Master of Business Administration- MBA Semester 1 MB0043 Human Resource Management - 4 Credits Assignment Set- 2 (60 Marks) Q1.

State the major career development activities found in organizations. Ans:- A variety of career development activates are available for use. Some of the more popular ones include: 1. Self assessment tools:- these are usually technology enabled on-line (on the corporate intranet) tools that form part of the performance appraisal system and allow the individual to identify areas of strengths and parallelly identify career paths that would leverage these strengths the best. E.g. Career Planning Workbooks, Career Workshops hosted by the organizations from time to time. 2. Individual Counselling:- formally the process allows for individuals to discuss this as part of the performance management process with their immediate managers and share and take feedback on the appropriateness of the choices and how to go about pursuing it. Often managers recommend relevant other managers and leaders who the employee can link with to seek advice and support. Organizations also provide for formal mentoring programs to which an employee can enrol and sign up a mentor who can then provide the support and counselling on the best career option and how to go about it achieving it. 3. Information Services: organizations have established policies on what skills and experiences that each job in the organization requires. Jobs with similar skills and experiences are clubbed together to create parallel career paths. For example in a software development firm the career path options for the software engineering team can be designed as follows: Career Paths in a software company

Figure 6.1: Career Paths in a software company These are typically called career ladders or career paths and they help an employee identify what his options are for future growth and identify the appropriate one based on his personal skills and capabilities/ limitations. These career paths would be supplemented with additional information on skills and experience that one must have for each role/job in the career path. It would also specify the particular qualification or special certifications that the positions demands. An employee aspiring to pursue a career option would need to dedicate time and effort and the expenses towards acquiring the same. Large MNCs (multinational companies) also encourage the reimbursement of these expenses as a annual fixed amount on successfully clearing the exam/certification. The employee however needs to find the time and expend the effort away from work. The actual move of the employee to the new role would however depend on the existence of a job vacancy in that role. The employee can also approach career resource / talent management centres supported by the HR teams for more information on how to plan careers and apply for new roles sand jobs. Organizations usually have formal job posting systems through which the employee receives this information and applies for the job after discussing with his manager. 4. Initial employment Programs Organizations also run internship and apprenticeship programs wherein the individuals aspiring to do a particular job can spend some time as a temporary

employee to explore interest and skill fitment for the job/role. (e. g. Anticipatory socialization programs, realistic recruitment, and employee orientation program); 5. Organizational Assessment programs : organizations can proactively establish formal processes wherein an employee can volunteer to participate and understand himself/herself and his/her strengths. Through the use of Assessment Centres organizations can help an employee identify areas for improvement and means of building those skills. So he can achieve his career plans. Certain organizations offer Psychological Testing instruments which profile the employees strengths and roles and responsibilities he / she will best fit into. 6. Developmental programs focus the effort of the employee towards helping the employee to achieve his career goals. The Assessment Centres, Job rotation programs, in-house training, tuition refund plans, and mentoring, all prove effective tools to help the individual along. No matter what tools are used for career development, it is important that employees develop and individualised career plan. For example Raychem requires every person to have a learning or development plan. Q2. What are the major problems faced in benefits management? Ans:- One of the main problems faced by management in organizations is the need to maintain a competitive advantage. With the global economic climate it has been difficult for companies and organizations to keep up with their rivals, let alone better them. Corporate culture is one responsibility that management need to adhere to because it is vital when you want to succeed in business. It creates a sense of innovation and productivity as opposed to a more negative culture which may stifle employees and detrimentally affect job gratification. In addition, managers have a huge responsibility for guiding the organization in the right direction as they are the prime decision makers. Managers have to make the plans and organize their employees and resources in order to put the organization in a direction that will grant them success. Most modern management take on a strategic management style which initially states the main aim of the particular mission which follows by the processes that will be carried out on a day-to-day basis.

Moreover, one of the most important aspects that a good manager requires is solid

communication skills. It is very likely in business that you are going to come into contact with conflicting styles of communication, however it is the manager's job to be aware of this as well as their own style. They need to be able to enforce their own style of communication while being able to adapt to others, especially if they are consulting with other organisations and companies. Some of the basic problems faced by management are 1: How to produce a qualitative product: This is the first problem faced by management that what is to produce, how much to produce and where to be produce. And the organization has to decide either they have to produce different products or to emphasis on one product. 2: How to deal the labour union: The labour is the group of people working for the betterment of the employees working in the organization. The management has to decide that how to full fill the demands of the labour union in respect of salaries, bonuses,

insurance, medical allowances, fringe benefits etc. 3: How to compete in the market: Various decisions for example how to charge the price, how to place the product, how to promote the product has to be taken by the management and they try to solve these problems in a best manner. 4: How to utilize the organization resources: The management made various decisions about the organization resources that is man, money, material, machinery, market and methodology. 5: To avoid stick out situation: Stock out situation is that situation when the customer demands for the product and the company has no product at that time. The management has to decide how to tackle this problem.

Q3. What are the factors that impact recruitment in organizations? Ans:- All organizations, whether large or small, do engage in recruiting activity, though not to the same intensity. Few factors that impact the nature of recruitment: 1. The size of the organization- the smaller the organization the more the need to carefully scrutinize the candidate for a job and the fitment to the organizational culture. The risk in

case of job-candidate mismatch can prove equally expensive for a smaller organization as compared to the larger one. 2. The employment conditions in the country where the organization is located- critically impacts the recruiting strategy. The methods for recruiting, the selection tools that are most suited and the legal framework that bear on the employer are some aspects that need to be considered. 3. The affects of past recruiting efforts which show the organizations ability to locate and keep good performing people- constantly reviewing the effectiveness of the recruiting methods and the selection tools used, evaluating the success at-work of the new recruits are some methods used by organizations to ensure that quality hiring practices are inplace. 4. working conditions and salary and benefit packages offered by the organization this may influence turnover and necessitate future recruiting; (v) The rate of growth of organization- the phase in the life-cycle of the firm is a measure of the recruiting effort 5. The level of seasonality of operations and future expansion and production programmes ensuring that the recruitment numbers come form a well-planned Human Resource Plan is critical to ensure that there is no over-hiring or under-hiring of the required talent to achieve the organizational objectives. 6. Cultural, economic and legal factors these too affect the recruiting and selection methods that are used. Q4. Explain the general procedures followed in the case of a disciplinary action. Ans:- Different organizations use a variety of formal and informal methods to resolve these matters. The following steps are recommended a) An accurate statement of the disciplinary problem. b) Collection of data or facts supporting the report of the offence. c) Review policy and past similar incidents.

d) Identify corrective action to implement; take legal counsel to ensure that the local laws of the land are not in conflict e) Apply the action f) Follow-up on the disciplinary action. a. Accurate Statement of the Problem: The first step is to ascertain the problem by seeking answers to the following questions: 1. Does this case call for a disciplinary action? 2. What, exactly, is the nature of the violation or offence? 3. Under what-conditions did it occur? 4. Which individual or individuals were involved in it? 5. When, or how often, did the violation occur? In other words, an executive must first find out that a violation has occurred and that is entirely the fault, or at least partially the fault, of one or more subordinates. The next step is to determine and state the nature of the alleged violation of a rule, a regulation, a policy; to determine whether a request or order has been ignored or broken, and assess the seriousness of the specific offence which has been committed. It is also necessary to know exactly who and what was involved in the violation-whether a particular individual or group. Finally, it is desirable to know when and/or how often the violation occurred. b. Collection of data or facts support the report of the offence: Before any action is taken in a case, it is essential to gather all the facts about it. A thorough examination of the case should be made within the stipulated time limit. The facts gathered should be such as can be produced before a higher authority, if and when needed.

c. Review policy and past similar incidents: The kind of penalty to be imposed for an offence should be determined beforehand. Should it be simple reprimand, a financial or non-financial penalty? Or should it be demotion, temporary lay-off or outright discharge? d. Identify corrective action to implement; take legal counsel to ensure that the local laws of the land are not in conflict: When a decision has been taken to impose a penalty, the punishment to be awarded should be such as would prevent a recurrence of the offence. If the punishment is lighter than it should be, it may encourage the violation of the same rule or another; if it is greater than it should be, it may lead to a grievance. e. Apply the action: The application of the penalty involves a positive and assured attitude on the part of the management. "If the disciplinary action is a simple reprimand, the executive should calmly and quickly dispose of the matter. But when severe action is called for, a fortnight, serious and determined attitude is highly desirable. f. Follow-up on Disciplinary Action: The ultimate purpose of a disciplinary action is to maintain discipline, to ensure productivity, and avoid a repetition of the offence. A disciplinary action should, therefore, be evaluated in terms of its effectiveness after it has been taken. In other words, there should be a more careful supervision of the persons against whom a disciplinary action has been taken. Q5. Trace out the growth of Human Resource Management in India. Ans:- HRM in India The HRM practices in Indian organizations are a parody of sorts. There is a strong foundation that is a simple extension of the HR practices from the established western organizations and the developed countries. However there is a equally strong cultural impact on the hiring practices, compensation standards, benefits and statutory benefits, performance linked rewards and payout, which though in-step with international HRM practices have a flavour their own. We will discuss a few distinct differentiators that impact HRM practices in Indian organizations:

The Indian culture is one that is deeply rooted in its societal and collectivistic values whereby there is a natural urge to collaborate at the workplace, work in teams and groups with ease.

The diversity that is seen in the Indian society w.r.t. diverse religions and states are reflected in the ability of the Indian to accept diversity of views and thought without inhibitions. Not much effort needs to be expended to practice tolerance towards others points of view.

The tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty however is low in the Indian which requires a lot more detailing of jobs and roles and responsibilities. There is need therefore to establish definite boundaries of authority and responsibility.

Work culture-wise, the natural ability to work hard and long hours, perseverance and the need to earn money impact the way the work is organised in Indian organizations. It is not uncommon for the Indian to compromise personal time with family / friends to instead attend to work and satisfy a customer. There is a overwhelming sense of service that manifests itself at the workplace.

Availability of a large educated group of individuals of different calibre of knowledge and skill allows the country to undertake different nature of work beginning with lower skilled activities such as BPOs(Business Process Outsourcing) and moving up the value curve to far more advanced activities .KPOs (Knowledge Process Outsourcing).

Compensation and benefits costs continue to provide a competitive advantage for India making it a preferred business location the world over. There is a natural expressed need to belong. This again is typical of the Indian and has brought about a significant amount of customisation of the workplace and its norms to allow for cultural events and activities through the year. There is a lot more scope for socialising that exists in the Indian organizations.

Current trend in the over populated urban part of the country are quickly fading out to tire 2 and tire 3 cities and town where the cost of living and wage levels are not as competitive, further expanding the Indian resource base for hiring and building talent, contributing to the overall gain of the country.

HRM in India however is not structurally well-researched and hence a lack of theoretical information to track and document its progress. Unlike in the emerged countries like the USA and the UK where the research networks are mature and well established. Research is yet at its infancy in India and there is a lot of dependence on the emerged countries in emulating best practices in the way people are hired and managed. Today the organizations of Indian origin have their unique HR strategies that work best for them. Work more and earn more is a common and accepted philosophy at the Indian workplace. Work is respected and revered and almost worshipped in Indian organizations. Benefits are basic yet equitable and adequate. There is a high focus on cash in hand as opposed to benefits and perks. Our statutory and legal frameworks, as a result, are a lot more liberal and less restrictive as compared to the emerged countries. An open society drives openness at the workplace and hypocrisy is largely discouraged, leading to well structured policies and processes that drive workplace behaviour. Diversity for India is a challenge very different from its existence in the rest of the world. Diversity initiatives in India normally focus around challenges related to gender diversity. Its only in the past few years that there is a pattern of women in the Indian corporate. Today this is a key issue. There is a lot of strategising and initiatives in all Indian MNCs as well as Indian domestic firms toward wooing this critical potential talent for organizational advantage. Q6. Assume yourself as an HR Manager of a publishing house. You find that the morale of the employees is generally low. What steps would you take to improve employee morale? Ans:- There are a number of measures which can be used to control the warning signals of low morale. The following are the positive measures to be taken to bring job satisfaction to the employees and reconcile individual interests with the interests of the organization. 1. Creation of whole jobs Under this method, complete jobs are assigned to the employees. The complexity of a job should be increased so that it may appeal to their higher needs. 2. Job enrichment Job enrichment tries to deal with dissatisfaction by increasing job depth. Under this, individual employees may be given responsibility for setting their own work pace, for concerning their own errors, and/or for deciding on the best way to perform a particular task

3. Building responsibility into a job Employees should be encouraged to participate and if possible be held responsible for taking decisions. Some delegation of responsibility from the manager tot he employee could be useful in improving employee ownership 4. Managerial effectiveness - This can be achieved by: i) Developing work groups; ii) Improving the social contacts of the employees- time away from work in team building and fun activities; iii) Managerial coaching discussed above iv) Employee stress management activities 5. Flexing working hours Flex time / work from home provisions allow employees to arrange their work hours to suit their personal needs and life-styles. This is particularly suited to situations with fluctuating workloads. Flex time employees are responsible for co-ordinating their functions with other employees and thereby have more responsibility and autonomy. 6. Rotation of jobs This reduces employees boredom which arises out of the monotonous nature of his work. 7. Incentive and Profit-sharing plans- Morale can be improved by effective incentive and profit-sharing schemes. Incentive schemes are effective in improving workplace morale. They need to carefully designed (preferably by experts) well communicated and implemented to be effective. In addition to its economic aspects, profit-sharing has also psychological aspects relating to friendly move by the management in providing the employees an opportunity to participate in the profits. Morale can also be improved by adapting several other measures such as employee contest, special recognition and awards to long service employees and training the managers in how to manage people.