Evolution of Human Resource Management
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Items Description of Module Subject Name Management Paper Name HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Module Title EVOLUTION OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Module ID Module 2 Pre-Requisites Understanding the Evolution of Human Resource Management Objectives To study the Evolution of Human Resource Management Keywords Hawthorne Studies, Scientific Management, Human Relations QUADRANT –I 1. Module : 2; EVOLUTION OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 2. Learning Outcome 3. Evolution of Human Resource Management 4. Future of Human Resource Management Summary 1. Module : 2: Evolution of Human Resource Management 2. Learning Outcomes After studying this module, you shall be able to . Know the evolution of Human Resource Management . Understand the Industrial Revolution and the Factory system . Comprehend the impact of Hawthorne Studies on HRM . Understand the significance of Scientific Management . Become aware of the Human Relations Movement . Know the nature of Human Resource Management . Understand the value of Strategic Human Resource Management . Become aware of the future of Human Resource Management 3. Introduction The field of Human Resource Management as it is today has passed through several stages of evolution. The industrial revolution from the late of 18th century to the second half of the 20th century wholly changed the way people earned their living and replaced human effort and skill by the work of machine. The Hawthorne studies emphasized the importance of informal groups in increasing the productivity. The Scientific Management represented a new attitude towards management and contributed greatly to the formalization and specialization of management based on clearly defined laws, rules and principles. Human relations movement and employee motivation strengthened the process of employees’ need identification and motivation. During this period, behavioral scientists and management practitioners investigated the concepts like job enrichment and job enlargement to enhance workers’ commitment and reduce job boredom. The Human Resource Approach assumed that the job itself is the basic source of satisfaction and motivation to employees. The human resource approach emphasized on the individual involvement in the decisions made in the organization and considered the employees as the invaluable resources for the organization. The challenges today for HR managers are in the recognition of talent and nourish it with care to achieve significant gains in productivity over a period of time. The organization is nothing without skilled workers. 4. The Evolution of Human Resource Management The evolution of human resource system went through the following phases: 4 (Source: HRdicionaryblog.com) 4.1 Industrial Revolution and the Factory System Before the industrial revolution, the first HRM initiative was taken in England when workers of different trades formed guilds and used their unity to improve their work conditions and increase their bargaining power. The industrial revolution took place in different countries from the late of 18th century to the second half of the 20th century. Industrialization wholly changed the way people earned their living and replaced human effort and skill by the work of machine. The industrial revolution brought with it the ’factory’ system, an organization, based on wage labor and fixed capital, created centralized workplaces and brought unrelated people together. Factories increased the production to a large extent and created a new class of workers and managers. The factory system carried with it several changes in the organization of industry: Put out the self-employment household and handicraft workers Brought together many workers with no ownership of means of production and no other way to earn a living Created rationalization and specialization of work The necessity of supervising large number of workers Autocratic Personnel practices Labor was considered a commodity Aimed to maximize the employer’s profits Focused upon materials, markets and production Totally neglected human factor The factory owner delegated responsibility of management to the first line supervisor who was made responsible for control of workers and successfully running the factory by the use of force and fear. During the industrial revolution the major HR issues were working conditions and social patterns of behavior of employees. However, the responses of nations and organizations were different in addressing those problems. For instance, an HR policy in the form of a code of discipline was introduced in Britain just to set up a standard behavior among the untrained workers. Later, employers in some countries voluntarily introduced labor welfare measures out of their own self-interest and humanity. Companies like Cadbury and Rowntree employed industrial welfare workers to take care the welfare of employees. Thus the growth of HRM was uneven for all time and all nations 4.2 The Hawthorne Studies (1927-2932) The Hawthorne plant in Chicago of Western Electric Company conducted a number of similar experiments for about 12 years from 1927 by a team under the leadership of Elton Mayo, a Harvard Business School Professor. In the beginning the researchers attempted to investigate the impact of level of illumination on the job performance. The researchers noticed that the factors outside the job were affecting the work performance. They later performed various controlled experiments. In fact, the presence of informal groups in the organization had the influence on the employees’ behavior and productivity. A group of employees worked under different degrees of illumination. Production increased as the illumination was increased to a certain point, after which it became stable. However, when the illumination intensity was decreased, job performance stayed at the same level, even when light became equal in intensity to ordinary moonlight. Later, investigation of this phenomenon found the norm of a proper day’s work and continued to perform at that level even when conditions were not conducive. The researchers ultimately came to the conclusion that the collective decision of the members of the informal groups and not just pay and perks the formal organization offered, influenced the performance of workers. This revelation made organizations to have a closer look at the social factors that influenced the employees’ behavior. This conclusion greatly influenced the attitude and approach of HRM thinkers and practitioners towards the employees. From this time, firms realized the significance of informal groups in the organizations. This helped in the recognition of unions as the representative of employees. 4.3 Scientific Management Scientific management proved to be further stride to deal with labor and management inefficiencies through reorganization of production process and removal of unreasonable elements of work. Welfare work made efforts to deal with labor issues by improving conditions of work. Industrial psychology applied psychological principles for increasing the efficiency of industrial workers. F.W. Taylor, originator of scientific management, was concerned with worker inefficiency and the need for managers to acquire the co-operative achievement of the employees. Taylor the elements of jobs, removing unnecessary motions and timing in the tasks, aimed to discover the method and the least time a worker could perform a particular task. Time and motion studies got in the center of scientific management and represented a way of precisely fixing the amount of work a man could do. Scientific management is an analysis based on scientific systems and breakdown of work into tiny mechanical elements and to arrange them again into their most efficient combination. Taylor suggested that employees selected to perform the tasks should be as fully matched, physically and mentally, to the needs of the task as possible and that overqualified persons should be excluded. Supervisors should train employees fully to ensure that they perform the task minutely as specified by prior scientific analysis. A Taylor advocated for a differential piece rate system to provide an incentive for to employees to observe the detailed procedures supervisors specified. Taylor declared that SM constituted a drastic change in the attitude of workers and managers. He summed up that scientific management consists of science, harmony, cooperation and maximum output. SM demonstrated a fresh attitude towards management. Taylor argued that management is a true science based on clearly defined laws, rules and principles. Despite its contributions, scientific management had its limitations: It had an undue engineering bias for the job to the neglect of the worker and looked upon worker as a cog in the machine who could adapt to the job and saw no need to incorporate human factors in its system. The scientific management considered the worker as complete economic man motivated to maximize his economic gain to the neglect of the basic social and psychological motives of employees. The scientific management turned to be a form of industrial autocracy and control by management over the workers. Management did all the planning of work and workers had to accede. 4.4 Human Relations Movement Human relations movement and employee motivation gathered momentum during this period. Several theories underlining the importance of human relations movement were developed during this period. For instance, Theory X and Theory Y of Douglas McGregor advocated the significance of participative approach