Making HRD a Force in Strategic Organisational Change

Abstract

What is the role of the effective human resource development (HRD) organisation in strategic business change. Best practices have emerged which suggest a six‐step approach: (1) a focused strategic approach: identify the key initiatives to which the organisation is committed and build the HRD programmes around them; (2) involvement of top management: grow from the vision and commitment of the chief executive officer; (3) refocus course content: “softer” business skills are essential for significant strategic change; (4) develop impactful learning methods: action learning is a valuable tool for organisations in transition; (5) focused participation: employees participate who can provide the greatest leverage; and (6) empowered participants: provide a learning atmosphere to lead the change. The six‐steps will help the HRD professional become a force in strategic transformation.

Towards a redefinition of strategic HRD

“…Harrison (1997) also suggests that HRD should be led, rather than simply supported, by top management. Torraco and Swanson (1995) and Noel and Dennehy (1991) propose that to earn such support, HRD professionals must demonstrate their strategic capability, crucially by helping strategic planners to acquire the conceptual, analytical and interpersonal skills they require to do their jobs properly. This point is also made by Garavan et al (1998), where it is suggested that HRD is often perceived as a means of helping managers to adopt strategic thinking.…”

“…The concept of Strategic HRD (SHRD) has been much explored in the training and development literature of the last decade (Higgs, 1989;Keep, 1989;Noel and Dennehy, 1991;Garavan, 1991;Holden and Livian, 1993;Saggers, 1994;Sloman, 1994;Rainbird, 1995;Garavan et al, 1995;Torraco and Swanson, 1995;Lee, 1996b;Stewart and McGoldrick, 1996;Harrison, 1997;O'Donnell and Garavan, 1997;Garavan et al, 1998), but there has been relatively little work on what characterises an organisation with a strategic approach to HRD. This article reviews the literature on SHRD and explores the concept specifically in the context of the work of Garavan (1991) which highlighted nine key characteristics of SHRD (see Figure 1).…”

Exploring strategic maturity in HRD – rhetoric, aspiration or reality?

“…Running parallel to this more generalist management literature, there has been an increasing plethora of work examining and defining the role of the Human Resource Development (HRD) profession in organisations. Here, the major focus of enquiry for several authors has been examining how, in such a volatile environment, the HRD profession can contribute strategically to the success of the organisation, through harnessing and developing the potential of its employees, (Noel and Dennehy, 1991;Garavan, 1991;Holden and Livian, 1993;Lee, 1996a;Torraco and Swanson, 1995;Swanson, 2000a). For example, it is noted that:…”

Evaluation of Strategic Factors in HRD Practices of Nepali Banks: Towards Building an SHRD Model

“…Strategic human resource development (SHRD) focuses on integrating HRD activities with organisational goals and values to develop core capabilities that enhance firm competitive advantage (Garavan, 1991(Garavan, , 2007. The concept of SHRD has been much explored in the training and development literature of the last decade (Noel & Dennehy, 1991;Garavan, 1991;Sloman, 1994;Rainbird, 1995;Garavan et al, 1995;Torraco & Swanson, 1995;Lee, 1996;Stewart & McGoldrick, 1996;Harrison, 1997;Garavan 1997). Lyons (2016) underscores the strategic HRD as the field of practice and academic discipline focused on improving organisational performance through strategic alignment and integration of multiple purposefully selected and proactively implemented methods for workforce training and development.…”