On Personnel Management - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages Traditionally, there was no clearly organized personnel management as most trades were carried out by individuals and their families (Koster, 2002). As time progressed and industries established, it became necessary to find innovative ways of managing human resources in order to achieve business success hence the introduction of personnel management which evolved into HRM and other concepts such as strategic HRM and international HRM. In view of this, the paper will discuss the history, development and the importance of HRM. History and Development of Human Resource Management Personnel management can be traced back to the time of Hammurabi, the king of Babylon who developed a code of laws that set wages for labourers (Bach & Sisson, 2000). Other aspects of personnel management were found in the way the craftsmen handled their trades and passed on skills to apprentices. There were no special people to oversee the work of others but each individual was responsible for his/her own work. However, as technology advanced the nature of work changed and also the manner in which work was managed. Most craftspeople started organizing into guilds to guard their trade from intruders and take care of the welfare of each other such as providing mutual insurance for those in need of assistance (Ivancerich, 2006). The industrial revolution which began in the middle of the 18 Th century changed the face of working relationship completely and prompted the search for ways of managing workers. It led to introduction of the factory system and wage labour instead of workers utilizing their skills to make items for sale on their own. They also started specializing in tasks as opposed to old system where one performed a range of tasks to complete an item hence interdependence of tasks (Koster, 2002). The nature of the factory system required rules to govern the behaviour of employees and to ensure they produced results hence the beginning of personnel management. The conditions under which individuals worked also changed in that they now worked in factories for long hours and low pay leading to dissatisfaction among workers and pressure for collaboration among workers to fight for their rights. Dissatisfied workers cannot be effective in producing the required output by factories. As such, people like Frederick Winslow Taylor began searching for new ways of managing workers so as to improve productivity and efficiency thus the introduction of scientific management (Koster, 2002). This involved analysing tasks and determining the skills needed for each task then selecting individuals to perform those tasks. However, individuals were trained on how to perform the tasks so as to improve efficiency unlike traditionally where each worker was responsible for developing his own skills. In this system, managers performed tasks which they felt they could perform effectively and left the rest to the workers but under close supervision. According to Bratton & Gold (2001), the scientific management laid the foundation for personnel management as work was performed according to principles; there was division of labour and concern about the welfare of the employees. Though scientific management was concerned with workers welfare, the industrial welfare movement was instrumental in the development of personnel management. The movement advocated for improvements in working conditions by ensuring reduction ...Download file to see next pagesRead More