UNIT – I Lesson 1 HRM – AN OVERVIEW Lesson Outline Nature of ...

impact. Demotion would be less frustrating to an employee if the placement in a
particular position had been notified as temporary and revocable.
3.18. b. Transfer is reshuffling of human resources from one unit of work place to
another. It involves lateral mobility of employees from one post to another within an
organization. Through transfers, people are shifted to a job that is comparatively
equivalent in pay, responsibility and organizational level. Transfers may be voluntarily
sought by employees or may be used as the sole prerogative of the managements. They
could be occurring on a mutual basis between two employees or as a sequence of transfers.
Transfers may occur within or outside functions, departments, units or divisions.
Transfers serve a number of purposes. They may be carried out to enhance
efficiency in the utilization of human resources through the redistribution of work force’s
size and strength according to changing needs. A transfer is said to be a replacement
transfer if it is caused due to the displacement of an existing incumbent in a job. It is called
remedial transfer if it is initiated to correct a previous incorrect placement. Transfers might
also be ordered to satisfy the requirements of employee to work under a better superior or
to move into a job with brighter career prospects or be in a more convenient location.
Transfers are also at times used to keep promotion ladders open to keep individuals
not having growth opportunities in their own department, continued to be interested in
their work. Some times, transfers are also effected to stall layoff. Since transfers expose
employees to others’ jobs, work can continue even during periods of emergency such as
accidents or strike, when some employees are unavailable to work. An employee may be
transferred because management feels that crucial forms of competence could be put to
use in another deserving place. Thus it becomes an employee assistance measure. Transfer
may be a developmental device to provide more exposure to the employees and make
them more versatile. Transfers may at times be necessary to diminish conflicts between
colleagues. Transfers may be used as a disciplinary measure to punish employees
indulging in any acts of misconduct. In this case, they are called penal transfers.
Transfers help reducing monotony and boredom felt by employees and thereby
enhance their satisfaction on job the morale of their groups. They can also prepare an
employee for challenging assignments in the future. The intervening authorities from
above could shift over-dominating employees. Better employer-employee relations and
stabilization of changing work requirements in different departments or locations are the
other beneficial outcomes of transfers. On the negative side, transfers might be viewed as
an inconvenience to those who are reluctant to move. Managers might feel that they are
unfairly made to move away from their pet projects and supportive superiors. Some