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IMPORTANCE AND METHODOLOGIES OF EVALUATION OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IN COUNTRIES

Keita Sekou

Abstract

Human Resource development is an important asset permitting corporations and governments to survive in this unstable economic world. Skillful and well educated worker will always permit getting competitive edge. In this article after defining Human Resource development (HRD) and explaining the difference between it and Human development (HD), I will explain the problem of evaluation of HRD with concrete formula and case study showing how the return on investment can be measured. The methodological background with different approaches of more than 10 eminent writers on the question of training evaluation and the common points of them will be presented in a special table with references. Also in the article I `am going to give my concretes processes with typical strategy to follow in terms of HRD in government levels, more specifically in developing countries like Mali where Human capital development is a crucial question. Many corporate or state managers fail with their HRD strategy because of lack of knowledge or management tools which can help them do it. So I think this article will help them more and also will draw governments' attention on the importance of investing in HRD and knowing good evaluation methods. And the work will finish with a conclusion

Keywords: human resource development, human development, evaluation, strategies, globalisation, sustainable development, state performnce, social motivation, hr management.

Развитие людских ресурсов (т.е. кадрового потенциала) является ценным вкладом, позволяющим корпорациям и правительству выживать в этом нестабильном экономическом мире. Способный и хорошо образованный работник будет всегда получать преимущество в конкурентной борьбе. В этой статье, после определения развития людских ресурсов (РЛР) и разъяснения разницы между ним и развитием человеческого потенциала (РЧП), я объясню проблемы оценки РЛР с четко выраженными формулами и примерами из практики, показывающими как именно можно измерить эффективность инвестиций. Ниже в специальной таблице со ссылками будут представлены методологические данные с различными методами расчета, а также общие положения более 10 широко известных авторов, исследующих вопросы оценки кадровой подготовки. Также в статье я собираюсь привести реальные примеры процессов типичной стратегии, чтобы проследить как реализуется РЛР на правительственных уровнях, в частности в развивающихся странах, таких как Мали, где развитие кадровых ресурсов является ключевым вопросом. Многие корпоративные или государственные менеджеры терпят неудачи в принятых ими стратегиях РЛР из-за недостатка знаний или инструментов управления, которые могли бы им в этом помочь. Поэтому я думаю, эта статья сможет помочь им в этом вопросе, а также привлечет внимание правительств на важность инвестирования в РЛР и получении знаний надлежащих методов оценки. В конце данной работы будет также приведено итоговое заключение

Ключевые слова: развитие людских ресурсов, человеческое развитие, оценка, стратегии, глобализация, устойчивое развитие, государственная производительность, социальная мотивация, управление персоналом

HRD (human resource development) is a relatively not very old discipline but a well established field of practice really important for all developing or developed countries. HRD is focused on human beings working in productive systems.

We have many definition of HRD proposed by writers and HR specialists and one of the most important has been proposed by Richard A. Swanson and Elwood F. lolton: HRD is a process for developing and unleashing human expertise through organization development and personnel training and development for purpose of improving performance [11, 3,]. Some more recent definition even considers HRD as an agent of societal and national development, not only focused on organizations.

For me "Strategic HRD can be defined as the invention, and following of a learning culture, within which a range of training, development and learning strategies both respond to corporate and state strategy and also help to shape and influence it". This suggests that a key focus of strategic HRD is the creation of a learning environment and structural design that promotes learning and development for performance improvement and competitiveness.

HRD is any process or activity that, either initially or over the long term, has the potential to develop adults work-based knowledge, expertise, productivity, and satisfaction, whether for personal or group/team gain, or for benefit of an organization, community, nation, or, ultimately, the whole of humanity (Mclean and Mclean, 2000).[4, 5, 10,] .It is different form HD (human development), but can have a strong influence on the latest one. Human development is considered through index of longevity, index of education and living standard. International organizations proposed a formula for the measurement. [12]

A: longevity

B: education

C: living standard

For me RHD can just be consider as a cornerstone practice permitting companies and countries to survive in to this unstable economic world by giving them possibilities to evaluate their human capital and propose solutions to increase its capacity. It is a strategic investment.

Why to evaluate hrd in countries?

Evaluation is undertaken for several reasons. Generally, the reasons fall into two categories (Phillips, 1983): to improve the HRD process and to decide whether or not to continue it. Evaluation is a systematic process that determines the worth, value, or meaning of something. [8, 9, 10, 11]

Most of the sub-saharan countries do not have strategies for HR development in whole. In this case it is difficult for them to know the exact way to follow for economical development. Development comes from people not natural resources, because natural resources may disappear or if they are not well manage, will not be profitable for the country. Therefore, human capital development is a big asset for economical growth. Yes everybody (developed or developing countries) are agreed that we must invest in HR development, but the critical questions are:

- How to understand HRD in this global village?

- Which process to follow? As I call here the one best way.

- How to evaluate ROI of this investment, and also discover the weak points of the system and repair them for better future?

- How build up an HRD strategy for the country?

These 4 questions must be considered today in all countries today and specifically developing countries like Mali.

In this article I will propose an HRD strategy for Mali with the appropriate process, with mythology to evaluate it for a sustainable HR development of this country.

HRD and globalization

As the tendency of the world economy to act in one unit, led by very big corporations doing business all over the world, countries do not have much possibilities to protect their job market again foreign well qualified workers. There the only tool for a sovereign country to gain competitive edge and provide better life to its population is to invest in their training and development.

HRD is also a crucial factor to moving into the global village and this point of view has been supported by Rheine smith when he wrote that Globalization "enables the world to reach into individuals, corporations, and nation-states farther, faster, deeper, and cheaper than ever before" (Freidman, 2000, p.9). Rheine smith continued on the same way by supporting that, nation states and organizations have:

- Gather global trends on learning, related technology, training, and organization development to improve the competitive edge.

- Think and work through contradictory needs resulting from paradoxes and confrontations in a complex global world.

- View the organization as a process rather than a structure.

- Increase ability to work with people having various abilities, experiences, and cultures.

- Manage continuous change and uncertainty.

- Seek lifelong learning and organizational improvement on numerous fronts.

Globalization did not reinforce competition only in economic market, but it also created cut throat competition in international job market where we need only excellent and well trained work force. [13, 1, 6, 7]

To survive states and companies have to adopt the HRD practice.

HRD process

As it is a practice, so HRD is based on process, which permits us to know the sequence of different actions. Through my investigations and analysis, I remarked the necessity of 6 phases and 2 different processes.

Systematic approach figure1

Analysis and evaluation phases are very strategic points of HRD so they should be carried with more expertise and serious.

The reality is that, both of the processes are important but ADDIE (analysis, design, develop, implement, and evaluate) model, is often overlooked when organizations create and implement training programs. A number of reasons have been noted for organizations failing to conduct systematic evaluations. First, many training professionals either do not believe in evaluation or do not possess the mind-set necessary to conduct evaluation (Swanson, 2005). Others do not wish to evaluate their training programs because of the lack of confidence in whether their programs add value to, or have impact on, organizations or society (Spitzer, 1999). Lack of evaluation was also attributed to the lack of resources and expertise, as well as lack of an organization culture that supports such efforts (Desimone, Werner, & Harris, 2002; Moller, Benscoter, & Rohrer-Murphy, 2000). Even for limited efforts in training evaluation, most are retrospective in nature (Brown & Gerhardt, 2002; Wang & Wang, 2005). [4, 5, 10, 11]

Evaluation of HRD in countries

Many countries know now the importance of human capital and at the same time human Resource has huge value in economic theory. This literature emphasizes the importance of human capital formation in the long term growth of output, especially in developing countries but also developed ones. In addition, it highlights the influence of national economic policies on long term economic growth, a feature absent in neoclassical models. According to this view, changes in the rate of human capital investment lead to changes in the long term rate of output growth rather than simply to changes in the level of output. The allocation of expenditures between human and physical investments, including government expenditures, therefore has critical ramifications for future growth and development. Strictly speaking, the measurement of human capital development should cover the range of investments that human beings make in themselves and in others, including formal and informal education, on-the-job-training, health, nutrition, and social services.

This definition makes several important points (De Simone et al, 2003):

* First, when conducting an evaluation, both descriptive and judgmental information may be collected. And these both are needed in HRD evaluation. Some of the judgments are made by those involved in the program, and others are made by those not involved in the program.

* Second, evaluation also involves the systematic collection of information according to a predetermined plan or method to ensure that the information is appropriate and useful.

* Finally, evaluation is conducted to help managers, employees, and HRD professionals make informed decisions about particular programs and methods. For example, if part or a program is ineffective, it may need to be changed or discarded. Or, if a certain program is valuable, it may be replicated in other parts of the organization. [4, 11,]

Training evaluation metholdlogies:

We have some methodologies of evaluation used widely to evaluate training effort such us Formative and Summative Evaluation.

Formative evaluation, programs or projects are typically assessed during their development or early implementation to provide information about how best to revise and modify for improvement. This type of evaluation often is helpful for pilot projects and new programs, but can be used for progress monitoring of ongoing programs. In summative evaluation, programs or projects are assessed at the end of an operating cycle, and findings typically are used to help decide whether a program should be adopted, continued, or modified for improvement.

Both evaluation methods are recommended for use, when possible, to provide program staff with ongoing feedback for program modifications (formative) as well as periodic review of long-term progress on major program goals and objectives (summative), and to meet regular reporting requirements (e.g., for a grantor, agency, organizational manager, or state administrators).

Methodological background

After reading different writers about HRD evaluation in countries, we understand that their common points are motivation, quality and cost in general. [9, 10, 1] So HRD is an investment for short and long term.

The system of training is very much influenced by the human resource or civil service model in a particular country. A career system requires a different training system than a position based system. For career development training is necessary to prepare staff recruited for a civil service post (civil servants are hired without specific expertise for the position). Therefore initial training and training in general plays a much more important role than in a system with position based characteristics.

I will develop more the theory of HRD and propose some development strategies for developing countries like Mali in my thesis.

Here is the way to follow in order to increase public performance and meet the development objectives.

Strategic HRD for developing countries (example Mali)

Considering the weak economical reality of these countries, the low quality of education in all levels, civil services and private companies are in serious need of well qualified workers. The only solution for that is to invest more in HRD, and to improve management level in all levels.

People really need knowledge in those countries in order to manage themselves and avoid conflicts lead by ignorance but also skillful workers for their sustainable development.

This strategy focused on investment in different levels of HRD from early childhood development to Human Resources work force development should be accompanied with strategic management system and methodic evaluation system. In all the different levels, social motivation plays a central role because when people are implicated in a training process, the result can be more sufficient than the opposite.

At the same time the theory of social motivation is crucial in achievement of organizational goals. As for evaluation the ROI methodology can be used for measurement of the ad value of different investments and recognize the defeated points.

See the way to follow in the graphic bellow and down the case study about ROI methodology.

State HRD strategy figure 2

With such strategy of HRD countries or companies can use ROI Methodology. The evaluation model that emerged from the work of Dr. Donald Kirkpatrick and Dr. Jack Phillips has become the most credible and most widely used training and HRD evaluation methodology in the world. In particular, the Phillips ROI Methodology TM offers a practical way to forecast the potential payoff--return on investment (ROI) of a proposed training or human resources development initiative before funds are committed.

The MCPCC ROI Forecasting Tool, based on the Phillips approach, is an easy-to-use decision support tool that allows organizations to quickly develop and examine the business case for investing in workforce development. While the tool itself is a self contained and self-explanatory ROI calculator, the following is a brief overview of the ROI Methodology TM underlying the forecasting tool. ROI and cost-benefit analysis are familiar decision-making tools used in business management worldwide [8, 1, 10,11, 3]. They are used most commonly to analyze planned investment decisions for the acquisition of capital equipment and technology. At its simplest, ROI is the ratio of the net benefits of an investment compared to its total costs.

Example:

A sales training program delivered by Lenta a leading commercial company in Russia (SPB) to 61 retail sales associates results in an increase in sales contributing an increase in profits to the organization of $ 150.000 per year. The total cost of the program was $ 120,000.

The benefit cost ratio will be:

BCR = 1.25 $

In other words, for every $1.00 spent on the training program, $ 1.25 is returned.

The ROI of the program is:

= 25%

This means that every dollar spent on the training program is returned and an additional $0.25 is returned as profit.

Conclusion

Evaluation of HRD interventions should take place, addressing whether strategic objectives and needs of the government institution have been met and whether organizational performance has been improved through learning interventions. human resource development investment

Many countries (developed or developing) started reforms such as privatization, devolution, purchaser-provider split, performance management and commercialization. These reforms need significant changes in the behavior and competencies of civil servants. Duties are becoming multifaceted and very complex: they may encompass policy advice, management of human, financial and other resources, the provision of critical services and others (United Nation, 2005). Such an environment makes extraordinary demands on all civil servants.

Meeting all these challenges requires a unique combination of knowledge, skills, attitudes and effective human resource development systems, policies and strategies to nurture these competencies. Moreover, there is strong competition for talent in the market and the public sector must compete with the private sector for human resources (Tulgan, 2001). In short, governments need to build a culture of organizational learning that will foster continuous reinvention of the public service.

References

1. OECD, Public Sector Modernization: The Way Forward. Policy Brief, OECD, 2005.

2. Phillips, J.J. Handbook of training evaluation and measurement methods. Houston: Gulf Publishing, 1983.

3. Phillips, J.J. ROI: How much is the Training? Training & Development. 1996, April,20-24.

4. Rainbird, H. "The Changing Role of the Training Function: A Test for the Integration of Human Resource and Business Strategies?" Human Resource Management Journal, Vol.5 (1), 1994,72-90.

5. Reid, M. A. and Barrington, H. A. Training Interventions: Promoting learning Opportunities. London, CIPD, 2001.

6. Barke M., O'Hare G. (1991): The Third World. Oliver & Boyd, London.

7. Bujard H., Shradin H. (2003): Managing Economic Crises and Natural Disasters in the Third World Countries. University of Cologne. Cologne.

8. Achieving Results from Training, Robert O. Brinkerhoff, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, 1987

9. The Bottomline on ROI, Patricia P. Phillips, Jack J. Phillips, (Series Editor), CEP Press Atlanta, GA, 2002

10. Evaluating Training Programs (2nd Edition), Donald L. Kirkpatrick, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, CA, 1998.

11. Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs, 2nd Edition, Jack J. Phillips, Butterworth-Heinemann, Burlington, MA, 2003.

12. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indice_de_d%C3%A9veloppement_humain

13. Current Security Management & Ethical Issues of Information Technology Published by: Rasool Azari ISBN 1-931777-43-8

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