by C.V.Rajan

Created on: November 06, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2010

From simple "Personnel and Administration", organizations have over the years evolved into "Human Resource Development" (HRD) in managing people in the organization. The holistic principle behind this evolution is that people in the organization, even at the lower rungs of the order, are not to be treated as mere numbers, but as human assets, to be nurtured, valued and taken due care of. How far HRD managers are going to live up to this ideal in the coming future? This question itself is going to be the greatest challenge posed before them.

Like every aspect in day to day human life, the most important aspect that is greatly influencing the HRD function is - globalization. The second aspect that forces HRD functions to be constantly evolving is Information Technology and the third is the rapidly changing business conditions and economy.

== Globalization ==

Business Process Out-sourcing (BPO) is a major business activity that triggers widespread globalization. Countries like India and China are increasingly deploying large numbers of personnel who have to work at night shifts to support and serve customers of totally different linguistic and cultural backgrounds across half the globe.

Developing oral communication skills including specific accents of the language and providing quick and prompt response with courtesy are the skills that HRD managers have to continuously train up their staff with. The physical and mental stress associated with working at night shifts, need for being continuously alert and vigilant, lack of adequate scope for relaxation, and the tension associated with transport and security (particularly for the women) are some of the major concerns of the employees that have started to give sleepless nights to the HRD managers. Attrition level is the highest in these jobs and employees are increasingly realizing that the jobs do not give long term growth prospects.

This is one area where HRD managers are still groping in search of best possible ways of tackling the issues. The current strategy is to offer a disproportionately high salary in comparison with other day jobs needing similar qualifications. Yet another strategy is to recruit people at less-than-necessary educational qualification, but provide them with excellent training to meet the standards of the job. However, retaining the creamy layer in the long run and still maintaining quality of service is very difficult.

At higher echelons of management, globalization causes top executives

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