Impact of Economic & Social Perspectives on HRD - Coursework Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxxxxx Title : xxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxx @2009 A theoretical basis for HRD Introduction Human Resource Development (HRD) can be termed as an amalgamation and a learning that is not structured and which is inclusive of performance that is based on activities that build up a person and competency in being organized or having ability to organize, possessing the ability and competence to get along with changes and finally manage the change successfully. Thus, HRD is the development of performance and still the development of any learning that might be beneficial to the organization. The main task of HRD is dealing with the changes which are occurring and giving more attention to the rate at which the changes are taking place. Human resource development is a field that is very wide and normally deals with each and every discipline associated with human resource management. Human resource management does not only deal with training; it is even concerned with learning that mainly helps an individual in learning and still organizational learning (Walton 1999). For the HRD to be a success in an organization there should be full dedication in learning. This caters for the continuous need for learning and development in organizations which is mainly catered for by the HRD department within an organization. Thus HRD perform the training which is the learning whereby the main focus is put on current job that the learner holds (Bratton, 2001) Education which can be described as the learning with the main focus being the on coming job for a person or group within the organization that is doing the learning and eventually the development which is basically related directly to the growth of the concerned individual with no reference to the job that the learner holds. For HRD to be successful, the organization or the concerned individual should think in the perspective of what is needed to be done in the future in the current world that is continually changing and where the changes are happening so rapidly. It is therefore apparent that there should be no focus whatsoever on what has been achieved in the past. HRD makes use of some framework that is convectional paradigm and still the one that is contemporary. Paradigm can be described as a device that aids in interpretation and has been invented to provide a map route that is purely practical for finding a way in our activities be it organizational or management ones (Walton 1999). This map will thus be of importance in enabling individuals or organizations to figure out, weigh up, make the right category and finally sift any important information that comes through very fast and continually from all directions. Thus it is very accurate to conclude that the main aim of a paradigm in HRD is to bring out information into two broad categories that are generally wide. These categories are convectional and contemporary. An important concept that strengthens both convectional and contemporary paradigm is that change and chiefly the rate at which the change is taking place are the main influence and also the determinant of how to approach the HRD. It is therefore not amusing to see how the two techniques differ in their approach. Convectional paradigm assumes a comparatively fixed change environment while on the other hand contemporary paradigm presumes an environmental change that is very dynamic. Obviously, these are the available extremes and therefore most organizations fit someplace between these two extremes. In relation to HRD the framework of paradigms gives some guidance to enable the individuals working or managing an organization to judge where their organization lies (Walton 1999). When such analysis is being conducted, the mains questions that need to be addressed is why the organization is in the present situation and where the organization ought to be or still whether there are available options to make the changes that are necessary and if the options are not available, what ought to be done to avail these options (Maycunich 2002). Roles of HRD The HRD is concerned with intervening for the learning processes to be available which in the long run are merely intended to bring about changes in organizations. Thus HRD has the job of deliberately changing the behaviors in an organization or better still, improving conditions to anticipate an eventual change. HRD has to ensure that it makes these intervention at the levels that are not gone far beyond control; the level that the interventions are made is the chief element of whether the change has the likelihood of being implemented. The HRD should deal with the training, education and the activities that are likely to bring developments and eventually maintain the status quo of an organization. The main objective of HRD should be to change the behavior of organizations or if that might be a little bit difficult, HRD should try and improve the capacity for change. Particularly, the HRD is concerned with training and orientation of the staff members that are new in the organization. It teaches the new staff on how to do their first assignments within the organization, to improve the present performance of the employees who might be not doing their duties as effectively as required and also to prepare the organizational employees fro promotions that have the likelihood of occurring. HRD is also entitled to changing the designs, processes and even the technologies available to bring out the required changes. For example, the training that is offered to manager, professions and even the technicians in an organization, it is purely the responsibility of the HRD. It also ensures that there is loyalty and also commitment by the employees and also the management. Incase there are any innovations discovered recently, it is the responsibility of HRD to ensure that all the employees that have been affected by the innovations receive training regarding the innovations. Moreover, incase there is any reconstruction or even downsizing within an organization, the employees will need some training on how to tackle the expanded responsibilities and this is solely the responsibility of HRD (Dale1 998). Alternatively, HRM is concerned with planning and identifying the number of employees required in the organization. Thus, if there is any addition work that needs an extra employee, it is the responsibility of HRM to identify the employees with the required skill and eventually do the recruitment. HRM also has a responsibility of compensating the employees incase there is any need to do so; like insurance benefits. It is the one responsible for offering the benefits to previous workers of the organization and even the retired staff. Management of relationship between the employees and any planning regarding human resource is done by HRM. Designing and organization of the available jobs within the organization is also done by the HRM. Moreover, the systems that gauge the performance of the management are also designed by the HRM. Finally, if there is research or information needed concerning organization performance, it is also the responsibility of the HRM. Impact of economic & social perspectives on HRD Technology affects the HRD in the view that incase there is emergence of a new technology; HRD has to make sure it has instilled the necessary changes to cope with the technology. Incase there is economic crisis obviously the organization will requires some changes to counteract the crisis. Social issues affect HRD in that the HRD will try the level best not to incorporate the under skilled and the unskilled in the workforce. This is because the under skilled will not be able to bring the desired changes in n organization (Harris & DeSimone 1993). Planning, Managing & Reviewing Performance Introduction Performance management refers to all the activities that make sure that the goals in the organization are constantly being met in a manner that is both efficient and effective. Performance management might focus on either if the organization is performing, a certain department within an organization, the processes that the organization uses to come up with the product or the service or even it can target the organizational employees. For employees, there could be a way of testing if the performance was adequate and this is through performance appraisal. Some organizations use performance management as way of assessing training and development. In order to encourage maximum performance and have the employees perform and give their best for an organization, it is important to reward each and every excellent performance. Some organizations overlook this part but in real sense it plays a very important role in encouraging maximum performance among the employees. There should be financial rewards to the employees with exemplary performance. The organization could also consider giving fringe benefits to the employees. This is one form of compensation that could be helpful in encouraging the staff to give maximally when performing their duties. One way that could be used to reward the employees who are performing highly is some additional training to such employees. This training would be beneficial to the organization because the skills acquired during training of such an employ would eventually be given back to the organization. And since such employees are very beneficial and dedicated to an organization, the organization would end up having enhanced the performance through adding of skills to such competent employees. Educational tours can encourage workers and at the same time the employees would acquire skills beneficial to the company. The employees who perform excellently should also be recognized. Excellent contributions should be recognized to make employers feel good about themselves and thus such workers would get more dedicated and thus maximizing the performance. The key purpose of monitoring the performance of the employees is to encourage team work and to keep the employees and the team on follow of what was agreed would be achieved. Still, this is the work of the manager so he/she is simply carrying out the duties. Obviously, under performance management, an organization ought to deal with any unsatisfactory performance portrayed. The foremost unsatisfactory performance is when the performance is low. Underperformance may be due to several reasons but the major reason could be inadequate skills or remoteness in terms of resources. This can be improved by the management intervening, training of the employees and finally through development intervention. A performance review system should be implemented that would eventually identify the underperformance, the reason as to why there is presence of under performance and how this under performance can be dealt with (Forbes J. B., 1991). There could be also non performance where by the concerned employees are not performing at all. Here, the performance management should be in a position to rule out skills or resources. Evidently this is all brought about by some negative attitudes among the employees. This can be dealt about through first identifying the non performance from either an incident that is critical or even through review of the performance. After this has been identified, the employees who are not performing could be counseled and even they could be issued with formal warnings concerning their non performance. Incase after the warning or even the counseling there is still under performance, a disciplinary action could be taken on the concerned cases. Most organizations have the set repercussions incase some under performance is sensed (Gilley 2000). The ones dealing with the employee who is deemed as not performing should be fair and just. There should be no bias whatsoever. The one performing the investigation should be a manager or a supervisor who is conversant with the quality of work done and who also is well conversant with the employee’s behaviors. Incase the employee is not fully performing, it is better to hire a competent employee than continue paying huge chunks of money to an employee who is not performing. The employee who is not performing should first be tested to find out if he or he is worth any effort to keep and make him/her undergo the training once again. It should be investigated if the work assigned to the employees who are under performing is being completed on the schedule. Moreover, it should also be established if the work being done of the quality that is expected or not and if the concerned employee is following the supposed guidelines (Hendry, 1995). Another consideration that ought to be investigated is whether the employee had given the necessary attention to training and the changes that had happened within the concerned sector or the industry. The performance of the employee should be gauged on whether he/she is average, above average, or below average. Incase it is discovered that the employee requires strong push to give him more courage to better the performance or follow the guide lines, then it should be noted that may be the concerned employee is in need of motivation and with this he/she is deemed to perform. But, incase the employee is notably below the expectations of the organization, and then the management needs to initiate the necessary process of dismissing the employee. The monitoring of performance also can be used in formation of a solid foundation whereby it is used to reference any feed backs from people and the teams. The collection of any information regarding performance is also important in order to maintain the system that manages the performance (Walton 1999). Conclusion For an organization to be a success, the HRD should be effective and efficient in its duties. This will ensure that the employees are well skilled and the required changes take time at the correct time. The HRM should also be effective to ensure that only the competent and qualified employed are hired. This is because employees who are competent give their best to an organization and hence the organization would grow and still their products and services would be excellent. Performance management is necessary in an organization to ensure that employees do not relax at work and fail to deliver. Incase it is absent; some employees would really take advantage and fail to deliver since they will not be discovered (DeCenzo 1999). This can easily be very injurious to an organization. Performance management is also important so as to note the competent employees. Such employees could eventually be rewarded with presents for motivation or they could still be promoted. Such promotions might end up being very beneficial to an organization because being in higher positions; they would even be able to deliver more to an organization. The employees still ought to be monitored to ensure they are doing their work effectively (Jerome 1996). Performance appraisal methods should be established to ensure there is communication between the one supervising and the staff. Incase there is a free performance feedback, the goals will be shared between the two parties and the expectations would be mutually shared and this would bring free communication thus rectifying any fault that might be present easily. Planning is paramount and any opportunities should be developed for both staff and administration. The managers ought to have some mentors who they can look upon and should be coached fully before getting the managerial positions. Bibliography Walton, J., 1999, Strategic Human Resource Management, Pearson Education Limited, Great Britain. Bratton, J., 2001, Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. Routledge, London. DeCenzo, D. A., 1999, Human resource management: Management Series: Wiley Series in Management, John Wiley & Sons, Baltimore. Hendry, C., 1995, Human resource management: a strategic approach to employment: B H contemporary business series, illustrated reprint, New York. Harris, M. & DeSimone R. L., 1993, Human resource development: The Dryden Press series in management, Dryden Press, Michigan. Maycunich, A., 2002, Principles of human resource development, Perseus, NJ. Dale, E., 1998, Management: theory and practice: McGraw-Hill series in management, Rex Bookstore, Inc., New York. Gilley, J. W., 2000, Organizational learning, performance, and change: an introduction to strategic human resource development, Perseus, NJ. Jerome L. F., 1996, Human resource development in the organization, Gale Research Co., London. Forbes J. B., 1991, Corporate mobility and paths to the top, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1991. California. Read More