Toward a Conceptual Framework for Thinking about Human Resources, their Assessment, Development and Consequences

It is common to hear it said that the most important benefits yielded by vocational training and organizational development programmes cannot be assessed because they are too ‘intangible’. The ‘demand’ for them is in itself sufficient indication of their value. Unfortunately, as economists such as Thurow have, only too belatedly recognized, the value of a certificate to an individual is a very different thing from the value of the knowledge to the acquisition of which the certificate testifies. Most school pupils, parents, and teachers believe that, while it is very important to pass examinations, the value of what is learned at school is minimal. Their beliefs are confirmed by the studies of Berg, Jencks and Raven. Because of the social functions of educational qualifications, teachers and pupils attend to the goals which are assessed. Because the goals which are easiest to assess are not those which they believe to be most important, teachers and pupils fail to attend to the goals which they actually believe to be most important. Had these teachers and students spent their time working toward the most important goals, the students' life chances, and the teachers' own reputation, would have been jeopardized.