The History of Human Resources Management Research Paper

The History of Human Resources Management - Research Paper Example Industrial relations and organizational behavior are much the same paving the way for HRM as the ideal management model responsive to the pressures of intensive competitive forces. By definition, HRM simply refers to a system of operational management designed to ensure effective and efficient use of human talents in accomplishing organizational objectives (Mathis & Jackson, 2007). The function of HRM in the business enterprise has a long history, with roots right in the rise of modern industry in the nineteenth century. This article endeavors to put into perspective the history and development of the subject matter at hand, providing in part its progressive nature into the modern status. The Genesis and Early Development of HRM A generic thought that involves the management of labor services in production, human resource management (HRM) has its origin in the establishment of formal enterprises during the course of human history. Though recent in its use within the academic circles and/or in industrial developments [barely two decades old], the ideas engendered in "human resource management" are old and goes back to the dawn of human history. It [human resource management] has, thus, only undergone social and economic makeovers from earlier forms of administration through history, necessitating name changes a couple of times to accommodate the various productivity optimization add-ons. HRM as practiced today has two distinct antecedents: the emergence of industrial welfare in the 1800s and the creation of separate recruitment and selection offices/departments in the 1900s. The 1800s, particularly in the 1830s onwards, quite a number of companies begun the provision of various workplace and family amenities that included medical cover, housing, libraries , recreational programs, among other free services deemed important for effective and efficient production (Gospel, 1992). The inclusion of these extra services, reportedly pioneered by the German industries, f requently called for the creation of temporary departments hitherto known as welfare departments out of humanitarian concerns. From temporary positions created out of necessity to handle immediate tasks regarding employees’ wellbeing, separate employment offices, often staffed by one or a limited number of lower-level clerks, emerged to centralize and standardize functions such as recruitments and the general record-keeping of employee-related issues. The enactment of civil service legislations across Europe solidified the importance of employment departments, contributing to phasing out of the temporary nature of these departments into permanent offices. Farnham (1921) report of a German steel company Krupp having had an established Personnelburo as an independent office handling staff related functions since the late 1800s. As similar bureaus became widespread, the term ‘employment management’ quickly became the accepted description of the new management functi on with wide cross border managerial support. Routing employment management to HRM as ordered today was the emergence of the doctrine of scientific management (SM) authored