Training

Change in a Human Resource Development (HRD) Organization

In the current competitive market, for businesses to maintain their position they must change constantly. Change contributes to increased productivity, which ultimately increases the competitive advantage of an enterprise. For change to occur, an organization requires the services of a change agent to help them in their effort to change successfully. Ideally, human resource development is the framework within the organization setting that helps employees develop knowledge, skills, and abilities. Consequently, as Okoye and Ezejiofor (2013) note, it is one of the most significant arms in enhancing change within the organization. HRD utilizes opportunities such as employee training, career development, performance management and development, and organization development among other key responsibilities of HRD. Consistent with the role of the HRD as a change agent, we develop comprehensive competency-based training methods to address ways to improve productivity, employee satisfaction, the ability of the organization to revitalize, organization processes and outputs, and measure the success of the efforts with the Fire-Rescue Department.

Improve Productivity (Efficiency and Effectiveness)

Within the organization setting, productivity plays a critically important role in the success of a company. By far, productivity is enhanced through hiring and retaining a workforce with exceptional capabilities and self-motivation. Part of the roles and responsibilities of a human resource department is to recruit top talent and attempt to increase employee productivity. In order to improve productivity in the Fire-Rescue Department, we explore the most appropriate strategies that will be applied by the HRD. The first strategy is to encourage and support teamwork work to increase individual performance. Virtually, in this age individual can only handle a few tasks without the support of other employees (Rodd, 2015).). Thus, the organization will provide employees with complementary teammates and ensure support from managers to improve productivity. The second strategy is to support innovation. In the current competitive global market, there is a need for a continuous level of innovation in products and business processes. To accomplish this, the HRD will develop processes, training, measures, and incentives to motivate continuous innovation within the company. Another strategy is to balance between control and authority. Practically, lack of control or excessive freedom can lead to lack of focus on the side of employees, duplication of activities, and wastage of time. Similarly, excessive control can slow down the decision-making process and hinder employee development. Other strategies that will be used to improve productivity is the use of monetary and non-monetary rewards to increase employee excitement, motivation, and loyalty.

Improve Employee Satisfaction with the Quality of their Work Life

Employee satisfaction is an important aspect of any organization and reflects whether employees are contented and fulfilling their desires and needs in the workplace. Virtually, although several factors are associated with employee satisfaction, higher quality of life at work strongly improves worker satisfaction. According to Muindi and K’Obonyo (2015), quality of work life is critically significant for organizations to continually attract and retain a competitive workforce. In the Fire Rescue Department, the quality of work life will be improved by implementing some changes and create a sense of involvement, teamwork, and commitment among employees, which will pave the way the for enhanced quality of work life. The organization will conduct an employee satisfaction survey to find out the way their employees feel and the various ways to make them happy. Using the survey results, the Human Resource Department will make efforts to learn about the employee workload and job demands, examine employee training, reward system, and employee relationship with the work environment to improve and eliminate job stress. The organization will also grant freedom to employees to choose their work schedules, which will ensure they handle their responsibility within the specified time. Rewards such as performance-based incentives and recognition will be used to improve job satisfaction and increase the quality of employee work life. 

Improve the Ability of the Organization to Revitalize and Develop Itself over Time

Change within an organization is inevitable because it is what helps the company to maintain its competitive advantage in the market place. Consequently, change can be effected through several ways such as updating the organization policies, improving on the products and service delivery, or creating a dramatic shift in the purpose of the organization. In order to facilitate the ability of the Fire-Rescue Department to revitalize and develop itself in future, the following strategies were recommended. Firstly, as the company engages in the change process, they will encourage the honest and open involvement of every member of its team to the organization vision, mission, and objectives. The second step is to share the vision with the whole team and constantly communicate it. The third step is to take baby steps and start working towards change. Change takes time and coming up with a collaborative plan is necessary, then take action and evaluate. The last step is to communicate constantly, openly, honestly, and often.

Improve Organizational Processes and Outputs

In all organizations, processes are the fundamental building blocks that form the lifeblood of quality organizations. According to Crandall, Crandall, and Chen (2015), processes transform inputs into outputs, which go to the external customers. Therefore, it is important that organizations learn ways to improve processes and outputs. However, improving operating or management process can be a challenging task for the human resource department. The number of process improvement activities undertaken must match with the ability of the organization to fund and implement the changes without disrupting the delivery of their products and services. In order to improve organizational processes and outputs successfully, the Fire rescue Department HRD will implement the following steps. The first step is to choose a small and achievable number of processes that are directly connected to the organization goal and objectives. The second step is to understand the scope of the process including the key sub-processes and accountabilities of the process to the organization. The third step is to record and detail the previous performance of the process including the current and past performance from clients and experienced employees. The fourth step is to review the process including identifying continuous improvement activity and tactical steps that can help achieve quick wins. The last step is to capture the change by integrating the process improvements into the business management system and ensuring change is implemented accordingly.

Measure if your Improvement Efforts are Successful

The ability to measure a change in a human resource development organization is critical to the overall success of the company. Companies use a variety of methods to measure the success of their change initiatives including financial and non-financial benefits, the number of improvement projects, or problems solved. In the case of the Fire-Rescue Department, the success of the improvement measures will be determined by improved productivity within the organization. Another measure that will be used is improved employee satisfaction with the quality of their work at the workplace, improved ability of the organization to revitalize, and improved organizational processes and outputs.

References

Crandall, R. E., Crandall, W., & Chen, C. C. (2015). Principles of supply chain management. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press

Muindi, F., & K’Obonyo, P. (2015). Quality of work life, personality, job satisfaction, competence, and job performance: a critical review of literature. European Scientific Journal, 11(26), 223-240.

Okoye, P.V.C., & Ezejiofor, R.A. (2013). The Effect of Human Resources Development on Organizational Productivity. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 3(10), 250-268.

Rodd, J. (2015). Leading change in early years. Berkshire England : Open University Press