Measuring human resource development effectiveness in organizations: a competing values approach

The literature on evaluating HRD assumes the most effective Human Resource Development (HRD) in an organization will be ‘aligned’, closely fitting and matched. Adopting a romance metaphor, the organization and its HRD are soul mates. The only question is then alignment of what with what ? This study examined alignment using a Competing Values Framework (CVF) to describe general organization capabilities and HRD practice.

In the study effective HRD is measured by three items; the comprehensiveness, excellence and equity of HRD activities. Organization capabilities and HRD practices are defined using the four core constructs of the CVF; these are the constructs of ’ competing’, ‘controlling’, ‘creating’ and ‘collaborating’. The alignment of these can be measured in degrees; full alignment, partial alignment and incongruent alignment.

The method used was a survey of employees, managers and HRD staff in a sample of organizations including banking, retail, technology, and education. Data from 76 organizations and 274 respondents was collected. The findings are that the most effective HRD is associated with partial alignment. It looks as if relations being organizations and HRD which resemble those of an ‘odd couple’ rather than being soul mates has a positive impact on HRD. Further research on why this is apparently so can be a source of theory development and practical insights into the evaluation of HRD.