Assignment

on
Human Resource Development

Title: HRD practices of Assam Power Distribution Company Limited

Under the Guidance

of
Prof. Dr. Papori Baruah

Submitted by
Subham Sonar ( BAM21014)
Priyapadmini Das (BAM21024)
Ankita Ghosh (BAM21048)

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 DECLARATION

We hereby declare that, the work which is being presented in this report “HRD Practices Of Assam
Power Distribution Company Limited” is submitted by the undersigned students of MBA 3rd semester,
Department of Business Administration, Tezpur University. This is an original work prepared and
analyzed by us to give a detailed account of the topic and has not been submitted in any form for any
degree or diploma under any other university or such institution.

Subham Sonar (BAM21014)

Priyapadmini Das (BAM21024)

Ankita Ghosh (BAM21048)

MBA 3rd Semester

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

TEZPUR UNIVERSITY

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

On the eve of completion of our Project Report on “HRD Practices Of Assam Power Distribution
Company Limited” we will be failing in our details if we do not acknowledge all the persons who have
been instrumental in successful completion of this project study. We are pleased to have a chance here to
acknowledge the contribution of these individuals for their support and encouragement throughout the life
of the project. We express our sincere gratitude to all of them.

We are extremely thankful to our faculty, PROF. PAPORI BARUAH, Department of Business
Administration, Tezpur University, without whom this project would have been incomplete. We would
like to express our gratitude towards her for her immense support. The continuous efforts and guidance of
her made this project a fruitful one. We would also like to thank each on of our team member for their
constant support in completion of the project.

Lastly, we are indebted to our parents and Almighty. Without their blessings or grace, we could not have
finished this project under stipulated time and with focused vision. We will always cherish and admire the
inspiration, understanding and help of our friends and well-wishers.

MBA 3rd Semester

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

TEZPUR UNIVERSITY

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 Table of Contents

SI. No. Title Page no

1 Introduction 5

2 Human Resource Development Benefits 6

3 Company Profile 7

4 Primary Data on HRD practices of APDCL 8-9

5 Secondary Data on HRD practices of APDCL 10-13

6 Suggestions and Conclusion 14-15

5 Appendix 16-19

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 Introduction
Development of Human resources is essential and critical for the success of any organization that would like
to be dynamic and growth oriented. Unlike other resources, human resources have rather unlimited potential
capabilities. The potential can be used only by creating a climate that can continuously identify, bring to
surface, nurture and use the capabilities of people. Human Resource Development (HRD) aims at creating
such a climate. A number of HRD techniques have been developed in the recent years to perform the above
task based on certain principles.

Human Resource Development (HRD) is the framework for helping employees develop their personal and
organizational skills, Knowledge and abilities. Human Resource Development includes such opportunities as
employee training, employee career development, performance management and development, coaching,
mentoring, succession planning, key employee identification and organization development. The focus of all
aspects of Human Resource Development is on developing the most superior workforce so that organization
and individual employees can accomplish their work goals in service to customers. It is the process by which
the employees of an organization are helped, in a continuous and planned way to:

• Acquire or sharpen capabilities required to perform various functions associated with their present or
expected future roles;
• Develop their general capabilities as individuals and discover and exploit their own inner potential for
their for their own and/ or organizational development purposes; and
• Develop an organizational culture in which supervisor-subordinate relationships, teamwork and
collaboration among sub-units are strong and contribute to the professional well-being, motivation and
pride of employees.

The process has no limit, the mechanisms may need to be examined periodically to see whether they are
promoting or hindering the process. Organizations can facilitate this process of development by planning for
it, by allocating organizational resources for the purpose, and by exemplifying an HRD philosophy that values
human beings and promotes their development.

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 Human Resources Development Benefits

Human Resource Development is considered as the key to higher productivity, better relations and greater
profitability for any organizations. Appropriate HRD provides unlimited benefits to the concerned
organizations. Some of the important benefits are being given here:

• Human Resource Development makes people more competent. HRD develops new skills, knowledge
and attitude of the people in the concern organizations.
• With appropriate HRD programme, people become more committed to their jobs. People are assessed
on the basis of their performance by having an acceptable performance appraisal system.
• An environment of trust and respect can be created with the help of human resource development.
• Acceptability towards change can be created with the help of HRD. Employees found themselves
better equipped with problem-solving capabilities.
• It improves the all-round growth of the employees.HRD also improves team spirit in the organization.
They become more open in their behavior. Thus, new values can be generated.
• It also helps to create the efficiency culture in the organization. It leads to greater organizational
effectiveness. Resources are properly utilized and goals are achieved in a better way.
• It improves the participation of worker in the organization. This improves the role of worker and
workers feel a sense of provide and achievement while performing their jobs.
• It also helps to collect useful and objective data on employee’s programmes and policies which further
facilitate better human resources planning.
• Hence, it can be concluded that HRD provides a lot of benefits in every organizations. So, the
importance of concept of HRD should be recognized and given a place of eminence, to face the present
and future challenges in the organizations.

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 COMPANY PROFILE

Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) is a public limited company whole owned by the
Government of Assam. It is one of the three successor companies Assam State Electricity Board formed under
the reform process under Indian Electricity Act 2003. It was incorporated on the 23rd day of October 2009 and
has been registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956.

The main purpose of forming this company was to take over, manage, and operate the electricity distribution
system, assets, liabilities, undertaking of the erstwhile Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) pursuant to a
notified transfer scheme in terms of Part XIII of the Electricity Act, 2003.

The primary aim of the company is to undertake distributions, trading and supply electricity in the state of
Assam or outside it in accordance with provisions of applicable law and all activities ancillary or appurtenant
thereto. It has also the mandate to develop, maintain and operate the power distribution system in the state of
Assam. In carrying out the work of supplying power, APDCL reaches every part of the state. The company is
serving the people of Assam with a consumer base of more than 33 lakhs. APDCL is the sole agency to deal
with the distribution business in the entire state of Assam at a voltage level 0f 33/11kV and 400 Volt.

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 PRIMARY DATA

We used a questionnaire to conduct a survey in order to better understand the HR practices of APDCL. It has
been given to the APDCL officers and personnel.

Due to time constraints we could gather only few responses but most of the responses were from officer’s
level. The assessment of training needs of an individual is done by human resource department of APDCL.

From the fig 1 it is clear that APDCL evaluates personnel primarily for training in new technologies,
procedures, goods, services, and market developments.

The training frequently used by the organization is both on the job and off the job method. And employees are
paid during the time of training also.

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From the fig 2 it can be seen that there is no minimum length of training period for the employees during their
training session.

APDCL hires its trainers from outside and conducts the training in a vacant area inside the company because
they do not have their own training institute. Additionally, employees receive training in most cases in classes
at the immediate level and intermediate level. The HR department makes decisions regarding planning and
requirements.

Additionally, APDCL offers its employees dining facilities during the training time. The company believes
that training is necessary for better opportunities, to assess various fields in which they can test the skills of
the employee, for more difficult tasks, and for the overall development of the company.

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 SECONDARY DATA

HRD Practices in APDCL

The following HRD practices are generally carried in APDCL which are listed below

• Training & Development

Training is an attempt to improve current or future employee’s performance by increasing an employee’s

ability to perform through learning usually by changing the employee’s attitude or increasing his or her
knowledge. The need for training is determined by the deficiency of employee performance. Training process
include acquiring skills, concepts, attitudes for increasing effectiveness in doing a specific job or jobs. Training
provide necessary impetus to implement change, improve efficiency, managerial effectiveness and increase
productivity.

In APDCL all employees are governed by the Training policy of the company. Employees shall be provided
opportunities for learning and development thorough workshops and training programs. The training programs
shall cover both functional and management areas. Employees shall be sponsored for both in-house and
external training programmes, subject to fulfillment of the eligibility criteria, to enhance their skill and
competencies. The types of training shall be classified into following categories

1. In-house Training
(a) Inductive training
(i) Induction training primarily involves introducing the new entrants by the departmental
heads to the various departments and the officers concerned. The administration and HR
systems and procedures shall be clearly explained to the new entrant, specifically relating
to his/her entitlements. This shall enable a new entrant to settle down over a period of a
week;
(ii) In addition to the basic introduction, an induction program has to be drawn up for all new
entrants. This program shall be based on acquainting the new staff to the systems of all the
functional area, as these shall have a bearing on his own area of work. Thus, all new entrants
shall go through an induction program, aimed at acquainting them with the companies
systems and specifically, on each functional areas;
(iii) The HR department formulates the induction program for the new officers in consultation
with the concerned supervisor and after discussions with the supervisors of other
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 departments based on the time they can allot for training the new officers. The induction
program shall commence within a week of a new entrant joining the services;
(b) On the job training- Induction training shall be followed by “on the job” training.
(c) In house courses- The Company shall train its employees also through in-house courses.
2. External Training
To improve technical, professional, managerial/supervisory and language skills, external trainings can
be provide to the employees in the form of:
i. Courses within the country at local institutes; and
ii. Overseas courses

The ultimate goal of training is to improve level of efficiency and accountability which would result
in enhanced customer satisfaction.

APDCL wants its employees to better themselves continuously. The company identify the following areas as
its focus for training which includes quality management and continuous performance improvement.

Besides this the company also carries out various leadership programmes for its higher roles. They have
institutionalized different development centers to systematically diagnose the current and potential
competency requirements of the employees with the objective of enhancing their development in a planned
manner. These gives a good insight to the employees about their

a. Strengths and Weakness

b. The gaps in their competencies which they can bridge through suitable support from company.

The employees impart specialized technical training to employees based on systematic identification of their
competencies and training needs.

3. Mentoring
Mentoring links an experienced Employee with a non-experienced Employee to facilitate the personal
and professional growth of the later and it shall be used in special conjunction with the training, special
assignments, cross trainings and other learning opportunities to integrate the Employee into the
workforce.
4. Higher Education Policy
Employees are encouraged to enhance their professional qualifications to meet their aspirations. The
organizations stands benefitted by the knowledge acquired by its Employees. The Employees should
have worked in the company for a minimum of 5 consecutive years with satisfactory performance to
become eligible. Employees interested to attend a regular course of study and requiring study leave
need to send in their nominations to the Office at BijuleeBhawan, Guwahati by submitting details in
the prescribed format as required under the provisions of the APDCL study leave Rules, 2016. The

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 employee would be governed by the APDCL study leave Rules, 2016 and any subsequent amendments
thereafter.
5. Job Rotation
Employees shall be required to work under various functions or locations to provide them with an all-
round exposure so that they would be technically equipped to occupy higher positions in the company.
The various roles or positions held by the Employee shall be significant determinant for his promotion
opportunities. Employee shall also be encouraged to take up tasks in the interests of the company in
addition to their normal duties and responsibilities in determining their future roles. During the first 5
years of service with the company at the entry level, an employee shall be required to work across
locations and functions.

• Performance Appraisals

APDCL had operated through a system of Confidential Reports for Performance appraisals. The
company is trying to revamp its mechanisms by bringing in appraisals based on Key Result Areas
(KRAs) to bring in more transparency. In addition to competency, potential and values has been
implemented in order of bring objectivity and transparency in performance evaluation and in order to
build a culture of high performance

Culture. It has also tried to link its promotions to performance rather than stressing only on years of
service. It created a performance driven work culture, full of challenge for its employees, through the
use of benchmarking. The company’s effort towards corporate planning began at top with the general
managers of power plants gathering to discussing their targets by benchmarking with the best
performers within the company, and with other plants within and outside Assam. Targets were then
set, based on thesebenchmarks, and were further broken down to provide individual targets for
employees.

The company has adopted the mindset of viewing problems as opportunities and this culture motivated
the employees to perform. In APDCL, there is also peer pressure to excel and this also contributes to
performance and Efficiency. It also adopts 360-degree feedback mechanism for AGMs and above was
introduced with substantial participation.

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• Human Resource Planning
Human Resource planning is an integral part of Human Resource Development practices. In APDCL
it also carries out Human Resource Planning to maintain the inventory of potential candidates to take
up necessary roles if required. The quality of human requirements depends plan depends on quality of
the analysis and data on which it is based. The object of HR planning carried out by APDCL is to
sufficient number of persons having adequate qualifications and skills to perform different tasks
required at any interval.

• Potential Appraisal
In APDCL, it also carries out potential appraisal with an object to develop latent abilities of individuals.
Potential Appraisal provides the organization with vital information to prepare plans for them and it
also evaluates the leadership abilities and potentials of the individuals. It ensures a good match between
employees and job. APDCL is also diversifying its operations involving vital changes to meet these
requirements its needs people with courage and capabilities to meet the challenges. Therefore, they
have to make potential appraisal of the present employees so that they can undertake a variety of the
tasks.

• Rewards
It is also an important part of the Human Resource Development by providing appropriate
compensation to employees to increase their efficiency and keep them motivated. Reward System is
looked after by HRD. By rewarding hard work employees are motivated further. Output goes up. It
leads to maximum utilization of available human resources to enhance productivity. Slow work
tendencies can also be removed. APDCL provides its employees with various benefits which includes
leave travel allowances, HRA, Overtime allowance, shift allowance, Design allowances, Duty
allowances and various other perks and benefits. This encourages employees to seek self-development
through their own ability. It is one of the quickest way to increase productivity.

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 CONCLUSION

The company’s HRD practices provides the employees with immense training in terms of quality
management and continuous performance improvement to better themselves in every aspect. The
company is trying to revamp its mechanisms by bringing in appraisals based on Key Result Areas
(KRAs) to bring in more transparency. The fact that their efforts are being recognised and appreciated
helps to enhance staff performances. This demonstrates that the management is considerate towards
the employees and trust its own judgement.

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 SUGGESTIONS

• APDCL should strive for a healthy working environment, a holistic attitude to work, improved skills,
better perception, and fresh approaches to persistent work issues. Also, organizational cohesion and
seamless departmental communication.
• Better instructors to train employees.
• It is necessary to expand your skills, and a multitasking environment will make your firm more
productive.
• orientation to new software and technology and lengthier internal training courses at prestigious
universities.

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 QUESTIONNAIRE

Human Resource Development practices in APDCL

Dear Respondent, We are students, currently pursuing MBA from Tezpur University. As part of our course,
we conducting a survey on the Human Resource Development practices in APDCL.

We request you kindly to co-operate in filling this questionnaire, which would help us in our research. The
information provided by you would be used only for academic purposes and will be kept confidential.

Thank You.

1. Designation? *

Officer

Staff

2. Do you have any process for assessing the organization’s (immediate and
future) training needs and individual development needs? *

Yes, by human resource department

Yes, by other consultant

Yes, by head of each department

No

3. Which following issues you considered in assessing training needs? *

job skills, knowledge and ability

New technologies, processes, products, services, market changes

Organizational issues, such as mission, objectives and customer orientation

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4. Which training is frequently used by your organization? *

On-the –job methods

Off-the-job methods

Both

5. Are employees permitted pay for time not worked while they attended training
seminars outside organization? *

Yes, with pay

Yes, without pay

No, only after work hours No,

only special cases

6. What is the minimum training length per year? *

No minimum

Up to 8 hours

9 to 24 hours

25 to 40 hours

Over 40 hours

7. Do you have any training institute of your own? *

Yes

No

8. Do you hire trainer from outside of the organization? *

Yes

No

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9. During the training period, what types of facility program you have? *

Accommodation facility

Transportation facility

Meal facility

10. Common format of your training programs includes: *

Workshops
Classes

Briefings

11. Why do you feel the need for a training and development program? *

For better prospects

To evaluate other streams in which you can test your skill

For more challenging office duties

For a rounded and holistic approach toward work

All of the above

12. What are the benefits that you expect to gain from this training and
development program? What additions would you have made to this program?
*

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