The Changing Nature of Personnel Management

The trend is towards a gradual increase in emphasis on manpower control, and a high commitment to employee relations. The ideal of the 1970s, that of developing and maintaining agreeable working relationships, is still professed by many personnel managers. Research arising from detailed questionnaires distributed to 350 establishments as part of a Leverhulme Trust/IPM‐funded project has identified six broad tendencies in personnel departments. These cover the enabling function (action as a service to managers and department); the “odds and ends” function (being given “bits” of responsibility); the attenuated function (having rank and responsibility but little professional support); the symbolic function (developing a symbiosis between personnel departments and consultants); the futuristic function (moving towards adopting information technology); and the professional function (being technically skilful, using consultants sparingly but effectively).