Module II Human Resource Planning

Acquisition of Human Resources: HR Planning. Job analysis - Job description and job specification.
Recruitment - sources and process. Selection Process - tests and interviews; Placement and Induction. Job
Changes - transfers, promotions/demotions, separations. Discipline and Grievance Procedures: Definition,
Grievance Handling Procedure.
Acquisition of Human Resources: The acquisition of human resources refers to the process of obtaining and
bringing in individuals with the necessary skills, knowledge, and abilities to meet the staffing needs of an
organization.
Hallett says, “It is with people that quality performance really begins and ends.”
Robert Heller also says, “If people of poor calibre are hired, nothing much else can be accomplished and
Gresham’s law will work: the bad people will drive out the good or cause them to deteriorate.”
1. Workforce Planning: Before acquiring human resources, organizations need to conduct workforce
planning to determine their current and future staffing needs. This involves analysing the organization's
goals, evaluating the existing workforce, and forecasting future requirements.
2. Job Analysis and Job Design: Job analysis involves studying and documenting the tasks,
responsibilities, and qualifications associated with a particular job. Job design focuses on structuring
these tasks into a coherent and efficient workflow. Both processes contribute to creating accurate job
descriptions and specifications.
3. Recruitment: Recruitment is the process of identifying and attracting potential candidates to fill
vacant positions. This can be done through various channels, such as online job boards, social media,
career fairs, and employee referrals. The goal is to build a pool of qualified candidates.
4. Selection: Selection involves evaluating and choosing the best candidates from the pool generated
during the recruitment phase. This process includes reviewing resumes, conducting interviews,
administering tests, and checking references. The aim is to match the skills and qualifications of
candidates with the requirements of the job.
5. Hiring and Onboarding: Once the selection process is complete, organizations extend job offers to
the chosen candidates. Hiring involves the formal acceptance of the offer by the candidate. Onboarding
is the process of integrating new employees into the organization, providing them with the necessary
information, training, and resources to succeed in their roles.
6. Orientation: Orientation is a component of onboarding and involves introducing new employees to
the company's culture, policies, procedures, and work environment. It helps them become acclimated
to their roles and builds a sense of belonging.
7. Integration and Retention: After the onboarding process, ongoing efforts are made to integrate
employees into the organization. This includes ongoing training, mentorship programs, and support
systems. Retention strategies are also crucial to retaining talented employees and reducing turnover.
8. Performance Management: Continuous performance management is essential to ensure that
employees are meeting their goals and contributing effectively to the organization. Regular feedback,
coaching, and performance evaluations are part of this process.
9. Career Development: Organizations often invest in the development of their employees to enhance
skills, knowledge, and competencies. This can include training programs, workshops, and
opportunities for career advancement.
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Human Resource Planning: Human Resource Planning (HRP) may be defined as strategy for acquisition,
utilization, development and retention of the human resources of an enterprise. The objective is to provide
right human resources for the right work and optimum utilization of the existing human resources. HRP exists
as a part of the planning process of business. This is the activity of the management which is aimed at co-
ordinating requirements for and the availability of different types of employers. The major activities of HRP
include: forecasting (future requirements), inventorying (present strength), anticipating (comparison of
present and future requirements) and planning (necessary programme to meet future requirements).
Objectives, benefits and need of human resource planning: The following are the objectives of human
resource planning:
1. Assessing manpower needs for future and making plans for recruitment and selection.
2. Assessing skill requirement in future for the organization.
3. Determining training and the development needs of the organization.
4. Anticipating surplus or shortage of staff and avoiding unnecessary detentions or dismissals.
5. Controlling wage and salary costs.
6. Ensuring optimum use of human resources in the organization.
7. Helping the organization to cope with the technological development and modernization.
8. Ensuring career planning of every employee of the organization and making succession programmes.
9. Ensuring higher labour productivity.
Benefits of HRP:
a) Create a reservoir of talent;
b) Preparation for future HR needs;
c) Promote employees in a systematic manner;
d) Provide basis for HRD; and
e) Help in career and succession planning.
Need for HRP at Macro Level Major reasons for the emphasis on HRP at macro level include:
1. Employment-Unemployment Situation: Though in general the number of educated unemployed is
on the rise, there is acute shortage for a variety of skills. This emphasises the need for more effective
recruitment and retaining people.
2. Technological Changes: The myriad changes in production technologies, marketing methods and
management techniques have been extensive and rapid. Their effect has been profound on job contents
and job contexts. These changes cause problems relating to redundancies, retraining and redeployment.
All these suggest the need to plan manpower needs intensively and systematically.
3. Organizational Changes: In the turbulent environment marked by cyclical fluctuations and
discontinuities, the nature and pace of changes in organizational environment, activities and structures
affect manpower requirements and require strategic considerations.
4. Demographic Changes: The changing profile of the work force in terms of age, sex, literacy, technical
inputs and social background have implications for HRP.
5. Skill Shortages: Unemployment does not mean that the labour market is a buyer’s market.
Organizations have generally become more complex and require a wide range of specialist skills that
are rare and scarce. Problems arise when such employees leave.
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6. Governmental Influences: Government control and changes in legislation with regard to affirmative
action for disadvantaged groups, working conditions and hours of work, restrictions on women and
child employment, casual and contract labour, etc. have stimulated the organizations to become
involved in systematic HRP.
7. Legislative Controls: The days of executive fiat and ‘hire and fire’ policies are gone. Now legislation
makes it difficult to reduce the size of an organization quickly and cheaply. It is easy to increase but
difficult to shed the fat in terms of the numbers employed because of recent changes in labour law
relating to lay-offs and closures. Those responsible for managing manpower must look far ahead and
thus attempt to foresee manpower problems.
8. Impact of Pressure Groups: Pressure groups such as unions, politicians and persons displaced from
land by location of giant enterprises have been raising contradictory pressures on enterprise
management such as internal recruitment and promotions, preference to employees’ children, displace
persons, sons of the soil etc.
9. Systems Concept: The spread of systems thinking and the advent of the macro- computer as part of
the on-going revolution in information technology which emphasizes planning and newer ways of
handling voluminous personnel records.
10. Lead Time: The long lead time is necessary in the selection process and for training and deployment
of the employee to handle new knowledge and skills successfully.
Determinants of human resource planning: The function of HRP is dependent an various factors. These
include both external and internal factors of an organisation. These factors can be considered as determinants
of HRP. The figure 1 broadly outlines the determinants of HRP.

External Factors
Government Policies: Policies of the government like labour policy, industrial relations policy, policy
towards reserving certain jobs for different communities and sons-of-the-soils, etc. affect the HRP.
Levels of Economic Development: Level of economic development determines the level of HRD in the
country and thereby the supply of human resources in future in the country.
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Business Environment: External business environmental factors influence the volume and mix of production
and thereby the future demand for human resources.
Level of Technology: Level of technology determines the kind of human resources required.
International Factors: International factors like the demand for the resources and supply of human resources
in various countries.
Internal Factors
• Company Policies and Strategies: Company’s policies and strategies relating to expansion
diversification, alliances, etc. determines the human resource demand in terms of quality and quantity.
• Human Resource Policies: Human resources policies of the company regarding quality of human
resource, compensation level, quality of work-life, etc. influences human resource plan.
• Job Analysis: Fundamentally, human resource plan is based on job analysis. Job description and job
specification determines the kind of employees required.
• Time Horizons: companies with stable competitive environment can plan for the long run whereas
the firms with unstable competitive environment can plan for only short-term range.
Levels of Human Resource Planning
a) National Level: The Central Government plans for human resources at the national level. It forecasts the
demand for and supply of human resources as a whole. For example, the Government of India specifies the
objectives of HRP in successive five-year plans.
b) Sectoral Levels: Central and State Governments, formulate HRPs for different sectors. For example,
industrial sector, agricultural sector etc.
c) Industry Level: HRP for specific industries are prepared by the particular industries.
d) Unit Level: HRP for a particular department/sector of an industry is prepared at this level. It again includes
the following levels.
i) Plant level;
ii) Department level; and
iii) Divisional level.
Process of human resource planning: The process of HRP is entirely based on the corporate plans and
objectives. HRP is a continuous process of review, control and assessment. Figure 2 clearly indicates the HRP
process.

Assessing Human Resources

Demand Forecasting

Supply Forecasting

matching Demand and Supply

Action Plan

Human Resource Planning Process

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This HRP Process focuses on the following steps.
• A talent inventory to assess current human resources and to analyse how they can be used currently
• A HR forecast to predict future HR requirements, skills required and labour supply
• Action plans to enlarge the pool of people qualified to fill the vacancies through various methods
• Review and monitoring to provide feedback on the overall effectiveness of HRP
The major stages of HRP are as follows:
a) Analysing Operational Plans It consists of the following substages:
• Objectives and strategic plans of the company are analysed.
• Plans concerning technological, finance, production are analysed and HRP is prepared keeping these
in mind.
• Future plans, goals, and objectives of the company are also taken into account.
b) Human Resource Demand Forecasting:
HR demand forecasting mainly involves three sub functions:
i) Demand Forecast: Process of estimating future quantity and quality of human resources required.
ii) Manpower Gaps: Depending upon the requirement existing surplus human resources having
desired skills are matched, if not found then shortage is shown.
iii) Supply Forecast: Basing on the existing HR inventory and the demand forecast, the supply
forecast of human resources is carried out in an organization.
In subsequent sections these steps are explained in detail.
There are two approaches to HR demand forecasting: quantitative and qualitative. When focussing on human
resources needs, forecasting is primarily quantitative in nature and, is carried out by highly trained specialists.
Quantitative approaches to forecasting can employ statistical analytical models, and at times by simple
calculations anticipations future HR requirements.
A. Quantitative Approaches: Quantitative approaches to forecasting involve the use of statistical or
Mathematical Techniques Trend Analysis modelling or multiple predictive techniques are some
of the quantitative techniques used.
a. Trend Analysis- It forecasts employment requirements on the basis of some organizational index
and is one of the most commonly used approaches for forecasting HR demand. Following steps
indicates the steps of trend analysis.
• First, select an appropriate business factor. This should be the best available predictor of human
resources needs. Frequently, sales or value added (selling price minus costs of materials and supplies) is
used as a predictor in trend analysis.
• Second, plot a historical trend of the business factor in relation to number of employees. The ratio of
employees to the business factor will provide a labour productivity ratio (for example, sales per employee).
• Third, compare the productivity ratio for at least the past five years.
• Fourth, calculate human resources demand by dividing the business factor by the productivity ratio.
• Finally, project human resources demand out to the target year.
b. Modelling or Multiple Predictive Techniques: Several mathematical models, with the aid of computers
are also used to forecast HR needs, e.g., optimization models, budget and planning analysis. Whereas trend
analysis relies on a single factor (e.g., sales) to predict employment needs, the more advanced methods
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combine several factors, such as interest rates, gross national product, disposable income, and sales, to predict
employment levels. While the costs of developing these forecasting methods used to be quite high, advances
in technology and computer software have made rather sophisticated forecasting more affordable to even small
businesses.
Qualitative Approaches In contrast to quantitative approaches, qualitative approaches to forecasting use less
statistical tools. Expert forecasts and Delphi technique are the most commonly used qualitative techniques.
a) Expert Forecasts In this method, managers estimate future human resource requirements, their
experiences and judgments to good effect.
i. Delphi Technique: It attempts to decrease the subjectivity of forecasts by involving a group of
preselected individuals and soliciting and summarizing the judgments. Thus, a group decision-
making process is invoked which in turn, requires a great deal of process orientation to enhance
coordination and cooperation for satisfactory forecasts.
This method works best in situation where dynamic technological changes affect staffing
levels. Ideally, HRP should the use both quantitative and qualitative approaches while
forecasting HR demand. Both the approaches complement each other, thus provide a
wholesome forecast Whatever technique one might utilize, but they need to be selected aptly
and done systematically. HR planners many times go further and analyse the demand also on
the basis of workforce analysis, work load analysis and job analysis.
a. Workforce analysis to determine the rate of influx and outflow of employee. It is through
this analysis one can calculate the labour turnover rate, absenteeism rate, etc. Qualitative
methods go a long way in analysing the internal flow created by promotions, transfers etc.
b. Workload analysis, calculate the numbers of persons required for various jobs with
reference to a planned output. This takes into consideration factors such as absenteeism,
and idle time, etc. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques are utilized for accurate
results.
c. Job analysis helps in finding out the abilities or skills required to do the jobs efficiently. A
detailed study of jobs is usually made to identify the qualifications and experience required
for them. Job analysis includes two things: job description and job specification. Job
description, thus, is a factual statement of the duties and responsibilities of a specific job.
It gives an indication of what is to be done, how it is to be done and why it is to be done.
Job specification provides information on the human attributes in terms of education,
skills, aptitudes and experience necessary to perform a job effectively. This you will learn
more in the next unit.

c) Human Resource Supply Forecasting: Once an organization has forecast its future requirements for
employees, it then goes on to the next search that is from where can it fulfil its requirements. It therefore needs
to determine if there are sufficient numbers and types of employees and how many are eligible for the requisite
positions. Supply analysis thus, involves planning for procurement: who, from where, how and when. It scans
the internal and external environment for the best-fit candidate for the positions in demand.
A. Internal sources: The most popular approach to be followed by all managers is to look within the
organization. Until and unless the opening is not related to immensely diversified field of which the existing
workforce might not possess requisite skills, and the cost of training may be working out to be high, it is easier
to go in for an internal source for recruitment. Because it is cost saving in many ways to utilize what is already
available to the organization. A profile of employee in terms of age, sex, education, training, experience, job
level, past performance and future potential is continuously maintained for use whenever required. Thus, if
the requirements in terms of growth/diversification, internal movements of employees (transfer, promotions,
retirement, etc.) are determined in advance then the data can be very useful.
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An internal supply analysis is done with
1. Staffing tables/manning charts, are pictorial representations of all organizational jobs, along with the
numbers of employees currently occupying those jobs and future employment requirements.
2. Markov analysis, shows the percentage (and actual number) of employees who remain in each job from
one year to the next, thus keeping track of the pattern of employee movements through various jobs. Thus this
analysis results in a composite matrix of supply.
3. Skill inventories list each employee’s education, past work experience, etc.
4. Replacement chart helps to derive the profile of job holders, department-wise and reveals those who could
be used as replacements whenever the need arises.
B. External sources: It is only when the cost of procuring the labour from internal sources is more and also
the present staff cannot be spared for the future assignment, the company prefers to the external sources.
Therefore, to summarize the following data should be available for a comprehensive supply forecast:
1. The skill base, potential trainability and current and potential productivity level of the existing work force.
2. The structure of the existing workforce in terms of age distribution, skills, hours of work, rates of pay and
so on.
3. The possible changes in the productivity, size and structure of the workforce due to resignations and
retirements, promotions and transfers, absenteeism and other external factors (economic and cultural), which
may induce such changes.
4. The availability of the relevant skills in the external labour market for present and future use. The HR
planner will have to assess and monitor factors such as: market value, image/preference of the existing labour
for the company, motivation of the prospective candidates to join the company.
d) Human Resource Gap Analysis: The final stage is to balance out the demand and supply gap. The closer
the gap the better it is for the company when it actually goes into procuring. A comparison chart can be
developed to find what is available and to what extent it can fulfil the demand forecast. This exercise helps us
have an idea of the quantitative and qualitative gaps in the workforce. A reconciliation of demand and supply
forecasts will give the number of people to be recruited or made redundant as the case may be. In this process
a company always needs to keep repeating this step as it operates in a changing environment and requirement
changes in product mix, union agreements, and competitive action are some of the important things that need
special attention. The human resource requirements thus identified are translated into a concrete HR plan,
backed up by detailed policies, and other human resources instruments and strategies (for example,
recruitment, selection, training, promotion, retirement, replacement, etc.).
e) Human Resource Plan Operative Formulation: Organisations operate in a changing environment.
Consequently, Human resource requirements also change continually. Changes in product mix, union
agreements, competitive actions are some of the important things that need special attention. The human
resource requirements identified need to be translated into a concrete HR plan, backed up by detailed policies,
programmes and strategies (for recruitment, selection, training, promotion, retirement, replacement, etc.)
Responsibility For Human Resource Planning: Top level executives are responsible for HR planning as it
is one of the important factors influencing the success of an organisation. The plans are usually prepared by
the Human Resource Department in consultation with other departments. The Human Resource Department
offer consultation, counsel and advice to various divisional heads and coordinate the various HR estimates
from time to time. Prof. Geisler outline the responsibilities of Human Resource Department in respect of HR
planning as:
• Assist and counsel operating managers to plan and set objectives.
Module II Human Resource Planning
• Collect and summarise manpower data keeping long-run objectives and broad organisational interest in
mind.
• Monitor and measure performance against the plan and keep top management informed about it.
• Provide proper research base for effective manpower and organisational planning.
Problems In Human Resource Planning Process: The main problems in the process of HRP are as follows:
a) Inaccuracy: HRP is entirely dependent on the HR forecasting and supply, which cannot be a cent per cent
accurate process.
b) Employee resistance: Employees and their unions feel that by HRP, their workload increases so they resist
the process.
c) Uncertainties: Labour absenteeism, labour turnover, seasonal employment, technological changes and
market fluctuations are the uncertainties which HRP process might have to face.
d) Inefficient information system: In Indian industries, HRIS is not much strong. In the absence of reliable
data, it is not possible to develop effective HRP.
e) Time and expense: HRP is time consuming and expensive exercise, so industries avoid.
Guidelines For Effective Human Resource Planning: Few guidelines to improve effectiveness of HRP
process are discussed below. Human Resource Planning
a) Tailormade: HRP should be balanced with corporate objectives.
b) Appropriate time: The period of HRP process should be appropriate to the needs and circumstances of an
organization.
c) Adequate organization: HRP process should be adequately/properly organized.
d) Top management support: Before starting the HRP process the support and commitment of top
management should be ensured.
e) Participation: HRP will be successful if all in an organization are participating.
f) Information system: An adequate database should be developed for facilitating HRP.
g) Balanced focus: The quantity and quality should be stressed in a balanced manner.
Job analysis - Job description and job specification.
Manpower planning is concerned with determination of quantitative and qualitative requirements of
manpower for the organization. Determination of manpower requirements is one of the most important
problems in manpower planning. Job analysis in this module and job design in next module put a light on this
knowledge to clarify the concept. Before going through the mechanism of job analysis and job design, it is
relevant to understand the terms which are used in job analysis and job design.
Job: A job may be defined as a “collection or aggregation of tasks, duties and responsibilities which as a
whole, are regarded as a regular assignment to individual employees,” and which is different from other
assignments, in other words, when the total work to be done is divided and grouped into packages, we call it
a “job.” Each job has a definite title based upon standardized trade specifications within a job; two or more
grades may be identified, where the work assignment may be graded according to skill, the difficulty of doing
them, or the quality of workmanship. Thus, it may be noted that a position is a “collection of tasks and
responsibilities regularly assigned to one person;” while a job is a “group of position, which involve essentially
the same duties, responsibilities, skill and knowledge.” A position consists of a particular set of duties assigned
to an individual.
Module II Human Resource Planning

Job Analysis Information Hierarchy

Occupation

Career
Job Family
Job
Position
Element

Duty
Task

• Task: It is a distinct work activity carried out for a distinct purpose.

• Duty: It is a number of tasks.
• Position: It refers to one or more duties performed by one person in an organization. There are at least
as many positions as there are workers in the organization; vacancies may create more positions than
employees.
• Job: Group of position, with same duties responsibilities, skills and knowledge.
• Job Family: It is group of two or more jobs that either call for similar worker characteristics or contain
parallel work tasks as determined by job analysis.
• Occupation: It is a group of similar jobs found across organizations.
• Career: It represents a sequence of positions, jobs, or occupations that a person has over his working
life.
Job Analysis
Developing an organizational structure, results in jobs which have to be staffed. Job analysis is the procedure
through which you determine the duties and nature of the jobs and the kinds of people (in terms of skills and
experience) who should be hired for them.’ It provides you with data on job requirements, which are then used
for developing job descriptions (what the job entails) and job specifications (what kind of people to hire for
the job).
According to Michael L. Jucius, “Job analysis refers to the process of studying the operations, duties and
organizational aspects of jobs in order to derive specifications or as they called by some, job descriptions.”
According to DeCenzo and P. Robbins, “A job analysis is a systematic exploration of the activities within a
job. It is a basic technical procedure, one that is used to define the duties, responsibilities, and accountabilities
of a job.”
According to Herbert G Herman “A job is a collection of tasks that can be performed by a single employee to
contribute to the production of some product or service provided by the organization. Each job has certain
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ability requirements (as well as certain rewards) associated with it. Job analysis process used to identify these
requirements.”
Flippo has offered a more comprehensive definition of job analysis as, “Job analysis is the process of studying
and collecting information relating to the operations and responsibilities of a specific job. The immediate
products of the analysis are job descriptions and job specifications” Thus, job analysis involves the process of
identifying the nature of a job (job description) and the qualities of the likely job holder (job specification).

Uses of Job Analysis

1. Achievement of Goals: Weather and Davis have stated, “Jobs are at the core of every organization’s
productivity, if they are designed well and done right, the organization makes progress towards its objectives.
Otherwise, productivity suffers, profits fall, and the organization is less able to meet the demands of society,
customer, employees, and other with a stake in its success.”
2. Organizational Design: Job analysis will be useful in classifying the jobs and the interrelationships among
the jobs. On the basis of information obtained through job analysis, sound decisions regarding hierarchical
positions and functional differentiation can be taken and this will improve operational efficiency.
3. Organization and Manpower Planning: It is helpful in organization planning, for it defines labour in
concrete terms and co-ordinates the activities of the work force, and clearly divides duties and responsibilities.
4. Recruitment and Selection: Job analysis provides you with information on what the job entails and what
human requirements are required to carry out these activities. This information is the basis on which you
decide what sort of people to recruit and hire.
5. Placement and Orientation: Job analysis helps in matching the job requirements with the abilities,
interests and aptitudes of people. Jobs will be assigned to persons on the basis of suitability for the job. The
orientation programme will help the employee in learning the activities and understanding duties that are
required to perform a given job more effectively.
6. Employee Training and Management Development: Job analysis provides the necessary information to
the management of training and development programmes. It helps in to determine the content and subject
matter of in training courses. It also helps in checking application information, interviewing test results and in
checking references.
7. Job Evaluation and Compensation: Job evaluation is the process of determining the relative worth of
different jobs in an organization with a view to link compensation, both basic and supplementary, with the
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worth of the jobs. The worth of a job is determined on the basis of job characteristics and job holder
characteristics. Job analysis provides both in the forms of job description and job specification.
8. Performance Appraisal: Performance appraisal involves comparing each employee’s actual performance
with his or her desired performance. Through job analysis industrial engineers and other experts determine
standards to be achieved and specific activities to be performed.
9. Health and Safety: It provides an opportunity for identifying hazardous conditions and unhealthy
environmental factors so that corrective measures may be taken to minimize and avoid the possibility of
accidents.
10. Employee Counselling: Job analysis provides information about career choices and personal limitation.
Such information is helpful in vocational guidance and rehabilitation counselling. Employees who are unable
to cope with the hazards and demands of given jobs may be advised to opt for subsidiary jobs or to seek
premature retirement.
Steps in Job Analysis

Determination of
uses of job analysis

Collection of back
ground information

Selection of job for

analysis

Collection of job
analysis data

Information
processing

Further: Job Analysis Process

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1. Determine the Use of the Job Analysis Information: Start by identifying the use to which the information
will be put, since this will determine the type of data you collect and the technique you use to collect them.
2. Collection of Background Information: According to Terry, “The make-up of a job, its relation to other
jobs, and its requirements for competent performance are essential information needed for a job evaluation.
This information can be had by reviewing available background information such as organization charts
(which show how the job in question relates to other jobs and where they fit into the overall organization);
class specifications (which describe the general requirements of the class of job to which the job under analysis
belongs); and the existing job descriptions which provide a starting point from which to build the revised job
description”.
3. Selection of Jobs for Analysis: To do job analysis is a costly and time-consuming process. It is hence,
necessary to select a representative sample of jobs for purposes of analysis. Priorities of various jobs can also
be determined. A job may be selected because it has undergone undocumented changes in job content. The
request for analysis of a job may originate with the employee, supervisor, or a manager. When the employee
requests an analysis, it is usually because new job demands have not been reflected in changes in wages.
Employee’s salaries are, in part, based upon the nature of the work that they perform. Some organizations
establish a time cycle for the analysis of each job. For example: A job analysis may be required for all jobs
every three years. New jobs must also be subjected to analysis.
4. Collection of Job Analysis Data: Job data on features of the job, employee qualification and requirements,
should be collected either from the employees who actually perform a job; or from other employees (such as
foremen or supervisors) who watch the workers doing a job and there by acquire knowledge about it; or from
the outside persons, known as the trade job analysis who are appointed to watch employees performing a job.
The duties of such a trade job analyst are (i) to outline the complete scope of a job and to consider all the
physical and mental activities involved in determining what the worker does.; (ii) find out why a worker does
a job; and for this purpose, he studies why each task is essential for the overall result; and (iii) the skill factor
which may be needed in the worker to differentiate between jobs and establish the extent of the difficulty of
any job.
5. Processing the Information: Once job analysis information has been collected, the next step is to place it
in a form that will make it useful to those charged with the various personnel functions. Several issues arise
with respect to this. First, how much detail is needed? Second, can the job analysis information be expressed
in quantitative terms? These must be considered properly.
6. Preparing Job Descriptions and Job Classifications: Job information which has been collected must be
processed to prepare the job description form. It is a statement showing full details of the activities of the job.
Separate job description forms may be used for various activities in the job and may be compiled later on. The
job analysis is made with the help of these description forms. These forms may be used as reference for the
future.
7. Developing Job Specifications: Job specifications are also prepared on the basis of information collected.
It is a statement of minimum acceptable qualities of the person to be placed on the job. It specifies the standard
by which the qualities of the person are measured. Job analyst prepares such statement taking into
consideration the skills required in performing the job properly. Such statement is used in selecting a person
matching with the job.
Methods for Collecting Job Analysis Data: As discussed earlier, information is to be collected for job
analysis. Such information may be collected by the trained job analyst, superiors concerned and job holders
themselves. Job information is collected through the following methods:
1. Participant Diary/Logs: Workers can be to keep participant diary/log or lists of things they do during the
day. For every activity he or she engages in, the employee records the activity (along with the time) in a log.
This can provide you with a very comprehensive picture of the job, especially when it’s supplemented with
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subsequent interviews with the worker and his or her supervisor. This method provides more accurate
information if done faithfully. However, it is quite time consuming. Further, each job holder may maintain
records according to his own way which presents problems in analysis at later stage. Therefore, it has limited
application.
2. Interview: There are three types of interviews you can use to collect job analysis data: individual interviews
with each employee; group interviews with groups of employees having the same job; and supervisor
interviews with one or more supervisors who are thoroughly knowledgeable about the job being analysed. The
group interview is used when a large number of employees are performing similar or identical work, since this
can be a quick and inexpensive way of learning about the job. As a rule, the worker’s immediate supervisor
would attend the group session; if not, you should interview the supervisor separately to get that person’s
perspective on the duties and responsibilities of the job.
3. Critical Incidents: In this method, job holders are asked to describe incidents concerning the job on the
basis of their past experience. The incidents so collected are analysed and classified according to the job areas
they describe, A fairly picture of actual job requirements can be obtained by distinguishing between effective
and ineffective behaviours of workers on the job. However, this method is time consuming. The analyst
requires a high degree of skill to analyse the contents of descriptions given by workers.
4. Questionnaires: The method is usually employed by engineering consultants. Properly drafted
questionnaires are sent out to job-holders for completion and are returned to supervisors. However, the
information received is often unorganized and incoherent. The idea in issuing questionnaire is to elicit the
necessary information from job –holders so that any error may first be discussed with the employee and, after
corrections, may be submitted to the job analyst.
5. Technical Conference Method: This method utilizes supervisors with extensive knowledge of the job.
Here, specific characteristics of a job are obtained from the “experts.” Although it is a good data gathering
method, it often overlooks the incumbent worker’s perception about what they do on their job.
6. Job Performance: Under this method, the job analyst actually performs the job under study to get first-
hand experience of the actual tasks, and physical and social demands of the job. This method can be used only
for jobs where skill requirements are low and can be learnt quickly and easily. This is a time- consuming
method and is not appropriate for jobs requiring extensive training.
7. Functional Job Analysis: Functional job analysis (FJA) is employee- oriented analytical approach of job
analysis. This approach attempts to describe the whole person on the job. The main features of FJA include
the following:
• The extent to which specific instruction are necessary to perform the task
• The extent to which reasoning and judgment are required to perform the task
• The mathematical ability required to perform the task and
• The verbal and language facilities required to perform the task.
8. Observation Method: Using this method, a job analyst watches employees directly on the job.
Observations are made on various tasks, activities, the pace at which tasks are carried out, and the way different
activities are performed. This method is suitable for jobs that involve manual, standardized, and short job
cycle activities. This method also requires that the entire range of activities be observable; possible with some
jobs. The above methods are the most popular ones for gathering job analysis data. They all provide realistic
information about what job incumbents actually do. They can thus be used for developing job descriptions
and job specifications. Caroll L. Shartle, Otis and Lenhert have provided the following suggestions for making
the job analyst’s task simple.
• Introduce yourself so that the worker knows who you are and why you are there.
• Show a sincere interest in the worker and the job that is analysed;
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• Do not try to tell the employee how to do his job.
• Try to talk to the employee and supervisors in their own language;
• Do a complete job study within the objectives of the programmer: and
• Verify the job information obtained.
Job Description Job description is the immediate product of job analysis process; the data collected through
job analysis provides a basis for job description and job specification.
Job Description: is a written record of the duties, responsibilities and requirements of a particular job. It is
concerned with the job itself and not with the job holders. It is a statement describing the job in such terms as
its title, location, duties, working conditions and hazards.
Flippo has Defined Job Description as, “A job description is an organized, factual statement of duties and
responsibilities of a specific job. In brief, it should tell what is to be done. How it is done why. It is a standard
of function, in that defines the appropriate and authorized content of a job.
According to Pigors and Myres, “Job description is a pertinent picture (in writing) of the organizational
relationships, responsibilities and specific duties that constitutes a given job or position. It defines a scope of
responsibility and continuing work assignments that are sufficiently different form that of other jobs to warrant
a specific title.”
According to Zerga, who analysed 401 articles on job description about 30 years ago. A job description helps
us in:
i. Job grading and classification
ii. Transfers and promotions.
iii. Adjustments of grievances;
iv. Defining and outlining promotional steps:
v. Establishing a common understanding of a job between employers and employees;
vi. Investigation accidents;
vii. Indicating faulty work procedures or duplication of papers;
viii. Maintaining, operating and adjusting machinery;
ix. Time and motion studies;
x. Defining the limits of authority;
xi. Indicating case of personal merit;
xii. Studies of health and fatigue;
xiii. Scientific guidance;
xiv. Determining jobs suitable for occupational therapy;
xv. Providing hiring specifications; and
xvi. Providing performance indicators.
“Job description” is different from “performance assessment.” The former concerns such functions as
planning, co-ordination, and assigning responsibility; while the latter concerns the quality of performance
itself. Though job description is not assessment, it provides an important basis establishing assessment
standards and objectives.
Writing Job Description: A Job description is a written statement of what the job holder actually does, how
he or she does it, and under what conditions the job is performed. This information is in turn used to write a
job specification, which lists the knowledge, abilities, and skills needed to perform the job satisfactorily. While
there is no standard format you must use in writing a job description, most descriptions contain at least sections
on:
1. Job Identification: It includes the job title, alterative title, department, division, plant and code number of
the job. The job title identifies and designates the job properly, the department, division, etc., indicate the name
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of the department where it is situated – whether it is the maintenance department, mechanical shop etc.
Location gives the name of the place. This portion of job description gives answer to two important questions:
to what higher level job is this job accountable. And who is supervised directly?
2. Job Summary: Job summary describes the contents of the jobs in terms of activities or tasks performed.
Job summary should clear the nature of the job. Primary, secondary and other duties to be performed on the
job should clearly be indicated separately.
3. Duties and Responsibilities: This is the most important phase of job description and should be prepared
very carefully. It describes the duties to be performed along with frequency of each major duty.
Responsibilities concerning custody of money, supervision and training of staff etc. are also described in this
part.
4. Supervision: Under it is given number of persons to be supervised along with their job titles, and the extent
of supervision involved –general, intermediate or close supervision.
5. Relation to Other Jobs: It describes the vertical and horizontal relationships of work flow. It also indicates
to whom the jobholder will report and who will report to him. It gives an idea of channels of promotion.
6. Machine, tools and equipment define each major type or trade name of the machines and tools and the
raw materials used.
7. Working Conditions: The working environment in terms of heat, light, noise, dust and fumes etc, the job
hazards and possibility of their occurrence and working conditions should also be described. It will be helpful
in job evaluation.
8. Social Environment: It specifies the social conditions under which the work will be performed. In this part
the size of work group, interpersonal interactions required to perform the job and development facilities are
mentioned.
Job Specification: The job specification states the minimum acceptable qualifications that the incumbent
must possess to perform the job successfully. Based on the information acquired through job analysis, the job
specification identifies the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to do the job effectively. Individuals
possessing the personal characteristics identified in the job specification should perform the job more
effectively than individuals lacking these personal characteristics. The job specification, therefore, is an
important tool in the selection process, for it keeps the selector’s attention on the list of qualifications necessary
for an incumbent to perform the job and assists in determining whether candidates are qualified.
According to Dale Yoder, “The job specification, as such a summary properly described is thus a specialized
job description, emphasizing personnel requirement and designed especially to facilitate selection and
placement.”
Flippo has defined job specification as, “Job specification is a statement of the minimum acceptable human
qualities necessary to perform a job properly ………….. It is a standard of personnel and designates the
qualities required for acceptable performance.”
In is clear from the above definitions that job specification is a statement of summary of personnel
requirements for a job. It may also be called “standard of personal for the selection” A Job Specification should
include:
(i) Physical characteristics, which include health, strength, endurance, age, height, weight, vision,
voice, eye, hand and foot co-ordination, motor co-ordination, and colour discrimination.
(ii) Psychological and social characteristics such as emotional stability, flexibility, decision making
ability, analytical view, mental ability, pleasing manners, initiative, conversational ability etc.
(iii) Mental Characteristics such as general intelligence, memory, judgement, ability to concentrate,
foresight etc.
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(iv) Personal Characteristics such as sex, education, family background, job experience, hobbies,
extracurricular activities etc. All these characteristics must be classified into three categories:
• Essential attributes which a person must possess.
• Desirable attributes which a person ought to possess.
• Contra indicators which will become a handicap to successful job performance.

JOB DESCRIPTION, JOB SPECIFICATIONS AND JOB ANALYSIS: LINKAGES

Job description is a broad statement of the purpose, duties and responsibilities of a job or position. A job
description is based on a detailed job analysis and usually summarises the essential information gathered
through job analysis. It describes the main tasks and responsibilities of the job clearly and concisely in order
to facilitate the systematic comparison of jobs for evaluation purposes. The kind of information and number
of details contained in the job descriptions depend on the job evaluation plan to be used. However, in all cases
they must be standardised and uniform phraseology should be used. If job characteristics are set out differently
from one job to another, systematic comparisons are likely to be hampered and one of the main advantages of
job evaluation will be lost right from the beginning. Before we examine in detail the two cornerstones of job
evaluation, viz., job analysis and job descriptions, we should mention a complementary means of describing
jobs, namely by job specifications. These usually involve a listing of the personal qualifications regarded as
necessary for satisfactory performance.
Job specifications are mainly used in selecting and recruiting staff and are accordingly not essential to job
evaluations. But certain personal attributes, such as experience, education and aptitude, may occur in both, the
job description as well as the job specification. Many job evaluation plans accordingly use job specifications
to complement job description.
Recruitment - sources and process.
Recruitment means an activity which refers to the discovery and development of workers and employees in
the enterprise at the time they are required. It involves locating, maintaining and contacting the sources of
man power. The recruitment has been defined by many eminent authors as under:
In the words of Flippo, “Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating
and encouraging them to apply for jobs in the organisation.”
According to Dale Yoder, “Recruitment is a process to discover the sources of manpower to meet the
requirement of the staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in
adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient working force.”
In short recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them for jobs in
the organisation, Thus, the recruitment of employees involves the identification of the sources of personnel,
evaluation of different sources available, selection of a particular source and stimulating the prospective
candidates to apply for the job so that right candidates may be obtained for right job.
RECRUITMENT PROCESS: The recruitment and selection is the major function of the human resource
department. Recruitment process is the first step towards creating the competitive strength and the strategic
advantage for the organizations. In an ideal recruitment programme, individuals responsible for the
recruitment process must know how many and what types of employees are needed, where and how to look
for individuals with the appropriate qualification and interests, what inducements to use or to avoid for
various types of applicant groups, how to distinguish applicants who are unqualified from those who have a
reasonable chance of success and how to evaluate their work.5Recruitment process involves a systematic
procedure from sourcing the candidates to arranging and conducting the interviews and requires many
resources and time. A general recruitment process is as follows:
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Recruitment Process
Characteristics of a Good Recruitment Policy: A good recruitment policy is the guiding can save an
organization from facing situations like unproductive test and interview due to nonavailability of the right
candidate in the applicant pool, compromising on the selection of good candidates, high attrition rate low
productivity and low motivation among existing employees as a result of faulty policy.6The success of an
enterprise largely depends upon the ability and efficiency of its employees. To get the capable and efficient
employees, the recruitment policy of the organization must be very sound. An ideal recruitment policy must
have following characteristics:
i. All selections must be made at a central place of the enterprise.
ii. The whole process of recruitment must be strictly in accordance with the merit.
iii. The number of employees to be recruited must be determined well in advance according
to the need of enterprise.
iv. No such assurance should be given at the time of recruitment which may not be
followed later on.
v. Higher posts must be filled up through promotions, so far as possible.
vi. The qualification experience, terms of service, salaries etc. must be determined well in
advance.
vii. The selection of employees must be accordance with the merit.
viii. The abilities of employees must be according to the need of their jobs.
ix. New posts must be authorized by a higher officer.
x. Recruitment policy must be fair and flexible.
RECRUITMENT PRACTICES IN INDIA: Since 1991, the business environment in India has been
dynamic and continuously changing. Business organizations have been growing at very rapid pace and
globalizing. Consequently, organizations are now looking for globally competitive workforce. These changing
expectations and requirements have compelled the Indian industrial management to introduce changes in every
sphere of human resource activity, including recruitment and selection. The features of recruitment in India
are the following:
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1. Our industrial labour force consists almost entirely of persons with little experience or no experience of
industrial life and work. They keep still strong influences the tradition and values of their rural or pre-industrial
background. Often the new recruits to the industrial labour force have great difficulty in adjusting themselves
to the rhythm, discipline and social relationships in the industrial undertaking, and to the new way of life in
the community of which the undertaking forms a part. Their acceptance of the new environment proceeds at
a slow pace, and this is often expressed through absenteeism, high labour turnover stoppages of work and
other facts of protest. Such factors generally become more important when more advanced technology is
introduced and new problem of manpower replacement are created by the higher skills required.
2. There is a great disproportion between the number of positions available and the number of aspirants.
Sometimes, the ratio is in as much as 1:100 or even more. Not only is the expenditure and inconvenience
involved in examining a large number of candidates for a few positions great, but also the spectacle of so
many persons making applications and getting disappointed is a dismal one. Furthermore, the large number
of applications that need to be processed and the equally large number of candidates who need to be examined
and evaluated is an important source of delays. On account of the present conditions of acute unemployment
the chances of incorrect matching of the job and the individual are higher here than in the developed western
countries. The reason for this is that a man whose choice of employment is very limited accepts any job that
falls to his lot irrespective of his attitude and suitability.
3. Under the existing statutes dismissal of employees is very difficult, because it requires certain elaborate
procedure involving considerable time and money to be followed by a manager. No manager likes to follow
this procedure. This means a person once recruited is going to be around longer on any given job and it is not
possible to rely on replacement to improve the quality of the work group. The management must count more
on utilizing the skills and abilities of the employees that are already present than on replacing them by more
able ones.
The above features make systematic manpower planning and will be understood, fair and objective criteria for
recruitment of special significance to us. But manpower planning has not yet become popular and is practiced
only by a few big companies in the public and private sectors. Public undertakings are believed to be generally
overstaffed and have frequently been criticized by the parliamentary committees for this. In a study, it was
found that only 20% of the American subsidiaries and 7% of the local firms undertake manpower planning.
Those few companies which do undertake manpower planning utilize not only historical data on manpower
but also various forecasting methods to evaluate their future manpower requirements in term of both quantity
and quality. A brief description of how Hindustan Lever a private undertaking performs this function is given
below:
First, an audit of internal resources is carried out. This indicates the number of persons who possess different
or higher levels of responsibilities. It also reveals the overall deficit or surplus of personnel for different levels
during the planning period.
Second, with the help of a detailed organization chart it is determined that how many people, at what level, at
what positions and with what kind of experience and training would be needed to meet the business objectives
during the optimum planning period of 5 years.
Finally, taking into account the actual retirements and estimated loss due to death, ill-health and turnover,
based on past experience and future outlook in relation to company’s expansion and future growth pattern the
final figures are arrived at.
The planning is done every year for the coming 5 years. For instance, a plan is made from the beginning of
1990 to the end of 1994 and the next year the plan covers from the beginning of 1991 to the end of 1995. This
reduces inaccuracy in forecasting.
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SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT: It is essential to organization that develops the different sources of
recruitment, when the organization is successful in gathering a large application pool, it can adopt a rigorous
procedure in choosing the best employees without compromising on quality. However, there is no single
combination of resources and methods that will work well for all organisation.
The various sources of recruitment can be broadly classified into two categories:
A. Internal Recruitment
B. External Recruitment.
Most organizations depend upon both the sources. The relative emphases may differ from enterprise to
enterprise depending upon the following factors:
1. Training programme of the enterprise whether it prefers trained persons or wants fresh candidates to be
trained by itself.
2. The level of specialization and training required for employees.
3. Management policy towards recruitment whether it prefers internal or external sources.
4. The need for originality and initiative required from employees.
5. Trade union’s attitude towards management’s recruitment policy.
Internal Sources: Internal sources of recruitment consist of personnel already working in the enterprise.
Many organizations fill job vacancies through promotions and transfer of existing staff and it also refers to
filling open jobs with the current employees of the organisation. It is a process designed to create sufficient
interest among the current employees to cause them to formally indicate an interest a given position. The
position applied for may represent a promotion, transfer or even demotion in the organisation.
Internal sources:
1. Present Employee: The most common source of internal recruitment is through existing employees of
organization. Page 126 Generally, the organisation maintains the inventories of qualifications to choose
employees for suitable vacancies. The usual method of creating a pool of internal application through job
posting. The evaluate job opportunities relative to their skill, experience, interests and career goal. Promotions
and transfers from present employees are example of internal sources of recruitment.
2. Employees Referrals: It is also a good source of internal recruitment. Employee develops good prospects
for their families and friends by acquainting them with the advantages of a job with the company furnishing
letters of introduction and even encouraging them to apply. This source is an effective source of recruiting
because many qualified people are reached at a very low cost to the organisation. A major limitation of
employee’s referrals is that the referred individuals are likely to be similar in type to those who are already
working in the organisation.
3. Former Employees: Former employees are another internal source of recruitment. Some retired employees
may be willing to come back to work on a part time basis or recommend someone who would be interested in
working for the company. Sometimes people who have left the company for some reason or the other are
willing to come back and work. An advantage of this source is that the performance of these people is already
known.
Merits of Internal Sources:
a) It keeps employees happy and in high morale.
b) It creates a sense of security among employee.
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c) Employees know that they stand the chance of promotion to higher positions. This induces them to work
harder so as to prove their worth.
d) Internal recruitment ensures continuity of employment and organizational stability.
e) Prospects of transfer to new posts inspire employees to keep on adding to their knowledge and experience
which leads to their development.
f) Filling of vacancies from internal source is quite economical and convenient. No time and money are to be
spent on advertisement, tests and interview because the knowledge and skill of employees are already known.
There is no need for orientation of employees for preparing them for the new job.
Demerits of Internal sources:
a) Existing employees may not be fully qualified for the new job. Required talent may not be available among
the present staff.
b) All vacancies cannot be filled through internal sources. The enterprise has to depend upon outside sources
for entry level jobs.
c) Internal candidates become accustomed to the company’s work patterns and as such may lack originality
and fresh outlook. Therefore, internal recruitment involves in breeding of ideas.
d) This method narrows the choice and denies the outsiders an opportunity to prove their worth. Page 128
External Sources: The main sources of external recruitment are as follows:
1. Advertising: Advertising in newspapers and journals is the most popular source of recruitment from
outside. It is a very convenient and economical method for different types of personnel. Detailed information
can be given in the advertisement to facilitate self-screening by the candidates. If necessary, the enterprise can
keep its identity secret by giving a post box number.
2. Educational Institutions: Universities, colleges and institutes of higher education have become a popular
source of recruitment of recruitment for engineers, scientists. Management trainees, technicians, etc. Business
concerns may hold campus interviews and select students for final interview at their offices. Universities and
institutes generally run placement bureaus to assist in recruiting students. But educational institutions provide
only young and inexperienced candidates.
3. Personnel Consultants: A consulting firm is a specialized agency which helps client companies in
recruiting personnel. It serves as an intermediary between the enterprise and the jobseekers. On a requisition
form a client company, it advertises the vacancy and receives applications. It may pass on the applications to
the client company or may conduct tests and interview of the candidates, it charges fee from the client
company. This source is generally used for recruiting executives.
4. Jobbers and Contractors: These are sources of recruitment for unskilled and manual labour. They have
close links with towns and villages for this purpose.
5. Employment Exchanges: Public employment exchanges are important sources of recruitment of
personnel. Job seekers register their names with these exchanges. Employers notify job vacancies to these
exchanges that pass on the names of suitable candidates to the employers.
6. Leasing: This method is often used by public sectors organizations. Under it personnel from civil services,
defence services and private sector are employed for specific periods due to shortage of managerial personnel.
7. Unsolicited Applicants: Due to unemployment problem in India business concerns receive a large number
of unsolicited candidates at the main gate or through mail. Such jobseekers may be considered for causal
vacancies or for preparing a waiting list for future use.
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Merit of External sources:
a) Wide choice: The enterprise can choose the best personnel from among a large number of applicants.
b) Fresh Outlook: Candidates recruited from external sources bring originality and fresh viewpoint. They are
free from the in-built preferences and prejudices.
c) Varies Experience: The enterprise can secure candidates with varies and broader experience.
Demerits of External sources:
a) Danger of Maladjustment: Some candidates chosen from outside may fail to adjust themselves to new
environment. They may be irritable, quarrelsome or suspicious. They may have to be terminated and replaced.
b) Expensive: Greater time and money have to be spent on advertising, tests and interviews of external
candidates, cost of inductions of new personnel.
c) Heart-burning: External recruitment creates heart-burning and demoralization among the existing
personnel.
d) Sense of Insecurity: Recruitment from outside creates a sense of insecurity among the present staff. The
staff may refuse to co-operate fully with the enterprise.
Principles of Recruitment and Selection: The success of an industrial enterprise depends upon the fact of
whether the selection has been made properly and according to the principle’s selection or not. In proper
selection of best workers and employees has been made, the enterprise may be successful in achieving its
objectives. If proper selection has not been made, the enterprise may not be successful in achieving it objects.
Therefore, the selections in a big industrial enterprise must be based on certain principles as follows:
1. Clear Policy of Recruitment: The policy of recruitment must be definite and clear so that it may be easy
to implement the same.
2. Observation of Government Rules and Regulations: Before formulating the policy of recruitment and
selection for the enterprise, Government rules, and regulations of selection must be carefully understood and
followed, especially with reference to the rules of reservation, so that no legal complication may arise at later
stage.
3. Policy of recruitment in accordance with the objects enterprise: The recruitment policy of the enterprise
must be in accordance with the pre-determined objectives of the enterprise so that it may help in the
achievement of objectives if the enterprise.
4. Flexibility: The recruitment policy must be flexible so that necessary changes may be made in its
accordance to the need of the enterprise.
5. Impartiality: The recruitment policy must be such that the fair selection may be assured. Only the best and
capable candidate must be selected on the basis of merit.
6. Recruitment by a committee: The right to recruit the workers and employees must be assigned to a
committee of capable, efficient, experienced, senior and responsible officers of the company. Entire work of
the process of recruitment must be performed by a committee and not by any individual officer so that fair
selection may be assured.
7. Opportunity of development to the employee: The selection policy if the enterprise must be prepared in
the manner that it may provide challenging opportunities to the employees of the enterprise based on their
ability and performance. It will always pursue them to do more and better work.
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8. Job security: Security of job must be assured to every worker and employee of the enterprise at the
enterprise at the time of his appointment so that he may contribute his efforts to the achievement of
organizational objectives.
Procedure of Recruitment of Personnel: Recruitment is marketing tool as well as a social relational exercise.
While hiring people, the organisations are going out into their outside environment and facing cut throat
competition with others for apt candidates. Therefore, it should be carried out in a manner that retains or
increases the image and goodwill of organisation honest and objective recruitment policies and procedures
would bring the image of the companies into the peak elevation of corporate world.
There must be a definite and well-defined procedure for making the selection of employees in the enterprise.
The procedure of selection is the, series of steps through which the employees are finally selected for the
enterprise. The selection procedure must be prepared in the manner that more and more information may be
made available about the candidates so that the selection of best employees may be made. There cannot be
any definite selection procedure applicable to all enterprises. However, the common, steps of selection
procedure are as follows:
1. Acceptance of Application Forms: First of all, applications are invited from the prospective candidates.
These applications may be invited through advertising the vacancies in News Paper, Magazine, Employment
Exchange, School and Colleges, Training Centres, Labour Unions and other Educational Institutions etc.
These applications may be invited on plain paper or on the prescribed forms which may be issued by the
enterprise. The candidates are advised to give the relevant information in these application forms. These
applications provide a record of qualification, experience etc., of the candidates.
2. Analysis of Application Forms: A date is declared as the last submitting the application forms. After this
date all the applications received for a post and analysed in detail. the applications which are incomplete or
which do not meet the requirement of post are set aside and the applicants of remaining applications are further
invited for different tests and interviews etc.
3. Conducting Employment test: The selected candidates, the basis of their applications are called for
employment tests. These tests may be of the following types:
(i) Intelligence Tests: Intelligence tests are meant to measure the mental ability of an individual in terms of
his memory, vocabulary, reasoning etc. these tests measure the power of understanding of the candidates. It is
a very common test used in the selection procedure these days.
(ii) Personality Tests: Personality tests aim at testing the nature, habit, emotion, maturity and temperament
of the candidates. These tests are helpful in deciding the spirit of groupies and feeling of mutual co-operation.
(iii) Aptitude Tests: Aptitude tests are the test which measures the capacity and potentiality for learning the
skills required for the job. These tests are very helpful in forecasting the success of candidates on a particular
job.
(iv) Job Tests: These tests measure the level of efficiency and skills of the candidates required for a particular
job. For example, the candidates required for the posts of typist may be asked to type some material. By this
the speed test of typing and accuracy in typing may be judged.
(v)Interest Tests: These are designed to evaluate the likings and disliking of the candidates for different
situations and different occupations. These tests are helpful in determining the jobs suitable to the individual
candidates. Employment tests are becoming very popular device of making the selection of best candidates
for different posts. These tests help in measuring certain factors of the personality of the candidates.
4. Interview: The candidate selected in employment tests are invited for interview. The main object of
interview is to find out of whether an individual candidate is suitable for a particular job or not. Face to face
interview is the most important step of the selection procedure. It helps in judging the personality, ability,
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capability and the temperament of the candidates. It also provides an opportunity to check the information
given by the candidates in their application forms. It provides the opportunity to the enterprise to understand
the candidates thoroughly. It also provides the opportunity to the candidates to understand the organization
and the job. In this way, it is a process of two-way communication. Interview must be conducted in a friendly,
congenial atmosphere. Frank free and friendly discussion must be held at the interview. The atmosphere of
the interview must be such that the candidates may feel easy and may express their ideas and opinions freely
and frankly. All the questions related to the educational qualifications, experience, general knowledge, attitude
character, health, family background, hobby etc., must be asked the candidates so that complete information
may be obtained about them. On the other hand, complete information must be given to the candidates about
the organization also.
5. Selection by the Supervisor: Candidates selected in the interview must be referred to the supervisor for
final selection. If the supervisor feels satisfied, the candidates are selected. If the supervisor is a member of
the interview board, this step of referring the candidates to the supervisor is not required.
6. Medical Examination: After making the selection of the candidates they are checked by a reliable doctor
or by a board of doctors to check their health. The main object of medical examination is to check whether the
selected candidates are physically capable or not to perform the required job. The candidates which are
declared medically unfit are rejected.
7. Issue of Appointment Letters: The candidates, who are approved in the medical examination also, are
issued the appointment letters. These appointment letters must contain all the necessary information relating
to their posts, period of probation scale, terms of appointment etc. these letters must also mention the date by
which the candidates should join the firm.
8. Arrangement of Training: Necessary arrangements are made for providing training to the selected
candidates, if necessary. The nature of training and the period of training depend upon the nature job. Training
increasing the efficiency and morale of the selected candidates.
9. Allotment of Work: When the employees are trained, the work is allotted. The allotment of work must be
made keeping in view the capacity, the ability, the past experience and the taste of candidates. The main point
to consider while making the allotment of work must be the ‘Right man for the right job and right job for the
right man.’
[Link] Up: After making the allotment of the work to the employees, it is followed up. Under this process,
the supervisor checks whether the employees are doing their test work according to the instructions issued to
them or not. If not, necessary instructions and directions are given to them.
METHODS OF RECRUITMENT
The methods of recruitment can be broadly divided into two: internal methods and external methods.
Internal Methods: The following are the most commonly used internal methods of recruiting people.
1. Promotions and Transfers: Promotion and Transfers are used to fill vacancies from within the
Organization. A transfer is a lateral movement within the same grade, from one job to another. It may lead
to changes in duties and responsibilities, working conditions, etc., but not necessarily salary. Promotion,
on the other hand, involves movement of employee from a lower-level position to a higher-level position
accompanied by (usually) changes in duties, responsibilities, status and value.
2. Job Posting: Job posting is another way of hiring people from within. In this method, the Organization
publicises job opening on bulletin boards, electronic method and similar outlets. One of the important
advantages of this method is that it offers a chance to highly qualified persons working within the
Company to look for growth opportunities without looking for greener pastures outside.
3. Employee Referrals: Employee referral means using personal contacts of employees to locate job
prospects. It is a recommendation from a current employee regarding a job applicant. The logic behind
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employee referral is that “it takes one to know one”. Employees working in the Organization, in this case,
are encouraged to recommend the names of known persons, working in other Organizations for a possible
vacancy in the near future. In fact, this has become a popular way of recruiting people in the highly
competitive sectors like IT, Retailing, etc.
4. External Methods:
1. Campus Recruitment: This is a direct method of recruiting people by visiting academic institutions
such as colleges and universities. Here the recruiters visit reputed educational institutions with a view
to pick up job aspirants having requisite technical or professional skills. Job seekers are provided
information about the jobs and the recruiters, in advance. The Company gets a detailed profile of job
seekers through constant exchange of information with respective institutions.
2. Advertisements: Companies give advertisements to attract prospective job seekers. These include
advertisements in newspapers; trade, professional and technical journals; radio and television; etc. In
recent times, this medium has become just as colourful, lively and imaginative as consumer
advertising.
3. Private Employment Search Firms: Search firm is a private employment agency that maintains
computerized lists of qualified applicants and supplies these to employers willing to hire people from
the list for a fee. Firms like Arthur Anderson, Boble and Hewitt, ABC consultants, SB Billimoria,
KPMG; Ferguson Associates offers specialized employment-related services to corporate houses for
a fee, especially for top and middle level executive vacancies.
4. Employment Exchanges: As a statutory requirement, Companies are also expected to notify
(wherever the Employment Exchanges Act, 1959, applies) their vacancies through the respective
Employment Exchanges, created all over India for helping unemployed youth, displaced persons, ex-
military personnel, physically handicapped, etc.
5. Gate Hiring and Contractors: Gate hiring is the method of recruitment used by small and medium
sized Organizations generally where semi-skilled workers are required. The job seekers present
themselves at the factory gate and offer their services on a daily basis. Contractors are also used for
the supply of such personnel.
6. Unsolicited Applicants / Walk-ins: Companies generally receive unsolicited applications from job
seekers at various points of time. The number of such applications depends on economic conditions,
the image of the Company and the job seeker’s perception of the types of jobs that might be available
etc. Such applications are generally kept in a data bank and whenever a suitable vacancy arises, the
company would intimate the candidates to apply through a formal channel. Since recruitment and
selection costs are high (search process, interviewing agency fee, etc.) firms in recent times are trying
to look at alternatives to recruitment especially when market demand for firm’s products and services
is sluggish. Moreover, once employees are placed on the payroll, it may be extremely difficult to
remove them if their performance is marginal.
NEW TRENDS IN RECRUITMENT: Many Companies are moving away of conventional recruitment
methods. The new methods followed by Companies are outsourcing, poaching/raiding and e-recruitment.
1. Outsourcing: Outsourcing is a process of transferring a business function to an external service
provider. In recruitment out sourcing, a company completely transfers the selection process or part of
it to a third party. The outsourcing firms help the organisation by the initial screening of the candidates
according to the needs of the Organization and creating a suitable pool of talent for the final selection
by the Organization. Outsourcing firms develop their human resource pool by employing people for
them. These human resource pools will be made available to various Companies as per their needs.
2. Poaching/Raiding: Raiding or poaching is a method of recruitment in which competing firms attract
employees from rival firms. In simple terms poaching may be described as buying talent rather than
developing. Hefty pay packages, other terms and conditions may attract employees to join new
Organizations. Poaching is a big challenge for human resource managers. Poaching weakens the
Organizations competitive strength because of employees’ migration.
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3. E-Recruitment: E-Recruitment is the latest trend in recruitment. It is also known as online
recruitment. Internet is the back bone for E-Recruitment. Companies advertise job vacancies on
different websites. Exclusive job websites like [Link], [Link], etc help both job seekers and
companies to contact each other. These job sites provide a 24x7 access to the database of the resumes
to the employers facilitating Organizations to hire people very quickly. Every Company website
usually provides ‘career’ hyper link. This link helps job seekers to upload resume in the website. Using
the uploaded resumes Companies can build their own resume database, which can be used for existing
and future requirements. Online recruitment helps the Organizations to automate the recruitment
process, save their time and costs on recruitments.
HR Challenges in Recruitment Process: Recruitment is a function that requires business perspective,
expertise, ability to find and match the best potential candidate for the organisation. In the last few years, the
job market has undergone some fundamental changes in terms of technologies, sources of recruitment,
competition in the market etc. HR professionals are constantly facing new challenges in one of their most
important function- recruitment. The biggest challenge for such professionals is to source or recruit the best
people or potential candidate for the organisation. Other than this the following issues are the main
showstoppers in the recruitment and they are really present in every organization.
1. Non-adaptability to globalization: The HR professionals are expected and required to keep in tune
with the changing times, i.e. the changes taking place across the globe. HR should maintain the
timeliness of the process
2. Opening Job Vacancy without the Job Description: The manager has to invest his or her time to
write a job description. It is the only tool for the HR Recruiter to select the great job candidates but
they do not like to write down a good job description for a new job vacancy. The manager is responsible
for the selection of the job candidate. The manager has to have a clear idea about the ideal job
candidate.
3. Communication Gap in Recruitment and delay in Final Decision: Many excellent job candidates
are lost as the HR Recruiter and the manager do not communicate with them. They wait for each other.
The job candidates are not patient. They want to receive a final decision as soon as possible. The job
candidates should be selected or refused. It is a simple rule of the recruitment process. The common
recruitment issue is leaving the candidates on hold.
4. Lack of motivation to HR Professionals: Recruitment is considered to be a thankless job. Even if the
organisation is achieving results, HR department or professionals are not thanked for recruiting the
right employees and performers.
5. Inflexible Recruitment Process: The recruitment process should be flexible, adaptive and responsive
to the immediate requirements. The recruitment process should also be cost effective. The immediacy
and speed of the recruitment process are the main concerns of the HR in recruitment.
6. Strategic Prioritization and Reviewing Employee Needs: Reviewing employee needs and
prioritizing the tasks to meet the changes in the market has become a challenge for the recruitment
professionals.
Selection: Human resource selection is the process of choosing qualified individuals who are available to fill
positions in an organization. In the ideal personnel situation, selection involves choosing the best applicant to
fill a position. Selection is the process of choosing people by obtaining and assessing information about the
applicants with a view to matching these with the job requirements. It involves a careful screening and testing
of candidates who have put in their applications for any job in the enterprise. It is the process of choosing the
most suitable persons out of all the applicants. The purpose of selection is to pick up the right person for every
job. It can be conceptualised in terms of either choosing the fit candidates, or rejecting the unfit candidates, or
a combination of both. Selection involves both because it picks up the fits and rejects the unfits. In fact, in
Indian context, there are more candidates who are rejected than those who are selected in most of the selection
processes. Therefore, sometimes, it is called a negative process in contrast to positive programme of
recruitment.
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According to Dale Yoder, “Selection is the process in which candidates for employment are divided into two
classes-those who are to be offered employment and those who are not”.
According to Thomas Stone, “Selection is the process of differentiating between applicants in order to identify
(and hire) those with a greater likelihood of success in a job”.
In the words of Michael Jucius, “The selection procedure is the system of functions and devices adopted in a
given company for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not candidates possess the qualifications called for
by a specific job or for progression through a series of jobs.” According to Keith Davis, “Selection is the
process by which an organisation chooses from a list of screened applicants, the person or persons who best
meet the selection criteria for the position available.”
Difference between Recruitment and Selection: Difference between recruitment and selection has been
described by Flippo as, “Recruitment is a process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating and
encouraging them to apply for jobs in an organisation. It is often termed positive as is stimulates people to
apply for jobs, selection on the other hand tends to be negative because it rejects a good number of those who
apply, leaving only the best to be hired.”
1. Difference in Objective: The basic objective of recruitment is to attract maximum number of
candidates so that more options are available. The basic objective of selection is to choose best out of
the available candidates.
2. Difference is Process: Recruitment adopts the process of creating application pool as large as possible
and therefore. It is known as positive process. Selection adopts the process through which more and
more candidates are rejected and fewer candidates are selected or sometimes even not a single
candidate is selected. Therefore, it is known as negative process or rejection process.
3. Technical Differences: Recruitment techniques are not very intensive, and not require high skills. As
against this, in selection process, highly specialised techniques are required. Therefore, in the selection
process, only personnel with specific skills like expertise in using selection tests, conducting
interviews, etc., are involved.
4. Difference in Outcomes: The outcome of recruitment is application pool which becomes input for
selection process. The outcome of selection process is in the form of finalising candidates who will be
offered jobs.
Selection Procedure: The selection procedure is concerned with securing relevant information about an
applicant. This information is secured in a number of steps or stages. The objective of selection process is to
determine whether an applicant meets the qualification for a specific job and to choose the applicant who is
most likely to perform well in that job. Selection is a long process, commencing from the preliminary interview
of the applicants and ending with the contract of employment (sometimes). The selection procedure consists
of a series of steps. Each step must be successfully cleared before the applicant proceeds to the next. The
selection process is a series of successive hurdles or barriers which an applicant must cross. These hurdles are
designed to eliminate an unqualified candidate at any point in the selection process. Thus, this technique is
called “Successive Hurdles Technique”. In practice, the process differs among organisations and between two
different jobs within the same organisation. Selection procedure for the senior managers will be long drawn
and rigorous, but it is simple and short while hiring lower-level employees.
The major factors which determine the steps involved in a selection process are as follows: Selection
process depends on the number of candidates that are available for selection. Selection process depends on
the sources of recruitment and the method that is adopted for making contact with the prospective candidates.
Various steps involved in as selection process depend on the type of personnel to be selected. All the above
factors are not mutually exclusive, rather these operate simultaneously. In any case, the basic objective of a
selection process is to collect as much relevant information about the candidates as is possible so that the most
suitable candidates are selected. A comprehensive selection process involves the various steps:
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Steps in Selection Process

1. Application Pool: Application pool built-up through recruitment process is the base for selection
process. The basic objective at the recruitment level is to attract as much worthwhile applications as
possible so that there are more options available at the selection stage.
2. Preliminary Screening and Interview: It is highly noneconomic to administer and handle all the
applicants. It is advantageous to sort out unsuitable applicants before using the further selection
steps. For this purpose, usually, preliminary interviews, application blank lists and short test can be
used. All applications received are scrutinised by the personnel department in order to eliminate
those applicants who do not fulfil required qualifications or work experience or technical skill, his
application will not be entertained. Such candidate will be informed of his rejection. Preliminary
interview is a sorting process in which the prospective candidates are given the necessary
information about the nature of the job and the organisation. Necessary information is obtained from
the candidates about their education, skills, experience, expected salary etc. If the candidate is found
suitable, he is elected for further screening. This courtesy interview; as it is often called helps the
department screen out obvious misfits. Preliminary interview saves time and efforts of both the
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company and the candidate. It avoids unnecessary waiting for the rejected candidates and waste of
money on further processing of an unsuitable candidate. Since rejection rate is high at preliminary
interview, the interviewer should be kind, courteous, receptive and informal.
3. Application Blank or Application Form: An application blank is a traditional widely accepted
device for getting information from a prospective applicant which will enable the management to
make a proper selection. The blank provides preliminary information as well as aid in the interview
by indicating areas of interest and discussion. It is a good means of quickly collecting verifiable (and
therefore fairly accurate) basic historical data from the candidate. It also serves as a convenient
device for circulating information about the applicant to appropriate members of management and as
a useful device for storing information for, later reference. Many types of application forms,
sometimes very long and comprehensive and sometimes brief, are used. Information is generally
taken on the following items:
i. Biographical Data: Name, father’s name, data and place of birth, age, sex, nationality, height,
weight, identification marks, physical disability, if any, marital status, and number of
dependants.
ii. Educational Attainment: Education (subjects offered and grades secured), training acquired in
special fields and knowledge gained from professional/technical institutes or through
correspondence courses.
iii. Work Experience: Previous experience, the number of jobs held with the same or other
employers, including the nature of duties, and responsibilities and the duration of various
assignments, salary received, grades, and reasons for leaving the present employer.
iv. Salary and Benefits: Present and expected.
v. Other Items: Names and addresses of previous employers, references, etc.
An application blank is a brief history sheet of an employee’s background and can be used for future
reference, in case needed. The application blank must be designed from the viewpoint of the applicant
as well as with the company’s purpose in mind. It should be relatively easy to handle in the employment
office. Application form helps to serve many functions like:
• Its main usefulness is to provide information for reference checking, good interviewing, and
correlation with testing data.
• It helps to weed out candidates who are lacking in education, experience or some other
eligibility traits.
• It helps in formulating questions to be asked in the interview. Data contained in application
form can be stored for future reference.
• It also tests the candidate’s ability to write, to organize his thoughts, and to present facts clearly
and succinctly.
• It indicates further whether the applicant has consistently progressed to better jobs. It provides
factual information.
Weighted Application Blanks: Some organisations assign numeric values or weights to the responses
provided by the applicants. This makes the application form more job related. Generally, the items that
have a strong relationship to job performance are given higher scores. For example, for a sales
representative’s position, items such as previous selling experience, area of specialisation, commission
earned, religion, language etc. The total score of each applicant is then obtained by adding the weights
of the individual item responses. The resulting scores are then used in the final selection. WAB is best
suited for jobs where there are many employees especially for sales and technical jobs. It can help in
reducing the employee turnover later on. However, there are several problems associated with WAB
e.g.
• It takes time to develop such a form.
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• The WAB would have to be updated every few years to ensure that the factors previously
identified are still valid products of job success.
• The organisation should be careful not to depend on weights of a few items while finally
selecting the employee.
4. Selection Tests: Many organisations hold different kinds of selection tests to know more about the
candidates or to reject the candidates who cannot be called for interview etc. Selection tests normally
supplement the information provided in the application forms. Such forms may contain factual
information about candidates. Selection tests may give information about their aptitude, interest,
personality, which cannot be known by application forms. Types of tests and rules of good of testing
have been discussed in brief below:
a. Aptitude Tests: These measure whether an individual has the capacity or talent ability to learn a given
job if given adequate training. These are more useful for clerical and trade positions.
b. Personality Tests: At times, personality affects job performance. These determine personality traits of
the candidate such as cooperativeness, emotional balance etc. These seek to assess an individual’s
motivation, adjustment to the stresses of everyday life, capacity for interpersonal relations and self-
image.
c. Interest Tests: These determine the applicant’s interests. The applicant is asked whether he likes,
dislikes, or is indifferent to many examples of school subjects, occupations, amusements, peculiarities
of people, and particular activities.
d. Performance Tests: In this test the applicant is asked to demonstrate his ability to do the job. For
example, prospective typists are asked to type several pages with speed and accuracy.
e. Intelligence Tests: This aims at testing the mental capacity of a person with respect to reasoning, word
fluency, numbers, memory, comprehension, picture arrangement, etc. It measures the ability to grasp,
understand and to make judgement.
f. Knowledge Tests: These are devised to measure the depth of the knowledge and proficiency in certain
skills already achieved by the applicants such as engineering, accounting etc.
g. Achievement Tests: Whereas aptitude is a capacity to learn in the future, achievement is concerned
with what one has accomplished. When applicants claim to know something, an achievement test is
given to measure how well they know it.
h. Projective Tests: In these tests the applicant projects his personality into free responses about pictures
shown to him which are ambiguous.
Rules of Good Testing:
• Norms should be developed for each test.
• Their validity and reliability for a given purpose should be established before they are used.
• Adequate time and resources must be provided to design, validate, and check tests.
• Tests should be designed and administered only by trained and competent persons.
• The user of tests must be extremely sensitive to the feelings of people about tests.
• Tests are to be uses as a screening device. Reliance should not be placed solely upon tests in
reaching decisions.
• Tests should minimize the probabilities of getting distorted results.
• They must be ‘race-free’. Tests scores are not precise measures. They must be assigned a proper
weightage.
5. Interview: An interview is a procedure designed to get information from a person and to assess his
potential for the job he is being considered on the basis of oral responses by the applicant to oral
inquiries by the interviewer. Interviewer does a formal in-depth conversation with the applicant, to
evaluate his suitability. It is one of the most important tools in the selection process. This tool is used
when interviewing skilled, technical, professional and even managerial employees. It involves two-
way exchange of information. The interviewer learns about the applicant and the candidate learns about
the employer.
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Objectives of Interviews: Interview helps:
• To obtain additional information from the candidate.
• Facilitates giving to the candidate information about the job, company, its policies, products
etc.
• To assess the basic suitability of the candidate.
The selection interview can be:
• One to one between the candidate and the interviewer;
• Two or more interviewers by employers representatives-sequential;
• By a panel of selections, i.e., by more than representative of the employer.
The sequential interview involves a series of interviews; each interviewer meeting the candidate separately.
The panel interview consists of two or more interviews meeting the candidate together.
Types of interviews:
Degree of Structure
Purpose of Interview
Content of Interview
(A) Degree of Structure:
(1) Unstructured or non-directive: in which you ask questions as they come to mind. There is no set format
to follow.
(2) Structured or directive: in which the questions and acceptable responses are specified in advance. The
responses are rated for appropriateness of content.
Structured and non-structured interviews have their pros and cons. In structured interviews all applicants are
generally asked all required questions by all interviewers. Structured interviews are generally more valid.
However structured interviews do not allow the flexibility to pursue points of interests as they develop.
(B) Purpose of Interview: A selection interview is a type of interview designed to predict future job
performance, on the basis of applicant’s responses to the oral questions asked to him. A stress interview is a
special type of selection interview in which the applicant is made uncomfortable by series of awkward and
rude questions. The aim of stress interview is supposedly to identify applicant’s low or high stress tolerance.
In such an interview the applicant is made uncomfortable by throwing him on the defensive by series of frank
and often discourteous questions by the interviewer.
(C) Content of Interview: The content of interview can be of a type in which individual’s ability to project a
situation is tested. This is a situation type interview. In job-related interview, interviewer attempts to assess
the applicant’s past behaviours for job related information, but most questions are not considered situational.
In a behaviour interview a situation in described and candidates are asked how they behaved in the past in
such a situation. While in situational interviews candidates are asked to describe how they would react to
situation today or tomorrow. In the behavioural interview they are asked to describe how they did react to the
situation in the past.
Principles of Interviewing To make it effective, an interview should be properly planned and conducted on
certain principles; Edwin B. Flippo has described certain rules and principles of good interviewing to this end:
• Provide proper surroundings. The physical setting for the interview should be both private and
comfortable. The mental setting should be one of rapport.
• The interviewer must be aware of non-verbal behaviour.
• Plan for the interview by thoroughly reviewing job specifications and job descriptions.
• Determine the specific objectives and the method of the interviewing.
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• Inform yourself as much as possible concerning the known information about the interviewee.
• The interviewer should possess and demonstrate a basic liking and respect for people.
• Questions should be asked in a manner that encourages the interviewee to talk. Put the applicant at
ease.
• Make a decision only when all the data and information are available. Avoid decisions that are based
on first impressions.
• Conclude the interview tactfully, making sure that the candidate leaves feeling neither too elated nor
frustrated.
• Maintain some written record of the interview during or immediately after it.
• Listen attentively and, if possible, protectively.
• Questions must be stated clearly to avoid confusion and ambiguity.
• Maintain a balance between open and overtly structured questions.
• ‘Body language’ must not be ignored.
• The interviewer should make some overt sign to indicate the end of the interview.
Interviewing is largely an art, the application of which can be improved through practice.
6. Background Investigation: The next step in the selection process is to undertake an investigation of
those applicants who appear to offer potential as employees. This may include contacting former
employers to confirm the candidate’s work record and to obtain their appraisal of his or her performance/
contacting other job-related and personal references, and verifying the educational accomplishments
shown on the application.
The background investigation has major implications. Every personnel administrator has the
responsibility to investigate each potential applicant. In some organization, failure to do so could result
in the loss of his or her job. But many managers consider the background investigation data highly biased.
Who would actually list a reference that would not give anything but the best possible recommendation?
The seasoned personnel administrator expects this and delves deeper into the candidate’s background, but
that, too, may not prove to be beneficial. Many past employers are reluctant to give any information to
another company other than factual information (e.g., date of employment).
Even though there is some reluctance to give this information, there are ways in which personnel
administrators can obtain it. Sometimes, for instance information can be obtained from references once
removed. For example, the personnel administrator can ask a reference whose name has been provided
on the application form to give another reference, someone who has knowledge of the candidate’s work
experience. By doing this, the administrator can eliminate the possibility of accepting an individual based
on the employee’s current employer’s glowing recommendation when the motivation for such a positive
recommendation was to get rid of the employee.
7. Physical Examination: After the selection decision and before the job offer is made, the candidate is
required to undergo physical fitness test. Candidates are sent for physical examination either to the
company’s physician or to a medical officer approved for the purpose. Such physical examination provides
the following information.
• Whether the candidate’s physical measurements are in accordance with job requirements or not?
• Whether the candidate suffers from bad health which should be corrected?
• Whether the candidate has health problems or psychological attitudes likely to interfere with work
efficiency or future attendance?
• Whether the candidate is physically fit for the specific job or not?
Policy on these physical exams has changed today. Dale Yoder writes, “Modem policy used the physical
examination not to eliminate applicants, but to discover what jobs they are qualified to fill. The examination
should disclose the physical characteristics of the individual that are significant from the standpoint of his
efficient performance of the job he may enter or of those jobs to which he may reasonably expect to be
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transferred or promoted. It should note deficiencies, not as a basis for rejection, but as indicating restrictions
on his transfer to various positions also.”
8. Approval by Appropriate Authority: On the basis of the above steps, suitable candidates are
recommended for selection by the selection committee or personnel department. Though such a
committee or personnel department may have authority to select the candidates finally, often it has staff
authority to recommend the candidates for selection to the appropriate authority. Organisations may
designate the various authorities for approval of final selection of candidates for different categories of
candidates. Thus, for top level managers, board of directors may be approving authority; for lower levels,
even functional heads concerned may be approving authority.
9. Final Employment Decision: After a candidate is finally selected, the human resource department
recommends his name for employment. The management or board of the company offers employment in
the form of an appointment letter mentioning the post, the rank, the salary grade, the date by which the
candidate should join and other terms and conditions of employment. Some firms make a contract of
service on judicial paper. Usually, an appointment is made on probation in the beginning. The probation
period may range from three months to two years. When the work and conduct of the employee is found
satisfactory, he may be confirmed. The personnel department prepare a waiting list and informs the
candidates. In case a person does not join after being selected, the company calls next person on the
waiting list.
10. Evaluation: The selection process, if properly performed, will ensure availability of competent and
committed personnel. A period audit, conducted by people who work independently of the human
resource department, will evaluate the effectiveness of the selection process. The auditors will do a
thorough and the intensive analysis and evaluate the employment programme.
Placement and Induction:
PLACEMENT: Placement is a process of assigning a specific job to each of the selected candidates. It
involves assigning a specific rank and responsibility to an individual. It implies matching the requirements of
a job with the qualifications of the candidate. Placement is understood assigning jobs to the selected
candidates. Assigning jobs to employees may involves a new job or different jobs. Thus, placement may
include initial assignment of job to new employee, on transfer, promotion or demotion of the present
employees.
“Placement is the determination of the job to which an accepted candidate is to be assigned and his assignment
to that job. It is a matching of what the supervisor has reason to think he can do with the job demands (job
requirements) and it is matching of what he imposes (in strain, working conditions etc.) and what he offers (in
the form of payroll companionship with others, promotional possibilities etc.).’’ -Pigors and Myres
Right placement of workers can have the following advantages:
1. Reduced labour turnover rate.
2. Reduced absenteeism rate.
3. Increased safety of workers and lower accidents.
4. Increased morale of workers.
5. Better human relations in the organisations.
While taking the placement decision, the following consideration or principles must be kept in mind:
1. Job Requirements: An employee should be placed on the job according to the requirements of the job such
as physical and mental ability, eyesight, hearing, stress etc. The job shouldn’t be adjusted according to the
qualification and abilities of the employees. Job placement profile charts can be used to match the worker’s
physical and mental abilities with the job requirements. This profile chart displays an evaluation of both job
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requirements and worker abilities for key features of the job so that the management can easily determine how
well worker fits a job.
2. Suitable Qualifications: The job should be offered to only that person who is suitably qualified. Over
qualified and under qualified persons might create problems for the organisation in the long run.
3. Adequate Information to the Job Incumbent: The employee should be provided with the complete
information and facts relating to the job, including the working conditions prevailing in the firm. He should
also be made known to the rewards associated with the performance levels.
4. Commitment and Loyalty: While placing the new employee, an effort should be made to develop a sense
of commitment, loyalty and cooperation in his mind so that he may realise his responsibilities better towards
the job, the organisation and his associates.
5. Flexibility: The placement in the initial period may be temporary as changes are likely after the completion
of training. The employee may be later transferred to the job where he can do better justice.
Induction of Employees: According to Edwin [Link], “Induction is concerned with introducing or
orienting a new employee to the organisation. It is the welcoming process to make the new employee feel at
home and generate in him a feeling of belongingness to the organisation”. It is the first step in a proper
communication policy which seeks to build a two-way channel of information between the management and
employees. The new employee, on his joining the organisation, must be helped to get adjusted and acquainted
with the fellow employees and the work environment. Rather than leaving him to make his own way through
the organisation. It is much better to properly and systematically introduce him to the company, its philosophy,
its place in the industry or economy, its major policies etc.
Contents of Induction Programme: Topics to be covered in induction:
1. Company’s history, mission, vision and philosophy.
2. Products and services of the company.
3. Company’s organisation structure.
4. Location of departments and employee services.
5. Employee’s activities like clubs, credit society.
6. Personnel policies and procedures.
7. Standing orders.
8. Rules and Regulations.
9. Terms and conditions of services.
10. Grievance procedures.
11. Safety measures.
12. Benefits and services for employees.
13. Training, promotions and transfer facility.
14. Career advancement schemes.
15. Counselling facility.
Induction Process: The following are the steps in induction process:
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(1) Welcoming the New Employees: The first fundamental step in induction is welcoming the new employees
as soon as he joins the organizations and is duly placed on the job and gives basic instruction.
(2) Induction with Immediate Superior: After welcome of the new employees, the next step is to introduce
him with his immediate superior or with his colleagues and briefly explains his duties, responsibilities
authorities, work procedure and practices.
(3) To Impart Detail Instructions: The third and last important step in induction is to give detail information
about the company such as company policies, plans, targets objectives, goals, products services, future
prospects, working environment, future facilities, salary structure promotional opportunities, transfer facilities
etc. At this stage a new comer knows his job and forms opinion about it, of course which is positive and starts
integrating himself with the organization his job and the environment. Induction takes place sometimes within
one week to six months from the time of the initial hiring and orientation. It is generally conducted either by
foreman or a specialist. Its main purpose is to find out whether the employee is reasonably satisfied or not.
Induction Methods: The following gives us an idea as to how new employees are inducted into the
organization:
(1) New employees are shown where they have to work and left to themselves for getting acquainted with
fellow workers, company rules, etc.
(2) New employees are taken to the place of work and introduced to the supervisor/departmental heads, who
in turn introduce them to their task and fellow workers.
(3) The supervisor informs the new employees about the plant, company rules, nature of product/products,
process of production, etc. and
(4) An old experienced employee (sponsor) introduces the new employees to their work and fellow workers.
In many organizations, a booklet is issued, titled as ‘know your company’, or ‘this concerns you’, or
aap ki company ki parichay pustika, introducing new employees to the organization and giving relevant
information to them.
The information given to various categories of employees at the time of induction is noted to be as
follows:
(1) Information about the organization,
(2) Information about the company product/products,
(3) Information about the working rules and regulations,
(4) Information about the company’s benefit plans in operation,
(5) Information about the company’s recreational and educational activities,
(6) Information about the union (if the company is unionized).
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Job Changes - transfers, promotions/demotions, separations
Job Changes: Mobility of employees from one job to another through transfer, promotion and demotion is
internal mobility and some employees leave the organization due to resignation, retirement and termination
is called external mobility. Taking internal and external together makes job change.
Purpose of Job Change
a. To maximize employee efficiency.
b. To improve organizational effectiveness.
c. To ensure discipline.
d. To cope up with change in operation.
Promotion: Promotion is an upward movement of employee in the organization to another job, higher in
organisation’s hierarchy. In the new job, the employee finds a change in salary, status, responsibility and grade
of job or designation. As a whole, the organization perceives the staffing of vacancy worth more than the
employee’s present position. In contrast to promotion when the salary of an employee is increased without a
corresponding change in the job-grade, it is known as ‘upgrading’. But when promotion does not result in
change in pay, it is called ‘dry promotion’. Promotion is a method of internal mobility.
Principles of Promotion
Promotion is a double-edged weapon. If handled carefully, it contributes to employee satisfaction and
motivation. If mishandled, it leads to discontentment and frustration among the employees. It is the
responsibility of the HR manager to lay down a sound promotional policy and ensure its implementation.
Policy of promotion
The HRM must make it clear whether to fill up higher positions by internal promotions or recruit people from
outside. Generally speaking, top positions in an organisation are filled through external recruitment. The lower
positions are filled by promotions from within.
When it has been decided to fill up higher positions with promotions, a further decision on determining the
basis of promotion should be made by HRM. The basis of promotion may be seniority or merit or both.
One most important point regarding the policy of promotion is whether to promote employees against
vacancies or non-vacancies. In many organizations promotions are done on a non-vacancy basis after they
complete a minimum period of service. Such promotions are time bound and not based on vacancies or merit.
The other practice is to link promotions to vacancies. Sometimes these vacancies are created to avoid
frustration among the aspirants for promotion.
A promotion should be preceded by a job analysis and performance appraisal. A job analysis is important to
know what the job demands from the employee and performance appraisal will enable the management to
know whether the employee in question can match the requirements of the job.
The promotion policy should be discussed with the labour unions and their acceptance must be obtained in
the form of an agreement.
When promotions are made on the basis of competence, openings for promotion should be displayed at several
places to enable interested people to apply.
1. Bases of promotion: Organisations adopt different bases of promotion depending on their nature, size,
managerial policy etc. The well-established bases of promotion are seniority and merit.
i. Seniority based promotion: If seniority is the bases for promotion, an employee with the longest
period of service will get promoted, irrespective of whether he is competent or not.
Advantages
• It is easy to administer.
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• It is easy to measure the length of service and judge the seniority.
• With the base of seniority there is no scope for favoritism, discrimination and subjective
judgement.
• By seniority everyone is sure of getting promotion one day.
• Subordinates are more willing to work under an older boss who has given many years of
service to the company.
Disadvantages
• The learning capabilities of senior (older) employees may diminish.
• It de-motivates the younger and more competent employees and it results in more
employee turnover.
• The organisation is deprived of external talent which is very necessary due to technological
advancements and multi-culture organisation.
• Judging the seniority is highly difficult as the problems like job seniority, company
seniority, regional seniority, service in different organizations, trainee experience, research
experience etc., will crop up.
ii. Merit or competence-based promotion: Merit based promotion occur when an employee is promoted
because of superior performance in the current job. Merit means an individual’s knowledge, skills,
abilities as measured from his educational qualifications, experience, training, and past employment
record.
Advantages
• Promotion by merit is a reward to encourage those employees who make a successful effort to
increase their knowledge or skill and who maintain a high level of productivity.
• It helps the employer to focus on talented employees recognize their talent and reward their
contributions.
• Efficiency is encouraged, recognized and rewarded.
• Competent people are retained as better prospects are open to them.
• It inspires other employees to improve their standards of performance through active
participation in all activities and putting in more efforts.
Disadvantages
• It is not easy to measure merit. Personal prejudices, biases, and union pressures may come in
the way of promoting the best performer.
• When young employees get ahead of senior employees in the organization this creates
frustration among senior employees. They feel insecure and may also quit the organization.
• The past performance may not guarantee future success of an employee.
• Loyalty and length of service is not properly rewarded.
Advantages of Promotion Plan
• It provides an opportunity to the present employees to move into jobs that provide greater personal
satisfaction and prestige.
• It offers opportunities to management to provide recognition and incentives to the better employees,
to correct initial mistakes in appointments and to ‘freeze’ inefficient personnel.
• It generates within an organizational beneficial pressure on work performance and desired behaviour
of all its members.
• It serves as an orderly, logical and prompt source of recruitment for management to fill vacancies as
they arise.
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• Promotion fulfils the long-cherished desires in the lives of employees.

Disadvantages of Promotion Plan

• Promotion promotes “inbreeding” in which the company will not have new blood and new thinking.
Old habits and ideas are perpetuated.
• The system becomes stagnant, repetitious and very conventional.
• The newer employees are introduced at places where they are having little influence.
Demotion
Demotion is the reverse of promotion. It is the downward movement of an employee in hierarchy with lower
status, salary and decreased responsibilities. It is generally used as a punitive measure for incompetence or a
preliminary step to dismissal. It is a downgrading process where the employees suffer considerable emotional
and financial loss.
Causes for demotion
• The employee may be unable to meet the challenges posed by a new job.
• He may have low administrative skills.
• Due to poor business conditions and continuous losses, a firm may decide to layoff some and to
downgrade others.
• It is sometimes used as a disciplinary tool against offending employees.
Transfer
A transfer implies a lateral movement of an employee in the hierarchy of positions with the same pay and
status. Transfers may be either company initiated or employee initiated. In fact, a transfer is a change in job
assignment. It may involve a promotion, demotion or no change at all in status and responsibility.
Transfers from one job to another may be either temporary or permanent. Temporary transfers may be due to
• temporary absenteeism
• shifts in the workload
• vacations
Permanent transfers may be due to
• shifts in the workload
• vacancies requiring the special skill of the transferred employee
• ill-health of the employee
Transfer requests might come from the worker himself, from his superior, from the head of another department
or may be made necessary by changes in the volume of trading activities. When the transfer request comes
from the employee himself, it is because he does not like the work or the place of work or the co-workers.
Requests for transfers should be favourably considered especially when it comes from an employee. An
unsatisfied employee is more of a liability than an asset. It is true that no company can comply with all requests
for transfers.
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Types of Transfers

Production transfer: Transfers from jobs in which labour requirements are declining to jobs in which they
are increasing (through resignation or otherwise) are called production transfer. This type of transfer is made
to avoid lay-off of efficient employees by providing them with alternative positions in the same organisation.
Replacement transfer: These are transfers in which a long- service employee is transferred to a similar job
where he replaces or “bumps” an employee with shorter service. This type of transfer is made when all
operations are declining but management wants to retain the long-service employee as long as possible.
Versatility transfer: The versatility transfer (better called ‘rotation’) is for the purpose of providing
management with a more versatile group of employees. This type of transfer will increase the versatility of
the employee by shifting him from one job to another. The employee gets an opportunity for varied job
experience. This helps the employee through job enlargement.
Remedial transfer: These transfers are made to remedy the situation. Remedial transfers provide
management with a procedure whereby an unsatisfactory placement can be corrected. Initial placement might
be faulty or the type of job might not suit his health. In such cases the worker would benefit by transfer to a
different kind of work.
Benefits of Transfers
• Improve employee skills
• Remedy faulty placement decisions
• Prepare the employee for challenging future
• Improve employee satisfaction
• Improve employee-employer relations.
Problems with transfers
• Inconvenient to employees.
• Employees may or may not fit in the new location
• Shifting of experienced hands may affect productivity
• Discriminatory transfer may affect employee satisfaction.
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Employee Separation: Employee separation occurs when employees cease to be a member of an
organization. Agreement between employer & employee comes to an end. Employees decide to leave the
organization or organization ask employee to leave. Reasons for employee separations are voluntary or
involuntary. In the former initiation for separation is taken by employee himself or herself. Where the
employer initiates to separate an employee, it becomes involuntary separation.

Causes of Separation
Voluntary Separations
• Quits: An employee decides to quit when his or her level of dissatisfaction with the present job is high
or a more alternative job is awaiting the individual. Organisations often encourage quits through cash
incentives. Popularly known as voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) these schemes are offered by the
organizations when they are experiencing losses. They resort to cost saving and believe that the best
way of cost saving is to cut the wages of the employees. As VRS are induced by the management it
comes under involuntary separations.
• Retirements: Retirements occur when employees reach the end of their careers. The age for an
employee’s superannuation differs. Retirement differs from quits. When the employee superannuates
and leaves the organization, he or she carries several benefits with himself or herself. Such a privilege
is denied to the employee who quits. Second, retirement occurs at the end of an employee’s career but
the quit can take place at any time. Third, superannuation shall not leave any bad relationship behind
the retiree but a quit is likely to result in hurt feelings with the employer.

Involuntary Separations: Employers resort to terminate employment contract with employees for at least
three reasons:

a. Organization is passing through lean period and is unable to maintain the existing labour

b. Initial faulty hiring resulting in mismatch between job and employee.

c. Employee exhibits unusual behaviour making the environment ineffective.

d. Discharges, layoffs, retrenchment and VRS are the common methods of employer sponsored
separations.

Discharge or Dismissal: A discharge takes place when the employer discovers that it is no more desirable to
keep an employee any longer. Discharge, also called termination, should be avoided as far as possible.
Termination is expensive as the firm must seek replacement, hire and train the new hiree. A discharged
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individual is likely to badmouth about the company. Dismissal is the last step and may be resorted to when all
the efforts in salvaging the employee have failed. The following reasons lead to the dismissal of an employee:

• Excessive absenteeism
• Serious misconduct
• False statement of qualification at the time of employment
• Theft of company property

Layoff: A layoff is a temporary separation of the employee at the instance of the employer. Section 2(k)
of The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, defines layoff as “the failure, refusal or inability of an employer to
give employment to a worker whose name is present on the rolls but who has not been retrenched”. A layoff
may be for a definite period on the expiry of which the employee will be recalled by the employer for the duty.
As the employees are laid off by the employer, they have to be paid compensation for the period they are laid
off. Section 25 of The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 makes it compulsory for the employer to pay
compensation for all the days of layoff. The compensation must be equal to half of the normal wages the
employee would have earned if he or she would not have been laid off.

A layoff may be for one of the following reason:

• Shortage of coal, power or raw materials

• Accumulation of stocks
• Breakdown of machinery etc.

Retrenchment: It refers to the termination of the employee because of the replacement of labour by machines
or the closure of a department due to continuing lack of demand of the products manufactured in that particular
department of the organisation. If the plant is itself closed then the management and the employees have to
leave for good. Like layoff retrenchment also entitles the employees to compensation which in terms of section
25(f) of the industrial disputes act, 1947 is equivalent to 15 days average pay for every competed year of
continuous service.

Retrenchment however differs from layoff in the sense that in layoff the employee continues to be in the
employment of the organization and is sure to be recalled after the end of the period of layoff whereas, in
retrenchment, the employee’s relation with the company is detached immediately.

Retrenchment also differs from dismissal. An employee is dismissed due to his or her own fault and dismissal
is usually done of one or two employees whereas retrenchment is forced both on the employer and the
employee and it involves the termination of several employees.

Voluntary Retirement Scheme: Beginning in the early 1980’s, companies both public and private sector
have been sending home surplus labour for good reasons not by retrenchment but by a novel scheme called
Voluntary retirement scheme VRS also called the “golden hand shake plan”. Handsome compensation is paid
to the leaving employees. VRS is thought to be painless and time saving method of trimming the staff strength
and getting rid of unproductive older workers. Many organizations like Hindustan Lever, Siemens, TISCO
have successfully operated this scheme and achieved great success.

TISCO had set aside Rs.100 crore for its VRS in 1997. The company had decided to cut off its employees
from 68,000 to 55,000 in five years to improve efficiency and it received good response.
Module II Human Resource Planning
EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCE
Meaning and Definition of Grievance
Grievance can be defined as any discontent or dissatisfaction with any aspect of the organization. When a
complaint remains unattended and the employee concerned feels a lack of justice and fair play, then the
dissatisfaction grows and assumes a status of grievance.
According to Prof. Juclus "Grievance is any discontent or dissatisfaction, whether expressed or not, whether
valid or not, arising out of anything connected with the company that an employee thinks, believes, or even
feels is unfair, unjust or inequitable".
According to Keith Davis, it is "Grievance is any real or imagined feeling of personal injustice which an
employee has concerning his employment relationship".
According to Beach "Grievance is any dissatisfaction or feeling of injustice in connection with one's
employment situation that is brought to the notice of the management.
According to Flippo, "Grievance is a type of discontent which must always be expressed. A grievance is
usually more formal in character then a complaint. It can be valid or ridiculous, and must grow out, of
something connected with company operations or policy. It must involve an interpretation or application of
the provisions of the labour contract".
According to Dale Yoder, "Grievance is a written complaint filed by an employee and claiming unfair
treatment".
International Labour Organization defines grievance as "A complaint one or more workers in respect of wages,
allowances, conditions of work and Interpretation of service stipulations, covering such areas as overtime
leave, transfer, promotion, seniority. Job assignment and termination of service".
In the opinion of the National Commission on Labour, "Complaints affecting one or more Individual workers
in respect of wage payments, overtime, leave, transfer, promotion, seniority, work assignment and discharges
constitute grievances".
Characteristics of Employee Grievances
1. A grievance refers to any form of discontent or dissatisfaction with an aspect of the organization.
2. The dissatisfaction must arise out of employment and not due to personal or family problems.
3. A grievance may be written or verbal.
4. A grievance may be voiced or unvoiced.
5. A grievance may be valid or invalid, legitimate or irrational, justifiable or ridiculous.
6. A grievance give rise to unhappiness, discontent, frustration, indifference to work, poor morale and
ultimately results inefficiency and low productivity.
7. Broadly speaking, a grievance is traceable to perceived non-fulfilment of one's expectations from the
organization.
Forms of Employee Grievances
Factual: A factual grievance arises when legitimate needs of employees remain unfulfilled, e.g., wage hike
has been agreed but not implemented citing various reasons. These grievances reflect the drawbacks in the
implementation of the organizational policies.
Imaginary: When an employees' dissatisfaction is not because of any valid reason but because of wrong
perception, wrong attitude or wrong information he has. Such a situation may create an imaginary grievance.
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Though management is not at fault in such instances, still it has to clear the 'fog' immediately. However, such
grievances can have far-reaching consequences on the organization because the employees are likely to
develop an altogether negative attitude towards the organization which decreases their effectiveness and
involvement in work.
Disguised: An employee may have dissatisfaction for reasons that are unknown to him. In general
organizations consider the basic requirements of their employees. Psychological needs of the employees such
as need for recognition, affection, power, achievement, etc., are normally unattended and ignored. For
example, an employee complaining very strongly about the working conditions in the office may in turn be
seeking some recognition and appreciation from his or her colleagues. Hence, disguised grievances should
also be considered since they do have far-reaching consequences in case they are unattended and ignored.
Nature of Employee Grievances
A grievance or problem is submitted by an employee or several employees of different types. It may be
concerning a situation or likely to affect the teams and conditions of employment of one worker or several
workers. If a problem is related to and endorsed by all or majority of employees or if trade union submits a
problem as a general claim it falls outside the scope of grievance procedure and generally comes under the
purview of collective bargaining. Thus, if an issue is wider in scope or general in nature it will be outside, the
grievance machinery.
For example, if majority of employees or the trade union in an organization demand wage revision, such issue
does not come under the scope of grievance machinery and falls within the scope of collective bargaining. In
contrast, it the workers of different departments submit to the management that their wage is not in accordance
with the award given by wage accordance with the award given by wage Boards and if they ask the
management to correct the wage inequity such issue falls within the scope of grievance machinery.
Causes/Sources of Employee Grievances
I. Promotions
a. Supersession
b. Acting promotion
c. Seniority
d. Pay fixation
II. Compensation
a. Increments
b. Payment
c. Recovery of dues
III. Amenities
a. Inequitable distribution
b. Entidement
c. Medical benefits
IV. Service Matters
a. Transfers
b. Continuity of service
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c. 'Superannuation
V. Disciplinary Action
a. Punishment
b. Fines
c. Victimization
VI. Nature of Job
a. Job allocation
VII. Condition of Work
a. Safety
b. Hazards
VIII. Leave
S. Chandra's study on grievance procedure and practices revealed the following as some of the main causes
of employee grievances:
• Amenities
• Compensation
• Conditions of work
• Continuity of service
• Disciplinary action
• Fines
• Leave
• Medical benefits
• Nature of job
• Promotions
• Payments
• Safety environment
• Superannuation
• Transfers
• Supersession
• Victimization
Factors Contributing to Employee Grievance
There are three main factors which contribute to the employee grievances.
1) Management Practices:
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• The state of management followed, be it autocratic at one end of the scale or totally participative at the
other, would need to be related to the socio-cultural orientation of the workforce.
• Grievance is also caused because the social distance between management and workers, their clas and
cultural orientations are widely different.
• It also depends on the implementation of personnel policies-if the implementation falls short of the
intended policy then the resultant gap could give rise to grievances.
• Poor communication between management and its employees is another cause of grievance.
• Supervisory practices are a major source of grievance.
2) Union Practices:
• Multiplicity of unions
• Political affiliation
3) Individual Personality Traits:
• An individual's personality also has a bearing on the usage of the grievance machinery. Some are
basically predisposed to grumble and find fault with every little matter, seeking and looking out only
for faults.
• Sometimes mental tension, caused perhaps by ill health, also contributes to this, in the sense that i
tense mind finds an outlet in voicing a spate of grievances.
Identifying Employee Grievances
Grievances can be uncovered in a number of ways. Gossip and Grapevine offer vital clues about employees'
grievances. Gripe boxes, open door policies, periodic interviews, exit surveys could also be undertaken to
uncover the mystery surrounding grievances. These methods are discussed below:
1) Observation: A manager/supervisor can usually track the behaviours of people working under him. If a
particular employee is not getting along with people, spoiling materials due to carelessness or recklessness,
showing indifference to commands, reporting late for work or is remaining absent-the signals are fairly
obvious. Since the supervisor is close to the scene of action, he can always find out such unusual behaviours
and report promptly.
2) Grievance Procedure: A systematic grievance procedure is the best means to highlight employee
dissatisfaction at various levels. Management, to this end, must encourage employees to use it whenever they
have anything to say. In the absence of such a procedure, grievances pile up and burst up in violent forms at a
future date. By that things might have taken an ugly shape altogether, impairing cordial relations between
labour and management. If management fails to induce employees to express their grievances, unions will
take over and emerge as powerful bargaining representatives
3) Gripe Boxes: A gripe box may be kept at prominent locations in the factory for lodging anonymous
complaints pertaining to any aspect relating to work. Since the complainant need not reveal his identity, he
can express his feelings of injustice or discontent frankly and without any fear of victimization.
4) Open-Door Policy: This is a kind of walk-in-meeting with the manager when the employee can express
his feelings openly about any work related grievance
5) Exit Interview: Employees usually leave their current Jobs due to dissatisfaction or better prospects
outside. If the manager tries sincerely through an exit Interview he might be able to find out the real reasons
why 'x' is, leaving the organization. To elicit valuable information, the manager must encourage the employee
to give a correct picture so as to rectify the mistakes promptly. If the employee is not providing fearless
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answers, he may be given questionnaire to fill up and post the same after getting all his dues cleared from the
organization where he is currently employed.
6) Opinion Surveys: Surveys may be conducted periodically to elicit the opinions of employees about the
organization and its policies.
It is better to use as many channels as possible, if the intention is to uncover the truth behind the curtain.
Effects of Employee Grievances
1) On Production
• Low quality of production.
• Low quality of productivity.
• Increase in the wastage of material, spoilage/leakage of machinery.
• Increase in the cost of production per unit.
2) On the Employees
• Increases the rate of absenteeism and turnover.
• Reduces the level of commitment, sincerity and punctuality.
• Increases the incidence of accidents.
• Reduces the level of employee morale.
3) On the Managers
• Stains the superior-subordinate relations.
• Increases in indiscipline cases.
• Increase in unrest and thereby machinery to maintain Industrial peace.
• Increases the degree of supervision, control and follow-up
Grievance Handling Procedure
The grievance handling procedure is one of the more important means available for employees to express their
dissatisfaction. It is also a means available to management to keep a check or relevant diagnostic data on the
state of the organization's health.
The formal mechanism for dealing with worker's dissatisfaction is called the grievance procedure. It is
generally higher system of several steps through which an affected employee can take his grievance to
successively levels of management for redressed.
Grievance procedure is necessary in a large organization which has numerous personnel and many different
levels with the result that the manager is unable to keep a check on each individual, or be involved in every
aspect of the working of the organization. In a small organization, communication knowledge and contact is
possible to a much greater extent, thus reducing the need for a formal grievance procedure.
A well-designed and a proper grievance procedure provide:
1) A channel or a venue by which any aggrieved employee may present his grievance.
2) A procedure which ensures that there will be a systematic handling of every grievance.
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3) A method by which an aggrieved employee can relieve his feelings of dissatisfaction with his job, working
conditions, or with the management.
4). A means of ensuring that there is some measure of promptness in the handling of the grievance.
Need for a Grievance Handling Procedure
1) Most grievances seriously disturb the employees. This may affect their morale, productivity and their
willingness to cooperate with the organization. If an explosive situation develops, this can be promptly
attended to if a grievance handling procedure is already in existence.
2) It is not possible that all the complaints of the employees would be settled by first-time supervisors,
for these supervisors may not have had a proper training for the purpose, and they may lack authority.
Moreover, there may be personality conflicts and other causes as well.
3) It serves as a check on the arbitrary actions of the management because supervisors know that
employees are likely to see to it that their protest does reach the higher management.
4) It serves as an outlet for employee gripes, discontent and frustrations.
5) The management has complete authority to operate the business as it sees fit-subject, of course, to its
legal and moral obligations and the contracts it has entered into with its workers or their representative
trade union. But if the trade union or the employees do not like the way the management functions,
they can submit their grievance in accordance with the procedure laid down for that purpose.
Principles of Grievance Handling Procedure
1) Ascertaining Facts: Managers should interview the employees in order to collect facts with regards to the
grievances of employees. The Interview should be confidential and informal, managers should be patient and
reflect a flexible and positive attitude towards the employee and finally he should make notes of the Interview
and submit report.
2) Positive Attitude: Managers must have a positive attitude towards employees in order to develop a feeling
of mutual trust and respect. Managers should carefully listen to the problems of the employees, take interest
in their problems, have empathy for their problems, should verify facts because the employee complaints could
be fictitious and settle grievances at the earliest.
3) Keenness towards Settlement: Settlement of grievances of employees is the prime responsibility of the
managers. Whether the grievance is real, imaginary or disguised, managers must pay attention to all and should
instil confidence in the employees that they are concerned about employees' problems and are keen to settle
grievance in a correct and transparent manner as early as is possible.
4) Superordinate Goals: While settling disputes, problems and dissatisfaction of employees, the super-
ordinate goals, i.e., interest of the organization should reign supreme. For short-term gain or peace, the long-
term interest of the organization should not be sacrificed.
Pre-requisites of a Grievance Handling Procedure
1) Conformity with Statutory Provisions: Due consideration must be given to the prevailing legislation
while designing the grievance handling procedure.
2) Unambiguity: Every aspect of the grievance handling procedure should be clear and unambiguous. All
employees should know whom to approach first when they have a grievance, whether the complaint should
be written or oral, the maximum time in which the redress is assured, etc. The redressing official should also
know the limits within which he can take the required action.
3) Simplicity: The grievance handling procedure should be simple, and short. If the procedure is complicated
it may discourage employees and they may fall to make use of it in a proper manner.
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4) Promptness: The grievance of the employee should be promptly handled and necessary action must be
taken immediately. This is good for both the employee and management, because if the wrong doe is punished
late, it may affect the morale of other employees as well.
5) Training: The supervisors the union representatives should be properly trained in all aspects of grievance
handling beforehand or else it will complicate the problem.
6) Follow-up: The personnel department should keep track of the effectiveness and the functioning of
grievance handling procedure.
Steps in the Grievance Handling Procedure

1) Identify Grievances: Employee dissatisfaction or grievance should be identified by the management if

they are not expressed. If they are ventilated, management has to promptly acknowledge them.
2) Define Correctly: The management has to define the problem properly and accurately after it is identified
and acknowledged.
3) Collect Data: Complete information should be collected from all the parties relating to the grievance.
Information should be classified as facts data, opinions etc.
4) Analyse and Solve: The information should be analysed, alternative solutions to the problem should be
developed and the best solution should be selected.
5) Prompt Redressal: The grievance should be redressed by. Implementing the solution.
6) Implement and Follow-up: Implementation of the solution must be followed up at every stage in order to
ensure effective and speedy implementation.
Model Grievance Procedure
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The model grievance procedure suggested by the National Commission on Labour involves successive time-
bound steps each leading to the next, in case of dissatisfaction.
1) The aggrieved worker in the first Instance will approach the foreman and tells him of his grievance orally.
2) The foreman has to redress his grievance and if the worker is not satisfied with this redressal, he can
approach the supervisor.
3) The supervisor has to provide an answer within 48 hours. In the event of the supervisor not giving an answer
or the answer not being acceptable to the worker, the worker goes to the next step.
4) At this stage the worker (either alone or accompanied by his departmental representative) approaches the
Head of the Department who has to give an answer within three days.
5) If the Departmental Head fails to give an answer or if the worker is not satisfied with his answer, the worker
may appeal to the Grievance committee, consisting of the representatives of the employer and the days from
6) The recommendations of this committee should be communicated to the manager within seven the date of
the grievance reaching it.
7) Unanimous decisions, if any, of the committee shall be implemented by the management.
8) If there is no unanimity, the views of the members of the committee shall be placed before the manager for
his decision. The manager has to take a decision and inform the worker within three days.
9) The worker can make an appeal against the manager's decision and such an appeal has to be decided within
a week.
A union official may accompany the worker to the manager for discussion and if no decision is arrived at this
stage, both the union and management may refer the grievance to voluntary arbitration within a week of the
receipt of the management's decision.
The worker in actual practice may not resort to all the above mentioned steps. For example, if the grievance
is because of his dismissal or discharge he can make an appeal against dismissal or discharge.