When man started working for others voluntarily to earn his livelihood, the problem of using manpower started from that time itself. The need for human resource management was felt in the 18th and 19th centuries also. But at that time business establishments were small, the complexities of the organization were minimal and the owner himself was capable of arranging every aspect of human resource management. There was informality in personnel relations and the hopes and expectations of the personnel were very limited. The development of human resource management in historical sequence presents an interesting story of its dynamism.
In the real sense, the beginning of human resource management is associated with the beginning of the twentieth century. In the second decade of this century, Mr. Taylor laid the foundation of scientific management. Under scientific management, the responsibility of selection and training of personnel was taken over by load management. The First World War was fought during these days. During the World War, a series of recruitment, selection and tests for the war began and scientific elements were included in it to a great extent. Business management got the impact and benefit of all this. In comparison to the 19th century, the influence of labour organization had started increasing in America and England and the size of business establishments had also started increasing. In comparison to the previous century, complexities had started increasing; yet there was no disparity in the field of human resource management. Till that time hardly anyone would have paid attention to labour welfare.
In the third decade of this century, the burden of human resource management shifted from the business owner to the shoulders of the foreman and the foreman became the center point of all activities in this field. Training, safety, service and salary administration, motivation, performance evaluation etc. started being included in the field of human resource management. During these days, human relations in management also started being discussed but no special attention was paid to this. In India, a human resource officer was appointed in Tata Steel in 1923. This was the first such appointment in any big industry. In foreign countries, employee experts were appointed to assist the foreman.
After the third decade, changes started taking place rapidly in this field. The ideology of human relations gaining universal recognition, the influence of behavioral science on management science, the findings of many experiments coming to light, the world war and the power of labor organizations etc. are some of the major reasons that initiated a revolution in the field of human resource management. For the first time, management experts paid attention to new topics like motivation, job growth, management development. Collective bargaining and labour welfare were given maximum attention. Through labour legislation The government’s interest in this field also became clearly visible. The establishment of public industries in India gave a new turn to human resource management. Like other countries, the government did not remain merely a third party between workers and management, but itself emerged as the biggest employer. But at the same time, inspired by the values and principles of socialism, the government established itself as aAdequate care was also taken of the interests of the workers by presenting them as ideal employers. By the fourth decade of the twentieth century, the human resource management business approach had gained special popularity. As a result, changes in management goals also became visible. Now emphasis was laid on coordination between labor welfare and productivity. Emphasis was laid on rationalizing labor related laws.
21st century human resourcesThe challenge for the management is being considered equal. The responsibilities of human resource management are multidimensional. Their area has also increased with time. Problems like improvement in working environment, openness in communication, balance between worker productivity and worker welfare, effective use of ever-changing technologies and prevention of worker dissatisfaction are looming large. The solution requires conscious management.