CAREER DEVELOPMENT IN A LEARNING ORGANIZATION

The interviews conducted with the senior executives of different organization
reveled that majority of the responses based on 52.77 % of the total respondents of
category B, identified the criteria of training selection as the “relevance to the existing
jobs” of the employees. This means that the idea of training and development in these
organizations is based upon the immediate need of the job, which will only help them to
perform better at their existing position.
A principal in category B highlights their criteria as “being mandatory for
promotion, relevant to duties assigned and fitness of staff”. Another respondent of this
category holding a position of conservator (BPS-19) mentions the criteria as “suitability
to job of the employees, motivation of the employees and need-based”. The impact of
such training has little implication for the long-term goals of the organizational
development, which could only be drawn when the Training and Development plan is
oriented on the basis of the kind of responsibility the individual would want to take in
future. This further makes it clear that the long term HR development strategy of the
organization, if there is any, is also not clear with in that organization.
The next highest frequency category is that of “qualified candidates”. By
qualified candidates the respondents meant those candidates who are qualified enough to
be considered as desirable candidate for certain training. This statement has a twofold
meaning; firstly the candidates’ level of knowledge and experience is sufficient or is of
the required level that he could be sent on a specific high level training. Secondly, the
candidates are qualified and good performers and therefore, the management would like
to send them on training just as a token of appreciation of their work. A comment from a
Deputy Conservator (BPS- 19) belonging to category B organization says that “the
unwanted employees are selected for less impotent trainings and privileged employees
are selected for important trainings”. Another senior executive, a professor and a
medical doctor working in this category organization, highlights the selection criteria as
“recommendations by seniors”.
In both the cases it is not clear whether this selection criterion is linked to any
kind of strategic objectives or not. This again points towards the fact that even this
criterion is not based on any planned HR strategy. Therefore, the purpose of any such