Achievement tests

These are designed to measure what the applicant can do on the job currently, i.e., whether the testee actually knows what he or she claims to know. A typing test shows typing proficiency, a shorthand test measures the testee’s ability to take dictation and transcribe, etc. Such proficiency tests are also known as work sampling tests. 

Work sampling is a selection test wherein the job applicant’s ability to do a small portion of the job is tested. These tests are of two types; Motor, involving physical manipulation of things (e.g., trade tests for carpenters, plumbers, electricians) or Verbal, involving problem situations that are primarily languageoriented or people-oriented (e.g., situational tests for supervisory jobs). 

Since work samples are miniature replicas of actual job requirements, they are difficult to fake. They offer concrete evidence of the proficiency of an applicant as against his ability to do the job. However, work-sample tests are not cost effective, as each candidate has to be tested individually. 

It is not easy to develop work samples for each job. Moreover, it is not applicable to all levels of the organisation. For managerial jobs it is often not possible to develop a work sample test that can take one of all the full range of managerial abilities.

Preference tests

These tests try to compare employee preferences with the job and organisational requirements.

The job diagnostic survey developed by Hackman and Oldham, is an example of a preference test. This test shows how people differ in their preferences for achievement, meaningfulness, discretion etc., in their jobs.

Interest tests

These are meant to find how a person in tests compare with the interests of successful people in a specific job. These tests show the areas of work in which a person is most interested. The basic idea behind the use of interests tests is that people are most likely to be successful in jobs they like. 

These tests could be used as effective selections tools. Obviously if you can select people whose interests are roughly the same as those of successful investments by using, say the Strong-Campbell inventory, in the jobs for which you are recruiting, it is more likely that the applicants will be more successful in their new jobs. 

The chief problem with using the interest tests for selection purposes is that responses to the questions are not always sincere.

Projective tests

These tests expect the candidates to interpret problems or situations based on their own motives, attitudes, values, etc. Many personality tests are projective in nature. A picture is presented to the person taking the test who is then asked to interpret or react to it. 

Since the pictures are clouded, the person’s interpretation must come from inside – and thus get projected. The person supposedly projects into the picture his or her own emotional attitudes, motives, frustrations, aspirations and ideas about life. 

Standard tests are also frequently used to assess the personality of the testee. For example, in the Thematic Appreciation Test, the testee is shown a picture and is asked to make up a story based on the picture. The responses are analysed and a profile of personality is developed. 

However, projective tests have been under attack since they are unscientific and often reveal the bias of the test evaluator, particularly if he is not properly trained.

Types of Test - Personality tests

Of all the tests required for selection, personality tests have generated lot of heat and controversy. The definition of personality, methods of measuring personality factors and the relationship between personality factors and actual job criteria have been the subject of much discussion. 

Researchers have also questioned whether applicants answer all the items truthfully or whether they try to respond in a socially desirable manner. Regardless of these objections, many people still consider personality as an important component of job success.

Personality tests are used to measure basic aspects of an applicant’s personality such as motivation, emotional balance, self-confidence, interpersonal behaviour, introversion, etc. The most frequently used tests are the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPL), the California Psychological Inventory, the Manifest Anxiety Scale, Edwards Personal Performance Schedule, etc.

Types of Test - Aptitude tests

Aptitude tests measure an individual’s potential to learn certain skills – clerical, mechanical, mathematical, etc. These tests indicate whether or not an individual has the ability to learn a given job quickly and efficiently. 

In order to recruit efficient office staff, aptitude tests are necessary. Clerical tests, for example, may measure the incumbent’s ability to take notes, perceive things correctly and quickly locate things, ensure proper movement of files, etc. 

Aptitude tests, unfortunately, do not measure on-the-job motivation. That is why the aptitude test is administered in combination with other tests, like intelligence and personality tests.

Types of Test - Intelligence tests

These are mental ability tests. They measure the incumbent’s learning ability and also the ability to understand instructions and make judgements. The basic objective of intelligence tests is to pick up employees who are alert and quick at learning things so that they can be offered adequate training to improve their skills for the benefit of the organisation. 

Intelligence tests do not measure any single trait, but rather several abilities such as memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency, numerical ability, perception, spatial visualisation, etc., Stanford-Binet test, Binet- Simon test, The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale are examples of standard intelligence tests. 

Some of these tests are increasingly used in competitive examinations while recruiting graduates and post-graduates at entry level management positions in Banking, Insurance and other Financial Services sectors.

Basic Testing Concepts

Another important decision in the selection process involves applicant testing and the kinds of tests to use. A test is a standardised, objective measure of a person’s behaviour, performance or attitude. It is standardised because the way the test is carried out, the environment in which the test is administered and the way the individual scores are calculated – are uniformly applied. It is objective in that it tries to measure individual differences in a scientific way, giving very little room for individual bias and interpretation.

Over the years, employment tests have not only gained importance but also a certain amount of inevitability in employment decisions. Since they try to objectively determine how well an applicant meets job requirements, most companies do not hesitate to invest their time and money in selection testing in a big way. Some of the commonly used employment tests may be stated thus:

SELECTION PROCESS

The selection process is a series of steps through which applicants pass.

1. Preliminary Reception: Selection starts with a visit to the HRM office or with a written request for an application. If an applicant appears in person, an impromptu preliminary interview may be granted as a courtesy, simply as a matter of good public relations.

2. Employment Tests: Employment tests are devices that assess the probable match between applicants and job requirements. When tests are used for these positions, however, they often are a simulation of real-life situations.

i. Test Validation : For a test to be relied upon, it should be valid. Validity means that the test scores have a significant correlation to job performance or to some other relevant criterion.

ii. Testing Tools : There is a wide variety of employment tests. But each type of test has only limited usefulness. The exact purpose of a test, its design, its direction for administration and its applications are recorded in the test manual, which should be reviewed before a test is used.

IT AND RECRUITING ON THE INTERNET

In recent years most companies have found it useful to develop their own website and list job openings on it. The website offers a fast, convenient and cost effective means for job applicants to submit their resume through the Internet. Infosys Technologies Ltd., for example, gets over 1000 resumes a day from prospective candidates through the Net.

The resumes are then converted into a standard format using the software that the company has developed for short listing candidates according to a set criteria such as alma mater, qualifications, experience etc. The HR manager has to key in his or her requirement and 'profiles' of candidates from the company's database get generated. 

There are a variety of websites available – in addition to a company's own website – where applicants can submit their resumes and potential employers can check for qualified applicants.  Internet recruiting, as mentioned earlier, generates fast, cost-effective, timely responses from job applicants from different parts of the world. 

And that's where the problem lies: the website might be flooded with resumes from unqualified job seekers. Applications may also come from geographic areas that are unrealistically far away.

Usefulness

Application blank is a highly useful selection tool, in that it serves three important purposes:

1. It introduces the candidate to the company in a formal way.

2. It helps the company to have a cross-comparison of applicants; the company can screen and reject candidates if they fail to meet the eligibility criteria at this stage itself.
 

3. It can serve as a basis for initiating a dialogue at the interview.

Weighted Application Blanks (WABs)

To make the application form more job-related, some organisations assign numeric values or weights to responses provided by applicants. 

Generally, the items that have a strong relationship to job performance are given high scores. For example, for a medical representative’s position, items such as previous selling experience, marital status, age, commission earned on sales previously, etc., may be given high scores when compared to other items such as religion, sex, language, place of birth, etc. 

The total score of each applicant is obtained by summing the weights of the individual item responses. The resulting scores are then used in the selection decision. The WAB is best suited for jobs where there are many workers, especially for sales and technical jobs and it is particularly useful in reducing turnover. There are, however, several problems associated with WABs. It takes time to develop such a form. 

The cost of developing a WAB could be prohibitive if the organisation has several operating levels with unique features. The WAB must be “updated every few years to ensure that the factors previously identified are still valid predictors of job success”. And finally, the organisation should be careful not to depend on weights of a few items while selecting an employee.

Developing and Using Application Forms

Application blank or form is one of the most common methods used to collect information on various aspects of the applicants’ academic, social, demographic, work-related background and references. It is a brief history sheet of an employee’s background, usually containing the following things:

i. Personal data (address, sex, identification marks)

ii. Marital data (single or married, children, dependents)
 

iii. Physical data (height, weight, health condition)
 

iv. Educational data (levels of formal education, marks, distinctions)
 

v. Employment data (past experience, promotions, nature of duties, reasons for leaving previous jobs, salary drawn, etc.)
 

vi. Extra-curricular activities data (sports/games, NSS, NCC, prizes won, leisure-time activities)

vii. References (names of two or more people who certify the suitability of an applicant to the advertised position)

Even when applicants come armed with elaborate resumes, it is important to ask the applicants to translate specific resume material into a standardised application form. Job seekers tend to exaggerate, or overstate their qualifications on a resume. 

So it's always better to ask the applicant to sign a statement that the information contained on the resume or application blank is true and that he or she accepts the employer's right to terminate the candidate's employment if any of the information is found to be false at a later date.

External sources

External sources lie outside an organisation. Here the organisation can have the services of:

(a) Employees working in other organisations;

(b) Job aspirants registered with employment exchanges;

(c) Students from reputed educational institutions;

(d) Candidates referred by unions, friends, relatives and existing employees;

(e) Candidates forwarded by search firms and contractors;

(f) Candidates responding to the advertisements, issued by the organisation; and

(g) Unsolicited applications/walk-ins.

Job Posting

Job posting is another way of hiring people from within. In this method, the organisation publicises job openings on bulletin boards, electronic media and similar outlets. Hindustan Lever introduced its version of open job postings in early 2002 and over 40 positions have since been filled through the process. 

HLL even allows its employees to undertake career shifts, for example from technical positions to non-technical jobs such as marketing, market research etc., through the open job posting system. 

The AV Birla group allows its employees an opportunity to apply not just for jobs within their own companies, but for jobs in any company in the Birla group both in India and abroad.

SOURCES, DEVELOPING AND USING APPLICATION FORMS

Many organisations prefer to fill vacancies through promotions or transfers from within wherever possible. Promotion involves movement of an employee from a lower level position to a higher level position accompanied by (usually) changes in duties, responsibilities, status and value. The Tatas, the Birlas and most multinationals (e.g. HLL's Lister programme tracking star performers at an early stage and offering stimulating opportunities to grow vertically) have fast-track promotion systems in place.

The credo now is reward performance, but promote competency. In the recent past, the AV Birla group has placed over 200 people through the fast-tracker system (promoting star performers quickly). A transfer, on the other hand, involves lateral movement within the same grade, from one job to another. It may lead to changes in duties and responsibilities, working conditions, etc., but not necessarily salary. 

Internal promotions and transfers certainly allow people greater scope to experiment with their careers, kindling ambitions and motivating them to take a shot at something they might otherwise never have considered. The system, of course, works best for young executives who are willing to take risks.

KEY TO SUCCESS OF EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

Success in the employee involvement arena requires, first and foremost, a recognition by top management that participative management means cultural change which, requires management commitment and a long-term perspective.

i. Management Commitment: People resist change, as it requires behaviours and responses that are not familiar. Management commitment to change must be apparent and unambiguous, if this resistance is to be overcome. Management must be willing to support change through the provision of resources, modification of the organisational systems and personal involvement in the change process.

ii. Long-term View: Management must also adopt a long-term view for the change to succeed. Attitudes and behaviours do not change overnight, and managements demand for quick success will heighten resistance and undermine the process.

iii. Supervisory Support: Being the buffer between the top management and nonmanagement employees, it is upon the front-line supervisor that the greatest pressures in EI effort fall. He is called upon to transform his familiar and comfortable style, yet he lacks the knowledge and skills to do so. If his needs are not attended
to, there is a strong likelihood that he will resist.

Since supervisory support is such an essential ingredient to this process, they must be educated about EI; they must understand what it is, why it is needed, their new roles and how they will be supported. The resistance of supervisors can be further reduced by involving them in planning and managing the EI process. Their input in
the plan and its ongoing execution will provide them with a sense of ownership and control and a better plan will probably result.

To be effective, the supervisor must also be provided with the needed skills such as group leadership, active listening, communications, providing feedback and problem solving through training, coaching and reinforcement.

iv. Union Support: If the Union, as an institution, is not involved in the employee involvement initiative, they may well resist the effort. Awareness programmes should also be conducted for them covering the business scenario, status of the organisation, need of EI, management plans etc, so that they also understand, appreciate and extend necessary support for the success of the EI programme.

v. Training and Development: Awareness training must be conducted at all levels in the organisation. Managers and supervisors must appreciate that participative management represents a major change from the traditional styles of management. 

For them to embrace this change, they must understand the nature, rationale and implications of participative management. Training in problem solving must also be provided to equip the employees and supervisors / managers with the skills to analyse problems and to develop solutions.

vi. Strategy: Employee involvement requires a well-developed strategy to achieve long-term success. EI challenges long-held beliefs and impacts broad areas of organisational functioning. 

Changing management style is probably the most difficult and frustrating task facing the chief executive who desires to institutionalise the EI process for performance improvement in the organisation. An intelligent, longterm strategy is, therefore, a vital ingredient for success.

EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT APPROACHES

i. Human Relations Approach: The human relations approach is based on the belief that more satisfied employees are more productive employees. Organisations operating under the human relations framework utilise involvement techniques such as suggestion schemes, survey feedback and quality circles, but do not seek to redesign jobs, change the organisation structure or transform the organisation’s culture to promote maximum employee involvement in decision making. 

ii. Human Resources Approach: The key assumption here is that people are a valuable resource, capable of making significant contributions to organisational performance. They should be developed to increase their capabilities and, when people have input to decisions, better decisions result.

iii. High Involvement Approach: High involvement systems operate under the assumption that employees are capable of making important decisions about their work and that maximum organisational performance results when people exercise considerable control over their work activities.

High involvement organisations typically utilise profoundly different approaches to job design such as autonomous work teams. They are very flat organisations, as employees make most of the routine, day-to-day decisions that are made by supervisors in traditionally managed organisations. 

All of the organisation’s systems, such as the reward system and the goal-setting system, are designed to reinforce maximum employee involvement in decision-making. High involvement systems represent a radical departure from traditional management assumptions and thus require a great deal of management commitment to change.

CHARACTERISTICS OF EI ENVIRONMENT

i. Employee input to decisions

ii. Employee participation in problem-solving

iii. Information sharing

iv. Constructive feedback

v. Teamwork and collaboration

vi. Meaningful and challenging work

vii. Employment security

Responsibility for HRP

Top level executives are responsible for HR planning as it is one of the important factors influencing the success of an organisation. The plans are usually prepared by the Human Resource Division in consultation with other corporate heads. The responsibility and accountability for manpower aspects of various divisions is on their respective heads.

They should undertake their own appraisals of future needs in such a way as to provide a concrete basis for organisation-wide forecasting and planning. The Human Resource Division must offer counsel and advice to various divisional heads and coordinate the various manpower estimates from time to time. Prof. Geisler outlined the responsibilities of Human Resource Department in respect of HR planning thus:

i. Assist and counsel operating managers to plan and set objectives.

ii. Collect and summarise manpower data keeping long-run objectives and broad organisational interests in mind.

iii. Monitor and measure performance against the plan and keep top management informed about it.

iv. Provide proper research base for effective manpower and organisational planning.

Formulating HR Plans

Organisations operate in a changing environment. Consequently, Human resource requirements also change continually. Changes in product mix, union agreements, competitive actions are some of the important things that need special attention. 

The human resource requirements identified along the procedure outlined in the above box need to be translated into a concrete HR plan, backed up by detailed policies, programmes and strategies (for recruitment, selection, training, promotion, retirement, replacement, etc.).

i. Recruitment plan: Will indicate the number and type of people required and when they are needed; special plans to recruit right people and how they are to be dealt with via the recruitment programme.

ii. Redeployment plan: Will indicate the programmes for transferring or retraining existing employees for new jobs.

iii. Redundancy plan: Will indicate who is redundant, when and where; the plans for retraining, where this is possible; and plans for golden handshake, retrenchment, lay-off, etc.
 

iv. Training plan: Will indicate the number of trainees or apprentices required and the programme for recruiting or training them; existing staff requiring training or retraining; new courses to be developed or changes to be effected in existing courses.

v. Productivity plan: Will indicate reasons for employee productivity or reducing employee costs through work simplification studies, mechanisation, productivity bargaining; incentives and profit sharing schemes, job redesign, etc.

vi. Retention plan: Will indicate reasons for employee turnover and show strategies to avoid wastage through compensation policies; changes in work requirements and improvement in working conditions.

vii. Control points: The entire manpower plan be subjected to close monitoring from time to time. Control points be set up to find out deficiencies, periodic updating of manpower inventory, in the light of changing circumstances, be undertaken to remove deficiencies and develop future plans.

Determining Manpower Gaps

The existing number of personnel and their skills (from human resource inventory) are compared with the forecasted manpower needs (demand forecasting) to determine the quantitative and qualitative gaps in the workforce. 

A reconciliation of demand and supply forecasts will give us the number of people to be recruited or made redundant as the case may be. This forms the basis for preparing the HR plan.

External labour supply

When the organisation grows rapidly, diversifies into newer areas of operations (merchant banking, capital market operations, mutual funds, etc. in the case of a bank) or when it is not able to find the people internally to fill the vacancies, it has to look into outside sources. To the extent an organisation is able to anticipate its outside recruitment needs and looks into the possible sources of supply keeping the market trends in mind, its problem in finding the right personnel with appropriate skills at the required time would become easier. 

Organisations, nowadays, do not generally track the qualifications of thousands of employees manually. Details of employees in terms of knowledge, skills, experience, abilities etc., are computerised, using various packaged software systems.

Important Barometers of Labour Supply

1. Net migration into and out of the area
2. Education levels of workforce
3. Demographic changes in population
4. Technological developments and shifts
5. Population Mobility
6. Demand for specific skills
7. National, regional unemployment rates
8. Actions of competing employers
9. Government policies, regulations, pressures
10. Economic Forecasts for the next few years
11. The attractiveness of an area
12. The attractiveness of an industry in a particular place

Internal labour supply

A profile of employees in terms of age, sex, education, training, experience, job level, past performance and future potential should be kept ready for use whenever required. Requirements in terms of growth/diversification, internal movement of employees (transfer, promotions, retirement, etc.) must also be assessed in advance. The possibilities of absenteeism and turnover should be kept in mind while preparing the workforce analysis. Through replacement charts or succession plans, the organisation can even find out the approximate date(s) by which important positions may fall vacant. Frequent manpower audits may be carried out to find out the available talent in terms of skills, performance and potential.

i. Staffing table: It shows the number of employees in each job. It tries to classify employees on the basis of age, sex, position, category, experience, qualifications, skills, etc. A study of the table indicates whether current employees are properly utilised or not.

ii. Markov Analysis: In hierarchical systems, routes for the employees, which is the promotion ladder, are well defined. It means every employee elevates himself in the organisation through a well defined career path. All employees start in an organisation at the bottom rung and climb up the ladder one at a time. Any wastage is falling off the ladder. Young and Almond (1961), devised a hierarchical manpower system, framing  sub-groups on the basis of salary grade and length of service. They have used the theory of the Markov  process to measure the long-term equilibrium distribution of staff among the subgroups. The basic assumption of this model is that an employee in a particular grade or a status group has a fixed chance of promotion in a given year, independent of vacancy.

iii. Skills inventory: A skills inventory is an assessment of the knowledge, skills, abilities, experience and career aspirations of each of the current employees. This record should be updated at least every 2 years and should include changes such as new skills, additional qualifications, changed job duties etc. Of course, confidentiality is an important issue in setting up such an inventory. Once established, such a record helps an organisation to quickly match forthcoming job openings with employee backgrounds.

iv Replacement chart: It shows the profile of job holders department-wise and offers a snapshot of who will replace whom if there is a job opening.

Other methods

Several mathematical models, with the aid of computers are also used to forecast HR needs, e.g., regression, optimisation models, budget and planning analysis.

To proceed systematically, human resource professionals generally follow three steps. Let’s examine these steps as applied in respect of, say a commercial bank.

i. Workforce analysis: The average loss of manpower due to leave, retirement, death, transfer, discharge, etc., during the last 5 years may be taken into account. The rate of absenteeism and labour turnover should also be taken into account. The nature of competition say from foreign banks, other nonbanking financial institutions may also be considered here to find out actual requirements in a year.

While some of the interchanges and external supply could be predicted (growth opportunities, promotions, transfers, retirements, etc.) others are not so easy to predict. Past experience and historical data may help bank managers in this regard.

ii. Work load analysis: The need for manpower is also determined on the basis of work-load analysis, wherein the company tries to calculate the number of persons required for various jobs with reference to a planned output – after giving weightage to factors such as absenteeism, idle time, etc.

iii. Job analysis: Job analysis helps in finding out the abilities or skills required to do the jobs efficiently. A detailed study of jobs is usually made to identify the qualifications and experience required for them. Job analysis includes two things: Job description and job specification. Job description is a factual statement of the duties and responsibilities of a specific job. It gives an indication of what is to be done, how it is to be done and why it is to be done. Job specification provides information on the human attributes in terms of education, skills, aptitudes and experience necessary to perform a job effectively.

Forecasting techniques

The manpower forecasting techniques commonly employed by modern organisations are given below:
 

i. Expert forecasts: In this method, managers estimate future human resource requirements, using their experiences and judgements to good effect.

ii. Trend analysis: HR needs can be estimated by examining past trends. Past rates of change can be projected into the future or employment growth can be estimated by its relationship with a particular index.

Trend Analysis (An Example)

2001-02                   Production of Units          :               5,000
2002-03                   No. of Workers               :               100
                                 Ratio                               :               100:5000
2003-04                   Estimated Production       :                8,000

                                                      100
No. of Workers required : 8000 × -------  = 160
                                                       5000

If supervisors have a span of 20 workers, 8 supervisors are also needed in 2003-04.

Organisational decisions and Workforce factors

Organisational decisions: The organisation’s strategic plan, sales and production forecasts and new ventures must all be taken into account in employment planning. If Britannia Industries Ltd expects higher demand for biscuits and bread, the longterm HR plan must take this into consideration. 

Likewise, if it tries to venture into other lucrative fields such as milk based products and confectionery items, the demand for people possessing requisite skills in those areas in the next couple of years should be looked into carefully.

Workforce factors: Demand is modified by retirements, terminations, resignations, deaths and leaves of absence. Past experience, however, makes the rate of occurrence of these actions by employees fairly predictable.

The Process of Human Resource Planning - External challenges

External challenges: These challenges arise from three important sources: 

i. Economic developments: Liberalisation, opening up of banking sector, capital market reforms, the on-line trading systems have created huge demand for finance professionals during 1990-1995 in India. The late 90s saw the rise of manufacturing, FMCG, Pharmaceuticals, Auto-components, Healthcare and Chemical Industries in a steady manner. Consequently, the demand for Engineering and Management graduates, Scientists and Healthcare professionals has picked up in recent times. 

ii. Political, legal, social and technical changes: The demand for certain categories of employees and skills is also influenced by changes in political, legal and social structure in an economy. Likewise, firms employing latest technology in construction, power, automobiles, software, etc., have greatly enhanced the worth of technicians and engineers during the last couple of years. Technology, however, is a double-edged weapon and hence, its impact on HR plans is difficult to predict. For example, computerisation programme in Banks, Railways, Post and Telegraph Departments may reduce demand in one department (book keeping, for example) while increasing it in another (such as computer operations). High technology with all its attendant benefits may compel organisations to go lean and downsize workforce suddenly. Employment planning under such situations becomes complicated.

iii. Competition: Companies operating in fields where a large number of players are bent upon cutting each other’s throat (with a view to enhance their market shares) often reduce their workforce. Competition is beneficial to customers but suicidal for companies operating on thin margins. Such companies have to necessarily go ‘lean’ by reducing their workforce. On the other hand, companies that are doing well and progressing smoothly will always look for people with critical skills. 

Human Resource Planning - Importance

Human Resource Planning is a highly important and useful activity. If used properly, it offers a number of benefits:

i. Reservoir of talent: The organisation can have a reservoir of talent at any point of time. People with requisite skills are readily available to carry out the assigned tasks.

ii. Prepare people for future: People can be trained, motivated and developed in advance and this helps in meeting future needs for high-quality employees quite easily. Likewise, human resource shortages can also be met comfortably (when people quit the organisation for various reasons) through proper human resource
planning.

iii. Expand or contract: If the organisation wants to expand its scale of operations, it can go ahead easily. Advance planning ensures a continuous supply of people with requisite skills who can handle challenging jobs easily.

iv. Cut costs: Planning facilitates the preparation of an appropriate HR budget for each department or division. This, in turn, helps in controlling manpower costs by avoiding shortages/excesses in manpower supply. The physical facilities such as canteen, quarters, school, medical help, etc., can also be planned in advance.

v. Succession planning: Human Resource Planning, as pointed out previously, prepares people for future challenges. The ‘stars’ can be picked up and kept ready for further promotions whenever they arise. All multinational companies for example, have this policy of having a ‘hot list’ of promising candidates prepared in advance e.g., HLL, Proctor & Gamble, Godrej consumer products etc.3 Such candidates are rolled over various jobs and assessed and assisted continuously. When the time comes, such people ‘switch hats’ quickly and replace their respective bosses without any problem.

EMPLOYMENT PLANNING AND FORECASTING

The basic purpose of having a human resource plan is to have an accurate estimate of the number of employees required, with matching skill requirements to meet organisational objectives. It provides information about the manner in which existing personnel are employed, the kind of skills required for different categories of jobs and human resource requirements over a period of time in relation to organisational objectives. It would also give an indication of the lead time that is available to select and train the required number of additional manpower.

More specifically, HR planning is required to meet the following objectives: 

i. Forecast personnel requirements: HR planning is essential to determine the future manpower needs in an organisation. In the absence of such a plan, it would be difficult to have the services of right kind of people at the right time.

ii. Cope with changes: HR planning is required to cope with changes in market conditions, technology, products and government regulations in an effective way. These changes may often require the services of people with the requisite technical knowledge and training. In the absence of an HR plan, we may not be in a position to enlist their services in time.

iii. Use existing manpower productively: By keeping an inventory of existing personnel in an enterprise by skill, level, training, educational qualifications, work experience, it will be possible to utilise the existing resources more usefully in relation to the job requirements. This also helps in decreasing wage and salary costs in the long run.

iv. Promote employees in a systematic manner: HR planning provides useful information on the basis of which management decides on the promotion of eligible personnel in the organisation. In the absence of an HR plan, it may be difficult to ensure regular promotions to competent people on a justifiable basis. 

Selection Process

The selection process is a series of steps through which applicants pass. 

i. Preliminary Reception: Selection starts with a visit to the HRM office or with a written request for an application. If an applicant appears in person, an impromptu preliminary interview may be granted as a courtesy, simply as a matter of good public relations.

ii. Employment Tests: Employment tests are devices that assess the probable match between applicants and job requirements. When tests are used for these positions, however, they often are a simulation of real-life situations.

a. Test Validation: For a test to be relied upon, it should be valid. Validity means that the test scores have a significant correlation to job performance or to some other relevant criterion. 

b. Testing Tools: There is a wide variety of employment tests. But each type of test has only limited usefulness. The exact purpose of a test, its design, its direction for administration and its applications are recorded in the test manual, which should be reviewed before a test is used.

Constraints and Challenges

In actual practice, it is always not easy to find and select a suitable candidate for a job opening. The recruiter’s choice of a communication medium (e.g. advertising in a trade journal read by the prospective candidate) may not be appropriate. Some of the bright candidates may begin to view the vacancy as not in line with their current expectations (e.g. challenging work, excellent rewards, flexible schedules and so on). 

The most suitable ones may not have been motivated to apply due to several other constraints.
 

>>  Poor image: If the image of a firm is perceived to be low (due to factors such as operating in a declining industry, earning a bad name because of environmental pollution, poor quality products, nepotism, insider trading allegations against promoters etc.), the likelihood of attracting a large number of qualified applicants is reduced. 

 >> Unattractive job: If the job to be filled is not very attractive, most prospective candidates may turn indifferent and may not even apply. This is especially true in case of jobs that are dull, boring, anxiety producing, devoid of career growth opportunities and generally do not reward performance in a proper way. (e.g., jobs in departmental undertakings such as Railways, Post and Telegraphs, public sector banks and Insurance companies failing to attract talent from premier management institutes.)

>> Conservative internal policies: A policy of filling vacancies through internal promotions based on seniority, experience, job knowledge etc. may often come in the way of searching for qualified hands in the broader job market in an unbiased way. Likewise, in firms where powerful unions exist, managers may be compelled to pick up candidates with questionable merit, based on issues such as caste, race, religion, region, nepotism, friendship etc.

>> Limited budgetary support : Recruiting efforts require money. Sometimes because of  limited resources, organisations may not like to carry on the recruiting efforts for long periods of time. This can, ultimately, constrain a recruiter’s efforts to attract the best person for the job.

>> Restrictive policies of government: Governmental policies often come in the way of recruiting people as per the rules for company or on the basis of merit/seniority, etc. For example, reservations for special groups (such as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, backward classes, physically handicapped and disabled persons, ex-servicemen, etc.) have to be observed as per Constitutional provisions while filling up vacancies in government corporations, departmental undertakings, local bodies, quasi-government organisations, etc.

WHAT IS RECRUITMENT?

Recruitment is the process of locating and encouraging potential applicants to apply for existing or anticipated job openings. 

It is actually a linking function, joining together those with jobs to fill and those seeking jobs. Recruitment, logically, aims at (i) attracting a large number of qualified applicants who are ready to take up the job if it's offered and (ii) offering enough information for unqualified persons to self-select themselves out (for example, the recruitment ad of a foreign bank may invite applications from chartered accountants who have cleared the CA examination in the first attempt only).

Recruitment and selection are the process of locating and encouraging potential applicants to apply for existing or anticipated job openings. Certain influences restrain (the freedom of) managers while choosing a recruiting source such as: image of the company, attractiveness of the job, internal policies, budgeting support, government policies etc. Companies generally rely on time lapse data, yield ratios, surveys etc., to evaluate the sources of recruiting carefully.