EVOLUATION HISTORY OF HRM

Human Resource Management can be described as the comprehensive set of managerial

activities and tasks concerned with developing and maintaining a qualified workforce- human
resource – in ways that contribute to organizational effectiveness.
This chapter explores changes in Human Resource Management thoughts from the evolution era
to present age.

Historical Review of HRM

When we study HRM history we may identify man stages that show many development and
shifts in thinking that have conspired to bring about the evolution of HRM.

Pre and post Industrial Age

The earliest forms Human Resource Management were the working arrangements struck
between craftsman and their apprentices during the pre-industrial cotton-base guild system. The
apprentice lived in the workplace or home of his master and the master took care of his health
and welfare.
After the industrial revolution in 18th century the small cotton-based guild manufacturing
converted into large factories and more people employed to produce through machines. The
unhygienic and arduous work in factories led to many labor riots and the government stepped in
to provide basic rights and protections for workers. The need comply with such statutory
regulations forced factory owners to set up a formal mechanism to redress issues concerning
labor.

Adam Smith and Robert Owen

In 1776 Adam Smith in his book “The Wealth of Nations” introduced the concept of Division of
Labor. He proposed that work could be made more efficient through division of labor and
suggested that work should be broken down into simple tasks. This division led the three
advantages. This was a development towards, the development of skills, time-saving – the
possibility of using specialized tools. Smith suggestion led many changes in manufacturing
processes. Ford applied it in his factory to increase productivity.
Robert Owen the pioneer of HRM was a zealous supporter of the factory legislation resulting in
the factory Act 1819. He emphasized o performance appraisal and pay for performance (fair
treatment for employees).
Personnel Management (early 20th Century)
By the early 1900s, increased competition and pressing demands to fulfill orders made factory
owner take serious note of productivity and issues such as employee absenteeism and high turn
over came into focus.

Frederic Winslow Taylor

The dominant philosophy during this time was that employees would accept rigid standards and
work faster if provided training and more wages. This approach led to Frederic Winslow
Taylor’s scientific management theory that involved time studies in an attempt to establish the
most productive way to undertake a process. This was a step towards job analysis, selection,
training and rewards.

Personnel management gained a more professional role in the aftermath of World War 01 and
the Great Depression of early 1930’s. The demands of wartime production had led to enactment
of several provisions to ensure that issues related to wages or working conditions did not hinder
production. Among the social security measures initiated in the aftermath of the Great
Depression was the Norris-La Guardia Act that made “yellow dog” contacts unenforceable and
the National Labor Relation Act (NLRA) or Wagner Act (1935) that gave employees the right to
form unions and bargain collectively and listed unfair labor practices.

The Human Relations Movement

The movement presents an alternative and opposite approach to scientific management as it

focuses on the individual and not the task. During this moment different theories came into being
regarding motivating employees.

The Hawthorne Studies

Elton Mayo, the father of human relation, had conducted his famous Hawthorne Studies (1924-
1932) and concluded that human factors or non-monetary rewards were more important than
physical factors or monetary rewards in motivating employees. Trade unions now began to
challenge the fairness of Tailors scientific management theories, forcing employers to take a
more behavioral-oriented approach.
Other behavioral approach

1. Abraham Maslow. The Hierarchy of Needs (1943)

Abraham Maslow was a Psychologist who proposed that within every person is hierarchy of five
needs (psychological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs and self actualization
needs). Maslow argued that each level in the needs hierarchy must be substantially satisfied
before the next is activated.

2. Douglas McGregor. Theory X and Theory Y (1960)

Douglas McGregor is best known for proposing two set of assumption about human nature:
Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X is a negative view of people that workers have little ambitions,
dislike works, want to avoid responsibility and need to be closely controlled to work efficiently.
Theory Y is positive that assumes workers can exercise self-direction, accept and actually seek
out responsibility and consider work to be a natural activity. McGregor believed that theory Y
assumptions best captured true nature of workers and should guide management practice.

3. Frederick Herzberg. The Hygiene-motivation Theory (1959)

Frederick Herzberg’s two factor theory suggest intrinsic factors are associated with job
satisfaction, while extrinsic factors are associated with job satisfaction.

Human Resource Movement

After the Korean War, a new class of college-educated managers emerged with a greater sense
of social responsibility than their predecessors. Throughout the second half of the 20th century,
social well-being coupled with upheaval-best exemplified by the struggle for desegregation-
changed the thinking of employees in the United States.

Take care of your human resources like other resources.

As the 1960s and 1970s unfolded, a more personable group of managers emerged and their
interests in people and feeling influenced all facets of business, including the growth of market
research, communications and public relations. This group of mangers emphasized the
relationship between employers and employees rather than scientific management. Programs to
increase wages and fringe benefits continued to be developed. New studies linked greater
productivity to management philosophies that encouraged worker ideas and initiatives.

Change in labor legislations such as the Equal Pay Act (1963), the Civil Rights Act (1964),
Occupational Safety and Health Act (1970), and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act
(1974) manifested. The need to comply with such legislation increased the importance of the
human resource function.
In 1981 Harvard Business School first introduced HRM course and then spread Europe and
other part of the world.

Strategic Human Resource Management (21st Century)

The new business environment in the post cold- War age, combined with the technological
revolution which changed the business ways and workforce management was not immune to the
change. The increase in service industries, the infusion of more and more women into the
workforce and other changes all made obsolete the traditional paradigms of people management.
Employees become the major source of competitive advantage for firms. The human resource
department tries to retain such knowledgeable worker by facilitating conducive work environment,
enriching the work, communication objective clearly, encouraging innovation and many other
behavioral interventions.
In modern business the human resource management is complex and such has resulted in the
formation of human resource department/ division in companies to handle this function. The
human resource function has become wholly integrated part of the total corporate strategy.
The function is diverse and covers many facts including Manpower planning, recruitment and
selection, employee motivation, performance monitoring and appraisal, industrial relations
provision management of employee benefits and employee education, training and development.
By doing complete analysis of the history of we can conclude that HRM has progressed through
the stages of history when people were abused in slave like working conditions to the modern
environment where people are viewed as assets to business and are treated accordingly. During
these stages there occurred many shifts like personnel management to HRM and HRM to SHRM.
The human resource function will have to adapt with the times as staff become more dynamic
and less limited in their roles and bound by a job description. In future being HRM a social
science there will be other shifts in this area.