1st Answer:

Introduction: In the above case, I totally agree that HR audit and accounting can be
successful only if accurate HR information is available.

The information system developed for the human resource management function is
called as Human Resource Information System. HRIS is one of the most important tools
for many businesses. Many organizations spend a lot of time and money on manual
Human Resource Management (HRM) tasks. Also, it is important for small
organizations with around 25-30 employees to realize the importance and advantages
of using HRIS to be efficient with time and money.

An HRIS system standardizes the processes for key HR functions. This ensures
uniformity in the performance of HR activities in the corporation. Using an HRIS system,
the supervision and control exercised by the managers over the employees in an
organization is much effective as compared in a manual environment.

Every time an employee quits an organization, it uses resources like time and money to
hire another employee and train him/her. There is often a costly lag in production as a
new employee is brought up to speed, and it is uncertain that the new employee will
stay or provide the same quality of work or labor as the former employee.

Need and application of HR audit and HRIS for Employee Retention and
performance appraisal can be because of following reasons:

1. Raise Hiring Standards: Hiring the right candidates from the start is a great way to
reduce turnover and retain employees. Employees with the right qualifications that fit
well with the company culture are much more likely to stay on.  An effective HRIS that
helps with recruitment makes it easier to raise hiring standards without spending a ton
of money or time.

2. Gauge Employee Satisfaction: An HRIS assists with gauging employee satisfaction

through the use of employee surveys. Some solutions offer social feeds and messaging
options that can be used for feedback. These tools help employers to communicate with
employees and get a less biased view of the way that employees interact with one
another and how involved in the company they are. 3. Time Records: Biometric or time-
recording software connected to the HRIS system provides security for both the
employee and employers. There will be no conflicts with respect to hours of time worked
in a week/month. It becomes easy for compensating employees who approved for
overtime. Also, it is imperative that time maintenance policies and procedures are
clearly administered.
3. Assist with Development: One major reason that employees leave jobs is due to
lack of development opportunities. HR software can be integrated with learning
management systems that allow employees to and work on advancement at their own
pace. HRIS enables managers to identify employee training needs and may even allow
employees to complete training using the system through video tutorials. Of course, it’s
imperative for companies to pair succession planning with the systems and tracks the
progress of employees to be used for raises and promotions.

4. Improve Work-Life Balance: Full-time employees generally schedule their lives

around their work schedules. An effective HRIS is used to communicate work schedules
ahead of time’ this makes it easier for employees to plan their personal appointments
around work. Self-service portals can be used by employees to request time off, view
paychecks, and change information in real-time, which save their time while improving
their satisfaction with the company. This helps the organization to retain them as they
feel like an important part of the company.

HRIS software helps to track performance and management in a much simple

way. HRIS can also help the company produce effective performance reviews to
improve performance management.

5. Performance Tracking: HRIS enables to enhance the view of an employee’s

performance from a “snapshot” approach to a “progressive” approach. When the
performance of an employee is being tracked on paper, it is difficult to gauge the
continuous process of employee development and performance. When the data is
saved and available in one place using HRIS, it is easier to spot patterns and see
improvements or opportunities.

Based on the organized data and feedback to employees, an organization measures

the competency level of an employee, and accordingly creates a performance appraisal
and reward system aligning with HR strategy.

6. Faster Feedback: Organizations benefit greatly by using HRIS features to give

employees feedback on a regular basis. By showing employees exactly what was done
right and what could be improved as projects are completed, employers can improve
productivity and the quality of work.

7. HR Effectiveness: HR audit helps to conduct a thorough assessment of the HR

effectiveness of an organization. It helps to understand the HR processes & functions
that require improvement. The HR audit is required in areas such as compensation
System, policies & procedures, performance appraisal system and health & safety
Practices.
8. Key Performance Indicators: KPI’s are standard values which an employer or the
organization creates to evaluate the performance of the individual employees,
departments, and the overall organization. KPI’s are different for every individual
depending on their job roles and responsibilities. For instance, a KPI for a business
development executive would be on how promptly he presents in front of the clients,
rate of positive or negative feedback from the customers, client conversion rate in a
year.

Significance of HRIS in today’s era :

Computerized HR information system organizes the infrastructure required for the

monitoring and operation of an HR audit and accounting. Few personnel are enough to
maintain, monitor and update the records as most of the work is done by the HRIS.
Generating and accessing reports becomes a fast and accurate process

Finally, we can conclude that the HRIS offers several benefits to the HR department
and the organization as a whole and organizations should opt for an HR audit through a
HRIS system after customizing it as per their requirement.
2nd Answer: Performance appraisal is a comprehensive process to obtain, analyze and
record data about the and overall performance, behavior and responsibilities of
employees. The objective of conducting a performance appraisal by an organization is
to measure the actual performance and improve the future performance/potential of an
employee at regular intervals; for instance, the performance appraisal conducted twice
in a year by an advertising company.

Following are some of the effective performance appraisal methods where feedback to
the employee is essential:

1. 360-degree feedback: Three-sixty degree training is based on receiving feedback

and opinions from multiple sources from an organization. Since, the feedback is
generated and received from a variety of people, each having a different perspectives,
it’s also termed as multi-rater feedback or assessment.

The data can be collected via participants including a colleague, reporting manager,
superior, and subordinates and customers too. In order to gather feedback, participants
are given an assessment where they share their feedback on a leader’s behavior or
performance. The leader is also required to complete a self-assessment test which gets
compared with the other feedback. The opinion and ratings from participants and the
self-assessment from leader are then fed into the system to generate comprehensible,
actionable development report. This means the leader receives an overall view of their
attitudes, behavior and performance.
Three main components of a 360 Degree Feedback System are as follows:

The assessment: This is the instrument used to gather feedback or opinion.

Participants provide feedback on a leader on the assessment.

The feedback: Direct reports are prepared/ based on the variety of feedback given by
the participants. This also includes a session for leader himself to review the information
with the facilitator, their supervisor and a mentor. Based on the overall reports received,
a long-term training program is implemented help the leaders grow and improve their
performance/behavior.

The following are some of the benefits of 360-Degree Feedback:

1. Self-Awareness: The 360 degree feedback system enables leaders and employees
to be more aware of their performance & behavior. When everyone with a different
perspective provides feedback, a person gets an all-round view of themselves. This
feedback is less prone to being one-sided and biased.  

2. An all-round view of Strengths and Weaknesses: Usually, all employees receive

feedback from their supervisor and this creates a one-dimensional perspective. A 360
degree review is a great way to highlight strengths and weaknesses of leaders. 
3. It Builds Morale: The 360 degree feedback can effectively increase the confidence
of the employees. By receiving positive feedback, a leader's/employee’s confidence
regarding their skills grow. This boosts the overall morale within the organization. The
key here is that feedback is given in a constructive way.
4. Lower employee turnover: Constructive feedback helps to expose hidden issues,
increases the sense of empowerment and voice of the leaders and employees. Also,
the employees feel heard as their opinions are taken seriously and remain with the
organization as they feel valuable and affirmed.
5. Accountability increases: A very prominent benefit of 360 degree feedback is that
it increases accountability. According to research, 91% of workers feel employee
accountability is important at work. But, only 82% realize they could hold a co-worker
accountable when they make an error.
6. Lead by example to change the work culture: The problem with corporate change
is that it requires the leaders to lead with an example. Hence, with the help of feedback,
the change in leaders should come from within. The base of 360-degree feedback is to
bring a personal change that spurs professional change.

2. BARS: Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale is used to rate the employees or

trainees according to their performance measured against standard behavioral patterns.
Its mechanism is designed to include the benefits of quantitative and qualitative data to
employee appraisal process as it uses various narratives, critical incidents and
quantified ratings as standard patterns of behavior.

The specific examples of behavior are categorized and appointed a numerical

value used as the basis for rating performance.

Steps in Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)

The first step is to write CIT (Critical Incident Techniques) which compares an
individual’s performance against specific examples of behavior which are appointed a
numerical value for rating the performance. The second step requires the employer to
develop performance dimensions which will be rechecked. The third step involves
scaling the critical incidents which leads to developing the final instrument.

Benefits of BARS: Behaviorally anchored rating scale is reliable to help to improve

organization's performance as the appraisal remains the same, even though different
raters rate them. BARS involve clear and concrete standards which can be used to
appraise the employee. This technique generates an objective feedback.

Conclusion: Hence, we can conclude that the two methods above can be used by
organizations to provide feedback to employees and their managers on various
parameters like behavior and other interpersonal skills, apart from their work and job
duties which involves their behavior
Answer
(3a)
An induction program is an important step for newly appointed employees in an
organization. It introduces the new employees to the working environment and their role
in an organization. An induction program covers any legal and compliance requirements
of the organization. Also, it trains the employees about the health and safety
precautions to be taken while performing certain job functions.

Innovative approach for induction

The duration of the induction program is different in every organization and it depends
on the job position of the employee. Usually, induction program take around a week.
However, the training may go up to a more than a month. The key is not to ensure that
employees create ‘information overload’. If possible some background information about
the organization should be conveyed to the employee prior to the joining.

Instead of a generic induction program, companies can try and find innovative methods
to conduct the induction. This will keep the employees interested and they will attend
with full dedication. The following points can make the traditional induction program
unique, innovative and interesting:

● The induction program requires the company to share details about the
company’s history, goals and mission etc. However, it should not be the first
thing in the induction process. In the beginning, all new employees should be
given a tour of the company office and its departments, along with their key team
members and seniors, it will boost their morale and they will feel excited and
energized about their new role.

● The second thing could be the seniors sharing objectives, goals, mission, and
vision of the company; however, instead of sharing these details through verbal
communication, company can use printed materials, videos, short motivational
stories, success stories of the founders of the company etc. as these modes will
have a positive impact on the employees and they will remember all this for long.

● Organizations should share job description of the new employees so that they do
not feel anxious, helpless or lost. Also, senior employees should ensure they
provide full support whenever needed.

In order to make the induction programs interesting, company can keep fun
interactive rounds where employees can share their knowledge and experience
However, it may not always be related to the work and job duties.
 ● Last but definitely not the least is to be transparent with new employees. If the
employees know enough about the organization, work culture and the reporting
structure, they will have better idea about their job roles.

Hence, we can conclude that induction training is very important for all the new
employees as it gives them confidence and encouragement to perform better at their
jobs and take the company to new heights. Innovative can make the induction program
successful, interesting and memorable.

b) Induction program enables an employee to become productive and gets along

quickly with his team, gets used to work systems and culture and hence feels good
about his/her joining the new company. If the organization follows a proper induction
pattern, things would have been different and Rachel would not have suffered. A proper
induction program would offer various benefits to the employer and to Rachael.
Following are some of them:

Positive corporate image:

● A new employee gets a good first impression of the enterprise if the induction
program is ideal and effectively conducted. New employees need to understand
the organization's goals, vision and mission, values and philosophy, personnel
practices, moral principles, corporate social responsibility.
It implies that organization is deeply concerned about the well-being of its
employees.

● Low anxiety: Any employee, when put into a new, strange and different
situation, will experience anxiety that can hamper the ability to learn to do the job.
Effective induction helps to reduce anxiety levels. It also provides a direction for
expected behavior and conduct, so the employees are not cautious about them
being accepted in the organization.

● Low employee turnover: Employee turnover increases if the employees feel

they are not recognized or valued by the company. An ideal induction program
implies that the company values their employee, and provides the tools
necessary for succeeding in the job.

● Realistic job expectations: In addition to learn about the values and attitudes of
the organization, it is important that employees learn as soon as possible what is
expected of them and what to expect from others.

● Good relations: Proper induction facilitates good interpersonal relations and

teamwork among employees.

Conclusion: Hence, we can conclude that induction is very important for new
employees as they are unaware about the company’s culture, goals, mission and vision.
It is advisable to give them proper induction training before they join their jobs. Rachel’s
situation could have been totally different if company had induction program at place.