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Human Resource Development

Concept:

Introduction Human Resource Development is a system of developing in a continuous and

planned way the competencies of individual employees, dyadic groups (supervisor and
subordinate), teams and the total organisation to achieve the organisations goals. It maximize
the congruence between the individual and the organisational goals of employees an develops
an organisational culture in which superior- subordinate relationships, teamwork and
collaboration among various units become strong and contribute to the professional well-
being, motivation and pride of employees.

Definition of HRD

Nadler (1970) defined HRD as a series of organized activities conducted within a specified
period of time and designed to produce behavioral change. In a revised definition Nadler
(1984) defined HRD as organized learning experience in a definite time period to increase the
possibility of job performance and growth

Colemn has defined human resource planning as "the process of determining manpower
requirements and the means for meeting those requirements in order to carry an integrated
plan at the organisation".

Stainer defines manpower planning as "strategy for the acquisition, utilisation, improvement
and preservation of an enterprise's human resources. It relates to establishing job specifications
or the quantitative requirements of jobs determining the number of personnel required and
developing resources of manpower".

Human resource development can be defined as a set of systematic and planned activities
designed by an organisation to provide its members with the opportunities to learn necessary
skills to meet current and future job demands. Learning is at the core of all HRD efforts. HRD
activities should begin when an employee joins an organisation and continue throughout his or
her career, regardless of whether that employee is an executive or a worker on an assembly
line, HRD programs must respond to job changes and integrate the long-term plans and
strategies of the organisation to ensure the efficient and effective use of resources

Human Resource Development (HRD) means to develop available manpower through suitable
methods such as training, promotions, transfers and opportunities for career development.
HRD programmes create a team of well-trained, efficient and capable managers and
subordinates. Such team constitutes an important asset of an enterprise. One organisation is
different from another mainly because of the people (employees) working therein. According

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to Peter F. Druker, "the prosperity, if not the survival of any business depends on the
performance of its managers of tomorrow." The human resource should be nurtured and used
for the benefit of the organisation.

Important characteristics of HRD

HRD is a system and HRD develops the competencies at all levels.

HRD is continuous and planned development effort.

The ultimate object of HRD is to contribute to the professional well-being, motivation and
pride of the employees.

Indicators of HRD at the organisational level

HRD instruments/sub-systems/mechanisms, (e.g., HRD departments, appraisal systems, job-

rotation, training, and development etc.)

HRD processes, (e.g., role clarity, trust, openness, pro-action, collaboration, etc.)

HRD outcomes (E.g. more competent people, work, etc.)

Organisational outcomes (improved performance, profits, diversification, image productivity,

etc.)

Nature of HRD

HRD is a continuous process

HRD concerned with behavioral knowledge.

HRD is a well integrated system

HRD provides better quality of life.

HRD focuses on all round development of human resources.

And also Following points will explain the nature of human resource development:

(1) System Composition:

HRD is at the centre of Human Resource System. It relates with imparting learning to the
members of the organisation for development of skills, ability and competency. HRD is a
subsystem closely related with other subsystems in the organisation, production, marketing,
finance etc. The composition of HRD has several sub systems which are interrelated and

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interdependent including communication, training and development, role analysis, job

enrichment performance appraisal and potential appraisal etc.

(2) Continuous Process:

HRD is a dynamic and planned process continuously undertaken for development of

personnels to enable them to face multiple challenges while performing in the organisation.
The HRD process differs from organisation to organisation as per their requirements. The
subsystems of HRD are closely interrelated with economic, social, political and cultural bias.

(3) Use of Behavioural Sciences:

HRD draws heavily from the behavioural sciences for the development of people. It makes use
of principles and concepts of psychology, sociology and anthropology for planning and
implementation of multiple programmes for individual and group development. Organisational
Development programmes are based on the concepts of behavioural sciences.

(4) Quality of Working Life:

HRD aimed at improving quality of working life in the organisation to increase the
productivity. HRD takes care of health and well being of the employees and their families by
promoting healthy environment at the workplace. It helps in achieving satisfaction of
employees.

Contemporary Trends in HRD

The world of work is rapidly changing. As a part of organization, Human Resource

Management (HRM) must be prepared to deal with effects of changing world of work. For the
HR people it means understanding the implications of globalization, work-force diversity,
changing skill requirements, corporate downsizing, continuous improvement initiatives, re-
engineering, the contingent work force, decentralized work sites and employee involvement
for which all and more have the financial implication to organization. Let alone on the
employees side where engagement, satisfaction, motivation, retention, absenteeism, turnover
have to be checked. As a rule human resource management has to venture into new trends in
order to remain relevant corporate development partner. Look at the new trends bellow;

1. Globalization and its implications

Business today doesnt have national boundaries it reaches around the world. The rise of
multinational corporations places new requirements on human resource managers. The HR
department needs to ensure that the appropriate mix of employees in terms of knowledge,
skills and cultural adaptability is available to handle global assignments. In order to meet this

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goal, the organizations must train individuals to meet the challenges of globalization. The
employees must have working knowledge of the language and culture (in terms of values,
morals, customs and laws) of the host country.

Human Resource Management (HRM) must also develop mechanisms that will help
multicultural individuals work together. As background, language, custom or age differences
become more prevalent, there are indications that employee conflict will increase. HRM
would be required to train management to be more flexible in its practices. Because
tomorrows workers will come in different colors, `nationalities and so on, managers will be
required to change their ways. This will necessitate managers being trained to recognize
differences in workers and to appreciate and even celebrate these differences.

2. Work-force Diversity

In the past HRM was considerably simpler because our work force was strikingly
homogeneous. Todays work force comprises of people of different gender, age, social class
sexual orientation, values, personality characteristics, ethnicity, religion, education, language,
physical appearance, marital status, lifestyle, beliefs, ideologies and background
characteristics such as geographic origin, tenure with the organization, and economic status
and the list could go on. Diversity is critically linked to the organizations strategic direction.
Where diversity flourishes, the potential benefits from better creativity and decision making
and greater innovation can be accrued to help increase organizations competitiveness. One
means of achieving that is through the organizations benefits package. This includes HRM
offerings that fall under the heading of the family friendly organization. A family friendly
organization is one that has flexible work schedules and provides such employee benefits such
as child care. In addition to the diversity brought by gender and nationality, HRM must be
aware of the age differences that exist in todays work force. HRM must train people of
different age groups to effectively manage and to deal with each other and to respect the
diversity of views that each offers. In situations like these a participative approach seems to
work better.

3. Changing skill requirements

Recruiting and developing skilled labor is important for any company concerned about
competitiveness, productivity, quality and managing a diverse work force effectively. Skill
deficiencies translate into significant losses for the organization in terms of poor-quality work
and lower productivity, increase in employee accidents and customer complaints. Since a
growing number of jobs will require more education and higher levels of language than
current ones, HRM practitioners and specialists will have to communicate this to educators
and community leaders etc. Strategic human resource planning will have to carefully weigh
the skill deficiencies and shortages. HRM department will have to devise suitable training and
short term programs to bridge the skill gaps & deficiencies.
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4. Corporate downsizing.

Whenever an organization attempts to delayer, it is attempting to create greater efficiency. The

premise of downsizing is to reduce the number of workers employed by the organization.
HRM department has a very important role to play in downsizing. HRM people must ensure
that proper communication must take place during this time. They must minimize the negative
effects of rumors and ensure that individuals are kept informed with factual data. HRM must
also deal with actual layoff. HRM dept is key to the downsizing discussions that have to take
place.

5. Continuous improvement programs

Continuous improvement programs focus on the long term well-being of the organization. It
is a process whereby an organization focuses on quality and builds a better foundation to serve
its customers. This often involves a companywide initiative to improve quality and
productivity. The company changes its operations to focus on the customer and to involve
workers in matters affecting them. Companies strive to improve everything that they do, from
hiring quality people, to administrative paper processing, to meeting customer needs.

Unfortunately, such initiatives are not something that can be easily implemented, nor dictated
down through the many levels in an organization. Rather, they are like an organization wide
development process and the process must be accepted and supported by top management and
driven by collaborative efforts, throughout each segment in the organization. HRM plays an
important role in the implementation of continuous improvement programs. Whenever an
organization embarks on any improvement effort, it is introducing change into the
organization. At this point organization development initiatives dominate. Specifically, HRM
must prepare individuals for the change. This requires clear and extensive communications of
why the change will occur, what is to be expected and what effect it will have on employees.

6. Re-engineering work processes for improved productivity

Although continuous improvement initiatives are positive starts in many of our organizations,
they typically focus on ongoing incremental change. Such action is intuitively appealing the
constant and permanent search to make things better. Yet many companies function in an
environment that is dynamic- facing rapid and constant change. As a result continuous
improvement programs may not be in the best interest of the organization. The problem with
them is that they may provide a false sense of security. Ongoing incremental change avoids
facing up to the possibility that what the organization may really need is radical or quantum
change. Such drastic change results in the re-engineering of the organization.

Re-engineering occurs when more than 70% of the work processes in an organization are
evaluated and altered. It requires organizational members to rethink what work should be

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done, how it is to be done and how to best implement these decisions. Re-engineering changes
how organizations do their business and directly affects the employees. Re-engineering may
leave certain employees frustrated and angry and unsure of what to expect. Accordingly HRM
must have mechanisms in place for employees to get appropriate direction of what to do and
what to expect as well as assistance in dealing with the conflict that may permeate the
organization. For re-engineering to generate its benefits HRM needs to offer skill training to
its employees. Whether its a new process, a technology enhancement, working in teams,
having more decision making authority, or the like, employees would need new skills as a
result of the re-engineering process.

7. Contingent workforce

A very substantial part of the modern day workforce are the contingent workers. Contingent
workers are individuals who are typically hired for shorter periods of time. They perform
specific tasks that often require special job skills and are employed when an organization is
experiencing significant deviations in its workflow. When an organization makes its strategic
decision to employ a sizable portion of its workforce from the contingency ranks, several
HRM issues come to the forefront. These include being able to have these virtual employees
available when needed, providing scheduling options that meet their needs and making
decisions about whether or not benefits will be offered to the contingent work force.

No organization can make the transition to a contingent workforce without sufficient planning.
As such, when these strategic decisions are being made, HRM must be an active partner in
these discussions. After its entire HRM departments responsibility to locate and bring into the
organization these temporary workers. As temporary workers are brought in, HRM will also
have the responsibility of quickly adapting them to the organization. HRM will also have to
give some thought to how it will attract quality temporaries. This is sometimes done on
consultancy basis. Consultancy work is often a short time basis and to re-invent the
organizations operation such a workforce of consultancy is vital.

8. Mass Customization

There is a lot going on already within HR concerning mass customization, the optimal
combination of mass production with customization. Weve seen companies basing
employment arrangements on learning styles and personalities, allowing employees to choose
between lower base pay and higher bonuses vs. higher base pay and lower bonuses, and
changing from career ladders with a straight shot to the top to career lattices where a sideways
move is considered a good career move. Here, HR has done a great job of applying HR
principles to its own traditional functional processes.

HR will need to take the tools of marketing around customization for consumers and clients
and applying them to the task of talent segmentation. The key is to optimize. At one extreme, a

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personal employment deal for every individual would be chaotic. At the other extreme,
defining fairness as same for everyone risks missing important benefits of customization,
and in fact may be unproductive and unfair.

Thus, HR should develop principles for understanding the optimal level of customization in
the employment relationship. Moreover, because customization will often mean that different
groups of employees receive different employment arrangements based on their needs or the
way they contribute, HR must develop principles that equip leaders to explain these
differences to employees. Our work suggests that while many HR managers understand the
need for customization and differentiation in principle, they resist it because they simply dont
feel well-equipped to explain them. It is far easier to say, We do the same thing for everyone,
so its out of my hands. The concept of fairness is sometimes confused with treating everyone
the same.

9. Decentralized work sites

Work sites are getting more and more decentralized. Telecommuting capabilities that exist
today have made it possible for the employees to be located anywhere on the globe. With this
potential, the employers no longer have to consider locating a business near its work force.
Telecommuting also offers an opportunity for a business tin a high cost area to have its work
done in an area where lower wages prevail.

Decentralized work sites also offer opportunities that may meet the needs of the diversified
workforce. Those who have family responsibilities like child care, or those who have
disabilities may prefer to work in their homes rather than travel to the organizations facility.
For HRM, decentralized work sites present a challenge. Much of that challenge revolves
around training managers in how to establish and ensure appropriate work quality and on-time
completion. Work at home may also require HRM to rethink its compensation policy. Will it
pay by the hour, on a salary basis, or by the job performed? Also, because employees in
decentralized work sites are full time employees of the organization as opposed to contingent
workers, it will be organizations responsibility to ensure health and safety of the decentralized
work force.

10. Employee involvement

For todays organizations to be successful there are a number of employee involvement

concepts that appear to be accepted. These are delegation, participative management, work
teams, goal setting, employee training and empowering of employees. HRM has a significant
role to play in employee involvement. What is needed is demonstrated leadership as well as
supportive management. Employees need to be trained and thats where human resource
management has a significant role to play. Employees expected to delegate, to have decisions
anticipatively handled, to work in teams, or to set goals cannot do so unless they know and

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understand what it is that they are to do. Empowering employees requires extensive training in
all aspects of the job. Workers may need to understand how new job design processes. They
may need training in interpersonal skills to make participative and work teams function
properly.

11. Technology

With the current technological advancement and its projection in the future, it has brought in
new eyes in the face of HRM. A number of computerized systems have been invented to help
in the HRM of which they are seen as simplifier of HR functions in companies. Large or
multinational organizations using some of the human resources information systems are
reaping big. You do not have to stay in a particular location to do your duties but you can do
on a mobile basis. For instance the paper work files are being replaced by HRMIS which may
be tailor made or Off the Shelf. These systems help in handling a lot of data on a chip other
than having a room full of file shelves.

What HRM is concerned with here is the safety (confidentiality) of the data/information of
staff, and therefore it is at the forefront of having to train personnel in operating such systems
and developing the integrity of such personnel to handle the sensitivity of the matter.

12. Health

With the emergence of the wellness clubs and fitness centers together with the need for having
healthy workforce, it has emerged that HRM has to move to another step like having to
subscribe for its employees to such clubs, paying health insurance services for the staff. This is
not only a productivity strategy but also a strategy used to attract and retain valuable
employees.

In the current situation as it is now especially with the outbreak of HIV/AIDS epidemic, it has
been seen to be of value to have infected and affected employees have special attention so that
they can have confidence of support from the employers. With its effect leading to
stigmatization, HRM has to think of counseling and guiding such employee so that despite of
the effect they (employee) remain productive. Cancer is another kind of issue that has seen the
current trend in HRM look closer to health and wellness of employees. Cancers of all types are
endemic to employees. Couple with other communicable and none communicable diseases
HRM has no option other than to advice management to invest in health care packages that
will revitalize the performance of the affected and infected employees

Therefore for HRM to continue showing relevance it has shifted to providing health services
to staff through health insurance, sensitization, and free medical treatment bills. This has seen
high results in not only in performance but also in attraction and retention of highly qualified
personnel.

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13. Family work life balance

Over a long time now in HRM history it has been a big debate about family life work balance.
Employees have been on toes of the employers to see if there could be justice done and on the
other hand employers have been keen to minimize the effect of the same. The fact is a happy
family is equal to a happy workforce. With the current trend HRM have to work it out that
every employees family to some extent is a happy one. Therefore investing in what may seem
out hand for the organization is inevitable. It is time HRM to convince management to
organize family day out for the staff and their families, sacrifice sometimes for days off to
enable employees to attend to their family issues.

The employment laws unlike from the past now allow family leaves and above all you have
parental leave (paternity and maternity). In this moment the member of the family is not
missed. Time off your duty is to enrich one with family chore which help identify the
employee with the organization. From break of family affairs of course an employee is
rejuvenated and recognizes that the employer values him so much to the extent that he/she is
allowed to visit, stay and enjoy family bond.

Still it is realized that the family bond is a cost to employer in terms of time but it is a great
motivator the employee. Which leads to high productivity. Therefore the HRM has to stay
tuned the the dynamics of family needs of employees and go a step ahead to provide
development assistance like loans to meet family needs and social development.

14. Confidentiality

The current trends have been seen as new challenges in the terms of costs especially in the
short run but for organization to strive well in this competitive market to together with the
labor mobility it is imperative important to rethink the HRM in terms of the current trends at
all levels.

It goes without say that as longer as there is no clear defined human resource management
strategies in the given organization there is definitely a problem boiling in the same
organization or an explosion is bound to happen. With the current trend in managing the most
valued organization resource, organizations have to dig deeper to maintain

HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING

Colemn has defined human resource planning as "the process of determining manpower
requirements and the means for meeting those requirements in order to carry an integrated
plan at the organisation".

Stainer defines manpower planning as "strategy for the acquisition, utilisation, improvement
and preservation of an enterprise's human resources. It relates to establishing job specifications

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or the quantitative requirements of jobs determining the number of personnel required and
developing resources of manpower".

Objectives of Manpower / HR Planning

To ensure optimum utilisation of human resources currently employed in the Organisation.

To determine the future manpower requirements of the Organisation as per the need for
renovations, modernisation, expansion and growth programmes.

To determine the recruitment level.

To ensure that necessary human resources are available as and when required.

To assess future accommodation requirements.

To design the basis for management development programmes so as to develop the required
talents among the employees selected.

Advantages / Importance of HRP

Meeting manpower needs : Every Organisation needs adequate and properly qualified staff for
the conduct of regular business activities. Imaginative HRP is needed in order to meet the
growing and changing human resource needs of an organisation.

Replacement of manpower : The existing manpower in an Organisation is affected due to

various reasons such as retirement and removal of employees and labour turnover. HRP is
needed to estimate the shortfall in the manpower requirement and also for making suitable
arrangements for the recruitment and appointment of new staff.

Meeting growing manpower needs : The expansion or modernisation programme may be

undertaken by the enterprise. Manpower planning is needed in order to forecast and meet
additional manpower requirement due to expansion and growth needs through recruitment and
suitable training programmes.

Meeting challenges of technological environment : HRP is helpful in effective use of

technological progress. To meet the challenge of new technology existing employees need to
be retrained and new employees may be recruited.

Coping with change : HRP enables an enterprise to cope with changes in competitive forces,
markets, products, and technology and government regulations. Such changes generate
changes in job content, skill, number and type of personals.

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Increasing investment in HR : An employee who picks up skills and abilities becomes a

valuable resource because an organisation makes investments in its manpower either through
direct training or job assignments.

Adjusting manpower requirements : A situation may develop in; an organisation when there
will be surplus staff in one department and shortage of staff in some other department.
Transfers and promotions are made for meeting such situations.

Recruitment and selection of employees : HRP suggests the type of manpower required in an
organisation with necessary details. This facilitates recruitment and selection of suitable
personnel for jobs in the Organisation. Introduction of appropriate selection tests and
procedures is also possible as per the manpower requirements.

Placement of manpower : HRP is needed as it facilitates placement of newly selected persons

in different departments as per the qualifications and also as per the need of different
departments. Surplus or shortage of manpower is avoided and this ensures optimum utilisation
of available manpower.

Training of manpower : HRP is helpful in selection and training activities. It ensures that
adequate number of persons are trained to fill up the future vacancies in the Organisation

Recruitment

Recruitment means to estimate the available vacancies and to make suitable arrangements for
their selection and appointment. In the recruitment process, the available vacancies are given
wide publicity and suitable candidates are encouraged to submit applications so as to have a
pool of eligible candidates for scientific selection.

In recruitment, information is collected from interested candidates. For this different source of
recruitment such as newspaper advertisement, employment exchanges, internal promotions,
etc., are used. In the recruitment, a pool of eligible and interested candidates is created for the
selection of most suitable candidates. Recruitment represents the first contact that a company
makes with potential employees.

Recruitment is a positive function in which publicity is given to the jobs available in the
organisation and interested candidates (qualified job applicants) are encouraged to submit
applications for the purpose of selection.

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Definition of Recruitment

According to Edwin Flippo, "Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective

employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the Organisation.

Need for Recruitment

The need for recruitment may be due to the following reasons / situations :-

Vacancies : due to promotions, transfers, retirement, termination, permanent disability, death

and labour turnover.

Creation of new vacancies : due to growth, expansion and diversification of business activities
of an enterprise. In addition, new vacancies are possible due to job respecification.

RECRUITMENT

INTERNAL EXTERNAL

Present permanent employees advertising

Present temporary employees Public employment agency

Retrenched / retired employees Private employment agency

Job posting Professional associations

Succession planning Data banks

Casual applications

Trade unions

Walk in

Head hunting

Body shopping

E-recruitment

INTERNAL SOURCE OF RECRUITMENT:

Present permanent employees : Organizations consider the candidates from this source for
higher level jobs due to availability of most suitable candidates for jobs relatively or equally to
the external source to meet the trade union demands and due to the policy of the organization
to motivate the present employees.

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Present temporary or casual employees : Organizations find this source to fill the vacancies
relatively at the lower level owing to the availability of suitable candidates or trade union
pressure or in order to motivate them on the present job.

Retrenched or retired employees : Generally a particular organization retrenches the

employees due to lack of work. The organization takes the candidates for employment from
the retrenched employees due to obligation , trade union pressure and the hike. Sometimes ,
the organizations prefer to re-employ their retired employees as a token of their loyalty to the
organization or to postpone some interpersonal conflicts for promotion etc.

Job posting : Promotion of employees within requires using of job posting , personnel
records , and skills banks. Job posting means publicizing the open job to employees ( often by
literally posting it on bulletin boards or intranets ) and listing the jobs attributes , like
qualifications , supervisor , work schedule and pay rate. Some union contracts require job
posting to ensure union members get first choice of new and better positions. Yet job posting
can be a good practice even in non unions firms , if it facilitates the transfer and promotion of
qualified inside candidates. In job posting referring personal records is also important and in
some firms also develop skill banks that list current employees with specific skills.
Example , if you need an aerospace engineer in unit A , and the skills bank shows a person
with those skills in unit B , that person may be approached about transferring.

Succession Planning : Forecasting the availability of inside executive candidates is particularly

important in succession planning the process of ensuring a suitable supply of successors
for current and future senior or key jobs Succession planning often involves a complicated
series of steps. They are

Determining the projected need for managers and professionals by company level , function
and skill

Auditing current executive talent to project the likely future supply from internal sources

Planning individuals career paths based on objective estimates of future needs and
assessments of potential

Career counseling in the context of the future needs of the firm , as well as those of the
individual

Accelerated promotions , with development targeted against the future needs of the business

Performance related training and development to prepare individuals for future roles as well as
current responsibilities

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Planned strategic recruitment to fill short term needs and to provide people to meet future
needs

Actually filling the positions via recruiters , promotion from within and so on.

External source of recruitment :

Advertising : Employers use ads for their recruitment function and it involves two issues : the
advertising media and ads construction.The selection of best medium be it local paper , TV ,
or the internet depends on the positions for which youre recruiting. Example local
newspaper is usually the best source for blue-collar help , clerical employees and lower level
administrative employees. The point is to target your ads where theyll do the most good.
Most employers as well see are also tapping the internet. Constructing of the ad is important.
Experienced advertisers use a four-point guide called AIDA ( attention , interest , desire ,
action ) to construct ads and also being creative. Attract attention to the ad or readers may just
ignore or miss it. So have a heavy backgrounds stand out. Develop interest in the job. You can
create interest by the nature of the job itself with certain captive lines , create desire by
spotlighting the jobs interest factors with words such as travel or challenge by keeping your
target audience in your mind. Finally make sure your add prompts action with a statement like
call today etc.

Public employment agency: The government set up public employment exchanges in the
country to provide information about vacancies to the candidates and to help the organizations
in finding out suitable candidates. The employment exchange ( compulsory notification or
vacancies ) act 1959 makes it obligatory for public sector and private sector enterprises in
India to fill certain types of vacancies through public employment exchanges. These industries
have to depend on public employment exchanges for the specified vacancies. In united states ,
every state has a public , state run service agency. The U.S. department of labor supports these
agencies , in part through grants , and in part through other assistance such as a nationwide
computerized job bank.

Private employment agency: Private employment agencies are important sources of clerical ,
white-collar and managerial personnel. They charge fees for each applicant they place. The
reason companysgo for private agency include when

Your firm doesnt have its own HR department and is not geared to doing recruiting and
screening.

Your firm has found it difficult in the past to generate a pool of qualified applicants.

You must fill a particular opening quickly.

There is a perceived need to attract a greater number of minority or female applicants.

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You want to cut down on the time youre devoting to interviewing.

Professional associations: Professional organizations maintain complete bio-data of their

members and provide the same to various organizations on requisition. They also act as an
exchange between their members their members and recruiting firms in exchanging
information, clarifying doubts etc. Organizations find this source more useful to recruit the
experienced and professional employees like executives , managers , engineers.

Data banks : The management can collect the bio-date of the candidates from different sources
like employment exchange , educational training institute and feed them in to computer. It will
become another source and the company can get the particulars as and when it needs to
recruit.

Casual applications : Depending upon the image of the organization , its prompt response ,
participation of the organization in the local activities , level of unemployment , candidates
apply casually for the jobs through mail or hand over the applications in the personnel
department. This would be a suitable source for temporary and lower level jobs. It is also
called alternative staffing.

Trade unions: Generally , unemployed or underemployed persons or employees seeking

change in employment put a word to the trade union leaders with a view to getting suitable
employment. Management also want to please the unions by recruiting few candidates from
their reference.

Walk In: The busy and dynamic companies encourage the potential job seekers to attend the
interview directly and without any prior information of date and time. The suitable candidate
is then selected after screening the candidates through by interviews and tests.

Head-Hunting: The companies request the professional organization to search for the best
candidate particularly for senior executive position. The professional organizations search for
the most suitable candidates and advise the company regarding the filling up of the positions.
Head hunting is also called search consultant.

Body shopping: Professional organizations and hi-tech training institutes develop pool of
human resources for the possible employment. These professional and training institutions are
called body shoppers and these activities are known as body shopping. The body shopping
is also known as employee leasing activity. The leasing firms employ the people and lease
them for the use by various needy companies for payment of a commission.

E-Recruitment: Online recruitment made the process of recruitment easy and quickly where
the employer and employee can contact themselves through internet and helps in cost and time
cutting for recruitment. More number of candidate can also been chosen. Likewise a new term

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called green recruitment also emerged where environmental friendly technology is used for
recruitment.

CHAPTER 4

SELECTION PROCESS

4.1 SELECTION:

Selection is defined as the process of differentiating between applicants in

order to identify (and hire) those with a greater likelihood of success in a job.

Selection is basically picking an applicant from (a pool of applicants) who

has the appropriate qualification and competency to do the job.

The difference between recruitment and selection:

Recruitment is identifying and encouraging prospective employees to apply for

a job.

And

Selection is selecting the right candidate from the pool of applicants.

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4.2 SELECTION PROCESS

Selection is a long process, commencing from the preliminary interview of the

applicants and ending with the contract of employment.

The following chart gives an idea about selection process: -

Rejected Application

1. Preliminary Interview

2. Selection Tests

3. Employment Interview

4. Reference and Background

Analysis

5. Selection Decision

6. Physical Examination

7. Job Offer

8. Employment Contract

9. Evaluation

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Environment factor affecting selection : -

Selection is influenced by several factors. More prominent among them are

supply and demand of specific skills in the labour market, unemployment rate,
labour- market conditions, legal and political considerations, companys image,
companys policy, human resources planning and cost of hiring. The last three
constitute the internal environment and the remaining form the external
environment of selection process.

STEP 1 PRELIMINARY INTERVIEW

The applicants received from job seekers would be subject to scrutiny so as to

eliminate unqualified applicants. This is usually followed by a preliminary
interview the purpose of which is more or less the same as scrutiny of
application, that is, eliminate of unqualified applicants. Scrutiny enables the HR
specialists to eliminate unqualified jobseekers based on the information supplied
in their application forms. Preliminary interview, on the other hand, helps reject
misfits for reason, which did not appear in the application forms. Besides,
preliminary interview, often called courtesy interview, is a good public
relation exercise.

STEP 2 SELECTION TEST:

Job seekers who pass the screening and the preliminary interview are called for
tests. Different types of tests may be administered, depending on the job and the
company. Generally, tests are used to determine the applicants ability, aptitude
and personality.

The following are the type of tests taken:

A). Ability tests : -

Assist in determining how well an individual can perform tasks related to the
job. An excellent illustration of this is the typing tests given to a prospective
employer for secretarial job. Also called as ACHEIVEMENT TESTS. It is
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concerned with what one has accomplished. When applicant claims to know
something, an achievement test is taken to measure how well they know it. Trade
tests are the most common type of achievement test given. Questions have been
prepared and tested for such trades as asbestos worker, punch-press operators,
electricians and machinists. There are, of course, many unstandardised
achievement tests given in industries, such as typing or dictation tests for an
applicant for a stenographic position.

B). Aptitude test : -

Aptitude tests measure whether an individuals has the capacity or latent ability
to learn a given job if given adequate training. The use of aptitude test is
advisable when an applicant has had little or no experience along the line of the
job opening.

Aptitude test indicates the ability or fitness of an individual to engage

successfully in any number of specialized activities. They cover such areas
clerical aptitude, numerical aptitude, mechanical aptitude, motor co-ordination,
finger dexterity and manual dexterity. These tests help to detect positive
negative points in a persons sensory or intellectual ability.

STEP 3 EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW: -

The next step in the selection process is an interview. Interview is formal, in-
depth conversation conducted to evaluate the applicants acceptability. It is
considered to be excellent selection device. It is face-to-face exchange of view,
ideas and opinion between the candidates and interviewers. Basically, interview
is nothing but an oral examination of candidates. Interview can be adapted to
unskilled, skilled, managerial and profession employees.

Objectives of interview : -

Interview has at least three objectives and they are a follows: -

Helps obtain additional information from the applicants

Facilitates giving general information to the applicants such as company

policies, job, products manufactured and the like

Helps build the companys image among the applicants.

STEP 4 REFERENCE CHECK & BACKGROUND ANALYSIS:-

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Many employers request names, addresses, and telephone numbers of references

for the purpose of verifying information and perhaps, gaining additional
background information on an applicant. Although listed on the application
form, references are not usually checked until an applicant has successfully
reached the fourth stage of a sequential selection process. When the labour
market is very tight, organizations sometimes hire applicants before checking
references.

Previous employers, known as public figures, university professors, neighbors or

friends can act as references. Previous employers are preferable because they are
already aware of the applicants performance. But, the problem with this
reference is the tendency on the part of the previous employers to over-rate the
applicants performance just to get rid of the person.

Organizations normally seek letters of reference or telephone references. The

latter is advantageous because of its accuracy and low cost. The telephone
reference also has the advantage of soliciting immediate, relatively candid
comments and attitude can sometimes be inferred from hesitations and
inflections in speech.

STEP 5 SELECTION DECISION:-

After obtaining information through the preceding steps, selection decision- the
most critical of all the steps- must be made. The other stages in the selection
process have been used to narrow the number of the candidates. The final
decision has to be made the pool of individuals who pas the tests, interviews and
reference checks. The view of the line manager will be generally considered in
the final selection because it is he/she who is responsible for the performance of
the new employee. The HR manager plays a crucial role in the final selection.

STEP 6 PHYSICAL EXAMINATION : -

After the selection decision and before the job offer is made, the candidate is
required to undergo a physical fitness test. A job offer is, often, contingent upon
the candidate being declared fit after the physical examination. The results of
the medical fitness test are recorded in a statement and are preserved in the
personnel records. There are several objectives behind a physical test.
Obviously, one reason for a physical test is to detect if the individual carries any
infectious disease. Secondly, the test assists in determining whether an applicant
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is physically fit to perform the work. Thirdly, the physical examination

information can be used to determine if there are certain physical capabilities,
which differentiate successful and less successful employees. Fourth, medical
check-up protects applicants with health defects from undertaking work that
could be detrimental to them or might otherwise endanger the employer s
property. Finally, such an examination will protect the employer from workers
compensation claims that are not valid because the injuries or illness were
present when the employee was hired.

STEP 7 JOB OFFER : -

The next step in the selection process is job offer to those applicants who have
crossed all the previous hurdles. Job offer is made through a letter of appointed.
Such a letter generally contains a date by which the appointee must report on
duty. The appointee must be given reasonable time for reporting. Thos is
particularly necessary when he or she is already in employment, in which case
the appointee is required to obtain a relieving certificate from the previous
employer. Again, a new job may require movement to another city, which means
considerable preparation, and movement of property.

The company may also want the individual to delay the date of reporting on
duty. If the new employees first job upon joining the company is to go on
company until perhaps a week before such training begins. Naturally, this
practice cannot be abused, especially if the individual is unemployed and does
not have sufficient finances. Decency demands that the rejected applicants be
informed about their non-selection. Their applicants may be preserved for future
use, if any. It needs no emphasis that the applications of selected candidates
must also be preserved for the future references.

STEP 8 CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT : -

After the job offer has been mad and candidates accept the offer, certain
documents need to be executed by the employer and the candidate. One such
document is the attestation form. This form contains vital details about the
candidate, which are authenticated and attested by him/her. Attestation form will
be a valid record for the future reference.
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There is also a need for preparing a contract of employment. The basic

information that should be included in a written contract of employment will
vary according to the level of the job, but the following checklist sets out the
typical headings:

1. Job title

2. Duties, including a parse such as The employee will perform such duties and
will be responsible to such a person, as the company may from time to time
direct.

3. Date when continuous employment starts and the basis for calculating service.

4. Rate of pay, allowance, overtime and shift rates, method of payments.

1. Hours of work including lunch break and overtime and shift

arrangements.

2. Holiday arrangements:

Paid holidays per year.

Calculation of holiday pay.

Qualifying period.

3. Length of notice due to and from employee.

4. Grievances procedure (or reference to it)

5. Disciplinary procedure (or any reference to it).

6. Work rules (or any reference to them).

7. Arrangements for terminating employment.

8. Arrangements for union membership (if applicable).

Alternatively called employment agreements or simply bonds, contracts of

employment serve many useful purposes. Such contracts seek to restrain job-
hoppers, to protect knowledge and information that might be vital to a
companys healthy bottom line and to prevent competitors from poaching highly
valued employees.

STEP 9 EVALUATIONS:- -
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The broad test of the effectiveness of the selection process is the quality of the
personnel hired. An organization must have competent and committed personnel.
The selection process, if properly done, will ensure availability of such
employees. How to evaluate the effectiveness of a selection programme? A
periodic audit is the answer. People who work independent of HR department
must conduct audit. The table below contains an outline that highlights the areas
and questions to be covered in a systematic evaluation.