UNIT I INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Definition
In general Human Resource Management is a management function concerned with
hiring, training, motivating, developing and maintaining workforce in an organization. Human
resource management ensures satisfaction of employees so as to get maximum contribution of
employees for the achievement of organizational objectives.
According to Armstrong (1997), Human Resource Management can be defined as ―a
strategic approach to acquiring, developing, managing, motivating and gaining the commitment
of the organization‘s key resource – the people who work in and for it.- According to the
management of human resource is viewed as a system in which participants seeks to attain both
individual and group goals.
Nature of HRM
It includes:
1. HRM is based on certain principles and policies which helps the organization to achieve its
objectives.
2. HRM is a pervasive function – It suggest that HRM is not associated to a single department,
instead it is a broader function and is spread throughout the organization, which manages all type
of employees/people from lower level to top level departments of the organization.
3. HRM is people oriented – The main core or concern for HRM is the People or human
resource. Human resource management works with and for people. It acts as a bridge which
brings people and organization together to achieve individual and organizational goals.
4. HRM is continuous activity – As HRM needs to continuously train, develop, or replace to
meet the growing level of competition and changes in the market. Hence, it is a continuous
activity.
5. The HRM is a part of management function. Issues like hiring, training, development,
compensation; motivation, communication, and administration etc of employees are taken care
by Human resource management.
Objectives of HRM:
The primary objective of HRM is to ensure the availability of competent and willing workforce
to an organization. The specific objectives include the following:
1) Human capital : assisting the organization in obtaining the right number and types of
employees to fulfill its strategic and operational goals
2) Developing organizational climate: helping to create a climate in which employees are
encouraged to develop and utilize their skills to the fullest and to employ the skills and abilities
of the workforce efficiently
3) Helping to maintain performance standards and increase productivity through effective job
design; providing adequate orientation, training and development; providing performance-related
feedback; and ensuring effective two-way communication.
4) Helping to establish and maintain a harmonious employer/employee relationship
5) Helping to create and maintain a safe and healthy work environment.
6) Developing programs to meet the economic, psychological, and social needs of the employees
and helping the organization to retain the productive employees
7) Ensuring that the organization is in compliance with provincial/territorial and federal laws
affecting the workplace (such as human rights, employment equity, occupational health and
safety, employment standards, and labour relations legislation). To help the organization to reach
its goals
8) To provide organization with well-trained and well-motivated employees
9) To increase the employees satisfaction and self-actualization
10) To develop and maintain the quality of work life
11) To communicate HR policies to all employees.
12) To help maintain ethical polices and behavior.
The above stated HRM objectives can be summarized under four specific objectives: societal,
organizational, and functional and personnel.
The above stated HRM objectives can be summarized under four specific objectives:

• Societal Objectives
• Organizational Objectives
• Functional Objectives
• Personnel Objectives

1) Societal Objectives:

To ensure that the organization becomes socially responsible to the needs and challenges
of the society while minimizing the negative impact of such demands upon the organization. The
failure of the organizations to use their resources for the society’s benefit in ethical ways may
lead to restriction.
2) Organizational Objectives:

It recognizes the role of HRM in bringing about organizational effectiveness. It makes

sure that HRM is not a standalone department, but rather a means to assist the organization with
its primary objectives. The HR department exists to serve the rest of the organization.

3) Functional Objectives:

It is to maintain the department’s contribution at a level appropriate to the organization’s

needs. Human resources are to be adjusted to suit the organization’s demands. The department’s
value should not become too expensive at the cost of the organization it serves.

4) Personnel Objectives:

It is to assist employees in achieving their personal goals, at least as far as these goals
enhance the individual’s contribution to the organization. Personal objectives of employees must
be met if they are to be maintained, retained and motivated. Otherwise employee performance
and satisfaction may decline giving rise to employee turnover.

Role of HRM:

The role of HRM is to plan, develop and administer policies and programs designed to
make optimum use of an organizations human resources. It is that part of management which is
concerned with the people at work and with their relationship within enterprises. Its objectives
are:
(a) effective utilization of human resources,
(b) desirable working relationships among all members of the organizations,
(c) maximum individual development
The primary responsibilities of Human Resource managers are:
To develop a thorough knowledge of corporate culture, plans and policies.
To act as an internal change agent and consultant
To initiate change and act as an expert and facilitator
To actively involved in company’s strategy formulation
To keep communication line open between the HRD function and individuals and groups both
within and outside the organization.
To identify and evolve HRD strategies in consonance with overall business strategy.
To facilitate the development of various organizational teams and their working relationship
with other teams and individuals.
To try and relate people and work so that the organization objectives are achieved efficiently
and effectively.
To diagnose problems and determine appropriate solution particularly in the human resource
areas.
 To provide co-ordination and support services for the delivery of HRD programmes and
services
To evaluate the impact of an HRD intervention or to conduct research so as to identify,
develop or test how HRD In general has improved individual and organizational performance.

Pat Mc Lagan has suggested nine roles that are played by HR practitioners
1. To bring the issues and trends concerning an organization’s external and internal people to the
attention of strategic decision makers and to recommend long term strategies to support
organizational excellence and endurance.
2. To design and prepare HR systems and actions for implementation so that they can produce
maximum impact on organizational performance and development.
3. To facilitate the development and implementation of strategies for transforming one’s own
organization by pursuing values and visions.
4. To create a positive relationship with the customer’s by providing them with the best services;
to utilize the resources to the maximum and to create commitment among the people who help
the organization to meet the customers needs whether directly connected or indirectly connected
to the organization.
5. To identify the learning needs hence to design and develop structured learning programmes
and materials to help accelerate learning for individuals and groups.
6. To enable the individuals and groups to work in new situations and to expend \and change
their views so that people in power move from authoritarian to participative models of
leadership.
7. To help employees to assess their competencies, values and goals so that they can identify,
plan and implement development plans.
8. He also assists the individual employee to add values in the workplace and to focus on the
interventions and interpersonal skills for helping people change and sustain change.
9. He assesses the HRD practices and programmes and their impact and to communicate results
so that the organization and its people accelerate their change and development.
According to Dave Ulrich HR play’s four key roles.
1. Strategic Partner Role-turning strategy into results by building organizations that creates
value;
2. Change Agent Role- making change happen, and in particular, help it happen fast
3. Employees Champion Role—managing the talent or the intellectual capital within a firm
4. Administrative Role—trying to get things to happen better, faster and cheaper.

Current Classification of HR roles

According to R.L Mathis and J. H. Jackson (2010) several roles can be fulfilled by HR
management. The nature and extent of these roles depend on both what upper management wants
HR management to do and what competencies the HR staff have demonstrated. Three roles are
typically identified for HR. The focus of each of them, as shown in Figure [Link] elaborated below:
1. Administrative Role of HR
The administrative role of HR management has been heavily oriented to administration
and record keeping including essential legal paperwork and policy implementation. Major
changes have happened in the administrative role of HR during the recent years. Two major
shifts driving the transformation of the administrative role are:
Greater use of technology and Outsourcing. Technology has been widely used to improve
the administrative efficiency of HR and the responsiveness of HR to employees and managers,
more HR functions are becoming available electronically or are being done on the Internet using
Web-based technology. Technology is being used in most HR activities, from employment
applications and employee benefits enrollments to e-learning using Internet-based resources.
Increasingly, many HR administrative functions are being outsourced to vendors. This
outsourcing of HR administrative activities has grown dramatically in HR areas such as
employee assistance (counseling), retirement planning, benefits administration, payroll services,
and outplacement services.
2. Operational and Employee Advocate Role for HR
HR managers manage most HR activities in line with the strategies and operations that
have been identified by management and serves as employee “champion” for employee issues
and concerns. HR often has been viewed as the “employee advocate” in organizations. They act
as the voice for employee concerns, and spend considerable time on HR “crisis management,”
dealing with employee problems that are both work-related and not work-related. Employee
advocacy helps to ensure fair and equitable treatment for employees regardless of personal
background or circumstances.
Sometimes the HR’s advocate role may create conflict with operating managers.
However, without the HR advocate role, employers could face even more lawsuits and
regulatory complaints than they do now. The operational role requires HR professionals to
cooperate with various departmental and operating managers and supervisors in order to identify
and implement needed programs and policies in the organization. Operational activities are
tactical in nature. For carrying out these activities HR manager matches HR activities with the
strategies of the organization.
3. Strategic Role for HR
The administrative role traditionally has been the dominant role for HR. Differences
between the operational and strategic roles exist in a number of HR areas. The strategic HR role
means that HR professionals are proactive in addressing business realities and focusing on future
business needs, such as strategic planning, compensation strategies, the performance of HR, and
measuring its results.
Many executives, managers, and HR professionals are increasingly seeing the need for
HR management to become a greater strategic contributor to the “business” success of
organizations. HR should be responsible for knowing what the true cost of human capital is for
an employer. For example, it may cost two times key employees’ annual salaries to replace them
if they leave. Turnover can be controlled though HR activities, and if it is successful in saving
the company money with good retention and talent management strategies, those may be
important contributions to the bottom line of organizational performance.

However, even though this strategic role of HR is recognized, many organizations still
need to make significant progress toward fulfilling it. Some examples of areas where strategic
contributions can be made by HR are:
Evaluating mergers and acquisitions for organizational “compatibility,” structural
changes, and staffing needs
Conducting workforce planning to anticipate the retirement of employees at all levels
and identify workforce expansion in organizational strategic plans
Leading site selection efforts for new facilities or transferring operations to
international outsourcing
locations based on workforce needs
Instituting HR management systems to reduce administrative time, equipment, and
staff by using HR technology
Working with executives to develop a revised sales
compensation and incentives plan as new products
It is the era when for the competitive triumph of the organization there is a need to
involve HRM significantly in an integrated manner, which demands such capabilities from the
HR specialists.

Importance of HRM
Human resources play a crucial role in the development process of modern economics.
The importance of human resource management:
1. Social Significance: Proper management of employees/people helps in enhancing their
dignity by satisfying their social needs. This is done by:
• HRM maintains a balance between the jobs available and the jobseekers, according to the
qualifications and needs.
 • HRM helps in providing healthy work environment, which might bring them
psychological satisfaction
• HRM makes the maximum utilization of the resources in an effective manner and paying
the employee a reasonable compensation in proportion to the contribution made by him
• By helping people make their own decisions, and supporting their decisions.

2. Professional Significance: By providing healthy working environment it promotes team work

in the employees. This is done by:
• Maintaining the dignity of the employee as a ‗human-being‘
• Providing maximum opportunity for personal development
• Providing healthy relationship between different work groups so that work is effectively
performed
• Improving the employees‘ working skill and capacity
• Correcting the errors of wrong postings and proper reallocation of work.

3. Significance for Individual Enterprise: It can help the organization in achieving its goals by:
• Generating right attitude among the employees through effective motivation
• Utilizing effectively the available goals of the enterprise and fulfilling their own social
and other psychological needs of recognition, love, affection, belongingness, esteem and
self-actualization.
4. Nation’s Well-being: A nation might be rich in physical resources will not get its benefit
itself, unless human resource make proper use of them. In fact, human resources with right
attitude are solely responsible for making use of national resources and for the transformation of
traditional economies into the modern industrial and knowledge economies.
5. Man vis-à-vis Machine: Most of the problems in organisation are human and social rather
than physical, technical or economic. No industry can be considered efficient, as long as the
basic fact remains unrecognized that it is principally human.
• To improve the capabilities of an individual
• To develop team spirit of an individual and the department
• To obtain necessary co - operation from the employees
• To promote organizational effectiveness this in turn will help in overall development of
the society as a whole and thereby causing overall growth and development of the nation.

Human Resource Policies:

A policy is a plan of action. Organizations need to evolve HR policies as they ensure
consistency and uniformity in treating people. Policies become benchmarks to compare and
evaluate performance. They help motivate and build loyalty. A policy statement is very specific
and commits the management to a definite course of action. Each company has a different set of
circumstances and hence develops an individual set of human resource policies.
 HR policies provide an organization with a mechanism to manage risk by staying up to
date with current trends in employment standards and legislation. The policies must be framed in
a manner that the company’s vision and HR department help the company to achieve it or work
towards it.
The establishment of policies helps organizations in proving that they meet the
requirements for diversity, ethics and training as well as its commitments in relation to regulation
and corporate governance.
For example: In order to dismiss an employee in accordance with employment law regulations,
it will be necessary to meet provisions within employment contracts and collective bargaining
agreements. The establishment of an HR policy which sets out obligations, standards of behavior
and document disciplinary procedures, is now the standard approach in meeting these
obligations.
HR policies are also helpful in supporting and building the organization culture.
For example: Recruitment and retention policies outline the way the organization values a
flexible workforce, compensation policies might support this by offering a 48/52 pay option
where employees can take an extra four weeks holidays per year and receive less pay across the
year.

Benefits of policy

HR Policies have the following benefits.

• While formulating the policies the management should give a deep thought to the basic
needs of both the organization and the employees. The management must give full
consideration to the prevailing practices in other organizations.
• Established policies ensure equal treatment of all employees throughout the organization.
Favoritism and discrimination are minimized.
• Policies promote stability. Though the Top management people change, retire and resign.
Even then the people maintain stability in application of policy.
• The policies serve as a standard of performance. Actual performance can be compared to
the policies to determine how well the members of an organisation are are performing.
• Sound and good policies help build the motivation and loyalty of employees. This is
especially true where the policies reflect the principles of fair play and justice and where
they help people grow within the organisation.
• Sound policies help in clarifying interpersonal, intrapersonal and intergroup conflicts.
Specific Personal policies
Few specific personnel policies are listed below:
The policy of hiring people

Sexual harassment policy

Probation policy
Equal employment opportunity policy

Recruitment policy

Employment category

Policy regarding training and development

Compensation and Benefits policy

1. Working time policy
2. Vacation policy
3. Holiday policy
4. Paternity leave policy
5. Maternity Leave policy
6. Loan policy
7. Sick Leave policy
8. Overtime policy
9. Leave policy

Policy regarding industrial relations

1. Communication policy
2. Problem resolution policy
3. Personal appearance policy
4. Conflicts of interest policy
5. Collective bargaining policy
6. Trade union policy
7. Grievance policy
Health and safety policy
1. Smoking policy
2. Visitor policy
3. Corporate security policy
4. Alcohol and drugs policy
6. Responsibility for policy making
The actual formulation of HR policies is the responsibility of the HR manager, but its actual
approval or any change in it comes from the top management. The decision depends on the
financial stability of the company, the obligations imposed upon it by legislation, the agreement
between employers and employees. The executive role is that of mediating, persuading,
convincing, and communicating the policy.
The HR policies should be made known to the employees through the supervisors at each level.
Superiors may be informed of the changed policies by any of the following methods:
• Booklets or bulletins issued to new employees in which privileges, rights and
responsibilities are mentioned.
• Verbal instructions from immediate supervisors.
• Group meetings of new employees convened regularly.
• Union contract.
• Company papers giving details about company policies.
• Conference conducted as a part of executive training program
7. Formulation of Human Resource Policy
Policy making is a complex process and it involves all levels of organization. The steps
necessary in making and implementing a policy are:
• Initiating a policy.
• Deliberations of facts by personnel department.
• Recommending and taking feedback about policy from the top management.
• Writing the policy.
• Explaining and discussing the proposed policy with members of the organization.
• Adopting and launching of the policy.
• Communicating the policy to the employees at all levels.
• Administering the policy, initiating the follow-up action and evaluating it.
• Re-stating or re-formulating the policy.

Figure 1: Steps in Formulating a Policy

Principles
Policies are guidelines for managerial decisions and actions. They vary from organisation to
organization. Principles are the universal truths generally applicable to all organizations.
Principles guide managers in formulating policies, programs, procedures and practices. Some of
the Principles are as follows:

• Principle of individual development.

• Principle of scientific selection.
• Principle of fair remuneration.
• Principle of labour management.
• Principle of dignity of labour.
• Principle of contribution to national prosperity.
• Principle of participation.
• Principle of communication.
• Principle of team spirit.
• Principle of incentive

Procedures
For the accomplishment of the HR policies specific procedures and programs are needed. It tells
us the methods, procedures, movements, rules and regulations of carrying out these policies and
implementing them

• They are set up by Top management and followed or carried out by low level managers.
• They help in controlling the staff as they assign obligations on them for the performance
of various tasks.
• They are reviewed from time to time so that the areas of slackness and the requisite
changes can be done.
Programs
It is a plan of action controlling employees at all levels. It is the end product of philosophy,
values, concepts, principles, policies and procedures. Practices and procedures can be combined
in a program. Some specific programs and procedures are:
Human resource forecasting and planning.
Training and development of employees.
Management development programs.
Wage and salary administration.
Employee benefits and services.
Employment and related facts.
Communication.
Labour relations.
 Unit 2

Human Resource Planning

Importance of Human Resource Planning (HRP):
HRP is the subsystem in the total organizational planning. Organizational planning includes
managerial activities that set the company’s objective for the future and determines the
appropriate means for achieving those objectives. The importance of HRP is elaborated on the
basis of the key roles that it is playing in the organization.
1. Future Personnel Needs: Human resource planning is significant because it helps to
determine the future personnel needs of the organization. If an organization is facing the problem
of either surplus or deficiency in staff strength, then it is the result of the absence of effecting HR
planning.
All public sector enterprises find themselves overstaffed now as they never had any
planning for personnel requirement and went of recruitment spree till late 1980’s. The problem
of excess staff has become such a prominent problem that many private sector units are resorting
to VRS ‘voluntary retirement scheme’. The excess of labor problem would have been there if the
organization had good HRP system. Effective HRP system will also enable the organization to
have good succession planning.
2. Part of Strategic Planning: HRP has become an integral part of strategic planning of
strategic planning. HRP provides inputs in strategy formulation process in terms of deciding
whether the organization has got the right kind of human resources to carry out the given
strategy. HRP is also necessary during the implementation stage in the form of deciding to make
resource allocation decisions related to organization structure, process and human resources. In
some organizations HRP play as significant role as strategic planning and HR issues are
perceived as inherent in business management.
3. Creating Highly Talented Personnel: Even though India has a great pool of educated
unemployed, it is the discretion of HR manager that will enable the company to recruit the right
person with right skills to the organization. Even the existing staff hope the job so frequently that
organization face frequent shortage of manpower. Manpower planning in the form of skill
development is required to help the organization in dealing with this problem of skilled
manpower shortage.
4. International Strategies: An international expansion strategy of an organization is facilitated
to a great extent by HR planning. The HR department’s ability to fill key jobs with foreign
nationals and reassignment of employees from within or across national borders is a major
challenge that is being faced by international business. With the growing trend towards global
operation, the need for HRP will as well will be the need to integrate HRP more closely with the
organizations strategic plans. Without effective HRP and subsequent attention to employee
recruitment, selection, placement, development, and career planning, the growing competition
for foreign executives may lead to expensive and strategically descriptive turnover among key
decision makers.
5. Foundation for Personnel Functions: HRP provides essential information for designing and
implementing personnel functions, such as recruitment, selection, training and development,
personnel movement like transfers, promotions and layoffs.
6. Increasing Investments in Human Resources: Organizations are making increasing
investments in human resource development compelling the increased need for HRP.
Organizations are realizing that human assets can increase in value more than the physical assets.
An employee who gradually develops his/ her skills and abilities become a valuable asset for the
organization. Organizations can make investments in its personnel either through direct training
or job assignment and the rupee value of such a trained, flexible, motivated productive workforce
is difficult to determine. Top officials have started acknowledging that quality of work force is
responsible for both short term and long term performance of the organization.
7. Resistance to Change: Employees are always reluctant whenever they hear about change and
even about job rotation. Organizations cannot shift one employee from one department to
another without any specific planning. Even for carrying out job rotation (shifting one employee
from one department to another) there is a need to plan well ahead and match the skills required
and existing skills of the employees.
8. Uniting the Viewpoint of Line and Staff Managers: HRP helps to unite the viewpoints of
line and staff managers. Though HRP is initiated and executed by the corporate staff, it requires
the input and cooperation of all managers within an organization. Each department manager
knows about the issues faced by his department more than anyone else. So communication
between HR staff and line managers is essential for the success of HR Planning and
development.
9. Succession Planning: Human Resource Planning prepares people for future challenges. The
‘stars’ are picked up, trained, assessed and assisted continuously so that when the time comes
such trained employees can quickly take the responsibilities and position of their boss or seniors
as and when situation arrives.
10. Other Benefits:
(a) HRP helps in judging the effectiveness of manpower policies and programmes of
management.
(b) It develops awareness on effective utilization of human resources for the overall development
of organization.
(c) It facilitates selection and training of employees with adequate knowledge, experience and
aptitudes so as to carry on and achieve the organizational objectives.
(d) HRP encourages the company to review and modify its human resource policies and practices
and to examine the way of utilizing the human resources for better utilization.
Sources of Recruitment
The sources of recruitment are broadly divided into two categories: internal sources and
external sources. Both the methods have their own merits and demerits. They include shown in
table 2.1:

INTERNAL SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT:

Internal sources of recruitment refer to hiring manpower from within the organization i.e
internally. This means, applicants applying for the different positions are those who are already
working within the same organization.
This is an important source of recruitment, as it provides the opportunities for the
development and utilization of the existing resources within the organization as performance of
employees, selected is already known to the organization. Let us discuss different methods of the
internal sources. It includes:
1. Present Employees
It includes
i. Promotions: Promotion involves upward movement, ie upgrading the employees by
evaluating their performance in the organization. It involves shifting an employee from a
lower position to a higher position with more responsibilities, salary, facilities, and status.
Generally many organizations fill their higher vacant positions with the process of
promotions, internally.
ii. Transfers: Transfer involves lateral movement, ie process of interchanging from one job
to another without any change in the rank and responsibilities. It generally involves the
shifting of employees from one department to another department or one location to
another location, depending upon the requirement of the organization.

• To understand how it works; let‘s take an example: Assume that there is a Software
company called XYZ Ltd. Having two branches, Branch-A and Branch-B, but an
employee from Branch-A leave his job due to some reason. Now, this position has to be
 filled thus, in this situation instead of searching and hiring a new candidate from outside
which is time consuming and costly too, there is another possibility of shifting an
employee from Branch-B to Branch-A, depending upon the requirements of the job and
the capabilities of the employee. This internal shifting of an employee from one branch to
another branch is called as Transfer.

iii. Job Posting (Internal Advertisements): Job posting/ Internal Advertisements is a

process of posting/advertising jobs only within the organization for example in chain
groups etc. This job posting act as is an open invitation to all the employees working
within /inside the organization, they can only apply for the vacant positions. It provides
equal opportunities to all the employees working in the organization. Thus, the
recruitment will be done from within the organization and it is cost saving too.

2. Past Employees
i. Recruiting Former Employees: Recruiting former employees is another method of
internal sources of recruitment, in this the ex employees who are either retired or have
resigned from the organisation due to some reasons are called back for rejoining as per
the requirement of the job and performance of the past employee. The benefit of this
method is that it is cost effective, time saving and most important is that the employee is
well equipped with the roles and responsibilities of the job so the organization is not
required to spend time and money on their training and development.

3. Employee Referrals
This concept is much popularized by BPO‘s or call center now followed in every field.
Employee referral is an effective method of recruiting the right candidates at a low cost. In this
method new candidates are hired through the references of employees, who are currently
working within the same organization. In this process, the present employees are encouraged to
refer their friends and relatives for filling up the vacant positions. Most of the organizations, in
order to motivate their employees, to suggest referrals even provide with a referral bonus etc for
a successful hire.

4. Previous Applicants
In this method the Hiring team plays the major role they as per the requirement of the
organization checks the profiles of previous applicants from the organizational recruitment
database. These applicants are basically those who have applied for jobs earlier in the past but
could not get selected due to one or other reason, their CV‘s are kept with HR department in the
form of database These resources are than approached and if organisation gets a positive
response they are selected for the jobs. It is also another inexpensive way of filling up the vacant
positions.
Merits & Demerits of Internal Sources of Recruitment:

EXTERNAL SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT:

External sources of recruitment refer to hiring employees from outside the organization
externally. It suggests that, here the applicants seeking for the job are those who are external to
the organization. Let us discuss different methods of the external sources:
Direct Recruitment:
In this method a notice of vacancy is placed on the notice board of the organization and
the suitable candidates can approach the concerned person, this method of sourcing is also called
as factory gate recruitment, as the blue-collar and technical workers are hired through this
process.
Employment Exchanges:
Employment exchange is a government entity, where the details of the candidates
requiring jobs are stored and are given to the employers for filling the vacant positions, As per
the law, for certain job vacancies, it is mandatory that the organization provides details to the
employment exchange. This external recruitment method is helpful in hiring employees at all
levels.
Employment Agencies/ Professional Associations/Consultants:
Employment agencies / Professional Associations/Consultants are other good source of
external recruitment. Employment agencies can be private, public, or government owned. They
act as a link between the prospective candidates and employer. As they hold a database of
qualified candidates and provide it to the organization as and when required by them at some
cost who then select from among it. They provide unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled resources as
per the requirements of the organization.
Advertisements:
Advertisements are the most popular and very much preferred source of external source
of recruitment as they can reach to huge masses within same time and its proven fact that
response through advertisement is most of the time positive. In this the job vacancy is announced
through various print and electronic media – newspaper, radio etc with all the details like specific
job description and specifications of the requirements. Going through the advertisement the
prospective candidates can approach the organization. Thus advertisements is the best way to
source mass of candidates in a short span of time and it even offers an efficient way of screening
the candidates‘ through specific requirements mentioned in the advertisement. Though
Advertisement is one of the costliest method of recruitment, but when time and number are
important, then advertisement is the best source of recruitment.
Walk ins:
This is the most common and least expensive method for candidates as in this the job
seekers submit unsolicited applications or letters or resume or bio-data to the organization and
directly come for the selection process as its similar to ‗open for all‘ and even preferred by
employers as they get a wider choice for selection for the post and moreover it is free from
hassles associated with other methods of recruitment
Campus Recruitment:
This is another most popular source of external recruitment, where the educational
institution such as colleges and universities offers opportunities to the organization for hiring
their students. In this process, the organizations visit technical, management, and professional
institutions for recruiting students directly for the new positions.
Word of Mouth Advertising:
Word of mouth is purely an intangible way of sourcing the candidates for filling up the
vacant positions. As there are many reputed organizations with such high and good image in the
market. Such organizations only need a word-of-mouth advertising regarding a job vacancy to
attract a large number of candidates.
Labour Contractors:
Manual workers or Daily wage labours can be recruited through contractors who
maintain close association with the sources of such workers. This source is used to recruit labour
for construction jobs.
Job Fairs:
Job fairs are conducted by different companies to attract candidates for entry level jobs.
In this all the organisation having vacancy collects at one place and organize a fair for the job
seekers who can directly go to the desired counter of organisation and can apply for the
respective post and company, it is another good method of external recruitment as through this
company can get wider choices as well as good for job seeker as get all the big brands /non
brands at one place so they can choose among it and beside that its less costly than
advertisements.
Outsourcing:
Outsourcing method involves hiring the candidates from different organization for the
work and in return the organization has to pay for their services. It is similar to contractual
service as for example: In India, the HR processes are being outsourced from more than a decade
now. Outsourced HR Firm help the organization to create and screen the candidates for the
organization for the final and further selection by the candidates for which HR firm will be paid
for the services.
Poaching/Raiding:
This is the latest method of external recruitment being followed by the organizations
today. Poaching means hiring a competent and experienced person already working in another
reputed company in the same or different industry; the organization might be a competitor in the
industry. For this a company can attract talent from another company by offering attractive pay
packages and other terms and conditions, better than the current employer of the candidate.
Though it is seen as an unethical practice and not openly talked about but most of the Indian
software and the retail sectors are facing the most severe problems due to poaching today, as it
reduces the competitive strength of the firm.
E-Recruitment:
E-Recruitment or recruitment through internet is the use of technology to assist the
recruitment process. It is gaining popularity from past few years. In this they advertise job
vacancies through worldwide web. The job seekers send their applications or curriculum vitae
(CV) through an e-mail using the Internet.

Merits & Demerits of External Sources of Recruitment:

Process of Recruitment
Recruitment process passes through the following stages:
Recruitment process begins when the personnel department receives requisitions for
recruitment from any department of the company, The personnel requisitions contain details
about the position to be filled, number of persons to be recruited, the duties to be performed,
qualifications expected from the candidates, terms and conditions of employment and the time by
which the persons should be available for appointment etc.
Locating and developing the sources of required number and type of employees.
Identifying the prospective employees with required characteristics.
 Developing the techniques to attract the desired candidates. The goodwill of an organization
in the market may be one technique. The publicity about the company being a good employer
may also help in stimulating candidates to apply. There may be others of attractive salaries,
proper facilities for development etc.
Evaluating the effectiveness of recruitment process. According to Famularo, personnel
recruitment process involves five elements, viz., a recruitment policy, a recruitment organization,
a forecast of manpower, the development of sources of recruitment, and different techniques
used for utilizing these sources, and a method of assessing the recruitment programme. The
Explanation of these is described below:
1. Recruitment Policy:
It specifies the objectives of recruitment and provides a framework for the
implementation of the recruitment programme. It also involves the employer’s commitment to
some principles as to find and employ the best qualified persons for each job, to retain the most
promising of those hired, etc. It should be based on the goals, needs and environment of the
organization.
2. Recruitment Organization:
The recruitment may be centralized like public sector banks or decentralized. Both
practices have their own merits. The choice between the two will depend on the managerial
philosophy and the particular needs of the organization.
3. Sources of Recruitment:
Various sources of recruitment may be classified as internal and external. These have
their own merits and demerits.
4. Methods of Recruitment:
Recruitment techniques are the means to make contact with potential candidates, to
provide them necessary information and to encourage them to apply for jobs.
5. Evaluation of Recruitment Programme:
The recruitment process must be evaluated periodically. The criteria for evaluation may
consist of cost per applicant, the hiring ratio, performance appraisal, tenure of stay, etc. After
evaluation, necessary improvements should be made in the recruitment programme.

Methods of Recruitment
Methods of recruitment are different from the sources of recruitment. Sources are the
locations where prospective employees are available. On the other hand, methods are way of
establishing links with the prospective employees. Various methods employed for recruiting
employees may be classified into the following categories:
1. Direct Methods:
These include sending recruiters to educational and professional institutions, employees,
contacts with public, and manned exhibits. One of the widely used direct methods is that of
sending of recruiters to colleges and technical schools. Most college recruiting is done in co-
operation with the placement office of a college. The placement office usually provides help in
attracting students, arranging interviews, and furnishing space, and providing student resumes.
For managerial, professional and sales personnel campus recruiting is an extensive
operation. Persons reading for MBA or other technical diplomas are picked up in this manner.
For this purpose, carefully prepared brochures, describing the organization and the jobs it offers,
are distributed among students, before the interviewer arrives. Sometimes, firms directly solicit
information from the concerned professors about students with an outstanding record. Many
companies have found employees contact with the public a very effective method. Other direct
methods include sending recruiters to conventions and seminars, setting up exhibits at fairs, and
using mobile offices to go to the desired centers.
2. Indirect Methods:
The most frequently used indirect method of recruitment is advertisement in newspapers,
journals, and on the radio and television. Advertisement enables candidates to assess their
suitability. It is appropriate when the organization wants to reach out to a large target group
scattered nationwide. When a firm wants to conceal its identity, it can give blind advertisement
in which only box number is given. Considerable details about jobs and qualifications can be
given in the advertisements. Another method of advertising is a notice-board placed at the gate of
the company.
3. Third-Party Methods:
The most frequently used third-party methods are public and private employment
agencies. Public employment exchanges have been largely concerned with factory workers and
clerical jobs. They also provide help in recruiting professional employees. Private agencies
provide consultancy services and charge a fee. They are usually specialised for different
categories of operatives, office workers, salesmen,

Introduction: 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 conceptualized 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.
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 organization chooses
from a list of screened applicants, the person or persons who best meet the selection criteria for
the position available.” Thus, the selection process is a tool in the hands of management to
differentiate between the qualified and unqualified applicants by applying various techniques
such as interviews, tests etc. The cost incurred in recruiting and selecting any new employee is
expensive. The cost of selecting people who are inadequate performers or who leave the
organization before contributing to profits proves a major cost of doing
business. Decenzo and Robbins write, “Proper selection of personnel is obviously an area where
effectiveness - choosing competent workers who perform well in their position-can result in
large saving.” According to them, selection has two objectives:
(1) to predict which job applicants would be successful if hired
(2) to inform and sell the candidate on the job and the organization.
Satisfaction of employee needs and wants as well as the fullest development of his potential are
important objectives of selection.
Dale Yoder says, “Selection has long held a high rank in the priority of problem areas in
management. Investments in good people produce a very high rate of return. A good choice of
people can provide a basis for long, sustained contributions.”
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 organization. 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.” Recruitment and selection
differs in following manner:
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 specialized 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 finalizing 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 organizations and
between two different jobs within the same organization. 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 as shown in Figure 5.1.
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 scrutinized by the personnel department in order to eliminate those applicants who
do not fulfill 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 organization. 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 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:
(a) 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.
(b) Educational Attainment: Education (subjects offered and grades secured), training acquired
in special fields and knowledge gained from professional/technical institutes or through
correspondence courses.
(c) 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.
(d) Salary and Benefits: Present and expected.
(e) 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 organizations 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 specialization,
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.
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 organization should be careful not to depend on weights of a few items while finally
selecting the employee.
4. Selection Tests: Many organizations 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 aim 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 judgment.
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.
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: Interviews can be classified in various ways according to:
(A) Degree of Structure
(B) Purpose of Interview
(C) 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 behavior 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 behavioral 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.
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.
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.
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 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. Organizations 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.
Selection Decision Outcomes
Consider, for a moment, that any selection decision can result in four possible outcomes. As
shown in Figure 5.2, two of these outcomes would indicate correct decisions, but two would
indicate errors. Correct decisions are those where the applicant was predicted to be successful
and later did prove to be successful on the job, or where the applicant was predicted to be
unsuccessful and would have performed accordingly if hired. In the former case, we have
successfully accepted; in the latter case, we have successfully rejected. Thus the purpose of
selection activities is to develop outcomes shown as “correct decisions” in Figure 5.2. Problems
occur when we make errors-by rejecting candidates who would later perform successfully on
the job (reject errors) or accepting those individuals who subsequently perform poorly on the job
(accept errors). These problems are, unfortunately far from insignificant. Reject errors
historically meant that the costs in performing selection activities would be increased. Accept
errors, on the other hand, have very obvious costs to the organization including the cost of
training the employee, the costs generated (or profits forgone) due to the employee’s
incompetence, the cost of severance and the subsequent costs of further recruiting and selection
screening. The major thrust of any selection activity, therefore, is to reduce the probability of
making reject or accept errors while increasing the probability of making reject or accept errors
while increasing the probability of making correct decisions.

In summary, selection have two objectives:

(1) to predict which job applicants would be successful if hired and
(2) to inform and sell the candidate on the job and the organization. Unfortunately, these
two objectives are not always compatible Putting a job candidate through hours of filling out
forms, taking tests, and completing interviews rarely endears the organization to the candidate.
are tiresome and often stressful activities. Yet if the selection activities place too great an
emphasis on public relations, obtaining the information needed to make successful selection
decisions may be subordinated.

Placement – Orientation - Socialization

After an employee has been recruited he is provided with basic background information
about the employer, working conditions and the information necessary to perform his job
satisfactorily. The new employee’s initial orientation helps him perform better by providing him
information of the company rules, and practices.
According to Pigors and Myers, “Placement consists in matching what the supervisor
has reason to think the new employee can do with what the job demands (job requirements),
imposes (in strain, working conditions, etc.), and offers (in the form of pay rate, interest,
companionship with other, promotional possibilities, etc.)” They further state that it is not easy to
match all these factors for a new worker who is still in many ways an unknown quantity. For this
reason, the first placement usually carries with it the statusof probationer.
A few basic principles should be followed at the time of placement of an employee
on the job. These may be enumerated as below:
 The job should be offered to the man according to his qualifications. The placement should
neither be higher nor lower than the qualifications.
While introducing the job to the new employee, an effort should be made to develop a sense
of loyalty and cooperation in him so that he may realize his responsibilities better towards the job
and the organization.
The employee should be made conversant with the working conditions prevailing in the
industry and all things relating to the job. He should also be made aware of the penalties if he
commits a wrong.
Man should be placed on the job according to the requirements of the job. The job should not
be adjusted according to the qualifications or requirements of the man. Job first; man next,
should be the principle of placement.
The placement should be ready before the joining date of the newly selected person.
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.
In the words of John M. Ivancevich, “Orientation orients, directs, and guides employees to
understand the work, firm, colleagues, and mission. It introduces new employees to the
organization, and to his new tasks, managers, and work groups.”
According to John Bernardin, “Orientation is a term used for the organizationally sponsored,
formalized activities associated with an employee’s socialization into the organization.”
Billimoria has defined orientation as, “Induction (orientation) is a technique by which a new
employee is rehabilitated into the changed surroundings and introduced to the practices, policies,
and purposes of the organization.” Orientation is one component of the new employee
socialization process. Socialization is the ongoing process of instilling in all new employees
prevailing attitudes, standards, values, patterns of behavior that are expected by the organization
and its departments. Thus, orientation is a process through which a new employee is introduced
to the organization. It is the process wherein an employee is made to feel comfortable and at
home in the organization. The new employee is handed over a rulebook, company booklets,
policy manuals, progress reports and documents containing company information which are
informational in nature. It is responsibility of the human resource department to execute the
orientation programme.
 UNIT 3

Training and Executive Development

Types of Training:
The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a
result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful
competencies. It forms the core of apprenticeships and provides the backbone of content at
institutes of technology. The similar term for workplace learning to improve performance:
“training and development”. One can generally categorize such training as on-the-job or off-the-
job:
• On-the-job training takes place in a normal working situation, using the actual tools,
equipment, documents or materials that trainees will use when fully trained. On-the-job
training has a general reputation as most effective for vocational work.
• Off-the-job training takes place away from normal work situations — implying that the
employee does not count as a directly productive worker while such training takes place.
Off-the-job training has the advantage that it allows people to get away from work and
concentrate more thoroughly on the training itself. This type of training has proven more
effective in inculcating concepts and ideas.
The most frequently used method in smaller organizations that is on the job training. This
method of training uses more knowledgeable, experienced and skilled employees, such as
mangers, supervisors to give training to less knowledgeable, skilled, and experienced employees.
OJT can be delivered in classrooms as well. This type of training often takes place at the work
place in informal manner.
On the Job Training is characterized by following points
• It is done on ad-hoc manner with no formal procedure, or content
• At the start of training, or during the training, no specific goals or objectives are
developed
• Trainers usually have no formal qualification or training experience for training
• Training is not carefully planned or prepared
• The trainer are selected on the basis of technical expertise or area knowledge

Formal OJT programs are quite different from informal OJT. These programs are carried out
by identifying the employees who are having superior technical knowledge and can effectively
use one-to-one interaction technique. The procedure of formal on the job training program is:
1. The participant observes a more experienced, knowledgeable, and skilled trainer (employee)
2. The method, process, and techniques are well discussed before, during and after trainer has
explained about performing the tasks
3. When the trainee is prepared, the trainee starts performing on the work place
4. The trainer provides continuing direction of work and feedback
5. The trainee is given more and more work so that he accomplishes the job flawlessly
The four techniques for on the job development are:
• COACHING
• MENTORING
• JOB ROTATION
• JOB INSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE (JIT)
1.) Coaching is one of the training methods, which is considered as a corrective method for
inadequate performance. According to a survey conducted by International Coach Federation
(ICF), more than 4,000 companies are using coach for their executives. These coaches are
experts most of the time outside consultants. A coach is the best training plan for the CEO’s
because
• It is one to one interaction
• It can be done at the convenience of CEO
• It can be done on phone, meetings, through e-mails, chat
• It provides an opportunity to receive feedback from an expert
• It helps in identifying weaknesses and focus on the area that needs improvement

This method best suits for the people at the top because if we see on emotional front, when a
person reaches the top, he gets lonely and it becomes difficult to find someone to talk to. It helps
in finding out the executive’s specific developmental needs. The needs can be identified through
60 degree performance reviews.

Procedure of the Coaching

The procedure of the coaching is mutually determined by the executive and coach. The
procedure is followed by successive counseling and meetings at the executive’s convenience by
the coach.
1. Understand the participant’s job, the knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and resources required to
meet the desired expectation
2. Meet the participant and mutually agree on the objective that has to be achieved
3. Mutually arrive at a plan and schedule
4. At the job, show the participant how to achieve the objectives, observe the performance and
then provide feedback
5. Repeat step 4 until performance improves For the people at middle level management,
coaching is more likely done by the supervisor; however experts from outside the organization
are at times used for up and coming managers. Again, the personalized approach assists the
manger focus on definite needs and improvement.

2.) Mentoring is an ongoing relationship that is developed between a senior and junior employee.
Mentoring provides guidance and clear understanding of how the organization goes to achieve its
vision and mission to the junior employee. The meetings are not as structured and regular than in
coaching. Executive mentoring is generally done by someone inside the company. The executive
can learn a lot from mentoring. By dealing with diverse mentee’s, the executive is given the
chance to grow professionally by developing management skills and learning how to work with
people with diverse background, culture, and language and personality types.
Executives also have mentors. In cases where the executive is new to the organization, a
senior executive could be assigned as a mentor to assist the new executive settled into his role.
Mentoring is one of the important methods for preparing them to be future executives. This
method allows the mentor to determine what is required to improve mentee’s performance. Once
the mentor identifies the problem, weakness, and the area that needs to be worked upon, the
mentor can advise relevant training. The mentor can also provide opportunities to work on
special processes and projects that require use of proficiency.
Some key points on Mentoring
• Mentoring focus on attitude development
• Conducted for management-level employees
• Mentoring is done by someone inside the company
• It is one-to-one interaction
• It helps in identifying weaknesses and focus on the area that needs improvement

3.) For the executive, job rotation takes on different perspectives. The executive is usually not
simply going to another department. In some vertically integrated organizations, for example,
where the supplier is actually part of same organization or subsidiary, job rotation might be to
the supplier to see how the business operates from the supplier point of view. Learning how the
organization is perceived from the outside broadens the executive’s outlook on the process of the
organization. Or the rotation might be to a foreign office to provide a global perspective.
For managers being developed for executive roles, rotation to different functions in the
company is regular carried out. This approach allows the manger to operate in diverse roles and
understand the different issues that crop up. If someone is to be a corporate leader, they must
have this type of training. A recent study indicated that the single most significant factor that
leads to leader’s achievement was the variety of experiences in different departments, business
units, cities, and countries. An organized and helpful way to develop talent for the management
or executive level of the organization is job rotation. It is the process of preparing employees at a
lower level to replace someone at the next higher level. It is generally done for the designations
that are crucial for the effective and efficient functioning of the organization.

Some of the major benefits of job rotation are:

• It provides the employees with opportunities to broaden the horizon of knowledge, skills,
and abilities by working in different departments, business units, functions, and countries
• Identification of Knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) required
• It determines the areas where improvement is required
• Assessment of the employees who have the potential and caliber for filling the position
4.) Job Instruction Technique (JIT) uses a strategy with focus on knowledge (factual and
procedural), skills and attitudes development.
JIT Consists of Four Steps:
Plan – This step includes a written breakdown of the work to be done because the trainer and the
trainee must understand that documentation is must and important for the familiarity of work. A
trainer who is aware of the work well is likely to do many things and in the process might miss
few things. Therefore, a structured analysis and proper documentation ensures that all the points
are covered in the training program.
The second step is to find out what the trainee knows and what training should focus on.
Then, the next step is to create a comfortable atmosphere for the trainees’ i.e. proper orientation
program, availing the resources, familiarizing trainee with the training program, etc.
Present – In this step, trainer provides the synopsis of the job while presenting the participants
the different aspects of the work. When the trainer finished, the trainee demonstrates how to do
the job and why is that done in that specific manner. Trainee actually demonstrates the procedure
while emphasizing the key points and safety instructions.

Trial – This step actually a kind of rehearsal step, in which trainee tries to perform the work and
the trainer is able to provide instant feedback. In this step, the focus is on improving the method
of instruction because a trainer considers that any error if occurring may be a function of training
not the trainee. This step allows the trainee to see the after effects of using an incorrect method.
The trainer then helps the trainee by questioning and guiding to identify the correct procedure.

Follow-up – In this step, the trainer checks the trainee’s job frequently after the training program
is over to prevent bad work habits from developing. There are various methods of training,
which can be divided in to cognitive and behavioral methods. Trainers need to understand the
pros and cons of each method, also its impact on trainees keeping their background and skills in
mind before giving training.
OFF THE JOB TRAINING –
There are many management development techniques that an employee can take in off the job.
The few popular methods are:
• Sensitivity Training
• Transactional Analysis
• Straight Lectures/ Lectures
• Simulation Exercises

1.) Sensitivity Training is about making people understand about themselves and others
reasonably, which is done by developing in them social sensitivity and behavioral flexibility.
Social sensitivity in one word is empathy. It is ability of an individual to sense what others feel
and think from their own point of view. Behavioral flexibility is ability to behave suitably in
light of understanding. Sensitivity Training Program requires three steps:
Unfreezing the Old Values –
It requires that the trainees become aware of the inadequacy of the old values. This can
be done when the trainee faces dilemma in which his old values is not able to provide proper
guidance. The first step consists of a small procedure:
• An unstructured group of 10-15 people is formed.
• Unstructured group without any objective looks to the trainer for its guidance
• But the trainer refuses to provide guidance and assume leadership
• Soon, the trainees are motivated to resolve the uncertainty
• Then, they try to form some hierarchy. Some try assume leadership role which may not
be liked by other trainees
• Then, they started realizing that what they desire to do and realize the alternative ways of
dealing with the situation

Development of New Values –

With the trainer’s support, trainees begin to examine their interpersonal behavior and
giving each other feedback. The reasoning of the feedbacks are discussed which motivates
trainees to experiment with range of new behaviors and values. This process constitutes the
second step in the change process of the development of these values.

Refreezing the new ones –

This step depends upon how much opportunity the trainees get to practice their new
behaviors and values at their work place.

2.) Transactional Analysis provides trainees with a realistic and useful method for analyzing
and understanding the behavior of others. In every social interaction, there is a motivation
provided by one person and a reaction to that motivation given by another person. This
motivation reaction relationship between two persons is a transaction. Transactional analysis can
be done by the ego states of an individual. An ego state is a system of feelings accompanied by a
related set of behaviors. There are basically three ego states:

Child:
It is a collection of recordings in the brain of an individual of behaviors, attitudes, and
impulses which come to her naturally from her own understanding as a child. The characteristics
of this ego are to be spontaneous, intense, unconfident, reliant, probing, anxious, etc. Verbal
clues that a person is operating from its child state are the use of words like “I guess”, “I
suppose”, etc. and non verbal clues like, giggling, coyness, silent, attention seeking etc.

Parent:
It is a collection of recordings in the brain of an individual of behaviors, attitudes, and
impulses imposed on her in her childhood from various sources such as, social, parents, friends,
etc. The characteristics of this ego are to be overprotective, isolated, rigid, bossy, etc. Verbal
clues that a person is operating from its parent states are the use of words like, always, should,
never, etc and non-verbal clues such as, raising eyebrows, pointing an accusing finger at
somebody, etc.
Adult:

It is a collection of reality testing, rational behavior, decision making, etc. A person in

this ego state verifies, updates the data which she has received from the other two states. It is a
shift from the taught and felt concepts to tested concepts. All of us evoke behavior from one ego
state which is responded to by the other person from any of these three states.

3.) Lecture is telling someone about something. Lecture is given to enhance the knowledge of
listener or to give him the theoretical aspect of a topic. Training is basically incomplete without
lecture. When the trainer begins the training session by telling the aim, goal, agenda, processes,
or methods that will be used in training that means the trainer is using the lecture method. It is
difficult to imagine training without lecture format. There are some variations in Lecture method.
The variation here means that some forms of lectures are interactive while some are not.

Straight Lecture:

Straight lecture method consists of presenting information, which the trainee attempts to
absorb. In this method, the trainer speaks to a group about a topic. However, it does not involve
any kind of interaction between the trainer and the trainees. A lecture may also take the form of
printed text, such as books, notes, etc. The difference between the straight lecture and the printed
material is the trainer’s intonation, control of speed, body language, and visual image of the
trainer. The trainer in case of straight lecture can decide to vary from the training script, based on
the signals from the trainees, whereas same material in print is restricted to what is printed. A
good lecture consists of introduction of the topic, purpose of the lecture, and priorities and
preferences of the order in which the topic will be covered.

Some of the main features of lecture method are:

• Inability to identify and correct misunderstandings

• Less expensive
• Can be reached large number of people at once
• Knowledge building exercise
• Less effective because lectures require long periods of trainee inactivity

4.) Games and Simulations are structured and sometimes unstructured, that are usually played
for enjoyment sometimes are used for training purposes as an educational tool. Training games
and simulations are different from work as they are designed to reproduce or simulate events,
circumstances, processes that take place in trainees’ job. A Training Game is defined as spirited
activity or exercise in which trainees compete with each other according to the defined set of
rules. Simulation is creating computer versions of real-life games. Simulation is about imitating
or making judgment or opining how events might occur in a real situation. It can entail intricate
numerical modeling, role playing without the support of technology, or combinations. Training
games and simulations are now seen as an effective tool for training because its key components
are:

• Challenge
• Rules
• Interactivity

These three components are quite essential when it comes to learning. Some of the examples of
this technique are:

Trainees can therefore experience these events, processes, games in a controlled setting
where they can develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes or can find out concepts that will
improve their performance. The various methods that come under Games and Simulations are:

• BEHAVIOR-MODELLING
• BUSINESS GAMES
• CASE STUDIES
• EQUIPMENT STIMULATORS
• IN-BASKET TECHNIQUE
• ROLE PLAYS

Objectives and Process of Employee Training

The training design process refers to a systematic approach for developing training programs. It
include the seven steps in this process. Training is one of the most profitable investments an
organization can make. No matter what business or industry you are in the steps for an effective
training process same and may be adapted anywhere. If you have ever thought about developing
a training program within your organization consider the following four basic training steps. You
will find that all four of these steps are mutually necessary for any training program to be
effective and efficient.

7.5 Methods of Executive Development

Management development programs help in acquiring and developing managerial skill and
knowledge. A

Varity of methods of management development have come into prominence these days.
Different types of

techniques are used to acquire and develop various types of managerial skill and knowledge as
given in

the table below:

Managerial Training / Management development: The following diagram shows the stages
involved in the managerial training.
In all above stages, we should satisfy the following essential aspects in order to make the
programmes a success:
1. Policy decisions
2. Acceptance
3. Appreciation
4. Support
5. Conductive atmosphere
6. Strong urge for learning
7. Participation
8. Identification of strength and weakness
9. Involvement
10. Self-development
1. On the Job Techniques:
It is delivered to employees while they perform their regular jobs. In this way, they do not
lose time while they are learning. After a plan is developed for what should be taught, employees
should be informed of the details. A time-table should be established with periodic evaluations
to inform employees about their progress. On-the-job techniques include orientations, job
instruction training, apprenticeships, internships and assistantships, job rotation and coaching. It
consists of: -
Coaching-
Coaching is a one-to-one relationship between trainees and supervisors which offers
workers continued guidance and feedback on how well they are handling their tasks. The coach
assigns the task, monitors the trainee behavior, and provides reinforcement and feedback.
Coaching is commonly used for all kinds of trainees, from unskilled to managerial position. This
method is critically depends on the quality of the coach.
Under Study-
An understudy may be assistant to someone or special assistant to some supervisory
or executive positions. He learns by experience, observation, guidance and coaching.
Position Rotation-
This involves the movement of the trainee from one job to another. This helps him to
have a general understanding of how the organization functions. Apart from releasing boredom,
Job rotation allows workers to build rapport with a wide range of individuals within the
organization, facilitating future cooperation among various departments. Such cross-trained
personnel offer a great deal of flexibility for organizations when transfers, promotions or
replacement become inevitable.
Multiple Management-
It provides knowledge about the organization to the junior and middle managerial
personnel. Here the members are exposed to all types of the decision taken at higher level.
2. Off-the-Job Technique:
It consists of :
Lectures- It is a traditional and direct method of instruction. The instructor organizes the
material and gives it to a group of trainees in the form of a talk. To be effective, the lecture must
motivate and create interest among the trainees. An advantage of this method is that it is direct
and can be used for a large group of trainees. The major limitation of this method is that it does
not provide for the transfer of training effectively.

Case Studies- It presents the trainees with a written description of a business or organizational
problem. The object of the case method is to teach the trainees how to analyze information,
generate alternative decisions, and evaluate the alternatives. Cases can be analyzed by
individuals or small groups. Feedback and reinforcement are provided through oral discussion or
written comments from the instructor.
Group Discussions- This method is a direct discussion on a specific topic conducted with a
relatively small group of trainees. This method is useful for teaching and exploring difficult
conceptual materials, and for changing attitudes and opinions. It provides opportunity for
feedback, reinforcement practice, motivation, and transfer, largely due to the active interchange
of ideas between the participants.
Role Playing- In most of role-playing assignments, each of the student takes the role of a person
affected by an issues on human life and effect the human activities all around us from the
perspective of that person.
Management Games- Verities of business and management games have been devised and are
being used with the varying degree of success in the developing programmes. A management
game is classroom exercise in which a number of team of trainees competes against each other to
achieve certain objectives.
Sensitivity Training- It has been successfully employed by behavioral scientists over the past
thirty years. Sensitivity to the circumstances and feeling of others is the cornerstone of human
relationships. It is important to note that sensitivity is not just an emotion; it must express itself
in actions as well, especially when people we know are experiencing pain and difficulties.
Career Planning and Development
Career development is an organized approach used to match employee goals with the
business needs of the agency in support of workforce development initiatives. The purpose of
career development is to:
Enhance each employee’s current job performance.
Enable individuals to take advantage of future job opportunities.
Fulfill agencies’ goals for a dynamic and effective workforce.
Career development involves managing your career either within or between
organizations. It also includes learning new skills, and making improvements to help you in your
career. Career development is an ongoing, lifelong process to help you learn and achieve more in
your career. Whether you are looking at making a career change, or moving up within a
company, planning your own career development will help you succeed. By creating a personal
career development plan, you can set goals and objectives for your own personal career growth.
Career planning is a lifelong process, which includes choosing an occupation, getting a
job, growing in our job, possibly changing careers, and eventually retiring. The Career Planning
Site offers coverage of all these areas. This article will focus on career choice and the process
one goes through in selecting an occupation. This may happen once in our lifetimes, but it is
more likely to happen several times as we first define and then redefine ourselves and our goals.
Managers are responsible for linking the organization’s needs to employee career goals, and can
assist employees in the career planning process. Human Resources is responsible for designing
career paths and employee development programs that help employees reach their goals. Each
employee is responsible for planning and managing his/her career.
Objective
Career Management is the combination of structured planning and the active
management choice of one’s own professional career. The outcome of successful career
management should include personal fulfillment, work/life balance, goal achievement and
financial assurance. The word career refers to all types of employment ranging from semi-skilled
through skilled, and semi professional to professional. The term career has often been restricted
to suggest an employment commitment to a single trade skill, profession or business firm for the
entire working life of a person. In recent years, however, career now refers to changes or
modifications in employment during the foreseeable future.
There are many definitions by management scholars of the stages in the managerial
process. The following classification system with minor variations is widely used:
1. Development of overall goals and objectives,
2. Development of a strategy (a general means to accomplish the selected goals/objectives),
3. Development of the specific means (policies, rules, procedures and activities) to implement
the strategy, and
4. Systematic evaluation of the progress toward the achievement of the selected goals/objectives
to modify the strategy, if necessary.
The career management process begins with setting goals/objectives. A relatively specific
goal/objective must be formulated. This task may be quite difficult when the individual lacks
knowledge of career opportunities and/or is not fully aware of their talents and abilities.
However, the entire career management process is based on the establishment of defined
goals/objectives whether specific or general in nature. Utilizing career assessments may be a
critical step in identifying opportunities and career paths that most resonate with someone.
Regardless of the ones you use, you will need to evaluate them. Most assessments found today
for free (although good) do not offer an in-depth evaluation. The time horizon for the
achievement of the selected goals or objectives - short term, medium term or long term - will
have a major influence on their formulation.
1. Short term goals (one or two years) are usually specific and limited in scope. Short term goals
are easier to formulate. Make sure they are achievable and relate to your longer term career
goals.
2. Intermediate goals (3 to 20 years) tend to be less specific and more open ended than short term
goals. Both intermediate and long term goals are more difficult to formulate than short term
goals
because there are so many unknowns about the future.
3. Long term goals (more than 100 years), of course, are the most fluid of all. Lack of life
experience
and knowledge about potential opportunities and pitfalls make the formulation of long term
goals/
objectives very difficult. Long range goals/objectives, however, may be easily modified as
additional
information is received without a great loss of career efforts because of experience/knowledge
transfer from one career to another.
4. Making career choices and decisions – the traditional focus of careers interventions. The
changed
nature of work means that individuals may now have to revisit this process more frequently now
and in the future, more than in the past.
5. Managing the organizational career – concerns the career management tasks of individuals
within
the workplace, such as decision-making, life-stage transitions, dealing with stress etc.
6. Managing ‘boundary less’ careers – refers to skills needed by workers whose employment is
beyond the boundaries of a single organization, a work style common among, for example,
artists
and designers.
7. Taking control of one’s personal development – as employers take less responsibility,
employees
need to take control of their own development in order to maintain and enhance their
employability.
Career development, as both a field of study and a practical form of training for workers, is
primarily
concerned with producing better employees and maximizing employee potential. Career
development
programs can help the unemployed find jobs or provide workers with the skills and tools they
need to
advance within a government agency, corporation or organization.
Self-Awareness- One of the major objectives of any career development program is a
heightened sense
of self-awareness for participants. Employees should be able to identify their strengths and
weaknesses, in
order to apply their skills more effectively. Understanding shortcomings is also useful in
teaching employees
where to focus efforts toward improvements. Self-awareness is also related to understanding the
difference
92
between real and perceived career advancement limitations. By examining available
opportunities and
making an honest assessment of an employee’s skills, career development seeks to give every
employee
a realistic outlook on the future.
Flexibility- Career development also sets enhanced flexibility as a goal. Employees work in a
changing
world and adaptation is an essential skill. This may mean abandoning practices that have worked
in the
past, or devoting time to education and new training. Employees who find themselves unable to
adapt in a
changing workplace may suffer from decreased productivity or be unable to compete with
workers whose
skills are more flexible and easier to apply across a range of tasks.
Education- Education is among the more straightforward objectives of career development.
Such programs
attempt to give employees, or prospective employees, access to information about job
opportunities and
options for skills training. Following up with such employees is an important objective as well,
since this
gives those who work in career development a way of measuring the program’s effectiveness.
Sensitivity to Diversity- Many career development programs make sensitivity to diversity in the
workplace a top priority. With ever-increasing globalization, workers are frequently put into
contact with
members of different backgrounds and cultures. Understanding the value of diverse work habits
and
viewpoints can prevent this from becoming a point of confusion or misunderstanding. At the
same time,
educating workers about the customs and concerns of others can help prevent social problems or
embarrassment in a diverse workplace.
7.6.2 Process
Career development and the career planning process include a number of specific steps that help
to
identify personal skills and attributes. Finding out how those skills can be utilized in the job
market is
accomplished by researching a number of career fields that are of interest to you and then by
gaining
experience in those fields and/or speaking to people currently working in the field. Participating
in some
form of experiential education will help you to identify if the field is the right choice for you.
Step #1: Self-Assessment
Evaluating who you are as a person. This involves taking a personal inventory of who you are
and identifying
your individual values, interests, skills, and personal qualities. What makes you tick as a person?
You will
look at those personal attributes under a microscope and come up with key qualities you can
identify and
use in your search for the perfect career. Career assessments may be required to promote a better
understanding of personal attributes and skills. Contact your Career Services Office at your
college to
discuss if a career assessment may be right for you.
Self-Assessment Reality Check Goal Setting Action Planning
Figure 7.3 : The Career Management Process
Step #2: Research (Career Exploration)
Obtain an insider’s perspective about the career field you are considering. Conduct Informational
Interviews
in person, phone, or by email. Professionals enjoy sharing their expertise with people interested
in the
93
field. Perform informational interviews with alumni from your college to gain their perspective
of the field
and to listen to what they have to say. This strategy provides firsthand knowledge from someone
currently
working in the field and gives you an opportunity to ask about their experiences as well as
potential jobs
and what one might expect if just entering the field. Gain experience through internships or by
job shadowing
for one to several days to see what a typical work day entails and to gain perspective of what the
environment
is like and the typical job responsibilities of someone working in the field. Research what types
of jobs are
available in your area of interest by checking out Majors to Career Converter, The Occupational
Outlook
Handbook and The Career Guide to Industries. The Occupational Outlook Handbook offers a
wealth of
information for those currently just entering the job market and for those anticipating making a
career
change.
Step #3: Decision-Making
Once you’ve made a thorough self-assessment and have done some research of career options,
it’s time
to make a decision. This can be difficult since there may still be many unknowns and a fear of
making the
wrong choice. One thing for sure is that although we can do all the necessary steps to making an
informed
decision, there is no absolute certainty that we are unquestioningly making the right decision.
This uncertainty
is easier for some people than others but a key point to remember is that you can always learn
from any
job you have and take those skills and apply them at your next job.
Step#4: Search (Taking Action)
It’s now time to look for prospective jobs and/or employers, send out cover letters and resumes,
and
begin networking with people in the field. Keep in mind that cover letters and resumes are
designed to
make a favorable impression on employers (if done properly) and the interview process is what
will
ultimately land you the job. In other words, make sure your cover letter and resume highlight
your skills
and strengths based on the employer’s needs and that you are fully prepared to knock their socks
off at
the interview. Take time to research the employer’s website prior to the interview, and be
prepared to ask
thoughtful questions based on your research.
Step #5: Acceptance
Wow! You’ve completed all of the steps above and you’ve been accepted into a new and
exciting or
different job. Congratulations! According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 64.1% of people
change jobs
between 5 and 14 times in their lifetime. Consequently, learning the skills above will increase
your chances
of gaining meaningful and satisfactory work as well as help you to avoid many of the stresses
that occur
with changing jobs. By recognizing that change is good (even advantageous), changing jobs can
be viewed
as a positive experience and need not be as anxiety provoking as it may initially seem. You will
continue the
process of self-assessment, research, decision-making, and job searching in order to make
effective and
fulfilling career changes throughout your lifetime.
It is a known fact that most professionals leave an organization due to lack of career growth.
Active career
development initiatives by a company are a key retention tool to keep the best talent within its
fold. It is
one of the greatest motivators to keep an employee happy and engaged. But does career planning
and
development of employees actually make a difference to the productivity of a worker? Most
organizations
think so, and consider it a part of their critical human resource strategy. From the employees’
point of view
career development initiatives gives them a clear focus about their career track, the blind spots
that they
have to overcome and the final goal to be reached. This focused approach works to their
advantage from
their everyday work to long-term aspirations.
The impact of career development/ succession planning programmes can be seen through the
productivity
indicator, engagement surveys and reduction in attrition rate. It is in fact a win-win situation for
all.
 UNIT IV
EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION
Compensation plan – Reward – Motivation – Career Development - Mentor – Protege
relationships.

COMPENSATION – INTRODUCTION:
Compensation is a systematic approach to provide monetary value to employees in exchange
of the work performed by the employee. Employee compensation may achieve several
purposes in recruitment, job-performance and job satisfaction. Good compensation plans have
salutary effect on the employee. As if they are happy with the compensation plan, they are
satisfied, devoted towards the organisation and thereby increasing the productivity of the
organisation.
Definition: ―Employee compensation refers to all forms of pay given to employees which
arises from their employment". It can also be defined as all the rewards earned by employees
in return for their labour or hard work.
Another definition suggests that ―Compensation is defined as the total amount of the monetary
and non-monetary pay provided to an employee by an employer in return for their work
performed as required by the organization.
It can also be defined as Compensation includes direct cash payments, indirect payments in
the form of employee benefits & incentives to motivate employees to strive for higher levels
of productivity.
Objectives & Importance of Compensation Plan:
Objectives of Compensation Management:
The following are the objectives of compensation management:
• To pay people as according to their worth
• To pay or reward employee according to what the organization values and wants to pay for.
• To reward people for the outcome/value they create.
• Reward the right things to convey the right message about what is important in terms of
outcomes and behaviours.
• To develop a performance culture.
• To motivate employees and obtain their commitment and engagement towards the
organisation.
• Help to attract and retain the high-quality people as per the need of the organization needs.
• Create total reward system which includes the importance of both financial and non-financial
rewards.
• Align reward practices with both business goals and employee values.

Basis for classifying components of compensation:

Compensation is primarily the only HR activity which has its major impact on all other
functions of organisation regarding personnel and compensation will be considered fair by
employees if it is based on systematic components. Various compensation systematic
components have been developed to determine the value of positions:
The different basis for classifying components of a compensation system is:
Job Analysis : It is the process of analyzing a job on the basis of which job descriptions and
job specifications are developed. Job analysis techniques include the use of interviews,
questionnaires, and observation
Job Descriptions : It is a critical component of both compensation and selection systems, Job
description basically define in writing the duties and responsibilities of employee, job
requirements, functions, duties, location, environment, conditions, and other aspects of jobs.
Descriptions can be developed either individually for each job or for entire job families.
Job Evaluation : A system used for comparing jobs for the purpose of identifying appropriate
compensation levels for individual jobs or job elements. There are four main techniques:
Ranking Classification, Classification, Factor Comparison, and Point Method.
Components of Compensation
Compensation system should be designed in such a manner that it should be able to attract,
retain and motivate employees. Total payable compensation or special benefits can be paid in
different forms.
Besides classifying components of compensation in many other ways, one method of
classification that has been discussed is ‘financial compensation and non-financial
compensation’.
Financial components include:
1. Basic wage/salary
2. Dearness allowance
3. Bonus
4. Incentive compensation
5. Fringe benefits
Basic Wages/Salaries: Basic wages / salaries are the main cash components of the wage
structure; on the basis of them other elements of compensation are structured. It is generally a
fixed amount which can be changed due to annual increments or due to periodical pay hikes.
Salary represents the monthly rate of pay given to white collar employee and wages represent
hourly rates of pay given to blue collar employee. The amount will differ from employee to
employee, and depend upon the nature of job, seniority, and merit and are subjected to annual
increments.
Dearness Allowance (DA): It is the allowance paid to employees in order to enable them to
face the increasing dearness of essential commodities. This payment of dearness allowance
helps the employees and workers to face challenges of the increase in price or inflation of prices
of goods and services consumed by them. The amount of dearness Human Resource
Management allowance is fixed percentage on the basic wage, and instead of increasing the
wages every time, DA is paid to neutralize the effect and helps the employees to face the
challenges.
Incentives: Incentives are also called as payments by results‘ are the extra earnings or are paid
in addition to wages and salaries due to the excellent performance by the employee or group,
targets achieved , increase in productivity , sales, profit or cost reduction efforts. These are
given to motivate the employee as well as it helps to encourage other employees also to work
hard and gain the incentives There are: o Individual incentive schemes o Group incentive
programmes Individual incentives are given to specific employee for his extraordinary
performance.
Bonus: The bonus amount can be decided and paid in different ways by the management.
Bonus can be a fixed percentage on the basic wage paid annually or in proportion to the
profitability. Even the Government has also mentioned a minimum statutory bonus for all
employees and workers. There is also a bonus plan which compensates the managers and
employees based on the sales revenue or profit margin achieved. Bonus plans can also be based
on piece wages but depends upon the productivity of labour.
Fringe Benefits: Fringe benefits include a wide range of benefits and services that employees
receive as an important part of their total compensation package, based on the critical job
factors and performance. Fringe benefits are basically the indirect compensations given to the
employees due to the condition of employment, under which employee work and are not
directly related to the performance of concerned employee. Fringe benefits act as a supplement
to regular wages received by the workers from the employers.
Compensation Policy
It includes:
• Compensation policy should be developed after taking into consideration the views of
employers, employees, competitors, consumers and the community.
• Compensation policy should be fair, honest and well-designed keeping in mind all the factors
associated.
The compensation policy or wage policy should be clearly defined to ensure uniform and
consistent application.
• The compensation policy should match with overall plans or goals of the organisation.
• Compensation planning should be part and parcel of financial planning Management should
always inform the wage/salary related policies to their employees.
• Workers should also be included in formulation, drafting and implementation of wage policy
• All wage and salary related decisions should be checked against the standards set in advance
in the wage/salary policy
• To manage compensation related matters adequate information/data should be collected,
developed and stored for future planning and execution.
• The compensation policy and programme should be reviewed and revised periodically in
accordance with future needs.

Theories of Compensation:
There are three main theories that are used by Human Resources Department to develop
compensation management plans are
1. Reinforcement Theory
2. Equity Theory
3. Agency Theory

Reinforcement theory or Reinforcement and Expectancy Theory: This theory is based on

the assumption that, the reward-earning behavior is likely to be repeated, i.e. an employee
would do the same thing again for which he was rewarded or acknowledged earlier. It is similar
to that of operant conditioning. As also mentioned in Expectancy Theory, given by Vroom, the
employee is motivated to do a particular thing for which he is sure or is expected that
performance will provide him definite reward or an outcome. The positive reaction motivates
one to do the same actions again because one would hope of getting the same or a similar
reward.
Equity theory: This theory emphasizes that there should be equity or the uniformity in the pay
structure of an employee‘s remuneration. The productivity of the employees' will be changed
if they feel they are not being paid fairly, for the amount of work he does in a day, this will
result in lower productivity, increased turnover and high absenteeism. For example, if you and
Ram work for the same number of hours and have the same type of job and a similar level of
work experience, you would expect to be paid fairly and about the same salary. However, if
you find that Ram is paid more than you are, then your productivity will probably decrease so
that you are only working up to the level that is fair based on your new assumption of your
compensation. The remuneration system should comply with three types of equity are Internal,
External, Individual Equity
Agency theory: This theory suggests that both the employer and the employee are the
stakeholders of the company, and the remuneration paid to the employee is the agency cost.
The employee will try to get an increased agency cost whereas the employer will try to
minimize it. Therefore, the remuneration should be decided in such a way that the interest of
both the parties can be aligned or kept intact.
MOTIVATION:
The word Motivation is derived from the Latin word mover, meaning, to move. It is the driving
force which causes action among the individuals. It can be referred as an act of stimulating
someone or oneself to get desired course of action.
Motivation is basically the willingness to do something, and is conditioned by this action ‘s
ability to satisfy some need for the individual.
According to Scott “Motivation means a process of stimulating people to action to accomplish
desired goals''.
As defined by Latham & Ernst, 2006, motivation has been defined as a psychological process
resulting from the reciprocal interaction between the individual and the environment that
affects a person choices, effort, and persistence.
Importance or Need of motivation: Motivation offers several importance to the organization
and to the employees:
Motivation is important to an individual as:
1. Motivation will help him achieve his personal goals.
2. If an individual is motivated, he will have job satisfaction.
3. Motivation will help in self-development of individual.
4. An individual would always gain by working with a dynamic team.
5. Effective coordination among employee 6. Loyalty and commitment come with the
motivation.
6. Loyalty and commitment come with the motivation.
Similarly, Motivation is important to a business as:
1. The more motivated the employees are, the more empowered the team is.
2. The more is the team work and individual employee contribution, more profitable and
successful is the business.
3. During period of amendments, there will be more adaptability and creativity.
4. Motivation will lead to an optimistic and challenging attitude at work place.
5. Reduces absenteeism and labour turnover
6. Helps to improve the image of the organisation
7. Promotes harmony in the organisation
Types of Motivation:
Motivation can be classified into two on the basis of the place from where the need arises, they
are: • Intrinsic motivation
• Extrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic Motivation: It is a type of motivation in which the motives originate from inside or
within the human body. It refers to the internal driving state stimulating an individual to behave
in a specific way. As individuals are motivated from within, such employee have the desire to
perform well at the workplace because the results are according to the employee‘s/her belief
system. Such type of motivational force are usually the strongest motivational factor motivating
the employee so such type of employee will show qualities like acceptance, curiosity, honor,
desire to achieve success.
It commonly includes following motives:
Biological drives such as hunger, thirst relief from pain etc
Curiosity
Internal fears like fear of rejection
Psychological needs like need for being accepted or appreciated etc
Internal desires like desire to gain power
Extrinsic Motivation: This type of motivation originates from outside the human body, the
driving force exits outside the human body that initiates the human for actions. Such type of
employee are motivated with external factors like rewards and recognition and would never be
motivated internally and only external motivation would act on them to get the tasks done.
The common motives are
Incentives
Bonus
Allowances
Promotion and demotions
Rewards and punishment etc
Motivational Theories
There are many theories available, to explain the nature of motivation. These theories are fully
or, at least, partially true, and all tries help to explain the behavior of people or employee at
certain times. However, the search for a generalized theory of motivation is still continued It is
all because of the complexity of nature of motivation and the fact that there is no single reply
to what motivates people to work well, as each individual is different and so their motivational
factor is also different thus these different theories are important for the managers to guide
them. They show that there are many motives, which influence people's behavior and
performance. The different theories of motivation are usually divided into two approaches:
content theories and process theories.
Content Theory-Content theories include all those specific things, which actually motivate
the employee at work. Thus content theories place emphasis on what motivates.
Process Theory -A process theory tries to identify the relationship among the dynamic
variables, which make up motivation. These theories are more concerned with how behavior is
initiated, directed and sustained. Thus process theories place emphasis on the actual process of
motivation.
Content Theory includes:
Maslow's Need Hierarchy Theory: The well known and pioneering theory of motivation is
of Maslow‘s-Hierarchy of Needs Theory. This theory was developed by Abraham Maslow and
is based on the assumption that people are motivated by a series of five universal needs. These
needs are ranked, according to the order in which they influence human behavior, ie in
hierarchical order from bottom to top. These needs are:
Physiological needs are considered to be the lowest and the basic needs of individual. These
needs include the needs such as food, water, shelter and clothes etc. Till the time person‘s
physiological needs are unsatisfied, they exist as a driving or motivating force in a person's
life.
Once the physiological needs are satisfied than the next need a person think of is Safety
needswhich include the needs for shelter and security they become the motivators of human
behavior. A desire for security, stability, dependency, protection, freedom from fear and
anxiety, and a need for structure, order, and law. In the workplace this needs translates into a
need of job security, medical security; safe work environment, proper compensation etc.
Next is the Social needs which include the need for belongingness and love. Every individual
wants acceptance by the group, society, friendships, love etc. In the workplace, this need may
be satisfied by an ability to interact with peers, subordinates and even seniors and perhaps to
be able to work collaboratively with all.
After the social needs have been satisfied, ego and esteem needsbecome the motivating needs
of individual. Esteem needs include the desire for selfrespect, self-esteem, recognition by
others, feeling of achievement and the esteem of others. In workplace, these needs include the
desire for reputation, prestige, status, fame, glory, dominance, recognition, attention,
importance, and appreciation.
The highest need in Maslow's hierarchy is that of self-actualization; the need for self-
realization, continuous self-development, and the process of becoming all that a person is
capable of becoming ie fulfilment of capacities.
In brief Maslow needs theory can be summarized as:
1. Physiological needs - (food, clothing, shelter, etc,)
2. The need for safety and security - (freedom from danger, job security, health care etc)
3. Social need or need to belong - (Acceptance by the group, friendships, love etc,)
4. Esteem need - (Recognition by others, feeling of achievement etc)
5. Self-actualization needs - (fulfillment of capacities)
Alderfer's Theory of Motivational Need: Clayton Alderfer reworked on Maslow's Need
Hierarchy and reorganized Maslow need hierarchy theory into three levels of core needs.
Alderfer's theory is called the ERG theory -- Existence, Relatedness, and Growth.
• Existence need refers to the concern for basic materials required for the existence of the
persons; which were called - physiological and safety needs by Maslow theory. Thereby
Existence needs includes both physiological and safety need of Maslow corresponding the
lower-order needs of Maslow's theory.
• Relatedness need refers to the desire that individual have for love and belongingness and
maintaining interpersonal relationships; similar to Maslow's social/love need, and the external
component of his esteem need.
Growth need refers to an intrinsic desire for personal development; it include Maslow's intrinsic
components of esteem need, and self-actualization needs. Relatedness and growth needs
together comprise the higher order needs of Maslow.
Alderfer's ERG theory differs from Maslow's Need Hierarchy theory as ERG theory explained
that more than one need may be operative at the same time - a higher and lower need may be
operating together on an individual ie multiple needs can be operating as motivators at the same
time contrast to Maslow that only need can motivate person at one time, once achieve than the
person will move for next. Even ERG theory does not assume that their exist a rigid hierarchy
where a lower need must be substantially satisfied before one can move on.
McClelland's Theory of Needs: David McClelland and his associates, focused on needs
similar to the higher order (social and esteem) needs identified by Maslow. McClelland's needs
theory, also called Achievement motivation theory is basically concerned with how individual
needs and environmental factors combine to form three basic human motives.
• achievement
• affiliation
• influence
Need for Achievement (nAch) : The need for achievement is characterized by people who
wish to take responsibility for finding solutions to problems, master complex tasks, set goals,
get feedback on level of success, who like challenges, and are willing to work hard to reach the
ultimate goal.
Need for Affiliation (nAff) : The need for affiliation is characterized by people who desire for
affection and establishing friendly relationships, to belong, an enjoyment of teamwork, a
concern about interpersonal relationships, and a need to reduce uncertainty.
Need for Power (nPow): The need for power is characterized by a people who wish to control
and influence others, a need to win arguments, a need to persuade and prevail, need to be
influential, and to control others. Individuals with this type of need are concerned with
acquiring the full control and power in their hands.
Herzberg's Two Factor Theory: It is also known as the Motivation-Hygiene Theory, and was
developed by Frederick Herzberg and his associates. On the basis of interviews taken from
around 200 engineers and accountants employed in different industries in an around Pittsburgh
area, U.S.A. developed a Two factor model of motivation. In the interviews they were asked
about what kind of things on their job made them happy or satisfied and what things on job
made them unhappy or dissatisfied. After the analysis they found that there are two factors to
which an organization can adjust to influence the levels of motivation at the workplace. They
are motivating factors and Hygiene factors.
Motivating Factors/ Motivators (Satisfaction): Those factors of the job which provide
satisfaction or contentment to the employee, they feel happy about it are called Motivators.
Some of them are: achievements, recognition, advancement, work itself, responsibility, growth
etc. The presence of motivators leads to satisfaction in the job, whereas the absence of it will
prevent both satisfaction and motivation. Hygiene Factors (Dissatisfaction): These are those
factors of the job which if not present will discourage employees from doing their best at work.
According to Herzberg these are those factors which if present will prevent dissatisfactions but
do not increase satisfaction or motivation while the absence of which, increase dissatisfaction
from the job. They are Company policies and administration, supervision, working conditions,
security, status, salary, interpersonal relations are known as Hygiene factors. As presence of
hygiene factors will prevent dissatisfaction from the job so he called these factors as
dissatisfiers/maintenance factors.
This can be further explained with an example: Suppose a manager who tries to reduce or
eliminate factors that can create job dissatisfaction in the job, this as found can only bring peace
from the job but not necessarily motivation among employees. They will only be able to pacify
their employees rather than motivating them. That is why if things like quality of supervision,
pay, company policies, physical working conditions relations with others and job security etc
are properly present in the workplace/organisation, employees will not be dissatisfied ; but they
will neither be satisfied.
Thus if we want to motivate our employees and wants growth of the organisation, Herzberg
suggested to give emphasis on those factor which act as a motivators for the employees likes
promotional opportunities, opportunities for personal growth, recognition, responsibility and
achievement etc. Some of the examples of motivators and hygiene factor are shown in table
below

If we compare all the four theories of the Need Table 3.2 it is seen that the Maslow's
physiological and Safety Needs together are roughly equal to Existence Needs of Alderfer;
while the Relatedness Need of Alderfer and the Affiliation Need of McClelland is more or less
equivalent to the Social Needs of Maslow. The Hygiene factors of Herzberg are nothing but
equal to the Physiological, Safety and love Needs of Maslow. Finally the Esteem and Self-
actualization Needs of Maslow are equivalent to the Growth Needs set by Alderfer, the Need
for Achievement, the Need for Power set by McClelland and the Motivators of Herzberg.
Reinforcement Theory: It is also called as Organizational Behaviour Modification Theory or
O.B. Model. This model was developed by B.F Skinner is based on the behaviouristic approach
and very much different from other cognitive theories of motivation. As in cognitive theories
like Maslow's need hierarchy –Internal needs of an individual became the cause of action or
lead to behaviour by the employee, while reinforcement theory suggest that external
consequences only tend to determine behaviour of individual. It completely ignores the inner
state of needs of the individual.
Reinforcement theory further suggested that human behaviour can be described in terms of the
previous positive or negative outcomes of that behaviour. Those behaviors, which were
previously rewarded, will be repeated in future with an aim to be rewarded again while those
behaviors, which were previously either not rewarded or instead were punished, tend to
disappear or will not be repeated. Thus behaviour modification is based on the idea that
individual behaviour depends on its consequences and therefore, it is possible to control a
number of employee behaviors by manipulating their consequences. Skinner believed that
person's behaviour can be controlled and shaped by reinforcing desired behaviour
consecutively and continuously. As and when the reinforced behaviour is repeated, the
unrewarded behaviour tends to disappear. If the behaviour is not the same as desired by a
superior, repeated reinforcements in the desired direction can be provided to move the actual
behaviour close to the desired behaviour. Thus reinforcement method provides a strong and
powerful mode of shaping behaviour. Rewards or reinforcements should meet an employee's
specific needs and must be applied equitably. Management should have a very clear idea about
the behaviour they want from their employees to encourage and consistent in reinforcing them.
Adam's Equity Theory: This theory was developed by J. Stacy Adams and is based on the
principle of balance or equity that people want to be treated fairly. This theory sates that level
of motivation in an individual is related to his or her perception of equity and fairness managed
by management. Greater the fairness followed by management, higher the motivation and vice
versa. To assess the level of fairness, employee makes comparison of input in the job (in terms
of contribution) with that of outcome (in terms of compensation) and compares the same with
that of another colleague of same rank. In simple terms, this theory states that equity occurs
when according to individual ratio of his outcome to his inputs equals to the ratio of another
person's output to inputs and inequity occurs when a person perceives that the ratio of his
outcomes to inputs and the ratio of a other's outcomes to inputs are unequal. The inputs include:
education, social status, qualifications, age, organizational positions etc and outputs includes:
rewards such as pay, promotion, the intrinsic interest in the job etc, of a person and other and
are based up on the person's perceptions. Equity theory assumes that employees assess their
performance and attitudes by making a comparing between both their contribution and the
benefits they derive from work to the contributions and benefits of another person. Thus the
theory recognizes that individuals are not only concerned with the amount of rewards they get
for their efforts, but also with that of amount received by other. Equity theory further tells that
individuals are motivated to reduce any perceived inequity. They will work to make the ratios
of outcomes to inputs equal. To eliminate this inequity, the person comparing will work to
make the ratios equal by changing either the outcomes or the inputs, so as to return to the
condition of equity. This process theory of motivation is also not free from criticism. Firstly it
is difficult to assess the perception of employees. Secondly it is quite difficult to choose another
comparable person.
Motivating Employees:
There are several motivational factors that motivate a person to work. The motivational factors
can be broadly classified into two groups:
I. MONETARY FACTORS: It includes
a) Salaries or wages: Salaries or wages are one of the most important motivational factors.
Reasonable salaries as according to the nature of the job should be given to employees and that
too should be paid on time. While fixing salaries the organization must consider factors such
as:
• Cost of living • Company ability to pay • Capability of company to pay etc,
b) Bonus: It means an extra payment given to an employee over and above salary given as an
incentive. The employees must be given proper amount of bonus.
c) Incentives: Most of the organizations now a day‘s provide additional incentives such as
medical allowance, educational allowance, HRA , allowance, etc. to motivate their employees.
Some organization also provides.
d) Special individual incentives: Such incentives are given to deserving employees for giving
valuable suggestions for the growth of the organization.
II. Non-Monetary factors:
It includes: a) Status or job title: Not only money instead by providing a higher status, rank
or designations to the employee can also be use to motivate the employee. Employees prefer
and are proud of their higher designations.
b) Appreciation and recognition: The appreciation and recognition not only coming from
immediate superior but also from higher authorities can motivate employee and should be done
at regular intervals.
c) Delegation of authority: Delegation of authority motivates a subordinate to perform the
tasks with dedication and commitment. When authority is delegated, the subordinate knows
that his superior has placed faith and trust in him.
d) Proper Working conditions: A healthy safe and harmonious work environment can itself
be a source of motivation for the employee.
e) Job security: Guarantee of job security or lack of fear dismissal, etc can also be a good
source of motivation of the employees.
f) Worker’s participation: Allowing the employee to be a member of quality circle, or a
committee, or some other form of employee participation can also motivate the work-force.
g) Providing training to the employees: creating environment to provide training to the
manpower so as to help him to enhance his knowledge, skills and abilities so that he not only
become efficient for the organisation but also helps in his overall development of employee.
h) Flexible working hours: a new concept of flexible working shifts has now been introduced
to allow employee to maintain work life or work home balance.
i) Cordial relations between management and employees Beside monetary and non-monetary
factors, management can plan for things at the level of job for motivating employees
j) Job Design: It means designing the jobs in such a manner that create both a challenging and
interesting task for the employee and is effective and efficient in motivating the employee and
for getting the job done. Four approaches to job design are:
i. Job Simplification: The goal of this job design approach is to standardize and
specialize tasks. But the drawback of this approach is that, it does not always help to increase
motivation as the jobs can become boring.
ii. Job Enlargement: The goal of this job design approach is to combine two to three
tasks together and making it large, to give the employee a greater variety of work.
iii. Job Rotation: The goal of this job design approach is to move workers to different
tasks periodically so that they can learn another task also and can become multiskilled.
iv. Job Enrichment: Job enrichment involves introducing more challenging tasks and
responsibilities to the employee. For example, if a supervisor who is involved in preparing and
presenting reports of performance, can also be asked to frame plans.
All these and several other methods can be adopted to keep employees motivated so that
perform their task effectively and efficiently this well not only help in overall development and
growth of organisation but also of the employee himself. While planning the approach to
motivate the employee HR must keep this in mind that each individual is different from each
other and one method of motivation can not necessarily be effective for all.

Career Planning and Development

Career development is an organized approach used to match employee goals with the business
needs of the agency in support of workforce development initiatives. The purpose of career
development is to:
• Enhance each employee’s current job performance.
• Enable individuals to take advantage of future job opportunities.
• Fulfil agencies’ goals for a dynamic and effective workforce.
Career development involves managing your career either within or between organizations. It
also includes learning new skills, and making improvements to help you in your career. Career
development is an ongoing, lifelong process to help you learn and achieve more in your career.
Whether you are looking at making a career change, or moving up within a company, planning
your own career development will help you succeed. By creating a personal career
development plan, you can set goals and objectives for your own personal career growth. Don’t
make the mistake of leaving your career development future in the hands of your employer,
hoping that you will get the next promotion or pay raise. This misconception can lead to job
dissatisfaction and resentment. Career planning is a lifelong process, which includes choosing
an occupation, getting a job, growing in our job, possibly changing careers, and eventually
retiring. The Career Planning Site offers coverage of all these areas. This article will focus on
career choice and the process one goes through in selecting an occupation. This may happen
once in our lifetimes, but it is more likely to happen several times as we first define and then
redefine ourselves and our goals. Managers are responsible for linking the organization’s needs
to employee career goals, and can assist employees in the career planning process. Human
Resources is responsible for designing career paths and employee development programs that
help employees reach their goals. Each employee is responsible for planning and managing
his/her career.
Objective
Career Management is the combination of structured planning and the active management
choice of one’s own professional career. The outcome of successful career management should
include personal fulfillment, work/life balance, goal achievement and financial assurance.
The word career refers to all types of employment ranging from semi-skilled through skilled,
and semi professional to professional. The term career has often been restricted to suggest an
employment commitment to a single trade skill, profession or business firm for the entire
working life of a person. In recent years, however, career now refers to changes or
modifications in employment during the foreseeable future. There are many definitions by
management scholars of the stages in the managerial process. The following classification
system with minor variations is widely used:
1. Development of overall goals and objectives,
2. Development of a strategy (a general means to accomplish the selected goals/objectives),
3. Development of the specific means (policies, rules, procedures and activities) to implement
the strategy.
4. Systematic evaluation of the progress toward the achievement of the selected
goals/objectives to modify the strategy, if necessary.
Career development, as both a field of study and a practical form of training for workers, is
primarily concerned with producing better employees and maximizing employee potential.
Career development programs can help the unemployed find jobs or provide workers with the
skills and tools they need to advance within a government agency, corporation or organization.
Self-Awareness- One of the major objectives of any career development program is a
heightened sense of self-awareness for participants. Employees should be able to identify their
strengths and weaknesses, in order to apply their skills more effectively. Understanding
shortcomings is also useful in teaching employees where to focus efforts toward improvements.
Self-awareness is also related to understanding the difference between real and perceived
career advancement limitations. By examining available opportunities and making an honest
assessment of an employee’s skills, career development seeks to give every employee a
realistic outlook on the future.
Flexibility- Career development also sets enhanced flexibility as a goal. Employees work in a
changing world and adaptation is an essential skill. This may mean abandoning practices that
have worked in the past, or devoting time to education and new training. Employees who find
themselves unable to adapt in a changing workplace may suffer from decreased productivity
or be unable to compete with workers whose skills are more flexible and easier to apply across
a range of tasks.
Education- Education is among the more straightforward objectives of career development.
Such programs attempt to give employees, or prospective employees, access to information
about job opportunities and options for skills training. Following up with such employees is an
important objective as well, since this gives those who work in career development a way of
measuring the program’s effectiveness.
Sensitivity to Diversity- Many career development programs make sensitivity to diversity in
the workplace a top priority. With ever-increasing globalization, workers are frequently put
into contact with members of different backgrounds and cultures. Understanding the value of
diverse work habits and viewpoints can prevent this from becoming a point of confusion or
misunderstanding. At the same time, educating workers about the customs and concerns of
others can help prevent social problems or embarrassment in a diverse workplace.
Process
Career development and the career planning process include a number of specific steps that
help to identify personal skills and attributes. Finding out how those skills can be utilized in
the job market is accomplished by researching a number of career fields that are of interest to
you and then by gaining experience in those fields and/or speaking to people currently working
in the field. Participating in some form of experiential education will help you to identify if the
field is the right choice for you.
Step #1: Self-Assessment
Evaluating who you are as a person. This involves taking a personal inventory of who you are
and identifying your individual values, interests, skills, and personal qualities. What makes you
tick as a person? You will look at those personal attributes under a microscope and come up
with key qualities you can identify and use in your search for the perfect career. Career
assessments may be required to promote a better understanding of personal attributes and skills.
Contact your Career Services Office at your college to discuss if a career assessment may be
right for you.

Step #2: Research (Career Exploration)

Obtain an insider’s perspective about the career field you are considering. Conduct
Informational Interviews in person, phone, or by email. Professionals enjoy sharing their
expertise with people interested in the field. Perform informational interviews with alumni
from your college to gain their perspective of the field and to listen to what they have to say.
This strategy provides firsthand knowledge from someone currently working in the field and
gives you an opportunity to ask about their experiences as well as potential jobs and what one
might expect if just entering the field. Gain experience through internships or by job shadowing
for one to several days to see what a typical work day entails and to gain perspective of what
the environment is like and the typical job responsibilities of someone working in the field.
Research what types of jobs are available in your area of interest by checking out Majors to
Career Converter, The Occupational Outlook Handbook and The Career Guide to Industries.
The Occupational Outlook Handbook offers a wealth of information for those currently just
entering the job market and for those anticipating making a career change.
Step #3: Decision-Making
Once you’ve made a thorough self-assessment and have done some research of career options,
it’s time to make a decision. This can be difficult since there may still be many unknowns and
a fear of making the wrong choice. One thing for sure is that although we can do all the
necessary steps to making an informed decision, there is no absolute certainty that we are
unquestioningly making the right decision. This uncertainty is easier for some people than
others but a key point to remember is that you can always learn from any job you have and take
those skills and apply them at your next job.
Step#4: Search (Taking Action)
It’s now time to look for prospective jobs and/or employers, send out cover letters and resumes,
and begin networking with people in the field. Keep in mind that cover letters and resumes are
designed to make a favorable impression on employers (if done properly) and the interview
process is what will ultimately land you the job. In other words, make sure your cover letter
and resume highlight your skills and strengths based on the employer’s needs and that you are
fully prepared to knock their socks off at the interview. Take time to research the employer’s
website prior to the interview, and be prepared to ask thoughtful questions based on your
research.
Step #5: Acceptance Wow!
You’ve completed all of the steps above and you’ve been accepted into a new and exciting or
different job. Congratulations! According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 64.1% of people
change jobs between 5 and 14 times in their lifetime. Consequently, learning the skills above
will increase your chances of gaining meaningful and satisfactory work as well as help you to
avoid many of the stresses that occur with changing jobs. By recognizing that change is good
(even advantageous), changing jobs can be viewed as a positive experience and need not be as
anxiety provoking as it may initially seem. You will continue the process of self-assessment,
research, decision-making, and job searching in order to make effective and fulfilling career
changes throughout your lifetime.
It is a known fact that most professionals leave an organization due to lack of career growth.
Active career development initiatives by a company are a key retention tool to keep the best
talent within its fold. It is one of the greatest motivators to keep an employee happy and
engaged. But does career planning and development of employees actually make a difference
to the productivity of a worker? Most organizations think so, and consider it a part of their
critical human resource strategy. From the employees’ point of view career development
initiatives gives them a clear focus about their career track, the blind spots that they have to
overcome and the final goal to be reached. This focused approach works to their advantage
from their everyday work to long-term aspirations.
The impact of career development/ succession planning programmes can be seen through the
productivity indicator, engagement surveys and reduction in attrition rate. It is in fact a win-
win situation for all.
MENTOR:
Mentoring is an ongoing relationship that is developed between a senior and junior employee.
Mentoring provides guidance and clear understanding of how the organization goes to achieve
its vision and mission to the junior employee.
The meetings are not as structured and regular than in coaching. Executive mentoring is
generally done by someone inside the company. The executive can learn a lot from mentoring.
By dealing with diverse mentee’s, the executive is given the chance to grow professionally by
developing management skills and learning how to work with people with diverse background,
culture, and language and personality types.
Executives also have mentors. In cases where the executive is new to the organization, a senior
executive could be assigned as a mentor to assist the new executive settled into his role.
Mentoring is one of the important methods for preparing them to be future executives. This
method allows the mentor to determine what is required to improve mentee’s performance.
Once the mentor identifies the problem, weakness, and the area that needs to be worked upon,
the mentor can advise relevant training. The mentor can also provide opportunities to work on
special processes and projects that require use of proficiency.
Some key points on Mentoring
• Mentoring focus on attitude development
• Conducted for management-level employees
• Mentoring is done by someone inside the company
• It is one-to-one interaction
• It helps in identifying weaknesses and focus on the area that needs improvement.

PROTEGE RELATIONSHIPS.
 UNIT V- PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND CONTROL
Performance evaluation – Feedback - The control process – Importance – Methods –
grievances – Causes – Redressal methods.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION:

This system of performance evaluation was developed by Dr. Robert Kaplan and Dr. David
Norton in 1992, with the aim that this system will not only measure and monitor the
organizational performance but it also act as a tool which improves the communication and
feedback process between the employees and management and helps to overcome the laggings
of the business. In the beginning the method was used in the developed markets of the United
States/Europe which later move to Asia/Australia.

As one of the main reasons for many organizations to fail or be unsuccessful, is that they fail
to understand and adhere to the objectives that they have set for the organization. This balanced
scorecard provides a solution for this, by breaking down objectives into simplest form and
making it easier for management and employees to understand. To Plan, set targets and align
strategy for the organisation are two key areas where the balanced scorecard is highly
beneficial.

The Balance Score Card method measures performance, by taking into consideration number
of different perspectives which are – a financial perspective, a customer perspective, an internal
business process perspective, and an innovation and learning perspective. With the help of
these different perspectives, the BSC is able to come to conclusion in terms of both leading and
lagging performance measures, thus helps in providing a more ―balance view of company
performance.

Leading indicators include measures, such as customer satisfaction, new product development,
on-time delivery, employee competency development, etc. Traditional lagging indicators
include financial measures, such as revenue growth and profitability.
Thus it suggests:

• Financial Perspective – It includes the costs or measurement involved, in terms of rate of

return on capital (ROI) employed and operating income of the organization.

• Customer Perspective – It measures the level of customer satisfaction, customer retention

and market share held by the organization.

• Business Process Perspective – It consist of measures such as cost and quality related to the
business processes.

• Learning and Growth Perspective – It consists of measures such as employee satisfaction,

employee retention and knowledge management.

All these four perspectives are interrelated and cannot function independently, therefore
organizations need one or more perspectives combined together to achieve its business
objectives. For example, Customer Perspective is needed to determine the Financial
Perspective, which in turn can be used to improve the Learning and Growth Perspective.

To define and assess the four perspectives, following factors are used:

Objectives –which displays the organization's objectives such as profitability or market share.

Measures – on the basis of the objectives, measures will be taken to achieve those objectives.

Targets – Next will be to set the targets to achieve those measures it could be department
based or overall as a company.

Initiatives - These are basically the actions, which organisation takes to meet the objectives.
Importance of balanced scorecard in the organization:

• Increase the focus on the business strategy and its outcomes.

• It leads to better organizational performance through measurements.
• It helps to align the man power to meet the organization's strategy on a day-to-day basis.
• It targets the key determinants or drivers of future performance.
• It improves the level of communication in relation to the organization's strategy and vision.
• It helps to prioritize projects according to the timeframe and other factors.
• It helps to create the right balance between the components of organization's objectives and
vision.
• This mechanism not only helps the management to keep a track down the performance of the
organization but also helps as a management strategy.
• It helps to create a strong brand name amongst its existing and potential customers and a
reputation amongst the organization's workforce.

Challenges /problems/Limitations of Performance Appraisal

Some common challenges or problems faced by the performance appraisal system are:
a) Halo effect: The halo error happens due to the tendency of judging employee on one aspect,
which influences the employee‘s overall performance ie if employee is outstanding in one area,
he tends to receive outstanding or better than average ratings in other areas as well by the rater,
even if such a rating is not deserved by the employee but because he has more than above on
one parameter it will affects his overall performance For Example If a worker has very few
absences, his supervisor might give the worker a high rating in all other areas of work because
he comes on the duty regularly. Whereas, an employee might be rated high on performance
simply because he has good dress sense and comes to office punctuality.
b) Stereotyping: Stereotyping or Negative Effect is a tendency of giving low or high rating
because of mental picture that an individual holds about a person because of his age, religion,
caste etc. For example, employees from rural areas might be rated poorly by raters having a
sophisticated urban background, if they view rural background negatively.
c) Central Tendency: It a tendency of some of the raters to give average ratings to all the
employees so as to avoid any kind of justification or commitment or involvement. This is done
by rater so that he does not haves not to justify or clarify the average ratings. Due to which the
ratings are generally seen to be clustered around the midpoint. d) Constant Error: It is general
tendency of some of the raters to be very lenient while rating while some others are very strict
in assessing performance. Thus in the first case, performance will be overrated (leniency error)
while in the second case it is underrated (strictness error). This tendency of error can be avoided
by communicating the raters and explaining them clearly what is required of them.
e) Personal Bias: Sometimes the Performance appraisal may get affected by personal
prejudices or biasness of the rater, like he may rate poorly to the employee or vice versa because
the rater dislikes or likes an employee. Such biasness or prejudice by rater may arise due to
regional or religious beliefs and habits or interpersonal conflicts etc.
f) Spillover Effect or Recency: Raters generally remember the recent performance of the
employee in most cases which affects his overall performance, which for example if not good,
than it will overshadows his entire year ‘s performance this is called Recency.
g) Lack of Reliability: Reliability implies stability and consistency in the measurement. Lack
of consistency reduces the reliability of performance appraisal. As inconsistent use of
measuring standards and lack of training in appraisal techniques may also reduce reliability.
Different qualities may not be given proper weightage. For example, factors like initiative are
highly subjective and cannot be quantified
h) Poor appraisal forms: Sometimes the appraisal process used by the rater might have
incorrect appraisal form or method which affects the appraisal system, some common
drawbacks are:
The rating scale is vague and not clear.
The appraisal form has missed the important aspects of job performance.
The appraisal form may contain extra or, irrelevant performance dimensions.
The forms may be too long and complex.
i) Incompetence: Sometimes raters themselves are not competent to judge the employee and
may fail to evaluate performance accurately due to lack of knowledge and experience.

j) Negative Approach: Performance appraisal will also lose its value if the main focus of the
management is on punishment rather than on development of employees.
k) Multiple Objectives: Raters may sometimes get confused due to too many objectives or
unclear objectives of performance appraisal.
l) Resistance: Sometimes trade unions and other unions of the employee resist performance
appraisal, on the basis of reason that it involves differentiation or discrimination among its
members. Negative ratings by raters may affect interpersonal relations and industrial relations
particularly when employees/unions do not have faith in the system of performance appraisal.
FEEDBACK:
Performance appraisal provides feedback to employees about their performance. It tells them
where they stand. A person works better when he knows how he is working, how his efforts
are contributing to the achievement of organizational objectives. Besides, if they know their
weakness, they will try to overcome them.

Appraisal Feedback
Appraisal feedback is the most crucial stage in appraisal process. If they are rated high or
performance highly applauded, naturally they are happy and feel their self – esteem is high. On
the other if they are rated low they resent, cry and may even be ill-tempered. But the fact is
fact. Even in such cases, their plus points should be listed out. Their weaknesses may be put
clearly through counsellors and advised.

CONTROL PROCESS:
Controlling is the process of assessing and modifying performance to ensure that the company's
objectives and plans for achieving them are met.

Control is the final role of management. The controlling function will become obsolete if other
management functions are properly carried out. If there are any problems in the planning or
actual performance, control will be required.

Controlling ensures that the proper actions are taken at the appropriate times. Control can be
thought of as a process through which management ensures that the actual operations follow
the plans.

The company's managers check the progress and compare it to the intended system through
managing. If the planned and real processes do not follow the same path, the necessary
corrective action can be implemented.

The control process is the careful collection of information about a system, process, person, or
group of people which is required to make necessary decisions about each of the departments
in the process. Managers in the company set up the control systems which consist of the four
prior key steps which we will discuss in the later section.
The performance of the management control function is important for the success of an
organization. Management is required to execute a series of steps to ensure that the plans are
carried out accordingly. The steps that are executed in the control process can be followed for
almost any application, also for improving the product quality, reduction of wastage, and
increasing sales.

What is Controlling?
The Controlling process assures the management that the performance rate does not deviate
from its standards.
The controlling Process consists of five steps:
1. Setting the standards.
2. Measuring the performance.
3. Comparing the performance to the set standards
4. Determining the reasons for any such deviations which is required to be paid heed to.
5. Take corrective action as required. Correction can be made in regards to changing the
standards by setting them higher or lower or identifying new or additional standards in
the department.

Elements and Steps of Control Process

1. Establishing Performance Measuring Standards and Methods
Standards are, by definition, nothing more than performance criteria. They are the
predetermined moments in a planning program where performance is measured so that
managers may receive indications about how things are doing and so avoid having to
monitor every stage of the plan's execution.

This simply means setting up the target which needs to be achieved to meet the
organizational goals. These standards set the criteria for checking performance. The
control standards are required in this case.

Standard elements are especially useful for control since they help develop properly
defined, measurable objectives.

2. Measuring the Performance

 Performance against standards should be measured on a forward-looking basis so that
deviations can be discovered and avoided before they happen. Appraising actual or
predicted performance is relatively simple if criteria are properly drawn and methods
for determining exactly what subordinates are doing are available.

The actual performance of the employee is then measured against the set standards.
With the increase in levels of management, the measurement of performance becomes
quite difficult.

3. Determining if the Performance is up to par with the Standard

In the control process, determining if performance meets the standard is a simple but
crucial step. It entails comparing the measured results to previously established norms.
Managers may assume that "all is under control" if performance meets the benchmark.

Comparing the degree of difference between the actual performance and the set
standard.

4. Developing and Implementing a Corrective Action Plan

This phase becomes essential if performance falls short of expectations and the analysis
reveals that corrective action is required. The remedial measure could include a change
in one or more of the organization's functions.

This is being initiated by the manager who corrects any sorts of defects in the actual
performance.

Types of Control
There are five different types of control:
Feedback Control: This process involves collecting the information on which the task is being
finished, then assessing that information and improvising the same tasks in the future.

Concurrent control (also known as real-time control): It investigates and corrects any
problems before any losses arising. An example is a control chart.
This is the real-time control, which checks any problem and examines the same to take action
before any loss has been caused.

Predictive/ feedforward control: This type of control assists in the early detection of
problems. As a result, proactive efforts can be done to avoid a situation like this in the future.
Predictive control foresees the problem ahead of its occurrence.

Behavioural control: This is a direct assessment of managerial and staff decision-making

rather than the consequences of those decisions. Behavioral control, for example, sets
incentives for a wide range of criteria in a balanced scorecard.

Financial and non-financial controls: Financial controls refer to how a firm manages its costs
and spending to stay within budgetary limits. Non-financial controls refer to how a company
manages its costs and expenses to stay within budgetary constraints.

Features of Controlling
The features of controlling are discussed point-wise to give a clear insight into the concept.
The features are as follows:
• Controlling helps in achieving organizational goals.
• The process facilitates optimum use of resources.
• Controlling judges, the accuracy of the standard.
• The process also sets discipline and order.
• The controlling process motivates the employees and boosts the employee morale,
eventually, they strive and work hard in the organization.
• Controlling ensures future planning by revising the set standards.
• This improves the overall performance of an organization.
• Controlling minimizes the commission of errors.

Advantages of Controlling
The organization inculcates the process of controlling due to its undying advantages. The
advantages of control are as follows:
• The Controlling Process saves time and energy.
• This allows the managers to concentrate on important tasks, and also allows better
utilization of the managerial resource.
 • Assures timely and corrective action to be taken by the manager.

GRIEVANCES:
A grievance is a sign of employee’s discontent with job and its nature. The employee has got
certain aspirations and expectations which he thinks must be fulfilled by the organisation where
he is working. When the organisation fails to satisfy the employee needs, he develops a feeling
of discontent or dissatisfaction.

According to J.M. Jucius, “A grievance is any discontent or dissatisfaction whether expressed

or not, whether valid or not, arising out of anything connected with the company which an
employee thinks, believes or even feels to be unfair, unjust or inequitable”.
Grievance – Identification of Grievances
Grievances should be redressed by adopting proactive approach rather than waiting for the
grievances to be brought to the notice of management. A proactive approach for grievance
redressal helps the management to take actions for modifying those factors that are responsible
for the emergence of grievances while in reactive approach, a particular grievance gets
redressed but its underlying causes continue to exist.
A grievance is often just a symptom of underlying problem. Unless this problem is overcome,
redressal of a grievance may be a temporary solution. It is often said that ‘a good management
redresses grievances as they arise, excellent management anticipates them and prevents them
from arising’. For adopting proactive approach to grievance management, it is essential to
identify the nature of grievances and the underlying factors.
The management can go through four methods for identifying grievances- exit interview, gripe
box system, opinion surveys, arid open-door policy. Let us see how information relevant to
grievances is generated through these methods.
1. Exit Interview:
An employee may leave the organization either because of his dissatisfaction with the
organization or because of greener pasture somewhere else. Exist interview, if conducted
properly, elicits important information about the various aspects of the organizational
functioning relevant to employees.
Such information is more valuable than the information elicited by the existing employees as
they may not be frank enough to express themselves fully. They may avoid many relevant
information as they see their career linked to the organization and frank expression of their
views may jeopardize their career. In an exit interview, there is no such inhibition.
2. Gripe Box System:
On the pattern of suggestion box system, the management can use gripe box system to collect
information about grievances from the employees. If need be, the employees may be
encouraged to drop anonymous complaints as they may develop a feeling that their identity for
reporting complaints may invite victimization specially when the complaints relate to
management or supervision styles and other personal matters.
This method is more appropriate in those organizations where there is lack of trust and
understanding between employees and their supervisors.
3. Opinion Surveys:
Opinion surveys, conducted periodically on the employee-related issues, provide relevant
information about the state of grievances among them. Such surveys may be in the form of
morale survey, attitude survey, job satisfaction survey, and grievance survey, or a more
comprehensive survey including all the above aspects.
These surveys encourage the employees to express their views more openly as these are
conducted by persons who are not the supervisors of the employees. Further, the employees’
identity is not disclosed. Alternatives to formal surveys may be group meetings, periodical
interviews, collective bargaining sessions, and informal get-together through which the
information about the current state of grievances may be collected.
4. Open-Door Policy:
Open-door policy implies that the employees are invited to discuss their problems freely and
frankly at any time, or drop their complaints to the relevant managers’ rooms at any time. The
basic objective of an open-door policy is to encourage upward communication. However, open-
door policy works effectively when the managers develop positive approach and keep their
doors open physically and psychologically. In large organizations, such open-door policy
should be adopted at each successive management level.

Grievance – An Example of Grievance: Factual Grievance, Imaginary Grievance and

Disguised Grievance
Example # 1. Factual Grievance:
Generally, it arises in case when legitimate needs of employees remain unfulfilled. To illustrate
though wage hike has been agreed yet not implemented citing various reasons. These
grievances reflect the drawbacks in the implementation of the organisational policies.

Example # 2. Imaginary Grievance:

Sometimes an employee’s dissatisfaction has no valid reason instead it is due to wrong
perception, wrong attitude or wrong information received by him. In these circumstances, it
may create an imaginary grievance. Though management is not at fault in such instances, still
it has to clear the ‘fog’ immediately.
Test should grow dense and may breed bitterness, as a result, grievances can have far-reaching
consequences on the organisation and the reason is employees are likely to develop an
altogether negative attitude towards the organisation, such an attitude decreases their
effectiveness and involvement in various task.

Example # 3. Disguised Grievance:

In some cases, an employee may have dissatisfaction for unknown reasons. Even in general,
organisations 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.
To illustrate, an employee making complaint very strongly against the working conditions in
the office may in turn be seeking some recognition and appreciation from his or her colleagues.
Hence, disguised grievances, if remain, unattended or ignored, should also be considered since
they do have far-reaching consequences.

A systematic grievance redressal procedure must have the following features:

1. It should be simple, fair and easy to understand.
2. It should be in writing.
3. It should specify to whom employees may take a grievance in the first instance (normally
their immediate boss), and that they have the right to be accompanied by a colleague or a trade
union representative.
4. It should encourage employees to put forth their grievances.
5. It should state where, in the event of the grievance remaining unresolved, an employee
should then address his complaint.
6. It should specify time limits within which the aggrieved employee can expect to be notified
of the outcome of his complaint.
7. It should have regular meetings of the grievance committee; and a record of proceedings
properly minuted should be sent to all the parties.
8. It should gain employee confidence.
9. It should promote healthy relations between employee and the company.
As in the case of disciplinary procedure, the spirit in which the implementation of this process
is approached is extremely important; and equally important is the amount of time and effort
which management is prepared to devote to handle grievances systematically and effectively.
The details of grievance procedure and the numbers of steps in it may vary from organization
to organization depending on its size and the number of employees. The procedure may have
as few as two steps or as many as ten also. The grievance procedure may be of an open-door
type or of a step-ladder type.
In the open-door approach, grievances can be taken up with senior management directly, rather
than through the stages. This is useful if an employee thinks that his superior is treating him
unfairly, or has made a wrong decision, or if he feels that the company is making a mistake
over new policy or practice.
The grievance process has at least three purposes and consequences. First, by settling minor
problems at an early stage, it may prevent major problems from occurring in the future. Second,
a through grievance analysis serves as a source of data to focus attention of the two parties on
ambiguities in the contract for negotiation at a future date. Lastly, the grievance process is an
effective channel for upward communication.
Several times management is guilty of errors in the processing of grievances.
Some common errors are:
(i) Stopping too soon in the search of facts
(ii) Expressing a management opinion before all the pertinent facts have been discovered
(iii) Failing to maintain proper records
(iv) Resorting to executive fiat instead of discussing the facts of employee grievance and
attempting to change minds
(v) Communicating the decision to the grievant in an improper manner
(vi) Taking wrong or hasty decision, which the facts of the case do not justify.