CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUND HRM POLICY

While developing sound personnel policies management should pay attention to the following things:

1. Related to Objectives: Policies must be capable of relating objectives functions, physical factors and company personnel.

2. Easy to Understand: Policies should be stated in define, positive, clear and understandable language.

3. Precise: Policies should be sufficiently comprehensive and prescribe limits and yardsticks for future action.

4. Stable as well as Flexible: Personnel policies should be stable enough assure people that there will not be drastic overnight changes. They should be flexible enough to keep the organization in tune with the times.

5. Based on Facts: Personnel policies should be built on the basis of facts and sound judgment and not in personal feelings or opportunistic decision.

6. Appropriate Number: There should be as many personnel policies as necessary to cover conditions that can be anticipated, but not so many policies as to become confusing or meaningless.

7. Just, Fair and Equitable: Personnel policies should be just, fair and equitable to internal as well as external groups. For example, a policy of recruitment from within may limit opportunities to bright candidates from outside: and a policy of ‘recruitment from outside only’ would limit promotional avenue to promising internal candidates. To ensure justice, it is necessary to
Pursue both the policies scrupulously and apply them carefully.

8. Reasonable: Personnel policies must be reasonable and capable of being accomplished. To gain acceptance and commitment from employees, the policy should be conditioned by the suggestions and reactions of those who are affected by the policy.

9. Review: Periodic review of personnel policies is essential to keep in tune with changing times, and to avoid organizational complacency or managerial stagnation. For instance, if the current thinking is in favor of workers’ participation in management , the personnel policy should be suitably adjusted to accommodate the latest fad, accepted by many in the organization

Personnel policies to be sound should also have broad coverage in addition to satisfying the above conditions. Hence, it would be appropriate to discuss the coverage of personnel policies here