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Question: 1 What do you mean by negotiation?

Explain the steps involved in negotiation
process.

Answer:

 Who Commences

There is no inflexible rule as to who should open the

negotiations. However it is not unreasonable for the
management to claim that if the union has initiated the
negotiations, it should first outline its rationale and justification
for doing so. Nevertheless the management should make it clear
at the outset that agreement on any particular issue is subject to
an overall settlement, including its own expectations from the
union.

 Management’s Reactions

In outlining the employer’s response, the following could

be including:

1. The context in which the employer is negotiating, such as

the business environment, and how this affects the
employer’s position in the negotiations.
2. A judgment will have to be made about the stage at which
the union should be informed about the items on which the
employer will not make any concession.
3. The basis on the employer is prepared to negotiate. This
could include the employer’s objectives and expectations a
collective agreement and any unsatisfactory features in the
existing agreement which require to be rectified.

 Internal Communication

During the negotiations there should be good internal

communication between the companies and its managers
about the situation at any given time. This will help clarify
misunderstandings and even eliminate disinformation
especially where employees, as happens in developing
countries, seek information from their managers.

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Notes of Discussion
Notes of the discussion should be maintained and preferably
issued and agreed on the other party, to avoid
misunderstandings. Such notes could be useful in the event of
disputes and a breakdown in negotiations.

Styles of Negotiation

It is an essential principle of negotiation – indeed of human

relations – that one’s style of negotiation may be puzzled when
he finds that the approach in question bears fruit in some cases
but causes an adverse reaction in order cases. The ability to
allow the attitudes of the other party or the facts or merits of the
issue to fashion one’s own particular style in a given negotiation
requires a high degree of flexibility on the part of the negotiator,
an absence of a preconceived approach to negotiation, and
recognition of that ultimately what matters is one’s ability to
search one’s objectives through dialogue.

 Some Basic Rules in Collective Bargaining Negotiations

A negotiator should view negotiations as an exercise with both

sides walking towards each other, rather than away from each
other. This wills enable the negotiator to keep in mind that the
final objective is a satisfactory agreement. It will also lead to a
search for, or identification of, common ground while also
addressing the differences.

 The Agreement

When agreement is reached one of the following two

courses may be adopted:

 Set out the agreement is reached in a letter to the union and, on

confirmation, prepare a draft agreement.

 Alternatively provide the union with a draft agreement. This

would be the better course of action as the actual agreement
reached will be clearer.

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The contents of the agreement would depend on what is

agreed upon and on the subject matter. The following examples are of
some general application

I. The data of commencement of the agreement.

II. Its duration – when it will terminate, and how it can be

terminated.

III. A definition of terms which may otherwise be ambiguous.

IV. The procedure for setting disputes regarding

interpretation, as other disputes.

V. The consequences in the event of breaches of the

agreement.

VI. As regards wages, exactly how conversion of employees’

wages to the new scales is to be effected.

The signing of an agreement does not ensure its successful

implementation. Managers and supervisors should be acquainted with
the agreement thought the most appropriate means. A combination of
written and oral communication is often useful.

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Question: 2 Assume that you are a HR manager for a

pharmaceutical company where the
employee turnover rate is very high give
a conceptual plan to reduce the
employee turnover rate.

Answer:
For years management theorists have suggested that
the basic function of management are to plan,
organization, direct, and control the operations of
their organization. Unfortunately these functions tell
the manager what should be done, not how to do it.
Specifically current labour force demographics
suggest that the new diverse workforce will not
respond to old traditional management practices.
Some of the forces that underlie excessive
employee separation and rehires are discussed
below.

 Hiring Practices

Putting the right people in the right position at the

right time and then training them properly is one of
the most critical tasks any organization faces. Good
hiring and screening practices and effective job
matches can expedite the speed with which new hire
are moved to their profitable use.

Excessive turnover is driven by and is the natural

and inevitable result of poor management. Poor
judgment, poor communication, skills, lack of
foresight, and a narrowly focused view of the
management job are some of the reasons why
managers fail in the human relations area as well as
others.

 Managerial Style

The experience, background, and training of

managers appear to have a significant impact on the
problem of turnover. Studies show that the

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backgrounds of managers profoundly impact the

mobility of people who work for them. A company’s
work environment is a reflection of the personality
and philosophy of its leadership. Chief executive
Offers, who have a particular staff function
background, say accounting, often are deficient in
their knowledge of other functional areas-say
production and marketing-necessary to successfully
manage and socially integrated the whole
organization.

 Lack of Recognition

Lack of personal and team recognition translates to

the employee as a lace of success. Regardless of the
organizational level, employees want to feel good
about themselves and their work, have a sense of
purpose, and to be recognized when they do their
jobs well. They want more than the standard pay and
benefits package that formed the heart of traditional
retention plans. Also some employees appreciate the
challenge by management to grow professionally.
They consider recognition as a form of reinforcement
and feedback for their accomplishments. There is
little wonder why lack of recondition is the number
one reason why people leave their jobs

 Lack of Competitive Compensation system

Another parameter of personnel policy-the design of

an organization’s compensation system-may have a
critical impact on its ability to achieve its strategic
goals in the human relations area. Overall, a poorly
designed wage policy where salaries and benefits are
not competitive can lead to turnover. Workers
financial rewards for good work and they like to be
paid or receive financial rewards commensurate with
their worth to the organization. The natural and
expected result will be an excessive number of
employee separations. The consequences can be
devastating for an organization.

 Toxic Workplace Environment

Creating a positive and upbeat work environment

that nurtures trust and imbues workers with a sense
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of common purpose is not easy Employees want a

feeling of belonging and security. Their decision to
stay or leave may depend on working conditions, the
characteristics of the employer and the “Toxicity” of
the work environment. While employee allegiance
and devotion are not automatic anymore, if there is a
positive work environment that is enriching and
rewarding to employees, in which they have an
affinity for those around them, they are more likely to
stay and to energetically participate in the
organization’s activities. The signs of a toxic
workplace are:

1. When an organization requires people to

choose between having a lift and a career.

2. When an organization treats people as if they

are a factor of production.

3. When an organization looks, at its people and

sees them as costs, salaries, benefits, and
overhead.

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Question: 3 What do you mean by employee

separation? Explain the stages of
employee separation.

Answer:
Manager who wants to avoid the conformation
associated with progressive discipline and
termination often looks to the path of least resistance
– a no-fault layoff. But layoffs aren’t always the easy
– out solution that you, the supervisor, may be
seeking, and you’re typically better off pursuing a
legitimate terminates for cause via progressive
discipline.

Stage of employee separation:

 Eliminating positions

If you opt for a layoff, keep in mind that a layoff involves

eliminating positions, not people. In other words, your written
records must reflect that a position is being eliminated because of a
lack of work or other financial constraints, and the individual who
currently fills that position will be affected because there’s no longer
a job to which to report. If removing a problem performer is your
goal, then eliminating that individual’s job may be a big mistake.
After all, you still need to get the work done.

How do you determine which employee should be

separated? Remember, you cannot arbitrarily select someone for a
layoff simply because he is your weakest performer or because he
happens to be in the position that is being eliminated. As a rule of
thumb, you’re obliged first to identify a position that is no longer
necessary for some legitimate business reason; second you must
then identify the least qualified person in the department for the
remaining duties.

 Identifying the least-Qualified worker

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Once you have identified the position to be eliminated, how

do you determine who is the best least qualified person to assume
the remaining responsibilities in the business unit? First,
development a list of all employee in that group with similar titles or
responsibilities.

Second review the nature of the remaining work to be done

after the position is eliminated. For example if the executive
assistant position reporting to the vice president of marketing is
being considered for elimination, the document the responsibilities
that will remain in the unit after the RIF.

Third, you need to determine which one of the three

executive assistants is the least qualified to assume those
remaining duties. The essence, you need to compare the essential
job responsibilities, skill, knowledge and abilities of all three
employees.

Finally once you have the documented comparison for the

three employees who could potentially qualified individual. If that
individual is the person you originally targeted for the layoff
because of ongoing performance problems, then you may be safe in
separating his employment.

 Leaving the position Unfilled

There is another key consideration to determine if a layoff

is the appropriate employer action when faced with sub-standard
employees. You also must keep in mind that courts and juries have
certain expectations about employers’ responsibilities when
eliminating positions and lying off workers. The logic is simply this:
if a company has a legitimate business reason to eliminate a
position, then it probably shouldn’t need to recreate that position in
the near future. If the company were to do so, it could appear to a
judge or jury that the company’s original action was pretextual. In
other words, the court could be persuaded that the so-called
“layoff” was really a termination for cause in disguise. This could
obviously damage the company’s credibility litigation.

 Progressive Discipline

The better way to handle substandard performance is with

progressive discipline in the form of documenting warnings signed
by the employee. It is true that documenting discipline can be
confrontational. The path of least resistance is avoidance and
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formally criticizing a subordinate’s efforts is difficult for all of us.

And of course, the discipline process takes time. One of the
fundamental elements of workplace due process is that the
employee be given an adequate amount of time to demonstrate
improvement.

 Conclusion

HRM function starts with entry of people into organization and with exit
of the people form the organisation. Employee separation may take the
form of retirement, refreshment, lay-off voluntary retirement etc. This
function of employee separation needs to be done with human touch
by HRM depends.

Question: 4 write a short note on following.

1. Principles of HR record keeping

Answer:

 The purpose for which the record is kept must be

justifiable.

 It must be capable of verification.

 Records must be properly classified accounting to time,

subject or chronologically.

 The required information should be available when needed.

 It must be produced and maintained at reasonable cost.

 Record must be precise.

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 System of record keeping must be elastic in capacity so

that it may be expanded or contracted according to the
circumstances.

2. Approaches to HR audit

Answer:

The five approaches HR audit

 Comparative approach

 Outside authority approach

 Statistical approach

 Compliance approach

 MBO

Comparative approach:

Auditors identify another company as the model. The

results of the organization are compared with those of the model
organization.

Outside authority approach:

Auditors use standards set by out side consultants as

benchmark for comparison of own results this is called out side
authority approach.

Statistical approach:

Statistical measures of performance are developed based

on the company’s existing information e.g. Absenteeism, turnover etc.
These data help the auditors to assess the performance.

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Compliance approach:

The auditors review the past actions to find whether those

activities comply with legal requirements, company policies and
procedures.

MBO approach:

It set’s specific goals against which performance is

measured. Then the audit team researches actual performance and
compares it with the objectives.
Question: 5 Define HRIS. Explain the steps involved
in implementation of HRIS.

Answer:
HRIS is a method by which an organization collects
analyses and reports information about people and
jobs. It applies to information needs at macro and
micro levels.

a. Inception of data:

The need for HRIS system should be justified. Focus should

be on how it will assist the management in decision-making?

b. Feasibility study:

Present system should be studied to find out the problem

areas and a cost benefit analysis has to be done.

c. Selecting a team:

A project team to be selected it should consist of a person from

management who is having a should knowledge of HR function.

d. Defining the requirement:

This specifies what the system has to do exactly. It includes the

details of the reports the objective is to make sure that the
mission of HRIS truly matches with the management needs of
HRIS.

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e. Vendor analysis:

A detailed analysis of the hardware and software, which suits the

organizational needs at reasonable cost, has to be done. It
includes discussion with various vendors and how their HRIS will
meet the needs of the organization.

f. Contract negotiation:

Contract stipulating the price delivery, vendor’s responsibilities

with regard to installation service maintenance, training to
employees etc. may be negotiation.

g. Training:

Project team members may be first trained to use the system

and then they could train all users from other departments.

h. Tailoring the system:

It involves making changes to the system to best-fit

organizational needs.

i. Collecting data:

Data is to be collected and fed in to the system.

j. Testing the system:

T he system has to be tested to verify the output of HRIS.

k. Starting up:

Even after testing some errors may surface up, this has to be
sorted out.

l. Running in parallel:

Just for the security the new system is run in parallel with old
system till the new system stabilizes and people gain confidence.

m.Maintenance:

It normally takes several months for HR people to get acquainted

with HRIS.

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n. Audit:

The performance of the HRIS should be audited and corrective

actions should be taken.

o. Benefits of HRIS:

1. Higher speed of retrieval and processing data.

2. Duplication is avoided.
3. Helps in effective decision making.
4. Improved quality of reports.
5. Higher accuracy of information.
6. Transparency in the system.
7. Reduce cost and saves time.

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Question: 6 Beckman’s eight stages process for

knowledge management & discuss how
they are suitable in the present era of
knowledge.

Answer:

* Identity:

This stage determines the core competencies, which

are critical for the success of an organization. The knowledge
domains of these competences are identified and the existing
knowledge levels of the work force in each domain is identified
and compared with needed expertise.

* Collect:

In this stage acquisition of knowledge skills, theories

and experience are done to create the selected core
competencies and knowledge domain.

* Select stage:

In this stage the value of collected knowledge is

assessed.

* Store:

In this stage the assessed knowledge is classified

and added to organizational memory.

* Share stage:

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In this stage the knowledge is retrieved and made

available for use, based on the requirements.

* Apply stage:

It use the needed knowledge is performing tasks,

solving problems, making decisions and learning.

* Create stage:

It uncovers the new knowledge. It can be through

customer, customers feed back analyses, benchmarking and
best practice etc.

* Sell stage:

In this stage new products and service are crafted

and marketed to the external enterprise.

Present era of Knowledge:

 Increase in productivity.

 Improve quality of production.

 Better co-ordination.

 Enhances creative thinking.

In today’s changing scenario the HR professionals has to take up the

challenge of Creating and managing Knowledge.

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