What are the differences between human resource management and personal management?

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The difference between personnel management and HR management
The personnel management process
Training and development
Performance appraisal

Introduction

This paper presents answers to randomly selected human resource questions. The questions are as follows: what are the differences between human resource management and personal management? What are the processes for the selected personnel management activities? (Workforce planning, recruitment, training and development, and performance appraisal).

The difference between personnel management and HR management

Personnel management is a management function performed by a specialist. The function is not directly involved with formulation of business strategies. It is simply a collection of people related activities. The activities involved are:

Formulation of policies that regulate employee relationship.
Formulation of job description and management of the appraisal process.
Ensuring that policy that governs personnel conduct is fully followed.
Providing and retaining personnel, implementing layoff programs and aiding self-development of employees.

Human resource management, on the other hand, is a planned and consistent approach to the management of an organization’s most treasured asset. The individuals who collectively contribute to the success of an organization are the most valued assets.

The human resource management aims at harmonizing personnel issues with an organization’s strategy. Therefore, it is the process of managing employees in order to achieve the principal goals and objectives of an organization.

The personnel management process

Workforce planning is the long-term planning of the workforce requirements of an organization by considering both the internal and external forces of change. Workforce planning begins with conducting job analysis, which is the systematic gathering and recording of information about jobs in an organization.

It involves assessment of job requirements in terms of specific tasks and responsibilities. It should also provide information on skills, knowledge, experience and potentials that can be developed within a job. A complete job analysis consists of job description (the duties, tools and conditions of a job), and the job specification (statement of the qualifications required for an applicant to be considered).

The second step in workforce planning is the forecasting of demand and supply of labor. This process involves estimation of the future number and qualifications of employees an organization needs to base on its long-term plans.

The last step in workforce planning involves assessing whether an organization’s labor supply matches with the demand. It also involves formulations of plans to hire or lay off employees if demand exceeds supply and supply exceeds demand respectively.

Recruitment is a process induced by an organization’s need for more personnel. Recruitment encompasses a set of activities used by organizations to make themselves the center of attention for job applicants. Recruitment can be divided into two categories, that is, specific and general.

Specific recruitment is majorly for such high positions as managerial ones, as they require a high level of skills and expertise. On the other hand, general recruitment is mainly for lower positions that frequently open up. The sources of recruitment can either be external (other organizations or the public) or internal (within an organization).

Training and development

Training programs in organizations are intended at improving the performance of the tasks, while development programs are intended for building the future skills and expertise. Training programs are majorly concerned with the technical features of an organization’s tasks.

Therefore, they are suitable for employees in the lower positions in an organization. Development programs, on the other hand, are intended for individuals occupying managerial positions.

Training. The intensity of training varies with an organization’s structure and the potential of employees. Training programs can be affected by the type of the approach used. There are two approaches that can be used, that is, the internal and the external approaches. The internal approaches are programs carried out within an organization.

They are the following: orientation – it is the process of familiarizing new employees with the organizational policies and their main task. Development by level – it is the provision of training programs for employees as they are promoted from one position to another. Job rotation – this method requires employees to be familiar with task in all key departments of an organization.

An employee will, therefore, work in every department on a rotational basis for a specific period. Apprenticeship training – this method involves making a new employee work under a professional’s supervision and at the same time learn specific tasks before he is left to work without any inspection.

Coaching is a method that involves a person-to-person coaching and counseling. Acting capacity: applying this method supposes that a trainee is assigned a responsibility of another absent senior staff member. Assistant position: a trainee is expected to work under a close monitor by a senior staff member.

The method is recommended if the superior has good mentoring skills. Committee and junior boards – this method requires that a trainee be appointed to a committee comprising both senior and junior members of an organization. The trainee is therefore expected to interact with more experienced staff members and in the process, acquire some knowledge.

The external approaches are used to enhance internal programs. They are conducted by professional bodies such as the universities and consultants. The programs are conducted through seminars, lectures and conferences. The approach is used when a highly specialized expertise is required.

Performance appraisal

It is another step in the staffing process. It is a procedure used to identify, evaluate and develop human performance in an organization. Most managers judge performance appraisal as a difficult task because it is not easy to evaluate an employee’s performance accurately. Another difficult part of the task is delivering the result of the performance-appraisal exercise to an employee.

The process may be either formal or informal. Informal performance evaluation is a continuous process of assessing an employee’s performance standards while formal appraisal is conducted after a given period, for example, after every three months.

The main aim of the process is to identify employees who should be promoted and those who require further training. The following are the major reasons for conducting performance evaluation:

To provide employees with the feedback on the quality levels of their performance. The feedback is important because it helps the employees to identify their areas of weaknesses and strengths. The information also helps employees to formulate individual performance improvement plans.
Performance assessment facilitates personnel decision-making, for example, employee promotion. These decisions are critical for both employees and the organization, therefore, should base on adequate information.
Performance assessment is fundamental to an organization’s reward and remuneration system particularly a compensation plan based on employee merit.
The evaluation indicates job areas, in which training and development are needed. Therefore, training programs could be developed upon identification of an area of low performance.

In conclusion, all the personnel and human resource management activities are intended at harmonizing personnel issues with the organization’s goals and objectives to ensure their achievement.

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