Everything you need to know about HRM's evolution (Human Resource Management). HRM evolution across time is vital for understanding the philosophy, functions, and practices of HRM that are used in various settings so that appropriate HRM practices can be evolved in the current situation.
Because of the connection of the difficulties in both domains, HRM, as a part of management discipline, has followed the pattern of management development.
People Resource Management (HRM) is a relatively new word used to describe how an organization manages its human resources. HRM is still growing into a mash-up of organizational behavior, personnel management, labor relations, and labor law.
Evolution of Human Resource Management – Brief Outline of Development of Human Resource Management
HRM developed over a long period of time following the industrial revolution. HRM's origins may be traced back to the 18th century, and the notion of human resource management is centuries old. Many authors have studied the many stages of people management that led to the current situation.
A brief outline of the various stages of development of HRM stated below:
1. Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution It began in the eighteenth century in Britain and eventually extended to Western Europe and the United States. Workers were compelled to engage in monotonous and repetitive tasks. Previously, workers were considered as machines rather than resources. Workers were mistreated and exploited during the industrial revolution.
2. Trade Unionism
To protect their interests, workers banded together to form trade unions. The movement began during the Industrial Revolution, when there were widespread worker demands. Trade unions date back to the 18th century in Europe and have since extended to many other countries of the globe.
3. Taylorism or Scientific
Management Frederick Winslow Taylor proposed scientific management in 1911. Its goal was to standardise procedures and increase labor productivity by lowering effort. Time and motion studies were used to emphasise the human component at work, and methods were simplified.
4. Human Relations Movement
Scientific management concepts lead to an understanding of how to improve procedures and productivity by simplifying tasks. The classic “Hawthorne Studies,” conducted by Elton Mayo et al. in the early 1930s, opened up a new perspective of human relations at work. The impact of social elements, informal groupings, motivation, and employee happiness on productivity was discovered. This was the start of employee soft skill training and behavioral techniques. Such movements gave rise to the present concept of human resource management.
5. Organizational Behavior & Theory
Others, such as Abraham Maslow, David McClelland, Max Weber, and others, created organizational theory and proposed diverse perspectives on organizational behavior. Motivation, leadership, worker productivity, and other related theoretical fields have grown in importance.
6. Industrial and Labor Relations
As a result of strained labor relations, the field of industrial and labor relations began to gain relevance in numerous industries. A legal framework was created to protect the interests of workers and to resolve any labor conflicts amicably.
7. HR Approach
HR was founded on the theoretical foundations of previous studies and was endorsed by businesses and professional groups. The "Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development," founded in 1913 in England, is the oldest HR organization.
8. Trade Unionism
To protect their interests, workers banded together to form trade unions. The movement began during the Industrial Revolution, when there were widespread worker demands. Trade unions date back to the 18th century in Europe and have since extended to many other countries of the globe.
In the United States, the Society for Human Resource Management was founded in 1948. Cornell University in the United States conducted the first college-level HR study. There are now a plethora of specialised HRM courses given by major colleges all over the world.
Evolution of Human Resource Management – 4 Broad Phases of Evolution of Human Resource Management
The evolution of HRM can be described moving through four broad phases:
Phase #1. Craft System:
- Training in craft skills has been institutionalised since the beginning of time in Egypt and Babylon to ensure a steady supply of skilled workers. Workers/craftsmen worked in their own homes/workshops, using their own tools and implements, with the assistance of family members.
- During this time, there was a basic sort of specialization of job such as shoemaking, blacksmithing, carpentry, pottery, fabric weaving, and so on. In general, master craftsmen agreed to teach their profession to a few young people who had started their careers as apprentices. Apprentices were required to labor for the master artisan for a set amount of time in order to learn the trade. The master artisans were skilled and proud of their work.
- Craft training became common in Western Europe by the 13th century. Craft guilds oversaw the quality and techniques of manufacturing, as well as the working conditions for each occupation. The craft guilds were overseen by master crafts workers, and the recruits were admitted after a period of apprenticeship.
- Domestic industry, which the master ran on his own premises with his assistants living and working in the same house, was ideally suited to the craft system.
Phase #2. Scientific Management:
- Productivity became a key commercial problem throughout the first few years of the twentieth century. This period saw a growing business, easy access to finance, experience, and a labor shortage. As a result, managers began to explore for ways to make better use of current labor. Experts began to focus on strategies to improve individual worker performance in response to this requirement.
- As a result, scientific management was developed. The first proponents of scientific management were F. W. Taylor, Frank Gilbreth, and Lillian Gilbreth. Taylor saw that employees at the Midvale Steel Company in Philadelphia were purposely working at a slower pace than their capabilities. Taylor meticulously examined and timed every aspect of the steelworkers' operations.
- He calculated what each employee should be able to produce. He devised the most effective method of completing each component of the overall endeavour and put in place a piecework compensation structure. Rather than paying everyone the same wage, he began raising the pay of employees who reached or surpassed the output targets set for their jobs.
Phase #3. Human Relations Approach:
- Employee productivity was determined not only by the way the job was created and how employees were compensated financially, but also by certain social and psychological elements, according to the Hawthorne experiments done by Elton Mayo and his colleagues in the 1930s and 1940s.
- For the first time, the human relations movement led to the widespread application of behavioral science techniques in industry, including supervisory training programmes emphasising support and concern for workers, programmes to strengthen the bonds between labor and management, and counselling programmes encouraging employees to discuss both work and personal problems with trained counsellors.
- During the late 1930s and 1940s, the movement was also impacted by the growing strength of labor unions.
Phase #4. Human Resource Approach:
- The human resource approach to management focuses on the human dimension. Companies have used a variety of approaches to human resource management throughout the last eighty years. The modern human resource approach has reshaped how people are handled and managed in the workplace.
- Employees or the work force must be considered as resources, not merely as factors of production (as in the scientific approach) or emotional people with psychological needs, according to this approach (as in the human relations approach).
