Developing Leaders Using On-Line Action Learning: An Activity Theory Analysis

Despite the investment of considerable time and money to provide employees with access to high performance leadership professional development, the extent to which training transfer takes place is unclear. At risk are organizational investment, leader growth, and organizational effectiveness. The desire to optimize training transfer remains critical but elusive for trainers, human resource development (HRD) practitioners, and training transfer researchers. This challenge is referred to as the transfer problem. Motivation to transfer has emerged as a construct of interest as it is strongly and positively associated with training transfer. The purpose of this study was to explore trainees' motivation to transfer training delivered in a leadership development program situated within a large, nonprofit organization. Through the exploration of transfer motivation, factors that drive or restrain leaders' motivation to apply trained knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) obtained back to their workplaces were identified. Literature pertaining to training transfer, motivation to transfer, and leadership professional development was reviewed and served as the research foundation for the study. An instrumental case study approach was utilized; data collection involved interviews of eight alumni of a leadership professional development program and review of documentation and archival records associated with the leadership professional development program. First cycle coding and thematic analysis were employed to analyze the data. Although the combination and magnitude of forces that positively and negatively impacted motivation to transfer varied among participants, several factors emerged prominently from analysis. Driving forces included perceived value of training content, perceived applicability of training content, learning orientation, perceived need for leadership development, work commitment, networking opportunities, feedback and coaching, and self-assessment. Restraining forces included perceptions of the work environment, initial impressions of the program, timing challenges during the program, online learning, and workplace difficulties. Organizational leaders, trainers, and HRD practitioners can utilize these insights to guide the development and implementation of future leadership professional development programming. Recommendations emerging from this research include strategies for optimization of transfer motivation by maximizing driving forces and minimizing restraining forces at the individual, team, and organizational levels of analysis.

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.

We contribute to the improvement of the evidence-base in leader and leadership development, by proposing testimonies as an approach for supporting and capturing the impact of the experience of learning that underpin leader and leadership development interventions. We illustrate how testimonies can be embedded in interventions and be designed such that they foster reflexive learning as well as, accounting for the improvements in action that learning leadership programs support. By positioning testimonies as a method of learning leadership and approach for arresting the impact of experiences of learning, we not only strengthen evidence-base management. We also advance our understanding of impact and its enduring and oscillating effects that can connect individuals, communities and institutions. We trace in the extant literature the use of testimonies in the UK Research Excellence Framework, evidence-base management debate, and human resource development field and illustrate, through examples, how they extend beyond their fact-finding orientation to foster responsibilization. We present emerging findings from a pilot study and explore the proposition that testimonies account for a person's truth – not merely their lived reality – but also their experiences of learning humanity – advancing human potential. We frame this as advancing a new learning leadership manifesto focusing on flourishing. Flourishing of all life on the planet attends simultaneously to the ‘I’ (leader development) with the ‘We’ (leadership development) and in doing so, explicates how the ‘Us’ and ‘Our’ actions contributes through development to serve the common good.

This chapter promotes the effective evaluation of leadership learning and development interventions. An evaluation is the ‘systematic collection of information about the activities, characteristics, and outcomes of programs in order to make judgements about the program, to improve program effectiveness, and/or to inform decisions about future programming’ (Patton, 1997, p. 23). It is a fundamental step in the learning and development process. Evaluation should not be confused with assessment, which typically involves the measurement of how an individual learner performed on a learning task. In contrast, evaluation aims to improve (formative) or prove the worth and efficacy (summative) of programmes (Scriven, 1991). Many commentators have celebrated the importance of evaluation describing is as the ‘backbone of the learning and change process’ (Pym, 1968) since it ‘provides information for action’ (Weiss, 1972, p. 318). Companies, professional management associations, business schools and consultants assume that leadership development interventions will result in improved leadership (Collins and Holton, 2004, p. 218). However, on the whole organisations do not properly evaluate the impact of leadership learning and development — they fail to budget for it financially, make time available for a proper evaluation or employ the most effective evaluation practices.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the extant human resource development (HRD) definition research literature and theorizes a new definition of HRD.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopted keyword and content analyses to examine selected 32 HRD definitions in relation to different organizational and sociopolitical contexts base on theory development criteria and methodology for definition research.FindingsFrom a theoretical perspective, the extant definitions were mostly empirical descriptions of HRD practice with conceptualization being absent. From a context perspective, the definitions were based on HRD phenomena indigenous to the western world, especially the USA and Western Europe. They can hardly explain HRD phenomena in a non-western context. The glaring gaps lead to theorizing a new definition by focusing on the hard core of HRD in defining and criterial attributes. The defining attribute of HRD is its host-system-dependence, and the criterial attributes are its shaping and skilling mechanisms.Research limitations/implicationsThis study unveils that HRD is a means to support the ends defined by the corresponding host system, and not an end in itself. This definition is applicable to different sociopolitical, cultural, and organizational contexts. It provides clear criteria and boundaries to gauge the relevance of HRD research and shows the unique identity of HRD, thus offering new directions to expand the landscape of HRD research.Practical implicationsThe new definition can help human resources practitioners better understand the role and mechanism of HRD that the worldwide practitioners can resonate in various sociocultural and political contexts. Communicating the definition and goals of HRD will enhance internal clients’ understanding and appreciation of the value of HRD.Originality/valueThis study fills important research gaps in HRD definition research. It is the first HRD definition derived through a rigorous theory development process. The new definition connects the HRD research niche to the general human resource literature and lead to new HRD research.

The purpose of this study is to examine how power relations among stakeholders, especially between the human resource development (HRD) practitioners and others, affect evaluation outcomes. Using a qualitative case study design, a managerial leadership development programme in a Korean company is analysed. This study shows that the HRD practitioners’ interests in securing their status within the organization governed shaping the evaluation outcomes. The evaluation report was produced and reported portraying mostly the positive aspects of the programme. However, while going through the evaluation, the HRD practitioners felt constrained, and considered themselves as the powerless in terms of the organizational strategic needs and expectations, both of which pertain to the characteristics of the organizational culture. Instead of attempting to alter the organizational culture, which was unfavourable to HRD functions, they are acquiesced to the culture.

Lots of companies recognize the need for leadership development. However, there is still not a consensus about what practices or bundle of practices can be used for the effective development of leadership competencies. Many existing methods are focused on emulation of characteristics of successful leaders or the development of personal competencies based, for example, on psychological traits tests. Therefore, a better understanding of the application of more holistic methods for leadership development is necessary. Such methods consider personality traits as well as the organizational context where leaders are inserted. Some recent theories that have contributed to this area include Authentic Leadership Development (ALD) and Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS). Furthermore, emotional and social intelligence continue to be highly relevant subjects for leadership development because of the correlation between these attributes and leaders` performance. This study proposes a leadership development program that encompasses fundamental concepts related to the implementation of practices that are considered suitable for organizations and individuals. The focus on the development of positive behaviors instead of the identification and resolution of imperfections is a characteristic of the proposed program. The research includes four steps: research motivation and goals definition, literature review, action research, and final considerations and conclusion. The action research step included two iterations in which the program was tested and optimized according to the learning process of the researcher. The program was offered to engineering students due to the necessity for leadership development for these future professionals and due to the lack of disciplines focused on leadership development in the engineering curriculum. Thus, the study aims to achieve a better understanding of leadership development and the implementation of practices for leadership development in engineering. Finally, a detailed syllabus of the proposed leadership development course and a method for evaluating the program is presented along with the insights acquired in the action research and recommendations for future research.

Human resource development (HRD) academics and practitioners often speak of developing expertise in individuals and unleashing expertise in organizations. For individuals, expertise has professional and personal implications related to employment, work performance, career development, career transition, and resulting livelihood across the life span. For organizations, expertise has implications for training and development; for organizational development, as a competitive advantage; and for performance. Expertise presents challenges and opportunities for HRD and merits additional research to meet such challenges and leverage opportunities to benefit individuals, teams, organization, communities, nations, and humanity. The purpose of this integrative literature review was to examine the construct of expertise within the context of HRD. Findings included where, when, and how authors used expertise in the HRD literature. Major themes comprised expertise and assessment, workforce development, professional development, leadership development, redevelopment, and elicitation and transfer. Findings have implications for theory and practice and inform future research.

Problem The field of human resource development (HRD) is recognized for its contributions to the body of literature on learning and performance. However, the lack of literature on problems emanating from the social systems (e. g. racism, sexism, ageism, sexual orientation, disability, to name a few) that create a barrier for optimal learning and performance is troubling. In this article, racism is called out as an enduring and pervasive social injustice that has become normalized and encompasses the whole of society as well as those spaces that are frequently occupied each day. Nonetheless the ideology of racism is egregious and continues to threaten individual well-being, dignity, and simply put, rights as a human being. As a program within numerous departments of higher education, the lack of literature that addresses racism and subsequently provide resources for educators is problematic. While it is understood that HRD is an interdisciplinary field that draws from multiple bodies of literature, the lack of contributions from HRD researchers, scholars, and practitioners on a topic that counteracts learning and performance is a problem. Solution HRD is uniquely positioned as a field of practice with an affiliate in higher education. HRD researchers and scholars are often instructors in HRD educational programs. This unique position can hugely impact what is learned and therefore what is practiced in the workplace. We propose a framework for an anti-racism curriculum in HRD educational programs that teaches students, the future workforce, how to recognize and disrupt racism and contribute to building workplaces that are equitable, fair, and psychologically safe. We use critical theory as a conceptual framework for an anti-racism curriculum that teaches students about the continued and pervasive system of racism.

Promoting a thriving and productive workforce is a core task for human resource development (HRD) researchers and practitioners. Drawing on the job demands-resources model, this study aims to provide a balanced view of how high performance work systems (HPWSs) influence employee performance through different aspects of employee well-being. Data were collected from 346 employees through a three-wave survey in China. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses. The results reveal that HPWSs positively predict employee performance through psychological empowerment and negatively predict employee performance through emotional exhaustion. Workplace friendship minimises the positive effect of HPWSs on emotional exhaustion and attenuates the indirect effect of HPWSs on employee performance via emotional exhaustion. This study challenges the prevailing idea that HPWSs can always improve employee performance. It informs HRD researchers and practitioners to dialectically assess the impact of HPWSs and include workplace friendship as an intervention measure to reduce the detrimental outcomes of HPWSs and better promote employee development.

ABSTRACTGiven the prevalence of workers bringing work home, issues arising from this practice are a central concern of human resource development (HRD) researchers and practitioners. This study investigates factors related to home boundary permeability (the extent to which one’s home domain is interrupted by work-related matters). Specifically, we examine the impact of technology-related pressure on home boundary permeability, and test both positive and negative consequences of home boundary permeability, along with the role of home support. Based on quantitative data from 267 full-time employees in the Midwestern United States, we found technology-related pressure predicted home boundary permeability, even after accounting for a person’s preference for work–home segmentation. Our findings suggest that high home boundary permeability may be a double-edged sword as it was significantly associated with both greater work-to-home conflict and positive spillover. Further, home support was found to play a buffering role in the relationship between home boundary permeability and work-to-home conflict. Suggestions for how HRD and management practitioners can help employees achieve a healthy balance between work and home are offered.

The Problem Many phenomena in human resource development (HRD) research unfold in the social context. Most of the variables HRD researchers study, even if these are individual-level variables, are inevitably affected by the formal and informal network of actors in which an individual finds oneself. This relational influence is commonly ignored in studies of performance, learning, change, and other questions. The Solution Social networks analysis (SNA) is a methodology that makes it possible to take the relational aspect into account. It allows researchers to model the social capital of an actor and examine how connectivity and position in the network interacts with or influences important outcomes. The Stakeholders Researchers in the field of HRD will be able to uncover a wealth of new information and gain a new perspective by including SNA in their toolkit. This article provides the researchers with an introduction to the methods and provides suggestions for their application.

This article presents and explores a framework of self-directed leadership development (SDLD) to advance conceptual understanding and practical applications for self-development approaches to development of leaders in organizations. Drawing on a diversified literature associated with experiential learning, emotion research, and social cognitive theories of change, the nature of self-development is explored. It is argued that underpinning effective self-development is the integrated operation of three metaskills—skills that are required for the development of other skills—relating to one’s ability to manage emotional reactions to feedback, to carry out effectively the practice of self-reflection, and to enact self-regulatory processes for development. The SDLD framework extends formal organization-based leadership-development practices and integrates multiple processes to aid leaders and human resource development (HRD) practitioners in the promotion and enactment of leadership self-development. The framework also provides guidance for HRD research on self-development and a number of research implications are presented.

The relationship between research and practice in human resource development (HRD) is affected by the gap. To further investigate the research-practice relationship in HRD, we qualitatively analyzed 20 highly cited publications from four Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) sponsored journals. We employed discourse as a relationship-building tool to explore how relationships between research and practice were built and sustained in HRD publications. We identified three interrelated relationships between research and practice in HRD as presented in academic publications: establishing research goals based on practical challenges, advancing HRD practice through research-based knowledge, and research transforming HRD identity. The findings highlighted the role of academic publication in shaping and maintaining the discourse around research-practice relationships in HRD. We concluded this article by considering how research-practice relationships in HRD can be reconfigured and transformed.

Reviewed by: College Student Leadership Development by Valerie I. Sessa Paige Haber-Curran College Student Leadership Development Valerie I. Sessa New York, NY: Routledge, 2017, 213 pages, $49.95 (softcover) Informed by her research on college student leaders, Valerie I. Sessa focuses College Student Leadership Development on how students can learn leadership and develop as leaders. The book serves as a resource to college students, providing a learning model for intentionally guiding one's leadership development. In acknowledging that many skills-based models of leadership exist, Sessa aims to focus less on what one should learn (i.e., skills and behaviors) and more on how one can learn leadership. Sessa has a background in industrial and organizational psychology and has experience as a faculty member in academia, a research scientist and director at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), and an organizational consultant. The definition of leadership presented in the book, "accomplishment of three tasks: direction, alignment, and commitment" (p. xiv), is influenced by the CCL's approach to leadership. This definition allows for individuals, regardless of whether or not they hold a positional role, to participate in the tasks of leadership through developing direction and vision, working together through alignment, and committing to the vision by making it a priority. [End Page 255] The author bases this book on research she and her colleagues conducted on college student leaders (Sessa, Morgan, Kalenderli, & Hammand, 2014). In their study, Sessa et al. (2014) sought to extend research on the leadership competencies and skills learned by successful business executives, which was conducted by CCL researchers in the 1980s (Lindsey, Homes, & McCall, 1987), by replicating the study with college students. The study focused on key developmental events that college student leaders said they experienced and key learning lessons gained from these events. Such events included tackling challenging assignments, receiving mentorship, taking a leadership course, and engaging with peers. The first three chapters in the book set the foundation of learning and leadership for the rest of the book by introducing the reader to the concept of leadership and helping the reader connect with the topic, presenting key fundamentals about learning and specifically learning leadership. Sessa emphasizes four leadership learning outcomes: learning about oneself as a leader (i.e., leader identity); learning about different ways to think about leadership and leaders, learning key leader skills and competencies, and learning formal leadership knowledge (i.e., models, theories, language). The next five chapters are framed around the ReAChS model for leadership development, which includes the four components of reflection, assessment, challenge, and support. Sessa developed the model by integrating components of CCL's Assessment, Challenge, and Support Model of leadership development (McCauley, VanVelsor, & Ruderman, 2010) and a systems analysis organizational learning model that she and a colleague developed (London & Sessa, 2006). The ReAChS model is meant to be a tool for students to "take control of [their] leadership learning and development while in college and beyond" (p. 38) and includes four components. Reflection focuses on stepping back from an experience in order to examine it and make meaning of it. Assessment involves learning more about oneself including one's strengths, developmental needs, leadership effectiveness, motivation, self-efficacy for leadership, and personality or character traits. Challenges are described as "learning triggers" that are new experiences requiring skills or perspectives that haven not yet been used or developed. Support focuses on the network of people who can assist in one's learning process. The ReAChS chapters include a range of reflection prompts, exercises, self-assessment exercises, and other tools. These interactive components invite readers to make meaning of their experience, personalize the content, and consider how they can intentionally craft their leadership development journey. There are also many examples from student leaders and excerpts from Sessa et al.'s (2014) research. The book closes with a chapter on synthesizing and communicating one's leadership story. Sessa provides guidance on creating a leadership learning and development portfolio that includes many components such as accomplishment stories; verbiage about jobs, positions, experiences to highlight on a resume; and a personal statement on leadership. The hands-on and interactive exercises can help readers better understand their own leadership learning and effectively communicate...