Human Resource Management II Semester

Unit-2: Recruitment and Selection: Job Design, Job Analysis, Process and methods of data
collection, Job descriptions and Job specification, Job enlargement, Job enrichment and Job
rotation. Human Resource Planning, Recruitment, Sources of Recruitment, Recruitment on
Diverse Work Force, e-Recruitment and Selection Process, Employee Testing and Selection,
Basic Types of Interviews, Errors in Interviews.
Job Design: Job design is the logical sequence of the process of job analysis and involves
conscious efforts to organize tasks, duties and responsibilities into a unit of work so as to
achieve business objectives.
Job design refers to the process of creating, analysing, and defining the tasks, responsibilities,
and duties of a particular job. It involves determining the content and structure of a job,
including the required skills, knowledge, and abilities needed to perform the job. The goal of
job design is to improve job performance, job satisfaction, and employee motivation by
designing jobs that are challenging, interesting, and rewarding.
Objectives of Job design: The objectives of job design are to create jobs that are well-
suited to the needs and abilities of employees, as well as to the goals and requirements of the
organization. Some specific objectives of job design include:
1. Enhancing productivity: Effective job design can help increase productivity by
optimizing work processes, reducing errors, and improving efficiency.
2. Increasing job satisfaction: By designing jobs that are engaging, challenging, and
rewarding, organizations can increase employee motivation and job satisfaction, leading
to higher levels of performance and reduced turnover.
3. Reducing turnover: By creating jobs that are well-suited to the needs and abilities of
employees, organizations can reduce turnover rates and retain valuable employees.
4. Improving quality of work life: Job design can help improve the quality of work
life by providing employees with opportunities for growth, development, and meaningful
work.
5. Enhancing safety and health: By designing jobs that are safe and healthy to
perform, organizations can reduce workplace injuries and illnesses, leading to a safer and
healthier work environment.
6. Promoting organizational flexibility: Effective job design can help organizations
adapt to changes in the business environment by creating jobs that are flexible and
adaptable.

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Characteristics of Job Design: The following are some of the key characteristics of
effective job design:
1. Task variety: Jobs that have a variety of tasks or require employees to perform multiple
functions can help keep work interesting and engaging.
2. Task identity: Jobs that have a clear beginning and end, and allow employees to see
the tangible results of their work, can help increase motivation and job satisfaction.
3. Autonomy: Jobs that allow employees to have a degree of control over their work, and
make decisions about how tasks are performed, can help increase motivation and job
satisfaction.
4. Skill variety: Jobs that require a variety of skills can help employees develop a broader
range of abilities, which can lead to greater job satisfaction and career growth.
5. Feedback: Jobs that provide employees with regular feedback about their performance
can help them understand their strengths and weaknesses and make adjustments to improve
their work.
6. Task significance: Jobs that have a clear impact on the organization or society as a
whole can help employees feel a sense of purpose and meaning in their work.
7. Job security: Jobs that provide employees with a sense of job security and stability can
help reduce stress and anxiety, which can lead to greater job satisfaction.
Components of Job Design: The components of job design typically include the
following:
1. Job Analysis: The process of identifying the tasks, duties, and responsibilities required
to perform a specific job. This involves gathering information about the job's requirements,
such as the necessary skills, knowledge, and qualifications.
2. Job Description: A written document that outlines the duties, responsibilities, and
requirements of a particular job. It includes information about the job title, job summary,
essential duties and responsibilities, qualifications, and other important details.
3. Job Specification: A document that lists the minimum qualifications, skills, and
experience required to perform a particular job. It includes information about the
education, experience, skills, and other qualifications required for the job.
4. Job Evaluation: The process of determining the relative worth of a job within an
organization based on factors such as the level of responsibility, skills, and effort required
to perform the job.

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5. Job Enrichment: A process that involves increasing the complexity and challenge of
a job to provide employees with greater responsibility and opportunities for growth.
6. Job Rotation: A process that involves periodically moving employees between
different jobs or roles within an organization to provide them with a variety of
experiences and opportunities to learn new skills.
7. Job Simplification: A process that involves reducing the complexity and number of
tasks associated with a job to make it easier to perform and increase efficiency.
Factors Affecting Job design: A well-defined job will make the job interesting and
satisfying for the employee. The result is increased performance and productivity. If a job fails
to appear compelling or interesting and leads to employee dissatisfaction, it means the job has
to be redesigned based upon the feedback from the employees. Broadly speaking the various
factors that affect a job design can be classified under three heads.

1. Organizational Factors: Organizational factors that affect job design can be work
nature or characteristics, work flow, organizational practices and ergonomics.
a) Work Nature: There are various elements of a job and job design is required to
classify various tasks into a job or a coherent set of jobs. The various tasks may be
planning, executing, monitoring, controlling etc. and all these are to be taken into
consideration while designing a job.
b) Ergonomics: Ergonomics aims at designing jobs in such a way that the physical
abilities and individual traits of employees are taken into consideration so as to ensure
efficiency and productivity.

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c) Workflow: Product and service type often determines the sequence of work flow. A
balance is required between various product or service processes and a job design
ensures this.
d) Culture: Organizational culture determines the way tasks are carried out at the work
places. Practices are methods or standards laid out for carrying out a certain task. These
practices often affect the job design especially when the practices are not aligned to the
interests of the union.
2. Environmental Factors: Environmental factors affect the job design to a
considerable extent. These factors include both the internal as well as external factors.
They include factor like employee skills and abilities, their availability, and their
socioeconomic and cultural prospects.
a) Employee availability and abilities: Employee skills, abilities and time of
availability play a crucial role while designing the jobs. The above mentioned factors
of employees who will actually perform the job are taken into consideration. Designing
a job that is more demanding and above their skill set will lead to decreased productivity
and employee satisfaction.
b) Socio economic and cultural expectations: Jobs are nowadays becoming more
employee centered rather than process centered. They are therefore designed keeping
the employees into consideration. In addition, the literacy level among the employees
is also on the rise. They now demand jobs that are to their linking and competency and
which they can perform the best.
3. Behavioural Factors: Behavioural factors or human factors are those that pertain to
the human need and that need to be satisfied for ensuring productivity at workplace. They
include the elements like autonomy, diversity, feedback, etc. A brief explanation of some
is given below:
a) Autonomy: Employees should work in an open environment rather than one that
contains fear. It promotes creativity, interdependence and leads to increased efficiency.
b) Feedback: Feedback should be an integral part of work. Each employee should
receive proper feedback about his work performance.
c) Diversity: Repetitive jobs often make work monotonous which leads to boredom. A
job should carry sufficient diversity and variety so that it remains as interesting with
every passing day. Job variety/diversity should be given due importance while
designing a job.
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d) Use of skills and abilities: Jobs should be employee rather than process centered.
Though due emphasis needs to be given to the latter but jobs should be designed in a
manner such that an employee is able to make full use of his abilities is able to make
full use of his abilities and perform the job effectivel
Steps in Job Design: The steps involved in job design can vary depending on the
organization and the specific job being designed, but the following are some common steps:
1. Conduct a job analysis: This involves identifying the tasks, responsibilities, and duties
of the job, as well as the necessary skills, knowledge, and qualifications required to perform
the job effectively.
2. Create a job description: A job description is a written document that outlines the
duties, responsibilities, and requirements of the job. It includes information about the job
title, job summary, essential duties and responsibilities, qualifications, and other important
details.
3. Develop a job specification: A job specification is a document that lists the minimum
qualifications, skills, and experience required to perform a particular job. It includes
information about the education, experience, skills, and other qualifications required for the
job.
4. Conduct a job evaluation: This involves assessing the relative value or importance of
different jobs within an organization. It is typically done by comparing jobs based on factors
such as the level of responsibility, the required level of skill and knowledge, and the level
of physical or mental effort required to perform the job.
5. Design the job: Based on the information gathered from the job analysis, job description,
job specification, and job evaluation, the job can be designed or redesigned. This can involve
creating new tasks, modifying existing tasks, or reorganizing the job to make it more
efficient or effective.
6. Implement the job design: Once the job has been designed, it can be implemented
within the organization. This may involve training employees on the new job design and
making any necessary adjustments based on feedback from employees or supervisors.
7. Monitor and evaluate the job design: It is important to regularly monitor and
evaluate the job design to ensure that it is achieving its intended goals. This may involve
collecting feedback from employees and supervisors, analysing job performance data, and
making any necessary adjustments to the job design.

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Methods of Job Design: There are various methods of job design, some of which are as
follows:
1. Job Rotation: This method involves periodically rotating employees between different
jobs or roles within an organization to provide them with a variety of experiences and
opportunities to learn new skills. This helps to reduce boredom and monotony, improve
employee motivation and job satisfaction, and provide a more holistic view of the
organization.
2. Job Enrichment: This method involves increasing the complexity and challenge of a
job to provide employees with greater responsibility and opportunities for growth. This
may involve giving employees more control over how they perform their work, allowing
them to make decisions, and providing them with feedback to enhance their skills.
3. Job Simplification: This method involves reducing the complexity and number of
tasks associated with a job to make it easier to perform and increase efficiency. This helps
to reduce errors and improve productivity, but may also lead to boredom and lack of
motivation among employees.
4. Job Crafting: This method involves allowing employees to customize their jobs based
on their skills, strengths, and interests. This may involve giving employees more autonomy
over their work, allowing them to work on different tasks or projects, or adjusting their job
responsibilities to better align with their interests and abilities.
5. Participative Job Design: This method involves involving employees in the job
design process by soliciting their feedback and suggestions. This helps to ensure that job
designs are well-suited to the needs and abilities of employees, and may also increase
employee motivation and job satisfaction.
Benefits of job design: Job design can offer several benefits to both employees and
organizations, including:
1. Increased job satisfaction: Effective job design can help create jobs that are
engaging, challenging, and rewarding, leading to higher levels of job satisfaction and
motivation among employees.
2. Improved productivity: By optimizing work processes and reducing errors, job
design can help increase productivity and efficiency, leading to better business outcomes.
3. Better quality of work life: Job design can provide employees with opportunities for
growth, development, and meaningful work, improving their overall quality of work life.

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4. Enhanced safety and health: By designing jobs that are safe and healthy to perform,
job design can reduce workplace injuries and illnesses, promoting a safer and healthier
work environment.
5. Increased employee retention: By creating jobs that are well-suited to the needs
and abilities of employees, job design can increase employee retention rates and reduce
turnover.
6. Improved flexibility: Effective job design can help organizations adapt to changes in
the business environment by creating jobs that are flexible and adaptable.
7. Greater employee engagement: By involving employees in the job design process
and giving them more control over how they perform their work, job design can increase
employee engagement and satisfaction.
Drawbacks of Job Design: Although job design can offer several benefits, there are also
some potential drawbacks, which may include:
1. Resistance to change: Employees may resist changes to their jobs, particularly if they
are used to performing their work in a certain way. This can lead to challenges in
implementing new job designs and may result in decreased job satisfaction and
productivity.
2. Increased training costs: Introducing new job designs may require additional
training and resources to ensure that employees have the necessary skills and knowledge
to perform their new tasks. This can increase training costs for the organization.
3. Decreased efficiency: While job design can improve efficiency, it may also lead to
decreased efficiency in some cases, particularly if employees are not well-suited to their
new roles or if the new design is not properly implemented.
4. Increased costs: Effective job design may require additional resources and
investments, such as new equipment or technology, to support the new design. This can
increase costs for the organization.
5. Work overload: Introducing new tasks and responsibilities to a job can led to work
overload for employees, particularly if they do not have the necessary resources or support
to perform their work effectively.
6. Limited job scope: Some job designs may be too narrow in scope, limiting employee
opportunities for growth and development and potentially leading to boredom and
decreased motivation.

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Job Analysis: Job analysis is a systematic and detailed examination of jobs. It is the process
of collecting information about a job — that is, the knowledge, skills, and the experience
needed to carry out a job effectively. The jobholder is supposed to possess job-related
knowledge useful to carry out the job easily.
In other words, job analysis refers to the anatomy of the job. It is a complete study of job,
embodying every known and determinable factor, including the duties and responsibilities
involved in its performance, the conditions under which the performance is carried on, the
nature of the task, the qualities required in the worker, and such conditions of employment as
pay hour, opportunities and privileges. It also emphasises the relation of one job to others in
the organisation.
According to Edwin B. Flippo – “Job analysis is the process of studying and collecting
information relating to the operations and responsibilities of a specific job. The immediate
products of this analysis are job descriptions and job specifications.”
Further, David A. De Cenzo and Stephen P. Robbins has defined “job analysis is a
systematic exploration of the activities within a job. It is a basic technical procedure, one that
is used to define the duties, responsibilities and accountabilities of a job.”
Herbert G. Hereman III has said “A job analysis is a collection of tasks that can be
performed by a single employee to contribute to the production of some product or service
provided by the organisation. Each job has certain ability requirements (as well as certain
rewards) associated with it. It is the process used to identify these requirements.”

Objectives of Job Analysis: The main objectives of job analysis are as follows:
1. Work Simplification: Job analysis provides the information related to job and this
data can be used to make process or job simple. Work simplification means dividing the
job into small parts i.e. different operations in a product line or process which can improve
the production or job performance.
2. Setting Up of Standards: Standard means minimum acceptable qualities or results
or performance or rewards regarding a particular job. Job analysis provides the information
about the job and standard of each can be established using this information.
3. Support to Personnel Activities: Job analysis provides support to various personnel
activities like recruitment, selection, training and development, wage administration,
performance appraisal, etc.

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Process/Steps of Job Analysis: Job analysis is a very useful tool from the HR point of
view, but it is difficult to execute. The job Analysis process involves five steps that have to be
followed for a favourable end result. The steps are described below:

1. Identification of Job Analysis Purpose: Well, any process is futile until its
purpose is not identified and defined. Therefore, the first step in the process is to determine
its need and desired output. Spending human efforts, energy as well as money is useless
until HR managers don’t know why data is to be collected and what is to be done with it.
2. Who Will Conduct Job Analysis: The second most important step in the process
of job analysis is to decide who will conduct it. Some companies prefer getting it done by
their own HR department while some hire job analysis consultants. Job analysis
consultants may prove to be extremely helpful as they offer unbiased advice, guidelines
and methods. They don’t have any personal likes and dislikes when it comes to analyze a
job.
3. How to Conduct the Process: Deciding the way in which job analysis process needs
to be conducted is surely the next step. A planned approach about how to carry the whole
process is required in order to investigate a specific job.
4. Strategic Decision Making: Now is the time to make strategic decision. It’s about
deciding the extent of employee involvement in the process, the level of details to be
collected and recorded, sources from where data is to be collected, data collection methods,
the processing of information and segregation of collected data.
5. Training of Job Analyst: Next is to train the job analyst about how to conduct the
process and use the selected methods for collection and recording of job data.
6. Preparation of Job Analysis Process: Communicating it within the organization
is the next step. HR managers need to communicate the whole thing properly so that

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employees offer their full support to the job analyst. The stage also involves preparation
of documents, questionnaires, interviews and feedback forms.
7. Data Collection: Next is to collect job-related data including educational qualifications
of employees, skills and abilities required to perform the job, working conditions, job
activities, reporting hierarchy, required human traits, job activities, duties and
responsibilities involved and employee behaviour.
8. Documentation, Verification and Review: Proper documentation is done to
verify the authenticity of collected data and then review it. This is the final information
that is used to describe a specific job.
9. Developing Job Description and Job Specification: Now is the time to
segregate the collected data in to useful information. Job Description describes the roles,
activities, duties and responsibilities of the job while job specification is a statement of
educational qualification, experience, personal traits and skills required to perform the job.

Methods of Data Collection/ Techniques of Job Analysis: Methods of collecting

job analysis information include direct observation, work method analysis, critical incident
technique, interview and questionnaire method. These are given below:
1. Direct Observation Method: Direct Observation is a method of job analysis to
observe and record behaviour / events / activities / tasks / duties when the worker or group
engaged in doing the job. Observation method can be effective only when the job analyst
is skilled enough to know what is to be observed, how to analyze, and what is being
observed.
2. Work Method Analysis: Work methods analysis is used to describe manual and
repetitive production jobs, such as factory or assembly-line jobs. Work methods analysis
includes time and motion study and micro-motion analysis.
3. Critical Incident Technique: Critical incident technique is a method of job analysis
used to identify work behaviours that classify in good and poor performance. Under this
method, jobholders are asked to describe critical incidents concerning the job and the
incidents so collected are analyzed and classified according to the job areas they describe.
4. Interview Method: Interview method is a useful tool of job analysis to ask questions
to both incumbents and supervisors in either an individual or a group setting. Interview
includes structured interviews, unstructured interview, and open-ended questions.
5. Questionnaire Method: The questionnaire method is when analysts create a series of
questions for employees to answer about their jobs. They often ask the employee's
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managers and others on the team about their perceptions of the role to identify any gaps
between expectations. These questions can include asking employees about how they
spend each day, what their priorities are and how they effectively perform their duties. It
includes 3 techniques, which are as follows:
a) Functional Job Analysis (FJA Model): FJA model is a technique of job
analysis that was developed by the Employment and Training Administration of the
United States Department of Labour. It includes 7 scales (numbers) that measure- 3
worker-function scales- measure percentage of time spent with: data, people, things; 1
worker-instruction scale; 3 scales that measure reasoning, mathematics, and language.
b) Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ Model): PAQ model is a
questionnaire technique of job analysis. It developed by Mc Cormick, Jeanneret, and
Mecham (1972), is a structured instrument of job analysis to measure job characteristics
and relate them to human characteristics. It consists of 194 job elements that describe
generic human work behaviours.
The 194 elements of PAQ are further classified into 6 divisions as under:
1. Information Input
2. Mental Processes
3. Work Output
4. Relationship with other persons
5. Job context
6. Job related variables
c) Fleishman Job Analysis System (FJAS Model): This model contains five
sections namely cognition, psychomotor, physical characteristics, sensory skills, social
interpersonal skills, and competencies. The F-JAs model can be used to describe
individual activities and to compare entire areas of activity. The F-JAS model can be
used to establish a skills profile for a job as a whole.
Significance/Importance/Uses of job analysis: A comprehensive programme of job
analysis is an essential element of sound human resource management . The specific uses of
job analysis are given below:
1. Organizational design: Job analysis is useful in classifying jobs and interrelationship
among them. Responsibility commensurate with authority and overlapping.
2. Human resource planning: Job analysis provides useful information for forecasting
manpower requirements in terms of knowledge and skills. It is also helps in planning for

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promotions and transfers by indicating lateral and vertical relationship between different
jobs.
3. Recruitment and selection: Information relating to the tasks, responsibility,
knowledge and skills serves as a realistic basis for hiring people. Job analysis provides
understanding of what an employee is expected to do on the job.
4. Placement and orientation: A clear understanding of job requirements helps in
matching this requirement with the abilities, interests and aptitude of people.
5. Training and development: Job analysis provides valuable information required to
identified training needs, to design training programmes and to evaluate training
effectiveness.
6. Performance appraisal: Job analysis helps in determining performance standards in
critical parts of job. Employee performance can then be evaluated against known
standards and critical activities. The superior can compare actual performance with the
standards set with the help of job analysis.
7. Career path planning: Job analysis provides a clear idea of opportunities in terms of
career paths and jobs available in organisation.
8. Job design: With the help of knowledge about job requirements, improvements in work
design and work methods can be made to improve productivity and job satisfaction.
9. Job evaluation: Job analysis serves as the basis for determining the relative worth of
different jobs. It, therefore ,helps in developing appropriate wage and salary structures,
with internal pay equity between jobs.
10. Labour relations: Information obtained through jobs analysis is helpful to both
management and trade unions for collective bargaining. It can also be useful resolved
disputes and grievances relating to work load, work procedures, etc.
Job Description: Job description is a broad, general, and written statement of a specific
job, based on the findings of a job analysis.
It generally includes duties, purpose, responsibilities, scope, and working conditions of a job
along with the job’s title, and the name or designation of the person to whom the employee
reports. Job description usually forms the basis of job specification.
According to Edwin B. Flippo, ‘A job description is an organised, factual statement of the
duties and responsibilities of a specific job’
Smith and Stakeman, “Job Description is a bailed down statement of the Job Analysis and
serves to identify the job for consideration by other Job Analysis,”
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Maurice B. Cuming, “A Job Description is a broad statement of the purpose, scope, duties and
responsibilities of a particular job.”
It is a list of job duties, responsibilities, reporting, relationships, working conditions and
supervisory responsibilities – one product of the job analysis – Gary Dessler
Characteristics of Job Description: Normally, employers write their own job
descriptions but, of late, more and more employers are switching over to the Internet. There
are primarily two main objectives of preparing job descriptions, namely – (a) to help at the time
of recruitment and (b) to help at the time of job evaluation. A good job description should have
the following characteristics:
1. Proper title: The job title should be apt and so framed as to make the qualities expected
in the job holder quite clear. If the job title is appropriate, then it can be easily separated
and compared with other job titles.
2. Comprehensive job summary: The job summary should give a bird’s-eye view of
primary responsibilities, indicating and distinguishing principal and primary duties. The
relationship with other jobs and for coordinating with other people should be clear and
comprehensive.
3. Completeness: A detailed description of a job should be as concise as is compatible
with completeness. Every detail should be very precise.
4. Elasticity: Job descriptions should be elastic so as to have scope for making them up to
date from time to time. We know it well that most jobs tend to be dynamic, not static.
Therefore, a job description can quickly go out of date. Hence, jobs have to be constantly
revised and kept up to date. That is, there should be scope for elasticity in the job
description.
Contents of Job Description: The following are the components of job description.
1. Job Title: The title of the position being advertised.

2. Job Summary: A brief summary of the job duties and responsibilities, as well as
any required qualifications or skills.
3. Essential Duties and Responsibilities: A detailed list of the primary duties and
responsibilities of the position.
4. Qualifications: A list of the minimum education, experience, and skills required for
the position.

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5. Physical Demands: Any physical requirements for the job, such as the ability to lift
a certain amount of weight or stand for extended periods.
6. Working Conditions: A description of the working environment, including any
hazards or safety concerns.
7. Salary and Benefits: Information about the compensation package, including
salary range, health benefits, retirement plans, and any other perks.
8. Company Culture: A description of the company's values, mission, and culture.

9. How to Apply: Instructions for applying to the position, including where to send a
resume and cover letter and any other application requirements.
Advantages of Job Description: The following are the advantages of job description:
1. Helpful in recruitment and selection.
2. Helpful in working out training and development programmes.
3. Helpful in transfers, promotions and demotions.
4. Reduces frustration among workers to a great extent.
5. Reduces grievances of workers to a considerable extent.
6. Helps in giving directions to newly recruited workers.
7. Helps in determining wages and allowances.
8. Helps in matching the workers with the job.
Limitations of Job Description: Though job descriptions are a valuable tool to perform
HRM functions, there are several problems.
1. Job descriptions written vaguely without specific terms will not provide any guidance
to the job holder.
2. Sometimes they are not updated when job duties or specifications change. This does
not serve the desired purpose.
3. Including specifications not related to job may violate the law.
4. Many a time job description tends to limit the scope of the activities of the job holder.
This reduces organizational flexibility.
Job Specification: Job specification or employee specification is a statement of the
minimum acceptable human qualities in terms of educational qualifications, experience, skills,
and aptitude required for a job. It is a logical expansion of the job description as it is
accompanied with every job description.
According to Edwin B. Flippo, “A job specification is a statement of minimum acceptable
human qualities necessary to perform a job properly.”
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Gary Dessler has defined job specification as, “A list of job’s human requirements that is the
requisite education, skills, personality and so on.”
Purpose of Job Specification: Job specification has several advantages in many
functions of HRM. For example, it highlights the particular working conditions that help in
selecting the appropriate candidate for the job. The job specifications are used for certain
significant purposes, which are as follows:
1. Searching deserving candidate: Assists the HR department to find the right
candidate for the defined profile. It also helps the HR executives, who are not technically
aware of the exact requirement, to get the appropriate candidate. In addition, it helps the
interviewer in preparing the questionnaire to short-list the candidates.
2. Inducing the candidate to look into the offer: Requires that the job specification
help the candidate to decide his/her suitability for the stated job profile.
3. Establishing organizational competency: Involves setting up the core
competencies of the organization that can provide an edge to the organization over its
competitors. The identification of the organizational competency demands implementation
of the competency programs specific to organizations.
4. Recognizing candidates’ competency: Ensures the selection of the right candidate.
Job specification identifies the exact duties and competencies of various job positions, with
which skills and abilities of the employees are matched.
5. Providing direction to candidate: Requires that the job specification gives brief
description to candidates so that they can determine if their experience and qualifications
suit to the job position.
Characteristics of Job Specification: The characteristics of job specifications are:
1. Physical Characteristics: It includes health, strength, endurance, age range, body
size, height, weight, vision, voice, foot coordination, colour discrimination and motor
coordination.
2. Psychological Characteristics: It includes qualities like manual dexterity,
mechanical aptitude, judgement, analytical ability, resourcefulness, mental alertness and
concentration.
3. Personnel Characteristics: It includes the qualities like personal appearance, good
and pleasing manners, emotional stability, aggressiveness and submissiveness,
extroversion or introversion, leadership, cooperativeness, skill in dealing with others,
unusual sensory qualities of sight, etc.
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4. Responsibilities: It includes the qualities of supervision of others, responsibility for

production process and equipment, responsibility for the safety of others, responsibility
for preventing monetary loss.
5. Demographic Characteristics: It includes features like age, sex, education,
experience, and language ability.
Importance/Significance of Job Specification: The various significance of job
specification are as follows:
1. Preparation of Employee Specification: Job specification provides information
regarding the attributes like qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge and other
personal attributes required of a worker to perform the job duties. This helps in preparing
employee specification containing detailed information about the employees put to job.
2. Training and Development: Job specification identifies the need for training and
development programme. The human qualifications and skill that a job demands can be
acquired through training and development of employees.
3. Recruitment and Selection: Job specification helps the recruiter to get an idea of the
personal, physical, mental, social and psychological characteristics required of a job
incumbent to perform the job effectively. Accordingly, the recruiters identify the person
with requisite qualification and help to fill a job by the best suitable candidate.
Contents of Job Specification: The following are the contents of job specification:
1. Education: The level of education required for the job, such as a high school diploma,
bachelor's degree, or advanced degree.
2. Experience: The type and amount of experience required for the job, including any
specific industry experience or number of years of experience.
3. Skills: The specific skills and abilities required for the job, such as proficiency in a
particular software program, customer service skills, or technical skills.
4. Knowledge: The knowledge required to perform the job, such as knowledge of
accounting principles, marketing techniques, or legal regulations.
5. Abilities: The physical or mental abilities required to perform the job, such as the ability
to lift heavy objects, work in a fast-paced environment, or solve complex problems.
6. Personal characteristics: Any specific personal characteristics or traits required for
the job, such as attention to detail, strong communication skills, or the ability to work
independently.

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Advantages of Job Specification: The following are the advantages:

1. It is helpful in preliminary screening in the selection procedure.
2. It helps in giving due justification to each job.
3. It also helps in designing training and development programmes.
4. It helps the supervisors for counselling and monitoring performance of employees.
5. It helps in job evaluation.
Disadvantages of Job Specification: Though it assists managers in decision making
process but it has its own limitations.
1. The process may take very long and consume lots of human efforts. Since, it involves
collecting detailed information.
2. Personal biases of job analyst can cause severe problems.
3. The data collected may not be 100 percent genuine.
Differences between job description and job specification:
S.No Parameter Job Description Job Specification
A written statement of the
A written statement of
1 Meaning qualities required for performing a
the contents of a job
job.
Title, duties, working-
Conditions Education, training, experience,
2 Contents supervision, aptitude etc. required for a
relationships involved particular job.
in a job.
To Facilitate recruitment,
To Identify, define and
3 Purpose selection training etc. of people
describe a job
for the job.
Prepared before job
4 Sequence Prepared after job description.
specification
Job Enlargement: Job enlargement is the combining of job tasks across the same level
within a company. Implementing job enlargement widens the scope of individual team
members to include more tasks and responsibilities.
Objectives of Job Enlargement: The main objectives of job enlargement are:
1. Increased variety and challenge: Job enlargement aim to provide employees
with a wider range of tasks and responsibilities, which can lead to increased variety and
challenge in their work. This can help prevent boredom and increase job satisfaction.
2. Improved employee motivation: By providing employees with a wider range of
tasks, job enlargement can help employees feel more motivated and engaged in their
work.

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3. Increased productivity: Job enlargement can lead to increased productivity by

giving employees a greater sense of purpose and responsibility in their work.
4. Reduced absenteeism and turnover: By providing employees with more
variety and challenge in their work, job enlargement can help reduce absenteeism and
turnover rates by increasing job satisfaction.
5. Improved skills and knowledge: Job enlargement can help employees develop
a wider range of skills and knowledge by providing them with new tasks and
responsibilities.
Features of Job Enlargement: Job enlargement is a suitable technique for companies
where a centralized organizational structure is followed, and the number of employees is
limited. To understand the concept in a better way, let us go through its features:

1. Horizontal Expansion: In job enlargement, the number of tasks, responsibilities and

duties are increased which are at the same level or similar to the existing job position.
2. Job Redesign Strategy: It can be referred to as job redesigning, i.e. preparing the
work modules such that optimum utilization of the employee’s efficiency can be done.
3. Performance Feedback: It encourages the employees to give meaningful feedback

on their performance and job profile.

4. Workforce Flexibility: The scope of the job responsibilities is widened, and

employees are motivated to be versatile in their work, thus initiating workforce flexibility.
5. No Additional Skills Required: The employees are given tasks similar to the ones
which they are already performing. Therefore, no special skills or training is necessary.
Advantages of Job Enlargement: “Argyris feels that job enlargement avoids monotony
which is the result of high degree of specialisation and division of labour. Since a person performs a
variety of jobs, he remains interested in this variety.” An enlarged job can motivate the worker in the
following ways:

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1. Variety of Tasks: In job enlargement, horizontal loading of the tasks is there.

Increasing the number of tasks can reduce the level of boredom of the employees.
2. Enlarged and Meaningful Work Modules: Sometimes, the jobs are enlarged so
that one worker completes a whole unit of work or a major portion of it. This will increase
the satisfaction of the worker as he can see his contribution to the entire project.
3. Optimum Utilisation of Abilities: Enlarged jobs tend to better utilise the physical
and mental skills abilities of the workers. Enlarged jobs, with optimal levels of
complexity can create tasks, which are challenging but attainable.
4. Worker Paced Control: In job enlargement, workers move from a machine paced
production line to a job which is paced by themselves. The workers will enjoy his work
more, if he can vary the rhythm and work at his own pace. He will also feel less tired in
this way.
5. Meaningful Feed Back: Enlarged jobs allow for more meaningful performance
feedback. It will be even more motivating if it is tied to evaluations and organisational
rewards.
Disadvantages of Job Enlargement: According to Herzberg merely giving a worker
different kind of jobs is not enough because the basic nature of the job remains the same, As
such it does not work as a motivating factor. Rather, there should be upgradation of authority
and responsibility.
1. Job enlargement tends to be a costly affair.
2. Workers may require additional training for their enlarged jobs. Moreover, if job
enlargement involves breaking up of existing production line of work system and
redesigning a new system and training employees for it. the costs will be very
substantial.
3. Productivity may fall in the short run, due to the introduction of the new system.
4. Employee-unions often argue for increased pay because of the increased work load.
Job Enrichment: Job enrichment involves adding new tasks to your employee’s existing
role so they can contribute their full potential. Instead of taking a ‘boring’ job, employees are
now given opportunities that broaden their skill-set, and responsibilities. This helps them to
find meaning in their work, while accelerating their growth.
Features of Job Enrichment: Job enrichment is a strategy which the organizations use
to retain their employees and make them feel worthy. The following characteristics of job
enrichment will help us know more about it:
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1. Vertical Expansion: Job enrichment adds on functions like decision making to the
employee’s job profile which was earlier performed by the higher-level superiors.
Therefore, it is considered a vertical expansion of tasks.
2. Self-Disciplined: When the employees hold authority, responsibility and accountability
of their work, they tend to maintain a self-disciplined attitude and sincerity towards their
role in the organization.
3. Requires Skilled Employees: Job enrichment is a tactful strategy which is difficult
to be implemented if the employees do not possess decision making and problem-solving
skills.
4. Challenging Job: Allowing the decision making authority to the employees makes
their job more challenging and leads to employee empowerment and engagement.
5. Professional Approach: Job enrichment inculcates professionalism in the working
and attitude of the employees by providing them with worthiness and recognition.
6. Personal Accountability: The employee is wholly and solely responsible for his
work, i.e. his excellent work will be appreciated, and poor performance will be criticized.
7. Authority and Responsibility: The employees get the liberty of taking decisions
related to their work, and the employee is responsible for completing the given task
successfully.
Steps in Job Enrichment: The process of job enrichment consists of the following
steps:
1. Job Selection: Selecting jobs which are amenable to job enrichment.

2. Identifying the Changes: Identifying the changes that may enrich the selected jobs.

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3. Change in Contents of Jobs: Changing the contents of jobs by forming natural work
groups combining tasks and opening feedback channels. This will be done to provide self-
control, responsibility, achievement and advancement.
4. Employees Counselling: Training, guiding and encouraging employees whenever
necessary.
5. Job Integration: Integrating the enriched jobs with the daily work routine of the
organisation.
Job Rotation: Job Rotation is a management approach where employees are shifted between
two or more assignments or jobs at regular intervals of time in order to expose them to all
verticals of an organization.
Objectives of Job Rotation: The main objectives of job rotation are:

1. Reduction in monotony: Key objective of job rotation is to reduce the repetitiveness

in the job profile of the employee. It provides opportunity to the employee to work on
different position. It is a motivational tool to enhance job satisfaction.
2. Succession Planning: Job rotation develops a pool of employees who can replace the
existing working employees of the organization. It provides an immediate replacement for
the high profile employees working the organization through internal promotion.
3. Right Job fit: The objective of the job rotation is to place a right employee at right job
in the organization. Fitting right employee in right vacancy is the aim of the job rotation
program.
4. Exposure to all the verticals: Due to job rotation the employee get brief idea about
how things work in the organization. It provides basic knowledge about the operations of
the organization and makes the employee aware about their contribution in the outcome of
the organization.

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5. Improve the employee skills and competencies: Job rotation actually tests the
different skills and competencies of the employees. Due to exposure to diverse work
profiles the skills of the employees get sharpened and it increases their productivity.
6. Develop a Wider Range of Work Experience: Job rotation enrich the work
experience of the employees. It prepares them for the future challenges and helps them to
adapt as per the changes in the market.
Types of Job Rotation: There are several types of job rotation that organizations can use to
provide employees with a variety of experiences and skills. Some common types of job rotation include:
1. Horizontal Job Rotation: This involves moving employees between jobs at the same
level or within the same department. For example, an employee may move from a marketing
role to a sales role or from a customer service role to a support role.
2. Vertical Job Rotation: This involves moving employees between jobs at different
levels within the organization. For example, an employee may move from a junior-level
position to a more senior-level position, or from a technical role to a managerial role.
3. Interdepartmental Job Rotation: This involves moving employees between
different departments within the organization. For example, an employee may move from a
finance role to a marketing role, or from an engineering role to a human resources role.
4. Geographic Job Rotation: This involves moving employees between different
geographic locations within the organization. For example, an employee may move from a
regional office to a head office or from one country to another.
5. Skill-Based Job Rotation: This involves moving employees between different jobs
that require different skills or knowledge. For example, an employee may move from a
customer service role to a technical support role or from a sales role to a product
development role.
Advantages of Job Rotation: The following are the advantages:
1. Avoids monopoly: Job rotation helps to avoid monopoly of job and enable the
employee to learn new things and therefore enjoy his job
2. Provides an opportunity to broaden one’s knowledge: due to job rotation the
person is able to learn different job in the organization this broadens his knowledge.
3. Avoiding fraudulent practice: In an organization like bank jobs rotation is
undertaken to prevent employees from doing any kind of fraud i.e. if a person is handling
a particular job for a very long time he will be able to find loopholes in the system and use

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them for his benefit and indulge ( participate ) in fraudulent practices job rotation avoids
this.
Disadvantages of Job Rotation: The following are the disadvantages of job rotation:
1. Frequent interruption: Job rotation results in frequent interruption of work .A person
who is doing a particular job and get it comfortable suddenly finds himself shifted to
another job or department .this interrupts the work in both the departments.
2. Reduces uniformity in quality: Quality of work done by a trained worker is
different from that of a new worker .when a new worker I shifted or rotated in the
department, he takes time to learn the new job, makes mistakes in the process and affects
the quality of the job.
3. Misunderstanding with the union member: Sometimes job rotation may lead to
misunderstanding with members of the union. The union might think that employees are
being harassed and more work is being taken from them. In reality this is not the case.
Differences Between Job Enlargement, Job Enrichment & Job Rotation:
Here are the differences between job enlargement, job enrichment, and job rotation in tabular
form with common parameters:
Common
Job Enlargement Job Enrichment Job Rotation
Parameters
Redesigns the job to provide
Adds more tasks and Moves employees from one job
more opportunities for
Definition responsibilities to an to another on a planned or
employees to use their skills
employee's job. periodic basis.
and abilities.
To provide employees with a
To increase the scope of To enhance the quality of the
Purpose wider range of experiences and
the job. job.
skills.
Can increase motivation Can increase motivation due to Can increase motivation due to
Employee
due to increased variety increased autonomy and exposure to different work
motivation
and challenge. control. environments and tasks.
May lead to slight More likely to lead to Can improve job satisfaction
Job satisfaction improvement in job significant improvements in job by providing employees with
satisfaction. satisfaction. new experiences and skills.
Can lead to improved
May not lead to More likely to lead to
performance due to exposure to
Performance significant improvements significant improvements in
different work environments
in performance. performance.
and tasks.
Changes to job or Minimal changes May require significant changes
Minimal changes required.
environment required. to job or environment.
May require more time and May require planning and
Relatively easy and quick
Implementation resources to implement coordination between different
to implement.
effectively. departments or positions.

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Human Resource Planning (HRP): It is the process of forecasting the future human
resource requirements of the organization and determining as to how the existing human
resource capacity of the organization can be utilized to fulfill these requirements.
Objectives of Human Resource Planning: The main objectives of Human Resource
Planning are:
1. Achieve Goal: Human Resource Planning helps in achieving individual, Organizational
& National goals. Since Human resource planning is linked with career planning, it can
able to achieve individual goal while achieving organisational and national goal.
2. Estimates future organizational structure and Manpower Requirements:
Human Resource Planning is related with number of Personnel required for the future, job-
family, age distribution of employees, qualification & desired experience, salary range etc
and thereby determines future organisation structure.
3. Human Resource Audit: Human resource planning process is comprised of
estimating the future needs and determining the present supply of Manpower Resources.
Manpower supply analysis is done through skills inventory. This helps in preventing over
staffing as well as under-staffing.
4. Job Analysis: The process of studying and collecting information relating to operations
and responsibilities of a specific job is called Job analysis. Job analysis is comprised of
job description and job specification. Job description describes the duties and
responsibilities of a particular job in an organized factual way. Job specification specifies
minimum acceptable human qualities necessary to perform a particular job properly.
Need for Human Resource Planning: The following are the needs for human
resource planning:
1. Shortage of Skills: These days we find shortage of skills in people. So it is necessary
to plan for such skilled people much in advance than when we actually need them. Non-
availability of skilled people when and where they are needed is an important factor which
prompts sound Human Resource Planning.
2. Frequent Labour Turnover: Human Resource Planning is essential because of
frequent labour turnover which is unavoidable by all means. Labour turnover arises
because of discharges, marriages, promotion, transfer etc which causes a constant ebb and
flow in the workforce in the organisation.

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3. Changing needs of technology: Due to changes in technology and new techniques

of production, existing employees need to be trained or new blood injected into an
organisation.
4. Identify areas of surplus or shortage of personnel: Manpower planning is
needed in order to identify areas with a surplus of personnel or areas in which there is a
shortage of personnel. If there is a surplus, it can be re-deployed, or if there is a shortage
new employees can be procured.
5. Changes in organisation design and structure: Due to changes in organisation
structure and design we need to plan the required human resources right from the
beginning.
Factors Affecting the Human Resource Planning: There are two types of factors:

1. Internal Factors: The following are the factors:

a) Forecasts Regarding Business: The business forecasts will affect the HRP
process. For instance, layoffs as a result of decreased profitability.
b) Expansion: It analyses and identifies the exact demand for human resources within
the business.
c) Management Policies: Management policies lay a significant impact on the HRP
process. It consists of training employees for operating new machinery, skill
development programs, etc.
d) Type of the Organization: The requirement of the workforce varies in different
forms of organizations. A big firm needs huge manpower, whereas a small-sized firm
needs less workforce.

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2. External Factors: The following are the factors:

a) Government Policies: Any change in labour law directly affects the HRP process.
It may include changes in minimum wage rate, etc.
b) Demographic Changes: Demographics include factors like education & culture.
The HR managers have to plan policies according to the changes in these factors.
c) Competition: To remain competitive, managers need to recruit a qualified
workforce. The right personnel at the right place, working with maximum productivity.
d) Economic Conditions: The economic slowdown in the county leads to layoffs in
many organizations.
e) Technology: The technical changes and automation result in a decreased demand for
the workforce.
Steps in Human Resource Planning: Human resource planning is a process through
which the right candidate for the right job is ensured. For conducting any process, the foremost
essential task is to develop the organizational objective to be achieved through conducting the
said process.
1. Analysing Organizational Objectives: The objective to be achieved in future in
various fields such as production, marketing, finance, expansion and sales gives the idea
about the work to be done in the organization.
2. Inventory of Present Human Resources: From the updated human resource
information storage system, the current number of employees, their capacity, performance
and potential can be analysed. To fill the various job requirements, the internal sources
(i.e., employees from within the organization) and external sources (i.e., candidates from
various placement agencies) can be estimated.
3. Forecasting Demand and Supply of Human Resource: The human resources
required at different positions according to their job profile are to be estimated. The
available internal and external sources to fulfill those requirements are also measured.
There should be proper matching of job description and job specification of one particular
work, and the profile of the person should be suitable to it.
4. Estimating Manpower Gaps: Comparison of human resource demand and human
resource supply will provide with the surplus or deficit of human resource. Deficit
represents the number of people to be employed, whereas surplus represents termination.

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Extensive use of proper training and development programme can be done to upgrade the
skills of employees.
5. Formulating the Human Resource Action Plan: The human resource plan
depends on whether there is deficit or surplus in the organization. Accordingly, the plan
may be finalized either for new recruitment, training, interdepartmental transfer in case of
deficit of termination, or voluntary retirement schemes and redeployment in case of
surplus.
6. Monitoring, Control and Feedback: It mainly involves implementation of the
human resource action plan. Human resources are allocated according to the requirements,
and inventories are updated over a period. The plan is monitored strictly to identify the
deficiencies and remove it. Comparison between the human resource plan and its actual
implementation is done to ensure the appropriate action and the availability of the required
number of employees for various jobs.

Recruitment: Recruitment is searching for prospective employees and stimulating and

encouraging them to apply for jobs in an organization. Recruitment is a step-by-step process
of locating, identifying, and attracting qualified people to apply for the vacant post in an
organization.
Recruitment refers to attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people for a job at an
organization or firm.
Recruitment is a continuous process whereby the firm attempts to develop a pool of qualified
applicants for future human resources needs even though specific vacancies do not exist.
“Recruitment as process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply
for jobs in the organisation.” — Edwin B. Flippo

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“Recruitment is the development and maintenance of adequate manpower resources. It

involves the creation of a pool of available labour force upon whom the organisation can draw
when it needs additional employees.” —Dale S. Beach
Factors of Recruitment: The recruitment function of the organizations is affected and
governed by various internal and external forces. The internal forces are the factors that the
organization can control. And the external factors are those factors that the organization cannot
control. The internal and external forces affecting the recruitment function of an organization
are:
1. Internal Factors of Recruitment: For the internal mechanism of the organization,
some of the internal factors that affect recruitment are as follows:
a) Size of the organization: The recruitment process is affected by the size of the
organization to a large extent. Experience suggests that larger organizations recruit
more candidates than small ones. Large organizations find recruitment less problematic
than small organizations.
b) Recruiting Policy: The recruitment policy of the firm also affects the recruitment
process. This policy concerns candidates outside the organization, whereas others want
to recruit from internal sources.
c) Image of the organization: The image or goodwill of the organization also affects
recruitment. Organizations having a good image can attract potential and competent
candidates to a large extent. Good public relations, rendering public services, etc., help
enhance the organization’s image and reputation.
d) Image of job: Jobs had a good image in terms of better remuneration, working
conditions, promotion, career development opportunities, etc. can attract potential and
qualified candidates to a large extent.
2. External Factors of Recruitment: External factors concern the environmental
changes in the organization’s external environment. Some of the external factors that affect
recruitment policy are as follows:
a) Demographic factors: Demography studies the human population regarding age,
sex, occupation, religion, composition, ethnicity, etc. Demographic factors have a
profound influence on the recruitment process
b) Labour market: The labour market constitutes the force of demand and supply of
labour of particular importance.

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c) Unemployment situations: The unemployment rate of a particular area is yet

another influencing factor in the recruitment process. If the unemployment rate is high,
the recruitment process will be simpler and vice versa.
d) The social and political environment: The forces of the social and political
environment also influence recruitment policy. For instance, a change in government
can directly impact the company’s recruitment policy due to a change in government
rules and regulations.
e) Legal considerations: Legal considerations concerning employment provision for
underprivileged castes will positively impact the organization’s recruitment policy.
Sources/Methods of Recruitment: The eligible and suitable candidates required for a
particular job are available through various sources

Internal Sources of Recruitment: The following are the internal sources of recruitment:
1. Promotions: The promotion policy is followed as a motivational technique for the
employees who work hard and show good performance. Promotion results in
enhancements in pay, position, responsibility and authority. The important requirement for
implementation of the promotion policy is that the terms, conditions, rules and regulations
should be well-defined. For Example, the promotion of Bank cashier to Bank PO post.
2. Retirements: The retired employees may be given the extension in their service in case
of non-availability of suitable candidates for the post.
3. Former employees: Former employees who had performed well during their tenure
may be called back, and higher wages and incentives can be paid to them.
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4. Transfer: Employees may be transferred from one department to another wherever the
post becomes vacant. For Example, the transfer of the clerk from the accounts department
to the sales department.
5. Internal advertisement: The existing employees may be interested in taking up the
vacant jobs. As they are working in the company since long time, they know about the
specification and description of the vacant job. For their benefit, the advertisement within
the company is circulated so that the employees will be intimated.
Advantages of Internal Source of Recruitment: It includes various points such
as:
1. Motivation: If the employee or employers are placed from one junior post to another
senior post, then it will automatically motivate itself because it increases the position,
salary, authority, and so on.
2. Recognition: When internal employees or candidates are recommended for promotion,
they gain social and economic recognition amongst the organizational individuals.
3. Costs: Internal method of recruitment is less costly than the external method of
recruitment. The business houses save money on inviting applications from outside
through various online or offline advertisements.
4. Loyalty: When employees or employers are promoted by the organization, their
confidence or trust level increases. They fully associate with the organization and work
with full commitment. They also promote our kindness or loyalty to our organization.

Disadvantages of Internal Source of Recruitment: It includes various points

such as:
1. Limitation in recruitment: It means the number of jobs is limited in nature and it is
only for internal employees. No outsiders’ peoples are involved.
2. The conflict between the workers: If the employees do not get promotion on time,
then they create conflict with other promotional managers. It can reduce the efficiency of
organizational setup.
3. Dynamic concept: An organization works on the modes of a dynamic process where
the new technologies are changing every day and it takes time for an internal employee to
understand those changes. So, that is the reason, the organization recruits the candidates
from an external source because they all know very well about all those changes.

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External Sources of Recruitment: The following are the external sources of

recruitment:
1. Press advertisement: A wide choice for selecting the appropriate candidate for the
post is available through this source. It gives publicity to the vacant posts and the details
about the job in the form of job description and job specification are made available to
public in general. For example:- Sales executive vacancies advertised in various
newspapers.
2. Campus interviews: It is the best possible method for companies to select students
from various educational institutions. It is easy and economical. The company officials
personally visit various institutes and select students eligible for a particular post through
interviews. Students get a good opportunity to prove themselves and get selected for a
good job.
3. Placement agencies: A databank of candidates is sent to organizations for their
selection purpose and agencies get commission in return. For Example– ABC
Consultants, etc.
4. Employment exchange: People register themselves with government employment
exchanges with their personal details. According to the needs and request of the
organization, the candidates are sent for interviews.
5. Walk in interviews: These interviews are declared by companies on the specific day
and time and conducted for selection.
6. E-recruitment: Various sites such as jobs.com, naukri.com, and monster.com are the
available electronic sites on which candidates upload their resume and seek the jobs.
7. Competitors: By offering better terms and conditions of service, the human resource
managers try to get the employees working in the competitor’s organization.
Benefits of External Sources of Recruitment:
1. New talents get the opportunity.
2. The best selection is possible as a large number of candidates apply for the job.
3. In case of unavailability of suitable candidates within the organization, it is better to
select them from outside sources.
Limitations of External Sources of Recruitment:
1. Skilled and ambitious employees may switch the job more frequently.
2. It gives a sense of insecurity among the existing candidates.

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3. It increases the cost as advertisement is to be given through press and training facilities
to be provided for new candidates.
Recruitment Process: Every organization follows its own recruitment process, but there
are some basic steps that are followed by most the organization, which are listed here:

1. Preparing: Once the job opening is approved internally, the recruiter contacts the
hiring manager. This step is about gathering details about the open position. During the
discussion, the recruiter has to gather information, like the required skills, roles,
responsibilities, etc., and use this information to write a clear and inclusive Job
description. Based on the job description, they can write the job posting.
2. Sourcing: Once the job description is ready, the next step is to start the sourcing. It
refers to identifying and contacting qualified candidates rather than waiting for the
candidate to apply for the position. The primary goal is to pull qualified candidates. A
recruiter uses a variety of job portals to pull the resumes, but it is not essential that for
every position, sourcing is required. In some cases, if there are a large number of
applications, there may not be any need to source more candidates.
3. Screening: The Screening of a candidate can take place in many ways. Generally, the
first step is Resume screening. If the resume meets the criteria required for the job
opening, then the next step is the phone screening, in which, the recruiter can cover
topics, like the candidate’s availability, current role, and responsibilities, current salary,
salary expectations, Notice period, etc., and if he seems to be the right candidate, an
organization can process further with his profile.
4. Selecting: This process is about sending the assignments, psychometric tests and
scheduling interviews, participating in the interview process, and also keeping the hiring
manager in the loop for the whole process. It is about maintaining a good relationship
with the candidate and keeping the candidate updated about the interview feedback.

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5. Hiring: This step includes the final discussion with the candidate about salary, joining
date, etc. Once the joining date is confirmed, the offer letter is released. In some cases,
this step also includes background checks.
6. Onboarding: Once the candidate has accepted the offer letter, the process is not over
yet. This is where the pre-boarding period starts. This is the time between the joining
date and when the offer letter was accepted. And it’s very important to be in touch with
your candidate during this period to keep them engaged. If not done so, it can result in
them joining another company. It also includes sharing the new hire’s email and other
details with the team. Once the candidate starts the first day, it’s time to begin the
onboarding process.
Methods of Recruitment on Diverse Work Force: There are several methods of
recruitment that can be used to attract a diverse workforce. Here are some of the most effective
methods:
1. Job fairs and networking events: Attend job fairs and networking events that cater
to diverse groups. This can include events organized by women's groups, minority
organizations, or professional associations for specific ethnic or cultural groups.
2. Employee referrals: Encourage your current employees to refer candidates from
diverse backgrounds. This can help tap into networks that may not be accessible through
traditional recruiting sources.
3. Diversity-focused job boards: Post job openings on job boards that cater to diverse
candidates. This can include job boards that focus on specific ethnic or cultural groups,
women, or members of the LGBTQ+ community.
4. Social media: Use social media to promote your job openings and reach a wider
audience. This can include platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
5. University and college recruitment: Partner with universities and colleges to
recruit diverse candidates. This can include attending career fairs, speaking at events, or
sponsoring student organizations.
6. Blind resume screening: Consider removing identifying information such as name,
address, and schools attended from resumes during the screening process. This can help
reduce unconscious bias during the initial screening process.
7. Diversity training for recruiters and hiring managers: Provide training to
your recruiters and hiring managers on diversity and inclusion best practices. This can help
ensure that they are aware of their biases and can make more objective hiring decisions.
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8. Inclusive job descriptions: Use inclusive language in job descriptions and avoid
language that may be exclusive or discriminatory.
Definition of E-Recruitment: E-recruitment includes those practices and activities
carried on by the organisation through internet with the primary purpose of identifying and
attracting potential employees.
E-recruitment eliminates most of the manual recruitment processes that are time consuming
and hamper productivity of recruiters. Recruiter’s time is spent on the candidates that have the
best fit for both the company and the particular role that they are applying for.
Types of E-Recruitment: There are various types of e-recruitment that can be
implemented for the purpose of recruitment automation. The following are the most
common and popular:
1. E-Recruitment Software: E-recruitment software is currently the most popular
method that can be used to automate recruitment. The main features are that it automates
the recruitment process, eliminating the manual administration, e.g. screening of
candidates that do not need the basic criteria required, ranking of candidates to highlight
the strongest applicants, automatic communication at each stage of the process, tracking
of each applicant’s progress, reporting etc.
The recruiters are now able to concentrate on the strongest candidates, and the mundane,
administrative tasks are automated, such as emailing successful and unsuccessful
candidates, sifting through each application, informing the relevant managers etc.
Communication lines are improved hugely.
2. Online Recruitment through Social Networking: Recruitment through social
networking is the latest development in e-recruitment. Recruiters are increasingly leaning
towards this with the type of use of social media. It has helped leverage communication
between candidates and recruiters that was otherwise limited to just interviews and formal
discussions.
3. Internet Job Boards: Numerous internet boards such as monster and Naukri provide
places for employers to post jobs or search for candidates. Job boards offer access to
numerous candidates. Some internet locations allow recruiters to search for one website to
obtain search links to many other major job sites. Applicants can also use these websites
to do one match and then send their resumes to all jobs they are interested.
4. Professional/Career Website: Many professional associations have employment
sections at their websites. A number of private corporations maintain a specialised career

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or industry website to focus on IT, engineering, medicines and other areas. Use of these
websites may limit somewhat recruiters search time and efforts.
5. Employer Website: Despite the popularity of job boards and association job sites,
many employers have learned that their own websites can be effective and efficient when
recruiting candidates. Employers include employment and career information on their
websites. IT is important for the recruiting and employment portions of an employer
website to be seen as part of the marketing efforts of the firm.
Advantages of online e-Recruitment are:
1. No intermediaries.
2. Lower costs to the organization.
3. Online Job posting is cheaper than advertising in the newspaper.
4. Facilitates the recruitment with the required skills.
5. Reduction in the time for recruitment (over 65 percent of the hiring time).
6. Gives a 24*7 access to an online accumulation of resumes.
7. Online recruitment helps the organizations to weed out the unqualified candidates in an
automated way.
Disadvantages of Online E-Recruitment:
1. There is low and no access and lack of awareness of internet in many locations across
India.
2. Screening and expertise mapping and validness of millions of resumes is an issue and
tedious exercise for associations.
3. Organizations cannot be dependant solely and totally on the online e-recruitment
methods.
Selection: Selection is the process of choosing from the candidates, from within the
organization or from outside, the most suitable person for the current or future positions.
Dale Yoder said, “Selection is the process by which candidates for employment are divided
into classes those who will be offered employment and those who will not.”
David and Robbins said, “Selection process is a managerial decision-making process to predict
which job applicants will be successful if hired.”
Steps Involved in Selection Procedure: A scientific and logical selection procedure
leads to scientific selection of candidates. The criterion finalized for selecting a candidate for
a particular job varies from company to company. Therefore, the selection procedure followed
by different organizations, many times, becomes lengthy as it is a question of getting the most

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suitable candidates for which various tests are to be done and interviews to be taken. The
procedure for selection should be systematic so that it does not leave any scope for confusions
and doubts about the choice of the selected candidate.

1. Inviting applications: The prospective candidates from within the organization or

outside the organization are called for applying for the post. Detailed job description and
job specification are provided in the advertisement for the job. It attracts a large number of
candidates from various areas.
2. Receiving applications: Detailed applications are collected from the candidates which
provide the necessary information about personal and professional details of a person. These
applications facilitate analysis and comparison of the candidates.
3. Scrutiny of applications: As the limit of the period within which the company is
supposed to receive applications ends, the applications are sorted out. Incomplete
applications get rejected; applicants with un-matching job specifications are also rejected.
4. Written tests: As the final list of candidates becomes ready after the scrutiny of
applications, the written test is conducted. This test is conducted for understanding the
technical knowledge, attitude and interest of the candidates. This process is useful when the
number of applicants is large. Many times, a second chance is given to candidates to prove
themselves by conducting another written test.
5. Psychological tests: These tests are conducted individually and they help for finding out
the individual quality and skill of a person. The types of psychological tests are aptitude test,
intelligence test, synthetic test and personality test.
6. Personal interview: Candidates proving themselves successful through tests are
interviewed personally. The interviewers may be individual or a panel. It generally involves
officers from the top management. The candidates are asked several questions about their
experience on another job, their family background, their interests, etc. They are supposed
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to describe their expectations from the said job. Their strengths and weaknesses are
identified and noted by the interviewers which help them to take the final decision of
selection.
7. Reference check: Generally, at least two references are asked for by the company from
the candidate. Reference check is a type of crosscheck for the information provided by the
candidate through their application form and during the interviews.
8. Medical examination: Physical strength and fitness of a candidate is must before they
take up the job. In-spite of good performance in tests and interviews, candidates can be
rejected on the basis of their ill health.
9. Final selection: At this step, the candidate is given the appointment letter to join the
organization on a particular date. The appointment letter specifies the post, title, salary and
terms of employment. Generally, initial appointment is on probation and after specific time
period it becomes permanent.
10. Placement: This is a final step. A suitable job is allocated to the appointed candidate so
that they can get the whole idea about the nature of the job. They can get adjusted to the job
and perform well in future with all capacities and strengths.
Employment Testing: Employment tests are the best possible tool in understanding the
capacity of the candidate to adjust with the job requirements. How much a candidate can adapt
to the situation in the organization can be known with the help of tests. Various types of tests
are conducted to measure the analytical and logical capacity, reasoning ability, aptitude,
psychology and strength of the candidate.
Role of Employment Tests: The following are the roles of employment test.
1. Elimination of incompetent and unsuitable candidates becomes easily possible.
2. Psychological, mental and analytical capabilities of a person are identified.
3. It can be used as a tool to understand the nature of a person and their career
development.
4. Analytical, rational and objective comparison between the candidates is facilitated.
5. Accuracy and perfection in the selection procedure can be achieved.
Types of Employment Tests: Various types of employment tests use
1. On the Basis of Methods: The following are the tests.

a) Individual tests: They are used to measure attitude, interest and capacity to work of
a person.

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b) Group tests: A large number of candidates are tested together under the group test.
Generally, leadership skills are tested through this type.
2. On the Basis of Objectives: The following are the tests.

a) Interest tests: They are used to find out the area of work in which the candidate is
interested to work.
b) Intelligence tests: Mental ability, judgment capacity and learning skills can be
measured through these tests. The imagination and visualization capacity of a person
can be very well understood.
c) Personality tests:
Personal traits such as
emotions, expressions,
confidence and courage are
evaluated through it.
d) Trade tests: How much a
person is competent to do a
specific nature of job is
understood by conducting
the trade test.
e) Achievement tests:
Skills, abilities and
knowledge prescribed by the
candidate throughout the
selection process are to be practically checked through this test.
f) Simulation tests: The behaviour of a candidate in one particular circumstance is
measured by creating the artificial environment.
g) Assessment tests: The selected candidates will have to take up a lot of job
responsibilities in future. This test is conducted to extract the potential of a candidate
to work in the authoritative positions.
3. On the Basis of Aptitude: The following are the tests.

a) Vocational aptitude tests: This test helps to understand the adaptability of the
candidates for the job allocated to them. How much they are receptive towards the job
is measured through it.

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b) Logical aptitude tests: The candidate applying their own mind and ideas to make
their work perfect and interesting is called their logical capacity and innovation.
Basic Types of Interviews: The Various types of interviews are as follows
1. Formal Interview: It is held in formal atmosphere with pre-decided and planned
procedures and questions.
2. Informal interview: There is no specific procedure followed in this case. They are
conducted at any place, and any types of questions can be asked to the candidate.
3. Stress Interview: It is conducted to evaluate the behaviour of the candidate under
stressful conditions. How does a candidate react to stress? Whether they remain quiet and
calm or becomes stressed, can
be judged by creating different
stressful conditions around,
and the case with which they
get out of it indicates their
stress-handling capacity in
future.
4. Situation Interview: An
imaginary situation is told to
the candidates and they are
asked to respond to it.
5. Directive Interview: It is
structured interview. A same
set of questions is repeated for every candidate to make the comparison among the answers
received from them.
6. Non-directive Interview: It is non-structured interview. There is no specific format,
and any questions can be asked to candidates. Candidates are free to express themselves
under this type.
7. Panel Interview: A selection committee appointed for interviewing candidates is called
a panel. It generally consists of three or more members who collectively perform the task
of selection. The final decision is taken with the consent of all panel members.
8. Group Interview: Candidates are supposed to form groups, and one group together
will be interviewed at one time. It is a sort of group discussion. The person’s ability to
lead, their presence of mind and communication can be evaluated under this technique.
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9. Depth Interview: All the minute details of important nature are asked to a candidate
to have the extensive information about them.
Errors in Interviews: Interviews are a critical part of the selection process in HRM, but
they can be prone to errors that can affect the hiring decision. Some common errors in
interviews include:
1. Confirmation Bias: This occurs when the interviewer forms an opinion about the
candidate before the interview and then only looks for evidence that supports that opinion.
2. Halo/Horn Effect: This occurs when the interviewer is biased towards a candidate
based on a single positive or negative characteristic.
3. Stereotyping: This occurs when the interviewer makes assumptions about the candidate
based on their race, gender, age, or other characteristics.
4. First Impression Bias: This occurs when the interviewer forms an opinion about the
candidate based on their first impression, such as their appearance or demeanor, and then
only looks for evidence that supports that impression.
5. Lack of Structure: This occurs when the interview questions are not structured or
standardized, making it difficult to compare candidates objectively.
6. Biased Questions: This occurs when the interviewer asks questions that are biased
towards a particular answer or outcome.
7. Interviewer Dominance: This occurs when the interviewer dominates the
conversation, not allowing the candidate to fully express themselves or share their
experiences.
8. Overreliance on Gut Instinct: This occurs when the interviewer makes the hiring
decision based on their gut instinct rather than objective criteria.
To avoid these errors, HR professionals should receive training on how to conduct effective
interviews, use structured and standardized interview questions, and avoid bias in their
questioning and decision-making processes. Additionally, organizations should consider using
multiple interviewers to reduce the impact of individual biases and increase the objectivity of
the selection process.
(or)

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Errors in Interviews: Interviews are a critical part of the selection process in HRM, but
they can be prone to errors that can affect the hiring decision. Some common errors in
interviews include:
Errors by the Errors by the
S.No Explanation Explanation
Interviewer Interviewee
Failing to adequately research Failing to thoroughly
the candidate or have a clear Lack of research the
1 Lack of preparation
understanding of the job preparation company and the
requirements. role.
Failing to
Asking questions that are demonstrate genuine
Asking inappropriate Lack of
2 unrelated to the job or violate interest and
or illegal questions enthusiasm
legal and ethical boundaries. enthusiasm for the
position.
Failing to have a
Being Exhibiting rude behavior, Inadequate good understanding
3 unprofessional or interrupting the candidate, or research about the of the company's
disrespectful displaying unprofessionalism. company background, mission,
and values.
Not providing clear Neglecting to inquire
Not asking about
Failing to provide instructions or information about the follow-up
4 the next steps or
clear information about the role, company process and the
timeline
culture, or expectations. expected timeline.
Displaying excessive
Making judgments based on
Biases and Overconfidence or self-promotion or
5 factors such as race, gender,
discrimination arrogance appearing overly
age, or appearance.
confident.
Not actively listening to the
Providing unclear or
Lack of engagement candidate's responses and Lack of clarity in
6 vague answers to
and active listening failing to engage in the responses
interview questions.
conversation.
Relying too heavily
Failing to provide timely and Over-reliance on
on rehearsed answers
7 Inadequate feedback constructive feedback to memorized
instead of adapting to
candidates after the interview. responses
the specific question.
Not having a clear structure or Failing to showcase
Failure to
Lack of structure agenda for the interview, the ability to adapt to
8 demonstrate
and organization leading to a disorganized new situations and
adaptability
experience. challenges.
Failing to provide
Not having a consistent set of specific examples
Inconsistent Lack of examples
9 evaluation criteria, leading to and evidence to
evaluation criteria or evidence
biased decision-making. support claims and
statements.
Engaging in
Not allowing the candidate Inappropriate or excessive self-
Dominating the
10 enough opportunity to speak excessive self- promotion or
conversation
and share their experiences. promotion boasting about
achievements.
Failing to send a
Inadequate follow- thank-you note or
11
up email after the
interview.
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