Personnel Policies Essay

Implementing high standard personnel policies are highly important in setting out rules and regulations that will dictate how employees will go about conducting organizational practices and operations. Aside from this purpose, personnel policies serve as guides to monitor the compliance of personnel to set rules and regulations. The content of personnel policies being implemented for compliance is broad. Its scope covers accepted organizational practices and operations that are framed within the context of the organization’s mission, goals, and objectives, ethical standards and guidelines including corporate social responsibilities, the job description, rules and regulations in carrying out the job description, necessary information that falls to an individual’s role in the company (Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, 2008) (i. e. alary, rules of termination, rules in asking for resignation, dress code, good manners and conduct in dealing with clients and leaders of the organization, the work schedule, rules and requirements in filing for a leave of absence, acceptable reasons for leaves of absence, etc. ) (NMML, 2007) With this in mind, personnel policies then become a regulating factor ensuring that employees uphold organizational goals and objectives. Aside from this, personnel policies identify the rights and duties of employees. (Minnesota Council for Nonprofits, 2008) For instance, if an employee sees the reason for the organization to raise his wages for sensible and accepted reasons, then he will be given a chance to make a plea to the leaders of the organization if the personnel policy allows this action. Another example of a right that the personnel policy can grant employees is the right to fight discrimination in the workplace. Whether it is discrimination motivated by gender bias (when a male superior harasses a female employee), cultural bias (being deprived of employee benefits because of one’s race), or any other biases not accepted by societal norms and mores, employees will be given the right under the personnel policy to take action in order to counter discrimination in the work environment. Other aspects of personnel policies that are critical to the success of the organization include how tasks and responsibilities will be delegated to personnel or staff members according to their capacity to accomplish them, the planning and implementation phases of employee training, and securing the interest of the organization as well as the employees by setting rules that are agreeable to both of them. Moreover, personnel policies seem to set a consistent and trustworthy organization because it enables them to have a guide where all business practices, operations, rewards system, policy-making steps, etc. are based on without having to argue about other aspects of these processes because personnel policies clearly provide a firm and long-existing ground. (Khungar, 2005) In the case of human resources management, the training of newly-hired employees will be based on personnel policies. With the aforementioned purpose of personnel policies to the hiring process, the human resources department ensures that all applicants that will be hired meet the standards of the organization and are willing to contribute to the accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives. This highly influences the cost of training newly-hired employees because it cuts down the required funds for conducting training-related programs. This is so because hiring is based on high standard personnel policies that ensure employees will not need to undergo strict and highly demanding training for their respective jobs. (McNamara, 2008) The pre-employment phase is the most critical factor of hiring and recruiting. It is a decisive factor that will dictate whether the organization will be well on its way to accomplish its goals and objectives because the kind of employees that the organization will be hiring will determine whether business practices and operations will be carried out by them successfully. Therefore human resources departments make sure that the pre-employment phase is thoroughly monitored and evaluated. Choosing from a diverse population of applicants is difficult because the HR department needs to make sure that the people they will be hiring meets the requirements of the organization as well as the position being called for as it is related to its great contribution to the success of the organization. During the pre-employment process, personnel policies exist to guide the hiring process. Personnel policies are laid out for applicants who will be potentially hired by the organizations. These personnel policies will determine whether applicants are able to meet the requirements set by it. For instance, part of the personnel policy is the salary for a particular position in the organization. Laying out the salary will help the applicant decide whether to take the job or not, and the organization to decide whether to hire the applicant or not in terms of his agreeable behavior towards the set salary. Aside from this reason, personnel policies also ensure that only the best of the applicants will be hired for their engagement and contribution to the success of the organization. Primarily, the records of the applicant will be screened, with regards to financial records, employment records, employment behavior in previous work, academic achievements, related experiences, criminal records, etc. This is to ensure that the applicant the organization will hire will not jeopardize the future of the organization. For instance, an applicant with drug addiction problems might hamper the growth and development of the organization because of his inability to be productive in the work place. Upholding personnel policies as directed by the goals and objectives of the organization will tell the human resources department that is responsible for hiring and recruiting to not employ the applicant to the organization because of his personal aspects that are proven to be a hindrance to organizational success. Overall, personnel policies are not only implemented within the organization for the compliance of its employees or staff members. It is also a critical determinant in the hiring and recruitment process. In conclusion, personnel policies should be framed within the context of highest standards to ensure that members of the organization and potential recruits will meet organizational standards and guidelines for its efficient accomplishment of its mission, goals and objectives.