of these expenses as an annual fixed amount on successfully the exam / certification. The employee however needs to find the time and expend the efforts away from work. The actual move of the employee to the new role would however depend on the existence of the job vacancy in the role. Employee can also approach career resource / talent management centers supported by HR team for more information on how to plan careers and apply for new roles and job.

4. Initial employment programmed organization also run internship and apprenticeship programs wherein the individual aspiring to do particular jobs can spend some time as a temporary employee to explore interest and skill fitment for the job/role.

5. Organization assessment program: it can proactively establish formal process wherein an employee can volunteer to participate and understand himself/herself and his/her strengths. Through the use of assessment center organizations can help an employee identify areas for improvement and means of building those skills. So he can achieve his career plans. Certain organizations offer psychological testing instrument which profile the employee’s strengths and roles and responsibility he/she will best fit into.

6. Development programs focus the efforts of the employee towards helping the employee to achieve his career goals. The assessment centers, job rotations program, in housing training, tuition refund plans, all prove effective tools to help the individual along.


Q.6 ABC is an organization that wants to revise the HR policies. Before doing

that it wants to have some details about the following:

What the employees think about the company?

What do they think, in the company is going well?

What practices in the company they think are not doing well?

Get the feedback on managerial effectiveness.

Suggest the suitable method to collect the employee opinion and explain the method.

Answer:

Employee survey techniques have developed significantly over the past few years, with web based technologies it is easier and cheaper than ever to collect and manage data. In the past, any HR driven initiative was seen as tactical and of little real benefit to the organization as a whole. Now many enlightened organizations see HR and employee surveys as a powerful business improvement tool.

The Survey Questionnaire Method method is generally used to collect employee

opinions about the factors which affect morale and their opinion about the

leadership. Morale or employee satisfaction surveys are generally conducted with

a view to:

1. Finding out what employees really think;

2. Finding out what, in the company, they think is working well and what is

not;


3. Solicit feedback on managerial effectiveness;

4. Determining the clarity of company vision/objectives and the top

management commitment to it; and

5. Finding out what employee is most unhappy about.

This questionnaire is usually a scientifically developed instrument and well tested

for validity and reliability. These include multiple choice, dichotomous (yes or no)"

and open-ended questions.

Different Types of Employee Survey Programs

Annual climate and employee satisfaction surveys are by far the most popular kind of employee survey activity. However, the following types of survey programs are also gaining in popularity:

Combining employee and customer satisfaction studies. Procedure/policy evaluation. Alignment of employees behind new product development. Alignment of employees behind organizational rebranding and

repositioning efforts. Managing employees through organizational change programs (e.g.

merger, acquisition/downsizing, etc.). Internal customer service evaluations. Internal communications evaluations. Evaluation and design of different benefits schemes.

Defining Employee Survey Goals and Objectives


Before starting on a staff survey process, it is vital to define a set of objectives for the survey. Without these objectives, the survey program will lack focus and it will be difficult to raise enthusiasm for the survey among your key influencers and decision makers. All employee survey programs need to be seen as a company-wide initiative that is driven by managers and employees from across the whole organization and not something that is solely initiated and managed just within HR

Deciding on the Appropriate Survey Methodology

Defining objectives at the outset will help to determine the methodology because, to meet the desired objectives, you will need to consider the following:

Are all employees affected and should all employees need to be involved? Will changes and improvement action be required at different levels across

the organization? How will managers and employees be engaged in the improvement

process? How will awareness of the survey, its results and improvements be raised

and managed among employees? How will the progress of improvement actions be reviewed, monitored and

communicated over time?Quantitative and qualitative research methods can both be highly effective in employee surveys. It is essential, though, to ensure that the correct methodology is used for the type of survey being conducted.

Employee satisfaction surveys are the most common form of quantitative research. There are occasions when both methodologies can be effectively combined. For example, in an employee satisfaction survey, you may decide to use focus groups before designing the survey in order to determine the survey content and/or pilot questionnaire.

Employee Satisfaction Surveys It is worthwhile examining employee satisfaction surveys in more detail given that they are the most popular type of employee survey.


Pre Survey During the Survey Post Survey Between Surveys

AN INTRODUCTION TO EMPLOYEE SURVEY TECHNIQUES

Planning for Employee Satisfaction Surveys

The following outlines some of the factors that should be communicated at each stage of the process:

Pre Survey

Objectives of the survey, rationale for the survey and how the results will be fed back

Use an independent, third-party agency for data collection and analysis Timing of the data collection Senior management commitment to the survey Importance of getting a good response rate so that all employee opinions

are heard Importance of participation Methodology to be used Assurance that the study will protect anonymity and preserve

confidentiality

During the Survey

Reminder of the objectives and assurance that action will be taken Assurance that individual surveys cannot be seen Regular reminders and a notice of when the survey completion period will

end How the results will be acted upon Update on current response rate


Reinforce the importance of participation How employees can participate and what employees should do if having

problems accessing or completing the survey Reinforce anonymity and confidentiality of the results

Post Survey

Thank employees for participating and communicate how results will be shared

Final response rate (Company wide vs. Business Units/Divisions) Detail on how employees should get involved in the improvement action

planning process Local results and local improvement action planning Provide top-level summary results Reminder of the action planning process

Between Surveys

Highlight and recognize successful examples of action planning and progress made

Recognize the contributions of teams and individuals to the action planning process

Senior management endorsement and support of the final action plan/survey outcomes

Detailed plans for the next survey Highlight any areas where action cannot be taken and the reasons for this Highlight the impact of action planning on customer service and business

performance

Electronic and Web-Enabled


Increasingly, organizations are starting to move towards electronic methods of surveying their employees and the most common method is hosting a web-enabled survey.

Questionnaire Design

The design of the questionnaire is important as it can have as much influence over the response rate as the method of completion.

The key incentive

In contrast to the weak influence of incentives, research shows that employees are more likely to participate in an employee survey if they believe that the results will be acted upon. The golden rule of this type of survey is that, if you do not intend to act on the results, then do not conduct the survey in the first place.

Results Analysis and Reporting

There are many different ways of analyzing, cutting and reporting results and each organization has to decide individually on the best method for their needs.

IMPROVEMENT ACTION PLANNING

Background As noted earlier, the guiding principle of employee survey is that, if you are not prepared to act on the results, then do not conduct the survey in the first place. You have spent time and effort getting employees enthusiastic about the survey and they now have high expectations that there will be improvement activity in which they will be involved.

Improvement action planning should be ³top down´ process where the priorities for the organization are identified, communicated and acted upon at the senior management level. Then moving down to Divisional and Unit levels, local teams should identify and tackle the things that they have direct control over and escalate anything else back upwards.

Prioritizing Improvement Actions Prioritization of improvement actions should be taken under consideration. Some organizations struggle with improvement action


planning because they try to tackle far too many improvement actions at once and start spreading the valuable resources they have too thinly over too many actions. Our recommendation is that not more than three to four improvement actions should be tackled at one time and that further actions should not be pursued until at least one of the existing actions has been fully completed.

The specific components of the plan should be as follows:

1. Area for improvement: What is the problem? What impact is it having on employees and customers? What is causing the problem?

2. What Needs to Happen: Specify the specific improvement action that is required to address the problem.

3. How It Will Happen: Specify the process and activities required as part of the improvement action.

4. Timelines: It is important to have a target date for completing the delivery of the action. This sets the focus that any target delivery date is realistic and achievable and it may be stretched if not met.

5. Action Owner: It is important for one person to be allocated ownership for the action. This does not necessarily mean that this person is solely responsible for the delivery of the action, but they are responsible for ensuring that the delivery does actually happen. Ownership for actions should be spread around the team so that no one person is overburdened.

6. Resources: Specify and determine what individual resources are required such as personnel, money, materials or support from other parts of the organization.

7. Improvement Targets: It is important to be able to determine whether improvement actions are having the desired effect by setting improvement targets. The survey can be used as a source for this by pulling out appropriate questions and setting targets for improving the results to these questions in the next survey.


8. Method of Measurement: List the data sources that will provide the information needed for improvement targets.

9. Review Dates: Specify all of the dates when the improvement action will be reviewed.

10.Review of Progress: This step should be completed after each review to outline the progress made against the action.

11.Completion Date: The date when the action was finally completed.

12.Impact: Completed after the action has finally been delivered to define the impact and difference that the improvement action has made to employees, customers and the business overall.

Reviewing the Action Plan

Regular review of the action plan is perhaps the most important element of the improvement action planning process because it ensures that the momentum is being maintained, enables progress to be tracked and identifies any barriers that may exist.


AUGUST 2011

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Semester – 1

MB0043 – Human Resource Management - 4 Credits

(Book ID: B0909)

Assignment - Set- 2

Q.1 Discuss the factors affecting recruitment?

Answer:


The ability to identify the correct talent for not just the role/job but also from the organizational values perspective can be summarized as the key recruiting challenge. All organizations, whether large or small, do engage in recruiting activity, though not to the same intensity. Few factors that impact the nature of recruitment:

i) The size of the organization- the smaller the organization the more the need to carefully scrutinize the candidate for a job and the fitment to the organizational culture. The risk in case of job-candidate mismatch can prove equally expensive for a smaller organization as compared to the larger one.

ii) The employment conditions in the country where the organization is located- critically impacts the recruiting strategy. The methods for recruiting, the selection tools that are most suited and the legal framework that bear on the employer are some aspects that need to be considered.

iii) The affects of past recruiting efforts which show the organization’s ability to locate and keep good performing people- constantly reviewing the effectiveness of the recruiting methods and the selection tools used, evaluating the success at-work of the new recruits are some methods used by organizations to ensure that quality hiring practices are in-place.

iv) Working conditions and salary and benefit packages offered by the organization – this may influence turnover and necessitate future recruiting; (v) The rate of growth of organization- the phase in the life-cycle of the firm is a measure of the recruiting effort.

v) The level of seasonality of operations and future expansion and production programs – ensuring that the recruitment numbers come form a well-planned Human Resource Plan is critical to ensure that there is no over-hiring or under-hiring of the required talent to achieve the organizational objectives.


vi) Cultural, economic and legal factors – these too affect the recruiting and selection methods that are used.

Q.2 Right Time is a watch manufacturing company. It has hired 20 people recently for the company. They will be involved in manufacturing, assembling of watches. They will be using different machines and tools for this. What type of training is best for them? What may be the advantages and limitations of the training method?

Answer:

Vestibule/classroom training is best for twenty people hired by Right Time, a watch manufacturing training since they will be involved in manufacturing and assembling of watches.

Vestibule / Classroom Training:

This method attempts to duplicate on-the-job situations in a company classroom. It is a classroom training which is often imparted with the help of the equipment and machines which are identical with those in use in the place of work. This technique enables the trainee to concentrate on learning the new skill rather than performing an actual job. In other words, it is geared to job duties. Theoretical training is given in the classroom, while the practical work is conducted on the production line.

The advantages of using the vestibule-training system are the disadvantages of specialization. The instructor, a specialist, should be more skilled at teaching. The student avoids the confusion and pressure of the work situation and thus is able to concentrate on learning. One can also often attain a given level of skill more quickly in the specialized learning situation. We have more assurance that adequate time and attention will be given to training and that it will not slighted


in favour of other problems. More individualized instruction can be given, and training activities do not interfere with the regular processes of production.

Among the disadvantages are the splitting of responsibilities leads to organizational problems. Second, an additional investment in equipment is necessary, though the cost may be reduced by getting some productive work done by trainees while in the school. Third, this method is of limited value for the jobs which utilize equipment which can be duplicated and finally the training situation is somewhat artificial.

Q.3 Write a note on 360 degree appraisal method.

Answer:

Typically, performance appraisal has been limited to a feedback process between employees and Managers. However, with the increased focus on teamwork, employee development, and customer service, the emphasis has shifted to employee feedback from the full circle of sources depicted in the diagram below. This multiple-input approach to performance feedback is sometimes called "360-degree assessment" to connote that full circle.


The 360 degree matrix

There are no prohibitions in law or regulation against using a variety of rating sources, in addition to the employee’s Manager, for assessing performance. Research has shown assessment approaches with multiple rating sources provide more accurate, reliable, and credible information. For this reason, HR Management supports the use of multiple rating sources as an effective method of assessing performance for formal appraisal and other evaluative and developmental purposes.

The circle, or perhaps more accurately the sphere, of feedback sources consists of Managers, peers, subordinates, customers, and one’s self. It is not necessary, or always appropriate, to include all of the feedback sources in a particular appraisal program. The organizational culture and mission must be considered, and the purpose of feedback will differ with each source. For example, subordinate assessments of a Manager’s performance can provide valuable developmental guidance, peer feedback can be the heart of excellence in teamwork, and


customer service feedback focuses on the quality of the team’s or agency’s results. The objectives of performance appraisal and the particular aspects of performance that are to be assessed must be established before determining which sources are appropriate.

Superiors: Evaluations by superiors are the most traditional source of employee feedback. This form of evaluation includes both the ratings of individuals by Managers on elements in an employee’s performance plan and the evaluation of programs and teams by senior managers.

Q.4 Given below is the HR policy glimpse of “ZoomVideo”, a multimedia

company

1. It offers cash rewards for staff members2. It promotes the culture of employee referral and encourages people to refer people they know, maybe their friends, ex. colleagues, batch mates and relatives. 3. It recognizes good performances and gives good titles and trophies to the people who perform well and also felicitates them in the Annual Day of the company.Identify what all aspects does it take care of, based on different levels of Maslow’s Need Hierarchy ?

Answer:

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory

The importance of motivation to human life and work can be judged by the number of theories that have been propounded to explain people’s behaviour. Maslow’s theory of basic needs draws chiefly from human psychology. He arranged the human needs of an individual in a hierarchical manner. Maslow proposed an individual’s motivation as a predetermined order of needs which he


strives to satisfy. His model of ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ indicates the following propositions about human behavior.

i) Physiological Needs: These are basic to life, viz., and hunger for ‘food, thirst, shelter and companionship among others. They are relatively independent of each other and in some cases can be identified with a specific location in the body. These needs are cyclic. In other words, they are satisfied for only a short period; then they reappear.

ii) Safety Needs: If the physiological needs are relatively satisfied, a set of needs emerge for protection against danger and threats. In an ordered society, a person usually feels safe from extremes of climate, tyranny, violence and so on.

iii) Social Needs: If the physiological and safety needs are fairly satisfied, the needs for love and affection and belongingness will emerge and the cycle will repeat itself with this new centre. If he is deprived of these needs he will want to


attain them more than anything else in the world. An individual desires affectionate relationships with people in general and desires to have a respected place in his group.

iv) Esteem Needs: Everyone has a need for self-respect and for the esteem of others. This results in the desire for strength, confidence, prestige, recognition and appreciation. These egoistic needs are rarely completely satisfied. The typical industrial and commercial organization does not offer much opportunity for their satisfaction to employees at the lower levels.

v) Self-actualization Needs: The term "self-actualization" was coined by Kurt Goldstein and means, to become actualized in what one is potentially good at. A person may achieve self – actualization in being the ideal fitter, supervisor, mother or an eminent artist.

People who are satisfied with these needs are basically satisfied people and it is from these that we can expect the fullest creativeness. A sound motivational system to be successful must take care of this hierarchy of needs of the team members in order to work efficiently. It must cover basic as well as higher needs and it must be flexible to cater to changes in the environment.

Q.5 Describe the emerging employee empowerment practices.

Answer:

In today’s organizations the focus is moving towards collaboration at the workplace. One of the most common instruments established in large organizations has been the Employee Suggestion Schemes (ESS). The ESS has proved effective in allowing employees a discrete method of voicing their opinions and suggestion for what can be better managed in the company. The management invites the employees suggestions on all/any issue that is a source of irritation for the employees including topics mentioned in 13.3 above are open for comment. What however is different is that the employee is encouraged to frame it as a suggestion and make a recommendation for a change, rather than


the classic fault finding approach about what is going wrong or what is not working well. There are ESS forms/ templates that are left in common places or the employee can download from the company intranet and fill in the suggestion for change and drop it in boxes left common places like the coffee area or the lunch rooms etc.. These suggestions are then collated by the HR team and on a quarterly basis the Suggestion Committee meets to review all of the suggestions received. The Suggestion Committee includes line managers, HR representative and Finance and Facilities & Administration team members and senior management representative who can provide the necessary guidance for approval of the suggestions. The committee meets and discusses each suggestion in depth and evaluates the scope for implementation of the suggestion. The feasibility of implementing the suggestion and its other implications are evaluated closely and the suggestion accepted/set aside for future review/rejected. There are awards given away for excellent ideas that help the company optimize costs, productivity and improve quality, customer satisfaction etc.. The HR then communicates the suggestion committee report with all employees through a mail or during the employees Open-house sessions.

The employee’s ‘open house’ also called the ‘all hands’ meeting is one more communication forum effectively used by the senior management of a company to connect with its employees. This usually is a quarterly or a half-yearly meeting to which all employees are invited. There is a brief sharing of the company’s performance and the rest of the time devoted to answering any queries that employees might have on any issue that concerns the company and its employees. This is often followed with by a informal interactions over lunch/breakfast, where once again employees can speak to the senior executives and ask general questions. Often employees might not feel comfortable asking tough questions in a open forum, hence there are drop-boxes provided where the employee can write and drop a question or a opinion that he wants the senior management to answer. The employee need not mention his name on the question slip. If the senior management is unable to answer a question then and there the same is reviewed subsequently by the senior management and a response shared with all employees over mail or posted on the notice board or on the intranet site for everyone to read. Some organizations also operate a email communication method where any employee who has a query or a observation can write his question to the mail alias and obtain a response. Usually the HR is the custodian of this mailed and they do the necessary review to suitably answer


the questions and seek the manager’s inputs on a as needed basis. The concept of taskforce is also a common mechanism that organizations use to build cross-functional teams (with one representative each from each department) that will work on concerns that are commonly voiced. For example a leading medical transcription company wanted to review its incentive policy and in order to have a collaborative approach put together a team of employees one each from each of the departments including representatives from HR and Finance. The team was provided with all the historical information they would need and were given all of 6 weeks to work on the project and make a presentation to the senior management of the company. After the first presentation to them and having incorporated the feedback received the taskforce then presented the new scheme to the employees. Finally it was approved as a policy and made effective.

Today’s organizations therefore adopt a collaborative approach to employee issues. While the technology companies are more informal the traditional brick-and-motor companies have formal processes. Whatever the approach whether formal or informal employees are encouraged to open-up and ask questions and perform as contended employees.

Q.6 Write a note on directive, permissive and participative type of leadership.

Answer:

According to Chris Argyris, leadership is classified into three groups as follows:

a) The Directive typeb) The Permissive typec) The participative type

Leadership is "the relationship in which one person influences others to work

together willingly on related tasks to attain that level which he desires." So, if

there is no follower, there is no leader.


Haiman defined Leadership as "the process by which an executive or a manager

imaginatively directs, guides and influences the work of others in choosing and

attaining specified goals by mediation between the individual and organisation in

such a manner that both will obtain the maximum satisfaction.”

Directive Leadership

Directive Leadership is a common form of leadership we see in the world today.

This leader tells the subordinate what to do, and how to do it.

He initiates the action about the things to do and and tells subdorinates exactly

what is expected of them, specifying standards and deadlines. They exercise firm

rule and ensure that subordinates do follow.

This kind of leaders are usually found in more traditional and long standing

companies where the prevalent culture in the country is a more authoritarian

type of rule, and especially so in Asian countries.

Employees in these organizations will find it hard or sometimes even frustrating

to work there. This is because when a leader behaves in such a way, it restricts

the potential of individuals in the organization by not valuing their creativity and

initiative.

As a leader, you must strive not to become like that because this is how you

‘manage’ people. But people don’t want to be managed, they want to be lead.


However, of course there are some cases where this form of leadership is

important, like in the military where strictness and accuracy in performing tasks is

often a virtue.

However, for most other cases, I believe that this form of leadership in this day

and age is counter-productive.

Permissive Leadership

Permissive leadership can also be called “hands-off” leadership. A permissive

leader does not attempt to influence the members of the group. They are allowed

to work on projects using whatever methods appear O.K. at the time. The truly

permissive leader uses very little leadership pressure. The group is allowed and

even expected to solve its own problems and accomplish goals using methods

developed by group members. Permissive leadership may swing too far away

from any form of leadership -- resulting in a vacuum of leadership – which can

result in confusion, lack of productivity, and even chaos within an organization. In

other words there is an absence of effective leadership; although a group of

disciplined and well motivated individuals may be able to get things done.

Participative Leadership

A participative leadership style takes into consideration the opinions and thoughts

of the subordinates before making a decision.

This type of leader is useful especially in situations where you can tap on the

talent of your team. Ultimately, you may not be the most equipped in your team

to handling situations so you might want to make a collective decision with your


team. A board of directors often behave in this fashion, where before a decision is

made, the whole board is consulted and then a decision be made unanimously.

The responsibility of the decision will be bore by the whole team as a result. To

have skills as a leader in this area, you must have the skill of facilitation; to learn

how to facilitate discussion and idea generation in a group. Sometimes people

don’t speak up for various reasons and your job as a leader in this case is to draw

everyone to speak up so that you can tap on everyone’s thoughts and potential.

This is important because everyone must be willing to bear equal responsibility

for a decision that is put forward. This form of leadership probably works best in

the setting of large organizations where there are a lot of shareholders or

directors.


MB0043 Human Resource Management Assignment -Semester 1

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