Master of Business Administration MBA Semester I MB0043 Human Resource Management- 4 Credits (Book ID: B1132) Assignment Set-

- 1 (60 Marks)
http://www.galaxyeduplanet.com/blog?s=Explain+the+general+procedure+ffollowed+in+the+case+of+a+disciplina ry+action&x=6&y=6 Q1. What are the objectives of job evaluation? The decision to measure or rate jobs should only be made with the intent to reach certain objectives which are important to both management and the employee. Although there are many side benefits of job evaluation, the purpose is to work towards a solution of the many wage and compensation related administrative problems which confront the industry. The below-mentioned are some of the important objectives of a job evaluation programme: Establishment of sound salary differentials between jobs differentiated on the skills required. Identification and elimination of salary-related inequities. Establishment of sound foundation for variable pay such as incentive and bonus. Maintenance of a consistent career and employee growth policy/ guidelines. In organizations with active unions, creation of a method of job classification, so that management and union officials may deal with major and fundamental wage issues during negotiations and grievance meetings. Collection of job facts 1. Selection of employees 2. Promotion and transfer of employees 3. Training of new employees 4. Assignment of tasks to jobs 5. Improving working conditions 6. Administrative organization, and 7. Work simplification.

There are many established methods to carry out job evaluation in a scientific manner. A four-fold system of classifying evaluation systems is presented here. Two are described as non-quantitative and two as quantitative. 1. Non-quantitative evaluation measures, a) The ranking system. b) The job-classification system. 2. Quantitative evaluation measures. a) The point system. b) The factor-comparison system.

Q2. What are the major problems faced in benefits management? One of the main problems faced by management in organizations is the need to maintain a competitive advantage. With the global economic climate, it has been difficult for companies and organizations to keep up with their rivals, let alone better them. Corporate culture is one responsibility that management need to adhere to because it is vital when you want to succeed in business. It creates a sense of innovation and productivity as opposed to a more negative culture which may stifle employees and detrimentally affect job gratification. In addition, managers have a huge responsibility for guiding the organization in the right direction as they are the prime decision makers. Managers have to make the plans and organize their employees and resources in order to put the organization in a direction that will grant them success. Most modern management take on a strategic management style which initially states the main aim of the particular mission which follows by the processes that will be carried out on a day-to-day basis. Moreover, one of the most important aspects that a good manager requires is solid communication skills. It is very likely in business that you are going to come into contact with conflicting styles of communication, however it is the managers job to be aware of this as well as their own style. They need to be able to enforce their own style of communication while being able to adapt to others, especially if they are consulting with other organisations and companies. Some of the basic problems faced by management are 1: How to produce a qualitative product: This is the first problem faced by management that what is to produce, how much to produce and where to be produce. And the organization has to decide either they have to produce different products or to emphasis on one product. 2: How to deal the labour union: The labour is the group of people working for the betterment of the employees working in the organization. The management has to decide that how to full fill the demands of the labour union in respect of salaries, bonuses, insurance, medical allowances, fringe benefits etc. 3: How to compete in the market: Various decisions for example how to charge the price, how to place the product, how to promote the product has to be taken by the management and they try to solve these problems in a best manner. 4: How to utilize the organization resources: The management made various decisions about the organization resources that is man, money, material, machinery, market and methodology. 5: To avoid stick out situation: Stock out situation is that situation when the customer demands for the product and the company has no product at that time. The management has to decide how to tackle this problem.

Q3. State the major career development activities found in organizations? Career planning is a deliberate attempt by an individual to become more aware of their skills, interests, values, opportunities and constraints. It requires an individual thinking to identify career-related goals and establishing plans towards achieving those goals. Often it is a self-driven process, which every professional (irrespective of the nature of employment) spends 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 career options. 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 and monitoring career plans undertaken by an individual alone or within the organizations career systems. Organizations establish policies 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 manager and planned carefully and executed.

A variety of career development activates are available for use. Some of the more popular ones include: 1. Self assessment tools: these are usually technology enabled on-line (on the corporate intranet) tools that form part of the performance appraisal system and allow the individual to identify areas of strengths and parallelly identify career paths that would leverage these strengths the best. E.g. Career Planning Workbooks, Career Workshops hosted by the organizations from time to time. 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 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: organizations have established policies on what skills and experiences that each job in the organization requires. Jobs with similar skills and experiences are clubbed together to create parallel career paths. For example in a software development firm the career path options for the software engineering team can be designed as follows:

These are typically called career ladders or career paths and they help an employee identify what his options are for future growth and identify the appropriate one based on his personal skills and capabilities/ limitations. These career paths would be supplemented with additional information on skills and experience that one must have for each role/job in the career path. It would also specify the particular qualification or special certifications that the positions demands. An employee aspiring to pursue a career option would need to dedicate time and effort and the expenses towards acquiring the same. Large MNCs (multinational companies) also encourage the reimbursement of these expenses as an annual fixed amount on successfully clearing the exam/certification. The employee however needs to find the time and expend the effort away from work. The actual move of the employee to the new role would however depend on the existence of a job vacancy in that role. The employee can also approach career resource / talent management centers supported by the HR teams for more information on how to plan careers and apply for new roles sand jobs. Organizations usually have formal job posting systems through which the employee receives this information and applies for the job after discussing with his manager. 4. Initial employment Programs Organizations also run internship and apprenticeship programs wherein the individuals aspiring to do a particular job can spend some time as a temporary employee to explore interest and skill fitment for the job/role. (e. g. Anticipatory socialization programs, realistic recruitment, and employee orientation program) 5. Organizational Assessment programs: organizations can proactively establish formal processes wherein an employee can volunteer to participate and understand himself/herself and his/her strengths. Through the use of

Assessment Centers 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 instruments which profile the employees strengths and roles and responsibilities he / she will best fit into. 6. Developmental programs focus the effort of the employee towards helping the employee to achieve his career goals. The Assessment Centers, Job rotation programs, in-house training, tuition refund plans, and mentoring, all prove effective tools to help the individual along.

Q4. Explain the need of human resource planning? Human resource planning system is a mandatory part of every organizations 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. Q5. What are the factors that impact recruitment in organizations? 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 organizations 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 lifecycle of the firm is a measure of the recruiting effort

v. The level of seasonality of operations and future expansion and production programmes - 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.

Q6. Assume yourself as an HR Manager. You have been given the responsibility of promoting the rightful employees. For this, performance appraisal of the employees must be carried out. What appraisal method would you choose? Justify. A performance appraisal, employee appraisal, performance review, or (career)development discussion is a method by which the job performance of an employee is evaluated (generally in terms of quality, quantity, cost, and time) typically by the corresponding manager or supervisor. A performance appraisal is a part of guiding and managing career development. It is the process of obtaining, analyzing, and recording information about the relative worth of an employee to the organization. Performance appraisal is an analysis of an employees recent successes and failures, personal strengths and weaknesses, and suitability for promotion or further training. It is also the judgement of an employees performance in a job based on considerations other than productivity alone.

Generally, the aims of a performance appraisal are to: Identify employee training needs Give employees feedback on performance. Document criteria used to allocate organizational rewards. Form a basis for personnel decisions: salary increases, promotions, disciplinary actions, bonuses, etc. Provide the opportunity for organizational diagnosis and development. Validate selection techniques and human resource policies to meet federal Equal Employment Opportunity requirements. To improve performance through counseling, coaching and development.

Methods A common approach to assessing performance is to use a numerical or scalar rating system whereby managers are asked to score an individual against a number of objectives/attributes. In some companies, employees receive assessments from their manager, peers, subordinates, and customers, while also performing a self assessment. This is known as a 360-degreeappraisal and forms good communication patterns. The most popular methods used in the performance appraisal process 360-degree appraisal. Management by objectives. Behaviorally anchored rating scales. Behavioral observation scale systems.

Trait-based which rely on factors such as integrity and conscientiousness, are also used by businesses but have been replaced primarily by more objective and results-oriented methods. Trait-based systems are by definition based on personality traits and as such may not be related directly to successful job performance. Trait-based systems, because they are vague, are more easily influenced by office politics, causing them to be less reliable as a source of information on an employees true performance. People differ in their abilities and their aptitudes. There is always some difference between the quality and quantity of the same work on the same job being done by two different people. Performance appraisals of Employees are necessary to understand each employees abilities, competencies and relative merit and worth for the organization. Performance appraisal rates the employees in terms of their performance. Performance appraisals are widely used in the society. Performance appraisal is necessary to measure the performance of the employees and the organization to check the progress towards the desired goals and aims. The latest mantra being followed by organizations across the world being "get paid according to what you contribute" the focus of the organizations is turning to performance management and specifically to individual performance. Performance appraisal helps to rate the performance of the employees and evaluate their contribution towards the organizational goals. If the process of performance appraisals is formal and properly structured, it helps the employees to clearly understand their roles and responsibilities and give direction to the individuals performance. It helps to align the individual performances with the organizational goals and also review their performance. Performance appraisal takes into account the past performance of the employees and focuses on the improvement of the future performance of the employees.