History and Development of Human Resource Management Essay

History and Development of Human Resource Management - Essay Example Traditionally, there was no clearly organized personnel management as most trades were carried out by individuals and their families (Koster, 2002). As time progressed and industries established, it became necessary to find innovative ways of managing human resources in order to achieve business success hence the introduction of personnel management which evolved into HRM and other concepts such as strategic HRM and international HRM. In view of this, the paper will discuss the history, development and the importance of HRM. History and Development of Human Resource Management Personnel management can be traced back to the time of Hammurabi, the king of Babylon who developed a code of laws that set wages for labourers (Bach & Sisson, 2000). Other aspects of personnel management were found in the way the craftsmen handled their trades and passed on skills to apprentices. There were no special people to oversee the work of others but each individual was responsible for his/her own work . However, as technology advanced the nature of work changed and also the manner in which work was managed. Most craftspeople started organizing into guilds to guard their trade from intruders and take care of the welfare of each other such as providing mutual insurance for those in need of assistance (Ivancerich, 2006). The industrial revolution which began in the middle of the 18 Th century changed the face of working relationship completely and prompted the search for ways of managing workers. It led to the introduction of the factory system and wage labour instead of workers utilizing their skills to make items for sale on their own. They also started specializing in tasks as opposed to the old system where one performed a range of tasks to complete an item hence interdependence of tasks (Koster, 2002). The nature of the factory system required rules to govern the behaviour of employees and to end sure they produced results hence the beginning of personnel management.