Impact of HRM on Learning and Development

Learning and development is one of the key HR functions. Most organizations look at learning and development as an integral part of the human resource development activity. The turn of the century has seen increased focus on the same in organizations globally. Many organizations have mandated learning hours per year for employees keeping in consideration the fact that technology is deskilling the employees at a very fast rate. Learning may be described as an endeavor aimed to improve or develop additional competency or skills in an employee on the job one currently holds in order to increase the performance or productivity. Technically learning involves change in attitude, skills or knowledge of a person with the resultant improvement in the behaviour. For learning to be effective it has to be a planned activity conducted after a thorough need analysis and target at certain competencies, most important it is to be conducted in a learning atmosphere. While designing the learning program it has to be kept in mind that both the individual goals and organizational goals are kept in mind. Although it may not be entirely possible to ensure a sync, but competencies are chosen in a way that a win-win is created for the employee and the organization. Employees appreciate being able to build new skills, improve their job performance and potentially evolve towards more challenging roles. It is interesting to note that ongoing education is valued by employees from all age groups as key to staying relevant in the job market. Even more importantly, supporting and providing ongoing learning opportunities show a company‘s commitment to its employees‘ growth. Employees feel their value to a company where employee education is promoted. Finally, ongoing learning opportunities can be publicized since they are an important perk in a company‘s compensation programs. However, and unlike many other perks, ongoing education can cost very little. From the HR perspective, developing talent is the best way to staff a company‘s roles. First, it is always cheaper to source skills internally. The more junior the position, the lower the recruiting costs, so hiring from more junior positions within the company automatically lowers the overall recruiting costs for the position, even after accounting for the replacement of the junior position. Second, it is usually simpler and quicker to bring an internal hire up to speed – as the newbie already knows everything there is to know about the company. There are no precise statistics on the subject, but the idea that homegrown executives on average perform better than external hires is firmly shared by most managers. Finally, promoting internal mobility through learning leads to a more engaged and loyal workforce. While

DEVELOPMENT

One of the greatest ways to study is to learn from peers and managers. Unfortunately, that is also the most complicated learning method to establish throughout the company. However, it is not enough to engage a learning consultant to provide a couple of one-off courses. The kind of culture where managers want to develop their team members and are valued for that effort, and where all employees are encouraged to learn new skills and share them, is not easy to create. And, as with all other corporate initiatives, the company internet is a great tool to promote this culture and elicit the desired behaviors. Perhaps the greatest benefit of a digital workplace for employee learning lies in its knowledge management capabilities. Learning materials, like documents, presentations and recorded learning sessions, can be stored in a dedicated workspace in your company intranet, making them accessible to immediate search, access and use by employees. More importantly, in the same manner, the company‘s knowledge can be encapsulated in documents, forums, wiki pages, blogs and conversations, and then stored in a searchable database that an employee can access and learn from as needed. There is no more one-size-fits-all solution to L&D. Today employees need and want more individualized learning plans. In fact, studies show that people have different ways of learning according to their personality. ―Strategic learners,‖ ―deep learners‖ and ―surface learners‖ will be more likely to acquire new skills when programs are adapted to fit their personality. The challenge is creating L&D programs that can be adapted to individual employees‘ learning needs. Large organizations generally provide learning to their employees for better utilization of their skills. Also, they know the importance of learning and development impact on the organization. While in case of SME‘s they don‘t feel much benefit because they concentrate on every single amount spend on the business. In learning and development process the employees don‘t concentrate much on projects in order to attend the learning sessions. That may delay the deadline for the projects. Despite this fact, a large organization employer doesn‘t feel for that, because as employees get highly skilled the process would be much faster and they can be competitive in the market. With lack of skilled employees, the process and strategies utilized Every business looks for productivity, quality improvement, Industrial safety, reduction of turnover and learning time and ability to maintain an effective management team. These are the main objectives of any learning and development program in an organization. • To provide job-related knowledge to your staff. • To provide skill, knowledge systematically • To develop the productivity of the employees and the organization • To maintain safety standards • To improve equipment handling practices • To develop the employees for advancement Every employee is weak at certain skills every employee will not be perfect, which you need for the position. If the employee certain skills match and if you know you can strengthen its skill by learning, hire them or assign tasks to them, definitely your employee will work hard to stand on your expectations. The main aim of any organization is to get development and growth for the effects they put on. Growth can be achieved if all the workforce of an organization pays equal attention to development. That requires the skilled and ambitious employees to handle the situation. By providing learning to your employees, you‘re providing them the space to learn and grow. Initially, when you train your staff, it will cost you time and money. Once the employee gets skilled in their role they can provide you better revenue than before. It reduces the frustration level of both the employee and the employer. Expertise brings the quality of the work and development of the organization.

Introducing new employees to their jobs to provide the necessary initial learning and guidance is one key role of HR in learning and development. This role involves getting new workers acquainted with the company's culture and job processes, setting work performance goals and expectations and assigning appropriate job learning programs. For example, a new employee may receive mentoring in his department, speak with management about career goals and participate in formal learning courses and hands-on learning

working independently. Another learning and development HR function is to evaluate individual and team skill gaps and performance issues to provide timely feedback and develop a plan to remediate concerns. This involves the use of performance appraisal methods such as management by objectives, 360-degree feedback and one-on-one interviews along with the assignment of developmental activities such as coaching, role playing, special projects and tutorials. For example, a manager might have an experienced team member coach a slower employee to improve productivity on an assembly line. At the same time, management should look to the future to determine skills that would give the company a better advantage against competitors and set learning goals to strengthen the workforce. For example, a manufacturer may find a need for increased automation in the near future to improve performance. This would require that workers understand machine programming, so management could plan to provide such learning. Even when employees have the skills to perform well, the company may not remain competitive if employees don't receive ongoing learning to expand their skills. By providing ongoing learning activities such as seminars, online learning and demonstrations, the company can help keep employees from becoming stagnated, uncover talents and boost productivity, engagement and morale. Using findings from performance assessments and career discussions with workers, managers can uncover specific skills from which employees and the company would most benefit as well as what personally interests employees. Another role of human resource management in career development is to help employees plan a career path with the company so they can fill future job openings. This process involves having management and employees work together to analyze performance, identify position-specific skills and qualities and understand career goals to determine which progression is a good fit. For example, a high-performing salesperson may be suitable for promotion to a sales manager role and may undertake the company's management learning program to gain leadership skills. At the same time, a mid-level manager may work toward taking over for the company's top leader when she retires and may receive mentorship in preparation. For example, a business might uncover that its customer service employees are using an outdated or requires longer waits for resolving customer concerns. This can lead to discovering a newer application that automates key steps for employees, improves data quality and increases customer satisfaction. The company can decide to implement the program and assign learning to reap the benefits.

Improving organizational processes so that the company operates more efficiently, improves quality and reduces costs is another important learning and development HR function. By assessing performance for specific departments, a company can determine tools and procedures that slow down the workflow or cause frustration to employees and customers. This can lead to finding better ways to perform everyday tasks with the help of some relevant learning and guidance for employees.

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Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Management, Maharaj Vinayak Global University, Jaipur