The role of HR is more complex than ever. Related: Discover the art and science of motivation, reinforces this through Motivology SM. The Main Takeaway: Workers need certain rights to be considered for a job, but they also need psychological motivators including autonomy, purpose and mastery to excel in their work. Organizational management and industrial psychology contributed to HR paying more attention to employees' need for achievement, advancement, and recognition by matching the nature of the work itself with a person's skills and interests. At the same time, human motivation theories including Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory and Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory, began to transform the workplace. In the early '60's, the US legislature began passing fairer employment practices such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Civil Rights Act of 1964 compelling human resource departments to focus on compliance issues. The Main Takeaway: When employees have opportunities to learn on the job and be compensated fairly for their efforts, they become more valuable to the organization. “ Human capital” became synonymous for the knowledge an individual embodies in affecting economic growth. 'Personnel departments' and 'manpower development' increased their efforts around internal training and working with labor unions to develop stronger compensation packages. Lucky for us human beings, the workplace began to change with the realization that workers were not puppets on a string, but people with emotional and psychological needs. The Main Takeaway: Workers need to be treated as people, not as expendable resources by a company. To carry out the somewhat surreptitious practices of the time, departments called “industrial welfare,” and “scientific management” were created. American business leaders, aided by scholars and politicians, embraced ' industrial betterment' and embarked on plans to stabilize the labor force and encourage employee loyalty. The idea of a connection between worker wellbeing and their productivity emerged between 18. Pre-1900s Human Resources Management: Tough Work, Tougher Conditions

But there was a time when working conditions were untenable and unsafe for human beings. Maybe modern working conditions were never as terrible as the medieval period, where you can imagine people were out for themselves and there wasn't a human resource department to quash the bullies and make them put down their swords. Before the evolution of HR to today's standards, working conditions were harsh and dangerous (think the Middle Ages) and the tension between the need for physical protection and higher output was growing. Imagine a time when workers were considered expendable.

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