NovRattan Sharma Amrita Yadava Published by Global Vision Publishing House. HRD Climate in Zilla Parishads and District Rural Development Agencies

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1 Editors Business Psychology NovRattan Sharma Amrita Yadava Published by Global Vision Publishing House HRD Climate in Zilla Parishads and District Rural Development Agencies C.S. Singhal Any organization that would like to be dynamic and growth oriented has to pay attention to the development of its human resources. Personnel must be continuously helped to acquire capabilities for effective performance of new roles that may arise in the process of organisational growth and change in the environment/climate. Thus, Human Resource Development(HRD) becomes crucial for organisational dynamism and growth. Since the recent past, mechanisms like performance appraisal, counseling, organisational development, potential appraisal, job enrichment has been introduced in various organisations. A minimum positive development climate is essential for the effective performance of its personnel. The conventional connotation with which the term climate has been used in literature is organisational climate. The concept of organisational climate with special reference to HRD context has been introduced by Rao and Abraham (1986). HRD Climate is an integral part of organisational climate. It can be defined as perceptions the personnel may have on the developmental environment of an organisation. This developmental climate will have the ideal characteristics (Rao and Abraham, 1986). C.S.Singhal, Professor of Psychology & Head, Distance Education Cell, National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), Rajendranager, Hyderabad

2 312 Business Psychology viz. treating the personnel as the most important resource, a perception that developing the competencies in the employee is the job of every manager, faith in the capabilities of employee to change, a tendency to be open in communication, encouraging risk-taking, making efforts to help personnel recognise their strengths and weakness through feedback, a general climate of trust, a tendency on the part of employee to be helpful and collaborate with each others, team spirit, tendency to discourage stereotypes and favoritism, supportive personnel policies and HRD practices including performance appraisal, training, reward management, potential development, job rotation, career planning etc. The elements of HRD climate include the general climate which deals with factors like the extent of importance given to human resources development in organisation. The organisation climate is part of its culture which can be measured in terms of behavioural manifestations by its personnel. It can be measured in terms of openness, confrontation, trust, autonomy, pro-activity, authenticity and collaboration are valued and promoted in the organisation. An extensive review on organisational climate and culture is carried out by Benjamin (1990). Survey of HRD climate in Indian Organisations (Rao and Pareek 1992, 1998, 1999) mostly focused in business organisations. In the context of rural organisaitons in India few studies on behavioural manifestation in District Rural Development Agencies(DRDAs) (Naidu, Sastry and Sridhar, 1988) and organisatonal dimensions A micro analytical study (Muthayya, 1992), the perception of DRDA officials about their work - load (Singhal, 1992,1995, 1998, 2009) did not focus on HRD climate systematically. Since, no effort has so far been made to study the HRD climate of rural development organisations specifically of the Zilla Parishad ZPs/DRDAs in India, the present study was undertaken to study the HRD climate of Zilla Parishad/DRDAs which will facilitate further improvement of and overall functioning, and thereby directly facilitate improvement of delivery system of the poverty alleviation programmes.

3 HRD Climate in Zilla Parishads and District The HRD Climate of an organisation play a very important role in ensuring the competency, motivation and development of its employees. For effective implementation of poverty alleviation programmes, it is desirable to have conducive HRD climate in Zilla Parishad and District Rural Development Agency (DRDAs) which would facilitate the effective performance of its development officials. The present study finds out the extent to which such development climate exist in the DRDAs. The study attempted to develop a HRD Profile. The analysis of the HRD climate of DRDAs will facilitate further improvement of the overall functioning, and thereby directly facilitate improvement of delivery system of the poverty alleviation programmes. Objective To prepare HRD climate profile of DRDAs that improve their functioning: To suggest the strategies to improve the functioning of DRDAs by changes in the HRD Climate. Variables of the Study The focus of the study was to capture the process constituting the phenomenon of HRD Climate of ZPs/DRDAs. The factors contributing to HRD climate was analysed in terms of interpersonal relations, managerial styles, performance management, adequacy of technical, financial and human resources and organizational commitment. How these HRD climates affected the strategies of implementation of poverty alleviation programmes were also investigated. The 39 variables of HRD were identified and broadly categorized in the five categories for convenience of presentation of results and interpretation. The categorizations of these 39 variables were done on the based of the expert group ratings. The details of five categories along with variables could be seen in the following table.

4 314 Business Psychology Table 1: Five categories of variables undertaken in the study I II III IV V Inter Managerial Performance Adequacy Of Organization Personal Style Management Technical And Commitment Relation Financial Human Resources Openness Technologic Organizational Al Adequacy Commitment/ Pride Collaboration Autonomy Orientation Financial Goal Of Resources Organization Trust Experimentation Problem Skill & Vision, Mission, Worthiness Management Abilities Of Values Personnel Authenticity A Exploitive Decision Making Monetary Job Autocratic Benefits Satisfaction Climate Interpersonal Benevolent Efficiency Safety & Management Of Relations Autocratic Measurement Security Rewards Climate

5 HRD Climate in Zilla Parishads and District I II III IV V Conflict Consultative Objectivity Learning Management Democratic And Culture Climate Rationality Communication Participative Performance Training Attitude Democratic Appraisal Towards Climate PROFESSION Concern For Pro-action Approach To People Discipline Grievance Supervision Scope For Handling System Advancement Work Life Balance Source: Nird Study HRD Climate in Rural Organizations: A Study of Zilla Parisad & District Rural Development Agencies in India, 2009 conducted by the author.

6 316 Business Psychology The details of 39 variables studied are as follows: 1. Openness (do employees feel free to express their views); 2. Collaboration (do people try to help each others); 3. Trust (do people trust each others) 4. Authenticity (do people say what they mean) 5. Proactive (are employees encouraged to take natives) 6. Autonomy (freedom to take its own decisions) 7. Confrontation (culture of open discussion of issues and problems) 8. Experimentation (do employee take risks) 9. Learning culture (promoting learning through internal communication) 10. Exploitative Autocratic (Management has no confidence in subordinate and take most decisions) 11. Benevolent Autocratic Climate (Management has very little confidence in subordinate and some involvement in decision making). 12. Consultative Democratic Climate (Management has quite a bit of confidence and trust in the subordinate are consult with their people) 13. Participative Democratic Climate (Management has complete confidence and trust in the subordinate. Decision making is highly decentralized) 14. Orientation (people are mainly concerned with following established rules and procedure) 15. Interpersonal Relations (High concern for one another and tend to help one another spontaneously when such help needed) 16. Supervision (to help in improvement of performance rather finding faults) 17. Problem management (need of organizational members and society taken care) 18. Conflict Management (appeal to principles, organizational ideals and larger good of the organization)

7 HRD Climate in Zilla Parishads and District Communication (what type of communication, vertical, horizontal) 20. Decision Making (made without involvement of subordinate, or for the betterment of society and in the interest of subordinate) 21. Management of Rewards (rewards are given for excellence, loyalty, knowledge and expertise ) 22. Technological Adequacy (latest equipment and resources are available and well managed) 23. Concern for People ( try to improve working conditions and show interest in the individual welfare) 24. Attitude (attitude towards profession positive or negative) 25. Financial Resources (no constraints of required funds for development activities) 26. Goal of organization (improve the quality of life of poor) 27. Skills and abilities of Personnel (RD officials possess required skills and abilities) 28. Efficiency Measurement (is there system of quality measurement of services provided) 29. Training (is there systematic training policy for RD functionaries) 30. Job satisfaction (whether most people are satisfied with there job) 31. Organizational commitment/pride (encourage friends to join your organization) 32. Vision, mission, values (relate work activities with vision, mission, values) 33. Monetary benefits (salary compare favorably with other dept.,/org) 34. Safety & security (working conditions are safe & healthy) 35. Approach to discipline (sr. executives are role models) 36. Grievance handling system (management sincerely addressed issues / handles)

8 318 Business Psychology 37. Work life balance (sufficient time for social & recreational activities) 38. Scope for advancement (promotion policy implemented in transparent manner) 39. Performance appraisal (targets are discussed and feedback provided) METHOD Sample The sample comprised 28 respondents spread over two districts Ahemdabad and Sabakantha of Gujrat State after consultation with concerned officials at the state level. The categories of officials taken in the study were Project Director/Chief Executive Officer (PD/CEO - 03), Assistant Project Officers (APO - 12), Block Development officials (BDOs - 04), Extension Officials (EOs - 05) and other supporting staff of ZPs/DRDAs (04). Tool In the first stage data was collected with the help of a schedule designed to elicite perception of officials on 5 point scale (almost always true, mostly true, some time true, rarely true, and not at all true) covering 39 dimensions of HRD Climate stated elsewhere in this chapter. The qualitative data was collected by well designed strategy as follows: a. All respondents of ZP/DRDA/Blocks were divided in to different group depending of the numbers. The main criteria for formulation of group was to see that each group consists of the representatives of each categories of officials i.e. CEOs/DDOs/PDs/APOs of ZPs/DRDAs and BDOs and Extention officials of Block organization. b. Each group was asked to held a group discussion and record the proceeding on the three aspects (i) current situation (ii) impact on present performance and (iii)

9 HRD Climate in Zilla Parishads and District suggestion to improve on each of the 39 dimensions of HRD climate separately. c. Afterwards each group presented their reports variable wise before the joint house and asked to invite comments suggestions for further correction. Besides, focus group discussion and secondary data was also collected from ZPs/DRDAs Block and state level department of rural development. Analysis of Data The data were analyzed with the help of mean score, per cent age and Index. The method of Index calculation was as follows: Construction of Individual Index Number The value of each index varies between 0 1 only. The value of Normalized indicator is calculated with the following formulae: Actual Value Minimum Value Index = Maximum Value Minimum Value RESULTS The mean and index scores for the five categories along with the overall mean and index scores were computed for official of Gujrat. These were also computed for two districts separately (Ahmadabad and Sabar Kantha). Perception of Officials about HRD Climate The overall index of officials of Gujarat on HRD climate shows that PD stood first followed by BDOs, Eos, Apo s and APOs. The other officials ranked at the last. The comparison of mean scores of these officials shown in Table 2 shows that EOs and other officials got medium scores (MS = 3.43, 3.40 and 3.22 respectively). The rest of the officials i.e., PDs and BDOs got higher level of mean scores (MS = 3.5 <).

10 320 Business Psychology Table : 2 Perception of Officials about HRD Climate in Gujarat HRD Interpersonal Managerial Performance Technical, Organisational Over All Climate Relations Style Management Financial& Commitment (N=28) Officials Human Resources Gujarat N Mean Index Mean Index Mean Index Mean Index Mean Index Mean Index PD APO OTHER BDO EO

11 HRD Climate in Zilla Parishads and District Table: 3 Perception of officials about HRD Climate in Different Districts of Gujarat HRD Interpersonal Managerial Performance Technical, Organizational Over All Climate Relations Style Management Financial& Commitment (N=28) Officials Human Resources Dist N Mean Index Mean Index Mean Index Mean Index Mean Index Mean Index Ahmadabad PD APO OTHER BDO EO Sabarkantha PD APO OTHER BDO EO

12 322 Business Psychology The comparison of overall index of different officials of Ahmedabad and Sabarkantha in Gujarat on HRD climate shows that PDs of Sabarkantha stood first among all the officials followed by EOs (Sabarkantha) and PD of Ahmedabad, BDOs of Sabarkantha followed by BDOs and other officials of Ahmadabad, APOs of Sabarkantha and APOs Ahmedabad followed by other officials of Sabarkantha. The EOs of Ahmedabad stood in the last. The mean scores of different officials of both the districts on similar dimensions shows that APOs, other officials, EOs of Ahmedabad and APOs and other officials of Sabarkantha got medium level {MS varies from 2.98 for EOs (Ahmedabad) to 3.4 for APOs (Ahmedabad)}. The mean scores were at high level for PD, BDOs, EOs of Sabarkantha and BDOs and PD of Ahmedabad (MS varies from 3.52 for BDOs of Ahmedabad to 4.08 for PD of Sabarkantha). Perception of Officials about Interpersonal Relations The comparison of overall index of different officials on interpersonal relation dimension of HRD climate reveals that PDs stood first followed by BDOs, APOs and EOs. The other officials placed at the lowest index. The comparison of mean scores on the same dimension shows that except other officials (MS = 3.30) who got medium level, the rest of the officials got higher levels of scores (MS 3.5 <). The analysis of overall index among officials of Ahmedabad (Ahm) and Sabarkantha (Sab) district of Gujarat on interpersonal relation shows that PD and BDOs of Sabarkantha districts stood first followed by EOs (Sab), PD (Ahm), APO (Sab), BDO (Ahm), others (Ahm), APO (Ahm), others (Sab). The EOs (Ahm) rated least among all the officials. The comparison of overall mean scores on similar dimensions shows that it spread in medium and high level. The EO (Ahm), others (Sab) and APO (Ahm) stood at medium level of mean scores, the rest of the officials got high level of mean scores (MS = 3.5 <). The officials of DRDAs were of the view that there was concern for one another and tend to help another spontaneously when such help needed.

13 HRD Climate in Zilla Parishads and District About openness there was contradictory view in one DRDA i.e., Sabarkantha where openness was there and as a result performance improved while in Ahmedabad it was informed that it depend on higher level officials. Subordinates are afraid of punishment. Only positive things could be talked about. No criticism was allowed as a result most of the time officials were not able to give suggestions and sometime individuals were in stress and their performance was affected adversely. There was collaboration among personnel in DRDAs like all officials undertaking exposure visits under total sanitation campaign (TSC). This has given good results in making Nirmal Gram. Most people trust each others in DRDAs. But trust varies from issue to issue. On authenticity there were contradictory views in both the DRDAs. In Sabarkantha personnel are mostly authentic as a result there was trust building and good relation with each others. However in another DRDA, where most people were not authentic, it lead to delay in completion of works. At times, there was conflict due to overwork and vacant posts. It causes delay in completion of works and lack of monitoring. In conflicting situation personnel wrote notes to the Project Director, DRDA who solved the conflict positively in most of the cases. Various tools of communication are being used at district and block levels. But all blocks, panchayats are not covered with all communication facilities. This some time causes delay in communication. The DRDA personnel stated that by and large there working condition was good but there was hardly any effort for individual welfare. Perception of Officials about Managerial Styles The comparison of index of different officials on managerial style dimension of HRD climate reveals that PDs stood first followed by APOs, Eos and BDOs. Others were placed at the lowest index. The comparison of overall mean scores on the similar dimension shows that except PDs (MS = 3.56) whose scores are on higher level the rest of the officials shows medium level of scores (MS = 2.86 to 3.20). The analysis of overall index among officials of Ahmedabad (Ahm) and Sabarkantha (Sab) district of Gujarat on managerial

14 324 Business Psychology style shows that PDs of both the districts stood first on managerial style followed by APOs, EOs of Sabarkantha, followed by other officials of Ahemadabd. The BDO s (Sab) followed by APOs, BDOs and EO s of Ahmedabad were placed next. The others of Sabarkantha stood at the last. The comparison of overall mean scores on similar dimension shows that PDs of both the district got higher mean scores (3.56), the rest of the officials possessed medium scores (MS between 2.69 to 3.42). There was limited autonomy to take decision. The decisions had to be taken as per rules and guidelines of respective programme. Even then sometime with the consent of Project Director some risks could be taken for speedy disposal in the interest of the public. The dominant leadership style of most of the personnel in DRDA and block was consultative democratic climate (management has quite a bit of confidence and trust in the subordinate and consulted them). The DRDA personnel were of the opinion that for effective implementation of programme, management should have participative democratic climate (have complete confidence and trust in subordinates and decision making should be highly decentralized). About grievance handling the officials were of the view that management is sincerely addressing the problem. On work life balance the officials did not get sufficient time for social and recreational activities. Perception of Officials about Performance Management The comparison of overall index of different officials of Gujarat on performance management shows that PDs stood first followed by EOs, APOs and others. The BDOs stood in the last. The comparison of overall mean scores on the same dimension reveals that PDs scored higher mean scores (MS = 3.88), the rest of the officials got medium level of mean scores (MS varies from 3.42 to 3.33). The analysis of overall index among officials of Ahmedabad and Sabarkantha district of Gujarat on performance management shows that PDs and EOs of Sabarkantha rated first followed by PD

15 HRD Climate in Zilla Parishads and District (Ahm), others (Ahm), APOs (Sab), BDOs (Ahm), BDOs (Sab), APOs (Ahm) and others (Sab). The EOs of Ahmedabad stood last on performance management. The comparison of overall mean scores on performance management shows that it varies from medium to high level (MS between 2.78 to 4.06 in 5 point scale). The medium scores got by officials i.e., APO (Ahm), BDOs (Ahm), EOs (Ahm) others (Sab) and BDOs (Sab). The high mean scores (MS = 3.5 <) were obtained by PD (Ahm), others (Ahm), PD (Sab), APOs (Sab) and EOs (Sab). The orientation of most personnel in DRDA was such that they are mainly concerned with following established rules and procedures. The problem management seems to be a responsibility of higher officials. The senior officials encourage subordinates to work and create an atmosphere where they expect their seniors to maintain discipline. In decision making most of the time they were taken as per delegation and power. Some time subordinates were consulted for betterment of society. There was a contrary view in another DRDA that decisions at higher levels were taken without involvement of subordinates. Implementation of programmes was mainly as per guidelines of a specific programme. There was no system of efficiency measurement (quality measurement of services provided). Most of the time the qualities of services were reported of poor quality due to limited unit cost. The performance appraisal was reported based on actual performance. The targets were discussed and feedback was provided. It helped in improvement of performance. The DRDA personnel were encouraged to take initiatives as per guidelines. Under Himatnagar taluk in Sabarkantha, door to door survey was done and savings bank accounts were arranged for most people. This was an example of proaction. The supervision was for improvement of performance rather than finding faults agree the DRDA personnel. Perception of Officials about Technical, Financial and Human Resources The comparison of overall index of different officials of Gujarat on technical, financial and human resources shows that PDs stood

16 326 Business Psychology first followed by APOs, EOs, BDOs and other officials are ranked in the last. The overall comparison of mean scores on the similar dimensions shows that PDs and BDO s got higher level of mean scores (MS 3.94 and 3.77 respectively) while the rest of the officials i.e., EOS, APOs and others got medium level of mean scores (MS 3.55, 3.45, and 3.13 respectively). The analysis of overall index among officials of Ahmedabad (Ahm) and Sabarkantha (Sab) district of Gujarat on technical, financial and human resources shows that PDs (Sab) stood first followed by EO (Sab), BDOs (Ahm & Sab), PD (Ahm), APOs (Ahm & Sab), others (Ahm) and EOs (Ahm). The other officials of Sabarkantha stood in the last. The comparison of overall mean scores on the similar dimension shows that it varies from medium to high level. The officials who got medium mean scores were other officials (Ahm and Sab), EO (Ahm), APOs (Sab). The officials got higher level of mean scores were PD (Ahm & Sab), APOs (Ahm), BDOs (Ahm & Sab). EOs (Sab) and PD (Sab) got highest mean scores (MS=4.24) and other officials of Sabarkantha got least among all but medium level of mean scores (MS = 2.96). About technical adequacy officials were of the view that technical equipment were provided but no skilled was available at DRDA to handle these equipment. There is no constraint of financial resources to implement development programmes, except some time delay in release of fund thereby causing difficulty. As concern the skills and abilities of personnel, they were of the opinion that they lacked it due to education. The working conditions were safe and secure and most personnel enjoyed job security in DRDAs. There was a learning culture in the organization. At taluk level via SATCOM training was organized every month. Besides, every month there was video conference with rural development secretary and district level officials. The quality of training needed to be improved. Most of the officials were not sent for training due to overburden.

17 HRD Climate in Zilla Parishads and District Perception of Officials about Organizational Commitment The comparison of overall index of different officials of Gujarat on organizational commitment shows that PDs stood first followed by EOs, BDOs, others and APOs are ranked in the last. The overall comparison of mean scores on the similar dimensions shows that PDs and EOs got higher levels (MS 3.97 and 3.75 respectively), whereas BDOs, others and APOs got medium level of mean scores (MS = 3.54, 3.48 and 3.42 respectively). The analysis of overall index among officials of Ahmedabad (Ahm) and Sabarkantha (Sab) districts of Gujarat on organizational commitment shows that PD and EOs (Sab) stood first while APOs (Sab) were in the last. The other officials were placed in between. The over all mean scores on the similar dimension shows that PD and EOs (Sab) got higher level (MS = 4.00) and APOs (Sab) got medium level (MS = 3.09) the rest of the officials placed in between. Most of the DRDAs personnel had high organizational commitment/pride. There was no clarity to the DRDA personnel about goal of organisation and vision, mission and values. Different persons gave different responses on this aspect. The DRDAs personnel were not satisfied with financial aspects while on other aspects they stated medium level of satisfaction. Rewards were not given for excellent work but mostly on the basis of loyalty demotivate the DRDA personnel. Most of the personnel complained about overburden of work. The attitude towards profession was stated as very little positive. Due to overburden of work the quality of work suffered as stated the personnel. On approach to discipline the DRDA personnel were of the view that executive have authority to take measures to maintain discipline at work place and are role models most of the time. About scope for advancement, well designed policy for development and promotion policy implemented in transparent manner was suggested by development personnel. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Well designed HRD policy should be developed for proper clarity and division of works, promotion, incentive policy,

18 328 Business Psychology staffing pattern and social and recreation activities for work life balance. 2. Periodical training should be organized on motivational aspects, time management and technical aspects to develop skills of the DRDA personnel to implement effective development programme. 3. Workshops should be organized for DRDA personnel to develop understanding, clarity about goal, vision, mission and values of DRDAs and improvement of interpersonal relations. 4. Broadband services, satellite communication and videoconference facilities should be provided in all blocks for improvement of communication. 5. There should be greater autonomy while implementing the development programmes. For this flexibility in the guidelines for conducted some experiment is required. 6. Funds should be released in time for proper implementation of programmes. 7. Most of the taluk level personnel do not stay at village level, thereby affecting their performance adversely. Hence proper residential facilities for these personnel need to be provided at taluk/village level. Acknowledgement: This paper is extracted from the NIRD Study HRD Climate in Rural Organizations: A Study of Zilla Parisad & District Rural Development Agencies in India. Author thankful to Shri B.K. Sinha, IAS, DG, Shri K.N. Kumar, IAS, DDG, NIRD, Prof. P. Durgaprasad, Prof.& Head, CHRD, for their support in conduct of this Study. Source: Field Study, 2009 REFERENCES Muthayya, B.C. (1992). Organizational Dimensions A Micro Analytical Study, NIRD, Hyderabad. Naidu, K. K. Sastry, C.Y. & Sridhar, M.J. (1988). Behavioural Manifestation in DRDAs, Unpublished Report, NIRD, Hyderabad

19 HRD Climate in Zilla Parishads and District Rao, T.V. and Abraham E. (1986). Practices in Indian Industries: A Trend Report. Management & Labour Studies, 2, Rao, T.V. and Udai Pareek, (1992). Designing and Managing Human Resources Systems (2/e), Oxford & IBH, New Delhi Rao, T.V. and Udai Pareek (1998). HRD Audit Questionnaire, (revised version), T.V. Rao, Learning Systems, Ahmedabad. Rao, T.V. and Udai Pareek (1999). HRD Audit Evaluating the Human Resource Function for Business Improvement, Response Books, New Delhi. p. 344 Schneider Benjamin (Ed.) (1990). Organisational Climate and Culture, Jossey Bass Publishers, Oxford. p.449 Singhal, C.S (1992). Workload of DRDAs in Assam, Research Report (Unpublished), NIRD, Hyderabad Singhal, C.S (1995). Structure and Functions of DRDAs: A Case Study, Emerging Trends, II (2) Singhal, C.S (1998). Voluntary Action in Rural Development A Study of Volunteer in Assam, Omsons Publication, New Delhi p.119. Singhal, C.S (2009). HRD Climate in Rural Organization: A Study of Zilla Parishad and District Rural Development Agency, Unpublished NIRD Research Report, 200 p., Hyderabad.