After the liberalization, Privatization and Globalization (LPG) process in the early 1990s, the organizations have come to understand the fact that the people are the centre of the whole system. For creating a performing organization and to sustain the performance, HRD orientation needs, to be top down and should also involve the line managers to ensure sustainable peak performance. It is evident that most of the problems in an organization are human related, as human beings are dynamic and complex.
Hence, human resource development is a challenging job. Moreover, unless organizations learn to tune human resources, success will be elusive. HRD has very close relationship with number of human activities as well as functional activities of the organization.
The Indian economy has changed a tot in the last few years, with most of the giant organization going for mergers and acquisitions. (MCIE data-Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) However, the success rate is very slow because of the cultural mismatch and failure to manage human resources properly. We cannot differentiate successful organizations on the basis of technology that they are using; it is basically people and their way of managing the organizations that is a differentiating factor between successful organizations. Thus, HRD has to play a strategic role in realizing the business goals of organizations rather than being perceived only as a support service.
According to J.R.D. Tata (1943) “It is clear if your labor relation programme is to be really effective, it should embrace every subject and every activity bearing upon a worker’s employment, or affecting his family. It should carry out not merely the negative task of removing discontent, but the positive one of creating containment.”
So, HRD has a very close relationship with the perceptions, behavior and attitude of people. It throws a lightning impact on group dynamisms, work cultures of employees.
In the 50, there was a strong belief that employees were recruited not to question ‘why’ but only ‘to do-and-die’. In the 60s’ terms like manpower, staff and personnel came to be used. In the late 70s, people realized that beyond a point, productivity depended on people. The Indian organizations are experiencing some transitions and changes. The workforce of the 50s and 60, have retired. The middle level is now at the top with the hangover of all possible middle class values. The new generation of MBA, are pouring into industrial organizations. Young executives in their mid-30s are heading HRD/HRM divisions in big companies due to the unprecedented advancement of Information Technology.
Most multinational companies have a long held view that a person who is proficient in certain techniques and skills can be an effective manager anywhere in the world. Of late, however, there has been a growing awareness that to be successful managers must adopt their expertise to the cultural and economic context in which they operate. References to national or regional variations such as the American or European style of management have become common. Along with the economic development, Asia is also evolving its own style of management. A blend of old and new, it has strong elements of Asian cultures and values.
Life as a whole:
The concepts of loyalty, duty, happiness, honor and justice within this framework find a unique expression in the behaviors of Asians. In the Asian view, economic life cannot be seggrated from life as a whole. People cannot be treated as a more units who produce profit. Profit is not defined as only money but sum total of human happiness. For a western employee, job is primarily a business of contract. To an Asian, it is a personnel relationship. To the Asian mind, success becomes meaningful when imbued with a social purpose. A good manager is not simply competent but also compassionate, one who protects the livelihood of employees, e.g. one of the foremost achievements of Bangkok Bank, that the bank has never initiated a lay off program throughout its 43 years history. Long before the world took notice of the life long employment practices in Japan, the workers in most Asia societies were treated as members of extended family.
Head and Heart:
In the Asia perspective, a manager who is compassionate also has a high degree of integrity. A senior manager is like the head of the family and is often approached by subordinates for help and advice on personal problems (Banchong somboonpakorn, manager of Thai Chemicals Corporation).
According to Jeremy Pickle (regional President of West big Corporation) Asia managers, especially Indian managers are two types: SHAMs (Standard Hybridized Asian Manager) CRAMs (Culturally responsive Asian Managers) . Now the trend is SHAMs are gradually giving way to CRAMs.
BSP is a huge and complex industry involving huge quantities and skills of diverse nature and that too in large numbers. HRD at Bhilai examines how the workforce is enabled to develop and utilize its full potential, aligned with the company’s objectives. Acharya Vinobha Bhave (3 rdJanuary, 1964), said on Bhilai “To-day I am changing the name of Bhilai. I am rechristening it as “Bhalai”, meaning welfare. The welfare of India will be reflected here.
As BSP, has been considered as an integrated Steel Plant, it has carrying the biggest burden to build better work systems. (a. work and job design, b. Compensation & Recognition) employee education, training and development, employee well-being and satisfaction (a. work environment, b. employee support services, c. Employee satisfaction).
Year 2004–05 for BSP has been significantly eventful in terms of production, productivity, quality, accolades and rewards in the face of unprecedented challenges posed by the competing steel industry — domestic and abroad — as a whole. HRD practices of Bhilai have all along been a great catalytic agent in the process of transformations of Bhilaians towards the unified goal of achieving excellence. A significance proportion of the programmes have been dedicated to upgrade the computer competency of our employees, as most of the elements of decisions have to be computer savvy.
Bhilai is poised to manufacture 7MT of hot metal, 6.7 MT of crude steel and 6.2 MT saleable steel by 2012. Training activities related to multi-skilling, multi tasking have been accepted as an on going general feature of the plan, looking into the needs of critical skill to be developed in most of the shops.
The present compendium as a ready reckoner, therefore, will prove to be of immense value to all HRD practioners who have themselves right from the beginning towards the creation of an innovative, entrepreneurial culture in the large organization through competent, responsive and committed workforce.
We live in an age in which communication between people is essential to achieving our shared goals of development and peaceful consistence. New innovation in information and communication technologies has increased exponentially our capacity to connect with each other. It is up to us to use to harness the potential of these technologies in our work to extend the benefits of education, health care, trade and environmental protection to all . (FROM UN SECRETARY GENERAL MR. KOFI ANAN ON THE OCCASION OF WORLD TELECOM DAY 2005 MAY, 17).
Human communication has always been a combination of intellect and emotion — a characteristic that helps to define our shared humanity. Our information society has a way of reminding us of this reality, often in a dramatic fashion.
Looking ahead to Tunis, the true test of an equitable information society will be the extent to which today’s powerful knowledge-based communication tools are able to connect different people. (Mr. Yoshio UTSUMI — Secretary- General (International Telecommunication Union).
Bhilai Steel Plant is rightly considered as the jewel in the crown of SAIL. This position is not merely because of the efforts in the field of production, productivity and quality of the product but also due to good communication system in the plant. [S.K. Jain, GM I/c (Works)] [On the occasion of World Telecom Day, 17 thMay, 2005, a seminar in the assembly hall of BTI, 4.05PM.]
“I am happy to mention that in the recent past Bhilai Steel Plant has created huge infrastructure in the area of ICT. Many new initiatives like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and Knowledge Management (KM) are being implemented to transform BSP into a futuristic organization. R.P.Singh, MD, BSP (Souvenir, world Telecom Day, Bhilai, 17 thMay, 2005).
References:
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1.https://planningtank.com/development-planning/liberalization-privatization-globalization-lpg-model-in-india
