Futurism and Futurists in Personnel

Abstract

Personnelists looking toward the future in personnel assessment and personnel administrators more generally are concerned with their own roles and the images which their roles will create in the broad perspective of management. This article addresses itself to these concerns in a discussion of professionalization in personnel. More specifically, the article covers particular areas demanding personnel attention in the future. Some of these are old acquaintances with new demands — As, the work place and the work force, psychological testing, older workers, the handicapped. The effects of the new technologies, especially as related to computers are considered. Some concerns are relatively new acquaintances to assessment personnelists, as their roles in human resource management. The aim has been to treat the topic of futurism and futurists in such a way as to be practical as well as visionary in guiding Public Personnel Management readers.