PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION

PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION

Definitions

Personnel administration may be defined as the effective utilization of human resources to achieve  organizational objectives. ~ Peter D. Johnson

Personnel management involves the productive use of people in achieving the organization's objectives and the satisfaction of individual employee needs. ~ Raymond J. Stone

Personnel administration is the management of various activities designed to enhance the effectiveness of an organization's workforce in achieving organizational goals. ~Kathryn M. Bartol & David C. Martin

Personnel management refers to the policies, procedures, practices and systems that influence the behavior, attitude and performance of employees. ~ Raymond A. Noe

'Personnel' refers to employees in an organization; it includes all levels of employees (superiors and subordinates).  This topic is about ’Public Personnel Administration' - i.e. the management of employees in the public (government) sector. It must be noted that 'Personnel Administration' is now commonly known as 'Human Resource(s) Management' (HRM).

Functions

The functions of personnel management are the following:

•     It is responsible for ensuring that the organization gets the right type of people (i.e. able, skilled and qualified people), in right quantity (i.e. in sufficient numbers to meet   the  human resource needs of the organization) , at the right time and at the right place  to  achieve the goals of the organization.
• t is responsible for using human resources in the most effective and efficient way to reduce personnel costs, to right size the organization and to eliminate unnecessary work.
• It helps in enhancing employee skills on present jobs and upgrading skills for future jobs, through training and development programmes, to improve the work performance of the employees. 
• It conducts performance appraisal to determine how well employees are doing their job and communicates that information to employees, agreeing on new objectives, targets or standards and establishing a plan for performance improvement.
• It provides and rewards employees with equitable pay / remuneration and other benefits and compensation for their contribution towards the achievement of organizational objectives.
• It maintains positive and harmonious relationship between the management and the   employees through handling grievances, disciplinary proceedings, trade unions and collective bargaining process.

Importance of Personnel Administration

Personnel administration is important because:

• It helps the organization in making the right decisions in hiring competent people, developing their potentials and giving them the right motivation to ensure productivity and fair return on the organization's investment.
• It ensures that employees who are the greatest and most valued assets of the organization are efficiently and effectively used and managed through proper planning and   implementation of relevant policies and programmes that can enhance employee abilities and performance in the organization's overall efforts to achieve its goals and objectives.
• It helps the organization in developing competitive advantage in the form of lower cost of production, development of innovative products and unique methods of product marketing.
• It brings together and develops into an effective organization of the employees who  make  up an enterprise and taking into consideration their well-being  and enable  them  to  make their best contribution to the success of the organization.

Activities / Components of Personnel Administration  (focus on training)

      The activities of personnel administration are the following:

•  Human Resource Planning:

Human resource planning or employment planning or personnel planning is the first step in building an effective workforce in an organization. It is the process of determining future staffing requirements and the skills necessary to carry out the objectives of the organization. This is done by comparing the present supply of people with its projected demand for human resources. The comparison is done to add, reduce or reallocate or reassign employees internally. The aims of personnel planning are to achieve more effective and efficient use of human resources; to attract and retain the best employees with the necessary skills, ability and aptitude and to achieve more satisfied and better trained and motivated employees.

• Recruitment:

It is the process of seeking and attracting a qualified pool of job applicants to fill job vacancies. A job vacancy may filled from within or outside the organization. Job descriptions and job specifications are important in the recruiting process because they specify the nature of the job and the qualifications required of job candidates.

• Selection:

It involves choosing from the available candidates the individual who is most qualified to fill the position. Steps in the selection process include reviewing the application forms, psychological testing, employment interviews, reference checking, and a medical examination. Based on the information gathered, a selection decision is made.

• Human Resource Development:

This activity is also known as Training and Development. Training helps the employee gain the specific job-related skills that will ensure effective performance of work.  Development is the process of helping the employee grow in his or her career and achieve his or her career goals.   Training and development is a means of achieving global competitiveness, improving productivity and the capacity to adapt to changes in the environment. In the public sector, various types of training programmes are conducted to help civil servants to acquire knowledge, skills and develop a positive attitude towards work.

Orientation.   Employee orientation or induction is a key part of the training and development activity.  It introduces the new employee to the organization - to the requirements of the job; to the social situation in which he or she will be working; and to its norms and culture. Orientations usually include an overview of the organization; policies, procedures, rules and regulations; compensation, benefits, safety and accident prevention, employee and union relations; and job duties and responsibilities.  Formal orientation can achieve significant cost savings by reducing the anxieties of new employees and by fostering positive attitudes, job satisfaction and a sense belonging and commitment.  Helping new employees to feel part of the organization can reduce labor turnover costs and improve the profitability and competitiveness of the organization.

Post-Entry Training.  Post-entry training is given to civil servants after their entry into the service. This type of training is usually given to the new recruits before they take up their job assignments or assume their duties.  The aim of post-entry training is to provide the necessary skills and insights to the new recruits and thus prepare them to manage the challenges and shoulder the responsibilities of their job. This type of training takes the form of institutional or on- the- job training or a combination of both.

In-Service Training.  This type of training is given to serving civil servants by the government agencies individually or by private professional institutions or local or foreign universities.  This takes the form of seminars, workshops, refresher courses, conferences or short-term or long-term management courses leading to a certificate, diploma, degree or post-graduate qualification.  This type of training is given to different categories of civil servants.  The main aim of this type of training programme is to update the skills and knowledge and to acquaint the civil servants with the latest managerial techniques and concepts.

• Performance Appraisal:

     This activity is concerned with determining how well employees are doing their jobs, communicating that information to employees and establishing a plan for performance improvement.  The information obtained from the appraisal process is also used as a basis for making decisions on promotion, rewards or compensation or salary increment, placement, dismissal and training and development needs.

• Compensation and Benefits:

   Compensation (remuneration) refers to the cash rewards, such as basic pay, bonuses, incentive payments, overtime pay, allowances and annual increments which employees receive for working in an organization. Compensation plays an important part in motivating employees to perform better. Benefits are referred to as indirect form of compensation.  They include retirement, life insurance, and disability insurance, medical insurance, annual leave, sick leave and maternity leave. By improving the quality of work life, benefits reinforce the attractiveness of an organization as a place to work and emphasize that it cares about its employees.

• Health and Safety:

   Employers are required to provide a safe and healthy work environment free from physical and health hazards such as pollution, accidents and diseases. Health and safety programmes help guarantee the physical and mental well being of employees.

• Relations:

   This is also called employee relations.  Maintaining positive relationships between employers (management) and employees is an important aspect of human resource management... it takes a broader perspective, involving governments, industrial tribunals, employer associations, trade unions, industrial law, awards, terms and conditions of work, grievance procedures, dispute settlement, advocacy and collective bargaining. The purposes of industrial  relations are to ensure open communication, fair and equitable personnel policies and practices and  high work and life satisfaction as these will result in trust, cooperation, commitment and high performance.

PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION. (2018). Peterdjohnson.net. Retrieved 23 February 2018, from http://www.peterdjohnson.net/personnel.htm

INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Public Administration is a newly emerged discipline compare to other Social Science’s discipline. Public Administration has gained immense importance since the emergence of Administrative state. It deals every aspect of the state and its relation to subjects. In simple sense Public Administration is state mechanism. In every Political System administration have significant role.

Meaning of Public Administration

The word Administration has been derived from the Latin words ‘ad’ and ‘ministiare’ which means to serve. In simple language it means the ‘management of affairs’ or ‘looking after the people’. In general sense Administration can be defined as the activities of groups co-operating to accomplish common goals. It is a process of management which is practiced by all kinds of organisations from the household to the most complex system of the government. According to L. D. White, Administration was a ‘process common to all group effort, public or private, civil or military, large scale or small scale’.

Public administration is "centrally concerned with the organization of government policies and programmes as well as the behavior of officials (usually non-elected) formally responsible for their conduct. Generally Public Administration has been used in two senses. In the wider sense it includes all the activities of the government whether falling in the sphere of legislature, executive or judicial branch of the government, in the narrow sense Public Administration is concerned with the activities of the executive branch only.

Definitions of Public administration

·          L D White observes, “Public Administration consist of all those operations having for their purpose the fulfilment or enforcement of public policy”.

·         Pliffner defines It would seem that “Public Administration consists of getting the work of government done by co-ordinating the efforts of the people so that they can work together to accomplish their set tasks”.

·         Prof: Woodrow Wilson defined Public Administration as detailed and systematic execution of public law; every particular application of general law is an act of administration.

·         Luther Gullick ‘Public Administration is that part of the science of administration which has to do with Government and thus concerns itself primarily with the executive branch where the work of the government is done.

·         Dwight Waldo, defines Public Administration as ‘the art and science of management as applied to the affairs of state’.

NATURE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

There are two divergent views regarding the nature of the Public administration. These views are following

INTEGRAL VIEW:

According to this view, Public administration is a sum total of all the activities undertaken in pursuit of and in fulfillment of public policy. These activities include not only managerial and technical but also manual and clerical. Thus the activities of all persons from top to bottom constitute administration although they are of varying significance to the running of administrative machinery. Prof: L D White adopts this view of Public administration. According to him, Public Administration ‘consists of all those operations having for their purpose the fulfillment or enforcement of public policy’. This definition covers a multitude of particular operations, many in fields. Another scholar Marshal E Dimock also shares the same view. He holds that administration is concerned with the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of government. The ‘what’ is the subject matter, the technical knowledge of a field which enables the administrator to perform his tasks. The ‘how’ is the technique of management, the principles according to which cooperative programmes are carried to success.

MANAGERIAL VIEW:

According to this view, the works of only those persons who are engaged in the performance of managerial functions in an organisation constitute administration. In this managerial view the administration has the functions of planning, programming and organise all the activities in an organisation so as to achieve the desired ends. Luther Gullick and Herbert Simon subscribe this view. Gullick says ‘Administration has to do with getting things done; with the accomplishment of defined objectives’.

These two views are deals the nature of public administration. In simply the nature of Public Administration deals the execution.

SCOPE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

In the modern time Public administration have a pivotal role. There are many discussions about the scope of Public Administration, some scholars are argued that in the Neo-liberal time the scope of Public administration is very less and Private administration have growing importance. Some argues that the neo-liberal time the term Public administration has significant one because the neo liberal state has faced many problems like environmental and technological issues.

The scope of Public administration deals in many ways

·         Public Administration and People.

·         Public Administration is an organisational effort it needed a close relation to people. In every Administrative system they have good relation between people and administrative agencies. It influenced the day to day life of the common people.

·         Public Administration and Democracy

·         In a Democratic political system scope of public administration is related in many ways. It have close link to people and at the same time they are the watch -dog of the political system. The Modern democratic state gave more important to the welfarism, in a welfare democracy the effective administration is essential.

There are many other reasons also contribute the scope of Public Administration.

·         Development of Communication and Technology

·         The Development of Neo-Liberal State

·         The concept of Participatory Development

·         Good Governance.

·         E-Governance

·         Environmental concerns

·         Human rights approach

·         New Social Movements and State

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ADMINISTRATION

Private administration is a concept newly emerged one. Private Administration challenged the development of Public Administration. After 1970s the term private administration gained immense importance. There are many differences between these administrations.

·         The most apparent difference between the two sectors is their organizing principles or goal. While private administration has a definite mission, which is the pursuit of profit or stability or growth of revenues, public administration, on the other hand, has ambiguous purposes. Furthermore, the dilemma in ambiguity of purposes is exacerbated by too many unnecessary and inoperable agencies, with purposes that overlap and bloated bureaucracies.

·         Another factor that makes the public sector different from the private is decision making. In public administration, the decision must be and should be pluralistic. The founding fathers intentionally created a democratic republic where all key decisions are made in politicized environment. This allows for maximum participation: open debate, multiple veto points - a decision making hierarchy where consensus must be achieved at each level, ideally, an informed decision. While private administration's decision-making is much simpler- it's monopolistic or close to monopolistic. This type of decision-making would avoid any conflicts in interest; hence, the goal is clearly defined.

·         Public Administration is not characterized solely by profit motive; In fact in Private administration mainly functioned on the basis of profit motive.

·         Public Administration is strictly in accordance with certain legal safeguards in a manner to sustain the confidence and trust of the general public. In Private Administration no legality, it only considered about the owner.

·         Public Administration is not concerned about the time factor but private administration strictly follow time factor.

·         Private Administration focused to the efficiency, transparency, accountability and credibility but in public administration these functions are only in nominal level.

LIMITATIONS OF PLANNING

LIMITATIONS OF PLANNING

INTERNAL

There are several limitations of planning. Some of them are inherit in the process of planning like rigidity and other arise due to shortcoming of the techniques of planning and in the planners themselves.

1.      Rigidity

• Planning has tendency to make administration inflexible.
• Planning implies prior determination of policies, procedures and programmes and a strict obedience to them in all circumstances.
• There is no scope for individual freedom.
• The development of employees is highly doubted because of which management might have faced lot of difficulties in future.
• Planning therefore introduces inelasticity and discourages individual initiative and experimentation.

2.      Misdirected Planning

• Planning may be used to serve individual interests rather than the interest of the organization.
• Attempts can be made to influence setting of objectives, formulation of plans and programmes to suit one’s own requirement rather than that of whole organization.
• Machinery of planning can never be freed of bias. Every planner has his own likes, dislikes, preferences, attitudes and interests which is reflected in planning.

3.      Time consuming

• Planning is a time consuming process because it involves collection of information, its analysis and interpretation thereof. This entire process takes a lot of time specially where there are a number of alternatives available.
• Therefore planning is not suitable during emergency or crisis when quick decisions are required.

4.      Probability in planning

• Planning is based on forecasts which are mere estimates about future.
• These estimates may prove to be inaccurate due to the uncertainty of future.
• Any change in the anticipated situation may render plans ineffective.
• Plans do not always reflect real situations because future is unpredictable.
• Thus, excessive reliance on plans may prove to be fatal.

5.      False sense of security

• Elaborate planning may create a false sense of security to the effect that everything is taken for decided.
• Leaders assume that as long as they work as per plans, it is satisfactory.
• Therefore they fail to take up timely actions and an opportunity is lost.
• Employees are more concerned about fulfillment of plan performance rather than any kind of change.

6.      Expensive

• Collection, analysis and evaluation of different information, facts and alternatives involves a lot of expense in terms of time, effort and money
• According to Koontz and O’Donell,’ Expenses on planning should never exceed the estimated benefits from planning. ’

EXTERNAL

Ø  Political Climate- Change of government from one political party to another political party, etc.

Ø  Labor Union- Strikes, lockouts, agitations.

Ø  Technological changes- Modern techniques and equipment’s, computerization.

Ø  Natural Calamities- Earthquakes and floods.

Ø  Changes in demand and prices- Change in fashion, change in tastes, change in income level, demand falls, price falls, etc.

IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING

IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING

1. Planning facilitates management by objectives.

• Planning begins with determination of objectives.
• It highlights the purposes for which various activities are to be undertaken.
• In fact, it makes objectives more clear and specific.
• Planning helps in focusing the attention of employees on the objectives or goals of enterprise.
• Without planning an organization has no guide.
• Planning compels administrator to prepare a Blue-print of the courses of action to be followed for accomplishment of objectives.
• Therefore, planning brings order and rationality into the organization.

2. Planning minimizes uncertainties.

• Administration is dynamic and is full of uncertainties.
• There are risks of various types due to uncertainties.
• Planning helps in reducing uncertainties of future.
• Although future cannot be predicted with cent percent accuracy but planning helps management to anticipate future and prepare for risks.
• Therefore with the help of planning, uncertainties can be forecasted which helps in preparing standbys as a result, uncertainties are minimized to a great extent.

3. Planning facilitates co-ordination.

• Planning revolves around organizational goals.
• All activities are directed towards common goals.
• There is a united effort throughout in various departments and groups.
• It avoids duplication of efforts. In other words, it leads to better co-ordination.
• It helps in finding out problems of work performance and aims at rectifying the same.

4. Planning improves employee’s moral.

• Planning creates an atmosphere of order and discipline in organization.
• Employees know in advance what is expected of them and therefore conformity can be achieved easily.
• This encourages employees to show their best and also earn reward for the same.
• Planning creates a healthy attitude towards work environment which helps in boosting employees moral and efficiency.

5. Planning helps in achieving economies.

• Effective planning secures economy since it leads to orderly allocation of resources to various operations.
• It also facilitates optimum utilization of resources which brings economy in operations.
• It also avoids wastage of resources by selecting most appropriate use that will contribute to the objective of enterprise.

6. Planning facilitates controlling.

• Planning facilitates existence of certain planned goals and standard of performance.
• It provides basis of controlling.
• We cannot think of an effective system of controlling without existence of well thought out plans.
• Planning provides pre-determined goals against which actual performance is compared.
• In fact, planning and controlling are the two sides of a same coin. If planning is root, controlling is the fruit.

7. Planning provides competitive edge.

• Planning provides competitive edge to the organization over the others which do not have effective planning.
• With the help of forecasting not only the organization secures its future but at the same time it is able to estimate the future motives of its competitor which helps in facing future challenges.
• Therefore, planning leads to best utilization of possible resources, improves quality of production and thus the competitive strength of the organization is improved.

8. Planning encourages innovations.

• In the process of planning, administrators have the opportunities of suggesting ways and means of improving performance.
• Planning is basically a decision making function which involves creative thinking and imagination that ultimately leads to innovation of methods and operations for growth and prosperity of the organization.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PLANNING

CHARACTERISTICS OF PLANNING

1. Planning is goal-oriented.

• Planning is made to achieve desired objective.
• The goals established should general acceptance otherwise individual efforts & energies will go misguided and misdirected.
• Planning identifies the action that would lead to desired goals quickly & economically.
• It provides sense of direction to various activities.

2. Planning is looking ahead.

• Planning is done for future.
• It requires glancing in future, analyzing it and predicting it.
• Planning is based on forecasting and also synthesis forecasts.
• It is a mental preparation for things to happen in future.

3. Planning is an intellectual process.

• Planning is a mental exercise involving creative thinking, sound judgement and imagination.
• It is not a mere guesswork but a rotational thinking.
• Planning is always based on goals, facts and considered estimates.

4. Planning involves choice & decision making.

• Planning essentially involves choice among various alternatives.
• Therefore, if there is only one possible course of action, there is no need planning because there is no choice.
• Thus, decision making is an integral part of planning.
• An administrator is surrounded by no. of alternatives. He has to pick the best depending upon requirements & resources of the enterprises.

5. Planning is the primary function of organization

• Planning lays foundation for other functions of organization.
• It serves as a guide for organizing, staffing, directing and controlling.
• All the functions of management are performed within the framework of plans laid out.
• Therefore planning is the basic or fundamental function of management.

6. Planning is a Continuous Process.

• Planning is a never ending function due to the dynamic environment.
• Plans are also prepared for specific period of time and at the end of that period, plans are subjected to revaluation and review in the light of new requirements and changing conditions.
• Planning never comes into end till the organization exists, issues and problems may keep cropping up and they have to be tackled by planning effectively.

7. Planning is General.

• It is required at all levels of management and in all departments of enterprise.
• Of course, the scope of planning may differ from one level to another.
• The top level may be more concerned about planning the organization as a whole whereas the middle level may be more specific in departmental plans and the lower level plans implementation of the same.

8. Planning is designed for efficiency.

• Planning leads to accomplishment of objectives at the minimum possible cost.
• It avoids wastage of resources and ensures adequate and optimum utilization of resources.
• Planning must lead to saving of time, effort and money.
• Planning leads to proper utilization of men, money, materials, methods and machines.

9. Planning is Flexible.

• Planning is done for the future.
• Since future is unpredictable, planning must provide enough room to cope with the changes in customer’s demand, competition, and govt. policies etc.
• Under changed circumstances, the original plan of action must be revised and updated to make it more practical.