BA7204 - HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

QUESTION BANK
UNIT II
PART B

1. Enumerate the concept of HR planning.

HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING (H R P)
Definition
HRP is a Process, by which an organization ensures that it has the right number and kind of
people at the right place, at the right time, capable of effectively and efficiently completing
those tasks that will help the organization achieve its overall objectives.
PURPOSE OF HRP
In simple words HRP is understood as the process of forecasting an organizations future

demand for and supply of the right type of people in the right numbers.
It is only after HRP is done, that the company can initiate and plan the recruitment and

selection process.
HRP is a sub-system in the total organizational planning.
HRP facilitates the realization of the companys objectives by providing right type and

right number of personnel.

HRP is important because without a clear-cut manpower planning, estimation of a
organizations human resource need is reduced to mere guesswork.

NEED & IMPORTANCE OF HRP

Forecast future personnel needs: To avoid the situations of surplus or deficiency of
manpower in future, it is important to plan your manpower in advance. For this purpose a
proper forecasting of futures business needs helps you to ascertain our future manpower
needs. From this angle, HRP plays an important role to predict the right size of manpower in
the organization.
Cope w ith change: HRP enables an enterprise to cope with changes in competitive
forces, markets, technology, products and government regulations. Such changes generate
changes in job content, skills demands and number of human resources required.

Creating highly talented personnel: Since jobs are becoming highly intellectual and
incumbents getting vastly professionalized, HRP helps prevent shortages of labor caused by
attritions. Further technology changes would further upgrade or degrade jobs and create
manpower shortages. In these situations only accurate human resource planning can help to
meet the resource requirements. Further HRP is also an answer to the problems of succession
planning.
Protection of w eaker sections : A well-conceived personnel planning would also help
to protect the interests of the SC/ST, physically handicapped, children of socially oppressed
and backward classes who enjoy a certain percentage of employments notwithstanding the
constitutional provisions of equal opportunity for all.
International strategies: International expansion strategies largely depend upon
effective HRP. With growing trends towards global operations, the need for HRP further
becomes more important as the need to integrate HRP more closely into the organization
keeps growing. This is also because the process of meeting staffing needs from foreign
countries grows in a complex manner.
Foundation of personnel functions: HRP provides essential information for
designing and implementing personnel functions such as recruitment, selection, personnel
development, training and development etc.
Increasing investments in HR: Another importance is the investment that an
organization makes in human capital. It is important that employees are used effectively
throughout their careers. Because human assets can increase the organization value
tremendously as opposed to physical assets
Resistance to change & move: The growing resistance towards change and move, self
evaluation, loyalty and dedication making it more difficult to assume that organization can
move its employees everywhere. Here HRP becomes very important and needs the resources
to be planned carefully.
Employment planning should flow from firms strategic plans. Thus plans to enter new
businesses or reduce costs all influence the types of positions the company need to fill.
For example: at IBM, HR executives review with finance and other executives of their
companys strategic plans. The big question is
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 Whether to fill projected openings from within or from outside the firm.
Each option requires different personnel plans.
Current employees may require training, development, and coaching plans.
Going outside requires planning of what recruiting sources the company will use.
These are referred as build and buy approaches

2. Describe the methods for forecasting the supply of internal and external
candidates based on the HR needs.
Forecasting HR needs (Forecasting techniques)
Trend analysis
The study of a firms past employment needs over a period of years to predict future
needs.
Ratio analysis
Ratio analysis is a forecasting technique for determining future staff needs by using
ratios between two variables.

For example, sales volume and the number of

employees needed.
Scatter plot
A graphical method used to help identify the relationship between two variables.
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 Computerized forecasts
The software packages are used to determine future staff needs by projecting sales,
volume of production, and personnel required to maintain a volume of output.
Generates figures on average staff levels required to meet product demands, as
well as forecasts for direct labor, indirect staff, and exempt staff.
Management Judgment
In this technique managers across all the levels decide the forecast on their own
judgment. This can be bottom-up or top-down approach and judgments can be reviewed
across departments, divisions and top management can conclude on final numbers of
manpower required.
Delphi Techniques
One of the highly structured judgmental method of expert forecasting used to achieve
group consensus on a forecast. In this technique experts do not meet face to face.
Procedure: Experts presenting their forecast to other experts without physically meeting
them. Once the first forecast is collected and shared another round of forecasting takes place.
This process of sharing and revising goes on till a consensus is reached.
Nominal Group technique:

Several people sit together and independently list their ideas on a sheet of paper.

The ideas presented are recorded on a larger sheet of paper so that everyone can see all
the ideas.

The group s ideas are then discussed and ranked by having each member of the group
vote for three to five most important ones.

Though both Delphi technique and NGT are simpler in process, Delphi is more
frequently used to generate predictions and NGT is used to identify current organizational
problems and solutions to those problems. Both are commonly used in practice.

Work Study Techniques

It is used when it is possible to apply work measurements to calculate the length
of operations and the amount of labours required.
Example:
1. Planned Output for next year - 20,000 Units
2. Standard hours per unit

- 5

3. Planned hours for the year

- 1,00000

4. Productive hours per man/yr

- 2000

5. No of direct workers Reqd

- ?

The answer is 50 Workers

Forecasting the Supply of Inside Candidates (Manpower Supply

Forecasting)
Qualifications inventories
Manual or computerized records listing employees education, career and development
interests, languages, special skills, and so on, to be used in selecting inside candidates for
promotion.
Manual System and Replacement Chart
Personnel replacement chart
Company records showing present performance and promotability of inside
candidates for the most important positions.
Position replacement card

A card prepared for each position in a company to show possible

replacement candidates and their qualifications.

 Computerized Information Systems

Human Resource Information System (HRIS)
Computerized inventory of information that can be accessed to determine

employees background, experience, and skills that may include:

Work experience codes
Product or service knowledge
Industry experience
Formal education

Factors impacting the supply of external candidates

o General economic conditions
o Expected unemployment rate
Sources of information
o Forecast by business newspapers & publications
o Economic projections
Government agencies
Department of Labor or Manpower
Department of Statistics
Private consultants

3. Explain why effective recruitment is important in current scenario.

Definition of Recruitment
Employee recruiting means finding and / or attracting applicants for the employers open
positions.
External factors affecting recruiting:
Looming (threatening) undersupply of workers
Lessening of the trend in outsourcing of jobs
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 Increasingly fewer qualified candidates

Internal factors affecting recruiting:
The consistency of the firms recruitment efforts with its strategic goals
The available resources, types of jobs to be recruited and choice of recruiting methods
Line and staff coordination and cooperation
Recruiting Yield Pyramid
o Used to calculate the number of applicants they must generate to hire the required
number of employees.

ORGANIZING RECRUITMENT
Advantages of centralizing recruitment
Ease in applying strategic priorities
Reduces duplication of HR activities
Reduces the cost of new HR technologies
Builds teams of HR experts
Makes it easier to ensure uniformity and conformity with law.
Allows for the sharing of applicant pools
Ex: GMs Central talent acquisition dept handles all of GMs North American Plant Training.

4. Elaborate the internal and external sources of recruitment.

Recruitment: Definition
Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating and
encouraging them to apply for jobs in an organization - Flippo
Recruitment is a process to discover the sources of manpower to meet the requirements of the
staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in adequate
numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient work force. - Yoder
SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT

Internal sources
TRANSFERS The employees are transferred from one department to another according
to their efficiency and experience.
PROMOTIONS The employees are promoted from one department to another with
more benefits and greater responsibility based on efficiency and experience.
Others are Upgrading and Demotion of present employees according to their
performance.
Retired and Retrenched employees may also be recruited once again in case of shortage
of qualified personnel or increase in load of work. Recruitment such people save time and
costs of the organizations as the people are already aware of the organizational culture
and the policies and procedures.
The dependents and relatives of Deceased employees and Disabled employees are also
done by many companies so that the members of the family do not become dependent on
the mercy of others.
Internal sources of recruitment
Merits

Demerits

Economical: the cost of recruiting internal Limited choice: the organization is

candidates is minimal. No expenses are forced to select candidates from a limited
incurred on advertising
pool.
Suitable: the organization can pick the right Inbreeding: it discourages entry for
candidates having the requisite skills.
talented people, available outside an
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organization.
Reliable: the organization has the knowledge Inefficiency: promotions based on length
about the suitability of a candidate for a of service rather than merit, may prove to
position.
be a blessing for inefficient candidates.
Satisfying: a policy of preferring people
from within offer regular promotional
avenues for employees. It motivates them to
work hard and earn promotions.

Bone of contention: recruitment form

within may lead to infighting among
employees aspiring for limited, higher
level positions in an organization.

External sources
PRESS ADVERTISEMENTS Advertisements of the vacancy in newspapers and
journals are a widely used source of recruitment. The main advantage of this method is
that it has a wide reach.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES Various management institutes, engineering colleges,
medical Colleges etc. are a good source of recruiting well qualified executives, engineers,
medical staff etc. They provide facilities for campus interviews and placements. This
source is known as Campus Recruitment.
PLACEMENT AGENCIES Several private consultancy firms perform recruitment
functions on behalf of client companies by charging a fee. These agencies are particularly
suitable for recruitment of executives and specialists. It is also known as RPO
(Recruitment Process Outsourcing)
EMPLOYMENT

EXCHANGES

Government

establishes

public

employment

exchanges throughout the country. These exchanges provide job information to job
seekers and help employers in identifying suitable candidates.
LABOUR CONTRACTORS Manual workers can be recruited through contractors who
maintain close contacts with the sources of such workers. This source is used to recruit
labour for construction jobs.
UNSOLICITED APPLICANTS Many job seekers visit the office of well-known
companies on their own. Such callers are considered nuisance to the daily work routine of
the enterprise. But can help in creating the talent pool or the database of the probable
candidates for the organization.
EMPLOYEE REFERRALS / RECOMMENDATIONS Many organizations have
structured system where the current employees of the organization can refer their friends
and relatives for some position in their organization. Also, the office bearers of trade
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unions are often aware of the suitability of candidates. Management can inquire these
leaders for suitable jobs. In some organizations these are formal agreements to give
priority in recruitment to the candidates recommended by the trade union.
RECRUITMENT AT FACTORY GATE Unskilled workers may be recruited at the
factory gate these may be employed whenever a permanent worker is absent. More
efficient among these may be recruited to fill permanent vacancies.
External sources of recruitment
Merits

Demerits

Wide choice: the organization has the Expensive: hiring cost could go up
freedom to select candidates from a large substantially.
pool.
Injection of fresh blood: people with Time consuming: it takes time to
special skills or knowledge could be hired advertise, screen, to test and to select
to stir up the existing employees.
suitable employees.
Motivational force: it helps in motivating Demotivating: existing employees who
internal employees to work hard and have put in considerable service may resist
compete with external candidates.
the process of filling up vacancies from
outside.
Long term benefits: talented people could Uncertainty: there is no guarantee that the
join the ranks, new ideas could find organization, ultimately, will be able to hire
meaningful expression, a competitive the service of suitable candidates.
atmosphere would compel people to give
out their best and earn rewards, etc.

5. Explain the process of selection.

INTRODUCTION
Selection involves screening or evaluation of applicants to identify those who are best-suited to
perform the jobs which have fallen vacant in an organization. It is the process of rejecting
unsuitable candidates to choose the few suitable applicants. Under selection, the qualifications
and experience of every candidate are compared with job requirements and with those of other
candidates. The basic purpose of selection is to choose the right type of candidates to fill up
vacancies in the organization. Selection involves the matching of the qualities of candidates with
the requirements of a job.
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Significance of Selection
Selection of employees is very important because the costs of induction and training have
increased and it is very difficult to terminate the services of an employee once he is
confirmed on the job.
If the right types of persons are not selected, the employer will have to suffer a huge loss
in terms of quantity and quality of work.
If the selection function is not performed efficiently, labour absenteeism and turnover will
be high.
If unsuitable candidates are employed, the efficiency of the organization will go down.
This will result in waste of time, energy and money spent on hiring and training such
employees.
Proper selection and placement of employees will go a long way towards building up a
stable workforce.
When selected personnel are suitable to the job, their efficiency and productivity will be
high.

SELECTION TECHNIQUES
These techniques are typically referred to as predictors because they help in distinguishing
between good and poor workers by predicting their future job success. Following are some
common selection techniques:
1. Initial Screening:
The initial screening or preliminary interview is undertaken to limit the costs of selection by
letting only suitable candidates go through the further stages in selection. At this stage, usually a
junior executive screens all enquiries for positions against specified norms (in terms of age,
qualifications and experience) through preliminary interview. If the organization finds the
candidate suitable, an application form is given to these candidates to fill.
2. Application Form:
The application form is usually designed to obtained information on various aspects of the
applicants social, demographic, academic and work-related background and references. The
forms may vary for different positions. It is important to determine what kind of information
needs to be asked.
The application form should provide all the basic information an organization needs to
determine whether a candidate can be considered for the position. It also serves as the basis to
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screen and reject candidates if they do not meet the eligibility criteria relating to qualifications,
experience, etc.
3. Employment Tests:
A test is a sample of an aspect of an individuals behaviour, performance or attitude. It also
provides a systematic basis for comparing the behaviour, performance or attitude of two or more
persons. Tests serve as a screening device and provide supplementary inputs in selection
decisions.
Some of the employment tests are discussed below:
(a) Intelligence Tests: These are tests to measure ones intelligence or qualities of
understanding. They are also referred to as tests of mental ability. The traits of intelligence
measures include: reasoning, verbal and non-verbal fluency, comprehension, numerical, memory
and spatial relations ability.
(b) Aptitude tests: Aptitude refers to ones natural talent or ability to acquire a particular skill.
While intelligence is a general trait, aptitude refers to a more specific capacity or potential. Most
aptitude tests are so standardized that they are not specific to any particular job. However, they
are general enough to be used in different job situations.
(c) Achievement tests: These are proficiency tests to measure ones skill or acquired knowledge.
The paper and pencil tests may seek to test a persons knowledge about a particular subject.
(d) Personality, Interests, Preferences (PIP) Tests: PIP tests are those which seek to measure
ones personality, interests and preferences. These tests are designed to understand the
relationship between anyone of these and certain types of jobs.
These tests help evaluate characteristics such as maturity, sociability, objectivity, etc. Interest
tests are inventories of likes and dislikes of people towards occupations, hobbies, etc. Preference
tests seek to match employee preferences with job and organizational characteristics.
(e) Projective Tests: These tests expect the candidates to interpret problems or situations.
Thematic Appreciation Test is example of projective tests. In this test a set of photographs are
shown to the candidate who is then asked to write a story on each paragraph. The test
administrator will draw inferences about the candidates values, beliefs and motives from
analysis of these stories.
4. Employment Interview:

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Interview is an oral examination of candidates for employment. No selection process is

complete without one or more interviews. Interview is the most common and core method of
obtaining information from job-seekers.
Interviews usually take place at two crucial stages in the selection process, i.e. at the
beginning and in the end. Interviews can differ in terms of their focus and format. Usually
several individuals will interview one applicant. This is called panel interview.
It helps to serve several purposes.

First, interview provides additional information about the candidate.

Secondly, face-to-face conversation helps in judging the suitability of the candidate.

Thirdly, interview serves as a check on the information obtained through application

blank and tests.

Fourthly, interview may be used to give detailed information about the job and the
organization.

5. Background Investigation:
The background investigation in selection process may include verification of references
from past teachers, or employers. The purpose of background investigation is to gather additional
information about the behaviour and physical health.

6. Physical/Medical Examination:
Physical examination or medical test of a candidate is an important step in the selection
procedure. Some organizations ask for a certificate of physical fitness from a medical expert
while others insist on a medical examination of the candidate by their own panel of doctors.
A proper medical examination will ensure high standards of health and physical fitness of
employees and will reduce the rates of accident, absenteeism and labour turnover.
Medical and physical examinations are usually resorted to by employers as part of the selection
process mainly to:

determine whether the applicant has the physical ability to carry on the duties and
responsibilities effectively;

ascertain whether the applicant has a record of health problems which can potentially
affect his behaviour and performance on the job adversely;

know whether the applicant is more sensitive to certain aspects of workplace

environment such as chemicals.
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7. Appointment Letter:
A candidate who has crossed all the hurdles in the selection procedure is formally appointed
by issuing an appointment letter or by entering into a service agreement with him. Before putting
the candidate on a permanent post, he is generally tried on the job for a year or two by keeping
him on probation. Those candidates who are found unsuitable during the probationary period
may be transferred to some other jobs or they may be given time and training to improve
themselves. If this is not possible, they may be sacked.

8. Placement:
Placement refers to assigning responsibility to an individual, identifying him with a particular
job. If the person adjusts himself to the job and continues to perform as per expectations, it might
mean that the candidate is properly placed.
BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE SELECTION
1.

Perception: We all perceive the world differently. Our limited perceptual ability is

obviously a stumbling block to the objective and rational selection of people.

2.

Fairness: Barriers of fairness includes discrimination against religion, region, race or

gender etc.
3.

Validity: A test that has been validated can differentiate between the employees who

can perform well and those who will not. However it does not predict the job success accurately.
4.

Reliability: A reliable test may fail to predict job performance with precision.

5.

Pressure: Pressure brought on selectors by politicians, bureaucrats, relatives, friends

and peers to select particular candidate are also barriers to selection.

6.

Explain the various types of Interview.

Definition
An interview is a procedure designed to obtain information from a person through oral

responses.
Interviews can be classified according to
1. How structured they are
2. Their content the type of questions
3. How the firm administers the interviews.
Types of interviews
Structured Vs unstructured interviews
1. Unstructured or non directive interview
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 The manager follows no set format

A few questions might be specified in advance.
2. Structured or directive interviews
The employer lists the questions ahead of time.
All interviewers ask the same questions.
Structured interviews help less talented interviewers.
Interview content (What type of questions to ask?)
3. Situational questions
In situational interview the candidate is asked what his or her behavior would be in a
given situation.
4. Behavioural questions
Whereas situational interviews ask applicants to describe how they would react to a
hypothetical situation tomorrow, behavioural interview questions ask applicants to
describe how they reacted to actual situations in the past. Other types of questions
5. Job related interview:
The interviewer asks the applicants questions about relevant past experiences. The
interviewer asks job-related questions such as, which courses did you like best in
business school?
6. Stress interview
In a stress interview the interviewer seeks to make the applicant uncomfortable with
occasionally rude questions.
How should we administer the questions?
7. Panel interviews
A panel interview also known as board interview. It is conducted by a team of interviewers
who together interview each candidate and then combine their ratings into a final panel score.
8. Phone interviews
Employers so some interviews entirely by telephone. These can actually be more accurate
than face-to-face interviews for judging an applicants intelligence and interpersonal skills.
Indian IT companies largely depend on phone interviews to select technical employees.
9. Video and web assisted interviews

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The video interviews reduce travel and recruiting expenses, and make things easier for
candidates. The IITs and IIMs use video interviews to select faculty members form outside
India.
How to conduct an effective interview
Make sure you know the job
Structure the interview
Get organized
Establish rapport
Ask questions
Take brief notes
Close the interview
Review the interview
7. Briefly explain the concept of induction.
Definition
Induction refers to the introduction of a person to the job and the organization.
The basic thrust of induction in the organization is:
To introduce the person to the people with whom he works.
To familiarize the new employee with the job so that the feeling of being out of place

is quickly dispelled.
To make him aware of the general company policies that apply to him as also the

specific work situation and requirements;

To answer any questions and clarify and doubts that the person may have about the

job and the organization; and

To provide on-the-job instruction, check back periodically how the person is doing

and offer help, if required.

To make the new employee efficient as quickly as possible.
To encourage the new employee to become committed to the organization and thus less
likely to leave quickly.
It is generally unwise to communicate a great deal of information orally to
new employees at the time of joining the organization. It is wise to provide written
back-up to vital information communicated orally, for this reason.

An employee handbook containing the following information is useful:

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 Brief description of the organization number of employees employed, locations,

products, etc.
Basic conditions of employment pay scales, holidays, pension, hours of work etc.
Sickness arrangements-notification, pay, certification.
Disciplinary and grievance handling procedures.
Trade union membership and collective bargaining arrangements.
Traveling arrangements.
Medical and welfare facilities.
Canteen facilities.
Health and safety arrangements.
Education and training policies and facilities.
Roles in Induction:
Line managers, supervisors, fellow workers, personnel and training staff all have a role
to play in the induction of new workers. One activity which may be carried out by each of
these is listed below:
Departmental manager: Welcoming new employees to the department.
Supervisors: Explaining the job to the new employee and providing support during the
initial period.
Fellow workers: Making the new employee feel welcome and comfortable in the work
group.
Personnel staff: Explaining conditions of employment very early in the employment of
the newcomer.
Training staff: Designing induction courses or other training aids relevant to the needs of
new employees.

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