Introduction:

Humans are an organization's greatest assets; without them, everyday business functions such as managing cash flow, making business transactions, communicating through all forms of media, and dealing with customers could not be completed. Humans and the potential they possess drive an organization. Today's organizations are continuously changing. Organizational change impacts not only the business but also its employees. In order to maximize organizational effectiveness, human potential individuals' capabilities, time, and talents must be managed. Human resource management works to ensure that employees are able to meet the organization's goals.

Definition HRM:
"Human resource management is responsible for how people are treated in organizations. It is responsible for bringing people into the organization, helping them perform their work, compensating them for their labors, and solving problems that arise. In simple words, HRM means employing people, developing their capacities, utilizing, maintaining and compensating their services in tune with the job and organizational requirement. Human Resource management is based in the efficient utilization of employees in achieving two main goals within a corporation. The first goal is to effectively make use of the talents and abilities of employees to achieve the operational objectives that are the ultimate aim of the organization. Along with realizing the goals of the organization, Human Resource management also seeks to ensure that the individual employee is satisfied with both the working environment and the compensation and benefits that he or she receives. Human Resource Management is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training. The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry out these activities themselves because they can't yet afford part- or full-time
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help. However, they should always ensure that employees have -- and are aware of -personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have.

The HRM model emphasizes on:

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CHANGES IN HRM
Introduction
Human Resource Management has evolved considerably over the past century, and experienced a major transformation in form and function primarily within the past two decades. Driven by a number of significant internal and external environmental forces, HRM has progressed from a largely maintenance function, with little if any bottom line impact, to what many scholars and practitioners today regard as the source of sustained competitive advantage for organizations operating in a global economy. Some of the significant changes that are likely to take place in the human resource management are as follows: 1. Increase in education levels: Due to technological progress and the spread of educational institutions workers will increasingly become aware of their higher level needs; managers will have to evolve appropriate policies and techniques to motivate the knowledge of workers. Better educated and organized workforce will demand greater discretion and autonomy at the work place. 2. Technological developments: This will require retraining and mid-career training of both workers and managers. Rise of the international corporation is proving new challenges for personnel function. 3. Changing composition of work force: In future, women and minority groups, SCs and STs would become an important source of man power in future on account of easy access to better educational and employment opportunities. Therefore manpower planning of every organization will have to take into consideration the potential availability of talent in these groups. Changing mix of the workforce will lead to new values in organizations. 4. Increasing government role: In future private organizations will have to coordinate their labor welfare programs with those of the government private sector will be required increasingly to support government efforts for improving public health, education training and development and infrastructure. 5. occupational health and safety: Due to legislative presence and trade union movement, personnel management will have to be more healthy and safety conscious in future. 6. Organizational development: in future, change will have to be initiated and managed to improve organizational effectiveness. Top management will become more actively involved in the development of human resources. 7. New work ethic: greater forces will be on project and team forms of organization. As changing work ethic requires increasing emphasis on individual. Jobs will have to redesign to provide challenge. 8. Development planning: personnel management will be involved increasingly in organizational planning, structure, composition etc. Greater cost-consciousness and profit-orientations will be required on the part of the personnel department.
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9. Better appraisal and reward systems: organizations will be required to share gains of higher periodicity with workers more objective and result oriented systems of performance, appraisal and performance linked compensation will have to be developed. 10. New personnel policies: new and better polices will be required for the work force of the future. Traditional family management will give way to professional management with greater forces on human dignity.

Latest Trends of HRM

Technological Advancement:
In recent years, several trends have had a significant impact on the broad field of HRM. Chief among them were new technologies. These new technologies, particularly in the areas of electronic communication and information dissemination and retrieval, have dramatically altered the business landscape. Satellite communications, computers and networking systems, fax machines, and other devices have all facilitated change in the ways in which businesses interact with each other and their workers. Telecommuting, for instance, has become a very popular option for many workers, and HRM professionals have had to develop new guidelines for this emerging subset of employees.

Organizational Structure Changes:

Changes in organizational structure have also influenced the changing face of human resource management. Continued erosion in manufacturing industries coupled with the rise in service industries, have changed the workplace, as has the decline in union representation in many industries (these two trends, in fact, are commonly viewed as interrelated). In addition, organizational philosophies have undergone change. Many companies have scrapped or adjusted their traditional, hierarchical organizations structures in favor of flatter management structures. HRM experts note that this shift in responsibility brought with it a need to reassess job descriptions, appraisal systems, and other elements of personnel management.

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Acceleration In Market Globalization:

A third change factor has been accelerating market globalization. This phenomenon has served to increase competition for both customers and jobs. The latter development enabled some businesses to demand higher performances from their employees while holding the line on compensation. Other factors that have changed the nature of HRM in recent years include new management and operational Theories like Total Quality Management (TQM); rapidly changing demographics; and changes in health insurance and federal and state employment legislation.

360 Degree Performance Management:

It is a powerful developmental tool because when conducted at regular intervals (say yearly) it helps to keep a track of the changes others perceptions about the employees. A 360 degree appraisal is generally found more suitable for the managers as it helps to assess their leadership and managing styles. This technique is being effectively used across the globe for performance appraisals. Some of the organizations following it are Wipro, Infosys, and Reliance Industries etc.

It is an objective, competency-based system which we feel surpasses traditional rating systems in its ability to take an organization s pulse and detect weaknesses. The 360 Degree Performance Management System can be used to: 1- Provide a 'gap analyses between personal perception and others' perceptions of individual and team performance. 2- Focus managers and staff on areas that need development. 3- Recognize and maintain areas of individual and team strength. 4- Monitor and improve team and individual performance over time. 5- Approach performance issues in a non-confrontational, constructive manner (due to the confidentiality and anonymity of the process). 6- Develop performance development plans for individuals and teams. 7- Develop individual or team-based training needs analysis programs.

Four Integral Components of 360 Degree Appraisal:

1. Self appraisal 2. Superior s appraisal 3. Subordinate s appraisal 4. Peer appraisal.

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Self appraisal: It gives a chance to the employee to look at his/her strengths and weaknesses, his achievements, and judge his own performance. Superior s appraisal: It forms the traditional part of the 360 degree performance appraisal where the employees responsibilities and actual performance is rated by the superior. Subordinates appraisal: It gives a chance to judge the employee on the parameters like communication and motivating abilities, superior s ability to delegate the work, leadership qualities etc. Peer Appraisal: Peers also known as internal customers, the correct feedback given by peers can help to find employees abilities to work in a team, co-operation and sensitivity towards others.

Appraisers

Superiors

Self

Peers

Subordinates

Customers

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1- Superiors: The 1st line supervisor is often in the best position to effectively carry out the full cycle of Performance Management. 2- Self: Self-appraisals are particularly valuable in situations where the supervisor cannot readily observe the work behaviors and task outcomes. 3- Peers: The addition of peer feedback can help move the supervisor into a coaching role rather than a purely judging role Peer ratings have been excellent predictors of future performance and manner of performance . 4- Subordinates: A formalized subordinate feedback program will give supervisors a more comprehensive picture of employee issues and needs. Combining subordinate ratings, like peer ratings, can provide the advantage of creating a composite appraisal from the averaged ratings of several subordinates. 5- Customers: Customer feedback should serve as an anchor for almost all other performance factors. Including a range of customers in PA program expands the focus of performance feedback in a manner considered absolutely critical to reinventing the organization.

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Traditional vs. 360 Degree Feedback

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As shown in the above exhibit Traditional Feedback gives one dimensional feedback, whereas 360 Degree allows an employee to give feedback to her reporting manager, peers, direct reports and others. Multi-rater feedback not only reduces the risk of biased perceptions, but also gives you a holistic view from all the stakeholders within the company.

Art of Interviewing:
Interviewing is stressful enough without having to answer silly interview questions. Unfortunately though, many interviewers, because of habit, lack of preparation time, poor training, or even laziness, often ask these questions. Of those, one of the most challenging is the often used 'Tell me about yourself?' interview opener. This question is all about you as an employee, not about your personal life or whether you're a dedicated sports fan. Answer it by describing your best attributes relevant to the job. Be specific and use examples to support your claim. The goal is not to summarize your CV or resume because the interviewer already has a copy of that in front of them. Keep your answer to 1-3 minutes and don't ramble. Interviewers also think it is improper, a sign of your lack of preparedness, or even rude, for you to answer their 'Tell me about yourself' question with a question of your own like, 'What would you like to know?'

Part -1: First of that three-part marketing statement is always a one-sentence summary of
the candidate's career history. Your whole career needs to be condensed into one sentence that encapsulates the most important aspects of your career, the aspects that you want to leverage in order to make your next career step.

Part-2: Second of the pre-planned marketing statement will be a one, maybe two-sentence
summary of a single accomplishment that you are proud of that will also capture the potential employer's attention. It immediately follows your initial career summary sentence from above.

Part-3: The final piece of the marketing statement is probably the most fluid one. It needs
to be a one-sentence summary of specifically what you want to do next in your career.

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An example of an interviewee following three step marketing statement is: 'I am a Product Manager with 7 years experience working for medium to large organizations the IT sector both in the UK and abroad. Recently, as a long-term contract employee at a medium IT company, I was responsible for overseeing the development of Desktop Services for high value customer accounts. I defined product services and a rollout strategy for the operations, developed a business plan and successfully sourced funding. Product was implemented on time and within budget, this has also provided complete customer satisfaction and repeat business. For the next step in my career, I would like to find myself as a direct employee of a medium-sized firm that was looking to hire an inhouse Product Manager so I could continue growing my career by managing new product launches, and evangelizing initiatives with the sales team. I would also love to apply my past team project management skills to managing a small project team. Clearly you can understand how the candidate who opens with this type of prepared response to the 'Tell me about yourself' question will make a significantly better first impression than a candidate who responds by answering, 'What would you like to know?' Plus candidates who prepare in this manner are typically more confident at the interview's start, make a substantial and positive verbal first impression, give a clear indication of their interest in making a career move.

Behavior Based Interview:

Behavioral based interviewing is the scientific way of interviewing that more and more companies and organizations are using in their hiring process. The basic premise behind behavioral interviewing is that the most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in a similar situation. It provides a more objective set of facts to make employment decisions than other interviewing methods. Traditional interview questions ask you general questions such as Tell me about yourself. The process of behavioral interviewing is much more probing, realistic, objective driven and works very differently with high efficiency. Most often, the interviewers seldom prepared and the thought is that it is for the candidate to prepare and not me. The Behavior interview starts with preparation.

1. Prepare by understanding the job role and responsibilities. 2. Prepare by understanding the work environmental challenges in that team or department.

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3. Prepare by understanding the other people with whom this candidate is expected to work closely. 4. Prepare by understanding the possible career path that the candidate can expect to grow. 5. Prepare by understanding the application and resume of the candidate. 6. Prepare by understanding the personality of the candidate in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors (you surely need psychometric help in order to be objective and to remove individual bias). 7. Prepare by understanding the active and inactive competencies in the individual. 8. Prepare by understanding the environmental influences on the individual due to his past conditioning. 9. Prepare a candidates competency SWOT before you start to interview if you wish to be objective and remove any subjective bias. 10. Now prepare a set of questions specific to this individual candidate so as to enable a better understanding of this candidate with respect to what is expected in that job role. 11. Prepare not to ask the same question like a parrot to every candidate unless you have valid reason. 12. Prepare not to get carried away by natural masks people wear to make impressions (psychometrics help in the unmasking process). Right person for the right job is a difficult choice without getting to know the inner mind of the candidates. People mask their behavior all the time and more so during interviews. Selecting people for technical skills or knowledge alone does not guarantee success. Use the latest cutting tools in behavioral sciences to get a thorough understanding of the attitudes, thinking styles, core competencies and personality patterns before you make the costly decision to hire.

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Caught on Camera (You are on Corporate Camera!!!!)

With the latest technological boom, organizations today are exploring newer horizons even in the way they interview their job candidates. Just check this latest technological trend to hit the Human Resource Circuit: Video Conferencing Many organizations are now following the trend of conducting interviews through video conferencing (VC) and industry experts are confirming that this trend is catching on rapidly. A Camera-Friendly Approach
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Industry experts believe that video-conferencing is just as helpful as conducting a face-to-face interview. There is a state of the art video conferencing facility to interview outstation candidates or local candidates who cannot come down for personal interviews due to time constraints And if you thought that only junior level employees are being interviewed through this process, think again! Most of the VC interviews have been with senior candidates. However, from a holistic perspective, interviewing senior candidates through this process has helped reduce the time lost due to travel thereby cutting short the interview process to a large extent.

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Auditioning for a job!!! The concept of interviewing through video conferencing is catching up. It works better as compared to a telephonic interview. I once interviewed a candidate on the phone and he sounded perfect for the job and I was quite taken by his vocabulary. But when I met him in person, he could not hold the conversation properly and that s when I realized that the person I spoke to and the person who was standing in front of me were two different individuals altogether. So I rather take a VC interview as compared to a telephonic. One can also estimate the candidate s overall personality to an extent and at least gauge what the person is capable of by his/her face value. The immediate advantages of a VC interview are cost saving and reduction of cyclical time particularly in case of rejections. It s a waste of time and money to call outstation candidates for face-to-face interviews from different corners of the country and then reject them.

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Tough Shoot But just like most good things in life, VC also has its own share of limitations. One can face a lot of technical issues like losing feed in between the interview, bad picture and sound quality, which hampers the interview session. To assess the softer aspects of a candidate, face-to-face interviews result in better evaluation. The behavioral patterns of the candidate, his/her body language and gestures, fluency in communication since most of the time the interviewer and the interviewee are a little confused and oblivious towards the functioning of such a process, are certain factors difficult for the employer to determine. The candidate may put up an act during the interview and that the interviewer might not get the right picture. It may be the closest one can come to a face-to face meeting but then it s not the same. But experts confirm that the pros far surpass the cons. VC interviews are here to stay. Companies today are exploring this new concept to the widest of their possibilities. So next time, you go for an interview, put on your best suit, look good, speak well and if you see cameras around you, act natural as your future employer might be watching you.

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Hiring the Right Fit:

Getting the right person for the job is the most difficult task that many employers (esp. the HR professionals) face today. The secret of hiring the correct candidate is identifying the right fit between the individual, job-role and the company. Here comes the role of assessments. Assessments are crucial for right-fit hiring at every conceivable sourcing point including campus hiring, consultants, employee referrals, job fairs etc. Assessment is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs. It is a selection tool used both fresher s and experienced employees. Assessment tools are recognized universally as good hiring mechanisms since the whole process of designing and delivering them is based on the specific requirements of a company.

How Assessments are Planned?? First a detailed study of the job role is carried out to map the skill sets required to perform that job efficiently. Then specific tests are recommended to test the skills identified and customized to the level of competency required. This helps in pinpointing the exact candidates who would perfectly fit in a role and perform efficiently. IT and BPO sectors are the major industries which employ assessment tools, but other sectors like BFSI, engineering, FMCG, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, Public Sector Units and education also use assessments. The Tools the usage of the assessment tools depends on the nature of the industry/job and the number of recruitments happening. Usually foundation level tests like communication, analytical and numerical assessments are common across industries. Functional and domain tests, English language tests, technology tests are common in IT and BPO sectors. These tests measure the job-readiness of a candidate and ensure recruits have a basic aptitude to perform in any given job or industry. Apart from these tests there are many other assessment tools used to measure interests, skills, personality, and values of individuals. Assessment of behavioral skills, competency assessment tools and psychometric tests are the most popular assessment tools used to identify the right candidate for the job requirement. Candidates are generally bunched into two categories- fresher s and experienced- while framing assessments. At the fresher level, tests on foundation skills and a basic level of technical/domain/functional skills are used while evaluation of experienced candidates is on the technical, domain and functional levels and psychometrics and behavioral tests as expertise and personality is more important at these levels.

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Assessments are evolving everyday and constant innovations are happening in the testing tools and their delivery. Today with the advent of technology many of the assessment tools have become online. Companies find it more efficient to employ online tests for IQ analysis or psychometric tests thus moving out of laboursome and time consuming classroom techniques. Also for assessing behavioral skills of candidates hiring managers do not travel to meet them. Even managers from overseas are able to connect and review their potential candidates body language and thus make better judgment of the person through video-conferencing. Critical assessments like voice evaluations are now done in innovative ways like telephonic and automated evaluation modes. On the test delivery part, online testing engines provide companies with a varied choice set. Advanced and dedicated online testing centers provide one-stop-shop for recruitments integrating online testing terminals with group discussion and interview rooms to provide a single registration to hire window. These centers include features like automated proctoring and advanced biometrics.

According to Industry sources reasons to use pre-employment assessments:

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2 of 3 new hires will disappoint in the first year. 2 of 3 employees would rather work elsewhere. 95 of 100 applicants will "exaggerate" to get a job. Most hiring decisions are made in haste - during the first five minutes of an interview. Turnover costs for every departing employee. 80 percent of employee turnover is avoidable. We want employees who are dependable.

Top 10 Practices in Knowledge Management

Managing Internal Best Practices and communicating them throughout a company. The first three practices detail how companies create forums for exchanging ideas, the next two focuses on aligning knowledge management with strategies and the final five focuses on best practice identification.

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1- Involve high-level executives in best practice forums to maximize transfer of good ideas throughout the company.

2- Establish multi-functional teams to identify best practices and increase employee buy-in for initiatives.

3- Create regular forums for best practice sharing to create a culture

4- Develop an evaluation system that clearly links best practice initiatives to corporate business goals and priorities.

5- Adopt a systematic approach to ensure knowledge management.

6- Archive personnel profiles to identify internal sources of knowledge and competitive intelligence. 7- Recognize internal experts to encourage sharing of best practices at all levels.

8- Create a best practice library to guide personal development plans. 9- Store knowledge in databases and intranets to provide greater company access to information.

10- Create profiles of top sellers to encourage others to institute their best practices.

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Top 10 Trends in Employee Management:

The workplace has undergone a sea change, and human resource priorities have now taken centre stage. In a knowledge economy, it is people not capital or market who make all the difference. As talent occupies centre stage in the workplace, managing and retaining manpower is becoming crucial to an organization's success. To achieve this, companies across sectors are focusing on some of the more critical HR practices. We identify 10 such trends: Leadership Development Creating a pipeline of leadership talent is key to a business' future growth. It is imperative for the top level of an organization to make leadership talent management a priority, and put its money into long-term plans, as opposed to short-term ones. "Companies including Hindustan Unilever, Procter and Gamble and GlaxoSmithKline have been able to withstand attrition in key executives because they have always invested in developing leaders, . Experts say succession planning should not be seen in isolation, but as part of overall organizational development.

Work-life Balance No company or employee has found the Holy Grail of balancing work and life, but that is a work in progress. However, multinationals, information technology (IT) and IT enabled services (ITeS) companies have been able to promote the balance between career, family and leisure-time better. Other sectors have also been increasingly promoting a work-life balance. Interestingly, most companies use benefits such as flexible timings, telecommuting, crche facilities and concierge services as an attraction and retention strategy. Experts say companies should see the work-life balance as a business proposition since progressive companies carry business forward with employees and families. Inclusion and Diversity An inclusive and diverse workforce is the future of the workplace. Therefore, companies are investing both time and resources in ensuring that all age groups are comfortable working together. Organizations have also been focusing on making workplaces more representative. In most of the companies gender diversity has become a critical area of focus. Diversity is a business imperative since it brings diverse skills, ideas and approach to an organization.

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Health and wellness The work culture at globalized workplaces involves long working hours, frequent travel, multitasking and tight deadlines and all this often leaves employees mentally and physically stressed. Employees are increasingly grappling with lifestyle-related diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol, which can be checked by regular monitoring and a healthy lifestyle. Companies have begun to realize that healthy employees contribute to higher efficiency and productivity. Apart from medical benefits, companies are also offering yoga classes and health camps and have doctors on campus. Right Skilling Right skilling, or matching jobs with a particular level of training rather than hiring over skilled workers, is gaining currency. Companies use this strategy to tide over a manpower supply crunch and to broaden their talent base. We don't need an ITian to supervise a car maker's shop floor or a management graduate from a premier business school to sell soaps, which largely has been the case. When we have an over-qualified employee, it is very difficult to meet her aspiration levels and, therefore, the chances of the employee moving on to something more challenging are higher. Managing Solid Citizens "Solid citizens" are the second-rung performers who make up 50-60% of employees in any organization. They are the backbone of any company. Although they contribute significantly to the company's overall performance, they don't have the potential to become leaders. Unfortunately, most organizations focus on the 15-20% key talent at the expense of solid citizens. Organizations which neglect their solid citizens are doing this at their own peril, say experts. Unlike star performers who are potential leaders, and therefore more likely to move out of an organization faster, this group provides stability and bench strength to an organization. Experts say companies need to take a fresh look at solid citizens and invest time and resources in managing and developing this group. Instant Rewards Recognizing and rewarding performers is one of the most effective tools to attract and retain the right talent. Companies are looking at rewards systems more seriously, and are adopting total rewards practices that include compensation in both cash and kind. Apart from lifestyle perquisites such as a house, a car or a club membership, profit-linked incentives, deferred gratuity, and wealth-building programs in the form of stock options
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and soft loans, companies are also including work-life balance programs; competency pay packages where niche skills are compensated; and career opportunities, such as overseas assignments, new projects, etc., to reward staff. These rewards can be tailored to suit the top performers' aspirations to achieve maximum effect. Measuring human capital Evaluation of performance plays a key role, not just in rewarding an individual employee, but also in setting performance benchmarks. And hence, the need for a fair and transparent performance management system. A strong performance analysis helps make human resources both efficient and effective. In today's business environment, where the focus is on increasing performance, companies must have robust systems to identify performers so that the best performers get identified, recognized and duly rewarded. Managing Aspirations As aspirations of organizations grow, so do those of employees. And, with the changing lifestyles and profiles of the workforce, personal and professional aspirations of employees are not just varied, but are increasingly on the rise. "Since competitive advantage depends on competent people, knowing what employees aspire for could just be the way to have an edge over competitors," Experts say people as well as organizations have aspirations, and when the two get aligned, achieving business goals becomes easier. Companies should be clear about goals of individuals as well as of the organization, and the role each needs to play. The firm should also communicate the goals, and have robust and reliable processes to execute them.

360 Degrees Feedback Finally, recognizing the need to make performance appraisal systems more effective, an increasing number of companies are using the 360 degrees or multi-rater feedback process. Unlike the traditional appraisal system, which gives one-dimensional feedback, this one allows an employee to give feedback to her reporting manager, peers, direct reports and others. Multi-rater feedback not only reduces the risk of biased perceptions, but also gives you a holistic view from all the stakeholders within the company. While most companies started using this system as a means for performance appraisal, most of them now use the 360 degrees feedback system to identify the learning and development needs of employees.
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Recruitment:
Recruitment is a logical step in the staffing process. Recruitment is the process of creating huge pool of potential candidates. It attracts the prospective employees and stimulates them to apply for job.

RECENT TREND IN RECRUITMENT: 1- Outsourcing 2- Poaching/ Raiding 3- E-Recruitment

1- Outsourcing:
The HR processes are being outsourced from more than a decade now. A company may draw required personnel from outsourcing firms. The outsourcing firms help the organization by the initial screening of the candidates according to the needs of the organization and creating a suitable pool of talent for the final selection by the organization. Outsourcing firms develop their human resource pool by employing people for them and make available personnel to various companies as per their needs. In turn, the outsourcing firms or the intermediaries charge the organizations for their services.

Advantages: 1. Company need not plan for human resources much in advance. 2. Value creation, operational flexibility and competitive advantage 3. turning the management's focus to strategic level processes of HRM 4. Company is free resumes/candidates. from salary negotiations, weeding the unsuitable

5. Company can save a lot of its resources and time

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2- Poaching/Raiding:
Buying talent (rather than developing it) is the latest mantra being followed by the organizations today. Poaching means employing a competent and experienced person already working with another reputed company in the same or different industry; the organization might be a competitor in the industry. A company can attract talent from another firm by offering attractive pay packages and other terms and conditions, better than the current employer of the candidate. But it is seen as an unethical practice and not openly talked about. Indian software and the retail sector are the sectors facing the most severe brunt of poaching today. It has become a challenge for human resource managers to face and tackle poaching, as it weakens the competitive strength of the firm.

3- E-recruitment:
It is the process of personnel recruitment using electronic resources, in particular the internet. Companies and recruitment agents have moved much of their recruitment process online so as to improve the speed by which job candidates can be matched with live vacancies. Using database technologies, and online job advertising boards and search engines, employers can now fill posts in a fraction of the time previously possible. Using internet prospective applicants could search for positions in which they were interested. Contact with employers directly is viable. Feasibility of email overruled the use of telephone, fax or mail and the companies started accepting application through email. Today Organizations have their own sites or job postings are given in the placement sites. Again the candidates can visit the sites, post resume, and contact the company directly without any delay. All these are just one click away.

E-Recruiting Methods:
Methods of e-recruitment are many, among those the important ones areJob boards: These are the places where the employers post jobs and search for candidates. Candidates become aware of the vacancies. Employer web sites: These sites can be of the company owned sites, or a site developed by various employers. For an example, Directemployers.com is the first cooperative, employer-owned e-recruiting consortium formed by Direct Employers Association. It is a nonprofit organization formed by the executives from leading U.S corporations. Press release by Recruiters Network (February 20, 2003) showed the site has 98 members approximately 45 percent of which are Fortune 500 companies. Professional websites: These are for specific professions, skills and not general in nature. For an example, for HR jobs Human Resource Management sites to be visited like www.shrm.org. The professional associations will have their own site or society.

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Advantages:
Cost efficient: Advertisements in internet when compared to newspaper, magazines, and employment agencies is considerably cheap. As in the other sources continuously one has to revise the advertisement, for example a company wanted their ad to appear on every Sunday for a month thus was suppose to pay for four advertisements. But for internet it is not applicable. Time saving device: Time to deliver; to communicate is minimized by this. Response is direct and immediate without any delay. Beforehand the postal services, fax was one way communication and was time consuming. Phones provided two way communications but resume management, communicating worldwide were not possible. Widens the search: In the era of globalization the reach cannot be restricted at one place. It provides global reach that also within a fraction of second. Truly the process supports the definition of recruitment by creating a vast pool of potential candidates. Provides clarity: Advertisements in employment news, other newspapers, magazines will have word limit, thus sometimes is misinterpreted. For an example a company advertisement announced vacancy for computer skilled person which was interpreted as MIS job which was rather a job for computer skilled receptionist. The advertisement was not clear enough to explain the full profile. In internet the word limitation is not there, the idea, opinion, profile can be expressed as anyone like. Scope for better match: Information in detail is provided with clarity therefore suitable candidate match is possible. The search is widened link with other websites are possible, these attracts the candidates and after the job profile matches, the candidates apply. Standardization: The information of the candidates is collected in a standard format. Besides collecting the data it also consolidates information received from various sources. Reservoir: It acts as the reservoir of information. From the job profile to candidate profile is available along with past applicant data. Lessen paper work: As the data collection, filing, administrative work are done electronically thus paper work or documentation has been lessened.

Modern Trends of E-Recruitment:

Speedy communication: Company and the prospective employee can communicate with each other via the blogs. Thus blogs, podcasts, vodcasts are being considered a tool of erecruitment. No more the process can be blamed for being one way communication like mails, faxes only being speedy as done electronically. Podcasts are the services of digital media files. Vodcasts are the video podcasts.

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y Candidate s preference: History states that employers had the privilege to be

selective in hiring process, especially in screening resumes but were not always fair. Because of the time constraint it was not possible to go through all the applications. Today the candidates can choose their employers as not only the financial state is known to them but also the culture is known. Applying for the Organization will no more be influenced only by the image.

y Search engine advertisement: Print ad is phasing out due the popularity of search
engine ads. Pay-per-click is not only convenient but also more attractive.

y RSS feed: Job boards are embracing RSS feed. Hot jobs, Google deserves special
mention. Google offers one to upload the jobs on Google Base even when one doesn t have their own site. RSS can be read using software RSS reader . It is a family of web feed formats use to publish frequently updated works. Such as blog entries, news headlines in a standard format.

Challenges:
The major faced by the HR in recruitment are:
y

Adaptability to globalization The HR professionals are expected and required to keep in tune with the changing times, i.e. the changes taking place across the globe. HR should maintain the timeliness of the process

Lack of motivation Recruitment is considered to be a thankless job. Even if the organization is achieving results, HR department or professionals are not thanked for recruiting the right employees and performers.

Process analysis The immediacy and speed of the recruitment process are the main concerns of the HR in recruitment. The process should be flexible, adaptive and responsive to the immediate requirements. The recruitment process should also be cost effective.

Strategic prioritization The emerging new systems are both an opportunity as well as a challenge for the HR professionals. Therefore, reviewing staffing needs and prioritizing the tasks to meet the changes in the market has become a challenge for the recruitment professionals.

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Job Analysis:
Job Analysis refers to various methodologies for analyzing the requirements of a job. Job analysis is the process used to collect information about the duties, responsibilities, necessary skills, outcomes, and work environment of a particular job.

Strategic job analysis

Strategic job analysis involves attempting to identify the relevant tasks, behaviors, and KSAO s for a job as they are predicted to be in the future. This Approach represents a change from descriptive job analysis (with a focus on describing the job as it currently exists) to predictive job analysis (which focuses on how the job is expected to be in the future). The need for strategic job analysis is becoming more apparent because of the dynamic nature of modern-day organizations (with a greater reliance on rapidly changing project teams) and as organizations try to hire, train, and appraise the performance of new positions.

Personality-oriented job analyses

The use of personality as a predictor in selection is becoming more and more common in Today s organizations. Countless meta-analyses have demonstrated that a number of broad personality traits (which are enduring styles of thinking, feeling, and acting that characterize individuals), namely conscientiousness and integrity, are associated with high performance on the job. There have been several efforts to identify personality requirements of jobs, with examples including the NEO Job Profiler and the PersonalityRelated Position Requirements Form. Both of these approaches attempt to identify relevant personality dimensions for a particular job. The incorporation of personality into job-analytic efforts is an important step toward better description of jobs, and organizations should continue to implement such approaches to benefit their personnel practices.

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Job Evaluation:
Job evaluation is a formal and systematic approach to analyzing jobs and categorizing them in regard to their relative worth in an organization. Job evaluations are usually based on compensation factors (skill set needed to perform the job, working conditions and job duties) rather than on the employee

The organizations are moving away from using job descriptions in evaluating jobs. One emerging approach is the use of a structured questionnaire as input to a computerized job evaluation system. Many organizations had set objectives of simplifying job evaluation and reducing operating costs had developed such questionnaires. It is clear that developing a well-designed, structured, computerized questionnaire is very demanding, and that it requires a greater initial investment than writing job descriptions. However, organizations that opted for a questionnaire consider that the advantages significantly offset both the difficulty and the initial cost.

Advantages:
The reported advantages of structured computerized questionnaires include the following:
y

y y y

They have the support of pay equity experts and organizations responsible for enforcing pay equity principles: a well-designed, structured questionnaire can ensure that all the job content of female- and male-dominated groups is made visible and valued properly. The collection of job content information and the evaluation of that job content can be done simultaneously. The time required administering the questionnaire varied from 90 minutes to 3 hours, compared with two or three days for writing job descriptions. The demands on a job evaluation committee are significantly reduced, except for the conversion to the new system. A committee is still needed, however, to validate the results and oversee the management of the system afterward. Training is reduced significantly, since it is focused mainly on the needs of classification specialists.

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Hay Method of Job Evaluation: The Hay Method of Position Evaluation is the most widely used method of work measurement and role valuation in the world. It is used by more than 5,000 private and public sector organizations for the evaluation of all types and levels of jobs. A Towers Perrin study revealed that 75% of all large private sector organizations in Europe use Hay evaluation for some of their jobs. Similar data could be developed for North America The focus of the job evaluation process using the Hay Method is on the nature and the requirements of the job itself, not on the skills, educational background, personal characteristics, or the current salary of the person holding the job. The Hay Method is based on the idea that jobs can be assessed in terms of the knowledge required to do the job, the thinking needed to solve the problems commonly faced the responsibilities assigned, and the working conditions associated with the job. The Hay Method is comprised of four "Guide Charts" which are used to define each factor and to provide quantitative measures, which form the basis for evaluation. The four factors used by Hay are as follows Know-How: This Guide Chart measures the total of every kind of knowledge and skill, however acquired, needed for acceptable job performance. It consists of three dimensions: 1- Practical procedures and knowledge 2- Specialized techniques 3- Learned skills; Problem Solving This Guide Chart measures the thinking required in the job by considering two dimensions: 1- The environment in which the thinking takes place 2- The challenge presented by the thinking to be done. Accountability This Guide Chart measures the relative degree to which the job, performed competently, can affect the end results of the organization or of a unit within the organization. It reflects the level of decision-making and influence of the job through consideration, in the following order of importance, of:

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1- The nature of the controls that limit or extend the decision-making or influence of the job. 2- The immediacy of the influence of the job on a unit or function of the organization 3- The magnitude of the unit or function most clearly affected by the job. Working Conditions: This Guide Chart measures the conditions under which the job is performed by considering: 1- Physical Effort-which measures the degree of physical fatigue that, results from the combination of intensity, duration, and frequency of any kind of physical activity required in the job. 2- Physical Environment-which measures the physical discomfort or the risk of accident or ill health which results from the combination of intensity, duration, and frequency of exposure, in the job, to unavoidable physical and environmental factors. 3- Sensory Attention, which measures the intensity, duration, and frequency of the demand in the job for concentration using one or more of the five senses. 4- Mental Stress, which measures the degree of such things as tension or anxiety which result from the combination of intensity, duration, and frequency of exposure to factors, inherent in the work process or environment, which would typically cause stress to someone reasonably suited to the job. By focusing on the important aspects of the content of each job, the end results which each is expected to achieve, and the conditions under which the work is performed, the Hay Method provides a vehicle for systematically assessing the relationships among the various positions and determining their relative value.

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Companies Implementing these Trends:

In Pakistan the companies that are mainly focusing on these latest trends includes Nestle Pakistan, Coke, McDonald s and Servis Group of Industries. The latest trends in HR that are being followed in Pakistan includes Technological changes, Structural changes in an organization that have produced improved results, Market Globalization, 360 Degree Performance Appraisal which is being widely used all over the world and lastly the radical changes bought in Interviewing of candidates made the employers capable of reaching the best of the best employees.

 Nestle Pakistan being one of the most influential company in Pakistan is amongst the first companies to adopt the latest HR trends in Pakistan. The in time updating of the technologies in the company have improved their production levels very much which helps them to give more supply to the consumers increasing the availability of their products. The adaption of the new interviewing styles has helped the employers to hire the best employees for the organization that are willing to help achieve company s goals.

 Coke has recently achieved their highest selling levels and becoming the market leader after a tenure of ten years leaving behind their main competitor Pepsi and this was because of their innovative advertising and of course ensuring to produce better quality products than before to their customers. The global market advantage that Coke had, helped its product to be better and better in sales. The 360 degree appraising method is also used effectively by Coke to ensure there are no loose ends in the company. Coke had been the worldwide leader in sales and now it is also in Pakistan.

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 McDonald s the well recognized eating brand had to make certain changes in their tastes and menus so that they could be accepted in Pakistan, their sense of marketing themselves and training the local people and then employing them through the latest interviewing style helped them gain the trust of the customers. The change in the organizational structure also helped McDonald s in achieving the targets. The training session included the use of latest technologies that Mc Donald s possessed from cooking style to the cash receiving.

 Servis Group of industries expanded rapidly in the last 5 years from shoe
manufacturing to tyres & tubes to pharmaceuticals. There latest technology equipment and change in the organizational structure were the reasons that assisted them in not only diversifying their productivity but also achieving better profits. The 360 degree appraising method is not only used in the higher hierarchy but also in the lower level so that there is no problem in finding the problem areas.

These are some of the Pakistani Companies that are implementing some of the latest trends in HR to ensure they are making the right decisions and in the right time before it leads to disasters.

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Conclusion:
Human resource (HR) experts agree that their profession is coming under increasing scrutiny, that change is imperative, that change will entail challenges and that if faces the risk of obsolescence if it fails to meet these challenges. HR professionals also agree that the HR function is being transformed by such forces as the globalization of business, technological innovations and the emergence of the knowledge-based workforce. Their examination of the profession reveals a number of unknown dimensions of HR. These include HR's focus, future role, emerging practices, and governance. It may be concluded that the workforce and the workplace will change dramatically, that the HR function will be compelled to change by outside forces, and that it is at a turning point in its ability to manage change.

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