Theory and Concept Submission for Human Resource Development

This submission explores the theory of human resource development cycle and the contributions that dynamic strategic human resource development function can make to an organization’s ability to transform its capabilities. It also argues that the HRD function may not have the potential to be strategically aligned with all organizations.

Running head: THEORY AND CONCEPT SUBMISSION 1
Theory and Concept Submission
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THEORY AND CONCEPT SUBMISSION 2
Theory and Concept Submission
Introduction
Human resource development is a unit of human resource management that specializes
explicitly with training and developing staff within an organization. Pyne (2013) introduces the
concept of Human resource development cycle by mentioning that it includes training an
employee immediately they are hired into an organization, providing opportunities to employees
for learning new skills, distribution of resources that are beneficial to employees while at work
and many other development activities. As for Garavan, Shanahan, Carbery & Watson (2016),
human resource development is necessary for every company that desires to be vibrant and
growth-oriented. Dissimilar to other resources within an organization, human resource
development tend to have unlimited potential capabilities. The potential is applied by merely
providing an environment that can endlessly recognize, convey to surface, cultivate and utilize
the skills of employees. Human Resource Development (HRD) approach aims at providing such
an environment. Various HRD approaches have been developed to execute the above
undertaking based on correct principles.
In this submission, human resource development will be further explored by looking at
the theory of human resource development cycle. In addition, contributions that the dynamic
strategic human resource development function can make to an organization’s ability to
transform its capabilities that includes the capacity of its workforce will be discussed. Finally,
this submission will argue that that the HRD function may not have the potential to be
strategically aligned with all organizations.

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Discussion
Change has become an inevitable part of today’s organizations. The demands placed in
organizations keep changing, for example, technological change, cutting down on operational
costs as well as reducing the number of human labor. On the other hand, customers are looking
up to organizations to increase the number of services and products. Employees are not lugging
behind as well, they expect and look forward to new job opportunities and increment in wages.
Thus, as the demands of the organization keep changing, it is vital for an organization to
incorporate training and development in their program (Pyne, 2013). Training and development
ensure that the staffs are regularly equipped with the necessary skill, knowledge, abilities and
other characteristics to take care of the changes. Specifically, training can be used to help
employees learn new job skills, enhance their performance as well as adjust their attitudes and
behavior towards their duties and organization at large (Garavan, 2007; McGuire, 2014). Pyne
adds that most of the time people possess the abilities and expertise to perform their jobs, but in
most cases, they lack the motivation to exhibit their talents (Pyne, 2013). Therefore, the need for
change is paramount for organizational-wide change.
For training to do flourish, there needs to be a systematic way to drive the process, and
understandable outcomes must be set. Therefore, Pyne (2013) had identified the following
procedure needs evaluation, developing training outcomes, and developing the curriculum as the
critical steps in any successful organizational training. Besides, Pyne mentions that lecturing,
case studies, role-playing, audiovisual and experiential exercises are some of the techniques of
nurturing human talent. However, according to Pyne (2013), a ‘leadership pipeline’ is one of the
most useful methods for managing human talent. Managing the provision of and demand for

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leadership competence requires an official approach to ensure that restricted training and
development resources are targeted effectively.
Dynamic capabilities contribute immensely towards strategic human resource
development. Dynamic capabilities have contributed significantly to the strategies and human
resource development (Garavan, Shanahan, Carbery & Watson, 2016). Garavan and his friends
introduced the concept of ‘dynamic’ strategic human resource development capabilities
(DSHRDCs) (Garavan et al., 2016). DSHRDCs play an essential role in an organizational
capacity to transform its capabilities including the skills of its employees. For example, the
organization ability to incorporate, construct and reconfigure, domestic and external expertise to
tackle a fast changing environment. The conceptual framework of DSHRDCs according to
Garavan et al. (2016) include enabling factors, (b) precise mechanism, (c) fundamental
processes, and (d) exceptional strategic human resource development dynamic capabilities.
Dynamic strategic human resource development links to talent management by empowering the
employees with knowledge, expertise, and abilities to challenge the dynamic working
environment (Ruona, 2014). In an organization seeking change, for example, technological
improvements, it is crucial how the organization views the future capabilities of its employees. In
that regard, if the employees will require specific development and training to cope up with the
improved systems, then the company can be able to tackle that through talent management and
dynamic strategic human resource development concepts.
In disparity to the suggestion that the human resource development function is ‘strategic.’
Anderson (2009) proposes that the human resource development (HRD) concept may have the
possibility to be ‘strategically aligned’ however, this may be neither attainable nor pleasing in
some organizational contexts. Human resource development alignment is complex. Alignment is

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understood as a frequentative progression involving discussion and exchange; participation in
diverse organizational and business development processes, and the use of standard and other
corporate measures. Usually, strategic alignment consists of a lot of tension and challenges. The
level of education, exposure, attitude, behavior all play an essential role in human resource
development. It becomes very cumbersome when employees have a wrong attitude towards new
growth. In such an instance, no matter how much the organization tries to develop human talent,
it will not succeed. Therefore, first, the organization has to ensure that it is dealing with the right
team of staff who are open to change, positive attitude and right organization behavior.
Conclusion
Human resource development specifically aims at developing and training employees to
be comfortable with the constantly changing business environment. Even with that, for HRD to
yield fruitful results, it has to be formal and strategic. In addition, the organization has to create
an environment that will nurture the capabilities of employees. Unlike other resources within an
organization, human resource development tend to have unlimited potential capabilities.
Notably, training and development ensure that the staffs are always equipped with the necessary
skill, knowledge, abilities and other characteristics to take care of the changes. Dynamic
capabilities contribute immensely towards strategic human resource development. When
employees’ expertise, exposure, knowledge and skills are different from one another, it creates
an excellent interactive environment where they can learn and pick from one another.
Human resource development may not apply to all organizations due to some factors such as the
number of staff, their skill, exposure, knowledge and expertise. Thus, it is advisable for
organizations first to conduct a feasibility study and identify if they have all the resources and

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capacity for human resource development. Doing this will help the organization save time,
money and also strategize on the human resource development.

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References
Anderson, V. (2009). Desperately seeking alignment: reflections of senior line managers and
HRD executives, Human Resource Development International, 12(3), 263-277.
Garavan. T., Shanahan. V., Carbery. R., Watson. S. (2016) Strategic human resource
development: towards a conceptual framework to understand its
contribution to dynamic capabilities, Human Resource Development International, 19:4,
289-306, DOI: 10.1080/13678868.2016.1169765
Garavan, T. N. (2007). A strategic perspective on HRD. Advances in Developing Human
Resources, 9(1), 11-30.
McGuire. D. (2014). Human Resource Development. London: Sage Publication.
Pynes. J. E. (2013). Chapter Nine, Training and Career Development, in JE
Pynes (Ed.) Human Resource Management for Public and Non-profit Organizations A
strategic Approach, 4th Edition, Jossey-Bass United Kingdom.
Ruona. E. A. W. (2014). Chapter Twenty Six, Talent Management as a Strategically Aligned, in
Neal F. Chalofsky (Ed). Handbook of Human Resource Development. John Wiley &
Sons United States of America.