Human Resources Development (HRD) as a theory is a framework for the expansion of human capital within an organization through the

development of both the organization and the individual to achieve performance improvement.[1] Adam Smith states, The capacities of individuals depended on their access to education.[2] The same statement applies to organizations themselves, but it requires a much broader field to cover both areas. Human Resource Development is the integrated use of training, organization, and career development efforts to improve individual, group and organizational effectiveness. HRD develops the key competencies that enable individuals in organizations to perform current and future jobs through planned learning activities. Groups within organizations use HRD to initiate and manage change. Also, HRD ensures a match between individual and organizational needs.[3]

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1 Resources 2 Process, Practice and Relation to Other Fields 3 Discussion 4 As a Program of Study in Formal Education 5 Notes 6 References

[edit] Resources
An excellent resource for understanding the foundations of HRD can be found in "Brief Foundations of Human Resource Development"[4] by Richard A. Swanson. A detailed PowerPoint and HTML overview of Foundations of Human Resource Development,[5] a textbook used in graduate courses, may be found at http://textbookresources.net/.

[edit] Process, Practice and Relation to Other Fields

Notably, HRD is not only a field of study but also a profession.[6] HRD practicioners and academia focus on HRD as a process. HRD as a process occurs within organizations and encapsulates: 1) Training and Development (TD), that is, the development of human expertise for the purpose of improving performance, and 2) Organization Development (OD), that is, empowering the organization to take advantage of its human resource capital.[7] TD alone can leave an organization unable to tap into the increase in human, knowledge or talent capital. OD alone can result in an oppressed, under-realized workforce. HRD practicitioners find the interstices of win/win solutions that develop the employee and the organization in a mutually beneficial manner. HRD does not occur without the organization, so the practice of HRD within

an organization is inhibited or promoted upon the platform of the organization's mission, vision and values. Other typical HRD practices include: Executive and supervisory/management development, new employee orientation, professional skills training, technical/job training, customer service training, sales and marketing training, and health and safety training. HRD positions in businesses, health care, non-profit, and other field include: HRD manager, vice president of organizational effectiveness, training manager or director, management development specialist, blended learning designer, training needs analyst, chief learning officer, and individual career development advisor.[8]

[edit] Discussion
Human Resources Development is not a defined object, but a series of organized processes, with a specific learning objective.[9] Specific interventions, areas of expertise and practice that fall within this definition of HRD are recognized as performance improvement, organizational learning, career management and leadership development.[10] Human Resources Development as a structure allows for individual development, potentially satisfying the organizations goals. The development of the individual will benefit both the individual and the organization. The Human Resources Development framework views employees as an asset to the enterprise whose value will be enhanced by development: Its primary focus is on growth and employee development[] it emphasizes developing individual potential and skills [11] An apprentice will step through the development process to become a tradesman in their field as will a white-collar trainee to become a professional in their field. Training will allow the individual to complete a task within their field today Gutteridge and Hutcheson maintain that, Training provides, maintains and enhances skills to perform the job.[12] Education and training will develop the individual to become a tradesman or a professional in the future. A successful Human Resources Development program will prepare the individual to undertake a higher level of work, organized learning over a given period of time, to provide the possibility of performance change.[13] Human Resources Development is the framework that focuses on the organizations competencies at the first stage, training, and then developing the employee, through education, to satisfy the organizations long-term needs and the individuals career goals and employee value to their present and future employers. Human Resources Development can be defined simply as developing the most important section of any business its human resource by, attaining or upgrading the skills and attitudes of employees at all levels in order to maximize the effectiveness of the enterprise.[14] The people within an organization are its human resource. Human Resources Development from a business perspective is not entirely focused on the individuals growth and development, Development occurs to enhance the organization's value, not solely for individual improvement. Individual education and development is a tool and a means to an end, not the end goal itself.[15]

Over a decade ago (as of 2011), a discussion in Human Resource Development International's[16] "HRDI special issue: defining HRD" in 2001 made it plain that HRD has existed as a field of study.[17] Compared to other disciplines within Business Economics, Human Ressource Professionels have over the years in practize had difficulties in justifying HR investment, especially during recessions. This can in many ways be argued as being based on Human Capital lacking measurability, merely because the field has followed the measurement similar to other disciplines within Business Economics. Systems have arised such as Learning Mangement Systems (LMS), Human Ressource Management Systems (HRMS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). LMS has had focus on HRD, but not as an integrated part of Business Economics. Recent innovative studies and development shows that it is possible to encompass HRD as a concept of Business Economics. The concept is called HRD intelligence. HRD intelligence (HRDi) focuses entirely on the behavior, attitudes, skills and knowledge - Human Capital and processes and activities related hereto - which has an influence on the performance and results of companies. When used as a concept and a system HRD intelligence has the task to collect, structure, provide, promote, pull and document information/data with regard to the different target groups, within or outside the control of the company, which all have the characteristics to have an influence on the success of the strategies of the business, and hereby support better business decision-making. Thus HRD intelligence (HRDi) also can be called a decision support system (DSS). Similar as Business Intelligence (BI). But HRD intelligence both creates and makes relevant data accessable in real time. In practices it should and can interact with other systems such as ERP, HRM and CRM systems to get data about individuals and organizations. This information is the initial platform which is used to structure projects, configure the system, promote knowledge and collect data from and document knowledge about the individuals or organizational units.