Strategic Human Resource Management Group 25

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI

COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

KNUST SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

GROUP TWENTY – FIVE (25)

Course: Strategic Human Resources Management (SHRM)

Course Code: MAS 355

Date: 1st February, 2021

Department: Human Resources Management

Question: Explain ten differences between personnel management and human resources
management.

GROUP MEMBERS

Names Index Number

1. Stephen Abuakwah 4258218

2. Martha Dufie 4285918

3. Abigail Acquah 4283218

4. Abigail Adumea Larbi 4274318

5. Adu-Gyamfi Patrick 4259818

6. Eunice Oduro Okailey 4276318

7. Boahen Edna Owusuaa 4268018

8. Ivan Yeboah 4286118

9. Wilhemina Mensa Boateng 4275118

10. Dogbe-Bunmi Lydia 4270918

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OUTLINE

Introduction …………………………………………………………………………….

Personnel management defines………………………………………………………….

What is human resources management…………………………………………………..

The differences between personnel management and human resources management…..

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………….

Reference …………………………………………………………………………………

Introduction

In early centuries, when Human Resource Management (HRM) was not prevalent, then the

staffing and payroll of the employees were taken care of, by the Personnel Management (PM).

It is popularly known as Traditional Personnel Management. Human Resource Management

have emerged as an extension over the Traditional Personnel Management.. The primitive and

parochial concept/understanding of human resources management has gone through several

metamorphosis upon increasing demand of talent.

Workforce within an organization are seen as raw materials and therefore there is a great need

for them to be processed and developed. This however would enhance productivity in the long

run. In the past, HRM meant processing payroll, sending birthday gifts to employees, arranging

company outings, and making sure forms were filled out correctly—in other words, more of

an administrative role rather than a strategic role crucial to the success of the organization

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Personnel Management Defines

Personnel management is an administrative function which exist in an organization to ensure

right personnel at right organizational activity. It is a traditional approach of managing

employees which focuses on adherence to policies and rules of organization. Personnel

management is concern with planning, job analysis, recruitment and performance appraisal

along with training and compensation management. It also focuses on managing labour

relationship by handling employee grievances.

What is Human Resources Management?

Human resource management is a novel approach of managing people at workplace which

focuses on acquisition, development, utilization and maintenance of human resource. It

combines physical energies and their strengths with human competencies. In simple words,

human resource management can be referred as the policy which ensures right quality and

quantity of human resource in the organization. The overall purpose of human resources is to

ensure that the organization is able to achieve success through people.

Differences between human resources management and personnel management.

The evolving nature of HR functions has caused a major distinction between the primitive

personnel management and the novel human resource management. Ten but not limited to are

some elaborated differences;

1. HR focuses on team work. In HRM, employees work in a collaborative effort to achieve

a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way. This helps

the organization to solve difficult problems while personnel management focusses on

division of labour. In personnel management, work processes are separated into tasks,

with each task performed by separate persons or an individual. Workers are assigned to

a particular work.

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2. In personnel management, efficient management is given priority. That is organization

focuses on achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort while human

values and individual needs are given top priority in the context of human resource

management.

3. While jobs are design on the basis of division of labour and specialization in personnel

management, human resource management design jobs on the basis of team work.

4. Human resource management regards people as strategic and valuable resource (asset)

to make desired output but personnel management regards people as basic input to make

desired output.

5. As acquisition, development, utilization and maintenance of human resources are major

functions of human resource management, personnel administration, labour relation

and employee welfare are the major functions of personnel management.

6. Personnel management is the traditional approach of managing people at workplace

and is concern of personnel department but human resource management is the modern

approach of managing people at workplace and is concern of managers of all levels.

7. The objective of personnel management is to manage people in accordance with

organization’s goal but human resource management objective is to determine human

resource needs and formulate policies by aligning individual needs with organization’s

needs.

8. The two terms have a huge gap in their understandings. For example, personnel

management does not provide the employees with great training and development

opportunities, they restrict the employees to minimum training and development

opportunities whereas HRM believes in giving the employees the opportunity of

growing and developing by giving them more and more training and development

opportunities to help them and the organization grow.

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9. Personnel management draws a line between the top management and the other

employees by giving them the authority of taking decisions alone under the set rules

and regulations of the organization; however, HRM believes in taking decisions

collectively after considering the employee participation, decentralization, authority

and the competitive environment in the organization.

10. Personnel management treats the employees like other resources that have no feelings

and special skills to perform their jobs however, in HRM employees are treated

sensitively keeping their ego, emotions and feelings unharmed and intact.

CONCLUSION

Though personnel management and human resource management can be differentiated

academically, more or less they deal with human aspect of the organization i.e. the management

of men. In one nutshell, we can say human resource management deals with human being as a

resource in production activity rather than an employee. Many experts view personnel

management as being workforce centred whereas human resource is resource centred.

REFERNCE

Differences between human resource management and personnel management. [online]

Available from https://www.hrmexam.com/2019/05/17/difference-between-personnel-
management-and-human-resource-management/ [Accessed 30 January 2021].
Human resource management. [online] Available from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resource_management [Accessed 30 January 2021].
Human resource management. [online] Available from https://www.businesstopia.net/human-
resource/personnel-management-vs-human-resource-management [Accessed 30 January
2021].

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