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UNIT 1
Meaning Definitions of HRD:
1. According to South Pacific Commission ‘human resource development is equipping people
with relevant skills to have a healthy and satisfying life’.
‘Human resource development is fostering long-term work related learning capacity at
individual, group and organizational level’.
‘Human resource development is the process of increasing the capacity of the human resource
through development. It is thus the process of adding value to individuals, teams or an
organization as a human system’.
Features of HRD:
1. Systematic approach
2. Continuous process
3. Multi-disciplinary subject
4. All-pervasive
5. Techniques
Scope of HRD:
1. Recruitment and selection of employees for meeting the present and future requirements of an
organization.
2. Performance appraisal of the employees in order to understand their capabilities and
improving them through additional training.
3. Offering the employees’ performance counselling and performance interviews from the
superiors.
4. Career planning and development programmes for the employees.
5. Development of employees through succession planning.
6. Workers’ participation and formation of quality circles.
7. Employee learning through group dynamics and empowerment.
8. Learning through job rotation and job enrichment.
9. Learning through social and religious interactions and programmes.
10. Development of employees through managerial and behavioural skills.
Objectives of HRD:
The prime objective of human resource development is to facilitate an organizational
environment in which the people come first. The other objectives of HRD are as follows:
1. Equity:
HRD must ensure that the organization creates a culture and provides equal opportunities to all
employees in matters of career planning, promotion, quality of work life, training and
development.
2. Employability:
HRD should aim at improving the skills of employees in order to motivate them to work with
effectiveness.
3. Adaptability:
Continuous training that develops the professional skills of employees plays an important role in
HRD. This can help the employees to adapt themselves to organizational change that takes place
on a continuous basis.
HRD Functions:
1. Employee training and development,
2. Career planning and development,
3. Succession planning,
4. Performance appraisal,
5. Employee’s participation in management,
6. Quality circles,
7. Organization change and organization development.
Personnel management
"Personnel management is that part of management function which is primarily concerned with
the human relationship within the organization. Its objective is the maintenance of those
relationships on a basis which by consideration of the well-being of the individual, enables all
those engaged in the undertaking to make their maximum contribution to the effective working
of that undertaking."
The features of personnel management
(1) Specialized branch of general management
(2) Management of human resources
(3) A pervasive function
(4) Management of employees as an
individual and as a group
(5) Development of employees
(6) A technique of thinking
(7) Based on principles
(8) A never ending process.
Difference between traditional personnel management and HRD
Role analysis
Role analysis is designed to determine what behaviors are needed to carry out a particular role
successfully, in a quick and effective way. The process is simple and the result is a clear job
profile. It is designed to provide an intuitive way of thinking about the behavior and the
motivation necessary to successfully fill a specific job.
Methods of role analysis
1. Focal Person’s Perception of his Role
2. Role Sent and Received
3. Focal Person’s Perception of his Role as Perceived by Role Sender
4. Actual Role Perception
Key Performance Area
KPA is Key Performance Area. KPA is the overall scope of activities that an individual has to
perform. It is the main achievement space for the job role (Achievement being the operative
word.).
4. Promotions
Performance appraisal is a way of finding out which employee should be given a promotion. Past
appraisals, together with other background data, will enable management to select proper persons
for promotion.
5. Transfers
Performance appraisal is also useful for taking transfer decisions. Transfers often involve
changes in job responsibilities, and it is important to find out the employees who can take these
responsibilities. Such identification of employees who can be transferred is possible through the
performance appraisal.
6. Layoff Decisions
Performance appraisal is a good way of taking layoff decisions. Employees may be asked to lay
off, if the need arises. The weakest performers are the first to be laid off. If there is no
performance appraisal, then there are chances that the best men in the department may be laid
off.
7. Compensation Decisions
Performance appraisal can be used to compensate the employees by increasing their pay and
other incentives. This is truer in the case of managerial jobs and also in the case of employees in
non-unionized organisations. The better performances are rewarded with merit pay.
9. Career Development
Performance appraisal also enables managers to coach and counsel employees in their career
development.
Evaluative: This is where we judge the worth or appropriateness of the other persons statement.
We tend to judge more often than we try to describe or understand the feedback.
Interpretive: This is where we reword and reflect a summary of what has been said in order to
check our understanding of the feedback.
Supportive: This occurs when we assist or encourage the speaker.
Probing: As the name suggests this is when we seek more information, clarifying points and
continuing the discussion.
Understanding: Simply comprehending what the other person has said.
The way in which interpersonal feedback is delivered and received is important in the
development of successful working relationships and it is useful to understand and control the
process where possible, to avoid problems.
(b) Exploration: In this phase, the counselor should attempt to help the employee understand
and appreciate his strengths and weaknesses. He should also understand his own situation,
problems and needs. Questions should be asked which help the employee focus on his problem.
For example, if an employee feels that his problem is that others do not co-operate with him, the
counselor may ask questions to narrow down the problem to the employee’s relationship with a
few individuals. Then the superior may ask questions to help the employee understand what he
does (or says) to his colleagues that is making it difficult for him to win their co-operations.
Problem identification is a critical step in planning for improvement. To help the employee make
a correct diagnosis of the problem, open-ended questions may be asked.
(c) Action Planning: Counseling interviews should end with specific plans of action for
development of the employee. The main contribution of the superior in this phase is in helping
the employee think of alternative ways of dealing with a problem. For example, in case of an
employee whose relationships with colleagues are poor, the superior may suggest “What three
things can you do in the coming week to improve your relationship with X?” After helping the
employee brainstorm, the superior may also add more alternatives to the solutions already
generated.
Finally the superior may render some assistance in helping the employee implement the agreed
upon action plan. Often good counseling sessions fail to produce effective results due to lack of
follow
(1) Feedback:
It is extremely important that the feedback is communicated in a manner that produces a
constructive response in the subordinate. Given below are some guidelines that could be
followed in giving feedback:
Feedback should be descriptive and non- evaluative. Rather than putting the
employee in a defensive position by telling him” Your coming in late convinces
me that you are not serious about your work”, a manager may say, “I notice that
you have been regularly coming late and I am deeply concerned about this”.
1. It should be focused on the behavior of the person rather than on the person himself. It is
necessary to distinguish between the individual and his behavior in conveying the
negative feedback. It should be clear to the employee that what is being rejected or
criticized is some specific behavior of his. The intent is not to condemn the employee as
an individual.
When conveying feedback, it is generally desirable to back it up with few
examples of actual events. Care must be exercised not to overdo this as the
subordinate may misinterpret it that the superior is systematically building up a
well-documented case against him.
1. Feedback should be given timely. It should be given at the first opportunity when the
employee is in the receptive mood.
Feedback should be continuous. It should become a regular practice so that the
subordinate develops an ability to accept and act upon the feedback.
Feedback should be checked and verified. This will ensure that the subordinate
has not misinterpreted the feedback received from his superior.
(2) Pre-Interview Preparation:
Make sure you know what was mutually agreed in terms of job responsibilities
Review the employee’s background, education, training and experience.
Determine the strengths and development needs to be discussed with the
employee.
Identify areas that need attention during the next review period.
Make sure that the employee has sufficient advance notice for the interview so
that he has time to do his own preparation.
It is always useful to note down the key points on a piece of paper.
(3) Interview
Be sincere, informal and friendly. Explain the purpose of the discussion and make
it clear to the subordinate that the interview is a two way communication.
Encourage the employee to discuss how he appraises his own performance.
Before discussing suggestions you have for his development, encourage the
employee to tell his own plans.
Make a record of plans you and the employee have made, points requiring follow-
up.
Objectives/Functions of Counselling:
Rendering advice:
It is the function of coaching by the counsellor, who may be the immediate boss or a
professional. Here the counsellor listens to the problems of the employees and then guides them
to the right direction. Reassurance it is the function of restoring the confidence of the employees,
helping them to feel courageous, to gain strength, and to develop positive thinking. In cases,
where employees are entrusted with challenging assignments, reassuring them is very important,
to help them realize that they can achieve the results.
Clarifying the thinking:
It is the function of encouragement to the employees to be rational and realistic. Employees often
lose their emotional balance in executing their assignments and jobs, and hence commit
decisional errors. Helping them to be rational by clarifying their way of thinking, puts them back
into the realities and enables them to achieve the results.
Release of emotional tension:
It is the process of relief from frustration and stress. The counsellor allows the employees to
share their grief. In the process of sharing, employees get relief from their emotional tensions.
This does not lead to a solution by itself, but it breaks the ice, allowing the counsellor to
understand the possible ways for solution.
Communication:
It is a process of sharing the information and understanding, through upward and downward
communication. Upward communication flows from the employees, who bring their feelings and
emotional problems to the notice of the management. Downward communication flows from the
counsellors, who help the employees get an insight into the activities of the organization.
Reorientation:
It is a process of encouragement to bring internal changes in goals, values, and mental models,
helping employees to leverage their strengths and guarding against their weaknesses.
Types of Counselling:
Directive counselling:
In this type of counselling, the counsellor plays the role of an empathetic listener and then takes
decisions about the right courses of action for the employees. The counsellor also motivates the
employees to follow the suggested courses of action.
Non-directive counselling:
The counsellor uses this type of counselling, not only to listen but also to provoke the employees
to explain the problems. On understanding the problems, the counsellor determines the courses
of action and then facilitates the employees to identify on their own, the possible solutions to
those problems. Since finding solutions to problems is left to the employees who are being
counselled, we also call it ‘client-centred’ counselling.
Participative or cooperative counselling:
It is in between the earlier two types of counselling. Here, both the counsellor and the counselled
develop close mental relationships, exchange ideas, feelings, knowledge, and information, to
overcome the problem of the counselee. Since the possible-solution inputs are also collected
from the counselee, we call it participative counselling.
UNIT 3
Meaning and definition of training:
Training is a process of learning a sequence of programmed behavior.
Training is the organized procedure by which people learn knowledge and skill
for a definite purpose.
Features:
Training is a process with clearly defined parameters
It is a process of empowerment of participants
Training induce behavior changes in the area of knowledge and competency
Training is a journey of self awareness and self discovery leading to growth and
development
Training also assist in removing mental block dispelling those doubts or mis-
conceptions
Training activities are planned sequence of events
Training has intended and un-intended results
Objectives of training:
Enhancing employee performance
Updating employee skill
Avoiding or delaying managerial obsolescence
Preparing promotion and managerial succession
Motivating and preventing employee attrition
Gaining organizational excellence
Process of training:
Organization objectives and strategies
↓
Assessment of training needs
↓
Establishment of training goals
↓
Designing training and development program
↓
Implementation of training program
↓
Evaluation of results
Areas of training:
The areas are classified into following categories,
Knowledge
Technical skill
Social skill
Techniques
Advantages of training:
Reduction in cost of production-efficient workers do their works in the best
possible manner.
Maximum utilization of materials and machines.
Minimum possibility of accident-trained workers know the methods of doing their
jobs in required manner.
High morele-it gives satisfaction to the workers for work.
Improvement in quality and quantity of work.
Minimum needs for supervision.
Disadvantages:
Time consuming
Increasing responsibility
Costly affairs
Increases competition
Develops feeling of jealous and competition among the employees whwn an
employer praises an employee for his ggod work.
Natural skills of an employee remain unexplored and hence some employees do
not get chance to develop their natural skills.
LEARNING
Learning is an important psychological process determining human behavior.
Learning is the process by which a person construct knowledge, skill and capabilities.
Characteristics:
Learning is the growth to adjust himself to the change.
Learning is adjustment
Learning is organizing experience.
Learning is continuous process as it affect all modes of behavior and continues
throughout life.
Learning is transferable.
LEARNING STYLE.
Diverger, these people able to look at thing from different perspectives.
Assimilator, preference is for a concise, logical, approach.
Converger, can solve the problems and will use their learning to find solutions to
practical issues.
Accommodator, these people use other peoples analysis and prefer to take a
practical, experiential approach.
LEARNING PROCESS:
Includes nine instructional events.
Reception(gaining attention)
Expectancy
Retrieval
Perception
Semantic encoding
Responding
Reinforcement
Retrieval
Generalization
Purpose of TNA:
The following are the reasons;
To improve productivity of employees.
To provide quality goods and services.
To fulfill the objective and goal of the organization.
To reduce the cost and time on training programme.
It increases the motivation of the participants.
Task analysis:
It provides data about a job or a group of jobs and the knowledge,skills,attitudea and abilities
needed to achieve optimum performance.
Techniques for conducting task analysis:
Overall job description
Task identification
Describe the KSA needed to perform the task
Identify the area that can benefit from the training programme
Prioritize the training needs
Personal/individual analysis:
It focuses on each and every individual in the organization.
Techniques for conducting individual analysis:
2. Performance evaluation
3. Performance problems
4. Observation
5. Work samples
6. Interviews
7. Questionnaires
8. Attitude surveys
9. Checklists or training progress charts
Techniques for identifying training needs:
Observation
Interviews
Questionnaires
Job description
Difficulty analysis
Problem solving
Appraisal reviews
Drive pattern identity
Analysis of organizational policy
Process of TNA:
2. Hold discussion with senior management
3. Establish the TNA objectives and schedule
4. Identify sources of information
5. Establish data collection methods
6. Collect the information
7. Analyse the data and identify training needs
8. Develop training objectives
9. Develop the training plan
10. Prepare the TNA report
Advantages of TNA:
To employees:
Valuable time is not wasted for unnecessary training programmes.
The job core and job development training required.
TNA serves as a benchmark for determining what other knowledge,skills or
abilities are needed for various positions.
TNA identifies training and other development needed for professional growth on
the job.
To management:
TNA facilities focus on priority training and development needs.
TNA provides support for management budget requests.
TNA assists in strategic planning.
TNA helps management programmes prioritize the allocation of resources for
continuing technical and professional training.
To HRM:
TNA identifies core requirements for any management position that applicants
seek consideration.
Tna provides a tool for the development of interview questions and exams.
Disadvantages of TNA:
The only one of any significance is the need for the skilled person to be employed
and consequently the use of the persons time.
Failure to conduct any form of TNA,in the same way as failure to validate and
evaluate the training programme.
Conduct of training:
A final consideration is where the training and development programme is to be conducted.
Actually,the decision comes down the following choices:
At the job itself
Onsite but not on the job
Off the site,such as in a university or college classroom,hotel or conference
centre.
Training methods:
On the job training methods/techniques:
It is very popular and used widely by majority organization.
On the job training:
An employee is placed in a new job and it is told how it is to be performed
Job instruction training:
It is known as training through step by step learning as it involves all necessary steps in the jobs.
Apprenticeship:
Major part of the training time is spent on the job productive works.Each apprentice is given a
program of assignment according to a pre determined schedule.
Coaching:
It is an activity of guiding a manager by a senior one.A senior manager must play an active role
in guiding and teaching skills.
Job rotation:
It refers to transfer of person from one job to another or from one department to another or one
section to another in planned manner.Objective is to acquire the diverse skills and knowledge
needed to perform the various jobs in the organization.
Understudy:
It is development technique to prepare a manager for taking over a charge of his senior after his
retirement,transfer,promotion or death.This technique provide an equally competent successor.
Off the job training methods/techniques:
The location of this training may be company classroom,an outside place owned by an
organization,an educational institution or an association.
These methods are as follows:
1. Simulating real life: role playing,games and in basket exercise
2. Demonstration and examples(or learning by seeing)
3. Laboratory training for personal and organization development
4. Sampling real test
5. Individualized training
6. Seminars and syndicates
7. Lecture methods
8. Training in the field
3.workers not taken away from the job 3.workers are easily changeable
4.supervisor directly observe the working skill 4.trainees learn from the specialist
of the training
5.coaching,job rotation,apprentice 5.role play,seminars,lecture
CIRO method:
Context evaluation:
It involves collecting information about deficiency,assessing the informations to establish traing
needs.
Input evaluation:
Obtaining and using information about possible training resources to choose between alternative
inputs to training.
Reaction evaluation:
Obtaining and using information about participants reaction to improve the hrd process.
Outcome evaluation:
Obtaining and using information about outcome of training.
Cost benefit analysis:
It involves determination of cost and benefits of training and development of making comparison
between the two.
Break-even analysis:
It shows the relationship between training and development cost and its operational
outcome,both measured in the monitory terms for trained employees per annum.
UNIT5:
ORGANISATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
The three variables such as causal, intervening and end-result ore interrelated. The inter-
relationship may be visualized as psychological process where stimuli or causal variables acting
upon the organism or intervening variables and creating certain responses or end-result variables.
The causal, intervening and end-result variables comprise a complex network with many
interdependent relationships. The causal variables are the key to organizational effectiveness.
Hence, to make organization effective, attempt should be made to improve the causal variables,
while other variables will be corrected or improved automatically because of causal variables.
The organizational effectiveness model can be presented in a more complex way i.e. at three
different levels such as the individual, group and organizational levels in order to make the
organization more effective. The effective organization is built of effective individuals who
work collectively in groups.
The extent to which individual and organizational goals are integrated, affects the degree of
organizational effectiveness, i.e., each individual tries to satisfy his goal by working in an
organization and simultaneously satisfying organizational goals. He may see his goal
satisfaction in satisfying organizational goals. If there is no perfect integration of individual
and organizational goals then organizational effectiveness is affected adversely. However,
organizational effectiveness is not a result of integration between individual and
organizational goals only but there are other causal variables affecting it.
ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
A critical examination of the deliberations presented above seems to suggest that culture
determines the important issues within the organization. It identifies the principal goals,
work methods and behaviours, work rules, individual interaction patters in which they
address each other and the ways in which personal relationships are conducted. Sinha
(1980) identified that in complex organizations there may be subcultures, which may be
different from each other. Different units of a corporate body may develop different
cultures. In the same organization, finance, production, marketing, personnel and
maintenance groups may hold different values and world-views and hence, while sharing
parts of the organization culture, these may have different specific patterns.
HRD CLIMATE
The concept have been developed by RAO and ABRAHAM.
CLIMATE, is an overall feeling that is conveyed by the physical layout the way employees
interact and the way members of the organization conduct themselves with outside.
Acc. To RAO , HRD climate is the perception of the employee about the HRD culture in the
organization.
Acc. ABRAHAM , HRD climate is a set of characteristics of an organization which are referred
in the descriptions employees make of the policies, practices, and conditions which exist in the
working environment.
Characteristic of HRD climate.
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 development the competencies in the employee is the job of every manager
Faith in the capabilities of employees to change and acquire new competences at any stage of
life.
Encouraging risk taking and experimentation.
A general climate of trust.
Team spirit
Tendency to discourage stereostypes
Supportive personnel policies
Supportive HRD practices.
FUNCTIONS OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE The main function of organisational
culture is to define the way of doing things in order to give meaning to organisational life
(Arnold, 2005). Making meaning is an issue of organisational culture, because organisational
members need to benefit from the lessons of previous members. As a result, organisational
members are able to profit from whatever trials and errors regarding knowledge others have been
able to accumulate (Johnson, 1990). Organisational culture also determines organisational
behaviour, by identifying principal goals; work methods; how members should interact and
address each other; and how to conduct personal relationships (Harrison, 1993). Brown (1998, p
89- 91) states the following functions of organisational culture: ™ Conflict reduction. A common
culture promotes consistency of perception, problem definition, evaluation of issues and
opinions, and preferences for action. ™ Coordination and control. Largely because culture
promotes consistency of outlook it also facilitates organisational processes of coordination and
control.
Reduction of uncertainty. Adopting of the cultural mind frame is an anxiety reducing device
which simplifies the world of work, makes choices easier and rational action seem possible. ™
Motivation. An appropriate and cohesive culture can offer employees a focus of identification
and loyalty, foster beliefs and values that encourage employees to perform. ™ Competitive
advantage. Strong culture improves the organisation’s chances of being successful in the
marketplace. In addition to the above functions, Martins and Martins (2003, p 382) also mention
the following as functions of organisational culture: ™ It has a boundary-defining role, that is, it
creates distinctions between one organisation and the other organisations. ™ It conveys a sense
of identity to organisational members. ™ It facilitates commitment to something larger than
individual self-interests. ™ It enhances social system stability as the social glue that helps to bind
the organisation by providing appropriate standards for what employees should say and do. ™ It
serves as a meaningful control mechanism that guides or shapes the attitudes and behaviours of
employees. These functions of organisational culture suggest that an organisation cannot operate
without a culture, because it assists the organisation to achieve its goals. In general terms,
organisational culture gives organisational members direction towards achieving organisational
goals (Hampden-Turner, 1990).
ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AS A CONCEPT
Organizational Development (OD) is a management discipline designed to improve an
organization's effectiveness and productivity. Rooted in behavioral science foundations,
OD focuses on complex interpersonal skills as they affect the problem solving activities
critical to the organization/s. Following an in-depth assessment of organization's select
needs, activities such as coaching, visionary planning, and group change processes are
utilized to address pivotal areas necessary for success.
Organizational Development is a systematic approach to organizational improvement that
applies behavioral science theory and research in order to increase individual and
organizational well-being and effectiveness. It is a term used to include a collection of
planned change interventions that seek to improve organizational effectiveness and
employee well being.
Organization development (OD) applies behavioral-science knowledge and practices to
help organizations change to achieve greater effectiveness. It seeks to improve how
organizations relate to their external environments and function internally to attain high
performance and high quality of work life.
OD emphasizes change in organizations that is planned and implemented deliberately. It is
both an applied field of social practice and a domain of scientific inquiry. Practitioners,
such as managers, staff experts, and consultants, apply relevant knowledge and methods to
organization change processes, while researchers study those processes to derive new
knowledge that can subsequently be applied elsewhere. In practice, this distinction between
application and knowledge generation is not straight-forward as OD practitioners and
researchers often work closely together to jointly apply knowledge and learn from those
experiences (Lawler et al., 1985). Thus, OD is an ‘action science’ where knowledge is
developed in the context of applying it and learning from the consequences (Argyris et
al.1985).
OD encompasses a diversity of concepts and methods for changing organizations. Although
several definitions of OD have been presented (Beckhard, 1969; Bennis, 1969; French,
1969; Beer, 1980;Burke, 1982), the enormous growth of new approaches and techniques
has blurred the boundaries of the field and made it increasingly difficult to describe. The
following definition seeks to clarify emerging aspects of OD while drawing on previous
definitions of the field: “Organization development is a systemwide process of
applying behavioralscience knowledge to the planned change and development of the
strategies, design components, and processes that enable organizations to be effective.”
OD addresses an entire system, such as a team, department, or total organization. It also
deals with relationships between a system and its environment as well as among the
different features that comprise a system’s design. This system-wide application follows
from an open-systems approach to organizations (Thompson, 1967; Katz & Kahn, 1978;
Cummings, 1980).
OD focuses on changing and improving three key aspects of
organizations: Strategies: Strategies have to do with how organizations use their resources
to gain competitive advantage. This includes choices about the functions an organization
will perform, the products or services it will provide, and the markets and customers it will
serve.
Design Components: Design components include decisions about organization structure,
work design, measurement systems, and human resources practices.
Processes: Processes have to do with how organizations go about doing things and include
how members relate to each other and their tasks and how different functions, such as
communication and decision-making, are performed.
OD seeks to bring congruence or fit among strategies, design components, and processes so
they mutually guide and reinforce organizational behavior in a strategic direction.
Finally, OD focuses on improving organization effectiveness. This includes helping
organizations achieve high performance, good quality of work life, and capacity for
continued problem-solving and improvement. Effective organizations perform at high
levels while meeting the needs of various stakeholders, including owners, customers,
employees, suppliers, and government regulators. They have a high quality of work life
that enables them to attract and retain talented members. Effective organizations are able
to solve their own problems while continually improving and renewing themselves.
According to Robbins the following briefly identifies the underlying values in most OD
efforts:
1 Respect for people: Individuals are perceived as being responsible, conscientious,
and caring. They should be treated with dignity and respect.
2 Trust and Support: The effective and healthy organization is characterized by
trust, authenticity, openness, and a supportive climate.
3 Power Equalization: Effective organizations deemphasize hierarchical authority
and control.
4 Confrontation: Problems shouldn’t be swept under the rug. They should be
openly confronted.
5 Participation: The more that people who will be affected by a change are involved
in the decisions surrounding that change, the more they will be committed to implementing
those decisions.
OD INTERVENTION TECHNIQUES
1. Sensitivity Training
2. Survey Feedback
3. Process Consultation
4. Team Building
5. Intergroup Development
SENSITIVITY TRAINING
Sensitivity training is a psychological technique in which intensive group discussion and
interaction are used to increase individual awareness of self and others; it is practiced in a variety
of forms under such names as T-group, encounter group, human relations, and group-dynamics
training. The group is usually small and unstructured and chooses its own goals.
Sensitivity training is often offered by organizations and agencies as a way for members of a
given community to learn how to better understand and appreciate the differences in other
people. It asks training participants to put themselves into another person's place in hopes that
they will be able to better relate to others who are different than they are.
Sensitivity training often specifically addresses concerns such as gender sensitivity, multicultural
sensitivity, and sensitivity toward those who are disabled in some way. The goal in this type of
training is more oriented toward growth on an individual level. Sensitivity training can also be
used to study and enhance group relations, i.e., how groups are formed and how members
interact within those groups.
The origins of sensitivity training can be traced as far back as 1914, when
J.L. Moreno created "psychodrama," a forerunner of the group encounter (and sensitivity-
training) movement. This concept was expanded on later by Kurt Lewin, a gestalt psychologist
from central Europe, who is credited with organizing and leading the first T-group (training
group) in 1946. Lewin offered a summer workshop in human relations in New Britain,
Connecticut. The T-group itself was formed quite by accident, when workshop participants were
invited to attend a staff-planning meeting and offer feedback. The results were fruitful in helping
to understand individual and group behavior.
Sensitive Training in Practice An integral part of sensitivity training is the sharing, by each
member of the group, of his or her own unique perceptions of everyone else present. This, in
turn, reveals information about his or her own personal qualities, concerns, emotional issues, and
things that he or she has in common with other members of the group. A group's trainer refrains
from acting as a group leader or lecturer, attempting instead to clarify the group processes using
incidents as examples to clarify general points or provide feedback. The group action, overall, is
the goal as well as the process.
Sensitivity training resembles group psychotherapy (and a technique called psychodrama) in
many respects, including the exploration of emotions, personality, and relationships at an intense
level. Sensitivity training, however, usually restricts its focus to issues that can be reasonably
handled within the time period available. Also, sensitivity training does not include among its
objectives therapy of any kind, nor does it pass off trainers/facilitators as healers of any sort.
Groups usually focus on here-and-now issues; those that arise within the group setting, as
opposed to issues from participants' pasts. Training does not explore the roots of behavior or
delve into deeper concepts such as subconscious motives, beliefs, etc.
Sensitivity training seeks to educate its participants and lead to more constructive and beneficial
behavior. It regards insight and corrective emotional or behavioral experiences as more
important goals than those of genuine therapy. The feedback element of the training helps
facilitate this because the participants in a group can identify individuals' purposes, motives, and
behavior in certain situations that arise within the group. Group members can help people to
learn whether displayed behavior is meaningful and/or effective, and the feedback loop operates
continuously, extending the opportunity to learn more appropriate conduct.
Another primary principle of sensitivity training is that of feedback; the breakdown of inhibitions
against socially repressed assertion such as frankness and self-expression are expected in place
of diplomacy. Encounters that take place during sensitivity training serve to help people practice
interpersonal relations to which they are likely not accustomed. The purpose is to help people
develop a genuine closeness to each other in a relatively short period of time. Training
encounters are not expected to take place without difficulty. Many trainers view the encounter as
a confrontation, in which two people meet to see things through each other's eyes and to relate to
each other through mutual understanding.
SURVEY FEEDBACK
Survey feedback is one of the means which is used for assessing the attitudes held by the
members of the organizations, identifying discrepancies among member perceptions, and solving
these differences.
Everyone in an organization can participate in survey feedback, but of key importance is the
organizational family – the manager of any given unit and those employees who report directly
to him or her. A questionnaire is usually completed by all members in the organization.
Organization members may be asked to suggest or may be interviewed to determine what issues
are relevant. The questionnaire typically asks members for their perceptions and attitudes on a
broad range of topics, including decision making practices, communication effectiveness,
coordination between units, and satisfaction with the organization, job, peers, and their
immediate supervisor.
The data from this questionnaire are tabulated with data pertaining to an individual’s specific
‘family’ and to the entire organization and distributed to employees. These data then become the
springboard for identifying problems and clarifying issues that may be creating difficulties for
people. In some cases, the manager may be counseled by an external change agent about the
meaning of the responses to the questionnaire and may even be given suggested guidelines for
leading the organizational family in group discussion of the results. Particular attention is given
to the importance of encouraging discussion and ensuring that discussions focus on issues and
ideas and not on attacking individuals.
Finally group discussion in the survey feedback approach should result in member identifying
possible implications of the questionnaire’s findings. Are people listening? Are new ideas being
generated? Can decision making, interpersonal relations, or job assignments be improved?
Answers to questions like these, it is hoped, will result in the group agreeing upon commitments
to various actions that will remedy the problems that are identified.
PROCESS CONSULTATION
Process Consultation has been descried as “the central discipline for helping professionals to
build strong client-consultant relationships that result in sustained change and improvement.”
This model has enormous practical significance, not just for OD consultants, but for counselors,
managers, therapists, social workers, and others involved in building and maintaining “helping
relationships.”
Edgar Schein defined the technique of process consultation as “the set of activities on the part of
the consultant which help the client to perceive, understand, and act upon the process events
which occur in the client’s environment.’ Process consultation concentrates on certain specified
areas such as communication, functional roles of members, group problem solving and decision
making, group norms and growth, leadership and authority and intergroup cooperation and
competition.
Schein’s process consultation model has following underlying assumptions:
� Managers require special diagnostic help in knowing what is wrong with the organization.
� Most managers have constant desire to increase organizational effectiveness, but they need
help in deciding ‘how’ to achieve it.
� Managers can be effective if they learn to diagnose their own strengths and weaknesses
without exhaustive and time consuming study of the organization.
� The outside consultant cannot learn enough about the culture of the organization, to suggest
reliable new course of action. He should, therefore, work jointly with the members of the
organization.
� The client must learn to see the problem for himself, understand the problem and find a
remedy. The consultant should provide new and challenging alternatives for the client to
consider. However, the decision making authority on these alternatives about organizational
changes remains with the client.
� It is essential that the process consultant is an expert in diagnosing and establishing effective
helping relationships with the client. Effective process consultation involves passing those skills
on to the client.
Steps in Process Consultation
According to Schien, process consultation normally proceeds as given below:
1 Initial Contact -Here the client comes into contact with the consultant and specifies the
problem that cannot be solved by normal organizational procedures or resources.
2 Define the relationship -After identifying the specific problem areas, the consultation and the
client enter into a formal contract. The formal contract spells out the services, time and the fees
of the consultant. Actually there is also a psychological contract because both parties are
involved in the satisfaction of certain expectations.
3 Select the method of work -It involves the clear-cut understanding of where and how the
consultant would perform the job. Each individual employee in the organization is made aware
of who the consultant is so that he can help the consultant by furnishing the required information.
4 Collection of Data and Diagnosis -The consultant invests a great deal of time in collecting
the relevant information. Normally, he gathers data through questionnaires, observation and
personal interviews etc. and then makes an indepth diagnosis of the problems.
5 Intervention -Various interventions by the consultant such as agenda setting, feedback,
coaching, and structural suggestions are made in the process consultation approach. During this
phase, the solutions designed by the consultant will be translated into action in the organization.
6 Reducing Involvement and Termination -When the goals of OD intervention have been
successfully achieved, the consultant leaves the organization by closing the formal contract with
the client.
TEAM BUILDING
"Teamwork doesn't happen automatically, and it doesn't result just from the exhortations of a
single leader. It results from members paying attention to how they are working together, issues
that block teamwork and working them through, and consciously developing patterns of working
together that all members find challenging and satisfying."(Peter Vail, Managing as a Performing
Art, 1989).
Periodically a team's ability to rally around goals is blocked by simple group dynamics, and the
team gets stuck, lowering morale, productivity and job satisfaction. Group process facilitation is
powerful tool introduced to break this cycle. During ongoing meeting with a team, group change
activities, including insight-oriented techniques and experiential exercises, are used by an OD
specialist to promote awareness among group members of their own unique personal styles in
communication, collaboration, group roles and conflict resolution. Members develop increased
sensitivity and enhanced perspective-taking skills as well as an understanding of different
communication styles among group members. All of these skills promote greater group
cohesiveness and an ability to work productively toward a common goal. As individuals develop
greater interpersonal awareness, qualitative changes occur in the group as a whole.
Team building directly focuses on identification of problems relating to task performance and
lays down concrete plans of their elimination. A team building programme deals with new
problems on an going basis. It is an effective technique by which members of an organizational
group diagnose how they work together and plan changes that will improve their effectiveness
(Michael Beer).
Team building attempts to improve effectiveness of work groups by allowing the group members
to concentrate on:
1. Setting goals or priorities for organizational groups.
2. Analyzing or allocating the way the work is performed.
3. Examining the way the group is working.
4. Examining the relationships among the people doing the work. (R. Bechard).
Thus, the fundamental aim of team building is to help the group members in examining their
own behaviours and developing action plans that foster task accomplishment.
Necessary Conditions for the Success of Team Building Programme
There are certain prerequisites to be fulfilled before making an attempt to undertake the team
building exercises. These prerequisites have been identified by Hellriegel, Slocum &Woodman.
They recommend that management has to ensure the following:
1. The group members understand the stated goals clearly.
2. The group members unanimously agree with the objectives.
3. Basic interdependence among the members of the group exists.
4. The group is capable of taking corrective action on the problems identified or at least
will be able to tackle some reasonable percentage of them.
INTERGROUP DEVELOPMENT
Intergroup interventions are integrated into OD programs to facilitate cooperation and efficiency
between different groups within an organization. For instance, departmental interaction often
deteriorates in larger organizations as different divisions battle for limited resources or become
detached from the needs of other departments.
Conflict resolution meetings are one common intergroup intervention. First, different group
leaders are brought together to get their commitment to the intervention. Next, the teams meet
separately to make a list of their feelings about the other group(s). Then the groups meet and
share their lists. Finally, the teams meet to discuss the problems and to try to develop solutions
that will help both parties. This type of intervention helps to gradually diffuse tension between
groups caused by lack of communication and misunderstanding.
Rotating membership interventions are used by OD change agents to minimize the negative
effects of intergroup rivalry that result from employee allegiances to groups or divisions. The
intervention basically entails temporarily putting group members into their rival groups. As more
people interact in the different groups, greater understanding results.
OD joint activity interventions serve the same basic function as the rotating membership
approach, but it involves getting members of different groups to work together toward a common
goal. Similarly, common enemy interventions achieve the same results by finding an adversary
common to two or more groups and then getting members of the groups to work together to
overcome the threat. Examples of common enemies include competitors, government regulation,
and economic conditions.
CHARACTERISTICS OF OD:
OD is a planned strategy to bring about organizational change
OD is always involves a collaborative approach to change
OD programs include an emphasis on ways to improve and enhance performances
OD relies on a set of humanistic values about people and organization.
OD represents a system approach
OD is based upon scientific approaches to increase organizational effectiveness.
PRINCIPLES OF OD:
Integrity principles:
The integrity means wholeness.the integrity will include internal facets highly valued enough to
ensure harmonic stability and vitality.
Commitment principle:
People will give their best if the necessary resources are committed.It is important to develop
commitment to the over reaching integrity principle at the onset.
Empowerment principle:
The OD intervention must empower the people and the people system so that operate in tandem
and seamlessly for high performance.
Versatility principle.
Is consequential upon the empowerment principle. it emphasis the importance of ensuring
adaptability, responsiveness , flexibility, innovativeness, spontaneity of the people and
integrating systems.
Renewal principle:
The heart of any OD intervention is the renewal of people and integrity system.The renewal
principle take off from the premise of OD intervention and it is linked with the versality
principle.
Integration principle:
Address issue of integration of elements,sub-system or people attributes for ultimate high
performance.
PROCESS OF OD:
Initial diagnosis
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Data collection
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Data feedback and confrontation
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Selection and design of interventions
↓
Implementation of intervention
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Action planning and problem solving
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Team-building
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Inter-group development
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Evaluation and follow-up
BENEFITS OF OD:
Provide opportunities for people to function as human being rather than
productive process
Provide opportunities for full potential development of organization members
Creative environment to face new challenges
Clearly define strategic direction,company goals and objectives
Gives orderly,well planned analysis of alternative organizational structures
Helps in appraisal of personnel capabilities in relation to present and future
organizational needs