HUMAN RESOURCE

DEVELOPMENT
An Overview
M D Mfune
Definitions
• HRD is considered by scholars of Business Administration as a
sub discipline of Human Resource Management (HRM),
concerned with developing productive skills by imparting them
training. HRM scholars,
• Werner and DeSimone (2006 p.5) defined Human Resource
Development (HRD) as: “A set of systematic and planned
activities designed by an organization to provide its members
with the opportunities to learn necessary skills to meet current
and future job demands”.
• Werner and DeSimone (2006) described HRD as a function of HRM.
But HRD is more than training and development.
• Egan, et al (2004) expressed with reference to (Kuchinke, 1996) that
HRD has extended beyond a narrow concentration on training to
include organizational and systems-level issues that influence the
development of broad skill sets, abilities, and knowledge associated
with learning in technical, social, and interpersonal areas.
• Metcalfe and Rees (2005) quoted many studies and expressed that
HRD is relatively a new field of academic study and there is no
homogeneity in HRD intellectual inquiry.
• Abdullah (2009) squeezing from many researches has concluded
that most countries such as Russia, Germany and Korea equate
HRD with T&D and the main focus is on activities related to
training.
• On the other hand, in other countries, such as in Thailand,
Singapore and India the scope of HRD is seen to be very broad,
encompassing activities related to the possibility of developing
human resources‟ physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual
improvement as well as improving their technical and productive
skills.
• Kuchinke (1996) asserted that HRD has extended beyond a
narrow concentration on training to include organizational and
systems-level issues that influence the development of broad
skill sets, abilities, and knowledge associated with learning in
technical, social, and interpersonal areas.
• According to Rao (1995) the scope of HRD is extended, at one
side, to developing competencies of human resource by
enhancing knowledge, building skill, changing attitude and
teaching values, and at other side, creation of conditions
through public policy, programs and other interventions to help
people to apply these competencies for their own and others‟
benefits and making things happen.
• In the words of Bacchus (1992) the ultimate goal of HRD in any
country is “to improve the quality of life of all it’s people and
not merely concerned with providing necessary skills to
individuals”.
• The concept of HRD deals with many facets of development of
individuals including their physical, intellectual, emotional,
political, and spiritual aspects. Economic (financial)
development is also an important aspect of HRD and its physical,
emotional and intellectual development depends too much on
its economic development (Khan,2009).
• Abdullah (2009) reported that Harbison and Myers offered the
first definition of HRD in 1964. This definition is very broad in
perspective, as it elaborates HRD in relation to culture, the
economy and social and political contexts rather than individuals
and organizations.
• They defined HRD as: “The process of increasing the knowledge,
the skills and the capacities of all the people in a society. In
economic terms, it could be described as the accumulation of
human capital and its effective investment in the development
of an economy. In political terms, HRD prepares people for adult
participation in the political process, particularly as citizens in a
democracy.
• From the social and cultural points of view, the development of
human resources helps people lead fuller and richer lives, less
bound to tradition. In short, the processes of HRD unlock the
door to modernization”.
 INTRODUCTION
What is human resource development?
• As a starting point, Richard Swanson has defined it as “a
process for developing and unleashing human expertise
through training and development and organization
development for the purpose of improving performance.”
• Learning is at the core of all HRD efforts.
• Indeed, a major focus today is on workplace learning and
performance.
 …Cont’d.
• Jacobs and Park define workplace learning as “the process used by
individuals when engaged in training programs, education and
development courses, or some type of experiential learning activity
for the purpose of acquiring the competence necessary to meet
current and future work requirements.”
• For our purposes, then, HRD can be defined as a set of systematic
and planned activities designed by an organization to provide its
members with the opportunities to learn necessary skills to meet
current and future job demands.
• HRD programs must respond to job changes and integrate the
long-term plans and strategies of the organization to ensure
the efficient and effective use of resources.
• In short, while training and development activities, or “T&D”
for short, constitutes a major part of human resource
development, activities such as coaching, career
development, team building, and organization development
also are aspects of human resource development.
 THE PROGRESSION TOWARD A FIELD OF HUMAN RESOURCE
DEVELOPMENT

• The term HRD has been in common use since the 1980s.
However, 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.
 Early Apprenticeship Training Programs

• Early Apprenticeship Training Programs

• Early Factory Schools
• Early Training Programs for Semiskilled and
Unskilled Workers
• Human Relations Movement
• Establishment of the Training Profession
• HRD
 Emergence of Human Resource Development

• During the 1960s and 1970s, professional trainers realized that

their role extended beyond the training classroom.
• The move toward employee involvement in many organizations
required trainers to also coach and counsel employees.
 …Cont’d.

• Training and development (T&D) competencies therefore

expanded to include interpersonal skills such as coaching,
group process facilitation, and problem solving.
• This additional emphasis on employee development inspired
the ASTD to rename itself as the American Society for Training
and Development (ASTD).
 …Cont’d.

• Training and development (T&D) competencies therefore

expanded to include interpersonal skills such as coaching,
group process facilitation, and problem solving.
• This additional emphasis on employee development inspired
the ASTD to rename itself as the American Society for Training
and Development (ASTD).
 …Cont’d.
• The 1980s saw even greater changes affecting the T&D field.
• At several ASTD national conferences held in the late 1970s
and early 1980s, discussions centered on this rapidly expanding
profession.
• As a result, ASTD approved the term human resource
development to encompass this growth and change.
• Influential books by individuals such as Leonard and Zeace
Nadler appeared in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and these
helped to clarify and define the HRD field.
 …Cont’d.
• Influential books by individuals such as Leonard and Zeace
Nadler appeared in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and these
helped to clarify and define the HRD field.
• Further, since the 1990s, efforts have been made to strengthen
the strategic role of HRD, that is, how HRD links to and
supports the goals and objectives of the organization.
• There was also an emphasis within ASTD (and elsewhere, such
as the International Society for Performance Improvement, or
ISPI) on performance improvement as the particular goal of
most training and HRD efforts, and on viewing organizations as
high performance work systems.
 …Cont’d.
• In 2010, ASTD had approximately 40,000 members in over 100
countries, including 132 U.S. local chapters, and remains the
leading professional organization for HRD professionals.
• Recent emphases in HRD (and within ASTD) will be discussed
more fully in the following section, but first it would be helpful
to discuss the relationship between human resource
management and HRD.