The changing environment of HR management

PUBLISHED FOR MY OWN EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES

HR's Changing Role

The HR department's responsibities have gradually become broader and more strategic since the days when business people began incuding "personnel departments" in their organization charts.

In the earliest firms, "personnel" first took over hiring and firing from supervisors, ran the payroll department, and administered benefit plans.

As technology in areas like testing and interviewing began to emerge, the personnel department began to play an expanded role in employee selection, training, and promotion.

The emergence of Union Legislation in the 1930s added "protecting the firm in its interaction with unions" to the personnel department's responsibilities. Then, as new employment legislation created the potential for discrimination-related lawsuits and penalties, personnel's advice and oversight became even more indespensable.

Today, the globalization of the world economy and several other trends are again triggering changes in how companies organize, manage, and use their personnel/ Hr departments. We'll look at these trends and changes next.