HRD Climate Introduction :- If we need to find a way to develop employees in order to become effective contributors to the goals of an organization,

, we need to have a clear view of what an effective contribution would look like. The use of personal capacities can be very helpful in describing the way in which an effective employee should operate and behave, but there can be no general prescription of an effective employee. Effectiveness will differ with organizational context, and on whose perspective we are adopting. The matter of what, finally, makes an effective employee is a combination of personality, natural capabilities, developed skills, experience and learning. The process of enhancing an employees present and future effectiveness is called development. Meaning of HR+D+Climate HR means employees in organisation, who work to increase the profit for organisation. Development, it is acquisition of capabilities that are needed to do the present job, or the future expected job. After analyzing Human Resource and Development we can simply stated that, HRD is the process of helping people to acquire competencies. Climate, this is an overall feeling that is conveyed by the physical layout, the way employees interact and the way members of the organisation conduct themselves with outsiders. (It is provided by an organisation.) Organisational climate is a set of characteristics of an organisation which are referred in the descriptions employees make of the policies, practices and conditions which exist in the working environment. Abraham An organisation became dynamic and growth oriented if their people are dynamic and pro-active. Through proper selection of people and by nurturing their dynamism and other competencies an organisation can make their people dynamic and pro-active. To survive it is very essential for an organisation to adopt the change in the environment and also continuously prepare their employees to meet the challenges; this will have a positive impact on the organisation. What is needed to Develop Organisational Climate in Organisation Top to Bottom effort : - Organisation is considered to be complete organisation after including top authority to bottom line of workers. And whenever we talk about development at organisational level effort is needed from top level to bottom level. Top authority should not have thinking in their mind that their task is to only take decisions but they should also emphasized on proper implementation of decision by adopting various controlling technique. Bottom level workers should have loyal mind-set towards their organisation. Bottom level workers have to work with dedication. They should have

realisation that organisation is their organisation. Motivator role of Manager and Supervisor : - To prepare Human Resource Development Climate, Manager and Supervisors responsibilities are more or we can say that they are the key players. Manager and Supervisors have to help the employees to develop the competencies in the employees. To help the employees at lower level they need to updated properly and they need to share their expertise and experience with employees. Faith upon employees : - In the process of developing HRD Climate employer should have faith on its employees capabilities. Means whatever amount is invested that should be based on development of employees. Top management should trust the employees that after making huge effort to develop employees, employees will work for the well being of organisation and for human being also. Free expression of Feelings : - Whatever Top management feels about employees they have to express to employees and whatever employees think about top management it must be express in other words we can say that there should not be anything hidden while communication process. Clear communication process will help to establish the HRD Climate. Feedback : - Feedback should be taken regularly to know the drawbacks in system. This will help to gain confidence in employees mind. Employee will trust on management and he can express his opinion freely which is very good for HRD Climate. Feedback will help to remove the weakness. Helpful nature of employees : - Whenever we talk about 100% effort then we have to talk about employees effort too. Nature of employees should be helping for management and for its colleagues. They should be always read to help to customers too. Supportive personnel management: - Personnel policies of organisation should motivate employees to contribute more from their part. Top managements philosophy should be clear towards Human Resource and its well being to encourage the employees. Encouraging and risk taking experimentation : - Employees should be motivated by giving them authority to take decision. This concept is risky but gradually it will bring expertise in employees to handle similar situation in future. It will help to develop confidence in employees mind. Organisation can utilize and develop employees more by assigning risky task. Discouraging stereotypes and favouritism : - Management need to avoid those practices which lead to favouritism. Management and Managers need to give equal importance. Those people who are performing good they need to appreciated and those who are not performing good they need to be guided. Any kind of partial behaviour should be avoided. Team Spirit : - There must be feeling of belongingness among the employees, and also

willingness to work as a team. Components of HRD Climate The organizational climate consists of: Organisational StructureAn organizations structure is actually a snapshot of a work process, frozen in time so that it can be viewed. The structure enables the peoples energy to be focused towards process achievement and goal achievement. Employee must have a clear definition of not only the work structure but also the role used to organize the work. If the structure and the role is not clear, people will not know what the work process is, who is responsible for what, whom to go for help and decision, and who can Assist in solving problems that may arise. Organisational CultureOrganisational culture is the pattern of beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, and customs that exists within an organisation. Organizational culture may result in part from senior management beliefs or from the beliefs of employees. Organizational culture can be supportive or unsupportive, positive or negative. It can affect the ability or willingness of employees to adapt or perform well within the organisation. The most effective work culture is one that supports the organizations HR strategies by aligning behaviors, processes and methods with the desired results. It is not just achieving results but the methods through which they are achieved that are critical to long-term success. Before any HR strategy is designed there must be a clear understanding of the organisation, its current values, its structure, its people as well as its goals and vision for the future. HR ProcessesThe HR system of an organisation should be comprehensive enough to take care of employees from the time they join till the time they leave HR. Their demands must not be ignored, but a feeling of belongingness be created. Process should be very clear and impartial, so that employees faith in organisation. From recruitment to retirement whole process should be according to employees expectation and ability of employer.

Importance of looking at the organisation climate are: Looking at the organizational climate, which means taking a closer look at what is

happening in and around in the HR scenario of the various organization. It is essential to work on because directly or indirectly this environment affects the organization and the employee. Importances are: Environmental factors of HR are prime influencing elements of change in HR strategy. It gives HR professionals time to anticipate opportunities in HR area and time to plan optional responses to these opportunities. It helps HR professionals to develop an early warning system to prevent threats emerging out from HR scenario, or to develop strategies, which can turn a threat. It forms a basis of aligning the organisation strengths to the changes in the environment. It enables the entry of the latest national/international HR developments. Measuring HRD Climate Economic condition An organisations economic condition influences its culture in several ways. The more prosperous an organisation is the more it can afford to spend on research and the more it can afford to risk and be adventurous. Leadership Style : An organisation leadership style plays a profound role in determining several aspects of its culture. An authoritarian style may make the organisations culture characterized by high position structure, low individual autonomy, low reward orientation, low warmth and support and so on, or it may be opposite, like goal directed leadership. Managerial assumption about human nature : Every act on the part of the management that involves human beings is predicated upon assumptions, generalizations and hypotheses relating to human behaviour. There are two theories of behaviour (Theory X and Theory Y). Managerial values and ethos : The feeling of managers about norms and values what is good and what is poor as management practice. There are few dimensions on which it can be checked. They are self-awareness, risk-taking, participation, bureaucracy, equity, employees security and growth.

Organisation size : An small organizations there are few levels of management, these are generally more amenable to democratic and participative functioning than big organisations. More open communication system in small organisations. Hence these organisations have a different type of climate than what are in big organizations. COPYRIGHT All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce the report or positions thereof, storage in a retrieval system or transmission in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the authors and Kathmandu University School of Management. However, part of the report may be used for referencing with due acknowledgment to the concerned authorities. 2008, Khagendra, Purushottam and Srijana. DISCLAIMER The analysis presented in this report is solely from the perspective of the project members. The analysis is totally based on the information obtained from the primary source. Hence, none of the project members of Kathmandu University School of Management of this project will be liable for any views, comments or misleading results presented in this report. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We would like to express our gratitude to all the people whose support was instrumental in completing the project work. We extend our sincere thanks to Buddha Air for giving us opportunity to work on this project based on their organization and providing us with the primary data. We are deeply indebted to our course instructor Mr. Bijay Manandhar from KUSOM whose help, stimulating suggestions and encouragement helped us to carry out the project work. We would also like to express our gratitude to our friends and other helping hands during the entire project work for all their help, support, interest and valuable tips. Survey of HRD Climate in Buddha Air Objectives of the Study To understand the General HRD Climate Survey of the Organization To understand the HRD mechanism of the Organization To see the OCTAPACE culture of the Organization Methodology

The data were collected from primary sources. Comprehensive questionnaires for employees where developed and interviews were conducted with the help of these structured questionnaires. Data Sampling Total number of questionnaire: 60 Form distributed at the different Level: Low level - 10 Middle managers - 15 Officers 15 Top level managers - 5 Support level - 15 Total number of questionnaire collected: 59 Limitations of the Study The study was conducted with a very limited time of two weeks only. All employees and management representatives were not considered due to time limit. Hence, a sample of ten to twelve percent of the population has been taken up for the purpose of the study. We are unable to do the comparative interpretation with other organization in Nepal due to time limitation. Data collection consumed a lot of time. Introduction of a Buddha Air Buddha Air is Domestic flight operation Private Company which started from October 1997. The Chairperson of a company is Mr.Surendra Bahadur Basnet and the Managing Director of a company is Mr. Birendra Bahadur Basnet. There is total 508 numbers of staffs in a company. Buddha Air possess nine aircraft exists of which five are 1900Ds, two are of number 1900Cs and two ATR-42. Buddha Air is the leading domestic air liner with the combination of dedicated staff members and state of the art aircrafts. Buddha Air Business operation covers areas like Kathmandu, Bhadrapur, Bhairahawa, Bharatpur, Biratnagar, Dhangadhi, Janakpur, Nepalgunj, Simara and Pokhara. Buddha Air also caters to Mountain flight and Charter flight Conceptual Framework of HRD Climate in Organizations Organizational climate is viewed as an important tool of motivating and developing employees in any organization. The concept has gained greater significance in recent times. Organizational climate is more of descriptive nature and it totally depends on the perceptions and levels of satisfaction among the employees in an organization within a given climate. In any Organizations, Employees expectation about having work environment

conducive to professional growth so, Management and workforce responsible for developing work environment and Organizational policies, practices and conditions is helpful in creating a developmental climate in an organization . Thus HRD climate is necessary to create such an environment in a workplace as HRD climate creates interest and motivation among employees for better performance and creates opportunity for growth and success. An organizational development climate can be consisting of the following tendencies on the part of the organization: A tendency at all levels starting from top management to the lowest level to treat the people as the most important resource A perception that developing the competencies in the employees is the job Of every manager or supervisor Faith in the capability of employees to change and acquire new competencies at any stage of life A tendency to open to communications and discussion rather than being secretive Encouraging risk-taking and experimentation Making efforts to help employees recognize their strengths and weaknesses through feedback A general climate of trust A tendency on the part of employees to be generally helpful to each other and collaborate with each other Team spirit Tendency to discourage stereotypes and favoritism Supportive personnel policies

Supportive HRD practices including performance appraisal, training, reward management, potential development, job rotation and career planning. Effective of HRD Climate in an Organization HRD Climate is one of the pre-requisites of effective HRD process implementation. It is an integral part of organizational climate. HRD climate creates interest and motivation among the employees to stay long in an organization. It creates growth opportunities and recognition. Its success is vitally based on the top managements confidence in employees which will propel them to take initiative and meet challenging responsibilities for the organization. Employees dignity and individuality is boosted when an effective HRD climate is created. Humanitarian attitude towards human resources in an organization paves way for the development of individual and the organization. Hence, HRD policies must show a way for the overall development of employees. Thus, the dynamic HRD climate can create the right path for development of both the individual as well as the organization. It is possible through humane treatment of employees by the employers and helping develop right attitude among the employees. The HRD climate appears in informal and social relations. Therefore, it carries a descriptive role rather than an evaluative role. HRD Climate Survey Questionnaire Any Organization that would like to be dynamic and growth oriented has to pay attention to the development of its human resources. People must be continuously helped to acquire capabilities for effective performance of new roles/functions/tasks that may arise in the process of organizational growth and change in the environment. Thus HRD becomes crucial for organizational dynamism and growth. In the recent past, mechanisms like performance appraisal, counseling, OD, job enrichment has been introduced in various organizations. A minimal positive developmental climate is essential for the success of these programs. The survey questionnaire is to find out the extent to which such developmental climate exists in the organization. A 60-item HRD Climate Questionnaire was prepared to conduct the survey the extent to which development climate is existing in the organizations. These 60 items can be grouped into three categories: general climate, OCTAPACE and HRD mechanisms. The general climate items deal with the importance given to human resources development in general by the top management and line managers. The OCTAPACE items deal with the extent to which openness, confrontation, trust, autonomy, pro-activity, authenticity and collaboration are valued and promoted in the organization. The items dealing with HRD mechanisms measure the extent to which HRD mechanisms are implemented seriously. Development Climate Data The questionnaire used a five-point scale, average scores of 3 and around indicate a moderate tendency on that dimension existing in that organization. Scores around 4 indicate a fairly good degree of that dimension existing in the organization. So, in order to make the interpretations easy the mean scores were converted into percentage scores using the formula,

Percentage score= (mean score-1)*25. This was done assuming that a score of 1 represents 0 per cent, a score of 2 represents 25 percent, a score of 3 represents 50 percent, score of 4 represents 75 percent and a score of 5 represents 100 percent. Thus, a percentage scores indicates the degree to which the particular dimension exists in that company out of the ideal 100. Interpretation For this survey project, we have done only theoretical interpretation. The mean scores for each item could theoretically range from 1.0 to 5.0 where 1.0 indicates extremely poor HRD climate and 5.0 indicates extraordinarily good HRD climate on that dimension. Scores around 3 indicate an average HRD climate on that dimension giving substantial scope for improvement. Scores around 2 indicate a poor HRD climate on that dimension. Scores around 4 indicate a good HRD climate where most employees have positive attitudes to the HRD policies and practices of the organization on that dimension and thereby to the organization itself. Mean scores around 4 are indicative of an HRD climate at a desirable level. OCTAPACE on Organizational Level The OCTAPACE profile gives the profile of organizations ethos in eight values. These values are openness, confrontation, trust, authenticity, pro-activity, autonomy, collaboration and experimentation which are essential for institution building. OCTAPACE is a meaningful term indicating eight steps to create functional ethos. Openness A spontaneous expression of feelings and thoughts and the sharing of these without being defensive. Research shows for openness the mean score is 3.929 and percentage is 73.22. The overall openness of organization is in near good status or at least categorized as above average. This is also supported by employees as they believe free and frank communication between various level helps in solving problems. It shows the mindset of employees who are for free interaction among employees, each respecting each others, feelings, competence, and sense of judgment. Although there is a strong favor in free communication, genuine sharing of information, feelings and thoughts in meetings is on an average. It seems free discussion and communication is strong among peers but it is not so strong between seniors and subordinates as employees feel managers are not so professional while dealing with subordinates since they tend to be little personal. Confrontation

is bringing out problems and issues into the open with view to solving them rather than hiding them for fear of hurting or getting hurt. It also implies deeper analysis of interpersonal problems. All this involves taking up challenges. For confrontation mean score is 3.756 and % is 68.898 which shows it is in average state. Employees believe they always face problem and try to find solution and face challenges at work as they think it is inherent in work situation. Interpersonal problems are also addressed on an average basis but deeper analysis is not done. Although employees believe challenges are inherent at the work situation but have tendency to pass the buck tactfully when problem arise. Trust is taking people at their face value and believing what they say For trust mean score is 3.814 and percentage is 70.339 which means this element is above average in the organization. There is moral support and help to employee and colleagues in crisis. Employees are supportive to each other in such situation. However, confiding in seniors without fear that they will misuse the trust is bit low and employees become defensive at the time of crisis. Autonomy is giving freedom to let people work independently with responsibility For autonomy mean score is 3.431 and percentage is 60.763 This is on a very average scale in Buddha Air and this hold true especially for lower level staff members. Employees have strongly favored the statement that there should be tactfulness, smartness and even a little manipulation to get things done. There is another good point under this category that employees feel they always own up to their mistakes. Congruity between feelings and expressed behavior has also average score. It also seems trust level among employees is not so strong as they have given low score to the statement People generally are what they appear to be . The lowest scorer is the statement which says Telling a polite lie is preferable to telling the unpleasant truth it means employees are less diplomatic and tactful while dealing with difficult situation. Pro-activity is encouraging employees to take the initiative and risks For pro-activity mean score is 3.868 and percentage is 71.695 Although this has come about above average or near good score, in other categories of findings this aspect is seen little bit weak and contradicting. On the issue of being proactive, employees have rated statement in following manner

 The high scorer is prevention is better than cure which shows employees have strong believe that action has to be taken before it is too late. They also consider both positive and negative aspects before taking action. They have the opinion that A stitch in time saves nine On the contrary, they think preventing action on most matters is not so strong in the organization. They do not see their seniors encouraging their subordinates to think about their development and take action in that direction is (second weak) Authenticity is the tendency on the part of people to do what they say. For authenticity mean score is 3.658 and percentage is 66.441% Employees believe that autonomy is good for motivation and encourages employees to work using ones discretion. They believe close supervision is needed to direct employees to make them more action oriented and a boost to taking independent action relating to their jobs. However, in practice obeying and checking with seniors rather than taking action by oneself is prevalent and employees favors strong discipline against freedom. This is again in line with the finding that employees do not prefer being proactive at their work. Collaboration - is to accept interdependencies, to be helpful to each other and work as teams For collaboration, mean score is 3.824 and percentage is 70.593. This is the strongest part of the organization as the score is also around near good. Employees believe that their work in not limited to carrying out day to day work of the organization or whatever given in their job description but it contributes at the organizational level. They support the view that employees involvement in developing an organizations mission and goals contributes to productivity. Team work and team spirit is somehow core competence of the organization which makes the work environment conducive to accepting and appreciating help offered by others. As mentioned above about high team spirit of the organization has been supported by another low rating of the statement which says Usually emphasize on team work dilutes individual accountability. On the flip side it means they strongly support the team work. Employees also have high organizational value as stated above and further substantiated by em ployees not favoring the statement that Performing immediate tasks rather than being concerned about large organizational goals.

Experimentation Open to try out new things. Further it means using and encouraging innovative approaches to solve problems; using feedback for improving, taking fresh look at things and encouraging creativity. For experimentation mean score is 3.861 and percentage is 71.525 % This is also in a near good status as per the score given by employees. Employees are encouraged to take a fresh look at how things are done and they also support the view that trying out new things makes the organization dynamic. They also try out for new and innovative options to solve the problem, To hold some kind of perception and actually translate it into the action is different thing which also applies in Buddha Air. Employees may hold the view that experimentation is good for dynamism however in practice they are more for consolidation and stability to stay in competitive situation rather having experimentation with innovative approaches. General supportive climate it consists of not only top management, line management commitment but good personnel policies and positive attitudes towards development Score: Mean 3.656 and 66.411 % Result: An average HRD climate Employees believe that top management gives importance to the human resource and all employees are treated humanely. They also feel that team spirit is in place in the organization which is already by quite a high score on the collaboration aspect. The climate is also favorable in terms of employee being treated caringly by seniors as they understand the mistake and do not take any strict disciplinary action such as punishing or discouraging. There is also fair share of management involvement in making work enjoyable as employees have high expectation from management, seniors regarding development of employees. There is open discussion on problems and solution. Since team spirit is a kind of organizations culture, employees are helpful to each other. However, having supportive climate among employees and from management employees does not seem to be helping employees to be proactive in self development. It seems they like to be taken care by the management rather than being explo rative for ones professional development. Good part of Buddha Air regarding HRD is that top management understands the importance of human resource and actually translates that realization into day to day to practice and HR policies, For HRD climate to be positive or encouraging it is always a must that top management understands the importance of HR and workforce has team

spirit. In this regard, the organization has a good base and all it needs to do is built upon its strong foundation. It also shows that there is an involvement of top management and mid level management in HRD efforts. However, despite the support from seniors employees seem to have dependent attitude or have high expectation from their seniors about self developmental and they expect to be looked after rather than being proactive themselves. There was a very poor response on employees taking initiative for self development. HRD Mechanism The successful implementation of HRD involves an integrated look at HRD and efforts to use as many HRD mechanisms as possible. These mechanisms include performance appraisal, career planning, performance rewards, feedback and counseling, training, employee welfare for quality work life and job rotation. The mean score obtained from related questionnaire in HRD mechanism in the survey is 3.764 and which is in percentage 69.11. The highest score obtained in the related questionnaire of HRD mechanism is in Training is taken seriously by employees . So employees in Buddha Air take training as serious in their career development. Also, when seniors give behavior feedback to their subordinates, Research shows that subordinates appreciate the feedback given by the seniors and applied to their work environment. There is encouraging and supportive HRD climate for the staffs that backed from the training so that training transfer will occur on the job. The existing Personnel policies are supportive to employee development. Research also shows that there is a genuine need of training and employees are open to job rotation. Top management is involved in the development of employees. Performance appraisal quite accepted by employees as they believe it is on objective assessment and not favoritism but the Incentive mechanism for good performance is not in place. Even Performance appraisal seems to be objective but ironically promotion decisions influenced by favoritism as per the low score given by employees.

From the research data, it shows that Openness is high in the low level staffs than the middle and top level staffs. Low level staffs feel free to discuss their ideas, activities and feelings with each other more than the middle and top level. It also shows that bringing out problems and issues into the open with a view to solving them rather than hiding them for fear of hurting or getting hurt (Confrontation) is also high in the low level staffs. Trust is also high among the low level staff than the middle and top level staffs which mean that low level staffs take people at their face value and believe what others say than the middle and the low level staffs. Research shows that even autonomy is little high in middle level staffs followed by top level and the low level staffs, there is an average freedom to let people work independently with responsibility (Autonomy) in all levels of the Organization. Encouraging employees to take an initiative and risks (Pro-activity) is

also high among low level staffs than the middle and the top level staffs. The tendency on the part of people to do what they say (Authenticity) is in average in all three levels of the organization and little more on the low level staffs followed by middle and top levels. Open to try out new things (Experimentation) are also high in low level staffs than the middle and top level staffs. So, from the comparative analysis of research data it shows that OCTAPACE culture is more on low level staffs followed by middle and top level staffs respectively. Good personnel policies and positive attitudes towards development are also higher on low level staffs. Research also shows that career planning, feedback and counseling, training, employee welfare for quality work life and job rotation are also high in low level staffs than the middle and top level staffs. Recommendation The following points should be considered in order to improve the overall HRD climate of the Buddha Air Managers need training and lessons on open communication with subordinates, seniors Ensure trust in the work environment Employees should move from Traditional kind of work culture where do as told is practiced. Seniors should also encourage Employees to be proactive. Management course should be given to supervisors High value of team spirit should be maintained Make work environment conducive to change or experiments ( Change Management) Top management should further improve the HR policy, motivate staff members to take interest in self development activities and educate on benefits of good HRD climate through several orientation or training sessions Management should also ensure effective organizational and HRD climate to make employees proactive in self development

Ensure fair and just promotion practice based on performance appraisal Introduce motivational package for good performance Conclusion In conclusion, the overall HRD climate of Buddha Air is encouraging since there is a keen interest of top management in HRD and there is a high team sprit and employees take training seriously. Also training transfer is in practice and organizational belonging of employees is high. Despite of such positive base for HRD to take up in a highly professional manner, HRD mechanism needs improvisation in a systematic way. Buddha Air also needs to focus on upper level staff for the motivation since OCTAPACE perceived by this level is comparatively low. Various HRD systems needs to be introduced such as training plan for regular staff, career development, incentive scheme, training effectiveness evaluation, fair promotional system so that HRD climate of Buddha Air will be more supportive on the middle and top level staff. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/8559879/HRD-climate-at-Buddha-Airlines