Back to Basics

Q1. How would you define HRM?

The policies and practices involved in carrying out the “people” or human resource aspects of a
management position, including recruiting, screening, training, rewarding, and appraising.

Q2. What is the scope of HRD?

1. HRD aims at anticipating the needs of the organization and meeting them in a planned way.
2. It includes developing the capabilities of line managers to handle development, grievances,
performance appraisal and punishment of their team.
3. It emphasizes on motivating the employees and building up a good work culture.

Q3. What is the importance of HRD?

HRD helps in:

1. Developing competent employees and committed workforce

2. Establishing role clarity
3. Generating great trust and respect
4. Minimizing resistance to change
5. Facilitating Human Resource Planning
6. Increasing productivity, Cost effectiveness etc.

Q4. What is job analysis?

Job analysis is the process of studying and collecting information relating to the operations and
responsibilities of a specific job. It comprises of job description and job specification.

Q5. What is the difference between job description and job specification?

Job description comprises of the job title, location, job summary, duties & responsibilities, tools
that will be used to perform the job and the working conditions. It is a written statement which
includes the above information. A proper job description helps in advertising the vacancy
effectively and attracting the right talent while Job specification comprises of the qualification
that a particular job seeks in the candidate. It includes educational qualifications, work
experience, personal qualities etc.
Q6. What is Recruitment?

1. Recruitment is the process of identifying, screening and hiring the most suitable
candidate for a job vacancy.
2. The candidate might be hired internally or from external sources
3. The process must be performed in timely and cost-effective manner
4. It can also be termed as a process linking the employers and the employees

Q7. Explain recruitment process.

The recruitment process tries to get the best manpower for the organization. It can be considered
as the first strategic step towards the success of an organization.

The process consists of following major steps:

1. Identifying the vacancy

2. Preparing the job specifications and description of the potential candidate
3. Advertising the requirement
4. Receiving and managing the applications
5. Short listing the candidates
6. Arranging the interviews
7. Conducting the interviews and deciding on the candidate

Q8. What are the various internal and external sources of recruitment?

There can be two kinds of sources of recruitment for organizations - Internal and External.
Internal recruitment - It means getting the candidate from within the organization to fulfil a
vacancy.

Internal recruitment can be done by:

1. Transfer - transferring an employee from one location/ department to another.

2. Promotion - Taking the employee higher up in the hierarchy
3. Ex-employees - These could be the retired or retrenched employees
4. Demotion - Lowering the position of an employee in the hierarchy for various reasons

External recruitment - It means getting the new candidate to the company. The sources of these
employee could be many:

1. Job notifications in the print/ online media

2. College campuses
3. Placement agents
 4. Unsolicited applicants
5. Employee referral program
6. Labor contractors

Q9. Explain the Internal And External Factors Affecting Recruitment?

There can be various internal and external factors which affect the recruitment process.
Internal factors: The factors which are under the control of organization are called internal
factors.
These could be:
1. Recruitment policy of the organization
2. Human Resource Planning
3. Expansion plans
4. Cost of recruitment

External factors: These are the factors which are not under the control of the organization.
These could be:
1. Availability of talent
2. Brand image of the organization
3. Politico-social environment
4. Legal conditions
5. Economic condition of the market
6. Recruitment policy of the competitors

Q10. What are the advantages of outsourcing the recruitment services?

Many organizations outsource their recruitment services to the placement agencies. The main
advantages of doing so are as follows:

1. It allows the organizations to focus on core and strategic activities

2. It leads to optimal use of resources and time
3. It provides access to the expertise of the placement agents
4. Reduction in recruitment cost

Q11. List the e-recruitment techniques. What are the advantages of e-recruitment?

E-recruitment means using the internet for recruitment services. Three main techniques used in
e-recruitment are:

1) Advertising on job portals

2) Building a recruitment section on company's website.
3) Screening the database of candidates on job portals

The advantages of e-recruitment are:

 1. Lower cost of advertising the job openings
2. Helps in saving time
3. Large pool of candidates to choose from
4. Day in - day out access to the database
5. Screening the database brings in only relevant candidates
6. Paper less process - more organized

Q12. Differentiate between recruitment and selection

1. Recruitment aims at searching for the talent and promoting the candidates to apply for the
position while selection is the process of screening the candidates to fill a position with
the most suitable candidate.
2. Recruitment process get a pool of candidates for the selection process to work and choose
the best one.
3. Recruitment encourages more and more people to apply while selection eliminates
unsuitable candidates to zero down on the best one.
4. There is no contractual agreement between the employee and the employer in the
recruitment process while after the selection a contract is agreed upon by the employee
and the employer.

Q13. What Is Performance Management?

Performance management is a system by which we should recognize and utilize the

employee’s skill, efficiency and as well as identifying his/her drawbacks, negative points and
try to remove those.

Q14. How Do You Endow with Performance Appraisal?

There are many ways to do Performance Appraisal:

1. 90-degree appraisal-- Where the performance feedback is taken only from the Supervisor.
2. 180-degree appraisal- Where the performance feedback is taken from the peers.
3. 360-degree appraisal- Where the performance feedback is taken from the supervisor the
subordinates, the peers, and the self-appraiser.

Q15. What kind of work culture do you think increases the motivation level of an
employee?
Following are some of the characteristics of the culture that increases motivation level of an
employee:

4. Suggestions and feedback from the employees are heard

5. Employees are well informed about the things affecting them
6. Communication among the team members and with the superiors is open in nature
7. Employees are trusted and treated with respect
8. Employees work and deliver as a team
9. Employees see a path to grow and are regular trained for development

10. Proper execution of these plans will result in a continued group and prosperity to those
involved.

11. As a group we feel that the biggest area for improvement is the recruitment and training
aspect. Since the largest resource the group has is its manpower, utilization of manpower
in a proper way can yield great results.

Q16. What are the various internal and external sources of recruitment?

There can be two kinds of sources of recruitment for organizations - Internal and External.
Internal recruitment - It means getting the candidate from within the organization to fulfil a
vacancy. Internal recruitment can be done by:

1. Transfer - transferring an employee from one location/ department to other. 

2. Promotion - Taking the employee higher up in the hierarchy.
3. Ex-employees - These could be the retired or retrenched employees
4. Demotion - Lowering the position of an employee in the hierarchy for various reasons

External recruitment - It means getting the new candidate to the company. The sources of these
employees could be many: 

1. Job notifications in the print/ online media

2. College campuses
3. Placement agents

Q17. Explain the internal factors affecting recruitment.

There can be various internal and external factors which affect the recruitment process. 

Internal factors - The factors which are under the control of organization are called internal
factors. 

These could be - 
 1. Recruitment policy of the organization
2. Human Resource Planning
3. Expansion plans
4. Cost of recruitment

Q18. Explain the external factors affecting recruitment

External factors - These are the factors which are not under the control of the organization. These
could be - 

1. Availability of talent
2. Brand image of the organization
3. Politico-social environment
4. Legal conditions
5. Economic condition of the market
6. Recruitment policy of the competitors

Q19. What are the main components of a recruitment policy?

1. Terms of recruitment
2. Sources of recruitment
3. Using the services of placement agents
4. Payment terms and conditions for placement agents
5. Recruitment of contractual employees
6. Obtaining requirements from departments
7. Selection process
8. Employment terms and conditions

Q20. Explain Poaching/ Raiding.

Poaching in recruitment means hiring the employee of a competitor who is working in the same
capacity as desired by you. This is a major challenge faced by the HR managers as it causes the
leakage of talent from an organization and effects its productivity. 

Q21. What qualities would you look for in consultants before getting them on board for
your recruitment activities?

1. Experience and expertise in the sector

2. Resources they possess
3. Achievements in the last projects
4. Flexibility and adaptability
5. Result orientation

Q22. What are the elements of an effective recruitment strategy?

The purpose of a recruitment strategy is to hire the best talent a company desires in a timely and
cost-effective manner. Following are the main elements of an effective recruitment strategy: 

1. Identifying the jobs

2. Type of candidates required depending on their - performance, experience, domain
knowledge. 
3. Sources to tab - job portals, campuses, competitor's employees, employee referral
4. Assigned recruiters
5. Process to evaluate and hire candidates

Q23. If you are required to recruit expats, what qualities will you try to judge during the
interview?

When there is a shortage of skills and talents at a particular geographical location, the company
tries to hire people from other geographical locations. These people are called expats. Sometimes
the companies require only expats for certain positions - depending on their recruitment strategy.
While hiring expats it is important to judge following qualities in them: 

1. Professional qualifications and expertise

2. Adaptability and Flexibility
3. Cultural sensitivity
4. Family conditions
5. Open mindedness
6. Any past international work experience
7. Level of self-motivation

Q24. What do you understand by "Equal Employment Opportunity"?

Equal employment opportunity means an equal and fair treatment for all people. There is no
discrimination among the employees or candidates based on: race, age, sex, marital status,
disability, sexuality, pregnancy etc. Equal employment Opportunities help in overall
development of both the society as well as the organization. They help the organizations in
creating a good image for themselves and discharging their social responsibilities.

Q25. Explain Employee Motivation

Motivation can be defined as the enthusiasm of an employee which causes him to take actions at
work.

Q26. Which non-monetary factors do you think help in building up the motivation level of
employees?

Following are some of the effective ways to motivate employees: 

1. Respectful treatment
2. Recognising the individual and performance 
 3. Training
4. Regular performance and behavioural feedback
5. Clear communication from the management
6. Involvement in activities that desire responsibility
7. Challenges
8. Clearly defined goals and plan of action

Q27. What kind of work culture do you think increases the motivation level of an
employee?

1. Suggestions and feedback from the employees are heard

2. Employees are well informed about the things affecting them
3. Communication among the team members and with the superiors is open in nature
4. Employees are trusted and treated with respect
5. Employees work and deliver as a team
6. Employees see a path to grow and are regular trained for development

Q28. Explain Maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs. Do you think it applies in real life?

Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs believes that everyone has some needs arranged in
hierarchical order. Only when a lower need is satisfied, does the higher need come into picture. 

Thus, the incentives offered to the workers at each level have to be different. 

These needs are classified as grouped as below: 

1. Level 1 – Basic needs – Food, clothes, shelter

2. Level 2 – Safety needs – Security and protection
3. Level 3 – Social needs
4. Level 4 – Esteem needs
5. Level 5 – Self actualization

Q29. Who proposed theory X and Y of motivation? What were the major differences
between X and Y observations?

Theory X and Y of motivation was proposed by Douglas McGregor. The major difference
between these theories are: 

1. Theory X takes a negative view of the employees while the Theory Y takes a positive
view. 
2. Theory X believes that employees are lazy and do not like work while Theory Y believes
that employees enjoy work. 
 3. Theory X believes that money is the only motivation for work while Theory Y believes
that the satisfaction that employees achieve after doing a work well is a bigger
motivation. 
4. Theory X believes in doing the business in an authoritarian way while Theory Y tries to
remove the barriers employees find in the way of their work.

Q30. Explain Employee Motivation and few non- monetary effective ways to motivate
employees

Motivation can be defined as the enthusiasm of an employee which causes him to take actions at
work.

Following are some of the effective ways to motivate employees:

1. Respectful treatment
2. Recognising the individual and performance
3. Training
4. Regular performance and behavioural feedback
5. Clear communication from the management
6. Involvement in activities that desire responsibility
7. Challenges
8. Clearly defined goals and plan of action

Q31. What is employee motivation? Which non-monetary factors do you think help in
building up the motivation level of employees?

Employee motivation is defined as the level of energy, commitment, persistence and creativity
that a company's workers bring to their jobs. In general, better employee motivation leads to
better engagement and productivity.

Following are some of the effective ways to motivate employees:

1. Respectful treatment
2. Recognising the individual and performance
3. Training
4. Regular performance and behavioural feedback
5. Clear communication from the management
6. Involvement in activities that desire responsibility
7. Challenges
8. Clearly defined goals and plan of action

Q32.What kind of work culture do you think increases the motivation level of an
employee?
Following are some of the characteristics of the culture that increases motivation level of an
employee:

1. Suggestions and feedback from the employees are heard

2. Employees are well informed about the things affecting them
3. Communication among the team members and with the superiors is open in nature
4. Employees are trusted and treated with respect
5. Employees work and deliver as a team
6. Employees see a path to grow and are regular trained for development

Q33. Explain Taylor's theory of motivation.

Frederick Taylor put forward a theory about worker’s motivation. Its main features are:

1. Workers do not enjoy work.

2. They need constant supervision
3. They are motivated mainly by the “salary”

Q34. What are the main points of Mayo's theory of motivation?

Mayo’s theory believes that money is not the only motivation for workers. They are highly
motivated by factors like:

1. Communication between them and managers

2. More involvement of manager in their work life
3. Working in teams

Q35. How is Mayo's theory different from Taylor's theory of motivation?

1. Taylor’s theory focuses on the negative aspect of a worker’s behavior while Mayo’s
theory focuses on positive aspects.
2. Taylor’s theory treats money as the biggest motivation while Mayo’s theory lays more
emphasis on non-monetary factors.

Q36. Explain Maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs. Do you think it applies in real life?

1. Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs believes that everyone has some needs arranged in
hierarchical order. Only when a lower need is satisfied, does the higher need come into
picture.
2. Thus, the incentives offered to the workers at each level have to be different.

These needs are classified as grouped as below:

 1. Level 1 – Basic needs – Food, clothes, shelter
2. Level 2 – Safety needs – Security and protection
3. Level 3 – Social needs
4. Level 4 – Esteem needs
5. Level 5 – Self actualization

Q37. What is Herzberg's theory of motivation?

Herzberg came out with two-factor theory of motivation which believed that there are certain
factors which enthuse motivation in workers while others de- motivate them. The factors
demotivating the workers are called the hygiene factors.

Motivators are the factors that give satisfaction. For e.g.

1. Recognition
2. Challenges
3. Responsibility

The other set of factors are hygiene factors – their presence doesn’t motivate the employees but
their absence surely de-motivates them. For e.g. –

1. Work conditions
2. Salary
3. Job security etc.

Q38. Who proposed theory X and Y of motivation? What were the major differences
between X and Y observations?

1. Theory X and Y of motivation was proposed by Douglas McGregor. The major

difference between these theories are:
2. Theory X takes a negative view of the employees while the Theory Y takes a positive
view.
3. Theory X believes that employees are lazy and do not like work while Theory Y believes
that employees enjoy work.
4. Theory X believes that money is the only motivation for work while Theory Y believes
that the satisfaction that employees achieve after doing a work well is a bigger
motivation.
5. Theory X believes in doing the business in an authoritarian way while Theory Y tries to
remove the barriers employees find in the way of their work.

Q39. What is the best way to develop pay systems?

Any system that you espouse to develop the remuneration system must be comprehensible,
practical, and acceptable. The remuneration system must comprise of 2 components, base rate
and the scope for increasing the base rate.
While determining the system you should essentially take into consideration the below
mentioned points in the mentioned order.

a. Job Descriptions: With the help of Job Descriptions you can determine the characteristics of
the particular job and will also help in determining the factors like skill, experience, effort and
working environment.

b. Job Evaluation: With the help of job evaluation you can again determine the compensable
factors. There are various analytical as well as non - analytical methods to evaluate a job, for
e.g., point ranking and factor comparison method in analytical ways and Ranking and Job
Grading in Non – analytical methods. By conducting the job evaluation you can determine the
worth of the job done by the employee.

c. Job Hierarchy: Once you have taken care of assessing the compensable factor, now is the
time when you will look into the hierarchy of the job and evaluate where in the hierarchy the
particular job falls in, is it in the top or middle or the lower side of the hierarchy.

d. Pay Surveys: Once you have established the hierarchy of the job, you now shall establish the
pay differentials. For this you need to conduct a market survey to see what the prevailing rates of
the job are in the same industry and set your pay scale in line with the market standards.

e. Pricing Jobs: Once you are done with the survey, you match your salary for the job and the
salary paid in the market for the same job.

And then you decide the pay level for each job hierarchy designed by you and then grouping the
different pay levels into pay grades.

Q40. What is HRIS?

HRIS stands for Human Resources Information System. The HRIS is a system that is used to
collect and store data on an organization’s employees.

In most cases, an HRIS encompasses the basic functionalities needed for end-to-end Human
Resources Management (HRM). It has a system for recruitment, performance management,
learning & development, and more.

Q41.What is Collective Bargaining and different phases in collective bargaining.

The Collective Bargaining is a technique to reach a mutual agreement between the employer
and the employee. Here the representatives of both the parties viz. The union and the employer
meet and discuss the economic issues such as wage, bonus, number of working hours and other
employment terms.’

Different phases involved are:

1) Preparation: At the very first step, both the representatives of each party prepares the
negotiations to be carried out during the meeting. Each member should be well versed
with the issues to be raised at the meeting and should have adequate knowledge of the
labor laws.
2) Discuss: Here, both the parties decide the ground rules that will guide the negotiations
and the prime negotiator is from the management team who will lead the discussion.
Also, the issues for which the meeting is held, are identified at this stage.
3) Propose: At this stage, the chief negotiator begins the conversation with an opening
statement and then both the parties put forth their initial demands. This session can be
called as a brainstorming, where each party gives their opinion that leads to arguments
and counter arguments.
4) Bargain: The negotiation begins at this stage, where each party tries to win over the
other. The negotiation can go for days until a final agreement is reached. Sometimes,
both the parties reach an amicable solution soon, but at times to settle down the dispute
the third party intervenes into the negotiation in the form of arbitration or adjudication.
5) Settlement: This is the final stage of the collective bargaining process, where both the
parties agree on a common solution to the problem discussed so far. Hence, a mutual
agreement is formed between the employee and the employer which is to be signed by
each party to give the decision a universal acceptance.

Q42. What do you mean by HR Audit?

HR audit is an important management control device. It is a tool to judge organizations

performance and effectiveness of HR management. It is an analytical, investigative, and
comparative process. It gives feedback about HR functions to operating managers and HR
specialists. It enables to know about the effectiveness of personnel programs. It further provides
feedback about how well managers are meeting their HR duties. It provides quality control check
on HR activities. It refers to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of HRM.

Q43. What is MBO?

Management by Objectives (MBO) is a personnel management technique where managers and

employees work together to set, record, and monitor goals for a specific period. Organizational
goals and planning flow top-down through the organization and are translated into personal goals
for organizational members. The technique was first championed by management expert Peter
Drucker and became commonly used in the 1960s.
Q44. What do you mean by on the job training and off the job training?

On-the-job training Methods:

Under these methods new or inexperienced employees learn through observing peers or
managers performing the job and trying to imitate their behavior. These methods do not cost
much and are less disruptive as employees are always on the job, training is given on the same
machines and experience would be on already approved standards.

Commonly used methods are:

1. Coaching
2. Mentoring
3. Apprenticeship
4. Understudy

Off-the-job Training Methods:

Off-the-job training methods are conducted in separate from the job environment, study material
is supplied, there is full concentration on learning rather than performing, and there is freedom of
expression.

Commonly used methods are:

1. Lectures and Conferences

2. Simulation Exercises

Q45. Explain 180 Degree Performance Appraisal System and 360 Degree Performance
Appraisal System?

180 Degree Performance Appraisal System

1) It is single-tier appraisal and feedback system.

2) Candidate performs the self-appraisal separately
3) His line manager performs the appraisal separately
4) They hold an appraisal meeting to discuss their reviews and agree on the ratings in
various areas.
5) This is followed by identifying the training and development needs and an action plan to
improve the performance.

360 Degree Performance Appraisal System

1) It is a multi-rater appraisal and feedback system.

2) The individual is assessed by a few people – superiors, subordinates, peers, customers
etc.
3) The assessment is performed on a specially designed questionnaire which measures
behaviours critical for the performance in the role.
4) The appraisal is performed anonymously by various people
5) The assessments are consolidated and shared with the candidate.