Human Resources Management became one of the business management functions, designed to help organizations in maximizing employees’ performance for maximum results, which, in return leads to net profits. This happens according to the process followed in the organization; starting from recruitment, selection, training, etc, to the industrial steps that lead to a unique product or outcome.
Background:-
After the recession and during the industrial revolution in USA and other countries in 18th century, they started to take more care of the employees and workers. That kind of perspective became, within days, a science called Human Resources Management. (Now they call it Human Capital Management). The function of that science is to manage, lead, organize, facilitate, design road map, create and provide tools to any organization, like:-
- NGOs
- Factories
- Industries (services, manufacturing, quaternary)
- Government facilities
- Stock Market
- Etc
Developments According to the History:-
The First Development:
In 18th century, rapid development and the industrial revolution’s approach to work changed the world industry map dramatically. Cheap products became more desirable for lots of industries; thousands of workers were hired and worked up to 16 hours daily. Surely that created an unsatisfied environment between employees and workers. Based on that, many entrepreneurs discovered that how effective workers are comes from their satisfaction and thus are able to produce more than depressed ones. Therefore, many promising factories started voluntary programs to correct their mistake and increase their workers’ comfort and satisfaction.
HR always sets the strategic plan and procedures, besides running difficult and complex campaigns, allowing the organization to target and attract talents and the best candidates from the job market. Human Resources always run so many processes which are crucial for organizations nowadays. We cannot imagine any company, whether small or expanded, to run its daily work without human resources; without recruitment, selection, training, performance evaluation and so much more. Also, the government started to intervene to introduce some basic human rights and work safety legislation.
The Second Development:
The next development occurred during the 20th century, when most of the organizations introduced a new level of “personnel management”. That department had heavy responsibilities in dealing with issues, introducing the new law requirements, and implementing different social and work safety programs that lead to increasing workers’ productivity. Those programs came from the world war when the military developed programs for the soldiers involved in the war. Afterwards, those programs became part of the “personnel management”.
We can say that in this period, workers’ rights came to the surface in the form of trade unions, which changed the whole game. Since then, workers found a strong partner supporting them all the way with no significant cost. That was in the past, but now, the unions started to become less effective. However, some organizations either still get benefits or suffer from the unions that work internally.
HR Era:-
During the 1970’s, when technology became more advanced and globalization reigned, the game changed for the second time. HR functions worked on HRIS complex solutions which made employees’ information available anytime and anywhere to the managers and HR professionals.
The economy of the wealthy western countries shifted towards the services economy. The quality of services became the crucial competitive advantage. HR became necessary because the structure of the workforce changed. Leadership development was the right answer.
Managers and leaders have to think global today; they have to understand different cultural backgrounds. The corporate culture cannot be country specific; it has to reflect the many nations working for the organization. This is a fantastic opportunity for Human Resources. Human Resources Management is global today. The global HR policies drive processes in different countries, but the processes produce comparable results. The employees are also able to relocate from country to country.
The future of Human Resources is bright. Globalization cannot be stopped because nations collaborate. Organizations become less country specific, and they cannot identify themselves with one country.
By: Mohamed Shouman
EDITOR: Mennat-Allah Yasser Zohny