What is HRD?

What is HRD? Explain briefly the value-anchored HRD processes. How can competency mapping help the overall HRD process of an organization? Discuss various aspects of Competency Mapping and critically evaluate its utility for Indian organizations. Support your answer with organizational examples. Describe the organization you are referring to.


In 1970 Len Nadler published his now-classic book Developing Human Resources, in which he coined the term "human resource development" (HRD). The term HRD provided a conceptual umbrella under which the field began to unify, using the three-fold notion of training, education, and development. HRD provided purpose and direction for the continued growth of the field: organized learning to provide the possibility of performance change. It further idententified a core discipline from which a field of study could develop: adult learning in the workplace. McLagans HRD studies in 1983 and 1989 reflected a shift taking place in HRD work. In 1983 the assumptions in the competency models focused on change in technology. In 1987 Patricia McLagan proposed the following narrative definition of HRD:
HRD is the integrated use of training and development, career development, and organization development to improve individual effectiveness
In 1989 there were signs of an emerging concern for economic impact. The field began to move from focusing to what is performed to what is produced. One of the forces in 1989 was an increased use of systems approaches in HRD. Another shift in the field that took place was that the focus on individual learning was shifting to organizational learning as the primary activity and goal of the field. Patricia McLagan's role and competency study Models for HRD Practice described in 1989 a broadened scope of various roles in the competency models. The definition of HRD expanded beyond training and organization development. The move was toward HRD responsiveness and relevance.
Arriving at the final countdown to the 21st century HRD remains an important force for the future. In her article on HRD competencies and future trends in HRD Pat McLagan (1996) identified nine important roles for HRD practioners to perform. As HRD practitioners create rather than just respond, they will seek leverage and ways to help managers, teams, and individuals take charge of their own human resource practices. According to McLagan "HRD may be the only function in a clear position to represent human ethics and morality".
From an analysis of the HRD experiences of companies, the source of inspiration for introducing new HRD systems seem to come from one or more of the following:
1) To support the structural and strategic changes made by the organisation to orchestrate its growth and expansion (BEML, IOC, SBI, L&T, ECC, Jyoti, CGL, TVS, Voltas, SFL, BOB)
2) Recognition by the top management of the importance of HRD and their responsibility to promote it for the good of the organisation (L&T, SBI, SBP and Voltas)
3) To prepare employees to respond to the increasing problems faced by the organization both internally (dissatisfaction, delays, fall in productivity etc.) and externally (high competition and falling market situation etc.) IOC, BHEL, TVS and SAIL.
4) To keep the image of the company up by adding such modern instruments to its structure.
From this, it may be concluded that most companies seem to perceive HRD as an instrument to orchestrate the growth of the organisation by preparing is people to strive for/or facilitate such growth or at least maintain internal stability.
This training pack examines competencies from the perspective of the organization and provides a framework for developing competency based systems for application within training and development, succession planning and recruitment and selection, so as to deliver real and measurable benefits to the organization.
These essential core competencies are: assessment and intervention, communication, critical thinking, teaching, human caring relationships, management, leadership, and knowledge integration skills (Lenburg, 1992-1995, 1998, 1999; Luttrell et al, 1999). Essentially all specific subskills nurses perform can be listed under one of these competency categories, as illustrated in the examples in Figure 1. Each competence category can incorporate a flexible array of subskills that further specifies the required practice abilities for particular levels or types of employees or students in diverse settings.
Figure. 1. Lenburg's Eight Core Practice Competencies with Subskill Examples
1. Assessment and Intervention Skills
a. safety and protection
b. assessment and monitoring
c. therapeutic treatments and procedures
2. Communication Skills
a. oral skills
1. talking, listening, with individuals
2. interviewing; history taking
3. group discussion, interacting
4. telling, showing, reporting
b. writing skills
1. clinical reports, care plans, charting
2. agency reports, forms, memos
3. articles, manuals
c. computing skills (information processing; using computers)
1. related to clients, agencies, other authorities
2. related to information search and inquiry
3. related to professional responsibilities
3. Critical Thinking Skills:
a. evaluation; integrating pertinent data from multiple sources
b. problem solving; diagnostic reasoning; creating alternatives
c. decision making; prioritizing
d. scientific inquiry; research process
4. Human Caring and Relationship Skills
a. morality, ethics, legality
b. cultural respect; cooperative interpersonal relationships
c. client advocacy
5. Management Skills
a. administration, organization, coordination
b. planning, delegation, supervision of others
c. human and material resource utilization
d. accountability and responsibility; performance appraisals and QI
6. Leadership Skills
a. collaboration; assertiveness, risk taking
b. creativity, vision to formulate alternatives
c. planning, anticipating, supporting with evidence
d. professional accountability, role behaviors, appearance
7. Teaching Skills
a. individuals and groups; clients, coworkers, others
b. health promotion; health restoration
8. Knowledge Integration Skills:
a. nursing, healthcare and related disciplines
b. liberal arts, natural and social sciences, and related disciplines
This framework is attractive, in part, because of the universality of its competency classification and its applicability to education and practice in various circumstances and environments. Quite simply, these core competencies outline the array of abilities all nurses need to incorporate in fulfilling their roles, whether clinical, educational, administrative or otherwise; the related subskills and their implementation will vary with circumstances. The examples in Figure 1 are cited to stimulate ideas for adaptation to particular situations, such as case management systems as described by Lenburg (1999) in the Cohen and Cesta (1999) text. They also apply to other disciplines as illustrated in the conference proceeding of the American Association of Primary Care Physicians (Lenburg, 1994).