Human Resource Planning and Development - Essay Example

Human Resource Planning and development 2006 Outline: A) Introduction B) Recruitment and Selection procedure C) Learning organization D) Training methods E) Conclusion Introduction Human resource management is crucial for the work of any company as it serves as a precondition of innovation and development of the company. Human capital makes up a distinctive character of a organization and ensures its survival. The term ‘human capital’ comprises such notions as the combined intelligence, skills and expertise and is the collection of intangible resources that are embedded in the members of the organisation which result in organizational value. (Bontis et.al,, 1999 ) Individual workers’ and organizational knowledge are believed now to contribute to the creation of sustainable competitive advantage more than tangible assets such as “raw materials, fixed capital, and even managerial knowledge.” Leveraging knowledge is the key reason attributed to corporate success stories such as the tremendous ‘overvaluation’ of high-tech and Internet companies. (Bontis & Michael, 2002 ) With respect to the importance of human capital in modern business environment managers need to develop organizational skills such as managing networks, master HR planning and development. In this paper we’ll view several HR planning and development methods and evaluate them with respect to objectives of United Utilities, water supply waste water treatment and disposal company. United Utilities employs over 17,000 people and is one of the main infrastructure and business process management companies. The group also owns two support services businesses: United Utilities Contract Solutions and Vertex which use the core skills of infrastructure management and business process management in the process of supply of services to others. (United Utilities Taps into Community Spirit, 2006) The principle objectives, which specify the strategy of United Utilities, can be summed up to improvement of the efficiency by means of maximizing synergies as a multi-utility operator and development of support service businesses by means of application of the main skills of infrastructure management and business process outsourcing in competitive markets. (Our Strategies, 2006) Besides, United Utilities tries to satisfy all parts, providing growth for shareholders, minimizing expenses for customers and providing its employees with challenging and rewarding jobs /Our Strategies, 2006/. Recruitment and Selection procedure The main sources of recruitment are employment agencies, university appointment boards or fairs, internal promotion or introduction and advertising. Taking into account the objective of United Utilities to find high-qualified staff in short terms, the best suitable recruitment route will be recruitment through employment agencies. They will not only help to find a person but can also provide prior testing. Employment agency can also check experience of a person and statements about qualification. Further selection procedure can be performed in the office of the company. Recruiters can use a variety of tools to select proper personnel. The most commonly used are interviews, psychometric tests, work sample tests, application forms. The choice of proper selection method depends on the level and needs of job and of course the objectives of organization. Assessment of an individual is done to gather information about his/her abilities, achievements, personality variables, aptitudes, attitudes, preferences, interests, values, demographics, and other characteristics. Assessment procedures include but are not limited to standardized and unstandardized tests, questionnaires, inventories, observations, portfolios, performance assessments, surveys, interviews, etc. (Competencies in Assessment) The most common assessment tool is testing. It’s widely used for its easiness and possibility to avoid deceptive answers. Tests are designed so that a person cannot lie without revealing herself/himself. It’s impossible to fabricate answers to “look good.” However, with test one is not safe from errors. The accuracy of the test or its validity and reliability or the ability of a test to give consistent results are difficult to determine. The validity of the test is challenged when it is used for a purpose other than it was designed to. What can be said for sure is that no psychological test is ever completely valid or reliable. (Guidelines, 1997) Understanding the limitations of psychological testing, the test score should be regarded as only “the score you have gotten on that test” but nothing more. That’s why it’s very important for the recruiters to base their decisions on the information from multiple sources, not a single score. United Utilities can use selection testing as it is the easiest tool to select proper staff from many applicants. However the company cannot restrict its selection process only to testing as the mistakes may be too costly. It can use testing for the aptitudes and general intelligence evaluation. The process of selection can be extended to interview as an additional tool to back up the results of testing. Interviews can be conducted within the company by a department manager or a supervisor as well as by a professional selection company. Since United utilizes is a large company and it needs qualified staff of different levels, the selection process should vary accordingly. Since the company is interested in organizing people into a strong team, peer interviews can be the most suitable tool to use for the creation of this team. The interviewing team should be a good cross-section of staff. For large companies, it makes sense to include peers from the same team or work group of the position being filled. (Frase-Blunt, 2001) Learning organization Many scholars support the idea that learning organization should be created, where ‘people are continually learning how to learn together ‘(Senge 1993, p.3) Pedlar, Burgoyne & Boydell (1991) claim that a learning company is the company which creates learning opportunities for all its members. People who are learning and developing are more flexible and open to changes. That’s why companies should support the learning objectives of employees. Managers will have to learn how to coach themselves, understanding in time the motives of the staff. In such a way the company addresses the most important non-financial motivational factor. The focus on learning can be explained by the fact that it is regarded as the means to gain competitive advantage. Mayo (1995, p.14) worded this idea in the following way ‘the pace of change needed in today’s world makes flexibility and rapid effective learning key competitive advantages.’ The old management styles of ‘command and control’ are no more effective in the new environment of modern business. Managers have to embrace the philosophy of organizational learning to contribute to the development of the company. Organizations must be able to learn, and to learn from their learning’ (Salaman & Butler 1990, p.183) Everyone understands that people cannot be induced into the learning if they do not choose it for themselves. They cannot be creative only because the management wants them to be. Addressing peoples intrinsic motivation or indepth motivational needs is the best method to nurture learning and creativity in a company. That’s why United Utilities encourages laborers to control the process of learning themselves so that they could uncover their full potential. It only provides corresponding resources and enables its employees to take a “time out’ to learn everything needed. (United Utilities 2, 2006) If the management wants to know the intrinsic motivational forces of the employees it has to listen to them. Coaching in the organization and placing a great emphasis on it in developing business relations is the best way to achieve this goal. The coaches task is keeping employees focused on the objectives of the company and encourage alignment between organizational and personal objectives. In this case the alignment will come about through the rational negotiation of objectives. United Utilities facilitates the learning process with the help of mentor and peer groups. It also makes the practice of training the company managers as leaders and coaches, who can assist in the process of teaching new employees /United Utilities 2, 2006/. Along with the coaching the accelerate learning should be introduced within the company. Action Learning Networks should be established. These networks drive the corporate learning process by bringing small groups of employees together on a regular basis. The emphasis is on ensuring that learning process takes place at a time when it can be integrated into the real work of the company. (Dietrich 2002) Training methods The HRD function has long been relied upon to support a broad range of business objectives that require competent employees. The use of HRD to support business objectives is explained by its ability to enhance employee expertise increasing the likelihood that business objectives will be achieved. (Torraco & Swanson, 1995) Since United Utilities is a company which uses innovative advanced technologies, it’s clear that without a competent staff it’s impossible to implement innovative work systems. Among training methods which are available nowadays we’d like to highlight on on-the-job training which seems to suit the needs and objective of United Utilities. Employing thousands of people, on-the-job training is cost effective method of teaching necessary skills of workers. The advantage of this method is that a company prepares a worker according to specific work at this very company, its standards and specific needs. Besides this method is advantagous in the respect of productivity as workers do not cease to work while learning. The problems which arise during working-learning processes can be easily and quickly resolved. The management enhancement and training can be performed through day releases, seminars and workshops. Management level employees can also enhance their skills through secondments and job rotation. Job rotation allows to have multiple job skills as well as it can be used as a reward for good performance. So the company will have not only employees with diverse skills but motivated employees. Conclusion In the modern diverse and rapidly changing business environment employee expertise is crucial for organization performance and development. HR planning and development help to assure the utilization of human capital. United Utilities as large and developing company has to focus on creation of learning organization in which every part interacts and learns from each other. The utilization of proper training methods will help to achieve company’s objectives. References BONTIS, N. & MICHAEL, G. (2002 ) A Review of the Models Used to Measure Intellectual Capital. Kingston, Queen’s University. BONTIS, N., MICHAEL, G., NICOLA, A., DRAGONETTI, C., JACOBSEN, K. & ROOS, G. (1999 ) Review of the Tools Available To Measure and Manage Intangible Resources European Management Journal, vol.17, 391-401. Competencies in Assessment and Evaluation for School Counselors (1993) American School Counselor Association and the Association for Assessment in Counseling. DIETRICH, R. (2002) Modern motivation. Jan./www.praxis-uk.com/articles_modmot-g.html retr. 6 June, 2006 FRASE-BLUNT, M. (2001 Dec ) Peering Into An Interview: Peer interviewing can reveal the perfect candidate for your team--if its done right. (Agenda: Recruitment). HR Magazine. Guidelines for the use of psychological tests. (1997, Dec.) The Australian Psychological Society. MAYO, A. (1995) The pain and gain of devolution and empowerment. Organisations & People, vol.2, 4-18. Our Strategies. [Online]. Available from: < http:// www.icliverpool. icnetwork.co.uk > [8 June, 2006]. PEDLER, M., BURGOYNE, J. G. & BOYDELL, T. (1991) The Learning Company, London McGraw Hill. SALAMAN, G. & BUTLER, J. (1990) Why managers won’t learn. Mead, vol. 21, 183. SENGE, P. (1993) The Fifth Discipline, London, Century Books. TORRACO, R., SWANSON, J. & T, A. R. (1995 Dec ) The strategic roles of human resource development. Human Resource Planning. United Utilities 2. [Online]. Available from: < http:// www.psionteklogix.com> [6 June, 2006]. United Utilities Taps into Community Spirit. [Online]. Available from: [7 June, 2006]. Read More