HUMAN RESOURCE CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS

 HUMAN RESOURCE CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS

INTRODUCTION

Of the four aspects of the economic development of the country, land, labour, capital and organization, the first three are merged into a single factor, called resources. These resources can be cent percent exploited, under an efficient organization. Again these resources can be classified into two: natural resources and capital, if the human resource is also considered as a natural resource. The ultimate duty of any organization is to manage efficiently these resources. Therefore, the development of any nation is possible only when these resources are put to productive activities for the full development of economy.

Of all the resources for the development of economy, the human resource is considered to be the most important in the modern perspective, in view of the fact that the population of the world is growing in leaps and bounds. The maximum possible utilization of human resource can make a country a lead country in no time. In fact all organizational resources are important, provided there is effective utilization of them. However, the utilization of human resources to the maximum advantage of the nation is very difficult because that human resource is multidimensional in nature. The humans themselves are very complex in both their body and mind. To manage them is a problem indeed! According to Harbison, “Human resources are the energies, skills, talents, and knowledge of the people which are applied to the production of goods or rendering of useful services”.

A mechanic takes every care in making a machine – let the machine be simple or complex – even from the initial stage of making the nuts and screws of it. But the efficiency of the machine can be tested only when it is put to use. Likewise, the human being, a more complex machine than any machine, should be taken care of, from the time of his birth until he is made into a workable machine (a psycho-physiological machine). He becomes a workable machine only when he takes an assignment in a workspot. His efficiency is tested there. The organizer of the workspot, his employer, decides how he is useful to the work assigned to him. The organizer’s duty is to test his abilities, assess his knowledge, his skills, and his talents and then assign his job, however keeping his aptitudes also in view. From then onwards, he becomes a component of the organization where he works.

Effective Utilization of Human Resource

Agricultural Sector   Industrial Sector                     Tertiary Sector

More Production / Service

More Profits / Satisfaction

Economic Development

We have human resource in surplus – we mean India – in all the three agriculture, industrial, and tertiary sectors but they are not properly utilized. Many of those who are not properly put to use have a tendency to resort to unhealthy and anti-social activities. If their services are properly diverted towards production side, the society can get profitable dividends. Then and then only we can move mountains to achieve more than stable economy to the country.

Competence Building Through HRD

The training and education given to a human being should also be taken into consideration for the effective utilization of his skills in the organization. India has a vast human potential. The greatest problem that India faces is to make its population a work-oriented human

resource. Fortunately for India, the government has been taking keen interest in educating the children, from the base level upto higher education, since its independence.

Then came in 2006 the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) with its three watchwords: expansion, excellence, and inclusion. Gradually teacher-education was considered very important and priority is being given to it in recent times. Presently, the Chairman of AP Higher Education Mr. K.C. Reddy has come out with a formula of 5 year B.Ed course in Andhra Pradesh. The purpose of it is to mould a teacher into an ideal teacher even from his passing + 2 class. This teacher training programme continues for 5 years. All these show that India in the 21^st century is bent upon making the human resource potential as a very effective tool for the economic development of the country. Again, just a few days ego, the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Monmohan Singh, declared that India needs about 10 lakhs teachers. The Minister of HRD, Mr. Kapil Sibal brought forth a formula of “education for all” and stated that, to make this project complete by 2015, India needs lakhs of teachers. In the 11^th Five Year Plan (2007-2012), the budget allotment for higher education is going to be increased 10 times the present allotment. All these show that the government is ready to go all out to train the human resource from the gross roots level.

In his book, “Visionary Teachers and Scientists”, our former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam stated that eminent teachers should teach and inspire the students. In that context he referred to Indian students and stated “What we lack is perhaps courage; what we lack is perhaps driving force which takes one anywhere”. We can easily observe that this problem has been solved during the past decade. We now see many Indian students making mark in variety of fields both in India and abroad. Mrs. K. Neerupa Rani the present Vice-Chancellor of Nannaya University, Rajahmundry (AP) has said that compared to US, Europe and other Western countries, human resources are best utilized in India. She said that the youth of our country are more powerful, aggressive and competent enough. The principle of education is to invest in resources as stored capabilities, and then unleash the capabilities as demanded.

The duty of the Human Resource Management (HRM) is two-fold: develop the human resource and then utilize it. Human resource is the greatest asset, India has. Its development function is more important than the utilization function. Human Resource Development (HRD) has to develop the human resource of an organization into a dynamic and vital factor in any activity of an organization. Properly developed, the human resource acquires creativity and initiative. The human resource can grow as healthy individuals and useful human resource in groups. Incidentally we should define health as the physical, the mental, and social wellbeing of a person (as defined by WHO). The main aim of HRD is to help human resource to achieve competency. T.V.Rao defined HRD in the organizational context as a process by which the employees of an organization are trained in a continuous planned way to acquire and sharpen capabilities and to perform various functions at present and in the expected future role.

Human Capital: A Most Valuable Asset

For convenience sake we can call human resource as human capital. Human capital refers to “A stock of skills and knowledge embodied in the ability to perform labour so as to produce economic value”. There is a difference between the developed countries and the developing countries in their utilizing the human capital. The developed countries, with their economic affluence, can buy human capital from other countries. Again because of their economic capability, they can best use the hired human capital. Therefore, the developed countries use this hired human capital for highly technical work and highly evolved research work. Not so is the case of the less developed countries. Among the less developed countries, India and China are in a better position. They have more than enough of this human capital to be used for any purpose. Their economic deficiency is a factor which stands in the way of utilizing the human capital for technological or research work, simply because they cannot make latest technology available to them in their native country.

The human capital needs training at three stages: at the college level, at the university research level and also at the workplace. There is one danger in giving training to the human capital. This training is a very delicate affair because it is the training given more to the mind than to the body. If this training is not proper, there is every possibility of getting negative result. Very often it happens that the training given to the child at home is different from that given in the education institution or the workplace. Also, they may get a different kind of education when they move in the society around. Then it may happen that the mind of the child contains a medley of contradictory ideas. The result may be a confusing state of mind which leads to unnecessary complications. Therefore, one should be careful in giving training to the human capital, especially in training groups of individuals.

Role of Education and Training to Promote Competencies of Human Capital

 Education and training are the most important investment in human capital. Of course, formal education is not the only way to invest in human capital. Human resources also learn and are trained outside schools, especially on-the-job.

The education at school, college or university is of great use no doubt but the training at the workplace is more useful in the employer’s point view. The education in the institution is the general training given to a child in all aspects, but the training given at the workplace is the one which is just useful for the particular work, the person is handling. This training at the workplace can be given efficiently when the work is taken up by the corporate sector.

The training of the human capital passes through four stages. They are:

i.             Selection

ii.             Training in the art of life

iii.             Training in the science of work

iv.             Training in doing the job efficiently

Only the corporate sector can financially afford to bear the expenditure involved in the labourious procedure of this kind of training programme.

The first stage is selection. Normally it is better for any corporate organization to select a worker when he is at + 2 level of education. Afterwards, the student would be taken up by the organization for their observation and for the education of the student as well as for his training to make him fit for the required job. The selection of a worker at such a young age is very difficult, critical and at the same time crucial for their organization. While selecting a candidate, they should study his family background, the atmosphere around him and the cumulative record of the education of the student up to that stage. The organization should also see how much interest the candidate has for progress.

After selection, the organization should be prepared to provide the candidate the necessary surroundings for his learning the art of life while getting the required education. This is again a very complicated affair involving great risk. This is the stage where the education gives negative results in improper surroundings, because of such improper education in improper surroundings; the candidate becomes a spoilt child. Terrorism, frequent strikes and other unruly activities at the adolescent stage are due to this improper education.

At the third stage, the trainee should learn the technique or the science of work. It is to be noted in this context that the science of work doesn’t mean the actual work. But it is to learn the technique of how to work efficiently and interestingly.

The last stage is the actual training given for the work, the employer expects from him. This training is not a five year programme or ten year programme. But it is a programme for the whole career or as long as the employee is in the organization. From the + 2 stage itself the worker in the organization passes through all these learning processes.

It is often said that there are no underdeveloped countries in the world, but there are many under-managed countries. Keeping this point in view, the corporate sector is encouraging managerial education for the worthy students.

CONCLUSION:

An ideal HR manager is the nucleus for the organization and naturally around him gathers efficient personnel. If India has about 100 such organizations in the private sector with a similar network from the government side, the two vie with each other competitively and develop the country at rocket speed.

Effective human resource utilization is the practice of placing the right person in the right place, at the right time. Recruiters understand the importance of finding the right ‘fit’ for particular positions. Whether or not an employee is a good match for a particular opportunity depends not only on skills but also experience and personality. When organization needs someone to work on a specific job, finding the right person can require trial and error. The effectiveness of any organization depends on the efficient use of its resources particularly the human resource. Without human resource, there can be no organization. Human resource can move mountains by effective utilization of its competencies. Any organization success and survival depend upon effective utilization of human resources talents.

REFERENCE:

1)      Akpakwu A.O (2003), Human Resource Management Towards Stable Higher Institutions, Benue State University of Education Journal, Vol.4, No.1.

2)      Christopher Mupimpila(2009), Human Capital and Economic Growth in Botswana: Expenditure Approach, International Journal of Business Management Economics and Information Technology, Vol.1 No.1. January-June, 2009, Research Science Press, New Delhi.

3)      Gary S. Becker (1993), Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

4)      Harbison, Fredrick H (1973), Human Resource as the Wealth of Nations, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

5)      K.Ramesh, B.S.Murthy, K.Siva Rama Krishna (ed.) (2008), HRM for Competitive Advantage, Excel Books, New Delhi.

6)   OkonKwo S.N. (1997), An Analysis of Selected Factors in Relation to Academic Staff Utilization: A Case Study of Anambra State Colleges of Education. An unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Benin, Benin City.

7)      T.V.Rao(2000), Readings in HRD, Oxfor & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.