10 Module 10: Human resource
development
Introduction
Human resource development (HRD) integrates training, development,
organisational development, career development, and learning of both
employees and the organisation (Stone 2005). This integration, and alignment
leads to effective HRD. HRD is about the creation of a competent and skilled
labour market within the organisation, therefore, it must be integrated with the
other HRM activities, linked to the organisation’s structure and be a part of its
strategic management.
The module emphasises the importance of developing an integrated and
aligned HRD system to the benefits of the organisation and its individual
employees. It discusses related topics such as the determination of
requirements and the evaluation of training, the link between the
organisation’s long-term needs and the importance of providing relevant
developmental programs. The contribution of career management to HRD will
be explained, and the concept of organisational learning and knowledge
management examined.
You should note that some definitions used in the module writing are different
from those used in De Cieri et al. (2008). Likewise, you will find differences
in definitions between articles and other writings you may read. Whilst some
authors articulate definitions relevant to their writings, others may not.
Therefore, interpretations of these writings should be limited to within the
boundaries of known definitions.
Objectives
On completion of this module you should be able to:
examine the concept of human resource development as an integrated and
aligned system
explain the principles by which training and development requirements are
determined
identify the factors that impact on the success of training and development
discuss ways by which training programs can be evaluated
explain the link between the organisation’s long-term needs and employee
development programs
discuss the factors that impact on employee development
examine the methods used for employee development
describe the concept of organisational learning
explain the importance of knowledge management for the organisation’s
future performance
define career management
explain how training, development, career management, and organisational
learning are integrated.
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Ch. 11 & 12Activity 10–1
Select a training and/or development situation you have experienced
recently. It can be an in-house program or a convention. Alternatively, you
may prefer to select a university program or subject you have studied.
Conduct an assessment of its value.
In your assessment you should examine:
The stated objectives and how well these were met.
The training methods, and the degree to which they were effective for
you and why.
The outcomes, making links to the needs of your organisation, your job
and your personal needs as you perceive them. You should consider:
any recent or anticipated changes in job demands and how these
may affect the requirements of knowledge, skills and abilities
goals—organisational and individual
available resources and
foreseeable opportunities both for you and the organisation.
How closely aligned the outcomes were to your needs as stipulated in
your previous performance appraisal (or feedback from your manager)?
Training and development
The competitive demands of the market place and the rapidly changing
environment has forced organisations to realise that to survive, their staff must
be capable of not only responding to that environment but influencing it too.
Think about: Organisations of today tend to have a prime focus on employee
commitment and customer responsiveness. However, do organisations have a
reciprocal commitment to their employees and responsiveness to the
employee’s needs as an internal customer?
If it is assumed that the quality of product or service ultimately depends on the
quality of the employee and management, product and service quality reflect
the underpinning organisational commitment to the development of the
necessary skills, knowledge and abilities (Mello 2002). Then, how committed
should the organisation be to its employee training and development so as to
achieve the organisational objectives?
Gollan (1997) found in his survey that, over the long-term, there is a direct
correlation between increased training budgets and profits and productivity.
Therefore, organisations in a rational sense, should increase their training
budgets in order to gain profits and enhance productivity even in times of
economic downturn. But it has been found that the opposite tends to occur.
Training becomes more fragmented and spasmodic, coupled with a preference
for poaching skills as and when they are required (Sisson & Storey 1993, pp.
171–172). The irony is that the firm behaviour tends to be in line with most
government economic strategy which focuses on cut-backs and low labour
costs to improve productivity. However, it is noted that organisations
competing on cost leadership tend to turn inward with short-term thinking,
while organisations competing on quality and innovation tend to look outward
with long term plan (Porter 1985; Bartlett & Ghoshal 2002).The extent to which an organisation invests in the learning and development of
its staff is a powerful signal of its intentions. Unfortunately, Australia’s
investment in training and development ‘seems to be dangerously behind the
rest of the world’ (Smith 2003, p. 232). For Australia to become globally
competitive, the attitude on training and development must change. This
requires more of the ‘soft’ approach to manage employees, and organisations
need to develop a more strategic, measurable, long-term approach to their HR
planning and development, with a worldwide business-outcome focus (Drury
1998).
Furthermore, employers in Australia and most developed countries anticipate a
rise in the skills requirements across most jobs in the era of developing
knowledge economy. In addition, the skills being sought are changing, and
employers are placing a greater value on generic abilities and transferable
skills such as teamwork, communication, problem solving and leadership
(Smith 2003).
However, employee training and development of abilities and skills must be
tailored to fit and support the organisation’s strategy and structure. For
example, an organisation that has a strategy of providing exceptional quality of
service will aim to develop a committed, long-service cadre of highly qualified
staff. These employees will require comparatively complex training and career
development systems. Alternatively, the organisation that competes on the
basis of simple, low-cost services is more likely to have transient, unskilled
employees.
This is the age of network organisations, alliances, outsourcing, and long-term
relationships with just-in-time suppliers, in which the link between the
organisation’s strategic goals and training and development is difficult to
ensure. Thus some organisations may even provide training for people other
than their own employees, to assure the quality of critical inputs and processes.
For an organisation to achieve its strategic goals it requires adequate
appropriate staff in the right place at the right time. Training and development
are integral to HRM achieving this objective, by assuring that its staff have the
knowledge, skills and abilities to perform to expectation and exception.
Training is not the solution to every performance problem
The goal of training is to enhance performance. But is training always the
answer? Training is not necessarily the most suitable solution to all
performance deficiencies. And if training is only one component of the overall
solution, the other parts must be addressed too. If they are not, the training
outcomes are unlikely to be achieved.
Furthermore, the type of training selected and its design must suit the purpose.
Symptoms and problems can be confused, thus attempting to resolve
symptoms will not solve the problems. Other symptoms will remain and new
ones will develop as the problem deepens. It is most important that the
problem is correctly factored into its proper components and relationships.
Only on this basis can training that will solve the performance problem be
designed.
Training and/or developing?
During your reading on employee training and development you may note that
these concepts often get integrated, yet there is a distinct difference between
them. By having an understanding of these differences you can better
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Ch. 11appreciate the characteristics of each, their processes, and the ways in which
they impact on the short- and long-term success of the organisation. When
defining the difference, exactly where the distinction lies is not important, as
long as there is a clear distinction.
The purpose of training is to help people learn and develop skills. For the
purpose of this discussion, training or employee learning is ‘A planned effort
to facilitate the learning of job-related knowledge, skills and behaviour by
employees’ (De Cieri et al. 2008, p. 735).
Employees need some training, to meet expectations, contribute to the
achievement of the organisation’s goals, and experience success. Training
must be tied to performance, it must result in a change of behaviour, such as
the use of a new skill, otherwise, it is a waste of organisational investment.
Development is defined by Kramar et al. (2014) as:
The acquisition of knowledge, skills and behaviours that improve an
employee’s ability to meet changes in job requirements and in client and
customer demands.
Development refers to formal education, job experiences, relationships and
assessment of personality and abilities that help employees prepare for the
future (Stone 2005). Development tends to have a long-term focus, it looks
beyond immediate needs. Training, on the other hand, is short-term. Unlike
training, development does not occur during class, it occurs during, after, and
beyond.
Unfortunately, training and development are often considered to be one and
the same. Clearly, they are not. They should be planned in different ways, for
quite different outcomes. They can be, and are often, combined. However,
such a plan should be designed consciously, with clear differentiation between
the training and development strategies and outcomes in mind. It is therefore
logical to have two separate chapters on employee learning/training and
employee development in your textbook.
Whilst recruitment and selection strategies select the best available applicants,
gaps between the organisation’s requirements and staff’s knowledge, skills and
abilities remain. The purpose of training and development programs is to close
this gap, assisted by other HRM activities such as reward programs.
Activity 10–2
Read ‘Blended Learning’ in De Cieri et al. (2008, pp. 424–425), and discuss
the possible advantages and disadvantages of e-learning and how e-learning
might contribute to organisational success and sustainability.
You may like to access the site for more insight into this initiative:
http://flexiblelearning.net.au/.
Training and learning
The aim of training is to enhance people’s specific knowledge and skills, to
assist them to do their present jobs and tasks better. This appears to be
straightforward, however the notion of learning is complex, and the successful
matching of knowledge and skills needs, and learning styles, to suitable
training programs must accommodate a range of variables. In addition, there
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Ch. 11are a number of factors that impact on learning and the translation of that
learning into performance in the work place. Not only must training programs
accommodate all these factors, they must be effective, efficient, and costeffective.
Factors that impact on learning
Training is only successful if learning takes place. There are several factors
that impact on how well training translates into learning and behaviour change.
Behaviour itself cannot be taught, as it is the outcome of knowledge, skills,
abilities, personality, motivation, values and attitudes. Therefore, behaviour
change will occur with changes to these factors.
Learning styles
Everything, men, animals, trees, stars, we are all one substance involved in
the same terrible struggle. What struggle? … Turning matter into spirit.
Zorba scratched his head [and said] ‘I’ve got a think skull boss, I don’t grasp
these things easily. Ah, if only you could dance all that you’ve just said, then
I’d understand … Or if you could tell me all that in a story, boss.’
(Kazantzakis 1952)
The quote above suggests that people like Zorba could have different learning
styles. Schools have been very slow to grasp that the traditional dominant
system of ‘telling what and how’ fails to meet the needs of many students. The
persistence with this system continues to waste much potential in our youth.
Research has found that there are several learning styles (Baird, Griffin &
Henderson 2004; Dunn & Dunn 1978; McShane & Von Glinow 2000). To
realise an individual’s potential, the training method must align with the
individual learning style. For example, rather than the traditional method of
attending lectures and reading, some people learn better by visual (seeing),
others by doing physical activities and manipulating objects. There are several
ways by which these learning styles can be categorised. What title is placed on
an individual’s best style is not important, as what matters is to obtain the
closest possible alignment between the individual style and the training
methodology.
Other individual differences
In addition to the person’s individual learning style, a number of other factors
affect how a training program should be designed. Some of these factors are:
prior learning
age and level of maturity
vocational aspirations and ambitions
special talents
mechanical dexterity
ability to work under the conditions that are relevant to the training and job
motivation, expectations, and interest.
The expectation to succeed significantly affects learning outcomes. If learners
expect to succeed, they would work hard but will become angry, frustrated,
resentful if they are not as successful as they expected. The learner who does
not expect to succeed is unlikely to work hard, but may respond well if some
success follows some effort. As it is natural to avoid negative experiences andbe attracted to positive ones, it is important that learners set demanding yet
realistic goals for themselves.
Another factor is the perception of the expectations of other people who are
important to the learner. If ones believe that their supervisor expects them to
succeed, they are more likely to do so.
Linked to preferred learning style, expectation and motivation is the level of
interest the learner has in the subject to be learned, and in the learning process
itself (Smith 1982).
Ethnic minority learners
Some learners may be from ethnic cultures with backgrounds and behaviours
that are quite different from the majority of learners and the trainers. Language
is only one aspect to consider. Cultural, social, and prior learning difference
may impact on aspects of training such as the expectation to take responsibility
for individualised work, or to engage in creative activities. And the perception
of the authority of the trainer may affect the degree to which the learner is
comfortable and able to respond to discussion and to ask questions.
Learners with disabilities
Any disabilities, physical and intellectual, must be accommodated in the
design of training programs. Each disability has unique limitations which
require consideration. Special training may be required. Training may need
modification, in which case specialists in such training can be a valuable asset.
Environment
The physical environment impacts on how well people learn. For some, strong
light can make them quite uncomfortable and distract from learning, while for
others the strong light can be an energiser. Individuals differ in the amount and
type of sound that can be tolerated or blocked out when trying to learn, and
sound can be a stimulant or distraction to learning.
Individuals differ in their levels of concentration during the day. Some people
concentrate better early in the day, while others concentrate better later in the
day or evening.
People differ in the extent to which they prefer an informal and supportive
climate, or a more formal and impersonal one. Some training environments are
warm and friendly, with a high degree of expressed interpersonal concern.
Feedback is positive and supportive, and the participants are encouraged to
help one another. The alternative is a more aloof environment. Instructors are
more distant, feedback focuses on errors, and participants are expected to be
competitive.
Adult learners
Of significance in the organisational setting is the distinct differences between
how adults learn compared with children (Cross 1981; Delahaye 2004;
Grabowski 1980; Knowles 1984). These differences include:
Adults tend to be more goals oriented, therefore appreciate a program that
is structured systematically, with elements clearly specified.
Adults come with extensive background experience from both their
personal and working lives. This can be a major resource for the instructor
as a base on which the participants can relate the new learning. Adults may be less flexible than their younger counterparts. Habits and
methods of operation have been established, and change causes
discomfort. Therefore, they must see the advantage of making any change.
Adults want to be treated as adults. They do not like being patronised.
Most mature adults are self-directed and independent. They prefer to
actively engage in their learning, using the instructor as an informal
facilitator to guide and assist.
Some adults have disengaged from education because of negative school
experiences. These participants may lack confidence and need reassurance
of their ability to learn. They may lack motivation. Often they lack the
strategies for acquiring and remembering information, and for transferring
that information to real situation on the job.
For training to be successful, it must accommodate the needs of the individual
participant, as well as those of the organisation.
Evaluation of training
With the rapid rate of change there is an ever increasing need for training and
retraining. As training is expensive and the costs are forever rising,
organisations must know that the training programs they conduct, or for which
they contract, achieve definitive and measurable outcomes.
Activity 10–3
List a number of training methods discussed in De Cieri et al. (2008,
pp. 422-430). Which training methods do you personally prefer? Discuss
your answer with your classmate, or your family member/friend or
colleague and see whether your preference is different from theirs. Evaluate
the impact of these differences on designing an organisation’s training
programs.
Development
For an organisation to survive in the long-term, its staff must be able to meet
new challenges, and not only react to change, but to create it. This requires
employee commitment, adaptability and quality performance. To achieve this,
development of core capabilities of employees who are able to provide
leading-edge value to a company and its customers via ‘expanding
intelligence, creativity and innovation, and building integrity in relationships’
(Miller 1998, p. 9) is essential.
Employee development, by definition, is more long-term oriented, and more
focused on education than job-specific training. The purpose of development
is to educate the person to think and understand, that is, to understand causeand-effect relationships, to synthesise from experience, to visualise
relationships, and to think logically. These processes involve analytical,
human, conceptual, and specialised skills (Eller 1995).
Historically, development was reserved for managers. However, it is critical to
develop and educate all levels of employees, as organisations increase their
dependence on work teams, reduce supervisory positions, encourage
employees to set the goals of their jobs, and focus on quality and customers.
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Ch. 12Evaluation of development programs
As development management aims to meet long-term organisational needs,
and it incorporates the changing of characteristics that are difficult to
quantifiably measure, evaluation of programs is difficult. Also, the purpose of
evaluation is to gauge effectiveness, efficiency, cost, attitudes and reactions,
and long-term benefits. The results are used to make decisions in further
program selection and design.
The ultimate test is the long-term result, when those who have undertaken a
program are in positions to influence the organisation’s direction. Is the
organisation achieving its vision, is the strategic plan being successfully
implemented, and the organisation experiencing growth and development? But
by the time such questions can be answered, the responses are no longer timely
for development program decisions.
However, some factors can be qualitatively assessed in the shorter-term. These
are based on expression of behaviours that are considered expedient for the
organisation’s future development. They include:
alignment of personal and organisation goals and vision
individual values common with those of the organisation
good alliance between individual behaviours and the idealised
organisational culture
competence in those skills and knowledge required for the future
organisation
superior levels of commitment, adaptability and high quality of
performance
increasing evidence of expanding intelligence, creativity and innovation,
and integrity in relationships (Miller 1998, p. 9).
Activity 10–4
Think about a number of ways organisations can use to evaluate the
effectiveness of various training and development programs. Read ‘Ongoing
ROI Struggles of L&D’ (De Cieri et al. 2008, p. 434) and discusses the ongoing challenges of measuring learning and development initiatives within
organisations.
Career management
How well organisational goals become a reality is determined by the
effectiveness of its people. Organisational commitment is determined by how
well the organisation’s vision is translated and aligned to the visions and goals
of employees. Only when the organisation’s vision has personal impact and
importance can it be meaningful, rather than idealistic and irrelevant, and be
influential for the organisation.
In part, good performance management articulates and evaluates employee:
performance
personal goals and aspirations
balance and integration between their work and home life.
When people have determined their personal visions, their career planning can
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Kramar et al. 2014
Ch. 12accommodate new learning and skills development.
By the use of career management, and training and development, the
organisation can help managers and employees:
develop a program that translates personal goals and aspirations to a reality
that is satisfying and fulfilling
align individual and organisational visions by clarifying and prioritising
individual goals, activities and motivations
better balance and integrate their work and home life.
Career management and employee and manager development are closely
intertwined. A number of employee and manager development techniques
have impact on career management (see Kramar et al. 2014,Chapter 12). For
example, mentoring relationships are likely to include career counselling. As
explained, a well designed individual development program will result in a
balanced integration of satisfied needs. Career management is integral to
employee development.
The learning organisation and workplace
learning
An effective organisation is conscious of the influence of technology, global
markets, customer expectations, and competition. Learning is the only weapon
by which organisations can cope and drive change, and their collective
learning and effective knowledge management can lead to competitive
advantage (Baird & Henderson 2001).
However, there is a distinction between learning, and learning how to learn.
Learning is limited if only to detect deviations from the norm and select action
that will correct the deviation without an appropriate examination of current
learning behaviours. This is known as single loop learning. Double loop, or
generative learning, examines the whole situation. When the deviation is
detected, it is not assumed that the strategy of taking action to correct the
deviation is the most appropriate approach. The norms themselves are also
questioned. This questioning allows for the norms to be manipulated and the
whole system to be reorganised. There is continuous experimentation and
feedback in an ongoing examination of the way in which the organisation goes
about defining and solving problems. The organisation using a double-loop
learning approach is learning how to learn, it is continually reinventing the
learning process, and itself (Joergensen 1999).
An effective organisation is able to scan its environment, and set its objectives
and goals within that environment. The organisation constantly monitors its
performance, and makes the appropriate adjustments to keep ‘on track’ to
achieve its goal.
Think about: Is an effective organisation necessarily a competitive one? Is
effectiveness a reflection of competitiveness?
The answer may be ‘NO’. Why? Effectiveness is gauged by the achievement
of goals, not by whether these goals are the ones that will place the
organisation in a competitive position and prepare it to meet future challenges.
Therefore, an organisation can be undertaking a process of learning, but this
does not make it a learning organisation. A learning organisation is an
evolving one, continually questioning its own existence, as well as questioningits identity, and reinventing itself to maximise the opportunity via a process of
double-loop learning (Kamoche 1997).
Double loop learning can only be undertaken in an environment that supports
and encourages employees to aspire for commitment, quality and flexibility
(Guest 1997), and in an organisational culture that can reinforce continuous
generative learning. Learning and knowledge management of employees) must
be valued above all other assets. This philosophy must be considered in the
design of the organisation’s training programs, and it must be the prime
objective of the organisation’s development and career management program.
The concepts of adaptive versus generative learning, learning organisations,
and knowledge management are areas of complex study. We encourage you to
explore these topics further, should these areas become one of your interests
either in your current or future pursuing of a career specialising in learning and
development.
Human resource development (HRD)
HRD integrates training, development, organisational development, career
development, and learning of both employees and the organisation (Stone
2005). The integration, and alignment of all these HRM function forms an
effective HRD program for organisation.
Unfortunately, in practice, many organisations fail to appreciated the value of
human resource development and do not take a holistic approach to investment
in human capital. This is mainly because organisations tend to be short-term
focused, employing staff that would closely meet their short-term performance
requirements, and providing minimum training to accommodate their
immediate needs. Today’s organisations have gradually realised that investing
in human capital creates competitiveness for short term and at the same time,
has long term values, that is continuously feeding into the pool of available
and quality human resources that are crucial to meet organisations’ future
needs.
Summary
This module has briefly explained the concept of human resource
development. HRD is an integrated and aligned system which contributes to
the achievement of organisational goals through organisational learning.
Training and development needs were discussed, and the relevant factors that
impact on learning were explained. Different approaches to training and
development were mentioned. It is important for organisation to take a doubleloop learning process to continuously generate new learning and new
knowledge that will be beneficial for future organisational performance.Review questions
Review question 10–1
Why is training important?
Review question 10–2
What are some of the factors that impact on employee learning?
Review question 10–3
What is a learning organisation?
Review question 10–4
What work environment characteristics influence transfer of training?
Review question 10–5
Define the difference between training and development.
Review question 10–6
What are the characteristics of successful mentoring programs?
Review question 10–7
What is succession planning?
References
Baird, L, Griffin, D & Henderson, J. 2004, ‘Time and space: reframing the
training and development agenda’, Human Resource Management vol. 42,
no. 1, pp. 39–52.
Baird, L & Henderson, J 2001, The knowledge engine, Berrett-Koehler, San
Francisco.
Cross, P 1981, Adults as learners: increasing participation and facilitating
learning, Jossey-Boss, San Francisco.
Delahaye, BL 2004, Human resource development: adult learning and
knowledge, 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons, Milton..
Drury, N 1998, ‘Raising the bottom line’, Management Today (AIM), October.
Dunn, R.& Dunn, K 1978, Teaching students through their individual learning
styles: a practical approach, Prentice-Hall, VA.
Eller, D 1995, ‘Motorola trains VPs to become growth leaders’, HR Magazine,
June, pp. 82–87.
Gollan, P 1997, ‘Costing HR—training reveals its bottom value’, HR Monthly,
May, pp. 11–15
Grabowski, SM 1980, ‘What instructors need to know about adult learners’,NSPI Journal, vol. 14, July, pp. 15–16.
Guest, D 1997, ‘Human resource management and performance: a review and
research agenda’, The International Journal of Human Resource Management,
vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 263–276.
Joergensen. K 1999, ‘Managing organizational learning—from rhetoric to
reality’, Organization Studies, pp. 703–712.
Kazantzakis, N 1952, Zorba the Greek, Simon and Schuster Inc.
Kamoche, K. 1997, ‘Knowledge creation and learning in international HRM’,
The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 8, no. 2,
pp. 213–225.
Knowles, M 1984, Andragogy in action: applying modern principles of adult
learning, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Kramar, R, Bartram, T, Ceiri, HD, Noe, RA, Heooenbeck, JR, Gerhart, B &
Wright, RM 2014, Human Resources Management, McGraw-Hill, Sydney,
NSW.
McShane SL & Von Glinow, M 2000, Organizational behavior, emerging
realities for the workplace revolution, McGraw Hill, Boston.
Mello, JA 2002, Strategic human resource management, South-Western,
Cincinnati, OH
Miller, WC 1998, ‘Fostering intellectual capital’, HR Focus, vol. 75, no. 1,
pp. 9–10.
Sisson, K & Story, J 1993, Managing human resources and industrial
relations, Open University Press, Milton Keys.
Smith, A 2003, ‘Recent trends in Australian training and development’, Asia
Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 231–244.
Smith, RM 1982, Learning how to learn, Follett, Milton Keyes.
Stone, RJ 2005, Human resource management, 5th edn, John Wiley & Sons,
Brisbane.
Glossary
Human resource development (HRD)—integrates training, development,
organisational development, career development, and learning of both
employees and the organisation (Stone 2005).
Learning organisation is an evolving one, continually questioning
organisational own identity and place, and reinventing the organisation to
maximise its opportunities by the process of double-loop learning (Kamoche
1997).
Performance management—incorporates job design, recruitment and
selection, training and development, career planning and compensation and
benefits, in addition to performance appraisal (Stone 2005).
Further readings
Asplund, R & Salverda, W 2004, ‘Company training and services with a focuson low skills’, International Journal of Manpower, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 8–16.
Baird, L, Griffin, D & Henderson, J. 2003, ‘Time and space: reframing the
training and development agenda’, Human Resource Management, vol. 42,
no. 1, pp. 39–52.
Ehrich, LC & Hansford, B 1999, ‘Mentoring: pros and cons for HRM’, Asia
Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 92–107.
Hearn, G, Close, A, Smith, B & Southey, G 1996, ‘Defining generic
professional competencies in Australia: toward a framework for professional
development’, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol. 34, no. 1,
pp. 44–62.
Ruona, WEA & Lynham, SA 2004, ‘A philosophical framework for thought
and practice in human resource development’ Human Resource Development
International, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 151–164.