introduction of personnel management assignment

Topic 1: Introduction to Human Resources Management

Human Resource Management was originally known as personnel or people management. In the past, its role was quite limited. Within any company or organization, HRM is a formal way of managing people. It is a fundamental part of any organization and its management.

The main responsibilities of the personnel department include hiring, evaluating, training, and compensation of employees. The human resources department deals with any issues facing the staff in their working capacity within an organization. HR is concerned with specific work practices and how they affect the organization’s performance.

Today, Human Resources Management deals with:

• Anything related to managing people within a company or organization. This means decisions, strategies, principles, operations, practices, functions, activities, and the methods used to manage employees.
• The type of relationships people have in their places of employment and anything that affects those relationships in a positive or negative way.
• Ensuring that employees are satisfied with the conditions of their employment. This leads to better services and production of goods and helps the company’s success.

When we talk about human resources in a business situation it means the workforce, i.e., the employees of a company and what skills and energy they bring. This includes any ideas, creativity, knowledge, and talents that employees bring with them and use to help the organization be successful. In other words, the resources a person has or the knowledge and experience developed over the years.

HRM focuses on bringing in (recruiting) new employees with new talents for the company and managing employees. Another function is to guide and help said employees by providing direction when necessary. In a large organization, with a lot of people, it is important to have a department that specifically focuses on staff issues. These issues are things like hiring, performance management, organizational development, training, occupational health and safety, motivation incentives, communication, workplace culture, and environment.

Human Resource Management is now a vital part of any organization. Every company or organization is required to have this department. It helps with increasing the morale of workers by working on relations between employees and their employers and constantly striving to make them better. The HR department also provides any support employees need to assist them improve their performance.

The HRM function extends to assessing the productivity and/or success of every department in an organization or business. It assists each department and helps them improve their work. It also intervenes

when necessary to help solve any problems that might arise with regards to employees’ work. Getting better results from the company’s workers is another job of HRM.

When a business has valuable, rare, and/or unique human resources it will always have a competitive advantage over other similar organizations.

Below are the criteria used in Human Resource Management – when using these effectively, a company can make an impact in its particular field.

– Value Building : People who try hard to decrease costs and to provide a service or product unique to customers, can increase their own value as employees and that of the company. Organizations also use empowerment programs, quality initiatives, and strive for continual improvement in order to increase the value that employees bring to the company.

– Rarity : When the skills, knowledge, and abilities of employees are not equally available to all companies in the same field, the company that has these people, has a very strong advantage. This is why top companies endeavor to hire and train the best and the brightest employees. This way they gain advantage over their competitors. In some cases, companies will even go to court to stop other organizations from taking away their valued employees. This proves that some companies have clearly identified the value and the uniqueness of certain employees.

– Incomparability : Employees give their companies competitive advantage when their capabilities and contributions cannot be reproduced by others. That is, the knowledge and skills that they bring to the organization are unique and not easily found elsewhere. Certain corporations such as Disney, Southwest Airlines, and Whole Foods have, over the years, developed very distinctive cultures that get the most from employees. These cultures are difficult for other organizations to imitate. Southwest Airlines, for example, rewards the employees who perform well. It is also able to maintain employees’ loyalty through offering free airfares and profit sharing in the company.

– Organized work force : People with unique talents can help a company achieve a competitive advantage when they can easily be reassigned to work on new projects without much notice. In order for this to happen teamwork and co-operation are needed and the creation of an organized system.

The criteria above show the importance of people power and also the link between human resources management and performance management. Many high-functioning organizations now know that their success depends on the knowledge and skills of their employees, or, their human capital. Human capital is aligned with the economic value of employees with the right knowledge, skills, and abilities. Their knowledge and skills have economic value. Managing human capital properly is imperative for any organization wanting to maintain a competitive advantage. In some ways it is the most important part of an organization’s human resource function.

The Objectives of HRM

The objectives of HRM are the goals of an organization. Individual or group activities are then organized in such a way so as to achieve those objectives or goals. Organizations and companies aim to secure and manage certain resources, including human resources, to achieve the specified goals.

Human resources must therefore be managed in a way that uses their resources to achieve the organizational objectives/goals. Basically, the objectives of HRM come from and contribute to achieving organizational objectives.

Objectives of HRM:

• To establish and use a workforce that is able and motivated, in order to achieve the goals of an organization.
• To create the desirable organizational structure and working relationships among all the members of the organization.
• To integrate individuals and/or groups within the company by matching their goals with those of the company.
• To ensure individuals and groups have the right opportunities to develop and grow with the organization.
• To use what human resources a company has in the most effective way to achieve organizational goals.
• To ensure wages are fair and adequate and provide incentives and benefits thereby satisfying both individuals and groups. Also, to ensure ways of allowing recognition for challenging work, prestige, security and status.
• To have continual high employee morale and good human relations by establishing and improving conditions and facilities within the organization.
• To improve the human assets by providing appropriate training programs on a continual basis.
• To try to effect socio-economic change in areas such as unemployment, under-employment and inequality by distributing income and wealth. This way society can benefit. Added employment opportunities for women and the disadvantaged will also be impacted in a positive way.
• To offer opportunities for expression.
• To ensure that the organizational leadership works in a fair, acceptable and efficient manner.
• To ensure a good working atmosphere and employment stability by having proper facilities and working conditions.

Functions of Human Resource Management (HRM)

Human resource management must plan, develop, and administer policies and programs that can make the best use of an organization’s human resources. This is the part of management’s role which deals with people at work and their relationships within the organization. Its aims are:

• To use human resources as effectively as possible;
• To ensure the best possible working relationships among all members of the organization; and
• To assist individuals to reach their highest potential.

In Human Resource Management, there are four major areas:

• Employee development, and
• Employee maintenance.

These four areas and any associated functions share a common aim. That is to have enough competent employees with the skills, abilities, knowledge, and experience needed to achieve further organizational objectives. Each human resource function (above) can be appointed to one of the four areas of personnel responsibility but there are also other functions that are designed for different purposes. For example, performance evaluation processes provide a stimulus and guide employee development. They are valuable for salary administration purposes also. The purpose of the compensation function is as a stimulus to keep valuable employees and also to attract potential employees. Below is a description of the typical human resource functions

Human Resource Planning

The human resource planning function serves to determine the number and type of employees needed to achieve the company’s goals. Research is performed in this function because planning requires information to be collected and analyzed for the forecasting of human resource supplies and the prediction of future human resource needs. Staffing and employee development are key human resource planning strategies.

Job Analysis

Job analysis is deciding on the job description and the human requirements that are needed for said job. The job description should include the skills and experience needed to perform the job. A job description clearly sets out work duties and activities that employees will be expected to perform. Job descriptions are essential because the information they provide to employees, managers, and personnel people influences personnel programs and practices.

Recruitment and selection of human resources (people) is what staffing is mostly concerned with. Human resource planning and recruiting is done before selecting people for positions. Recruiting is the personnel function of finding and hiring the best qualified applicants to fill job vacancies.

The selection function is used to choose the most qualified applicants for hiring from those attracted to the organization by the recruiting function. During the selection process, human resource staff are involved in assisting managers to decide which applicants to select for the given jobs and which ones to reject.

Orientation

Orientation is done in order to introduce a new employee to the new job and the employer. It is a way for new employees to get to know more intimate aspects of their job, including pay and benefits, working hours, and company policies and expectations.

Training and Development

Training and development is used as a means of providing employees with the skills and knowledge to do their jobs well. It must be provided to all employees. In addition to providing training for new or inexperienced employees, organizations often provide training for experienced employees as well. This may be because their jobs are undergoing change or the company needs them to work more effectively. Development programs are also done to equip employees for higher level responsibilities. Training and development programs are ways of making sure that employees can handle the stresses of their jobs and perform well.

Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal is an evaluation of an employee and his/her performance to make sure that said employee is working well and at acceptable levels. Human resource personnel are usually responsible for developing appraisal systems. The actual assessment of employee performance is done by supervisors and managers. Performance appraisal is necessary because the results of the appraisal can be used to motivate and guide employees’ performance. It also provides a basis for pay, promotions, and any disciplinary action if necessary.

Career Planning

Career planning is a process where an employee explores his/her interests and abilities and strategically works towards job goals. It has come about partly because many employees’ feel the need to grow in their jobs and to advance in their careers.

Compensation

It is the HR department that determines how much employees should be paid for certain jobs using a system of assessment. Compensation costs companies a lot so it is something that needs serious attention in the human resource planning stage. Compensation affects staffing because people generally want to work for an organization that offers more pay in exchange for the work done. It provides an important motivation for employees to achieve more in their jobs and reach higher levels. As such, it is related to employee development.

Work benefits are also referred to as fringe benefits. They are non-wage compensation that employees get in addition to their usual wages. Benefits are legally required items but employers can also more at their discretion. The cost of benefits is so high that they have become a huge consideration in human

resources planning. Benefits are mostly related to the maintenance area because they provide for many basic employee needs.

Labor Relations

Labor relations relates to the practice of managing employees who are members of a union. Unions provide employees with strength in numbers and have representatives who can advocate on their behalf if necessary, to deal with any discrepancies in pay, benefits, working conditions, and other work aspects. HR personnel are responsible for negotiating with unions and resolving any disputes.

Record-keeping

Record-keeping is essential and the most basic function of HR. Recording, maintaining and retrieving employee information when needed is done by the HR personnel. The type of records kept are related to the employees and include employment history, resumes, medical records, promotions, transfers, working hours, and lateness, etc. Keeping records up-to-date is a vital HR function. Employees today want to know what is in their personnel records and why certain things are there or not there.

Personnel records provide the following:

a) Up-to-date information about employees.

b) Procedures for comparing employees and their work to other employees.

c) Procedures for recruiting new employees, e.g. by showing the rates of pay.

d) Record of previous action taken regarding employees.

e) Statistics which check and guide personnel policies.

f) Information regarding legal requirements and how to comply with them.

Personnel Research

Research activities are an essential function of HR personnel. Research is done with the aim of obtaining personnel specific information in order to develop programs that work for an organization. Planning and reviewing are vital. Areas, such as recruitment, employee turnover, training, and terminations are all important areas to be researched. Employee opinions are also very important and can be obtained through surveys about wages, promotions, welfare services, conditions, job security and the like.

Even though research is so important, many companies neglect it because personnel people are too busy dealing with other more immediate problems.

Research is not done to deal with problems but to prevent them from occurring in the first place. The responsibility for research lies initially with the HR department but line supervisors and executives at all levels of management should assist. Trade unions and other organizations can give some assistance also and it should be made use of.

HR functions also include managing change, introducing new technology, innovation and diversity. Regular social audits of HR functions are necessary because of the large role HR plays within any organization. HR’s ultimate goal is to provide a link between the organization and the employees because the organization needs employees’ commitment. Employees need to be made aware of things like sales growth, restructuring plans, sharp price movements and any challenges facing the country and their organization in particular. This can be done by videos, films, lectures and booklets.

The main responsibilities of a human resource manager are:

– To fully develop knowledge of corporate culture, plans and policies.

– To initiate change where necessary and act as a facilitator.

– To actively participate in formulating company strategy.

– To be a consultant to change.

– To ensure communication remains open between the HR department and individuals and groups inside and outside the organization.

– To identify and advance HR strategies that match the company’s business strategy.

– To develop particular organizational teams and assist in the effective working relationships between the teams and individuals.

– To ensure the organization’s goals are achieved by effective co-operation of employees.

– To identify any problems, particularly in the HR area, and to find effective solutions.

– To contribute to the co-ordination and support services for HRD programs.

– To assess the effectiveness of HRD programs and to do research in order to find out how the HRD has affected (improved or otherwise) individual or organizational performance.

Pat McLagan is an award-winning author, speaker and coach of leadership development and management. She has identified nine new roles of HR.

• To bring the issues and trends concerning an organization’s external and internal people to the attention of decision-makers, and to recommend long-term strategies to support organizational excellence and endurance.
• To design and prepare HR systems and actions for implementation so that they can produce maximum impact on organizational performance and development.
• To facilitate the development and implementation of strategies for transforming one’s own organization by pursuing values and visions.
• To create the smoothest flow of products and services to customers; to ensure the best and most flexible use of resources and competencies; and to create commitment among the people who help us to meet customers’ needs whether those people work directly for the organization or not.
• To identify learning needs and then design and develop structured learning programs and materials to help accelerate learning for individuals and groups.
• To help individuals and groups work in new situations and to expand and change their views so that people in power can participate in leadership.
• To help people assess their competencies, values, and goals so that they can identify, plan, and implement development actions.
• To assist individuals to add value in the workplace and to focus on the interventions and interpersonal skills for helping people change and sustain change.
• To assess HRD practices and programs and their impact and to communicate results so that the organization and its people accelerate their change and development.

In recent years, Human Resource Management has received increasing attention. Its importance has been recognized and its role has changed from the traditional personnel management role to a more human resource management role.

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11.1 An Introduction to Human Resource Management

• What has been the evolution of human resource management (HRM) over the years, and what is the current value it provides to an organization?

Human resource management over the years has served many purposes within an organization. From its earliest inception as a primarily compliance-type function, it has further expanded and evolved into its current state as a key driver of human capital development. In the book HR From the Outside In (Ulrich, Younger, Brockbank, Younger, 2012), the authors describe the evolution of HR work in “waves”. 1 Wave 1 focused on the administrative work of HR personnel, such as the terms and conditions of work, delivery of HR services, and regulatory compliance. This administrative side still exists in HR today, but it is often accomplished differently via technology and outsourcing solutions. The quality of HR services and HR’s credibility came from the ability to run administrative processes and solve administrative issues effectively. Wave 2 focused on the design of innovative HR practice areas such as compensation, learning, communication, and sourcing. The HR professionals in these practice areas began to interact and share with each other to build a consistent approach to human resource management. The HR credibility in Wave 2 came from the delivery of best-practice HR solutions.

Wave 3 HR, over the last 15–20 years or so, has focused on the integration of HR strategy with the overall business strategy. Human resources appropriately began to look at the business strategy to determine what HR priorities to work on and how to best use resources. HR began to be a true partner to the business, and the credibility of HR was dependent upon HR having a seat at the table when the business was having strategic discussions. In Wave 4, HR continues to be a partner to the business, but has also become a competitive practice for responding to external business conditions. HR looks outside their organizations to customers, investors, and communities to define success—in the form of customer share, investor confidence, and community reputation. HR’s credibility is thus defined in terms of its ability to support and drive these external metrics. Although each “wave” of HR’s evolution is important and must be managed effectively, it is the “outside in” perspective that allows the human resource management function to shine via the external reputation and successes of the organization.

Catching the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Human resources outsourcing—entrepreneurial ventures.

Human resources is a key function within any company, but not all companies are able to afford or justify full-time HR staff. Over the last decade, HR outsourcing has become a good business decision for many small companies whose current staff doesn’t have the bandwidth or expertise to take on the risks of employee relations issues, benefits and payroll, or HR compliance responsibilities. This has led many HR practitioners to try out their entrepreneurial skills in the areas of HR outsourcing and “fractional HR.”

Human resources outsourcing is very commonly used by smaller companies (and often large companies too) to cover such tasks as benefits and payroll management. This is an area that has been outsourced to third parties for many years. More recent is the trend to have “fractional HR” resources to help with the daily/weekly/monthly HR compliance, employee relations, and talent management issues that companies need to address. Fractional HR is a growing industry, and it has become the service offering of many entrepreneurial HR ventures. Fractional HR is essentially as it sounds—it is the offering of HR services to a company on a part-time or intermittent basis when the company may not be able to justify the cost of a full-time HR resource. An HR professional can be available onsite for a specified number of hours or days weekly or monthly, depending on the company’s needs and budget. The HR professional handles everything from HR compliance issues and training to employee issues support. Also, for companies that are keen on development of employees, the HR resource can drive the talent management processes—such as performance management, succession planning, training, and development—for companies who require more than just basic HR compliance services.

How does a business leader decide whether HR outsourcing is needed? There are generally two factors that drive a leader to consider fractional HR or HR outsourcing—time and risk. If a leader is spending too much time on HR issues and employee relations, he may decide that it is a smart tradeoff to outsource these tasks to a professional. In addition, the risk inherent in some HR issues can be very great, so the threat of having a lawsuit or feeling that the company is exposed can lead the company to seek help from a fractional HR professional.

HR entrepreneurs have taken full advantage of this important trend, which many say will likely continue as small companies grow and large companies decide to off-load HR work to third parties. Some HR companies offer fractional HR as part of their stated HR services, in addition to payroll and benefits support, compensation, and other HR programmatic support. Having a fractional HR resource in place will often illuminate the need for other HR services and program builds, which are generally supported by those same companies. Whether you are an individual HR practitioner or have a small company of HR practitioners and consultants, fractional HR and HR outsourcing can be a very viable and financially rewarding business model. It can also be very personally rewarding, as the HR professional enables smaller companies to grow and thrive, knowing that its HR compliance and processes are covered.

• What do you believe is contributing to the growth of the fractional HR and HR outsourcing trend? Do you expect this trend to continue?
• At what point should a company consider bringing on a full-time HR resource instead of using a fractional HR resource? What questions should the company ask itself?

Human resource management provides value to an organization, to a large extent, via its management of the overall employee life cycle that employees follow—from hiring and onboarding, to performance management and talent development, all the way through to transitions such as job change and promotion, to retirement and exit. Human capital is a key competitive advantage to companies, and those who utilize their human resource partners effectively to drive their human capital strategy will reap the benefits.

Human resource management includes the leadership and facilitation of the following key life cycle process areas:

• Human resources compliance
• Employee selection, hiring, and onboarding
• Performance management
• Compensation rewards and benefits
• Talent development and succession planning

Human resources is responsible for driving the strategy and policies in these areas to be in accordance with and in support of the overall business strategy. Each of these areas provides a key benefit to the organization and impacts the organization’s value proposition to its employees.

Concept Check

• How has the function of human resource management evolved over the years?
• In what way do you usually interact with human resources?

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Faculty Resources

Assignments.

The Human Resources Management course includes a series of openly licensed written assignments and discussions aligned to specific learning outcomes and chapters. If you import this course into your learning management system (Blackboard, Canvas, etc.), all of the assignments and discussions (listed in the table, below,) will automatically be loaded into your LMS assignment and discussion-board tools. They can be used as is, modified, combined with your own assignments, or removed altogether.

The assignments in this course align with the following scenario:

You are a college senior who has been selected to participate in a hybrid internship/onboarding program with an elite HR research and advisory firm. Your training consists of a combination of formal education—specifically, enrollment in this Human Resource Management course—and a rotation in support of the principals of the firm. In your rotations, you will synthesize what you’ve learned in the relevant modules to address firm or client issues, conducting additional research as necessary and developing draft deliverables as instructed by the principal consultant. The quality of your deliverables – that is, your ability to convert learning into practical insight – will largely determine whether, at the end of the internship period, you are offered a position with the firm or simply thanked for your participation.

You can view them below or throughout the course.

Rubric for Assignments

There is also a sample rubric to assist you in grading. Instructors may modify these guidelines or use their own.

Discussions

The following discussion assignments will also be preloaded (into the discussion-board tool) in your learning management system if you import the course. They can be used as is, modified, or removed. You can view them below or throughout the course.

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Answer keys for the discussion posts are available to faculty who adopt Waymaker, OHM, or Candela courses with paid support from Lumen Learning. This approach helps us protect the academic integrity of these materials by ensuring they are shared only with authorized and institution-affiliated faculty and staff.

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• People Management

Personnel Management

Personnel management can be defined as obtaining, using and maintaining a satisfied workforce. It is a significant part of management concerned with employees at work and with their relationship within the organization.

According to Flippo, “ Personnel management is the planning, organizing, compensation, integration and maintainance of people for the purpose of contributing to organizational, individual and societal goals. ”

According to Brech, “Personnel Management is that part which is primarily concerned with human resource of organization.”

Nature of Personnel Management

Role of personnel manager.

Personnel manager is the head of personnel department. He/She performs both managerial and operative functions of management. His role can be summarized as :

Functions of Personnel Management

Follwoing are the four functions of Personnel Management:

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• Performance Appraisal Tools
• Performance Appraisal Biases
• Communicating Performance Appraisals
• Handling Employees After Performance Appraisals
• Importance of Performance Appraisals and How to Conduct them Effectively
• How Automation Can Help the Performance Appraisal Process Become More Efficient
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• Why Making CSR Outcomes Part of Performance Appraisals Helps Organizations
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1 Introduction to HRM: Meaning, definition, scope, objectives and functions of Human Resource Management

Garima Jain

1.      Learning Outcome:

After completing this module the students will be able to:

Understand the meaning and definition of

HRM. What is the scope of HRM.

Describe the Objectives of HRM.

Understand the functions of HRM.

2.      Introduction

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Why name human resource management?

Human : refer to the skilled workforce in the organisation .

Resource : refer to limited availability or scarce.

Management : refer to maximise or proper utilisation and make best use of limited and a scarce resource.

The success of any organization depends upon how it manages its resources. While several resources are the non – humanresource such as land, capital, and equipment, it is the human resource and its management which is at the heart of an organization’s success.

Human Resource (HR) refers to all the people who work in an organization called personnel . Human Resource Management refers to the organizational function which includes practices that help the organization to deal effectively with its people during the various phases of the employment cycle. HRM is management function concerned with hiring, motivating, and maintaining people in an organisation. It focuses on people in the organisation.

Source : http://thesis.tcdhalls.com/images/hrm-thesis.jpg

1.1 According to Lawrence Appley, “Working with, for and through people is the way in which a manager accomplishes his job. Maintaining good human resources is a Manager’s responsibility. Providing human satisfaction from work output and relationship is a Manager’s obligation.”

1.2 In the words of Mr. NR Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus, Infosys, “You must treat your employees with respect and dignity because in the most automated factory in the world, you need the power of human mind. That is what brings in innovation. If you want high quality minds to work for you, then you must protect the respect and dignity.”

1.3 In the words of John F. Kennedy, “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.”

3.  Meaning and Definition

Essentially, the Human Resource Management (HRM) is a management function that deals with recruiting, selecting, training and developing human resource in an organization. It      isconcerned with the”people” dimension in management. It includes activities focusing on the effective use of human resources in an organization. It is concerned with thedevelopment of a highly motivated and smooth functioning workforce. It also includes planning, acquiring, developing, utilising and maintaining ‘human resources’ in theachievement of organizational goals.

3.1 According to Edwin B. Flippo , “Human resource management is the planning, organizing, directing, and controlling of the procurement, development, compensation, integration, maintenance and separation of human resources to the end that individual, organizational and societial objectives are accomplished.”

3.2 The Indian Institute of Personnel Management defines HRM as, “Human resource management is a responsibility of all those who manage people as well as being a description of the work of those who are employed as specialists. It is that part of management which is concerned with people at work and with their relationships within an enterprise. It applies not only to industry and commerce but to all fields of employment.”

3.3 According to Tead and Metcaff , “Human resource management is the planning, supervision, direction and co-ordination of those activities of an organization which contribute to realising the definite purpose of that organization, with an animating spirit of co-operation and with a proper regard for the well-being of all the members of the organization.” 

3.4 Milkovich and Boudreau view HRM as, “A series of integrated decisions that form the employment relationship; their quality contributes to the ability of the organizations and the employees to achieve their objective.”

It is thus clear that human resource management is a specialized knowledge and practice concerned with the management of human resources in an organization. It constitutes a significant activity of the management. It attracts and selects capable men, organises them in productive groups, develops their potential, gives them necessary motivation and maintains their high morale.

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4.   Scope of HRM

The scope of HRM is indeed vast. All major activities in the working life of a worker -from the time of his or her entry until he or she leaves- come under the purview of HRM.

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4.1. According to Dale Yoder , the scope of human resource management consists of the following functions:

• 4.1.1.  Setting general and specific management policy for organisational relationships, and establishing and maintaining a suitable organisation for leadership and co-operation.
• 4.1.2.  Collective bargaining, contract negotiation, contract administration and grievance handling.
• 4.1.3.  Staffing the organisation, finding, getting and holding prescribed types and number of workers.
• 4.1.4.  Aiding in the self-development of employees at all levels providing opportunities for personal development and growth as well as for acquiring requisite skill and experience.
• 4.1.5.  Developing and maintaining motivation for workers by providing incentives.
• 4.1.6.  Reviewing and auditing manpower management in the organisation.
• 4.1.7.  Industrial relations research – carrying out studies designed to explain employee behavior

4.2. The Indian Institute of Personnel Management has described the scope of human resource management into the following aspects:

4.2.1. The Labour or Personnel Aspect: It is concerned with manpower planning, recruitment, selection, placement, induction, transfer, promotion, demotion, termination, training and development, layoff and retrenchment, wage and salary administration (remuneration), incentives, productivity, etc.

4.2.2. The Welfare Aspect: This aspect is concerned with working conditions and amenities such as canteens, creches, rest rooms, lunch rooms, housing, transport, education, medical help, health and safety, washing facilities, recreation and cultural facilities, etc.

4.2.3. The Industrial Relations Aspect: This is concerned with the company’s relations with the employees. It includes union-management relations, joint consultation, negotiating, collective bargaining, grievance handling, disciplinary actions, settlement of industrial disputes, etc.

All the above aspects are concerned with human element in industry as distinct from the mechanical element.

Source: https://bitsthoughtideas.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/hrm1map_small.gif

5.   Objectives of HRM

The primary objective of HRM is to ensure the availability of a competent and willing workforce to an organization. Apart from this, there are other objectives too.

Specifically, HRM objectives are four fold: societal, organisational, functional, and personal.

Figure 1 – Objectives of HRM

5.1. Societal Objectives

The societal objectives are socially and ethically responsible for the needs and challenges of society. While doing so, they have to minimize the negative impact of such demands upon the organisation. The failure of organisations to use their resources for society’s benefit in ethical ways may lead to restrictions. For example, the society may limit human resource decisions to laws that enforce reservation in hiring and laws that address discrimination, safety or other such areas of societal concern.

5.2. Organisational Objectives

The organisational objectives recognise the role of human resource management in bringing about organisational effectiveness. Human resource management is not an in    itself; it is only a means to assist the organisation with its primary objectives. Simply stated the human resource department exists to serve the rest of the organisation.

5.3. Functional Objectives

Functional objectives try to maintain the department’s contribution at a level appropriate to the organisation’s needs. Human resources are to be adjusted to suit the organisation ’s demands. The department’s level of service must be tailored to fit the organisation it serves.

5.4. Personal Objectives

Personal objectives assist employees in achieving their personal goals, at least in so far as these goals enhance the individual’s contribution to the organisation. Personal objectives of employees must be met if they are to be maintained, retained and motivated. Otherwise, employee performance and satisfaction may decline giving rise to employee turnover.

6.   Functions of HRM

Human Resources management has an important role to play in equipping organizations to meet the challenges of an expanding and increasingly competitive sector. Increase in staff numbers, contractual diversification and changes in demographic profile which compel the HR managers to reconfigure the role and significance of human resources management.

Human Resource or Personnel Department is established in most of the organisations, under the charge of an executive known as Human Resource/Personnel Manager. This department plays an important role in the efficient management of human resources.

Some of the major functions of human resource management are as follows:

Managerial Functions

Operative Function

Advisory Function

Figure 2 – Functions of HRM

6.1. Managerial Functions:

The Human Resource Manager is a part of the organisational management. So he must perform the basic managerial functions of planning, organising, directing and controlling in relation to his department. These functions are briefly discussed below:

6.1.1.   Planning: To get things done through the subordinates, a manager must plan ahead. Planning is necessary to determine the goals of the organisation and lay down policies and procedures to reach the goals. For a human resource manager, planning means the determination of personnel programs that will contribute to the goals of the enterprise, i.e., anticipating vacancies, planning job requirements, job descriptions and determination of the sources of recruitment.

The process of personnel planning involves three essential steps.

6.1.1.1. A supply and demand forecast for each job category is made. This step requires knowledge to both labour market conditions and the strategic posture and goals of the                          organization.

6.1.1.2. Net shortage and excess of personnel by job category are projected for a specific time horizon.

6.1.1.3. Plans are developed to eliminate the forecast shortages and excess of particular categories of human resources.

6.1.2.   Organizing: Once the human resource manager has established objectives and developed plans and programs to reach them, he must design and develop organisation structure to carry out the various operations. The organisation structure basically includes the following:

6.1.2.1. Grouping of personnel activity logically into functions or positions;

6.1.2.2. Assignment of different functions to different individuals;

6.1.2.3. Delegation of authority according to the tasks assigned and responsibilities involved;

6.1.2.4. Co-ordination of activities of different individuals.

6.1.3.   Directing: The plans are to be pure into effect by people. But how smoothly the plans are implemented depends on the motivation of people. The direction function of the personnel involved encouraging people to work willingly and effectively for the goals of the enterprise.

In other words, the direction function is meant to guide and motivate the people to accomplish the personnel programs. The personnel manager can motivate the employees in an organisation through career planning, salary administration, ensuring employee morale, developing cordial relationships and provision of safety requirements and welfare of employees.

The motivational function poses a great challenge for any manager. The personnel manager must have the ability to identify the needs of employees and the means and methods of satisfy those needs. Motivation is a continuous process as new needs and expectations emerge among employees when old ones are satisfied.

6.1.4.     Controlling: Controlling is concerned with the regulation of activities in accordance with the plans, which in turn have been formulated on the basis of the objectives of the organisation. Thus, controlling completes the cycle and leads back to planning. It involves the observation and comparison of results with the standards and correction of deviations that may occur.

Controlling helps the personnel manager to evaluate the control the performance of the personnel department in terms of various operative functions. It involves performance appraisal, critical examination of personnel records and statistics and personnel audit.

6.2. Operative Functions:

The operative functions are those tasks or duties which are specifically entrusted to the human resource or personnel department. These are concerned with employment, development, compensation, integration and maintenance of personnel of the organisation. The operative functions of human resource or personnel department are discussed below:

6.2.1.     Employment: The first operative function of the human resource of personnel department is the employment of proper kind and number of persons necessary to achieve the objectives of the organisation. This involves recruitment, selection, placement, etc. of the personnel.

Before these processes are performed, it is better to determine the manpower requirements both in terms of number and quality of the personnel. Recruitment and selection cover the sources of supply of labour and the devices designed to select the right type of people for various jobs. Induction and placement of personnel for their better performance also come under the employment or procurement function.

6.2.2.     Development: Training and development of personnel is a follow up of the employment function. It is a duty of management to train each employee property to develop technical skills for the job for which he has been employed and also to develop him for the higher jobs in the organisation. Proper development of personnel is necessary to increase their skills in doing their jobs and in satisfying their growth need. For this purpose, the personnel departments will device appropriate training programs. There are several on- the-job and off-the-job methods available for training purposes. A good training program should include a mixture of both types of methods. It is important to point out that personnel department arranges for training not only of new employees but also of old employees to update their knowledge in the use of latest techniques.

6.2.3.       Compensation : This function is concerned with the determination of adequate and equitable remuneration of the employees in the organisation of their contribution to the organisational goals. The personnel can be compensated both in terms of monetary as well as non-monetary rewards. Factors which must be borne in mind while fixing the remuneration of personnel are their basic needs, requirements of jobs, legal provisions regarding minimum wages, capacity of the organisation to pay, wage level afforded by competitors etc. For fixing the wage levels, the personnel department can make use of certain techniques like job evaluation and performance appraisal.

6.2.4.     Maintenance (Working Conditions and Welfare): Merely appointment and training of people is not sufficient; they must be provided with good working, conditions so that they may like their work and workplace and maintain their efficiency. Working conditions certainly influence the motivation and morale of the employees. These include measures taken for health, safety, and comfort of the workforce. The personnel department also provides for various welfare services which relate to the physical and social well-being of the employees. These may include provision of cafeteria, rest rooms, counseling, group insurance, education for children of employees, recreational facilities, etc.

6.2.5.     Motivation: Employees work in the organisation for the satisfaction of their needs. In many of the cases, it is found that they do not contribute towards the organisational goals as much as they can. This happens because employees are not adequately motivated. The human resource manager helps the various departmental managers to design a system of financial and non-financial rewards to motivate the employees.

6.2.6.     Personnel Records: The human resource or personnel department maintains the records of the employees working in the enterprise. It keeps full records of their training, achievements, transfer, promotion, etc. It also preserves many other records relating to the behaviour of personnel like absenteeism and labour turnover and the personnel programs and policies of the organisation.

6.2.7.     Industrial Relations: These days, the responsibility of maintaining good industrial relations is mainly discharged by the human resource manager. The human resource manager can help in collective bargaining, joint consultation and settlement of disputes, if the need arises. This is because of the fact that he is in possession of full information relating to personnel and has the working knowledge of various labour enactments. The human resource manager can do a great deal in maintaining industrial peace in the organisation as he is deeply associated with various committees on discipline, labour welfare, safety, grievance, etc. He helps in laying down the grievance procedure to redress the grievances of the employees. He also gives authentic information to the trade union leaders and conveys their views on various labour problems to the top management.

6.2.8.     Separation: Since the first function of human resource management is to procure the employees, it is logical that the last should be the separation and return of that person to society. Most people do not die on the job. The organisation is responsible for meeting certain requirements of due process in separation, as well as assuring that the returned person is in as good shape as possible. The personnel manager has to ensure the release of retirement benefits to the retiring personnel in time.

6.3. Advisory Functions:

Human resource manager has specialised education and training in managing human resources. He is an expert in his area and so can give advice on matters relating to human resources of the organisation. He offers his advice to:

6.3.1.     Advised to Top Management: Personnel manager advises the top management in formulation and evaluation of personnel programs, policies and procedures. He also gives advice for achieving and maintaining good human relations and high employee morale.

6.3.2.    Advised to Departmental Heads: Personnel manager offers advice to the heads of various departments on matters such as manpower planning, job analysis and design,  recruitment and selection, placement, training, performance appraisal, etc.

The functions are responsive to current staffing needs, but can be proactive in reshaping organizational objectives. All the functions of HRM are correlated with the core objectives of        HRM (Table 1).

For example- Personal objectives is sought to be realized through functions like remuneration, assessment etc.

                                                                   1-HRM Objectives and Functions

Source:http://www.nicheconsulting.co.nz/images/HRM_impacts_on_bottomline_results.jpg.

Human Resource Management is the management function that helps the managers to plan, recruit, select, train, develop, remunerate and maintain members for an organization.

Maintaining good human resources is the manager’s responsibility. Providing human satisfaction from work output and relationship is a manager’s obligation

The scope of HRM is very large. All major activities in the working life of a worker i.e. from the time of his or her entry until he or she leaves the organisation comes under the purview of HRM.

HRM has four objectives of societal, organizational, functional and personal development.

HR manager performs three functions within organizations like managerial, operative and advisory functions

Books and References

• Aswathappa, K. Human Resource Management. Tata McGraw-Hill. • Dessler, Varkkey. Human Resource Management. Pearson. • www.aast.edu/…/pdf_retreive.php?url…HRM12e_PPT…ppt.. • lib.vcomsats.edu.pk/library/MGT450/…/LECTURE%201%20new.ppt

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INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

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Personnel Management: Definition, Scope, Concept, Objectives, Functions and Importance

In this article we will discuss about Personnel Management! Learn about:

1. Personnel Management- Introduction 2. What is Personnel Management 3. Philosophy 4. Personnel Management as a Discipline , Art or Science 5. Nature 6. Scope 7. Concept 8. Features 9. Objectives 10. Principles 11. Functions 12. Importance 13. Roles.

Personnel Management: Definition , Nature, Scope, Concept, Objectives, Functions & Importance

Personnel management – introduction to personnel management.

Over the years, many sweeping changes have contributed to the emergence of a new discipline called Human Resource Management. As a result, the clerical, record keeping, administrative aspects of personnel function, too, had to undergo a rapid transformation.

Far from being a strict administrator, vigilant appraiser of performance, a legal advisor the personnel man is compelled by circumstances to assume a different set of roles. He would no doubt be performing the mediating and firefighting roles — apart from the pivotal role of being a policeman supervising work from close quarters.

Additionally, he is forced to assume the mantle of being a change agent, integrator, trainer, educator, developer, counselor, coach, mentor and a problem solver. He is also made to participate in the decision-making process at the highest level. He is also made to exchange notes with cross-functional teams and inculcate the team spirit among the rank and file.

Far from being a cost centre, the personnel department is being viewed as a valuable investment, a kind of an irreplaceable, outstanding asset with great promise and potential to yield concrete results for years to come.

The personnel man is supposed to play a proactive and strategic role in transforming the attitudes of people, in bringing management to the table to discuss all organisation-related issues and problems in an open and transparent manner, and in setting strategic goals in sync with demands of the environment — keeping the expectations and aspirations of people in mind.

He is supposed to monitor progress, undertake course corrections, and put people on track. The rapid technological advances, the innovations, and other shocks brought in by competitive forces must be constantly observed so as to prepare people for the emerging challenges. Integrating corporate goals with employee expectations is the other major challenge that the personnel people are expected to handle with competence.

Other important issues such as attracting and retaining talent, keeping the organisation agile and flexible, managing inter- group and intra-group relations and looking after the welfare issues of the vast army of people working in an organisation would also merit constant attention in the new scheme of things.

What is Personnel Management (with Definition)?

HRM / Personnel management can be seen as that part of the management task which is concerned with the human resources of the organization and their contribution to its effectiveness.

HRM/Personnel management’s central concern is the efficient utilization of human resources. The Institute of Personnel Management in U.K. says that personnel management is that part of the management process concerned with recruiting and selecting people; training and developing them for their work; ensuring that their payment and conditions of employment are appropriate, where necessary negotiating such terms of employment with trade unions; advising on healthy and appropriate working conditions; the organization of people at work, and the encouragement of relations between management and work people.

Definition of Personnel Management:

C.H. Northcott defines Personnel Management as follows:

“Personnel Management is an extension of general management, that of prompting and stimulating every employee to make his fullest contribution to the purpose of business.”

According to Dale Yoder “The management of human resources is viewed as a system in which participants seek to attain both individual and group goals.” He maintains that “its objective is to understand what has happened and is happening and to be prepared for what will happen in the area of working relationships between the managers and the managed.”

In the view of Scott, Clothier, and Spriegel, “Personnel Management is that branch of management which is responsible on a staff basis for concentrating on those aspects of operation which are primarily concerned with the relationship of management to employees and employees to employees and with the development of the individual and the group. The objective is to attain maximum individual development, desirable working relationship between employers and employees, and effective moulding of human resources as contrasted with physical resources”.

According to Michael Jucius, Personnel administration can be defined as:

“The field of management which has to do with planning, organizing, directing and controlling various operative functions of procuring, developing,’ maintaining and utilizing a labour force, such that the- (a) objectives, for which the company is established are attained economically and effectively; (b) objectives of the levels of personnel are served to the highest possible degree; and (c) objectives of the community are duly considered and served.”

Thus, this definition tries to co-ordinate the objectives of the company, objectives of the personnel, and objectives of the society. Accordingly,’ personnel administration is concerned with the managerial functions of planning, organizing, directing and controlling as well as the operative functions of procurement, development maintenance, and utilization so as to attain all the goals economically and effectively.

Edwin B. Flippo offer a comprehensive definition as follows:

“Personnel management is the planning, organizing, directing and controlling of the procurement, development, compensation, integration, maintenance and separation of human resources to the end that individual, organizational and societal objectives are accomplished”. This definition covers both the management functions and the operative functions. The purpose of all these functions is to assist in the accomplishment of basic organizational, individual, and societal goals.

The Institute of Personnel Management in U.K. defines personnel management as follows:

“Personnel management is that part of the management function which is primarily concerned with the human relationships within an organization. Its objective is the maintenance of those relationships on a basis which, by consideration of the wellbeing of the individual, enables all those engaged in the undertaking to make their maximum personal contribution to the effective working of that undertaking.” (1945).

This definition has also been adopted by the Indian Institute of Personnel Management.

The Institute of Personnel Management in U.K. modified their definition in 1965 as follows:

“Personnel management is that part of management concerned with people at work and with their relationship within an enterprise. Its aim is to bring together and develop into an effective organization the men and women who make up an enterprise and having regard for the well-being of the individual and of working groups, to enable them to make their best contribution to its success”.

This definition essentially makes it clear that personnel management is basically concerned with “men-at-work” and with their “group relationships” with a view to achieve the objectives of the organization through their maximum personal contribution towards the work-goal achievement.

Personnel Management – Philosophy

Over the years, Personnel Managers have witnessed the sweeping changes that have hit the industrial world from every part of the globe. The journey from regimentation and tight control to democratisation and peaceful coexistence is not a smooth one. It was the employer who had the final say initially.

The entry of trade unions has changed the rules of the game, more or less, permanently. Unions celebrated their victorious march on several occasions, for a painfully long time though. The 1980 and the 1990s saw competition heating up all over the world. The battle for survival began and more and more companies had to enter the global race in order to survive.

As customers started demanding more efficient and effective services from companies, both the employers and employees have realised the importance of working cooperatively in order to realise their own dreams, aspirations and expectations. With every turn and twist in this journey, the beliefs, attitudes and actions of Personnel Managers have undergone a rapid change.

They have also come to realise the dramatic shift in their roles. The emotional baggage of yesteryears is left at the gate itself. They have learnt the art of getting along with people through transparent policies, supportive communication, democratic principles, and mutually satisfying benefit plans and reward packages.

Let us recount these experiences in a systematic manner, thus:

1. Tight Controls Do Not Produce Results:

The philosophical roots of personnel management are very strong. Gone are the days when employees are treated like commodities. The fallacious reasoning that people work for money only is also put to rest.

Discussions about getting things done through people using coercive steps, control measures, arm twisting tactics, etc. are not encouraged in the industrial world these days. Employers have also realised the painful fact that such tight controls, strong supervision and rigorous disciplinary steps may work only in emergency situations but not always.

2. People Want Freedom:

People resist any steps that would come in the way of their democratic rights and personal freedom. In the name of higher productivity, you cannot put people to tasks which they do not like, tasks which demand too much, tasks which are boring and monotonous. People want to be recognised, praised and appreciated. They need the company of others.

3. People Love the Company of Others:

They want to share their concerns, feelings, thoughts with others while at work. You cannot erect barriers between people and prevent them from having fun while at work. Any attempt to do so will be resisted strongly. The industrial history has proved this point on more than one occasion. People have a genuine hunger for interaction. After all, man is a social animal.

4. Make People Happy and Satisfied:

Instead of turning the factory into a fortress, managers should focus attention on how to make people happy and satisfied. This can happen only when people are treated with respect and dignity — when they are given an opportunity to utilise their talents fully, when they are put on jobs which are interesting and rewarding, when they become partners in the progress of a company.

5. The Factory is Not the Personal Property of Employers:

The factory is not to be used as a platform for personal aggrandizement. It is to be looked at as a place where people come to spend their time, energies and resources in order to make a decent, happy and comfortable living. The factory is not the personal property of the owners. It does not belong to members of an ivory tower club. The sooner the factory owners realize this, the better.

6. Employee’s Attitude Also Changing:

There is, no doubt, a discernible change in the attitude of both employers and the employees’ nowadays. The employees also have realized that beyond a point militancy does not work, especially when the firm’s very future is threatened by cut throat competition. You cannot put the factory to rest on silly grounds and flimsy causes.

When you incite people to strike work for reasons that do not stand the test of economic logic, then there will be question marks over the trade union philosophy and its continued existence.

Personnel Managers, too, have realised the importance of taking people into confidence on every major decision affecting the lives of large majority. They have come to know that to make things work, they need to move closer to the hearts of employees. Ivory tower decisions will not produce results.

They have to step down and mingle with the mainstream in order to get superior results. A large part of their lives need to be spent with workers in order to put the finger on the problem causing trouble — like an expert surgeon. As long as the worker is not getting a fair share of the cake, no amount of persuasion and proselytization would work.

So the rules of the game are pretty clear. You need to make people smile in order to obtain superior performance. That’s what excellent companies like South West Airlines, Google, and FedEx have done over the years.

There are important lessons to be learnt while running the show. If the shown must continue, then you need to learn the art of getting along with people smoothly — understanding their beliefs, concerns, attitudes, aspirations and expectations and fulfilling them to the best of your abilities — always.

Personnel Management as a Discipline , Art or Science

Personnel management is now recognised as an academic discipline, so much so that practically every university in India and elsewhere offers courses leading to a diploma or degree in personnel management.

These courses generally deal with the concept of personnel management, selection techniques and employment, training and development of employees and executives, salary and wage administration, health and safety management, human relations, group dynamics, etc.

Courses in personnel management are either offered by departments of business administration or by specialised institutions of personnel management and relations or institutes of management or institute of public administration. The universities also conduct these courses under the departments of sociology and social work.

In the last three decades, a large body of literature, research papers, textbooks, etc. has been produced by university professors and practicing executives which are based on their experience and research findings. A large number of professional journals are also published for the benefit of those in personnel field.

Personnel Administration – An Art or a Science?

Personnel management has been recognised as science as well as an art. A science is “an exact and systematic classification of knowledge of some subject. In view of this definition, personnel management may definitely be regarded as a science, for its principles, concepts, laws, rules and procedures, methods and techniques have been presented in a systematic way. They are not static and rigid, but flexible and adaptive; they can meet the changing circumstances of an organisation”.

On the other hand, “an art is an application of skill or knowledge in a unique and creative manner”. To identify personnel management as a career implies that artistic qualities are associated with personnel practices, which are recognised as a result of unique creative management styles rather than as a result of set personnel rules and procedures.

Personnel Management – Nature

HRM/Personnel Management is an integral part of General Management; and the principles and functions of general management are applicable to this area of management also. Lawrence Appley stresses that management is the development of people and not the direction of things.

Thus in his view, “management and personnel administration are one and the same. They should never be separated. Management is personnel administration”. This view has some basic truth in it since management is basically concerned with efficient and effective use of both human as well as non- human resources. Thus, personnel management is an integral part of the management process.

While understanding the nature of HRM / Personnel Management, it is important to recognize that personnel management is inherent in the process of management. A manager, whether he be in charge of a production or a marketing function, deals with human beings and gets his job done through and with people. This function is performed by all the managers throughout the organization rather than by the personnel department only.

Pigors and Myers have Rightly Observed:

“Personnel administration permeates all types of functional management, such as production management, financial management, sales management, and research management. It applies in non-profit institutions, and armed services. Unless these managers themselves expect to perform all the duties for which they are responsible, they have to secure the co-operation of other people within their part of the total organization. In short, every member of the management group, from top to bottom, must be an effective “Personnel Administrator” because he depends on the co-operative efforts of his sub-ordinates.

As far as nature of personnel management is concerned, there is difference of opinion among management writers. Some consider ii as a line function, while others put it to the staff functions. Some regard it as both.

Personnel function can rightly be said to be line function, because all the functions co-operate in the process of earning profits for the organization. All activities are carried out by individuals and personnel department controls the functions of these individuals. It plans, organizes and channelizes their effort towards the common goals of the organization. The personnel manager motivates them, creates an atmosphere of sound human relations, industrial peace and so on.

This work is of such great importance that a separate department is created for this purpose. Hence personnel department can rightly be said to be a line department. As an activity or function too, the personnel function is a line responsibility, because each manager has to deal with people. So he must have sufficient knowledge about how to deal with them.

Personnel function is a staff function also. Mostly in business organizations, the main function of a personnel manager is to advise the Board of Directors (or General Manager as the case may be) in personnel matters. He helps in formation of sound personnel policies, maintaining good industrial relations between the management and the workers. Besides, he assists and serves the workers and other departments too. He provides efficient workers to different departments through proper recruitment and training etc.

He keeps necessary personnel records, makes job evaluation, makes performance appraisals and chalks out the programme of executive development, workers training, etc. He acts as a mediator between the management and workers’ unions in case of industrial disputer. In actual practice, personnel department enjoys both the ranks-line department as well as staff department. Comparatively, it has greater importance as a specialized staff function.

Generally speaking, personnel management has been considered, in traditional terms, a “staff” function within the organization. In the newer systems terminology, it is said to have a support role.

According to Indian Institute of Personnel Management, “Personnel Management is a responsibility of all those who manage people as well as being a description of the work of those who are employed as specialists. It is that part of management which is concerned with people at work and with their relationships within an enterprise”.

It is important to note that HRM/personnel management is essentially of a continuous nature; to quote George R. Terry”- “It cannot be turned on and off like water from a faucet -it cannot be practised only one hour each day or one day a week. Personnel management requires a constant alertness and awareness of human relations and their importance in everyday operations”. Thus, personnel management has to be consistently applied and practised throughout the organization for highest positive results.

Personnel Management – Scope

The scope of personnel management is very wide as is obvious from the fact that it is called by several terms such as “Labour Management”, “Manpower Management”, “Employee Relations”, “Industrial Relations”, “Human Relations”, “Human Resources Management” and so on.

The subject matter of personnel management is “human being” or “People at work”. It is the art of acquiring, developing and maintaining competent workforce so as to accomplish with maximum efficiency and economy, the functions and objectives of an organization. Broadly speaking, the scope of personnel management revolves around three “R” that is – recruitment, retainment and retirement. Thus, personnel management has to look after the workforce right from recruitment to retirement.

Formerly, the scope of personnel management was very limited. The business organizations were mainly one man show. Proprietor, manager and even worker was the one and the same person. But with the development of modern industries and management techniques, the organization structure became complex and functions became differentiated.

Due to the increase in the size of the industrial units and company organization, there developed indirect relationship among workers and management. Besides, there came significant change in the viewpoint and attitudes of the workers as well as management. Due to all these changes, the scope of personnel function has become very wide.

The Indian Institute of Personnel Management has laid down scope of Personnel Management as follows:

Academically, the three aspects of Personnel Management are:

(i) The welfare aspect concerned with working conditions and amenities such as canteens, creches, housing, personal problems of workers, schools and recreation.

(ii) The labour or personnel aspect concerned with recruitment, placement of employees, remuneration, promotion, incentives, productivity, etc.

(iii) The industrial relations aspect concerned with trade union negotiations, settlement of industrial disputes, joint consultation and collective bargaining. All these aspects are concerned with human element in industry as distinct from the mechanical.

Strauss and Sayles have included the following functions within its scope:

(i) Recruitment of labour, selection and placement

(ii) Analysis, description and evaluation of the work

(iii) Compensation and schemes of appraisal work

(iv) Keeping records of the personnel

(v) Welfare programmes

(vi) Special services like safety, inspection and control

(vii) Training and educational programmes

(viii) Labour relations

(ix) Public relations

(x) Personnel appraisal and development.

Dale Yoder has classified the scope of Personnel Management in terms of the following functions:

(i) Setting general and specific management policy for organizational relationship and establishing and maintaining a suitable organization for leadership and co-operation.

(ii) Collective bargaining, contract negotiation, contract administration and grievance handling

(iii) Staffing the organization, finding, getting and holding prescribed types and numbers of workers.

(iv) Aiding in the self-development of employees at all levels providing opportunities for self-development and growth as well as for acquiring requisite skills and experience.

(v) Developing and maintaining motivation for workers by providing incentives.

(vi) Reviewing and auditing manpower management in the organization.

(vii) Industrial relations research carrying out studies designed to explain employees behaviour and thereby effecting improvements in manpower management.

Thus, it can be seen that the scope of personnel management is very wide. It is also important to note that the personnel function is not limited to industrial and business field only. Its importance is equally extended to every type of organization whether commercial, religious, social or political wherein people work in groups of more than one at a time.

This is so because the art of taking work from the individuals, making them contribute their best to the organization, is personnel management. Working with, for and through people is the way in which a manager accomplishes his job.

Seeking cooperation from co-workers is an important aim of management and superiors. Maintaining good human relations is a manager’s responsibility. Providing human satisfaction from work output and relationship is a manager’s obligation. Hence, the use of personnel management extends to all kinds of enterprises big or small, efficient or inefficient, commercial or non-commercial, private or public enterprises.

Conclusively, it can be said that the scope of human resource management is widely spread to all types of organizations private or public, industrial or political, religious or social, big or small.

Personnel Management – Concept

In order to understand the concept of HRM / personnel management, it is necessary to know the specific characteristic features.

By studying the various definitions we can see that the following characteristics of HRM/ Personnel Management emerge:

(1) HRM / Personnel Management is a functional area of General Management; it is management of people at work.

(2) HRM / Personnel Management is concerned with the effective utilization of human resources.

(3) HRM / Personnel Management considers the development of individuals at work, as an individual and as a member of the group.

(4) HRM/Personnel Management is concerned with the achievement of common goals as well as integration of individual efforts with the common goals.

(5) HRM / Personnel Management is concerned with helping the people at work to develop their potentialities and capacities to the maximum possible extent, so that they may derive great satisfaction from their job.

(6) HRM/Personnel Management is a staff activity requiring special knowledge and skill in understanding and predicting individual behaviour, inter-personal behaviour, group behaviour and organizational behaviour.

(7) HRM / Personnel Management has the central responsibility of organizing human effort and stimulating and releasing individual motivation for successfully achieving individual, organizational and societal goals.

When we consider all these specific characteristics for having a clear perspective about the concept of personnel management, it can be said in brief that-

“HRM/Personnel Management is an approach, a point of view, a technique of thinking, and a philosophy of management.”

It is basically concerned with the overall development of individuals at work with a view to make optimum utilization of the available human resources.

Personnel Management – Features

Personnel management aims at getting the best out of people. Keeping the concerns and aspirations of people at work, personnel people generally design strategies aimed at meeting the individual, organisational and societal goals. Incentives and rewards are put in place in order to boost up performance from time to time.

The principle of equity — that is every one getting paid in a fair and equitable manner, when compared to their counterparts working inside and outside the company — is also taken care of. The emphasis is on creating a healthy work climate where people can work with freedom and autonomy.

Let us look into these aspects closely:

1. Achievement of Goals:

Personnel Management aims at achieving organisational goals through the effective and efficient use of human resources. Effectiveness involves choosing the right goal. Efficiency is the ability to do things right. It is an input-output concept. Managers who are able to minimise the cost of the resources needed to achieve the goals are acting efficiently.

2. Focus on People at Work:

The focus is always on people at work — both as individuals and as a group — and their relationships with each other. Personnel Management helps people to grow and realise their potentialities to the extent possible. Through fair and equitable policies, it tries to put people on the right job and encourage them to give their best to the organisation.

It is also concerned with the behavioural, emotional and social aspects of personnel. More importantly, it is action- oriented. It puts the emphasis on action — rather than on record keeping, written procedures, methods and rules. The multifarious problems of employees are solved through actions that are in sync with employee expectations and aspirations.

3. Fair Policies and Programmes to Take Care of Talent:

Attracting talent and putting the same to best use through fair and equitable policies and programmes is the principal job of a personnel man. These policies are reviewed, modified and put in place on a continuous basis — in sync with trends in the labour market. Personnel management, therefore, is a continuous process demanding frequent reviewing, upgradation and integration.

4. Healthy Climate :

Another important task of personnel management is to take care of the man at the wheel through welfare programmes and pave the way for healthy relations between trade union(s) and management. Personnel management attempts at getting the willing co-operation of the people for the attainment of the desired goals, for work cannot be effectively performed in isolation without the promotion and development of an esprit de corps.

5. Integrative and Continuous in Nature :

Personnel management is not a one shot deal. It cannot be practiced only one hour each day or one day in a week. Personnel management requires a constant alertness and awareness of human relations and their importance in everyday operations.

Personnel management can be of full value to an organisation only when it is consistently thought out and applied at all levels and to all management functions; in corporate policies, in the systems, procedures and in employment practices, etc. This integrative aspect of personnel management is, therefore, of vital importance.

Basically, three objectives of personnel management are expressed in the above definition:

(i) To maintain good relationships within an organization.

(ii) To enable each person to make his maximum personal contribution to the organization as a member of the working group.

(iii) To achieve these things through respect for human personality and the well-being of the individual.

In the opinion of Lawrence Appley, former President of the American Management Association, Personnel Management is “a function of guiding human resources into a dynamic organization that attains its objectives with a high degree of morale and to the satisfaction of those concerned. It is concerned with getting results through people.”

Analysis of all these definitions reveals in a nutshell that managing people in the organization is HRM / Personnel Management. It is basically concerned with people at work, their development, well-being, and satisfaction.

The basic objective of personnel management is to assist the entire organization from top to bottom in bringing about an improvement in knowledge, skill, habits and attitudes that will ultimately express itself productively in work.

Personnel Management – Objectives

The principal job of a personnel manager is to manage human resources effectively and efficiently. He must encourage people to give their best without rubbing others on the wrong side. Maintaining peace and harmony inside an organisation is equally important while realising goals. The individual employee must become the focal point of attention and given all incentives, benefits in line with competition.

On the personnel, men lies the responsibility for ensuring a satisfactory accomplishment of the objectives of an organisation and of its employees, for if they are not reasonably achieved, the basic objectives of the organisation will suffer. It is for this reason that, while framing company personnel objectives, care is taken to consider the interests and needs of the employees and of employee goals.

This is done by integrating the employee interests and the management interests with a view to achieving the objectives of the entire organisation.

The important objectives of personnel management may be listed thus:

Personnel management tries to put resources to best use while trying to meet the objectives. The declared goals could be in the form of profitability, productivity, innovation, excellence, growth, survival, etc. Human effort is guided along desired lines keeping the above objectives in the background.

2. Healthy Relations between People:

To establish and maintain an adequate organisational structure and a desirable working relationship among all the members of an organisation by dividing of organisation tasks into functions, positions, jobs, and by defining clearly the responsibility, accountability, authority for each job and its relation with other jobs/personnel in the organisation.

3. Meet the Expectations of People in a Harmonious Manner:

To secure the integration of the individuals and groups with an organisation, by reconciling individual/group with those of an organisation in such a manner that the employees feel a sense of involvement, commitment and loyalty towards it. In the absence of such an integration, friction may develop in an organisation which may lead to its total failure.

Friction produces inefficiency. Friction may result from political aspirations, from difficulties in communication, and from faults inherent in a particular organisational structure. The behaviour of individuals and groups in any organisation also involves frictions — personal jealousies and rivalries, prejudices and idiosyncrasies, personality conflicts, cliques and factions, favouritism and nepotism.

4. Provide Opportunities for Growth:

To generate maximum individual/group development within an organisation by offering opportunities for advancement to employees through training and job education, or by effecting transfers or by offering retraining facilities.

5. Incentives and Rewards for Performance:

To recognise and satisfy individual needs and group goals by offering an adequate and equitable remuneration, economic and social security in the form of monetary compensation, and protection against such hazards of life as illness, old age, disability, death, unemployment, etc., so that the employees may work willingly and co-operate to achieve an organisation’s goals.

6. Keep the Morale High:

To maintain a high morale and better human relations inside an organisation by sustaining and improving the conditions which have been established so that employees may stick to their jobs for a longer period.

Personnel management tries to improve morale by giving adequate training to workers and by achieving for itself a knowledge of human nature which is “the totality of motives that cause human actions; it is a mosaic of reflexes and instincts, of inherited and acquired habits, of individual and group traditions.”

Prerequisites for the Achievements of the Objectives   of Personnel Management :

In brief, the objectives of an organisation may be, the fullest contribution of human resources for the achievement of the organisational goal, of long and short-term plans, and of the operations of the organisation in an environment of high morale and vitality consistent with profitability and social milieu, with the ethical values of society and with the policies and regulations established by the country’s legislature.

To achieve these objectives, the following prerequisites must be satisfied:

1. Get Talent:

Do everything possible to get talented people into the organisation. Invest your time, energy and resources to pick people possessing relevant qualifications, kills and experience.

2. Clarify Goals and Sell Your Dream:

Goal clarity is essential to get results from people. Any confusion will compel people to work at cross purposes. Duplication of effort, spending time on trivial jobs, incompetent handling of important jobs — are the most frustrating elements of this reckless and careless job. After all, the principal job of a personnel man is to orchestrate the various instruments in a harmonious way and produce mellifluous music.

3. Jobs with Stretch, Pull and Challenge:

You need to find ways and means to enrich jobs — jobs that excite people, that entice people, that help people to stretch themselves, that enable people to rise to the occasion and cross even seemingly insurmountable barriers. People give their best when they are put on jobs that are interesting, challenging and exciting.

Of course, it is not always possible to find such meaningful opportunities in the industrial world. To the extent possible, you must try to enrich their working lives by giving meaningful opportunities to people to explore their talents and realise their true potential.

4. Recognise and Reward Performance:

People have a genuine hunger for recognition. When you recognise good performance, it gives a kick in the belly and everyone would be motivated to put the best foot forward. Perspiration does not go too far without a little bit of inspiration. Appropriate rewards and incentives must greet employees whenever they are able to show superior performance and do an ordinary job in an extraordinary manner. Organisational excellence, in the end, is a just a matter of common men doing things in an uncommon way!

The Personnel Manager must try to make people realise that they are the respected members of a co-operative group striving to achieve goals. The one big happy family feeling enthuses people to give their best. They begin to move in sync with the expectations of management.

Management, on its part, must be willing to join the mainstream and say in a chorus that employees are the most valuable, irreplaceable, and most important assets of their organisation.

Personnel Management – Principles

From the philosophy are derived the guidelines or benchmarks, which are generally flexible. These principles change as conditions change, including human behavioural patterns.

The main principles of personnel management may be set forth as follows:

1. People are to Be Dealt with as Complete Individuals:

Persons are recruited because they possess the requisite technical, professional and other qualities. But whether they co-operate with one another, with the group and with the management is largely governed by their personal feelings, cultural and social attitudes, ethical standards and family background.

These and technical factors should be programmed into organisational operations. The management should be quick to understand how employees feel about contemplated work assignments, personnel policies, and decisions which affect their interests. Employees should, therefore, be treated as a whole and not piecemeal.

2. Employees Should be Made to Feel Worthwhile:

“Men do not live by bread alone.” There is something other than money which motivates them to work toward organisational goals. Personal feeling of accomplishment, pride in one’s work, harmonious relations with other co­workers and co-operation with the management — all these factors need to be taken into consideration by the management if the efficiency and productivity of the employees are to be maintained and increased.

3. Fairness and Justice:

These should guide a management’s policies and actions. Fairness in dealing with his employees would win for the employer the confidence of his employees.

4. Rewards Should Be Earned, Not Given:

The rewards to be given should be commensurate with the efforts put in to win them. Such rewards should be given to an employee because of what he has accomplished and not merely as a gift. Gifts are not so well appreciated as rewards for work well done.

5. Supply Employees with Relevant Information:

An organisation should have a properly developed two-way communication channel so that the necessary information, instructions, orders and rules are passed on to employees and a proper response is evoked. Information must be given at the right moment, otherwise much harm may result. Secrecy often breeds suspicion in the minds of employees.

6. Judge the Strength or Intelligence of the People Properly:

A knowledge of the strength of its employees will always bring management their co-operation. If proper opportunities are not made available to employees, resentment and frustration may result; or they may leave the organisation or resort to coercion. Therefore, employees should be associated with the decision-making process.

7. Sell the Personnel Programme:

Because if employees are not made aware of it, they will learn it from some other source. The selling of a programme should be done either orally or in writing.

8. Equal Wage for Equal Work:

All the employees irrespective of their sex or community but doing similar type of work, must be paid equally, and the wages paid must be adequate.

9. Set Examples:

Preaching alone will not bring the desired results. “Actions are louder than words”; and these convince the employees that the management really does what it says or means.

Personnel Management – Functions

The functions of personnel management are very wide. An agreement over them by the authors of management is very rare.

Broadly, speaking the personnel function can be divided into two parts:

(A) Managerial functions, and

(B) Operative functions;

They are as follows:

(A) Managerial Functions:

(1) Planning:

Planning is the main function of management in the context of personnel management, it is concerned with manpower planning; studying labour turnover rate, forecasting the future requirements of personnel and planning for selection and training procedures etc.

(2) Organising:

Organising involves the establishments of inter-relationships within organisaton. It provides a structure for the company by identifying the various sub-groups headed by individuals in managerial jobs as operation etc.

(3) Directing:

Personal management is directly concerned with direction function also. It includes issuing instructions to the workers, developing communication network, interpreting various industrial laws and integration workers.

(4) Controlling:

Personnel department help in controlling also, it provides basic data, for establishing standards, makes job analysis and performance appraisal, etc. All these techniques assist in effective control of the qualities, time and efforts of workers.

(B) Operative Functions:

These are services or routine functions of personnel management. They are as follows:

(1) Procurement of Personnel:

The first operative function of personnel management is concerned with the obtaining of the proper kind and number of personnel necessary to accomplish organisation goods. It deals specifically with such subjects as the determination of manpower requirements, their selection, placement and orientation, etc.

(2) Development of Personnel:

After the personnel have been selected they must be trained first before giving them the work to be performed. Development has to do with the increase of skill, through training, that is necessary for proper job performance. Various techniques of training, are used in this process in order to develop the employees. Framing a sound promotion policy, determination on the basis of promotion and making performance appraisal and the basis of personnel development function.

(3) Compensation Personnel:

Compensation means, determination of adequate and equitable remuneration personnel for their contribution to organisation objectives. It is one of the most difficult and important function of the personnel management to determine the monetary compensation for various jobs.

For choosing a suitable compensatory policy a number of decisions are taken into the function viz., job evaluation, remuneration policy, incentive and premium, plans bonus policy and co-partnership etc. In addition to this, it also assists the organisation for adopting the suitable wages and salaries policy and payment of wages and salaries at the right time.

(4) Maintaining Good Industrial Relations:

It is one of the most essential function of the personnel manager to create the harmonious relation between management and labour. It covers a wide field and is intended to reduce strikes, promote industrial peace, provide fair deal to workers and establish industrial democracy.

If the personnel manager is unable to make harmonious relations between the two that will be very harmful to the organisations. The industrial unrestness will take place and millions of man days will be lost. Therefore, it is the duty of personnel manager to make harmonious relation with the help of sufficient communication system and co-partnership.

(5) Record Keeping:

In this system personnel manager collects and maintains information which is concerned with the staff of the organisation. Recording is essential for every organisation because it assists the management is decision­-making such as in promotions.

(6) Personnel Planning and Evaluation:

Under this system different types of activities are evaluated such as evaluation of performance, personal policy of an organisation and its practices, personnel audit and morale survey etc.

(7) Personnel Research and Audit:

It is also an important function of personnel management. This function is concerned with the research and motivation techniques and auditing its effect on the workers of the organisation, etc.

Personnel Management – Importance

In the words of Aldrich, the importance of personnel management can be expressed in the following manner:

The nearest analogy is in the human body. Personnel management is not the brain, the controller, not only just a limb, a member; not yet the blood stream, the energizing force; it is the nervous system. It is a line channel, not just a duct, and in some respects has automotive force. It is used in enemy action; if it atrophies, partial paralysis results, if it gets out of balance, there issues instability, chaotic action, disequilibrium which can be found in all stages of advancement, in close parallel with neurosis.

But, above all, it is inherent in the whole body and intimately connected with its every movement. The nervous system can never be thought of as an adjunct of the body, no more can personnel management be an extraneous or superimposed element on the structure of an organization. The personnel function lies embedded in the structure, is inherent in the dynamism of that structure, and is an integral part of the process of management itself.

Managing people at work is most crucial job and the importance of human resource management is universally recognized from different standpoints. Social significance of personnel management is evident since it enhances the dignity of people at work by satisfying their social need.

Personnel management has professional significance since it provides healthy working environment and promotes team-work amongst the people at work. Personnel management has direct significance for the organization since it helps in accomplishing its goals. Individuals in the organization also realize ^the importance of personnel management since it facilitates their own growth and development and provides them maximum satisfaction in relation to work performance.

Thus, in the management of all the Ms-Money, Markets, Materials, Machines, and Men-the “Management of Men” is most fundamental and dynamic as well as challenging task. It is the men, not machines, not materials, not money, and not the markets who make or mar the organization.

Therefore, personnel management gains utmost importance in obtaining effective results through people at work and in gaining their commitment as well as winning their willing cooperation for the successful accomplishment of all desired goals. The vital significance of HRM / personnel management is largely due to the fact that the success of an organization heavily depends on the services of its loyal employees with genuine desire to be co-operative with the management.

Personnel Management – Role

It has been rightly apprehended that there are dangers of the personnel manager giving way to the new specialists who are coming up — the experts in information technology, in the management of research and development, and in manpower and planning, unless the personnel manager tries and acquires advance knowledge of and prepares for the change.

He should, therefore, concern himself with the following major areas of change which are emerging:

(a) Changing composition of workforce, with the white-collar gradually becoming a dominant group;

(b) Growing unionisation among the workforce is greatly increasing their strength to demand increasing participation in the decision-making activities influencing their interests;

(c) Increasing role of government in enacting protective legislation to bring about a balance in the interests and rights of the participants in the organisation;

(d) Revolution in information technology and other technological innovations, which might adversely affect the interests of the workforce and their occupational mobility;

(e) Rapidly changing jobs and skills requiring long-range manpower planning; and

(f) Increasing concern of many firms for accepting greater social responsibility.

In all these areas of change, personnel management people would be needing larger amount of training, retraining, and mid-career retraining. Furthermore, they must also be familiar with the findings of the Behavioural Sciences so that they could rely more on management by integration of professional goals with the goals of the organisation and by self-control rather than on management by centralized direction and control. They also cannot afford to neglect the “bread and butter” problems of day-to-day personnel administration.

Richardson considers that “Personnel” is “industrial counterpart of the Behavioural Sciences in the same way as Engineering is of the Physical Sciences.” But he observes that “This function seems to have lost any direct connection with business results it once may have had.”

According to him, “the personnel people live in a world untouched by business realities. But in future they will have to make an ‘integrative approach’ to systems analysis with a view to understanding the link between their activities and business outcome. For example, productivity might be one such link. Negotiations with a trade union for a wage increase might be another link which will have their effect on the probability of achieving desired future business results.”

People at work and their interpersonal relations are in a state of transition. Although personnel management and personnel departments have witnessed an almost universal recognition and acceptance by top executives of the important role that personnel management can perform in planning and administering systems of human resources, the coming decade presents major new challenges in various fields.

The individual is and will be the basic unit of activity. Individual human beings supply the knowledge, skills, and much of energy utilized in organisations. It would not be incorrect to presume that each individual human being will continue to have needs, drives, and expectations; but no two people would be identical in their goals, ambitions, strengths and weaknesses.

Such people may expect even more from their employment relationship. For example, Bennis has suggested that the increased level of education and mobility will change the values people have towards work. “People will be more intellectually committed to their jobs and will probably require more involvement, participation and autonomy in their work.”

The educational level of the workforce is expected to continue to rise. The workforce will become more diverse in backgrounds, age concentrations, and ideological philosophies. Groups previously considered to be minorities of the workforce (such as the women, the handicapped persons, the members of the scheduled castes, etc.) will increase in number and percentages, and their demands will become more vocal.

Many workers might be having more leisure time because of change in work patterns. Managers will be required to face a wide variety of demands from employees.

Changes in the institutions of the society – the family unity, religion, education, organised labour are likely to occur. The effect of these changes will be significant upon people at work.

The oversupply of unskilled labour, the under supply of skilled labour in some areas, and over education of some workers for jobs available will result in organisational stress.

Social organisations, both formal and informal, will have a large influence on the attitudes and behaviour of people at work. Because people are normally socially oriented, the attitudes and values of organisational peer groups, family members, off-the-job friends, and others to whom they may socially relate will influence heavily their perceptions and actions. The job of managing may, therefore, become more challenging and more variable than it has hitherto been.

The organisations of the future would be larger, more complex and with more interrelated structuring of the people. Accordingly, such organisations will become more impersonal and more dehumanising. Such organisations might be required to decentralise decision-making and other activities.

They might also expect that the employees should recognise a common set of objectives, plans, and goals so that they can contribute collectively toward mutually beneficial goals. High level managers will need to devote more of their time to integrative decision-making to unite the efforts of all organisational members.

Technology, discoveries and innovations will result in new pressures on organisations and individuals and call for changes in objectives of organisations and methods and procedures to achieve their objectives. Skill requirements will be altered as a result of technology.

In some instances, technology might cause workers and their tasks to become more interrelated, while in others there might be tendencies toward separation and even social isolation. Computer technology may result in the reshaping of a number of organisational roles and goals and will have a particularly significant impact on decision-making. These changes indicate the challenge that lies ahead for future managers.

Being human beings managers are and will be subject to their own mental and physical limitations, to their own philosophical commitments, to their own biases and prejudices, and to outside pressures from many directions.

However, future managers should be able to profit from the increasing body of knowledge and experiences of the present and past managers so that they are in a position to serve more effectively and more constructively the various sectors of people.

Related Articles:

• Personnel Management: Nature and Scope of Personnel Management
• Human Resource Management: Definition, Objectives, Importance, Functions and Scope
• 10 Characteristics of Personnel Management
• Importance of Personnel Management in Solving Industrial Problems

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Personnel Management

Personnel management deals with the managerial function of estimating and classifying human resources requirements for meeting organizational goals through people at work and their relationships with each other.

Personnel Management involves strategies that ensure right number of staff, a right combination of talent, training, and performance in jobs.

According to Edwin B. Flippo – “Personnel Management is the planning, organising, directing, and controlling of the procurement, development, compensation, integration and maintenance and separation of personnel to the end that individual, organisational and societal objectives are accomplished.”

Human Resource Management considers ‘personnel’ or ’employees’ as ‘human resources’ and attaches them utmost importance. Besides performing the personnel functions, Human Resource Management is also concerned with development of human resources, provision of health, safety and welfare measures and ensuring better human relations.

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1. Meaning of Personnel Management 2. Definitions of Personnel Management 3. Growth and History 4. Scope 5. Concept 6. Nature and Characteristics 7. Objectives 8. Role of Personnel Manager 9. Functions 10. Approaches 11. Policies.

Personnel Management: Meaning, Definition, History, Scope, Objectives, Functions, Nature, Approaches and Policies

• Meaning of Personnel Management
• Definitions of Personnel Management
• Growth and History of Personnel Management
• Scope of Personnel Management
• Concept of Personnel Management
• Nature and Characteristics of Personnel Management
• Objectives of Personnel Management
• Role of Personnel Manager
• Functions of Personnel Management
• Approaches of Personnel Management
• Policies of Personnel Management

Personnel Management – Meaning

Personnel management deals with the managerial function of estimating and classifying human resources requirements for meeting organizational goals through people at work and their relationships with each other. It involves strategies that ensure right number of staff, a right combination of talent, training, and performance in jobs.

Personnel management also includes developing and implementing policies and processes to create a well-managed and employee-supportive work environment.

According to Sison (1991) personnel management is the function of management concerned with promoting and enhancing the development of work effectiveness and advancement of the human resources in the organization through proper planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling of activities related to procurement, development, motivation, and compensation of employees to achieve the goals of the enterprise.

Edward Flippo states personnel management is the planning, organizing, directing and controlling of the procurement, development, compensation, integration, maintenance and separation of human resources to the end that individual, organizational and social objectives are accomplished.

Many organizations now refer personnel management as human resource management. Personnel management is a term that is still used in many government agencies, and primarily in the non-profit sector, to describe the function that deals with the employment of people within an organization.

Is Personnel Management a Profession?

Tests that any Occupation must Satisfy to be Called Profession :

A profession means an occupation that requires specialized knowledge and training to supply skilled service or advice to others for a definite fee or salary.

To raise personnel management to the status of a profession, we must subject it to certain tests. First, practice of a profession requires specialized knowledge and training. Personnel management passes this test as there are several institutions—XLRI at Jamshedpur, Institute of Management Technology at Ghaziabad, and Symbiosis in Pune, to name only a few— that teach theory and practice of personnel man­agement. They also have arrangements with business houses which accept their students as interns.

Second, practitioners of a profession need to be members of a registered professional association. Personnel management passes this test too. There is Indian Institute of Personnel Management to reg­ulate the practice of personnel management.

Third, practitioners of a profession need to abide by a code of conduct. Personnel management passes this test too. There is a Code of Conduct prescribed for personnel managers and their associa­tion monitors their adherence to it.

Personnel Management   – Definitions Propounded by Management Thinkers like Flippo, Jucious, Spates and Institute of Personnel Management in India and UK

According to Indian Institute of Personnel Management “Personnel Management, Labour Management, or Staff Management means, quite simply, the task of dealing with human relationship within an organization.”

The Institute of Personnel Management in UK defined personnel management (1966) as “that part of the management function which is concerned with people at work and with their relationships within an enterprise. Its aim is to bring together and develop into an effective organization, the man and woman who make up an enterprise and having regard to the well-being of an individual and of working groups, to enable them to make their best contribution to its success.”

General Definition of Personnel Management:

“Personnel management is the administrative discipline of hiring and developing employees so that they become more valuable to the organization. It includes, conducting job analysis; planning personnel needs and recruitment; selecting the right people for the right job; orienting and training; determining and managing wages and salaries; providing benefits and incentives; appraising performance; resolving disputes; and communicating with all employees at all levels.”

HRM as Reincarnation of Personnel Management:

Human Resource Management is the reincarnation of Personnel Management. This is why, many people don’t make any distinction between the two terms and use them interchangeably. However, there is no doubt about the fact that managing human resources or personnel is an integral part of the job of any manager.

Jucious (1980) has stated that personnel management is the field of management which has to do with planning, organizing, directing, and controlling various operative functions of procuring, developing, maintaining, and utilizing a labour force such as- a) objectives for which the company is established are attained economically and effectively; b) objectives of all levels of personnel are served to the highest possible degree; c) objectives of the community are duly considered and served.

Spates (1944) has defined personnel management as a code of the ways of organization and treating individual at work so that they will each get the greatest possible realization of their intrinsic abilities, thus attaining maximum efficiency for themselves and their group.

The above definition reveals that Personnel Management deals with planning, organising, directing and controlling the personnel functions so as to help the top management in attaining the objectives of individuals, organisation and society. The personnel functions include procurement, development, compensation, integration, maintenance and separation of employees.

Personnel Management – Growth and History (From 1900 to 2000): Early Philosophy, Efficiency & Productivity Movement, Period of Welfarism and a Few Others

It is very difficult to trace out the exact time of the evolution of personnel management. Even though the stages of the development of personnel management can be easily determined, its development was marked towards the end of 19th century. Prior to this it was somewhat a slow process.

Ordinarily, the growth and history of personnel management is divided into these five periods:

1. Early Philosophy (before 1900)

2. Efficiency and Productivity Movement (1900-1920)

3. Period of Welfarism and Industrial Psychology (1920-30)

4. Period of Human Relations in Industry (from 1930-50)

5. Modern Period (1950-2000).

Now we shall study them one by one:

1. Early Philosophy of Personnel Management:

The history of modern personnel management begins with the name of Robert Owen. He is called the founder of personnel management, hi the year 1813, he wrote a book, ‘A new view of society’, wherein he has propounded the need of better industrial relation and improvements in the service conditions.

His attitude towards workers was very cordial, liberal and paternalistic. He got good houses constructed for his workers by the side of his factory, eliminated child labour and provided healthy conditions. Mr. J.S. Mill, Andrew & Charles Babbage were also contemporaries of Robert Owen. They all maintained Personnel Management as a science and supported the idea of wage incentives, profit sharing and labour welfare, etc.

2. Efficiency and Productivity Movement:

During the last year of 19th century came the age of efficiency and productivity movement. The two decades of (1900-20) were the year of scientific management movement. During this period, Taylor’s scientific management thought was greatly accepted.

The main contribution of these two decades have been the increase in the size of units, introduction of scientific thinking into actions, job analysis, standard costing, scientific selection and training of workers and the idea of mental revolution. Taylor opposed the idea of trade unionism and worker’s organisations.

3. Period of Welfares and Industrial Psychology:

After productivity movement then came the period of welfares and industrial philology. Up to 1925, the personnel management had taken a definite form and staff line origination became the basis of personnel management. The opposition of scientific management movement by workers introduced the need of industrial psychology.

The concept of industrial psychology developed many new techniques like psychological testing, interviewing, workers training and non-financial incentives. Industrial psychologists helped to give a professional form to personnel management. The personnel management began to be realised as a profession and a specialists function.

4. Period of Human Relations:

Since 1930 began the period of human relation in industry. Through Hawthorn experiment Prof. Elton Mayo and his companions made the beginning of human relation in industries. Hawthorn experiments proved that human resources have greater influence on production than that of other physical resources.

A worker must be treated as a human being. Social, psychological and moral instincts should be fully recognised by management. Due to these experiments the commodity concept of labour changed to social concept. The decade of 1940-50 is very important from the development of personnel management point of view.

During this decade many new techniques were developed for the selection, training and induction of workers. The personnel philosophy became people-oriented. Trade unions flourished and provision of fringe benefits for workers became common.

5. Modern Times:

The history of personnel management since 1950 up to 1980 is the age of modern development. It may be called as the period of the citizenship concept of labour, where the workers have full right to be consulted in determining the rules and regulations under which they work. The concept of industrial democracy has imposed many new responsibilities upon the personnel managers of industrial houses.

In modern times the personnel management is a behavioural science and personnel management is an open social system. After1960 the personnel management began to be realised as a behavioural science which completely centred on human elements. The study of organisational behaviour became its main crux. After 1970s the belief of ‘open social and industrial system’ became very popular for business organisations.

During modern times personnel management is fully recognised as a profession dealing with the management of human resources. Some authors call it as ‘manpower management’ also. These all developments are making the scope of personnel management wider and wider.

The concept of HRM emerged from the writings of American academics associated with Human Resource Management School. These academics visualised HRM as a strategic and coherent management-oriented approach to managing people and accomplishing their commitment to promote organisations interests.

The HRM stage appeared when personnel specialists attempted to cope up with the enterprise culture and market economy. HR and business strategy were integrated to evolve strategic HRM approaches. Performance related pay emerged as a motivational device.

Finally in the current stage there is focus on teamwork. Empowerment and learning organisations, specifically the role of HR in the total quality has become imperative. There is increasing stress on process such as – culture management. Personnel directors are engaged in efforts such as downsizing and management of aftermath of a business process reinserting study. Their approach is strategic and aimed at evolving cohesive personnel policies.

Personnel Management – Scope: Organizational Planning & Development, Staffing and Employment, Training and Development and a Few Others

The scope of personnel management is very wide and it is as follows:

1. Organizational Planning and Development

2. Staffing and Employment

3. Training and Development

4. Compensation, Wage and Salary Administration

5. Employee Services and Benefits

6. Employee Records

7. Labour Relations, and

8. Personnel Research and Personnel Audit

1. Organizational Planning and Development:

Organisational planning relates with the division of all the works to be performed at various position, department and division in such a way that they become manageable and efficient units. The integration and the coordination among the various departments and employees are the pre-requisitions. Differentiation and integration are necessary for the achievement of organisational predetermined objectives.

(i) The determination of an organisations’ needs in terms of long-term and short-term objectives, development of technology (industrial psychology and mechanical engineering) of production, deciding about the nature of product, keeping in mind the external environment.

(ii) Designing of an organisational structure by providing the authority and responsibility among the employees so that organisational goals can be effectively and efficiently achieved, and

(iii) Developing interpersonal relationship through a division of task and the formation of a homogeneous, cohesive and interactive informal group.

2. Staffing and Employment:

The staffing process is a series of events which leads to a continuous filling of positions at all levels in the organisation. This process includes manpower planning, recruitment, selection, placement, induction and orientation, promotion, upgradation, transfer, demotion and separations (resignation, retirement, discharge, disability, death, etc.).

(i) Manpower planning is a forward looking function. Manpower planning is a process of analysing the present and future vacancies that occur, may be due to sick leave, leave of absence, discharge, retirement, promotion, transfer, and an analysis of present and future expansion or contraction in the various departments. Plans are then formulated for internal shifts or contraction in manpower for advertising openings, or for recruiting and selecting new personnel, or for the training and development of present employees.

(ii) Recruitment is concerned with the process of attracting qualified and competent personnel for different jobs. This consist the identification of existing sources of the labour market, the development of new sources and the need for attracting a large number of potential applicants for a good selection.

(iii) Selection process is concerned with the evaluation of potential employees in terms of job specification. This process includes the reception of application, development of application bank, psychological test, comprehensive interview, background investigation, physical examination, final employment decision, placement and induction.

(iv) Placement is concerned with providing the position according to job description; his/her job specification and personality needs.

(v) By induction/orientation it means the introduction of an employee to the organisation and the job by giving him all the possible information about the organisation’s history, philosophy, objectives, policies, and procedures, methods of production, future development opportunities, goodwill of the company in the market, authority and responsibility as well as superior and subordinates of that particular employee.

(vi) Transfer process is concerned with the shifting of an employee from one position to another in which his ability can be best utilised. This is done by developing transfer policy, counselling employees and line management on transfers and evaluating transfer policies and procedures.

(vii) Promotion is concerned with rewarding capable employees by providing them higher position, responsibility and high pay scale. They are providing promotion either on merit basis or on performance basis. For this, a fair, just and equitable promotion policy and procedure have to be developed. Line managers and employees have to be advised on these policies, and

(viii) Separation process is concerned with the resignation; lay-off, disability, discharge or retirement. Exit interviews of employees are arranged and advice is given to the line management on the causes of reduction in labour turnover.

3. Training and Development:

It is a very difficult process and it is concerned with increasing knowledge, capabilities, skills, talent, thinking power, decision making ability, logical ability of individuals and groups so that they may contribute effectively and efficiently to the achievement of an organisational goals.

This process covers the following aspects:

(i) Training is a learning experience, in that it seeks a relatively permanent change in an individual that will improve his or her ability to perform on the job.

(ii) Management development activities attempt to instil sound reasoning process to enhance one’s ability to understand and interpret knowledge rather than imparting a body of serial facts or teaching a specific set of motor skills. So, development focuses more on the employee’s personal growth.

(iii) The determination of training needs at all levels, employee counselling and communication and programmes for managerial, professional and employee development, and

(iv) Self-initiated developmental activities (formal education), reading and participation in the activities (seminar and conference), school/college/professional institutions.

This area covers the training needs of the company that are identified at each level, suitable training programmes are developed, the services of trainers are enlisted, workers and executives are identified for training, motivation and guidance are provided for joining training programmes, the line manager is advised in conducting training programmes. The effectiveness of training programmes has to be evaluated by follow-up.

4. Compensation, Wage and Salary Administration:

It is concerned with the remuneration to the employees for services rendered and motivating them to attain the performance.

The components of these processes are as follows:

(i) Job evaluation through which the relative worth of a job is determined. This is done by selecting perfect job evaluation technique, analysing and dividing jobs into various categories and then determines their relative value in various categories.

(ii) Wage and salary programme consists of developing and conveying a suitable wage and salary programme. There are several factors influencing wage and salary administration such as organisation’s ability to pay, supply and demand of labour, the cost of living, prevailing market rate, the living wage, productivity, trade union’s bargaining power, job requirement, managerial attitudes, skill levels available in the market and psychological and social factors. On the basis of these factors, wage and salary rates have to be determined and implemented and their effectiveness evaluated.

(iii) The incentive plan includes non-monetary incentives which have to be developed, administered and reviewed time-to-time for motivating the employee. Non-monetary incentives include housing facility, canteens, school and recreational facility, transportation facility, etc.

(iv) The performance appraisal is related with evaluating employee performance at work in terms of predetermined standards in order to develop a sound and effective system of rewards, punishment and identifying employees’ eligibility for promotions. For this purpose, performance appraisal plans, programmes and techniques are identified, their implementation evaluated and reports are submitted to the concerned authorities.

(v) Motivation is concerned with motivating employees by creating such a condition that they may get social and psychological satisfaction. For that, a programme for non-monetary incentives (like higher responsibility, recognition, symbol of status) is formulated, communication system is developed to solve the problems and for building of a healthy interpersonal relationship, morale and attitude surveys are undertaken and the health of human organisation diagnosed. The line management has to be advised on the implementation of the plan and the way of improving the morale of employees.

5. Employee Services and Benefits:

These aspects are concerned with the process of sustaining and maintaining the workforce in an organisation.

They include the following areas:

(i) Safety provision inside the factory. For this purpose, policies, techniques, procedures for the health and safety of the employees are developed, the line management is advised on implementation of safety programmes, and training has to be given to workers in safety practices, the causes of accidents have to be investigated and the effectiveness of the safety programmes evaluated periodically.

(ii) Employee counselling and communicating are the process through which employees are given counsel in solving their work-related problems, mental problems and personal problems. The line management has to be advised on the problems which may occur frequently.

(iii) The medical services include the provision of preventive medical, safety and health improvement facilities for employees. A periodical medical check-up of employees, training in hygienic and preventive measures are undertaken. Safety measures are also provided like glove, goggles, helmet, etc.

(iv) The welfare facilities include recreational services like entertainment activities, sports and games, film show, etc. Welfare facilities also covers housing, educational facility, canteen, transport. Suitable policies and programmes are framed and efforts are made to administer these services satisfactorily. The effectiveness of such programmes has to be assessed.

(v) Fringe benefits and other additional items are made available to employees are as follows-

a. Old-age benefit like pension, gratuities, provident fund, unemployment and women’s maternity compensation,

b. Sickness benefit, accident benefit, insurance, medical facility, hospitalisation facility, voluntary retirement benefits,

c. Paid rest periods, travel time, etc.

d. Paid vacation or bonus in lieu of vacation, paid sick and maternity leave, payment for holidays, and

e. Profit-sharing benefits, employees’ educational and training expenditure and special wage payments ordered by the labour courts.

These benefits are given to employees for maintaining employees, to provide them social security and to reduce absenteeism and labour turnover. Policies and programmes for implementing these have to be properly assessed.

6. Employee Records:

Complete and up to date information is maintained about employees so that these records may be utilised at the time of transfer, promotion, demotion, giving merit pay or sanctioning leave at the time of termination of service/retirement.

Such records covers information regarding education and qualification, performance of psychological test and interviews, job performance, leave, present, absent, number of hours worked, promotions, rewards and punishments.

7. Labour Relations:

Labour relations means the maintenance of healthy and peaceful labour-management relations in order to run smooth and uninterrupted flow of work/production.

Labour relations area covers the following aspects:

(i) Grievance handling policy and procedures are developed, after finding out the nature and causes of grievances/problems and locating the area of dissatisfaction. Collective bargaining has to be developed so that all the grievances may be settled through mutual understanding and discussion. Such bargaining and administering agreement relating to wages, working conditions and living conditions, leave, non-monetary facilities and employee-employer relationship.

(ii) Rules and regulations are framed for the maintenance of discipline in the organisation and a proper system of reward and punishment can be developed.

(iii) Efforts are made to acquire knowledge of the labour laws of the country and acquaint the line management with the provisions which are directly concerned with organisation.

8. Personnel Research and Personnel Audit:

These aspects are concerned with the following areas:

(i) A systematic inquiry into any aspect like how to enhance an organisation’s personnel programmes consisting of recruitment, selection, placement, training and development, wages and salary, etc.

(ii) Data relating to quality, productivity, labour turnover, grievances, absenteeism, strike, lockout, wages, accidents, etc., which are observed and supplied to the top managements.

(iii) Policy, procedures, findings and feedback submitted to the top executives so that it may alter or improve existing personnel policies and procedures.

(iv) Morale, attitude and interest surveys.

In large organisations, some of these functions are performed by persons other than personnel department.

Personnel Management – Concept

First concept, Personnel Management is concerned with managing people to “at work. Such people or personnel do not simply refer to “rank and file employees” or “unionized labour” but also include “higher personnel” and “non-unionized labour.”

In other words, it covers all levels of personnel, including blue-collared employees (craftsmen, foremen, operatives and labourers), and white-collared employees (professional, technical workers, managers, officials and proprietors, clerical workers and sales workers).

The shape and form that personnel administrative activity takes, however, may differ greatly from company to company; and, to be effective, it must be tailored to fit the individual needs of each organisation.

Second concept, it is concerned with employees, both as individuals as well as a group, the aim being to get better results with their collaboration and active involvement in the organisation’s activities, i.e., it is a function or process or activity aiding and directing individuals in maximising their personal contribution.

Third concept,personnel management is concerned with helping the employees to develop their potentialities and capacities to the maximum possible extent, so that they may derive great satisfaction from their job. This task takes into consideration four basic elements, namely, the capacities, interests, opportunities and personality of the employees.

i. Capacities — referring to those abilities or attainments, inherited or acquired, that an employee has, is capable of and must to a certain degree exercise in his work.

ii. Interests — not only an individual’s desires and ambitions, but also his instinctive impulsive tendencies, vague yearnings, and ill-defined cravings that may or may not stir him to his fullest action in performing his duties.

iii. Opportunities — not only opportunities for advancement, but opportunities to exercise his capacities and satisfy his interests.

iv. Personality — the sum total of a workers’ reaction to his experiences and environment, personality is manifest by an individuals’ reception by others. The employees’ personality has great influence upon his opportunities.

Since the employee is both a social and economic entity, possessing different characteristics in various work situations; there can be a perfect adjustment of the employee in his work unit if the he possesses the exact capacities required for the work. The work similarly affords the opportunity for exercising these capacities, and his interests are generally satisfied in the performance of his job.

However, a happy combination of the four elements are seldom achieved in actual practice; and a lack of balance forms one of the major causes of waste in production. The best or ideal personnel management, therefore, recognises the individual differences involving these elements and tries to eliminate or reduce them.

Fourth concept, since recruitment, selection development and utilisation of, and accommodation to people are an integral part of any organised effort, Personnel Management is inherent in all organisations. It is not confined to industry alone; it is equally useful and effective in government departments, military organisations, and non-profit institutions.

It is a major part of the general management function and has roots and branches extending throughout and beyond each organisation. Therefore, it is rightly the central pervasive system of all organisations.

This point has been summarized by Pigors and Myers in these words- “Personnel administration permeates all types of functional management, such as production management, financial management, sales management and research management. It applies in non-industrial organisations, government, non-profit institutions, and armed services. Unless these managers themselves expect to perform all the duties for which they are responsible, they have to secure the co-operation of other people within their part of the total organisation. In short, every member of the management group, from top to bottom, must be an effective ‘personnel administrator’ because he depends on the co-operative efforts of his subordinates.”

As Bakke says- “Human relations, industrial relations and personnel relations sire just new names for an aspect of the general managerial function as old as management itself.” It is more than the management of people by supervisors; and it is also more than the responsibilities assigned to the personnel department.

As a field of discipline, personnel management is faced with many challenging problems centering on social responsibility, work design, staffing, style of leadership and supervision, compensation and appraisal, collective bargaining, organisational development and organisational climate.

Fifth concept, personnel management is of a continuous nature. In the words of George R. Terry- “It cannot be turned on and off like water from a faucet; it cannot be practiced only one hour each day or one day a week. Personnel management requires a constant alertness and awareness of human relations and their importance in everyday operations.”

Finally, personnel management attempts at getting the willing co-operation of the people for the attainment of the desired goals, for work cannot be effectively performed in isolation without the promotion and development of an esprit de corps.

Taking the above concept into consideration, it may be observed that personnel management is an approach; a point of view; a new technique of thinking and a philosophy of management, which is concerned not only with managing people, but also with solving the human problems of an organisation intelligently and equitably, and in a manner which ensures that employees’ potential is properly developed, that maximum satisfaction is derived by them from their work, that the objectives of the organisation are achieved and that good human relations are maintained within the organisation.

Personnel management can be of full value to an organisation only when it is consistently thought out and applied at all levels and to all management functions; in corporate policies, in the systems, procedures and in employment practices, etc. This integrative aspect of personnel management is, therefore of vital importance.

Personnel Management – Nature and Characteristics

The nature and characteristics of Personnel Management can be described on the basis of the following factors:

a. Continuous Nature:

Personnel function is of a continuous nature.

“It cannot be turned on and off like water from a faucet; it cannot be practiced only one hour each day or one day a week. Personnel Management requires a constant alertness and awareness to human relations and their importance in everyday operation.” —Terry

Some persons require constant reminders for taking work from them. There are some others who would work efficiently after receiving a word of praise or a pat on the back. Besides, it is necessary that there should be a system which continuously guides the workers in the proper use of technological innovations.

b. Principles:

Personnel Management is based on certain guiding principles. These principles form the basis of organising and treating the workers and also provide a set of techniques for the various activities of the Personnel Department. These techniques help in recruitment, selection, training, wage payment systems, incentives, etc.

c. Team Spirit:

Personnel Management aims at strengthening the team spirit. Isolated individuals cannot contribute substantially towards the achievement of the objectives. Personnel Management infuses team spirit among workers and managers.

It promotes group satisfaction and makes the group members realise that they are a part and parcel of the enterprise and they have to put sincere efforts for the growth of their organisation.

d. Optimum Output:

Personnel Management helps in getting the most suitable persons for various jobs in the organisation, arranges for their training and places them at jobs for which they are most suited. It is concerned with improving efficiency of the employees and getting the best results from the human efforts.

Scott, Clothier and Spriegal pointed out that Personnel Management diagnoses the innate qualities of the employees, nourishes the same and makes the best use of them.

They rightly stated:

1. Every worker must be able to exercise in his work his capacities, inherited or acquired.

2. All his interests, including his instinctive and impulsive tendencies, his ambitions and desires, should get a place. He should get opportunities to advance and to exercise his capacities and to satisfy his interests.

3. He should not feel that his personality is being ignored. By personality here is meant the sum total of his reaction to his experiences and environment.

Personnel Management – 2 Important Objectives: Primary and Secondary Objectives

One of the principles of management is that all the work performed in an organisation should, in some way, directly or indirectly, contribute to the objectives of that organisation.

This means that the determination of objectives, purposes or goals is of prime importance and is a prerequisite to the solution of most management problems. Objectives are pre-determined ends or goals at which individual or group activity in an organisation is aimed.

The formulation of the objectives of an organisation is necessary for the following reasons:

(i) Human beings are goal-directed. People must have a purpose to do some work. Announced organisational goals invest work with meaning.

(ii) Objectives serve as standards against which performance is measured.

(iii) The setting of goals and their acceptance by employees promotes voluntary co-operation and co-ordination; self-regulated behaviour is achieved.

(iv) The objectives stand out as guidelines for organisational performance. They help in setting the pace for action by participants. They also help in establishing the “character” of an organisation. Ralph C. Davis has divided the objectives of an organisation into two categories- (a) Primary objectives, and (b) Secondary objectives.

Objective # 1. Primary Objectives:

Primary objectives, in the first instance, relate to the creation and distribution of some goods or services. The personnel department assists those who are engaged in production, in sales, in distribution and in finance. The goal of personnel function is the creation of a work force with the ability and motivation to accomplish the basic organisational goals.

Secondly; they relate to the satisfaction of the personal objectives of the members of an organisation through monetary and non-monetary devices. Monetary objectives include profits for owners; salaries and other compensation for executives; wages and other compensation for employees; rent for the landowners and interest for share/stock-holders.

Non-monetary objectives include prestige, recognition, security, status, Thirdly, they relate to the satisfaction of community and social objectives, such as serving the customers honestly, promoting a higher standard of living in the community, bringing comfort and happiness to society, protecting women and children, and providing for aged personnel.

Objective # 2. Secondary Objectives:

The secondary objectives aim at achieving the primary objectives economically, efficiently and effectively.

The fulfilment of the primary objectives is contingent upon:

(i) The economic need for, or usefulness of, the goods and services required by the community/society.

(ii) Conditions of employment for all the members of an organisation which provide for satisfaction in relation to their needs, so that they may be motivated to work for the success of the enterprise.

(iii) The effective utilization of people and materials in productive work.

(iv) The continuity of the enterprise.

The methods adopted by business organisations in fulfilling the primary purposes must be consistent with the ethical and moral values of society and with the policies and regulations established by legislative action.

On the personnel men lies the responsibility for ensuring a satisfactory accomplishment of the objectives of an organisation and of its employees, for if they are not reasonably achieved, the basic objectives of the organisation will suffer. It is for this reason that, while framing company personnel objectives care is taken to consider the interests and needs of the employees and of employee goals. This is done by integrating the employee interests and the management interests with a view to achieving the objectives of the entire organisation.

Personnel Management – Role of Personnel Manager

Personnel Department comes into the picture as a service depart­ment to the management in recruitment, induction, placement, merit rating, promotions, transfers and training. The personnel manager is a staff officer whose function is to provide specialised services to the line officers and advice and counsel them on personnel problems. Looked at in this light, a personnel manager has to advise the line manager, the final decision resting with the latter.

The classical or traditional view, therefore, is that the staff shall advice and the line shall decide. But the line of demarcation between line and staff functions, that is to say between deciding and advising is a thin one. When advice is accepted it becomes the basis of decision-making. The staff advisory authority really assumes the role of decision-making when the line has known from experience the sanctity and practicality of the advice.

Most of the time the line executives have no time to decide on staff advice and generally accept it as decision in toto because of the staff advisers’ technical competence in their specialities. In this manner, the personnel officer, by virtue of his sound and practical advice, acquires the status of a decision maker on behalf of the line officer concerned who will welcome such technical assistance.

In organisations where the personnel function has established its technical competence and professional expertise, the advisory relationship at the plant and corporate levels has almost always resulted in decision-making authority on behalf of line management and general management of the organisation.

In studies at Princeton University by Helen Baker and Robert France and at MIT by Charles Myers and John Turnbull, it was found that personnel officers would define their capacity as one of giving advice, assistance and counsel to the line organisation, but when questioned about their specific actions, it became apparent that they were actually making the decisions.

When this is the situation in an advanced management setting such as the USA, it is much more relevant in our own developing manage­ment practice. Here, personnel function cannot afford to remain merely advisory but has to assume many diverse roles in working with the line according to the exigencies of the organisation, its management philo­sophy and the industrial environment.

The activities of personnel department are thus directed towards making line control of the human element stronger and more effective. The personnel manager should rank equally with the other executives, operating under the supervision and directly responsible to the Chief executive.

Personnel Management   – 2 Broad Categories of Functions: Managerial and Operative Functions

The functions of personnel management are broadly divided into two categories such as managerial functions and operative functions.

1. Managerial Functions:

Management is a process of allocating the organization’s inputs both economic and human by planning, organizing, leading, and controlling for the purpose of producing goods and services as desired by the customers so that the organization becomes able to achieve its goal. The managerial functions include planning, organizing, leading and controlling.

i. Planning:

A plan refers to a pre-determined course of action to accomplish the set of objectives of the organization. It specifies what and how operative personnel functions are to be performed and who is to perform it. This function deals with the determination of the future course of action to achieve desired results.

Planning of personnel today prevents crisis tomorrow. Planning is the foundation of most successful actions of the enterprise. The personnel manager is expected to determine the personnel programme regarding recruitment, selection, and training of employees.

ii. Organizing:

This function is concerned with proper grouping of personnel activities, assigning of different activities to different individuals and delegation of authority.

iii. Directing:

This involves supervising and guiding the personnel. In other words it involves managing managers, managing workers and the work through the means of motivation, proper leadership, effective communication as well as co-ordination. While achieving results, the personnel managers must, invariably take care of the concerns and expectations of employees at all levels. A personnel manager must develop the ability to command and direct others.

iv. Motivating:

Motivation is the key to successful management of any enterprise. A personnel manager must inculcate in the workers a keen appreciation, respect and love for organizational policies.

v. Controlling:

Control is the process of measuring actual results with some standard of performance, finding the reason for deviations of actual from desired results and taking corrective actions if necessary. This function ensures that the activities are being carried out in accordance with stated plans to achieve the objectives of the organization.

2. Operative Functions:

The operative functions essentially belong to activities concerned with procuring, developing compensating, utilizing and maintaining an efficient workforce.

i. Procurement:

Procurement function deals with recruiting the required number of employees with necessary qualification, skill and experience in order to achieve the goal of the organization effectively. It is mainly concerned with hiring the right people, in the right place, at the right time.

This function involves various sub functions such as:

a. Human Resource Planning:

It is the process by which the management determines how the organization should move from its current manpower position to its desired manpower position. Through planning, management strives to have the right number and the right kinds of people, at the right places, at the right time, doing things which result in both organization and the individual receiving maximum long-run benefit.

b. Job Analysis:

It is the formal and detailed examination of jobs. It is a systematic investigation of the tasks, duties and responsibilities necessary to do a job.

c. Recruitment:

It is the process of identifying and generating a pool of potential candidates and motivating them to apply for exiting or anticipated job openings.

d. Selection:

Selection refers to the process of picking individuals, from the pool of qualified candidates, who have required qualifications to fill jobs in an organization. It is the way by which an organization chooses from a list of applicants the person (s) who best meets the selection criteria for the position available, considering current environmental conditions.

e. Placement:

It is the process of assigning a specific job, rank and responsibility to each of the selected candidates. It implies matching the requirements of a job with the candidate’s qualifications, skills, abilities, and their expectations towards the organization.

f. Induction/Orientation:

After an employee is selected and placed on an appropriate job, the process of familiarizing him with the job and the organization starts. This is known as induction/orientation, the process through which a new recruit is introduced into the job.

g. Internal Mobility:

It involves the movement of employees from one job to another in the same organization. Internal movements are basically of two types horizontal and vertical. Horizontal movements are between locations and divisions within the same category or level of manpower which are caused by transfer. Vertical movements are caused by either promotion or demotion.

ii. Development:

Development functions deal with the personal and professional development of the employees. It is concerned with activities meant to improve, mould, change and enhance the knowledge, skills, and efficiency of the workers based upon the current and future requirement of the organization.

It includes various sub functions such as:

a. Training:

Training is the act of increasing the knowledge and skills of an employee for performing a particular job by updating the knowledge, developing skills, bringing about attitudinal and behavioural changes, and improving the ability of the trainee to perform his/her tasks efficiently and effectively.

Hence personnel management is concerned with drafting and directing training programmes for all levels of employees, arranging for their on- the-job and off-the-job training, holding seminar and conferences etc.

b. Executive Development:

It is a planned, systematic and continuous process of learning and growth by which managers are able to enhance their conceptual and analytical skills, which help them in managing their employees in a better way. It is primarily concerned with improving the performance of managers by giving them stimulating opportunities for growth and development.

c. Career Planning and Development:

A Career is the pattern of wok-related experiences (i.e. job positions, job duties, decisions, and subjective interpretations about work-related events) and activities over the span of the person’s work life. Career planning involves planning of an employee’s career and implementing career plans by means of education, learning and training.

Career development refers to a set of activities or programme designed to match an employee’s needs, abilities and goals with current or future opportunities within organization.

d. Human Resource Development (HRD):

HRD is a process by which the employees of an organization are helped to help themselves and develop the organization.

iii. Motivation and Compensation:

Motivation (both intrinsic and extrinsic) and compensation have the greatest role to play for employees in the organization. It is said that the employee who is highly motivated and adequately compensated (cash or kind) can give the best effort to achieve organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

This function includes various sub functions such as:

a. Job Design:

It is the work arrangement (or rearrangement) aimed at reducing or overcoming job dissatisfaction and employee alienation arising from repetitive, monotonous and mechanistic tasks.

Through job design, organizations try to raise productivity levels by offering non-monetary rewards such as greater satisfaction from a sense of personal achievement in meeting the increased challenge and responsibility of one’s work. Job enlargement, job enrichment, job rotation, and job simplification are the various techniques used in a job design exercise.

b. Work Scheduling:

Redesigning the nature of the work itself is not the only way to motivate the employees. Alternation of the work arrangement (work scheduling) is another way to motivate the employees. There are basically three ways to alter the work arrangement which are-flexitime, job sharing and telecommuting.

c. Job Evaluation:

It is the process of analysing and assessing the various jobs systematically to ascertain their relative worth in an organization. Jobs are evaluated on the basis of their contents and are placed in the order of their importance.

d. Performance Management:

It is the process of planning performance, appraising/ evaluating performance, giving its feedback, and counselling an employee to improve his/ her performance.

e. Compensation Administration:

It is the process of deciding how much an employee should be paid (basic wage, incentives and benefits like fringe benefits, social security measures, workmen’s compensation and welfare amenities) on the basis of his/her skill, experience, nature of the job, position in the organizational hierarchy and work load.

One of the important objectives of compensation administration is to attract, develop, motivate and retain competent employees for achieving the goals of organization in an effective and efficient manner.

iv. Maintenance:

This function deals with sustaining and improving the conditions in the organization that have become established. The objectives of maintenance function are to protect and preserve the physical and psychological health of employees through various welfare measures.

a. Health and Safety:

A healthy organization is free from illness and follows all the safety norms and regulations strictly. Hence this function requires that managers at all levels are expected to know and enforce safety and health standards throughout the organization for maintaining the well being of the employees.

b. Employee Welfare:

This function includes the efforts to make life worth living for workmen by providing both intramural and extramural welfare facilities. Intramural facilities include canteen, drinking water, first aid, creche, common room etc. Extra mural welfare facilities include housing, transportation, education, schooling, theater etc.

c. Social Security Measures:

This function includes provision of social security measures to the employees in addition to fringe benefits. Social Security is an instrument for social transformation and progress and must be preserved, supported and developed as such. It helps men and women get social benefits and get free from anxiety for tomorrow, which in turn make them more productive.

The various measures are workmen’s compensation to those workers(or their dependents) who are involved in accidents (Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923), maternity benefits to women employees (Maternity Benefit Act,1961),sickness and medical benefits (Employment State Insurance Scheme,1948),measures for old age, invalidity and death (Employment Provident Fund Scheme,1925,-Coal Mines Provident Fund Bonus Scheme, 1948; Employees Provident Fund Act,1952; Employees Family Pension Scheme, 1971; The Assam Tea Plantation Provident Fund Act, 1965; and The Seamen’s Provident Fund Act,1966), and other measures [The Survivorship Pension Scheme, 1971;The Lay-off and Retrenchment Compensation (Industrial Dispute Act, 1947 with amendment in 1953)]

v. Integration Function:

This tries to integrate the goals of an organization with employees’ aspirations through various employee-oriented programmes with the objective of achieving goal compatibility. Hence personnel management tries to achieve reconciliation of individual, societal, and organisation interests.

a. Grievances Redressal:

A grievance is an employee’s dissatisfaction or feeling of personal injustice relating to his/her employment. Organizations try their level best to reduce the intensity of grievance among the employees either by open door policy or step ladder method.

b. Discipline:

It is the force or instrument that induces the group or the individual to follow rules, regulations, standards and procedures necessary for the smooth running of an organization. Discipline can be positive (employees comply with rules and regulations out of an inherent desire to cooperate with the system of the organization) or negative (employees follow rules and regulations out of fear of punishment).

c. Collective Bargaining:

It is a methodology adopted by the organizations, in which both the employers and the workers collectively resolve their differences with or without the intervention of a third party. Collective bargaining is a procedure by which the terms and conditions of workers are regulated by agreements between their bargaining agents and employers.

Both the employer and the employees usually begin the process with divergent views but ultimately try to reach a compromise, making some sacrifices. As soon as a compromise is reached, the terms of agreement are put into operation.

d. Trade Unionism:

It is a continuous association of wage earners with the objective of maintaining and improving the conditions of their working lives. The Trade Union Act, 1926 defines a trade union as a combination, whether temporary or permanent, formed primarily for the purpose of regulating the relations between employees and employers or between employees and employees, or between employers and employers, or for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of any trade or business, and includes any federation of two or more trade unions.

The various objectives of trade unions are providing job security to the employees, safeguarding workers’ interests, improving the working conditions in the organization, helping the employees in developing skills according to the job entrusted them, enabling the workers’ participation in management, protecting the rights of the workers, helping in maintaining good industrial relations, and negotiating with management on industrial conflicts.

e. Employee Participation and Empowerment:

It is the process whereby employees are involved in decision making processes, rather than simply acting on orders. Employee participation is a part of process of empowerment in the workplace. Empowerment involves decentralizing power within the organization to individual decision makers further down the line.

f. Team and Team work:

Team is a group whose individual efforts result in performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs. The various types of team that operate in organizations are problem-solving teams, self-managed work teams, cross-functional teams, and virtual teams. Organizations believe in team work to enhance their productivity.

g. Industrial Relations:

It involves harmonious relations between employers and employees, employees and employees and employers and government. Improper industrial relations lead to dissatisfaction and discontent among the parties and require intervention of various dispute prevention and settlement mechanisms.

vi. Upcoming Issues:

Human resource management is a continuous and dynamic process. It requires constant up-gradation as per the industry demands.

It involves various new dimensions such as:

a. Human Resource Audit:

It is the mechanism to review the current HR policies, practices and systems of the organization to ensure that they fulfill the rules and regulations. The audit also helps in identifying the areas of improvement in the HR functions, In other words human resource audit functions as a strategic planning tool to help the organization in evaluating the effectiveness of human resources functions.

b. Human Resource Accounting:

It is the process of assigning, budgeting, and reporting the cost of human resources incurred in an organization, including wages and salaries and training expenses. It can be measured through monetary measures as well as non-monetary measures.

c. Human Resource Information System:

It is the system used to acquire, store, manipulate, analyze, retrieve, and distribute important information regarding an organization’s human resources.

d. Human Resource Research:

It is the process of evaluating the effectiveness of human resource policies and practices and developing more appropriate ones.

e. Stress and Counselling:

Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, a demand, or a resource related to what the individual desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important. Stress results in job dissatisfaction, mental illness, physical illness, absenteeism and increased turnover. Hence organizations are adopting various strategies to counsel the employees in order to reduce their stress level.

f. International Human Resource Management:

It is a set of distinct activities, functions and processes that are directed at attracting, developing and maintaining the human resources of a multi-national corporation. IHRM is the result of interplay among the three dimensions such as human resource activities, types of employees and countries of operation.

Personnel management is an art for yet another simple reason that it cannot adopt simply a mechanical approach of labour. The machines can be more productive by Specialisation but men cannot be more productive simply by mechanically training them for the job. We may be able to purchase machinery and plant with the lowest direct outlay, but we cannot hire labour on the principle of the cheapest is the best we can keep plant and machinery so long as they are useful to us economically and we can throw them out for better when necessary.

But we cannot throw out the human labour in way. In other words, we cannot adopt a purely mechanical or crude approach towards the labour. A mechanical approach would certainly result in the creation of various management problems.

This is the reason why organisation has to face many personnel problems whenever the management is influenced by the old and traditional philosophy which used to consider men as screws in the machines. Employees are now no longer screws in the machines, particularly because the work force has realised its, growing strength.

The personnel management, as an art, must therefore, treat human beings as live components of the organisation. It must remember that human beings, unlike machines, are very sensitive to any change that the management may introduce in its philosophy and working. The management, therefore, must skillfully introduce any change in its procedures and practices as well as in its policies, in such a way that they are with the knowledge, and as far as possible, with the consent of the employees.

The personnel practices and conventions must also be such that the employees would take pride in their work and would like to prove their capacity and willingness to work together, persistently and consistently, for the organisation, with a dear purpose in view. In other words, it is the task of the personnel to see that the morale of employees is always high. It is precisely for this reason that the personnel management is as an art.

It must understand the nature of group dynamics and must be able to make the effective use of individuals groups. It must see to it that nobody feels that his capacity and willingness to work is not fully utilized. The art of personnel management lies in assessing the skill and calibre of employees and inducing them to work without making such use of hierarchical authority.

From this point of view the personnel management has three-fold responsibilities:

1. It must so organise the work and assign the duties that there is a proper co-ordination and harmony at all the levels of management. This would bring team spirit and create a network of interlinking system between all groups.

2. There must be a proper delegation of authority as well as responsibility. The employee should be trained to undertake the responsibility willingly and voluntarily and must be given suitable latitude and freedom also to carry out the responsibility well.

3. For effective co-ordination and team spirit, there must be a free flow of communication inside the organisation. For effective communication, employees must be given as much information as possible. Unreliable sources of information may create wrong impression. Facts should not be concealed from subordinates simply because they will get annoyed. Nobody should be taken by surprise.

There should be an atmosphere of mutual trust and tolerance. Finally, the personnel management as an art will become meaningful, if the personnel manager undertakes the work willingly, enthusiastically and in responsible manner. Personnel management is dynamic phenomenon and is in itself a leadership. Personnel management is a comprehensive force which holds all the employees together.

Personnel management is an accommodating factor which makes it possible for all the employees to live together, to act together and to sustain their interests in the organisation. A personnel management is disciplinary power that keeps the organisation, as a whole, moving towards the goal and, therefore, personnel management is certainly an art which only an enlightened leadership, with a wider social perspective can practice.

Personnel Management – Top 5 Approaches: Commodity Approach towards Labour, Protective Approach, Social Approach, Profit Sharing & Collective Bargaining

The managerial attitude towards labour or workers has been termed as personnel philosophy in the area of personnel management. Different approaches have been adopted by management in dealing with their em­ployees.

Approach # 1. Commodity Approach towards Labour:

This was the traditional approach towards workers. The observa­tion that wages were high when labour was scarce in relation to demand and were low when labour was in excess of demand gave rise to the idea that labour was like a commodity and it can be bought like other com­modities. In this approach money was accepted as the only motivator for more work. At that time there was no government intervention and no labour laws and the labour was exploited.

During this approach workers were loaded with more work, low wages and unhealthy working conditions were prominent. Eventually trade unions came into existence to protect the rights of workers.

Approach # 2. The Protective Approach:

After First World War, employers began to realise that welfare of em­ployees had a direct effect upon their productivity.

Hence various facilities like first aid, safety, lunch rooms, and rest rooms were introduced to provide the welfare facilities. It was consid­ered as a duty of the employer and the employer who was not providing these facilities was considered as backward.

Now-a-days various labour legislations have made these welfare provisions obligatory on the part of the employers.

Approach # 3. The Humanitarian or Social Approach:

This approach came into existence due to materialistic approach of management. This approach stated that factory is a social system and its employees are human beings same human values. So the management should be have with them dignity and respect.

During this approach, the workers movement became more organi­sed and demanded more and more share in the development of the business. The idea of industrial democracy was rooted. As a citizen in democracy has certain fundamental rights so to workers as industrial citizens have a right to be consulted in determining the rules and regulations under which they work.

The legal recognition of this approach is recent in origin. There is more and more workers participation in management

Approach # 4. Profit Sharing :

This is too recent approach of personal management. By this ap­proach the workers are considered to be the partners of the enterprise. There is an agreement between the employer and the workers to share the profits of the organisation. This approach shows that worker is not merely a cog of the machine, but his status has been increased to that of the partner of the organisation.

Approach # 5. Collective Bargaining:

Collective bargaining is another recent approach. In collective bargaining, in this the representative of the management and the repre­sentatives of the workers enter into an agreement on the matter for which there is disagreement between the two. The views of the workers are taken into consideration for solving any problem or dispute amicably and in a peaceful manner.

Personnel Management – Policies (With Characteristics and Advantages)

Personnel policy statements are detailed guidelines regarding the manpower management principles and practices pertaining to an organization. The personnel policies of an organization tend to vary from industry to industry and the nature of the business.

They provide the fundamental guidelines regarding the procurement, management, retention, development of manpower in the organization and facilitate the organization to maintain cordial employee relationships, welfare activities of the employees and effective trade union management relationships at the workplace.

Characteristics of an Effective Personnel Policy:

The personnel policies of an organization have the following features, namely:

1. Relatedness to Objectives – The personnel policies help organizational members and managers to have their focus on the organizational objectives and help them to achieve the organizational goals by having the right people with right form of skills and capabilities for the right positions in the organizations.

2. Preciseness – Personnel policies like any other organizational policies and strictly precise, objective in nature. They aim to realize the best potential of human resources in the organization, by encouraging them to higher performance levels, fostering training and development. They also decide the framework for reward and incentive schemes for employees catering to their motivation and retention in the organization.

3. Factual – The personnel policies are based on facts and figures that are relevant to the organization and the industry standards, norms, rules and regulations. Personnel policies also take into consideration the statutory compliance frameworks and develop comprehensive guidelines for the organizations to adhere to the same.

4. Easily Understandable – Personnel policies are generally simple; easily understandable to employees at all levels in an organization.

5. Stable and Flexible – Personnel policies are generally stable in nature; yet they are flexible to changes in cases of impending organizations changes and administrative requirements.

6. Appropriateness – All personnel policies are appropriate and factual in nature. They form the basis of managerial decision making with respect to personnel decisions as well as disciplinary guidelines for the employees in the organization. The personnel manual as maintained by most organization is based on such appropriate and factual information regarding the company’s personnel activities.

7. Just, Fair and Equitable – Any personnel policy by their very nature attempt to be fair, justifiable, rational, equitable and transparent in their very design and applicability.

8. Reasonable – Personnel policies are reasonable in terms of decisions taken by the management based on actions or fact and figures related to an organization.

9. Reviewable – Personnel policies are reviewable and changeable as and when required by the organization.

10. Development Oriented – Personnel policies should emphasize on the overall development of the employees, catering to their training as well as career related development needs.

Advantages of Personnel Policy:

The common advantages of having a personnel policy involve the following benefits:

1. Delegation – Personnel policies ensure a framework for delegation of authority in terms of responsibilities of employees working at various levels of the organization.

2. Uniformity – Personnel policies also facilitate the uniformity of personnel related decisions in organizations and provide a guideline for line managers and supervisors for managing employees at the workplace. They also form the basis of discipline and grievance management and help the managers of an organization to take decisions with respect to dispute settlement and union related problems.

3. Better Control – Personnel policies facilitate better control to managers in terms of solving work related problems, settling grievances, disputes and maintaining a uniform code of conduct and discipline in the workplace.

4. Standards of Efficiency – Many personnel policies also determine the standards of employee performance and efficiency indicators in organizations.

5. Confidence – Personnel policies can instil an element of confidence amongst the employees by indicating the guidelines for various reward, incentive schemes and promotional as well as career upliftment opportunities in the organization.

6. Speedy Decision Making – Personnel policies also promote speedy decision making with respect to manpower related decisions like payment of increments, bonus, promotions, transfers etc.

7. Coordination – Personnel policies facilitate interdepartmental coordination, delegation of authority. It also acts as a guideline for managing union relations.

Related Articles:

• Difference between Personnel Management and Human Resource Management
• Personnel Management Definitions
• Functions of Personnel Management: Managerial, Operative and General Functions

Personnel Management N4

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Office of Information Management and Office of Water Intergovernmental Personnel Act Opportunity

• This announcement is for one a 6-month full-time or one 12-month part-time fully reimbursable assignment. This opportunity would not be issued as a grant, but rather as an agreement between EPA and the Tribal agency where EPA would agree to pay for the salary and benefits of the individual for the duration of the Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement assignment. There may be an opportunity for an extension. Mutually agreed upon/approximate start and end dates between March and June 2025.
• This assignment is within U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Mission Support/Office of Information Management.
• This assignment is a telework opportunity. Some travel may be required to events or training opportunities at EPA's expense.
• The deadline for applications is January 17, 2025 (see the process for applying below).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Mission Support (OMS)/Office of Information Management (OIM) and Office of Water (OW) are seeking a data analyst for a 6-month full-time or 12-month part-time temporary assignment via the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA). This assignment is an ideal opportunity for an employee who works for a Tribal government with a research or analytical skillset to gain transferable experience in data management principles, data analysis, and training development.

The analyst will have the opportunity to work with both the Office of Information Management (OIM) and the Office of Water (OW) on projects as outlined below. The analyst will work on three projects during their time with EPA:

• A project with the Office of Information Management (the candidate can select from one of the four projects outlined below).
• A project with the Office of Water as outlined below.
• Depending on the OIM project, the analyst will also identify a Tribal project to apply what they learned from their time with OIM. This project can be a topic related to their Tribe or another Tribe as identified in coordination with the Tribal Exchange Network Group.

In addition, the analyst will develop midpoint and closeout status narratives outlining their experience with EPA and what they learned (detailed guidance will be provided during the assignment).

Office of Information Management Projects

Please review the projects below and select one OIM project that you would like to work on during your time with OIM. In your cover letter, please outline the project you have selected and how your experience aligns or how the project will build capacity and benefit your future work with Tribes.

Project Option 1

Work with OIM to create a Data Management Plan. The following are the components of the project:

• Review existing data management plan examples and resources, identifying the questions that need to be asked when creating a data management plan, such as where the data are from, what the data will be used for, who can access the data, etc. and identifying the format of the plan, its key components, and the best practices for developing the plan.
• Apply a draft plan to multiple projects within OIM, including obtaining a better understanding of the data sources feeding Envirofacts (EF) in support of the Facility Registry System (FRS)/EF optimization project. This will help refine the plan, form, and questions.
• Develop and refine the data management plan format and questions for the IPA candidate's Tribe and potentially other Tribes as appropriate and available.
• Work with staff from across OIM to incorporate specific aspects of the data lifecycle from each organization.
• Create a plan for establishing data products from the Central Data Exchange (CDX) to be consumed in the Data Management and Analytics Platform (DMAP) and other destination systems.

Project Option 2

Develop Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) Training:

• Develop and deliver a training module on " Esri's Experience Builder " based on one to two EPA use cases for the tool. Esri's experience builder is a tool that allows users to put together sophisticated web applications that bring together maps, applications, web pages and a variety of data without needing to know how to write code.
• Develop a training module on how to incorporate Section 508 compliance best practices into products developed in Esri's ArcPro.
• Develop a training module on an open-source mapping tool, specific to an EPA use case.

Project Option 3

Tribal User Guide: Review and refine the Draft Tribal User Guide, which contains tools and resources available on epa.gov for Tribes. The draft user guide was developed by OIM in partnership with the EPA Office of International and Tribal Affairs (OITA).

Project Option 4

Analyze data using EPA Tools and develop a "How To" guide using Tribal data, identify and document the steps for developing data analysis scripts and visualization. This project includes setting up the data analysis and visualization environment, developing data analysis scripts, identifying and using reusable code, and identifying user resources for R or Python and scripts that can be re-used and shared.

Office of Water Project

During the analyst's time with EPA, they will work with the Office of Water as part of the Water Quality Exchange (WQX) and the Assessment TMDL Tracking and Implementation (ATTAINS) teams to assist in tribal training, mentorship, and adoption of these two tools for tribal use. This may include the development of training materials, providing technical support to tribes in data management and in leveraging these tools, and learning about best-practices for managing water quality monitoring data from data collection through quality assurance, assessment, and the reporting and sharing of that data as appropriate.

Qualifications

The following are the desired skillsets. (Note: The goal of this assignment is capacity building and as such any combination of the below skillsets or the demonstration of an aptitude to learn these skillsets may be sufficient.)

• Experience with basic data management concepts such as experience with data collection, establishing data quality checks, data harmonization, data analytics, curation, and data sharing.
• Experience with spreadsheets (e.g., Excel or Google Sheets) to correct and clean data.
• Experience with presentation tools (e.g., PowerPoint or Google Slides) to develop and edit materials.
• Experience with one or more areas of the data lifecycle, such as gathering data, making data usable, sharing data, and creating products from data.
• Experience with downloading datasets from government websites.
• Experience with communicating and working with others to obtain information and feedback.
• Experience presenting technical information to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience with coding, such as in R or Python, and developing code that is reusable.

The Office of Mission Support's (OMS) Office of Information Management (OIM) provides information management solutions to meet EPA's needs. OIM's work encompasses the full lifecycle of information management from bringing data in, developing tools for analysis, and making data available. OIM provides many tools and resources that support the information management lifecycle, including information management, analytics, and visualization tools; information collection and exchange services; and content management and publication services. The Office of Information Management supports the Environmental Information Exchange Network (EN), which facilitates environmental data sharing among EPA, states, tribes and territories.

The Office of Water (OW) ensures drinking water is safe, and restores and maintains oceans, watersheds, and their aquatic ecosystems to protect human health, support economic and recreational activities, and provide healthy habitat for fish, plants and wildlife.

Opportunity Timeline

The IPA opportunity is for a 6-month full-time or 12 months part-time temporary fully reimbursable assignment. Mutually agreed upon/approximate start and end dates between March and June 2025. Depending on the nature of the work, IPA assignments may be performed on an intermittent, part-time, or full-time basis.

This position is a telework opportunity. Travel may be required to events or training opportunities at OIM’s expense. 

Eligibility

To be eligible for the IPA program, the analyst must be employed by a Tribal Government for at least 90 days in a career position.

Organizations are reimbursed for the IPA’s salary and a portion of other related benefits while serving under this appointment.

Security/Suitability requirements: None

How to Apply

Interested applicants should submit a resume (including contact information) and a cover letter to   [email protected] by Friday, January 17, 2025 .  The cover letter should include the following information:

• The OIM project of interest from the four project options above with a description of related experience or how the project will build capacity and benefit future work with Tribes. 
• A description of experience related to the OW project outlined above.
• A description of additional experience the candidate is interested in gaining from working with OIM and OW.

Please ensure EACH work history includes ALL of the following information:

• Job Title 
• Duties (be specific in describing your duties)
• Name of Employer
• Start and end dates including month and year (e.g., June 2007 to April 2008)