its Problems
and Prospects
By S K Dhar
INTRODUCTION
From
the early days of HRD Interventions introduced in Larsen & Tubro in
1975, we have traversed a period of 26 years and during these period, in
Indian Organisations the importance of Human Resource Development has been
comprehensively felt and various processes and instruments of HRD are being
applied in different Organisations in the manufacturing, financial and
Service sectors. Whether it is a case of SBI, LICI, GIC or Canara Bank,
Indian Bank or it is a case of HMT, TISCO, TELCO, NDDB, Thermax, Hindustan
Motors, the importance of HRD in managing people for results and bringing
effectiveness in the field of `Management' have been widely appreciated
in all the Conferences of National HRD network.
Critical Issues
Critical
issues which are identified by the Top Management Team in different Organisations
share the same concern and deal with identical problems. It is found on
a survey of the Indian Organisations that in the following fields HRD has
to be Strengthened.
-
Recruitment and Promotion
Policies of different Organisations are to be reviewed on a
recurrent
and continuous basis. Merit and competence should be given greater emphasis
in
promotions.
-
Performance Appraisal
System in the Organisations is to be modified so that the right
persons
are rewarded in the right manner and placed in the right posts.
-
Greater emphasis is
to be laid on Human Resource Development and Training.
-
Communication system
is to be improved.
-
Motivation, morale,
commitments and sense of belongings and involvement of employees at
all
levels should be enhanced.
-
Greater attention
is to be paid regarding development of first line supervisors, second
and
third line executives.
-
Policies, Rules and
Procedures of the Organisation are to be consolidated and reviewed
on
a consistent and recurrent basis.
Define
goals of HRD
In
LIC, we have identified the following goals of HRD. To facilitate in giving
sufficient and prompt service to our customers, LIC reorganised structures
and system in the early 1980s. The goals of our personnel Policies in the
restructured set up are identified as follows.
-
To ensure that adequate
number of persons with sound insurance background and experience both in
generalist and specialist are available at different operative and supervisory
and managerial levels.
-
To evolve the personnel
system so that the employees are provided equitable opportunities to move
up in the Organisation on the basis of their performance and ability.
-
The employees repose confidence
in the personnel practices followed by the Corporation. The Policy should
not only be fair and just but also to be perceived as fair and just.
-
To ensure that responsibility
for results is provided right from the lower level so that employees can
develop a sense of independence and self confidence.
-
That jobs are enlarged and
enriched and are performed in a manner that nurtures team work providing
opportunity for learning new and varied skills thus, making the work more
satisfying and meaningful.
-
That those employees who
show special aptitude for different skills are carefully provided appropriate
training experiences.
-
Several strategies to achieve
the above stated objectives and goals were developed. Consistent with the
Policy of Consensus, new strategy were circulated and discussed with groups
of employees. It was clear that LIC needed a comprehensive HRD approach
in 1987. The Organisation stated its beliefs about HRD as under :
*That
Human potential interest in every employee is vast; it can be further enhanced
by various Interventions like Training, Job-rotation, counselling Organisation
Action etc.
*
That people are major assets and that an Organisation can make full utilisation
of individual potential by providing a developmental environment
and opportunities by encouraging and rewarding innovativeness and creativity.
*
That such people, who are unable to contribute to the Organisation fully
due to reasons beyond their control can also give their best if they are
taken care of and proper environment and conditions are provided.
*
That competency can be developed in people at any point of time; as model
employer it is desirable that we encourage competency enhancement.
*
That HRD provides higher quality of work-life through opportunities of
a meaningful career, job satisfaction and professional development.
*
That HRD philosophy emphasises human well being and Organisational growth.
*
That HRD Policies are relationship centered and the extent of relationship
under HRD is life long and not merely for 8 hours a day.
*
That as a model employer we must provide for employee growth; if an employee
perceives anurturing environment, automaticaly there would be a positive
response to match individual aspirations with Organisation’s needs.
*
That HRD processes have to be planned and continuous in order to be effective.
Keeping
the above HRD beliefs and goals in front of the organisation our Central
Office, HRD Cell, have so far undertaken the following few steps to bring
about change and turn around in the Organisation.
Under the guidance of
Prof. Ishwar Dayal, our external consultant on OD/HRD, LIC introduced the
system of Work Plan and Review for all the Class-I Officers of the Organisation
at all levels in all its offices. Through the instrument of WPR, an attempt
was made to integrate the individual growth and the Organisational growth
through a process of role scanning, job survey, swot analysis and periodic
review of result areas and monitoring of performances as per work plan
drawn up by each individual Officer for a particular Financial Year. Emphasis
was laid on the task of discussion, review, counselling and mid-course
correction in the activities of the individual officer for realisation
of his performance targets. From 1989 onward through intensive workshops,
interface and comprehensive Programme, these WPR instrument was internalised
with the Organisation. Lot of clarity was observed in understanding the
role and making realistic job survey by the individual officer. A systematic
line of critical thinking on the concerns of the Department and Organisation
emerged as a result of intensive work planning and reviewing.
Central Office,
also guided to re-structure of functioning of different Departments at
the Central Office and Zonal Office level with the help of Desk System
where each Department was divided into several distinct desks with fixed
accountability and responsibility. The Desk System brought about lot of
clarity and accountability among the Officers of the Organisation at the
Central Office and Zonal office level. Redtapism, delay in decision-taking,
procrastination and other tactics in the Organisational behaviour of LIC
were removed or reduced to a substantial degree through the Desk control
system. The prescribed role element and the discretionary role element
in the decision maker’s work area become more clear by successful utilisation
of the Desk control mechanism. Overlapping functions were avoided, duplication
was reduced and with the help of service bureau for data control, data
monitoring, data building, each Desk had to perform a distinct role with
support from each section under the Desk. This has developed a new working
culture in the Organisation in LIC in the early part of the 1990s.
From 1993 onward, Central
Office evolved a comprehensive Programme of OD/HRD awareness for all the
Branches as a whole through a medium of well articulated Action Plan. Here,
the focus is on making our Organisation customer friendly and market friendly.
To be brief the interests of LIC Policy Holders have been kept at the central
focus. To develop a prompt, error free and expeditious service for our
ever growing Policy Holder’s segment in this age of competition has become
the main goal before the Organisation today. If the loayalty of the policy
Holders is eroded and they are not satisfied with our standard and levels
of service, in the event of opening up Life Insurance Sector to Private.
Companies in the very
near future, it is most likely that some Policy Holders will switch over
their loyalty and patronage from LIC to other Companies. For any Organisation
with a marketing and servicing goal such a scenario will be the most difficult
and undesirable. Therefore, LIC Central Office has developed comprehensive
OD/HRD Action Plan covering all the Branches and including all the classes
of employees I, II, III and IV attached to our Branches. They have also
made this awareness Programme mandatory for all the Officers and HGAs of
the Divisional Office, so that, the Divisional Office can give proper support
service to the Branches to make their servicing effecive and fault free.
All the important Divisions have been covered in phase-I & phase-II
in all 7 Zones of LIC. The Action Plans have been prepared by around 1200
Branches in the entire Country and on the basis of the Action Plan it has
been attempted to develop a new working culture based on the principle
of co-ordination, co-operation and collaboration among all sections of
employees, with the idea that the Branch Office will function as a fully
equipped working team and their main aim will be to serve the Policy Holders
equally, promptly and accurately. The Branch Management Committee’s role
in understanding the concerned problems and issues of the Branches have
been highlighted and the co-operation from each level has been sorted out
to make the Branches modern performers in the field of Life Insurance sales
and servicing.
|
The
entire organisation need for facing the change and entire HRD thrust will
be determined by comprehensive modern and effective system of training
to be imparted to our Assistants, HGAs and different levels of Officers
in the Organisation, both in the marketing side as well as in the administrative
side.
|
Another
important and significant decision has been taken by LIC to upgrade our
servicing standard by technical up-gradation, by introducing over a period
of time in a phased and progressive manner the Front-end Application in
our Branches, indicating that the Cash, NB, Sales, PS work will be controlled,
monitored and regulated through Machines. This has been contemplated in
order to reduce response time and also in order to generate speed in our
working of different Desks of our Branches. This has also been envisaged
that through Front-end which will ultimately be developed to a Local Area
Net-working System (LAN) definitely, our Organisation will be in a position
to satisfy the Policy Holders who are having high levels of expectations
and who want that Organisation should use modern technology to satisfy
their demands and needs. The entire Programme for 2,000 plus Branches in
LIC, will be implemented in a phased manner through a process of trial
and experimentation and reviewing the results achieved and arranging for
mid-course correction and Co-ordination at different levels.
The entire organisation
need for facing the change and entire HRD thrust will be determined by
comprehensive modern and effective system of training to be imparted to
our Assistants, HGAs and different levels of Officers in the Organisation,
both in the marketing side as well as in the administrative side.
This
also involves a wide net-working of training for our large number of Agents
on a selective and time budgeted basis. Without adequate efforts, total
sincerity and massive involvement in the training field, the Organisation
can not develop appropriate strategy to face the changes and challenges
of modern competitive World. Therefore, MDC, ZTC, STC all have to play
their significant role in bringing about a total cultural changes in the
organisation. 180 degree turn in the Organisation is possible only if the
operating Departments, the Supervisors and Executives of the Organisation
supported by the massive co-operation of all classes of employees and Agents,
work in close co-operation with the training establishments. The different
instruments of HRD have to be integrated through proper implementation
of our objectives for the raising of the standard of output and productivity
of each employee and bringing about a new change in the organisation so
that it can serve its objectives and successfully implement the goals of
the Organisation.
HRD can not be conceived
in isolation; it is the imperative need for the individual’s growth, Organisational
growth and making the Organisation prepared to face any new challenges
which may emerge from the external and internal environment. It is also
not a pious philosophy without any pragmatic root, it is a strategy as
we have seen in the case of Steel Authority of India, how they have brought
about a turn around in the Organisation by adopting HRD strategy. We shall
have to distinctly understand the significance of this strategy. Not only
SAIL or Indian Oil Corporation or in Organisations like HMT and Thermax,
HRD has been assigned a major role in changing the work approach and work
ethics of the employees and Officers but even in a small Organisation in
our Country, the need for Human Resource Development, the need for training
updation and bringing about innovative strategy have been felt comprehensively.
This is a continuous
process. We cannot expect magical results. This is also painstaking and
has to pass through lot of Organisational constraints and difficulties.
The internal Policy of the Government, the internal outlook, the outlook
of the Government towards employees in the PSUS and other Semi Government
concerns, the overall IR climate, the Social, political, cultural network
in the Country, the fulfilment of legitimate aspirations of employees of
different cadres and different Organisations - all these are variable factors
for a new instrument of Human Resource Development. New interventions,
new innovative practices and lot of creative designs have to be thought
of in making HRD design and HRD strategy successful; there can not be a
set pattern of HRD implementation for all Organisations. The Organisation’s
potential, existing state of affairs and existing industrial relation climate
also have to be specially considered to bring about effective change in
the Organisation, through HRD Interventions.
To sum up, after surveying
the HRD climate in different Organisations, we may feel that there is huge
scope in making HRD really effective, result-oriented and achievement-oriented.
Potentiality of every human individual in the Organisation is immense and
people will have to change their perception about the job, work systems
and work approach on a continuous basis. Because the market is in the midst
of, massive and radical changes in the present World, the customers’ expectations
and demands are also changing very fast. So, by upgrading our capability
and by utilising optimum level of skill through training and orientation,
we can develop a vibrant and consumer-friendly Organisation. Problems before
HRD practitioners are many. Social problems, Oranisational problems, psychological
problems relating to mental blocks and prejudices, problems from the Trade
Unions, problems relating to lack of commitment from the top management
and middle level management - these are all passing phases in the developing
scenario of an Organisation. The constraints before HRD implementation
have to be faced in a radical manner through process of Organisational
diagnosis. Once the problems are sorted out and solved and we can see new
prospects before the Organisation. HRD helps our power of rational judgement
to understand the problems; it also helps to build up new initiative and
vision to solve the problems in the Organisation concerning people, product,
system and technology. Therefore, HRD is the most important challenge before
all organisations in the 21st Century.