Strategic Management of Human Assets (Research Paper Sample)

Strategic Management of Human Assets Name of student Name of instructor Name of institution Course Date due Strategic Management of Human Assets Human resource is an integral component of any organisation. In essence, organisations are not simply measured in terms of how sophisticated their infrastructures are, but how strategic with regard to human capital. Yet in an age faced with the uncharted market economy, organisations have no option but to search for and nurture talent to be able to competent in the liberalised market. So, training and development is what human resource is all about, to improve organisation's skills, knowledge and performance using different learning methods. Training is mostly associated with improving one's working skills, knowledge and general techniques. While human resource development tends to deviate away from conventional work related issues and instead tries to improve one's performance by looking at a person as a whole including fulfilling one's goals. Thus one is able to work more effectively without external interferences. Training is viewed to be more generalised and is mostly carried out in groups or seminars and tend to target the organisation as a whole. Much as human resource development targets to enhance an employees career growth, it also creates an enabling environment where one is able to improve his/her performance. Once the working skills and knowledge have been imparted through training, development of a person involves identification of one's potential and helping the individual achieve them. In training and developing a person, it involves identifying one's potential, looking at the job requirements and aligning them with one's strength and capabilities (Galloway, 2008). Once this has been done it will be much easier to train the person on those skills in relation to their interests. Using the case study as an example, the second interviewee had specialised in engineering, had good grades and enjoyed camping. It would be more appropriate for him to develop his skills in a more enabling environment like the country side than in the city setting. In designing a training program different processes are involved: first one should evaluate the job and agree on the training needs. This will involve carrying out analysis to identify what areas need shaping of skills or knowledge. This is mostly done when carrying out a performance appraisal. This should not be judgemental instead it should be carried out with the aim of determining one's performance in order to work on their weak points and strengthen their strong points (Kris, 2009). Thus the organisation's goals or targets, work integrity and ethics should be put in mind to avoid victimisation of individuals. This also involves looking at the job description and requirements in identifying weak areas. The employee turnover is also looked at to identify the various reasons for employees leaving. Having sited training/development areas, the next step is designing it. The requirements for training should be specified...