Human Resource Management: Capacity Building - Organisational and Human

CAPACITY BUILDING DEFINITION (UNDP):

• Individual level - Community capacity-building on an individual level requires the development of conditions that allow individual participants to build and enhance existing knowledge and skills. It also calls for the establishment of conditions that will allow individuals to engage in the "process of learning and adapting to change."

• Institutional level - Community capacity building on an institutional level should involve aiding pre-existing institutions in developing countries. It should not involve creating new institutions, rather modernizing existing institutions and supporting them in forming sound policies, organizational structures, and effective methods of management and revenue control. 
• Societal level - Community capacity building at the societal level should support the establishment of a more "interactive public administration that learns equally from its actions and from feedback it receives from the population at large." Community capacity building must be used to develop public administrators that are responsive and accountable.

 OBJECTIVES OF CAPACITY BUILDING:
National AHEC Leadership Conference in 2003 declared the objectives of Capacity Building as follows:
1. Prioritising the areas for improvement
2. Developing specific outcomes to achieve along with strategies and tactics
3. Identifying resources required to achieve identified outcomes
4. Implementing
5. Evaluating what worked and what did not and what was learnt in the process
6. Beginning again including suitable modifications

SIGNIFICANCE OF CAPACITY BUILDING:
1. Optimum utilisation of resources through consistent application of Research and Development
2. Preparation of the organisation to face the future through assessment of prevailing logistics and the wherewithal of augmenting the same
3. Helping the organisation acquire competitive advantage in identified fields
4. Facilitating long term decisions in the organisation
5. Providing training and guidance to facilitate development of individual careers
6. Developing a database to measure and evaluate the current working capacity of the organisation


PROCESS OF CAPACITY BUILDING:
1. Preparing information material to promote the organisation's work
2. Developing and implementing job descriptions
3. Developing a formal organisational chart
4. Preparing and maintaining a core operating budget
5. Developing a routine for strategic planning and work plan management
6. Developing fund raising strategies and building a donor database
7. Developing a database to measure,trend and evaluate working activities

STEPS IN CAPACITY BUILDING:
a) Promoting overall Human Capacity Building:
1. Human capacity building within overall social and economic development strategy,recognising the critical importance of human capital by developing more integrated approaches to capacity building
2. Develop relevant programmes to enhance entrepreneurial and management skills,particularly among small and medium enterprises to meet the new demands from globalisation and new economy
3. Develop policies to provide needed incentives for business sector to participate in the development of human capacity building such as providing facilities and infrastructure ensuring that access is maintained for the development of e-commerce,etc.
4. Facilitate mutual recognition of professional qualifications in respective countries, which should be based on standard of achievement and outcomes that are mutually agreed between economies
5. Enhance industry-academic partnership between businesses as end users of the workforce as well as providers of financial resources and universities,educational institutions, and vocational training institutions as suppliers of workforces so that they produce an IT workforce that is readily available to high-tech businesses.
6. Establish mutual linkages between sectoral networks including business,education,training sectors and govt. to draw out synergy effect to the human capacity building
7. Encourage trade unions to develop and implement relevant training programmes and motivate and mobilise workers to undertake life long learning
8. Setting up life long education and learning society

STRATEGIES OF CAPACITY BUILDING:
The Agenda 21 of the UNDP Capacity 21 Trust Fund states he following strategies:
1. Participation of all stakeholders in programme development,implementation,monitoring and learning
2. Integration of economic,social and environmental priorities within national and local policies plans and programmes.
3. Information about sustainable development to help people make better decisions.