Formal Education And Human Resource Development - 1888 Words

Graduate high school, go to college, get a degree and then go to work as a professional in your field; seems like a plan right? This seems to be the plan for thousands of young men and women every year, but unfortunately nothing is that simple. Formal education is necessary for many different careers today. This education gives graduates a base of knowledge for entry level positions in their career fields. At that point new employees have to figure out how to use the theoretical principles they learned in college in practical applications in their industry. This is not an easy task for many career fields, especially one such as Human Resource Development (HRD). Much of the formal education for HRD is taught in theory; there is no book to†¦show more content†¦In their book Human Resource Development: Theory Practice, David McGuire and Kenneth Jorgensen list 25 different definitions that have been given for the career field by scholars dating back to 1964 (4). Most of these d efinitions equate to the same thing. It is a simple term to define. In a Textbook called Principles of Human Resource Development, Jerry Gilley, Steven Eggland and Ann Gilley define the career field in the simplest of terms. They write, â€Å"human resource development is a dynamic and evolving practice used to enhance organizational effectiveness† (2). This explanation seems generic but they go on to explain that the career field is rapidly changing and evolving, so to better understand the definition we should look at the title itself. Human Resource Development; is only a three word title. We already know what development means, so what is a human resource? Companies have three different types of resources: physical, financial and human. Physical resources refer to things such as buildings and machines. Financial resources refer to the financial assets that the company controls. Human resources simply refer to the humans that work for that company. To overly simplify thing s, HRD personnel help the company develop their human resources so they can be as productive as possible. Just as a mechanic can fine-tune an engine to work at an optimal level of performance, HRD employees can help a company’s human