Human resource development can be considered a continuous process that includes all the work that an organization does to help its employees improve their personal and professional development. In fact, human resource development is a fundamental step towards “increasing job satisfaction levels” and “creating an ideal work environment” in the organization. Human resource development is a process or system that is used to help employees develop their knowledge, abilities, and skills. This process improves the effectiveness of the organization and helps employees progress in the areas of personal knowledge, job abilities, and organizational skills (Ravashden et al., 2022).

This research identifies the background of specialized human resource development in the Khuzestan Red Crescent Society. In this chapter, after stating the problem, the importance and necessity of the research are stated. The research objectives are also stated in the form of general and specific objectives. The conceptual model of the research, which is the main statement of the question, is presented in this chapter, and then the research model and the method of measuring variables, as well as the research hypotheses, are considered. At the end, an explanation of terms and terms is provided.

One of the most important parts of human resource management is human resource development, which focuses on training and creating appropriate platforms for the growth and development of employee capacities. In fact, human resource development is a process whose final result will be to increase employee motivation and then increase the productivity of the organization. Encouraging employees and trying to maintain them is one of the basic expectations and, of course, the right of all employees. Therefore, senior managers of organizations, especially human resource managers, are obliged to pay attention to this essential matter and pave the way for the comprehensive growth and promotion of their employees (Otto and Rader, 2024).

Human resource development is one of the effective solutions for increasing productivity and optimal use of individual and group capabilities of individuals, especially employees of the Red Crescent Society, to achieve organizational goals. The researcher's concern is that when a crisis is mentioned, the issue of specialized human resources automatically arises; how the employees and specialized officials of the relevant departments react in the stages before, during and after the incident; what approaches they propose for relief and what are the strategic management plans in the field of human resources. The development of specialized human resources has a significant impact on all different aspects of the efficiency of employees in the crisis management and relief cycle, including employee efficiency, better crisis response and reduction of human and financial losses. However, the issue that exists is the sustainability and development of specialized human resources, which is one of the most important problems of the Red Crescent community. Because Iran is a vast and at the same time disaster-prone country, and throughout the year, it must rely on its specialized forces in each province to be able to provide rapid and specialized services to victims in this large volume. Therefore, paying attention to this issue doubles the importance of investing more in the development of specialized human resources and reminds us of the important role that specialized personnel can play in this regard and the necessity of intelligent management of this huge capacity. Today, Red Crescent employees are an integral part of the organization and are a precious asset. They are willing to learn, accept challenges, and work hard to improve their level in the best possible way. Having a plan in all departments and for employees is essential, and addressing the development of specialized human resources with the aim of making the headquarters agile and light and strengthening the front line of service to the people is essential. New missions in the Red Crescent Society require a proportionate structure, and in this regard, attention should be paid to the development of specialized human resources who are at the forefront of communication with the people and provide diverse and public-benefit services. Hence, the main question of the research is: What are the prerequisites for the development of specialized human resources in the Khuzestan Red Crescent Society?

2. Theoretical Foundations and Research Background

Development of Specialized Human Resources

Development of specialized human resources refers to a set of activities and processes conducted to enhance the knowledge, skills, and capabilities of employees in specific professional and technical fields. The main goal of this type of development is to increase the efficiency and productivity of employees in specific job areas, enabling them to perform their duties in the best possible way and move in line with organizational goals. In fact, the development of specialized human resources goes beyond general and basic training, specifically addressing the professional and technical needs of employees. This type of development includes training programs, workshops, specialized courses, coaching, and other activities that help employees acquire new skills in specific areas or improve their existing skills (Abuzayv, 2024).

Employee Training

Employee training refers to the systematic and continuous improvement of employees in terms of knowledge, skills, abilities, and job-related behaviors. The output of this system contributes to employee well-being and provides better conditions for promotion. Employee training is defined in various ways as one of the most important functions of human resource management. What is agreed upon in all these definitions is that employee training emphasizes the concept of training in the business environment (Tu & Long, 2024).

Organizational Learning

Organizational learning is the process of creating, retaining, and sharing knowledge within an organization, and a learning organization is one that has the ability to learn. In fact, a learning organization can recognize environmental needs and adapt to them by identifying appropriate responses. In comparison, the concept of a learning organization is the practical application of organizational learning theory (Hackenby & Oslen, 2024).

Intellectual Capital

Intellectual capital is an intangible value for an organization that includes people (human capital), relationships (relational capital), and physical assets (structural capital). In the era of global competition, intellectual capital is the main advantage for a company in achieving performance management objectives within an organization (Dzpoljak et al., 2023)

Knowledge Management

Knowledge management is defined as the process of creating, collecting, storing, retrieving, sharing, and utilizing knowledge and information within an organization. Given that information and knowledge are paramount in the present age, the importance of this area of management is clear and evident. It can be said that the main element of success in current businesses is knowledge management (Shik et al., 2023).

3. Research Background

(Deylmaqani & Namvar, 2023) examined the impact of knowledge management processes on human resource development in knowledge-based organizations (case study: Tehran Science and Research University). The article investigates the impact of knowledge management processes on human resource development in knowledge-based organizations. The statistical population of this study includes professors, researchers, employees, and students of the Islamic Azad University (Science and Research Unit), from which 278 individuals were selected as the research sample using Cochran's formula. Structural equation modeling with LISREL software was used for data analysis. The results of the structural equations indicated that the impact coefficient of knowledge management processes (knowledge acquisition, knowledge conversion, knowledge application, and knowledge protection) on human resource development is positive and significant.

(Khaliqi et al., 2023) investigated the impact of intellectual capital on competitive advantage with the mediation of human resource development. The aim of this research is to examine the impact of human capital on competitive advantage mediated by market measurement capability and brand management capability. The statistical population of this research includes 4, 3, and 5-star hotels in Mashhad. The research objective is applied, and the method for obtaining data is a descriptive survey. The data collection method is a questionnaire, which has been validated and reliability tested, with Cronbach's alpha used for reliability, showing all values for the variables above 0.7. For statistical analysis of the data and testing the research hypotheses, structural equation modeling and SPSS and SMART PLS software were used. The results of this research indicate that human capital has a positive and significant impact on human resource development, human capital on competitive advantage, and human resource development on competitive advantage, with a positive and significant mediating role of human resource development between human capital and competitive advantage (Alimahi et al., 2022) focused on the impact of knowledge management and organizational learning on human resource development. The main objective of this research is to examine the impact of knowledge creation, knowledge transfer, knowledge sharing, knowledge storage, and organizational learning on human resource development in the oil and gas sector of the UAE. Data for this purpose were collected using questionnaires distributed among various managers and employees of ADNOC in the UAE. However, only 374 usable responses were obtained by the researcher for analysis. The researcher used various techniques and tools on the collected data for different purposes, such as finding the response rate, non-response bias, common method variance, and good measurement tests like composite reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Additionally, the most important test used was structural equation modeling through PLS to find direct relationships. The results indicate that the direct impact of knowledge creation, knowledge transfer, knowledge sharing, organizational learning, and organizational innovation on human resource development is significant. Thus, all results were interpreted according to the acceptance and rejection of the research hypotheses. The researcher identified various theoretical, practical, and policy implications of the study. Finally, various limitations and future research directions were also discussed.

(Heyli & Tzuner, 2022) examined organizational learning capability and its impact on human resource development. This study aimed to determine the impact of organizational learning capability on human resource development and identify the type of human resource development that is most emphasized by manufacturing companies in Ethiopia, involving human resource managers from 197 manufacturing companies in Addis Ababa and Oromia, Ethiopia. Ordinary least squares regression was used for data analysis. This study provides empirical insights into how organizational learning capability affects human resource development. The findings showed that the sampled companies achieved low average values regarding organizational learning capability and human resource development. Additionally, organizational learning capability had a positive but low impact on human resource development and its dimensions.

The method of conducting the present research, considering the objective and nature of the subject and its executable capability, is descriptive-exploratory. The statistical population of this research in the qualitative section consists of 20 managers of the Red Crescent Society of Khuzestan who have over 3 years of managerial experience and at least a master's degree, along with university professors in the management group. The statistical population of the present research in the quantitative section includes all specialized employees in the Red Crescent Society of Khuzestan who are familiar with the topics, estimated to be around 500 based on the reviews and reports received from the personnel department. The sample for this research in the qualitative section consists of 16 managers from the Red Crescent Society of Khouzestan and university professors. The sampling method is purposive. In the quantitative section, the sample size was determined using Cochran's method (when the population is known), which equals 217 specialized employees in the Red Crescent Society of Khuzestan. The sampling method is simple random sampling. The researcher distributed 250 questionnaires among specialized employees in the Red Crescent Society of Khuzestan based on the opinions of professors, and 217 questionnaires were used as the sample size. Library studies were used in this research to define the interview axes and construct the questionnaire. Field methods were employed for data collection in this research. The questionnaire is based on the research objective (according to a 5-point Likert scale). Initially, the questions were presented to experts, who selected the most important ones. After the most important factors were chosen by the experts, the questionnaire was presented to official employees for responses. Data collection in the qualitative section was conducted using the Delphi method. Lawshe developed a widely used method for measuring content validity and provided a formula for it known as the content validity ratio, which measures the level of agreement among evaluators or judges regarding the "appropriateness or essentiality" of a specific item.

Data analysis at the descriptive statistics level for testing demographic data was conducted using SPSS software to obtain frequency and percentage frequency. At the inferential statistics level, structural equations and LISREL software were used to test the research objectives.

Descriptive Analysis of the Research

Table 1: Gender of Respondents.

Source: Research findings

Fig. 1: Gender of respondents.

Source: Research findings

Table 2: Age of respondents.

Source: Research findings.

Fig. 2: Age of respondents.

Source: Research findings

Fig. 3: Respondents' education.

Source: Research findings

Inferential Statistics

To examine the normality of the data, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test has been used. According to the results table and the decision criterion, it indicates the acceptance of the null hypothesis. This means there is no reason to reject the hypothesis that "the sample in question is derived from a normal distribution." This is because the decision criterion value is higher than 0.05. In other words, the distribution of this sample is normal. Therefore, structural equation modeling can be used to test the research hypotheses.

Table 4: Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test.

Source: Research findings

 

The model fit is a method for assessing the degree of compatibility between a theoretical model and an empirical model. For this purpose, multiple indices are used. For each of these indices, an acceptable range has been defined, which is compared in the table below with the standard values and the values obtained from the output of the LISREL software, indicating that the research data has a good fit.

 

Table 5: Fitness Indicators.

Fig. 4: Structural equations based on estimated values.

Source: Research findings

Fig. 5: Structural equations based on standard values.

Source: Research findings

Fig. 6: T-statistic calculations.

Source: Research findings

Table 6: Identifying the background for the development of specialized human resources in the Khuzestan Red Crescent Society.

Source: Research findings

Model 1: General research model.

Source: Research findings

 

Given the path coefficient of organizational training on the development of specialized human resources is 0.22, this component is the first prerequisite for the development of specialized human resources in the Khuzestan Red Crescent Society.

Given the path coefficient of organizational innovation on the development of specialized human resources is 0.21, this component is the second prerequisite for the development of specialized human resources in the Khuzestan Red Crescent Society.

Given the path coefficient of organizational learning and transformational leadership on the development of specialized human resources is 0.18, this component is the third prerequisite for the development of specialized human resources in the Khuzestan Red Crescent Society.

This study analyzed the prerequisites for developing specialized human resources in the Khuzestan Red Crescent Society and identified four main factors - organizational training, organizational innovation, organizational learning, and transformational leadership - as essential contributors to this process. The results revealed that organizational training plays a vital and foundational role in the development of human resources (t = 3.76, path coefficient = 0.22), underscoring its importance in enhancing employees' knowledge, skills, and professional competencies, especially in disaster-prone areas like Khuzestan. 

Continuous, targeted, and specialized training in relief operations, disaster management, and first aid equips personnel to respond to emergencies more effectively and efficiently. Organizational innovation also emerged as a significant predictor (t = 2.70, path coefficient = 0.21) by creating a dynamic, forward-thinking environment that encourages creativity, skill advancement, and learning through new technological and procedural approaches. 

Moreover, organizational learning (t = 2.31, path coefficient = 0.18) was found to facilitate the continuous exchange of knowledge and experience within the organization, contributing to sustained competency growth, which corroborates prior research results. Transformational leadership (t = 0.18) was found to facilitate the continuous exchange of knowledge and experience within the organization, contributing to sustained competency growth, which corroborates prior research results. Transformational leadership (t = 0.18) was found to facilitate the continuous exchange of knowledge and experience within the organization, contributing to sustained competency growth, which corroborates prior research results. 

Transformational leadership (t = 2.17, path coefficient = 0.18) was identified as a crucial driving force that motivates employees, fosters a shared vision, and promotes their individual development. Based on these findings, it is recommended that the Khuzestan Red Crescent Society implement short, targeted, and personalized training programs,2.17, path coefficient = 0.18) was identified as a crucial driving force that motivates employees, fosters a shared vision, and promotes their individual development. 

Based on these findings, it is recommended that the Khuzestan Red Crescent Society implement short, targeted, and personalized training programs, reinforce innovation-oriented activities, institutionalize performance assessment systems grounded in continuous learning, and promote transformational leadership practices. Adopting these integrated strategies can significantly enhance the level of expertise, effectiveness, and responsiveness of human resources, thereby increasing the organization's capability to deliver high-quality humanitarian and relief services across all operational levels, particularly in critical circumstances.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Hassan Aboudi Mazraei, the CEO of the Khuzestan Red Crescent Society, who provided the conditions for conducting this research and supported me during the work. I also thank my colleagues and managers of the Khuzestan Red Crescent Society who assisted me in conducting interviews and completing questionnaire.

The authors do not have any conflicts of interest.