DMG 3245

Human Resources Development and

Labor Market Planning
Facilitators;
SM- W.R.V.W Anuradhi
EM- Professor Sunethra Perera
Discussion Classes – Madhavi Niwarthana
Department of Demography
University Of Colombo
 Lecture 01

Concepts, definitions, measures and

significance of human resources development
and labour market analysis
Learning Outcomes…….

At the end of this lesson, students will be able to,

1. Identify the historical evolution of human resources development

2. Describe concepts and definitions of human resources development
3. Identify micro and macro perspectives of human resource development
4. Compare HRD related measures in developed and developing countries
5. Identify the importance of human resource development and labour
market analysis
Outline…..
1. Historical evolution of human resources development
2. Concepts and definitions of human resources development
3. Micro and macro perspectives of human resource development
4. HRD related measures in developed and developing countries
5 Importance of human resource development and labour market analysis
Historical evolution of Human Resources Development
Human Resources Development (HRD) started to grow in 18th century with
the industrial development of shifting economies from agriculture to
manufacturing sector.

The origins of (HRD) as a concept goes back to the 1960s.

HRD was developed as a field significantly after the Second World War in
order to existing and potential labour force age population through training
and education.

Developed countries have well-defined HRD models/systems than the

developing countries.
 Harbison and Myers (1964) are the pioneers of providing definition for HRD.

“Education, Manpower, and Economic Growth: Strategies of Human Resource

Development”

This article focused on : issue of the development of human resources on societal

scale.
UN Definition of Human Resources Development

Human recourses, distinct from natural resources, comprise the

skills, knowledge and capacities of all human beings actually or
potentially available for the economic and social development
in a community (UN Definition - 1967).
 World Summit for Social Development

World Summit for Social Development (WSSD) emphasized on the importance

of National Human Resource Development at the WSSD, held in March 1995 in
Copenhagen. It further emphasized the need to put people at the centre of
development.

Eradication of poverty, the goal of full employment and the fostering of social
integration overriding objectives of development.

This assembly report discusses on fostering the contributory capacities that

human beings bring to the improvement of their own quality of life and that of
others in their families, communities, enterprises and societies.
 Harbison and Myers are the first to provide the definition for
HRD

HRD is “a process of increasing the knowledge, the skills, and the

capacities of all the people in a society (Harbison and Myers,1964).

Knowledge

Skills Capacities
Indicators of human resource and economic development

Source: Harbison and Myers,1964. n=76

The estimated level of human resource development was divided into four
categories from low to high in terms of development.

Level I 17 countries, 5.5 percent of the world population

level II 21 countries, 34.4 percent of the world population

level III 21 countries, 25.3 percent of the world population

level IV 16 countries, 23.5 percent of the world population

Source: Harbison and Myers,1964.

 Remedial programmes
for disadvantages
groups

Integrated
Workforce Personnel administration,
approaches planning training and organizational
to development
human HRD
resources
development

Skills and knowledge General education

development and training
Definitions of Human Resource development – Micro level

“HRD is a systematic expansion of people’s work-related abilities, focused on the

attainment of both organization and personal goals”(Jones,1981,p.5).

“HRD is a process of improving an organization’s performance through the capabilities of

its personnel. HRD includes activities dealing with work design, aptitude, expertise and
motivation”(Swanson,1971,p.5).

“HRD is the integrated use of training and development, development; career development
and organizational development to improve individual and organizational effectiveness”
(Lagan,1989,p.5).
Aspects of HRD revealed by each definitions

Definition 01 Performance Organizational personal goals

Definition 02 Organizational Performance

Organizational
Definition 03 Training and development Career development
development
 HRD in context of the organization and environment
Environment
Economic forces political forces cultural forces

Organization
Mission & strategy Organization structure Technology Human Resources

Inputs Process Outputs

2 3 4
Analyze 1 Propose Create Implement 5 Assess
HUMAN RESOURCE
DEVELOPMENT

Source: Foundations of Human Resource Development, 2001

International perspective of human resource development

“ Human Resource Development is any process or activity that

either initially or over the long term, has the potential to develop
adults’ work base knowledge, expertise, productivity and
satisfaction, whether for personal or group/team gain or for the
benefit of an organization, community, nation, or ultimately, the
whole of humanity” (McLean & McLean, 2000,p.4).
Categorization of international HRD
Global
International HRD policies

HRD

Comparative National
Education, vocational, Government policies
institutional, cultural etc and programmes
 HRD and Labour market
Labour market is the place where supply and demand meet, working to
determine the price and quantity of the work performed (Bosworth, Dawkins,
Stromback,1996).

Supply Demand Labour market

The labour market is one of the main components of the market economy
along with the goods and capital market. From an economic perspective the
labour market is one of major components of the production forces (Zamfir &
Vlăsceanu, 1993).
 Labour supply and demand
 For a country, labour supply is determined by its population
age-structure
 A labour market in an economy functions with demand and
supply of labour.
 In this market, labour demand is the firm's demand for labour
and supply is the worker's supply of labour.
 Demographic perspectives of HRD and labour market

• Demographic transition, transforms the population age structure from young to old age-
structure.
Table 2: Population by broad age-group in Sri Lanka (%)

Age-group 1946 1981 2012

Below 15 37.2 35.2 25.2
15-59 57.4 58.2 62.4
60 and over 5.5 6.6 12.4
Source: Department of Censuses and Statistics, 2014
Figure 1: Population pyramids, Sri Lanka 1981-2012
1981 2001 2012

Source: Population and Housing Censuses, 2012

Figure 2: Components of Economically Active and Economically Inactive Population

Source: Labour Force Survey, 2020

 Labour Market Dynamics
Definition:
“Labour market dynamics refers to changes in jobs that take place as
well as entries into and departures from economic activity affected by
hirings, separations and the establishment and closure of self-
employment activities” (https://stats.oecd.org).
 Importance of human resource development for
Labour market planning
Supply of the labour market is the by product of the growth of total
population/ Labour Force.

A growing working-age A shrinking working-age

population provides population can create
opportunities for economic challenges for economic
growth growth
Discussion

Why Human Resources Development is

important for labour market planning ?
References
United Nations Headquarters. (1994). Changing Perspectives on Human Resources Development in the Public Sector. New York: United
Nations.

Department of Census and Statistics. (2012). Population and Housing Census. Colombo: Department of Census and Statistics.

Department of Census and Statistics. (2020). Labour Force survey. Colombo: Department of Census and Statistics.

Harbison, F., Myers, C. A., & Hill, M. (1964). Education and Manpower: Education, Manpower, and Economic Growth: Strategies of
Human Resource Development. Science.

International Labour Organization. (2018). World Employment Social Outlook. Geneva: International Labour Organization.

Labour Market and Human Resources Development: An Analysis of Findings from the Albania Survey of Human Resource
Development. (2010). European Research Studies, 119-128.

Statistics on the working-age population and labour force. (2021, 12 26). Retrieved from International Labour Organization Web site:
https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/population-and-labour-force/

Swanson, R. A., & Holton, E. F. (2001). Foundations of Human Resource Development. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

United Nations: Sustainable Development and International Economic Cooperation. (1995). Developing human resources for
development. United Nations.
Thank You