Evolution of Human Resource Management in India!
In Western countries Human Resource Management (HRM) had its primitive beginning in 1930s. Not much thought was given on this subject in particular and no written records or document existed on this subject even as a philosophy in the Western ancient literature.
The philosophy of managing human being, as a concept was found developed in ancient literatures in general in Indian philosophy in particular.
In the ancient times, the labourers were looked down upon. It was considered menial to work for a livelihood. But gradually the factory system came into existence and later industrialisation followed by urbanisation.
This led to a greater emphasis on’ labour management’. Earlier it was known as ‘Personnel Management’, then ‘Human Resource Management’ and in recent times as ‘ Human Resource Development’.
In ‘Personnel Management’, the employees were treated as mere labourers who required constant supervision. The human element was not given due importance. Later Elton Mayo’s “Hawathorne Experiments’ gave rise to “Human Resource Management’. Here the ‘Human element’ was emphasized.
The workers were treated not merely as “cogs in the machine” but as human beings, as individuals and as a social being. In HRM, the main aim was to encourage and motivate the employees to identify their capabilities and use them efficiently.
But the buzz word today is ‘Human Resource Development’. Unlike HRM, here the main objective is not just identifying an individual employee’s existing potentials but also those capabilities innate in him. HRD aims at bringing out the hidden potentials of an employee and help him develop as an individual.
The evolution of HRM in India can be shown briefly in the following Table.
Table: Evolution of HRM in India:
|
Period |
Development Status |
Outlook |
Emphasis |
Status |
|
1920s to1930s |
Beginning |
Pragmatism of capitalists |
Statutory welfare paternalism |
Clerical |
|
1940s to1960s |
Struggling for recognition |
Technical legalistic |
Introduction Of Techniques |
Administrative |
|
1970s |
Achieving |
Professional |
Regulatory conforming imposition of |
Managerial |
|
1980s |
Sophistication promising |
Legalistic impersonal |
Standards on other function |
Managerial |
|
1990s |
Philosophical |
Human values, productivity through people |
Executive |