Necessity for Alignment between Corporate Strategy and HR Strategy

Current business environmental forces such as competition, innovation, globalization, technological advancement etc has created major impact on organizational behavior. These changes come in different forms. Sometimes it required to reorganize the structure of the organization and due to this organization may have to introduce new roles and new people. Sometimes it may require to change the culture of the organization. In all these situations HRM function plays a major role. Further recent development of new concepts such as knowledge workers has increased the complexity of HRM function. Nowadays HR has become strategic assets for organizations. From an IT company’s view point intellectual property that is knowledge of the software developers is crucial for their business than the physical asset of the company. This importance has heightened due to the transition of old economic conditions to knowledge based economy where it considers the intellectual property as one of key success factors Continue reading

Career Development – Meaning, Definition and Stages

The concept of career development is of growing concern to organizations since it matches the needs of a business with the career goals of employees. Formulating a career development plan can help employees to do their jobs more efficiently. Additionally, these plans can be beneficial for employees who might want to move up in a company or look for other jobs in the future. Today, challenging organizations have developed new concerns for the career development of their employees. They put greater emphasis on ‘career’ with coherent induction, training and development, increased job security by the accrual of experience and qualifications valued in the labor market. Since a high majority of workers change their careers at midlife, it becomes evident that career development programs are needed throughout the life cycle. Other major reasons for this concern are: The growth and productivity of organizations depend on the effectiveness of employee performance. A Continue reading

Wage Differentials – Types and Implications

If we take various contingent factors into account, we find that there may  be differences in wage and salary structures. These differentials may be  industrial and occupational, regional, organisational and personal. Industrial and Occupational Differentials :  Industrial and occupational differentials exist because of requirement of  different skill set and imbalance in demand and supply of personnel having such  skills. Wages and salaries are usually fixed on the basis of skills required to  perform a job. Thus, highly specialized jobs requiring higher level of skills are  linked with higher pay too. Coupled with this, shortage of supply of such  personnel also induces the payment of higher pay. Regional Differentials :  Apart from industrial arid occupational differentials,  there may be differences in wages and salaries region-wise also within the same  industry and occupation group. Such differences are visible in different  countries of the world as well as different regions within a country. Continue reading

Topics for Employee Training Programs

Training can be defined as the   process of “Transferring information and knowledge to employers and equipping employers to translate that information and knowledge into practice with a view to enhancing organization effectiveness and productivity, and the quality of the management of people.” It also means that in organizational development, the related field of training and development deals with the design and delivery of workplace learning to improve performance. The common topics for employee training and development programs are; Corporate ethics: This covers the value of good manners, courtesy, consideration, personal decor and good rapport. It also shows why and how to discourage gossip, controversies, personal work at office, rush jobs etc. Communications: The increasing diversity of today’s workforce brings a wide variety of languages and customs. Right from the way the receptionist handles a call to how the CEO deals with a customer gives a glimpse of the image Continue reading

Benefits of Performance Appraisal

Perhaps the most significant benefit of performance appraisal is that, in the rush and bustle of daily working life, it offers a rare chance for a supervisor and subordinate to have “time out” for a one-on-one discussion of important work issues that might not otherwise be addresses. Performance Appraisal offers a valuable opportunity to focus on work activities and goals, to identify and correct existing problems, and to encourage better future performance. Thus the performance of the whole organization is enhanced. For many employees, an “official” appraisal interview may be the only time they get to have exclusive, uninterrupted access to their supervisor. Said one employee of a large organization after his first formal performance appraisal, “In twenty years of work, that’s the first time anyone has ever bothered to sit down and tell me how I’m doing.” The value of this intense and purposeful interaction between a supervisors and Continue reading

What is E-Recruitment?

Organizations use a variety of recruitment sources to attract applicants like direct applications, employee referrals, newspaper advertising, employment agencies, and executive search firms. Recruiting the right person to the right position is of crucial importance to the performance of every company. At the same time recruitments are expensive, difficult and time-consuming. Web based recruitment tools can be used to publish job postings, administrate applications, including spontaneous applications, and build up a CV Database. This recruitment strategy includes identification of the right channels with a campaign that effectively summarizes the job requirements, company and community. A simple job posting in a publication or online career center is no longer enough — the employer also needs to market itself as a place the candidate would want to work and its community as a place the candidate would want to live. Companies often adopt online systems because they believe e-recruitment is more likely Continue reading