What should be the focus of Human
Resources Development?
In this debate, two distinct perspectives
have emerged that describe the fundamental goals of Human Resources
Development different ways. At one extreme, advocates of the learning
perspective state the essential goal of Human Resources Development
should be learning directed at developing the whole person. From
this viewpoint, the philosophy of Human Resources Development
parallels liberal education in which the value of learning is
intrinsic (personal), non-instrumental (an end in itself), and
is not explicitly linked to performance. At the other extreme,
advocates of the performance perspective believe the goal of Human
Resources Development is to improve individual, group/process,
and organizational performance. This philosophy stresses the extrinsic,
utilitarian value of learning and its explicit connection to performance.
Both perspectives overly simplify the role of Human Resources
Development in organizations and needlessly limit practice, research,
and thinking in Human Resources Development.
Human Resources Development focuses
on keeping the human resources at the workplace in a state of
well being so that the immediate work needs may be achieved. In
doing so they contribute to the larger good of society’s
improvement. They draw on the resources of a developed population,
the handiwork of NGO development, in order to achieve efficient
production. A successful Human Resources Development department
is one, which has ensured that the employee has had a long professional
life with the company, and has successfully produced and achieved
as much as he can.
When pondering about what is Human Resources Development, Prof.
Arul of IIRM, Anand as said that, “Human Resources Development
as a concept cannot, de jure, precludes any segment of society.
Yet its definition must be workable; it must be capable of being
translated into action. Besides having to be so universal and
operational, the definition of Human Resources Development, I
would like to argue, must also be permeated by a philosophy, an
ideology or certain values. Concepts in m/any other field(s) may
be adequately defined free of values, but value-free concepts
are bound to be abortive in the field of development.
A value-based definition must also urge and guide relevant action
rather than just portray a scene. I would, therefore, begin by
calling Human Resources Development a set of activities rather
than a process -- not, in the least, implying thereby that process
is of little significance. The set of these activities would,
for example, include construction of reliable and valid instruments,
designing of training programmes, administration, evaluation,
interviewing, placement, performance appraisal, refreshers, etc;
these are all inter-related both because of their requisite sequence
as well as their mutual cause-effect dependencies. The activities
must be goal-oriented and selective: Goal-oriented to have direction
and selective because an all-inclusive development would be neither
feasible nor desirable. As Campbell (1975) argues, while some
aspects of human nature are to be curbed for optimal coordination,
...narrowing down by random choice would also fail to achieve
optimum results. (See also Milgram, 1974 and Campbell, 1956).”
In a way the approaches seem to be ‘ultimate, absolute’
questions, which may have limited implication for a world here
and now. All these approaches have yielded significant benefits
as well have had limitations. Yet an exploration of the issue
should be ongoing to yield direction and clarity in times of confusion.
A very helpful way to see the development of people at the workplace
is to look at the company as a community of people. What happens
if this is done ?......next page
What
are the business themes faced in the NGO work?
Development vs Charity –
the evolving place for beneficiaries in the development process
Motivation for Development
in an NGO
Funding Fundas and
Ideological Agendas
Human Development –
an input/output perspective
Contribution of NGO work to
Human Resources Development
What should be the focus of Human Resources
Development ?
Shifting the paradigm of Human Resources
Development
Company vs. Community
