Using system traps to understand and potentially prevent human resource development intervention failure

Abstract

Adopting human resource development (HRD) activities can lead to improved organizational outcomes, such as improved performance and innovation. However, while the implementation of HRD strategies is widespread, there are concerns that they have failed to support the learning and skill acquisition required to support both individual learning and improved organizational outcomes. Having established that HRD is a systems level issue, this paper applies Meadows's (2008) system traps to suggest that adopting this lens could explain why extensive HRD interventions have failed to deliver desired system outcomes. Qualitative data is analyzed to consider why HRD interventions fail to result in increased capability development in the Australian public sector. The findings demonstrate four system traps were present in HRD interventions, which help explain the ongoing failure of HRD interventions to support required learning or improve organizational performance: (1) shifting the burden to the intervenor; (2) seeking the wrong goal;(3) policy resistance; and (4) drift to low performance. We argue that the presence of these traps suggest that HRD subsystems will need to be reconceptualized for there to be a real improvement. To this end, we apply Meadows's (2008) suggestions to overcome the traps, identifying potential strategies for HRD practitioners to act as system intervenors. Our

The ‘Rich Pictures’ Method: Its Use and Value, and the Implications for HRD Research and Practice

“…The ‘rich pictures’ (RP) method is a relatively recent addition to this stable, originating out of Checkland’s 1970s Soft Systems methodology (Checkland & Haynes, 1994); itself an adjunct to mapping approaches used in information technology circles to show connections between various systems. As such, it would seem a pertinent tool for understanding how HRD and other organizational subsystems could be integrated to enhance organizational performance (Blackman et al, 2022). Indeed, Checkland suggested that a systems approach could be usefully applied to any aspect of human and organizational endeavor (Horan, 2000) to gain a different perspective on a situation, problem or idea – our own and others – and could be helpful in bringing thinking into a sharper focus as it becomes available for conscious inspection.…”