Q1. What are the common difficulties faced by IT companies related to manpower planning?

Answer

Introduction: Manpower planning is a process of choosing and recruiting the right workforce to meet
organizational objectives. Also known as human resource planning (HRP), the manpower planning
process helps to ensure the optimum use of the workforce. It helps organizations to identify
departments with a surplus or shortage of staff and balance these areas. Manpower planning aims to
identify and analyze human resource requirements and plans to procure human resource whenever
required. The key goal of manpower planning is to estimate and acquire the right number of people
having the required skills, knowledge, expertise and competencies for the specified jobs at the right time
to make manpower planning highly successful, organizations should strive to prevent the instances of
understaffing and over staffing.

Today’s tech industry has already been knit in practically all the elements of the global economy. The
industry as a whole faces a lot of significant human resource difficulties. There are a few HR challenges
in the IT industirs that companies cannot afford to overlook.

Concept and application: Top challenges that IT industry faces today are :-

 Employee burnout- Burnout in the workplace is on the rise and it appears to be common smong
the HR problems in the IT industry. Unrealistic high outputs are usually encouraged in these
organizations, which could be attributed to entrepreneurial mentality and constant
advancement of technology, a need to have things done instantly. All these comes with
consequences resulting in increased work hours, poor leadership, unclear direction, work
overload and a toxic work culture.
 Talent war- There is more day-to-day rivalry for talent today than ever before. In spite of rising
unemployment rates, finding technically qualified candidates is becoming very difficult. Google,
for example, increased software engineer hiring by 12% in 2020. Even after increased hiring,
41% of IT hiring managers think sourcing tech talent is growing more difficult each year.
 Managing remote onboarding- The demand for talented employees has necessitated tech
organization to swiftly hire and onboard new employees. To do this successfully, HR challenges
in t he tech industry require a streamlined, remote work supports remote onboarding procedure
to tackle the large number of manual chores on a daily basis.
 Curbing employee turnover and retention rates- HR challenges in the IT industry have a fairly
high employee turnover rate worldwide. Many HR management system in tech companies have
begun to investigate the influence of personality type on long term retention. More and more
organizations are looking for workplace solutions that go beyond a ‘one size fits all’ strategy to
better address employee demands.
 Encouraging women’s participation in the industry- In an industry that takes pride on breaking
barriers, the gender disperency slaps as a contradiction. While men and women at tech
companies begin their careers at the same age, women’s career progression is slower. There are
 higher number of women personnel at the lower career levels in the IT industry, as well as fewer
women in top-level positions.

Conclusion: IT industry has a lot at stake and managing it comes with a lot of challenges. HR
functions always play a key role in the organization when at it is on the boom. Hiring effective
personnels and retaining them and getting the best out of them for the organization at a verty
competitive stage is a difficult and challenging process. These above menmtioned problems are
major causes that a HR professional faces in the IT organization. Hence we can say that manpower
planning plays an important role in the functioning of IT industry.

Q2. Why Performance Appraisal is important? What can be the threats to performance appraisal?

Answer

Introduction: Performance appraisal is a mechanism that helps an organization to analyze the

abilities and competencies of its employees and reward them accordingly. It is a process that
measures and analyses the past performance and future potential of an employee based on various
parameters, such as effort, quantity and quality of product, responsibility, initiative, regularity and
punctuality. It is also known as performance assessment, performance evaluation, merit rating,
merit evaluation and performance management. It is used to evaluate the performance of
employees and their contribution in achieving organizational goals.

According to Dale Yoder, “Performance appraisal includes all formal procedures used to evaluate
personalities and contributions and potential of group members in a working organsiation. It ios a
contious process to secure information necessary for making correct and objective decisions on
employees.”

Concept and application: Although everyone almost hates the performance appraisal process, it’s a
standard procedure in all businesses. To reduce appraisal issuesor threats to performance appraisal,
managers should give feedback throughout the year. They should also take steps to make their
reviews more objective.

 Lack of objectivity in performance appraisal. One of the biggest appraisal issues is employees' belief
they're not evaluated fairly: Instead of being judged on performance, employees worry they're judged
by race, gender or how much they and the manager get along. Forbes says as managers have different
standards, what one manager considers exceptional might get a barely adequate rating from a
colleague.
 Comparing an employee to their coworkers. Harvard Business Review says employees think appraisals
are inaccurate and unfair when they're compared to their colleagues rather than their own past
performance. Even when the supervisor ranks an employee above their coworkers, the employee may
still feel dissatisfied.
 Clashing goals Employees are usually proud of their work, so they expect to hear good feedback from
their boss. Instead, the appraisal usually includes a list of things they need to improve. Organizations
 often frown on uniformly positive appraisals, so the manager may feel pressured to find fault even if
they think their employee is great.
 Neither manager nor employee really gives a crap. The manager can't commit if they have to provide
critical feedback they don't believe in. Employees who feel they're not getting the respect they deserve
may not care what their review says is wrong with them.
 Performance reviews don't change anything. The Cut says maybe a third of appraisals improve employee
performance. Another third do worse, and the performance of the rest remains constant.

Conclusion:- A performance management system is crucial for enhancing productivity, engagement, and
diversity in an organization. Seeing the innumerable benefits of performance management software,
multiple organizations have now switched to it. But not everyone is able to make the best out of the
system. The reasons for the failure discussed in this article provide an outline of how a performance
management system should be integrated into the organization .Performance appraisals are also known
as the performance reviews or the performance evaluation used by the companies to assess an
employee’s performance and appreciate him/her for his/her precious and dedicated contribution to the
organization’s growth. Thus, the importance of performance appraisals can be defined as the process of
evaluating an employee’s performance and personality as per the organization’s set of standards like
versatility, quality of work, efficiency, cooperation, and teamwork, etc. Based on the evaluations and
assessment for the performance rating, the employee is awarded and rewarded in the form of
promotions, cash awards, certificates, etc., and the company provides a chance to grow. Performance
appraisals/reviews benefit both employees and employers as feedback is an important part of the
performance evaluation.

Q3. 360- degree feedback is effective way of appraising the performance of employees provided it is
designed and implemented scientifically.
Answer
a. Give reasons of how 360 degrees feedback is an effective method of performance appraisal.
A 360-degree performance appraisal, also known as 360-degree feedback or multi-rater
feedback, is when employers evaluate employee performance from as many sources as
possible, instead of only one-on-one feedback from a direct manager. Once all the feedback
is collected, it is used to measure employee strengths, weaknesses and skills and can
provide a well-rounded performance review. If the 360-degree performance appraisal is well
designed, it can boost team performance, promote self-awareness and create transparent
communication. However, there are also some drawbacks to the 360-degree appraisal
method if it's not executed properly.

Advantages of 360 degree appraisal are:

 Provides a complete assessment:- Because the 360-degree feedback comes from so many
different sources, the information collected is broader and therefore has the potential to be
more accurate. It may be possible to notice recurring patterns and themes from the feedback.
As the number of respondents increases, there is a better idea of an employee's behavior, work
and relationships. Clients, customers, colleagues and other sources of feedback provide
information that wouldn't otherwise be possible to know. Employees are more likely to take
feedback into consideration when it comes from multiple sources instead of just one person.
  Increases teamwork:-  When employees know what behaviors they need to develop and
improve, they can become better workers as individuals and become better collaborators with
their team, which results in a more productive and positive work environment.
 Allows anonymity:- 360-degree feedback is typically provided and received anonymously. There
are some advantages to anonymous feedback, like helping employees to feel more comfortable
about the feedback they want to share, especially when it comes to negative or constructive
feedback.
 Promotes self awareness:- Employees are able to develop a sense of self-awareness about their
strengths and weakness when using 360-degree feedback. This awareness can motivate
employees to work towards self improvement, develop new skills and improve existing skills.
This self-awareness can also bridge the difference between how employees see themselves and
the opinions others have of them.
 Brings transparency:- Increased transparency from 360-degree feedback can lead to developing
trust between coworkers. An increase in transparency and trust may enhance decision making,
increase performance and build a solid foundation of knowledge, all of which has the potential
to increase revenue. When used intentionally, 360-degree feedback can let organizations
generate ideas, improve operations, make positive changes and tap into unrealized potential.

b. While using this method, organizations might come across some difficulties. What kind of
difficulties can be faced by the organizations and how those difficulties can be addressed?

Answer: While there are many advantages to using the 360-degree feedback method, there can be
some potential drawbacks, such as creating conflicts, lowering morale and limiting upward career
paths. Here are some of the downsides of using the 360-degree performance appraisal evaluation
technique:

 Time consuming:- It can take significant time to complete a 360-degree performance

appraisal. It takes time for the sources to participate in answering the questions thoughtfully
and for the supervisors or HR employees to read through the material and analyze it with
insight. The quality and amount of feedback often comes at the cost of lost time. Weighing
the feedback and compiling it all into one performance review document with customized
software can expedite the process. It can also be helpful to determine whether the feedback
is worth the time invested.
 Dishonesty and inaccuracy:- If a lack of trust exists among coworkers, they may not offer
honest feedback, but rather just say what they think people want to hear. If the feedback is
not honest then it is likely also inaccurate, which is not very useful. A small close-knit team
may be afraid of being too critical, and a very large team may not know each other well
enough to give an accurate assessment. Prevent this situation by setting up clear guidelines
and being transparent about expectations with 360-degree feedback.
 Poor execution:- Often organizations go about introducing and using the 360-degree
appraisal method poorly. It's important to go about using the evaluation method with the
 right steps, such as introducing the method properly and with positivity and maximizing the
value of the feedback. This is especially important when changing from one type of
performance feedback to another and when it might affect employees' compensation or
positions.
 Anonymity:- While anonymous feedback with the 360-degree performance appraisal may
make some employees more comfortable and able to share their opinions more freely, the
opposite can happen as well. Some employees may not feel the need to take the 360-
degree feedback seriously or may use the anonymity to be overly negative, critical or
focused on weaknesses.
 Distrust:- It's important to follow through on communicating what managers learned from
the 360-degree performance appraisal and how they plan to address the feedback. If the
participants feel like the 360-degree feedback was just busy work or a useless exercise, then
there may not be any tangible growth or positive change, trust in leadership may deplete
and engagement may go down. Leadership can prevent this from happening by following
through with an action plan based on the feedback results.

Addressing the difficulties

If your organization has experienced challenges, consider committing the following practices to boost
productivity and foster stronger connections in the workplace:

 Host team building excercises: Team-building exercises are activities that encourage employees
to work together to complete a task. Creating opportunities for staff members to become
acquainted with one another can help them collaborate more efficiently for organizational
projects. Also, closer relationships can improve the company's communication processes.
 Define and promote orgnasational goals: Organizational goals state what the company strives to
accomplish in the future. For example, for a major news network, the goal might be to have the
highest audience ratings for the morning show. Promoting goals throughout the organization
can provide direction, giving employees something to work towards and look forward to
achieving. A goal can also show professionals the purpose of their work.
 Deliver coinstructive criticism: Constructive criticism is feedback that illustrates an employee's
work performance. Delivering consistent feedback can give professionals clearer instructions
and enable them to learn from their mistakes. For managers, implement a process for
performance evaluations. For example, you can evaluate employees every three months and
cite specific instances of when they exceeded expectations. Consider offering an opportunity for
the employee to ask questions about your critiques