A study of human resource development climate in government health centres in India

While Human Resource Management (HRM) has gained significant importance in healthcare, very few studies have focused at assessing the Human Resource Development (HRD) climate at the organizational level in Public Healthcare Delivery Centres. The present study is aimed as assessing the HRD climate in Public Health Centres consisting of Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHCs) and District Hospitals (DHs) in two districts of India.The assessment is based on perception of 42 Medical Officers (MOs) about the overall importance given to various dimensions of the HRD climate. The study instrument measured 10 HRD dimensions. The instrument had 27 statements that were based on a 5-point Likert scale. Each statement represented one of the 10 HRD dimensions and higher averages/score indicated a better perception of the HRD climate for that particular dimension.The study findings indicate that 'Participation' is given the least importance followed by 'Succession Planning'. The study also found that 'Rewards and Welfare' was perceived to be given the highest importance. It can be concluded that the overall HRD climate from the viewpoint of MOs needs improvement. Such improvements are possible if there is a genuine focus in development of people and if there is a dedicated HRD Department in the Health System that treats various sub systems of HR like appraisal, counselling, rewards and welfare, etc., as interdependent rather than independent