Personal Management – Meaning, Objectives, and Functions

Personal management is defined as a process that deals with the human constituents of a business entity.

Every organization is heavily dependent on its workforce, and it is the function of personal management to promote and encourage optimal productivity through assigning and supervising the activities of the employees working under its umbrella.

Meaning of personal management

Personal management is a managerial function that is concerned with the people and their relationship within an organization. Remember a satisfied workforce can take the company to unimaginable heights, and this is why a business entity creates a separate personal management department.

The personal management team selects and hires employees as per the requirement o its company, offers them the necessary training to become better and develop their working, ensures proper working conditions and encourages a harmonious relationship between workforce and management.

It plays a significant role in a company as it can plan and organize its manpower to utilize both human and material resources admirably.

Personal management offers effective incentives to motivate and encourage full co-operation. It stimulates the workings of its workforce to increase competency and potential.

Functions of personal management

The functions of personal management can be considered of advisory nature as it recommends several activities for the welfare of its workforce. These are categorized under various subheadings for instance-

1) Manpower planning

One of the major functions of personal management is manpower planning, and it deals in placing the appropriate kind and number of people in the right place and time to achieve the best desired results.

There are numerous steps involved in manpower planning, and it includes

1. It is necessary to analyze the current inventory and note the type and number of departments, along with the staff in the units.
2. The next step includes making future forecasts with the help of indexation, past projections, statistical analysis, expert surveys, and mathematical models via computers.
3. Now develop employment programs that include placement plans, selection process, and of course, recruitment after comparing current inventory and future forecasts.
4. The last step includes designing training programs to improve knowledge and skills of the workers.

The importance of manpower planning includes

1. Manpower planning results in higher levels of productivity because it is now possible to minimize the levels of waste in terms of money, time, energy, and efforts.
2. Clear communication and effective supervision because of effective manpower planning results in a better relationship between the employees.
3. Manpower planning gives due emphasis on motivational programs and necessary incentives to increase the utilization and participation of its workforce.

The advantages of manpower planning include

1. Offering stability to a business entity by managing its manpower effectively
2. Identifying surpluses as well as shortages so that it becomes easy to take action at the right time
3. Helps to implement training programs to enhance the available talent
4. Identifying the issue of overstaffing and subsequently reducing the cost of labour
5. Utilizing human resources for diversification of business entity.

2) Training development | Personal Management

Training has become an integral part of most of the organizations as it helps to enhance the workings of an employee to its maximum ability.

Training is offered to both new and existing employees. There are two types of training on-job and off-job training. The on-job training method is cost-effective and includes training the employees during everyday working through coaching, job rotation, etc.

The off-job training method includes training the employees at separate workshops or through participation in seminars and conferences. This proves a bit costly but offers long-term benefits to the company.

The advantages of offering a training program to the employees are

1. Improving self-confidence of an employee – Training acts as a guiding force to an employee and helps to improve his morale as well as self-confidence.
2. Increases productivity – proper training enhances the performance levels of an employee as he acquires new skills to tackle the existing problems. This minimizes wastage and increases the productivity of the workforce.
3. Minimizing wastage – Training helps the employee to hone his skills and knowledge and thus results in minimizing wastage in terms of effort and time
4. Reduces the risk of accidents – Proper training reduces the risk of accidents as the employee tends to become proficient in handling his responsibilities.
5. Increases the chance of raise or promotion – The extra skills and knowledge acquired during training increase the chances of a raise or promotion because the employees become eligible for handling further responsibilities.

3) Recruitment | Personal Management

Another function of personal management is dealing in the recruitment process.

 It is further subdivided into two headings that include

1. Internal Recruitment

The source of internal recruitment process includes promotions via internal postings of job, through transfers and via re-employment of employees that were once a part of the company.

2. External Recruitment

As the name suggests the source of external recruitment are obviously outside the organization and includes:

1. Employment at the factory level

it is possible via posting the vacancies at bulletin boards outside the gate of a factory

1. Advertisement

Newspapers, business magazines, and selected social sites are one of the prominent sources of the external recruitment process.

2. Employment agencies

Professional organizations are set up for the sole purpose of offering jobs as per the qualification of an employee or the needs of a business entity. These employment agencies supply the necessary manpower have become one of the major sources of the external recruitment process.

3. Employment exchange

Government-run employment exchanges help in the recruitment process at government concerns.

4. Campus recruitment

Numerous educational facilities have set up a recruitment cell that offers the chance of recruitment for fresh graduates.

5. Recommendations

Recommendations via known or highly placed sources also help in the external recruitment process in a company.

4) Employee Selection | Personal Management

Selecting the right candidate for the job is an important function of personal management.

 The process takes place in an orderly manner that includes the following steps

1. Preliminary interview

The screening or preliminary interviews are less formal than the final interviews and are generally conducted to shortlist the number of applicants as per the eligibility criteria that has been set up by the company.

The skills, knowledge competency, and qualifications are examined during this interview so that the candidates who fit the profile can move on to the next stage.

2. Application blanks

It includes details about qualifications, age, experience, and reason for leaving the last job and has to be filled by the applicants that have cleared the preliminary interviews.

3. Written tests

The employee selection procedure includes written tests like a personality test, intelligence test, and aptitude test to assess the potential of a candidate.

4. Employment interview

The employment interview process includes a personal meet on a one-on-one basis between the probable employee and the management. It is conducted to determine the suitability of the applicant for the job in question.

5. Medical examination

Medical tests have become a part of the employee selection process and are conducted everywhere to ensure whether the candidate is fit for the job or not.

6. Appointment letter

A formal appointment letter is a commitment from the company to hire the applicant and is given when he has successfully passed all the hurdles in his path.

Objectives of personal management

The objectives of personal management are as follows-

1. Achieve optimal utilization of human resources by improving working conditions
2. Establish a close working relationship amongst every employee in an organization
3. Offering opportunities for growth and advancement of employees through further education and training
4. Increasing the levels of commitment, loyalty, and involvement amongst the employees
5. Defining the accountability and responsibility of each job
6. Satisfying group and individual needs by ensuring mental satisfaction. It is important to ensure that an employee is assured of job security so that he can work without any undue pressure
7. Offering social and economic security in the form of monetary compensation against factors like illness, death and old age
8. Minimizing friction between employees and also between management and employees

How Is Personal Management different than Human Resource management? 

Personal management has a limited scope if compared with the responsibilities of the human resource department.

The personal management deals primarily in maintaining proper employment conditions, whereas the human resource deals in both personal functions as well as other activities to enhance the productivity and efficiency of both the organization and its workforce.

The differences between personal management and human resources are as follows-

Personal management	Human resource management
Personal management is considered as a traditional approach to managing the employees in a business entity.	Human resource management is considered a modern approach to managing the workforce in a company.
In personal management process, the communication is often indirect.	Communication is direct in a human resource management system.
The employees are considered as an input to achieve the desired output.	People are treated as a valuable resource to achieve desired output.
It focuses on labour relation and the welfare of employees and personal administration in a company.	It has put its onus on maintenance, motivation, development and acquisition of human resources.
Job design in a personal management process is conducted on the basis of division of labour.	Job design is conducted on the basis of teamwork in the human resource management process.
Employee satisfaction is an integral part of personal management	Goal achievement is what human resource management is all about.
The opportunities for development and training are less in personal management system.	Employees are offered more opportunities for training to enhance their skills and knowledge.
The decisions are made by top management officials in accordance with the stipulated rules and regulations of the company.	The decisions are made in a collective manner by the management team after considering factors like employee participation and competitive environment.
Personal management is all about the satisfaction of its employees and increased productivity.	Human resource management is about employee participation, productivity and effectiveness.
Personal management is concerned only with the personal manager	The human resource management is concerned with all the managers from top to bottom.
Personal management is considered as a routine and less important auxiliary function.	Human resource management is a strategic management function.
Labour is treated as a tool that is considered replaceable and expendable in a personal management system	People are assets that will offer numerous benefits to the company
The scope is narrow and puts its focus on administering people.	The scope is whole and emphasises on creating a dynamic culture.

Liked this post? Check out the complete series on Management