Training and development in the Northern Ireland clothing industry

Abstract

With the emergence of human resource management models and literature came a realisation that in many cases personnel specialists were faced with many new opportunities and challenges. There was a perception that a number of the key functions of the specialism had been underdeveloped or even ignored. This article presents a quantitative analysis of human resource management practices in the Northern Ireland clothing industry. The findings are derived from a survey sample of 90 organisations and the data analysed is based on the 69 company responses representing a 76 per cent response rate. The article focuses on one area of the personnel function, which it was considered would be dramatically changed by the implementation of a new approach to managing people; namely, training and development. The article presents a positive view of human resource interventions in the surveyed industry and of the progress specialists within the industry have made.