'Training is not a cost but an investment'. Discuss the issues raised by this statement particularly in relation to : 1) Human Resource Management as a control mechanism, and 2) the value of 'learning' as a source of competitive advantage. Illustrate

Training is not a cost but an investment

There is a great change today in the estimation of workers . Employees want their companies to provide them with training in order to improve their performance skills . They also want to acquire professional skills valuable to get promotion or switch to another company . Providing necessary training for employees becomes an essential function of every long-term goals oriented company . In this sense , the same way as education , training expenses must be perceived as long-term investment not costs

Along with changing values , workplace trends also

have a profound impact on essential knowledge and skills , requiring appropriate employee development programs . Such workplace trends include internationalization , corporate reorganization , frequent job movement the loss of job security , organizational success based on intellectual capital rather than commitment to a company , and dependence on information technology . Internationalization and the effects of global operations have resulted in a greater need for individuals to learn the nuances of political , cultural , and language differences , therefore becoming more skill demanding

It is known that recent trends in the workplace will have a profound impact on what must be learned in the new millennium and when it will be relevant . Human resource management has always been a control mechanism for the top management . This mechanism has to be always `upgraded ' to keep pace with constantly changing business environment . Competition is intense and markets are moving rapidly , requiring fast-moving organisations that are continually refreshed with new talent . Keeping this talent is not easy and companies are trying to instill commitment in their people by designing and promoting long-term career paths through employee development programs (Steward 1999 : 240-260

Human resource management practices can contribute to competitive advantage insofar as they elicit and reinforce a set of pre-defined role behaviors . From this perspective Strategic HR is definable as a carefully planned effort by functional HR managers to shape subordinate behavior so as to make it consistent with the desires of top management as expressed in the strategic investment . This approach is consistent with traditional definitions of HR as a staff activity and it is generally well received (Torrington , 1999 : 14

Change in traditional concepts of cost and the Personnel Resource function within organisations have been building for well over several decades . The Human Resource Planning Society has been actively encouraging both practicing HR managers and concerned academicians to develop a discourse on the emerging topic of Strategic Human Resources Management (SHRM , which now became an important issue of human resource management

There is a coalescing of views around the concept of "high performance work systems , which demands corporate funds . These have been characterised by the US Department of Labor as having certain clear characteristics : careful and extensive systems for recruitment selection and training formal systems for sharing information with the individuals who work in the organisation clear job design local level participation procedures monitoring of attitudes performance appraisals properly functioning grievance procedures and promotion and compensation schemes that provide for the recognition and financial rewarding of high...