LITERATURE REVIEW - A Study on the Human Resource Development Competencies of Human Resource Ma

This chapter gives an overview of relevant literature on HRD and HRD competencies. The first section discusses the definition of HRD; the second section discusses the theories of HRD.

The third section presented the HRD competencies for HR managers. Lastly, this chapter provides an overview of some relevant studies on HR managers’ HRD competencies.

Definition of HRD Evolution of HRD

The concept of human resource management (HRM) started its evolution from the 1960s along with the concept of HRD. These two concepts share the similar roots, because they both refer to the human capital of the organization (Haslinda, 2009; Tseng & McLean, 2008). HRD, which is seen as a young academic field, is still struggling to find its rightful place besides HRM. For Ruona and Lynham (2004), in practice, HRD and HRM are not separate functions therefore shouldn’t be separated. In reality, the field of HRD is considered by many authors such as McGoldrick, Stewart and Watson (2001), and, Ruona and Lynham, (2004), as a replica of HRM, even in countries where HRD field seems to be mature and widely spread such as the United States, it is still difficult to find a major line to distinguish the two fields from one another (Rowold, 2008; Stavrou-Costea, 2005). Despite the co-existence of the two disciplines, yet there exist historical differences.

Historically, HRD, according to Gilley and Eggland (1989), and, DeSimone and Harris (1998), can trace its origin to the early apprenticeship and vocational education programs in early factory schools; although during this period, the workplace was not considered a learning place (Gilley &

Eggland, 1989). Since then, HRD has been growing gradually and has now proven to be a discipline of its own. This has not been without the support of researcher communities such as: the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) and the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) (Swanson & Holton, 2001).

Despite these similarities the HRD field through the years is proving to be a field that has a place of its own next to the HRM field. The major communities of researchers, which has contributed and favored the emergence and the growth of the HRD field to these days, are the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) and the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) (Swanson & Holton, 2001).

Definition of HRD

The concept of human resource development (HRD) has been defined by many authors. One of the most famous definitions of HRD is the one of McLean and McLean (2001), who defines HRD as the processes and activities which aim in the short or long run to developing the aptitudes of adults and potential in work related knowledge, expertise, satisfaction and productivity. On the other hands, Nadler (1983, p. 1) described the HRD field as “an organized learning experience which could enhance the individual’s work performance and also enables the individual to grow within the organization”. In addition McLagan (1989, p. 7) defines this growing field as “the integrative use of training and development, career development, and organization development to improve individual, group and organizational effectiveness”. The table 2.1, in page 9, gives a brief summary of different definitions of HRD as a discipline in different years.

Based on scholarly points, it is inferable that the concept of HRD is highly related to work performance enhancement as it improves the competencies of employees. Meaning HRD activities are mainly focused on training the employees for enhanced performance. This concept is further buttressed by theories of different theorist.

9 Table 2.1.

Some Definitions of HRD

Author Year Definition

Harbison and Myers

(1964) HRD is the process of improving the knowledge, skills, and capacity order to benefit organization innovation and modernization

Nadler (1970) HRD is a succession of organized activities within a specific time and designed to enhance behavioral change.

Gilley and Eggland (1989) HRD is an organized learning activities within an organization in order to enhance performance and personal growth.

Bergenhenegouwen (1990) HRD is the activities related to training members of an organization in order to provide them with the knowledge and skills needed according to the objectives of the organization.

Meggison et al. (1993) HRD is an integrated and holistic approach to changing work-related behavior using a range of learning techniques

Gourlay (2000) HRD integrates theory and practice related to training, development and learning within organizations, for both individuals and competence formation.

Swanson (2001) HRD is a process of improving performance through activities such as organization development, personnel training and development.

Nyhan (2002) HRD refers to educational training and development activities related to working life.

Desimone (2003) HRD is a set of dynamic programs which respond to changes in the organization.

Slotte et al. (2004) HRD includes functions related to training, career development, organizational development and research and development in addition to other organizational HR functions where these are intended to foster learning capacity at all levels of the organization, to integrate learning culture into its overall business strategy and to promote the organization’s efforts to achieve high quality performance.

Note. Adapted from “Foundations of human resource development” by R.A. Swanson and E.F. Holton, 2001, p.11.San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

After defining the concept of HRD, the next section discusses the theories and importance of HRD for organizations.

Theories and Importance of HRD Theories of HRD

As a theory is meant to explain what a phenomenon is and how it works (Torraco, 1997), HRD is a discipline way broader than any single theory. HRD is a discipline believed to be supported and explained by three main theories: the psychological theory, the economic theory, and the systems theory.

The psychological theory.

HRD takes place in organizations that are psychologically framed because organizations, therefore it is obvious that psychology is core for HRD (Argyris, 1993; Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993). Most of the books on HRD practices such as training, need assessment, are almost reliant on the behaviorist school of psychology. The principles of this school revolve around everything concerning mental processes of humans and the patterns of human behavior. The psychological theory has three sub-theories which all have an impact on HRD.

 Gestalt psychology: HRD for this sub-theory has the purpose of clarifying the goals of each party in the organization.

 Behavioral psychology: for this sub-theory, HRD has the main purpose of developing the knowledge and expertise of all parties in the organization.

 Cognitive psychology (purposive behaviorism): for this sub-theory, HRD has the main purpose of harmonizing the goals and behaviors among all parties in the organization goals and behaviors among all parties in the organization.

The psychological theory, therefore, focuses on the core aspect of developing human resources as well as the socio-technical interactions of humans and systems in the organization. However, due to the reliance of HRD on psychological aspect of the organization rather than the economic agenda via a systematic analysis of the organization and its goals, the field is pushed to the back of the line of priorities of organizations (Swanson, 2001). To strategically place HRD on line of priorities, the Economic theory has been introduced.

The economic theory.

This theory captures the core issues of the efficient and effective utilization of resources to meet productive goals in a competitive environment. The main idea of this theory revolves around the fact that HRD should be concerned with managing scarce resources and the production of

wealth by increasing performance in the organization. This theory follows the pattern of the main economic theories.

 The scarce resource theory: this theory emphasizes that HRD must provide a justification of its use of scarce resources of the organization.

 The sustainable resource theory: the sustainable resource theory tasks HRD to create added value to sustainable long-term economic performance.

 The human capital theory: this theory emphasizes that HRD must add short term and long term value to the organization. It further stresses the need for HRD to add value to investments in the development of knowledge and expertise of every party in the organization.

It could be recalled that economist Marshall (1949) argued that the most valuable investment for every organization is the one invested in humans. As such, organizations should consider HRD as first line priority. As Drucker (1964) stated management related fields should be viewed as useful derivatives of economic theory of HRD.

The systems theory.

The main idea of this theory revolves around uniting many sciences in the practices of HRD.

This theory is presented by Jacobs (1989) as a theory unifying the different theories in HRD. The theory is set to capture the complex and dynamic nature of the interactions within and without the organizations. The systems theory is constituted by the following sub-theories:

 The general system theory: the main focus of this sub theory is that, HRD must understand how it relates with other subsystem in order to find any possible connection or disconnection.

 The chaos theory: this sub theory advocates for HRD to help its host organization to maintain its purpose and effectiveness in the event of chaos.

 The futures theory: as the name implies, this theory emphasizes HRD intervention to help its host organization to prepare for the future.

Buckley (1968) and Gradous (1989) concluded that as HRD takes place in organizations that are involved in a dynamic environment, the system theory can, therefore, find its rightful place as a core theory.

The three component HRD theories (the psychological theory, the economic theory, and the system theory) are portrayed as a 3-legged stool, see figure 2.1. This represents the three different

theories and the stool platform represents integration of the three theories into a unique theory of HRD. The organization is represented by the stool which means HRD mostly is done in and for an organization, while ethical rug implies that HRD should cultivate ethics (Swanson, 2001).

Figure 2.1. The theoretical foundation of Human Resource Development. Adapted from

“Foundations of human resource development” by R.A. Swanson and E.F. Holton, 2001, p.93.

If HRD field is to be relevant to its host organization, it should successfully integrate. After reviewing the main core theories for HRD, the next section establishes the importance of HRD.

Importance of HRD for the Organizations

For Swanson (2001), HRD practices such as employees training and development improve the performance of employees, which undoubtedly impacts on organization development (OD).

Furthermore, Smith (2004) also argues that the main purpose of HRD in any organization is to enhance work-related knowledge, skills, and attitude (competencies) in all the levels of the organizations. Therefore, HRD seems to have a strong bond with the workplace learning thus improving the productivity of employees From this line of ideas, it becomes more visible that HRD plays major role in bridging the gaps of organization development needs of both individual

HRD Theory

Organization, Process, Team &

individuals Performance

Psychological

Economic Systems

Ethics

employees and their employers rather than just focusing on the management of employees like HRM.

The significance of HRD cannot be over emphasized because all meaningful organizations are very much particular about change and stress management, and training and development which focus on developing the competencies of individuals through planned learning experiences, a concept that represents the core values of HRD (Lynham, 2001; Valkeavaara, 1998). In the past, formal classroom training programs comprised the majority of human resource development activities, and the terms “training” and “development” were seen as similar, but nowadays HRD activities involve developing human potential by various workplace learning and performance activities (Salleh, 2012).

In recent years, a new trend in the HRD field has been growing and it discusses the contribution HRD can make to the community and by extension to the nation as a whole (McLean, 2004). In making HRD interventions more meaningful beyond organizational boundaries by linking HRD and the development needs employees for improved performance and career growth, a set of competency models have been developed that match different functions in the organizations. And according to Heffernan and Flood (2000), these competency models could be used to link the main HR process of an organization such as recruitment, training and development, performance management and compensation with the overall business strategy of the organization. Additionally, these competency models can help HR professionals and HRD practitioners to identify the required KSAOs to perform efficiently in a function. It enables them to establish development plan to match the competencies of the employees and what it takes for them to function efficiently and effectively within the organization and beyond. As matter of fact, McClelland (1973) suggested that to test the aptitudes of peoples it is better to rely on competencies rather than intelligence.

Based on the literature previously reviewed it could be understood that the HR professional and HRD practitioners play an important roles for the organization. They enable the organization to grow through employee development which makes it important to develop first, the HR professionals in charge of the HRD in the organization especially if they are not HRD practitioners in order to make sure that they possess the adequate competencies to establish development plans for others (Konan, 2010). In doing so, the need to assess HRD competence of the HR professionals in order to establish their development needs is a necessity.

Competency Models for HRD Managers

Competency, which may be understood as combination of knowledge, skills, ability and others required for the performance of a specific job effectively and efficiently (Wynne & Stringer, 1997) has different models. These various models are of paramount importance to HR managers.

Competency and Competency Model

Definition of competency.

Various authors in the literature offered definitions for competency but none has gotten universal accepted (Whiddett & Hollyforde, 2003). According to Lucia and Lespinger (1999) competency is “A descriptive tool that identifies the skills, knowledge, personal characteristics, and behaviors needed to effectively perform a role in the organization and help the business meet its strategic objectives” (p.5). HR professionals on their part argue that competency represents an important set of tools which offer a platform based on various assessments tools such as the readiness of employees for a job and also the development needs of employees (Verma, Broers, Paterson, & Schroder, 2009). The term can also be defined as identifying a set of highly desirable attributes that can positively influence performance outcomes desired by an organizational

Spencer and Spencer (1993,p.11) on the other hand defined competency as “an underlying characteristic of an individual that is causally related to criterion-referenced effective and/or superior in performance in a job or situation”. By using the term “underlying characteristics”, Spencer and Spencer meant to point out the fact that competency is a fairly deep and enduring part of the personality, and that it can predict behavior in job tasks. The terms being causally related, Spencer and Spencer argued that competence can predict behavior and performance.

However, researchers and practitioners seek to establish competencies and competency models for the different functions in the organizations as they are used to influence hiring, retention, training practices, and also improve the quality of the organizational workforce. To achieve improved quality work force, definition of competency has widen to include some measurable aspects related to technical, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills, a common definition adopted by many organizations such as the American Society of Training and Development (Bernthal et al., 2004), and the Project Management Institute (PMI, 2002).

Figure 2.2. The iceberg model. Adapted from “Competence at work: Models for superior performance,” by L.Spencer & M.Spencer, 1993, p.11. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Copyright 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

As shown in figure 2.2, the visible competencies are competencies that can be easily assessed, it comprises of the skills and knowledge. Knowledge is the ensemble of information a person owns or knows in a specific area. Skills refer to the ability of an individual to accomplish a given physical and/or mental task. The hidden competencies refer to the competencies that cannot easily be seen or assessed and even developed. The hidden competencies comprise of self-concept, trait and motive. Those competencies are the ones that relate most to the personality of the individual. Self-concept refers to the attitude and value of an individual and it can be improved by activities such as training, psychotherapy and so on (Spencer & Spencer, 1993). Trait refers to the physical aptitudes of the individual and it is constituted by the individual’s response to a particular situation and information. Finally, motive represents the desire, the emotional needs that drive the individual behavior towards goals and actions.

Competency modeling or establishing competency models is the activity of determining the specific competencies that are characteristic of high performers and success in a given job. In a study in 1980, McLagan noted that competency models are important decision tools that offer description of the key capabilities necessary to perform a job. For McLagan (1980), selection,

Skills Knowledge

Self-concept Trait Motive Visible

Hidden

development, assessment and planning should always be competency based. This, therefore, shows the importance of competency models.

Importance of competency models.

The first major benefit of competency models in the HR fields is the fact that competency models are a basis for creating job profiles and deriving some set of tasks and duties for each job.

From the job profiles, appropriate candidates for a job are assessed and selected in the talent acquisition. Also job profiles derived from competency models form the basis for performance management system, training and development, and organization development strategies, (Teodorescu, 2006). Noe (2002) added that establishing a set of competencies necessary for a job can help HR practitioners to establish a development plan for employees according to the external environment changes in order to offer a competitive advantage to the company.

The HRD field greatly benefits from the mapping of competency because of many reasons:

first, competency models are perfect tools to help HRD practitioners to determine the current and future development needs of their organizations and be able to provide solutions. Second, competency models serve as reference for what type of the knowledge and skills employees have to possess at different stages of their careers; and from the assessment of competencies development, solution can be proposed to each employee according to his or her needs. In other words competency models favor the rise of learning in the organization as it makes it easier to know what employees need to learn. Also, competency models help HR professionals to determine their own development needs. Since this study focuses on developing HR professionals on HRD competencies for the HR practitioners in Burkina Faso, it, therefore, becomes imperative to review the different competency models proposed for HR practitioners by the main bodies of research communities.

HRD Competency Models

A competency model is a written description of the competencies required for an employee to perform successfully (Dubois & Rothwell, 2004). Competency models for HR professionals and HRD practitioners are numerous, but the most important contribution in this area comes from American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), the society of Human resource management (SHRM) and Ulrich’s RBL group. Mainly, competency models for HR managers and

practitioner are based on practical experience (Swanson, 1994; Rummler & Brache, 1995;

Weisbord, 1987).

The models of the ASTD.

In 1989 Mclagan under the cover of the ASTD mapped out the domain of competencies which was linked to the HRD field. As a result, this study established that HRD function involved the following areas: Training and Development (T&D), Organization Development (OD) and Career

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