Broadly, the term career is referred to an individual’s entire work life. In a narrow sense, it can be defined as the succession of jobs and or ranks held by a person in a particular organisation. An individual’s career begins with placement in a job and ends with departure from the organisation, may be in form of retirement, resignation or death. In between, the career progression consists of changing tasks, tenure in various jobs, temporary or permanent promotions, transfers etc. Career planning and development includes all those events that is happening to or initiated by an individual affecting his/ her progress or promotion. It happens by widening and/or changing employment possibilities and is characterized by different and higher status, better conditions of service and increased satisfaction with the job. It revolves round events and occurrences an individual goes through while moving up the hierarchic ladder. Career development is the process Continue reading
Human Resource Management Basics
Gender Wage Discrimination
The term wage discrimination can be explained as a difference in the wage levels offered to male workers and female workers for the same level of work they do. It occurs when an individual in a labor market suffers from a decreased wage level for the same job and performance. Gender wage differences seem to exist in many countries to some extent. Studies on wage differences shows that female/male earnings ratios are usually less than one, indicating that women usually earn less than men do. Depending upon the characteristics of their labor markets, factors producing wage differentials in those studies varied from race, gender, education, job status occupation, type of sector (public vs. private) to type of industry, among the others. Two major trends in the world have worked to widen the gender gap: increases in the pay premium associated with higher “skills” (i.e., higher levels of education and labor Continue reading
Work-Life Balance Programs – Cost or Investment?
Work-life balance programs are fast gaining popularity in developed countries. Work-life balance programs can be defined as any benefits, policies or programs that help employees find ways to manage the demands of the workplace and life outside work. In other words, work-life balance programs are designed as a two pronged approach to achieve meaningful achievement and enjoyment in everyday life. There are many forms of work-life balance programs such as flex-time, child-care facilities at work, gyms and concierge services and paid vacations. Many reasons are cited for the introduction of work-life balance programs at the workplace, the most common being that it increases productivity as well as employee loyalty. While these are all valid justifications, the costs of having work-life balance programs should not be ignored. Therefore, do the benefits of work-life balance programs outweigh the costs? Going further, should these programs be considered a cost or an investment to Continue reading
The Concept of Occupational Safety and Health
Definition of Occupational Health Since 1950, the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have shared a common definition of occupational health. It was adopted by the joint ILO/WHO committee on occupational health at its first session in 1950 and revised at its twelfth session in 1995. The definition reads: “occupational health should aim at: the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations; the prevention amongst workers of departures from health caused by their working conditions; the protection of workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health; the placing and maintenance of the worker in an occupational environment adapted to his physiological and psychological capabilities; and, to summarize, the adaptation of work to man and of each man to his job.” The Changing Approach to Occupational Health and Safety The traditional approach Continue reading
The Importance of Human Resources Management in Organizations
The functioning of modern organizations is highly dependent on the effectiveness of human resource management, which affects consistently organizational development. In actuality, human resources comprise important assets of any organization. In such a situation, many organizations are concerned with the improvement of the performance of human resources through motivating employees and developing effective approaches to human resource management. Traditionally, human resource management played an important role in the effective functioning of an organization. At the same time, the present epoch is characterized by the development of numerous human resource challenges which were practically unknown in the past. In such a situation it is extremely important to clearly identify the problem or problems and their major causes in order to be able to cope with the HR challenges and maintain the normal functioning of organizations. In this respect, it should be said that the wide implementation of new technologies is one Continue reading
Absenteeism in the Workplace
Absenteeism is habitual or pattern of absence from the duty. Absenteeism is viewed as indicator of poor individual performance, or poor employee morale. Its found that rate of absenteeism is lowest on pay day it increase considerably the days following payment of wages. Absenteeism is generally higher in young workers below the age of 25 to 28. The young employees spend more of their time with family and friends. Percent of absenteeism is high in night shift as compared to day shift. There are two types of absenteeism which are as follows: Innocent absenteeism: Innocent absenteeism refers refer to employees who are absent for reason beyond their control, like sickness and injury. Culpable absenteeism: Culpable absenteeism refers to employees who are absent without authorization for reasons which are within their control. For example if an employee is on sick leave even though he or she is not sick and if Continue reading