Human resources

Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an

organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even

whole nations. Human resources is also the name of the function within an organization charged with the

overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the management of individuals

(i.e. the human resources). This function title is often abbreviated to the initials 'HR'.

Human resources is a relatively modern management term, coined as early as the 1960s - when

humanity took a shift as human rights came to a brighter light during the Vietnam Era.  The origins of the

function arose in organizations that introduced 'welfare management' practices and also in those that

adopted the principles of 'scientific management'. From these terms emerged a largely administrative

management activity, coordinating a range of worker related processes and becoming known, in time, as

the 'personnel function'. Human resources progressively became the more usual name for this function, in

the first instance in the United States as well as multinational or international corporations, reflecting the

adoption of a more quantitative as well as strategic approach to workforce management, demanded by

corporate management to gain a competitive advantage, utilizing limited skilled and highly skilled workers.

Human Resource ManagementHuman resource (or personnel) management, in the sense of getting things done through people. It's an

essential part of every manager's responsibilities, but many organizations find it advantageous to

establish a specialist division to provide an expert service dedicated to ensuring that the human resource

function is performed efficiently.

"People are our most valuable asset" is a cliché which no member of any senior management team would

disagree with. Yet, the reality for many organizations is that their people remain

under valued

under trained

under utilized

poorly motivated, and consequently

perform well below their true capability

The rate of change facing organizations has never been greater and organizations must absorb and

manage change at a much faster rate than in the past. In order to implement a successful business

strategy to face this challenge, organizations, large or small, must ensure that they have the right people

capable of delivering the strategy.

The market place for talented, skilled people is competitive and expensive. Taking on new staff can be

disruptive to existing employees. Also, it takes time to develop 'cultural awareness', product/ process/

organization knowledge and experience for new staff members.

As organizations vary in size, aims, functions, complexity, construction, the physical nature of their

product, and appeal as employers, so do the contributions of human resource management. But, in most

the ultimate aim of the function is to: "ensure that at all times the business is correctly staffed by the

right number of people with the skills relevant to the business needs", that is, neither overstaffed nor

understaffed in total or in respect of any one discipline or work grade.

Human resources purpose and role

In simple terms, an organization's human resource management strategy should maximize return on

investment in the organization's human capital and minimize financial risk.

Human resource managers seek to achieve this by aligning the supply of skilled and qualified individuals

and the capabilities of the current workforce, with the organization's ongoing and future business plans

and requirements to maximize return on investment and secure future survival and success.

In ensuring such objectives are achieved, the human resource function is to implement an organization's

human resource requirements effectively, taking into account federal, state and local labor laws and

regulations; ethical business practices; and net cost, in a manner that maximizes, as far as possible,

employee motivation, commitment and productivity

Key functions

Human Resources may set strategies and develop policies, standards, systems, and processes that

implement these strategies in a whole range of areas. The following are typical of a wide range of

organizations:

Maintaining awareness of and compliance with local, state and federal labor laws (Department of

Labor federal labor law information)

Recruitment, selection, and on boarding (resourcing)

Employee recordkeeping and confidentiality

Organizational design and development

Business transformation  and change management

Performance, conduct and behavior management

Industrial and employee relations

Human resources (workforce) analysis and workforce personnel data management

Compensation and employee benefit management

Training and development  (learning management)

Employee motivation and morale-building (employee retention and loyalty)

Implementation of such policies, processes or standards may be directly managed by the HR function

itself, or the function may indirectly supervise the implementation of such activities by managers, other

business functions or via third-party external partner organizations. Applicable legal issues, such as the

potential for disparate treatment and disparate impact, are also extremely important to HR managers.

The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them

is deciding what staffing needs to have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to

fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing

with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various

regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation,

employee records and personnel policies. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry

out these activities themselves because they can't yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should

always ensure that employees have—and are aware of—personnel policies which conform to current

regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have.

Note that some people distinguish a difference between HRM (a major management activity) and HRD

(Human Resource Development, a profession). Those people might include HRM in HRD, explaining that

HRD includes the broader range of activities to develop personnel inside of organizations, including, e.g.,

career development, training, organization development, etc.

There is a long-standing argument about where HR-related functions should be organized into large

organizations, e.g., "should HR be in the Organization Development department or the other way

around?"

The HRM function and HRD profession have undergone major changes over the past 20–30 years. Many

years ago, large organizations looked to the "Personnel Department," mostly to manage the paperwork

around hiring and paying people. More recently, organizations consider the "HR Department" as playing

an important role in staffing, training and helping to manage people so that people and the organization

are performing at maximum capability in a highly fulfilling manner.

overview and strategy for HRM

An HRM strategy pertains to the means as to how to implement the specific functions of Human Resourse

Management. An organization's HR function may possess recruitment and selection policies, disciplinary

procedures, reward/recognition policies, an HR plan, or learning and development policies, however all of

these functional areas of HRM need to be aligned and correlated, in order to correspond with the overall

business strategy. An HRM strategy thus is an overall plan, concerning the implementation of specific

HRM functional areas.

An HRM strategy typically consists of the following factors:-

"Best fit" and "best practice" - meaning that there is correlation between the HRM strategy and the

overall corporate strategy. As HRM as a field seeks to manage human resources in order to achieve

properly organizational goals, an organization's HRM strategy seeks to accomplish such

management by applying a firm's personnel needs with the goals/objectives of the organisation. As

an example, a firm selling cars could have a corporate strategy of increasing car sales by 10% over a

five year period. Accordingly, the HRM strategy would seek to facilitate how exactly to manage

personnel in order to achieve the 10% figure. Specific HRM functions, such as recruitment and

selection, reward/recognition, an HR plan, or learning and development policies, would be tailored to

achieve the corporate objectives.

Close co-operation (at least in theory) between HR and the top/senior management, in the

development of the corporate strategy. Theoretically, a senior HR representative should be present

when an organization's corporate objectives are devised. This is so, since it is a firm's personnel who

actually construct a good, or provide a service. The personnel's proper management is vital in the firm

being successful, or even existing as a going concern. Thus, HR can be seen as one of the critical

departments within the functional area of an organization.

Continual monitoring of the strategy, via employee feedback, surveys, etc.

The implementation of an HR strategy is not always required, and may depend on a number of factors,

namely the size of the firm, the organizational culture within the firm or the industry that the firm operates

in and also the people in the firm.

An HRM strategy can be divided, in general, into two facets - the people strategy and the HR functional

strategy. The people strategy pertains to the point listed in the first paragraph, namely the careful

correlation of HRM policies/actions to attain the goals laid down in the corporate strategy. The HR

functional strategy relates to the policies employed within the HR functional area itself, regarding the

management of persons internal to it, to ensure its own departmental goals are met.

These issues motivate a well thought out human resource management strategy, with the precision and

detail of say a marketing strategy. Failure in not having a carefully crafted human resources management

strategy, can and probably will lead to failures in the business process itself.

This set of resources are offered to promote thought, stimulate discussion, diagnose the organizational

environment and develop a sound human resource management strategy for your organization. We begin

by looking at the seven distinguishable function human resource management provide to secure the

achievement of the objective defined above.

Following on from this overview we look at defining a human resource strategy.

Finally, some questions are posed in the form of a HRM systems diagnostic checklist for you to consider,

which may prove helpful for you to think about when planning your development programs for the human

resources in your organization, if they are truely "your most valuable asset."

Features

Its features include:

Organizational management

Personnel administration

Manpower management

Industrial management

But these traditional expressions are becoming less common for the theoretical discipline. Sometimes

even employee and industrial relations are confusingly listed as synonyms, although these normally refer

to the relationship between management and workers and the behavior of workers in companies.

The theoretical discipline is based primarily on the assumption that employees are individuals with varying

goals and needs, and as such should not be thought of as basic business resources, such as trucks and

filing cabinets. The field takes a positive view of workers, assuming that virtually all wish to contribute to

the enterprise productively, and that the main obstacles to their endeavors are lack of knowledge,

insufficient training, and failures of process.

Human Resource Management(HRM) is seen by practitioners in the field as a more innovative view of

workplace management than the traditional approach. Its techniques force the managers of an enterprise

to express their goals with specificity so that they can be understood and undertaken by the workforce,

and to provide the resources needed for them to successfully accomplish their assignments. As such,

HRM techniques, when properly practiced, are expressive of the goals and operating practices of the

enterprise overall. HRM is also seen by many to have a key role in risk reduction within organisations.[5]

Synonyms such as personnel management are often used in a more restricted sense to describe

activities that are necessary in the recruiting of a workforce, providing its members with payroll and

benefits, and administrating their work-life needs. So if we move to actual definitions, Torrington and Hall

(1987) define personnel management as being:

“a series of activities which: first enable working people and their employing organisations to agree about

the objectives and nature of their working relationship and, secondly, ensures that the agreement is

fulfilled").

While Miller (1987) suggests that HRM relates to:

".......those decisions and actions which concern the management of employees at all levels in the

business and which are related to the implementation of strategies directed towards creating and

sustaining competitive advantage" .

Human resources management trends and influences

In organizations, it is important to determine both current and future organizational requirements for both

core employees and the contingent workforce in terms of their skills/technical abilities, competencies,

flexibility etc. The analysis requires consideration of the internal and external factors that can have an

effect on the resourcing, development, motivation and retention of employees and other workers.

External factors are those largely outside the control of the organization. These include issues such as

economic climate and current and future labor market trends (e.g., skills, education level, government

investment into industries etc.). On the other hand, internal influences are broadly controlled by the

organization to predict, determine, and monitor—for example—the organizational culture, underpinned by

management style, environmental climate, and the approach to ethical and corporate social

responsibilities.

Major trends

To know the business environment an organization operates in, three major trends must be considered:

1. Demographics : the characteristics of a population/workforce, for example, age, gender or social

class. This type of trend may have an effect in relation to pension offerings, insurance packages

etc.

2. Diversity : the variation within the population/workplace. Changes in society now mean that a

larger proportion of organizations are made up of "baby-boomers" or older employees in

comparison to thirty years ago. Advocates of "workplace diversity" simply advocate an employee

base that is a mirror reflection of the make-up of society insofar as race, gender, sexual

orientation etc.

3. Skills and qualifications: as industries move from manual to more managerial professions so does

the need for more highly skilled graduates. If the market is "tight" (i.e. not enough staff for the

jobs), employers must compete for employees by offering financial rewards, community

investment, etc.

Academic theory

Research in the area of HRM has much to contribute to the organisational practice of HRM. For the last

20 years, empirical work has paid particular attention to the link between the practice of HRM and

organisational performance, evident in improved employee commitment, lower levels of absenteeism and

turnover, higher levels of skills and therefore higher productivity, enhanced quality and efficiency [6]. This

area of work is sometimes referred to as 'Strategic HRM' or SHRM ([7].

Within SHRM three strands of work can be observed[8]: Best practice, Best Fit and the Resource Based

View (RBV).

The notion of best practice - sometimes called 'high commitment' HRM - proposes that the adoption of

certain best practices in HRM will result in better organisational performance. Perhaps the most popular

work in this area is that of Pfeffer [9] who argued that there were seven best practices for achieving

competitive advantage through people and 'building profits by putting people first'. These practices

included: providing employment security, selective hiring, extensive training, sharing information, self-

managed teams, high pay based on company performance and the reduction of status differentials.

However, there is a huge number of studies which provide evidence of best practices, usually

implemented in coherent bundles, and therefore it is difficult to draw generalised conclusions about which

is the 'best' way (For a comparison of different sets of best practices see Becker and Gerhart, 1996 [10]

Best fit, or the contingency approach to HRM, argues that HRM improves performance where there is a

close vertical fit between the HRM practices and the company's strategy. This link ensures close

coherence between the HR people processes and policies and the external market or business strategy.

There are a range of theories about the nature of this vertical integration. For example, a set of 'lifecycle'

models argue that HR policies and practices can be mapped onto the stage of an organisation's

development or lifecycle[11]. Competitive advantage models take Porter's (1985) ideas about strategic

choice and map a range of HR practices onto the organisation's choice of competitive strategy. Finally

'configurational models' [12] provide a more sophisticated approach which advocates a close examination

of the organisation's strategy in order to determine the appropriate HR policies and practices. However,

this approach assumes that the strategy of the organisation can be identified - many organisations exist in

a state of flux and development.

The Resource Based View (RBV), argued by some to be at the foundation of modern HRM [13], focusses

on the internal resources of the organisation and how they contribute to competitive advantage. The

uniqueness of these resources is preferred to homogeneity and HRM has a central role in developing

human resources that are valuable, rare, difficult to copy or substitute and that are effectively organised.

Overall, the theory of HRM argues that the goal of human resource management is to help an

organization to meet strategic goals by attracting, and maintaining employees and also to manage them

effectively. The key word here perhaps is "fit", i.e. a HRM approach seeks to ensure a fit between the

management of an organisation's employees, and the overall strategic direction of the company (Miller,

1989).

The basic premise of the academic theory of HRM is that humans are not machines, therefore we need to

have an interdisciplinary examination of people in the workplace. Fields such as psychology, industrial

relations, industrial engineering, sociology, economics, and critical theories: postmodernism, post-

structuralism play a major role. Many colleges and universities offer bachelor and master degrees in

Human Resources Management or in Human Resources and Industrial Relations.

One widely used scheme to describe the role of HRM, developed by Dave Ulrich, defines 4 fields for the

HRM function:

Strategic business partner

Change Agent

Employee champion

Administration Expert

Individual responses

In regard to how individuals respond to the changes in a labor market, the following must be understood:

Geographical spread: how far is the job from the individual? The distance to travel to work should be

in line with the pay offered, and the transportation and infrastructure of the area also influence who

applies for a post.

Occupational structure: the norms and values of the different careers within an organization.

Mahoney 1989 developed 3 different types of occupational structure, namely, craft (loyalty to the

profession), organization career (promotion through the firm) and unstructured (lower/unskilled

workers who work when needed).

Generational difference: different age categories of employees have certain characteristics, for

example, their behavior and their expectations of the organization.

Framework

Human Resources Development is a framework for the expansion of human capital within an organization

or (in new approaches) a municipality, region, or nation. Human Resources Development is a

combination of training and education, in a broad context of adequate health and employment policies,

that ensures the continual improvement and growth of both the individual, the organization, and the

national human resourcefulness. Adam Smith states, “The capacities of individuals depended on their

access to education”.[2]Human Resources Development is the medium that drives the process between

training and learning in a broadly fostering environment. Human Resources Development is not a defined

object, but a series of organised processes, “with a specific learning objective” (Nadler,1984)[3] Within a

national context, it becomes a strategic approach to inter sectoral linkages between health, education and

employment.[4]

Structure

Human Resources Development is the structure that allows for individual development, potentially

satisfying the organization's, or the nation's goals. Development of the individual benefits the individual,

the organization—and the nation and its citizens. In the corporate vision, the Human Resources

Development framework views employees as an asset to the enterprise, whose value is enhanced by

development, "Its primary focus is on growth and employee development…it emphasizes developing

individual potential and skills" (Elwood, Olton and Trott 1996)[5] Human Resources Development in this

treatment can be in-room group training, tertiary or vocational courses or mentoring and coaching by

senior employees with the aim for a desired outcome that develops the individual's performance. At the

level of a national strategy, it can be a broad inter-sectoral approach to fostering creative contributions to

national productivity.

Training and development

At the organizational level, a successful Human Resources Development program prepares the individual

to undertake a higher level of work, "organized learning over a given period of time, to provide the

possibility of performance change" (Nadler 1984). In these settings, Human Resources Development is

the framework that focuses on the organization's competencies at the first stage, training, and then

developing the employee, through education, to satisfy the organization's long-term needs and the

individual's career goals and employee value to their present and future employers. Human Resources

Development can be defined simply as developing the most important section of any business, its human

resource, by attaining or upgrading employee skills and attitudes at all levels to maximize enterprise

effectiveness.[2] The people within an organization are its human resource. Human Resources

Development from a business perspective is not entirely focused on the individual's growth and

development; "development occurs to enhance the organization's value, not solely for individual

improvement. Individual education and development is a tool and a means to an end, not the end goal

itself" (Elwood F. Holton II, James W. Trott Jr). [5] The broader concept of national and more strategic

attention to the development of human resources is beginning to emerge as newly independent countries

face strong competition for their skilled professionals and the accompanying brain-drain they experience.

Recruitment and selection

Applicant recruitment and employee selection form a major part of an organization's overall resourcing

strategies, which identify and secure people needed for the organization to survive and succeed in the

short- to medium-term. Recruitment activities need to be responsive to the increasingly competitive

market to secure suitably qualified and capable recruits at all levels. To be effective, these initiatives need

to include how and when to source the best recruits, internally or externally. Common to the success of

either are: well-defined organizational structures with sound job design, robust task and person

specification and versatile selection processes, reward,employment relations and human resource

policies, underpinned by a commitment for strong employer branding and employee

engagement and onboarding strategies.

Internal recruitment can provide the most cost-effective source for recruits if the potential of the existing

pool of employees has been enhanced through training, development and other performance-enhancing

activities such as performance appraisal, succession planningand development centres to review

performance and assess employee development needs and promotional potential.

Increasingly, securing the best quality candidates for almost all organizations relies, at least occasionally

if not substantially, on external recruitment methods. Rapidly changing business models demand skill and

experience that cannot be sourced or rapidly enough developed from the existing employee base. It

would be unusual for an organization to undertake all aspects of the recruitment process without support

from third-party dedicated recruitment firms. This may involve a range of support services, such as:

provision of CVs or resumes, identifying recruitment media, advertisement design and media placement

for job vacancies, candidate response handling, short listing, conducting aptitude testing,

preliminary interviews or reference and qualification verification. Typically, small organizations may not

have in-house resources or, in common with larger organizations, may not possess the particular skill-set

required to undertake a specific recruitment assignment. Where requirements arise, these are referred on

an ad hoc basis to government or commercially-run employment agencies.

Except in sectors where high-volume recruitment is the norm, an organization faced with sudden,

unexpected requirements for an unusually large number of new recruits often dele gates the task to a

specialist external recruiter. Sourcing executive-level and senior management as well as the acquisition of

scarce or ‘high-potential’ recruits has been a long-established market serviced by a wide range of ‘search

and selection’ or ‘headhunting’ consultancies, which typically form long-standing relationships with their

client organizations. Finally, certain organizations with sophisticated HR practices have identified a

strategic advantage in outsourcing complete responsibility for all workforce procurement to one or more

third-party recruitment agencies or consultancies. In the most sophisticated of these arrangements the

external recruitment services provider may not only physically locate, or ‘embed’, their resourcing team(s)

in the client organization's offices, but work in tandem with the senior human resource management team

in developing the longer-term HR resourcing strategy and plan.

Other considerations

Despite its more everyday use, terms such as "human resources" and, similarly, "human capital" continue

to be perceived negatively and may be considered insulting. They create the impression that people are

merely commodities, like office machines or vehicles, despite assurances to the contrary.

Modern analysis emphasizes that human beings are not "commodities" or "resources", but are creative

and social beings in a productive enterprise. The 2000 revision of ISO 9001, in contrast, requires

identifying the processes, their sequence and interaction, and to define and communicate responsibilities

and authorities. In general, heavily unonis nations such as France and Germany have adopted and

encouraged such approaches. Also, in 2001, the International, Labour Organization decided to revisit and

revise its 1975 Recommendation 150 on Human Resources Development.[7] One view of these trends is

that a strong social consensus on political economy and a good social welfare system facilitates labor

mobility and tends to make the entire economy more productive, as labor can develop skills and

experience in various ways, and move from one enterprise to another with little controversy or difficulty in

adapting. Another view is that governments should become more aware of their national role in facilitating

human resources development across all sectors. which includes following[citation needed]

Trans-national labor mobility

An important controversy regarding labor mobility illustrates the broader philosophical issue with usage of

the phrase "human resources". Governments of developing nations often regard developed nations that

encourage immigration or "guest workers" as appropriating human capital that is more rightfully part of the

developing nation and required to further its economic growth.

Over time, the United Nations have come to more generally support the developing nations' point of view,

and have requested significant offsetting "foreign aid" contributions so that a developing nation losing

human capital does not lose the capacity to continue to train new people in trades, professions, and the

arts.

Ethical management

In the very narrow context of corporate "human resources" management, there is a contrasting pull to

reflect and require workplace diversity that echoes the diversity of a global customer base. Such

programs require foreign language and culture skills, ingenuity, humor, and careful listening. These

indicate a general shift through the human capital point of view to an acknowledgment that human beings

contribute more to a productive enterprise than just "work": they bring their character, ethics, creativity,

social connections and, in some cases, pets and children, and alter the character of a workplace. The

term corporate culture is used to characterize such processes at the organizational level.

Business practice

Human resources management involves several processes. Together they are supposed to achieve the

above mentioned goal. These processes can be performed in an HR department, but some tasks can

also be outsourced or performed by line-managers or other departments. When effectively integrated they

provide significant economic benefit to the company.

Workforce planning

Recruitment  (sometimes separated into attraction and selection)

Induction , Orientation and Onboarding

Skills management

Training and development

Personnel administration

Compensation in wage or salary

Time management

Travel management (sometimes assigned to accounting rather than HRM)

Payroll  (sometimes assigned to accounting rather than HRM)

Employee benefits  administration

Personnel cost planning

Performance appraisal

Labor relations

Ergonomicswhich have for at least 50 years been taught and applied on a semi-empirical basis, and all of which are

orientated around the worker.

Although they may seek to operate directly on the shop floor or in the office, they will often be naive

concerning some of the harder facts of industrial and commercial life and will therefore work much better

via the management services department.

On the other hand some people in management services, in their lack of scientific knowledge, try to apply

commonsense solutions to ergonomic problems that subsequently backfire on them.Ergonomic principles

are important in the constant search for productivity improvement.

ErgonomicsFitting the task to the person is what ergonomics is really about.

Good ergonomics:

Shortens learning times

Makes the job quicker with less fatigue

Improves care of machines

Reduces absenteeism

Reduces labor turnover and other signs of worker malcontent

Meets the requirements of health and safety legislation

Within management services various principles exist; for example,

work-place design

motion economy

rest allowances

job satisfaction and

environmental control

which have for at least 50 years been taught and applied on a semi-empirical basis, and all of which are

orientated around the worker.

Starting with the Industrial Fatigue Research Board in 1919, scientific advances in the study of the human

at work have shown that the application of scientific understanding

of anatomy, physiology and psychology results in improved productivity, thus ergonomists will have

received formal education at degree level in these subjects.

Although they may seek to operate directly on the shop floor or in the office, they will often be naive

concerning some of the harder facts of industrial and commercial life and will therefore work much better

via the management services department.

On the other hand some people in management services, in their lack of scientific knowledge, try to apply

commonsense solutions to ergonomic problems that subsequently backfire on them.

Ergonomic principles are much better described in some books (e.g. Murrell (1965), Grandjean (1969))

than in others. The main snag with many scientific authors is their lack of industrial experience.

Conversely many industrial writers have no formal scientific training; their books are merely restatements

of what they themselves have read elsewhere.

This section will describe the application of ergonomics within a broad area of the subject. Readers are

recommended to consult books listed in the references (in the PDF version) for a full description of

ergonomics. There is no point in restating that which will be found better written elsewhere.

It is important for the manager and supervisor to be conscious of the effect that the application of

ergonomics has in the average workplace. Ergonomic principles are important in the constant search for

productivity improvement. This section will serve as a reminder. Is there a better way? Seek, examine and

consult widely with experts, keeping in mind the background information from this section.

Job DesignThe nature of work and its organization has interested managers, economists and social scientists for as

long as people have been employed by others to engage in productive activity. (See section on scientific

management.)

Managers have largely been interested in maximizing output from available resources.

Economists and social scientists have raised questions about the organization of work in relation to

issues of the individual and society in general. The aims of this section are to:

Define selected terms applicable to job design and work organization

Examine the aspects of traditional thinking applicable to job design and work organization

Propose alternative factors to be considered that take cognizance of employees needs

Generate some ideas on how these factors may be applied in work situations in existing and new

organizations

Stress the importance of fitting the work to the worker, in order to achieve the productivity benefit

Job Design Defined

Job design and work organization is the specification of the contents, method and

relationships of jobs to satisfy technological and organizational requirements as well as

the personal needs of job holders.

N.B. A full glossary of terms appropriate to job design and work organization can be found in the Job

Design section of the PDF (which you can purchase by clicking on the 'Purchase PDF' icon.)

1970's

In the 1970's increased interest in how best to organize work in the light of:

The loss of productive effort due to industrial action and absenteeism

Increased demands for employee participation and industrial democracy and

Imposition of employment legislation, which appeared to make the task of controlling the

workforce more difficult.

1980's

In the 1980's, major changes took place in the workplace.

Recession, with attendant retrenchments

Increased competition

Recognition of the need to introduce new technology

Shift in relative costs away from the worker to the machine and or process

1990's and the Future Challenge

In the 1990's the trends started in the 80's continue at an increased pace. The challenge, now and in the

future for managers, is the optimum design of jobs and work organization to meet unsteady

circumstances, brought on in the workplace by changes in the external environment.

SBI PO Recruitment 2011 Selection ProcedureJanuary 31st, 2011

State Bank of India Probationary Officer Recruitment 2011 Selection Procedure

The selection process will comprise  Written Test and PO Interview.

A) State Bank of India PO Written Test 2011

i. The Written Test will comprise Objective Tests on

(i) Test of Reasoning Ability

(ii) Quantitative Aptitude

(iii) General Awareness with special reference to Banking Industry

(iv) Computers Knowledge &

(v) English Language.

ii. The passing marks in each of the tests will be decided by the Bank on the basis of the performance of all the competing candidates taken together in each test to a minimum required level. Candidates have to pass in each of the Objective test separately. Candidates are also required to score a minimum 40% cut-off (35% for

SC/ST/OBC) marks in aggregate to be considered for being called for Allahabad Bank interview. 

iii. There will be separate cut-off marks for reserved category candidates with relaxed standards.

iv. Other details regarding the written test will be given in the ‘Information Booklet’ which will be available in the Bank’s website along with the Call Letter for the Written Test.

B) Allahabad Bank PO Interview : Depending upon the number of Allahabad Bank vacancies only a certain number of candidates from among those who qualify by ranking sufficiently high in merit on the basis of aggregate marks in the written test will be called for the Probationary Officer interview. The candidate has to secure minimum passing marks in the interview.

C) Final selection will be made on the basis of aggregate marks obtained by the candidates in the written test & Interview taken together and will be strictly according to the descending order of merit.

Note : In case of similar marks secured by two or more candidates the merit order of such group of candidates will be as per their aggregate written test marks and further as per their date of birth (i.e. more senior in age will be placed first before less senior in age.)

Merely satisfying the eligibility norms does not entitle a candidate to be called for written test / Allahabad Bank Interview. The Allahabad Bank Recruitment Cell also reserves the right to shortlist candidates to be considered for interview on the basis of qualification, work experience, age or any other suitable criteria. The Bank reserves the rights to alter, modify or change any of the other terms and conditions spelt out in this advertisement, including selection criteria for passing / method and procedure for selection.

Allahabad Bank Written Test Date :

Probationary Officers : 17.04.2011 (Sunday)

(i) Date of PO examination is tentative. The exact date will be communicated to the candidates through Allahabad Bank call letter for written examination to be downloaded by the candidates. The Allahabad Bank, however, reserves the right to cancel or make any change in the date of examination, if need arises.

(ii) The Allahabad Bank Written Test for Probationary Officers will be scheduled at the following Centers and the address of the Venue will be advised in the Call Letter

Center Code No

Name of Allahabad Bank PO Exam Center

Center Code No

Name of Probationary Officer Exam Center

11 Ahmedabad 12 Bengaluru13 Bhopal 14 Bhubaneswar15 Chandigarh 16 Chennai17 Guwahati 18 Hyderabad19 Jabalpur 20 Jaipur21 Kolkata 22 Lucknow23 Mumbai 24 Nagpur25 New Delhi 26 Patna27 Raipur 28 Ranchi

Request for change of centre of Allahabad Bank PO Examination shall not be entertained. The Allahabad Bank, however, reserves the right to cancel any of the Centers and/ or add other Centres, depending on the response, administrative feasibility, exigencies etc. The Bank also reserves the right to allot the Candidate at any Centre other than the one he/ she has opted for and to waive any of the criteria looking at the requirement and exigencies.

Probation :

Period for Probationary Officers : Two years.

The candidate will remain initially on probation for a period of two years from the date of joining in the Bank’s service which may be extended at the Bank’s discretion. The confirmation to the permanent establishment of the bank will be considered as applicable in the terms of Service Regulations provided the work, conduct, general ability are found to be of the standard required by the Allahabad Bank.

Pre-Examination Training :

(a) It is proposed to impart free Pre-Examination Training to a limited number of Candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes / Minority Communities on “First come first served basis” at Lucknow / Kolkata / Hyderabad / Bhubaneswar / Patna / Chandigarh. Training centers may also be changed at the

discretion of the Bank. An eligible candidate who wishes to avail Pre-Examination Training should fill in the relevant column in the application format. Expenses regarding traveling, boarding, lodging etc will be borne by the candidate for attending the Pre-Examination Training programme at the concerned Training Center.

(b) Allahabad Bank Call Letters for Pre-Examination Training :

All eligible candidates will be required to download their call letter from the Bank’s website. An eligible candidate who fails to download the call letter may contact at the Zonal Offices attached to the training centre with the original matriculate level certificate, coloured photograph, ID card, details of his/ her name, address along with the Xerox copy of the Allahabad Bank PO Recruitment 2011 online application form for the post applied for & details of fee deposited for obtaining Allahabad Bank duplicate call letter 2011.

objective test, Selection Procedure

paper pattern for examSBI PO SOLVED EXAM PAPER 2008 - General Awareness & Computer Knowledge

1. Which of the following statement (s) reflects India’s stand on new World Trade Organization’s proposal on the issue of the subsidy to agro products ?

(1) India would protect the interest of its poor farmers who can not bear the burden of the cost of the products if they have to sell them on cheaper rate.

(2) Indian industry needs more flexibility as compared to the industry in developed countries.

(3) WTO has set up a new committee under the chairmanship of Putin of Russia to look into the issue of subsidy and find out a solution to the problem acceptable to all the parties.

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Only 3

(D) Both 1 & 2

(E) None of these

ANS (A)

2. Which of the following statement (s) is / are true about the 11th five year plan of India ?

(1) The highest priority is given to exports , education and development of steel sector.

(2) The plan aims at achieving the growth at 10 % level by the end of the plan.

(3) The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana is revived in such a way so that it can be achieve a growth nof 4 % for agriculture sector.

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Only 3

(D) Both 1 & 2

(E) None of these

ANS (D)

3. As per the figures released recently the Stock markets in emerging economies made handsome returns last year (2007-08). Which of the following stock markets amongst the BRIC nations registered highest increased (97 %) compared to its performance in 2006-07 ?

(A) Cina

(B) Brazil

(C) Russia

(D) India

(E) None of these

ANS (D)

4. Bayana which was in news recently is a place in -

(A) Uttar Pradseh

(B) Madhya Pradseh

(C) Bihar

(D) Haryana

(E) Rajasthan

ANS (E)

5. Which of the following statement (s) is / are correct about the Indo-Russia Bilateral Defence Ties ?

(1) Both the countries have decided to produce a fifth generation fighter aircraft and a multi role cargo plane.

(2) India has agreed to launch Russian missiles from its base at Chandipur incase some other nation attacks on Russia

(3) India and Russia were able to sort out differences over the utilization of Rupee debt fund which is of Rs. 8000 Crore at present.

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Only 3

(D) Both 1 & 3 only

(E) None of these

ANS (A)

6. India has recently decided to put a wire fence on the 76 km. long border in Dhudri district in Assam. The fence will separate India from -

(A) Nepal

(B) China

(C) Bangladesh

(D) Myanmar

(E) Pakistan

ANS (C)

7. As we all know the Govt. of India is very keen about providing banking service to the people in rural and remote areas . However , banks feel that the cost of providing services in these areas for financial inclusion is quite high if services are offered through the “traditional branch channel “. What is / are the other alternative cost effective channel (s) to fulfill this aim of the Govt. of India ?

(1) Putting biometric ATMs.

(2) Introduce mobile banking.

(3) Issue credit or debit cards

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Only 3

(D) All 1,2 & 3

(E) None of these

ANS (B)

8. The Govt. of India recently issued a notification altering constituencies in 24 States and Union territories. This is done as per the provision of which of the following Acts?

(A) Delimitation Act

(B) Census Act

(C) Parliament Act

(D) State Reorganization Act

(E) None of these

ANS (A)

9. As we read very frequently in the newspaper fraudulent activities in financial world is still continuing despite various efforts made by various countries to prevent them. As an estimate by IMF, what is the probable amount derived from such illegal activities which is laundered through the world’s formal financial systems every year? About -

(A) US$ 500 billion

(B) US$ 800 billion

(C) US$ 1000 billion

(D) US$ 1250 billion

(E) US$ 1500 billion

ANS (D)

10. Indian Prime Minister during his visit the Arunachal Pradesh a few months back asserted that the State is India’s Land of Rising Sun. Which of the following countries did not like his statement and had raised some objection over his visit to Arunachal Pradesh which is very much a part of India?

(A) Myanmar

(B) China

(C) Bangladesh

(D) Bhutan

(E) Nepal

ANS (B)

11. Which of the following is the amount of insurance cover provided to the workers of the unorganized sector under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana?

(A) Rs. 10,000/-

(B) Rs. 20,000/-

(C) Rs. 30,000/-

(D) Rs. 40,000/-

(E) Rs. 50,000/-

ANS (C)

12. Which of the following is NOT one of the highlights Economic Survey presented in the Lok Sabha for the year 2007-08?

(A) Economy has “moved to higher growth phase”

(B) A trend of acceleration in domestic investment and saving rate is recorded.

(C) Buoyant growth in Govt. revenue.

(D) Indian Economy at market rate of exchange crossed 1 trillion US$ in current fiscal.

(E) Net Foreign direct Investment increased by 350 % .

ANS (E)

13. Which of the following is / are correct about sub prime crisis which was in news recently?

(1) It has reduced the flow of capital coming of Indian Stock Markets.

(2) The sub prime crisis is the major financial crisis whose origin is in the Russia and Brazil. It has adversely affected the economy of Europe and USA.

(3) The crisis started when some people started trading with false Share certificates of major blue chip US companies in the stock markets.

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Only 3

(D) Both 1 & 2

(E) None of these

ANS ()

14. The Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) has a target to connect all habitations of which of the following levels with all weather roads by 2008-09?

(A) 1000+

(B) 2000+

(C) 3000+

(D) 4000+

(E) None of these

ANS (A)

15. As we all know the value of the Indian rupee has appreciated in the recent past . The value of the Rupee is direct dependent on which of the following?

(A) Availability of commodities in the market.

(B) VAT introduced by the Govt. on various commodities.

(C) Size of total Forex Reserve of India currently.

(D) Capital flow in the market during a given period of time.

(E) None of these

ANS (A)

16. Which of the following banks has taken over the Centurion Bank of Punjab?

(A) ICICI Bank

(B) IDBI Bank

(C) HDFC Bank

(D) AXIS Bank

(E) None of these

ANS (C)

17. As per provision made in Bharat Nirman programme the pace of creation of irrigation facilities is required to be raised from present level of 1.42 million hectare per year in such a way so that it can achieve the target level fixed for the same?

(A) 1.50 million hectares / year

(B) 1.75 million hectares / year

(C) 2.00 million hectares / year

(D) 2.25 million hectares / year

(E) 2.50 million hectares / year

ANS (D)

18. Inflation has become major area of concern in India these days. What measures do the Govt. pf India / RBI normally take to control the same?

(1) Fixation of Maximum Price of the Commodities

(2) System of Dual prices.

(3) Increased in supply of food grains.

(4) Control on credit and liquidity in market.

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Only 3

(D) Only 2,3 & 4

(E) All 1,2,3 & 4

ANS (D)

19. How much edcation cess is being levied on all the taxes to support elementary education for the children of age group of 6-14 years under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)?

(A) 0.50%

(B) 0.75%

(C) 1.00%

(D) 1.5O%

(E) 2.00%

ANS (E)

20. Which of the following is / are correct about various concessions given in the Union Budget for 2008-09?

(1) Five years tax holidays for setting up hospitals in Tier II & Tier III regions for providing health care in rural areas.

(2) Commodities tax transaction to be introduced.

(3) Banking cash transaction tax withdrawn.

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Only 3

(D) Only 2 & 3

(E) All 1,2 & 3

ANS (E)

21. Which of the following statements reflects the aim (s) Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)?

(1) Give focused attention to integrated development of infrastructure in selected cities.

(2) Provide basic services to the urban poors

(3) Scale up civic amenities and provision of utilities in urban areas.

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Only 3

(D) All 1,2 & 3

(E) None of these

ANS (D)

22. The Press Freedom Day is observed on which of the following days?

(A) 1st May

(B) 1st June

(C) 3rd May

(D) 3rd June

(E) 10th June

ANS (C)

23. As per the decision taken by the Govt. of India now the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is extended to all the districts of India. This means it will now be applicable to about-

(A) 200 districts

(B) 300 districts

(C) 400 districts

(D) 500 districts

(E) 600 districts

ANS (E)

24. As per the reports published by the Ministry of Finance recently the overseas borrowings by the Corporates and currency fluctuation has gone up by which of the following percentage points? About -

(A) 1%

(B) 2%

(C) 3%

(D) 4%

(E) 5%

ANS (C)

25. The Govt. of India and Reserve Bank of India is planning to set up an autonomous “ATM corporation of India” in which various banks can get together for common ATM operations. If this happens how will we all be benefited by the same?

(1) It will be a cost effective measure as each bank can share its operational cost with others.

(2) Clients can withdrawn money from any ATM from any location. They are not required to go to their banks’ ATM only.

(3) It will indirectly help the IT business also as India has a large pool of IT skilled manpower waiting for suitable placement.

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Both 1 & 2

(D) All 1,2 & 3

(E) None of these

ANS (C)

26. As per the news published in various newspapers the Govt. of India has decided to create a Strategic Reserve of -

(A) Oil & Petroleum

(B) Rasoi Gas

(C) Food grains

(D) Cement & Steel

(E) None of these

ANS (C)

27. The Govt. of India had constituted a high level committee on financial sector reforms with Raghuram G. Rajan as its Chairman. Which of the following is / are the recommendations of the committee?

(1) Liberalize the interest rate that banks/institution can charge to ensure credit for poors.

(2) Create an office of the Ombudsman exclusively for financial sector.

(3) Do not allow foreign investors in domestic stock markets.

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Only 3

(D) Both 1 & 2

(E) None of these

ANS (E)

28. Yves Leterme has taken over as the prime minister of -

(A) Newzealand

(B) Belgium

(C) Croatia

(D) Portugal

(E) None of these

ANS (E)

29. The State Bank of India recently opened its 10000th branch in Puduvayal (Tamil Nadu). Only a bank in China has more branches than State Bank of India in the world. What is the name of that Chinese bank?

(A) Shanghai Commercial Bank

(B) Bank of China

(C) China Banking Corporation

(D) Industrial and Commercial Bank of China

(E) None of these

ANS (D)

30. Many a times we read about ‘Globalization’ and its impact on business practice in India. Which of the following is NOT one of the important parameters of ‘Globalization’?

(1) Reduction of trade barriers to permit free flow of goods and services amongst various nations.

(2) Developing an environment in which free flow of capital can take place.

(3) Promoting local industry to cater to the needs of the consumers in Tier II and Tier III cities. The production from metros should be reserved only for exports.

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Only 3

(D) All 1,2 & 3

(E) Both 2 & 3

ANS (D)

31. Many times we read a term CBS used in banking operation. What is the full form of the letter ‘C’ in the term ‘CBS’?

(A) Core

(B) Credit

(C) Continuous

(D) Complete

(E) None of these

ANS (A)

32. As per news published in newspapers the Oil & Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) has purchased some oil assets in Latin American Countries along with one other major company of India . What is the name of that company?

(A) Hindustan Petroleum Corporation

(B) Indian Oil Corporation

(C) Reliance Industries Ltd.

(D) National Mineral Development Corporation of India

(E) None of these

ANS (E)

33. India’s First centre to monitor climate change was opened recently at -

(A) New Delhi

(B) Chennai

(C) Jaipur

(D) Bangalore

(E) Kolkata

ANS (B)

34. Which of the following Acts was framed specially to deal more effectively with the problem of Non-Performing Assets in banking system?

(A) SARFAESI ACT.

(B) Banking Regulation Act.

(C) Foreign Exchange Management Act.

(D) Industrial Dispute Act.

(E) None of these

ANS (A)

35. The —- shows all the websites and pages that you have visited over a period of time.

(A) status bar

(B) task bar

(C) history list

(D) tool bar

(E) None of these

ANS (C)

36. A proxy server is used for the which of the following?

(A) To provide security against unauthorized users

(B) To process client requests for web pages

(C) To process client requests for database access

(D) To provide TCP/IP

(E) None of these

ANS (A)

37. A repair for a known software bug, usually available at no charge on the internet , is called a (n) —

(A) version

(B) Patch

(C) Tutorial

(D) FAQ

(E) None of these

ANS (B)

38. In the URL http://www.upscportal.com/, the portion labelled http is the —

(A) host

(B) domain name

(C) protocol

(D) top-level domain

(E) None of these

ANS (C)

39. Which of the following organizations has recently given a US$ 600 million loan to Power Grid Corporation of India , a Govt. run organization?

(A) Asian Development Bank

(B) World Bank

(C) International Monetary Fund

(D) Bank of America

(E) None of these

ANS (B)

40. The ability to easily add additional users means that a network is –

(A) Scalable

(B) dedicated

(C) Decentralized

(D) Secure

(E) None of these

ANS (A)

41. In a database , a field is a –

(A) lable

(B) table of information

(C) group of related records

(D) category of information

(E) None of these

ANS (C)

42. The number of pixels displayed on a screen is known as the screen–

(A) resolution

(B) colour depth

(C) refresh rate

(D) viewing size

(E) None of these

ANS (A)

43. Wor processing , spreadsheet , and photo-editing are example of –

(A) application software

(B) system software

(C) operating system software

(D) platform software

(E) None of these

ANS (A)

44. If you wish to extend the length of the network without having the signal degrade, you would use a —

(A) repeater

(B) router

(C) gateway

(D) switch

(E) None of these

ANS (A)

45. A—- is approximately a million bytes.

(A) gigabyte

(B) kilobyte

(C) megabyte

(D) terabyte

(E) None of these

ANS (C)

46. The time it takes a device to locate data and instructions and make them available to CPU is known as –

(A) clock speed

(B) a processing cycle

(C) CPU speed

(D) access time

(E) None of these

ANS (D)

47. ——– controls the way in which the computer system functions and provides a means by which users are interact with the computer.

(A) The platform

(B) The operating system

(C) Application software

(D) The motherboard

(E) None of these

ANS (B)

48. ——– means that the data contained in a database is accurate and reliable.

(A) Data redundancy

(B) Data integrity

(C) Data reliability

(D) Data consistency

(E) None of these

ANS (B)

49. A(n) —— is a private corporate network, used exclusively by company employees.

(A) Internet

(B) local area network

(C) peer-to-peer

(D) intranet

(E) None of these

ANS (B)

50. A characteristic of a file server is which of the following?

(A) Manages file operations and is shared on a network

(B) Manages file operations and is limited to one PC

(C) Acts as fat client and is shared on a network

(D) Acts as fat client and is limited to one PC

(E) None of these

ANS (A)

History of hrThey say that communication is the oldest existential phenomenon on earth. Well, if that's the case then human resource management would get the second place in the sibling hierarchy. In spite of being added as a subject in management courses fairly late, HRM has been a concept that was utilized ever since human beings started following an organized way of life. So shall we start digging up the history of human resource management?

Some of human resource management's vital principles were used in prehistoric times. Like, mechanisms being developed for selecting tribal leaders. Knowledge was recorded and passed on to the next

generation about safety, health, hunting, and gathering. 1000 B.C to 2000 B.C saw the development of more advanced HR functions. The Chinese are known to be the first to use employee screening techniques, way back in 1115 B.C. And turns out it was not Donald Trump who started "the apprentice" system. They were the Greek and Babylonian civilizations, ages before the medieval times.

HRM has seen a lot of nick naming in its age. Since it was recognized as a separate and important function, it has been called "personnel relations" then it evolved to "industrial relations", then "employee relations" and then, finally, to "human resources". I strongly believe, that human resources is the most apt name for it. It, quintessentially, proves the importance of the human beings working in the organization.

With the Industrial Revolution, came the conversion of the US economy from agriculture-based to industry-based. This led them to require an extremely well-organized structure. Further, this led them to recruit a lot of people. More so, the industrial revolution brought in maddening amounts of immigration. Again, to create employment for all the immigrants, recruitment and management of the recruited individuals gained vitality. As such, there was a blaring need for Human Resource Management.

Early human resource management, in general, followed a social welfare approach. It aimed at helping immigrants in the process of adjusting to their jobs and to an "American" life. The main aim behind these programs was to assist immigrants in learning English and acquiring housing and medical care. Also, these techniques used to promote supervisory training to ensure an increase in productivity. 

With the advent of "labor unions" in the 1790's, the power in the hands of the employees multiplied considerably and increased at a rapid pace by the 1800s and furthermore in the 1900s. This led to the HR department being more capable of politics and diplomacy. The two feats that were quintessential to the importance of HR were; the fact that it was the HR department that got the management and the labor unions to come on common grounds. They basically worked on getting the management to see things from the labor perspective and grant them medical and educational benefits. The other would be Frederick W. Taylor's (1856-1915) Scientific Management. This book had tremendous impact on attaining better productivity from low-level production workers.

B.F. Goodrich Company were the pioneers in designing a corporate employee department to address the concerns of the employees in 1900. National Cash Register followed suit in 1902 by forming a separate department to handle employee grievances, record keeping, wage management and other employee-related functions. Personnel Managers started seeing more sunshine since the Wagner's Act (aka National Labor Relations Act) in 1935. There was a shift in focus from worker's efficiency to efficiency through work satisfaction, thanks to the Hawthorne studies around the 1930s to 1940s.

Between the 1960s and 1970s, the HRM movement gained further momentum due to the passing of several acts like the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Now, the HR department was the apple of the corporate s' eyes because, the corporate s placed a lot of importance on human resource management to avoid plausible law suit.

So by the end of the 1970s, HRM had taken over the world! Almost all big and medium scale industries had a department to manage their recruitment, employee relations, record-keeping, salaries and wages, etc. Towards the 1980s, the importance of HR continued to intumesce for several reasons like increase in skilled labor, training, regulation compliance, dismissal, etc. The HR managers were the ones who did the hiring and the firing. 

In today's date, HR has the same importance as the other departments, in some corporate s, it has more. With the constant increase in education, technology and frequent fluctuations in economic status and structures, I believe, HR is the oldest, most mature and yet, the most efficient of all management styles.