Personnel Management deals with human beings and applies scientifically the procedures of employee selection, training, development and so on.
Every man has his own way of behaving and it naturally needs careful and tactful handling to deal with them. So, it is an art to manage the human factor of production.
“The personnel function is concerned with the procurement, development, compensation, integration and maintenance of the personnel of an organisation for the purpose of contributing towards the accomplishment of the major goals or objectives of that organising, directing and controlling of performance of those operative functions.” (E.B.Flippo)
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1. Definitions of Personnel Management 2. Nature of Personnel Management 3. Evolution 4. Concept 5. Importance
6. Characteristics 7. Stages of Evolution 8. Classifications 9. Principles 10. Development 11. Functional Areas 12. Challenges for Personnel Management in Future.
What is Personnel Management: Meaning, Definitions, Concept, Importance, Characteristics, Functions and Challenges
Contents:
- Definitions of Personnel Management
- Nature of Personnel Management
- Evolution of Personnel Management
- Concept of Personnel Management
- Importance of Personnel Management
- Characteristics of Personnel Management
- Stages of the Evolution of Personnel Management
- Classifications of Personnel Functions
- Principles of Personnel Management
- Development of Personnel Management
- Functions of Personnel Management
- Challenges for Personnel Management in Future
Personnel Management – Meaning and Definitions by Various Experts like E.B.Flippo, Dale Yoder, E.F.L. Breach and a Few Others
Personnel management is that field of management which deals with planning, organising and controlling various operative activities of procuring, developing, maintaining and utilising labour force in order that the objectives and interests for which a company is established are attained as effectively and economically as possible and the objectives and interests of labour itself are served to the highest degree.
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Inspire of modern technology and all the system of controls coming into widespread use, man still remains the most important factor in production process. Machines, materials, money and market — all these are useless, unless these are used by competent employees and managed by efficient management.
Employees of any concern are so important asset of the concern that their value is increased by the passage of time, while the value of other types of the assets depreciates. Hence a distinct and specialised area of management— financial management, marketing management, personnel management is also an important functional area of management.
It has been defined by various experts as follows:
(a) “Personnel management is that part of management function which is primarily concerned with human relationship in an organisation. Its objective is the maintenance of those relationships which enable all those engaged in the undertaking to make their maximum contribution to the effective working of the undertaking.” (Indian Institute of Personnel Management)
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(b) “Personnel administration is the art of acquiring, developing and maintaining a competent workforce in such a manner as to accomplish with maximum efficiency and economy the functions and objectives of the organisation.” (Society for Personnel Administration of America)
(c) “The personnel function is concerned with the procurement, development, compensation, integration and maintenance of the personnel of an organisation for the purpose of contributing towards the accomplishment of the major goals or objectives of that organising, directing and controlling of performance of those operative functions.” (E.B.Flippo)
(d) “Personnel management is that phase of management which deals with the effective control and use of manpower as distinguished from other sources of power.” (Dale Yoder)
(e) “Personnel management is that part of management’s process which is primarily concerned with the human constituents of an organisation.” (E.F.L. Breach)
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(f) “Personnel management is that aspect of management which has its goal an effective utilisation of the labour resources of an organisation”.
Personnel Management – Nature
Personnel Management deals with human beings and applies scientifically the procedures of employee selection, training, development and so on. Every man has his own way of behaving and it naturally needs careful and tactful handling to deal with them. So, it is an art to manage the human factor of production.
After trials and errors, Personnel Management finds out the most suitable method of recruitment, and training of workers and placement of the right man for the right job. This calls for scientific approach of management. Hence, Personnel Management is both an art and a science.
Continuity, as a trait of Personnel Management, has been pointed out by George R. Terry. According to him, personnel department has to remain constantly alert and aware of human relations and their importance in everyday operation. “It cannot be turned on and off like water from a faucet”. Even a day’s respite in the work of the personnel department is not generally possible. So, there flows a continuity of work in personnel management.
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Basically, personnel management is of staff nature. It helps line-management to detect and solve its problems. It is on the advice of personnel management that line executives take decisions. Personnel management also does line functions by directly undertaking tasks like recruitment, employee negotiation, collective bargaining etc.
In the management of an organisation, all departments and all the areas of management need the help of personnel department since every department has to deal with human beings and every area of management – production, marketing and financial – is to tackle problems connected with human resource.
This is the pervasive nature of personnel management. The pervasiveness of personnel management is not continued to a particular type of organisation. No matter what the type of organisation is, persons must be there and, to deal with them, personnel department must be a necessity.
Personnel management has the attribute of dynamism. The functions of personnel department of an organisation – the development of human resources and the constructive use of manpower, the encouragement to the growth of informal organisation and the attempt to relate pay to performance – all these are clear indications of dynamism.
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In the dynamic world, it can be easily understood that to deal with immense potentialities of human resources, dynamism is a must. So, it is not only a feature of personnel management but a feature that imparts personnel management the credibility which matters much in the development and proper utilisation of the human factor in production.
Personnel Management – Evolution
With the shift in business dynamics, the realization dawned on companies that people and their knowledge is the only source of sustainable competitive advantage, as other resources related to materials, equipment, technology, finance etc. have proved short lived in the absence of human capital capable of deploying this resources effectively and efficiently.
The History of personnel management begins around the end of 19th century, the origins of personnel management can be traced to the concerned about exploitation of people within the factories and was introduced through law of the land in most countries to deal with issues pertaining to grievances and the welfare of the women.
As the dynamics in relations between trade unions and management changed the personnel management responsibilities grew beyond welfare to other areas such as ensuring amicable (friendly) industrial relations and effective personnel administration.
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Although the field of personnel administration as a discipline of study is relatively recent, the precepts (order) upon which its current concepts are based had their origins deep in history.
For example, “The minimum wage rate” was included in the Babylonian code of Hammurabi around 1800 BC. The Chinese, as early as 1650 BC, had originated the principle of “division of labour” and they understood the meaning and implications of labour turnover even in 400 BC.
The “Span of management” was well originated by Moses around 1200 BC and the Caldrons had incentive wage plans around 400 BC. The ancients, with their stone axes, adages and other flint tools, may not have appreciated the principle of “transfer of skill from the humans to the machine”, but they were nevertheless applying the principle of “Transfer of skill from the humans to the machine”, and this separated them from large number of other human beings.
In India, Kautilya has observed that there existed a sound base for systematic management of human resource as early as fourth century BC. The government then took active interest in the operation of public and private sector enterprises and provided systematic procedure for regulating, employee-employer relationship.
Personnel Management – Meaning and Concept
(1) To Manage People – Personnel Management is concerned with managing people at work—such people does not simply refer to ‘rank and file’ employees but also includes higher personal and unionized as well as non -unionized labour in other words it covers all levels of personnel’s, including blue collared and while collared employees.
(2) Directing workers – It is concerned with employees both as individuals as well as a group with an aim to get their active investment in the organisation’s activities.
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(3) Develop Personnel – Personnel Management is concerned with helping the employees to develop their potentialities to the maximum possible extent, so that they may derive great satisfaction from their job.
(4) Personnel Management applicable to all organisations – It is not confirmed to industry alone, it is equally useful in government departments, military organisations and non-profit institutions. According to Pigors & Myres, Personnel management permeates all types of functional management such as production management, financial management, sales management and research management.
(5) Personnel Management is of continuous nature – Personnel Management cannot be practiced one hour each day or day a week, Personnel Management requires constant alertness of human relations and their importance in everyday operations.
(6) Personnel Management leads to co-operation – Personnel Management attempts at getting the willing co-operation of the people for the attainment of the desired goals. Work can be effectively performed by development of esprit de corps.
Personnel Management – Importance
The importance of the human factor in production cannot be overemphasized. According to Peter F. Drucker – “The resources capable of enlargement can only be human resources. Man alone, of all the resources, can grow and develop, when we speak of growth and development we imply that the human being himself determines what he contributes”.
The physical factors of production, such as materials and machines, have their limitations – the output cannot exceed the materials used, the machine cannot exceed its capacity, but a man, with careful management, can be expected to work miracles. Here lies the importance and significance of Personnel Management.
In industrial concerns, the importance of human factor is being recognised so much that good management has become synonymous with getting effective results with people. Drucker says that the function of management is to manage workers and work. (The practice of management)
Personnel Management touches all types of management; thus it constitutes the key to the managerial action and its success. In every area of management, there is the need for co-operation of workers.
The bread-and-butter services of the personnel department, as referred to by Charles A. Myers; the observation on the personnel management as the nuts and bolts of an organisation and the comment of Peter Drucker that the job of a personnel officer is partly a file clerk’s job, partly a house-keeping job, partly a social worker’s job and partly a fire-fighting job – are all indicative of the significance of Personnel Management in the sphere of management.
On the willing and effective co-operation of workers depends the successful management of an organisation. Man, as a factor of production, has peculiarities unlike the physical factors that he is subject to various feelings, emotions and desires and expectations. It is the Personnel Management which is to live up to these feelings and expectations of the workers and to deal with them in such a manner as to derive the maximum output from them.
The management in the personnel department is to create the favourable psychological atmosphere where the workers will breathe freely as they expect. All these need an insight into the mind of the workers and, as such, Personnel Management can claim its special importance and significance.
As the days are passing on, the personnel aspect of management is attaining more and more importance. Not only because of the special nature of the human factor of production but also for the change in the management concept that the Personnel Management, today, has been playing a very vital and crucial role in all the areas of management.
The consciousness of the workers as to their rights, has no doubt made the personnel department more alert but to make them understand their duties and the need for them to be more efficient, the Personnel Management of any organisation, in recent times, spares no pain.
To sum up, the Personnel Management mainly entrusted with the task of handling the unpredictable factor of production – the man – can claim to have superiority over all other management areas and, as a matter of fact, no department, no area of management, can function effectively without the active co-operation of and co-ordination with the Personnel Management.
In essence, Personnel Management is all – pervasive covering the entire gamut of management. With dynamism as one of its traits, it is continuous and is born with the organisation, moves on with the organisation and comes to an end when the organisation itself comes to an end.
Personnel Management – 5 Important Characteristics
(1) Personnel Management is Worker-Centric:
People working in an organization —individuals and groups of individuals—are at the centre of success of personnel management. People may seem to have a lot in common with one another, but each person is individually different from others in many ways. Each person is born unique, and his exposure to life situations after birth makes him still more different from others.
He has his own deep-seated needs and value system which makes his behaviour rather unpredictable. Because of individual differences, it is not possible to formulate a common standard method of dealing with workers as a whole. Each individual has to be treated and motivated differently so as to make him contribute his utmost to the organizational effort.
(2) Organization Hires the Whole of Worker, not only his Knowledge, Talent and Skills:
An organization does not, indeed cannot, hire only the knowledge, skills and talent of its workers. It hires the whole of the individual worker, which means the temperamental and emotional part of his personality shaped by his socio-cultural and economic background.
Personnel management is thus concerned with transforming workers into a competent and committed workforce but also better human beings.
(3) Assuring Respect and Dignity to Workers’ Human Dignity:
Human beings are not the same as other inanimate factors of production like buildings, machines and tools. They represent the finest creation of nature and expect and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. In whatever they do, they seek recognition of their worth and aspirations.
Personnel management in the present environment should seek to satisfy basic needs of workers- assurance of honest day’s wage and job security—but also social, recognition and self-actualization needs. Human beings represent the higher order in the universe; they are unlike animals which only seek satisfaction of basic needs—hunger and thirst.
(4) Personnel Management is Multi-Disciplinary:
It is difficult to predict human behavior, far less group behaviour. This is because each individual is a unique person and has His own needs, aspirations and value-system. When forming part of a group, their behaviour assumes an altogether different herd-like form.
There cannot be any readymade formula to understand and control human behaviour. For this reason, personnel management needs to adopt a multi-dimensional approach to tackle human problems. Theories and practice of Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, Political Science and other similar branches of knowledge will come in handy to make the task of personnel management easy to handle.
(5) Personnel Management cannot be a One-Off Exercise:
Practice of personnel management should be constant. As George Terry puts in- “It cannot be turned off and on like water from a faucet; it cannot be practiced only one hour each day or one day a week. Personnel management requires a constant alertness and awareness of human relations and their importance in everyday operations.”
Personnel Management – 7 Main Stages of the Evolution: Era of Industrial Revolution, Era of Trade Unionism, Era of Social Responsibility and a Few Others
This classification is rather very broad. We would like to describe the chronological growth of the science of personnel management somewhat on the following lines-
1. Era of Industrial Revolution;
2. Era of Trade Unionism;
3. Era of Social Responsibility;
4. Scientific Management Era;
5. Industrial Psychology Era (including Human Relations Era);
6. The Behavioural Science Era, and
7. The Personnel Specialists and Welfare Era.
Stage # 1. Era of Industrial Revolution:
Modern personnel management has evolved from a number of significant interrelated developments which date back to the beginning of what is popularly known as the Industrial Revolution, we call it Evolution. There were several types of relationships involving employers and employees, which were distinctly termed as “slaver”, “serfdom” and the “guild system”.
The initial stage of the guild system is said to be early beginnings of personnel management, for the three classes — the masters, the travelling journey man, and apprentices and the system involved “selecting, training, developing, rewarding and maintaining workers”.
Wage and salary administration and collective bargaining over wage and conditions of work were in evidence. Gradually, economic and social changes brought about a change in the old economic, social and political system.
These changes were precipitated in manufacturing by a new economic doctrine (theory) and by inventions and utilization of new tools, process and machines. The economic doctrine, French concepts of laissez faire and laissez passer which meant that a person should be permitted to make, what he wanted and to go where he pleases.
The industrial revolution consisted essentially in the development of machinery, the use of mechanical energy and the consequent establishment of factories employing large number of people — the productive power of man. The factory system gradually replaced the “cottage” system.
This system arose out of the ability of factory owners to pay a family higher wages than he would be earned by it, primarily because of the speed of machines and efficiencies gained through the further subdivision of labour (specialised in one task).
The industrial revolution greatly expanded the mass production of goods. Science and technology began to be applied to all aspects of the working of modern industrial corporations. It has affected the Personnel Administration System in many ways.
(i) The place of work changed to a central work area, where people worked under common roof.
(ii) The method of production changed from manual to machine.
(iii) The migration from rural areas to urban areas started with the decline of cottage industries because there was no land to fall back upon for employment. On the other hand, there was heavy concentration of industry in certain areas.
(iv) Not only was geographical mobility facilitated but occupational and industrial mobility also increased. Jobs were more simplified with the result that the labour force readily adapted itself to a variety of positions.
(v) As a result of separation, it was difficult to maintain the close relationship which owners had with their employees in the past.
(vi) Mass production, which calls for a continuous flow of materials, was made possible by complex, integrated, automatic and electrically controlled equipment.
(vii) Mechanization made the work so simple that a large number of women and children began to be employed, and this replaced men.
(viii) With the introduction of machines, heavy physical labour was eliminated, work now become – easy enough but on the other side, it reduced the opportunities of employment for unskilled labour.
(ix) Because of the complexity of the process of production and advanced technology, a new class of professional employees had developed in the industry who exercised tremendous power in the affairs of the company.
(x) Production control, method control, inventory control, financial control and manpower control have all become more effective because of the introduction of computerised techniques and procedures.
(xi) More new jobs are of the nature best suited to the white collar and executive groups who guide, regulate and coordinate production process. Formerly, this coordination was either the responsibility of blue collar production workers or artisans.
(xii) Specialization has developed in mechanical, electrical and civil engineering research; there are development and production engineers and such personnel specialist as labour relations managers, wage analysts, training directors and safety engineers.
(xiii) There had been a decline in the number of semiskilled and unskilled workers but an increase in professional and skilled workers, who handled a vast quantity of records, reports and data needed by the management.
(xiv) There has also been an increasing participation of women in the labour force for secretarial and other clerical jobs.
However, these results were achieved at a great price because of the following:
i. There were a great concentration of people amongst many machines in small, dingy, dirty factories;
ii. The increased use of machinery resulted in changes in the employment situation. Since their operations called for specialised knowledge, and unskilled workers found it difficult to adjust themselves to the new equipment, large number of them could not find gainful employment;
iii. Working and living conditions were unsatisfactory and very unhygienic;
iv. Adults had to work from 9 to 11 hours a day and children from 14 to 15 hours as a day, and they were all treated harshly by the owners of the factories;
v. Labour was looked upon as a commodity, could be bought and sold, and the government, because of the prevailing political philosophy of laissez faire, did little to protect the workers;
vi. Monotony and boredom were the results of division of labour and they felt no pride in their accomplishment;
vii. A shut down in one sector of the industry threw the entire system out of gear, bringing about great economic suffering;
viii. The worker was required to follow strict discipline, and
ix. They had to live by the clock or else would be fired or punished.
x. At last, “the new Industrial Era brought about materialism, discipline, monotony, boredom, job displacement, impersonality ,work interdependence and related behavioural phenomena. The benefit of Industrial revolution, however, has far outweighed the costs of increasing industrialization”.
Economically, the Industrial Revolution brought about great increase in output and in the accumulation in the goods and capital in turn, business and commerce were greatly accelerated, owners and entrepreneurs did well, but the average citizen fared poorly.
Stage # 2. Era of Trade Unionism:
After the advent of factory system, groups of employees began to get together to discuss their common problems. The basic philosophy underlying the trade unionism was that “through strength and collective support, the management could be forced to listen to the workers and redress their grievances”.
The weapon used was that of strikes, slowdowns, walkouts, picketing, boycotts and sabotage. Later, economic problems, including the question of employee’s benefits and services became the major concern. Workers joined together on the basis of their common interest to improve their lot.
This trade unionism, however, did influence the personnel management in such fields of activity as “the adoption of employee grievances handling system, the acceptance of arbitration as a means of resolving conflicts of rights, disciplinary practices, the expansion of employee benefit programmes, the liberalisation of holiday and vacation time, clear job duties, job rights through seniority and the installation of rational and defensible wage structure”.
Organisational units were created by the companies to deal with union relationships and representatives. In some cases, unions were sponsored by the companies as a means of controlling their activity.
Where unions brought about wage increases, greater attention was paid to the study of jobs, methods improvements, connecting wages to performance, and the more careful selection of personnel. Trade union dilution accepting unskilled women into craftsman’s job and changing manning levels.
Stage # 3. Era of Social Responsibility Feeling:
Robert Owen (1913), for the first time adopted a somewhat paternalistic attitude towards his employees. He was a British business man, reformer and humanitarian. He believed that “the principle, social and economic environments influence the physical, mental and psychological development of workers”.
In order to increase productivity, it was necessary to improve the conditions of employees by moving them from adverse environment or by changing the environment with the provision of more satisfactory living and working conditions.
Owen implemented this philosophy by organising model villages next to his cotton mills in Scotland; by introducing shower baths and toilets into the factories, which were cleaned and painted, in which windows were installed for light and ventilation; by organising day schools for the children and night schools for the workers; and by raising the minimum age for the employment of children to 11 years and shortening their work day to 10 hours.
Later, he abolished child labour entirely. He regarded the workers like children who must be cautiously guided, trained and protected. He, therefore, advised his brother manufacturers to devote as much attention to their vital machine. By doing so, profit would be maximised. Adam Smith emphasised “if each individual worked or his own economic self-interest, the society would gain”. These views were supported by Charles Babbage.
He observed that “the emphasis should be on mutuality of interests between employer and workers and on the division of labour, for such division for labour would reduce the waste in raw materials, achieve savings through more effective placement of workers, produced economies through a different wage skilled based on skill levels, save time by not switching from task-to-task, gained efficiencies stemming from familiarisation with special tools and stimulate workers’ inventions pertaining to tools and methods”.
He held the view that “hard work and high productivity were a source of good wages for the worker and higher profits for the employer”. But he denounced any unionisation of workers.
Stage # 4. The Scientific Management Era:
This era began in 1900, reached at its peak approximately in 1930. It has remained alive somewhat even to the present times. The scientific movement owes its origin to Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1955) who is known as “the father of scientific management”. He started his experiments in the steel industry in the Midvale and Bethlehem plants in 1885. He developed the four great principles of management.
(i) The development of a true science of each job;
(ii) A scientific selection of the right person for the job;
(iii) Training a person to perform his job in scientific manner, and
(iv) Friendly cooperation between the management and the men.
Taylor believed that “planning should be the result of cooperation between the management and workers and that a provision should exist for compensating the personnel with financial incentives”. He also believed that workers were “sources of untapped {unused} energy”, which could be properly utilised if they are trained and fairly treated.
He strongly recommended that when workers failed to respond to initial training, they should not be brutally (directly) discharged but given more time to familiarise themselves with their job or be transferred to a job for which they were better suited. The value of workers, ideas and anticipated the modern suggestions system by recommending cash bonuses for developed suggestions.
He believed that by a scientific measurement of work, that is, by time study, method’s study, job classification and method improvement, functional foremanship, standardisation of tools, specifications of the best methods, a different piece rate system, instructional cards for workman and a control system — most of the sources of conflict between labour and management would disappear.
The scientific movement has had a great influence on employee-employer relationships. It has greatly contributed to the professionalization of management. The use of his approach improved management methods, procedures and standards and strengthened production and supervision.
Taylor’s approach emphasis on the mutual benefits of productivity- the organization produced more and thus increased its profits, while workers made more money and lived better lives, so it was accepted by labour and the management. One name given to his outlook is Welfare Capitalism. Taylor’s idea lead to a separate discipline called “Human Engineering”.
It is the study of people at work and of work methods, it includes a study of equipment design, pacing (speed) of work, hours of work, and environment conditions of work, its purpose are to improve productivity and job satisfaction.
But, after 30 years, this approach has begun to lose its popularity, for it has been discovered that many of the management problems are the result of “human” and not “mechanical factors”. Taylor’s approach stressed the need for techniques which ensure higher performance at the work place and estimate unnecessary movements and gave greater importance to “technology” than to the “men” at work.
Fragmentation (part) of an operations so that each man did only -one little job encouraging a mechanistic conception of “man at work”, ultimately lead to a times symptoms of alienation (separation), frustration, conflict, etc., leading to loss of production. This knowledge brought about a new thinking in recent years.
Such as those of Douglas McGregor in the USA, and Eric Trist in UK, who pointed out that “the best results were obtained in industrial occupations when human beings were treated in the totally of their physical and psychological characteristics”.
Among others who modified Taylor’s views were Henry Gantt and Frank and Lillian Gilbreth. Henry Gantt propounded “Task and Bonus Wage” system which removed the penalties provided under Taylor’s wage system. Under Gantt’s system, the worker was paid a guaranteed hourly rate, a bonus of 20 per cent if he reached the standard output and a high piece rate for output that was above the standard output. Further, the foreman was given a bonus for each man who was successful.
Frank Gilbreth made an extensive use of motion pictures of tasks being performed in order to analyse body movements. From these studies, he formulated the “laws of efficient motion”.
Lillian Gilbreth worked closely with her husband and is credited with the publication of Psychology of Management (1914), the first book relating to the application of psychology to the principles of Scientific Management.
Stage # 5. Industrial Psychological Era:
During this period, psychologists were introduced to the field of industrial management to study systematically many personnel problems. The development of industrial psychology owes a great deal to Hugo Munsterberg’s book, Psychology and Industrial Efficiency, which was published in 1913.
He is regarded as the Father of Industrial Psychology. His contributions to industrial management were particularly notable in respect of his analysis of jobs in terms of their mental and emotional requirements and in terms of the development of testing devices (the Alpha and Beta tests).
Advances were made in selection, placement, testing, and training and research practices. Industrial psychology introduced the “matching of employees to jobs, for different jobs require different skills and abilities”. It emphasised the use of psychology in the field of personnel testing, interviewing, attitude measurement, learning theory, training, failure, and monotony study, safety, job analysis and human engineering.
Of these, the major applications of the knowledge and techniques of industrial psychology have been in the field of recruitment, testing for employment, job replacement, promotion and training. The tools and practices of industrial psychology are applied through education, publication and consultation services.
The human relations movement is an outcome of the reaction against the impersonality of scientific management. Top management personnel began to realise that “human resources are the most valuable assets that any organisation possesses and that, without these, other resources are useless”.
Experiments were conducted at the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company in Chicago during the late 1920s and early 1930s by Elton Mayo (1818-1949), F. Roethlisberger and W.J. Dickson of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. They concluded that “human and social factors, not physical variables, accounted for the productivity phenomenon”.
As a result of this experiment, employee productivity began to be analysed in such behavioural terms as “teamwork, participation, cohesiveness, loyalty and esprit de corps, instead of in terms of engineering alternative”.
The findings of the Hawthorne studies put emphasis on the importance for an understanding of the needs of both, management and workers of the special aspects of work performances. The message was that interpersonal relationships (between the workers and their supervisors) should be nurtured for the fullest realisation of the potential of individuals and groups.
The basic conclusion was the “sociological and psychological phenomena often-exerted even greater influence on output than physical measurable conditions of work did”. Accordingly, concepts such as the “social system, informd, organisation, group control of behaviour, equilibrium and logical and non-logical behaviour entered the field of Human Relations and Personnel Management specialists”.
Therefore, there was a swing from the “scientific management” with standards of performance, impersonal engineering by efficiency experts towards the new “human relations approach”.
The human relations movement was mainly concerned with the informal, spontaneous behaviour of work groups and the sentiments and attitudes of employees. The scientific management movement was mainly concerned with an organisation as a technical, economic system; the human relations movement viewed it as a social system.
Stage # 6. The Behavioural Era:
The behavioural science movement is an outgrowth of human relations studies and began around 1955; and its major impact lasted some 10 to 15 years. The behavioural sciences include anthropology, human, economics, history, physiology, mathematical, biology, medicine, social psychology.
The research in these disciplines has provided the subject matter for personnel management. Behavioural scientists are concerned with the impact of various methods of pay and individual performance with the effect of different styles of leadership and different philosophies on total organisation’s performance; with job design and its relationship to personality growth; with the impact of different appraisal system, with group influences and the effect of organisation’s communications on productivity and change.
The method of research made use of data obtained from experiments, observations, survey, programme-or-action research and the theory of model-building.
Abraham Maslow (1954) propounded a theory regarding an individual “hierarchy of needs” also known as “Deficit Theory Motivation”. He stated that there is a series of needs some of which are lower in the scale or system or values in individual or social and some are higher. Herzberg advanced a two factor theory of motivation.
Some of hygiene considerations- money, supervision, job, and the physical aspects of work to motivate people; but these factors served only human “maintenance needs” rather than the job itself. Another consideration, motivators provided opportunities for personal realization.
Douglas McGregor formulated two contrasting kinds of management beliefs or views about the nature of man at work. McGregor’s Theory X stands for the set of traditional beliefs generally held while Theory Y concerned with a different philosophy or understanding of man at work.
Theory X involves strict supervision coercion and threat which might breed organised worker protest, restriction of output, etc., and his theory Y might be exploited by the subordinates and therefore he suggested a via media that of the Carrot and Stick approach to motivate work people.
Rensis Likert stated that assumptions like these reflect themselves in two basic system of organizations namely system I and system IV. System I of organisation is based upon theory X assumption, while system IV on theory Y assumptions. This type of approach is also known as the Human Relations approach.
It is an aid to the process of integration of employees, however partial with their organization. This type of approach tries to understand human behaviour of employees, however- partial with their organization. It tries to understand human behaviour at workplace.
Stage # 7. Personnel Specialist and Welfare Era:
With the introduction of the factory system, thousands of persons began to be employed under one roof, and had to be controlled if the goals of an organization were to be achieved. For work in the administrative office, clerks or manual employees had to be recruited.
These were entrusted with the responsibility of hiring men to work of an organization. Later, they were concerned with the recruitment, placement and selection of personnel. With the increase in the size of the organization, and further increase in the number of employees, separate personnel executive had to be appointed to develop systematic methods, determine wage rates, and develop job discipline and descriptions and job specification.
Later his duties were enlarged to cover additional responsibility of looking after the benefits and services provided for the employees. In the course of time, arrangements had to be made to train the existing personnel and hence, a manager for training was also provided. For administrative and organizational effectiveness, it was then found feasible to merge these different functions into a single position, like the personnel manager and welfare officer.
Subsequently, organisational planning, manpower planning, manpower selection and other allied problems regarding the management of managers and high talent manpower assumed significance in the organization. High talent personnel emerged as the key human resource and personnel management was turned to the existing economic structure.
The emphasis now is on “management of human resource”. So that personnel management has now passed through vast changes. Beginning with “Welfare Work”, its responsibilities have grown wider and deeper.
The present day personnel management has been entrusted with three main responsibilities, viz. –
First, to assist the line management in planning the organization and to maintain the workforce at optimum efficiency through recruitment, induction and placement, salary and wage administration, training for key non-management personnel, development of employee communication programmes.
Second, to provide task force to render services to the management in the field of labour relations with particular references to union-management relations, management of staff development functions, training for key non-management personnel, development of grievance procedure and development of personnel policies and procedure.
Third, to control functions regarding employee services such as housing and transport, promotion, recreational facilities, financial aids to employees and educational facilities.
It will thus be marked that personnel management is entrusted to undertake a multiple of personnel jobs. In sum, it may be noted that personnel management functions has been historically associated with the times and events of social, economic, political and technological factors that influence the nature and scope of personnel administration.
Further, the historical evolution of the personnel functions is evolutionary and not revolutionary, that is the changes have occurred in the personnel field have been caused mostly by gradual cultural changes.
The last three decades saw the changes in the competitive environment, brought about the growing competition, which resulted in wide choice for customers and new dimensions for market place and innovations.
We can analyze how the organization would look like when it was really humming, really succeeding. Translating that back into culture, working practices, learning motivation, reward, and selection — those are the strategic choices that we have to equip our members to make.
As the 21st century advances, there seems no reason to suppose that the various roles and traditions will disappear, although their relative importance will change and evolve, depending on the political, legislative and intellectual climate of the time and organizational needs and culture.
For the immediate future, the change agent and business partner roles seem likely to grow in importance, although they will continue to be a part of the function which, if it is not about implementing rules and legislation, it is about ensuring that line managers are enabled to do so competently.
Personnel Management – 5 Important Classifications by Dale Yoder’s, Yoder and Nelson’s, Northcott’s, Scott, Clothier and Spriegel’s Classification and a Few Others
Different experts have classified in different manner the personnel functions.
Let us have a look into some important classifications in the field:
(a) Dale Yoder’s Classification:
According to Dale Yoder, the major activities of manpower management are:
i. Setting general and specific management policy for relationships and establishing and maintaining a suitable organization for leadership and co-operation.
ii. Collective bargaining, contract negotiations, contract administration and grievances.
iii. Staffing the organization, finding, getting and holding prescribed types and number of workers.
iv. Aiding the self-development of employees at all levels, providing opportunities for personnel development and growth as well as for requisite skills and experience.
v. Incentivating, developing and maintaining motivation for work.
vi. Reviewing and auditing manpower management in an organization.
vii. Industrial relations research, carrying out studies designed to explain employment behaviour and thereby effecting improvements in manpower management.
(b) Yoder and Nelson’s Classification:
Dale Yoder and Robert J. Nelson mention seven functional categories as follows:
i. Departmental Administration Programme -Planning, Report preparing, Policy formulation and General administration.
ii. Employment and Placement- Recruitment, Selection, Placement, Orientation, Personnel rating, Job analysis and Description.
iii. Training- Induction, On-the-job training, Supervisory training and Management development.
iv. Collective Bargaining – Contract negotiation, Contract administration and Grievances.
v. Wage and Salary Administration – Job evaluation, Wage and salary surveys.
vi. Benefits and Services – Insurance, Health, Hospitalization, Medical care and Retirement plan administration.
vii. Personnel Research – Continuing studies of all employee-relations policies, Programmes and practices.
(c) Northcott’s Classification:
After referring to three types of approach to task, viz.:
(1) The welfare approach,
(2) The scientific management influence, and
(3) The industrial relations emphasis, Northcott gives the functions of personnel management thus-
i. Employment
ii. Selection and Training
iii. Employee Services
iv. Wages
v. Industrial Relations
vi. Health and Safety Education
vii. Education
(d) Scott, Clothier and Spriegel’s Classification:
i. Employment
ii. Promotion, transfer, termination, demotions and separations
iii. Formulation and direction of training programmes
iv. Job analysis and evaluation
v. Remuneration and incentives
vi. Health and sanitation
vii. Safety and institutional protection
viii. Financial aids to employees
ix. Employee service activities
x. Research, record keeping, reports and follow-up
xi. Employee-employer and community co-operation
xii. Labour union contracts and co-operation.
(e) Indian Institute of Personnel Management’s Classification:
The IIPM, Calcutta, classifies the functions of personnel management into the following categories-
i. Improvement of industrial relations
ii. Promotion of joint consultation
iii. Helping management to formulate a labour policy and improving communication between management and employees.
iv. Advising the management on the fulfilment of statutory obligations relating to safety, health and welfare provisions.
v. Advising the management on the training and further education of employees.
In sum, the IIPM is of the view that “all those functions which are concerned’ with the human element in industry, as distinct from the mechanical elements, may be categorized into three classes-
(1) Welfare activities
(2) Labour or Personnel aspects
(3) Industrial Relations aspects.
Functions associated with the welfare aspect of labour are concerned with the conditions of work, and amenities such as the provision of canteen, crenches, housing, transport, medical, educational, recreational facilities, and health and safety provisions.
(2) Labour or Personnel Aspects:
Functions associated with labour or personnel aspects cover activities concerned with manpower planning, recruitment, selection, placement, induction, promotion, transfer, demotion, separation, lay-off, retrenchment, training and development, incentives and motivation, wage and salary administration.
(3) Industrial Relations Aspects:
Functions associated with industrial relations aspects cover activities concerned with trade union negotiations, settlement of disputes, grievance handling and disciplinary action, collective bargaining, joint consultation, benefits and services such as insurance, unemployment security, sickness leave, loan funds etc.
In practice, all these functions are bound to merge into one another, for all are concerned with the human element in industry as distinct from the mechanical or material resources.
Personnel Management – 10 Principles
There is absolutely essential need for certain guiding principles which assist the personnel executive in the formulation of personnel policies, procedures, and programmes, as well as in solution of personnel problem.
(1) Principle of Individual Development – Offers full and equal opportunity to develop to fullest potentialities.
(2) Principle of Scientific Selection Procedure – Requires careful selection and use of personnel tools and techniques to scientific Selection.
(3) Principle of Incentive – Incentive like monetary and non- monetary must be appreciated.
(4) Principle of adequate communication – The company policies, programmes, objectives and philosophy may be made known to the employees.
(5) Principle of participation – Employees are offered opportunities to come up with their ideas, views and suggestions to improve various operations – by developing sense of participation.
(6) Principle of fair compensation – The wage salary structure must be fair and equitable.
(7) Principle of dignity of labour – Merit, intelligence and effort must be the sole criteria for upward mobility.
(8) Principle of team spirit – Policies and programmes must be so formulated that the different and diversified talents and efforts of individual are brought and welded together in group effort in true spirit of togetherness where work, cooperation term and collaboration may be guiding light
(9) Principle of labour management co-operation – The personnel specialist must assist, top management, in fostering organisation conditions that remove distracts between labour and management through proper communication, creative, consultive, participative managerial philosophy, and the integration of any conflict which enhance labour management, co-operation.
(10) Principle of Contribution to National Prosperity – Employees must be educated, through appropriate personnel programmes, to believe in the proposition that their contribution to the achievement of company goals will ultimately contribute to this economic development and property of the nation as a whole.
The principles of personnel administration are reflected in general statement or ‘Policies’ but personnel policies are largely conditioned by management creeds and philosophies.
Personnel Management – Development
Labour as a factor of production is different from other factors, like materials, machinery and money inasmuch as it has a will of its own. The importance of the human factor in the efficient and successful management of industrial enterprises led the managements to think in terms of providing some machinery for managing men.
Personnel department came to be recognised as integral part of the managerial set-up. The outcome to these developments is the emergence of ‘Personnel Management’ as a vital part of management studies.
Besides the recognition of the importance of the human factor, some other factors also contributed towards the development of ‘Personnel Management’. To deal with organised labour (i.e., trade unions), to remain in touch with the needs and aspirations of the people at work, and to ensure the observance of a large number of complicated rules framed by the Government for the protection of the interests of the workers, some agency was necessary.
Since the workers are employed in very large numbers and the work in various departments is of a specialised nature, the management of workers under the factory system of production could not have been carried on by the existing organs of management. A separate department was absolutely essential for coping with this task. The ‘personnel department’ was created for this purpose.
The proper management of the human factor in industry involves careful handling of relationships among the individuals at work. Personnel management, therefore, consists in maintaining these relations on a basis which enables all those engaged in the undertaking to make their best personal contribution to the effective working of the undertaking.
The personnel function of management is that part of the management which is primarily concerned with human relationships within an organisation. It attempts to ensure the mental and material welfare of the employees so that they work efficiently.
Personnel management in the modern sense had its origin in World War I when a large number of persons had not only to be organised and directed but had also to be inspired to an extent that they would not hesitate to lay down their lives for the sake of their nation.
Personnel Management – 8 Important Functions: Organisational Planning and Development, Staffing and Employment, Training and Development and a Few Others
Function # 1. Organisational Planning and Development:
“Organisational planning” is concerned with the division of all the tasks to be performed into manageable and efficient units (departments, divisions or positions) and with providing for their integration. Both differentiation and integration are vital for the achievement of pre-determined goals.
(1) A determination of the needs of an organisation in terms of a company’s short and long-term objectives, utilization of technology (industrial engineering, industrial psychology, and mechanical engineering) of production, deciding about the nature of product to be manufactured, keeping in view the external environment and public policy.
(2) The planning, development and designing of an organizational structure through the fixing of the responsibility and authority of the employees, so that organisational goals may be effectively achieved.
(3) Developing inter-personal relationship through a division of positions, jobs and tasks; the creation of a healthy and fruitful interpersonal relationship; and the formation of a homogeneous, cohesive and effectively interacting informal group.
Function # 2. Staffing and Employment:
The staffing process is a flow of events which results in a continuous manning of organizational positions at all levels from the top management to the operative level. This process includes manpower planning, authorization for planning, developing sources of applicants, evaluation of applicants, employment decisions (selection), offers (placement), induction and orientation, transfers, demotions, promotions and separations (retirement, lay-off, discharge, resignation, disability, and death).
(1) Manpower planning is a process of analysing the present and future vacancies that may occur as a result of retirements, discharges, transfers, promotions, sick leave, leave of absence, or other reasons, and an analysis of present and future expansion or curtailment in the various departments.
Plans are then formulated for internal shifts or cut-backs in manpower, for the training and development of present employees, for advertising openings, or for recruiting and hiring new personnel with appropriate qualifications.
(2) Recruitment is concerned with the process of attracting qualified and competent personnel for different jobs. This includes the identification of existing sources of the labor market, the development of new sources, and the need for attracting large number of potential applicants so that a good selection may be possible.
(3) Selection Process is concerned with the development of selection policies and procedures and the evaluation of potential employees in terms of job specifications. This process includes the development of application blanks, valid and reliable tests, interview techniques, employee referral systems, evaluation and selection of personnel in terms of job specifications, the making up of final recommendations to the line management and the sending of offers and rejection letters.
(4) Placement is concerned with the task of placing an employee in a job for which he is best fitted, keeping in view the job requirements, his qualifications and personality needs.
(5) By induction and orientation is meant the introduction of an employee to the organisation and the job by giving him all the possible information about the organisation’s history, objectives, philosophy, policies, future development opportunities, products, goodwill in the market and in the community, and by introducing him to other employees with whom and under whom he has to work.
(6) Transfer process is concerned with the placement of an employee in a position in which his ability can be best utilised. This is done by developing transfer policies and procedures, counselling employees and line management on transfers and evaluating transfer policies and procedures.
(7) Promotion is concerned with rewarding capable employees by putting them in higher positions with more responsibility and higher pay. For this purpose, a fair, just and equitable promotion policy and procedure have to be developed; line managers and employees have to be advised on these policies, which have to be evaluated to find out whether they have been successful.
(8) Separation process is concerned with the severing of relationship with an employee on grounds of resignation, lay-off, death, disability, discharge or retirement. Exit interviews of employees are arranged, causes of labour turnover are to be analysed and advice is given to the line management on the causes of, and reduction in labour turnover.
A number of devices and sub-systems are used in the systems designs to manage the staffing process.
These are:
(a) Planning tables and charts;
(b) Application blanks;
(c) Interviews;
(d) Psychological tests;
(e) Reference checks;
(f) Physical examination;
(g) Performance reviews; and
(h) Exit interviews.
Function # 3. Training and Development:
It is complex process and is concerned with increasing the capabilities of individuals and groups so that they may contribute effectively to the attainment of organisational goals.
This process includes:
(1) The determination of training needs of personnel at all levels, skill training, employee counselling, and programmes for managerial, professional and employee development; and
(2) Self-initiated developmental activities (formal education), during off-hours (including attendance at school/college/professional institutes); reading and participation in the activities of the community.
Under this area, the training needs of the company are identified, suitable training programmes are developed, operatives and executives are identified for training, motivation is provided for joining training programmes, the line management is advised in matters of conducting training programmes, and the services of specialists are enlisted. The effectiveness of training programmes has to be evaluated by arranging follow-up studies.
Function # 4. Compensation, Wage and Salary Administration:
It is concerned with the process of compensation directed towards remunerating employees for services rendered and motivating them to attain the desired levels of performance.
The components of this process are:
(1) Job evaluation through which the relative worth of a job is determined. This is done by selecting suitable job evaluation techniques, classifying jobs into various categories, and then determining their relative value in various categories.
(2) Wage and salary programme consists of developing and operating a suitable wage and salary programme, taking into consideration certain facts such as the ability of the organisation to pay, the cost of living, the supply and demand conditions in labour market, and the wage and salary levels in other firms. For developing a wage and salary programme, wage and salary surveys have to be conducted, wage and salary rates have to be determined and implemented, and their effectiveness evaluated.
(3) The incentive compensation plan includes non-monetary incentives which have to be developed, administered and reviewed from time to time with a view to encouraging the efficiency of the employee.
(4) The performance appraisal is concerned with evaluating employee performance at work in terms of pre-determined norms/standards with a view to developing a sound system of rewards and punishment and identifying employees eligible for promotions. For this purpose, performance appraisal plans, techniques and programmes are chalked out, their implementation evaluated, and reports submitted to the concerned authorities.
(5) Motivation is concerned with motivating employees by creating conditions in which they may get social and psychological satisfaction. For this purpose, a plan for non-financial incentives (such as recognition, privileges, symbols of status) is formulated; a communication system is developed, morale and attitude surveys are undertaken, the health of human organisation diagnosed and efforts are made to improve human relations in the organisation.
The line management has to be advised on the implementation of the plan and on the need, areas and ways and means of improving the morale of employees.
Function # 5. Employee Services and Benefits:
These are concerned with the process of sustaining and maintaining the work force in an organisation.
They include:
(1) Safety provision inside the workshop. For this purpose, policies, techniques, and procedures for the safety and health of the employees are developed; the line management is advised on the implementation and operation of safety programmes; training has to be given to first line supervisors and workers in safety practices; the causes of accidents have to be investigated and data collected on accidents; and the effectiveness of the safety programmes evaluated periodically.
(2) Employee counselling is the process through which employee’s pre given counsel in solving their work problems and their personal problems. The line management has to be advised on the general nature of the problems which the employees may face from time to time.
(3) The medical services include the provision of curative and preventive medical and health improvement facilities for employees, free or otherwise. A periodical medical check-up of employees, training in hygienic and preventive measures are undertaken.
(4) The recreational and other welfare facilities include entertainment services like film shows, sports and games; and housing, educational, transport and canteen facilities, free or at subsidised rates. Suitable policies and programmes are framed and efforts are made to administer these services satisfactorily. The effectiveness of such programmes has also to be evaluated.
(5) Fringe benefits and supplementary items are made available to employees in the form of-
(a) Old age survivor’s and disability benefits, unemployment and workmen’s compensation;
(b) Pensions, gratuities and such other payments as are agreed upon death benefits, sickness, accident and medical care, insurance, expenses of hospitalisation, voluntary retirement benefits;
(c) Paid rest periods, lunch periods, wash-up time, travel time, get-ready time;
(d) Payments for the time during which no work is done paid vacation or bonus in lieu of vacation, payment for holidays, paid sick and maternity leave; and
(e) Profit-sharing benefits, stock options contribution to employees’ provident fund, employees educational expenditure and special wage payments ordered by the courts.
These benefits are usually given to employees in order to tempt them to remain in the organisation, to provide them social security, and to reduce absenteeism and labour turnover. Policies and programmes for implementing these have to be properly developed.
Function # 6. Employee Records:
In employee records complete and up-to-date information is maintained about employees, so that these (that is the records) may be utilized, if need be, at the time of making transfers/promotions, giving merit pay, or sanctioning leave and at the time of termination of service.
Such records include information relating to personal qualifications, special interests, aptitudes, results of tests and interviews, job performance, leave promotions, rewards and punishments.
Function # 7. Labour Relations:
By labour relations is meant the maintenance of healthy and peaceful labour- management relations so that production/work may go on undisturbed.
Under this area:
(1) Grievance handling policy and procedures are developed, after finding out the nature and causes of grievances, and locating the most delicate areas of dissatisfaction.
(2) Rules and regulations are framed for the maintenance of discipline in the organisation, and a proper system of reward and punishment is developed.
(3) Efforts are made to acquire a knowledge of, and to observe and comply with, the labour laws of the country and acquaint the line management with the provisions which are directly concerned with organisation.
Collective bargaining has to be developed so that all the disputes may be settled by mutual discussions without recourse to the law court. Such bargaining, negotiating and administering agreements relating to wages, leave, working conditions and employee-employer relationship falls in this area.
Function # 8. Personnel Research and Personnel Audit:
This area is concerned with:
(1) A systematic inquiry into any aspect of the broad question of how to make more effective an organisation’s personnel programmes recruitment, selection, development, utilization of, and accommodation to human resources.
(2) Procedures and policies and findings submitted to the top executive;
(3) Data relating to qualify, wages, productivity, grievances, absenteeism, labour turnover, strikes, lock-outs, accidents etc., which are collected and supplied to the top management so that it may review, alter or improve existing personnel policies, programmes and procedures;
(4) Morale and attitude surveys.
In large organisations, some of these functions are performed by persons other than personnel men; but in smaller organisations, all these functions are discharged by the personnel administrator.
In most companies, staffing, appraisal, training and development, compensation, collective bargaining and health and safety are included in the purview of the personnel department. Only a few firms have departments which specialise in some of these functions and which are separate from personnel department.
The practice of separating “personnel” from “labour/industrial relations” has declined in recent years. Today, in the vast majority of companies, the personnel department is expected to be concerned about all major “people aspect” of the enterprise.
The principal categories of functions performed by personnel department may include many sub-functions. For example, the administration of employee benefit programme may include representing the company’s interest in unemployment compensation and workmen’s compensation.
Occasionally the personnel department may be involved in such matters as parking lots, preparing the annual report to shareholders etc. McFarland calls this tendency to assign such miscellaneous functions to the personnel department the “trashchen hypothesis.”
He believes that indiscriminate assignment of functions to the personnel department weakens the potential impact of the personnel programme and diverts the energies and attentions of the department’s members from those functions which should be their central concern.
Furthermore, the chief executives believe there should be little restriction on what is assigned to the personnel department, while personnel director resents the tendency to make the department a “dumping ground” of miscellaneous functions. Thus, conflict and frustration result from neglecting to clearly define the role of personnel department.
The organisation of the personnel department will reflect not only the functions assigned to it, but also the size of the enterprise. When a company is small, the personnel department may consist of one man and his secretary.
In a large company, the Personnel Director may have several subordinate managers reporting to him, including a safety director, a medical director, a wage and salary administrator, a training director, and a labour relations director. Many firms may group two or more of these sub-functions under subordinate administrators.
Personnel Management – Challenges for Personnel Management in Future
In the current tradition of India the personal officer is not invested with the necessary authority to implement the decisions. Therefore commands relatively less respect from workers and trade unions as well as from managerial staff. In the framing of labour policy he is not always consulted, in IR sphere he has a limited function to perform, even in the welfare administration he has limited scope. In the context, it is suggested that the personnel officer should have an advisory role in the employer-employee relations and management training and the executive authority in the areas of health, safety.
In future, great scope exists for personnel officer in systematising the operative function, such as training, wage, salary, administration, safety, health and welfare services, maintenance personnel records and research.
It appears certain that in the coming years, in the recruitment of unskilled, semiskilled and skilled categories of employment personnel officer would have a decisive role. While in the highly skilled and professional categories, his recommendations would carry weight.
In the sphere of training induction and workers education his persuasive influences would command greater value.
Efforts must be directed towards the maintenance of suitable- working condition including their health, safety and well-being. Considerable scope exists for initiative in this sphere of personnel work, where one should strive at converting the welfare needs of the working men into the reality.
The personnel officer has a significance responsibility in developing a proper promotion plan. His role in improving productivity is of crucial significance and in the near future this function is bound to assure somewhat over-riding importance.
I.R. function of personnel management has assumed considerable importance in India and it is most likely that in future also.
Personnel Procedures and Programmes:
The Policy is guide to action whereas the procedures tell how action should take place. Procedures tend to be less general than policies and more specific in establishing the course of action and the sequence or activation necessary to implement policies. Written procedures ensure an uniformally high level performance.
Programmes give a step by step approach to guide the action necessary to reach a predetermined goal. Procedures tell us ‘How’ the work is to be done, the programmes tell us ‘What’. Programme consists of the entire broad course of action governing employees at all levels. It is the end product of philosophy, values, concepts, principles and procedures.