Human Resource Development Learning Research Articles

Futures and foresight learning in HRD

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to argue that human resource development (HRD) needs to embrace and include futures and foresight learning (FFL) as a new addition to its field of theorising and practice. The question to consider is: How can FFL become a new feature of HRD? A key part of the authors’ argument is that the inclusion of FFL will enable HRD to add to the success of any organisation and make a vital contribution to the management of people at work.Design/methodology/approachThis paper firstly considers some of the debates surrounding the meaning of HRD. The authors suggest that instability of the time serves to disturb any comforts that have been created in HRD and that there is a need to consider how there might be different futures for what we still call HRD in research, practice and praxis. This paper then considers how FFL might become one possibility for expanding the existing boundaries of HRD. The authors characterise futures and foresight as a learning process, which provides new but complementary features to what is already considered as HRD. This paper will show how FFL can lead to organisation's success and the way this can be achieved.FindingsThere is a wide variety of meanings of the term HRD; however, HRD is still cast as a “weakened profession” which has to play a subservient role to others in the workplace. Over the last 15 years, the expansion of the meaning of HRD has been seen as evidence of its evolving and emerging nature and development based on a co-creation with other disciplines. This creates a space for FFL, defined as an ongoing learning process to find predictable, probable, possible and/or a variety of long-term futures. FFL embraces three key processes of scanning, futuring and reconfiguring, all of which contain a high potential for participants and others to learn as they proceed, providing outcomes at each stage. FFL has been shown to enhance organisation performance and success and HRD interventions can play a key part in implementation. This represents a significant opportunity for the HRD profession to move from weakness towards strength.Research limitations/implicationsFor HRD researchers, while FFL is not yet on its radar, the authors would argue that the uncertainties of the future require that more attention be given to what might lie ahead. Indeed, HRD researchers need to ask the question: What is the future of HRD research? In addition, if the authors’ call for FFL to be included in the practice of HRD, such practice will itself provide new pathways for HRD research. Further research questions might include: To what extent is FFL practiced in organisations and what role do HRD practitioners play in delivery? How does FFL impact on organisation behaviour and outcomes? What new products and services emerge from FFL? What new skills are required to deliver FFL? Can FFL enhance the status of HRD practitioners in the work place and its role in decision-making? and How can the HRD profession develop as a hybrid profession with respect to machine learning (ML)/artificial intelligence (AI)?Practical implicationsFFL produces outcomes that have importance for strategy, HRD practitioner can learn to facilitate FFL by action learning and in leadership development programmes. FFL offers a significant opportunity to enhance the importance of HRD in organisations and beyond. FFL offers those involved in HRD a significant opportunity to transfer ideas into practice that have an impact on organisation sustainability. HRD can play a significant role in the design and delivery of ML and AI projects.Originality/valueThis paper concludes with a call for embracing FFL as a challenging but important addition to how we talk about learning at work. The authors argue that FFL offers a significant opportunity to enhance the importance of HRD in organisations and beyond. At its centre, FFL involves learning by people, groups, organisations and machines and this has to be of concern to HRD.

Revealing deep interaction patterns of team learning processes through video-based interactive analysis

New tools provide new lenses for a better understanding of how learning occurs within the team setting. A better understanding of team learning will enable human resource development (HRD) professionals to more effectively develop an enhanced level of performance in the workplace. Since teams represent complex learning systems, traditional questionnaires that take a static 'snapshot' of the reality and interviews that capture retrospective member memories fail to reflect the dynamics or the holistic nature of teamwork. Deeper patterns of the dynamics of team learning will provide the foundation for more generalisable theories. We argue that a better understanding of team learning in HRD will grow when scholars generate new models of team learning systems based on new ways of measuring team behaviour that capture the complex interactions among members. In this paper, we propose that video-based interaction analysis can offer more opportunities. We discuss the current research methods issues, profile the current state of the scholarship of team learning, and recommended a new data collection/analysis approach: video-based interactive analysis (VIA).

Coaching techniques for sustained individual change during career transitions

AbstractCareer development and transitions are forms of learning integral to human resource development (HRD). Understanding these phenomena is becoming critical due to the changing nature of work. Transition coaching, an individualized HRD learning intervention, is gaining traction as a career support mechanism, yet the details of how this type of coaching works are not clear. To investigate the potential role of transition coaching as an HRD intervention that facilitates learning beyond the acquisition of knowledge and skills, this study examined which coaching techniques, from the perspective of the transitioning manager (coachee), are likely to contribute to transformative individual learning during transition coaching. Perceptions of these coaching techniques were identified through deductive and summative content analyses of interview transcripts of 20 coached transitioning managers. Of the 13 coaching techniques identified, five were perceived to be experienced substantially more than the others: active experimentation, questioning, reflection, challenging views and assumptions, and using theories and frameworks. The findings suggest empirically that transition coaching could facilitate transformative individual learning during career transitions. The findings also indicate that, unlike what is generally professed during coaching, transitioning managers value a directive, knowledge‐imparting coach and confirm that reflection and experiential learning are key to succeed in a new role. This study advances HRD, transformative learning, and coaching theory and practice through the operationalization of coaching in the specific HRD context of career development and transitions aimed at transformative learning.

Revealing Deep Interaction Patterns of Team Learning Processes through Video-based Interactive Analysis

New tools provide new lenses for a better understanding of how learning occurs within the team setting. A better understanding of team learning will enable human resource development (HRD) professionals to more effectively develop an enhanced level of performance in the workplace. Since teams represent complex learning systems, traditional questionnaires that take a static 'snapshot' of the reality and interviews that capture retrospective member memories fail to reflect the dynamics or the holistic nature of teamwork. Deeper patterns of the dynamics of team learning will provide the foundation for more generalisable theories. We argue that a better understanding of team learning in HRD will grow when scholars generate new models of team learning systems based on new ways of measuring team behaviour that capture the complex interactions among members. In this paper, we propose that video-based interaction analysis can offer more opportunities. We discuss the current research methods issues, profile the current state of the scholarship of team learning, and recommended a new data collection/analysis approach: video-based interactive analysis (VIA).

Reconceptualizing Social Movement Learning in HRD: An Evolutionary Perspective

The Problem We are living in a socially polarized landscape where dualistic mind-sets govern the way we engage with social justice issues and thus failing to adequately serve all human beings. The Solution By bringing in Frederic Laloux’s conception of evolutionary organization, we propose that organizations can serve as catalysts for co-creative social transformation, closing the distance between organizations and society and ultimately enhancing the well-being of the whole. The Stakeholders This article will provide organizational leaders and human resource development (HRD) professionals with a conceptual understanding of what a new paradigm of social movement learning would look like in an emerging society where polarities are not fought against but engaged as a whole.

UK managers' conceptions of employee training and development

PurposeThe first purpose of this paper is to review the practical and theoretical distinctions between training and development in the organisational psychology and human resource development (HRD) literatures. Then the paper seeks to investigate how managers responsible for the training and development function conceptualise these activities in practice, the factors that guide their decision making, how they evaluate the outcomes and the extent to which they perceive a relationship between training and development.Design/methodology/approachTaking a critical realist perspective, 26 interviews were conducted with UK managers and analysed through thematic coding using template analysis.FindingsManagers' conceptualisations of training and development vary. Formal training is prioritised due to a perceived more tangible demonstrable return on investment. Perceived success in training focuses on improvements to job‐related skills, whereas success outcomes for development are more varied and difficult to measure. Managers consider that training and development are more valuable when combined.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a need for further process‐driven research to understand the interrelationship between training and development and to develop methods that can be used by organisations to evaluate both. This necessitates going beyond methods currently in use and including both qualitative and quantitative measures.Practical implicationsManagers may take a more proactive and directive role in facilitating development than the literature suggests; consequently, their role needs to be considered more actively in HRD learning strategies.Originality/valueThis is one of the first qualitative studies to explore the conceptualisations of managers responsible for training and development, highlighting the inter‐relationship between training and development and the factors guiding decisions regarding these activities.

HRD's Role in Knowledge Management

The problem and the solution. This article provides an overview of knowledge management and discusses its link with human resource development (HRD). It also provides a short preview of what is included in this issue. The authors outline the major points in this issue for HRD scholars and practitioners as they work to leverage knowledge management as an HRD learning tool.

The Role of Knowledge Management in Quality Management Practices: Achieving Performance Excellence in Organizations

The problem and the solution. Knowledge management involves “knowledge” and “information.” Both of these concepts lie at the heart of human resource development (HRD) practice in the workplace. In fact, knowledge management strongly supports both paradigms of HRD—learning and performance. Quality management, on the other hand, applies knowledge management as one of its core components. However, the problem is that knowledge management and quality management are viewed as unrelated fields and their interaction has not been fully explored. Understanding these two vital organizational processes will enable HRD practitioners to develop and design effective programs and services that fully utilize both processes in the organization. Considering knowledge management as a key element in the quality management process can help increase knowledge creation and utilization within the organization. This article explores the relationship between knowledge management and quality management and discusses its applicability in HRD for enhancing organizational capacity and capability to achieve performance excellence.

Participation in management training in a transitioning context: A case of China

AbstractThis phenomenological study explores critical issues related to participation in human resource development (HRD) interventions. Specifically focusing on master of business administration (M.B.A.) training programs in China, we conducted in‐depth individual interviews with twelve middle‐level managers to understand their perceptions and experience of this academic program during the country's recent transitional period. The findings suggest that HRD participation in a specific transitioning cultural context may present features that have not been explored by previous learning participation studies in either HRD or adult education. In the light of the transitioning nature of the Chinese cultural context, we derived three propositions for future research on HRD learning participation. Practical implications for learning participation are also drawn based on the results of the study.

Toward a Theory of Human Resource Development Learning Participation

This article fills a theoretical gap by identifying an understudied subject area for human resource development (HRD) theory building, learning participation of HRD interventions in organizations. The topic has critical significance in current HRD practices, such as concerns on e-learning dropout rates and HRD measurement and evaluation. First, a comprehensive literature review and analysis are presented to identify the research gap in general adult education research and management or HRD-related literature in learning participation. A conceptual framework of HRD learning participation is then proposed, from cross-sectional and time-series perspectives, to describe the pattern, factors, structure, and their interrelationships in HRD learning participation, with a discussion of model constructs. The conceptual framework is then operationalized with mathematical operations to demonstrate how to empirically test the model. Finally, the applicability of the proposed theory and its implications for future HRD research are elaborated.

Motivation to improve work through learning in human resource development

Motivation in HRD has traditionally been conceptualized as motivation to learn or motivation to train. This paper argues that this concept of motivation is too limited because it does not incorporate motivation to use learning to improve performance. Instead, a higher-order construct called motivation to improve work through learning proposed. The theoretical rationale for this higher-order construct is presented along with proposed measures. A confirmatory factor analysis is reported which provides initial evidence of validity. Implications for HRD research and practice are discussed.

On the Nature of Performance and Learning in Human Resource Development

The Problem and the Solution. The fundamental underlying assumptions evident in discussions of performance and learning in human resource development must be more clearly explicated. When the diverse ontological perspectives are more carefully considered, it is clear that both views may be embraced as humanistic endeavors

The use of critical incidents to foster reflection and learning in HRD

AbstractIn my role as a human resource development (HRD) faculty member, I often feel that students perceive my teaching of instructional systems design and program evaluation much like a play within a play. In other words, as 1 teach about teaching others, my students silently critique and sometimes assimilate what I do. For this reason, I have become keenly sensitive to the importance of modeling effective teaching and learning practices in the classroom. In a continuous effort to find ways to enhance my teaching and my students' critical reflection and learning, I decided to undertake a research study to examine the ways in which critical incidents affect learning experiences (Brookfield, 1995). The critical incident method asks students to respond to a set of evaluative questions each week of the course. The instructor then reads and summarizes the responses and returns the summaries to the students during the following class period. At that time they are discussed and possible changes in the course are negotiated.

Enhancing the quality of learning in human resource development

Examines how value is created through the use of human resource development intervention in organizations. Begins by looking at the concept of quality within a training context, identifying key principles that need to underpin any quality learning model. Then goes on to show that evaluation is only one of a number of dimensions to the concept of quality and argues the case for a radical rethink of training practice in this area. Finally, presents an alternative quality learning model and a research agenda outlined for the future.