Personnel Practitioners Research Articles

Women in Management: The Case of Australian Business

The Commonwealth Government in 1986 will introduce legislation to ensure that higher education institutionsand private sector companies employing more than a hundred people introduce affirmative action programsfor women. Although stated as a 'phased-in' development for private sector employers, the legislation isimportant for personnel practitioners as business has been the last bastion concerning support programs forwomen. The Australian Public Service was the first organisation to be subject to such programs, primarily asthe result of an investigation (Taperell, Fox and Roberts 1975) arising out of a Royal Commission intoAustralian Government Administration. Other investigations or surveys on the status of women have beenconducted in State Public Services (Review of NSW Government Administration - 1977, Victorian Office ofWomens Affairs — 1981, Equal Opportunity Unit - 1983) in tertiary institutions, notably universities(Committee on the Status of Women Academics — 1977; Cass, Dawson, Temple, Wills and Winkler — 1983;Sawer — 1984) and in particular occupation and/or professions (Mathews, 1982 and Equal Opportunity Board,1983). However, business has managed largely to avoid attention, although some companies have been pioneersin programs for women. It appears that social change in employment has now arrived for business andpersonnel practitioners will be to the forefront in the implementation of this change.

The Personnel Practitioner and Affirmative Action

Affirmative action programs have potential for altering the position of women in organisations and in thelabour market. They also herald the prospect of changes to the activities of personnel practitioners,particularly if affirmative action programs remain the preserve of personnel practitioners. It is possible theywill need to manage 'industrial issues', develop grievance mechanisms, anticipate and handle increased conflictamong employees, initiate training programs and assess concepts embodied in personnel policies and practices.

Continuous Development: Theory and Reality

Regular readers of Personnel Review may be surprised to encounter a style that does not involve a theoretical or principled base, and prefers reflections on experience as the route to new learning. It is my belief that the latter reflects the personnel practitioner's reality, whilst the former tends to limit it; the typical personnel manager's political role forces him/her to see any sophisticated set of logically related concepts as unlikely to satisfy future operational needs. My aim is to show practitioners that continuous management development processes can be integrated with everyday work without waiting for new or superior theoretical models.

Work Injuries and Rehabilitation Programs: The Health Industry Example

Industrial Safety is an issue of rapidly growing concern to Government, Employer, Employees and Unions alike. With some 6 per cent of the Australian workforce employed within the potentially hazardous hospital environment, there are broad lessons for personnel practitioners from other industries in how hospitals utilize their specialised skills and expertise to ensure the care and rehabilitation of injured employees.

Evolution of the Species: A Case for the Occupational Development of Personnel Practitioners Through Education

In the rush to adapt our organisations in the turbulent 1970s and 1980s, we have neglected the related need to modify and develop the role and contributions of many occupations. The personnel occuaptional group is no exception to this trend. Maintaining its relevance can be achieved by first differentiating the group into three levels of contribution: strategic, managerial and operational; and second, by matching the content and process of initial and continuing education to the needs of these three sub-groups. However, attempts to adapt the roles and widen the contribution of personnel practitioners will fail without concommitant efforts to expand the education and training of general managers and functional specialists in personnel management. Furthermore, education is but one of a number of strategies that must be implemented simultaneously if we are to successfully develop the occupational group.

Computers and the Industrial Relations Manager: A Case Study of the Mining Industry

A persistent theme in writing on personnel management has been the relative marginality of the personnel function within the management team as a whole (see Legge pp. 50–7) and Poole (p. 97). Because of its indirect contribution to the raising of profits, human resources management has tended not to be a priority for investment and the concerns and perspectives of personnel practitioners have tended to receive only fitful consideration in the forums at which strategic business decisions are taken. One response to this situation by the personnel profession has been to develop expertise in computer‐based data‐processing techniques which permit personnel managers to assume more of an accounting function. Such quantitative techniques enable personnel managers to monitor and evaluate the utilisation of human resources, arguably improving the efficiency and cost‐effectiveness of the enterprise. The potential and the purpose of this strategic response on the part of the profession, therefore, is to raise the centrality and indispensability of the personnel function, and elevate its importance within the management hierarchy (pp. 79–85).

Strategic Human Resources Planning: an Orientation to the Bottom Line

Recognising that strategic planning decisions hold important implications for the personnel function, practitioners, consultants and academics have begun to look for a way to relate the personnel function more closely to the strategic management of the business. One solution which has attracted a great deal of attention is the concept of strategic human resources planning.

The Stigmatization of Ex-Political Detainees in Employment Practices

The present study investigated the employment responses of 570 personnel practitioners regarding stigmatized (ex-political detainees, ex-mental patients, and ex-convicts) and non-stigmatized job applicants. It was hypothesized that ex-detainees would be discriminated against in similar fashion to the other stigmatized groups. Results suggested that although significantly more respondents were prepared to employ the non-stigmatized applicants, no such differences were found regarding salaries people were prepared to pay. Using employment discrimination as a criterion, ex-political detainees appear to be stigmatized in the same manner as ex-mental patients or ex-convicts.

Personnel Management

The development of effective personnel management is one of the stated aims of the Institute of Personnel Management (IPM), the UK's professional association of personnel practitioners with a membership approaching 23,500. To this end it aims to advise government and the numerous other national bodies who initiate, formulate, and operate the policies and programmes which affect people at work.

Investment Advice and the Personnel Practitioner: Benefits and Dangers

Personnel practitioners face an increase in employee demand for financial advice as the complexity of the financial industry and investment opportunities continue to escalate. But personnel practitioners need to understand the change which has taken place in the investment industry in recent years and the legal dangers of offering what could be classified as investment advice. In directing employees to a source of investment advice, the onus will be on personnel practitioners to suggest how the employee should select an investment adviser. Furthermore organisations need to recognise the existing lack of personal financial management skills amongst employees. This lack is responsible for creating additional wage pressures as employees seek to maintain the level of purchasing power of their earnings and offset their lack of financial skills. Training employees to manage their personal financial affairs could create less pressure on the wage spiral and contribute to the meeting of employee value systems.

An Audit of Personnel Management Activities in Queensland

This paper reports the findings of a survey of personnel activities in 87 Queensland organisations. The impact of organisational size, a separate personnel department and the type of industry on personnel activities performed, is discussed. Thus providing personnel practitioners with benchmarks for comparison purposes. The 54 organisations with separate personnel departments are analysed in terms of when to establish a separate personnel department, the status of and staff employed in such departments. Cost measurements in personnel departments are highlighted and compared to overseas organisations. The major conclusions are:— business organisations tend to be more involved in individual feedback activities compared to non-business organisations emphasis on bureaucratic activities; — qualifications of personnel staff, personnel ratios, and personnel cost measurements require managements’ serious attention.

Quo Vadis Australian Personnel Managers?

Rapid changes in Australian organizations are limiting corporate management's responses particularly in the area of human resource management. These changes flowing from the environment and from organizational demands are also redefining the role of personnel departments and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.This is opening new demands for effective personnel management at corporate level and throughout the organization. It is undeniable that successful organizations in the next five years will consciously develop effective personnel management strategies. What is still at issue is the role that personnel practitioners will play in this. For those personnel practitioners with the ability to meet the changing challenges of corporate life their future will be good. However, this will require substantial changes to the experience, education and approach of many current personnel practitioners.

Literacy and Numeracy: The Issues as Perceived by Managers and Their Implications for Personnel Practitioners

This paper reports the findings of a survey amongst 62 line managers. The results reveal that while managers ‘believe’ a problem in literacy and numeracy exists, and can cite occupational categories where it is having a decided effect, few firms are taking any positive action, by way of either selection tests or training courses, to improve the situation. It is felt that personnel practitioners could assist by opening up a ‘dialogue’. between firms and the schools in an effort to find possible solutions. Personnel practitioners may also find that they will become more involved in these issues in the future within their own firms if more managers subscribe to the views held by those in this paper.

A New Technique for Personnel Practitioners: Conjoint Measurement and Remuneration Packages

In recent years a number of new techniques have been developed in the Behavioural Sciences that have been quickly adopted by Personnel Practitioners. However, one group of techniques originally developed by Psychologists, which could well prove very useful for Personnel Practitioners, has instead been adopted by the Market Research fraternity. This area is the field of multivariate statistical techniques.

The Changing Profile of Personnel Management: A Survey of IPMA Members

The area of personnel management has undergone significant expansion and sophistication in recent years. Avaluable measure ofjust how the role of the personnel practitioner is changing can be made by comparing the current IPMA membership with past memberships.

Corporate manpower planning: a review of models

Manpower planning has achieved maturity during the past decade. Personnel practitioners have become conversant with the analysis of manpower systems, the use of quantitative techniques, and have developed a sound approach to the whole question of manpower management. But, whilst they no longer rely on the management scientist for using those models and other techniques now widely available, there is a continued contribution to be made in advancing the field. This paper reviews the practical relecance of existing models. It concentrates on techniques for evaluating manpower supply and career management problems, distinguishing especially between the roles played by exploratory and normative models. The author hopes that this article will give management scientists a realistic appraisal of current practice and provide pointers as to where developments are most needed.

The Liability of Public Executives: Implications for Practice in Personnel Administration

This article provides an overview of the law of tort liability as it applies to personnel administrators. Starting with the premise that personnel practitioners can avoid liability pitfalls by familiarizing themselves with current statutory and case law, the authors analyze trends in the development of personal and official liability. The impact of tort liability upon the personnel profession is exemplified through reference to four personnel topics: employee non-discrimination; union activity; disciplinary policy; and supervisory practices. The authors conclude with several recommendations intended to assist practitioners in avoiding liability problems, including the careful design of bias-free rules and regulations, and the establishment of training programs and monitoring systems to avoid and/or remedy potential liability risks.

Job Evaluation : a Re-statement

Job evaluation is a technique which has been available to Personnel practitioners for a long time. Somehow it has failed to attract attention on a wide scale.The Author has chosen to write about it, mainly to remind the reader of its existence. Wages and salaries have been a contentious issue ever since Adam paid off Eve with his answer to the apple!

Paramedical Personnel and Private Practitioners

A unique program in rural medicine is demonstrating how poor people can be trained as health aides to increase the output of professionals in private practice. Benefiting solo practitioners, group practice clinics, and small community hospitals, such aides can also help break down barriers that keep the poor from seeking and receiving care.

Public Personnel: Agenda for the Sixties

A T beginning, let me make clear that I do not plan to play role of Messiah, leading my flock of personnel administrators to a happy decade of successes in Sixties. My task is of another order. It is to report on emerging goals in public personnel field as I discern them from many reports, articles, and other materials trade kindly makes available to textbook writer. We can't talk about Sixties without taking a long look into past. I suggest we look back as far as Thirties, for this will give us valuable perspective. Young or old, we are prone to forget or under-rate what has been accomplished in past. We groan about present difficulties and despair of ever being able to solve some of them. Everyone could make a long list of important things, urgent things which still remain to be done in his jurisdiction and in personnel field generally. A mountain of work looms ahead, but, if you think back on past, you suddenly realize that this mountain is not as big as it used to be. Before making this comparison, I want to refer to what Lawrence Appley refers to as the frustration gap.' By this he means contrast between ideals and reality and how discouraging this gap is as we struggle in present to narrow it. Personnel practitioners usually don't think of themselves as idealists, but I know few of them who don't feel deeply