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UNIT 20 Fundamentals of Human ResourcesManagementSTRUCTURE20.0 Objectives20.1 Introduction20.2 The Perspective20.3 Relationship between H R M & H R D and their Structure and FunctionsCheck Your Progress (A)20.4 Role of H R ProfessionalsCheck Your Progress (B)20.5 Development of H R Functions in IndiaCheck Your Progress (C)Let Us Sum UpKeywordsAnswers to Check Your Progress (A, B, C)Terminal QuestionsSuggested for Further Reading20.0 OBJECTIVESAfter reading this unit, you should be able to:(a) appreciate the fundamentals of Human Resource Management;(b) understand the comprehensive perspective of H R M and the relationship withHuman Resource Development;(c) understand the role of H R professionals; and(d) get to know the development of H R functions in India.

20.1 INTRODUCTIONThe effective utilization of people in any organized effort has always been apressing problem in society. For a long time management theories have beencharacterized by a search of universal solution to provide practitioners with principlesthat can be applied to all kinds of organizations with universal success. This is mainlydue to the fact that the organizations are primarily social systems. They combine peopleand science humanity and technology. It is, therefore, not possible for everyorganization to have the same type of people and same level of technology. Thus,thehuman behavior in relation to an organization has assumed a great significance a

nd forms the major subject matter of various studies conducted in the field of humanresources management to provide the basis for the organizational development processand to improve the organizational effectiveness. In his book THE LAND -MARKS OFTOMORROW, Peter Drucker the famous management guru observes: 'no matter howmuch we can quantify, the basic phenomena are qualitative one's: change andinnovations, risk and judgments, growth and decay, dedication, vision, rewards andmotivation, so on and so forth. The discipline we need cannot be a technical disciplinethough it will have many technical areas. It must be a truly humanistic discipline'.

Practitioners and managers have come to recognize the complex world in whichthey must operate and have become increasingly willing to accept help from behavioralscientists in identifying and resolving organizational problems. An organizationis aplanned coordination of the activities of a number of people for the achievementofcommon organizational objectives through involvement of people to assigned functionsand through a hierarchy of authority and responsibility using appropriate techno


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logy.The characteristics of an organization and its success are largely influenced byvariousmanagerial and organizational factors. Thus, the study of human behavior at workcannot be studied in isolation, ignoring various inter-dependent complexities. Industrialwork, originally, was organized around the technology available and rules of checks andbalances.Organizations today have realized that they need to respond to changesoccurring in the environment; be it technology, business dimension, strategies,customer expectations or the emerging markets. Their experience reveals that after dueanalysis, it is relatively easy to think and decide upon a response to businessortechnology dimension; but, the implementation is often a slow process or a difficult oneto go through. This is because it involves convincing people, changing their habits andmindset, the established ways of thinking and perception. And even the 'best' strategycan fail if not implemented in the right spirit. The people component is thus becoming

the key factor to success of the strategy; be it for survival or growth or achievingexcellence.People management has been the most intriguing aspect of managing anorganization all along. The organizations have recognized its contribution in the totalframework but this aspect is so dynamic that it does not seem to reach a level ofstability. The technology, the system and its subsystems or the infrastructuralresourcestend to get stabilized at least for a certain period in their evolution process,but peoplemanagement tends to remain an 'alive* issue.

One of the reasons for this lies in its being different in nature compared to anyother resource the organization depends upon. The other resources are passive inthe sense that they do not react or their reaction can be controlled or predicted. Buthuman resource is not so. This resource is capable of responding to the treatment givento it and the response is not standard or uniform. Even a slight variation can createwaves. Ultimately, organizations exist for producing products and services to meethuman needs. Thus, manpower occupies the central place, looked at from any point

orany organizational activity.Organizations have attempted to deal with people itsemployees accordingto the understanding prevalent about human behavior at any point in time. Thevariations have been characterized from a rather mechanistic approach to aphilosophical one. The evolution of new approaches has been triggered by research inthe field of management as well as social sciences. Human affairs in any organizationare influenced by a wide variety of emotions like love and hate, human needs and


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expectations, human values, beliefs and perceptions, traditions and culture, andalso bytechnical, social, economic, demographic and political changes and developments.Thisunit examines how these approaches have converged in the present perspective ofH RManagement.20.2 THE PERSPECTIVEAn appropriate beginning to understand the fundamentals of peoplemanagement would be to appreciate the foundations of an organization. Anorganization is primarily a ramification of the fact that there is an interdependencyimplied in the satisfaction of needs of individuals alongside with the achievement oforganizational objectives. An organization is coming together of individuals inorder toattain a common goal/purpose. As defined by Edgar Schein, 'An organization is therational coordination of the activities of a number of people for the achievement of somecommon explicit purpose or goal, through division of labour and function and through ahierarchy of authority and responsibility.' (Schein, 1979). Such a coming togeth

er can beformal or informal. In a formal setup, there is a given goal, a structure, explicit roles andrelationships in order to coordinate the activities whereas in an informal organization,these aspects evolve as an outcome of the group process.Drawing from this definition we can see that there are two interdependentaspects, i.e. one about people and the other about activities. Historically, twostreams ofthoughts have developed; one, on how to organize the activities most systematicallyand analytically so that specificity in the work processes and operations can bebrought

about, and the other, on how to understand an individual's relation to a given activitynow recognized as 'work'. Obviously, enough thinking has developed in both thesespheres over the years and the two perspectives have affected each other due tothehigh degree of their association and interdependence.The beginning of these two perspectives can be seen in the work of RobertOwen (1771-1858) and Charles Babbage (1792-1871). Owen, a manager byprofession, claimed that a manager's best investment was in his workers ('vitalmachines' as he called them). He believed in providing better conditions for workerswhich he thought would result in higher productivity. Whereas Babbage, a profess

or ofmathematics, was an early advocate of division of labour. He believed in applyingscientific principles to work processes to increase productivity and reduce expenses.Whichever may be the focal point, cooperation of individuals to coordinate the activitiesin an organization is the beginning of people management. Organizations haveattempted to explore the best way of achieving this and continue to do so. The genesis


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of people management lies in the evolution of management thoughts itself. Therefore, inorder to trace the development of people management as a function, we have to studythe various theories of management.During the flurry of the industrial revolution, the view of the coordination ofactivities taken by organizations was very simplistic. It focused on the 'activities' thatrelated to the work situation alone, i.e. doing the work. It was assumed that peoplewould do the work they have been employed for (paid for). This was also supported andsubsequently highlighted by the 'scientific management' approach conceptualizedandpioneered by Frederick Taylor (1850-1915) famous for his 'division of labour' conceptand 'time and motion' studies and further substantiated by Gantt and Gilberths.Some ofthe major assumptions in this approach could be summarized as:(a) the tasks can be broken down to simple units for people to understand and perform(b) people will do a given activity in return for money(c) people will have to do what is defined by the organization and in turn by technology.

The simplicity of this approach ignored many important and vital aspects ofhuman behavior which were later brought to the forefront. First of all, it concentratedonly on the activities implied in the 'work' but certain other activities (behavior) whichtake place as a natural outcome were not considered. For instance, fatigue, boredom,the need to converse with others (not related to work), the relationships that may growout of the interactions, etc., were not seen as relevant for managing. The perspectivecontrolled and predicted the activities of people strictly related to work; andit chose to

let go of the other aspects. It was this simplistic mechanical approach that primarily wasresponsible for the rise of labor unions and labor unrest. Though certain factors likeperiodic economic depression, immigration of workers, aggressive stance of themanagement in combating the efforts of labor to unionize, delayed strengtheningof thecollective bargaining as a process, the genuineness of issues made it a permanentformal factor of organizations. The concept of unionism also for the first timemade theorganizations aware of the role of external socio-political pressures.In addition to this, certain developments in the internal environment of the

organization gave rise to a few new issues. For instance, the tightly structuredandplanned work systems could not instill meaning/ pride in the work that individuals didand this had an adverse effect on productivity. This was the beginning of the awarenessabout the crucial role played by emotions in work situations. This realization led to theentire spectrum of research in the area of work motivation. The impact of 'Hawthorne


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Studies' carried out by Elton Mayo and others at Western Electric Company during1924-33, is a landmark in the evolution of the management thought and humanapproach in management. These studies pointed out to various dimensions of humanbehavior that were not considered to be of any significance in the restricted approachtaken earlier. The human relations movement that followed replaced the 'rational-economic man' by the 'social man' perspective. It focused on the role played bythevarious relationships that develop at work as an outcome of the organizationalinteractions. Following the revelations, the people management systems were geared totake care of the relationships with supervisors, colleagues and groups.Later researchers like Chris Argyris, Abraham Maslow, Douglas McGregor andFredrick Herzberg highlighted dimensions of motivation that are rooted in the growthneed of an individual. The central theme of their arguments was that individualsaremotivated by other than monetary factors too. They emphasised that individuals like to perceive meaning in the activities they do, they like to experience a sense ofresponsibility while performing a task, and have a sense of achievement when the

taskis complete. If some of these elements are missing in the 'work' they do, theperformance can be limited. In other words, they need to feel proud about what they aredoing. Their involvement in the process of deciding their activities may determine thelevel of their performance and satisfaction. Therefore, the perspective of peoplemanagement should provide for these components. This was the beginning of thepresent developmental approach towards people management.The Development of People Management FunctionsThe history of management of people as a distinct managerial function goes backto the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. With a

significant increase in the number and size of organizational units as a sequelto theIndustrial Revolution, there was a need to have special departments like finance,accounting, production, etc. However, it was much later that the need for a departmentto manage people in the organizations was felt. In India the experiment on groupbehavior in Ahmedabad mills by Prof. A. K. Rice in 1952 is a significant contribution.A Few organizations had a post of welfare secretary to meet the needs of theworkers and prevent workers from forming unions, (Werther and Davis, 1982). These

social secretaries, as they were called, marked the birth of specialized human resourcemanagement as distinct from the day-to-day supervision of personnel by operatingmanagers. The units dealing with such activities were mostly termed as Time Office intextile mills and factories and as establishment section in banks and commercialoffices.They were, in fact, engaged almost entirely in promoting the organizationalmaintenance objective, although this was not widely recognized (Miner, 1969). Pe


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rhapsit was in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, the term personnel officerwasinitially used in 1960s.Although the fundamental activities involved in people management, viz.,acquiring, training, evaluating and compensating the employees continued, thebroadened understanding of human behaviour contributed to the maturing of thisfunction. As Fred Luthans observes, 'These examples offer ample evidence that thepersonnel function was very much in existence before the 1930s. However, the majorchange in the practice of management that included the personnel function, withitsaccompanying concern for the human element, did not occur until the socio-psychological upheavals in the late 1920s and early 1930s. (F. Luthans, 1985)In general, it appears that there have been two major traditions or trends withinpersonnel management over the years. One of these, stemming largely from economicsand accounting, emphasized a hardheaded, profit-minded approach to the utilization ofhuman resources; the other, with its origins in social work and certain subfields withinsocial psychology, took more of a social welfare viewpoint. This duality of appr

oachappears to have hampered the development of the profession within certain segmentsof the American industry, and the signs of the split have still not entirely disappeared.The social welfare tradition has been viewed as antithetical to the 'real' organizationalgoal of productivity by many managers, both within and outside the personnel field. On the other hand, the feeling among those with a social welfare orientationhas been thatmanagement generally paid more emphasize to productivity and profit and less toemployee satisfaction.Only in relatively recent years there has been some lessening of this conflict a

san increasing number of firms have come to accept the view that there are reallytwoprimary types of organizational goals productivity and maintenance. Both appear to beessential, yet some policies and procedures which maximize one may well do so attheexpense of the other (Miner, 1969).20.3 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN H R M &H R D ANDTHEIR STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONSAs can be observed, the changing perspective of HRM was triggered by greaterand wider understanding of human behavior in relation to the formal organization.

Therefore, the evolution of approaches is characterized by the addition of thedimensions rather than substitution. In this framework of change, the H R M as afunction in an organization matured to encompass the newer dimensions and deeperaspects of given dimensions. In other words, none of the earlier aspects of peoplemanagement were wiped out. They have become stabilized, reutilized and thereforebecome less crucial in comparison to the newer dimensions.


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The present perspective of H R M, to quote Sheth:H R M assumes that the management of people is an integral part of theresource management task within an enterprise for achievement of organizationalobjectives. Human beings develop a stake in the enterprise as they work in it and hencetheir motivation, development and growth constitute a critical factor in the developmentand growth of the organization. A crucial managerial responsibility is to make acontinuing effort to harmonize the interest and growth of the organization withthose ofthe employees at all levels. Human sensitivity, trust in people and participativemanagement are treated as a part of managerial culture and philosophy(Sheth, 1992).As implicit in the above quotation, H R M serves as an umbrella for all functions old and new. It provides a guiding principle for developing new people related systemsand also provides a yardstick to evaluate any existing subsystems in the area ofpeoplemanagement. In addition, it subtly emphasizes that managing people is a line-and-stafffunction both. Every manager has to implement/practice a component of this funct

ionthrough his day-to-day actions. In other words, every system has a processrequirement. Preparing the line manager to appreciate a system, its rationale and thelinkage to the H R philosophy, forms a crucial component of the H R functionarytoday.The process of adopting the changing perspective of H R M by any organizationis evident in the changing nomenclature of the function/department. Thus, at thefirststage the labour and welfare department' being substituted or renamed as 'Personnel'and in the next stage brought under one HR functionary. A careful look reveals that the

traditional activities still continue as sub-modules of the broad HRM function.Expertshave put these either in the four traditional sub-modules of Acquisition, Development,Motivation and Maintenance (De'Cenzo, 1988) or Planning and Administration, H RD, Job and Salary, and Workers Affairs. (Pareek and Rao, 1981) The differences here arethose of classifying. But by and large it can be observed that the conventionalcomponent of people management is categorized under (Personnel) Administration andMaintenance. The systems related to acquisition, (evaluation) promotion, administration,salary and long-term benefits are under administration and the traditional labou

rmanagement, grievance and discipline management activities are covered under themaintenance systems. The developmental systems such as induction and socializationof the individuals, development and growth, performance appraisal and counselling,career planning are covered under the nomenclature of Human Resource Development(H R D). Another classification views two subsystems under HRM, viz. administrat


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ive,developmental and preventive (Mankidy, 1998). Looking at the comprehensivecoverage one tends to agree that H R M function as the continuation and enlargementof the conventional areas of people management, certainly signifies 'maturationof thefunction of management of people as an integral part of enterprise management'(Sheth, 1992).Organizations increasingly compete with each other on the basis of effectivepeople management and development by tapping into the ideas of workers andorganizing their work in more effective manner and even by following the best practicesof other organizations. This can be possible if the organizations procure righttype ofpeople with right type of skills and attitude for right jobs who can be developed to meetthe present as well as future needs of manpower requirements. Besides the traditionalrole of maintenance and management of manpower, the H R M has to play a crucialrole in human resource development, appraisal and utilization. Thus, H R D issometimes considered as a significant subsystem of H R M.Wide range of activities are included within the boundaries of H R M. The rootsofpeople management and development reside in the welfare tradition with focus on

improving organizational efficiency and effectiveness. It should also emphasizetheneed for continuous professional development (C P D) to meet the organizationalrequirements. The development of professionals should be continuous because there isalways scope for improvement of skills and performance. The individuals, however,have to own and manage their developmental needs. The development process shouldhave clear learning objectives that aim to satisfy individual and organizationalneeds.There is no conflict between the structure and functions of H R M and H R D thedifference is only in the approach and emphasis. While routine functions become

a partof H R M, the H R D functions emphasize on organizational interventions for climatedevelopment, employee and organizational development linked with organizationalgoals/objectives and change management process. It may involve some element ofconducting surveys and research to seek employees' feedback and opinion, theiraspirations, and suggestions to handle the present organizational issues. It mayalsoinvolve some element of innovations to formulate people related policies. Thus,theemphasis of H R D is on overall organizational development process which alsoincludes development of people.Check Your Progress (A)State whether the following statements are true or false:

1. People component of an organization has always received due attention. ---- False.2. Industrial revolution led to the rise of unions. ---- False3. Management theories and approach to people management are very closely related.----

True.4. Scientific Management approach is the foundation of today's concept of Human

Resource Management. ---- False.5. Labour Management to Human Resource Management is not just a quantitative


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expansion of the people management function but is qualitatively different. ----True.6. Personnel Management and H R D are synonymous terms. ---- False.7. H R D and human relations movement are not the same. ---- True.8. H R M and H R D are unrelated to each other. ---- False.9. H R D is a subsystem of H R M. ---- True.10. H R M is a subsystem of H R D. ---- False.11. H R D and H R M are more or less same concepts. ---- False.20.4 ROLE OF HR PROFESIONALIACorresponding to the evolution of the H R M, the role of the individuals handlingthis function (activities) has undergone change. This change is not only quantitative interms of added activities or responsibilities but also qualitative. The shift has takenplace from traditional people's management to modern people's development. Thus,therole of HRD professionals assumes a greater significance.Traditionally, this function was perceived merely in terms of the activities, andwas a part of the duties of supervisors/managers. The focus as a specialized functioncame along with external, socio-legal influences needing awareness of the employment-

related legislations and their implications. As the function further developed in terms ofsystems for recruitment, training, promotion, etc. this knowledge became essential.Slowly, individuals who acquired this knowledge were relied upon by the shop-floormanagers. This led to the perception of personnel being a specialist job a stafffunction. Academics responded by designing courses with specific coverage of therequired skills and techniques. Individuals acquiring such qualifications joinedtheorganizations as specialists-professionals and were mainly required to deal with

people-related matters.However, the maturing of this function from personnel to H R M and H R D,highlighted that it cannot be totally delinked from the line managers, and thatthe linemanagers are the delivery points of this function. Hence, line-managers have todevelopthe ability of people management including their development.On the second platform, the professionalization of this function raised the issuewhether it should become a specialist function or could the line managers becomeH Rfunctionaries. Implied in the debate is the fact that the contents of the role o

f the functionaries include specialized skills and knowledge on one hand, and equallyimportant and pivotal, the philosophical orientation. The knowledge and skills are helpfulin developing systems but the ultimate success is decided by the human relationorientation. The H R philosophy makes the difference. Such philosophical orientationneed not and is not the property of any profession per se. In other words, can one withsuch orientation pick up the professional knowledge and skills? Experience of in


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dustriesindicates both the patterns.The traditional function of people management existed in the narrow sense of theterm in ensuring the attendance, ensuring output and quality, good working conditions,safety, hygiene, etc. Since these were to be ensured on the shop floor, theresponsibilities were with the supervisors/managers. However, when some of thesefunctions became a part of statutory obligations special personnel had to be appointed.Individuals with knowledge of these laws, rules and regulations started gettingpreference in employment and the function was viewed as special. The bank unionsbecame important power centers in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and for dealing withunions, industrial relations functions emerged and occupied a special position in thebanks. They also dealt with individual misconduct and disciplinary enquiries. The focuson administering the personnel activities like recruiting, training, promoting andcompensating made the personnel functions all the more a specialized function. With

further turn of events when the developmental perspective was recognized, theorientation of the functionaries became crucial.The emerging perspective highlighted 'along with the development of the wholeman, an integration of the people with the organization so as to make cooperative actioneasier and more meaningful, improve understanding between people, reduce uselessfrustration, enabling (he individuals to serve the organizational objectives without losingpersonal identity' (Pandey, 1990). This perspective implies that the staff-linefunctionaries need to be partners in achieving the objectives of the H R D. Every activity/ system has a component that needs to be dealt with by the personnel / H R M

department and the line managers.While viewing the functions of the developmental perspective as more dynamicthan the traditional personnel function, Pareek and Rao (1981) have grouped themultiple functions under five headings as follows:1. Supportive Role: This relates to the strengthening of the operating and executivelevels and consolidating the strengths in an organization.2. Role of System Development and Research: This pertains to developing systemsthat deal with people, their problems and organizational dynamics. This was alreadypresent in the traditional role.3. Managerial role: This relates to performing managerial functions like planning future

manpower, recruiting, utilizing by placement, returning, motivating-integratingpeopleand their role, performance and potential assessment, planning the growth ofindividuals, etc.4. Role of Developing Competence: This refers to developing technical, managerial,and processing competence among the human resource. The new perspective alsoincludes helping and coping competence.5. Process Role: An effective organization needs to respond to the changingenvironment for which it has to develop coping skills. Creating necessary culture and


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values in the organization, diagnosing the problem at organizational level and takingcorrective steps are the related responsibilities of the HR functionaries.The above description reveals the qualitative orientation required in the HRDperspective. As Sheth (1992) has pointed out 'underlying H R M is a progressivereinforcement of values of democracy, liberalism, humanism and shared control overthe workplace. It implies social commitment to the need for widening the base ofindividual rights and corporate obligations.'Pareek and Rao have identified the critical attributes for dispensing such a role.These include:Technical1. Knowledge of performance appraisal systems and their functioning in variousorganizations2. Knowledge of potential appraisal and mechanism of developing a system3. Knowledge of various tests and measurements of behaviour4. Ability to design and coordinate training programmes at worker, supervisor and

managerial levels.5. Professional knowledge of personnel and management6. Knowledge of behavioural sciences7. Understanding of overall organizational culture8. Knowledge of career planning, processes and practices

9. Knowledge and skills in counselling10. Knowledge of techniques in behavioural researchManagerial1. Organizing ability2. Systems development skillsPersonality1. Initiative2. Faith in human beings and their capabilities3. Positive attitude to others4. Imagination and creativity5. Concern for excellence6. Concern for people and their development7. Friendly, sociable and affable

8. Attitude for research and development work9. Interest in learning new things10. Ability to work as a team memberIn view of the objectives of H R M and the critical attributes listed above, itisapparent that certain personality characteristics like initiative, faith in human beings,concern for the development of employees, and ability to work as a team member arecrucial. In the absence of these the first two sets of attributes may not achieve much.H R functions in banks are generally not performed professionally, unlike othercorporates, Banks still consider H R D as a generalist discipline and any one fr

om thecadre occupies the position of H R head. The C H has developed a H R CompetencyModel (E T 26 February 2004) listing out 19 interlinked competencies for the H Rheadsin the organizations. These competencies include nine behavioral competencies viz.communication, initiative, drive, creativity, self-confidence, teamwork, influence,problem solving and inter-personal skills. These nine behavioral competencies have


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been embedded in ten functional competencies, viz. business knowledge, changemanagement, diversity management, service orientation, execution excellence, financialperspective, building expertise, personal credibility, relationship management andstrategic thinking and alignment.The H R functions in banks will have to undergodrastic changes keeping in viewthe challenges faced by the banks. H R D departments can no longer function inisolation. They have to play an important role in coordinating various organizationalactivities for improving overall effectiveness of banks.Strategic Role in the FutureAccepting the importance of HR in the 21st century, Ulrich (1998) opines that 'HRhas never been more necessary (as it is today). The efforts to achieve excellence through a focus on learning, quality, teamwork and re-engineering, are driven bytheway organizations get things done and how they treat their people. Those arefundamental HR issues.' He gives a new mandate for HR asking the professionals inthis field:1. To become a partner with senior and line managers in strategy execution, helping to

move planning from the conference room to the marketplace.2. To become an expert in the way work is organized and executed, deliveringadministrative efficiency to ensure that costs are reduced while quality is maintained.3. To become a champion for employees, vigorously representing their concerns tosenior management and at the same time, working to increase employee contribution,that is, employees' commitment to the organization and their ability to deliverresults.4. And finally, to become an agent of continuous transformation, shaping processes anda culture that together improve an organization's capacity for change.

This new agenda for H R is a radical departure from the status quo. In mostcompanies today, H R is sanctioned mainly to play policy police and regulatorywatchdog. It handles the paperwork involved in hiring and firing, manages thebureaucratic aspects of benefits, and administers compensation decisions made byothers. When it is more empowered by senior management, it might oversee recruiting,manage training and development programmes, or design initiatives to increaseworkplace diversity. But the fact remains: the activities of H R appear to be and oftenare disconnected from the real work of the organization. The new agenda, however,would mean that everyone engaged in H R's activities would in some concrete way

helpthe organization better serve its customers or otherwise increase shareholder value. Tothat extent they are termed as HR Relationship Managers in some banks.After conducting a study to find out the level of professionalism of H R Mfunctionaries, Agrawal and others (1990) conclude that the individual, his organization,academic institutions and the professional bodies, all have played a role in improvingcapabilities of these professionals. Let us see what an individual, today, can d


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o toenhance his role as an H R functionary.What an HR Professional can Do?1. Acquiring additional professional qualifications relevant to their role requirements.2. Regular holding of study circle meetings amongst personnel officer/employees with acommitment for bringing improvements in HR professionals. The forum should be usedfor sharing of experiences and latest developments in the field.3. Exchange of ideas, views and sharing of experience amongst personnel fraternityfrom different companies.4. Association with and participation in the activities organized by various professionalbodies such as National Institute of Personnel Management, Management Association,Indian Society for training and Development.5. Regular interaction between HR professionals and technologists; HR professionalsshould he familiar with latest technological developments affecting the organization sothat they can plan to disseminate new knowledge, skills and capabilities amongstemployees.

6. HR professionals should undertake problem-based project studies particularlyas apart of various professional examinations. They should present their findings totheexecutives from the organization and should try to implement their project findings.Lastly. there is debate about who should become an H R functionary. Whetherorganizations should employ those with specific academic qualifications or couldtheline managers with the right perspective become H R functionaries? The academicsguarantee knowledge but that can be acquired at any time. If one accepts the criticality

of values and beliefs in becoming effective H R Managers, then anybody with suchvalues could be suitable. These values are not the prerogative of any particulardiscipline or knowledge base. Secondly, the future role of H R Manager is to become apartner in strategic planning in which case he needs to have technical knowledgeaboutwhat the business activity of the organization is. In this case a line manager with theright attitude could subsequently acquire the knowledge to become an H R functionary.The aim of the organization should he to place an individual with the required a

ttributesand so both the options could be kept open.Check Your Progress (B)State whether the following statements are true or false:1. The role of the H R Functionaries has undergone qualitative change. ---- True.2. H R functionaries have total responsibilities about the management of humanresource in the organization. ---- False.3. H R functionaries arc responsible for development of H R-related systems. ---- True.


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4. H R professionals must have qualifications in H R M. ---- True.5. Line Managers should not meddle with the management of H R. ---- False.6. Role of H R professionals is confined to H R activities of the organizationshence theyshould not be involved in strategic planning. ---- False.20.5 DEVELOPMENT OF HRFUNCTIONS IN INDIAEvolution of Human Resource as a function needing specific attention has gonethrough similar stages the world over. Primarily, whatever happened in the industrial erain the U S or U K was during the British-Raj and as such its ripples were felt in India.The communication was facilitated by the scientific advancement, and knowledgetravelled faster compared to earlier times. The world wars too contributed by creatingsimilar welfare issues across the nations.At the time of independence very few Indian industrialists were seen.Management and business perspective was not very obvious. However, in the area ofpeople management, Indians were visible as Labour Welfare Officers under theprovisions of the Factories Act. Their role was, initially, confined to being recruitmentofficers for the multitude of workers and badhlies, floating at the gates, keeping themuster rolls and leave records, running shabby canteens and toilet and change ro

omfacilities, and in wielding the security-cum-discipline stick. By the early 1950s theprovisions of the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947 were beginning to percolate down andto this list of unattractive duties were added all the legalistic aspects of labourmanagement. Labour officers now had to become experts at drawing up charge sheets,evolving the intricacies of domestic enquiries, attending long drawn out conciliationproceedings, and briefing, the mushrooming breed of labour lawyers.By the 1960s the result of the focus on the activities required in the area of

people management was reflected in the demand for personnel professionals withspecific knowledge about people management systems and laws. Unlike otherprofessions like medicine, law or engineering, there were no definite academicrequirements for personnel executives (even today) but the personnel specialistsexpanded their sphere of influence by cashing on the inadequacies and trainedincapabilities of engineers in line management. Most of the functions now performed bypersonnel were the forte of line managers. The growth of unionism, state interventionsthrough a spate of legislation and code of practices, the stress on statutory welfare andneed for broader and consistent policies made it easy for personnel specialists

toexpand their role and enhance their status. The need for equipping individuals withspecific knowledge was satisfied by the forums like Indian Institute of PersonnelManagement (I I P M) and National Institute of Labour Management (N I L M)established in the early phase of personnel management. The National CommissiononLabour has observed that IIPM has the credit of making Personnel Management as a


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profession. Any area of knowledge to gain the status of a profession has to fulfill threemain criteria, i.e. having a corpus of knowledge, a period of learning and apprenticeshipand a code of conduct. Indian Institute of Personnel Management (I I P M) establishedin 1947 played a significant role in this movement.Another professional body created around the same time was the NationalInstitute of Labour Management. Its main aim was to foster, encourage and promote thedevelopment of cordial relations between employers and employees. There is anoverlap in the purpose of both the institutes though the latter focused more ontherelation between the two forces, viz., employers and employees. Appropriately, subsequently in 1982 these two bodies merged to form the National Institute ofPersonnel Management.Thus, even though the subsequent era witnessed growth in the industry, thepersonnel function still remained something to be interpreted by the individualsratherthan by the organization per se. So it mattered as to who is in charge and whathethinks about people management. The activities related to people managementremained restricted to their perspective of the duties of labour and welfare officers. This

is seen in the survey conducted by Monappa (1979) in which he has listed thatpersonnel activities typically included employment, training, watch and ward, first-aidfacilities, safety, housing, employee education, employee benefits, industrial relations,insurance programmes, etc. The multinational companies were. to some extent,influenced by the parent company and in many cases had well-established Personneldepartment and gave more attention to this due to their western experience; thelargefamily controlled firms were slowly moving from the paternalistic to professional styleand hence changed their outlook to personnel function. The public sector with an

urgeto demonstrate being 'model employers' paid more attention to strengthening thisfunction.It is pertinent at this point to mention even during the early phases, India hadvisionaries like J.N.Tata who sowed the seeds of Tata Iron and Steel Company atJamshedpur, had long back emphasized human factors in an organization. Hisphilosophy of building people in the organization was subsequently followed andcrystallized by his successors, making TISCO a successful and proactive organization.The kind of perspective and actions taken by TISCO in an environment which wasnovice to H R M was highly progressive at that point of time. This is important

for tworeasons. First, the history of TISCO which is indicative of how the personnel functionmatures in an organization and secondly, it highlights what pro-activity means.Therewere a number of actions taken by TISCO which was unheard of at that point in time.The government has also enacted a few legislations related to employment andemployee welfare. The first and fundamental of these is the Article 16(1) of Indian


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Constitution which ensures equal opportunity for employment. Drawing from this is theEmployment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959, whichrequires employers to notify the vacancies. The Apprentices Act of 1961 providesfortraining linked to employment. Certain other Acts like Child Labor Act, 1986, BondedLabor System Act, 1976, Interstate Migrant Workmen Act, 1979 aim at safeguardinginterest and controlling exploitation of specific groups. The state and centralleveldirective principles as guidelines, ensure attention to neglected sections of society likethe S C/S T, Ex-servicemen, physically handicapped, etc. Through legislations, thegovernment indirectly focused on eliminating any kind of exploitation by the employers.At times, such legislations are perceived as blocks to business growth by theorganizations. To avoid such government interventions, the organization needs toadoptproactive, futuristic strategies to people management visualized through the H RMperspective. An organization which is sensitive to the emerging issues with anorientation to concern for people's welfare and growth in the organization can b

e said tohave an H R M perspective. It does not mean that there cannot be problems but thedynamism to face them is crucial.The next transformation came in the 1980s; thisapproach was introduced byIndian academicians around the same time when the western world started talkingabout H R D. The pioneering work done by Uday Pareek and T V Rao in the area ofclarifying the H R D focus and developing H R D systems is a benchmark in theevolution of H R D in India. The focus of their work was on clarifying the developmentaldimensions and its implication on other conventional systems. The government toointroduced employee participation and allocating share holding to workers. The

emerging hi-tech industries introduced 'knowledge workers' and in general an enlargedoutlook for personnel was envisaged. The H R D as a subsystem of H R M emerged asa feature of this era.A few organizations from the banking sector who initiated processes during thisperiod were State Bank of India, State Bank of Patiala. Bank of Baroda, and CanaraBank. The establishment of National H R D Network in 1985 brought under focus theexperiences of organizations which had initiated H R D activities. As the namesuggested, it aimed at networking between the H R D professionals. The Indian Society

for Training and Development established in 1970 gained specific focus as it could giveacademic and developmental support to H R D functionaries through their trainingprogrammes. Annual conferences of forums created by institutes like N I P M, NationalH R D Network, Management Associations, I S T D, etc provided opportunities fororganizations especially to H R functionaries to get exposed to the developmentstaking place in F I R M in organization across industries. Such networking can e


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nhancethe speed with which H R M perspective becomes a way of life for more and moreIndian organizations.It can be observed that the Indian organizations are aware of the crucial role ofmanagement and development of human resource with respect and dignity and theintegrative perspective of bringing the individual and the organization closer.Some ofthe organizations have already adopted the approach formally meaning that they havepolicies which state this perspective.A large number of organizations have the new approach on their anvil but areperhaps still debating on the pros and cons. To them, T V Rao has to say, 'We mustunderstand that corporations are not in the business of human resource development.They are in their own business. But human resource development is an important toolwhich, unfortunately is being used in a limited sense. The corporate vision hasnot beenattached to it. Actually, human resources must become the business of everyone in theorganization.' (Business Today, January 1996)The principal mandate for the emerging people management is to develop and

execute policy programmes and practices that align all human activity to corporateobjectives. As Abhijit Gangopadhyay of Tata Institute of Social Sciences puts it, 'Themajor paradigm shift taking place in the management of human resources is theprogressive integration of conceptual values with operational values.' (BusinessToday,January 1996). Since this includes a change in the mind set, conscious steps arerequired to be taken.Check Your Progress (C)State whether the following statements are True or False:1. Industrial Disputes Act was the beginning of management of people in India. ----

False.2. At the time of independence, Indians were not among the industrialists but personneland welfare officers were visible. ---- True.3. Labour welfare, industrial relations, personnel administration were synonymous toPersonnel Management. ---- False.4. The Personnel Management was accepted as a profession by 1960s. ---- True.5. Some Indian organizations had adopted H R M approach long time ago even whenitwas not talked about. ---- TrueLet Us Sum UpIn this unit, we examined how people management, a crucial element of any

organization, developed over the years maturing in its coverage and philosophy.Webriefly sketched how the research in social sciences and management sciences helpedorganizations to seek answers to the problems / situations created by the growingcomplexity of the organizations. We have examined the relationship between H R M,the traditional personnel function and the humanistic, growth-oriented H R Dperspective. We have also traced the development of H R M as a function in the I


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ndiancontext. When compared to the trend in the West, we observed similar orientations in HR M function in India. There has been a marked shift from labour welfare perspective tothe emerging concern and the need to integrate individual and organizational needsthrough conducive processes encompassed in the H R M perspective. Besidesidentifying the landmarks we also observed the understanding of a few Indianorganizations past and present.KeywordsOrganization; Management Thought; Unions; Collective Bargaining; Staff; Labour;Howthorne Studies; Scientific Management; Human Relations; Rational Man; SocialMan; Industrial Relations; Personnel Management; Human Resource Development;Human Resource Management: Royal Commission; Factories Act; Industrial DisputesAct; National Institute of Labour Management (N I L M); Indian Institute of PersonnelManagement (I I P M); National Institute of Personnel Management (N I P M);Management Ethos; National H R D Network; Indian Society for Training andDevelopment (I S T D)Terminal Questions1. Compare the situations in India and other part of the world which influencedthedevelopment of management of H R as a function?

2. Would you say that development of H R M in India has been subjected to peculiarconditions substantiate your argument.3. Describe the various stages of development of H R M.4. Why is it imperative to study the evolution of management theory and thoughttounderstand the evolution of the function of managing people'?5. What are the benchmark research findings which have contributed to the changes inthe perspective of management A human resource?6. What is the relation between H R M, P M, I R and H R D?7. How modern H R D approach is different from traditional H R M?8. Critically examine the role of H R professionals in banks. How can the role be made

more effective?9. Suggest the structure, role and functions of an ideal H R department in a medium-size bank.10. Identify the role of line manager vis-a-vis H R manager for the developmentofemployees. Is there any role conflict or overlap? Examine critically.Suggested for Further ReadingBanerjee, R, 'FIRM Profession Past and Present' in HRM 2000: IndianPerspective, ed. K B Akhilesh, D R Nagaraj, NIPM, Wiley Eastern Ltd., 1990.Business Today, 'Managing People', The Business Today Experiential Guide toManaging Workforce 2000, Fourth Anniversary Issue; January, 1996.De'Cenzo and Robbins; PersonneIIHRM, Prentice-Hall, 1988.

Luthans, R Organisational Behaviour, McGraw-Hill, 1985.Miner, J B, Personnel and Industrial Relations A Managerial Approach,Macmillan, 1969. Monappa, A, Personnel Management, Tata McGraw-Hill, 1979.Pandev. S N, Human Side of Tata Steel, Tata McGraw-Hill, 1989.Pareek, U and Rao T V, Designing and Managing Human Resource System,Oxford and IBH, 1981.Ramesha, K, 'Human Resources Management in India' in HRM 2000: IndianPerspective, EEd. K B, Akhilesh and D R Nagraj, Wiley Eastern. 1990.Schein. E; Or-ganisational Psvchologi-, Prentice-Hall. 1979.Sheth, N R; 'Some Thoughts on HRM' in Emerging Issues in HRM, Pramod


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Varna, Oxford and IBH Publishing Co, 1992.Tripathi, P C. Personnel Management, Sultan Chand & Sons, New Delhi.Venkata, Raman C S, and Srivastava B K: Personnel Managetnent and HumanResources. Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd.. New Delhi, 1991.Werther, W B, and Davis K, Personnel Management and Human Resources,McGraw-Hill, 1982END OF CHAPTER 20- ADVANCED BANK MANAGEMENT- C A I I BPAPER 1Advanced Bank ManagementUNIT 21 Development of Human ResourcesSTRUCTURE21.0 Objectives21.1 Introduction21.2 HRD and its SubsystemsCheck Your Progress (A)21.3 Training and Development Role and Impact of TrainingCheck Your Progress (B)21.4 Attitude DevelopmentCheck Your Progress (C)21.5 Career Path PlanningCheck Your Progress (D)21.6 Self-DevelopmentCheck Your Progress (E)Let Us Sum UpKeywords

Answers to Check Your Progress (A, B, C, D & E) Terminal QuestionsSuggested for Further Readings21.0 OBJECTIVESAfter reading this unit, you should be able to:(1) understand how HRD philosophy is translated into the various systems(2) appreciate how the HRD sub-systems are developed and how some of the existingsystems(3) need to get modified in the process of aligning themselves with the developmentalphilosophy(4) understand the importance of right attitude and issues in attitude development and

change(5) appreciate the importance and need for career path planning and self-development.21.1 INTRODUCTIONThe perspective of managing people in the organization over a period of time hasbecome matured to include the totality of human beings. As such, it now encompassesall aspects of dealing with people and is today termed as Human ResourceManagement (HRM). Originating as a mere set of activities, HRM today has acquiredthe status of a crucial function in the organization. This has happened as a result of the

realization that people cannot be treated as just another factor of production but are animportant resource in determining the overall success of the organization. Researchersand practicing managers have tried to evolve strategies to answer the human related issues. They certainly have accepted the linkage between the individual's satisfactionand the organization's growth. Time and again systems have been developed to attainthis congruence. In this context, new systems have been developed and a few


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traditional ones have been modified. Since this happened at different points intime,there is a need to view these systems and their linkages with a conscious and criticaloutlook, with a view to guarding against contradictions in their implementations. In thisunit, we will be focusing on the developmental subsystems of HRM.21.2 HRD AND ITS SUBSYSTEMSThe industrial revolution with its emphasis on quantity output and the prevalentunderstanding of how people could be made to produce more (work), had led to thede-humanization of the workplace. People were viewed as mere substitutes for machines,and the important components of human beings, namely, emotions, needs, aspirations,expectations, values, feelings, etc., had no place. This realization had given way tovarious optional human focused strategies. Primarily, they were related to motivation inthe context of work. In other words, efforts were directed to make the work moreinteresting, valuable, and meaningful to people so that they were involved in doing the

activities beyond a mechanical perspective. For this, one approach was to recognize theemotions and needs of human beings, and the other was to change the 'content' oftheactivity so that the individual is motivated, and looks forward to doing this activitywillingly. Both the aspects, that is, the feelings and the job content, are interlinked andtherefore, organizations sometimes tinkered with the job content and sometimes paidattention to human feelings and needs. These approaches had roots in the earliertheories which either focused on how the jobs should be organized or how to make

people do what they are supposed to do.At this juncture, it is pertinent to understand the linkage of individual development andorganizational development/growth. Every organization sets certain goals towardswhich their entire efforts are directed. The goal may be in terms of productivity, betterwork culture and the like, with the ultimate objective of satisfying business goals besidesthe needs of the society at large. To achieve these goals, the organizations havesystems for production, finance, sale, control and monitoring and the people emp

loyedfit in the entire gamut of systems to produce what is intended. The organizationhas astructure, a pattern to manage the entire process. There is differentiation in units,hierarchical and horizontal, with given sets of relationship and interdependencebetween these units. The success of the organization depends on effective performanceof these units/levels which, in turn, is the performance of people occupying var


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ious rolesin the organizational structure. Thus the structure can be viewed as the edificearoundwhich processes are built. Each unit (job or role) of this edifice requires certainknowledge, skills and attitude in an individual, without which the individual may not beable to give the expected level of performance. Therefore, to make sure that theorganizational goals are achieved, it is necessary to ensure performance of individualsat all levels in the organization and that the individuals have the required knowledge,skills, temperament and attitude.There can be various means by which this can be examined and achieved. Forinstance, whether the individuals have the required knowledge or skills could bechecked prior to putting them on the tasks or even before recruiting them. Whenthejobs change (technology change), a new set of individuals, with new skills, could be recruited or the existing one could be retrained. There would be another scenario whereindividuals may be required to be shifted to another job in which case one has to search

for a job that needs the skills the individual possesses. In other words, assessment ofemployee is essential. The Performance/Potential appraisal is an essential componentand the training can play an important role in ensuring performance. Primarily there aretwo ways the organization can ensure that people have the required skills, thatis, eitherupgrade the skills of the existing people or get new people with the required skills.Historically, these questions have been dealt with by organizations in a different mannerperhaps on the basis of the then situational context. Let us examine how this is

sue wastackled by organizations over the time.As Nadler (1984) puts it, Human Resource Development defined as the 'organizedlearning experience in a definite time period to increase the possibility of improving jobperformance growth'. While tracing the history of HRD as 'organized learning' asdefinedby him, he notes that during the early twentieth century which was a period of industrialrevolution, employers provided the necessary learning for employees new and old.During this period, learning programmes were also developed by unions: as theyneeded a specific group to become their members. Many unions were craft-oriented

and to be able to become their member, individuals would have to attain a certain levelof job skills. It was the first realization of what training could contribute tothe workplace.The period 1920-40 saw some development in this trend. For making production moreprofitable companies began tenting in outside people (researchers) to consider variousways in which the workplace could be manipulated to increase production. The fam


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ousHowthrone studies conducted at Western Electric Company in Chicago were a pointerto new directions. However, the impact of the Great Depression of 1930's that followed,left many experienced workers unemployed and as a result since the companies couldnow get skilled workforce, the need for training was not felt. They could get the skillsthey needed by hiring new employees and firing the old ones.The Second World War brought up new issues with respect to developing people. Intheprivate sector, there was need to expand but as young men were drafted for war,theonly alternate source available was the women and the old men and a few ethnicgroups. Women were so far not trained in this matter and the old were viewed asnotsuitable. However, ultimately this period revealed that 'most of the people in thesegroups could learn and could become productive members of the organization.' Thisrealization culminated in the establishment of the American Society for TrainingandDevelopment.

The 1960s primarily witnessed enhancement in technology and application ofbehavioural science to workplace. This development was in a way a reaction to theearlier feeling that HRD training has not been showing the desired impact onorganizations. Attention was then shifted to 'efforts to change the workplace asone wayof improving performance. It was accompanied by increased interest in people, aswellas in the technical aspects of organization.'Several significant changes came through in the 1970s and 1980s and HRD wentbeyond mere training activity. In the 1990s, there was a continued surge for industrialdemocracy. Workers demanded a larger, more autonomous role in decision-making,

market selection, product identification, work planning and even supervisor selection. As a result of this 'managers needed continual training in participativeleadership, conflictresolution, interpersonal communication and matrix/task force management.The 1990s focused on massive computerization of work place mainly to improveoperational efficiency and cost reduction. The PC revolution during the period changedtotally the work processes and required Computer literacy at all operating levels withoutany loss of time. This has put a lot of pressure on the training system. The seniors whocould not pick up the computer skills started feeling powerless and developed fear and

anxiety. This period also saw a massive outsourcing initiative by the organizations toCurtail costs.The present decade, that is, the first decade of the twenty first century saw extensivecompetition due to liberalization, privatization and globalization of Indian economy. Theorganizations mainly focused on improving customer service by meeting customers'expectations through customization of products and services in a highly competit


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iveenvironment. The focus was again on training to equip the work force for inter-personaland customer relations skills. The customers are now dictating their terms as they havewider choice and their brand loyalties are diminishing.The traditional Indian banks both public sector and old private sector faced challengesin the form of competitive pressures and changing customer demands from foreignbanks and new private sector banks. Most of the public sector and old private sectorbanks had their existence for more than a century with a number of legacy issuestotackle. While the new private sector banks could adopt the best practices,organizational culture: and could implement latest technology in their operations, theforeign hanks acquired the practices and technology akin to their host countrieswithinthe regulatory framework of India. Faced with the threat of competition from theforeignand new private sector banks the banks employed a number of measures like goingforfully automated systems (Core Banking Solution based operations) preceded withbusiness process reengineering (BPR), offering VRS to its employees, training an

dretraining, of staff, lateral recruitment of specialists, emphasis on marketing,advertising,customer relationship management and improving brand image, diversification ofactivities, introduction of electronic based multiple service delivery channels,setting upof back offices and data centres, business process outsourcing, etc, to improvetheoperational efficiency, meeting customer expectations and reduction in operatingcosts.Productivity is the real test of performance in any organization. Some of thesebankshave undergone restructuring exercise with the involvement of international cons

ultingagencies to adopt best practices and remove bottlenecks in their operations. Thesechanges needed well thought of HR policies to attune the existing staff to adaptto thechanges and to train them to learn new skills.HRM is now being called upon to become a strategic initiative to make its efforts moreeffective and performance-oriented. Thus, strategic HRM is gaining its significance.While imparting new technology based training, the organizations have to focus ondevelopment of behavioural and inter-personal skills. HRM initiatives can be ini

tiatedthrough involvement of line managers.HRD today is a process by which the employees of an organization are helped in acontinuous and planned way to:(1) Acquire or sharpen capabilities required to perform various functions associated withtheir present or expected future jobs;(2) Develop their general capabilities asindividuals and discover and exploit their owninner potential for their own and/or organizational development purpose; and


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(3) Develop an organizational culture in which supervisor-subordinate relationships,teamwork and collaboration among subunits are strong and contribute to theprofessional well-being, motivation and pride of employees (Rao and Pereira, 1986).This definition highlights that HRD is not only a training for operational skills but alsoincludes behavioural skills as it ultimately aims to create an enabling culturewherein thecapabilities are 'acquired, sharpened and used'.In this context the specific goals of HRD (as pointed out by Rao and Pereira) are todevelop:(1) capabilities of each employee as an individual;(2) capabilities of each individual in relation to his or her present role;(3) capabilities of each employee in relation to his or her expected future role(s);(4) dyadic relationship between each employee and his or her supervisor;(5) team spirit and functioning in every organizational unit (department, group,etc.);(6) collaboration among different units of the organization; and(7) organization's overall health and self-renewing capabilities, which, in turn, increasethe enabling capabilities of individuals, dyads teams, and the entire organizati

on.The typical systems developed to enhance achievement of these HRD goals include:(1) Training and Development(2) Performance Appraisal, Feedback and Counselling(3) Potential Appraisal, Career Planning and Counselling(4) Organizational Development(5) Human Resource Information SystemLet us now briefly examine the linkages between and amongst these sub-systems.The HRM broadly has three sub-systems, viz., administrative, developmental andmaintenance. There are strong inter-linkages between these three. However, for thepurpose of discussion and detailed study we are focusing only on developmentalsubsystems in this unit.

It must be highlighted, in this context, that since work is the pivotal point fordevelopment of individuals, the job analysis is fundamental to any of the sub-systemsmentioned above. We may therefore, understand various aspects of Job or Roleanalyses.Job or Role AnalysisJob Analysis is a technique which facilitates the listing of what is required toperform atask or a job. A typical job analysis comprises three parts - job description, jobspecification and job evaluation.Job Description: This simply records each and every component of the job which a

nindividual has to perform in a given set-up. For example: for a job of a stenographer or aprivate secretary, the job description may include taking dictation, typing thematter,keeping the record of boss's engagements, dealing with and taking care of visitors,record keeping of inward and outgoing cases, preparing travel plan of boss, filing letters,etc.


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Job Specifications: On the basis of the job description a list of requirements isprepared in terms of educational qualification, age, work experience, specificknowledge, skills, expertise, temperament, etc. Again in the example of a stenographer or a private secretary, a certain temperament and skills are required. For example,besides the shorthand and typing skills, the person need to have a good knowledge oflanguage (English or Hindi or both), maturity, charming personality, sharpunderstanding, patience, etc.Job evaluation: This is primarily used to compare similarity between jobs withinanorganization or between organizations or even in an industry. Thus, this is often thebase for wage settlements and is used for comparison of two or more jobs in terms oftheir complexities and competence. If we compare a stenographer with a privatesecretary attached to a senior executive, we may observe that the technical skillsrequired, viz., taking dictation, typing, etc., may be similar but the complexity of job of aprivate secretary to a senior executive will be much more hence he may deserve ahigher compensation package compared to a stenographer who just takes dictation

andtypes.It may be noticed that the first two aspects can provide the basic data for training, needidentification as well as for performance appraisal in order to get the right man for theright job. Having listed out all specifications, a few crucial ones can be identified fordecisions related to training and appraisal.It is relevant to note that there are various terms which are used to describe the workpeople do in an organization. Terms like task, job, position, role, and work areoften

used interchangeably but in academics these have a certain relationship with eachother. Pareek and Rao (1986) have explained the relationship as follows:Task: This is a basic element of a job and as such requires a person to achieveaspecific product. In the process the individual is isolated from others.Job: This is a complex system of tasks requiring an individual to achieve an overallproduct and still making the relationship irrelevant.Position: Puts an individual in a hierarchical pattern, expecting those below toreport orsurrender to higher positions and conform to their expectations while those higher up

may be led to exploit the relationship and demand conformity.Role: Emphasizes on the pattern of (mutual) expectations.Work: Involves a more complex pattern as it goes a step further to encompass socio-psychological relationship.The traditional concept of task and Job has the problem of treating individualsas themeans to achieve the product as an isolated machine. Perhaps, it is such a perspectivethat alienates the individuals from what they do. The concept of position too, m


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akes oneperson powerful in relation to others and is likely to have a de-humanizing effect like theearlier two. It is the concept of role or work which takes an individual out ofthetraditional framework and puts in a complex relationship involving job-self others. In theHRD perspective, role is a very relevant and imperative concept.Like a job analysis technique, the roles can be analyzed by using the Role AnalysisTechnique (RAT) of which job analysis is a significant component. In addition tomerelylisting the activities, expectations of the counterparts - all those related tothe given role- (role set) are also considered. In the framework of role, the Key PerformanceAreas(KPA) are identified and the critical attributes that an individual needs to performeffectively are listed.Check Your Progress (A)State whether the following statements are True or False:(1) Even though the focus on people management underwent change, the systemswhich were developed in the past could continue and need not change. ---- False.(2) Performance Appraisal, Training and Development are critical elements(subsystems) in the entire Human Resource Development System of HRM. ---- True.

(3) For HR functionaries, major challenge in training is to keep the workforce updatedwith current knowledge; what is not significant now can be forgotten. ---- False.(4) New skills can be easily blended with the old ones. ---- False.(5) Job Analysis is the basic framework for most of the HRD systems. ---- True.(6) Performance Appraisal is one system which has qualitatively got modified. ---- True.(7) Performance and Potential Appraisal systems have lot in common. ---- False.(8) Career Planning is a motivational exercise. ---- True.(9) When an organization develops in size and its business, it is called organizationaldevelopment. ---- False.

21.3 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT - ROLE AND IMPACT OFTRAININGIn the earlier approaches related to employees and their utilization, an individual washired for a specific job and he continued doing it all through his work-life, one wasdiscarded when he was not able to do it due to his age or due to change in technology.It has subsequently, been realized that the individual has also a basic need togrow.Individuals are not static and they change by acquiring new knowledge, skills, attitudesand beliefs. They also tend to demonstrate certain capabilities which may not ge

tadequate opportunity for expression in the normal course. Some critical event bringsforth the capability. It appears as if individuals have a lot more in store. Maslow'sexplanation of the need hierarchy highlighted the point that it is as natural aneed for anindividual to realize his potential, self-actualization, as satisfying the physical need. It isrecognition of the fact that 'Individuals change over time'. They find new capac


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itieswithin themselves and learn to interact with each other more productively. Theylearn tocope with stress, or to help others to do so. The problem of managing developmentwithin organizations is to understand how one may hasten and channelise this processof 'learning and discovery' (Handy, 1976).The rationale of training and development is to comprehend how this concept oflearning could be applied in the organizational context. What aspect of this learningcould be made a part of the formal system, what could be left to the specific individuals,and how the organization can enhance the process of individuals' becoming matureandeffective in their environment, are its prime concern. We will examine the details ofestablishing Training and Development system as part of the HRD efforts and thisinvolves:(1) identification of training needs;(2) conducting the training;(3) evaluation of training; and(4) selection and development of trainers.

These aspects have adequately been covered in Systematic Approach to training inasubsequent section.Purpose of Training and DevelopmentHRD as an approach to management of HR and as also a function, is based on thepremise that employees should be provided with learning opportunities to enabletheindividual and the organizations to achieve their goals. The organizations on their parthave to consciously analyze their requirements, define them, specify the time and levelat which these are required so that the system can take care of them. This needof theorganization can be linked to the career progress of individuals so that it may

implicitlysatisfy the growth need of individual. The activities which relate to this areaare:(1) improved performance of individual on his present job;(2) his preparation for an identified job in a not-too-distant future; and(3) his general growth (development) not related to any specific job.According to Nadler (1984) if these activities are not identified or separated,the learningcan be less effective. For the purpose of facilitating communication, a label can beapplied to each of these levels:(1) Training is for learning related to present job;(2) Education is for learning to prepare the individual for a different but iden

tified job;and(3) Development is learning for growth of the individual not related to a specific presentor future job.There could be different categorization available for these three activities. Some expertsmay call futuristic learning as development and general (non-work-specific) learning as'education'. Some authors classify training as specific to a given job whereas


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management development as 'attempts to instill sound reasoning processes - toenhance one's ability to understand and interpret knowledge - rather than imparting abody of serial facts or teaching a specific set of motor skills'. Development, in thisperspective focuses more on the employee's personal growth and organizationaldevelopment initiatives. Whether one uses Nadler's classification or any differentcategorization, it does not make a difference so long as it is understood uniformly in theorganization but some kind of segregation is necessary.Such segregation helps in differentiating objectives for these three activities.Theobjectives are qualitatively different. First, when the goal is to improve performance,training should be conducted and evaluated to check on the improvements. If thegoal isfuturistic, then one cannot evaluate performance until the individual moves to anew job.But if the objective is development then it has to be remembered that no directimpactmay be seen on the performance. Secondly, the differentiation helps clarifying mentalexpectations. Both the parties - the individual and the organization (the superi

or) - areclear about what should be the outcome; the chances of misunderstanding are reduced.Thirdly, and most importantly, the differentiation helps in identifying who is responsiblefor what activity, for example, for training, the responsibility of identifyingthe need andensuring that opportunity is given, has to be with the immediate superior but foreducation and development, it could be the central department or the overall HRfunctionary who decides when and how to conduct the activity.Imperatives of Adult LearningIt is interesting to note that though most of the people think that Adult Educat

ion is arecent phenomenon, but it is not so. In ancient times great teachers like Confucius, LaoTse, Hebrew Prophets, Jesus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle - were 'teachers of adults'. To these teachers 'learning was a process of active inquiry on the part ofthe learners'; theyinvented 'techniques for involving the learners in active inquiry.' In case of child learningthe teacher has full responsibility for making all decisions about what should be learned,how it should be learned, when it should be learned and if it had been learned ... thestudent was left passive ... when adult education is organized with the model av

ailablefor children known as Pedagogy it does not give the desired results.Ultimately, in and around the 1920s-30s, some thought was given to adult learning. Itwas Lindeman's work which can be cited as the first instance of defining the perspectiveof adult learning. He explains his idea of adult education as, 'a cooperative venture innon-authoritarian, informal learning, the chief purpose of which is to discoverthe


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meaning of experience, a quest of mind which digs down to the roots of thepreconceptions which formulate our conduct; a technique of learning for adults whichmakes education coterminous with life and hence elevates living itself to the level ofadventurous experiment'. The special efforts to define and understand adult learningincludes Thorndike's early explanation that ability to learn diminishes with agewhichsubsequently was modified to that it is the speed to learn that diminishes and not thepower to learn. These efforts were then substantiated by the experience of teachersinvolved in adult teaching, and most of the social sciences like sociology, socialpsychology, also contributed their bit. Thus, a new term Andragogy was coined todifferentiate adult learning process from that of child learning. Today, what weunderstand commonly is that learning is concerned with bringing about relativelypermanent change as a result of experiences. There are, indeed, a number of theoriesto explain 'how' we learn. Knowles (Nadler, 1984) categorizes them in three sets

asfollows:Mechanistic or Behaviourist Theories: These theories hold that the learner is passivein the process of learning. If one introduces an input (stimulus) into a human being, youwill get a predetermined response. In other words, learning occurs only when a learneris conditioned to give the 'right' response to a given stimulus.Cognitive Theories: These theories equate man with his brain, based on theproposition that one thing that distinguishes human beings from other living things isthat they possess brains that are capable of critical thinking and problem solvi

ng. Thepurpose of learning therefore is to teach the brain to engage in such critical thinking andproblem solving.Organismic or Humanistic Theories: These theories hold that learning occurs onlywhen learners have the 'freedom to learn' what is particularly relevant to theirpersonallife situation. The purpose of learning is to encourage each individual to develop his orher full, unique potential.When we examine the training and development function in the organizational context, it

becomes apparent that all the three sets are relevant as all the three types ofsituationsexist in the organization.Besides the specific framework of the theories, most of them have certain commonassumptions, there are theories related to the variables associated with the actualTeaching-Learning situation. Decenzo and Robbins (1995) list some as:(1) Learning is enhanced when the learner is motivated: This means that thelearning experience must be so organized that it should create desire to learn.(


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2) Learning requires feedback: Knowledge of results is necessary for learner toimprove upon his mistakes. The feedback also tends to act as motivator when thelearner knows that he is proceeding in the right direction.(3) Reinforcement increases the likelihood that a learned behavior will berepeated: Behavior that is positively reinforced are encouraged and thereforesustained.(4) Practice increases a learners performance: Learners need to practice what theylearn.(5) Learning must be transferable to the job: Learning a skill just for the sakeof it willnot work; it must be possible to apply what is learnt.While establishing an effective training sub-system, all the aspects related toadultlearning should be considered and kept as backdrop, namely, who needs training?Thedifferent groups could be: (1) young recruits, (2) Specialists, (3) middle levelexecutive,(4) senior and top executives, etc. The contents and nature of training for thegroups willvary. For the young one's it may be modem management techniques, for those withexperience, it may centre around to their being enabled to take up more responsiblepositions. For specialists, the training should keep them abreast with the lates

tdevelopments in their field of specialization. For the senior and top management, itcould relate to development of vision, entrepreneurship and business strategy.Systematic Approach to Training (SAT)With the developmental emphasis accepted by the organization, it becomes imperativethat organizations establish training systems. There needs to be a systematic approachto manage training which has to answer a few basic queries like:(1) Will the training to be done internally or externally? Does the organizationhave orintend to develop an in-house training centre?

(2) How much and what kind of training will be done externally and is this alsoanessential part?(3) Who are the functionaries responsible for administering the training system?It is a fact that majority of the organizations today have some kind of in-houseestablishment which primarily caters to the training of operational knowledge and skillrequirements specific to the organization. This implies that the need for certainadvanced, specialized training is met by sending people to other (external) institutions.The most common among these are specialized institutes which impart training in

management, finance or behavioural skills.Whether the actual training is done internally or externally, organizations haveto followcertain logical processes for enhancing knowledge, skills, and attitudes of theirpersonnel. These are:Step 1: Training Need Analysis (TNA) and Identification of Training NeedsStep 2: Preparation of a Training Plan;Step 3: Conduct of the training which includes designing the programme in termsof the time, duration, target group, sequence of inputs and methodology;


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Step 4: Evaluation of the Training Programmes and the Plan; andStep 5: Selection and Development of Trainers.Let us examine each one of these a bit more in detail.Step 1: Training Need Analysis (TNA) and Identification of Training NeedsIdentification of training needs through the TNA (training need analysis) is the firststepfor successful implementation of any training initiative. One has to consider that thetraining needs are perceived in the present as well as future context. The presentcontext refers to the level of skills the existing employees have and in what directionthey need to be upgraded. The information for such gap can come from theirperformance appraisals done by their superiors, the productivity measure (norm)set bythe organization, the larger rejects for the job done by an employee or a department, thenumber of accidents, the inspection reports, etc. In other words, the level of anindividual's performance and the errors that he/she makes can be indicative of the gapin his knowledge, skills and attitude which can be bridged through training. Itmayhowever be noted that all performance problems cannot be tackled through trainin

gintervention. The poor performance on account of poor technology, outdated processes,poor working conditions, etcetera, cannot be solved by training.The future needs of an organization also indicate the gaps to be filled by training. Theorganization's future business plan may include expansion in new or old businessdomains. The organization needs to take a look at the skill levels of the existingworkforce and compare it against the requirement, to determine the total training effortsrequired by the organization. Sometimes, organizations may have some specific fo

cusin the training as an offshoot of change in technology or a business strategy adopted bythe organization.The training needs can be identified in formal or informal ways. Formal processes arepart of the administration of the training system. They are obvious, explicit links andprocesses. For example, the training needs identified as offshoot of the businessconsideration would be the result of conscious deliberations between the business planand the HR functionaries. There should be an accepted mechanism or forum for thi

s tohappen at a given point in time.Another formal way for identifying present needs would be to gather data from the microlevel from different stakeholders. Either the mechanism of performance appraisalor anindependent exercise by an individual may spell out what, in his opinion, are his trainingneeds to perform better on the job he is assigned. This statement is then qualified by his


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superior. Such data is collected from all levels and an analysis can be carriedout to findout if there is any particular trend. It may happen that a specific department or aparticular geographical area is indicating specific needs. Thus, the analysis canhighlight the major-minor specific groups of employees which can be considered whilepreparing the annual training plan.TNA requires collection of data systematically. It should include data to: (a) define theneed; (b) identify solution; (c) specify those needing training; and (d) providetheplanning details of the delivery of training (Rao, 1995). TNA can stem from differentobjectives, that is, it can be for employee development concern, personnel and staffingconcern, administrative and management concern or organization developmentconcern. It is possible to determine this with a set of questions to identify what concernsare being focused upon.Step 2: Preparation of a Training PlanThe training need identification process provides the basic data for preparing the Annual

Training Plan. The primary focus at this stage is to prioritize the various issues thrown up by the data and seek an appropriate balance between meeting the needs andresources required. The training plan is expected to specify:(1) Number of training programmes to be conducted Internal External.(2) Level of employees what will be the coverage of employees through the plan?(3) What will be the subject areas that will be highlighted and what will be left out of theplan for future?(4) What will be the plan for allocation of resources what are the contingenciesworkedout?(5) What arrangements are made to accommodate something that emerges beyond the

plan?Rao (1995) has suggested a framework to facilitate the process of deciding priorities. Ofthe factors mentioned by him, organizational policy and prioritiesis a vital factor.Without a favourable and committed policy for training and development the entireexercise of collecting data, analyzing it and prioritizing will be a waste of effort.Anoth

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