Assessing Human Resource Development Initiatives in Selected Cement Companies

Introduction

The changing economic situation in India emphasizes creation of a work environment where

people are continuously motivated to realize their full potential and deliver upon. In this

connection, human resources management (HRM) is considered as one of the most important

factor in determining the performance of any origination. HRM has tremendous relevance to

production industry as human resource is the most significant and the only active factor of

production. The factors like capital, materials, buildings, plant and machine etc., remain inactive

unless there are competent people to utilize them for producing goods and services desired by the

society. It is said that the real competitive advantage to the organizations will only be realized by

putting the people in the front line, which the scholars called as ‘people centered strategies’. As

with any other production industry, human input has significant role to play in the cement

industry. The efficiency and effectiveness of the human inputs will determined by the quality of

products and services provided to the customers.

In order to find out the problems faced by industrial sector with respect to human performance a

holistic approach is needed. Developing human resource, upgrading their skills, extending their

knowledge and competencies would lead to organizational development. Therefore, human

resource development is the key to entangle the effective utilization of intellectual, technological

and entrepreneurial skills of human resource. One of the main reason for giving more importance

to human resources is because, the systems, the structures, the procedures and the processes can

be replicated with precision but the attitudes, beliefs, capabilities of humans is very difficult to

imitate and replicate. It is said that the latest innovation brought out into the market by any

industry will get its clone within one year of its introduction. However, the same is not true with

the human capabilities, which is almost all impossible to duplicate and reproduce. Hence it

becomes paramount importance to train, develop and retain the human talent, which can only

possible where there exist congenial working climate.

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In the words of T. V. Rao, Human Resource Development (HRD) climate is the perception of the

employees about the human resource development culture in the organization. HRD expert use

the term ‘OCTAPACE’ to articulate the important features of human resource development

climate, where O stands for Openness- C stands for Confrontation, T stands for -Trust, A stands

for -Autonomy, P stands for -Pro action, A stands for -Authenticity, C stands for -Collaboration,

and E stands for -Experimentation. Human resource development climate in an organization is

reflected by its role, clarity, openness, trust, team work, proactive orientation, and the planning

of development of every employee. Human resource development climate and process are

dependent on personal policies, top management styles, top management commitment, line

mangers interest, previous culture, and investments on HRD etc.

The study of assessing human resource development climate in cement industry is the need of

the hour, keeping in mind the present situation of liberalized and global economy. The present

study is an attempt to assess the human resource development climate of cement companies at

Yerraguntla in Andhra Pradesh.

Need of the Study

We have got very clear idea from the introduction section, that competent employees are the

greatest assets of any organization. The proficiency of human resources plays a vital role in the

context of the diverse challenges faced by contemporary organizations. A congenial HRD

climate is extremely important for the ultimate achievement of any organization .With the fast

developing technologies, changing environment and growing world, organizations need to

constantly update their knowledge, sharpen their skills and improve their methods. There is

always need of policies and programs that are enacted for development of organizations.

Ample number of studies was conducted on HRD climate in various industrial and service

sectors. However, HRD climate in cement companies has not been adequately researched till

date. In order to gap up the dearth of research in cement industry, there is a need of research

initiative which could come out with a comprehensive study on the existing status of the HRD

climate in cement companies and other organizations. This will enable the administrative body to

understand the perceptions of employees on different elements of HRD measure that develop

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potentiality to stimulate organizational performance. This study is an effort to assess the status of

HRD climate in Cement Companies at Yerraguntala in Andhra Pradesh.

Study Area

Cement industry plays a vital role in economic development all over the world. Cement industry

is one of the key industries in India and has been considered as the world’s second largest

producer of cement after China. The Indian cement industry is the second largest producer of

quality cement, with global standards. The cement industry comprises of 130 large cement plants

and more than 300 mini cement plants. It ranks second immediately after iron and steel industry.

The production and consumption of cement to a large extent indicate country’s progress. There

are more than 23 cement companies in Andhra Pradesh, out of which five companies are located

at Yerraguntala in YSR District. The five companies are Bharthi cement, ICl, Coramandal zuari,

CCI, Dalmia, these companies have more than 2000 employees working in different positions

such as General Manager, Assistant General Manager, Plant manager, Executives and

Supervisors etc. Present study aims to assess HRD Climate of Yerraguntala Cement Companies

in YSR District Andhra Pradesh. For a comprehensive understanding of human resource

development climate of cement companies in at Yerraguntla we need to have a detailed study on

various sections of human resources that can be divided into three levels such as managerial,

Supervisory and clerical levels.

Objectives

To study the existing general climate of Human resource Development in Cement

Companies of Yerraguntala

To study the Human Resource Development mechanism being followed by the

authorizes in cement companies

To study the OCTAPAC culture in the Cement companies

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Scope of the Study

Present study is descriptive in nature and the aim of the current research is to identify the

variables that can have its impact on the success of human resources and also to show how

human resources contributes towards the development of HRD Climate .

Review of Literature

Research on HRD Climate has been quite intensively carried out in India. A review of HRD

studies shows that most of the research studies carried out is limited. Their endeavor to the study

one of the elements or mechanisms in HRD, basically are from the administration or managerial

perspectives. However, studies in HRD climate provide scope to have a comprehensive study of

an organizational environment from the employee’s perspective. According to Agarwala (2002)

Priyadarshini and Venkatapathy (2005) a significant goal of HR practices is to foster a climate in

which employees feel encouraged to improve individual and organizational performance. Hence,

HRD Climate is influenced in the manner HR practices are implemented. There is a clear link

between HR practices and HRD climate. HRD Practices contribute to organizational

effectiveness through HRD climate and HRD outcomes. One can create and appropriate HRD

climate only through efficient HRD practices and processes. HRD practices inflame employee

attitude, skills, knowledge and the organizational climate. Krishna and Rao, (1997) carried out a

comprehensive empirical study in BHEL, Hyderabad and found that HRD Climate in the

organization encouraged middle and seniors mangers. In a study conducted by Rohmetra in

(1998), job satisfaction was positively associated with HRD climate. A positive relationship was

reported between HRD Climate and job satisfaction, attitude and role efficacy (Kumar and

Patnaik, 2002). A similar study carried out by Rodrigues and Gowda(2011) on library

professional working in colleges libraries in Mangalore shows that by providing better physical

facilities, strengthening the reward system, maintaining better professional relationship, job

security, and promotion facilities provide for increased level of satisfaction that leads to better

organizational climate . Muffed & Gurkoo,(2006) attempted to study whole amount of HRD

climate at universities and other equivalent higher level academic institutions by eliciting

employee perceptions on HRD climate for which the University of Kashmier,Srinagar is selected

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as the main focal point of the study. According to Kalburgi(1984),Murthy and

Gregory(1989),Parthasarathy(1988),Chandrasekhar(1993),a combination of various factors such

as openness ,team spirit,trust,autonomy,cooperation,integrity,recognisition,participation,fair

compensation ,counseling ,problem solving ,valuing assets, and respect for the individual

influence the HRD climate of an organization , Bhardwaj and Mishra (2002) remarked that the

supremacy of human resource and the need for their development make out a strong cause for the

evaluation of HRD climate as directly or indirectly this climate affects the organization and the

employees.

Methodology

The study is based on both primary and secondary data. Primary data will be collected by

distributing questionnaire to the employees of the five cement companies at Yerraguntala.

Secondary data collected from various journals, articles and websites pertaining to the relevant

matter of the subject under study.

The main focus of the study is to assessing human resource development climate and practices in

five cement companies at Yerraguntala. The total universe of the population is 1500 employees

out of which 400 will be selected covering all the companies and departments. In this study the

questionnaire consisting mostly close ended questions which consist of 38 questions it covers

general climate OCTAPAC culture and HRD mechanisms. To know the respondents response

Likert five point scale will be used it varies from strongly agree, agree neutral disagree and

strongly disagree. The statistical tools such as SPSS and AMOS will be used to analyze the data.

Limitations

As we all know every research work has some limitations and the same notion is applicable to

the present study as well.

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The first and foremost limitation is regarding the source of information. The information

contained has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable and in good faith, but

which may not verified independently.

Some of the calculations are based on certain assumptions considered appropriate. Hence

the findings carry all the limitations of the statistical tools used.

Since not all the data are available from a single source, an attempt has been made to

standardize the data wherever required, which is essential to maintain uniformity

throughout the research.

Always there will be missing values while filling the research instrument such as

questionnaire; enough care will be taken to treat the missing values.

There will be always a scope to consider a few more variables which are relevant to the

study, but looking the resource constraints we may have to confine to a particular model

that suits the study.

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