Specialized department were firstly created in the 1920s to handle the administration of the personnel program, they were usually called personnel departments. Every individual who guides and directs the corporation president, does a personnel work.
Personnel management activates are carried on both by the staff personnel department and by operating management in the course of directing the activities of the work force. In 1940s many companies added responsibilities of labor contract negotiation, contract administration, and grievance handling to other activities to the personnel department.
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT
The academy of management changed the designation of its “manpower management” division to “personnel or human resources” division in 1975s. for the sake of conciseness. We shall use the term just personnel.
PERSONNEL, IS IT COMPULSORY TO CREAT?
In a very small organization such as, VETA BREAD, HANI BREAD, SONA BREAD etc. there is no need of personnel department an the president or owner himself do all work regarding employee’s hiring training, disciplining, and firing.
But in a large organization such ICI in Pakistan, McDonald’s, HOTEL COMPANY, UNI LIVER etc. a president or owner cannot perform all work regarding employee’s hiring, disciplining, training, and firing because for such a larger organization there is need of different people with different skills. Therefore, a separate department is established which is called personnel department.
FUNCTION OF PERSONNEL
Following are the function of personnel department.
EMPLOYMENT
This function includes recruitment, selection, and induction into the organization. It is also its responsibility to determine content of the job to be performed and the employee qualifications necessary to perform the job satisfactorily. These are recorded in the form of job descriptions and job satisfaction.
The personnel department must developed and maintain adequate source of labor. It must also ser up and operate the employee selection system, which is include interviews, selection tests, a medical examination and reference cheeks.
TRANSFER, PROMOTION, AND LAYOFF
For these takes the personnel department serves primarily in a coordinative capacity. When employees are moved from one department to another because of the needs of the business of individual requests, the personnel records may be studied to ascertain that they possess the requisite skills.
PROMOTION
When a vacancy occurs in a position, it may be filled by promotion from within or by direct hiring from outside the company. This decision is often made jointly between the personnel director and the executive in charge of the department where the vacancy has occurred.
LAYOFF
Layoff typically at processed by the personnel department to unsure that the proper order of preference is followed. This can become quite complicated if these combinations of job department, and plant wide seniority rights must be observed.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
One the job training and coaching are performed by the line supervisor or by the specially designated employee. In training, it is the responsibility of the personnel department to determine training needs in cooperation with line management.
Once the needs are established, the personnel training specialists must design a program to accomplish the desired result. In coaching, performance appraisal, studies, and special broadening assignments are largely executed by operating managers.
COMPENSTAION AND ADMINSTRATION
Personnel department mostly handles the work of designing and installing a job evaluation program. The decision to adopt a particular pay structure with pay grades and fixed minimums and maximums for the grades is a top management responsibility.
The day-to-day work analyzing jobs, evaluation their worth and maintaining suitable records is a staff personnel function.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Health program is the identification and control of agents within the working environment that can cause occupational disease. Some agents can be gases, dusts, fume. Toxic chemical or metals noise, heat, radiation, biological substances, and stress.
Industrial hygienists are employed to identify and control such hazards to health
The safety director must prepare safety display distribute safety leaflets, and develop safety instructional material.
DISCIPLINE AND DISCHARGE
Discipline has two principles in the first sense it means, “ training that molds or corrects” this means the achieving and maintaining of orderly employee behavior. The second meaning of the term discipline refers to punishment of wrongdoers.
The personnel department commonly assumes the responsibility for formulating he list of necessary relies together with the range of penalties for each offense. Frequently this list of rule and penalties is discussed and clear with high level line management before it is issued and communicated through out the organization.
LABOR RELATION
The personnel industrial relations staff plays a very significant role in labor management relations. The directors of industrial relations usually serve as key members.
When a union has been certified by the national labor relation board, than management must bargain with it in regard to wages rate of pay , hours of work, handling grievance, allocation of overtime, handling transfer and layoff etc.
BENEFITS AND SERVICES
Included under this category are pensions, group life insurance, hospital & medical insurance, sickness leave pay plans, social programs, recreational programs and claims is handled by the personnel department.
ORGANIZATIONAL PLANNING
In the office of the corporation president, concept of organization planning is developed in which president has a final authority, while personnel department gathers data does research prepare plans, and gives advice to the office of the president.
ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
A conferences board survey conducted in 1975s revealed that “organization development” has emerged as a major personnel activity since an earlier investigation in 1965s. Consultants are often involved in OD work. They work jointly with management to collect data, diagnose problems, and work out solutions
HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING
Another new function that has emerges in recent years is human resource planning is also called manpower planning. Human resource planning is the process by which a firm insures that it has right number of qualifies persons at proper time, performing job that are useful to the organization and which provide satisfaction for individuals involved. The principal elements involved in human resource planning are,
Goals and plans of organization. Current human resource, human resource forecasting, audit and adjustment, and designing program to important the plans.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
Since 1965s the major function of personnel department is to provide equal employment opportunities. An owner or employer is not allowed to discriminate due to race, color, sex, nation, origin, and religion or age etc.
PERSONNEL INFORMATION SYSTEM
Today many organizations have staffs of people trained in mathematical analysis, computers, and management information system. Among the applications have been human resource planning, skills inventoried, and employee benefits analysis and productivity studies.
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