Unit- II Human Resource Management

Job analysis, Job Description, Job Specification, Role

analysis, HRP- Long & Short term planning, Skill
Inventory, Recruitment and Selection

Job Design: Job Design integrates work content (tasks, functions, relationships), the
rewards (extrinsic and intrinsic), and the qualifications required (skills, knowledge,
abilities) for each job in a way that meets the needs of employees and the organisation.

Job Analysis

Job analysis is a formal and detailed examination of jobs. It is a systematic investigation

of the tasks, duties and responsibilities necessary to do a job.

A task is an identifiable work activity carried out for a specific purpose. For example:
typing a letter.

A duty is a larger work segment consisting of several tasks that are performed by an
individual

Job responsibilities are obligations to perform certain tasks and duties.

Job Tasks
Job Analysis
Job Duties

Job Responsibilities

Definition: Job analysis is basically the process of identifying the nature of jobs.

“Job analysis is the process of determining, by observation and study, and reporting
pertinent information relating to the nature of a specific job… It is the determination of
the tasks which comprise the job and of the skills, abilities and responsibilities required
of the worker for a successful performance and which differentiates one job from all
others.”
- US Department of Labour

“Job analysis is the process of studying and information relating to the operations and
responsibilities of a specific job. The immediate products of the analysis are job
description and job specification.”
- Edwin B. Flippo

Uses of Job Analysis

Job analysis was initially used for recruitment and selection of employees and that too at
lower levels. However, since the HRM practices focus more on managerial personnel

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Unit- II Human Resource Management

Organisational Design

Job
Description Acquisition of personnel

Job
Training & Career Planning
Analysis

Job Job evaluation and

Specification Compensation

Performance Appraisal

Safety and Health

Employee Counseling

Organisational Design: involves building a network of relationship among various

functions and positions. The steps involved in organisational design are identification of
various jobs to be performed, grouping these jobs together on the basis of similarity and
assigning these jobs to a position.

Job analysis provide the base for identifying the contents of different jobs, their
interrelationship and interdependence, responsibility involved in a job, and authority that
may be required to perform the job.

Acquisition of personnel: involves Human Resource planning, Recruitment, selection,

placement and orientation.

Human Resource planning: Job analysis helps in forecasting human resource

requirements in terms of knowledge, skills and experience. By showing lateral and
vertical relationships between jobs, it facilitates the formulation of a systematic
promotion and transfer policy.

Recruitment: Job analysis is used to find out how and when to hire people for future job
openings. An understanding of the skills needed and the positions that are vacant in
future helps managers to plan and hire people in a systematic way.

Selection: Without a proper understanding of what is to be done on a job, it is not

possible to select the right person. If a Super bazaar manager has not clearly identified
what a clerk is to do; it is difficult to ascertain if the person selected is to position store
items, run a cash register, or keep accounts.

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Placement and orientation: Helps in matching between jobs and individuals. That is we
have to place them on jobs best suited to their interests, activities and aptitude.

Training: If there is any confusion about what the job is what is supposed to be done,
proper training efforts cannot be initiated. A training is required on not can be determined
only after the specific needs of jobs have been identified through a job analysis.

Career Planning: Job Analysis provides information about the opportunities in terms of
career paths and jobs availability in the organisation.

Job Evaluation and compensation: Job evaluation is the process of determining the
worth of different jobs in the organisation with a view to link compensation, both basic
and supplementary with worth of the jobs.

Job analysis helps in finding the relative worth of a job, based on criteria such as degree
of difficulty, type of work done, skills and knowledge needed etc.

Performance Appraisal: By comparing what an employee is supposed to be doing to

what the individual has actually done, the worth of that person can be assessed.

Employee Safety: A thorough job analysis reveals unsafe conditions associated with a
job. By studying how the various operations are taken up in a job, managers can find
unsafe practices. This helps in rectifying things easily.

Employee Counseling: Mangers can properly counsel employees about their career only
when they understand the different jobs in the organisation.

Process of Job Analysis

J.D.
Determination Strategic Information Information
of uses of Job Choices in Collection Processing
analysis job analysis

J.S.

Job Description

Job description is a written statement showing job title, tasks, duties and responsibilities
involved in a job. It also prescribes the working conditions, hazards, stress that it can
produce and the relationship with other jobs.

A job description (JD) is a written statement of what the job holder does how it is done,
under what conditions it is done and why it is done. It describes what the job is all about.

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Unit- II Human Resource Management

“Job description is an organised, factual statement of duties and responsibilities of a

specific job. In brief, it should tell what is done, how it is done and why. It is a standard
of function, in that it defines the appropriate and authorized content of a job”.
- Flippo

Generally, a job description contains the following information:

1. Job title, code number, department/ division.
2. Job content in terms of activities or tasks performed.
3. Job responsibilities towards effective performance of the job.
4. Working conditions specifying specific hazards
5. Social environment prevailing at the work place.
6. Machine tool and equipments
7. Extent of supervision given and received.
8. Relationship with other jobs- vertical, horizontal and diagonal.

Job Specification

Job specification, also known as man or employee specification is a statement of

minimum acceptable qualities requirement for the personnel.

Job specification summarises the human characteristics needed to satisfactory job

completion. It tries to describe the key qualifications someone needs to perform the job
successfully. It spells out the important attributes of a person in terms of education,
experience, skills, knowledge and abilities to perform a particular job.

Definition:

“Job specification is a statement of minimum acceptable human qualities necessary to

perform a job properly…… It is standard of personnel and designates the qualities
required for acceptable performance.”
- Ibid

The job specification is a logical outgrowth of a job description. For each job description,
it is desirable to have a job specification. This helps the organisation to determine what
kind of persons are needed to take up specific jobs.

The personal attributes that are described through a job specification may be classified
into three categories:

• Essential Attributes: Skills, knowledge and abilities (SKAs) a person must

possess.
• Desirable Attributes: Qualifications a person ought to possess.
• Contra- indicators: attributes that will become a handicap to successful job
performance.

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Unit- II Human Resource Management

Role Analysis

At operative levels, it is possible to write job descriptions that reflects what workers do
while at work. At middle and higher management levels, a clear definition of expected
and unexpected job- related behaviour is not possible. Certain aspects of mangers job
(E.g., Whether to take decisions in the absence of clear cut information, how to react to
situation, etc) Job analysis in such cases are woefully inadequate to uncover the way of
doing things.

Job analysis fails to capture the behaviour expectations of various groups (unions,
colleagues, superiors, subordinates, general public, etc) that influence the actions of job
holder. Over a period of time, the roles to be played by a job holder may undergo a
complete transformation. Identifying important job related behaviors that may lead to
effective performance, under the circumstances, proves to be a difficult exercise.

Role Analysis provides a satisfactory answer to this problem. A role is a set of

expectations people have about the behaviour of person in position. A position holder
may perform three types of roles in day to day life; namely the expected role, the
perceived role, and the actual role.

The expected role is what other people expect from a person. For Example; a college
teacher is expected by his role partners (principals, colleagues, students) to come to
college and teach properly.
The perceived role is how the individual thinks he should behave to fulfill the expected
role. The teacher may think that he may be able to complete the given course in about
month’s time and it is a sheer waste of time to be in the college all through the year.
The enacted role or actual role is the way the person actually behaves in an organisation.
The college teacher, giving shape to his thoughts, might visit campus only once a week to
handle his classes!!!

Human Resource Planning

HRP should include four aspects-

1. Forecasting manpower needs
2. Developing appropriate policies and programmes for meeting those needs
3. Implementing Policies and programmes &
4. Controlling these programmes

Definition:

“Manpower Planning (HRP) is the process - including forecasting, developing,

implementing and controlling- by which a firm ensures that it has the right number of
people and right kind of people, at the right place, at the right time, doing things for
which they are economically most suitable”.
- Edwin B. Geisler

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Unit- II Human Resource Management

“Human resource planning includes the estimation of how many qualified people are
necessary to carry out the assigned activities, how many people will be available, and
what, if anything, must be done to ensure that personnel supply equals personnel demand
at the appropriate point in the future”.
- Terry L. Leap and Michael D. Crino

“Specifically, human resource planning is the process by which an organisation ensures

that it has the right number and kind of people, at the right place, at right time, capable of
effectively and efficiently completing those tasks that will help the organisation achieve
its over all objectives”
- David A. Decenzo and Stephen P. Robbins

Human Resource Planning Process

1. Forecasting future manpower requirements.

2. Inventorying present manpower resources and analyzing the degree to which
these resource and employed optimally.
3. Anticipating manpower problems by projecting present resources onto the
future and comparing them with the forecast of requirements to determine the
adequate, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
4. Planning the necessary programmes of recruitment, selection, training,
deployment, utilization, transfer, promotion, development, motivation and
compensation so future manpower requirements will be met.

Organisational Objectives, Plans

and policies

Human Resource
Planning

Forecasting the needs for Forecasting supply human

human resources resources
Identification of
human resource
gap

Surplus human Shortage of human

resource resources
Action plans for
bridging gap

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Unit- II Human Resource Management

Human Resource Planning Process

1. Organisational objectives, Plans and Policies: The starting point of any activity
in an organisation is its objectives which generate various plans and policies
which provide direction for future course of action.
2. Human Resource Planning: Taking direction from organisation objectives and
plans and above policy considerations, human resource plan is prepared.
The planning process consists of two major activities: forecasting need of the
human resources and forecasting the supply of human resources.
3. Identification of Human resource Gap: Forecasting the needs for human
resources and forecasting supply of human resources, both taken together, help to
identify the gap between the human resource need and there availability. These
gaps can either surplus or shortage.
4. Action Plans: Various actions are devised to bridge the Human resource gap. If it
is surplus because of the improper HRP in the past, then divestment of business,
closing down because of various reason, layoff, Voluntary retirement, etc. If
Shortage of human resource action plan to recruit additional personnel.

Thus the major ingredients of HRP process are forecasting needs for human resources,
forecasting supply of human resources, and identification of human resource gap. The
last aspect developing various action plans.

Time Dimension of Human Resource Planning

Planning is the determination of future course of action. However the question is what
future: near or distance future, immediate or remote future, short term or long term
future.

Human Resource planning period is divided into short- term and long term.

Short term HR Planning

Short term HRP is derived from the long term HRP and attempts to contribute to the
achievement of objectives of long term HRP. In short term which may be a year or so,
there is no fundamental change in human resources and organisational operations.
Whatever the change take place, these are the results of characteristics and events of
short- term.
For Example: there may be change in organisation’s human resource due to resignation,
death, separation, and promotion.

Therefore the basic problem involved in managing the Human Resource in the short term
planning is effective utilization of existing Human resource by matching them with the
existing jobs.

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Unit- II Human Resource Management

Matching at Organisational Level: In the short term, an organisation may have mismatch
between its human resources and jobs of two types: either it may Surplus or shortage of
manpower.

In the case of Surplus matching can be achieved by effecting temporary layoff, reducing
work hours, and reducing the workload.

In the case of shortages the matching can be achieved by increasing the work- hours,
overtime work, and hiring temporary personnel.

Matching at Individuals Level: At the individuals level mismatching may be of two

types; when an individual has lower capabilities that his job requirements or he has more
capabilities that the job requirement.

In the first case the matching can be achieved by transferring the individual to a less-
demanding job, changing the nature of his job by splitting it, or appointing a assistant to
help him.

In the second case the matching can be achieved by enlarging the scope of the job, or
assigning additional job.

Long term HR Planning

In the long term, which extends up to five years or beyond? The organisation has a
flexibility of matching its human resources and jobs by taking actions which have long-
term impact.

For Example, surplus human resource can be pruned by offering VRS, or this can be
utilized by expanding the organisational activities.

Similarly the shortage of the human resource can be met by additional recruitment and
selection of personnel and their development thereby increasing the availability of
personnel both quantitatively and qualitatively.

At the individuals’ levels, gaps between individuals and jobs can be bridged by
developing the individuals to match the requirements of their jobs or by promoting them
match their capabilities with the jobs.

Importance of Human Resource Planning

 Defining Future Personnel need

 Prepare People for future
 Coping with Changes (Expand or contract)
 Providing Base for Developing Talents
 Cut costs

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Unit- II Human Resource Management

 Succession planning
 Forcing Top Management to Involve in HRM

Barriers of effective Human Resource Planning

1. Improper Linkage Between HRP and Corporate Strategy
2. Inadequate appreciation of HRP
3. Rigidity in Attitudes
4. Environmental Uncertainty
5. Conflict between long term and short term
6. Inappropriate HR information system

Effective HRP
• Top Management Support
• Employee skills inventory
• Proper Human resource Information System
• Coordination

Skills Inventory

A skills inventory is an assessment of the knowledge, skills, abilities, experience and

career aspiration of each of the current employees. This record should be updated at least
every 2 years and should include changes such as new skills, additional qualifications,
changed job duties, etc. Of course, confidentiality is an important issue in setting up such
an inventory. Once established, such a record helps organisation to quickly match
forthcoming job openings with employee backgrounds.

An Example of Skills Inventory

Name: Titus Date printed : 9-1-2009

Number: 429 Department: 41
Key words Work Experience

Word Description From To

Accounting Tax 1998 2000 Tax Clerk ABC Company
Book keeping Ledger 2000 2002 Accountant XYZ Co.
Auditing Computer Records 2002 2003 Chief Account TT Bank

Education Special Qualification

Degree Major Year Course Date

MBA Finance 1998 DBF 1996
B.Com Accounts 1995 Risk Management 1999

Computer Literacy Language Position Location Choice Hobbies

preference
• Tally French Kolkata • Chess
Accounting Delhi •
• Baking Auditing Bangalore •
Foot ball
Boating
Software

Employee Signature: _________________________________ HR Department: _______________

Date: ______________________________________________ Date: ________________________

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 Unit- II Human Resource Management

Recruitment

Recruitment is the process concerned with the identification of sources from where the
personnel can be employed and motivating them to offer themselves for employment.

“Recruitment is the process of finding and attracting capable applicants for employment.
The process begins when the new recruits are sough and ends when their applications are
submitted. The result is a pool of applicants from which new employees are selected.”
- William and Davis

Factors affecting Recruitment Policy and Programme

The formulation of HR policies is affected by several factors: External and Internal

External Factors
1. Nature of competition for Human Resources
2. Legal factors
3. Socio- cultural Factors
4. External Influences

Internal Factors
1. Organisational Image
2. Size of Organisation
3. Type of personnel to be Recruited
4. Past Practices

Recruitment Process

Recruitment is a process consisting of various activities, through which search of

prospective personnel – both in quantity and quality – as identified by HRP and J.D. and
J.S. is made.

Recruitment Sources of Contacting Application To selection

planning Recruitment Sources Pool Process

Evaluation and control

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Unit- II Human Resource Management

Recruitment Planning:
 Number of Contacts
 Type of contacts

Sources of Recruitment:
Internal Recruitment
 Present Personnel (Promotion, cross training, Transfers, etc)
 Personnel Referrals
 Job Posting

External Recruitment
 Educational campus
 Advertisement
 Agencies
 Consultancy etc

Combining internal and external sources

Application pool: the ultimate objective is to attract as many candidates as possible so as

to have flexibility in selection.

Internal Recruitment

Advantages • Good performance is rewarded

• Less Costly
• Candidates are already oriented Disadvantages
towards organisation • Old concept
• Organisation has better • Current work affected
knowledge about internal • Politics play greater role
• Enhancement of morale and • Morale problem of those not
motivation promoted

External Recruitment

Advantages Disadvantages
• Benefits of new skills, new • Better morale and motivation
talents, and new experience denied
• Compliance with reservation • Costly
policy become easy • False positive and false negative
• Scope of resentment, jealousy error
and heart burn avoided • Adjustment of new employee to
the organisational culture takes
time

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Unit- II Human Resource Management

Selection

Selection can be conceptualized in terms of either choosing the fit candidates, or rejecting
the unfit candidates, or a combination of both.

“Selection is the process of differentiating between applicants in order to identify {and

hire} those with a greater likelihood of success in a job.”

Recruitment Selection
Process of searching for prospective
employees and stimulating and Tends to be negative because it rejects a
encouraging them to apply for jobs in an good number of those you apply, leaving
organisation. It is often termed positive only the best to be hired.
in that it stimulates people to apply for
jobs to increase the hiring ratio.

Selection process

Screening of Application form

Selection Test

Selection Interview

Checking of references

Physical Examination

Approval by appropriate Authority

Final selection

Employment Contract

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Unit- II Human Resource Management

Eliminate those not meeting the initial criteria

Eliminate those below cutoff point

Eliminate those not meeting job and organisation requirement

Eliminate/ Reconsider those with adverse remark

Eliminate those not meeting the physical standard

Adopt objectivity

Congratulate

Inform about all possible terms and conditions

Application Blank / Form: The real process of selection begins with the screening of
applications. Prospective employees have to fill up some sort of application forms. This
form is some sort of application forms. These forms have variety of information about the
applicants like their personnel bio-data, achievements, experience, etc. Such information
is used to screen the applicants who are found to be qualified for the consideration of
employment.

Selection Test: Ability test, Achievement test, intelligent test, Aptitude test, Personality
test, Achievement test, Interest test, etc.

Selection Interview: Interview is the oral examination of candidates for employment.

This is the most essential step in the selection process. In this step, the interviewer tries to
obtain and synthesise information about the abilities of the interviewee and the
requirements of the job.

Interview gives the recruiter an opportunity to:

• Size up the interviewee’s agreeableness ;
• Ask questions that are not covered in tests;
• Obtain as much pertinent information as possible;

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Unit- II Human Resource Management

• Assess the subjective aspects of the candidate- Facial Expression, Appearance,

nervousness, and so forth;
• Makes judgments on interviewee’s enthusiasm and intelligence;
• Give facts to the candidate regarding the company, its policies, programmes,
etc, and promote goodwill towards the company.

Types of Interview:
1. One- to- One Interview
2. Panel Interview
3. Structured Interview (highly organised pattern or directive. Same pattern
of question to all candidates)
4. Unstructured Interview (non- directive interview, does not depend on
pre-planned question prepared before the commencement of the
interview)
5. Depth Interview (is semi- structured in nature and involves key area
which the interviewers have studied in advance.)
6. Stress Interview

Interview Process

Preparation: Effective interviews do not happen just happen. They are planned. This
involves:
• Establishing the objectives of the interview and determining the areas and specific
questions to be covered.
• Reviewing the candidate’s application resume, noting areas that are vague or that
may show candidate’s strength and weakness on which question should be asked.
• Keep the test scores ready, along with interview assessment forms.
• Selecting the interview method to be followed.
• Choosing the panel of experts who would interview the candidates.
• Identifying a comfortable, private room preferable away from noise and
interruptions (neat, clean, well furnished, and ventilated) where the interview
could be held.

Reception: The candidate should be properly received and led into the interview room.
Greet the candidate with a warm, friendly, greeting, and smile.

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Unit- II Human Resource Management

Information Exchange: To gain the confidence of the candidates, start the interview with
a cheerful conversation. The information exchange between the interviewer and the
interviewee may proceed thus:

• State the purpose of the interview, how qualification are matched with skills
needed to handle the job. Give the information about the job for which the
interviewee is applying. A job preview
• Begin with open ended questions where the candidate gets enough freedom to
express himself freely instead of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ type of response. E.g., tell me
about yourself?
• Do not telegraph the desired answer by nodding or smiling when the right answer
is given.
• Do not interrogate the applicant as if the person is a prisoner.
• Do not monopolies the conversation, giving very little chance to the applicant to
reveal himself.
• Do not let the applicant dominate the interview by rambling from point to point
so you cannot ask all the question. Establish a interview plan and stick to it.
• Do not use difficult words to confuse the applicant. Provide the information as
freely and honestly as possible.
• Focus on the applicant’s education, training, work experience etc.,
• Listen to applicants answer attentively and patiently.

Termination: End of the interview as happily as it began without creating any awkward
situation for the interviewee. Here avoid communicating through unpleasant gestures
such as sitting erect, turning towards the door, glancing at watch or clock, etc. Some
terminate the show by asking: do you have any final question? At this point inform the
applicant about the next step in the interview process, which may be wait for a call or
letter.

Evaluation: After interview is over summarise and record your observations carefully,
constructing the report based on responses given by applicant, his behaviour, your own
observations and the opinion of other experts present during the interview. Better to use
standard evaluation process.

Checking of References: Many organisations ask the candidates to provide the names
of references from whom more information about the candidates can be solicited. Such
information may be related the character, working etc. The usual referees may be
previous employers; persons associated with the educational institutions from the
candidates have received education.

Physical Examination: carried out to ascertain the physical standards and fitness of
prospective employees.

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Unit- II Human Resource Management

Approval by appropriate authority: Though the personnel department has authority to

select the candidate finally, often it has staff authority to recommend the appropriate
candidates.

Final Selection: The candidate concerned may be informed accordingly. Sometimes

more than one name can be suggested by the selection committee and approved by the
competent authority for a single position. In such case, the person whose name is at top is
selected and informed.

Employment Contract: The relationship between the organisation and the employees is
a contractual one, and from this point of view, anyone who in the employment of the
organisation and draws salary/ wage is an employee irrespective of the position held by a
person, so for this reason the terms and conditions of employment is signed.

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