NATURE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Simply put, Human Resource Management is a management function that helps managers recruit,
select train and develop members for an organisation. Obviously, HRM is concerned with the
people’s dimension in organisations.

Specially, the following constitute the core of HRM:

1. Organisations are not mere bricks, mortar, machineries or inventories. They are people. It is the
people who staff and manage organisations.

2. HRM involves the application of management functions and principles. The functions and
principles are applied to acquisitioning, developing, maintaining and remunerating employees in
organisations.

3. Decisions relating to employees must be integrated .Decisions on different aspects of employees

must be consist with other human resource (HR) decisions.

4. Decisions made must influence the effectiveness of an organisation .Effectiveness of an

organisation must result in betterment of services to customers in the form of high-quality products
supplied at reasonable costs.

5. HRM functions are not confined to business establishments only. They are applicable to non-
business organisations, too, such as education, health care, recreation, and the like.

Obviously, HRM refers to a set of programmes, functions and activities designed and carried out in
order to maximise both employee as well as organisational effectiveness.

Author : k aswathappa

Page no 5

NATURE OF RECRUITMENT

In simple terms, recruitment is understood as the process of searching for and obtaining applicants
for jobs, from among whom the right people can be selected. Theoretically, recruitment process is
said to end with the receipt of applications, in practice the activity extends to the screening of
applications so as to eliminate those who are not qualified for the job.

Recruitment refers to the process of receipt of applications from job-seekers. In reality, the term is
used to describe the entire process of employee hiring. There are recruitment boards for railways,
banks and other organisations.

Author : k aswathappa

Page no 144

NATURE OF SELECTION

Selection is the process of picking individuals (out of the pool of job applicants ) with requisite
qualifications and competence to fill jobs in the organisations.
Although, some selection methods can be used within an organisation for promotion or transfer this
chapter focuses on selecting applicants from outside the organisation. Recruitment and selection are
the two crucial steps in the HR process and are often used interchangeably.There is , however , a fine
distinction between the two steps. While recruitment refers to the process of indentifying and
encouraging prospective employees to apply for jobs, selection is concerned with picking the right
candidates from a pool of applicants.Recruitment is said to be a positive in its approach as it seeks to
attrack as many candidates as possible. Selection,on the other hand is negative in its application in as
much as it seeks to eliminate as many unqualified applicants as possible in order to indentify the
right candidates.

Author : k aswathappa

Page no 170

INDUCTION

Induction ,also called orientation is designed to provide a new employee with the informantion he or
she needs to function comfortably and effectively in the organisation. It is a planned introduction of
new hires to their jobs ,their peers and the company.

Typically, orientation conveys three types of information

1: general information about the daily work routine;

2: a review of the firms history , founding fathers, objectives, operations and products or services as
well as how the employee’s job contributes to the organisation’s needs; and

3: a detailed presentation .perhaps, in a brochure, of the organisation’s policies, work rules and
employee benefits.

Author : k aswathappa

Page no 191

NATURE OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

In simple terms , training and development refers to the imparting of specific skills, abilities and
knowledge to an employee.

More clearly training and development may be understood as any attempt to improve current or future
employee performance by increasing an employee’s ability to perform through, learning, usually by
changing the employee’s attitude or increasing his or her skills and knowledge. The need for training
and development is determined by the employee’s performance deficiency, computed as follows:

Training and development need =Standard performance - Actual performance

We can make a distinction among training , education and development .Such distinction enables us
to acquire a better perspective about the meaning of the terms. Training, as was stated earlier, refers to
the process of training specific skills. Education, on the other hand, is confined to theoretical learning
in classrooms.
Author : k aswathappa

Page no 206 -207

NATURE OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

In simply terms, performance appraisal may be understood as the assessment of an individual’s

performance in a systematic way, the performance being measured against such factors as job
knowledge, quality and quantity of output,initiative , leardership abilities. Supervision, dependability,
co-operation, judgement, versatility, health, and the like.Assessment should not be confined to past
performance alone.Potentials of the employee for future performance must also be assessed.

The other used for performance appraisal are: performance rating, employee assessment , employee
performance review, personnel appraisal, performance evaluation, employee evaluation and (perhaps ,
the oldest of the terms used ) merit rating. In a formal sense, employee assessment is as old as the
concept of management, and , in an informal sense, it is probably as old as mankind.Job analysis sets
out requirements , which are translated into performance standards,which in turn form the basis for
performance appraisal.

Performance management refers to the entire process of appraising performances ,giving feedback to
the employee’s and offering rewards or punishment to them.

Author : k aswathappa

Page no 239- 240

SAFETY AND WHAT IS SAFETY ?

“Every twenty seconds of every working minute of every hour throughout the world,someone
dies as a result of an industrial accident”

What is safety ?

Before discussing other issues relating to safety. It is useful to understand the nature of
safety.Safety, in simple terms , means freedom from the occurrence or risk of injury or loss.
Industrial safety or employee safety refers to the protection of workers from the danger of
industrial accidents. An accident , then , is an unplanned and uncontrolled event in which an
action or reaction of an , object , a substance , a person, or a radiation resultsin personal
injury.

HEALTH

The well – being of the employee in an industrial estabilishment is affected by accidents and by ill
health-physical as well as mental. In this section , we shall discuss the need for healthy workers and
health services to be provided by the management to ensure the continuing good health of their
employee’s.

We propose to examine employee health from the following angles-physical health,mental health,
noise control, stress management, AIDS, alcoholism, and drug abuse, and violence in work place.

Author : k aswathappa
Page no 474- 475 and 492

SEPERATIONS

Seperation occurs when an employee leaves the organisation. Why do seperations occurs ? Reasons
for employee separations may be voluntary or involuntary.

Author : k aswathappa

Page no 516

WHY PEOPLE LEAVE THE ORGANISATION

People also leave organisations for many different reasons, but primarily because one or more of the
above conditionswas either absent at the beginning or has since been eliminated.For example:

- The company’s leadership shifts.

- Conflict with immediate supervisors.
- Close friends leave.
- An unfavourable change of responsibilities.

Author : Richard Luecke

Page no 77 and 79

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Career development is an umbrella term that describes the many training experiences, work
assignments, and mentoring relationships that move people ahead in their vocations.Any company
that aims to retain its most valuable people and to fill vacancies caused by retirements, defections ,
and growth from within must dedicate resources to career development. Ultimately. It can create a
strong “bench ” of people who will one day lead the company as technical professionals, managers ,
and senior executives. In effect , career development is a form of “internal hiring ” .Also , a reputation
for career development can make the company attractive to potential recruits who are serious about
building their careers.

Author : Richard Luecke

Page no 108

EXIT INTERVIEWS

Most HR departments conduct exit interviews with departing employees,either directly or through
questionnaires.The aim of these interviews is to get feedback about the firm ,its operations ,the root
cause of turnover , and the performance of its managers from people who now have less reason to
hedge or conceal their views.

The responses gathered through many exit interviews can help you indentify the root causes of
turnover and build a solid strategy for improved retention.In this sense, information gleaned from exit
interviews is an important part of continuous workplace improvement.Chances are your company
seeks the root causes of below-standard output elsewhere in the organisations on the production
floor,in customer service levels, and so forth with a goal to improve process quality.What departing
employees tell you should be used in the same way.

Author : Richard Luecke

Page no 141