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 "HR#$ is considered as one of the most important
factor in determining the performance of any origination HR# 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! %uildings! plant and machine etc! remain inactive
unless there are competent people to utilize them for producing goods and services desired %y the
society It is said that the real competitive advantage to the organizations will only %e realized %y
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 %y the (uality of
products and services provided to the customers
In order to find out the pro%lems faced %y industrial sector with respect to human performance a
holistic approach is needed Developing human resource! upgrading their skills! e)tending 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 *ne of the main reason for giving more importance
to human resources is %ecause! the systems! the structures! the procedures and the processes can
%e replicated with precision %ut the attitudes! %eliefs! capa%ilities of humans is very difficult to
imitate and replicate It is said that the latest innovation %rought out into the market %y any
industry will get its clone within one year of its introduction However! the same is not true with
the human capa%ilities! which is almost all impossi%le to duplicate and reproduce Hence it
%ecomes paramount importance to train! develop and retain the human talent! which can only
possi%le where there e)ist congenial working climate
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In the words of T + Rao! Human Resource Development "HRD$ climate is the perception of the
employees a%out the human resource development culture in the organization HRD e)pert use
the term &*CTA,AC-' to articulate the important features of human resource development
climate! where * stands for *penness. C stands for Confrontation! T stands for .Trust! A stands
for .Autonomy! , stands for .,ro action! A stands for .Authenticity! C stands for .Colla%oration!
and - stands for .-)perimentation Human resource development climate in an organization is
reflected %y 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 li%eralized and glo%al economy The present
study is an attempt to assess the human resource development climate of cement companies at
/erraguntla in Andhra ,radesh
Need of the Study
0e 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
conte)t of the diverse challenges faced %y contemporary organizations A congenial HRD climate
is e)tremely important for the ultimate achievement of any organization 0ith 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 num%er of studies was conducted on HRD climate in various industrial and service
sectors However! HRD climate in cement companies has not %een ade(uately 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 e)isting status of the HRD
climate in cement companies and other organizations This will ena%le the administrative %ody 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 /erraguntala in Andhra ,radesh
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 %een considered as the world's second largest
producer of cement after China The Indian cement industry is the second largest producer of
(uality cement! with glo%al standards The cement industry comprises of 123 large cement plants
and more than 233 mini cement plants It ranks second immediately after iron and steel industry
The production and consumption of cement to a large e)tent indicate country's progress There
are more than 42 cement companies in Andhra ,radesh! out of which five companies are located
at /erraguntala in /SR District The five companies are 5harthi cement! ICl! Coramandal zuari!
CCI! Dalmia! these companies have more than 4333 employees working in different positions
such as 6eneral #anager! Assistant 6eneral #anager! ,lant manager! -)ecutives and
Supervisors etc ,resent study aims to assess HRD Climate of /erraguntala Cement Companies
in /SR District Andhra ,radesh 7or a comprehensive understanding of human resource
development climate of cement companies in at /erraguntla we need to have a detailed study on
various sections of human resources that can %e divided into three levels such as managerial!
Supervisory and clerical levels
Objectives
To study the e)isting general climate of Human resource Development in Cement
Companies of /erraguntala
To study the Human Resource Development mechanism %eing followed %y the
authorizes in cement companies
To study the *CTA,AC culture in the Cement companies
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Scope of the Study
,resent study is descriptive in nature and the aim of the current research is to identify the
varia%les that can have its impact on the success of human resources and also to show how
human resources contri%utes towards the development of HRD Climate
Review of Literature
Research on HRD Climate has %een (uite 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! %asically 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 "4334$
,riyadarshini and +enkatapathy "4338$ 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
%etween HR practices and HRD climate HRD ,ractices contri%ute to organizational
effectiveness through HRD climate and HRD outcomes *ne can create and appropriate HRD
climate only through efficient HRD practices and processes HRD practices inflame employee
attitude! skills! knowledge and the organizational climate 9rishna and Rao! "1::;$ carried out a
comprehensive empirical study in 5H-<! Hydera%ad and found that HRD Climate in the
organization encouraged middle and seniors mangers In a study conducted %y Rohmetra in
"1::=$! >o% satisfaction was positively associated with HRD climate A positive relationship was
reported %etween HRD Climate and >o% satisfaction! attitude and role efficacy "9umar and
,atnaik! 4334$ A similar study carried out %y Rodrigues and 6owda"4311$ on li%rary
professional working in colleges li%raries in #angalore shows that %y providing %etter physical
facilities! strengthening the reward system! maintaining %etter professional relationship! >o%
security! and promotion facilities provide for increased level of satisfaction that leads to %etter
organizational climate #uffed ? 6urkoo!"433@$ attempted to study whole amount of HRD
climate at universities and other e(uivalent higher level academic institutions %y eliciting
employee perceptions on HRD climate for which the Aniversity of 9ashmier!Srinagar is selected
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as the main focal point of the study According to 9al%urgi"1:=B$!#urthy and
6regory"1:=:$!,arthasarathy"1:==$!Chandrasekhar"1::2$!a com%ination of various factors such
as openness !team spirit!trust!autonomy!cooperation!integrity!recognisition!participation!fair
compensation !counseling !pro%lem solving !valuing assets! and respect for the individual
influence the HRD climate of an organization ! 5hardwa> and #ishra "4334$ 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 %ased on %oth primary and secondary data ,rimary data will %e collected %y
distri%uting (uestionnaire to the employees of the five cement companies at /erraguntala
Secondary data collected from various >ournals! articles and we%sites pertaining to the relevant
matter of the su%>ect under study
The main focus of the study is to assessing human resource development climate and practices in
five cement companies at /erraguntala The total universe of the population is 1833 employees
out of which B33 will %e selected covering all the companies and departments In this study the
(uestionnaire consisting mostly close ended (uestions which consist of 2= (uestions it covers
general climate *CTA,AC culture and HRD mechanisms To know the respondents response
<ikert five point scale will %e used it varies from strongly agree! agree neutral disagree and
strongly disagree The statistical tools such as S,SS and A#*S will %e used to analyze the data
Limitations
As we all know every research work has some limitations and the same notion is applica%le 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 %een o%tained from sources %elieved to %e relia%le and in good faith! %ut
which may not verified independently
Some of the calculations are %ased on certain assumptions considered appropriate Hence
the findings carry all the limitations of the statistical tools used
Since not all the data are availa%le from a single source! an attempt has %een made to
standardize the data wherever re(uired! which is essential to maintain uniformity
throughout the research
Always there will %e missing values while filling the research instrument such as
(uestionnaireC enough care will %e taken to treat the missing values
There will %e always a scope to consider a few more varia%les which are relevant to the
study! %ut looking the resource constraints we may have to confine to a particular model
that suits the study
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