Employees’ perspectives on strategic human resource development before and after the global financial crisis: evidence from the Greek banking sector

Constantly changing business and economic environments have challenged organizations to re‐think the crucial role of their human resource development (HRD) policies and practices in relation to individual and organizational competitiveness, change and growth. Being proactive/strategic, in HRD terms, corresponds to the concept of strategic HRD maturity, a state evidenced by a specific set of strategic characteristics, but research into this concept within the challenging context of the economic crisis is limited, as is research into employees’ perceptions of it. Previous research has been applied mostly within ‘static’ business and economic environments, with much of the existing strategic HRD models neglecting employees’ perspectives. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 42 bank employees in Greece, with the aim of examining their perceptions of strategic HRD before and after the global financial crisis. The study raises important questions for both HRD academics and practitioners because its findings indicate a setback in the development of HRD. Whilst there were a few contradicting perceptions, the dominant employee view was that strategic HRD was a theoretical notion rather than an organizational reality.     

Human resource development to facilitate experiential learning: the case of Yahoo Japan

Although work experiences are recognized as important mechanisms for developing leaders in organizations, existing research has focused primarily on work assignments rather than on human resource development (HRD) systems that promote experiential learning of managers. The primary goal of this study was to develop an HRD model for facilitating experiential learning by examining the case of Yahoo Japan, which has transformed its HRD system based on experiential learning theory. The results indicate that Yahoo Japan has promoted experiential learning at the individual level by introducing new HRD systems consisting of four elements: reflection support (one‐on‐one meeting and coaching training), assignment support (HRD meeting and job rotation), assessment support (360‐degree appraisal and one‐on‐one meeting assessment) and visionary support (a vision and values). Although these elements are closely associated with each other, reflection support plays a key role in the HRD system. The proposed model is discussed from theoretical and practical viewpoints.     

Preferred human resource development activities and their functions: differences in perspective between managers and employees

This exploratory study uses the learning‐network theory as a framework to investigate how managers and employees differ in their preference for the human resource development (HRD) activities of employees and in the functions they attribute to HRD. The research design was quantitative and cross‐sectional. Data collection took place in six countries in Europe, Asia and North America. A new instrument was used, which views work improvement (WI), career development (CD) and personal development (PD) as three main functions of HRD that can serve managers and employees. Results show that managers and employees prefer different HRD activities for employees to undertake; respectively, formal courses and programs over job experiences, and vice versa. The two groups also differ in the scores they give to WI and PD as relevant functions that employee participation in HRD can provide. It is concluded, therefore, that differences between managers and employees in their views of the relevance of HRD activities should be taken into account in theory and practice when organizing employees’ HRD activities.     

Corporate social responsibility: issues for human resource development professionals

Recent human resource development (HRD) scholarship has called for greater focus on social responsibility and ecological sustainability. The purpose of this article is to explore the engagement of HRD professionals in corporate social responsibility (CSR), examining one central question: how do HRD professionals perceive their roles and challenges in implementing CSR in organizations that claim CSR to be a key focus of their corporate identity and operation? Understandings of CSR vary and are widely contested, but for the purposes of this discussion, CSR is defined as treating the stakeholders of the firm ethically or in a responsible manner. Drawing from a qualitative study of HRD managers in eight large North American firms declaring explicit commitment to CSR, the evidence shows that their engagement tends to focus on employee learning and promotion, employee ownership of development, and employee safety and respect. Overall, however, HRD appeared to be only marginally involved or interested in the firms' CSR activities. The article concludes with an argument for greater engagement of HRD in CSR and offers suggestions for research and practice towards this end.     

Stakeholder involvement in strategic HRD aligning: the impact on HRD effectiveness

The study reported here focusses on the question to what extent stakeholder involvement in HRD policymaking (here referred to as strategic HRD aligning) predicts effective HRD programmes. The study involved 44 large companies in the industrial, financial and commercial services sectors. The findings indicate that involvement of stakeholders in the strategic HRD aligning process, and their opinions on the quality of this aligning process in particular, have a positive effect on perceived HRD effectiveness. The perceived effectiveness is even more positive when the mean company score on the quality of strategic aligning is higher.     

Strategic HRD within companies

This article reports a preliminary survey that was conducted within the framework of the project on strategic human resource development (HRD), in which for various aspects of organisations the effects of strategic HRD are explored. The aim of the survey was to explore some conditions that are important for HRD policymaking in companies, and to investigate the relationship between various specific aspects, and the results of HRD programmes. The study involved 107 large companies in the industrial, financial and public service sectors.     

HRD involvement in the investigative phase of a merger & acquisition

This qualitative study describes the involvement of human resource development (HRD) professionals in the investigative phase of merger and acquisitions (M&As). Telephone interviews were completed with 38 HRD professionals and 17 business managers in 12 organizations that had undergone M&As between 1996 and 1999. The results show that there is some cognizance between business managers and HRD professionals on what HRD professionals do during an M&A. What is most significant, however is that the activities identified by both business managers and HRD professionals are all human-capital related; this shows that business managers and some organizations are not only involved in finance related but also human capital due-diligence during an M&A. The study results show that M&A activities are team-oriented and HRD professionals need to be prepared to work in different projects during an M&A, especially during the investigative phase. The notion that HRD professionals will be solely working on HRD-related activities is non-existent during the investigative phase of an M&A.     

Critically challenging some assumptions in HRD

This paper sets out to critically challenge five interrelated assumptions prominent in the (human resource development) HRD literature. These relate to: the exploitation of labour in enhancing shareholder value; the view that employees are co‐contributors to and co‐recipients of HRD benefits; the distinction between HRD and human resource management; the relationship between HRD and unitarism; and the relationship between HRD and organizational and learning cultures. From a critical modernist perspective, it is argued that these can only be adequately addressed by taking a point of departure from the particular state of the capital–labour relation in time, place and space. HRD, of its nature, exists in a continuous state of dialectical tension between capital and labour – and there is much that critical scholarship has yet to do in informing practitioners about how they might manage and cope with such tension.     

Learning transfer: the views of practitioners in Ireland

Considerable expenditure on human resource development (HRD) has not necessarily resulted in a significant impact on organizational performance, and research suggests that the failure to transfer learning may be an important explanation. The search for factors affecting transfer has been extensive, as shown in Grossman and Salas's article in this issue, but, as they also show, more research is needed. The purpose of the present study is to ascertain the views of HRD practitioners (in Ireland) about the factors that they believe are relevant to the transfer of learning in the workplace. The aim is to discover whether practitioners have identified potential factors which researchers have not explored or not explored sufficiently. This group of practitioners was chosen because of the considerable control they wield over significant tranches of organizational resources. The method first involved engagement with 28 senior HRD practitioners in a workshop setting to create a transfer inventory based on their expert opinion. The initial inventory was then responded to online by a group of 314 practitioners indicating the relevance of the items to the question of transfer. Factor analysis was used to achieve parsimony among items, and 21 potential factors were identified. This study focused on the 15 factors adjudged by practitioners to be most relevant. It is concluded that trainer effectiveness, organizational linkage and training event climate, all deemed relevant by practitioners, may justify further research.     

Human resource development roles in the People's Republic of China: investigation from seven provinces

As Human Resource Development (HRD) is still emerging in China, this paper discusses HRD roles, required competencies, and outcomes. Role analysis is crucial to the professionalization and education of HRD. Using ASTD's HRD model as a reference, this study examines HRD roles across China. Results support the ASTD HRD roles model, and offer a useful profile of HRD roles in China.     

Supporting the Career Development of Older Employees: an HRD Study in a Dutch Company

Many organisations are confronted with an ageing workforce. Older employees are often seen as less flexible and open to HRD activities than their younger colleagues, yet rapid developments taking place within society and organisations require a flexible and responsive workforce. The necessary knowledge and skills demanded here can be taught through HRD activities. In 1995 a quantitative exploratory survey into the conditions considered important for the career development or mobility of older workers was carried out within a Dutch multinational chemical company. From a training and development viewpoint, these conditions are defined as demands made on corporate HRD policy, HRD activities and employees’ willingness to learn, as well as stimulating factors that promote the career development of older workers. Results show that while the company operated an age-awareness personnel policy, this still focused on younger employees so that participants in the career development process were insufficiently stimulated in their roles and traditional formal HRD activities had little effect on older workers’ careers. This article describes the survey, highlighting its major results, and offers recommendations.     

Human resource development roles and competencies in five European countries

This article compares HRD practitioners’ self-assessments based on their work roles, outputs and competencies from England, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Finland. The comparison is based on results produced by European surveys conducted between 1992–96, which adopted their model from an earlier study of HRD practitioners in the USA. In terms of work roles, the findings showed the culture-bound nature of HRD work and also, through the appearance of new work roles, its close relation to changes in working life. English and the Finnish HRD practitioners in particular, seemed to perceive themselves as agents of change while for the Germans, the role of trainer still seemed valid. In terms of their competencies, HRD practitioners seem to represent a broad-based and development-oriented source of expertise. Further-more, despite their diverse roles, HRD practitioners seem to require a common core competence. It is this which enables them to identify the needs and problems of individuals and of the organisation, to promote and analyse the developmental processes, as well as to manage interactional relations.     

Value priorities of HRD scholars and practitioners

This study represents an initial effort to identify and measure a set of values that reflect the goals that human resource development (HRD) scholars and practitioners believe HRD should strive to achieve. Six values reflecting two value facets (locus of HRD influence and HRD outcomes) and a seventh value that relates to a perceived normative component inherent of HRD activity were identified and measured. Results indicated the value scales measured individual value priorities of HRD scholars and practitioners, and that the structure of these value priorities varied as a function of individual differences. Suggestions for future research are offered.     

The development of Irish HRD professionals in comparison with European professionals: roles,outputs and competencies

A study of Irish HRD professionals shows an excessive focus on the individual with an emphasis on instruction and facilitation. A study of four European countries shows their HRD professionals to be more organisationally focussed. The lack of consideration by the Irish HRD professionals of organisational competencies such as cost benefit analysis and industry understanding will inhibit their move from a transactional to strategic role. A modification to the ASTD model of a role in strategic HRD is suggested in addition to other uses of the Irish results.     

Human resource development in the Sultanate of Oman

This study explores the scenario of human resource development (HRD) in the Sultanate of Oman. The investigation was conducted with the help of a questionnaire survey in stateowned enterprises (SOEs). The research findings highlight an increased emphasis on HRD initiatives at a national level in Omani firms. There is a significant degree of awareness among the top managers regarding the benefits of a strategic approach to HRD. Despite all this, the implementation of HRD programmes has not been particularly successful. This is because the state has not been able to develop the skills and competencies of the Omani workforce to the levels required under the sixth national five–year plan. The article makes a number of recommendations in this regard. It also highlights key research areas for further examination.     

When absorptive capacity meets institutions and (e)learners: adopting,diffusing and exploiting e‐learning in organizations

E‐learning was thought to be one of the fastest growing industries on both sides of the Atlantic and has been frequently heralded as a transforming influence on global corporate training and higher education. Despite such rhetoric, the adoption, diffusion and exploitation have been slower than anticipated. In this paper we attempt to explain why this might have been the case in Europe by drawing on an increasingly influential body of management literature on the absorptive capacity (ACAP) of organizations to acquire, assimilate and use new technologies and ideas. We supplement this work on absorptive capacity with two other streams of literature on learners and on the business systems or institutionalist perspective, which focuses on the embeddedness of unique organizational forms, ideas and human resource development approaches in particular national business systems. We develop a model of absorptive capacity for e‐learning in organizations (ACAP for eL), which we argue has important theoretical implications for business and management academics in developing a model of technology transfer and diffusion, key lessons for HRD practitioners and politicians associated with furthering e‐learning developments in their organizations, and also for policy makers at government level wishing to spread the e‐learning message.     

Macro and micro approaches in human resource development: context and content in South Korea

In this paper we examine human resource development (HRD) at various levels and in different dimensions. We develop a framework to locate the context and outcomes of HRD. Using South Korea as an example, we analyze the importance of human resources (HR) and HRD, providing some macro and micro empirical evidence, such as expenditure in the area of training and development (T&D) over time in various aspects. We also develop hypotheses regarding the relationship of spending on T&D. This is both organizational (e.g., product differentiation, learning culture) and HR (e.g., employee empowerment, long-term worker attachment to companies) aspects. The implications for business and management of developments in each of these areas are also spelt out.     

Developing a critical view on e‐learning trend reports: trend watching or trend setting?

Trend watching reports are an indispensable resource in the e‐learning domain. Many HRD departments consider these reports as essential cornerstones for the development of their e‐learning strategy. But what is the quality of the forecasts made in these reports? In this article, several methods of forecasting trends are discussed, resulting in a checklist to evaluate the quality of trend studies. Next, this checklist is applied to evaluate some significant trend studies. The evaluation results show that the reports do not meet basic quality criteria, such as ‘sound methodology’ and ‘objectivity’. The article concludes with some critical remarks on the role trend watching reports play in the domain of e‐learning.     

Linking Human Resource Development Practices to Counterproductive Work Behaviour: Does Employee Engagement Matter

ABSTRACT

Although there is strong evidence in the literature to support the relationship between human resource development (HRD) practices and counterproductive work behavior (CWB), little is known about the psychological processes underlying this relationship. The present study examined whether employee engagement mediates the relationship between HRD practices and CWB. Participants were 271 employees enroled in a part-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at a large public university in Nigeria. After controlling for demographic characteristics, results showed that HRD practices were negatively related to CWB. The results also indicated that employee engagement plays a role in mediating the relationship between HRD practices and CWB.