Assignment Code: MPCE-032/ASST/TMA/2022-23

Course Code: MPCE-032

Assignment Name: Human Resource Development

Year: 2022-2023

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

NOTE: All questions are compulsory.

Section-A

Answer the following questions in 500 words each. 3x15=45

Q1) Differentiate between Human Resource Management and Human Resource Development.

Ans) Organizations need the following in order to function effectively: physical resources, such as manufacturing facilities and equipment, and financial resources, such as equity, leverage, and retained earnings. Human resources, including the experience, skills, knowledge, judgement, and creativity that belong to the organisation, as well as the means of organising, structuring, and rewarding these capabilities, are included in marketing capability, which connects whatever products or services are created with customers.

On the other side, human resource planning focuses on figuring out how many people the organisation will need to reach its goals and objectives. It is focused on the movement of individuals inside, though, and outside of an organisation. In order to ensure that the organisation will have the correct mix of people and abilities when and where they are needed, human resource planning entails forecasting both the need for labour and the supply of labour. Then, it requires designing the necessary programmes.

The organisation must efficiently manage its people resources once they have been assembled. As you are aware, humans are a collection of irrational drives, emotions, complexes, and thoughts. There are always issues when two or more people work together to achieve a stated goal. As a result, managing human resources proves to be a very difficult task for a manager. His or her capacity for leading others and more effectively achieving the organization's objectives and goals determines how effective they are.

Human Resource Development

Planning for human resources is a crucial component of human resource management, which eventually aids in the growth of human resources. While human resource development primarily focuses on encouraging learning and growth among the employees, human resource management is concerned with human-related activities within the organisation that can help in the smooth operation of the organisation.

The general growth and improvement of the organization's human resource is the major concern here. Innovative methods are created to enhance the workplace environment and inspire people to give their all to the company. Organizations are working hard to adapt the most recent human resources techniques and to quickly accept the changes in this modern environment. Those who are resistant to change fall behind. Therefore, it is essential that the organisation adopt the most recent human resource techniques.

Here, the primary duties include career planning, transfers, promotion, and performance evaluation. Through training, it is also possible to improve one's abilities, attitudes, values, and commitment.

1. Compensation: The allocation of pay based on factors like job appraisal and qualification.

2. Human Relation: It focuses on integrating individuals into the workplace and inspiring them to work efficiently, cooperatively, and with a sense of fulfilment on the social, psychological, and economic levels.

   
   

Q2) Describe the techniques and methods of training and development. Which is the most relevant technique according to you? Give reason.

Ans) There are many different training techniques, which can be further classified into cognitive and behavioural techniques. Instructors must be aware of the benefits and drawbacks of each approach as how it will affect the learners in light of their prior knowledge and abilities.

Cognitive Methods

Cognitive techniques focus more on providing the students with theoretical instruction. Various techniques that fall under the category of cognitive approach include:

1. Lectures: A lecture may be delivered orally or in writing. Lecture is the act of informing someone of something. A lecture is provided to increase the listener's understanding or to provide him with the theoretical side of a subject.

2. Demonstration: This approach is a visual demonstration of how something operates or how to carry out a task.

3. Discussions: In this approach, a lecturer gives the students background information that is then supported, elaborated, explained, or expanded upon through interactions between the students and the trainer.

4. Computer Based Training (CBT): The need for knowledgeable and qualified workers has grown more than ever due to company globalisation and evolving technology, which is forcing the HR department to offer training at reduced prices.

5. Intelligent Tutorial System: The participants in this Intelligent Tutorial system receive training or tutoring with the help of artificial intelligence.

6. Programmed Instruction (PI): Computer-based training called programmed instruction consists of interconnected, memory-stored visuals, multimedia, and text.

7. Virtual Reality: A training method called virtual reality immerses the participant in a three-dimensional environment. The three-dimensional environment encourages real-world situations and experiences.

8. Features of Virtual Reality System: Some characteristics of virtual reality systems include:

a) It needs technical knowledge and is poorly understood.

b) It is pricey.

c) It takes a lot of time.

d) Its nature is adaptable.

e) It doesn't cost anything to travel, stay, or eat.

f) Excellent infrastructure is needed.

Behavioural Methods

The various methods that come under Behavioural Approach are:

1) Games and Simulations: Games and Simulations are structured and sometimes unstructured, that are usually played for enjoyment sometimes are used for training purposes as an educational tool.

2) Behaviour Modelling: Behaviour Modelling uses the innate inclination for people to observe others to discover how to do something new. It is more often used in combination with some other techniques.

3) Business Games: With the increase in globalisation and changing technologies, many organisations are now moving from board games to computer-based simulations, using interactive multimedia and virtual reality.

5) In Basket Technique: It provides trainees with a log of written text or information and requests, such as memos, messages, and reports, which would be handled by manger, engineer, reporting officer, or administrator.

6) Role Plays: Role play is a simulation in which each participant is given a role to play. Trainees are given with some information related to description of the role, concerns, objectives, responsibilities, emotions, etc.

Management Development Method

Management development method is further divided into two parts:

1) On the Job Training: The development of a manager’s abilities can take place on the job. The four techniques for on-the-job development are:

a) Coaching

b) Mentoring

c) Job Rotation

d) Job Instruction Technique (JIT)

2) Off the Job Training: There are many management development techniques that an employee can take in off the job. The few popular methods are:

a) sensitivity training

b) transactional analysis

c) straight lectures/ lectures

d) simulation exercises

Q3) Critically analyze the traditional methods of performance appraisal.

Ans)

1. Straight Ranking Method: This is one of the oldest and simplest methods of performance appraisal. Under this method, all the employees are compared with each other and ranked. The performance of an employee is not considered, but the employee is perceived as a whole and is compared to other employees. Numerical ranks are assigned to each employee.

2. Paired Comparison Technique: Under this technique each employee is compared to another employee in pairs on each trait. Rank is then assigned to each employee. Though the judgement in this case is easier than that in the previous method, it is a tedious job when a large number of employees are involved.

3. Man to Man Comparison Method: Under this method, a scale of a man is created for various factors like leadership, communication, honesty, hardworking etc. and then each employee is compared with this scale. Thus the employees are not compared to each other but are compared to a key man with regard to one factor at a time. However designing of such a scale is a challenging job.

4. Grading: In this method, certain categories are first established and defined, like dependability, hardworking, cooperativeness etc. and then employees are graded on the basis of these categories as per his/ her performance. Grades in terms of A-Excellent, B-Good, C-Average, D-Poor, E-Very poor may be provided to the employees.

5. Forced Choice Description Method: In this method certain phrases in sets are used and then the immediate superior has to choose one of the phrases that closely describes the employee. The supervisor is then to select from the above phrases that optimally describes the employee. However a lot of personal bias can interfere with this method. Also trained technicians are required to develop the statements for each occupational group.

6. Check Lists: Under this method, a series of questions or statements are created, and the appraiser has to answer either yes or no.

7. Free Form Essay Method: This can be termed as an open-ended appraisal as the immediate supervisor is free to write about the subordinate in an essay form or in a descriptive manner. This is more of a qualitative approach than quantitative. However a lot of subjectivity may be involved in this method and there is no single criteria for evaluation.

The above were some of the traditional methods. There are various disadvantages of using the traditional methods. Firstly, the manager or the immediate supervisor needs to be provided with adequate training as to appraise the employees. Rater’s bias may also interfere with the overall process of the appraisal. The appraiser’s personality may also interfere as some appraisers are lenient and some are overly strict in their appraisal. Also most of the traditional methods require a lot of preparation in terms of creating scales and statements that might be time consuming. Further they may not actually give a complete idea about the overall performance of the employee as they focus more on the task of the personality of the employee.

Section-B

Answer the following questions in 200 words each. 5x5=25

Q4) Discuss in detail the term talent inventory.

Ans) A talent inventory is crucial to understanding the future availability of people with the relevant abilities. An organised database of the current workforce's experience, talents, and interests is known as a talent inventory. Several essential issues need to be answered before data for the talent inventory can be produced, including:

1. Whom should the inventory include?

2. What particular details need to be supplied for each?

3. What is the greatest way to acquire this knowledge?

4. What is the best method for capturing this data?

5. How can the senior management receive an inventory report?

6. How frequently must this data be updated?

7. How can the privacy of this data be maintained?

The responses to these questions will define the direction and scope of the information collecting for human resources. This information is stored electronically and connected to other databases. Such information can be used to build an extensive human resource information system that the company can use in a variety of situations.

Obtaining and Updating Information

The data amassed in this manner can be updated further if and when the employee raises his qualifications, acquires licences, certificates, etc. A standardised update form is periodically supplied to the employee in order to update the information. The organisation can use this information to find individuals for training, transfers, special project assignments, and promotions.

Q2) Describe creativity in organizations.

Ans) The capacity to produce original ideas or imagine fresh interpretations of old concepts is known as creativity. We can better understand the sources of individual creativity within organisations by understanding a few broad trends.

The Creative Individual

Three categories background experiences, personality qualities, and cognitive abilities comprise the common traits of creative people. According to research, creative people were reared in supportive surroundings.

1. Personal Traits and Creativity: Some characteristics of creative people include openness, an attraction to complexity, high levels of energy, independence and autonomy, strong self-confidence, and a strong feeling that they are creative.

2. Cognitive Abilities: The ability to reason critically and analyse circumstances and facts effectively is referred to as one's cognitive talents.

3. The Creative Process: Though creative people typically have ideas in a flash, creativity typically progresses through a number of stages.

4. Preparation: People typically obtain formal training and education in business in order to contribute creatively to business management or business services since it enables the individual to think from many viewpoints and this lateral thinking can produce some creative ideas.

5. Incubation: The knowledge and concepts that were learned during the preparation stage mature and develop during this moment of strong conscious concentration.

6. Insight: It is a breakthrough when a creative individual develops a fresh perspective on a problem or circumstance.

7. Verification: Once the accessible insight has stood the test of time, it can be publicised as an invention or creative concept after extensive checking and cross-checking.

Enhancing Creativity in Organisations

Managers have a variety of options if they want to foster and support creativity in their organisations. Making it a part of the organisational culture is a crucial strategy. The manager should establish clear objectives for this and indicate that the employees will share in some of the advantages and earnings that the company has made thanks to their innovative ideas. It is implied by this phrase that their originality and inventiveness are recognised.

Q3) Highlight general problems of management.

Ans) The efficiency and effectiveness of their operations, the definition of their goals and objectives, the creation of an effective structure, and the performance of crucial administrative tasks are all common issues that both private businesses and public sector organisations deal with. The fundamentals of management apply to all aspects of any organization's operations. However, both private company and public sector organisations engage in the same activities, albeit to varying degrees. Bourn proposes management as a series of connected activities based on an analysis of management development in central and local government:

1. planning, goal setting, and forecasting.

2. the description of the issue that needs to be resolved in order to accomplish these goals.

3. the lookout for potential solutions to these issues.

4. deciding which solutions are the best or most practical.

5. the achievement of consensus on the implementation of such a solution.

6. the creation and distribution of instructions for implementing the chosen solutions.

7. putting the solutions into practise.

8. The creation of an auditing mechanism to ensure that these solutions are implemented correctly and, if they are, that they will solve the issues for which they were designed.

9. the creation, implementation, and upkeep of organisational structures that are most suited for these activities.

10. the right staff's recruitment, development, and management.

Both commercial and governmental sectors can benefit from these sets of actions in management. This analysis shows that there is a greater degree of overlap between the fundamental management process in both private and public sector organisations, even though greater emphasis may be placed on certain tasks.

Q4) Explain the distinctive feature of Indian Labour Laws.

Ans) The fact that Indian labour law and employment regulations divide workers into three primary categories is a special or distinctive aspect of these laws:

1.  The laws and regulations that apply to government personnel are set forth in the Indian Constitution. The government employees now have the chance to enjoy income stability, statutory service benefits, and employment security.

2. The public sector employees are governed by their own service norms, which, in the case of statutory businesses, either have statutory force or are based on legislative instructions.

3. Employees in the private sector can be distinguished into two main groups, namely management personnel and workmen. Since there are no statutory provisions governing the employment of managerial and supervisory staff/employees, they are subject to the terms of their individual employment contracts, and their services may be terminated in accordance with those contracts. Management staff are defined as administrative, managerial, or supervisory employees who are paid Rs. 1600 or more per month. The Industrial Disputes Act's provisions apply to the workmen group.

Q5) Discuss the relevance of corporate social responsibility.

Ans) Corporate social responsibility is beneficial to the development and well-being of society. Organizations carry out tasks to fulfil both their social obligations and specific internal goals or purposes. Based on their work cultures and economic situations, other countries have also emerged to investigate the notion of corporate social responsibility.

CSR has been outlined as a social service provided for humanitarian reasons in the United States. It is an action taken by organisations to donate a portion of their profits to worthy social causes. Receiving any profit from the donating for the firm is viewed as tainting the act.

where the European model's viewpoint is marginally different. According to their definition, the practise of corporate social responsibility is doing the core business in a way that is socially responsible and adding investments in local communities for sound commercial justifications. The process of corporate social responsibility is described by the Ghanaian government as "a capacity to develop sustainable livelihoods. It respects cultural diversity and looks for business opportunities in improving government, community, and workforce capabilities.

Section-C

Answer the following questions in 50 words each. 10x3=30

Q1) Internal Workforce

Ans) Age, gender, job title, organisational level, location, training, performance evaluations, and promote ability are the regular data points that are tracked. These aid in predicting the supply in the future. This is a widespread, widely accepted activity that is interwoven with strategic business planning. The entirety and core of human resource planning is regarded as being included in it. The goal of this approach is to guarantee high quality and prepared employees for all senior roles inside the company. The line executive from the division is the primary person in charge of carrying out this exercise, and the resource staff for executives within corporate HR provides staff support.

Q2) Bench marking

Ans) This is significant because, in order to assess the genuine competitive advantage of HR, an organisation must compare its HR practises not only to its own internal standards but also to those of its main rivals and companies that set the bar for excellence. Benchmarking is essentially a general phrase that refers to comparisons with particular performance indicators from many organisations, usually in the same industry, or with organisations of a similar nature that are thought to be the best in their respective classes.

Q3) Organisational Citizenship

Ans) Managers work to reduce the dysfunctional employee behaviours by promoting organisational citizenship. Organizational citizenship, then, is the conduct of people who contribute positively to the organisation as a whole. When an employee goes above and beyond the strict requirements of the job, such individual is regarded as a citizen of the organisation. Many times, an employee produces work that is adequate in terms of quantity and quality, but he or she refuses to put in extra time, assist newcomers, etc., leading to the perception that the person is a competent performer but a bad organisation citizen.

Q4) Indian Patent Act

Ans) In 1856, the first Indian patent laws were published. These underwent periodic modifications. The Indian Patent Act 1970, which was created after Independence, contains new patent laws.

India joined the Paris Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, and the Budapest Treaty as a result of these revisions.

The key points of the revised Act are that an invention may meet the requirements of novelty, ingenuity, and usefulness, but that if you make a claim to a compound without describing its use, you risk losing your right to a patent.

Q5) Competency Mapping

Ans) The practise of determining an employee's abilities in order to comprehend his or her potential is known as competency mapping. Organizations utilise competency mapping to identify each employee's areas of strength so that specific goals can be set appropriately to maximise the utilisation of each employee's competencies. Competency mapping not only aids organisations in assessing the nature of their workforce but also aids employees in understanding their own abilities and potential.

Q6) Workplace violence

Ans) Workplace violence is any act of aggressiveness, physical assault, or threatening behaviour that occurs between co-workers, between an employer and a worker, or between a worker and an employer. These behaviours are quite concerning because they hurt both oneself and other associated people at work, both physically and emotionally. Acts of sabotage on work site property are frequently included in broad definitions of workplace violence. Workplace violence has become a serious concern since it negatively impacts workers' quality of work and level of service, as well as the productivity of the organisation and the nation as a whole.

Q7) Sexual harassment in workplace

Ans) Threats, pressure, coercion, or bullying that is solely based on the sex of the victim employee or victims is known as sexual harassment. It may also take the shape of a reward offer in exchange for sexual favours. Sexual harassment can also take the shape of unwanted sexual comments, physical advances, the display of pornography, demands for or requests for sexual favours, or any other unwanted physical, verbal, or non-verbal behaviour that is sexual in character.

The Indian Constitution states that sexual harassment violates a woman's fundamental rights to gender equality under Article 14 and her right to life and a dignified existence under Article 21. A woman may be assaulted or subjected to criminal force with the intention of insulting her modesty under Sections 354 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code, respectively 

Q8) Behaviourally Anchored rating Scales

Ans) One of the best methods for assessing performance, it consists of the following five stages:

1.  It is crucial to produce key incidents. The personnel performing a certain job are requested to list specific important situations that could occur on the job and necessitate effective performance on their part.

2. These occurrences are divided into more manageable groups of performance dimensions.

3. A group of employees is tasked with locating a set of key incidents according to the categories.

4. The group is then asked to judge how well or poorly the behaviour reported in the episode reflects performance on the performance dimension.

5. The incident subsets are then utilised as behaviour anchors.

Q9) Cost Reduction Strategy

Ans) It's possible for organisations to pool their employees' savings, collect modest amounts of money as contributions, or do both of these things. This helps to safeguard the salaries of the employees as and when they are required, as well as helping the organisation retain its competitive strategy. In addition, this helps protect the wages of the employees.

Q10) Corporate counselling

Ans) The word "people management" is a recent invention in response to the concern over human resource development in organisations. At all levels and hierarchies, a greater knowledge of issues relating to people has resulted from the human resource development process. In the current commercial and industrial management situation, managing people in all situations has shown to be very sensitive and important. This has caused counselling to become more prevalent at the business level.