Postcolonialism and national HRD: understanding contemporary challenges to skills development in sub-Saharan Africa

This paper argues that national human resource development (NHRD) practices, policy imperatives and challenges in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are linked to colonial experiences and coloniality. In doing this, the essay provides a brief overview of the intersections between postcolonialism and NHRD theory and practice, arguing that postcolonial insights can help overcome the ahistorical nature that characterizes much NHRD theorizing and also its reification. By demonstrating how current challenges to education and skills development in SSA are linked to colonial heritage and coloniality, the paper seeks to stimulate HRD theorists and practitioners to think differently and work beyond dominant neoliberal constructs and taken-for-granted assumptions about NHRD in postcolonial contexts. The paper also argues for the decolonization of NHRD and proposes some ideas about how knowledge about NHRD theory and practices might be made global and inclusive, thereby contributing to a tradition of paradigmatic critique in HRD theorizing.     

HRD research and practice after ‘The Great COVID-19 Pause’: the time is now for bold,critical, research

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted life as we knew it and created an unprecedented opportunity to pause and assess ‘normal’ life and work. We have an opportunity to create a new ‘normal.’ What possibility does the chance to show up differently in our lives and work hold? The pandemic has caused significant shifts in values that will affect individuals, organizations, communities, and nations. This article challenges HRD scholars and practitioners to imagine how HRD might create a new normal through bold, critical research inquiry that interrogates exclusion, pursues organization and social justice, and creates humanly sustainable organizations and communities.     

Critical Business Ethics: From Corporate Self‐interest to the Glorification of the Sovereign Pater

Research in critical business ethics has demonstrated how economic self‐interest is the primary reason that businesses adopt nominally ethical practices. After reviewing this body of research, the authors propose that it can be further developed by questioning its conception of self‐interest, by exploring its non‐economic dimensions and by reconsidering the meaning of the ‘self’ that is said to have such interests. Drawing insights from feminist theory and political theology, the paper interrogates corporate business ethics as a public glorification of corporate power based on a patriarchal conception of the corporation. Genealogically rooted in early Christian ceremonial practices used to glorify God the Father, this is a glorification for the sake of glory rather than just for the sake of commercial ends. The authors further argue that corporate business ethics is rendered as the feminized servant of the sovereign corporate patriarch, always at hand to glorify the master. The meaning of corporate business ethics is hence one where the feminine is not absent, but rather is servile to a masculinity conceived in relation to domination, greatness and sovereignty. Collectively, this shows how the power wielded and desired by corporate business ethics far exceeds the pursuit of financial self‐interest; it is also related to modelling the corporation on a male God. The paper concludes by considering how research in critical business ethics can be extended through forms of inquiry that destabilize the ethical glorification of the corporation, and displace its masculinist privilege.     

Men Doing and Undoing Gender at Work: A Review and Research Agenda

While research on gender in organizations has not only documented sustained gender inequality, it has also offered an understanding of how gender is enacted through doing and undoing gender. An underexplored aspect concerns how men can do and undo gender to support or hinder gender equality processes in organizations. Doing gender is then understood as creating gender difference while undoing gender would conversely mean to reduce gender difference. The former is supporting gender inequality while the latter means moving toward gender equality. This article therefore provides a systematic review of empirical articles that discuss how men are doing and undoing gender within an organizational context. It is shown that undoing gender practices of men in organizations are under‐researched and a research agenda of how men can undo gender at work is thus developed. This article makes a two‐fold contribution: first it offers a refinement of doing and undoing gender approaches and second, it develops a research agenda for exploring how men can undo gender at work.     

The impact of gendered power relations in HRD

This study examined how gender and power influence the interpersonal relationships among human resource development (HRD) managers. Specifically, the study focused on the workplace experiences of HRD managers and the strategies they used to negotiate their day-to-day interactions. A qualitative approach was used to examine respondents' experiences as well as the social contexts that framed their workplace relationships. Five female and five male HRD managers were interviewed using critical incident techniques to explore specific workplace interactions. Two major conclusions of the study indicated that the experiences of female and male respondents regarding the exercise of power were profoundly different and that the strategies used by respondents generally reflected the gendered contexts of power.     

Talking of HRD

This paper draws upon research exploring the emergence of HRD within the British National Health Service (NHS), the aim being to investigate how HRD has been talked into being, is talked about and accomplished through talk. HRD is conceptualized as a socialand discursive construction, and as discursive action. It is argued that conceptualizing HRD as a social and discursive construction can help identify and explain changes in ways of thinking and talking about HRD. Conceptualizing HRD as discursive action can help explain and justify HRD activity, in that much of what HRD practitioners and academics ‘do’ is ‘talk’. This paper explores these concepts and introduces a typology of the discourses of training and development (T&D), HRD and strategic HRD (SHRD), labelled Tell, Sell and Gel. It is suggested that this typology is a useful analytical tool for those practising HRD, providing ameans for HRD professionals to identify and analyse, and possibly change, their practices and discourse(s). The paper introduces a way of identifying how HRD might be talked ‘about’ and theorizes how discursive activities (the talk) might be changing.     

Relativity Without Relativism: Reflexivity in Post-Paradigm Organization Studies

This paper shows how organization studies controls the subject through its use of representational devices. Different theoretical and methodological approaches may appear to offer epistemological guarantees concerning the validity of data about the research subject but they remain representations, beyond which we can know nothing except through representation. Research is not about wrenching truth from a recalcitrant 'reality': the devices it uses to represent its research subject create and control in the way they silence to give voice to aspects of that subject. All data are 'collaborative products' created in accordance with 'the practical procedures and background assumptions of the participating actors' (Knorr-Cetina, 1981). Thus the relations between research subject, researcher and the protocols that comprise the research process both embody and obscure power. For this reason, it is important that theory strives for a high degree of reflexivity (Marcus, 1994) in accounting for its own theorizing, as well as whatever it is that it theorizes about.
In this paper, we critically examine different research approaches, including those of Aston, to show the dangers that can arise when research is carried out without regard to reflexivity. We offer some criteria for carrying out reflexive research which, we believe, is one of the major challenges facing post-paradigm organization studies. As we shall see, reflexivity shows us how far we have come in the thirty years since Aston.     

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.     

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.     

Analysing metaphor in human resource development

Metaphors can be viewed as central to the task of accounting for how we think about things, make sense of reality, and set the problems we try to solve. How then can we learn about the HRD view of the world from our use of metaphor? How do we in HRD limit our thinking by using certain metaphors? What alternative metaphors might suggest new ways of approaching HRD? This article contains an argument for completing an analysis of HRD metaphor, a fourstep framework for that analysis, and the findings of a partial application of those steps based on recent HRD literature. Issues for HRD are raised and discussed.     

Career transition as identity learning: an autoethnographic understanding of human resource development

This paper examines the phenomenon of career transitions in terms of learning using an autoethnographic story of our own career moves. In the contemporary world of globalized flexible employment, inter-organizational career moves are increasingly prevalent and the learning associated with such transitions needs to be better understood within human resource development (HRD). We show that the learning required in career transitions extends beyond the acquisition of new knowledge and the development of new skills to the appropriation of new identities. We overview identity theorizing and, adopting a social constructionist perspective, explain the concept of identity work to understand the nature of identity learning in career transitions. We then reflexively examine our autoethnographic methodology, proceed to tell the story of our career transitions, and then interpret this story in terms of identity learning. Conclusions are drawn showing how the learning associated with career transitions involves conscious and unconscious identity work to release an established way of being, cultivate a new and desired way of being, and to cope with the existential anxieties associated with transition. Significant implications for international HRD scholarship, policy, and practice are proposed.     

The aura of charisma: A review on the embodiment perspective as signaling

Charismatic leaders have consistently been shown to affect followers' performance, motivation, and satisfaction. Yet, what precisely constitutes charisma still remains somewhat enigmatic. So far, research has mainly focused on leader traits, leader behaviors, or the leader follower-relationship, and the subsequent consequences of each on followers' self-concepts. All of these approaches share the notion that leader charisma depends on an explicit interaction between leader and follower. With the present review paper, we extend extant theorizing by arguing that charisma is additionally informed by embodied signals that flow directly from either the leader or the immediate environment. We introduce the embodiment perspective on human perception and describe its utility for theoretically understanding the charismatic effect. Correspondingly, we review studies that show which concrete embodied cues can support the charismatic effect. Finally, we discuss the variety of new theoretical and practical implications that arise from this research and how they can complement existing approaches to charismatic leadership.     

Confucian values and the implications for international HRD

Abstract

The consideration of cultural issues has become increasingly important in scholarly inquiry and explorative practice in international human resource development (HRD). We review and explore the core characteristics of Confucian-based culture in relation to organizations and unfold how these Confucian values may affect organizational and management practices in China and other Asian countries. Five major aspects of Confucianism are examined. They are: (a) hierarchy and harmony, (b) group orientation, (c) guanxi networks (relationships), (d) mianzi (face) and (e) time orientation. The impact of these values on management practices in the Chinese organizational context is presented in four areas: (a) working relationships, (b) decision-making processes, (c) ruling by man (ren zhi) instead of by law (fa zhi) and (d) HR practices. Implications for organizations and international HRD are also discussed.     

Responsible leadership development – crucible experiences and power relationships in a global professional services firm

There is increasing consensus that Human Resource Development (HRD) has a central role to play in promoting the principles and practices of corporate responsibility (CR). An important HRD intervention involves developing responsible leaders able to attract support for CR throughout the organisation, but empirical research is lacking in this area. This article contributes to the theoretical and practical knowledge of responsible leadership development (RLD) by addressing two questions: first, how does RLD engender learning that goes beyond basic cognitive awareness? Second, what affects participants’ abilities to manifest this learning in the workplace? A review of the RLD literature reveals a ‘knowing-doing gap’, which, it is posited, may be linked to a lack of theorisation around power. This issue is investigated by means of a case study on a responsible leadership development programme run by a professional services firm. Drawing on Bourdieusian concepts of language and power, the study reveals some of the mechanisms that inspired new socially responsible values whilst also demonstrating some of the contextual barriers inhibiting their manifestation in the workplace. It is argued that HRD professionals need to engage with Bourdieusian ideas of language and power to promote deeper learning around responsible leadership, which can more easily be embedded into the workplace.     

Gender stereotypes explain different mental prototypes of male and female leaders

Previous research has demonstrated that social stereotypes associated with women's gender can preclude them from leadership positions. It remains unclear whether these stereotypes affect how people perceive male and female leaders, however. To examine people's stereotypes, we extracted their mental representations of male and female leaders and typical men/women (referred to as nonleaders) using reverse correlation. We then asked perceivers to rate these prototypes’ apparent leadership ability and traits related to power and warmth across contexts that represented typically masculine, feminine, or neutral domains. Leaders in a feminine context appeared more leaderlike than nonleaders, but as equally leaderlike in neutral and masculine contexts. Moreover, female leader faces appeared more powerful than female nonleader faces but male leader and nonleader faces appeared equally powerful. Male leaders were perceived as warmer than male nonleaders, however, whereas female leaders and nonleaders were perceived as equally warm. Thus, people’s gender, social stereotypes, and the context in which leaders are judged influence how people conceive of male and female leaders, with counterstereotypical attributes distinguishing leaders within their gender.     

Better know an HRD scholar: a conversation with Monica Lee

This article contains a conversation with Monica Lee, and is part of a series that focuses on different HRD scholars – the aim being to better understand the people behind the names we see in print. Monica is a Life Member of Lancaster University, was a founding member of the University Forum of HRD, and was the founding editor of Human Resource Development International. The conversation explores Monica's background, how she got into HRD, how she overcame dyslexia and recovered from her cerebral hemorrhage, how the University Forum was created, and how HRDI came about. The conversation also considers the consequences of placing boundaries around HRD, about how we are guided by our subconscious, and about the impact on HRD of future changes to organizations and structures.     

Implementing human resource development best practices: Replication or re-creation?

Abstract

Firms increasingly introduce HRD ‘best practices’ developed somewhere else, but results often fall short of expectations. Much of existing theory fails to guide the implementation of HRD best practices because it does not recognize how introduced practices interact with existing practices in the firm. In this paper, we contrast the dominant perspective ‘Implementation as Replication’ with a perspective of ‘Implementation as Re-creation’. Through four stages of the implementation process, we identify and discuss how these contrasting perspectives yield different implications for how firms go about introducing HRD best practices. First, when firms take up a practice, is this a process of adoption or translation? Second, is it assumed that new knowledge can be implanted directly and lead to new behaviour, or is active experimentation a necessary precondition to gain new knowledge? Third, are deviations from the intended plan considered errors to be corrected or sources for learning? Fourth, are introduced best practices treated in isolation or as integral parts of the firm's management system? We argue that implementation efforts guided by the re-creation perspective increase the prospects of HRD best practices succeeding as a useful tool in the receiving firm.     

Expanding the HRD Role: Improving employee well-being and organizational performance

Abstract

An important opportunity for the HRD profession lies in assessing and reshaping the psychosocial work environment to create a healthy, mentally focused workforce that provides their organization with a competitive advantage. We explain why HRD professionals should be concerned with employee well-being, offer suggestions for assessing the work environment through a stress audit and discuss four key work factors that affect well-being: job control, role overload, social support and supervisor behaviour. By expanding their role to these concerns, HRD professionals can improve quality of life and contribute to organizational effectiveness. If they do, the result should be healthier employees, healthier organizations and a greater recognition of HRD's potential for transforming organizations.