Q1. (a) What is the function of Human Resource Manager in Insurance Company?

Ans: Service Sector like insurance is entirely dependent on skills, knowledge, attitude and knowledge of human resources for growth and success. Hence effective management of human resources is extremely critical in insurance companies. Individual within an organization responsible for hiring new employees, supervising employees evaluation, mediation between employees and bosses as necessary, general overseeing of the personnel document. HRM involves a large number of functions or activities. The following are major function: 1) Human resource planning: In insurance industry Human resource planning is basically deciding need of agents and other employee in an organization as insurance being a service based industry need personal selling and hence its role is important. 2) Organizational and job design: An important activity of HRM is developing an organization which caters for all activities necessary for effective communication and decision making. Job design is concerned with deciding on the content and accountability of jobs in order to motivate employees. E.g.: In Insurance industry agents get commission on the bases of the sales made by them i.e. policy sold by them along with the amount. 3) Staffing: Insurance industry need eligible person with required license by IRDA to be staffed. Also they need to have minimum percentage and need to have expertise knowledge in selling. 4) Training and development: In Insurance industry IRDA has made it compulsory for an employee to get required training for carry out particular business after interval of every 3year. As well as other training is essential to make employee aware about its product and a required standard to services expected to be delivered by them. 5) Performance appraisal and review: Performance and appraisal and review is an ongoing evaluation of individual and group to the

organization and communication of those evaluation to the person involved. 6) Compensation and reward: Organization compensates employees through wages and salaries, bonuses and benefits. E.g.: if an agent in an insurance industry makes sales of value above the target he gets excess commission on that other than standard one. 7) Organizational improvement: With increase competition in insurance industry there is successive improvement in service and wide range of product being offered according to individual need along with certain add on. Agents are now giving reminder to customer about premium due and also filling the required documents when claimed are made.

Q1. (b) How has the work of human resource manager changed in the new global business environment? Ans: Human resource manager in the global environment has undergone a great revolution by questioning the accepted practices and re-inventing the organizations as well as structures. Many traditional practices have been thrown out. The follwing are the reason of change in work in Human resource manager in global business environment: 1) Globalization: Globalization the trend toward opening up foreign markets to international trade and investment is having tremendous trend on the way human resources are managed and businesses are run. Human resources managers. HRM now have to deal with and balance a complicated set of issues related to geographies, culture, laws, and business practices. 2) Technology: Advance in computers have resulted in an information explosion. This has resulted in reduction in number of jobs that require little skills and increase in number of job with considerable skills. Information technology has changed faced of HRM. Best example is HRM in an organizations HRIS- human resources information system. 3) Work force diversity: The composition of work force is becoming increasing diverse. Most notable changes are increasing presence of women in the workforce, workforce becoming multiracial and multinational nature, increase in educational levels and so on. The increased diversity is placing heavy demands on the management. 4) Managing and accommodating such diverse and changing workforce. 5) Virtual offices and Telecommuting: The communication revolution has led to the emergence of virtual offices. In virtual offices, physical office space and individual desks are being replaced with great variety of portable communication tools. Telecommuting is the practice of using communication technology so as to enable work to be performed from location other than offices. Thus the biggest challenge that HR practitioners face today is of reinventing the role of HRM.

6) Improving customer service: Mere improvement in productivity and quality of goods and longer ensures an organizations continuous survival. Friendly and efficient customer service could make the difference between acquiring or retaining or losing a customer or client. Managers need to train and cultivate in their employees the right attitude and behavior associated with customer satisfaction. 7) Coping with temporariness: Temporariness means that everything in the organization in the organization is transient or temporary, nothing is constant or permanent. It can be at job level or at organization level. Challenge of manager is to cope with a climate that is highly unpredictable and temporary in nature. Managers and employees need to display great flexibility, tolerance and spontaneity to successfully handle the climate temporariness. 8) The challenge of striking work life balance: People now days have to work both work lives and non work lives. Today 24/7 job have become common resulting in high level of stress in employees. If organization wants to attract and retain talented and motivated employees then they must help the employees strike a balance between their work and personal lives.

Q1. (a) Define HRM. What are the functions and objectives associated with human resource management? Ans: Human resource management is defined by Gray dessier as the policies and practices involved in carrying out the people or human resources aspects of a management position, including recruiting, screening, training and appraising. The objectives of human resources management are: 1) Integration of goals: HRM seeks to integrate all the individuals and groups within the organization by reconciling individual/group with those of the organization. 2) Cost of containment: In todays competitive business environment, keeping expenses down or cost containment, is a critical to HRM goal. 3) Goals through able employees: HRM seeks to help the organization attain its goal by providing it with competent and dedicated employees. 4) Harmonious relationships: A top priority of HRM is to create a climate in which productive and harmonious relationship can be maintained through partnership between management and employees. 5) Optimization of human resources: by employing the knowledge and skills to optimal utilize the human resources of the organization. 6) Growth and development if employees: HRM seeks to ensure the growth and development of the employees by providing opportunities of training and advancement

HRM involves a large number of functions or activities. The following are major function: 1) Human resource planning: Human resource planning is the process of assessing the organizations human resources needs in the light of organizational goals and changing conditions and making plans to ensure that a competent, motivated work force is employed. 2) Organizational and job design: A important activity of HRM is developing an organization which caters for all activities necessary for effective

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communication and decision making. Job design is concerned with deciding on the content and accountability of jobs in order to motivate employees. Staffing: Staffing of human resources is another activity of human resource management and it determines the composition of an organizations human resources. Training and development: This activity of HRM focuses on improving the performance of individuals and groups within the organization. These activities help employee to learn new skills or refine existing skills. Performance appraisal and review: Performance and appraisal and review are an ongoing evaluation of individual and group to the organization and communication of those evaluations to the person involved. Compensation and reward: Organization compensates employees through wages and salaries, bonuses and benefits. The presence or absence of rewards ad recognition is important for to employee morale and performance.

Q1. (b) Define Promotion. What are the various methods by which an employee in a bank can be promoted? Ans: According to Scott and Clothier, A promotion is a transfer of an employee to a job which pays more money or one that carries some preferred status. In opinion to Dales bench, Promotion is a reassignment of the individual to a job of the higher rank. Following are the method of promotion by which an employee in a bank can be promoted: 1) Promotion is based on seniority: Seniority implies relative length of service in the organization. Seniority is described as the principle that an employees relative length of service in an organization is a factor in determining his employment rights and job opportunities in the organization. The following are advantages of using seniority as the bases of promotion: I. Simplicity: In a banking organization it is easy to measure length of service a manager, clerk spend in an organization and give promotion on bases of that. For e.g.: In Canara bank a clerk get promoted to special assistant to scale 1 officer and so on. II. Objectivity: Since length of service is an objective criterion there is no scope for favoritism and employees have a sense of security in them. For e.g.: In Canara bank a special assistant complete 2 year will be assured of his promotion to scale 1 officer than a special assistant completed 1year III. Reduces employee turnover: This type of promotion reduces employee turnover as every employee has chance of getting promoted provided he stays in the organization for a long time. 2) Promotion based on merit: This system of promotion takes in to account the knowledge, skills and performance of an employee. It stresses on

the ability of the employee in deciding promotions. Under this system the best performing employee is promoted. The following are merits under this system: I. Enhances efficiency: In a banking system there is usually test system being followed for getting promotion so whosoever tops the test gets promoted. this system recognizes talent and performance which increases organizational efficiency II. Motivates: Merit encourages young and hard working employee to perform best all the time and ultimately the best employee gets promoted. 3) Promotion based on seniority-cum merit: As both seniority and merit based system of promotion have plus and minus points, many banks use a promotional system based on a combination of seniority and merit. Before using this system, it is essential that management clearly state the following detail: I. II. III. The minimum length of service to be eligible for promotion The relative weightage assigned to merit and seniority The minimum performance and qualification essential to be eligible for promotion.

Q2. (a) You have to appoint a few system engineers in your bank. Where you will search prospective employees and give advantages and disadvantages of each source. Answer: Understanding the job profile of a systems engineer, it is recommended that only external sources of recruitment are to be used. Various external sources of recruitment are: 1. Employment agencies:Companies may give a contract to employment agencies that search, interview and obtain the required number of people. The method can be used to obtain lower level and middle level staff. 2. Campus recruitment:When companies are in search of fresh graduates or new talent they opt for campus recruitment. Companies approach colleges, management, technical institutes, make a presentation about the company and the job and invite applications. Interested candidates who have applied are made to go through a series of selection test and interview before final selection. 3. News paper advertisement:This is one of the oldest and most popular methods of recruitment. Advertisements for the job are given in leading news papers; the details of the job and salary are also mentioned. Candidates are given a contact address where their applications must be sent and are asked to send their applications within a specified time limit. The method has maximum reach and most preferred among all other methods of recruitment. 4. Internet advertisement:With increasing importance to internet, companies and candidates have started using the internet as medium of advertisement and search for jobs. There are various job sites like naukri.com and monster.com etc. candidates can also post their profiles on these sites. This method is growing in popularity.

5. Walk in interview:Another method of recruitment which is gaining importance is the walk in interview method. An advertisement about the location and time of walk in interview is given in the news paper. Candidates require to directly appearing for the interview and have to bring a copy of their C.V. with them. This method is very popular among B.P.O and call centers. Advantages of external recruitment: 1. There is influx of new talent in the method. 2. The method encourages more and more competition. 3. There is lesser chance of partiality through this method. 4. If options like campus recruitment have been exercised we get a chance to employ fresh graduates, thus increasing employment.

Disadvantages of external recruitment: 1. The method is costly because it involves recruitment cost, selection, training cost. 2. The method is time consuming. 3. The method reduces loyalty to the company

Q2.(b) Define transfers and state the objectives and types of transfers. Yoder and associates have defined job transfer as a lateral shift causing movement of individuals from one position to another usually without involving any marked change in duties, responsibilities, skills needed or remuneration. The objectives of transfer are: 1. Organizational needs: Shortages of employees in one department, surplus in another department, introduction of new technology or products, changes in production volume or schedule etc. are some of the reasons that necessitate transfer. 2. Employee needs: Employees who are unhappy or dissatisfied in their current job due to differences with their boss or fellow workers may request for a transfer. Personal problems such as poor health, distance from residence, and lack of growth opportunities are among the other reasons. 3. Optimum utilization of employees: An employee may be transferred because the management feels that his capabilities could be better utilized elsewhere. Employees whose performance is not satisfactory may be shifted to other jobs for which they are better suited. 4. Disciplinary action: Employees engaging in undesirable activities such as taking bribes, politicking and working to the detriment of the organization are often transferred to places where they will be unable to continue such activities.

The common types of transfers are: 1. Production transfers: When there is excess manpower in one department or branch in the organization, they are transferred to other departments or branches in order to avoid lays off. 2. Replacement transfers: These kinds of transfers are applied for the protection of senior or long serving employees. Such transfers are made when the operations of the organization are declining and hence a long standing employee replaces a junior or new employee. 3. Versatility transfers: Versatility transfers are affected to give the employee a chance to learn various skills involved in different jobs. The purpose of such transfers is to develop an all round employee with varied experience. 4. Shift transfers: Shift transfers are routine in industries where work is in progress for 24 hours or in 3 shifts. Such transfers are usually effected on a rotation basis but they are also effected for personal reasons of an employee such as marriage, child-care, aged parents etc.

Q2. Define terms/concepts (any five) 1. Orientation Orientation is a process in which a new employee is introduced to coworkers, and is given information such as working hours, place of work, performance standards, benefits and facilities, and names of the immediate and other officers. It is given to new employee to make them familiar with the new job. Orientation training is also known as induction training. Basic orientation training has 3 Objectives: 1. Awareness to increase the awareness of the employees with regard to the history of the company, company policies, procedures, practices, processes, rules and regulation, wages, working conditions etc. 2. Training To train the employees in safe and effective methods of operating 3. Belongingness To increase in the employees the sense of belonging to the organization.

2. Fringe benefits Fringe benefits are compensations made to an employee beyond the regular benefit of being paid for their work. Some fringe benefits are fairly standard, such as offering a few days of sick time or paid vacation time. Others can be significantly greater, and more rare. Key executives in large companies might also enjoy fringe benefits like use of time-share condominiums, paidcontinuing education, use of a company jet, use of a company credit card, discounted or free health club memberships, and a significant amount of paid vacation. A collection of various benefits provided by an employer, which are exempt from taxation as long as certain conditions are met. Today it is estimated that these benefits represent 40 percent of the total payroll cost to

employers. Hence organizationally provided benefits and services have become an important aspect of human resource management.

3. Ethics in HRM Ethics is a set of moral principles or values. Ethics are the principles, norms and standards of conduct governing an individual or group HRM Ethics is the affirmative moral obligations of the employer (business) towards the employees to maintain equality and equity justice Do not treat people (employees) simply as a means for our own purposes without their Basic human rights, civil and employment rights. E.g. Job security, feedback from tests, openness and consultation over matters which affect the employees Areas of HRM ethics Equity/Distributive justice (proportionate pay for proportionate contribution), autonomy and respect Safety in the workplace Respect, fairness and honesty based process in the workplace Privacy

4. Off the job training Employee training at a site away from the actual work environment. It often utilizes lectures, case studies, role playing, simulation, etc. Off-the-job training is conducted in a location specifically designated for training. It may be near the workplace or away from work, at a special training center or a resort. Conducting the training away from the workplace minimize distractions and allows trainees to devote their full attention to the material being taught.

Advantages of Off-the-Job Training

Trainers are usually experienced enough to train It is systematically organized Efficiently created programs may add lot of value

Disadvantages of Off-the-Job Training:

It is not directly in the context of job It is often formal It may not be based on experience. It is expensive. Trainees may not be much motivated It is artificial in nature.

5. Perquisites Perquisites are incentives usually offered to highly talented and competent executives. These incentives are reserved for some privileged executives and are not offered to other employees. Perquisites are offered to attract and retain good managers and to motivate them to work hard for the organization. Perquisites are popularly known as perks. Some popular perquisites are memberships of exclusive clubs, company automobiles, vacation travel, well furnished homes in up-market areas, settlement of educational loan, exclusive use of company aeroplane, retirement benefits etc.

6. VRS In the present globalised scenario, right sizing of the manpower employed in an organisation has become an important management strategy in order to meet the increased competition. The voluntary retirement scheme(VRS) is the most humane technique to provide overall reduction in the existing strength of the employees. It is a technique used by companies for trimming the workforce employed in the industrial unit. It is also known as 'Golden Handshake' as it is the golden route to retrenchment. A business firm may opt for a voluntary retirement scheme under the following circumstances:

Due to recession in the business. Due to intense competition, the establishment becomes unviable unless downsizing is resorted to. Due to joint-ventures with foreign collaborations. Due to takeovers and mergers. Due to obsolescences of Product/Technology.

Though the eligibility criteria for VRS varies from company to company, but usually, employees who have attained 40 years of age or completed 10 years of service are eligible for voluntary retirement.The scheme applies to all employees including workers and executives, except the directors of a company. Some companies offers very attractive package of benefits to the employees who opt for VRS. For example, the VRS scheme may also include providing counselling to employees about their future;managing of funds received under the scheme; offering rehabilitation facilities to them,etc.

7. Horizontal promotion A promotion to a position of greater responsibility (and therefore more compensation), but without greater managerial authority. For example, an analyst may receive a horizontal promotion to senior analyst. In this type of promotion there is an increase in pay and responsibility and a change in designation but the job classification remains the same. For example a college lecturer gets promoted as a senior lecturer. Here despite the upgrade, the nature of the job remains the same.

Q 3(a) Describe Employees welfare measures and state its types. Ans. Employee welfare in simple words refers to the various services, facilities and amenities provided to employees for their betterment. It usually includes measures that are in addition to regular wages and other economic benefits available to employees under legal provisions. Employee welfare is also referred to as workers welfare or labour welfare. The International labor Organization (ILO) describes labour welfare as to include such services, facilities and amenities as may be established in or in the vicinity of undertakings to enable the persons employed in them to perform their work in healthy, congenial surroundings and to provide them with amenities conductive to good health and high morale. Significance of Employee Welfare Employee welfare benefits all the employee, the employer and the society as a whole. Employee welfare benefits: 1. The employee by enabling the employee and his family to lead a good life. Employee welfare creates a happy and satisfied worker 2. The employer by leading to higher morale and productivity of employees. 3. The society by creating an environment of health, happiness, efficiency and general well being.

Types of Welfare Services : Employees welfare services may be classified in to two broad categories intramural and extramural. 1. Intramural Welfare Services: These are welfare services within the organization or inside the work place. These Services include: a) Urinals, lavatories, wash basins, bathrooms, spittoons, etc

b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i) j) k) l)

Work place sanitation and cleanliness Favorable temperature, ventilation and humidity. Elimination of dust, smoke fumes and gases. Water coolers or provisions for clean drinking water. Safety gears like helmets or goggles. Canteen with freeor subsidized food. Basic medical aid Recreational facilities with separate room for ladies Library or reading room Crches or child care centres Work and personal counseling

2. Extramural Welfare Services: These are welfare services outside the organization or work place. The following are some examples of extramural services: a) Housing: Bachelors quarter or family residences is an important part of employee welfare in india. Accommodation assumes importance because of its acute shortage as well as high costs. b) Transportation: Proper transport facilities to and from the work place has become important as the distance between the work place and residence has increased considerably. This welfare reduces absenteeism as well as the strain caused by the traffic jams and overcrowding in public transportation system. c) Education facilities: Many organizations have established their own schools and colleges as a part of their concern for employee welfare. d) Health services: Dispensaries and hospitals with state of the art technology greatly contribute to the good health of the employees and the societys overall well being.

Q3) (b) Case study 1. As an HR manager, what challenges do you for see. An organizational structure allows information to flow to different parts of your business and becomes the framework for your entire organization. When you are trying to implement an organizational structure, you will face problems because initially there is no structure in place. You appreciate the importance of a strong organizational structure when you are working without one and trying to get one functional. Challenges that will be faced 1. Communication: Part of the purpose of a strong organizational structure is to facilitate smooth communication within departments and from one department to another. When you are trying to implement an organizational structure, you are working with a makeshift communication network until the planned network is put in place. This can cause information to be dropped or miscommunicated at every level of the company. 2. Hierarchy: A company runs smoothly when it has a hierarchy to follow. While it can be easy to understand the basic hierarchy of the company from the owner or president down to the rest of the executive staff, the hierarchy among managers and supervisors is confused without an organizational structure. While you are implementing a company framework, you will come across instances when various managers or supervisors may take on authoritative roles they were not intended to have, which can cause confusion among the staff. 3. Delegation: When you are trying to implement a new organizational structure, it can be difficult to properly delegate responsibility to departments or individual employees. It may be confusing for employees and

managers to understand their responsibilities when there was no official delegation in the past. Staff members have been doing what they needed to get the job done, and it will be difficult to move responsibilities around when implementing a new structure. 4. Cost: Implementing an organizational structure can be expensive. During the time it takes to get a structure in place, productivity will be affected and your company's ability to generate revenue will drop. Implementing structure means getting everyone on to the same software platforms for communication, bookkeeping, production and planning. Making sure everyone who needs a computer has one, and having all of the necessary software licenses, is also expensive. The planning time necessary to create the structure implement it costs you because your management staff is spending time on developing its part of the structure instead of making sure that company production numbers are achieved. 2. Enumerate the main characteristics of the job that will undergo changes, if the consultants ideas are accepted. Answer: If the consultants ideas are accepted then the organisational structure of the company will be transformed to a client based structure. A client based structure leads to a companys focus being shifted to a much more customer-focussed approach. Some key characteristics that will be noticed in the job profiles of employees once the change is implemented will be: Intelligence Generation 1. Meeting with customers to determine current/future needs. 2. An in-house market research department. 3. Ability to detect changes in customers' product preferences.

4. At least annual surveys of customer perceptions.

Intelligence Dissemination 1. Regular interdepartmental meetings on market trends and developments. 2. Important events in the market or with key customers are shared quickly with all affected departments. 3. Regular dissemination of customer satisfaction data at all levels of the company.

Responsiveness 1. Recognition of changes in customers' product or service needs. 2. Alignment of product development efforts with customer needs. 3. Regular, interdepartmental planning to respond to changes in the business environment. 4. Responsiveness to customer complaints. 5. Making concerted efforts to modify products or services to fit customer needs.

Are these all the elements of a customer centric organization? Of course not. But these are some of the key differentiating characteristics of customer focused companies - the characteristics most likely to produce the beneficial company performance associated with high levels of market orientation. In other words, research has shown that companies with the above characteristics have significantly better long-term performance. Of course, there is debate over the exact items to use in a market orientation scale and many changes/additions have been suggested over MARKOR's 17 years of existence, but the items above still give us a good start for understanding the specific characteristics that are strongly related to customer centricity and its positive business outcomes.

3 (a) Outline the causes of industrial accidents and how can they be avoided. The health and safety concerns of employees in the banking and insurance sector are quite different from those working in a traditional manufacturing company. Ignoring the safety concerns of employees can prove to be very costly for organizations. It is also the cause of accidents. The causes of accidents can be broadly classified in two categories: 1. Environmental causes: It includes factors in the workplace such as tools, equipments, physical plant and general work environment. Excessive heat or cold, poor lighting, unpleasant smells, excessive humidity, distracting noise, presence of toxic elements and radiation, inadequate safety measures are conditions that compromise on employee health and safety and lead to accidents. 2. Human causes: The human causes of accidents include factors such as errors, carelessness, daydreaming, intoxication, inability to do the job and other human deficiencies. There are several actions an organization can take to reduce accidents. These include proper reporting of accidents, proper workplace design, a climate that fosters safe work procedures, safety training and safety publicity campaign. 1. Accident reports: Organizations must accumulate detailed and accurate data on past accident. The best way to develop protective and preventive measures against future accidents is to find out what went wrong in the past. Accident data from different companies and from various units from within a company should be analyzed to determine hazardous operations so that

attention can be focused on them. All accidents regardless of the consequences should be investigated and described in detail. 2. Organizational climate: Operating equipment and work areas can be designed to minimize the likelihood of accidents, but unless management actively supports an accident prevention program, employees may not be sufficiently motivated to take it seriously. Employees must perceive that organizational climate fosters a high level concern with job safety. 3. Safety training: Training for accident prevention focuses on safe job skills and attitudes. Both on-the-job behavior and employee attitudes must be oriented towards reducing accidents. 4. Ergonomics: Ergonomics is the application of scientific information concerning humans to the designs of objects, systems and environment for human use. Ergonomics helps organizations design tasks and work areas to maximize the efficiency and quality of their employees work. Ergonomically designed equipments maximize productivity by reducing employee fatigue and discomfort.

Q3. (b) Case study 1. Do you agree with the management decision of not promoting Mr. Champak .Justify your stand. Answer: Yes I agree with the managements decision of not promoting Mr. Champak on basis of seniority and instead promoting Jassi on a basis of merit. Justification: An organization seeking to promote its workers may choose to do so based on seniority to take advantage of the employees' experience with the organization and to reward them for their service. Another option is to promote based on merit, a measure of the employees' contributions based on performance. Each method offers potential advantages and disadvantages for the organization. No Favouritism A seniority-based promotion structure can eliminate the perception of favoritism. Employers typically won't have to worry about a newer worker coming in and quickly leapfrogging them to obtain a promotion simply because they are friends with an upper-level supervisor or because of the way they dress or that they are more effective at playing the game of corporate politics. Instead, workers have a sense that if they pay their dues, they will be rewarded at some point in the future. Workplace Harmony Promotion based on seniority can also help maintain a more harmonious workplace. Workers who know they need to put in the necessary time with the company before advancement opportunities present themselves are less likely to resent those who attained promotion because they worked for the organization longer. This can eliminate the backstabbing often associated with merit-based programs where employees may attempt to

present themselves in the most favorable manner possible, sometimes by attempting to make coworkers look incompetent. Motivation Boost A merit-based program, on the other hand, can provide motivation leading to increased productivity. Workers who recognize that the best performers are the ones who get ahead may put forth the extra effort they believe it takes to receive promotions. For instance, salespeople who realize that a sales manager position is awarded to the person with the highest sales numbers may strive to produce the desired results, generating additional revenue for the company in the process. Reward for Ability Workers possess varying levels of skills and abilities, and a merit-based program rewards those who may have the most to offer the organization in the long run. While tenured employees offer the benefit of greater experience, this does not necessarily equate with more ability. A less experienced worker possessing a greater flair for innovation or creativity may be more likely to generate ideas that help the company move forward in the future.

2. Suggest improvements in the performance management systems and suggest one appraisal technique. Answer: A performance management system includes the following actions.

Developing clear job descriptions and employee performance plans which includes the key result areas (KRA') and performance indicators. Selection of right set of people by implementing an appropriate selection process. Negotiating requirements and performance standards for measuring the outcome and overall productivity against the predefined benchmarks.

Providing continuous coaching and feedback during the period of delivery of performance. Identifying the training and development needs by measuring the outcomes achieved against the set standards and implementing effective development programs for improvement. Holding quarterly performance development discussions and evaluating employee performance on the basis of performance plans. Designing effective compensation and reward systems for recognizing those employees who excel in their jobs by achieving the set standards in accordance with the performance plans or rather exceed the performance benchmarks. Providing promotional/career development support and guidance to the employees. Performing exit interviews for understanding the cause of employee discontentment and thereafter exit from an organization.

A performance management process sets the platform for rewarding excellence by aligning individual employee accomplishments with the organizations mission and objectives and making the employee and the organization understand the importance of a specific job in realizing outcomes. By establishing clear performance expectations which includes results, actions and behaviors, it helps the employees in understanding what exactly is expected out of their jobs and setting of standards help in eliminating those jobs which are of no use any longer. Through regular feedback and coaching, it provides an advantage of diagnosing the problems at an early stage and taking corrective actions. To conclude, performance management can be regarded as a proactive system of managing employee performance for driving the individuals and the organizations towards desired performance and results. Its about striking a harmonious alignment between individual and organizational objectives for accomplishment of excellence in performance.

The one appraisal technique that can be used in this scenario is the Ranking Method. The ranking system requires the rater to rank his subordinates on overall performance. This consists in simply putting a man in a rank order. Under this method, the ranking of an employee in a work group is done against that of another employee. The relative position of each employee is tested in terms of his numerical rank. It may also be done by ranking a person on his job performance against another member of the competitive group. Advantages of Ranking Method b. Employees are ranked according to their performance levels. c. It is easier to rank the best and the worst employee. Limitations of Ranking Method a. The whole man is compared with another whole man in this method. In practice, it is very difficult to compare individuals possessing various individual traits. b. This method speaks only of the position where an employee stands in his group. It does not test anything about how much better or how much worse an employee is when compared to another employee. c. When a large number of employees are working, ranking of individuals become a difficult issue. d. There is no systematic procedure for ranking individuals in the organization. The ranking system does not eliminate the possibility of snap judgements.

Q4. Write Short notes on any three: 4(a) CRM CRM may be defined as: 1. Finding, getting and retaining customers. 2. Building long-lasting customer relationships and turning customer satisfaction into customer loyalty. 3. Methodologies, software and internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an efficient and organized way. 4. Gaining trust from customers by meeting the needs of each customer in a more personalized way. Effective CRM is about an organizations ability to interact with customers through any channel they choose. It is also the ability of the organization to maintain real-time records of customer interactions so that a holistic view of the customer can be established. The tremendous changes in banking and insurance industry have made bankers and insurers realize significance of customer service. Customer relationship has become important not only for business but also for survival. The main thrust of CRM in banks is: 1. Customer identification 2. Customer acquisition 3. Customer retention 4. Customer satisfaction and delight Effective CRM in banking and insurance organizations is concerned with delivering personalized, informed services on demand.

4(b) Job evaluation Wendell French defines job evaluation as a process of determining the relative worth of various jobs within the organization, so that wages may be paid to jobs of different worth. According to Michael Harris, job evaluation is a systematic objective procedure for determining the value of a group of jobs for the organization. The objectives of job evaluation are: 1. To develop a consistent wage policy. 2. To determine the rate of pay for each job which is fair and equitable in relation to other jobs in the organization or industry. 3. To ensure that like wages are paid to all qualified employees for like work. 4. To eliminate inconsistencies and inequalities in wages. 5. To establish a rational basis for fixing incentives and different bonus plans. 6. To develop framework for periodic review and revision of wage rates. 7. To provide a basis for wage negotiations with trade unions. 8. To minimize if not eliminate wage discrimination on the basis of age, sex, caste, religion, region etc. The advantages of job evaluation are: 1. Logical process:

Job evaluation is a logical and objective method of ranking jobs relative to one another. It helps in developing a rational and consistent wage structure. 2. New jobs: It helps in fitting new jobs at their appropriate places in the existing wage structure. 3. Uniformity: Job evaluation simplifies wage administration by making wage rates more uniform.

4(c) Human resource audit Human resource audit is the process of evaluating the personnel activities of an organization. It is an evaluation of the HR processes and practices initiated in the organization. HR audit may be restricted to one unit in the organization or it may cover the whole organization. HR audit provides feedback on a number of critical issues such as: 1. The extent to which HRM practices are contributing to organizational effectiveness. 2. The extent to which the organizations HRM practices meet th employees needs and aspirations. 3. The accuracy with which the organization is forecasting the supply and demand for employees at various levels in the organization. The HR audit may be done using any one or a combination of the following approaches: 1. The comparative approach: This approach compares the HR practices of the organization with another organization which is considered to be a model organization.

2. External consultant approach: An external auditor is called to evaluate the effectiveness of the HR policies and procedures in the organization. 3. Statistical approach: In this approach organizational records of absenteeism and employee turnover serve as statistical measures of performance.

4(d) Placements Educational and training institutions like IIMs, IITs and other professional colleges are a good source of recruiting qualified and trained personnel. Many educational institutions have placement departments who forward the names of graduating students to interested organizations and invite them to conduct campus interviews. Once the employee is hired, he should be placed in a suitable job. Placement has been defined as the determination of the job to which an accepted candidate is to be assigned and his assignment to that job. Placement and follow-up aim at ensuring whether the individual who has been selected is placed suitably in the job and does the job well. It is a check on the previous steps and the only means by which selection in future can be made more efficiently. Just recruiting an employee to an organization is not enough. Putting the right man in the right job is equally important. A misplaced employee is disgruntled and frustrated and cannot give his best to the organization. Lack of interest in the job will be reflected in lower productivity. Proper placement will go a long way in reducing employee turnover, accident and absenteeism and improve the morale of the employees.

4(e) Role of vigilance department in controlling frauds The word vigilance is often looked at with contempt and suspicion in many organizations. However despite the negative perceptions among employees, the vigilance department has an important role to play in the organization. Vigilance lies in external alertness and awareness of both the internal and external environment. The vigilance department has two aims: 1. Ensuring integrity in the organization 2. Eliminating forces that obstruct integrity in the organization. Any incident in the organization relating to dereliction of duty or lack of integrity is treated as a vigilance matter. Vigilance activity in an organization may be in the form of: 1. Preventive vigilance: Preventive vigilance refers to proactive measures taken by the organization for prevention of fraudulent activities. It signifies continuous watchfulness on the part of an organization to prevent happening of any untoward incidents having adverse financial implications for the organization. 2. Detective vigilance 3. Punitive vigilance Every financial organization should have voluntary vigilance committees. For example, in every branch of State Bank of India that has staff strength of 20 or more, a preventive vigilance committee has to be formed. The objective behind this is to curb irregularities and promote individual values.

The committee of a particular branch identifies weak spots in their unit or branch and suggests ways to overcome them.