Personnel Management: Nature and Scope of Personnel Management

Read this article to learn about the nature and scope of personnel management !

Nature

The emergence of personnel management can be attributed to the writings of human religionists who attached great significance to the human factor.

Lawrence Apply remarked. “Management is personnel administration”.

This view is partially true as management is concerned with the efficient and effective use of both human as well as non-human resources. Thus, personnel management is only a part of the management process. At the same time, it must be recognised that personnel management is inherent in the process of management.

This function is performed by all the managers throughout the organisation rather than by the personnel department only. If a manager is to get the best of his people, he must undertake the basic responsibility of selecting people who will work under him and to develop, motivate and guide them.

However, he can take the help of the specialised services of the personnel department in discharging this responsibility.

Personnel management permeates all the functional areas of management such as production management, financial management, and marketing management. That is, every manager from top to bottom, working in any department has to perform the personnel functions.

Though the personnel department is created under the supervision of a person designated as ‘Personnel Manager’, it should not be assumed that the other managers are relieved of this responsibility.

Personnel management is not a ‘one shot’ function. It must be performed continuously if the organisational objectives are to be achieved smoothly. To quote G.R. Terry, “The personnel function 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.”

Scope of Personnel Management:

As we recall history, personnel management was basically concerned with recruitment, selection, placement of employees in organisations. Now the scope of personnel management has become wide and is concerned with organizing human resources with a view to maximize output and profits of the organisation and to develop the talent of the employees at work to the fullest possible extent securing personal satisfaction (job satisfaction of the employees) and personnel satisfaction (as far as the organisation is concerned).

In the early stage of industrialisation, dominated by single-ownership concerns, owner himself used to act as a personnel manager and recruit and select the people of his choice and taste irrespective of the requirements of the job. With the advent of industrialisation and the consequent developments, company type and partnership firms came into vogue broadening the scope of personnel management.

The scope of personnel management can be seen in terms of the activities of personnel management discussed hereunder:

(a) Employee training

(b) Recruitment and maintenance of labour force.

(c) Executive development

(d) Determination of equitable wages and Salaries for labourers and employees.

(e) Job analysis and job description

(f) Labour welfare activities-such as education to children of employee, recreation, sanitary conditions, etc.

(g) Maintaining personnel records.

(h) Maintaining sound human relations in industry.

(i) Settlement of labour disputes.