Friday, November 4, 2011

History and importance of Human Resource Management

History and importance of Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management or the HRM is considered as the heart of any company. For any organization small or large, the employees are the biggest assets.  Some of the important principles of human resource management were found since the prehistoric times.  During 1000 B.C to 2000 B.C, the selection of tribal leaders was based on the knowledge on hunting, health and safety. Later Chinese used the employee screening techniques during 1115 B.C.

Human Resource Management has seen numerous naming from its history, based on its vital function. It was known as “Personnel Relations” then evolved to “ Industrial Relations” , “Employee Relation” and then finally to “Human Resources”.  I think this is the most apt name since it demonstrates the importance of human beings in the organization.  Earlier human resource management was followed as a social welfare approach.  They helped the immigrants to adjust to their jobs and American lifestyle. They assisted the immigrants in learning English and helped to get housing and medical care. These approaches were used to promote supervisory training to ensure an increase in productivity.


After the advent of the labour unions during 1790, the responsibilities of the employees increased tremendously and accelerated at a rapid pace during 1800s and 1900s. This made the HR department more effective. By the end of 1970, the HRM became famous all over the world and most of the large and medium scale industries have a separate department to manage their recruitment, record-keeping, training, employee relations, salaries and wages, etc.  During the 1980’s the importance of Human resources extended to increase the skilled labour, training, regulation, dismissal, etc.   The HR manager plays a vital role in recruiting and dismissing the employees.

In the current trend, the importance of HR has increased in corporate. Their responsibilities have multiplied substantially and they are accountable for converting employees into valuable asset for an organization.