Using Empathy Interviews and Qualitative Evidence to Improve Human Resource Development Practice and Theory

Abstract

Scholars have long advocated the use of evidence, particularly quantitative evidence, to guide program improvement efforts in the field of human resource development. Yet, there is also widespread recognition that quantitative data has limitations and that new sources of information are useful. The purpose of this article is to consider the use of qualitative evidence to support program improvement efforts within the field of human resource development (HRD). Specifically, the article describes how HRD professionals might design and conduct empathy interviews, a technique widely used in improvement research, to produce a compelling theory of practice that can be used to support program improvement activities. Empathy interviews are thus positioned as a valuable but under-utilized form of qualitative data in the field. As such, the article describes a design process that considers how to select a perspective, structure the conversation, and analyze data. The completion of this process has implications for the development of HRD theory because it shifts the focus from a program-to user-centered understanding of practice.

Using Interpretive Methods to Unleash the Potential of Human Resource Development

“…Like many scholarly fields coming out of the psychological tradition, Human Resource Development is predominately positivistic. A strong tradition of and interest in qualitative methods exists, but these methods are generally underused (Cho, 2023; Lester, 2023; Lochmiller, 2023). Yet, human resource development – with its focus on developing employees and organizations, where the human experience and human dynamics are necessarily central to generating understanding and enacting change – is particularly well suited to qualitative methods because of its socially enacted nature.…”

“…As such, “a strong need to fill the gap” remains in relation to qualitative research methods within the field (Cho, 2023, p. 4; see also Cho et al, 2022). This has resulted in a recent, and in our eyes welcomed, re-turn toward more qualitative approaches in Human Resource Development (see Discetti & Andersen, 2023; Gisby et al, forthcoming; Kuchinke, 2023; Lester et al, 2023; Li, 2023; and Lochmiller, 2023). Indeed, the few recent articles that have heeded the call to explore qualitative methods in relation to Human Resource Development (ibid; see also Gibson & Hanes, 2003; Githens, 2015; Grenier & Collins, 2016), have been relatively bold; embracing research methods not commonly seen in the broader fields of management and organization studies (see Lê & Schmid, 2019; Lê & Schmid, 2022).…”

“…Indeed, the few recent articles that have heeded the call to explore qualitative methods in relation to Human Resource Development (ibid; see also Gibson & Hanes, 2003; Githens, 2015; Grenier & Collins, 2016), have been relatively bold; embracing research methods not commonly seen in the broader fields of management and organization studies (see Lê & Schmid, 2019; Lê & Schmid, 2022). Specifically, papers have centered on autoethnography (Grenier & Collins, 2016), phenomenology (Gibson & Hanes, 2003; Kuchinke, 2023) and associated techniques of lived experience (Lochmiller, 2023), discursive methods (Lester et al, 2023), critical action research (Githens, 2015), visual analysis (Gisby et al, forthcoming), and diffractive analysis (Li, 2023). It is thus an exciting time for qualitative approaches to human resource development.…”

Editorial: Mapping the Next Phase of Growth for HRDR

“…These new methods can reside in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method areas. The emergence of new technologies (Lochmiller, et al, 2023; O’Kane et al, 2023) provides new and exciting opportunities to enrich the field, including advanced methods and developments in machine learning. One instance is the expansion of digitization in organizational HRD processes, which have significantly increased the types of data available, including individual-level data.…”