EPA-04 (Personnel Administration) Assignment Code: EPA-04/AST/TMA/2011-2012

Section - I Answer the following questions in about 500 words each. Marks 1) Explain the concept of personnel administration. 20 Solution: The concept of personnel administration is quite wide. It includes all activities which help the management in getting the work done by the labour force in the best manner possible to accomplish the organizational objectives. The main objective in any organization is the optimum utilization of available resources. Personnel administration is primarily concerned with the organization of men; therefore, the main objective may be summarized as to utilize the available human resources in a a way so as to get the work done effectively to the maximum satisfaction of the individual worker to seek their cooperation in accomplishing the general goals of the organization. The objectives of personnel administration can be classified into General objectives and specific objectives. General objectives 1. Maximum individual development the employer should always be careful in developing the personality of each individual. If an act of the employer can adversely affect the personality of the individual, he should avoid it. Employer should establish and support such human values that may have social recognition and importance. They should always be regarded as partners and given due importance. The objective of Personnel administration as a bridge between the management and the employees is to keep the management apprised of positive accomplishments and warning signals in the personnel practices. If the human assets of an organization are being misused in the process of profit maximization, it is definitely a short term achievement, because in the long run, the adverse effects felt by the work force will translate into lesser profits for the organization.

2. Desirable working relationship between employer and employee it is the major objective of personnel administration to achieve a desirable working relationship between the employer and the employees so that they may cooperate with the management. Both of them must rely on each other. The personnel administrator should get it realized to the top management that personnel should be given fair and equitable treatment and on the other hand, convey to the workers that they should cooperate in achieving the goals of the management. The basic responsibility for the personnel lies with the supervisors although the administrator supplies tools such as policy, record keeping, control and advice. His objective is therefore to ensure that the line supervisor is aware of his personnel responsibilities and carries them out responsibly. Simultaneously he should also ensure ethical conduct amongst all personnel and on the part of each supervisor towards each employee for whom he is responsible. 3. Specialized services The administrator provides the tools such as record keeping, policy making, controlling and advising. Although not directly responsible for the personnel, who lie with the line supervisor, he may examine causes for non-efficiency or non-effectiveness, suggest remedial measure, perform research into proposed personnel procedures, handle negotiations with a government agency, etc. The basic objective here is to provide assistance to the line supervisor whilst simultaneously ensuring that the line supervisor meets his responsibilities to the personnel. 4. Molding of human resources Human beings is the most important resource and the only active factor which engages all other factors of production. Therefore, the administrator should emphasize the effective utilization of human resources as compared to physical resources so that production and productivity is optimized. Other factors of production will be ineffective without effective molding of human resources. Specific objectives 1. Selection of the right type and number of persons 2. Proper orientation and introduction of new employees to their jobs 3. Organisation of suitable training facilities 4. Provision of better working conditions and facilities. 5. Provision of sound, fair and effective wage and salary administration and incentives.

6. Good industrial relations with representative trade unions 7. Personnel research Duties of Personnel Staff In a dynamic working environment, the boundaries of any role cannot be clearly defined. However, the duties of Personnel staff may be described as under:1. As a Service Provider providing information on market statistics of personnel availability, pay rates, etc. Interpret the complex laws and legislations. Employment and placement programs, employee compensation programs, training and development programs, labour relations could be stated to be the duty as a service provider. It must be noted that there will often be an overlap between the different roles that a Personnel staff may assume 2. As a facilitator advises the supervisors on employee problems, facilitates training and development, and when performance appraisals are done. One of the responsibilities of Personnel staff is also to ensure that other managers who undertake such activities are well equipped to do so. 3. as a consultant to help the supervisors resolve problems due to lack of motivation, lack of training, grievances, etc. 4. As an auditor to ensure that all members of the management perform their respective roles, to determine whether personnel policies and procedures are being administered uniformly by supervisors.

2) Discuss the meaning, methods, and techniques of training 20 Solution: 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 (also known as technical colleges or polytechnics). In addition to the basic training required for a trade, occupation or profession, observers of the labor-market[who?] recognize as of 2008[update] the need to continue training beyond initial qualifications: to

maintain, upgrade and update skills throughout working life. People within many professions and occupations may refer to this sort of training as professional development. Plans, coordinates, and directs personnel training and staff development programs for industrial, commercial, service, or governmental establishment: Confers with management and supervisory personnel in order to determine training needs. Formulates training policies and schedules, utilizing knowledge of identified training needs, company production processes, business systems, or changes in products, procedures, or services. Designates training procedures, utilizing knowledge of effectiveness of such training methods as individual coaching, group instruction, lectures, demonstrations, conferences, meetings, and workshops. Organizes and develops training manuals, reference library, testing and evaluation procedures, multimedia visual aids, and other educational materials. Trains assigned instructors and supervisory personnel in effective techniques for training in both general and specialized areas, such as those concerned with new employees' orientation, specific on-the-job training, apprenticeship programs, sales techniques, health and safety practices, public relations, refresher training, promotional development, upgrading, retraining, leadership development, and other such adaptations to changes in policies, procedures, and technologies. May coordinate established training courses with technical and professional courses offered by community schools. May screen, test, counsel, and recommend employees for company educational programs, or for promotion or transfer. The training of personnel for the implementation and management of sustainable development should be regarded as one of the critical ingredients in measures to enhance the socio-economic recovery and development of the economies of African countries. A nation could be endowed with all the material resources required for the production of goods and services but if its human resources are undeveloped and illiterate, such a nation would find it difficult to cross the threshold of underdevelopment.

Section - II Answer the following questions in about 250 words each. 3) Throw light on the objectives of manpower planning. 12

Solution: Proper utilization of your workforce can help you save money now, and as you plan for your company's future. Manpower planning requires the interaction of departmental managers with your human resources professionals to maintain current staff levels and plan for future workforce needs. Use manpower planning to provide a framework by which your company can prepare for and monitor future growth. Staffing Levels Staffing levels can change based on company growth, losses due to layoff or temporary and seasonal employment needs. The objective of manpower planning is to forecast staffing level needs and work with company managers to make sure each department is properly staffed. The human resources group plans for seasonal rises in employment needs to insure that production levels and customer service quality are not affected. This includes working with temporary agencies to supply seasonal staff and running employment advertisements that bring in part-time candidates. Future Needs One of the functions of manpower planning is to anticipate the future skill set needs of the company and begin the process of finding qualified candidates. The human resources department needs to be involved in all aspects of business planning to prepare for recruiting in job duties that the company has not dealt with in the past. For example, a toy manufacturer decides to get into the radio-controlled toy market and needs to hire technicians and engineers to design and make the toys that the company has never made in the past. Skill Matching It is less expensive to utilize existing personnel than to hire new employees to fulfill job needs within the organization. Hiring new employees requires recruiting costs, training expenses and the cost of low productivity as the new employee settles into his job. Manpower planning

involves tracking each employee's skill set, which allows the company to move employees around within the company to prevent having to look outside the company. For example, an accounts payable employee who has payroll skills can be moved into the payroll department with a high level of competence. Efficiency A company needs to efficiently utilize its workforce to maintain productivity and also keep employee morale high. Developing part-time positions, creating different work shifts, offering overtime to compensate for increased production needs and maintaining a pertinent training program are ways that manpower planning maximizes workforce efficiency. Shift options and offering employees the tools they need to do their job, such as training, help to maintain employee morale.

4) Describe the analytical method of job evaluation. 12

Solution: The Analytical method of Job Evaluation is as Follow: 1 Points Rating This is the most commonly used method. The key elements of each job, which are known as 'factors', are identified by the organisation and then broken down into components. Each factor is assessed separately and points allocated according to the level needed for the job. The more demanding the job, the higher the points value. This scheme has the following advantages: * it provides a rationale why jobs are ranked differently * it may be entered as a defence to an equal value claim * it will be seen generally as less subjective than non analytical techniques. However, it is time consuming to introduce and can be complex and costly to undertake. In addition it can be seen to be an inflexible form of job evaluation in times of rapid change and can imply an arithmetical precision which is not justified.

2 Factor Comparison Factor Comparison is similar to Points Rating job evaluation scheme, being based on an assessment of factors, though no points are allocated. Use of the Factor Comparison method of job evaluation is not as widespread as the Points Rating systems, because the use of points enables a large number of jobs to be ranked at one time. 3 'Tailor Made' or 'Off the peg' A prime consideration in deciding which analytical job evaluation scheme to select lies in the choice of factors and weightings. The benefit of proprietary 'off the peg' evaluation schemes is that they normally have been well tried and tested and there is therefore a saving in time. In addition, many schemes are linked to mechanisms for checking salary levels. The benefit of 'tailor made' schemes is that the factors and definitions more accurately reflect the range of jobs to be evaluated and are arrived at through consensus; consequently they are more likely to be acceptable to the workforce. The Hay Guide Chart-Profile Method is the most widely used evaluation scheme.

5) Examine the role of Central Bureau of Investigation in combating corruption. 12 Solution: The Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the 18th Biennial Conference of the Central Bureau of Investigation and State Anti-Corruption Bureaux (ACBx) on 21st October, 2011. The Prime Minister will also present the President's Police Medals for Distinguished Service to CBI Officers. Minister of State for Personnel Shri V. Narayanasamy will preside over the Valedictory Session of the conference on 22nd October, and will present Police Medals for Meritorious Service to CBI Officers during the Valedictory Session. The two-day Conference, hosted by the CBI, aims at strengthening the anti-corruption mechanism in the country. The Heads of Anti- Corruption Bureaux / Vigilance agencies from the States and Union Territories, and, CBI officers will deliberate upon the emerging challenges and response in tackling the menace of corruption. Another area on which this conference will be focusing is Preventive Vigilance. The Conference will have seven Sessions during which several presentations & discussions on the subjects of topical interest would be made. Apart from an appraisal of Anti-Corruption Apparatus in the country, other issues to be deliberated upon

include: Combating Corruption for Economic Development, Attachment & Forfeiture of Property, Challenges in investigation of Dispropotionate Assets cases, Need for strengthening state anti-corruption machinery and Lokayukta models in some states. It is expected that this conference will yield positive results in the area of training officers and sharing of best practices with regard to anti-corruption investigation. The joint conference between CBI and the States / Union Territories Anti-Corruption Bureaux was first organized in 1961 with an intent to provide all the investigating agencies of the country engaged in the task of fighting corruption, a common platform to share information, discuss issues of common interest and evolve strategies to combat corruption. This is the 18th Biennial Conference in this sequence.

6) Define motivation and describe its objectives. 12 Solution: Motivation is a term that refers to a process that elicits, controls, and sustains certain behaviors. For instance: An individual has not eaten, he or she feels hungry, as a response he or she eats and diminishes feelings of hunger. At one time, employees were considered just another input into the production of goods and services. But this changed after the Hawthorne Studies.The Hawthorne studies were conducted by Elton Mayo at Hawthorne Plant in the 1920s. The researches were studying the effect of different working environments on productivity. They used lighting as an experimental variable (the effect of bright lighting and dull lighting). Initially they noticed that employees were working harder but it was not because of the lighting. They concluded that productivity increased due to attention that the workers got from the research team and not because of changes to the experimental variable. Hawthorne studies found that employees are not motivated solely by money but motivation is linked to employee behaviour and their attitudes.The Hawthorne Studies began the human relations approach to management, so the needs and motivation of employees become the primary focus of managers. According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in a basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired object, goal, state of being, ideal, or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, selfishness, morality, or avoiding mortality. Conceptually, motivation should not be confused with either volition or optimism.Motivation is related to, but distinct from, emotion.

Section - III Answer the following questions in about 100 words each. 7) Write a note on informal organization. 6 Solution: The informal organization is the interlocking social structure that governs how people work together in practice. It is the aggregate of behaviors, interactions, norms, personal and professional connections through which work gets done and relationships are built among people who share a common organizational affiliation or cluster of affiliations. It consists of a dynamic set of personal relationships, social networks, communities of common interest, and emotional sources of motivation. The informal organization evolves organically and spontaneously in response to changes in the work environment, the flux of people through its porous boundaries, and the complex social dynamics of its members. Tended effectively, the informal organization complements the more explicit structures, plans, and processes of the formal organization: it can accelerate and enhance responses to unanticipated events, foster innovation, enable people to solve problems that require collaboration across boundaries, and create footpaths showing where the formal organization may someday need to pave a way.

8) Explain hierarchy of needs by Maslow. 6 Solution: Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation.[2] Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of human developmental psychology, all of which focus on describing the stages of growth in humans.Maslow studied what he called exemplary people such as Albert Einstein, Jane Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frederick Douglass rather than mentally ill or neurotic people, writing that "the study of crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy."[3] Maslow studied the healthiest 1% of the college student population.