November 6, 2021

FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Meaning of Placement Placement is the allocation of people to the job. It is assignment or re-assignment of an employee to a new or different job. Placement includes initial assignment of new employees and promotion, transfer or demotion of present employees. Placement should be made with as little disruption to the employee and organization as possible. To this end new recruits must be oriented properly so that they become productive contributors. There should be conscious and determined effort to adapt the new recruit to the organization’s culture (the rules, jargon, customs and other traditions that clarify acceptable and unacceptable behavior in an organization) by conveying to the employees how things are done and what matters. When new employees know what is expected of them, they have better organizational performance and less frustration and uncertainty. After a candidate has been selected, he should be placed on a suitable job. Placement is the actual posting of an employee to a specific job; it involves assigning a specific rank and responsibility to an employee. The placement decisions are taken by the line manager after matching the requirements of the job with the qualifications of a candidate. Most organizations put new recruits on probation for a given period of time after which their services are confirmed. During this period, the performance of the probation is closely monitored. If the new recruit fails to adjust himself to the job and turns out poor performance the organization may consider his name for placement elsewhere. Such second placement is called differential placement usually the employees’ supervisor in consultation with the higher levels of line management take decisions regarding the future placement of each employee. Placement is an important human resource activity. If neglected it may create employees adjustment problems leading to absenteeism, turnover accidents poor performance etc. The employee will also suffer seriously. He may quit the organization in frustration complaining bitterly about everything. Proper placement is therefore important to both the employees and the organization. Principles of placement A few basic principles should be followed at the time of placement of a worker on the job. This is elaborated below: Man should be placed on the job according to the requirements of the job. The job should not be adjusted according to the qualifications or requirements of the man. Job first; man next, should be the principle of the placement. The job should be offered to the person according to his qualification. This should neither the higher nor the lower than the qualification. iii. The employee should be made conversant with the working conditions prevailing in the organization and all things relating to the job. He should also be made aware of the penalties if he commits the wrong. While introducing the job to the new employees, an effort should be made to develop a sense of loyalty and cooperation in him so that he may realize his responsibility better towards the job and the organization. The placement should be ready before the joining date of the newly selected person. The placement in the initial period may be temporary as changes are likely after the completion of training. The employee may be later transferred to the job where he can do better.  Importance of Appropriate Employee Placement The major benefits of having a proper employee placement programme are that it improves employees’ morale since he/ she does what he is skilled at. It also reduces labour turnover because the employee is likely to be satisfied with the job. Placement also reduces the rate of accidents and absenteeism as well as helps to improve quality of work since the worker is placed at the right job. The benefits of placement of an individual employee are that he is able to;  Show good results on the job, Get along with people easily,  Keep his spirits high, report for duty regularly, Avoid mistakes and accidents. On the other hand, the main problem of placement arises when the recruiters look at the individuals but not the job. Often the individual does not work independent of the others. When employee are not properly placed, it may result to high labour turnover, lack of morale among employees, absenteeism of employees, poor performance and quality of work, decrease in output and accidents especially for workers dealing with machines if they are not well skilled.  Meaning of Employee Induction Orientation or induction is the task of introducing the new employees to the organization and its policies, procedures and rules. A typical formal orientation program may last a day or less in most organizations. During this time, the new employee is provided with information about the company. Its history, current position, the benefits for which he is eligible, leave rules, rest periods etc. Also covered are the more routine things a newcomer must learn, such as the location of the rest rooms, break rooms, parking spaces cafeteria etc. In some organizations all this is done informally by attaching new employees to their seniors who provide guidance on the above matters. Lectures, handbooks, films, group seminars, are also provided to new employees so that they can settle down quickly and resume the work. Induction usually centers on corporate policies such as safety, security and anti-discrimination, which, although useful, may not be the most compelling information for new staff. Importance of Employee an Induction An induction programme is an important process for bringing staff into an organisation. It provides an introduction to the working environment and the set-up of the employee within the organisation.Many employers see induction as a waste of valuable time but this is a critical process when taking on a new employee. Induction gives a new employee an objective view of your company, organisational culture, and work ethic, which will allow the employee to better integrate into the workplace. The process will cover the employer and employee rights and the terms and conditions of employment. As a priority the induction programme must cover any legal and compliance requirements

FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SELECTION THEORY Recruitment and selection are two important functions of human resources. Though linked together in what is generally called the employment discipline of human resources, they are two distinct functions. The recruitment phase is the initial step for all applicants–once the applicant presents the skills, knowledge base and qualifications, he/she moves into candidacy for a position and undergoes through the selection process.. Meaning of selection Selection is the process of picking up individuals (out of the pool of job applicants) with requisite qualifications and competence to fill jobs in the organization. A formal definition of Selection is as under “Selection is the process of differentiating between applicants in order to identify and hire those with a greater likelihood of success in a job.” It can also be defined as the process of interviewing and evaluating candidates for a specific job and selecting an individual for employment based on certain criteria. Employee selection can range from a very simple process to a very complicated process depending on the firm hiring and the position. Certain employment laws such as anti-discrimination laws must be obeyed during employee selection. Difference between recruitment and selection Both recruitment and selection are the two phases of the employment process. The differences between the two are: Recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization whereas selection involves the series of steps by which the candidates are screened for choosing the most suitable persons for vacant posts. The basic purpose of recruitments is to create a talent pool of candidates to enable the selection of best candidates for the organization, by attracting more and more employees to apply in the organisation whereas the basic purpose of selection process is to choose the right candidate to fill the various positions in the organisation. Recruitment is a positive process i.e. encouraging more and more employees to apply whereas selection is a negative process as it involves rejection of the unsuitable candidates. Recruitment is concerned with tapping the sources of human resources whereas selection is concerned with selecting the most suitable candidate through various interviews and tests. There is no contract of recruitment established in recruitment whereas selection results in a contract of service between the employer and the selected employee Selection Process Selecting candidates involves two main processes: shortlisting, and assessing applicants to decide who should be made a job offer. It is a crucial stage in the overall recruitment process which is outlined in our recruitment factsheet. Candidates’ applications may arrive as curriculum vitae (CV) or an application form. Whatever form they are in, it is important to make sure that all of those who are involved in the selection process, from the shortlisting stage onwards, are aware of the need to avoid unfair discrimination and the potential risk to the organization’s reputation should a candidate make a legal claim. Electronic techniques are also being used to slim down the number of potential candidates. In particular, using online recruitment can mean employers receive large numbers of applications from unsuitable candidates, so it can be helpful also to use technology to help manage the application forms. A typical selection process involves the following steps; i)Preliminary Interview This is the first step in selection process.  The purpose of preliminary interviews is basically to identify whether the candidate is suitable to fill the application blank and eliminate unqualified applications based on information supplied in application forms. The basic objective is to reject misfits. On the other hands preliminary interviews is often called a courtesy interview and is a good public relations exercise. It may be inform of a brief interview conducted in the reception that involves exchange of information relating to the organization and the candidate. ii) Application blanks These are forms that give information of candidates in summary form. They include age, gender, name, contacts, religion, and qualification etc., written in a candidate’s own handwriting. Their main purposes are for comparisons i.e. provide information to be compared with what the applicant had given in the application and also allow a candidate to demonstrate their suitability for the job. The forms should be simple but the questions need to be presented in a standard format and have a bearing to suitability of the candidate as well as   give information reflecting the personality of the candidate that is helpful during the interview iii.    Selection Tests: Jobseekers who pass the preliminary interviews are called for tests. There are various types of tests conducted depending upon the jobs and the company. These tests can be Aptitude Tests, , intelligence tests,  proficiency tests, Personality Tests, and Ability Tests and are conducted to judge how well an individual can perform tasks related to the job. Besides this there are some other tests also like Interest Tests (activity preferences), Graphology Test (Handwriting), Medical Tests, Psychometric Tests etc. The main problem of tests is that they are time consuming, expensive and expose job candidates to stigma. Employment Interview: The next step in selection is employment interview. Interview is a formal, in-depth and controlled conversation with the applicant specifically set to obtain specific information from the job candidate. It is considered to be an excellent selection device. Interviews can be One-to-One, Panel Interview, or Sequential Interviews. Besides there can be Structured and Unstructured interviews, Behavioral Interviews, Stress Interviews. Interviews are important because; they provide additional information about the applicant that cannot be given in an application letter, CV or other documents, they help in judging the suitability of a candidate, and they are used to explore candidate’s aptitudes and capability in addition to providing a candidate with an opportunity to ask questions about the organization and the job. The limitations of interview are; they involve a lot of expenditure in terms of money and time, they normally test the personality of a person not the skills and abilities for the job, interviews are subject to personal judgments and bias of the interviewer.