Employee Development in India A Case Study - ijifr · Existence of developmental climate and employee motivation are essential pre- requisites ... HRD, therefore, ... Employee Development

Dr. V. K. JAIN: Employee Development in India – A Case Study www.ijifr.com An Online Open Access Refereed & Indexed Journal of Multidisciplinary Research IJIFR©2013

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ISSN (Online):2347-1697 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INFORMATIVE AND FUTURISTIC RESEARCH ( IJIFR)

Volume-1, Issue-3, November 2013 Research Area: Human Resource Management, Page No. : 23-39

Employee Development in India – A Case Study

Dr. V. K. JAIN

Associate Professor & Head, Department of Commerce

G. M. N. College, Ambala Cantt.

Abstract The success of an organization depends of the skills, knowledge and competencies of the people

working in it. Existence of developmental climate and employee motivation are essential pre-

requisites for creating enabling environment in which the employees can utilize their potentials and

develop new skills for their own and organizational development. Organizational climate,

motivational development and competency developments are, therefore, essential for the ensuring

employee development. The extent of employee development will depend on the degree of their

existence in the organization. Considering these facts in mind, the present study on ‘Employee

Development’ was undertaken with reference to a government department. The study explains the

degree of relationships in the various factors of employee development dimensions and there possible

impact on employee development. The study reveals that for each dimension, there was positive and

significant association in the variables explaining positive employee development in this department.

Key Words: Competency Development, Motivation Development, Climate Development, Openness,

Superior-Subordinate Relationship, Management Policies

1. Introduction

Among all the resources, present in an organization, ‘People’ is the most important and most valuable.

The contribution they make may not be arithmetically calculable but it is indeed highly significant in

achieving organizational goals. The earlier studies indicate that the efficiency of an organization

depends on the competent, motivated and dynamic workforce. Ultimately it is the ‘people’ who put

plan into action and make things happen. If an organization wants to achieve its goals in terms of

productivity, quality, profitability stability and growth and it wants to increase organizational

effectiveness, it must pay attention to the development of human resources in a systematic and

planned manner.

Human Resource Development is a continuous process to ensure development of the employees’

competencies, dynamism, motivation and effectiveness in a systematic and planned manner. (Rao,

1990: 8) HRD, therefore, aims to achieve:

Employee Competency Development

Employee Motivation Development

Organization Climate Development

It is worth noting that good developmental Climate in the organization promotes employee

development by enabling them to enhance their competencies and motivational level. This in turn

creates better and healthy developmental climate in the organization.

1.1 Employee Competency Development:

Employees require a variety of skills not only to fulfill their present job requirements but also to meet

any challenge in the future which can be a threat to them and the organization where they work. The

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changing environment, the increasing competition and the changing technologies require a continuous

updating of employee knowledge and skills so as to enable them to work efficiently and effectively.

For effective job performance, the employee competency development is needed on a continuous

basis. HRD provides opportunities to the people to assess their competency requirements on the one

hand and provides them the opportunities for developing these competencies on the other. HRD aims

at preparing people to accept added job responsibilities in future which may arise due to expansion,

diversification and modernization. The following diagram gives a brief account of employee

competencies needed for their own development and the development of the organization:

Fig. 1: Employee Competency Development Model

1.2 Employee Motivation Development

Another aim of HRD is ‘Employee Motivation Development’. Motivation means desire to work. It is

a commitment to the job, work and organization (Rao, 1990: 9). Without motivation employees are

unlikely to bring about the desired results. Technical and managerial skills are not enough unless there

EMPLOYEE

COMPETENCY

DEVELOPMENT

SKILLS REQUIRED

FOR

PERFORMING

JOBS

SKILLS REQUIRED

FOR MEETING

CHANGING

NATURE OF

JOBS

SKILLS REQUIRED

FOR MEETING

OTHER

REQUIREMENTS

THE CHANGES IN NATURE

OF JOBS TAKE PLACE DUE

TO CHANGES IN: Environment

Organizational priorities,

goals etc

Profiles of fellow

employees

Technology

THE SKILLS NEEDED

TO PERFORM A JOB

MAY INCLUDE: Knowledge

Attitudes

Technical skills

Managerial skills

Human relation skills

Conceptual skills

SOME OF THE OTHER

FACTORS, AN EMPLOYEE

NEED TO ACCEPT AND

ATTAIN COMPETENCE: New opportunities

New challenges

New knowledge

Regular feedback

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is an effort on the part of the employees in the right direction to attain the goals of the organization

effectively.

Fig. 2: Factors influencing Motivation

Thus, employee motivation is influenced by individual needs, his own personality, reward system of

the organization, supervisor’s style of working and his behaviour towards the subordinates,

opportunities for career development, policies of the organization and overall organizational culture.

HRD aims at developing employee motivation to maximum possible extent as their contribution to the

achievement of organizational goals can be tremendous.

1.3 Organization Climate Development:

HRD aims at developing an organizational climate which not only ensures employee development and

employee motivation but also helps in achieving organizational objectives efficiently and effectively.

HRD climate is one where there is an atmosphere of trust, pro-activity, authenticity, openness, co-

operation and creativity.

The below figure shows that a healthy organizational climate is characterized by openness i.e. free

expression of ideas, opinions and suggestions by individuals and groups; there is an atmosphere of

trust; people take initiative and are willing to accept challenges; people discuss problems and try to

solve them; there is a cordial relationship between the superiors and subordinates; mistakes are

reviewed and are taken as learning opportunity; people have a sense of belongingness towards the

organization.

It is worth noting that employee competencies and employee motivational development can’t take

place in the absence of proper HRD climate development in the organization.

Individual

Needs

Reward

Mechanisms

Career

Opportunities

Organizational Culture

&

Environment

Personnel Policies

Supervisor’s

Style

&

Behaviour

Individual

Personality &

Habits

Pattern

Factors

Influencing

Motivation

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Fig. 3: HRD Climate Development Factors

2. Statement of the Problem

Considering the significance of employee development for every organization in mind, the present

study has been undertaken. The study is limited to Government Sector in India. The study seeks to

explore the factors contributing to the development of employee competencies, motivation and

organizational climate. The researches undertaken in the past clearly indicate that good HRD Climate

in an organization helps in developing conducive environment for employee development which is

very essential for the growth of the organization. Efforts have also been made to corroborate these

relationships.

2.1 Objectives of the Study

Considering the significance of employee development for every organization in mind, the present

study has been undertaken. The study is limited to Government Sector and focuses on the following

objectives:

HRD

Climate

Develop-

ment

Openness

Free

Expression

Of

Ideas

Collabora-

tion

Among

Individuals

&

Teams

Trust

People

Can be

trusted

Authenti-

city People do

what they

say & say

what they

mean

Pro-

activity

People

Take

Initiative.

Autonomy

Freedom to

Act Independently

within

Role

Confront-

ation

Problems

are

diagnosed,

Confronted

& solved.

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To examine whether there existed employee competency development opportunities

in this sector.

To study whether there is proper attention to employee motivational development

To study whether there exist adequate organization climate development conducive

for employees in this sector.

To study the relationship of competency development, motivation development,

organization climate development with overall development climate.

To examine the impact of these variables on overall development of the organization

to the possible extent.

2.2 Methodology

For the purpose of the present study one government department was selected on random basis. The

data was collected from the high ranking Officers posted in Ambala and Chandigarh regions through

HRD questionnaire developed by Centre for HRD at XLRI. The 38 item questionnaire named ‘HRD

Climate Survey Questionnaire’ was evenly distributed into three parts to study all the above

mentioned three aspects of employee development i.e. Employee Competency, Employee Motivation

and Organizational Climate. In all 30 respondents were selected. The total score of 38 items was later

averaged and termed as Overall HRD Climate Score and was used to study the nature of relationship

with the above noted three factors of employee development.

To study the impact of the variables on the organization, item-wise mean scores of the respondents

have been computed and converted into percentage scores by using the following formulae (Rao,

1991:39)

Percentage Score = (Mean Score -1) * 25

This was done on the basis of assumption that a score of 1 represents Zero percent, a score of 2

represents 25 percent, a score of 3 represents 50 percent, a score of 4 represents 75 percent and a score

of 5 represents 100 percent.

Further, Rao (1991) explains that mean score of 1 indicates ‘extremely poor’ HRD climate and 5

indicates ‘extraordinarily good’ HRD climate on that dimension. Scores around 3 indicates ‘average’,

whereas mean score of 4 indicates ‘good’ and 2 indicates ‘poor’ HRD climate on that dimension.

2.3 Statistical Analysis

The opinions of the respondents were converted into scores by using 5-point scale for the purpose of

deriving the results. Statistical tools have been employed to analyze the results including correlation

between the variables, testing the level of significance of these correlations and analyzing the impact

of these variables on the overall employee development.

2.4 Scope and Significance of the Study

The study is of great significance to the employees and the Government Departments as it will help

them to find out the general HRD climate prevailing in the these departments, the variables affecting

the HRD climate, HRD competencies and HRD motivation. The government can accordingly make its

policies to develop the competencies of its officers, review its motivational development approach

and improve its overall developmental climate.

The present study is however, limited to only one department of the government sector; its results can

be generalized to other departments to a limited extent. Further, the results cannot be compared with

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other sectors of the economy because of different policies, approaches and methodologies for

employee development.

3 Survey of Literature

A review of literature highlights the important role played by HRD in employee development.

Various Studies have been undertaken in the past to study the role of HRD in developing employee

competencies, enhancing their motivational level and developing HRD Climate in the Indian

Organizations.

Rao and Abraham [1986] made a study of 52 organizations which shows that overall HRD climate

in these organizations was about 54% which is rather low. An optimal level of development climate is

essential for facilitating HRD activities. He has indicated various factors which can be helpful in

improving the overall HRD climate in these organizations.

Jain, Singhal, and Singh [1997] conducted a study on HRD Climate of two major public sector

organizations and tried to determine inter correlations in their HRD Variables They observed that

some of these variables were significantly correlated and made a significant contribution to the

development of HRD climate in these organizations.

Solomon [2013] in his study on Competency mapping has tried to explore the level of Competency

prevailing among the executives of public sector. The results of the study show that nearly half of the

respondents have moderate level of managerial HR and general competencies.

Katz [1994] in his study on Competency Mapping grouped competencies under three categories

including Technical, Managerial and Behavioral (Human).

Maslow [1946] proposed a five level hierarchy of needs including psychological, safety, love, esteem

and self-actualization which he outlined as necessary for the achievement of a completely satisfied

individual or in his terms a self-actualized person.

UNDP Conference Paper [2006] explains that there are various ways of conceiving of motivation in

relation to capacity. On the individual and organizational levels, one can easily conceive of

motivation being complementary to capacity. On the individual level, capacity to perform is a

combination of personal skills and motivation of people. It can be weakened or fuelled from within

(such as changing believes or health) or external incentives (measures in the environment that impact

on motivation). Learning, which is at the center of individual capacity development, is fundamentally

a function of intrinsic voluntary motivation to acquire knowledge and the means to do so.

The survey of literature indicates that there are evidences of studies being conducted to study HRD

Climate, Competency Mapping, Need Analysis, Employee Skills etc. but little effort has been made to

study the various factors contributing employee development. The present study is an attempt in this

direction.

4. Analysis of Employee Development in Government Sector

The present study undertakes various aspects of employee development with respect to one

Government Department in India which help to competent and committed workforce and better HRD

Climate in the organization essential to achieve its goals of growth, profitability and stability.

As indicated earlier, 38-item ‘Human Recource Climate Questionnaire’ developed by Centre for HRD

at XLRI was used for this purpose. These 38 items were divided into three parts to study the three

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aspects of employee development i.e. Employee Competency, Employee Motivation and

Organizational Climate. A sample of 30 respondents including high ranking government officials was

selected for this purpose on random basis. All the officials, however, belonged to one department

only.

4.1 General Analysis

An optimum level of Development Climate is essential for employee development in the organization.

In order to examine, whether there existed such climate in this department, overall mean on the

opinions of the respondents for all the 38 variables of the selected Government Department was

ascertained. As indicated in Table-1, the overall mean came out to be 3.90 (72.5 per cent) which

indicated that there existed quite ‘good’ Development Climate in this Government Department. It is a

good sign of developmental opportunities available to employees in this department to enhance their

skills and competencies.

An overview of the item-wise mean and percentage for all the 38 items as classified in three parts

mentioned above are given in the Table-1. The description of the items is given in Annexure-1. A

scrutiny of the mean scores explains that on various items (14 items) the mean score was > 4 which

indicates that good developmental climate existed on these dimensions in this organization. In all 16

items showed a mean score of > 3.90 being overall mean score which have helped in creating good

HRD climate in this department.

4.1 (a) High Mean Value Items (Mean> 4.40):

A close scrutiny of the table shows that behavioral feedback given to the employee is used by him for

development seriously (item no.22) was assigned highest weightage with mean score of 4.73,

followed by item no. 17 (Mean=4.47) i.e. ‘Performance appraisal reports in the organization are based

on objective assessment and adequate information and not on favouritism’, item no.27 (Mean=4.47)

‘People trust each other in this organization’ and item no.28 ‘Employees are not afraid to express or

discuss their feelings with their superiors’ indicating that employees feedback, performance appraisal,

trust and free expression are given high weightage in this organization making favorable climate for


4.1 (b) Mean Value >4.20 but ≤ 4.40

Similarly, a mean score of 4.40 was assigned to item no. 14 ‘Promotion decisions are based on

suitability of the promotee rather than on favouritism’, and item no.24 ‘When employees are

sponsored for training they take it seriously and try to learn from the programmes they attended’.

Further, item no. 13 (Mean=4.33) ‘The top management of the organization makes efforts to identify

and utilize the potentials of the employees’, item no.2 (Mean=4.33) ‘The top management believes

that human resources are extremely important resource and that they can be treated more humanly’,

item no.23 (Mean=4.26) ‘Employees in the organization take pains to find out their strengths and

weaknesses from supervising officers or colleagues’, also indicate high learning aptitude of the

respondents and willingness of the top management in developing employee potentials.

4.1 (c) Mean Value >4.00 but ≤ 4.20

A mean score of 4.20 was obtained by item no.8 ‘Managers in the organization believe that employee

behavior can be changed and people can be developed at any stage of their life’; item no 19

‘Employees are encouraged to experiment new methods and try out creative ideas’ and item no. 20

‘When an employee makes a mistake his supervisor treat it with understanding and help him to learn

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from his mistakes rather than punishing him or discouraging him’. Besides, item no.7 ‘People Lacking

Competence in doing their jobs are helped to acquire competence rather than being left unattended’

scored a mean value of 4.07. They all indicate that people in the organization are supported to develop

their skills and competence.

4.1 (d) Mean Value ≥3.90 but ≤ 4.00

Variables contributing higher than overall mean value of 3.90 including item no.11 (Mean=4.00) ‘The

psychological climate in the organization is very conducive to any employee interested himself by

acquiring new knowledge and skill’, item no.5 (Mean=3.93) ‘Top management is willing to invest a

considerable part of their time and other resources to ensure the development of the employees’ and

item no. 9 (Mean=3.93) ‘People in the organization are helpful to each other’ express that the climate

in the organization is conducive for employee development.

Table-1: Mean and Percentage Scores of Employee Development Variables

The existing climate can be improved further to contribute to employee development if some of the

variables showing mean score ranging between 3 and 4 are properly developed. Only one item

showed a mean score of less than 3 i.e. item no. 30 ‘Employees are encouraged to take initiative and

do things on their own without having to wait for instructions from supervisors’, which is quite

understandable as it is not always possible to take initiative without seeking approval of the superiors

in this bureaucratic type of organization.

Employee Competency Development

Items

Employee Motivation Development

Items

Organizational Climate Development

Items

S. No. Item

No.

Mean % S. No. Item

No.

Mean % S. No. Item

No.

Mean %

1 6 3.87 71.68 1 4 3.87 71.68 1 1 3.87 71.68

2 7 4.07 76.68 2 10 3.33 58.33 2 2 4.33 83.33

3 11 4.00 75.00 3 15 3.13 55.33 3 3 3.87 71.68

4 12 3.87 71.68 4 16 3.33 58.33 4 5 3.93 73.33

5 13 4.33 83.33 5 17 4.47 86.68 5 8 4.20 80.0

6 14 4.40 85.00 6 19 4.20 80.00 6 9 3.93 73.33

7 22 4.73 93.25 7 20 4.20 80.00 7 18 3.87 71.68

8 23 4.26 81.50 8 21 3.87 71.68 8 27 4.47 86.68

9 24 4.40 85.00 9 30 2.73 43.25 9 28 4.41 85.33

10 25 3.80 70.00 10 31 3.20 55.00 10 29 3.47 61.68

11 26 3.87 71.68 11 32 3.87 71.68 11 33 3.87 71.68

12 36 3.60 65.00 12 35 3.73 68.33 12 34 3.53 63.33

13 38 3.27 56.68 13 37 3.33 58.33

Overall Score Mean = 3.90 % Score = 72.50

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4.2 Analysis of Employee Development Factors

As stated earlier, the employee development is based on three factors including employee competency

development, climate development and employee motivation development. All the 38 items stated in

Table-1 have been divided in these three parts and analysis has been made on the basis of inter-

relationships among the variables affecting the three dimensions of employee development separately.

4.2 (I) Employee Competency Development

Development of employee competencies is desired not only for the development of the employee but

also the organization as a whole. Keeping this fact in mind, 13 variables were selected to examine the

nature of inter-relationships in these variables which contribute to employee competency development

in the selected government department. These variables are presented in Table-2. The opinions of the

respondents on these variables were converted into scores on the basis of 5 point scale and the inter-

relationships among them were established. Table-3 shows the correlation values of these variables.

Test of significance was applied to find out highly significant correlations at 1 per cent and 5 per cent

level. It has been ascertained that out of the 78 relationships (Table-3) 57 inter relations are significant

at .01 level and 8 are significant at .05 level.

Table-2: Employee Competency Development Questionnaire

S. No. Item No.

(Appendix -1)

Employee Competency Development Statements Ratings

1. 6 Senior Officers/ Executives in the organization take interest in their juniors and

help them learn their job.

5 4 3 2 1

2. 7 People Lacking Competence in doing their jobs are helped to acquire competence

rather than being left unattended.

5 4 3 2 1

3. 11 The psychological climate in the organization is very conducive to any employee

interested himself by acquiring new knowledge and skill.

5 4 3 2 1

4. 12 Seniors guide their juniors and prepare them for future responsibilities/roles they

are likely to take up.

5 4 3 2 1

5. 13 The top management of the organization makes efforts to identify and utilize the

potentials of the employees.

5 4 3 2 1

6. 14 Promotion decisions are based on suitability of the promotee rather than on

favouritism.

5 4 3 2 1

7. 22 When behavior feedback is given to the employee they take it seriously and use it

for development.

5 4 3 2 1

8. 23 Employees in the organization take pains to find out their strengths and weaknesses

from supervising officers or colleagues.

5 4 3 2 1

9. 24 When employees are sponsored for training they take it seriously and try to learn

from the programmes they attended.

5 4 3 2 1

10. 25 Employees returning from the training programmes are given opportunities to try

out what they have learnt

5 4 3 2 1

11. 26 Employees are sponsored for training on the basis of genuine training needs. 5 4 3 2 1

12. 36 The organization’s future plans are made known to the managerial staff to help

them develop their juniors and prepare them for the future.

5 4 3 2 1

13. 38 Job rotation in the organization facilitates employee development 5 4 3 2 1

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Table-3: Employee Competency Development Correlation Matrix

4.2 (I) (a) Superior Subordinate relationship and competency development

Superior-subordinate relationships in this government department appear to be quite cordial as evident

from the inter-relations between the items including seniors helping the juniors to learn their job (item

6), people lacking competence are helped to acquire them (item 7), the climate in organization is

conducive to help people to acquire new knowledge and skills (item 11) and seniors guiding juniors to

prepare them to take up future job responsibilities (item 12). Further, these relationships were found to

be statistically significant.

4.2 (I) (b) Utilizing employee potentials and future job responsibilities:

Organizational variables including Item No. 13 relating to interest of top management in identifying

and utilizing employee potentials has significant relationship with seniors helping the juniors to learn

their job (item 6) and seniors guiding juniors to prepare them to take up future job responsibilities

(item 12) and were also found to be statistically significant indicating that top management policies

are duly supported by its executives in developing and utilizing employee potentials.

4.2 (I) (c) Promotion, Feedback and Superior-subordinate Relationship:

‘Promotion decisions are based on suitability of the promotee rather than on favouritism’ (item no.

14) is significantly related to factors of superior-subordinate relationships (item No. 6, 7, 11, 12) and

top management’s interest in utilizing employee potentials (item No.13). It is worth noting that

behavioural feedback given to the employees (item No.22) only has positive and significant relation

with promotion (item No.14) and potential utilization by top management (item No.13). It also has

significant relationship with item no.6 dealing with superiors helping their subordinates and superiors

preparing them for future job roles (item no. 12).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Item No.

6 7 11 12 13 14 22 23 24 25 26 36 38

1 6 0.746* 0.731* 1.000* 0.614* 0.726* 0.355** 0.818* 0.631* 0.697* 0.773* 0.934* 0.818*

2 7 0.997* 0.746* 0.297 0.840* 0.238 0.735* 0.434** 0.986* 0.995* 0.830* 0.516*

3 11 0.731* 0.234 0.799* 0.168 0.688* 0.371** 0.985* 0.994* 0.826* 0.536*

4 12 0.614* 0.726* 0.355** 0.818* 0.631* 0.697* 0.773* 0.934* 0.818*

5 13 0.729* 0.929* 0.866* 0.982* 0.250 0.292 0.441** 0.156

6 14 0.727* 0.961* 0.837* 0.814* 0.821* 0.709* 0.265

7 22 0.791* 0.949* 0.209 0.211 0.218 -0.178

8 23 0.927* 0.695* 0.728* 0.740* 0.367**

9 24 0.392** 0.421** 0.491* 0.132

10 25 0.991* 0.835* 0.512*

11 26 0.874* 0.582*

12 36 0.856*

13 38

Significant at .01 level **Significant at .05 level

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4.2 (I) (d) SWOT, Training, Job Rotation etc.

From the relationship pattern, it appears that the employees take interest in their own development as

apparent from the relationships of SWOT analysis (item No.23), seriousness in training (item No.24),

training on the basis of genuine training needs (item No.26) and opportunity to implement new

learning in training (item No.25). These variables also have significant relationship with superior-

subordinate variables (item No. 6, 7, 11, 12) and organization variables (item No. 14). Awareness

about the future plans of the organization to managers for preparing juniors and (item No. 36) and job

rotation (item No. 38) are not only significantly inter-related but also closely associated with almost

all other variables.

Positive and significant relationship existing in all these variables is good sign of employee

competence development in this department. It appears that strong superior-subordinate relationship,

employees’ keenness in his development, effective implementation of training and positive role of the

top management in developing and utilizing employee potentials have enabled employee competence

development in this department.

4.2 (II) Employee Motivation Development

Employee motivation development is quite significant for employee development because in absence

of continuous motivation, it is not possible to enhance individual competencies. Accordingly, a

questionnaire was prepared to extract the relationship among the variables contributing employee

development in the selected government department under study. These variables are presented in

Table-4. The opinions of the respondents on these variables were converted into scores on the basis of

5 point scale and the inter-relationships among them were established as in case of employee

competency development. Table-5 shows the correlation values of these variables. Test of

significance was applied to find out highly significant correlations at 1 per cent and 5 per cent level.

It was ascertained that out of the 78 relationships (Table-5) 47 inter relations are significant at .01

level and 7 are significant at .05 level. Significant inter-relationship in these variables speaks of high

degree of motivation in this department which drives the employees to constantly strive for acquiring

and developing new skills and competencies

4.2 (II) (a) Personnel Policies, Rewards, informal relationship, Performance Appraisal etc.

A study of the inter-relationships shows that personnel policies in the organization facilitate employee

development (item No.4) as it has shown positive and significant relationship with almost all other

variables. Existence of good informal relationships (item No.10) and Mechanisms to reward for good

work (item No.15) was also found to have positive and significant relationship with all other variables

explaining significant level of motivational development among the employees. Supervisors

appreciating subordinates for good work (item No. 16), performance appraisal based on objective

assessment (item No. 17) and encouragement to employees to try creative ideas (item No. 19) are

closely associated to each other and further these relationships were generally found to be positive and

significant. Further, the relationships in variables including ‘employees are encouraged to learn from

their mistakes’ (item no 20); ‘weaknesses of employees being communicated in no-threatening way’

(item no 21) and ‘employees are encouraged to take initiative’ (item no 30) were also found to be

positive and significant.

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Table: 4 Employee Motivation Development Questionnaire

S. No. Item No.

(Appendix-1)

Employee Motivation Development Statements Ratings

1. 4 The personnel policies in this organization facilitate employee development. 5 4 3 2 1

2. 10 Employees in this organization are very informal and do not hesitate to discuss

their personal problems with their supervisors.

5 4 3 2 1

3. 15 There are mechanisms in the organization to reward any good work done or any

contribution made by the employees.

5 4 3 2 1

4. 16 When employee does good work his supervising officer takes special care to

appreciate it.

5 4 3 2 1

5. 17 Performance appraisal reports in the organization are based on objective

assessment and adequate information and not on favouritism.

5 4 3 2 1

6. 19 Employees are encouraged to experiment new methods and try out creative ideas. 5 4 3 2 1

7. 20 When an employee makes a mistake his supervisor treat it with understanding and

help him to learn from his mistakes rather than punishing him or discouraging

him.

5 4 3 2 1

8. 21 Weaknesses of employees are communicated to them in non-threatening way. 5 4 3 2 1

9. 30 Employees are encouraged to take initiative and do things on their own without

having to wait for instructions from supervisors.

5 4 3 2 1

10. 31 Delegation of authority to encourage juniors to develop handling higher

responsibilities is quite common in this organization.

5 4 3 2 1

11. 32 When seniors delegate authority to juniors, the juniors use it as an opportunity for

development.

5 4 3 2 1

12. 35 Career opportunities are pointed out to juniors by senior officers in the

organization.

5 4 3 2 1

13. 37 The organization ensures employee welfare to such an extent the employees can

save a lot of their mental energy for work purposes.

5 4 3 2 1

Table: 5 Employee Motivation Development Correlation Matrixes

significant. relationships with all other variables indicating that motivation level of the employees is quite high which is a

god sign of encouragement for improving and developing skills.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Item

No.

4 10 15 16 17 19 20 21 30 31 32 35 37

1 4 0.874* 0.594* 0.134 0.041 0.591* 0.886* 0.975* 0.121 0.773* 0.943* 0.886* 0.771*

2 10 0.897* 0.451* 0.061 0.441** 0.733* 0.850* 0.453* 0.912* 0.794* 0.697* 0.706*

3 15 0.607* -0.112 0.112 0.392** 0.621* 0.633* 0.881* 0.564* 0.467* 0.387**

4 16 0.457* 0.392** 0.303 0.107 0.038 0.184 0.195 0.158 0.076

5 17 0.783* 0.474* -0.155 -0.310 -0.296 -0.097 -0.126 0.474*

6 19 0.897* 0.446** -.418** 0.072 0.519* 0.497* 0.702*

7 20 0.788* -0.173 0.465* 0.813* 0.771* 0.824*

8 21 0.121 0.799* 0.977* 0.936* 0.617*

9 30 0.685* -0.060 -0.179 0.254

10 31 0.980* 0.585* 0.564*

11 32 0.980* 0.529*

12 35 0.430**

13 37

*Significant at .01 level **Significant at .05 level

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4.2 (II) (b) Initiatives, Delegation, Experimentation etc.

Similarly, the correlation between ‘employees are encouraged to take initiative’ (item no 30) was

significantly associated with delegation of authority ‘employees are encouraged to take initiative’

(Item no 31). It has been noticed that ‘employees are encouraged to take initiative’ (item no 31);

‘delegation of authority as opportunity for development’ (item no 32), pointing out career

opportunities to the juniors (item no. 35); ensuring saving energy by way of employee welfare (item

no 37) were closely and significantly related to each other. Some negative correlations were also

observed but they were not found to be significant except the relationship between item no. 14

‘Employees are encouraged to experiment new methods and try out creative ideas’ and item no. 30

‘Employees are encouraged to take initiative and do things on their own without having to wait for

instructions from supervisors’ which is quite understandable from the fact that government

departments are rule bound and hence approval of the superiors is needed for implementation of ideas.

From the above discussion, it can be inferred, that motivational climate for employee development in

the organization is quite conducive. It is quite evident from the inter-relations that employees are

encouraged to learn from their mistakes and appreciated for their good work. They are motivated to

accept delegation of authority to enable them for taking up higher responsibilities. Better informal

relationships and personnel policies are also useful in building employee motivation development.

4.2 (III) Organization Climate Development

Employee development cannot take place unless there is optimal level of developmental

climate in the organization. Organization climate development is characterized by a combination of

several factors including openness, collaboration, trust, autonomy, pro-activity, authenticity,

confrontation and experimentation.

In order to analyze whether there existed strong correlation in these variable i.e. to examine the

organization climate in the organization, inter-relationship in these variables was studied. For this

purpose 12 items were selected as mentioned in the table-6.

Table-7 shows that out of the 66 relationships 56 inter relations were found to be significant at .01

level. This shows that there is greater degree of developmental climate in this department which

enables employee development and growth of the organization.

4.2 (III) (a) Correlation in variables relating to top management perception and other variables

From the study of table-7 given below it is apparent that high degree of significant inter-

relations (>0.75) existed between the items including inter-relation of ‘The top management of the

organization goes out of its way to make sure that employees enjoy their work (item no. 1) with each

of the items development of the subordinates as a part of their job by managers/officers (item 3); top

management’s willingness to invest their time and resources for employee development (item 5);

managers belief that and people can be developed at any stage of their life (item 8); helpful behaviour

of the People (item 9); people don’t have fixed mental impression about each other (item 18);

employees are not afraid to express or discuss their feelings with their subordinates (item 27); team

spirit (item 33); problems are discussed openly (item 34). Positive and significant relationship of this

variable was also observe with (item 27); and employees openly discuss their feelings with their

superiors (item 28). These relationships indicate that the management policies are positive towards


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Table: 6 Organization Climate Development Questionnaire

S. No. Item No.

(Appendix-1)

Organization Climate Development Statements Ratings

1. 1 The top management of the organization goes out of its way to make

sure that employees enjoy their work.

5 4 3 2 1

2. 2 The top management believes that human resources are extremely

important resource and that they can be treated more humanly.

5 4 3 2 1

3. 3 Development of the subordinates is seen as an important part of their

job by managers/officers here.

5 4 3 2 1

4. 5 Top management is willing to invest a considerable part of their time

and other resources to ensure the development of the employees.

5 4 3 2 1

5. 8 Managers in the organization believe that employee behavior can be

changed and people can be developed at any stage of their life.

5 4 3 2 1

6. 9 People in the organization are helpful to each other. 5 4 3 2 1

7. 18 People in the organization do not have fixed mental impression about

each other

5 4 3 2 1

8. 27 People trust each other in this organization. 5 4 3 2 1

9. 28 Employees are not afraid to express or discuss their feelings with

their superiors.

5 4 3 2 1

10. 29 Employees are not afraid to express or discuss their feelings with

their subordinates.

5 4 3 2 1

11. 33 Team spirit is of high order in this organization. 5 4 3 2 1

12. 34 When problems arise people discuss these problems openly and try to

solve them rather than keep accusing each other behind the back.

5 4 3 2 1

Table: 7 Organization Climate Development Correlation Matrix

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Item No 1 2 3 5 8 9 18 27 28 29 33 34

1 1 -0.023 0.819* 0.978* 0.989* 0.821* 0.991* 0.687* 0.659* 0.758* 0.758* 0.955*

2 2 0.491* -0.073 0.087 0.522* -0.090 0.663* 0.671* -0.201 0.096 -0.132

3 3 0.747* 0.847* 0.947* 0.762* 0.845* 0.865* 0.629* 0.874* 0.679*

4 5 0.981* 0.746* 0.997* 0.680* 0.669* 0.626* 0.951* 0.986*

5 8 0.861* 0.983* 0.778* 0.669* 0.626* 0.988* 0.956*

6 9 0.759* 0.913* 0.859* 0.610* 0.889* 0.697*

7 18 0.659* 0.643* 0.689* 0.966* 0.980*

8 27 0.970* 0.251 0.751* 0.640*

9 28 0.192 -0.713 0.616*

10 29 0.765* 0.597*

11 33 0.920*

12 34

*Significant at .01 level **Significant at .05 level

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4.2 (III) (b) Trust, Co-Operation, Team Spirit, Openness etc.

A scrutiny of the table-7 indicates that these items are not only closely associated with each other but

also with other variables. Mutual co-operation (item 9) has positive and significant relationship with

trust (item 27), team spirit (item 33) and openness (item 28, 29, 34). Similarly, these variables are

closely associated with other variables including belief of the top management in employee

development (item 1, 2, 5) and role of the superiors in employee development (item 3, 8, 18).

From the above, it can be concluded that organizational development climate in this department is

quite conducive for employee development. The management, superiors and subordinates co-operate

each other, policies are supportive and there is free expression of ideas and sharing of problems.

Further, there exists trust and team spirit. On the whole, good developmental climate prevails here.

4.3 Inter-relationship between Employee Development Score; Competency, Motivation and

Climate Score

In order to understand the nature of employee development in this organization the total score of 38

items on 5-point scale was derived and termed as ‘Employee Development Score’. This score was

compared with the scores of all the three factors of employee development i.e. competency

development, motivation development and organization climate development. Correlations in all the

variables are presented in Table-8 below:

Table 8: Correlation Matrix of Employee Development Score; Competency, Motivation and Climate Development Score

Employee

Development

Score

Employee

Competency

Development

Employee

Motivation

Development

Organizational

Climate

Development

1 2 3 4

1 Employee

Development Score

0.996* 0.986* 0.991*

2 Employee

Competency

Development

0.984* 0.980*

3 Employee

Motivation

Development

0.960*

4 Organizational

Climate

Development

* significant at .01 level

A close look at the table shows that the relationship of Employee Developmental Score is highly

correlated with Employee Competency Development (r=0.996); Employee Motivation Development

(r=0.986) and Organizational Climate Development (r=0.991). These relationships are highly positive

and statistically significant. Further, high degree of correlation existed between Employee

Competency Development and Employee Motivation Development (r=0.984) Employee Competency

Development and Organizational Climate Development (r=0.980); and Employee Motivation

Development and Organizational Climate Development (r=0.960) indicating that there is highest

opportunity for employee development for the employees in the department. From these relationships

it can be inferred that the organization takes interest in employee development, the policies of the

organization are supportive and there is good inter personal relation among the employees. Besides,

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the organization has developed a climate of trust, co-operation, team-work and openness which leads

to employee development.

5 Conclusion

On the whole the study of Employee Development in the selected Government Department brings out

the following conclusions:

1. There existed a ‘good’ development climate in the organization, overall Mean Score being

3.90 which is quite close to the mean score of 4 required to designate the development climate

as ‘good’.

2. 16 items had a mean score of greater than 3.90, out of which 14 had a mean score of greater

than 4 indicating that a large number of items contribute to the building up of good climate.

Besides, there are 7 items with a mean score of 3.87 which is quite close to the overall mean

score.

3. As regards employee competency development, the variables selected for the purposes were

normally positively correlated and most of the correlation values (65 out of 78) were found to

be statistically significant at .01 and .05 level. It appears that there are good inter-personal

relations among the employees. It seems that good and supportive environment for

development and utilization of employee potentials existed in the organization. Performance

appraisal and feedback are also assisting employee development.

4. Employee motivation development also seems to contribute to employee development. The

variables selected on this dimension also showed positive and significant relationship. In all,

54 out of 78 correlations were found to be statistically significant. Personnel policies appear

to be supportive. Existence of delegation of authority, initiative taking and experimentation

on the part of superiors and subordinates both are signs of employee development. Besides, it

has been found that in this department, strong informal relations have been built up which

further strengthen the development and growth of employees.

5. Organizational climate development seems to be quite effective for employee development as

56 inter-relationships out of 66 were found to be statistically significant. High degree of

correlation was found among the variables like team-spirit, trust, co-operation,

experimentation, authenticity etc. On the whole, the climate is highly positive and conducive

for development.

6. High degree of correlation was observed when the cumulative values of the scores of all the

three dimensions i.e. employee competency development, employee motivation development

and organizational climate development were compared with the cumulative scores of all the

38 items namely employee development score. It appears that there is high order of employee

development in the organization especially for this department.

On the whole, it can be concluded that all the three constituents of employee development i.e.

employee competency development, employee motivation development and organizational climate

development are enabling in developing employee competencies and growth of the organization as

evident from the opinions of the respondents. This government department in particular has been

maintaining a good harmony, co-operation, co-operation, trust, support, superior-subordinate

relationship, proper implementation of policies, objective assessment and feedback. It has helped in

developing climate for employee development, raising motivation and creating atmosphere for

improving competencies of the people and utilizing their potentials.

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The objectives of the study seem to be fully met with following observations:

1. That there are sufficient opportunities for competency development for the employees in the

organization.

2. That the employees are duly motivated by the superiors, peers and the management policies

and there motivational needs are properly attended.

3. That there exists conducive organizational development climate where employees can

develop their skills, utilize their potentials and can grow their competencies to any level.

4. That there is high degree of correlation among many of the variables on all the dimensions

including competency, motivation and climate development. Further, overall employee

development is also highly correlated with these dimensions.

5. That the employee development is likely to bring better superior-subordinate relationships,

sound developmental climate and high level of motivation which will help the organization to

grow rapidly.

Employee development can be further improved if some of the variables which are positive but not

significant are taken care of and some of the variables which have negative correlation although not

significant are improved. It is worth mentioning that in some cases, the opinions of the respondents

are varied and divided which again speaks of the bottlenecks in employee development in the

organization. However, there appears to be cohesiveness in the opinions of the respondents on

employee development to a great extent.

To sum up, the organization has created climate for development of employee competencies and

motivation level of the employees in this department is quite high and they appear to be taking full

use of the developmental climate and are developing new skills and competencies.

6 References

[1] Katz, Daniel (1994), “Study of Competency Mapping”, Harvard Business Review.

[2] Rao, T.V. and Abraham E. (1986), “Human Resource Development Climate in Indian organization”. In

.V.Rao and D.F.Pereira Ed. Recent Experiences in Human Resources Development, New Delhi: Oxford

and IBH, 70 - 98.

[3] Rao, T.V. Readings in Human Resource Development Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New

Delhi, 1991.

[4] Maslow, A. (1946) “A Theory of Human Motivation” Psychological Review, 50, 370-96

[5] Jain V K, Singhal K C and Singh U C (1997), “HRD Climate in Indian Industry”, Productivity, 37(4):

628-639.

[6] United Nations Development Programme (2006), “Incentive systems: incentives, motivation, and

development performance”, Conference Paper #8 Working Draft, November.

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Employee Development in India A Case Study - ijifr · Existence of developmental climate and employee motivation are essential pre- requisites ... HRD, therefore, ... Employee Development