Four primary objectives and aims of the personnel management are as follows: (i) Societal or Macro Level (ii) Organisational (Micro Level) (iii) Functional (iv) Personal.
The primary purpose of personnel management is to contribute to the profitability and survival of an organisation by effective management of its total human resources.
Dirks states, “The objectives of personnel administration include the utilisation of human resources effectively, establishment and maintenance of productive and self-respecting working relationships among the participants and attainment of maximum individual development of the members in the organisation.”
According to the Indian Institute of Personnel Management “Personnel management aims to achieve both efficiency and justice, neither of which can be pursued successfully without the other.
It seeks to bring together and develop into an effective organisation the men and women who make up an enterprise enabling each to make his or her own best contribution to its success both as an individual and as a member of a working group”.
It seeks to provide fair terms and conditions of employment and satisfying work for these employed.
In doing so, however, it seeks to strike a balance, often delicate and complex, of the macro (societal), micro (organisational), functional and personal objectives:
(i) Societal (Macro Level):
Personnel management should recognise the changes in the nature of employment contract, and ideals such as social justice defined in the constitution, objectives set out in the national economic plans and legislation limiting the employer prerogatives and managerial discretion in personnel policies and decisions.
(ii) Organisational (Micro Level):
Personnel management contributes to organisational effectiveness by building up employee motivation, commitment and role effectiveness through sharing of information regarding mutual rights, obligations and the philosophy underlying personnel policies, procedures and practices.
(iii) Functional:
Personnel management’s functional objective is responsibility for:
(i) Initiating and formulating personnel policies, preferably on the basis of consensus and with the approval of the chief executives;
(ii) Advising line managers and operating through, not around them;
(iii) Providing support services such as recruitment, selection, training, development, reward systems, etc.;
(iv) Developing collaborative and problem-solving approaches in union management relations; and
(v) Monitoring, controlling and providing feedback relating to personnel policies and activities and implementing organisation development and human resource development programmes.
The basic objective of personnel management is to help the realisation of the organisational goals.
However, the specific objectives of personnel management may be outlined as follows:
(i) To achieve and maintain high morale among employees in the organisation by securing better human relations.
(ii) To ensure reconciliation of individual/group goals with those of the organisation in such a manner that the personnel feel a sense of commitment and loyalty towards it.
(iii) To generate maximum development of human resources within the organisation by offering opportunities for advancement to employees through training and education, or by effecting transfers.
(iv) To ensure effective utilisation of human resources. All other organisational resources will be efficiently utilised by the human resources.
(v) To ensure respect for human beings by providing various services and welfare facilities to the personnel.
(vi) To identify and satisfy the needs of individuals by offering various monetary and non-monetary rewards.
(vii) To establish and maintain an adequate organisational structure of relationship among all the members of an organisation by dividing of organisations tasks into functions, positions, and jobs, and by defining clearly the responsibility, accountability, authority for each job and its relations with other jobs in the organisation.
(iv) Personal:
To assist employees in developing congruence between individual goals and organisational objectives and in striving for realizing higher standards of performance, satisfaction and quality of working life.