Page 11 - Berita_SungeiWay_April_1988

PIRD IN PERSPECTIVE

The following article is based on a review of the
f.mctions of H R D given to the PCMs and
ivecutives of the SW Group by Dr L J
Frrdericks on 9 March 1988.
I (a) The Functional Areas of H R D
Human Resource Development ( H R D ) or
Human Resource Management ( H R M ) can be
seen as inclusive of several inter-related From the desk
functions, viz, planning, recruitment and
selection of staff; training and development; of HRD
compe*isation policies; employee and labour
relations; safety and health, and personnel Group justifies such payment. Another relevant
research. In planning the staff needs of a example is the evaluation of job performance by
company, careful analysis needs to be done different groups of employees to assess the
about the future personnel requirements of the suitability of an employee as well as the speci-
company or an organisation; recruitment and fications of a particular job.
selection relate to the more mundane functions
of spreading the net as wide as possible to obtain The third area that H R D will be involving
the best applications, while selection relates to more of its resources is staff training and career
the identification of the best candidate both for The role of H R D varies according to the size development. In the past, training of staff has
the position available and in conformity with the of business. In a large and diversified group been on an ad-hoc basis with, probably, little
goals or mission of the company or organisation. of companies like the SungeiWay Group, the follow-up on the impact of the training received
operationalization of H R D functions becomes on the performance of the staff member. It is
The objective of training and development more complex. It should be noted that the H R D envisaged that the Group will have to undertake
normally relates to the need to improve produc- is a staff and not an operational or line function. an exercise to analyse the training needs of the
tivity, efficiency and work performance. It is different categories of staff in a subsidiary and
sometimes forgotten that the training and deve- II. The Role of H R D in the SungeiWay Group across various subsidiaries in the whole Group.
lopment function can also serve to boost the In the early stages in the development of the This will be an on-going exercise the consequence
morale of staff so that they are more positively SungeiWay Group, the H R D functions, limited of which will be the formulation of training
oriented to their performance at work. Training to a the basic personnel and industrial relation packages to be implemented by both outside as
and development are not static but on-going and, functions and some ad-hoc training, was decen- well as in-house trainers. The training
hence, would generate the need for people with tralized to the various subsidiaries in the Group. programmes that will be required to upgrade
different skills at different periods. Within What this basically implied was the P C M of a staff quality, efficiency, performance and morale
the process of training and development subsidiary had the final authority over staff will be facilitated by training films, orientation
are subsumed career planning, performance recruitment, industrial relations and other basic programmes and other in-house as well as exter-
appraisals of staff and their orientation to functions. nal training programmes.
the goals and corporate image of the Group.
Probably the highest form of training and deve- In 1983, the H R D was created in order to Another important role of H R D will be the
lopment within the context of an organisation centralise the staff function in the SungeiWay opening of its doors to encourage free communi-
is when the organisation itself has to change in Group. The objective in locating the H R D at cation with all levels of staff in the Group. This
order to elicit the greatest possible staff produc- Group level was to introduce some uniformity counselling function is extremely important as
tivity. This process is named Organisation Deve- and standardization in all the functions it will encourage staff to use H R D as the
lopment or O D . performed by H R D . At this time, the H R D was mechanism to voice whatever complaints,
headed by a General Manager below whom comments and aspirations that they would
(b) Compensation served one Assistant Manager. In 1988, the staff otherwise not be encouraged or willing to
The compensation package for an employee strength of the H R D includes the head plus 2 articulate.
pertains to the rewards that are given for work Assistant Managere and 3 supporting staff to look
done. Basically, the compensation package after a work force of about 700 personnel. IV. Problems and Issues faced by H R D
includes the salary and the whole range of The current functions of the H R D relate to In an attempt to promote the staff function at
benefits provided by the company; it can also improving the basic systems in the H R D includ- H R D and, in future, increase the range of its
include rewards of a non-financial nature. responsibilities to the Group, the H R D faces a
ing the following: complex task. One major a problem that is faced
- formulation of the personnel policy and
(c) Safety and Health procedures manual is to prove the utility of H R D to the Group and
This function of H R D is oriented towards the - computerisation of personnel records its subsidiaries. This is a difficult task because
minimisation of work-related accidents; hence, - re-designing H R D forms H R D by its inherent nature does not contribute
it would be of major importance in factories, - recruitment and selection of staff directly to the bottom-line; however, it has to
mines, and similar work places. On a higher - formal budget for H R D prove its worth in bottom-line terms.
plane, the promotion of the physical and mental - others (Berita Sungei Way, Suggestion Boxes, A second problem relates to the conflict
well-being of staff is as important as the need Identification Tags, implementation of the between the staff function which H R D performs
to reduce work-related accidents.
need for punctuality, etc). and the operational role played by the various
PCMs. In an attempt to provide data and
(d) Employee and Labour Relations guidelines on certain practices that need to be
of
H R D
Ill
Evolving Role
" fhis is a traditional area of H R D and involves With the directive given by the G M D , it is fore- standardised for the whole Group, some conflicts
promotion of harmonious inter-relations may be generated particularly when PCMs feel,
:tween the organisation and its employees in seen that the H R D will be developing the range rightly, that they have operational responsibility
that
•rder to reduce friction and minimise staff of its functions to include not only those other for their subsidiary.
by
are traditionally performed
H R D but
Brnover.
high level needs. In the first instance, as the
SungeiWay Group expands and develops its ope- A third issue faced by the H R D is that it
|e) Personnel Research rations into non-traditional areas, there is a nred tends to generate a maze of bureaucratic
I R D is normally a repository of a great deal of for the H R D to anticipate the type and quality processes involved in filling forms, writing
cumulated data on the employees in an of human resources which will be required in the reports, and referring to H R D for what are
nisation. This bank of data can be the source future. This will involve the function of plan- standard practices for the whole Group.
f useful analytical studies to form the basis of ning of the human resource requirements for the
py new personnel policy or changes to it. Group. Such a planning process has to be One last issue that a will come to the fore
'irticularly when the data bank can be com- flexible in order to anticipate the dynamic in the future in increasing clarity is the need to
iterised, easy access or retrieval can be changes which will influence the pattern of have optimum deployment and allocation of
olitated. growth of the Group as a whole. staff across the various subsidiaries and the
Group
as
a whole.
The five functions indicated above are With the computerisation of the staff
is
There
need
H R D
for
'ter-related. This is illustrated in the diagram. records, H R D intends to undertake research explain the obviously it has a been playing and to
role that
is
The establishment of the H R D emphasises based on the personnel data generated so far. For playing for the Group. There is an equal need
' significance of human resources in and to an example, salary surveys both of an employee's for the PCMs to understand and be sympathe-
Organisation. Where previously organisations salary increments in the past as well as of the tic to the task that the H R D has been assigned
""narily focussed upon industrial relations and current industry average would give useful in promoting a more harmonious working
^'c personnel functions, it has become increa- guidelines to a P C M and the Group as to the relation and closer ties among the employees
gly important for the employer to invest quantum of salary adjustments that ought to be of the Group. The HRD, if properly managed,
ater resources in the H R D . This underlines given to staff in a particular year. The same understood and supported, can make a reality
• fact that the human resources constitute the would be true for the payment of bonuses of our Group's slogan - " O U R P E O P L E , O U R
'St important resource in a company. provided that the size of the profits of the S T R E N G T H " .