Human Resource Management(For Batch of 2003 and Earlier) - 4

Q. 8 (a) Explain the importance of Career Planning in industry.

Answer 8 (a)
Career planning involves efforts on the part of the organizations to provide avenues for growth to its employees. Certainly this growth should be accompanied by development. The other side of the coin is the role of employees in career planning. It involves effort on the part of employees to clearly think through and decided areas in which they would like to make a career for themselves.

When employees have assessed their career needs and have become aware of organizational career opportunities, the problem is one of alignment. The crucial role has to be played by HRD in ensuring this alignment to build up morale in the organization. A systematic choice of development techniques like training, special assignment, counseling and rotational assignments should be made to ensure this alignment.

Employees are often uncertain as to the type of work that would suit them best. There are a number of evaluation instruments available to determine basic aptitudes. Human Resource Development Managers should be able to guide employees by administering these instruments on them. Employees should also find out whether they are loners or socially active. These exercises with some assistance from HRD Managers should help in career need assessment.

Realizing that employees have definite career needs, organization should chart different career paths. These should be made known to all employees. As every employee wishes to see bright future for himself, these career paths do provide the hope to achieve success.


At certain stage the upward mobility stops for many employees. This is inescapable in view of pyramid organizations structure. This phenomenon is called plateauing. It takes place around the age f 40. Some suggested measures to deal with such employees are:
· Mentors should be assigned measures to deal with such employees are:
Depending on the maturity of such mentors, good results can be achieved in assuaging the hurt feelings of plateaued employees
Additional career ladders could be established to retain some valuable resource.
Giving them importance by assigning them to some important task force or committee.
Assisting them to choose a new career. Some organizations assist their plateau executives to start their own business.

Career path models developed by a large public sector undertaking:
This organization has developed career paths models for the major discipline
· Sales
· Technical services
· Operations
· Engineering
· Aviation
· LPG
· Finance
· Personnel



Q8 (b) “Career Planning and Succession Planning are very vital to meet the challenges thrown by the forces of globalization and liberalization.” Explain.

Answer 8 (b)

Career planning and succession planning is very vital to meet the challenges due to globalization and liberalization.

Market is open and vast in India and lot of professionally managed companies are entering the market, giving people a lot of scope in enhancing the career with very good and managed companies. No longer a hierarchical an autocratic organizations where no career planning and succession planning is performed.

Lot of recruitment and training cost is incurred due to lack or poor planning of career.
People do not see their career drafted and planned by organizations. HR only worries about the present state. No training and induction on work is provided continuously keep the gaps closed for all employees. Retention is the need of the hour. Talent and knowledge of personnel needs to be kept alive. Corporate environment and congenial atmosphere keeps employees motivated to do work.

Competition in the market to get best suitable candidates keep the HR to retain and curve a need career for the employee.

With globalization and liberalization, working hours and freedom to employees in their work, led to companies looking at the HR policies.

The survey recorded the most important changes in human resources in the different companies from 1991-96.
Virtually all companies starting placing emphasis on the up gradation of managerial and professional skills.
A flatter organizational structure had resulted in fewer levels of hierarchy and enhanced empowerment; empowerment to all categories, from shop floor workers to managers had facilitated decision-making, flexibility, and trust. This had led to improved employee involvement and motivation.
People at the middle levels of management were becoming more participated and result-oriented. On the other hand, decision-making was increasingly being handled at the group level.
In security level among employees had diminished and their sense of responsibility had increased.
There was emphasis on openness and transparency. An improvement in the communication channels within organization had resulted in better interpersonal
Change in recruitment policy had led to the induction of professional with diverse technical, managerial, and academic background.











Q9 (b) What is meant by HRD Audit?

Answer9 (b)

HRD audit is a comprehensive evaluation of the current HRD strategies, structures, systems, styles and skills in context of the short term and long term business plans of the company. It attempts to find out the future HRD needs of the company after assessing the current HRD activities and inputs.

Importance of HRD audit
HRD audit plays a very important role in the working of the organization that can be traced with the help of the following points:

1. It helps to make HR functions business driven: HRD audit is undertaken by most organizations to make HR systems and processes more relevant to business goals. Some companies go in for HRD audit to examine and make changes in the HR function to accompany organizational changes.
2. It tends to take stock of things and to improve HRD for expanding, diversifying and entering into the fast growth phase
3. it helps in promoting professionalism among employees and to switch over to professional management.
4. Multinationals wants to know the reason for lower labor productivity and for improving their HRD strategies in the Indian context and so with the help of HRD audit they want to compare the labor productivity ratio of India with the ratio of other countries as the labor productivity is more and it is cost effective as compared to other countries.
5. HRD audits are also done for the growth and diversification of an organization into new areas.
6. Many organizations took HRD audit as a comprehensive review to their dissatisfaction with one or two subsystems of HRD.
7. Some organization takes HRD audit as a step to recruit new managers and reorient the entire HRD department

Role of HRD audit
The following are some of the favorable consequences of HRD audit:
1. It can get the top management to think in terms of strategic and long term business plans
2. In tends to bring the changes in the styles of the top management.
3. It plays an important role in clarity of HRD department and the role of line managers in HRD
4. It helps in bringing a large amount of improvement in the HRD systems in the form of induction training, career planning, promotion policies etc.
5. It focuses on human resources and human competencies.
6. It promotes better recruitment policies
7. It provides more planning and more cost effective training.
8. It helps 8in strengthening accountability through appraisal system and other mechanism.

So to conclude we can say that there are various reason for initiating HRD audit in a particular organization as it plays a very important role in increasing the work ability of an organization.


Q10 (a) Explain the nature of Human Resource Development. Examine its nature and scope.

Answer10 (a)
Human Resource Development is a process of increasing knowledge, capabilities and positive work attitude of all people working in a business underrating, in other words in can be defined as an organized working experience within a given period of time with the objective of producing the possibility of performance change.

Nature and Scope of Human Resource Development
The dynamic environment of the organizations demand regular updating of job requirements, which is necessary for continuous flow of qualified persons for the changed jobs. Its scope can be understood with the help of following points:
1. Since HRD is made up of dependent parts so the design of the system should also take into consideration its linkage with other departments of the organization.
2. Since HRD is a proactive function so its function is not only to cope with the needs of the organization but also to anticipate and act on these needs in a continuous and planned manner.
3. It aims at developing the capabilities of the line managers so that they can increasingly handle functions like industrial relations, rewards and punishments etc.
4. HRD emphasizes on building a right work culture in the organization that identifies the nature and capabilities of the people working in the organization.
5. Its main aim is to motivate the people though job enrichment, participative management etc.
6. HRD also aims at the better utilization of human resources which leads to an improved performance which in turn leads job satisfaction and morale boosting.

So we can say that HRD has given us the problem solving techniques and more committed work force.

Scope of HRD in India
HR being the only factor that can facilitate effective use of science and technology it can help the developing countries like India to attain the goal of molding HR in the right perspective. HRD helps in incorporating high levels of skills and knowledge, which leads to improvement in quality, and reduction of cost of production. HRD also assist in evolving policies which will be useful in generating job satisfaction, career development opportunities etc. The various elements on which HRD system is based are as follows:

v Evolving a system of Human Resources Planning.
v Selection of right people for the right job.
v Imparting proper training based on the principal of learning, teaching basic work skills, motion study and training to foremen.
v Evolving suitable compensation plans
v Evolving a good performance appraisal system.

Many organizations in India have started implementing the HRD programmes and so we can say that HRD programmes have started having its impact on the different organization in India.


Q10 (b) What constitutes Good HR Practices? What is its impact on the organizational performance?

Answer 10 (b)

Any practice that deals with enhancing Competencies, Commitment and Culture building can be considered as HR practice. The practice can take the form of a system, a process, an activity, a norm, a rule and accepted or expected habit, or just a way of doing things. Human resource development has been defined as essentially consisting of three Cs.
Competencies, Commitment and Culture, all three are needed to make an organization function well. Without competencies many task of the organization may not be completed, cost effective or with optimal efficiency. Without commitment they may not be done at all or are done at such a slow pace that they loose relevance. Without an appropriate culture, it is impossible for an organization to live. Its utility comes to the fore specially an organization is in trouble.

Competencies are not merely related to single individual instead they can also relate to pairs of individuals which includes departments, task forces, team and other formal or informal groups and/or teams that may come into existence from time to time on a temporary, permanent to semi- permanent basis. Competencies may also be related to the organization as a whole. They may also deal with various areas and functions. Technology, organization and management; behavioral; conceptual; etc they may include a variety of skills and ranging from simple awareness; knowledge and information to highly sophisticated and complex ones; attitudes values and habits also become competencies though they more often deal with patterns of working.

Developing commitment has a lot to do with motivation work habits; commitment is indicated by work effort zeal involvement and enjoyment of the work on the job. Commitment building should be continuous and on going process. And should be at a level of individuals, dyads, teams, the work unit and the entire organization. Various HR systems process and activities contribute to developing commitment among employees at the more visible level, rewards, recognition and similar interventions can lead to greater culture, the behavior of the seniors towards their subordinates etc influence commitment.

A string culture can have lasting effect and provide sustenance to an organization; it gives a sense of pride and identity to individuals and teams. It enhances predictability, reduces transactional cost and also contributes to commitment. However, the culture and values associated with an organization needs to be appropriate and well articulate the instruments of culture building includes organizational climate surveys, total quality management interventions, value clarification exercises, vision-mission workshops, organizational –renewal exercises and various other organizational development interventions.

Good HR practices are those that contribute to one or more of three Cs. They need to be identified and implemented cost-effectively, reviewing and revising them from time to time to enhance their effectiveness and appropriateness.


HRD and Organizational effectiveness

HRD practices enhance the internal capabilities of an organization to deal with current or future challenges to be faced by an organization. Good HR practice also energizes people. The commitment and motivation built through good HR practice can lead to hard work and can have a multiplier effect on the conversion of human capital to organizational capital. The culture so built can help to create a sustainable and lasting capability of the organization to manage itself and not only cope with the external turbulence but even encash on the opportunities offered by the changing environment.
The HRD tools if effectively used can create a conducive HRD culture and HRD learning processes. HRD processes are intermediate variables and affect the HRD outcomes. They are less easily observable and are softer dimension that indicates the effectiveness of HRD tools. HRD process variables include role clarity on a continuous basis, working planning, awareness of competencies and a more directed efforts to build them, better communication and the practice of HRD values like openness, trust, pro-action authenticity, autonomy, confrontation etc. Such HRD culture and processes can result in more observable and quantifiable outcomes which include a higher level of competencies of the employees, better utilization of human resources through better developed roles, higher work commitment, work motivation, greater team work and synergy etc. the HRD outcome can influence the organization’s business goals which may be in terms of higher productivity, cost reduction, more profits, better image and more satisfied customers and stake holders.