What is HRM?

Human resources management is a term used to refer to how people are managed by
organizations. The field has moved from a traditionally administrative function to a strategic one that recognizes the link between talented and engaged people and organizational success. The field draws upon concepts developed in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and System Theory. Human resources have at least two related interpretations depending on context. The original usage derives from political economy and economics, where it was traditionally called labor, one of four factors of production although this perspective is changing as a function of new and ongoing research into more strategic approaches at national levels. This first usage is used more in terms of 'human resources development', and can go beyond just organizations to the level of nations. The more traditional usage within corporations and businesses refers to the individuals within a firm or agency, and to the portion of the organization that deals with hiring, firing, training, and other personnel issues, typically referred to as 'human resources management'. This article addresses both definitions.

HR is an acronym for human resources, that element within a company which deals with the human aspects/needs of workers. Many companies have an HR department, which may provide a broad range of services to its employees. Some who work in HR are considered part of the department, but many people outside of such a department may have something to do with not just the financial aspects of work, but also the human element of employing workers.

For instance, even though technically not part of an HR department, a supervisor or manager may be responsible for hiring or firing workers, writing employee reviews, giving day to day feedback on work, and encouraging and supporting workers. This is all potentially human resource work. Yet in large companies, a large human resources department may not have much day-to-day contact with the same employees. So managers or supervisors do part of the work involved in human resources, and members of the HR administration may oversee their work. In small companies with only a couple of employees, no formal human resources department exists, and managers or owners handle all the duties of such a department. Some standard responsibilities of a human resources department include the following:

Securing, offering and explaining benefits, like health insurance or 401ks. Managing on-the-job health and safety issues. Offering information or advice on special work programs, like reimbursement for continuing education or smoking cessation programs. Advertising available jobs, screening applicants, setting up interviews and potentially hiring applicants. Handling all paperwork related to the hiring or firing of employees.
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Distributing paychecks and bonuses (though paycheck disbursement may be outsourced to another company). Helping workers apply for family leave, maternity leaves sabbaticals or disability payments. Possibly participating in motivational company wide events. Approving performance reviews and assessing raises or promotions. Handling complaints about employer abuses, sexual harassment, discrimination or hostile work environment charges.

It is often a critique that large companies and sometimes even small ones lack a sense of humanity in regards to caring for their workers. Though HR departments do get pressured by those in finance departments to keep their costs low, most of its workers are keenly interested in helping to see to employee needs and encouraging workers to do their best. If you work in a relatively large and impersonal company, it can be a great thing to get to know the folks in your human resources department. In a way, HR department employees may already know you better than you think. If youve worked for a company for a long time, Chances are human resource employees already knows when you had your children, if you had to take leave because your mom was sick, how well youve performed in the company, and when youve participated on teams. Workers often make the mistake of thinking that the HR department is in it impersonal, but most of its employees would beg to differ. They really are working not only for the employer but the employees. Knowing these folks by name personalizes your relationship with people who already know a considerable amount about you. When youre starting work at a new company, seeking the counsel and advice of human resource departments is also an excellent plan, as again, these people may know you more intimately than anyone else you work with. The definition of human resource management emphasizes the sphere of influence to encompass 'the strategic approach to manpower management in an organization'. The process calls for a coherent objective to retain and increase employee head-count, any organization's most valued asset. This specialized study and application has come in the wake of realization that the employees of an organization, individually and collectively, are the main contributors to the achievement of business objectives. The management of people hired by an organization involves employing people, designing and developing related resources and most importantly, utilizing and compensating their services to optimize business profitability via employee performance. Today, Human Resource Management operates in tune with other essential organizational requirements and co-exists with the topmost management cadre. Managing human resources within a company calls for a liaison between the organization's management personnel and the administration of the executive rungs. It thrives on the strength of the relationship between the management and workers of the company.

FEATURES OF HRM:
Its features include:
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Organizational management Personnel administration Manpower management Industrial management

But these traditional expressions are becoming less common for the theoretical discipline. Sometimes even employee and industrial relations are confusingly listed as synonyms, although these normally refer to the relationship between management and workers and the behavior of workers in companies. The theoretical discipline is based primarily on the assumption that employees are individuals with varying goals and needs, and as such should not be thought of as basic business resources, such as trucks and filing cabinets. The field takes a positive view of workers, assuming that virtually all wish to contribute to the enterprise productively, and that the main obstacles to their endeavors are lack of knowledge, insufficient training, and failures of process. Human Resource Management (HRM) is seen by practitioners in the field as a more innovative view of workplace management than the traditional approach. Its techniques force the managers of an enterprise to express their goals with specificity so that they can be understood and undertaken by the workforce and to provide the resources needed for them to successfully accomplish their assignments. As such, HRM techniques, when properly practiced, are expressive of the goals and operating practices of the enterprise overall. HRM is also seen by many to have a key role in risk reduction within organizations.

NATURE OF HRM:
Human Resource Management is a process of bringing people and organizations together so that the goals of each are met. The various features of HRM include:
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It is pervasive in nature as it is present in all enterprises. Its focus is on results rather than on rules. It tries to help employees develop their potential fully. It encourages employees to give their best to the organization. It is all about people at work, both as individuals and groups. It tries to put people on assigned jobs in order to produce good results. It helps an organization meet its goals in the future by providing for competent and wellmotivated employees. It tries to build and maintain cordial relations between people working at various levels in the organization. It is a multi-disciplinary activity, utilizing knowledge and inputs drawn from psychology, economics, etc.

SCOPE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT:

The scope of HRM is very wide:

Personnel aspect-This is concerned with manpower planning, recruitment, selection, placement, transfer, promotion, training and development, layoff and retrenchment, remuneration, incentives, productivity etc. Welfare aspect-It deals with working conditions and amenities such as canteens, cr?ches, rest and lunch rooms, housing, transport, medical assistance, education, health and safety, recreation facilities, etc. Industrial relations aspect-This covers union-management relations, joint consultation, collective bargaining, grievance and disciplinary procedures, settlement of disputes, etc. The scope of human resource management outlined below includes an outline of transformation and development issues, tentative generic skills required in performing HRM roles, as well as the roles of a human resource management practitioner (line management and HRM professionals). With regard to the latter, the assumption is made that roles are inter-linked and interdependent, even though these relationships may not be expressly stated in each case. The study of HRM describes what human resource managers do and what they should do. While there are many definitions of HRM, its primary purpose is to improve the productive contribution of people within an organization. Until the last few years the discipline was known as personnel management. Now the term 'human resource management' is increasingly used in recognition of the importance of an organizations workforce in contributing to the goals of that organization. Today's human resource issues are enormous and appear to be ever expanding. The human resource manager faces a multitude of problems ranging from a constantly changing workforce to coping with ever increasing government rules and regulations. Because of the critical nature of human resource concerns, they are receiving increased attention from upper levels of management. It used to be rare to see job advertisements for human resource managers. Now such advertisements are very common and encompass significant organizational responsibilities. People are the common element in every organization. From an organizations perspective, their staffs are its human resources. It is people like you who produce the goods and services that create wealth. It is these goods and services that contribute to our standard of living. One slogan on an American factory expressed it this way:

Assets make things possible, people make things happen.

There are many challenges facing organizations today. The better our organizations work, the easier it is for society to meet the present and future threats and opportunities. It can be said that the central challenge we face in society is to continually improve the performance of our organizations in both the private and public sectors. Part of this improvement will come from organizations becoming more efficient and effective. This requires the effective management in these organizations.

Objectives of HRM:
Objectives are benchmarks against which actions of an HRM department are evaluated. The following is one listing of these objectives: Societal objective. To be socially responsible to the needs and challenges of society while minimizing the negative impact of such demands upon the organization. The failure of organizations to use their resources for society's benefit may result in restrictions. For example, societies may pass laws that limit human resource
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decisions.

Organizational objective:
To recognize that HRM exists to contribute to organizational effectiveness. HRM is not an end in itself; it is only a means to assist the organization with its primary objectives. Simply stated, the department exists to serve the rest of the organization.

Functional objective:
To maintain the department's contribution at a level appropriate to the organizations needs. Resources are wasted when HRM is more or less sophisticated than the organization demands. A department's level of service must be appropriate for the organization it serves.

Personal objective:
To assist employees in achieving their personal goals, at least insofar as these goals enhance the individual's contribution to the organization. Personal objectives of employees must be met if workers are to be maintained, retained and motivated. Otherwise, employee performance and satisfaction may decline, and employees may leave the organization.

ACITVITIES OF HRM:
In order to achieve the objectives of an organization, the HRM section or department must carry out a number of functions. The key functions of HRM can be summarized as the acquisition, maintenance, development and termination of employees.
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Acquisition:
This is the 'getting' phase of HRM. It includes estimating both the future demand and supply for human resources and integrating these resources into a total human resource strategy. In other words, the objectives and future directions of the organization must be known before any reliable forecasts of people needs can be made. The acquiring process includes recruiting, selection and the socialization or induction of new employees.

Maintenance:
This is the 'keeping' function and involves providing benefits, services and working conditions that are needed if individuals are to remain committed to the workplace.

Development:
This encompasses the whole domain of training and development, which has become a major area of concern and expense for organizations. Developing also includes the concepts of organizational change and development and how these processes impact upon employees.

Termination:
This is the 'saying goodbye' activity and is sometimes known as the separation phase of employment. It involves such issues as retirement, redundancy, resignation and dismissal. These issues have become of major importance in organizations in recent years. The HRM functions are broad sweeping. Within each of these functions there are a number of activities that human resource specialists must carry out if these functions are to be fulfilled. Human resources activities are those actions taken to provide and maintain an appropriate workforce for the organization. The five most common activities of HRM personnel in organizations are identified as: Planning for human resource needs Staffing identified personnel need Performance management and remuneration for employees Improving employees and the work environment Establishing and maintaining effective working relationships.

FACTORS OF HRM:
Human resources management comprises several processes. Together they are supposed to achieve the above mentioned goal. These processes can be performed in an HR department, but some tasks can also be outsourced or performed by line-managers or other departments. When effectively integrated they provide significant economic benefit to the company.

Workforce planning:
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Strategic Workforce Planning is the business process for ensuring that an organization has suitable access to talent to ensure future business success. Access to talent includes considering all potential access sources (employment, contracting out, partnerships, changing business activities to modify the types of talent required, etc.). By talent is meant the skills, knowledge, predisposition and ability to undertake required activities including decisions making. Strategic Planning considers the business risks concerning insufficient, disrupted, mis-deployed talent on the organization's business priorities. Strategic Workforce Planning is analogous to the treasurer role which is concerned with ensuring the organization has suitable access to working capital. This role also looks at multiple sources for access and similar risks to those mentioned above. One of the more restrictive and potentially dangerous assumptions is that Strategic Planning is only about talent in the form of employees. Hiring is a strategy for accessing talent and will often be the superior one. However, the use of employees to meet talent needs carries with it unique risks that can be mitigated using alternative access sourcing arrangements. Regardless of the access source used, insightful assessment of the strategy's attendant business risk is prudent. The process for starting out Strategic Workforce Planning is link with the organization's strategy. This means identifying the critical talent needs that if not met can materially adversely impact business success. Once the business risks are fully appreciated then attention turns to schedule and timing. Assessing current internal capability and assessing its relative position when it will be called upon in the future. Speculating on future sourcing options and identifying the preferred sourcing option. Implementation and execution follow. Attention to periodically reviewing the "sanity" of the current plan is prudent.

Recruitment (sometimes separated into attraction and selection):

Recruitment refers to the process of attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people for a job at an organization or firm. For some components of the recruitment process, mid- and largesize organizations often retain professional recruiters or outsource some of the process to recruitment agencies. The recruitment industry has five main types of agencies: employment agencies, recruitment websites and job search engines, "headhunters" for executive and professional recruitment, niche agencies which specialize in a particular area of staffing and in-house recruitment. The stages in recruitment include sourcing candidates by advertising or other methods, and screening and selecting potential candidates using tests or interviews.

Induction, Orientation and Onboarding:

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Once an employee is selected and placed on an appropriate job, the process of familiarizing him with the job and the organization is known as induction. Induction is the process of receiving and welcoming an employee when he first joins the company and giving him basic information he needs to settle down quickly and happily and starts work.

New employee orientation is the process you use for welcoming a new employee into your organization. New employee orientation, often spearheaded by a meeting with the Human Resources department, generally contains information about safety, the work environment, the new job description, benefits and eligibility, company culture, company history, the organization chart and anything else relevant to working in the new company. New employee orientation often includes an introduction to each department in the company and training on-the-job. New employee orientation frequently includes spending time doing the jobs in each department to understand the flow of the product or service through the organization. Onboarding or "on-boarding" is a business management term used for the process of handling new employees to obtain the best results from them. An organization should be prepared to handle this specific task. In a generic usage - onboarding can be defined as the process of acquiring, accommodating, assimilating and accelerating new users into a system, culture or methodology. Proponents have described the process as being more than orientation, and emphasize the importance of making the most of the "honeymoon" stage of a hire, a period which has been described as being 90 days or 100 days. Rather than delegating the job of training the newcomer to a co-worker (called the "Just follow Joe around" method by one commentator) or having the employee watch a video presentation, or letting the employee learn on his or her own by trial and error, proponents of onboarding advocate assigning the process to a person designated as an "onboarding manager", or a similar title reflecting specific responsibility for new hires. Various writers have devised their own system of mnemonics when describing what an onboarding manager should remember and the sequence in which the methods should be carried out. One description refers to a four step process of "acquiring, accommodating, assimilating and accelerating" new hires (and includes a fifth "a", referring to "aligning" other members of the management to the need for revising new hiring procedures to include an onboarding process).. Another refers to a four step "a.i.d.e." process of "acclimation, integration, dialogue and expectation management". Onboarding is a core personnel and management skill. Effective onboarding of new employees can be one of the most important contributions any hiring manager, direct supervisor or human resources professional can make to long-term organizational success, because onboarding done right can improve productivity and employee retention, and build shared corporate culture. Onboarding may be especially valuable for executives transitioning into complex roles, because it may be difficult for individuals to uncover personal, organizational and role risks in complicated situations when they don't have formal onboarding assistance.

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Skills 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.

The skills involved can be defined by the organization concerned, or by third party institutions. They are usually defined in terms of a skills framework, also known as a competency framework or skills matrix. This consists of a list of skills, and a grading system, with a definition of what it means to be at particular level for a given skill. (For an example of a mature skills framework, see the Skills Framework for the Information Age, a technical IT skills framework owned by a British not-for-profit organization.) To be most useful, skills management needs to be conducted as an ongoing process, with individuals assessing and updating their recorded skill sets regularly. These updates should occur at least as frequently as employees' regular line manager reviews, and certainly when their skill sets have changed. Skills management systems record the results of this process in a database, and allow analysis of the data. In order to perform the functions of management and to assume multiple roles, managers must be skilled. Robert Katz identified three managerial skills that are essential to successful management: technical, human, and conceptual. Technical skill involves process or technique knowledge and proficiency. Managers use the processes, techniques and tools of a specific area. Human skill involves the ability to interact effectively with people. Managers interact and cooperate with employees. Conceptual skill involves the formulation of ideas. Managers understand abstract relationships, develop ideas, and solve problems creatively. Thus, technical skill deals with things, human skill concerns people, and conceptual skill has to do with ideas. A manager's level in the organization determines the relative importance of possessing technical, human, and conceptual skills. Top level managers need conceptual skills in order to 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 in order to interact and communicate with other people successfully. As the pace of change accelerates and diverse technologies converge, new global industries are being created (for example, telecommunications). Technological change alters the fundamental structure of firms and calls for new organizational approaches and management skills.

Training and development:

In the field of human resource management, training and development is the field concerned with organizational activity aimed at bettering the performance of individuals and groups in
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organizational settings. It has been known by several names, including employee development, human resource development, and learning and development. Training and development encompasses three main activities: training, education, and development. However, to practitioners, they encompass three separate, although interrelated, activities: Training: This activity is both focused upon, and evaluated against, the job that an individual currently holds. Education: This activity focuses upon the jobs that an individual may potentially hold in the future, and is evaluated against those jobs. Development: This activity focuses upon the activities that the organization employing the individual, or that the individual is part of, may partake in the future, and is almost impossible to evaluate. The "stakeholders" in training and development are categorized into several classes. The sponsors of training and development are senior managers. The clients of training and development are business planners. Line managers are responsible for coaching, resources, and performance. The participants are those who actually undergo the processes. The facilitators are Human Resource Management staff. And the providers are specialists in the field. Each of these groups has its own agenda and motivations, which sometimes conflict with the agendas and motivations of the others. The conflicts are the best part of career consequences are those that take place between employees and their bosses. The number one reason people leave their jobs is conflict with their bosses." Training an employee to get along well with authority and with people who entertain diverse points of view is one of the best guarantees of long-term success. Talent, knowledge, and skill alone won't compensate for a sour relationship with a superior, peer, or customer.

Personnel administration:
Personnel administration is more commonly called human resources (HR) management. People are considered the most important resource a business has. HR or personnel administration refers to the areas of recruiting, selecting, assessing, developing and retaining employees. Organization is a large part of personnel administration. Employees must be organized in a way that gets the work done. As long as employees are striving to be efficient in completing their employment responsibilities, companies usually work at retaining them. Keeping good employees saves the time and expense of replacing them. Laws pertaining to wrongful dismissal of employees must also be adhered to or a business could find itself in a lawsuit. The human resources department of a company instructs managers on proper conduct toward employees.
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Recruiting and selecting successful employees at the start is a main objective of personnel administration. In many companies today, HR staff will conduct initial telephone interviews for advertised jobs to try to weed out unsuitable job applicants. A manager then has a lower number of higher qualified applicants to interview for the advertised position. Once employees are hired, they may take part in training programs that have been developed or approved by HR personnel. During their employment, employees may be evaluated by managers who use assessment forms created by the company's personnel administration. Most companies use assessment forms during employees' performance reviews. A performance review allows a manager to evaluate an employees overall job performance and suggest any improvements. Performance reviews are often conducted before a raise in pay is considered. Personnel administration handles issues in the workplace such as violence, discrimination or sexual harassment complaints. The personnel department must work within the law therefore an understanding of laws pertaining to conduct in the workplace is important. Correct procedures and actions must be followed by the company or it could face legal consequences if employees take the matter to court. Following laws that apply to safe working conditions, minimum wage and overtime work is also crucial for personnel administration to focus on. The personnel department must always keep thorough records of all employees.

Time management:

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Time management refers to a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manage time when accomplishing specific tasks, projects and goals. This set encompasses a wide scope of activities, and these include planning, allocating, setting goals, delegation, analysis of time spent, monitoring, organizing, scheduling, and prioritizing. Initially time management referred to just business or work activities, but eventually the term broadened to include personal activities also. A time management system is a designed combination of processes, tools and techniques. Some authors offered a categorization scheme for the hundreds of time management approaches that they reviewed

First generation: reminders based on clocks and watches, but with computer implementation possible; can be used to alert a person when a task is to be done. Second generation: planning and preparation based on calendar and appointment books; includes setting goals. Third generation: planning, prioritizing, controlling (using a personal organizer, other paper-based objects, or computer or PDA-based systems) activities on a daily basis. This approach implies spending some time in clarifying values and priorities. Fourth generation: being efficient and proactive using any of the above tools; places goals and roles as the controlling element of the system and favors importance over urgency.

Some of the recent general arguments related to "time" and "management" point out that the term "time management" is misleading and that the concept should actually imply that it is "the management of our own activities, to make sure that they are accomplished within the available or allocated time, which is an unmanageable continuous resource".

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Time management literature paraphrased: "Get Organized" - paperwork and task triage "Protect Your Time" - insulate, isolate, delegate "set gravitational goals" - that attract actions automatically "Achieve through Goal management Goal Focus" - motivational emphasis

"Work in Priority Order" - set goals and prioritize "Use Magical Tools to Get More Out of Your Time" - depends on when written "Master the Skills of Time Management" "Go with the Flow" - natural rhythms, Eastern philosophy "Recover from Bad Time Habits" - recovery from underlying psychological problems, e.g. procrastination

Travel management (sometimes assigned to accounting rather than HRM):

Travel management is the function of managing a companys strategic approach to travel (travel policy), the negotiations with all vendors, day-today operation of the corporate travel program, traveler safety & security, credit-card management and T&E data management.TM should not be confused with the work of a traditional Travel Agency. While agencies provide the day-to-day travel services to corporate clients, they are the implementing arm of what the corporation has negotiated and put forth in policy. In other words TM decides on the class of service that employees are allowed to fly, negotiate corporate fares/rates with airlines and hotels as well as set forth the use of the corporate credit card. The agency on the other hand makes the actual reservation within the parameters given by the corporation. For most companies travel & entertainment (T&E) costs represent the second highest controllable annual expense, exceeded only by salary & benefits, and is commonly higher than IT and/or real estate costs. T&E costs are not only limited to travel (airline, rail, hotel, car rental, ferry/boat, etc.) but include all costs incurred during travel such as staff & client meals, taxi fares, gratuities, client gifts, supplies (office supplies and/or services), etc. Furthermore this area often included meeting management, traveler safety & security as well as credit card and overall travel data management. The management of these costs is usually handled by the Corporate Travel Manager, a function that can be part of the Finance, HR, Procurement or Administrative Services Department. As this function touches on all of these areas in some form and represents such a major corporate expense, it stand to reason that this function should have equal ranking within a corporation as any other major division and not be seen as a sub-set of existing departments.

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Payroll (sometimes assigned to accounting rather than HRM):

Payroll is the record of employee salaries and hourly wages, withholdings, and deductions for all employees, for a given pay period.

Employee benefits administration:

One of our main concerns is to ensure that your employees have access to comprehensive employee benefit plans & solutions available in the market through our Employee Benefit Administration programs. Happy employees make successful organizations. Employee benefits administration services offers innovative plans and solutions to keep your staff happy. It Improves your employee retention capabilities by offering innovative employee benefit packages with world-class employee benefit administration services and solutions. It offer total employee benefits administration services and benefit management services to help our clients meet the challenges of the ever-growing global human resource marketplace. Our expertise in this arena enables us to offer comprehensive employee benefits Management solutions with superior quality service in claims administration and management of corporate employee benefit plans. Our Benefit administration services philosophy is to let our clients focus on primary business initiatives and not to worry about the cost, compatibility, and compliance issues.

Personnel cost planning:

Personnel Cost Planning (PCP) draws on both establishment and employee details to form base data for the salary budget. This information is reviewed and adjusted as required. PCP is only available for use by authorized staff and dependant upon your role in the budget you may have access to create scenarios, run reports or both functions. Staff authorized to gain access to the system will have the PCP role available in their SAP User Menu and will show only those transaction available to them.

It should be noted that information provide by PCP is confidential and must not be distributed. To ensure privacy of staff information the following must be adhered to: 17

No separate records to be kept outside of SAP PCP. PCP access to data restricted to authorized users, Working papers must be locked in a secure location when not being used, Working papers detailing salaries must be destroyed, The Basic Data Report has been upgraded to provide additional reporting information, it now includes the current occupants Classification, FTE and increment date to assist in ensuring the position data is correct. It must be remembered that the salary budget is by Position, not Occupant when reviewing reports and determining the correct costing of a position. A common error with costing relates to the treatment of staff on maternity leave. Maternity Leave is budgeted centrally within Uni wide and costing a position against this account is incorrect even though the occupant may be. Costing your position to the maternity leave account means you are not providing a budget within your own accounts. Most reports now have variants that can be selected from the tool bar. These variants allow reports to be viewed and printed in different reporting formats.

Performance appraisal:
A performance appraisal, employee appraisal, performance review, or (career) development discussion is a method by which the job performance of an employee is evaluated (generally in terms of quality, quantity, cost, and time) typically by the corresponding manager or supervisor. A performance appraisal is a part of guiding and managing career development. It is the process of obtaining analyzing and recording information about relative worth of an employee to the organization.

Generally, the aims of a performance appraisal are to:

Give a employees feedback on performance Identify employee training needs Document criteria used to allocate organizational rewards Form a basis for personnel decisions: salary increases, promotions, disciplinary actions, bonuses, etc. Provide the opportunity for organizational diagnosis and development Facilitate communication between employee and administration Validate selection techniques and human resource policies to meet federal Equal Employment Opportunity requirements

FUNCTIONS OF HRM:
The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent
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contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry out these activities themselves because they can't yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees haveand are aware ofpersonnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have. Note that some people distinguish a difference between HRM (a major management activity) and HRD (Human Resource Development, a profession). Those people might include HRM in HRD, explaining that HRD includes the broader range of activities to develop personnel inside of organizations, including, e.g., career development, training, organization development, etc. There is a long-standing argument about where HR-related functions should be organized into large organizations, e.g., "should HR be in the Organization Development department or the other way around?" The HRM function and HRD profession have undergone tremendous change over the past 2030 years. Many years ago, large organizations looked to the "Personnel Department," mostly to manage the paperwork around hiring and paying people. More recently, organizations consider the "HR Department" as playing a major role in staffing, training and helping to manage people so that people and the organization are performing at maximum capability in a highly fulfilling manner.

OPERATIVE FUNCTIONS OF HRM:

The operative functions of personnel management are related to specific activities of personnel management viz., employment, development, compensation and relations. All these functions are
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interacted by managerial functions. Further these functions are to be performed in conjunction with management functions.

Employment:

Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as: "A person in the service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, where the employer has the power or right to control and direct the employee in the material details of how the work is to be performed." In a commercial setting, the employer conceives of a productive activity, generally with the intention of generating a profit, and the employee contributes labour to the enterprise, usually in return for payment of wages. Employment also exists in the public, non-profit and household sectors. To the extent that employment or the economic equivalent is not universal, unemployment exists. It is the first operative function of HRM. Employment is concerned with securing and employing the people possessing required kind and level of human resources necessary to achieve the organizational objectives. It covers the functions such as job analysis, human resources planning, recruitment, selection, placement, induction and internal mobility.
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Job Analysis:

Job Analysis refers to various methodologies for analyzing the requirements of a job. The main purpose of conducting job analysis is to prepare job description and job specification which in turn helps to hire the right quality of workforce into the organization. The general purpose of job analysis is to document the requirements of a job and the work performed. Job and task analysis is performed as a basis for later improvements, including: definition of a job domain; describing a job; developing performance appraisals, selection systems, promotion criteria, training needs assessment, and compensation plans. In the fields of Human Resources (HR) and Industrial Psychology, job analysis is often used to gather information for use in personnel selection, training, classification, and/or compensation. [2] The field of vocational rehabilitation uses job analysis to determine the physical requirements of a job to determine whether an individual who has suffered some diminished capacity is capable of performing the job with, or without, some accommodation. Professionals developing certification exams use job analysis (often called something slightly different, such as "task analysis") to determine the elements of the domain which must be sampled in order to create a content valid exam. When a job analysis is conducted for the purpose of valuing the job (i.e., determining the appropriate compensation for incumbents) this is called "job evaluation." It is the process of study and collection of information relating to the operations and responsibilities of a specific job. It includes:
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1. Collection of data, information, facts and ideas relating to various aspects of jobs including men, machines and materials. 2. Preparation of job description, job specification, job requirements and employee specification which help in identifying the nature, levels and quantum of human resources. 3. Providing the guides, plans and basis for job design and for all operative functions of HRM.

Human Resources Planning:

It is a process for determination and assuring that the organization will have an adequate number of qualified persons, available at proper times, performing jobs which would meet the needs of the organization and which would provide satisfaction for the individuals involved. It involves * Estimation of present and future requirement and supply of human resources basing on objectives and long range plans of the organization. * Calculation of net human resources requirement based on present inventory of human resources. * Taking steps to mould, change, and develop the strength of existing employees in the organization so as to meet the future human resources requirements. * Preparation of action programs to get the rest of human resources from outside the organization and to develop the human resources of existing employees.

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Recruitment:

Recruitment refers to the process of attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people for a job at an organization or firm. For some components of the recruitment process, mid- and largesize organizations often retain professional recruiters or outsource some of the process to recruitment agencies. The recruitment industry has five main types of agencies: employment agencies, recruitment websites and job search engines, "headhunters" for executive and professional recruitment, niche agencies which specialize in a particular area of staffing and in-house recruitment. The stages in recruitment include sourcing candidates by advertising or other methods, and screening and selecting potential candidates using tests or interviews. It is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in an organization. It deals with: (a) Identification of existing sources of applicants and developing them. (b) Creation / Identification of new sources of applicants. (c) Stimulating the candidates to apply for jobs in the organization. (d) Striking a balance between internal and external sources.

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Selection:

The process of interviewing and evaluating candidates for a specific job and selecting an individual for employment based on certain criteria. Employee selection can range from a very simple process to a very complicated process depending on the firm hiring and the position. Certain employment laws such as anti-discrimination laws must be obeyed during employee selection. It is the process of ascertaining the qualifications, experience, skill, knowledge etc., of an applicant with a view to appraising his / her suitability to a job appraising.

This function includes:

(a) Framing and developing application blanks. (b) Creating and developing valid and reliable testing techniques. (c) Formulating interviewing techniques. (d) Checking of references. (e) Setting up medical examination policy and procedure. (f) Line manager decision. (g) Sending letters of appointment and rejection. (h) Employing the selected candidates who report for duty.

Placement:

It is the process of assigning the selected candidate with the most suitable job in terms of job requirements. It is matching of employees specifications with job requirements. This function includes:
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(a) Counseling the functional managers regarding placement. (b) Conducting follow-up study, appraising employee performance in order to determine employees adjustment with the job. (c) Correcting misplacements, if any.

Induction and Orientation:

Induction and orientation are the techniques by which a new employee is rehabilitated in the changed surroundings and introduced to the practices, policies, purposes and people etc., of the organization. (a) Acquaint the employee with the company philosophy, objectives, policies, career planning and development, opportunities, product, market share, social and community standing, company history, culture etc. (b) Introduce the employee to the people with whom he has to work such as peers, supervisors and subordinates. (c) Mould the employee attitude by orienting him to the new working and social environment.

MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS OF HRM:

Managerial functions of personnel management involve planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. All these functions influence the operative functions

Manpower planning:
The penalties for not being correctly staffed are costly.

Understaffing loses the business economies of scale and specialization, orders, customers and profits. Overstaffing is wasteful and expensive, if sustained, and it is costly to eliminate because of modern legislation in respect of redundancy payments, consultation, minimum periods
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of notice, etc. Very importantly, overstaffing reduces the competitive efficiency of the business. Future staffing needs will derive from:

Sales and production forecasts The effects of technological change on task needs Variations in the efficiency, productivity, flexibility of labor as a result of training, work study, organizational change, new motivations, etc. Changes in employment practices (e.g. use of subcontractors or agency staffs, hiving-off tasks, buying in, substitution, etc.) Variations, which respond to new legislation, e.g. payroll taxes or their abolition, new health and safety requirements Changes in Government policies (investment incentives, regional or trade grants, etc

Recruitment and selection of employees:

Recruitment of staff should be preceded by: An analysis of the job to be done (i.e. an analytical study of the tasks to be performed to determine their essential factors) written into a job description so that the selectors know what physical and mental characteristics applicants must possess, what qualities and attitudes are desirable and what characteristics are a decided disadvantage;

In the case of replacement staff a critical questioning of the need to recruit at all (replacement should rarely be an automatic process). Effectively, selection is 'buying' an employee (the price being the wage or salary multiplied by probable years of service) hence bad buys can be very expensive. For that reason some firms (and some firms for particular jobs) use external expert consultants for recruitment and selection. Equally some small organizations exist to 'head hunt', i.e. to attract staff with high reputations from existing employers to the recruiting employer. However, the 'cost' of poor selection is such that, even for the mundane day-to-day jobs, those who recruit and select should be well trained to judge the suitability of applicants.

Employee motivation:
To retain good staff and to encourage them to give of their best while at work requires attention to the financial and psychological and even physiological rewards offered by the organization as a continuous exercise. Basic financial rewards and conditions of service (e.g. working hours per week) are determined externally (by national bargaining or government minimum wage legislation) in many occupations but as much as 50 per cent of the gross pay of manual workers is often the result of
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local negotiations and details (e.g. which particular hours shall be worked) of conditions of service are often more important than the basics. Hence there is scope for financial and other motivations to be used at local levels. As staffing needs will vary with the productivity of the workforce (and the industrial peace achieved) so good personnel policies are desirable. The latter can depend upon other factors (like environment, welfare, employee benefits, etc.) but unless the wage packet is accepted as 'fair and just' there will be no motivation.

Employee evaluation:
An organization needs constantly to take stock of its workforce and to assess its performance in existing jobs for three reasons:

To improve organizational performance via improving the performance of individual contributors (should be an automatic process in the case of good managers, but (about annually) two key questions should be posed: What has been done to improve the performance of a person last year? And what can be done to improve his or her performance in the year to come?). To identify potential, i.e. to recognize existing talent and to use that to fill vacancies higher in the organization or to transfer individuals into jobs where better use can be made of their abilities or developing skills. To provide an equitable method of linking payment to performance where there are no numerical criteria (often this salary performance review takes place about three months later and is kept quite separate from 1. and 2. but is based on the same assessment).

Industrial relations

Good industrial relations, while a recognizable and legitimate objective for an organization, are difficult to define since a good system of industrial relations involves complex relationships between: (a) Workers (and their informal and formal groups, i.e. trade union, organizations and their representatives); (b) Employers (and their managers and formal organizations like trade and professional associations); (c) The government and legislation and government agencies l and 'independent' agencies like the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service.

Provision of employee services:

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Attention to the mental and physical well-being of employees is normal in many organizations as a means of keeping good staff and attracting others. The forms this welfare can take are many and varied, from loans to the needy to counseling in respect of personal problems. Among the activities regarded as normal are:

Schemes for occupational sick pay, extended sick leave and access to the firm's medical adviser; Schemes for bereavement or other special leave; The rehabilitation of injured/unfit/ disabled employees and temporary or permanent move to lighter work; The maintenance of disablement statistics and registers (there are complicated legal requirements in respect of quotas of disabled workers and a need for 'certificates' where quota are not fulfilled and recruitment must take place); Provision of financial and other support for sports, social, hobbies, activities of many kinds which are work related; Provision of canteens and other catering facilities; Possibly assistance with financial and other aid to employees in difficulty (supervision, maybe, of an employee managed benevolent fund or scheme); Provision of information handbooks, Running of pre-retirement courses and similar fringe activities; Care for the welfare aspects of health and safety legislation and provision of first-aid training.

The location of the health and safety function within the organization varies. Commonly a split of responsibilities exists under which 'production' or 'engineering' management cares for the provision of safe systems of work and safe places and machines etc., but HRM is responsible for administration, training and education in awareness and understanding of the law, and for the alerting of all levels to new requirements.

Planning:
It is a pre-determined course of action. Planning is determination of personnel programs and changes in advance that will contribute to the organizational goals. In other words, it involves planning of human resources requirement, recruitment, selection, training etc. It also involves forecasting of personnel needs, changing values attitude and behavior of employees and their impact on organization. Essentials of planning Planning is not done off hand. It is prepared after careful and extensive research. For a comprehensive business plan, management has to 1. Clearly define the target / goal in writing.
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It should be set by a person having authority. The goal should be realistic. It should be specific. Acceptability Easily measurable 2. Identify all the main issues which need to be addressed. 3. Review past performance. 4. Decide budgetary requirement. 5. Focus on matters of strategic importance. 6. What are requirements and how will they be met? 7. What will be the likely length of the plan and its structure? 8. Identify shortcomings in the concept and gaps. 9. Strategies for implementation. 10. Review periodically.

In organizations
Planning is also a management process, concerned with defining goals for future organizational performance and deciding on the tasks and resources to be used in order to attain those goals. To meet the goals, managers may develop plans such as a business plan or a marketing plan. Planning always has a purpose. The purpose may be achievement of certain goals or targets. The planning helps to achieve these goals or target by using the available time and resources. To minimize the timing and resources also require proper planning. The concept of planning is to identify what the organization wants to do by using the four questions which are where are we today in terms of our business or strategy planning? Where are going? Where do we want to go? How are we going to get there?

Organizing:
An organization is a means to an end .It is essential to carry out the determined course of action In the words of JC Massie, an organization is a structure and a process by which co-operative group of human beings allocated its task among its members, identifies relationships and integrates its activities towards common objective. Complex relationships exist between the specialized departments and the general departments as many top managers are seeking the advice of personnel manager .Thus, organization establishes relationships among the employees so that they can collectively contribute to the attainment of company goals.

Purpose or importance of organization:

Helps to achieve organizational goal
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Organization is employed to achieve the overall objectives of business firms. Organization focuses attention of individuals objectives towards overall objectives.

Optimum use of resources:

To make optimum use of resources such as men, material, money, machine and method, it is necessary to design an organization properly. Work should be divided and right people should be given right jobs to reduce the wastage of resources in an organization.

To perform managerial function:

Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling cannot be implemented without proper organization.

Facilitates growth and diversification:

A good organization structure is essential for expanding business activity. Organization structure determines the input resources needed for expansion of a business activity similarly organization is essential for product diversification such as establishing a new product line.

Human treatment of employees:

Organization has to operate for the betterment of employees an must not encourage monotony of work due to higher degree of specialization. Now, organization has adapted the modern concept of systems approach based on human relations and it discards the traditional productivity and specialization approach.

Organizing, in companys point of view, is the management function that usually follows after planning. And it involves the assignment of tasks, the grouping of tasks into departments and the assignment of authority and allocation of resources across the organization.

Structure:
The framework in which the organization defines how tasks are divided, resources are deployed, and departments are coordinated.
1. A set of formal tasks assigned to individuals and departments. 2. Formal reporting relationships, including lines of authority, decision responsibility, number of hierarchical levels and span of managers control. 3. The design of systems to ensure effective coordination of employees across departments.

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Work specialization:
Work specialization (also called division of labour) is the degree to which organizational tasks are sub-divided into individual jobs. With too much specialization, employees are isolated and do only a single, tiny, boring job. Many organizations enlarge jobs or rotate assigned tasks to provide greater challenges.

Chain of command:
The chain of command is the unbroken line of authority that links all individuals in an organization, and specifies who reports to whom.
o o

Unity of Command - one employee is held accountable to only one supervisor Scalar principle - clearly defined line of authority in the organization that includes all employees

Authority, responsibility, and accountability:

Authority is a manager's formal and legitimate right to make decisions, issue orders, and allocate resources to achieve organizationally desired outcomes. Responsibility means an employee's duty to perform assigned task or activities. Accountability means that those with authority and responsibility must report and justify task outcomes to those above them in the chain of command.

Delegation:
Delegation is the process managers use to transfer authority and responsibility to positions below them. Organizations today tend to encourage delegation from highest to lowest possible levels. Delegation can improve flexibility to meet customers needs and adaptation to competitive environments. Managers often find delegation difficult

Types of authority (and responsibility):

Line authority managers have the formal power to direct and control immediate subordinates. The superior issues orders and is responsible for the resultthe subordinate obeys and is responsible only for executing the order according to instructions. Functional authority is where managers have formal power over a specific subset of activities. For instance, the Production Manager may have the line authority to decide whether and when a new machine is needed but the Controller demands that a Capital Expenditure Proposal is submitted first, showing that the investment will have a yield of at least x%; or, a legal department may have functional authority to interfere in any activity that could have legal consequences. This authority would not be functional but it would rather be staff authority if such interference is "advice" rather than "order".
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Staff authority is granted to staff specialists in their areas of expertise. It is not a real authority in the sense that a staff manager does not order or instruct but simply advises, recommends, and counsels in the staff specialists' area of expertise and is responsible only for the quality of the advice (to be in line with the respective professional standards etc) It is a communication relationship with management. It has an influence that derives indirectly from line authority at a higher level.

Span of management
Factors influencing larger span of management.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Work performed by subordinates is stable and routine. Subordinates perform similar work tasks. Subordinates are concentrated in a single location. Subordinates are highly trained and need little direction in performing tasks. Rules and procedures defining task activities are available. Support systems and personnel are available for the managers. Little time is required in non-supervisory activities such as coordination with other departments or planning. 8. Managers' personal preferences and styles favor a large span.

Centralization, decentralization, and formalization:

Centralization - The location of decision making authority near top organizational levels. Decentralization - The location of decision making authority near lower organizational levels. Formalization - The written documentation used to direct and control employees.

Departmentalization:
The basis on which individuals are grouped into departments and departments into total organizations. Approach options include;
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Functional - by common skills and work tasks Divisional - common product, program or geographical location Matrix - combination of Functional and Divisional Team - to accomplish specific tasks Network - departments are independent providing functions for a central core breaker

Importance of organizing:

Organizations are often troubled by how to organize, particularly when a new strategy is developed Changing market conditions or new technology requires change Organizations seek efficiencies through improvements in organizing 32

Directing:
The next logical function after completing planning and organizing is the execution of the plan .The basic function of personnel management at any level is motivating, commanding, leading and activating people .The willing and effective co-operation of employees for the attainment of organizational goals, is possible through proper direction. Tapping the maximum potentialities of the people is possible through motivation and command. Thus, direction is an important managerial function in building sound industrial and human relations besides securing employee contributions. Co-ordination deals with the task of blending efforts in order to ensure successful attainment of an objective. The personnel manager has to co-ordinate various managers at different levels as far as personnel functions are concerned .Personnel management function should also be co-ordinate with other functions of management like management of material, machine and money. Directing is something all of us do throughout our lives. We all make decisions which affect ourselves and our family, which affect the people with whom we come in contact, the community in which we live, the enterprise which employs us. They are often extremely important decisions. What kind of an education, what kind of school, what kind of trade or profession, whom to marry, choosing between alternative medical treatments such as drugs or surgery, whether to change one's job, indeed the country in which we wish to live and the kind of government we prefer, all these are decisions which we make and which have to be made again and again as we direct the course of our lives within the choices open to us. Here we are discussing the work of managers and administrators, starting with those who direct their own companies and larger organizations. The decisions taken, by those who head enterprises and by those who govern, affect more people and greater resources than do those taken by ourselves in the course of our daily and private lives, but there is much common ground. Very basic is an understanding of what is going on, of what is happening, of the problems of the day. So we begin by having a look at the sort of things which are taking place all around us.

Controlling:
After planning, organizing and directing the various activities of the personnel management, the performance is to be verified in order to know that thee personnel functions are performed in conformity with the plans and directions. Controlling also involves checking, verifying and comparing of the actual with the plans, identification of deviations if any and correcting of identified deviations. Thus, action and operation are adjusted to pre-determined plans and standard through control. Auditing training programs, analyzing labor turnover records, directing morale surveys, conducting separation interviews are some of the means for controlling the personnel management function.
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Staffing:
Both the job description and the job specification are useful tools for the staffing process, the first of the seven HR functions to be discussed. Someone (e.g., a department manager) or some event (e.g., an employee's leaving) within the organization usually determines a need to hire a new employee. In large organizations, an employee requisition must be submitted to the HR department that specifies the job title, the department, and the date the employee is needed. From there, the job description can be referenced for specific job related qualifications to provide more detail when advertising the position-either internally, externally, or both .Not only must the HR department attract qualified applicants through job postings or other forms of advertising, but it also assists in screening candidates' resumes and bringing those with the proper qualifications in for an interview. The final say in selecting the candidate will probably be the line manager's, assuming all Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) requirements are met. Other ongoing staffing responsibilities involve planning for new or changing positions and reviewing current job analyses and job descriptions to make sure they accurately reflect the current position.

Transfer & Promotions:

Promotion: The permanent movement of a staff member from a position in one job class to a position in another job class of increased responsibility or complexity of duties and in a higher salary range. Transfer: The permanent lateral movement of a staff member from one position to another position in the same or another job class assigned to the same salary range. Demotion: The permanent movement of a staff member from one position in one job class to a position in another job class of decreased responsibility or complexity of duties and in a lower salary range. Reclassification: The permanent movement of a position's title and/or salary grade assignment. Reclassification may result in a promotion, transfer, or demotion of an employee. Promotions and Transfers: A department official may promote or transfer a qualified staff member in h is/her department to a vacant position within his/her department, without posting of the vacancy through the Employment Opportunities Bulletin; however all staff members of the department must be made aware of the vacant position and be given consideration. The University Human Resources
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Department will determine if the staff member is qualified for the position before a commitment to transfer or promote the individual is made. Demotions: A department official may demote a staff member by reassigning him/her to another position, or by reclassifying the staff member's position, to a level at which he/she will be able to meet performance requirements, to apply disciplinary action for misconduct, or for other reasons. A staff member may request a demotion to start training in another occupation, to continue employment when a layoff is imminent, or for other reasons. Promotion and Transfer Opportunities Program: The purpose of the Promotion and Transfer Opportunities Program is to enhance the career advancement opportunities of staff members by providing each staff member the opportunity to apply and receive consideration for promotion or transfer. A notice of all jobs available (Employment Opportunities Bulletin) will be posted weekly on campus bulletin boards and on the Human Resources Webpage. A staff member who wishes to apply for one of these vacant positions must do so through the University Human Resources Department. All staff position vacancies must be listed with the University Human Resources Department for five working days as outlined in the University's Staff Employment Policy Exceptions may be allowed for promotion/transfers of current hourly or regular staff within the employing department, on the approval of the Director of Human Resources. Staff members who meet the following requirements may make application and be considered for a promotion or transfer: (a) Meets the minimum qualifications for the job or has clearly demonstrated the ability to perform the job. (b) Has been employed in his/her current position for a minimum period of six (6) consecutive months (the Director of Human Resources may approve exceptions to this provision, particularly if a staff member is being forced to seek another job due to circumstances beyond his/her control or if an internal departmental promotion or transfer is involved). In the event the Director of Human Resources approves a promotion or transfer prior to completion of the 6 months probationary period and the staff member is hired into a new position, a new 6 months probationary period is established. (c) Has a satisfactory record of performance in his/her current position. A staff member's expressed interest in a position will not jeopardize his/her current position or future opportunities.
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A staff member who makes application for a promotion or transfer may be required to take jobspecific testing. A staff member is not required to notify his/her present supervisor when applying for a promotion or transfer; however, the staff member must have the approval of his/her present supervisor if he/she schedules appointments, interviews, etc. during regular work hours. Such scheduling should be at a time when it will cause the least disruption of work and may be limited to a reasonable number of interviews by his/her supervisor. Time that is approved by the supervisor for interviews is not docked or otherwise charged against accrued leave. A supervisor may not limit the number of interviews scheduled outside of the regular work schedule of the staff member. The effective date of a promotion or transfer will be determined jointly by the two departments. Involved. Normal notice is two weeks. Pay Rate Adjustments upon Promotion, Transfer or Demotion Promotion: When a staff member is promoted to a position of increased responsibility or complexity of duties requiring a change of title and having a higher salary range, he/she will receive a salary adjustment either to the entry level of the salary range of the new position or to a salary rate which is at least 3.5% above the staff member's salary before promotion, whichever is the higher amount, and provided that funds are available. However, a staff member's salary rate may not exceed the maximum salary rate for the new class. Transfer: In order to discourage indiscriminate transfers, job hopping, and unfair competition between departments, a staff member who transfers laterally to another position having the same or a different title, and the same salary range, is not eligible for a base salary increase. Demotion: Upon demotion or downward reclassification of a staff member's current position, a staff member's salary may remain unchanged, if within the salary range of the new position, or may be adjusted to an appropriate level within the new salary range as agreed upon by the department official concerned (chair or director) and the Assistant Vice President Human Resources, and subject to the approval of the appropriate Vice President or the President. The new pay rate shall be determined by consideration of the circumstances related to the demotion, the employee's employment record and job performance. Promotion, Transfer or Demotion Authority: The Director of Human Resources is responsible for insuring that the Promotion, Transfer or Demotion Policy is uniformly and equitably administered. All promotions, transfers, or demotions must have the prior approval of the Director of Human Resources, or his/her designee prior to any commitment being made and prior to the effective date of the proposed change of status. This approval is required for review of the nomination, availability of funds, and compliance with University policies.

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Temporary Assignments: Assuming other duties for a brief temporary period of time does not constitute a promotion and generally would not entitle the employee to additional compensation. However, individuals placed in an acting status or who are required to assume significant additional responsibilities for an extended period of time may be entitled to a temporary salary increase upon approval by the Vice President and/or Chancellor.

Working Conditions:

Most employees in this industry work full time, and many work over 40 hours a week. In 2002, about 1 in 5 construction workers worked 45 hours or more a week. Construction workers may sometimes work evenings, weekends, and holidays to finish a job or take care of an emergency. Workers in this industry need physical stamina because the work frequently requires prolonged standing, bending, stooping, and working in cramped quarters. They also may be required to lift and carry heavy objects. Exposure to weather is common because much of the work is done outside or in partially enclosed structures. Construction workers often work with potentially dangerous tools and equipment amidst a clutter of building materials; some work on temporary scaffolding or at great heights and in bad weather. Consequently, they are more prone to injuries than are workers in other jobs. Construction work is dangerous. And while safety on job sites has come a long way, many people still die on construction sites every day. Safety is one of the most dynamic areas of the construction business. In 2002, cases of work-related injury and illness were 7.1 per 100 fulltime construction workers, which is significantly higher than the 5.3 rates for the entire private sector. Workers who do roofing, siding, and sheet metal work experienced the highest injury rates. In response, employers increasingly emphasize safe working conditions and work habits that reduce the risk of injuries. To avoid injury, employees wear safety clothing, such as gloves and hardhats, and sometimes devices to protect their eyes, mouth, or hearing. Many South Asians are employed in the construction industry, as day laborers and an injury can be double jeopardy for the worker, because without work, he doesnt get paid. A day laborer is hired by the day, and a rainy day means a days wage is lost. Sometimes the contractors had insurance and would pay the medical bills, but occasionally some would not: Workers complain saying that the contractors pay workers from the money they get from developers, and some when they get paid, use the money to buy their own houses and cars and they dont pay their laborers. Probably this is one among the many unresolved complaints of
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almost the entire worker class from janitors to street vendors, gas station attendants, domestic workers and restaurant staff. Low wages and long hours are endemic. The conditions are very bad because many of the workers dont have documentation, frequently they dont speak English (many a times not even the national language) and they are not necessarily aware of their rights as workers either. Immigrant communities are always at risk for discrimination. New immigrants are often concentrated in low wage industries. It is always a problem in terms of the power that they have to challenge unfair decisions made by their employers. Their access to justice and remedies when they are treated unfairly has always been a difficult issue. However, this exploitation of undocumented and low wage-workers is by no means limited to the South Asians. It is equally widespread among Mexican, Dominican, Hispanic and other immigrant communities, which have even a higher proportion of blue-collar workers. It is part of a larger pattern and South Asian community activists are striving to join forces with other workers, crossing the cultural and racial divide. To understand any working condition better we must know about the earnings of the concerned sector. So on concluding we will just do the same.

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Benefits of Human Resource Management:

The benefits of human resource management are numerous. Good human resource management strategies make a lot of difference in the output given by the employees. In this article, some of the benefits of human resource management have been explained.

The last few decades have seen drastic changes in the human resource management strategies employed by companies. Earlier, human resource management was confined to paperwork related to hiring and payment of the staff in an organization. However, human resource management can now be described as all the procedures required for the management of the people working in an organization. The most valuable resources of any establishment are its employees, as they play a crucial role in the accomplishment of the aims and objectives of any business. The key functions of human resource management include recruiting people, training them, performance appraisals, motivating them as well as workplace communication, workplace safety, and much more. The benefits of these functions have been discussed here in detail:
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Recruitment and Training: This is one of the most important responsibilities of the human resource management team. The human resource managers work out plans and strategies of hiring the right kind of people. They design the criteria suitable for a specific job description. Their responsibilities also include formulating the obligations of an employee and the scope of tasks assigned to him. Based on these two factors, the contract of an employee with the organization is developed. When required, they also provide training to the employees according to the requirements of the organization. An organization cannot build a good team of working professionals without the help of a good human resource management team. The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. It forms the core of apprenticeships and provides the backbone of content at institutes of technology (also known as technical colleges or polytechnics). In addition to the basic training required for a trade, occupation or profession, observers of the labor-market recognize today the need to continue training beyond initial qualifications: to maintain, upgrade and update skills throughout working life. People within many professions and occupations may refer to this sort of training as professional development. Some commentators use a similar term for workplace learning to improve performance: training and development. One can generally categorize such training as on-the-job or off-the-job:

On-the-job training takes place in a normal working situation, using the actual tools, equipment, documents or materials that trainees will use when fully trained. On-the-job training has a general reputation as most effective for vocational work. Off-the-job training takes place away from normal work situations implying that the employee does not count as a directly productive worker while such training takes place. Off-the-job training has the advantage that it allows people to get away from work and concentrate more thoroughly on the training itself. This type of training has proven more effective in inculcating concepts and ideas.

Training differs from exercise in that people may dabble in exercise as an occasional activity for fun. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, and performance. Performance Appraisals: Human resource management encourages every individual in the organization, to work according to his potential and also helps him increase his potential. The management team communicates with the employees, all the necessary information regarding their performances and also defines their respective roles from time to time. This helps the employee to form an outline of their anticipated goals in much clearer terms and thereby, helps them execute the goals with best possible efforts. Performance appraisals taken from time to time also help in motivating the employees. Performance appraisal is necessary to measure the performance of the employees and the
organization to check the progress towards the desired goals and aims. The latest mantra being followed by organizations across the world being "get paid according to what 40

you contribute" the focus of the organizations is turning to performance management and specifically to individual performance. Performance appraisal helps to rate the performance of the employees and evaluate their contribution towards the organizational goals. If the process of performance appraisals is formal and properly structured, it helps the employees to clearly understand their roles and responsibilities and give direction to the individuals performance. It helps to align the individual performances with the organizational goals and also review their performance. Performance appraisal takes into account the past performance of the employees and focuses on the improvement of the future performance of the employees.

Maintaining Work Atmosphere: The performance of an individual in an organization is largely driven by the work atmosphere or work culture that prevails at the workplace. A good environment can bring out the best in an employee. A congenial atmosphere gives the employees job satisfaction as well. A good work environment is one of the benefits employees can get from human resource management. Managing Disputes: There are several issues on which disputes may arise between the employees and the managers in an organization. In such a scenario, it is the human resource department which acts as a consultant and mediator to sort out the issues in an effective manner. Developing Public Relations: The responsibility of establishing good public relations lies with the human resource management to a great extent. They organize business meetings, seminars and various official gatherings on behalf of the company in order to establish relationships with other business sectors. Sometimes, the human resource department plays an active role in preparing the business and marketing plans for the organization too. Any organization, without a proper setup for human resource management is bound to suffer from serious problems while managing its regular activities. For this reason, a lot of stress is given these days for the setup of an effective human resource management system.

Management Development is best described as the process from which managers learn and
improve their skills not only to benefit themselves but also their employing organizations. In organizational development (OD), the effectiveness of management is recognized as one of the determinants of organizational success. Therefore, investment in management development can have a direct economic benefit to the organization. Managers are exposed to learning opportunities whilst doing their jobs, if this informal learning is used as a formal process then it is regarded as management development.
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What management development includes:

structured informal learning: work-based methods aimed at structuring the informal learning which will always take place formal training courses of various kinds: from very specific courses on technical aspects of jobs to courses on wider management skills executive education: which might range from courses for (perhaps prospective) junior managers or team leaders o Team Leading o First Line Management o Management and Leadership o Strategic Management and Leadership o MSc/MA in management or Master of Business Administration (MBA) degrees.

The term 'leadership' is often used almost interchangeably with 'management' Leadership which deals with emotions is an important component of management which is about rational thinking.. The Management Standards Centre set out management competencies for management, these competencies are now part of UK management qualifications, it is from these competencies that managers can be assessed and development needs determined. To enhance the skills, knowledge and liabilities to improve organizational mechanisms.

Career planning
Career planning incorporates short-term and long-term career goals, personal goals and constraints. You don't always have control over outside factors such as health and family issues, but as far as possible, your planning process should incorporate the following stages:
Short-term planning Assess your skills, knowledge, values, constraints and interests Identify which new skills and knowledge you want to develop Research career opportunities Formulate a careers action plan with contingencies Up to 5 years ahead Check the careers action plan for realism From 5 to 10 years ahead Long-term planning

These two cycles of short-term and long-term planning run in parallel and should be reviewed regularly.
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Career Development:
Career development is an organized approach used to match employee goals with the business needs of the agency in support of workforce development initiatives. In this process: The purpose of career development is to:

Enhance each employee's current job performance. Enable individuals to take advantage of future job opportunities. Fulfill agencies' goals for a dynamic and effective workforce

Job Rotation: Job rotation is the systematic movement of employees from job to job within an organization, as a way to achieve many different human resources objectives : for simply staffing jobs, for orienting new employees, for preventing job boredom, and, finally, for training employees and enhancing their career development. Job rotation is often used by employers who place employees on a certain career path or track, usually for a management position, where they are expected to perform a variety of duties, and have a variety of skills and competencies. Job rotation is often confused with cross training. While both interventions perform essentially the same service of providing employees with a varied set of skills, job rotation goes beyond this. Besides being used as a means of management training, job rotation can also be used as a form of job enrichment, by adding increased responsibilities, increasing challenge, and reducing boredom or burnout.

Job Enlargement: Job enlargement is defined as increasing the number of tasks a worker performs, with all of the tasks at the same level of responsibility, and is also sometimes referred to as ``horizontal job
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loading'' . Be careful not to confuse job enlargement with job enrichment, which will be discussed later. Job enlargement and job enrichment can both be used with plateaued workers or workers who are experiencing burnout, and with especially high achievers. These two interventions may be used in conjunction with each other, or with other career development interventions such as job rotation and temporary assignments. Both interventions provide the employee with increased skills, making him or her more valuable to the company, or more marketable in the job search.

Job Enrichment: Job enrichment involves increasing a worker's responsibility and control over his or her work, and is also called ``vertical job loading''. Job enrichment allows you to expand your responsibilities or change your role to develop new competencies without leaving your current position or the organization altogether. Job enrichment is also used as an effective motivational technique. According to this perspective, if a job provides a sense of responsibility, a sense of significance and information concerning performance, the employees will be internally motivated to high levels of performance. The key to creating this situation is to enrich jobs so they provide five core characteristics: task variety, task significance, task identity, autonomy and feedback. Job Sharing: With job sharing, a full-time job is split between two employees. The two employees share the duties and responsibilities, as well as the salary and benefits of the job. These two employees must also work closely together, and with management, to co-ordinate hours, duties, and communication among themselves and other departments in the organization. Most often, job sharing is used by parents or adults caring for their parents, and affords employees a better balance between their work and personal lives. Employees pursuing further education or a second career may also use job sharing. Job sharing offers advantages over part-time work in that employees are able to maintain their professional status as well as some of their job benefits. One example of the advantage over flextime situations is that with flextime, parents may still require extended day care hours. Benefits to the employer include having ``two heads instead of one'', retaining valued and experienced employees, and down time due to vacation or sickness is reduced, because the job share partners cover for each other.

Phased Retirement:

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Organizations typically devote far more energy to recruiting and retraining than to phasing out workers. Phased retirement is one intervention that workers and employers can use at the latter end of the career cycle. During phased retirement, workers gradually taper their work schedules until they reach full retirement. Other career development interventions such as flextime and job sharing are typically incorporated into phased retirement arrangements. Retirees may work part time and serve as mentors or trainers to their successors. Benefits to employees include a greater sense of control over the transition from work to retirement, lowering the risk of economic insecurity, and more social support. The employer benefits by retaining valued talent and minimizing labor shortages.

Organization development:
Organization development (OD) is a planned, organization-wide effort to increase an organization's effectiveness and viability, it is referred to OD as a complex strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structure of organizations so that it can better adapt to new technologies, markets, and challenges. OD is neither "anything done to better an organization" nor is it "the training function of the organization"; it is a particular kind of change process designed to bring about a particular kind of end result. OD can involve interventions in the organization's "processes," using behavioral science knowledge as well as organizational reflection, system improvement, planning, and self-analysis. Kurt Lewin (1898 - 1947) is widely recognized as the founding father of OD, although he died before the concept became current in the mid-1950s. From Lewin came the ideas of group dynamics, and action research which underpin the basic OD process as well as providing its collaborative consultant/client ethos. Institutionally, Lewin founded the "Research Center for Group Dynamics" at MIT, which moved to Michigan after his death. RCGD colleagues were among those who founded the National Training Laboratories (NTL), from which the T-group and group-based OD emerged. In the UK, the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations was important in developing systems theories. The joint TIHR journal Human Relations was an early journal in the field. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Sciences now a the leading journal in the field. The term "Organization Development" is often used interchangeably with Organizational effectiveness, especially when used as the name of a department within an organization. Organization development is a growing field that is responsive to many new approaches including Positive Adult Development.

Compensation:
Job Evaluation:

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Job evaluation is a practical technique, designed to enable trained and experienced staff to judge the size of one job relative to others. It does not directly determine pay levels, but will establish the basis for an internal ranking of jobs. The two most common methods of job evaluation that have been used are first, whole job ranking, where jobs are taken as a whole and ranked against each other. The second method is one of awarding points for various aspects of the job. In the points system various aspects or parts of the job such as education and experience required to perform the job are assessed and a points value awarded - the higher the educational requirements of the job the higher the points scored. This scheme evaluates job responsibilities in the light of three major factors - know how, problem solving and accountability. Job Evaluation is concerned with measuring the demands the job places on its holder. Most factors that contribute to this job pressure, e.g. physical strength required, knowledge of mathematics required, are assessed and the result is a numerical estimate of the total job pressure. When evaluations are carried out on all hourly paid personnel the techniques uses include establishing relative wage rates for different tasks. It is possible to use it for all grades of personnel, even senior management.

Incentive Program Basics:

Every company needs a little extra motivation now and then. Incentive programs or Appreciation programs can assist you in helping your employees enjoy their job a bit more, and happy employees are more productive and work better with each other and your clients. Before considering an Incentive Program, have a look at your pay-scale. If an employee feels underpayed, an Incentive Program is not the answer for motivation.

Steps to building a good program:

Communication ~ Pick a Reward ~ Suggestions ~ Goals

Communication:
Incentives on their own aren't enough. Opening up the lines of communication is the major goal for managers and upper management. An employee must know they can discuss work issues with 'the boss' without fear of being ignored, patronized, or hearing about it later from someone whom it doesn't concern. If an employee comes to you with a concern, get directly to the heart of the matter. Don't ignore their concern, appear dismissive, or tell them it will pass. Ask the employee what resolution they suggest. Make sure they know you will consider your options for solving the
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situation. Work towards open communication between all your departments - staff and workers - and try including workers in management meetings to show there are no 'secret agendas'. The least expensive motivational tool is giving your employee more say in his or her assignments. Find out what procedures they think could be changed for efficiency, productivity, or ease and see if it's possible to make those changes. Give your employees more freedom in their work environment and make changes only when real problems begin. Incentives and rewards will be completely disregarded if your employees believe management doesn't care what they think. They will see the incentives as a carrot on a stick.

Pick a Reward:
Once your communications are open, suggest an incentive program and make a list of possible rewards. Have your employees vote to determine which rewards they would like to receive. Pay attention to the voting. If few employees vote, few care, and you may have other issues to resolve with your employees before implementing the program. If a company pays its workers fairly, cash is rarely good motivation. It may win you a new hire, but current and long-standing employees prefer appreciation and rewards which don't seem like a paycheck or bonus. Think of how many people consider a year-end bonus as part of their normal pay. To motivate them you need more, not to spend more, but something that can't be tossed in with a paycheck. Don't throw the rewards around aimlessly. There are only so many gold stars you can give out before a gold star doesn't mean anything anymore. People who are happy while at work enjoy their work more and everyone benefits. Below is a list of some possible reward ideas. Some you can use to make your own list for your employees to choose.

Suggestions:

A simple 'Thank You' - appreciation of good work, especially in a personal note, is sometimes the most sincere reward Treat your employees with respect. Giving them a 'cute' reward might go over well in one business, but in another be seen as demeaning A program for rewarding employees who do volunteer work outside of the company Staff meetings anywhere but the office, possibly a nice diner or cafe Set up a secret pal for the holidays or any employee special days
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Make a 'Thanks for your help' box. Have employees put the name of a fellow employee who went beyond the call to help them. Draw a name monthly for a reward Start a birthday program. Have a gift delivered to each employee the week of their birthday Have employee 'field trips' at least once a year. Rent out a skating rink, bowling alley, or reserve tables at a great restaurant Reward perfect attendance with time off certificates Praise a job well done Give company swag - hats, shirts, jackets with the company name or logo. Don't give pens, notepads and mugs with the company name, those are better for your clients One-on-one meetings if an employee seems unhappy Employment anniversary cards - paper or electronic greeting card Event tickets when a goal is reached, let the group with the goal choose the event Casual lunch with staff to gauge how things are going within their unit

Setting Goals:
The first rule to setting a goal for your employees is make it obtainable. Setting a series of smaller goals to reach a higher goal will sometimes be best. Remember, raising the mark too quickly or in too large steps will only discourage your employees. Let your employees get a bit comfortable on every level they reach, and work with them to decide if a new goal is simply too high. There is sometimes a limit beyond which employees, production, and the company suffer. Keep in mind, setting the wrong goal can backfire. Rewarding the person with the most sales may pit the sales staff against each other, while rewarding the sales staff for customer service and working with each other may make the group, as a whole, more productive. A positive, enjoyable work atmosphere can be the best motivation.

Fringe benefits:
Employee benefits and benefits in kind (also called fringe benefits, perquisites, perqs or perks) are various non-wage compensations provided to employees in addition to their normal wages or salaries. Where an employee exchanges (cash) wages for some other form of benefit, this is generally referred to as a 'salary sacrifice' arrangement. In most countries, most kinds of employee benefits are taxable to at least some degree.

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Some of these benefits are: housing (employer-provided or employer-paid), group insurance (health, dental, life etc.), disability income protection, retirement benefits, daycare, tuition reimbursement, sick leave, vacation (paid and non-paid), social security, profit sharing, funding of education, and other specialized benefits. The purpose of the benefits is to increase the economic security of employees. The term perqs or perks is often used colloquially to refer to those benefits of a more discretionary nature. Often, perks are given to employees who are doing notably well and/or have seniority. Common perks are take-home vehicles, hotel stays, free refreshments, leisure activities on work time (golf, etc.), stationery, allowances for lunch, andwhen multiple choices existfirst choice of such things as job assignments and vacation scheduling. They may also be given first chance at job promotions when vacancies exist.

Human Relations:
Human Relations refers to those researchers of organizational development who study the behavior of people in groups, in particular workplace groups. It originated in the 1920s' Hawthorne studies, which examined the effects of social relations, motivation and employee satisfaction on factory productivity. The movement viewed workers in terms of their psychology and fit with companies, rather than as interchangeable parts. "The hallmark of human-relation theories is the primacy given to organizations as human cooperative systems rather than mechanical contraptions." The following are some points: Natural groups, in which social aspects take precedence over functional organizational structures Upwards communication, by which communication is two way, from worker to chief executive, as well as vice versa. Cohesive and good leadership is needed to communicate goals and to ensure effective and coherent making it has become a concern of many companies to improve the job-oriented interpersonal skills of employees. The teaching of these skills to employees is referred to as "soft skills" training. Companies need their employees to be able to successfully communicate and convey information, to be able to interpret others' emotions, to be open to others' feelings, and to be able to solve conflicts and arrive at resolutions. By acquiring these skills, the employees, those in management positions and the customer can maintain more compatible relationships.

EMPLOYEE AND LABOUR RELATIONS

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Just as human resources developers make sure employees have proper training, there are groups of employees organized as unions to address and resolve employment-related issues. Unions have been around since the time of the American Revolution. Those who join unions usually do so for one or both of two reasons- to increase wages and/or to eliminate conditions. Some of the outcomes of union involvement include better medical plans, extended vacation time, and increased wages. Today, unions remain a controversial topic. Under the provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, the closed-shop arrangement states employees (outside the construction industry) are not required to join a union when they are hired. Union-shop arrangements permit employers to hire non-union workers contingent upon their joining the union once they are hired. The Taft-Hartley Act gives employers the right to file complaints against the union and to express their views concerning unions. Not only do HR managers deal with union organizations, but they are also responsible for resolving issues-namely, the contract. The contract defines employment related issues such as compensation and benefits, working conditions, job security, discipline procedures, individuals' rights, management's rights, and contract length. Collective bargaining involves management and the union trying to resolve any issues peacefully-before the union finds it necessary to strike or and/or management decides to institute .

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Effectiveness of HRM:
This article examines the strategic role of HR and its main practices, describes the outcomes of respective categories of HR practices, explains the critical reasons for measuring HR's efforts, and proposes a framework for assessing HR. Ultimately, organizations will be able to utilize the information to determine how particular HR practices correlate with better business results; determine potential areas for investments, expansions, and reductions; justify budget allocations; and be more accountable for each dollar spent within the organization. The framework proposed does not merely explain the cost for each major HR activity, but demonstrates the value of the activity and, hence, the opportunity to determine if it is a worthwhile investment and strategy for creating a competitive advantage. What value does the HR function contribute to the bottom line of the organization? Over the years, tremendous emphasis has been placed on making HR practitioners strategic business partners and a value-added source within organizations. Traditionally, HR professionals could talk generally and conceptually about employee morale, turnover, and employee commitment as outcomes of HR efforts. Furthermore, the HR function was often viewed as an expense-generator and administrative function and not as a value-added partner. Ulrich (1997b) reiterated that to fulfill the business partnership role of HR. concepts need to be replaced with evidence, ideas with results, and perceptions with assessments. This article examines the strategic role of HR and its main practices, describes the outcomes of the respective category of HR practices, explains the critical reasons for measuring HR's efforts, and proposes a framework for assessing HR. Ultimately, organizations will be able to utilize the information to determine how particular HR practices correlate with better business results; determine potential areas for investments, expansions, and reductions; justify budget allocations; and be more accountable for each dollar spent within the organization. The framework proposed does not merely explain the cost for each major HR activity, but demonstrates the value of the activity and, hence, the opportunity to determine whether it is a worthwhile investment and strategy for creating a competitive advantage. The framework has proven its effectiveness at many companies, to show how HR creates value, to utilize information to increase investments in specific HR strategies and eliminate ineffective investments, and to serve as a critical resource in strategic business planning and budget
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allocation. The companies include Fortune 500 and smaller companies from retail, transportation, and financial industries.

Strategic Human Resource Management:

In this age of rapid technological development, the importance of human resources still holds the key to the development and progress of a company. Strategic human resource management is a new approach, which helps in aligning the skills present in the employees with the goals to be achieved by the company. A new and constantly evolving branch in the field of human resource management, Strategic Human Resource Management deals with utilizing human resources in a manner that enables a firm to reap long term benefits, in terms of profits, core competence and other goals. The definitions of the term 'Strategic Human Resource Management' as per Miles & Snow, 1984, is mentioned below. "A human resource system that is tailored to the demands of the business strategy." According to Wright & McMahan, 1992, Strategic Human Resource Management refers to: "The pattern of planned human resource activities intended to enable an organization to achieve its goals." In this management system, human resource is given due importance while planning goals and long term strategies. The skills that are necessary to meet the organizational goals are developed in employees. This point is considered during the planning phase and included in the policies devised for meeting goals. Nowadays, the human resource department does much more than just recruiting employees for the company. Using the human resource effectively in order to give the company a competitive advantage and completing the set targets, are some of the priorities. The mission statements reflect the strategies, goals and the overall approach of companies. The values inherited and the policies devised by firms are based on the mission statements; which are the driving force that motivate the employees to move ahead.

Advantages of Strategic Human Resource Management:

There are many advantages and benefits that strategic human resource management offers.
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It helps analyze the opportunities and threats that are crucial, from the point of view of the company. It is possible to develop strategies and have a vision for the future. The need for competitive intelligence, which is of utmost importance in strategic planning, is fulfilled by means of implementing strategic human resource management. The attrition rate can be reduced, if strategic HRM is implemented properly. It also performs the important task of motivating employees. Development and maintenance of competency among employees, is the most important benefit offered by strategic HRM. It helps determine the weaknesses and strengths of the company, thereby enabling the management to take appropriate measures. It helps keep a check whether the expectations of employees are addressed properly. Business surplus is achieved by making the employees competent enough to deliver the goods.

Limitations of Strategic Human Resource Management:

The process of strategic HRM is a complicated one and barriers in the growth of employees and in turn the company, are created if strategic HRM is not implemented properly. Following are some commonly observed problems.

Resistance to change from the bottom line workers. Inability of the management in communicating the vision and mission of the company clearly to the employees. Interdepartmental conflict and lack of vision among the senior management in implementing the HR policies. The diversity of workforce that makes it difficult for the management to handle them accordingly. Conflict among the employees over the issue of authority and the related fear of victimization. The resistance from institutions such as the labor unions. Changes that take place in the organizational structure. The changing market scenario which in turn creates pressure on the effective implementation of strategic HRM.

If implemented efficiently, strategic human resource management helps in improving the productivity of employees and utilizes their expertise in meeting the company goals.

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HRM POLICIES:
Whatever the size of the organization and however the HRM function is structured and located, there will be a need to communicate to employees their terms and conditions of employment. These employment guidelines are usually reflected in the HRM policies. The HRM policies are general statements that serve to guide decision making. As guides rather than as hard and fast rules, policies are somewhat flexible, requiring interpretation and judgment in their use. Some potential policy statements that affect HRM would be: the provision of a safe place for employees to work the encouragement of all employees to achieve as much of their human potential as possible the provision of remuneration that will encourage a high level of productivity ensuring that current employees are considered first for any vacancy that might occur. The provision for voluntary and involuntary redundancy.

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How HRM functions are changing business environment?

Human Resources Management is defined as policies and practices Involved in carrying out the people or human resource aspects of a management position, including recruiting, screening, training, rewarding and appraising. These include:

Conducting job analyses (determining the nature of each employees job). Planning labour needs and recruiting job candidates Recruitment Selecting job candidates Orienting and training new employees Managing wages and salaries (compensating employees) Providing incentives and benefits
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Appraising performance Communicating (interviewing, counseling, disciplining) Training and developing managers Building employee commitment

The scope of HRM has changed over the fast few years. However, this Change has been relatively slow in comparison to the changes in their area of business, management and administration. Some HRM Sub-functions seems to be breaking away from HRM, other seems to be new sub-areas while still other seem to be changing only in term of their relative emphasis and degree of importance. Many of these changes depend on he size of the organization in which the HRM functions occurs, the managerial philosophies, the growing importance of the functions, the changing organizational demands, employee needs and societal concerns. Managerial and organizational development, Manpower planning, organizational are incoming areas, i.e. they are now going to receive substantially more attention, they did not have any they are now going to receive substantially more attention, they did not have any prominence in the past. Training and managerial development and personal research have become increasingly important today, while the importance of appraisal, wage and salary administration, has somewhat declined in terms of relative emphasis. Employee benefits and services and workers health and safety have always been important personal concerns. Labour relations, public relations and plant security are outgoing HRM sub areas which have been taken away from HRM department.

Todays its firms workforce, its knowledge, commitment, skills and training that provides the competitive advantages for world class companies. And its HRs job to build that competitive advantages. That means an upgrading of HRs traditional role. Earlier, personal people first took over hiring and firing from supervisors, ran the payroll department and administrated benefits plans. The job consisted largely of ensuring that procedures were followed. The new technology in the areas like testing and interviewing began to emerge the promotion. Today, HRs role is shifting from protector and screener to strategic partner and change agent. The metamorphosis of personal to Human Resources reflects that. In todays flattened downsized and highly performing organizations, trained and committed employees- not machine are firms.

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Emerging Trends in Human Resource Management:

NEW TRENDS IN HR
Human resource management is a process of bringing people and organizations together so that the goals of each other are met. The role of HR manager is shifting from that of a protector and screener to the role of a planner and change agent. Personnel directors are the new corporate heroes. The name of the game today in business is personnel. Nowadays it is not possible to show a good financial or operating report unless your personnel relations are in order. Over the years, highly skilled and knowledge based jobs are increasing while low skilled jobs are decreasing. This calls for future skill mapping through proper HRM initiatives. Indian organizations are also witnessing a change in systems, management cultures and philosophy due to the global alignment of Indian organizations. There is a need for multi skill development. Role of HRM is becoming all the more important. Some of the recent trends that are being observed are as follows:

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The recent quality management standards ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 of 2000 focus more on people centric organizations. Organizations now need to prepare themselves in order to address people centered issues with commitment from the top management, with renewed thrust on HR issues, more particularly on training. To leapfrog ahead of competition in this world of uncertainty, organizations have introduced sixsigma practices. Six- sigma uses rigorous analytical tools with leadership from the top and develops a method for sustainable improvement. These practices improve organizational values and helps in creating defect free product or services at minimum cost. With the increase of global job mobility, recruiting competent people is also increasingly becoming difficult, especially in India. Therefore by creating an enabling culture, organizations are also required to work out a retention strategy for the existing skilled manpower.

HR Managers should do the following things to ensure success

Use workforce skills and abilities in order to exploit environmental opportunities and neutralize threats. Employ innovative reward plans that recognize employee contributions and grant enhancements. Indulge in continuous quality improvement through TQM and HR contributions like training, development, counseling, etc Utilize people with distinctive capabilities to create unsurpassed competence in an area, e.g. Xerox in photocopiers, 3M in adhesives, Telco in trucks etc. Decentralize operations and rely on self-managed teams to deliver goods in difficult times e.g. Motorola is famous for short product development cycles. It has quickly commercialized ideas from its research labs. Lay off workers in a smooth way explaining facts to unions, workers and other affected groups e.g. IBM, Kodak, Xerox, etc.

HR Managers today are focusing attention on the followinga) Policies- HR policies based on trust, openness, equity and consensus. b) Motivation- Create conditions in which people are willing to work with zeal, initiative and enthusiasm; make people feel like winners. c) Relations- Fair treatment of people and prompt redress of grievances would pave the way for healthy work-place relations. d) Change agent- Prepare workers to accept technological changes by clarifying doubts. e) Quality Consciousness- Commitment to quality in all aspects of personnel administration will ensure success. Due to the new trends in HR, in a nutshell the HR manager should treat people as resources, reward them equitably, and integrate their aspirations with corporate goals through suitable HR policies.
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59

HISTORY OF NIRALI:
Nirali started manufacturing in 1985. We have had a quality focused approach since inception with a wide range of products, being the first to introduce many innovative products in India.

With a team of over 150 employees, we are now the number one brand and market leader and have a wide dealers network (more than 3000) throughout India.

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Today we enjoy a long track record of loyal satisfied customers - more than 10 million, and placement in most of the malls in the country. Also is having been a supplier to the Indian Defense Forces for the past 20 years.

We have the first DuPonts License in India since 1985 and are the only licensee to use Platinum coatings in the country. Also, FDA USA approved ISI India certification.

We are expanding new manufacturing facilities with Italian technical know how and plan to capture premium market segments by introducing new and innovative products. The Logic of being vegetarian!

Like all vital energy on the planet ultimately comes from the sun-the center piece of our solar system and the source of all existence. It has been proven that off all energy sources, those that are most efficient are closest to the source- the sun.

Similarly in the food we eat, logic and research suggests that vegetarian food is the most efficient nutriment for the humans as plants form the base of our food chain, closest to the source of life itself. Plants draw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, seek out water and minerals from the soil and internally cook the mixture with sunlight to produce glucose, the fundamental requirement for all living organisms.

We at Nirali Subscribe to this And dedicate this section to provide and invite vegetarian recipes from across the world.

To foster this process we offer to publish the contributors name and photograph along with the recipe on our site additionally there are some cool surprising gifts to be won, so rush in your recipes and send it to us at niralicookware@vsnl.com. Or post it to us at our office address.

L.N Engineering Works Pvt.Ltd.

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Registered Office: 210, Kaliandas Udyog Bhavan Near Century Bazar, Worli Mumbai 400 025, India

Factory: 54, Vasai Taluka Industrial Estates Sector II, Gaurai Pada, Vasai (E) Dist. Thane, Maharashtra, India

Phone: 91-22-24315500 91-22-24379457

Fax: 91-22-24362543

Email: niralicookware@vsnl.com

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QUESTIONIARE: 1) What is the process of recruitment followed in the organization? Solution: In Nirali non-stick Cookware Company the recruitment process is as follows: For workers, No qualifications and/or skill is required. The worker is trained in the company as per the manufacturing units requirement. For clerical job or accounting minimum qualification required is 12th or any other qualification related to the job profile.

2) Induction & orientation are done by the HR department or by the concern department of the newly recruited employee? Solution: Induction & orientation are done by the HR department head of the newly recruited employee in the organization.
All new employees and transferring employees are provided with an appropriate introduction to their employment with to cover a basic understanding of the companys history, products, policies and procedures. The aim is for new employees to be integrated into the work environment as soon as possible.

3) Which type of training is given to the employees?

Solution: Types of Employee Training:

1. Communications: The increasing diversity of today's workforce brings a wide variety of languages and customs.

2. Computer skills: Computer skills are becoming a necessity for conducting administrative and office tasks. 63

3. Customer service: Increased competition in today's global marketplace makes it critical that employees understand and meet the needs of customers.

4. Diversity: Diversity training usually includes explanation about how people have different perspectives and views, and includes techniques to value diversity

5. Ethics: Today's society has increasing expectations about corporate social responsibility. Also, today's diverse workforce brings a wide variety of values and morals to the workplace.

6. Human relations: The increased stresses of today's workplace can include misunderstandings and conflict. Training can people to get along in the workplace.

7. Quality initiatives: Initiatives such as Total Quality Management, Quality Circles, benchmarking, etc., require basic training about quality concepts, guidelines and standards for quality, etc.

8. Safety: Safety training is critical where working with heavy equipment, hazardous chemicals, repetitive activities, etc., but can also be useful with practical advice for avoiding assaults, etc.

4) On what basis is wage/salary paid to the employees? Solution: Wage/salary is given on the basis of the job of an individual employee. It is paid fairly on the activity of an employee. No incentives are given. 5) Does the wage/salary structure justify the hard work of the employee?

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Solution: YES, wage/salary structure is justified. Employees are paid on the hard work done in the manufacturing unit at different levels & different departments. 6) How do you motivate employees when they are demotivated? Solution: Employees are motivated in every possible ways. They are given promotions, internal transfers, bonus (once in a year). Promotions are given every year on the basis of Seniority as well as on the basis of skills too. Gifts are given to the employees to motivate them. 7) How is performance appraisal done in your organization? Solution: Performance appraisal is done fairly to all the employees in the organization. No partiality is done with any employee. All the employees are treated equally. As they all work as a team in the organization. 8) What type of methods do you follow for doing the performance appraisal? Solution: Performance appraisal is necessary to measure the performance of the employees and the organization to check the progress towards the desired goals and aims. Performance appraisal takes into account the past performance of the employees and focuses on the improvement of the future performance of the employees. 9) How do you judge the performance of your employee & what are the benefits and you provide? Solution: The performance of the employee is judged on the individual employee as well as a team work also. Talent, skills, coordination, industrial relations among the employee & employer etc. Benefits like: Maintaining work atmosphere, Managing disputes, Maintaining public relations tec.

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CONCLUSION:
Human resource management is a process of bringing people and organizations together so that the goals of each other are met. The role of HR manager is shifting from that of a protector and screener to the role of a planner and change agent. Over the years, highly skilled and knowledge based jobs are increasing while low skilled jobs are decreasing. HR Managers should concentrate on the following areas to ensure success: * Use workforce skills and abilities in order to exploit environmental opportunities and neutralize threats. * Employ innovative reward plans that recognize employee contributions and grant enhancements. * Indulge in continuous quality improvement through TQM and HR contributions like training, development, counseling, etc. * Utilize people with distinctive capabilities to create unsurpassed competence in an area. * Decentralize operations and rely on self-managed teams to deliver goods in difficult times.

More could be said about managing human effort, environmental resources, and financial resources. This entry briefly touches the surface of a more than century-old discipline that affects every aspect of daily life. What management does is provide a framework, a way of looking at things that can be applied to a variety of situations. It is about life not just happening but happening in an orderly way. Humans are constantly seeking answers, making plans, and pursuing goals that bring desired results. Management provides insight into how this occurs. It is both simple and complex. Each day presents new challenges, new questions about how life should be and can be. Individuals are continually confronted with decisions to be made given scarce resources. This entry has endeavored to show the basics of the discipline and its application to everyday life. The greatest future challenge for the field will be the continued integration of management with other theories to address socially relevant issues as life becomes more complex and diverse. Indicated from the variety of topics discussed, Human Resource Management covers a wide range of topics. As a manager, one must be familiar with the laws regarding todays work environment, and keep up to date on the new laws that develop. They must also be an effective
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communicator to able to delegate responsibility, and alleviate conflict. They have to deal with hiring new employees, and terminating bad ones. Effective Human Resource Managers strive to make the work environment a healthy one, in every conceivable way.

WEBLIOGRAPHY: www.googloe.com www.citehr.com www.wikipedia.com www.niralicookware@vsnl.com

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Kale Ahmed Subha Rao V.P. Michael

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