MODERN INSTITUTE OF

PROFESSIONAL STUDIES,
INDORE

MAJOR RESEARCH PROJECT

ON

“Changing role of HRM an evolution of HRD (With reference IT industry”

Submitted to Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore

Towards Partial Fulfillment Of

Degree of Master of Business Administration

(Operations/Human Resource)

GUIDED BY: - SUBMITTED BY:

Aditya Verma Arpit Sarathe
Batch:-
Roll no.
pg. 1
 INDEX

Chapter Content Page

No
Declaration by the student
Declaration by the supervisor
Preface
Acknowledgement
Executive Summary
I Introduction
(a) Conceptual framework
II Literature Review
III Rationale and Objective of the study
(a) Rationale
(b) Objective
IV Research Methodology
V Data Analysis and Interpretation
(a) The study
(b) The sample
(c) The tools
(d) Data collection
VI Results and Findings
VII Conclusion
VIII Recommendation
IX References
pg. 2
 Questionnaire

Declaration by the student

I, Arpit Sarathe hereby certify that the project titled “Changing role of
HRM an evolution of HRD (With reference IT industry” has been
undertaken under the Modern Institute of Professional Studies, Indore towards partial
fulfillment of degree of Master of Business Administration in (Specialization)

It is further certified that the project report compile by me is my own work and to the
best of my knowledge, it does not contain any part of any work, which has been
submitted for the award of degree in this university without proper citation.

Date:
Place: INDORE

pg. 3
 Declaration by the supervisor

This is to certify that the project title is a piece of research work and has been done by
Arpit Sarathe under my guidance and supervision toward partial fulfillment of
Degree of Master of Business administration (Specialization).
I recommend that the project to be submitted to Devi Ahilya University, Indore

(project guide)
Date:

Counter signed by
(Director/principal/H.O.D)

(External Examiner)
Date

pg. 4
 Preface

It is a great privilege to me to place this report of my project before the readers. This
report is concerned with “Changing role of HRM an evolution of HRD
(With reference IT industry”
In this present scenario there is a great competition between public and private sector
organizations, and by doing this project I want to understand the absenteeism level
and develop a better attendance policy in both public and private sector organizations.
For these views from both public and private sector organizations had been taken.

This project is proposed in a very simple and understandable language, on the basis of
Primary data.

I would also like to state that although every possible care has been taken to make this
report error free but still the possibility of some errors creeping on inadvertently
cannot be ruled out. I shall feel highly obliged to all readers if the same are brought to
me notice, critical evaluation and suggestions for improvement are most welcome and
shall be greatly acknowledged.

Date: Project Guide

Place:

pg. 5
 Acknowledgement

Completion of research Report and writing of the report is a satisfying event

and the pleasant part is the opportunity to thank those who inspired, contributed and
cooperated. First and foremost, I would like to thank Prof. Aditya Verma Indore and
my Project Guide because without his support this project would not have been
successfully completed.
I am indebted to, Dr. Punit Kumar Dwivedi Group Director (MGI), who
encouraged and supported me and there after provided every possible help and guidance
for the completion of my project report.

I take the opportunity to offer my deep sense of gratitude and reverence to all those
people who supported me in completing the project.

Arpit Sarathe

MODERN INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES, INDORE

pg. 6
 MBA Department

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the MRP entitled “Changing role of HRM an evolution of HRD (With
reference IT industry)” has been accomplished by Miss. Nisha Patel under my guidance
and supervision.

This MRP is being submitted by her in the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of
the degree Of Masters of business administration [full time] from Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya,
Indore

To the best of my knowledge and belief this work has not been submitted by him anywhere else for
the reward of any degree or diploma without proper citation.

Project Guide
prof. Aditya Verma

Head of Department (MBA) External Examiner

Principal

Department of Master of Business Administration

MODERN INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES, INDORE

DECLARATION
pg. 7
I have tried my level best in making this project useful, pragmatic & successful. I have tried to
provide the accurate information to the best of my knowledge. The data collected is primary,
authentic & analyzed by me.

I hereby declare that project entitled “Changing the role of HRM - an evolution of HRD” (With
reference of IT industry) is authentic & I have put in my efforts meticulously to make this
project to come up the expectations and pragmatically viable.

Date:

Place: INDORE (Arpit Sarathe)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
pg. 8
The duration of the project report was the one etched in my memory for the long time to come. I
do have certain people to thank for it being a memorable experience.

It is my duty as well as privilege to express my deep sense of gratitude to all those who have been
associated with me in this summer project.

I would also like to thank AssistaProf. Aditya Verma my guide who has been present as pillar of
support and guidance throughout the project period. I am indeed indebted to him for the
experience and information he shared with me. His suggestions and comments have made the
report more valuable.

I would like to thank my family members, my friends and entire staff of MBA department for
making the atmosphere amicable and make me feel at ease at the time of stress.

At last I am thankful to all those persons who help me directly and indirectly to cover the wide
aspect of Research Project.

With Sincere Thanks

(Arpit Sarathe)

Executive Summary

pg. 9
People are the assets on which competitive advantage is built, whether in trhe public or private sectore,
whether in the corporate world or in the world of education. In the words of the latest theory on human
resource management, people are an “inimitable’’ assets.

People and their skills is their one thing that competitor organization cannot limitate. So human resource
management and practices associated with it have become accepted by managers in all forms of
organizations as one of the most important strategic levers to ensure continuing success.

Nowadays, entrepreneurs with business acumen have acknowledged the power of information technology
(IT) tools for reaching business targets. It not only helps achieve the business goals but also optimizes the
work processes.

Human Resource Management (HRM) includes activities such as recruiting, training, developing and
rewarding people in the organization. HRM must aim at achieving competitiveness in the field of HR by
providing constant educational and training programs for the personal and professional development of the
employees of the organization.

It has been conventionally proved that Information and Communication Technology (ICT), such as the
Internet, mobile communication, new media, and such in HR can greatly contribute to the fulfillment of
personnel policies of the organization. Technological advancement can have a huge impact on the HR
department of an organization. It allows the company to improve its internal processes, core competencies,
relevant markets and organizational structure as a whole.

Human Resource must mainly be focused on the strategic objectives of the organization. These strategies
must be led to incorporate an IT strategic plan for the organization. These are activities related to any
development in the technological systems of the entity, such as product design (research and development)
and IT systems.

Technology development is an important activity for the innovation process within the business, and
may include acquired knowledge. In the context, all activities may have some technical content, and results in
greater technological advancement.

INDEX

pg. 10
S.NO. Contents Page no.
Certificate 2-2

Declaration 3-3

Acknowledgement 4-4

Executive summary 5-5

Chapter 1. Introduction & Background of Study 7-21

Origion of HRD
Chapter 2. 22-38
 Stages, Evaluation

Literature Review 39-53

 Phases,
Chapter 3.
 Competencies,
 Perception

Methodology 54-59
Chapter 4.
 Data analysis

Strategic Integration 60-69

 Models,
Chapter 5.
 Key words,
 Best practices

Chapter 6. Result and Finding 70-81

Chapter 7. Conclusion and Implications 82-84

References 85-86

pg. 11
 CHAPTER : 1
INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND OF
STUDY

pg. 12
Introduction & Background of Study

Human Resources Management seeks to understand and then support how people do their jobs. Just
as important, however, is the understanding of the environment in which that work is done; and
how it contributes to the over all success of the organization - i.e. organizational effectiveness. The
two are certainly inter-related and inter-dependent.

Everything you need to learn about the evolution of HRM (human resource management.)
Evolution of HRM over the period of time is important for understanding the philosophy, functions,
and practices of HRM that are followed in different situations so that relevant HRM practices are
evolved in the present situation.

HRM, being a part of management discipline, has followed the pattern of development of
management because of the interrelationship of the problems of both the fields.

Historical Perspective of Human Resource Management

The term “human resource management” is of recent origin. In its modern connotation, it came to
be used mainly from the 1980s onwards. During ancient times and for a long period in the medieval
era, production of goods was done mainly by skilled artisans and craftsmen. They themselves
owned the tools and instruments, produced articles and sold these in the market.

As such, the question of employer-employee or master-servant relationship did not arise in their
cases. They managed their affairs themselves and with the help of the family members. However,
many effluent craftsmen also employed apprentices and certain categories of hired labourers. There
existed a very close relationship between the master craftsmen and the apprentices, and they
themselves took care of the problems facing the apprentices and their family members.
HRD is the integrated use of training and career development efforts to improve the performance of
the individual or group as well as overall organizational effectiveness. It develops the competencies
that employees need to perform the current jobs and prepares them for future roles through planned
learning activities. HRD focuses on matching the needs of the individual and the organization. 
While choosing the right person for the job and then retaining them has always been the focus on the
HR department, the emphasis of HRD is on motivating and developing employees. This requires HR
departments to create policies and programs that lead to the development of the workforce and
contribute to the development or the organization. 

pg. 13
 HRD MANAGEMENT IT INDUSTRY

INTRODUCTION

An organization's success is determined as much by the skill and motivation of its members as by
almost any other factor. While this has always been true, the pace and volume of modern change are
focusing attention on ways human resources development (HRD) activities can be used to ensure
organizational members have what it takes to successfully meet their challenges (Desimone, Werner
& Harris, 2002). Hassan, Arif Hashim, Junaidah and Ahmad Zaki HjIsmail (2006) measured
employees' perception of HRD practices and found large inter-organizational differences in HRD
practices. HRD is also found to positively influence employee engagement, leadership, manager's
motivation to learn, promotion of a learning culture, and social capital development all of which are
positively associated with innovation.

The study aimed at analyzing HRD practices in IT industry. Considering the conceptual framework
of HRD proposed by Rao (2007) this study examined the HRD practices such as training and
development, performance appraisal, performance feedback and counseling, career planning and
development, potential appraisal and organizational development in IT industry. From the list of
organizations available in the NASSCOM Directory, a sample of 150 software organizations was
selected randomly covering the entire country. The questionnaire was distributed to HR
professionals of the organizations with a request to fill them up and return. Out of 150 organizations
41 had responded to the request. This included 27 Indian multinational software companies and 14
foreign multinational companies. The data on HRD practices was collected from the HR
professionals of these companies. Content analysis was made of the data so collected using
management questionnaire.

HRD concept was first introduced by Leonard Nadler in 1969 in a conference in US. “He defined
HRD as those learning experience which are organized, for a specific time, and designed to bring
about the possibility of behavioral change”.

Human Resource Development (HRD) is the framework for helping employees develops their
personal and organizational skills, knowledge, and abilities. Human Resource Development
includes such opportunities as employee training, employee career development, performance
management and development, coaching, mentoring, succession planning, key employee
identification, tuition assistance, and organization development.

pg. 14
Human Resource Development can be formal such as in classroom training, a college course, or an
organizational planned change effort. Or, Human Resource Development can be informal as in
employee coaching by a manager. Healthy organizations believe in Human Resource Development
and cover all of these bases

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

1. To enlist emerging HR trends in Indian IT Industry

2. To find out lacking areas regarding the HRD in IT Industry.

3. To measure the perceptions of IT sector employees in respect of application of HRD in their
organization

Roles of HR Manager

Human resource development as an important function in the organization can help in realizing its
objectives by creating a competent, dynamic and motivated employee force.
The success of HRD function depends on the top management’s commitment and support.

Every software company has some arrangement fpr structuring HRD function with different
titles such as HRD, learning and development, talent development, and human capital
development. All the functions responsible for developing human resources are considered
as HRD department for the purpose of this study.

The Enforcer:

Most HR practitioners will agree that the role as the employer's compliance officer is well
established. But, it's increasingly difficult to keep track of changes in state, federal and local laws
and regulations. These must then be translated into effective policies and practices. A greater
emphasis is also placed today on taking preventative measures to forestall, or at least mitigate, the
effects of employee complaints of harassment, wrongful discharge, or discrimination. Though
generally perceived of as a reactive function, HR professionals will have to increasingly rely on
proactive solutions.

pg. 15
Management Representative:
This is the other traditional HRM role. As part of the management staff, the HR department is the
point of interface between management policies and its employees. It's charged with communicating
and interpreting management dicta. These responsibilities are also considered an extension of the
compliance and enforcement roles. What is not communicated, can seldom be enforced.

The "open-book management" movement furthers a trend toward greater employee empowerment
and is based on a greater sharing of information; much of which is coordinated through human
resource procedures.

Strategic Partner:
HR has begun stepping from its historical reactive function - like the guy who follows a parade of
elephants with a shovel on his shoulder. A complaint is filed, react to it. Jobs open up, fill 'em.
Absenteeism's on the rise, step up the discipline. The movement to include human resources
management in the strategic decision-making process is a relatively new phenomenon. Only a
relatively small number of organizations have yet to grant this recognition. This new role does bring
with it additional burdens and responsibilities; to be aware of changes in the external environment
that will impact the organization; offer appropriate strategies and procedures to anticipate change;
and provide regular feed back that helps steer strategic planning. A whole new set of skills and
perspectives will be required of HR practitioners.

Employee Advocate:
This is not so much a new role as much as it's practically nonexistent. It's actually frowned upon in
many organizations and is the most difficult of the four to realize. After all, it does seem to be a
direct contradiction to serving as an advocate for management. It's an uncomfortable conflict that
many practitioners either choose, or are encouraged, to avoid. Still, it's a role that must be accepted
since it directly impacts the other three. Employee advocacy fosters trust and credibility in the
relationship. If employees need someone to speak for them, and if it's not Human Resources, then
who? You guess! Like the overlapping of HRM and OD, the four basic roles for Human Resources
management are interrelated and mutually supportive. Success rests in fully accepting all four and
striking the proper balance among them. Most HR functions already have the basics of the first two.

pg. 16
  Innovative practices in HR
The innovative Practices in Human Resources study uncovered 12 practices that are reducing HR
costs and improving services quality to employees. Key findings from this research included the
need for HR managers to streamline processes, lower overhead costs, and enable their departments
to advance from transactional organizations to strategic partners in the business.
Practices and technologies include:
 Internet and intranet employee services

 Strategic human resources

 Centralized HR departments and call centers

 360-degree performance appraisals

 HRIS systems

 Employee self-service

 Voice response system (VRUs)

 Resume scanning and internet recruitment

 Kiosks

 Automated time and attendance systems

 Team policies and development

 Outsourcing

 Business process reengineering (BPR)

Impact of Information Technology on Human Resource Management

Nowadays, entrepreneurs with business acumen have acknowledged the power of information
technology (IT) tools for reaching business targets. It not only helps achieve the business goals but
also optimizes the work processes.

It has been conventionally proved that Information and Communication Technology (ICT), such as
the Internet, mobile communication, new media, and such in HR can greatly contribute to the
fulfillment of personnel policies of the organization. Technological advancement can have a huge

pg. 17
impact on the HR department of an organization. It allows the company to improve its internal
processes, core competencies, relevant markets and organizational structure as a whole.

Human Resource must mainly be focused on the strategic objectives of the organization. These

strategies must be led to incorporate an IT strategic plan for the organization. These are activities
related to any development in the technological systems of the entity, such as product design
(research and development) and IT systems.

Technology development is an important activity for the innovation process within the business, and
may include acquired knowledge. In the context, all activities may have some technical content, and
results in greater technological advancement.

Information Technology may have a greater impact on organizations that exist in a dynamic
environment. This will lead to greater efficiency and effectiveness of the Human Resources.  Hence,

However, innovation in Human Resource Management can manifest itself in a number of ways:

1. To identify solutions quickly and flexibly during a negotiation

2. To identify new ideas for products and services
3. To identify new markets

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can make the following major impacts in
Human Resource Management.

1. Better services to line managers : - Both HR and line managers primary interest is the success of
the business. The human resource’s main function is to support the workforce needs of the
organization. Strategic planning between HR and line managers is important for reviewing
projections concerning future business demands to determine whether to train current employees, to
prepare them for promotion or to recruit candidates with the higher level of skills to supplement the
current employee knowledge database. Training and developing the line managers in IT tools will,
therefore, prepare the line managers for a number of leadership tasks.

2. Enhancing management : - Human Resource IT tools that can supplement management and
enhance efficiency and effectiveness, which can lead to the success of the organization as a whole.
For example, currently, Success Factors Solutions has developed an HR IT tool of talent
management for Hilton Worldwide, which had a worldwide operational capacity.

pg. 18
Organizations across the world are driving to improve organizational performance regardless of the
size of the organization or the industry. Managers within the organization measure
performance, sometimes by comparing it against a benchmark. They analyze and assess their
findings and design their controls accordingly to advance the organization’s performance.

3. Effective recruiting : - Nowadays, organizations have realized that effective recruiting cannot be
done without the use of IT. Organizations now use job portals on the internet to search for the best
candidates for the position. The process has been made effective with the use of the internet as many
people come to know of the offer and hence increases the probability of hiring efficient employees.

Employers can present all necessary information related to job, careers and personal development of
each employee on portals online. This is a great promotional tool for the organization. Currently,
Envoy has developed Asana, an IT tool for recruiting that analyzes details down to where a potential
candidate’s high priority values are. The HR IT tools not only help hire the best potential but also
retain it.

4. Data management and critical analysis : - Data management becomes easier when IT is used
and it becomes paper-free. Many of the monotonous work is no longer manual. This increases the
efficiency of the work and the effectiveness of it. Organizational performance can lead to the timely
success of the business whether in a stable or an unstable environment. Jobs that do not offer much
variety in their performance and are of a highly repetitive nature are disliked by employees and
eventually results in low retention or decreased effectiveness.

Employee’s performance data can be critically analyzed by the HR IT tools more often if it’s online
and becomes readily accessible to everyone. For instance, Zenefits has recently developed an HR IT
tool, which has made Passport completely paperless.

5. Inventory management tools and human resource management : - Entrepreneurs with

business acumen describe that the performance of an organization can be made more effective and
efficient by customer intimacy, operational efficiency, and leading edge. Customer needs must be
met by customization and by providing outstanding customer instances. For this purpose,
organizations use HR IT tools to provide a universal set of products and diversify the business by
providing improved products and services.

6. Cost-reduction and efficiency : - Considerable benefit can be obtained as various reports can be
made using IT tools.

pg. 19
Xero wanted to save its resources and make them easier to manage. Xero then
implemented PlanSource’s benefits system and ACA compliance technology with their payroll
provider and now all their benefits are in one place and easy to access.

This lead to cost reduction and efficient and work processes. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington have
rightly said, “Poor performance might be the result of an inappropriate configuration for the situation
or inconsistency between structure, processes, and relationships.” Organizational performance can
be increased by implementing management by objectives and using a participative style of
management through Human Resource Information Technology tools.

7. Customer service and human resource management : - Organization

performance can also be described by evaluating the reliability of service and by
understanding the quality of customers of the organization. Value can come from
providing a reliable service, so that the customers know that they will receive the
service on time, at the promised time, to a good standard of performance. As
organizational change is inevitable, critical success factors and key performance
indicators should be revised, and relevant Human Resource IT tool must be devised
for the better quality of work.  Doing good quality work and providing quality results
will increase organizational performance.

8. Career development and human capital management : - The career planning tool is
a learning and knowledge-based system that helps successful businessman around the world to
manage their personal development and career paths along with those of their employees.

Performance evaluation and career progression can be a key motivating factor for the employees to
work effectively and efficiently. Performance measurement and reward systems in an organization
establish views of priority i.e. what is important and what is not so important. Thus sound
performance evaluation systems HR IT tool is crucial for the organization. The system must be a
sound one so that people can rely on it.

Rewards systems should be amended so that the rewards to managers and other employees are based
on performance targets as stored in the HR IT tools. Employees should be rewarded for performance
based on the desired behavior and results as per the HR IT tool database.

pg. 20
Human Resource IT tools have great organizational effects; provide better services to line managers,
serve as a pipeline connecting a personal policy and personal processes in all organization, facilitate
personnel management in the company, provide important data for a strategic personal decision-
making and enable a quick acquiring and analysis of information for HR assistants and reduce cost
labors at performance of personal activities.

9. Automation of HR processes : - Human resource management is an incredibly complex domain

that involves many processes. And it often happens that HR specialists spend too much of their
precious time on mundane, monotonous activities instead of focusing on more serious issues.

The implementation of technology into the HR workflow frees the professionals from a great amount
of routine work. The automation of processes eliminates paperwork, speeds up the execution of
many tasks, and contributes to more efficient HR performance.

10. Availability of HR tools : - Some time ago, HR specialists struggled with endless phone calls,
emails, and paperwork. They had to keep dozens of processes and tasks in mind. Now, there are
hundreds of available HR tools that are designed specifically to facilitate and optimize the work of
HR specialists.

The features of the HR software include:

 Streamlining workflows
 Organization and management of employee data
 Creation of detailed employee records
 Social collaboration
 Management of payroll, vacation, and bonuses

11. Advanced candidate search : - One of the main responsibilities of an HR specialist is finding
and recruiting the specialists that a company needs at the moment. IT significantly changed the way
these processes are approached.

First, the Internet granted HR specialists an opportunity to search for candidates worldwide.
Freelance workers have now become a common thing, and collaboration with freelancers may be
even more beneficial than hiring an in-house team. There are numerous benefits of working with
freelancers: flexibility, affordable rates, specific skillset, and many more. In this way, HR specialists
can fill the gap that their in-house team lacks and find a perfect candidate anywhere in the world.

pg. 21
Second, HR specialists can use advanced tools (i.e. Artificial Intelligence) to screen the resumes and
pay attention only to those profiles that strictly match the requirements. This greatly speeds up the
search process and helps to find the most suitable candidates.

Finally, HR specialists now have access to various online platforms where they can find candidates:
Stack Overflow for developers, Quora for managerial positions, etc. The availability of such
resources expands the talent pool and grants HR specialists new opportunities in terms of the
candidate search.

12. A new way to brand a company : - Company branding is an important factor in attracting and
retaining employees. Thanks to IT, companies now have an option to build strong online presence
and reach numerous potential candidates with minimal effort.

Thorough website branding and design, presence on major marketplaces and online communication
– all these factors promote direct interaction between a candidate or employee and a company.

Social media plays a huge role in the company’s branding, too. Social platforms became the key
source of information, and candidates are most likely to search for a company on LinkedIn than
through traditional sources.

13. Analytics grants access to more data : - Finally, Information Technology granted HR
specialists access to sophisticated analytics, taking their work to a new level.

Previously, HR specialists had to rely on guesswork and intuition when evaluating the employees,
their level of motivation and satisfaction, and the efficiency of HR processes. Now, they can rely on
the data and see all the processes and work results reflected in numbers.

TAKING THE LEAD

 See ourselves as problem-solvers

 Develop critical skills and competencies in ourselves, then others
 Build compensation around results not tasks; competencies, not seniority
 Involve everyone, Constantly align and balance resources to meet changing needs

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW

 Attract, retain and reward the best performers (Encourage all to be the best)
 Increase flexibility
 Reduce fixed costs
 Reduce administrative effort (Simplify, simplify, simplify)

pg. 22
  Utilize the full range of individual talents

COMPETITION

Compensation stock options, profit sharing, incentives

Alternatives outsourcing

ATTRACTING

Recruiting sign on bonuses

Relocation incentives
Recruiters
Reduced cycle time for hiring

THE CRISES

 Shortage of it workers

RETAINING

 Work environment
 Communication forums
 Telecommuting
 Flexible staffing
 Exciting project

DEVELOPING

 Internship programs
 Training programs
 Career development programs

LONG TERM SOLUTIONS

 Education, government, industry partnerships

 Curricula : technical skills and career skills (teamwork and communications)

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Understand people what they want

Long term perspective innovative

Co ordinate approach career development

pg. 23
Some Problems HR Faces During COVID-19
There are many implications of the coronavirus pandemic for different people. For some people, it’s
financial, some physical, and others mental. For most people, it’s probably all of it. Due to the
effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, business organizations now rely on the HR department, now
more than ever

1. Managing personal health and wellbeing as well as the employees’

If there’s just one thing that was tested by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was everybody’s mental
health. Sadly, many other things were tested. The abrupt change in work culture alone was enough to
affect the mental health and wellbeing of (employees), and it did, add to that many other outstanding
issues such as anxiety and stress.

2. Rapid changes in policy

Due to the extraordinary times that we are in and how much companies are affected by this, they
have had to continually update everyone of their company policy to reflect the position that the
company is in the market.

There are several webinars that business organizations provide for their staff to give them the
necessary information and tools that they need to continue working through this disruption without
putting themselves at risk. HR has to take advantage of this platform, as well.

Companies have to realize that they need to be more flexible at a time like this and give the HR
managers the power to make decisions that relate to their teams. The constant change in policy and
the uncertainty of events caused by the pandemic means that it is unlikely there isn’t a policy for
every single thing. So, HR needs to make decisions by themselves when they have to.

3. Lack of agility
HR teams will mostly struggle because of the absence or lack of agility, and you expect that this is
more obvious in a situation like this one. The truth is, there are a lot of HR teams that are not built
for agility. Ordinarily, this affects the HR professional, but when you have a pandemic situation, it
aggravates the problem even more. During a crisis, it is vital that HR makes quick moves and
responds very quickly.

So, the whole process of data collection becomes slow, and it’s tough to take the necessary
immediate measure required during a crisis.
pg. 24
4. Uncertainty and employee engagement
As long as there is uncertainty, it is unlikely that the company will ever get the employees to work at
their maximum, even when they work from home. This is a significant problem that HR has to
handle because, ultimately, the company has to be as productive as possible to continue running.
This again emphasizes the importance of having a good communication platform.

The employees are likely to be affected mentally by the uncertainty. The HR manager has a more
significant task on his hand to align everyone to reach the company’s goals (as determined by the
crisis).

5.Communication
One of the most important things that a company needs and can’t do without is communication.
Moreover, during a pandemic, when everyone is locked down and has to work from home,
communication becomes the company’s number one need or problem.

The HR manager is now tasked with providing a communication channel that cuts across the
company from the executives at the top to the employees. It also has to be a very quick
communication channel because of the constant need to pass information across to the staff,

Companies have to note that if they are unable to provide the right channels for communication and
the bulk of these problems falls on HR. The HR department is already stretched, and it would be
more stressful to relate with all the employees with or without a good communication tool. But tools
such as Slack and Zoom are helpful.

Research Problem
The Human Resource (HR) department is one of the most important departments in
the organization and has diversified roles and functions. However, it has been reported that
these roles and functions are not given the necessary credit (Alagaraja, 2013). Software
organizations employ technically skilled employees who work for a specific client
throughout a project. The learning and development activities of software employees are
focused on continuous improvements of processes and documenting them for future
reference (Agrawal & Thite, 2003; Mathiassen & Pourkomeylian, 2003; Singh, 2012).

Managing knowledge is an important factor to maintain the competitive advantage in

software organizations (Singh, 2012).

pg. 25
 Even though there are studies that focus on perception of employees about generic HR
functions and HRM roles, there are barely any studies that explore the perceptions of
employees about HRD roles and functions.

Purpose Statement
The purpose of this study is to understand the perception of software employees
towards HRD roles, functions, and professionals in a software organization.

Some of the things that HR needs to share with the employees are:
 Updates from the business executives via video or email.

 Training sessions and health talks.

 Ongoing communication on some of the policies which relate to the situation.

 Links to valuable external sources of information.

 Updates on the measures that the organization is adopting.

Conclusion

We all have to go through many problems because of the situation with COVID-19, from personal,
health, financial, work problems, etc. For HR managers, it is more difficult for them; they have to
face the same issues as everybody and also take up the difficulties of keeping the company running
during the crisis.

Communication is essential in cases like this as it solves most of the problems that companies face.
However, it is a big problem that needs to be resolved.

pg. 26
 Chapter : 2
Origion of HRD

Origion of human resource management

Introduction

While the term “human resource development” (HRD) has only been in common use since the
1980s, the concept has been around a lot longer than that. To understand its modern definition, it is
helpful to briefly recount the history of this field.

pg. 27
The origins of HRD can be traced to apprenticeship training programmes in the eighteenth century.
During this time, small shops operated by skilled artisans produced virtually all household goods,
such as furniture, clothing, and shoes. To meet a growing demand for their products, craft shop
owners had to employ additional workers. Without vocational or technical schools, the shopkeepers
had to educate and train their own workers. For little or no wages, these trainees, or apprentices,
learned the craft of their master, usually working in the shop for several years until they became
proficient in their trade.

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution during the late 1800s, machines began to replace the
hand tools of the artisans. “Scientific” management principles recognised the significant role of
machines in better and more efficient production systems.

In order to meet this demand, factories created mechanical and machinist training programmes,
which were referred to as “factory schools.” The first documented factory school, in 1872, was
located at Hoe and Company, a New York manufacturer of printing presses. This was soon followed
by Westinghouse in 1888, General Electric and Baldwin Locomotive in 1901, and International
Harvester in 1907.

Although both apprenticeship programmes and factory schools provided training for skilled workers,
very few companies during this time offered training programmes for the unskilled or semi-skilled
worker. This changed with the advent of two significant historical events’.
The first was the introduction of the Model T by Ford in 1913. The Model T was the first car to be
mass- produced using an assembly line, in which production required only the training of semi-
skilled workers to perform several tasks.

Another significant historical event was the outbreak of World War I. To meet the huge demand for
military equipment, many factories that produced non-military goods had to retool their machinery
and retrain their workers, including the semi-skilled. For instance, the U.S. Shipping Board was
responsible for coordinating the training of shipbuilders to build warships.

During the 1960s and 1970s, professional trainers realised that their role extended beyond the
training classroom. The move toward employee involvement in many organisations required trainers
to coach and counsel employees.
pg. 28
As a result, the ASTD approved the term human resource development to encompass this growth
and change. In the 1990s, efforts were made to strengthen the strategic role of HRD, that is, how
HRD links to and supports the goals and objectives of the organisation.

There was also an emphasis within ASTD (and elsewhere) on performance improvement as the
particular goal of most training and HRD efforts, and on viewing organisations as high performance
work systems.

 Evolution of Human Resource Development Over

the Period of Time

“8 Main Stages: Training Programmes Arranged by Shopkeepers,

Vocational Education Programmes in USA and a Few Others”

The effective performance of an organisation depends not just on the available

resources, but its quality and competence as required by the organisation from time to
time.
HRD assumes significance in view of the fast changing organisational environments and
need of the organisation to adopt new techniques in order to respond to the environmental
changes.

The evolution involves the following stages:

Stage # 1. Early Training Programmes Arranged by Shopkeepers:

In early stage of industrialization the skilled artisan used to produce household goods. With
the increasing demand of their products, they started giving training to their workers and
sometime they used to keep extra manpower. These people were trained some-time with
pay or without pay.

They used to work with the owners because their resources were limited and they were not
in a position to invest for machines and infrastructure facilities. They worked for longer

pg. 29
period with the shopkeepers because they were unable to start their own shop. Later on this
apprentice model was adopted for training of doctors, educationist and lawyers.

Stage # 2. Early Vocational Education Programmes in USA:

With the objective to provide vocation training to unskilled young and unemployed people
Mr. D. Clinton established a vocational school in New York City in USA in early beginning
of nineteenth century. This was accepted and got popularity slowly. Further it provided
training to unemployed with criminal records.

This provided solution of the social problems in mid- eastern states in USA. This school
was accepted as a model for vocational education and government passed The Smith-
Hughes Act.
Nowadays the vocation education is an important part of every state public education
systems. This has been accepted in other countries including India.

Stage # 3. Early Factory Schools in Developed Countries:

With the development of science and technology, new machines and equipment were
introduced in manufacturing. This led to industrialization in developed countries first
mainly. The manual workers were replaced by machines.
The demand for skilled and semi-skilled workers increased. The semi-skilled workers
were used for production and skilled workers were used for designing, repairing and
assembly of machines. This way the factory system developed. The demand of skilled
workers was not fulfilled due to short supply.

First school of this type was established at Hoe & Company in New York and later on in the
last quarter of nineteenth century other companies also established such schools. The focus
of these schools was to develop skills of workers for a particular job related to the factory
work and not in general.

Stage # 4. Early Training Programmes for Semi-Skilled and Unskilled

Workers:
In the beginning training was only given to skilled workers and not to unskilled or semi-
skilled workers It used an assembly line to produce this car with the help of semi-skilled

pg. 30
workers. The assembly line production technique reduced the production cost and it was
possible to provide a car at lower price.

This increased opportunities for training. Other manufacturers of automobiles too started
using assembly line. Next reason for demand of semi-skilled workers was a historical event
known as outbreak of World War I. The demand of military weapons increased drastically.

To produce more military weapons many new factories were established. Further the
demand for semi-skilled workers increased. To fulfil the demand of semi-skilled workers
training programmes were started to train the workers on-the-job. This was called job
instructional training (JIT) and in present time it is known as on-the-job-training method.

Stage # 5. Human Relations Movement:

Due to industrialization the production started at large-scale. The demand of products
increased due to two World Wars and increased population. Workers were asked to work
for longer hours, with very poor working conditions at a meagre salary and unfavourable
attitude of the management. It can be said that they were exploited in the factory system.
The importance of human behaviour at work was accepted as an important factor for better
performance.
It was accepted by industrialists as a tool to motivate people by fulfilling their needs and
increased their production. Further, Elton Mayo carried out Hawthorne experiments and
advocated the impact of human involvement in the job if they are cared properly.

Stage # 6. Establishment of New Training Programme:

The demand of military weapons and equipment increased further due to outbreak of
World War II. Industries were asked to support the war efforts by manufacturing military
weapons. It was needed to re-arrange the production facilities at large-scale to meet the
need of the war. Demand of skilled workers increased further.

The initiatives were taken to establish new training programmes with the larger
TWI trained nearly 25,000 instructors by the end of the war.

The supervisors were issued certificates from many industrial units. With the trained
instructors many companies designed, organized and arranged for training programme.

pg. 31
Due to this the demand of skilled workers was met and production of military related goods
increased to meet the requirement of World War II.

Stage # 7. Emergence of Human Resource Development Concept:

After World War the importance of human resource was realized more in comparison
with the past. The trained instructors realize that their role is not limited to classroom
training. They can play an important role outside of classroom also. They started
coaching, counselling and problem-solving activities.

To perform this task the need for training and development skills including inter-
personal skills, coaching, group facilitation and problem-solving was strongly felt by the
management. The focus on human resource development inspired ASTD to rename
itself. It was renamed as American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).

Stage # 8. HRD Concept and Philosophy:

With increasing global competition, it has become difficult for organisations to start,
survive, grow, stabilize and excel their performance in business.

They are under tremendous pressure to improve their performance quantitatively and
qualitatively with cost effectiveness.

All these activities were clubbed together under umbrella of human resource development.
Human resource development concept has been defined by different human resource
management experts like Nadler, Billimorea and Singh, Ishwar Dayal, T.V.S. Rao and Udai
Parikh.

HRD is a process by which the employees of an organisation are helped in a continuous and
systematic way to –

(i) Acquire or develop capabilities required to perform various functions relating to their
present and future roles.
(ii) Improve their general capabilities as individuals, discover and exploit their available
potential for their own and organisational development purpose.
(iii) Improve supervisor-subordinate relationship, teamwork and collaboration among
different departments in an organisational culture and to contribute to the welfare,
motivation and pride of employees.
pg. 32
  EVOLUTION OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
A brief description of the manner in which they were treated and managed will be relevant for a
proper understanding of human resource management in a historical perspective.

1. Managing Slaves:
Slaves comprised an important source of manpower in almost all ancient civilisations. They
could be sold and purchased like commodities. Their main purchasers were the wealthy
rulers, landlords, tribal chiefs and effluent businessmen. The purchasers of slaves had a rather
complete control over their slaves.

The masters of the slaves took a variety of arduous work from them such as carrying heavy
loads, rowing ships and boats, construction of buildings and forts, digging canals, cattle-
rearing and tillage of soil.
Punishable with physical tortures, and occasionally with mutilation of their limbs and even
death sentence for grave offences.

2. Managing Serfs:
Serfdom was widely prevalent in the feudal societies of the pre-and early medieval era. Serfs
were engaged by landlords mainly in agricultural operations and allied activities. The
landlords would usually give them a piece of land for their habitat and often, some land for
their own cultivation.

In lieu of these facilities, the serfs and their family members were required to serve their
masters. The work assigned to serfs mainly comprised – tillage of soil, cattle-rearing,
domestic work and similar other activities. Many landlords would also give them a meagre
amount as wages, whether in cash or in kind.

Under serfdom, some measure of personal relationship existed between the landlords and the
serfs. Many landlords often tried to solve their genuine grievances and extended some help to
those who were in distress. The feudal lords also occasionally gave some economic
inducements to their serfs in the form of additional supply of food-grains and some money
for their increased productivity and good behaviour.

3. Managing Indentured Labour:

pg. 33
The system of indentured labour emerged primarily with the flourishing of mercantilism and
advent of industrial revolution. The discovery of new lands through sea and land routes led to
a substantial increase in the demand of European goods abroad, and at the same time, gave a
fillip to the establishment of industries in the continent.

As a consequence, trade flourished leaps and bounds, and the mercantilists, taking advantage
of the expanding markets, tried to accumulate as much wealth as possible.

4.Emergence of Modern Industrial Labour and Improvement of Status:

Even during the periods when slavery and serfdom were rampant, there were various
categories of workers who enjoyed a certain amount of freedom in the relationships with
their employers. They were mainly skilled craftsmen and artisans and experienced
apprentices. However, the composition of free workers materially changed with the spread of
industrialisation and establishment of factories and other kinds of industrial and business
establishments.

Industrialisation led to the congregation of a large number of workers at the same

establishment owned by an individual employer or a company. The employers were
generally interested in maximising their profits, and callously disregarded human aspects in
managing the affairs of their enterprises.

The industrial workers, sooner or later, came to realise that individually they might be
dispensable to the employer, but collectively, they were indispensable as the running of the
enterprise was in the interests of both. This realisation induced them to organise and
pressurise the employers and the state to take positive steps to improve their conditions.
These developments led to substantial changes in the attitude of the employers towards
workers and the role of the state in regard to labour matters.

The employers increasingly came to realise that their prerogatives of “hiring and firing”
workers at their will and unilaterally laying down the terms and conditions of employment
had been enormously encroached upon by union pressures and state intervention, and it
would be difficult for them to manage their enterprises if they did not give due attention to
human aspects in dealing with their workers.

These conditions have come to exist even today, but in a greatly modified form. Some of the
pg. 34
more notable developments relating to human resources in modern perspective comprise –
(i) substantial change in the composition of labour force with the entry of a large number of
educated and highly skilled workers with specialisation, (ii) greatly improved status of
all categories of employees, (iii) extensive state intervention in the domain of human
resources, (iv) development of liberal attitude of employers towards employees with major
attention on human aspects, (v) enhancement of strength and status of unions, and (vi)
growing international deliberations and exchanges in human resources matters.

Evolution of Human Resource Management – From 19th Century till Recent Times:
Different Eras of Human Resource Management

Identification of evolution of HRM over the period of time is important for understanding the
philosophy, functions, and practices of HRM that are followed in different situations so that
relevant HRM practices are evolved in the present situation. HRM, being a part of
management discipline, has followed the pattern of development of management because of
the interrelationship of the problems of both the fields.

From industrial revolution era to the present era, various stages to development of
management of human resource practices may be classified as follows:

1. Industrial revolution era— 19th century

2. Trade union movement era — close to the 19th century

3. Social responsibility era — beginning of the 20th century

4. Scientific management era— 1900-1920s

5. Human relations era— 1930s-1950s

6. Behavioural science era— 1950s-1960s

7. Systems and contingency approach era – 1960 onwards

8. Human resource management era — 1980 onwards

The classification of various stages of development of management of human resources in

terms of period shows the beginning of that era.
Main features of these eras and the type of practices related to managing human resources are
as follows:
pg. 35
1. Industrial Revolution Era:

The systematic development of HRM started with industrial revolution that started during
1850s in Western Europe and USA. The industrial revolution consisted, essentially, the
development of machinery, the use of mechanical energy in production processes, and
consequently the emergence of the concept of factory with large number of workforce
working together.

The factory system replaced the old cottage system. Industrial revolution brought out a
number of changes like centralized work locations with large number of workers working
together, mechanized production process, migration of workers from their place of origin, and
indirect contact between factory owners and workers.

2. Trade Union Movement Era:

Shortly after the emergence of factory system, workers started to organize themselves based
on their common interests to form workers’ associations which were subsequently known as
trade unions. The basic objectives of these associations were to safeguard interest of their

members and to sort out their problems which arose primarily because of employment of child
labour, long hours of work, and poor working conditions.

These activities of the trade unions forced owners and managers to adopt employee grievance

handling systems, arbitration as a means of resolving conflicts between owners/managers and

workers, disciplinary practice, expansion of employee benefit programmes, holiday and
vacation time, clear definition of job duties, job rights through seniority, and installation of
rational and defensible wage structures.

3. Social Responsibility Era:

In the first decade of 20th century, some factory owners started adopting a more humanistic
and paternalistic approach towards workers. Paternalistic approach to labour management is
based on the philosophy that labour is just like a child and owner is just like a father and the
owner should take care of his labour just like a father takes care of his children.

Those industrialists who adopted paternalistic approach offered a number of concessions and
pg. 36
 facilities to labour force like reduced number of work hours, improved facilities at workplace,
model villages to workers, etc.
Many critics to paternalistic approach viewed that this approach was adopted to overcome the
problems posed by labour union movement as plenty of trade unions emerged which
frequently interrupted work performance

4. Scientific Management Era:

Around the beginning of 20th century, Taylor started to find out ‘one best way of doing thing’
based on time and motion studies. On the basis of his experiments, he was able to increase
workers’ productivity considerably and wrote many papers based on these experiments and a
book on scientific management.

The main principles of scientific management are:

(i),Replacing rule of thumb with science, (ii) harmony, not conflict, (iii) cooperation, not
individualism, and (iv) development of each and every person.
Scientific management techniques relevant to management of workers are- functional
foremanship, standardization and simplification of work, and differential piece wage system.

5. Human Relations Era:

Around 1920s, management researchers gave a close look at the human factor at work and the
variables that affected people’s behaviour. Before that, Hugo Munsterberg wrote a book on
‘Psychology and Industrial Efficiency’ which suggested the use of psychology in the field of
personnel testing, interviewing, attitude measurement, learning, etc.

a group of professors from Harvard Business School, USA, began an enquiry into the human
aspects of work and working conditions at Hawthorne plant of Western Electric Company,
Chicago.
They conducted researches from 1924 to 1932 and arrived at the conclusions that productivity
of workers depended on- (i) social factors at the workplace, (ii) group formation and group
influence, (iii) nature of leadership and supervision, and (iv) communication.

6. Behavioural Science Era:

In contrast to human relations which assume that happy workers are productive workers, the
behavioural scientists have been goal and efficiency- oriented and consider understanding of
pg. 37
 human behaviour to be the major means to that end. They have tried several sophisticated
research methods to understand the nature of work and the people in the work environment.

The contribution of behavioural scientists to management practices consists primarily of

producing new insights rather than new techniques. It has developed or expanded a useful way
of thinking about the role of the manager, the nature of organizations, and the behaviour of
individuals within organizations. As against human relations model, they have given the
concept of human resource model.

Major conclusions of the contributions made by behaviouralists are as follows:

i. People do not dislike work. If they have been helped to establish objectives, they

ii. will want to achieve them. In fact, job itself is a source of motivation and satisfaction to
employees.

iii. Most people can exercise a great deal of self-direction and self-control and generate more
creativity than required in their current job. Therefore, their untapped potential remains
unutilized.

iv. Managers’ basic job is to use untapped human potential in the organization.

v. Manager should create a healthy environment wherein all persons can contribute to the best
of their capacity. The environment should provide a healthy, safe, comfortable, and
convenient place to work.

vi. Managers should provide opportunity for self-direction by their subordinates and they must
be encouraged to participate fully in all important matters.

vii. Operating efficiency can be improved by expanding subordinate influence, self- direction,
and selfcontrol.

viii. Work satisfaction may improve as a ‘by-product’ of subordinates making full use of their
potential.

7. Systems and Contingency Approach Era:

Systems and contingency approach has attracted maximum attention of thinkers in

management in the present era. It is an integrated approach which considers management of
human resources in its totality based on empirical data. The basic idea of this approach is that
analysis of any object must rely on a method of analysis involving simultaneous variations of

pg. 38
mutually-dependent variables. This happens when systems approach is applied in managing
human resources.

8. Human Resource Management Era:

When the factory system was applied in production, large number of workers started working
together. A need was felt that there should be someone who should take care of recruiting,
developing, and looking after welfare of these workers. For this purpose, industrial relations
department came into existence in most of the large organizations which was concerned
mostly with workers.

However, as the time passed and the complexity of managing human resources in large
business organizations increased, the scope of industrial relations department was extended to
cover supervisory staff and subsequently managerial personnel. Industrial relations
department was named as personnel department.

History of Modern Human Resource Management

1. Early Philosophy (Before 1900): The history of modern Human Resource Management
began with the efforts of Robert Owen. Owen is called the founder of Human Resource
Management. In 1813, he wrote a book, A New View of Society. In it he propounded the
need for better industrial relations and improvements in the service conditions. His attitude
towards workers was very cordial, liberal and paternalistic.

Resource Management as a science and supported the idea of wage incentives, profit sharing
and labour welfare, etc.

2. Efficiency and Productivity Movement (1900-1920):

During the last year of the 19th century arrived the age of efficiency and productivity
movement. The two decades from 1900 to 1920 were the years of scientific management
movement. Taylor’s Scientific Management Thought was accepted during this period.

Taylor opposed the idea of trade unionism and workers’ organization.

The main contribution of these two decades has been the increase in the size of units,
introduction of scientific thinking into actions, job analysis, standards costing, scientific
selection and training of workers and the idea of mental revolution.

3. Period of Welfarism and Industrial Psychology (1920- 1930):

pg. 39
Up to 1925, the Human Resource Management had taken a definite form. Staff line
organization became the basis of Human Resource Management. The opposition of scientific
management movement by workers introduced the need of industrial psychology.

Industrial psychologists developed many new techniques like psychological testing,

interviewing, workers training and non-financial incentives. They helped to give a
professional form to Human Resource Management. The Human Resource Management
began to be realized as a profession and a specialist’s function.

4. Period of Human Relations (1930-1950):

When Prof. Elton Mayo and his companions conducted Hawthorn experiments, it was the
beginning of recognition of the fact that human resources have greater influence on
production than other psychical resources. A worker must be treated as a human being. His
social, psychological and moral instincts should be fully recognized by the management.

Due to these experiments the commodity concept of labour changed to social concept. The
decade of 1940-1950 was very important for the development of Human Resource
Management. During that decade, many new techniques were developed for the selection,
training and induction of workers. The human resource philosophy became people-oriented.
Trade unions flourished and provision of fringe benefits for the workers became common.

5. Modern Times (After 1950):

The history of Human Resource Management since 1950 up to current times is the age of
modern developments. It is the period of the citizenship concept of labour where the workers
have full right to be consulted in determining the rules and regulations under which they
work. The concept of industrial democracy has imposed many new responsibilities upon the

human resource managers of industrial houses. In modern times, Human Resource

Management is widely accepted as an independent discipline.

One finds two important developments during this period, after 1960, the Human Resource
Management began to be realized as a behavioural science which centred completely on
human elements with the study of organizational behaviour as its main crux.

After 1970s the belief of ‘open social and industrial system’ became very popular for business
organizations. In modern times, Human Resource Management is fully recognized as a

pg. 40
profession dealing with the management of human resources.

Evolution of Human Resource Management –Human Resource Management (HRM) is

relatively a very recent term considered for managing human resources in an organisation.
HRM is still evolving to become an amalgam of organisational behaviour, personnel
management, industrial relations and labour legislation.

Following stages explain the process involved for reaching to the current HRM stage

1. Labour Welfare Stage:

2. Personnel Management Stage:

3. HRM Stage:

Organisational size, changing social and cultural norms, easy access to information (via
technology) and globalisation. Accordingly, it attempts to build worker-employees
relationship more humanely through motivation, training and development, retention, worker
protection, etc.

Also, under HRM, HR managers need to obtain and incorporate knowledge about possible
changes that may affect the overall organisation. HR managers thus attempt to execute
relevant strategies to ensure smooth transition of changes without disturbing inter-
relationships and avoiding disputes/conflicts within an organisation.

Evolution of Human Resource Management – From 18th Century to the Modern

Times In today’s global and competitive environment, human resource is the key to efficient
running and survival of an organisation. The concept of human resource management has
emerged from the personnel management.

The term personnel management has emerged in 1945 after the World War. During this stage,
the personnel managers distinguished themselves from other managerial functions, and
personnel function being declared as a separate managerial function.

At that time, the scope of personnel function was criticised due to the ‘hire and fire’ policy of
the organisations. The concept of HRM has evolved through various stages of Industrial
revolution, trade union, scientific management, Behavioural science and human relations.
Hence, the concept HRM has gradually replaced the term Personnel Management. HRM is the

pg. 41
 most appropriate name to deal with human resource, as it highlights the significance of the
human beings working in an organisation.

References about Personnel management in Arthasastra which indicates job description of

supervisor and performance linked pay foR gold smiths • Tradional craftsman goods shipped
to Europe • Master servant relationship in 17th centuary

III five year plans-Private and public sector projects

 1990- Personnel management and IR in public sector undertakings

After 1990 the emphasis is shifted to human values and productivity through people
-Role of Public sector companies like BHEL, SAIL and SBI

 1995 Progressive efforts of in HR

 1997- Focus on product and customer • Leading to customer satisfaction,

bench marking, core competence, empowerment and learning organization.

• Transition of HR Labour relations,

• Personnel management
• Human resources management
• Human capital management
• Strategic HRM

 History of HRD in India

It was 30 years ago that our country witnessed the emergence of a new HRD culture in our country
with Prof Udai Pareek and Prof T.V.Rao heading the movement. What started as a “Review Exercise
of the Performance Appraisal System” for L&T by two consultants, Prof Udai Pareek and Prof
T.V.Rao from the Indian Institute Of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), resulted in the development
of a new function called The HRD Function.

pg. 42
The Human Resource Development as a function has evolved in India very indigenously from the
year 1975 when L&T Company conceptualized HRD as an integrated system and decided to
separate it from Personnel. Since then, in the last 30 years most organizations have started new HR
Departments or redesignated their personnel and other departments as HRD Departments. Today
there are high expectations from HRD. Good HRD requires well-structured function and
appropriately identified HRD systems, and competent staff to implement and facilitate the change
process.

In the early seventies this company, in association with IIMA the reviewed all aspects of its
operations. In 1974, the consultants studied the organization and prepared a new integrated system
called Human Resource Development (HRD) System. This was probably the first of its kind in
India. The new system clearly established the linkages between the various personnel related aspects
such as performance appraisal, employee counseling, potential appraisal training, etc.

Thus, an internal team with the help of the consultants undertook the work and this was very
satisfying. Based on the recommendations of the approach paper, a very high level role was created
at the Board level to give a greater thrust to the new system. A separate HRD Department was
created. A high level internal team headed by a general manager, monitored the progress of
implementation of the new system initially, which was subsequently handed over to the HRD
Department.

The first HRD Newsletter was started consequent to this seminar by the Centre for HRD for XLRI
and was sponsored by L&T. The National HRD Network took shape and became a large body with
about 20 chapters in the subsequent five year period. The National HRD Network was nurtured by
IIMA and XLRI on the one hand and by the corporate sector on the other. The National HRD
Network later gave birth to the Academy of Human Resources Development. This is the first family
tree of HRD in India.

pg. 43
 Chapter : 3
Literature Review

Literature Review

Introduction
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the software industry employed more
than 4 million people in the United States in 2015. It comprises of major occupations and
roles such as Computer and Information Research Scientists,

Computer Systems Analysts, Information Security Analysts, Computer Programmers,

Software Developers, Systems Software, Web Developers, Database Administrators,
pg. 44
Network and Computer Systems, Administrators, Computer Network Architects, Computer
User Support Specialists, and Computer Network Support Specialists (Bureau of Labor
Statistics [BLS], 2015).

Today the software industries are providers of tools, applications, and products; and different
services such as maintenance and deployment of information systems in organizations, set-up
architecture for easy data sharing between the employees, and act as a third-party to host
information for its clients.

The changes in the world economics through software industries brings about changes in the
organizational settings with respect to their aims, objectives, and services offered.

A literature review was conducted to understand how the researchers in the past have
reported the perceptions towards Human Resource Development (HRD) roles, functions, and
professionals across industries such as manufacturing, software, service, and medicine. The
aim of the literature review is to understand the human resource function in organizations in
general and how it is an umbrella under which HRM and HRD co-exist or overlap.

Software Industry
A software organization is referred to as knowledge driven and thrives on its employee’s
competencies and abilities (Mathiassen & Pourkomeylian, 2003). A software organization
witnesses a team-based structure.

The software engineers themselves possess high levels of abstract reasoning, cognition and
synthesis of data, communication and collaboration with cross-functional teams, analysis,
and strategy building (Moran, 2010).

These competencies while highly desired also lead the software engineers to resist traditional
command and control culture. They do not deal with work related issues in their own set
peculiar ways; thus loading the HRD professionals to come up with innovative means to
keep these employees engaged to deliver high performance (Kinnear & Sutherland, 2000;
Agrawal & Thite, 2003).

Developing the organization’s human resource is a responsibility that leaders expect the HR
department to take.

pg. 45
 These results reflect the need of bridging HR department and the managers to collectively
make decisions in order to sustain and combat challenges through strategic partnerships.
Efforts that contribute to the development of software engineers lead to indirect generation of
revenue. The financial results of any organization can be increased if employees are allowed
to play a dominant role in the decision making processes.

Human Resource

Employees in an organization have always found a way to develop through the years
through education, training, and organizational development. People are looked at as the
greatest asset for the organization in terms of the knowledge and information they share and
basically their ability to run business through organizations. Talent in an organization must
be managed and developed to maximize organizational effectiveness, human potentials,
individuals' capabilities, and time.

As a result of this evolution, the two most prominent HR functions that prevail in the
organizations today are HRM and HRD based on whether the HR professionals are
performing the function of management of recruitment, talent, or payroll, or functions of
individual focused development activities (Haslinda, 2009).

Performance management - Chadwick and Dabu (2009), and Wright,

McMahan, and McWilliams (1993) stated that HR, in an organization, is used to
develop a competitive advantage among the employees.

The skills and knowledge are measured through formal performance management
system. This leads to misdirected analysis of the cause, thus costing the organization in
terms of time and resources (Singh, 2012).

In the systems perspective, HR balances the inputs, outputs, and intermediary processes
by linking the different resources to influence business processes and affect the entire
organization’s structure based on performance (Swanson, 1995).

Rewards and recognition - Rewards are paid to the employees in monetary terms
and recognitions are a way of appreciating employees for their valuable contributions to the
organization (Smith & Mazin, 2011).

Different organizations structure these programs in accordance with their culture.

pg. 46
In a software industry, rewards and recognition programs are most commonly designed to
appreciate the employee’s team effort, creativity, and project success (Mahaney & Lederer,
2006). Project failure in software program development continues to plague software
organizations.

After rigorous validation, path analysis (an extension of multiple regression that
simultaneously tests more complex relationships) showed that use of intrinsic rewards
predicted client satisfaction and perceived quality (but not on time and within-budget
implementation success), whereas use of extrinsic rewards predicted implementation success
(but not satisfaction or quality) (Mahaney & Lederer, 2006,).

Compensation and benefits. The purpose of designing compensation and benefits

plans in the organization is to provide the employees with lucrative working conditions
(Smith & Mazin, 2011).

It thus becomes a big challenge for the HR professionals to be competent in designing

compensation plans for their employees. Human resource management professionals earn a
certification on compensation by understanding the employment laws, fundamentals to
employee benefits, retirement plans, and health benefit plans (Shenenberg & Smith, 1999).

When employees are provided with monetary and non-monetary benefits which act as perks
of working in the organization. Thus, sound compensation and benefit plans play a role in
motivation and engagement levels of the employees (Smith & Mazin, 2011).

Human resource development (HRD) - Human resource development and its

components of training, learning, and organizational development have evolved from the
social and economic conditions surrounding the organizations (Swanson & Holton, 2009).

Through the history of the world, people have found different ways to gain knowledge and
enhance their learning, and implement it in their workplace. Today, HRD can be referred to
as a department, function, or job with the aim to progress and solve problems (Swanson &
Holton, 2009).

Although schools and learning institutions had been already established, historically,
formalized methods of learning flourished in the twentieth century when the government
became actively involved in propagating learning by establishing public schools and

pg. 47
providing technical training to the masses to progress in the world and develop performance
oriented individuals (Swanson & Torraco, 1994).

The world boundaries started to fade through human resource development and education
with the establishment of International Journal of Training and Development in the year
1997. Knowledge on training and developmental practices around the world were shared
within this new world culture.

HRD practices and policies are constantly being formed to provide organizations with the
guidelines for effective performance focused operation

The last three phases of implementing HRD include the creation, implementation, and
assessment of the recommended solution/s.

Figure 1. Process phases of HRD (Swanson & Holton, 2009, p. 24)

The environment in which HRD sustains is governed by the economic, political, and cultural
forces (Swanson & Holton, 2009). This environment forces play an important role in the
formation of HRD policies and processes by impacting the organizational components of
mission and strategy, structure, technology, and human resources. A synergy within this
environment leads to the formation of a sustainable human resource development model. The
definitions of HRD have evolved based on the components such as the environment and
organizations in which it is practiced.

pg. 48
Figure 2. Model of Human Resource Development within Organization and Environment
(Swanson, 2001, p. 305)

According to Mankin (2001), the three operational components of HRD are

organization development, career development, and training and development. The process
map of HRD and the effects of environment on HRD are crucial to define this function in an
operational context. Some of the key components which govern HRD and its definitions are
behavioral change, performance improvement of individuals and organizations, organizational
development, training and development, learning activities, and human expertise (Chalofsky,
1990; Hamlin, 2004; Harbison & Myers, 1964; Jones, 1981; McLean & McLean, 2001;
Swanson, 1987; Swanson,1995).

A review of literature indicates a pattern of changing definitions depending on the

relevance of one of the key components of the HRD functions.

The HRD definitions over time, as noted by Swanson and Holton (2009, p. 6), highlight key
components and underlying theories of HRD and can be seen changing to become more
inclusive of operations and key functional roles, to produce performance based outcomes
(see Table 1).

Table 1.

Comparative definitions of HRD over the

years. Adapted from Swanson and Holton

2009, p. 6)

pg. 49
 Author Definition

Harbison and Myers (1964) HRD is the process of increasing the knowledge, skills, and
capacities of all people in society

HRD is systematic expansion of people’s work related

Jones (1981) abilities focused on the attainment of both organization and

personal growth

HRD consists of programs and activities, direct and indirect,

instructional and/or individual that positively affect the
Smith (1988) development of individuals and the productivity and profit
of the organizations.

HRD is organized learning experience provided to employees

Nadler and Nadler (1989) within a specified period of time to bring about the
possibility of performance improvement and/or personal
growth.

HRD is the process or activity that, either initially or over the

Marsick and Watkins (1994)
long term, has the potential to develop adult’s work-based
knowledge, expertise, production, and satisfaction whether for
personal or group/team gain, or for the benefit of the
organization, community, nation, or ultimately, the whole
humanity.

HRD is the process of developing and unleashing expertise for

Swanson (2009) the purpose of improving organization system, work process,
team and individual performance.

This research study revolves around the functions and roles of HRD carried out in the software
industry and what are the employee perceptions towards them. Thus, in this context, the most
relevant definition of HRD is stated by Swanson (2009), “a process of developing and
unleashing human expertise through organization development and personnel training and
development for the purpose of improving performance” (as cited in Swanson & Holton, 2009,

pg. 50
Strategic HRD involves working with the organization’s leaders and providing them support
in order to derive financially beneficial results and making better decisions for the workforce
(Ruona & Gibson, 2004)

The table (see Table 2) represents the growth of HRD, inclusion, and diffusion of functions.

Table 2.
Functions of HRD

Thomson and Mabey Yang (1994) Swanson and Holton Hamlin and Stewart

(1994) (2009) (2010)

Training and Training and Training and Training and

Development, Development, Development, Development,

Organizational Organizational Organizational Organizational

Development, Career Development, Adult Development, Development, Career

Development Learning Change Management Development,

Organization change

Mentoring, and

Coaching

HRD competencies - A competency is a set of defined behaviors that provide a structured

guide enabling the identification, evaluation, and development of the behaviors in individual
employees (White, 1959). A competency model defines the set of competencies that
professionals must possess to perform effectively and thus, the components of the
competency model can be used as standardized measures of effectiveness. A review of the
competency models available to define HRD effectiveness were reviewed to identify the
major competencies required to perform the functions of HRD.

Performance improvement - Performance in the HRD context can refer to either

employees or organizations. The organizational outcomes are dependent on the nature of
performance of its key resource – people (Kim, 2015).

pg. 51
 ATD (2014) describes performance improvement as the process to “apply a systematic
process for analyzing human performance gaps and for closing them”. HRD field has
been
devoted to assessing employee’s knowledge, skills, and abilities to govern organizational
performance (Kim, 2015; Russ-Eft & Preskill, 2005).

Integrated talent management - According to the 2007 research conducted

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), definition of talent is organization
specific with a focus on the individual’s capacities which may have implications on the entire
group.

An integrated talent management approach by the HRD is dedicated to develop and manage
the employee knowledge, skills, and abilities and link recruitment, training, and performance
management together (Spreitzer & Porat, 2012). The information about employee’s skills and
competencies can be shared through different departments to borrow and move talent within
the organization for sustainable growth (Spreitzer & Porat, 2012).

Change management - The Association for Talent Development defines change

management as “Apply a systematic process to shift individuals, teams, and organizations
from current state to desired state” (ATD, 2016).

Organization development and change management are considered to be the means to

implement planned change effectively. “They are concerned with the sequence of activities,
processes, and leadership issues that produce organizational improvements” (Cummings &
Worley, 2001, p. 3).

Coaching and mentoring - The training is either delivered by one employee to another
or a trainer to employee on the job. Coaching is generally defined as a “process of equipping
people with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities they need to develop themselves and
become more effective” (Peterson & Hicks, 1995, p. 41).

In a mentorship, the mentor is usually an influential senior member in the organization “who
has advanced experience and knowledge and who is committed to providing upward mobility
and support to careers” (Ragins & Scandura, 1994, p. 962).

Mentoring activities are aimed at improving the careers of the mentees by providing role
pg. 52
modelling, acceptance and confirmation, counselling and friendship (Kram, 1985).

Training - In the ATD model (2014), the training function has been divided into separate areas
of expertise such as design of training, evaluating learning impact, managing learning program,
and knowledge management.

Training is a holistic term which includes all these components and has existed as a vital
function of HR through the years (Ruona & Gibson, 2004; HR Focus, 2005).

According to a study conducted by Gubbins, Garavan, Hogan, and Woodlock (2006), in the
health industry, “top managers see training and development as an important way of helping the
department achieve its mission” . The training must be designed after a careful analysis of
needs of the organizations (Morrison, Ross, Kemp, & Kelman, 2010; Brown, 2002).

With technology overtaking all the organization’s day to day work, HRD has also updated to
provide employees with training opportunities on-the-go. HRD needs to learn enabling
technologies to keep individuals and groups connected through environments for knowledge
sharing and strategic information flow (Kannan, 2010).

Learning and knowledge management - According the Association of Talent Development

(2014) learning and knowledge management is the process to, “capture, distribute, and
archive intellectual capital to encourage knowledge-sharing and collaboration”. Knowledge
management supports the learning of employees in organizations by tracking the learning
outcomes (Swanson & Holton, 2009).
Organizations today track the learning of employees virtually through HRIS systems (Kannan,
2010).

Overlap of HRM and HRD in Literature

When conducting this literature review, an overlap was identified between the HRM and HRD
functions. In most organizations, the HRM and HRD functions are not clearly differentiated.
This in addition to both functions being situated within the larger umbrella if HR, could impact
the employees’ perception of the functions of the two fields. The functions performed within

the HRM realm are diverse and can be differentiated based on whether the departments
perform administrative activities or developmental activities (Hamlin & Stewart, 2010).

pg. 53
In order to establish HRM and HRD as two separate entities, the different roles and functions
performed by HRM and HRD were reviewed separately and critically analyzed. As the focus
of this study is on software industries, the relevance and importance of HRD was studied in
more detail as compared to HRM.

An attempt to identify the differences between HRM and HRD functions by Haslinda (2009)
has highlighted the key processes and activities performed by each of them (see Table 1).
Table 3.

Comparison between HRM and HRD (Haslinda, 2009, p. 181).

HRM HRD

Definition: Definition:
HRM is a process of managing human talents HRD is a series of organized activities
to achieve organization’s objective” conducted within a specified time and
designed to produce behavioral change
Process: Activities:
Recruitment and selection, Compensation and Training and development, Performance
benefits, Labor and Industrial relations, Appraisals Management, Career planning and
Safety & Health management development, Change Management

According to McGoldrick and Stewart (1996), HRD is a supplemental function of HRM

within HR as they both emphasize on implementing corporate strategy for organizational
effectiveness. HRM recruits suitable candidates for the organization and HRD polishes and
prepares the candidates to become valuable employees (McGoldrick & Stewart, 1996).

Figure 4. Parallel between HRM and HRD (McGoldrick & Stewart, 1996)

pg. 54
The overlap in the HRM and HRD functions affects HRD when it comes to recognizing the
different functions performed within HRD. Training remains the most widely accepted
function in the organizations and is not seen as being a part of HRD exclusively. Training is
also seen overlapping in the studies related to both HRM and HRD.

HRD Professionals: Roles and Competencies

The different HR roles in the organization are not necessarily performed by only one
HR professional. A team of HR professionals conduct and lead dynamic, diverse projects,
and projects which require expertise (Gubbins & Garavan, 2005). They have to perform roles
of change agent, learning agent, internal consultant, performance engineers, and HRD
managers (Gilley & Maycunich, 2003).

They have to constantly interact with employees belonging to all cadres; ranging from senior
executives to entry-level despite the multiple HR related roles they take on, HR professionals
are mostly perceived to perform administrative roles (Mei & Subramaniam, 2014).

They tended to be more involved in the administrative tasks rather than contributing to the
organization’s development. In some cases when the size of the organization is less than two
hundred employees, the management did not feel the need to invest in an HR department
(Hamlin, 2007; Vosburgh, 2007).

The management believe that HR development skills are not necessary in a small
organization and hence they tried to solve their own problems. However, they overlooked the
fact that HR professionals can help in setting and achieving the organization’s goals through
unleashing the power of human capital (Fox, 2013).

Even though HRD professionals are responsible for important employee related functions
within an organization, often they are not given functional autonomy (Garavan, 2007). The
initiatives undertaken by HRD are supported by the organizational policies, systems, and
available resources (Garavan, 2007). As a result, the HRD vision is shaped around the
limitations posed by organizational policies, systems, and available resources which leads to
questioning the value of HRD in the organization.

The implication of working with limitations raises the need of a long-term partnership
between HRD and the organization so that they can tend to each other’s needs. The HRD

pg. 55
policies of collaborative career and organization development needs to be reviewed regularly
making sure that it adheres to the organization’s goals and mission statement. HRD
professionals need to be experts at decision making processes (Chermack, 2003).

HRD in the Software Industry

Software organizations employ knowledge-intensive employees who contribute

towards creation of intellectual products. The executive level employees in such an
establishment perform the task of providing conditions for the creation of intellectual
products (Zavyalova & Kosheleva, 2013). In an era of global competitiveness, HRD is often
considered as a critical link between human resources and organizational survival (Dubois &
Rothwell, 2004).

Human resource development professionals in such contexts are expected to have some
exposure to the technical aspects of the industry. However, employees in these settings do not
perceive HR professionals to have any knowledge of the critical software related functions
(Bing et al., 2003).

According to Brockbank and Ulrich (2003), “HR professionals in high-performing firms

actively translate (business) knowledge in contributing to strategic decision making,
developing competitive cultures, making change happen, and creating market-driven
connectivity”.

The general perception about HRD professionals is that they perform non-essential
administrative functions that are not critical to the competitiveness of the organization.

Perceptions

This analysis will help in justifying the perceptions based on their relevance and
importance to the employees in a software organization. Perception is defined as “results of
categorization of objects and events in the environment” (Virsu & Vanni, 2001). In the past,
many researchers have conducted perception studies of employees towards management,
leadership, commitment, and process implementations. Table 4 represents that that many
perception studies have been conducted with respect to understanding the perception of
employees towards HR roles and functions.

pg. 56
Table 4.
List of perception studies in the HR field

Article Authors Year

HR Professionals

Puerto Rican human resource professionals' perceptions of the Campos, T. M. 2004

concept, practice, and future of human resource development

(HRD) in Puerto Rico

The HRD competencies as perceived by the human resource Konan, A. Z. 2010

development professionals in banks in Cote d’ Ivoire

Perceived competencies needed by HRD managers in Korea Yang, J. C. 1994

Managers

Managers' perceptions of strategic HR change Skinner, D., Mabey, C. 1997

An empirical analysis of managerial and non-managerial HRD Lakkoju, S. 2014

climate perceptions in SBI and KVB through internal and

external comparison: a case study conducted in Andhra Pradesh

Employees

Effects of employees' perceptions on the relationship between Jang-Ho, C., Khan-Pyo, L 2013

HR practices and firm performance for Korean firms

HR diversity: A study of employees' perceptions in Indian Kundu, S. C. 2004

organizations

pg. 57
 A study of perceptions regarding the changing roles, skills, and Dunn, J 2009

effectiveness of human resources functions (Dissertation)

Perceptions regarding the future of the human resource Kendrick, F. O. 2005

functions within Bayer Polymers and Chemicals (Dissertation)

Perceptions of the Human Resource Management Function Ofori, D. F., Sekyere- 2012

among Professionals: A Ghanaian Study Abankwa, V., Borquaye, D. B

In the study conducted by Ofori, Sekyere-Abankwa, and Borquaye (2012) on HR functions,

the participants were required to rank the HR functions based on their perceived importance
for each. The participants were professionals working in Ghanaian organizations. They
ranked ‘Recruitment of Qualified Personnel’ as the most important HR function followed by
Training and Development, Retention of staff, Guidance and Counselling, Health and Safety,
Job analysis, Promotion, Benefits, and Recognition.

Human resource professionals believe that they must alter their practices so that the
employees are more reactive towards these HR initiatives. A strategic approach in the
practices must be deployed to get more visibility and a permanent seat in the organization’s
strategic decision table. Some perceive the HR roles to be more leaning towards fulfilling the
employer’s expectations rather than the employee’s well-being and development. In the
study conducted by Sayli and Gormus (2009), 74.07% of the respondents believed that HR
department should serve as a “balancing point” and the “bridge between employees and
managers”

The perceived importance and legitimacy of HRD highly depends on the support of relevant
stakeholders in the organization (Gubbins & Garvan, 2005 The study conducted by Gubbins
et al. (2006) concluded that employees perceived higher management in their organizations
were supportive of HRD activities as opposed to being actively involved in the HRD
activities.

pg. 58
Chapter : 4
Methodology

pg. 59
 Methodology

The study used quantitative methods by using self-administered survey was used for data
collection as a strategy of inquiry. The survey was designed using an online-tool – Google
Forms. This chapter describes the process of data collection and analysis.

Participants

The participants for this study were the employees working in the software industry
across India and the United States. These participants performed technical job roles such as
software engineer/executive, technical architect, software project managers, or team leads within
their organizations.

A research relationship was established with the study participants to gather data through an
online survey. This was done in multiple stages as the participants were not located in the same
place and had to be contacted via personal email, and posted notices and personal messages on
social media websites such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
It was advantageous if the participants have worked in the industry for at least one year and have
often interacted with HR.

The first stage of establishing a research relationship with the participants was to peruse the
personal and professional network of the researcher to identify potential participants working in
the software industry.

In the second stage, emails and messages through social media were sent to the potential
participants with information on the purpose of the research and how the participants will
strengthen the research through their valuable participation.

In the third phase, the participants who responded to the emails and messages sent in the second
phase with acceptance to participate in the study were sent the hyperlink to the survey.
As a student at RIT in the Human Resource Development department, I recognized that former RIT
students from the Computer Science, Information technology, Computer security, and Software
Engineering were a high potential pool of participants, in addition to current students with work
experience in the industry.
pg. 60
In the fourth stage, the RIT alumni and current students were reached through via their department
chair and department administrators. An abstract and IRB research approval certificate was
presented to the department chair to obtain their approval to gain access to their student database
In the fifth stage, the administrator forwarded this email to all the students in their database
explaining the eligibility and value of participation in the survey.

Research Design

This study utilized a cross-sectional survey design to assess the individual perceptions
towards HRD roles, functions, and professionals. Cross-sectional studies focus on one group at one
point in time (Hagan, 2006; Neuman, 2004; Trochim, 2001).
A cross-sectional survey is used when the purpose of the study is descriptive without any
hypothesis but the aim is to describe a population or a subgroup within the population (Trochim,
2001). Thus, using a cross-sectional survey will result in eliciting perceptions of software
employees at any given time.

Since HRD is a new field, it has not completely established its roots in the software industry as a
separate department and the human resource department takes care of the generic developmental
needs of the employees such as providing training and knowledge management (Mathiassen &
Pourkomeylian, 2003).

Research approval - An Institutional Review Board at RIT reviewed the research proposal and
survey design before granting permission to conduct the survey research.
A consent form was included in the survey for participants to sign off and they were requested to
provide their consent before participating in the study after reading the terms, nature, incentives,
advantages, and value of participation.

The participants were assured that the information they shared about their organization’s HRD,
will be kept in a password protected database with only the researcher having access to the raw
data.

Survey method and administration - Survey, as one of the main quantitative research methods,
provides a quantitative or numeric description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by
analyzing a sample from a large population (Creswell, 2014).
Surveys are the most popular methods of data collection in social sciences to gather information

pg. 61
on the participants and their perceptions which are developed based on their ethnography.

The survey is used in this study to gather data on perceptions of employees towards the HRD
function and its components, and further quantify the results for a statistical analysis.

When the participants are spread over such a large area, constraints such as distance, time zones,
and cost of communication come into play. The online survey allowed the participants to
respond to the survey at a time most suitable for them and ensuring that the researcher receives
their responses at a click of a button.

The survey methodology was based on the guidelines stated by Lefever, Dal, and Matthíasdóttir
(2007). In this research, careful consideration was given to factors such as respondent age,
gender, and job role which ensures that the participants are legitimate.

According to Lefever et al. (2007), three factors that affected their response rates in online
surveys are (1) style of the first page of the survey, (2) relationship with the website/brand, and
(3) respondent interest or relevance of the survey.

Google forms was used to design this survey. An inbuilt theme, background color, and font
which reflected an office environment was the chosen style for survey presentation maintain
uniformity through all pages. Google is a well- known search engine which has diversified in
developing different online tools which are used by individuals for professional and personal
tasks.

After the initial contact was established, participants were sent the link to the survey. After one
week, a reminder email or social network message was sent to the participants along with the
hyperlink to the online survey.

To generate a sense of importance, third and fourth (final) reminders were sent to the participants
through multiple media to increase the response rate.

Survey design - Individual factors to gain demography related information included

‘country’, ‘gender’, ‘company name’, ‘job role’, and ‘years of work experience in the current
role’. The survey was designed based on the ATD Competency Model which describes the key
skills and competencies required for a HRD practitioner. The key skills and competencies were
used as survey items around which the questions were designed.
The survey questions were designed by utilizing these competencies to understand the

pg. 62
individual perception towards each of them with respect to their usefulness and effectiveness.

According to Haslinda (2009), employees often find it a challenge to differentiate between

HRM and HRD roles. There were twenty-three questions in total of which six questions focused
on the participant’s demographic details. The survey was designed in a way that the software
employees were simultaneously familiarized with different HRD related roles and functions to
ensure that they responded to the survey questionnaire consciously.

HRM is a widely established and popular department in organizations and employees are aware
of the roles it performs such as ‘hiring’,‘performance management’, and ‘payroll’. Not all
organizations have a separate department which only performs HRD roles such as ‘performance
improvement’, ‘coaching/mentoring’, and ‘change management’. Thus, for clarification, one
question about HRM roles and functions was included as a separate question and participants
were asked to rank these functions with respect to each other based on their perceived importance
and usefulness.

The participants were asked to rank 10 HRM functions from 1 – 10 with respect to their perceived
importance. Functions with rank 1 were given the highest weightage and functions with rank 10 were
given the lowest weightage.

Out of the remaining sixteen questions, fifteen questions were asked to answer the first research
question ‘What are the perceptions of software employees towards HRD roles and functions?’ The last
question was focused on answering the second research question ‘What are the perceptions of
software employees towards HRD professionals?’ The survey questions were based on the roles,
functions, and competencies of professionals adapted from the ATD Model (2014).
The first question asked in the HRD category was to know if the participants identified a separate
training department in their organization. This was a closed-ended dichotomous question with simple
response options of ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

Validity - Reliability refers to the credibility of research findings (Schwandt, 2001). This
survey was measured against several parameters to ensure that the survey findings are reliable.
First, the same survey was administered to all the participants ensuring that the data collected is a
reflection of experiences for all the participants working in the same industry.

Secondly, the survey was designed by borrowing elements of the ATD model which was

pg. 63
developed based on extensive research among HRD practitioners.

Only the roles and functions presented in the model were used as a framework for survey
questions. (ATD, 2016). This ensured that the roles and functions presented in the survey
represent a standard frame of reference and were easy to follow.
Thirdly, the language of the survey was easy to comprehend and relevant definitions were
provided to avoid any confusion. Validity refers to accuracy of the survey design (Creswell,
2014).

The survey in this study was validated before use through a pilot-test. It was administered to 10
participants who were also asked to note any irregularities in the questions.

Strengths and weaknesses of the survey design - There were some key strengths in
the survey.
1) The sample was well selected and only comprised on employees working in the software
industry.
2) The research design was validated with respect to the HRD practices in organizations.

3) The survey was easy to participate as it was conducted through a popular survey tool and
most participants must have used this platform to take other surveys in the past ensuring
higher familiarity.
4) The areas of expertise and competencies in HRD were selected from the ATD model
leading to higher familiarity with the functions among the participants.

Data Analysis
Basic descriptive statistics were used to describe the data. Descriptive statistical
information uses numbers to summarize and describe data (Pryzak, 2010). It typically includes
percentages, mean, median, ratio, averages, tables, and bar graphs (Pryzak, 2010). In this
research, descriptive statistics were used to tabulate demographic data. They were also used to
present information in the form of bar graphs to represent the perception of effectiveness of HRD
functions with respect to each other.

pg. 64
 Chapter : 5
Strategic Integration

pg. 65
 A Model For HRM Strategic Integration

Purpose

The broad aims of this research are to analyse the status of, and processes underlying, strategic human
resource management (HRM) integration within organisations and to contribute to theory development
in the area. A great deal of attention is given in the literature to the facilitative role that HRM can take in
organisational change but as yet little attention has been given to modelling the change processes within
HRM itself. This paper addresses that gap by providing a model of the proposed influences on the move
towards strategic HRM integration.

Design/Methodology/Approach

In‐depth interviews with senior HR, finance and line managers in 13 Australian Best Practice companies
are used to explore the supports and barriers underlying strategic HRM integration.

Findings

The model that is developed uses ideas from the change literature to explain that the engagement of
strategic HRM integration requires a certain set of symbolic and ritualistic gestures. These symbolic
changes, however, do not always result in desired strategic HRM outcomes: symbolic adjustments must
be accompanied by deeper levels of change both from within the HR profession and from other
stakeholders in the organisation.

Practical Implications

The research holds a number of practical implications for the career design of HR professionals: a case
is made, for example, for a broader business career background requirement that may provide the level
of business acumen necessary to be a credible participant at the senior management strategic decision‐
making level. Intended future research will draw from a larger sample to test the proposed model.

Originality/Value
pg. 66
This research model's specific responses and outcomes require an ideological shift both from the HR
profession and from stakeholders within the organisation.

Keywords
 HUMAN RESOURCE STRATEGIES
 INTEGRATION
 DECISION MAKING
 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
 DEVOLUTION

 Competitive Advantage through People (1994), and

 The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First (1998)
In these books, he proposes a set of best practices that can increase a company’s profit. When these
HR principles are combined (or bundled), their impact is even more profound.

These best practices are:

1) Providing security to employees

2) Selective hiring: Hiring the right people

3) Self-managed and effective teams

4) Fair and performance-based compensation

5) Training in relevant skills

6) Creating a flat and egalitarian organization

7) Making information easily accessible to those who need it

We’ll go over them one by one.

pg. 67
 1. Providing security to employees

The first Human Resource best practice is employment security. Life is unpredictable and work is a
stable factor that is very important to most people. Having an employer who enables the employee to
provide for themselves and their family is, in essence, the number one reason why people come to work.

Employment security also benefits organizations because it helps them retain their people. When
employees are laid off, for example, it’s usually the organization that pays the price.

They are the ones who have invested in the selection, training, and development of these employees.
This is a costly process. If the organization doesn’t work on retaining its people, they are more likely to
leave and work for the competition.

In 2020, a survey found that job security is the third most important factor for employees. 28% of 1,100
professionals surveyed in the UK listed job security as an important factor. Job security is important
across global HRM practices.

pg. 68
 2. Selective hiring: Hiring the right people
The second HR best practice is selective hiring. This enables an organization to bring in employees who
add value.

You can’t just hire anyone; you want people who are fit for the job. Companies do their utmost best to
hire exceptional people because they add the most value to the business. There also needs to be a
prioritization of building a structured and fair selection process. This reflects legal requirements, internal
diversity goals, and that a more diverse workforce, better reflects society. This can be hugely beneficial
for understanding wider consumer behavior and the needs of different customers.Research shows that
the difference in performance between an average performer and a high performer can be as high as
400%!

This holds for different industries and job types, including researchers, entertainers, and athletes.

Bringing in the right people is, therefore, a key to building a competitive advantage.

In today’s digital world, there are a lot of different recruitment tools we can use to make the right
selection. More and more companies vigorously keep track of their recruitment metrics to see how well
they are doing in this regard.

Commonly used selection instruments are structured and unstructured interviews, IQ tests, personality
assessments, work tests, peer assessments, and reference checks. These (pre-employment) assessments
are used to uncover three key candidate characteristics.

1. Ability: Is the person able to do the job? Does the person have the right technical and soft skills? Is
the person smart enough to do the job well?

2. Trainability: Can we train this person to improve his/her skills? Has the person the aptitude to learn
and keep developing?

3. Commitment: Will the person commit to his/her work and to the organization? Will we be able to
retain this person once he/she is up to speed and fully productive?

pg. 69
3.Self-managed and effective teams
We all know that teamwork is crucial in achieving goals. High-performance teams are crucial for any
company when it comes to achieving success.

Teams provide value because they consist of people who are, and think differently but are working
towards a common goal. This means that different ideas are generated to help achieve the goal. These
ideas are then processed and combined, resulting in the best ones being selected.

The best teams are cognitively diverse and psychologically safe. This means that team members can
generate ideas that are different while feeling comfortable bringing these up and discussing them.

Individual personality assessments also help understand how other team members think and behave.
Understanding these processes is one of the main responsibilities of a manager. This is the reason why a
lot of management courses focus on it.

Different tools facilitate teamwork. Examples include communication software, feedback tools, project
management tools, and other task and goal setting software. These can facilitate communication and
help teams be more efficient.

Finally, HR needs to encourage different teams to work together in the organization. A team is usually
part of a larger entity, like another team or a department.

4. Fair and performance-based compensation

Contingent compensation is the fourth Human Resource best practice. It has everything to do
with compensation and benefits.

First of all, if you hire the right people, you want to compensate them above average. These are the
people that will add the most value to your company so you want to retain them and pay them fairly.
This is an example that shows how different best practices work together to provide more value than
they would alone, in this case, selective hiring, contingent compensation, and employment security.

Paying people above the norm also has some potential disadvantages. For instance, it discourages bad
employees to leave. However, if you’re consistently hiring world-class performers, an above-average
compensation is a must.

Secondly, you want to couple individual rewards with the different types of contributions that employees
make. These are performance-related rewards.
pg. 70
By coupling organizational performance outcomes with individual rewards the individual is incentivized
to maximize this outcome. It also creates a sense of ownership for the employee.

In line with the previous, this type of co-ownership is usually not meant for all employees. Lepak &
Snell (2002) offer a good model to assess how important individual employees are.

As an organization, you want to specifically retain your “Criticals”. They are people with unique skills
(i.e. hard to replace) who are very valuable to the business.

5. Training in relevant skills

This HR best practice states that companies should invest heavily in training time and budget for its
employees.

After recruiting the best people, you need to ensure that they remain the frontrunners in the field. This
has become even more relevant today as the rate at which technology is developing is growing
exponentially. This is where learning and development come in.

pg. 71
How do we create an organization in which the rate of learning matches the pace of change? Learning
has become a way to stay innovative, grow faster, and sustain a competitive advantage.

Employers increasingly invest in skills-specific forms of training. According to the Economist’s

Lifelong Learning special report, the number of on-demand courses has grown exponentially. Thanks to
the internet, everyone is connected and can learn anything, anytime, anywhere. In addition to formal
learning, on-the-job learning also plays an important role. Increased focus on feedback, coaching,
and peer learning plays into this.

 70% of learning is from challenging assignments

 20% of learning is from developmental relationships

 10% of learning is from formal coursework and training

Learning is also becoming increasingly important for the latest generations, such as the Millennials
and Generation Z. According to Gallup, younger employees rate learning and personal growth as much
more important compared to older generations.

The next generation of workers is actively looking for development opportunities and sees these as a
way to grow in their profession. Not offering these opportunities is related to higher levels of employee
turnover.

6. Creating a flat and egalitarian organization

pg. 72
This best practice in HR principles is rooted in the egalitarian practices of Japanese management.
Although we just saw that some employees are more critical than others for the organization’s success,
this shouldn’t be communicated in such a way. Every employee is a valuable member of the
organization and should be treated as such.

In Japanese organizations, this is expressed with common canteens, company uniforms, and similar
sickness and holiday entitlement. Such an egalitarian culture shows that everyone deserves equal respect
and could help in promoting the sharing of ideas.

Synergies between HR best practices: Bundles

When these best practices are combined we call them ‘bundles’. Bundles create synergies. This is how

Human Resource Management can create a competitive advantage for the organization.

An example. Guaranteeing employment security will only benefit you when you have high-performing

employees. Otherwise, what’s the use of retaining them? This means that the employment security best

practice, combined with selective hiring leads to more value than individual practices.

A third example is the reduction of status differences and information sharing. By encouraging open

communication and sharing relevant information, you create a culture of improvement in which

employees feel free to give suggestions and collaboratively help to improve the business.

By leveraging these bundles, effective HRM can add tremendous value to the business and help the

organization succeed in reaching its goals.

pg. 73
 Human Resource Management best practices:
a reality check

According to Kurt Lewin, there’s nothing more practical than a good theory. However, each theory has
its drawbacks. It turns out that some of these best practices contradict each other.

The way formal training is provided in organizations often offers several concerns:

 Formal training programs may be directed to skills that are not in line with the employee’s work

 Employees are provided access to training simply because of the excess budget instead of business

needs

 There’s often more emphasis on being trained than on the impact of training

In other words, extensive training only adds value as long as it helps individuals and teams contribute to

the strategic goals of the organization. This is in line with the Kirkpatrick-Philips model, which

helps measure training effectiveness. This model helps assess whether training had a measurable impact

on performance and whether the training investment provided a positive return on investment (ROI).

A final example is selective hiring. This best practice holds that if a company can consistently hire top

performers, they will outperform their competition. However, it is almost impossible to consistently hire

top performers. The reality is simpler: if you consistently hire better candidates than your competition,

you will create a competitive edge.

pg. 74
 Chapter : 6
Results and Findings

pg. 75
 Results and Findings
The primary purpose of this research was to understand the perceptions of software
employees towards the HRD functions, roles, and the professional competencies of HRD
employees. A cross-sectional survey was used to answer the following research questions.

1. What are the perceptions of Software Employees towards HRD roles and functions?

2. What are the perceptions of Software Employees towards HRD professionals?

The survey consisted of 23 questions including 6 demographic questions, 2 ranking

questions, 14 questions on perceived effectiveness of HRD roles and functions, and 1 question
on perceived effectiveness of HRD professional’s competencies.

Descriptive Statistics

Basic descriptive statistics were used to describe the data, including demographic data,
and perception of effectiveness of HRD functions with respect to each other. Descriptive
statistics was used to analyze data as all the variables used in this survey design are independent.
The perception on each independent variable was gathered. The study did not include any
dependent variables.

Participants

The data was collected from 100 software professionals from more than 30 different
software organizations located in India and United States. The survey was sent out to nearly 300
software professionals in the researcher’s personal and professional network, which provided a
33.33% response rate. Survey was distributed through January to February 2016. The researcher
made four attempts to contact the software professionals within the sampling frame. The
participants were sent an email or message through social media explaining the problem and
purpose of the research and request participation.

The participants who accepted the request to participate in the survey were sent a link to the
online self-administered survey via email or social media. The participants had to click on the
hyperlink provided to access the survey. The survey was a dynamic instrument which allowed
the participants to navigate from one question to another in a systematic manner. After
pg. 76
registering their responses in the survey and reaching the end, the participants had to submit their
survey by clicking on the ‘Submit’ button. The third and the final contact served as a reminder
for participation.

Six items were included in the survey to describe the demographics of the participants.

These items included “gender”, “job type”, “country”, and “years of experience”. Table 5 below
represents the frequencies for these variables. Out of the 100 responses received, 35 respondents
were females and 65 were male respondents (see Table 5). The participants performed a range of
job roles from Software Executive/Engineer, Team Lead, Manager, Senior Manager, Intern,
Consultant, and Chief Technology Officer. While 87% participants worked in the Indian software
industry 13% participants worked in the U.S. The survey respondents were majorly in their initial
stages of the career. Aldrin reported (2011, p. 26), that nearly 28% of the participants from the
software industry changed more than 2 companies over the extent of their careers. In this study,
the results indicated that 25% of the participants had less than 1 year of work experience in their
current job role, whereas, 70% of the respondents had 1-5 years of experience, and 4%
employees had more than 5 years of work experience in their current job role and only 1%
participants registered to have been working for more than 10 years. This can be attributed to the
trend in software industry where employees are quick to migrate from one job to another
depending on, “voluntary attrition, reluctance to make a transition from technical to management
positions, lack of managerial skills, difficulties with teamwork, work preferences and maintaining
work-family balance” (Agrawal & Thite, 2003

Table 5.
Respondents experience, job role, and location by gender

Male Female

Number of years of experience

< 1 year 19 6

1 year - 3 years 22 15

3 years - 5 years 19 14

5 years - 10 years 4 0

> 10 years 1 0

pg. 77
 Job Role

Software Executive/Engineer 43 29

Team Lead 4 2

Manager 1 0

Intern 7 3

Other 10 1

Location

USA 11 2

India 54 33

Human Resource Management (HRM)

In the organizations today, HR is most commonly looked at as a function which performs

functions of Hiring, Training, Payroll, and Performance management (Hamlin & Stewart, 2010;
Haslinda, 2009; Vosburgh, 2007). In this research, an effort is made to establish a difference
between HRM and HRD function in the software industry which has been achieved through the

way the questions in the questionnaire are presented and structured. The first question in the
survey required to rank the HRM related functions based on the participants’ perceptions of their
importance.

The survey design aimed to give the participants a point of reference to establish a

familiarity with the functions pertaining to HRM to distinguish them from the HRD related
functions in the questions that follow. The HRM functions included Performance
management/Appraisal, Rewards and Recognition, Career Development, Conflict Resolution,
Benefits and Compensation, Payroll, Hiring/Recruitment/Talent Acquisition, Procedural Justice
and Distributive Justice, Training, and Employment Laws and Compliance. These functions were
chosen based on existing literature (Mayhew, 1985; Smith & Mazin, 2011; Pass & Hyde, 2005).

Perceived importance of HRM functions and roles. The participants perceived

Performance management/appraisal as the most important HRM function with 32% participants

pg. 78
ranking it as number 1. As noted by Pulakos (2004), the performance management systems are
considered the “Achilles’ heel” in HRM (p. 1). An employee’s discontent over unclear
expectations, goals, and absence of feedback directly affects their performance, motivation, and
engagement and thus producing a vicious cycle of errors (Pulakos, 2004).

Human Resource Development (HRD)

In the software industry, 87% participants noted that their organizations have an
established training and development department and it sustains independently from the HRM
department. However, this department may or may not perform HRD related activities as defined
by many researchers (Hamlin & Stewart, 2010; Swanson & Holton, 2009; Thomson & Mabey,
1994; Yang, 1994). This research focused on understanding the perception of software

employees towards HRD roles, functions, and professionals and hence more emphasis was put on
the HRD related functions. Participants were either asked to rank the HRD functions based on
their perceived importance or asked to express their perceived effectiveness towards the
performance of HRD functions. The ATD model (2014) represents 10 areas of expertise in the
HRD profession. The survey used in this research included questions based on these 10 areas of
expertise and 6 foundational competencies expected in the HRD professionals.

The areas of expertise were either clubbed or diffused to form the survey questions (see Table 6).

Table 6.

Using ATD areas of expertise to design the survey questions

ATD competencies Design of Question

Rank in terms of perceived State the perceived effectiveness

Knowledge Management
Change Management
Integrated Talent Management
Coaching
Performance Improvement
importance
Learning and
Knowledge Management
Change Management
Talent Management
Coaching and Mentoring
Performance Improvement
Learning and Knowledge
Management
Change Management
Talent Management
Coaching and Mentoring
Performance Improvement

Design of Training
Instructional Design Delivery of Training

pg. 79
 Training Learning Evaluation of Training programs
Evaluating Learning Impact Training Training Feedback
Learning Technologies Use of Technology in Training
Managing Learning Programs Co-ordination of Training
Contribution to Career Growth

Perceived importance of HRD functions and roles - The participants were asked to

rank the HRD functions with respect to each other based on their perceived importance. Out of

the six HRD functions, Learning and Knowledge management (LKM) was ranked as the most

important followed by Talent Management, Performance Improvement, Coaching/Mentoring,

Change Management, and Training in decreasing order of importance (see Figure 5).

Ranking of HRD functions

1

2 3
4
5 6

Learning and
Talent Coaching/Ment Performance Change
Knowledge Training
Management oring Improvement Management
Management
Frequency 41 28 25 21 20 19

Figure 5. Ranking of HRD functions with respect to each other.

Perception towards effectiveness of performance of functions and roles.

A 5-point Likert scale was provided to the participants to register their perceived effectiveness
of performance of each of the HRD functions with response options 1 to 5 with the phrases
‘Strongly Disagree’ to ‘Strongly Agree’ respectively anchoring with them.

The responses of participants on the how effectively the Change Management (CM) function was

pg. 80
performed was rather surprising, as 44% participants did not have any opinion about this specific
function performed.

This response corresponds with the observation by Alagaraja (2013), that the employees may not
be aware of the different change management activities under process in the organization.

It is interesting to note that the 44% of employees who did not offer an opinion on the CM
function were new in the industry with less than 1 year experience. This could indicate that the
junior employees were not aware of change management or the role of HRD professionals with
regard to that or that the junior employees were not directly involved in the change management
process, and therefore, did not have much awareness about this function.

Of the 56% who expressed an opinion about CM, 35% participants agreed that it was effectively
performed whereas, that 21% considered that HRD professionals did not discharge the change
management function effectively.

In contrast to perceptions about CM, there was a greater agreement towards the effectiveness of
HRD professionals in handling Talent Management, with 32% participants recording that it was
performed effectively. Only 5% participants expressed strong dissatisfaction towards the
effectiveness of Talent Management in their organizations.

One reason for the high concurrence on effectiveness of HRD professionals with regard to
discharging the talent management responsibilities within software organizations could be the
high visibility and usage of the function within the industry. Talent Management in bigger
organizations is usually carried out with the help of HR information systems (HRIS) where
employees can upload their most updated resumes and apply for a better opportunity (Accenture,
2016; Spreitzer & Porat, 2012).

Due to the prevalence of ‘job hopping’ in the software industry, this feature is most commonly
used by employees who have been in their positions for nearly 3 years and want to upgrade to
managerial positions within or outside the company (Aldrin, 2011; Tambe & Hitt, 2014).
However, 14% percent participants with a work experience with more than 3 years have recorded
their discontent towards the effectiveness of performance of Talent Management.

While, 32% participants had no views on the coaching and mentoring function in their organization,
40% participants seemed satisfied with the effectiveness of its performance.

pg. 81
Coaching and mentoring is mostly performed by direct supervisors or line managers and HRD
facilitates its effective implementation (Swanson & Holton, 2009).

Analysis of the demographics of the participants revealed that 50% of the participants who agreed
with the effectiveness of coaching and mentoring had been working in their current position for 1
to 5 years. Employees look up to their coaches or mentors when they are at the start of their careers or
when they are new to an organization or project as on-the-job training is seen as an effective way of
preparing employees for new tasks (Swanson & Holton, 2009).
Performance Improvement deals with setting goals and optimizing processes to achieve the goals to
enhance organizational profitability and productivity (Rothwell, Hohne, & King, 2007). HRD
professionals can play the role of analysts to understand and counter the causes of bad performance.

Employees may be asked to set goals periodically under the supervision of their managers. The
achievement of these goals results in an efficient performance improvement process (Rothwell et al.,
2007). Forty percent participants in this study seemed satisfied with the effectiveness of performance
improvement function in their organizations. However, 26% participants were dissatisfied with the
effectiveness of performance improvement.

The chart below (see Figure 6) represents the perceptions of participants towards effectiveness
of HRD professionals in performing and the critical functions.

Perception towards HRD effectiveness

100%
7 10 12 11
90%
80%
70% 28 32 28 29
60%
50%
40%
30%
20% 44 32 32 34
10%
0% 4 5 4 5
Change Management Talent Management Coaching/Mentoring Performance
Improvement

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree or Disagree Agree Strongly Agree

pg. 82
 Figure 6. Perception towards HRD effectiveness

“Training and development constitutes the largest realm in HRD” (Swanson &
Holton, 2009, p. 226). Every employee undergoes some training during their career cycle.
Usually the newly hired or junior employees (with 1 to 5 years work experience) are provided
with training on topics such as new employee orientation, compliance training, technology
platforms, and different computer languages during their initial years in most organizations or
before deploying them onto any project.

In this research study, the training function was diffused into seven different components and the
participants were asked to register their perceptions of the effectiveness towards each component
– design, delivery, evaluation, feedback, use of technology, co-ordination, and contribution of
training to career growth.

The goal of training design is to make learning more effective and less difficult (Morrison et al.,
2010). The participant’s perception towards the training design showed that 56% participants
believe that the design of training that they undergo through is effective. All of these participants
have worked in their current positions between 1 to 5 years and as training is relevant to further
their careers through formal learning, simplicity of the training design plays an important role in
the transfer of learning. Anouli (1993), indicated that the potential for learning transfer is higher
in “new job/new workplace” training situation as compared to “old job/old workplace” (p. 123).
Further, the data indicates that 18% participants are not satisfied with the training design in their
organization.

Training in organizations may be delivered in a variety of ways such as formal, informal, online,
classroom, coaching, or mentoring (Peterson & Hicks, 1995; Chao et al., 1992; Swanson &
Holton, 2009). Although the survey questionnaire did not focus on any single mode of training
transfer, 55% participants were satisfied in the way that training was provided. The effectiveness
of training design and delivery is measured through continuous evaluation during the process of
design or after the delivery of training (Morrison et al., 2010).

In this research, 48% participants noted that the HRD in their organization evaluated training
programs effectively. These factors play an important role in the employee’s learning experience.
Fifty one percent participants stated that they were satisfied with the training coordination in their
organizations, whereas 17% participants expressed their dissatisfaction. In the software industry,
employees most often belong in distributed teams where a part of the team is working from the

pg. 83
client location and the remaining team is at the base office.

They may be distributed across countries or cities. The use of technology in training plays a
significant role in these scenarios where the entire team needs to be trained at the same time or over
geographically distant teams. Therefore, it is not surprising that 48% of the participants noted that
HRD utilizes technology effectively, while only eight percentage of participants noted that the use
of technology was ineffective. The chart below (see Figure 7) demonstrates how the participants of
this study the perceived the effectiveness of HRD professionals in implementing the six training
components.

100% 7 10 12 11
90%
80% 28 32 28 29
70%
60%
50% 44 32 32 34
40%
30%
20%
17 21 24 21
10%
0%
Change Management Talent Management Coaching/Mentoring Performance
Improvement

Perception towards Training Effectiveness

19 17 12 16 7 12
20

39 32 36
37 38
41

26 27 32 32 35
21
14 14 12 14 9
4 4 11 8
5 6
Design Delivery Coordination Evaluation Feedback Use of
Technology

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree or Disagree Agree Strongly Agree

Figure 7. Perception towards Training effectiveness.

pg. 84
Perception towards HRD professional's competencies.

The participants were asked if they perceived the HRD professionals to possess the foundational
competencies listed in the ATD model. A Likert scale was provided in the survey for the
participants to register their perceived satisfaction towards the effectiveness of HRD
professional’s performance (see Table 7).
Table 7.
Use of ATD foundational competencies to design survey questions

Satisfaction
ATD HRD professional
Survey question design of perceived
foundational competencies
effectiveness
Understanding Business Needs 59%
Business Skills
Strategic Thinking 51%

Sensitivity to cultural differences 59%

Global Mindset
Champion diversity 47%

Industry Knowledge Awareness of Industry changes and trends 50%

Trustworthiness 56%

Interpersonal Skills Maintain clear communication channel 63%

Demonstrate emotional intelligence 44%

Demonstrate ethical behavior 72%

Reliability 57%
Personal Skills
Maintain Confidentiality 66%

Motivate other 55%

According to Lombardozzi (2007), the HRD professionals play a major role in the organization
to ensure organizational competence. Human resource development in the organization bears
fruitful results when the HRD professionals sit at the strategic table and actively participate in the
business’s goal achievement (Blyton & Turnbull, 1998; Brockbank & Ulrich, 2003; Garavan &
Heraty, 2001; Garavn, 2007; Marchington & Wilkinson, 2002). In order to earn a seat at the
strategic table of the organization, it is important that HRD professionals demonstrate business
understanding, strategic thinking, and business related awareness (Lombardozzi, 2007). The four
most important competencies were identified in this research based on the ATD model and
imperatives listed by Lombardozzi (2007) to help HRD

pg. 85
professionals earn a seat at the strategic discussion table. The competencies are understanding

business needs, strategic thinking, awareness of industry changes and trends, and sensitivity to
cultural differences. The participants have recorded more than 45% satisfaction within all the
four competencies (see Figure 8).

Perception towards HRD professional's competencies

Awareness of Sensitivity to
Understanding
Strategic Thinking Industry Changes Cultural
business needs
and Needs Differneces
Frequency 59 46 50 59

Figure 8. Perception towards HRD professional’s effectiveness

The effectiveness of HRD professional’s performance in their understanding of business needs

and changes in industry is reflected through their competencies of other roles such as
maintaining clear communication channels, reliability, trustworthiness, demonstration of ethical
behavior, maintaining confidentiality, and ability to motivate others. All of these competencies
are considered extremely important as HRD professionals are the enabling factors for open
communication and information sharing in the organization (Lombardozzi, 2007).

In order to make the employees feel equally included in the organization, prejudice against
certain races, gender, and nationalities must be reduced (Bierema, 2010). The perception towards
effectiveness of HRD professional’s performance and competencies showed a high rate of
satisfaction in general.

The employees also seemed to be impressed with the cultural sensitivity displayed by HRD
professionals as the study recorded 59% respondent’s satisfaction towards how HRD
professionals champion diversity.

pg. 86
 Chapter : 7
Conclusion and Implications

pg. 87
The history and evolution of HRD have played a major role in the development of

perceptions towards the different roles and functions encompassed within HRD (Swanson &

Torraco, 1994). Today, HRD is still struggling to establish itself apart from the general

human resource activities performed in the organizations.

HR literature has not clearly identified HRM and HRD as two different entities in the

organizations and HR literature demonstrates significant overlap between the functions.

This study also emphasized on establishing clear differences between HRM and HRD and

concluded that HRD is a supplemental function of HRM and works towards polishing the

employees to become valuable.

The findings of this study support the existing literature on the importance of specific roles

and functions in HRM and HRD. Prior research has highlighted how HRD roles and

functions are implemented in organizations and how HRD is still not considered a strategic

partner (Alagaraja, 2013).

Research has also shown the perceived importance of different HRM and HRD roles and

functions. The findings of this study indicate that the perceptions towards the HRD roles,

functions, and professionals are influenced by the effectiveness of their performance in the

organization.

The HRD professionals are the agents to perform HRD roles and functions in the

organization and it can be stated that the effectiveness of the HRD professional’s

performance their job roles, affect the perceptions of software employees.

In this study, the participants seemed generally satisfied with the competencies displayed by

the HRD professionals.

pg. 88
This study establishes that performance management is perceived to be the most important

HRM function and learning and knowledge management is perceived to be the most

important HRD function.

The past literature raises an increasing concern about HRD still not being considered as the

strategic partner in organizations.

The findings of this study imply that the academia, practitioners, and researchers cannot

measure and define the effectiveness of HRD without understanding the employee’s

definitions of the roles and functions of HRD.

Directions for Future Research

Future research proposals should include the qualitative inquiry as an approach for
understanding the definitions of HRD by employees in software organizations.

For instance several participants did not have definitive responses towards the effectiveness
and importance of certain HRD roles and functions. People perceive each role and function
differently depending on their own individual interactions with HRD and prior experience.

Qualitative inquiry will assist in these subjective perceptions and what led to their
formulation. Researchers should also consider collecting data from specific organizations to
produce a case study of HRD in a software organization and also collect data from
organizations worldwide.

Further, the researchers can also study how the different roles and functions are performed in
the organizations as the performance of the roles may lead to the subjective formulation of
perceptions towards HRD roles and functions.

The students who aspire to practice HRD as a career, will be greatly benefited through the
case studies and working definitions of HRD roles and functions.

pg. 89
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