MBOO27 – Human Resource Management

SET – 1

SOLVED ASSIGNMENT

Q1 .Write a short note on Hawthorne Studies?

Ans : Hawthorne studies: The experiments which inspired Elton Mayo and others to develop the Human Relations Movement. From 1924 the Western Electric Company of Chicago, influenced by scientific management theories, measured the impact of different working conditions (such as levels of lighting, payment systems, and hours of work) on output. The researchers, Fritz Roethlisberger and William J. Dickson, concluded that variations in output were not caused by changing physical conditions or material rewards but partly by the experiments themselves. The special treatment required by experimental participation convinced workers that management had a particular interest in them. This raised morale and led to increased productivity. The term ‘Hawthorne effect’ is now widely used to refer to the behaviour-modifying effects of being the subject of social investigation, regardless of the context of the investigation. More generally, the researchers concluded that supervisory style greatly affected worker productivity.

Later work, involving covert observation of working practices, showed how the pace and organization of work is regulated by informal social norms and organization among workers. These studies led Mayo to claim that workers are not primarily motivated by economic factors but by management styles and informal work organization. Enhanced productivity therefore depends on management sensitivity to, and manipulation of, the ‘human relations’ of production. Critics point to methodological defects in the Hawthorne experiments and question the key conclusion drawn from them—that economic factors are less important in determining productivity than the degree of psychological satisfaction which work provides.

Individual behaviors may be altered because they know they are being studied was demonstrated in a research project (1927 - 1932) of the Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric Company in Cicero, Illinois. This series of research, first led by Harvard Business School professor Elton Mayo along with associates F.J. Roethlisberger and William J. Dickson started out by examining the physical and environmental influences of the workplace (e.g. brightness of lights, humidity) and later, moved into the psychological aspects (e.g. breaks, group pressure, working hours, managerial leadership). The ideas that this team developed about the social dynamics of groups in the work setting had lasting influence - the collection of data, labor-management relations, and informal interaction among factory employees.

The major finding of the study was that almost regardless of the experimental manipulation employed, the production of the workers seemed to improve. One reasonable conclusion is that the workers were pleased to receive attention from the researchers who expressed an interest in them. The study was only expected to last one year, but because the researchers were set back each time they tried to relate the manipulated physical conditions to the worker's efficiency, the project extended out to five years.

Four general conclusions were drawn from the Hawthorne studies:

The aptitudes of individuals are imperfect predictors of job performance. Although they give some indication of the physical and mental potential of the individual, the amount produced is strongly influenced by social factors.

Informal organization affects productivity. The Hawthorne researchers discovered a group life among the workers. The studies also showed that the relations that supervisors develop with workers tend to influence the manner in which the workers carry out directives.

Work-group norms affect productivity. The Hawthorne researchers were not the first to recognize that work groups tend to arrive at norms of what is "a fair day's work," however, they provided the best systematic description and interpretation of this phenomenon.

The workplace is a social system. The Hawthorne researchers came to view the workplace as a social system made up of interdependent parts.

For decades, the Hawthorne studies provided the rationale for human relations within the organization. Then two researchers used a new procedure called "time-series analyses." Using the original variables and including in the Great Depression and the instance of a managerial discipline in which two insubordinate and mediocre workers were replaced by two different productive workers (one who took the role of straw boss - see below). They discovered that production was most affected by the replacement of the two workers due to their greater productivity and the affect of the disciplinary action on the other workers. The occurrence of the Depression also encouraged job productivity, perhaps through the increased importance of jobs and the fear of losing them. Rest periods and a group incentive plan also had a somewhat positive smaller effect on productivity. Researchers from Western Electric and Harvard University led the Hawthorne studies. (General Electric originally contributed funding, but they withdrew after the first trial was completed.) The studies were intended to examine the influence of environmental variables on a group of production workers. The group of workers was divided into two subgroups: a test group, which would undergo environmental changes, and a control group. The members of the control group would work under normal, constant environment conditions. 

The researchers began by manipulating the lighting of the test group. When lighting for the test group was increased, their productivity increased--but the productivity of the control group increased, as well. This result was somewhat unexpected, since the lighting at the workstations of the control group had not been altered. 

The researchers then decreased the lighting at the test group’s workstations. Surprisingly, both the test group and the control group continued to improve their productivity. There were no decreases in productivity until the light was reduced to the point where the workers could barely see. The researchers concluded that light did not have a significant impact on the motivation of production workers. This led General Electric, a light bulb manufacturer, to withdraw their funding. 

The next experiment utilized a mainstay of scientific management: incentive-based, piecework system. The researchers expected, according to the conventional wisdom of the day, that this would inspire the employees to dramatically increase their pace. However, rather than working as fast as they could individually, the workers calibrated themselves as a group. Employees who worked more slowly than average were derided as “chiselers.” Employees who attempted to work faster than the group were called “rate busters.” In other words, any significant deviation from the collectively imposed norm was punished. 

These results were, of course, a major blow to the position of scientific management, which held that employees were only motivated by individual economic interest. The Hawthorne studies drew attention to the social needs as an additional source of motivation. Taylor’s emphasis on economic incentives was not wholly discredited, but economic incentives were now viewed as one factor--not the sole factor--to which employees responded

Q2. Trace the growth of Trade Union Movement from Factories Act 1881 to Factories Act 1948 ?

Ans : The growth of trade unions in India started way back in 1850 when the economic conditions of labor was poor, The industry was dominated by the Capitalism, and the industrialists were more concerned about the productivity. Long working hours, Low wedges, poor living conditions and exploitation by the management was common in the industry. Slowly in many parts of the country the workforces united and Factories Act 1881 was incorporated with a ban on Child labor, and conditions in working hours and improved working conditions.

In next phase many trade unions were incorporated in the country under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in other parts of the country like West Bangal, Ahamdabad, Punjab and others. All India trade union federation was formed. After independence this took the shape of Indian Factory Act 1948 with regulation on working conditions, working hours, and other facilities at workplace. According to the Act, the workers employed in the factories were allowed a eek off-day and provisions were also made for inspection as well as limiting he hours of work for women workers to eleven per day. The act further provided that the minimum age of children for employment should be seven ears and that

the maximum working hours for them should not exceed seven ours a day and that too in the day-shift. In 1890, the first labour organization designated as Bombay Mill Hands Association was established. Subsequently, in 1905, the printers' Union at Calcutta and in 1907, the Postal union at Bombay was established.

The Madras Labour Union was organized thereafter in 1918. In 1922, the indentured labour system involving migration of Indian labour to other countries on contract basis was abolished as a result of a strong National movement. In the same year, the Central Labour Board was established to federate the different unions in the Bombay city and the All India Trade Union Congress was organized. It may be noted that the reliable statistics of trade union growth are not available for the period before the formal implementation of the Indian Trade Unions Act, 1926, a landmark in the history of industrial relations in this country. The early thirties witnessed a highly-weakened trade union movement. However, the conditions prevailing five years before as well as during the Second World War, were conducive to the rapid growth of the trade unionism. Between 1939-40 and 1944-45 the number of registered trade unions increased from 666 to 865 (i.e., by 29.7 percent) and the total membership of union submitting returns increased from 511, 134 to 889, 388 (i.e., by 70.4 percent). There was a large scale expansion of the trade union movement after the Second World War - especially after the independence. As Subramanian observes, there existed four-fold reasons for this rapid growth.

These were as follows: (1) the cumulative impact of the acute economic distress stemming from war conditions and the removal of the war-time restrictions on strikes, (2) the development of three more central labour organizations and the competition among them, (3) the labour policy of the Government based on adjudication rather than collective bargaining, and (4) the growth of the spirit of trade unionism among the workers. Accordingly, during the period 1947-1960 while, industrial employment rose by 2.8 times, the total claimed union membership also went up by 2.3 times. In 1960, 45 percent of the total industrial workforce was claimed to be unionized. Today, the total membership is estimated to be around 4.3 million i.e., 28 percent of total workforce.

Explicitly, during post-independence period, the activities of Personnel Department in different public and private sectors have multiplied. According to the provisions of section 49 of the Factories Act, 1948, it became obligatory for the-employers to employ a Welfare Officer in a factory employing 500 or more workers. Likewise, section 58 of the Mines Act, 1952, empowers the Government to specify employment of welfare officer/officers. However, it does not mean that the functions of Personnel Department are entirely limited to welfare activities. Management of human resources is being regarded as a specialized profession such as that of medicine and law. In addition to the industrial relations functions (although sometimes the industrial relations forms a separate department), the Personnel Department is responsible for other varied functions including employment, safety, training, wage and salary administration and research and development. The Head of the Personnel Department is associated with top management and helps it in the formulation of personnel policies for the company. Indeed, the activities involved in Personnel Department are akin to those performed in this department in any other western countries.

The Role of Trade Union

Trade unions are unique organisations whose role is variously interpreted and understood by different interest groups in the society. Traditionally trade unions role has been to protect jobs and real earnings, secure better conditions of work and life and fight against exploitation and arbitrariness to ensure fairness and equity in employment contexts. In the wake of a long history of union movement and accumulated benefits under collective agreements, a plethora of legislations and industrial jurisprudence, growing literacy and awareness among the employees and the spread of a variety of social institutions including consumer and public interest groups the protective role must have undergone, a qualitative change. It can be said that the protective role of trade unions remains in form, but varies in substance.

There is a considerable debate on the purposes and role of trade unions. The predominant view, however, is that the concerns of trade unions extend beyond 'bread and butter' issues. Trade unions through industrial action (such as protests and strikes) and political action (influencing Government policy) establish minimum economic and legal conditions and restrain abuse of labour wherever the labour is organised. Trade unions are also seen as moral institutions, which will uplift the weak and downtrodden and render them the place, the dignity and justice they deserve.

Trade Unions in India

The trade union movement in India is over a century old. It is useful to take stock to see whether the trade unions in India are at the centre stage or in periphery. In order to do that, one may peruse the following relevant, though selective, statistics.The Indian workforce 31.479 Crore (314.79 million) constitutes 37.3 percent of the total population. Of the total workforce, 91.5 percent is accounted for by the informal sector, while the formal sector accounts for 8.5 percent. Further, only abut 3 Crore (30 million) (i.e. 9.5 percent of the workforce) are employed on permanent basis, implying 90.5 percent being employed on casual basis. It has also been reported that by December 1991, the claimed membership of the Indian trade union movement was 3.05 Crore (30.5 million) (i.e. 9.68 percent of the workforce) with 82.24 percent of the trade union membership being accounted for by the organised sector. Thus the unorganised sector is meagerly represented.

The World Labour Report summarises the trade union situation in India "Indian unions are too very fragmented. In many work places several trade unions compete for the loyalty of the same body of workers and their rivalry is usually bitter and sometimes violent. It is difficult to say how many trade unions operate at the national level since many are not affiliated to any all- India federation. The early splits in Indian trade unionism tended to be on ideological grounds each linked to a particular political party. Much of the recent fragmentation, however, has centered on personalities and occasionally on caste or regional considerations.”

Apart from the low membership coverage and fragmentation of the trade unions, several studies point to a decline in membership, growing alienation between trade unions and membership particularly due to changing characteristics of the new workforce and waning influence of national federations over the enterprise unions. New pattern of unionisation points to a shift from organising workers in a region or industry to the emergence of independent unions at the enterprise level whose obsession is with enterprise level concerns with no forum to link them with national federations that could secure for them a voice at national policy making levels. Several studies also point to a shift in employment from the organised to the unorganised sector through subcontracting and emergence of a typical employment practice where those work for the organisation do not have employment relationship, but a contractual relationship.Unfortunately trade unionism in India suffers from a variety of problems such as politicisation of the unions, multiplicity of unions, inter-union rivalry, uneconomic size, financial debility and dependence on outside leadership.

Q3. Elaborate the HR planning System?

Ans : Human Resource Planning :

Human resource or manpower planning is defined as ‘the process by which a management determines how an organization should move from its current manpower position to its desired manpower position.’

HRP is a forward looking function and an organisational tool to identify skill andcompetency gaps and subsequently develop plans for development of deficient skillsand competencies in human resources to remain competitive. HRP is influenced bytechnological changes and other global business compulsions. HRP ensures benefits tothe organisations by creating a reservoir of talent, preparing people for future costcuttingand succession planning besides creating a back-up plan in case ofdiversification and expansion.

Human resource planning should be an integral part of business planning. Theplanning process defines projected changes in the types of activities carried out by theorganisation and the scale of those activities. It identifies the core competenciesrequired by the organisation to achieve its goals. Human resource planning interpretspeople requirements in terms of stalls and competencies. As Quinnmills indicates,human resource planning is a decision making process that combines three importantactivities (1) identifying and acquiring the right number of people with the properskills, (2) motivating them to achieve high performance, and (3) creating interactivelinks between business objectives and resource planning activities.

Human resource planning is indeed concerned with broader issues about theemployment of people than the traditional quantitative model approach of manpowerplanning. But it specifically focuses on those aspects of human resource managementthat are primarily about the organisation’s requirements for people from the viewpointof numbers, skills and how they are deployed.

Through HR planning, a management strives to have the right number and the right kind of people at the right places, at the right time, to do things which result in both the organization and the individual receiving the maximum long range benefit.’

Human resource planning consists of the following activities:a) Forecasting future manpower requirementb) Making an inventoryc) Anticipating manpower problemsd) Planning the necessary programmes of requirement.

Manpower planning consists in projecting future manpower requirements and developing manpower plans for the implementations of the projections.

Needs for HRP :

The need for planning arises mostly due to the fact that modern organisations have tosurvive, operate and grow in highly competitive market economics where change is theorder of the day. The change may be either revolutionary (sudden) or evolutionary(slow). The different areas of change include: change in technology, change inpopulation, change in economic structures and systems, change in policies ofgovernment, change in employee attitudes behaviour. etc. These changes createproblems for the management through threats and challenges. Managers have to bearthe problems caused due to the changes and act upon them tactfully in order to avoidor reduce the effects of these problems on the survival, operation and growth of theorganisation.

Efficient managers can foresee the problems likely to occur and try to prevent them.As pointed by Terry, successful managers deal with foreseen problems andunsuccessful managers struggle with unforeseen problems. The difference lies inplanning. Managers have to foresee to make the future favourable to the organisationin order to achieve the goals effectively. They introduce action, overcome currentproblems, prevent future uncertainties, adjust the goals with the unforeseenenvironmental conditions and exert all their resources to achieve their goals.According to Megginson, et al “to have an organisation that looks forward to thefuture and tries to stay alive and prosper in a changing world, there must be active,vigorous, continuous and creative planning”.

Thus, there is a greater need for planning in order to keep the organisation dynamic ina changing situation of uncertainty.

More specifically, HRP is required to meet following objectives:

1) Forecast HR requirement.2) Cope-up with the change — in market conditions, technologies, products,government regulations and policies, etc.3) Use existing HR productivity.4) Promote employees in a systematic manner.

If used properly, it offers a number of benefits:1) Create reservoir of talent.2) Prepares people for future.3) Expand or contract.4) Cut cost.5) Succession planning.

Organisational Objectives and Policies

HR plans to be made based on organisational objectives implies that the objectives ofthe HR plan must be derived from organisational objectives. Specific requirements interms of number and characteristics of employees should be derived from theorganisational objectives.

Organisational objectives are defined by the top management and the role of HRP is tosubserve the overall objectives by ensuring availability and utilization of humanresources. Q4. Discuss the Multiple Person Evaluation Methods?

Ans : The above-discussed methods are used to evaluate employees one at a time. In this section let us discuss some techniques of evaluating one employee in comparison to another. Three such frequently used methods in organization are – ranking, paired comparison and forced distribution. Ranking method This is a relatively easy method of performance evaluation. Under this method, the ranking of an employee in a work group is done against that of another employee. The relative position of each employee is tested in terms of his numerical rank. It may also be done by ranking a person on his job performance against another member of the competitive group. The quintessence of this method is that employees are ranked according to their levels of performance. While using this method, the evaluator is asked to rate employees from highest to lowest on some overall criterion. Though it is relatively easier to rank the best and the worst employees, it is very difficult to rank the average employees. Generally, evaluators pick the top and bottom employees first and then select the next highest and next lowest and move towards the average (middle) employees. The longstanding limitations of this method are: 

The ‘whole man’ is compared with another ‘whole man’ in this method. In practice, it is very difficult to compare individuals possessing varied behavioral traits.

This method speaks only of the position where an employee stands in his group. It does not tell anything about how much better or how much worse an employee is when compared to another employee.

When a large number of employees are working, ranking of individuals becomes a tosticating issue.

There is no systematic procedure for ranking individuals in the organization. The ranking system does not eliminate the possibility of snap judgments.

 In order to overcome the above limitations a paired comparison technique has been advanced by organizational scholars. Paired comparison method Ranking becomes more reliable and easier under the paired comparison method. Each worker is compared with all other employees in the group; for every trait the worker is compared with all other employees. For instance, when there are five employees to be compared, then A’s performance is compared with that of B’s and decision is arrived at as to whose is the better or worse. Next, B is also compared with all others. Since A is already compared with B, this time B is to be compared with only C, D and E. By this method when there are five employees, fifteen decisions are made (comparisons). The number of decisions to be made can be determined with the help of the formulae n (n-2). Ranking the employees by the paired comparison method may be illustrated as shown in the Table 10.7. For several individual traits, paired comparisons are made, tabulated and then rank is assigned to each worker. Though this method seems to be logical, it is not applicable when a group is large. When the group becomes too large, the number of comparisons to be made may become frighteningly excessive. For instance, when n=100, comparisons to be made are 100 (100-2) = 100 (98) = 9800. Trait: ‘Quantity of work’

Table: Employee RatedAs compared to A B C D E

A + – + –B – + – +C + – + –D – + – –E + – + +

 Forced distribution method Under this system, the rater is asked to appraise the employee according to a predetermined distribution scale. The rater’s bias is sought to be eliminated here because workers are not placed at a higher or lower end of the scale. Normally, the two criteria used here for rating are the job performance and promotability. Further, a five point performance scale is used without any mention of descriptive statements. Workers are placed between the two extremes of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ performances. For instance, the workers of outstanding merit may be placed at the top 10% of the scale. The rest may be placed as – 20% —good, 40% —outstanding, 20% —fair and 10% —fair. To be specific, the forced distribution method assumes that all top grade workers should go to the highest 10% grade; 20% employees should go to the next highest grade and so on.

 Job performance as the criterion apart, another equally important factor in this method is promotability. Employees may be classified according to their promotional merits. The scale for this purpose may consist of three points – namely, quite likely promotional material, may/may not be promotional material and quite unlikely promotional material. One strong positive point in favor of the forced distribution method is that by forcing the distribution according to predetermined percentages, the problem of making use of different raters with different scales is avoided. Further, this method is appreciated on the ground that it tends to eliminate rater bias. The limitation of using this method in salary administration however, is that it may result in low morale, low productivity and high absenteeism. Employees who feel that they are productive, but find themselves placed in a lower grade (than expected) feel frustrated and exhibit, over a period of time, reluctance to work. Other methods of appraising performance include: Group Appraisal, Human Resource Accounting, Assessment Centre, Field Review, etc. These are discussed in the following sections: Group appraisal In this method, an employee is appraised by a group of appraisers. This group consists of the immediate supervisor of the employee, other supervisors who have close contact with the employee’s work, manager or head of the department and consultants. The head of the department or manager may be the Chairman of the group and the immediate supervisor may act as the Coordinator for the group activities. This group uses any one of multiple techniques discussed earlier. The immediate supervisor enlightens other members about the job characteristics, demands, standards or performance, etc. Then the group appraises the performance of the employee, compares the actual performance with standards, finds out the deviations, discusses the reasons therefor, suggests ways for improvement of performance, prepares an action plan, studies the need for change in the job analysis and standards and recommends changes, if necessary. This method eliminates ‘personal bias’ to a large extent, as performance is evaluated by multiple rates. But it is a very time consuming process. Human resource accounting HRA is a sophisticated way to measure (in financial terms) the effectiveness of personnel management activities and the use of people in an organization. It is the process of accounting for people as an organizational resource. It tries to place a value on organizational human resources as assets and not as expenses. The HRA process shows the investment the organization makes in its people and how the value of these people changes over time. The acquisition cost of employees is compared to the replacement cost from time to time. The value of employees is increased by investments made by the company to improve the quality of its human resources such as training, development

skills acquired by employees over a period of time through experience, etc. When qualified, competent people leave an organization; the value of human assets goes down. In this method, employee performance is evaluated in terms of costs and contributions of employees. Human resource costs include expenditure incurred by the company in hiring, training, compensating and developing people. The contributions of human resources is the money value of labour productivity. The cost of human resources may be taken as the standard. Employee performance can be measured in terms of employee contribution to the organization. Employee performance can be taken as positive when contribution is more than the cost and performance can be viewed as negative if cost is more than contribution. Positive performance can be measured in terms of percentage of excess of employee contribution over the cost of employee. Similarly negative performance can be calculated in terms of percentage of deficit in employee contribution compared to the cost of employee. These percentages can be ranked to ‘Zero Level’ as shown in the Table below. 

Rank Rating Percentage of surplus/Deficit of contribution to cost of employee

1. Extremely good performance Over 2002. Good performance 150 – 2003. Slightly good performance 100 – 1504. Neither poor nor good 0 – 1005. Slightly poor performance 06. Poor performance 0 to (— 50)7. Extremely poor performance (—50) to (—100)

 This technique has not developed fully and is still in the transitionary stage. Assessment centre This method of appraising was first applied in German Army in 1930. Later business and industrial houses started using this method. This is not a technique of performance appraisal by itself. In fact it is a system or organization, where assessment of several individuals is done by various experts using various techniques. These techniques include the methods discussed before in addition to in-basket, role playing, case studies, simulation exercises, structured in sight, transactional analysis, etc. In this approach individuals from various departments are brought together to spend two or three days working on an individual or group assignment similar to the ones they would be handling when promoted. Observers rank the performance of each and every participant in order of merit. Since assessment centres are basically meant for evaluating the potential of candidates to be considered for promotion, training or development, they offer an excellent means for conducting evaluation processes in an objective way. All assessees get an equal opportunity to show their talents and capabilities and secure promotion based on merit. Since evaluators know the position requirements intimately and are trained to perform the evaluation process in an objective manner, the performance

ratings may find favor with majority of the employees. A considerable amount of research evidence is available to support the contention that people chosen by this method prove better than those chosen by other methods. The centre enables individuals working in low status departments to compete with people from well-known departments and enlarge their promotion chances. Such opportunities, when created on a regular basis, will go a long way in improving the morale of promising candidates working in less important positions. Field Review Method Where subjective performance measures are used, there is scope for rater’s biases influencing the evaluation process. To avoid this, some employees use the field review method. In this method a trained, skilled representative of the HR department goes into the ‘field’ and assists line supervisors with their ratings of their respective subordinates. The HR specialist requests from the immediate supervisor specific information about the employees performance. Based on this information, the expert prepares a report which is sent to the supervisor for review, changes, approval and discussion with the employee who is being rated. The ratings are done on standardized forms. Since an expert is handling the appraisal process, in consultation with the supervisor, the ratings are more reliable. However, the use of HR experts makes this approach costly and impractical for many organizations.

Q5. Write a note on different theories for Managing Compensation?

Ans : Human Resource is the most vital resource for any organization. It is responsible for each and every decision taken, each and every work done and each and every result. Employees should be managed properly and motivated by providing best remuneration and compensation as per the industry standards. The lucrative compensation will also serve the need for attracting and retaining the best employees.

Compensation is the remuneration received by an employee in return for his/her contribution to the organization. It is an organized practice that involves balancing the work-employee relation by providing monetary and non-monetary benefits to employees. Compensation is an integral part of human resource management which helps in motivating the employees and improving organizational effectiveness.

Paying your employees the right amount is challenging at best - too little and you lose your good employees - too much and you are unnecessarily increasing your costs. Access subscription-based, on-demand decision-ready Human Resource (HR) data and analytical tools that provide detailed compensation figures, job descriptions, best practices, trends, and policies designed specifically for serving small businesses.

Types of Compensation

Compensation provided to employees can direct in the form of monetary benefits and/or indirect in the form of non-monetary benefits known as perks, time off, etc. Compensation does not include only salary but it is the sum total of all rewards and allowances provided to the employees in return for their services. If the compensation offered is effectively managed, it contributes to high organizational productivity.

Direct Compensation            

Indirect Compensation          

Need of Compensation Management

A good compensation package is important to motivate the employees to increase the organizational productivity.

Unless compensation is provided no one will come and work for the organization. Thus, compensation helps in running an organization effectively and accomplishing its goals.

Salary is just a part of the compensation system, the employees have other psychological and self-actualization needs to fulfill. Thus, compensation serves the purpose.

The most competitive compensation will help the organization to attract and sustain the best talent. The compensation package should be as per industry standards.

Certain theories were propounded for determination of wages but these could not stand the test of time. A few theories are discussed below :

Subsistence Theory : The Subsistence Theory of Wages, also known as the Iron Law of Wages, was a law of economics that asserted that real wages in the long run would tend toward the value needed to keep the workers' population constant. The theory was named and popularized by the German socialist Ferdinand Lassalle in the mid-19th century.

According to Lassalle, wages cannot fall below subsistence level because without subsistence, laborers will be unable to work for long. However, competition among laborers for employment will drive wages down to this minimal level. This followed from Malthus' demographic theory, according to which the growth rate of population was an increasing function of wages, reaching a zero for a unique positive value of the real wages rate, called the subsistence wage. Assuming the demand for labor to be a given monotonically decreasing function of the real wages rate, the theory then predicted that, in the long-run equilibrium of the system, labor supply (i.e. population) will be equated to the numbers demanded at the subsistence wage. The justification for this was that when wages are higher, the supply of labor will increase relative to demand, creating an excess supply and thus depressing market real wages; when wages are lower, labor supply will

fall, increasing market real wages. This would create a dynamic convergence towards a subsistence-wage equilibrium with constant population.

As David Ricardo first noticed, this prediction would not come true as long as a new investment or some other factor caused the demand for labor to increase at least as fast as population: in that case the equality between labor demanded and supplied could in fact be kept with real wages higher than the subsistence level, and hence an increasing population. In most of his analysis, however, Ricardo kept Malthus' theory as a simplifying assumption.

Standard of Living Theory: This theory is a modified form of subsistence theory. According to this theory, wages are determined not by subsistence level but also by the standard of living to which a class of labourers become habituated.

Residual Claimant Theory: The residual claim and theory has been propounded by the American economist, Walker. According to him, "Wages are the residue left over, after the other factor of production has been paid". According to Jevon's words, "The wages of a working man are ultimately coincident with what he produces, after the deduction of rent, taxes and the interest on capital." Therefore, the remainder of the total output goes to the workers as wages after rent, interest and profit have been paid. The efficiency of laborers has important role to increase wages due to increase in production.

The Wage Fund Theory : The wage-fund theory held that wages depended on the relative amounts of capital available for the payment of workers and the size of the labour force. Wages increase only with an increase in capital or a decrease in the number of workers. Although the size of the wage fund could change over time, at any given moment it was fixed. Thus, legislation to raise wages would be unsuccessful, since there was only a fixed fund to draw on

Demand and supply Theory: According to this theory, wages depend upon the demand and supply of labour.

Marginal Productivity Theory: The marginal productivity theory of wages, formulated in the late 19th century, holds that employers will hire workers of a particular type until the addition to total output made by the last, or marginal, worker to be hired equals the cost of hiring one more worker. The wage rate will equal the value of the marginal product of the last-hired worker.

The bargaining theory of Wages: In the bargaining theory of wages, there is no single economic principle or force governing wages. Instead, wages and other working conditions are determined by workers, employers, and unions, who determine these conditions by negotiation.

Q6. Write the advantages and limitations of Job Evaluation Method?

Ans : Job evaluation provides a systematic assessment of the relative demands of different jobs within an organization. It’s a technique that strives to provide a systematic, rational, and consistent approach to defining the relative worth of jobs within an organization. Job evaluation is a system for analyzing and comparing different jobs and placing them in a ranking order according to the overall demands of each one. It is not concerned with the volume of work, or with the person doing it, or with determining pay. It is used in order to provide the basis for an equitable and defensible pay structure, particularly in determining equal pay for equal value. Job evaluation programs can be divided into two main categories: non-analytical and analytical. In non-analytical programs a job is compared with others as a whole, but such programs have a limited use, because they are unlikely to succeed as a defense against an equal value claim. In an analytical program, a job is split up into a number of different aspects and each factor is measured separately. The main types of analytical programs are factor comparison, point-factor rating, competency-based programs, and the profile method.

ADVANTAGES :

1. Job evaluation is a logical and objective method of ranking jobs relatively to each other. It may thus help in removing inequities in existing wage structures and in maintaining sound and consistent wage differences in a plant or an industry.

2. The method replaces accidental factors occurring in less systematic procedures of wage bargaining by more impersonal and objective standards, thus establishing a clearer basis for negotiation.

3. The method may lead to greater uniformity in wage rates and simplify the process of wage administration.

4. Information collected in a process of job description and analysis can be used for improvement of selection, training, transfer and promotion, procedures on the basis of the comparative job requirement.

LIMITATIONS : The Technique of job-evaluation has following limitations :-

1. Though there are many ways of applying job evaluation in a flexible manner, rapid changes in technology and in the supply of and demand for particular skills, create problems of adjustment that may need further study.

2. When job evaluation results in substantial changes in the existing wage structure, the possibility of implementing these changes in a relatively short period may be restricted by the financial limits within which the firm has to operate.

3. Where there are a large proportion of incentive workers, it may be difficult to maintain a reasonable and acceptable structure of relative earnings.

4. The process of job rating is, to some extent, inexact because some of the factors and degrees can be measured with accuracy.

5. Job evaluation takes a long time to complete, requires specialized technical personnel and is quite expensive.

MBOO27 – Human Resource Management

SET – 2

SOLVED ASSIGNMENT

Q1. Mention and briefly explain different sources of recruitment?

Ans : Recruitment is an important part of an organization’s human resource planning and their competitive strength. Competent human resources at the right positions in the organisation are a vital resource and can be a core competency or a strategic advantage for it.

The objective of the recruitment process is to obtain the number and quality of employees that can be selected in order to help the organisation to achieve its goals and objectives. With the same objective, recruitment helps to create a pool of prospective employees for the organisation so that the management can select the right candidate for the right job from this pool. Recruitment acts as a link between the employers and the job seekers and ensures the placement of right candidate at the right place at the right time. Using and following the right recruitment processes can facilitate the selection of the best candidates for the organisation.

Sources of Recruitment:

Every organisation has the option of choosing the candidates for its recruitment processes from two kinds of sources: internal and external sources. The sources within the organisation itself (like transfer of employees from one department to other, promotions) to fill a position are known as the internal sources of recruitment. Recruitment candidates from all the other sources (like outsourcing agencies etc.) are known as the external sources of recruitment. Internal Sources of Recruitment: 1. PRESS ADVERTISEMENTSAdvertisements of the vacancy in newspapers and journals are a widely used source of recruitment. The main advantage of this method is that it has a wide reach.

2. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTESVarious management institutes, engineering colleges, medical Colleges etc. are a good source of recruiting well qualified executives, engineers, medical staff etc. They provide facilities for campus interviews and placements. This source is known as Campus Recruitment.

3. PLACEMENT AGENCIES

Several private consultancy firms perform recruitment functions on behalf of client companies by charging a fee. These agencies are particularly suitable for recruitment of executives and specialists. It is also known as RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing)

4. UNSOLICITED APPLICANTSMany job seekers visit the office of well-known companies on their own. Such callers are considered nuisance to the daily work routine of the enterprise. But can help in creating the talent pool or the database of the probable candidates for the organisation.

5. EMPLOYEE REFERRALS / RECOMMENDATIONSMany organisations have structured system where the current employees of the organisation can refer their friends and relatives for some position in their organisation. Also, the office bearers of trade unions are often aware of the suitability of candidates. Management can inquire these leaders for suitable jobs. In some organizations these are formal agreements to give priority in recruitment to the candidates recommended by the trade union.

External Sources Include:

Campus Recruitment: Different types of organizations like industries , business firms, service organizations, social or religious organizations can get inexperienced candidates of different types from various educational institutions like Colleges and Universities imparting education in Science, Commerce, Arts, Engineering and Technology, Agriculture, Medicine, Management Studies etc,Trained candidates are recruited with different specialization in subjects, like engineering, medicine from the training institutes of State Government or National Industrial Training Institutes for Engineers or vocational training centers. Most of the Universities and Institutes imparting technical education in various disciplines like engineering technology, management studies provide facilities for campus recruitment and selection. They maintain the bio-data and performance required of the candidates. Organizations seeking to recruit the candidates from this source can directly contact the institutes either in person or by post and stimulate the candidates to apply for jobs. Most of the organizations using the source perform the function of selection after completing recruitment in the campus of the Institute itself with a view to minimizing time lapse and to securing the cream before it is attracted by some other organizations.

Campus Recruitment Techniques:

Companies realize that campus recruitment is one of the best sources for recruiting the cream of the new blood. The techniques of cam pus recruitment include:

1.Short listing the institutes based on the quality of students intake, faculty facilities and past track record.2.Selecting the recruiting team carefully.

3.Offering the smart pay rather than high pay package.4.Presenting a clear image of the company and the corporate culture.5.Present the company but do not oversell the company.6.Getting in early. Make early bird flu.7.Focusing on career growth opportunities that the company offers to the recruits.8.Include young line managers and business school (B-school) and engineering School (E-school) alumni in the recruiting team.9.Build the relationships with the faculty, administrators and students to grab them before the rivals do.

Private Employment Agencies / Consultants: Public employment agencies or consultants like ABC. Consultants in India perform the recruitment functions on behalf of a client company by charging fee. Line managers are relieved from recruitment functions so that they can concentrate on their operational activities and recruitment functions is entrusted to a private agency or consultants. But due to limitations of high cost, ineffectiveness in performance, confidential nature of this function managements sometimes do not depend on this source. However, these agencies function effectively in the recruitment of executives. Hence, they are also called executive search agencies. Most of the organizations depend on this source for highly specialized positions and executive positions.

Public Employment Exchange: The Government set-up Public Employment Exchanges in the country to provide information about vacancies to the candidates and to help the organizations in finding out suitable candidates. The Employment Exchange (Compulsory Notification or Vacancies) Act, 1959 makes it obligatory for public sector and private sector enterprises in India to fill certain types of vacancies through public employment exchanges. These industries have to depend on public employment for the specified vacancies.

Professional Organizations: Professional organizations or associations maintain complete bio-data of their members and provide the same to various organizations on requisition. They also act as an exchange between their members and recruiting firms in exchanging information, clarifying doubts etc. Organizations find this source more useful to recruit the experienced and professional employees like executives, managers, engineers.

Data Banks: The Management can collect the bio-data of the candidates from different sources like Employment Exchange, educational Training Institutes, candidates etc, and feed them in the computer. It will become another source and the company can get the particulars as and when it needs to recruit.

Casual Applicants: Depending upon the image of the organization, its prompt response, participation of the organization in the local activities, level of unemployment, candidates apply casually for jobs through mail or hand over the applications in Personnel Department. This would be a suitable source for temporary and lower level jobs.

Similar Organizations: Generally, experienced candidates are available in organizations producing similar products or engaged in similar business. The management can get most suitable candidates from this source. This would be the most effective source for executive positions and for newly established organization or diversified or expended organizations.

Trade Unions: Generally, unemployed or underemployed persons or employees seeking change in employment put a word to the trade union leaders with a view to getting suitable employment due to latter’s intimacy with management. As such the trade union leaders are aware of the availability of candidates. In view of this fact and in order to satisfy the trade union leaders, management enquires with trade unions for suitable candidates. Management decides about the sources depending upon the type of candidates needed, time lapse period, etc. It has to select the recruitment technique(s) after deciding upon source.

Q2. Write a note on guided and unguided interview?

Ans : Management is genuinely interested in high production and higher productivity of workers to achieve the desired results, it should know the impact of its policies and practices on the attitude of he workers about work and be ready in promoting the good feelings about the work, policies, practices and about the organisation among workers and stimulate them to get the predetermined objectives willingly. Higher productivity is the direct result of the attitude of the workers about work i.e high morale will yield more production and better quality at lower cost and is an index of good feelings about the fellow-workers and the organisation. If workers appear to feel enthusiastic optimistic about the groups activities and mission and friendly to each other, they are described as having good or high morale. If they seem dissatisfied, irritated, cranky. Critical restless and pessimistic, these reactions are described as evidence of poor or low morale,' Therefore, form the view point of the management, the problem of employee morale, is always at the top priority. They consistently and persistently make the efforts for stimulating a feeling of togetherness, a sense of identification with the elements of one['s job, working conditions, fellow workers, supervisors and the company which is conductive to the achievement of the company's goals. It is essentially a responsibility of the management to maintain high morale.

Morale has been recognized by military authorities as one of the most important factors in winning or lossing wars. Napolean rated morale so high to say that more conditions made up 95 per cent of success or failure in a military situation. High morale leads to success and low morale brings defeat in its wake. The place of morale is no less important for an industrial undertaking. The success or failure of he industry must depends upon the morale of its employees. Kelth Davis has rightly compared the morale with the woman according to him “.....never under-estimate the power of a woman, and the same certainly must be said about morale, never under estimate the power of morale.”

High morale assists the management to overcome the several labour problems such as labour turnover, absenteeism, indiscipline, grievance etc.It also helps to seek cooperation of the workers in the running of the organisation and thus getting higher production to minimum possible cost by reducing the wastage of time, man, machines and materials. It is, in other sense, an index of good industrial relations.

In modern times the psychological researchers have increased the importance of the morale in the industrial field. They showed remarkable progress in output by improving morale among the industrial workers. The government is also taking interest in this direction and have introduced several labour welfare an social security measures to improve the morale of the industrial workers. The management has also recognized the importance of high morale and realized that low morale has long-range effects which are even more damaging to the organisation. The investigators analyses the records and bring out the variations in output, rat of absenteeism, labour turnover and accident, grievances and complaints and their severity. By analyzing the records, he checks the extent to which organisation is achieving results. The extent of increase or decrease in profitability, productivity or any other direct benefits to the enterprise. It is the indirect method of measuring the employee morale.

The above methods of the measurement of the employee morale present only the tendencies or the attitude of the employee morale. The statistical measurement of morale is not possible because it relates to the inner feelings of human beings. We can say that morale is increasing or decreasing but cannot measure how much it decreased or increased.

Interview may be of two types-guided and unguided. Guided interview emphasizes mainly on the questions set out before hand in consultation with the higher management. Under this method, the investigators go to the respondent with printed questionnaires, explaining them the general objects and provide explanation, if asked for. The interview asks a series of formal questions with simple choice responses, similar to those included in the printed questionnaire which answered orally.

Under unguided interview, the participants are encouraged to talk freely about what he thinks about the organisation and its people. There are no specific or formal questions. The interviewer listens to and encourage the employees to take freely with an assurance that talk will remain secret and confidential. It may be held individually or in groups. The interviewer may ask questions of general interest and should avoid specific questions.

Q3. Discuss the techniques to motivate employees?Ans : Man is by nature constantly motivated and is an organic system, not a mechanical one. The inputs of energy such as food, water etc., are converted by him into outputs of behaviour. His behaviour is determined by relationships between his characteristics as organic system and the environment in which he moves. Management involves creation and maintenance of environment for performance of individuals working together in groups towards accomplishment of common objectives and therefore the manager cannot perform his functions without knowing what motivates people.

Concept of MotivationThe personnel function is all about motivation and unless individuals are motivated to make sufficient potential to perform effectively, they may not achieve the level of performance that is desired from them. Managerial people are always facing the problems of motivating their subordinates to release their potential most effectively and thereby permit the desired goals of the organization and the needs of employees to be achieved. Knowledge of the motivational process provides the basis for understanding why people do what they do.

Motivation is positively correlated with concepts of (1) level of aspiration, (2) degree of commitment, and (3) inclination towards action.

It is rightly said, “You can buy a man’s time, you can buy a man’s physical presence at a given place, but you cannot buy his enthusiasm, initiative and loyalty.” Motivation aims at transforming the ‘ability to do’ into ‘the will to do’. Motivated employees are in a state of tension. To relieve this tension, they engage in activity. The greater the tension, the greater shall be the activity to bring about relief. When we see someone working hard at some activity, we can conclude that the individual is driven by a desire to achieve some goal which perceives as having value to him.

Motivation has been defined as the act of stimulating someone to take a desired course of action-to push the right button to get a desired reaction. It includes a stimulus and desired results. Motivation concerns itself with the will to work. It seeks to know the motives for work and to find out ways and means, by which their realisation can be helped and encouraged.

Mr. Urwick has called it the dynamic aspect of management. According to Michael Jucius, motivation is an ‘act of stimulating someone to get a desired course of action’. James Driver says that, motivation means the phenomena involved in the operation of incentives and drives. In the words of P.T.Young, motivation is the process (a) of arousing or initiating behaviour, (b) of sustaining an activity in progress, and (c) of channeling of activity in the given course.

A man’s performance on a specific task is a function of his skill and motivation. Thus it can be said that p=f(S,M), where P is for performance, S for skill and M for motivation. Skill does not guarantee that the individual will put forth his best effort. There is another variable, namely motivation which finally determines the effort which can be expected from such employee. That difference in motivation affects performance has been demonstrated very conclusively. In laboratory experiments it was found that other things being equal, performance level is higher if the motivation level is higher.The key to understand motivation lies in the meaning and relationships between needs, drives and goals. This demonstrated through ‘the motivation cycle’ given below:

1. Needs: The best one word definition of a need is efficiency. In the domestic sense, needs are created whenever there is a physiological or psychological imbalance. For example, a need exists when a cell in the body is deprived of food and water or when the

human personality is deprived of other persons who serve as friends or comparisons.

2. Drives: Drives are set up to alleviate needs. A drive can be defined as deficiency with direction. Drives are action-oriented and provide an energizing thrust toward goal accomplishment. The examples of the needs for food and water are translated into hunger and thirst drives, and need for friends becomes a drive for affiliation.

3. Goals: At the end of the motivation cycle is the goal. A goal in the motivation cycle can be defined as anything which will alleviate a need and reduce a drive. Motivation may range from a threatening gesture to a tradition inspired activity. Thus the atmosphere of working situation, the past history of human relations in a company, expectations about the future as well as a wage incentive plan be stimuli to action, It is believed that the full force of motivation lies in the person doing the motivation. In the case the management, it is the magnetic personality of the executive which induces high loyalty and production. If the executive does not have this quality, he is obviously at a disadvantage. However, he can develop effective plans of motivation.

Motivation Techniques

Following Michael Jucius, let us see how management may proceed to motivate employees. This activity may be divided into two parts: (a) what is to be done and (b) how and why what is done. The former are steps in motivation and the latter are rules governing the steps. Both are performed simultaneously. The steps of motivation are listed below:

1. Size up situation requiring motivation: The first stage of motivation is to make sure of motivational needs. Every employee needs motivation. However, all people do not react in exactly the same way to the same stimuli. Keeping this in mind the executive shall size up how much and what kind of motivation is needed and when and by which individuals.

2. Prepare a set of motivating tools: Having determined the motivational needs of a particular person or group an executive must have a list from which he should select and apply specific tools of motivation. An executive from his personal experience should prepare a list of what devices are likely to work with what type of people and under what circumstances.

3. Selecting and applying the appropriate motivator: Proper application of motivational plan is very important. This involves selection of the appropriate technique, the method of application and the timing and location of applications. Having selected appropriate techniques, thought must be given to its application.

4. Follow-up the results of the application: The last stage of motivation is to follow-up the results of the application of the plan. The primary objective is to ascertain if an employee has been motivated or not. If not, some other technique should be tried. A secondary purpose of follow-up is to evaluate motivation plans for future guidance.

Rules of Motivating: In following the steps of motivation a manager should be guided by some fundamental rules which should be based upon the following principles:

1. Self-interest and Motivation: Undoubtedly, motivation is mainly built on selfishness. Psychologically speaking, selfishness is a part and parcel of life. To deny this is to build the theory on unrealistic foundation. To seek some other basis of motivation would be to ignore the real nature of man. The aim should be to learn more about selfishness.

2. Attainability: Motivation must establish attainable goals. What is prescribed for a particular person must be attainable by him. This does not mean that the goal is realised at once. Such goals as promotion or desirable transfer may take years to attain. But it must be within reach.

Eight Ways to Motivate Plant Employees: Based on a fact-finding study conducted at several manufacturing plants of the General Electric Company, Sorcher and Meyer have made the following recommendations for improving the motivation of employees in routine jobs.

1. Provide assembly line employees with more than minimum training. Providing some sort of formal training for a factory employee beyond the required minimum should result in greater personal involvement in the job.

2. Create sub-goals to measure accomplishment. A sense of competition is important to good motivation. When people work towards clearly defined goals they perform better. Moreover, they are likely to be more interested in the work which will reduce monotony and mental fatigue. 3. Provide regular feedback on performance. Psychological studies show that people perform better when they receive positive as well as negative feedback about their performance on a regular basis.

4. Maintain a neat and orderly work area. If the foreman does not care about neatness, employees may feel that they need not care about it and this attitude may also affect the quality of their work.

5. Arrange work situations so that conversation between employees is either easy or impossible. Experienced workers can do routine jobs with little attention to the task. Conversation while working may reduce monotony and fatigue and thus have a favourable effect on output.

6. If possible, increase the number of operations performed by one employee. This can be done by the simplification of manual operations. It offers several advantages, viz., i) the risk of errors is reduced; ii) training costs are minimized; iii) Management can hire employees at lower wages.

iv) Structure jobs, so that workers can, at least occasionally move about the work area. Besides job rotation, there are other ways to provide for physical movement such as setting employees secure their own tools or by adding operations which require some physical activity. v) Explore ways to assign greater personal responsibility. Increased responsibility means greater self-esteem and greater job meaningfulness. One way to enlarge responsibility is to let an employee inspect his own work.

Q4. Explain in detail the disciplinary –Action Penalties?

Ans : There are varying penalties for first, second, and third offences of the same rule. Among the penalties available in business are :1. Oral Reprimand2. Written reprimand3. Loss of Privileges 4. Fines 5. Lay off 6. Demotion7. Discharge The penalties are listed in the general order of severity, from mild to severe. For most cases, an oral reprimand is sufficient to achieve the desired result. The supervisor must know his or her personnel in determining how to give a reprimand. For one person, a severe “chewing out” may be necessary in order to get attention and co-operation; another person may require only a casual mention of a deficiency. If the offence is more serious, the reprimand may be put in written form.

Since a written reprimand is more permanent than an oral one, it is considered a more severe penalty.

For such offences as tardiness or leaving work without permission, fines or loss of various privileges can be used. The fines usually have some relationship to the work time actually lost. The loss of privileges includes such items as job assignments, right to select machine or other equipment, and freedom of movement about the workplace or company.

The more severe penalties of lay off, demotion and discharge are usually outside the grant of authority to the immediate supervisor. Disciplinary layoffs can vary in severity from one to several days loss of work without pay. The use of demotion as a penalty is highly questionable. If the employee is properly qualified for the present assignment, he or she will be improperly placed on a lower job. Discharge is the most severe penalty that a business organization can give and constitute “industrial capital punishment”

Q5. Explain the importance of grievance handling ?

Ans : Maintaining quality of work life for its employees is an important concern for the any organisation. The grievance handling procedure of the organisation can affect the harmonious environment of the organisation. The grievances of the employees are related to the contract, work rule or regulation, policy or procedure, health and safety regulation, past practice, changing the cultural norms unilaterally, individual victimization, wage, bonus, etc. Here, the attitude on the part of management in their effort to understand the problems of employees and resolve the issues amicably have better probability to maintain a culture of high performance. Managers must be educated about the importance

of the grievance process and their role in maintaining favorable relations with the union. Effective grievance handling is an essential part of cultivating good employee relations and running a fair, successful, and productive workplace. Positive labor relations are two-way street both sides must give a little and try to work together. Relationship building is key to successful labor relations.

Precautions and Prescriptions

The management should take care of following aspects to develop a culture of trust and confidence upon the employees.

1. Always ensure that the managers involved in the grievance handling procedures have a quiet place to meet with the complainant.

2. Always ensure that managers have adequate time to be devoted to the complainant.

3. Explain manager's role, the policy and the procedures clearly in the grievance handling procedure.

4. Fully explaining the situation to the employee to eliminate any misunderstanding and promote better acceptance of the situation complained of.

5. Try to let employee present their issues without prejudging or commenting

6. Do use a positive, friendly ways to resolve the crisis than punitive steps, which disturb the system.

7. Do remain calm, cool, collected during the course of the meeting.

8. Always focus on the subject of the grievance than allied issues.

9. Don't make threats manage the grievances.

10. Never make use of allegations against personalities.

11. Beware of the staff member's potential concerns to the possible repercussions of raising a grievance.

12. Don't become angry, belligerent, or hostile during grievance handling procedure.

13. Do listen for the main point of arguments and any possible avenue to resolve the grievance.

14. Listen and respond sensitively to any distress exhibited by the employees.

15. Eliminating the source of the irritation or discomfort being complained of.

16. Reassure them that the managers will be acting impartially and that your hope is to resolve the matter if possible.

17. Don't "horse trade" or swap one grievance for another (where the union wins one, management wins one). Each case should be decided on its merits.

18. Avoid usage of verbosisms like "it will be taken care of."

19. Ensure effective, sensitive and confidential communication between all involved.

20. Take all possible steps to ensure that no victimization occurs as a result of the grievance being raised.

21. The investigator or decision maker acts impartially, which means they must exclude themselves if there is any bias or conflict of interest.

22. All parties are heard and those who have had complaints made against others are given an opportunity to respond.

23. Try to look upon the problem on different angles for appropriate understanding.

24. Ensuring that there is proper investigation of the facts and figures related the problem under concern.

25. Consider all relevant information in the investigation process.

26. Ask the staff member their preferred resolution option, although it is important to make it clear that this may not be a possible outcome.

27. Be aware of the limits of authority of the person who involved in the grievance handling procedures.

28. If the manager feels that he/she is not the appropriate person (senior manager) to deal with the issue refer the complainant to the appropriate person as soon as possible.

29. Try to get a better idea of whether the alleged discrimination or harassment happened or didn't happen.

30. Tell them exactly what they are supposed to have done, to whom and explain, why this may be seen as discrimination/harassment or as inappropriate.

31. Grievances are preferably to be settled informally at the level of the employee's immediate supervisor.

32. Try the level best to involve team members to resolve the crisis at unit level itself.

33. Avoid as far as possible the union involvement in conflict resolution situation process.

34. Follow documentation the procedures, of all necessary steps taken to resolve the problem/complaint.

IMPORTANCE :

1. Receive and define the nature of the dissatisfaction: The manner and attitude with which the supervisor receives the complaint of grievance is important. As a principal applicable to this step, the supervisor should assume that the employee is fair in presenting the complaint or grievance. Statements should not be prejudged on the basis of past experience with this or other employees. The supervisor should not be too busy to listen and should not give an impression of condescension in doing so. Thus supervisors who were nearly task oriented, as contrasted with people-oriented, tended to experience a significantly greater number of grievance being filed in their units.

2. Get the Facts : In gathering facts, one quickly becomes aware of the importance of keeping proper records such as performance rating, jo ratings, attending records and suggestions. In addition, with the increasingly legalistic bent that is characteristic of modern labour-management relations, the supervisor is wise to keep records on each particulars grievance. It is also important that the supervisor possesses and exercises some skill in interview conference, and discussion.

3. Analyze and divide: With the problem defined and the facts in hand, the manager must now analyze and evaluate them, and them come to some decision. There is usually more than one possible solution. The manager must also be aware that the decision may constitute a precedent within the department as well as the company.

4. Apply the answer: Though the solution decided upon by the superior is adverse to the employee, some answer is better than none. Employees dislike supervisors who will take no stand, Good or bad. In the event of an appeal beyond this stage of the procedure, the manager must have the decision and the reasons for his decision should be properly recorded.

5. Follow up : The objective of the grievance procedure is to resolve a disagreement between an employee and the organization. Discussion and conference are important to this process. The purpose of its follow-up phase is to determine whether the clash of interest has been resolved. If follow up reveals that the case has been handled unsatisfactorily or that the wrong grievance has been processed, then redefinition of the problem, further fact-finding, analysis, solution and follow up are requesired.

Q6. Explain Managerial grid in detail?Ans :The Managerial Grid Model (1964) is a behavioral leadership model developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton. This model identifies five different leadership styles based on the concern for people and the concern for production. The optimal leadership style in this model is based on Theory Y. A graphical representation of the Managerial Grid 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:

The impoverished style (1,1)In this style, managers have low concern for both people and production. Managers use this style to avoid getting into trouble. The main concern for the manager is not to be held responsible for any mistakes, which results in less innovative decisions.

The country club style (1,9)This style has a high concern for people and a low concern for production. Managers using this style pay much 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 productive.

The produce or perish style (9,1)With a high concern for production, and a low concern for people, managers using this style find employee needs unimportant; they provide their employees with money and expect performance back. Managers using this style also pressure their employees through rules and punishments to achieve the company goals. This style is based on Theory X, and is commonly applied by companies on the edge of failure.

The middle-of-the-road style (5,5)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 achieve acceptable performance.

The team style (9,9)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 among employees. This method relies heavily on making employees feel as a constructive part of the company.

Leaders may be concerned for their people and they also must also have some concern for the work to be done. The question is, how much attention to they pay to one or the other? This is a model defined by Blake and Mouton in the early 1960s.

 

Concern for People

HighCountry Club management

  Team management

Medium  

Middle of the road management

 

LowImpoverished management

  Authority-compliance

 

Low Medium High

Concern for Production (Task)

Grid theory makes behaviors as tangible and objective as any other corporate commodity. They can explore types of critique that work best for them and why. They can openly discuss how to improve decision-making and conflict resolution skills.