HRM IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

Q1. Difference between managerial functions.

Ans:
managerial functions-
Planning:
A manager must plan ahead in order to get things done by his subordinates.
It is also important to plan in order to give the organisation its goals.
Planning helps establish the best procedures to reach the goals.

Organizing-
After the human resource manager establishes the Objectives and develops plans and
programs to achieve them, he needs to design and develop the organization
Structure to carry out the different operations.

Leading-
The directing functions of HRM involve encouraging people to work willingly and
Efficiently to achieve the goal of the organization. In simpler words, the directing
Functions of HRM entail guiding and motivating people to accomplish the personnel
programs.

Controlling-
Controlling is one of the important functions of HRM as it helps evaluate and Control
the performance of the department with respect to different operative functions.

Q2 Demand forecasting Techniques

Quantitative approaches: -
a) Trend analysis-
The study at a firm's past employment needs over a period of years to predict future
need.

b) Ratio analysis-
A forecasting technique for determining future staff needs by using ratios between
some Casual factor and number of employees needed

c)scatter plot-
a graphical method used to help identify the relationship between two variables such
as-
a measure of business activity and staffing levels.

d) regression analysis-
it is more sophisticated statistical technique to determine the line of best fit, often
involving multiple variables.

Qualitative approaches
a) Nominal group technique
A decision-making technique that involves a group of experts face to face.

b) Delphi technique
A judgmental forecasting method Used to arrive group decision, typically involving
Outside experts as well as organizational employees.

Q3. Surplus of HR

Managing Surplus of HR-

Natural Attrition
Deployment
Retrenchment
Outplacement
Lay-Offs
Leave without Pay(LOP)
Loaning
Work sharing
Reduced Work hours
Early/Voluntary retirement

Natural attrition:
Employee attrition is defined as the natural process by which employees
leave the workforce - for example, through resignation for personal reasons
or retirement - and are not immediately replaced. Some forms of attrition are
unavoidable, like if an employee is retiring or is moving to another city

Deployment:
Deployment is defined as the movement of staff from ones' current assignment
to another to meet operational needs.

Retrenchment:
Retrenchment meaning is terminating an employee due to the surplus of labor
or incapacity of employees to match the performance standards of the
company.

Outplacement:
Outplacement is the process an organization offers to employees whose
employment is ending, in order to facilitate their transition to a new job.
Outplacement is a formal and professional programmed involving various
services and guidance.

Lay-offs
A layoff is the termination of the employment status of a hired worker. This is an
action initiated by the employer. The former employee may no longer perform
work related services or collect wages. In some instances, a layoff is only a
temporary suspension of employment, and at other times it is permanent.

Leave without pay (LOP)

There are cases when an employee has exhausted all leave balance but still
requires time-off for some exigency. In such situations, companies allow them to
go on leave without pay (LWP). Since there is a loss of income (LOP) when an
employee avails this type of leave, it's also called LOP leave.

Loaning
During tough economic times, some companies utilize the services of loaned
employees to control labour costs. In loaned-employee agreements, the company
that provides the services of a loaned employee is legally responsible for
meeting employer-related requirements. The company that purchases the
services of a loaned employee is responsible only for paying the costs
associated with the employee services received, but can't be held legally
responsible for other expenses normally associated with employment.

Work sharing
Job sharing or work sharing is an employment arrangement where two people, or
sometimes more, are retained on a part-time or reduced-time basis to perform a job
normally fulfilled by one person working full-time. This leads to a net reduction in
per- employee income.

Reduced Work hours

Reduced Work hours is a provision given by an organization to a few employees
to work for a lesser number of hours as compared to the mandatory working hours set
for all employees.

Early/Voluntary retirement
Voluntary retirement scheme is a method used by companies to reduce surplus
staff. This mode has come about in India as labour laws do not permit direct
retrenchment of unionized employees.

Q4 job analysis methods

Observation : Under this method, data is collected by observing an employee while he

is at work.
• The job analyst on the basis of observation carefully records:
• what the worker does,
• how he/she does, and
• how much time is needed for completion of a given task.
• This is a method of seeking first-hand information relating to performing a job.
• However, this method is not appropriate in jobs which involve a lot of mental
activity. Eg:lawyer
 
● Interview: In this method, the job analyst directly interviews the job holder using a
structured set of questions related to the job where the answers are recorded.
• This method is found suitable particularly for jobs wherein direct observation is not
feasible.
• However, this method cannot be standardized as different interviewers will ask
different questions.
 
● Questionnaires: A specifically designed questionnaire including specific questions
about the job, job requirements, working conditions, equipment used is being given to
the employees to complete and submit the job analyst.
• Structured questionnaires are efficient to gather information.
• Open- ended questions are complex and time-consuming to analyze.
 
● Critical incidents: This method records specific behaviors of an employee while
doing a job that has led to success or failure in their job performance.
• It helps in identifying good and bad on-the-job behaviors.
• Job holders are asked to recapitulate and describe the past incidents related to their
jobs. The incidents so reported by the job holders are, then, classified into various
categories of behavior and analyzed in detail.
• This method is useful in improving employee’s performance in their job.
 
● Diaries and log records:
• In this method, the job holder is asked to maintain a diary recording in detail the job-
related activities for each day that provides accurate and comprehensive information
about the job.
 
● Technical conference :
• In this method, a conference is organized for the supervisors who possess extensive
knowledge about jobs.
• The job analyst obtains job information from the discussion held among these
experts/supervisors.
• However, the perception from the employee’s perspective is overlooked.

Q5 difference between selection and recruitment

Selection-
A process of picking the right candidate with prerequisite qualifications
and capabilities to fill the jobs in the organization.
Objectives of Selection-
Select the right person for the right job.
Improve of quality of hires.
Ascertain who fits the company's culture.
Choose the right selection method .

Process of selection-
Preliminary interviews
Blank application
Screening of applicants
Selection tests
Checking refences
Medical examination
Final approval
Evaluation of the selection programme
Final selection
Placement

Recruitment-
The process of searching finding and recruiting the best talent for an open job vacancy
within the organization in specific time and cost.

Recruitment Process
01. Identifying Job Requirement
02. Preparing Job description & Job Specification
03. Advertising the vacant position
04. Attracting candidates to apply for the job
05. Managing Applications
06. Scrutinizing Applications
07. Shortlisting Candidates

Sources of recruitment-
Internal Sources-
Transfers
Promotions (Or Demotions)
Referrals
Retired Employees
Previous Applications
Job Rotation
Job Enrichment

External sources-
Advertisements
lob Portals
References
Company's Career site
Social Networking Platforms
Placement Agencies/
Employment Exchanges
lob fairs
Campus placements
Professional Bodies

Q6 Methods,process and evaluation of traning

Training is a process of imparting the knowledge, skills and aptitudes necessary to

undertake the required jobs efficiently with a view to developing the worker to his
fullest potential.

Methods-
 On the job training methods

 job training-
It has been long considered a valuable tool to increase employee motivation.
Job rotation involves lateral transfers that allow employees to work at different jobs
and provides exposure to a variety of tasks.

• Apprenticeships-
Apprenticeships are frequently used in skilled trade or craft jobs such as building
trades. The experienced workers provides support and encouragement in addition to
training. eg. Plumbers

• Internships-
Internships are opportunities for students in higher education to utilize their
instruction and training in a chosen profession as part of their education.

 off the job Training Methods

 Multimedia Learning
It can demonstrate technical skills not easily presented by other training methods.
This may include Videos, games and DVD's that may be offered online.

 Simulations-
It involves learning a job by actually performing the work. Simulations methods may
Include case analyses, experimental exercises, computer simulations virtual reality
role playing and group interaction.

• Vestibule Training
Facilitates learning is using the same equipment that one actually will use on the job
but in a simulated work environment
eg . Cabin crews

• Classroom lectures:
Many organisations use Classroom instruction along with other methods to provide
a great deal of information in a limited timeframe.

Process -

1. Needs Assessment
2. Defining Training Objective
3. Designing a Training Program
4. Implementation of the Training Program
5. Evaluation and Follow up

Needs Assessment
The first step in the training process is to assess the need for training the employees. It
analysis what are the long term requirements of the organization and what does the
organization expects from the employees.

Defining Training Objective

After deriving the learning gap organizations should define the learning objective.
Goals and objective of training becomes the foundation of the training initiatives.
Hence determining the training objectives gives a direction to the entire learning
program.

Designing a Training Program

Once the objective of the training program is determined, it is time to analyze the
factors that need to be considered while designing a training program.

Implementation of the Training Program

Refers to putting the training plan into action. There should be a proper environment
created which is conducive to learning. It should be preferably a participative
approach and trainer should promote role-playing and interactive games to keep the
trainees involved.

Evaluation and Follow up

Training evaluation is done to check whether the goals and objectives of the training
have been achieved or not. Feedback needs to be taken from the participants on the
training results.

Kirkpatricks model of Evaluation of the training programme

1: Trainee reactions
2: Extent of learning
3: Learning transfer to job
4: Results or return on investment

1: Reactions
• Participant Reactions
▪ The simplest and most common approach to training evaluation is assessing trainees.
▪ Potential questions might include the following:
– What were your learning goals for this program?
– Did you achieve them?
– Did you like this program?
– Would you recommend it to others who have similar learning goals?
– What suggestions do you have for improving the program?
– Should the organization continue to offer it?

2: Learning
• Checking to see whether they actually learned anything.
▪ Pre-post test:Testing knowledge and skills before beginning a training program gives
a baseline standard on trainees that can be measured again after training to determine
improvement.
▪ Pre-post wit control group: However, in addition to testing trainees, test employees
who did not attend the training to estimate the differential effect of the training.

3: Behavior
• Transfer of Training
▪ Post-training performance
▪ Interviews
▪ Observations

4: Results, or Return on Investment (ROI)

• Measuring the Utility of Training Programs
▪ Calculating the benefits derived from training:
– How much did quality improve because of the training
program?
– How much has it contributed to profits?
– What reduction in turnover and wasted materials did the company get after training?
– How much has productivity increased and by how much have costs been reduced?

• Return on Investment
▪ Viewing training in terms of the extent to which it provides knowledge and skills
that create a competitive advantage and a culture that is ready for continuous change.
▪ ROI = Results/Training Costs
– If the ROI ratio is >1, the benefits of the training exceed the
cost of the program
– If the ROI ratio is <1, the costs of the training exceed the benefits.

Q7 5 stages of career development

Stage 1- exploration
The exploratory stage is the period of transition from college to work, that is, the
period immediately prior to employment. It is usually the period of one’s early 20 s
and ends by mid-20 s. It is a stage of self-exploration and making preliminary choices.
Stage # 2. Establishment:
This career stage begins when one starts seeking for work. It includes getting one’s
first job. Hence, during this stage, one is likely to commit mistakes; one has also the
opportunities to learn from such mistakes and may also assume greater
responsibilities. He/ she accepts job challenges and develops competence in a
speculating area. He/she develops creativity and rotates into a new area after three-
five years.

Stage # 3. Mid-Career:
During this stage, the performance may increase or decrease or may remain constant.
While some employees may reach their goals at the early stage and may achieve
greater heights, some may be able just to maintain their performance. While the
former may be called ‘climbers’, the later ones are not very ambitious though
competent otherwise. During this stage, an employee tries to update himself/herself
technically and develops skills in coaching others. He/she may rotate into a new job
requiring new skills.
Stage # 4. Late Career:
This stage is usually a pleasant one because during this stage, the employee neither
tries to learn new things nor tries to improve his/her performance over that of previous
years. He/she takes advantage of and depends on his/her reputation and enjoys playing
the role of an elderly statesperson. He/she may shift from a power role to one of
consultation. He/she starts identifying and developing successors and may also start
activities outside the organisation.
Stage 5- decline
Since it is the final stage of one’s career, it ends in the retirement of the employee
after putting up decades of service full of continuous achievements and success
stories. As such, it is viewed as a hard stage.

Q8 career anchors

According to Schein" A career anchor consists of the individual's talents, motives and
values, as perceived by himself/ herself, which the individual uses to for motives and
stabilise his/ her career.
1.If an employee is not aware of his/ her career anchors, he/she could land-up in a
work situation in which he/ she lacks job satisfaction.
2. As an individual is likely to make job selections that are consistent with his/ her self
image, career anchors can serve as a basis for career choices.

What is Career Anchor?

a.Each one amongst us has a particular orientation towards work. We all
approach our work with a certain set of priorities and values.
b.According to Schein, A career anchor consists of the individual's
i. Talents, abilities, skills & competence
ii. Priorities & Needs
ili. motives & values
as they perceived about themselves. And, these parameters are used by the
individuals for their career choice / career stabilisation.
C.It is the one element in person's self-concept, which he/she will not be
able to leave even in the face of difficult choices.

d.People become more skilled in the areas that they value and that motivate
them. Because, they spend more time & energy on them.
e.It usually develops with time and experience.
f.These parameters which govern our career choices are known as career
anchor.
g.if we are not aware of our career anchors, we may land up in a wrong work situation
or not so fit work and therefore may lack job satisfaction.
h.As an individual, we should make job selections which are consistent to our
self-image and career anchor should be the base for our career choice.

Schein identifies eight career anchor themes and posits that we will all have prioritised
preferences for them:
1. Technical/functional competence
2. General management competence
3. Autonomy /independence
4. Security/stability
5. Entrepreneurial creativitv
6. Service/dedication to a cause
7. Pure challenge
8. Lifestyle.

Q9 performance appraisal methods

Performance appraisal methods can be broadly classified as

measuring traits, behaviors or results.
- Traits approach is designed to measure the extent to which an
employee possesses certain characteristics that are viewed as
important for job and the organization. It is subjective, but used
widely.
- Behavioral approach provides a more action-oriented information
and may be best for development.
- Results-oriented approach is popular because it focuses on the
measurable contributions that employees make to the
organization.

Absolute standard methods-

Critical incident method
•A performance evaluation that focuses on kev behaviors that
differentiates between doing a job effectively or ineffectively.
•The appraiser writes down anecdotes describing employee actions that
were especially effective or ineffective
•Critical incidents, with their focus on behaviors, judge performance
rather than personalities.
•A list of critical incidents on a given employee provides a rich set of
examples from which employees can be shown which of their behaviors
are desirable and which ones call for improvement.
•Comparison and ranking of employees may be difficult.

Checklist appraisal
•In the checklist appraisal, the evaluator uses a list of behavioral descriptions and
checks off behaviors that apply to the employee.
• The evaluator merely goes down the list and checks off "yes" or "no" to each
question.
 Once the checklist is complete, it is usually evaluated by the HRM staff, not the
appraiser completing the list.
• Therefore, the rater does not actually evaluate the employee's performance; he or
she merely records it.

Graphic rating scale

Graphic rating scale provides a list of job skills and a continuum for the rater to
evaluate the employees performance on each skill. Graphic rating scales are relatively
easy to complete and attempt to provide objective feedback.
  Forced-choice appraisal
•A performance evaluation in which the rater must choose between two
specific statements about an employee's work behavior.
• Each statement may be favorable or unfavorable.
•A question might be, for example, "Would you rather go to a party with
a group of friends or attend a lecture by a well-known political figure?"

Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS)

•These scales combine major elements from the critical incident and
graphic rating scale approaches.
•The appraiser rates the employees based on items along a continuum,
but the points are examples of actual behavior on the given job rather
than general descriptions or traits.

 Relative Standards Methods

Evaluating an employee's performance by comparing the employee with other
employees.
Types of Appraisal methods where one individuals is compared
against other individuals.

Group order ranking-

In this method is a process of performance
appraisal that requires a manager or supervisor to position his employees
into given performance brackets or classes like top one fifth or third
quarter etc.

•Individual ranking:
The individual ranking method requires the
evaluator merely to list employees in order from highest to lowest.
•In this process, only one employee can be rated "best."
•Ranking employees' performance from highest to lowest.

•Paired comparison : Ranking employees by making a chart of all

possible pairs of the employees for each trait and indicating which is the
better employee of the pair.

 Outcomes methods
Productivity measures-
Appraisals based on quantitative measures that directly link what emplyees
accomplish to results beneficial to the organisation.

Management of objectives-
A philosophy of management that rates performance on the basis of employee
achievement of goals set by mutual agreement of employee and manager.
Q10 job evaluation methods

1. Job Ranking Method

The ranking method requires a committee typically composed of both management
and employee representatives to arrange jobs in a simple rank order, from highest to
lowest.
The committee members merely compare two jobs and judge which one is more
important or difficult. Then they compare the another job with the first two, and so on
until all the jobs have been evaluated and ranked.

2. Classification Method
This method requires that classification of grades be established. These classifications
are created by identifying some common denominator – skills, knowledge,
responsibilities – with the desired goal being the creation of a number of distinct
classes or grades of jobs.
Ex: Clerical jobs, shop floor jobs, sales jobs, etc.
Once the classifications are established, they are ranked in an overall order of
importance according to the criteria chosen, and each job is placed in its appropriate
classification.

3. Factor Comparison Method

Factor comparison is a sophisticated and quantitative ranking method.
The evaluators select key jobs in the organization as standards. Those jobs chosen
should be well known, with well established pay rates in the community, and they
should consist of a representative cross-selection of all jobs that are being evaluated –
from the lowest to the highest paid job, from the most important to the least important
– and cover the full range of requirements of each factor, as agreed upon by a
committee representing workers and management.

4. Point Method
Point method breaks jobs down based on various identifiable criteria (such as skills,
effort, and responsibility) and then allocates points to each of these criteria.
Depending on the importance of each criteria to performing the job, appropriate
weights are given, points are summed, and jobs with similar point totals are placed in
similar pay grade.

5. Decision band method

• Decision bands
Band F - CXOs, directors
Band E - Functional/Department heads
Band D - Middle managers
Band C - Supervisors, senior tech specialists, senior support staff
Band B - Head clerks, foreman, senior lower-level employees Band A - Semi-skilled
or unskilled workers

• Grades
Supervision or coordnation - Higher grade
No supervision or no cooordination - Lower grade
• Sub-grades
Based on difficulty of task, efforts required, working conditions, skills, care and
prescision

Process of Job Evaluation

• Gaining acceptance
• Creating job evaluation committee
• Finding the jobs to be evaluated
• Analyzing and preparing JD and JD - JA
• Defining the criteria for evaluation
• Selecting the method of evaluation
• Classify jobs/rank jobs
• Assign monetary value to job
• Reviewing periodically

Q11 rewads and benefits of employees

• Organizational rewards are those that the employee earns as a result of employment
with organization.
Types are:
Extrinsic rewards: Tangible in nature and are normally under the control of
organization
Intrinsic rewards: Intangible in nature and are internal to the individual

Employee Benefits
• Employee benefits are fringe advantages that accrue to an employee over and above
his salary as a result of his employment with an organization and his/her position in
the organisation.

Q12 INCENTITIVES

Incentives
 Importance of incentive plans
Designing incentive compensation programs
Job category
Length of service
Job classification
The goal of the incentive
  Non-financial incentives
• Status
Career development opportunities
Job security
Job enrichment/challenging tasks
Organizational climate
Employee empowerment
Recognition

 Financial Incentives
 Short-term incentives
Halsey plan
Rowan plan
Scanlon plan
Barth payment system
Gantt task system
Profit sharing (deferred and distribution)
Gain sharing
Annual incentive plan
Discretionary bonus plan
Spot awards
Retention bonus
Project bonus
 Long-term incentives
Appreciation-based
Stock-based
Cash-based
Vesting