As the name itself specifies, Personnel Action Systems (PAS) supports the activity of the personnel department in taking actions on the following:
- Filling job openings and
- Recording and reporting promotions, transfers, terminations and other employee status changes.
Two systems involved in Personnel Action Systems (PAS) are:
- Placement data system and
- Personnel activity reporting system.
The details vary from organization to organization. Equal employment opportunity and affirmative action concerns in USA are making more extensive data systems necessary with respect to both the above systems.
There is a growing need to document the search procedure employed to job applicants and the decision procedure by which the new applicant is selected. Promotions, transfers and termination need more justification than they were in the past.
1. Placement Data System
Placement data procedures center around the development and use of more applicant files (generally more than one). Separate files are required for jobs that require a new type of data items on job applicants. Example: Files may be different for blue collar and white collar jobs. The applicant record in these files contain the data items on the job application form and also items that define the source and disposition of the application. The applicant file is linked to jobs file by having the same file key, so that the list of applicants for a desired job can be quickly retrieved. In the jobs file, the available job openings are indicated by one or more data items to define how many openings are there and the cut-off date for receiving the applications. It also contains a description of job, experience, education pre-requisites, location, travel and any other special requirements.
When a manager needs an employee for an existing position or for a new position, he first fills out a job requisition from and sends it to the personnel department. If the status of an existing employee is changed due to promotion, transfer or termination, the action also should be reported to the personnel department for updating the employee file.
After receiving the requisitions and personnel action reports by the personnel department, the data is input to the jobs file and the employee file either through a remote on-line terminal in the personnel department or submission of the data to a key entry section.
Three more procedures may be carried out for job requisitions for the available position.
- By advertising internally using an in house organization newspaper or a special announcement procedure.
- By advertising externally in newspapers, private placement services, state employment agencies and other media.
- A skill search of the employee file may be performed to locate qualified candidates. This can be through DBMS that has a user-oriented retrieval language. Such language permits the user to define the characteristics required of an applicant for a specific job. The system examines each record of the employee and retrieves the outputs of those that matches with the requirements.
The personnel department reviews the applications received with regard to the advertisement. Any tests required to know the candidate’s qualifications will be administered by them and recorded on the application. Depending on the volume of work, a special data system may be established for scoring and recording tests. The applications are then encoded and entered into the applicant file by the personnel department either on a remote data terminal or by sending the data to the processing department for key entry.
The manager who has sent the requisition is the final authority to decide which applicants to be interviewed. For those who were not qualified for interview, it should be stated in their application the reasons and these should be returned to personnel department for input of the reason into the applicant’s file. The applicants identified by skill search or with recommendations from personnel department are to be interviewed. The input to the applicant’s file includes these.
The conclusion of each interview with manager’s recommendations should be recorded and entered in the applicant’s file. A formal interview report is produced or evaluation may be included on the application form. This can be an input to the applicant’s file in the personnel department.
The record of a successful applicant is used to establish an employee master record for the new employee. A procedure to do this can be programmed and stored in the database and activated by the personnel department, using a single command typed in at a remote on-line terminal and done as a batch procedure.
The records in an applicant file concerning a job which has been filled should be removed from the active applicant’s file and placed in a history file, stored in a less expensive, newer storage medium-SSD storage devices. History file provides a complete record as to how each job opening is filled, useful whenever changes of bias or inept management ever have to be answered.
The system should link the applicant file to the job’s and the employee files and provide the data needed by the personnel department and management in carrying out recruitment programs and retain detailed recruitment activity records.
2. Personnel Activity Reporting System
This procedure set records changes an employee status and produce reports periodically (generally on a weekly basis), based on which the personnel department initiates follow up activities. The reports are produced from a file containing personnel transactions of the recent ones. Whenever a permanent data item in the master file record gets changed, the same is done through a copy in the personnel transaction file, with a code indicating the type of change. Eg: New hire, promotion, transfer, change of address etc. The procedure for this can be programmed and automatically activated by DBMS or the file management system. The personnel transaction file is sorted periodically by the transaction code and the personnel activity reports are produced.