HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT.

The authors of this series of articles are part of a rapidly-growing profession called
HRD. It's actually been around for some time under many different names. It's a
broad field, encompassing many subject areas. But it's never been more important,
more necessary.

A definition of HRD is "organized learning activities arranged within an

organization in order to improve performance and/or personal growth for the
purpose of improving the job, the individual, and/or the organization" (1). HRD
includes the areas of training and development, career development, and
organization development. This is related to Human Resource Management -- a
field which includes HR research and information systems, union/labor relations,
employee assistance, compensation/benefits, selection and staffing, performance
management systems, HR planning, and organization/job design (2).

"THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANG'IN."

Are they ever! And our organizations and jobs will never be the same. Changes are
based on the global economy, on changing technology, on our changing work force,
on cultural and demographic changes, and on the changing nature of work itself.
The changes are different this time. They are permanent, and will permanently
affect the way our work and our lives are structured.

We need to learn new skills and develop new abilities, to respond to these changes in
our lives, our careers, and our organizations. We can deal with these constructively,
using change for our competitive advantage and as opportunities for personal and
organizational growth, or we can be overwhelmed by them.

Who is affected by change -- you are! With all the downsizing, outsourcing and team
building, responsibility and accountability are being downloaded to individuals. So
everyone is now a manager. Everyone will need to acquire and/or increase their
skills, knowledge and abilities to perform their jobs (and now, to perform other
people's jobs too!)

The goal of HRD is to improve the performance of our organizations by maximizing

the efficiency and performance of our people. We are going to develop our
knowledge and skills, our actions and standards, our motivation, incentives,
attitudes and work environment.

Is training the answer? Yes, partly, sometimes, but certainly not always. In the
paper industry, training has been big with capital projects but often is not continued
into operational improvement. We have often thought training was what was
needed (or not needed). But there are other answers too -- the solution may lie with
organization development, career development, or a combination of these or other
strategies.
We plan a series of articles to address the broad scope of HRD, to introduce
methods to address the development of individuals and organizations. Here's what
we will discuss in future issues:

ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS -- the first step. This sounds simple, but we are often in
too much of a hurry. We implement a solution, sometimes the correct
intervention but not always. But we plan, very carefully and cautiously,
before making most other investments in process changes and in capital
and operating expenditures. We need to do the same for HRD -- implement
the appropriate planning. This needs assessment and planning will lead to
several possible ways to improve performance. (Of course, one of these is to
do nothing! -- we may decide to focus on other activities with greater
impact and greater value.)
PROGRAM DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT & EVALUATION. We need to consider
the benefits of any HRD intervention before we just go and do it: What
learning will be accomplished? What changes in behavior and performance
are expected? Will we get them? And of prime importance -- what is the
expected economic cost/benefit of any projected solutions?
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT -- acquiring knowledge, developing competencies
and skills, and adopting behaviors that improve performance in current
jobs, including: adult learning theory and applications, instructional
systems design, train-the-trainer programs, and instructional strategies and
methods.
ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT -- the diagnosis and design of systems to assist
an organization with planning change. OD activities include: change
management, team building, learning organizations, management
development, quality of work life, management by objectives, strategic
planning, participative management. organizational restructuring, job
redesign, job enrichment, centralization vs. decentralization, changes in the
organization's reward structure, process consultation, executive
development, action research, third party interventions, and more. We will
discuss these in future articles.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT -- activities and processes for mutual career planning
and management between employees and organizations. Changes in our
organizations (including downsizing, restructuring, and outsourcing) are
resulting in more empowerment for employees. The responsibility for our
own career development is downloaded to us. (Translation: career ladders
are gone; career development is now the responsibility of the individual.)
Later in this series we will explore strategies and tactics to survive and
prosper in this new workplace environment.
ORGANIZATION RESEARCH & PROGRAM EVALUATION -- an exploration of
methods to evaluate, justify, and improve on HRD offerings.
THE HRD PROFESSION(S) AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS -- we
plan to list and briefly describe the principal HRD organizations, their
missions and goals, and their addresses and contacts.
HRD can give you the tools you need to manage and operate your organizations.
Everything -- production, management, marketing, sales, research & development,
you-name-it -- everything may be more productive IF your people are sufficiently
motivated, trained, informed, managed, utilized and empowered. In future articles
in this series, we're going to tell you how to do it. Stay tuned.

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.

The focus of all aspects of Human Resource Development is on developing the most
superior workforce so that the organization and individual employees can accomplish
their work goals in service to customers.

Organizations have many opportunities for human resources or employee development,

both within and outside of the workplace.

Human Resource Development can be formal such as in classroom training, a college

course, or an organizational planned change effort. Or, Human Resource Development
can be informal as in employee coaching by a manager. Healthy organizations believe in
Human Resource Development and cover all of these bases.

Hrd definition:

The part of human resource management (HRM) which specifically deals with training
and development of the employees. HRD would include training an individual after
he/she is first hired, providing opportunities to learn new skills, distributing resources
which are beneficial for the employee's tasks, and any other developmental activities.
What do we mean by Human Resource Development (HRD)? The conceptual and
experiential understanding by groups of people defined human resource development
(HRD) as a dynamic, ongoing, continuing, empowering process. The individual human
being’s growth is multidimensional, influencing the cognitive, affective, physical and
spiritual facets of the human person. These definitions recognize the strengths and
limitations of people as well as their potentials. Organizational Life. In the corporate
world of business and industry a systematic set of formal structures must be established.
Top management now recognizes that productivity objectives depend to a large extent on
the implementation of the Law of Performance. High performance is a function of
motivation multiplied by abilities. High Performance = f (motivation x abilities)
Workforce is not simply a means to an end but rather, the life-force of an organization.
The life of an organization have spurred responsible management to plan more wholistic
programs (wholistic programs meaning programs that make a steady effort to be fully
functioning in the body, mind, emotions, and spirit) which went beyond mere
development of workers technical skills to a more comprehensive personal and
professional development and since more women have joined the workforce, this
wholistic programs were given more gender-sensitive terms. Human Resource
Development (HRD). HRD is one of the formal structures. What do we understand
about human resources? A corporation to operate needs resources like financial
resources, raw materials and the most important is human resources. The later is the
most important because without the work force there can be no production. Human
Resource (HR) refers to the personnel. HR is the most critical resource of any company
because it is the most flexible among other resources. Personnel are human beings who
could be an inventor. They can change the environment in which they find themselves.
They come up with new ideas on what to do and how to do things, unlike machineries, or
computers, they can only do what somewhat precisely tells it to do. They are capable not
only of performing well- defined and predetermined or pre-planned scales but also
something more creative. They are sensitive and idiosyncratic (more of expression
peculiar to individual). They have certain fundamental rights. They have notions of their
own dignity that must be met. They have aspirations toward better and more fulfilling
lives. They are also the only resource that can be considered spontaneous. There are
certain things that persons will do that no one can predict. How to deal with Human
Resources? In dealing with human resources, two related phenomena are considered
namely : (1) motivation and (2) development. Motivation – because we know from the
experience that the degree to which members respond to the demands of the organization
is determined to a very large extent by whether the members believe that it is in their best
interest to do what the organization wants them to do. A study on motivation revealed
that next to good wages, good interpersonal relationships with co-workers and
supervisors is what will spur the Filipino work force to work harder than they already do.
In a survey made on the policies, programs and publications of multisectoral the result
show that human resource development is simply a component of wide spectrum of
human development. HRD is about development of people within organization.
Development - because only human resources are capable of renewal and evolution to a
higher plane of capacity. The development of industry needs a largepool of trained
personnel. Extensive preparation should precede actual work. Development of people
refers to the advancement of knowledge, skills and competences and the improved
behavior of people within the organization for the both their personal and professional
use.

goals:

Goals

• A diverse, highly skilled, productive, healthy, and efficient workforce.

• Fair and lawful treatment of all employees.
• Highly effective supervisors, leaders and managers.
• Operational excellence in the delivery of all Human Resource and Occupational
Medicine services and functions.
 • Alignment of HR and OM policies and processes with the organization’s needs
and goals.

Challenges of hrd:

The Challenges of Human Resource Management

Introduction

The role of the Human Resource Manager is evolving with the change in competitive
market environment and the realization that Human Resource Management must play a
more strategic role in the success of an organization. Organizations that do not put their
emphasis on attracting and retaining talents may find themselves in dire consequences, as
their competitors may be outplaying them in the strategic employment of their human
resources.

With the increase in competition, locally or globally, organizations must become more
adaptable, resilient, agile, and customer-focused to succeed. And within this change in
environment, the HR professional has to evolve to become a strategic partner, an
employee sponsor or advocate, and a change mentor within the organization. In order to
succeed, HR must be a business driven function with a thorough understanding of the
organization’s big picture and be able to influence key decisions and policies. In general,
the focus of today’s HR Manager is on strategic personnel retention and talents
development. HR professionals will be coaches, counselors, mentors, and succession
planners to help motivate organization’s members and their loyalty. The HR manager
will also promote and fight for values, ethics, beliefs, and spirituality within their
organizations, especially in the management of workplace diversity.

This paper will highlight on how a HR manager can meet the challenges of workplace
diversity, how to motivate employees through gain-sharing and executive information
system through proper planning, organizing, leading and controlling their human
resources.

Workplace Diversity

According to Thomas (1992), dimensions of workplace diversity include, but are not
limited to: age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual
orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military
experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience.

The Challenges of Workplace Diversity

The future success of any organizations relies on the ability to manage a diverse body of
talent that can bring innovative ideas, perspectives and views to their work. The
challenge and problems faced of workplace diversity can be turned into a strategic
organizational asset if an organization is able to capitalize on this melting pot of diverse
talents. With the mixture of talents of diverse cultural backgrounds, genders, ages and
lifestyles, an organization can respond to business opportunities more rapidly and
creatively, especially in the global arena (Cox, 1993), which must be one of the important
organisational goals to be attained. More importantly, if the organizational environment
does not support diversity broadly, one risks losing talent to competitors.

This is especially true for multinational companies (MNCs) who have operations on a
global scale and employ people of different countries, ethical and cultural backgrounds.
Thus, a HR manager needs to be mindful and may employ a ‘Think Global, Act Local’
approach in most circumstances. The challenge of workplace diversity is also prevalent
amongst Singapore’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). With a population of only
four million people and the nation’s strive towards high technology and knowledge-based
economy; foreign talents are lured to share their expertise in these areas. Thus, many
local HR managers have to undergo cultural-based Human Resource Management
training to further their abilities to motivate a group of professional that are highly
qualified but culturally diverse. Furthermore, the HR professional must assure the local
professionals that these foreign talents are not a threat to their career advancement (Toh,
1993). In many ways, the effectiveness of workplace diversity management is dependent
on the skilful balancing act of the HR manager.

One of the main reasons for ineffective workplace diversity management is the
predisposition to pigeonhole employees, placing them in a different silo based on their
diversity profile (Thomas, 1992). In the real world, diversity cannot be easily categorized
and those organizations that respond to human complexity by leveraging the talents of a
broad workforce will be the most effective in growing their businesses and their customer
base.

The Management of Workplace Diversity

In order to effectively manage workplace diversity, Cox (1993) suggests that a HR

Manager needs to change from an ethnocentric view ("our way is the best way") to a
culturally relative perspective ("let's take the best of a variety of ways"). This shift in
philosophy has to be ingrained in the managerial framework of the HR Manager in
his/her planning, organizing, leading and controlling of organizational resources.
As suggested by Thomas (1992) and Cox (1993), there are several best practices that a
HR manager can adopt in ensuring effective management of workplace diversity in order
to attain organizational goals. They are:

Planning a Mentoring Program-

One of the best ways to handle workplace diversity issues is through initiating a Diversity
Mentoring Program. This could entail involving different departmental managers in a
mentoring program to coach and provide feedback to employees who are different from
them. In order for the program to run successfully, it is wise to provide practical training
for these managers or seek help from consultants and experts in this field. Usually, such a
program will encourage organization’s members to air their opinions and learn how to
resolve conflicts due to their diversity. More importantly, the purpose of a Diversity
Mentoring Program seeks to encourage members to move beyond their own cultural
frame of reference to recognize and take full advantage of the productivity potential
inherent in a diverse population.

Organizing Talents Strategically-

Many companies are now realizing the advantages of a diverse workplace. As more and
more companies are going global in their market expansions either physically or virtually
(for example, E-commerce-related companies), there is a necessity to employ diverse
talents to understand the various niches of the market. For example, when China was
opening up its markets and exporting their products globally in the late 1980s, the
Chinese companies (such as China’s electronic giants such as Haier) were seeking the
marketing expertise of Singaporeans. This is because Singapore’s marketing talents were
able to understand the local China markets relatively well (almost 75% of Singaporeans
are of Chinese descent) and as well as being attuned to the markets in the West due to
Singapore’s open economic policies and English language abilities. (Toh, R, 1993)

With this trend in place, a HR Manager must be able to organize the pool of diverse
talents strategically for the organization. He/She must consider how a diverse workforce
can enable the company to attain new markets and other organizational goals in order to
harness the full potential of workplace diversity.

An organization that sees the existence of a diverse workforce as an organizational asset

rather than a liability would indirectly help the organization to positively take in its stride
some of the less positive aspects of workforce diversity.

Leading the Talk-

A HR Manager needs to advocate a diverse workforce by making diversity evident at all

organizational levels. Otherwise, some employees will quickly conclude that there is no
future for them in the company. As the HR Manager, it is pertinent to show respect for
diversity issues and promote clear and positive responses to them. He/She must also show
a high level of commitment and be able to resolve issues of workplace diversity in an
ethical and responsible manner.

Control and Measure Results-

A HR Manager must conduct regular organizational assessments on issues like pay,

benefits, work environment, management and promotional opportunities to assess the
progress over the long term. There is also a need to develop appropriate measuring tools
to measure the impact of diversity initiatives at the organization through organization-
wide feedback surveys and other methods. Without proper control and evaluation, some
of these diversity initiatives may just fizzle out, without resolving any real problems that
may surface due to workplace diversity.

Motivational Approaches

Workplace motivation can be defined as the influence that makes us do things to achieve
organizational goals: this is a result of our individual needs being satisfied (or met) so
that we are motivated to complete organizational tasks effectively. As these needs vary
from person to person, an organization must be able to utilize different motivational tools
to encourage their employees to put in the required effort and increase productivity for
the company.

Why do we need motivated employees? The answer is survival (Smith, 1994). In our
changing workplace and competitive market environments, motivated employees and
their contributions are the necessary currency for an organization’s survival and success.
Motivational factors in an organizational context include working environment, job
characteristics, appropriate organizational reward system and so on.

The development of an appropriate organizational reward system is probably one of the

strongest motivational factors. This can influence both job satisfaction and employee
motivation. The reward system affects job satisfaction by making the employee more
comfortable and contented as a result of the rewards received. The reward system
influences motivation primarily through the perceived value of the rewards and their
contingency on performance (Hickins, 1998).

To be effective, an organizational reward system should be based on sound understanding

of the motivation of people at work. In this paper, I will be touching on the one of the
more popular methods of reward systems, gain-sharing.

Gain-sharing:

Gain-sharing programs generally refer to incentive plans that involve employees in a

common effort to improve organizational performance, and are based on the concept that
the resulting incremental economic gains are shared among employees and the company.
In most cases, workers voluntarily participate in management to accept responsibility for
major reforms. This type of pay is based on factors directly under a worker’s control (i.e.,
productivity or costs). Gains are measured and distributions are made frequently through
a predetermined formula. Because this pay is only implemented when gains are achieved,
gain-sharing plans do not adversely affect company costs (Paulsen, 1991).

Managing Gain-sharing

In order for a gain-sharing program that meets the minimum requirements for success to
be in place, Paulsen (1991) and Boyett (1988) have suggested a few pointers in the
effective management of a gain-sharing program. They are as follows:

• A HR manager must ensure that the people who will be participating in the plan
are influencing the performance measured by the gain-sharing formula in a
significant way by changes in their day-to-day behavior. The main idea of the
gain sharing is to motivate members to increase productivity through their
behavioral changes and working attitudes. If the increase in the performance
measurement was due to external factors, then it would have defeated the purpose
of having a gain-sharing program.
• An effective manager must ensure that the gain-sharing targets are challenging
but legitimate and attainable. In addition, the targets should be specific and
challenging but reasonable and justifiable given the historical performance, the
business strategy and the competitive environment. If the gain-sharing
participants perceive the target as an impossibility and are not motivated at all, the
whole program will be a disaster.
• A manager must provide useful feedback as a guidance to the gain-sharing
participants concerning how they need to change their behavior(s) to realize gain-
sharing payouts The feedback should be frequent, objective and clearly based on
the members’ performance in relation to the gain-sharing target.
• A manager must have an effective mechanism in place to allow gain-sharing
participants to initiate changes in work procedures and methods and/or requesting
new or additional resources such as new technology to improve performance and
realize gains. Though a manager must have a tight control of company’s
resources, reasonable and justifiable requests for additional resources and/or
changes in work methods from gain-sharing participants should be considered.

Executive Information Systems

Executive Information System (EIS) is the most common term used for the unified
collections of computer hardware and software that track the essential data of a business'
daily performance and present it to managers as an aid to their planning and decision-
making (Choo, 1991). With an EIS in place, a company can track inventory, sales, and
receivables, compare today's data with historical patterns. In addition, an EIS will aid in
spotting significant variations from "normal" trends almost as soon as it develops, giving
the company the maximum amount of time to make decisions and implement required
changes to put your business back on the right track. This would enable EIS to be a useful
tool in an organization’s strategic planning, as well as day-to-day management (Laudon,
K and Laudon, J, 2003).

Managing EIS

As information is the basis of decision-making in an organization, there lies a great need

for effective managerial control. A good control system would ensure the communication
of the right information at the right time and relayed to the right people to take prompt
actions.

When managing an Executive Information System, a HR manager must first find out
exactly what information decision-makers would like to have available in the field of
human resource management, and then to include it in the EIS. This is because having
people simply use an EIS that lacks critical information is of no value-add to the
organization. In addition, the manager must ensure that the use of information technology
has to be brought into alignment with strategic business goals (Laudon, K and Laudon, J,
2003).

Conclusion

The role of the HR manager must parallel the needs of the changing organization.
Successful organizations are becoming more adaptable, resilient, quick to change
directions, and customer-centered. Within this environment, the HR professional must
learn how to manage effectively through planning, organizing, leading and controlling
the human resource and be knowledgeable of emerging trends in training and employee
development

PRINCIPLES IN DESIGNING HRD SYSTEM

There have been many queries regarding the principles of Human Resource development.
Many a times we get confused between principles and functions of HRD however there is
a clear cut distinction between the two. The main functions of HRD are Training,
Personal development, Organisational development, Career planning and development,
Change Management. The principles therefore are not the functions.

HRD systems must be designed differently for different organizations. Although the basic
principles may remain the same, the specific components, their relationships, the
processes involved in each, the phasing, and so on, may differ from one organisation to
another organisation.

Designing an integrated HRD system requires a thorough understanding of the principles

and models of human resource development and a diagnosis of the organisation culture,
existing HRD practices in the organisation, employee perceptions of these practices, and
the developmental climate within the organisation.
The following principles related to focus, structure, and functioning should be
considered when designing integrated HRD systems.

• Focus on enabling capabilities: The primary purpose of HRD is to help the

organisation to increase its “enabling” capabilities. These include development of
human resources, development of organisational health, improvement of problem
solving capabilities, development of diagnostic ability (so that problems can be
located quickly and effectively), and increased employee productivity and
commitment.

• Balancing adaptation and change in the organisational culture: Although

HRD systems are designed to suit the organisational culture, the role of HRD may
be to modify that culture to increase the effectiveness of the organisation. There
always has been a controversy between those who believe that HRD should be
designed to suit the culture and those who believe that HRD should be able to
change the culture. Both positions seem to be extreme. HRD should take the
organisation forward, and this can be done only if its design anticipates change
and evolution in the future.

• Attention to contextual factors: What is to be included in the HRD systems,

how is it to be sub-divided, what designations and titles will be used, and similar
issues should be settled after consideration of the various contextual factors of the
organisation—its culture and tradition, size, technology, levels of existing skills,
available support for the function, availability of outside help and so on.

• Building linkages with other functions: Human resource development systems

should be designed to strengthen other functions in the company such as long-
range corporate planning, budgeting and finance, marketing, production, and
other similar functions. These linkages are extremely important.

• Balancing specialisation and diffusion of the function: Although HRD involves

specialised functions, line people should be involved in various aspects of
HRD.Action is the sole responsibility of the line people, and HRD should
strengthen their roles.

• Ensuring respectability for the function: In many companies, the

personnel function does not have much credibility because it is not perceived as a
major function within the organisation. It is necessary that HRD be instituted at a
very high level in the organisation and that the head of the HRD department is
classified as a senior manager. Both the credibility and usefulness of HRD depend
on this.

• Balancing differentiation and integration: The human resource development

function often includes personnel administration, human resource development
and training, and industrial relations. These three functions have distinct identities
and requirements and should be differentiated within the HRD department. One
 person may be responsible for OD, another for training, another for potential
appraisal and assessment, etc. At the same time, these roles should be integrated
through a variety of mechanisms. For example, inputs from manpower planning
should be available to line managers for career planning and HRD units for
potential appraisal and development. Data from recruitment should be fed into the
human resources information system. If salary administration and placement are
handled separately, they should be linked to performance appraisals.
Differentiation as well as integration mechanisms are essential if the HRD system
is to function well.

• Establishing linkage mechanisms: HRD has linkages with outside systems

as well as with internal sub-systems. It is wise to establish specific linkages to be
used to manage the system. Standing committees for various purposes (with
membership from various parts and levels of the organisation), task groups, and
ad hoc committees’ for specific tasks are useful mechanisms.

• Developing monitoring mechanisms: The HRD function is always evolving.

It therefore requires systematic monitoring to review the progress and level

of effectiveness of the system and to plan for its next step. A thorough annual
review reappraisal every three years will be invaluable in reviewing and planning the
system. It may be helpful to include persons from other functions in the organisation in
the HRD assessment effort.