Contemporary human resource development

Literature Review-Contemporary human resource development

Human resource development： Definition and Purpose

The concept ‘Human Resource Development’ is still developing and evolving today， which was first introduced by Leonard Nadler at year 1969 on the Miami Conference of the American Society of Training and Development， Nadler （1970 cited in Weinberger， 1998 pp.77） defined HRD as ‘a series of organized activities conducted within a specified time and designed to produce behavioral change.’ During the period of the past two decades， the alternative definitions of HRD have been presented （Swanson & Holton III， 2001）. Based on the inclusive international perspective of HRD， the commonly accepted definition is stated by McLean and Mclean （2001）， which defined HRD as ‘any process or activity that， either initially or over the long time， has the potential to develop adult’s work-based knowledge， expertise， productivity， and satisfaction， whether for personal or group/team gain， or for the benefit of an organisation， community， nation， or， ultimately， the whole humanity’ （McLean & McLean， 2001 pp.43）. To be more explicit， HRD is about learning and with creating circumstances to encourage learning for individuals， groups and organisations in line with the organisation’s business objectives （Reid et al， 2004 pp.4）. Moreover， theories and practices relating to HRD have moved beyond a narrow conception of training and development （Bratton & Gold， 2003） and now HRD is broadly considered as the prolongation of training and development， which contains three major concepts： education， training and learning （Reid et al， 2004 pp.1）.

Theoretical perspectives on contemporary HRD

Based on the literature from Garavan et al （2000）， the theoretical perspectives on contemporary human resource development can be summarized into three main viewpoints： the first perspective focuses on capabilities-driven HRD； the second viewpoint is related to employee-employer expectations （psychological contract）； the third one focuses on organisational learning and learning organisation （Garavan et al， 2000 pp.72）. The detailed discussion and exploration of these three theoretical perspectives will be demonstrated in the following sections.

Strategic Human Resource Development

Definition of Strategic HRD

Comparing with HRD， SHRD links to corporate strategy by acting as a proactive， system-wide intervention rather than reactive， piecemeal interventions （Beer & Spector 1989 cited in McCracken & Wallace， 2000a pp.282）， it is regarded as the strategic management of training， development and professional education interventions aim to manage and improve employee learning， so as to make contributions to achieve the explicit corporate and business strategies meanwhile ensuring the full utilisation of skills of individual employees and the knowledge detailedly （Garavan， 1991 cited in McCracken & Wallace， 2000a pp.281）. Furthermore， McCracken & Wallace （2000b pp. 435） developed this definition as ‘the creation of a learning culture， within which a range of training， development and learning strategies both respond to corporate strategy and also help to share and influence it’. Therefore， the ultimate purpose of SHRD is to enhance performance and build up the competitiveness of organizations （Horwitz， 1999）. However， SHRD is barely achieved within organisatons， in order to explore how SHRD applies to practice， the features of it will be revealed in the next section.

Case Study： Strategic HRD in a Multidivisional Manufacturing Firm

This case study is based on the Russells Ltd which is a well-established multidivisional manufacturing firm. Through reading the case study， it can be seen that the company has been through some changes in the past decade in order to cope with the increasingly tough competitive market environment. The following part will diagnose the critical HR and HRD issues that must be tackled at Russell at first and then recommending some relevant and feasible HRD strategies to deal with these issues， at last the key players in implementing the HRD strategies will be identified.

Diagnose Crucial HR and HRD issues at Russells

By facing the fierce competition within the market， Russells has been through the downsizing and restructuring over the past decade. Now the company is still challenged by the increasing competition. Through the process of downsizing， the redundancies have reduced almost 60 percent of its workforce which is from 2，000 to about 800. The huge redundancy of workforce may arouse two issues： firstly， the company may be lack of human resources， as Johnson et al （2005 pp.118） state that human resources as the intangible resources of employees’ skills and knowledge are one of the most valuable assets， thus the new recruitment need to be considered； secondly， the psychological contract between employees and employer has become strained because the environment of job insecurity and damaged trust between the two parties， therefore there are needs for rebuilding the psychological contract to regain employee commitment and flexibility.

Recommendations on HRD strategy for Russells

According to the HR and HRD issues at Russells， the current HRD strategy needs to be revised. This section will contribute to recommend some suggestions for an HRD strategy that could respond to these issues. In general， it is possible that the strategic HRD is the best way to respond to the changes occurred within the organisation， as well as improves the performance level.

Conclusion

In conclusion， this essay intended to evaluate the theoretical perspectives on contemporary human resource development and explore the characteristics of strategic HRD. There are mainly three perspectives on contemporary HRD： capability-driven HRD， managing and shaping psychological contract and organisatioal learning and learning organisation. Based on these three viewpoints， it can be seen that HRD tends to be more strategic within the organisation. In order to achieve the strategic HRD， there are nine characteristics need to be met. However， in the real business world， the strategic HRD is barely achieved by organisations. Russells Ltd is such an organisation that intends to regain the competitive edge through developing strategic HRD within the company. During the process of formulating HRD strategy within Russells， there have several issues need to be addressed such as change management， performance management and communication improvement. During the process of implementing strategic HRD， line managers are the key players， therefore developing their capabilities will become a vital factor for implementing SHRD into practice.