Week 9: 10th June – 16th July (Activities: 5.1 and 5.2)
This unit focuses on the work and working life of the HRD professional. It discusses key issues facing the HRD professional today. Starting with a consideration of roles and the organisation of HRD work, the unit explores the development of the HRD profession and the challenges of work in contemporary organisations. Specifically, you will explore the importance of managing stakeholder and other professional relationships, working with consultant or working as a consultant yourself, securing funding for HRD activity, and the increasing relevance of ethics and diversity to HRD practice.
As you work through this unit, you will often be asked to reflect on a particular topic (such as networking) in terms of both your own development and how this might relate to the broader practice of HRD within an organisational context (for example, to what extent can the development of networking skills and opportunities be incorporated within HRD approaches?). You will find that this dual emphasis appears in different topics and is particularly pertinent in the later discussions of ethics and diversity.
In the first four units of this module you have explored key concepts related to HRD practice and examined how these are implemented in contemporary organisations. Specifically, you considered the theoretical underpinnings of HRD practice (Unit 2), explored different dimensions of HRD strategy (Unit 3) and examined how to plan and implement a range of HRD interventions (Unit 4). A common theme running through these units is the complex and multifaceted nature of HRD. It will not come as a surprise, therefore, that the nature of HRD practice and the roles fulfilled by HRD professionals are equally complex and multifaceted. This unit unpacks important issues faced by HRD professionals as they carry out their work.
Additional study resources in this unit
The table below shows what additional resources you will need for study in each section of this unit, alongside the online materials.
|
Section |
Materials |
|
5.1 What
do HRD professionals do? |
Activity 5.1: Printed
Reader 8 and online resources |
|
5.2
Contemporary challenges for HRD professionals at work |
No additional resources |
|
5.3 Who
has a stake in HRD professionals’ work? |
Activity 5.2: Online
readings |
|
5.4
Managing professional relationships |
Activity 5.3: Audio
and tutor group forum Activity 5.4: Video,
online reading and tutor group forum |
|
5.5 HRD consultant–client relationships |
Video Activity
5.5: Printed
Reader (also available online) |
|
5.6 Business cases and budgets |
Activity
5.6: Individual
research Activity
5.7: PDFs
(downloadable) Video |
|
5.7 Ethical considerations for HRD professionals |
Activity
5.8: Online reading and tutor group forum |
|
5.8 Diversity and the HRD professional |
Activity
5.9: Online
reading |
Learning outcomes for Unit 5
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
- critically evaluate the responsibilities of HRD professionals
- explore the organisation of HRD activity in contemporary organisations
- critically review how to manage professional relationships via networking
- evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different client–consultant relationships for HRD projects
- explain different approaches to funding HRD activity
- outline the essential components for an HRD business case
- evaluate different business case outcomes
- review pertinent ethical issues for HRD practice
- critically consider the importance of diversity in relation to the work of HRD professionals.
