Advances in Developing Human Resources

Hill, Bob

doi: 10.1177/1523422314544293pmid: N/A

The ProblemCurrent crises such as the global financial meltdown, disparate distribution of income, growing economic inequalities, business and government complicity in favoring an economic elite, war on the middle class, and oppressive market behaviors have been linked to corporate and business practices, with little resistance from the academy, including the field of human resource development (HRD). In fact, HRD has been portrayed by some as collusive. Recent arguments suggest that critical HRD can recalibrate this equation. This article interrogates whether adding criticality to HRD can be an antidote to such complicity, that is, can it be a mithridate?The SolutionRather than baptize HRD in the waters of criticality, where HRD remains the center of gravity with critical theory merely informing it, this article proposes that a transdisciplinary approach has the potential to offer more effective interventions in the current crises. Transdisciplinarity, the space between the disciplines of HRD and critical theory, may open up a unity of knowledge beyond the canonical borders of either field, yielding a new holism with important implications for practice.The StakeholdersHR and OD professionals, adult educators, cultural critics.

Brookfield, Stephen D.

doi: 10.1177/1523422314543819pmid: N/A

The ProblemDespite the late 20th century explosion of interest in quality circles, the learning organization, and the habits of effective organizational members, dissatisfaction with organizational life under capitalism and globalization seems to rise exponentially. The financial crisis of 2008, the export of manufacturing jobs, and the rise of the information economy all contribute to worker restlessness and alienation. What theoretical frameworks are most useful to help us understand the way work is experienced as fluctuating and deskilled by many inservice industries and part-time employment?The SolutionCritical theory is proposed as one theoretical solution to disentangling this problem. Although crafted in the first half of the 20th century, this attempt to modernize and adapt Marxism has enduring relevance for the 21st century. Its analysis of worker alienation, the fetishization of consumer goods, the commodification of labor, and the way organizations co-opt efforts at structural change are all helpful to Human Resource Development (HRD) practitioners who seek a different perspective on understanding workplace issues.The StakeholdersThe article provides examples of how concepts drawn from critical theory can inform scholars’ and practitioners’ understanding of the practice of HRD. Critical theory is proposed as providing a more informed understanding of organizational power dynamics, of the enactment of microaggressions, of the way that labor is commodified, of the production of a social character of capitalism, and of the practice of repressive tolerance.

Bierema, Laura; Callahan, Jamie L.

doi: 10.1177/1523422314543818pmid: N/A

The ProblemHuman resource development (HRD) has become powerfully influenced by a dominant rationality in which masculine characteristics of assertiveness, objectivity, control, and performance are privileged without question, resulting in inequitable practices and social systems such as sexism, racism, and capitalism. The humanistic roots of the field of HRD have been co-opted into serving organizations at the expense of workers and other stakeholders. The current frameworks used to understand and apply practices within the field are not sufficient to reclaim the HRD voice of organizational conscience.The SolutionThis article defines critical human resource development (CHRD) and offers a framework for envisioning the field that restructures the “holy trinity” of HRD known as Training & Development, Career Development, and Organization Development. We make a case for why a CHRD is needed and provide an overview of key, and contested, issues of practice for HRD (and CHRD) professionals—relating, learning, changing, and organizing.The StakeholdersScholars and practitioners invested in exploring a new framework of CHRD.

Gedro, Julie; Mizzi, Robert C.

doi: 10.1177/1523422314543820pmid: N/A

The ProblemAlthough the workforce has become increasingly diverse, there has not been a corresponding interrogation of the assumptions about the ways that demographics, particularly gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, relate to Human Resource Development (HRD) imperatives.The SolutionThis article will provide justification for why feminist theory and queer theory should be drawn into conversation with each other as useful frameworks for HRD research and scholarship. These frameworks are concerned with “othering” practices and the marginalization that can occur in workplaces, and they can assist HRD scholars and practitioners to expand their knowledge about diversity and inform research and scholarship.The StakeholdersStakeholders invested in this topic include HRD practitioners and scholars, marginalized people, and, more specifically, women and sexual minorities.

Rocco, Tonette S.; Bernier, Judith D.; Bowman, Lorenzo

doi: 10.1177/1523422314544294pmid: N/A

The ProblemThe problem is that racism, sexism, and discrimination exist. Critical race theory (CRT) is concerned with equity in terms of a person’s complete identity, which may begin with race and include gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and/or some other characteristic.The SolutionCRT advocates radical change in systems and organizations. CRT critiques power structures in an attempt to provide guidance to those who maintain inequitable and racialized structures. Corporate policies and programs should be scrutinized to see how they affect all workers. The assumption that policies and programs are neutral should be abandoned. The acknowledgment of race (including Whiteness as a race) and racism is central. Change should embrace all people and provide equivalent opportunities to all employees. Change means breaking the glass ceiling, erasing salary differentials, and eliminating harassment and discrimination.The StakeholdersThe power structures that support societal-level stakeholders create policy and law. These policies and legal mandates are implemented by Human Resource Development (HRD) practitioners and rarely questioned. Stakeholders include employees, staff, and clients. Individuals at all ranks within organizations, clients, consumers, and suppliers uphold the racism inherent in society by ignoring it or being blind to it. We all have a stake in seeing racism and all bias so we can work as a community of stakeholders to eliminate it.

Sambrook, Sally; Poell, Rob F.

doi: 10.1177/1523422314543846pmid: N/A

The ProblemCritical perspectives on human resource development (HRD) have emerged, across Europe and America, hailed as the future of the field. However, we note the paucity of critical perspectives globally, the problematic dominance of critical HRD activities in Western sites of theory and practice, and the apparent dearth in non-Western sites.The SolutionWe analyze locations of critical HRD to advance understanding of critical perspectives in the international context, raising awareness of where critical HRD operates globally, celebrating its successes, and critically examining its struggles. We hope this encourages colleagues in underrepresented locations to experiment to effect improvements in the lives of otherwise oppressed, marginalized, voiceless workers/learners.The Stakeholders.Critical HRD encompasses attempts to critique and challenge the hegemony of dominant practices in research, education, and practice, around three stakeholders: researchers, educators, and practitioners. Moreover, the purpose of critical HRD is to emancipate workers/learners, the last but not least important stakeholders.

Collins, Joshua C.; Chlup, Dominique T.

doi: 10.1177/1523422314544295pmid: N/A

The ProblemThe connection between human resource development (HRD) and the practice of being an ally of social justice in the workplace seems worthy of meaningful dialogue, yet few publications have addressed this vital workplace need.The SolutionThe purpose of this article is to explore the importance of social justice allies’ critical perspectives regarding climates of inclusion in the workplace, and HRD’s role in facilitating the development of social justice allies. We envision the ally development process as cyclical, and we offer suggestions for HRD practitioners and organizations on how to foster environments of inclusion by allowing allies to grow and openly vocalize their convictions.The StakeholdersViewing HRD as a mechanism for advancing and understanding the development of social justice allies in the workplace has the potential to impact both research and practice, for those deemed to possess privilege and for those deemed to be oppressed, and across many levels of hierarchy in organizations—from investors, to executives, to managers, to employees, and even to consumers/customers.

Storberg-Walker, Julia

doi: 10.1177/1523422314544296pmid: N/A

The ProblemThese are the days of grand, interdisciplinary, and global challenges. For example, there is widespread acknowledgment within the scientific community that climate change is happening. The financial meltdown caused thousands of families to lose their homes, and environmental debacles like the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico generated economic, social, and public health concerns.These are problems—not necessarily human resource development (HRD) problems—but problems nonetheless that impact the people, communities and organizations we lead and serve.We are the leaders, change agents, consultants, and educators whom organizations, communities, and people turn to for their development and training needs.The SolutionI believe HRD scholars should proactively develop a critical orientation to economic, social, cultural, and environmental issues currently plaguing the planet. With such a critical perspective, we can develop a CHRD leadership identity and challenge hidden assumptions and work with others to expose environmental, human, and economicexploitation.The accomplish this goal, I believe, we should examine the historical emergence of critical HRD identities and thenintentionally create critical leadership development opportunities for more HRD professionals to enact critical HRD more of the time.The StakeholdersCommunities, individuals, organizations, the planet.

Byrd, Marilyn Y.

doi: 10.1177/1523422314544297pmid: N/A

The ProblemSocial identity diversity is a concept that links an individual to the social world and to other contexts where interactions occur. However, issues that emerge from social identity diversity may not necessarily be viewed as mono-causal, or based on a single form of difference. Because some individuals may experience simultaneously multiple forms of difference that causes oppression, frameworks are needed to critically analyze how these individuals navigate the complexities of their social identities to gain acceptance, satisfaction, and high levels of performance.The SolutionIntersectionality will be used as an analytical tool to highlight multiple, interlocking forms of societal oppression experienced by historically marginalized groups and to serve as a means of making sense of these experiences.Key StakeholdersHuman resource development (HRD) scholars and practitioners who are committed to social justice advocacy.

Gedro, Julie; Collins, Joshua C.; Rocco, Tonette S.

doi: 10.1177/1523422314543847pmid: N/A

The ProblemDominant paradigms have begun to be questioned in some human resource development (HRD) scholarship. However, to date, there have been few systematic interrogations of power and privilege within the field. As a result, there remain unquestioned and tacit assumptions about HRD research and practice that hinder the ability of HRD to address the complexity of identity, perspective, and philosophy that characterize and influence organizations today.The SolutionThe use of theories and perspectives based on critical theory to interrogate HRD is needed for a deep and careful analysis of whose interests are served by HRD and whose interests can and perhaps should be served by HRD. This concluding article sets forth a hopeful retrospective synopsis of the articles in this Advances issue and illustrates how this body of work can inform HRD research and practice.The StakeholdersThose who are interested in acquiring a greater sense of awareness about how power and privilege serve as organizing frameworks in society in general, and in the workplace in specific, will benefit from this concluding article that casts a hopeful tone over complex and sometimes controversial issues. In particular, we imagine stakeholders to be corporate executives, diversity and inclusion executives, HRD scholars interested in gaining more awareness about diversity, and HRD practitioners who seek to develop programs that embrace those who are visible as well as those who have less visible identities.