Managing Personnel Records - International Records Management ...

THE EVOLUTION OF PERSONNEL
MANAGEMENT
The personnel management function involves a wide range of activities, from staff
recruitment, deployment, development and training to disciplinary matters and
employee appraisals. It is also concerned with grievance procedures, redundancy and
dismissal, human resources planning, salary structures and employee conditions, as
well as negotiations with trade unions and staff associations.
There have been six stages in the evolution of modern
personnel management.
Like any professional activity, personnel management has developed and grown more
sophisticated over time. Noted personnel management expert Michael Armstrong has
identified six stages in the evolution of modern personnel management. 1 These stages
are outlined below. This progression represents development in industrialised
countries after the first world war. While some countries may have experienced a
different evolution, this model is useful as a framework for understanding the
functions, activities and administrative structures associated with personnel records.
Stage 1: Welfare
The welfare stage involves providing employees with facilities such as canteens and
looking after their interests. Welfare officers first appeared in significant numbers
during the first world war.
Stage 2: Personnel Administration
Personnel administrative support to management in the form of recruitment, basic
training and record keeping was introduced between the first and second world wars.
Stage 3: Personnel Management – The Developing
Phase
During the second world war and throughout the 1950s, a whole range of personnel
services emerged, including salary administration, supervisory training and advice on
1 Michael Armstrong, A Handbook of Personnel Management Practice, 4 th edition, 1991.
MANAGING PERSONNEL RECORDS
10