HRM SHORT NOTES

Career Management: This is the process of designing and implementing goals,

plans and strategies to enable the organisation to satisfy employee needs while
allowing individuals to achieve their career goals.

Career Paths: The logical and sequential path through which one moves towards
his/her career goal.

Career Planning: This is the process offered by an organisation to its employees to

select career goals and the path to these goals.

Compensation Administration: The determination of how much an employee

should be paid.

Competitive Advantage: A unique capability in the organisation that enables

organisation to successfully complete with its competitors

HUMAN RESOURCE ACCOUNTING (HRA)

According to American Accounting Association, “HR accounting is the human

resource identification and measuring process and also its communication tot he
interested parties”. P.K. Gupta, The Director of Strategic Development –
Intercontinental Operations, of Legato Systems India, defines HRA as “Human
Resource Accounting (HRA) is basically an information system that tells management
what changes are occurring over time to the human resources of the business. HRA
also involves accounting for investment in people and their replacement costs, and
also the economic value of people in an organisation.”

HUMAN RESOURCE AUDIT

Human Resource Audit evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of the HR

activities in an organisation. It is a systematic review of the strengths. Weaknesses
and developmental needs of the HR while performing their duties in an organisation.
HR Audit is a process of examining policies, procedures, documentation, systems, and
practices with respect to an organisation’s HR functions. The purpose of HR Audit is
to improve HR activities and trace out shortcomings. The benefit of the audit is that
it provides feedback both to the HR managers and the organisation as to how well the
HR department is functioning. Simply, the audit is a quality control check on the HR
activities in an organisation.

Halo Effect: The tendency to let our assessment of a person based on one trait
influence our assessment of that person on other specific traits or qualities.
Head hunters: Private employment agencies specializing in middle-level executive
placements

Health: It is a state of ones complete physical, mental and social well-being

Hot-Stove Rule: A rule of administrating discipline comparable to touching a hot

stove, in that a warning is given the response is immediate, enforcement is consistent,
and the rule is applied impersonally to one and all.

Human Capital: The total value of human resources to the organisation in the from
of knowledge, education, skills and expertise of employees working therein.

Mentoring

Mentoring or Mentorship refers to a developmental relationship between a

more experienced person (mentor) and a less experienced partner referred to as a
mentee ( a person guided and protected by a more prominent person).

Outsourcing

In outsourcing, a company may draw required personnel from outsourcing

firms. The outsourcing firms help the organisation by the initial screening of the
candidates according to the needs of the organisation and creating a suitable pool of
talent for the final selection by the organisation. Outscourcing firms develop a pool
of human resources and make them available to various companies as per their needs.
The outsourcing firms charge the organisations for the recruitment services offered.

Key Terms and Concepts in HRM

360-Degree Appraisal: Appraisal technique uses all sources around the employee.
“360” refers to the 360 degrees in a circle. The feedback would come from
subordinates, peers, and managers in the organisational hierarchy, as well as self
assessment, and in some cases external sources such as customers and suppliers or
other interested stakeholders.

Brainstorming: A group creativity technique designed to generate a large number of

ideas for the solution to a problem. For Brainstorming a group of 10-15 executives
are constituted with a well defined problem and the group is required to find a best
solution to that problem. It is performed in a relaxed environment and the
participants are free to express their views on the problem. (An idea generating
process).

Career Development: The outcome of action on career plans as viewed by both

individuals and organisational perspectives.
Career Planning: A process of constructing a path for career movement for people
deployed in an organisation from their absorption stage to retirement stage.

Collective Bargaining: It is a process of negotiations between the employer and the

employees for arriving at an agreement to regulate the working conditions.

Competency Mapping: It refers to process designed to consistently measure and

assess individual and group performance as it relates to the expectations of the
organisation and its customers.

E-Recruitment: It is the use of technology to assist the recruitment process. The job
seekers send their applications or curriculum vitae ie., CV through e-mail using the
Internet. Alternatively job seekers place their CV’s in worldwide web, which can be
drawn by prospective employers depending upon their requirements.

Exit Policy: It refers to the guiding principles or procedures to be followed for

governing the termination of service of an employee.

Human Resource Information System (HRIS): It is the application of Information

Technology in the preparation and maintenance of HR data. A HRIS, or Human
Resource Information System, is a software solution for organisations to help
automate HR management.

Induction: a formal introduction of a new employee to a job. It is a process of

welcoming new employees, and familiarising them with the organisation, their jobs,
their supervisors, and their work groups.

Industrial Democracy: The organisation of any factory or other business institution

into a little democratic state with a representative government which shall have both
the legislative and executive phases.

Industrial Relation: The term industrial relation is used to denote the collective
relationships between management and the employees. The branch of industrial
relations focus on the relationship between management and employees, particularly
groups of people represented by a union.

Job Analysis: It refers to a detailed and systematic process of breaking down work
performed into a number of separate tasks and duties. It is a detailed process in that it
considers all tasks to be performed, sometimes dividing them between main tasks and
secondary tasks. It is systematic process in that if follows a step-by-step approach to
collect, record, analyse and interpret the information collected.
Job Description: A written description of a job which includes information
regarding the general nature of the work to be performed, specific responsibilities and
duties, and the employee characteristics requires to perform the job.

Job Description: A written description of a job which includes information

regarding the general nature of the work to be performed, specific responsibilities and
duties, and the employee characteristics required to perform the job.

Job Design: It refers to the mode of arranging a set of tasks involved in a job or
structuring of the entire job. It helps to ascertain the tasks involved in a job, the ways
to perform the tasks and the order of performance.

Job Enlargement: The number of tasks associated with a job is increased to include
more different tasks or to make the job varied for reducing monotony (repetitiveness).
It is a horizontal restructuring method.

Job Enrichment: Job enrichment is a process of extending the responsibilities

involved in a job to make it more challenging, interesting and rewarding. Job
enrichment gives the workforce more control in planning their work and deciding how
the work should be performed. It is a vertical expansion or restructuring which gives
the employee extra authority, autonomy and control over the mode of performing a
job. It is also known as Job Enhancement, Job Enrichment is a process of increasing
the depth of a job and not the number of tasks.

Job Evaluation: It is a process of determining the value of jobs to the organisation

in order to determine appropriate levels of compensation. It is a practice of ordering
jobs or positions with respect to their value or worth to the organisation.

Job Fair: A job fair is also referred as a career fair Job fest or career expo. It is a
fair or exposition for employers and recruiters to meet with prospective job seekers.

Job Rotation: Job rotation is the movement of an employee from one job to another.
Job rotation helps employees to reduce dullness and acquire a wide base of knowledge
and skills (multiple skills).

Mentor: A mentor is usually a senior person in the organisation who uses his holistic
knowledge of the company and its culture to help a junior in a acquiring the right
perspectives. This perspective helps the junior employee in understanding what to
expect, what not to expect, how people have succeeded or failed, how to look for
growth opportunities with the organisation, etc.

Orientation: A formal introduction of a new employee to a job. It is a process of

welcoming new employees, and familiarising them with the organisation, their jobs,
their supervisors, and their work groups.
Performance Appraisal: The systematic, periodic and an impartial rating of an
employee’s excellence in matters pertaining to his present job and his potential for a
better job.

Poaching or Raiding: Poaching means employing a competent and experienced

person already working with another reputed company in the same or different
industry; the organisation might be a competitor in the industry. A company can
attract talent from another firm by offering attractive pay packages and other terms
and conditions, better than the current employer of the candidate.

Quality Circle (QC): A small group of employees doing similar or related work who
meet regularly to identify, analyse, and solve product-quality and production problems
and to improve general operations. The circle is a relatively autonomous unit (ideally
about ten workers), usually led by a supervisor or a senior worker and organized as a
work unit.

QWL: Quality of Work Life means the favourable conditions and environments of a
workplace that support and promote employee satisfaction by providing them with
rewards, job security, and growth opportunities.

Sensitivity Training: A psychological technique in which intensive group

discussion and interaction are used to increase individual awareness of self and others.

Succession Planning: The process of identifying and preparing suitable persons

through mentoring, training and job rotation, to replace key players such as the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) within an organisation as their terms expire.

Training Needs Assessment (TNA): It is an effective way to identify any gap

between the skills required by the organisation (desired skills) and the skills possessed
by the workforce (current skills).

Vestibule Training: A training method which provides training to the trainees in a

training room, located near to the work site with the same machines and processes
used in production.