UNIT I y Definition of Personnel Management, Human Resource Management & Human Resource Development, y Differences between Personnel Management,

, Human Resource Management & Human Resource Development y Characteristics and qualities of Personnel Manager. y Objectives and functions of Personnel management. y Human Resource Planning process for short & long range management y Human Resource Policies: formulation and Essentials of Sound HR Policies. y Development of Human Resources: y y y y Learning, Training and Development, Evaluation of Training and Performance Appraisal (Appraising individual and Team Performance), Introduction to Career and Succession Planning.

Meaning and Scope of Personnel Management In the words of Thomas G. Spates Personnel administration is a code of the ways of organising and treating individuals at work so that they will each get the greatest possible realisation of their intrinsic abilities thus attaining maximum efficiency for themselves and their group, and thereby giving to the enterprise of which they are a part its determining competitive advantage and its optimum results. an analysis of this definition gives us the following salient features of Personnel Management. 1. There are certain specific and guiding principles of personnel administration which gives us a set of techniques of handling men at work and also a point of view. 2. Good personnel administration helps individuals to utilize their capacities to the full and to attain not only maximum individual satisfaction from their work but also satisfactions as part of a work group. In other words, personnel development is the aim. 3. If people are skillfully handled both as individuals and as group members, they will respond by giving their best work to the organization of which they are a part. This means that democracy is stronger and more effective than authoritarianism and that, where men and women are free they will be happier and work more effectively than if they are regimented. One of the greatest rewards of personnel management is in the realisation and demonstration of this.

If follows that personnel management is basic function of management which means getting effective results with people. It permeates all levels of management, since each executive must depend upon his subordinates for good results, and the foremen or first-line supervisors must build and efective work team of people whose performance will meet or exceed expected standards personnel Management touches all types of management and sales management. Unless these ha to secure the co-operation of other people whom they have employed to assist them. In short, every member of the management group, from the top to down, is a personnel manager, so to speak, in the vital sense, as the seeks to get effective long-run results trough the efforts of the people who look to him for direction and leadership. This does not, however, mean that an organisation can dispense with an officially designated personnel manager. In every organisation there should be some one who is primarily concerned with helping to develop in operating officials the point of view and skill of personnel administration. Personnel management is not restricted to factories and wage earners. It is also important in offices, sales departments, laboratories, and in the ranks of management itself, where top officials must win the co-operation of their subordinates. Nor is god personnel management something needed, by private industry along. industries in Public sector, non-profit institutions, Government, and the armed services require personnel officer. We are not in position to formulate a workable definition of Personnel Administration or Management. Personnel administration is a method of developing the potentialities of employees so that they will get maximum satisfaction out of their work and give their best efforts to the organisation. It is that activity in an enterprise which strives to mould human resources into an effective organisation, provides opportunities for maximum individual contributions under desirable working conditions, promotes individual development, and encourages mutual confidence and understanding between employees and the employer as well as between employees. The functions of the personnel manger are very important. If a personnel manage is to help solve personnel problems, his position in the orgnaisation must be properly determined. It should also be remembered that the personnel manager cannot by himself, solve personnel problems; he can help operating on line manager to do so. He is a staff officer whose function is to provide specialised services to the line officers and advise and counsel them on personnel problems. He is an deponent people. He cannot establish policies an make divisions himself, he has to advise the line manger, the final decision resting with the later. This shows the the personnel manger in a sound company organisation is clearly a staff official. He should, as already indicated, report directly to the chief executive of the organisation. He has no right to issue orders to members of line organisation or to employees except with in his own, i.e., (personnel department), even when personnel matters are involved. He should just advise the chief and other executives on good personnel policies on their consistent, uniform application throughout the organisation. He may, of course, initiate the there is a difference of

opinion about personnel matters between him and the line officers an supervisory, he should report the disagreements to the chief executive. In this way, he will be performing a control or inspection function for the chief executive, who is obviously concerned with the consistent observance of company policies and good personnel practices. But, if he is to win the confidence and co-operation of lower line manger, he must exercise this control function sparingly. Persuasion is his tool, an his personality should prompt other officials to work with instead of against him. He should be a source of help and not of threat. His task is t educate the lower line officials to develop the skills to handle future personnel problems, and so develop the full responsibility for personnel administration in the line organisation. The relationship between the personnel department and line organisation may be summarised a follows: the activities of personnel department are directed towards making line control of the human element stronger an more effective-not towards usurping that control....IN short, the personnel staff recommends, co-operates and counsels, while line management actually adopts and applies the policies, techniques ans procedures in its Operations......No matter how excellent the plan on which the activities of he personnel staff are based, no matter how capable they are, the personnel programme cannot be successful unless the line organisation is doing a good personnel job at workbench. Therein lies the major clue to the proper relationship between the line and staff orgnaisation in the matter of personnel policy and practice. Functions of Personnel Manager There are other activities which are at time placed in the personnel department. The activities and functions tabulated below are frequently under the supervision of the personnel departments (i) Vocational Selection-selection of the right man for the right job. (ii) Vocational Guidance and Placement-proper guidance of worker and his placement. (iii) Vocational Trading and Employee Induction-an adequate training of the worker, and induction as a part of training. (iv) Provision and maintenance of proper working conditions (v) Protection of workers from disease and accidents. (vi) Employee Rating and Promotion, transfer, demotion, discharge an separation. (vii) Job Analysis and Evaluation. (viii) Rational Wega Policy-fixation of adequate wages. (ix) Extension, generally, of a helping hand to lift the worker out of a narrow an inadequate life.

(x) Better Industrial relations-provisions of means by which workers' desires may be given consideration. (xi) Employee Participation in management to ensure employee-employer cooperation. (xii) Labour Union Contracts and Co-operation-negotiation of contracts, settling grievances, union-management collad in establishing standards, reducing waste, improving the cases an increasing productions. Personnel manger qualities It is therefore very difficult to stat the qualities of a successful manager. Some of the important qualities required in any personnel manger may be summarized below (i) Sense of Vocation: The responsibilities o the job of personnel manger are so heavy that they cannot be cared out without some sens of inner urge that is why the possibilities of disappointment and discouragement are grate in a a personnel job. The only safeguard against discouragement and disappointment is the ability to draw upon the springs of an unfailing idealism. The personnel manger must have faith in humanity an also in the possibility in creating a finer social and industrial order. (ii) Sense of Social responsibility: Industry is a part of society and it is to fulfill needs of the society from time to time. The success of the industry much depends upon the effective co-operation of the people working in the industry. It is the duty of the personnel manager to create facilities for getting better co-operation of the personnel at work. He must appreciate the working people as social units and social groups and deal with them in social background. (iii) Capacity for Leadership: Personnel Manager must have a sense of leadership in matters affecting the people. He, thus has dual role. Firstly, to advise the top management on human problems while deciding the policies relating to workers and secondly to exercise leadership in matters affecting the efficiency of workers in the interest of the plant. He should be ready to face opposition and to speak fearlessly he should also be in position to convince others from his point of view. (iv) Personnel Integrity: Personnel manger must be a man who can trusted by all in the organisation so that people in the organisation may come to him and put all their difficulties, worries, anxieties and problems before him. He must be personality who is trusted not only by his subordinates but also by his fellow mangers and directors. (v) Capacity for Persuation: This is the intellectual side of leadership. The personnel manger has to persuade his fellow mangers and top management of the wisdom of the proposals he makes. Similarly he has to persuade the people in the

industry to reconcile with the objectives of the orgnaisation. (vi) Personality: A few points of personality may be added to the above mentioned qualities of character:(a) Public Speech: Public speech is very often a necessity in the working life of a personnel manger. To present his view-point before the management while deciding upon the problems affecting personnels and to put the organisation objectives before the workers to make them understand the management point of view public, speech is a must. (b) Facial Expression: Mobility of facial expression is also important for the personnel manger because it will help him in dealing with the personnel more efficiently. (c) Spontaneity of Speech: Ability to express oneself in accurate terms avoids misunderstanding. People are more at ease before one who quickly says the word of welcome or introduction. Readiness and fluency combined with t good knowledge or words and their meanings are essential for a personnel manger. (d)Personal dignity: Personnel manger should maintain his dignity. He should be able to mix himself with the people and yet not to be of them. (e) Courtesy and social awareness: Actually, the personnel manger is the human relation manger. He has to speak to people of all grenades and ranksleaders of trade unions, workers representatives in committees an members of t Board of Directors. For all these occasions he is better equipped if he has a sense of courtesy and social awareness. (f) Foresightedness: Being a human relation manger, he must guess the pros and cons of the action of management and any complexity which may arise out of the decision. He should strongly and advisably defend his view point in the meetings o the committee or board of directors.

Personnel management can be defined as obtaining, using and maintaining a satisfied workforce. It is a significant part of management concerned with employees at work and with their relationship within the organization. personnel management Definition Administrative discipline of hiring and developing employees so that they become more valuable to the organization. It includes (1) conducting job analyses, (2) planningpersonnel needs, and recruitment, (3) selecting the rightpeople for the job, (4) orienting and training, (5) determining and managing wages and salaries, (6) providingbenefits and incentives, (7) appraising performance, (8)

resolving disputes, (9) communicating with all employees at all levels.

According to Flippo, Personnel management is the planning, organizing, compensation, integration and maintainance of people for the purpose of contributing to organizational, individual and societal goals. According to Brech, Personnel Management is that part which is primarily concerned with human resource of organization. Nature of Personnel Management 1. Personnel management includes the function of employment, development and compensation- These functions are performed primarily by the personnel management in consultation with other departments. 2. Personnel management is an extension to general management. It is concerned with promoting and stimulating competent work force to make their fullest contribution to the concern. 3. Personnel management exist to advice and assist the line managers in personnel matters. Therefore, personnel department is a staff department of an organization. 4. Personnel management lays emphasize on action rather than making lengthy schedules, plans, work methods. The problems and grievances of people at work can be solved more effectively through rationale personnel policies. 5. It is based on human orientation. It tries to help the workers to develop their potential fully to the concern. 6. It also motivates the employees through its effective incentive plans so that the employees provide fullest co-operation. 7. Personnel management deals with human resources of a concern. In context to human resources, it manages both individual as well as blue- collar workers. Role of Personnel Manager Personnel manager is the head of personnel department. He performs both managerial and operative functions of management. His role can be summarized as : 1. Personnel manager provides assistance to top management- The top management are the people who decide and frame the primary policies of the concern. All kinds of policies related to personnel or workforce can be framed out effectively by the personnel manager. 2. He advices the line manager as a staff specialist- Personnel manager acts like a staff advisor and assists the line managers in dealing with various personnel matters. 3. As a counsellor,- As a counsellor, personnel manager attends problems and grievances of employees and guides them. He tries to solve them in best of his capacity. 4. Personnel manager acts as a mediator- He is a linking pin between management and workers. 5. He acts as a spokesman- Since he is in direct contact with the employees, he is required to act as representative of organization in committees appointed by government. He represents company in training programmes.

Functions of Personnel Management Follwoing are the four functions of Personnel Management: 1. 2. 3. 4. Manpower Planning Recruitment Selection Training and Development

Human Resource Management (HRM) in the ancient times, when money and machinery did not even exist, a very important resource that worked was Human. Since then, till today, nothing is able to triumph or replace significance and importance of Human as a resource. It is true that today we also have other resources existing like machine, money or land. It is also right that we have developed and are capable of developing lots of incredible machinery and systems, but the power that a human has, the power of using the brains, none of the above mentioned resources can acquire that. We all know that no machine is made by itself; it is the human brain that invents it. A machine can only get a work done; it cannot help in idea generation. A machine can only work on getting commands but a human brain also uses logics and creativity with it. An organizational workforce also consists of humans which is indeed indispensible. Organizations cannot work without workforces. As we all know, each organization performs a variety of functions for its identity and viability in the market. Strategizing, Production, Accounts, Sales or Marketing, every function requires people to be actively present in it. Needless to say, all the organizations in the world are running because there is a resource called Human Resource. These Human Resources in organizations are well known as Employees or Talent. Undoubtedly, Human Resources or the Employees are the backbone of any organization. It is obvious that when so many employees are working at one place, there has to be a managing body which takes care of its day to day functions. It helps in ensuring that the objectives for which the employees are working is met on time. It also ensures the effective and optimum utilization of the people to attain those set organizational objectives and goals. This managing body is the Human Resource Department of any organization and the function which it performs is called Human resource Management, which in simple words is managing a very crucial resource called Employees. Human Resource Management is a function that a team of people perform. These people work as Human Resource Executives or Managers and take care of all the employee relatedfunctions like Recruitment, Selection, Training, Development, Compensation, Behavior Management, Retirement and also Termination. Precisely, the entire tenure of an employee in an organization is managed by the HR Team. The major goal of this team is to maximize profit by effective utilization of employees. The HR of any organization acquires the employees (talent) from the market, train

them as per the organizational need and then utilize them optimally for maximizing the returns. If an employee is well trained for carrying out the work in a best possible manner, it can turn out to be the wisest investment done by the company. Training keeps the employees motivate as it helps in upgrading their skills which comes handy in future and also keeps them from losing track. The company provides them training because they know that motivated and talented employees are very crucial for the success of the organization. Therefore, once they invest on developing and motivating the employees, they also implement various retention strategies to withhold the trained talent for a longer period of time. Retention strategies are also important as the top management has apprehensions of parting with the employees whom they have trained by investing money and other resources on them. As we all know that there is a huge competition that goes on in the labor market. Companies try to attract and steal the talented employee from their competitors by tempting them with good salaries, perks and other benefits. This is also known as Employee Poaching. Therefore making strategies to retain the talent is very essential for the well being of a firm. Some of the retention strategies which a company executes for retaining their best talent are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Competitive salaries and perks Education funding Holidays and vacation benefits Various kinds of leaves Disability allowances Insurance House rent allowances Day care etc.

After knowing the aforesaid facts we realize the importance of the functions performed by the Human Resource Department of any organization. HRM is indeed an indispensible function because it is looked upon as a department which takes care of each and every matter related to the existence of a very important asset i.e. the employees and it also adepartment which strongly facilitates the achievement of the organizational goals and objectives through employees

the art and science of HRM is indeed complex. We have chosen the term art and science as HRM is both the art of managing people by recourse to creative and innovative approaches; it is a science as well because of the precision and rigorous application of theory that is required. As outlined above, the process of defining HRM leads us to two different definitions. The first definition of HRM is that it is the process of managing people in organizations in a structured and thorough manner. This covers the fields of staffing (hiring people), retention of people, pay and perks setting and

management, performance management, change management and taking care of exits from the company to round off the activities. This is the traditional definition of HRM which leads some experts to define it as a modern version of the Personnel Management function that was used earlier.

The second definition of HRM encompasses the management of people in organizations from a macro perspective i.e. managing people in the form of a collective relationship between management and employees. This approach focuses on the objectives and outcomes of the HRM function. What this means is that the HR function in contemporary organizations is concerned with the notions of people enabling, people development and a focus on making the employment relationship fulfilling for both the management and employees. These definitions emphasize the difference between Personnel Management as defined in the second paragraph and human resource management as described in the third paragraph. To put it in one sentence, personnel management is essentially workforce centered whereas human resource management is resource centered. The key difference is HRM in recent times is about fulfilling management objectives of providing and deploying people and a greater emphasis on planning, monitoring and control. Whatever the definition we use the answer to the question as to what is HRM? is that it is all about people in organizations. No wonder that some MNCs (Multinationals) call the HR managers as People Managers, People Enablers and the practice as people management. In the 21st century organizations, the HR manager or the people manager is no longer seen as someone who takes care of the activities described in the traditional way. In fact, most organizations have different departments dealing with Staffing, Payroll, and Retention etc. Instead, the HR manager is responsible for managing employee expectations vis--vis the management objectives and reconciling both to ensure employee fulfillment and realization of management objectives. In conclusion, this article has briefly touched upon the topic of HRM and served as an introduction to HRM. We shall touch upon the other topics that this field covers in other articles. Definition The administrative discipline of hiring and developing employees so that they become more valuable to the organization. Human Resource management includes (1) conducting job analyses, (2) planning personnel needs, and recruitment, (3) selecting the right people for the job, (4) orienting and training, (5) determining and managing wages and salaries, (6) providing benefits and incentives, (7) appraising performance, (8) resolving disputes, (9) communicating with all employees at all levels. Formerly called personnel management

Importance of HRM for Organizational Success We have discussed the basic concept of HRM and the ways in which it helps the organization meet its goals. In this article, we discuss the reasons for organizations to have a HRM strategy as well as the business drivers that make the strategy imperative for organizational success. It is a fact that to thrive in the chaotic and turbulent business environment, firms need to constantly innovate and be ahead of the curve in terms of business practices and strategies. It is from this motivation to be at the top of the pack that HRM becomes a valuable tool for management to ensure success. The Evolving Business Paradigm One of the factors behind organizations giving a lot of attention to their people is the nature of the firms in the current business environment. Given the fact that there has been a steady movement towards an economy based on services, it becomes important for firms engaged in the service sector to keep their employees motivated and productive. Even in the manufacturing and the traditional sectors, the need to remain competitive has meant that firms in these sectors deploy strategies that make effective use of their resources. This changed business landscape has come about as a result of a paradigm shift in the way businesses and firms view their employees as more than just resources and instead adopt a people first approach. Strategic Management and HRM As discussed in the articles on modern day HRM practices, there is a need to align organizational goals with that of the HR strategy to ensure that there is alignment of the people policies with that of the management objectives. This means that the HR department can no longer be viewed as an appendage of the firm but instead is a vital organ in ensuring organizational success. The aims of strategic management are to provide the organization with a sense of direction and a feeling of purpose. The days when the HR manager was concerned with administrative duties is over and the current HRM practices in many industries are taken as seriously as say, the marketing and production functions. Importance of HRM for Organizational Success The practice of HRM must be viewed through the prism of overall strategic goals for the organization instead of a standalone tint that takes a unit based or a micro approach. The idea here is to adopt a holistic perspective towards HRM that ensures that there are no piecemeal strategies and the HRM policy enmeshes itself fully with those of the organizational goals. For instance, if the training needs of the employees are simply met with perfunctory trainings on omnibus topics, the firm stands to lose not only from the time that the employees spend in training but also a loss of direction. Hence, the organization that takes its HRM policies seriously will ensure that training is based on focused and topical methods. In conclusion, the practice of HRM needs to be integrated with the overall strategy to ensure effective use of people and provide better returns to the organizations in terms of ROI (Return on Investment) for every rupee or dollar spent on them. Unless the HRM practice is designed in this way, the firms stand to lose from not utilizing people fully. And this does not bode well for the success of the organization. Scope of Human Resource Management Human resources are undoubtedly the key resources in an organization, the easiest and the most difficult to manage! The objectives of the HRM span right from the manpower needs assessment to management and retention of the same. To this

effect Human resource management is responsible for effective designing and implementation of various policies, procedures and programs. It is all about developing and managing knowledge, skills, creativity, aptitude and talent and using them optimally. Human Resource Management is not just limited to manage and optimally exploit human intellect. It also focuses on managing physical and emotional capital of employees. Considering the intricacies involved, the scope of HRM is widening with every passing day. It covers but is not limited to HR planning, hiring (recruitment and selection), training and development, payroll management, rewards and recognitions, Industrial relations, grievance handling, legal procedures etc. In other words, we can say that its about developing and managing harmonious relationships at workplace and striking a balance between organizational goals and individual goals. The scope of HRM is extensive and far-reaching. Therefore, it is very difficult to define it concisely. However, we may classify the same under following heads:
 HRM in Personnel Management: This is typically direct manpower management that

involves manpower planning, hiring (recruitment and selection), training and development, induction and orientation, transfer, promotion, compensation, layoff and retrenchment, employee productivity. The overall objective here is to ascertain individual growth, development and effectiveness which indirectly contribute to organizational development. It also includes performance appraisal, developing new skills, disbursement of wages, incentives, allowances, traveling policies and procedures and other related courses of actions.
 HRM in Employee Welfare: This particular aspect of HRM deals with working

conditions and amenities at workplace. This includes a wide array of responsibilities and services such as safety services, health services, welfare funds, social security and medical services. It also covers appointment of safety officers, making the environment worth working, eliminating workplace hazards, support by top management, job safety, safeguarding machinery, cleanliness, proper ventilation and lighting, sanitation, medical care, sickness benefits, employment injury benefits, personal injury benefits, maternity benefits, unemployment benefits and family benefits. It also relates to supervision, employee counseling, establishing harmonious relationships with employees, education and training. Employee welfare is about determining employees real needs and fulfilling them with active participation of both management and employees. In addition to this, it also takes care of canteen facilities, crches, rest and lunch rooms, housing, transport, medical assistance, education, health and safety, recreation facilities, etc.
 HRM in Industrial Relations: Since it is a highly sensitive area, it needs careful

interactions with labor or employee unions, addressing their grievances and settling the disputes effectively in order to maintain peace and harmony in the organization. It is the art and science of understanding the employment (union-management) relations, joint consultation, disciplinary procedures, solving problems with mutual efforts, understanding human behavior and maintaining work relations, collective bargaining and settlement of disputes.

The main aim is to safeguarding the interest of employees by securing the highest level of understanding to the extent that does not leave a negative impact on organization. It is about establishing, growing and promoting industrial democracy to safeguard the interests of both employees and management. The scope of HRM is extremely wide, thus, can not be written concisely. However, for the sake of convenience and developing understanding about the subject, we divide it in three categories mentioned above. Processes in Human Resource Management Each organization works towards the realization of one vision. The same is achieved by formulation of certain strategies and execution of the same, which is done by the HR department. At the base of this strategy formulation lie various processes and the effectiveness of the former lies in the meticulous design of these processes. But what exactly are and entails these processes? Lets read further and explore. The following are the various HR processes:

1. Human resource planning (Recruitment, Selecting, Hiring, Training, Induction,

Orientation, Evaluation, Promotion and Layoff).

2. Employee remuneration and Benefits Administration 3. Performance Management. 4. Employee Relations.

The efficient designing of these processes apart from other things depends upon the degree of correspondence of each of these. This means that each process is subservient to other. You start from Human resource Planning and there is a continual value addition at each step. To exemplify, the PMS (performance Management System) of an organization like Infosys would different from an organization like Walmart. Lets study each process separately. Human Resource Planning: Generally, we consider Human Resource Planning as the process of people forecasting. Right but incomplete! It also involves the processes of Evaluation, Promotion and Layoff.
 Recruitment: It aims at attracting applicants that match a certain Job criteria.  Selection: The next level of filtration. Aims at short listing candidates who are the

nearest match in terms qualifications, expertise and potential for a certain job.  Hiring: Deciding upon the final candidate who gets the job.  Training and Development: Those processes that work on an employee onboard for his skills and abilities upgradation. Employee Remuneration and Benefits Administration: The process involves deciding upon salaries and wages, Incentives, Fringe Benefits and Perquisites etc. Money is the prime motivator in any job and therefore the importance of this process. Performing employees seek raises, better salaries and bonuses. Performance Management: It is meant to help the organization train, motivate and reward workers. It is also meant to ensure that the organizational goals are met with efficiency. The process not only includes the employees but can also be for a department, product, service or customer process; all towards enhancing or adding value to them.

Nowadays there is an automated performance management system (PMS) that carries all the information to help managers evaluate the performance of the employees and assess them accordingly on their training and development needs. Employee Relations: Employee retention is a nuisance with organizations especially in industries that are hugely competitive in nature. Though there are myriad factors that motivate an individual to stick to or leave an organization, but certainly few are under our control. Employee relations include Labor Law and Relations, Working Environment, Employee heath and safety, Employee- Employee conflict management, Employee- Employee Conflict Management, Quality of Work Life, Workers Compensation, Employee Wellness and assistance programs, Counseling for occupational stress. All these are critical to employee retention apart from the money which is only a hygiene factor. All processes are integral to the survival and success of HR strategies and no single process can work in isolation; there has to be a high level of conformity and cohesiveness between the same. Difference between Personnel Management & HRM Many students of management and laypeople often hear the term HRM or Human Resource Management and wonder about the difference between HRM and the traditional term Personnel Management. In earlier times, the Personnel Manager of a factory or firm was the person in charge of ensuring employee welfare and interceding between the management and the employees. In recent times, the term has been replaced with HR manager. This article looks at the differences in usage and scope of functions as well as the underlying theory behind these nomenclatures. In the section on introducing HRM, we briefly looked at the main differences. We shall look into them in more detail here. Personnel Management Traditionally the term personnel management was used to refer to the set of activities concerning the workforce which included staffing, payroll, contractual obligations and other administrative tasks. In this respect, personnel management encompasses the range of activities that are to do with managing the workforce rather than resources. Personnel Management is more administrative in nature and the Personnel Managers main job is to ensure that the needs of the workforce as they pertain to their immediate concerns are taken care of. Further, personnel managers typically played the role of mediators between the management and the employees and hence there was always the feeling that personnel management was not in tune with the objectives of the management. Human Resource Management With the advent of resource centric organizations in recent decades, it has become imperative to put people first as well as secure management objectives of maximizing the ROI (Return on Investment) on the resources. This has led to the development of the modern HRM function which is primarily concerned with ensuring the fulfillment of management objectives and at the same time ensuring that the needs of the resources are taken care of. In this way, HRM differs from personnel management not only in its broader scope but also in the way in which its mission is defined. HRM goes beyond the administrative tasks of personnel management and encompasses a broad vision of how management would like the resources to contribute to the success of the organization.

Personnel Management and HRM: A Paradigm Shift ? Cynics might point to the fact that whatever term we use, it is finally about managing people. The answer to this would be that the way in which people are managed says a lot about the approach that the firm is taking. For instance, traditional manufacturing units had personnel managers whereas the services firms have HR managers. While it is tempting to view Personnel Management as archaic and HRM as modern, we have to recognize the fact that each serves or served the purpose for which they were instituted. Personnel Management was effective in the smokestack era and HRM is effective in the 21st century and this definitely reflects a paradigm shift in the practice of managing people. Conclusion It is clear from the above paragraphs that HRM denotes a shift in focus and strategy and is in tune with the needs of the modern organization. HRM concentrates on the planning, monitoring and control aspects of resources whereas Personnel Management was largely about mediating between the management and employees. Many experts view Personnel Management as being workforce centered whereas HRM is resource centered. In conclusion, the differences between these two terms have to be viewed through the prism of people management through the times and in context of the industry that is being studied. HR Challenges - How to cope with them efficiently ? Human Resource Management used to be considered as other conventional administrative jobs. But over a period of time, it has evolved as a strategic function to improve working environment, plan out human resources needs and strike a balance between the organization and employers in order to increase organizational productivity and meet organizational goals. Not to exaggerate but in todays highly competitive world it has gradually become one of the most important functions of an organization. It is really a huge challenge to understand the psychology of workforce, retain the best talents of the industry, motivate them to perform better and handle diversity while maintaining unity simultaneously, especially in countries like India, where it is still evolving. Globalization has resulted in many positive developments but it has left many concerns for HR managers. In todays tough world and tight job market, coordinating a multicultural or diverse workforce is a real challenge for HR department. Human resource managers are on their toes to strike a balance between employer and employees keeping in mind the recent trends in the market. They may find themselves in dire consequences if they are not able to handle the human resource challenges efficiently. To remain in business, human resource managers need to efficiently address following human resource challenges:
 Handling Multicultural / Diverse Workforce: Dealing with people from different age,

gender, race, ethnicity, educational background, location, income, parental status, religious beliefs, marital status and ancestry and work experience can be a challenging task for HR managers. With this, managing people with different set of ideologies, views, lifestyles and psychology can be very risky. Effective

communication, adaptability, agility and positive attitude of HR managers can bind the diverse workforce and retain talents in the organization.  Managing Change: Who wants to change their ideology or way of working? Neither you nor I. How can we expect others to change then? Bringing change in organizational processes and procedures, implementing it and then managing it is one of the biggest concerns of HR managers. Business environment is so volatile. Technology keeps changing every now and then. All thanks to globalization. Upgrading the existing technology and training people for them is a real headache for HR department. The success rate of technology change depends how well HRD can handle the change and manage people issues in the process.  Retaining the Talents: Globalization has given freedom to working professionals to work anywhere in the world. Now that they have endless lucrative opportunities to work, hiring and retaining the best industry talent is no joke. Maintaining harmonious relations with them, providing excellent work environment and offering more remuneration and perks than your competitors can retain and motivate them.  Conflict Management: HR managers should know how to handle employeeemployer and employee-employee conflicts without hurting their feelings. Although it is almost impossible to avoid conflicts among people still handling them tactfully can help HR managers to resolve the issues. They should be able to listen to each party, decide and communicate to them in a convincing manner in order to avoid future conflicts. HR professional must be proactive with all strategies and action plans in order to meet the changing needs of the organization. They must be thorough with the basic functions of HR including planning, organizing, leading and controlling human resources. human resource development (HRD) Definition The part of human resource management that specificallydeals with training and development of the employees. Human resource development includes training an individualafter he/she is first hired, providing opportunities to learn new skills, distributing resources that are beneficial for theemployee's tasks, and any other developmental activities. Human Resource Management - Nature, Scope, Objectives And Function Human resources may be defined as the total knowledge, skills, creative abilities, talents and aptitudes of an organization's workforce, as well as the values, attitudes, approaches and beliefs of theindividuals involved in the affairs of the organization. It is the sum total or aggregate of inherent abilities, acquired knowledge and skills represented by the talents and aptitudes of the persons employed in the organization. The human resources are multidimensional in nature. From the national point of view, human resources may be defined as the knowledge, skills, creative abilities, talents and aptitudes obtained in the population; whereas from the viewpoint of the

individual enterprise, they represent the total of the inherent abilities, acquired knowledge and skills as exemplified in the talents and aptitudes of its employees. Human Resource Management: Defined Human Resource Management has come to be recognized as an inherent part of management, which is concerned with the human resources of an organization. Its objective is the maintenance of better human relations in the organization by the development,application and evaluation of policies, procedures and programmes relating to human resources to optimize their contribution towards the realization of organizational objectives. In other words, HRM is concerned with getting better results with the collaboration of people. It is an integral but distinctive part of management, concerned with people at work and their relationships within the enterprise. HRM helps in attaining maximum individual development, desirable working relationship between employees and employers, employees and employees, and effective modeling of human resources as contrasted with physical resources. It is the recruitment, selection, development, utilization, compensation and motivation of human resources by the organization. Human Resource Management: Evolution The early part of the century saw a concern for improved efficiency through careful design of work. During the middle part of the century emphasis shifted to the employee's productivity. Recent decades have focused on increased concern for the quality of working life, total quality management and worker's participation in management. These three phases may be termed as welfare, development and empowerment. Human Resource Management: Nature Human Resource Management is a process of bringing people and organizations together so that the goals of each are met. The various features of HRM include: It is pervasive in nature as it is present in all enterprises. Its focus is on results rather than on rules. It tries to help employees develop their potential fully. It encourages employees to give their best to the organization. It is all about people at work, both as individuals and groups. It tries to put people on assigned jobs in order to produce good results. It helps an organization meet its goals in the future by providing for competent and well-motivated employees. It tries to build and maintain cordial relations between people working at various levels in the organization. It is a multidisciplinary activity, utilizing knowledge and inputs drawn from psychology, economics, etc. Human Resource Management: Scope The scope of HRM is very wide: 1. Personnel aspect-This is concerned with manpower planning, recruitment, selection, placement, transfer, promotion, training and development,

layoff and retrenchment, remuneration, incentives, productivity etc. 2. Welfare aspect-It deals with working conditions and amenities such as canteens, creches, rest and lunch rooms, housing, transport, medical assistance, education, health and safety, recreation facilities, etc. 3. Industrial relations aspect-This covers union-management relations, joint consultation, collective bargaining, grievance and disciplinary procedures, settlement of disputes, etc. Human Resource Management: Beliefs The Human Resource Management philosophy is based on the following beliefs: Human resource is the most important asset in the organization and can be developed and increased to an unlimited extent. A healthy climate with values of openness, enthusiasm, trust, mutuality and collaboration is essential for developing human resource. HRM can be planned and monitored in ways that are beneficial both to the individuals and the organization. Employees feel committed to their work and the organization, if the organization perpetuates a feeling of belongingness. Employees feel highly motivated if the organization provides for satisfaction of their basic and higher level needs. Employee commitment is increased with the opportunity to discover and use one's capabilities and potential in one's work. It is every manager's responsibility to ensure the development and utilisation of the capabilities of subordinates. Human Resource Management: Objectives To help the organization reach its goals. To ensure effective utilization and maximum development of human resources. To ensure respect for human beings. To identify and satisfy the needs of individuals. To ensure reconciliation of individual goals with those of the organization. To achieve and maintain high morale among employees. To provide the organization with well-trained and well-motivated employees. To increase to the fullest the employee's job satisfaction and self-actualization. To develop and maintain a quality of work life. To be ethically and socially responsive to the needs of society. To develop overall personality of each employee in its multidimensional aspect. To enhance employee's capabilities to perform the present job. To equip the employees with precision and clarity in transaction of business. To inculcate the sense of team spirit, team work and inter-team collaboration. Human Resource Management: Functions In order to achieve the above objectives, Human Resource Management undertakes the following activities: 1. Human resource or manpower planning. 2. Recruitment, selection and placement of personnel. 3. Training and development of employees.

4. Appraisal of performance of employees. 5. Taking corrective steps such as transfer from one job to another. 6. Remuneration of employees. 7. Social security and welfare of employees. 8. Setting general and specific management policy for organizational relationship. 9. Collective bargaining, contract negotiation and grievance handling. 10. Staffing the organization. 11. Aiding in the self-development of employees at all levels. 12. Developing and maintaining motivation for workers by providing incentives. 13. Reviewing and auditing manpower management in the organization 14. Potential Appraisal. Feedback Counseling. 15. Role Analysis for job occupants. 16. Job Rotation. 17. Quality Circle, Organization development and Quality of Working Life. Human Resource Management: Major Influencing Factors In the 21st century HRM will be influenced by following factors, which will work as various issues affecting its strategy: Size of the workforce. Rising employees' expectations Drastic changes in the technology as well as Life-style changes. Composition of workforce. New skills required. Environmental challenges. Lean and mean organizations. Impact of new economic policy. Political ideology of the Government. Downsizing and rightsizing of the organizations. Culture prevailing in the organization etc. Human Resource Management: Futuristic Vision On the basis of the various issues and challenges the following suggestions will be of much help to the philosophy of HRM with regard to its futuristic vision: 1. There should be a properly defined recruitment policy in the organization that should give its focus on professional aspect and merit based selection. 2. In every decision-making process there should be given proper weightage to the aspect that employees are involved wherever possible. It will ultimately lead to sense of team spirit, team-work and inter-team collaboration. 3. Opportunity and comprehensive framework should be provided for full expression of employees' talents and manifest potentialities. 4. Networking skills of the organizations should be developed internally and externally as well as horizontally and vertically. 5. For performance appraisal of the employees emphasis should be given to 360 degree feedback which is based on the review by superiors, peers, subordinates as well as self-review. 6. 360 degree feedback will further lead to increased focus on customer services, creating of highly involved workforce, decreased hierarchies, avoiding discrimination and biases and identifying performance threshold. 7. More emphasis should be given to Total Quality Management. TQM will cover all employees at all levels; it will conform to customer's needs and expectations; it will

ensure effective utilization of resources and will lead towards continuous improvement in all spheres and activities of the organization. 8. There should be focus on job rotation so that vision and knowledge of the employees are broadened as well as potentialities of the employees are increased for future job prospects. 9. For proper utilization of manpower in the organization the concept of six sigma of improving productivity should be intermingled in the HRM strategy. 10. The capacities of the employees should be assessed through potential appraisal for performing new roles and responsibilities. It should not be confined to organizational aspects only but the environmental changes of political, economic and social considerations should also be taken into account. 11. The career of the employees should be planned in such a way that individualizing process and socializing process come together for fusion process and career planning should constitute the part of human resource planning. To conclude Human Resource Management should be linked with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop organizational cultures that foster innovation and flexibility. All the above futuristic visions coupled with strategic goals and objectives should be based on 3 H's of Heart, Head and Hand i.e., we should feel by Heart, think by Head and implement by Hand. What Is the Human Resource Planning Process? Definition of 'Human Resource Planning (HRP)' The ongoing process of systematic planning to achieve optimum use of an organization's most valuable asset - its human resources. The objective of human resource (HR) planning is to ensure the best fit between employees and jobs, while avoiding manpower shortages or surpluses. The three key elements of the HR planning process are forecasting labor demand, analyzing present labor supply, and balancing projected labor demand and supply. Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/human-resourceplanning.asp#ixzz1gKdxNPDb he HR plan needs to be flexible enough to meet short-term staffing challenges, while adapting to changing conditions in the business and environment over the longer term. Human resource planning is also a continuous process. Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/human-resourceplanning.asp#ixzz1gKe1R1kA Designing the Management System
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A crosscutting issue in human resource planning is to ensure that a proper system is in place to handle the process. The overall aim of this system is to manage human resources in line with organizational goals. The system is in charge of human resource plans, policies, procedures and best practices. For example, the system should track emerging human resource management trends, such as outsourcing certain non-core functions, adopting flexible work practices and the increased use of information technology, and, if appropriate, implement them.

Environmental Analysis
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The first step in the human resource planning process is to understand the context of human resource management. Human resource mangers should understand both internal and external environments. Data on external environments includes the following: the general status of the economy, industry, technology and competition; labor market regulations and trends; unemployment rate; skills available; and the age and sex distribution of the labor force. Internal data required include short- and long-term organizational plans and strategies and the current status of the organization's human resources. Forecasting Human Resource Demand The aim of forecasting is to determine the number and type of employees needed in the future. Forecasting should consider the past and the present requirements as well as future organizational directions. Bottom-up forecasting is one of the methods used to estimate future human resource needs by gathering human resource needs of various organizational units. Analyzing Supply Organizations can hire personnel from internal and external sources. The skill inventories method is one of the techniques used to keep track of internal supply. Skill inventories are manual or computerized systems that keep records of employee experience, education and special skills. A forecast of the supply of employees projected to join the organization from outside sources, given current recruitment activities, is also necessary. Reconciliation and Planning The final step in human resource planning is developing action plans based on the gathered data, analysis and available alternatives. The key issue is that the plans should be acceptable to both top management and employees. Plans should be prioritized and their key players and barriers to success identified. Some of these plans include employee utilization plan, appraisal plan, training and management development plan and human resource supply plan

Read more: Steps in the Human Resource Planning Process | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/howdoes_5135285_steps-human-resource-planning-process.html#ixzz1gKdmqWWK
Human resource policies are systems of codified decisions, established by an organization, to support administrative personnel functions, performance management, employee relations and resourceplanning.[1] Each company has a different set of circumstances, and so develops an individual set of human resource policies. [edit]Developing
[1]

the HR Policies

HR policies provide an organization with a mechanism to manage risk by staying up to date with current trends in employment standards and legislation. The policies must be framed in a manner that the companies vision & the human resource helping the company to achieve it or work towards it are at all levels benefited and at the same time not deviated from their main objective. [edit]Purposes HR policies allow an organization to be clear with employees on:

    

The nature of the organization What they should expect from the organization What the organization expects of them How policies and procedures work What is acceptable and unacceptable behavior

The consequences of unacceptable behavior

The establishment of policies can help an organization demonstrate, both internally and externally, that it meets requirements for diversity, ethics and training as well as its commitments in relation to regulation and corporate governance. For example, in order to dismiss an employee in accordance with employment law requirements, amongst other considerations, it will normally be necessary to meet provisions within employment contracts and collective bargaining agreements. The establishment of an HR Policy which sets out obligations, standards of behavior and document displinary procedures, is now the standard approach to meeting these obligations. HR policies can also be very effective at supporting and building the desired organizational culture. For example recruitment and retention policies might outline the way the organization values a flexible workforce, compensation policies might support this by offering a 48/52 pay option where employees can take an extra four weeks holidays per year and receive less pay across the year