Insights for HRD Education: Educating the Workforce for a More Socially Inclusive Workplace

The Problem There is hardly any information in English available on human resource development (HRD) education in the Netherlands, although the practice of HRD in this country is flourishing and HRD education is growing, especially within the private sector. Almost all relevant information is in Dutch, which makes it difficult for non-Dutch-speaking scholars and practitioners to appreciate the significant investments that have been made in HRD and HRD education in the Netherlands. The Solution This article brings together a wide range of information about academic and non-academic HRD programs, Dutch HRD professional associations, and HRD certification and accreditation efforts in the Netherlands. This information is grounded in an overview of the emergence of HRD/lifelong learning initiatives over the past three centuries. The Stakeholders Scholars and practitioners interested in the history and current status of HRD and HRD education in the Netherlands, especially those who do not speak Dutch, will benefit from the information provided in this article. People looking to enroll in an academic or non-academic HRD program or those who seek professional associations, accreditation, or certification in the Netherlands will also find this article useful.

The Problem Very little research has examined the current state of human resource development (HRD) education in the United Kingdom, or the factors influencing its genesis and development. The Solution We analyze historical and contemporary factors influencing HRD education in the United Kingdom, identify different levels and providers of HRD qualifications, and outline curriculum content of HRD programs. Our aim is to clarify the current situation, by proposing a tripartite model of stakeholders in HRD education based on the United Kingdom but which might assist in the analysis of HRD education in other geographic areas. The Stakeholders HRD education in the United Kingdom is largely influenced by three key stakeholders: the U.K. government, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (the professional body for human resources), and the academy. Our analysis reveals complex and dynamic interactions between these stakeholders, which have implications for them as well as learners, practitioners, and researchers.

The Problem The development of human resource development (HRD) practitioners and scholars in university-based courses and programs is a significant but underexplored area of research. No recent scholarship has addressed the views of those who teach HRD subject matter, the methods they use, or the challenges they face in their work. Moreover, although HRD is recognized as an international field, HRD education has not been examined with an international perspective. The Solution The purpose of this study was to examine HRD education as an international phenomenon. An overview of the research on HRD education is provided, and the results of a thematic analysis of interviews with 40 HRD educators who teach in higher education institutions in North America, Europe, and Asia at three annual HRD conferences in the United States, United Kingdom, and Taiwan are presented in four broad themes: the nature of HRD, contextual differences, curriculum, and teaching and learning. The Stakeholders This study will be of interest to those who teach and study HRD and develop curriculum for HRD courses and programs for higher education institutions and other organizations, as well as to those who hire HRD graduates.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of human resource development (HRD) education in Middle Eastern countries. In particular, the authors discuss the current state of HRD education, country readiness and challenges that hinder HRD progress in Middle Eastern countries. They argue that HRD programs need to prepare young employees for leadership roles through adapting constructivist pedagogy, including problem-solving, critical thinking and creativity.Design/methodology/approachThe design of this paper followed a qualitative approach. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with five HRD experts in Middle Eastern countries and conducted integrative literature review and secondary data analysis.FindingsData analysis provided an overview of HRD education, looked at options individuals interested in HRD education might have, provided views on constructivism vs instructivism as education pedagogies and discussed cultural factors that impede critical reflection in the workplace.Research limitations/implicationsTo understand how to introduce constructivist elements to instructivist learning cultures, and to sustain it, HRD scholars in the Middle Eastern countries need to diminish the misalignment between instructional philosophies of trainers, trainees and national or institutional systems.Practical implicationsUnderstanding how policy, resources, infrastructure and culture influence learning expectations is vital to introducing innovative training activities or scaling them up to other workshops and systems.Originality/valueThis research sheds light on HRD education in the Middle Eastern countries; provides an overview of employment challenges and opportunities to improve workplace learning; and provides scholars, practitioners and other stakeholders interested in HRD with suggestions to develop successful workforce education.

The Problem Human resource development (HRD) education does not take place only in academic institutions. There are hundreds of global professional organizations or associations that are designed to give professionals in the field of HRD opportunities to share their knowledge. Yet, there has been little research to determine what such organizations anticipate contributing to professionals’ education. Particularly problematic is the large number of professional organizations at global, regional, country, and local levels, all of which claim to add to professionals’ expertise. The Solution There is little literature focusing on specific HRD professional organizations. In this article, we explore samples of both academic and practitioner professional organizations globally and on each populated continent. We have identified educational outcomes that are part of the educational missions of professional organizations and associated modes. Data were gathered through websites, interaction with professional networks, and our personal experiences. The Stakeholders HRD practitioners and academics need to be aware of the significant contributions made by professional organizations to HRD education. This is especially important in countries where there is little to no formal HRD education offered in universities, as well as for all professionals, academics and practitioners, who desire to expand their global knowledge. Greater intentionality of this mission may improve the outcomes experienced by professional organizations and help others select appropriate organizations with which to affiliate.

The Problem Human resource development (HRD) university programs, so named, have been found dominantly in the United States. However, university programs in HRD have emerged elsewhere, interestingly, more often in developing countries than in other developed countries. But, globally, we know virtually nothing about these programs, their histories, their curricula, their missions, and their research, as there is an almost complete gap in international literature. The Solution Two countries in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), Thailand and Malaysia, were selected as case studies for HRD education in developing countries or upper-middle income countries as defined by the World Bank; they are also the most active in the Academy of HRD (AHRD) in Asia as they have hosted the Asian AHRD conference twice within a decade. Because of the paucity of literature on this topic, we accessed related websites to determine details about the HRD programs, supplemented by our own information related to these two countries based on our knowledge of HRD education in these two countries. The study showed that HRD education in these two countries is at the stage of established, based on the taxonomy developed within the article. More than one university in each country is offering HRD majors in undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. The Stakeholders The information in this article should be of interest to anyone interested in international or global HRD, potential students who wish to study HRD in these countries, officers and members of the AHRD, members of the Program Excellence Network (PEN) of AHRD, and anyone generally interested in HRD in higher education.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed literature on university-based human resource development (HRD) courses and programs. Design/methodology/approach – The methods used in this paper are integrative literature review and content analysis. Findings – Only 71 peer-reviewed articles that address university-based HRD courses and programs in any way were found. Forty-six were empirical studies and 25 were either conceptual or editorial in nature. The majority of articles focused on HRD courses and programs in the USA and the UK. Perspectives from other countries were nearly absent. Many of the claims about the content and quality of HRD courses and programs were not supported by empirical evidence. Research limitations/implications – HRD courses and programs are offered in universities around the world. Almost nothing is known of their content, quality or methods. Future research on these courses and programs should focus on the relevance of curriculum to the needs of organizations. Originality/value – While HRD research and practice are concerned with learning and development, topics related to the learning and development of future HRD scholars and practitioners are rarely addressed in the HRD literature. This is the only comprehensive review of the small-body peer-reviewed literature on university-based HRD courses and programs. It provides a summary of the findings of empirical research on HRD courses and programs, and an analysis of the warrant for the claims about these courses and programs.

In this paper, we propose a conceptual model to improve moral sensitivity in human resource development (HRD) practices to assist human resource (HR) practitioners in contending with moral challenges in HRD. The literature on the relationship between ethics and HRD suggests that the organizational and employee development discipline deals with ethical issues at three different levels: Individual, organizational and  and communal, and international levels. In section I, we elaborate on moral challenges facing HRD. In section II, we conceptualize moral sensitiveity in HRD, and propose a conceptual model in virtue of some essential ethical theories and concepts, that assist HRD face those problems. We will show how each theory and concept can help HRD to deal with relevant problems. In section III, we elaborate on the practical approaches to implement moral sensitivity in sensitivity HRD. We put forward some strategies that help HRD bring those theories and concepts to bear on the ethical problems facing this discipline. Finally, we discuss moral education through learning theories to cultivate moral concepts and ethical dimensions in HRD education.

The Problem There is a dearth of research focusing on undergraduate human resource development (HRD) education. As a result, programs offering undergraduate degrees in HRD or degrees related to HRD may be making program decisions without the benefit of empirical research. Alternatively, programs may be conducting their own action research projects where the results may not be generalizable to other institutions. The Solution The present issue takes one small step forward related to filling the gap in undergraduate HRD education. The empirical articles in this issue are reviewed and synthesized to identify five opportunities for research that can inform education and practice. The Stakeholders The primary audience includes HRD scholars and scholar-practitioners, including master and doctorate students, interested in conducting research relevant to undergraduate HRD education. The secondary audience includes leaders of the field, including board members of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD), the AHRD Foundation, the University Council for Workforce and Human Resource Education (UCWHRE), program administrators, department chairs, associate deans, and deans.

Multilingualism is generally regarded as having benefits for adults spanning multiple areas of life. Career-wise, the benefits of multilingualism include greater employment opportunities, increased intercultural understanding, improved negotiation skills, greater information access, and even higher income. Nonetheless, in the United States, multilingualism is contradictory to the national, English-only ideology, which has even found its way into academia. The purpose of this study was to understand how multilingual, tenured and tenure-track faculty who hold positions in human resource development (HRD) and/or adult education programs in the United States make meaning of their career identity, the value of multilingualism in US academia, and the role of multilingual literacy in their careers. This was an interdisciplinary study, merging ideas from sociolinguistics and HRD: multilingualism, career identity, and career development. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach, I sought to understand the phenomenon of being a multilingual faculty member in an HRD and/or adult education program in the United States, i.e., the essence of the participants’ experiences in their academic roles. The participants were 12 multilingual faculty members and the data included interview transcripts and participants’ CVs. The data revealed that the participants perceived multilingualism as an integral part of their identity and listed multiple benefits of multilingualism for research, teaching, and service. The participants also discussed multiple challenges to leveraging their multilingual skills for career purposes. While the participants confidently described their international identities, these were not as prominently featured on their CVs. Additionally, participants sometimes struggled to negotiate their international identities within the largely monolingual context of the United States, opting to adapt to the dominant context. The participants highlighted the fact that multilingualism is not a highly valued skill within their professions and organizations. Still, the findings revealed multiple benefits related to academic careers, including the potential to engage in cross-national and international research, to help students develop as global citizens, and to lead international engagement efforts. The findings point to several areas of improvement in terms of policy and practice, inclusive of supporting career development related to international research and engagement, leveraging multilingual literacy skills in teaching, and establishing an inclusive climate.

The Problem The human resource development (HRD) field is still searching for a widely accepted identity. However, because development is a ubiquitous process, because understanding and facilitating it requires insights from many disciplines, and because cultural, maturity and other contextual factors determine how development issues are framed, the pursuit continues. Is the continual search for greater clarity about what HRD is and how to facilitate it a strength or a fool’s errand? The Solution This issue of Advances in Developing Human Resources ( ADHR) does not answer this question, but it does help clarify what is happening as universities evolve programs to develop HRD professionals who can add value to development processes at individual, organizational, and societal levels. The Stakeholders Scholars and practitioners interested in the history and current global status of HRD and HRD education, HRD practitioners and people aspiring to HRD roles in business or societal institutions.

The quotation by Cohn and Mullennix that begins this article is also an apt beginning for this issue. Globalization and workforce demographics have made diversity an organizational concern. In response, organizations typically have made diversity work a human resource development (HRD) responsibility, because diversity initiatives fit traditional HRD functions of training and development, career development, and organization development. So the question arises, What are we doing to prepare our students not only to live and work in a diverse world but also to contribute to building more inclusive systems as HRD scholars and practitioners? An answer we propose is to include diversity in graduate and undergraduate programs that teach HRD.

The purpose of this study is to describe the characteristics of the Leadership preparation of the Chair of the Study Program in the development of human resources (HR) based on Minangkabau culture, the characteristics of leadership implementation Chair of the Study Program in the development of human resources (HR) based on Minangkabau culture, and leadership control characteristics in the development of human resources (HR) based on Minangkabau culture. The type of research used is qualitative using ethnographic design. The source of research data is the chair of the study program, lecturers, educational staff and students. Data collection techniques are carried out by interviews, observation, and documentation. Data were analyzed through the stages of data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The results of the study can be concluded that (1) preparation for the development of lecturer human resources, refers to the implementation of the quality of lecturerstheoretically and practically. The activity prepared for the development of humanresources education personnel is through training in the administration of workthrough the development of educational human resources, HR mentoring and HRCoaching. Preparation of activities in the development of student human resourcesis through intra-curricular and extracurricular programs, (2) the implementationof lecturer human resource development, carried out in the form of curriculumevaluation, implementation of the Higher Education Tridharma, collaboration withother institutions or agencies, and further study of the lecturer Doctoral Program.The implementation of the development of human resources in human resources is carried out through the development of general competencies, the development of functional competencies, and the development of managerial competencies ofeducation personnel. The implementation of activities in the development of student human resources is through intra-curricular and extracurricular programs, and (3) controlling the development of lecturer human resources, carried out through the lecturer workload (BKD. Control in the development of human resources education personnel is through review and control of the work of educational staff in managing the correspondence, filing, and making work reports of education personnel every day Control in the development of student human resources is through PBM monitoring documents provided by education personnel Other controls are required for students to make reports, after extracurricular activities have been completed.

Newcomer adjustment, the process an individual goes through within the first year at a new organization, can be a challenging transition for traditionally aged recent college graduates. Unsuccessful adjustment can have profound negative consequences for young adults, organizations, and undergraduate institutions. Gaps exist in the human resource development (HRD) and undergraduate education literature leaving practitioners in both fields unsure of how to address this problem. Research regarding individual psychological capital (PsyCap) and proactive behaviors offer new perspectives that enhance understanding of newcomer adjustment and guide practice. In this integrative literature review we present a synthesis of research demonstrating positive interrelationships among PsyCap, proactive behaviors, and newcomer adjustment outcomes such as job performance, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Based on the outcomes we offer a model of newcomer adjustment that can guide researchers and practitioners in HRD and undergraduate education in working together to promote successful newcomer adjustment among recent college graduates.

This survey-based study centered on feedback seeking behaviors by students in twelve human resource development university courses in the US, UK, and Singapore. Based on previous research, the study differentiated among sources of feedback, and student and instructor behaviors and characteristics. The results of this study suggest that students sought feedback about attainment of learning goals quite frequently and from a variety of sources. Instructors tended to underestimate their own role and overestimate the contributions of course activities and materials in this process. Individual-level and instructor-related variables emerged as important predictors of feedback seeking behaviors. The implications of these findings for further research and the practice of human resource development education and training are discussed.