Personnel controlling

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Personnel controlling can be a functional area of human resources as well as part of corporate controlling . The term is a newer word creation that subsumes sub-tasks of human resource management and is mentioned for the first time in the mid-1980s. In the 1988 edition of the Gabler Business Lexicon, the term personnel controlling is not included at all, but terms such as personnel planning and personnel information system .

The primary object of consideration in personnel controlling is the company's workforce . Typically, the focus is not on individual employees, but rather groups of employees or all of the employees. Typical fields of activity are:

  • Employee numbers
  • Cost structures
  • Personnel planning
  • Risk management (⇒ personnel risk )
  • Determination of key figures
  • Educational needs analysis
  • Survey of mood images
  • Organizational units
  • Positions

The indispensable basis for any personnel controlling is the availability of a suitable personnel database for the production of meaningful personnel statistics. Pre-selections that have already been grouped or summed up are not suitable in this sense, but rather data sets that are exclusively presented at the individual level. Personnel controlling is much more than a retrospective or at best monthly personnel statistics. The instruments of personnel controlling allow a future analysis with the help of forecast and forecast data. They make it possible to predict future conditions. The accuracy of these predictions depends on the quality of the initial data, the probability of occurrence of the underlying assumptions and the time horizon of the forecast. The following delimitations have proven to be helpful:

  • Actual data : personal data (e.g. personal data of employees, personnel costs per employee, available capacity, etc.) and data of the current organizational structure (e.g. positions and organizational units with their characteristics)
  • Foresight data : personal future data that is considered secure and has a very high probability of occurrence, which has already been recorded or stored in the personnel system and is therefore “tangible” (e.g. future entries and exits, transfers, changes to retirement, changes in working hours, termination the training period, etc. or changes in the organizational structure that have already been secured)
  • Forecast data : unsecured, often not tied to identifiable persons, person-based future data from trends, projections or updates (e.g. fluctuation, expected maternity and parental leave)

By using scenarios and trends, personnel controlling in the company can make valuable contributions to the preparation, support and implementation of organizational changes and new corporate strategies (added value). Another conceptual differentiation can be made between quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data is available in all areas of controlling (including corporate / financial controlling ), qualitative data is a specialty of personnel controlling .

  • Quantitative data (individual or cumulative): personnel costs, personnel capacities, number of employees, etc.
  • Qualitative data : employee satisfaction, willingness to perform , not through measurement methods, but, for example, knowledge and skills that can be determined through employee surveys, social and methodological skills, working atmosphere, innovative strength and willingness, etc.

Classic educational data (qualifications, language skills, etc.) can be assigned to both groups depending on the type of determination.

Controlling is often (incorrectly) translated as control. While control is a retrospective and static process, control (correct translation of the term) refers to a forward-looking, planning and dynamic consideration. For example, in personnel controlling B. Key figures for the above qualitative or quantitative data is determined and used to manage human resources.

Another field of activity of the personnel controller , which is to be considered completely separate from the components described above, is the evaluation of personnel work itself. The aim here is to examine how personnel measures, planning and processes of personnel management work and with what effort and what results they were carried out . This area of ​​responsibility of personnel controlling tends towards process , organization and quality management and is therefore often not carried out by the personnel department in practice.

The international personnel controlling should be mentioned as a special feature at this point. This offshoot of personnel controlling is usually understood to be a centralized control. Standardization and adaptation of HR management instruments in various countries are named as goals.

Organizational classification of personnel controlling:

There are two options 1) Assignment to central controlling (usually assigned to corporate planning itself) 2) Perception as an independent function within human resources

Job description of personnel controller

Since personnel controlling is one of the youngest disciplines in human resources management, there is currently a lack of uniform educational standards in company and university training. In many companies, the currently active personnel controllers are still the first of their kind. In the future, this “autodidactic generation” will have the task of passing on their knowledge. In an economic environment of ever faster and greater changes (merger, M&A, outsourcing), the qualified, forward-looking view through the eyes of the HR manager will become increasingly important.

The job description of the personnel controller is interpreted extremely heterogeneously: Both the focus of activity and the scope of tasks differ considerably in the company. There are not even binding specifications for the content of personnel controlling within an industry.

The resulting individuality is often promoted by other factors:

  • lack of opportunities for professional exchange ("lone fighters")
  • Lack of existing know-how in the company
  • Inadequate system environment (no suitable IT applications)

In addition to studying specialist literature, opportunities for training and further education are only available externally in the form of forums, working groups and specialist conferences.

The personal characteristics of a personnel controller can be described boldly as a “creative bean counter” mentality: The tasks of personnel controlling require imagination, vision and foresight on the one hand, but also a sense of precision and absolute meticulousness. The necessity of combining these supposed antipodes at first glance is not always apparent to the external observer. The key to successful personnel controlling is the combination of personnel management and IT know-how, which is ideally combined with knowledge of project management. A high level of goal orientation and the willingness to think outside the box in a pragmatic way are often an advantage. Overall, a personnel controller should feel comfortable in the relationship triangle of personnel controlling:

Relationship triangle personnel controlling according to Schübbe / Lisges

Complex issues must be presented in an understandable manner ("board-safe reporting"). The HR controller looks after internal and external customers at various hierarchical levels and should be able to speak their respective language, know their needs and take them into account in the implementation of the order (social competence). Even unpleasant and unwanted messages have to be delivered regularly. The HR controller should not be afraid to represent this unambiguously and clearly to his customers. Diplomacy should always be used, euphemism should be avoided.

The requirements for a personnel controller can also be described using its various responsibilities:

  • Report responsibility: qualitative responsibility for the content and form of evaluation results
  • System responsibility : Continuous functionality of the data-supplying systems
  • Responsibility for communication : Assistance in interpreting the data provided
  • Resource and content responsibility : Prioritization competence (order) and decision-making competence about order execution (causal relationship of a planned indication, admissibility with regard to data quality, interpretability, significance of results)

Depending on the situation, the role of the personnel controller ranges from that of a simple service provider to a qualified consultant for the management. The latter requires the close involvement of personnel controlling in strategic developments on the part of the management (open communication - no secrecy). The communicative scale begins in a quiet room (system development, concepts) and ends in managing projects and advising decision-makers.

literature

  • German Society for Personnel Management (Hrsg.): Personnel controlling in practice. Stuttgart: Schäffer-Poeschel, 2001. - ISBN 3-7910-1922-8 .
  • Hentze, Joachim; Kammel, Andreas: Personnel Controlling: An introduction to the fundamentals, tasks, instruments and organization of controlling in personnel management. Bern: Haupt, 1993 (UTB 1706). - ISBN 3-8252-1706-X .
  • Lisges, Guido; Schübbe, Fred: Practical Handbook Personnel Controlling. Freiburg: Haufe, 2014 (4th edition). - ISBN 978-3648048764 .
  • Wunderer, Rolf; Jaritz, André: Entrepreneurial Personnel Controlling: Evaluation of Value Creation in Personnel Management. 4th edition Cologne: Luchterhand, 2007. - ISBN 978-3-472-06945-4 .
  • Wütscher, Tobias: Effective personnel controlling: planning, control and use of the human resource. Saarbrücken: VDM, 2006. - ISBN 3-86550-520-1 .
  • Schmeisser, Wilhelm; Sobierajczyk, Patrick; Tin, anastasia; Chomek, Mathias: Praxishandbuch Personalcontrolling, pp. 1–248, UKV, Konstanz, Munich, 2016, ISBN 978-3-86764-688-8