HRM – Answers of Direct questions

1 – Explain the importance of Job analysis ?

 Jobs are at the core of every organizations productivity. If they are

not well designed and done right, productivity suffers, profit fall,
and the organization is less able to meet the demands of society,
customers, employees and other stakeholders.
 For a human resource department to be effective, its members
must have a clear understanding of the jobs found throughout the
organization.

2- Discuss the features of Job analysis ?

 Identification of tasks required to be performed.

 Defining the role, context, conditions, human behavior,

performance standards and responsibilities.

 Establishing the job’s worth to an organization.

 Establishes job-relatedness.

 Assists in the resource management and strategy

formulation.

 Developing a job profile for each job and acts.

 Identifying the appropriate job for each employee.

 Better understanding of the impact of environmental

changes on individual jobs.
  Identifying and removing unnecessary skills and other
requirements for a job.

 Job improvements through job reengineering and job

enlargement.

3 – Define the following terms :

A ) Job Analysis : The systematic process of collecting and making

judgments about all the important information related to a job.

B ) Job Design : The process of determining the specific tasks to

be performed, the methods used in performing these tasks, and
how the job relates to other work in the organization.

C ) Recruitment Process : Process that is concerned with the procedure

for the identification and classification of the potential source of human
resource supply and effectively utilizing those sources.

D ) Job Enlargement : Aims at making the job more attractive by

increasing the operations performed by a person in the job.

E ) Job Enrichment : The development of work practices which

challenge and motivate the employees to perform better.

F ) Job Rotation : Moving employees from one job to another in a

predetermined way.

G ) Job Specification : The process of inferring the human trait

requirements presumed to be necessary for successful job performance.
H ) Job Description : A written statement that explains the duties,
working conditions and other aspects of a specified job.

4 – Discuss the Internal Sources of Recruitment ?

  Current employees; job posting and job bidding:
many companies have a policy of informing current employees
about job openings before trying to recruit from other sources.
This is also called ،،job posting،،and the manner in which jobs are
posted (i.e. communicated) is changing with advances in
technology. The posting can be accomplished in print via bulletin
boards, memorandums, company newsletters, or the company
intranet.

 Skills inventories or skills bank:

These inventories contain data on all employees, including
qualifications, skills, knowledge, ability, experience and special
training. When positions open up, the inventory data bank can be
searched for the appropriate candidates. Computerized databases
make it easier to locate good applicants within the organization.

 Supervisor recommendation:
When openings occur, other managers are often in a position to
recommend employees who have the appropriate skills and would
be a good candidate for the position.

 Referrals from current employees: studies have shown that

employees who were hired through referrals from current
employees tended to stay with the organization longer and
displayed greater loyalty and job satisfaction than employees who
were recruited by other means

 Former employees: A firm may decide to recruit employees who

previously worked for the company. Typically, these are people
who were laid off, or people who have worked seasonally. These
categories tend to be safe hires as the employer already has
experience with i

5 – Discuss the External Methods of Recruitment ?

 Print advertisements :advertisement can be used both for local

recruitment efforts (newspapers) and for targeted regional,
national ,or international searches ( trade or professional
publications ).
 Internal advertising and career sites: Employers are increasingly
turning to the web as a recruitment tool because on-line ads are
relatively cheap, are more dynamic, and can often produce faster
result than newspaper. Moreover, recruiters can connect with
people all over the world who are looking for jobs through the
internet which has expanded dramatically.

 Employment agencies: Many organizations use external

contractors to recruit and screen applicant for a position.
Typically, the employment agency is paid a fee based on the salary
offered to the new employee, ranging between 25 to 30 percent.
Public agencies, administered by the state in USA, focus more on
blue-collar positions. Private agencies often perform the initial
screening for the firm as well.

 Temporary help agencies: Temporary workers allow an

organization to get through the ups and down of the business
cycle without making permanent hiring decisions. In addition,
employers use temporary workers as a way to avoid paying
benefits. However, the use of temporary as a means of cost
cutting can lead to abuse, unfair treatment, and potential legal
liability.

 College recruiting and internship programs: Many larger

employers have college recruiting programs that target certain
colleges, and universities, and/or majors. Students whose majors
are accounting, engineering, computer programming, and
information system at the undergraduate level, and those with
graduate degrees in business and law, are often considered the
most desirable candidates because of the applied training they
have received

 Customers: This is an innovative source of recruitment.

Customers, who are already familiar with the organization and
happy with its products or services, may bring more enthusiasm to
the workplace than other applicants who are less familiar with the
organization. Also customers have been the recipient of the firms
 product or service and therefore, may have valuable insight into
how the organization could be improved.

6 – Define Interview ?

 Interview is a goal-oriented conversation in which the interviewer

and applicant exchange information.

7 – Why we conduct Job Interview ?

 Job interview should allow management to determine four

things:
1.Does the prospective employee have the necessary qualifications for
the job under consideration?

2.Does the prospective employee possess the necessary motivation both

to perform the job and to remain employed for a sufficiently long period
of time to justify the expense of hiring and training?

3.Does the prospective employee “fit “with the existing company

culture? Often, after the formal job interview, a prospective employee
will be taken out to lunch or dinner by a small group of current
employees. Many a job has been lost because the individual was not
aware that the group meal was a different kind of interview, albeit in a
more relaxed, informal, social setting.

4. Interviews, of whatever form, offer a great opportunity for both the

prospective employee and employer to look each other over(i.e.
examine each other). Thus, just as the individual is interviewed by the
company, so also the company is interviewed by the individual.

8 – Discuss the types of interview ?

 A ) The Unstructured (Nondirective) Interview : An interview

where probing, open-ended questions are asked. This type of
interview is comprehensive, and the interviewer encourages the
applicant to do much of the talking.
  B ) Behavior Description Interviewing : A structured interview
that uses questions designed to probe the candidate’s past
behavior in specific situations. It avoids making judgments about
applicants’ personalities and avoids hypothetical and self-
evaluative questions. Questions asked in behavior description
interviewing are legally safe because they are job related.
 C ) The Structured (Directive Or Patterned) Interview : An
interview consisting of a series of job-related questions that are
asked consistently of each applicant for a particular job is known
as structured interview.
 A structured interview typically contains four types of
questions.

1.Situational questions: Pose a hypothetical job situation to determine

what the applicant would do in that situation.

2.Job knowledge questions: Probe the applicant’s job-related

knowledge.

3.Job-sample simulation questions: Involve situations in which an

applicant may be actually required to perform a sample task from the
job.

4.Worker requirements questions: Seek to determine the applicant’s

willingness to conform to the requirements of the job

9 – Identify the types of orientation ?

 1 - Formal orientation
2 - Informal orientation .

10 – Define the formal orientation ?

 Formal orientation is The orientation that's carefully
designed by the firm.
 11 - Discuss the Advantage and Disadvantage of internal
sources of recruitment ?

 Advantages :

1.Internal methods of recruitment are of less expenses in that they save

advertisement costs, interviewing and orientation expenditures.

2. Internal recruitment is a positive signal that the company offers real

opportunities to its members for promotion and advancement. This will
improve current employees morale.

3. New recruits from inside the organization are already familiar with the
prevailing policies, procedures, customs, and already they are
acclimated to the organizations culture.

4. Internal recruits are saving risk and uncertainty since the firm is well
aware about both the technical and personal abilities and traits of the
newly-appointed employees.

5. Moreover, an interested and involved employee can compensate for

lack of technical Know-how with corporate and industry knowledge.

6. Internal recruits help to keep knowledge and information that can be

useful to competitors within the firm.

7. Recruits from inside the organization tend to be loyal and committed,

this will make the possibility to stay in the organization is longer.

 Disadvantages :-

1. Internal recruitment my lead to a state of “stagnation” by blocking

the flow of new blood (i.e. new concepts and perspectives).
 2. Current workers when promoted may be undercut in their
authority, as many subordinates may feel not satisfied with
managers selected from inside.

3. Current employees may expect special treatment from their

colleagues.

4. Internal recruitment may create negative internal competition for

the position.

5. Internal recruitment may lower the morale of those who are not
selected.

6. Recruiting from inside the company creates a ripple effect

because when employees move forward vacancies occur.

12 – Write short note on the following issues :

A ) How to conduct an effective interview ?

1-Before meeting an applicant, review his application form and resume.
Also, review job description of the position for which the applicant is
interviewed.

2- Structure the agenda for the interview. Determine the questions to

be asked or information to be gathered.
Select questions that can’t be answered with a simple “yes “or “no“. if
the interviewer is not a good speaker, these questions should be
practiced before peers

3 - Be aware to avoid sensitive questions related to marital or family

status, such as age, religion, political, credit rating, arrest record, the
Questions should be job related.

4 - Determine the timing: a good interview takes between thirty and

sixty minutes.

5 - When you actually meet the applicant, assume that he is nervous and
anxious. So put the applicant at ease. Introduce yourself. Be friendly.
Begin with few simple questions, or statements that can break the ice.
Then preview (show in brief or demonstrate) what topics you plan to
discuss and how long the interview will take, and encourage the
applicant to ask questions.

6 - The actual interview should be a give –and –a general road map take
of questions and discussion (i.e. tow-way communication). The
questions you prepared will provide to guide you. Make sure you cover
them all.

7 - Follow-up questions should arise from the answers to the

standardized questions. And, if you feel that the applicant’s response is
superficial or inadequate, seek elaboration. Further, if the applicant does
not directly answer your question, follow-up by repeating the question
or paraphrasing it.

8 - Once you are ending through with the questions and discussions,
wrap up the interview. Let the applicant know this fact with a statement
such as “well, that covers all the questions I have.
9 - Before you consider the interview complete, write your evaluation
while the candidate’s comments are fresh in your mind. Now that the
applicant is gone, take the time to review your notes and assess the
applicant’s responses.

B ) Guidelines for job candidate as an interviewees ?

 job interview offers great opportunity for both the

employer and the job candidate to look each other over.
As for the job candidate :

1- It's important that you prepare well before attending a job interview.
As a job candidate you should attempt collect relevant information
about the company as well as the prospective job. And, if it is possible it
is better to know in advance the persons who will be in charge of
conducting the interview.

2- It is better for you as a job candidate to keep a little bit slow when
responding to the questions raised by the interviewer. This will help you
exploring the interviewer’s real needs.

3 - Try, with utmost care, to find out the relationship between the real
needs of the interviewer, and the skills or/and abilities you possess. Let
the interviewer believes if the company selected you to fill the vacant
job, this will cover one of its essential needs.

4 - Don’t hasten to offer answers. Listen carefully to the interviewer;

take a simple time to arrange for your answers. This is crucial to match
your answers more to what the interviewer intends to know.

5 - Good appearance, and more important, high motivation, vitality, and

enthusiasm, will help making the atmosphere, during the interview,
more smooth and pleasant.

C ) The challenges in the hiring process ?

A. Determining the characteristics related to performance:

1.Job itself is a moving target. For instance knowledge, skills and abilities
are necessary for a good computer programmer are going to change
over time as hardware and software continue evolving.

2. The organizations culture may need to be taken into account. This is

why candidate's attitudes and personality may be considered through
the hiring process.

3. Different people, in the same company, may want different

characteristics in a new hire

B. Measuring characteristics that determine performance

Once characteristics important for the job are determined, they should
be measured. For instance, if the mathematical ability is considered
critical, you cannot infer it just from looking to the candidate.

C. The motivation factor

Most of the measures used in hiring decisions focus on “ability" rather
than "motivation". However motivation is also critical to performance.

D. Who should make the hire decision?

In many organizations, the HR department, routinely, makes staffing

decisions, particularly for entry-level jobs.

13 – When Job analysis is performed ?

  When the organization is founded: When organizations are
created complete information about jobs to be performed
is collected through job analysis
.
 When new jobs are created: When jobs are changed
significantly as a result of new technologies, methods,
procedures, or systems for analyzing them job analysis is
conducted.

14 – Write detailed essay on the formal orientation process ?

 Formal orientation is carefully designed by the firm. For

example Disney and Procter & Gamble have developed
elaborate formal orientation programs and these
programs span several days and reinforce corporate
culture, policies, philosophies, and job responsibilities.
Sometimes a short film on the firms history begins a
formal orientation meeting. Advanced technology, such as
teleconferencing, for example, enables corporate
executives in another location to greet new employees,
giving the orientation a personal touch

15 – Differentiate the following terms :

A ) Task : A distinct, identifiable work activity composed of motions

B ) Duty : larger work segment composed of several tasks that are

performed by an individual.

C ) Responsibility : An obligation to perform certain tasks and duties.

16 – Discuss the internal factors that governing the

recruitment process ?
HR policy of the organization: the overall HR policy of an organization
shapes its recruitment policy. The HR policy presents specific guidelines
to HR managers on various matters concerning employment.

Nature of the job: the nature and position of the job in the organization
have a bearing on the recruitment policy of the organization.

Reputation of the Firm: the goodwill enjoyed by an organization in the

labor market also influences its Recruitment policy.

Conventional Wisdom: organizations tend to adopt past practices in the

future as long as the practices work well, they may change these
practices only when its necessary and unavoidable.

17 – Write short note on the recruitment process ?

 The Recruitment Process is concerned with the procedure

for the identification and classification of the potential
source of human resource supply and effectively utilizing
those sources. In the overall process of procuring and
inducting human resources in the organization,
recruitment is one of the critical sub-processes.

 A well-planned and well-managed recruiting process is

essential for attracting high-quality application.