HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (UNIT 2: Acquisition of Human Resources)

Concept of Human Resource Planning (HRP)

 According to Bruce Coleman, Human Resource Planning is the process of determining manpower
requirements and the means for meeting those requirements in order to carry out the integrated plan
of the organisation.
 Human Resource Planning (HRP) is the process through which an organization ensures that it has the
right personnel who are capable of performing those functions that help it to achieve its objectives.

Objectives of Human Resource Planning

 To ensure optimum use of human resources currently employed

 To avoid balances in the distribution and allocation of human resources
 To assess or forecast future skill requirements of the organisation
 To provide control measure to ensure availability of necessary resources when required
 To control the cost aspect of human resources

Importance of Human Resource Planning

 Future Personnel Needs: Human resource planning is significant because it helps to determine the
future personnel needs of the organization. If an organization is facing the problem of either surplus
or deficiency in staff strength, then it is the result of the absence of effecting HR planning.
 Part of Strategic Planning: HRP has become an integral part of strategic planning of strategic
planning. HRP provides inputs in strategy formulation process in terms of deciding whether the
organization has got the right kind of human resources to carry out the given strategy. HRP is also
necessary during the implementation stage in the form of deciding to make resource allocation
decisions related to organization structure, process and human resources.
 Creating Highly Talented Personnel: It is the discretion of HR manager that will enable the company
to recruit the right person with right skills to the organization. Manpower planning in the form of skill
development is required to help the organization in dealing with this problem of skilled manpower
shortage.
 International Strategies: An international expansion strategy of an organization is facilitated to a
great extent by HR planning. The HR department’s ability to fill key jobs with foreign nationals and
reassignment of employees from within or across national borders is a major challenge that is being
faced by international business.
 Foundation for Personnel Functions: HRP provides essential information for designing and
implementing personnel functions, such as recruitment, selection, training and development,
personnel movement like transfers, promotions and layoffs.

Human Resource Planning: Quantitative and Qualitative Dimensions

In the case of forecasting human resource needs in an organization, there is less emphasis on highly
quantitative techniques because of emphasis on qualitative aspect of forecasting. Usually a combination
of the following methods is used:

Quantitative Considerations Qualitative Considerations

▪ Economic considerations relating to the
determination of the economic situation and ▪ Work-load analysis (discussed later)
future sales and production estimates
▪ Auditing of employees involves
▪ Expansion programmes in future
preparation of skill inventory
▪ Availability of existing manpower resources of ▪ Study of work standards is necessary for
different kinds the quality of workers required
▪ Rate of labour turnover
 ▪ Resignations and retirements, promotion,
demotion, separation, transfers, dismissals and
lay off etc.

Steps in the Human Resource Planning (HRP) Process

HRP essentially involves forecasting personnel needs, assessing personnel supply and matching demand-
supply factors through personnel-related programs. The planning process is influenced by the overall
organizational objectives and the business environment.

 Environmental scanning: It refers to the systematic monotoring of the external forces influencing the
organization. Some of the factors pertinent for HRP are economic factors (general and regional
conditions), technological changes (robotics, automation etc.), demographic conditions (age, literacy
etc.), political and legislative issues (laws and administrative rulings), social concerns (child care,
educational facilities and priorities).
 Organizational objectives and policies: HR plans must be based on and derived from organizational
objectives. In developing these objectives, specific policies need to be formulated to address the
following questions:
 Are vacancies to be filled by promotions from within or hiring from outside?
 How do the training and development objectives interface with the HRP objectives?
 What union constraints are encountered in HRP and what policies are needed to handle these
constraints?
 How to enrich employees’ job? Should the routine and boring jobs continue or to be
eliminated?
 How to downsize the organization to make it more competitive?
 HR Demand Forecast: Demand forecasting is the process of estimating the future quantity and quality
of people required to meet the future needs of the organization. The basis of the forecast must be the
annual budget and long-term corporate plan, translated into activity levels for each function and
department. The reasons to consider a HR demand forecast are: (i) it can help quantify the jobs
necessary for producing a given number of goods, or offering an given amount of services, (ii)
determine what staff-mix is desirable in the future, (iii) assess appropriate staffing levels in different
parts of the organization, so as to avoid unnecessary costs, (iv) prevent shortages of people where and
when they are needed most, and (v) monitor compliance with legal requirements with regard to
reservation of jobs. The demand forecasting techniques are:
 Managerial Judgement Method: Managerial judgement technique is very common
technique of demand forecasting. This approach is applied by small as well as large scale
 organisations. This technique involves two types of approaches i.e. 'bottom-up approach' and
'top-down approach'. Under the 'bottom-up approach', line mangers send their departmental
requirement of human resources to top management. Top management ultimately forecasts
the human resource requirement for the overall organisation on the basis of proposals of
departmental heads. Under the Top-down approach', top management forecasts the human
resource requirement for the entire organisation and various departments. This information is
supplied to various departmental heads for their review and approval. However, a combination
of both the approaches i.e. 'Participative Approach' should be applied for demand forecasting.
Under this approach, top management and departmental heads meet and decide about the
future human resource requirement. So, demand of human resources can be forecasted with
unanimity under this approach.
 Delphi Technique: Delphi technique is also very important technique used for estimating
demand of human resources. This technique takes into consideration human resources
requirements given by a group of experts i.e. mangers. The human resource experts collect the
manpower needs, summarises the various responses and prepare a report. This process is
continued until all experts agree on estimated human resources requirement.
 Work-Study Technique: This technique is also known as 'work-load analysis'. This technique
is suitable where the estimated work-load is easily measurable. Under this method, estimated
total production and activities for a specific future period are predicted. This information is
translated into number of man-hours required to produce per units taking into consideration
the capability of the workforce. Past-experience of the management can help in translating the
work-loads into number of man-hours required. Thus, demand of human resources is
forecasted on the basis of estimated total production and contribution of each employee in
producing each unit items. The following example gives clear idea about this technique.
 Ratio-Trend Analysis: Demand for human resources is also estimated on the basis of ratio of
production level and number of workers available. This ratio will be used to estimate demand
of human resources. The following example will help in clearly understanding this technique.
 Econometrics Models: These models are based on mathematical and statistical techniques
for estimating future demand. Under these models, the relationship is established between the
dependent variable to be predicted (e.g. manpower/human resources) and the independent
variables (e.g., sales, total production, work-load, etc.). Using these models, estimated demand
of human resources can be predicted.
 HR Supply Forecast: It determines whether the HR department will be able to procure the required
number of personnel. Specifically, supply forecast measures the number of people likely to be
available from within and outside an organization. Supply forecasting of human resource requirements
includes the following:
 Staffing Table shows number of employees in each job together with their age, gender,
qualification, position, experience, etc. This helps to know whether the current employees are
properly utilised or not.
 Historical data on promotion, transfer and turnover is used to estimate future availability of
workforce.
 Skills Inventory is an assessment of knowledge, skills, experience and growth potential of
current employees to be kept updated every year. We can assess the suitability of current
employees for future job requirements.
 Age Inventory shows age-wise number and category of employees and it is useful for future
selection and promotion of employees.
 Personal replacement charts show the present performance and promotability of inside
candidates for important positions such as General Manager, Vice President, etc.
 HR Programming: Once an organization’s personnel demand and supply are forecast, the two must
be reconciled or balanced in order that vaccines can be filled by the right employees at the right time.
 HR Plan Implementation: Implementation requires converting an HR plan into action. A series of
action programmes are initiated as a part of HR plan implementation. Some such programs are
 recruitment, selection and placement, training and development, retraining and redeployment; the
retention plan, redundance plan and the succession plan.
 Control and Evaluation of the Program: The HR plan should include budgets, targets and standards.
It should also clarify responsibilities for implementation and control, and establish reporting
procedures, which will enable achievements to be monitored against the plan. These may simply
report on the numbers employed against establishment and on the numbers recruited against the
recruitment targets.
 Strategic HR Initiatives to Manage Surpluses and Shortages: Some of the strategic HR initiatives to
manage surpluses and shortages include the following:
Strategies for managing Surpluses Strategies for managing Shortages
» Hiring freeze » Recruit new permanent employees
» Do not replace those who leave » Offer incentives to postpone retirement
» Offer voluntary retirement schemes » Rehire retirees part-time
» Reduce work hours » Attempt to reduce turnover
» Leave of absence » Work current staff overtime
» Across the board pay cuts » Subcontract work to another company
» Layoffs » Hire temporary employees

Concept of Job Analysis

According to Edwin B. Flippo, job analysis is defined as “the process of studying and collecting
information relating to the operations and responsibilities of a specific job. The immediate products of
this analysis are job descriptions and job specifications.”

Purposes of Job Analysis

Job analysis has a lot of uses to HR managers, as shown below:

 Organizational Design: It involves building a network of relationships among various functions and
positions. Job analysis provides the relevant information for completing the total steps of
organizational design. It provides the base for identifying the contents of different jobs, their
interrelationship and interdependence, responsibility involved in a job, and authority that may be
required to perform the job.
 Acquisition of Personnel: It involves human resource planning, recruitment and selection, and
orientation and placement. For HRP, job analysis provides information for forecasting human resource
needs in terms of knowledge, skills and experience. It also provides help in planning for promotions
and transfers by indicating lateral and vertical relationships among different jobs. Next, the total
process of recruitment and selection is based on the principle of matching jobs and individuals. In this
process, the form of tasks and responsibilities and individual-related factors in the form of knowledge,
 skills and experiences are matched. Again, job analysis helps in orientation and placement of
personnel by further matching jobs and individuals. This further matching is needed when personnel
are selected for a group of jobs rather than for specific jobs.
 Human Resource Development: In today’s dynamic business environment, HRD is undertaken as a
continuous process to match individuals and job requirements. Such matching is indicated by the
information provided by job analysis. It helps in career planning (wherein, job analysis provides
information about the opportunities in terms of career paths and jobs availability in the organization),
and training and development (wherein job analysis provides valuable information to identify training
and development needs of various individuals).
 Job Evaluation and Compensation: Job evaluation is the process of determining the relative worth
of different jobs in an organization with a view to link compensation, both basic and supplementary,
with the worth of the jobs, which is determined on the basis of job characteristics and job holder
characteristics. This is provided by job analysis in the forms of job description and job specification.
 Performance Appraisal: It involves assessment of actual job performance by an employee in the light
of what is expected of him. Such as assessment is used for promotion, pay increase, and identification
of training needs. Job analysis helps in determining performance standards against which actual job
performance is measured.
 Safety and Health: Job analysis helps in taking preventive measures for maintaining safety and health
of employees at the workplace by providing information about unhealthy and hazardous
environmental and operational conditions in various jobs.
 Employee Counselling: Job analysis helps in providing counselling to employees in different areas.
These areas may be the choice of careers and rehabilitation. Employees are unable to bear the stress
of a particular job either because of job contents or the adverse working conditions like hazardous
work environment may be advised to opt for other jobs or may be advised for voluntary retirement.

Job Description and Job Specification

Job Description

 Job Description is a written statement showing job title, tasks, duties and responsibilities involved in a
job. It also prescribed the working conditions, hazards, stress that it can produce and the relationship
with other jobs. According to Flippo, a job description is “an organized, factual statement of duties
and responsibilities of a specific job. In brief, it should tell what is to be done, how it is done and why.
It is a standard of function; in that it defines the appropriate and authorized content of a job.”
 A job description generally contains the following information:
 Job title, code number, department/ division
 Job contents in terms of activities or tasks performed
 Job responsibilities towards effective job performance
 Working conditions specifying specific hazards
 Social environment prevailing at the workplace
 Machine, tools and equipment
 Extent of supervision given and received
 Relationship with other jobs—vertical, horizontal and diagonal
 The purposes of a job description involve the following:
 Clarifies employer expectations for the employee
 Provides the basis of measuring job performance
 Provides a clear description of the role for job candidates
 Provides continuity of role parameters irrespective of manager interpretation
 Enables pay and grading systems to be structured fairly and logically

Job Specification

 Job Specification (also known as man or employee specification) is a statement of minimum

acceptable qualities required in a job incumbent for the effective performance of the job. In contrast
to job description, which provides various features of the job, job specification specifies various
 features of the job holder. According to Flippo, a job specification is “a statement of the minimum
acceptable qualities necessary to perform a job properly. It is a standard of personnel and designates
the qualities required for acceptable performance.”
 A job specification is prepared on the basis of job description, and its basic contents are as follows:
 Personal characteristics (age, gender, education, job experience, extracurricular activities etc.)
 Physical characteristics (height, weight, chest, vision, hearing, health, voice, poise etc.)
 Mental characteristics (general intelligence, memory, judgement, foresight etc.)
 Social and psychological characteristics (emotional stability, flexibility, manners, creativity etc.)
 The purposes of a job specification involves the following:
 It helps candidates analyze whether are eligible to apply for a particular job vacancy or not
 It helps recruiting team of an organization understand what level of qualifications, qualities and
characteristics should be present in a candidate to make him or her eligible for the job opening
 It gives detailed information about any job including job responsibilities, desired technical and
physical skills, conversational ability and much more
 It helps in selecting the most appropriate candidate for a particular job

Steps in the Job Analysis Process

Job analysis is a process involving different steps to be undertaken in a sequential manner.

 Determination of Uses of Job Analysis: Initially, job analysis was used primarily for recruitment and
selection. Therefore, job analysis used to be brief and simple. As the complexity of managing human
resources increased, the scope of the uses of job analysis also increased covering many more areas.
In large organizations, job analysis is used for various purposes, hence it is undertaken more
comprehensively, systematically and in written form. In smaller organizations, it is used for limited
purposes and job analysis process is mostly informal, based on limited amount of information.
 Strategic choices in Job Analysis: There are certain strategic choices with regard to job analysis
before any organization, which wants to take it systematically. They include (i) the extent of employee
involvement in job analysis, (ii) the level of details of the analysis, (iii) timing and frequency of the
analysis, (iv) past-oriented versus future-oriented job analysis.
 Information Collection: In collecting information for job analysis, the major decisions involved are (i)
the type of information to be collected, (ii) methods to be employed for information collection, and
(iii) people involved in information collection. Some of the information required for job analysis include
the following:
» Work Activities:
o Description of work activities/ tasks
o Interface with other jobs and equipment
o Procedures used
o Behaviour required on the job
» Machines, Tools, Equipment and Work Aids Used:
o List of machines, tools etc. used
o Materials processed with list of machines, tools etc.
o Products and services made with list of machines, tools etc.
 » Job Context:
o Physical working conditions
o Organizational context
o Social context
o Work schedule
o Financial and non-financial incentives
» Personal Requirements:
o Specific skills
o Specific education and training
o Work experience
o Physical characteristics
o Aptitudes
 Information Processing: It involves editing and classifying information into different relevant
categories, and preparing job description and job specification, which are the two outcomes of job
analysis. Job description is a written record of a job describing its nature, duties and liabilities involved,
location, working conditions, hazards of internal and external nature, and its relationship with other
jobs. Job specification refers to the summary of minimum and/ or desirable qualities that the job
incumbent must possess in order to perform the job effectively.

Methods of Collecting Information for Job Analysis

 Personal observation: The analyst observes the worker(s) doing the job. The tasks performed, the
pace at which activities are done, the working conditions, etc., are observed during a complete work
cycle. During observation, certain precautions should be taken; for example, (i) the analyst must
observe average workers during average conditions, (ii) the analyst should observe without getting
directly involved in the job, and (iii) the analyst must make note of the specific job needs and not the
behaviours specific to particular workers.
 Interview: The interview method consists of asking questions to both incumbents and supervisors in
either an individual or a group setting. The reason behind the use of this method is that jobholders
are most familiar with the job and can supplement the information obtained through observation.
Workers know the specific duties of the job and supervisors are aware of the job's relationship to the
rest of the organisation.
 Log Records: In this method, also called diary method, the job holder is asked to maintain a diary
recording in detail the job-related activities each day. If done judiciously, this method provides
accurate and comprehensive information about the job. This overcomes memory lapses on the part
of the job holder. As recording of activities may spread over several days, the method, thus, becomes
time-consuming one.
 Critical Incidents: This method is based on the job holder’s past experiences on the job. They are
asked to recapitu-late and describe the past incidents related to their jobs. The incidents so reported
by the job holders are, then, classified into various categories and analysed in detail. Yes, the job
analyst requires a high degree of skill to analyse the incidents appropriately described by the job
holders. However, this method is also time-consuming one.
 Questionnaire: The questionnaire is a widely used method of analysing jobs and work. Here the
jobholders are given a properly designed questionnaire aimed at eliciting relevant job-related
information. After completion, the questionnaires are handed over to supervisors. The supervisors can
seek further clarifications on various items by talking to the jobholders directly. After everything is
finalised, the data is given to the job analyst. There are two major forms of questionnaire in the context
of job analysis: (i) The Position Analysis Questionnaire (The PAQ is a standardised questionnaire,
developed at Purdue University, to quantitatively sample work-oriented job elements. It contains 194
items divided into six major divisions. The PAQ permits the management to scientifically and
quantitatively group), (ii) Management Position Description Questionnaire (MPQD is a standardised
instrument designed specifically for use in analyzing managerial jobs. The 274-item questionnaire
contains 15 sections).
 Checklist: The checklist method of job data collection differs from the questionnaire method in the
sense that it contains a few subjective questions in the form of yes or no. The job holder is asked to
tick the questions that are related to his/her job. Checklist can be prepared on the basis of job
informa-tion obtained from various sources such as supervisors, industrial engineers, and other
people who are familiar with the particular job.
 Functional Job Analysis: It is a worker-oriented job analysis approach that attempts to describe the
whole person on the job. It tries to examine the fundamental components of "data, people and things".
There are five steps to be followed:
 The first involves the identification of the organisation goals for the FJA analysis. This analysis
describes what should be, as well as, what is.
 The second step is the identification and description of tasks, where tasks are defined as
actions. The task actions may be physical (operating an electrical typewriter), mental (analysing
data) or interpersonal (consulting another person). The task statements developed in FJA must
conform to a specific written format.
 The third step deals with analysis of tasks. Each task is analysed using 7 scales. These include
three worker function scales (data, people, things), a worker instruction scale (degree of
supervision imposed) and three scales of reasoning, mathematics and language.
 In the fourth step the analyst develops performance standards to assess the results of a worker's
tasks.
 The final step deals with the development of training content needed by the jobholder.

Job Design

 Job design is the logical sequence of the process of job analysis and involves conscious efforts to
organize tasks, duties and responsibilities into a unit of work so as to business objectives. According
to Michael Armstrong, Job Design is “the process of deciding on the contents of a job in terms of its
duties and responsibilities, on the methods to be used in carrying out the job, in terms of techniques,
systems and procedures, and on the relationships that should exist between the job holder and his
superior subordinates and colleagues.”
 The purpose of job design is discussed as follows:
 Facilitating the interest of employees towards the job and enhancing their satisfaction
 Increasing employee motivation and productivity
 Enhancing employees’ skills by identifying their training needs
 Covering the modern needs of employee participation
 Making the communication process clear and effective in the organization

Job Design Approaches

 There are five popular approaches to

job design, namely, job rotation, job
engineering, job enlargement, job
enrichment and socio-technical
systems.
 There are two dimensions, namely,
impact (on the vertical axis, and refers
to the degree to which a job design
approach is linked to the factors
beyond the immediate job, such as
reward systems, performance
appraisal methods, leadership,
customer needs, organizational
design, working conditions and team
composition and norms), and
complexity (on the horizontal axis,
 and refers to the degree to which a job design approach requires the involvement of individuals with
diverse competencies at various organizational levels and high level of decision-making competency
for successful implementation).
 The approaches of job design are discussed as follows:
 Job Rotation: Continuous handling of tasks related to simple jobs can make work monotonous
and dull. Job rotation helps workers do away with the monotony by allowing them to work on
different jobs which involve different skills and work activities. Job rotation is the practice of
shifting employees from one job to another in a planned and systematic manner.
 Job Engineering: Job engineering focuses on the tasks to be performed, methods to be used,
workflows among employees, layout of the workers, performance standards, and
interdependence among people and machines. Specialization of labour is the hallmark of job
engineering. Experts often examine these job design factors by means of time-and-motion
studies, determining the time required to do each task and the movements needed to perform
it efficiently.
 Job Enlargement: It refers to the expansion of the number of different tasks performed by an
employee in a single job. It is also called horizontal loading, and focuses on enlarging jobs by
increasing tasks and responsibilities. It attempts to add somewhat similar tasks to the existing
job so that it has more variety and be more interesting.
 Job Enrichment: It simply means adding a few more motivators to a job to make it more
rewarding. To be specific, a job is enriched when the nature of the job is exciting, challenging
and creative, or gives the job holder more decision-making, planning and controlling power. It
is concerned with designing jobs that includes a greater variety of work content, require a
higher level of knowledge and skill, give worker more autonomy and responsibility, and
provide opportunity for personal growth.
» Difference between Job Enrichment and Job Enlargement:

Basis Job Enlargement Job Enrichment

Concept A technique of job design in A management tool used to
which the task related to a single motivate employees, by adding
job are increased. responsibilities in the job.
Objective To decreases the boredom in To make the job more
performing a redundant task. challenging, interesting and
creative.
Outcome May or may not be positive. The result of job enrichment is
always positive.
 Socio-Technical Systems: Socio-technical systems design refers to an approach to design that
consider human, social and organisational factors, as well as technical factors in the design of
organisational systems. The rationale for adopting socio-technical approaches to systems
design is that failure to do so can increase the risks that systems will not make their expected
contribution to the goals of the organisation.
Concept of Recruitment

Recruitment is the process of finding and attracting capable applicants for employment. The process
begins when the new recruits are sought and ends when their applications are submitted. The result is a
pool of applicants from which new employees are selected. In the total process of acquiring and placing
human resources in the organization, recruitment falls in between different sub-processes.

Merits/ Demerits of Internal Sources of Recruitment

Merits of Internal Sources of Recruitment Demerits of Internal Sources of Recruitment

Limited Choice: The organization is forced to
Economical: The cost of recruiting internal select candidates from a limited pool and may
candidates is minimal. have to sacrifice quality and settle for less qualified
candidates.
Suitable: The organization can pick the right
candidates having the requisite skills. The Inbreeding: It discourages entry of talented
candidates can choose a right vacancy where their people, available outside an organization.
talents can be fully utilized.
Inefficiency: Promotions based on length of
Reliable: The organization has knowledge about
service rather than merit may prove to be a
the suitability of a candidate for a position.
blessing for inefficient candidates.
Satisfying: A policy of preferring people from Bone of Contention: Recruitment from within may
within, offers regular promotional avenues for lead to infighting among employees aspiring for
employees. limited, higher-level positions in an organization.

Merits/ Demerits of External Sources of Recruitment

Merits of External Sources of Recruitment Demerits of External Sources of Recruitment

Wide Choice: The organization has the freedom to
Expensive: Hiring costs could go up
select candidates from a large pool with requisite
substantially. .
qualifications.
Injection of Fresh Blood: People with special skills
and knowledge could be hired to stir up the existing Time-Consuming: It takes time to advertise,
employees and pave the way for innovative ways of screen, to test and to select suitable employees.
working.
Motivational Force: It helps in motivating internal Demotivating: Existing employees who have
employees to work hard and compete with external put in considerable service may resist the
candidates while seeking career growth. process of filing up vacancies from outside.
Long-term Benefits: Talented people could join
Uncertainty: There is no guarantee that the
the ranks, new ideas could find meaningful
organization, ultimately, will be able to hire the
expression, and a competitive atmosphere would
services of suitable candidates.
compel people to give their best and earn rewards.
Internal Sources of Recruitment

 Present Employees: Promotions and transfers from among the present employees can be a good
source of recruitment. Advantages of promotion are: (i) it is good public relations (ii) it builds morale
(iii) it encourages ambitious individuals. Disadvantages of promotion: It can be dysfunctional to the
firm as the advantage of hiring outsiders who may be better qualified and skilled is denied.
 Employee Referrals: When employees recommend successful referrals, they are paid monetary
incentives, which are called ‘finders fees’. Advantages: (i) many prospects can be reached at a very low
cost (ii) In an organization with large number of employees; this approach can provide quite a large
pool of potential applicants. Disadvantages: (i) possibility of inbreeding, manifesting in groups of
people quitting one firm and joining another (ii) they demand unacceptable privileges and often
threaten to quit if demands are not met
 Former Employees: Some retired employees may be willing to come back to work on a part-time
basis or may recommend someone who would be interested in working for the company. Advantage:
the performance of these people is already known.
 Previous Applicants: Those who have previously applied for jobs can be contacted by mail.
Advantage: it is a quick and inexpensive way to fill an unexpected opening.

External Sources of Recruitment

 Professional or Trade Associations: Many associations provide placement services for their
members, which may consist of compiling job seekers’ lists and providing access to members during
regional or national conventions. Many associations publish or sponsor trade journals or magazines
for their members, which carry classified advertisements from potential recruiters. Advantage: Useful
for attracting highly educated, experienced or skilled personnel.
 Advertisements: These constitute a popular method of seeking recruits due to their wide reach. Want
ads (usually in newspapers) describe the job and the benefits, identify the employer, and tell those
who are interested how to apply. Many organizations place what is referred to as a blind ad, one in
which there is not identification of the firm. Using the blond ad relieves the firm from having to respond
to any individual who applies.
 Employment Exchanges: They have been set up all over the country in accordance with the
provisions of the Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959. The major
functions of the exchanges are to increase the pool of possible applicants and to do preliminary
screening.
 Campus Recruitment: Colleges, universities, research laboratories, sports fields and institutes are
fertile ground for recruiters. The IIMS and the IITs are on the top of the list of avenues for recruiters.
Disadvantage: it is often an expensive process, even if the recruiting process eventually produces job
offers and acceptances.
 Walk-ins, Write-ins and Talk-ins: The most common and least expensive approach for candidates is
direct applications, in which job seekers submit unsolicited application letters or resumes. They can
also provide a pool of potential employees to meet future needs. Write-ins are those who send in
written enquiries and such job seekers are asked to complete application forms for further processing.
Talk-ins require the job aspirants to meet the recruiter on a specified date for detailed talks.
 Consultants: They are retained by organizations for recruiting and selecting managerial and executive
personnel. They keep the prospective employer and the employee anonymous. However, the cost can
be a deterrent factor.
 Contractors: They are used to recruit casual workers. The names of the workers are not entered in the
company records and to this extent, difficulties experienced in maintaining permanent workers are
avoided.
 Displaced Persons: Siting and implementation of a project in an area would result in displacement of
several hundred inhabitants. It is a social responsibility of the business. Such people are a recruitment
source, not only for the project, which caused the displacement, but also for other companies located
elsewhere.
 Radio and Television: They are used sparingly by government departments only to reach certain
types of job applicants such as skilled workers. Private sector companies are hesitant to use such media
because of high costs and due to the fear, that that such advertising would make them look desperate
and damage their image.
 Acquisitions and Mergers: When organizations combine into one, they have to handle a large pool
of employees, some of whom may no longer be necessary in the new organization. Consequently, the
new company has, in effect, a pool of qualified job applicants.
 Competitors: Popularly called poaching or raiding, this method involves identifying the right people
in rival companies, offering them better terms and luring them away. From a legal perspective, an
employee is expected to join a new firm only after obtaining a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from his/her
previous employer.
 E-Recruiting: Employers, using the Internet, can electronically screen candidates’ soft attributes,
direct potential hires to a special website for online skill assessment, conduct background checks over
the Internet, interview candidates via videoconferencing, and manage the entire process with web-
based software. Advantage: Companies benefit immensely through cost-savings, speed
enhancement and extended worldwide candidate reach through the Internet.

Concept of Selection

Selection is the process of differentiating between applicants in order to identify and hire those with a
greater likelihood of success in a job.

Recruitment vs Selection

▪ Immediate Objectives: The basic objective of recruitment is to attract maximum number of

candidates so that more options are available. The basic objective of selection is to choose the best
out of the available candidates.
▪ Process: Recruitment adopts the process of creating application pool as large as possible (positive
process), while selection adopts the process through which more candidates are rejected (negative
process).
▪ Techniques Involved: Recruitment techniques are not very intensive, requiring high skills. In the
selection process, highly specialized techniques are required, and hence only personnel with specific
skills (e.g. expertise in using selection tests) are involved.
▪ Outcome: The outcome of recruitment is application pool, which becomes the input for the selection
process. The outcome of selection process is in the form of finalizing candidates who will be offered
jobs.

Process of Selection

A comprehensive selection process involves the various steps as shown below:

▪ Application Pool: The basic objective at the recruitment level is to attract as much worthwhile
applications as possible so that there are more options available at the selection stage.
▪ Screening of Applications: Prospective employees have to fill up some sort of application forms,
which have a variety of information about the applicants like their personal bio-data, achievements,
experience etc. Such information is used to screen the applicants who are found to be qualified for the
consideration of employment.
▪ Selection Tests: They normally supplement the information provided in the application forms and
give information about their aptitude, interest, personality etc. that cannot be known by application
forms.
▪ Interview: The basic idea here is to find out overall suitability of candidates for the jobs. It also
provides an opportunity to give relevant information about the organization to the candidates.
▪ Checking of References: Many organizations ask the candidates to provide the names of referees
(e.g. previous employers, persons associated with the educational institution of the candidate etc.)
from whom more information about the candidate can be solicited. Such information may be related
to character, working etc.
▪ Physical Examination: It is carried out to ascertain the physical standards and fitness of prospective
employees. While many organizations do not carry physical examinations at all, others carry on a very
comprehensive basis.
▪ Approval by Appropriate Authority: Organizations may designate the various authorities for
approval of final selection of candidates for different categories of candidates. For top-level managers,
board of directors may be the approving authority, while for lower levels; even functional heads
concerned may be the approving authority.
▪ Final Selection: After the approval of the competent authority, the selection is final and the candidate
concerned may be informed accordingly.
▪ Employment Contract: The relationship between the organization and its employees is a contractual
one. The implications of contractual relationship is that both employees and the organization must
enter into the employment contract indicating various terms and conditions of employment.
▪ Evaluation: Evaluation of
the total selection
programme may be ALTERNATIVE
undertaken during the DIAGRAM:
process and after the
process. During the
process, the evaluation
tries to measure the
reliability and validity of
various steps used in the
selection process and
after the process is over, it
measures the outcome of
the selection process in
terms of the performance
of those who have been
selected.
Concept of Application Blank

It is a structured form to seek relevant information from the candidate, which may be useful in the selection
decision. Its size may vary from a single page to multiple pages depending on the nature of position for
which it has been designed. The contents of an application blank should be such that these help:
(a) To make judgement on substantive matters such as ‘has the applicant necessary educational
qualifications and experience to perform the job effectively’?
(b) To draw conclusions about the applicant’s progress and growth in his/her previous work assignments
(c) To have information about the biographical facts for record purposes

Types of Selection Tests

They are popularly called psychological tests as they measure the psychological characteristics of a
person. It is an instrument used to measure various characteristics of the candidate not disclosed by their
employment application forms. It is essentially an objective and standardized measure of a sample of
behaviour. There are of the following types:
 Ability Tests: The ability of a person is his capability to engage in some behaviour, and constitutes his
intelligence (capacity to think abstractly), skills (proficiency to use the knowledge to do a work) and
aptitudes (potential abilities that have not been fully applied). There are various kinds of ability:
 Mechanical Ability: Ability to visualize how parts fit together into a whole
 Motor Coordination Ability: Ability to move the body effectively to perform physical tasks
 Intellectual Ability: General intelligence or reasoning; verbal and numerical ability
 Creative Ability: Innovative and artistic ability; aesthetic judgement
 Achievement Tests: Also called performance test or trade test, it is concerned with what one has
accomplished. A candidate’s knowledge may be measured through his answers to certain questions
or his performance in a practical test.
 Aptitude Tests: These tests measure whether an individual has the capacity or latent ability to learn a
given job if given adequate training. Aptitudes can be divided into general and mental ability or
intelligence and specific aptitude such as mechanical, clerical, manipulative capacity etc.
 Intelligence Tests: These tests try to measure the level of intelligence of a candidate and generally
includes verbal comprehension, word fluency, memory, inductive reasoning, number facility, speed of
perception, special visualization etc. The scores on the test are usually expressed numerically as
Intelligence Quotient (IQ), which can be calculated as follows: IQ= (Mental Age/ Actual Age) x 100.
 Personality Tests: These tests prove deeply to discover clues to an individual’s value system, his
emotional reactions and maturity and characteristic mood. They are expressed in such traits like self-
confidence, tact, emotional control, optimism, decisiveness, sociability, conformity, objectivity,
patience, fear, distrust, initiative, judgment dominance or submission, impulsiveness, sympathy,
integrity, stability and self-confidence. There are 2 widely used personality tests:
 Thematic Apperception Test: It is intended to evaluate a person's patterns of thought,
attitudes, observational capacity, and emotional responses to ambiguous test materials.
 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): It uses a questionnaire to assess personality and
differentiates people in terms of four dimensions—sensing, intuiting, judging and perceiving.
 Interest Tests: It is designed to discover a person’s area of interest, and identify the kinds of jobs that
will satisfy him. It generally measures interest in outdoor, mechanical, computational, scientific, clerical
activities etc.

Types of Interview

Selection interview, also known as employment interview, is a formal, in-depth conversation conducted to
evaluate the acceptability of candidates for employment. There are different types of selection interview:
 Structured Interview: In this type, the interview is designed and detailed in advance. A structured
interview is pre-planned, accurate, and consistent in hiring the candidates.
 Unstructured Interview: This type of interview is an unplanned one, where the interview
questionnaire is not prepared. Here, the effectiveness of the interview is very less and there is a
tremendous waste of time and effort of both the interviewer and the interviewee.
 Group Interview: In this type of interview, all the candidates or a group of candidates are interviewed
together. They are conducted to save time when there is a large number of applications for a few job
vacancies. A topic will be given to discuss among the candidates and the interviewer judges the
innovativeness and behaviour of each candidate in the group.
 Depth Interview: Depth interview is a semi-structured interview, where the candidates have to give a
detailed information about their education background, work experience, special interests, etc. The
interviewer takes a depth interview and tries in finding the expertise of the candidate.
 Stress Interview: Stress interviews are conducted to discover how a candidate behaves in stressful
conditions. In this type of interview, the interviewer will come to know whether the candidate can
handle the demands of a complex job. The candidate who maintains his composure during a stress
interview is normally the right person to handle a stressful job.
 Individual Interview: In an individual interview, the interview takes place one-on-one i.e., there will
be a verbal and a visual interaction between two people, an interviewer and a candidate. This is a two-
way communication interview, which helps in finding the right candidate for a vacant job position.
 Informal Interview: Such interviews are conducted in an informal way, i.e., the interview will be fixed
without any written communication and can be arranged at any place. There is no procedure of asking
questions in this type of interview, hence it will be a friendly kind of interview.
 Formal Interview: A formal interview held in a formal way, i.e., the candidate will be intimated about
the interview well in advance and the interviewer plans and prepares questions for the interview. This
is also called as a planned interview.
 Panel Interview: Panel interview, as the name indicates, is being conducted by a group of people. In
this type of interview, three to five members of the selection committee will be asking questions to the
candidates on different aspects. The final decision will be taken by all the members of the panel
collectively.
 Exit Interview: Exit interviews are conducted for those employees who want to leave the organization.
The importance of the exit interview is to discover why an employee wants to leave his job.

Concept of Placement

Placement is the process of finding an appropriate fit between the people and the positions in an
organization. It is actually the determination of the job, which an accepted candidate is to be assigned to,
and his assignment to that job. It includes initial assignment of new employees, and promotion, transfer
or demotion of present employees.

Importance of Placement

 When an organization chooses an exact number of candidates for the specific vacancies available in
the organization, placement becomes simple and easy.
 Placement becomes crucial when the organization selects the candidates in a general manner and
then places them in the jobs at a later stage.
 Proper placement helps to improve employee morale. The capacity of the employee can be utilised
fully if he is placed on the job for which he is most suitable.
 Right placement also helps to reduce labour turnover, absenteeism and accident rates. If a candidate
adjusts himself to the job and continues to perform as per expectations, it might mean that the
candidate is properly placed.
 Job placement also involves reassigning the jobs among the existing employees.

Challenges in Placement

 Cultural and Behavioural Incompatibility: Organizations should consider the behavioural

compatibility between the superiors and the freshly joining subordinates. Cultural compatibility
should also be considered as culture differs within the organization and across departments.
 Nature of Job: Jobs can be independent or dependent. Independent jobs are performed by the
employees with little help from others. Hence, placement for such jobs is simple and straightforward.
 In case of interdependent jobs like assembly-line jobs in the production department and pooled jobs
involving teamwork, job placement is difficult.
 Level of Adaptability: When the employees exhibit a high degree of flexibility and openness, it can
facilitate the process of placement. Placement becomes difficult when the employees exhibit stiffness.

Concept of Orientation

Orientation is the process of introducing a new employee to the organization and the organization to the
employee by providing relevant information. A formal orientation is preferable because it tries to bridge
the information gap of the new employee. It may contain the following information:

 About the Organization (mission and philosophy, objectives, product lines, etc.)
 HR Policies and Rules (training and development, promotional avenues, pay scale, vacations, leave
rules, etc.)
 Employment Benefits (provident funds, insurance benefits, gratuity benefits, retirement benefits, etc.)
 Introduction to supervisors, co-workers/ officials, subordinates, etc.
 Job Duties (job objectives, relationship to other jobs, office timings, breaks, etc.)

Importance of Orientation (Induction)

 Overcoming Employee Anxiety: New employees experience a lot of anxiety in an organization,

which is a natural phenomenon for human beings; they experience anxiety in a new environment,
which may interfere with the training process.
 Overcoming Reality Shock: An employee joins an organization with certain assumptions and
expectations (such as lucrative salary and perquisites, social status, prestige, etc.). When these
expectations are incompatible with the reality of the situation, he experiences a ‘reality shock.’
 Accommodating Employees: Proper employee orientation helps to accommodate new employees
with existing employees by developing acquaintances and understanding of the various aspects of
the job, which the newcomer is expected to confront.
 Cultural Alignment: Organizations often have unique cultures that influence how work is done,
decisions are made, and relationships are formed. Orientation programs help newcomers understand
and align with the organization's culture, fostering a sense of belonging and cohesion.
 Enhanced Engagement and Retention: Effective orientation programs increase employee or
member engagement by demonstrating that the organization values their presence and is invested in
their success. This positive experience early on can contribute to higher retention rates and lower
turnover.
 Improved Performance: Properly onboarded individuals are likelier to perform well in their roles from
the outset. By equipping them with the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources during orientation,
organizations set their employees or members up for success and contribute to overall performance.
 Risk Mitigation: Orientation can help mitigate unfamiliar risks, such as safety hazards, compliance
violations, or breaches of protocol. Organizations minimize the likelihood of costly mistakes or legal
issues by educating newcomers about relevant policies, procedures, and regulations.
 Foundation for Learning and Growth: Orientation is often just the beginning of a continuous
learning journey. By providing a solid foundation of knowledge and resources, orientation programs
lay the groundwork for ongoing learning and professional development, empowering individuals to
grow within their roles and beyond.

Concept of Socialization

Socialization is a process through which individuals learn and internalize the norms, values, behaviors, and
social skills necessary to function effectively within a particular society or group. It begins in early
childhood and continues throughout life, shaping an individual's identity, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.
Some of the critical aspects of socialization are discussed as follows:
  Learning Norms and Values: Socialization teaches individuals the accepted norms, values, and
cultural practices of their society or social group. These norms and values dictate appropriate
behavior, attitudes, and beliefs within specific social contexts.
 Development of Self-Identity: Socialization contributes to developing an individual's self-
concept and self-identity. Through interactions with others and societal feedback, individuals form
perceptions of themselves and their place in the world.
 Role Acquisition: Socialization helps individuals understand and internalize the roles they are
expected to fulfill within society, such as roles related to gender, family, occupation, and
community. This includes learning the behaviors, responsibilities, and expectations of each role.
 Transmission of Culture: Socialization is crucial for transmitting cultural knowledge, traditions,
language, and customs from one generation to the next. It ensures the continuity and preservation
of cultural heritage within societies over time.
 Formation of Social Bonds: Socialization fosters social bonds and relationships with others.
Through interactions with family members, peers, teachers, and other social agents, individuals
develop interpersonal skills, empathy, and the ability to collaborate and communicate effectively.

Managing Transfers

Transfer is a form of internal mobility of human resources, which involves movement of an employee from
one section to another section of the same department, one department to another department, one unit
to another unit, one place to another place, or one function to another function, in the form of job rotation
without any change in the employee’s status, responsibilities and pay.

Types of Transfer (Reasons for Transfer)

There are different types of transfer:

 Production Transfer: It is also known as flexibility or organizational transfer. The basic purpose of such
transfer is to stabilize employment in an organization. The occasion for such transfers arises because
of uneven change in quantity of production in different departments/ units, surplus or shortage of
workers in different departments at the initial level of placement.
 Plant Transfer: It aims at stabilization of employment of personnel as in production transfer, except
with one difference that employees are transferred from one plant to another plant. The need for such
transfers arises if two plants have different stage of stabilization.
 Shift Transfer: Where the production runs into shifts, most of the continuous production processes
run based on three shifts and employees and transferred from one shift to another over the period.
 Remedial Transfer: It is effected by transferring an employee from a section/ department in which he
cannot adjust himself with either his boss or his co-workers. This may be because of initial faulty
placement of the employee without matching his profile with that of the group.
 Versatility Transfer: It is in the form of job rotation of an employee with a view to acquire multiple
skills required for different jobs and to understand the relationship of one job with others, and how a
job affects and is affected by others.
 Tenure Transfer: It is more common in government administration and is based on the principle that
an official should not stay more than the prescribed period, usually three years, at a particular place to
ensure that he does not get involved in politicking informal groups.
 Penal Transfer: It is effected to penalize an employee whose behaviour does not match with the
officially required behaviour. In business organizations, such type of transfer is made to get rid of a
difficult trade union activist, an intriguer etc.

Principles of Transfer
 The policy should be fair, impartial and practicable so that there is no unnecessary conflicts between
the employees and the organization
 Objectives of different types of transfer should be spelled out clearly to avoid misgivings
 The policy should lay down the bases on which transfers are to be effected, whether it would be based
on seniority, skills and competence or any other factors
Promotion Decisions

It is an advancement in the organization, which involves a change from one job/ position to another that
is better in terms of status and responsibility. Ordinarily, the change to better job is accompanied with
increased monetary compensation and privileges.

Types of Promotion
 Horizontal Promotion: This type of promotion involves an increase in responsibility and pay with the
change in the designation. However, the job classification remains the same.
 Vertical Promotion: Here, there is a change in the status, responsibilities, job classification and pay.
Sometimes, this type of promotion changes the nature of job completely.
 Dry Promotion: It refers to an increase in responsibilities and status without any increase in pay or
other financial benefits.

Need for Promotion

It is desirable to analyse how a promotion serves the needs of the organization and the individual.
Promotion serves the organizational and individual needs in the following manner:
 Promotion is used as a reward for better work performance and organizationally approved form of
behaviour. People will work harder if they feel that this will lead to promotion.
 Promotion provides need satisfaction to personnel, which enhances their morale, productivity and
loyalty to the organization.
 Because of increased loyalty, which is developed among personnel through promotion, the
organization is able to retain its talented personnel that is the utmost need of any organization in this
era of high competition.
 Promotion provides avenues for continuous learning and developing of personnel as it depends on
promotability, which is a result of continuous learning and development. This process increases
individual and hence organizational effectiveness.

Demerits of Promotion

 Employees may feel that once they are promoted, they will lose more benefits, which they enjoy in the
form of overtime payment, statutory bonus, incentive bonus etc. than what they derive out of
promotion.
 For some employees, settling at a particular level of position is more satisfying than attempting for
promotion, which requires continuous standing on one’s toes.
 Some employees do not want promotion because it may involve transfer from one place to another
place. For such employees, affiliation to a particular place is more important than the benefits
associated with promotion.

Promotion Decisions: Seniority vs Merit Considerations

Merits of Promotion on Merit Basis Demerits of Promotion on Merit Basis

1. When merit is adopted as a basis for 1. The main difficulty in weighing merit in making
promotion, it ignites employees to show better promotion decisions is the lack of objective
performance continuously, as they feel that criteria. If the organization is not well equipped
their merit would be rewarded suitably. for measuring merit objectively, it will lead to
chaos.
2. If the promotion is based on merit, it helps in 2. It ignores the basic fact that a person matures
attracting and retaining competent with age and many of the emotional
employees. intelligence-related competencies increase
with age.
 3. By adopting a merit-based policy of 3. Differentiating one employee from another on
promotions, an organization can build up a merit basis shows weakness in an
pool of competent people who are a source for organization’s HR system.
creating and sustaining competitive advantage
for the organization.

Merits of Promotion on Seniority Basis Demerits of Promotion on Seniority Basis

1. Seniority as the basis for promotion is based on 1. Number of years of experience does not
objectivity and equality. The use of such criteria necessarily correspond with quality of
as performance appraisal, selection tests and experience. The basis logic behind experience
superiors’ opinions leads many employees to is that an experienced person may weed out
feel that promotions are not made fairly, which the undesirable practices over the period and
ultimately result in declining morale and may retain only the desirable practices.
productivity.
2. To grant promotions based on seniority is to 2. If employees are assured of being promoted
reward employees for loyalty. No one would after putting certain years of service, they may
deny that loyalty deserves rewards. become complacent towards better
performance.
3. Experience contributes to ability, if meaningful. 3. Competent people are not attracted by the
Studies show that employees with the longest seniority promotional policy; hence,
service often are better prepared for organizations following this policy fail to attract
promotion than management is initially willing talented people. Even if some talented people
to admit. join such an organization, they tend to leave it
at the earliest.

Promotion on Merit-cum-Seniority Basis

Taking the advantages of both seniority and merit, many organizations adopt the policy of promotion on
merit-cum-seniority basis with varying emphasis on merit and seniority. From the above discussion,
neither seniority nor merit can be sound criterion for promotion. In the interest of efficiency, justice and
for satisfaction of employees,
a compromise between
seniority and merit should be
worked out. Seniority should
be given due weightage but
fitness i.e., merit should not be
forgotten. Promotion should,
therefore, be given based on
merit-cum-seniority. This will
afford the employees due
recognition for their length of
service while at the same time
provide built- in-incentive for
better performance.
According to Pigors and
Myers (1981), seniority should be considered, but only when the qualifications of two candidates for a
better job are, for practical purposes, equal.

Sources:

▪ Ashwathappa, K. Human Resource Management:L Text and Cases, McGraw Hill Education, New Delhi.
▪ VSP Rao, Human Resource Management: Text and cases, First edition, Excel Books, New Delhi.
▪ Gary Dessler, “Human Resource Management”, Seventh edition, Prentice-Hall of India P. Ltd., Pearson.