How would you define HRD?

Answer HRD is matching the organizations needs for human resources with the individuals needs for career growth and development. What is the scope of HRD? Answer 1. HRD aims at anticipating the needs of the organization and meeting them in a planned way. 2. It includes developing the capabilities of line managers to handle development, grievances, performance appraisal and punishment of their team. 3. It emphasizes on motivating the employees and building up a good work culture. What is the importance of HRD? Answer HRD helps in: 1. Developing competent employees and committed work force 2. Establishing role clarity 3. Generating great trust and respect 4. Minimizing resistance to change 5. Facilitating Human Resource Planning 6. Increasing productivity, Cost effectiveness etc. What are the problems faced by HR departments in India? How can India overcome the HR related problems? What is HRP? Answer HRP-Human Resource Planning is the subsystem of HRM. It is planning for the future personnel needs of an organization taking into consideration the internal activities and factors in the external environment. What would happen in absence of HRP? Answer In absence of HRP, estimation of an organizations human resources need is reduced to a guess work. 1. You will not be able to ascertain future manpower requirements without HRP 2. Adjusting to environmental changes and competition would become difficult. 3. Developing talented human resources internally would be difficult. 4. Your wont have the required information to perform personnel functions. 5. There will be much resistance to change. 6. HRP helps in developing managers to handle the organizational needs. Without HRP it would be difficult to anticipate such requirements. 7. HRP helps in working on the global strategies and meeting the staffing requirements. What factors can affect HRP? Answer HRP depends upon following factors: 1. Type of organization, its culture and strategies. 2. Social, political and economic environment in which the organizations operate. 3. Time period for which HRP plans are to be implemented decide whether short term pr long term plans should be made. 4. Type of openings to be filled which arise on account of retirement, promotion, retrenchment, switching over etc. 5. Outsourcing-If company plans to outsource a particular assignment, HRP is not required for it. What is job analysis? Answer Job analysis is the process of studying and collecting information relating to the operations and responsibilities of a specific job. It comprises of job description and job specification. What is the difference between job description and job specification?

Answer Job description comprises of the job title, location, job summary, duties & responsibilities, tools that will be used to perform the job and the working conditions. It is a written statement which includes the above information. A proper job description helps in advertising the vacancy effectively and attracting the right talent while Job specification comprises of the qualification that a particular job seeks in the candidate. It includes educational qualifications, work experience, personal qualities etc. What are the various methods used to perform Job Analysis? Answer Various methods to perform Job Analysis are: 1. Observation: This means observing the employees while they perform their job and taking the notes. 2. Individual interview: Asking questions to individuals performing a role and summing up the various answers you get. 3. Group interview: Interviewing many candidates performing the same role in a group and recording the answers. 4. Questionnaire: Developing a structured questionnaire and asking the employees to fill it up. 5. Diary: This method requires asking the employees to record their daily activities as they perform them. Why do you think you qualify for a human resource executive's/manager' position? Answer While asking this the interviewer wants to see, how do you identify yourself yourself with the job role. Relate your educational qualification, work experience and personal qualities with the role to answer this question. A possible answer could be, the role of a human resource manager needs the person to connect with others on a human level and help them meet their aspirations while following the company's policies, structure and rules. I think with an experience of 'X' years, I know well how to deal with humans and my last employment has given me a good insight into the rules and regulations an HR manager has to keep in mind while operating. What are your strengths and weaknesses as HR professional? Answer You may find this question asked in different forms during the interview. The purpose of asking the same question in same way is to judge the consistency of candidates answers. Ensure that you have read the job specifications properly before you appear for the interview. While answering this question, identify the qualities a person needs as an HR Manager and see how you fit into them. Take out the qualities which make you a strong candidate for this position and offer them to the interviewer. The qualities which are usually sought in the candidate for this role are: Knowledge, Intuition, Versatility, Flexibility, Focus and above all a human touch in every thing you do. If you have any extra qualification like the knowledge of a software useful in handling the job, you can discuss that also during the interview. It is absolutely OK to accept that every human being has weaknesses but if you can make your weaknesses work to your advantage that makes you a winner. A probable answer to this question could be, while dealing with the employees problems at times I get very attached to them but I think this helps me in understanding their problems better and offering them a solution while being within the company limits. I have experienced that this attitude of mine towards the staff help them being more open to me and loyal to the company. What according to you are the qualities that an HR Executive/Manager must have? Answer Knowledge, Intuition, Versatility, Flexibility, Focus and above all a human touch in every thing you do Why did you choose HR as your career?

Answer While answering this question, dont simply say that I lov e to work with people and that is the reason I am into HR. This is the most common answer and moreover something which makes the interviewer burst into laughter. This answer easily makes them understand that you are saying this just to get the job. A better way would be to identify some work areas that an HR manager has to perform in his daily routine and relate them to your interest. A possible answer could be, I liked to be a part of the recruitment team which can identify right people and put them into right places. An employment into recruitment slowly developed into a full fledged HR profession. What do you think are the roles and responsibilities of an HR Manager? Answer The purpose of this question is to understand your knowledge of the role. The responsibilities of an HR manager include: Recruitment, Training, Organizational Development, Communication, Performance development and management, Salary and benefits, Team Building, Building Employee relationship, Developing Leadership, Motivational exercises, Developing companies policies and procedures, Managing the health care program for employees etc. Depending on the size of the organization, the HR manager has a team performing each of these roles. Why did you decide to get into HR after you graduation in computers/commerce/physics? Answer There are many people who actually get into HR after graduating in a totally different stream. To some people it just happens while for others it is a deliberate move. If it just happened to you, you can say that I was on a look out for a job when I got the first opportunity in HR. I took it up and slowly realized that I have started liking it. I brushed up my skills by keeping myself updated about the new developments in the field and acquiring a professional degree (If you have got one.) If it was a deliberate move, you can discuss your reasons for moving into this role. What is Personnel Management? Answer Personnel management is managing welfare and performance of persons who are a part of the operations. What is the difference between Personnel Management and HRM? Answer Usually these two terms are used interchangeably but there does lie a difference between the two. Personnel management is reactive in nature and includes administrative tasks while HRM is proactive in nature and requires continous develpment in policies and functions of the organization for a better tomorrow. Personnel management is more of an independent task than HRM which needs to involve the managers of all departments for developing a better team. Personnel mangement believes that satisfied employees yield better performance while HRM believes that a good performance provides satisfaction to employees. HRM works around developing startegies to improve the performance of employees. Personnel mangement works around motivating employees with compensation, bonuses, rewards etc. Actually Personnel management can be considered as a subset of HRM. Here you have to bear in mind that if you are offered the position of a Personnel Manager, you may be required to perform HRM functions and vice versa. What are the responsibilities of a personnel manager? Answer Some of the responsibilities of a personnel manager include: coordinating benefit programs and employee training,managing the recruiting process, conducting exit interviews and salary surveys,coordinating recordkeeping and payroll, and administering personnel policies.

What do you mean by Management? Describe the essential functions of management. Answer Management in simple terms can be understood as the process of bringing people together to achieve the desired goals. The essential functions of management include: Planning, Organizing, Budgeting, Resourcing, Directing, Controlling and Reviewing. What is the difference between salary and incentive? Answer Salary can be termed as the fixed remuneration you are offered for your services while incentive means some extra benefits that you are offered based on your performance. Incentive can be in cash or kind. What is 'Span of Management'? Answer Span of Management or Control in easy terms means, number of subordinates a manager manages. What are the diffrent factors that determine the 'span of Management'? Answer Following factors determine the Span of Management: 1. Size of the organization 2. Different tasks that are performed to keep the work going 3. Complexity of the production process 4. Extent to which IT can help in the process. What do you mean by Fringe Benefits? Answer Fringe benefit can be defined as the benefits provided by the employer to its employees in addition to the regular salary. These include health plans, paid holidays, cafeteria, company transport etc. What is HRM? Answer HRM-Human resource management, is the planning, organizing and controlling the operative functions of procurement, development, compensation and maintenance of Human Resources. What do you think is the scope of HRM? Answer HRM includes: 1. Human Resource Palnning 2. Recruitment and selection 3. Job design 4. Training and development 5. Performance management system 6. Compensation and Benefits 7. Labour Relations 8. Organizational development What is 360 Degree Feedback? 360 Degree Feedback is a system or process in which employees receive confidential, anonymous feedback from the people who work around them. This typically includes the employee's manager, peers, and direct reports. A mixture of about eight to twelve people fill out an anonymous online feedback form that asks questions covering a broad range of workplace competencies. The feedback forms include questions that are measured on a rating scale and also ask raters to provide written comments. The person receiving feedback also fills out a self-rating survey that includes the same survey questions that others receive in their forms. Managers and leaders within organizations use 360 feedback surveys to get a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. The 360 feedback system automatically tabulates the results and presents them in a format that helps the feedback recipient create a development plan. Individual responses are always combined with responses from other people in the same rater category (e.g. peer, direct report) in

order to preserve anonymity and to give the employee a clear picture of his/her greatest overall strengths and weaknesses. 360 Feedback can also be a useful development tool for people who are not in a management role. Strictly speaking, a "non-manager" 360 assessment is not measuring feedback from 360 degrees since there are no direct reports, but the same principles still apply. 360 Feedback for non-managers is useful to help people be more effective in their current roles, and also to help them understand what areas they should focus on if they want to move into a management role. What a 360 Feedback Survey Measures: o 360 feedback measures behaviors and competencies o 360 assessments provide feedback on how others perceive an employee o 360 feedback addresses skills such as listening, planning, and goal-setting o A 360 evaluation focuses on subjective areas such as teamwork, character, and leadership effectiveness o How is 360 Degree Feedback Used? o Companies typically use a 360 feedback system in one of two ways: o 1. 360 Feedback as a Development Tool to help employees recognize strengths and weaknesses and become more effective o When done properly, 360 is highly effective as a development tool. The feedback process gives people an opportunity to provide anonymous feedback to a coworker that they might otherwise be uncomfortable giving. Feedback recipients gain insight into how others perceive them and have an opportunity to adjust behaviors and develop skills that will enable them to excel at their jobs. o 2. 360 Feedback as a Performance Appraisal Tool to measure employee performance o Using a 360 degree feedback system for Performance Appraisal is a common practice, but not always a good idea. It is difficult to properly structure a 360 feedback process that creates an atmosphere of trust when you use 360 evaluations to measure performance. Moreover, 360 feedback focuses on behaviors and competencies more than on basic skills, job requirements, and performance objectives. These things are most appropriately addressed by an employee and his/her manager as part of an annual review and performance appraisal process. It is certainly possible and can be beneficial to incorporate 360 feedback into a larger performance management process, but only with clear communication on how the 360 feedback will be used. What 360 Feedback Surveys do not assess: o 360 feedback is not a way to measure employee performance objectives (MBOs) o 360 feedback is not a way to determine whether an employee is meeting basic job requirements o 360 feedback is not focused on basic technical or job-specific skills o 360 feedback should not be used to measure strictly objective things such as attendance, sales quotas, etc. MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES

The concept of Management by Objectives (MBO) was first given by Peter Drucker in 1954. It can be defined as a process whereby the employees and the superiors come together to identify common goals, the employees set their goals to be achieved, the standards to be taken as the criteria for measurement of their performance and contribution and deciding the course of action to be followed. The essence of MBO is participative goal setting, choosing course of actions and decision making. An important part of the MBO is the measurement and the comparison of the employees actual performance with the standards set. Ideally, when employees

themselves have been involved with the goal setting and the choosing the course of action to be followed by them, they are more likely to fulfill their responsibilities. THE MBO PROCESS

UNIQUE FEATURES AND ADVANTAGES OF MBO The principle behind Management by Objectives (MBO) is to create empowered employees who have clarity of the roles and responsibilities expected from them, understand their objectives to be achieved and thus help in the achievement of organizational as well as personal goals. Some of the important features and advantages of MBO are: Clarity of goals With MBO, came the concept of SMART goals i.e. goals that are: Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic, and Time bound. The goals thus set are clear, motivating and there is a linkage betweenorganizational goals and performance targets of the employees. The focus is on future rather than on past. Goals and standards are set for the performance for the future with periodic reviews and feedback. Motivation Involving employees in the whole process of goal setting and increasing employee empowerment increases employee job satisfaction and commitment. Better communication and Coordination Frequent reviews and interactions between superiors and subordinates helps to maintain harmonious relationships within the enterprise and also solve many problems faced during the period.

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