Personnel management's evolution into modern human resources

Personnel Management's Evolution Into Human Resources

Personnel Management, now called Human Resources, in most organizations, is no longer just about orienting newly hired employees to company payroll procedures and issuing curt dismissals in the form of standardized letters to fired workers. "The HRM function and HRD profession have undergone tremendous change over the past 20-30 years. Many years ago, large organizations looked to the 'Personnel Department,' mostly to manage the paperwork around hiring and paying people. More recently, organizations consider the 'HR Department' as playing a major role in staffing, training and helping to manage people so that people and the organization are performing at maximum capability in a highly fulfilling manner." (McNamara, 1999)

The increasing complexity of most progressive and evolving organization's internal staffing needs have resulted in HR taking on a an active and decisive role in the hiring process, as more qualified workers compete for more highly specialized job descriptions. The external forces that have resulted in the globalization of the workplace have also resulted in the need and the opportunity for HR to recruit from employment pools all over the country and the world.

In terms of training and development, from within the company, the constant advances of new technology into the daily life of all workers mean that training of all workers' skills must be an ongoing process, particularly after promotions. In terms of personal development, workers may seek additional training in conflict management skills to become better negotiators and more able administrators. External forces from outside the organization, such as globalization, ensure HR staff must keep abreast of how diversity amongst employees may lead to conflict and a need for more culturally sensitive forms of negotiation.

Motivation through the psychological insight of HR counselors, about creating high performance workplace teams is also helpful and necessary, in terms of creating the right staffing balance. Externally, the workplace has also changed in terms of the increasingly delicate balance between home and work time. Now, employees may work more hours on the job, yet make more use of from-home commuting such as telecommuting through the Internet and video conferencing. Dealing with the inevitable stresses of this schedule is part of HR's job as a counselor as well as an effective motivator.