HR Projects

Making HR Projects/Dissertation

While doing MBA one of the most important things is completion of your Summer and Winter Internships. These internships are designed to acquaint you to the ways of working in actual world. Also you become aware of your strenghts and weakness while working in organizations with strangers! Because when it comes to actual practice, bookish knowledge is sometimes outdated. And you start to think what happens to all those things learned in classrooms (or you may also get angry on yourself for not paying attention to the finer details told by your faculty in classroom). Anyways the point is Internships are really important and therefore you need to take them seriously; not as “mere one month excuse to not attend college”!

So how to go about it? First and foremost is choosing a company which will permit you to do a certain project on a selected topic of yours (we will come to “how to choose a topic” later) or will give you a “Live project” or on hand job. Sometimes they will pay for the work and sometimes they won’t. But remember money at this stage does not matter. Learning the work, the culture, the discipline is more important. Your college must surely have some MOU with leading companies which will help you in your projects. Placement Cell of any college will have list of companies offering internships to students.

And if you do not want to join the companies suggested by your college you are on your own. So be prepared, start early to find the right organization for you. So how do you find one? You can use your PR machinery-i.e. use your networking skills-ask your friends, relatives, seniors and hopefully within a month you may land in an organization of your choice. They will take your interview (hope your Resume is ready!) and will surely ask you about your topic of interest. They may also ask for Synopsis of your study. SO think before you go in for that interview. (How to make a Synopsis will be coming up later!)

Now that we have talked about the importance of internships and how to choose one let us now come to the “How to choose a topic?” question. As I have said earlier organization may suggest some topics to you on their interest level or may ask you to suggest one. Here I would like to draw your attention to one thing: Organization will surely not waste their time; they will therefore expect some logical, and fruitful work from your end. So a topic which will help them in some way of another will be something they will be interested in doing. Secondly such a topic will have less resistance while data collection from their employees. Data collection will from a very important part of your project and your books on RESEARCH Methodology will help you in that. We will surely discuss data collection in brief.

Being a faculty for Human Resource Management and Health Care Management I have some topics on these subjects which are as follows:

1.      A study on Training Needs Analysis at (name of the organization)

2.      A study on Training and Development practice and its impact on employee performance at (name of the organization)

3.      A study on Evaluation of Training at (name of the organization)

4.      A study on Performance Appraisal System and its effect on employee motivation at (name of the organization)

5.      A study on Employee satisfaction at (name of the organization)

6.      A study on effect of Welfare facilities on Employee satisfaction at (name of the organization)

7.      A study on Transactional Analysis and its relation on Interpersonal skills at (name of the organization)

8.      A study on Stress management and Job profile of employees at (name of the organization)

9.      A study on Organizational culture and its effect on employee relations at (name of the organization)

10.  A study on Grievance handling mechanism at (name of the organization)

11.  A study on Industrial Accidents &  Preventive Measures at (name of the organization)

12.  A study on Attrition and retention practices at (name of the organization)

13.  A study on Emotional Intelligence at (name of the organization)

14.  A study on Knowledge management at (name of the organization)

15.  A study on Competency mapping at (name of the organization)

16.  A study on Management of Medication errors of a Selected Hospital

17.  A study on management of biomedical waste of a Selected Hospital

18.  A study on A Study on Patient Satisfaction on Out Patient Department of a Selected Hospital.

19.  A Study on Material Management in the General Stores in a selected Hospital.

20.  A Study on the Medical Records Department with special Reference to Storage.

21.  A Study on the Effect of Human Resource Development on Job Satisfaction in a Selected Hospital.

22.  Role of Customer Relations in Healthcare Marketing in a Selected Hospital

23.  A Study to Assess the Existing Management Information System

Above mentioned are a few topics which can be worked upon, but there is no limit to your creativity. So think out of the box and work on it. Where there is will there is way!

So once you have selected a topic next important step is how to actually go about it?

Probably the organization you are working for will provide you with a Guide/Supervisor/Mentor who will be helping you in carrying out your project. In case that is not possible your faculties will surely help you. So first and foremost is establishing a good rapport with the HR team because they will be the ones who will be providing you with the basic information.

Secondly do not get anxious if you have nothing to do for first few days. Utilise this time to understand the company policies, read documents provided to you.

Preparing synopsis will help you in moving ahead. Its like a blueprint! So what makes a synopsis? Following things must be there to help you in moving in right direction:

1.      Introduction: This is the first part of your study. This will be having basic concepts in brief, importance of the study, Why do you want to work on this topic, etc.

Example: if your topic is “A study on Employee satisfaction” your introduction chapter will include meaning, concept, importance and factors affecting satisfaction. Also it will contain your reason of undertaking this topic.

2.     Company profile: This chapter will contain the basic information about the company: its mission, vision, Board of directors, its current state of business, its products or services, etc.

3.      Research Methodology: This is the most important part of your study, the soul of your project. Many students overlook this part and regret. So my request to all is that do not overlook this chapter.

·         First is the basic concept of research-definition, meaning, types.

·         Objective of the study: what is the purpose of the study?

        Example: To understand the reasons of employee dissatisfaction.

·         Hypothesis: Its an assumption that you make before beginning of the study and later try to prove it to be true or false, i.e. accepted or rejected.

Example: Higher Employee satisfaction helps in curbing grievances and increased productivity.

·         Data collection is the nest step where in you need data to prove your hypothesis.

·         Primary data is the one that you collect by means of questionnaires, observations, structured interviews, etc. This first hand information is then analysed and interpreted to make conclusions.

·         Secondary data is the one that you collect through books, internet, company policies, etc.

·         Data analysis and interpretation: Here you analyse the data gathered through primary data and make meaning out of it, i.e you can see whether your hypothesis stands or fails.

·         Conclusion: Writing conclusion will provide the reader with important points of the study.

·         Recommendations/Suggestions: here you provide some fruitful suggestions based on your interpretation of the data. The organization will incorporate these suggestions if they feel that those suggestions might help them.

·         Bibliography: Here you mark references of your secondary data. There are various formats (Harvard style, American psychological association style, etc).

Example: if you are giving reference of a book then following is the pattern-

Surname, Initials (year), Title of Book, Publisher, Place of publication.
e.g. Harrow, R. (2005), No Place to Hide, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.

Websites too must be named correctly: Google is a search engine and will give thousands of results to you. You need to name the site from which you have obtained necessary information.

www. Name of the website.com Accessed on date of visiting the site.

·         Annexure: here you need to have your questionnaire or structured interviews questions, or even any psychological tests that you have administered.

Note: Above mentioned points are not necessarily same everywhere. Consult your faculty or college for the same. The order and contents of chapter may change.

Now the most important thing is to construct a questionnaire or prepare a structure interview. Even though you will readily get questionnaires on internet you need to modify them for your project. Every organization has different need and you need to satisfy those.

Following are the general headings found in a questionnaire:

1.      Name of the employee/individual taking a survey (optional): optional at times because sometimes employees/people want to hide names in order to give correct information.

2.      Age: age plays a role in emotional, cultural or even behavioural profile of an individual. Sometimes young people are found to be more energetic, creative, and also impulsive, lacking in experience as compared to old ones.

3.      Experience: this will give us an idea as to how well the employee knows the organization’s rules, policies, etc. Here you can make a scale such as 0-3,4-7 and so  on.

4.      Department: where he/she works

5.      Job profile: what sort of job he/she does

6.      Educational qualification:

7.      If any other requirements are there such as family background, area of upbringing, etc it can be taken.

1.      Then according to your topic you can choose a Likert scale or YES NO questions/statements.

(http://psychology.about.com/od/lindex/g/likert-scale.htm) Likert scale is a type of psychometric scale frequently used in psychology questionnaires. It was developed by and named after organizational psychologist Rensis Likert. On a survey or questionnaire, a typical Likert item usually takes the following format:

2.      Strongly disagree

3.      Disagree

4.      Neither agree nor disagree

5.      Agree

6.      Strongly agree) 

Questions/ statements should be checked and approved from the HR personnel and then finalised. Too many questions may irritate the respondents. Therefore the question or statements should be clear, crisp and short. There can be open ended questions too in your questionnaire. Generally they are asking about opinions, views, etc.

Following is the example of a questionnaire on Employee satisfaction:

Questionnaire

1.      Name of the employee

2.      Age:

3.      Experience (in years):   

4.      Department:

5.      Gender:                    M             F

Make headings such as Company/Organizations, Job, Career and Development, Supervisor/Colleagues, Employee benefits. These will help in forming correct statements as well as in interpreting data.

Note: Following are only a few statements for your understanding. You need to have more such statements.

Tick any one from each sub-title ( -Strongly disagree, 2–  disagree , 3– neutral,

 4– agree, 5–  strongly agree )

Your Company

My company is one of the best companies to work for	(1)       (2)       (3)       (4)          (5)
My company treats me well.	(1)       (2)       (3)       (4)          (5)

Your JOB

I am satisfied with my job and the kind of work I do.	(1)       (2)       (3)       (4)          (5)
My job is challenging and interesting.	(1)       (2)       (3)       (4)          (5)

Career and Development.

The company makes every effort to fill vacancies from within before recruiting from outside.	(1)       (2)       (3)       (4)          (5)
I am satisfied with the job opportunities in the company.	(1)       (2)       (3)       (4)          (5)

Your Manager

My manager (immediate supervisor) trusts me.	(1)       (2)       (3)       (4)          (5)
My manager helps me to improve myself.	(1)       (2)       (3)       (4)          (5)

Employee Benefit

I am satisfied with the company’s employee welfare programs such as rewards, incentives, food coupons,insurance and health care, etc.	(1)       (2)       (3)       (4)          (5)
I am satisfied with the recreational activities provided by the company, e.g. picnics and annual dinner.	(1)       (2)       (3)       (4)          (5)

Open ended questions should be at last an can be as follows:

(1)   What do you need to improve your performance and productivity?

(2)   Give at least three suggestions to improve the work environment in this company?

Hope these suggestions are helpful to you in making your projects. Kindly give feedback in case you want to propose changes. Also I will be glad to help in any way possible.

All the best!

A process of Self Discovery- Johari Window

What do you know about yourself? Strange question, isn’t it? But the answer is definitely not “Everything”. And this article will help you understand why. Also it will lead to a process of self discovery and personal development.

To explain this let me give you an example.

1. When you look into a mirror it tells you what you look like-i.e. handsome, smart, untidy, and many more things. Also when you are asked to do a certain task you agree or disagree taking into consideration your abilities. And people are aware about your qualities. 

2. Sometimes you are unable to see what your friends, relatives, colleagues, or even strangers can see. For example bits of sandwich on your face, a bug on your back. Similarly when a teacher asks you to lead a school team she does so because she has seen that hidden potential of yours, and you are unaware of that. But when someone tells you have gained, made a new discovery about your own self.

3. Also there are certain things that others do not know about you. For example in a crisis situation you come up with a brilliant idea or save someone’s life others are astonished because others have never known that side of yours. But now they know you in a better way.

4. And at last there are certain things that neither you nor anyone else knows about you. And here lies the important part of Self discovery.

Friends, whatever has been mentioned above is nothing but a simple form of a model called as Johari Window developed by American psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in the 1950's, calling it 'Johari' after combining their first names, Joe and Harry

It is a easy and useful tool for understanding and training self-awareness, personal development, improving communications, interpersonal relationships, group dynamics, team development and inter-group relationships.

Johari window four regions

1. Open area, open self, free area, free self, or 'the arena' is that part which is known by the person about him/herself and is also known by others –
2. Blind area, blind self, or 'blindspot' is unknown by the person about him/herself but which others know
3. Hidden area, hidden self, avoided area, avoided self or 'facade' is that part which the person knows about him/herself that others do not know
4. Unknown area or unknown self  is unknown by the person about him/herself and is also unknown by others

‘Open self/area‘, 'free area‘, 'public area', 'arena‘:

This is a very important window of our personality. Also known as the 'area of free activity‘ it contains Information about the person - behaviour, attitude, feelings, emotion, knowledge, experience, skills, views, etc – known by the person ('the self') and known by 'others'. The importance lies in the fact that the more open you are about your feelings towards others it becomes easier to understand and work and live together.

Managerial importance: The basic objective of any team is to develop the 'open area' for every person, because when we work in this area with others we are at our most effective and productive and the team is at its most productive too. The open free area, or 'the arena‘ is the space where good communications and cooperation occur, free from distractions, mistrust, confusion, conflict and misunderstanding.

Blind self or 'blind area' or 'blindspot‘:

What is known about a person by others in the group, but is unknown by the person him/herself is aptly called as Blindspot. It could also be referred to as ignorance about oneself, or issues in which one is misinformed. This is not an effective or productive space for individuals or groups. The aim is to reduce this area by seeking or asking for feedback from others and thereby to increase the open area, i.e., to increase self-awareness.

Team members and managers can take active part in reducing the blind area by giving sensitive feedback and encouraging discovery .This will result in increasing the open area. Also our job is to accept these feedbacks in a practical and positive way and not as mere criticisms.

Hidden self' or 'hidden area' or 'avoided self/area' or 'facade'

This facade or “cover up” is something which  is known to ourselves but kept veiled from others. It represents information, feelings, etc, anything that a person knows about him/self, but which is not revealed or is kept hidden from others. Also include sensitivities, fears, secret plans,  - anything that a person knows but does not reveal.  Relevant hidden information and feelings, etc, should be moved into the open area through the process of 'self-disclosure' and 'exposure process'.

Many a times hiding information may hinder our own progress. We may hide our talents, our skills thereby hampering our won chances of promotion. We do not do this on purpose but it happens.

This can be done in an Organizational where a culture and working atmosphere is of trust and confidence. This will have a major influence on team members' preparedness to disclose their hidden selves. The extent to which an individual discloses personal feelings and information, and the issues which are disclosed, and to whom, must always be at the individual's own discretion.

‘Unknown self‘, 'area of unknown activity‘, 'unknown area'

This area includes information, feelings, latent abilities, aptitudes, experiences etc, that are unknown to the person him/herself and unknown to others in the group. This can be encouraged through self-discovery or observation by others, or through collective or mutual discovery.

Counselling is a very important tool to uncover unknown issues but to be handled with utmost caution as sometimes our unconscious has some traumatic past experiences or events which we do want to forget.

Managers and leaders can create an environment that encourages self-discovery, and to promote the processes of self discovery, productive observation and feedback among team members is important.

Thus we can help our own process of self discovery by telling ( i.e. making others aware about our feelings, emotions, abilities, talents, etc.), asking others what they feel or observed about us and engage in a continuous journey to know ourselves.

TIP: Now having read all this how to actually go about it?

1. You can make a list of all adjectives you can think of ( skills, qualities, feelings, emotions, etc) and mark a few words for  yourself. Such as I feel I am- MATURE, HELPFUL, PRACTICAL, FRIENDLY, and SENSITIVE. Now you can ask your friends, relatives, teachers, colleagues to mark a few words for you. And see the magic. You will have new adjectives for yourself, thereby leading to self discovery. BE honest here friends!

2. OR You can log on to www.kevan.org and make your own Johari Window.

SO why wait, go explore.......