Functions of Personnel management

1. FUNCTIONS OF
PERSONNEL
MANAGEMENT

2.  Personnel management is the management of human resources in
an organization.
 It is concerned with the creation of harmonious working
relationship among its participants and bringing about their
utmost individual development.
 It effectively describes the process of planning and directing,
development and utilization of human resources in employment.
 It undertakes all those activities which are concerned with human
elements or relations as well as with material elements in an
organization.

4. Importance of PM
 It helps management in the preparation, adoption and continuing
evolution(development) of personnel programmes and policies.
 It supplies skilled workers.
 It ensures maximum benefit out of the expenditure on training and development.
 It prepares workers according to the changing needs of industry and environment.
 It motivates workers and upgrades them so as to enable them to accomplish the
organization goals.
 Through innovation and experimentation in the field of personnel, it helps in reducing
costs and helps in increasing productivity.
 It contributes a lot in restoring the industrial harmony and healthy employer-employee
relations.
 It establishes mechanism for the administration of personnel services that are
delegated to the personnel department.

5. Classification of Functions
Experts have classified the functions into
 Managerial and operative functions
 General and specific functions
 Personnel Administration Functions and Industrial Relations
Function.
 Functions classified on the basis of capacities.
 Functions according to the degree of authority.

6. The General and Specific Functions:
 Under General type of functions, the personnel management is required:
 To conduct personnel research
 To assist in the programmes of personnel administration
 To develop appraisal plans
 To launch education and training programmes
 To develop competent workforce
 To establish and administer varied personnel services delegated to personnel department
Under Specific types of functions, the personnel management may involve itself in areas of
 employment
 Safety
 Wage and salary
 Benefit schemes
 Community relations
 Advice and counseling the employees.

7. Personnel Administration and Industrial Relations Functions:
 Personnel administration functions relate to the function of managing people from the lower
to upper level of the organization.
 Personnel Administration refers to creating, developing and utilizing a “work group” and
involves all types of inter-personal relationship between superiors and subordinates.
 The Industrial Relations functions refer to interactions between the management and the
representatives of the unions.
 Such functions involve all activities of employer-employee relationship such as
 Organisation of the union members,
 Negotiation of contracts,
 Collective bargaining,
 Grievance,
 Disciplinary action etc.
The purpose of all these being to prevent conflict between the two participants.

8. Functions classified on the basis of capacities:
According to Saltonstall Personnel Management’s function performs three roles,
i. line function: He directs the work in his own department and some service
function such as recruitment, administration of benefits, the plant canteen and
allied activities.
ii. co-coordinator: He controls the functions of other departments and also
assists the top management in accomplishing personnel objectives, policies
and procedures
iii. typical staff function: He assists and advise the line personnel to solve their
problems.

9. Functions according to the degree of authority:
Dale Henning and French have classified his functions into three categories
thus:
a. Area of maximum authority, e.g. direction of payroll calculations,
orientation procedure and transfer rules etc.
b. Area of combined use of authority and persuasion(influence), e.g.
establishment of disciplinary procedure, inter- departmental data gathering,
determining the number of participants in a training programmes, etc.
c. Area of maximum persuasion, e.g. salary changes under the rules of the
plant, employment of individuals recommended by the personnel
department in other departments, initiating disciplinary action etc.

10. PERSONNELADMINISTRATION:
1. Recruitment:
Recruitment of personnel
 Knowledge of sources of employee supply
 Receiving application interviews
 Investigation of references
 Physical tests, trade test and aptitude tests
Job Descriptions, Job specifications, Job Analysis

11. Job Analysis: The procedure for determining the duties & skill
requirements of a job and the kind of person who should be hired for
it.
Job Description Job specification
-Job title -knowledge
-Job profile & description -skill
-Duties and responsibilities - education experience
-Skill and specialisations -abilities
-Educational qualification -personality

12. 2. Manpower Administration
1. Placement:
- Job assignment
- Job enlargement
- Personnel development
2. Introduction
- Introduction to supervisor, job, workplace, colleagues, welfare activities, service condition,
authorities and procedures.
3. Wage and salary administration(job evaluation)
- Wage scales and increments
- Salary and wage standardization
- Incentive payments and allowances
- Working hours and overtime

13. - Profit sharing, bonus
- Holidays, leave
- Fringe benefits
4. Discipline
- Instances of indiscipline and misconduct
- Causes of indiscipline
- How to deal with indiscipline
5. Transfer and promotion
- The procedure to be adopted
- Causes of transfer and promotion
- Personnel for transfer and promotion
- Records of transfer and promotion
6. Merit rating and evaluation of employees
- Assessment techniques
- counselling

14. 7. Time, motion and work study:
Method for establishing employee productivity standards in which (1) a complex task is broken into small, simple
steps, (2) the sequence of movements taken by the employee in performing those steps is carefully observed to
detect and eliminate redundant or wasteful motion, and (3) precise time taken for each correct movement is
measured. From these measurements production and delivery times and prices can be computed and incentive
schemes can be devised.
8. Prevention of losses
- Material loss
- Work loss
- Time loss
9. Administration in relation to:
- Absenteeism
- Late coming
- Employee turnover, its causes, incidence, effects, remedies, and stastical analysis

15. 10. Personnel training and development programmes for
- Apprentices
- Workers
- Foremen and supervisors
- Junior executives
- Management staff
11. Personnel records and statistics
- accident reports
- Employee turnover studies
- Absenteeism
- Wage levels and cost of living
- Research into IR & PM problems

16. 3. Retirement
 Provident fund and pension plans
 Gratuity provisions
 Exit interviews
 Long services awards
 Retirement plans, housing, medical aid etc.
4. Study of the working of:
 Apprentice Act
 Employment Exchanges Act
 Payment of Wages Act and Payment of Bonus Act
 Shops and Establishments Act
 Employees Provident Fund Act and Employees state Insurance Scheme

17. Functional areas of Personnel Management
 1. Organizational Planning and Development
 It is concerned with the division of tasks between departments to achieve
predetermined goals.
 Determination of company’s short and long term objectives.
 Fixing of the responsibility and authority of the employees.
 Developing inter-personal relationship.

18. 2. Staffing and Employment
 Manpower planning is a process of analyzing the present and future vacancies
that may occur as a result of retirement, discharge, transfers, promotions, sick
leave, leave of absence or other reasons.
 Recruitment is concerned with process of attracting qualified and competent
personnel for different jobs.
 Selection process is concerned with the development of selection policies and
procedures and evaluation of potential employees in terms of job specifications.
 Placement is concerned with the task of placing an employee in a job for which
he is best fitted.
 Induction means introduction of an employee to the organization and the job.
 Transfer process is concerned with the placement of an employee in a position in
which his ability can be best utilized.
 Promotion is concerned with rewarding capable employees by putting them in
higher positions with more responsibility and higher pay.
 Separation process is concerned with the severing of relationship with an
employee on grounds of resignation, lay-off, death, disability, discharge or
retirement.

19. 3. Training and Development
 This process aims to train and develop employees to improve and update their
knowledge and skills, so as to help them perform their jobs better.
 The process also includes developing the attitudes, beliefs and values of the
employees to match the organizational needs.
 This comprises of performance appraisal, training, management / executive
development, career planning and development.
1. Performance appraisal is the process of evaluating the performance of an
employee on the job and developing a plan for improvement.
2. Training is the systematic development of the knowledge, skills and attitudes
required to perform a job.

20. 3. Development is the concept of developing the employees in an
organization to meet future changes and challenges.
4. Career planning and development refers to identifying one's career goals
and formulating plans of reaching them. It attempt to harmonize an
individuals career aspirations with organizational needs.

21. 4. Compensation, Wage & Salary Administration
 It is governed by the principle of rewarding an employee during and after the
course of his job for his contributions to the organization adequately, equitably
and in a fair manner.
 This function comprises of job evaluation, wage and salary administration,
incentives, bonus and fringe benefits.
1. Job evaluation is the systematic determination of the value of each job in relation
to other jobs in the organization.
2. The process of formulating and operating a suitable wage and salary program is
known as wage and salary administration.
3. Incentives are the rewards an employee earns in addition to regular salary based
on his performance or of the collective performance.

22. 4. Bonus is primarily a share in the surpluses and is often directly
related to the organization performance.
5. Fringe benefits are monetary and non-monetary benefits including
disablement benefits, housing facilities, canteen facilities, conveyance
facilities, educational facilities, recreational facilities, medical and
welfare facilities, post retirement benefits, etc.

23. 5. Employee Services and Benefits:
1. Safety provision inside the workshop. For this purpose , policies,
techniques and procedures for the safety and health of the employees
are developed.
 Line management are advised on implementation and operation of
safety programmes.
 Training has to be given first line supervisors and workers.
 The causes of accidents have to be investigated and data collected on
accidents.
 The effectiveness of the safety programmes evaluated periodically.
2. Employee counselling is the process through which employees are
given solution of their work problems and their personal problems.

24. 3. The medical services include provision of curative and preventive
medical and health improvement facilities for employees, free or
otherwise.
 A periodical medical check up of employees, training in hygienic and
preventive measures are undertaken.
4. The recreational and other welfare facilities include entertainment
services like film shows, sports and games and housing, educational,
transport and canteen facilities, free or at subsidized rates.
 Suitable policies and programmes are framed and efforts are made to
administer these services satisfactorily.
 The effectiveness of such programmes has also to be evaluated.
5. Fringe benefits and supplementary items are made available to
employees in the form of:
 Old age survivor’s and disability benefits, unemployment and
workmen’s compensation

25.  Pension, gratuities and such other payments as are agreed upon
– death benefits, sickness, accident and medical care, insurance,
expenses of hospitalization, voluntary retirement benefits
 Paid rest periods, lunch period, wash-up time, travel time, get
ready time
 Paid vacation or bonus in lieu of vacation, payment for
holidays, paid sick and maternity leave
 Profit sharing benefits, stock options contribution to
employees’ provident fund, employees educational expenditure
and special wage payments ordered by the courts.
These benefits are given to employees in order to tempt them to
remain in the organization, to provide them social security and to
reduce absenteeism and labour turnover.

26. 6. Employee Records:
Employee records include information relating personal
qualification, special interests, aptitudes, results of tests and
interviews, job performance, leave promotions, rewards and
punishments.
7. Labour Relations:
 Grievance handling policy and procedures are developed.
 Rules and regulations are framed for the maintenance of
discipline in the organization and proper system of reward
and punishment is developed.
 Collective bargaining has to be developed so that all the
disputes may be settled by mutual discussions.

27. 8. Personnel research and personnel audit:
 Systematic inquiry regarding effective organization’s
personnel programmes – recruitment, selection,
development, utilization of and accommodation to human
resources.
 Procedures and policies and findings submitted to the top
executives.
 Data relating to quality, wages, productivity, grievances,
absenteeism, labour turnover, strikes, lock-outs, accidents
etc. which are collected and supplied to the top management
for improving existing personnel policies and programmes.
 Morale and attitude surveys.

28. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LINE & STAFF
 In line and staff organization, the line authority remains the same
as it does in the line organization. Authority flows from top to
bottom.
 The main difference is that specialists are attached to line
managers to advise them on important matters.
 These specialists stand ready with their specialty to serve line
mangers as and when their services are called for, to collect
information and to give help which will enable the line officials
to carry out their activities better.
 The staff officers do not have any power of command in the
organisation as they are employed to provide expert advice to the
line officers.

29.  The combination of line organisation with this expert staff constitutes
the type of organisation known as line and staff organisation.
 The 'line' maintains discipline and stability; the 'staff' provides expert
information.
 The line gets out the production, the staffs carries on the research,
planning, scheduling, establishing of standards and recording of
performance.
 The authority by which the staff performs these functions is
delegated by the line and the performance must be acceptable to the
line before action is taken.

31. Features of line and staff organisation
 1. Under this system, there are line officers who have
authority and command over the subordinates and are
accountable for the tasks entrusted to them. The staff officers
are specialists who offer expert advice to the line officers to
perform their tasks efficiently.
 2. Under this system, the staff officers prepare the plans and
give advice to the line officers and the line officers execute
the plan with the help of workers.
 3. The line and staff organization is based on the principle of
specialization.

32. DISTINCTION BETWEEN
PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT (PM) & HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (HRM)
Dimension PM HRM
Perspective Short-term perspective Long-term perspective
Point of View Compliance The psychological
contract based on
commitment
Control External control Self-control
Perception Pluralist perspective A utilitarian
perspective
Role Specialist role Strategic role
Outlook Cost-minimization Maximum utilization

33. DISTINCTION BETWEEN PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT &. HRM (CONT’D)
Dimension PM HRM
Employment contract Careful delineation of
written contracts
Aim to go beyond
contract
Rules Importance of
devising clear rules
Can do outlook,
impatience with rule
Guide to management
action
Procedures Business need
Behavior referent Norms/customs and
practices
Values/mission
Managerial task vis-à-
vis labour
Monitoring Nurturing
Initiatives Piecemeal Integrated

34. Dimension PM HRM
Job design Division of labor Team work
Conflict handling Reach temporary truce Manage climate and
culture
Training and
development
Controlled access to courses Learning organizations
Respect for
employees
Labor is treated as a tool
which is expendable and
replaceable
People are treated as
assets to be used for the
benefit of an organization
Shared interests Interests of the organization
are uppermost
Mutuality of interests
Evolution ‘Employee advocate' ‘Member of the
management team'
DISTINCTION BETWEEN PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT &. HRM (CONT’D)