The birth of human resource management (HRM)

Before human resource management the closest comparable function was the personnel department. Personnel managers and their departments were mostly responsible for recruitment, remuneration, leave administration and disciplinary matters. People development was seen to be the domain of the training manager not the personnel manager.

Whilst human resource management may have its roots in personnel management its orientation is consistent with other recent management methods, for example, often human resource management sits at the heart of initiatives such as culture change, total quality management and business process re-engineering. All these initiatives have their own separate objectives but each have some processes and objectives in common with human resource management.

Today the true worth of human resource management is becoming more widely understood as human resource management steadily interweaves all aspects of people management and development.

The philosophy of human resource management is based on the simple belief that human resources are the most important asset in achieving and sustained business success. This realisation became the driving force behind the creation of human resource management resulting in organisations taking a strategic approach to the management of their people. In this way human resource management linked the human resource asset to the achievement of business objectives. Since this conceptual realisation human resource management has become increasingly influential in the way it fashions and then implements corporate strategy.

To deliver high organisational performance human resource management practices have to be connected to corporate strategy. The existence of a personnel director (or similar) is a good indicator that human resource management decisions are now being taken into account in major corporate strategic decisions. However, it is often difficult to establish effective human resource management processes, systems, knowledge and skills at local levels if the organisation is large and diversified. Yet in highly competitive environments, and escalating change, the effective management and motivation of employees will be vital for future survival and success. human resource management therefore is becoming an unstoppable driving force, or would be if managers in turbulent environments prioritised human resource management issues.