Here is your essay on Personnel Management !
The earliest roots of this branch of knowledge can be traced back to the eighteenth century to some of the writings of Robert Owen—a successful textile manufacturer in Scotland.
Robert Owen is regarded as the father of personnel management.
Owen believed that the volume and quality of a worker’s output were influenced by his total environment, i.e., by his conditions both on and off job.
In this respect he reached the threshold of modern thinking though many of his practices were what could now be called paternalistic. The work of a personnel department deals specifically with procuring, hiring, training, placing, utilizing and maintaining an effective work force that will aid in the accomplishment of the firm’s objectives.
This does not mean to imply that other members of the management team do not have a part in the management and development of personnel.
Personnel management is not a one-man responsibility nor can it ever be achieved by one individual. It is corporate, co-operative endeavour that should stem from a common feeling and concept and should progress in a unified, coordinate manner. In other words, personnel management is concerned with getting better results with the collaboration of people.
According to Jucius, “Personnel management is the field of management which has to do with planning, organizing, and controlling various operative activities of procuring, developing, maintaining and utilizing a labour force in order that the objectives and interest for which the company is established are attained as effectively and economically as possible and objectives and interest of all levels of personnel and community are served to the highest degree” Personnel management is responsible for maintaining good human relations in the organisation. It is also concerned with the development of individuals and achieving integration of goals of the organisation and those of individuals.
“Personnel management is an extension of general management that of prompting and stimulating every employee to make his fullest contribution to the purpose of a business”. Personnel management is not something that could be separated from the basic managerial function.
It is a major component of the broader managerial function and has roots and branches extending throughout and beyond the organisation.
According to Flippo, “Personnel management may be defined as the planning, organizing, directing, and controlling of the procurement, development, compensation, integration and maintenance and separation of human resources to the end that individual, organisational and societal objectives are accomplished.
This definition reveals that personnel management is that aspect of management which deals with the planning, organizing, directing and controlling and personnel functions of the enterprise.
This definition is a comprehensive one and covers both the management functions and the operative functions. The purpose of all these functions is to assist in the achievement of basic organisational, individual and societal goals.