From the course: Understanding Organizations and the Role of HR

The history of people management and human resources

From the course: Understanding Organizations and the Role of HR

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The history of people management and human resources

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- I am really proud to say I work in human resources. My experience of working in HR is one of a fascinating and ever-changing set of challenges and achievements. So then, what's so special about HR? And what do we need from it? HR is all about people at work, efficient, effective, engaging places of work. HR's story started out in the area of staff welfare during the boom of the industrial era and the concept of industrial relations, and then personnel gave us dedicated guidance for hiring, developing, rewarding, and of course, exiting people from organizations in line with emerging employment laws. As we moved into the knowledge era of the 1980's and 90's, career planning and developing leaders, benefits packages, the identification of company values, engagement and culture became key parts of the highest performing and most admired organizations. I joined the HR profession in the early 2000's after spending years in business improvement through technology-driven change. HR was by then a key, but often criticized function, with lengthy recruitment campaigns, and the introduction of challenging diversity and equality legislation, and now into the digital era, HR is working in an evermore diverse and challenging workplace with digitization, automation, and the advent of incident-based businesses. Whilst many policies are still relevant, fairness, flexibility and inclusion being just three, we now operate in a hugely changing world with even more to come. HR's role, offering the optimal conditions for people to do their best work is a critical focal point for businesses wishing to stand out and be hyper successful. As the CIPD, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in the U.K. says in their mission, "HR is about creating better work and working lives." A similar field to its welfare roots, but with a much more sophisticated and challenging world to operate in. Many of the predicted trends for HR's future are about creating a more agile, inclusive and creative workplace, and we'll need a more committed, informed and creative group of HR practitioners and supportive and collaborative colleagues. Welcome to the future. Welcome to helping HR lead us all there.

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