Hr And Pm

Essay text:

Many books and articles have been written about the differences and similarities between these terms, and many erudite arguments have been made. We do not intend to discuss these in detail, but at this stage we need to clarify our use of the two terms and our views on the extent of the similarities and differences. We have shown that both terms can be applied to a wide range of activities. Any difference must therefore be in the approach adopted, rather than in the actual activities that are undertaken. We have identified the following trends in the way the terms are used: ? the personnel approach tends to be tactical in its approach to activities; the focus of human resource management approach is more strategic ? the personnel approach tends to be short-term and responsive to others' demands; the HRM approach is to think of the long term and initiate policies on major new initiatives ? the personnel approach tends to be a rather piecemeal way of tackling issues; the HRM approach to the same issues is to place them within a clearly defined, integrated framework which has been worked out to benefit the organisation and to which the HRM manager and other staff have contributed ? personnel management tends to rely on traditional forms of communication; HRM tends to use a variety of communication channels ? personnel management tends to operate in organisations where there are traditional ways of working and where there is not much involvement of the workforce in decision making; human resource management emphasises the importance of the involvement of everyone in teams or in quality circles ? personnel management tends to work in traditionally unionised organisations; human resource management tends to encourage single status agreements and de-emphasises the role of trade unions ? personnel management tends to use traditional pay systems; human resource management emphasises the need to manage performance and motivate people by the use of various payment systems which are integrated with the organisations' objectives ? the personnel management approach tends to reflect the status quo and resist change; human resource management tends to encourage change and increased flexibility in ways of working ? the personnel management approach tends to operate from a pluralistic point of view where different points of view are tolerated; the human resource management approach tends to operate from a unitary perspective emphasising the need for everyone in the organisation to work towards a common goal, so unions are not encouraged since they are not seen to be necessary ? personnel management's focus is therefore on getting the same conditions for groups; human resource managers focus on individual contracts, payment and reward systems ? personnel managers may sometimes need to help individuals with their problems; human resource managers feel individuals should be prepared to take responsibility for their own decisions and actions ? personnel management is concerned with the needs of the workforce and with ensuring a supply of employees who are happy and work well; human resource management is concerned with the demand for labour from management and has more emphasis on planning, monitoring and control to ensure the right number of people (not necessarily employees), with the right skills in the right place at the right time ? personnel managers want a system that is fair for all and are keen to have rules and procedures to encourage this; human resource managers tend to say that people have a right to proper treatment at work and efficient management will achieve this ? personnel management is a special activity because of the difficulties of working with people; human resource management says that managing people is much the same as managing any other resource ? personnel management tends to specialise in most of the activities mentioned earlier; human resource management tends to devolve many of these activities to line managers, concentrating instead on developing policies, planning, monitoring and evaluating...