1.

Human resource management (HRM) is the managerial function concerned with effective and efficient
workforce management to accomplish an organization's strategic objectives or achieve competitive
advantages.It is a comprehensive and strategic approach concerned with managing an organization's most
important asset – its people. HR covers a number of positions, responsibilities, and aspects of company
efficiency and staff well-being—and each area of human resources requires strong leadership from an
experienced manager. A Human Resource department’s job is to maximize employee productivity. This
protects the company from workplace problems. Compensation and benefits, recruitment, firing, and
staying up to date on any laws that may affect the company. It also affects the employees are all part of
HR’s responsibilities. Human resources management is so important to an organization because this
department has many responsibilities and keeps the organization operating smoothly. As our society
continues to change, the role of human resource managers is changing as well. From compensation and
benefits managers to training and development specialists, there are many growing human resources
specialties that organizations will continue to incorporate.

“The field of HRM involves planning, organization, directing and controlling functions of procuring,
developing, maintaining and utilizing a labor force.”

- J. Jucious

Importance of HR managers are as follows:

 Establishing a healthy work culture: A healthy work culture is pivotal in bringing out the best in
employees. HR managers contribute significantly in setting up a healthy and friendly work culture,
which further translates into better productivity among employees.
 Knowledge and development: Knowledge is an ongoing process that is critical to increasing
employee productivity. It is also important for existing employee professional development. HR
managers are in charge of new employee orientation and induction. They are in order of planning
development programs. They must also be able to Recognize and analyze the areas in which
employees require training. this also comes under the importance of human resource management.

 Keeping Employees Safe and Happy: A human resource department is also in charge of keeping
employees safe, healthy, and satisfied. With proper HR management, workplace policies keep up with
necessary protective measures and implementation and provide solutions to issues between team
members, avoiding risk for the company and its employees.
 To develop corporate image: Every company should maintain good public image in order to sustain
in the market. Any individual would like to work for companies which are known for moral and social
behavior. On the other hand, companies that do not treat their employees in a good manner can run
through employee deficiency and even collapse.
 Compliance: HR professionals work towards making the organization compliant with employment
laws, as well as maintaining records of hiring processes and applicants’ log.
 Improve performance: With a well-managed HRM system, an organization is able to identify the skills
and capabilities of its employees and offer training programs accordingly. This improves the overall
performance of employees and helps to increase the quality of the organization's products and
services.
 To maintain quality of work life: Quality of work life is the perception of employees regarding the
relationship between working condition with management. Simply, it is the relationship between
employees and total work environment. Quality of work life is concerned with the employee’s
perception of physical as well as psychological wellbeing at workplace and it can be obtained by
maintaining work autonomy, work freedom, job recognition, belongingness, rewards, etc.
 It’s without a doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on the human resource
management organizations and this is due to all of the changes that took place as a result of the
pandemic. For example, when lockdowns occurred, many organizations had to switch to remote working,
and then eventually there was the transition back into the office, and even the transition to hybrid
working for some companies. The pandemic will have also affected the health and wellbeing of many
employees, both physically and mentally, so this has become an even bigger focus for HR. It has been a
challenging time for people in organizations, and consequently a challenging time for human resource
management as well. HR management processes had to adapt and be updated accordingly.

It is absolutely important for Sundaram Ltd to have HR department for the expansion of the company as it
will help the company in :

 Recruitment and Hiring.

 Training and Development.
 Employer-Employee Relations.
 Maintain Company Culture.
 Manage Employee Benefits.
 Create a Safe Work Environment.
 Handle Disciplinary Actions.

2. Human resources (HR) is the department of your company that deals with all personnel-related topics and
issues. They can serve as the point of contact for employees, managers and, if applicable, governing
bodies to ensure that your company is abiding by the law and helping your overall organisation succeed
through its people.

An HR department is typically tasked with assignments across the employee lifecycle. This could include
onboarding, offboarding and the following:
i) Administration - The role of HR administration is wide because it’s all about developing
and managing the workforce. Administrators handle compensation, staff training,
corporate policy compliance and much more. Each specialty requires a different set of
skills to fulfill the necessary duties. Describing all the administrative tasks and formalities
that fall within an HR department's scope. This could be creating contacts or managing
digital personnel files.
ii) Recruiting and staffing - Otherwise known as talent acquisition, recruiting, and e-
recruiting, this describes all the measures a team needs to complete to reach new
employees to benefit the company. This also includes employer branding. Human
resources departments manage recruiting and staffing. They make sure the company
has enough employees to run the business, and they develop and implement recruiting
procedures to ensure they hire the right people. HR personnel often create job
descriptions, advertise jobs and conduct interviews and background checks. Their
objective is to find people who have the necessary skills to complete the job and who
also add to the company’s culture. This function is crucial because hiring the right team
members contributes to better operational efficiency and lower turnover. The recruiting
and staffing department manages onboarding, welcomes new employees and provides
them with all the necessary tools or information.
iii) Health and safety - HR considers the health and safety of employees a priority. This
department researches and develops health and safety procedures in compliance with
 laws and regulations. The department can offer health and safety training to employees
or recommend appropriate clothing and equipment.
iv) Training and development - HR and People Teams need to help employees get better at
what they do, and that means establishing strong performance management processes
and an open culture of feedback. The HR training unit develops a continuous training
program for the company’s employees to ensure their education and skills are current.
Whether it’s offering a course on new technologies or facilitating leadership training for
supervisors, the training and development department provides access to materials for
all employees. It coordinates with the compensation and benefits unit to reimburse the
costs of external training that employees sometimes pay. HR training and development
managers also organize the new hire orientation by introducing new employees to their
colleagues and offering mentoring.
v) Compensation and benefits - This unit manages payroll, payroll tax administration and
benefits administration. A good compensation and benefits package can make the
difference when a company tries to hire the right candidate. They organize wages,
insurance, holidays and other perks for employees. Human resources personnel aim to
meet employees’ needs while maintaining fairness and consistency in the organization.
With this objective, the compensation and benefits department explores, proposes and
manages new benefit options for employees.
vi) Labor and employee relations - Employees can turn to the labor and employee relations
department when they have concerns, and the HR department will take necessary
actions. For example, if an employee has issues communicating with management or a
conflict with another employee, HR will mediate the situation and find solutions.
vii) Diversity & inclusion - HR departments work to help create and empower a diverse and
inclusive workplace culture by monitoring diversity data and trends (in both the current
workforce and hiring practices) and developing diversity program initiatives that
encourage workers to respect and embrace differences in the workplace.
viii) Disciplinary actions - In the case of employee misconduct, HR must take certain actions
to correct or reprimand the undesirable behavior or performance. The solutions can
include a verbal or written warning, probation, suspension or termination. Each instance
is judged on a case-by-case basis, and the severity of the infraction dictates the
administrative response.

Here are a couple of final best practices to keep in mind as your HR department evolves:

Don’t shove square pegs in round roles. It’s tempting to take the people you have and retrofit
them to your needs, but if someone isn’t a great fit for a new role, don’t force it.

Invest in software early. HR platforms can be used by even the tiniest start-ups, as there are
numerous affordable options. These solutions help businesses automate necessary tasks like
tracking clock-ins and running payroll—saving money on hiring costs and lightening the overall
workload.

3.

A) The Human Resource Planning is a process of forecasting the organization’s demand for and supply of
manpower needs in the near future. Most entrepreneurs do not go into business to become human
 resources experts. They go into business because they find a passion and see a need in the market
they believe they can fill. Unfortunately, as a business owner, having a human resources infrastructure
is critical to the growth and success of the business.

i) Determining the Objectives of Human Resource Planning :

The foremost step in every process is the determination of the objectives for which the
process is to be carried on. The objective for which the manpower planning is to be
done should be defined precisely, so as to ensure that a right number of people for the
right kind of job are selected. The objectives can vary across the several departments in
the organization such as the personnel demand may differ in marketing, finance,
production, HR department, based on their roles or functions.
ii) Analyzing Current Manpower Inventory :
The next step is to analyze the current manpower supply in the organization through the
stored information about the employees in terms of their experience, proficiency, skills,
etc. required to perform a particular job. Also, the future vacancies can be estimated, so
as to plan for the manpower from both the internal (within the current employees) and
the external (hiring candidates from outside) sources. Thus, it is to be ensured that
reservoir of talent is maintained to meet any vacancy arising in the near future.
iii) Forecasting Demand and Supply of Human Resources :
Forecasting is an important step in identifying your market and what changes may
potentially be on the horizon. As you win government contracts or secure new clients,
you may find yourself in a position that you need to onboard many employees at once.
Or you may see a contraction in your market coming down the road and need to plan on
how to adjust your human resources function.
iv) Employment Plan/Action Plan:
Once the manpower gaps are evaluated, the action plan is to be formulated
accordingly. In a case of a deficit, the firm may go either for recruitment, training,
interdepartmental transfer plans whereas in the case of a surplus, the voluntary
retirement schemes, redeployment, transfer, layoff, could be followed.
v) Training and Development:
The training is not only for the new joinees but also for the existing employees who are
required to update their skills from time to time.After the employment plan, the training
programmes are conducted to equip the new employees as well as the old ones with
the requisite skills to be performed on a particular job.

Thus, human resource planning is a continuous process that begins with the objectives of Human
Resource planning and ends with the appraisal or feedback and control of the planning process.

B ) Human Resource Demand Forecasting is the process of estimating the future human resource
requirement in right quality and right number. Demand forecasting attempts to determine the future
consumer demand for a product. Demand forecasting uses historical sales data and predictive analytics to
determine purchase trends, inventory levels, and future sales potential in order to maximize revenue.

Qualitative forecasting is important for helping executives make decisions for a company. Performing
qualitative forecasting can inform decisions like how much inventory to keep, whether a company
should hire new staff members and how they can adjust their sales operations. Qualitative
forecasting is also crucial for developing projects like marketing campaigns, as it can provide
information about a company's service that can highlight which elements of the business to feature in
advertisements.
Here are a few examples of qualitative forecasting methods:

Delphi method

The Delphi method involves questioning a panel of experts individually to collect their opinions.
Interviewing or gathering information from the experts one at a time rather than in a group can help
to prevent bias and ensure that any consensus about business predictions stems from the expert
opinions on their own. Other employees then analyze the experts' responses and return them with
additional questions until settling on a prediction that makes sense for the company.

Jury of executive opinion

This approach relies on judgments from experts in sales, finance, purchasing, administration or
production teams. Forecasting by executive opinion can ensure that a team completes a forecast
quickly and considers multiple perspectives from different departments to best inform their forecast.
Some companies might use executive opinion forecasting along with a quantitative method.

Market research

Market research evaluates the success of a company's services or products by introducing them to
potential customers and recording details about how they react. Companies can conduct market
research with the help of their own employees or by hiring outside agencies that specialize in market
research activities. Some ways to conduct market research include focus groups, consumer surveys or
blind product testing, where a customer tries a product without having heard of it before. Based on
the reaction of participants, companies can decide which products or services to continue producing
and which might need revision in the production stage.

Consumer surveys

Consumer surveys ask customers of a business about their experience as a consumer. Companies
might send consumer surveys to customers through mail-in questionnaires or forms sent through
email. Other options for conducting consumer surveys include cold-calling customers on the phone
and inviting customers in to the office for personal interviews. After collecting information from
consumer surveys, employees can use the details they learn to help inform their predictions about a
company's future based on the experience of their existing customers.

Sales force polling

Sales force polling involves speaking with sales staff who work closely with customers and might have
thorough information about their satisfaction and experiences with the company. One advantage of
sales force polling is that it uses information from employees who are most frequently involved in the
actual business operations, which can ensure that the details are correct and relevant. Sales force
polling is also simple to conduct since it only requires meeting with salespeople and focusing on the
information they provide.

The Delphi technique is best suited for this company, the method of qualitative forecasting that
generates a view of the future by using the knowledge of experts in particular fields. The name
derives from the ancient Greek Oracle of Delphi that was supposed to foretell the future. The steps of
the Delphi method are as follows:
 Questionnaires are circulated to the team members, who may not be aware of each others'
identities, and each is invited to make his own prediction of future progress in a particular field. As far
as possible, projections must be quantified and the questions must be framed accordingly: e.g., what
proportion of all households do you expect to have a personal computer by the year 2010?
After the first round of replies, the results are analyzed statistically (giving the distribution of
responses) and the results re-circulated; panel members are asked to reconsider their views in the
light of the new statistics. If their view lies outside the inter-quartile range, they must either revise
their opinion or give their reasons for their extreme view; this will be seen by the other panel
members. This process can be repeated for a third or fourth round until a consensus of opinion is
obtained.Results of Delphi studies are given in the form of timescales and probability levels for the
feature being forecast. Some large corporations have used the method for assessing long term trends
and the development strategies that may be open..