Understanding Human Resource Development And Its Benefits To An Organisation

What is Human Resource Development (HRD)? How can Human Resource Managers ensure that Employee Development is beneficial to the Organisation? 

Human resource in an organisation setting can be defined as the people or workforce of the organisation who help to achieve organisational goals. Two most common terms used with reference to the human resource are human resource management and human resource development. HRM is a fresh approach to personnel management and aims at commitment, flexibility and quality (Paauwe, 2009). Human resource management can be defined as how a manager can effectively utilise capabilities, knowledge, effort and committed behaviours that the people contribute to an organisation, that is authoritatively coordinated, as part of any employment contract, which enables the organisation to achieve its objectives (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).Human resource development is a process of developing the skills of employees by supporting behavioural change and creating learning opportunities to achieve high performance (Richman, 2015).The further discussion would cover the difference between human resource planning and human resource development. It will also include the importance and ways to ensure HRD is beneficial to the organisation.

Human resource development is a subset of human resource management. As the definition clarifies Human resource management is for applying policies and principals to manage people effectively whereas human resource development is not involved in managing, it is the development of people. Human resource development can be thought of a small segment of human resource development. The functions of human resource development can be categorised into 3 basic categories training and development, organisational development and career development. Organisation often faces the challenge when employees lack capabilities and intellectual abilities. This challenge can be overcome through the function of training and development. Training and is defined as series of activities that are designed to enhance the skills, abilities and knowledge of the employee to perform a particular task. Development can be defined as preparing a person for future responsibilities. Training and development not only fetches productivity it is important for developing personnel. Various methods can be used to provide training & development like on the job, coaching, orientation, apprenticeship, demonstration, vestibule, understudy, job rotation and self-development (Olaniyan and Ojo, 2008). The next important function of the human resource manager is organisational development. Human resource development plays a vital role in organisational development by performing 4 functions which include maintenance of organisational standards, improves professionalism in the organisation, enhances the productivity and assures longevity of the organisation. Organisational standards are maintained by regular recruitments, enhanced diversity and better HR services. Professionalism can be developed by developing and delivering professional development programmes. Productivity can be increased by setting up realistic goals and HR manager should intimate and communicate about those goals to the employees. Organisational longevity will be the impact of human resource development and intellectual capital development (Kolachi and Akan, 2014). The third major role that is performed by human resource development is career development. Career development is composed of two terms career and development. Career means individual perspective of behaviours and attitudes that are associated with work related activities over the life span of a person. Development is the term related to growth. Career planning can be defined as the continuous process of empowering employees that are planning and directing actions until they achieve a personal level of life’s goals. HRD helps in career development through career planning and career management (Hite and McDonald, 2008).

Functions of human resource development

It is evident that human resource development performs various functions and therefore very essential for an organisation. In organisations, there is a set framework for implementing human resource development. This framework can also be regarded as the process of human resource development. It consists of 4 steps assessing HRD needs, designing effective HRD programmes, implementing the plan and evaluating the plan (Werner and DeSimone, 2011). The need analysis phase consists of analysing an individual, job environment and task requirements. Needs may arise due to present deficiency or any new challenge that is to be met. Need analysis can be done by deciding the priorities, deciding the objectives of specific training & HRD and establishing the evaluation criteria. The next comes the designing phase. This phase is concerned with designing the training and development activities that can bring the desired intervention. This involves determining the objectives of the programme, developing a suitable lesson plan to achieve those objectives, assembling required material for the programme, selecting the person who has the capability to deliver the programme, the next step involves choosing the setting that is most suitable for delivering the programme. After all the aspects have been decided, there is the need for implementation. This is the main action phase. Implementation is not an easy task it involves various challenges such as executing every detail as per the plan, creating an environment that supports the plan and resolving issues that arise while implementing. After designing phase comes the evaluation phase, this is concerned with determining the effectiveness of the programme. This is  the phase where decisions are taken regarding continue or stop using particular programme, budgeting and resources related decisions and finding any alternative HR approach if required (Vinaya, Mahatab, Sujoy).

It is the key role of every human resource development manager to time to time evaluate the human resource development programme to ensure that the implemented programme is beneficial for the organisation or not. Human resource development plan can bring various benefits to the employee if evaluated effectively. For instance Google, the company takes various steps to develop its employees. Every employee at Google is offered with a specific course related to their job this helps them to learn better, Google tries to maximise productivity by ensuring employee satisfaction and paying attention to the concerns of employees, 20% of working time is given to employees to spend on their own projects and it is continuously engaged in taking small steps to build up great talent (Toscano, 2015). The example shows human resource development can make the Google market leader. It is proof that employee development is beneficial to the organisation. The managers can check if the HRD programme is effective by checking few key points. These key points include the questions that if the organisation is developing right people, the right stuff, in the right way, at the right time and with the right materials. Managers need to measure the actual results against the expected results. The mangers need to find out the reasons and make corrections according to the reasons identified. Time to time evaluations enables the manager to check the efficiency of the overall development programme.  There are various benefits of employee development for the organisation. It enables and organisation to keep pace with the changes in the industry. It enables employees handling the latest technology; therefore organisation can make use of latest technology. It also enables the management to know about the weakness of employees and the skill gaps. It develops the individuals for more responsible positions in the organisation (Gill, 2014).

It can be concluded that human resource development is an important and inseparable part of the organisation. Every organisation needs to develop the potential of its human resource to achieve better results. Major functions of human resource development include training and development, career development and organisational development. It is helpful both individual and organisation. The human resource development programme can be implemented in 4 steps in an organisation. The first step is determining the HRD needs, the second is designing the suitable HRD plan, third is implementing the designed HRD plan and the fourth step is implementing the plan. If HRD plan is successfully implemented it can prove fruitful for the organisation. Managers can ensure that programme is beneficial to the organisation by effective evaluation of the programme. Overall employee development provides numerous benefits and is a vital task.  It develops the workforce for more challenging roles and helps to achieve the organisational goals.

References

Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers.

Gill, A., 2014. The Top 10 Benefits Of Ongoing Staff Training And Development, viewed on 25 August 2017 from https://www.saxonsgroup.com.au/blog/human-resources/top-10-benefits-of-ongoing-staff-training-development/

Hite, L.M. and McDonald, K.S., 2008. A new era for career development and HRD. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 10(1), pp.3-7.

Kolachi, N. and Akan, O., 2014. HRD Role in Organizational Development (A Case of Corporate Thinking at ETISALAT, UAE). International Business Research, 7(8), p.160.

Olaniyan, D.A. and Ojo, L.B., 2008. Staff training and development: a vital tool for organisational effectiveness. European Journal of Scientific Research, 24(3), pp.326-331.

Paauwe, J., 2009. HRM and performance: Achievements, methodological issues and prospects. Journal of Management studies, 46(1), pp.129-142.

Richman, N., 2015. Human resource management and human resource development: Evolution and contributions. Creighton Journal of Interdisciplinary Leadership, 1(2), pp.120-129.

Toscano, N., 2015. How Google Develops Talent, viewed on 25 August 2017 from https://www.skilledup.com/insights/google-develops-talent

Vinaya, H.M., Mahatab, K. M., and Sujoy, S. 2013. Framework for implementing human resource development programmes in higher educational institutions. International Journal of Engineering and Management Sciences, 4 (1), pp. 36-39.

Werner, J.M. and DeSimone, R.L., 2011. Human resource development. Cengage Learning.