HR Updates & News

In our recent HR Master-Mind session, a speaker said—

If we wish to change the future, we should learn from our roots!

And that's the trigger point for this edition of our newsletter. In its early days, the HR domain grew in response to various social, political, and economic forces. Let's see how HR evolved as a discipline. And how does this learning help us today!

'Mass Production' was the father of HR Management!

Earlier, most people were engaged in agriculture, or small business units involving a few workers. With mechanisation and mass production in industrial units, factories grew in size, employing thousands of workers.??

And that led to new dynamics in the business world.?

In the early 20th century, Frederick Wilson Taylor introduced the concept of 'Scientific Management.'

His focus was on increasing the productivity of the workers. This approach was so productivity driven that 'humans' became just another factor like a machine. Obviously, they resented it.

The Russian Workers Revolution:

On the other hand, in Russia workers got united and came together as a force against the factory owners. The revolution affected the whole business world. Now, workers were not cogs in the wheel of production. They had a voice. This revolution inspired workforces around the globe.

Modern HR is a response to the interplay of such economic and social factors.?

— In the early phase of industrialisation, business owners were looking for cheap labour and more production. The narrow focus on more output was taking a toll on the well-being of workers.

With a new awareness of their own powers, the workers retaliated.

This led to industrial unrest, trade unions, and strikes.?

— Governments intervened. And laws were enacted for the safety of workers.?

— The companies hired managers especially to take care of these compliances. And 'Personnel Administration' or 'Personnel management' became an integral part of industrial units.

HR has come full circle!

HR started as a response to industrialisation and humans working like machines.?

Early HR managers were compliance managers.

Over the years, businesses understood that happy and safe workers led to better productivity. They went beyond minimum needs of compliance and gave their employees better conditions.?

And the Personnel Management got transformed into Human Resource Management.

Employee experience is in focus now. Well-being of employees, employee engagement and healthy work-culture is a priority in modern organisations.

And the pandemic has shown that companies must be able to change at the drop of a hat. HR has a vital role to play in the future of organisations.

Long back, HR managers started as timekeepers at the factory gate, but now some of them are sitting in the corner office as CEOs!

History's real lesson for us is:

— It's not We VS Them.

— Bottled anguish is bad for business.

— HR must read the pulse of society, recognise trends and technologies. And then create policies which are in tune with the times.

Give employees enough opportunities to express their opinions. Rather, go one step ahead and let them become a partner in business growth.

Create a work culture where employees feel safe, motivated and have a deep belongingness to the organisation.

Some interesting facts shared by Team Opportune:

Charles Babbage?is known as the father of computers. He was also an early evangelist for better working conditions for workers. He wrote books about manufacturing and factory practices, and believed happy workers will lead to better productivity.?

Interestingly, today IT and automation solutions are taking the mundane tasks in organisations. And helping the employees to take more intellectual work. Babbage would be proud of today's computing, as well as work practices.

Military & Its role in the establishment of modern HR:

During the first World War (1914-1918), military generals and political leaders were alarmed to spot unrest and unexpected problems in the army. Taking a leaf from the soldiers' rebellions in the war, leaders spotted the workers' anger as a wider phenomenon and to tackle these challenges, Dr C.S. Myres of Cambridge Psychological Laboratory, founded the National Institute Of Industrial Psychology (NIIP) in 1921.

A parting note:?Many organisations are still trapped in the past!

Many organisations still believe in 'HR as admin and compliance function.'?

These are mostly smaller organisations in the early phase of their business cycle.

To assist them in creating a better HR foundation, we have developed special HR solutions for MSME organisations.?

If you wish to upgrade your HR function, talk to our HR experts through our helpline: 7700954949

Do share your recommendations, insights and thoughts with us:

[email protected]

www.opportuneHR.com

Linkedin:?https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/opportune-technologies-pvt-ltd/