Stages in the development of HRM

Stages in the development of human resources management in countries such as Australia and Asia Pacific Region have evolved in similar patterns to that of USA and UK, with differences in the stages of developments and relative impact of social, economic, political and industrial relations elements. In the USA development of HRM the early emphasis is based on administrative activities, directed by senior management (Chukwunonso, 2013).  

Academics suggest that later there was a more confident move towards business oriented and professional approach towards 1980’s and 1990’s. In the UK however there was more early emphasis on the welfare roles of personnel practitioners cause due to high early capitalist industry, strong humanitarian movement and development of trade unions. 

In Asia, it is a blend of administrative, paternalistic, cooperative, and business-focused HRM that varies between countries depending on their cultures, stages of development, extent of government intervention in the economy and industrial relations systems (Nankervis, Chatterjee & Coffey, 2011).

Australia show, HRM developed through the following general stages. a) Stage one (1900–1940s): administration stage b) Stage two (1940s–mid-1970s): welfare and administration stage c) Stage three (mid-1970s–late 1990s): human resource management and strategic human resource management (SHRM) stage d) Stage four (Beyond 2000): SHRM into the future

Contemporary Human Resource Management (HRM) show a radically different image from its ancestor, Personnel Management (PM). The main differences between HRM and PM are shown in the table below:

Differences between Personnel Management and Human Resource Management

Element	Personnel Management	Human Resource Management
Tine and Planning Span	Short term oriented, reactive, unplanned, marginal	Long term, proactive, strategic, integrated
Employer /Employee Relations	Compliance Pluralist, collective, low trust	Commitment Unitarist, individual, high trust
Preferred structure/system	Bureaucratic/mechanistic, centralized, formal/defined roles	Organic, devolved, flexible roles
Roles	Specialized/professional	Largely integrated into line management
Evaluation	Cost minimization	Maximum utilization (human asset accounting)

Source: Adapted from Guest, (1987)  ‘Human Resource and Industrial Relations’, Journal of Management Studies, 24 May, p. 507.

However today, HRM functions, roles and profession has majorly changed. Scholars suggest that Work, Workforce and Work place has changed due to various reasons such as technology change and globalization of firms (Megatrends, 2013).

 Other scholars are of the view that HRM evolution can be viewed from four stages they are 1. The Industrial Era of HR, 2. Post FLSA Era refereeing to the fair labor Standards Act of 1938 in reference to USA, 3. 21^st Century HR, and 4. Information Age of HR (Davoren, 2018) This will be discussed in the next blog. 

References:

1. Davoren, J. (2018) "The Four Main Stages of How HR Has Evolved Over the Years." Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/four-main-stages-hr-evolved-over-years-63019.html.

2. Megatrends (2013) the trends shaping work and work lives, CIPD Megatrends. CIPD UK.

3. Guest, D.E., (1987) Human Resource Management And Industrial Relation. Journal of Management Studies.

4. Chukwunonso, F., (2013). The Development Of Human Resource Management From A Historical Perspective And Its Implications For The Human Resource Manager. in Strategic Human Resource Management at Tertiary Level. Rivers Publisher. 87-101.

5. Nankervis, A., Compton, R., Baird, M., and Coffey, J., (2011),  Human Resource Management: Strategy and Practice, 7th Edition  Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited.