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ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET
Section 1 – Explain the difference between personnel
management and human resource management
Distinguish between personnel management and human
resource management
CIPD (2013) suggests
that the development of personnel management began around the 19th
century and was created on a reaction caused by harshness of industrial
conditions. The First World War accelerated change in the development of
personnel management with women being recruited in large numbers to fill the
positions of men going to fight. It wasn’t till the 1920’s when large
industries that had large factories started to introduce jobs with titles such
as Labour manager or Employment Manager to handle the absence, recruitment,
dismissal and queries over bonuses.
The 1930’s saw the
economy beginning to pick up and big corporations saw value in improving
employee benefits as a way of recruiting, retaining and motivating employees. By
1945 employment management and welfare work had become integrated under the
broad term ‘personnel management’. Experience from the war had shown that
output and productivity could be influenced by employment policies. The 1960s
and 70s showed a significant development in employment and personnel techniques
developed using theories from social sciences about motivation and
organisational behaviour. Selection testing was more widely used and management
training expanded.
Sison refers to
personnel management as ‘the handling, directing and controlling of individual
employees rather than employees as a group’. Sison (1985)
The aim of personnel
management was to bring together the men and women of an organisation and take
an interest in there wellbeing and in return get a strong work force that
provides results.
Assess the function of the Human Resource Management in
contributing to organisational purposes
The Management Study
Guide (2008-13) suggests that there are four main functions of personnel
management:
1) Manpower
planning is putting the
right amount of people in the right place at the right time to ensure the
organisations goals are achieved.
2) Recruitment is divided into
internal and external requirements
a. Internal requirement
takes place within the organisation this can be in forms of transfers,
promotions and re employment of ex employees.
b. External requirement
comes at a cost and takes time. The
external sources of recruitment include - Employment at factory gate,
advertisements, employment exchanges, employment agencies, educational
institutes, labour contractors, and recommendations.
3) Employee
Selection is the process of putting
right person on right job. It is the process that matches skills and qualification
to the organisation and job requirement.
4) Training is the process
that enhances current skills and updates knowledge to ensure performance is
kept to a high standard.
The term ‘Human
Resource Management’ originated from the USA
and arrived in the UK
around the mid 80’s and seemed to suggest that employees were an asset or
resources like machines. Today’s HR profession encompasses a number of
specialist disciplines, including, diversity, reward, resourcing, employee
relations, organisation development and design, learning and development. CIPD
( 2012)
Mullins states that
‘The Personnel Management/HRM debate generally centres on the extent to which
either: HRM is a new and distinctive philosophy with a paradigm shift towards a
more strategic approach to people management; or simply new wine in old bottles
and in reality no more than a different term of what good personnel managers
have always been doing’. (Mullins, 2007, p.480)
Human Resource
management emerged as a result of heavy employment legislation, and from this,
core issues were established such as, methods of requirement and selection,
training, and working conditions. Personnel Management emerged into
Human Resource
Management where it could focus on partnership agreements with emphasis on the
management of employees and where the function generally now is seen as a
strategic function participating in corporate strategies as the core values are
in place that only need tweaking when employment legislation and best practices
prevail.
Some say Personnel
Management and Human Resource Management are the same; they have no difference
in there meaning and can be used interchangeably. CIPD (2013)
Prabhat Suggested
“Personnel management is regarded to be more administrative in nature dealing
with employees their payroll and employment law. On the other hand Human
Resource Management deals with management of the work force and contributes to
an organisations success”. Prabhat (2011). Pinnington and Edwards expand on
this suggesting that ‘Human Resource Management is the new way of thinking
about how people should be managed as employees in the work place’ (Pinnigton
and Edwards, 2000). A case study published by The Times goes on to say that
‘Human Resource Management is an important asset to any business. It provides
expertise in:
- managing change and facilitating
training and development
- recruitment selection and employee
relations
- pensions and benefits
- communicating with employees
(The Times, 2013)
Evaluate the role and responsibilities of line managers
in Human Resource Management
A HR department has
several functions and in many organisations many functions have been devolved down
to the line managers. Foot and Hook designed a tablet that discusses several
activities of HRM and also what type of involvement the line manager has.
Functions of Human Resource Management
|
Involvement of Human Resource Management
|
Involvement of Line Manager
|
Recruitment
& Selection
|
Design
policies and procedures for fair recruitment and selection in order to
contribute to the fulfilment of the organisation’s corporate strategy. Carry
out interviews or monitor and give advice on interview technique or on terms
and conditions of employment.
|
Carry
Out interviews
|
Employee
Motivation
|
Involvement
in design and implementation of techniques to assess effectively performance
of employees in a way that links with the organisations strategic plan.
Train, inform and involve people in performance management techniques and
encourage
line
managers to work towards a high performance work force.
|
Contribute
to achievement of a high performance workplace by taking an active role in
people management and performance management of his or her own department.
Involve teams and individuals in setting and agreeing targets and monitoring
performance. Monitor their success and give feedback.
|
Training
and Development
|
Involved
in planning learning and development opportunities for the whole
organisation, to meet the needs of the organisation as expressed in its
strategic plan and to meet the needs of individuals. These could be formal
training courses, online materials or less formal approaches such as coaching
and mentoring.
|
May
also be involved in planning and provision of training and development
opportunities to meet the needs of individuals and their departmental needs
linked to the organisations strategic plan, primarily for employees in his or
her own department.
|
Employee
Welfare
|
Establish
appropriate systems for employee welfare in accordance with the objectives of
the organisation. Monitor the cost and effectiveness of this provision.
|
Ensure
the well-being of employees in his or her department and draw their attention
to, and encourage use of, any provisions designed by the organisations to improve
their welfare.
|
Managing
diversity
|
Developing
policies about diversity and promoting and ensuring a diverse work force so
that the organisation can benefit from ideas generated by individuals from a
range of different backgrounds.
|
|
Equality
of opportunity
|
Involvement
in design of policies to encourage equal opportunities. Train and inform
managers and all employees throughout the organisation in these. Monitor the
effectiveness of equal opportunities by collecting and analysing information.
|
May
also be involved in and contribute to the design of policies. Will be
responsible for ensuring that all employees for who he or she is responsible
do not suffer from any form of unfair discrimination while at work.
|
(Foot and Hook, 2008)
HRM works alongside
every department within an organisation to ensure each department is meeting
there individual targets that make up the overall strategic plan. According to
Rama Rao, good human resource practices help:
1) Attract and retain talent
2) Train people for challenging roles
3) Develop skills and competencies
4) Promote team spirit
5) Develop loyalty and commitment
6) Increase productivity and profits
7) Improve job satisfaction
8) Enhance standard of living
9) Generate employment opportunities.
Rama (2010)
A lot of the activities that HRM carried out have now been
devolved to line managers. According to Foot & Hook ‘a line manager is a
person who has direct responsibility for employees and their work’. (Foot
and Hook (2008).
It is important for
line managers to have the expertise of human resource specialist available. It
is important for line managers to be involved in the functions and activates of
HRM as line managers have the knowledge, understanding and expertise of how
their department is running. Using the skills and expertise of both line
managers and HRM organisations should respond better to changes and
developments within organisations and the economy.
Analyse the impact of the legal and regulatory framework
on human resource management
One of the main
functions in Human Resource Management is to ensure the organisation is fully
aware of any relevant legislation. All policies and procedures should be in
line of current legislation. Legislation is something that is continuously
changing so it is an ongoing task for all organisations. The Equality Act 2010
brought together acts such as Race Relations Act and the Sex Discrimination
Act. The table below lists elements of the Equality Act 2010.
Acts
|
Description
|
Sex
Discrimination
|
Employers
should not discriminate on grounds of sex. Sex discrimination covers all
aspects of employment – from recruitment to termination of a contract, and
training and pay. (ACAS, 2010)
Thorrington
states that ‘The only groups excluded are ministers of religion, soldiers who
may serve in front line duties and employed to work abroad’. Thorrington (
2008)
|
Race
discrimination
|
The
Equality Act makes it illegal to treat a person less favourably due to their
colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origins. Race discrimination
covers all aspects of employment – from recruitment to termination of a
contract, and training and pay.
|
Equal
Pay
|
Employers
must give men and women equal treatment in the terms and conditions of their
employment contract if they are employed on:
- ‘like work’ – work
that is the same or broadly the same
- Work rated as
equivalent under a job evaluation study, or
- Work found to be of
equal value.
(ACAS,
2010)
|
Disability
Discrimination
|
A
person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment which
has a substantial and long term adverse effect on their ability to carry out
normal day to day activities. Employers:
- must not treat a
disabled person less favourably because of a reason relating to their
disability without a justifiable reason.
- are required to make
reasonable adjustments to working conditions or the work place where
that would help to accommodate a particular disabled person.
(ACAS,
2010)
|
European
Working Time Directive
|
Pinnington
says that European Working Time Directive ‘creates a legal maximum of
forty-eight working hours per week averaged over a four month period although
employees can work longer if they wish and a number of groups are
|