Introduction to Human Resource Management

INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Human Resource Management and Human Resource Development

Definition:

HRM is the process of managing people in organizations in a structured and thorough manner. This covers the fields of staffing (hiring people), retention of people, pay and perks setting and management, performance management, change management and taking care of exits from the company to round off the activities. This is the traditional definition of HRM which leads some experts to define it as a modern version of the Personnel Management function that was used earlier.We have chosen the term art and science as HRM is both the art of managing people by recourse to creative and innovative approaches; it is a science as well because of the precision and rigorous application of theory that is required.Human Resource Development (HRD) means to develop available manpower through suitable methods such as training, promotions, transfers and opportunities for career development. HRD programs create a team of well-trained, efficient and capable managers and subordinates. Such team constitutes an important asset of an enterprise. One organisation is different from another mainly because of the people (employees) working there in. According to Peter F. Drucker, "The prosperity, if not the survival of any business depends on the performance of its managers of tomorrow." The human resource should be nurtured and used for the benefit of the organisation.Uses of Human Resource Management in an organization:Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that focuses on recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the people who work in the organization. It can also be performed by line managers.Human Resource Management is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training.HRM is also a strategic and comprehensive approach to managing people and the workplace culture and environment. Effective HRM enables employees to contribute effectively and productively to the overall company direction and the accomplishment of the organization's goals and objectives.Human Resource Management is moving away from traditional personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are increasingly outsourced. HRM is now expected to add value to the strategic utilization of employees and that employee programs impact the business in measurable ways. The new role of HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements to demonstrate value.The Human Resource Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is responsibility for human resources -- for deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry out these activities themselves because they can't yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees have -- and are aware of -- personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have.HRM is widening with every passing day. It covers but is not limited to HR planning, hiring (recruitment and selection), training and development, payroll management, rewards and recognitions, Industrial relations, grievance handling, legal procedures etc. In other words, we can say that its about developing and managing harmonious relationships at workplace and striking a balance between organizational goals and individual goals.

Advantages / Importance of HR:Meeting manpower needs: Every Organisation needs adequate and properly qualified staff for the conduct of regular business activities. Imaginative HRP is needed in order to meet the growing and changing human resource needs of an organisation.Replacement of manpower: The existing manpower in an Organisation is affected due to various reasons such as retirement and removal of employees and labour turnover. HRP is needed to estimate the shortfall in the manpower requirement and also for making suitable arrangements for the recruitment and appointment of new staff.Meeting growing manpower needs: The expansion or modernisation programme may be undertaken by the enterprise. Manpower planning is needed in order to forecast and meet additional manpower requirement due to expansion and growth needs through recruitment and suitable training programs.Meeting challenges of technological environment: HRP is helpful in effective use of technological progress. To meet the challenge of new technology existing employees need to be retrained and new employees may be recruited.Coping with change: HRP enables an enterprise to cope with changes in competitive forces, markets, products, and technology and government regulations. Such changes generate changes in job content, skill, number and type of personals.Increasing investment in HR: An employee who picks up skills and abilities becomes a valuable resource because an organisation makes investments in its manpower either through direct training or job assignments.Adjusting manpower requirements: A situation may develop in; an organisation when there will be surplus staff in one department and shortage of staff in some other department. Transfers and promotions are made for meeting such situations.Recruitment and selection of employees: HRP suggests the type of manpower required in an organisation with necessary details. This facilitates recruitment and selection of suitable personnel for jobs in the Organisation. Introduction of appropriate selection tests and procedures is also possible as per the manpower requirements.Placement of manpower: HRP is needed as it facilitates placement of newly selected persons in different departments as per the qualifications and also as per the need of different departments. Surplus or shortage of manpower is avoided and this ensures optimum utilization of available manpower.Training of manpower: HRP is helpful in selection and training activities. It ensures that adequate numbers of persons are trained to fill up the future vacancies in the Organisation.

HR TOPICS - FUNCTIONS

Recruitment and Selection Process

Complete Recruitment life cycleLevels of CompaniesTechnologies and DomineerPortal ExplanationExplanation of Job Description and Analyzing of RequirementSourcing of Profiles from PortalsScreening of profiles as per the requirementCalling the CandidatesFormatting of profiles and Trackers PreparationMaintenance of DatabaseTraining and DevelopmentConcept of Training and DevelopmentTraining Needs Identification ProcessDesigning Annual Training PlansTraining ExecutionDesigning Employee Development InitiativesDesigning Supervisory Development ProgramsDesigning Management Development ProgramsWhat is Training ROI and how to CalculateIntroduction to Best Trainer Skills, Knowledge and AbilitiesInduction and OrientationHow to Design Induction Programs and ExecutionHow to Design on the Job Training Programs and MonitoringHow to evaluate effectiveness of Induction and on the Job Training ProgramsProbation Confirmation and HR RoleTeam Management SkillsUnderstanding What is a TeamUnderstanding Team Development StagesWhat is your Team Membership OrientationHow to improve your effectiveness as Team MemberWhat is Team LeadershipUnderstanding my Orientation

Human Resource (or personnel) management, in the sense of getting things done through people, is an essential part of every managers responsibility, but many organizations find it advantageous to establish a specialist division to provide an expert service dedicated to ensuring that the human resource function is performed efficiently.

People are our most valuable asset is a clich, which no member of any senior management team would disagree with. Yet, the reality for many organizations are that their people remain under valued, under trained and under utilized.

The market place for talented, skilled people is competitive and expensive. Taking on new staff can be disruptive to existing employees. Also, it takes time to develop cultural awareness, product / process / organization knowledge and experience for new staff members.

FUNCTIONS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Following are the various functions of Human Resource Management that are essential for the effective functioning of the organization:

1. Recruitment

2. Selection

3. Induction

4. Performance Appraisal

5. Training & Development

Recruitment

The process of recruitment begins after manpower requirements are determined in terms of quality through job analysis and quantity through forecasting and planning.

Selection

The selection is the process of ascertaining whether or not candidates possess the requisite qualifications, training and experience required.

Induction

a) Induction is the technique by which a new employee is rehabilitated into the changed surroundings and introduced to the practices, policies and purposes of the organization.

WHAT IS PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL?

Performance Appraisal is defined as the process of assessing the performance and progress of an employee or a group of employees on a given job and his / their potential for future development. It consists of all formal procedures used in working organizations and potential of employees. According to Flippo, Performance Appraisal is the systematic, periodic and an important rating of an employees excellence in matters pertaining to his present job and his potential for a better job.

CHARACTERISTICS

1. Performance Appraisal is a process.

2. It is the systematic examination of the strengths and weakness of an employee in terms of his job.

3. It is scientific and objective study. Formal procedures are used in the study.

4. It is an ongoing and continuous process wherein the evaluations are arranged periodically according to a definite plan.

5. The main purpose of Performance Appraisal is to secure information necessary for making objective and correct decision an employee.

PROCESS

The process of performance appraisal:

1. Establishing performance standards

2. Communicating the Standards

3. Measuring Performance

4. Comparing the actual with the standards

5. Discussing the appraisal

6.Taking Corrective Action

LIMITATIONS

1. Errors in Rating

2. Lack of reliability

3. Negative approach

4. Multiple objectives

5. Lack of knowledge

Purposes of performance appraisalAppraisal of the performance of the employees is carried out for two major purposes, namely, administrative purpose and self improvement and self development of employees and is shown in Fig. 3.1.

Promotion and placement of employees

One of the major administrative purposes of performance appraisal is to promote the employees taking into account of their competence and performance over certain period of service. Quality and quantum of work performed serves as the basis for promotion in cases when promotions are giving by merits. Appraisal system identifies whether the employee can be assigned higher positions in the organization. The promotion on the basis of appraisal is in the interest of both the management an employee. Performance appraisal is useful for posting the right candidate within the organization. The performance appraisal is not useful for the initial placement but is useful for the subsequent placements.

Transfers and demotionsIn organization, certain personnel actions, namely, transfer, demotions, disciplinary actions and discharges are required to be taken by the management. Such actions need to be taken in a fair and impartial manner. The performance appraisal reports can be used for taking final decisions on such activities. The suitable employee can be identified for new assignments or deputation by evaluating the performance appraisal.

Wages and salary paymentWage or salary payment is normally linked with performance appraisal. Wage increase is based on the performance appraisal reports. Better performance in the managerial level is normally rewarded by additional salary payment. For judging the performance of executives, periodical appraisal is essential. It is also useful for allocating rewards to deserving employees.

Training and manpower developmentPerformance appraisal is useful for validating the selection for specialized training and development programmes. Appraisal helps to identify the skills and competences and also the weakness in the employee. The appraisal enables management to identify the areas of training programme to be organized in future. The need for executive training for managers in the new placements is organized after evaluation of performance appraisal. The appraisal helps to identify requirement of in-house or institutional training. Performance appraisal is a useful tool of evaluating training and development needs of the organization.

Personnel researchPerformance appraisal serves as a feedback to management in the area of personnel research. The human capital in the organization can be measured and forecasted based on the appraisal. The manpower replacement procedure can be initiated for the retiring personnel in the organization. The appraisal is one of the components used for the manpower demand forecast. The valuable information in the appraisal can be used to measure motivation and satisfaction in employees.

Favorable impact on employeesThe performance appraisal creates a favourable impact on employees. The appraisal is a tool for identifying talented persons, promotions, training and salary fixation. The employees will be motivated to score high in the appraisal system for receiving incentives or better placement. The, appraisal will help to take a meaningful decision in transfer and promotions. In brief, performance appraisal gives favourable impact on employees. Performance appraisal improves the morale and offers opportunities of career development.

Miscellaneous administrative purposes of appraisalThe miscellaneous administrative purposes are (i) to confirm the service probationary of the employees after the completion of probationary period successfully, (ii) to improve communication and cooperation between superior and subordinates and (iii) to determine whether HR programmes, namely, selection, training and transfers are effective or not.

Self improvement of employeesIn addition to administrative purpose, performance appraisal facilitates self improvement and development of employee. Appraisal suggests the weakness and shortcomings of the employee. It serves as feed back to the employee. Appraisal is followed by discussion between the rater and employee in a spirit of cooperation and mutual understanding. Counseling of employees for improving their performance is conducted by post appraisal interviews. Performance appraisal is important and useful for the organization to achieve long term goals. Performance appraisal helps to improve, grow and develop for higher positions in the organization.Approaches of Performance appraisalThere are two approaches in performance appraisal, namely, informal approach and systematic approach. Informal approach is conducted whenever the supervisor feels it is necessary. The day-to-day working relationship between a manager and employee offers an opportunity for the judgment of employee performance. The judgment of informal approach is communicated on job or on coffee time conversation. Frequent internal feedback to employees can avoid surprises when the formal evaluation is communicated.Systematic appraisal is used when the contact between the manager and the employee is formal and system is in place to report managerial impressions and observations on employee performance. Its aim is to support administrative and developmental decisions.Timing of appraisalA regular time interval is a feature of systematic appraisals that distinguishes them from informal appraisals. The appraisals are conducted once or twice in an year. The companies in high technology or software field conduct appraisal in every six months so that the employees are promoted more frequently. This results in reduction in turnover of employees. In Apollo, the appraisal is conducted in every year.Objectives of performance appraisalTo review the performance of the employees over a period of timeTo judge the gap between actual and desired performanceTo help the management in exercising organizational control.Helps to strengthen the relationship and communication between superior and subordinatesTo diagnose the strengths and weakness of the individuals so as to identify the training and development needs in the futureTo provide feedback to the employees regarding their past performanceProvide information to assist in the other personal decisions in the orgnaisation.Provide information to assist in other personal decisions in the organizations.To provide clarity of expectations and responsibilities of the functions to be performed by employeesTo judge the effectiveness of the human resource functions, namely, recruitment, selection, training and development.To reduce the grievances of the employeesTo calibrate, refine and reward the performance of the employee.To focus the progress in performance of employees.

Performance Appraisal for different workgroupsWorkforce alignment empowers managers and employees by creating ownership and commitment in the organisation's success by aligning goals and development to overall strategy and objectives. Furthermore, organisations taking a competence-based Performance Appraisal approach achieve better business results, get more engaged employees and increased retention.

Performance Appraisal permits to build, streamline, and deliver strategic initiatives across recruiting, on-boarding, performance appraisals, competence assessments, learning and development, succession planning and more.Goal alignment & Performance AppraisalFeedback and recognitionDevelopment planningReports and AnalyticsFlexible forms

Goal management functionality shows each employee how their individual performance goals align and support the organisation's strategy. By setting SMART goals (Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Timely) and activities to achieve these, managers and employees get a practical and concrete tool to ensure they are on the right course.Performance Appraisal simplifies and streamlines the entire employee performance evaluation and can be used standalone or integrated with any of the other modules to deliver a complete cloud-based, performance driven human capital management solution.

HR professionals: Get the most convenient and cost-effective way to conduct performance evaluations, align and track goals, track employee profiles, develop critical competence and more. Now, HR can play a strategic role in helping the organisation build a world-class workforce that is aligned and delivering on the business strategy.

Management: Get a single system that keeps the organisation aligned. They can see how employee goals are aligned with those of the organisation, know where performance gaps exist and how they're being addressed, and ensure the organisation has the skills it needs to succeed.

Managers: Get a convenient and powerful tool for aligning and tracking goals, managing employee performance, providing meaningful feedback and coaching, and supporting employee development.

Employees: Get their own personalized page where they can access their appraisals, goals, development plans and more, in just a few clicks. Employees feel more connected and engaged because they know what's expected of them and can see how they're helping the organisation succeed.

METHODS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

The foregoing list of major program pitfalls represents a formidable challenge, even considering the available battery of appraisal techniques. But attempting to avoid these pitfalls by doing away with appraisals themselves is like trying to solve the problems of life by committing suicide. The more logical task is to identify those appraisal practices that are (a) most likely to achieve a particular objective and (b) least vulnerable to the obstacles already discussed.

Before relating the specific techniques to the goals of performance appraisal stated at the outset of the article, I shall briefly review each, taking them more or less in an order of increasing complexity.

The best-known techniques will be treated most briefly.

Essay appraisal

In its simplest form, this technique asks the rater to write a paragraph or more covering an individual's strengths, weaknesses, potential, and so on. In most selection situations, particularly those involving professional, sales, or managerial positions, essay appraisals from former employers, teachers, or associates carry significant weight.

.

GRAPHIC RATING SCALEThis technique may not yield the depth of an essay appraisal, but it is more consistent and reliable. Typically, a graphic scale assesses a person on the quality and quantity of his work (is he outstanding, above average, average, or unsatisfactory?) and on a variety of other factors that vary with the job but usually include personal traits like reliability and cooperation. It may also include specific performance items like oral and written communication.

FIELD REVIEWThe field review is one of several techniques for doing this. A member of the personnel or central administrative staff meets with small groups of raters from each supervisory unit and goes over each employee's rating with them to (a) identify areas of inter-rater disagreement, (b) help the group arrive at a consensus, and (c) determine that each rater conceives the standards similarly. .

FORCED-CHOICE RATINGLike the field review, this technique was developed to reduce bias and establish objective standards of comparison between individuals, but it does not involve the intervention of a third party.

MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVESTo avoid, or to deal with, the feeling that they are being judged by unfairly high standards, employees in some organizations are being asked to set - or help set - their own performance goals. Within the past five or six years, MBO has become something of a fad and is so familiar to most managers that I will not dwell on it here.

RANKING METHODSFor comparative purposes, particularly when it is necessary to compare people who work for different supervisors, individual statements, ratings, or appraisal forms are not particularly useful. Instead, it is necessary to recognize that comparisons involve an overall subjective judgment to which a host of additional facts and impressions must somehow be added. There is no single form or way to do this.

The best approach appears to be a ranking technique involving pooled judgment.

The two most effective methods are alternation ranking and paired comparison ranking.

1. Alternation ranking:

Ranking of employees from best to worst on a trait or traits is another method for evaluating employees. Since it is usually easier to distinguish between the worst and the best employees than to rank them, an alternation ranking method is most popular. Here subordinates to be rated are listed and the names of those not well enough to rank are crossed. Then on a form as shown below, the employee who is highest on the characteristic being measured and the one who is the lowest are indicated. Then chose the next highest and the next lowest, alternating between highest and lowest until all the employees to be rated have been ranked.

2. Paired-comparison ranking:

This technique is probably just as accurate as alternation ranking and might be more so. But with large numbers of employees it becomes extremely time consuming and cumbersome.

Both ranking techniques, particularly when combined with multiple rankings (i.e., when two or more people are asked to make independent rankings of the same work group and their lists are averaged), are among the best available for generating valid order-of-merit rankings for salary administration purposes.

ASSESSMENT CENTERSSo far, we have been talking about assessing past performance. What about the assessment of future performance or potential? In any placement decision and even more so in promotion decisions, some prediction of future performance is necessary. How can this kind of prediction be made most validly and most fairly?

360 DEGREE FEEDBACK

Many firms have expanded the idea of upward feedback into what the call 360-degree feedback. The feedback is generally used for training and development, rather than for pay increases.

Most 360 Degree Feedback system contains several common features. Appropriate parties peers, supervisors, subordinates and customers, for instance complete survey, questionnaires on an individual. 360 degree feedback is also known as the multi-rater feedback, whereby ratings are not given just by the next manager up in the organizational hierarchy, but also by peers and subordinates. Appropriates customer ratings are also included, along with the element of self appraisal. Once gathered in, the assessment from the various quarters are compared with one another and the results communicated to the manager concerned.

Another technique that is useful for coaching purposes is, of course, MBO. Like the critical incident method, it focuses on actual behavior and actual results, which can be discussed objectively and constructively, with little or no need for a supervisor to "play God."

Advantages

Instead of assuming traits, the MBO method concentrates on actual outcomes. If the employee meets or exceeds the set objectives, then he or she has demonstrated an acceptable level of job performance. Employees are judged according to real outcomes, and not on their potential for success, or on someone's subjective opinion of their abilities.

The guiding principle of the MBO approach is that direct results can be observed easily. The MBO method recognizes the fact that it is difficult to neatly dissect all the complex and varied elements that go to make up employee performance.

MBO advocates claim that the performance of employees cannot be broken up into so many constituent parts, but to put all the parts together and the performance may be directly observed and measured.Disadvantages

This approach can lead to unrealistic expectations about what can and cannot be reasonably accomplished. Supervisors and subordinates must have very good "reality checking" skills to use MBO appraisal methods. They will need these skills during the initial stage of objective setting, and for the purposes of self-auditing and self-monitoring.

Variable objectives may cause employee confusion. It is also possible that fluid objectives may be distorted to disguise or justify failures in performance.

Benefits of Performance Appraisals

Measures an employees performance.Helps in clarifying, defining, redefining priorities and objectives.Motivates the employee through achievement and feedback.Facilitates assessment and agreement of training needs.Helps in identification of personal strengths and weaknesses.Plays an important role in Personal career and succession planning.Clarifies team roles and facilitates team building.Plays major role in organizational training needs assessment and analysis.Improves understanding and relationship between the employee and the reporting manager and also helps in resolving confusions and misunderstandings.Plays an important tool for communicating the organizations philosophies, values, aims, strategies, priorities, etc among its employees.Helps in counseling and feedback.Rating Errors in Performance Appraisals

Performance appraisals are subject to a wide variety of inaccuracies and biases referred to as 'rating errors'. These errors can seriously affect assessment results. Some of the most common rating errors are: -

Leniency or severity: - Leniency or severity on the part of the rater makes the assessment subjective. Subjective assessment defeats the very purpose of performance appraisal. Ratings are lenient for the following reasons:

a) The rater may feel that anyone under his or her jurisdiction who is rated unfavorably will reflect poorly on his or her own worthiness.

b) He/She may feel that a derogatory rating will be revealed to the rate to detriment the relations between the rater and the ratee.

c) He/She may rate leniently in order to win promotions for the subordinates and therefore, indirectly increase his/her hold over him.

Central tendency: - This occurs when employees are incorrectly rated near the average or middle of the scale. The attitude of the rater is to play safe. This safe playing attitude stems from certain doubts and anxieties, which the raters have been assessing the rates.

Halo error: - A halo error takes place when one aspect of an individual's performance influences the evaluation of the entire performance of the individual. The halo error occurs when an employee who works late constantly might be rated high on productivity and quality of output as well ax on motivation. Similarly, an attractive or popular personality might be given a high overall rating. Rating employees separately on each of the performance measures and encouraging raters to guard against the halo effect are the two ways to reduce the halo effect.

Rater effect: -This includes favoritism, stereotyping, and hostility. Extensively high or low score are given only to certain individuals or groups based on the rater's attitude towards them and not on actual outcomes or behaviors; sex, age, race and friendship biases are examples of this type of error.

Primacy and Regency effects: - The rater's rating is heavily influenced either by behavior exhibited by the ratee during his early stage of the review period (primacy) or by the outcomes, or behavior exhibited by the ratee near the end of the review period (regency). For example, if a salesperson captures an important contract/sale just before the completion of the appraisal, the timing of the incident may inflate his or her standing, even though the overall performance of the sales person may not have been encouraging. One way of guarding against such an error is to ask the rater to consider the composite performance of the rate and not to be influenced by one incident or an achievement.

Performance dimension order: - Two or more dimensions on a performance instrument follow each other and both describe or rotate to a similar quality. The rater rates the first dimensions accurately and then rates the second dimension to the first because of the proximity. If the dimensions had been arranged in a significantly different order, the ratings might have been different.

Spillover effect: - This refers lo allowing past performance appraisal rating lo unjustifiably influence current ratings. Past ratings, good or bad, result in similar rating for current period although the demonstrated behavior docs not deserve the rating, good or bad.

ROLES IN THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL PROCESS

a) Reporting Manager

Provide feedback to the reviewer / HOD on the employees behavioral traits indicated in the PMS Policy Manual

Ensures that employee is aware of the normalization / performance appraisal process

Address employee concerns / queries on performance rating, in consultation with the reviewer

b) Reviewer (Reporting Managers Reporting Manager)

Discuss with the reporting managers on the behavioral traits of all the employees for whom he / she is the reviewer

Where required, independently assess employees for the said behavioral traits; such assessments might require collecting data directly from other relevant employees

c) HOD (In some cases, a reviewer may not be a HOD)

Presents the proposed Performance Rating for every employee of his / her function to the Normalization committee.

HOD also plays the role of a normalization committee member

Owns the performance rating of every employee in the department

d) HR Head

Secretary to the normalization committee

Assists HODs / Reporting Managers in communicating the performance rating of all the employees

e) Normalization Committee

Decides on the final bell curve for each function in the respective Business Unit / Circle

Reviews the performance ratings proposed by the HODs, specifically on the upward / downward shift in ratings, to ensure an unbiased relative ranking of employees on overall performance, and thus finalize the performance rating of each employee

PERFORMANCE RATING PROCESS

EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTOR (EC)

Performs consistently and substantially above expectations in all areas

Achieves a final score greater than or equal to 115%

Consistently delivers on stretch targets

Is proactive

Spots and anticipates problems, implements solutions

Sees and exploits opportunities

Delivers ahead of time

Sees the wider picture-impacts across business

Focuses on whats good for the business

Seen as role model by others

Recognized as exceptional by other functions as well

Motivates others to solve problems

Develops others

Provides open and honest feedback

Able to establish and lead cross-functional teams

SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTOR (SC)

Performs above expectations in all areas

Achieves final score between 100-114%

Versatile in his/ her area of operation

Develops creative solutions and require little / minimal supervision

Sets examples for others

Take ownership of own development

Coaches others

Demonstrates business initiative

Is self motivated

Supportive team player

Leads own team very effectively

Demonstrate functional initiative

RECRUITMENT

According to Edwin Flippo, "Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the Organisation."Recruitment is a continuous process whereby the firm attempts to develop a pool of qualified applicants for the future human resources needs even though specific vacancies do not exist. Usually, the recruitment process starts when a manger initiates an employee requisition for a specific vacancy or an anticipated vacancy.It is the process to discover sources of manpower to meet the requirement of staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient working force.Recruitment of candidates is the function preceding the selection, which helps create a pool of prospective employees for the organisation so that the management can select the right candidate for the right job from this pool. The main objective of the recruitment process is to expedite the selection process.Recruitment is almost central to any management process and failure in recruitment can create difficulties for any company including an adverse effect on its profitability and inappropriate levels of staffing or skills. Inadequate recruitment can lead to labor shortages, or problems in management decision making and the recruitment process could itself be improved by following management theories. The recruitment process could be improved in sophistication with Rodgers seven point plan, Munro-Frasers five-fold grading system, psychological tests, personal interviews, etc. Recommendations for specific and differentiated selection systems for different professions and specializations have been given. A new national selection system for psychiatrists, anesthetists and dental surgeons has been proposed within the UK health sector

Need for RecruitmentThe need for recruitment may be due to the following reasons / situationsVacancies: due to promotions, transfers, retirement, termination, permanent disability, death and labour turnover.Creation of new vacancies: due to growth, expansion and diversification of business activities of an enterprise.In addition, new vacancies are possible due to job respecification.The recruitment and selection is the major function of the human resource department and recruitment process is the first step towards creating the competitive strength and the strategic advantage for the organisations. Recruitment process involves a systematic procedure from sourcing the candidates to arranging and conducting the interviews and requires many resources and time. A general recruitment process is as follows:Identifying the vacancy:The recruitment process begins with the human resource department receiving requisitions for recruitment from any department of the company. These contain: Posts to be filled Number of persons Duties to be performed Qualifications required

Preparing the job description and person specification.Locating and developing the sources of required number and type of employees (Advertising etc).Short-listing and identifying the prospective employee with required characteristics.Arranging the interviews with the selected candidates.Conducting the interview and decision making

The HR Role in Recruitment changed and HRM:Decides about the design of the recruitment processes and to decide about the split of roles and responsibilities between Human Resources and Hiring ManagerDecides about the right profile of the candidateDecides about the sources of candidatesDecides about the measures to be monitored to measure the success of the processA traditional role of HR in Recruitment was an administrative part of the whole process. The HRM was responsible for maintaining the vacancies advertised and monitored, but the real impact of HRM to the performance of the whole recruitment process was minimal.But as the role of Human Resources in the business was increasing, the HR Strategy was changed. From making the process working to the real management of HR Processes and the Recruitment Process was the first to manage.The role of HR in Recruitment is very important as HRM is the function to work on the development of the recruitment process and to make the process very competitive on the market. As the job market gets more and more competitive, the clearly defined HR Role in Recruitment will be growing quickly. HRM is not a function to conduct all the interviews today, the main role of Human Resources is to make the recruitment process more attractive and competitive on the job market.

Scope of HR Recruitment:HR jobs are one of most important tasks in any company or organization.To structure the Recruitment policy of company for different categories of employees.To analyses the recruitment policy of the organization.To compare the Recruitment policy with general policy.To provide a systematic recruitment process.It extends to the whole Organization. It covers corporate office, sites and works appointments all over India.It covers workers, Clerical Staff, Officers, Jr. Management, Middle Management and Senior Management cadres.A recruitment agency provides you with career counseling which renders a crystal clear picture of what are the possible career options out there for you and which job option suits you the best.Objective of HRTo obtain the number and quality of employees that can be selected in order to help the organization to achieve its goals and objectives.Recruitment helps to create a pool of prospective employees for the organization so that the management can select the right candidate for the right job from this pool.Recruitment acts as a link between the employers and the job seekers and ensures the placement of right candidate at the right place at the right time.Recruitment serves as the first step in fulfilling the needs of organizations for a competitive, motivated and flexible human resource that can help achieve its objectives.The recruitment process exists as the organization hire new people, who are aligned with the expectations and they can fit into the organization quickly.Advantage of Outsourcing Recruitment/Hiring of ConsultancyTraditionally, recruitment is seen as the cost incurring process in an organization. HR outsourcing helps the HR professionals of the organisations to concentrate on the strategic functions and processes of human resource management rather than wasting their efforts, time and money on the routine work.Outsourcing the recruitment process helps to cut the recruitment costs to 20 % and also provide economies of scale to the large sized organizations.The major advantages of outsourcing performance management are:

The advantages accruing to the corporate are:Turning the management's focus to strategic level processes of HRMAccessibility to the expertise of the service providersFreedom from red tape and adhering to strict rules and regulationsOptimal resource utilisationStructured and fair performance management.A satisfied and, hence, highly productive employeesValue creation, operational flexibility and competitive advantageTherefore outsourcing helps both the organisations and the consultancies to grow and perform better.

Changing Role of Recruitment Intermediaries:Recruitment consultancies, agencies or intermediaries are witnessing a boom in the demand of their services, both by the employers and the job seekers. With an already saturated job market, the recruitment intermediaries have gained a vital position acting as a link between the job seekers and the employers.But at the same time, one of the major threats faced by this industry is the growing popularity of e-recruitment. With the changing demand, technologies and the penetration and increasing use of internet, the recruitment consultancies or the intermediaries are facing tough competition. To retain and maintain their position in the recruitment market, the recruitment intermediaries or consultants (as they are commonly known) are witnessing and incorporating various changes in terms of their role, functions and the services.According to a survey amongst top employers, most of them agree with the growing influence of technology and the Internet on the recruitment processes. 70 per cent of employers reported the use of application portal on their companys official website. Apart from that, the emerging popularity of the job portals is also growing.But the fact that the intermediaries or the consultants are able to provide their expert services, economies of scale, up to 40 percent savings in the recruitment costs, knowledge of the market, the candidates, understanding of the requirements, and most importantly, the assess to the suitable and talented candidates and the structured recruitment processes. The recruitment intermediaries save the organisations from the tedious of weeding out unsuitable resumes, co-coordinating interviews, posting vacancies etc. give them an edge over the other sources of recruitment.To retain their position as the service providers in the recruitment market, the recruitment intermediaries are providing vale added services to the organisations. They are incorporating the use of internet and job portals, making their services more efficient.Despite of the growing use of the internet, the recruitment intermediaries are predicted to continue dominating the recruitment market in the anticipated future.

Recruitment Management SystemRecruitment management system is the comprehensive tool to manage the entire recruitment processes of an organisation. It is one of the technological tools facilitated by the information management systems to the HR of organisations. Just like performance management, payroll and other systems, Recruitment management system helps to contour the recruitment processes and effectively managing the ROI on recruitment.The features, functions and major benefits of the recruitment management system are 4explained below:Structure and systematically organize the entire recruitment processes.Recruitment management system facilitates faster, unbiased, accurate and reliable processing of applications from various applications.Helps to reduce the time-per-hire and cost-per-hire.Recruitment management system helps to incorporate and integrate the various links like the application system on the official website of the company, the unsolicited applications, outsourcing recruitment, the final decision making to the main recruitment process.Recruitment management system maintains an automated active database of the applicants facilitating the talent management and increasing the efficiency of the recruitment processes.Recruitment management system provides and a flexible, automated and interactive interface between the online application system, the recruitment department of the company and the job seeker.Offers tolls and support to enhance productivity, solutions and optimizing the recruitment processes to ensure improved ROI.Recruitment management system helps to communicate and create healthy relationships with the candidates through the entire recruitment process.The Recruitment Management System (RMS) is an innovative information system tool which helps to sane the time and costs of the recruiters and improving the recruitment processes.

HR Challenges in RecruitmentRecruitment is a function that requires business perspective, expertise, ability to find and match the best potential candidate for the organisation, diplomacy, marketing skills (as to sell the position to the candidate) and wisdom to align the recruitment processes for the benefit of the organisation. The HR professionals handling the recruitment function of the organisation- are constantly facing new challenges. The biggest challenge for such professionals is to source or recruit the best people or potential candidate for the organisation.In the last few years, the job market has undergone some fundamental changes in terms of technologies, sources of recruitment, competition in the market etc. In an already saturated job market, where the practices like poaching and raiding are gaining momentum, HR professionals are constantly facing new challenges in one of their most important function- recruitment. They have to faceand conquer various challenges to find the best candidates for their organisations.The major challenges faced by the HR in recruitment are:Adaptability to globalization The HR professionals are expected and required to keep in tune with the changing times, i.e. the changes taking place across the globe. HR should maintain the timeliness of the processLack of motivation Recruitment is considered to be a thankless job. Even if the organisation is achieving results, HR department or professionals are not thanked for recruiting the right employees and performers.Process analysis The immediacy and speed of the recruitment process are the main concerns of the HR in recruitment. The process should be flexible, adaptive and responsive to the immediate requirements. The recruitment process should also be cost effective.Strategic prioritization The emerging new systems are both an opportunity as well as a challenge for the HR professionals. Therefore, reviewing staffing needs and prioritizing the tasks to meet the changes in the market has become a challenge for the recruitment professionals.

Job Satisfaction of Employees - Introduction

Job Satisfaction Theory :

The father of scientific management Taylor's (1911) approach to job satisfaction was based on a most pragmatic & essentially pessimistic philosophy that man is motivation by money alone. That the workers are essentially 'stupid & phlegmatic' & that they would be satisfied with work if they get higher economic benefit from it. But with the passage of time Taylor's solely monetary approach has been changed to a more humanistic approach. It has come a long way from a simple explanation based on money to a more realistic but complex approach to job satisfaction. New dimensions of knowledge are added every day & with increasing understanding of new variables & their inter play, the field of job satisfaction has become difficult to comprehend.

Employees Job Satisfaction Theory

- By Hoppock : The term employees job satisfaction was brought to limelight by Hoppock (1935). He reviewed 32 studies on job satisfaction conducted prior to 1933 & observed that job satisfaction is a combination of psychological, physiological & environmental circumstances that cause a person to say. 'I am satisfied with my job'. Locke defines job satisfaction as a "pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's job or job experiences". To the extent that a person's job fulfils his dominant need & is consistent with his expectations & values, the job will be satisfying.Job Satisfaction - Definition

Job Satisfaction Definition

:One way to define satisfaction may be to say that it is the end state of feeling. The word 'end' emphasises the fact that the feeling is experienced after a task is accomplished or an activity has taken place whether it is highly individualistic effort of writing a book or a collective endeavour of constructing a building. These activities may be minute or large. But in all cases, they satisfy a certain need. The feeling could be positive or negative depending upon whether need is satisfied or not & could be a function of the effort of the individual on one hand & on the other the situational opportunities available to him.This can be better understood by taking example of a foreman in an engineering industry. He has been assigned the task to complete a special order by a certain, deadline. Person may experience positive job satisfaction because he has been chosen to complete the task. It gives him a special status & feeling that he has been trusted and given a special task, he likes such kind of rush job and it may get him extra wages. The same could be the sources of his dissatisfaction if he does not like rush work, has no need for extra wages. Each one of these variables lead to an end state of feeling, called satisfaction.Job Satisfaction of Employees Definition:Sinha (1974) defines employees job satisfaction an 'a reintegration of affect produced by individual's perception of fulfillment of his needs in relation to his work & the situations surrounding it'.Major Theories of Job Satisfaction

There are 3 major theories of job satisfaction.(i) Herzberg's Motivation - Hygiene Theory.(ii) Need Fulfilment Theory.(iii) Social Reference-Group Theory.

Employees Motivation -

Herzberg's Hygiene Theory : Employees Motivation theory was proposed by Herzberg & his assistants in 1969. On the basis of his study of 200 engineers and accountants of the Pittsburgh area in the USA, he established that there are two separate sets of conditions (and not one) which are responsible for the motivation & dissatisfaction of workers. When one set of conditions (called 'motivator') is present in the organisation, workers feel motivated but its absence does not dissatisfy them. Similarly, when another set of conditions (called hygiene factors) is absent in the organisation, the workers feel dissatisfied but its presence does not motivate them. The two sets are unidirectional, that is, their effect can be seen in one direction only.

According to Herzberg following factors acts as motivators: Achievement, Recognition, Advancement, Work itself, Possibility of growth, & Responsibility.Hygiene factors are : Company policy & administration, Technical supervision, Inter-personal relations with supervisors, peers & Subordinates, Salary. Job security, Personal life, Working Conditions, & Status.Herzberg used semi-structured interviews (the method is called critical incident method). In this technique subjects were asked to describe those events on the job which had made them extremely satisfied or dissatisfied. Herzberg found that events which led people to extreme satisfaction were generally characterised by 'motivators' & those which led people to extreme dissatisfaction were generally characterized by a totally different set of factors which were called 'hygiene factors'.Hygiene factors are those factors which remove pain from the environment. Hence, they are also known as job - environment or job - context factors. Motivators are factors which result in psychological growth. They are mostly job - centered. Hence they are also known as job - content factors.The theory postulated that motivators and hygiene factors are independent & absence of one does not mean presence of the other. In pleasant situations motivators appear more frequently than hygiene factors while their predominance is reversed in unpleasant situations.Need Fulfillment Theory :Under the need-fulfillment theory, it is believed that a person is satisfied if he gets what he wants & the more he wants something or the more important it is to him, the more satisfied he is when he gets it & the more dissatisfied he is when he does not get it. Needs may be need for personal achievement, social achievement & for influence.

Career Development Need : Desires for career development, improvement in one's own life standards, better education & prospects for children & desire for improving one's own work performance.

b) Social Achievement Need : A drive for some kind of collective success is relation to some standards of excellence. It is indexed in terms of desires to increase overall productivity, increased national prosperity, better life community & safety for everyone.

c) Need for influence :A desire to influence other people & surroundings environment. In the works situation, it means to have power status & being important as reflected in initiative taking and participation in decision making.

In summary, this theory tell us that job satisfaction is a function of, or is positively related to the degree to which one's personal & social needs are fulfilled in the job situation.

Social References - Group Theory :

It takes into account the point of view & opinions of the group to whom the individual looks for the guidance. Such groups are defined as the 'reference-group' for the individual in that they define the way in which he should look at the world and evaluate various phenomena in the environment (including himself). It would be predicted, according to this theory that if a job meets the interest, desires and requirements of a person's reference group, he will like it & if it does not, he will not like it.A good example of this theory has been given by C.L. Hulin. He measures the effects of community characteristics on job satisfaction of female clerical workers employed in 300 different catalogue order offices. He found that with job conditions held constant job satisfaction was less among persons living in a well-to-do neighborhood than among those whose neighborhood was poor. Hulin, thus provides strong evidence that such frames of reference for evaluation may be provided by one's social groups and general social environment.To sum up, we can say, Job satisfaction is a function of or is positively related to the degree to which the characteristics of the job meet with approved & the desires of the group to which the individual looks for guidance in evaluating the world & defining social reality.

Employees Motivation, Attitude and Job satisfaction Relationship :

Employees Motivation implies the willingness to work or produce. A person may be talented and equipped with all kinds of abilities & skills but may have no will to work. Satisfaction, on the other hand, implies a positive emotional state which may be totally unrelated to productivity. Similarly in the literature the terms job attitude and job satisfaction are used interchangeably. However a closer analysis may reveal that perhaps, they measure two different anchor points. Attitudes are predispositions that make the individual behave in a characteristic way across the situations.They are precursors to behaviour & determine its intensity and direction. Job satisfaction, on the other hand is an end state of feeling which may influence subsequent behaviour. In this respect, job attitude and job satisfaction may have something in common. But if we freeze behaviour, attitude would initiate it which job satisfaction would result from it.

Employees Morale & Job Satisfaction - Relationship :

According to Seashore (1959), Employees Morale is a condition which exists in a context where people are :a) motivated towards high productivity.b) want to remain with organization.c) act effectively in crisis.d) accept necessary changes without resentment or resistance.e) actually promote the interest of the organization andf) are satisfied with their job.According to this description of morale, job satisfaction is an important dimension of morale itself.Morale is a general attitude of the worker and relates to group while job satisfaction is an individual feeling which could be caused by a variety of factors including group. This point has been summarized by Sinha (1974) when he suggests that industrial morale is a collective phenomenon and job satisfaction is a distributed one. In other words, job satisfaction refers to a general attitude towards work by an individual works. On the other hand, morale is group phenomenon which emerges as a result of adherence to group goals and confidence in the desirability of these goals.

Job Satisfaction and Work Behaviour Relationship :

Generally, the level of job satisfaction seems to have some relation with various aspects of work behaviour like absenteeism, adjustments, accidents, productivity and union recognition. Although several studies have shown varying degrees of relationship between them and job satisfaction, it is not quite clear whether these relationships are correlative or casual. In other words, whether work behaviour make him more positively inclined to his job and there would be a lesser probability of getting to an unexpected, incorrect or uncontrolled event in which either his action or the reaction of an object or person may result in personal injury.

Job satisfaction and Productivity :

Experiments have shown that there is very little positive relationship between the job satisfaction & job performance of an individual. This is because the two are caused by quite different factors. Job satisfaction is closely affected by the amount of rewards that an individual derives from his job, while his level of performance is closely affected by the basis for attainment of rewards. An individual is satisfied with his job to the extent that his job provides him with what he desires, and he performs effectively in his job to the extent that effective performance leads to the attainment of what he desires. This means that instead of maximizing satisfaction generally an organisation should be more concerned about maximizing the positive relationship between performance and reward. It should be ensured that the poor performers do not get more rewards than the good performers. Thus, when a better performer gets more rewards he will naturally feel more satisfied.

Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism :

One can find a consistent negative relationship between satisfaction and absenteeism, but the correlation is moderate-usually less than 0.40. While it certainly makes sense that dissatisfied Sales Persons are more likely to miss work, other factors have an impact on the relationship and reduce the correlation coefficient. e.g. Organizations that provide liberal sick leave benefits are encouraging all their Sales Persons, including those who are highly satisfied, to take days off. So, outside factors can act to reduce the correlation.

Job Satisfaction and Turnover :

Job Satisfaction is also negatively related to turnover, but the correlation is stronger than what we found for absenteeism. Yet, again, other factors such as labour market conditions, expectations about alternative job opportunities, and length of tenure with the organization are important constraints on the actual decision to leave one's current job.Evidence indicates that an important moderator of the satisfaction-turnover relationship is the Sales Person's level of performance. Specifically, level of satisfaction is less important in predicting turnover for superior performers because the organization typically makes considerable efforts to keep these people. Just the opposite tends to apply to poor performers. Few attempts are made by the organization to retain them. So one could expect, therefore, that job satisfaction is more important in influencing poor performers to stay than superior performers.

Job Satisfaction and Adjustment :

It the Sales Person is facing problems in general adjustment, it is likely to affect his work life. Although it is difficult to define adjustment, most psychologists and organisational behaviourists have been able to narrow it down to what they call neuroticism and anxiety.Generally deviation from socially expected behaviour has come to be identified as neurotic behaviour. Though it may be easy to identify symptoms of neuroticism, it is very difficult to know what causes. Family tensions, job tensions, social isolation, emotional stress, fear, anxiety or any such sources could be a source of neuroticism.Anxiety, on the other hand, has a little more clearer base. It is generally seen as a mental state of vague fear and apprehension which influences the mode of thinking. Anxiety usually shows itself in such mental state as depression, impulsiveness, excessive worry and nervousness. While everyone aspires for a perfect state of peace and tranquility, the fact is that some anxiety is almost necessary for an individual to be effective because it provides the necessary push for efforts to achieve excellence.Adjustment problems usually show themselves in the level of job satisfaction. For long, both theorists and practitioners have been concerned with Sales Persons' adjustment and have provided vocational guidance and training to them to minimise it's impact on work behaviour. Most literature, in this area, generally suggests a positive relationship between adjustment and job satisfaction. People with lower level of anxiety and low neuroticism have been found to be more satisfied with their jobs.

Determinants of Job Satisfaction :

According to Abrahan A. Korman, there are two types of variables which determine the job satisfaction of an individual. These are :

1) Organisational variables ; and2) Personal Variables.

Organisational Variable :

1) Occupational Level :The higher the level of the job, the greater is the satisfaction of the individual. This is because higher level jobs carry greater prestige and self control.2) Job Content :Greater the variation in job content and the less repetitiveness with which the tasks must be performed, the greater is the satisfaction of the individual involved.3) Considerate Leadership :People like to be treated with consideration. Hence considerate leadership results in higher job satisfaction than inconsiderate leadership.4) Pay and Promotional Opportunities :All other things being equal these two variables are positively related to job satisfaction.5) Interaction in the work group :Here the question is : When is interaction in the work group a source of job satisfaction and when it is not ? Interaction is most satisfying when -(a) It results in the cognition that other person's attitudes are similar to one's own. Since this permits the ready calculability of the others behaviour and constitutes a validation of one's self ;(b) It results in being accepted by others ; and(c) It facilitates the achievements of goals.

Personal Variables :

For some people, it appears most jobs will be dissatisfying irrespective of the organisational condition involved, whereas for others, most jobs will be satisfying. Personal variables like age, educational level, sex, etc. are responsible for this difference.(1) Age :Most of the evidence on the relation between age and job satisfaction, holding such factors as occupational level constant, seems to indicate that there is generally a positive relationship between the two variales up to the pre-retirement years and then there is a sharp decrease in satisfaction. An individual aspires for better and more prestigious jobs in later years of his life. Finding his channels for advancement blocked, his satisfaction declines.(2) Educational Level :With occupational level held constant there is a negative relationship between the educational level and job satisfaction. The higher the education, the higher the reference group which the individual looks to for guidance to evaluate his job rewards.(3) Role Perception : Different individuals hold different perceptions about their role, i.e. the kind of activities and behaviours they should engage in to perform there job successfully. Job satisfaction is determined by this factor also. The more accurate the role perception of an individual, the greater his satisfaction.(4) Sex :There is as yet no consistent evidence as to whether women are more satisfied with their jobs than men, holding such factors as job and occupational level constant. One might predict this to be the case, considering the generally low occupational aspiration of women.Some other determines of job satisfaction are as follows:(i) General Working Conditions.(ii) Grievance handling procedure.(iii) Fair evaluation of work done.(iv) Job security.(v) Company prestige.(vi) Working hours etc.

How Sales Persons Can Express Dissatisfaction

Sales Person dissatisfaction can be expressed in a number of ways. For example, rather than quit, Sales Persons can complain, be insubordinate, steal organisational property, or shirk a part of their work responsibilities. In the following figure, four responses are given along to dimensions : Constructiveness / Destructiveness and Activity / Passivity. These are defined as follow :

Exit : Behaviour directed towards leaving the organisation. Includes looking for a new position as well as resigning.

Voice : Actively and constructively attempting to improve conditions includes suggesting improvements, discussing problems with superiors, and some forms of union activity.

Loyalty : Passively but optimistically waiting for conditions to improve. Includes speaking up for the organisation in the face of external criticism and trusting the organisation and its management to 'do the right thing'.

Neglect : Passively allowing the conditions to worsen. Includes chronic absenteeism or lateness, reduced effort, and increased error rate.

Exit and neglect behaviours encompass our performances variables-productivity, absenteeism and turnover. But this model expands Sales Person response to include voice and loyalty, constructive behaviours that allow individuals to tolerate unpleasant situations or to revive satisfactory working conditions.

The Importance of High Job Satisfaction :

The importance of job satisfaction is obvious. Managers should be concerned with the level of job satisfaction in their organisations for at least three reasons:(1) There is clear evidence that dissatisfied Sales Persons skip work more often and are more likely to resign ;(2) It has been demonstrated that satisfied Sales Persons have better health and live longer ; and(3) Satisfaction on the job carries over to the Sales Person's life outside the job.Satisfied Sales Persons have lower rate of both turnover and absenteeism. Specifically, satisfaction is strongly and consistently negatively related to an Sales Person's decision to leave the organisation. Although satisfaction and absence are also negatively related, conclusions regarding the relationship should be more guarded.