Lectures Human Resource Development
Week 1. Introduction, Strategic HRD & Managing the HRD Function
2 & 4th of April 2019
Lecture 1. Introduction to HRD | Chapter 1
Why HRD?
Have you ever:
- (Informally) trained a new employee to do his/her job?
- Taught another person how to use a new technology?
- Attended an information session for new employees?
- Taken part in a company-sponsored training program?
- Gone through an (outdoor) experiential learning experience?
- Completed a career assessment or a career planning object?
- Participated in a company-wide change effort?
What is Human Resource Development? The term originated in 1964 in terms of the human capital
theory. There have been approximately 30 definitions of HRD since. Hamlin and steward (2011)
analyzed these definitions and identified four core purposes of HRD:
1. Improving individual or group effectiveness and performance
2. Improving organizational effectiveness and performance
3. Developing knowledge, skills and competencies
4. Enhancing human potential and personal growth
The main activities of HRD and HRM
1
,Some key terms:
Learning: A relatively permanent change in behavior or in behavioral potential that results from
experience.
Training: A planned and systematic effort to modify or develop knowledge, skills and attitudes
through learning experiences (required to perform organizational roles effectively).
Development: A process which can take place at any time and is not constrained by formal parameters
or at specified points within an individual’s life cycle.
Education: The formal process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge,
skills, customs and values from one generation to another.
Competencies: Competence is the practical application of knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivation,
values, beliefs, cognitive style and personality that enables an individual to work effectively and
autonomously in a clearly defined context.
Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979): We generally prefer those who are similar over
others who are perceived as dissimilar. → Making similarities in teams visible can improve liking and
performance!
Lecture 2. Strategic HRD and Managing the HRD Function | Chapter 2 & 3
Learning goals
- Understand when HRD specialists are performing at a strategic level
- Define Strategic HRD and understand it’s value for organizations
- Recognize key features of SHRD in practice
- Know what determines the position of the HRD function in organizations
How can HRD contribute to strategic goals?
• Alignment
• Business conduct & social responsibility
• Professional development
• Empowerment
• Teamwork
• Safety (& liability)
• Productivity
• Quality
2
,HRM vs. HRD: strategic decision-making processes
When HRM is strategic and when it’s not. This figure concerns contribution to strategic objectives:
when should HRD be involved in decisions?
• Value-driven HRM: Very early in a decision making process (if you for example want to be
more costumer focused you have to train your people → has to do with HRM). If an
organization wants to make changes you can anticipate on these changes and that’s called
value-driven HRM.
• Timely involvement of HRM: Early stage of the decision making process; the decision has
already been made but you want to adapt/implement it.
• Exeutive HRM: Follow the arrows to ‘late’: the idea is communicated with the rest of the
company “we’re going this direction, we need programs to support it”.
• Reactive HRM: If you are very late. Only if there are problems. If you are in this stage that
might also trigger the specialists to think in ways.
If you are in the late or very late stages you don’t have much strategic influence: you are already late
and did not use strategy that much. If you are very early or early, HRM is used strategically.
When HRD is strategic and when it’s not.
They’re either lagging or leading. What are the
consequences? → see table.
What is HRD isn’t strategic?
- HRD becomes reactive
- HRD activities are isolated and
fragmented
- HRD has little value added
- There is no ROI (return on investment)
of HRD
3
, Definitions of strategic HRD
… a coherent, vertically aligned and horizontally integrated set of learning and development activities
which contribute to the achievement of strategic objectives (Garavan, 2007).
Essential features of SHRD:
- Relationship with Business Strategy
- Vertical and horizontal integration of SHRD strategies, policies and practices (Vertical:
alignment from strategy to operationalization. Horizontal: practices and policies fit together)
- Development of a learning climate
- Involvement of multiple actors
- Development of individual and organizational human capital
HRD is still quite narrow. At first, you have to live up to the things mentioned in the definition. In the
long run: create traditions for next strategies → how: by creating a learning climate and development
mindset (see above).
VRIO-framework
Valuable, Rare, Imitable, Organization → If the answer is YES to all of these, you’ll reach sustained
competitive advantage.
Inimitability depends on:
1) path dependency: do resources result from unique historical conditions?
2) causal ambiguity: is the effect of a resource on competitive advantage clear or ambiguous for
people outside the organization?
3) social complexity: are the interactions of the actors involved complex?
4
Week 1. Introduction, Strategic HRD & Managing the HRD Function
2 & 4th of April 2019
Lecture 1. Introduction to HRD | Chapter 1
Why HRD?
Have you ever:
- (Informally) trained a new employee to do his/her job?
- Taught another person how to use a new technology?
- Attended an information session for new employees?
- Taken part in a company-sponsored training program?
- Gone through an (outdoor) experiential learning experience?
- Completed a career assessment or a career planning object?
- Participated in a company-wide change effort?
What is Human Resource Development? The term originated in 1964 in terms of the human capital
theory. There have been approximately 30 definitions of HRD since. Hamlin and steward (2011)
analyzed these definitions and identified four core purposes of HRD:
1. Improving individual or group effectiveness and performance
2. Improving organizational effectiveness and performance
3. Developing knowledge, skills and competencies
4. Enhancing human potential and personal growth
The main activities of HRD and HRM
1
,Some key terms:
Learning: A relatively permanent change in behavior or in behavioral potential that results from
experience.
Training: A planned and systematic effort to modify or develop knowledge, skills and attitudes
through learning experiences (required to perform organizational roles effectively).
Development: A process which can take place at any time and is not constrained by formal parameters
or at specified points within an individual’s life cycle.
Education: The formal process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge,
skills, customs and values from one generation to another.
Competencies: Competence is the practical application of knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivation,
values, beliefs, cognitive style and personality that enables an individual to work effectively and
autonomously in a clearly defined context.
Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979): We generally prefer those who are similar over
others who are perceived as dissimilar. → Making similarities in teams visible can improve liking and
performance!
Lecture 2. Strategic HRD and Managing the HRD Function | Chapter 2 & 3
Learning goals
- Understand when HRD specialists are performing at a strategic level
- Define Strategic HRD and understand it’s value for organizations
- Recognize key features of SHRD in practice
- Know what determines the position of the HRD function in organizations
How can HRD contribute to strategic goals?
• Alignment
• Business conduct & social responsibility
• Professional development
• Empowerment
• Teamwork
• Safety (& liability)
• Productivity
• Quality
2
,HRM vs. HRD: strategic decision-making processes
When HRM is strategic and when it’s not. This figure concerns contribution to strategic objectives:
when should HRD be involved in decisions?
• Value-driven HRM: Very early in a decision making process (if you for example want to be
more costumer focused you have to train your people → has to do with HRM). If an
organization wants to make changes you can anticipate on these changes and that’s called
value-driven HRM.
• Timely involvement of HRM: Early stage of the decision making process; the decision has
already been made but you want to adapt/implement it.
• Exeutive HRM: Follow the arrows to ‘late’: the idea is communicated with the rest of the
company “we’re going this direction, we need programs to support it”.
• Reactive HRM: If you are very late. Only if there are problems. If you are in this stage that
might also trigger the specialists to think in ways.
If you are in the late or very late stages you don’t have much strategic influence: you are already late
and did not use strategy that much. If you are very early or early, HRM is used strategically.
When HRD is strategic and when it’s not.
They’re either lagging or leading. What are the
consequences? → see table.
What is HRD isn’t strategic?
- HRD becomes reactive
- HRD activities are isolated and
fragmented
- HRD has little value added
- There is no ROI (return on investment)
of HRD
3
, Definitions of strategic HRD
… a coherent, vertically aligned and horizontally integrated set of learning and development activities
which contribute to the achievement of strategic objectives (Garavan, 2007).
Essential features of SHRD:
- Relationship with Business Strategy
- Vertical and horizontal integration of SHRD strategies, policies and practices (Vertical:
alignment from strategy to operationalization. Horizontal: practices and policies fit together)
- Development of a learning climate
- Involvement of multiple actors
- Development of individual and organizational human capital
HRD is still quite narrow. At first, you have to live up to the things mentioned in the definition. In the
long run: create traditions for next strategies → how: by creating a learning climate and development
mindset (see above).
VRIO-framework
Valuable, Rare, Imitable, Organization → If the answer is YES to all of these, you’ll reach sustained
competitive advantage.
Inimitability depends on:
1) path dependency: do resources result from unique historical conditions?
2) causal ambiguity: is the effect of a resource on competitive advantage clear or ambiguous for
people outside the organization?
3) social complexity: are the interactions of the actors involved complex?
4
