Concept of HR Audit and purpose

An audit is a means by which an organisation can measure where it currently stands and determine what it has to accomplish to improve its human resources function. It involves systematically reviewing all aspects of human resources, usually in a checklist fashion, ensuring that government regulations and company policies are being adhered to. The key to an audit is to remember it is a learning or discovery tool, not a test. There will always be room for improvement in every organisation.

Career planning and management

An important component of the performance management process is the growth and development of employees’ work-related competencies. This process offers an opportunity for employees to work together to improve and build upon their performance and to contribute to organisational effectiveness. Developing an employee’s performance furthers the mission of the University and enhances the overall quality of our workforce by:

• Promoting a climate of continuous learning and professional growth 
• Helping to sustain employee performance at a level which meets or exceeds expectations 
• Enhancing knowledge, experience, position, or career related skills 
• Enabling employees to keep abreast of changes in their fields 
• Making employees competitive for employment opportunities within the University 
• Motivating employees 
• Promoting affirmative action objectives 

The SMART goal setting

An effective expression of the important goal setting guidelines is that you should set SMART goals. What the SMART goal setting guidelines actually mean is that your goals should be:

Specific; Measurable; Attainable; Rewarding; Timely

Specific:
With a specific goal you can clearly see what it is you want to achieve, and you have specific standards for that achievement. In making your goals specific it is important that you actually write them, which is crucial in all goal setting guidelines. The more specific is your goal, the more realistic is your success, and the shorter is path to it.

When you work on making your goal specific, you program your subconscious mind to work for you. Then, your feelings and thoughts will lead you to your goal instead of pointing at the obstacles. To make your goals specific you also need to work out the other components of SMART goal setting guidelines below.

Concept and objective for succession planning

Succession planning to be a process by which one or more successors are identified for key posts (or groups of similar key posts), and career moves and / or development activities are planned for these successors. Successors may be fairly ready to do the job (short-term successors) or seen as having longer-term potential (long-term successors). Succession planning therefore sits inside a very much wider set of re-sourcing and development processes which we might call succession management.

This encompasses the management re-sourcing strategy, aggregate analysis of demand / supply (human resource planning and auditing), skills analysis, the job filling process, and management development (including graduate and high flyer programmes). Organisations use succession planning to achieve a number of objectives including:

THEORY ‘X’ AND THEORY ‘Y’

Douglas McGregor, an American social psychologist, proposed his famous X-Y theory in his 1960 book 'The Human Side of Enterprise'. Theory x and theory y are still referred to commonly in the field of management and motivation, and whilst more recent studies have questioned the rigidity of the model, McGregor’s X-Y Theory remains a valid basic principle from which to develop positive management style and techniques. McGregor's XY Theory remains central to organisational development, and to improving organisational culture. McGregor's X-Y theory is a salutary and simple reminder of the natural rules for managing people, which under the pressure of day-to-day business are all too easily forgotten. 

McGregor maintained that there are two fundamental approaches to managing people. Many managers tend towards theory x, and generally get poor results. Enlightened managers use theory y, which produces better performance and results, and allows people to grow and develop. Theory x ('authoritarian management' style)

Describe the importance of job analysis. How do you carry out a Job Analysis process?

Job Analysis is a process to identify and determine in detail the particular job duties and requirements and the relative importance of these duties for a given job. Job Analysis is a process where judgments are made about data collected on a job.

The Job; not the person An important concept of Job Analysis is that the analysis is conducted of the Job, not the person. While Job Analysis data may be collected from incumbents through interviews or questionnaires, the product of the analysis is a description or specifications of the job, not a description of the person.

Purpose of Job Analysis

The purpose of Job Analysis is to establish and document the 'job relatedness' of employment procedures such as training, selection, compensation, and performance appraisal.

Explain what Human Resource Planning (HRP) is? Describe the process on Human Resource Planning.

HR Planning for a business enterprise needs a conceptual outlay to enable business managers to identify, plan and implement planning for manpower. There is a need to appreciate basic definitions of planning as is understood and applied in commercial situations, the core strategy necessary for an organisation to embark upon the journey of recruiting, the methods and practices adopted by organisations in a current scenario and the inherent constraints built into the planning process.

Introduction and Definition

HR planning may be defined as an articulated business strategy based on current and future business forecast for the acquisition, utilization, development, and retention of an enterprise’s human resources.

The strategy articulates the need as it exists today and the plan necessitates formulation of the goals and action plan for achievement of the people plan. The process facilitates hiring and retaining the right profile of people at varying jobs, positions, places and time frames depending on the organisational need.

What is job evaluation? What are the different ways in which a job evaluation can be carried out?

Job evaluation is a systematic assessment of job content. It establishes the worth of a job in terms of salary or wage compared to other jobs. Many elaborate schemes have been developed and applied with varying degrees of success. While some structure is necessary on a project, pay is more likely to be governed by market conditions, scarcity, individual knowledge, and performance or trade agreements. Job evaluation is the method of ordering jobs or positions with respect to their value or worth to the organisation, and placing them into job families and zones. Job evaluation is the A formal process by which management creates a job worth hierarchy within an organisation. The two basic approaches are the market data approach and the job content approach

The different ways in which a job evaluation can be carried out are:

What is the process of training? Identify various sources of training need analysis.

Training is the teaching of vocational or practical and relates to specific useful skills. It forms the core of apprenticeships and provides the backbone of content at technical colleges or polytechnics. Today it is often referred to as professional development. Training is the means the planned and organized activity of a consultant to impart skills, techniques and methodologies to employers and their employees to assist them in establishing and maintaining employment and a place of employment which is safe and healthful. Training is the systematic process of developing knowledge, skills, and attitudes for current or future jobs.

Define induction, describe the importance of induction from the point of views of an organisation and a new recruit joining the job

‘Induction’ is a systematic process of familiarising the new recruits to the organisation functioning so that they become productive in the least possible time. Induction is the tool to orient the new recruits to various aspects of the organisation and his / her job. The aim of the induction process is to help new employees make a smooth, positive adjustment to the workplace. Induction enables the new employee to gain familiarity with the work environment and to acquire a sense of belonging that will build a commitment to the organisation. Recruitment is an expensive business. It takes time, money and effort to find the right people to join your team. What a pity it would be to jeopardise this by forgetting the importance of treating a new employee really well on joining you.

Define training in an organisation. Also explain the difference between training and education.

Training is the teaching of vocational or practical and relates to specific useful skills. It forms the core of apprenticeships and provides the backbone of content at technical colleges or polytechnics. Today it is often referred to as professional development. Training is the process of making proficient through instruction and hands-on practice in the operation of equipment, including respiratory protection equipment, that is expected to be used and in the performance of assigned duties. Training is the systematic development of attitudes, knowledge and skills, behaviours pattern required by an individual in order to perform adequately a given task or job between actual and required human performance at work forms the basis of the need.

What is training evaluation? Enumerate the process of evaluation of training effectiveness using “Kirk Patrick” model.

Most training takes place in an organisational setting, typically in support of skill and knowledge requirements originating in the workplace. This relationship between training and the workplace is illustrated in Figure 1.

Describe Management by Objectives? How can it be used in the context of performance Appraisal?

What is MBO?

Management by objectives (MBO) is a systematic and organized approach that allows management to focus on achievable goals and to attain the best possible results from available resources. 
It aims to increase organisational performance by aligning goals and subordinate objectives throughout the organisation. Ideally, employees get strong input to identify their objectives, time lines for completion, etc. MBO includes ongoing tracking and feedback in the process to reach objectives.