CHAIR'S MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR...As Fred Nickols long ago evangelized, “perhaps the most fundamental responsibility of management is to channel organizational energy along productive

IFTDO NEWS NUMBER 2 OF 20182

CHAIR'S MESSAGE

Dear members

Compliments to our new EditorDr. Bart Tkaczyk for producing anew look IFTDO News No 2 of2018 with rich contents. He hasdone an excellent job and I amsure, our members and readerswill benefit from it. I also wishto place on record ourappreciation of great contributionby our previous Editor Dr. RickHolden over the past 5 years.

We had a great 47th IFTDO WorldConference in Dubai, hosted byour Full Member Dubai PoliceAcademy which made it amemorable event. ThisNewsletter gives a coverage ofthe Conference. We now lookforward to our next 48th IFTDOWorld Conference to be hostedby HRDF on August 26-27, 2019in Kuala Lumpur on the Theme'Learning Disruptions: TheUnforeseen Reality'.

I want to reiterate that IFTDO isa Federation-an organisation oforganisations. The main strengthof IFTDO lies in its membershipbase. While we are making allefforts to increase the valueproposition for our memberorganisations, I would seek theirsupport and involvement inIFTDO activities to derivemaximum benefit. Members cantake full advantage from our website, IFTDO News, IFTDO'sInternational Journal of HRDPractice, Policy & Research, andthrough participation in IFTDOWorld Conferences. They arewelcome to join and contributeto our Committees. IFTDO willgrow to become as strong andproductive as members make it.

Raj Auckloo

Chair of the Executive Board

SECRETARY GENERAL'S REPORT

I join the Chair of the Board in welcoming ournew Editor Dr. Bart Tkaczyk. I would requestmembers to send news, information on theirevents and other material for inclusion in theIFTDO News/ website to Dr. Bart.

IFTDO Board and Annual General Meetingwere held at Dubai in conjunction with the47th IFTDO World Conference on March 20-22, 2018. At the AGM, Dato’ C MVignaesvaran, from Human ResorceDevelopment Fund, Malaysia (host of the2019 conference) was appointed IFTDOPresident to hold office till the next IFTDOConference in Kuala Lumpur on August 26-27, 2019. Dato’ C M Vignaesvaran has sinceleft HRDF and the name of new nominee isawaited from HRDF. The nominee from IndianSociety for Training and Development (thehost for 2020 Conference) Dr. R. Karthikeyan(name received subsequently) was appointedPresident –Elect for the same term. For theterm 2019-2020, Dr. Ebrahim Al’ Dossaryfrom Bahrain was unanimously elected as theChair of the Board, while Mr. Raj Acukloo wasunanimously elected Hony. Treasurer andfollowing were elected unopposed asMembers of the Board:

1. Prof Abdel Bari Durra, DCTD, Jordan2. Prof Ronald Jacobs, AHRD, USA3. Dr. R Karthikeyan, ISTD, India4. Dr. Chung-Cheng Lee-CSTD, Taiwan5. Mr. MeshackTafa, HRDC, Botswana

Several members have not yet logged in atour revamped web site www.iftdo.net andaccessed the Members area (which also hasIFTDO AGM and Board Minutes, AnnualReports, summaries of Award winningentries). The log in ID and passwords toaccess Members Area were communicated toall members along with the Guidelines tolog in. Members are requested to visit ourrevamped web site www.iftdo.net, which isnow on WordPress. They can edit theirinformation and upload their logos. As statedin the guidelines, guests of members (suchas their staff and members) can also accessMembers area for which a separate set of login ID and password were sent to all members.I would request all members to make fulluse of these facilities on our web site andgive us their feedback. In case of any problem,

members are welcome tocontact me.

Dr. Uddesh Kohli

Secretary General

FROM THE EDITOR

Welcome to the second, and refreshed, issue of IFTDONews in 2018.

In my new role as IFTDO News Editor, my purpose is tore-energize the IFTDO news and our community.As Fred Nickols long ago evangelized, “perhaps themost fundamental responsibility of management is tochannel organizational energy along productive lines”(See the new and exciting Idea Watch department), andhe’s right. So here goes!

Creating Happiness in the Workplace was a key themeof the 47th World Conference and Exhibition in Dubaithis year. The mega event in Dubai turned out to be amassive hit – again. For those who did not attend it,the 2018 IFTDO World Conference Highlights departmentpresents a picture of some of the energizing topicsexplored. Dubai is a genuine hot-spot, and theConference was buzzing with positive energy andinnovation indeed.

To make sure what we do is both practical as well asrigorous, I’ve decided to radically re-organize andactually introduce new departments of the News.Among others, apart from the IFTDO World Conference

Highlights, Breaking News will now spread the wordabout our partners’ global events to the world. Thought

Leader Interview will be featuring leading scholars(Herein, Dr. Rick Holden and I exchange ideas onHuman Resource Development. Rick, thank you kindlyfor your tremendous service, too!). Mini Case Study

will be relating some major organizational concepts toreal-world settings and demonstrate how issues aretackled in real-life business situations. In On the Editor’s

Bookshelf, I’ll be sharing with you what I’m readingthese days, and I like reading – a lot (Creating Great

Choices: A Leader’s Guide to Integrative Thinking is amust-read for anyone interested in the process of supercreative problem solving. Hint: When it comes tohardest choices, rather than choosing the least worstoption, use the models in front of you to create a novelas well as superior answer). Cutting-Edge Research

will offer research findings as research insights (I’mpositive that the research from the Association for Talent

Development, Human Capital Institute, and Society for

Human Resource Management will inspire you andyour organizations).

Finally, we’ve arrived a little late to the game, but#IFTDO is officially on Twitter! Do follow us for greatcontent at www.twitter.com/IFTDO_Global.

Happy reading – and sharing!

With very best wishes,

Dr. Bart Tkaczyk,

MBA, Fulbright Scholar(UC Berkeley), Course Leader(mbasprint.com), CEO &Head of Learning and Capability(Energizers, LLC).Email: [email protected]: @DrBTkaczykMBA

WELCOME


2018 IFTDO World Conference Highlights

IFTDO Best HRD Practice Award: Virtual Technology Center, General Department of AI,

Dubai Police

Initiative: Virtual Training

Dubai Police: A Positive Model for the

World

Dubai Police employs cutting-edgevideo games technologies to createvirtual incidents ranging from crimescenes, to traffic accidents, to hostagescenarios. They do so too in an engag-ing way that mimics real-life situationsso as to allow the trainees to learn-by-doing to harness their skills in a safeand practical environment. Early on,Dubai Police has realized the need foreffective solutions to enhance andsupport the traditional methodsemployed for learning and develop-ment. Indeed, over many years, it hasresearched and developed many virtualenvironment prototypes to reach thecurrent state – a large portfolio ofvirtual environment products. Theseproducts have been replicated in manydifferent fields and are leading apositive technological transformationfor the methods used in learning in thepolice domain and beyond. Suchcreations by Dubai Police have beenused nationally, regionally and interna-tionally. What must be underlined,however, is that all of these items havebeen developed in-house – usingDubai Police personnel within theVirtual Technology Center in theGeneral Department of ArtificialIntelligence (AI). In doing so, DubaiPolice not only has managed to build acapital of intellectual property softwareassets registered in the Ministry ofEconomy, but it has also managed toboost human capital and a wealth ofexpertise in using video game tech-nologies to produce serious games thatare effective in solving numerous real-life challenges.

Key Achievements

Dubai Police has built a strong team ofexperts in the virtual environmentsfield. The tangible benefits includeresearch, intellectual property devel-opment and innovation capital creation.In the process of building its portfolio,Dubai Police has generated 14 publica-tions in journals and conferenceproceedings. Moreover, it has secured34 copyrighted virtual environmentsthat have been registered in theMinistry of Economy. Income, too, ismade from selling current ready-madeapplications or building custom-madeapplications for other organizations.Dubai Police is viewed as a pioneer inthe world as it houses the first special-ized in-house games developmentcenter which focuses on developingserious games within a police organiza-tion. Point of fact, Dubai Police was thefirst police force in the whole world tobuild a simulation for traffic accidentsinvestigators.

Project Performance Results

1. Learning impact has been proven inthe classroom as well as in the field.Consider the impact for crime sceneinvestigators (CSI) – crime sceneinvestigators who trained usingvirtual environments performedbetter in real cases than those whodid not – by an average of 57.2%.

2. The products cover 4 major strategicgoals of Dubai Police and rangeacross 10 different security topics –servicing most of the 20 generaldepartments and more than 7 otherorganizations.

3. All virtual learning environmentshave been developed in-house.

4. IP capital for 34 copyrighted virtualenvironments have been registeredin the Ministry of Economy underthe Dubai Police name.

5. Locally: The Dubai Police Academyhas accepted the virtual learning

environments in 3 fields (CSI, TrafficInvestigation, and Body Language)to be used in their License in Lawmajor. What is more, many courseshave been conducted using thevirtual environments build by DubaiPolice. Such have been utilized byseveral different organizations: theUAE Ministry of Interior (includingAjman Police and Sharjah Police)and Special Weapons and TacticsTeams (SWAT) across the UAE.

Massive Success Story

1. Regionally: the products developedby Dubai Police have been used totrain Crime Scene Investigators fromQatar Police.

2. Internationally: The InternationalCivil Aviation Organization (ICAO)recommended the use of our virtualenvironments. “Dubai presentedtheir newly developed and innova-tive computer-based learning tool,known as the 'Virtual RealityTraining System'. The systemreceived recognition in terms ofproviding a rich, interactive, andengaging educational context, thussupporting experiential learning-by-doing.” Moreover, the UnitedNations (UN) has officially requestedthe collaboration with the Virtual


Applications Development Center.The National Tactical OfficersAssociation (NTAO) use productsinvented by Dubai Police.

3. Media Coverage: Dubai Policevirtual training products have beenpresented at more than 40 exhibi-tions.

4. Revenue from selling current ready-made products: Dubai Police hassold 60 licenses from CSI, TrafficAccident Investigation and BodyLanguages to a governmentorganization.

5. Assets Utilization: The cost of virtualtraining is much less than the cost

for field training. For example, thevirtual training cost of having 1659trainees on CSI and traffic accidentinvestigation is around 9.6 milliondirhams, whereas the field trainingcost for 1659 trainees would bearound 79 million dirhams.

The 47th IFTDO World Conference and

Exhibition in Dubai was the occasion for

recognizing the research of Ronald L.

Jacobs, professor of human resource

development at the University of

Illinois, USA. Professor Jacobs was

recognized both as the winner in the

Research Excellence Category and in

the Overall Category that included the

Practice Award Category as well. Upon

receiving the award at the Conference,

Professor Jacobs said, “I am extremely

honored to have my work recognized

by IFTDO, as the organization truly

represents a global perspective of the

human resource development field. I

am especially grateful for the gracious

generosity of the award sponsor, the

Dubai Police Academy.”

Professor Jacobs’ recent research has

focused on understanding knowledge

work to a greater extent, a term that

was first coined by Peter Drucker in

1957. Unfortunately, since that time,

there has been much discussion about

the topic but few efforts to actually

operationalize the term in the work-

place. That is, how can a manager

distinguish knowledge work from other

instances of work that occur. In an

article published in the June 2017 issue

of the Human Resource Development

Review (HRDR), Professor Jacobs

establishes the term knowledge-based

tasks as the units of work that represent

knowledge work. (Ed Note: HRDR is an

SSCI listed journal, and one of four

published by the Academy of Human

Resource Development.)

Perhaps more important than providing

a better understanding of knowledge

work alone, Professor Jacobs also

sought to address the question of how

to develop workers to perform knowl-

edge work. The response to this

question calls for more than just a

training program alone. It requires a

sequence of development activities,

including the acquisition of both

domain-specific information and a

cognitive strategy to ensure the

domain-specific information is used

appropriately. The coming years will

challenge human resource develop-

ment professionals to implement such

programs. But the importance of

understanding knowledge work and

responding to its implications have

become critical issues. As Professor

Jacobs explains in his article, “There can

be no doubt that work will continue to

become more complex, driven by

pressures on organizations to respond

to changes in work and to become

more competitive.”

Consistent with the Conference theme

of “The Future is Today: Creating

Happiness in the Workplace”, IFTDO

was pleased to recognize Professor

Jacobs’ work on knowledge work,

since being productive and happiness

go hand in hand.

IFTDO Overall and Research Excellence Award: Professor Ronald L. Jacobs

IFTDO members are invited to send news items on their events and activi-

ties, articles, research and surveys undertaken and other information of

wider interest to the Editor, IFTDO News as follows:

Dr. Bart Tkaczyk, MBA

Email: [email protected]


Breaking News

Indian Society for Training & Development 47th National Conference 2018

Under the dynamic leadership of Dr. R.Karthikeyan, National President of theIndian Society for Training &Development (ISTD), ISTD NATCON2018 was hosted by the ISTD ChennaiChapter on June 8-9, 2018, at HotelHilton, Chennai in India. There werearound 400 participants from all acrossthe country, and with the generoussupport of the ISTD team members,NATCON 2018, the mega event, washeld successfully – with flawlessplanning and execution, combinedwith good hospitality by the ISTD.

The theme of the Conference was“Corporate Innovation Stories ofInspiration for Sustainability andGrowth”, with the following sub-themes:

- Innovation at Corporate Sector

- Innovation at Start-Ups

- Innovation at EducationalInstitutions

- Fostering Innovation in Organization

- Innovation at Social Sector

- Innovation – A Spiritual Perspective

Apart from Dr. R. Karthikeyan, thefollowing presenters were the keyspeakers at ISTD NATCON 2018:

1. Keynote Speaker: Dr. VinayshilGautam, Chairman of DKInternational Foundation

2. Chief Guest Address by: Dr. RanjanKumar Mohapatra, Director-HR,Indian Oil Corporation Ltd

3. Mr. Naresh Kumar Pinsetti, President,HR-Deepak Fertilizers andPetrochemicals

4. Mr. A Vijashankar, Director-PeopleAdvisory Services-E&Y

5. Dr. Sujatha Muthanna, PhD, Head ofLearning and Development atInfosys

6. Mr. Lohitashwa Thyagaraj, MasterInventor, Automation Architect ofIBM

7. Mr. Prasad Menon, Sr. VP-HR,Cleartrip.com

8. Mr. Sathya Prasad, M/s AshokLeyland-Speech on Agility andStability

9. Mr. Gokul Ranganathan, ErehwonInnovation

10. Dr. Rajeshwari Narendran, HonoraryDirector, Academy of HRD,Ahmedabad

11. Mr. Cherian Thomas, World VisionIndia

12. Fr. Jerry Tom, Bosco Institute,Jorhat, Assamn

13. His Holiness Bhakti Vinoda SwamiMaharaja-ISKON

Moreover, several engineering collegestudents provided us with someoutstanding presentations regardingtheir innovative projects and products.

The participation was great in terms ofattendance and in asking active andwell-informed questions. Of note, theparticipants truly enjoyed the beautifulmusic and video wall conducted byRajesh Jagan of Chennai. Needless tosay, everyone also luxuriated in theservice of fine food and beverages.

Overall, the NATCON was extremelywell received by the participants,sponsors, speakers and the NC and MCmembers of all the visiting Chapters ofthe ISTD, besides the organizing teamof the Chennai Chapter and the NationalOffice.

Dr R. Karthikeyan, National President ofthe Indian Society for Training &Development in 2016-17 and 2017-18.Has been elected as National PresidentISTD for the third time consequentlyfor 2018-19 and 2019-20. Has beenappointed as President Elect and willserve as IFTDO President for 2020IFTDO Conference for which the ISTD isa host company.


Thought Leader Interview

Thought Leader: Dr Rick Holden

Bart Tkaczyk: Hi, Rick, I’d like to firstthank you for always making anenormous contribution to IFTDO, andfor making the time to give thisinterview today.

Rick Holden: My pleasure.

Bart Tkaczyk: What would you like usto know about you, Rick?

Rick Holden: Well I guess mainly thatI’ve not completely disappeared sinceretiring as IFTDO News Editor. I’m stillworking hard to nurture and developthe International Journal of HRD Practice,

Policy & Research(JHRDPP&R) launcheda couple of years ago by IFTDO and theUFHRD.

Bart Tkaczyk: How did your journeyinto HRD begin?

Rick Holden: Very definitely with myearly career at Cadbury-Schweppes. Ijoined as a graduate trainee inpersonnel management. It was someyears before we saw the beginnings ofa move towards re-branding the peoplefunction. Initially I worked in industrialrelations but then the opportunity aroseto move into organization developmentand which led a couple of years later tobecoming one of the company’straining managers. The subsequentmove into academia was a comingtogether of my earlier research

interests with the practice experiencein personnel management gained atCadburys.

Bart Tkaczyk: Now, what is HRD today,and what are some of the big issues forHRD leaders today?

Rick Holden: Mmmm…I think there aretwo big questions here within the oneyou have posed to me. Let’s look at thenotion of HRD first. As I mentioned afew moments ago when I began workwith Cadbury-Schweppes HRD was notsomething which was recognized…itwas personnel management and withinpersonnel management we had thethree main activities of industrialrelations, recruitment, and training. It’sbeen interesting to be part of the shiftfrom personnel management to HRM,and, of course, HRD. I recall manydiscussions around the question “oldwine in new bottles?” though I’m notsure we ever reached satisfactoryconclusions! Focusing specifically uponHRD where I feel this moved us forwardis in two main respects. Firstly,organizationally, I think HRD enablesus to escape the somewhat narrow andlimiting concept of training. That isn’tto say training is no longer an importantactivity within an organization but “HRD”provides a construct for us to work withall the different ways people candevelop. So, we can think aboutpersonal development, self-development, team development,leadership development. I amparticularly keen on the notion ofcontinuous development, and I seeone of the main priorities of an HRDprofessional being to manage andfacilitate continuous developmentwithin the organization. This of coursebrings its own tensions but I think we’regoing to discuss these next. I can’treally leave this question withoutmentioning learning. And you mightsay “well, what is training if notlearning new behaviors or skills?”.Learning is indeed at the heart of anychange, whether it be individual orcollective/organizational. But I feel

that learning sits more comfortablywithin the discourse of what HRD isabout and what it seeks to contribute –organizationally.

The second area where I feel HRD hasreal legitimacy is in relation to nationalpolicies and practice to develop asociety’s citizens…not just in terms ofworkforce skills but again continuouslyfrom “cradle to grave” as it were. Manycountries now have HRD ministrieswhich develop policy in respect of therange of challenges facing the country.Strangely the UK is an exception. We’vebeen struggling throughout myprofessional career with a deep tensionbetween “education” and “training”between the pathways open to youngpeople at 16 or 18, and also aboutwhat role the government should takein respect to workforce development.Indeed, this is still a problem the UK isgrappling with and which might bebetter managed with fewer tensionsunder an inclusive notion of nationalHRD (NHRD).

You asked about the challenges facingHRD leaders today and I know you wantto talk about challenges facing the HRDprofession in a moment, so I’ll justmake a couple of brief points at thisjuncture. Firstly, as I noted earlier, Iam most comfortable with a notion ofHRD as something which embracescontinuous learning – whether withinan organization or more broadly as partof being a citizen. But, organizationally,I think this creates a real challenge forthe function. How do you create theappropriate frameworks, provide thenecessary investment, deliver theappropriate support for inclusive HRD? Irecently reviewed an excellent bookentitled “The Human Workplace:People-Centred OrganizationalDevelopment” by Andy Swann. Theauthor makes a compelling argumentthat workplaces can be energizing andcollaborative, with a strong learningculture and be successful economically.I think some can but I am far fromconvinced that all can. So much


depends on the business model beingpursued. It is entirely rational fororganizations in certain sectors of anyeconomy to compete on costs – andnot skill levels. Why?... because thismeans the business makes money! Justlook at the Amazons of the world, partsof the gig economy or some public-sector services. Taylorism is alive andwell in many organizations. It ismisleading to say the least to claim thatthe knowledge economy is somehowuniversal and all pervasive. I imaginelife for the HRD professional in suchorganizations, even if they employone, is tough…very hard to pursueideas and practices that are at the heartof HRD.

Secondly, I think a challenge for HRDleaders is the same as a key challengefor leadership in any organization. Howto shift attention away from theindividual “leader” to shared

“leadership”. There’s not much researchevidence that single individual leadershave any real impact. Emphasis needsshifting to the value of morecollaborative, less hierarchicalpractices…distributed leadership. AndHRD is no exception. Indeed, it shouldperhaps provide the role model for therest of the organization.

Bart Tkaczyk: HRD in organizations hasbeen exposed to a remarkable pace ofchange in recent years (think, forexample, new ways of working), whatwill be some major challenges facingour profession in the future? What doyou reckon?

Rick Holden: Phew…how long have wegot? Let me preface my response hereby saying that there is a danger inseeing change as only “game in town”,forgetting that for many people goingabout their daily working lives muchstays the same. And this is no badthing. We should never find ourselvesoperating on a basis of change forchange’s sake. Let’s just think ofsomething like training needs analysisfor a moment. Why change a veryeffective system of assessing trainingneeds for new recruits to anorganization because someone says wemust constantly be changing? Ofcourse, it is right to ask the question isthis process fit for purpose? But if the

answer comes back “yes” then leave italone. This said, there are some realchallenges affecting the HRDprofession; one of which is the use ofthe very word “profession”. HRD still hasno adequate discipline in which tolocate its professional practice. And yourightly refer to the nature of work. Ithink here lies the source of two –inevitably inter-related – challengesthat I’ll say a bit more about. I don’tthink it’s an exaggeration to talk of aFourth Industrial Revolution where aconfluence of technologies such asartificial intelligence, robotics and theinternet of things provide a capabilityfor transformation for generations tocome and much disruption andunpredictability along the way. But,and it is a big “but”, we must be carefulnot to look at this with one eye closed.I have a concern that much of theprevailing discourse around thechallenges facing HR and HRDaddresses the top half of the jobs in thehourglass economy; what I call “HighRoad HR”. But, and this picks up thepoint I touched on a few moments ago,what are the challenges for HR workingwith the large numbers of employeesin establishments where job quality ispoor? What are the challenges for HRin the large number of organizationswhere work is menial, intense, lackingin discretion and autonomy – but is soprecisely because this is the businessmodel which ensures a profitableenterprise? Training, and learningmore generally, in such organizationsbecomes, at best, a second or thirdorder issue, often linked to compliance,or even perceived as an unnecessaryluxury altogether adding nothing to the“bottom line”.

Secondly, and to an extent leading onfrom this point… is HRD itself in dangerof joining the growing ranks of thosethat get left behind? Left to globalforces the expansion of low paid andlow skilled work is likely to becomemore pronounced leading touncomfortable political and socialdisruption (just think for a moment ofthe rising numbers of unemployedyoung people globally). I think thereare difficult times ahead for theprofessions in general and maybe HRDin particular. Are we in fact seeing

HRD's status weakening? It was hardlyenhanced during the global financialcrisis when HRD professionals wereaccused by some of becomingbystanders because they lacked thenecessary influence to change thepractices they could see happening.With the advance of technology it is notthat difficult to suggest a pessimisticscenario where HRD professionals areneeded less in creative endeavors.Their work becomes deskilled andreduced in value because machines cando their work better and more costefficiently; for example, by reducingcomplexity to uniform andstandardized packages that can berolled out as “Training” courses acrosslarge numbers of uncritical learners.Analytics provides another example.Increasingly the hype is that Analytics isthe “must-have” capability for the HRprofession… Analytics will provide thepathway to developing andstrengthening the strategic influence ofthe HR function. My reading of theresearch evidence in terms of thecapabilities needed by HR suggests ithas a steep learning curve ahead. And,there is possibly a bigger problem. I’mnot sure ideas about HR data andAnalytics have penetrated the thinkingof much of the profession. So, it ispossible that current trends will sealthe exclusion of HR from strategic,board-level influence while doing littleto benefit organizations and activelydamaging the interests of employees.

Bart Tkaczyk: On a personal note, whatwould you like to be remembered for,RIck?

Rick Holden: Well, let me answer thisby identifying another challenge – insome ways very much related to thelast issue I was talking about – but onethat I feel I have been fighting for for30+ years. I don’t think that sufficient ofthe profession are what I would callcritically reflective practitioners. Putcrudely, and, perhaps, rather harshly –most HRD professionals would ratheraccept, uncritically, the latest 10-pointchecklist derived from some magazineor website rather than reflect carefullyon the implications of research – whichis ongoing in the field – for theirorganizations. I endeavor to championHRD scholarly-practice – where all HRD


Mini Case Studyprofessionals, wherever they work,operate with questions at the top oftheir agenda. Questions which enablethem to not only better understand theorganization in which they work, itsbehaviors, its assumptions, but alsotheir own behaviors, values andassumptions and how these may needto change in relation to their pursuit ofeffective HRD professional practice.

And of course, this is where theInternational Journal of HRD Practice,

Policy and Research (JHRDPP&R) comesin. The Journal is also championingHRD scholar-practice. It is seeking tochallenge the hegemony of the well-established academic journals. Dothese serve the profession well? I thinknot. We need knowledge and insightabout HRD which is not pursued oracquired for its own sake but which canmake a contribution to resolving theproblems and meeting the challengeswe face both in organizations andsociety more widely.

So, I’d like to be remembered assomeone who successfully launchedand edited a journal which broke themold and someone who helped raisethe status of HRD Scholar-Practice to a“must-have” professional capability.

Bart Tkaczyk: Thank you very much,Rick.

Rick Holden: You’re welcome.

Dr Rick Holden is Research Fellow atLiverpool Business School. Until 2014he was Principal Lecturer at LeedsBusiness School. He has been Editor ofThe International Journal of HRD Practice,

Policy & Research (JHRDPP&R) since itslaunch in 2016, having previously beenIFTDO News Editor for five years andEditor of the Emerald Journal Education

& Training for over 20 years. Rick hasled numerous HRD related researchprojects with both private and publicbodies and through research grantsfrom the likes of UK Government,UFHRD and the British Association ofManagement. He is the author of theleading Palgrave Macmillan HRD textbook, “Human Resource Development:Theory and Practice”. On completion ofhis PhD in 1981, Rick began his careerin HR with Cadbury-Schweppes Ltd.

Improving Nursing Staff Engagement and Retention

Overview: Client Organization

The client organization was a 200-bedcommunity hospital in the MidwesternUnited States. The hospital had beenrecently formed via the merger of twoother facilities plus the addition ofthree new service lines. The newoperation included an emergencydepartment and 18 other units andspecialty areas with a staff of more than500 nurses.

Challenge

Across the U.S. healthcare industry, ashortage of nurses is a persistent andgrowing problem. According to the2016 National Healthcare Retention &RN Staffing Report, turnover foraverage sized facilities runs about 17.2percent with each point costing slightlymore than US$373K.

A related challenge facing manyfacilities is high levels of voluntarynurse turnover – nurses leaving of theirown choice.

In the client organization, annualturnover was below the nationalaverage at 15.6 percent (approximatelyUS$5.6M), but increasing. Additionally,the nurse engagement scores on anational survey were well below themean.

Leaders know that motivation equals

goals plus control (Hill, 2001). They alsoknow that engagement andinvolvement are signs of effort, whichis a reliable indicator of motivation.

Further, in every organizational setting,a lack of employee engagement iscostly. Beyond higher rates ofunplanned staff turnover, it can lead tonegative impacts on internal operations,knowledge retention, customerrelationships, and bottom linefinancials, as noted in the clientexample above.

Solution

In healthcare, the process of engagingwith staff is often called “staff rounding”.

To address the engagement issue andimprove communications between thenursing staff and leadership, the ChiefNurse implemented the OrganizationalPerformance Systems’ cloud-basedEmployee Engagement System (EES).

The EES is an open platform forenabling staff rounding – collectingand processing suggestions andfeedback from the nursing staff. EESdoes not use a Likert scale approach.Instead it captures narrative ideas thatare categorized to add specificity (seefunctions below) and drive followthrough. EES also tracks completion ofthe submissions so staff can see theirsuggestions progressing.

Other key functions of EES include:

• An easy to navigate issue/idea entryscreen

• Public or private sharing

• Client defined categories (e.g.,building maintenance, bright ideas,process, quality of life)

• An ability to add interested teammembers and stakeholders to anyissue or idea

• Robust and transparent reporting

The objectives of implementing EESwere to:

• Increase executive visibility of“higher order” improvement ideas

• Drive visible follow-through of staffideas and recommendations thatenhance safety and quality

• Allow access to anyone, at anylocation, on any shift, todemonstrate trust

• Create a reliable data set and ensurea repeatable, sustainable process

Results

Within weeks, EES was viewed as awelcome resource by both leaders andstaff.

The following results were realized bythe facility after implementing EES:


• Year 1 reduction in nurse turnover:2.8% (financial benefit, approxUS$1.04M)

• Year 2 reduction in nurse turnover:9.8% (financial benefit, approxUS$3.65M)

• Reduction in premium pay(overtime and temporary nurses):~50%

• Number of performancerecommendations submitted: 600+

• Number of open items: 28 (as ofJune 29, 2018)

Lessons Learned

Employees have a wide range ofchoices for where they want to work.So, practically, the annual use ofLikert-type feedback scales (3, 5, 7, etc.)to learn how they feel about certaintopics has little bearing on theirengagement or commitment.

To maximize employee engagement,it is much more valuable for theorganization to learn how the workenvironment can be improved. Thisleads to real opportunities foremployees to see their ideastransformed into action – and thatcontributes to the retention of the best

performers.

Further Reading

Hill, Jr., J. J. (2001). Motivation = goal +control. Performance Improvement,40(2), pp. 18 – 21.

Dr. Jim Hill is the founder and CEO ofOrganizational Performance Systems,based in the Silicon Valley. He is also apast president of the InternationalSociety for Performance Improvement.He is the author of many articles andbook chapters, including his 2013 book,Giving Away Power. In 2017, he was oneof two private sector executives to

testify before the U.S. CongressionalCommittee on Evidence-basedPolicymaking. Dr. Hill is a graduate ofThe Ohio State University and receivedhis doctorate from the University ofSouthern California.

On the Editor’s Bookshelf

Jennifer Riel & Roger Martin. (2017). Creating Great Choices: A Leader’s Guide to Integrative Thinking.

Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press

What stops us from generating andacting on great new ideas within anorganization? Too often, it is becausewe use the same old approaches todecision-making, bringing existing

tools to bear on a problem even whenit is clear that those tools are not up tothe task. To create new ideas, and havethose new ideas gain traction, we needto seek to solve wicked problems innew ways, using a robust set of tools forthinking differently about the problems.

Conventional wisdom says it is essentialto make trade-offs. And that issometimes true – companies rarelysucceed by trying to be all things to allpeople. But there are some cases inwhich accepting the obvious trade-offjust isn’t good enough. Sometimes, thechoices in front of us don’t get us whatwe need. In these cases, rather thanchoosing the option we can live with orfinding a sad compromise, we can usethe models in front of us to create anew and better answer. This isintegrative thinking.

First introduced in Roger Martin’ssuccessful 2007 book The Opposable

Mind, integrative thinking is anapproach to problem solving that usesopposing ideas as the basis for

innovation. It is a process of exploringthe tension between opposing models– using solutions to a problem that arein fundamental conflict with oneanother – as the starting point forgenerating new solutions. The newsolutions take elements of the originalmodels, but are superior to each. Thecore principles are 1) to seek out andleverage the tension of opposing ideasand 2) to create new solutions ratherthan choosing or merely compromisingbetween existing ones.

The Opposable Mind highlighted storiesof Jack Welch, AG Lafley, Isadore Sharpand others to illustrate how topbusiness leaders used integrativethinking in their strategic decision-making. Now, in Creating Great Choices,Martin and his co-author Jennifer Rielmove from theory to practice. This newbook aims to demystify the process ofcreative problem-solving, and it laysout a practical four-step methodologythat can be applied across challengesand contexts. Both stimulating and


Cutting-Edge Research

practical, Creating Great Choices

provides hands-on advice to help anyleader or manager facing a toughchoice.

Jennifer Riel is an Adjunct Professorand Executive-in-Residence at theRotman School of Management at theUniversity of Toronto, teachinginnovation and integrative thinking. Anaward-winning teacher, Jennifer is also

a strategic advisor to senior leaders at anumber of Fortune 500 companies.Roger L. Martin is an author, a businessschool professor and a strategy advisorto CEOs. Former Dean of the RotmanSchool at the University of Toronto, hewas named the most influentialbusiness thinker in the world byThinkers 50 in 2017.

ATD | Personalized and Adaptive Learning: Shaping Employee Development for Engagement and

Performance

Effective learning isn’t one-size-fits all.Personalized and adaptive learninghold great promise as ways to reachlearners with content that is tailored totheir needs and preferences and isrelevant and engaging. Personalizedlearning provides instruction tailored toan individual based on the learner’sinterests, experience, preferredlearning methods, learning pace, jobrole, or other factors. Adaptive learningis a specific type of personalizedlearning that uses computer-basedtechnology (including algorithms andartificial intelligence) to modifycontent to a learner’s needs in real-time.

A new research report from theAssociation for Talent Development(ATD) and the Institute for CorporateProductivity (i4cp), Personalized and

Adaptive Learning: Shaping Employee

Development for Engagement and

Performance, finds that 83 percent oforganizations personalize at least someof their learning. Personalized learningis especially beneficial for two distinctpopulations—senior leaders and newemployees (defined as those with lessthan one year of tenure). Althoughfewer use adaptive learning (55percent), the number using it isexpected to grow rapidly in the nextcouple of years, and it is particularlyeffective and impactful when used fordeveloping salespeople.

So what challenges can organizationslooking to adopt or expand

personalized and adaptive learningexpect to encounter? The studyparticipants said that they struggle withtechnology issues and new contentdesign considerations. However, manyare working to improve their outcomes.Successful tactics include formingpartnerships with tech companies,involving employees in the designprocess, and providing employees withtraining on how to use these learningassets.

One champion ofpersonalized andadaptive learning,Adrian Stevens, VicePresident of Learningand ProfessionalDevelopment at globaltech innovation firmHewlett PackardEnterprise, observed:“If companies are goingto be more agile andinnovative, learning hasto be less rigid andmore fluid to enablethat. Everyone learnsdifferently, and theyhave varied levels ofexperience and ability.For talent development,personalizing learning isabout how we light apositive fire to inspireindividuals’ appetites tobecome lifelonglearners committed to

building their acumen. Fororganizations, that translates toemployees who bring greater value tomeetings, decision-making, innovation,customer engagement, leadership—allthe elements that drive businessperformance.”

The full report is available from ATD atwww.td.org/research-reports/personalized-and-adaptive-learning-shaping-employee-development-for-engagement-and-performance.


ATD | Needs Assessments: Design and Execution for Success

When a talent developmentprofessional becomes aware of a majororganizational challenge, it is often awise choice to start by launching aneeds assessment. In the new researchreport Needs Assessments: Design and

Execution for Success, the Associationfor Talent Development (ATD) definesa needs assessment as the process fordetermining and addressing gapsbetween current or desired conditions.Training and non-training solutions mayclose the existing gaps.

ATD looked at how organizations areusing needs assessments, as well asthe challenges and benefits associatedwith them. ATD surveyed 759participants. While only 56 percent ofparticipants used needs assessments,among those who did, results showedthat 68 percent thought that theirorganization’s needs assessment effortswere highly or very highly effective.Although effectiveness was rated quitehigh by participants, they alsoidentified several key challenges inconducting needs assessments. Forexample, 70 percent of respondentsreported that stakeholders believingthey already know the needs was a topchallenge. Other leading challengesincluded the extensive time it takes toconduct a needs assessment (50percent) and getting buy-in fromothers, such as business leaders (44percent). This signals that there is roomfor improvement in organizationalneeds assessment efforts.

Experts recommend following thegeneral needs assessment with a morespecific, focused training needsassessment. Beth McGoldrick,instructional designer at RiverSourceInsurance, says that, when approachedwith a training assignment, “I start witha needs assessment on what’s going onwith the business and why there is aproblem. When (or if) training has beenidentified as one of the possiblesolutions, then I start doing a trainingneeds assessment.” A training needsassessment is the process of identifyinghow training can help an organizationreach its goals. The researchfound that training needsassessments are mostfrequently done whendesigning technical trainingprograms and leadershiptraining programs.

Although surveys are a popularchoice among study participantsfor gathering needs assessmentdata, the research finds thattalent developmentprofessionals should considerinterviews and focus groups tomaximize effectiveness. Forinterviews and focus groups tobe successful, it is imperative tobuild relationships with thosewho are providing information.Gus Prestera, president ofPrestera FX Inc, explains thatinitially, employees probably“aren’t going to be honest with

you; they don’t know you, they haveno reason to trust you. If you just send acold hard survey out of nowhere or youtry to conduct a focus group or dointerviews, they don’t know how you’regoing to use the data. They don’t knowif what they say might wind up gettingthem fired or hurt their career in someway, so they’re going to try to tell youwhat they think you want to hear.”

The full report is available from ATD atwww.td.org/research-reports/needs-assessments.

HCI | Talent Pulse 5.1: Strategic Workforce Planning 2020

Strategic workforce planning (SWP) isundoubtedly one of the most necessaryprocesses organizations must undergo.It is a critical component of growth andbusiness evolution, prompted evenmore today by the pace of change andvolatility in markets and industries. Andyet, it is also one of the most complex.Effective SWP requires organization-wide support and resources, cross-functional collaboration, and clear,ongoing senior leadership contribution

and sponsorship. In this Talent Pulseresearch report, Human Capital Institute(HCI) researchers describe the practicesand processes that High-PerformingOrganizations (HPOs) use in their SWPefforts. Specifically, HPOs create anintentional vision for SWP andimplement it in the following ways:

• Business leaders more readily andeffectively promote the importanceof SWP and its change initiatives.

• The SWP process is aligned with aclearly articulated business strategy.

• HPOs invest more time in each ofthe eight components of HCI’s SWPprocess—and report higher rates ofeffectiveness at each step.

• They have the right owners andcollaborators in the SWP processand report higher ratings ofeffectiveness in collaborating acrossteams.


• Technology is used more effectivelyto manage the SWP process. HPOscollect more data to gain greaterinsight into the factors impactingSWP.

The full report is available from HCI atwww.hci.org/hr-research/talent-pulse-51-strategic-workforce-planning-2020.

HCI | Talent Pulse 5.2: Bridging the Skills Gap with Workforce Development Strategies

Workforce development relies onpublic and private partnerships thatsustain local communities as they buildthe workforce of the future. Thesepartnerships not only enrich talentpipelines but enhance their internaltraining efforts. Those organizationsthat are among the most active inworkforce development report betterbusiness, talent, and organizationaloutcomes, while they also reportshorter time to fill, increased quality ofhires, and lower recruitment costs. Inthis Talent Pulse research, HumanCapital Institute (HCI) researchers findthat effectively bridging the skills gaprequires organizations to do thefollowing:

• Identify your organization’s hard-to-find skills.

• Diversify your approach andmethods.

• Build a compelling employee valueproposition to attract and retaintalent in candidates’ market.

• Partner with educational institutions.

• Extend partnerships across multipleagencies and institutions.

The full report is available from HCI

atwww.hci.org/hr-research/talent-pulse-52-bridging-skills-gap-workforce-development-strategies.

SHRM | SHRM Survey Finds Health and Wellness Offerings Help Drive Continued Increase in Benefits

Provided to Employees

As a tight job market continues to helpdrive increases in employee benefitsoffered by organizations, health andwellness along with employeeprograms and services are the benefitsmost likely to be increased, accordingto the results of the 2018 Employee

Benefits Survey released in June by theSociety for Human ResourceManagement (SHRM).

The survey results indicated that morethan one-third (34 percent) oforganizations increased their overallbenefits in the last 12 months. When

employers added offerings, they weremost likely to increase health-relatedbenefits (51 percent) and wellnessbenefits (44 percent).

Retention (cited by 72 percent ofrespondents) and recruiting (58percent) were the top reasons for


Idea Watch

increasing benefits, the survey found.

"With unemployment at an 18-yearlow, employers view benefits as astrategic tool for recruiting andretention," said Trent Burner, SHRM'svice president of research. "Strategicorganizations adjust their benefits year-to-year, depending upon their use byemployees, cost and effectiveness inhelping an organization stand out in thecompetition for talent.”

Wellness benefits are popular offerings.Three-quarters (75 percent) ofemployers offer wellness resourcesand information and/or a generalwellness program.

Over the last year, substantial increaseswere seen in company-organizedfitness competitions/challenges (from28 percent in 2017 to 38 percent in2018). The prevalence of CPR/first aid

training increased 7 percentage points(47 percent to 54 percent) and standingdesks increased from 44 percent to 53percent.

The availability of paid parental leaveincreased significantly between 2016and 2018 for every type of parentalleave surveyed. Paid maternity leaveincreased from 26 percent in 2016 to35 percent in 2018. Paid paternity(21 percent to 29 percent), adoption(20 percent to 28 percent), foster child(13 percent to 21 percent) andsurrogacy (6 percent to 12 percent)leave also increased from 2016.

In top offerings not related to health,employee programs and servicebenefits increased by 39 percent atorganizations that increased benefitsofferings in the past 12 months.

For instance, 50 percent oforganizations allow casual dress everyday, up 6 percentage points since lastyear. Several other benefits increasedover the last five years, including freecoffee, company-provided snacks andannual company outings.

SHRM's annual survey of U.S. employersexamines more than 300 benefits thatorganizations offer their employees.

Other key findings include:

• Preventive programs specificallytargeting employees with chronichealth conditions fell by 8percentage points (from 33 percentin 2017 to 25 percent in 2018).

• A substantial increase was seen forlife insurance for dependents withover two-thirds of organizations (70percent) offering this benefit in2018, an increase of 13 percentagepoints since 2017.

• Sixty-three percent of organizationsgive service anniversary awards, anincrease of 9 percentage pointsfrom 2017.

• More than two-thirds (70 percent)of organizations offer some type oftelecommuting, up from 62percent last year.

The survey of 3,518 randomly selectedHR professionals was conducted inFebruary and March of this year. It has amargin of error of plus or minus 2percentage points.

The full survey is available from SHRMat www.shrm.org/2018EmployeeBenefitsSurvey.

The Energy Equations

Energy: The Heart of the Matter

When we talk about work andperformance, we often overlook theheart of the matter: namely, energyexpended by the worker or performer.As I long ago concluded, “perhaps themost fundamental responsibility ofmanagement is to channelorganizational energy along productivelines” (Nickols, 1982: 28). In fact, thereare various categories of energyexpenditures. These are shown in the“Energy Equations” diagram – eachelement in the diagram is describednext.

Productive Energy

Productive energy is sought from everyemployee, from the back room to the

board room. Productive energyexpenditures are effective andefficient. Expenditures areeffective to the extent that theybring about the desired results.They are efficient to the extentthat wasted energy is at aminimum. To the extent thatexpenditures are ineffective orinefficient, productive energy isreduced. The path to increasedproductive energy has two well-traveled branches: (1) reducewaste; (2) increase energyexpended.

Energy Expended

Expended energy is what thename implies: energyexpended. This is typically done


in response to two factors. First task,project, role, assignment, etc. Thelower limits of expenditures arecontrolled by management. There issome minimum level of energyexpenditure below which theemployee’s job might be in jeopardy.The upper limits are controlled by theemployee. No organization can getmore energy out of an employee thanthe employee is willing to expend.The second factor affectingexpenditures are the employee’soptional or discretionary expenditures.These are above and beyond theenergy demands posed by the job ortask and are voluntary in nature.

Required Expenditures

These are requirements for energyexpenditures posed by the job, task,project, etc., or by managers. “Pickingup the pace” is a common term forrequiring additional energyexpenditures on the part of employees.So are “pushing harder” and “ratchetingup.” These strategies – and more – aresimply ways of trying to directlyincrease energy expenditures. Theyhave little or nothing to do with theeffectiveness or efficiency of thoseexpenditures. Consequently, while itmight look as though people areworking harder, it is also probably thecase that they are not working anybetter.

Discretionary Expenditures

Discretionary expenditures of energyby employees have moved front andcenter in recent years, wearing thelabel of “discretionary effort” and beingpursued through a strategy ofincreasing what is known as “employeeengagement.” The key factor in thesuccess of this strategy is authenticity orgenuineness. Managers who are simplytrying to con employees into givingmore won’t get far. Even if successful,it is essentially a matter of getting“more,” not necessarily better.

Wasted Energy

Wasted energy is the sum of ineffectiveand inefficient energy expenditures.Commonplace strategies for improvingmatters here are Business ProcessManagement, Work Design (andRedesign), Reengineering, Six Sigma,

Statistical Process Control (and othermanifestations of the Qualitymovement), OrganizationDevelopment and Human PerformanceTechnology.

Ineffective Expenditures

Ineffective energy expenditures areexpended with the intent of achievingsome desired result, but the result isnot achieved.

Inefficient Expenditures

Inefficient energy expenditures aregreater than should be the case.Energy is being wasted.

Available Energy

Available energy is what that labelimplies: energy the employee orworker makes available for the job,task, project or assignment. This istypically far from the total energypossessed by the worker or employee.Some energy is always withheld. Someof what is withheld can be viewed asenergy reserves, to be released whenand where required. Some of what iswithheld is energy that the employeeor worker simply chooses not to makeavailable. In the end, we all decidehow hard we’re going to work.

Total Energy

Total energy is all the energy theemployee or worker could expendwithout becoming exhausted orcollapsing. The best way to think of thiselement in the equations is as theentire supply or level of energypossessed by an employee. It varieswith the individual and with factorssuch as health, nutrition, exercise andthe like.

Withheld Energy

With few exceptions, all employees atall levels withhold some energy. Asmentioned above, some of theemployee’s energy supply is being heldin reserve in case it is needed. Some iswithheld because the employeedecides just how much energy will bemade available to the employer. Theimportant thing to keep in mind aboutthis element is that it reflects theemployee’s judgment regarding whatconstitutes an appropriate commitmentto the employer.

Unused Energy

This one quite possibly represents thegreatest source of untapped energy andthe greatest potential for improvement.Unused energy is energy the employeechooses to make available but isn’tdrawn on. When we discuss andnegotiate with an employee regardingthe taking on of extra work we aretapping into this unused supply ofenergy. Depending on the employeeand the circumstances, the supply ofunused energy might be quite modest,or it could be significant.

Reflections

The energy equations suggest someuseful questions regardingperformance and productivity. Howcan we increase productive energyexpenditures? Where and how isenergy being wasted and how can wereduce that waste? How can wecapitalize on energy that is availablebut unused? What leads people toincrease their discretionaryexpenditures of energy? What can andshould be done to decrease theamount of energy being withheld?What can be done to increase totalenergy? Remember: Energy is at theheart of performance and productivity.

Further Reading

Nickols, FW. (1982). “Training: Astrategic view”. NSPI Journal, Vol. 21,Iss. 3, pp. 28-29.

Fred Nickols,

CPT, is aknowledgeworker,writer,consultant,and formerexecutivewho spent20 years in the U.S. Navy, retiring as adecorated chief petty officer. In theprivate sector, he worked as aconsultant and then held executivepositions with two former clients.Currently, he is the managing partner ofDistance Consulting LLC. Fred’s websiteis home to the award-winningKnowledge Workers’ Tool Room andmore than 200 free articles, bookchapters, and papers.


International Journal of HRD Practice, Policy and Research

The first issue in Volume 3 of theInternational Journal of HRD Practice,

Policy and Research (JHRDPP&R) waspublished in April. Interested readerscan access the whole edition or specificarticles at https://www.ijhrdppr.com.

For some years now there has beengrowing recognition of the impact ofHRD beyond its traditional settings andaspects of focus. From an overtly“practice” perspective we need to lookno further than Standards inorganizations. Standards are a prevalentfeature of the contemporaryorganizational environment but theyare no respecter of disciplinaryspecialisms. Indeed, many of themhave implications of our work as HRDprofessionals. From a more research-oriented perspective, Jim Stewart(Executive Secretary, UFHRD),following a review of HRD in terms ofthe last UK research assessmentexercise, argues that it is likely thatHRD played a much wider role inachieving impact than might besuggested by examining only directlyHRD related case studies. In lendingthe Journal’s support to such positions, Ihighlight three of the articles in thislatest issue of IJHRDPP&R, which seemto me to reflect, albeit modestly, thiswide-lens perspective on HRD.

The first is the article by Steven Chase,Director of People in the ThamesValley Police Force in the UK. Its focusis individual and organizational fairnessin policing. HRD, implicitly, is drawninto this examination as the authorexplores opportunities to promote aculture of learning in this increasinglyimportant and politically sensitivecontext — and which relates not just topolicing. In the second, an account ofpractice in relation to the leadershipand management of change within achemical manufacturer, a word searchreveals no mention of HRD and only ahandful of references to training. Itsfocus is the impact of a move towardsshared leadership rather than any

formal HRD or training intervention. Yetwhat is “shared leadership” if not acritical HRD construct with potentiallyhuge practice implications for inclusiveorganization development? Thirdly,Alina Waite, (Indiana State University,USA) examines experiential learningusing graduate-level research. In onesense experiential learning might beregarded by many as pretty“mainstream” HRD. However, herresearch is notable in two key respects.Despite its prominence within HRDpractice, evidence-based data on its useand practice in organizations remainslimited. Secondly a glance through thesettings and contexts of the researchstudies explored by the author providesfurther support for the Journal to take awide-lens perspective in consideringwhat can make a valued contribution toIJHRDPP&R.

Elsewhere in this issue colleagues fromthe HRD Fund Malaysia, a full memberof IFTDO, contribute an article ontraining in SMEs. The apparent paucityof (formal) training in SMEs hasprovided a driver for much research anda large number of local and national

initiatives globally. Although thepogram explored in this article, theTraining Incentives for SMEs Scheme, isdescribed as partially effective, issuesremain in relation to such policyinterventions, not least those of the“measurement" of impact.

Two other Journal developments areusefully highlighted here. Firstly, anapplication has been made for theJournal to be listed within Scopus.According to Elsevier, the owner andhost of Scopus, it is the largest abstractand citation database of peer-reviewedliterature. Recognition by Scopus willbe a further milestone in the Journal’sdevelopment. Secondly, there is aneed to strengthen the Journal’ssupport network and by this I meanboth its partners — UFHRD and IFTDO —and its Editorial Board and EditorialAdvisory Board. All connected with theJournal need to be active in helpingsource material and aiding andextending the promotion of the Journaland its dissemination worldwide. Asregards the Editorial Board importantsteps have already been taken andI should like to use this article in IFTDONews to welcome to the Board JennyAllen, from the National Health Servicein the UK, and from the USA SarahMinnis (Texas A&M and AnthologyConsulting) and Darren Short (GoDaddyInc). Both Sarah and Darren have stronglinks with the Academy of HumanResource Development (AHRD) —indeed Sarah is the former chair of theAHRD’s Scholar Practitioner SpecialInterest Group – and thus reflect animportant closer relationship betweenthe Journal and the AHRD.

As ever the Editorial Board of theJHRDPP&R are interested to receivecontributions from IFTDO members.Please contact Dr. Rick Holden,

the Journal Editor, directlyat [email protected] oremail: [email protected] the Journal onTwitter: @IJHRDPPR


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Executive Board 2018

Welcome New Members

Full Members:

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2. Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria- June 2018

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PRESIDENT

PRESIDENT-ELECT

R. Karthikeyan (India)

PAST PRESIDENT

Dr. Mohammad. A Bin Fahad(UAE)

CHAIR

Raj Auckloo (Mauritius)

CHAIR-ELECT

Ebrahim Al’Dossary (Bahrain)

HONY. TREASURER

Tayo Rotimi (Nigeria)

MEMBERS

Nasser Alhaj (UAE)Abdulhadi A. Al-Mansouri(Saudi Arabia)Ahmed Attiya (Bahrain)Abdel Bari Durra (Jordan)Betz Guido (Germany)Sunil Gupta (UAE)Janet I.K Jolaoso (Nigeria)Carol Panza (USA)Helmi Sallam (Egypt)Wei Wang (USA)

REPRESENTATIVE TO UN

Tayo Rotimi (Nigeria)

SECRETARY GENERAL

Uddesh Kohli (India)S-50, Greater Kailash-1New Delhi 110048, IndiaTel: +91 11 41619842(office)Fax: +91 11 2645 [email protected]@yahoo.co.inWebsite: www.iftdo.net

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Bart Tkaczyk (USA)[email protected]: @DrBTkaczykMBA

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Documents

CHAIR'S MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR...As Fred Nickols long ago evangelized, “perhaps the most fundamental responsibility of management is to channel organizational energy along productive