personnel

Personnel is a noun describing a group of people who follow orders, usually at a company. If you have a job, you’re probably considered personnel to be managed.

The word personnel is also sometimes short for the "personnel department," another name for the human resources or employment office. One of the things they might have in the personnel department is your personnel, which contains your employment records.

Definitions of personnel
  1. noun
    group of people willing to obey orders
    synonyms: force
    see moresee less
    examples:
    Contras
    a Nicaraguan counterrevolutionary guerrilla force from 1979 to 1990; it opposed a left-wing government, with support from the United States
    Pesh Merga
    a Kurdish guerrilla force in Iraqi Kurdistan
    types:
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    guerilla force, guerrilla force
    an irregular armed force that fights by sabotage and harassment; often rural and organized in large groups
    armed service, military service, service
    a force that is a branch of the armed forces
    armed forces, armed services, military, military machine, war machine
    the military forces of a nation
    paramilitary, paramilitary force, paramilitary organisation, paramilitary organization, paramilitary unit
    a group of civilians organized in a military fashion (especially to operate in place of or to assist regular army troops)
    constabulary, law, police, police force
    the force of policemen and officers
    private security force, security force
    a privately employed group hired to protect the security of a business or industry
    MP, military police
    a military corps that enforces discipline and guards prisoners
    hands, manpower, men, work force, workforce
    the force of workers available
    patrol
    a group that goes through a region at regular intervals for the purpose of security
    military personnel, soldiery, troops
    soldiers collectively
    rank, rank and file
    the ordinary members of an organization (such as the enlisted soldiers of an army)
    staff
    personnel who assist their superior in carrying out an assigned task
    line personnel
    personnel having direct job performance responsibilities
    management personnel
    personnel having overall planning and direction responsibilities
    newsroom
    the staff of a newspaper or the news department of a periodical
    army, ground forces, regular army
    a permanent organization of the military land forces of a nation or state
    naval forces, navy
    an organization of military vessels belonging to a country and available for sea warfare
    coastguard
    a military service responsible for the safety of maritime traffic in coastal waters
    Marines
    members of a body of troops trained to serve on land or at sea
    air force, airforce
    the airborne branch of a country's armed forces
    military reserve, reserve
    armed forces that are not on active duty but can be called in an emergency
    fedayeen
    (plural) Arab guerrillas who operate mainly against Israel
    Fedayeen Saddam, Saddam's Martyrs
    a feared paramilitary unit formed in 1995 by young soldiers to serve Saddam Hussein against domestic opponents
    European Law Enforcement Organisation, Europol
    police organization for the European Union; aims to improve effectiveness and cooperation among European police forces
    gendarmerie, gendarmery
    French police force; a group of gendarmes or gendarmes collectively
    Mutawa, Mutawa'een
    religious police in Saudi Arabia whose duty is to ensure strict adherence to established codes of conduct; offenders may be detained indefinitely; foreigners are not excluded
    Mounties, RCMP, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
    the federal police force of Canada
    New Scotland Yard, Scotland Yard
    the detective department of the metropolitan police force of London
    shore patrol
    the military police of the navy
    secret police
    a police force that operates in secrecy (usually against persons suspected of treason or sedition)
    SS, Schutzstaffel
    special police force in Nazi Germany founded as a personal bodyguard for Adolf Hitler in 1925; the SS administered the concentration camps
    complement, full complement
    number needed to make up a whole force
    border patrol
    a group of officers who patrol the borders of a country
    harbor patrol
    patrol of officers who police a harbor area
    office, office staff
    professional or clerical workers in an office
    research staff
    a group of associated research workers in a university or library or laboratory
    sales staff
    those in a business who are responsible for sales
    security staff
    those in an organization responsible for preventing spying or theft
    maintenance staff, service staff
    those in a business responsible for maintaining the physical plant
    friendly
    troops belonging to or allied with your own military forces
    hostile
    troops belonging to the enemy's military forces
    cavalry, horse, horse cavalry
    troops trained to fight on horseback
    garrison
    the troops who maintain and guard a fortified place
    general staff
    military officers assigned to assist a senior officer in planning military policy
    headquarters staff
    military staff stationed at headquarters
    posse, posse comitatus
    a temporary police force
    type of:
    organisation, organization
    a group of people who work together
  2. noun
    the department responsible for hiring and training and placing employees and for setting policies for personnel management
    synonyms: personnel department, personnel office, staff office
    see moresee less
    type of:
    department, section
    a specialized division of a large organization
Commonly confused words

personal / personnel

Personal and personnel can be confused if the writer is not diligent, especially as both can be used as a noun and an adjective.

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