Emp Relation

7/31/2019 Emp Relation

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Q 1 What are the benefits that an organization enjoys by implementing employee participation

Ans Advantages of Employee Participation

You have now learned what employee participation is. Let us now discuss the advantages ofemployee participation. Employee Participation implies that management of an organisation

advocates employee involvement in execution and improvement of various business processes. It isbeneficial for the organisation in several ways. Companies like IBM, General Foods, TexasInstruments, Procter & Gamble, Ford, Motorola, Honeywell, 3M, and Hewlett-Packard haveemployee participation programmes. Employee participation benefits both the employees and theemployers. The advantages of employee participation are as follows:

Enhanced Employee Performance and Productivity: Employees clearly understand their tasksas there is no ambiguity in their communications with the managers. This helps employees toperform in a better way. Employees are better informed and are able to identify and overcomethe hurdles to productivity.

Enhanced Organisational Excellence and Efficiency: Employee participation reduces the

number of inconsistencies. Knowledge of the tasks enables employees to make intelligentdecisions and this increases the overall efficiency.

Enhanced Employee Commitment: Employees become more dedicated and work towardachieving the objectives of the organisation.

Reduced Absenteeism and Employee Turnover: When employee suggestions are valued andrewarded, the job satisfaction level increases. This helps in retention of employees and reducesabsenteeism.

Reduced Labour Conflicts: Employee participation builds trust and mutual support. Employeesalign their goals with that of the organisation, and conflicts within the organisation reduce.

Improved Communication within the Organisation: Effective communication is essential forbuilding employee participation. Managers develop their communication skills in order to informtheir subordinates of their intentions and perceptions. Employees too communicate better withtheir superiors through suggestions and joint-meetings.

Reduced Resistance to Changes: Employee participation enables them to quickly adapt toorganisational changes as there is a clear understanding of employee expectations.

Enhanced Morale: Employees desire to be actively involved in their work and make significantcontribution to their organisations. Employee participation satisfies many of the psychologicalneeds of the employee and thus increases their morale.

Increased Innovation and Creativity: Employee participation enables employees to suggest andimplement novel ideas which help in decision making and problem solving.

You now know the advantages of employee participation. Let us next discuss how employeeparticipation is enabled in India.


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Q 2 Describe the different systems in an organisation that use Employee Relation Management tools.

Ans 2 Employee Relationship Management Tools

Technology can be used to help manage employee relationships. Automated employee relationshipmanagement tools help employees to do their tasks in a better way. The following are the

different applications existing in organisations which use tools based on different technologies:

HR Systems: Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is used to manage all employeeinformation, all leave details and to administer benefits. HRIS handles payroll and other companyfinancial software and accounting systems. These are used by companies for the followingreasons:

Employees receive timely and correct wages.

Employees apply for leave on their own.

Training programs for employees can be automated and streamlined.

Performance Management Systems: These help to monitor the performance of employees andlink it with their salary increments and bonus payments. Managers keep track of training activitiesand deadlines. Employee activity logs are used for evaluation and planning. There are manysoftware tools which aid performance appraisals like those from HRdirect, Halogen software,Cornerstone Performance and so on.

Work Flow Systems (WFM): These help in scheduling, organising and co-ordinating the work ofthe employees. Teleopti CCC and SAP HR are WFM software that include tools to manage, involveand improve the workforce.

Knowledge Management Systems: These help employees identify, create, and share their

knowledge. Search and retrieval tools enable easy access of content. According to their role in theorganisation, employees view content that is relevant to their work. A single software solutioncannot be used for these systems. Knowledge management systems use document managementtools, e-learning software, knowledge repositories (databases), collaborative technologies(groupware) and social software (wikis).

Project Management Systems: These help in managing and monitoring project activities and inscheduling resources. Project management systems facilitate creation and approval of projectestimates. They define resources and tasks. They also create project milestones and enable easyexecution of projects. Project reports are generated easily. Gantt charts help in schedulingprojects. Critical path analysis (CPA) and Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) chartshelp in project planning. Log frames can be used for project monitoring. Software tools likeMicrosoft Project and SourceForge help in project management.

Employee Feedback Systems: Surveys enable employees to voice their opinion about routinetasks, management attitudes, current procedures, and ethics. Many software tools are available tohelp in employee surveys like those from HR-Survey, and Benchpoint.

Employee Self-Service Systems: These systems enable employees to update their personaldetails. Employees file their expenses, billing and time reports. Employees raise purchase requestsand keep track of their project related activities. Employees retrieve human resource related


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documents, update their tax related information and view their salary details. They can alsoupdate their bank information to enable direct salary deposits and reimbursements. Employeescan apply for leave and view leave balances. An open forum is provided for employees to presenttheir views. Employees exchange ideas through e-mails and bulletin boards. Employees create andshare calendars for better functioning. Tools are provided to employees to perform routine taskseasily and thus focus on other important tasks. Oracles PeopleSoft Enterprise Employee Self-

Service is an example of an employee self-service tool.

These technologies are beneficial only if they address the needs of the employees. Clearguidelines need to be provided to use these technologies.

Now that you know about the various ERM applications, let us see the benefits of implementingthese tools. The benefits of ERM tools are as follows:

It strengthens corporate culture.

It enhances communication through the use of e-mails, blogs, bulletin boards, shared folders,and e-calendars.

It educates employees about the products, customers and services of the company throughenterprise portals.

It facilitates project management.

It reduces training costs as employees can be provided on-line and needs-based training.

It makes HR management work easier.

It facilitates work-flow management and increases productivity.

It enhances performance management.

It manages resources efficiently.

It helps retain and provide career growth to talented employees.

It enables easy retrieval of information.

It obtains feedback from employees and enables organisations to make appropriate corrections.

It assures job satisfaction and helps in retaining employees.

It ensures compliance with government requirements.

Wipro is one of Indias leading software service companies. It has developed some models to dealwith the processes of employee management. Wipro offers flexible Employee PerformanceManagement (EPM) solutions which are delivered either in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) orSoftware as Service (SaaS) Model. They make employee assessments easier and more accurate.The EPM model offers the following benefits:

Goal management


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Performance appraisals

Workflow and succession planning

Employee development planning

Employee training

Q 4 How are trade unions classified?

Ans Types of Trade Unions

In the previous section, you studied about the two different kinds of union functions based on thenature of their activities. You now know that the vital purpose of a trade union is to representpeople at work. Trade unions are differentiated based on the type of people they represent.

There are four types of trade union as given below:

Craft of Skills Union: These unions represent skilled workers like Musicians Union (MU)

Industrial Unions: These unions represent members of one particular industry such as FireBrigades Union (FBU)

General Unions: These unions represent workers from all types of industries and with any levelor range of skills. For example, Amicus the Manufacturing Science and Finance Union (MSF)

White-Collar Unions: These unions represent office workers, such as National Union of Teachers(NUT)

Craft of Skills Union

Craft union is an arrangement of labour unions that joins workers within the same part of a craftor a skill. Some examples are typographical unions, unions for carpenters, stoneworkers, ironmolders, boilermakers, railway engineers and so on.

These craft unions have substantial power in the workplace and generally resist others controllingtheir work processes and standards of training as their members have essential knowledge andphysical and theoretical skills.

Industrial Unions

Industrial unionism is a labour union organising method through which all workers in the sameindustry are grouped into the same union, regardless of skill or trade. This gives workers in allindustries more leverage in bargaining or when workers go on strikes. Advocates[2]of industrialunionism value its contributions in promoting unity. They describe the solidarity of these unionswith slogans like, an injury to one is an injury to all and the longer the picket line, the shorterthe strike.
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An example for an industrial union is a union for oil workers. Members of such an industrial unionwould include people who are involved in exploration, extraction, refining, transport and all theother areas associated with the oil and gas industry.

General Unions

A general union is a type of trade union that represents workers from all industries. Unlike craftunions or industrial unions where just a particular sector forms a union, general union, as its namesuggests, is for any worker irrespective of organisation or sector.

General unions declare that their broader variety of members allows more opportunities forharmony action and better management in general strikes. Detractors claim that the broaderdispatch means they tend to be more technical and respond less effectively to events in a singleindustry.

An example of a general union in Australia is the Australian Workers Union.

White-Collar Unions

White-collar worker refers to a salaried person, who either works as an educated worker whoperforms semi-professional office, administrative or sales coordination tasks, or works in anyservice industry like a teacher, a software engineer or a customer care executive. White-collarworkers, as opposed to blue-collar workers, perform no manual labour. White-collar union is atype of union that represents white-collar workers.

Q 5 What are the four strategy levels in an organization?

Ans 5 Business strategy is defined as a general set of directions for the corporate to achieve a

desirablestate in the future. It is the driving force of the vision, mission and objectives of the

company andsets the future course of the company. An organization can employ different

strategies,depending upon its environment. On the basis of the place of deployment, strategy of

a businesscan be classified into1) Corporate strategy2) Business level strategy3) Functional

strategies4) Operational strategies5) Global strategy

1. Corporate StrategyCorporate strategy of an organization is defined as the overall direction which is pursued by

anorganization, which helps the business to achieve its long-term goals. The various business

unitsor departments of the organization have to work together so as to achieve the goals for the

entireorganization. The determination of corporate strategy has to be decided by a systematic

processwhich helps to achieve the pre-determined goals in the near future. The corporate

strategy of anorganization addresses the business in its entirety and it is crucial as it providesthe guidance forthe strategic decision making at all levels. The corporate strategy of an

organization is oftenfound in its mission statement.The corporate strategy of a company isformulated keeping in mind the followinga)

Future prospectsb)

Definition of issue


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c)

SWOT analysisd)

Competition

e)Selection of strategies

f)Managing business relationships

g)Management practices

The top level management of the organization has to decide on the questions of what,

how,where, when and why for the formulation of the corporate strategy. It is important to

analyse theabove parameters in detail, before arriving at the corporate strategy, as this helps in

setting thepace for the rest of the organization to follow. All other types of strategic decisions

have to toethe line of the corporate strategy. By adopting a successful corporate strategy, acompany cancreate value for all its stakeholders, namely the employees, management,

shareholders, suppliersand consumers.2. Business unit level Strategy

A strategic business unit of any organization is a division or business unit of the organization,

onthe basis of a particular product line or profit centre. The strategy of the business unit can

bedesigned at the unit level but it needs to be in line with the overall corporate strategy.Thestrategy at the business unit level concentrates on the product line or the service to be

providedfor increasing the profits. There is a lesser chance for co-ordination with other units as

this typeof strategy solely relates to a particular business unit.At this level, the strategy of thecompany needs to mainly concentrate on positioning of theproduct, forecasting the trends in

demand and technology so that the strategy can be adapted forthe same and also trying to

influence the behaviour of competition. The organizations businesslevel strategies help to

address the customers by understanding the demographic andpsychographic choices of thecustomers with respect to the products and services. This helps increating value in the minds of

the customers.

According to Porter, there are five forces which affect the level of competition for anyindustry.He classified these five forces as rivalry, customers, suppliers, entrants and

substitutes. He alsosuggested three strategies which help an organization to gain an edge over

its competition. Let usnow look at the three strategies suggested by Porter 1) Cost leadershipstrategy2) Differentiation strategy3) Focused strategy.Apart from the above strategies, somecompanies follow an integrated strategy which is acombination of two or more of the above

strategies.3. Functional Strategy

The functional level of an organization refers to the level of the departments oroperatingsections. The strategies for the functional unit relate to the business processes for that

function.Functional level strategies may differ from one function to the other depending upon


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whether thefunction relates to marketing, finance, HR or operations. These strategies devise

the way forwardfor that function by realigning the business processes of the function andincreasing the savingsor profits. The functional units also serve to input the necessary details

for the business unit levelor corporate level strategies. Once these strategies are decided by the

top brass, the functionalunits prepare action plans to implement these strategies at their

level.For functional strategies to be more effective, it is important to ensure that theorganization has asound functional structure. A good functional structure is based on the

elements of clarity,specialisation, co-ordination, skill development and suitability. If the

functional structure iscohesive, it contributes to better implementation of the functionalstrategy. On the other hand, ifthe employees are unclear about the functions structure, theyare likely to be less productive asthey are unsure about their standing in the organization. An

organization can classify itsfunctions on the basis of product departments, geographicaldepartments, strategic business units,


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Set 2

Q 1 Every organisation faces disciplinary problems from employees. Explain the major types of

disciplinary problems faced in organisations.

Ans Procedure for Disciplinary Action

Though there is no specific procedure to be followed. Different organizations use a variety offormal and informal methods to resolve these matters. The following steps are recommended

a) An accurate statement of the disciplinary problem.

b) Collection of data or facts supporting the report of the offence.

c) Review policy and past similar incidents.

d) Identify corrective action to implement; take legal counsel to ensure that the local laws of theland are not in conflict

e) Apply the action

f) Follow-up on the disciplinary action.

a.Accurate Statement of the Problem: The first step is to ascertain the problem by seekinganswers to the following questions:

1. Does this case call for a disciplinary action?

2. What, exactly, is the nature of the violation or offence?

3. Under what-conditions did it occur?

4. Which individual or individuals were involved in it?

5. When, or how often, did the violation occur?

In other words, an executive must first find out that a violation has occurred and that is entirelythe fault, or at least partially the fault, of one or more subordinates. The next step is todetermine and state the nature of the alleged violation of a rule, a regulation, a policy; todetermine whether a request or order has been ignored or broken, and assess the seriousness ofthe specific offence which has been committed. It is also necessary to know exactly who and whatwas involved in the violation-whether a particular individual or group. Finally, it is desirable toknow when and/or how often the violation occurred.

b. Collection of data or facts support the report of the offence: Before any action is taken in acase, it is essential to gather all the facts about it. A thorough examination of the case should bemade within the stipulated time limit. The facts gathered should be such as can be producedbefore a higher authority, if and when needed.


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c. Review policy and past similar incidents: The kind of penalty to be imposed for an offenceshould be determined beforehand. Should it be simple reprimand, a financial or non-financialpenalty? Or should it be demotion, temporary lay-off or outright discharge?

d. Identify corrective action to implement; take legal counsel to ensure that the local laws of theland are not in conflict: When a decision has been taken to impose a penalty, the punishment to

be awarded should be such as would prevent a recurrence of the offence. If the punishment islighter than it should be, it may encourage the violation of the same rule or another; if it isgreater than it should be, it may lead to a grievance.

e.Apply the action: The application of the penalty involves a positive and assured attitude on thepart of the management. "If the disciplinary action is a simple reprimand, the executive shouldcalmly and quickly dispose of the matter. But when severe action is called for, a fortnight, seriousand determined attitude is highly desirable.

f. Follow-up on Disciplinary Action: The ultimate purpose of a disciplinary action is to maintaindiscipline, to ensure productivity, and avoid a repetition of the offence. A disciplinary actionshould, therefore, be evaluated in terms of its effectiveness after it has been taken. In other

words, there should be a more careful supervision of the persons against whom a disciplinaryaction has been taken.

Q 2 Explain the challenges that international employees encounter.

Ans

Q 3 What are the different leadership styles that are adopted by managers as per the Managerial Grid

Model?

Ans Managerial Grid

Robert Blake, an eminent behavioural scientist differentiated the leaders on the basis of theirconcern to people and concern to task. He along with Jane Mouton conducted study on 5000managers. He puts it on a grid called Managerial Grid as follows:

Figure 15.3: Managerial Grid: Blake and Mouton

Source: Debra L Nelson and James C Quick, Organizational Behaviour Pg 397
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The Managerial Grid Model (1964) is a behavioural leadership model developed by Robert Blakeand Jane Mouton. This model identifies five different leadership styles based on the concern forpeople and the concern for production.

As shown in the figure, the model is represented as a grid with concern for production as the X-axis and concern for people as the Y-axis; each axis ranges from 1 (Low) to 9 (High). The five

resulting leadership styles are as follows:

1. The impoverished style (1, 1). The indifferent Leader (Evade & Elude)

In this style, managers have low concern for both people and production. Managers use this styleto avoid getting into trouble. The main concern for the manager is not to be held responsible forany mistakes, which results in less innovative decisions.

A leader uses a "delegate and disappear" management style. Since they are not committed toeither task accomplishment or maintenance; they essentially allow their team to do whateverthey consider important and appropriate and prefer to detach themselves from the team processby allowing the team to suffer from a series of power struggles.

Features

1. Does only enough to preserve job and job seniority.

2. Gives little and enjoys little.

3. Protects himself by not being noticed by others.

Implications

1. Tries to stay in the same post for a long time.

Examples of Leader speak:

I distance myself from taking active responsibility for results to avoid getting entangled inproblems.

If forced, I take a passive or supportive position.

2. The country club style (1, 9). The accommodating Leader (Yield & Comply)

This style has a high concern for people and a low concern for production. Managers using thisstyle pay more attention to the security and comfort of the employees, in hopes that this would

increase performance. The resulting atmosphere is usually friendly, but not necessarily thatproductive.

This person uses predominantly reward power to maintain discipline and to encourage the team toaccomplish its goals. Conversely, they are almost incapable of employing the more punitivecoercive and legitimate powers. This inability results from fear that using such powers couldjeopardize relationships with the other team members.



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I support results that establish and reinforce harmony.

I generate enthusiasm by focusing on positive and pleasing aspects of work.

3. The produce or perish style (9, 1). The Controlling Leader (Direct & Dominate)

With a high concern for production, and a low concern for people, managers using this style findemployee needs unimportant; they provide their employees with money and expect performanceback. Managers using this style also pressure their employees through rules and punishments toachieve the company goals. This dictatorial style is based on Theory X of Douglas McGregor, and iscommonly applied by companies on the edge of real or perceived failure. This is used in case ofcrisis management.

People who get this rating are very much task-oriented and are hard on their workers (autocratic).There is little or no allowance for co-operation or collaboration. Heavily task-oriented peopledisplay these characteristics: they are very strong on schedules; they expect people to do whatthey are told without question or debate; when something goes wrong they tend to focus on whois to blame rather than concentrate on exactly what is wrong and how to prevent it; they are

intolerant of what they see as dissent (it may just be someones creativity), so it is difficult fortheir subordinates to contribute or develop.


I expect results and take control by clearly stating a course of action.

I enforce rules that sustain high results and do not permit deviation.

4. The middle-of-the-road style (5, 5). The Status Quo Leader. (Balance & Compromise)

Managers using this style try to balance between company goals and workers needs. By giving

some concern to both people and production, managers who use this style hope to achieveacceptable performance.


I endorse results that are popular but caution against taking unnecessary risk.

I test my opinions with others involved to assure ongoing acceptability.

5. The team style (9, 9). The Sound / Team Leader (Contribute & Commit)

In this style, high concern is paid both to people and production. As suggested by the propositions

of Theory Y, managers choosing to use this style encourage teamwork and commitment amongemployees. This method relies heavily on making employees feel as a constructive part of thecompany.

This type of person leads by positive example and endeavours to foster a team environment inwhich all team members can reach their highest potential, both as team members and as people.They encourage the team to reach team goals as effectively as possible, while also workingtirelessly to strengthen the bonds among the various members. They normally form and lead someof the most productive teams.


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I initiate team action in a way that invites involvement and commitment.

I explore all facts and alternative views to reach a shared understanding of the best solution.

Grid Relationship SkillsThe Grid theory translates into practical use through Grid style relationship skills that peopleexperience day in and day out when they work together. These relationship skills depict thetypical and vital behaviours for each style that make relationships effective or ineffective. Somebehaviour strengthens and motivates teams while others obstruct progress.

Critique Learning from experience by anticipating and examining how behaviour and actionsaffect results.

Initiative Taking action to exercise shared effort, drive, and support for specific activities.

Inquiry Questioning, seeking information, and testing for understanding.

Advocacy Expressing attitudes, opinions, ideas, and convictions.

Decision-making Evaluating resources, criteria, and consequences to reach a decision.

Conflict Resolution Confronting and working through disagreements with others towardresolution.

Resilience Reacting to problems, setbacks, and failure, and understanding how these factorsinfluence the ability to move forward.

Grid theory makes behaviours as tangible and objective as any other corporate commodity. By

studying each of the seven Leadership Grid styles and the resulting relationship skill behaviours,teams can examine, in objective terms, how behaviours help or hurt them. They can explore typesof critique that work best for them and why. They can openly discuss how to improve decision-making and conflict resolution skills. These and other subjects usually considered "off limits" interms of productivity are the very subjects that usually impede productivity. The Grid approachmakes these subjects not only "discussable" but measurable in objective terms that generateempathy, motivation to improve, and creativity.

The most desirable place for a leader to be along the two axes at most times would be a 9 on taskand a 9 on people the Team Leader. However, do not entirely dismiss the other three. Certainsituations might call for one of the other three to be used at times. For example, by playing theImpoverished Leader, you allow your team to gain self-reliance. Be an Authoritarian Leader to

instil a sense of discipline in an unmotivated worker. By carefully studying the situation and theforces affecting it, you will know at what points along the axis you need to be in order to achievethe desired result.

Activity 2

Leadership Exercise:


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How to check what type of leader you are? Do the following exercise?

This is a quick self-quiz to give you some feedback on your predominantleadership style.

Instructions: Read each item carefully. Rate yourself on how frequently you engage in this

behaviour.

Scale: 4 = Always 3 = Often 2 = Occasionally 1 = Seldom 0 = Never

1. Finds time to listen to group members.

2. Makes sure group members are working up to their fullest capacity.

4 3 2 1 0

3. Directs the activities of group members on particular tasks.

4 3 2 1 0

4. Looks out for group members personal welfare.

4 3 2 1 0

5. Shows willingness to make changes in leadership approach (es).

4 3 2 1 0

6. Emphasizes the meeting of deadlines.

4 3 2 1 0

7. Solicits group input in important decisions.

4 3 2 1 0

8. Emphasizes the maintenance of definite standards or performance.

4 3 2 1 0

9. Supports group members in their actions.

4 3 2 1 0

10. Makes personal position clear.

4 3 2 1 0

Scoring:


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Add items 1, 4, 5, 7, 9 Total Relationship Score ___________

Add items 2, 3, 6, 8, 10 Total Task Score _____________

Plot the intersection of your total relationship and total task scores on the grid below.

Relationship Dimension is the vertical rating

Task Dimension is the horizontal rating
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Q 4 What are the components of a Human Resource Information System

Ans Components of Human Resource Information Systems

An HRIS is an integrated approach to acquiring, storing, analysing and controlling the flow ofinformation throughout an organisation.[2]A well-developed HRIS is useful in many HR applicationsand can enhance the efficiency and time-of-response of many HR activities. Some of the commonapplications of HRIS are as follows: Planning: The HR activities implemented by this application are personnel and successionplanning, labour relation planning, target analysis and organisational charting.

Staffing and Employment: This application handles recruitment activities. It ensures compliancewith employment equity.

Training and Career Development: This application deals with analysing training needs, trainingadministration, and career planning.

Performance Management: This application deals with performance appraisals, and monitoringtime and attendance of employees.

Compensation and Benefits: This application deals with employee compensation and benefitsadministration.

Let us now discuss each of these common applications in details.

5.5.1 Planning

Planning is a very important activity of HR management. Planning identifies and implements the

activities that ensure that the organisation is moving in the right direction. Planning is concernedwith implementing the business strategy of the organisation. The components of planning are asfollows:

Environmental Scanning: It identifies the business opportunities and threats after reviewing theexternal factors that affect an organisation.

Business Plan Analysis: It reviews the business plans and strategies.

Manpower Planning: It reconciles any imbalance between HR supply and demand.

Program and Policy Review: It ensures that the HR policies and programmes are aligned with

the organisational needs.

The components of HRIS which assists in planning are:

Work Force Profile Review: It assesses the demand and supply of workforce by analysis ofemployee data elements like age, wage, performance rating, position and organisational dataelements like employee turnover.
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Work Force Dynamic Analysis: It examines the employee movement in the organisation byanalysing historical data like service, promotions, performance ratings, and salary. Various reportswhich provide information on lateral transfers, promotions, new recruits and turnover aregenerated.

Succession Planning: It identifies potential successors for critical positions. Employees are

scored and assessed for suitability of pre-defined job profiles. The staff details (job history,competencies, assessments) is analysed to find which position the individual can fit into.Employee databases are searched to retrieve profiles of employees who fit certain criteria.Reports are generated of individual competencies. Figure 5.2 depicts the employee detailswindow of the Succession Wizard of Peoplesoft.[3]

Figure 5.2: Screenshot of PeopleSoft Succession Planning Wizard

Strategic HR Planning: It analyses HR data and compares it with performance benchmarks. It isused to evaluate policy compliance and impact of new programmes.

5.5.2 Staffing and Employment

Staffing refers to the process of attracting candidates, interviewing them, and negotiating acompensation package with them. The process of staffing is very important as organisations have

to recruit the right candidates who will help in realising the organisational goals.

The components of HRIS which assists in staffing and employment are:

Applicant Tracking: This helps in identifying competent candidates quickly and effectively. Itorganises information about applicants and their availability and helps in automating therecruitment process. Resumes are imported from job portals. Candidates are short-listed by pre-screening their profiles. It helps to match applicant capabilities with job openings. It comparescandidates applying for the same job and helps in scheduling and tracking interviews. The trackingcomponent also generates employment letters. For example, Bell Helicopter Company uses itsHRIS to recruit technical staff. MCI Telecommunications uses a resume tracking system calledSmartSearchTM to spot eligible candidates.

Employment Equity Compliance: Employment Equity is a process which helps organisations toidentify and eliminate barriers in their employment policies and procedures in order to haverepresentation of women, people with disabilities, and minorities at all levels. Employee personaldata (gender, sex, and group) and reports of employees hired and employees promoted are usedto make decisions to ensure fair employment practices.

5.5.3 Training and Career Development
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Employee training and career development is very essential for motivating employees. HRIS is avery important training and career management tool.

Training: Organisations need to measure costs of training and their effectiveness. HRIS helps inscheduling and monitoring training programmes. Employees use the self-service module to applyfor training. Employee data like skills, goals and performance rating are used to evaluate training

needs of an employee. Based on this analysis, the HR personnel or managers grant trainingapproval. Training budgets are fixed using HRIS tools.

Career Development: HRIS can be used to monitor employee career trajectories. Manyorganisations seek to fill vacancies from within the organisation. HRIS informs employees aboutthe current vacancies and the requirements of those positions. HR personnel are also able toidentify employees who fit the requirements for vacant job positions by using employee data. Forexample, the company 3M has implemented a job information system which lists the jobsavailable companywide. All employees can view this listing and apply for the desired position.

5.5.4 Performance Management

Employee performance management is essential to ensure that employee performance ismonitored. This makes the organisations more productive and profitable.

Performance Appraisals: Performance appraisal results are used to make administrativedecisions like promotions, salary increments and so on. Feedback of performance appraisalsimproves employee performance. Performance management of HRIS uses data like position,supervisor, date of appraisal, performance rating, appraiser comments, history of performance,and date of next appraisal. Performance appraisals help in identifying the strengths andweaknesses of employees and their training needs.

Time and Attendance: Information on attendance and time worked is very important asabsenteeism results in considerable loss to the organisation. Time and attendance moduleanalyses information like time spent on a job, start date, end date, total time taken and reason,and leave details. Overtime calculations are also performed. Some HRIS also manage attendancedetails of multiple shifts. Time sheets are created for different categories of employees. Timesheets can also be configured for each project. Off-time information is also captured. Time sheetscan be approved. After approval, time worked and leave details are exported to payroll module.Department-wise reports of absenteeism with reasons are generated.

5.5.5 Compensation and Benefits

Attractive compensation packages and good benefits programme help motivate employees andretain skilled employees. The University of Michigan uses HRIS to manage pay, benefits andpensions of its current and retired faculty members.

Compensation Management: All organisations have to offer a competitive compensationpackage, maintain payroll costs and comply with government laws. Employee compensation isdetermined by examining jobs and determining their relative worth to the organisation.Compensation Management function of HRIS uses data like salary basis (hourly, commission and soon), bonusses, hours worked, types of increment (annual, biannual, promotion) and interfaceswith the payroll system. It interfaces with the performance management system to ensure correctpay based on performance ratings.


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Benefits Administration: Employees use the HRIS to enroll in various benefit programmes. Forexample, the employees of Apple Computers enroll in benefit plans using the HRIS of thecompany. Employees can also change their enrollment plans. HRIS determines benefits by usingemployee data like date of enrollment, type of insurance plan opted (Health, Life), membershipsavailed (health clubs), loans and beneficiary details. HRIS automates the computation of flexiblebenefits. Employees are also educated about the various benefit plans they are eligible for

through HRIS.

Q 5 What are the provisions of the Factories Act 1948 that ensure social security measures of workmen

in a factory?

AnsFactories Act 1948

The Factories Act regulates labour employed in factories. It applies to the whole of India. This actapplies to all factories which use power and employ 10 or more workers, and applies to factoriesnot using power and employing 20 or more workers, on any day of the preceding 12 months.

According to this act, every factory has to be registered and needs to obtain a licence for workingwhich has to be renewed at periodical intervals. The plans, designs and specifications of anyproposed construction or extensions to the factory have to receive the prior approval of the stategovernment.

The main provisions of this act are as follows:

Facilities: It specifies the minimum requirements regarding health (cleanliness, ventilation and

temperature, lighting and control of glare, etc.) safety (protection of eyes, handling of explosiveand inflammable materials, etc.), and general welfare of workers (first-aid, canteens, shelterrooms, crches, urinals, drinking water etc.).

Safety: Fencing of machinery needs to be done. Adequate fire-fighting facilities must beprovided. Hoist and lifts have to be in good working condition. Stairs and passages have to be freefrom obstruction. Safety appliances to protect the eyes from dangerous dusts, gases, and fumeshave to be provided. Pressure plants have to be regularly checked.

Working Hours: The working hours cannot be greater than 48 hours in a week. Weekly holiday ismandatory. Compensatory holidays have to be given if the worker works on weekly holidays. Aworker cannot be made to work for more than nine hours in a day. Half an hour rest is to be

provided after five hours of work. Overlapping of shifts is not allowed.

Overtime Wages: A worker has to be paid overtime wages at double the rate of regular wages ifthe worker works beyond 9 hours a day or 48 hours a week.

Leave: A worker is permitted a leave of one day for every 20 days of work performed in theprevious calendar year provided that the worker had worked for 240 days or more in the previouscalendar year.


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Child Employment: Children below age of 14 cannot be employed. Children between 14 and 15years of age can be employed only for 4.5 hours per day or during the night. Adolescents cannotwork between 7 pm and 6 am.

Obligation regarding Hazardous Processes and Substances: Provide Information abouthazardous substances and processes and the dangers and health hazards involved. Ensure safety

measures and make emergency plans. Appoint safety committees.

Now that you know the provisions of the Factory Act, let us next discuss the Employment ExchangeAct of1959

Q 6 magine yourself as the HR Manager of a steel company and you find that for members of the

production team in your organisation are in conflict and this has affected the productivity of the team.

What steps will you take to resolve the conflict and improve the team productivity?

Ans

Focussing on Team Performance

A team consists of two or more individuals. These individuals have specific role assignments. Theymust perform specific tasks and must interact or coordinate to achieve a common goal oroutcome. In addition, teams make decisions, have specialised knowledge and skills and often workunder conditions of high workload. Teams can be distinguished from small works groups on thebasis of the fact that teams have unique requirements for coordination and task interdependency.Teamwork normally involves team members adjusting to each other either sequentially orsimultaneously in order to achieve team goals.

3.2.1 The need for shiftIn the past, the focus was on performance management of individuals. But, today, organisationshave realised that results are achieved by team efforts although individuals are also important.Individual focused performance systems will only propagate divisiveness and may even hamperteamwork.

The changed global scenario has brought in a new era which is called the competence era. Thiscompetence era further perpetuates individual performance management rather than teamperformance management. This is mainly because of the pressure to differentiate. The varioussources of pressure are:

Differentiated pay packets.

Need for competent managers.

Willingness of some organisations to pay any amount for competent individuals.

Enhanced salary structure forcing every organisation to compute return on investment on eachemployee or value addition of each employee.


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With all these influences, it is understandable that the corporate sector continues to focus onindividual performance.The following realities indicate the need for refocusing performancemanagement on group or team performance in addition to individual performance:

Strategic thinking, employee motivation, leadership, development and team managementcompetencies are critical at higher organisational levels and make a lot of difference. The

performance management indicators are most often team performance based rather thanindividual performance. The team performance or output is an indicator of the individual leaderscompetence and there could be several cases where the team performs in spite of the leader andnot necessarily due to the leader. In such cases, the team should be given adequate importanceand team performance should not be merely attributable to the leader.

It becomes very difficult to quantify and measure the performance of individual seniormanagers. Since performance indicators are qualitative and cannot be reduced to numbers, themeasuring instruments fail to measure performance of managers.

Managers often blame the team for poor performance. They say that they have done their bestas individuals, but the team has not performed at its best. Some of them say that they have done

their best but there are many factors beyond their control.

Organisations have to develop team chemistry and leadership has to help make it work. Teamchemistry could be managed better if team performance is focused. By focusing on teamperformance, the organisation is creating some enablers for the team leader to be effective.

Combined performance and overall outcomes are likely to be better if the focus is on the team,rather than on the individual.

Measuring team performance is easier and is more objective than measuring the individualperformance at higher levels.

Focusing on team performance allows tackling many dimensions simultaneously, as compared toindividual performance.

Team performance is always closer to the organisational performance rather than individualperformance.

Top level performance can be measured mainly in terms of team performance.

The above considerations make it necessary to recognise the importance of team performancemanagement besides managing individual performance.

Documents

Emp Relation