Difference between HRM and HRD

Interview questions revolving around the difference between human resource management
and human resource development have been taking many participants by surprise. The same
is true for new employees who find it difficult to distinguish between HRM and HRD at the
best of times. This article throws light on the difference between HRM and HRD in tabular
form, the definition of HRM and HRD, HRM and HRD concepts, etc.

HRM vs. HRD

HRM is an essential branch of management that deals with making the optimum usage of
organizational human resources by nurturing better work conditions for all concerned. On the
other hand, HRD is a branch of HRM that focuses on the growth and development of the
workforce in any organization.

Before we define HRD and HRM in detail, here is a comparative chart depicting the
differences between HRM and HRD in tabulated format.
Basis of
HRM HRD
Differentiation

The full form of HRD is Human

The full form of HRM is Human
Resource Development. It refers
Resource Management. It refers to how
Definition and to continuous development
the principles of management can be
full form functions that are implemented for
applied to manage the employees
improving the performance of
working in an organization effectively.
those working in an organization.

Nature HRM is a management function. HRD is a sub-function of HRM.

The functions of HRD are

The functions of HRM are reactive and
proactive and have to be applied
Function are usually applied to gaining holistic
consistently to enhance the
organizational goals.
productivity of employees.

HRD goals are usually connected

The objective of HRM is related to with skill development,
Goal improving the overall performance of knowledge enhancement, and
employees. increasing the competency of
employees.

Most HRM processes are routine and

HRD processes are ongoing and
Process have to be carried out as and when the
not occasional.
need arises.

HRM is an independent entity in itself.

It comprises of different sections HRD is a subsystem of HRM and
Dependency inclusive of recruitment and retention, draws many functions, attributes,
HRD, compensation, performance, and processes from HRM.
appraisal management, etc.

HRD is concerned with the

HRM deals with and has concerns for development of all aspects and
Concerned
people only. It handles recruitment, people within an organization and
with
rewards, etc. manages its skill development
processes.
Basis of
HRM HRD
Differentiation

HRD functions may be informal

HRM functions are generally formal
Levels of as in mentorships, employees
and are applied via
formality receive coaching from superiors,
classroom/laboratory training, etc.
usually managers.

What is HRM

Human Resource Management or HRM is defined as a branch of management that deals

with the management of employees in a manner that they can provide the best results to an
enterprise. Various management principles are applied via HRM to make employees work
efficiently and effectively in any organization. It enhances the performance and productivity
of a company by assessing the best utilization of human resources. Overall, HRM can be
termed as the art of putting the right human resource to the right job to enable the maximum
possible usage of an organization’s human resources.

 The HRM process incorporates a wide range of activities that include recruitment,
selection, hiring, orientation, induction, training, skill development, feedback,
performance appraisal, incentives, rewards and compensation, maintenance of
workplace safety, staff motivation, health, and welfare plans, change management,
etc.
 HRM also aims to maintain good relations across the entire organization and the
different levels of management.

What is HRD

Human Resource Development is defined as the development of employees working in any

organization. As a subset of HRM, it aims at improving the skills, competencies, knowledge,
behaviour, and attitude of people working in a specific organization. The main goal of HRD
activities relates to empowering and strengthening the capabilities of employees for making
their performance metrics better.

 HRD deals with the provision of beneficial opportunities to employees for their
overall development.
  The main activities of HRD are directed towards career development, essential
employee identification, training & development, talent management, succession
planning, performance management, coaching and mentoring, etc.
 The HRD department in most organizations, worldwide, work towards the
development of employees right from their date of joining to termination or
retirement.

Key difference between HRD and HRM

 One of the main differences between HRM and HRD is that the former applies
management principles on a routine basis for the proper management of
organizational employees. The latter refers to a continuous development function that
is performed continuously with the intent of improving the performance of those
working in an organization.
 HRM is a reactive management function, while HRD stands for proactive tasks that
are a subset of HRM. HRM aims to fulfil the various demands that keep on arising in
an organization, while HRD meets up with the ever-changing needs of employees by
anticipating them beforehand.
 Another way to differentiate between HRM and HRD is that the objective of HRM
lies in improving the efficiency of all employees, while HRD deals with increasing
the knowledge, skills, and overall competency of those working in the organization
and have a future.
 HRM is an independent entity and function and has different roles to play in
comparison to HRD that is a subsystem of HRM and a dependent task.
Example:

It could well be a resort. It is, though in a different sort of way. The complex, located on
rolling hills an hour's drive from Seoul, is Samsung's Human Resources Development (HRD)
Centre, the place where the South Korean giant shapes the mind and heart of its employees to
its philosophy.

Samsung takes its people seriously. It is constantly preparing them, at every level, for the
rapidly changing world market that throws up ever-changing challenges. Employees of all the
70-plus companies of the group at one time or the other come here to be inspired and to learn
to think out of the box..

Indeed, so serious is Samsung about its people thinking differently and spontaneously that it
has designed the campus unlike any other. While many training/excellence centres recreate
the college campus, Samsung has ideated differently, colour-coding its values and integrating
them all over the campus so that these values get hard-wired among the trainees. If for
people, it is Purple, it is Blue for Excellence, Red for Change, Green for Integrity and Orange
for Co-prosperity.

But the predominant theme in the campus is Green, emphasising the company's commitment
to integrity. As Mr Ja Hwan Song, Vice-President, Globalisation Team, HRD Centre,
recently told a group journalists from India, the people philosophy is quite simply giving
them a wealth of opportunities to reach their full potential. Realising that change is a constant
and the innovation is critical to keep pace, the HRD Centre tries to equip its people to think
differently.

Believing that a business cannot be successful unless it creates prosperity and opportunity for
others, he says Samsung cares as much for its staff as for societies it operates in by being
socially and environmentally responsible.

The training centre prepares new comers to Samsung for the journey with the organisation,
promotes to take up the new responsibilities, senior executives to exchange ideas, and the top
echelons to think far into the future. This is done chiefly through three key initiatives:

Shared Value Programme: The attempt is to give new comers the basics of doing good
business. History, tradition, values form the basis of the programme with sessions on
teamwork and creativity.
Business Leader Programme: A five-month initiative to develop the leaders of the next
generation.

The participants are those with global competitiveness and all-round management skills.
Global business management, leadership, and problem solving are the focus.

Global Expert Programme: A larger programme with varying periods, here the effort is to
develop global spearheads with an emphasis on the local customs, cultures and practices
besides foreign language, all designed to ready the managers for international assignments.

The HRD Centre also promotes Knowledge Management and Innovation in Practice with its
cutting-edge education infrastructure, promoting values, and continuous assessment. The
centre actively promotes field learning so that people can develop themselves wherever they
are.

The campus is inspirational, and it has borrowed from the works of famous artists to design
the spaces so that the trainees are positively influenced by the energies of these greats. So if
the fifth flow has 3D in 2D format you are but reminded of cubist Pablo Ruiz Picasso. TV
screen on the second floor corridor's ceiling could but be inspired by Nam June Paik, the
Korean American artist, who has worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the
first video artist and also credited with early use of the term ‘super highway' in application to
telecommunications.

The sixth floor is inspired by the Russian-born French Expressionist painter Wassily
Kandinsky, and the fourth has a Belgian artist Rene Magritte's surreal touch to it. But the
piece de resistance is the third floor, whose corridor are lined with small and large images of
Marilyn Monroe, unmistakably by pop-art icon Andy Warhol. The idea for front courtyard
has been borrowed from Vatican's St Peter's Square.

If there all the paths led Christians to their temporal centre, here the pathways draw
‘Samsung's People' from across the 150 nations it's present in to its learning headquarters.

It is not all work and no play at the HRD Centre. The training sessions, according to Mr Ja
Hwan Song, are fun-filled including pop performances as interludes to the think sessions. The
two/three kitchens bring to the table a variety of fare from across the world.

Samsung taking its human resource so seriously is reflected in its attrition rate of five to six
per cent among its worldwide staff roll of over two lakh.

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What are the Main Roles of HRD Manager?
The primary goal of HRD is to increase worker’s productivity and firm’s profitability as
investment in HRD improves worker’s skill and enhance motivation. The other goal of HRD
is to prevent obsolescence at all levels. To achieve these two goals, HRD Manager of any
organization plays following two important roles:

1. To assist people in obtaining the knowledge and skills they need for present and future jobs
and to assist them in attaining their personal goals.

2. To play the ‘enabling’ role, providing the right context in which human performance
occurs and the organization reaches its stated objectives.

In 1998, ASTD (American Society for Training and Development) identified eleven roles of
HRD manager, which can be enumerated as follows:

1. Administrator:
The role of providing coordination and support services for the delivery of HRD programmes
and services.

2. Evaluator:
The role of identifying the impact of an intervention on individual or organizational
effectiveness.

3. Individual Career Development Advisor:

The role of helping individuals to assess personal competencies, values and goals and to
identify, plan and implement development and career actions.

4. HRD Manager:
The role of supporting and leading a group’s work and linking that work with total
organization.

5. Instructor/Facilitator:
The role of presenting information, directing structured learning experiences and managing
group discussions and group process.

6. Marketer:
The role of marketing and contracting from HRD’s viewpoints, programmes and services.
7. Material Developer:
The role of producing written and/or electronically mediated instructional materials.

8. Needs Analyst:
The role of identifying ideal and actual performance and performance conditions and
determining causes of discrepancies.

9. Organizational Change:
The role of influencing and supporting changes in organizational behaviour.

10. Programme Designer:

The role of preparing objectives, defining content and selecting and sequencing activities for
a specific intervention.

11. Researcher:
The role of identifying, developing or testing new information (theory, concepts, technology,
models, hardware) and translating these two implications for improved individual or
organizational performance.