The Modern Era of Human Resource Development - Literature review Example

What issues do HRD managers need to take into account when planning a management learning and development programme? The modern era of Human ResourceDevelopment has witnessed the advent of the“knowledge based economy” where the future of education will be profoundly impacted upon by the knowledge management of the labour force. That is, the ability to use knowledge as a resource which is the embodiment of the human intellectual acumen. Thus the knowledge-based economy pertains to knowledge creation and its diffusion with the role of information management. All the actors of this new knowledge based economy, whether they are the individuals and companies or even the state have to be wary of losing out the in fiercely competitive global economy .This means that the education and training of the labour force has to be based upon maintenance and knowledge enhancement of the knowledge capital in order to be more innovative and adaptable to technological changes. The HRD plays an important role in the personal development of the labour force.In essence, personal development theory argues that if management implements a specified set of employment as well as work practices, it is going to lead to better performance (Boxall and Purcell 47-70). A lot of the practices such as teamwork, redesigned jobs, employee participation, teamwork as well as communication and information sharing - have been shown to improve performance, but not in a consistent manner (Appelbaum et al. 737-775). The strongest results have been obtained where models appear to approximate the real world of work and where measurement and sampling errors are reduced by using special-purpose surveys targeted at workplaces in specific (Appelbaum et al. 737-775) A common thread running through these studies is that personal development contributes to high performance where workers are expected and encouraged to perform at a high standard. This occurs where HRD and work organization practices provide workers with discretion or control over their work, where they are developed to work competently, and where they are supported and rewarded by management to work co-operatively with colleagues. This theory suggests three mechanisms - structural, motivational and cognitive - that lead to high performance. Structural alterations, for example, the creation of teams or introduction of a new reward system, may provide an initial rather than continuing improvement in performance. For continuous improvement, employees need to increase and sustain their motivation at a high level - a possibility that arises through perceptions and emotions related to greater work satisfaction and empowerment - and/or cognitive changes need to be introduced. These might include improved management communication and investment in formal training and/or on-the-job learning (Appelbaum et al. 737-775). The last 2 decades have seen a significant shift in human resource development (HRD) research from an essentially micro-analytical approach to a new macro-strategic perspective. Other from the conventional administrative role, HRD has identified new roles in terms of employee champion, change agent and strategic partner. Over the years, there has been much speculation about the role of the HRD in the organization going ahead. Authors and business gurus have made various predictions regarding the role, function as well as size of the HRD department. HRD responsibilities have typically come under fire as a result of its perceived unresponsiveness as well as administrative and not strategic focus along with the perception that they are cost centres and not star wealth creation centres they bring in the revenue. The impact on Training of the knowledge based economy thus requires the need for instilling the culture of effective Knowledge management into the learning and education as a whole. According to (Psarras 2006) “Knowledge management is the process of critically managing knowledge to meet existing needs, to identify and exploit existing and acquired knowledge assets and to develop new opportunities” This brings us to the conclusion that there is a need for knowledge management in HRD training and to ensure their survival the firms will need to attract, recruit and invest in labour which is talented and competitive. The Educational criteria thus has to match the firm’s knowledge needs and this has led to a growing appreciation for occupationally acquired knowledge to mere academic qualifications devoid of any practical experience. This brings us to our second concern as to who can more effectively manage the training for the personal development of the labour force.Nicola Mindell in her article Devolving training and development to line managers has argued that managers are one of the best group of people to devolve training responsibilities to and training should not only be seen as the responsibility of the Human Resources Department. She believes that apart from causing major performance improvements this would also save the organisations resources which would otherwise be diverted to the Human Resources Department .She has argued for an overall “bottom-line impact” of the training in this regard. Following her view if we consider the managers as not only the persons for whom training needs analysis is taken but also as those involved in the very essentials of the TNA procedure themselves then it can be said that the implications for the managers of the TNA are far reaching. In their article Training Systems Management Implications 1999 Desai, Richards, and Eddy have explained that in the modern corporate environment “training managers are challenged to find effective and innovative ways to train end users”. Whereas they should be actively involved in undertaking the training and other training tasks actively they should also consider adding an element of CBT (computer based training) if the Training undertaken for the firm allows for it. It should be seen that at the end of the day the managers of a firm are not only the ones subject to the Training needs but also the one’s involved in undertaking a Training. If they are in tune with the needs of their subordinates then they can take some very accurate training decisions. The next consideration is the issues related to the organisations’s individuals.The TNA being a product of modern business management several implications for the individual as well. Where as conventional training would only cover work-related skills, techniques and knowledge, the modern TNA analysis would take a more positive progressive approach to the individuals development. Since the object would be personal or individual development then the most effective way to “develop people” would to analyze how their learning and personal growth can be supported. Today organisations are facing great pressure to change in order to facilitate and encourage whole-person development and fulfillment and this would seem to go beyond the conventional norms of training. Andrew Mayo has argued for the development of employees as individuals – and this would include measures such as increasing self-awareness, confidence, assertiveness, general knowledge and providing help with educational qualifications. He has referred to the example of the pioneering days of “Rover” when their learning organisation paid for basket weaving courses – “much to the amusement of others” – because the firm felt that “encouraging people to learn for its own sake would benefit the business generally by changing people’s attitude and values about learning”. The modern aim of training can be summed up as Rover’s director was frequently heard at conferences in the early 1990s saying: ‘We want to discourage people from leaving their brains at the factory gate.’ (Andrew Mayo 2003) For the individual the HRD managers will have to realise the best way as in which one of the several methods of training would be better. These methods can include on-the-job training, informal training, classroom training, technical training, role-play games, attitudinal training, and distance learning etc.For the group of people carrying out the training a close overview of the firm’s budgetary capacity and work methods would be necessary to advise and analyze the individuals training needs. They would also assess the individual’s personal strengths and capabilities as well as their aims, desires and special talents (current and dormant) .This would be not only help the individuals understand themselves but also help the individual understand, that the opportunities for their development and achievement in the concerned organisation are not limited by their job role, or the skill-set that the organisation inevitably defines for the person. Another important thing to discuss here would be the need to take into account stakeholders and the need for an effective training needs analysis and the relevant issues it would raise. In the light of this where as the stakeholders who are the employees and managers will directly benefit from the TNA the shareholders or those expecting an immediate monetary benefit will have to wait for a while. In his other article (A problem always with us part 2) Mayo has again argued for a distinction in training and development budgeting between activities that can be classed as motivational and with those clearly linked to discernible and measurable business benefit. He also believes that when an organisation is investing in TNA it should be clear as to which stakeholders will benefit and the nature and goal of the additional value which they want to add to them. He has further reiterated that the value and implications derived from a TNA and other HRD investments bring the firm ‘value’ which can be financial or non-financial. An example of this would be customer loyalty and truly that cannot be quantified in monetary terms. The contrasting view in this regard comes from writers like Taylor and O’Driscoll (A new integrated framework for training needs analysis) who believe that it is essential that training be linked to results for example, improved productivity, quality and service .It is essential to justify to the management the cost of training and for maintaining the training function. For them it is particularly important for an organisation that is currently on a tight budget and keeping overheads low is a high priority. However academic opinion supports the modern view that the results based framework (ROI perspective) is not always a good way of measuring the long term intangible value of TNA as well as other HRD(Human Resource Development) investments.(Mayo (2003:40).A similar view is taken by Van Brakel (2002:72-74) who thinks that Training Needs decisions are influenced by the interests of the owners, shareholders and employees alike so cannot be purely based on a monetary premise of evaluation. Use of Personality tests for personal development Based on the psychological model devised by the eminent psychologist Goldberg it is said that the "Big five" personality traits are inherent in the population.This holds particularly true for achievement and work perfomance.The Big Five personality test (Goldberg 1981, 1993) identifies these five personality types as Extroversion (activity, sociability and emotional expressiveness), Agreeableness(trust, modesty), Conscientiousness(impulse control) Neuroticism(emotional stability) and Openness (complexity). These five dimensions have been used to account for variance in employee behaviour as well and their use of screening candidates for team building, selection, job analysis, training programs, coaching, is well known.However I would like to show some of the weaknesses in this test based on the example of a hypothetical advertisement firm called AD-WISE.Supposing the employers of the firm would like to measure the intensities of the firm under this test. Questionnaires are accordingly distributed .The employees sense that if they choose certain options they might be selected for high profile jobs.Therefore anyone with a little understanding of this test shall be able to get desired results. The test itself asks questions which ask you to agree disagree or give a medium response.The test ignores the influence of cultural and social influences on decision making.So two employees from different cultures in AD-WISE will be feeling these problems.Last but not the least at the end of this test the employer might actually be baffled by the diversity within all five traits especially when all these different employees will have different levels of intensities. At the end if all these scores are computed the employer might be stuck defining different personalities and may have to go to the cost and expense of certified professionals.This is a problem where the firms are small and don’t have enough funds to cover such consultancies.Many psychologists have even gone to the extent of saying that like the twelve zodiacs these traits are too generalised. So it might not be possible to see a similarity in two employees with similar scores due to their cultural or skill differences. Last but not the least using this test to judge employees brings with it the risk of a “Monotonous Selection” where there is not even a high level of reliability in the data and a tendency to cluster some training candidates into certain categories which may result in a good team but there will be a risk of missing out “diversity” in the employee base which accounts for different approaches, decision styles and intensities and can always be a cause of innovation. Conclusions and the way ahead for training management in HRD Finally the HRD managers must realise during a training programme that employees are a source of sustainable competitive advantage for the firm which is essential for the improvement and appraisal of a firms competitive position in the market and will enable a firm to survive against competition in the long run.Academic opinion has often spoken strongly in the favour of the achieving sustainable competitive advantage through an emphasis upon employee based management involving an increased contribution of employees in problem-solving and decision-making. Firms have to recognise that employees are an important asset and where as data and technology is susceptible to theft and piracy a good employee is one of the most important assets of a firm.The employees will be central to a company’s competitive advantage. If the employee force is well qualified,trained and experienced this will play a critical role in the effective development and execution of strategies. It has to be recognised that the employees are the most important stakeholders of a company and therefore their role in corporate governance and achieving the sustainable competitive advantage which is the need of every modern firm.A firm has to realise that every employee is important and not just the top executives of the firm who are often given the discretion to withdraw large amounts of remuneration for themselves. As important stakeholders if these employees will be able to share a company’s fortunes and achievements.Last but not the least there is a great need to have a well planned diversity initiative even with in the training programmes.A well planned diversity initiative will focus on the core competencies which should underline the diversity initiative. Diversity management thus has to focus upon gaining the knowledge and abilities through its labour force to enable the organization to meet its long time objectives. Diversity would thus also ensure that instead of a bored “affirmative action” plan there is an emphasis on recruitment of the most qualified people, and continuing professional development of the current employees. References 1. John Psarras,( 2006),Education and training in the knowledge-based economy, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece VINE: The journal of information and knowledge management systems,Volume: 36,Number: 1,pp: 85-96 2. Wiig, K. (1993), Knowledge Management Foundations: Thinking about Thinking – How People and Organizations Create, Represent and Use Knowledge, Schema Press, Arlington, TX, . 3. Zeleny, M. (2000), "Knowledge vs information", The IEBM Handbook of Information Technology in Business, Thomson Learning, London, pp.162-8. 4. Nonaka, I. (1991), "The knowledge-creating company", Harvard Business Review, Vol. 69 pp.96-104. 5. Nonaka, I., Takeuchi, H. (1995), The Knowledge Creating Company, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, . 6. Cook, J., Cook, L. (1998), "How technology enables the quality of student-centered learning", Quality Progress, No.July, pp.59-63 7. Saari, L. M, Johnson, T. R, McLaughlin, S. D. and Zimmerley, D. M. 1988. `A survey of management training and education practices in US companies’. Personnel Psychology, 41, 731- 743. 8. Holden, L. 1991. `European trends in training and development’. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2, 113-131. 9. O’Driscoll, M. P. and Taylor, P. J. 1992. `Congruence between theory and practice in management training needs analysis’. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 3, 593-603. 10. Latham, G. P. 1988. `Human resource training and development’ . Annual Review of Psychology, 39, 545-582. 11. Paul J. Taylor and Michael P. O’Driscoll, University of Waikato, New Zealand John F. Binning, Illinois State University, USA A new integrated framework for training needs analysis HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL ± VOL 8 NO 229 12. Nicola Mindell Devolving training and development to line managers Management Development Review volume 8 number 2 pp 16-21 MCB UNIVERSITY PRESS ISSN 0962-2519 13. Jacqueline Reed and Maria Vakola What role can a training needs analysis play in organisational change? Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 19 No. 3, 2006 pp. 393-407q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810610668382 14. Gilbert, T., "Performance Engineering", in “What Works at Work: Lessons from the Masters”, Lakewood Books, Minneapolis, 1988, p. 20. 15. A problem always with us? By Andrew Mayo (September 2003)Training Journal page 40 16. A problem always with us? Part two By Andrew Mayo (October 2003) Training Journal page 48 17. Boydell, T. and Leary, M. (1996) Identifying Training Needs, Institute of Personnel and Development, London. 18. Wills, M. (1998), Managing the Training Process: Putting the Principles into Practice, 2nd ed.,Gower, Aldershot. 19. Why ROI isnt enough: a shareholder focus may drive ROI evaluation—but stakeholders in the Netherlands want more - June, 2002 by Reinout van Brakel Training & Development Magazine. 20. Training Systems Management Implications College Student Journal, Dec, 1999 by Mayur S. Desai, Thomas Richards, John Paul Eddy 21. Gordon, J. (2005), "Diversity as a business driver", Training, ISSN 0095-5892, Vol. 42 No.5, pp.24-9. 22. Goldberg, L. R. (1981). Language and individual differences: The search for universals in personality lexicons. In Wheeler (Ed.), Review of Personality and social psychology, Vol. 1, 141-165. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. 23. Goldberg, L. R. (1990). An alternative “description of personality”: The big-five factor structure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1216-1229. 24. Goldberg, L. R. (1993). The structure of phenotypic personality traits. American Psychologist, 48, 26-34. 25. Appelbaum, E., Bailey, T., Berg, P. and Kalleberg, A. Manufacturing Advantage: Why High-Performance Work Systems Pay Off Ithaca, NY: ILR Press, 2000. 26. Boxall, P. and Purcell, J. Strategy and Human Resource Management. New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2003 Read More