5ced6438e4b0ef8521f80cbf Original

UNIT SNAPSHOT
UGC NET MANAGEMENT

Unit III
Human Resource
Management
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Strategic Human Resource Management
If a firm’s competitiveness depends on its employees, then the business function responsible
for acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating those employees has to play a bigger
role in the firm’s success.
The notion of employees as competitive advantage has therefore led to a new field of study
known as strategic human resource management, “the linking of HRM with strategic
goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop
organizational cultures that foster innovation and flexibility.”
Strategic HRM is concerned with the following:
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1. Analyse the opportunities and threats existing in the external environment.
2. Formulate strategies that will match the organisation’s (internal) strengths and weaknesses
with environmental (external) threats and opportunities. In other words, make a SWOT
analysis of organisation.
3. Implement the strategies so formulated.
4. Evaluate and control activities to ensure that organisation’s objectives are duly achieved.
Basically any strategic process can be broken down into two phases:
1. Strategy Formulation
2. Strategy Implementation
Let us examine the role of HR in these two phases separately.
Role in Strategy Formulation:
➢ The environmental scanning is followed by strategy formulation.
➢ Environmental scanning helps an organisation identify its opportunities and threats

prevalent in the external environment.
➢ Here, HRM proves of great help in scanning the existing (external) environment, and
thus, identifies the specific opportunities and threats of it for the organisation.
➢ Besides, HRM is also of great help to make the organisation competitive and make the
best use of intelligence available. This may include the incentive plans being used by the
competitors, customer- I complaints, labour laws, etc.

➢ HR also participates in strategy formulation process by supplying information regarding
the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses.
➢ IBM’s decision to buy Lotus was probably prompted in part by IBM’s conclusion that its
own resources were inadequate to enable the firm to reposition itself as an industry leader in
networking systems, or at least to do so quickly enough.
Role in strategy implementation:
➢ HRM plays a crucial role in the successful execution or implementation of company’s

strategic business plan.
➢ Example: Maruti Udyog and Hindustan Motors are manufacturing cars, essentially using
identical technology. The secret behind the meteoric rise of Maruti is its human
resource/workforce.
➢ HRM supports strategy implementation in some other ways as well. For example, HR is
today heavily involved in the execution of strategy in the form of downsizing and
restructuring strategies, through outplacing employees instituting performance linked pay
plans, reducing health-care costs and retraining employees.
➢ Instituting HR practices that build employee commitment can help improve an

organisation’s responsiveness.
Competancy Mapping
Competency Mapping is a process to identify key competencies for an organization and/or a

job and incorporating those competencies throughout the various processes (i.e. job
evaluation, training, recruitment) of the organization.

A competency is defined as a behaviour (i.e. communication, leadership) rather than a skill or
ability.
According to Boyatzis(1982) “A capacity that exists in a person that leads to behaviour

that meets the job demands within parameters of organizational environment, and that, in turn
brings about desired results”
The steps involved in competency mapping are presented below:

Methods of Competency Mapping:
Assessment Centre
• “Assessment Centre” is a mechanism to identify the potential for growth.
• It is a procedure (not location) that uses a variety of techniques to evaluate employees for
manpower purpose and decisions.
• It was initiated by American Telephone and Telegraph Company in 1960 for line
personnel being considered.
o The methodology usually employed through an open-ended questionnaire, gathering

retrospective data.

Group Discussions:
• In these, candidates are brought together as a committee or project team with one or a
number of items to make a recommendation on.
• Candidates may be assigned specific roles to play in the group or it may be structured in
such a way that all the candidates have the same basic information. Group discussion
allows them to exchange information and ideas and gives them the experience of
working in a team.
• In the work place, discussions enable management to draw on the ideas and expertise of
staff, and to acknowledge the staff as valued members of a team.
In Tray:
• This type of exercise is normally undertaken by candidates individually.
• The materials comprise a bundle of correspondence and the candidate is placed in the
role of somebody, generally, which assumed a new position or replaced their
predecessor at short notice and has been asked to deal with their accumulated
correspondence.
• Generally the only evidence that the assessors have to work with is the annotations
which the candidates have made on the articles of mail.
• It is important when undertaking such an exercise to make sure that the items are not
just dealt with, but are clearly marked on the items any thoughts that candidates have
about them or any other actions that they would wish to undertake.
Interview Simulations/Role Plays:
• In these exercises candidates meet individually with a role player or resource person.
• Their brief is either to gather information to form a view and make a decision, or
alternatively, to engage in discussion with the resource person to come to a resolution
on an aspect or issue of dispute.

• Typically, candidates will be allowed 15 -30 minutes to prepare for such a meeting and
will be given a short, general brief on the objective of the meeting.
• Although the assessment is made mainly on the conduct of the meeting itself,
consideration are also be given to preparatory notes.
Case Studies / Analysis Exercises:
• In this type of exercise the candidate is presented with the task of making a decision
about a particular business case.
• They are provided with a large amount of factual information which is generally
ambiguous and, in some cases, contradictory.
• Candidates generally work independently on such an exercise and their recommendation
or decision is usually to be communicated in the form of a brief written report and/or a
presentation made to the assessors.
• Of paramount importance, if the brief requires a decision to be made, ensure that a
decision is made and articulated.
Critical Incidents Technique
Critical incidents technique can be described as a set of procedures for systematically

identifying behaviours that contribute to success or failure of individuals or organisations in
specific situations.
• First of all, a list of good and bad on the job behaviour is prepared for each job.
• A few judges are asked to rate how good and how bad is good and bad behaviour,
respectively. Based on these ratings a check-list of good and bad behavior is prepared.
• The next task is to train supervisors in taking notes on critical incidents or outstanding
examples of success or failure of the subordinates in meeting the job requirements.
• The incidents are immediately noted down by the supervisor as he observes them.

Balance Scorecard
The Balanced Scorecard concept is a management and measurement system which enables
organizations to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into action.
The goal of the balanced scorecard is to tie business performance to organizational
strategy by measuring results in four areas: financial performance, customer knowledge,
internal business processes, and learning and growth.
The Balanced Scorecard method of Kaplan and Norton is a strategic approach, and
performance management system, that enables organizations to translate a company's vision
and strategy into implementation, working from 4 perspectives:
1. Financial perspective.
2. Customer perspective.
3. Business process perspective.
4. Learning and growth perspective.
The balanced scorecard forces managers to look at the business from four important
perspectives. It links performance measures by requiring firms to address four basic
questions:
1. How do customers see us? - Customer perspective

2. What must we excel at? - Internal perspective
3. Can we continue to improve and create value? - Innovation & learning perspective
4. How do we look to shareholders? - Financial perspective

Meaning of Career:
➢ A Career has been defined as the sequence of a person's experiences on different jobs
over the period of time.
➢ It is viewed as fundamentally a relationship between one or more organizations and the

individual.
➢ A career is a sequence of positions/jobs held by a person during the course of his working
life.

Career Development
➢ Career development is the process of improving an individual’s abilities in anticipation of

future opportunities for achieving career objectives.
➢ A formal approach taken by an organization to help its people acquire the skills and
experiences needed to perform current and future jobs is termed as career development.
➢ Company’s policies especially policies regarding promotion, counselling the employees,

opportunities to excel in future help employees to develop their career.
➢ Career development consists of skills, education and experiences as well as behavioral

modification and refinement techniques that allow individuals to work better and add value.
➢ Career development is an ongoing organized and formalized effort that recognizes people
as a vital organizational resource.

➢ It differs from training in that it has a wider focus, longer time frame, and broader
scope. The goal of training is improvement in performance; the goal of development is
enrichment and more capable workers.
Career Planning
➢ Career Planning is a relatively new personnel function.
➢ Career Planning aims at identifying personal skills, interest, knowledge and other
features; and establishes specific plans to attain specific goals.
➢ Career Planning aims at matching individual potential for promotion and individual
aspirations with organizational needs and opportunities.
➢ Career Planning is making sure that the organization has the right people with the right
skills at the right time.
➢ In particular it indicates what training and development would be necessary for

advancing in the career altering the career path or staying in the current position. Its

focus is on future needs and opportunities and removal of stagnation, obsolescence,
dissatisfaction of the employee.
Career Planning and Development Process
Performance Management
It is a continuous process of identifying, measuring and developing performance in

organisations by linking each individual’s performance and objectives to the organisation’s
overall mission and goals. Let’s consider each of the definition’s two main components.

Contributions of performance management systems
• Motivation to perform is increased
• Self-esteem is increased
• Managers gain insight about subordinates
• The definitions of job and criteria are clarified
• Self-insight and development are enhanced
• Personnel actions are more fair and appropriate
• Organisational goals are made clear
• Employees become more competent

• There is better protection from lawsuits
• There is better and more timely differentiation between good and poor performers
• Supervisors’ views of performance are communicated more clearly
• Organisational change is facilitated
Purposes served by a performance management system
• Strategic: To help top management achieve strategic business objectives
• Administrative: To furnish valid and useful information for making administrative

decisions about employees
• Information: To inform employees about how they are doing and about the organisation’s
and the supervisor’s expectations
• Developmental: To allow managers to provide coaching to their employees
• Organisational maintenance: To provide information to be used in workplace planning and

allocation of human resources
• Documentation: To collect useful information that can be used for various purposes (e.g.,
test development, personnel decisions)
Performance Appraisal

The performance appraisal is the process of assessing employee performance by way of
comparing present performance with already established standards which have been
already communicated to employees, subsequently providing feedback to employees about
their performance level for the purpose of improving their performance as needed by the
organisation.
Dale S. Beach, "Performance appraisal is systematic evaluation of the individual with respect
to his or her performance on the job and his or her potential for development".
However, we must distinguish between performance management and performance appraisal.
A system that involves employee evaluations once a year, without an ongoing effort to
provide feedback and coaching so that performance can be improved, is not a true
performance management system. Instead, this is only a performance appraisal system.
Although performance appraisal (i.e., the systematic description of an employee’s strengths
and weaknesses) is an important component of performance management, it is just a part of
the whole.
Performance Appraisal Process:

Traditional methods of Performance Appraisal
Rating Scales Method
o Rating Scales Method is commonly used method for assessing the performance of the
employees and well-known traditional method of performance appraisal of employees.
o Depending upon the job of employee under this method of appraisal traits like attitude,
performance, regularity, accountability and sincerity etc. are rated with scale from 1 to 10. 1
indicates negative feedback and 10 indicates positive feedback as shown below.

Essay Appraisal Method:
This traditional form of appraisal, also known as “Free Form method” involves a description
of the performance of an employee by his superior.
o The description is an evaluation of the performance of any individual based on the facts
and often includes examples and evidences to support the information.
o A major drawback of the method is the inseparability of the bias of the evaluator.
o Under this method, the rater is asked to express the strong as well as weak points of the
employee’s behavior.
o This technique is normally used with a combination of the graphic rating scale because
the rater can elaborately present the scale by substantiating an explanation for his rating.
Essay evaluation
It is a non-quantitative technique. This method is advantageous in at least one sense, i.e.,
the essay provides a good deal of information about the employee and also reveals more
about the evaluator.
The essay evaluation method however, suffers from the following limitations:
• It is highly subjective; the supervisor may write a biased essay. The employees who are
sycophants will be evaluated more favourably than other employees.

• Some evaluators may be poor in writing essays on employee performance. Others may be
superficial in explanation and use flowery language which may not reflect the actual
performance of the employee. It is very difficult to find effective writers nowadays.
Ranking Method
Under the ranking method, the manager com-pares an employee to other similar employees,
rather than to a standard measurement.
o An offshoot of ranking is the forced distribution method, which is similar to grading on a
curve.
o Predetermined percentages of employees are placed in various performance categories,
for example, excellent, above average, average, below average, and poor,.
o The employees ranked in the top group usually get the rewards (raise, bonus, promotion),
those not at the top tend to have the reward withheld, and those at the bottom sometimes get
punished.
o In Self-Assessment and Skill Builder 8-1, you are asked to rank the performance of your
peers.
Paired Comparison
A better technique of comparison than the straight ranking method, this method compares
each employee with all others in the group, one at a time. After all the comparisons on the
basis of the overall comparisons, the employees are given the final rankings.
Critical Incidents Methods

• This technique of performance appraisal was developed by Flanagan and Burns.
• The manager prepares lists of statements of very effective and ineffective behavior of an
employee.
• These critical incidents or events represent the outstanding or poor behavior of
employees on the job. The manager maintains logs on each employee, whereby he

periodically records critical incidents of the workers behavior.
• At the end of the rating period, these recorded critical incidents are used in the
evaluation of the workers’ performance. An example of a good critical incident of a
sales assistant is the following:
Confidential Report System
o Confidential report system is well known method of performance appraisal system mostly
being used by the Government organisations and in the Indian Judiciary.
o In this method of appraising system, subordinate is observed by his superiors regarding
his performance in the job and on his duties done.
o Thereafter Superior writes confidential report on his performance, mainly on his
behaviour in the organisation and conduct and remarks if any.
o Confidential reports will be kept confidential and will not be revealed to anyone and
finally confidential reports will be forwarded to the top management officials for taking
decision against person on whom confidential report has made.
o Confidential reports are the main criteria for promoting or transferring of any employee
mainly in the government sector.
Checklist Method
o The rater is given a checklist of the descriptions of the behaviour of the employees on job.
o The checklist contains a list of statements on the basis of which the rater describes the on
the job performance of the employees.
o A checklist represents, in its simplest form, a set of objectives or descriptive statements
about the employee and his behavior.
o If the rater believes strongly that the employee possesses a particular listed trait, he
checks the item; otherwise, he leaves the item blank.

o The following are some of the sample questions in the checklist.
• Is the employee really interested in the task assigned? Yes/No
• Is he respected by his colleagues (co-workers) Yes/No
• Does he give respect to his superiors? Yes/No
• Does he follow instructions properly? Yes/No
• Does he make mistakes frequently? Yes/No
Graphic Rating Scale
• This is the very popular, traditional method of performance appraisal.

• Under this method, core traits of employee pertaining to his job are carefully defined
like Attitude, Knowledge of Work, Managerial Skills, Team Work, Honesty,
Regularity, Accountability, Interpersonal relationships, Creativity and Discipline etc.
• These traits are allotted with numerical scale to tabulate the scores gained by appraisee
(employee) in performance assessment relating to his job by appraiser (employer) and
sum-up to determine the best performer.
• Appraiser ticks rating of particular trait depending upon his endeavour in his job. Score
vary from employee to employee depending up on his performance levels and
endeavour in his job.

Forced Distribution:
• Forced ranking is a method of performance appraisal to rank employee but in order of
forced distribution.
• For example, the distribution requested with 10 or 20 percent in the top category, 70 or
80 percent in the middle, and 10 percent in the bottom.
• The top-ranked employees are considered “high-potential” employees and are often
targeted for a more rapid career and leadership development programs.
• In contrast, those ranked at the bottom are denied bonuses and pay increases. They may
be given a probationary period to improve their performance.

Application of forced ranking
Modern Methods of Performance Appraisal
Assessment Centres:
o An assessment centre is a place to evaluate an individual potentiality and performance, so

as to position he/she in the core functional areas. normally, organisations outsource
assessment centres instead of making them by their own.
o An assessment center typically involves the use of methods like social/informal events,
tests and exercises, assignments being given to a group of employees to assess their
competencies to take higher responsibilities in the future.
o Generally, employees are given an assignment similar to the job they would be expected
to perform if promoted.
o The trained evaluators observe and evaluate employees as they perform the assigned jobs
and are evaluated on job related characteristics.
Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales

o Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) is a relatively new technique which
combines the graphic rating scale and critical incidents method.
o It consists of predetermined critical areas of job performance or sets of behavioral
statements describing important job performance qualities as good or bad (for eg. the qualities
like inter-personal relationships, adaptability and reliability, job knowledge etc).
o These statements are developed from critical incidents.
o In this method, an employee’s actual job behaviour is judged against the desired
behaviour by recording and comparing the behaviour with BARS.

Human Resource Accounting Method
o Human Resource Accounting is a method to measure the effectiveness of personnel
management activities and the use of people in an organization is the process of Assigning,
budgeting, and reporting the cost of human resources incurred in an organization, including
wages and salaries and training expenses.In this method the Performance appraisal of the
employees is judged in terms of cost and contribution of the employees.
o The cost of employees include all the expenses incurred on them like their compensation,
recruitment and selection costs, induction and training costs etc whereas their contribution
includes the total value added (in monetary terms).
o The difference between the cost and the contribution will be the performance of the
employees. Ideally, the contribution of the employees should be greater than the cost incurred
on them.
Management By Objectives
The definition of MBO, as expressed by its foremost proponent, Dr. George S. Odiorne,
“Management by objectives is a process whereby the superior and subordinate
managers of an organisation jointly identify its common goals, define each individual’s
major areas of responsibility in terms of the results expected of him, and use these
measures as guides for operating the unit and assessing the contribution of each of its
members.”

Much of the initial impetus for MBO was provided by Peter Drucker (1954) and by Douglas
McGregor (1960).
MBO is, thus, a method of mutual goal-setting, measuring progress towards the goals,
taking action to assure goal attainment, feedback, and participation.
➢ It is a result oriented philosophy, enabling an employee to measure progress toward a
goal which the employee often has helped to set.
➢ In the goal-setting phase of MBO, a superior and subordinate discuss job performance
problems and a goal is agreed upon.
➢ Along with mutual goal-setting, a major component of MBO is the performance review
session between the superior and subordinate, which takes place regularly to evaluate
progress towards specified goals.
The MBO process

360 Degree Performance Appraisal
• The 360 degree performance appraisal system is advanced kind of appraisal which is
used by many organizations where performance of employee is judged using the
review of around 7 to 12 people.
• These people are working with the employee and they share some of their work
environment.
• The feedback is gathered in the form of reviews in terms of competencies of the
employee.
• The employee himself or herself also takes part in this appraisal with the help of self
assessment.
• The 360 degree performance appraisal system is a way to improve the understanding of
strength and weaknesses of employee with the help of creative feedback forms.
Customer Feedback Method

• This method is truly one of the modern methods of performance appraisal system.
Customer feedback method is used, especially for sales staff who deal with sales
activity in the organisation.
• Under this method of appraisal system, customer feedback is directly linked with
employee performance.
• This method of assessment could be unbiased and reliable since customers who are
outsiders may give correct judgement about employee performance than the insiders
who are superiors.
Organisation Development
The term organizational development was coined by Richard Beckhard in the mid-1950s.
Organizational development is an acronym of two words i.e., organization and development.
Organization: A social unit of people that is structured and managed to meet a need or to
pursue collective goals.

Development: The systematic use of scientific and technical knowledge to meet specific
objectives or requirements.
▪ Organization development (OD) is a deliberately planned effort to increase an

organization's relevance and viability.
▪ Organization development is known as both a field of applied behavioral science focused
on understanding and managing organizational change and as a field of scientific study and
inquiry.
▪ OD is a systemic learning and development strategy intended to change the basics of
beliefs, attitudes, and relevance of values and structure of the current organization to better
absorb disruptive technologies, market opportunities, and ensuing challenges and chaos.
Definitions of OD:
According to Middlemist and Hitt define “organizational development is a systematic means

for planned change that involves the entire organization and is intended to increase
organizational effectiveness.”
Cummings and Huse define OD “A system wide application of behavioral science

knowledge to the planned development and reinforcement of organizational strategies,
structure, and processes for improving an organization’s effectiveness.”
Bennis.W define “Organizational development is a response to change, a complex

educational strategy intended to change beliefs, attitudes, values, and structures of
organizations so that they can better adapt to new technologies, markets, and challenges, and
the dizzying rate of change itself.”
Objectives of OD: According to somil aseeja, the objective of OD is:

o To increase the level of inter-personal trust among employees.
o To increase employee's level of satisfaction and commitment.
o To confront problems instead of neglecting them.
o To effectively manage conflict.
o To increase cooperation among the employees.
o To increase the organization problem solving.
o To put in place process that will help improve the ongoing operation of the organization
on a continuous basis.
Four major stems of OD
(1) T-group
(2) Survey Feedback Technology
(3) Action research
(4) Sociotechnical & Socioclinical approaches
o T-Group (Laboratory Training) – participants learn from their own actions and the
group’s evolving dynamics
o Developing reliable questionnaires, collecting data from personnel, analyzing it for
trends, and feeding the results back to everyone for action planning
o Diagnosing, taking action, re-diagnosing and taking new action
o Integrate social requirements of employees with technical requirements needed to do
work in provided environment.
Second-Generation OD
o Organization Transformation
o Organizational Culture

o Learning Organization
o Total Quality Management
o Visioning and Future Search
o Business Process Reengineering
o Quality of Work Life
Models and Theories
The action arena of OD is organizations. The name of the game is planned change.
Organization improvement programs require an understanding of change processes and
knowledge of the nature of organizations.
Kurt Lewin was the great practical theorist whose action and research programs provided
much of the early foundation for understanding change processes in social situations.
The second idea proposed by Lewin analyzes what must occur for permanent change to take
place.
He explained change as a three-stage process: unfreezing the old behavior, moving to a new
level of behavior, and freezing the behavior at the new level. This is a useful model for
knowing how to move an equilibrium point to a new, desired level and keep it there.
Ronald Lippitt, Jeanne Watson, and Bruce Westley later refined Lewin’s three phases
into a seven-phase model of the change process as follows:

Larry Griener’s Model:
According to Griener, change occurs in terms of certain sequential stages. The external
stimulus pressurises the management of organisation to initiate change process. The manage-
ment in response to stimulus is motivated to take actions to introduce change in organisation.
Following the actions, the various change stages occur in a sequential manner such as
diagnosis of the problem, invention of a new solution, experimentation with new solution and
reinforcement from positive results.
Leavitt’s Model:
Leavitt’s OD Model is founded on the interactive nature of the various subsystems in a
change process. In an organisational system, there are four interacting sub-systems- tasks,
structure, people and technology. Due to their interacting nature, change in any one of the
sub-systems tends to have consequences for the other sub-systems also.
Change in any one of the sub-systems can be worked out depending upon the situation. How
the various sub-systems, according to Leavitt, interact with each other in a change processes
depicted in the following figure.
Organisational Development Interventions

o "Interventions" are principal learning processes in the "action" stage of organization
development.
o Interventions are structured activities used individually or in combination by the members
of a client system to improve their social or task performance.
o They may be introduced by a change agent as part of an improvement program, or they
may be used by the client following a program to check on the state of the organization's
health, or to effect necessary changes in its own behavior.
o OD interventions are the building blocks which are the planned activities designed to
improve the organization’s functioning through participation of the members of the
organization.
Organisation Development Intervention cycle:

Some of the many OD interventions are:
1. Diagnostic activity: This activity involves collection of all the pertinent information about
the state of the organization. This can be done through the organization’s operations records,
observation of task activities, meetings with subordinates, and interviews with workers and so
on.
2. Team building: Team building activities are designed to enhance the effectiveness and
satisfaction of individuals who work in groups in order to improve the effectiveness of the
entire group.
3. Sensitivity training: refers to a method of changing behaviour through unstructured group

interaction. The idea is that in such training periods, the participants can openly express their
ideas, beliefs, perceptions and attitudes and they learn about interpersonal behaviour.

4. Intergroup relationships: Just as there are problems within a group, there are problems
among two or more different groups who are interdependent among themselves. The
activities of these groups must be synchronized and coordinated to achieve the organizational
goals and any unhealthy competition between the groups must be eliminated.
5. Process consultation: The purpose of process consultation is for an outside OD consultant

to assist the management, “to perceive, understand and act upon process events within the
organization. The consultant observes the processes such as communication patterns, decision
making and leadership styles, methods of cooperation and conflict resolution among members
and groups and acts as a guide or a coach who advises on how these processes can be
improved.
Organisational Changes
Organizational change is the process by which organizations move from their present state
to some desired future state to increase their effectiveness.
The goal of planned organizational change is to find new or improved ways of using
resources and capabilities in order to increase an organization’s ability to create value and
improve returns to its stakeholders.

Nature of Organizational Change
The term change refers to an alteration in a system whether physical, biological, or social thus
organizational change is the alteration of work environment in the organization.
Organizational change may have following features:
o When change occurs in any part of organization it disturb the old equilibrium of
organization.
o Any change in organization can effect either whole organization or some part of
organization directly or indirectly.
o Organizational change is a continuous process.

Causes of Organization Change;
Human Reactions to Change
When change is initiated both manager and employees react to it. Though human reaction to
change depends on the outcomes of the change particularly its impact on their need
satisfaction, often the attitudes of people play as a significant role in deciding human response
to change.
• Resistance
• Indifference
• Acceptance
Resistance to Change
Resistance to change is very common phenomenon. Not only employees but organizational
members such as top management people will also resist change.

Individual factors for resistance to change:
• Problem of adjustment
• Economic reason
• Emotional factor
• Fear of unknown
• Ego defensiveness
• Social displacements
Lewin’s Force-Field Theory of Change
A wide variety of forces make organizations resistant to change, and a wide variety of forces
push organizations toward change. Researcher Kurt Lewin developed a theory about
organizational change. According to his force-field theory, these two sets of forces are always
in opposition in an organization. When the forces are evenly balanced, the organization is in a
state of inertia and does not change. To get an organization to change, the managers must find
a way to increase the forces for change, reduce resistance to change, or do both
simultaneously. Any of these strategies will overcome inertia and cause an organization to
change.

An organization at performance level X is in balance (Figure). Forces for change and
resistance to change are equal. Management, however, decides that the organization should
strive to achieve performance level Y. To get to level Y, the managers must increase the
forces for change (the increase is represented by the lengthening of the up arrows), reduce
resistance to change (the reduction is represented by the shortening of the down arrows), or
do both. If they pursue any of the three strategies successfully, the organization will change
and reach performance level Y. Kurt Lewin, whose Force-Field theory argues that
organizations are balanced between forces for change and resistance to change, has a related
perspective on how managers can bring change to their organization (Figure). In Lewin’s
view, implementing change is a three-step process:
(1) Unfreezing the organization from its present state,

(2) Making the change, or movement, and
(3) Refreezing the organization in the new, desired state so that its members do not revert to
their previous work attitudes and role behaviours.
Change Agents
o These are the persons who initiate and manage change in the organisations. Change
agents are catalysts to manage changes.
o They are specialised in the theory and practices of managing changes. The change agents
may also help management recognise and define the problem or the need for the change and
may be involved in generating and evaluating potential plans of action.
o The change agent may be a member of the organisation or an outsider such as a
consultant. An internal change agent is likely to know the organisation’s people, tasks and
political situations, which may be very useful in interpreting data and understanding the
system. But sometimes, an insider may be too close to the situation to view it objectively.
o The external change agent is in a position to view the organisation meant for change from
a total systems view point and is much less affected by the organisational norms. He is likely
to have easy access to the top management.
Change Options
o Structure
o Technology

o People
o Physical Setting
Action Research
Action research is another view of the organisational change process. It is an organisational

change process that is based on a research model specifically one that contributes towards the
betterment of the sponsoring organisation and contributes to the advancement of knowledge
of organisations in general.
In Action Research, the change agent is usually an outside person, who is involved in the
total change process, from diagnosis to evaluation. This person usually contracts with the
sponsoring organisation to engage in organisational research, whereas the typical change
agent is called in to make a specific change. Action Research provides a scientific
methodology for managing planned change.
The process of Action Research consists of five steps as explained below:
(i) Diagnosis: In the first step, the change agent gathers information about problems,
anxieties and required changes from members of the organisation. The information is
gathered by asking questions, interviews, review of records and listening to employees. The
diagnosis will help the agent in finding out what is actually ailing the organisation.
(ii) Analysis: The information gathered in the first step is analysed in this step. The type
consistency and patterns of problems are studied. This information is analysed into primary
concerns, problem areas and possible actions.
(iii) Feedback: In this step, the change agent will share will the employees what has been
found in steps one and two. Thus, the employees will be actively involved in any change
programme. In determining what the problem is and how to create the solution. The change
agent, in participation with the employees, develop action plans for bringing about any
needed change.

(iv) Action: Action plans decided in the previous step are set in motion in this step. The
employees and the change agent carry out the specific actions to correct the problems that
have been identified.
(v) Evaluation: As action research provides a scientific methodology for managing the
planned change, in the final step, the change agent evaluates the effectiveness of the action
plans. Using the initial data as the benchmark, any subsequent changes can be compared and
evaluated.
Talent management
➢ Refers to the skills of attracting highly skilled workers, of integrating new workers, and
developing and retaining current workers to meet current and future business objectives.
➢ The process of attracting and retaining profitable employees, as it is increasingly more
competitive between firms and of strategic importance, has come to be known as "the war for
talent."
➢ Talent management is also known as HCM (Human Capital Management).
➢ Talent management is concerned with coordinating and managing the different talents
people have to offer within an organisation.
➢ This is done by studying and evaluating each individual on their skills, talent, personality
and character, in relation to filling a particular vacancy within the company.

➢ Everyone has different skills to offer and the hard part for a company is identifying those
that fit in with the existing company culture - effective HR procedures will be able to identify
these individuals and appoint them appropriately.
➢ Talent Management will not be successful if there isn't a system in place clearly
identifying performance results.
➢ If a member of staff is deemed average then they should be rewarded to reflect this,
whilst the high achievers in the company should receive higher rewards otherwise they will
become demotivated.
Meaning of Talent
• Ability, aptitude, bent, capacity, endowment, faculty, flair, forte, genius, gift, knack.
• Unusual natural ability to do something well that can be developed by training.
• Person or people with an exceptional ability.
Functions of Talent Management

In order to achieve the above mentioned objectives, various functions that an organization
should institute (through HRM and other departments) are given below:
• Talent need analysis

• Locating the talent resources/sources
• Attracting talents towards the organization
• Recruiting/appointing the talents (in house or outsourced)
• Managing competitive salaries/professional fees
• Training and development of talent pool
• Performance evaluation of talent
• Career and growth planning
• Retention management
Effective Measures to Hire and Retain Talent
It is vital for the HR department to hire the right employee for a proper role in the
organization or else increased attrition will contribute to the loss of business. Some effective
measures for HR to hire and retain talent are:
• Hire right people: Hiring the right people for the right job is beneficial to the
organization as well as new hires.
• Keep up the promises: When a company commits to one candidate, it has to live up to
their promise and vice versa.
• Good working environment: A healthy work environment is the key to the growth of any
business.
• Recognition of Merit: Timely motivation, rewards and appreciation will keep the
employees' spirit alive and encourage them to perform better.
• Provide Learning Opportunities: Regular learning opportunities, on and off the job
training sessions, management development programs and distance learning programs should
be conducted for employees.

• Time to de-stress: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Similarly, an increase in
work responsibilities and pressure can lower one's productivity. Regular entertainment
programs, fun activities, etc, will leave employees refreshed and increased energy.
Talent Management Process
• Understanding the Requirement: It is the preparatory stage and plays a crucial role in
success of the whole process. The main objective is to determine the requirement of talent.
The main activities of this stage are developing job description and job specifications.
• Sourcing the Talent: This is the second stage of talent management process that involves
targeting the best talent of the industry. Searching for people according to the requirement is
the main activity.
• Attracting the Talent: it is important to attract the talented people to work with you as
the whole process revolves around this only. After all the main aim of talent management
process is to hire the best people from the industry.

• Recruiting the Talent: The actual process of hiring starts from here. This is the stage
when people are invited to join the organization.
• Selecting the Talent: This involves meeting with different people having same or
different qualifications and skill sets as mentioned in job description. Candidates who qualify
this round are invited to join the organization.
• Training and Development: After recruiting the best people, they are trained and
developed to get the desired output.
• Retention: Certainly, it is the sole purpose of talent management process. Hiring them
does not serve the purpose completely. Retention depends on various factors such as pay
package, job specification, challenges involved in a job, designation, personal development of
an employee, recognition, culture and the fit between job and talent.
• Promotion: No one can work in an organization at the same designation with same job
responsibilities. Job enrichment plays an important role.
• Competency Mapping: Assessing employees’ skills, development, ability and
competency is the next step. If required, also focus on behaviour, attitude, knowledge and
future possibilities of improvement. It gives you a brief idea if the person is fir for promoting
further.
• Performance Appraisal: Measuring the actual performance of an employee is necessary
to identify his or her true potential. It is to check whether the person can be loaded with extra
responsibilities or not.
• Career Planning: If the individual can handle the work pressure and extra
responsibilities well, the management needs to plan his or her career so that he or she feels
rewarded. It is good to recognize their efforts to retain them for a longer period of time.
• Succession Planning: Succession planning is all about who will replace whom in near
future. The employee who has given his best to the organization and has been serving it for a
very long time definitely deserves to hold the top position. Management needs to plan about
when and how succession will take place.

• Exit: The process ends when an individual gets retired or is no more a part of the
organization.
Talent Management process is very complex and is therefore, very difficult to handle. The
sole purpose of the whole process is to place the right person at the right place at the right
time. The main issue of concern is to establish a right fit between the job and the individual.
Advantages of Effective Talent Management
• Competency gap between required competencies by the organization and available

competencies reduces significantly.
• Organization's effectiveness and efficiency can improve continuously.
• Helps in achieving the business goals with superior performance.
• Improves organization's overall culture and work climate.
• People are more satisfied.
• Retention of talent improves. People turnover goes down.
• Better overall growth of people associated with the organization.
Skill Management
Skills management is the practice of understanding, developing and deploying people and
their skills. Well-implemented skills management should identify the skills that job roles
require, the skills of individual employees, and any gap between the two.
To perform management functions and assume multiple roles, managers must be skilled.
Robert Katz identified three managerial skills essential to successful management: technical,
human, and conceptual.

o Technical skill involves process or technique knowledge and proficiency. Managers use
the processes, techniques and tools of a specific area.
o Human skill involves the ability to interact effectively with people. Managers interact
and cooperate with employees.
o Conceptual skill involves the formulation of ideas. Managers understand abstract

relationships, develop ideas, and solve problems creatively.
✓ A manager's level in the organization determines the relative importance of possessing

technical, human, and conceptual skills.
✓ Top level managers need conceptual skills that let them view the organization as a whole.
Conceptual skills are used in planning and dealing with ideas and abstractions. Supervisors
need technical skills to manage their area of specialty.
✓ All levels of management need human skills so they can interact and communicate with
other people successfully.

There are different types of skills in the corporate world. Soft Skills, communication skills,
business writing, corporate presentation, public speaking, sales, marketing, leadership and
managerial skills are few of the skills
Employees Engagement
Employee engagement is a fundamental concept in the effort to understand and describe, both
qualitatively and quantitatively, the nature of the relationship between an organization and its
employees.
o An "engaged employee" is defined as one who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about
their work and so takes positive action to further the organization's reputation and interests.
o An engaged employee has a positive attitude towards the organization and its values.
o In contrast, a disengaged employee may range from someone doing the bare minimum at
work (aka 'coasting'), up to an employee who is actively damaging the
company's work output and reputation.
Why Employee Engagement?
➢ An engaged employee is aware of business context and works with colleagues to improve
job performance for the benefit of the organisation.

➢ Defined as the level of commitment and involvement an employee has towards their
organisation and values.
➢ Engagement id closely related to job involvement and flow.
Actively
Enagaged
Categories
of Employee
Engagement
Not Actively
Engaged Disengaged
Actively Engaged:
➢ Known as Builders
➢ Realise their role expectations and strive to meet and exceed them.
➢ Perform consistently at high levels.
➢ They are passionate and innovative at work.
Not Engaged:
➢ Concentrate more on tasks rather than goals and outcomes.

➢ Tend to feel that their contribution is being overlooked and their potential is not being
tapped.
➢ Unproductive relationship with managers or co-workers exists.
Actively Disengaged:
➢ Cave Dwellers and are “virtually against everything”
➢ Being unhappy at work they sow seeds of negativity at every opportunity.
➢ Undermine the accomplishments of engaged co-workers.
➢ Cause great damage to an organisations functioning.
Employee Engagement holds a very important position, few key benefits include:
• Better Performance - Engaged employees work smarter, not harder. They keep
looking for ways to improve performance at their workplace. This means more sales,
lower costs, better quality and innovative products.
• Better Communication - Engaged employees communicate – they share information

with colleagues, they pass on ideas, suggest and advice and they speak up for the
organization. This leads to better performance, greater innovation and happier
customers.
• Greater Customer Satisfaction – Engaged employees go out of their way to meet

customers’ needs. Customers aren’t slow to notice and this leads to higher levels of
repeat business, at a good cost.
Aon Hewitt: Engagement Model

The Engagement Model goes beyond measuring people’s satisfaction with each of these
drivers. The model prioritizes the areas for improvement based on their potential impact on
engagement and, therefore, business performance. Another key premise of the Engagement
Model is that the Engagement Drivers are interrelated; they do not operate in isolation.
Methods of engaging employees – from entry to exit

Employee engagement approaches for new employees
➢ The right person at the right position and giving them a realistic job preview·
➢ A strong induction and orientation program
➢ Rigorous training and development, from technical to soft skills to leadership
development program

➢ Regular technical/soft-skill updates.
➢ Certification programs to drive people towards excellent performance
Employee engagement approaches for all employees
➢ Communications activities
➢ Reward schemes
➢ Activities to build the culture of the organization
➢ Team building activities
➢ Leadership development activities
Communications activities
➢ Communication forums to provide regular feedback to all people, including team

meetings & conferences.
➢ In-house magazines
➢ On-line communications, including discussion boards and blogs by company personnel
including senior management
➢ Monthly updates on corporate goals and directions
➢ Regular employee opinion and satisfaction surveys
➢ Active soliciting of employee feedback, including opinions
Reward schemes
➢ Compensation and benefit programs

➢ Stock ownership and profit sharing
➢ Recognition programs
➢ Idea collection schemes linked to rewards for idea generation
➢ Long service and good performance awards
Activities to develop the culture of the organization
➢ Clear and humane HR policies

➢ Pro-social corporate objectives and Corporate Social Responsibility
➢ Equal opportunities policies and practices
➢ Initiatives to maintain the quality of work life and a balance between
personal/professional lives· Developing a safe, clean and inspiring work environment
➢ Demonstrating a commitment to employees’ well being
Team building activities
➢ Team recreational activities, such as bowling, skating, trips to the cinema.

➢ Social activities, such as family gatherings and barbeques
➢ Community outreach activities such as volunteering and fund-raising.
Work Life Balance
➢ Work–life balance is the lack of opposition between work and other life roles.
➢ It is the state of equilibrium in which demands of personal life, professional life, and
family life are equal.
➢ Work-life balance consists but it is not limited to flexible work arrangements that allow
employees to carry out other life programs and practices.

➢ Work-life balance is a term commonly used to describe the balance that a working
individual needs between time allocated for work and other aspects of life.
➢ Areas of life other than work–life can include, but it is not limited to personal interests,
family and social or leisure activities.
➢ Technological advances have made it possible for work tasks to be accomplished faster
due to the use of smartphones, email, video-chat, and other technological software. These
technology advances facilitate individuals to work without having a typical '9 to 5 work day.
Causes of work–life imbalance
There are three moderators that are correlated with work–life imbalance: gender, time spent at
work, and family characteristics.
➢ Gender differences could lead to a work–life imbalance due to the distinct perception of
role identity. It has been demonstrated that men prioritize their work duties over their family
duties to provide financial support for their families, whereas women prioritize their family
life.
➢ Spending long hours at work due to "inflexibility, shifting in work requirements,

overtime or evening work duties" could lead to an imbalance between work and family duties.
It has been demonstrated "that time spent at work positively correlate with both work
interference with family and family interference with work, however, it was unrelated to
cross-domain satisfaction" .
➢ Family characteristics include single employers, married or cohabiting employers,

parent employers, and dual-earning parents. Parents who are employed experience reduced
family satisfaction due to their family duties or requirements. This is due to the fact that they
are unable to successfully complete these family duties.
Stress and Work Pressure

o Stress in the workplace can be defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses
that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs
of the worker. Workplace stress can lead to poor health and even injury.
o There are limits to what people are capable of handling, and those limits differ from one
person to the other. When employees exceed these limits, they may find themselves facing
problems so serious that they are unable to solve them on their own. That is when they are
facing a work pressure problem.
o When an employee is unable to meet the demands of work a work pressure problem
arises that can lead to work stress. Work stress can eventually cause the employee to feel
excessively tired, exhausted and depressed, as well as to suffer physical ailments.
Signs and symptoms of stress:

❖ Mental
❖ Emotional
❖ Physical
❖ Behavioural
Stress and work pressure are main contributors to work life imbalance.

IMBALANCE OF WORK
An imbalance is fundamentally a lack of clearly defined and consistently enforced boundaries
between work life and personal life. When we fail to have a healthy work life balance, people
end up experiencing emotional stress, anxiety and depression. Employees who have the tools
to balance their professional and personal lives are happier, healthier, and more productive.
Factor of Work Life Im-Balance
 Social Support  Organizational Factor  Stress Factor  Work Issue Factor  Family
Issues Factor  Individual Factor
Consequences of work life imbalance
The consequences of work life imbalance can be affected in many ways:
❖ Health Risks:
o Obesity: Not taking the time to exercise or eat well can increase obesity, which is
connected to heart disease and numerous other health risks.
o Exhaustion: Sleeping well can add years to a person’s life. Sacrificing sleep for work will
have negative effects on health and increase the chances of getting sick.
o Emotional problems: Stress and exhaustion will wreak havoc on emotional wellbeing.
This will affect relationships and personal identity.
❖ Absenteeism: Poor health results in employee absenteeism and thus is a costly problem
for employers. This can increase the cost to the organization as they have to pay the
employees sick pay and it can affect in loss of productivity to the organisation.
❖ Burnout: Overworked employees are mostly burn outs. Burnout is the physical and
psychological response to a long term stress. Signs of burn outs are lack of interest, lack of
emotion, lack of motivation, and possible depression.
❖ Stress: The effects of stress on heart health are deadly. Stress can lead to Cardiovascular
disease, Sexual health problems, Weakened immune system, Migraines and headaches, Stiff

muscles, Backaches, depression, Weight gain, Substance addiction, nervousness ,trouble
concentrating, Irritability, mental and physical fatigue.
Signs of stress are: Over emotion, Lethargy, Restlessness, Anxiety.
❖ Other causes of work life imbalance are:
o Less family participation
o Limited friendships
o Increased burdens and workload
o Distance in personal relations
o Decreased level of refreshment by oneself
Industrial relations
Industrial relations has become one of the most delicate and complex problems of modern
industrial society. Industrial progress is impossible without cooperation of LABOURs and
harmonious relationships. Therefore, it is in the interest of all to create and maintain good
relations between employees (LABOUR) and employers (management).

Concept of Industrial Relations:
The term ‘Industrial Relations’ comprises of two terms: ‘Industry’ and ‘Relations’.
“Industry” refers to “any productive activity in which an individual (or a group of
individuals) is (are) engaged”.
By “relations” we mean “the relationships that exist within the industry between the
employer and his workmen.”
Definitions:
The term ‘industrial relations’ has been variously defined. J.T. Dunlop defines industrial
relations as “the complex interrelations among managers, workers and agencies of the
governments”.
According to Dale Yoder “industrial relations is the process of management dealing with one
or more unions with a view to negotiate and subsequently administer collective bargaining
agreement or labour contract”.
Objectives of Industrial Relations:
The main objectives of industrial relations system are:-
1. To safeguard the interest of LABOUR and management by securing the highest level of
mutual understanding and good-will among all those sections in the industry which
participate in the process of production.
2. To avoid industrial conflict or strife and develop harmonious relations, which are an
essential factor in the productivity of workers and the industrial progress of a country.
3. To raise productivity to a higher level in an era of full employment by lessening the

tendency to high turnover and frequency absenteeism.

4. To establish and promote the growth of an industrial democracy based on LABOUR
partnership in the sharing of profits and of managerial decisions, so that ban individuals
personality may grow its full stature for the benefit of the industry and of the country as well.
5. To eliminate or minimize the number of strikes, lockouts and gheraos by providing

reasonable wages, improved living and working conditions, said fringe benefits.
6. To improve the economic conditions of workers in the existing state of industrial

managements and political government.
7. Socialization of industries by making the state itself a major employer.
8. Vesting of a proprietary interest of the workers in the industries in which they are
employed.
The following are briefly the causes of poor industrial relations:
• Mental inertia on the part of management and labour;
• An intolerant attitude of contempt of contempt towards the workers on the part of

management.
• Inadequate fixation of wage or wage structure;
• Unhealthy working conditions;
• Indiscipline;
• Lack of human relations skill on the part of supervisors and other managers;
• Desire on the part of the workers for higher bonus or DA and the corresponding desire of
the employers to give as little as possible;

• Inappropriate introduction of automation without providing the right climate;
• Unduly heavy workloads;
• Inadequate welfare facilities;
• Dispute on sharing the gains of productivity;
• Unfair labour practices, like victimization and undue dismissal;
• Retrenchment, dismissals and lock-outs on the part of management and strikes on the part
of the workers;
• Inter-union rivalries; and
• General economic and political environment, such as rising prices, strikes by others, and
general indiscipline having their effect on the employees’ attitudes.
Concept of Industrial Disputes

In common parlance, dispute means difference or disagreement of strife over some issues be-
tween the parties. As regards industrial dispute, since its settlement proceeds as per the legal
provisions contained in the ‘Industrial Disputes’ Act, 1947, hence it seems pertinent to study
the concept of industrial disputes from a legalistic angle.
According to Section 2 (k) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the term ‘industrial dispute’
means “any dispute or difference between employers and employers or between employers
and workmen, or between workmen and workmen, which is connected with the employment
or non- employment or the terms of employment and conditions of employment of any
person”.
Causes of Industrial Disputes

The following principles judge the nature of an industrial dispute:
1. The dispute must affect a large number of workmen who have a community of interest and
the rights of these workmen must be affected as a class.
2. The dispute must be taken up either by the industry union or by a substantial number of
workmen.
3. The grievance turns from individual complaint into a general complaint.
4. There must be some nexus between the union and the dispute.
5. According to Section 2A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, a workman has a right to
raise an industrial dispute with regard to termination, discharge, dismissal, or retrenchment of
his or her service, even though no other workman or any trade union of workman or any trade
union of workmen raises it or is a party to the dispute.
Forms of Industrial Disputes:
The industrial disputes are manifested in the following forms:

➢ Strikes
• Strike is the most important form of industrial disputes. A strike is a spontaneous and
concerted withdrawal of labour from production.
• The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 defines a strike as “suspension or cessation of work
by a group of persons employed in any industry, acting in combination or a concerted
refusal or a refusal under a common understanding of any number of persons who are or have
been so employed to continue to work or accept employment”.
According to Patterson “Strikes constitute militant and organised protest against existing
industrial relations. They are symptoms of industrial unrest in the same way that boils
symptoms of disordered system”.
Depending on the purpose, Mamoria et. al. have classified strikes into two types: primary
strikes and secondary strikes.
(i) Primary Strikes:

These strikes are generally aimed against the employers with whom the dispute exists. They
may include the form of a stay-away strike, stay-in, sit-down, pen-down or tools- down, go-
slow and work-to-rule, token or protest strike, cat-call strike, picketing or boycott.
(ii) Secondary Strikes:

These strikes are also called the ‘sympathy strikes’. In this form of strike, the pressure is
applied not against the employer with whom the workmen have a dispute, but against the
third person who has good trade relations with the employer.
However, these relations are severed and the employer incurs losses. This form of strike is
popular in the USA but not in India. The reason being, in India, the third person is not

believed to have any locus standi so far the dispute between workers and employer is
concerned.
General and political strikes and bandhs come under the category of other strikes:
➢ Lock-Outs:
• Lock-out is the counter-part of strikes. While a ‘strike’ is an organised or concerted
withdrawal of the supply of labour, ‘lock-out’ is withholding demand for it.
• Lock-out is the weapon available to the employer to shut-down the place of work till the
workers agree to resume work on the conditions laid down by the employer. The Industrial
Disputes Act, 1947 defined lock-out as “the temporary shutting down or closing of a place of
business by the employer”.
• Lock-out is common in educational institutions also like a University.
➢ Gherao:
• Gherao means to surround.
• It is a physical blockade of managers by encirclement aimed at preventing the egress and
ingress from and to a particular office or place.
• This can happen outside the organisational premises too. The managers / persons who are
gheraoed are not allowed to move for a long time.
• Sometimes, the blockade or confinements are cruel and inhuman like confinement in a
small place without light or fans and for long periods without food and water. The persons
confined are humiliated with abuses and are not allowed even to answer “calls of nature”.
• The object of gherao is to compel the gheraoed persons to accept the workers’ demands
without recourse to the machinery provided by law.
➢ Picketing and Boycott:

• Picketing is a method designed to request workers to withdraw cooperation to the
employer. In picketing, workers through display signs, banners and play-cards drew the
attention of the public that there is a dispute between workers and employer.
• Workers prevent their colleagues from entering the place of work and persuade them to
join the strike. For this, some of the union workers are posted at the factory gate to persuade
others not to enter the premises but to join the strike.
• Boycott, on the other hand, aims at disrupting the normal functioning of the organisation.
The striking workers appeal to others for voluntary withdrawal of co-operation with the
employer.
• Instances of boycotting classes and examinations are seen in the Universities also.
GRIEVANCE
✓ Grievance means any type of dissatisfaction or discontentment’s arising out of factors
related to an employee’s job which he thinks are unfair.
✓ A grievance arises when an employee feels that something has happened or is happening
to him which he thinks is unfair, unjust or inequitable.
✓ In an organization, a grievance may arise due to several factors such as:
1. Violation of management’s responsibility such as poor working conditions

2. Violation of company’s rules and regulations
3. Violation of LABOUR laws
4. Violation of natural rules of justice such as unfair treatment in promotion, etc.
Various sources of grievance may be categorized under three heads: (i) management policies,
(ii) working conditions, and (iii) personal factors

1.Grievance resulting from management policies include:
• Wage rates
• Leave policy
• Overtime
• Lack of career planning
• Role conflicts
• Lack of regard for collective agreement
• Disparity between skill of worker and job responsibility
2. Grievance resulting from working conditions include:
• Poor safety and bad physical conditions

• Unavailability of tools and proper machinery
• Negative approach to discipline
• Unrealistic targets
3. Grievance resulting from inter-personal factors include

• Poor relationships with team members
• Autocratic leadership style of superiors
• Poor relations with seniors
• Conflicts with peers and colleagues
It is necessary to distinguish a complaint from grievance. A complaint is an indication of

employee dissatisfaction that has not been submitted in written. On the other hand, a
grievance is a complaint that has been put in writing and made formal.
Grievances are symptoms of conflicts in industry. Therefore, management should be

concerned with both complaints and grievances, because both may be important indicators of
potential problems within the workforce. Without a grievance procedure, management may
be unable to respond to employee concerns since managers are unaware of them. Therefore, a
formal grievance procedure is a valuable communication tool for the organization.
Grievance Procedure
Grievance procedure is a Step by step process an employee must follow to get his or her

complaint addressed satisfactorily. In this process, the formal (written) complaint moves
from one level of authority (of the firm and the union) to the next higher level.
The grievance procedures differ from organization to organization.
a)Step Ladder Method: In the step ladder method (also called the formal procedure), the
aggrieved employee first places his grievance before his immediate superior/supervisor (who
acts as a first level grievance machinery) for suitable consideration. If the employee is not
satisfied with the decision given by his immediate superior, he is allowed to take his
grievance to the departmental head and to higher levels if necessary.
b) Open Door Method: Open door method (also called informal procedure) is an alternative
to step ladder method for the settlement of grievances of employees. Here, formal grievance
procedure is not followed. An aggrieved worker is allowed to go directly to the top
management executive with his complaint for consideration and suitable action (remedial
measure). There is no formal procedure.
c)Observations: A manger/supervisor can usually track the behavior of people working

under him. If a particular employee is not getting along with people, spoiling materials due to
carelessness or recklessness, remaining absent etc., the signals are fairly obvious. Since the
supervisor is close to the scene of action, he can always find out such unusual behavior and
report promptly.
d) Opinion Surveys: Surveys may be conducted periodically to elicit the opinions of

employees about organization and its policies. Group meetings, periodical interviews with
workers and collective bargaining sessions are also helpful in knowing employee discontent
before it becomes a grievance.
e) Gripe Boxes: A gripe box may be kept at a prominent location in the factory for lodging
anonymous complaints pertaining to any aspect relating to work. Since the complainant need

not reveal his identity he can express his feelings of injustice or discontent frankly and
without any fear of victimization. Gripe boxes are different from suggestions with name
written on them.
f) Exit Interview: Employees usually leave their current jobs due to dissatisfaction or better
prospects outside. Exit interview, if conducted carefully can provide important information
about the employee's grievances. If the manager tries sincerely through an exit interview, he
might be able to find out the real reasons why the employee is leaving the organization.
Labour Welfare
Welfare includes anything that is done for the comfort and improvement of employees and is
provided over and above the wages.
Welfare helps in keeping the morale and motivation of the employees high so as to retain the
employees for longer duration. The welfare measures need not be in monetary terms only but
in any kind/forms.
Employee welfare includes monitoring of working conditions, creation of industrial harmony

through infrastructure for health, industrial relations and insurance against disease, accident
and unemployment for the workers and their families.

LABOUR welfare entails all those activities of employer which are directed towards
providing the employees with certain facilities and services in addition to wages or salaries.
LABOUR welfare has the following objectives:
• To provide better life and health to the workers

• To make the workers happy and satisfied
• To relieve workers from industrial fatigue and to improve intellectual, cultural and
material conditions of living of the workers.
The basic features of LABOUR welfare measures are as follows:

LABOUR welfare includes various facilities, services and amenities provided to workers for
improving their health, efficiency, economic betterment and social status.
• Welfare measures are in addition to regular wages and other economic benefits available
to workers due to legal provisions and collective bargainin.
• LABOUR welfare schemes are flexible and ever-changing. New welfare measures are
added to the existing ones from time to time.
• Welfare measures may be introduced by the employers, government, employees or by any
social or charitable agency.
• The purpose of LABOUR welfare is to bring about the development of the whole
personality of the workers to make a better workforce.
Employee Welfare Benefits Schemes
➢ Organizations provide welfare facilities to their employees to keep their motivation levels
high.
➢ The employee welfare schemes can be classified into two categories viz. statutory and
non-statutory welfare schemes.

➢ The statutory schemes are those schemes that are compulsory to provide by an
organization as compliance to the laws governing employee health and safety. These include
provisions provided in industrial acts like Factories Act 1948, Dock Workers Act (safety,
health and welfare) 1986, Mines Act 1962.
➢ The non-statutory schemes differ from organization to organization and from industry to
industry.
Some of employee welfare Laws in India

Factories Act, 1948
• Maternity Benefit Act,1961 (with latest amendments)

• Employee State Insurance Act, [ESI] 1948
• Employees' Provident Fund Scheme, 1952.
• Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
Statuary welfare benefits
The statutory welfare benefits schemes include the following provisions:
1. Drinking Water: At all the working places safe hygienic drinking water should be
provided.
2. Facilities for sitting: In every organization, especially factories, suitable seating
arrangements are to be provided.
3. First aid appliances: First aid appliances are to be provided and should be readily
assessable so that in case of any minor accident initial medication can be provided to the
needed employee.
4. Latrines and Urinals: A sufficient number of latrines and urinals are to be provided in
the office and factory premises and are also to be maintained in a neat and clean condition.

5. Canteen facilities: Cafeteria or canteens are to be provided by the employer so as to
provide hygienic and nutritious food to the employees.
6. Spittoons: In every work place, such as ware houses, store places, in the dock area and
office premises spittoons are to be provided in convenient places and same are to be
maintained in a hygienic condition.
7. Lighting: Proper and sufficient lights are to be provided for employees so that they can
work safely during the night shifts.
8. Washing places: Adequate washing places such as bathrooms, wash basins with tap and
tap on the stand pipe are provided in the port area in the vicinity of the work places.
9. Changing rooms: Adequate changing rooms are to be provided for workers to change
their cloth in the factory area and office premises. Adequate lockers are also provided to the
workers to keep their clothes and belongings.
10. Rest rooms: Adequate numbers of restrooms are provided to the workers with provisions
of water supply, wash ba
sins, toilets, bathrooms, etc.
11. Maternity & Adoption Leave – Employees can avail maternity or adoption leaves.
Paternity leave policies have also been introduced by various companies.
12. Medi-claim Insurance Scheme: This insurance scheme provides adequate insurance
coverage of employees for expenses related to hospitalization due to illness, disease or injury
or pregnancy.
13. Sexual Harassment Policy: To protect an employee from harassments of any kind,
guidelines are provided for proper action and also for protecting the aggrieved
employee. For more information go through - Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
Non - Statutory Benefits

Many non-statutory welfare benefits may include the following schemes:

1. Personal Health Care (Regular medical check-ups): Some of the companies provide
the facility for extensive health check-up
2. Flexi-time: The main objective of the flexitime policy is to provide opportunity to
employees to work with flexible working schedules. Flexible work schedules are initiated by
employees and approved by management to meet business commitments while supporting
employee personal life needs
3. Employee Assistance Programs: Various assistant programs are arranged like external
counselling service so that employees or members of their immediate family can get
counselling on various matters.
4. Employee Referral Scheme: In several companies employee referral scheme is
implemented to encourage employees to refer friends and relatives for employment in the
organization.
Theories of Employee welfare
Policing Theory
➢ According to this view, the factory and other industrial workplaces provide ample
opportunities for owners and managers of capital to exploit workers in an unfair manner.
➢ This could be done by making the labour work for long hours, by paying workers low
wages, by keeping the workplaces in an unhygienic condition, by neglecting safety and health
provisions, and by ignoring the provision of elementary human amenities, such as drinking
water, latrines, rest rooms and canteens. Clearly, a welfare state cannot remain a passive
spectator of this limitless exploitation.
➢ It enacts legislation under which managements are compelled to provide basic amenities
to the workers. In short, the state assumes the role of a policeman, and compels the managers
of industrial establishments to provide welfare facilities, and punishes the non-complier.
Religion Theory
➢ The religion theory has two connotations, namely, the investment and atonement aspects.

➢ The investment aspect of the religion theory implies that the fruits of today’s deeds will
be reaped tomorrow. Any action, good or bad. is therefore treated as an investment. Inspired
by this belief, some employers plan and organise canteens and creches.
➢ The atonement aspect of the religion theory implies that the present disabilities of a
person are the result of the sins committed by him/her previously. He/she should undertake to
do good deeds now to atone or compensate for his/her sins.
Philanthropic Theory
➢ Philanthropy means affection for mankind. The philanthropic theory of labour welfare
refers to the provision of good working conditions, creches and canteens out of pity on the
part of the employers who want to remove the disabilities of the workers. Robert Owen of
England was a philanthropic employer, who worked for the welfare of his workers. The
philanthropic theory is more common in social welfare. Student hostels, drinking water
facilities, the rehabilitation of crippled persons, donations to religious and educational
institutions, and so forth are examples of philanthropic deeds.
Paternalistic Theory
➢ According to the paternalistic theory, also called the trusteeship theory, of labour welfare,
the industrialist or the employer holds the total industrial estate, properties and the profits
accruing from them, in trust.
➢ The property which he/she can use or abuse as he/she likes is not entirely his/her own.
He/she holds it for his/her use, no doubt, but also for the benefit of his/her workers, if not for
the whole society.
➢ For several reasons, such as low wages, lack of education, and so forth the workers are at
present unable to take care of themselves.
➢ They are, therefore, like minors, and the employers should provide for their well-being
out of funds in their control. The trusteeship is not actual and legal, but it is moral and,
therefore, not less real.

Placating Theory
➢ This theory is based on the assumption that appeasement pays when the workers are
organised and are militant.
➢ Peace can be bought by welfare measures.
➢ Workers are like children who are intelligent, but not fully so. As crying children are
pacified by sweets, workers should be pleased by welfare works.
Public Relations Theory

➢ According to this theory, welfare activities are provided to create a good impression on
the minds of the workers and the public, particularly the latter.
➢ Clean and safe working conditions, a good canteen, creche and other amenities, make a
good impression on the workers, visitors and the public.
➢ Some employers proudly take their visitors round the plant to show how well they have
organised their welfare activities.
Functional Theory
➢ Also known as the efficiency theory of labour welfare, the functional theory implies that
welfare facilities are provided to make the workers more efficient.
➢ If workers are fed properly, clothed adequately and treated kindly, and if the conditions of
their work are congenial, they will work efficiently.
➢ Welfare work is a means of securing, preserving and increasing the efficiency of labour.
Social Theory
➢ The social obligation of an industrial establishment has been assuming great significance
these days.
➢ The social theory implies that a factory is morally bound to improve the conditions of the
society in addition to improving the condition of its employees. Labour welfare, as mentioned
earlier, is gradually becoming social welfare.

Industrial Accident:
o According to the Factories Act, 1948: “It is an occurrence in an industrial establishment
causing bodily injury to a person who makes him unfit to resume his duties in the next 48
hours”.
o In other words, accident is an unexpected event in the course of employment which is

neither anticipated nor designed to occur.
o Thus, an accident is an unplanned and uncontrolled event in which an action or reaction

of an object, a substance, a person, or a radiation results in personal injury.
o It is important to note that self-inflicted injuries cannot be regarded as accidents.
An industrial injury is defined as “a personal injury to an employee which has been caused by
an accident or an occupational disease and which arises out of or in the course of employment
and which could entitle such employee to compensation under Workers’ Compensation Act,
1923”.
Types of Accidents:

Accidents may be of different types depending upon the severity, durability and degree of the
injury.
An accident causing death or permanent or prolonged disability to the injured employee is

called ‘major accident.
A cut that does not render the employee disabled is termed as ‘minor’ accident.
When an employee gets injury with external signs of it, it is external injury.
Injury without showing external signs such as a fractured bone is called an internal one.
When an injury renders an injured employee disabled for a short period, say, a day or a week,
it is a temporary accident.
On the contrary, making injured employee disabled for ever is called permanent accident.
Disability caused by accident may be partial or total, fatal or non-fatal.

Causes of Accidents:
The industrial safety experts have classified the various causes of accidents into three
broad categories:
1. Unsafe Conditions (work-related):

➢ These are associated with detective plants, tools, equipment’s, machines, and materials.
Such causes are known as ‘technical causes’.
➢ They arise when there are improper guarded equipment’s, defective equipment’s, faulty
layout and location of plant, inadequate lighting arrangements and ventilation, unsafe storage,
inadequate safety devices, etc.

➢ Besides, the psychological reasons such as working overtime, monotony, fatigue,
tiredness, frustration and anxiety are also some other causes that cause accidents.
➢ Safety experts identify that there are some high danger zones in an industry. These are,
for example, hand lift trucks, wheel-barrows, gears and pulleys, saws and hand rails, chisels
and screw drivers, electric drop lights, etc., where about one-third of industrial accidents
occur.
2. Unsafe Acts:
Industrial accidents occur due to certain acts on the part of workers. These acts may be the
result of lack of knowledge or skill on the part of the worker, certain bodily defects and
wrong attitude.
Examples of these acts are:

(a) Operating without authority.
(b) Failure to use safe attire or personal protective equipment’s,
(c) Careless throwing of material at the work place.
(d) Working at unsafe speed, i.e., too fast or too low.
(e) Using unsafe equipment, or using equipment’s unsafely.
(f) Removing safety devices.
(g) Taking unsafe position under suspended loads.
(h) Distracting, teasing, abusing, quarrelling, day-dreaming, horseplay
(i) One’s own accident prone personality and behaviour.

3. Other Causes:
These causes arise out of unsafe situational and climatic conditions and variations. These may
include excessive noise, very high temperature, humid conditions, bad working conditions,
unhealthy environment, slippery floors, excessive glare, dust and fume, arrogant behaviour of
domineering supervisors, etc.
Of late, industrial accidents have become common happening in our country. A brief
catalogue of major accidents in the recent past in India is produced here:
Safety:
In simple words, safety means freedom from the occurrence or risk of injury or loss. As
regards, industrial safety, it means the protection of employees/workers from the danger or
risk of industrial accidents. In other words, industrial safety refers to protection against
accidents occurring in the industrial establishments.

Indian standards Institute has done commendable job in this context and lays down as
follows:
(i) Safety precautions to be taken during manifesting operations.
(ii) Standards for proper lighting, ventilation and proper layout of the industrial unit.
(iii) Standards and specifications of safe industrial operations and practices etc.
(iv) Requirements for effective maintenance of tools and equipment’s.
(v) Guidance on safe cutting and welding processes.
(vi) Guidance on use of powered industrial trucks, belt conveyors and fire protection
equipment’s.
(vii) Safety requirements for personal protective equipment’s.
(viii) Classification of hazardous chemicals and provision of accident provision tags.
(ix) Markings for handling and labelling of dangerous items/ goods.
(x) Standards for safety:

(a) In industrial building
(b) Safety procedures to be followed in electrical work
(c) in use of electrical appliances in hazardous area and explosive atmosphere.
(xi) Specifications for protective clothing, safety helmets face shields and safety equipment
for eyes ears lags hands and feet etc.

Trade Union
Trade union Act 1926, Section 2(h) defines “Trade Union” means any combination, whether
temporary or permanent, formed primarily for the purpose of regulating the relations
between workmen and employers or between workmen and workmen, or between
employers and employers, or for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of any trade
or business, and includes any federation of two or more Trade Unions.
Provided that this Act shall not affect—
(i) any agreement between partners as to their own business;

(ii) any agreement between an employer and those employed by him as to such employment;
or
(iii) any agreement in consideration of the sale of the goodwill of a business or of instruction
in any profession, trade or handicraft.

There are three forms of trade unions:
• Classical: A trade union’s main objective is to collectively protect the interests of its
members in given socio-economic-political system. Trade Unions are the expressions
of the needs, aspirations and wishes of the working class.
• Neo-classical: It goes beyond classical objectives and tries to improve up other wider
issues like tax-reliefs, raising saving rates etc.
• Revolutionary: Change in the system. Establishing the rule of working class even
through violence and use of force etc.
Objective of Trade Unions:
(1) To improve the economic lot of workers by securing them better wages.
(2) To secure for workers better working conditions.
(3) To secure bonus for the workers from the profits of the enterprise/organization.
(4) To ensure stable employment for workers and resist the schemes of management
which reduce employment opportunities.
(5) To provide legal assistance to workers in connection with disputes regarding work and
payment of wages.
(6) To protect the jobs of labour against retrenchment and layoff etc.
(7) To ensure that workers get as per rules provident fund, pension and other benefits.
(8) To secure for the workers better safety and health welfare schemes.
(9) To secure workers participation in management.

(10) To inculcate discipline, self-respect and dignity among workers.
(11) To ensure opportunities for promotion and training.
(12) To secure organizational efficiency and high productivity.
(13) To generate a committed industrial work force for improving productivity of the
system.
Functions of Trade Unions:

(1) Collective bargaining with the management for securing better work environment for
the workers/ employees.
(2) Providing security to the workers and keeping check over the hiring and firing of
workers.
(3) Helping the management in redressal of grievances of workers at appropriate level.
(4) If any dispute/matter remains unsettled referring the matter for arbitration.
(5) To negotiate with management certain matters like hours of work, fringe benefits,
wages and medical facilities and other welfare schemes.
(6) To develop cooperation with employers.
(7) To arouse public opinion in favour of labour/workers.
Collective Bargaining
The phrase ‘Collective Bargaining' is coined by famous authors Sydney and Beatrice
Webb in their celebrated treatise on ‘History of Trade Unions’.

Collective Bargaining is a method of determining the terms and conditions of employment
and settling disputes arising from those terms by negotiating between the employer and the
employees or their trade union.
A collective bargaining process generally consists of four types of activities
Distributive bargaining:
▪ It involves haggling over the distribution of surplus.

▪ Under it, the economic issues like wages, salaries and bonus are discussed.
▪ In distributive bargaining, one party’s gain is another party’s loss.
▪ This is most commonly explained in terms of a pie.
▪ Disputants can work together to make the pie bigger, so there is enough for both of them
to have as much as they want, or they can focus on cutting the pie up, trying to get as much as
they can for themselves.
▪ In general, distributive bargaining tends to be more competitive.

▪ This type of bargaining is also known as conjunctive bargaining.
Integrative bargaining:
▪ This involves negotiation of an issue on which both the parties may gain, or at least
neither party loses.
For example, representatives of employer and employee sides may bargain over the better
training programme or a better job evaluation method.
▪ Here, both the parties are trying to make more of something.
▪ In general, it tends to be more cooperative than distributive bargaining.
▪ This type of bargaining is also known as cooperative bargaining.
Productivity Bargaining:
▪ This type of bargaining is done by the management, where the workers are given the
incentives or the bonus for the increased productivity.
▪ The workers get encouraged and work very hard to reach beyond the standard level of
productivity to gain the additional benefits.
▪ Through this form of collective bargaining, both the employer and the employee enjoy the
benefits in the form of increased production and the increased pay respectively.
Composite Bargaining:
In this type of collective bargaining, along with the demand for increased wages the workers
also express their concern over the working conditions, recruitment and training policies,
environmental issues, mergers and amalgamations with other firms, pricing policies, etc. with
the intention to safeguard their interest and protect the dilution of their powers.

Characteristics of Collective Bargaining:
• It is a group process, wherein one group, representing the employers, and the other,
representing the employees, sit together to negotiate terms of employment.
• Negotiations form an important aspect of the process of collective bargaining i.e., there
is considerable scope for discussion, compromise or mutual give and take in collective
bargaining.
• Collective bargaining is a formalized process by which employers and independent trade
unions negotiate terms and conditions of employment and the ways in which certain
employment-related issues are to be regulated at national, organizational and workplace
levels.
• Collective bargaining is a process in the sense that it consists of a number of steps. It
begins with the presentation of the charter of demands and ends with reaching an agreement,
which would serve as the basic law governing labor management relations over a period of
time in an enterprise.
Moreover, it is flexible process and not fixed or static. Mutual trust and understanding
serve as the by products of harmonious relations between the two parties.
• It a bipartite process. This means there are always two parties involved in the process of
collective bargaining. The negotiations generally take place between the employees and the
management. It is a form of participation.
• Collective bargaining is a complementary process i.e. each party needs something that
the other party has; labour can increase productivity and management can pay better for their
efforts.
• Collective bargaining tends to improve the relations between workers and the union
on the one hand and the employer on the other.

• Collective Bargaining is continuous process. It enables industrial democracy to be
effective. It uses cooperation and consensus for settling disputes rather than conflict and
confrontation.
• Collective bargaining takes into account day to day changes, policies, potentialities,
capacities and interests.
• It is a political activity frequently undertaken by professional negotiators.
Collective bargaining process comprises of five core steps:
1. Prepare:
• This phase involves composition of a negotiation team.
• The negotiation team should consist of representatives of both the parties with adequate
knowledge and skills for negotiation.
• In this phase both the employer’s representatives and the union examine their own
situation in order to develop the issues that they believe will be most important.

• The first thing to be done is to determine whether there is actually any reason to negotiate
at all.
2. Discuss:
• Here, the parties decide the ground rules that will guide the negotiations.
• A process well begun is half done and this is no less true in case of collective bargaining.
• An environment of mutual trust and understanding is also created so that the collective
bargaining agreement would be reached.
3. Propose:
• This phase involves the initial opening statements and the possible options that exist to
resolve them.
• In a word, this phase could be described as ‘brainstorming’.
• The exchange of messages takes place and opinion of both the parties is sought.
4. Bargain:
• Negotiations are easy if a problem solving attitude is adopted.
• This stage comprises the time when ‘what ifs’ and ‘supposable’ are set forth and the
drafting of agreements take place.
5. Settlement:
• Once the parties are through with the bargaining process, a consensual agreement is
reached upon wherein both the parties agree to a common decision regarding the problem or
the issue.
• This stage is described as consisting of effective joint implementation of the agreement
through shared visions, strategic planning and negotiated change.
Workers Participation In Management

Article 43A of the Constitution of India deals with 'Participation of workers in
management of industries' and falls under Part IV - Directive Principles of State Policy.
The State shall take steps, by suitable legislation or in any other way, to secure the
participation of workers in the management of undertakings, establishments or other
organisations engaged in any industry.
The concept of WPM is a broad and complex one. Depending on the socio-political
environment and cultural conditions, the scope and contents of participation change.
Objectives of Workers Participation in Management
1. To build the most dynamic Human Resources.
2. To satisfy the workers’ social and esteem needs.
3. To strengthen labour-management co-operation and thus maintain Industrial peace and

harmony.
4. To promote increased productivity for the advantage of the organization, workers and the
society at large.

5. Its psychological objective is to secure full recognition of the workers.
6. To establish Industrial Democracy.
Forms OR Methods of Workers’ Participation in Management:

1. Suggestion Method:
Under this method the suggestions from the workers are invited as regards improvement in
working, how to avoid accidents, cleanliness etc. The best suggestion from the worker is
rewarded and a certificate to that effect is given to the worker so that others can make better
suggestions in future. This is a method of encouraging workers’ interest in the industrial
establishment.
2. Co-partnership:
Co-partnership allows workers to participate in decision making. Under this method the
employees get shares of the company and establish their ownership. This is made possible
because the share of profit is not paid in cash but company shares are allotted to the workers.
Being shareholders of the company they are entailed to participate in management. This
increases the status of workers and leads to improvement in their attitude as they realize their
responsibility and relations between workers and management become smooth. They also
receive dividend on their shares.
3. Representation on Board of Directors:

Under this method one or two representatives of the workers are nominated on the Board of
Directors of a company. They enjoy same privileges and have the same authority as other
directors have. They participate in the decision making process as regards policies and
procedures. This is one of the most effective methods of ensuring workers’ participation in
management. Here the representatives of the employees to be nominated are elected or
suggested by the unions of the employees.

4. Works Committees:
The Industrial Disputes Act 1947 provides for establishing works committees in every
establishment employing hundred or more workers. This is made compulsory to ensure
workers’ participation through legislation. The work committee consists of equal number of
members of workers and employer. The object of establishing works committees is to
promote healthy industrial relations. However these committees so far failed to achieve the
objects as both workers and employers could not change their outlook.
5. Joint Management Councils:

Industrial Policy 1956 of government of India has stressed on joint consultation between
management and workers to maintain industrial peace and to promote better industrial
relations in the prime sector of industries. Under this system consultative committees are set
up consisting of representatives of employees and employers both. They are advisory in
nature.
These committees discuss the matters relating to workers and the working conditions. The
representatives of workers and employers discuss these problems. The managements consider
their decisions sympathetically and implement them though not mandatory.
6. Shop Councils:
Under this system the industrial units having employees 500 or more have to set up shop
councils in all shops and departments. The members of management and of workers have
equal representation. The total number of members should not be more than twelve.
The decision of the shop council is to be implemented within a month’s time. The tenure of
the council is for two years. The council should meet at least once in a month. The shop
council must make efforts to increase the productivity, to avoid wastages and to make
maximum use of machines and manpower and recommend the steps to remove absenteeism.
7. Joint Councils:

In order to ensure effective workers’ participation, joint councils were introduced. Every
undertaking employing 500 or more employees should set up a joint council at the unit level.
Organisation of the joint council was the same as of shop council. The joint council should
meet at least once in three months. It has a chairman, Vice Chairman and secretaries who
receive all the facilities required to perform their functions.
It deals with optimum production, fixation of productivity norms, matters unresolved by the
shop councils. Some of the state governments extended this scheme to the undertaking having
less than 200 employees. The scheme was implemented in about 1500 undertakings of public
and private sectors. Shop councils and joint councils were the schemes implemented during
emergency in 1975 but after the lifting of emergency the schemes have lost their effect.
Levels of Participation:
Workers’ participation is possible at all levels of management; the only difference is that of
degree and nature of application. For instance, it may be vigorous at lower level and faint at
top level. Broadly speaking there is following five levels of participation:
1. Information participation: It ensures that employees are able to receive information and
express their views pertaining to the matters of general economic importance.

2. Consultative participation: Here works are consulted on the matters of employee welfare
such as work, safety and health. However, final decision always rests at the option of
management and employees’ views are only of advisory nature.
3. Associative participation: It is extension of consultative participation as management here

is under moral obligation to accept and implement the unanimous decisions of employees.
4. Administrative participation: It ensure greater share of works in discharge of managerial

functions. Here, decision already taken by the management come to employees, preferably
with alternatives for administration and employees have to select the best from those for
implementation.
5. Decisive participation: Highest level of participation where decisions are jointly taken on
the matters relation to production, welfare etc. is called decisive participation.
International Human Resource Management (Human Resource

Management)

International human resource management is the study and application of all human resource
management activities as they impact the process of managing human resources in enterprises
in the global environment. It strives to meet organizational objectives and achieve
competitive advantage over competitors at national and international level.
International human resource activities:
▪ International human resource activities include major operative human resource functions
such as procurement, which involves human resource planning and induction.
▪ The second major activity is allocation; it involves the plan for using human resources
among various subsidiaries or projects.

▪ Effective utilization of human resources is the third human resource activity and helps in
maximizing the skills and efficiency of the human resources and productivity.
The activities of international human resource activities cover all the major activities like HR
planning, recruitment, selection, orientation, placement, training & development,
remuneration, and performance evaluation.
Categorization of countries in the concept of IHRM
In the concept international human resource management, the countries having headquarters
and subsidiaries are categorized as follows.
• Home country: Where the headquarters is located

• Host country: Where the subsidiary is located
• Third/other countries: These are the sources of finance and human resources
Types of employees in IHRM
The name international human resource management itself indicates that human resources are
recruited from various countries. Here nationals of various countries contribute their skills
and efficiently for the growth of the organization.
They are mainly three types, parent or home country nationals, host country nationals, and
third country nationals. These three types are differentiated on the basis of citizens of
headquarters of the company, citizens of the subsidiaries of the company, and citizens of
various countries.
Home country or Parent Country Nationals (PCNs)

Home country nationals are the employees of the organization and these are the citizens of the
country where the headquarter is located.
Host Country Nationals (HCNs)
Host country nationals are the citizens of the country where the subsidiary is located or when
any organization recruits the nationals of the country where the subsidiary is located.
Third-country Nationals (TCNs)
Third country nationals are the citizens of the other countries, and they are neither the citizens
of the country where the headquarters is located nor the citizens of the country where the
subsidiary located.
EPRG FRAMEWORK
➢ The degree, kind and nature of involvement that a company has in its International
business, vary widely.
➢ This model aims to identify the orientation of the organization.
➢ EPRG Framework helps the company to decide the way in which strategic decisions are
being made and how the company manages operations between headquarter and its
subsidiaries.
➢ Given by Wind, Douglas and Perlmutter
1) ETHNOCENTRIC ORIENTATION (HOME COUNTRY ORIENTATION)
The companies adopting or working in this way believe that home country is superior in
nature and when they dwell for the opportunities in the international markets they tend to seek
similarities with that of the home country. Ex: Nissan

2) POLYCENTRIC ORIENTATION ( HOST COUNTRY ORIENTATION)
The companies following the polycentric approach see each country unique and exclusive and
consider that the businesses are best run locally in the international markets. The headquarters
has a little control over the activities of each of its subsidiary markets. Ex: McDonalds
3) REGIOCENTRIC ORIENTATION (REGIONAL ORIENTATION)
The company that follows the Regiocentric approach of the framework studies the similarities
and differences in the world and its various operating regions and designs the strategies
accordingly. Ex: Loreal, Adidas

4) GEOCENTRIC ORIENTATION (WORLD ORIENTATION)
In this the companies are truly the global players as they display the act and strategy of ‘think
global, act local’. They view the entire world as their potential market and take effective and
efficient steps to satiate the needs and demands of the customers. Ex: Google, Microsoft

GREEN HRM
o In recent times the importance of Environmental issues and Sustainable development has
increased both in the developed and developing nations.
o Growing concern for global environment and the development of international standards
for Environmental Management has created a need for businesses to adopt ‘green practices’.
o With these concerns organizations today have become more conscious about the growing
importance of the integration of Environmental Management and Human Resource
Management i.e. ‘Green HRM’ Practices.
Green HRM is the use of HRM policies to promote the sustainable use of resources within
business organizations and more generally, promotes the cause of environmental
sustainability. It involves human resource initiatives to endorse sustainable practices and
increase employee awareness and commitments on the issues of sustainability.
Green HR consists of two essential elements:
➢ Environmentally-friendly HR practices
➢ The preservation of knowledge capital.

It entails undertaking environment friendly initiatives resulting in greater efficiency, lower
costs, and better employee engagement and retention which in turn help organization to
reduce carbon footprints.
o In fact Green HR policies focus on collective and individual capabilities to bring about
green behaviour. Such policies are aimed at developing an environmental corporate culture.
Green HRM focuses on employees’ environmental behavior in the company, which in turn,
could be carried on to consumption pattern in their private life
Green HRM Practices

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UNIT SNAPSHOT

UGC NET MANAGEMENT

Strategic Human Resource Management

Strategic HRM is concerned with the following:

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3. Implement the strategies so formulated.

Let us examine the role of HR in these two phases separately.

Role in Strategy Formulation:

➢ The environmental scanning is followed by strategy formulation.

➢ Environmental scanning helps an organisation identify its opportunities and threats

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Role in strategy implementation:

➢ HRM plays a crucial role in the successful execution or implementation of company’s

➢ Instituting HR practices that build employee commitment can help improve an

Competency Mapping is a process to identify key competencies for an organization and/or a

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According to Boyatzis(1982) “A capacity that exists in a person that leads to behaviour

The steps involved in competency mapping are presented below:

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o The methodology usually employed through an open-ended questionnaire, gathering

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Interview Simulations/Role Plays:

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Case Studies / Analysis Exercises:

Critical Incidents Technique

Critical incidents technique can be described as a set of procedures for systematically

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1. How do customers see us? - Customer perspective

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➢ It is viewed as fundamentally a relationship between one or more organizations and the

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➢ Career development is the process of improving an individual’s abilities in anticipation of

➢ Company’s policies especially policies regarding promotion, counselling the employees,

➢ Career development consists of skills, education and experiences as well as behavioral

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➢ Career Planning is a relatively new personnel function.

➢ In particular it indicates what training and development would be necessary for

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Career Planning and Development Process

It is a continuous process of identifying, measuring and developing performance in

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• Motivation to perform is increased

• Managers gain insight about subordinates

• The definitions of job and criteria are clarified

• Self-insight and development are enhanced

• Personnel actions are more fair and appropriate

• Organisational goals are made clear

• Employees become more competent

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• Supervisors’ views of performance are communicated more clearly

• Organisational change is facilitated

Purposes served by a performance management system

• Strategic: To help top management achieve strategic business objectives

• Administrative: To furnish valid and useful information for making administrative

• Developmental: To allow managers to provide coaching to their employees

• Organisational maintenance: To provide information to be used in workplace planning and

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Performance Appraisal Process:

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Rating Scales Method

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Critical Incidents Methods