CHAPTER 1 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

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1 CHAPTER 1 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT HRD can be defined as a set of systematic and planned activities designed by an organization to provide its employees to generate and develop their competencies through learning necessary skills to meet current and future job demands. Definition T. V. Rao HRD is a process in which the employees of an organization are continually helped in a planned way to Acquire or sharpen capabilities required to perform various functions associated with present or expected future rolls. Develop their general capabilities so that they may be able to discover their own inner potentialities and explore them to full for their own and organizational development purpose. Develop an organizational culture where superior subordinate relationships, team work and collaboration among different subunits are strong and contribute to organizational wealth and motivation and pride of the employees. HRD Aims It aims at developing peoples knowledge, expertise, productivity and satisfaction for the benefit of the individual and organization in particular and community and nation as a whole. HRD Activities It should begin as soon as an employee joins the organization and continues throughout his or her career. HRD Programmes They are designed to respond to job changes and integrate the long term plans and strategies as the organization to ensure the overall development of an employee. 1

2 Features of HRD Main features of human resource development are as follows: 1. It is a planned and systematic approach to the development of the people 2. It is a continuous process of developing the competencies, motivating them to continuous improvement in their efficiencies 3. It is based on the belief system that the development of an individual is a neverending process 4. It is an interdisciplinary concept and involves confluence of idea from many sciences. 5. It is concerned with improving the skills, attitudes and behaviors of employees to benefit both the individual as well as organization. Importance of HRD The importance of human resources development can be understood through following points. 1) Develops Hidden Potential - enhances the capabilities of people by exploring their hidden potentials and shaping them to achieve organizational goals. 2) Improves the Communication System - improves the communication system to open the channel of communication so that everyone understands the other person in a better way and there is no chance of ambiguity. 3) Enhances Employee Morale - enhances the employee morale as well as develops the same of belongingness as proper rewards are being given to the star performer. 4) Improves Coordination and Cooperation leads to cohesive groups and terms 5) Achieving Organizational Goals - ultimately leads to overall growth and development of the employee through the above mentioned techniques. 2

3 6) Brings Innovation: It creates trust and openness among employees and develops analytical and rational skills among employees which help them in becoming more innovative, proactive and risk taking. 7) Helps in Bringing Change makes employees ready to change and undergo transformation and relearn after unlearning what they had already learnt. Functions of HRD 1. Training and Development: Training and Development focus on changing or improving the knowledge, skills and attitudes of individuals. Training typically involves providing employees the knowledge and skills needed to do a particular task or job. Developmental activities have a longer term focus on preparing for future work responsibilities while also increasing the capacities of employees to [perform their current jobs. 2. Employee Orientation: When a new employee enters the organization, usually in the form of employee orientation and skills training. Employee orientation is the process by which new employees learn important organizational values and norms, establishing working relationships, and learn how to function within the jobs. The HRD staff and the hiring supervisor generally share the responsibility for designing the orientation process, conducting general orientation sessions and beginning the initial skills training. 3. Coaching: In the coaching process, individuals are encouraged to accept responsibility for their actions, to address any work related problems and to achieve and sustain superior levels of performance. Coaching involves treating employees as partners in achieving both personal and organizational goals. 3

4 4. Counselling: Techniques are used to help employees deal with personal problems that may interfere with the achievement of these goals. Counselling programs may address such issues as substance abuse, stress management, smoking cessation, or fitness, nutrition, and weight control. 5. Management Development Program: To ensure that managers and supervisors have the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective in their positions. These programs may include supervisory training, job rotation, seminars or college and university courses. 6. Organization Development: It is defined as the process of enhancing the effectiveness of an organization and the well being of its members through planned interventions that apply behavioral science concepts. The role of the HRD professional involved in an OD intervention is generally to function as a change agent. Facilitating change often requires consulting with and advising line managers on strategies that can be used to effect the desired change. 7. Career Development: It is ongoing process by which individual s progress through a series of stages, each of which is characterized by a relatively unique set of issues, themes and tasks. Career development involves two distinct processes; career planning and career management. Career planning involves activities performed by an individual, often with the assistance of counsellors and others, to assess his or her skills and abilities in order to establish a realistic career plan. Career management involves taking the necessary steps to achieve that plan, and generally focuses more on what an organization can do to foster employee career development. 4

5 Emergence of Human Resource Development : During the 1960s and 1970s, professional trainers realized that their role extended beyond the training classroom. Training and Development Competencies therefore expanded to include interpersonal skills such as a coaching, group process facilitation, and problem solving. This additional emphasis on employee development inspired the ASTD to rename itself as the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). Further in the 1990s and up to today, efforts were made to strengthen the strategic role of HRD that is how HRD links to and supports the goals and objectives of the organization. There was also an emphasis within ASTD on performance improvement as the particular goal of most training and HRD efforts, and on viewing organisations as high performance work systems. Emergence of Human Resource Development in India The concept of HRD was introduced in India by T V Rao. He is regarded as the father of HRD in India. Larsen and Toubro was the pioneer in India to design and implement an integrated HRD system in the 1970s. Slowly other companies also started establishing it. The concept of HRD scorecard was introduced in India by T.V. Rao and Dr. Udai Pareek. HRD scorecard is an indicator of the level of HR maturity of an organization and its alignment with the organization s strategy. The model is based on the assumption that competent and motivated employees are needed to provide quality products and services at competitive rates and ways that enhance customer satisfaction. In the HRD scorecard, the maturity level of HRD in an organization is measured on four dimensions. Four indicators, as described after this, are used to arrive at a comprehensive score for HRD maturity. a) HRD Systems Maturity Score: Employee competency and commitment can be developed through appropriate HRD mechanisms (tools and systems). In an HRD mature organization, there will be well-developed HRD systems such as: 5

6 Human Resource Planning and Recruitment Performance Management System Training Career Development and Succession Planning Job Rotation OD Interventions HR information systems (HRIS) b) HRD Competence Score: The competencies of the staff from different groups (HRD department, top management, line managers and supervisors, trade union leaders, and blue / white collar employees) are measured. Each group is assessed on the following dimensions: The level of HRD skills they possess. Attitudes and support to learning and their own development Extent to which they facilitate learning among others in the corporation and those who work with them Their attitudes and support to HRD function and system c) The HRD Culture: The HRD culture measures values and processes created by the HRD tools. Employees and their styles also play a crucial role in building sustainable competencies in the organisation, these needs to be measured and monitored. It is possible for some organizations to have minimal formal HR systems and yet have a high level of HR competencies and HRD culture. Specialized questionnaires have been developed for measurement of HRD culture for such organizations. d) Business Linkage Score: This score indicates the extent to which HRD efforts (tools, processes, culture, etc.) are driven to achieve business goals or goals of the organization. The business linkage goals include: 6

7 Business excellence including profitability and other outcomes the organization is expected to achieve Internal Operational Efficiencies Internal Customer Satisfaction External Customer Satisfaction Employee Motivation and Commitment Cost-effectiveness and Cost-Consciousness among Employees HRD Culture In the fast changing environment, the organisations have to develop and maintain an enabling culture to become dynamic and growth oriented. The purpose of HRD is to facilitate development of such a culture in the organisation. An enabling culture is one where employees use their initiative, risk, experiment, innovate and make things happen. HRD Culture Variables: The term OCTAPACE has been coined to denote the characteristics of HRD culture which include: a) Openness: The term openness refers to freedom to express ideas, opinion, views, frankness, outspoken, straightforwardness. b) Confrontation: The term confrontation refers to conflict, encounter, dispute, estrangement, to evolve effective and efficient suggestions and solutions to a given problem. c) Trust: Trust means belief, confidence, faith. One cannot order others to trust, it comes only through their experience. d) Autonomy: The word autonomy refers to freedom, independence. Freedom to do a thing in the way one wants tends to act as a morale booster. e) Proaction: The term pro-action generally refers to planning in advance, lead from the front, the state of alertness / preparedness. f) Authenticity: The term authenticity refers to genuine, factual, legitimate, actual. Every institution has a goal and various departments are used in the process to achieve the objectives through their varied and specialised skills. 7

8 g) Collaboration: The term collaboration refers to cooperation, participation, teamwork, association. Cooperation means working together. h) Experimentation: Modern organisations are often systems and to cope with environmental challenges, they allow their members to experiment with new ideas. HRD Climate Organisational climate is the summary perception which people have about an organisation. It is a global expression of what the organisation is. Organisational climate is the manifestation of the attitudes of organisational members toward the organisation itself. An organisation tends to attract and keep people who fit its climate so that its patterns are perpetuated at least to some extent. HRD climate may be defined as perceptions the employee have of the developmental environment of an organisation. HRD climate contributes to the organisations overall health and self-renewing capabilities which, in turn, increase the enabling capabilities of individual, dyads, teams and the entire organisation. HRD Matrix HRD Matrix identifies the interrelationships between HRD instruments, processes, outcomes and organisational effectiveness. HRD instruments include performance appraisal, counseling, role analysis, potential development, training, reward system, job enrichment, etc. These mechanisms may vary depending upon the size of the organisation, the commitment of the top management, the environment, the culture and climate, the perception of the people, technology used, methods employed by the competitors etc. HRD Sub-Systems / Mechanisms / Instruments T.V. Rao is of the opinion that HRD sub-systems comprise performance appraisal, potential appraisal, career planning, training, performance coaching, organisation development, employee welfare, rewards, quality of work life and human resource information system. Udai Pareek refers to performance appraisal, feedback, counseling, potential appraisal, career advancements, career planning and training as dimensions of HRD. 8

9 A well designed HRD programme should have the following sub-systems: i. Performance Appraisal: It is the process of determining how well a worker is performing his job. It provides a mechanism for identification of qualities and deficiencies observed in an employee in relation to his job performance. The object of appraisal is to determine the present state of efficiency of a worker in order to establish the actual need for training. ii. Potential Appraisal: It provides necessary data which helps in preparing career plans for individuals. It aims at development of latent abilities of individuals. The HRD function has a long way to go in introducing a streamlined potential appraisal system which ensures a good match between the employees and the job. iii. Feedback Counselling: Feedback of performance data can be used to monitor individual development and for identifying training needs. Career counselling and verbal rewards are integral parts of review discussions between the superior and the subordinate. iv. Training: It is a process that involves the acquisition of skills, concepts and attitudes in order to increase the effectiveness of employees in doing particular jobs. Training is expected to provide the needful stimulus to initiate impulses of changes in management and to improve efficiency, productivity and administrative effectiveness. v. Role Analysis: It is a participatory process which aims at defining the work content of a role in relation to all those with whom the role occupant has significant interaction in the performance of his job. 9

10 vi. vii. viii. Career Planning: It means helping the employees to plan their career in terms of their capacities within the context of organisational needs. It is the planning of one s career and implementation of career plans by means of education, training, job search and acquisition of work experiences. Job Rotation: The work tasks should be rotated among the employees so as to broaden their field of specialization as well as their knowledge about the organisation s operation as a whole. The work-tasks, therefore, should be rotated once a year among the various employees depending upon their qualifications and suitability to perform new roles. Quality Circle: It is a small group of employees doing similar or related work who meet regularly to identify, analyse and solve product-quality problems and to improve general operation. The quality circles are relatively autonomous units (ideally about 10 workers), usually led by a supervisor or a senior worker and organised as work units. The workers, who have a shared area of responsibility, meet periodically to discuss, analyse, and propose solutions to ongoing problems. ix. Reward System: Rewarding employees performance over and above their normal wages and salaries is considered to be an important task of the HRD. In any organisation, the managers and workers have similar motivations, although the manager controls the means of achieving need-satisfaction at work and each employee seeks self-development to go as far as possible on his own ability. x. Organisation Development (OD): It is an organisation-wide, planned effort managed from the top, placing emphasis on making appropriate intervention in the ongoing activities of the organisation. It provides a normative framework within which changes in the climate and culture of the organisation towards harnessing the human potential for realization of organisational objectives is brought out. 10

11 xi. Quality of Working Life (QWL): The conditions under which the workers work and live, assume the form of another important factor contributing to workers satisfaction or otherwise and consequently the job satisfaction. For an employee to be able to work at his best, it is necessary to understand that inadequate working and living conditions produce adverse mental and physical effect on the employee, ultimately causing decline in the efficiency. xii. Human Resource Planning: It is the process aimed at ensuring that the organisation will have adequate number of qualified persons, available at proper time, performing jobs which would meet the needs of the organisation and also provide satisfaction for the individuals involved. xiii. Recruitment, Selection and Placement: Recruitment is generation of applications for specific positions for anticipated vacancies. The ideal recruitment efforts will be to generate adequate number of suitable applicants. Selection is the process of ascertaining the qualifications, experience, skills, knowledge, etc. of applicants with a view to appraising their suitability for a job. Placement is the process of assigning the selected candidate with the most suitable job. Challenges to HRD Professionals: Challenges include: a. Increasing Workforce Diversity b. Competing in a Global Economy c. The Need for Lifelong Learning d. Meeting the Need for Lifelong Individual Learning a. Increasing Workforce Diversity: The workforce has become increasingly more diverse, and this trend toward diversity will continue. This includes increasing diversity along racial, ethnic, and gender lines, as well as an increasing percentage of the workforce that is over age. 11

12 b. Competing in a Global Economy: Competing in the global economy requires more than educating and training workers to meet new challenges. In addition to retraining the workforce, successful companies will institute quality improvement processes and introduce change efforts (for example, high involvement programs). The workforce must learn cultural sensitivity to better communicate and conduct business among different cultures and in other countries. c. The Need for Lifelong Learning: The challenge in HRD professionals is to provide a full range of learning opportunities for all kinds of employees. One way that organisations are meeting this challenge is by establishing multimedia learning centres (sometimes on the organisation s intranet). These centres offer a variety of instructional technologies that can be matched to each trainee s unique learning needs. d. Facilitating Organisational Learning: One challenge of HRD professionals is facilitating a transition from traditional training programs to emphasising three things: learning principles and tactics; how learning relates to performance; and more importantly, the relationship between learning and fundamental change. 12

13 Sample Multiple Choice Questions 1. Who is regarded as father of Human Resource Development in India? (a) T. V. Rao (b) Ishwan Dayal (c) Dr. Manmohan Singh (d) None of the above 2. Which company is considered as pioneer in India to design and implement Human Resource Development System? (a) Larsen and Toubro (b) Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (HEL) (b) Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) (d) All of the above 3. Human Resource Development may include the following Processes / Sub- Systems (a) Career planning, manpower planning and Collective Bargaining (b) Performance Appraisal, Training, Role Analysis (c) Quality circle, Organisational Development, Industrial Relation (d) Quality of Work Life, Quality Circle and Grievance handling 4. Which of the following is the main objective of Human Resource Development? (a) To provide suitable need based training Programmes (b) To contribute towards the excellence of technical management education (c) To motivate the employees to achieve organisational goals. (d) All of the above 5. Human Resource Development can be (a) A platform for organisational transformation (b) A vehicle for global knowledge transfer (c) A mechanism for balancing work life (d) All of the above 6. Who has given the concept of OCTAPACE culture? (a) T.V. Rao (b) Udai Pareek (c) Dharni P. Sinha (d) D.M. Pestonjee 13

14 7. What is the process of training and developing employees to improve and update their knowledge and skills, so as to perform their jobs better known as: (a) Knowledge management (b) HRD (c) Managing Human Relations (d) Compensation Management 8. The concept of total quality control i.e., that quality must be attended to at all stages of the industrial cycle and throughout the organisation, is the creation of which of the following pioneers? (a) Joseph M Juran (b) W. Edwards Deming (c) Genichi Taguchi (d) Armand Feigenbaum 9. Who has coined the term Quality Circle? (a) Kaoru Ishikawa (b) W. Edwards Deming (c) Joseph M. Juran (d) Bill Cosby 10. Which of the following can be considered as HRD functions? (a) Identifying and imparting training needs (b) Identifying and selecting the best candidate (c) Mapping the competency and encouraging the employee (d) All of the above. ANSWERS a a b d d b b d a d 14