HRM Final Exam-1.doc
- 1. MICROLINK INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS COLLEGE (MBA PROGRAM) FINAL EXAM FOR HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (50%) TIME ALLOWED: 2:00 HRS Instruction I: Attempt all of the Following Questions in the Separate Answer sheet Provided. 1. List out the objectives of human resources management functions. 10 marks The primary objective of HRM is to ensure the availability of competent and willing workforce to the organization as well as to meet the needs, aspirations, values and dignity of individuals/ employees and having due concern for the socio-economic problems of the community and the country. The human resource management’s objectives may be influenced by organizational, individual and social goals/objectives. Thus far, the objectives of the HRM function can be listed as under: i. Facilitating achievement of organizational goals; ii. Effective and efficient deployment of human skills, abilities, and knowledge; iii. Providing inspired, motivated, and trained employees; iv. Communicating HRM practices and policies to employees; v. Providing scope for creativity and innovation to employees; vi. Enhancing job satisfaction to employees; vii. Improving the quality of professional life in the organization; viii. Creating healthy work relations in the organization;
- 2. ix. Operating on ethical policies; x. Complying with statutory requirements; xi. To work towards corporate social responsibility (CSR); and xii. Managing change. 2. List and explain the procedures to prepare human resources plan. 10 marks Human resource planning is a process through which the right candidate for the right job is ensured. For conducting any process, the foremost essential task is to develop the organizational objective to be achieved through conducting the said process. The steps in human resource planning are presented herewith. Analyzing Organizational Objectives: The objective to be achieved in future in various fields such as production, marketing, finance, expansion and sales gives the idea about the work to be done in the organization. Inventory of Present Human Resources: From the updated human resource information storage system, the current number of employees, their capacity, performance and potential can be analyzed. To fill the various job requirements, the internal sources (i.e., employees from within the organization) and external sources (i.e., candidates from various placement agencies) can be estimated. Forecasting Demand and Supply of Human Resource: The human resources required at different positions according to their job profile are to be estimated. The available internal and external sources to fulfill those requirements are also measured. There should be proper matching of job description and job specification of one particular work, and the profile of the person should be suitable to it. Estimating Manpower Gaps:
- 3. Comparison of human resource demand and human resource supply will provide with the surplus or deficit of human resource. Deficit represents the number of people to be employed, whereas surplus represents termination. Extensive use of proper training and development programme can be done to upgrade the skills of employees. Formulating the Human Resource Action Plan: The human resource plan depends on whether there is deficit or surplus in the organization. Accordingly, the plan may be finalized either for new recruitment, training, interdepartmental transfer in case of deficit of termination, or voluntary retirement schemes and redeployment in case of surplus. Monitoring, Control and Feedback: It mainly involves implementation of the human resource action plan. Human resources are allocated according to the requirements, and inventories are updated over a period. The plan is monitored strictly to identify the deficiencies and remove it. Comparison between the human resource plan and its actual implementation is done to ensure the appropriate action and the availability of the required number of employees for various jobs. 3. Explain how to conduct need assessment for training and development. 10marks A training needs assessment identifies individuals' current level of competency, skill or knowledge in one or more areas and compares that competency level to the required competency standard established for their positions or other positions within the organization. Overall it includes:- Identify the Business Need Conducting this analysis allows an organization to focus its efforts on areas of training that are necessary for employees to successfully carry out the organization's goals, make optimum use of the company's training dollars and motivate employees by contributing to their career development. The person conducting the training needs assessment must clearly understand the overall organization and department goals and priorities, so he or she can properly assess the
- 4. training options and identify which training opportunities will contribute most to the overall success of employees, the business units and the organization as a whole. Perform a Gap Analysis Performing a gap analysis involves assessing the current state of a department's or employee's performance or skills and comparing this to the desired level. The difference between the existing state and the desired state is the gap. There are many different methods for conducting a gap analysis. The method for identifying the gap will depend on the organization and the situation. Depending on the situation, it may be helpful to use one or more gap analysis methods. Some gap analysis assessment tools are HR records, Individual interviews, Focus groups, Surveys, questionnaires and self-assessments and Observation. Assess Training Options The gap analysis generates a list of training options and needs. Now the list can be assessed based on the goals and priorities of the organization, both currently and in the future. Here are factors to consider when determining if training is a viable option. Solution to a problem, Cost, Return on investment, Legal compliance, Time, Remaining competitive and else Report Training Needs and Recommend Training Plans The next step is to report the findings from the training needs assessment, and make recommendations for short- and long-term training plans and budgets, starting with the most critical priorities from the training option list. If there is a timeline for any of the trainings, such as a deadline to satisfy training obligations for legal compliance purposes, then they should be budgeted and scheduled accordingly. The report should include a summary of why and how the assessment was completed, the methods used and people involved, and the training recommendations with a general timeline. 4. List and explain the responsibility/role of HR manager in an organization? (10 marks)
- 5. HR manager is a guide, philosopher, friend, path-finder, path identifier, problem solver, competence maker of the human resource. Ulrich (1997) has developed a model of multiple roles for HR professionals who focus ranges from long-term strategic to short-term operational, and activities range from managing processes (HR tools and systems) to managing people. Whatever the role HR manager plays, it helps growth and development of the people at work and organization as well. Hence, the various roles played and responsibilities by the HR manager in an organization could be. Recruiting and hiring – It is a process of discovering sources of manpower and employing effective measures for attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate the selection of an efficient working force in an organization. Training and development – These processes help in enhancing and enabling the capacities of people to build their strengths and confidence in order for them to deliver more effectively. Competency development – Competency is a cluster of related knowledge, skills, and attitude that affect a major part of one’s job. It can be improved by means of training and development. Organization development – It is an organization-wide effort to increase its effectiveness and viability, and move towards growth. Communication – It is an activity that involves conveying meaningful information. At all times, the HR must convey all relevant information to the employees. Performance management – It focuses on improving the performance of the organization, employees, and various other services. Employee relations – This is a concept that works towards bettering the relations among the employees, as well as between the employee and the management. Coaching, mentoring, and counseling – It is a practice of supporting an individual and helping him overcome all his issues in order to perform better. Policy recommendation – Policy recommendations help to streamline management practices and reduce employee grievances. For example, a manager who is more than 35
- 6. years and, who possesses a minimum experience of 7 years, is entitled to receive the benefits stated in the company’s administrative manual. Wages, salary, and compensation benefits – These benefits are provided to the employees to keep them motivated towards their work and the organization. Talent management and employee engagement – It is a management concept that works towards retaining the talent by engaging the person in a way which would further the organization’s interest. Leadership development – This activity refers to enhancing the quality and efficiency of a leader in an organization. Team building – It focuses on bringing out the best in a team to ensure development of an organization, and the ability to work together closely to achieve goals. Networking and partnering – It is also important to build relations with the external stakeholders, including the customers and suppliers for better business. 5. Because of continuous changing socio-economic, technological and political conditions, the human resource managers of the future shall have to face more problems in the management of labor. The human resource managers of today may find themselves obsolete in the future due to changes in environment if they do not update themselves. List some of the important challenges which might be faced by the managers in the management of people in business and industry in the future? 10 marks Some of the challenges are as follows: HR Collaboration with Line Managers: - HRM function is a joint responsibility for all managers within the enterprise i.e. both HR or staff and line managers must be involved. HR professionals should become a partner with senior and line managers in strategy execution, helping to move planning from the conference room to the market place (Ulrich, 1998). B. HR Exhibition of Expertise in the Organization of Work:- As trained administrators, the HR professionals will have to explore and design means of carrying out HR functions in a better, faster and cheaper ways to reduce costs. Beside cost reduction, efficiency and quality have to be maintained in service delivery.
- 7. HR as Vanguard of Employees’ Welfare: - The HR professionals will be held accountable for ensuring that employees show commitment and add value to the business of the organization irrespective of attending to their social needs. HR as an Innovative Agent:- The HR professionals must work towards initiating change that are focussed on creating high performing teams, reduce cycle time for innovation or implementing new technology. Upgrading the Skills of HR Professional: - To be able to cope with the global challenges and be relevant in the current century, the quality of HR staff need to be improved. The enterprise need people who know the business, understand the theory and practice of HR. HR Creating Value in the Organization:- To meet the increased expectations of the organisation, the HR professionals must articulate their role in terms of creating value. They must measure their effectiveness in terms of business competitiveness and success rather than employee comfort or satisfaction. Business Challenges and Globalization:- Due to globalization, enterprise now face business challenges which require the organization to build new capabilities. This innovation has created opportunity for the HR professionals to play leadership role in assisting the organization to meet the competitive challenges. The Effect of Information Technology in Workplaces:- Information technology has made the world smaller and faster through internet. Ideas and large amount of information now move freely and constantly. The challenge for the HR Managers is to make good use of what information technology offers and to make it to be a viable productive part of work setting and tool. Multi-Skilling Process:- The pace of change in the HR environment in this era of globalization will require the HR professionals to be multi-skilled. They must devote more attention to core strategic issues in HR management and be facilitator or change initiators and internal consultant to the organization.
- 8. Assignment cases 1. Job Analysis Guides Reorganization at Bethphage Step-by-step explanation 1. Why job analysis was an essential part of the corporate change process at Bethphage Job analysis was an essential part of the corporate change process at Bethphage organization since it acted in the following ways: Provide a wide view on how the job fits into the fabric of the organization:- Actually this was presented inform of organizational charts and was well-outlined to satisfy the organizational plan for change Use of acceptable job analysis and job design data:- This is because it was sometimes expensive and time-consuming to analyse all the jobs, thus a number of jobs are required to be chosen Provides job description and specification:- This was as an exhibit in the change process since it offered information required in organizing work in the manner that enhance workers to be both productive and satisfied 2. How the process described in the case illustrate the linkage between job analysis and other HR activities Actually, the drivers of sustainable performances show that successful organizations are those which form agility and adaptability in the workforce since that enhances the management to quickly re-deploy employees in response to dynamic demands to bend to the requirements of the organization and to form the capability to take gain of new opportunities as they come in. Employees are more engaged if work is stimulating and when they believe that the employer is indisputably interested in their profession and is able to provide them new career opportunities thus helping them make decisions concerning how to build up their career need to bring benefits for all if it is done right
- 9. The needs analysis refers to a systematic technique for defining the cause of the performance to be less than anticipated thus performance improvement refers to the focus of training thus the trigger for doing needs analysis takes place when real organizational performance is less in comparison to the expected organizational performance thus the organizations carry out an analysis because it is the most accurate analysis to find out existing course of actions 2. Improving Safety and Health at Oneida Silversmiths 1. Discuss how the organizational approach to safety management contributed to the Changes at Oneida. There’s absolutely no doubt that adopting a systematic approach of Safety and health management to Oneida’s contribute many benefits to its performance and productivity improvement and also cost reduction. On this ground their systematic approach of avoiding risks was effective because of the following cases Improved health and safety performance: - Oneida’s Organizational Health and Safety management strategies are much more effective because it reduces the risks associated with work like reducing the number of accidents per 100 full-time workers from 7.3 to 1.0 Injuries. All of the employees will have a clear understanding of how to handle key and risky activities that directly contributes for the reduction of injuries. And lowers the insurance cost of the company. When every worker is clear about the precise protocol to follow and everyone uses the same approach every time, company’s safety management performance will improve. So, Oneida with the right Health and Safety management system in place, Oneida have a clear overview of every work-related risky activity that happens on premises. That helps to have a clear, agreed-upon record of what happened, how it was responded to and what further actions were taken. Reduced cost associated with accidents and incidents: - If Oneida currently has no Health and Safety management system in place; it will be painful to aware of how expensive it can be to control or reduce risks and problems. And also, without a system to track and monitor accidents and incidents, it h will have no formula for reducing the risks faced by its employees. That why
- 10. applying the right health and safety management system helps Oneida to reduce the number of accidents per 100 full-time workers from 7.3 to 1.0. this shows So, in Oneida every time an accident occurs, and if it will not apply the right Health and safety management system, its business will be on the back foot, at the mercy of the consequences like Staff compensation claims that push up the insurance premiums The cost of hiring temporary staff to plug gaps in workforce while the injured workers recover. Each accident and incident will dent staff morale. When workers feel that their employer doesn’t take Health and Safety management seriously, they’ll be less likely to engage with their work. This has a significant knock-on effect when it comes to productivity. As the studies found workplaces with low moral levels. If nothing else gets your attention, consider how low productivity will affect Oneida’s bottom line. Generally, a formal Health and Safety management system will help to reduce the likelihood of incidents and accidents from occurring and this will, in turn, lower the costs of dealing with them. Improve business efficiency: Implementing Health and Safety management system is one of the best ways to improve the efficiency of Oneida’s business because it reduce the number lost-time incidents happened because of work related injury or illness to workers per year from 137 to fewer than 50. This will have a significant effect for Oneida efficiency because: • It reduces the number of sick and ill days that the staff takes without work • Lowers the number of temporary workers that he needs to hire • Increase staff morale and productivity • Reduce training costs (for new and temporary staff)
- 11. Improved efficiency should be a strong incentive for taking action and a Health and Safety management system offers unbeatable advantages compared with having no system or one of limited effectiveness. For these reason strong Health and Safety management system helps to drive down costs in almost every way. By reducing risk, this makes to lower accident and injury rate, helping to avoid the cost of hiring and training temporary workers and having to replace or repair damaged property and equipment. And also reduce the cost of investigating accidents and help to avoid scheduled delays that the company otherwise encounter. Improved public image and PR:- For modern organizations, serious health-related accidents and injuries do become public and can cause irreparable harm to a company’s public image and reputation. Consumers are far less likely to trust companies that don’t take their employee’s health and safety seriously. That directs affects the profitability of the company In case of Oneida putting the right health and safety management system place an OHS management system will have great contribution on the long run on its goodwill. For this reason, valuing the rights of employees to safe and healthy working environment will have significant effect on the company. When you start implementing an OHS management system, you’ll notice that workers’ productivity and morale will improve, employee retention rates will increase, and your organization’s growth will rise. 2. Oneida integrated the engineering and individual approaches to safety management. Identify some examples and discuss why you believe they were successful. One of the Examples of management and individual safety management is a more thorough injury investigation process was instituted, with the manager of the department where the injured employee worked playing a key role. To identifying how and understanding why the accident occurred and what changes were needed to prevent future accidents. On the other hand the engineering part contributed for training of employees who lose work time due to a back injury to attend them training to teach workers how to lift objects and move correctly in order to prevent back injuries before they return to their jobs. Which was seen as the
- 12. Second example As studies shows successful companies with their Health and safety management system tend to have good public image and productivity. Almost Oneida do have the following characteristics that make him successful on his health and safety management system. Top management commitment in monitoring the risky and accidental areas • Functional responsibility for safety and health • Frequent safety inspections and incident reporting • Investigations conducted on all accidents Safety officials who report to top management • Safety professional with formal health and safety training • Formal employee training • Extensive safety communication to employees • Safety and health committee