The Organizations Restructuring Programs and HRD Practices - Research Paper Example

Introduction Within the new organizational context training needs as based on Human Resource Development (HRD) practices and policies, are excessively influenced by both organizational culture and strategic competitive environment. This paper identifies a set of closely related endogenous and exogenous variables affecting the dynamic growth of the business organization against the evolving backdrop of competition related training & development (T&D) needs, methods, training manager’s role, organizational issues and HRD problems. This report particularly identifies three learning related outcomes – the modern HRD practices and issues related to the current upsurge of big business organizations; competition related corporate strategy and HRD compulsions; and the ever increasing organizational focus on strategic training and development of skills (Simmonds, 2003). Thus this report finally draws a few positive and negative correlations between and among HRD related variables including the proposition that modern HRD practices and policies are highly characterized by the leader’s desire to constantly upgrade employees’ skills. Thus the paper focuses on the general trends related HRD practices and policies in the world. Analysis This study basically draws on the HRD policy based convergence/divergence parameters of the organization for the continuous analysis for a proper articulation of the HRD strategy at a broader level though its theoretical underpinnings are based on the need to focus attention on the evolving environment of competition. HRD policies and initiatives have received greater attention in the current period due to highly articulate employee skills training and development strategies at the individual firm level. Thus the theoretical and empirical analysis of this paper is based on the available literature on the subject at a global level along with an analysis based on the business organizations’ own HRD practices. In other words an HRD policy and initiative based analysis is a near approximation of an otherwise intractable continuum which lacks definable contours and a logical conceptual framework of reference. While theoretical constructs underlying this approach have been presented as a uniform analysis there is very little attention being focused on the qualitative paradigm shift caused by the a priori and a posteriori catalytic changes. Thus the qualitative shift in this study is essentially based on these outcomes and the latest calibrations and/or benchmarks enunciated by researchers to establish a conceptual framework for analysis. This paper just focuses on the latest HRD related practices and theoretical evolutionary process with reference to the global level. HRD function as against HRM is much facilitated when scale of operations expands beyond a certain minimum level. New recruits could be trained and put on the full-time workforce with the added advantage of having a continuous supply of skilled labor for future growth. Training & Development of skills have been emphasized by management experts with a view to making use of extra space in a new setting (Craig, 1996). Environmental benefits apart a new setting would allow the management to employ new training methods. As a corollary of the above it must be noted that HRD practices in culturally diverse organizations pose a formidable challenge to the leader/manager. Theoretical intricacies apart there is also a highly dynamic correlation between value judgments and leadership role in the organizational context where HRD practices are concerned. HRD strategies are closely aligned with leadership roles that percolate down to the bottom-line of the organization. The organizations adopt a similar strategically determined functional variant of HRD models that are basically culturally diverse and internationalist in nature (Rothwell, 2005). Cultural diversity of the workforce might act as a constraint on the HR manager’s freedom to form such opinions as value judgments that underlie management decisions. Thus by implication the manager or the leader is less amenable to accept value judgments in his decisions. This a priori factor has been cited by some scholars as a basic tenet that causes the schism between more culturally diverse HRD practices and less culturally diverse HRD practices. Strategic skills development and workforce management principles require the organization to put in place a number of initiatives such as design, planning and implementation strategies. The corporate environment demands attention be paid to such variables as internal quality management, Human Resource Development (HRD), internal value chain analysis, supply chain management, product portfolio development, product & marketing mix, market segmentation, product lifecycle management, strategic product/customer/market orientation, a sound communication strategy and above all a competitor orientation strategy based on the firm’s ability on the following cultural diversity determined HRD environment. ♦ A perceptual mapping process to achieve corporate and organizational goals is nothing new in the individual firm’s own strategic HRD environment. Thus the current dichotomy between strategic competitive environment and strategic operational environment is based on the organizational outcomes (Levant, 1998). The individual companies are subject to a greater amount of competitive pressure than those firms which exclusively produce in order to sell in the domestic market or export physically. Thus the competitor orientation strategy of the firm is determined by the level of competition in the area where the organization is located. ♦ Competition occurs in a variety of situations. All organizations with culturally diverse workforce would be geared to meet the new pressures created by this diversity. How best to meet this competitive pressure depends on the firm’s ability to absorb excess demand through capacity and value creation. Internal value chain management process of the firm decisively places some limitations on its ability to meet this extra demand. Therefore it’s the pricing policy, HRD and internal management culture that ultimately enable the firm to meet this demand successfully. If the attendant VRIO (value, rarity, inimitability and organization) framework is sound enough to enable the management of the company to withstand pressure and devise alternate plans to compete against rivals then there is the possibility of success. However, it’s the HRD function which occupies a very important place in the whole value chain management process (Cracknell, 2000). Business organizations have been careful enough not to strain its staff at each level of operations. On-the-job Training and Development of skills at the average organization with a multicultural workforce is oriented towards meeting international quality standards. Strategic operational and competitive environments of such organizations are characterized by some strategic shifts away from the homogeneous cultural environments’ HRD practices. HRD function also has other areas for consideration when the firm expands as a result of M&A. Mergers and acquisitions produce HR synergies across a broader spectrum of departments or divisions within the combined organizations. However M&A necessarily doesn’t mean that there would be an expansion in the scale of operations because the dominant company would simply strip the assets of the acquired company and absorb the latter’s market share. Such synergies in turn enable the new management to diversify and target hitherto unsought market segments. This type of expertise comes from the combined efforts. The relationship between the manager and the subordinate has been brought into sharper focus here owing to the very important decisions involving HRD and above all the existence of a dichotomy between the theory and the HRD approaches shows that indisputably international HRD practices under cultural diversity have to be adopted in a variety of contexts. This is none so well borne out than by the fact that where there are international culturally diverse HRD practices in organizations there is a precise tendency to define HRD strategy in keeping with long term organizational goals (Reeve, 2008). This is in sharp contrast to the inefficiencies associated with less culturally diverse workforces elsewhere where organizational outcomes and goals tend to be synonymous with inward looking local practices. The leadership style plays a much more pivotal role here. The transformational leader motivates his followers by setting an example to his subordinates. However transformational leadership style isn’t always typical of such HRD environments. In the first place the democratic and transformational leadership qualities when combined together would ignore such overriding concerns for meeting production targets so that it would instill a sense of permanency in the minds of employees thus reducing absenteeism and redundancy. A demotivated workforce might underperform and then cause conflicts in the workplace. This is apparent in some organizational settings where persistently underperforming staff come to be treated as a liability by the management. Such friction between the manger and employees in culturally diverse organizational settings would be regarded as one of the most negative factors in falling productivity in organizations where mangers tend to be autocratic and diverge from norms. In other words human potentials have to be recognized before they are rewarded (Budhwar, 2004). The transformational leader does recognize these positive elements in the culturally diverse workforce. Such leadership qualities have a positive cumulative impact on the long term organizational outcomes. Therefore what’s essentially noticed in the modern organization is an international strategic HRD environment that functions basically with a highly regulated work environment along with democratic leadership norms that stretch even beyond the work environment and sometimes extend up to otherwise indeterminate culturally diverse social settings in the backdrop of the organization that adopts modern T&D programs. This last aspect of the HRD strategy of firm has acquired a much greater dimension concerning workplace based norms. Further employee motivation, skills development and training strategies at the firm level and labor turnover figures are interconnected in such a way and that have particularly been affected by a lack of concern for their negative experiences while dealing with customers. This study has clearly identified a positive set of outcomes related to HRD practices and motivation at big business organizations (Podmoroff, 2005). The theoretical posture of the paper is based on the fact that HRD practices at firms have acquired a greater dimension of integrity at the inner-house operational level on par with positive employee motivation and in-house HRD strategy. Employee skills reorientation programs as outlined by the current level of HRD practices at the firm shows that they are basically centered on T&D, motivation and the reduction of labor turnover figures. Thus the horizontal organizational structure at big business organizations helps in integrating the diverse HRD policies and initiatives into the existing framework of organizational performance. Corporate goals such as profits, revenues, quality improvement and external supply chain management among others, have been part and parcel of this holistic strategic emphasis on modern HRD related strategy at firms. While many researchers have investigated the extent of the impact of organizational structure, culture and leadership/management style on HRD related outcomes at the modern business organization only a few of them have carried out an in-depth analysis of the HRD related practices like job enrichment and job enlargement strategies in designing and implementing employee skills development and training programs (Gilley & Maycunich, 2000). While figures on job enrichment, job enlargement and job sharing are much less made available to the outside world by individual companies there is a greater degree of employee participation in quality improvement and middle level decision making nowadays so that such issues like HRD related constraints must be considered in detail in order to arrive at some important conclusions on HRD policies and initiatives at the in individual firm. Skills development programs involve a series of strategic initiatives. Thus overall this paper would focus on the HRD strategy and initiative related issues to bring about a more comprehensive theoretical and conceptual framework of reference so that employee skills reorientation programs can be examined with reference to the following three perspectives. (a). Organizations’ strategic HRD practices and initiatives. (b). Organizational structure and leadership style and their impact on the organization’s HRD strategy. (c). Labor turnover issues at diverse organizations in the world and the organizational goals related outcomes. In fact employee relations in general and motivation in particular at modern organizations have to be examined with reference to its corporate social responsibility (CSR) related initiatives such as education and employee welfare. The adoption of a very liberal employee relations policy of encouraging employees to be independent with a degree of freedom given to ensure operational independence is much more desirable (Phillips, 1997). In fact the top management ought to encourage greater participation in the decision making process of the company for the employees. However according to critics these are mere initiatives because there is no actual practicing of them at the staff management level in many organizations. What’s required is a more concentrated effort to identify skills gaps between two employees. For example the real standards of the training programs at big business organizations have come down. Trainees are much less equipped to carry on their task with degree of confidence now. Better positive employee motivation can also be attributed to good pay. Monetary and non-monetary benefits both lead to better performance and especially performance related pay would have a good impact on employee motivation (Glanz, 2002). According to recent research this type of strategy in managing labor relations cannot be ignored and it’s perhaps one of the most desirable policies to achieve organizational goals in the long run. The degree of support among employees for such programs has been consistent enough for the management to initiate changes at every level of the organization. The empirical a priori and a posteriori evidence prevalent at modern organizations concerning HRD related policies and initiatives including employee skills reorientation and labor relations strategies, is basically determined by a complex and diverse set of variables (Wilson, 2005). The underlying theoretical constructs of labour relations and CSR can be used to adequately explain the general and particular characteristics of diverse firms. Despite a number of drawbacks that a researcher would have to face by way of a dearth of literature on this subject, there is still a greater chance of success in finding the right analytical framework to treat all variables within a reasonable reference structure. Labor is a resource that has to be managed according to widely accepted international HRD practices. Business organizations are subject to a variety of labor market influences such as supply and demand related outcomes in addition to the government’s national minimum wage policy. For instance firms’ workforce management capabilities can be theoretically examined according to the resource-based view of corporate strategy. Organizational success is determined by the internal strengths of the organization in controlling, rationalizing and utilizing the available resources to the maximum benefit of competitive advantage. The well planned management of resources at the organizational level presupposes that each department would possess a distinctly unique set of resources and connected capabilities thus giving it an advantage in cost over its rivals. The ever increasing Research & Development (R&D) expenditure of modern firms would confirm that resource variation is maintained by it in order to build up an inventory of inimitable resources( Guerin, 2007). Finally the emergent trend of competition and the firm elaborates how organizations would focus on learning and innovation to achieve strategic competencies against rivals. This theory is essentially based on “the cognitive theory of the firm” and therefore places much emphasis on the organization’s ability to pass value judgments, to feel and experience emotions. The manager’s ability or inability to achieve organizational goals and success depends on his or her approach to resource management based on how internal organizational processes would determine capabilities to sustain a particular strategic initiative towards the achievement of the same goals. Many organizations in the world as a whole have adopted these strategic skills development practices in order to maximize HRD related positive synergies at the operational level of the organization (Geerthuis & Fazey, 2006). The same can be said about their employee skills reorientation programs. Only a few of them have adopted internationally reputed programs of skills reorientation while the rest have adopted a more mundane practice of skills development and training the workers by paying more. Thus HRD practices and related CSR policy initiatives are virtually determined by a high level of dependence on organizational outcomes. Conclusion Training and development of skills at the workplace known as on-the-job training, has been very popular among big business organizations while small firms too have adopted such skills training programs with a view to enhancing the performance of the workforce. In fact there is considerable correlation between HRD initiatives and success of employee skills reorientation programs at firms in the modern world. Secondly despite an obvious lack of comprehension on the part of some employees of the existence of CSR policies and initiatives and the related positive impact on employee skills development programs and overall HRD practices at any level organization, the general agreement is that key performance indicators on the relative success of HRD polices and initiatives have been gathering a positive momentum at these firms. Thus this paper has successfully established a set of positive correlations between and among a number of HRD related key performance indicators and the organizational outcomes especially concerning employee skills reorientation and training strategies. Big business organizations in the world are characterized by a highly strategic policy oriented environment of competition. Against this backdrop current HRD practices are essentially influenced by the organization’s restructuring programs as undertaken by top management. It is determined to bring about a real change with a global identity tag and needs to prioritize the work ethics at the organization for this change. International HRD practices in culturally diverse and complex organizational setting as that of modern organizations’ requires a fair degree of restructuring based on motivating the employee to achieve predefined targets. REFERENCES 01. 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