Human Resources can find it roots by looking no further than the purchasing department. From the beginning, hiring and firing people, the traditional core of Human Resources functions, was done by the purchasing agent. The thinking behind this was that purchasing agents procured the land, equipment, materials, and as a extension of this the people to ensure proper functioning of the business. To an extent of this attitude that people where to be purchased, unions arouse to protect the interest of the worker. To negotiate with the unions, companies adapted by having their own representatives, giving rise to the labor relations function within HR. Other functions followed, the staffing function grew out of the belief that, with testing and assessment, employee could be matched to job and their effectiveness increased. Training grew out of the belief that, with the proper training programs in place employees could do their jobs even more effectively. Compensation grew out of the belief that, if designed well, compensation systems could motivate employees to higher performance. By the time the 1970’s rolled around there were four major functions of the Human Resources department. These core actives were considered to be staffing, development, appraisal, and rewards. When the 80’s showed themselves upon the doorstep of HR these skills were melded with those of organizational design and communications. With the enormous amount of mergers, acquisitions, and consolidations learning to create new organizational forms around teams and processes became critical for the HR profession. By the time 1997 was here I was just beginning to get my feet wet in the world of HR by taking part in an internship in a HR office. I had no idea then how much HR was in an evolution of change. I thought how hard could it be to be a HR professional? I had looked at the 100 best companies to work for and I noticed that many of the companie...
