With the approach of the 2 1 century, worldwide, socio-economic patterns and even social structure patterns are undergoing or have undergone tremendous changes, that is, from industrial economy and industrial society to knowledge economy and knowledge society. The concepts of knowledge economy and knowledge society show that the absorption, processing and application of knowledge and information play an important role in creating new values and promoting social development. Human society is entering an era in which the possession, allocation, production, distribution and use (consumption) of knowledge resources are important factors.

In the era of industrial economy, capital is undoubtedly a strategic resource, and economic growth depends on the input of capital and labor; In the knowledge society, strategic resources are human resources or human capital. Futurist naisbitt believes that in the new society, key strategic resources have been transformed into information, knowledge and creativity. Drucker, a master of management, asserted that knowledge has become a key factor in productivity, competitiveness and economic achievements; Knowledge has become the most important industry, providing the economy with important central resources needed for production.

It is not the number of people that constitutes human resources or human capital, but the core of human capital is the health status, values, knowledge stock and skill level of workers. Human resources or human capital are not produced naturally, but the result of investment. In the real society, the main ways of human capital investment are education and human resources development, so it can be said that human capital is the product of human resources development. Because of this, the development of human resources is of great significance in today's era. This paper expounds the essence of human resources development; Explore the basic assumptions of human resources development; The challenges faced by human resources development are analyzed. The basic purpose of human resources development is studied. Finally, the modern trend of human resources development is expounded.

Second, the nature of human resources development

When discussing what is human resources development, we must understand what is human resources and its characteristics. "Human resources" appeared after 1970 and gradually replaced narrow words such as "personnel" or "manpower". This change is not accidental, but the developed countries realize the key position of people in the organization after overemphasizing material and financial resources, and then look back and reposition themselves as the most important assets in the organization. For an organization, there are three kinds of resources it can use: material resources, such as land, raw materials and machinery; Financial resources, such as money and financing credit; Human resources, including the internal members of the organization and the external manpower they can use. Generally speaking, the concepts of material resources and financial resources are clear, but the meaning of human resources is not very clear. In a narrow sense, people themselves are resources and energy, which people can use to move things, make products, fight and so on. But people's role is not only in this, but also in integrating other resources and combining the interests of the three, so as to break away from the status of pure resources and create higher value. But to be an effective resource, people must be used effectively. Therefore, human resources can be extended to people's knowledge, skills, attitudes, ideals, creativity and other characteristics, as well as the achievements made by applying the above characteristics.

In an organization, all kinds of resources have their own importance, but human resources are more important. Human resources become the strategic resources of modern society and organizations, on the one hand, from the essence of modern society-knowledge and information society, on the other hand, from the characteristics of human resources: it is a dynamic resource, that is, it plays a leading role in economy and management and is in a central position; It initiates, uses, manipulates and controls other resources, so that other resources can be developed, allocated and utilized reasonably and effectively; At the same time, it is the only factor that plays an innovative role. Generally speaking, human resources are the driving force of an organizational system. Because of this, maintaining and improving the quality of organizational human resources has become the strategy and activity of the organization's sustainable operation and development.

Human resource development (HRD for short) is a management strategy and activity that rose in 1980s to improve the quality of human resources in organizations, and it is also a developing professional field and science. People have different views on what is human resources development. I choose the main points to explain:

1. Nadler, an American scholar who created the concept of "human resource development", believes that HRD is "organized learning experience provided by employers, which may produce the possibility of organizational performance and personal growth in a certain period of time".

2. ASTD (American Association for Training and Development) holds that HRD is "an act of integrating training and development, career development and organizational development to improve individual and organizational efficiency".

3. Scholars Gilley and Eggland believe that HRD is: "Planned learning activities arranged in organizations can improve work content, individuals and organizations by improving performance and personal growth."

4. Scholar Smith believes that human resource development (HRD) is a procedure to determine the best way to develop and improve human resources in an organization, and to improve performance and personnel productivity in a planned way through training, education, development and leadership, so as to achieve organizational and personal goals at the same time.

Although there are different definitions, they all think that the focus of HRD is to improve the knowledge, skills, attitudes, creativity and ideals of organization members. It is hoped that more members of the organization have the above-mentioned characteristics needed by the organization, and that the characteristics of members can meet the needs of the organization and continue to be supplemented and promoted to assist the management and development of the organization. Therefore, the author believes that the so-called HRD refers to the learning activities provided by organizations with short-term performance orientation and long-term strategic orientation, aiming at improving the overall performance of organization members and organizations, and at the same time cooperating with the long-term development of individuals and organizations.

It should be pointed out that the concepts of human resources development, education and training can be used interchangeably in many documents. People try to distinguish the three, thinking that: training focuses on the current work, education focuses on the future work, and development focuses on the growth of individuals or organizations; Training can be applied to work, education can be applied to work, and development can be applied. In fact, with the development of modern society, this distinction is outdated and out of date, because education is more and more considering people's work and professional needs, and education is integrated into job training; Training is a means to learn knowledge and function, and it is also a part of development; Give consideration to both long-term and short-term development; Education, training and development are the ways and means of career development and lifelong learning. Therefore, the development of human resources has the following basic characteristics:

1. Human resource development is a planned activity. It involves needs assessment, goal setting, action planning, implementation and effect evaluation.

2. The development of human resources is based on the expression of human values.

3. Human resource development is a problem-oriented activity, which applies the theories and methods of many disciplines to solve the problems of people and organizations.

4. Human resource development is a systematic method, which closely links the organization's human resources and their potential with technology, structure and management process.

The object of 5.5. HRD is human resources and its whole organization.

The goal of 6.6. The development of human resources is to improve the quality and organizational efficiency of human resources.

The core of 7.7. HRD is learning, a lasting change in the behavior of members of an organization, or a change in the behavior ability of some way. This kind of learning includes both individual learning and organizational learning, including both school learning and workplace learning.

8. Human resource development is not a once-and-for-all strategy, but a continuous process.

Third, the value premise and hypothesis of human resources development.

The emergence and development of the theory and practice of human resources development is related to the changes in the environment of our times, and it is also based on some preconditions and basic values of human nature. Therefore, to understand the development of human resources, we must understand these basic values and their assumptions. The basic assumptions of human resources development in theory and practice are as follows:

1. People's value is based on biological laws and legal norms. Everyone has his power and value, and his personal value goes beyond the description of legal provisions. For every organization, every member has his contribution to the organization.

2. People are resources and the key hub for integrating other resources of the organization.

3. People's roles in organization and management are diversified, and individuals are far more than just a factor of production and resources. They are members of a social system composed of many organizations; They are consumers of products and services; They are members of families, schools, political parties and other organizations. They play different roles. As members of the social system, they influence each other. People are diverse. People not only play different roles, but also play different roles themselves. They have different needs, attitudes, ambitions, different knowledge, skills and different potentials. This means that people are complex people, not just economic people, social people, self-actualized people or other single types of people.

5. People are developing people. Man is not a fixed object, but a constantly changing and developing entity. People can change themselves through their own efforts and external intervention. 6. Man is a complete man. If we don't treat people as a whole, but consider different characteristics, such as knowledge, attitude, skills or personality, we can't know people. The use of people is due to the professional knowledge of job descriptions, and people are used as a complete person.

7. The importance of human dignity management must achieve the goals of the organization, and it is important to achieve the goals. However, the ways and means to achieve the goal must not infringe on human dignity. Human dignity means that people must be respected, regardless of their position in the organization.

8. Human Potential Most people can use more creativity, responsibility, self-guidance and self-control, which exceeds the requirements of their current jobs; Under the existing working environment, most people's potential has not been fully exerted. 9. Leadership responsibilities The basic task of a leader is to try to make use of undeveloped human resources. He must create an environment for his members to carry out human activities, provide opportunities to give full play to their potential abilities, and let the members who work in it make the greatest contribution.

10. Learning needs learning is the instinct of every species. Learning itself is a process, including continuous stimulation and response. Through the transformation, reorganization and integration of actions, we repeatedly verify our life experience and constantly correct our behavior from the experience, so that our behavior can not only meet the expectations of society, but also adapt to social changes. Everyone has the motivation to grow and develop themselves.

1 1. Continuous learning requires learning not once and for all. Continuous learning and diversified learning can adapt to the requirements of the times.

12. The scope of HRD is not limited to imparting knowledge and training skills, but includes a wider range of fields, especially behavioral science, learning theory, teaching technology and interpersonal communication, which have an important impact on HRD. Therefore, communication and interaction between people, between work and study, and between organizations all belong to the category of human resources development.

Fourth, the challenge of human resources development.

The development of human resources is a field that rose in 1980s, and it has been paid more and more attention all over the world. It has been regarded as a new development strategy and a core weapon to enhance competitiveness by governments, enterprises and various organizations all over the world. Human resources have become a new religion of development. The main reason for this change lies in the change of our times. Specifically, the main reasons leading to the development of human resources lie in the following aspects:

1, scientific and technological revolution and knowledge society

Toffler, an American futurist, thinks that from the speed of knowledge growth, when children born today graduate from college, the total amount of knowledge in the world will increase by four times. When a child reaches the age of 50, the total amount of knowledge will be 32 times that at birth, and 97% of the knowledge in the world is learned after birth. At the same time, science and technology have never shown their strength and potential so prominently. Science and technology are developing at an alarming rate. The time distance between scientific discovery and its large-scale application is gradually shortening. It took 1 12 years to put the photographic principle into practice, while it took only two years for solar cells to be discovered and produced. People who can't keep up with the times will fall behind. This law applies not only to scholars or scientific and technological personnel, but also to all personnel in all departments. In modern society, everyone will face: outdated knowledge and skills, a lot of unknown knowledge, adaptation to new knowledge and technology, constantly updated knowledge and technology, lifelong education and so on.

2. Information society: changes in labor and occupation.

The development of science and technology has brought mankind into the information society. One of the characteristics of the information society is that labor is becoming more and more intelligent, that is, workers are no longer just dealing with the object of labor directly, but also dealing with the ever-changing information about the production process. According to statistics, in the United States, only 15% of information occupations are in1950; 1980 has exceeded 60%; By 2000, nearly 80% of jobs were information-oriented. In agricultural society, most people engage in manual labor in the fields; In the industrial age, they looked after machines; In the information age, they deal with information and knowledge. In this way, we have to consider the knowledge structure, problem-solving ability and social adaptability of each worker. It is predicted that from now until 2000, 75% of jobs will be "new", that is, no one can know in detail what knowledge and skills he needs in his future career. Therefore, the traditional and narrow vocational training is out of date. Only with a solid foundation and strong adaptability can we meet the needs of a vibrant society.

3. Population growth and change

Population growth is a problem faced by most countries at present. According to United Nations statistics, the world population in 1950 was 2.5 billion, and in 1980 it was 4.4 billion, and it will reach 6.2 billion in 2000. It can be seen that by the year 2000, the demand for learning in the world will increase greatly. At the same time, in many countries, there is a trend of population aging. Considering the increase of adult population and the extension of life expectancy, the problem of social aging also puts forward new requirements for the development of human resources.

More importantly, many countries, especially developing countries, have a lot of human capital, but the quality is also worrying. According to the statistics of the United Nations, more than a quarter of the world's population 15 is illiterate. According to statistics, there are 654.38+0.8 billion illiterates and semi-illiterates in China, and the emergence of new illiterates has not been fundamentally eliminated. In China, about 60% of the employed labor force is below the level of primary education. The task of human resources development and training is very arduous.

In this case, the traditional education system no longer has that adaptability. In order to ensure that people can obtain increasing knowledge and various trainings, it can only be achieved by resorting to various means and media to spread knowledge and provide trainings on a large scale.

4. The challenge of economy to human resources development.

In recent years, people have a clear understanding of the interaction between education, human resources development and economy. It is generally recognized that the prospect of human resources development is influenced by the economic situation. Unemployment, inflation and severe financial contraction in economic development, especially the shortage of human resources investment funds, have brought great challenges to human resources development. These challenges come from: How to meet the requirements of geometric expansion and change and the contradiction between the increase of human resources investment and financial constraints. The increase of human resources development budget will depend on the economic development speed of each country and the importance attached by the country to human resources development.

Unemployment and employment. Unemployment will be an inevitable problem in the economic development of many countries. In developed countries, the sustained development of the service industry-usually accompanied by a corresponding decrease in the labor force engaged in industry-will continue. At the same time, with the economic development, the demand for new jobs will expand. According to the statistics of the International Labor Organization (ILO), by the end of this century, the number of workers in the world will reach 2.5 billion. This means: how to link the development of human resources with solving the problem of unemployed population, so as to provide the necessary guarantee for the employment and development of the future labor force.

From the above analysis, we can see that, on the one hand, human resources are becoming more and more important. If the education and development of human resources in industrial society is only a foil, then in modern information society, the development of human resources becomes a kind of power or foundation; On the other hand, the development of the times has also put forward new topics and problems for the development of human resources, which need the great attention and response of human resource managers. Five, the basic trend of modern human resources development

With the deepening of the international community's understanding of the strategic position of human resources development, the deepening of theoretical research on human resources development and the continuous development of human resources development around the world, there have been some new trends in human resources development throughout the world, both in concept and in actual behavior. These trends reflect the basic trend of human resources development in the world:

1, establish the concept of human resources investment and increase investment in human resources development.

As an economic resource, human resources have the property of capital, which is different from ordinary capital. As a kind of capital resource, it is basically similar to general material capital. The similarity of capital is as follows: (1) is the result of investment; (2) in a certain period of time, can get benefits; (3) There is also loss or wear during use. Human resources also have these three attributes. First of all, it is the product of investment. The traditional theory ignores this point to a great extent, and even mistakenly thinks that it is a naturally formed homogeneous resource. In fact, human resources are indeed the product of social and personal investment. The quality of human resources depends entirely on the degree of investment. Although a person's ability is related to congenital factors, acquired ability is the most important. The process of acquiring ability is the process of receiving training and education, and education and training are an investment. It can be said that human resource investment is the basic condition for the formation of human capital. Nowadays, it is generally believed that the education and training of human resources is an investment, not an expenditure.

In today's world, "investing in human resources and giving priority to developing human resources" has become the strategic consciousness of most countries. In industrialized countries, the training cost is the fastest growing among government expenditure items in the past 10 years. Despite the financial pressure, many countries are still trying to increase investment in human resources. In developed countries, the average proportion of human resources investment in GDP is about 6.5%, while in developing countries it is 4%, and the world average is 5.7%. "Investment training" has become the investment focus of many enterprises and companies. When Nissan Motor Company started to operate in Tennessee, it spent $63 million to train about 2,000 workers before the factory started, and the training cost per person was as high as $30,000. Leonard Company of the United States spends $65,438+$0,000 on the training of each employee every year.

2. Establish lifelong learning and training.

In today's world, knowledge, skills and values are changing faster and faster. Learning is no longer a matter of a certain stage in life. In the rapidly changing new information society, we can't expect to get education once and for all. There is no knowledge or skill that can be used for life. For the first time, education and training really run through people's life in one way or another, and its purpose and form must meet people's needs at different stages of development.

3. Institutionalization and legalization of training and education

Under the influence of modern human resources development concepts such as "human capital investment" and "lifelong education", training education, as an organic part of social development strategy, is being brought into the legal and institutionalized track by more and more countries.

For example, in the United States, as early as June 24, 1938, the president issued executive order No.7916, which stipulated that the federal civil service commission was in charge of the training of federal government employees. 1958 In July, the Government Training Law was officially promulgated. The purpose of legal training is to strengthen administrative efficiency; This law applies to all federal civil servants. In the late 1970s, the United States promulgated the Adult Education Act, which proposed a bill aimed at "enabling all adults to learn the basic skills needed to serve the society" and "making them more employable, talented and responsible citizens".

The French government also attaches great importance to the institutionalized operation of training and has formed a complete system of examination, training and promotion. French civil servant law stipulates that all government agencies and institutions must ensure the convenience for all qualified civil servants to study and be placed in the next level in order, no matter where they are. It also stipulates that officials at A, B, A, B and C levels should take competitive examinations. Many civil servants' special status laws stipulate that they cannot be formally appointed after the examination, and they must go through the internship stage and decide whether to formally appoint according to the internship results. Internship may be on-the-job or at school, that is, a combination of internship and training, such as the French National School of Administration. In order to meet the needs of training, the government has established special schools, which are recruitment institutions for civil service examinations on the one hand and training institutions for civil servants on the other. From 65438 to 0978, France passed a decree stipulating that all enterprises should provide training funds (2% of total wages) and established a paid training vacation system, so any worker has the right to ask for full-time training.

Japan's "Civil Servant Law" stipulates that personnel institutes and ministers should make training plans for the improvement and development of civil servants' work efficiency. This efficiency improvement plan is included in the same scope as performance appraisal, with the purpose of cultivating new employees' knowledge and adaptability in performing their duties; Maintain and improve the ability to perform duties; Ability to give promotion and supervision; Training administrative officials. 1956 establish administrative training system, 1959 establish civil servant training college in personnel college as a permanent institution of administrative training. 1979, the Japanese government promulgated the Vocational Training Law. Article 1 of this Law stipulates that the purpose of this Law is to combine with the Employment Countermeasures Law, develop and improve workers' professional abilities, enrich the contents of vocational training, popularize and strengthen vocational training and skill appraisal, seek the stability and status of workers, and promote economic and social development.

4. Establish a learning organization

Traditionally, people regard an organization as a workplace, a profit production center, or a place of control and management. In today's changing technology, knowledge and environment, people increasingly feel that the traditional concept of organization is out of date, and the American Fortune magazine, which advocates learning organization, believes that in the 1990s and beyond, the most successful organization will be a learning organization or a knowledge-creating company. Scholar daniel tobin (Daniel? r？ Tobin) believes that the biggest characteristics of learning organizations are: openness to accept new ideas; Have a culture that encourages and provides opportunities for learning and innovation; Have overall goals and objectives. Another scholar believes that the basic characteristics of a learning organization are: strong willingness to learn; Strong effectiveness and dissemination of new knowledge; Be sensitive to learning new knowledge outside the organizational environment. Learning organization reflects the adaptation of today's world organizations to changes in knowledge and technology. In other words, the concept of learning organization emphasizes the importance of knowledge, science and technology to the organization and advocates the role of the organization as a knowledge creation center.

Now more and more people emphasize and advocate the establishment of learning organizations. Tobin believes that learning organization means:

Everyone in the organization is a learner;

Everyone in the organization learns from each other;

Promote organizational change through learning;

Emphasize the continuity of learning;

Emphasize that learning is an investment rather than consumption.

In reality, learning organization has become a development reality, not just an idea. Like John. Naisbitt said: "Nowadays, universities are more and more like enterprises, and companies are more and more like universities." In many developed countries, the training and education planning of companies and enterprises is so extensive and in-depth, which actually represents another system besides public and private schools and universities all over the country. According to the report entitled "Enterprise Curriculum: Learning Enterprise" by the Carnegie Education Foundation of the United States, "the alternative education system deeply rooted in the American business community and widely used around the world has matured and is constantly developing." According to the report, the company spends about 60 billion dollars on education and training every year, which is equivalent to the cost of colleges and universities nationwide. About 8 million people are studying in the company, which is equivalent to the enrollment of an institution of higher learning. The report also cited a large number of examples to illustrate the learning organization:

In the United States, at least 18 companies and associations have the right to award degrees.

Many companies have the right to award master's degrees, and Rand Company has the right to award doctoral degrees.

Xerox and IBM have 400 university campuses.

"Education giant" International Business Machines Company spends 700 million dollars on employee education every year.

A survey by the American Association for Training and Development shows that large companies are basically equipped with full-time teachers. Motorola has created its own innovative training model: set up a personal training account, and extract 2.5% of the total salary for training, which is earmarked for special purposes. All these reflect the trend of organizational development in the knowledge age.

5. Diversification of training forms and methods.

In terms of training methods and methods, both public and private institutions follow the principles of consistent learning and application, teaching according to needs and stressing practical results, showing a diversified development trend:

Systematically, it tends to be centralized control (policies and laws) and decentralized management. For example, the United States has changed the centralized training system, and the training power is scattered in 10 state and local governments. 1983 "Law on Employment and Training Cooperation" further devolves the right of training to local governments and enterprises, and the federal government only plays the role of coordination, guidance and funding. Make it more in line with market requirements and adapt to diversified training requirements.

Diversified training methods. Including training, commissioned training, self-study, vocational guidance, researcher system, amateur training, on-site training, job rotation, job expansion and so on.

The combination of enterprise and education. Business and education cooperate to develop human resources, and the supply and demand sides coordinate. /kloc-since 0/985, the University of swinton in the UK has opened the "Open Learning Center", which is open to individuals and companies, and can purchase study time by the hour. Schools are becoming more and more enterprise-oriented, trying to become "business incubators". More and more companies have also established their own specialized educational institutions.

6. Training informationization and means modernization.

With the development of science and technology, the influence of science and technology on education and training is increasing. Among them, the application of information processing technology in education and training makes education and training have a better prospect. In almost all countries, computers have played a role in all aspects of training and teaching, such as resource management, policy analysis, data processing and simulation teaching. Of course, whether the application of information technology in training and education can achieve results depends on many factors, such as having the necessary hardware for development and more important software development and investment; Having qualified personnel to operate these new technologies; Cooperation among teachers, management departments and technicians; Ensure the quality of stored information and so on. Some people think that the future training and education will be completely "non-institutionalized", that is, schools and training institutions will decline, while others think it is impossible. But one thing is certain: audio-visual technology and information processing technology will play an increasingly important role in training and education.

7. Internationalization of training and education

From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, the international political and economic integration developed continuously, and the development of science and technology shortened the time and space distance around the world. The prophecy of the global village is coming true. People can no longer avoid each other, and they can no longer adhere to the isolationist policy of closing the country. The increasing mobility, modern transportation and telecommunications technology and international political and economic integration have constantly prompted people to realize the importance of cross-cultural communication. In this context, international training is developing day by day.

International training or internationalization of training reflects the important changes of training in the following aspects:

In the content of training, emphasize the importance of understanding the world and others. Training and education are faced with dual missions: knowing themselves, expressing their differences, pursuing their own culture and strengthening the unity of their society or group; At the same time, we should devote ourselves to overcoming isolation and understanding others on the basis of respecting diversity, thus helping to turn de facto dependence into conscious unity.

Carry out debt-to-equity swap that is conducive to human resources development. As the United Nations said, because education and training are long-term investments, they often fall victim to adjustment plans. Therefore, international debt is transformed into investment in human resources.

Carry out international cooperation in human resources education and training, share knowledge fairly among countries and carry out international cooperation projects.

Invest more development aid in human resources.

8. Specialization of human resources development training.

Nowadays, with the wide acceptance of training as a powerful means to achieve various development goals and organizational goals, as well as the extensive development of training activities, the functions of training are becoming more and more specialized in public and private organizations, and the training work is becoming more and more specialized. This is mainly manifested as follows: training has formed its own theoretical system; Trained a group of managers and training experts who specialize in training, and gained authority with superb training knowledge; The implementation of training has been recognized by the society; Established a professional organization; Professional standards for training have been formulated and professional culture for training has gradually taken shape.

Chinese researchers point out that human resource management has experienced nearly 20 years of development since it was established in 1980s. During this period, great changes have taken place in the global social and economic environment, especially information technology represented by computer technology and modern communication technology is changing all aspects of our life and work.