Personnel Management: An Introduction

Introduction to Personnel Management

• Personnel management is a sub-branch of Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology
• The industrial aspect of I/O Psychology is Personnel Psychology
• Personnel Management is also known as Human Resource Management or HR
• HR is the administrative discipline focused on managing people within an organization effectively and efficiently
• It includes planning, organizing, and overseeing activities related to an organization's workforce
• The end goal is ensuring employees are utilized to their full potential to meet the organization's goals
• Onboarding means training, specifically to promote understanding of cultural differences within an organization

Functions of Personnel Management

• Hiring, including recruitment, selection, and placement
• Training
• Job Analysis (Requirements, Specification)
• Promotions, Discipline and Dismissal
• Human Resource Planning

Job Analysis and Evaluation

• Job analysis means systematically studying a task along with the duties, responsibilities, and qualifications to perform it effectively
• Reflects the skills, knowledge, and abilities needed for a job

Key Components of Job Analysis

• Job Description: This is a detailed outline of the job
• Job Specification: The qualifications, skills, experience, and attributes required
• Performance Standards: Evaluating how well a job is performed

Why Job Analysis Is Important

• Determines the various task components
• Determines job specifications, which are requirements needed to perform a job
• Creates training programs for employees
• Constructs performance appraisal instruments
• Evaluates jobs
• Determines the optimal way to perform a job

Methods of Job Analysis

• Observations involve trained job analysts gathering information about a particular job
• The analyst observes the job incumbent at work and takes detailed notes, even using videos for detailed analysis
• Analysts must know what to look for, as subtle movements might go unnoticed if the job is highly technical
• Observational techniques work best with jobs involving manual operations or repetitive tasks
• Observation times must represent the worker's routine
• The presence of an observer could influence workers' performance
• Participation involves a job analyst performing a job to get firsthand understanding of how a job is performed
• Existing Data includes previous job analyses of similar positions, even from other organizations where HR professionals exchange information
• Existing Data should be checked to ensure it conforms to current job performance, including new technology
• Interviews can be open-ended or structured with standardized questions
• Bias can be an issue, the job analyst interviews the job incumbent, their supervisor, and, for supervisory roles, their subordinates
• Using the Survey/Questionnaire Method, the respondent completes and returns a pencil-and-paper questionnaire to the job analyst
• Surveys can include open-ended questions, closed-ended questions, or checklists
• Surveys are cost-effective and allow information collection from numerous workers simultaneously
• Surveys can be anonymous, reducing distortion that could be present in face-to-face interviews
• A drawback is that surveys are limited to the questions only, and cannot probe to clarify responses
• Subject matter experts SMEs, are job incumbents/supervisors
• SMEs can provide job analysis information via interviews or surveys
• Using the Job Diaries/Log Method, job incumbents record their daily activities
• An advantage is that it provides a detailed, hour-by-hour, day-by-day account of the worker's job
• A disadvantage is that it is quite time-consuming
• A concern in all job analysis methods is any potential errors and inaccuracies
• 16 potential sources of inaccuracy in job analysis arise from carelessness, poor job analyst training, biases, or information overload stemming from job complexity

Techniques of Job Analysis

• Standardized analysis techniques are used widely and researched for their effectiveness – including the job element method, the functional job analysis, the Position Analysis Questionnaire, and the critical incidents technique

Job Element Method

• This method of job analysis determines the knowledge, skills, abilities, or characteristics KSAOs required to perform a particular job
• KSAOs are basic job elements
• Job analysts rely on SMEs to identify KSAOs for a given job
• Experts rate/rank the different elements in terms of their importance, so this method is "person oriented"
• The Job Element Method is often combined with other job analysis methods because of its limited scope

Critical Incidents Technique

• The CIT records specific worker behaviors that have led to particularly successful or unsuccessful job performance
• Some critical incidents for the job of clerical assistant might include possessing knowledge of word processing programs, and noticing errors
• Information is often collected by questioning job experts through interviews or questionnaires
• By collecting hundreds of critical incidents, the job analyst can get a good picture of a job and its successful performance

Position Analysis Questionnaire

• This is a structured questionnaire that analyzes various jobs in terms of 187 job elements, arranged into six categories
• These categories include information input, mental processes, work output, relationships with other persons, job context, and other job characteristics
• Each job element is individually rated using six categories: extent of use, importance to the job, amount of time, applicability, possibility of occurrence, and a special code for miscellaneous job elements
• Standard elements are rated on a scale from 1 for minor applicability to usually 5 for extreme applicability, with an additional rating for “does not apply"

Functional Job Analysis

• This has been used extensively by organizations in both the public and private sectors
• Functional Job Analysis uses three broad categories representing the job's interaction with data, people, and things
• Jobs are evaluated with an eye to the amount and type of interaction the person has with data (numbers, words, symbols, and other abstract elements)

Human Resource Planning

• Human Resource Planning (HRP) starts with the strategic goals of the organization
• HRP means assessing available resources in an organization and also the future needs of that organization

Factors & Strategic Questions that HRP Must Answer

• The organizational goals and objectives
• The organization’s staffing needs
• Accessing the current human capacities
• Understanding what additional positions are needed to meet the needs of the organization
• Performing Gap Analysis

HRP Cycle

• The HR planning process begins by considering the organizational objectives and strategies
• Followed by both internal and external assessments of HR needs and supply
• HR Strategies are the means used to aid the organization in managing the supply and demand for human resources
• The HR strategy provides overall direction for how HR activities will be developed and managed

HRP Planning Process Cycle / Four focal interrelated Areas for HRP

• Talent Inventory
• Workforce forecast
• Action Plans
• Control and Evaluation

Employee Recruitment, Selection, and Placement

• Job analysis is like the cornerstone to personnel recruitment
• Recruitment is the process of attracting people with the right qualifications
• Recruitment attracts, identifies, and encourages suitable candidates to apply for openings
• The goal is to gather a pool of qualified applicants to fill vacancies

Steps in Recruitment

• Identifying Job Vacancies
• Job Analysis and Description
• Sourcing Candidates
• Encouraging Applications.
• Recruitment can be internal or external
• Selection assesses candidates and choosing the most suitable one for the job.
• It involves evaluating the applicants qualifications, skills, experience, and overall fit

Steps in Selection

• Application Screening
• Preliminary Interviews
• Testing and Assessments
• In-depth Interviews
• Reference and Background Checks
• Final Decision and Job Offer
• Placement assigns the selected employee to a specific job role
• This helps to ensure that employees are positioned into roles where they are optimized

Key Aspects of Placement

• Matching Employee Skills with Job Requirements

• Onboarding and Orientation

• Probation Period

• Adjustments and Transfers

• Fast Methods or dependable routes for making vacant positions available to the external applicants include print media, electronic media, and point of purchase for smaller orgs

Training and Development

• Training and Development are crucial for management to manage the potentiality of their employees
• Training is a learning process that sharpens skills, and improves behaviour
• Includes activities that improve the skills, knowledge and attitude necessary for employees to perform their tasks
• Development enhances individual skills, ability, knowledge, and capacity
• Development refers to the total growth of an individual in a company

Basic Purposes of Development

• Improvement in supervision, command, direction and control at each level
• To create an understanding of the methods and problems of management
• To develop managers to perform better on their present assignments
• To prepare them for higher assignments
• Growth and inspiration

Differences between Training and Development

• Training is designed for managers and non-managers, while development involves only managerial personnels
• Training is usually short-term, but development is long-term in nature
• Managerial personnel learn technical knowledge and skills with training, while development leads to conceptual and theoretical knowledge
• The objectives of training are job-related whereas development objectives have broader overview for consideration
• Training improves employees in their current role, development is aimed at making the employees efficient in handling future demands

Importance of Training and Development

• Optimize Utilization of Workforce
• Maintain a Healthy Work-environment
• Increase Productivity and Profitability
• Improve Team Spirit
• Improve Quality
• Develop Skills of Workers
• Develop Organization Culture
• Improve Organization Climate
• Improve Morale
• To develop leadership skills, motivation, loyalty, better attitudes

Training Process

• Identification of Training Needs, like types of training, candidates, and benefits
• Establishment of training goals and objectives
• Design of Training Program
• Evaluate the whole training process by the output.

Types of Training

• Training is either On the Job or Off the Job
• On the Job means the training process takes place on the job site
• Off the Job means that the employees would leave the job site for another location for the acquisition and training

On the Job

• Job Instruction Training
• Demonstration and Example
• Simulation
• Apprenticeship

Off the Job

• Lectures
• Group Discussion
• Case Study
• Program Instructions
• Sensitivity Training

Explore personnel management, a sub-branch of Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology, also known as Human Resource Management (HR). It focuses on managing people within an organization effectively. Key functions include hiring, training, and job analysis.