Part one:

Multiple choice:

The following is (are) concerned with developing a pool of candidates in line with the human resources
plan
Recruitment

The following is (are) the key components of a business process Re-engineering programme?
All of the above

The actual achievements compared with the objectives of the job is

Job performance

Performance development plan is set for the employee by his immediate boss.
Immediate boss

The following type of recruitment process is said to be a costly affair.

External recruitment

The following is (are) the objective(s) of inspection.

All of the above

Which of the following is an assumption of rationality to rationale decision making?

All of the above

___________ is accepting solutions that are "good enough".

b. Satisficing

The three important components in aligning business strategy with HR practice:

Business Strategy, Human Resource Practices, Organisational Capabilities

The basic managerial skill(s) is(are)

All of the above
Part Two

What is the nature of Human Resource Management?

Human Resource Management is a process of bringing people and organizations together so
that the goals of each are met.

The various features of Human Resource Management include:

a) A part of Management Discipline:

HRM is a part of management discipline. It is not a discipline in
itself but is only a field of study. HRM, being a part of management
process, draws heavily from management concepts, principles and
techniques and apply these in the management of human resources.

b) Universal Existence:
HRM is pervasive in nature. It is present in all enterprises. It
permeates all levels of management in an organisation.

c) Concerned with People:

HRM is all about people at work, both as individuals and groups. It
tries to put people on assigned job in order to produce goods
results. The resultant gains are used to reward people and motivate
them towards further improvement is productivity.

d) Action oriented:
HRM focuses attention on action, rather than on record keeping,
written procedures or rules. The problems of employees are solved
through rational policies.

e) Directed towards Achievement of Objectives:

HRM is directed towards achievement of organisational objectives
by providing tools and techniques of managing people in the
organisation effectively.

f) Integrating Mechanism:
HRM tries to build and maintain cordial relation between people
working at different levels in the organisation. It tries to integrate
human assets in the best possible manner for achieving
organisational goals.

g) Development Oriented:
HRM intends to develop the full potential of employees. The reward
structure is turned to the needs of employees. Training is provided
to improve the skill of employees. Every attempt is made to use
their talents fully in the service of organisational goals.

h) Continuous Process:
HRM is not a one short deal. It cannot be practised only one hour
each day or one day a week. It requires constant alertness and
awareness of human relations and their importance in every day
operations.

i) Comprehensive Function:
HRM is concerned with managing people at work. It covers all types
of people at all levels in the organisation. It applies to workers,
supervisors, officers, manager and other types of personnel.
What is Human Resource Development (HRD)?
Human Resource Development (HRD) is the framework for helping
employees develop their personal and organizational skills, knowledge, and
abilities.
Human resource development is the integrated use of training, organization, and career
development efforts to improve individual, group, and organizational effectiveness. HRD
develops the key competencies that enable individuals in organizations to perform current
and future jobs through planned learning activities. Groups within organizations use HRD to
initiate and manage change. Also, HRD ensures a match between individual and
organizational needs.
Human resource development includes training an individual after he/she is first
hired, providing opportunities to learn new skills, distributing resources that are
beneficial for the employee’s tasks, and any other developmental activities.
This set of processes within the HR department is critical to employee on-boarding
and retention. Without proper training, employees cannot succeed. Without learning
and development of personal and professional skills, employees grow stale and
stagnant.
Development of human resources is essential for any organisation that would like to be
dynamic and growth-oriented. Unlike other resources, human resources have rather
unlimited potential capabilities. The potential can be used only by creating a climate that can
continuously identify, bring to surface, nurture and use the capabilities of people. Human
Resource Development (HRD) system aims at creating such a climate.
The focus of all aspects of Human Resource Development is on developing the most
superior workforce so that the organization and individual employees can accomplish
their work goals in service to customers.

Human Resource Development can be formal such as in classroom training, a

college course, or an organizational planned change effort. Or, Human Resource
Development can be informal as in employee coaching by a manager. Healthy
organizations believe in Human Resource Development and cover all of these
bases.
Discuss the future trends and challenges of HRM?
Discovering The Right Talent

With the rise in business competitions at a fast speed and many other investments
being at stake, it will be a daunting task to find the most fitted talents for them. This is
one aspect that will be the reason for a headache for most companies in 2020.

This means the responsibility of finding the right people to take care of their business
process will always be a complex process for all the emerging sectors and
organizations. Making it one of the top challenges that the HR management people
will face in the year 2020.

Upskilling & Grooming The WorkForce

Upskilling to develop the skill of your existing worker is one trend that needs to give
proper emphasis on. Grooming them with right knowledge and skill will prove to be
fruitful for every company in the future. So in 2020, companies expect to encourage
their employees to upskill their level of skills offering a proper training to bring the
best out of them.

Keeping yourself updated with the modern world of knowledge & skill is highly
essential. In today’s time being just an expertise in one field is never enough for any
companies. So constantly upgrading the skill of the current employees will certainly
be a key trend in 2020.

Artificial Intelligence(AI) In HR & Recruiting

Most HR and Recruiting work are already automated. And in 2020 it will only take
this process of automation further forward. Using the combination of AI-powered
tools and human elements, engaging and retaining more of the employees has become
a norm now.

Even the outfitted HR software along with Artificial intelligence has begun managing
the applications, filtering & selecting process. Not just that, it is even processing the
recruiting & interviewing of applicants. So, therefore, the more vast number of
merging of AI with HR & Recruiting process is going to be next big trend of 2020.
Flexible Working Adjustments

In order to retain more number of talented employees, providing them with an

adjusted flexible working environment is highly essential. Many young talented
employees want flexible working hours to have a social life outside of work. Also,
many talented women decide to come back to work after long breaks. So realizing this
fact many companies have already started to readjust their policy of working
arrangements.

There is a great requirement for an introduced new employee to have a flexible

working facility. Something that provides them mental peace as this has been a game-
changer from a retention perspective in most companies. They tend to lose a lot of
talented individuals if they stay adamant about following the traditional
mode working arrangement policy.

Focusing More On Collaborative Work

If any company is looking to bring the best out of its team,

then collaborative teamwork is really important. So in 2020 organizations are
focusing on encouraging their employees to do their job as much collaboratively as
possible. It is seen as a force of strength of getting their work done efficiently &
productively in almost every organization these days.

Organizations those who are emphasizing on collaborative work found that employees
who work together online but never came face to face are way less effective than
employees working collaboratively from one place. This is why companies with HR
solutions are always encouraging more and more teamwork to
maximize productive results building a better relationship with each other in 2020.

Giving Importance To Employee Experience

In this age of digitalization, employers expect to enjoy much better working

experience everywhere. It is mainly because of the growing impact
of millennials and transparency. As a result of that, company leaders are looking to
focus on making every possible experience of employees better. As this also plays an
important role in the retention of talented employees.

Nowadays employees are the most powerful strength of any company’s competitors.
And they are not someone whose data and transactional info is limited to be managed
by the HR. Therefore the role of HR is always being revised and revamped to ensure
a better working experience for the employees. So in 2020, the main objective of
company owners would be to present their employees with best of working
experience.

1) Retaining and Rewarding Talented Candidates:

Around 59% seasoned HR professionals believe that in the next few
years, major battle will be retaining talented and well-
performing candidates. Moreover, it is going to become even worse to
recognize and reward the real performers as the market competitiveness
is growing and that needs more collaborated efforts to establish loyalty
among employees.

2) Developing Future Leaders:

With growing options for top performing candidates, employers are in a
great jitty over how will they build the future pillars of the organization.
The rising employee turnover rate is giving recruiters really a tough time
with implementing practices to enhance employee engagement and make
them stay for long in the organization. Over 52% HR people have a
serious concern over building next generation organizational leaders.

3) Establishing Healthy and Cooperative Corporate

Culture:
Corporate culture has become one of the deciding factors lately.
Elevating market demands makes companies work more to grow,
expand and sustain within the volatile market scenarios. This, thus
directly or indirectly affects the organizational culture, as every resource
is over-occupied with loads of work that may affect the healthy work
culture at office leading more to clashes or office chaos.

4) Attracting Top Talent to Organization:

During any job interview, a candidate’s job is to sell himself to the
recruiters. Similarly, the recruiters also need to sell themselves before the
candidate. It is now more important as the talent shortage is making
every organization strive to bring in the best talent and become the most
preferred choice among available options. Around 36% recruiters feel
that it is the need of the hour to establish a corporate culture that will
attract best candidates to your organization.

5) Elevating Human Capital Investments:

Around two-fifth of HR professionals indicate that the biggest challenge
for the coming decade will be acquiring human capital and optimizing
human capital investments. On deeply analyzing the challenges, one
thing that is clear is that the most difficult challenge that’ll crop up is
retaining good employees and attracting best candidates. This entails that
HR professionals need to develop talent management tactics that can
effectively contribute in attracting, retaining and rewarding top
performing employees. But what the organizations can do for
countering this skills shortage and ensure that they find right
candidates? Here are the major responses to this…

6) Flexible Work Arrangements:

Millennials just love it! The coming generation of employees emphasizes
on working in flexible set-ups and the major concern must be kept on
giving results and not on working in a traditional 9 to 6 set-up. This does
not disrupts the company decorum or discipline, it will just allow
individuals to work the way they want and exhibit better productivity.
Even 40% HR pros believe that this can be a wining factor.

7) Clear & Transparent Work Culture & Open

Leadership:
Employees demand it greatly, but are seen rarely! That’s a fact!
Maximum organizations fail to establish a culture of clear and
transparent work communication or open leadership that somewhere
affects the employee morale and his dedication to work. 37% have
indicated that if communication barriers are removed, then the
organization can attract more candidates.

8) Career Advancement Opportunities for Employees:

If the company takes employee career development seriously and strives
to work for it as well, then definitely you can shine out over your
competitors who are also looking to grab talented prospects for the
same jobs. Around 26% professionals have indicated this as a problem
and major factor for increased attrition rate.

9) Better Compensations:
Undoubtedly, money matters! If you have a start performer, you need to
take good care of the compensation you offer. These days employers are
largely playing on this factor with awarding employees lucrative reward
packages and attracting more talent towards them. Thus, recruiters need
to fold up their sleeves to attract the real talent to themselves to stay
ahead of their counterparts.
Recruitment processes are the first interface of candidates with the
company and this need to be the best of all. The employer must sell the
organization to the candidate and the boarding candidate must also feel
elated on joining the same. Apart from other factors, one is that of
technology upgraded-ness. Now is the time of the cloud and one has to
be up on technology as every candidate wants to get smoother
recruitment application and processing. An effective Recruitment
Management System must be there that can take care of channelized
processing from application to on-boarding while the HR people can
work on other retention and acquisition tactics!

major trends and challenges point to how the HR profession will have to adjust to the changing nature
of work and the workplace.

1. Globalisation
Global competition is the new norm, with employers and employees seeing themselves as
global players in product and HR markets. The Australian Financial Review competes every
day online with the UK’s Financial Times, all because consumers are flexing their purchasing
muscle. Similarly, Apple and Google are recruiting Aussie talent with the promise of an
engaging career in California.

2. Demographic changes
Demographic shifts are constantly changing workforce patterns. The most prominent aspect
is the ageing population, which raises two concerns: the potential loss of organisational
memory and intellectual property when ageing workers retire; and the subsequent demand for
post-retirement incomes/pensions, and public health and welfare services. The other
demographic pattern of concern is the emergence of a new younger ‘lost generation’ – those
neither in education nor employment, and for whom prospects appear quite dismal.

3. Technological changes on the employment market

The structure of the workforce is changing too. The power of IT is causing a permanent loss
of jobs in the middle tier and at first-job entry level. Also experiencing hardship are those
with narrow industry-specific skills that are becoming outmoded, such as automotive
workers, and the future re-education burden will be heavy.

4. Technological changes on how work is undertaken

Technological innovations provide both threats and opportunities. Fewer people need to work
in a central office location, and are instead able to do their jobs remotely. On the other hand,
these trends are increasing workplace diversity through the growth of a multigenerational,
flexibly skilled, cross-cultural workforce, which is requiring more sophisticated people
management practices.

5. Education
While education responses are common solutions to demographic challenges, the traditional
educational sector is becoming a workplace challenge in itself. Business practitioners are
finding the divide between acquired formal professional qualifications and workplace
learning needs is getting wider. Plus, the quality of tertiary and technical qualifications varies
enormously across institutional providers.

6. Smart work
Smart work in the services sector is now dominating employment growth patterns. The
momentum of this is being met by relative reductions for labour required in the agriculture
and manufacturing sectors, and the social and political resistance to this is finally crumbling.

7. Income distribution
Not all our global changes are simple net positives. Many connote serious tensions. Society’s
standards for greater equity are intensifying demands for better income distribution and
benefit sharing between wages and profits, and to even out regional growth disparities within
Australia and internationally.
What is manpower planning?
Manpower Planning which is also called as Human Resource Planning consists of putting right number of
people, right kind of people at the right place, right time, doing the right things for which they are suited for the
achievement of goals of the organization. Human Resource Planning has got an important place in the arena of
industrialization. Human Resource Planning has to be a systems approach and is carried out in a set procedure.
The procedure is as follows:

1. Analysing the current manpower inventory

2. Making future manpower forecasts
3. Developing employment programmes
4. Design training programmes

Importance of Manpower Planning

1. Key to managerial functions- The four managerial functions, i.e., planning, organizing, directing and
controlling are based upon the manpower. Human resources help in the implementation of all these
managerial activities. Therefore, staffing becomes a key to all managerial functions.
2. Efficient utilization- Efficient management of personnels becomes an important function in the
industrialization world of today. Seting of large scale enterprises require management of large scale
manpower. It can be effectively done through staffing function.
3. Motivation- Staffing function not only includes putting right men on right job, but it also comprises of
motivational programmes, i.e., incentive plans to be framed for further participation and employment
of employees in a concern. Therefore, all types of incentive plans becomes an integral part of staffing
function.
4. Better human relations- A concern can stabilize itself if human relations develop and are strong.
Human relations become strong trough effective control, clear communication, effective supervision
and leadership in a concern. Staffing function also looks after training and development of the work
force which leads to co-operation and better human relations.
5. Higher productivity- Productivity level increases when resources are utilized in best possible manner.
higher productivity is a result of minimum wastage of time, money, efforts and energies. This is
possible through the staffing and it's related activities ( Performance appraisal, training and
development, remuneration)
What are the future challenges before managers?

Challenge # 1. Globalisation:

Almost all home companies face the challenge of competition with

their international counterparts. Small retailers, big manufacturers,
all are competing with the international products. It has resulted in
greater complexities, greater economic and political risk and
uncertainty. The problems of internationalization are faced in the
fields of goods and services, finance, human resource and
advertising. An important question that managers have to answer,
therefore, is “Should we focus on globalisation or regionalism?”

“Globalisation means that activities be managed from an overall

global perspective as part of an integrated system. Regionalism
involves managing within each region with less regard for the
overall organisation”. It is observed that most companies manage
their finance and manufacturing activities at the global level and
human resource and advertising at the regional level.

Challenge # 2. Quality and Productivity:

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Companies compete with international competitors with respect to

quality and productivity of goods and services. Successful
companies have been able to maintain and enhance the quality of
goods and services with fewer resources (productivity). Managers
must, therefore, focus on producing more and better with fewer
resources.

Quality is “the totality of features and characteristics of a product or

service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs”.
Productivity is “an economic measure of efficiency that summaries
the value of outputs relative to the value of the inputs used to create
them”. Quality and productivity are important determinants of
business that affect its success.
Challenge # 3. Ownership:

Another area that concerns managers is ownership. Large foreign

investors are buying stocks of home companies and ownership can
be transferred in their hands. Profitability and productivity, thus,
may suffer.

Challenge # 4. Environment:

Environment is changing at a fast rate. Organisations have to

change with the competitive environment to maintain their
customers. Managers should develop deep understanding of the
internal and external environmental factors and their application to
business operations.

Challenge # 5. Strategy Formulation:

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Just as everything around is constantly changing, business firms

must watch the strategies and strategic management. Strategies
keep changing according to environmental changes. “Strategic
management is a way of approaching business opportunities and
challenges—it is a comprehensive and ongoing management process
aimed at formulating and implementing effective strategies.”

It keeps managers constantly involved and promotes healthy

interaction between the organisation and the environment.
Managers who frame effective strategies will remain in the market
and those who fail to do so will leave the market. Strategy
formulation, therefore, requires constant attention of contemporary
managers.

Challenge # 6. Ethics and Social Responsibility:

Firms which do not adhere to ethical standards and social

responsibilities are not accepted by the society. It is, therefore, a
challenge for managers to define relationships with the social
environment. Organization that violates social expectations has the
risk of legal interference, loss of goodwill and even loss of business.
Challenge # 7. Workforce Diversity:

Diversity in the workforce exists when members differ along

dimensions like race, colour, caste, creed, nationality, gender etc.
Traditionally, organisations were managed by workforce with no or
very little diversity, like all men, all whites or all Indians but today
almost all organisations experience tremendous change in the
composition of workforce. Firms employ people from diverse sets of
cultural, social, economic and ethical backgrounds at almost every
organisational level.

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Though diversity offers competitive advantage in terms of cost,

resource acquisition, marketing, creativity, problem-solving and
systems flexibility, it also becomes a source of conflict in many
organisations. People native to the organisation may not readily
accept to work with people of other cultural backgrounds.

Even if they agree to do so, there may arise a fear, distrust or

individual prejudices in the work environment. If the Indian
manager praises the U.S. worker publically, it may create
unhappiness amongst the Indian workers.

The organisations, therefore, face the challenge of addressing a

variety of issues, opportunities and problems created by the diverse
workforce. In the globalized world, diversity cannot be avoided.
Managers have to radically devise means to overcome the problems
of diversity. Though largely it has been done, problems, if any, have
to be overcome.

Challenge # 8. Change:

Change is a continuous process. If firms want to compete in the

complex, dynamic and diverse environment as they are facing
today, where expectations from managers and their organisations
are on an ever increase, they must accept the changes that confront
their every day life.

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Firms which do not change their operations with the changing
environment (internal and external) may have to close their
operations. Managers have to continuously respond to change and
look to future with hope and optimism.

Challenge # 9. Empowerment:

Though management is ‘the art of getting things done through

others,’ the others/subordinates will not do things if they have to
merely carry out the orders and instructions of managers. Workers
want more information about the organisation to perform and
control their jobs. Participative decision-making and formation of
groups and work teams help in fulfillment of individual, group and
organisational goals.

The basic requirement, therefore, is to communicate with the

external environment and their workforce. Communication is a
major task of managers today. They must convey organisational
goals to individuals and understand their individual goals, in turn.
Failure to do so will result in loss of empowerment. This will affect
organisational goals, both quantitative and qualitative.

Challenge # 10. Information Technology:

Information technology “refers to the resources used by an

organisation to manage information that it needs to carry out its
mission”. Information is an important part of communication and
managers have to be careful in selecting the amount and type of
information (out of the large quantity of information available) for
carrying out the business operations. Lack of control over use of
information can result in lack of control over business operations.

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Managers have to carefully collect the right information, use it

effectively and ensure that right information is leaving the
organisation to enter the environment. Management Information
System (MIS) has largely taken care of this.
Some of the major challenges faced by human resource managers
are as follows: 1. Recruitment and Selection 2. Emotional and
Physical Stability of Employees 3. Balance Between Management
and Employees 4. Training, Development and Compensation 5.
Performance Appraisal 6. Dealing with Trade Union.

1. Recruitment and Selection:

Finding a suitable candidate for the job from a large number of
applicants is a basic problem for the human resource manager.
They have to make suitable changes from time to time in the
selection procedure and see to it that the candidate is up to the
mark fulfilling the job requirements. If required, the candidate
should be provided with training to get quality results.

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2. Emotional and Physical Stability of Employees:

Providing with wages and salaries to employees is not sufficient in
today’s world. The human resource manager should maintain
proper emotional balance of employees. They should try to
understand the attitude, requirements and feelings of employees,
and motivate them whenever and wherever required.

3. Balance Between Management and Employees:

The human resource manager has a responsibility to balance the
interest of management and employees. Profits, commitment,
cooperation, loyalty, and sincerely are the factors expected by
management, whereas better salaries and wages, safety and
security, healthy working conditions, career development, and
participative working are the factors expected by employees from
management.

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4. Training, Development and Compensation:

A planned execution of training programmes and managerial
development programmes is required to be undertaken to sharpen
and enhance the skills, and to develop knowledge of employees.
Compensation in the form of salary, bonus, allowances, incentives
and perquisites is to be paid according to the performance of
people. A word or letter of appreciation is also to be given, if some
of them have done their jobs beyond expectations to keep their
morale up.

5. Performance Appraisal:
This activity should not be considered a routine process by the
human resource manager. If employees are not getting proper
feedback from them, it may affect their future work. A scientific
appraisal technique according to changing needs should be applied
and the quality of it should be checked from time to time.

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6. Dealing with Trade Union:

Union members are to be handled skillfully as they are usually the
people who oppose the company policies and procedures. Demands
of the union and interests of the management should be matched
properly.
HRM can be a challenge for small businesses especially, which typically don’t
have an HR department to rely on. They may be limited to one HR person, or this
responsibility may still belong to the CEO. Regardless, small business owners need
to understand the challenges facing them so they’re prepared to tackle HR issues as
their company, and workforce, grows.

Here are 10 of today’s most common human resource challenges along with
solutions you can quickly implement in your business.

#1 Compliance with Laws and Regulation

Keeping up with changing employment laws is a struggle for business owners.

Many choose to ignore employment laws, believing they don’t apply to their
business. But doing so could mean audits, lawsuits, and possibly even the demise
of your company.

Solution:

No matter how large or small your business, it’s important to make sure you’re in
compliance with local, state, and federal labor laws. There are regulations on
everything from hiring practices, to wage payment, to workplace safety. Take a
few minutes to read through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment Law
Guide.

#2 Management Changes

As a business grows, its strategies, structure, and internal processes grow with it.
Some employees have a hard time coping with these changes. A lot of companies
experience decreased productivity and morale during periods of change.

Solution:

Business owners should focus on communicating the benefits of the change for
everyone. Regular staff meetings are a good place to start. When your team
understands the why, how, and when of the change, they’ll be more likely to get on
board.

#3 Leadership Development
A recent study showed more than a third of companies are doing an average job, at
best, at implementing leadership development programs. Thirty-six percent of
companies surveyed in Brandon Hall Group’s State of Leadership Development
Study admitted that their leadership development practices are below average.

Solution:

Leadership development is critical in keeping your management team engaged and

motivated, and prepares them to take on more responsibilities in the future. Make it
part of the culture. Create opportunities for them to use their strengths every day.
Accomplishing goals will motivate them and give them a chance to develop their
skills.

#4 Workforce Training and Development

Investing in the training and development of lower-level employees is another

common HR problem. Some businesses have trouble finding the resources to do
so. Employees on the front lines are some of your hardest workers, and may not
have the time to take a training course.

Solution:

Training and development doesn’t have to take a lot of time or money. Recruit
managers and senior leadership in mentoring their subordinate employees. You
could also provide online training courses so people can go at their own pace.
Invest in your workforce and you will have a loyal, productive team.

#5 Adapting to Innovation

Technology is constantly changing. Businesses must be quick to adapt, or risk

being left in the dust by their competitors. The challenge for small business owners
is getting employees to embrace innovation and learn new technology.

Solution:

Communication is critical. With any change, make sure your team understands the
why, when, and how. Set clear goals for the adoption of initiatives, and provide
employees with the training they need to get comfortable with it.
 #6 Compensation

Many companies are struggling with how best to structure employee

compensation. Small businesses have to compete not only with businesses of a
similar size, but also with corporations with big payroll budgets. Plus, you have to
factor in the cost of benefits, training, taxes, and other expenses, which can range
from 1.5 to 3 times the employee’s salary.

Solution:

Even though salary is important, it isn’t always the most important factor for job
candidates. Creating a system to reward employees for excellent performance is
one way to make up for a lower salary. In addition, consider offering incentive
programs such as profit sharing or bonuses, which can be a win-win for the
employee and the company.

#7 Understanding Benefits Packages

The Affordable Care Act has been a pain point for many small businesses in the
past few years. Rising healthcare costs mean companies must either pass these
costs on to employees, or take a hit to their bottom line. Since good benefits
packages can be a deciding factor for potential hires, understanding them is key.

Solution:

For small business with fewer than 50 employees, there are many options for
offering healthcare benefits. One option is purchasing a plan through the Small
Business Health Options Program (SHOP) marketplace. Doing this gives you the
opportunity to take a tax credit, which can help offset costs.

And don’t forget about benefits such as:

 Unlimited vacation time

 Flex time
 Free snacks
 Wellness programs
 Commuter benefits

These benefits are affordable ways to offer extra perks—and they’re extremely
popular with today’s workforce!
#8 Recruiting Talented Employees

Attracting talent is a huge investment of time and money. It’s difficult for
entrepreneurs to balance between keeping a business running, and hiring the right
people at the right time. In addition, it’s impossible to know whether a candidate
will actually be a good fit until they’ve worked for you for a period of time.

Solution:

One of the best ways to find the right people for your business is to use a staffing
company. They provide temp-to-hire solutions that allow you to try out new
employees with little to no risk. You’ll save time, money, and frustration, and
maybe even find a future executive or business partner.

#9 Retaining Talented Employees

Competition for talented employees is fierce. Startups and small companies don’t
have big budgets for retirement plans, expensive insurance plans, and other costly
items that their larger competitors do—at least, not yet. Employee turnover is
expensive and can negatively impact business growth.

Solution:

Onboarding is highly effective for employee. Research shows having a structured

onboarding process means employees are 58 percent more likely to stay with a
company for three years or more. Read our article on 5 Employee Onboarding
Technology Solutions Your Company Needs to Be Using to learn about your
options.

#10 Workplace Diversity

Multiple generations. Ethnic and cultural differences. These are just a few of the
many factors that make workplace diversity a continual challenge for small
businesses. The risk of lawsuits for failing to protect employees from harassment is
real.

Solution:
Creating a culture of teamwork and respect will keep the work environment
positive and productive. In addition, implementing a diversity training program is a
must. Employers are responsible for setting standards of behavior in the workplace.
Standards and a system of accountability should be set up early on.

Here, we guide you through 10 common challenges that new managers face and tips
on how to overcome them.

1. Effective Communication With Your Employees

Building effective communication with your employees will give you a strong
foundation in your new role as a manager.

The way that we speak – and the way that we listen – play a vital role in
collaboration and teamwork. Not only that, the quality of communication on your
team impacts levels of trust and vulnerability, which are essential to creativity and
innovation.

As a new manager, it’s important for you to understand the communication dynamics
on your team so you can optimize the strengths and find ways to improve any
weaker areas. Every team is different, and learning the communication styles that
work best on your team will really strengthen how you work together.

2. Shifting Your Mindset Along With Your New Role

In your old role as an employee, your main focus was on accomplishing your tasks.
Now, your main focus is on helping others accomplish their tasks.

The key more than anything in this transition is to shift your mindset and take on a
new approach. Before you were in charge of yourself but now you’re a leader.

It’s your responsibility to oversee and guide your team, and this will
involve developing your soft skills. Listen and pay attention to the needs of your
employees to help them achieve the collective goals of your team.

3. Pressure To Perform As A New Manager

One of the most nerve racking things about being a first-time manager is the
pressure to perform. You’ve been given an incredible opportunity, and now you want
to show that you were worth it.
Remind yourself that you were picked for this position for a reason and that you
deserve to be there. Becoming a leader is a learning process, and you will learn the
most from the experience you gain as you go along.

4. Shifting From Coworker To Boss

In a situation where you’ve been promoted internally to a management position, you
might end up with some former coworkers on your team. This is a common situation
and can be awkward to navigate.

Remember that even though you’re a manager, you’re still a member of the team
that you’re leading. Your role on the team is to support your employees and ensure
that they have everything they need to succeed. Management is a two-way street,
and the success of your team is as dependent on you as yours is on them.

5. Managing Your Time

Balancing your own tasks while overseeing your team can be difficult. You might not
know how best to split your time, but remember that your team should always be a
priority.

You should strive to be as available to your team as possible, but it’s also important
that you set aside time to dedicate to your individual responsibilities.

6. Setting Clear Goals And Expectations

One of your main tasks as a new manager is to guide and motivate the employees
on your team. Part of that is making sure that your employees have clear directions
and common goals.

It’s important to make setting goals a team effort. According to Gallup, employees
want to see how their individual work contributes to the larger goals of their team and
the company:

Objectives and Key Results are great to align everyone on your team because the
“key results” set expectations very clearly. Both employees and managers will have
measurable results, making it easier to tell if they hit their mark or not.

7. Encouraging Productivity
As a manager, a key to your success is to make your team as productive as
possible.

This can be a challenge because all of your team members may have different
needs and work in different ways. Some people like working later, some earlier,
some people like being given specific instructions, some people like to have more
autonomy.
It’s important for you to create an environment that’s good for everyone. Try to find
out what works best and adjust accordingly.

8. Hiring For Your Team

Bringing someone new onto your team is a big decision. Don’t be shy to ask other
managers or people from the HR team in your company for help and advice.

It’s important that you look at possible candidates from an all-encompassing

perspective. Culture fit is as important as past experience. Look at your candidates
as unique and dynamic individuals, and think about what they’ll bring to the team
beyond their skill set.

9. Firing An Employee
Letting someone go from your team is a tough decision to make. What’s important
after you fire someone is to make sure that your team can recover from the loss.
Prepare as best as you can to compensate for the gap that will be created in your
team and their workflow.

Transparency is important in addressing your employees about a termination. Be as

open and honest as you can and allow for open communication between your
employees and yourself. Encourage them to come to you with any questions or
concerns they may have.

10. Asking For Help

You might feel pressure to have all the answers in your new managerial role, but it’s
okay if you don’t. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

Ask HR about training that you might not know about or expensing training courses
online. Seek out opportunities that can help you and your team succeed.
Steps in Manpower Planning
Most firms estimate how many employees they require in future. The demand for human talent at
various levels is primarily due to the following factors:

1. External challenges: Human Resource Planning

Process
These challenges arise from three important sources:

(a) Economic developments: Liberalisation, opening up of the banking sector, capital market
reforms, the on-line trading systems have created a huge demand for finance professionals during
1990-1995 in India.
(b) Political, legal, social and technical changes: The demand for certain categories of employees and
skills is also influenced by changes in political, legal and social structure in an economy.
(c) Competition: Companies operating in fields where a large number of players are bent upon
cutting each other’s throat (with a view to enhancing their market shares) often reduce their
workforce. Competition is beneficial to customers but suicidal for companies operating on thin
margins.

2. Organisational decisions: Human Resource Planning

Process
The organisation’s strategic plan, sales and production forecasts and new ventures must all be taken
into account in employment planning.

3. Workforce factors: Human Resource Planning

Process
Demand is modified by retirements, terminations, resignations, deaths and leaves of absence.
Past experience, however, makes the rate of occurrence of these actions by employees fairly
predictable.

4. Forecasting techniques: Human Resource Planning

Process
The manpower forecasting techniques commonly employed by modern organisations are given
below:

(a) Expert forecasts: In this method, managers estimate future human resource requirements, using
their experiences and judgements to good effect.
(b) Trend analysis: HR needs can be estimated by examining past trends. Past rates of change can be
projected into the future or employment growth can be estimated by its relationship with a
particular index.

Example:
Trend Analysis
2001-02 Production of Units: 5,000
2002-03 No. of Workers: 100
Ratio: 100:5000
2003-04 Estimated Production: 8,000
No. of Workers required: 8000 × 100/5000 = 160
If supervisors have a span of 20 workers, 8 supervisors are also needed in 2003-04.

5. Other methods: Human Resource Planning Process

Several mathematical models, with the aid of computers, are also used to forecast HR needs,
e.g., regression, optimisation models, budget and planning analysis.

Preparing Manpower Inventory

The basic purpose of preparing manpower inventory is to find out the size and quality of personnel
available within the organisation to man various positions. Every organisation will have two major
sources of supply of manpower: internal and external.

1. Internal labour supply: A profile of employees in terms of age, sex, education, training,
experience, job level, past performance and future potential should be kept ready for use whenever
required. Requirements in terms of growth/ diversification, internal movement of employees
(transfer, promotions, retirement, etc.) must also be assessed in advance.
The possibilities of absenteeism and turnover should be kept in mind while preparing the workforce
analysis. Through replacement charts or succession plans, the organisation can even find out the
approximate date(s) by which important positions may fall vacant. Frequent manpower audits may
be carried out to find out the available talent in terms of skills,
performance and potential.
2. External labour supply: When the organisation grows rapidly, diversifies into newer areas of
operations (merchant banking, capital market operations, mutual funds, etc. in the case of a bank) or
when it is not able to find the people internally to fill the vacancies, it has to look into outside
sources. To the extent an organisation is able to anticipate its
outside recruitment needs and looks into the possible sources of supply keeping the market trends
in mind, its problem in finding the right personnel with appropriate skills at the required time would
become easier. Organisations, nowadays, do not generally track the qualifications of thousands of
employees manually. Details of employees in terms of knowledge, skills, experience, abilities etc., are
computerised, using various packaged software systems. [There are over 300 computerised human
resource information systems now available].

Determining Manpower Gaps

The existing number of personnel and their skills (from human resource inventory) are compared
with the forecasted manpower needs (demand forecasting) to determine the quantitative and
qualitative gaps in the workforce. A reconciliation of demand and supply forecasts will give us the
number of people to be recruited or made redundant as the case may be. This forms the basis for
preparing the HR plan.

Formulating HR Plans
Organisations operate in a changing environment. Consequently, Human resource requirements also
change continually. Changes in product mix, union agreements, competitive actions are some of the
important things that need special attention. The human resource requirements identified along the
procedure outlined in the above box need to be translated into a concrete HR plan, backed up by
detailed policies, programmes and strategies (for recruitment, selection, training,
promotion, retirement, replacement, etc.).

1. Analysing the current manpower inventory-

Before a manager makes forecast of future manpower, the current manpower status has to
be analysed. For this the following things have to be noted-

 Type of organization
 Number of departments
 Number and quantity of such departments
 Employees in these work units

Once these factors are registered by a manager, he goes for the future forecasting

2. Making future manpower forecasts- Once the factors affecting the future manpower forecasts are
known, planning can be done for the future manpower requirements in several work units.

The Manpower forecasting techniques commonly employed by the organizations are as follows:

i. Expert Forecasts: This includes informal decisions, formal expert surveys and Delphi
technique.
ii. Trend Analysis: Manpower needs can be projected through extrapolation (projecting past
trends), indexation (using base year as basis), and statistical analysis (central tendency
measure).
iii. Work Load Analysis: It is dependent upon the nature of work load in a department, in a
branch or in a division.
iv. Work Force Analysis: Whenever production and time period has to be analysed, due
allowances have to be made for getting net manpower requirements.
v. Other methods: Several Mathematical models, with the aid of computers are used to forecast
manpower needs, like budget and planning analysis, regression, new venture analysis.
3. Developing employment programmes- Once the current inventory is compared with future forecasts,
the employment programmes can be framed and developed accordingly, which will include
recruitment, selection procedures and placement plans.
4. Design training programmes- These will be based upon extent of diversification, expansion plans,
development programmes,etc. Training programmes depend upon the extent of improvement in
technology and advancement to take place. It is also done to improve upon the skills, capabilities,
knowledge of the workers.
Case Study 1

2. What method of training would have been best under the circumstances? Would

you consider OJT, simulation or experiential methods? (10)

ANSWER

Employee training is one of the most critical parts of the employee experience. When a new employee

starts, they’re a sponge, ready to absorb information about your company, your policies and

procedures, and their role and responsibilities. Existing employees also need ongoing training to learn

new skills, improve existing ones and continue to grow over time. But what’s the best way to facilitate

the training process?

Case Study 2

1. Do Ms. Preeti’s problems seem to be the result of her lack of motivational immaturity or of

her lack of motivational attention to her people?

Yes. It will lead to lack of motivational immaturity for Ms. Preeti.

A drop in staff motivation can become contagious if the cause is not identified and addressed.

Management needs to be conscious of employee motivation, and that means being able to identify the

factors that cause a lack of motivation in the workplace. Become familiar with the factors that can

degrade staff motivation and design plans to combat these productivity killers.