Introduction

The years ahead hold a bright, exciting, and challenging

time for Human Resource Development (HRD) practitioners.
The past few decades witnessed the realization of many major
contributions of training and development in the business
world as well as in private, educational, and government
institutions. Because of the significance of the HRD function,
the planning and development of HRD plans is fundamental
to the economy at large. As one noted human resource
developer said: "As men and women strive to keep pace with
changes in a dynamic society, yesterday's learning is not
adequate to cope with today's problems." Tomorrow's new
and different knowledge and

opportunities for challenge will be essential for our political,

social, and economic survival. This is the challenge that we
HRD practitioners must face. VVhether we like it or not, we
in training and development have a bigger and more diverse
role to play. We are expected to accomplish more and better
results. We need to keep up with changes in our field to cope
with the demands of the changing world.
There are many forces which affect the HRD function that
have considerably become more complex which demand a
closer look on our part. These are:
a. Social Changes and Economic Revolution. At the pace the
world is undergoing changes, one could clearly see that the
need for upgrading the quality of our manpower
requirements is inevitable in order to cope with the
demands of the time. Social changes, economic pressures,
and crises greatly affect the HRD function. In order to
assure a fleet of qualified personnel in case labor shortages
result in particular areas and accommodate personnel
growth or handle personnel turnover brought about by the
sweeping

2
 changes in the society and economy as a result of
unemployment, social mobility, and economic crises
(the oil crisis, for example), one must be prepared to
have on hand people whom we can call on and use
profitably.
b. Changing Nature of the Workforce. Time has
produced a more educated, aggressive, and a more
critical work force. They are ambitious, harder to
manage, and have social values which are
continuously changing over time. This factor
reinforces the need for training and development to
bring about an integration of individual goals and
interests with corporate objectives.
c. Trends and Development in Technology. The world is
an ever-changing world. Over time, new things have
been discovered, new areas of research have been
explored, and new tools and machines have been
developed. These new discoveries give rise to new
trends and developments in today's technology. Thus,
implementation of career planning and employee
development and retraining the work force as well as
the top management people to cope with advanced
technology is necessary.
d. Government and Labor Law Requirements. Political
issues are not the only things that change: government
and labor law requirements also vary from time to
time. HRD function is affected by such changes and
HRD practitioners have to comply with the new
requirements, especially now that the government is
on top in the country's effort to improve the quality of
working life and to harness and develop our human
resources. The government believes that a strong
work force IS the backbone of our economy. And to
achieve this, labor laws and incentives are passed to
support and uphold the HRD effort.
e. Value Changes. Shifting values have affected the
HRD function. Some shifts we can cite are the shifts
from fear of technology to use of technology; from
authoritarianism to participative management; from

3
 consideration of quality to quantity or vice versa;
and from material needs to social wants. When these
happen, then retraining the employees is imperative
to bring about common grounds of interest and
orientation about the company's direction.
f. Rate of Changé. Most of the dramatic changes that we see have
occurred only in the past 25 years. One can, therefore, maintain
that these rapid changes may leave us unprepared in the future
unless steps are undertaken to ensure both employee's and
company's survival. Thus, training and development are
necessary.
g. Massive Amount of Information. With the advent of high-
based technology, a larger amount of information will be
available to us, information which we must know how to
utilize. And to utilize such mas sive information, one should
be able to impart it via training and developmental activities.
In a competitive economy like ours, these factors can
have a tremendous effect on human resources development
function. A company that has carried out this function well
has an edge over one that has failed to do so. Similarly, a
company that had adequately planned its corporate strategies
as well as assessed its projected manpower needs in terms of
its availability in the future has a stronger capacity to deal
with and respond to both changes in the demands of the
industry and its own labor markets.
Strategies for increasing productivity and efficiency at
all levels and improving the quality of working life have
propelled us to focus our attention on ways and means to
achieve them. Yet, many of us have failed. These areas
cannot be solved overnight. And it needs a multidisciplinary
approach, and one of these approaches is through human
resource development and management.
As long as the organization desires to continue and
survive the keen competition, it must continually be aware
of its commitment to train and develop its human resources.

4
Human Resource Training, Development, and
Education in tho Corporate Scheme
No company or organization today can gurvive unlegg it
grows. It is the growth or attrition of manpower today that is
the key factor for the success or failure of many an
organization. Human resource training and development is
indeed necessary if the organization is to remain intact and
headed towards the direction of progress.
Human resource training and development is founded on
four beliefs which are essential for our understanding. Without
these elements, training and development programs and other
educational efforts are an impossibility.
Firstly, human resource training and development is
founded on the belief that human beings have the capacity
and potentials for growth. Everyone in the organization has
the ability to grow and should strive constantly towards this
direction in order to sustain the growth of the company.
Secondly, human resource training and development is
based on the belief in the unique value of the individual
person. Thus, each one in the organization is a person in his
own right, different from all others, and is capable of
innovative contributions to make the organizatidn viable.
Thirdly, human resource training and development is
based on the premise that employees' interests and
organizational objectives can be integrated.
Lastly, human resource training and development is
established on the belief that people in the organization is
considered as a resource, and that human resource training
and development is an investment that would yield a return
a pay-off of considerable amount.
HRD — An Investment in People
An organized training and development activity is a
sound investment whether it be in business, in industry, or
in the government. There are three reasons why
organizations engage in training activities.
 The first reason is to accommodate personnel growth and
turnover. As personnel change, others must be trained to
assume the positions left vacant, thus providing continuity in
the performance of duties and responsibilities for the smooth
operation of the cotnpany.
The second is to prepare employees to perform newly
created duties and responsibilities brought about by Changes in
organization's objectives, structure, laws, policies, and new
technology.
The third is to improve the ability of employees to
perform the present or future duties more effectively.
No matter how we look at training and development, it
is evident that it is directed towards integrating personal
and corporate objectives in order to attain the company's

As has been mentioned above, training is a sound

investment. This is an important statement but it also poses
three questions in the mind of a businessman: (1) What gains
can a company derive from investing in HRD? (2) What costs
are involved in HRD? (3) How can a company ensure that its
HRD program is successful?
In general terms, a considerable amount of benefit can be
expected from training and development, although, we would
like to clarify at this point that training is only one of the
many variables which influence business activities and
organizational development.
Below is a list of benefits or return on investment that
can be expected from training and development.
I. Training helps employees to learn their jobs quickly
and effectively. It also helps to minimize the costs
incurred by employees while learning their jobs.
2. Existing employees can be helped by training to improve
their work performance and to keep them up-to-date in
their specialized fields.
6
3. The standard or quality of work required by the
company is more likely to be achieved and
maintained if employees are well-trained.
4. A greater volume of work can be expected from
trained staff, partly because they work more rapidly
and partly because they make fewer mistakes.
5. A reduction in work errors benefits a company in
two other ways. First, management can spend
more time in planning and development activities
instead of correcting mistakes. Second, costs of
correcting errors, often involving overtime, are
eliminated.
6. Labor
ineffective learning and inadequate training, can
be reduced. Staff who are helped by efficient
training to learn their jobs rapidly are more likely
to achieve a high level of job satisfaction soon
after joining the company and so tend to remain
longer. The benefits to a company of improved
retention of new staff, although not always
obvious, may outweigh in importance many of the
other benefits in this list.
7. Retention of staff is an advantage to a company
only as long as the skills and knowledge of its
employees contribute to the company's
operations. By retraining staff, new abilities
replace obsolescent expertise.
8. Training in safe working practices reduces
accidents, resulting in social and financial benefits
to both the employees and the company.
9. A company needs a flexible work force to operate
efficiently when staff are absent through sickness
or away on holiday. Training increases staff
 versatility by widening their range of expertise to
include related jobs.
10. A company with a reputation for providing good
training tends to attract better applicants.
11. Employees are less likely to become frustrated
and leave if opportunities for further training and
development are available within the company.

7
12. Employees are motivated to work hard and increase their
contribution to the company if proper training

In Of reduction, efficient training procedures could

contribute in the following ways:
a. A reduction of overhead and labor costs is
maintained by reducing the amount of time
required to perform the job involved in producing
goods or services as well as reducing the time
required to bring the unexpericnccd employee to an
acceptable level of job proficiency.
b. A reduction of the costs of materials and supplies is
established by reducing losses due to excess waste
and defective products.
c. A reduction of the costs of managing personnel
activities is sustained as reflected in turnover,
absenteeism, accidents, grievances, and
complaints.
d. A reduction of the costs of effective servicing of
customers is achieved by improving the flow of
goods and services from the industry to the
consumer through well-trained personnel.
e. A reduction in the general overall costs of
administration for conducting a business is created
by building a wholesome climate which orients the
activities of each employee toward achieving the
major goals of the organization.
To this list must be added the social and personal benefits.
which result from training. The advantages to society of having
a well-trained national work force are very real. Without such
expertise, the high standard of living of technologybased
societies would not be possible.
Finally, there are the personal benefits enjoyed by
those who have been trained. Training increases the value of
an employee in the labor market and this usually provides
both the individual and his family with a higher standard of
living. He also enjoys higher status, a greater degree of job
security,

8
better promotion prospects, greater job satisfaction, and
recognition as well as personal satisfaction.
The various benefits from training enumerated above
are impressive. However, training may create some problems
if it is not integrated into the policies and operations of the
company. Many companies have found, to their cost, that it
is insufficient to provide first-class training opportunities
"without also recognizing that training adds to their
employee's market value." Careful attention must be paid to
the broader context of a firm's personnel and total operating
policies if the benefits of training are to accrue to the
company bearing the cost of the training and not to another
employer. Thus, remuneration, prospects for promotion,
and physical working conditions must be as attractive as
those offered by competitors if investment in training is to
pay off.
It is often difficult to quantify the precise benefits which
unequivocally result from a particular investment in training
because there are many variables affecting a business and it
is frequently impossible to isolate and measure the
contribution made by one of these, such as training. In a
limited number of situations, however, improved
performance can, with certainty, be attributed to training.

The Costs Involved in Training

One possible way of looking at training costs is adopted
by some economists, who would argue that the true cost of
training to a company is not the financial expenditure incurred
— i.e. the money costs — but the opportunity cost involved.
They have put it this way: "The opportunity which a firm
foregoes may be a better measure of its cost than its
accountancy procedure. In other words, we may spend a
hundred pounds on training but, if in doing so we lose the
opportunity to make two hundred pounds, then the
opportunity cost of training is two hundred pounds."
However, they continue: "Measures of opportunity cost are
hard to establish and even harder to reconcile between
conflicting interests." The opportunity cost approach is
therefore not usually a practical one for a businessman trying
to identify training costs, except where the level of investment
in training is very high.

9
 An alternative way of viewing the problem is
considering the costs that the company incurs as a direct
result of actual training. From here we generate two (2)
kinds of costs: the learning costs (costs incurred while
employees learn their jobs) and the training costs (costs
incurred to facilitate the learning process). Examples of
learning costs include: payments made to employees while
learning on the job or attending a refresher course; the cost
of materials used; sales cost or incorrect decisions made as
learners practice; and the cost of reduced output caused by
the slowing-down effect which learners have on the people
with whom they are working.

Training costs, on the other hand, include part of the

manager's salary for the time he spends in coaching his
staff; emoluments of training officers, instructors and their
supporting staff; the capital and running costs (heating,
lighting, rates) of a training center; training aids such as
projectors, films, handouts, books, programmed learning
texts; and payments of fees to consultants, institutions, and
other outside bodies.

Ideally, learning costs and training costs should be both

minimized, since expenditure on training is only justified if it
reduces the cost of learning,

In theory, any cost incurred by a company can be iden

tified, but the process of collecting and analyzing the data
itself costs money and is only justifiable if the value of the
information produced makes the process worthwhile. Broadly
speaking, a sophisticated system ofcosting, training, and
learning activities is unnecessary in small companies, but
becomes increasingly important in larger organizations where
expenditure under these headings is considerable. What is
important is that management recognizes the relationship
between learning and training costs in the company and
knows their relative
10
How Can a Company Ensure That Its Training
Will Be Successful?
In order to ensure that the training will be successful, one
must be convinced that human resource training and
development effort must be:
1. A planned, organized, and systematized undertaking.
It is not a disjointed series of activities or haphazard,
trial-and-error approach.
2. An organization-wide undertaking. This means that
the training function must be appropriately organized
within the company and its strategies and contents
must be based within the context of the company's
systems and environment.

3. Managed and supported by top management, from

the president line managers down to the first line
supervisors. These people must be committed to the
changes sought via the HRTD efforts. Without this
third element, all HRTD efforts are futile endeavors
of the company.
In addition to this, further conditions must be met if one
is to derive beneficial results from its training activity:
1. Management must accept responsibility for training.
2. The role of the training officer must be defined.

HRTD Organization and Staffing

Companies have their own way of structuring training
and they have evolved different forms of setup which have
been equally successful in meeting their particular
requirements. Whatever form of structure is adopted, the
main criterion to be satisfied is that the training department
contributes effectively to the running of the business. In the
Philippines, a company may structure training in the
following manner:

11
 Structure Number 1: The Training Officer or Man.
ager within the Personnel Division.
Training and development is an essential part of an
organization's personnel function and that it would be effec_
tive if it's placed side by side with other related activities such
as selection and recruitment of staff. In general, therefore, the
tnore closely training is integrated with the personnel function
the more beneficial it will be.
Where the personnel department has a dynamic and
progressive outlook and is successfully led by professionally
trained staff, the central training function will usually be part
of it. On the other hand, where a company's personnel
department has only a limited development and influence, a
dependent training function is unlikely to prosper and the
training officer may be more effective if made directly
responSible to the chief executive of the company or to a
senior line manager.
The advantages of this structure are under the
following headings:

Manpower Planning
A company's estimated requirements for various
categories of employees have direct implications for the
training specialist. He needs to know the types and number of
future training programmes required for new and existing staff,
and for retraining where jobs change or become passe.

Recruitment
The contribution of a training department in this
important area will largely depend on the extent to which
the company's recruitment policy is to engage ready-trained
employees or to "grow its own." However, the role of the
training department is wider than that of simply responding
to the demands of training the new staff; it will also
influence
 For example, an analysis of the long term-training
requirements of a large manufacturing company indicated that

12
 the age structure of its management was unbalanced. There
were insufficient employees with appropriate experience
and in the right age range to succeed the present key staff.
The training officer therefore recommended that future
recruitment must compensate for this imbalance.

Selection Procedures
The feedback from the training officer on the progress of
the new recruits during training helps validate recruitment
and selection procedures.

Remuneration
A company's remuneration policy and practice should
recognize the enhanced value of the employee who has
successfully completed training. This can be overlooked if
personnel and training staff are not working closely
together.

Staff Development
A company's system of staff appraisal indicates the
strengths and weaknesses of individual employees, and at the
same time identifies how training can help improve work
performance. Appraisal and training must be recognized as
part of the same process of staff training and development.

Promotion
Promotion plans for staff at all levels in the
organization invariably have training connotation.

Personnel Records
Company personnel records contain employees' work
histories and more important in many cases, details of staff
training and development plans. A central and up-to-date
source of this information is a basic requirement for
effective personnel practice. Decentralization of records to
various sub-functions, apart from being expensive, presents
problems in keeping several sets of up-to-date records and
increases the potential misuse of confidential information.

13
 Placing training under the wing of the Personnel Depart.
ment is not necessarily desirable, and other ways of struct.
uring it niay be applicable.

Structure Number 2: The training officer or man. ager

reporting to the executive vice-president or the chief
executive of the company.
Many organizations do employ personnel managers and
at the same time have a Human Resource Training and Dev.
elopment as a separate entity from the Personnel Department.
This type of structure is common in medium-size firms and in
some very large organizations, where the importance of the
training function makes it necessary for the training offcer or
manager to have direct access to the executive vicepresident
or the chief executive officer of the company. Thus, the
training function is isolated from the personnel function.

Structure Number 3: The training officer or

manager reporting to a line manager.
In a company where training is restricted to one category
of employee and the company decides to give special
attention to the training aspect of the personnel in this
division or department, a sales training officer, for instance, is
hired who reports directly to the sales manager or vice-
president for marketing; in addition there's a general training
officer.
14
Figure No. 1 — Model for Structure No. 1
 Figure No. 3 — Model for Structure No. 3

The HRD Specialist

The HRD specialist who is categorized either as training
manager, training officer, training specialist, or training director in a
company assumes varied roles and possesses certain characteristics or
qualities in order to be effective. He should thus be perceptive, creative,
open-minded, socially responsible, cooperative, inquisitive, and
intelligent. In addition to this, he should have human relations skills,
communication skills, as well as human, technical, and conceptual
skills.
The HRD specialist can come from a wide range of disciplinary
backgrounds. The key to the preparation of an HRD professional is a
mixed background of interdisciplinary education and experience. It seems
almost mandatory that they should have university training in some
discipline and preferably several disciplines. A wide variety of disciplines
can serve as basic training: psychiatry, general psychology, social
psychology, education, political science, sociology, anthropology, business
administration, public administration, or some other behavioral science. What
is important is that the practitioner has a working knowledge of many of
these disciplines. It would also be desirable for many to have some
knowledge of the operations and technical disciplines such as
operations research, communications, general systems theory,
information technology, finance, cybernetics, marketing, etc. (In
other words, a rather broad educational background with as much
mix as possible, balanced against enough in-depth training in certain
fields to have a very solid academic

16
foundation in at least a few fields.) The whole purpose of the
mixed interdisciplinary approach is to give breadth and scope
to the practitioner rather than narrow specialization. The
problems in training tend to be interdisciplinary in character
and not narrow. Thus, broad knowledge and multiple skills
are needed.

Roles of the Training Staff

Training officers and staff have varied roles to perform.
As reported by Dr. Gary B. Hansen, the training staff has six
key roles to play:*

1. Learning Specialist — the role concerned with

designing, developing, conducting, and evaluating
learning experiences.
2. Administration — the role concerned with
arranging training and employee development
programs.
3. Program Manager — the role concerned with policy
setting, planning, controlling, and managing the
various training and employee development
programs.
4. Consultant — the role concerned with knowledge
of the HRD field and providing management and
employee with advice and assistance.
5. Career Development Specialist — the role concerned
with assisting in career development plans. However,
this can be incorporated in the role under the heading
of consultant.
6. Researcher — the role concerned with conducting
research on learning activities.
The listing of the specific duties and responsibilities
found to be important within each functional role is outlined
in the following pages.

*"Educating the HRD Practitioners of the 80's." Handout distributed during

the IFTDO, 1980.
17
 Learning
Specialist
Requires:
Duties and courses
Responsibilit 8. Compose course descrip- 11.
ies tions
1. for
1. Design specif training
courses ic pre a
using
traini
systems approach ng
2. Identify publipre- and
posttraining performance
city
levels purpo
ses learn
3. Select/determine
strategy/methodo- 12.
logy 9.
D
e
v
4. Select/develop
e audio-
l
o
visual materials and
p
devices
s lesson
5. Prepare/adapt
plans e
l
6. Determine need e for
c
training resources, iden-
tify potential t outside
i
resources, and establish
o
criteria for technical
n
competence
c
r
i
t
7. Identify and recommend
e
resources forr training
 ia feedbac
for k
par results
tici
pa Interfac
nts e with
; subject
ass matter
ess experts
an
d Orga
sel nize
ect infor
trai
nin
mati
g on
par conte
- nt of
Ability to traini
Organize ng
Adapt
Ask and/or
questions revise
effectively existing
lesson
Revise plans
training on Develo
the basis of p
feedback appropr
Select iate
appropriate evaluati
instructiona on
l plans
methodolo-
Apply
Write
clearly and approp
concisely riate
Interpret
 learning based
theories on
identif
Formulate ied
behavioral learnin
learning g
objectives needs

ticipants criteria and

based learning on
theseob- 13. Outline
materials

jectives
classroom
training

1
8
10. Develop and implement 15. Develop performance
evaluation plans for spe- measures based on cific
formal learning ex- behavioral learning obperiences
jectives
11. Refine/revise learning ob- 16. Sequence behavioral
jectives based on analy- learning objectives sis of
direct and indirect Apply modern learning 17.
evaluation results theory including moti-
12. Analyze internal and vation theory external training
pro-
18. Discuss characteristics,
grammes to select appro- advantages of major inpriate
learning experi- structional methodoloences to meet
identified gies needs
13. Conduct formal training 19. Conduct group dynamics
courses

14. Conduct on-the-job train- 20. Master subject matter ing

15. Provide a means for developmental experience
Training Administrator
Duties and Responsibilites Requires:
Ability to
1. Arrange for training fa- 1. Resolve problems cilities 2.
Coordinate routine ac-
2. Procure equipment, sup- tivities plies, and materials
3. Compile information
3. Purchase, maintain, and4. Develop criteria for seutilize
audio-visual lection of training parequipment
ticipants
4. Arrange for procure- 5. Administer the training ment of
outside training and employee developresources ment
programme

19
 5. Coordi n ate training announcements and
schedules, catalogues
assignments, space, 6. Locate and procure
materials, and pres viously identified
resources concerned learn. ing materials
with the direct and equip. ment
delivery of learning
experiences 7. Write narrative
reports to meet
6. Prepare statistical regulatory reporting
reports of classroom requirements
training for internal
and external reporting 8. Match participant
requirements nomination form
7. Maintain and against established
administer library of criteria
training references 9. Establish schedules
and materials and
8. Provide required resolve scheduling
training forms and conflicts
guides to employees
10. Develop training
9. Answer and refer needs surveys
inquiries about
available training Understanding of
10. Clarify eligibility re 11. Labor-management
quirements for relations
Consultan
specific training
Knowledge of
courses
t
11. Organize and 12. All facets of the training
disseminate course and employee
development
organizational mission
Duties and Responsibilities 2. Explain training
policies and
procedures to
I. Counsel employees re- 1. supervisors and
garding training and de- employees

velopmental opportunities 2. 20
Requires:
Ability to
Establish rapport with people
Apply systematic approach to
problem solving
3. Counsel management 3. Predict training needs
on training implicationg induced by
relatcd to anticipated organizationaJ change
organizational changcg and advise rnanagcment
of immediate and long-
4. Develop and conduct range training necdg
training needs gurvcyg 4. Aggigt management in
analyzing performance
5. Advise management of problems
immediate and
longrange training 5. Determine training
needs of individual needg baged on job
employees ag they requirements and
relate to the level of employee
organization skill

6. Explain training 6. Explain complex

regulations, policies, procedures to others
and procedures to
management and help 7. Apply counseling techniques
insure the execution
8. Gauge effectiveness
7. Assist management in of consultation efforts
analyzing
performance problems
9. Interface with people
8. Measure indirect results within the purview of
of training based on the consultative
posttraining strategy
performance on the job
to formulate and refine 10. Conduct cost/benefit analysis
learning objectives Knowledge of
9. Assist employees in 11. The workings and
determining career interrelationships of
devel- the re-
lated personnel funcopment
tions such as staffing,
10. Conduct manpower plan- position classification, ning
forecasts salary and wage administration, job analysis,
training, labor management relations, performance
appraisal, and promotion

21