Education: One Element in GE's Approach to Human Resource Development

Human resources is a term that refers collectively to employee potential for contributing individually and in concert to the achievement of an organization's objectives. Human resource management helps to assure the productivity and viability of the work force through recruiting, utilization, and development of the work force. Recruiting involves planning, attracting and screening candidates, and hiring of employees. Utilization involves guiding and leading employees to accomplish the desired work according to schedule, within cost, and to preset standards of performance. Development as one of the three major thrusts of human resource involves encouraging employees and providing means for their growth to cope with new and/or different job requirements and challenges. Career development is a complex, life-long learning process for producing and accumulating the relevant know-how, skills, art, and attributes used by engineers, managers, and other professionals who are the leaders of our society. Within the pertinent societal and organizational environment, career development seems to be influenced primarily by work assigments (80 percent); supervision and coaching (10 percent); career planning (3 percent); education (5 percent); and other activities (2 percent). Education is used broadly to include combinations of off-the-job training, indoctrination, instruction and studying that facilitate the production and accumulation of know-how, skills, art, and attributes.