Changing role of hrd within organisations

1. 1. Human Resource DevelopmentHRD is a system of developing in a continuous and

planned way the competencies ofindividual employees, dyadic groups (superior and
subordinate), teams and the totalorganization to achieve organizational goals. It
maximizes the similarity betweenindividual and organizational goals of employees and
develops an organizational culturein which superior-subordinate relationships, teamwork
and collaboration among variousunits become strong and contribute to the professional
well-being, motivation and prideof employees.Characteristics of HRD1. HRD is
concerned with employees both as individuals and as groups in attaining theobjectives of
the business enterprise. It is also concerned with the behavior, emotions andsocial
aspects.2. HRD is concerned with the development of human resources i.e.; the
knowledge, skill,capabilities and potential of people. This is then directed towards the
achievement ofemployee goals including job satisfaction.3. HRD covers all levels (low,
middle and high) and all categories (unskilled, skilled,technical, professional, clerical and
managerial) of employees. It covers both in theorganized and unorganized sector.4. HRD
is a continuous and never ending process. It requires constant awareness ofhuman
relations and their importance in everyday operations. It aims at securingunrestricted
cooperation from all employees in order to attain predetermined goals.5. HRD is the
process of improving, molding and changing the skills, knowledge,creative ability,
aptitude, values commitment based on present and future jobs andorganizational
requirements.
2. 2. Role of Human Resource Development within Organizations
3. 1. Getting the top management to think in terms of strategic and longterm business
plans:It may sound ironical that the HRD should begin with such strategic plans, but in
somecases it has compelled the top management to think about such plans. While
somecompanies started thinking about them, a few others started sharing these plans with
alarger number of persons.
4. 2. Streamlining of other management practices:Most often HRD process identifies the
strengths and weaknesses in some of themanagement systems existing in the
organization. It is also points out to the absence ofsystems that can enhance human
productivity and utilization of the existing competencybase; for example, the MIS, rules
and procedures, etc. which may have an effect on thefunctioning of the employees. In a
few cases HRD has helped the management to look atsome of these sub-systems and
work procedures. Preparation of a manual of delegation ofpowers, clarification of roles
and responsibilities, developing or streamlining the manualsof financial and accounting
procedures, strengthening the information systems, andsharing of information are some
of the resultant activities in this direction.

3. Supply necessary inputs to HR department for better recruitmentpolicies and more

professional staff:Perfect HRD system sets the stage and gives direction for the
competency requirementsof employees at various levels and thus provides a base for
recruitment policies andprocedures. In some companies, it has resulted in strengthening
the recruitment policiesand procedures. As a result of HRD practices, new recruitment
and retention strategieshave been worked out.
 4. More planning and more cost-effective trainingOne of the aspects emphasized in the HRD
system is to calculate the investment made intraining and ask questions about the returns.
The process of identifying training needs andutilization of training inputs and learning for
organisation growth and development areassessed. As direct investments are made in
training, any cost-benefit analysis drawsattention of the top management and HRD managers
to review the training function withrelative ease. One organization strengthened its training
function by introducing a newsystem of post-training follow –up and dissemination of
knowledge to others throughseminars and action plans. Many organisations have developed
training policies andsystematized their training function. Assessment of training needs has
also become morescientific in these organisations.

5. Increased focus on Human Resources and Human competenciesHRD focuses on new

knowledge, attitudes and skills required by the employees in theorganization Comments are
made about the technical, managerial, human and conceptualcompetencies of the staff at
various levels. This differentiation has been found to helporganisations identify and focus
sharply on the competency requirements and gaps. HRDSystem establishes a system of role
clarity and fixing of accountabilities. This can takeplace through separate role clarity
exercises or through the development of an appropriateperformance appraisal system. The
attention of the organization gets focused ondeveloping the competency base of the
organization. More sensitivities are developed tothe missing aspects of competencies. For
example, one organization has been found toneglect human relations competencies of their
staff, resulting in a large number of humanproblems leading to wastage of time. Some of
these got streamlined and various HRDpolicies also got strengthened.

6. Strengthening accountabilities through appraisal systems and othermechanismsHRD gives

significant input about the existing state of accountabilities of employees.This gets assessed
through performance appraisals as well as through the work cultureand other cultural
dimensions. A number of organizations have introduced systems ofperformance planning,
sharing of expectation and documenting the accountabilities ofstaff.Learning
organizationOne of the objectives of HRD is to create a learning organization. A
learningorganization is a place where employees excel at creating, acquiring and
transferringknowledgeBUILDING BLOCKS OF THE LEARNING ORGANIZATIONThere
are three broad factors that are essential for organizational learning andadaptability:(1) A
supportive learning environment: An environment that supports learning hasfour
distinguishing characteristics.1.Psychological safety: To learn, employees cannot fear being
belittled or marginalizedwhen they disagree with peers or authority figures, ask naïve
questions, own up tomistakes, or present a minority view points. Instead they must be
comfortable expressingtheir view points about the work at hand.2. Appreciation of
differences: Learning occurs when people become aware of opposingideas. Recognizing the
value of competing functional outlooks and alternativeworldviews increases energy and
motivation, sparks fresh thinking, and prevents lethargyand drift.

5. 5. 3. Openness to new ideas: Learning is not simply about correcting mistakes and
solvingproblems. It is also about crafting novel approaches. Employees should be
 encouraged totake risks and explore the untested and unknown4. Time for reflection: All
too many managers are judged by their sheer number of hoursthey work and the task they
accomplish. When people are too busy or overstressed bydeadlines and scheduling
pressures, however, their ability to think analytically andcreatively is compromised. They
become less able to diagnose problems and learn fromtheir experiences. Supportive
learning environment allow time for pause in the action andencourage thoughtful review
of the organization’s processes.(2) Concrete learning processes and practices: Learning
process involve the generationcollection, interpretation and dissemination of information.
They include:1. Experimentation: Experimentation to develop and test new products and
services,and experiments frequently with new ways of working.2. Information
Collection: The organization should collect information on customers,competitors,
economic social and technological trends, and it should compare itsperformance with that
of competitors and best-in-class organizations3. Analysis: The organization should do a
disciplined analysis and interpretation toidentify and solve problems. It should engage in
productive conflict and debate duringdiscussions, and it should frequently identifies and
discusses underlying assumptions thatmight affect key decision.4. Education and training
to develop both new and established employees. Newly hiredemployees in the
organization should receive adequate training. Experienced employeesshould receive
periodic training and training updates, training when switching to a newposition, training
when new initiatives are launched. In such organizations training isvalued and time is
made available for education and training5. Information transfer: In a learning
organization, it has forum for meeting with andlearning from experts from other
departments, teams or divisions ,experts from outsidethe organizations, customers and
clients, suppliers etc. it regularly shares informationwith networks of experts within the
organization and outside it. It quickly and accurately
6. 6. communicates new knowledge to key decision makers. Here post-audit and after-
actionreview are regularly conducted(2) Leadership that reinforces learning:
Organizational learning is strongly influencedby the behavior of leaders. When leaders
actively question and listen to employees,people in the institution feel encouraged to
learn. If leaders signal the importance ofspending time on problem identification,
knowledge transfer, and reflective-postaudits, these activities are likely to flourish. When
people in power demonstratethrough their own behavior a willingness to entertain
alternative points of view,employees feel emboldened to offer new ideas and options.
Such managers inviteinput from others. They ask probing questions, listen attentively and
encouragemultiple points of view. They provide time, resources and venues for
identifyingproblems and organizational challenges and for reflecting and improving on
pastperformance.Changing role of HRD within organizations.The new focus on
employee learning changes the role of the Human ResourceDevelopment function. The
role HRD within learning organizations is becoming clearer,but many uncertainties
remain for HRD professionals, especially with regard to thequestion of how to bring their
new roles into practice. There are only a few instruments tohelp HRD officers in this
regard.The “learning organization” is an important metaphor for HRD professionals to
assistthem in:Developing collective intelligence within organizations and organizational
formssupporting such a need thus eliminating the holding of knowledge in
separatecompartments at different levels.
7. 7. Understanding the importance of knowledge and in particular tacit knowledge, which
hasto be recognized and valorized insofar as it is embedded in human resources.Moving
from training-based development policies towards new policies fosteringlearning in
different waysLearning oriented organisations do employ a rich bouquet of change
initiatives, in which,no one type of change is particularly dominant.The main motivator
for wanting to become a learning organisation is the desire tobecome more client
centered by continuous improvement and innovation. However, morepeople-oriented
reasons such as improving the quality of working life seem to play a roleas well.The
envisioned role of HRD within learning organizations is to:1. Support the business.2.
Support (informal) learning.3. Support knowledge sharing.4. Develop and coordinate
training.5. Should continuously design and experiment with new methods to build right
type ofHRD.6. Change HRD practices.Barriers to change1. Insufficient time for learning
on the part of the employees2. Insufficient time for performing HRD tasks on the part of
the managers3. Lack of clarity on the role of HRD