Human Resource Planning Strategies, Recruitment And Procedures

INTRODUCTION

According to Bulla and Scott human resource planning is “the process for ensuring that the human resource requirements of an organization are identified and plans are made for satisfying those requirements. It determines the human resources required by the organization to achieve its strategic goals. Human resource planning is generally concerned with businesses of longer terms but sometimes it also addresses businesses of short terms as well. In order to improve organizational effectiveness, it looks at the broader issues how people are employed and developed. Human resource planning is an integral part business planning”.

In this assignment, firstly I will explore that how HR plan supports organization’s strategic objectives. Then I will discuss the legal requirements which influence HR planning. In next part, recruitment and selection of new staff is explained in detail and with it the effect of organizational culture on recruitment and retention of staff is described. In last part, human resource management procedures are discussed which are grievance, discipline and dismissal procedures.

The strategic planning process projects to changes in the type of activities carried out by the organization. In order to achieve the goals, resource and skill requirements it identifies the core competencies the organization needs. Quinn Mills says that human resource planning is a decision making process and consist of three steps:

• Identify appropriate number of people with right skills
• Motivate these people to achieve high performance
• Create links between business objectives and people planning activities.
• Human resource planning consists of four steps
• To forecast future needs
• To analyse the availability and supply of people
• To draw up plans
• To monitor how plans are implemented
• A strategy is a plan of a company which shows that how it matches its internal strengths and weaknesses to external threats and opportunities.

CHALLENGES TO STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE

Human resource management priorities are focusing on boosting competitiveness, reducing costs and improving employee performance.

COMPANY’S BASIC STRATEGIES

CORPORATE STRATEGY

• Corporate strategy is portfolio of businesses that comprise the company and the ways by which these are related to each other. It consists of
• Diversification strategy identifies the expansion of a company by adding new products
• Vertical integration strategy shows the expansion of a company by producing its raw materials or selling its products
• Consolidation reduces the size of a company
• Geographic expansion takes the business abroad

COMPETITIVE STRATEGY

Competitive strategy strengthens the long term position of the company’s business in the marketplace. Managers use different corporate strategies to achieve corporate advantage.

COST LEADERSHIP aims to make the company a low cost leader in industry.

DIFFERENTIATION COMPETITIVE STRATEGY is a strategy in which a company wants to be unique in the industry

FUNCTIONAL STRATEGY

It is a basic course of action that each department of business pursue to achieve its competitive goals.

STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

In planning and achievement of any organization, human resource management plays a bigger role in the success. Strategic human resource management formulates and executes HR systems and HR policies.

HR ROLE IN THE FORMULATION OF STRATEGY

A strategic plan identifies, analyze, and balance the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses and external threats and opportunities.

Human resource planning process takes place within the context of labour market. According to Elliott (1991): “The market for labour is an abstraction; it is an analytical construction used to describe the context within which the buyers and sellers of labour come together to determine the pricing and allocation of labour services.”

The internal labour market consists of labour within the company. It is a main source of future labour requirements by introducing the policies like training, development, and career planning and management succession.

The external labour market consists of regional, local, national and international labour markets. In order to find the right people for the right job, it is necessary to consider that which of these labour markets are the best source.

Both the sources are extensively used depending on the size of the company, the rate of growth and decline and the policies of employee resourcing. The firm much relies on internal market and believes in long term careers of the staff through training sessions or apprenticeship.

The aims of human resource planning are as follows:

• The skillful and competent people are obtained and retained
• Makes the best use of human resource planning
• To overcome the problems like deficit of people or potential surplus
• To develop a trained workforce
• Reduce to rely on external recruitment
• Human resource planning consist of four steps
• Forecast future needs
• Analyze the supply and availability of people
• Make plans to match supply to demand
• Monitor the implementation of plan

For future demands, human resource planning concentrates on skills and competencies which indicate the numbers required in longer term. Its main aim is to produce policies like training, retention and utilization of human resources and development.

Human resource planning addresses the following questions:

How many people will be needed?

What competencies and skills are required for future?

Is training or development needed further?

Is there is a need for recruitment?

When will there is a need for new people?

When will the training and recruitment start?

How to tackle the situation of reducing cut costs?

How can the flexibility be achieved on the use of people?

FORMULATION OF BUSINESS STRATEGY

HR strategy contributes to the formulation of business strategy which identifies to make the best use of existing human resources.

IMPLEMENTATION OF BUSINESS STRATEGIES

It consists of;

Development strategies are the needs to increase skills to fit people for greater responsibility. It also defines the outputs required from training programmes.

Retention strategies indicate the intentions of the company to get the right people

Utilization strategies describe how the organization intends to improve productivity and cost

Flexibilities strategies define the company’s strategies in developing flexible work arrangements

Downsizing strategies are the needs to be done by the organization to reduce the numbers employed.

FORMULATION OF HR STRATEGIES

Formulation of strategies addresses a number of questions

Where are we now?

Where do we want to be in the future?

How are we going to get there?

Resourcing strategies are converted to business strategies by depending on the following plans

SCENARIO PLAN conducts an environmental scan on the issues which affect the labour market. This is possibly based on PEST approach.

DEMAND FORECASTING estimates the future needs of the people. Its base is long term business plan and annual budget. For the company’s plans, details are required which results in increased or decreased demands of employees. The introduction of new technology would also have to be considered in order to bring changes to working methods or procedures. There are four methods of demand forecasting

MANAGERIAL JUDGEMENT

This method requires managers to sit together and think about the future pressure and workload. The managers have to decide that how many people they need. Line managers and senior managers are involved in this agreement. Top management prepares company and department forecasts and these forecasts are reviewed and agreed with department managers. All the guidelines should be prepared for departmental managers indicating the future activities which will effect their department. With the help of these guidelines, departmental managers prepare their forecast to a laid- down format. They can seek help from personnel department. The personnel department prepares a human forecast of the company. Human resource planning committee then reviewed these two forecasts and reconciles with the department managers about these two forecasts and submits a final amended forecast to top management for approval.

RATIO TREND ANALYSIS

It is a study of past ratios between direct and indirect workers. In this way, future ratios are forecasted and made some allowances for changes in the company.

WORK STUDY TECHNIQUES

Work study techniques are used in work measurements to calculate long operations and the requirement of people for those operations. The production budget of any manufacturing company is prepared in volumes of sealable products or in volumes of output for individual departments. The productive hours are then compiled by the use of standard hours. The standard hours per unit of output are multiplied by the planning volume of units to be produced to give the total planned hours. This is divided by the number of actual working hours for an individual operator.

MODELLING

Technique like computers and spreadsheet can help in demand and supply forecast.

FORECASTING COMPETENCE AND SKILL REQUIREMENT

This shows an impact of projected, product market developments and the introduction of new technology.

SUPPLY FORECASTING estimate the supply of manpower by reference to analyses of current resources and future availability. Supply forecasting consists of number of people from inside or outside of the organization. It covers

Existing human resources

Losses to existing human resources through employee wastage

Changes to existing human resources through internal promotions

The effect of changing conditions and absenteeism of work

Sources of supply from inside or outside the organization

FORECASTING REQUIREMENTS analyse the demand and supply forecasts to identify future deficits with the help of models.

DEMAND AND SUPPLY FORECASTING MODELS

Models help to make decisions and make the decision makers to understand the situation in which these decisions are made. These modelling techniques help to prepare human resource forecast. It also helps to understand the career evaluation and predict and measure wastage for setting and operating models, data is required which is as follows:

Human resource system- gives a description of the people who enter or exit of the organization and their progress at different levels.

Stocks – the number of people employed in each grade. They are analysed in age or length of service

Flows- recruits, leavers and promotion flows are analysed by age or length of service

Assumptions- assumptions are made for future behaviour of the system and in this way the implications of different outcomes can be evaluated.

Career analysis- a career prospectus is made to build up analysing data on promotions. This links the data to information on the database about the potential of current employees.

FLEXIBILITY

It aims to achieve increased organizational effectiveness. It has following forms

CONTRACT BASED FLEXIBILITY is an employee contract which shows the flexibility of terms and conditions. The overall purpose of the job descriptions is written in terms. This flexibility can be achieved by employing contract workers to work on any task according to their skills.

TIME BASED FLEXIBILITY is achieved by the flexible hours.

JOB BASED FLEXIBILITY is a functional flexibility in which workers can move from task to task according to their skills. Companies make the fullest use of flexibility in order to make the fullest use of their workforce. Functional flexibility is also associated with pay schemes and ensures that all staff is treated equally in terms of benefits.

SKILL BASED FLEXIBILITY is a range of staff to perform different tasks to exercise greater responsibility. it is based on the competencies and the utilization of the capabilities of the workers.

ORGANIZATION BASED flexibility makes use of contract workers and part time and temporary staff.

PRODUCTIVITY AND COST ANALYSIS analyse the productivity and costs to identify the need for improvement. An increase in activity level can improve the productivity and recruits more employees. In order to reduce costs, a company looks at productivity and employment costs.

The input of employees gives an output of goods and services as productivity. Employment costs consist of pay, employee benefits, national insurance contributions, recruitment costs, training costs, leaving costs including redundancy payments, loss of production, replacement and training, the cost of health and safety and personnel administration costs.

ACTION PLANNING

Action planning is derived from the resourcing strategies and are made in the following areas

OVERALL PLAN

The overall human resource plan

Improves methods in sorting out young people for recruitment

Links with schools and colleges to create interest of the young people

Attracts young people by developing programmes and training sessions

Widens to recruit woman and part time workers

Arrange working hours for new employees

Provide benefit packages

Provide training programmes for the new employees and make better use of their skills and talents

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PLAN

The human resource development plan shows

The number of existing staff who needs training

The number of trainees required and the programmes for recruiting and training them

New learning programmes or the changes to the existing courses

THE RECRUITMENT PLAN

The recruitment plan set out

The need of the numbers and types of people required to make up any deficits

To attract candidates by training and development programmes, pay and benefit packages, working hours arrangement, child care facilities etc

The dealing of the problems in the supply of the recruits by the recruitment programme

THE RETENTION PLAN

The retention plan is based on the analysis of why people leave. It addresses the following areas

PAY

This problem arises due to unfair and uncompetitive systems. Actions to be taken are

Review pay levels on the basis of market surveys

Review pay schemes so that everyone is treated equally

Make sure that employees understand the relation between performance and reward

JOBS

They should be designed in such a way which can increase skill variety and provide opportunities for learning and growth.

PERFORMANCE

If the employees are not clear of their responsibilities or performance then they can be demotivated. Related to performance, following actions can be taken

Encourage managers to praise the staff for their performance by giving them a healthy and informative feedback.

Train managers in counselling; give briefing on performance management system and get a feedback on how it has been applied

TRAINING

If the people are not trained then this can create an increase in resignations. Training and learning programmes should be introduced to employees before joining the organization. Training programmes give employees the confidence and make them more competent in their performance. In this way they can make better use of their abilities and can do variety of tasks and enhance their skills and competencies.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Promotion prospectus and career prospectus in many of the organizations is limited which make most of the employees to turnover. To have a stable workforce, employers need planning in providing career opportunities by

Developing promotion procedures

Giving advice on career prospectus

Encourage promotion from within

COMMITMENT

Commitment can be increased by explaining the mission and strategies of the company. Communication with employees is very important especially face to face communication. This also seeks the views of other people at work.

CONFLICT WITH MANAGES AND SUPERVISORS

This is another reason of turnover. This should be solved by

Selecting those managers who are qualified and with well developed leadership

Giving them training in resolving conflicts and dealing with grievances

Recruitment and selection

Poor selection results in rapid turnover. Selection of the employees should match with their capabilities.

THE FLEXIBILITY PLAN

The aim of the flexibility plan is utilize all the skills and capabilities of employers. It also reduces the employment cost and increase productivity. The flexibility plan consist of

ALTERNATIVES TO FULL TIME PERMANENT STAFF

The core of permanent full time staff consist of managers and team leaders who are needed to run the teams of core workers.it also include professional staff such as personnel which provides high level professional advice and services. Knowledge workers, technicians and highly skilled workers is also a part of team. The next step is the right use of the temporary workers, part-time workers and subcontracting workers.

FLEXIBLE HOUR ARRANGEMENT

This is also included in flexibility plan. Flexible hours can be arranged in the following ways:

FLEXIBLE DAILY HOURS is a day to day pattern according to work loads

FLEXIBLE WEEKLY HOURS are the weekly hours which are done at the peak time of the year

COMPRESSED WORKING WEEKS is a pattern where employees work less than five days

OVERTIME

To reduce the overtime costs, flexibility plan offers flexible hours, new shift arrangements and overtime limitations.

ARRANGEMENT OF SHIFT WORKING

This reduces the overtime and is modified to meet demand requirements.

THE PRODUCTIVITY PLAN

This plan increase productivity and reduce employment costs by improving the methods like automation, mechanization and computerization.

THE DOWNSIZING PLAN

This plan sets out

Arrangement for consulting with employees and their trade unions

Forecast of the number of losses that can be taken up by natural wastage

Forecast of the number who want to leave voluntarily

Redundancy terms

Arrangements by telling individual employees about the redundancies and keeping the trade unions informed

CONTROL

In spite of including budgets and targets, human resource plan also clarifies the implementation and control. This reports on the numbers employed against establishment and on the numbers recruited against the recruitment targets. Against budget, it also report employment costs and trends in wastage and employment ratios.

RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION OF NEW STAFF

The overall aim of the recruitment and selection process is to obtain the number and quality required at a minimum cost in order to satisfy the company’s human resource requirements. The recruitment and selection process is a series of three steps:

Define requirements

Decide terms and conditions of employment, prepare job descriptions and specifications

Attract candidates

Review and evaluate by building a pool of candidates for the jobs by recruiting internal and external candidates, advertisement, use agencies and consultants

Select candidates

By interviewing, testing, assessing, assessment centres, offering employment, asking references, and preparing employment contracts

DEFINE REQUIREMENTS

In recruitment programme, the number of people required should be specified which is derived from the human resource plan. In addition, there will be demands for new jobs to be filled and these should be checked for justification. It is necessary to check the type of employee required for a specific job. For assessing candidates, this information provides a basic introduction required to agencies or recruitment consultants. A candidates profile, educational background, experience and skills produce criteria for a suitable job and is assessed by interviewing or by means of psychological tests.

JOB DESCRIPTION

A job description sets the overall objective of the job, basic details of the job, main activities and any other special requirements. For the purpose of recruitment, the information can only be provided on the arrangement for training and career opportunities. Pay, benefits, mobility and travelling are included in terms and conditions.

PERSONNEL SPECIFICATIONS

It is also known as recruitment, person specification or job specification. It requires educational background, qualification, experience, skills, competencies and training from the candidate.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND OR QUALIFICATION- academic or technical qualification is required

EXPERIENCE- achievements or merits obtained

COMPETENCIES- it consist of any special skills achieved such as numeracy

TRAINING- any special training that a candidate has taken

SPECIFIC DEMANDS- a candidate is expected to develop new markets, productivity, best customer services and sales and introduce new techniques and systems

ORGANIZATIONAL FIT- the candidate is expected to work within the corporate culture

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS- mobility, unsocial hours and travelling

The most familiar classification scheme introduced by Rodger (1952) and is known as

THE SEVEN POINT PLAN

The seven point plan consists of

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE- physique, health, appearance and speech

ATTAINMENTS- education, qualification, experience

GENERAL INTELLIGENCE- intellectual quality

SPECIAL APTITUDES- mechanical, manual dexterity

INTERESTS- intellectual, practical, physically active, social, artistic

DISPOSITION- influential, power of acceptance, steadiness, dependable, self reliance

CIRCUMSTANCES- domestic circumstances, occupations of family

Another classification system is produced by Munro- Fraser and is known as

THE FIVEFOLD GRADING SYSTEM

The fivefold grading system covers

IMPACT ON OTHERS- appearance, make-up, speech, manner

ACQUIRED QUALIFICATION- education, vocational training, experience

INNATE ABILITIES- aptitude for learning, natural quickness of comprehension

MOTIVATION- goals set up by an individual and determination to follow them and success in achieving them

ADJUSTMENT- emotional stability

Both systems are proved to be good for interviewing but seven point plan is more stable and has a longer pedigree.

COMPETENCY BASED APPROACH

During selection process, competency based approach is used as a framework for a particular role. According to Roberts (1997)

The benefit of taking a competencies approach is that people can identify and isolate the key characteristics which would be used as the basis for selection, and that those characteristics will be described in terms which both can understand and agree…..The competencies therefore become a fundamental part of a selection process.

According to Wood and Payne (1998), the advantages of competency based approach are;

It increases the accuracy of prediction about stability

It facilitates a closer match between the person’s attributes and the demands of the job

It helps to prevent interviewer’s making ‘snap’ adjustments

It can underpin the whole range of recruitment techniques- application forms,, interviews, tests and assessment centres

ATTRACTING CANDIDATES

It is a matter to identify, evaluate and use the most appropriate sources of applicants. If difficulties occur in attracting candidates then being an employer there should be a proper study at the strengths and weaknesses of the company.

ANALYSIS OF RECRUITMENT STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

It covers the matters like pay, employee benefits, working conditions, security of employment, educational and training opportunities, career prospectus and the reputation of an organization. The aim of an organization is to build a better image by use of advertisements, brochures or interviews.

SOURCES OF CANDIDATES

To fill the anticipated openings, if there are no qualified candidates inside then the outside candidates are given more consideration. This may require forecasting general economic, local market and occupational market conditions.

To forecast general economic conditions is the expected prevailing rate of unemployment. Lower rate of unemployment lowers the labour supply and then it’s more difficult to recruit personnel

Local labour market conditions are also important. Finally, the forecasting of candidates for jobs in specific occupations is to be recruited.

Once a position is filled, the next step is to develop an applicant pool either from internal or external sources. Recruitment efforts are for the welfare of the strategic plans of the company. Some recruiting methods are superior to others, depending what your sources are and who a company is recruiting.

If no candidates are available within an organization then the main sources of candidates are

ADVERTISING

Advertising is a best source to attract candidates. For successful advertisement, a company needs to address two issues: the media and the ad’s construction. The selection of best medium depends on the types of positions a company is recruiting.

OBJECTIVES OF ADVERTISEMENT

Attract attention

An advertisement should be attractive enough to gain an attention of a potential candidate

Create and maintain interest

The information of an ad is to be communicated in an attractive way about the job, the organization, qualifications and the terms and conditions of employment.

Stimulate action

An advertisement should be conveyed in such a way that it not only attracts candidates but encourage them to read at the end and apply.

ANALYSE THE JOB REQUIREMENT

It’s necessary for a company to establish that how many jobs to be filled and when. Then comes the job description and person specification for qualification and experience. The next step is to consider where suitable candidates are likely to come from and the companies, jobs or educational establishments they are in. Finally the pay and the benefits of the company are clearly shown in an advertisement.

EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES AS A SOURCE OF CANDIDATES

There are three basic types of employment agencies

THOSE OPERATED BY FEDERAL OR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

These agencies are on the rise these days. These agencies fill up the jobs, counsellors visit the work site. Review the job requirements and help the employer to write job description.

THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION

Most societies have units which help their members in finding a suitable job. Public welfare agencies place the people who are disabled and war veterans.

PRIVATE OWNED AGENCIES

These agencies charge to every applicant for the application they place. These agencies are the sources of managerial personnel, clerical and white collar.

RECRUITMENT CONSULTANTS

Recruitment consultants advertise, interview and shortlist.

STEPS FOR CHOOSING RECRUITMENT CONSULTANT

Check its reputation with others

Check the advertisements of other companies in order to know the consultancy

Meet the consultant who is working on the assignment

Compare its fee with other recruitment consultants

USING RECRUITMENT CONSULTANTS

It is necessary to

Brief them the terms and conditions of the company

Give them assistance in job defining

Clarify arrangements for interviewing and short- listing

Clarify the fee and expenses structure

Make sure the arrangements made are directly dealing with the consultant

USING EXECUTIVE SEARCH CONSULTANTS

These are also known as “head hunter”. These consultants are for senior jobs and direct the limited number of people to specific jobs. They are bit expensive consultants .These consultants have their own contacts and have researchers who identify specific people for a specific job. The consultant forwards the shortlist of candidates with full report to the client when a number of potential candidates have been assembled.

CHOOSING AN ADVERTISING COMPANY

Following steps should be taken while choosing an advertising company

Experience in handling recruitment advertising

Services provided to the clients

Fee structure

Staff meeting who are working on advertisement

Discuss methods of working

RECRUITMENT ADVERTISEMENT

A recruitment advertisement should start with a compelling headline and then it covers the areas like the organization, the job, qualification and experience, terms and conditions of job, the location and the action to be taken.

The headline should be a job title and in bold letters. For attracting customers, quote the salary in an attractive way. The name of the company should be given. Create interest in the job and convey the essential features of the job by giving a brief description of the duties of a job holder.

The qualification and experience should be stated. This will vary from candidate to candidate. Pay scale and the job requirements will give them the enough information about the experience required.

Final section of the advertisement is how a candidate can apply for a job? Candidates would be appreciated if they apply in writing, or have a telephonic conversation or may be called for an informal chat at some suitable place.

SEX DISCRIMINATION ACT 1975

According to this law it is unlawful to discriminate by favouring sex in advertisement. Sexiest job titles should be avoided. There are certain jobs which are unisex and are non discriminatory.

TYPE OF ADVERTISEMENT

CLASSIFIED/ RUN- ON- they are cheap and suitable for routine jobs. In this a copy is run on, having no white space in or around the advertisement and no paragraph spacing.

CLASSIFIED/SEMI-DISPLAY-it is much more effective and is fairly cheap. The headings are in capitals and are dented and white space is around the advertisement.

FULL DISPLAY- these are expensive and have a great impact on jobs. They are bordered and any illustration and typeface can be used

EDUCATIONAL AND TRAINING ESTABLISHMENTS

In some organizations the major source of recruit of training is universities and schools.

DEVELOP AND USE APPLICATION FORMS

The application form is a good way to collect the historical data from a candidate. It also gives information of candidate’s educational background, work history and interests.

Once a company has a pool of applicants, the sequence of steps to process an application is as follows:

On the control sheet list the application on control sheet, set out names, date application was received and state whether its on reject, hold, interview, shortlist or offer.

Before making any decision, send an acknowledgement letter to each applicant

The applicant is asked to complete the application form and return an application form. Employers carefully review the application forms to make sure all employees are treated fairly with equal employment laws.

Compare the applications with the specific job specification and sort them in to different categories.

Shortlist the candidates for an interview

Draw up an interviewing programme. The time varies according to the complexity of the job.

Invite the candidate for an interview by sending a letter. The candidates are asked to fill in the form if they have not done it before.

Review the possibles and decide if any are to reserved. Send reserves a holding letter and others a rejection letter. In the rejection letter thank the candidates for the interest of job they have shown.

BIODATA

Biodata consist of demographic details like sex, age, family and circumstances, educational and professional qualification, employment history and work experience, interests and job motivation.

Biodata is useful in the way when a large number of applicants apply for a post and there is limited number of post. Cut of scores are made which indicate the accepted and rejected candidates. Some applicants keep on hold for final decision.

ELECTRONIC CV’S

CV’s of applicants are scanned and converted in to a basic text format. By using high speed scanners using optical recognition software (OCR) computers can read CV’s. The system reads the text and extracts biodata such as personal details, educational qualifications, skills, job experience etc. The system carries out the analysis of CV’s of the applicants and lists the candidates who fulfil all the requirements and rank them according to the requirements of the job. The recruiter can then shortlist the required candidates.

SELECTION METHOD

With the completion of applications, the next step is to select the right person for the required job. The main selection methods are interviews, assessment centres and psychological tests. A selection interview is a “selection procedure designed to predict future job performance on the basis of applicants.

TYPES OF INTERVIEWS

INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS

Individual interview is the most familiar and face to face discussion method. It is the close contact between the interviewer and the candidate.

INTERVIEWING PANELS

Interviewing panel is the gathering of two or more people together for an interview of a candidate. In most situations the personnel manager or the line manager interview candidates at the same time and share the information given by the candidate.

SELECTING BOARDS

Selection boards are the larger interviewing panels which are held by an official body and quite number of different parties is interested in selection process.

PHONIC INTERVIEWS

Some interviews are done on phone. These are better than face to face interviews to judge candidate’s intelligence and interpersonal skills. It focuses more on substantive answers.

ASSESSMENT CENTRES

Assessment centres are the more comprehensive way of interviewing. It has the following features

Focus is given on group exercises

The main concern is on behaviour

Interviews and tests are used

Most of the candidates are assessed together and they share their views and experience in an open way

Performance of candidates is measured in terms of the skills and competencies at the particular level in the organization

Trained assessors are used to increase the objectivity of assessments

Assessment centres provide good opportunities to candidates to an extent where they match with culture of organization. This is judged in further proceedings of interviews and is observed by their behaviour in different typical situations. Assessment centres also give a good feeling to candidates and this helps them to decide whether they can fit in an organization or not.

GRAPHOLOGY

Graphology is a handwriting analysis and is based on the study of human traits in his own handwriting. The candidate’s personality and performance is assessed by his own handwriting.

REFERENCES

The purpose of references is to check the background of a candidate in a straightforward way and verify factual information about the applicant. References confirm the type of the previous job, period of time in employment, the pay rate, attendance record and the reason of leaving. Written references save time. Telephonic references are also useful as they give an honest record of the candidate and it also save time.

PHYSICAL EXAMINATION

This shows that the applicant qualifies for the physical requirements of a job and any medical problems are taken in to account by the employer. This examination detects the diseases which are unknown to the applicant either.

DRUG SCREENING

Before formally hiring the candidates, drug screening is done. Many employees do the test of current employees if their behaviour shows that they use drugs. Employers use urine sampling for this test.

COMPLY WITH THE IMMIGRATION LAW

Employees have to give proof that they are eligible to work in the organization. One way is to show a passport and the other is to show a document of employment eligibility such as work permit.

OFFERS

After obtaining satisfactory references, this is the final stage of selection to confirm the offer of employment. A written contract of employment is made at this stage according to the level of job.

FOLLOW UP PROCEDURE

Follow up procedure is important to ensure whether the employees are settled and doing well. If any problems occur then it’s easy to handle them at the beginning rather than too late.

SELECTION INTERVIEWING

Selection interviewing consist of

PUPPOSE

The purpose of selecting interview is to assess information about a candidate.

THE NATURE OF AN INTERVIEW

Candidates are allowed to talk freely about their experience and career in their interview so this is a conversation.

INTERVIEWING ARRANGEMENTS

The interviewing arrangements consist of individual interviews, a selection board, an interviewing panel or some form of assessment centre. After making arrangements, the people should be briefed about the procedures of the job.

PREPARATION

After the study of person’s CV or application form, the preparation process includes notes of the specific questions which the interviewer asks at the time of interview.

TIMING

The length of timing is according to the complexity and length of the job.

Planning and structuring interviews

During an interview, the interviewer needs to adopt a structured approach which is

The welcome and introductory remarks

Information about the candidate

Give information about the job and organization

Ask questions from the candidate

Close the interview telling them the next step

The planning should be biographical or seven point plan.

INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES

Start and end the interview in a good way. Make the candidates at ease at the beginning and give them cool reception. End the interview by making the candidates free to ask questions and ask them their wish to add something which support their application.

Selection interviewing skills

Greet candidates in a friendly manner. During the interview, keep control and adopt listening skills. Make notes during the interview because it is not easy to remember everything.

CONCLUSION

At the end make a decision which is judgemental according to the qualification of the candidate.

Employment relations end by moving somewhere or by retirement. . People also leave organizations voluntarily which is called voluntary redundancy. The redundancy problem will be solved if the employees are treated fairly. Reduce the hardships for employees as much as possible.

IMPACT OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ON RECRUITMNT AND RETENTION

Organizational culture reveals the beliefs of its people. Everybody has engaged in the staffing and selection procedure must be skilled in accountability consciousness, comprising the significance of creating no suppositions regarding capability, and concentrating on abilities rather than on applicants’ probable performance limitations (Conroy and Fanagan, 2001). Organizational culture supports the goals and mission of an organization. Thus, аlignmеnt оf culturе with thе missiоn аnd оbjеctivеs оf thе оrgаnizаtiоn cаn bе thе mоst pоwеrful fаctоr in whеthеr аn оrgаnizаtiоn succееds. (Bаch Sissоn 2000 pp.23-31 )

The culture of an organization greatly influences the recruitment and retention of staff. Organizational culture helps the employees to work together to adopt to business changes. The job demands and the requirements constantly change but the organizational culture remains constant.

The human resource management procedures are carried out by management or individual managers against the actions of the employees. They are the guidelines on people management practices. The procedures should be written down and ensures that everyone knows what steps to be taken with certain employment issues. The main areas where procedures are required are

GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

The introduction of HR procedures should be carried out in consultation with employees. These procedures should be published in a separate document or in an employee handbook HR has the duty to make sure that the procedures are followed in a right way.

Discontentment is always present at work. As a basis of employment, employees have the right to raise the issues like wages and conditions of employment. Many organizations give a room and space to employees to settle their grievances.

Grievance process is a series of steps on which the employer and the union is agreed to follow to ascertain. It is a part of labour agreement

POLICY

If an employer wants to raise any grievance issue then they should be given a fair hearing by the supervisor or the line manager

It is the right of an employer to appeal the decision made by the supervisor or the manager to the senior line manager

When there is an appeal against a decision then the employee has the right to take a fellow employee with him

PROCEDURE

Raising a grievance is gone through following steps

The employer raises a grievance issue to the supervisor or the line manager and is accompanied by the fellow employee of his or her own choice

If the decision is against the will of an employee and the employee is not happy with it then he or she can request to meet another senior management member. This meeting is held by the senior manager, HR manager and the employee as well who is appealing against the decision and the fellow employee of his or her own choice. The decision takes place in five working days.

If the employee is still not satisfied with the decision then he or she can appeal to the appropriate director. It takes five working days to be decided. This meeting is attended by the director, HR manager, employee who is appealing and the fellow employee. HR manager records all pros and cons of this meeting in writing and issue the copies to all the concerned people.

Dismissal is the most drastic step and managers should ensure that it is fair and just. The reasons of dismissal are misconduct, unsatisfactory performance, lack of qualification and insubordination.

DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE

Disciplinary procedure is a series of the following steps

POLICY

According to company’s policy if a disciplinary action is to be taken against an employee then it should

Consider those cases where clear evidence and good reason exists

Be appropriate to the nature of the offence created

Be fair enough in dealing with the case

Only take place when the employee knows the rules and is aware of the standards that are expected from them

Allow the employee to present himself or herself against the decision with his fellow employee of his or her own choice which is the right of an employee

Allow the employee to use the right of appeal against the decision

PROCEDURE

The following steps are taken during this process

INFORMAL WARNING

A verbal or informal warning is given to an employee for minor offences and is administered by the manager

FORMAL WARNING

After repeating certain minor offences, a written or formal warning is given to an employee for serious warnings. This is also administered by the manager who knows the entire case well. A written copy is placed in an employee’s file. If the employee is doing well at job and the record is satisfactory then this copy in file is destroyed after 12 months. The employee has to sign the formal warning but still got the right to appeal to higher management if he or she is not satisfied with the decision.

FURTHER DISCIPLINARY ACTION

In a reasonable period of time if the employee is still not reached the required standard then it becomes necessary to give further warnings to the employee. This may be three days’ suspension without pay or dismissal. Before taking action the line manager discuss all the case with the HR manager. The staff which is below the rank of line manager is only recommended to the higher management directly when during night shifts the managers are not present so the higher management can suspend the employee for one day pending and is followed by an inquiry on the following day.

SUMMARY DISMISSAL

In the event of misconduct, an employee can be dismissed without giving any notice. Departmental managers and senior management can only give summary dismissal. The decision cannot be finalized until the case is discussed with the HR manager and the appeal procedure is carried out. An employee is suspended for further action which is taken place in 24 hours.

APPEALS

An employee has a right to appeal in all circumstances against dismissal, summary dismissal or suspension. This appeal is conducted by the senior manager of the higher management. HR manager also administered in this hearing. If an employee wishes to take another fellow employee with him or her at the hearing then that is his or her right. Appeal against the suspension or dismissal are heard immediately. Appeal against dismissal with notice is held within two days. If the appeal against dismissal or suspension is rejected then employee has the right to appeal to the chief executive. It is the right of an employee to take his or her fellow employee with him or her at the hearing.

ROLE OF ACAS

The foundation of ACAS was held in 1975 and is a self governing organization. It is funded by government and its aim is to improve the working life of employees and organization by providing better employment relations. The advisors of ACAS work with employers and employees and give them up to date information and advice to solve their hurdles and problems.

Through legal process, ACAS relieves the employer and employees. As being a mediator, it involves third party to solve the disagreements between employers and employees. An employee’s absences can create misunderstandings but through mediation process these employees can come back to work.

ACAS also helps employees and employers to solve their disagreements by themselves through mediation.

Conciliator is almost same like mediation but the case is a complaint filed by an employer against an employee. Once the claim comes under ACAS conciliation, the ACAS officer calls both the parties together to solve their disagreements and disputes. In this situation, both the parties reach an agreement and then the claim can be withdrawn from the tribunal without any legal proceedings.

ROLE OF EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS

Employment tribunals deal with the case which is filed by an employee against the employer regarding employment and termination. The law of contract shows that some of the disputes are can be resolved under the proceedings of civil court and majority of the employment rights are included in the statue law.

5.2 The Role of Policies and Procedures:

In case a situation arises when the dispute has been the attention of tribunal then both the employees and employers are tried to resolve the dispute internally by following the process of Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures. Sometime the employers also use its own procedure for resolving the dispute. The aim of the government in this regard is to resolve the claims and tries to avoid the employment tribunals as far as it is possible. The financial consequence can be occurred if in case the attempts are not complying with the Acas Code. If the attempts made by the parties to resolve the dispute failed then the other avenues can be utilized such as Acas conciliation, private mediator and those which have been discussed earlier (Tribunal rules, 2009).

CONCLUSION

The victory and development of an organization is able to be credited in its culture. According to its mass, interaction among every worker is not obscured. And beside this interaction, the faiths and managerial objectives are simply shared and considered through everybody. And in their expansion, it is significant that this organizational culture is sustained and regulates to modify consequently. Human resource experts are able to perform equally with administration and workers in performing this. HR includes a broad extent in business administration. A growing business lies in their recent victory is able to sustain and more growth of their trade beginning with the correct recruitment. Because demands for the services otherwise product raise , extra labour force is required to fulfil with them (Connolly and Thomas , 1997).