Review of Personnel administration: a point of view and a method

Abstract

Reviews the book, Personnel administration: a point of view and a method by Paul Pigors and Charles A. Myers (1947). This exposition of personnel administration is well organized. Section A (3 chapters) presents the broad function of the personnel administrator, his place in management and the "personnel point of view," based on a recognition of the worker's need for both personal development and social relationships. Section B (3 chapters) presents a method of understanding and solving personnel problems, involving systematic consideration of four elements in the situation: (1) technical features, (2) the human element, (3) principles and policies, (4) the time factor. Since the personnel point of view stresses individual worker and work-team adjustment and efficiency, Section C (3 chapters) discusses the personnel administrator's function in diagnosing organizational stability through studying employee morale. The remaining sections in Part I apply the personnel point of view and method of approach to the standard problems in personnel administration. The last third of the book (Part II) presents Case Illustrations supplementing the chapter discussions in Part I. This book represents a major contribution to the field and profession of personnel administration. The authors have been able to formulate interestingly and clearly the basic philosophy of personnel work and to show its significance in modern industrial society. It should result in old-line management seeing its problems in a new light and, if studied by beginners, will help create a new generation of personnel administrators alive to their responsibilities. The greatest weakness is an apparent disregard for the method of research in personnel administration. In brief, Pigors and Myers have presented an excellent statement of the personnel point of view and a useful guide for applying its fundamental principles to everyday problems in personnel work. To obtain a well-rounded background for personnel administrators, the student will also need a thorough grounding in research procedures and an extensive factual survey of present knowledge in the field, particularly as revealed in psychological research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)