GC UNIVERSITY FAISALABAD
Human Resource Management
1st Assignment Danish Saqi
Roll No. 119467 Section: B
Semester 4th
29-07-2017
This Assignment has 10 questions related to Human Resource Management , which include, HRM , it importance, process, methods, Leadership, organizational strategy, purpose of job analysis, and work place diversity
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Q1: What is human resource management? Discuss its importance in
modern day organizations.
Answer:
Human resource management:
Human resource (HR) management is designing management systems to ensure that
human talent is used effectively and efficiently to accomplish organizational goals.
Human Resource Management (HRM) is the term used to describe formal systems
devised for the management of people within an organization. The responsibilities of a
human resource manager fall into three major areas: staffing, employee compensation and
benefits, and defining/designing work.
Importance of Human Resource Management:
An organization cannot create a good team of working professional without good
human resource. The important points of human resource management are as follow.
1. Recruitment and Training
This is one of the key responsibilities of the human resource team. The HR
managers come up with ideas and plans for hiring the exact kind of people. They plan the
values which is best suitable for a specific job description. Their other tasks interrelated to
recruitment include formulating the obligations of an employee and the choice of tasks
assigned to him or her. Based on these two factors, the contract of an employee with the
company is arranged. When needed, they also provide training to the employees according to
the requirements of the organization. Thus, the staff members get the opportunity to sharpen
their existing skills or develop specialized skills which in turn, will help them to take up
some new roles.
2. Performance Appraisals
HRM encourages the people working in an organization to work according to
their prospective and gives them ideas that can help them to bring about development in it.
The team communicates with the staff independently from time to time and provides all the
necessary information regarding their performances and also defines their respective roles.
This is helpful as it enables them to form an outline of their expected goals in much clearer
terms and thereby, helps them execute the goals with best possible efforts. Performance
appraisals, when taken on a regular basis, motivate the employees.
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3. Maintaining Work Atmosphere
This is a vital aspect of HRM because the performance of an individual in an
organization is mostly driven by the work atmosphere or work culture that prevails at the
workplace. A good working condition is one of the benefits that the employees can expect
from an effective human resource team. A safe, clean and healthy atmosphere can bring out
the best in an employee. A friendly atmosphere gives the staff members’ job satisfaction as
well.
4. Managing Disputes
In an organization there are several problems on which disputes may rise between
the employees and the employers. You can say clashes are almost unavoidable. In such a
scenario, it is the human resource department which performances as a consultant and
mediator to sort out those issues in an effective manner. They first hear the complaints of the
employees. Then they come up with suitable solutions to sort them out. In other words, they
take timely action and avoid things from going out of hands.
5. Developing Public Relations
The duty of establishing good public relations lies with the HRM to a countless
level. They organize business meetings, seminars and various official gatherings on behalf of
the company in direction to build up relationships with other business sectors. Sometimes,
the HR department plays an active role in making the business and marketing plans for the
organization too.
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Q2: How leadership can be a source of organizational success? Differentiate
between a good leader and a good manager?
Answer:
Leadership can be a source of organizational success:
It has been said that without leadership, all other business elements lie dormant.
Strong leaders can help an organization to maximize productivity and achieve business
goals, whereas weak leadership can hurt productivity and put the health of the business in
jeopardy.
Leadership is commonly defined as establishing a clear vision, communicating
the vision with others and resolving the conflicts between various individuals who are
responsible for completing the company’s vision.
Types:
Three types of leadership are common in business: authoritarian, democratic and laissez-
faire. Each type of leadership impacts organizational performance differently. Authoritarian
leadership is commanding and sets clear expectations for employees in the organizational.
Democratic leadership encourages feedback and input from managers or employees regarding
organizational performance. Laissez-faire is a hands-off approach, where managers and
employees work according to their own preference and schedule. This leadership style can lead
to poor motivation and work practices.
Features:
Successful organizational performance relies on the proper behavior from managers and
employees. Leadership can be an evolutionary process in companies. Business owners who
provide leadership can transform an employee from a worker completing tasks to a valuable
team member. Leadership skills can help change an employee’s mentality by instilling an
ownership mindset. Employees who believe they have a direct owner-style relationship with the
organization often find ways to improve their attitude and productivity.
Function:
Leadership can help a business maintain singular focus on its operations. Larger business
organizations can suffer from too many individuals attempting to make business decisions.
Business owners can use leadership skills to get managers and employees on the same page and
refocus on the original goal. Leadership skills can also help correct poor business practices or
internal conflicts between employees.
Differentiate between a good leader and a good manager
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# Leadership Management
1 Leadership is commonly defined as
establishing a clear vision,
communicating the vision with others
and resolving the conflicts between
various individuals who are responsible
for completing the company’s vision.
Management is the organization and
coordination of various economic resources
in a business. Leadership can have a
significant impact on an organization’s
performance.
2 The leader innovates The manager administers
3 The leader is an original The manager is a copy
4 The leader focuses on people
The manager focuses on systems and
structure.
5 The leader has a long-range perspective The manager has a short-range view
6 The leader asks what and why The manager asks how and when
7 Leaders have their eyes on the horizon Managers have their eyes on the bottom line
8 The leader originates The manager imitates
9 The leader does the right thing The manager does things right
10 The leader challenges it The manager accepts the status quo
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Q3: Discuss the Role of HR Department in an organization. Elaborate
various functions which are performed by HR department.
Answer:
Role of HR Department:
A human resources department is a critical component of employee well-being in
any business, no matter how small. HR responsibilities include payroll, benefits, hiring,
firing, and keeping up to date with state and federal tax laws.
HR department have important role in organization. Without HR department
organization cannot perform work properly. HR department perform various important
function in organization. The responsibilities of a human resource manager fall into three
major areas:
Staffing,
Employee compensation and benefits, and
Defining/designing work.
Essentially, the purpose of HRM is to maximize the productivity of an organization
by optimizing the effectiveness of its employees.
Functions of HR Department:
Different companies have different functions of HR department as required by
leadership. But most common functions of HR department are following:
1. Staffing:
An organization must have skilled persons, in specific jobs at specific places and
times, in order to accomplish its goals. Obtaining such people includes job analysis, human
resource planning, recruitment, and selection. Job analysis is the systematic process of
defining the skills, duties, and knowledge required for accomplishment specific jobs in an
organization.
Human resource planning (HRP) is the process of methodically revising human
resource requirements to ensure that the required numbers of employees, with the required
skills, are available when needed. Recruitment is the process of attracting such individuals
in enough numbers and encouraging them to apply for jobs with the organization. Selection
is the process through which the organization chooses, from a group of applicants, those
individuals best suited both for open positions and for the company.
2. Human resource development:
A major HRM function that involves not only of training and development but
also individual job planning and development activities and performance evaluation, an
activity that underlines T&D needs. Training is designed to provide learners with the
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knowledge and skills needed for their present jobs. Development involves learning that goes
beyond today’s job; it has a more long-term focus.
Human resource development (HRD) helps individuals, groups, and the entire
organization become more effective. It is essential because people, technology, jobs, and
organizations are always changing.
3. Compensation and benefits
The term compensation contains all rewards that individuals receive as a result of
their employment. The reward may be one or a combination of the following:
Pay: The money that a person receives for performing a job.
Benefits: Additional financial rewards other than base pay include paid vacations,
sick leave, holidays, and medical insurance.
Non-financial rewards: Non-monetary rewards, such as enjoyment of the work
performed or a pleasant working environment.
4. Health and safety:
Safety involves protecting employees from injuries caused by work-related
accidents. Health refers to the employees’ freedom from illness and their general physical
and mental well-being. These aspects of the job are important because employees who work
in a safe environment and enjoy good health are more likely to be productive and yield long-
term benefits to the organization.
5. Employee and Labor relationship:
The Employee and Labor Relations function of the Human Resources Department
is commonly associated with matters such as investigations, counseling and disciplinary
actions, but that certainly is not its primary mission. This critical HR component operates as
a nexus between staff and management, bridging gaps that oftentimes seem insurmountable
to either party. Through various forms of intervention, including problem-solving,
mediation, training and counseling, Labor Relations offers balanced advocacy to
management and individual employees to protect their respective rights and facilitate a more
harmonious work environment.
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Q4: HRM is the key to success. According to your opinion what is the Future
of Human Resource Management?
Answer:
The Future of HRM:
The future of Human Resources is backed by the advanced technology and the
return of the human approach to our management practices. The small and nimble start-
up companies show the future of HR. They do not implement robust HR processes; their
approach is agile. The agile HR is the right approach for the near future. Most upcoming
trends require HR that is flexible, and that will shape the HR Organization of tomorrow.
1. The simplification
The simplification is a trend that cannot Human Resources ignore in the near
future. Running a complex organization is expensive; the sophisticated HR processes and
procedures are expensive; the long decision-making process makes organization
uncompetitive. The company can become quick, lean and competitive if it simplifies its
processes. HR has to focus on the simplification of its complex processes. It has to return
the decision making rights back to employees and managers. HR has to oversight
processes; it should not make all tactical decisions. Simplification hurts, but it is a part of
the future of Human Resources Management. Moreover, the simplification is closely
linked to another future issue of Human Resources - the globalization.
2. The globalization
The globalization is a genuine challenge for Human Resources. The real global
team is not just about one centralized Head Quarter which sends out global policies. It is
about the ability of the company to manage the rest of the team from any place in the
world. Most globally present companies miss the "global picture" as they try to manage
all countries using the same matrix and approach. HR has to develop new leaders who
will act globally. They can operate from any place on the Earth, and they can lead and
manage global cross-cultural teams. They have to find the cost effective way to manage
the organization globally as the company does not grow in number of global management
layers which do not add value and make the decision making process long and painful.
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3. Leadership development practices
Our leadership development practices will be a significant imperative for us. Most
organizations run their operation at risk because they have no successors for the leader.
Many organizations do not survive when the founder of the company leaves. The future
of HR is about making sure that the new leader grows and develops inside the
organization. The company has to be ready to shift the leadership within days because it
saves its future.
One of the trends to build a sustainable competitive advantage are innovations and
the innovations management. However, most HR Organizations do not understand how
they should support changes in the organization. HR has to be able to connect
innovations with the traditional change management to design a true powerful weapon
against competitors on the market. Supporting innovations is not easy because the
organization has to empower employees to elaborate ideas. It has to accept not to control
employees. It has to provide them with the freedom to be creative. This is the moment
where HR should step in and design essential principles and training courses for
managers. HR has to learn managers how to provide employees with freedom to be
innovative and creative. It is a task for the future of Human Resources.
4. New era of agile HRIS solutions
In the future, we can expect a new era of agile HRIS solutions. Today, we use the
robust and full scope HRIS solution which fits all our requirements and needs. However,
in the near future our requirements will start to change rapidly. The complex and
expensive HRIS solution will not be able to keep up with requirements and the
maintenance of such a system will be a nightmare. The new agile HRIS solution will be
simple, small, and it will support just the necessary administration of personnel files.
However, it will offer a rich connectivity to other systems around which will deliver HR
services with high frequency of changes. Times of old and complex HRIS solutions are
over.
5. Social media
Social media change Human Resources (even today). HR of the future will have
to utilize social media as the best communication channel. However, it will have to define
rules for discussions that go beyond pure internal conversations. HR will have to show
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employees what confidentiality and the business secret means and how they should act.
Organizations will be extremely vulnerable to exposing its business secrets to public
audiences. HR of the future will be the master of social media, and it will teach other
business functions how to communicate internally and externally without taking
excessive risks.
6. HR in the cloud.
Last trend of the future will be HR in the cloud. HR Data will be present online
and most HR processes will be fully paperless. We dream about the paperless HR office
for many years, but HR cloud solutions will enable such a future. Yes, the history of
Human Resources is not a finished book yet. Many new HR approaches and processes
will evolve as organizations will look for new ways how to be competitive on the market.
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Q5: How workplace Diversity has created challenges for HR Department?
How workplace diversity can be managed effectively?
Answer:
Workplace Diversity:
Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an
organization. That sounds simple, but diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age,
personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more.
Workplace Diversity Challenges:
There are some challenges, which are created with workplace diversity, are following:
1. Resistance to Change
Although employee diversity is a fact of life, the dominant groups in
organizations are still composed of white men.
2. Segmented Communication Networks
One study found that most communication within organizations occurs between
members of the same sex and race. Therefore diversified workforce organization may face
the challenge of segmented communication networks.
3. Resentment
Equal employment opportunity that can be defined as fairness of employment
that is free from all sort of discrimination in majority of organizations was a forced change
rather than a voluntary one.
4. Backlash
While women and minorities may view a firm's “cultural diversity policy” as a
commitment to improving their chances for advancement, white men may see it as a threat.
5. Retention
The job satisfaction levels of women and minorities are often lower than those of
white men.
6. Competition for Opportunities
As minority populations grow in the U.S., competition for jobs and opportunities
is likely to become much stronger.
7. Lower Cohesiveness
Diversity can create a lack of cohesiveness. Cohesiveness’ refers to how tightly
knit the group is and the degree to which group members perceive, interpret and act on
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their environment in similar or mutually agreed upon ways. Because of their lack of
similarities language, culture, and/ or experience, diverse workforce typically are less
cohesive than homogeneous groups. Often mistrust, miscommunication, stress and
attitudinal differences cohesiveness, which inurn can diminish productivity.
8. Communication problem
Perhaps the most common negative effect of diversity is communication
problems. These difficulties include misunderstanding, inaccuracies, and slowness. Speed
is lost when not all group members are fluent in the same language or when additional time
is required to explain things.
9. Stereotyping
We learn to see the world in a certain way based on our backgrounds and
experiences. Our interests, values and cultures act as filters and distort, block and select
what we see and hear. We see and hear what we expect to see and hear. Group members
often inappropriately stereotype their “different” colleagues rather than accurately
perceiving and evaluating those individual’s contributions, capabilities aspirations and
motivations. Such stereotypes inurn affect how people employee stereotyped as
unmotivated or emotional will be given less -stress – provoking jobs than their coworkers.
Those job assignments will create frustrated employees, perhaps resulting in low
commitment, higher turnover, and underused skills.
Management of workplace diversity:
Following are the different steps for manage the workplace diversity.
1. Emphasize communication:
Ensure that all employees understand your policies, procedures, safety rules, and
other important information. Work to overcome language and cultural barriers. Have key
materials, such as safety information, translated when possible. Use pictures and symbols on
warning signs so that everybody can understand.
2. View employees as individuals:
Avoid both positive and negative stereotypes. Don’t make assumptions about
employees from different groups. Judge successes and failures individually. Respond
promptly and firmly when employees express prejudices or stereotypes. Remind them of
your policies that prohibit discrimination. Encourage employees to view co-workers as
individuals and judge them on their work, not on personal factors.
3. Encourage employees to work in diverse groups:
Assure that work teams reflect the diversity of your workplace. Diverse work
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teams let employees get to know and value one another as individuals. Diverse teams also
expand the experiences and views of all the workers on the team and help them recognize the
strength of their combined talents and perspectives.
4. Base decisions on objective criteria:
Expect all employees of all backgrounds to meet required standards and perform
to the best of their ability. Don’t set different criteria for different groups. Don’t make
excuses or allow employees to make excuses for shortcomings. Base all employment actions,
including discipline, on specific, performance-related criteria. Always focus on job-related
issues, not personal issues, when dealing with employees.
5. Be open-minded:
Recognize, and encourage employees to recognize, that one’s own experience,
background, and culture are not the only ones with value to the organization. Set an example
of encouraging diversity by developing relationships with colleagues whose backgrounds
differ from yours. Look for ways to incorporate diverse perspectives and talents into efforts
to achieve organizational goals.
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Q6: Being an HR Manager which kind of issues you can face at workplace?
Elaborate the issues and discuss their remedies?
Answer:
HRM Issues and their remedies:
There are number of human resource management issues that need to be address as it is
an important function of any organization. These issues might be;
Environmental issues,
Organizational issues and
Individual issues, etc.
Always remember that these Issues are not related to the single dimension; rather they are
directed towards multi-dimensional issues that should be tackled with immediate care.
Following are the broad categories of the Human Resource Management issues in the today’s
competitive world.
(A) Environmental Issues:
There are following environmental issues:
1. Rapid Change
The world is changing at a faster rate because change is constant from several
centuries. So the management of the organizations should be quickly adaptive to the
changing requirement of the environment otherwise they become obsolete from the
market. The human resource management of an organization plays a basic role in
response to the environmental change. The HR department should adopt such policies
that can avail the new opportunities of the environment & keep the organization away
from the newly emerging threats.
2. Work Force Diversity
The changing environment provides both the opportunities & threats to the human
resource management of the organization. The HR manager should adopt such policies
that can make possible the diverse work force of employees. Although on one hand
diversity creates big problem but in the long run, the survival & performance of the
organization is flourished.
3. Globalization
One of the serious issue that today’s organizations are facing is the issue of
globalization. The world is converting into global business and severe competition is
started between domestic & foreign companies. Such competition results in the laying off
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the effective workforce of the organization. The HR department can play an important
role in keeping the culture of the organization as global & wider.
4. Legislation
It is the old environmental challenge that is faced by organization since many
decades. There are certain labor laws that are declared by the government for the benefits
of the working employees. Some of these laws are disadvantageous to the interests of the
organizations so it is a one of the big challenges for the HRM to implement all those
labor laws within the organizations. If any of such law is violated, serious actions are
taken by the relevant government authority that may result into serious penalty for the
management of the organization.
5. Technology
The technology is also growing with great speed especially in the field of
computer & telecommunication. New methods are emerging that quickly dominates the
older ones & makes them obsolete. Therefore the skills required by the employees also
changes with the changing technology & this would compels the worker to advance the
skills three to four times throughout their working lives. So there comes a burden on the
HR department to constantly update the skills & expertise of their employees.
6. Job & Family Roles
In recent years, dual-career families are increasing in which both the wife &
husband work. This creates a serious burden on the women that they have to give time to
their families also. In many organizations the policies of HR favors the employment of
more than 10 years. The working hours of the organizations are also strict and tight for
the employees. Moreover, the selection & training procedures are two tough and time
consuming so most of the talented women hesitate to join any organization which would
result in the wastage of talent and potential. Even working men also suffer from these
employment policies because they do not properly give time to their families. So the
challenges for the HRM increases with this particular issue & special favorable working
policies are needed to be employed in all organizations.
7. Lack of Skills
The service sector development is expanding due to many reasons like change in
the tastes & preference of customers, technological change, legal change etc. All of this
affected the structure and managing style of the business organizations. The skills
required in the employment of service sector is also advancing but the graduates of the
technical colleges & universities are groomed according to the latest requirements.
Therefore most of the employees lack the standard required skills to perform their duties
and it becomes a big challenge for HRM to properly train these new & old employees to
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become an efficient & effective workers.
(B) Organizational issues
There are following organizational issues, which are faced by HR department:
1. Controlling Costs
An organization can avail the competitive position by lowering its cost &
strengthening its cash flows. For this purpose, the labor cost of the organization is
minimized through effective compensation system that adopts innovative reward
strategies for good performances. In this way the favorable behaviors of the employees
are rewarded so the organization would get the ultimate advantage. Moreover the policies
of compensation should keep the labor cost under control. The effective employees
should be selected that keep with the organization for a longer duration & proper training
should also be provided to these employees. The HR department should also restore the
work of the employees along with the improvement in the health & safety issue of
working environment. All of these efforts would limit the cost of labor.
2. Improving Quality
The quality improvement can lead an organization towards competitive
advantage. The total quality management programs are employed that improves all the
processes within the organization which would ultimately result in the improvement of
the final product or service.
3. Developing Distinctive Capabilities
Another method of gaining competitive advantage is to employ the people that
have distinct capabilities to develop extra ordinary competence in specific area.
4. Restructuring
Another technique is the restructuring of the organization in which the
methods of performing different functions are altered positively. In case of HR
department, the majority of functions are still performed within the organization.
In some organizations the major functions of HR department are now transferred
to the other parties in the shape of outsourcing, shared service center etc. The sizes of HR
department in those organizations are shrinking because most of functions are performed
by outsiders. But in most of the organizations the HR manager performs all the relevant
functions of HRM. The HR department is now involved in the mission oriented &
strategic activities.
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(C) Individual Issues:
There are following Individual issues faced by individual issues:
1. Productivity
Productivity is defined as the measure of the value that an employee can add to
the final product or service of the organization. The increased output per employee is
reflected as increased productivity. Ability & motivation are two important factors that
affect the employee productivity. The ability of the employee can be improved by the
hiring & replacement along with the proper training & career development. On the other
high quality of work life serves as accelerator to the motivational factor of the employees.
2. Empowerment
In the modern days many organizations make changes in such a way that
their individual employees exert more control on their work as compared to their
superiors. This individual control of employees is called empowerment which helps the
employees to work with enthusiasm, commitment & learn new skills because they are
more make normal decisions about their work by themselves & hence enjoy their work.
3. Brain Drain
One of the challenges for HRM is the detachment of the key potential employees
from the organization which link with the competitors for higher remunerations etc. In
such cases the organization loses its intellectual property & in many situations the leaving
employees at the higher levels also take with them the potential lower level employees.
This brain drainage is becoming serious issue in the high-Tec companies.
4. Ethics & Social Responsibility
Under this challenge, the organizations make an effort to benefit some portion of
the society. This is now considered to the social responsibility of the organization to
show favorable behavior towards the society. The ethics serves as the basic principle for
the socially behavior of the organizations. Within organizations, the HR departments
develop a code of conduct & principles of code of ethics that serve as the guidance for
the personal behavior of the employees of the organizations. The employees also expect
from the management to show favorable decisions.
5. Job Insecurity
In the recent years, restructuring & downsizing develops the sense of insecurity of
job within the employees of the organizations. Now many employees only desire to get a
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steady job rather than a job with promotional future. Even most successful organizations
lay off its employees in the period of cut throat competition. The stock market also shows
favorable results when layoffs has been made. All these things create a fear among
employees about the insecurity of their jobs which would hinder their effective
performance.
6. Matching People & Organizations
It has been proved from the research that the HR department contributes to the
profitability of the organization when it makes such policies of employee selection in
which those employees are selected & retained that best suits the culture of the
organization & its objectives. For example it is proved from research that those
employees would become beneficial for the high-Tech companies that can work in risky,
uncertain environment having low pay. In short it is an important challenge for the HR
department to hire and keep such employees whose abilities & strengths would match the
requirements & circumstances of the organization.
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Q7: How an organizational strategy can be linked to Human Resource
planning?
Answer:
Organizational strategy:
An organizational strategy is the sum of the actions a company intends to take to achieve
long-term goals. Together, these actions make up a company's strategic plan. Strategic plans take
at least a year to complete, requiring involvement from all company levels. An organizational
strategy is the creation, implementation and evaluation of decisions within an organization that
enables it to achieve its goals or objectives.
Human Resource Planning:
Human resource planning is a process that identifies current and future human resources
needs for an organization to achieve its goals. Human resource planning should serve as a link
between human resource management and the overall strategic plan of an organization. The
objective of human resource planning is to ensure the best fit between employees and jobs while
avoiding manpower shortages or surpluses. The human resources department is a critical
component for employees in any business, regardless of its size.
Linking organizational strategy to Human Resource planning:
Human resource planning ultimately translates the organization’s overall goals the
number and types of workers needed to meet those goals. Without clear cut planning, and a
direct linkage to the organization’s strategic direction, estimation of an organization’s
human resource needs are reduced to mere guesswork. This means that human resource
planning cannot exist in isolation. It must be linked to the organization’s overall strategy.
The steps involved in linking are as follows:
1) Assessing current human resources:
Assessing current human resources begins by developing a profile of
organizations current employees. This is an internal analysis that includes information
about the workers and the skills they currently possess. From a planning viewpoint, this
input is valuable in determining what skills are currently available in the organization. The
profile of the human resource inventory serves as a guide for supporting new organizational
pursuits or in altering the organization’s strategic direction. This report also has value in
other HRM activities, such as selection individuals for training and development,
promotion, and transfers.
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2) Determining the Demand for labor:
Once an assessment of the organization’s current human resources situation has
been made and the future direction of the organizations has been considered, a projection of
future human resource needs can be developed.
3) Estimating the future supply of labor:
Estimating changes in internal supply requires the HR to look at those factors that
can either increase or decrease its employee base. An increase in the supply of any units’
human resources can come from a combination of four sources, new hires, contingent
workers, transfers in, or individuals returning from leaves. Decreases in the internal supply
can come about through retirements, dismissals, transfers out of the unit, layoffs, voluntary
quits, sabbaticals, prolonged illnesses or deaths. HRM manager should consider these
increases and decreases to estimate the future supply of labor.
4) Estimated Changes in future supply:
There are some factors outside the organization that influence the supply of
available workers. We should review these changes outside the organization to estimate
changes in the future supply.
5) Matching the demand and supply of labor:
The objective of human resource planning is to bring together the forecasts of
future demand for workers and the supply for human resources, both current and future.
The result of this effort is to. Pinpoint shortages both in number and in kind, to highlight
areas where over staffing may exist.
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Q8: What is job analysis; discuss the purpose of Job analysis.
Answer:
Job Analysis:
Job analysis is the process of gathering and analyzing information about the content and
the human requirements of jobs, as well as, the context in which jobs are performed. This
process is used to determine placement of jobs.
Job Analysis is a process to identify and determine in detail the particular job duties and
requirements and the relative importance of these duties for a given job. Job Analysis is a
process where judgments are made about data collected on a job.
Purpose of Job Analysis:
Job Analysis plays an important role in recruitment and selection, job
evaluation, job designing, deciding compensation and benefits packages, performance
appraisal, analyzing training and development needs, assessing the worth of a job and
increasing personnel as well as organizational productivity.
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1. Recruitment and Selection:
Job Analysis helps in determining what kind of person is required to perform a
particular job. It points out the educational qualifications, level of experience and technical,
physical, emotional and personal skills required to carry out a job in desired fashion. The
objective is to fit a right person at a right place.
2. Performance Analysis:
Job analysis is done to check if goals and objectives of a particular job are met or
not. It helps in deciding the performance standards, evaluation criteria and individual’s
output. On this basis, the overall performance of an employee is measured and he or she is
appraised accordingly.
3. Training and Development:
Job Analysis can be used to assess the training and development needs of
employees. The difference between the expected and actual output determines the level of
training that need to be imparted to employees. It also helps in deciding the training content,
tools and equipments to be used to conduct training and methods of training.
4. Compensation Management:
Of course, job analysis plays a vital role in deciding the pay packages and extra
perks and benefits and fixed and variable incentives of employees. After all, the pay package
depends on the position, job title and duties and responsibilities involved in a job. The
process guides HR managers in deciding the worth of an employee for a particular job
opening.
5. Job Designing and Redesigning:
The main purpose of job analysis is to streamline the human efforts and get the
best possible output. It helps in designing, redesigning, enriching, evaluating and also cutting
back and adding the extra responsibilities in a particular job. This is done to enhance the
employee satisfaction while increasing the human output.
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Q9: Discuss the various methods of Job analysis?
Answer:
Job Analysis:
Methods of Jobs Analysis:
Common methods are observations, interviews, questionnaires, and specialized methods
of analysis. Combinations of these approaches frequently are used, depending on the situation
and the organization. Each of these methods is discussed in some detail next.
1. Observations:
A job analyst observes an employee and records all his performed and non-
performed task, fulfilled and un-fulfilled responsibilities and duties, methods, ways and skills
used by him or her to perform various duties and his or her mental or emotional ability to
handle challenges and risks. However, it seems one of the easiest methods to analyze a
specific job but truth is that it is the most difficult one. Why? Let’s Discover.
It is due to the fact that every person has his own way of observing things.
Different people think different and interpret the findings in different ways. Therefore, the
process may involve personal biasness or likes and dislikes and may not produce genuine
results. This error can be avoided by proper training of job analyst or whoever will be
conducting the job analysis process.
This particular method includes three techniques: direct observation, Work
Methods Analysis and Critical Incident Technique. The first method includes direct
observation and recording of behavior of an employee in different situations. The second
involves the study of time and motion and is specially used for assembly-line or factory
workers. The third one is about identifying the work behaviors that result in performance.
2. Interviews:
In this method, an employee is interviewed so that he or she comes up with their
own working styles, problems faced by them, use of particular skills and techniques while
performing their job and insecurities and fears about their careers.
This method helps interviewer know what exactly an employee thinks about his or
her own job and responsibilities involved in it. It involves analysis of job by employee
himself. In order to generate honest and true feedback or collect genuine data, questions
asked during the interview should be carefully decided. And to avoid errors, it is always good
to interview more than one individual to get a pool of responses. Then it can be generalized
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and used for the whole group.
3. Questionnaires
Another commonly used job analysis method is getting the questionnaires filled
from employees, their superiors and managers. However, this method also suffers from
personal biasness. A great care should be takes while framing questions for different grades
of employees.
In order to get the true job-related info, management should effectively
communicate it to the staff that data collected will be used for their own good. It is very
important to ensure them that it won’t be used against them in anyway. If it is not done
properly, it will be a sheer wastage of time, money and human resources.
4. Quantitative Job Analysis Techniques
a. Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) is a questionnaire used to collect
quantifiable data concerning the duties and responsibilities of various jobs.
Having decision-making/communication/social responsibilities,
Performing skilled activities,
Being physically active,
Operating vehicles/equipment,
Processing information.
b. Department of Labor Procedure (DOL) is a standardized method for rating,
classifying, and comparing virtually every kind of job based on data, people, and
things
c. Functional job analysis:
Rates a job on data; people; things; the extent to which specific
instructions are necessary to perform the task; the extent to which
reasoning and judgment are required to perform the task; and
mathematical ability required to perform the task; and
Identifies performance standards and training requirements.
5. Using Multiple Sources of Information
a. Where possible, collect job analysis data using several types of collection
techniques and respondents.
b. Potential inaccuracies in peoples’ judgments could lead to inaccurate conclusions.
Muhammad Danish | www.knowledgedep.blogspot.com
Q10: What is human resource planning? Discuss the process of human
resource planning?
Answer:
Human Resource Planning:
The Human Resource Planning is the process of finding the right number of people for
the right kind of a job, at a right time and the right place, by forecasting the organization’s
demand for and supply of human resources in the near future.
In other words, Human Resource Planning is responsible for arranging the right people
for the right job from all the available sources. And not only this, it also anticipates the vacancy
arising due to the promotion, transfer, retirement, termination, of an employee and thus, plans for
the manpower accordingly.
Process of Human Resource Planning:
The Human Resource Planning is a process of forecasting the organization’s demand for
and supply of manpower needs in the near future.
1. Determining the Objectives of Human Resource Planning:
The foremost step in every process is the determination of the objectives for
which the process is to be carried on. The objective for which the manpower planning is to be
done should be defined precisely, so as to ensure that a right number of people for the right
kind of job are selected.
The objectives can vary across the several departments in the organization such as
the personnel demand may differ in marketing, finance, production, HR department, based on
their roles or functions.
2. Analyzing Current Manpower Inventory:
The next step is to analyze the current manpower supply in the organization
through the stored information about the employees in terms of their experience, proficiency,
skills, etc. required to perform a particular job.
Also, the future vacancies can be estimated, so as to plan for the manpower from
both the internal (within the current employees) and the external (hiring candidates from
outside) sources. Thus, it is to be ensured that reservoir of talent is maintained to meet any
vacancy arising in the near future.
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3. Forecasting Demand and Supply of Human Resources:
Once the inventory of talented manpower is maintained; the next step is to match
the demand for the manpower arising in the future with the supply or available resources
with the organization. Here, the required skills of personnel for a particular job are matched
with the job description and specification.
4. Analyzing the Manpower Gaps:
After forecasting the demand and supply, the manpower gaps can be easily
evaluated. In case the demand is more than the supply of human resources that means there is
a deficit, and thus, new candidates are to be hired. Whereas, if the Demand is less than
supply, there arises a surplus in the human resources, and hence, the employees have to be
removed either in the form of termination, retirement, layoff, transfer, etc.
5. Employment Plan/Action Plan:
Once the manpower gaps are evaluated, the action plan is to be formulated
accordingly. In a case of a deficit, the firm may go either for recruitment, training,
interdepartmental transfer plans whereas in the case of a surplus, the voluntary retirement
schemes, redeployment, transfer, layoff, could be followed.
6. Training and Development:
The training is not only for the new joins but also for the existing employees who
are required to update their skills from time to time. After the employment plan, the training
programs are conducted to equip the new employees as well as the old ones with the requisite
skills to be performed on a particular job.
7. Appraisal of Manpower Planning:
Finally, the effectiveness of the manpower planning process is to be evaluated.
Here the human resource plan is compared with its actual implementation to ensure the
availability of a number of employees for several jobs. At this stage, the firm has to decide
the success of the plan and control the deficiencies, if any.
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