Everything you need to know about the objectives of personnel management. Personnel management has been described as a staff function of management aimed at assisting managers of other departments to apply the primary production factor, which is labour, as efficiently and effectively as possible.

The successful application of the other factors of production (i.e., capital, land and entrepreneurship) depends upon the people in the enterprise.

Personnel Management has the ultimate object of the most effective use of the human factor of production.

To achieve this objective, it has to create a very congenial environment in an organi­sation which enables the management to develop the human potentialities to their maximum level and thus attain the ultimate goal of the organisa­tion.

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The basic objective of personnel management is to help in the accomplishment of organizational goals.

The objectives of personnel management are:-

1. Society-Specific Objectives 2. Personnel-Specific Objectives 3. Organization-Specific Objectives 4. Primary Objectives 5 Secondary Objectives

6. Impact of Environment on Objectives 7. Labour Union-Specific Objectives 8. Employee Objectives 8. Routine Objectives 9. Problem Solving Objectives 10. Innovation Objectives.

Personnel Management Objectives: Society-Specific, Personnel-Specific, Organization-Specific and a Few More

Objectives of Personnel Management – Top 4 Objectives: Society-Specific, Personnel-Specific, Organization-Specific and Labour Union-Specific Objectives

Objective # 1. Society-Specific:

(i) Creation of Employment Opportunities:

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A business organization is a part of society. Its personnel policies must be in tune with societal needs. In a country faced with unemployment, it must try to create multiple avenues for employment by setting up labour-intensive, as opposed to capital-intensive, means of production. Expanded opportunities for people will secure them better standards of living, besides making effective use of their abilities.

(ii) Improving Productivity through Efficient Use of Resources:

Productivity means the ratio between resources (inputs) used to produce goods and services (outputs). It measures the effectiveness with which resources are utilized. It does not only focus on the quantity of output but also on efficient use of resources to produce the output. An important objective of per­sonnel management is to ensure better utilization of scarce resources and avoid wastage.

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(iii) Assuring Maximum Material and Mental Satisfaction to Workers:

Besides working to achieve improved productivity in terms of economic inputs and outputs, per­sonnel management also aims to achieve productivity in terms of social and human inputs and out­puts. It strives to provide attractive financial rewards together with opportunities for career-growth through proper training and skills development programs.

(iv) Healthy Human Relations and Social Welfare:

Personnel management seeks to train and develop workers to become eligible for attractive financial and recognition rewards within the organization. However, its focus is not just on increasing compe­tence levels of workers but also to turn them into decent and responsible human beings.

Objective # 2. Personnel-Specific:

(i) Fitting Workers in Network of Inter-Personal Relationships:

An organization is a social system having patterned series of inter-relationships between individuals, groups of individuals and institutions forming part of the supra system. People work for an organization to satisfy their financial and socio-psychological needs. They have a family to feed and look after, so they need to earn money to discharge family obligations.

However, side by side, they also look for satisfaction of their social and psychological needs. They seek like-minded workers to work with, friendly supervisors and managers to direct and guide them. They also seek opportunities to climb up the organizational ladder through promotion to jobs that afford them opportunity to express their creativity.

The question is – How personnel management can and should help to fulfil these various needs of workers?

(ii) Ways in which Personnel Management Satisfies Multiple Needs of Workers:

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Personnel management seeks to fulfil various economic and socio-psychological needs of individual workers through the following:

(a) Adequate Remuneration – It arranges to pay them remuneration that is enough to fulfil their family and social obligations.

(b) Job Security – It provides workers job security which assures them of continuity of employment and relieves them of the nagging fear of job loss.

(c) Facilities for Proper Training and Development – It ensures that there is proper arrangement tor training of workers in job skills that improves their performance as regards present job and prepares them to handle more challenging jobs in future.

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(d) Increased Job Satisfaction – Personnel management should work to promote job satisfaction among workers. Job satisfaction will be a natural outcome if workers are provided: (i) Positive work environment, (ii) Proper reward and recognition for tasks performed, and (iii) Opportunities for development of skills and potential to enable them to feel confident to handle bigger tasks in future.

Objective # 3. Organization-Specific:

(i) Blending Social and Workers-Centric Objectives with Organization-Specific Objectives:

Pursuit of social and individual objectives should be blended with overall enterprise objectives as the two are inter-linked. To serve the organization objectives, personnel management seeks to select, train and develop and retain competent, loyal and mentally well-adjusted team of workers.

(ii) Creating Competent and Dedicated Team of Workers:

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The various positions in the enterprise are sought to be filled by highly competent and contented workers. It also seeks to create a sense of belonging among the workers so that when the occasion demands, they readily and willingly sacrifice their individual interests for the sake of group interests.

Objective # 4. Labour Union-Specific:

(i) Tactful Handling of Issues Raised by Workers’ Unions:

Ever since the inception of business organization, personnel management is required to deal with workers. This requires utmost tact and caution, particularly in matters concerned with recognition of representative unions and formulation of personnel policies in consultation with them.

As unions are dominated by political parties of all kinds, it requires careful handling of issues raised by them so that they do not resort to strike work to hurt business interests of the organization.

(ii) Promoting Organization-Friendly Attitude among Workers:

An all important task of personnel management is to create worker-friendly environment in the orga­nization such that workers and management work together to benefit all stakeholders in the organiza­tion—owners, workers, lenders, present and potential consumers of goods and services produced by the organization and the society at large.

Objectives of Personnel Management – 3 Classes of Objectives: Routine Objectives, Problem Solving Objectives and Innovation Objectives

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Personnel management has been described as a staff function of management aimed at assisting managers of other departments to apply the primary production factor, which is labour, as efficiently and effectively as possible. The successful application of the other factors of production (i.e., capital, land and entrepreneurship) depends upon the people in the enterprise.

If this is considered then the personnel management function in an enterprise can best be described as follows:

Personnel management is a purposeful action aimed at enabling functional managers to apply and utilise the manpower available within the enterprise, toward the optimal realisation of the set goals.

The function can also be viewed from another angle, which involves the provision of a high quality body of personnel, thus contributing indirectly toward the realisation of corporate goals.

The objectives of personnel management can be divided into three classes:

1. Routine Objectives:

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These make provision for the satisfaction of employee needs and ensure stability in the running of the enterprise.

2. Problem Solving Objectives:

This relates to problems such as labour turnover and restoring the organisational balance.

3. Innovation Objectives:

This takes advantage of employee dissatisfaction with the status quo, in order to move toward a work structure which will allow for the creation of posts that will satisfy all employee needs.  

Objectives of Personnel Management – Specific Objectives

Personnel management involves developing applying, and evaluating policies, procedures, methods and programmes relating to the individual in the organization. Like other branches of management, it seeks to achieve both task and maintenance goals of the organization, but its focus is on human resources rather than on financial or material ones.

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According to Indian Institute of Personnel Management, “Personnel management aims to achieve both efficiency and justice, neither of which can be pursued successfully without the other.

It seeks to bring together and develop into an effective organization the men and women who make up an enterprise, enabling each to make his own best contribution to its success, both as an individual and as a member of a working group. It seeks to provide fair terms and conditions of employment and satisfying work for those employed”.

Scott, Clothier and Spiegel state that “the objectives of personnel management or personnel administration in an organization are to obtain maximum individual development, desirable working relationships between employees, and to effect the moulding of human resources as contrasted with physical resources”.

Dirks observes that “the objectives of personnel administration include the utilization of human resources effectively, establishment and maintenance of productive and self-respecting working relationships among the participant and attainment of maximum individual development of the members in the organization”.

In the opinion of Pigors and Myers “Managing is organizational leadership, and one of its central tasks is effective co-ordination and utilization of available human and non-human resources to achieve the objectives of the organization.

These objectives may be, for example, to maximize profit or increase the firm’s share of the market in business enterprises; to improve efficiency or expand the scope of services provided by a government department; to get more members in a labour union; or to improve the quality of instruction, expand facilities and enrollment, and undertake new research in a college or university”.

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According to American Management Association, “The purpose of a business enterprise is the profitable production of goods and services to fulfil economic needs in such a way as to provide satisfactory returns to both economic and social suppliers, owners and members of the organizations under conditions which provide for the maximum conservation of human and material resources over a continuing period”.

The basic objective of HRM / personnel management is to help in the accomplishment of organizational goals.

However, the specific objectives of HRM/personnel management may be outlined as follows:

(i) To ensure effective utilization of human resources. All other organizational resources will be efficiently utilized by the human resources.

(ii) To establish and maintain an adequate organizational structure and a desirable working relationship among all the members of an organization by dividing organization tasks into functions, positions, jobs, and by defining clearly the responsibility, accountability, authority for each job and its relation with other jobs in the organization.

(iii) To generate maximum development of human resources within the organization by offering opportunities for advancement to employees through training and education, or by effecting transfers or by offering retraining facilities.

(iv) To secure the integration of the individuals and groups with an organization by reconciling individual/group goals with those of the organization in such a manner that the employees feel a sense of involvement, commitment and loyalty towards it.

(v) To identity and satisfy the needs of individuals by offering various monetary and non-monetary rewards.

(vi) To ensure respect for human beings by providing various services and welfare facilities to the personnel.

(vii) To achieve and maintain high morale among employees in the organization by securing better human relations.

Objectives of Personnel Management – 6 Main Objectives (With Prerequisites)

Pigors and Myers observed, “Managing is organisational leadership, and one of its central tasks is effective co-ordination and utilization of available human and non-human resources to achieve the objectives of the organisation. These objectives may be, for example, to maximise profit or increase the firm’s share of the market in business enterprises; to improve efficiency or expand the scope of services provided by the firm; to get more members or to bargain more effectively for members in a labour union; or to improve the quality of instruction, expand facilities for training and undertake research.”

The American Management Association has very succinctly summarized the objectives of personnel administration. It says- “The purpose of a business enterprise is the profitable production of goods and services to fulfil economic needs in such a way as to provide satisfactory returns to both economic and social suppliers, owners and members of the organisation, under conditions which provide for the maximum conservation of human and material resources over a continuing period.”

Following this statement, the objectives of personnel management may be laid down as follows:

(i) To achieve an effective utilization of human resources (besides other resources) in the achievement of organisational goals (which may be the production and distribution of goods and services needed by society).

(ii) To establish and maintain an adequate organisational structure and a desirable working relationship among all the members of an organisation by dividing of organisation tasks into functions, positions, jobs, and by defining clearly the responsibility, accountability, authority for each job and its relation with other jobs/personnel in the organisation.

(iii) To secure the integration of the individuals and groups with an organisation, by reconciling individual/group with those of an organisation in such a manner that the employees feel a sense of involvement, commitment and loyalty towards it. In the absence of such an integration, friction may develop in an organisation which may lead to its total failure. Friction produces inefficiency.

Friction may result from political aspirations, from difficulties in communication, and from faults inherent in a particular organisational structure. The behaviour of individuals and groups in any organisation also involves frictions personal jealousies and rivalries, prejudices and idiosyncrasies, personality conflicts cliques and factions, favoritism and nepotism.

(iv) To generate maximum individual/group development within an organisation by offering opportunities for advancement to employees through training and job education, or by effecting transfers or by offering retraining facilities.

(v) To recognize and satisfy individual needs and group goals by offering an adequate and equitable remuneration, economic and social security in the form of monetary compensation, and protection against such hazards of life as illness, old age, disability, death, unemployment, etc., so that the employees may work willingly and co-operate to achieve an organisation’s goals.

(vi) To maintain a high morale and better human relations inside an organisation by sustaining and improving the conditions which have been established so that employees may stick to their jobs for a longer period.

Personnel management tries to improve morale by giving adequate training to workers and by achieving for itself a knowledge of human nature which is “the totality of motives that cause human actions; it is a mosaic of reflexes and instincts, of inherited and acquired habits, of individual and group traditions.”

The American Management Association observes- “These basic objectives remain the same whether or not certain groups among the members of the organisation belong to a labour union. Further, the objectives are not in opposition to those objectives of organised labour which are consistent with the private enterprise system…. The objectives are in the best interests of all those to whom management is responsible; owners of enterprises, the community, the consumers of its goods and services, and members of the organisation itself, including groups who may belong to unions.”

Pre-Requisites for the Achievements of the Objectives:

The objectives of an organisation may be the fullest contribution of human resources for the achievement of the organisation goal, of long and short-term plans, and of the operations of the organisation in an environment of high morale and vitality consistent with profitability and social milieu, with the ethical values of society and with the policies and regulations established by the country’s legislature.

To achieve these objectives, the following pre-requisites must be satisfied:

(a) Capable people should be picked up on the basis of the qualifications fixed.

(b) Individual and group efforts/potentialities must be effectively utilised by providing suitable work opportunities, tools and raw materials, by showing an appreciation of work well done, and by offering better chances for future advancement and training.

(c) Willing co-operation of the people to achieve the objective must be available by creating such feelings as “people work with us” rather than saying that “people work for us.”

(d) The tasks of an organisation should be properly divided in accordance with a sound plan into functions and positions, each indicating clear-cut authority, responsibility and duties, as also the relationship of one position with another.

(e) The goals to be achieved should be specially made known to all concerned in the language best understood by them. Specificity and clarity are both important in defining the objectives. The objectives should also be comprehensive.

(f) Since objectives have to be shared by many senior persons in an organisation, a wide-scale enquiry and consultation should be undertaken before their formulation and efforts should subsequently be made to develop a common understanding of the objectives among managers at various levels.

(g) The objectives should be clearly defined, failing which a great deal of confusion may arise. Without clear-cut objectives, the management of organisational records cannot be kept in balance, and the management of one last may interfere with that of another. Moreover, without clear-cut objectives, the management of organisational records cannot be kept in balance, and the management of one section may interfere with that of another.

Moreover, without clear-cut objectives, there can be no standards by which to evaluate the performance of an individual or that of the whole organisation. Again, an absence of objectives often leads to organisational disaster. On the other hand, the refining or revising of objectives is the most fundamental task of all managers at all levels.

(h) Suitable monetary and non-monetary incentives, in the form of adequate and reasonable pay-packets, service benefits and security against hazards of life and of employment and against the arbitrary actions of supervisors should be available to employees. A properly prepared grievance handling procedure and disciplinary plan should also be available.

A determination of objectives is the responsibility of the top management, particularly of the President or Chairman and the Board of Directors.

Objectives of Personnel Management – Explained!

Personnel Management has the ultimate object of the most effective use of the human factor of production. To achieve this objective, it has to create a very congenial environment in an organi­sation which enables the management to develop the human potentialities to their maximum level and thus attain the ultimate goal of the organisa­tion.

The personnel department of an organisation continuously strives for ensuring maximum effi­ciency of the employees and administers justice to them by adopting various management techniques. To achieve its objectives, personnel management has to make a happy compromise between the in­terests of the employees and the organisation.

Em­ployee objectives of fair pay, job security, good working environment, physical safety and the or­ganisation objectives of employee morale, team spirit, employee availability, employee loyalty, increasing output, low labour cost etc., are recon­ciled by personnel management through scientific management principles.

The aims and objectives of personnel manage­ment centre round the human factor – the best util­isation of human resources by their individual de­velopment and by creating the congenial atmos­phere in the entire organisation for all the em­ployees maintaining self-respecting relationship among themselves.

To achieve this is not an easy task; the personnel management well-equipped with efficiency and sense of justice proceeds on with the following objectives in view:

1. Recruitment of right personnel.

2. Individual development through training.

3. Placement of right men in the right job.

4. Remuneration on just and rational basis.

5. Creation of congenial atmos­phere for good inter-personal relations.

6. Provi­sion for job satisfaction.

7. Boosting up the morale of the employees.

8. Motivation.

9. Making the employees feel that they belong to the organisa­tion.

10. Adoption of all the conceivable methods for the overall best personnel development to en­sure maximum return from the employees.

11. De­velopment of the spirit of utmost co-operation be­tween labour and capital, and between labour and labour.

To sum up, the aims and objectives of personnel management are directed towards the achieve­ment of the optimum level of labour-capital rela­tions as a means of deriving the best from labour with the object of ultimately reaching the goal of the organisation to the satisfaction of all – the la­bour, the organisation and the society.

Objectives of Personnel Management – Major Objective

The major objective of personnel management is the effective utilisation of manpower working in the organisation so that the organisation may continue to survive and achieve its goals. A business organisation is started with a long term point of view. Its main objective is survival and growth. The various employees of the organisation put their best efforts in order to achieve these objectives.

But with the passage of time the organisation is deprived of the services of employees because of the various reasons such as death, retirement, dismissal, disablement, turnover, etc. So they are to be achieved by new hands. Due to the growth of the organisation more manpower is required. Their experience and quality characteristics also vary.

The personnel management department objectives can be laid down as follows:

(a) To attract and secure appropriate hands, capable of performing effectively the organisations specific task.

(b) To utilize the manpower effectively.

(c) To generate maximum individual development of the people working within the organisation.

(d) To establish and maintain an adequate organisational structure and a desirable working relationship.

(e) To secure the integration of the individuals and groups within an organisation.

(f) To recognize and satisfy individual needs and group goals by offering an adequate and equitable remuneration, economic and social security.

(g) To maintain a high morale and better human relations inside an organisation.