HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

MODULE-1

Human Resource Development (HRD) is the framework for helping employees develop
their personal and organizational skills, knowledge, and abilities. Human Resource
Development includes such opportunities as employee training, employee career
development, performance management and development, coaching, mentoring,
succession planning, key employee identification, tuition assistance, and organization
development.

HRD is the integrated use of training and development, career development, and
organization development to improve individual effectiveness

In 1970 Len Nadler published his now-classic book Developing Human Resources, in
which he coined the term "human resource development" (HRD). The term HRD
provided a conceptual umbrella under which the field began to unify, using the three-fold
notion of training, education, and development. HRD provided purpose and direction for
the continued growth of the field: organized learning to provide the possibility of
performance change. It further idententified a core discipline from which a field of study
could develop: adult learning in the workplace. McLagans HRD studies in 1983 and 1989
reflected a shift taking place in HRD work. In 1983 the assumptions in the competency
models focused on change in technology. In 1987 Patricia McLagan proposed the
following narrative definition of HRD

In 1989 there were signs of an emerging concern for economic impact. The field began to
move from focusing to what is performed to what is produced. One of the forces in 1989
was an increased use of systems approaches in HRD. Another shift in the field that took
place was that the focus on individual learning was shifting to organizational learning as
the primary activity and goal of the field. Patricia McLagan's role and competency study
Models for HRD Practice described in 1989 a broadened scope of various roles in the
competency models. The definition of HRD expanded beyond training and organization
development. The move was toward HRD responsiveness and relevance.

Arriving at the final countdown to the 21st century HRD remains an important force for
the future. In her article on HRD competencies and future trends in HRD Pat McLagan
(1996) identified nine important roles for HRD practioners to perform. As HRD
practitioners create rather than just respond, they will seek leverage and ways to help
managers, teams, and individuals take charge of their own human resource practices.
According to McLagan "HRD may be the only function in a clear position to represent
human ethics and morality". It is in the following roles that the present HRD
professionals are challenged to create new ways to address the human resource issues
1. HR strategic advisor

In this role the issues and trends concerning an organization's external and internal people
are brought to the attention of the strategic decision makers

2. HR systems designer and developer

This role involves designing and preparing HR systems for implementation so that HR
systems and actions are mutually reinforcing and have maximum impact on
organizational performance, development and endurance.

3. Organization change consultant

This role means facilitating the development and implementation of strategies for
transforming organizations.

4. Organization design consultant

This role involves identifying the work required to fulfill organizational strategies. It also
involves organizing the work so that it makes efficient and effective use of resources.

5. Learning program specialist

In this role learning needs are identified to design and develop structured learning
programs and materials in a variety of media formats for self-study and workshop or
electronic delivery.

6. Instructor/facilitator

This is an increasingly difficult role. In it information is presented, structural learning

experiences are lead and group discussions and group processes facilitated.

7. Individual development and career consultant

This role involves helping people assess their competencies, values and goals so they can
identify, plan, and implement development actions.

8. Performance consultant

This role means assisting a group or individuals to add value in the workplace. It's a
coaching and consulting role in which HRD people perform both analytical and systems-
design work.

9. Researcher
 This role involves assessing HRD practices and programs and their impact empirically. It
also means communicating results so that the organization and its people accelerate their
change and development.

Some more definition:

By Desimons harries and Werner:

HRD is a set of systematic and planned activities designed by an organization to promote

its members with the opportunity to learn necessary skill to meet current and future job
demand.

In the organizational context, HRD is a process by which the employees of an

organization are helped in a continuous and planned way to :

1. acquire or sharpen capabilities required to perform various functions associated

with their present or expected future roles.
2. develop their general capabilities as individuals and discover & exploit their inner
potential for their own & organizational development purpose.
3. develop an organizational culture in which supervisor- subordinate relationships,
team work and collaboration among sub-units and contribute to the professional
well-beings, motivation and pride of employees
4. HRD process is facilitated by mechanism(instruments and sub-system)like
performance appraisal, training, organizational development, feedback,
counseling, job rotation, & rewards.

Objective of HRD

• To develop the individual to realize his potential as an individual to the maximum extent.
• To develop the individual’s capabilities to perform his job better.
• To develop the capabilities to handle future likely roles
• To develop and maintain a high motivation level of employees to strength team spirit
among different teams
• To strengthen superior- subordinate relationships
• Promote: climate development & organizational health development.

HRD SYSTEMS:

HRD functions are carried out through its system & sub-systems. HRD has six major
systems & each of the systems has sub-systems elaborated below:

Career system

Appraisal system

Work system
training system

Self-renewal system

Culture system

Career system: As an HRD system, career system ensures attraction & retention of
human resources through the following sub-system:

• Manpower planning
• Recruitment
• Career planning
• Succession planning
• Retention

Appraisal system:

• Performance appraisal
• Potential appraisal
• Team Appraisal and counseling
• Performance counseling and coaching

Performance Appraisal

As an instrument/ mechanism or sub-system of HRD is used to

-to understand the difficulties of the employees

-understand the strength and weakness

-help the employees to aware of their positive contributions

-encourage employee to accept more responsibilities and challenges

-help employees to acquire new capabilities

In HRD-oriented performance appraisal , every supervisor has responsibility to

ensure the development of his or her subordinates in relation to the capabilities
required to perform their jobs effectively. Generally ,the supervisor by adopting each
of the following steps ensures individuals’ development and utilization of the same:

Identifying key performance areas

Identification of behavioral dimensions that is critical for managerial effectiveness.

Periodic review of performance.

Analysis of performance

Formal performance review and discussions

Identification of development needs and action plan for future performance.

Potential Appraisal:

Potential appraisal helps to identify the potential of employee to occupy higher

positions in the organizational hierarchy and to undertake more responsibilities.
However as performance is often evaluated on the past records reflected existing roles
and responsibilities, the organization has to explore the potential for better utilization
or resources. Potential appraisal system is also linked with:

Feedback and counseling

Training

Job rotation

Data storage and HR planning

Team Appraisals: Increasing productivity, improving quality of product and services

require strong teamwork. HRD oriented appraisal system not only gives importance
to individual appraisal but also gives importance to team appraisal.

Performance counseling and coaching:

Performance counseling provided by the managers to his sub-ordinate in analyzing

their performance and increases their job effectiveness.

Work system: work planning system ensures that the attracted and retained human
resource are utilized in the best possible way to obtain organizational objectives.
Employees can effectively contribute to the goals of the organization if their needs
and goals are properly synchronized, they are helped to understand the goals of the
organization and provided with opportunities to plan, review and improve their work.
The following mechanism can be utilized to develop a proper work system.

Role efficacy:

A person’s own potential effectiveness depend on the knowledge, competency and

skill required for the role. The potential effectiveness of an individual occupying the
role is known as role efficacy.
Job enrichment: The process of enrichment is the process of providing valuable things
to the person .Job enrichment helps in increasing employee competence and ability of
the employee to share higher responsibility. It provide variety in skill , task identity,
autonomy and feedback.

Autonomous work groups/ self managed teams: Autonomous work teams related to
job enrichment at the group level. The work performed by the team is consolidated
through vertical integration. This option for job redesign provides the team with a
goal to be accomplished and permits it to determine its work assignments.

Quality of work life: It focus on the environment within the organization and include
basic physical concerns and psychological and motivational factors.HRD systems
focus on employee welfare and quality of work life by continually examining
employee needs and meeting them to the extent feasibility by the organization job
enrichment programme, educational subsidies, recreational activities, health and
medical benefits etc.

Productivity: The work system needs to be characterized with high efficiency

production. Concept like re-engineering, total quality management can be utilized to
enhance efficiency and productivity.

Training system: The environmental situation and the business scenario is fast
changing. The human resource within the organization have to rise up to the occasion
& change according if the organization wants to be in business. The development
system ensures that the retained (career system) & utilized (work system) human
resources are also continuously developed so that they are in a position to meet the
emerging needs of the hour. Following are some of the development sub-systems of
HRD that make sure that human resources in the organization are continuously
developed. Training as a sub-system of HRD ensures employees development
through better career plans, identification of potentiality of employees and enhancing
competency .training would act as a successful HRD instrument only when it is
utilized in actual job environment and through proper identification of training need
and proper evaluation of training.

The training system consists of

Identifying the training needs

Task analysis

Training in performance

Development curricular

Self- renewal system: It is not enough to develop individuals & teams in the
organizations but occasionally there is a need to renew & re-juvenile the organization
itself. Following are some of the sub systems that can be utilized to renew the
organization.

Stress management

Organization development interventions

HRIS and Planning system

Organization learning

Culture systems:

Building a desire culture is of paramount importance in today’s changed business

scenario. It is the culture that will give a sense of direction, purchase togetherness &
teamwork. It is to be noted that whether an organization wants it or not along with the
time common ways of doing things (culture) will emerge. If not planned carefully &
built systematically such common traits may not help the business but may become a
stumbling block. Hence it is very important to have cultural practices that facilitate
business. Some of the culture building subsystems are given below:

Vision, mission and goal

Values

Communication

Get-together and celebrations

Task forces

Small group

HRD climate and its elements:

HRD climate of an organization plays a very important role in ensuring the

competency, motivation & development of its employees.

The HRD climate can be created using appropriate HRD systems leadership style of
top management.

The HRD climate both means to an end as well as end in itself.

Define climate:
Perception about an organization’s goal & about decisions that a manager should take
to achieve these goals come not only from formal control systems but also through
informal organization.

Both the formal & informal structure combine to create what is called organization
climate.

The term climate is used to designate the quality of the internal environment which
conditions in turn the quality of cooperation, the development of the individual, the
extent of member’s dedication or commitment to organization purpose & the
efficiency with which that purpose becomes transferred into results.