HRM Essay Sample: Main Themes in Human Resource Development

The concept of human resource development (HRD) refers to the framework that helps in developing both the personal and the organizational skills, enhance the knowledge and abilities of employees in an organization (Farnham, 2015, p. 18). The human resource development is a critical aspect in ensuring the success and productivity of any particular organization. Besides, almost all organizations operate with the help of employees who coordinate in various departments depending on the organization. The core function of the human resource development is to enhance the performance and the ability of employees by helping them to improve in the specific areas of weakness such as management or accounting skills. This can be done through mentorship or training. In this case, the human resource development thus entails the integration of various efforts in training, organization, mentorship, and career development aspects with the aim of enhancing the individual ability and the general organizational effectiveness. The human resource development performs various functions within the organization including recruitment and selection of employees, employee training, strategic management, scheduling, target setting, fixing employee benefits and salaries, preparing and execution of payrolls, internal relation, and enhancing safety measures in the working environment (Gold, Beardwell, Holden, Iles, & Stewart, 2013, p. 53). In this case, therefore, the paper gives an in-depth analysis of the various themes that the human resource development exhibits in the current world.

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Significant Themes in Human Resource Development

The major themes in human resource development include learning, leadership, and training. In the theme of learning, the human resource development focuses on providing information to the employees with the aim of helping them learn new skills and abilities. As a result, it motivates employees to be productive in the workplace and thus delivering excellent performance that contributes to the overall productivity of the firm. Secondly, in the theme of leadership, the human resource development aims at ensuring that the organization acquires the right people that perform the leadership roles effectively (Bratton, & Gold, 2012, p. 27). This is achieved while conducting the recruitment and selection process. During this process, the human resource development strives to acquire the personnel with the skills, abilities, and qualifications that match the job description therein. It ensures that this personnel is capable of executing their roles with the great professionalism that contributes to the success and productivity of the firm therein. Furthermore, acquiring qualified employees is essential in ensuring the operational efficiency of the firm especially for the leadership roles. Leaders plan and coordinate the operations of the organization and thus they ought to hold the relevant qualifications necessary to perform the tasks effectively (Brewster, & Mayrhofer, 2012, p. 45). Thirdly, in the theme of training, the human resource development focuses on enhancing the performance of employees by providing additional competencies and skills on the current job position that the employee partakes (Reid, Barrington, Brown, Reid, & Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. 2004, p. 38). Following the prevalence of the aspect of globalization, it is paramount to embrace training as an integral part of the organization. Globalization creates a turbulent labor market with changing needs, and thus the organization needs to update their employees to meet the current labor requirements. Nonetheless, while developing the training programs, is essential to note that the objective of the programs should be consistent with the organizational goals and objectives. Following the important themes discussed above, the paper will focus on the theme of learning as an integral part of the human resource development (Hall, Pilbeam, & Corbridge, 2013, p. 20).

Learning and Innovations

As discussed earlier, following the increased rate of globalization the aspect of learning is intertwined with innovation to enhance the performance efficiency of employees in any particular firm (Horwitz, & Budhwar, 2015, p. 7). Besides, the core purpose of any business is to meet the needs and preferences of their customers by providing high-quality products and services. The human resource development helps in achieving this by enhancing learning in the organization. As employees continue to learn, they gain more skills and capabilities necessary to create new products or enhance the quality of existing products and services through innovation. For this reason, the human resource development needs to create a high degree of learning among the employees to ensure they meet the current trend in the market. For instance, as globalization continues, the aspect of technologic is becoming dynamic. As a result, the consumer needs and preferences are also changing. Therefore, the human resource development needs to ensure continual learning among the employees to ensure they capture and stay updated on the current customer needs and preferences. For example, learning and innovation are the heart of the success and competitive edge of the Unilever Company. Through innovation, Unilever integrates technology to develop products that aim at providing the consumers with quality brands such as food, personal care products, beverages, and cleaning detergents (Williams, 2010, p. 23).

Following the significance of employee learning in meeting the current trends in the market, the human resource develop strives to provide a conducive environment that employees can learn efficiently. Moreover, for employees to develop innovative ideas, it requires the human resource development to employ great autonomy in organizational learning (In Shipton, In Budhwar, In Sparrow, & In Brown, 2016, p. 121). It is critical to meet the employee needs by providing a learning atmosphere that helps the employees to derive market-friendly skills and capabilities. The learning programs need to be embraced as separate activities from other operation in the organization to deliver effectiveness to the employees. The effectiveness of learning in an organization depends on the proactive and investment contribution of the top management. In some organizations, they create a position of a chief learning officer who specifically oversees the learning process in the organization. There is a need to integrate the learning needs to the basic components of the human resource development framework. The components include acquisition and retaining employees, performance management, and development of the reward system (Saunders, & Tosey, 2015, p. 96). It ensures that the human resource development connects the aspect of learning to another HR process therein. Besides, as the technology changes, the labor market is changing as organizations are even operating virtually. For this reason, the human resource developments need to develop learning methodologies that captures the turbulent requirements in the market. It thus calls for innovation and the open-mindedness of the employees therein.

Conclusion

Following the discussion above, it is evident that in today's world, the human resource development is assuming the role of leadership, training, and learning to enhance the competency and abilities of employees in the organization. For this reason, organizations need to pay attention to developing these competencies among the human resource development professionals. More importantly, as globalization becomes prevalent in the current market, there is a need to embrace the learning theme as an integral part of the HRD in the organization. Moreover, learning enhances the innovative abilities of employees in the firm. Innovation is essential in developing quality products and services that meet the changing consumer needs and preferences. Upon achieving this, there is a guarantee to the success and organizational effectiveness. It thus shows how the human resource development is the key determinant to the success and productivity of an entity.

References

Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2012). Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 25-56.

Brewster, C., & Mayrhofer, W. (2012). Handbook of research on comparative human resource management. Cheltenham, U.K. : Edward Elgar, p. 45.

Farnham, D. (2015). Human resource management in context: Insights, strategy and solutions. London : Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Gold, J., Beardwell, J., Holden, R., Iles, P., & Stewart, J. (2013). Human Resource Development. Palgrave Macmillan, p. 53.

Hall, D., Pilbeam, S., & Corbridge, M. (2013). Contemporary themes in strategic people management: A case-based approach. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 19-21.

Horwitz, F., & Budhwar, P. (2015). Handbook of human resource management in emerging markets. Cheltenham : Edward Elgar Pub. Ltd, p. 2-15.

In Shipton, H., In Budhwar, P., In Sparrow, P., & In Brown, A. (2016). Human Resource Management, Innovation and Performance. London : Palgrave Macmillan UK, p. 121.

Reid, M., Barrington, H. A., Brown, M., Reid, M., & Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. (2004). Human resource development: Beyond training interventions. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, p. 35-67.

Saunders, M., & Tosey, P. (2015). Handbook of research methods on human resource development. Cheltenham : Edward Elgar Pub. Ltd, p. 96

Williams, A. P. O. (2010). The history of UK business and management education. Bingley, UK: Emerald.