Personnel Management :Concepts & Police Contexts
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Chapter 1 Personnel Management :Concepts & Police Contexts Introduction 1. Personnel management concerns with obtaining, organizing, utilising and motivating the human resources required by an organization. It develops requisite organization climate and management styles to promote effective effort of co- operation and trust among all employees. This also helps the organisation to meet its legal obligations and social responsibilities. To sum up, the personnel management aims at getting effective results by organizing and directing the co-operative efforts of human beings. The Objectives 2. Important objectives of the personnel management are following: (i) To make an effective contribution to the achievements of the organization and to the fulfillment of its social responsibilities. (ii) To design and develop en effective organization which will respond appropriately to change. (iii) To ensure that the activities required to achieve objectives are properly catered for. (iv) To group the activities logically together (v) To achieve effective integration of the activities (vi) To ensure that the people in the organization understand and accept their responsibilities (vii) To ensure that the organization climate and management style is conductive to enthusiasm, cooperation and trust. (viii) To obtain and develop the human resources required by the organization and to use and motivate them effectively (ix) To ensure that the quality and quantity of manpower is available to meet short and long term needs. (x) To train and develop manpower to achieve maximum effectiveness (xi) To make the best use of the skills and capacities of employees 1 (xii) To provide the optimum amount of responsibility, challenge and opportunity in work (xiii) To design and implement effective reward and incentive systems (xiv) To integrate and balance individual needs with those of the organization (xv) To create and maintain a co-operative climate of relationships within the organization (xvi) To develop systems and procedures which will ensure that employees are treated fairly and equitably. (xvii) To encourage more active and productive participation at all levels (xviii) To enable better two-way communications. (xix) To meet the organization's social and legal responsibilities (xx) To provide ample scope for self-development and job satisfaction (xxi) To provide good, healthy and safe working conditions (xxii) To provide equal opportunity for employment and promotion (xxiii) To provide a reasonable degree of security and continuity of employment (xxiv) To reward employees in accordance with their contribution (xxv) To meet the spirit as well as the letter of the legal obligations of the organization. The Purpose 3. As a result of various activities of the personal management : (a) the organization develops and maintains its effective. (b) the organization obtains, develops and retains the quantity and quality of staff for its present and future needs; (c) the best use is made of staff and the maximum degree of effective effort is obtained from them; (d) constructive and harmonious relationships are established and maintained with the staff which will encourage the highest degree of cooperation from them; (e) staff are provided with the maximum scope to use their capacities to the full and to develop within the organisation; (f) equal opportunities are provided to potential or existing employees for employment or promotion; (g) conditions of employment, employee benefits and working conditions are established which will help to achieve the objectives set out above and will also 2 mean that the organization meets its social and legal responsibilities towards its employees. Role of the Personnel Management 4. Main role of the personnel management is to provide advice, services and functional guidance which will enable management to deal effectively with all matters concerning the employment of people and the relationships between the management of the organization, the people and the employees. Its overall aim is to make an effective contribution to the achievement of the objectives of the organization and to the fulfillment of its social and legal responsibilities. The particular aim is to ensure that the personnel objectives of the organization are achieved and the performance of the personnel functions is judged on the extent to which these objectives are met. Personnel function is a very critical sub-system of enterprise management. Through planned acquisition, organization and motivation of human resources it assists the management in efficiently achieving organisational goals and objectives. It provides a systematic opportunity to the organization in critically assessing and optimizing human contribution towards organizational effectiveness. Effectiveness Parameters 5. Effectiveness of Personnel Department depends upon the following five factors. a) Support of top management; b) Organic linkages with other sub-systems of the organization; c) Quality of co-operation from line managers; d) attitudes and insights of departmental functionaries, and e) Formulation and effective implementation of policies, systems and procedures. The Role Profile 6. Personnel Departments as a repository of data on the profile, roles and contributions of human resources not only acquire pre-eminent position in organizational hierarchy, but plays a significant role in achieving organisational excellence. Ideally speaking the Personnel Department should play the following roles: 3 a) Advise top management in selecting strategies and approaches that will optimize the contribution of human resource; b) Formulate long and short range personnel policies, systems and procedures; c) Guide and assist line managers in effective implementation of policies end programmes; d) Serve as an effective link between management and employees; e) Improve the quality of information sharing through two-way communications; f) Create an enabling and facilitative climate to optimize employee cooperation, motivation, efficiency, discipline, growth and welfare. g) The personnel department advises on personnel policies, strategies, procedures and methods and on the approach that should be adopted to deal with personnel, and professional relations and the problem thereof. h) The personnel function has to carry out research and keep in touch with current developments in legislation, social thought, the behavioural sciences and the views of the stake holder. i) It must normally be aware of what is happening in the outside world, but it must be equally capable of relating environmental changes to the situation within the organization. j) The personnel function has to keep closely in touch with trends within the organization measuring its employees' level of morale, motivation, commitment and general satisfaction with the organization as employers. k) The functional guidance role of the personnel department is to interpret and help to communicate personnel policies and procedures approved by top management, and, on behalf of top management, to provide guidance to managers which will ensure that the policies and procedures are implemented and maintained. Police Personnel Contexts 7. Formulation of personnel policies for police should depend on the following specifics contexts of police functional environs. I. Unity of command, centralized authority, rigid hierarchical structure, one way communication, impersonality, unquestioned compliance of orders and instructions are some of the significant features of police organization. Police, however, in a democratic set up can neither adopt the ways and 4 means of Defence Forces nor have the resources, institutional machinery and infrastructure of the civil organizations. II. In the absence of institutionalized systems and procedures and because of heavy pre-occupations with operational duties and management of civil crises from time to time, the staff matters do not receive adequate time and attention they deserve and eventually get pushed into the background. The existing personnel policies in the police are generally antiquated, adhoc and sketchy and do not do justice to the current and emerging needs of police personnel. III. Any one familiar with the working of the police system in the country will readily concede that personnel management in police organization lacks long-range planning, scientific exactitude and necessary infrastructure. The situation looks much grimmer, when comparisons are made between the police and other premier organization. IV. We can not run away from the reality that any neglect, adhocism and non- institutionalized approach towards the legitimate aspirations and expectations of the police personnel for a better quality of life will have very grave implications for employee morale, efficiency and the credibility of the force. Rationale for Personnel Department in Police i. While, work and social pressure on the police personnel, since, independence, have registered a quantum jump in quantitative and qualitative terms due to growth in population, mass education, socio- economic legislations, industrialization and planned economic development etc., the size of the Force, infrastructural facilities and management systems and procedures have lagged behind. Police officers and staff have to therefore discharge their duties under severe stress and proverbial constraints of human and financial resources. 5 ii. Any further neglect of the needs and aspirations of the personnel is bound to have adverse impact on the morale of individual