THE ROLE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

WHAT DOES THE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGER DO?

The human resource manager of an organization has the responsibility of seeing that an organization acquires the right people, that these people are effectively trained and developed and sees that they are paid fairly and competitively.

The manager is concerned with the recruitment, selection, testing and placing of staff in an organization. Recruiting can be undertaken by means of advertisements in the newspapers and visits to schools, universities. Personnel selection is a very important function, and the human resource manager makes use of aids such as application forms, interviews, selection tests, testimonials and medical examinations to ensure that the most suitable staff are appointed.

The retention and effective use of staff depends on providing them with correct training and fair payment, for which the human resource manager may also be responsible. In addition, he/she deals with the problem and grievances of the work force, including the important and interesting field of management and trade relations.

QUALITIES OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGERS

They must be good listeners, have a sympathetic character, and be able to distinguish between that which is, and is not, urgent and important; in other words, they must be able to determine priorities. A sound knowledge of the functioning of business is also essential.

The personnel director describes the structure of the department.

The department is headed by me as a personnel director. I act as the main spokesman of the department and represent personnel issues in all our senior management discussions and also in policy-making meetings. Then there are four managers who report to me, though one of the positions is vacant at present. Let’s take them individually.

First there is our recruitment and selection manager. She is responsible for maintaining contact within the community – looking for manpower according to our needs. In fact, she now has to travel extensively to search for qualified job applicants – that’s a feature of the job market at present.

Next, we have the compensation and benefits manager. He handles the company’s employee benefits program that’s primarily health insurance and pension plans.

Then we have our training and development manager. This post is currently vacant but we are advertising in the national press as well as using other channels: so we hope to have someone installed pretty soon. We have a strong tradition of providing vocational training for our people and a sizeable team of specialists in charge of planning, organizing and directing a wide range of training activities.

Finally, there is our employee relations manager. She deals with the collective relationship between management and employees and advises us on all aspects of union management relations. So those are the four managers who are accountable to me; and each manager takes care of a section.

So moving on. Each of these managers is supported by an individual or a small team. In recruitment and selection the manager is assisted by what we call a recruitment officer. The compensation and benefits manger works with benefits administrator and a job analyst in a small team. Our training and development manager is supported by two training officers, and they are in charge of a team of some seven instructors. And finally our employee manager who is supported by two employee relations officers.

Of course, I’ve forgotten to mention our health, safety and welfare people. They are, naturally, part of the management team, but not part of the personnel department. They provide staff or service functions to the whole organization. Firstly, there is the medical officer, who is, in fact, a trained doctor. Then there is a safety officer, who has two broad activities – to make our work safe and to ensure safe working practices throughout the organization. So that’s the personnel department, the sections and the teams, together with the support of the health, safety and welfare people.

From Personnel

Exercise 1. Give the Russian equivalents for the following from the text:

personnel department; to represent personnel issues; senior management; recruitment and selection manager; qualified job applicants; to have someone installed; management relations; in charge of a team; a recruitment officer; welfare people; health insurance.

Exercise 2. Find the English equivalents for the following from the text:

Exercise 3. Answer the questions:

1. What functions does the personnel director perform?

2. What does the recruitment and selection manger do?

3. Whose work is connected with travel?

4. What are the functions of the compensation and benefits manager?

5. What does the employee relations manager deal with?

6. Who are the four managers accountable to?

7. Who are the four managers supported or assisted by?

8. What are the health, safety and welfare people in charge of?

Exercise 4. Match the expressions from the two columns:

1. recruitment and selection a) deals with collective relationship

manager

2. compensation and benefits b) looks for manpower

manager

3. training and development c) handles health insurance and

manager pension plans

4. employee relations d) provides vocational training

manager

5. safety manager e) ensures working practices

Exercise 5. Draw a chart representing the structure of the department as described in the text.

Exercise 6. Insert the missing prepositions:

1. The personnel director reports _1_ the president _2_ company.

2. The recruitment manager is responsible _3_ looking _4_ manpower.

3. As you can see _5_ the chart, the personnel department is divided _6_ four sections.

4. The employee relations manager deals _7_ the collective relationship _8_ management and employees.

5. Also _9_ the personnel director are the medical officer, the safety officer and the nurses.

6. Each manager is _10_ charge _11_ one of the following specialist areas: recruitment, compensation, training and employee relations.

7. The compensation and benefits manager is assisted _12_ a small team.

8. They have a strong tradition _ 13_ providing vocational training _14_ their people.

9. _15_ addition _16_ the parent company.

10. The present personnel director will also take care _18_ personnel policy _19_ the new company.

in (2) for (3) to (2) under of(4) from by into with between

Exercise 7. Find the right place for the questions in the following dialogue.

1. How do you choose suitable people?

2. Is the activity of your Russian employees governed by Russian legislation?

3. Do you sign individual agreements with your employees?

4. What position do you occupy in your firm, Mr. Black?

A. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ?

B. I’ve been the head of the Personnel department since the foundation of the company?

A. That’s a very responsible job, I must say. It’s a well known fact that the success of any company depends largely on its personnel and management.

B. You are absolutely right. It’s a matter of great importance for us too as we are an advertising company and pay much attention to public relations.

A. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ?

B. As a rule we hire experienced and ambitious personnel with fluent English and good organizational and computer skills.

A. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ?

B. We do. The duties and responsibilities of each employee are defined in his agreement.

A. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ?

B. On the whole it is, but there are special agreements with respect to their salaries and leaves.

Date: 2015-01-12; view: 3356