PERSONNEL

MANAGEMENT
Dr Yogeshwari Phatak
Definition of Personnel Management

◦ Personnel Management is a part of management that

deals with the recruitment, hiring, staffing, development,
and compensation of the workforce and their relation
with the organization to achieve the organizational
objectives.
1820’s industrial revolution
 Scientific Management
The Midvale Steel Company, "one of America's great
armor plate making plants," was the birthplace of scientific
management. In 1877, at age 22, Frederick W. Taylor
started as a clerk in Midvale, but advanced to foreman in
1880. As foreman, Taylor was "constantly impressed by
the failure of his [team members] to produce more than
about one-third of [what he deemed] a good day's
work". Taylor determined to discover, by scientific
methods, how long it should take men to perform each
given piece of work; and it was in the fall of 1882 that he
started to put the first features of scientific management
into operation.
Time and motion studies.  Frederick Winslow Taylor.[1
Classical Organisation Theory (Henry Fayol)
The classical theory views organizations as machines
and human beings as parts of the machine.

The classical management theory places emphasis not

on employees' job satisfaction or social needs but
rather on physical needs. This theory holds that these
physical needs can be met through income and monetary
incentives and uses the opportunity for wage increases to
motivate employees
◦ Functions of management[edit]
◦ In his original work, Administration industrielle et générale; prévoyance, organisation, directing, coordination, controle,
five primary functions were identified:[10]
1. Planning
2. Organizing
3. Commanding
4. Co-ordinating
5. Controlling
6. Forecasting
◦ The control function, from the French contrôler, is used in the sense that a manager must receive feedback about a
process in order to make necessary adjustments and must analyze the deviations. Lately scholars of management
combined the directing and coordinating function into one leading function.
◦ Principles of management[edit]
1. Division of work - In practice, employees are specialized in different areas and they have different skills. Different levels of expertise can
be distinguished within the knowledge areas (from generalist to specialist). Personal and professional developments support this.
According to Henri Fayol specialization promotes efficiency of the workforce and increases productivity. In addition, the specialization of
the workforce increases their accuracy and speed. This management principle of the 14 principles of management is applicable to both
technical and managerial activities.
2. Authority and Responsibility - According to Henri Fayol, the accompanying power or authority gives the management the right to give
orders to the subordinates.
3. Discipline - This principle is about obedience. It is often a part of the core values of a mission and vision in the form of good conduct and
respectful interactions.
4. Unity of command - Every employee should receive orders from only one superior or behalf of the superior.
5. Unity of direction - Each group of organisational activities that have the same objective should be directed by one manager using one plan
for achievement of one common goal.
6. Subordination of Individual Interest to General Interest - The interests of any one employee or group of employees should not take
precedence over the interests of the organisation as a whole.
1. Remuneration - All Workers must be paid a fair wage for their services. The wages paid must be as per a certain standard of living
to the employee at the same time it is within the paying capacity of the company.
2. Centralization and Decentralization - This refers to the degree to which subordinates are involved in decision making.
3. Scalar chain - The line of authority from top management to the lowest ranks represents the scalar chain. Communications should
follow this chain. However if someone needs to communicate some other person in emergency he/she might use "Gang Plank".
≤Fayol suggested the concept of ‘Gang Plank’ to avoid delays and allow direct communication between two subordinates at the
same level.≥
4. Order - this principle is concerned with systematic arrangement of men, machine, material etc. There should be a specific place for
every employee in an organization. That is 'a place for everything (people) and everything has a place'.
5. Equity - All the employees in the organization must be treated equally with respect to the justice and kindliness.
6. Stability of tenure of personnel - High employee turnover is inefficient. Management should provide orderly personnel planning and
ensure that replacements are available to fill vacancies.
7. Initiative - Employees who are allowed to originate and carry out plans will exert high levels of effort.
8. Esprit de corps - Promoting team spirit will build harmony and unity within the organization.
Elton Mayo (HRM)
Mayo's work helped to lay the foundation for the 
human relations movement.He emphasized that alongside
the formal organization of an industrial workplace there
exists an informal organizational structure as well.Mayo
recognized the "inadequacies of existing 
scientific management approaches" to industrial
organizations, and underlined the importance of
relationships among people who work for such
organizations.His ideas on group relations were advanced
in his 1933 book The Human Problems of an
Industrialized Civilization, which was based partly on his
Hawthorne research
◦ The phenomenon is named after the location where the experiments took place, Western Electric’s Hawthorne Works electric
company just outside of Hawthorne, Illinois.

◦ The electric company had commissioned research to determine if there was a

relationship between productivity and work environments. The original
purpose of the Hawthorne studies was to examine how different aspects of the
work environment, such as lighting, the timing of breaks, and the length of the
workday, had on worker productivity.
◦ In the most famous of the experiments, the focus of the study was to determine if
increasing or decreasing the amount of light that workers received would have an effect
on how productive workers were during their shifts. In the original study, employee
productivity seemed to increase due to the changes but then decreased once the
experiment was over.
◦ What the researchers in the original studies found was that almost any change to the experimental conditions
led to increases in productivity. For example, productivity increased when illumination was decreased to the
levels of candlelight, when breaks were eliminated entirely, and when the workday was lengthened.
◦ The researchers concluded that workers were responding to the increased attention from supervisors. This
suggested that productivity increased due to attention and not because of changes in the experimental variables.
Human resource management is a new version of personnel
management. There is no watertight difference between human
resource management and personnel management. However, there
are some differences in the following matters :

1Personnel management is a traditional approach to managing

people in the organization.
Human resource management is a modern approach to managing
people in the organization.

2Personnel management focuses on personnel administration,

employee welfare, and labor relation.
Human resource management focuses on the acquisition,
development, motivation, and maintenance of human resources in
the organization.
3.Personnel management assumes people as input for achieving the
desired output.
Human resource management assumes people as an important and
valuable resource for achieving the desired output.

4.Under personnel management, personnel function is undertaken for

employee satisfaction.
Under human resource management, the administrative function is
undertaken for goal achievement.
5.Under personnel management, job design is done based on the division of labor.
•Under human resource management, the job design function is done based on group work/teamwork.

6.Under personnel management, employees are provided with fewer training and development
opportunities.
•Under human resource management, employees are provided with more training and development
opportunities.

7.In personnel management, decisions are made by the top management as per the rules and
regulations of the organization.
In human resource management, decisions are made collectively after considering employee’s
participation, authority, decentralization, competitive environment, etc.
8.Personnel management focuses on increased production and
satisfied employees.
Human resource management focuses on effectiveness, culture,
productivity, and employee participation.

9.Personnel management is concerned with the personnel manager.

Human resource management is concerned with all levels of
managers from top to bottom.

10.Personnel management is a routine function.

Human resource management is a strategic function.
Qualities of Personnel Manager
◦ 1. Personal attributes
◦ 2. Experience and Training 
◦ 3. Professional Attitudes 
◦ 4. Academic Qualification.
Qualities of Personnel Manager
◦ Personal Attributes
◦ (i) Intelligence:
◦ Like any other manager, a personnel manager must be intelligent. He must have the
competence to perform activities relating to personnel better than his subordinates.
He must have a long term perspective, so as to map out a future for the organisation
15 to 20 years ahead and even beyond.
◦ (ii) Communicative Skills:
◦ The personnel manager should have command over language, ability to express
correctly, listening skills, ability to explain and interpret policy and programmes etc.
◦ (iii) Decisiveness:
◦ The personnel manager should have analytical ability, sound judgement, foresight etc.

◦ (iv) Educational Skills:
◦ Personnel manager should possess learning and teaching skills as he has to learn and
teach employees about the organisational growth, need for and mode of development
of individuals etc.
◦ (v) Human Skills:
◦ The most important quality of a personnel manager is his ability to deal successfully
with people who have likes and dislikes, whims and fancies, who favour some and are
prejudiced against others. He has to deal with workers who refuse to see reason and
who believe that violence pays and nothing else does.

◦ (vi) Executing Skills:
◦ A personnel manager should have adequate executing skills which refer to ability to
implement policies and programmes speedily and accurately.
◦ (vii) Leadership Skills:
◦ Leadership skills include ability to inspire confidence and to win cooperation, ability to
create enthusiasm, initiative, unbiased attitude, organisational ability etc. The personnel
manager should be resourceful too. He should have an open mind, objectivity and
adjustability to tackle different matters from different angles.

◦ (viii) Knowledge of Labour and other Laws:

◦ The personnel manager must possess a sound knowledge of the constitution and other
acts that influence labour interests. He must be aware of the government’s policy
towards labour and the general economic conditions prevailing at a given time.
◦ (ix) Broad Social Outlook:
◦ It is also desirable that the personnel manager should have a broad social outlook and
contribute towards the betterment of quality of life of the employees and those who
live around and beyond the company.
Experience and Training
◦ Qualification # 2. Experience and Training:
◦ Training in industrial psychology, labour legislation and industrial
relations is very useful for a personnel manager. Previous experience is
an advantage provided the experience was in an appropriate
environment and in the same area.
◦ Qualification # 3. Professional Attitudes:
◦ Personnel management is fast emerging as a profession. A professional approach to
the management of human resources is required in the global environment. Personnel
management requires an interdisciplinary approach.
◦ He should possess technical, administrative and behavioural skills. Knowledge of
different disciplines like sociology, psychology, management, engineering, philosophy,
economics and law is required to develop such skills and approach.
◦ Qualification # 4. Academic Qualifications:
◦ Keeping the diversity and elasticity of the personnel manager’s job in
mind, the following educational qualifications may be necessary to
achieve success, in addition to the qualities already discussed:
◦ (i) Degree from a recognised university.
◦ (ii)Post graduate degree /diploma in HRM/ HRD/ Labour welfare/Social
work/Psychology/ Industrial Relations / MBA with specialisation in HRM.
◦ (iii) Degree in law (desirable/additional qualification)
◦ (iv) Knowledge of local language.
HRM vs. HRD
HRM is an essential branch of management that deals with
making the optimum usage of organizational human resources
by nurturing better work conditions for all concerned.

On the other hand, HRD is a branch of HRM that focuses on the

growth and development of the workforce in any organization.

Differences between HRM and HRD in tabulated format.

◦Definition and full form
◦The full form of HRM is Human Resource Management. It refers to how the
principles of management can be applied to manage the employees working in
an organization effectively.
◦The full form of HRD is Human Resource Development. It refers to continuous
development functions that are implemented for improving the performance of
those working in an organization.
◦Nature
◦HRM is a management function.
◦HRD is a sub-function of HRM.
◦Function
◦The functions of HRM are reactive and are usually applied to
gaining holistic organizational goals.
◦The functions of HRD are proactive and have to be applied
consistently to enhance the productivity of employees.
◦Goal
◦The objective of HRM is related to improving the overall performance of employees.
◦HRD goals are usually connected with skill development, knowledge enhancement, and
increasing the competency of employees.
◦Process
◦Most HRM processes are routine and have to be carried out as and when the need arises.
◦HRD processes are ongoing and not occasional.
◦Dependency
◦HRM is an independent entity in itself. It comprises of different sections inclusive of
recruitment and retention, HRD, compensation, performance, appraisal management, etc.
◦HRD is a subsystem of HRM and draws many functions, attributes, and processes from HRM.
◦Concerned with
◦HRM deals with and has concerns for people only. It handles recruitment, rewards, etc.
◦HRD is concerned with the development of all aspects and people within an organization and
manages its skill development processes.
◦Levels of formality
◦HRM functions are generally formal and are applied via classroom/laboratory training, etc.
◦HRD functions may be informal as in mentorships, employees receive coaching from superiors,
usually managers.
THANK YOU