Management

SENIORITY IN THEWORKPLACE
• Seniority at work has many advantages for an employee, both on the job and in their personal
lives. Remaining loyal to a company may increase the perks you receive or a ect how you
structure your daily responsibilities.
Learning the function of seniority structures can help you decide if gaining seniority with your
company is worth pursuing. In this article, we explain what a seniority de nition at work is,
review its bene ts and discuss di erent industries that use this framework.

What does seniority mean at

Work?
• Seniority is the extended continuous service with a company or organization. This means that
people who have worked at a company the longest have the highest level of seniority. Those
with more history may be able to get a higher rank or status within their company and may
enjoy additional privileges. Employees with seniority often have the rst chance to claim or
accept bene ts, though people at other levels in the organization may eam the same perks
through di erent. strategies or means. The regulations surrounding seniority may di er from
company to company, but working in the same organization for several years can ear anyone
seniority.

Why is seniority important?

• Executives often consider seniority when adjusting the company's reporting structure or
responsibilities. They may also take into account job performance, adherence to deadlines, and
relationships with coworkers. In situations where two employees have nearly identical
credentials, seniority may be used as the deciding factor for which employee receives the
bene ts or advancement.

• Typical characteristics include:

• Less than 2 years of experience.
• Juniors need help with their work and may not have all the tools they need to do their job.
• They are not experts in the business or its processes.
• often, their work needs to be de ned, and they wait for new applications.
• Also, their work depends on the approval of others and is closely followed to avoid
mistakes.
• These professionals often become blocked or kessed when they face a stressful situation.

• Bank teller
• Customer service specialist
• Human resources coordinator
• Junior accountant
• Management trainee
• Payroll clerk
• Recruiting assistant
• Training specialist

• Mid-level
• Mid-level employees typically have established experience and have worked for their current
company or industry for ve or more years.
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 They may serve as supervisors for entry-level employees but also report to a manager or
senior-level executive. Within the mid-level, there is a subsection called the mid-senior level.
People with this seniority distinction may have authority over other mid-level employees but
also still report to another manager. Some mid-level jobs include:

• Some characteristics include:

• These professionals have 2 to 6 years of experience.
• A semi-senior professional is self-su cient. They can develop more complex functionality
and run larger activities. At this point, the person already knows and understands the
company's piccesses.
• This professional has more experience and can identify enhancements and work on new
requirements while addressing any pending task.
• They can respond to a pressure situation but need help from their work team.

• Administrative technician
• Executive assistant
• Facilities manager
• O ce manager
• Operations manager
• Physician assistant
• Team leader
• Ultrasound technician

• Senior-level
• Senior-level employees may also go by the title of executive-level employees or C-level
executives. These positions require a high level of experience in the eld, usually eight years or
more, and a history of repeated exceptional performance. This seniority level has the most
responsibility and often works without supervision. Instead, they may work with peers to
decide about certain situations or issues within the company. Some senior-level jobs include:

• Typical characteriatica include:

• These professionals have 6 years of experience or more.
• Senior professionals become a reference for many people within the company. Their
knowledge allows them to work or collaborate on more challenging and important projects for
the company.
• They understand the processes already established in the company and help innovate them
or de ne processes and methodologies from scratch. It is self-su cient and can oversee one
or more people.
• Senior professionals must take charge of the situation and overcome it despite the di culties.
They are committed to the cause and stand up to it with enthusiasm for the sake of success.
• They not only receive requirements but also generate them. And on many occasions, they are
the ones who
ahe company to improve its

• Chief executive o cer (CEO)

• Chief nancial o cer (CFO)
•Chief information o cer (CIO)
• Chief marketing o cer (CMO)
• Chief operating o cer (COO)
• Executive director
• Vice president

Is a seniority system legal?

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 • Seniority systems within an organization are completely legal. Collective agreements with
trade unions or within a particular organization may make the rules about these types of
hierarchical structures. With seniority systems, employees are discouraged from competing for
perks, such as by doing favours for supervisors.
They are also meant to prevent unethical behaviour, such as discrimination or unfair promotion
of friends and family members to senior positions.

New topic:

FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT
• Management has been described as a social process economical and e ective planning &
regulation of the operation of an enterprise in the ful llment of given purposes.
• It is a dynamic process consisting of various elements and activities. These activities are
di erent from operative functions like marketing, nance, purchase etc. Rather these activities
are common to each and every manger irrespective of his level or status.

• Di erent experts have classi ed functions of management.

• According to George & Jerry, "There are four fundamental functions of management i.e.
planning. controlling". According to Henry Fayol, "To manage is to forecast and plan, to
organize, to command, & to control".
• Whereas Luther Gullick has given a keyword 'POSDCORB' where P stands for Planning, O
for Organizing, S for Sta ng, D for Directing, Co for Co-ordination, R for reporting & B for
Budgeting.

• But the most widely accepted are functions of management given by KOONTZ and
O’DONNEL i.e. Planning, Organizing, Sta ng, Directing and Controlling.
• For theoretical purposes, it may be convenient to separate the function of management but
practically these functions are overlapping in nature i.e. they are highly inseparable. Each
function blends into the other & each a ects the performance of others.
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 I. Planning Function of Management
• Planning means looking ahead and chalking out future courses of action to be followed. It is
a preparatory step. It is a systematic activity which determines when, how and who is going
to perform a speci c job. Planning is a detailed programme regarding future courses of
action.
• It is rightly said 'Well plan is half done".
Therefore planning takes into consideration available & prospective human and physical
resources of the organization so as to get e ective co-ordination, contribution & perfect
adjustment. It is the basic management function which includes formulation of one or more
detailed plans to achieve optimum balance of needs or demands with the available resources.

According to Koontz & O'Donell,

"Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do and who is to do it. Planning bridges
the gap between where we are to, where we want to go. It makes possible things to occur
which would not otherwise occur"

Steps in Planning Function

1. Establishment of objectives
1. Planning requires a systematic approach.
2. Planning starts with the setting of goals and objectives to be achieved
3. Objectives provide a rationale for undertaking various activities as well as indicate
direction of e orts
4. Moreover objectives focus the attention of managers on the end results to be achieved.
5. As a matter of fact, objectives provide nucleus to the planning process. Therefore,
objectives should be stated in a clear, precise and unambiguous language. Otherwise the
activities undertaken are bound to be ine ective.
6. As far as possible, objectives should be stated in quantitative terms.
For example, Number of men working, wages given, units produced, etc. But such an
objective cannot be stated in quantitative terms like performance of quality control
manager, e ectiveness of personnel manager.
7. Such goals should be speci ed in qualitative terms.
8. Hence objectives should be practical, acceptable, workable and achievable.

1. Establishment of Planning Premises

1. Planning premises are the assumptions about the Iively shape of events in future
2. They serve as a basis of planning
3. Establishment of planning premises is concerned with determining where one tends to
deviate from the actual plans and causes of such deviations.
4. It is to nd out what obstacles are there in the way of business during the course of
operations.
5. Establishment of planning premises is concerned to take such steps that avoids these
obstacles to a great extent.
6. Planning premises may be internal or [Link] includes capital investment policy,
management labour relations, philosophy of management, etc. Whereas external includes
socio-economic, political and economical changes.
7. Internal premises are controllable whereas external are non- controllable.

1. Choice of alternative course of action

1. When forecast are available and premises are established, a number of alternative course
of actions have to be considered.
2. For this purpose, each and every alternative will be evaluated by weighing its pros and
cons in the light of resources available and requirements of the organization.
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 3. The merits, demerits as well as the consequences of each alternative must be examined
before the choice is being made.
4. After objective and scienti c evaluation, the best alternative is chosen.
5. The planners should take help of various quantitative techniques to judge the stability of
an alternative.

1. Formulation of derivative plans

1. Derivative plans are the sub plans or secondary plans which help in the achievement of
main plan.
2. Secondary plans will ow from the basic plan. These are meant to support and expediate
the achievement of basic plans.
3. These detail plans include policies, procedures, rules, programmes, budgets, schedules,
etc. For example, if pro t maximization is the main aim of the enterprise, derivative plans
will include sales maximization, production maximization, and cost minimization.
4. Derivative plans indicate time schedule and sequence of accomplishing various tasks.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PLANNING
1. Planning is goal-oriented.
1. Planning is made to achieve desired objective of business.
2. The goals established should general acceptance otherwise individual e orts & energies
will go misguided and misdirected
3. Planning identi es the action that would lead to desired goals q rickly & economically.
4. It provides sense of direction to various activities. E g. Maruti Udhyog is trying to capture
once again Indian Car Market by launching diesel models.

2. Planning is looking ahead.

1. Planning is done for future
2. It requires peeping in future, analyzing it and predicting it.
3. Thus planning is based on forecasting
4. A plan is a synthesis of forecast.
5. It is a mental predisposition for things to happen in future.

1. Planning is an intellectual process.

1. Planning is a mental exercise involving creative thinking, sound judgement and
imagination
2. It is not a mere guesswork but a rotational thinking.
3. A manager can prepare sound plans only if he has sound judgement, foresight and
imagination.
4. Planning is always based on goals, facts and considered estimates.

2. Planning involves choice & decision making.

1. Planning essentially involves choice among various alter natives.
2. Therefore, if there is only one possible course of action, there is no need planning
because there is no choice.
3. Thus, decision making is an integral part of planning.
4. A manager is surrounded by no. of alternatives. He has to pick the best depending upon
requirements & resources of the enterprises.

ORGANIZING FUNCTION OF MANAGEMENT

• Organizing is the function of management which follows planning.
• It is a function in which the synchronization and combination of human, physical and
nancial resources takes place. All the three resources are important to get results. Therefore,
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 organizational function helps in achievement of results which in fact is important for the
functioning of a concern.
• According to Chester Barnard, "Organizing is a function by which the concern is able to
de ne the role positions, the jobs related and the co-ordination between authority and
responsibility". Hence, a manager always has to organize in order to get results.

A manager performs organizing function with the help of following steps:-

1. Identi cation of activities - All the activities which have to be performed in a concern
have to be identi ed rst. For example, preparation of accounts, making sales, record
keeping, quality control, inventory control, etc. All these activities have to be grouped and
classi ed into units.
2. Departmentally organizing the activities - In this step, the manager tries to combine and
group similar and related activities into units or departments. This organization of dividing
the whole concern into independent units and departments is called departmentation.

STAFFING FUNCTION OF MANAGEMENT

• The managerial function of sta ng involves manning the organization structure through
proper and e ective selection, appraisal and development of the personnels to ll the roles
assigned to the employers/workforce.
• According to Theo Haimann, "Sta ng pertains to recruitment, selection, development and
compensation of subordinates."

Nature of Sta ng Function

• Sta ng is an important managerial function- Sta ng function is the most important
mangerial act along with planning, organizing, directing and controlling. The operations of
these four functions depend upon the manpower which is avallable through sta ng function.
1. Sta ng is a pervasive activity- As sta ng function is carried out by all managers and in
all types of concerns where business activities are carried out.
2. Sta ng is a continuous activity- This is because sta ng function continues throughout
the life of an organization due to the transfers and promotions that take place.

STAFFING PROCESS - STEPS

INVOLVED IN STAFFING

1. Manpower requirements- The very rst step in sta ng is to plan the manpower inventory
required by a concern in order to match them with the job requirements and demands.
Therefore, it involves forecasting and determining the future manpower needs of the
concern.
2. Recruitment- Once the requirements are noti ed, the concern invites and solicits
applications according to the invitations made to the desirable candidates.

1. Selection- This is the screening step of sta ng in which the solicited applications are
screened out and suitable candidates are appointed as per the requirements.
2. Orientation and Placement- Once screening takes place, the appointed candidates are
made familiar to the work units and work environment through the orientation programmes.
placement takes place by putting right man on the right job.

1. Training and Development- Training is a part of incentives given to the workers in order to
develop and grow them within the concern. Training is generally given according to the
nature of activities and scope of expansion in it. Along with it, the workers are developed by
providing them extra bene ts of indepth knowledge of their functional areas. Development
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 also includes giving them key and important jobs as a test or examination in order to
analyse their performances.
2. Remuneration- It is a kind of compensation provided monetarily to the employees for
their work performances. This is given according to the nature of job- skilled or unskilled,
physical or mental, etc. Remuneration forms an important monetary incentive for the
employees.

1. Performance Evaluation- In order to keep a track or record of the behaviour, attitudes as

well as opinions of the workers towards their jobs. For this regular assessment is done to
evaluate and supervise di erent work units in a concern. it is basically concerning to know
the development cycle and growth patterns of the employees in a concern.
2. Promotion and transfer- Promotion is said to be a non-monetary incentive in which the
worker is shifted from a higher job demanding bigger responsibilities as well as shifting the
workers and transferring them to di erent work units and branches of the same
organization.

Directing Function of Management

• DIRECTING is said to be a process in which the managers instruct, guide and oversee the
performance of the workers to achieve predetermined goals.
• Directing is said to be the heart of management process. Planning, organizing, sta ng
have got no importance if direction function does not take place.
• Directing initiates action and it is from here actual work starts. Direction is said to be
consisting of human factors. In simple words, it can be described as providing guidance to
workers Is doing work.
• In eld of management, direction is said to be all those activities which are designed to
encourage the subordinates to work e ectively and e ciently.
• According to Human, "Directing consists of process or technique by which instruction can
be issued and operations can be carried out as originally planned"
• Therefore, Directing is the function of guiding, inspiring, overseeing and instructing people
towards accomplishment of organizational goals.

Importance of Directing Function

• Directing or Direction function is said to be the heart of management of process and
therefore, is the central point around which accomplishment of goals take place. A few
philosophers call Direction as
"Life spark of an enterprise". It is also called as on actuating function of management because
it is through direction that the operation of an enterprise actually starts.
Being the central character of enterprise, it provides many bene ts to a concern which are as
follows:-

• It Initiates Actions - Directions is the function which is the starting point of the work
performance of subordinates, It is from this function the action takes place, subordinates
understand their jobs and do according to the instructions laid. Whatever are plans laid, can
be implemented only once the actual work starts. It is there that direction becomes
bene cial.
• It Ingrates E orts - Through direction, the superiors are able to guide, inspire and instruct
the subordinates to work. For this, e orts of every individual towards accomplishment of
goals are required. It is through direction the e orts of every department can be related and
Integrated with others. This can be done through persuasive leadership and e ective
communication. Integration of e orts bring e ectiveness and stability in a concern

Controlling Function of Management

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 • Controlling consists of verifying whether everything occurs in con rmities with the plans
adopted, instructions issued and principles established.
• Controlling ensures that there is e ective and e cient utilization of organizational
resources so as to achieve the planned goals.
• Controlling measures the deviation of actual performance from the standard performance,
discovers the causes of such deviations and helps in taking corrective actions

Process of Controlling
• Controlling as a management function involves following steps:
[Link] of standards- Standards are the plans or the targets which have to be
achieved in the course of business function. They can also be called as the criterions for
judging the performance. Standards generally are classi ed into two-
1. Measurable or tangible - Those standards which can be measured and expressed are
called as measurable standards. They can be in form of cost, output, expenditure, time,
pro t, etc.
2. Non-measurable or intangible- There are standards which cannot be measured
monetarily. For example-performance of a manager, deviation of workers, their attitudes
towards a concern. These are called as intangible standards.
2. Controlling becomes easy through establishment of these standards because controlling is
exercised on the basis of these standards

[Link] of performance- The second major step in controlling is to measure the

performance. Finding out deviations becomes easy through measuring the actual performance.
[Link] levels are sometimes easy to measure and sometimes di cult. Measurement
of tangible standards is easy as it can be expressed in units, cost, money terms,
[Link] measurement becomes di cult when performance of manager has to be
measured. Performance of a manager cannot be measured in quantities. It can be measured
only b,
1. Attitude of the workers
2. Their morale to work,
3. The development in the attitudes regarding the physical environment, and
4. Their communication with the superiors.
3. It is also sometimes done through various reports like weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly
reports.

1. Comparison of actual and standard performance-Comparison of actual performance with

the planned targets is very Important. Deviation can be de ned as the gap between actual
performance and the planned targets. The manager has to nd out two things here - extent
of devlation and cause of deviation. Extent of deviation means that the manager has i nd
out whether the deviation is positive or negative or whether the actual performance is in
conformity with the planned performance. The managers have to exercise control by
exception. He has to nd out those deviations which are critical and important for business.
Minor deviations have to be ignored. Major deviations like replacement of machinery,
appointment of workers, quality of raw material, rate of pro ts, etc. should be looked upon
consciously. Therefore it is said, * If a manager controls everything, he ends up controlling
nothing." Once the deviation is identi ed, a manager has to think about various cause which
has led to deviation. The causes can be-
1. Erroneous planning,
2. Co-ordination loosens,
3. Implementation of plans is defective, and
4. Supervision and communication Is ine ective, etc.
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1. Taking remedial actions- Once the causes and extent of deviations are known, the
manager has to detect those errors and take remedial measures for it. There are two
alternatives here-
1. Taking corrective measures for deviations which have occurred; and
2. After taking the corrective measures, if the actual performance is not in conformity with
plans, the manager can revise the targets. It is here the controlling process comes to an
end. Follow up is an important step because it is only through taking corrective measures, a
manager can exercise controlling.

• ISO (International Organization for Standardization)

• History of ISO
• ISO is the successor to the International Federation of the National Standardizing
Assoclations (ISA), which operated from 1928 to 1942
• In 1946, after World War II, ISA members and the United Nations Standards Coordinating
Committee held a meeting on international standards. Their work led to the formation of ISO as
a nongovernmental organization the following year.
• ISO published its rst standard, ISO/R 1:1951 (Standard Reference Temperature for Industrial
Length Measurements), in 1951. The standard is now known as ISO 1:2016. As of 2021, ISO
had published more than 24,000 standards.
• According to ISO, ISO is not an abbreviation. It is a word, derived from the Greek isos,
meaning "equal," which is the root for the pre x iso- that occurs in a host of terms, such as
isometric (of equal measure or dimensions) and isonomy (equality of laws, or of people before
the law). The name ISO is used around the world to denote the organization, thus avoiding the
assortment of abbreviations that would result from the translation of "International Organization
for Standardization” into the di erent national languages of members.
Whatever the country, the short form of the organization's name is always ISO.

• ISO is a nongovernmental
organization that comprises standards bodies from more than 160 countries, with one
standards body representing each member country. For example, the American National
Standards Institute represents the United States. Ss
• The ISO's General Assembly is its decision-making body. It consists of representatives from
the members and elected leaders called principal o cers. The organization has its
headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, where a central secretariat oversees operations.
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