Rajarshi School of Management and Technology

(UdaiPratap Autonomous College Campus)Varanasi – 221002

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 Ph. No. 0542 – 2280641
2280674

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Date_ _/_ _/_ _ _ _

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Research Report entitled “ HR ROLE IN AMAZON

(COMPANY) ” submitted by Mr. PAWAN
MISHRA, Roll No. 11818401089 in partial fulfillment of the degree of
BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION of MGKVP, Varanasi is a bona
fide work for academic session 2019-20.

In my opinion the report fulfill the requirement of the regulation & relating
to the nature and standard of work for BBA of MGKVP, Varanasi.

I recommend that research report may be

sent for evaluation.

(DR. Preeti Singh) (Mrs. Rameshwari Sonkar)

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 DECLARATION

I Pawan Mishra of RSMT, Varanasi, of BBA VIth SEM, here by

declare that the Survey Report having the title “HR ROLE IN

AMAZON (COMPANY) is the outcome of my own work and the

same has not been submitted to any university/college.

Pawan Mishra

BBA-VI Semester

Roll No. 11818401089

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is a great pleasure for me to be assigned this topic. First of all, I

would like to thank god who showered his blessings upon me in each and
every step. I am immensely grateful to Mrs. Rameshwari Sonkar, for providing
us available opportunity to prove our skill and shoulder the responsibilities. I
am highly grateful to him for him consistent guidance and inspiration.

I especially wish to thank all my respondents and my friends for their valuable
support unless completing this report would not have been possible.

Pawan Mishra

BBA-VI Semester

Roll No. 11818401089

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 PREFACE

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It’s a great privilege and satisfaction for me to place before the esteemed faculty
member, survey report on ”HR ROLE IN AMAZONE (COMPANY)” .
It used to be that human resource professionals relied on technology just for
administrative tasks such as time and attendance and payroll.
Today, core HR responsibilities as diverse as recruitment, oversight of legal and
regulatory compliance, benefits administration, and the safeguarding of
confidential employee information cannot be carried out effectively without high-
tech tools.
In this world, matters gets measured, many HR executives are turning to sophisticated
analytics to gauge their department's strategic contributions. In addition, many HR
managers are borrowing from other business disciplines and integrating collaborative
and social networking tools such as listservs, Facebook applications and video.
For these HR professionals, the growth of electronic communication and Internet use
requires developing policies governing the safekeeping and appropriate flow of
information which includes e-mail and blogs also. Indeed, HR professionals, working in
tandem with information technologists, now rely on policy and software to monitor
data flow, block inappropriate data which prevent the leaking of trade secrets.
HR professionals also rely on automated systems to direct employee benefit
contributions. Such systems automatically direct a portion of workers' pay toward their
retirement savings plans unless employees opt out, for instance. Initiatives for
workplace diversity gets a boost from technology. Remarkable developments in
assistive technology, for example, have increased job opportunities for people with
physical disabilities. Some employers say that investing in such technologies is simply
the right thing to do while others argue that such initiatives are good for the bottom
line since they allow companies to recruit from a broader pool.
Employers are also turning to technology to assist in evaluating their workers and vice
versa. Electronic systems can automate performance-management processes, ensure
an accurate "grading curve" and guarantee feedback to employees. After analyzing
those data, I have reached a conclusion, which has been clearly stated in the report

Pawan Mishra

BBA-VI Semester

Roll No. 11818401089

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 CONTENT

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction
• Objective
• Literature review
• Company profile
• Research methodology
• Data analysis
• Findings
• Limitations
• Conclusions
• Limitation
• Suggesion
• Bibilograpthy
• Questionair

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 INTRODUCTION
In recent years, the field of human resources has experienced a
significant transformation and redefinition. In the past, HR was
heavily inundated and responsible for personnel and transactional
activities. In many organizations, HR has moved from merely an
administrative role to that of a strategic partner and facilitator.
Today, organizations are realizing HR’s potential to positively affect
a wide range of activities such as budgeting, talent management,
succession planning, analysis of trends and forecasting,
executivelevel compensation, and corporate social responsibility
programs.

For an organization to be successful in today’s highly competitive

and changing international business environment, it needs targeted
strategic initiatives that are integrated throughout the entire
organization. Many successful organizations are realizing that their
HR department is a resource that provides a competitive
advantage. These organizations have recognized the value of
addressing human resource and business functions from a strategic
perspective that can ultimately be linked with overall business
strategy. Currently, HR helps already successful organizations
further distinguish themselves from their competitors.
The HR function in many organizations has been segmented into
two areas:
one that focuses more time on operational functions and the
other—on strategic activities. Even though HR has advanced
extensively over the last 20 years, the profession still faces
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considerable barriers, such as the legacy of being an
administrative contributor and still having the responsibility
for dealing with many operational functions, that prevent
many HR professionals from focusing on strategic initiatives.
This report explores to what extent HR strategically contributes to
specific functions within organizations, examines how often HR uses
metrics and analytics to measure specific organizational functions,
looks at potential barriers that limit the ability of HR to more
effectively contribute to the organization’s bottom line and
discusses what organizations can do to develop the strategic HR
skills of their HR staff. The report also examines the differences
between HR departments with and without a formal stretegic plan
in place. Human resources is the set of the people who make up the
workforceof an organization, business sector,industry, or economy.
A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge which the
individuals embody. Similar terms include manpower, labour,
personnel, associates or simply people.A human-resources
department (HR department) of an organization performs human
resource management,overseeing various aspects of
employment,such as compliance with labor lawand employment
standards, administration of employee benefits, organizing of
employees files with the required documents for future reference,
and some aspects of recruitmentand employee offboarding.

HR RESPONSIBILITIES
Human resource managers are in charge of every aspect of
employee life cycle in an organization. The duties include planning,
recruitmentand selectionprocess, posting job ads, evaluatingthe
performance of employees, organizing resumesand job
applications, scheduling interviews and assisting in the process and
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ensuring background checks. Another job is payrolland benefits
administration which deals with ensuring vacation and sick time are
accounted for, reviewing payroll, and participating in benefits tasks,
like claim resolutions, reconciling benefit statements, and
approving invoicesfor payment.HR also coordinates employee
relations activities and programs including but not limited to
employee counseling. The last job is regular maintenance, this job
makes sure that the current HR files and databasesare up to date,
maintaining employee benefitsand employment status and
performing payroll/benefit-related reconciliations.

Activities
A human resources manager has various functions in a company–

Determine needs of the staff.

Determine to use temporary staff or hire employees to fill these

needs.

Determine Do's &Dont's.

Recruit the best employees

Train employees. Upgrade their learning knowledge.
Supervise the work.

Evaluate the work.

Establish 'Discipline work culture' in the organization.

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 Avoid Politics in office.

Apply 'HR Software' for the ease of work in the organization.

Manage employee relations. If there are unions perform
collective bargaining.
Prepare employee records and personal policies.
Manage employee payroll, benefits and compensation.
Ensure equal opportunities.

Deal with discrimination.

Deal with performance issues.

Ensure that human resources practices conform to various

regulations.

Motivateemployees

Mediate disputes

Disseminate information in the organization so as to benefit its

growth.

Managers need to develop their interpersonal skillsto be effective.

Organizations behavior focuses on how to improve factors that
make organizations more effective.

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 History
Human resource management used to be referred to as "personnel
administration." In the 1920s, personnel administration focused
mostly on the aspects of hiring, evaluating, and
compensatingemployees. However, they did not focus on any
employment relationships in an organizational performance level or
on the systematic relationships in any parties. This led to a lacked
unifying paradigm in the field during this period.
According to an HR Magazinearticle, the first personnel
management department started at the National Cash Register Co.
in 1900. The owner, John HenryPatterson, organized a personnel
department to deal with grievances, discharges and safety, and
information for supervisors on new laws and practices after several
strikes and employee lockouts. This action was followed by other
companies; for example, Ford had high turnover ratios of 380
percent in 1913, but just one year later, the line workers of the
company had doubled their daily salaries from $2.50 to $5, even
though $2.50 was a fair wage at that time. This example clearly
shows the importance of effective management which leads to a
greater outcome of employee satisfaction as well as encouraging
employees to work together in order to achieve better business
objectives.

During the 1970s, American business began experiencing challenges

due to the substantial increase in competitive pressures.
Companies experienced globalization, deregulation, and rapid
technological change which caused the major companies to
enhance their strategic planning - a process of predicting future
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changes in a particular environment and focus on ways to promote
organizational effectiveness.This resulted in developing more jobs
and opportunities for people to show their skills which were
directed to effective applying employees toward the fulfillment of
individual, group, and organizational goals. Many years later the
major/minor of human resource management was created at
universities and colleges also known as business administration. It
consists of all the activities that companies used to ensure more
effective utilization of employees.

Now, human resources focus on the people side of management.

There are two real definitions of HRM (Human Resource
Management); one is that it is the process of managing people in
organizations in a structured and thorough manner. This means
that it covers the hiring, firing, pay and perks, and performance
management. This first definition is the modern and traditional
version more like what a personnel manager would have done back
in the 1920s. The second definition is that HRM circles the ideas of
management of people in organizations from a
macromanagementperspective like customers and competitors in a
marketplace. This involves the focus on making the "employment
relationship" fulfilling for both management and employees.

Some research showed that employees can perform at a much

higher rate of productivity when their supervisors and managers
paid more attention to them.The Father of Human relations, Elton
Mayo, was the first person to reinforce the importance of employee
communications, cooperation, and involvement. His studies
concluded that sometimes the human factors are more important
than physical factors, such as quality of lighting and physical
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workplace conditions. As a result, individuals often place value
more in how they feel. For example, a rewarding system in Human
resource management, applied effectively, can further encourage
employees to achieve their best performance.

Origins of the terminology

Pioneering economist John R. Commons mentioned "human
resource" in his 1893 book The Distribution of Wealth but did not
elaborate. The expression was used during the 1910s to 1930s to
promote the idea that human beings are of worth (as in human
dignity); by the early 1950s it meant people as a means to an end
(for employers). Among scholars the first use of the phrase in that
sense was in a
1958 report by economist E. Wight Bakke.

In regard to how individuals respond to the changes in a labor

market,the following must be understood:

Skills and qualifications: as industries move from manual to more

managerial professions so does the need for more highly skilled
staff. 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.

Geographical spread: how far is the job from the individual? The
distance to travel to work should be in line with remuneration,
and the transportation and infrastructure of the area also
influence who applies for a position.

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 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 path (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.
Concerns about the terminology

One major concern about considering people as assets or resources

is that they will be commoditized, objectified and abused. 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 unionized nations such as
Franceand Germany have adopted and encouraged such
approaches. Also, in
2001, the International Labour
Organizationdecided to revisitand revise its 1975
Recommendation 150 on Human Resources Development, resulting
in its "Labour is not a commodity"principle. One view of these
trends is that a strong social consensus on political economy and a
good social welfare systemfacilitate labor mobility and tend to
make the entire economy more productive, as labor can develop
skills and experience in various ways, and move from one

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enterprise to another with little controversy or difficulty in
adapting.

Another important controversy regards labor mobility and 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.

Development
Human resources play an important part of developing and making
a company or organization at the beginning or making a success at
the end, due to the labor

With the advancement in technology, conventional methods are

being replaced bynew-age techniques. Globalization is on the rise
and companies are spreading out all around the world, no longer
restricted by geographical barriers. Economies are rising and falling
and evolving continuously. Adding to the turmoil are stringent laws
and regulations passed, leading to a constant void waiting to be filled
with effective policies that follow all thelegal guidelinesand at the
same time are not compromising on the organization‟s survival. In
the midst of all this, is a function necessary, but minimally looked
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 upon – the human resource function. In a quest to integrate the
operations and strategies of a business across a wide array of
products, services, ideas, and cultures, the role of human resource
managers is constantly evolving. HR managers, who were once
confined to handling basic data work and routine record keeping
amongst employees, are now exposed to an evolving nature of
diverse workforce complexities, legal obligations, andstrategic
managementof the organizational goals.
With that background, first let‟s shed some light on the
conventionalHR functionsand the traditional role of HR managers:

Recruitment
This is the one function which is hand in glove with
HR.Recruitmenthas been one of the major responsibilities of the HR
team. It is the job of HR personnel to plan and devise strategic
campaigns and guidelines for recruiting suitable candidates for a
requiredjob description. They also have to serve as a mediator
between the employer and the candidate and communicate company
policies and terms of the contract to the candidate before he is hired.
This is the first pillar of HR management that every HR manager
starts with. It‟s probably one of the most important aspects of any
HR professional‟s career. The recruitment function comprises 2
main objectives:

• Attract Talent
Attracting talent starts with first planning the requirement
ofmanpower in the organization. Gauging needs of the
organization‟s human resource requirements, and accordingly
putting a plan of action to fulfill those needs with the placement of
“talented professionals”. That‟s followed by creating an “employer
brand” which will be representative of the organization‟s good
image and portray an attractive impression in the minds of potential
candidates.

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 The employer branding aspects have become very important owing
to the new-age media and awareness of employee rights. Putting the
best foot forward is no longer enough, it needs to be followed
through with honest actions in favor of the employees. And finally…
the HR manager needs to create detailedrecruitment strategiesto
carry out the hiring process.

• Hire Resources
This is where the recruitment strategies are put into action. In the
current age, there‟s a ton of competition vying for the attention of
the best talent in the market. The HR manager needs to run all
possible engines to go out there in the market and find that one
suitable gem.
This part of the role includes things like finding relevant locations to
look in, reach out to maximum potential candidates using mass
communication mediums, aggregate all responses, filter out
irrelevant applications, judge suitable incumbents and coordinate
internally to get them interviewed. Once the finalists are decided, the
HR manager turns into a „negotiator‟ of sorts, working as a mediator
between the company and the candidate to find that win-win ground.

Training
Not all is done once you‟ve recruited a suitable candidate for the job.
Many organizations perform tasks a tad differently.Training
employeesis important to help the new hires get acquainted with the
organization‟s work pattern. It is imperative for the HR department
to incorporate a training program for every new employee based on
the skill set required for their job. It will further also contribute
toemployee motivationand retention.
For the training to be effective, every new employee can be subjected to
an on-the-job training for the initial days to get him in sync with the
work guidelines of the organization. This training will not only be of
assistance to the employee but also give the HR team an insight into the
employee‟s workmanship. On completion of the training, HR plays a
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significant role in assessing the results of the training program and
grading employees on the same.
1) Professional Development
Closely related to training, developing your employees
professionally is an added bonus for the employee as well as the
organization. Enrolling the employee to attend conferences, trade
shows, seminars etc that may be in his personal interest will make
the employee feel cared-for and a vital part of the organization, thus
increasingemployee engagement. It will be beneficial to the
organization by way of the employee‟s added skill set.
In short, it is a win-win. It is the HR head‟s job to get to know the
employee‟s hobbies and areas of interest and lookout for
opportunities that will help them build onto those hobbies. For
example, if an employee wants to master the technique of SEO, HR
could enroll him for seminars and conferences that talk on the same.
However, this should not turn out to be a selfish attempt that benefits
the organization only.

2) Appraisals
Since HRM is a body meant for the employees, carrying out timely
performance appraisals is a given. Performance appraisals help in
employee motivation by encouraging them to work to their fullest
potential. It also enables to give them feedback on their work and
suggest necessary measures for the same. This helps employees to
have a clear view of what is expected of them and what they are
delivering. They can thus, work better towards improving their
performance and achieving targets.
The role of HR (especially the HR manager) in this would be to have
a policy of generating timely appraisal reports and a review of the
same by the authorities. The HR team should communicate
individually with employees and give clear feedback or suggestion
on their performance. A system to reward employees excelling at
their work would help in employee motivation and thus garner a
higher degree of productivity and employee engagement.
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3) Maintaining Work Culture
It is the duty of the HR to maintain a healthy, safe, and fun work
environment to ensure a level of comfort amongst the employees and
eliminate any stressful or awkward atmosphere that may hinder the
performance of the staff. It is vital to have an efficient work
atmosphere because of an individual‟s performance largely depends
on the surrounding he‟s working in.
It would be great to have an open-door policy up to some extent
wherein employees can freely communicate and voice their opinions
to be given consideration. The HR department‟s role is to be a
friendly body with an open attitude. By communicating and treating
every employee as equal, HR can build a rapport with the
employees. This goes a long way in increasing employee
engagement and gives a higher job satisfaction.

4) Resolving Conflicts
Where different people have different views,conflicts are almost
inevitable. Whether the dispute is amongst two or more employees
or between the employee and the management, an HR manager has
the right to intervene and help map out a solution.
The HR should be available at the disposal of the conflicting parties
and hear out their issues without being judgmental. Prior
investigations are a must before passing any judgment. The HR head
is not expected to discriminate or play favorites in this matter and
always deliver an unbiased and practical decision. A reimbursement
in case of any loss caused and strict actions against the defaulter
should be practiced for effective conflict resolution by the HRM.
5) Employee Relations
Human Resourcesis called so because its major responsibility is
dealing with the human part of the organization and this involves
having great interpersonal skills. An HR manager who sits in the
office all day will not turn out to be good at building connections
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with the employees and thus fail to serve the purpose of being an HR
head. As an HR person, employees should feel comfortable coming
up to you with their problems and for that, it is important that the HR
team builds a good public image within the organization.
The HR team has to be proactive and know their employees. An HR
personnel‟s job is not a desk job altogether. The HR head‟s role is to
establish the trust and confidence of the employees and not have a
“don‟t mess with me” demeanor. He should be looked upon as both
an HR expert and an employee advocate.

6) Rewards and Incentives

Rewarding the employees for a work well done imparts motivation
and at the same time induces a desire to excel at tasks in hope of
obtaining rewards. It serves as bait for inculcating a healthy
competitive environment amongst employees to achieve targets and
meet deadlines. A reward need not be materialistic always. It could
just be a word of appreciation in front of all coworkers for a menial
task done with complete honesty.
However, with globalization and evolving trends, compensations like
holiday packages, pay incentives, bonuses, and promotions are
taking a backseat. If as an HR manager you are wanting to reward
your employees efficiently, it‟s time you adopt new ways of
awarding benefits such as flexible work times, paternity leave,
extended holidays, telecommuting, etc. These non-traditional
rewards will prove fruitful not only in engaging the existing
workforce but also as an added benefit to attract new talent to your
organization.
7) Legal Knowledge
This may seem the least glamorous of all, but is an important aspect
of the HRM. An HR manager should always be in compliance with
the law. Whether it‟s drafting new policies or writing terms of a
contract, it is the HR department‟s job to build guidelines keeping
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the laws in mind. This ensures an organization‟s continued growth
and existence. While drafting policies, the HR should always ensure
to be at an upper hand legally and keep the organization‟s practices
in tune with the labor laws, tax laws, permissible working hours,
minimum wages, and a no-discrimination policy.

8) Organization
An HR head is responsible for organizing all functions of the
organization. To start with, it includes employee on-boarding, i.e.
welcoming new employees. It is a must for every HR head to carry
out induction for every new hire and give them an orientation
regarding the company policies and rules.
The HR personnel should also introduce the new employees to their
colleagues and assign them a mentor. It also involves listing out job
expectations and defining roles and responsibilities, thus getting the
new employees in tune with the working of the organization. The
HR personnel is also responsible for organizing and storing all
employee data efficiently and keeping it secure.

9) Management
Management is the most important job of an HR manager. It is what
defines a good HR manager. Management extends right from
managing employees to managing the employers and the whole HR
department as well.
The role of an HR manager is to manage, create, implement and
supervise policies/regulations, which are mandatory for every
employee and also have knowledge of its appropriate functioning.
Monitoring attendance and tracking leaves forms a major chunk of
the HR management function. There should be a proper management
of the clock-in/out time to avoid late arrivals and track overtimes and
half-days. As mentioned before, the HR as a department should also
be well managed by the HR head. If the HR department itself is in a
state of chaos, it cannot serve as a peacemaker for the other
departments.
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10) Payroll Management
Once all the attendance monitoring, leave tracking, clock in/outs etc
is tracked and monitored, it‟s time for the most important aspect–
calculating the payroll. Efficient calculation of salaries, wage-cuts,
reimbursements, and generation of pay slips amounts to the role of
HR managers inpayroll management.
The HR manager should maintain transparency and provide the
employees with information as and when asked. The HR should
ensure not only accurate calculations of salaries but also timely
transfer of the same. They also have an obligation towards exiting
employees in settlement of dues and compensations.

Human Resource Manager Job Description and

Responsibilities

Job brief
HR Manager‟s responsibilities include overseeing the recruitment
process, designing company policies and setting objectives for the HR
team. You will also help shape our employer brand strategy. To be
successful in this role, you should be familiar with HR technology,
including payroll systems and Applicant Tracking Systems.
Ultimately, you will ensure our company attracts, hires, develops
and retains qualified employees.

Responsibilities
• Set objectives for the HR team and track progress
• Design and implement company policies that promote a healthy
work environment
• Develop compensation and benefits plans
• Support and suggest improvements to the entire recruitment
process
• Host in-house recruitment events

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• Discuss employees‟ career development paths with managers
• Monitor HR metrics (e.g. turnover rates and cost-per-hire)
• Review departmental budgets
• Organize learning and development programs
• Ensure HR staff addresses employees‟ requests and grievances in a
timely manner
• Maintain HR procedures that comply with labor regulations

Requirements
• Proven work experience as an HR Manager or similar role
• Hands-on experience with Human ResourcesManagement
Software(including payroll systems and ATS)
• Solid understanding of labor legislation
• Excellent communication abilities
• Leadership skills
• Ability to foster healthy employee relations
• BSc degree in Human Resources Management or Organizational
Psychology
• MSc degree inHR or relevant certificationis a plus

Conclusion
According to research, the human part of your organization tallies up
to 80 percent of your organization‟s assets; reason enough for you to
QC your human resource function. To build a team of professionals,
it is of utmost importance to have an equally professional
andwellmanaged HR department. A slipshod HR function will cost
your organization‟s future and compromise on its achievements. To
summarize, the role of an HR manager is to maintain law and order
in the organization and amongst the employees, which further
extends to attracting, engaging and retaining top talent.

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 OBJECTIVE
1. To assess manpower requirements and ensure placement of the right man on the right job.
2. To develop knowledge, skills and attitude of employees in relation to their present and future
role.
3. To provide, create, utilise and motivate the employees to accomplish organisational goals.
4. To maintain excellent working relationships among all the employees in the organisation so
that they feel a sense of involvement, commitment and loyalty towards the organisation. It is
necessary to finalise individual job responsibilities for employees to avoid confusion and too
much overlapping of work.
5. To develop better interpersonal and employer-employee relationship in the organisation.
6. To maintain high morale, encourage value system and create environment of trust among
employees.
7. To create a sense of belongingness and team spirit among employees and encourage
suggestions from them.
8. Continuous renewal of individual capabilities to keep pace with technological changes and to
avoid manpower obsolescence.
9. To identify and satisfy the needs of the employees by offering various financial and non-
financial incentives in addition to the welfare facilities.
10. To integrate employee-management interests and maintain good industrial relations to achieve
individual and organisational objectives.

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 Literature review

Human Resource Management (HRM) is an approach to managing the human resources of

organisations, which recognizes the importance of an organization’s human resources for contributing
to its goals and objectives and the utilization of several functions and activities to ensure that they are
used effectively and fairly for the benefit of the organisation, the employees and society. The notion
of human resource management indicates that people management can be a key resource to sustain
competitive advantage. This belief is based upon four perspectives:
People can make difference as human capability and commitment distinguish successful organisations
and people need to be treated as assets and not costs;
Managing human resource in fact is an important ‘strategic’ matter,

Line management showed engage in managing human resources; and

The key levers must be in internally integrated with each other and externally integrated with
business strategy.
Human Resource Management involves acquiring, developing and utilizing people in business. It is the
process of acquiring, training, developing, motivating and appraising employees to the activities
required for achieving the goals and objectives of the organisation in such a way that employees are
satisfied and efficient. This chapter takes the review of traditional functions of HRM and covers in
detail the strategic role of HR, and SHRM.

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FUNCTIONS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

The primary functions of Human Resource Management are human resource planning, recruitment and
selection, training and management development, performance appraisal, compensation and providing
employee benefits and satisfaction.

• Human Resource Planning: starts with job analysis and forecasting the demand and supply of people.
Job analysis is the procedure for collecting and recording information about jobs. Forecasting of internal
supply, external supply, current available employees, future plans, economic environment, etc. are
considered in demand and supply analysis.

• Recruitment and selection: of human resource may be internal and external. Internal recruitment
adheres to current employees for higher jobs in the organisation. External recruitment follows
advertising, campus interview, assessment etc.

• Socialization: When new employees enter an organization they feel out of place because of the new
surroundings, new boss and new co-workers. Hence, it is the responsibility of the management to orient
the employees and to make the process of socialization smooth. This will ensure that the new employees
adapt to the organizational culture as soon as possible.

The process of adaptation is commonly termed induction or socialization.

The socialization process is not confined to employees entering new organizations. It is also important for
employees moving within the organization as a result of lateral transfers and promotions. Orientation is only a
small part of the overall socialization program. The process of orientation includes introduction of the new
employee to the organization and to his work unit and supplementing the information given to him during
recruitment and selection.

• Performance Appraisal: is a systematic and formal process by means of which the job relevant
strengths and weaknesses of employees are identified, observed, measured, recorded and developed.
Appraisal is important in the sense that unless it is proper, job performance cannot be properly
diagnosed.

To develop human resources, training and development facilitates employees to accomplish their present jobs
effectively and to get them prepared for future assignment. For assessing the training needs, performance
appraisals are followed.

Based on performance appraisal, compensation adjustments are made. This helps in deciding compensation,
enhances recommendation for promotion and other feedback.

28
HUMAN RESOURCES AS A STRATEGIC PARTNER – THE PRESENT
ANDTHE FUTURE
The general scenario in most companies is as follows. HR management teams have well-developed visions of
their departments, their roles and responsibilities. But, the senior management is generally skeptical of HR’s
role in the firm’s success. They generally consider HR to just be another necessary appendage but not
something that can contribute to the success of the company. Even if the senior management does believe that
human capital is their most prized possession and asset, they cannot understand how the HR team can make
this belief come alive.

There is one reason for all of this. Human capital is an intangible asset and HR’s influence on firm performance
is difficult to measure. The standard elements of a firm’s resource architecture that are measured include total
compensation, employee turnover, cost per hire, percentage of employees that undergo performance
appraisals and percentage employee satisfaction. The question to be asked is: Are these the measures crucial
to implementing the firm’s strategy? This is clearly not the case. Interesting attributes would include a
committed workforce, competency development programs, etc. But, it is very difficult to imagine measures for
these quantities. Hence, in the current state of HR there is a clear rift between what is measured and what
needs to be measured.

The role of HR is no more just administrative. It has a much broader, connected and strategic role to play. But,
these statements must be substantiated. The reasons why HR must be considered as a strategic asset must be
highlighted. A strategic asset is something difficult to trade or imitate. They are normally a set of scarce, special
or even exotic resources and capabilities that bestow a firm its competitive advantage. An unlikely paradox is
that the very intangibility of human capital that makes it so difficult to measure and evaluate, also proves to be
the one quality that makes it a strategic asset. Consider the difference between being able to align employee
efforts with the company’s strategic goals and instead having innovative policies of performance appraisals.
The latter is a policy. It is visible to competitors and can be easily copied. The former on the other hand is a
strategic move. It is not easy to imitate since it is a very circumstantial effort, which depends on the specific
firm, its goals and its people. This proves to be a strategic asset i.e. something that competitors cannot see but
that can be utilised to gain a competitive advantage. It is thus important to align the HR strategy to the overall
business strategy signifying a top-down approach as opposed to a bottomup approach where each division
such as marketing, HR etc. performs its standard individual roles without a clear outlook towards the firm’s
strategy.Many firms have realized this and have made ethe firm’s performance. However, most of

these approaches seems to focus on the indivisual, as it is believed that if one can achieve an improvement in
indivisualemployee performance, it would automatically enhance the performance of the organization. The
point is missed is the factthat organizational units, be it indivisuals or team, do not function in isolation. The
stress is on streamlining and cooperatively working towards a common goal. The indivisualistic approach once
again does not show directly , in measurable values, the competitive advantage that can be gained. Financial
policies and numbers and plans on the other hand do. HR is neglected in the process.

29
STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (SHRM)

Strategic human resource management or SHRM is a branch of HRM. It emerged from the discipline of human
resource management and is a fairly new field. Strategic HRM is defined as “the linking of human resources
with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop organizational
culture that foster innovation and competitive advantage.” SHRM in an organization means “to accept and
involve the functions of HR as a strategic partner in formulating and implementing the company’s strategies
through human resource activities which may involve recruiting, selecting, rewarding and training company
personnel. In spite of the similarity in names, HRM and SHRM are two different practices; SHRM is basically a
part of the complete HRM process. Besides that SHRM focuses more on long-term objectives rather than tNhe
in-house objectives with employees dealt by HRM. In the late 1980’s writers started stating strong opinions for
a much more strategic approach to managing people than was the standard practice of that time. They
clamored for the change of traditional management practices of industrial relations and people to the modern
more improved ones.

The center point of SHRM is to address and solve problems that effect management programs centering on
people in the long run and more than often globally. We can say that the main goal or objective of SHRM is to
increase productivitynot only in the employees but in the business overall, it achieves this by focusing on
business problems and obstacles outside of the human resources range. SHRM identifies important human
resource areas where strategies can be implied for the improvement of productivity and employee motivation.

To achieve good results communication between human resource and top management of the organization is
of utmost importance as cooperation is not possible without active participation.

KEY FEATURES OF HR ROLE

The key features of strategic human resource management are given below:

Some organizing strategies or schemes link individual human resource interventions so that they are ‘mutually
supportive’

• A great amount of responsibility is transferred down the line for the management of HR.

• There is a precise link between overall organization strategy, organization environment, HR policies
and practices.

30
DEVELOPMENT
In recent times HRM professionals have been facing challenges with employee participation, performance
management, employee reward systems, high commitment work systems and human resource flow because of
globalization. Traditional models and techniques have no place in today’s businessworld; also local companies
which go global cannot use the same tactics in the global business world. Top managements and HR
professionals that are involved in strategic human resource management face a wide range of issues which
include some of the following:

• Introduction of new concepts of general management

• Globalization of market integration

• Increased competition, which may not necessarily be local

• Resultant corporate climates

• Constantly changing ownership

• Cross-cultural issues

• Economic gravity- shifting from developed to developing countries

• Rapid change in technology

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is crucial large as well as small companies. In small companies
this process may be as simple as the manager or the owner himself taking time to observe employees, along
with assisting, assessing and giving regular reviews. However larger companies will require a whole department
to be in charge of such activities for the development of employees. The quality of staff members can be
improved by meeting their needs in such a way that it may benefit the company. Investing in employees and
providing them with tools they need to thrive and prosper in the company proves to be a good investment in
the long run for the company.

Purcell and Boxall (2003) argue that, “Strategic HRM is concerned with explaining how human resource
management influences the performance of an organization.” They also point out that, “Strategy is not the same
as strategic plans.” Strategic planning defines how things need to be done and it usually takes place in larger
organizations in the form of a formal process. However, it is also true that strategy exists in all organizations
regardless of their size; though it may not necessarily be written down or expressed. SHRM defines how the
organization behaves and tries to cope with its business environment. Because strategic human resource
management is based on human resource management principles it always incorporates the concepts of
strategy; which proves that human resource management is actually a coherent approach to the management
of people.

BUSINESS STRATEGY

All good business strategies, at least the ones which have a chance of succession are formed by “the people
factor”. One of the main factors behind reporting human capital data and evaluation is the need for proper
information; to be fed into the business strategy formation procedure. People have become the biggest asset
in the majority of organizations. This requires for the skills, abilities and knowledge to be organized and
implemented for maximum effect so that the organization may create value. The intangible value of
organizations lies in the people that it employs. This value is being recognized by investors and accountants and
31
in now generally accepted that it has signs of sustained performance in the long run. In this case it would be
too simplistic to suggest that strategic human resource management is part of business strategy. In this case,
the two must be mutually informative in the way people are motivated, managed, deployed and the availability
of knowledge and skill should shape business strategy. It has now a regular occurrence to find strategic human
resource managementinextricably linked with and also incorporated into business strategies.

STRATEGIC ROLE OF HR
Organizational human resources have grown as a strategic emphasis because effective use of people in the
organization can provide a competitive advantage. The strategic role of HR management emphasizes that the
people in an organization are valuable resources representing significant organizational investments. For HR to
play a strategic role it must focus on the longer-term implications of HR issues.
Traditional HRM Function EmergingHuman Resource Practice
Administrative Focus Strategic focus
Reactive Proactive
Separate and isolated from company fuction Key part of organisational mission
Production focus Service focus
Functional organisation with verticle- Process based organisation
Line of authority

People as expense People as Investment

As people become the key competitive advantage in any industry especially banking, the human resource (HR)
development function will and should play a more strategic role. It should go beyond its mere administrative
support function to operations and front line departments. Whether or not company views HR strategically
may decide whether market share, sales, or profits would increase or not. An effective HR strategy becomes
equally decisive as the company’s marketing strategy.

Technology too is changing HR roles. As industries, specifically the banking industry, and the way they compete
become knowledge-based, HR performance indicators will shift from manpower and man-hours supplied to
brainpower and brain hours delivered. The key result areas in people management will also shift from
production and quantity to productivity and quality. Capability, measured in employee ideas generated and
implemented, and productivity gained, will be more important than capacity, measured in man-hours available,
man-hours lost, absenteeism, etc.

The current HR function is very much configured like the company’s purchasing department. People, like parts
and supplies, are requisitioned by user departments based on depletion and growth rates of their operations.
Both resources are screened for quality control and cost or budget constraints. The only slight difference is that
unlike purchased parts, people are trained or prepared before they are sent to the requisitioning parties which
may train them further before actual deployment or usage. HR is also involved in the replacement, termination
and retirement process of unusable people assets, much like the handling of depreciated equipment. In short,
most HR systems exist only for replenishment and maintenance of a resource called people.

Strategic HR does not abandon these administrative responsibilities. Otherwise, no other department in the
company will carry out these “operations-sustaining” activities. But its main task is to participate in corporate
strategy rather than support administration. Strategic HR is more proactive rather than reactive in its
relationships with the other functional areas. It is more concerned about what its internal customers need in
the future to compete globally. Strategic HR managers do not wait for instructions, requisition or complaints. It
does its homework, does research on the future, and offers proactive solutions and strategic advice.

32
Strategic HR is output driven rather than input oriented. For instance, training results are measured not in
terms of training hours or number of trainees per year, but in terms of improvement in the trainee
performance attributable to the training. Performance improvement can be in terms of productivity, efficiency,
quality of work (defects), customer satisfaction or conversely, number of customer complaints received.
Strategic HR personnel are concerned with these results as much as the operating departments it serves. In
spite of the fact that output results are more difficult to measure than input deployed, strategic HR aims to find
ways and means to directly and indirectly measure these more accurate metrics of its success and
effectiveness.

Strategic HR is mainly pre-occupied in moulding the employees of the future today. For organizations to survive
and excel in the future, its needs to develop or acquire employees who are multi-skilled, crossfunctional,
empowered, team players. In addition, they have to have high emotional intelligence (EQ) and capable of
thinking “out of the box” about the future. They should be capable not only of improving their work, but
reengineering or reinventing it if necessary. Front liners who are engaged in millions of “moments of truth”
meeting customers, must have superior flexibility, resourcefulness, and excellent memories especially if their
task requires greeting customers by their first or last names. Strategic HR keeps these employee attributes as
its goals while conducting its basic processes of recruitment, training, job rotation, career pathing, and
performance appraisal.

For this reason, conventional performance appraisal has become a highly politicized, controversial, wasteful
exercise that creates more disharmony than teamwork in the organization. Strategic HR appraises people on
the more relevant output performance like quality, productivity, internal and external customer satisfaction. If
negative criteria are used, these become defects or rework, wastes, and internal and external customer
complaints or returns. In banking, performance appraisal may include lost calls, closed accounts, queuing
time, and clerical errors, ATM downtime, improvement projects. Strategic HR aims to change employee
behaviour and attitude by directly connecting his appraisal (and eventually his pay) to what actually matters to
corporate performance and customer satisfaction. It puts less weight on nebulous criteria like teamwork,
attendance, boss satisfaction, and neatness.

HR is no longer a backroom or support function. It is in the forefront of corporate strategy, much like sales and
marketing. It provides and determines competitiveness to an ever increasing degree. All other things being
equal – financial, physical, and product assets – people will make the difference between two competing
companies. Strategic HR can make this difference happen.

HUMAN RESOURCES AND ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE

Human resources create competitive advantage for organisations; therefore organisational performance
depends to a large extent on the performance of employees. It is imperative for organisations to evaluate the
performance of employees on continuous basis in order to a) ascertain the gap between current level of
performance and desired level of performance and b) to improve the performance of employees to reduce the
gap. Performance management and appraisal is an instrument which serves both the goals. Hence,
performance management and appraisal is a crucial tool in the hands of the management to foster the
competitiveness of their organisations.

There are number of approaches to link human resources to organisational performance, seeking to explain
how best to manage employees for attaining optimal organisational performance. These are as follow:

1. Contingency or ‘fit’ approach: Under this approach, it is believed that there should be a vertical

33
 linkage between HR policies and practices on one hand and organisational strategy on other hand.
It follow that HR strategy should emanate from organisational strategy so that efforts,
commitment and performance of employees is governed by organisational strategy.

2. Universal or best practice approach: Under this approach, it is believed that good HR practices
tend to increase the motivation, commitment and performance of employees. Best practices such
as employment security, selective hiring, self – management teams, high compensation contingent
on performance, training, reduction of status differentials, and sharing information ensures
employees satisfaction and they tend to put their hearts and souls in achieving goals in achieving
the goals and objectives of the organisation. It follows the best HR practices to improve employee
performance and productivity.

3. Configurational approach: Configurational approach emphasises the patterns or configurations

of HR practices that predict superior performance when used in association with each other, or
the correct strategy, or both. In order to be effective, an organisation should develop an HR
system that achieves both horizontal and vertical fit. Thus, this approach focuses upon use of
proven best HR practices, keeping a delicate balance between choice and mix of these practices in
tandem with organisational requirements and environmental demands.

MANAGING PERFORMANCE FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANISATIONAL OUTCOMES

In order to achieve the goals and objectives of the organisation, it is important to integrate employee
outputs/outcomes with organisation strategy. There are various approaches for integrating employee efforts
and outcomes with organisational strategy such as fit, best practices and Configurational approaches.
Depending upon the context and competitive priority, an organisation may chose anyone or combination of
these approaches. Once these approaches have been formulated and implemented, it is crucial for the
management to ascertain the outcome of the integration efforts. In order to do so, an instrument or technique
is required which is both valid to measure the organisational outcome. One such technique is ‘performance
management’. It is tool to extent the organisation strategy to achieve the strategic objectives of the
organisation. It helps to identify the competencies required for optimum performance of human resources
activities, develop suitable behavioural model, adjust it with various organisational and external forces and
plan, assess and quantify the desired human resource outcomes for organisational performance.

Thus, performance management serves as a measure of organisational performance by assessing employee’s

performance and contributions. Thus, the evaluation provides the current level of performance vis-a-vis
organisational performance. This helps an organisation carry out gap analysis between its current performance
levels with respect to the desired level. The gap becomes the basis of initiating measures for developing
employee performance so that organisational performance and consequently outcomes can be improved.

MEASURING HR ALIGNMENT
In any corporate sector it can be emphasised that for human resources legitimately to be productive, requires
two dimensions of HR alignment – HR Architecture and ‘Firms strategy implementation process’ to be aligned
to become a strategic asset.

34
These dimensions provide the foundations and focus for developing actual alignment metrics. The strategic HR
system is designated not form the bottom –up (i.e best practices) but from the ‘top – down’.

Figure 2.1: HR Alignment (Source: From Becker et. al., 2001)

Figure depicts a desirable / suggested HR alignment where in the horizontal line (axis) depicts a dimension of
alignment within the HR Architecture that influences the overall development of human resources as a
strategic asset. “HR Role” designates the degree to which HR professionals in an organisation perceive
themselves as strategic partners and the extent to which managers outside HR share the same view (Becker et.
al., 2001).

The first is the alignment between HR system that produces key HR deliverables and the requirements of the
firm’s strategy implementation system. Second, is the alignment between the role expectations for the HR
function and the individual competencies required to put that role into action.

35
 Figure: Internal and External Alignment measures on Continuum between
HR system and Strategy Map
Together, both types of alignment produce a strategically focussed
workforce; which drives superior strategy execution and, ultimately,
shareholder value.

36
 COMPANY
PROFILE

37
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39
40
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43
44
45
46
47
48
49
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 Research methodology

A sample of HR professionals was randomly selected from SHRM’s membership

database, which included approximately 210,000 individual members at the time the
survey was conducted. Only members who had not participated in an SHRM survey or
poll in the previous six months were included in the sampling frame. Members who
were students, consultants, academics, located inter-nationally or had no e-mail
address on file were also excluded from the sampling frame.
Analysis:

Throughout this report, analyses by respon-dents’ organization staff size, HR

department size and the existence of a formal strategic plan are presented and
discussed, when applicable. For the purposes of this study, strategic HR is defined as
the process of taking a long-term approach to human resource management through
the development and implementation of HR programs that address and solve business
problems and directly contribute to major long-term business objectives. Operational
HR is defined as focusing on the day-to-day approach to human resource management
through policies, practices and processes. Throughout this report, the terms “HR
function” and “HR department” both refer to the HR department within an
organization.
Differences: Conventional statistical methods were used to determine if observed
differences were statistically significant (i.e., there is a small likelihood that the
differences occurred by chance). Therefore, in most cases, only results that were
significant are included, unless otherwise noted.Generalization of results: As with any
research, readers should exercise caution when generalizing results and take individual
circumstances and experiences into consideration when making decisions based on
these data. While SHRM is confident in its research, it is prudent to understand that the
results presented in this survey report are only truly representative of the sample of HR
professionals responding to the survey.Number of respondents: The number of
respondents (indicated by “n” in figures and tables) varies from table to table and figure
to figure because somerespondents did not answer all of the questions. Individuals may
not have responded to a question onthe survey because the question or some of its
parts were not applicable or because the requested data were unavailable. This also

56
accounts for the varying number of responses within each table or figure.Confidence
level and margin of error: A confidence level and margin of error give readers some
measure of how much they can rely on survey responses to represent all of SHRM
members. Given the level of response to the survey, SHRM is 95% confident that
responses given by all responding HR professionals can be generalized to all SHRM
members with a margin of error of approximately 5%. For example49% of HR
professionals reported that their organization had in place an established method to
measure the effectiveness of HR strategy through metrics and analytics. With a 5%
margin of error, the reader can be 95% certain that between 44% and 54% of SHRM
members would report that their organization presently measures the effectiveness of
HR strategy through metrics and analytics. It is important to know that as the sample
size decreases, the margin of error increases, and therefore the margin of error for each
individual question will vary depending on the number of responses to that particular
question.

57
 DATA
ANALYSIS

58
to the complexity of these organizations, which brings

Survey Results about the need to have a strategic business plan.

Organizational Strategic Business Plan in
F
i
Not sure
g 7%

u
No
r
18%
e

P
l
a
c
e Yes
(n = 426) 75%

Source: SHRM 2006 Strategic HR Management Survey Report

n this very competitive global marketplace, it

I
is difficult for an organization to reach its full potential without a well-conceived strategic business plan that
focuses on the organization’s short- and long-term
visions, goals and objectives. An organization is at a competitive disadvantage if it is weighed down
by shortterm matters, because without a longterm focus as the source for a vision, an organization will likely
be inundated with immediate concerns and not sufficiently prepared to anticipate opportunities. Overall, 75% of
HR professionals indicated that their organization had a strategic business plan in place. These data are depicted
in Figure 1. As shown in Tables 1 and 2, large organizations (500 or more employees) and HR departments with
10 or more employees were more likely to have a strategic business plan. This may be due
Table 1 Organizational Strategic Business Plan in Place (by Organization Staff Size)
 Overall Small Medium Large Differences Based on
(n = 412) (1-99 Employees) (100-499 Employees) (500 or More Employees) Organization Size

75% 66% 74% 84% Large > small

Note: Sample size is based on the actual number of respondents by organization staff size who answered this question using th e response options provided.

Source: SHRM 2006 Strategic HR Management Survey Report

Table 2 Organizational Strategic Business Pl an in Place (by HR Department Size)

Overall Differences Based on HR

(n = 416) 1-4 Employees 5-9 Employees 10 or More Employees Department Size

75% 69% 80% 92% 10 or more employees >

1-4 employees

Note: Sample size is based on the actual number of respondents by HR department staff size who answered this question using the response options provided.

Source: SHRM 2006 Strategic HR Management Survey Report To ensure success, an effective strategic business
plan should clearly communicate and articulate what
the organization wants to achieve. This plan should
be presented to every individual who will be
affected

Every business unit or department within an

organization should have a plan that is
supported by and associated with the overall
in the organization. Such communication
strategy of its organization. As illustrated in
makes the entire organization aware of the
Figure 3, overall 56% of HR professionals
plan’s rationale and applications and, as a
indicated their HR department had a
result, helps provide the best opportunity for
strategic plan in place. Once again, large
a business plan to succeed. Among
organizations (500 or more employees) and
respondents from organizations that had a
HR departments with 10 or more employees
strategic business plan in place, 68%
were more likely to have a strategic plan.
indicated that the plan had been articulated
These data are depicted in Tables 3 and 4.
and communicated throughout the
organization. These data are depicted in Figure 2 Strategic Business Plan Articulated and
Figure 2.
 Communicated Throughout the Organization

initiatives is through the alignment with the overall organization had a strategic business plan in place,
strategic business plan of an organization. Among the vast majority (96%) indicated that HR’s
respondents who reported that their HR strategic plan was aligned with the delivery of the

Note: Only employees who indicated that their organizations

had a strategic business plan in place were asked this
question.
Source: SHRM 2006 Strategic HR
Management Survey Report
(n = 319)
Not sure
8%

No
24%

Yes
68%
 o
r
g
a
n
i
z
a
t
i
on’s strategic plan (see Figure 4). HR should
the majority of HR respondents (60%) perceived
be an active participant in the development
that employees viewed the role of HR
and implementation of business strategy; if
professionals as a combination of strategic and
HR is not aligned with business initiatives,
operational functions, 59% felt that employees
then it is almost impossible for HR to
perceived their HR department as mainly having
strategically contribute and enhance
an operational role.
business-related initiatives.

administrative support to acting as a dynamic

strategic provider, in some organizations HR is still
fighting to gain recognition from its colleagues.
Tables 5 and 6 examine the gap between how HR
professionals view their roles and the role of their
departments compared with how they feel
employees perceive these roles. Overall, the
majority of HR professionals indicated that they
considered their own role (73%) and the role of
their HR department (75%) as a combination of
strategic and operational functions. However,
while
HR professionals were provided with 21 (85%), diversity practices (83%), employee
organizational functions and were asked to communication programs (80%), performance
indicate to what extent they thought HR management (80%) and retention programs
departments could contribute to each function in (76%). These findings are not surprising since
general. As illustrated in Figure 5, 89% of HR functions very commonly believed to be
respondents indicated that HR could contribute to associated with or driven by HR were the most

a large extent through employee relations and frequently noted, while functions not perceived
recruitment and selection processes. This was as being closely related to HR, such as analysis of
followed by benefits management (86%), trends and forecasting (57%) and budgeting
compensation management/reward programs (37%), were less frequently cited.
Tables 7a, 7b and 7c examine the 21 organizational perspective of strategic contribution to each function by
functions that were rated in Figure 5, but from the the HR department at the respondents’ organization.
Overall, 70% of HR professionals indicated their HR virtually no differences between the rankings of how HR
department strategically contributed to a large extent professionals believed HR in general could contribute to
through employee relations. This was followed by these functions and the extent to which

and compensation management/reward programs

(48%). These data are depicted in Table 7a. There were

recruitment and selection processes (68%), benefits management

(65%), performance management (54%) their individual HR
department strategically extent within these functions. HR
departments with contributed to these functions. a strategic
plan in place were very likely to have
these plans aligned with
Tables 7b and 7c examine the differences between
respondents from departments with a strategic plan
in place and those without such plan. HR

professionals from departments with the existing

strategic plan were significantly more likely than
those without a strategic plan to report that their HR
department strategically contributed to a large
the overall strategic business plans and were usually more likely than those without a strategic plan to rate larger-
sized organizations. their function as being involved to a larger ex-
There are many ways that an HR department can contribute
to its organization. HR professionals were provided with a
series of statements and were asked to

rate the extent to which their HR department was involved

with various aspects and functions in their organization. As
illustrated in Table 8b, HR professionals from departments
with a strategic plan in place were tent on all 12 subjects
that were addressed. The aspects that were rated the
highest by HR professionals from departments with and
without a strategic plan in place included the following: 1)
HR works closely with senior management in
implementing organizational strategies (68% for HR
departments with a strategic plan in place and 38% for HR
departments without a strategic plan in place); 2) HR
works closely with senior management

in creating organizational strategies (56% and 27%);

3) HR has achieved a level of respect that is
comparable with other departments in the
organization (49% and 26%); 4) senior management
realizes that investments in HR make financial sense
(47% and 27%); and 5) HR implements strategies
and processes to drive business results (46% and
19%). These findings reveal that having an HR
department with a strategic plan in place is
important to the level of contribution that HR can
offer.
 Metrics and Analytics Many organizations have a wealth of internal
Organizations should closely examine a vast array of
information before making any recommendation or and evalu-
decision. Metrics and analytics are critical An Established Method to Measure the
measurement tools that help uncover opportunities, Figure 6 Effectiveness of HR Strategy Through
identify problems, measure progress and help Metrics and Analytics
recognize differences between performance and (n = 423)
expectation. These measures should be linked closely Not sure
to the organization’s strategic business plans and 3%

goals. As illustrated in Figure 6, 49% of HR

professionals reported their organization had in place
an established method to measure the effectiveness No
of HR strategy through metrics and analytics. 48%

As shown in Tables 9 through 11, large organizations

(500 or more employees), HR departments with 10 or
more employees and organizations with an existing
strategic plan within the HR department were more
likely to have an established method of measurement
in place.

Yes
49%

data available that could be used to measure

 Source: SHRM 2006 Strategic HR Management Survey Report
traditional functions such as corporate social
ate a wide range of traditional and nontraditional responsibility programs (17%) and employment

br
Table 9 An
Organization Staff Size) d Established
Overall
str Method to
Differences Based on Measure the
(n = 412)
Small Medium Large Effectiveness
Organization Size at of HR Strategy
49% (1-99 Employees) (100-499 Employees) (500 or More Employees)
eg Through
31% 48% 66% Large > small
Metrics and
Analytics (by an

Note: Sample size is based on the actual number of respondents by organization staff size who answered this question using the response options provided. Source: SHRM e
2006 Strategic HR Management Survey Report

m
pl
oy

m
Table 10An Established Method to Measure the Effectiveness of HR Strategy Through Metrics and Analytics(by HR
en
Department Size)
t
Overall Differences Based on HR (n = 416) 1-4 Employees 5-9 Employees 10 or More Employees
Department Size br an
49% 39% 57% 78% 10 or more employees >di
4 or fewer employees

ng
Note: Sample size is based on the actual number of respondents by HR department staff size who answered this question using the response options provided.
Source: SHRM 2006 Strategic HR Management Survey Report
frequently used metrics or analytics in association
activities. HR professionals should look into ways to use
with recruitment and selection processes. This
these data to strategically contribute and show value.
was followed by performance management
HR professionals from organizations with established
(52%), compensation management/reward
methods in place were asked how frequently their HR
programs (51%), benefits management (51%) and
department used metrics or analytics in conjunction
employee relations (49%). Less (2
with specific HR activities. As seen in Table 12, the
1%
majority (59%) indicated that their HR department
An Established Method to Measure the Effectiveness of HR Strategy Through Metrics and Analytics
Table 11 (by HR Departments With and Without a Strategic Plan in Place)

Overall Comparison by HR Departments With

HR Department With a Strategic Plan HR Department Without a Strategic Plan and Without a Strategic Plan in Place
(n = 406)

49% 66% 29% With > without

Note: Sample size is based on the actual number of respondents who answered this question using the response options provided .

Source: SHRM 2006 Strategic HR Management Survey Report

) were less often linked with these measurement In due time, refined measurements will be
systems. available that will provide HR professionals with
the data they need to help their organizations run
Barriers more effectively and will aid HR in measuring its
Although the field of HR has evolved in recent years to direct impact on the bottom line. In the
become a more strategic entity in organizations, HR meantime, HR professionals should strive to
still encounters significant barriers that limit its ability perfect their HR-related metrics and attempt to
to more effectively contribute business results that are utilize any available data that could be used in
related to the bottom line. In this section, HR conjunction with organizational and human
professionals were asked to rate to what extent capital measurement issues.
various factors may limit their HR department’s ability
to more effectively contribute to the organization’s Another factor that could hinder the strategic
bottom line. As illustrated in Figure 7, 86% of the progression and development of an HR
respondents felt that their department’s focus on department is related to its proximity to the
administrative duties rather than on strategy limited organization’s chief executive officer
their ability to contribute either to a large or to some (CEO)/president. HR professionals were asked
extent. Additionally, 78% of HR professionals reported to whom the person overseeing the HR
that their department was not able to directly measure department directly reported. The closer HR is
HR’s impact on the bottom line and lacked an associated with
established method for measuring the effectiveness of
HR strategy through metrics and analytics.

It is not surprising that focus on administrative duties

and lack of measurement processes were the most
commonly cited barriers. HR professionals could
overcome administrative burdens by outsourcing some
of these functions or hiring staff dedicated specifically
to strategic initiatives, thus providing their HR
department a better opportunity to focus on strategy.
It is very difficult for HR to add value without the
ability to measure the direct impact of HR initiatives;
however, at the same time, HR does not have
consistent measurement systems to assist in this
process. These measurement systems are continuously
becoming more sophisticated, and great
advancements are being made in this area every year.
 x

from it. As illustrated in Figure 8, the majority (63%) significantly more likely than
those from larger organiof HR professionals indicated that the individual over- zations
to have their head of HR report directly to the seeing HR directly reported to the
CEO/president. organization’s CEO/president. This was followed by the vice president
(11%) and the

chief operating officer (COO) (8%) positions. It is important that all levels of
HR professionals reinforce and improve their business acumen, strategic As illustrated in Table 13,
HR departments from HR knowledge and competencies. Further develop-
x
x
x
x

Findings
x

Conclusions
The findings of this study are drawn based on the analysis and interpretation of the
primary data impact on HR management on the employees in the Amazon
(company).

The findings from data analysis suggest that the presence of HR Planning
competencies, as indicated by the relationship between HR Planning and the
presence of a HR department, may be more important in shaping the form of
employee satisfaction. Further it has been identified that there is correlation
between HR planning aspects mentioned by the HR management of the software
organizations and they help to increase the employee satisfaction.

• The career development perspective of the software development

employees which was depicted in section 4.5.2 clearly stated that very large
numbers of the respondents are satisfied with the knowledge sharing
activities, the skill development programs which are communication skills,
team work and HR/orientation programs provided by the organization
which can extend their knowledge on respective working areas. However a
few are not satisfied with the quality of in- house training. Some of the
employees are not satisfied with the productivity improvement programs
and are not willing to adopt new technologies concurrently.
• When considering work type/work load planning in the software

organizations, as stated in section 4.5.3, the results show that a majority

number of employees strongly feel that the working hours decided by
organization are most convenient for them. A few of the employees are not in
favor of the working hours. Further, a high percentage of employees are
satisfied with the assignment of their work and they are willing to work on
their tasks since they are most appropriate for their requirement.
x
From the study it is clear that the majority of the employees are happy with the
freedom at work given by management for their tasks but only a few of them are
not feeling satisfied with the freedom given at the work place. In order to carry out
the tasks managers should be given enough freedom and power so that they feel
they ‘own’ the result (Syptak et al., 1999). It is clearly realized that employees are
not satisfied with the work load and resource utilization for the given delivery
deadlines by management.

• When considering the motivation scheme perspective depicted in section

4.5.4 most of the employees are not really satisfied with the motivation
schemes currently provided by their organizations.

From the analysis it is concluded that a minority (35.6%) of employees are satisfied
with the payment as per their roles and responsibility and the remaining
employees are not satisfied with the payment according to their roles and
responsibilities. Hence from this analysis it can be stated that payment according
to roles and responsibilities is not very satisfactory. Only a few of the employees
are satisfied with the opportunities for promotions given by the organization. This
shows that the employees do not have any growth opportunities.

However they were satisfied with participation in the decision making process
about the project work and the social work that the company allows them to
contribute to.

From the analysis and interpretation in section 4.5.5, it is concluded that most
of the employees (85.3%) are satisfied with the workplace and only a few
employees are not satisfied with the workplace (3.6%), who are negligible in
number. And similarly, in the case of infrastructure most of the employees are
satisfied and only a very small number of employees are not happy with the
infrastructure of their organization.
x
It is concluded that nearly all the employees are satisfied with organization
policies and practices. And only some of them (8.5%) do not seem to be
satisfied with the organization policies and practices. Therefore it shows that
implementation of rules and responsibilities should be done fairly by the
management.

The study shows that only a very small number of employees are satisfied with
the job security. And most of the remaining employees are not satisfied with
the job security provided by the organization. Hence from this analysis it is
clear that there is a fear of job loss among the employees of software
organizations.

Challenging goals may communicate high levels of confidence for the

employees and they increase self-efficacy and satisfaction, and these positive
feelings may also manifest themselves in enhanced employee commitment
(Whittington et al., 2004). If managers provide goal-oriented work
environments to individuals with these desirable personality characteristics,
they should reap the benefits of enhanced performance and commitment.

Work environments can provide social cues to organizational members on how

to act appropriately, and employees tend to conform to such expectations to
receive social approval from their peers (Salancik and Pfeffer, 1978; Schneider,
1975). Thus, if a work environment develops a strong goal orientation,
employees are more likely to align their individual goal orientations with the
norms of the work environment to maintain harmony with their surroundings
x

LIMITATIONS
x
1. Recent Origin:
HRM is of recent origin.
So it lacks universally approved academic base. Different people try to
define the term differently. Some thinkers consider it as a new name
to personnel management. Some enterprises have named their
traditional personnel management department as human resource
management department.

Such superficial actions may not bear much fruit. What is actually
required is a fundamental change in attitudes, approaches and the
very management philosophy. Without such a change, particularly at
the top management level, renaming of personnel department or
redisgnating the personnel officer may not serve the purpose. With
the passage of time an acceptable approach will be developed.

2. Lack of Support of Top Management:

HRM should have the support of top level management. The change
in attitude at the top can bring good results while implementing HRM.
Owing to passive attitude at the top, this work is handled by
personnel management people. Unless there is a change in approach
and attitude of top management nothing remarkable will happen.

3. Improper Actualisation:
HRM should be implemented by assessing the training and
development requirements of employees. The aspirations and needs
of people should be taken into account while making human resource
policies. HRM is actuated half-heartedly. The organising of some
training programmes is considered as the implementation of HRM.
With this, management’s productivity and profitability approach
remains undisturbed in many organisations.
x
4. Inadequate Development Programmes:
HRM needs implementation of programmes such as career planning,
on the job training, development programmes, MBO, counselling etc.
There is a need to create an atmosphere of learning in the
organisation. In reality HRM programmes are confined to class room
lectures and expected results are not coming out of this approach.

5. Inadequate Information:
Some enterprises do not have requisite information about their
employees. In the absence of adequate information and data base,
this system cannot be properly implemented. So there is a need to
collect, store and retrieval of information before implementing
human resource management.

In many organisations, even the professionals misunderstand HRM as

synonymous with HRD. Some class room training programmes are
generally arranged, which are called HRD programmes. These
programmes are understood as human resources management. Such
casual class room programmes are not the actual HRM programmes.

Even a well planned and executed HRD programme is not HRM. HRD
is only a part of HRM which is an integrated approach to
management. Undoubtedly, human resource management suffers
from such limitations. But the impact it has made on the managerial
effectiveness has been spectacular wherever it was introduced.
Actually speaking a real need exists in every Indian organisation for
an HRM approach.
x

Suggestions

According to this research work type and work load planning has significant impact
on the employee job satisfaction in the software organizations.

When considering the affected factors of job satisfaction, software company

management has to consider work schedules and task assignments of the
employees and freedom in giving tasks so that it assigns proper responsibility to
them about their allocated task which increases their job satisfaction.

On the other hand management should consider employee participation in the task
and decision making process which helps to increase the productivity of the task.
Also management should allow them to bring up their innovative ideas and
recognize their contribution to the organization. While they consider employee
contribution and participation, management should also consider their
compensation and remuneration requirements and provide them accordingly.

Directions for Future Researches

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between HR planning
and employee job satisfaction in software organizations in Sri Lanka.

A few scholars have studied the impact of HR planning on job satisfaction in the
other industries but not in the software industry. Very few researchers have
x
addressed the HRM practices and their outcomes in the software industry in Sri
Lanka and none of them have studied HR planning, its outcomes and impact on job
satisfaction in the software industry in Sri Lanka. Therefore, this study addressed
this gap in the literature relating to the software industry in Sri Lanka.

The findings of this study will be helpful to describe which HR planning activities
are positively related to job satisfaction. Hence, findings of this research will be
helpful to HR managers to examine the success of HR planning which is currently
implemented by them and to identify the outcomes of such processes.

Furthermore, HR managers of software organizations can make necessary changes

in currently used HR practices to minimize the negative impact of HR outcomes.
Hence, suggestions are provided for HR managers to look at the HR planning and
impact of employee job satisfaction on HR outcomes. Further research can be
conducted to examine the impact of HR planning on organization performance.
Future researches can be done in connection with the IT sector in Sri Lanka.
Furthermore, researches can be done to compare the impact of HR planning on job
satisfaction in other sectors in Sri Lanka as well.
x

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x
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 QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Name :
2. Organisation Name :
3. Gender a)Male b)Female

4. Age a) 20-30 b) 30-40

c) 40-50

d) Above 50
5. Educational Qualification:

a) Graduate

b) Post-Graduate

c) Professional

6. Experience

a) 0 – 5 Years

b) 5 – 10 Years

c) 10 – 15 Years

d) 15 & above

7. Designation a) Executive

b) Sr. Executive

c) Team Leader

d) Asst. Manager

e) Manager

f) Sr. Manager
g) Vice-President
8. Monthly Income:

a) Rs.10000- Rs.25000

b) Rs.25000- Rs.50000

c) Rs.50000 – Rs.1, 00,000

d) Above Rs. 1, 00,000

9. HR executives are aware of recruitment needs and selection strategies.

a) Yes b) No

10. Employees are aware about the rewards and recognition plan.

a) Yes b) No

11. Organisation has systematic recruitment and selection plan.

a) Yes b) No

12.Employees are satisfied with rewards and recognition.

a) Yes b) No

13. There is recognition for success at work place.

a) Yes b) No

14. Management seek input from employees to identify training needs

a) Yes b) No

15. Employees like their work

a) Yes b) No

16. Training is suitable for various knowledge and skills required for an employee.

a) Yes b) No

17. Training helps to attain organization and personal goals

a) Yes b) No

18. Structured career path is available to all the employees in the organization

a) Yes b) No

19. Organisation knows the importance of developing leaders

a) Yes b) No
20. Management motivates employees to become leaders

a)Yes b) No

a) Yes b) No

22. Career planning helps in development in employees

a) Yes b) No

23.Some statements on HRM practices are given below. Please tick the Best Alternative

S.No Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree (4) (3) (2) Disagree
(5) (1)

23.1 In selection process innovative

techniques (like stress level,
psychometrics test) play an
effective role

23.2 The Hiring process helps in

identifying the competence both
visible(like Knowledge, Skill) and
Hidden aspects like behavioral,
Social, Trait

23.3 KRAs should be periodically

reviewed in my Organization to
retain value of selection
process

23.4 Management encourages for

creativity and innovation in
the work area

23.5 Reward strategy used by

employers induce employee to
behave and perform in a way
which can contribute to the
achievement of the organisation‟s
competitive edge.
23.6 The reward system followed by the
management is consistent and
genuine

23.7 There are distinct career paths and

internal promotion norms within
the organization

23.8 Reward & Recognition is extended

to all members of the organization

23.9 Management does Gap analysis to

identify training needs

23.10 Training content is satisfactory

23.11 Training contents are improved

frequently

23.12 Organisation gives opportunities to

employees for higher studies

23.13 Web based learning is available for

employees.

23.14 Management seek input from

employees to identify training
needs

23.15 Training is suitable for various

knowledge and skills required for
an employee.

23.16 Training helps to attain

organization and personal goals

23.17 Opportunities are created to move

up in the Career ladder in my
Organization
23.18 My manager mentors me to be the
leader.

23.19 The succession planning process in

my Organization is effective

23.20 My manager treats each employee

as individual rather than just as a
member of the group.

23.21 Manager/Management interact

with the followers to portray
his/her vision and attitudes
clearly.

23.22 I am able to grow in this

organisation as I achieve
the organisation goal.

23.23 I am satisfied with the current

position in the organisation

23.24 There is enough awareness among

the employees of the
existing career path in the
Organization

23.25 There is transparency in the

promotion process

23.26 There are enough opportunities

for Internal job movement / lateral
movement in the organisation