Difference Between Human Resource Management and Personnel Management

Many of us assume that Human Resource Management (HRM) and personnel management are similar terms and can be interchanged. But, the fact is, even though both these terms share some common grounds, they have some diverse aspects.

The term personnel management originated before the term Human Resource Management (HRM). Human Resource Development (HRD) is another term used in management studies and it covers a wider view of HRM. They have more similarities than differences. One of the obvious similarities between them is that, they both share the same field of activity and have the same objective of 'managing the employees'.

What is Human Resource Management?

The all-importance and requisiteness of HRM is stated by Henry Ford (a pioneer in the field of management) as ~ "take out my building, take out my machines, and all capital but leave my men with me, I will become Henry Ford again." These lines say a lot about the importance of human resources for any organization. The human resources refer to the qualities possessed by the workforce or employees in an organization. These qualities include knowledge, values, skills, abilities, cognition, beliefs, commitment, etc., possessed by the employees, without which any organization cannot grow or achieve their objectives. In short, the efficiency and success of any administrative system depends upon the cooperation of the human resources. HRM directly deals with the human resources in a system. Human Resource Management is defined by Gray Dessler as ~ "The policies and practices involved in carrying out the 'people' or human resources aspects of a management position, including recruiting, screening, training and appraising".

Functions of HRM

Managing the workforce as assets, that are required to develop the organization.
Aligning and developing the HR policies, according to the corporate strategies and other business management policies.
Developing the skills of the employees through adequate training and by providing the necessary resources required to develop their knowledge pertaining to their job.
Creating an efficient Organization Development (OD) system.

What is Personnel Management?

"Personnel Management is that phase of management which deals with the effective control and use of manpower as distinguished from other sources of power. The methods, tools, and techniques designed and utilized to secure the enthusiastic participation of labor represent the subject matter for study in personnel administration." ~ Dale Yoder.

It is the sub-system of the whole management system in an organization. The production and distribution of goods and services is managed by the Personnel department. This department evaluates the efficiency of the workers and also provides them incentives which can be either monetary or non-monetary. They also assign the departments such as sales and marketing, production, maintenance, etc., where the employee has to work, depending on the skills and knowledge possessed by the employee.

Functions of Personnel Management

Developing the organizational structure and planning.
Managing the wage and salary of the employees and provide appraisals.
Providing employee benefits and services such as insurance plans, pension plans, fringe benefits, Provident Funds (PF), etc.
Negotiating on labor union activities like collective bargaining, trade union issues, contract agreements, grievance handling, etc.,
Auditing the employee policies and practices, to ensure the efficiency of those policies.

Both of them are important management sectors that work together for the growth of the organization, by managing and serving their employees. It was found that, nowadays, HRM has a broader scope than personnel management.
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/difference-between-human-resource-management-and-personnel-management.html

 

Benefits of Human Resource Management

Good human resource management (HRM) strategies make a lot of difference in the output of the employees. In this article, some of its benefits have been explained.

 

Human resource management involves managing people in an organization. The last few decades have seen some drastic changes in the strategies employed by various companies for this purpose. Earlier, it had limited functions which was mainly confined to paperwork related to hiring and payment of the staff in the company. However, now, it is understood that the most valuable resources of any establishment are its employees, as they play a crucial role in accomplishment of the aims and objectives of a business. Therefore, the focus of HRM is to deal with the manpower and all the decisions related to it that can have an impact on the productivity.

Importance of HRM

An organization cannot build a good team of working professionals without it. The key functions of the HRM team include recruiting people, training them, performance appraisals, motivating employees as well as workplace communication, workplace safety, and much more. The beneficial effects of these functions are discussed here:

Recruitment and Training
This is one of the major responsibilities of the human resource team. The HR managers come up with plans and strategies for hiring the right kind of people. They design the criteria which is best suited for a specific job description. Their other tasks related to recruitment include formulating the obligations of an employee and the scope of tasks assigned to him or her. Based on these two factors, the contract of an employee with the company is prepared. When needed, they also provide training to the employees according to the requirements of the organization. Thus, the staff members get the opportunity to sharpen their existing skills or develop specialized skills which in turn, will help them to take up some new roles.

Performance Appraisals
HRM encourages the people working in an organization, to work according to their potential and gives them suggestions that can help them to bring about improvement in it. The team communicates with the staff individually from time to time and provide all the necessary information regarding their performances and also defines their respective roles. This is beneficial as it enables them to form an outline of their anticipated goals in much clearer terms and thereby, helps them execute the goals with best possible efforts. Performance appraisals, when taken on a regular basis, motivate the employees.

Maintaining Work Atmosphere
This is a vital aspect of HRM because the performance of an individual in an organization is largely driven by the work atmosphere or work culture that prevails at the workplace. A good working condition is one of the benefits that the employees can expect from an efficient human resource team. A safe, clean and healthy environment can bring out the best in an employee. A congenial atmosphere gives the staff members job satisfaction as well.

Managing Disputes
In an organization, there are several issues on which disputes may arise between the employees and the employers. You can say conflicts are almost inevitable. In such a scenario, it is the human resource department which acts as a consultant and mediator to sort out those issues in an effective manner. They first hear the grievances of the employees. Then they come up with suitable solutions to sort them out. In other words, they take timely action and prevent things from going out of hands.

Developing Public Relations
The responsibility of establishing good public relations lies with the HRM to a great extent. They organize business meetings, seminars and various official gatherings on behalf of the company in order to build up relationships with other business sectors. Sometimes, the HR department plays an active role in preparing the business and marketing plans for the organization too.

Any organization, without a proper setup for HRM is bound to suffer from serious problems while managing its regular activities. For this reason, today, companies give a lot of stress for setting up of a strong and effective HRM.
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/benefits-of-human-resource-management.html

Human resource management involves managing people in an organization. The last few decades have seen some drastic changes in the strategies employed by various companies for this purpose. Earlier, it had limited functions which was mainly confined to paperwork related to hiring and payment of the staff in the company. However, now, it is understood that the most valuable resources of any establishment are its employees, as they play a crucial role in accomplishment of the aims and objectives of a business. Therefore, the focus of HRM is to deal with the manpower and all the decisions related to it that can have an impact on the productivity.

Importance of HRM

An organization cannot build a good team of working professionals without it. The key functions of the HRM team include recruiting people, training them, performance appraisals, motivating employees as well as workplace communication, workplace safety, and much more. The beneficial effects of these functions are discussed here:

Recruitment and Training
This is one of the major responsibilities of the human resource team. The HR managers come up with plans and strategies for hiring the right kind of people. They design the criteria which is best suited for a specific job description. Their other tasks related to recruitment include formulating the obligations of an employee and the scope of tasks assigned to him or her. Based on these two factors, the contract of an employee with the company is prepared. When needed, they also provide training to the employees according to the requirements of the organization. Thus, the staff members get the opportunity to sharpen their existing skills or develop specialized skills which in turn, will help them to take up some new roles.

Performance Appraisals
HRM encourages the people working in an organization, to work according to their potential and gives them suggestions that can help them to bring about improvement in it. The team communicates with the staff individually from time to time and provide all the necessary information regarding their performances and also defines their respective roles. This is beneficial as it enables them to form an outline of their anticipated goals in much clearer terms and thereby, helps them execute the goals with best possible efforts. Performance appraisals, when taken on a regular basis, motivate the employees.

Maintaining Work Atmosphere
This is a vital aspect of HRM because the performance of an individual in an organization is largely driven by the work atmosphere or work culture that prevails at the workplace. A good working condition is one of the benefits that the employees can expect from an efficient human resource team. A safe, clean and healthy environment can bring out the best in an employee. A congenial atmosphere gives the staff members job satisfaction as well.

Managing Disputes
In an organization, there are several issues on which disputes may arise between the employees and the employers. You can say conflicts are almost inevitable. In such a scenario, it is the human resource department which acts as a consultant and mediator to sort out those issues in an effective manner. They first hear the grievances of the employees. Then they come up with suitable solutions to sort them out. In other words, they take timely action and prevent things from going out of hands.

Developing Public Relations
The responsibility of establishing good public relations lies with the HRM to a great extent. They organize business meetings, seminars and various official gatherings on behalf of the company in order to build up relationships with other business sectors. Sometimes, the HR department plays an active role in preparing the business and marketing plans for the organization too.

Any organization, without a proper setup for HRM is bound to suffer from serious problems while managing its regular activities. For this reason, today, companies give a lot of stress for setting up of a strong and effective HRM.
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/benefits-of-human-resource-management.html

Functions of Human Resource Management

The human resource department performs the challenging work of managing the company's most valuable asset - the employees. This article chronicles the various functions carried out by the HR department of a company.

Think human resources, and what comes to mind is the tough-as-nails Catbert, a character from the phenomenally successful comic strip, Dilbert. He's someone who "enjoys crushing the spirit of the company's employees", as the evil director of HR. As far as humor is concerned, everything needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, as with the character of Catbert, who manages to turn every employee's life into a nightmare with his devious policies.

Of course, things are well-exaggerated and far from the truth in this comic strip. Nevertheless, the fact that so many find Catbert amusing, and identify with his behavior goes to show the kind of image that HR personnel have been laden with. It's unfair to associate their work with monstrosity, as a department used by the management to send out veiled reprimands.

The HR department has a lot on its hands, and topping the list is the delicate task of acting as a liaison between the employees and the management. What follows is a brief description of the various functions performed by the HR department.

Functions of Human Resource Department

1. Recruitment

By far the most important of all the duties covered by the human resource team, recruitment takes up a large chunk of the company's priorities. Recruitment begins with making the company's presence felt in the job market by advertizing vacancies, participating in job fairs, or hovering around the university circuit.

Choosing the appropriate people from a large pool of applicants is a tremendous responsibility. This involves an acute sense of perceptiveness while sifting through the hoards of applications that come a company's way.

After the shortlisting procedure is over, the HR department moves on to the task of scheduling and conducting interviews. Here, the HR managers have to assess the candidate on various levels, right from their educational qualifications and talent, to their character traits. They may also have to apply various methods of evaluation to zero in on the right people for the job. Conducting background checks on the selected candidates may also come under the aegis of the HR department.

2. Motivation

An important task that the HR department executes is motivating the employees to excel at what they do. Motivation for the employees, comes mostly in the monetary form. The HR department has to evaluate employee performances, and devise an appropriate rewarding system. This can include the following -

Equities
Bonuses
Increments
Awards
Complimentary vacations
Flexibility in working hours

The HR team, through its motivational programs should seek to maximize employee retention statistics, and instill a sense of bonding among the organization and the employees.

3. Planning Growth

The HR policies, ideally, should be working in tandem with the company's policies. However, this may not always happen. Nevertheless, the HR department has to ensure that there is minimal conflict of interest, and that everyone contributes to the overall success of the company.

Human resource is the biggest asset of any organization, and it is up to the HR team to make the most of it by implementing training programs to better the employee performance, and ensure that each employee strives to utilize his/her optimum ability. This can be done by promoting interaction among the employees that results in a healthy exchange of ideas and cultivates a good working environment. Also, employees must be encouraged to be more proactive when it comes to devising ways to increase the output.

4. Implementing HR Policies

HR policies cover employee safety and welfare. The HR team has to oversee all aspects of rendering a safe and healthy environment for the company. This includes periodic checks of all equipment, materials, and work spaces.

They also have to implement various employee welfare schemes that offer assistance to employees at different levels. These may include maternity/paternity leave, work-from-home options, insurance schemes, employee welfare funds, recreational activities, etc.

Promotions, transfers or expulsion of services are also tasks handled by the human resource department. Promotions are conducted and are predominantly based on the overall performance of the individual, accompanied by the span or tenure he/she has served the organization. The human resource department also looks at lowering the attrition rate in the company by introducing policies that offer a good working environment with suitable remuneration.

5. Establishing Fair Work Culture

It is usually the HR team that has to deal with and sort out employee grievances. At times, if situations get aggravated, the company or the employee may take the legal discourse to settle disputes. An important function of the HR department is to iron out the disputes and differences in an amicable manner, as far as possible. However, complaints involving malpractice, treachery, fraud, harassment, etc., should be dealt with in the appropriate manner, in line with the company's policy.

The HR department has to ensure that discrimination of any kind does not exist in the workplace. The employees and members of the management should be made aware of the existing anti-discrimination policies. They have to see to it that every person working for the organization is treated on a fair and equal platform.

The HR department functions with the primary aim of motivating and encouraging the employees to prove their mettle and add value to the company. This is achieved via various management procedures like workforce planning and recruitment, induction and orientation of hired task-force, employee training, administration, and appraisals.
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/functions-of-human-resource-management.html

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