COURSE: Human Resource Management (HRM)

REPARED BY:

ID Group Member

MBA549/13 Amdemichael Moges

MPA002/13 Getnet Muhabaw
MBA546/13 Marta Gudeta

MBA564/13 Mesfin Matiyos

Submission date: June/2021

Submit to: Dr. Bereket Solomon (PhD)

Introduction

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Human Resource Management (HRM) is the term used to describe formal systems devised for
the management of people within an organization. HRM is both the art of managing people by
recourse to creative and innovative approaches; it is a science as well because of the precision
and rigorous application of theory that is required. In the 21st century organizations, the HR
manager or the people manager is no longer seen as someone who takes care of the activities
described in the traditional way. Instead, the HR manager is responsible for managing
employee expectations vis-à-vis the management objectives and reconciling both to ensure
employee fulfillment and realization of management objectives.

Based on this concept, in this assignment report paper we try to address different but
inseparable 12 major questions that are related to human resource management. In the report,
we try to discuss about; the relationship between strategic human resource management and
organizational performance, performance appraisal, diverse workforce and work–life balance
practices, approaches for candidate’s selection, HRP activity under uncertainty, equality and
diversity management policies, Management and Leadership Development, regulation of the
employment relationship, importance and limitations of demand and supply forecasting and
other concepts. For each question we try to define the concept, if it has and elaborate the
answer what is needed.

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 1. Evaluating the relation between strategic human resources management and
organizational performance

Before explaining about the relationship between strategic human resources management and
organizational performance, it’s better to see about strategic human resources management and
organizational performance independently.

Human Resource Management is a strategic, integrated and coherent approach to the

employment, development and well-being of people working in organizations. Strategic human
resources management (SHRM) defined as the pattern planned human resource deployment
and activities intended to enable organization to achieve its goals. SHRM practices refer to the
deployment and activities to achieve organizational success through a pattern of planned
behaviors.

Even though there is lack of universal definition to organizational performance, Wikipedia

define Organizational performance as “comprises the actual output or results of an
organization as measured against its intended outputs (or goals and objectives). And
organizational performance encompasses three specific areas of organization outcomes based on
the kind of organization:

 Financial performance (profits, return on assets, return on investment, etc.)

 Product market performance (sales, market share, services etc.); and
 Shareholder return (total shareholder return, economic value added, etc.).

From the above definitions we can understand that every organization must have its own
strategic goal or objectives to be achieved in the short- or long-term basis. The HR strategy is the
tactics or set of actions that help the organization to achieve its strategic goals. Without utilizing
the strengths of the human power effectively and overcome the weaknesses for better
sustainability of human resource in the organization, there is no better performance of overall
organization activity and the final result will zero sum game. As organizational strategies HR
strategies also divided into three parts as corporate human resource strategy, competitive
human resource strategy, and functional level human resource strategy. Those strategies are
actually aligned with the organization strategies.

In general, SHRM aligns all its strategies with organization’s goals. Based on this broad concept
the following are some of the major importance of Strategic Human Resource Management
and relations on the organization performance.

1. Communication of Goals and Objectives of Organization

The goals and objective are very important for an organization. These goals are not
communicated without the help of strategic human resource. If the goals are not properly
translated and communicated, then the people who are employed for those will not be able to
perform well in the business operation. As a result, the goals may not be achieved in the given
time. In this place, strategic HR plays an important role.

2. Setting Efficient People to Achieve Specific Goals

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The human resource department is responsible for the recruitment of the employees for an
organization. They always hire people for different departments of the organization. As a result,
they become very knowledgeable about the people they are hiring. So, they also know the
capabilities of the people. Specific goals are given to the capable employees with the help of
strategic human resource.

3. Forecasting Future Human Needs

As per corporate, competitive, and functional needs, the strategic human resource forecasts the
future human needs for the organization. By this, strategic HRM reduces manages the chance of
shortage of future human supply. It helps the organization to be consistent in the way of their
operation.

4. Selecting and Utilizing Motivational Tools

A person in an organization may not be motivated by the tool used to motivate others. That
means, different type persons required different types of motivational tools. For some people,
money is not motivating factors anymore. They perhaps need promotion and social recognition
to become more motivated. Strategic HR finds out what person needs what to remain motivated
that helps organization achieve its goals. Employees who believe their organizations are
committed will be more secured and are more willing to put in more effort than what are
required of them.

5. Measuring Performance by the help of HRM

HRM is responsible to measure the performance of employees. The effective performance of

employee leads to better organizational performance. The employees are given rewards
according to the result of output an employee has given. The performance is compared with the
expected performance. HR set viable goals that are actually reachable and measurable. Because,
when goals are measurable and reachable, they are easy to achieve. So, strategic HR sets
reachable goals for individuals. If any further training or education needed, HR executes that.
Without efficient strategic HR, the selection of training or the measurement cannot be
determined.

6. Recruitment and Selection

One the major task of HR in the organization is recruitment and selection of human resource.
Recruitment is the process of finding and engaging the people the organization needs Selection
is that part of the recruitment process concerned with deciding which applicants or candidates
should be appointed to the jobs.

To conclude, without strategic human resource management, an organization will not be able to
cope up with the competition in the business field. Strategic HRM aligns corporate strategy with
the corporate human management. In the competitive level, HR strategies help to become more
competitive. And in the functional level, strategic HR works as communicator to interpret target

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goals and how to achieve them. For these reasons, HR Strategies are very much important and
inseparable too in the organization achievement.

https://www.thestrategywatch.com/importance-strategic-human-resource-management/.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED STRATEGIC

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION

PERFORMANCE WITH ORGANIZATION CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR AS

THE MEDIATOR (ALI KADHIM SADDAM , AUGUST 2017, UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI

MALAYSIA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_performance.

2 Think of organization you have worked for where some work life balance practices were
available why do you think this organization elected to develop and introduce work life
balance initiates?

Work-Life balance refers to an effective management or striking a balance between the work
which is remunerated and the personal or social responsibilities which an individual is expected
to perform. Work life can influence organizational productivity and also the well-being of the
employees in different ways. Due to globalization and ever-increasing work pressures,
maintaining work-life balance has attracted the attention of the organizations and employees as
well. The employees who devote a crucial period of time of their entire day at work or
sometimes work for extended hours, are faced with the challenge of balancing their personal
lives with the demands of their profession.

The origin of the term Work-Life Balance took place in early 80's, because of a sharp rise in the
number of working women professionals having children in tender age-groups dependent on
them.

For this idea we have select two industries from Bole Lemi industry sight who produce
electronics products. In these organization different kind of work life balance practices has
been applied. These practices directly related to the organization productivity as well as the
wellbeing of the employees in different ways. Given below are some of the areas in terms of
opportunities or benefits and concerns on which work life issues can have an impact on the
organizations and the employee.

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 1. Impact on the Profitability and Growth

Excessive pressure of achieving the profitability and growth targets builds stress, hampers the
overall productivity of the employees and disturbs their work-life balance. A well planned and
implemented work-life balance strategy may greatly ease the work pressure both on the job
and perceived work pressures, which in turn will favorably propel employee productivity and
contribute towards a positive return on investment.

2. Employee Engagement at work and Quality of customer service

An imbalance in the work and life front will adversely affect the complete engagement of the
employees at work and hamper the quality of services delivered to the customers. On the other
hand, the quality of service will be reliable and consistent, if the employees perceive that their
efforts or their presence is valued by the management and also that the organization is
committed to ensuring both personal and professional success of their employees.

3. Talent Acquisition strategy and the Challenges related to it

Increase in the composition of the baby boomers and relatively a young pool of working
professionals, have increased their expectations for a favorable work life culture. They expect
that apart from their work responsibilities they need to attend to the personal/social
responsibilities of their life. In the present scenario, issues with work-life balance are
considered to be the prime reasons for a high rate of employee turnover which definitely is an
imposed cost on the organization. Since the selected organizations most of employees are
recently graduated young females who have babies, the organizations able to achieve a
reduction in the rate of absenteeism and turn over by almost 50% by introducing flexi-work
options and employee welfare policies.

4. Rising cost of Health Care & Medications

Due to a rise in the level of work pressure and never-ending expectations, a major percentage
of the employees are faced with lifestyle related diseases and major health problems. This has
become a serious issue of concern for the organizations because of the mounting cost of health
care and drastic reduction in the ratio of employee productivity. Such concerns have compelled
the organizations to pay importance to work-life balance priorities and creating a healthier
workplace by implementing several developmental initiatives.

5. Saving of Employee time:

By facilitating a supportive and a conducive work culture, organizations can achieve higher
productivity from the employees and help the employees in planning and utilizing their time
more efficiently by setting clear priorities.

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 6. Retention of Employees:

Work life balance initiatives may not only increase the percentage ratio of employee retention
but equally contributes to a saving in the extra cost which an organization might have to incur
due to an employee exit or turnover.

7. Improve employee motivation & morale as well as their commitment towards the
work.

Studies reveal that motivated employees are more productive and provide best support in the
organization’s professional journey.

8. Strengthen the Reputation of the organization:

Work life balance programs if effectively planned and implemented, can strengthen the
reputation and the image of an organization by being recognized by the people as one of the
best places to work and help in attracting top talent.

9. Build a Loyal Workforce:

An organization’s employee-friendly policies or programs which support the overall well-being

of the employees, will definitely help in building a loyal and committed workforce.

10. Reduction in the Conflicts:

Offering flexi-work options, will help the employees in restructuring their schedule to fit in their
personal commitments or otherwise work from home, which in turn will reduce the possibilities
of any work-life matters related conflict.

Because of the above reasons or impacts work-life initiatives are not a choice but an imperative
for the managements in the selected and other modern organizations.

In general work-Life balance is advantageous for the employees and organization as well. A
balance between the work and personal life, helps in improving the employee productivity,
morale and health condition. Some of the benefits of work-life balance including the selected
organizations includes;

Work-life balance Practices of organizations for better productivity

 Taking breaks periodically during the work hours; Meditation, relaxation or breathing
techniques and stretching helps in improving both mental and physical health.
 Spending time on Entertainment during breaks: Studies reveal that, by spending some
time on entertainment such as net surfing and leisure time activities during short
breaks, the productivity level is expected to increase by 9%.
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  Taking off: Working exhaustively for long hours is not healthy or desirable as the
consequences may be fatal. One should not miss the chance of planning and distributing
their holidays for vacations, as studies also reveal that people who spend a quality time
in vacationing are relatively more productive than the slogger
 Restrict Employee Hours: Contrary to the widespread belief that overtime will result in
the surge in productivity; but studies reveal that long working hours will lead to loss of
efficiency or exhaustion and ultimately will reduce the overall productivity. Studies
equally reveal that people who work by availing short breaks are comparatively more
productive, than those who work for long hours tirelessly without any rest in between.
 Allow Flexibility for Overtime work
 Institute Flexibility for Working Parents
 Work Remotely
 Conduct Daily Stand-Up Meetings
 Encourage Vacation Time
 Get Physical exercise

3. Imagine you are responsible for selecting operators to work in a call center. Prepare a set
of behavioral questions suitable for the interview. You are looking for evidence of strong
social skills, e.g. good verbal communication, positive attitude, good sense of humor, energy
and enthusiasm; and good technical skills, e.g. numeracy and keyboard skills. Test out
these questions on friends and colleagues to assess their effectiveness. What do you see as
the key strengths and weaknesses of this approach?

Behavioral interviewing is an increasingly popular type of job interview, where an interviewee is

asked to provide examples from their past employment of specific situations and go through how
they behaved in those circumstances. The logic is that past performance is predictive of future
performance, i.e how they behaved in the past will forecast how they will behave in the future.

Behavioral interview questions suitable for operators to work in a call center

1. Give me an example of a time you faced a conflict while working on a team. How did
you handle that?
2. Tell me about a time you needed to get information from someone who wasn’t very
responsive. What did you do?
3. Describe a time when it was especially important to make a good impression on a client.
Show me how did you go about doing so?
4. Give me an example of a time when you did not meet a client’s expectation. What
happened, and how did you attempt to rectify the situation?
5. Describe a time when you had to interact with a client who is in trouble asking you for
help. How did you handle it?

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 6. Tell me about a time you were under a lot of pressure. What was going on, and how did
you get through it?
7. Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully persuade someone to
see things your way at work.
8. Describe a time when you saw some problem and took the initiative to correct it rather
than waiting for someone else to do it.

The goal of interviews is to identify and select a candidate whose skill set and behaviors match
that which are needed for a particular role and whose personality, interests and values match the
culture and mission of the organization. It is important to choose the right kind of interviewing
technique that matches the performance and retention needs of the organization.

One particularly useful and popular approach to developing behavioral interview questions is the
STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Results) model. The STAR model helps candidates frame their
responses to behavioral questions by encouraging them to respond with a story about a past
behavior.

 Situation – the background to the example. The situation the candidate was in or the
problem that faced them.
 Task – the ultimate goal or what the candidate needed to achieve.
 Action – what the candidate did and the reasons why they made this decision. If the
action was a team initiative, it is important for the candidate to focus on their role only.
 Result – what did the action achieve and was the goal accomplished? It’s not necessary
for all examples to have positive results, as long as a candidate can justify their actions
and show that they learnt from the results.

Call centers offer assistance on behalf of companies for customers with questions, concerns or
feedback about products or services. Interviewing for a call center position is an opportunity to
showcase candidates problem-solving skills and demonstrate their ability to build trust with
customers.

For this assignment some group members prepared the above questions and interviewed the rest
of group members. From the interview we observed the following conditions

When they try to answer the questions they show clear emotion, positive and negative attitude,
energy and enthusiasm, belongingness, psychological and technical skills. From these behaviors
the interviewer can able to identify the appropriate candidate for the job.

But based on the STAR model of preparation for interview, the following week conditions also
observed.

 Lacked to understand other view points and displaying empathy.

 Lacked to take some time preparing what they want to say and talk as it is.
 Unable to use right verbal and non-verbal signals to influence and persuade the
interviewers.
 Poor and un appropriate language

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  Unable to prepare good behavioral examples for the top key behaviors using the STAR
method

In general, behavioral question interview approach have the following strength and weakness.

Strength

 Situational interviews/ behavioral question are better, as they ask the candidate to
describe how they might handle a certain situation.
 By focusing purely on actual examples, behavioral interviewing makes it easier for an
interviewer to objectively judge how a candidate will perform in the role.
 Behavioral question can let the interviewer for further questions to get more detail and
depth on specific behaviors, such as “what factors did you consider when you made that
decision?” or “what were you thinking at that point?”. This makes it very difficult for
interviewees to exaggerate or ‘fudge’ their answers to get the responses they think.
 Behavioral interviews are also a really good way to discover new talent and avoid age
discrimination, as they do not require the candidate to have a great deal of direct work
experience, but concentrate more on transferrable skills and competencies. Answers do
not necessarily need to come from the workplace but could use examples from volunteer
experience, extra-curricular activities or even family life.
 Behavioral question interview approach helps to avoid bias in interviewing, so stick to a
scoring system.
 The approach allows the interviewer to take very detailed notes so that the interviewer
can score a candidate’s true personality, performance for certain situations accurately and
this process make the hiring/ selecting candidates Easly.

Weakness

 Behavioral question interview approach needs detail preparation since it let to traditional
interviewing, using open questions like “tell me about your past work experience”, often
doesn’t give enough data to accurately evaluate a candidate. Ultimately, a traditional
interview tends to mostly judge candidates on how well they interview, rather than how
well they will do the job.
 The questions sometimes ask something that the individual or interviewee may not have
an answer for, simply because it hasn’t come up.
 Since the approach based on back experience, thinking back to answer the question can
take time for some candidates, especially if the answer is specific
 The most useful behavioral interview questions tend to focus on the negative this can be
grating, and possibly affect the interview, how the person sees the interviewer company.

4. To what extent is it worth undertaking HRP activity in the face of economic and business
uncertainty?

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Economic uncertainty, in a broad sense, is defined as the situation where future outlook for the
economy is unpredictable. In case of rising uncertainty, agents in the economy are negatively
affected because their expectations are blurred and they are not able to foresee the consequences
of their decisions. Firms’ investment decisions are also impacted by the economic uncertainty. If
uncertainty rises in an economy, firms wishing to make investment today may need to delay their
decision because they become unsure about whether the future cash flows of the firm will cover
the cost of the investment. The possible influence of uncertainty shocks on economic activity and
finds out that uncertainty negatively impacts the aggregate demand. Economic uncertainty also
directly impacts the households’ consumption. This households’ consumption impact directly
affects business organizations.

Uncertainty has a cross cutting impact across all sectors of the economy as it affects households,
businesses and financial markets. The key effects are summarized below:

 Households: Uncertainty could (at least temporarily) reduce consumer spending to

safeguard against potential future falls in income therefore consumers usually cut
back on spending. Typically, this is also associated with an increase in precautionary
household savings.
 Businesses: Uncertainty could push businesses to cut back on production, investment
and employee compensation. In particular, large capital projects which tend to have
a high degree of irreversibility may be particularly sensitive to high levels of
uncertainty.
 Financial markets: In uncertain situations, investors require a higher rate of return on
their capital through higher risk premia. This means that the cost of credit could
increase at times when perhaps the central bank decreases its policy rate, which is
the usual action taken when the economy slows down

The future of organizations is not just dependent on their own designs and intent, it is profoundly
affected by the context in which those organizations find themselves. When it comes to planning
the human resource’s function, some of the uncertainty’s organizations need to plan.

In current times of uncertainty, HR planning is commonly associated with bureaucratic rigidity

that is inapplicable to the rapidly changing modern world, where reliance on past statistics gives
us little scope to make future forecasts.

But contrary to this widely shared dogma, today’s fast-paced firms need a degree of HR planning
if they want their workforces to keep up with the unstable market demands. This has been
supported by research from the past decade, which confirms that HR planning continues to make
important contributions to the better monitoring of staffing costs and employee numbers, as well
as to the maintenance of a workforce profile, which allows for better-informed resourcing
decisions.

During uncertainty human resource itself also affected because of strong relation to employee. In
order to prevent such desperate measures, companies employ HR planning to predict both

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internal and external labor demand on a constant basis. This way, strategies to tackle employee
shortage or surplus can be planned before the problem even arises, thus preventing the labor
shortage or surplus from happening, or at least ameliorating the company’s approach.

Related to human resource and demand and supply to overcome the problems during economic
uncertainty, HR must take the following points in to consideration in its planning.

1. Is employee turnover high or low? High employee turnover can be an indicator of

upcoming labor shortages. On the other hand, low employee turnover may imply the
success of retention strategies, meaning that the company will not experience labor
shortages.
2. What do the ‘employee movements’ say? How many employees have changed
positions to ones within or outside of the company, and why? Employers often use
replacement charts, succession plans, or transition matrices in order to track this.
3. How high is employee productivity? If employee productivity is not high enough to
fulfill quotas, then this implies labor shortages.
4. Is the organizational performance on the rise or fall? When organizational
performance is falling, then the company is likely to experience labor surpluses, as profits
fall short of wages.
5. What is the company’s strategic direction? In cases where the company intends on
broadening its scope of activities, the expected outcome would be labor shortages.

HR statistics in the US suggest that companies lose $550 billion annually due to workers
feeling dissatisfied or disengaged. Businesses are therefore wise to lay greater emphasis on
building a healthy organizational structure that motivates the workforce, and on promoting
healthy communications between management and employees. Effective management and
planning for human resources can be important because of;

1. It is wise for the managers to anticipate the workforce requirements with precision rather
than getting burdened with unrequited workforce.
2. Planning prevents the business from falling into the trap of ill-equipped departments with
workforce which is a common concern among all industries.
3. It Works proactively as the expansion in the workforce market is not always in
conjunction with the workforce requirement of the organization in terms of professional
experience, talent needs, skills, etc.
4. Organizations in growth phase may face the challenge of meeting the need for critical set
of skills, competencies and talent to meet their strategic objectives so they can stand well-
prepared to meet the HR needs if they have planned well.
5. Considering the organizational goals, HR Planning allows the identification, selection
and development of required talent or competency within the organization.
6. Planning Provides organization with competent Personnel.
7. It Enables organization to optimally use manpower.
8. Human resource planning enables a company to plan its expansion and diversification.
9. Human Resource Planning contributes towards management succession and
development.
10. It helps in planning physical facilities.

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 It is, therefore, suitable on the part of the organization to opt for HR Planning to prevent any
unnecessary hurdles in its workforce needs.

5 what is the purpose of equality and diversity policies? what do they sometimes fail to live
up to expectations?

Diversity management and equal opportunities are un separable but two different terms in the
work place or organization.

Equality: - Equality is related to equal opportunity, and is about ensuring everybody has an equal
chance to take up opportunities regardless of age, race, gender, class, sexual orientation, religion
or belief, disability or the passport they hold, every worker should enjoy an equal chance to up-
skill or learn something new at work.

Diversity: - is wide concept than equality. It is about recognizing, valuing and taking account of
people's different backgrounds, knowledge, skills, and experiences, ages, religions, ethnicities,
people with disabilities, and both men and women and encouraging and using those differences
to create a productive and effective workforce.

Effective diversity management requires a culture which is inclusive of a work environment that
nurtures teamwork, participation, and cohesiveness. Encouraging the staff to express their unique
thoughts and ideas needs to go hand-in-hand with the diversity of the people. This is because,
when we have a strong, homogeneous culture, we stifle the natural cognitive diversity in groups
through the pressure to conform. Effective equality and diversity strategies or policies goes
beyond legal compliance and seeks to add value to an organization, contributing to employee
wellbeing and boosting staff morale. Among the importance/ purpose of equality and diversity
policies and programs in the organization includes;

1. An inclusive and diverse workforce

Policies on diversity management help to create inclusive and diverse workforce. Having a
diverse range of experiences and identities within the employee can help the organizations to
better understand and cater for the needs of a wider customer base. Especially so for companies
with an international focus, it is advantageous to have staff on your team with roots in other
countries or cultures to build better cross-cultural relations with customers.

2. Encouraging equality

Policies on equality within the organization help to encourage equality. Encouraging equality
and diversity in the workplace has the added benefit of attracting, motivating, and retaining staff.

3. Promoting understanding

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Effective equality and diversity strategies can promote understanding of diversity. Promoting
greater understanding and awareness of these different characteristics reduces the likelihood of
discrimination instances, which consequently reduces the chance of complaints, disciplinary
action and employment tribunal claims, and ultimately reduces costs and disruption to the
business.

4. Making reasonable adjustments

Effective equality and diversity policies help the managers to make reasonable adjustments in the
organizations. Discrimination occurs when an employee is refused promotion, dismissed,
excluded from social activities, or given different pay or terms and conditions because when
managers make adjustment with out the following nine equality act;

 Assigning disabled workers, as a mentor

 Modifying or providing equipment

 Allowing disabled workers regular rest breaks

 Altering the company policy/ disciplinary procedures

 Relocation of a duty a disabled employee cannot do

 Providing anear by parking space

5. Breaks down language barriers

Effective equality and diversity policies help to avoid language barriers in the organization with
multi nation language speaker’s employee with the outside customers. With employees from
different nationalities, as well as staff who have taken learning a foreign language to an advanced
level, we can take our business to new shores, relatable to a greater audience around the world.

6. Increase employee satisfaction

an organization that can demonstrate or promoting towards an equality of pay for men and
women, and other diversities, will attract more skilled workers. The more skilled workers
organization have, the better the company's chance of success. And then, snowballing from this
—the more it can reward its employees.

Reasons for the failure of equality and diversity management policies and
programs in the organization

The State has a major responsibility in ensuring equality at the workplace, but non-state actors
and institutions, such as workers’ and employers’ organizations or collective bargaining, have an
equally critical role to play organizations prepare their own programs of equality and diversity

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management based on the organization characteristics and culture. The effective application of
the Equality & Diversity Policy, requires commitment from everyone within the company from
the country law to organization managers and employee itself. Hear are some of some of the
reasons for failure of those programs and policies;

 Resistance: - Some organization diversity management policies are prepared without the
participation of the employee in the organization. This resulted for challenge to accept
such policies by the employee because they feel victimized, or employees feel singled out
as a member of a diverse group. It is better conducting a needs assessment when
designing the diversity and equality programs/ policies can help uncover the specific
areas of improvement

 Improper implementation: - A common strategy that companies utilize is to incorporate

programs to simply check the box. Such programs do not have to be traditional in-class
or virtual workshops conducted by HR, they could include mentorship and sponsorship
programs. Sponsorship programs, in particular, can be instrumental for a woman’s career
progression

 Lack of consistency: - Absence of continues Diversity training for the organization

staffs.

 Lack of leadership buy-in: - One of the most common challenges for failure of effective
equality and diversity management policies into the workplace is lack of buy-in from
organizational leadership.

 Drop the diversity label: - Just using the words "diversity training" can create
apprehension amongst employees

 Communication issues:- Language barriers within a team members ineffectively

communicate and have difficulties understanding one another and even the policies.
Employees may find it challenging to understand each other if differences in
demographics encourage them to use slang or particular kinds of language.

 Labor courts: - despite the courts and the labour administration frequently share
responsibility for the supervision and enforcement of anti-discrimination law, in many
countries victims of employment discrimination still do not benefit fully from the
possibility of seeking relief in court. This lead the employee to throw the policies.

 Hostility: - s much as we hate to admit it, humans make decisions based on biases, rather
than on facts and logic. Those policies may dis advantageous for some member of the
organization.

 Tensions between religious requirements and established workplace practices: -

Workplaces, services and facilities frequently have rules about dress. These may take the
form of a requirement to wear a particular uniform or protective gear or a prohibition on

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 wearing a head covering. These rules may come into direct conflict with religious dress
requirements.

 Newly recognized forms of discrimination: - Age is becoming an increasingly

important determinant of people’s occupational attainments and returns to work
everywhere. There is a deep-seated belief that a high rate of employment of older
workers can only be achieved at the expense of new, younger labor market entrants or
vice versa.

 Companies challenging the “cost” argument

6. what do you understand by the term Management and leadership development?

6.1. Management development is the process by which managers learn and improve
their managerial role such as Delegating appropriately, Encouraging effective teams,
Coaching to WIN BIG, Enhancing communication, Managing conflict skill.
Managers are a critical part of the organization's decision-making process; therefore,
management development is a crucial factor in improving their performance.

The purpose of management development lies in a few essential elements to the

organizations:

 motivate managers by guiding them to achieve their professional growth goals,

 develop the full potential of manager's talents,

 train managers' capacity to lead and optimize workforce efficiency,

 support manager's planning and execution skills, and

 improve organizational results by developing high-performance professionals

Purpose of management development programs

 A good development and training program can help managers get the basics right
when it comes to management at the base level. It is from the grassroots that
management starts.
 A company might have numerous talented employees but can still fail to help them
realize their full potential, unless well-trained managers can use of their team
members. And, it is the managers who can help the workforce reach the pinnacle of
performance.
 A good management development program can help the managers to reach their
dreams. It can help them grow as management professionals, which, in turn, will
definitely help the company they manage.

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  Good management program can train managers in planning and execution. It can
improve their knowledge to take advantage of opportunities, prevent potential risks
for the organization, and develop their execution skills to accomplish its goals.
 Effective management development programs can give companies the operational
smoothness of good management. This will positively affect company's work culture
and enhance their brand's overall quality and value.

Better techniques for Management Development

Management development programs (MDP) are conducted by big corporates and

management institutes in order to enable current and prospective managers to develop an
understanding of management concepts, practices, approaches and perspectives. There are
numerous prevalent techniques in management programs. Certain techniques are intrinsic to
management development and are a must for an efficient training and development program.

1. Training

On the job and off the job training is the initial part of any management development
program. The on the job training means that the manager has the training while doing its day-
to-day activities. On the other hand, off the job means that they will invest their time out of
their current daily tasks to learn needed skills.

2. Job Rotation

Job rotation is another way to train managers to be open to new, unfamiliar challenges. This
gives them a solution-minded approach and enhances their value as employees capable of
working across departments.

3. International Transfers

International transfers can turn out to be a monumental plus for the managers to grow as
professionals and individuals’ skills.

4. Coaching

Coaching is a process where a senior person usually trains a learner in achieving personal
and professional goals. The trainer is the coach, and the trainee is the coaches. Most
importantly, a coaching process is a mix of mentorship and training.

5. Mentorship Program

This program is based on senior managers helping the new ones. The most experienced
executives already understand the culture and effective real business techniques and give
orientation to progressing managers.

6. Academic Programs

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Academic program education might be the least practical part of the process, but no
management development program is complete without it. After all, it is the perfect blend of
the academic and theoretical know-how and practical resourcefulness that makes a great
manager

6.2. Leadership Development

Leadership development is the process which helps expand the capacity of individuals to
perform in leadership roles within organizations, such as Enterprise change management,
Embodying leadership presence, Creating organizational values that last, Collaborating in a
complex world, Using your network to benefit your organization, Developing sustainable,
high-performing teams, Art of Listening skills, abilities and confidence of leaders.
Leadership roles may be formal, with the corresponding authority to make decisions and take
responsibility, or they may be informal roles with little official authority.

Purpose of leadership development program

As the name suggests, leadership development programs empower employees to be

proficient managers and workplace leaders. Leadership development training programs
covers a wide range of topics for leader’s skills as individual, including;

 Self-efficacy: The right training and coaching should bring about 'self-efficacy' in the
trainee, as Albert Bandura formulated: a person's belief about his capabilities to
produce effects.
 Visioning: Developing the ability to formulate a clear image of the aspired future of
an organization unit.
 Attitude: Attitude plays a major role in being a leader.
 Creative problem solving
 Performance management
 Effective communication skills
 Change management
 Increase employee morale and retention,
 promote better decision making,
 build better teams, and
 train future leaders in the company who have a management style that is conducive to
a positive working atmosphere.

Companies also can benefit from a corporate leadership development program such as;

 Increase Employee Engagement: - Without potential growth and career

advancement, your employees are practically sitting ducks. Prioritizing leadership
development can improve employee engagement by training better middle managers.
 Reduce Turnover Rates: - if companies want to reduce your employee turnover rate,
provide employees with development opportunities. Engaged employees are
enthusiastic about their work and are more likely to stick around.

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  Higher Employee Satisfaction: - companies can directly increase employee
satisfaction through leadership training and growth tracks.
 Reduce Onboarding Costs: - Keeping the employee retention rates high means you
don't have to spend as much money interviewing and onboarding new employees.
Investing in leadership training to equip and promote current employees for open
management positions.
 Improve Communication: - Leadership development programs teach aspiring
managers how to communicate and provide constructive feedback, solve problems,
motivate teams to hit goals, and resolve interpersonal conflicts.
 Create Confidence: - A star-employee won’t always make a good leader. Take a
proactive approach and transform employees into leaders through training before
promoting them to “manager.”

The success of leadership development efforts has been linked to three variables:

1. Individual learner characteristics

2. Quality and nature of the leadership development program
3. Support for behavioral change from the leader's supervisor.

To create an effective leadership development program, it needs to ensure that the essential
elements are included. The ingredients of a successful leadership development program are:

1. Identify and define: It is important that recognizing the leadership needs of the
organization and then work the way up.
2. Focus on development: Leadership skills can be acquired easily, especially with
programs that present employees with real-life scenarios.
3. Identify potential leaders: Sometimes, the most obvious choice is not the right one. Top-
performing employees may steal the limelight at times, and it need to look beyond this.
Work efficiency does not always translate to good leadership skills.
4. Track progress: Set goals that need to be achieved in order to make the implementation of
the program a success.

7. What features distinguish a diverse workforce and how, if at all, might they affect
organizations approach to managing performance?

Workforce diversity refers to the individual characteristic’s employees have that make them
unique. These characteristics can include gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual
orientation, physical abilities and ideologies.

No two humans are alike. We are moving towards a world in which barriers to cross border
trade and investments are tumbling, perceiver distance is shrinking due to advances in
transportation and telecommunications technology in short, we can say that day by day the
world is becoming a global village due to globalization. Therefore, in order to survive in this

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type of cut throat competitive world the organizations have to hire an effective an efficient
workforce that can handle such competitive environment.

In business firms the workforce diversity among employees does not merely mean
differences in languages, perception, and attitude but also the management of differences of
skills and knowledge, because knowledge sharing is an important aspect to improve
productivity among the organization which is guided by social interaction.

Human resource management is concerned with managing ‘human aspect’ of the

organization in such a way that organizational objectives are achieved along with employee
development and satisfaction. Although it is the ultimate goal of all organizations to be
profitable, productive and by extension perform well this is not always the case when you
have a diverse workforce. There are times when a diverse workforce can be a torn in the flesh
of an organization instead of a blessing. To understand and manage these differences, it
requires understanding the nature of workforce diversity and how it influences relational and
communication styles

Types of Diversity

Different scholars grouped the nature of workforce diversity differently based on their study.
The most common types include;

Surface-level diversity: - Diversity in the form of characteristics of individuals that are

readily visible including, but not limited to, age, body size, visible disabilities, race or sex.

Deep-level diversity: - Diversity in characteristics that are non-observable such as attitudes,

values, and beliefs, such as religion.

Hidden diversity: - Diversity in characteristics that are deep-level but may be concealed or
revealed at discretion by individuals who possess them, such as sexual orientation.

Cognitive diversity: Employees have different styles of thought in recognizing problems and
finding solutions.

Lifestyle diversity: People lead various lifestyles outside of work that influence their
professional life.

Brand and reputation diversity: Some companies are more inclusive in their hiring
practices and assembling diverse teams, which often attracts more diverse employees and
clients

Dimension of work force diversity and organizational performance

1. Generation diversity and organizational performance

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As people of different generations work together in organizations, differences among them
could emerge which would therefore require informed managerial action to avoid a back
lash. People from different generations working together positively impacts on the
performance of the organization. the negative effect of age diversity on employee
performance could be linked to the assumption that older employees may be less efficient
and effective because of deteriorating strength due to age. It is often claimed by employers
that generation X employees are less committed to their work than older generation and work
only the required time and a little more. Decline in work ethic is perhaps one of the major
contributors of generational conflicts in the work place. the manner in which generational
difference is handled by management is a key determinant of the impact it would make.
There is a positive association between age diversity and employee performance

2. Gender diversity and organizational performance

Across many countries in the world, women have been visibly discriminated and continue to
be discriminated due to the patriarchal nature of the society and gender stereotype. However
due to legislation, activism and anti-discriminatory campaigns and movements, significant
improvements have been made in combating gender-based discrimination at the work place.
gender diversity can have either positive or negative impact on organizational performance.
moderate level of gender diversity increases competitive advantage while higher level of
gender diversity in organizations negatively impact on organizational performance. From
different research findings we can conclude that gender diverse groups have the ability to
make quality decisions much more than a homogeneous team.

3. Ethnic diversity and organizational performance

For a very long time, discrimination at the work place based on ethnicity/race has shrouded
many organizations across the world. However, with the efforts of civil rights activist and
promulgation of some legal instruments, some significant gains have been made in
combating the menace. due to multicultural increase of society in globalization and the need
for talent to meet the demanding needs of global customers, ethnic diverse work force is no
more an option but imperative. In multicultural work force of contemporary organizations
comes with the utilization of greater participation & synergy of employees from different
backgrounds which can improve & increase both employee satisfaction & business
performance. Despite racial diversity in leadership may affect firms’ ability to generate
revenue, income, and stock price premiums, moderate level of ethnic diversity has no effect
on team performance in terms of business outcomes i.e. sales, profit, & market share.
However low to moderate levels of leader racial diversity may weaken strategic decision
making through decreased communication and increased conflict among organizational
leaders, thus negatively influencing firm performance and if at least the majority of team
members is ethnically diverse, then more ethnic diversity has a positive impact on
performance.

4. Educational diversity and organizational performance

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Employers generally reject employees whose training, experience, or education is considered
inadequate. This implies that educational background is important to both employers and
employees. To earn a decent job and perform well, employees require adequate educational
background. those with higher level of education will be more productive whilst those with
lower levels will be less productive. Even though in some kind of work and project teams,
different educational levels probably bring about different perspectives and opinions causing
conflict and thus reducing team performance, the relationship between educational diversity
and employee performance is positive and significant which means that when educational
diversity increase, employee performance also increases.

Advantages of diversified workforce

An organization's success and competitiveness depend upon its ability to embrace diversity
and realize the benefits. When organizations actively assess their handling of workplace
diversity issues, develop and implement diversity plans, multiple benefits are reported such
as:

 Diversity stimulates innovation and productivity and creates a world class culture that
can outperform the competition.

 A multicultural organization is better suited to serve a diverse external clientele in a

more increasingly global market. Such organizations have a better understanding of
the requirements of the legal, political, social, economic and cultural environments of
foreign nations

 In research-oriented and hi-tech industries, the broad base of talents generated by a

gender-and ethnic diverse organization becomes a priceless advantage. “Creativity
thrives on diversity.

 Multicultural organizations are found to be better at problem solving, possess better

ability to extract expanded meanings, and are more likely to display multiple
perspectives and interpretations in dealing with complex issues.

 Organizations employing a diverse workforce can supply a greater variety of

solutions to problems in service, sourcing, and allocation of resources.

 Employees from diverse backgrounds bring individual talents and experiences in

suggesting ideas that are flexible in adapting to fluctuating markets and customer
demands.

 A diverse collection of skills and experiences (e.g. languages, cultural understanding)

allows a company to provide service to customers on a global basis.

 A diverse workforce that feels comfortable communicating varying points of view

provides a larger pool of ideas and experiences

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In general, the extent to which organization managers use effective diversity management is the
basic concept for better use of diversity towards the organization’s achievement. The following
are some of best ways to overcome problems related to work force diversity and for effective
diversity management in the organizations.

 Encouraging the use of common language in the organization among the employees

 By conducting various motivational and mentorship programs

 By keeping the channels of communication open among the employees and employers

 By encouraging employee participation

 Further one should accept the fact it is not the matter of culture in fact it is the matter of
quality. Therefore, for improving productivity, quality has to be maintained and not
thrown out

8. For what reason has performance appraisal has been several critiqued? and what
are the theoretical links between HRM and performance appraisal?

Performance management (PM) is a goal-oriented process directed toward ensuring that

organizational processes are in place to maximize the productivity of employees, teams, and
ultimately, the organization. Performance appraisal (PA) is a formal system of review and
evaluation of individual or team task performance on a continuing basis. PA is especially critical
to the success of performance management. Although performance appraisal is but one
component of performance management, it is vital, in that it directly reflects the organization’s
strategic plan. Although evaluation of team performance is critical when teams exist in an
organization. Performance appraisal serves many purposes, and improved results and efficiency
are increasingly critical in today’s globally competitive marketplace.

Problems in Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal is constantly under a barrage of criticism. The rating scales method seems
to be the most vulnerable target. Yet, in all fairness, many of the problems commonly mentioned
are not inherent in this method but, rather, reflect improper implementation. The following
section highlights some of the more common problem areas that could leave PA for critics.

1. Appraiser Discomfort

performance appraisal systems neither motivate individuals nor effectively guide their
development. Instead, they create conflict between supervisors and subordinates and lead to
dysfunctional behaviors. If a performance appraisal system has a faulty design, or improper
administration, employees will dread receiving appraisals and the managers will despise giving
them.

2. Lack of Objectivity

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A potential weakness of traditional performance appraisal methods is that they lack objectivity.
In the rating scales method, for example, commonly used factors such as attitude, appearance,
and personality are difficult to measure. In addition, these factors may have little to do with an
employee’s job performance.

3. Halo/Horn errors

A halo error occurs when a manager generalizes one positive performance feature or incident to
all aspects of employee performance, resulting in a higher rating. Horn error, an evaluation error
that occurs when a manager generalizes one negative performance feature or incident to all
aspects of employee performance, resulting in a lower rating.

4. Leniency/Strictness

Some managers are too generous with praise or too hard on a person. Giving undeserved high
ratings to an employee is referred to as leniency. This behavior is often motivated by a desire to
avoid controversy over the appraisal. Leniency may result in failure to recognize correctable
deficiencies. Being unduly critical of an employee’s work performance is referred to as
strictness. Although leniency is usually more prevalent than strictness, some managers, on their
own initiative, apply an evaluation more rigorously than the company standard. Here, the weak
performers get relatively high pay increases and promotions from a lenient boss, whereas the
strict manager shortchanges the stronger employees. This can have a demoralizing effect on the
morale and motivation of the top-performing people.

5. Central Tendency

Central tendency error is an evaluation appraisal error that occurs when employees are
incorrectly rated near the average or middle of a scale. This practice may be encouraged by some
rating scale systems that require the evaluator to justify in writing extremely high or extremely
low ratings. With such a system, the rater may avoid possible controversy or criticism by giving
only average ratings. When HRM gives an underachiever or overachiever, an average rating, it
undermines the compensation system.

6. Recent Behavior Bias

It is only natural for a rater to remember recent behavior more clearly than actions from the
more distant past. Maintaining records of performance throughout the appraisal period helps
avoid this problem.

7. Personal Bias (Stereotyping)

This pitfall occurs when managers allow individual differences to affect the ratings they give. If
these are factors to avoid such as gender, race, or age, not only is this problem detrimental to
employee morale, but it is blatantly illegal and can result in costly litigation. HR Managers
establish mental pictures of what are considered ideal typical workers, and employees who do
not match this picture may be unfairly judged.

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8. Manipulating the Evaluation

In some instances, managers control virtually every aspect of the appraisal process and are
therefore in a position to manipulate the system. For example, a supervisor may want to give a
pay raise to a certain employee or the supervisor may just “favor” one worker more than
another. In order to justify this action, the supervisor may give the employee an undeserved high
performance evaluation and perhaps a less favored, but productive, employee a lower rating. Or,
the supervisor may want to get rid of an employee and so may give the individual an undeserved
low rating. In either instance, the system is distorted and the goals of performance appraisal
cannot be achieved.

Uses of Performance Appraisal

For many organizations HRM, the primary goal of an appraisal system is to improve individual
and organizational performance. A potential problem with PA, and a possible cause of much
dissatisfaction, is expecting too much from one appraisal plan. A properly designed PA system
can help achieve organizational objectives and enhance employee performance. PA data are
potentially valuable for virtually every human resource function. Here are some of the uses of
PA for HRM.

1. Human Resource Planning

In assessing a firm’s human resources, data must be available to identify those who have the
potential to be promoted or for any area of internal employee relations. Through performance
appraisal it may be discovered that there is an insufficient number of workers who are prepared
to enter management.

2. Recruitment and Selection

Performance evaluation ratings may be helpful in predicting the performance of job applicants.
For example, it may be determined that a firm’s successful employees (identified through
performance evaluations) exhibit certain behaviors when performing key tasks. These data may
then provide benchmarks for evaluating applicant responses obtained through behavioral
interviews.

3. Training and Development

Performance appraisal should point out an employee’s specific needs for training and
development. With help of appraisal data, HR leaders identifying deficiencies that adversely
affect performance, T&D programs can be developed that permit individuals to build on their
strengths and minimize their deficiencies.

4. Career Planning and Development

career planning is an ongoing process whereby an individual sets career goals and identifies the
means to achieve them. On the other hand, career development is a formal approach used by the

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organization to ensure that people with the proper qualifications and experiences are available
when needed. Performance appraisal data is essential in assessing an employee’s strengths and
weaknesses and in determining the person’s potential. Managers may use such information to
counsel subordinates and assist them in developing and implementing their career plans.

5. Compensation Programs

Performance appraisal results provide a basis for rational decisions regarding pay adjustments.

6. Internal Employee Relations

Performance appraisal data are also used for decisions in several areas of internal employee
relations, including promotion, demotion, termination, layoff, and transfer.

7. Assessment of Employee Potential

Some organizations attempt to assess an employee’s potential as they appraise his or her job
Performance. By separate the appraisal of performance, which focuses on past behavior, from the
assessment of potential, which is future-oriented.

Performance Appraisal Process

 Identify Specific Performance Appraisal Goals

 Establish Performance

 Criteria and Communicate Them to Employees

 Examine Work Performed

 Appraise Performance

 Discuss Appraisal with Employee

9. Explain the terms social partnership welfare corporatism and managerial capitalism
what is their significance for the regulation of the employment relationship?

Social partnership is a kind of interaction between unions and employers including the
whole range of other civil society organizations. It wide range concept within enterprises
between worker and management representatives. social partnership has a policy agenda,
which can cover a wide range of issues, usually including ‘mutual gains’. These may be part
of efforts to reform collective bargaining itself (such as setting up frameworks for continuous
‘integrative bargaining’ inside or beyond the workplace), but the agenda can also include
issues outside the usual focus of collective bargaining (i.e. in-house training or political
issues) as well as social policy goals that extend beyond the two social partners (such as
labour market integration, equality of opportunity, regional economic development, and

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welfare state reform). Lastly, social partnership requires that labour and management be able
and willing to apply sanctions on unilateral violations of cooperation by the other side.

welfare corporatism is a political ideology which advocates the organization of society by

corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild
associations, on the basis of their common interests. The hypothesis that society will reach a
peak of harmonious functioning when each of its divisions efficiently performs its designated
function, such as a body's organs individually contributing its general health and
functionality, lies at the center of corporatist theory.

managerial capitalism is a change in the control of capitalist enterprises from owners

(which predominated in Marx's day) to control by (very well) salaried managers. The
prevailing form of capitalism for most of the 20th century, in which markets were dominated
by large bureaucratic organizations led by teams of salaried executives. This differed from
earlier forms of capitalism, in which decision making and most day-to-day management
functions were carried out directly by the owners. In the view of many commentators, the
managerial model began to wane in the late 20th century, owing to a range of factors that
include the advent of information technology, the growing importance of intellectual capital,
and the emergence of new patterns of organizational structure and career development

 Employees’ economic and political power resources

Skill-related approaches (economic power) and power resources approaches (political power)
are powerful explanators for the differences in public social policies. Instead of treating
power resources and skills as rival explanations, in this section, I argue that they complement
each other, where both grant different employees’ power. In general, state regulations
influence the scope of occupational pensions as well as the preferences of employers and
trade unions Since public pension schemes are the same in all the economic sectors of a
country, they cannot be utilized as an explanation for sectoral differences. Instead, the skills
of employees and power resources of trade unions differ between economic sectors.

 A joint perspective

When considering employer-centred approaches and power resources approaches, both

strands have complementary elements eliminating some shortcomings. Skills alone are not
able to solve the empirical puzzle of widespread occupational pension schemes in sectors
with low-qualified employees (e.g. the hospitality sector in Denmark). Furthermore, political
power resources do not explain the generous occupational pension schemes in sectors with
weak trade unions (e.g. finance and insurance). Employer-centered approaches mainly refer
to skills and do not explicitly link them with employees’ power, while traditional power
resources approaches only focus on political or collective power without considering
individual power

 In search of evidence: similar sectors in different countries

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The combination of the ‘method of difference’ with the ‘method of agreement’ helps to control
for other factors causing the outcome. I first apply the ‘method of difference’ for the comparison
of occupational pensions in different sectors within each country in order to identify similar
patterns in all countries. The ‘method of agreement’ will then demonstrate whether similar
associations of economic and political power with occupational pensions exist for six economic
sectors in different countries. I do not apply quantitative or set-theoretic methods due to the small
number of cases and because the aim is not to test a large number of hypotheses. Rather, the aim
is to offer broad comparative evidence for the role of employees’ economic and political power
in occupational pensions.

In order to cover different institutional characteristics, I select countries with a range of welfare
regimes, production regimes and systems of industrial relations. Germany represents
conservative welfare regimes and continental coordinated market economies with cooperative
industrial relations. Italy is typical of Mediterranean welfare regimes and mixed market
economies with polarized and fragmented industrial relations. The United Kingdom is an
illustration of a liberal welfare regime, with liberal market economies and pluralist and
fragmented industrial relations. Finally, Denmark is a prime example of a Nordic welfare regime,
with a social democratic coordinated production regime with corporatist industrial relations

10. How can HR demonstrate business capability? what system and measurement
processes do they need to put in the place to demonstrate the contribution of HR
practice to bottom line performances?.

It’s a mistake to take a haphazard approach to managing your HR strategy, and focus exclusively
on the human side. You need strong, well-defined processes to attract, source, recruit, develop,
and retain the level of talent necessary to make your business a success.

 Benefits of creating human resources processes for your small business

You need to crate human resources process to run your HR department create smoothly
and make a positive impact on your company. Do it right and you’ll reap the following benefits.

1. Make better decisions, faster

When you have a process to follow with defined steps, you know how to get started and what to
do next. You don’t have to define each stage as you go along, so you can move faster, and can
decide in line with the process. You have a reason behind each decision, rather than just deciding
on the fly.

2. Meet organizational goals

With a process in place, you can measure performance, and know for sure if you’re helping meet
the company, departmental, and individual goals. Focused metrics tracking for each process
generates data you can use to optimize the process and get better results.

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 3. Optimize your resources

With defined, automated processes, you can put your time, energy, and resources to better use.
You can follow a tried and tested process that delivers predictable results, much like the
predictable cappuccino you get at Starbucks every afternoon.This frees up time to focus on your
HR strategy, making sure it’s on point and that your workforce is performing well.

 human resources processes you should implement

Implement these seven essential human resources in your organization to realize the above
benefits. But you need to define and create these processes first, and then turn them into HR best
practices you can use time and time again. Here’s how.

1. Recruiting

Having an organized, effective, and efficient hiring process is crucial to attract high quality
applicants who are excited to work at your company. Take these steps to make this happen.

 Align your hiring process with your organization’s goals and staffing plan.
 Take the time to tailor a job description that fits the candidate you’re trying to attract.
 Use a talent acquisition strategy that leverages employee referrals, past applicants,
internal candidates, and job boards.
 Screen applicants with tools such as assessments, quick phone calls, and scorecards that
mark candidates according to the required skills and experience.
 Hold interviews, ideally letting candidates schedule their own time.
 Make a job offer promptly with clear terms.

2. On boarding

Your new employee on boarding checklist should include the following steps:

 Contact the new employee promptly to finalize a start date.

 Prepare all paperwork before the first day. Make sure your new hire has provided the
required documents.
 Tell existing employees about the new hire and when they will be starting.
 Prepare the new hire’s workspace, including office swag or goodie bags.
 Set up accounts and logins.
 Put together an employee orientation schedule.

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3. Workforce planning

Workforce planning incorporates both strategic HR processes and day-to-day Employee

management This includes staffing needs, absence management, shift planning and scheduling,
and managing overtime.

Just starting? consider these steps to set up your workforce and HRP process:

 Analyze workforce performance — discover what skills you have, which ones you needs
and how your current employees are performing.
 Forecast future business staffing needs,, whether that’s number of employees or skills
required to meet business goals.
 Optimize your workforce so it aligns with company objectives — this could be hiring for
new skills, changing the number of employees working shifts, or upskilling existing staff.

4. Talent management

Often companies hire talented individuals and leave them to it, checking in occasionally during
performance reviews.

That’s not enough to retain your best employees.

Talent management aims to nurture employees to get the most out of them, develop new skills,
and enhance their work performance.

 To create a talent management process, you need to:

 Overhaul your recruitment and on boarding strategies so you can make sure you
develop talent from the moment they decide to join you.
 Reward hard work creatively, looking at different bonuses and recognition.
 Invest in workforce analytics so you can constantly optimize your talent management
process to be sure it meets the needs of your staff and company.

5. Performance management

A performance management process should benefit both the company and the employee.
Companies used to set yearly performance meteric and goals, only addressing issues during the
annual review.

By then, it was often too late to make changes. Forward-looking companies today are switching
to more regular and continuous performance management processes.

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6. Learning and development

Training should be a first resort, not a last resort, and a priority for your business. Learning and
development opportunities boost employee morale, improving your retention rate.

7. Off boarding

Off boarding is still a relatively new process with HR management, In the past, companies were
often careless with departing employees. The aim was to transfer their knowledge to other
employees and get them out the door as soon as possible.

But if you off board in the right way, you can create a lasting positive impression on the
departing worker that benefits your employer brand.

11 what factors might account for the discrepancy between the proportion of workplace
with strategic plans that include employee development issue and the proportion of
workplace that involve HR in the development of the plans?

In order to improve the strategic alignment of staff and other resources, it’s essential to
understand how a strategic HR planning process works. At its most basic level, strategic human
resource planning ensures adequate staffing to meet your organization’s operational goals,
matching the right people with the right skills at the right time.

It’s important to ask where your organization stands currently and where it is going in order to
remain flexible. Each company’s plan will look slightly different depending on its current and
future needs, but there is a basic structure that you can follow to ensure you’re on the right track.

The strategic human resource planning process begins with an assessment of current staffing,
including whether it fits the organization’s needs, and then moves on to forecasting future
staffing needs based on business goals. From there, you’ll need to align your organization’s
strategy with employment planning and implement the plan not only to hire new employees but
also to retain and properly train the new hires—and your current employees—based on business
changes.

1. Assess current HR capacity

The first step in the human resource planning process is to assess your current staff. Before
making any moves to hire new employees for your organization, it’s important to understand the
talent you already have at your disposal. Develop a skills inventory for each of your current
employees.

You can do this in a number of ways, such as asking employees to self-evaluate with a
questionnaire, looking over past performance reviews, or using an approach that combines the
two. Use the template below to visualize that data.

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2. Forecast HR requirements

Once you have a full inventory of the resources you already have at your disposal, it’s time to
begin forecasting future needs. Will your company need to grow its human resources in number?
Will you need to stick to your current staff but improve their productivity through efficiency or
new skills training? Are there potential employees available in the marketplace?

It is important to assess both your company’s demand for qualified employees and the supply of
those employees either within the organization or outside of it. You’ll need to carefully manage
that supply and demand.

Demand forecasting

Demand forecasting is the detailed process of determining future human resources needs in terms
of quantity—the number of employees needed—and quality—the caliber of talent required to
meet the company's current and future needs.

Supply forecasting

Supply forecasting determines the current resources available to meet the demands. With your
previous skills inventory, you’ll know which employees in your organization are available to
meet your current demand. You’ll also want to look outside of the organization for potential
hires that can meet the needs not fulfilled by employees already present in the organization.

Need advice on calculating your staffing needs and developing a staffing plan?

Matching demand and supply

Matching the demand and supply is where the hiring process gets tricky—and where the rest of
the human resources management planning process comes into place. You’ll develop a plan to
link your organization’s demand for quality staff with the supply available in the market. You
can achieve this by training current employees, hiring new employees, or combining the two
approaches.

3. Develop talent strategies

After determining your company’s staffing needs by assessing your current HR capacity and
forecasting supply and demand, it’s time to begin the process of developing and adding talent.
Talent development is a crucial part of the strategic human resources management process.

Recruitment

In the recruitment phase of the talent development process recruitment , you begin the search for
applicants that match the skills your company needs. This phase can involve posting on job

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websites, searching social networks like LinkedIn for qualified potential employees, and
encouraging current employees to recommend people they know who might be a good fit.

Selection

Once you have connected with a pool of qualified applicants, conduct interviews and skills
evaluations to determine the best fit for your organization. If you have properly forecasted
supply and demand, you should have no trouble finding the right people for the right roles.

Hiring

Decide the final candidates for the open positions and extend offers.

Bring clarity to the hiring process to find the best candidates for your company.

Training and development

After hiring your new employees, bring them on board. Organize training to get them up to speed
on your company’s procedures. Encourage them to continue to develop their skills to fit your
company’s needs as they change. Find more ideas on how to develop your own employee on
boarding process and then get started with this on boarding timeline template. 

Employee remuneration and benefits administration

Keep your current employees and new hires happy by offering competitive salary and benefit
packages and by properly rewarding employees who go above and beyond. Retaining good
employees will save your company a lot of time and money in the long run.

Performance management

Institute regular performance reviews for all employees. Identify successes and areas of
improvement. Keep employees performing well with incentives for good performance.

Employee relations

A strong company culture is integral in attracting top talent. Beyond that, make sure your
company is maintaining a safe work environment for all, focusing on employee health, safety,
and quality of work life.

11. Explain the importance and limitations of demand and supply forecasting to the HRP
process.

The overall human resource management process comprises the following programs: human
resource planning, recruitment, selection, professional development, performance appraisal, and
compensation. Good human resource planning involves meeting current and future personnel
needs. Human resource planning involves identifying staffing needs, forecasting available

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personnel, and determining what additions or replacements are required to maintain a staff of the
desired quantity and quality to achieve the organization’s goals. The human resource planning
function involves at least three different elements: job analysis, forecasting demand and supply,
and legal restraints. In the context of manpower forecasting there are some conceptual issues
which need elaboration. The primary issue relates to manpower demand. The other issues
concern the manpower forecasts, need for manpower forecasts and types of forecasts.

 'Demand', from the economists' angle, is a schedule of relationships between quantities of

that particular category of manpower demanded and a series of possible wage rates, i.e.,
manpower demanded varies with the wage rates - more at a lower wage rate than at a
higher one.

 'Need' refers to the number of people required to provide an ideal level of service. What
is ideal is never achieved, because of structural, technological and other constraints.

 'Requirements' are the functional composition of employment that will be necessary to

produce goods and services within a specified timeframe to achieve social, cultural;
economic and technological targets.

 'Projections'/ predict the outcome of spontaneous forces, i.e., the outcome which is
expected in the normal course of events and in the absence of external stimulus. They are
mathematical extensions of 'data on. manpower into the future whereas 'estimates' are
educated guesses based on experience.

 'Forecasts', on the other hand, refer to a prediction of the outcome when normal course of
events are influenced and altered by external forces. Forecasts usually take into account
both the projections and the estimates. For example, forecasts at the macro level could
result in a statement of what would happen if economic growth was deliberately,
manipulated by government policy.

Importance of Human Resource Planning

 To recruit and maintain the HR of requisite quantity and quality.

 To predict the employee turnover and make the arrangements for minimizing turnover
and filing up of consequent vacancies.

 To meet the requirements of the programs of expansion, diversification etc.

 To anticipate the impact of technology on work, existing employees and future human
resource requirements.

 To progress the knowledge, skill, standards, ability and discipline etc.

 To appraise the surplus or shortage of human resources and take actions accordingly.

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 To maintain pleasant industrial relations by maintaining optimum level and structure of
human resource.

 To minimize imbalances caused due to non-availability of human resources of right kind,

right number in right time and right place.

 To make the best use of its human resources; and

 To estimate the cost of human resources.

 Reduces HR Cost

 Increases organizational flexibility

 Ensures a close linkage to the macro business forecasting process

 Ensures that organizational requirements take precedence over issues of resource

constraint and scarcity

Limitation of demand and supply forecasting

Factor affecting external Forecasting HR supply

 Supply and Demand of jobs or skills

 Education attainment levels within a region

 Compensation’s pattern based on experience, occupation or Education

 Immigration and emigration patterns within the area

 Forecast of economic Growth and decline

Factor affecting Internal Forecasting HR supply

 Organizational features (e.g ., staffing capabilities )

 Productivity – Rates of productivity, productivity changes

 Rates of promotion, demotion, transfer and turnover

 Corporate mission and strategic goals

 Operational goals, production budgets

 HR policies

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  Organizational structures, restructuring

 Worker KSAOs, competencies, expectations

 HRMS level of development

 Organizational culture, climate, job satisfaction, communications

 Job Analysis: workforce coverage, current data

Summary

As stated in the introduction and some of the question answers, HRM is the heart of every
organization for actualization of their goals. The HR activity is very vast and need a great deal. It is
valuable to understand and apply strategic human resource management practice wisely to enhance
organizational performance. Today’s organizations are very complicated because of not only the
need for well qualified employee, but also the diversity (employees from multi nationality, handicap
Ness, gender issues, and other) of the organization, employee’s expectation, uncertainty in
economic level and business as well as demand and supply need and other cases are directly related
to the HR heads and managers as homework. In addition, modern business become a challenge,
which has been brought about by changes in global price competitiveness, change in technology,
changes in the labor laws, and also the composition of the workforce has become a challenge to
utilize properly by managers.

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To overcome such problems, business institutions and organizations need managerial leaders who
know how to manage and managers who know how to lead. They need a judicious blend of leaders
and managers who can shift their roles and responsibilities based on the situation. Hence, global
organizations must provide soft leadership training to groom managerial leaders to overcome
volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity; to save time; and to avoid costly mistakes.
Managerial leaders really are the need of the hour in the 21st century.

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