History of Human Resources Management

1. Ancient China/ Great Britain 20th Century

2. Evolution of the Personnel Management

3. Early Human Resource management

4. Advanced Human Resource Management

The history of Human Resources Management did not begin at the moment
when Dave Ulrich published his first book about Human Resources. He
discovered the importance of Human Resources Management for successful
organizations but the people management was crucial even in ancient China. The
HR history is about the evolution of first communes and growth of first ancient
societies.

The army was the first driver of innovations. A nation without a strong
army was overtaken by neighbors, and it just made an importance of a strong
army visible to each citizen. A successful command requires strong, brave and
smart leaders who engage and share a vision of the victory. It designed and
developed first procedures for the outstanding selection of new hires and leaders.
It had resources to invest in innovations. The first successful HR practices in the
history can be found in ancient armies. They required a good work organization
of jobs and tasks, even they used the workforce with no education and knowledge.

Italian Machiavelli (the author of The Emperor and other books) was not
writing just about the art of the power. He was writing about managing all kinds
of resources including the people, reward and recognition and various leadership
styles. He was clearly splitting roles in the society; securing the position of the
emperor. That is a book about Human Resources Management. However, most
recommended practices would not be allowed and preferred today. He has to be
mentioned in the HR Management history.

We tend to recognize just the modern Human Resources Management as

the best competitive businesses practice it today. However, we ignore the long
list of successful organizations from the history. Many successful companies had
been running impressive leadership development procedures to protect its future
(and they were able to do so for centuries). Nowadays, we know that a strong
respected and widely recognized HR Organization makes a difference. It can
create a great company that wins the market wars. The modern Human Resources
Management is a business function, which manages, leads, facilitates and
provides tools for the human capital management in the enterprise.

A modern contemporary HR Organization designs and develops strategic

processes and procedures; it runs difficult and complex communication
campaigns as the organization attracts the best talents from the job market; it
retains them with the attractive compensation packages, or it develops them in
talent development programs. On the other hand, the British Honorable East India
Corporation was running complicated procedures to identify new leaders who
could conquer and lead business opportunities in new areas. It just followed
inventions and innovations introduced by the British Navy in the 16th century.

The modern history of Human Resources as we know it starts with the

British Industrial Revolution. The foundation of large factories increased a
demand for the workforce significantly. It was in the 18th century, and it is the
moment when the evolution of new people management practices begins. It is the
important landmark in the history of Human Resources. The rapid development
of new industrial approaches and new inventions to work changed the world
dramatically. The quick and cheap production became a priority for many
industries.
 The factories hired thousands of workers, who worked up to 16 hours a
day. Soon, many entrepreneurs discovered the fact that the satisfaction of
employees influences the performance and productivity. Satisfied employees
were more efficient than the rest of the workforce, and they can produce more
products than depressed employees. As a result, many factories started to
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introduce voluntary programs for employees to increase their comfort and
satisfaction. Moreover, the government began to intervene to introduce some
fundamental human rights and the work safety legislation. กฎหมาย แรงงาน

The second rapid development of Human Resources started at the

beginning of the 20th century. Most organizations launched the Personnel
Management (more on Personnel Management). The personnel department had
large responsibilities however it was still a service department. It was dealing
with all employee related issues, and it was responsible for the full compliance
with the newly introduced law requirements.

It had the responsibility for the implementation of different social and

workplace safety programs. Everything was focused on the productivity of
employees. The regular productivity increments were the key measure for the
management of employees. The significant change was introduced after the 2nd
World War because armies developed many training programs for new soldiers.
After the Second World War, the Training Department became a widely
recognized and respected unit in the Personnel Management Department.
สหภาพ แรงงาน

Moreover, the trade unions evolved almost at the same moment as the
Personnel Management. The trade unions changed the rules of the game. So far
The trade unions
we are not sure about the positive impact of trade unions. However, they played
a significant role in improving the role of employees in the organization. The
employer got a reliable partner to discuss with. Trade unions introduced many
improvements at no significant costs for the business. Today, trade unions are not
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 as strong as they were used to be, but many organizations still benefit or suffer
from a strong presence of trade unions in their factories.

The introduction of the HR Management has begun in 70's of the 20th

century (more on Early HR Management). New technologies allowed the growth
of large multinational organizations; that was the moment when the new wave of
globalization has begun. The Personnel Departments turned into Human
Resources Departments. They started to manage processes and procedures around
แรงงาน าม ชา
the globalized workforce. From that times, most HR Functions are running
complex HRIS solutions, which make information about employees available
anywhere and anytime to HR Professionals. * คน เ นท พ น ของ อง กร *

The second significant change in the history of the HR Management was

the introduction of the HR Business Partnering Model (more on Advanced HR
Management, HR Roles and Responsibilities and HR Model). The demand of the
organizations changed dramatically as economies of the wealthy western
countries shifted towards the services economies. The role of Human Resources
has changed significantly because the Leadership Development and Succession
Planning became crucial processes securing the future of the business. Also, the
quality of provided HR services became the significant competitive advantage.

Nowadays, managers and leaders have to think globally; they have to

understand employees coming from completely different cultural backgrounds.
They have to manage the global corporate culture. They have to find values that
energize employees around the Globe.

The corporate culture cannot be country specific anymore; it has to reflect

employees with many nationalities work for the organization. This is a fantastic
opportunity for Human Resources. However, it is also a pressure. The
International HR Management drives global HR processes and procedures in
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different countries. It has to make sure that they produce similar and comparable
results.

The future of Human Resources is full of new challenges (more on Future

of Human Resources). The globalization will continue; even local businesses will
hire new talents from other continents. The shortage of skilled employees will
push Human Resources to introduce global recruitment policies and practices.
The international relocation of employees will become a standard HR service.
The organizations become less country specific, and they cannot identify
themselves with one country. The lose their face, and Human Resources has to
help to identify and introduce the new corporate culture.

Tablets and smartphones change the way we work. They will bring a new
wave of changes in Human Resources, as well. Leaders and managers can access
data about the organization anywhere, and HR Big Data will become the next big
topic. Human Resources collect many pieces of information about employees,
and it has to connect its data with other departments.

The commute working is quite a standard today, but it will become a norm.
The technology will connect employees as they would sit in the next cubicle. On
the other hand, it will create another pressure on Human Resources. New
assimilation procedures will be required. The networking will be still important
for the successful career. The future of Human Resources will be about new
networking methods and processes how to make commute employees know each
other.

Today, Human Resources runs many processes, which are crucial for the
modern organization. We cannot believe that the successful business could exist
without the Recruitment and Staffing, Compensation and Benefits, Training and
Development or the Leadership Development. However, the story of Human
Resources Management has started in ancient China. In the past the companies
and nations did not use many the HR value added processes; they used just
procedures they needed to be successful.

The story of the modern Human Resources started as evidence of all

employees. It dealt with issues and requests. Later, the negotiations with Trade
Unions were added as a strategic relationship of the organization. Over time,
Human Resources evolved into a strategic business partner, and it makes the HR
Management History fascinating.

The evolution and background of HR Management

1. Ancient China/ Great Britain 20th Century

It is a paradox of the human history that best things evolve as the

requirement of the army or the sophisticated state administration. The history of
the modern Human Resources Management is not a deviation from this general
rule of the human history. However, the HRM background is older than expected.
Army and navy were the first users of advanced techniques to develop their staff.
They defined required standard, and they made successful career paths. They
were built around the strong leadership. Just compare it to today´s HR
Management. The background of Human Resources is an interesting case study.
The effort to develop the staff was driven by high investments into weapons and
ships. The investment into tools was so significant that the additional investment
to staff was an efficient investment of money. The motivation was the same as
we use HR Management today. The organizations and states of old days wanted
to build a competitive advantage. They needed to protect their interests. The
specialized, trained and skilled workforce was a part of the success. We can find
several examples of the successful HR Management in the history of the modern
civilization.

Sparta was one of the most-successful cities in the ancient Greece. It was
not just a city; it was a leading city for the large part of ancient Greece. It was a
military society and state that designed the unique system of the development of
male citizens as soldiers. Ancient Athens valued the philosophy, art and
education. Sparta was focused purely on wars, and it protected the entire ancient
Greece from other nations.

Sparta built the modern and highly efficient army that was one of the best
armies in the ancient world. All males were trained and highly motivated to join
the army and protect the interests of Sparta with the weapon in the hand. Sparta
developed a unique development system for young boys and they shared a
common vision and mission.

Sparta developed a system of the sophisticated development of available

Human Resources. Each male was trained to be a soldier and shared the same
vision. The entire society valued successful soldiers. The education started during
the childhood, but it continued as an adult education. It was a highly efficient
Human Resources Management. With limited resources, one small city was able
to command most of the Greece and defeat Persians.

In ancient China, the emperors recognized the importance of an effective

management. They required officials and officers that were able to administer the
country effectively and based on rules given by the central government. They
were expected to understand to the law, able to read and govern the country in
the name of the emperor.

China designed the first recruitment process in the human history. The
government defined the key requirements, skills and competencies of the public
officer. The state followed a simple recruitment procedure to identify the best
talents among candidates. The education and development procedures were in
place to govern the country effectively. It was one of the best tools to manage the
satisfaction of citizens.

Each advanced society recognized the importance of the education and

development system. It recognized how valuable human capital is. They were
ruling the world, not because of weapons, but they managed their human capital
effectively. These two societies were running expensive systems, but they were
effective and they outperformed their neighbors. These are two examples that a
good HR Management system evolved even in the past.

HR Management’s Early Stages

For centuries, the agriculture was the leading economic sector. The
factories did not exist. The people were not free, and they could make a free
choice of their career. The word career did not exist as well. The industrial
revolution changed the history of humans and nations. The mass production
allowed the significant decrease of prices. The people gained some freedom.
Human Resources did not exist at the moment, but the new factories required
people, who could take care of the workforce. Some basic management principles
started to evolve. The work had to be organized.

The first HR practices and the basic HR processes can be found in ancient
China. The Chinese government introduced first rules and procedures for the
selection of the government employees. The rules were straightforward, but they
were working well for the ancient society. HR had evolved before ancient Rome
was ruling the known world.

However, the real revolution started with factories, which employed

thousands of employees. Wages were extremely low, and the labor force was
cheap. The managers and owners simplified the production and steps in
production to reduce the induction time of the new worker. The working
conditions were terrible. The work and safety was non-existent.

The large factories and industrialization were the foundation of the basic
management of Human Resources. The people were cheap, and they were easy
to replace. They were far cheaper than the machinery in the factory. The usual
length of the working day was from 12 to 16 hours, at least 6 times a week. The
wage was low and allowed to fulfill just the basic needs of the worker. The
specialized function was not a basic requirement of the quickly growing factory.
The salaries were low, and the calculation of salaries was easy. The only worked
hours were paid; no overtimes or other salary items existed.

Many factory owners used fear as the main motivational tool. The factory
was hiring tremendous numbers of new employees, and it fired everyone, who
was a troublemaker. No complaints were allowed. The employees were not
motivated positively; they were motivated to avoid certain behaviors.

In the second phase of the industrialization, the government stepped in the

process. The basic health and safety laws were introduced. The factories had to
introduce basic safety standards for employees. The working hours were
shortened and employees got a right to have a break during the day.

The smart factory owners noticed the positive effects of the employees’
satisfaction on the productivity and performance. They noticed first signs of the
potential competitive advantage. The smart factories started to introduce the new
social programs for employees. The factories started to contribute to social life
and started to support communities essential for workers.

Human Resources of the modern age begun as the social care of the
employer. The factory invested into social programs, because the programs had a
positive return in the productivity. The roots of Human Resources are purely
economic.
 Early HR Management in 70s and 80s of 20th Century

The developed world continued its phenomenal economic growth in 60s

and 70s of the 20th century. Organizations required large amounts of skilled and
experienced employees; the employment relationship changed its balance as
employees gained their vote and power in negotiating with employers. It was the
moment when the personnel management started to evolve into early HR
Management. The commitment and loyalty were the words, which spread quickly
among managers and leaders of organizations. The early HR Management was
born in 70s in the USA. It was the moment when employees became the most
important asset of the company, not just a cost item on the balance sheet.

The loyalty of employees to employers decreased in 70s, because workers

realized they had a wide range of employment opportunities. They stopped
valuing the long term employment and loyalty with the organization, which offers
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too little in return. Turnover and lack of know how began to be a serious topic for
the top management discussions.

Organizations expanded and strengthened the role of the personnel

management department (see more about the personnel management) because it
was the department that was tasked to find answers to the decreasing loyalty of
employees. The personnel management became scientific and based on previous
researches of the organizational behavior.

The new HR Department was tasked to find strategic and tactical answers
so that the loyalty of employees increases again. The decisive answer was in the
commitment of employees. The HR Department introduced new HR processes
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and policies, which were aimed to increase the commitment and motivation of
employees.
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 The beginning of the HR Management is connected with the massive
การ ประเ น การ วางแผน สาย อา พ
introduction of the performance management and career planning. Prior the
introduction of the HR Management the succession planning was purely based
on observations of line managers. From this moment, the practice changed, and
employees were asked what kind of the job they wish in the organization.

The performance management was a real revolution in 70s and 80s. Most
organizations were not interested in providing consistent and formal feedback to
employees about their performance before the introduction of performance
appraisals. The best practice spread quickly over the market, and largest
companies introduced the customized performance evaluations and other related
processes by mid-80s.

The introduction of the performance management had a significant impact

on productivity of employees. The ambitious employees got a chance to highlight
wish to be promoted and the path leading to promotion was drafted to them. It
was the first version of the succession planning. Employees valued the
opportunity to express their plans and agreeing next steps with managers.

The training and development processes were significantly improved

because HR Department was able to utilize information gathered during
performance appraisals. HR was able to react to demands of employees and
managers. Training courses became one of the best motivators for employees as
the demand was enormous, but the offer was made just to the best ones.

Employees in HR Department started to specialize to cover different HR

agendas. The training and development became an independent agenda in Human
Resources, followed by resourcing including recruitment and staffing. The
specialization of HR jobs had a positive impact on professionalism of provided
HR services to managers and employees. Additionally, the career in Human
Resources became a good option for many fresh graduates.
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 As the scope of Human Resources enlarged new HR Management policies
were introduced. The management of employees became more strict, and
managers were forced to follow same policies and principles. The equal and fair
approach in the organization became a required standard.

The introduction of HR Management was a significant change for

organizations, managers and employees. The people were recognized as the most
important ingredient of the success. They were identified as the source of a
competitive advantage and the people segment was not missing in any successful
business strategy from that moment.