How Human Resource Development Research Articles

Realigning human resource development in Saudi public universities: exploring equity and social justice theories

PurposeSaudi Arabia (SA) is amongst the few countries with a significant foreign workforce who are employed in the higher education sector. More specifically, 39% of SA's academic staff members are foreign nationals and 63% of that proportion occupy professorial positions. Drawing from a workforce localisation perspective, the study was framed as an exploration of equity and social justice amongst Saudi nationals and foreign nationals in a university work setting. The authors employ the lens of how human resource development (HRD) opportunities are administered.Design/methodology/approachFollowing the choice of an exploratory qualitative study, the authors employed a multi-case study approach where each of the six universities represented a unit of analysis.FindingsThe authors found that nationality differences influenced access to HRD opportunities. These differences are reinforced by practices associated with procedural processes, managerial discretion and selective restrictions in accessing HRD opportunities.Social implicationsThe findings have both practical and social implications, specifically for the SA government's strategic vision of developing local human capabilities.Originality/valueThe workforce localisation agenda within the higher education sector has both a compounding effect on local human capital and supports SA's 2030 Vision and human capital target. Nonetheless, perceived inequity and injustice in accessing HRD opportunities by foreign nationals potentially undermine morale, academic quality standards and research performance, which impacts the development of future human capital and the ‘Saudization’ goals.

Remote e-Workers’ Psychological Well-being and Career Development in the Era of COVID-19: Challenges, Success Factors, and the Roles of HRD Professionals

The Problem As most employees have been forced to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is considerable concern about how to preserve employee health and well-being by supporting their work in this unpredictable situation. In this sense, research highlighting how to support remote e-workers in the COVID-19 pandemic era is urgently needed to inform scholars and practitioners about effective strategies and interventions to support remote e-workers. The Solution By reviewing conceptual and empirical studies, we discuss the challenges of remote e-workers from the perspective of psychological well-being. We also summarize the factors that support psychological well-being. Based on the findings, we suggest how human resource development (HRD) professionals can support remote e-workers’ psychological well-being and career development in the COVID-19 pandemic era. The Stakeholders This article has relevance for scholars, scholar-practitioners, and practitioners who are interested in seeking ways to support remote e-workers from an HRD perspective across countries, disciplines, and contexts in the COVID-19 pandemic era.

Toward corporate sustainability through human resources development: Contributions from Brazilian companies

AbstractMany companies have already experienced the benefits sustainability may bring in terms of positive impacts on society, the environment, and its market value. Despite this, most of them do not know how Human Resource Development (HRD) could effectively promote employees' commitment to results and facilitate organizational change. The main objective of this paper is to propose guidelines for the development of human resources that contributes toward sustainability in organizations. The drivers of sustainability and HRD identified in the literature supported the analyses of 19 GRI G4 sustainability reports from Brazilian companies included in the BM&F Bovespa Corporate Sustainability Index (2016). The analyses allowed the characterization of the companies' sustainability and HRD initiatives, as well as the elaboration of ten HRD guidelines to foster corporate sustainability. This work contributes to the articulation on how the concepts of HRD and sustainability are related, promoting the discussion about the drivers of the HRD that can support managers in the journey toward sustainable development.

Gender and Sexual Minorities’ Practice and Embodiment of Authentic Leadership: Challenges and Opportunities

The Problem There are three barriers that might prevent gender and sexual minority (GSM) persons from putting the tenets of authentic leadership into practice. First, full authenticity with all social actors could carry risk in a world where heterosexuality and conformity to the gender binary remain the norm. Second, because of norms that surround the embodiment of leadership, GSM leaders who may wish to practice authenticity may not be able to be authentic in a way that is intelligible to others. Third, the very term authenticity is problematic: If authenticity is dependent on other’s interpretations of behavior as authentic, then there may be no such thing as an authentic self. The Solution This review of the literature outlines how human resource development (HRD) professionals may put authentic leadership principles into practice with GSM people—or to the ends of creating a more expansive understanding of what the authentic could be for us all. Interrogating the concept of authenticity and agitating for structural change can allow more individuals to realize their authentic selves. The Stakeholders Through collective engagement in the project of troubling and reconstructing authentic leadership based on the scholarship related to GSM people’s obstacles in practicing such, then we may be able to yet promote new forms of authenticity for all leaders.

Interventions for Women With Postpartum Depression Symptoms

Using the stress-buffering hypothesis as a guide, this integrative review aims to identify how human resource development (HRD) professionals can address the issues faced by working women who are experiencing postpartum depression symptoms, in addition to identifying gaps in HRD research on this emerging topic. Most of the studies reviewed came from the nursing and psychology literature; none were found in the HRD literature. This review was undergirded by the stress-buffering hypothesis, which posits that social support can moderate the effect of a stressful event. Studies pointed to social support, especially from coworkers and supervisors, as having a positive effect on postpartum depression symptom scores. Overall, the findings of this study are entry points into HRD research and practice about how employers can support working women who are experiencing postpartum depression symptoms. Further research should examine the type of social support that is effective in helping working mothers.

Human resource development programs for knowledge transfer and creation: the case of the Toyota Technical Development Corporation

Purpose– The purpose of this study was to examine how human resource development (HRD) programs promote the linkage between knowledge transfer and knowledge creation in engineering departments.Design/methodology/approach– This study adopted a case study approach to the Toyota Technical Development Corporation (TTDC), an affiliated company of Toyota Motor Corporation. Data were collected from interviews with managers of the TTDC as well as its internal documents.Findings– Three major findings can be extracted from the paper. First, The TTDC effectively links knowledge transfer to knowledge creation so that new knowledge on vehicle development is created by transferred competencies. Second, the TTDC promotes the transfer of explicit and tacit knowledge by complementarily combining off-the-job and on-the-job training (OJT). Third, HRD programs are developed and operated in communities of practice.Research limitations/implications– The practices described in this paper are limited to two departments of the TTDC. Hence, the findings should be interpreted in light of this constraint.Practical implications– Knowledge officers should integrate multiple HRD programs so that knowledge transfer is organically linked to knowledge creation by combining off-the-job training, OJT and kaizen (continuous improvement) programs.Originality/value– This paper constitutes one of the earliest works that analyzes the effect of HRD programs on integrating knowledge transfer and knowledge creation.

Exploring the relationship between discourse and a practice perspective on HRD in a virtual environment

This article presents an exploration of how human resource development (HRD) practices are ‘talked in to being’ in discussion events held in an open online environment. The discursive strategies of actors in such open virtual spaces are examined as a means to analyse how HRD practitioners collectively discuss and define what they do. Reflecting much of the research literature, this exploration found that a common definition of HRD remains elusive and that HRD as a practical concept is fluid and expansive. The analysis of the specific discussion events found that the discourses of practitioners have moved away from the common binary structuring between the US and European ‘Schools’ of HRD. The findings presented here suggest that HRD practices are elastic, contested and unstable and that the discursive strategies of practitioners seek to negotiate points of consensus and stability drawing on components of both the Schools. Furthermore, the discussion event clearly positions HRD practice as being in a largely self-created crisis that emphasizes a failure to meet the expectations of management or to respond to changes in the ‘business’ environment.

Investing in HRD in Uncertain Times Now and in the Future

The Problem We live in uncertain times, exacerbated by many direct and indirect effects of the global financial crisis. However, there is a lack of understanding about how human resource development (HRD) is responding to the global financial crisis or how HRD scholars and practitioners can best respond to these new realities and thus successfully ensure the future of HRD. The Solution To appreciate the future, it is critical to understand the past. Thus, this reflective piece outlines several factors that have caused, and continue to cause, uncertainty in the global economy, including structural changes in labor markets and developments in technology. A literature review revealed several HRD responses of firms to these new realities. These include technology-delivered instruction and social-learning tools. The article concludes by identifying characteristics of effective training and examines some distinctive practices of three firms that have been recognized as the global best in class for their leadership-development efforts. The Stakeholders Scholars and practitioners interested in the HRD, technology-delivered instruction, and social-learning fields.

The role of human resource development practitioners in solving ethical concerns in mentoring

There are many benefits of mentoring relationships which were documented in previous researches. These mentoring relationships however, may become dysfunctional. In this paper, some of the common ethical issues in the mentoring process which are grouped into three related classes namely: power, access and cultural replication were considered. They are considered in terms of how human resource development (HRD) can take an interventionist position to address these ethical issues of concerns. Moreover, to promote healthy, productive relationships and to prevent the potential for these issues of concerns to arise, four initiatives are suggested. These include recruitment/selection, organizational analysis, training and follow-up / evaluation. Key words: Power, access, cultural replication, organizational analysis, training, recruitment/ selection, ethics, mentor, mentoring, human resource development (HRD), mentoree.

The Use of Canonical Commonality Analysis for Quantitative Theory Building

When conducting canonical correlation analysis, researchers generally rely on function and structure coefficients when interpreting noteworthy canonical functions. This article describes how human resource development (HRD) researchers can use canonical commonality analysis to interpret their canonical functions more completely and thereby inform theory. Using the correlation matrix, we conducted a secondary analysis of data from the Dimensions of Learning Organizational Questionnaire (DLOQ) to illustrate the utility of canonical commonality analysis. Researchers will see how canonical commonality analysis can bring to light theoretically relevant relationships in canonical functions that might be left undetected by only examining function and structure coefficients.

The contributions of human resource development research across disciplines: A citation and content analysis

AbstractThe primary purpose of the current study is to identify how human resource development (HRD) research has contributed to the knowledge base across social science disciplines during the past two decades. We identified the top 20 Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) journal articles that have been most frequently cited in research articles published in journals other than the four AHRD journals. With the use of content analysis of the most‐cited articles, three key research themes were identified: (a) training transfer and evaluation, (b) learning in organizations, and (c) knowledge sharing and knowledge creation. The research contributions of HRD within the field of HRD and across disciplines are discussed.

Resisting HRD's resistance to diversity

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically illustrate how human resource development (HRD) resists and omits issues of diversity in academic programs, textbooks, and research; analyze the research on HRD and diversity over a ten‐year period; discuss HRD's resistance to diversity; and offer some recommendations for a more authentic integration of diversity into HRD research, teaching, and practice.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyzes common HRD textbooks and refereed diversity research over a ten‐year period to examine the amount of HRD research is being conducted in the area of diversity.FindingsThe paper found that HRD overwhelmingly omits diversity topics, in contradiction to its claims of “diversity” as a legitimate part of the field. The paper concludes that HRD's omission of diversity is a form of resistance since fundamentally addressing diversity threatens HRD's performative frameworks and practices.Practical implicationsThe paper has implications for scholars and practitioners who are interested in not only producing more robust diversity scholarship, but also improving practice. The paper challenges HRD researchers to more systematically examine diversity and practitioners to be more cautious consumers of diversity practices.Originality/valueThe paper is original in its premise that HRD resists diversity and in its illustration of how glaring omissions of diversity are in HRD scholarship.

New Leader Assimilation: An Intervention for Leaders in Transition

The problem and the solution . Leader transitions are important passages that have implications for the leader, his or her team, and the organization. Such transitions are more frequent than in the past, and the failure rate of new leaders is high.When leaders transition into a new leadership role in a new organization, there are few formal interventions, like a leader assimilation, to help them learn, adapt, and build relationships quickly with their new teams. Moreover, there is little empirical research documenting the impact of leadership development interventions early in a leader's transition. The purpose of this study was to leverage the observation and interview data of an existing study conducted by the researcher on leader assimilation outcomes.The following study will explain the process of facilitating a leader assimilation and will use research data to provide insights into how human resource development (HRD) practitioners can use leader assimilations more effectively.

Leadership development: making a difference in unfavourable circumstances

PurposeThis paper is derived from a two‐year study that sought to provide a critical understanding of the current state of business leadership development (BLD) and to identify directions for innovative future practice. The second of two companion papers, this contribution aims to investigate the influence of unfavourable competing agendas on BLD and how human resource development (HRD) professionals can work effectively within such circumstances.Design/methodological approachThe paper analyses three case studies of HRD managers who made significant contributions to their organisation's BLD despite unfavourable political circumstances. These individuals were selected from a population of 190 managers from the first phase of the overall study.FindingsThe cases highlight the centrality of political activity to effective BLD design and implementation that is subject to unfavourable circumstances. In particular, the individuals demonstrated the importance of relationship management, challenge and critique and of building change from the bottom up, irrespective of direct senior management support.Practical implicationsThe cases shed light on the types of behaviour that may enable HRD professionals to make an effective contribution to BLD, even when there is little formal senior management support. Questions are provided to encourage personal learning and debate about the role and value of HR in the enactment of BLD.Originality/valueThe findings indicate that much best practice advice on leadership development needs to be tempered with an acknowledgement of the degree to which it is subject to competing interests and postulates that constructive political action may be a legitimate activity for HRD managers despite mainstream unitarist advice.

Employee Engagement: Motivating and Retaining Tomorrow's Workforce

Tomorrow's workforce is seeking more than a paycheck; they want their work to meet their needs for affiliation, meaning, and self‐development. Companies willing to meet these demands will capture the enormous profit potential of a workforce of fully engaged workers. This piece explores what engagement is, why it matters, and how human resource development (HRD) professionals can be strategic corporate partners in creating the changes necessary to engage the talent in their employees.

What We Discovered about NHRD and What it Means for HRD

The problem and the solution. This issue was initiated to discover how human resource development (HRD) was being used as national policy in various countries throughout the world and what the findings would mean to our understanding of HRD. As suggested in recent exploratory research, the concept of HRD as national policy is a reality throughout the world. As we continue to explore HRD in our coursework and research, the articles in this issue will require us to think more expansively about what HRD is and how we need to partner with many other change agents to be successful in our national human resource development (NHRD) efforts.