Human Resource Management in India

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT IN INDIA
By : D. Joshua Benhur
Roll No : 03
Introduction:
Early records of trade, from 4500 B.C. to 300 B.C., not only
indicate international economic and political links, but also
the ideas of social and public administration.
 The world’s first management book, titled ‘Arlhãshastra’,
written three millennium before Christ, codified many
aspects of human resource practices in Ancient India.
India is being widely recognized as one of the most exciting
emerging economics in the world. Besides becoming a global
hub of outsourcing, Indian firms are spreading their wings
globally through mergers and acquisitions.
During the first four months of 1997, Indian
companies have bought 34 foreign companies for
about U.S. $11 billion dollars. This impressive
development has been due to a growth in inputs
(capital and labour) as well as factor productivity.
By the year 2020, India is expected to add about 250
million to its labour pool at the rate of about 18 million
a year, which is more than the entire labour force of
Germany.
This so called ‘demographic dividend’ has drawn a
new interest in the Human Resource concepts and
practices in India.
Evolution of HRM in India
Concept of ‘Jobbers’ during early 20th century.

Royal Commission of Labour in 1930 set up the concept of
‘Labour Officers’.
Evolved to ‘Welfare Officers’ post independence.
Emergence of ‘Personnel & IR Function’.
“Human relations” movement in the West promoted the
concept of “HRM” in the 80’s.
Promotion of Developmental agenda in the HR practice
saw ‘HRD’ taking shape in the late 80’s/early 90’s.
4
Indian HRM in Transition
One of the noteworthy features of the Indian
workplace is demographic uniqueness.
 It is estimated that both China and India will have
a population of 1.45 billion people by 2030,
however, India will have a larger workforce than
China.
 Indeed, it is likely India will have 986 million
people of working age in 2030, which well probably
be about 300 million more than in 2007.
And by 2050, it is expected India will have 230
million more workers than China and about 500
million more than the United States of America
(U.S.).
 It may be noted that half of India’s current
population of 1.1 billion people are under of 25
years of age.
While this fact is a demographic dividend for the
economy, it is also a danger sign for the country’s
ability to create new jobs at an unprecedented
rate
IR-Industrial Relations Challenge
The Indian IR system has two main features.

 First, is the absence of the provision to recognise a
union as a representative or agent for collective
bargaining.
 Second, is the total dominance of government in
regulating the industrial relations (IR) domain
Indian industrial relations have evolved from
political roots and labour market demands.
 An unique feature of Indian IR has been the
dominance of political parties sponsoring unions.
Union membership has been the most popular
breeding ground for politicians, and political
leaders have enjoyed the use of union platforms.
 Such politicization has generated conflicts and
rivalry creating mayhem and the hurting of labour
interest
During the 1970’s in a period of the highest number of
strikes, the registered number of unions grew fivefold.
But a decade(1980’s) later profound economic and
political reform movement saw a new direction in the
trade union movement.
A section of scholarly trade union leaders began to
incorporate new global thinking in the union outlook.
And when India embraced liberalization and
economic reform in the early 1990s, dramatic changes
were set in motion in terms of corporate mindsets and
HRM practices as a result of global imperatives and
accompanying changes in societal priorities.
Expectedly, there has been a marked shift towards
valuing human resources (HR) in Indian organizations
as they become increasingly strategy driven as opposed
to the culture of the status quo.
Accordingly, competitive advantage in industries like
software services, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology
(where India is seeking to assert global dominance),
the significance of HRs is being emphasized.
These relativities were demonstrated in a recent study
of three global Indian companies with (235 managers)
when evidence was presented that positively linked
the HRM practices with organizational performance.
CONCLUSION
The World Competitiveness Report rated India’s
human resource capabilities as being comparatively
weaker than most Asian nations.
 The recognition of world class human resource
capability as being pivotal to global success has
changed Indian HRM cultures in recent years.
 While the historical and traditional roots remain
deeply embedded in the subjective world of managers,
emphasis on objective global concepts and practices
are becoming more common.
Firstly, Indian firms with a global outlook; secondly,
global firms seeking to adapt to the Indian context; and
thirdly, the HRM practice in public sectors undertakings
(PSV’S).
 As the Indian economy becomes more globally linked,
all three perspectives will move increasingly towards a
cross verging strengthening.
Regional variations in terms of industry size, provincial
business culture, and political issues play very relevant
roles.
The nature of hierarchy, status, authority, responsibility
and similar other concepts vary widely across the nations
synerging system maintenance.
 Indeed, organizational performance and personal
success are critical in the new era.

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HUMAN RESOURCE

Concept of ‘Jobbers’ during early 20th century.

The Indian IR system has two main features.

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