Evolution of HR

Dear Readers:

We all recognize the tremendous, positive changes that technology has made in the workplace. Recently, though, some young whipper-snapper challenged me to identify how Human Resource practices have evolved over the past 30 years or so. The fact that he thought I'd know anything about business practices from that long ago did not exactly endear him to me, but I must admit he got me thinking. What has really changed in the past three decades? Have we made any progress?

Here's what I came up with: When I started working many years ago (not quite thirty!), I worked in Toronto, at Bay & Queen. The Human Resources function (if there was one) was called "Personnel" and it was more of a record-keeping function than a strategic management role.

The Personnel department was often where they put men who were going nowhere in their careers. There were no "teams" back then. Decisions were made at the top and pushed down through the organization. Unless you got lucky and had a boss that had read about Theory X and Theory Y, you deferred to your boss as the authority in most matters.

Executives always had offices. You could tell the managers from the clerks by the way that they dressed. If you got to call the executives of the company by their first names you were either one of them or related to them. Receptionists and secretaries were always women; managers and executives were usually men - mostly white ones.

Women were either Miss or Mrs., there was no Ms., which made for some interesting dilemmas when writing letters to women of unknown marital status. Men rarely typed or made coffee. A majority of people smoked and
they did so at their desks and anywhere in the office that they pleased. If
you didn't like it, you could go outside for some fresh air. There was no
such thing as sexual harassment (that is to say, the behaviour existed but
it was tolerated or often even accepted as normal).

There were no such things as summer hours, flex-time, job sharing or working from home. There were no Employee Assistance Programs and employees did not enjoy the extensive benefit plans they do today. Women were allowed only 16 weeks off for maternity leave and some businesses were uncomfortable about having them work once they were "showing." Real men did not take time off when their babies were born.

There were no on-site day care facilities. You did not have to pay women as much as men for 'work of equal value.' If a man showed any sensitivity or, heaven forbid, shed a tear, it could spell the end of his career.

There were no joint Health & Safety committees required in companies and much of the safety legislation we now have did not exist (although in fairness, much of the foundation was in place).

There was no such thing as business casual attire. If you were a man you wore a shirt and tie (with a jacket if you were a manager); if you were a woman you wore slacks or a skirt with a blouse. Men did not wear earrings - that would mean they were homosexual. If anyone was gay, it was certainly not talked about - it would have been objectionable to most people. Employees' needs tended to be an afterthought in major corporate decisions and no one worried much about things like employee culture.

These were my observations but I'm sure there were exceptions.
If you think of anything I've missed, please let me know.

By the way, we can thank activists, outspoken employees, creative managers, HR practitioners, the government and other forward thinking people for these changes in the workplace. Hooray for the twenty-first century!