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Human Resource Management

I n d i a i s o n e o f t h e f e w c o u n t r i e s t h a t c a n b o o s t o f a n a n c i e n t ,

d e e p r o o t e d a n d d i v e r s e c u l t u r e . T h e r e i s a n e n d l e s s d i v e r s i t y i n

I n d i a s t a r t i n g f r o m i t s r a c e s , l a n g u a g e s , r e l i g i o n s , a r t s , a n d c r a f t s

a n d c u s t o m s a n d t r a d i t i o n s . I n d i a h a s b e e n v a r i a b l y d e s c r i b e d a s

t h e M i n i Wo r l d , t h e E p i t o m e o f t h e Wo r l d , a n d a n e t h n o l o g i c a l

m u s e u m . T h e d i v e r s i t y i n I n d i a i s u n i q u e . F r o m t h e v e r y a n c i e n t

t i m e s I n d i a n o t o n l y a b s o r b e d t h e f o r e i g n c u l t u r e s i n t o i t s

c o m p o s i t e f o l d b u t i t m a n a g e d t o s p r e a d t h e r i c h e l e m e n t s o f i t s

o w n u n i q u e c u l t u r e i n d i f f e r e n t p a r t s o f t h e c u l t u r e ( S a y e e d ,

2 0 0 9 ) .

Introduction to Human Resources

Human resource management (HRM) is a key department in organizations which

handles and manage the day to day functio ning of the personnel (Clark, 1993) and is

largely involved with the recruitment, selection, appraisals, compensations and

benefits and the human resource information systems (Rothwell, 2009) The

implication of the human resource concept is that the employees are resources of

the employer. Human capital in an organization is the economic characteristic of theemployee described in terms of their experience, training, intelligence, judgement

which adds to the economic value to the organization (Noe et al, 20 04).

Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that

focuses on recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the people

who work in the organization. HRM is the organizational function that deals with the

issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, performance management,organization development, employee motivation and training (about.com Guide,

online)

With the advent of technology and given the fast pace at which the companies are

going global, management policies are designed in accordance to the global markets

and the need to define human resource management internationally arises. There

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are a lot of Multinational companies (MNC) that have opened their offices in India in

the last decade.

International human resource management (IHRM) is the process of procuring,

allocating, and effectively utilising human resources in a multinational corporation

(Fisher et al, 1996)

Imparting of new skills to the current working employees by working in sync with

them is taken care by the Human Resource Development (HRD) which is another

area of the HRM that helps in improving the quality in productivity and in the service

offerings as well. HRD mainly deals with the training and development programme; it

helps in understanding and providing with information for certain special duties and

also upgrades them with knowledge that helps in the long term benefits of the

organization. Training deals with the solutions to solve the immediate needs and is

usually used for short term needs while development programs are aimed for the

long term solutions designed to congregate the potential needs of the organization

(Bogardus,2004 p172).

Human resource activities vary from country to country based on their cultural,

social, economic factors. In this essay the author will be discussing the practices

followed with in the Multinational Companies in India.

Recruitment and Selection

The recruitment process deals with the purpose of searching and obtaining

applications from job seekers. After obtaining the applications, the candidates are

then put through the various stages of the recruitment cycle based on the type of

company/industry the process is being taken up for (Aswathappa, 2007) .

The Indian business model lays emphasis on an efficient recruitment process, with a

personal and corporate network supporting a whole approach to identifying just the

right people and ensuring that they are in place to fulfil your requirements (Davies,

2004). The question now arises is that how do the companies reach out to the right

talent? There are few standard procedures that prevail in India for the companies to

reach out to the set target of talent. They are as follows :-

Advertising in newspapers, business and trade journals

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Advertising through the recruitment agency

Accessing the data base

Sourcing of candidates from online job sites

Word of mouth or references from known sources (Gupta, 2004)

Once done with the advertising stage, the focus now lies on the selection process

where the candidates are put in through various stages of the process that are

Interviews, Group discussions, IQ tests, psychological tests etcetera. A strong

emphasis is given to the attitude of the person, along with different skills, education

qualifications. General test are conducted to evaluate the general ability, technical

competency, behavioural competence and aptitude (Budhwar, 2010).

The interview round is one of the most basic and conventional round no matter what

the selection process is. Group discussions help in identifying the candidates

communication, leadership and initiative qualities while the psychological and IQ test

are done to provide an indication of the personality traits and to check for the

competitive knowledge the candidates possess (Gupt a, 2004).

Many of the MNCs in India has been successful in adapting the global recruitment

and selection process, compensation of the local employees , with some local

adjustments (Budhwar, 2010).

Training and Development

Training is a planned process of modifying employee behaviour, attitude and skill

through learning in order to increase the profitability of goal achievement (Gupta,

2005).Training is designed to help employees perform better in their current job while

development is the far more ri sky process of helping prepare candidates for new and

more challenging duties. The figure below shows a report on the development

programs of the Indian and American companies. Although both the countries used

high incidences of various development initiat ives, the Indian group reported more

extensive use (Cappelli et al, 2010).

In order to excel in the market, companies need to ensure the need to train and

develop their skilled personnel for the better growth of their company. Training and

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development programs help the new employees to socialize and mould themselves

in to the organizational culture to help perform their tasks better. With the fast

changing pace of technology employees have to keep abreast with latest skills to

maintain their performance. In order to move up the hierarchy ladder training is

required (Gupta, 2005).

A comparison of the Indian MNCs and affiliates of foreign MNCs in India by Matthew

and Jains investigation of the IT sector in India enables a comparison of the way

Indian and foreign multinational corporations affect an organizations business

culture and the implementation of specific HR functions. They found no evidence of

difference between U.S, European and Indian companies in India in type of HR

practices in major areas of Training and Development (Lawler & Hundley, 2008) .

Performance Management

Performance management can be described as a process which is designed to

improve organisational, team, and individual performance within an organisation. It is

a part of the Human resource management (HRM) where in the best of the

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performances are extracted from individuals and/or teams working together, which

helps in the organisation as a whole (Dransfield, 2000).

According to Neely et al (1998), Performance management is a cyclical process

aimed at improving performance like achieving the business objec tives. Performance

management deals with the measuring of the performance of employees which help

in maximising the performance of employees who perform and to check

underperformers and weed them out to sustain a healthy organisational system.

Performance appraisals (PA) are a major part of the performance management

systems which includes the various coaching and development activities that takes

place as a part of the performance management systems (DeNisi,1996).

Performance appraisals are done to be in command of employees in sync with the

behaviours and productivity of them to the goals of the organization (Krausert, 2009).

The set objectives must be met for the effectiveness of the system and the flow of

the information must connect all the pieces (Moh rman et al 1989).

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The figure above shows the phase wise process carried out during the course of the

performance appraisal. Performance appraisal helps in building a stronger

commitment to the organization and improves the job satisfaction level among the

employees which is an efficient process in motivating the work force. It also forms

the basis for the promotion and pay hike among the employees. Performance

appraisal plays a major role in seeking alternative measures to resignations and

terminations, thereby lowering the attrition rate and increasing the retention rate of

the organization. Focal point of performance appraisal is to improve and develop the

employees for the future direction by focussing on continuous improvements whichincreases the productivity of the organization (Tanke, 2000).

Job Analysis, Description and Specifications

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Job analysis is the process by which data, with regard to each job is systematically

observed and noted. It helps in understanding the nature of the job and the

characteristics or qualifications that are required by the job holder (Saiyadain, 2009) .

Job Description usually outlines the minimum requirements of jobs. Although its

difficult to give a fully inclusive job desc ription, a job description is useful if it is

presented in a simple and clear manner with explaining all the duties in detail

indicating the degree of authority available to employees to fulfil the requirement of

the job and the supervision that the employee will be subjected to (Saiyadain, 2009) .

Job specification specifies the minimum eligibility requirements like qualifications

needed to perform a particular job which includes academic qualifications, personal

qualifications, age and years of experience. A good job specification can help

companies to reduce the recruitment costs (Saiyadain, 2009).

External Sources

Human resource planning in the companies is prejudiced by a number of factors

outside the organization. The planning has to take in to account with the altering

degrees of uncertainty, political, social, economic and technological factors.

Legislative/Political Influences: The government plays an important role for the

companies to forecast their manpower. The Planning Commission, Ministry of

Labour and the Institute of applied Manpower research have made projections from

time to time to project manpower demand and supplies for various skill categories.The companies are asked to supply their data on their manpower for competence to

execute certain contracts.

Social Factors: In Some states a greater prefere nce is given to employing local

citizens. This is an aftermath of a political decision to reorganise the states of the

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Source: Mathis & Jackson, 2010 p45

Other Internal Factors

Indias culture, like its history defies simple explanations and broad categorizations.

India is a vast and a complex country characterized by plurality of languages

religions and cultures which refers India with a high context culture. Power distance

GLOBEs theory of power distance is apt for India as the distance between

management and employees is very high.

Power Distance : Power distance is a primary cause of intercultural

t e n s i o n s . I n I n d i a , w e f i n d l o a d s o f i n e q u a l i t i e s a t e v e r y p a r t o f

l i f e . T h e h i e r a r c h y s y s t e m d i f f e r s f r o m o rg a n i z a t i o n t o

o rg a n i z a t i o n . L a rg e r t h e o rg a n i z a t i o n , h i g h e r t h e h i e r a r c h y s y s t e m

e x i s t s a n d v i c e - v e r s a . Ta s k s a r e a s s i g n e d b a s e d o n s t a t u s i n t h e

o rg a n i z a t i o n u s i n g d e t a i l e d a n d d e f i n i t i v e i n s t r u c t i o n s ( M o o r e ,

2 0 0 6 ) . A c c o r d i n g t o H o f s t e d e , t h e p o w e r d i s t a n c e i n I n d i a i s h i g h

a n d r a t e d I n d i a n o n t h e s c a l e o f 5 6 . 5 . T h e r e f o r e , t o c o n c l u d e ,p o w e r d i s t a n c e i s h i g h i n I n d i a . T h i s i s e v i d e n t i n c a s e o f a j o b

o p e n i n g w h e r e d p r e f e r e n c e i s g i v e n t o t h e c a n d i d a t e r e f e r r e d b y

t h e h i g h e r a u t h o r i t y t h a n t h e p e r s o n w h o h a s a p p l i e d w i t h o u t a n y

r e f e r e n c e .

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C o l l e c t i v i s m / I n d i v i d u a l i s m : I n d i a n s u s e d t o b e r e l a t i o n s h i p

f o c u s e d . I n I n d i a , w e f i n d f a m i l y b u s i n e s s e s . P e o p l e b e l i e v e t o

f o l l o w t h e t r a d i t i o n a l r u l e s s e t b y t h e i r a n c e s t o r s . B u t t h e

c h a n g i n g s c e n a r i o o f t h e c u r r e n t s i t u a t i o n a n d d u e t o e m e rg e n c e

o f M N C s a n d g r o w t h i n e d u c a t i o n a l l e v e l i n i n d i v i d u a l s , p e o p l ea r e b e c o m i n g p r o f e s s i o n a l s a n d m o v i n g t o w a r d s w o r k i n g o u t s i d e

t h e i r f a m i l y b u s i n e s s t o h a v e b e t t e r p a y p a c k a g e s a n d o t h e r

b e n e f i t s . P e o p l e a r e r e a d y t o m o v e o u t s i d e t h e i r h o m e s a n d s o m e

e v e n r e a d y t o g o a b r o a d a n d a d o p t t h e c r o s s - c u l t u r e s c e n a r i o t o

m a k e a b e t t e r l i v i n g . A c c o r d i n g t o H o f s t e d e , t h e c o l l e c t i v i s m i n

I n d i a i s h i g h . B u t n o w t h i s v i e w o f H o f s t e d e i s c h a n g i n g i n I n d i a ,

i n d i v i d u a l i s m i s i n c r e a s i n g i n I n d i a . P e o p l e a r e m o r e f l e x i b l e a n d

h a v e m o b i l i t y a n d f r e e d o m t o d o w h a t t h e y w a n t ( K a t o c h , 2 0 0 7 ) .

F e w o f t h e M N C s c o m b i n e t h e i r s e l e ct i o n a n d t r a i n i n g p r o g r a m s i n

a c o l l e c t i v i s t i c m a n n e r.

Un ce r t a in t y A vo id an ce : Uncertainty Avoidance is the extent to which a society,

organization, or group relies on social norms, rules and procedures to alleviate

unpredictability of future events. Most people lead highly structured lives with few

unexpected events. Indians basically dont try to take risk as they always have a

savings mind for their future generation. The Indians try to be more securing, which

they believe will save their children and their generation. In Ind ia , p eo p le t h in k

t h a t d o i n g t h i n g s t h a t a r e d i f f e r e n t w o u l d n o t b e a c c e p t e d . T h e y

t h i n k i t i s a g a i n s t t h e s o c i e t y n o r m s . E v e r y o n e w a n t s t o b e w i t h i n

t h e c r o w d . F o r i n s t a n c e , d r e s s c o d e a t w o r k p l a c e . I n a d v e r t i s i n g

a g e n c y, e m p l o y e e s d o n o t h a v e a n y d r e s s c o d e . T h e y m a y w e a r

f o r m a l o r i n f o r m a l c l o t h e s , a s t h e y w i s h . B u t a t a n o rg a n i z a t i o n ,

o n e m u s t w e a r a p p r o p r i a t e f o r m a l c l o t h i n g ( C h a t t e r j i, 2 0 0 9 ) .

M a s c u l i n i t y / F e m i n i t y : I n d i a n b u s i n e s s w o r l d i s r u l e d b e m a l e s l i k e

A m b a n i s , Ta t a s , B i r l a s a n d o t h e r s . B u t t h e l a d i e s r u l i n g i n t o

p o l i t i c s a n d b u s i n e s s s t a r t e d w h e n L a t e . S h r i m a t i . I n d i r a G a n d h i ,

t h e f i r s t I n d i a n l a d y r u l e d t h e n a t i o n ( O x f o r d T h i n k i n g ) . A l s o i n

t e r m s o f b u s i n e s s , S u l l a j a F i r o d i a M o t w a n i , t h e y o u n g l a d y w h o i s

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t h e J o i n t M a n a g i n g D i r e c t o r o f K i n e t i c E n g i n e e r i n g L t d , i s

p e r f o r m i n g e f f e c t i v e l y i n t h e i n d u s t r y ( D i x i t , 2 0 0 2 ) . T h i s s h o w s t h e

c h a n g e i n c u l t u r e d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n m a s c u l i n i t y a n d f e m i n i n i t y.

T h o u g h m a s c u l i n i t y s t i l l r u l e s , f e m i n i n i t y i s e m e rg i n g i n I n d i a .

A c c o r d i n g t o H o f s t e d e I n d i a i s a n a t i o n o f h i g h m a s c u l i n i t y a n dr a t e d o n t h e s c a l e a t 5 6 b u t a s I n d i a n i s m o d e r n i s i n g a n d

c h a n g i n g c u l t u r e , I n d i a i s m o v i n g t o w a r d s l o w m a s c u l i n i t y. T h e

c u r r e n t c h a n g e i s l e a d i n g t o a c h a l l e n g e f o r b o t h , m a l e s a n d

f e m a l e s i n t h e c o u n t r y.

Conclusion:

The Globalisation and the fast changing pace at which things are changing has given

India the edge to enter the list of one of the fast developing nations in the world.

Having a cosmopolitan work atmosphere with all the leading MNCs having their

offices here, the Human Resource Management plays an important role in giving the

companies the policies, procedures, and the way to function while taking care of both

the employees and the employee mutually. It has become one of the most important

departments in the organisations. It is also important in terms of evaluating the

performances of the employees and rewarding them accordingly. However there are

certain internal and external factors that should be taken in to consideration before

making any decision and/or new regulations. Hence to conclude it can be said that

Human resource has emerged as one of the key player in shaping the success of the

organisations globally.

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