Human Resource Development

Based on Human Resource Management, 4th edition, by Alan Price

Introduction

Business pundits argue that industrialized states must move away from low-technology products with poor profit-margins which can be produced more cheaply in low-wage countries. Similarly, developing countries aiming to join the ranks of the advanced nations must acquire a capacity for producing sophisticated products and services. High-technology products require long-term research, expensive and sophisticated production equipment and precise quality procedures. Above all, they require skilled human resources capable of performing effectively in this environment.

At the organizational level, enterprises need people with appropriate skills, abilities and experience. These qualities can be bought from outside the organization through recruitment, consultancy and subcontracting, or grown by training and developing existing employees. This section focuses on the second approach.(...)

Human resource development is a strategic approach to investing in human capital. It draws on other human resource processes, including resourcing and performance assessment to identify actual and potential talent. HRD provides a framework for self-development, training programmes and career progression to meet an organization's future skill requirements.

HRD at the environmental level

Human capital development in the form of education and skills training can be an effective response to constraints imposed on the job market. Specific skills may be in short supply - even during periods of considerable unemployment - and technological developments outdate some skills and require entirely different competences.

There is a considerable variation between education and training levels in different countries. For example, technology and production have long been regarded as high-status activities in Germany. Success in these areas demands a high level of technical training amongst the workforce. As a consequence, German businesses place a higher value on technical merit than, say, those in the UK.

Vocational education and training

Whereas the level of technical qualification in the UK appears to be low, the reported training activities of organizations is much higher. This discrepancy can be explained by the historical absence of recognized basic and intermediate-level vocational certification. Similar problems have occurred in many countries and a number of schemes have been introduced to counter the situation:

Developing People   >  Learning in Organizations