Human Resource Management is the function of an organisation that deals with recruitment, placement, promotion, training, and development of company employees. This essay will consider the history of this complex role and the many functions it encompasses.

In the 19th century personnel management was introduced into the workforce. This was created because, the harshness of industrial conditions, coupled with the influence of trade unions and the labour movement.

Social scientists such as Taylor and Fayol has impacted on personnel.
Taylorism was an idea taken on board by personnel management it is a theory that analyzes and synthesizes workflow processes and improving labour productivity. The core ideas of the theory were developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor in the 19th century. Fayol impacted on the personnel management by introducing planning, organising and controlling the workforce.

Another key event of the development of Human resource management was the introduction of collective bargaining on both local and national levels. Due to increasing number of shop stewards, local bargaining become more common. In addition to the growth of collective bargaining, larger employers constructed their own polices regarding the employees actions. As a result of collective bargaining employers started to implement their own staff pollicies not just about pay but for example pensions, training and safety. National bargaining effected employers on a larger scale. This was because of the growth of trade unions. This resulted in a large number of strikes which was known as the “British disease’’. Personnel management changed again due to information technology being used more often, this also led to an increase in multinational organisations.

At the end of 70’s was a period of high inflation where personnel management has changed to specialize in 5 key