Looking back, looking beyond: SHRM celebrates 50th anniversary - 1948-1998 - Society for Human Resource Management

HR Magazine, March, 1998 by Kathleen McComber

The world has drastically changed since the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) humble beginnings in 1948. Back then the post office - not the fax machine or the Internet - was the fastest way of sending and receiving information. Albert Gore and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber had just been born. President Harry S. Truman had just been re-elected. Long-playing 33 1/3 records had just been invented.

Fifty years ago, HR professionals were coping with severe postwar inflation and turbulent labor unrest Twenty-eight individuals derided to found an organization to help the nation work through its labor-management challenges, and the American Society for Personnel Administration was born. In 1989, the Society's name was changed to SHRM to better reflect new professional challenges and growing global interests. Business leaders started to understand that the HR profession is the only profession with the ability to make a strategic impact at every level of complex organizational structures.

Today, SHRM occupies a new headquarters with nearly 150 employees of its own. The Society is recognized as the world's human resource leader and has grown to nearly 90,000 professional and student members. HR professionals have emerged as major business players. With the growth of the HR profession, SHRM has emerged as the top source of products, services and networking opportunities for HR leaders.

The 50th Anniversary Edition of HRMagazine is a celebration of the HR profession and SHRM. Throughout the pages of this special edition, you will see that much has happened since the Society's inception. This magazine is also a tribute to the many accomplishments of women and men who have worked diligently to move the HR profession forward. In celebration of the 50th anniversary, we thought it important that today's HR leaders have a clear picture of the profession's rich past.

As an additional way of commemorating our anniversary, SHRM is focusing its efforts - and the energies of its members - on volunteerism, especially in welfare-to-work and school-to-work initiatives. For example, SHRM is working with the Welfare to Work Partnership to help organizations hire - and retain - people from welfare without displacing existing workers. You can join the Partnership by calling 888-USA-JOB1 or pointing your web browser to http://www.welfaretowork.org.

You'll hear more about this and other welfare-to-work and school-to-work programs in the future. I hope you'll join SHRM by volunteering to make a difference in your communities. Volunteerism is, after all, what has given SHRM 50 years of success.

Throughout history, you will see that many of HR's finest leaders were guided by the collective wisdom that comes from the joining together of professionals with similar needs and interests. This has been the Society's trademark for 50 years. As we head into the unknown future, HR leaders must continue to unite to sharpen their professionalism and stay a step ahead of emerging trends. History, we believe, is a valuable teacher for the present.