Essay on Theories of Human Resource Development: Analysis of Positive and Negative Reinforcement

1. Human resource development.

Human resource development includes the training of an employee after he/she has been hired by providing opportunities such as employee training, employee career development, coaching, mentoring and succession planning for learning new skills, knowledge and abilities that are both beneficial to the individual and also to the organization.

Types of Human Resource Development

• On the job training which involves impacting knowledge and skills to an employee to perform a task while still performing that same task.
• Job shadowing which involves an employee observing/shadowing another employee who’s performing a job in order to acquire the needed skills of doing that job.
• Professional development which involves attending organized seminars and training.

Once employees undergo development and training, it increases the firm’s competitive advantage which is the ability possessed by an organization over that of another organization.

Advantages human resource development

There are several advantages associated with human resource development, both for employees and their employer:

1. Though HR development, a company can get the most superior workforce it can and this will go a long way in accomplishing company goals.
2. Employees become more adept at their jobs and this translates to higher productivity, higher efficiency and lower rates of accidents.
3. HR development equips employees with necessary skills and qualities to take over superior post of increased responsibility instead of hiring from outside the company
4. A good HR development program becomes a way of attracting and retaining top talent. This will enable the company to compete favorably in the job market.

Theories of human resource development

1. Theory of reinforcement

Reinforcement theory was published by an American social philosopher, psychologist and behaviorist Burrhus Frederic Skinner in 1957. Reinforcement theory is one of the oldest theories of motivation as it tries to explain individual’s behavior and why we do what we do. It is also known as Behaviorism or Operant conditioning. The theory evolved out of frustration by researchers as they were dissatisfied with the lack of a direct observable phenomenon that could be measured and experimented with. As a result they explored only the behaviors that could be observed and measured away from the mysterious workings of the mind (Funder, 2010). Reinforcement theory had its beginnings in Pavlov's conditioning experiments and has evolved through Skinner's operant conditioning to Bandura's social learning and social cognitive theory.

There are two types of reinforcement; positive and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement results when the occurrence of a valued behavioral consequence has the effect of strengthening the probability of the behavior being repeated. The specific behavioral consequence is called a reinforcer.

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Negative reinforcement results when an undesirable behavioral consequence is withheld, with the effect of strengthening the probability of the behavior being repeated. Negative reinforcement is often confused with punishment, but they are not the same. Punishment attempts to decrease the probability of specific behaviors; negative reinforcement attempts to increase desired behavior.

Extinction is similar to punishment in that its purpose is to reduce unwanted behavior. The process of extinction begins when a valued behavioral consequence is withheld in order to decrease the probability that a learned behavior will continue. Over time, this is likely to result in the ceasing of that behavior.

Skinner (1957), suggested that training and development programs should be aligned with the organizational objectives and a positive outcome should expected by the management as a result of such programs. It can be argued that there are several techniques available in human resource practices which can be associated with the training and development programs and the required suggestion by this theory can be fulfilled. Different types of rewards in the form of bonuses, salary raises, promotion and awarding of certificate after the training program can be associated with the training and development activities and these rewards will definitely generate a positive outcome.

Strengths of the reinforcement theory.

1. It is can be easily applied in an organization as it deals with learned behaviors. Employees deal with certain responses, stimuli and their consequences and since behaviors are rewarded or punished, it can be easy to encourage or change the employees responses by manipulating the stimuli (Operant Conditioning, 2006).
2. It has an impressive research result supports this theory because of its focus on observable behavior and as a result research has empirically proven that the reinforcement theory works.
3. By installing a schedule of reinforcement will keep the employees involved and on their toes because the employee does not know when a performance review is coming and so they cannot afford to work poorly on any given task (Redmond, 2010).
4. Unlike Needs Theory of motivation which focused on internal needs, Reinforcement Theory is based on external conditions. Within the workplace, organizational management theorists look to the environment to explain and control people's behavior. Because of this, it may be easier to motivate a group of workers through external factors such as pay raise, promotion, etc. (Operant Conditioning, 2006).

Weaknesses of reinforcement theory

1. The reinforcement theory only considers behavior and consequences without considering processes of internal motivation or individual differences (Redmond, 2010).
2. In reinforcement Theory it is difficult to identify rewards or punishments (Booth-Butterfield, 1996). Each human being is different and unique, and Reinforcement Theory has to take this into account. A reward that works for one person may not work for someone else.
3. The control and manipulation of rewards in order to change behavior is considered unethical by some through imposing the freewill of the employees (Redmond, 2010).

According to the findings and conclusions of behaviorism, to a large extent, are based on research with animals. Thorndike used cats; Pavlov used dogs, and Skinner - pigeons and rats. Many aspects that are important to human beings, such as problem-solving and thinking process, are not addressed by behaviorism. The emphasis is on the environmental stimuli that modify behavior, not on any internal factors that may be present (Funder, 2010).

Some researchers believed that the theory ignored many important psychological phenomena. Kohler believed that animals, specifically chimpanzees, developed insight regarding their situation, thereby developing an understanding regarding their condition. The emphasis here was the immediacy at which the chimpanzees applied their response, as opposed to a more gradual learned behavior. This indicated a comprehension and understanding of stimuli and consequences resulting in immediate responses (Kohler, 1925; Gleitman, 1995). Kohler's research on insight applied to behaviorism would eventually lead to the beginnings of social learning theory, as well as some cognitive research (Funder, 2007). Recent research has shown that intrinsic motivators have shown to be more effective motivators. Instead of organizations instituting financial bonuses (carrots) or threats of disciplinary action (sticks), autonomy, mastery, and purpose have shown to improve motivation, quality of performance, while reducing attrition rates in organizations.

References

1. Booth-Butterfield, S. (1996). Reinforcement theory. Retrieved September 6, 2009, from http://faculty.mdc.edu/jmcnair/joe%20lynn%20jr/Articles/Reinforcement%20Theory.htm
2. Funder, D.C (2007). The Personality Puzzle (4th Edition). New York: W.W. Norton & Company
3. Kohler, W. (1925). The mentality of apes (E. Winter, Trans.). New York: Harcourt, Brace, & World.
4. Operant conditioning: Encyclopedia of Management. (2006). In Helms, M. M. & Cengage, G. (Ed). eNotes.com. Retrieved September 6, 2009, from http://www.enotes.com/management-encyclopedia/operant-conditioning
5. Redmond, B.F. (2010). Reinforcement Theory: What are the Rewards for My Work? Work Attitudes and Motivation. The Pennsylvania State University; World Campus.
6. Skinner, B. F. (n.d.) A brief survey of operant behavior. Retrieved January 26, 2010, from Website: http://www.bfskinner.org/BFSkinner/SurveyOperantBehavior.html
7. https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Pr-Sa/Reinforcement-Theory.html#ixzz63QZA2W