UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EDUCATION AND EXTENTION STUDIES

NAME: MAYAMBA IMAKANDO

COMPUTER NUMBER: 2017011861

COURSE CODE: AED 4411

COURSE NAME: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (HRD)

LECTURER: MR Mulaisho

TASK: ASSIGNMENT ONE

DUE DATE: 30TH JUNE, 2021

QUESTION: in the current turbulent business environment, realizing and sustaining

employee’s performance is very important to any organization to maintain a competitive edge.
Explain with practical examples in your writing how human resource training and development
would help organisations attain a competitive edge nationally and globally?
Globalization has paved the way to increased competition and has re-established the fact
“survival of the fittest”. Survival and sustainability emerge as key issues to ponder in a
competitive environment. organisations are now concentrating in designing activities and
practices that give them additional competitive advantage. Human Resource training and
development has emerged as one such area with the belief that management of people gives a
cutting edge for establishing a competitive advantage for a business or organisation. Effective
HR practices result in committed workforce, which can contribute towards business’ growth.
Adequate addressing of employee needs reduces attrition rate and hence dedicated and talented
employees are retained, which become an asset for the business. Retention of talented workforce
and designing of good HR practices have greatly assisted organisation to achieve competitive
advantage over other firms. Therefore, this assignment endeavors to explain with practical
examples how human resource training and development would help organizations attain a
competitive edge nationally and globally. It will begin with the definition of key terms which are
training and development, organization and competitive edge or advantage which will be the
introduction of the assignment followed by the main body which will consist of an explanation
of the question at hand and lastly a suitable conclusion will be drawn.

Training and development can be defined as a process that is aimed at the development and
improvement of human resources through continuing education to support them with core
qualifications to perform their functions effectively (Haigh, 1998).An organisation can be
defined as a group of people who collectively undertake certain actions such as planning,
arranging, coordination, structuring, administration, organizing, management, logistics, and the
like, in order to achieve a pre-determined goal (Lynn, 2001). Competitive edge or advantage is
defined as a condition which enables a firm to operate in a more efficient or otherwise higher
quality manner than its competitors, and which results in benefits accruing (Porter, 1985).

Organizations are operating in a dynamic and competitive environment. They need to create and
sustain a competitive edge or advantage if they want to survive and grow. A traditional source of
competitive advantage has been eroded. Now it is believed that productivity is through people.
People provide an organization with a source of competitive advantage. Various studies have
concluded that an organization’s human resources can be a significant source of competitive
advantage. The human factor is the only organizational resource that can develop a competitive

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advantage. Wilson (1994), argues that people are becoming a great differentiating factor.
Managers should select those people who are smarter, better trained, more motivated, and more
committed. Jeffry Pfeffer, in his famous book “Human equation,” argues that the source of
competitive advantage has shifted over time. For example, Successful companies of the USA for
their sustained advantage tend to rely not on technology, patents, or strategic position, but on the
way they manage their workforce. Achieving competitive success through people requires a
basic change in how managers think about their employees and how they view the working
relationship for gaining competitive advantage through people.

Employees are considered to be the most valuable asset of a company and investing in their training
further enhances their capabilities and productivity (kuo, 2004). There’s a huge number of benefits that
companies gain by focusing on training and development in their strategic business plans. The business
has the obvious benefits of sales and product knowledge training which in turn leads to increased
revenue and market share, service training leads to better customer service experience and brand
loyalty, innovation training generates new ways of thinking, potentially leading to new products and
services.

To attain a competitive edge organisations has to put in place training and development strategies and
goals such as firstly, helping to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. one of the main
challenges of a company is to stay ahead of its competitor’s. Developing a competitive advantage can
be a tedious task and involves implementing loads of different strategies across all departments to make
your business stand out from the crowd. Training and development can play a big role in making a real
difference to a competitive advantage. By making sure that employees are constantly progressing, the
company automatically gains more value and continues to move forward with a strong position in the
market ( chiu, 2002).

Secondly by ensuring employee satisfaction and retention. Training has been found to link with
improving job satisfaction and employee intention to stay in a company. It has a direct impact on
motivation which reduces employee turnover and increases productivity. This leads to more
profitability. Investing time and money in employees makes them feel more valued, leading to a
positive relationship between company and employee. It is also essential to keep employees
engaged at work. Higher retention rates and less labour turnover is crucial for the success of a business.

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All this can happen with a good training and development plan to keep the employees motivated.
Besides, the cost of retaining existing employees is much less than replacing them. According to CED
Magazine, seven out of ten respondents in a 2015 survey said that job-related training and development
opportunities directly influence their decision to stay in a company. Traditionally, learning focused
solely on improving productivity. Today, learning also contributes to employability. Over the past
several decades, employment has shifted from staying with the same company for a lifetime to a model
where workers are being retained only as long as they can add value to a business. So, if employees are
showed that they want them to grow with the business they will be more likely and willing to stay for a
long time (lam and white, 1998).

Henceforth creating more internal promotions can assist in attaining a competitive edge as it is well
known that the cost of recruiting new employees often involves a lot of hidden additional costs. With
the implementation of training, existing employees become more eligible for internal promotions,
therefore cutting down the need for recruitment in the first place. According to sing (2003), Another
advantage of internal promotions is that unlike new employees, existing employees have better insights
about the business as well as having the required skills for the new role. They are people who have
already built trust with and they already know how the company operates. So, it’s a win-win for the
business recruitment funds and development plans.

Another strategy is increasing productivity. It is no surprise that training and development naturally
leads to more productivity in the workplace. By making sure that necessary training is given to
employees to improve their skills, the company is, in turn, ensuring a higher productivity rate. Well-
trained employees show both quality and quantity in performance leading to less wastage of time,
resources and money (wernerfelt, 1984).
Engaging employees is another key way to increase productivity in business. And the best way to do
this is through providing them with opportunities to learn and develop their professional and personal
capacities. When highly engaged employees are challenged and given the skills to grow and progress
within their chosen career path, they are more likely to be energized by new opportunities at work and
satisfied with their current company (Pfeffer, 1998). Therefore, they work harder, meaning a lot of
things will get done. Therefore, the business will go above and beyond its competitors in no-time.

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Every company wants the best employees for a greater chance of success and innovation. And the best
way is through Training and development. To attract new talent to the business that wants to make sure
that candidates are fully aware of any training and development plans that have to be set up, since it is a
key feature people usually look for during their job search. The employer brand can showcase
this. Training incentives also create a positive image for the company and this has an impact on
potential candidates for a future job vacancy (Barney, 1991). So, if the best people are wanted in
business, there is need to show them that the employer cares about their progression before they’ve
even started their job.

Furthermore, investing in the latest technologies is another key strategy that can help in attaining a
competitive edge as it is also essential for business growth. Technology is constantly evolving and
companies need to ensure that employees are using the latest technology at its full potential. If applied
correctly, it can increase revenue and significantly reduce costs (Becker and Huselid, 1998). An
example is Employment Hero’s LMS (or learning management system), a software designed in
Australia which consists of existing learning pathways, or those looking to provide learning and
development opportunities to their workforce. Employment Hero’s LMS allows employers to build,
manage, assign, track and report all training requirements for their business. Examples of use include
training a new employee on standard procedures like closing the tills, sales training, office ergonomics
or customer service. With Employment Hero’s LMS, one can assign learning content as part of new
employees’ onboarding, or assign it to employees as they transition between roles (like promoting to
manager). Pathways can also be assigned to groups of employees (for example, the whole sales team).
Managers will be able to quickly and easily see how their teams are progressing through their learning
pathways with statuses viewable inside the Employment Hero platform. They’ll also be able to set
quizzes and tests to make sure employees are absorbing the courses they’re enrolled in. This is exactly
the type of technology a business can invest in to make sure the employees have the right tools they
need to develop. Whether that’s in a controlled working environment or in their own time. Whatever
works best for the team. 

Furthermore, it is essential to make sure that employees are up-to-date with any industry changes or
developments. Ongoing training can help do this. This kind of training helps the entire workforce stay
aware of what’s happening in the industry around them, therefore keeping one step ahead of the

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competitors at all times. So instead of having a workforce full of employees who are stressed and
constantly playing catch up with the competitors. The organization can have a team of smug happy,
relaxed employees who are 100% in the know and able to do their best work for the business.

People are the assets on which competitive advantage is built, whether in the public or private
sector, whether in the corporate world or in the world of education. Human resources are
considered the most important asset of an organization, but very few organizations are able to
fully harness its potential. Focus on people has become the new mantra for success. The latest
theory in human resource management holds that people are an inimitable asset. Workforce and
their skills are the one thing that competing organisations cannot imitate. Effective and efficient
workforce has been shown to enhance company’s performance by contributing to customer
satisfaction, innovation, productivity, and development of a favorable reputation of the firm.
Therefore, a need to retain these talents. Economic liberalization and policies of globalization
have created a hyper-competitive environment, innovation and fierce competitiveness have
raised issues of survival, effectiveness, sustainability, etc. Increasing demand for skilled
performers and increasing high attrition of capable workforce forced the companies to shift focus
on attracting and retaining high performing employees in the extremely competitive business
environment. Pfeffer (1998) alludes that Companies have recognized the need to enhance the
employee’s opportunity to develop skills and abilities for full performance within the position
and for career advancement and growth which would lead to retention of talented workforce in
return increase firm’s performance in terms of profitability and productivity. Companies have
realized that in today's competitive business milieu, the quality of people one employs will make
all the difference.

Lately, human resource training and development has emerged as an essential factor for
sustained competitive advantage. Research highlights that organizations develop sustained
competitive advantage through management of scare and valuable resources (Barney, 1991). The
human resource enables organizations to achieve optimization of resource, effectiveness, and
continuous improvement consistently (Wernerfelt, 1984). An organization takes time to nurture
and develop human capital in the form of knowledge, skills, abilities, motivation, attitude, and

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interpersonal relationship, and makes it difficult for competitors to imitate (Becker & Gerhart,
1996).

Pfeffer (1998) stressed that human resource has been vital for firm sustained performance. In
knowledge economy, the human resource has been recognized as a strategic tool, essential to
organizational profitability and sustainability. This realization has led to the new role of human
resource managers as strategic partners in formulation and implementing organizational strategy.
Organizations are pursing proactively human resource training and development practices and
systems to capitalize on strength of this vital asset for sustained competitive advantage in
knowledge economy.

Huselid (1995) examined HR practices of high-performance companies and found that attracting
and selecting the right employees increase the employee productivity, boost organizational
performance, and contribute in reducing turnover. In meta-analysis of 104 articles, Boselie et al.,
(2005) concluded that the top four Human Resource practices are efficient recruitment and
selection, training and development, contingency and reward system, and performance
management that have been extensively used by different researchers.

Researchers have used financial and non-financial metrics to measure organizational

performance. The financial measures include profit, sales, and market share. Non-financial
measures include productivity, quality, efficiency, and the attitudinal and behavioural measures
such as commitment, intention to quit, and satisfaction. (Dyer & Reeves, 1995). In the changing
global market competitiveness has created new challenges for organisations as well as
individuals (Schuler 1992, Cascio 1993, Pfeffer 1994, Stavrou-Costea 2002). For businesses to
maintain or create competitiveness it is necessary that they build and retain their skilled and
talented human resources.

Changing business environment in knowledge economy has made adoption of human resource
development (HRD) imperative for competitive advantage. The impact of Human Resource
practices on business performance has been extensively studied in the recent past. Consequently,
the role of human resource becomes strategic and proactive (Brewster & Suutari 2005) to create
a more dynamic workplace environment.

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Huselid (1995) has identified the link between Human Resource (HR) practices and turnover,
productivity and financial performance. Indeed, high performance work practices are likely to
have an effect on organisation performance. Huselid and Delaney (1996) contended Human
Resource practices, particularly selection and training, are associated with perceived firm
performance in profit and nonprofit organisations. Similar results are reported by Gooderham,
Ringdal, and Parry (2006) who found a positive impact of Human Resource practices on
organisation performance. In a study in Greece, Katou and Bedhwar (2006) found that Human
Resource practices of staffing, training and promotion, involvement of employees, incentives,
and safety and health have positive relationship with business’ performance. In a study in
Taiwanese high technology firms, Chang and Chen (2002) established that Human resource
practices of workforce planning, training and development, benefits, teamwork, and performance
appraisal significantly affected productivity. In another study Sing (2003) found that strategic
use of HR practices positively affects performance of organizations in India. In Korea, Bae and
Lawler (2000) concluded that HR practices significantly affect organizational performance. Lee
and Lee (2007) established that workforce planning, teamwork, training and development,
compensation and incentives, performance appraisal, and employees’ security are important
Human Resource (HR) dimensions that affect productivity, product quality, and business
performance.

It is argued that HR practices enhance employees’ competency and motivation that affect
organizational performance. (Harel & Tzafrir, 1996) contended that HR practices based on
quality hiring, development, and retention boosts firms’ capability. Researchers (Chiu et al.,
2002; Tepstra & Rozell, 1993) have established that HR practices of extensive recruitment and
selection, training and development, and compensation systems have positive association with
firms’ performance. Lam and White (1998) established that effective recruitment, competitive
compensation, and efficient training and development have relationship with financial
dimensions of performance Green et al., (2006) concluded that integrated approach to HR
practices exhibited satisfied and committed employees who demonstrated remarkable individual
and team performance. Studies established that HR practices aimed at acquisition and
development of employees is an essential investment that develops valuable and rare human

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assets. (Becker & Huselid, 1998). Delaney and Huselid (1996) confirmed that selective staffing;
compensation and incentive, and training had positive influence on performance of organization

Strong evidence exists in literature about different HR practices and their effects on superior
firms’ performance. Researchers found a positive relationship between effective recruitment and
selection practices and top-class performance (Harel & Tzafrir, 1996; Delany & Huselid, 1996);
training and development (Bartel, 1994; Fey et al., 2000); compensation and reward (Chie et al.,
2002; Batt, 2002); performance appraisal (Boselie et al., 2001, Bjorkmand & Xiucheng, 2002);
employee relations (Kuo, 2004). HR practitioners are striving to meet the emerging challenges of
new values of knowledge workers who have necessitated a new paradigm of peoples’
management characterized by heavy investment in human capital and innovative use of HR
practices for attraction and retention of talents for organizational sustainability. Increasingly,
firms are considering the adoption of new work practices, such as problem-solving teams,
enhanced communication with workers, employment security, flexibility in job assignments,
training workers for multiple jobs, and greater reliance on incentive pay.

Performance-based compensation is the dominant HR practice that firms use to evaluate and
reward employees’ efforts (Collins and Clark, 2003). Evidently, performance-based
compensation has a positive effect upon employee and organizational performance). Several
studies identified self-managed teams and decentralization as important high performance.
According to Lado and Wilson (1994, p. 701) human resource system are a set of distinct but
interrelated activities, functions, and processes that are directed at attracting, developing, and
maintaining (or disposing of) a firm’s human resources. Today more and more companies are
interested in using intangible assets and human capital as a way to gain an advantage over
competitors. A company’s value includes three types of assets that are critical for the company to
provide goods and services: financial assets (cash and securities), physical assets (property,
plant, equipment), and intangible assets. Intangible assets include human capital, customer
capital, social capital, and intellectual capital. Intangible assets are equally or even more valuable
than financial and physical assets but they are difficult to duplicate or imitate. The source of
value in a company is in intangible assets and even more human intangible assets have been
shown to be responsible for a company’s competitive advantage.

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Competitive advantages usually originate in a core competency. A company’s core competency
is the one thing that a company can do better than its competitors. A competitive advantage can
entail a variety of company characteristics; for example, customer focus, brand equity, product
quality, research and Development focus, workforce capabilities and innovation. Competitive
advantage is simply defined as anything that gives an organization an edge over the competitors
in its market. To be effective a competitive advantage must be. Difficult to mimic, Applicable to
multiple situations, Unique, Sustainable and Superior to the competition (Porter, 1998) A
competitive advantage is created when a firm implements a strategy that increases its value
whereas the competitors do not implement this strategy. A sustainable competitive advantage is a
competitive advantage when other firms are not able to duplicate this strategy.

An organization requires the utilization of a complex array of resources to grow, survive and
achieve the ultimate mission or objectives for its existence. The mobilization and deployment of
the resources such as human, financial and material, in the right resource-mix, gives the
organization leverage toward the desired end. Of these resources, the human resource is the most
potent and central, contributing significantly to corporate bottom line and competitiveness. The
organization therefore gains sustained competitive advantage through people, the organization
workforce. The Resource-Based-View holds the view that sustainable competitive advantage
results from implementing strategies that exploit their internal strengths, through responding to
environmental opportunities, while neutralizing external threats and avoiding internal
weaknesses (chiu, 2002).

The resource-based perspective offers that human resources can be defined as the pool of human
capital under the firm ‘s control in a direct employment relationship. HR can be valued not only
for its role in implementing a given competitive scenario but for its role in generating strategic
capability for its potential to create firms which are more intelligent and flexible than their
competitors over the firms which exhibit superior levels of co-operation and operation. By hiring
and developing talented staff and synergizing their contribution within the resource bundle of the
firm. HR may lay the basis for sustained competitive advantage. The resource-based view of the
firm, quite clearly, provides a basis for asserting that key human resources are sources of
competitive advantage. It helps to lay the intellectual basis for a capability. HR practices offers
advantages because it forces us to think more clearly about the quality of the workforce skills at

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various levels and the quality of the motivation climate to be created and maintained to keep the
workforce happy and satisfied (Wilson, 1994). Competitive advantage can best be achieved by
seeking improvement in the better utilization of human resources

HR practices encourage the growth of the organization as employees after all play a major role in
the well-being of a company they deal with enhancing competencies, commitment and culture
building. Pfeffer (1998) proposed HR practices which can be expected to influence the firm’s
performance. In his seminal work, Pfeffer (1998) proposed the following seven HR practices
which include Employment Security, Selective Hiring, Self-managed teams and Decentralization
of Decision making, Comparatively high compensation contingent on Organizational
performance, Extensive Training, Reduced status distinctions and barriers, including dress,
language, office arrangements, and wage differences across levels, and Extensive sharing of
financial and performance information throughout the organization

A number of contemporary and good HR practices have resulted in effectively managing human
resources, managing attrition problems and keeping them happy. Some of the best HR practices
that are worth mentioning that have helped organizations in the creation of a highly satisfied and
motivated work force may be identified as, Training and Development which may be related to
firm performance in many ways. Firstly, training programmes increase the firm specificity of
employee skills, which, in turn, increases employee productivity and reduces job dissatisfaction
that results in decrease in employee turnover Job Security, creates a climate of confidence among
employees which cultivates their commitment on the company’s workforce. This develops a
feeling of confidence and employees commit themselves to expend extra effort for the
company’s benefit. A good evaluation and a fair evaluation system link the employees’
performance to the business goals and the priorities of an organization (Harel and Tzafrir, 1996).
High performers get better results, faster and closer to the targets. Organizations create profiles
of their top performers and make them visible through their intranet, display boards etc.
Successful organizations nurture ideas and they understand that employees who are actually
working and know the business can provide the best ideas. Through this system, talented
employees are identified and developed.

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Training and development benefits not only the employees’ personal growth but also impacts the entire
business in terms of both the productivity and profitability levels as a whole. Focusing on training and
development for the team allows businesses to maintain a competitive edge and leads to higher
customer satisfaction, lower costs and faster growth all around.

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Barney, J., 1991. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage, Journal of Management
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Becker, B.E. and Huselid, M.A. 1998. “High Performance Work Systems and Firm
Performance: A Synthesis of Research and Managerial Implications”, Research in Personnel and
Human Resource Management, 16, pp. 53–101

Boselie, J., Dietz, G., and Boon, C. 2005. “Commonalities and contradictions in HRM and
Performance research”, Human Resource Management Journal, 15(3), pp. 67–94.

Chang, P. L., and Chen, W. L. 2002. “The effect of human resource management practices on
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Chiu, R.K., Luk, V.W.M. and Tang, T.L. 2002. “Retaining and Motivating
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Everts Gail Lynn, (2001)," A study career development programs in Wisconsin municipal police
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Green, W.K., Wu, C., Whitten, D., and Medlin, B. 2006. “The Impact of Strategic Human
Resource Management on Firm Performance and HR Professionals’ Work Attitude and Work
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Harel, G.H. and Tzafrir, S.S. 1996. “The Effects of Human Resource Management Practices on
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Kuo, H. P. 2004. The relationship between Human Resource Management practices, employee
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