Human Resource Management – History & Importance.

“Human resources are like natural resources; they’re often buried deep. You have to go looking for them; they’re not just lying around on the surface.”

Concept of Human Resource Development

The concept of HRD was formally introduced by Leonard Nadler in 1969, he defines HRD as

“Those learning experiences which are organized for a specific time and designed to bring about the possibility of behavioral change”.

HRD is a framework which contribute in helping employees to improvise their inner skills, work knowledge and capabilities to do assign task. It also helps employers to increase employee's effectiveness to meet business objectives easily. It also helps employers to align their workforce to productivity as per their business needs.

Prehistory

It was 20^th century when the word “Human Resource” was coined. However, the employee selection process was not new, and was being used since centuries.

Even during the prehistoric time, Candidates qualifications were considered carefully before choosing them for any role. It was more depend on knowledge, education which may be transmitted to skill to do a particular job.

Ancient History

Historians have found evidence of employment screening exams It was Great CHANAKYA who contributed it in a written form and issued first appointment letter in form of Job description to Chandragupta Mourya as, what are the duties of a King. Before that it was all verbal or in some part of the work it was written but not particularly in the form of a letter, instead, it was like a rules to follow.

In India we find abundance of evidences from thousands of years back where important employees in King’s court were selected after a particular exam.

In China also, dating back 1115 B.C. The ancient Greeks and Babylonians also created the apprenticeship sort of system, which enabled to train entry-level workers in a particular job. Apprenticeships continued well into the Middle Ages.

The Qin dynasty (221–207 BCE) established their first centralized Chinese-bureaucratic empire and created administrative system to recruit. Recruitment into the Qin bureaucracy was more based on recommendations by local senior officials. This system was adopted by the successor Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE).

The Han emperor Wudi, in 124 BC, established   an imperial university to train and test officials in the techniques of Confucian government.

The Industrial Revolution

In the late 18th century, the world’s economy especially in Europe and America’s, shifted from Agriculture to Manufacturing. Resulting the mechanism to increase production was developed. It also increased and long hours work, fatigues in employees, Employment injuries, occupation diseases etc.  Some employers realized about the correlation between productivity and employee satisfaction, safety & security and attempted to improve the area of training and wages.

Human Relations Movement

During world war- I and as it’s after math, there were huge changes in labor market. The government and employers realized that employees would not contribute to the production& economy if not treated well. A Social scientist Elton Mayo began researching the effect of better working conditions on employees in 1928. No wonder, it was found that the workers under improved conditions produced more. It was also discovered by Mayo that under better conditions, workers worked as a team and generated a higher productivity. He promoted stronger human relations between supervisors and subordinates, which he termed as “the Human Relations movement.”

Human Resources Approach

During 1960’s, employers, managers and researchers realized that only better working condition will not motivate employees to work harder. Resulted, a new theory emerged. Both managers and social researchers concluded that each worker has individual requirement and requires a more focused & personalized form of motivation to perform better. Businesses Houses began treating employees as assets or resources, which needed cultivation and encouragement in order for the business to succeed.

Developing Resources: During 20th century, Managers and employers started focusing on bringing business and individual employee goals together. Upper management gave human resources professionals the responsibility of utilizing the resource at the best to create a more valuable and skilled workforce. This trend has also ensuing in into the 21st century with human resource departments focusing more skill development and training for employees to alien it to business growth.

Current scenario – Off late, many HR authors using term Human resource development to indicate training and development, career development, and organization development as a business investment in the learning of its people as part of an HR Management approach

The concept of Human Resources assumes that human beings are a great asset to an organization. They can contribute a great deal to the achievement of organizational goals. This positive view of people working in the organizations as an asset with unlimited potential is the core of the concept of the human resource system.

HRD is a process of helping people to acquire competencies. HRD is needed by any organization that wants to be dynamic and growth-oriented or to succeed in a fast-changing environment. Organizations can become dynamic and grow only through the efforts and competencies of their human resources.

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Shachindra Nath Pathak