Essay on HR Learning and Development: Crafting a Culture for Growth

The Human Resource department (HR) plays an essential role other than recruiting employees, administering benefits, training needs, and payroll. Therefore, it takes a combined effort to develop employees as strategic assets in the organisation and meet their needs. The HR learning and development issues occur in every organisation and business owners should be keen to address them whenever they occur. One of the significant functions of HR is to develop a culture that supports learning and development. An organisational culture of learning may inhibit development by maintaining rigid working conditions such that employees may have little time to tryout or suggest improved methods of carrying out activities (Shipton, 2006 p. 234). Moreover, culture may promote methods of thinking that inhibit the employee's possibility of providing new or improved ways of operation. Thus, business culture is one of the issues that affect learning.

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A culture of learning provides systematic, well-ordered and sustained opportunities for employees to develop skills and competencies that are essential assets in the organisation. According to human capital theory, investing in education, training, and experience brings substantial job and salary benefits to individuals (Garavan, 1991, p. 31). Also, the theory adds that investing in formal or informal education and training increases one's performance, earnings, and productivity. However, a culture that does not promote learning and development affects an organisation and the employees massively. Some of the impacts it has are reduced productivity of employees, lack of innovation and creative ideas among employees, and lack of competency among staff (Daly, and Overton, 2017, pp. 17). One understands that the learning culture of an organisation affects employee's productivity, which in turn affects the efficiency of the organisation. However, the use of Strategic Human Resource Development, SHRD, may help to solve the issue as it emphasises the organisational goals and objectives (Alagaraja, 2013, p. 121). Thus, investing in Human Resource Development, establishing a learning culture and using strategic HRM heightens the likelihood of the organisation's better performance.

References

Alagaraja, M., 2013. 'HRD and HRM perspectives on organizational performance: A Review of Literature.' Human Resource Development Review, 12(2), pp.117-143.

Daly, J., and Overton, L., 2017. 'Driving the New Learning Organization: How to Unlock the Potential of L&D.' Journal of Learning and Development. Pp. 16-19.

Garavan, N. T., 1991. 'Strategic Human Resource Development.' Journal of European Industrial Training, 15(1).Shipton, H., 2006. 'Cohesion or confusion? Towards a Typology for Organizational Learning Research 1.' International Journal of Management Reviews, 8(4), pp.233-252.