Hoofstuk 1: INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Human resource managers in large organizations ranked training and development as the
most important functional area they had to deal with. This was followed in descending order
by recruiting and selection, productivity and quality, succession planning, employee job
satisfaction, compensation, globalization, and diversity.
human resource development (HRD) can be defined as a set of systematic and planned
activities designed by an organization to provide its members with the opportunities to learn
necessary skills to meet current and future job demands
The origins of HRD can be traced to apprenticeship training programs in the eighteenth
century -> Without vocational or technical schools, the shopkeepers had to educate and
train their own workers. Apprentices who mastered all the necessary skills were considered
“yeomen,” together they could form bonds to create a collective voice in negotiating higher
wages and better working conditions. Yeomanries were the forerunners of modern labor
unions.
To facilitate the training process, Charles Allen, director of training, instituted a four-step
instructional method referred to as “show, tell, do, check ” for all of the training programs
offered by the Shipping Board. This technique was later named job instruction training (JIT)
and is still in use today for training many workers on the basic elements of their job
Further, since the 1990s, efforts have been made to strengthen the strategic role of HRD,
that is, how HRD links to and supports the goals and objectives of the organization.
This chapter traced several historical events that contributed to the establishment of human
resource development. Early training programs (such as apprenticeships) focused on skilled
training. At the turn of the twentieth century, more emphasis was placed on training
semiskilled workers. Training departments as we know them today were introduced in many
large companies during World War II. The establishment of the professional trainer led to
the formation of a professional society (ASTD). This culminated in the 1980s when ASTD, in
partnership with the academic community, officially recognized the professional designation
of human resource development (HRD).
Human resource managers in large organizations ranked training and development as the
most important functional area they had to deal with. This was followed in descending order
by recruiting and selection, productivity and quality, succession planning, employee job
satisfaction, compensation, globalization, and diversity.
human resource development (HRD) can be defined as a set of systematic and planned
activities designed by an organization to provide its members with the opportunities to learn
necessary skills to meet current and future job demands
The origins of HRD can be traced to apprenticeship training programs in the eighteenth
century -> Without vocational or technical schools, the shopkeepers had to educate and
train their own workers. Apprentices who mastered all the necessary skills were considered
“yeomen,” together they could form bonds to create a collective voice in negotiating higher
wages and better working conditions. Yeomanries were the forerunners of modern labor
unions.
To facilitate the training process, Charles Allen, director of training, instituted a four-step
instructional method referred to as “show, tell, do, check ” for all of the training programs
offered by the Shipping Board. This technique was later named job instruction training (JIT)
and is still in use today for training many workers on the basic elements of their job
Further, since the 1990s, efforts have been made to strengthen the strategic role of HRD,
that is, how HRD links to and supports the goals and objectives of the organization.
This chapter traced several historical events that contributed to the establishment of human
resource development. Early training programs (such as apprenticeships) focused on skilled
training. At the turn of the twentieth century, more emphasis was placed on training
semiskilled workers. Training departments as we know them today were introduced in many
large companies during World War II. The establishment of the professional trainer led to
the formation of a professional society (ASTD). This culminated in the 1980s when ASTD, in
partnership with the academic community, officially recognized the professional designation
of human resource development (HRD).
