Mobilizing organizational alignment through strategic human resource development

This study examines the pivotal role of strategic human resource development (SHRD) in mobilizing organizational alignment. Using case study methodology, I trace the implementation of core competency development as a companywide SHRD initiative. The rationale for introducing core competency development as an organization-wide strategy was to enhance talent acquisition, development and retention. The operating environment (global market, industry space) and firm-specific factors (e.g. demographics and new leadership) accelerated the adoption of SHRD. Internal stakeholder orientation towards SHRD and the role of human resource development (HRD) in facilitating the implementation were also identified as critical factors. Organizational alignment emerged as an implicit consequence, while patterns of misalignment created barriers towards achieving the full benefits of SHRD. Furthermore, HRD displayed a high level of resourcefulness to become a strategic asset in the organization. I argue that the relevance and power of HRD lie in its ability to engage and respond to stakeholder expectations and involvement in organization change efforts.     

The future of HRD research: Strengths,weaknesses, opportunities,threats and actions

This article clarifies the boundaries of human resource development (HRD) with respect to other concepts frequently used and misused in HRD literature. Through a proposition, a set of criteria for human resources is presented. A cross-culture literature comparison of the criteria demonstrates the consistency of the connotation in two contrasting cultures. This study has important implications for HRD research, practice and continued theory development effort. It relates to the identity and distinctiveness of HRD discipline, as well as the domain of HRD research and practice.     

Exploring a theoretical foundation for HRD in society: toward a model of stakeholder-based HRD

This article explores a theoretical foundation of human resource development (HRD) that can be adopted to explain the increasing use of HRD interventions and practices in the wider context of society and the world. While there has been growing interest in and literature about the societal meaning of HRD, previous research has focused mostly on HRD practices and lacked a theoretical framework that could explain and characterize the interactions between HRD and society. Based on a review of current approaches to the HRD–society nexus, we suggest that the nexus can be better understood when complex interactions between internal and external stakeholders of an organization are recognized, and we introduce the stakeholder-based HRD (SBHRD) model as a tool for identifying the interactions between HRD and society and the characteristics of the interactions with regard to plurality, interdependency, and legitimacy. The SBHRD model carries theoretical implications of possible changes in the epistemology of HRD, pushing forward well-being as the purpose of HRD, and enlarging HRD research topics. From a practical standpoint, the SBHRD model enhances the value of social responsibilities of corporations and ethical management, enlarges the scope and beneficiaries of HRD activities, increases the opportunities of collaboration with adult education, and points to different modes of communication in practice.     

Better know a Human Resource Development (HRD) scholar: a conversation with Robert (Bob) G. Hamlin

This article contains a conversation with Robert (Bob) G. Hamlin and is part of aseries that focuses on different human resource development (HRD) scholars. Theaim is to better understand the people behind the names we see in print and at HRD scholarly conferences. Bob is professor emeritus and chair of HRD at the University of Wolverhampton Business School, UK and a management and organization development consultant at Oaken Consultancy. Bob has spoken at many HRD conferences in Europe and the United States and was one of the founding members of the University Forum for HRD. The conversation explores Bob's career in HRD practice, research, teaching and management. Among the topics covered are the significance of practical experience and the influence it can then have on research, the power of evidence-based practice, and the need for HRD research to be seen as relevant and having utility within the world of practice.     

Human development as a central goal for human resource development

This essay seeks to connect core aspects of the human development (HD) literature with its ethical and moral commitment to human flourishing and theoretical and applied scholarship in human resource development (HRD). Summarizing the central arguments advanced by philosopher John Finnis and economist and Nobel Memorial Prize winner Armatya Sen, the paper argues for the relevance of the HD frameworks for HRD. This is done by briefly reviewing the role of values for professional fields in general and HRD in particular, followed by a summary of the justifications for and definitions of HD as reciprocal obligations between social institutions and individuals. The central part of the paper argues for the conceptual proximity of the two fields and proposes that the moral and ethical value stance of HD can provide a solid philosophical foundation for HRD.     

Moving HRD from the periphery to the centre for transformation of an Indian public sector bank: Keynote address, 4th Asian conference of the academy of HRD

The transformation of Bank of Baroda, one of the largest commercial banks in the public sector in India, into a highly customer centric, technology driven and an innovative entity in retail and SME (small and medium enterprises) segments represents one of India's most remarkable success stories and one of the quickest turnarounds ever in public sector banking.

Known as an important player in commercial banking with international operations for several decades, the bank was gradually declining in recent years. In an environment of competition within the public sector as also due to entry of private banks with latest technology and young staff, the bank plunged into an unprecedented spiral of failing to innovate and adopt new technology.

Drastic action was required to regain its leadership position in the public sector space. Over the next one and a half years, the bank was back in reckoning and was firing on all cylinders. It retained its core business on track with a bang, restored its image as the most vibrant player among public sector banks (PSBs) through wide-ranging initiatives such as a logo change, hiring a cricketing icon as brand ambassador, heightened credit growth, improving the work culture, initiating many customer-centric initiatives and restoring the customer base, derisking the treasury portfolio, and winning several accolades and awards.

Today, Bank of Baroda has embarked upon more wide-ranging changes and a new vision to change the bank from a ‘vanilla banking’ entity to a ‘multi-specialist bank’. The author, who joined the bank as a HR specialist and eventually rose to become CEO of the bank, extensively used his HRD knowledge and academic background to initiate changes to harness energy in the bank's 40,000 staff to drive organization change.

Achieving a successful outcome seems to be far more difficult for a public sector bank with a legacy culture, high degree of unionization, poor compensation and aging staff. In spite of these constraining factors, the paper argues that it is through mobilizing the passion of people that leadership can transform organizations and put them on high growth trajectory.     

Living in the shadow of OD: HRD and the search for identity

The paper attempts to describe the similarities and differences between organizational development (OD) and human resource development (HRD). While it is argued that HRD practitioners need to acquire some of the skills of OD consultants, these are likely to be limited to the development of personal skills and learning in the attempt to achieve intrapreneurialism and personal transformations. We argue that HRD is living in the shadow of OD because it is slow to recognize its roots in the debates of that discipline. It is therefore suggested that HRD will recognize its true potential only when it identifies its core knowledge and skills. We argue that HRD can find its essential identity in four main ways: by focusing on the organization's business strategy; by devolving responsibility to line managers; by adopting an employee-centred approach to learning; and by emphasizing workplace learning. However, a wider behavioural understanding and a greater degree of reflectiveness in relation to the politics of change and the skills of the change agent must inform this identity.     

A feminist poststructuralist analysis of HRD: why bodies,power and reflexivity matter

A burgeoning amount of scholarship has attempted to unravel critical approaches to investigating human resource development (HRD). There are limited critiques, however, of gender, diversity and the intersections of these deliberations within HRD theorizing. Adopting a feminist poststructuralist approach, this paper advances critical understandings of HRD by challenging epistemological and dominant theorizing in HRD. The author examines what it means when HRD writings are said to be gendered; how the political and processual dynamics of doing HRD can be understood; how the differences for doing gender, doing HRD and embodying HRD can be unravelled; and how feminist modes of inquiry can engender the value of embodied reflexivity. Weaving together literature strands from gender and education, gender and organization, and women's studies and feminist writings, the paper provides a foundational framework for how HRD scholars can re-imagine new knowledge and inject notions of the feminine and difference in HRD writings. The analysis focuses on three interrelated areas and their implications for feminist critique: the importance of examining language and discourse in HRD; the performing body in HRD; and, finally, feminist embodied reflexivity. It is argued that the HRD scholarly community should consider critical modes of inquiry to refresh and renew HRD theory building, specifically that we should examine conceptualizations of the feminine and difference in HRD writings in order to aid transformational practice.     

HRD in 2020: a hop-on,hop-off city tour

This article reports on the outcome of a Future Search Conference in the UK to consider human resource development (HRD) in 2020 and beyond. We firstly consider themes from the past into the present. This includes the persistence of solutions in HRD that are systematic, predictable, how apprenticeships in the UK have had to accommodate government policies to ameliorate youth unemployment and the long-standing difficulty for HRD of failing to demonstrate a return on investment (ROI) on activities. We then present four scenarios based on key questions for the future relating to value of HRD and whether this will be a future for HRD. Reponses to the questions form scenario logics which we present against the theme of city tour. Each scenario is explained against the presented logic with positive, negative, ambiguous and uncertain implications for HRD. We suggest that each scenario carries a glimpse of what might be.     

Human resource development in Pakistan: evolution,trends and challenges

Human resource development (HRD) is an ever-changing field. The concepts and the underlying principles of HRD may be similar throughout the globe, but its practice differs due to contextual factors such as culture, technology, resources and national policies. This article describes the development, current status and future trends of HRD in Pakistan. After analysing HRD in corporate, non-profit, education and community development settings, this article outlines the important role of HRD for the social and economic development of Pakistan.     

Behind the scenes of knowledge sharing in a Japanese bank

The paper raises the question about HRD practitioners and their fitness to practice by exploring moral issues HRD practitioners sometimes face, in addition to looking at some key moral philosophical perspectives. It argues that HRD practitioners may at times feel ‘out of balance’, and hence may not feel fully ‘fit to practice’. It proposes some suggestions for ongoing professional development for HRD practitioners that could enable a better sense of ‘balance’ and fitness to practice. It also suggests the need for a consciously mindful approach to become more self aware and discerning when delivering HRD.     

Korean corporate HRD in transition: issues and challenges

The purpose of this study was to explore the human resource development (HRD) practices of Korean corporations in order to highlight predominant concerns and issues. A comprehensive review of literature and empirical data indicated three recurring practices. The first was that Korean corporate HRD showed a tendency to transform informal communicative practices found in workplace settings into formally structured HRD interventions. By doing so, HRD extended its control throughout all possible types of training and learning experiences occurring in the workplace. Second, as host organizations requested HRD to play the role of strategic business partners, the function of HRD was found to be the regulation of organizational needs by focusing on the development of high potential individuals within organizations. Third, with today's demographic shift such as the increasing elderly population and the increasing number of women in the workplace, the monolithic interventions of HRD seemed no longer appropriate.     

Integration of project management,human resource development,and business teams: a partnership,planning model for organizational training and development initiatives

The changing business environment has challenged organizations to explore unique ways to ensure the success of online training initiatives. Thus, project teams, including training managers, should not only support organizational training and development initiatives; but, they also need to use project-focused, planning models for implementation. This paper proposes a model that is an extension of the model for business and training partnership developed by Price. The proposed model includes the integration of project management, human resource development (HRD), and business teams in order to enhance the success of training implementations through a sequential, planned framework. The model includes phases, best practices, and supporting tools to assist in managing and administering training and development projects. The approach developed in this research includes an account of the activities associated with initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing processes for an online training initiative conducted in an oil and gas organization. This research also discusses implications of the proposed model for HRD professionals, because they are typically the champion of training and development initiatives within organizations today.     

Generation Xers’ performance and development in midlife transition

Midlife transition is an inevitable process that every adult faces during his or her life. As Generation Xers move into middle age, the field of human resource development (HRD) should keep pace with the impact of this midlife transition on this cohort’s psychological and physical welfare and continuous development. An effective way to cope with midlife transition is to face it as an opportunity for change and self-actualization. Gender as well as physical and psychological changes are important factors in midlife transition. Organizations should understand the challenges of midlife transition and create a supportive environment for Generation Xers to cope with the changes. Specific suggestions for middle-aged Generation Xers and HRD professionals are provided in this article, as well as implications and recommendations.     

Developmental leisure: why work-related learning takes place outside of working hours

This study is interested in why many professionals engage in work-related learning after formal working hours. It has been argued that in knowledge-intensive work the work/leisure boundaries are blurring. Similarly, the line between work-related and non-work-related learning is harder to draw. In this study, an innovative concept of ‘developmental leisure’ will be introduced and explored. The concept refers to a human resource development (HRD) discourse that makes possible the evaluation of leisure in terms of its benefit to work-related learning. The study investigates how leisure intertwines with HRD and how it is positioned discursively in relation to work-related learning. The analysis is based on life stories from information technology professionals working in a large international organization. The findings of the analysis show that when leisure is discussed within the HRD discourse, it is positioned as a resource for work-related learning. Much of the learning outside of work intertwines with the objectives of HRD and learning at leisure becomes synonymous to learning for work.     

The emergent ‘coaching industry’: a wake-up call for HRD professionals

Recent years have seen the rapid growth of an emergent ‘coaching industry’ in many countries with some scholars calling for the development of a ‘coaching profession’ replete with its own clear identity, clear boundaries and unique body of knowledge. Yet, at the same time, coaching has also been conceived as a necessary area of expertise and skill set among contemporary HRD professionals. Therefore, this article reports the results of a comparative study of the different conceptualizations and definitions of ‘coaching’ and contemporary HRD as reported in the literature. Results suggest that the intended purposes and processes associated with both fields of practice are virtually the same. The challenge and dilemma posed by these results are described from both a coaching and HRD perspective, and are discussed in terms of seeing the findings of this comparative study as a wake-up call for HRD professionals.     

HRD standards and standardization: where now for human resource development?

This paper examines standard-setting and standardization processes currently being undertaken in the human resources field and makes a ‘call to action’ for human resource development (HRD) scholars and practitioners to influence these developments. The paper provides a reflexive ‘insider account’ of HR standards development combining personal experience with theoretical perspectives; ‘grey’ and practitioner literatures; and secondary data sources. Drawing on scholarly literature sources, opportunities and dilemmas of standardization processes in the HR field are discussed. Grounded in the standardization literature, alternative approaches to system-wide (meta) standards are identified. Drawing on publically available information, different standardization approaches in USA and UK are discussed. The paper critiques the dominant performance-orientated paradigm and ‘rules-based’ approach to standards and argues for an alternative, principles-based approach for HR standardization to support sustainable individual and organizational performance. These issues have important consequences for HRD identity, pedagogy, education, and practice. In addition to the development of an original typology of emerging HR standardization, the paper contributes a new perspective to debates about the identity, values, purpose, and contribution of HRD and the relationship between HRD and human resource management (HRM).