Employee Development and Resourcing in Firms

The success of an organisation depends crucially on its human resources. A company must have effective employees in order to stay financially solvent and competitive. In order to maintain this valuable commodity, organizations must be aware of employee satisfaction and retention. People possess various degrees of knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) when they are hired. Even when utmost care is exercised in selecting the most qualified people, companies still need to devote considerable time for education, training and socialisation of employees. This is vital to encourage them to internalise the company norms, values, and beliefs which will lead them to act consistently on the company’s behalf.

Society has changed drastically over the last few years. In the 1970s, career planning efforts were focused on young employees who seemed to have potential. It was the way companies planned for the future and nurtured young workers for senior management positions (Moses, 1999). This career path model fit well with the traditional commitment employees would offer to companies. Chris Argyris referred to this commitment as a psychological contract whereby employers were almost guaranteed long term loyalty and commitment in return for giving employees job security, opportunities for promotion, and training (Feldman, 2000). In the 1980s, this idea diminished when people realised that they were reaching plateaus in their careers and the opportunities for advancement did not exist (Moses, 1999). The concept of career planning became less realistic for both individuals and organisations because neither could count on long term commitment (Feldman, 2000).

Another key factor in the success of an enterprise is funding. Any employee development ...

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