Human Resource Management and workforce - Essay Example

The other roles played by the department was to recruit manpower (ensure sufficient numbers of people are available for production,) Training the staff to improve productivity and, ensuring the safety and health of the employees. Still the preliminary focus was to ensure the implementation of Scientific Management techniques and the major work that used to get done routinely was - time-motion studies, fatigue studies, job analysis, developing job specifications, designing compensation program and occasional welfare programs.

Typical welfare programs addressed the "other" needs of the employees like wash rooms, vacation, lunchrooms, housing, hygiene etc. 3. The initial stage of personnel management was the creation of Welfare Officers, predominantly women, as a reaction towards the hazardous conditions prevalent in the production floors at that time (it is pertinent to re-collect the economies used to revolve around manufacturing and mining in those days,) which was a heavily paternalistic role of the employers towards the women employees. 4. With the unionization of the work-place, formation of unions at work, greatly contributed to the development of "Labour Managers" at work place aimed at managing the industrial relationships.

As the wars changed the industrial relations scenario and strikes were declared illegal, the importance of Industrial Relationships grew by leaps and bounds.4. As the realization of the importance of Human Relations Approach increased and the fact that human productivity is also influenced by various factors like organization setting, motivation, work place conditions, and finally the need to align business goals with the employees needs. Instead of looking at business goals and employee needs being in direct conflict with each other but being mutual and compatible is the foundation on which the modern HRM is based on.

The major factors that influenced the movement from the Personnel Relations to HRM is the movement from collectivism to individualism, as also the radical legislative changes that were undertaken in those times primary one being the banning of sympathetic work striking.Essentially both the principles are fundamentally aimed at improving the employee productivity and thereby boosting the top-lines (then - which meant direct impact on bottom lines) and better value delivery to the stake holders (now.)The difference is that