Q- What do you mean by lay off & separation?

Meaning
A separation is the general term for any type of situation where an employee's employment is ended involuntarily. Most people attribute the term to apply to a cessation of employment that is perfomance based, but that does not necessary need to be the case. A termination simply means that an employer has decided to end the employment of an employee for some reason. A layoff is a type of termination/separation. A layoff most often refers to a termination decision that is based on economic conditions, lack of work, corporate restructuring or similar issues that usually apply to a broader group of workers, as opposed to the performance or other characteristics of the specific individual employee. Layoffs can either be temporary of permanent.

Differences

The most distinct difference between a layoff and a termination is the period of time for which they are in effect and their cause. A layoff is a provisional form of employer/employee separation, and can last from a few weeks to several months, while a termination is a permanent dismissal. Causes differ between layoff and termination in that a layoff is, generally, rendered by circumstances outside the employee's control like a reduced demand for services or products, while a termination is usually the direct result of an employee's behavior or lack of productivity like chronic tardiness or poor job performance.

Monetary Concerns

A factor paramount to small business in choosing between layoffs and termination is monetary. During both a layoff period and post-termination, an employee is not given compensation and benefits may be suspended or terminated. However, a layoff does not carry any monetary goodwill, commonly called a severance package or severance pay. Termination typically does. Because a layoff by definition is temporary, future compensation as currently awarded for productivity will commence after the layoff when the employee returns to work.

State Unemployment Compensation

In most states, when an employee is terminated or laid-off by her employer against her will, she may be eligible for unemployment benefits that are funded by unemployment insurance which is paid into by most businesses. Regardless if the separation is temporary or permanent, a displaced employee becomes eligible for financial and counseling unemployment assistance as long as she didn't initiate the separation by way of resignation or acts of misconduct.

Legalities

No matter the size or number of employees, employers are required by law to provide a safe and harassment-free workplace. Conditions that are encouraged

or promoted by an employer to force an employee's resignation are known as "constructive terminations" and are illegal. "Wrongful termination" occurs when an employer terminates an employee on the basis of discrimination against an employee's gender, sexual orientation, race or religion, and not on the basis of unfair conditions like personality conflicts.

Insurance and Investments

Regardless of whether an employee is terminated or laid off, an employee can continue to receive insurance coverage under a program called COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act), which entitles displaced employees to extend their health insurance via self-pay premiums. Also, investment plans such as a 401(k) can be rolled over into a self-directed retirement account by the former employee (if a small business offers such investment vehicles, it must properly manage them until the former employee can restructure the investment).

Q- Give example of job motivatios

Methodology The research design for this study employed a descriptive survey method. The target population of this study included employees at the Piketon Research and Extension Center and Enterprise Center (centers). The sample size included all 25 employees of the target population. Twenty-three of the 25 employees participated in the survey for a participation rate of 92%. The centers are in Piketon, Ohio. The mission of the Enterprise Center is to facilitate individual and community leader awareness and provide assistance in preparing and accessing economic opportunities in southern Ohio. The Enterprise Center has three programs: alternatives in agriculture, small business development, and women's business development. The mission of the Piketon Research and Extension Center is to conduct research and educational programs designed to enhance economic development in southern Ohio. The Piketon Research and Extension Center has five programs: aquaculture, community economic development, horticulture, forestry, and soil and water resources. From a review of literature, a survey questionnaire was developed to collect data for the study (Bowen & Radhakrishna, 1991; Harpaz, 1990; Kovach, 1987). Data was collected through use of a written questionnaire hand-delivered to participants. Questionnaires were filled out by participants and returned to an

intra-departmental mailbox. The questionnaire asked participants to rank the importance of ten factors that motivated them in doing their work: 1=most important . . . 10=least important. Face and content validity for the instrument were established using two administrative and professional employees at The Ohio State University. The instrument was pilot tested with three similarly situated employees within the university. As a result of the pilot test, minor changes in word selection and instructions were made to the questionnaire. Results and Discussion The ranked order of motivating factors were: (a) interesting work, (b) good wages, (c) full appreciation of work done, (d) job security, (e) good working conditions, (f) promotions and growth in the organization, (g) feeling of being in on things, (h) personal loyalty to employees, (i) tactful discipline, and (j) sympathetic help with personal problems. A comparison of these results to Maslow's need-hierarchy theory provides some interesting insight into employee motivation. The number one ranked motivator, interesting work, is a self-actualizing factor. The number two ranked motivator, good wages, is a physiological factor. The number three ranked motivator, full appreciation of work done, is an esteem factor. The number four ranked motivator, job security, is a safety factor. Therefore, according to Maslow (1943), if managers wish to address the most important motivational factor of Centers' employees, interesting work, physiological, safety, social, and esteem factors must first be satisfied. If managers wished to address the second most important motivational factor of centers' employees, good pay, increased pay would suffice. Contrary to what Maslow's theory suggests, the range of motivational factors are mixed in this study. Maslow's conclusions that lower level motivational factors must be met before ascending to the next level were not confirmed by this study.
Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory and Dual-Factor Theory)

The theory was based around interviews with 203 American accountants and engineers in Pittsburgh, chosen because of their professions' growing importance in the business world. The subjects were asked to relate times when they felt exceptionally good or bad about their present job or any previous job, and to provide reasons, and a description of the sequence of events giving rise to that positive or negative feeling. Here is the description of this interview analysis: Briefly, we asked our respondents to describe periods in their lives when they were exceedingly happy and unhappy with their jobs. Each respondent gave as many "sequences of events" as he could that met certain criteriaincluding a marked change in feeling, a beginning and an end, and contained some substantive description other than feelings and interpretations

The proposed hypothesis appears verified. The factors on the right that led to satisfaction (achievement, intrinsic interest in the work, responsibility, and advancement) are mostly unipolar; that is, they contribute very little to job dissatisfaction. Conversely, the dis-satisfiers (company policy and administrative practices, supervision, interpersonal relationships, working conditions, and salary) contribute very little to job satisfaction.[3] Two-factor theory distinguishes between: Motivators (e.g., challenging work, recognition, responsibility) that give positive satisfaction, arising from intrinsic conditions of the job itself, such as recognition, achievement, or personal growth,[4] and Hygiene factors (e.g. status, job security, salary, fringe benefits, work conditions) that do not give positive satisfaction, though dissatisfaction results from their absence. These are extrinsic to the work itself, and include aspects such as company policies, supervisory practices, or wages/salary

Q- Importance of quality circles in dynamics of Industrial Relation?

A quality circle is a volunteer group composed of project workers, usually under the leadership of their supervisor, who are trained to identify, analyze and solve work-related problems and present their solutions to management in order to improve the performance of the organization, and motivate and enrich the work of employees. When matured, true quality circles become selfmanaging, having gained the confidence of management. Quality circles are an alternative to the dehumanizing concept of the division of labor, where workers or individuals are treated like robots. They bring back the concept of craftsmanship, which when operated on an individual basis is uneconomic but when used in group form can be devastatingly powerful. Quality circles enable the enrichment of the lives of the workers or students and creates harmony and high performance. Typical topics are improving occupational safety and health, improving product design, and improvement in the workplace and manufacturing processes.

Companies specially startups are facing problem and it's a big challenge for them to ensure quality work. It's very important to motivate employees to more focus on quality as it increases profit, productivity by avoiding rework and saves time. Many companies are working to introduce quality circles within their companies. Quality Circle: A small group of employees who meet regularly to identify, analyze, and solve product-quality and production problems and to improve general operations. Quality circles are applicable to a wide variety of business situations and problems. They are based on two ideas: that employees can often make better suggestions for improving work processes than management; and that employees are motivated by their participation in making such improvements. Quality Circle Benefits:

Team Spirit Development: This will eliminate inter-team conflicts and they will learn working as a team. Change in the Attitude: Employees will start working on continuous improvement/ quality of work. From, 'I don't care' to 'I do care' attitude will start growing within employees Self Development: This will bring out hidden potential of people at work. They get to learn additional skills too from each other Improves Organizational Culture: This results in positive working environment. Also, this results total involvement of employees at all levels

Other Benefits: Quality circles can help a small business reduce costs, increase productivity, and improve employee morale. Other potential benefits that may be realized by a small business include greater operational efficiency and an overall better working climate. Quality circles offer a wide variety of benefits for small businesses. For example, they serve to increase management's awareness of employee ideas, as well as employee awareness of the need for innovation within the company. Finally, quality circles can improve a small business's overall competitiveness by reducing costs, improving quality, and promoting innovation.

Q- Differentiate between Job enrichment , Job rotation , Job enlargement?

i) Job Rotation:

Job rotation, as the name suggests means rotating the job. It involves the movement of employees through a range of jobs in order to increase interest and motivation. It can improve multi-tasking but also involves the need for continuous training. It reduces boredom and disinterest through diversifying the employees activities. With the help of Job Rotation, the management can easily identify in which area the particular employee is best at work. Job Rotation also has certain drawbacks: Every time an employee is transferred to other department; it will cost a huge training cost. Employees may take time in adjusting with the new environment. ii) Job Enlargement: Job Enlargement means the expansion of the number of different tasks performed by employee under a single job or in a horizontal manner. It attempts to add some similar tasks in the existing job. It enhances the interest of the employee. Job Enlargement is beneficial for employers as they are getting more amount of work in similar pay. There are few main reasons because of which an employee is motivated to continue with Job enlargement. They are:Task Variety: There can be number of tasks to perform under the enlargement scheme; which tends to give a good variety to the workers to perform and it also helps them to be away from the boredom. Utilization of the Ability: With the enlarged role in job the workers tend to use their highest ability to perform the task in better and efficient manner which acts as a motivational factor for them. The fact that management has to take care at this stage is that they should not stretch or enlarge the job in such a manner in which the employee feels frustrated and bored or the job should not become monotonous. On the contrary, management should find such a task and way of accomplishing it so that the employee should accept as a challenge which can be fulfilled easily with flying colours.

Feedback on the basis of Performance: Timely feedback enhances the motivation of the employees to work effectively and efficiently every time. Along with the benefits which Job enlargement has, it also has certain drawbacks. They are: Workers may require additional training for the new task, which may cause increase in the training budget. If a new system is introduced first time; it may decrease the productivity. iii) Job Enrichment: Enrichment in the tasks which a worker performs means Job enrichment. It also means that additional authority is granted to the employee in his tasks list. The company can also introduce new and more difficult tasks not handled previously. It provides opportunity for employees psychological growth. The theory of Job enrichment was first stated by Herzberg. According to him, it has eight characteristics. They are: Direct Feedback: Feedback given at the time of the result increases the morale of the worker to perform better. Client Relationship: Serving the clients either external or internal enhances the job in many ways. External clients are the outside customers for eg: if an officer working in a showroom attends the customers and finishes a sale it means that he gave service to the external customer. But on the other hand internal customer is the other employee of the same organization. For eg: the same employee coordinates with the employee from the other department it means that he/she served internal customer. Scheduling own work: Self-scheduling helps the employee to tackle which assignment to finish first and which later. This aspect enhances the creativity of the employees. Direct Communication Authority: It allows communicating directly with the employees, which helps in increasing the results and the output. Personal Accountability: After receiving direct feedback; employee can easily come to know about his own stand in the company.