Q-2

HR Issues in the Recession

Your company's human resources department is as much an advocate for the organization as it is for the
employees. The responsibility to serve the interests and needs of both can be challenging, especially
during a recession when it could difficult to sustain both the company and its workforce. The HR issues
during a recession demand an even greater commitment to achieving stability for the company and
assuring employees that they won't endure the harsh effects of a recession.

trategy
Strategic direction is an ongoing discussion between HR and your company's leadership.
During a recession, HR's involvement in developing the company's strategy should be a
priority. Workforce planning, compensation structure and employee satisfaction aren't just
HR goals -- they're organizational goals because the workforce is your company's most
valuable resource. Sustaining your company's operations and its profitability largely depends
on employee productivity. The communication between HR and your company's leadership
should be candid, frequent and must include communication with employees about the
company's direction.

Employee Communication
Your employee turnover during a recession could be minimal simply because companies that
aren't recession-proof are closing, which means there are fewer job market opportunities.
Leaving a job with a company that is surviving the recession for another one that might not
survive could be a bad decision. Therefore, HR's primary job includes communicating with
employees about the company's status, what it's doing to be profitable and what it needs
the employees to do to ensure the company's survival. This conveys two important
messages. It says you care enough about your workforce to keep them informed and you
value their contributions in helping the company make it through the recession.
Related Reading: HR Staffing Issues

Job Security
If you're in a position where you need to hire additional staff, ensure that you're not making
any cuts to current employees' wages. That is likely to make employees wonder if their
livelihood is a priority or if the company places more value on input from outsiders. Provide
training for employees to take on new responsibilities instead of recruiting an external
candidate to do the job. Effective crisis management doesn't mean eliminating training for
employees, according to The Boston Consulting Group 2009 survey of HR measures. In fact,
the joint survey conducted with the European Association for People Management revealed
that more than 30 percent of the companies that scaled back training -- individual and
special training -- were less effective and demonstrated lower commitment levels during a
crisis, such as a recession. Training also conveys the important message that you're

investing in your existing staff, training them to work cross-functionally and thereby
preparing them for continued employment in case their current jobs are eliminated because
of the recession.

Layoffs
If HR must lay off workers, establish a communication strategy that gives employees plenty
of notice before the actual layoff. Consult the U.S. Department of Labor Worker Adjustment
and Retraining Notification Act, WARN, to determine if you meet the criteria for complying
with WARN regulations. Ease the blow of unemployment by scheduling the layoff so it
doesn't coincide untimely with periods such as the year-end holiday season. HR should offer
outplacement services to employees who are forced to seek employment elsewhere.
Outplacement services can range from career counseling sessions with experts to resumewriting services or time off from work for interviews.

Compensation and Benefits

HR might not be able to guarantee that employees will get year-end bonuses or even a wage
increase, but HR can help employees figure out ways to increase their take-home pay. When
employees have questions about their wages, tax withholding and liability or the cost of
benefits, such as health insurance premiums and retirement savings, ensure the company
can provide answers. An HR benefits specialist can guide employees through the decisionmaking process by advising them to cut back on, say, charitable contributions that are being
deducted from their net pay. The benefits specialist also can refer employees to resources
for managing their finances, such as an employee-assistance program.

Strategic Human Resource Development

Improves Performance and Productivity
Strategic human resource development planning ensures that you can achieve your training
and employee development objectives.
Employee training and development is one of the critical HR responsibilities.
Productivity improvement is one of the main objectives.
Training, determined by way of a Training Needs Analysis (TNA), is required to equip
employees with new skills and provide them with enhanced knowledge having relevance to
their jobs.
These are in response to various changes and new technological development and ways of
doing things, among other reasons.
When we say "strategic" we are referring to the effectiveness of the training and
development programs in improving the ability of employees to perform their jobs well, thus

increasing productivity. The better they perform their jobs the higher the organization's
productivity.
Continuous strategic human resource development involves a continuous stream of
necessary actions to maintain or enhance people's skills and competency. Have their skills
updated on a regular basis.
Determine how good your training initiatives are by conducting training evaluation.
Aim for the improvement of the competencies of HR people, line managers and supervisors
and other employees. Competency profiling can help you in doing this.
New Employees
When newly-appointed employees report for duty, induct them into your organization.
This assists them to quickly identify with your organization, its structure, systems and
procedures, and the business that it carries out.
This eases them to fit faster into your work environment. But what is work?
Executive Development Program
Strategic human resource development also means identifying and preparing capable
employees to take up more responsible positions whether fairly soon or in the near future.
Employees so identified are provided with adequate training of the right type.
One of the more effective ways that is becoming more popular is to provide coaching
sessions. This involves more than just sending people for training.
Develop your executives to become effective leaders.
Manage the effectiveness of your training programs by ensuring the standard of your
training management is always up to expectation.
The right leadership qualities of corporate leaders ensure that the various matters relating
to effective people development are attended to without fail.
All of these is intended to build HR capacity.

But What is Strategic Human Resource Development?

This means providing your people with training and development programs of various types
that are relevant to their respective role, duties and responsibilities.
The use of strategy in training and development requires that these are aligned to your
organizational needs in order to achieve its mission and objectives.

For example, you provide counter staff with communication and public relations skills. This
is in addition to training in the roles that they must play such as promoting products or
services.
Organizational expansion requires employment of new employees. The same is true in
restructuring exercises which can result in the creation of new positions.
If you have plans to promote certain people to fill new executive positions, it is reasonable
to assume that you have an effective executive development program.
This is an essential part of succession planning.
It is not enough that employees are required to attend courses.
Willingness and readiness to learn are important conditions for effective learning and thus
the effectiveness of training.
How Do You Conduct a Training Needs Analysis (TNA)?
Identify the training needs of your people and organization by conducting a training needs
analysis organization-wide. You need fairly accurate information for this purpose.

Gather the required information through various means such as by conducting

interviews and holding focus group discussions.
Study the job descriptions for each position.
Interview employees to identify the training required for better performance of their
respective job.

Talk to supervisors and managers on organizational and employees' training needs.

Go through the client's charter, if there is one.

Refer to the performance appraisal of each employee, studying the assessor's and
departmental head's comments on any required training.
Check through the contents of your organizational succession plan.
Verify whether your organization has any plan to reorganize, to expand its current
business activities, go into a joint-venture business, and so on
By conducting training needs analysis, you are performing one of the important steps in
strategic human resource development. You ensure that the training that you provide for
your employees goes towards improving their productivity and the productivity of your
organization.
Monitor the employee's performance after the training. If there is no improvement, find the
actual reasons and take action accordingly.
The employee may have an attitude problem calling for a different course of action.
List out the training and development needs under each category in a systematic plan.

Competencies Classification
Strategic human resource development requires proper planning.
One of the important actions to do is to classify the training needs of your employees into
categories for better management.
1.

Core competencies are competencies that reflect the core values that your
organization has adopted.

2.

Functional competencies are competencies required by your employees to effectively

carry out their day-today duties and responsibilities and the needs of your organization at
the various areas of activities

3.

Behavioral competencies are behaviors that employees must demonstrate in order to

improve their performance.

Using competencies is one of the approaches adopted by some organizations.

Click here to see how competency management and your training plan are connected
according to David Boggs, CEO of SyberWorks

Post-Training Analysis
It can happen that we send people for training and forget about it.
We train people in order to motivate them and to help them perform better. Specifically, the
training is to address the identified training needs.
This is an investment in your people and the future of your organization.
Monitor their performance for any perceived improvement. Include this procedure in your
strategic human resource development guidelines.
Use of HRD Software System
Some organizations use a Human Resource Development Software System in the
implementation of a strategic human resource development.
If your organization intends to implement an HRD System to enhance the effectiveness of
your strategic human resource development system, it is important to remember a number
of important matters.

The system is not cheap but it is a worthwhile investment provided you choose the
right type of software system and a service provider who has a proven track record.

The undivided support of your senior management is crucial. This will ensure
continued financing. At the same time, all employees will see the seriousness of your
organization in performance management matters.

Conduct extensive training for all users upon whom your organization depends on for
the successful implementation of the system.

Awareness by all employees of the importance of the system. Build trust and
confidence. Give them access to their own respective data and allow them to submit
requests or applications on-line such as claims, training, and so on.

Provide adequate training for assessors on every aspect of the performance appraisal
process. This must include how to identify the right performance measures and effective
communication skills.

Senior management must make use of the system. If not, employees will get the
wrong signal.
Relationship of Training to Performance Management
We can see that there is a correlation between strategic performance management and
strategic human resource development.
By giving the right training and development, we expect improvement in performance by
both employees and the enterprise. Revisit training of employees whenever necessary.
When there is performance improvement, your organization is well on the road towards
higher productivity.
Strategic Human Resource Development's Playing Field
Vinod Anand's artice "Economic growth and Human Resource Development" in India,
reminds us that human resource development has a national - and an international dimension.
He wrote:
"... any strategy of Human Resource Development should have a two-fold objective of
building skills, and providing productive employment to unutilized or under-utilized
manpower.
Click here to read this article.
Management of training policies and programs are relevant matters that need looking into.
This is not only the concern of organizations but also national governments.
This forms part and parcel of strategic human resource development.
People, communities, organizations and governments are all concerned with this important
issue.
Further to this, some organizations divide the HR function into two. Human resource
development (HRD) is one. The other is human resource management (HRM).

Q-3

Strategic HRD Practices as Key Factors in Organizational Learning

Chien-Chi Tseng Gary N. McLean University of Minnesota Relationships between
strategic HRD practices and organizational learning were explored through a
literature review. Organizations that learn and develop their SHRD practices have
more opportunities to obtain and integrate the nine SHRD outcomes in the learning
process: organizational missions and goals, top management leadership,
environmental scanning, HRD strategies and plans, strategic partnerships with line
management, strategic partnerships with HRM, trainers as organizational change
consultants, influence corporate culture, and emphasis on individual productivity
and participation.
Strategic HRD Practices,
Organizational Learning, HRD Effective organizations have employees who are
committed and make contributions to organizational success. Hale (1991) pointed
out that human resource development (HRD) professionals must support
organizational learning in order to establish performance expectations, address
higher-level problem-solving skills, and account for societal outcomes. Thus, HRD
professionals are primarily responsible for creating HRD strategies within a learning
culture that fosters continuous employee learning. This indicates that HRD
professionals need to adopt a new approach to maximizing organizational
effectiveness, one that addresses the real problems of an organization and enables
it to achieve learning results (Rothwell, 1996). So what does this new approach look
like to enable organizations to achieve learning results and adopt the new
approach? By organizing, integrating, and evaluating previously published material
identified in a comprehensive literature review, this research identified the
relationship between strategic HRD (SHRD) practices and organizational learning.
We argue, first, that SHRD has a responsibility to provide strategies, training, and
development opportunities to help organizations and their employees to achieve
their business goals. Then, we argue that the characteristics of SHRD are important

in providing organizational learning. We also believe that SHRD practices have the
same responsibilities to influence organizational learning as to provide organizations
with the key capabilities to enhance their organizational outcomes related to SHRD
practices. Problem Statement The concept of SHRD has been explored by several
authors in recent years (Becker, Huselid, & Ulrich, 2001; Ericson, 2006; Garavan,
Costine, & Heraty, 1995; Gilley & Eggland, 1989; Gilley & Maycunich, 2000; Grieves,
2003; Harrison, 1997; Lee, 2003; Nadler & Wiggs, 1986). For example, Ericson
(2006) stated that to be engaged in SHRD on an ontological level requires an
understanding of hermeneutical significance; Lee (2003) argued that HRD practice
is about addressing the underlying assumptions of human conditions and
influencing human conditions. To almost the same extent, the role of organizational
learning or learning organization has been much discussed in the literature (Beer &
Eisenstat, 1996; Brinkerhoff & Gill, 1994; Dixon, 1994; Gardiner & Sadler-Smith,
2001; Gmez, Lorente, & Cabrera, 2004; Klimencki & Lassleben, 1998; Sadler-Smith,
Spicer, & Chaston, 2001; Williams, 2001). These studies were used to examine how
organizational learning helps employees attain performance results that enable
them to accomplish their personal goals and objectives. For example, Sadler-Smith,
Spicer, & Chaston (2001) stated that organizational learning as the development or
acquisition of new knowledge or skills in response to internal or external stimuli that
leads to a more or less permanent change in collective behavior, enhancing
organizational outcomes. However, there is a need to develop a wholistic
perspective of the way in which SHRD practice relates to organizational learning.
Although several studies have highlighted the positive effects of certain HR
practices on organizational learning, there is a lack of studies that explore SHRD
practices broadly and their relation to organizational learning. Although several
works have emphasized the effects of certain SHRD practices in organizational
learning (Gilley & Maycunich, 2000; Grieves, 2003; Wang & Wang, 2004), there is a
lack of a complete conception or model that examines the entire relationship and
related outcomes. Therefore, because the outcomes are important for business
success, understanding the relations among SHRD Copyright 2007 Chien-Chi
Tseng & Gary N. McLean practices, organizational learning, and organizational
outcomes would be a valuable contribution. Research Question and the Significance
This research clarifies the relationship between SHRD practices, organizational
learning, and organizational outcomes by exploring the following four research
questions: 1. What are the key factors of SHRD practices in organizational learning?
2. Can strategic HRD practices help to maximize organizational outcomes by
embracing organizational learning? 3. What is the relationship between
organizational learning and strategic HRD practices? 4. What are the implications of
strategic HRD practices for the workplace? HRD professionals need to develop an
approach that helps the organization focus on their strategic business goals. Such
an approach must focus on organizational learning and the key factors that it
influences. In this study, the key factors are SHRD practices (Brinkeerhoff & Gill,
1994). In an organizational learning context, strategy emphasizes the importance
and critical nature of employees and organizations in achieving their business goals
and organizational effectiveness. To fulfill this objective, SHRD needs to be well
organized and planned, as well as integrated into every aspect of the organization.
Therefore, the above research questions have demonstrated the significance of this

approach. Definitions Definitions are provided below for HRD, SHRD practices, and
organizational learning. HRD Several definitions have been provided for human
resource development (HRD) during the past few decades (Gilley & Eggland, 1989;
Lee, 2003; McCracken & Wallace, 2000; McLean & McLean, 2001; Nadler, 1983;
Nadler & Wiggs, 1986; Smith, 1988; Swanson, 1995). There are three areas of
professional practice including learning, performance, and change that are generally
identified in the definitions of HRD. For example, Swanson (1995) defined HRD as a
process of developing and unleashing human expertise through organization
development and personal training and development for the purpose of improving
performance (p. 207). Nadler (1983) defined HRD as organized learning
experiences in a given period of time to bring about the possibility of performance
change or general growth for the individual and the organization (p. 1). McLean
and McLean (2001) described HRD in a global perspective: Human resource
development is any process or activity that, either initially or over the long term,
has the potential to developwork-based knowledge, expertise, productivity and
satisfaction, whether for personal or group/team gain, or for the benefit of an
organization, community, nation or, ultimately, the whole of humanity. (p. 322) Most
definitions include, at minimum, the need for organizational efforts to result in
performance improvement and organization development that enhance the
organizations competitiveness and effectiveness SHRD Practices Garavan et al.
(1995) contended that HRD is used in many contexts and widely differing activities.
Gilley and Eggland (1989) concluded that HRD is an organized learning activity
within the organization used to improve performance and personal growth for the
purpose of improving the job, the individual, and the organization. The key
definition of SHRD used in this article is Garavans (1991): SHRD is the strategic
management of training, development, and of management or professional
education interventions, so as to achieve the objectives of the organization while at
the same time ensuring the full utilization of the knowledge in detail and skills of
individual employees. Furthermore, SHRD is extensively concerned with practice. It
is broader than other trends, including workforce scorecard, ROI work, and human
resource management (HRM). Huselid, Becker, and Beatty (2005) used the term
Workforce Scorecard to highlight the focus on the strategic performance of
employees rather than the contribution of the HR function to business success. In
addition, Glick (2004) argued that ROI is straightforward as a financial ratio, but it
can also be accurately adapted to represent the value of employee training or new
software investment. Furthermore, Cardy, Gove, and DeMatteo (2000) highlighted
job structure changes and a heightened customer orientation as two primary
concepts that necessitate adaptation of HRM practices. SHRD, with its focus on
proactive change management, can help organizations survive in an increasingly
global, unstable, and competitive environment (Grieves, 2003). Several key
elements, including critical thinking (Patterson, Crooks, & Lunyk-Child, 2002),
evaluation (Torres & Preskill, 2001), strategic hiring and training (Prez Lpez, Pen,
& Ords, 2006), participation (Wang & Wang, 2004), and credibility (Ulrich, 1997),
serve as a road map for SHRD practice and provide SHRD professionals with a clear
path to establish value and performance in their organizations. Garavan (1991)
accented the point that the need for integration into business planning is critical for
SHRD, as is a contribution to corporate goals and an awareness of mission. Then, he

suggested that the support and active participation of top management, as key
stakeholders, is vital for the development of SHRD. In addition, he argued that
continuous knowledge of the external environment, in terms of opportunities and
threats for the business and for HRD, specifically, is vital for SHRD to flourish. The
nine SHRD key characteristics suggested by Garavan (1991) are: 1) integration with
organizational missions and goals; 2) top management support; 3) environmental
scanning; 4) HRD plans and policies; 5) line manager commitment and involvement;
6) existence of complementary HRM activities; 7) expanded trainer role; 8)
recognition of culture; and 9) emphasis on evaluation. Organizational Learning Prez
Lpez et al. (2006) assumed that organizational learning is a process to improve
the development of the organization by means of new initiatives (technological,
productive or commercial) (p. 217). This requires a move from simply putting more
knowledge into databases to leveraging the many ways that knowledge can migrate
into an organization and impact business performance (Cross & Baird, 2000).
Tippins and Sohi (2003) considered that organizational learning consists of four
dimensions: information acquisition, information dissemination, shared
interpretation, and development of organizational memory. Prez Lpez, Pen, and
Ords (2006) conceptualized organizational learning in the following dimensions: 1)
knowledge acquisition, which, due to its distinctive characteristics, can be
subdivided into external and internal knowledge acquisition; 2) distribution, by
means of which knowledge is spread among the members of the organization; 3)
interpretation, in which individuals share and incorporate aspects of their
knowledge that are not common to all of them, thereby achieving shared
understanding, as well as coordinating the decision-making; and 4) organizational
memory, which tries to store knowledge for future use, either in organizational
systems designed for this purpose or in the form of rules, procedures and other
systems. Gilley and Maycunich (2000) conceived the learning process as consisting
of five phases: First is preparation for learning; in order to ensure that learning is
effective, organizations must adequately prepare for the acquisition of new
knowledge. Second is information exchange, allowing employees to obtain content
necessary to improve their knowledge, skills, or behaviors. The learning
environment must support the free exchange of ideas and feelings and allow
learners to feel secure and to participate in open two-way communications
(Hiemstra, 1991). Third is knowledge acquisition and practice; learning occurs when
certain activities cause an individual to transpose information into new awareness
that ultimately alters behavior. The new awareness is equal to knowledge
acquisition and practice. Fourth is transfer and integration; if the organization fails
to assist employees in integrating learning and transferring skills or knowledge on
the job, the organization will experience difficulty, and opportunities for change will
be lost. The last is accountability and recognition; individuals must be held
accountable for their learning and be recognized for their efforts and improvement.
Integrating the above definitions from the literature, we conclude that
organizational learning is a process of learning in order to acquire knowledge and
improve business performance, and it consists of four dimensions: knowledge
acquisition, knowledge distribution, interpretation, and organizational memory
Research Methods For the literature review, we first identified key words to use in
the literature search: HRD, SHRD practice, and organizational learning, as discussed

earlier with their definitions. Second, we identified the databases to search; all of
the several electronic databases available in the universitys electronic library,
including both journal and book sources, were used, as well as Google Scholar and
Google. Garavans (1991) paper was used as the foundation of this study, with
additional input emerging from the search to provide information on ways in which
SHRD has changed since 1991. The literature enhanced our understanding of the
nine key factors influencing the framework for SHRD practices in organizational
learning. In addition, Gilley and Maycunich (2000) and Prez Lpez, Pen, and Ords
(2006) provided the concept of organizational learning transformation used in this
study. Thestudy supported the importance of helping employees learn effectively
through knowledge acquisition, distribution, interpretation, and organizational
memory. McCracken and Wallaces (2000) findings were applied to the discussion of
HRD outcomes in this study to combine SHRD inputs, transformations, and HRD
outcomes. In addition to this literature, the system model in organizations discussed
by Swanson (1996) was used to examine the improvement of SHRD performance in
organizational learning.

4-a

Difference Between HRM and Strategic

HRM
HRM is Human Resources Management which is a strategic approach
to the management of employees. HRM involves the process of
employing people, developing their skills/capacities, and utilizing
their services. But today, HRM has come across many changes, and
the latest one is the Strategic HRM which is the most powerful idea
currently. Strategic HRM can be termed as a branch of HRM.
In HRM, traditional methods are followed. Traditional methods
means the selection or recruitment process and imparting training.
This HRM process did not have any specific rules for different areas
like recruitment, training, and utilizing the services. This is what

makes the Strategic HRM different from HRM. In Strategic HRM,

there are specific rules specified for specialized fields.
In HRM, there are no separate people for different areas whereas in
Strategic HRM there are different people who are skilled in specific
areas. It is not that the same persons will handle recruitment, training,
and employee appraisal.
As the term itself denotes, Strategic HRM deals with strategic aspects
of HRM. Unlike HRM, Strategic HRM mainly focuses on the programs
with long-term objectives. Though HRM and Strategic HRM focus on
increasing employee productivity, Strategic HRM uses many strategic
methods.
Unlike the traditional HRM, Strategic HRM uses more sophisticated
methods for improving overall employee motivation and productivity.
Unlike the traditional HRM, Strategic HRM uses more systematic
tools.
While the traditional HRM focuses mainly on employee relations,
Startegic HRM focuses on partnerships with internal and external
customers. When HRM has only short-term goals, Strategic HRM has
long-term

goals.

When considering job design, there is a tight division of labor and

independence specialization in HRM. On the other hand, the job
division in Strategic HRM is flexible. When HRM has staff specialists,
Strategic
Summary:

HRM

has

line

managers.

1. HRM involves the process of employing people, developing their

skills/capacities, and utilizing their services. Strategic HRM can be
termed

as

branch

of

HRM.

2. While traditional HRM focuses mainly on employee relations,

Startegic HRM focuses on partnerships with internal and external
customers.
3. When HRM has only short-term goals, Strategic HRM is for longterm

goals.

4. When HRM has staff specialists, Strategic HTM has line managers.
5. When considering job design, there is a tight division of labor and
independence specialization in HRM. On the other hand, job division
in Strategic HRM is flexible.

Q-4 b

Personnel Management Defined

Peter works for a company in personnel management. Personnel management is an administrative
function of an organization that exists to provide the personnel needed for organizational activities
and to manage the general employee-employer relationship. Let's see how Peter does it.
Peter engages in planning and job analysis to determine his organization's current and future labor
needs. He recruits employees with knowledge, skills and abilities that the organization needs. Peter
and his coworkers will also help develop current employees through employee appraisal and training.
He'll help ensure a safe and healthy workplace by making sure the organization complies with all
occupational health and safety regulations.
He also helps develop a compensation system, including pay and fringe benefits. Peter also helps
develop policies that ensure his organization complies with federal and state employment laws.
Finally, Peter and the personnel department are often the primary intermediaries between employees
and the organization. They manage many aspects of the employee-employer relationship, such as
handling employee grievances.

Human Resource Management Defined

Helen works in human resource management (HRM). Human resource management also involves
the management of people in an organization. The job of human resource management is to
ensure that the organization has the human capital it needs to accomplish its goals. 'Human capital'
is a fancy way of describing employees with a certain set of knowledge, skills and abilities that can
be used by an organization in a productive way. Let's take a quick look at what Helen and other
people in human resource management do.
Helen ensures that the company is appropriately staffed, which includes job analysis, planning,
recruiting and selection. Helen and her fellow resource managers also develop training and
education programs to keep employees up-to-date on the skills and knowledge they need. Human
resource management develops compensation plans just like personnel management.
Helen also makes sure that the company maintains a safe and healthy work environment. She
develops personnel policies that ensure compliance with various employment and labor laws.
Employee relations are another key responsibility. If employees have general questions or concerns
about the organization, they go to Helen and the human resources department.

The Difference?
You may be scratching your head at this point and asking yourself just what the heck the difference
is between personnel management and human resource management? Both seem to be involved in
the exact activities, although some of the terminology might be a little bit different. You may be
surprised to find out that some commentators and critics ask the same question.

Difference Between Personnel Management And Human Resource Management

Human resource management is the new versionof personnel management. There is no any
watertight difference between human resource management and personnel management. However,
there are some differences in the following matters.

1. Personnel management is a traditional approach of managing people in the organization. Human

resource management is a modern approach of managing people and their strengths in the
organization.

2. Personnel management focuses on personnel administration, employee welfare and labor

relation. Human

resource

management focuses

on acquisition, development, motivation and

maintenance of human resources in the organization.

3. Personnel management assumes people as a input for achieving desired output. Human resource
management assumes people as an important and valuable resource for achieving desired output.

4. Under personnel management, personnel function is undertaken for employee's satisfaction.

Under human resource management, administrative function is undertaken for goal achievement.

5. Under personnel management, job design is done on the basis of division of labor. Under human
resource management, job design function is done on the basis of group work/team work.

6.

Under personnel

management,

employees

are

provided

with

less

training

and developmentopportunities. Under human resource management, employees are provided with
more training anddevelopment opportunities.

7. In personnel management, decisions are made by the top management as per the rules and
regulation of the organization. In human resource management, decisions are made collectively after
considering employee's participation, authority, decentralization, competitive environment etc.

8. Personnel management focuses on increased production and satisfied employees. Human

resource management focuses on effectiveness, culture, productivity and employee's participation.

9. Personnel management is concerned with personnel manager. Human resource management is

concerned with all level of managers from top to bottom.

10. Personnel management is a routine function. Human resource management is a strategic

function.