Table Of ContentManagement for Professionals
Lyle Yorks
Amy Lui Abel
Denise Rotatori
Strategic Human
Resource
Development in
Practice
Leveraging Talent for Sustained
Performance in the Digital Age of AI
Management for Professionals
The Springer series Management for Professionals comprises high-level business
and management books for executives. The authors are experienced business
professionals and renowned professors who combine scientific background, best
practice, and entrepreneurial vision to provide powerful insights into how to achieve
business excellence.
Lyle Yorks • Amy Lui Abel
Denise Rotatori
Strategic Human Resource
Development in Practice
Leveraging Talent for Sustained
Performance in the Digital Age of AI
Lyle Yorks Amy Lui Abel
Adult Learning and Leadership Executive Programs
Columbia University, Teachers College The Conference Board
New York, NY, USA New York, NY, USA
Denise Rotatori
Global Technology
Bank of New York Mellon
New York, NY, USA
ISSN 2192-8096 ISSN 2192-810X (electronic)
Management for Professionals
ISBN 978-3-030-95774-2 ISBN 978-3-030-95775-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95775-9
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Preface
As in many areas of professional practice, the level of uncertainty and ambiguity
regarding the future of work is raising. At the individual, departmental, and organi-
zational levels, workers, managers, and executives have to be continuously learning
from current and emerging trends in order to strategically reposition themselves for
performance and future possibilities. Doing so requires competencies in applying
strategic learning practices and developing the personal capacity for navigating the
complexities of a world in which people are interacting with “smart” digital tech-
nologies that are broadly grouped together under the umbrella term Artificial
Intelligence. Strategic transitions requiring the transformation of organizations is
more necessary than in the past as these digital technologies themselves are rapidly
evolving and transforming the world more quickly than ever before. The popular
acronym VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) reflects the
contemporary challenges confronting not only business, but all organizational sec-
tors, including education.
It is for the purpose of providing tools and practices for strategically navigating
this context of continuous change, and the learning and development implications
for human resource development, that we have written this book providing methods
and practices for engaging in strategic learning along with the theoretical frame-
works on which they are based. It also provides a review of the evolution of the field
human resource development as an academic discipline. The foundations of this
book are the academic discipline of Human Resource Development and the prac-
tices of human capital/talent management that are being applied in various compa-
nies around the world during the time of an intensifying pace of change being driven
by digital technologies. In today’s world of rapid change marked by uncertainty and
ambiguity, strategic agility is a necessity for individuals, departments, and functions
within organizations and institutions. Individuals are now working within the con-
text of a growing gig workforce with organizations making decisions about balanc-
ing full-time and contingent employees. Additionally, different sectors of the
socio-economic environment are intersecting. For example, IBM has partnered with
the American Council on Education; it has been determined that completing an
apprenticeship program offered by IBM is equal to 45 college credits and can be
transferred into a degree program. Another example is Google offering career cer-
tificates at high schools and colleges across the country. In this context of change,
the concept and definition of strategic planning itself has to be reassessed.
v
vi Preface
The idea of “strategic planning” is rooted in the military with the process dating
back to B.C.—many scholars trace the idea back to Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. It
became a central topic in the business literature in the late 1950s and 1960s as the
pace of innovation began growing and the pace of change in the business environ-
ment began changing. Jump forward to the twenty-first century and as Willie
Pietersen, a former CEO who is a Professor of Practice in Executive Education at
Columbia University Business School, has argued, strategic planning needs to be
preceded by strategic learning. Strategy formation is an individual, team, and orga-
nizational learning process. Planning follows strategic learning because in a time of
new technologies the ability for strategically navigating through uncertainty is nec-
essary at the individual, group/team, and organizational levels. The essence of strat-
egy is allowing for the emergence of new insights which requires stepping outside
one’s traditional frameworks by seeking diverse perspectives on what is, and might
be, trending, and then planning.
Drawn from research and work we have been doing with various companies who
have been applying digital technologies to the talent management process and the
academic field of human resource development, our focus is linking theory with
practice and providing illustrations from case study settings. We are also integrating
concepts from different areas of the literatures on strategy and human resource
development. Each chapter provides a review of both the theoretical frameworks
and practices relevant to the chapter topic. The need for strategic agility has implica-
tions for developing and managing the workforce; it is elevating the role of human
resource management in general and particularly the learning and development
function in organizations.
This book is an extension and update of Lyle’s previous book on strategic human
resource development published in 2005. It is intended as a text for HRD courses
focusing on strategic human resource development practice, including strategy
development as a learning process, connecting learning and adult development with
organizational development and change, and talent development. Our focus is link-
ing theory with practice and providing illustrations from case study settings. The
book takes a scholar-practitioner perspective and can also be a resource for HRD
practitioners and others who are assuming a talent management or learning and
development role in their organization. Additionally, the learning practices described
can be used for facilitating strategic learning and agility in organizations by HRD
(L&D/talent management) professionals.
New York, USA Lyle Yorks
New York, USA Amy Lui Abel
New York, USA Denise Rotatori
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the support and valuable perspectives and information provided
by our colleagues and members of The Conference Board as we researched and
wrote this book. We also acknowledge the faculty and alumni of the Adult Learning
and Leadership program in the Department of Organization & Leadership in
Teachers College, Columbia University, and Executive Education at the Business
School. They were too very supportive and made valuable contributions to our
research.
vii
Contents
Part I Chapters Providing the Foundations and Practices for Strategic HRD
and Talent Management
1 The Scope of Human Resource Development: Both an Academic
Discipline and Professional Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 What Is Human Resource Development? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.1 The Roots of Contemporary HRD Scholarship
and Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.2 Differing Perspectives and Key Commonalities in
Understanding HRD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1.3 Moving Toward Coherence in Defining HRD . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.1.4 Recognizing the Need for Strategic HRD (SHRD) . . . . . . . . 9
1.2 Looking Beyond Coherence: The Traps of a Mindset
of Unity in a World of Complexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3 Returning to the Question “What is Human Resource
Development?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3.1 Our Definition of HRD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.3.2 Also, the Need for Continuing the Debates
in the Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.4 Human Resource Management, Learning and Development, and
Organization Development—And Leveraging AI Technology . . . . . 14
1.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2 Foundations of Learning Theory for HRD Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.1 What Is Learning? An Overview of the Theoretical Terrain . . . . . . . 22
2.2 Knowing What—Knowing How—Two Distinct Spheres
of Learning, Yet Interconnected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2.1 Yes Distinct, but Interconnected Spheres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.2.2 Four Types of Learning—Edward Cell’s Learning
Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.3 Transformative Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.4 Connecting the Terrain with Experiential Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.4.1 Single Loop Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.4.2 Double Loop Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
x Contents
2.4.3 Triple Loop Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.4.4 Assessing Kolb’s Framework and Experiential Learning . . . 31
2.5 Adult Development Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.5.1 Kegan’s Constructive Developmental Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.5.2 William Torbert’s Action Logics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.5.3 John Heron’s Developmental States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.5.4 The arc of Adult Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.6 Somatic Learning: Mind-Body Awareness for Self-Development . . 39
2.7 From Individual to Team and Organizational Learning . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.7.1 Frameworks of Team Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.7.2 Organizational Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.8 Self-Directed Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.9 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3 Strategically Positioning HRD Practice in Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.1 A Political Economy Model for Understanding Strategic
Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.2 How HR Is Repositioning Itself: The Changing Political
Economy of HR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.3 Strategic Political Acumen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.3.1 Mapping the Political Territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.3.2 Analyzing the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.3.3 From Mapping to Strategic Leadership Action . . . . . . . . . . . 66
3.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4 Digitalization, Artificial Intelligence, and Strategic HRD . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.1 Pivotal Moments in the Evolution of AI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.1.1 The Historical Evolution of the Thinking Machines:
A Brief Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
4.1.2 A Brief Overview of the Historical Foundations
of Big Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
4.2 Understanding AI in 4IR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.3 AI Applications in HRD Practice—Current and Potential . . . . . . . . 73
4.3.1 Adopting Emerging Technology in Human Resources . . . . . 74
4.3.2 HR’s Responsibilities as Stewards of Workforce
Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
4.3.3 A Brief Look Back: HR as Stewards of the Workforce
Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
4.3.4 Fast Forward to 2030 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
4.4 AI in the Talent Lifecycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.4.1 The Talent Lifecycle: Attraction and Recruiting . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.4.2 The Talent Lifecycle: Onboarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
4.4.3 The Talent Lifecycle: Learning & Development . . . . . . . . . . 78
4.4.4 The Talent Lifecycle: Rewards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
