The Future of Hrd, Volume II: Change, Disruption and Action [2] 3030524582, 9783030524586

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Edited by Mark Loon · Jim Stewart · Stefanos Nachmias

The Future of HRD, Volume I Innovation and Technology

The Future of HRD, Volume I “This book is very timely! Our approach to the world of work is changing rapidly. The degree to which our working lives are reliant upon technology has been emphasised by social distancing and Covid-19. The internationally renowned contributors to this volume address key issues around innovation and technology that HRD will face in the future. The editors skilfully pull these together to create a pool of ideas, learning and thought that generates questions, whilst also emphasising alternative ways of working. This book is essential reading for anyone questioning changes in the role of technology in the way we work, communicate, socialise and learn.” —Dr Monica Lee, Lancaster University, UK

Mark Loon  •  Jim Stewart Stefanos Nachmias Editors

The Future of HRD, Volume I Innovation and Technology

Editors Mark Loon Bath Spa University Bath, UK Stefanos Nachmias Nottingham Business School Nottingham Trent University Nottingham, UK

Jim Stewart Liverpool Business School Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool, UK

ISBN 978-3-030-52409-8    ISBN 978-3-030-52410-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52410-4 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Preface

It is evident that technology continues to grow in reshaping societies and the workplace. The ubiquity of technology cannot be understated and yet its pervasiveness is usually taken for granted. Indeed, at times, technology is not just a luxury or a choice but it is a necessity. For instance, without the cost efficiency and scalability that technology affords, platforms such as massive open online course (MOOCS) would never have been possible. The centrality of technology and science has also been underscored by the recent Covid-19 pandemic in both facilitating the spread of the virus and detecting, suppressing and, in the future, vaccinating against the virus. Indirectly, technology has also played a key role in supporting economic and social activities. While a lot of such activity has been put on pause by the Covid-19 pandemic, much more would have been affected if not for technology that allowed for much of learning and teaching to continue to be delivered by Higher Education institutions, albeit in a virtual environment. The acceleration of technological advancement and the amplification of its impact in all aspects of our lives, in particular in the field of Human Resource Development (HRD), serve as the inspiration of this volume ‘Future of HRD: Disruption Through Digitalisation’. In academia, scholars are growing interested in how the social and material (e.g. technology) shape practice and identities. While the role of human agency is still v

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pivotal, it does not alone explain everything. Only by also taking into consideration the nuanced, novel and idiosyncratic, are we in a better position to understand human phenomenon and practice in the real world. In the absence of literature that was dedicated and focused to exploring this issue, we decided to do something about it. In particular, this book does not just take stock of the advancement and coalescence between technology and HRD in practice and policy, but it also translates the findings as a learning and teaching resource. Clearly, as academics we are partial to theory but we are even more so partial to theories that are meaningful and accessible by practitioners and policymakers. We could not agree more with Kurt Lewin who said, ‘there is nothing as practical as a good theory’. With this in mind, we put out a call for papers to colleagues in the HRD field around the globe. The number and quality of the response was more than we had expected. It has been our privilege to be able to work with these contributors. In essence, this volume explores how technology affects organisational and individual life through innovation, creativity and learning. In doing so, it captures the growing trends around technology and how HRD could respond to these changes at micro and macro level. We believe this book contains a unique blend of chapters that offer critical assessment around HRD practices and how technology could be used as a learning tool to support individual and organisational goals. Each chapter contains a number of learning resources that will enable the reader to examine a number of wider implications on how to address learning needs in the future. We hope you enjoy reading this volume and, most importantly, that you find it useful. Bath, UK Liverpool, UK  Nottingham, UK 

Mark Loon Jim Stewart Stefanos Nachmias

Acknowledgements

The editors wish to thank all contributors for taking part in this book and sharing their personal stories, expertise and knowledge. We also wish to thank the team at Palgrave Macmillan for giving us the space to produce this new volume. The reviewers are also thanked for their feedback and comments on making this volume a good piece of reading. We would like to give our gratitude to colleagues for their encouragement throughout the journey of producing this book. Mark thanks Joanne Bridge-Loon for all her support. As always, Jim thanks Pat and Paul for all of their continuing support for yet another book project. Stefanos is really grateful to Lianne for her unconditional support in producing this book.

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Contents

1 Introduction to Volume One: Future of Human Resource Development—Disruption Through Digitalisation  1 Jim Stewart, Mark Loon, and Stefanos Nachmias 2 The Effects of New Technologies at Work on Work Outcomes and the Implications for Human Resource Development 13 Regina H. Mulder and Patrick Beer 3 Digital Competence Revolution and Human Resource Development in the United Kingdom and Switzerland 53 Elena Hubschmid-Vierheilig, Monika Rohrer, and Fotios Mitsakis 4 Talent Disrupted: Opportunities and Threats for Human Resource Development (HRD) Strategy and Practice in the Gig Economy Through the Critical HRD Lens 93 Elaine Yerby and Rebecca Page Tickell

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5 The Role of HRD in Developing Capabilities for Creativity and Innovation at Work: A Multilevel Approach115 Anna Walker and Polly Derbyshire 6 Redefining HRD Roles and Practice in the Machine Learning Revolution143 Patricia Harrison, Lynn Nichol, and Jeff Gold 7 E-learning: A Temporary ‘By-Product’ of Covid-19 Pandemic or a Contemporary Solution to Workplace Training and Learning?167 Fotios Mitsakis and Theodosis Karageorgakis 8 Technological Innovations in Care and Implications for Human Resource Development193 Louise Oldridge 9 Constraints Facing Creative Enterprises in GCC: Implications for HRD211 Hussain Alhejji, Thomas N. Garavan, and Rayed Darwish 10 The Future of HRD in a Post-Pandemic World: Insights from Dr Wilson Wong237 Mark Loon Index253

Notes on Contributors

Hussain  Alhejji is an assistant professor at the Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait. He has a Bachelor of Business Studies from King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia, and a Master of Human Resources and Employment Relations from the University of Western Australia, Australia. He completed his PhD in Human Resource Development from the University of Limerick, Ireland. His research focuses on cross-­cultural dimensions of diversity training, diversity at work from institutional perspective, gender equality and international human resource development. He is a member of the editorial advisory board at the European Journal of Training and Development. Alhejji has authored a number of peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters in international textbooks. Patrick Beer  received his MA in Educational Science from the University of Regensburg, Germany, in 2018. He is interested in the empirical effects of digitisation on work and its implications for professional development and society. In his doctoral thesis, he focuses on changes in work resulting from technological developments and the informal and goalorientated learning activities required to manage these changes within a dynamic context such as the finance sector.

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Rayed Darwish  brings a wealth of learning and educational experience spanning almost 11 years from Australia to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Having worked as an English teacher, corporate trainer, Director of Studies and now as Mentorship Program Director at ABQ, Darwish is developing the ‘Discovering You Program’, a twenty-­first-­century skills school initiative. With a BA in Australian and Comparative Studies from Griffith University, a CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) teacher training qualification awarded by the University of Cambridge and a Master of Education (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages [TESOL]) degree from the University of Wollongong, Darwish is an avid student of all things educational, social and cultural. Polly  Derbyshire  is an Academic Manager at Bath Business School, Bath Spa University, UK. After a career in HR, she re-qualified as a careers advisor and worked on a community project before beginning her career at the university in 2002. She moved into an academic role in 2006 teaching human resource management (HRM) at undergraduate and postgraduate levels including on the MBA. She has worked with many employers and students on HR-related projects including Siemens and the Ministry of Defence. She has an MA in Managing Human Resources, a PG Diploma in Guidance, is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). Thomas N. Garavan  is a visiting professor at the National College of Ireland, Ireland, specialising in leadership development, HRD and leadership, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and leadership and cross-­ cultural leadership. Garavan graduated from the University of Limerick, Ireland, with a Bachelor of Business Studies and completed a Doctorate of Education from the University of Bristol. He is the editor of the European Journal of Training and Development and associate editor of Personnel Review. He is a member of the editorial boards of Human Resource Development Quarterly, Human Resource Development Review, Advances in Developing Human Resources and Human Resource Development International. He is the recipient of the Academy of Human Resource Development, Outstanding HRD Scholar Award 2013.

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Jeff Gold  is Professor of Organisation Learning at York St John, UK. He is a strong advocate of the need for actionable knowledge that is rigorously developed but relevant for practice. He has designed and delivered a wide range of seminars, programmes and workshops on culture shift, talent management and development, change, strategic learning, futures and foresight, management and leadership development with a particular emphasis on participation and distribution. He has worked closely with organisations such as Skipton Building Society, Hallmark Cards, the NHS, the Police Service, Leeds Bradford Boiler Company, Lights4Fun and a host of others. Patricia  Harrison is a senior lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, UK. She has experience of programme management, teaching and research. Her research specialist areas include Roma, precarity, profession, labour turnover, spirituality, machine learning and HRD. She is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). She worked at Webster University, Geneva; Kingston and Bournemouth University, UK; and has extensive HR consultancy experience including prior employment with Siemens. Harrison developed the HR Professional Student Network in 2015 and Liverpool Roma Employability Network (LREN) in 2017. Elena  Hubschmid-Vierheilig holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Bern and is a lecturer at the Centre for Human Capital Management, School of Management and Law, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), Switzerland. Prior to her engagement at ZHAW, she was responsible for the design and implementation of the HRD practices in nine countries for an international company based in Zurich. At ZHAW, she teaches human capital management, international HRM and leadership. Her research interests are HRD and digital competences, intercultural HR, diversity and inclusion. ­Hubschmid-­Vierheilig has a strong international background and is fluent in five languages.

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Theodosis  Karageorgakis  is an instructional designer and e-learning developer at the Center for the Advancement of Research & Development in Educational Technology (CARDET). Karageorgakis has also worked as a freelancer for various organisations and universities, most notably Amazon Payroll and the University of Nicosia. In 2019, he was honoured with the silver award at the Educational Leader Awards held in Athens for his contribution to e-learning work. Besides e-learning material development, Karageorgakis is also keen on reviewing educational applications and writing articles relating to educational technology on his personal portal http://educraft.tech and on various other related websites. Mark Loon  is Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at Bath Spa University, UK. He is a co-editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Human Resource Development: Practice, Policy and Research and vice-chair of the British Academy of Management, co-leading the Management Knowledge and Education Committee. Fotios Mitsakis  is Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management/ Organisational Behaviour at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, UK. His scholarly interests lie within the field of human resource development (HRD), strategic HRD (SHRD), training and development, diversity training and career development. Mitsakis has also worked as a senior tutor at the University of Strathclyde for three years and as a teaching assistant (external) at the University of Stirling for a year. Prior to joining academia, Mitsakis worked in two multinational organisations and he held experience within a marketing and financial analysis department. Regina H. Mulder  is Professor of Pedagogy/Educational Sciences and has been at the University of Regensburg, Germany, since 2004. She writes on topics in vocational education and training (VET) and learning in organisations, that is the design and evaluation of VET, innovative work behaviour, feedback, learning from errors, informal learning at work, team learning, leadership, proactive work behaviour in various domains (e.g. industry, health care, education, banking) and research methods. She is a member of several editorial boards (e.g. Human Resource

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Development Quarterly [HRDQ], Educational Research Review, European Journal of Training and Development [EJTD], Human Resource Development International [HRDI]). She develops and carries out training for professionals on diversity management and organisational change. Stefanos  Nachmias is a principal lecturer at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, UK. His research interests include an assessment of line managers’ diversity needs, gender in the workplace and employment practices. He has co-edited several books, including Inequality and Organisational Practice, Volumes I and II (2019), and Hidden Inequalities in the Workplace (2018) (Palgrave Macmillan). Lynn Nichol  is Head of the Management and Finance Department at the University of Worcester, UK, Principal Lecturer in HR and Course Director for the Doctoral of Business Administration (DBA). She is a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). Her own research interests are located in HRD. Her current work focuses on bridging the research-practice gap, HRD discourse, HRD in the era of machine learning and pedagogy for doctoral supervision. Her PhD was awarded for a thesis entitled ‘Exploring Working Lives Through the Framework of the Psychological Contract: A Study of Clergy in the Church of England in the 21st Century’. Louise  Oldridge  is a senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, UK, and a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Her research interests focus on women’s careers, concepts of work, the intersection of work and care, equality, diversity and inclusion. With a generalist HR background in industry prior to joining higher education, Oldridge also works with practitioners and policymakers in the public sector. Rebecca Page Tickell  is Director of Education and Experience, Royal Docks School of Business and Law, University of East London, UK. Page-­ Tickell is an academic practitioner focusing on business psychology and HRM/D and OB. Her primary research focus is on developing a deeper understanding of the gig economy. A mediation practitioner and coach,

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she also focuses on workplace conflict and mediation in particular. An experienced practitioner in learning and development (L&D)/OD she is fascinated by the impact of the gig economy in this area for individuals and organisations, including processes such as contract management as well as leadership and knowledge management implications. She is completing a PhD at Lancaster University and was joint editor of the book Conflict and Shifting Boundaries in the Gig Economy: An Interdisciplinary Analysis (2020). Monika  Rohrer is a lecturer at the Centre for Human Capital Management, School of Management and Law, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), Switzerland. She holds an MSc degree in Humanities from the University of Zurich. Prior to her engagement at ZHAW, she was responsible for several HR projects and HRD initiatives in various international companies based in Zurich and London. In her role at ZHAW, she teaches human capital management on BSc programmes as well as in continuing education programmes. Her research interests are HRD and digital competences, performance management, compensation and organisational justice. Jim Stewart  is Professor of Human Resource Development (HRD) at Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University, UK, where his role is to provide mentoring support and research leadership for colleagues teaching and researching Human Resource Management. He has authored and co-edited over 20 books on HRD as well as numerous articles in academic and professional journals. Anna  Walker  is a senior lecturer at Bath Business School, Bath Spa University, UK, where she specialises in creativity and innovation at work. She has worked in both industry and academia focusing on innovation management and continues to work closely with industry. Walker completed her industry-funded PhD from the University of Manchester. Prior to that, Walker completed an MSc in Organisational Psychology from the University of Manchester and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Surrey. Walker is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and a member of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-Innovate UK Innovation Caucus.

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Elaine Yerby  is Senior Lecturer in HRM Practice at London School of Economics, UK. Yerby is a committed researcher-practitioner with specialist interests in diversity and inclusion and workplace conflict resolution. As an accredited work-based mediator she regularly conducts mediations as part of a pan-London Higher Education network. Her other research interests include career development in the HR profession and the impact on careers from the changing nature of work. She has also co-edited the book Conflict and Shifting Boundaries in the Gig Economy: An Interdisciplinary Analysis (2020).

List of Tables

Table 2.1 Table 2.2 Table 2.3 Table 2.4 Table 2.5 Table 2.6

Sources for domain-specific supplementary search Search terms for different sources Results for studies conducted in different domains Results for studies conducted in finance Results for studies conducted in healthcare Overview of relationships between technologies and work outcomes for which evidence was found Table 6.1 Participants’ job role and sector Table 9.1 Economic indicators in GCC countries

21 22 24 28 30 38 151 221

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1 Introduction to Volume One: Future of Human Resource Development— Disruption Through Digitalisation Jim Stewart, Mark Loon, and Stefanos Nachmias

1.1 Introduction 1.1.1 Background to the Volume The purpose of this section is to introduce the reader to the main themes of the book. It seeks to outline the key context and concepts explored across the chapters and enables the reader to examine the importance of understanding future trends in Human Resource Development (HRD)

J. Stewart Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK e-mail: [email protected] M. Loon (*) Bath Spa University, Bath, UK e-mail: [email protected] S. Nachmias Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s) 2020 M. Loon et al. (eds.), The Future of HRD, Volume I, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52410-4_1

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across the globe. The idea of producing this volume arose from the 20th University Forum for Human Resource Development (UFHRD) conference in Nottingham. Participants across the globe travelled to the city to advance HRD thinking and practices and, together, celebrate the achievement of the HRD community. This was a great platform to debate how organisations prepare themselves to address future HRD in establishing effective organisations. It was the beginning of a journey to produce a set of chapters that offer the reader insightful knowledge on how to address future challenges and opportunities. It is simply not enough to highlight the important role of academic debate in organisational development, but resources that can have a meaningful impact upon organisational and individual thinking must also be produced. It is essential to explore how HRD influences organisations and individuals from a multi-level perspective. This entails considering the effect of context, both internally and externally, as well as employee perceptions and understanding of HRD and what this means for learning, creativity and growth. Covid-19 reinforces this point and the need for HRD to shape future practices including innovation, performance, flexibility, well-being and management behaviour. The scale of the change is extraordinary as the pandemic has drastically changed, in just a few days, the way we work, communicate, socialise and learn. The range of the latter is not restricted to organisations or employment. Millions of children and higher education students across the world are studying at home, many in the case of the latter with support from academic staff now also facilitating learning from home. Some degree of such a scenario will remain with us for a foreseeable time. Home study is not, however, exclusively focused on formal learning contexts with many people taking advantage of tuition provided by professionals in, for example, cooking, baking, gardening and a wide range of crafts. Those learners and those providing tuition are doing so as a means of occupying some of the time that has become available to them because of the pandemic requirements to stay at home and are using technology to facilitate learning. Therefore, this volume could not be more timely given the new realities that everyone is now facing. People need to rethink how they learn, how they implement learning activities, identify new methods of learning resources and, most importantly, how

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technology can change the way HRD is understood and conceptualised by the academic and professional communities. On a personal level, it was sometimes difficult to understand existing management perceptions in addressing organisational HRD needs. We believe that any attempt to fully utilise HRD principles requires sufficient knowledge (both at individual and at organisational level), effective leadership skills and appropriate assessment of the wider business environment. It is now the time to take effective actions in changing old-­ fashioned perceptions on learning and development and offer the space where organisations can feel secure in making effective changes through evidence-based information. In an increasingly technology-driven business environment, significant changes are taking place which are challenging long-standing assumptions about the nature of work and the roles that humans will play in the workforce of the future (Schwab 2016; Manyika et al. 2017). Digitalisation is a significant and influential factor in shaping the roles of humans in future workforces, hence the title and focus of this volume. The following section provides a further assessment of how HRD can respond to some of the challenges associated with digitalisation and related changes in the future.

1.1.2 Status and Future of Digitalisation and HRD Loon (2017) lists fifteen learning technologies current at the time of writing his book. These include virtual learning environments; digital/learning repository and document sharing tools; blogs (and vlogs); media streaming systems and video learning; synchronous communication tools; digital/video games; simulation games and mobile learning (p. 8). Some of these have come to the fore in response to Covid-19. For example, virtual learning environments have long been established but have probably been the saviour of being able to continue provision of higher education courses which have switched to online learning across the world. Synchronous communication tools such as MS Teams and Zoom have been the lifeline of many business operations by facilitating staff meetings, client/customer interactions and other processes carried out from homes rather than from or in offices. The technologies in the list are

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also being utilised to deliver and facilitate learning required to prepare for a return to work during the crisis; for example, training employees on how requirements for continued social distancing will be met in workplaces. The final item on Loon’s list is the ubiquitous ‘other’ and thus implies more than the fifteen discussed in detail. Two forms of technology that enabled learning but are not specifically mentioned in the list are Webinars and Massive Open Online Course (MOOCS). Webinars can utilise a range of software and be incorporated into learning platforms and virtual learning environments. They have been found to be welcomed by learners as a development tool (Gegenfurtner et  al. 2020). However, Gegenfurtner et al. (2020) make a number of points on possible drawbacks in the use of webinars. These include the length, timing and opportunities for interaction with those delivering the webinar. They also make the point that strong and reliable internet connections and bandwidth are essential requirements, which varies across countries. That point could, of course, apply to most forms of digital learning. MOOCS is an acronym for Massive Open Online Courses. Then use of the word ‘courses’ may suggest learning associated with education and qualifications. This impression may be reinforced by the origins of MOOCS in open educational resources, and so early MOOCS being made available by universities. However, while many are still provided by universities, this is no longer the case and other providers are now active. Those still provided by universities are also not necessarily linked to qualifications and can be taken for whatever reason an individual has for engaging in them. There is also no reason why employing organisations cannot take advantage of MOOCS by recommending selected courses to their employees as a means of meeting their development needs or indeed by incorporating completion of such courses in their own in-house development programmes. MOOCS are by definition open access. They are also, according to Farrow (2017), an argued exemplar of disruptive innovation in learning. Farrow though does also question the potential of MOOCS and not least by challenging the claimed levels of disruption that they are argued to represent. We have chosen to highlight webinars and MOOCS because they are likely to have been among the most common responses to the ‘stay at

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home’ conditions introduced by national governments. The former will have been a fairly easily implemented way for employers to continue to deliver learning to employees. The latter, if not necessarily being a firstchoice response by employers, may well have enjoyed increased use by individuals with unexpected time on their hands at home. So, those two forms of digitalisation of learning are probably among the most common current examples at the time of writing during the Covid-19 crisis. For that reason, they may well also quickly become more ubiquitous postcrisis and so two of the more common examples in our everyday experience. There is one further aspect of digitalisation that we are confident will also become more common, although in a less overt or obvious manner. This is the use of learning analytics. Learning analytics can be an umbrella term to encompass data, metrics and analytics which can be used to enhance the effectiveness of learning experiences. However, it is also used in a specific sense to refer to collection and analysis of learner behaviour and interaction with digital learning (Stewart 2017). For example, time spent on the learning programme or on individual components, such as reflective exercises or progress checks, can be monitored and compared across the learning populations. More sophisticated data such as time spent in discussion boards; number, nature and content of contributions to discussion boards and learner preferences for different components of multi-media programmes as measured by usage of each can be monitored and analysed. Analysis can also include differences against variables such as age, gender and timerelated variables such as day of week or time of day. Statistical techniques are often applied to produce such analyses. The primary purpose of learning analytics is to improve digital learning experiences, sometimes for current learners where adjustments are possible but always for future learners. There are nevertheless legal and ethical questions that need to be addressed in the use of learning analytics (Jisc 2018). That said, it is believed that their use will continue to grow, especially in digital learning, and that the results of that growth are likely to lead to innovative and disruptive impacts on digital learning. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the notion that machines can, one day, perform the same cognitive tasks as human beings. AI is a broad suite of technologies that also include machine learning and learning analytics. A

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fundamental characteristic of AI, such as Apple’s Siri, is its ability to learn effectively, which places learning in the same frame as intelligence. The case AI in HRD, or learning and development (L&D) as it is perhaps more widely known in the workplace, provides some key insights as to the trajectories that are likely to further grow in the future. Read and Think AI can help to address the long-standing tension of being able to be efficient in the delivery of learning and development opportunities while at the same time being able to personalise the learning experience. In many organisations, mandatory training such as those involving occupational health and safety have to be retaken regularly to ensure that staff’s knowledge and skills are to up-to-date. However, while there are fundamental foundations of such training that needs to be shared by everyone, the typical nature of such training tends to be undifferentiated in terms of the experience of the person, their professional needs and the degree in which the training needs to be delivered on demand. At the person-level, AI enables the learning opportunity to be moulded to the needs of the person such as allowing learning to be shaped according to intrapersonal attributes and preferences of the individual such as their learning styles for those that prefer text-based, audio or audio and visual formats. In terms of professional needs, AI allows for sophisticated differentiation based on the person’s role such as their organisational function for example outdoors or in the office, with heavy machinery or whether they are a manager. Different roles will have distinctive needs. Finally, AI can help track when a person last underwent training and remind them when they need refresher training, identify the learners’ areas for improvement and provide more targeted training at the right time and pace.

1.2 Aims and Objectives This volume has a primary focus on how what might be termed information and communications technologies (ICT) affect organisational and individual life through innovation, creativity and learning. Here, we use the term digitalisation to encompass emerging, as well as established, technologies. For example, learning analytics, virtual reality and artificial

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intelligence are currently limited in their impact but will be much more significant in their influence on HRD in the future. It is also debatable whether these concepts are accurately placed under the umbrella term of ICT. The term ‘digital learning’ has also gained currency with the UK’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD 2019). Hence, while the term ICT may have more familiarity, it is believed the idea of digitalisation is more appropriate to the content of this volume. The scope of the volume is to capture the growing trends around digitalisation and how HRD can respond to these changes at micro and macro levels. The lessons of responding to Covid-19 to facilitate learning in a wide range of contexts will only add to the knowledge of how best to utilise technology in designing and delivering HRD. This volume provides a unique blend of chapters that offer critical assessment around HRD practices and outline how technology can be used as a learning tool to support individual and organisational goals. It aims to create a number of learning resources that will enable the reader to examine a range of wider implications on how to address learning needs in the future through utilising technological tools and innovations. Thus, it provides a sound platform for efficient and effective use of technology in HRD and for applying the lessons that will emerge from innovations arising from the work and non-work learning activities associated with the circumstances caused by Covid-19. In turn, this will enable practitioners to harness the potential benefits of digitalisation, and to avoid the potential drawbacks and pitfalls of simply being either fascinated or inhibited by technology, rather than assessing and evaluating how best to put it to productive use.

1.3 Book Content With the aims and objectives in mind, this volume contains ten chapters (including this chapter) that cover distinct perspectives of the role of technology through the lens of HRD and its impact on organisations in a digitally connected world. The prominence of technology and organisations’ dependency on it of course varies. It can facilitate, mediate, moderate, impede or create opportunities. However, while the impact of technology is relative, the two viewpoints that most people agree on are

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its high degree of ubiquity and that sooner or later technology will eventually become more disruptive and have a more significant impact, even in areas that initially seemed unlikely. Chapter 1 provides an introductory assessment of the book’s key dimensions and offers an insight into the key themes arising from the impact of technologies’ disruption on HRD and organisations. The chapter allows the reader to get an overview of the context and access the key objectives of the book. Chapter 2 offers insight to how new technologies, such as tools for digital communication or artificial intelligence, can have an impact on the quality of jobs by affecting work outcomes such as job satisfaction, performance, health or professional development. This chapter provides HRD with the empirical evidence it has been craving by demonstrating the degree of impact of technology in the field. The chapter contains an investigation that addresses the research questions; what are the effects of new technologies at work on individual work outcomes? and what are the implications thereof for the role of HRD to improve the quality of jobs? By reviewing and systematically analysing twenty-two studies, this chapter provides insight into the definition of technology and components of HRD from theories explaining relationships between the work context and different kind of work outcomes. Two sources were applied: studies from a concurrent review were reanalysed for the present purpose of identifying relationships between new technologies and work outcomes, and additional searches within domain-specific databases were conducted in finance and healthcare. Chapter 3 compares their ‘special way’ regarding HRD education provision in the era of digitalisation to inform HRD professionals and policy makers on possible future actions. In particular the chapter undertakes a comparative assessment between the UK and Switzerland given that they are non-EU members and have autonomy in charting their own digital strategy. A nation’s digital policy is ever increasingly important because technological advancements heavily impact the way people work while most recent socio-political and demographic changes (e.g. ‘Brexit’, economic instability, higher education reforms, generation attitude changes and a pandemic crisis) increase the need for critical insights on how digital competences of the workforce can improve and sustain business

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competitiveness and sustainability. The European Union (EU) and most national governments globally have placed emphasis on digitally equipping graduates to satisfy governmental and organisational needs. While some organisations remain reluctant to foster their workforce’s digital qualifications in the belief of having them poached by competitors, many view digitalisation as an opportunity to enhance employees’ skillsets with company-specific competences for competitive advantage. Chapter 4 addresses the calls for research exploring the implications of HRD and its likely role in the gig economy. This chapter reflects on a case study of a ‘new law’ digital platform firm that sought to implement an HRD strategy for its highly diverse and gig-based workforce. At a time when HRD has seen its role move from specialist to distributed, demonstrating ongoing relevance and contribution to global, real-world issues become paramount. The amorphous, often hidden and fast changing nature of the gig economy presents renewed challenges for scholarship and practice in HRD. This chapter proposes how a critical HRD lens can reassert HRD as a key discipline in supporting a broader range of interests and needs in the gig economy. The critical HRD lens contributes to understanding the nature of precarious work in the gig economy by exposing localities of power and disadvantage but also practical solutions for leveraging equality, capability development and knowledge transfer in the gig economy. Chapter 5 presents and assesses key areas of HRD and how they can be used to enhance an organisation’s creativity and innovation capability. Particular focus is paid to recruitment and selection (e.g. the personality traits that organisations should prioritise for developing innovation capability, such as extraversion and openness, and the gamification of their measurement), training (providing content-specific knowledge and building confidence in equal measure, facilitated by coaching) and reward (ideally non-financial rewards focused at team level), and where technology may play a role. These topics are reviewed within a multi-level context, that is, one that considers both individual and team levels. This approach is particularly important given that much of the innovation process is team-led as organisations seek a holistic understanding of the complex phenomenon of innovation. Also considered is the role of innovation climate, the development of which can be facilitated by HRD

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practices such as training and reward as they signal that the organisation values innovation which, in turn, solidifies a climate of innovation. Chapter 6 responds to challenges facing the HRD community in how far it should proactively take responsibility and get involved in shaping future skill development and human interactions with technology? Or will HRD, as in the past, retain a passive observer position? There is much talk of the displacement of humans by technologies with some analyst reporting that employment in 44% of occupations in the UK is creating uncertainty about which jobs will continue. The disruption to current approaches to skill development and identification of what new skills are needed requires attention. For people to retain relevance, more attention is needed on those skills that resist automation and technology replacement by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Chapter 7 provides an overview of e-learning and the value it offered during lockdowns imposed by many governments. The sudden lockdown of many businesses and educational institutions at the start of the pandemic necessitated the need of e-learning more than ever before. E-learning is a well-known training approach and is well-practiced by many businesses globally to support and enhance their employees’ learning experience. E-learning represents the safest way to train in times of global crisis events as it allows the trainers and the trainees to virtually interact through an online platform which serves as the virtual classroom, free of the dangers entailed by physical interaction. Yet, the extent to which this sudden shift to online learning represents the future of workplace training and learning or whether it is just a temporary alteration for human resource development is debatable. The Covid-19 outbreak is expected to accelerate learning and work reinvention, resulting in multiple implications for businesses in relation to institutional resilience. Chapter 8 explores the benefits of technological innovations involving increased productivity and efficiencies, and minimising pressures on human workers, freeing up their time to provide more complex forms of care. However, technology is costly, subject to failure and can also impede care provision and cause issues such as being more time consuming, changing working relationships, roles and responsibilities. As a result, the chapter considers the human resource development implications in operationalising technological innovations in care, comprising careful and

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well-communicated implementation; systematic integration into work practices, taking account of revised roles and responsibilities; addressing user anxieties and ensuring provision of training and development activities which reflect changing skills and competencies. Chapter 9 unpacks how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the creative enterprise industry play a critical role in a nation’s economic growth, its development of jobs and subsequent wealth creation. It explores the constraints facing creative enterprises have been seldom explored or critiqued extensively. This chapter investigates the external factors hindering the growth and development of SMEs in creative enterprises in Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates) and suggests implications for research and practice. By doing so the chapter demonstrates how HRD plays a vital role in overcoming issues facing SMEs in creative enterprises at a national level. Challenges in realising a truly genuine SME industry based on creative enterprise initiative and implementation are many and often profound. This study highlights how economic and labour market factors—compounded by a faltering education system—have negatively impacted the development of creative enterprise in GCC. Chapter 10 is an interview with Dr Wilson Wong who is the Head of Insight and Futures at the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) and Chair of the Human Capital Standards Committee at the British Standards Institution (BSI). Wilson shares with us his insights as to what the future holds for HRD and organisations in a post-pandemic world. In the interview Wilson argues that technology has not lived up to its promise in our fight against Covid-19. He intimates that there are underlying problems that are multi-faceted, and therefore the solution(s) need to be holistic from taking care of the environment to preclude these events from occurring again, government policies in preparing nations for these highly unlikely but impactful events to organisational business models that mediate technology to enhance cost efficiencies.

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References CIPD, 2019. Digital Learning Factsheet. London: CIPD. Farrow, R. 2017. ‘Open education and critical pedagogy’. Learning, Media and Technology, 42(2), pp. 130–146. Gegenfurtner, A., Zitt, A. and Ebner. C. 2020. Evaluating webinar-based training: a mixed methods study of trainee reactions toward digital web conferencing. International Journal of Training and Development, 24(1), pp. 5–21. Jisc, 2018. Code of practice for learning analytics. Bristol: Jisc. Loon, M. (2017), Designing and Developing Digital and Blended Learning Solutions, London: CIPD. Manyika, J., Chui, M., Miremadi, M., Bughin, J., George, K., Willmott, P. and Dewhurst, M. (2017), A Future that Works: Automation, Employment and Productivity, San Franciso, CA: McKinsey Global Institute. Schwab, K. (2016), The Fourth Industrial Revolution, London: Penguin. Stewart, J. 2017. Using Learning and Development Data. In Studying Learning and Development: Context, Practice and Measurement, Edited by Stewart, J. and Rogers, P. London: CIPD.

2 The Effects of New Technologies at Work on Work Outcomes and the Implications for Human Resource Development Regina H. Mulder and Patrick Beer

2.1 Introduction It is assumed that the digital revolution will influence work severely (Cascio and Montealegre 2016). For instance, industry 4.0 is often discussed in the context of major technological disruptions caused by, for instance, cyber physical systems, blockchain or the internet of things, which ultimately leads to more decentralisation and the so-called smart factory (Ghobakhloo 2018). Even though many of the papers that deal with these concepts are position papers, there is some empirical evidence that technologies can increase factors relevant to employees, organisations and HRD, for instance job insecurity (Ayyagari et  al. 2011) in terms of the disappearance of jobs or changes in their content (De Witte

R. H. Mulder (*) • P. Beer University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] © The Author(s) 2020 M. Loon et al. (eds.), The Future of HRD, Volume I, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52410-4_2

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et al. 2010). For the present purpose, technology is defined more specifically as digital or mechanical devices, tools or systems that are used to substitute or complement work tasks (McOmber 1999; Autor et al. 2003). There is little empirical evidence on the effects that for instance robotics, artificial intelligence, big data and Fintech have on characteristics of work (Beer and Mulder 2020). In their systematic review study, Beer and Mulder (2020) give an overview of the empirical evidence on new technologies at work and their effects on work characteristics such as complexity, meaningfulness and autonomy. For instance, job complexity is increasing, especially when working with automated systems and domain-­ specific technologies (Gough et al. 2014). Technologies with the intent to increase flexibility often increase workload and interruptions in the workflow as well (Ninaus et al. 2015). This particularly applies to ubiquitous technologies such as information and communication technologies (ICTs). Automated systems decrease autonomy and work roles in many cases depending on how specific jobs are related to the system (supporting vs. being supported; James et al. 2013). In addition, there is evidence suggesting that requirements for qualifications may increase while opportunities for growth are no natural consequence of working with automated systems or robots (Körner et al. 2019). In addition to impact on job characteristics, new technologies can have an effect on different work outcomes. For instance, they can affect relevant aspects of employees’ work and, consequently, their job satisfaction, wellbeing, health and stress (Ayyagari et al. 2011; Dvash and Mannheim 2001). To our knowledge, a systematic overview on the impact of new technologies on work outcomes in the sense of human behaviour or a result of that human behaviour has not been carried out yet. This gap needs to be filled to support organisations, and more specifically HRD, to develop measures for maintaining and improving the quality of jobs. Indicators of quality are determined by what exactly is meant with it. Four different notions on quality relevant for the present study were distinguished by Harvey and Green (1993). Quality as perfection or consistency refers to the idea of perfectly meeting expectations. A job is of high quality if the employees are given all the resources they need to meet expectations perfectly without the risk of errors. Consequently, indicators for quality can be work outcomes such as performance, organisational

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commitment or work engagement. Furthermore, quality as fitness for purpose means that a product or service meets its purpose. That would imply that a high-quality job would consist of a perfect fit between requirements and the capabilities of the employee, without too high or low demands put on him/her. Consequently, indicators of quality are work outcomes such as efficiency, productivity, efficacy, quality of products and services and aspects of health (little stress, strain or exhaustion). Quality can be considered as value for money. Then, a job is of high quality if the relationship between demands and resources is balanced which means that employees perceive the return on their investment (in labour) as balanced. Relevant work outcomes would be related to their life situation (work-home conflict, work-life balance, job insecurity, job satisfaction), interaction with the context (relationship with clients, colleagues and supervisors) and opportunities for development (career progression, employability). Lastly, quality can be seen as transformation. High-­ quality jobs provide employees with opportunities to develop their potential and encourage them to improve the quality of their work. Therefore, components related to development such as learning, openness to change or changeability are indicators of quality. If technology has effects on these indicators, it has major consequences for HRD whose objectives include ‘improving individual, group and/or organisational effectiveness and performance, developing knowledge skills, and competencies, and enhancing human potential and personal growth’ (Hamlin and Stewart 2011, p. 210). The consequences for HRD with regard to changes in work outcomes caused by new technologies at work are not yet systematically investigated. Therefore, the following research questions will be answered: what are the effects of new technologies at work on individual work outcomes? and what are the implications thereof for the role of HRD to improve the quality of jobs? This study provides an overview of empirical evidence on the relations between new technologies and all kinds of work outcomes, and aims to retrieve the implications thereof for HRD for employees within different kinds of organisations operating in different contexts.

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2.2 Learning Outcomes 1. To get an overview of existing evidence on the effects of new technologies at work on all kinds of work outcomes. 2. To be able to evaluate the effects of new technological developments on improving the quality of jobs. 3. To be able to evaluate the role of new technologies and its consequences for and demands on HRD.

2.3 Theoretical Framework Insight into the concept of HRD and its components and defining new technologies needs to be part of the theoretical framework. Possible conditions for and determinants of the relationships between characteristics of technology and work outcomes need to be identified. These aspects are derived from theories explaining relationships between characteristics of the work context and work outcomes.

2.3.1 Components of HRD There is a wide variety of definitions on HRD (e.g. Wilson 2012). Next to the aforementioned objectives (or outputs), HRD itself consists of different components and can be triggered (as input). Wilson’s analysis (2012) resulted in an overview of components of HRD: the development of individuals, groups and occupations (e.g. types of jobs), and organisations, the design of jobs and organisations, and—in conjunction with Human Resource Management (HRM)—human resource planning, performance management, and recruitment and staffing (Wilson 2012, p.  11). The term occupation addressed in this framework refers to the type of jobs. It is argued here that the components of HRD are not static but dynamic processes (of change, learning, development at all levels) that interact and can be planned and organised. It is important to

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recognise that development can take place at the level of the individual (employee), team and/or organisation. The focus here is at the individual level where development may or may not be indented and may take place informally or formally. It can happen or be organised in different settings, such as (informally) integrated in work, in company training or training institutes. For HRD it is considered important to determine the training needs and issues of design, delivery and evaluation whenever developmental activities on any of those levels, and with regard to any of the components, are planned (Wilson 2012). At work, development of employees can be fostered by leadership or formal training for instance. In addition, other, more indirect factors can also contribute to the promotion of HRD, such as certain conditions at individual, team or organisational level (such as a feedback culture, e.g. Mulder and Ellinger 2013), as well as work characteristics such as autonomy and complexity due to the associated needs and opportunities for problem solving (Gough et al. 2014; Körner et al. 2019).

2.3.2 New Technology A definition of technology is rarely provided. McOmber (1999) identified three common notions of the term: instrumentality, industrialisation and novelty. The notion of instrumentality follows the idea of ‘what makes something a technology is simply its status as a tool’ (p. 141). This interpretation is widespread, for example, in research on information and communication technologies, robots or software programs. When used in the sense of industrialisation, it refers to ‘the product of a specific historical time and place’ (p. 143). This use is reflected in the general term ‘industrial revolution’ and in the narrative in which ‘pre-industrial’ countries are expected to follow a certain linear industrial development (McOmber 1999). Lastly, a definition reflecting novelty describes the ahistorical ‘newest or latest instrumental products of human imagination’ (p. 144). This understanding includes the notion of disruptive innovations that rapidly replace the outdated technologies of the past. For the present purpose of relating technology to individual-level work outcomes, the definition of technology based on the notion of

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instrumentality fits as it has a reasonable degree of concreteness with regard to individual-level effects of technology on work outcomes that need to be identified. Technology is therefore defined as digital or mechanical devices, tools or systems that are used to substitute or complement work tasks (McOmber 1999; Autor et al. 2003). According to this definition new technologies are for instance information and communication technologies (ICTs), computers, robots or automated systems, social media, artificial intelligence or mobile devices of all sorts.

2.3.3 T  heories on Relationships Between Context of Work and Work Outcomes To gain insight into the impact of new technologies on work outcomes, conditions and determinants need to be investigated. Three lines of argument from different theories are considered in this present study to be able to focus on aspects that can explain the relationships between job characteristics and work outcomes. Firstly, the Job Characteristics Model describes principles of job enrichment (Hackman and Oldham 1976). According to the model, specific core job characteristics (i.e. skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback) have the potential to affect three crucial psychological states (i.e. experienced meaningfulness, experienced responsibility and knowledge of results) which, in turn, leads to desirable outcomes, for instance high motivation, high job satisfaction, high work performance and low absenteeism and turnover. The Job Demand-Control Theory (Karasek 1979) explains the interplay of control and demands and its effects on performance and health. It says that adverse job strain emerges when employees are confronted with high psychological and physical demands and a simultaneously low job decision latitude (i.e. control in the form of autonomy). An unfavourable combination of control and demands can therefore have a negative impact on employee health and a positive impact on stress. In addition, The Job Demand-Resources (JDR) model describes the interplay between job demands and job resources (Bakker and Demerouti 2007; Demerouti and Bakker 2011). While job demands contain factors that are associated with effort and skill requirements and physical and/or

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psychological costs, job resources comprise factors that have a motivational effect on individuals. High demands exhaust employees’ mental and physical resources which, in turn, weaken various outcomes such as motivation, work engagement, wellbeing and health. Job resources have the potential to foster growth, learning and development which subsequently can lead to higher work engagement and higher job performance. A pivotal assumption of the JDR model is that activating work environments are characterised by a balance of job demands and job resources, and possible effects of job demands can be compensated for by relevant job resources (Bakker and Demerouti 2007; Demerouti and Bakker 2011). Thirdly, the Person-Vocation fit (PV fit) describes the degree of fit between an employee and his or her vocation (Jansen and Kristof-Brown 2006). Conceptually, it is one dimension of the Person-Environment fit (PE fit) construct. According to PE fit theory individuals interact reciprocally with their environment. Individuals carry out the activities that are required in their work context. In turn, they demand a compensation for their efforts, such as job control and autonomy (Kristof-Brown et  al. 2005). When the compensation requirements are met, a good fit is obtained. Better fits lead to more desirable outcomes regarding employee benefits (e.g. job satisfaction, work-life balance) as well as organisational benefits (e.g. work engagement). This is particularly relevant where professions change, in this case due to new technologies. Strong misfits can cause stress, strain and job insecurity (i.e. fear for job changes or job loss, De Witte et al. 2010). These lines of argument offer a basis for selecting aspects that may affect work outcomes.

2.4 Study 2.4.1 Design A systematic review was conducted that integrated two different datasets. The first dataset stems from the systematic literature review from Beer and Mulder (2020). It identified evidence on the effects of new technologies on work characteristics and the associated work demands in order to

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derive implications for the design of formal learning environments in continuing vocational training. Twenty-one empirical studies were found and reanalysed for the present study in order to identify evidence for the relationship between technology and work outcomes. Fourteen of these studies provided quantitative or qualitative evidence for direct relationships between variables reflecting one of these concepts. The second dataset stems from additional searches conducted for the present study. Specifically, the domains of finance and healthcare were focused on for two reasons: firstly, domain-specific journals have not yet been considered in previous searches. Secondly, due to domain specifics, the same technologies could lead to different outcomes in relation to responsibility. For instance, a replication study on learning from errors indicated differences in processes between banking and healthcare (Anselmann and Mulder 2018). Both domains are knowledge intensive and demand responsible decision-making which may be affected by technologies through the provision of data for instance. So far, there is not much evidence on the impact of technologies on aspects that affect decision-­making or other factors constituting professionalism. A closer look at these domains will mitigate their underrepresentation in research and provide information relevant for personnel development.

2.4.2 Additional Search Sources for the additional search within the finance and healthcare domain included (a) domain-specific databases and (b) domain-specific scientific journals providing empirical evidence not displayed within the social sciences databases (see Table 2.1). The sources were chosen based on their recognition in the domain (e.g. Impact Factor) and/or a strong focus on technology. The search strategy was adapted to the specifics of the sources. With regard to databases, the comprehensive search string was adapted from Beer and Mulder (2020). For identifying technological terms for the present purpose, thesauri of various databases were used to identify and systematically map keywords expressing technological concepts. Search terms reflecting work outcomes were derived from the framework

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Table 2.1  Sources for domain-specific supplementary search (a) Databases Healthcare Cochrane library Epistemonikos PubMed Finance Business Source Premier EconLit EconBiz

(b) Scientific journals International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management Medical Technologies Journal Journal of Banking and Finance Journal of Finance The Review of Financial Studies

developed in this chapter. Additional operators were added to retrieve studies with empirical evidence. The final search string is listed in Table 2.2. Regarding scientific journals, the strategy reflected a top-down approach by firstly testing terms relevant to HRD such as employee, workforce, job, professional or HRM/HRD (Step 1). Studies on the perception of employees and professional experiences were rare due to the subject-related focus of these sources. Whenever studies concerning employment issues were discovered, terms reflecting technology in a broad sense were added (Step 2). After that, the studies were screened for evidence on work outcomes using the same terms as in the database search (Step 3). Studies solely from peer-reviewed journals were included. Studies had to report quantitative or qualitative data for the relationship of interest. Studies were excluded if they did not measure the consequence of the presence of a certain technology in relationship with a measure of work outcomes relevant for HRD. The additional search identified five suitable studies conducted in the finance domain and three studies in healthcare. Adding three suitable studies within healthcare, identified by the reanalysis, resulted in a total of six studies in healthcare and five in the finance domain. Along with the 11 studies from other domains, a total of 22 studies were included and analysed in detail.

2.4.3 Data Extraction and Analysis of Results The quantitative and qualitative evidence of all studies was extracted into a table, including information on the study design, sample size and

“Artificial intelligence” or robot* or “big data” or computer* or “mobile device” or “wearable technology” or “implant” or “cloud computing” or “virtual reality” or “augmented reality” or blockchain or “automated manufacturing” or wireless or “data processing” or “real-time” or smart or cyber* or “assistive technology” or “instant messaging” or “social media” or “mobile communication” or ICT* or “information and communication technology” or “machine learning” or avatar* or “RFID” or “digital device*” or “mobile device*” or virtual* or “autonomous driving” or digitization or digitalization or digitisation or digitalisation or “information technology” or internet or smartphone or sensor* or “cyber-physical-system” or “internet of things” or IoT or “mobile internet” or “cloud technology” or “automated system” or “workplace automation” AND “Quality of job*” or “job quality” or “job satisfaction” or wellbeing or “job insecurity” or “job security” or “work engagement” or “commitment” or “stress” or “health” or “work-home conflict” or “work-life balance” or “job performance” or “performance” AND Empirical* or quantitative or qualitative or survey* or “case study” or questionnaire* or interview* or evidence AND “Banking industry” or “financial service*” or finance* or banking* or accounting OR “Healthcare” or physician* or nursing or nurs* or “care worker” Search terms for scientific journals Step 1 “Employee” or “workforce” or “job*” or “professional*” or “HR” or “HRD” or “HRM” or “human resource*” Step 2 “Technolog*” or “automat*” or “digit*” Step 3 “Quality of job*” or “job quality” or “job satisfaction” or wellbeing or “job insecurity” or “job security” or “work engagement” or “commitment” or “stress” or “health” or “work-home conflict” or “work-life balance” or “job performance” or “performance”

Search terms for databases

Table 2.2  Search terms for different sources

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characteristics, the technology studied and the variables reflecting the investigated technologies and the work outcomes, including evidence. For the analysis of quantitative results, Pearson’s r correlations were preferred over regression results to ensure a better comparability of results. For qualitative results, the relevant passages documenting data were summarised and listed in the tables. To enable an analysis and synthesis of results, the variables providing a measure for work outcomes were clustered thematically which was needed because of the variations in operationalisation or measurement. Furthermore, regarding the methodological variance of the studies included, a narrative synthesis of the relevant findings was carried out (Rodgers et al. 2009).

2.5 Findings Tables 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5 contain the relevant methodological information and the identified relationships between technology and work outcomes. The identified evidence is summarised in Table 2.6. References to the respective study numbers from Tables 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5 are made in brackets.

2.5.1 Overview of Technologies Different technologies were addressed with regard to their effects on individual-­level employees and managers. Two studies investigated the amount of computer work across various domains (1,5). Six studies were concerned with information and communication technologies (ICTs; also referred to as work-extending technologies). They included various tools for digital communication in general (2,9,10,11), a communication software used in a homecare setting (18) or the implementation of ICT on an enterprise level (16). Five studies investigated the effects of IT systems that facilitate internal organisational processes in banking (12,14) and in healthcare (19) as well as systems that support more specific organisational functions, such as knowledge management (13) and management accounting (15). In contrast to IT systems that provide information relevant for executing organisational operations, automated systems are characterised by also supporting physical work procedures. Six studies examined automated

Chesley (2014) 2, a, i

5

4

Amick and Celentano (1991) Dvash and Mannheim (2001)

3

1, a, i

1, a, i

Ayyagari, 1, a, i Grover, and Purvis (2011)

Study design

2, a, i

2

Reference

Kraan et al. (2014)

1

Automated manufacturing technology

Letter sorting machine

2556 employees Computer (various domains; United States)

4682 postal employees (United States) 216 machine operators (Israel)

661 employees ICT (various domains; United States)

18,723 employees Computer (various domains, Europe)

N (Domain)

Daily computer use for work (IV)

Technological coupling (complexity of machine) (IV)

Machine-paced work (IV)

Pace of change (IV)

Anonymity (IV)

Amount of computer work (IV) Technological pacing (IV) Presenteeism (IV)

r = 0.37* B = −0.05 B = −0.10*

r = −0.13

r = −0.36*

r = 0.17** r = 0.25** r = −0.16** r = 0.17**

r = 0.08 r = −0.11** r = 0.14**

r = 0.04 r = 0.21** r = 0.02

r = 0.07** r = −0.08** r = 0.12**

Work stress (DV) Learning (DV) Work-home conflict (MED) Job insecurity (MED) Strain (DV) Work-home conflict (MED) Job insecurity (MED) Strain (DV) Work-home conflict (MED) Job insecurity (MED) Strain (DV) Job satisfaction (MED) Psychosomatic symptoms (DV) Intrinsic job satisfaction (DV) Overall job satisfaction (DV) Mental healtha (DV) Work strain (MED) Distress (DV)

X

X

X

X

X

Relationship/results RA r = −0.04** r = 0.32**

Work stress (DV) Learning (DV)

Work outcome

Results for the variables studied Technology under Expression of study technology

Table 2.3  Results for studies conducted in different domains

Körner et al. (2019)

Calitz, Poisat, and Cullen (2017)

7

8

Reference

Van Zoonen and Rice (2017)

6

Study design

1, d, i

3, b, i

1, a, i

12 IT/production manager (Africa)

36 employees in manufacturing industry (Germany)

Robots

Automated production systems

364 employees Social media (various domains; Netherlands)

N (Domain) Frequency of use for work-related communication (IV)

(continued)

Work satisfaction X •  Decrease in heavy physical labour, facilitation of work processes and increase in flexibility increased work satisfaction Stress • Interruptions, multitasking and associated time pressure due to software problems increase stress • High system complexity and associated low situational awareness sometimes perceived as stressful • Constant qualification requirements due to rapid changes in software, hardware and level of complexity as a source of stress; especially stressful when adequate training was lacking Stress X •  Pressure to perform in cooperation with the robot and fear of replacement could increase stress Job security •  Fear of being replaced and fear of the unknown could decrease the feeling of job security

X

Relationship/results RA

Exhaustion (DV) r = 0.03 Work engagement (DV) r = 0.10

Work outcome

Results for the variables studied Technology under Expression of study technology

Towers, 3, b, c, i Duxbury, Higgins, and Thomas (2006)

10

5, f, i

Bordi, Okkonen, Mäkiniemi, and Heikkilä-­ Tammi (2018)

Study design

9

Reference

Table 2.3 (continued)

61 public sector employees (Canada)

Work-extending technologies

36 employees Tools for digital (various domains) communication

N (Domain)

Relationship/results RA

Wellbeing X •  Decrease in wellbeing due to the large quantity and sometimes poor quality of digital messages •  Decrease in wellbeing due to a lack of training resources and time for learning when adapting new technologies •  Decrease in wellbeing due to constant availability and interruptions through digital communication •  Increase in wellbeing due to variety of tools for communication and the associated flexibility regarding workplace and working times Work-life balance X •  Mixed effects on work-life balance depending on the individual handling of work-extending technologies (e.g. setting boundaries between work and private life)

Work outcome

Results for the variables studied Technology under Expression of study technology

Ninaus, Diehl, Terlutter, Chan, and Huang (2015)

3, b, i

Study design

25 employees ICT (various domains; Austria, Hong Kong)

N (Domain)

Relationship/results RA

Work-life balance •  Improvement of work-life balance due to increased flexibility and opportunities for remote work Work efficiency •  Increase in efficiency due to increased flexibility, improved communication and instant accessibility of information

Stress X •  Increased stress due to feelings of constant availability, (self-imposed) connectivity pressure, increased workload

Work outcome

RA = Reanalysis of study included in Beer and Mulder (2020); IV = Independent variable; ME = Mediating variable; DV = Dependent variable; CV = Control variable; r = Pearson’s r correlation; B = Unstandardised coefficients; PC = Path coefficient; M = Mean; SD = Standard deviation Concerning methodology: 1 = survey study; 2 = secondary analysis; 3 = interview study; 4 = case study; 5 = action research; 6 = unspecified qualitative approach; 7 = unspecified mixed methods approach; a = questionnaires; b = semi-structured interviews; c = focus groups; d = observations; e = open-ended questions; f = log data and workshop discussion; i = cross-sectional; ii = longitudinal/ multiple measurements; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01 a High values indicate a low mental health

11

Reference

Results for the variables studied Technology under Expression of study technology

Yaw Obeng and 1, a, i Boachie (2018)

Islam, Talukder, 1, a, i and Hu (2011)

14

15

3, b, ii

1, a, ii

Zhang (2017)

1, a, i

13

Reference

Yavas, Jha, and Babakus (2015)

12 Service technology

Technology under study Service technology support (IV)

Work outcome

Results for the variables studied Expression of technology

Job satisfaction (MED) r = 0.47* Organisational commitment r = 0.50* (MED) Turnover intention (DV) r = −0.35* 1441 (employees Knowledge Deep structure Job performance without r = 0.47** in finance management use (use of reference to KMS (DV) r = 0.37** industry) system (KMS) various features Job performance with reference to KMS (DV) of KMS) (IV) Cognitive Job performance without r = 0.14* absorption reference to KMS (DV) Job performance with reference r = 0.13* (motivation to to KMS (DV) use the KMS) (IV) 48 (employees Job performance in finance •  Improvement of knowledge acquisition and problemindustry) solving skills through KMS use fosters performance •  Nonlinear relationship dependent on other factors is likely 98 (bank Technological Innovation Employee productivity (DV) r = −0.33** employees; innovation impact (IV) Innovation Employee productivity r = 0.20* Ghana) (IT system) satisfaction (IV) 146 (managers Management Technological Managerial performance (DV) r = −0.05 of Islamic and accounting advancement Intrinsic job satisfaction (DV) r = 0.32** conventional systems (IV) banks; (MAS) Bangladesh)

530 (bank employees; New Zealand)

Study design N (Domain)

Table 2.4  Results for studies conducted in finance

RA

Venkatesh, Bala, and Sambamurthy (2016)

1375 (bank employees; India)

40 (in-bank top managers; India)

160 (bank employees; India)

1, a, ii

3, b, ii

3, b, ii

Enterpriselevel ICT

Technology under study Implementation of ICT

Operational efficacy M = 22.8, SD = 9.4 pre-implementation Operational efficacy (one year M = 23.2, SD = 8.3 post-implementation) Operational efficacy (two years M = 22.7, SD = 8.4 post-implementation) Job satisfaction pre-implementation M = 4.5, SD = 1.1 Job satisfaction (one year M = 3.5, SD = 1.2 post-implementation) Job satisfaction (two years M = 3.8, SD = 1.0 post-implementation) Employee resistance •  Managers perceived an increasing resistance of their employees Job security •  Managers commented on a lack of competition and a high job security Job satisfaction and performance •  Employees commented on unpleasant changes in their jobs and roles, thus lowering job satisfaction and operational efficacy •  Employees considered Western isomorphism as the reason behind the IT implementation, thus lowering job satisfaction •  Employees did not approve of the legitimacy of the IT system in their cultural context, thus lowering job satisfaction

Work outcome

Results for the variables studied Expression of technology RA

RA = Reanalysis of study included in Beer and Mulder (2020); IV = Independent variable; ME = Mediating variable; DV = Dependent variable; CV = Control variable; r = Pearson’s r correlation; B = Unstandardised coefficients; PC = Path coefficient; M = Mean; SD = Standard deviation Concerning methodology: 1 = survey study; 2 = secondary analysis; 3 = interview study; 4 = case study; 5 = action research; 6 = unspecified qualitative approach; 7 = unspecified mixed methods approach; a = questionnaires; b = semi-structured interviews; c = focus groups; d = observations; e = open-ended questions; f = log data and workshop discussion; i = cross-sectional; ii = longitudinal/ multiple measurements; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01

16

Reference

Study design N (Domain)

17

Stahl et al. (2005)

Reference

1, a, ii

Study design

175 (nurses, surgeons Operating and anaesthesiologists) room of the future (ORF)

N (Domain)

Technology under study

Table 2.5  Results for studies conducted in healthcare

Weekly Personal No information exposure to accomplishment (DV) ORF in Emotional exhaustion B = 1.67* hours (IV) (DV) Depersonalisation (DV) B = 0.59* Prolonged Personal B = −0.76 exposure to accomplishment ORF Emotional exhaustion B = 23.49* Depersonalisation B = 7.98* (multiple months) (IV) Weekly Personal accomplishment exposure to •  Decreased for nurses with more exposure; ORF in increased for surgeons with more exposure hours Emotional exhaustion •  Decreased for nurses with more exposure; increased for surgeons with more exposure

Expression of technology Work outcome

Results for the variables studied RA

Chang, 1, a, i Chen, and Lan (2012)

19

3, b, i

Chiang and Wang (2016)

18

Reference

Study design

283 (hospital employees; Taiwan)

17 (community nurses)

N (Domain)

Hospital information system (HIS)

Smartphone software for home care

Technology under study RA

(continued)

Stress •  Software simplified operating procedures and facilitated communication with patients, thus decreasing workload and stress Quality of care •  Instant communication with patients and team members increased efficiency and reduced potential errors Nurse-patient relationship •  Casual communication helped to display emotions and improved communications with patients Disturbance in one’s personal life •  Danger of being harassed and of a lack of disengagement during non-working hours System Service quality PC = 0.55* quality (reliability, (security, responsiveness) (DV) PC = 0.32* ease of use, Job satisfaction (DV) System performance PC = 0.47* efficiency) (work performance, (IV) work commitment) (DV)

Expression of technology Work outcome

Results for the variables studied

James et al. (2013)

Zubrycki and Granosik (2016)

20

21

Reference

1, e, i

4, c, ii

Study design

Table 2.5 (continued)

21 (autism therapists; Poland)

31 (pharmacists and technicians; United Kingdom)

N (Domain)

Robots

Automated dispensing system

Technology under study

Job satisfaction •  Mixed effects on job satisfaction; using the system increased job satisfaction by expanding the work role for some jobs; job satisfaction decreased for jobs that support the system by constricting their work role (e.g. technicians) Work-life balance •  Mixed effects on work-life balance; balance got worse for jobs supporting the system (e.g. technicians) and got better for jobs that are being supported by the system (e.g. pharmacists) Employability and commitment •  No changes mentioned regarding perceived employability or organisational commitment Relationship with supervisor •  Disagreement that using robots could increase the support given by supervisors Work-life balance •  Neutral response that using robots could affect work-life balance

Expression of technology Work outcome

Results for the variables studied

X

X

RA

Findlay et al. (2017)

4, b, c, i

45 (employees in a national healthcare institution; United Kingdom)

N (Domain) Robotfacilitated pharmacy distribution

Technology under study RA

Intrinsic job quality X •  Mixed effects; improvement of intrinsic job quality by increasing job content for jobs that are supported by the system (e.g. ward-based staff); decline of intrinsic job quality for jobs that support the system (e.g. technicians) by increasing repetitive tasks Social work environment •  Mixed effects; improvement of work environment by increasing opportunities for social exchange for jobs that are supported by the system (e.g. ward-based staff); degradation of work environment for jobs that support the system (e.g. technicians) by restricting the social and physical environment Employment quality •  No changes in compensation despite the demonstration of flexibility by employees Career progression •  Mixed effects; improvement of skills and self-confidence through job rotation for jobs that are supported by the system (e.g. ward-based staff); decline in opportunities for skill development for jobs that support the system (e.g. technicians) by restricting the social and physical environment

Expression of technology Work outcome

Results for the variables studied

RA = Reanalysis of study included in Beer and Mulder (2020); IV = Independent variable; ME = Mediating variable; DV = Dependent variable; CV = Control variable; r = Pearson’s r correlation; B = Unstandardised coefficients; PC = Path coefficient; M = Mean; SD = Standard deviation Concerning methodology: 1 = survey study; 2 = secondary analysis; 3 = interview study; 4 = case study; 5 = action research; 6 = unspecified qualitative approach; 7 = unspecified mixed methods approach; a = questionnaires; b = semi-structured interviews; c = focus groups; d = observations; e = open-ended questions; f = log data and workshop discussion; i = cross-sectional; ii = longitudinal/ multiple measurements; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01

22

Reference

Study design

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R. H. Mulder and P. Beer

systems, three of which were conducted in healthcare. One study investigated the Operating Room of the Future, a technologically enhanced operating room including a laboratory and various operative and preoperative technologies (17). Two further studies focused on automated systems that support pharmacy distribution within their medical institutions (20,22), while three studies investigated automated systems supporting physical operations within a manufacturing environment (4,7) and in the postal industry (3). One study focused on social media, which notably adds on the feature of digital communication with additional functions for social exchange and organisational participation (6). Finally, two studies examined the use of robots and its effects on work: one on the use of robots to support autism therapists during a therapy session (21) and the other investigated robots in manufacturing (8) (Tables 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5).

2.5.2 Performance Variables indicating performance include work engagement, organisational commitment and other indicators for efficacy, efficiency and quality of work. Quantitative evidence indicates positive relationships between working with IT systems and job performance (13,19), organisational commitment (12) and the quality for care service (19). Inconsistent results were found for employee productivity in one study in which using and being satisfied with innovative systems was positively correlated with productivity while the associated disruption and change during the introduction of new innovations was negatively correlated with productivity (14). Regarding ICTs, qualitative evidence is inconsistent. There is support for positive relationships with work efficiency (11) and the quality of care (18) in both cases due to improved communication. In one study, employees mentioned a negative effect on operational efficacy due to changes in their job roles while an interpretation of longitudinal measures over two years after the implementation suggests no substantial change in operational efficacy (16). Evidence on significant relationships between indicators for performance related to social media and automated systems is lacking (6,20).

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2.5.3 Development Variables indicating development include learning at the workplace, the perception of employability and having opportunities for development at work. Aspects of learning and development as a consequence of technology use are rarely examined empirically. One study reported quantitative evidence for a positive relationship between the extent of computer use and learning at work, and for a negative relationship between technologically paced computer work and learning (1). Qualitative studies indicate positive relationships between ICTs and employee resistance in the sense that employees rejected training that should have prepared them for the changes in their job (16). Other qualitative studies suggest that there are no relationships between perceptions of employability and working within an automated system (20), as well as mixed evidence for effects on opportunities for career progression within working in an automated system (22). The mixed effects were due to characteristics of jobs in relation to the technology used. Automated systems created opportunities for those jobs supported by the machine (e.g. professionals) but narrowed opportunities for skill development for jobs that support the machine (e.g. technicians).

2.5.4 Life Situation Life situation aspects include issues of work-life balance and job security. Most studies concerned with work-life issues investigated them in the context of ICT use. Mixed quantitative evidence was found by one study (2). A positive relationship of certain consequences of ICT use (presenteeism, pace of change) with work-home conflict was found and pace of change was positively associated with job insecurity. However, the associated anonymity when using ICTs was not significantly related to work-home conflict or job insecurity (2). In addition, mixed qualitative evidence was reported for the relationships between work-life balance and working with ICTs (10,11). A negative impact on private life seems to be moderated by the individual’s capabilities of managing the intrusive features of ICTs (10,18). Positive impact seems to be due to the associated flexibility when working with ICTs (11). Another study provides qualitative evidence for positive relationships between job security and ICTs (8) which could be

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explained by the sample (managers). Qualitative evidence for work-life balance and work within automated systems suggests, again, that the effects may vary depending on the relationships between the type of jobs and the technology used (20). Finally, regarding the work with robots, qualitative evidence suggests a negative effect on job security (8) or no effect at all (21).

2.5.5 Health Health issues include stress, strain, indicators of exhaustion and burnout, and job satisfaction. Most research focusing on health issues was conducted with regard to automated systems. Quantitative evidence indicates positive relationships between automated systems and psychosomatic symptoms (3), depersonalisation (17) and emotional exhaustion (17), while the latter depends on the types of jobs. Nurses experienced less exhaustion when working within a technologically advanced environment over time, while surgeons experienced more. A similar contradiction was found in relation to personal accomplishment which increased for surgeons over time but decreased for nurses (17). Further quantitative evidence exists for a negative relationship with mental health (4). And qualitative evidence exists for increasing levels of stress due to increasing interruptions, high system complexity and a lack of adequate training (7). Quantitative evidence on the effects of automated systems on job satisfaction indicates negative relationships with job satisfaction (3) and intrinsic job satisfaction (4) but no effect on overall satisfaction (4). Again, mixed qualitative evidence suggests that jobs supported by the system report an increase in job satisfaction due to freed-up resources and an expansion of work roles while jobs supporting the system report a lower job satisfaction (20, 22). Considering work with computers, quantitative evidence of two studies shows negative relationships between the amount of computer use and stress (1,5). One positive relationship was reported for technologically paced computer work and stress (1). One study found no significant relationship between strain and computer work (5). Regarding the work with ICTs, mixed quantitative evidence for the relationships with strain are

2  The Effects of New Technologies at Work on Work Outcomes… 

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reported (pace of change and presenteeism were positively related to strain; anonymity was negatively related; 2). Furthermore, one qualitative study suggests a negative effect on wellbeing due to the large quantity and poor quality of digital communication as well as frequent interruptions by digital communication (9). Contrary, the increase in flexibility due to ICTs (9) and the facilitation of communication (18) seem to positively affect wellbeing (9) and decrease stress (18). Qualitative evidence suggests further that job satisfaction is affected negatively by ICTs due to the associated changes at work, inexplicable reasons for the implementation and a misfit with cultural values and longitudinal measures indicated a decline in job satisfaction within the first two years after the implementation of ICT within an organisation (16). Regarding IT systems, quantitative evidence suggests a positive relationship with job satisfaction (12), a negative relationship with turnover intentions (12) and a positive effect on intrinsic job satisfaction (15). There was no quantitative evidence for relationships between social media and exhaustion (6). However, there was qualitative evidence suggesting a positive relationship of working with robots and increasing stress related to performance pressure when working alongside the machine (8).

2.5.6 Interaction with Context Variables reflecting interaction included indicators for the quality of relationships with colleagues, clients and supervisors at work. One study reported qualitative evidence on ICTs improving the nurse-patient relationship in a home care context (18). Another study reported no effect of working with robots on the relationship with the supervisor (21). One qualitative study reported mixed results in relation to working with an automated system and the social work environment depending on how the system restricts opportunities for social exchange for specific types of jobs (22) (Table 2.6).

2 8, 16

16 18, 19 1 20 16 22 2 10, 11, 20, 21 18

Disturbance of private life Job insecurity Job security

Employee productivity Managerial performance Operational efficacy Quality of care service Learning Development ⊕ ⊖ Employability Employee resistance Career progression Work-home conflict Life situation Work-life balance

14 15

13, 19

Performance

Work engagement Work efficiency Organisational commitment Job performance

Computer

Technology

6 11 12, 20

Number of study

Variables measuring work outcomes affected by Work technology (clustered) outcome

⊘⊘⊕ +

+

⊕⊘⊕ +−+

+

/− +

+

ICTs/WETs

⊕

⊕⊕⊕ ⊕+⊕ ⊖⊕ ⊘

⊕

IT systems

+−

+−

/

/

Automated systems ⊘

Social media

Table 2.6  Overview of relationships between technologies and work outcomes for which evidence was found

−

/

Robots

38  R. H. Mulder and P. Beer

− ⊕⊖⊕

⊖⊕⊖ ⊘

+

−−−−

−−−+

ICTs/WETs

Computer

Technology

⊖+−

⊕

+−

⊘+ ⊘+−

⊕⊕ ⊖+−

⊕⊕+−

⊖

⊕

+++

Automated systems

⊕

⊖

IT systems

⊘

Social media

/

+

Robots

Note. + = positive relationship, − = negative relationship, / = no significant relationship; quantitative results are encircled; the total number of effects may exceed the number of studies reported due to some studies reporting several effects

1, 5, 7, 8, Work stress Health 11, 18 2, 5 Strain 3 Psychosomatic symptoms 4 Mental health 6 Exhaustion 12 Turnover intention 17 Emotional exhaustion 9 Wellbeing 17 Depersonalisation 3, 12, Job satisfaction 16, 20 4, 15, 22 Intrinsic job satisfaction 4, 7 Overall job satisfaction 17 Personal accomplishment 18 Nurse-patient Interaction relationship 21 Relationship with supervisor 22 Social work environment

Number of study

Variables measuring work outcomes affected by Work technology (clustered) outcome

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R. H. Mulder and P. Beer

2.6 Discussion and Conclusions 2.6.1 Results Only a limited number of studies were found that contain empirical evidence on the effects of new technologies at work on individual work outcomes. They mostly focus on the use of I(C)T or automated systems. Studies on, for instance, the effects of robotics, artificial intelligence and blockchain are scarce or non-existing. In addition, the few empirical studies available provide contradictory outcomes. One outcome was that job performance was improved by technologies related to IT systems and partly by ICTs due to the facilitation of communication processes. Regarding development, the evidence is not sufficient to allow deeper insights into the relationships between technology, learning and development. Research focusing on aspects of employees’ life situations was mainly conducted on the use of ICTs. There, the effects of technology on work-life issues depended on the intrusiveness of the technology on the one hand and the individual’s ability to cope with its intrusive features on the other hand. However, this stresses the potential of individual strategies to cope with demands for availability and setting boundaries. Regarding job security, no consistent evidence was found. However, self-initiated development and adaptive capabilities may help individuals to deal more realistically with their fear for unemployment arising from the high pace of technological change. Much of the evidence suggests a negative effect on employee health, documenting positive relationships with feelings of exhaustion or mental health while being negatively associated with indicators for job satisfaction. However, on occasions where the technologies supported task accomplishment and operational processes, employees’ health benefited. Sometimes these effects seemed to be mediated by feelings of personal accomplishment and feelings of competence which indicates the role of individual factors such as motivation. Interactions at the workplace in relation to new technologies are another work outcome that has so far received little attention in research. ICTs seem to have the potential to improve interactions due to the facilitation of communication while

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opportunities for interaction in automated systems may be enhanced or restricted based on technological characteristics. Various explanatory factors for the discovered effects as well as possible interrelations of work outcomes need to be considered. Evidence obtained in Beer and Mulder (2020) suggests that work characteristics can mediate between technology and work outcomes, such as work characteristics complexity, autonomy, work pressure or workload. One study, a secondary analysis of data from over 18,000 employees from different domains, carried out by Kraan et al. (2014) found that the amount of computer work was positively related to workload and method-order autonomy. These work characteristics were subsequently related to work outcomes. Workload was positively associated with stress and learning and autonomy was negatively related to stress and positively related to learning. Individual capabilities, attitude or motivation may be other factors that mediate the impact of technology on work outcomes. Specifically, in healthcare, evidence suggests that working in technologically enhanced work environments increases the levels of exhaustion experienced by different types of jobs (Stahl et al. 2005). In other studies, focusing on automated systems, there is an interrelation of desirable work outcomes involved. For instance, an increase in job satisfaction and a decrease in stress are found as a consequence of an automated system substituting certain demanding activities (James et al. 2013; Findlay et al. 2017). The inconsistency of outcomes can be caused by various factors. In the study of Stahl et al. (2005) feelings of personal accomplishment reported by surgeons as well as nurses may reflect intrinsic motivation as a driver to strive for competence (Ryan and Deci 2000). Feelings of emotional exhaustion increased simultaneously with the feeling of personal accomplishment for surgeons. This suggests a complex interplay of environmental and personal factors. Research on technologies used in healthcare predominantly focuses on the relationships between working with automated systems and health. In contrast, research on technologies at work in the finance domain focused predominantly on IT systems and their effects on performance. Most data on variables such as job performance or organisational commitment stem from research in finance. Therefore, a comparison of domains is not possible.

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2.6.2 Implications for Practice In relation to the second research question on the implications of the synthesised evidence for HRD, suggestions can be made to improve the quality of jobs. First, it is important to realise that new technologies have the potential to improve organisational performance. It is therefore important that new technologies are seen as opportunities rather than threats. For instance, it was found that technology facilitates information retrieval and distribution (with IT systems), improves communication (with ICTs) and supports operational and physical processes (with automated systems). Evidence indicates, at least partly, that communication and interaction can foster work outcomes, especially regarding employees’ health and satisfaction. More research is needed on the role of communication and interaction at work in enhancing satisfaction and health and its interrelations with employee performance and development. To ensure that new technologies are used within organisations for their intended purposes, employee acceptance should be optimised and the level of rejection minimised. Models for the promotion of technological acceptance (Davis 1989) could play a role here. In addition, more far-­ reaching antecedents for technological acceptance, such as a fit with cultural values and a beneficial corporate culture, need attention. When deciding on the introduction of new technologies to promote work outcomes, organisations must be aware of consistency between their intentions and the social and cultural norms. Furthermore, evidence suggests that the use of new technologies requires phases of adaptation. In these phases, both employee satisfaction and performance can increase and decrease. New use of technology should not be considered as stable or as a linear process. Dynamics in processes of innovation development (e.g. Marinova and Phillimore 2003) seem similar. It seems important that employees confronted with new technologies are not afraid of change. Organisations and HRD could try to provide the necessary support (in technological acceptance, and lack of aptitude for change) through leadership behaviour and/or formal training. In addition, a culture for change and feeling of security is helpful for realising high-quality jobs. More specifically related to the different components of

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HRD research, results regarding individual development show evidence that technology is capable of changing the amount and quality of opportunities for self-development. For instance, operators responsible for maintaining automated systems experienced less job satisfaction, more stress and less opportunities for self-­development due to decreasing autonomy. HRD may compensate the decrease of opportunities for self-development caused by new technologies by providing more formal training and other opportunities for professional development. Support for job security is likely to be an important factor in individual,  team and occupational development. Caused by, for instance, the high speed of technological change, entire professions have to deal with the significance of these technologies for their own professional activities. HRD can support adaption processes by helping individual employees and teams to better cope with change and thus reduce the perception of job insecurity. As far as organisational development is concerned, the aforementioned cultural aspects, as well as the development of a culture that builds upon feedback and learning and is not afraid of change or technology, must be considered. This means that an organisation itself should learn and improve. Evidence is provided that machine-paced work and frequent interruptions due to digital communication increase stress (Kraan et al. 2014). Workplaces and jobs should be designed in a way where control over the pacing of work tasks fits the employees, which could mean a high level of autonomy for employees. However, a high degree of autonomy is also associated with a higher workload and more interruptions due to an increase in organising and communication tasks (Bordi et  al. 2018). Relationship between autonomy, workload and stress are inconsistent. However, since autonomy seems to have other positive effects on work outcomes besides those related to workload, autonomy needs to be taken in consideration when designing jobs. Further evidence show negative relationships between intrusive features of technology and work-life balance. In addition, evidence suggests that expectations of constant availability and accessibility often stem from the employees themselves (Ninaus et al. 2015). This could be due to their own beliefs on professionalism in relation to their jobs. On the other hand, the corporate culture could have a significant influence on

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the emergence of these expectations. This stresses the importance of self-­ management skills of employees. In addition, it should be considered that the impact of a technology through changes in one type of job could simultaneously result in changes in other jobs (Findlay et al. 2017). For example, there is evidence from employees who appreciated the increase in flexibility through time- and location-independent communication via ICTs but considered the constant interruptions caused by ICTs to be stressful (Bordi et al. 2018). In addition, evidence suggests that interaction is associated with performance measures and may as well play an important part in learning at work (Chiang and Wang 2016). Interaction may not only lend itself to act as a trigger for individual self-development but facilitate other work outcomes as well. Implications are that at least the supervisors must be able to steer dynamics in communication and interaction and they should be aware that they can act as role models when it comes to managing the explicit expectations as well as the implicit expectations, for instance on how to deal with constant availability due to ICTs on a regular basis. All the mentioned issues need to be taken into account in the planning of human resources and in organisational design. HRD needs to realise all this and be able to foster for instance the self-management skills of all employees.

2.6.3 Limitations and Future Research The systematic search that formed the basis for the reanalysis focused on work characteristics instead of work outcomes (Beer and Mulder 2020). Therefore, those databases might contain a few additional studies specifically investigating work outcomes. A limitation is that even the in-depth search in the domain-specific databases did not compensate for the lack of research that was found in the first study. However, this is due to the lack of empirical research on new technologies such as robotic, blockchain and artificial intelligence and, more specifically, the effects on work characteristics and outcomes. This is a major gap in research. Domain specificity may exist since there are fundamental differences found for the finance and healthcare domains. On the one hand, the prevalence of IT systems and automated systems may reflect the technological

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reality in finance and healthcare respectively. Healthcare has a greater need for technologies that support physical processes in particular (such as working with and on patients, distributing medication, etc.). Compared to this, the financial domain is less physically orientated in its workflows, which is why technologies for data storage, processing and retrieval (e.g. IT systems) dominate. The different focuses on performance in finance and health in healthcare could reflect lead challenges within these domains or differences in the research traditions. This stresses the need for comparable research on technologies, as some technologies may, intentionally or unintentionally, affect work outcomes in different ways within different domains. Due to the focus on two separate domains, limitations in relation to generalisability must be noted. In addition, most studies focus on knowledge-intensive work which results in a lack of blue-collar samples, for example, within this research. Replication studies in different domains and different jobs could increase comparability and generalisability. There is empirical evidence that shows that domains matter in relation to effects of context characteristics on work outcomes (e.g. between healthcare and finance; Anselmann and Mulder 2018). In this present study, the focus was on work outcomes at the individual level. Investigating the effects of new technologies on teams and organisations might deliver new insights. The same goes for the use of theories. The ones used here focus on the characteristics and the context of work and the predictions on work outcomes. An exploration of the individual perspective (e.g. motivation, fear of technology, learning) could enable new insights. Theories such as the Self Determination Theory (Ryan and Deci 2000) as well as models on technology acceptance (Davis 1989) could be starting points. Furthermore, theories on relationships at team or organisational level can be used as well (e.g. Liker et al. 1999; Burns and Stalker 1994). Such theories can be applied to analyse the impact of new technologies based on the fit between technology and social resources, organisational goals and processes. Research on the processes of change, learning and development in relation to professional development is needed to gain more insight into how to benefit more from the increasing use of new technologies. Although there are some examples (e.g. on dynamics in teams, Kozlowski 2015; or longitudinal studies, Widmann et al. 2019), the study of dynamics at different levels is in an early stage.

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2.6.4 Final Conclusions for HRD Practice The first learning outcome of this chapter consists of an actual overview of the empirical evidence of the effects of new technologies on work outcomes. There is evidence that for instance I(C)T and automated systems have impact on aspects of performance, life situation, development and learning and health. Evidence that is found is partly contradictory and is, in relation to effects on work outcomes, scarce or non-existing for important new technologies (robots, blockchain, artificial intelligence). Here, the focus was on work outcomes at the individual level as well as on theories on the relationships between work, work context characteristics and work outcomes. Mediating factors such as motivation at different levels (e.g. individual, team, organisation) were not focused on here. The second learning outcome of this chapter concerns the quality of jobs that may be affected by technological developments. In order to improve and maintain a high quality of jobs, HRD should rely on empirical evidence rather than assumptions (in position papers). This is a challenge given the lack of empirical research. As previously mentioned, there are different indicators for quality (perfection, fitness for purpose, value for money, transformation) and different relevant components of HRD (concerning input, output, process). Practitioners and scholars need to take all these different aspects into account to improve and maintain quality and they need to contribute to further research and collection of empirical evidence on these aspects. However, derived from the evidence in this present study, there are consequences of the role of new technologies and its consequent demands on HRD. An overview of what HRD needs to consider in light of new technologies and its consequences represents the third learning outcome. The consequences of new technologies at individual level (of all employees) are demands in the competences that ease the use of technological developments in a positive way. It seems important to see technology as a chance and to be open towards technology and change. This requires the development of flexibility, competences for dealing with uncertainty and the awareness of the importance of one’s own continuous professional development. Furthermore, the competences for self-organisation and self-development seem to be essential

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with regard to a variety of work outcomes such as work-life balance, decision-making and the organisation of work. In addition, the role of leadership is stressed in fostering employees’ awareness, steering interaction patterns, adapting the culture, providing job resources (such as autonomy) and self-management. These demands on employees and some more specifically on supervisors, have implications for successful training, job design, recruitment and staffing, and organisational design. HRD should try to foster all that with concrete opportunities for measures in areas such as formal training, improving informal learning and job design. Concrete HRD measures are required for realising high job quality and supporting employees to be able to adapt to and to use new technologies at work for better work outcomes.

References Amick, B.C. and Celentano, D.D. 1991. Structural determinants of the psychosocial work environment: Introducing technology in the work stress framework. Ergonomics, 34(5), pp. 625–646. Anselmann, V. and Mulder, R.H. 2018. Learning from errors in insurance companies. Journal of Management Development, 37(2), pp. 138–148. Autor, D.H., Levy, F., and Murnane, R.J. 2003. The Skill Content of Recent Technological Change: An Empirical Exploration. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(4), pp. 1279–1333. Ayyagari, R., Grover, V. and Purvis, R. 2011. Technostress: technological antecedents and implications. MIS Quarterly, 35(4), pp. 831–858. Bakker, A.B. and Demerouti, E. 2007. The Job Demands-Resources model: state of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3), pp. 309–328. Beer, P. & Mulder, R.H. 2020. The Effects of Technological Developments on Work and Their Implications for Continuous Vocational Education and Training: A Systematic Review. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, p. 918. Bordi, L., Okkonen, J., Mäkiniemi, J.P. and Heikkilä-Tammi, K. 2018. Communication in the Digital Work Environment: Implications for Wellbeing at Work. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, 8(S3), pp. 29–48. Burns, T. and Stalker, G.M. 1994. The management of innovation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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3 Digital Competence Revolution and Human Resource Development in the United Kingdom and Switzerland Elena Hubschmid-Vierheilig, Monika Rohrer, and Fotios Mitsakis

3.1 Introduction Drawing on digital competences’ theories (Prifti et al. 2017; Bilal et al. 2017; Ilomäki et  al. 2016; Pan and Seow 2016; Hartmann and Hundertpfund 2015; European Union 2015), recruiting in the digital age looks for certain digital competences on behalf of graduates. However, digital competency moves beyond simply assimilating information (information literacy) to include critical, creative and adaptive thinking, cultural agility, ability to connect and co-operate with others, trans-­ disciplinary/learning ability and abstraction capability (Brown et  al. E. Hubschmid-Vierheilig • M. Rohrer Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] F. Mitsakis (*) Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s) 2020 M. Loon et al. (eds.), The Future of HRD, Volume I, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52410-4_3

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2018; Erpenbeck 2012). Although most of these competences can be viewed as traditional skills setting up the foundation of digital competency, technological advancements and reinvention of work (e.g. remote work, virtual teams) suggest a more sophisticated explanation and use of them. It is also challenging to specify who requires digital competences to perform their work as these are increasingly demanded across all sectors and professions. Therefore, both from a national and from an organisational human resource development (HRD) perspective, HRD/National HRD (NHRD) should encompass change and development within their organisational and national agendas respectively to enhance knowledge in relation to human resource management and development, strategy and digital competency. Eventually, digital competence revolution becomes topical for the future economic success of most countries and businesses. Discussing such a contemporary topic through the lens of two different national contexts, namely of a country being within the European Union for many years and out of it in the coming years (the UK), and a second one not being a member at all (Switzerland) could offer a synchronic/synoptic view to shed light onto the future direction of the UK’s approach to competence development outside the EU’s borders. This chapter further aims to capture current HRD strategies and models, both at national and at educational levels, to inform and debate the future role of HRD in accelerating digitally dynamic workplaces.

3.2 Learning Outcomes The learning outcomes of this chapter have the following aims: 1. To understand and evaluate digital competences (e.g. definition, classification), as well as to demonstrate the necessity of digital competences on behalf of graduates, as a tool to support individual and organisational goals, innovation, change, job quality, productivity, competitiveness and sustainability. 2. To analyse and evaluate how digital competence revolution could drive the economic success of both countries and their businesses.

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3. To compare, contrast and evaluate national and educational HRD strategies and practices, and to suggest how HRD can play a leading role in accelerating the skills of the future workforce. To address our learning outcomes, the chapter is structured in a way that follows the suggestions offered above. Thus, considering that the extant literature on digital competences in relation to HRD is rather heterogeneous, a thorough literature review could be justified concerning the implication of HRD on organisational and national policies.

3.3 Literature Review on Digital Competences Interestingly, there is not a common definition of digital competence. While there is a consensus that digital competence is a transversal key competence which associates with the acquisition of other key competences (Ngoasong 2018; Vuorikari et al. 2016), a universal competence framework to enable organisations to drive digital transformation in the context of the new work order is still needed (Murawski and Bick 2017; Pan and Seow 2016; Bedwell et al. 2014). According to Brown et  al. (2018) and Ilomäki et  al. (2016), digital competences encompass instrumental knowledge and an extensive set of capabilities such as information technology (IT) tools and media usage, advanced skills and knowledge for communication and collaboration, digital information management, learning and problem solving, meaningful participation, understanding and successfully work with people from different cultural contexts (e.g. cultural agility), as well as creative and adaptive thinking to allow change and adaptation (e.g. situational adaptability) to new business and environmental circumstances (e.g. economic crisis, Brexit, Covid-19 pandemic). Following on from the definition above, quite similarly, Hammermann and Stettes (2016) identify the following set of digital competences: consolidation of information and knowledge, social intelligence and understanding, critical and flexible

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thinking, dealing with cultural and social heterogeneity, abstraction and modelling, use of digital tools, creative and productive thinking, informal and self-determined learning and virtual co-operation. Evidently, digital competences move away from the traditional information technology literacy (ITC) notion to present a new type of digital competence classification that involves new components and greater complexity at the same pace the business and social contexts are becoming more digitalised (Ferrari et al. 2012). The chapter further argues that digital competency has a generic character and thus needs to be tailored to specific target groups and specific contexts (e.g. national, institutional, professional) as it could differentiate from country to country, between industrial sectors and professions. Several ways are suggested to classify digital competences, starting from the mere distinction between hard and soft skills down to elaborate competence matrices aiming to provide practical support to businesses (Erpenbeck 2012). According to the author, the various aspects suggested above could be categorised into four digital competences’ blocks to support their operationalisation from organisations (ibid). Concerning digital competence matrices/frameworks, Erpenbeck’s four digital competence building blocks are adopted to inform our discussion of digital competence revolution and human resource development in the UK and Switzerland. Following Erpenbeck’s (2012) digital competence classification, digital professional expertise encompasses graduates’ informational technology literacy (e.g. ability to use a wide range of technology tools in assessing risks and provide solutions to address them) while digital methodical expertise associates with critical thinking (e.g. assess and determine the deeper meaning of key information to inform decision-making and thus contribute to the success of the organisation) and abstraction capability (e.g. translate complex data into meaningful information to inform data-­ based reasoning and thus to make data-based decisions). Digital social competence includes cultural agility (e.g. ability to understand cultural differences and successfully work with people from different socio-­ cultural backgrounds) and social intelligence (e.g. ability to connect and co-operate with others either in a physical or virtual environment). Lastly, the digital self-competence category comprises of trans-disciplinary and

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learning ability (e.g. ability to understand concepts across different disciplines to inform decisions and project development through constant learning curiosity) and creative/adaptive thinking (e.g. ability to respond to unique unexpected circumstances and inform decisions/work processes to suit particular needs).

3.4 Digital Professional Competence Technological development and the management of various digital networks raise demand for technical expertise. Although for those employed in non-tech professions this might not be a key requirement, they still have to know how to use software applications which could have a certain or wider impact on their daily work routine (Schweizerischer Bundesrat 2017; Sure 2016). Consequently, everyone should understand how new technologies work and can be applied. With the increasing regulation of the virtual sphere, knowledge on data protection laws as well as on the rights and possibilities to protect one’s identity and anonymity is critical (Sure 2016). To evaluate data, the ability to perform statistical analysis is also required (Davies et al. 2011). Thereafter, in addition to basic technological skills, general business knowledge and understanding of business links become crucial in the digital age. Hammermann and Stettes (2016) suggest that for graduates to be digitally competent they should possess broad interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding. The increasing use of global and network mobile teams further requires excellent language competences, or at least fluency in English as a lingua franca, because most technical data are produced in English (Aepli et al. 2017). Therefore, it is of crucial importance that businesses carefully consider whether their existing workforce possess the competences required. In addition, organisations also need to develop the most appropriate recruitment and selection practices, and training and developmental initiatives, to attract and retain highly digitally competent graduates to contribute positively in driving the business forward.

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3.5 Digital Methodical Competence The ability to prioritise and select data according to specific business problems is also critical (Ashoff 2017). Analytical competences, such as critical, process-orientated and networked thinking are highlighted as critical attributes for graduates (Eilers et al. 2017). Therefore, employees should not only be able to work with big datasets and focus on relevant information, but also be competent in using the appropriate technology and processes to analyse, evaluate and contextualise the given data (abstraction capability). According to Murawski and Bick (2017), graduates should adopt a critical, innovative and reflective approach at work which should also incorporate the use of various research skills (e.g. data collection and analysis from various sources, problem solving, planning and scheduling, critical thinking and writing). Finally, as work moves beyond routine tasks, project orientation and project management skills are also needed (Herrmann 2017). Therefore, many organisations welcome graduates who could offer such a skillset to support their business growth, success and sustainability.

3.6 Digital Social Competence Digitalisation requires graduates to apply advanced reading, writing and speaking skills in relation to the use of various IT tools to successfully communicate on daily basis either through emails, through the production of relevant web-contents (e.g. internet and intranet) or face-to-face. Employees are also expected to communicate at ease via social media or through video conferences, both of which require presentation and moderation skills (Schweizerischer Bundesrat 2017). Having online shops replace classic retail models, customers often utilise their consulting services (e.g. online chats, FAQs, 360° view of a product, customer help and support) prior to ordering the goods/services online. Thus, specific consulting capability, as well as social competence, is required from graduates/existing employees to effectively perform their work. Even routine

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jobs, such as that of a cashier, now incorporate other roles such as consultants (e.g. informing customers about other options being available as well as explaining how products/services work) at their checkout stations in many organisations, with that highlighting the increasing need of social competence at work. Furthermore, the interconnectedness of technologies forces experts from diverse disciplines to work together on a temporal or virtual basis, as well as to embed in rather fluid (holocratic) and heterogenic structures, call for high levels of communication and co-operation skills (Sure 2016). Organisational holocratic structures welcome bossless/post-bureaucratic business environments to boost flexibility and engagement through increased socialisation and interaction (e.g. peer reliability and adaptability) (Bernstein et al. 2016). Moving to a digital era, bureaucracy seems to be a thing of the past. Instead, Holocracy emerges as an alternative to shed the traditional/formal management structure in favour of leaderless, self-organising teams, and an individual and business culture of constant development (Larche 2016). Owing to the rapid change of business and technological environments, a holocratic structure calls for employees’ autonomy, empowerment, collaboration, information sharing and decentralised decision-making (Morgan 2014). In addition, interdisciplinary/ cross-departmental co-operation could enhance constructive competition and better decision-making (Toshiyuki 2019). Considering all the above, Eilers et  al. (2017) emphasised the importance of assertiveness, teamwork and the necessity to coach and motivate other team members. Following the digitalisation of work (e.g. remote work, virtual teams), graduates are expected to be familiar with new communication forms (e.g. blogs, social media, instant messaging, virtual reality, teleconferences) as well as to be empathetic and willing to co-operate (ibid). The main challenge in teams is to motivate team members to work towards a common goal by communicating effectively with each other. In the context of globally dispersed and multicultural teams, intercultural competence/social perceptivity is deemed to be critical as an important digital social competence (Erpenbeck 2012). Therefore, graduates should be able to discern others’ emotions and show appropriate reaction to them; thus, they should develop their emotional intelligence (Aqqad et  al. 2019). One argues that being able to support and take care of

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others, as well as showing empathy towards employees and customers, will be increasingly important in the digital age. Thus, digital social competent graduates who are capable of understanding, connecting and co-­ operating with people of different cultures could serve as effective and respectful global citizens both for the benefit of their organisation (e.g. enhance brand image) and of their society (Caruso et al. 2019).

3.7 Digital Self-competence Fresh graduates and employees alike face various challenges associated with digital transformation resulting in adapting their approaches to rapidly changing workplaces. Therefore, they need to understand their role and the interaction with new automated processes. Consequently, life-­ long learning through self-reflection, self-management and the ability to find a proper work-life balance are all of high significance. Graduates, and existing employees, are more likely to work remotely, having their work became more project orientated. Thus, it is argued that they need to remain well informed of all developments and trends occurring in the labour market, as well as develop themselves beyond their narrow field of expertise (learning ability) to collaborate effectively with others for better decision-making through trans-disciplinary co-­ operation. Graduates/employees should be receptive to new learning approaches (e.g. e-learning, virtual and augmented reality) and learning in groups (e.g. virtual classrooms) as well as becoming more flexible and adaptable in their career aspirations to meet new business and labour conditions, and thus to succeed in the digital world (Brynjolfsson and McAfee 2014). Creating one’s own differentiating but congruent ‘brand’ is essential not only in the context of employability but also in the context of employer branding in the digital age, as organisations of all kind can benefit from positive employee self-images using them as immediate ambassadors (ibid). Thus, this chapter argues that with the advent and evolution of digital presence (e.g. social networks, web, online communication) this becomes even more prominent. Anything is possible when people are willing to embrace change and are willing to go out of their comfort zone (Neuburger 2015). Lehmann

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and Wendt (2001, s.219) use the term innovation ability, while Herrmann (2017) calls it entrepreneurial spirit. Both terms suggest that creativity and out-of-the-box thinking are important competences, both of which are lacking from robots despite the progress made in Artificial Intelligence. Brynjolfsson and McAfee (2014) further elaborate on this idea by also emphasising the need for humans to learn to work effectively with machines and robots and to keep themselves on a continuous learning curiosity. The implications of digital competence revolution to organisations and their HRD strategy could be evidenced, either explicitly or implicitly, through an increasing emphasis on the importance of all digital competences. Demirkan and Spohrer (2015) argued that more focus should be placed on the development of T-shaped careers, suggesting that employees should have a generalist profile as well as a specialisation that could enhance their profile. Digitalisation of work results in a new range of skills and knowledge on behalf of graduates. T-shaped employees will demonstrate wider knowledge and skills across various disciplines, yet they will also be experts in one particular area (ibid). In line with Erpenbeck’s (2012) digital competence blocks, t-shaped employees will be open-minded, creative and adaptive, global network collaborators, critical thinkers, life-long learners, IT literate and empathetic communicators (Demirkan and Spohrer 2015). Thus, one can reason that owing to the digitalisation of work (e.g. remote work, virtual teams, online communication) this type of employee is spreading widely across all business sectors and groups of people to allow t-shaped individuals to effectively work in multicultural and multifunctional contexts. For instance, General Electric welcomes the recruitment of t-shaped graduates and rewards employees who focus ‘on going deep—not wide’ as part of its efforts to develop industry experts (Linebaugh 2012). Cantonal Hospital of Winterthur, in the Canton of Zurich, is offering a mandatory course on general management and HR for its physicians and nurses. The goal is to strengthen their competences and make them fit for a working world that is characterised by digital healthcare solutions. Another fine example of supporting the need of t-shaped employees can also be evidenced when a financial data programme should be developed. Software developers and financial experts should collaborate and understand their respective needs

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to ensure the right software is built. Therefore, wider knowledge from both is required (e.g. basic understanding of finance from software developers and respective IT understanding on behalf of financial experts). In essence, it becomes necessary for graduates to shape their knowledge and skills in such a way to ensure that they meet the description of a t-shaped profile. The rise in demand for t-shaped employee profiles does not suggest that I-shaped (specialist in one area), Dash-shaped (generalist), and H-shaped (specialist in two areas) profiles will disappear (Donofrio et al. 2010). Therefore, HRD professionals are called to design and deliver training programmes to ensure that they keep up-to-date in relation to digitalisation. In addition, HR professionals should create recruitment and selection processes to attract digitally competent graduates who could contribute to business competitiveness and sustainability (Patterson 2017). Overall, HR/HRD professionals should remain sensitive to all changes performed within business environments to stay ahead of competition. With that in mind, the following sections discuss NHRD and HRD education provision in the UK and Switzerland respectively to inform policymaking and practical implications for organisations.

3.8 N  ational Human Resource Development in the United Kingdom The term ‘National Human Resource Development (NHRD)’ emerged as a comparative tool of the similarities and/or nuances of institutional HRD policies and strategies across the globe (Lynham and Cunningham 2006; Cho and McLean 2004). Yet, the scope of NHRD has dramatically changed following the latest global economic and business developments. More specifically, NHRD in the UK is described as being multifaceted and diverse, as well as being largely affected by national economic and political conditions. Following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU), NHRD policies are expected to be re-examined and revised to reflect the new circumstances being developed.

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With the signing of the ‘Bologna Agreement’, EU states agreed to establish a universal framework. However, a recent governmental survey notes that digital skills gaps exist across various UK business sectors, further reporting that 72% of large firms and 49% of SMEs are lacking the necessary digital skills. That could indicate a mismatch between the skills offered on behalf of employees and those demanded by employers (Ecorys UK 2016). Notably, another report identifies that 18% of the workforce lacks the basic digital skills required, while 21% lack the digital skills needed to perform their work duties efficiently (GOV.UK 2019a). That could imply the ineffectiveness of the EU’s digital competence framework. As the world becomes increasingly digitalised, resulting in the high demand of a digitally trained workforce to meet particular sectoral needs, business sectors and industries as well as governmental policymakers need to ensure that the necessary training is offered. However, Thursfield (2001) noted that in relation to uptaking digital competences, differing perspectives are identified across business sectors and of the people involved, thus making it difficult to come up with a universal digital skills framework that suits individual and company-specific needs. National governments are also urged to focus on upskilling their workforce’s digital competences through life-long learning initiatives which eventually could inform the understanding, development and provision of HRD across the globe.

3.8.1 G  overnmental Initiatives to Upskill Workforce’s Digital Skills In an effort to enhance the UK workforces’ digital skillset, the British Government introduced the so-called Essential Digital Skills Framework, following the European Union (EU)’s digital skills suggestions, yet featuring a slightly different digital skillset in terms of wording (GOV.UK 2019a). The aim was to introduce and agree a digital skills framework to allow transferability and progression of those digital skills required to boost the UK economy. The UK government, either within or outside the EU, aims at fostering digital competences of its workforce across all industries and sectors; thus, several skills councils were also introduced,

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all aiming to provide consultation through government-led initiatives in relation to skills development (Lee 2004). Initiatives such as Learning and Skills and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority both represent efforts to develop the UK workforce. This could be a positive indication of the UK Government’s educational and philosophical orientation in upskilling UK workforce to maintain its competitiveness across national and international borders.

The Learning Skills Council The Learning and Skills council aimed to enhance young individuals’ (aged under 22 years old) skills through offering and supporting a system of apprenticeships across several sectors. The initiative was abolished in 2010 and replaced by the Skills Funding Agency and the Young People’s Learning Agency, both of which aimed at funding post-16 education and training as well as offering company placements for young individuals in an attempt to gain relevant experience and increase their job-related skills. Both were replaced by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (GOV.UK 2019b). While the aim remained the same, the establishment/ upgrade of those councils to their current state supports governmental efforts in remaining sensitive to the latest economic and business developments. Similar initiatives are also offered by most UK universities and their employability services, mainly through student placements in partnering companies.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Another council focusing on the provision of vocational training, across all industries and occupations, is the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). Its main aim is to work with other professional bodies to monitor and accredit programmes and qualifications offered by UK colleges. The Department for Education and Skills sponsors the body with the latter’s role being to focus on upgrading the UK workforces’ competences and preparing them to meet the increasing demands of the

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twenty-first century (QCA 2019). That could also ensure that the UK economy is one of the most dynamic knowledge-based economies across the globe. As such, QCA offers a few relevant qualifications and certifications to people interested in enhancing their digital skills.

3.8.2 Quasi-Government Organisations: Professional Bodies Several other initiatives are developed through the collaboration between employers and industry experts with the government. These include initiatives such as the National Occupational Standards and Modern Apprenticeships Framework, as well as of professional bodies such as Investors in People and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, all highly related to the provision of HRD education.

 e National Occupational Standards and Modern Th Apprenticeship Framework National Occupational Standards (NOS) and Modern Apprenticeships Frameworks are developed by experienced professionals and employers, along with governmental bodies such as the Department of Education and the Ministry of Labour. The NOS suggest the performance standards required from employees across all sectors as well as the occupational competences and skills and the knowledge they need to perform their work safely and effectively (UK Commission for Employment and Skills 2011). Those standards are informed by evidence-based, UK-wide benchmarks of outstanding performance across sectors and highly inform the vocational learning and training and developmental needs of the workforce (ibid). One argues that due to the digitalisation of work and the rapid change of business and economic environments, there is a continuous need for developing new employability skills to address the increasing demands of the global labour market. Therefore, the role of NOS is also to develop and introduce policy initiatives which support the development of employability skills on behalf of the workforce to secure employment for all.

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The government, along with all other stakeholders involved, demonstrates its commitment to developing new and digitally focused vocational qualifications for existing and new industries/professions emerging from the rapidly changing business and socio-economic landscapes (UK Commission for Employment and Skills 2011). Thus, in line with digital competence revolution, this chapter argues that prioritisation should be given to those skills and knowledge included within the digital competence framework to ensure compliance with newly established or updated regulations and/or to meet constantly accelerating employability needs.

The Investors in People Professional Body Investors in People (IiP) represents another professional body which focuses on ensuring that UK organisations are committed to HRD (IiP 2019). IiP also aims to ensure that training on digital skills is offered across all organisations being accredited by the body (ibid). Such initiatives could indeed foster HRD’s strategic positioning both nationally and within organisations. A similar initiative associates with several university rating systems, all of which aim at standardising the provision of HRD programmes, and of other related qualifications, offered by UK universities. Such initiative is highly welcomed by UK universities yet it cannot directly ensure the inclusion of digital skills training/modules on behalf of the educational institutions.

 e Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Th Professional Body The Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) (2017, 2018, 2019) calls for employers and employees to build digital resilience through developing their digital skills. CIPD awards national vocational qualifications, while personal professional development could lead to different levels of membership which indicate the depth of knowledge and expertise within the HR profession either at academic or professional levels. The body emphasises the evolution of technology and other factors, all of which demand a digitally skilful workforce to meet the

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increasing demands of today’s business world. CIPD could influence HRD policy and practice and thus to have a long-term and profound impact on how NHRD shapes and offered now and in the future.

3.8.3 Higher Education UK universities, colleges and all other educational bodies are equal partners in preparing students to become digitally equipped (Nania et  al. 2019). Today, a wide range of philosophical and methodological approaches support the delivery of most HRD programmes offered by UK universities, varying from critical studies to storytelling, all of which equally inform and influence NHRD and vice versa (Kispeter 2018). The HRD educational provision is discussed in subsequent sections. To conclude, the government promotes a multi-stakeholder workforce development system by welcoming several partners (e.g. universities, professional bodies, governmental councils, organisations) in establishing a nation-wide approach in relation to the UK workforces’ skills development. All inputs offered have a profound effect on the conceptualisation of HRD, both from an organisational and national perspective as well as allowing the development of courses/programmes that focus on digital skills enhancement. Therefore, all stakeholders involved in the process should accept responsibility for enabling, developing and facilitating academic, professional and vocational training programmes that could adequately accommodate digital skill development and application on behalf of the UK workforce.

3.9 H  uman Resource Development Educational Provision in British Universities It is widely recognised that universities should play a leading role in developing the skills of the future workforce. Relevant courses/programmes to enhance their students’ digital competences should represent a key objective of their educational agenda to contribute to UK economy’s competitiveness globally.

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A key issue is identified within the relevant literature though, which suggests that in many cases the education system fails to provide graduates with the necessary skills required to sufficiently align with organisational requirements (Ecorys UK 2016). Data skills teaching makes up part of some undergraduate degrees, mainly across Social Sciences and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programmes (Universities UK 2015). The report also identified that the quantity and quality of provision varied considerably amongst institutions and degree programmes (ibid). Therefore, digital competency should be embedded as a core requirement on behalf of graduates regardless of their degree subject. Ecorys UK (2016) suggests that there are many routes to meet the UK market’s digital skills supply and demand. These consist of all further education, higher education and other public or private learning institutions, all of which could be seen as digital competences suppliers. Yet, for this to successfully happen, educational curricula should be revised to include the provision of relevant digital competency courses (ibid). All businesses operating within the UK market also hold equal responsibility for upskilling their workforce through continuous professional developmental programmes to allow them to bridge any digital skills gaps identified. Traditionally, successful and competitive businesses would seek to employ higher education graduates who have already acquired the digital competences they require to avoid additional costs relating to training. Yet, other organisations believe that due to the endlessly changing business environments, relevant digital competences should be developed on-the-job to ensure full compliance with business requirements (UKDS 2014). However, in many cases, employers find it difficult to attract and employ digitally competent graduates and mostly blame higher education institutions and the government for not developing strategies which aim to enhance the digital competency of graduates and/ or of existing employees attending apprenticeships programmes. In contrast, the authors of this chapter contend that upskilling existing and future employees with digital competences should be a shared responsibility of both the education sector and all businesses, a suggestion that becomes increasingly evident through the extensive collaboration between the two counterparts (Scandura 2016; Wang et al. 2016).

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A CIPD (2015) report identifies that the provision of HRD programmes, either at undergraduate or postgraduate levels, in the UK is informed by the respective actions and dynamic interaction of three key players, namely professional bodies (e.g. accountancy, legal and marketing), universities and academics, and the central government. This chapter asserts though that such co-operation could prove difficult in relation to HRD education provision, especially if there is not a consensus amongst those groups and excluding organisations. Stewart and Sambrook (2012) wrote that although each stakeholder might pursue a different agenda, all should work under a common purpose which is nothing else than satisfying supply and demand of those capabilities required within the market. Therefore, in relation to current governmental policies and educational frameworks, HRD education provision is largely informed by market forces (e.g. demand and supply) to secure an equilibrium between the two (ibid). It is further noted that HRD education provision neither is exclusively offered by universities through undergraduate or postgraduate programmes nor is its context exclusively informed by them. Instead, their curricula are heavily informed, and in many cases are accredited, by the professional body (CIPD), indicating the influence the latter has and limiting the input from other UK quasi professional bodies, such as the Institute of Directors, the Institute of Training and Organisational Learning (ibid). Therefore, it is posited that all of the above key players relating to HRD education provision should align their priorities (e.g. digital competence upskilling of graduates and existing employees), a suggestion that is not always the case though. UK universities, and their academics, also play a critical role in HRD education provision as a graduate’s digital competency will depend heavily upon the digital competencies held on behalf of those teaching them. The digital awareness of academic staff is crucial in securing adaptability to constantly changing skills requirements (Windsor and Mateos-Garcia 2015). The importance of an established partnership between the universities, the industry (organisations across all sectors) and the central government could ensure such awareness in relation to designing and implementing effective and well-informed HRD programmes to supply digital skills the market.

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The provision of HRD programmes in the UK varies according to the mode of delivery and the provider as well. CIPD is one of the main HRD education providers offering a wide range of programmes at different levels (e.g. Certificate, Diploma), with these further varying in relation to their length. Universities offer similar programmes as well with these lasting three or four years depending on whether these include a work-­ placement or not. Morse (2006) outlined the perceived value of work-placements for postgraduate HRD students by arguing that work-­ based learning helped them to understand better all underlying HRD theories by putting them into practice. As such, UK universities offer in-company programmes and apprenticeships programmes which are designed and delivered to meet the particular training and learning needs of the partnering company (Stewart et al. 2015; Stewart and Sambrook 2012). The teaching and learning methods vary with case studies, student-­ led seminars, guest lectures, consultancy projects and presentations included to offer an outstanding learning experience to students (Lawless et al. 2012). UK universities offer both CIPD accredited and independent HRD programmes. These are either offered as undergraduate or postgraduate courses. However, in many cases, HRD programmes are offered as a subservient element of HRM education with that hindering the strength and provision of HRD education in the UK (Sambrook and Stewart 2010). Considering the tight interrelation with the respective professional body (CIPD) one could argue that HRD education provision could be strengthened owing to the CIPD’s focus on HR and people development. It is posited that HRD education can contribute more to business education through its narrow subject area and can deliver desirable learning outcomes as suggested in existing HRM programmes. Apparently, the provision of HRD education is not an exclusivity for UK universities as it continues to be shaped by the complex interrelation of key stakeholders identified earlier (e.g. central government, professional bodies, organisations). Although current HRD curriculum is informed heavily by specific requirements set by CIPD, a more critical input on behalf of HEIs and of their academics is required to drive and strengthen the presence and provision of HRD education in the UK.

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3.10 N  ational Human Resource Development in Switzerland The Swiss education system is a key contributor to the economic success of the nation (Hoffman and Schwartz 2015). The real strength lies in a dual education system with high permeability and a focus on vocational education and training (Hoffman and Schwartz 2015). According to the IMD World Talent Ranking (2018), Switzerland is leading the talent ranking for the fifth consecutive year. This is mainly due to the quality of apprenticeships, educational system, university education and management education (ibid). Also, the Worldwide Educating for the Future Index (WEFFI) ranks Switzerland number two in terms of provision of future skills education (World Economic Forum 2019). It is not a coincidence that Switzerland is one of the few countries worldwide that has increased its GDP share of total public spending in relation to education. However, it is surprising to see that the percentage of university graduates in the Swiss population is lower compared to other European countries (Deissinger and Gonon 2016). Ultimately, the Swiss NHRD is built upon strong foundations. Nevertheless, the current Swiss education system seems not to be able to support the digital transformation of society and professional world appropriately (McKinsey Global Institute 2018). For instance, in terms of information literacy competency, Swiss students are not above average compared to other EU countries and almost 30% do not even reach the lowest thresholds of competence (Seufert 2017). Even more surprisingly, although belonging to the digital native generation, Swiss students apparently lack sufficient internet skills (ibid). For Switzerland to leverage on the opportunities presented by digitalisation, it has to ensure that the required skills are being promoted. The challenge for schools and academia is to prepare the young for life-long learning, a progressively more complex society and a world of work in constant change. Eventually, all citizens have to be able to use ICT in order to participate competently in political, social, economic and cultural processes, as well as to ensure they know how to deal with online risks in an informed and independent manner (ibid).

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In 2017, the Swiss Confederation issued a report on Challenges of Digitalisation for Education and Research in Switzerland, and formulated the Digital Switzerland strategy which sets out the guidelines for ICT and digitalisation (Swiss Confederation 2017). The resulting action plan include improving of digital competencies at school level, making use of ICT in general and vocational education, as well as the rapid adaptation of the education system to the requirements of the market (Swiss Confederation 2018). Finally, it calls for co-ordination and co-operation in the field of education (State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation 2019a). The actions also encompass both content and delivery of educational programmes with the aim of using teaching information and communication technologies for knowledge transfer (State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation 2019b). The on-­ demand availability of knowledge is leading to an adjustment of learning processes and changes in the roles of teachers and students (Seufert 2017). Thus, the need to enhance digital competences (including social, emotional and Meta skills) is evident. Although the Swiss education system is excellent in creating outstanding engineers and professionals, only 4.9% of the current workforce are ICT specialists (compared to Finland leading with 7.2% and the UK with 5.1%) (Eurostat 2019). However, in 2016 almost one-third of all students in Switzerland have been registered in STEM programmes and the tendency is increasing (Federal Statistical Office 2017). With regards to elementary school, the Swiss public-school system has recently launched a new project to target a more competency-based approach including the integration of digitisation in primary schools (Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education 2015; Seufert 2017). Since 2010, ICT apprenticeships have also increased (Federal Statistical Office 2019a), being ranked fifth in terms of popularity (State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation 2019b). In 2016, 75% of the Swiss population, aged from 15 to 75 years old, had completed training (15.6%) or further education programmes (62.55%), with the age group 35–44 years old being most active in non-­ formal education (76%) (Federal Statistical Office 2019b). With regards to digitisation, one out of ten people attended ICT training (ibid). Non-­ formal education is also strongly supported by organisations. In 2015,

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89% of the companies in Switzerland supported further training courses and 44% of all employees in organisations with at least ten employees took part in digital training courses (Federal Statistical Office 2019b). Nevertheless, Swiss companies only contribute to 45% of the training costs which is below the European average of 49% (ibid). This is likely to include offering hours credits since lack of time is by far the main obstacle for attending an educational initiative (Federal Statistical Office 2019a). Additionally, organisations are advised to resort more to people analytics methods to track talents (Schellekens et  al. 2018). A more evidence-­based approach to people development would enhance organisational capability in identifying skills gaps. Furthermore, aggregated data used by organisations can provide relevant insights to support the strategic enhancement of their development programmes. In terms of employability, 69% of international workers in Switzerland (vs. 59% globally) expect their employers to provide and support developing training opportunities (Ravaux et al. 2018), whereas 61% of Swiss workers see themselves as responsible for acquiring new skills (Schellekens et al. 2018). When it comes to life-long learning, education and costs, 72.2% of the Swiss population believe these to be the responsibility of both the employer and the employee (Schellekens et  al. 2018). This shared responsibility can therefore be seen as an important part of the psychological contract between the two parts. Furthermore, this shows a high level of self-directedness on behalf of the employees which can ultimately stem from certain values inherent in the Swiss education system, such as equality and participation. Such preconditions can be deemed ideal to promote the increase of digital skills. However, according to Ravaux et  al. (2018), Swiss employees lag behind their global peers in relation to their digital competences as they focus more on technical and job-specific skills. This shows the potential for Swiss NHRD in advancing digitalisation of work. Hence, the effective promotion of life-long learning requires a close collaboration between the private and public sector (McKinsey Global Institute 2018). Switzerland already benefits from an advanced collaboration between organisations, industry associations and the department of labour in the field of apprenticeships (ibid), ensuring that the apprentices obtain the skills required by organisations. Deissinger and Gonon (2016) outline the high influence key

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stakeholders (such as social partners, political parties and the public) could play. By way of consensus, this close collaboration is an important pillar for youth education, employment and social stability and the success of the Swiss economy in general (ibid). However, this collaboration seems less strong in the context of academia as the Swiss education system often fails to bridge the gap between learning and labour market requirements (Schellekens et al. 2018). Switzerland is among the top five countries when it comes to relevant pillars of digitalisation like skills, labour market and innovation capability (ibid).

3.11 D  igital Competences in the Swiss Higher Education System Before looking more closely at the digitisation level in the Swiss higher education system, it is worthwhile noting that there are two types of higher education institutions: the traditional universities which focus on basic research and the universities of applied sciences (UAS) which are generally more practice-orientated and base their teaching on applied research (State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation 2018). The role of the Swiss higher education institutions, in terms of digitalisation, is perceived as vital and therefore a closer collaboration between universities and industry is welcomed (McKinsey Global Institute 2018). Schellekens et al. (2018) argue that universities could offer a plethora of skills to foster their graduates’ digital mastery (e.g. knowledge such as computer science, AI, encryption, rigour of thought, but also cultural knowledge, leadership, entrepreneurial skills, design thinking, collaboration, self-assessment skills and concept creation). Therefore, digital skills need to be developed in all subject areas (State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation 2019a). Swiss Universities issued a short-term proposal to strengthen digital application skills in academic teaching (Maret 2018). The proposal further enables Swiss universities to adapt the challenges of digitalisation as well as to promote and implement projects aimed at strengthening the digital skills of academic staff and students through promoting the

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exchange of good practices and lessons learned (ibid). To date, 300 project proposals have already been submitted. For instance, the University of Basel (2018) has launched a strategy called Digitalisation in Teaching, aimed at creating the conditions and qualification offers that could enable their graduates to become independent and active members of an increasingly digital society. In 2018, the University of Zurich announced the creation of 18 new professorships for digitalisation with the goal to increase interdisciplinary co-operation between faculties as well as offering new courses such as minors in digital sciences and machine learning (von Daenikon 2018). With these immediate actions, the University of Zurich recognises its social role and responsibility to create university graduates who fit to the labour market, politics and society in general (ibid). Finally, since UAS maintain particularly close relationships with the professional world, their role is substantial in promoting digital competences. For instance, the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) has launched the strategic initiative ‘ZHAW digital’, aiming at actively dealing with ‘the opportunities and challenges that arise from the digital transformation of society as a whole’ (ZHAW 2019a). A third of the 800 plus further education programmes that are offered include the word digital in their programme title while the concept of blended learning is also present, indicating universities’ efforts in promoting digitalisation across the various study programmes (ZHAW 2019b). Such efforts can be seen as a testimony of the eager implementation of the digital strategy. In terms of study programmes in the field of HR, there are only six programmes offered by Swiss universities and UAS at postgraduate level and none at undergraduate (Studyscan 2019). However, only one of these programmes offers a Master of Arts degree, whereas the other degrees are Master of Advanced Studies which are further education programmes. There are no studies focusing on HRD in particular as this component forms an integral part of HRM studies. At Certificate of Advanced Studies (12–15 ECTS) level, only two of the UAS offer a programme exclusively on HRD (Studyscan 2019). Given the fact that HRD is a very practice-orientated field, and builds on the foundation of practical experience, it comes as no surprise that the further education programmes of UAS are dominant in this field.

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3.12 The Case of the UK and Switzerland Comparing NHRD in the UK and Switzerland, it is key to note their similarities and nuances. Evidently, both countries are short of digital talent and their educational systems are currently not fully developed in meeting the increasing demands of the business world (e.g. limited number of HRD programmes offered), regardless of the governmental national frameworks developed and of other private-initiated efforts brought forward to promote national digital competence. The co-ordination of all initiatives is key to digital transformation whereas one of the major challenges may rest in aligning both UK and Swiss academic curricula with business needs. Considering that both countries are non-EU members, it is suggested that they may continue to experience a shortage of digitally competent labour due to new immigration restrictions from outside the EU’s borders. It is therefore of utmost importance that both educational systems focus on enhancing digital competences through digital HRD initiatives and learn from each other. Recent developments like the Covid-19 pandemic force both countries to invest into digital tools that enable digital/ online teaching and remote working. Not embracing the EU Digital strategy, as non-EU members, urges both countries to carve out their own way of developing a digitally skilled workforce. Another critical factor may be the level of self-directedness that is key for effective learning. As discussed earlier, this seems to be the case for a large proportion of the Swiss workforce resulting from an inherent self-­ conception of the Swiss education system. For the UK, the respective levels of self-directedness on behalf of university students are moderate despite enormous efforts being brought forward from UK higher education institutions to demonstrate that self-directedness in learning is closely related to employability (Kim et  al. 2015; Boden and Nedeva 2010). Regardless of the levels of self-directedness in learning on behalf of the current and future workforce (e.g. university students, fresh graduates, existing employees), HRD professionals and HRD educators should transform their strategies and curricula respectively to adapt to the changing needs of their customers (e.g. employees, students) in light of

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workplace and technological changes (aka the digital era). One argues that both HRD scholars and practitioners should share knowledge and practices to identify and eliminate barriers which prevent their collaboration, to encourage continuous professional development through supporting and recognising self-directedness in learning and to drive personalisation of learning experience through tailored programmes. Overall, it is suggested that they should tackle digital competence revolution to empower learners to engage in self-directed learning, amongst other offerings, to foster the use of relevant digital competences in the workplace.

3.13 H  uman Resource Development and the Challenge of Digitalisation Organisations face new challenges every day, with digitalisation representing an opportunity for HRD to reposition itself as a strategic business partner in organisations. Webber (2018) highlights that the vast majority of HR leaders experience major issues relating to the acquisition of the skills required to support the digital transformation of their business. In addition, most HR leaders argued that their workforce should develop their digital competences either through self-initiated or organisational-­led training to make the most of new ways of working (ibid). Eventually, when it comes to training and development (T&D), HRD has a key role to play. Its role could start with identifying the skill(s) gaps, set and plan the relevant learning objectives and then design and implement the most appropriate learning initiatives to ensure that employees possess the necessary competences to perform their work effectively. Building a learning culture is also essential to ensure that the right behaviours are established within the organisation, having these further integrated in the recruitment process to guarantee that graduates and employers share the same values. An effective learning culture can support innovations by adapting to, or even anticipate, customer needs at a fast pace (Lindner et  al. 2017). However, Goerzig and Bauernhansl (2018) state that many organisations often find themselves in a conflict

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to meet long-term strategic goals and to live up to the challenge of a fast-­ paced digitalisation of their business environment. Thus, it is proposed that in high turbulent environments, relying on past knowledge and procedures is no longer an option as existing concepts do not offer a strong fit to provide answers to completely new challenges and settings. Instead, improvisational capabilities such as creativity and out-of-the-box thinking are required (Pavlou and El Sawy 2010) and which are considered essential elements of the digital competence blocks discussed earlier in the chapter. Concurrently, due to other unforeseen business and economic circumstances (e.g. global financial crisis, BREXIT, Covid-19 pandemic), organisations are confronted with the challenge of constrained resources (e.g. due to tight financial controls, budgeting). This leaves them only a limited scope of action to respond to the rising complexity of their business environment (Lindner et al. 2017). Either due to an organisation’s compliance of legal requirements or owing to any other reasons related to their internal environment, HRD could, and should, play a strategic role in relation to organisational vision, mission and strategy. To address digital transformation, it is advised that HRD professionals ensure they focus on their people (i.e. being people-centred), thus recruiting individuals and enabling the development of their critical competences to support the digital transformation of the workplace (Bajer 2017). One major challenge associated with HR/HRD digital transformation is some employees’ resistance to change. This is due to continuous change and regular updates which are not always easy to follow owing to the costs associating with them (Larkin 2017). Last but not least, Bajer (2017) identified the lack of a digitally skilful HR team as a major setback in relation to HR/HRD’s digital transformation. One argues that organisations could grasp many benefits by addressing those challenges, such as digitalising home office workspace to promote flexibility, creativity and innovation, as well as to foster virtual collaboration and to ease the pressure on heavy infrastructures (Lindner et  al. 2017). To do so though, they need to ensure that their workforce is digitally competent enough to meet those challenges and thus drive the business forward. A whole range of new capabilities is needed on behalf of existing and future employees (e.g. graduates entering labour market) to assist

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organisations to stem the challenges of digitalisation. Consequently, HRD professionals and scholars/educators should design and implement relevant training and/or learning programmes to meet the increasing need of a digitally competent workforce. Such initiatives could be designed and delivered either at national or educational institutional levels, upon taking into considerations all associated implications to policymakers and the organisations.

3.14 C  oncluding Remarks, Policy and Organisational Implications The chapter discussed the role of HRD in coping with digital competence revolution. It offered an overview of the relevant literature, as well as drawing on national policies and strategies to inform readers about the similarities and/or nuances of the NHRD approaches in two different countries. Furthermore, the provision of HRD education was discussed to outline how educational institutions, in both countries, address this topical challenge, as well as to inform policy implications and offer ­practical suggestions for organisations to follow. The comparison between the UK and Switzerland in relation to digital competence revolution and HRD highlights a few emerging concerns. Both the UK and the Swiss Governments urge to promote digital competences at a national level in order to sustain the growth of their national economies and remain globally competitive. They also need to implement their digital strategies through a combined effort of public and private institutions and all other stakeholders being involved. Although both countries recognise the essence of life-long learning, the focus lies clearly on promoting digitalisation in the young, that is by integrating apprenticeships programmes and university curricula, regardless of the subject. However, to follow the idea of life-long learning, there seems to be a lack of co-ordinated initiatives for the more mature workforce by means of vocational training and further education. Although the focus of the chapter is on graduates’ digital competences, it is acknowledged that the need of digital competence for employees comes from all age groups.

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Until recently, the need to collaborate and drive the digitalisation of workplace forward within national and organisational agendas has obviously lacked a sense of urgency. However, the Covid-19 pandemic seems to urge the necessity of immediate action in terms of digitalisation. With an increasing focus on securing business viability due to a forthcoming prolonged recession in the aftermath of the pandemic, organisational and national HRD confronts unprecedented times with new challenges to address. Investments in IT and automation have become evidently vital for market competitiveness in this new setting. Therefore, one could argue that it remains to be seen how NHRD approaches will mobilise all stakeholders to master such a crisis successfully. The digital competence revolution has multifaceted implications to organisational HRD relating to job quality, organisational productivity and efficiency, business structures, as well as product and services trading. Due to digitalisation, job substitution and polarisation (e.g. new skillsets and/or disappearance of routine jobs) are key challenges related to labour market (Arntz et al. 2016). This is not limited to the high-tech industry and digital services and product companies only, but to all sectors featuring routine, low-skilled tasks (Kuusisto 2017). Of course, not all jobs will disappear as many require a blend of related skills, yet skills polarisation (e.g. demand of high-skilled occupations) may also result in a polarisation of wages (e.g. earnings stagnation for middle- and low-class workers) and thus deepening wage inequality amongst employees. Additionally, digital competence revolution and digitalisation of workplaces are expected to offer more flexible work arrangements. Although many suggest that flexibility coming from digitalisation is presented to be positive to graduates (e.g. millennials generation) as are those seeking flexibility at work (Pieterson 2016), it is also suggested that such flexibility might cause a work-life balance disruption for those being on-demand as well as for those with childcare responsibilities (Stacey et  al. 2017). Eventually, job quality associates with digital competence revolution. Therefore, HRD practice in organisations, through revised training, performance management and reward schemes, should support digital transformation and adopt new approaches and methods that could serve an agile and digitalised workplace.

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This chapter further demonstrates that digitalisation is also expected to impact on job quality and organisational productivity and efficiency and thus have implications on HRD practice. For instance, job quality could lead to higher employment and could be seen as a major driver of employees’ well-being (Arends et al. 2017). It is argued that the positive aspects of digitalisation of the workplace associate with greater flexibility, autonomy and time management due to the use of digital tools. It is further suggested that despite a few negatives of digitalisation (e.g. technical problems, less social interaction, closed monitoring of work), job quality will be enhanced through better work planning and reduction of boredom due to repletion of work. As job quality is affected in several ways, organisational productivity and efficiency will also be affected. Productivity and efficiency can be increased through innovative and technologically advanced processes which could lead to favourable working conditions and save valuable time (de Groen et al. 2017). Consequently, HRD professionals should design and deliver appropriate training and learning initiatives to make sure that the necessary skills are present to operate those technologically advanced processes. Respectively, graduates should be digitally competent to ensure a fit with the organisation they join and its new operating contexts. Organisational structures are also expected to shrink due to digitalisation. As many jobs are subject to scrutinisation, business structures are subject to change. Many organisations will turn into virtual businesses (digitalised business processes, e-customer service, e-commerce, workforce geographical distribution) with that having direct implications to HRD which should ensure that organisational learning constantly aims at fostering innovation, process efficiency and individual and organisational absorptive capacity (Kuusisto 2017). Eventually, training and learning initiatives should either embed digital technologies to existing traditional programmes or fully redesign new initiatives to meet new needs. Graduates should also ensure that they not only possess the digital competences required to join an organisation, but also ensure that they can offer a best fit with the newly structured organisational contexts. Lastly, digital revolution is fundamentally changing the way societies trade through e-commerce, e-customer support and e-payments (OECD 2018). That is why many organisations create a virtual, digital product of

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their physical one to help them understand how digitalisation works through the data receiving from their digital twin (Pavlou and El Sawy 2010). Yet, most organisations have gone through this initial phase and they e-trade with their customer base. Eventually, understanding such technologies, as well as the capability of making sense of a vast amount of data derived from the sensors, is an important capability that can be assigned to employees/graduates’ essential skillset to meet digital transformation. Respectively, implications for HRD relate to the design and delivery of relevant training to enhance the workforce’s digital competences to successfully compete in the digital era. The discussions around the digital revolution and digitally competent workforces should be driven by HRD professionals as relevant experts. They should not only embrace and promote a broader concept of digital competences but also refrain from developing elaborate, expensive and inert training programmes with uncertain return on investments (ROIs). Therefore, it is vital for HRD to adopt a more individualised approach in understanding the specific competency needs and gaps in the organisations. Again, a common understanding of the requirements criteria for HRD professionals—jointly created by public and private institutions— could not only enhance the standing of HRD but also be beneficial for both organisations and, eventually, both the UK and Switzerland’s national economies, particularly for the UK economy right after the country’s exit from the European Union.

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4 Talent Disrupted: Opportunities and Threats for Human Resource Development (HRD) Strategy and Practice in the Gig Economy Through the Critical HRD Lens Elaine Yerby and Rebecca Page Tickell

4.1 Introduction This chapter will explore the opportunities and threats that are presented to Human Resource Development (HRD) strategy and practice in the burgeoning gig economy. Digital labour platform companies that characterise the gig economy are regarded as being at the forefront of innovation and cutting-edge disruptors (McKinsey and Co 2016a). The gig economy is also associated with a proliferation of non-standard contract types that can bring increased flexibility but also precarity for both E. Yerby (*) London School of Economics, London, UK e-mail: [email protected] R. Page Tickell University of East London, London, UK e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s) 2020 M. Loon et al. (eds.), The Future of HRD, Volume I, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52410-4_4

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organisations and individuals. As such, the benefits and costs of gig and platform work for employers, workers and society remain highly contested (Johnston and Land-Kazkluskas 2019). The rise of the gig economy and conditions of platform work, short-term contracts and precarity also pose particular challenges to HRD.  The relational aspects of its three-principle constructs, people, learning and organisations (Chalofsky 2007), become destabilised and blurred. Whilst the size, scope and potential life span of the gig economy are still keenly debated (Healy et al. 2017), this chapter examines the role critical HRD can play in supporting both organisations and people engaged in the gig economy now and into the future. Here it is proposed that critical HRD provides an effective lens and tools for exposing and analysing the complex range of relationships, power and dependencies that exist in new platform-based and non-­ permanent work environments. It is argued that a critical HRD framework can support innovative and ethical HRD decision-making and practice in complex global environments as seen in the gig economy, by helping to balance the needs of multiple stakeholders and readdressing power relations that impede the development of all. The World Economic Forum (2019) highlighted how the lack of transparency, accountability, regulation and democratic processes in the gig economy directs value flows to a relatively small number of dominant platform companies and the economies where they are located. Emerging research is also starting to focus on the realities and implications of the gig economy at the individual level, particularly in terms of identity (Petriglieri et al. 2018) and differential treatment and outcomes for women and marginalised groups working in the gig economy (Hunt and Samman 2019). It will be argued that critical HRD scholarship and practice has an important role to play in supporting the working conditions for all actors in the gig economy by providing remedies to resolve structural and individual concerns of transparency, trust and democratic practices.

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Bierema and Callahan’s (2014) model of critical HRD is applied to a case study analysis of a digital ‘new law’ platform  company seeking to embed an HRD strategy to its global, gig-based workforce. Thus, the chapter also addresses calls for action-orientated critical HRD research, applied to real-world problems (Githens 2015) and also how HRD can become re-grounded in its humanistic and sustainable roots (Scully-Russ 2012). Addressing the ethical role of HRD in the gig economy gains significance, when the criticism of the HRD profession in the 2008 global financial crisis and a subsequent retreat of the HRD professional in its aftermath, are considered (Gold and Bratton 2014). There is a risk this pattern will extend into the maturing gig economy and opportunities for individuals, organisations and wider society, as a result of engagement by the HRD community, will be missed. This chapter argues that HRD scholarship and practice in the gig economy is essential not only to support innovation and ethical practice in the future of work but to ensure HRD is not perceived as either disengaged from this major labour market trend or, worse, complicit in encouraging precarity and the marginalisation of workers. Thus, this analysis of the gig economy and its implications for HRD practice addresses calls for scholarship to support HRD practitioners critically engaging in assumptions about practice and its ability to connect local and organisational solutions to macro, global and structural issues. Specifically, the following learning outcomes will be addressed in the course of the chapter: • To identify the key definitional debates and tensions in the meaning and nature of the gig economy and implications for HRD research and practice. • To explore the contribution critical HRD can make to the analysis of HRD strategy and practice in the gig economy. • To evaluate the future role of HRD strategy and practice in the lived experience of actors in the gig economy by focusing on leveraging capabilities and knowledge in sustainable and ethical ways.

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4.2 G  ig Economy Definitional Debates and Implications for Nature of Work Defining the gig economy and its subsequent relationship with HRD is not straightforward due to the lack of a universally accepted definition for both concepts. Turning first to the gig economy, definitions have ranged from a focus on platform-based and app-work (Duggan et  al. 2019) to broader definitions that reflect a new world of work comprised of short-term independent freelance workers, who contract with organisations or sell directly to the market (Ashford et al. 2018). The gig economy can also be understood as both a platform economy and one with increased casualisation of labour, in both professional and non-professional work (CIPD 2017). The resultant organisational realities can mean that the boundaries between role, level and even function are challenged by this new way of organising work. As the boundary between standard and non-standard work is eroded through an ongoing increase in flexible and contingent working patterns in the gig economy, this means new realities for management, employees and gig workers themselves. Understanding these new experiences and the cogency of any definition for the gig economy is impeded by its distributed and rapidly changing nature (Abraham et al. 2017). Useful definitions therefore concentrate on central characteristics rather than boundary signifiers. The gig economy at its centre involves short-term, individually engaged tasks with no real expectation of further engagement and highlights how precarity is always inherent in this type of work (Page-Tickell and Yerby 2020). The breaking down of traditional jobs or roles into individual, discrete pieces or forms of extreme atomisation is also a feature of the gig economy. Disconnectedness thus occurs between individuals and as the responsibility for preparedness to work (including tools, skills, availability and development) shifts from organisations to individuals, conditions of hyper-individualism can be seen (Fleming 2017). So, for example, Uber drivers must provide their own cars and gigging lawyers must engage with their own continuous professional development and arrange their own practicing certificates.

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Definitional debates have also centred on how these hyper-individual experiences of work represent a change in name or kind from previous iterations of non-standard and non-permanent work. The gig economy that is seen today can be understood as a new development in labour markets or a circular development which, for some, has taken people back to a previous era of low pay and protection (Juravich 2018). The gig economy is arguably different to previous eras of precarious work due to the growth of platform, technologically based organisational structures and the atomisation of both task and personal contact (Duggan et al. 2019). This radical piecework creates a time-space distanciation and a resultant denudation of interpersonal and social elements of the workplace (PageTickell and Yerby 2020). These conditions create particular challenges to the foundations of HRD practice, which are explored later in the chapter.

4.3 D  iversity in the Experiences of Work in the Gig Economy Today’s gig economy is also characterised by huge diversity both in terms of who undertakes the work and the type of work being performed (Broughton et al. 2018). Keeping track and understanding the nature of work and who is undertaking it remains problematic in the gig economy as conventional employment statistics were designed for a world of work that occurs in traditional employment relationships and largely within one country. Mckinsey and Co (2016b) conducted one of the first and most cited reports on the impact and nature of individuals working in the gig economy. Examining gender, nationality, age and educational effects from six Western countries the report highlighted the extent of independent gig work conducted by professionals making decisions to gig based on autonomy and flexibility, as well as forms of lower paid and unskilled gig work. It also demonstrated how choice agendas co-exists with economic circumstances and labour market conditions, driving a significant proportion of people into low-paid gig work and that the high ratio of unpaid work to paid labour in the gig economy, is a significant problem for low-income households (McKinsey and Co 2016b).

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The gig economy thus appears to have some deleterious effects on its participants due to its underlying precarity. Those in low-skilled gigs who experience very low tenure, being engaged in some cases for single hours on platforms such as Amazon Turk, are likely to have a significantly different experience from those with valuable skills to sell in the gig economy. In particular, professionals such as doctors and lawyers may be considered somewhat privileged by their potential bargaining power. The engagement of a lawyer not only is a high trust endeavour but also contains legislative protections which make lawyers relatively more secure in this economic market place. Thus, decisions to undertake gig work are shaped by a complex range of factors and whether the gig economy has created a shift in the mindset, whereby traditional jobs and careers are now rejected in preference for gig work, is still a contested domain (Hirschi 2018). Evidence to support concepts such as portfolio careers predate the gig economy that is seen today and research on those participating in gig work reveals the high number of people topping up their full-time salary by working in the gig economy (McKinsey and Co 2016b; CIPD 2017; Edison Research 2018). This suggests that, for many, engaging with gig work is not necessarily a mindset change but an economic requirement. The impact of time-space distanciation should also not be underestimated in understanding the diversity and experiences of this type of work, particularly in the geography of giggers. Gig workers can be in any location across the globe for many roles. This incorporates the sense that giggers may have varying cultural reasons for the choices that they are making to work in the gig economy. For example, Wood et al. (2018) found that giggers in the Sub-Sahara select gigs on the basis of quality which can be determined by their responsibility to those in their in-group as well as their own sense of time and energy availability. There are calls for more research to focus on the individual motivations and experiences of the diverse and global gig workforce, particularly through a gender or intersectional lens (Hunt and Samman 2019). Emerging research reveals how gender pay gaps are forming on the most popular app-based work platforms (Cook et al. 2018), that men gain greater access to higher-value freelance work (Dubey et  al. 2017) and the power imbalances and unequal outcomes that exist.

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4.4 Implications and Responses for HRD Taken together these emerging issues and key characteristics of today’s gig economy, including inherent precarity, heterogeneity of both situation and giggers, hyper-individualism, task parcelling and a lack of mutually create unique opportunities and threats for the profession and discipline of HRD.  Predicting and analysing how HRD can and will respond is impacted by the lack of a common definition for HRD and, in practice, it is discursive, fluid and expansive nature (Evans 2014). However, given the way in which people become rentable points in the value chain in the gig economy a likely response could be a rise in extreme performative HRD practice. Performative HRD and associated discourses occur when the employment relationship is simply a monetary transaction and certain groups are either privileged or marginalised along traditional power lines (Sambrook 2009). Balanced against this view are the humanistic discourses of HRD that imbued traditional HRD, although still critiqued for an over emphasis on individual and identity discourses at the expense of structural equalities, which leads to the reassertion of performative HRD and a focus on organisational needs and goals (Rigg et al. 2007). Scully-Russ and Torraco (2019) suggest the challenges posed by the gig economy mean HRD needs to expand its knowledge and practices to look beyond traditional or idealised organisational and career structures that have dominated thinking and practice. They also assert that the growth of distributed HRD (whereby HRD strategy and implementation has been dissolved to line managers rather than specialists) and the rise of virtual HRD ideally locates the profession to respond to the dispersed and often remote conditions of the gig economy. McWhorter (2011) mapped the increasingly sophisticated ways HRD can be connecting and collaborating with people through technology for development goals and the proliferation of online experience-based learning (Poell and van der Krogt 2017). However, mixed-research evidence regarding the effectiveness of both distributed HRD and virtual learning raises the need for more radical thinking to ensure the ongoing relevance of the HRD discipline in the gig economy. Here, we assert that critical

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HRD has the potential for interventions which can build a more socially inclusive development agenda located not only in specific organisations but at structural and societal levels.

4.5 C  ritical HRD and Understanding Multiple Perspectives in the Gig Economy This chapter advocates for the application of a critical HRD lens to examine the power relations at play in HRD and the gig economy. Critical HRD prioritises the democratic implementation of HRD for a range of stakeholders, beyond those who have traditionally held power (Bierema and D’Abundo 2004). The emphasis becomes on conflicting and multiple needs in the negotiation of HRD and its outcomes and recognises marginalised or disenfranchised workers and stakeholders (Bierema and Callahan 2014). Thus, the benefits of applying the critical HRD lens to the global and precarious nature of the gig economy becomes evident, as it can expose political, social and cultural power relations. This approach also addresses calls for ethical practice in HRD research and the responsibility of the discipline to support international and national growth of people and organisations (Mclean 2016; Zarestky and Collins 2017). In proposing a model of critical HRD, Bierema and Callahan (2014) reject performative HRD as workers are seen in masculine, rational economic terms and solely for the purpose of the organisation. In order to expose power localities that sustain this status quo, critical HRD emphasises the discursive and material form in HRD practice. Relating, learning, changing and organising become the fundamental arenas on which to understand and structure interventions for development of individuals, groups, organisations and, ultimately, wider society. This model for critical HRD encourages professionals to question the context (where), stakeholder (whom), process (what) and method (how) in relation to HRD practice, to reveal localities of power and privilege. These questions help practitioners to move away from an acceptance or assumption of power relations and the commodification of workers and to reveal new insights that can challenge dominant positions. In order to achieve this, a

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key facet of applying Bierema and Callahan’s (2014) model is the importance of reflective techniques that are sensitive to context, power and inequality to the benefit of sustainability and ethical HRD practice.

4.6 A  pplying Bierema and Callahan’s (2014) Critical HRD Model The case study organisation is based in regions across the globe and the core aim of the platform company is to source talent and legal solutions for companies on a non-permanent basis. The company has in excess of 1000 legal gig workers engaged through the platform. As part of the burgeoning freelance and high-end talent gig economy, the platform company had entered the innovative space of ‘new law’. This represents a disruption to the traditional legal career and partnership structure. New law companies represent a break from traditional law firms and utilise digital technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and other forms of automation to change access to justice and legal services. The business model also addresses an emerging trend for legal professionals to want to seek more flexible working patterns and flexible roles (Kossek and Lautsch 2018). New law is an increasingly competitive landscape with new entrants and fast paced industry changes. There is a growing expectation for gig workers to work in multidisciplinary ways in order to offer innovative and creative solutions to host companies. These growing pressures caused the case study organisation to reflect on how they could maintain, both high standards amongst its global and diverse gig-based workforce, and its market position. To remain agile in this space, the platform company recognised the need for harmonised and consistent behaviours which they sought to develop by implementing new working practices based around core principles. In addition, the talent management team expanded its role beyond what had previously been a resourcing role to include talent development. The framework for HRD as proposed by Bierema and Callahan (2014) works effectively to analyse the experiences in the case study organisation as HRD was something that was continuously talked about, rather than

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a fixed entity or described as such by organisational actors. Critical HRD is attentive to HRD as discursively produced and maintained in the workplace (Sambrook 2009). This was evident in the discussions that took place in the organisation regarding the need for change, whereby senior leaders recognised that they wanted to improve processes relating to people, learning and organisation. In this sense, there was not a formal HRD strategy but the talk in the organisation related specifically to renewed becomings and improvements in these areas. At the heart of the activities was an attempt to strategically align HRD activities to the business strategy. The organisation specifically wanted to implement a series of values that would harmonise expectations for behaviours across their gig-based workforce. In order to do this, the company sought to build core principles into training and development, career development and organisation development. A range of interventions were designed based on gaining buy-in to a shared set of values that were to be understood and enacted in a similar manner by all gig lawyers. The interventions being led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and supported by other senior managers, included visioning workshops, action learning groups and virtual follow-up on a shared learning platform.

4.7 Findings and Discussions Bierema and Callahan’s (2014) critical HRD model was applied to the analysis of the key activities and experiences associated with implementing the new HRD strategy. The critical HRD model combined with critical reflective practice (Cotter 2014) provided the opportunity to reveal both honesty in the implications and consequences of the new HRD approach for all stakeholders but also a recognition of new beginnings and ways in which to develop practices in the interest of all stakeholders.

4.7.1 Relating Relating involves a recognition of the personhood of those with whom the intervention is engaged (Bierema and Callahan 2014). This case is of particular relevance due to the lack of mutuality with giggers that is

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typical of the gig economy. It leads to a perception of the gigger merely as a widget or core in a machine. Relationship building was one of the overt objectives of these HRD interventions, which were signalled by plush surroundings, potentially indicating importance and value of the events. Additionally, led by the CEO and attended by senior managers, these events were viewed as important by members of the organisation and took a fair amount of energy to arrange. However, relating was highly bounded by position as illustrated by the permanent employees being taken to dinner and another day of events from which giggers were excluded. This conflicted with the earlier implicit offer of relationship and so was particularly damaging to the incipient trust. The lack of mutuality re-emerged and promises made and evoked were not followed up. Additionally, the power relations involved were not acknowledged. These power realities are sharp, as income sources are not protected as with employees. The risk devolves to the giggers who are paid for time worked alone. The talent manager in the gig relationship has therefore focused on recruitment and building an apparently faux relationship to ensure continuity of service for customers. This has led to some staccato communication which giggers interpreted to be around engagement for paid work and less about them as people. What did emerge from the development activity was a self-forming community of practice between the giggers which, while fluctuating, was also vibrant with clear trust built between giggers. There is real benefit in bringing disparate gig workers together in communities of practice, particularly where they can shape the agenda and discussions in relation to development needs. There are potentially more benefits in these informal networks than those that emerged from the networking activities coordinated centrally by the gig company.

4.7.2 Learning This lens for learning has a focus on communal and lifelong learning as well as an awareness of the value of questions, in addition to critical reflection of potential answers. The asymmetrical power relations impeded some of this learning which focused very much on sharing values and

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identity for planning appropriate future activities. The interventions sought to build a shared understanding of value and potential for building value as a group. It included a range of highly participative processes but there was little evidence of the dynamics of resistance giving the learning an apparently superficial glaze. A mechanistic approach required responses from each member present, further impeding genuine learning which focused on the rational through attempts to impose, at least partially, an acceptable outcome. However, emerging from this was an observed liking to be together and the formation of incipient communities of practice. The highly visible parts of the interventions became almost standalone, as attention returned to daily operational matters and learning was compromised, as these interventions became quite one-off with little bedding in. A range of learning materials had been provided to the gig workforce, available via an online platform. This included online training materials which were not perceived positively by gig workers and engagement with these activities to engender change in behaviours were limited. There was little incentive to undertake this additional work due to a lack of mutuality. However, there was a recognition of the value in connecting with other gig workers via social media channels facilitated through the platform company or independent means. Activities focused on professional development were valued more highly and where the platform company could facilitate these opportunities to build greater engagement and commitment between the two parties.

4.7.3 Changing Frequently, change processes involve discussions around unwillingness to change. However, liminality and self-determination of the giggers require significant levels of flexibility, as well as identity focused on the self, which when combined with the lack of mutuality, made change a topic with less risk. This may have reduced the learning as it appeared that giggers chose a shift in perspective, as opposed to genuine learning around the values

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and purpose work. This was then exacerbated when the workshops became something of an ending and a one-off intervention emerging with a message closer to go and change than the advertised let’s change together. Additionally, HRD strategy and practice interventions were limited when gig workers described being thrown in the deep end and not having sufficient time to adjust and embed within new client organisations. Individual gig workers perceived their identity as more closely aligned to their own professional identity and attempts to harmonise a professional standard for innovation and creativity could be seen to be limiting this autonomy. Gig workers feel that the degree of innovation and creativity and the nature of how this would manifest in organisations depend on the nature of the contracting company, not on the expectations and intentions of the platform-based company. This may tend to inhibit the action of HRD practitioners as the construct of customer/client is disrupted by a lack of clarity about the scope and purpose of work. Therefore, the consultancy model of HRD is less appropriate for these situations. This case study considers the impact of this lack of clarity on the giggers as well as teams of employees with whom they are interacting. The case is particularly useful for this interrogation as the giggers are lawyers who take on assignments which are of significance to the organisation, involve significant resources and require interacting with already established teams of employees. The professional identity of the giggers is an important resource in the compression of these factors, which can lead to more stressful interactions and the need for an HRD intervention to support developing work practices. Each stage requires acknowledgement of asymmetrical power relations, however never verbally, and challenges associated with embedding HRD in gig-based platform companies where there is a lack of mutuality and emphasis on transactional relationship. The application of the critical HRD framework reveals the power imbalances and localities of privilege and marginalisation. Attempts to control centrally, even when proposing a human-focused solution, were exposed and demonstrate the importance of context and politics in implementing HRD strategy and practice.

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4.7.4 Organising The presence of the gig economy impacts our understanding of the boundaries of the organisation (De Stefano 2016). The boundary of an organisation involved in the gig economy appears to move from being permeable, through being somewhat blurred, to being quite difficult to identify in different places from the perspective of different actors. This fits with the understanding of critical HRD as a process in which different actors take different perspectives rather than a black-and-white tentative object in the organisation (Bierema and Callahan 2014). In that way, these developmental interventions at the platform company are a process of creating organisation and can be identified as an overtly humanistic attempt to engage with and create relationships for organisations. The language of the people are our most valuable asset was perceived cynically when there was an emphasis on needing to work long hours and to take multiple work assignments. The language of the development journeys had a strong focus on storytelling, although at an individual level, which was expected to be subsumed into the broader story—something of a metaphor for the extent to which both giggers and employees were apparently expected to incorporate their values and motives into the corporate whole. Bierema and Callahan (2014) reference the liminal spaces of HRD. This was identified in this case in which significant amounts of liminality were identified at multiple locations. The removal of the safety of a contract of employment, both for these gigging lawyers and for the platform organisation itself, created a far broader range of unknowns and experiences of existing in the meanwhile. The impacts of this were found to be a hesitancy to engage beyond administrative necessity by the organisation which nonetheless is somewhat dependent on the professionalism and praxis of the giggers. It was, therefore, propelled to proactively engage them but without a clear back up of genuine intent. The giggers then experienced their aloneness even more acutely. This confirmed the requirement of critical HRD as a genuine respecter of personhood as demonstrated in the number of issues identified in terms of relating. In order to further develop the satisfaction of giggers, it is important to

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consider their own perspective and needs within this situation. Certainly, they have tended to form communal relationships amongst themselves which provide some of these satisfaction needs. It is interesting to consider how giggers without such a strongly formed professional identity would fare.

4.8 Implication for HRD Practice The lenses of relating, learning, changing and organising have real value for observing and evaluating HRD in environments which are always evolving in ways that are not predictable, as we see in the gig economy. The key implications for future HRD practice in the gig economy that can be drawn from this critical reflective case study are now explored. The following discussions support the view the HRD profession has and will need to continue to demonstrate transformative capabilities for itself and organisations (Torraco and Lundgren 2019), in order to provide and shape meaningful insights for talent development within the amorphous gig economy.

4.8.1 A Focus on Well-being The first recommendation is for HRD activities in learning and development to focus on the well-being of gig workers. Developmental activities both online and face-to-face should focus on adding value to the emotional and social experiences of their work not simply work-related activities. Consideration needs to be made to the financial and the full range of potential costs to individual gig workers of engaging in additional training. Therefore, in order to achieve engagement and desired performance goals training and development activities should focus, at least in part, on career goals of the gig workers. As seen in the case study, a focus on continuing professional development (CPD) requirements for the legal profession would have brought more buy-in than an emphasis on the goals of the platform company with whom there was a lack of mutuality. Relatedly, HRD practice and strategy should enable an individual path of

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development for giggers that recognises their range of experience and specialism. Consider learning paths to extend beyond specific gigs to build for future engagements and developing the gigger as a person rather than a rentable asset. Social media can be used to support both the development and promotion of training activities and from an organisational perspective could maintain a relationship and engage gig workers, even when they don’t have a current contract. This emphasises that the gigger, as a person, is part of the group and of interest whether they are earning for the intermediary or not.

4.8.2 S  upporting Peer-Led Learning Communities and Voice Channels HRD strategy and practice should also support the creation of learning communities amongst the gig workers that are peer-led and not senior management prescribed. Group development activities may be based around corporate social responsibility goals which were seen as motivational to gig workers. It is also helpful to expand and provide opportunities for knowledge exchange amongst gig workers that address topics that are meaningful and beneficial to them, such as professional CPD activities. In establishing communities of practice important feedback loops for platform-based companies can be built in. This could include speak-up channels so that gig workers begin to have a voice in the gig economy. Speak-up channels for gig workers address what has been a problematic area in the context of their legal status and protection for identifying and reporting issues that are of public concern (Hobby 2020). Increasing the voice of gig workers and democratic processes in the wider gig economy was identified at the global World Economic Forum annual meeting in 2019, as important to provide checks and balances to the growing power of dominant platform companies. Discussions at the meeting highlighted how, as the ambitions of leading platform-based companies continue to rise, this could create major disruption and innovation in how cities are

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managed and ultimately controlled. As their power and ambitions grow this should be balanced by strengthening gig worker voices and collectives, including forms of platform co-operatives (World Economic Forum 2019). HRD has an important role in supporting the sharing of knowledge and building communities of practice in the gig economy that could support a chain of democratic voice practices.

4.8.3 Adaptability and Environmental Scanning This critical reflective exercise has identified the ongoing impact of endemic change in the gig economy. Predicting the direction of change is problematic as both new technology and legislative interest lead to ambiguity in the landscape. One example of this is the introduction of IR35 tax regulations in the UK, which is an anti-tax avoidance mechanism that looks at the true relationship of an individual employing their services through a personal services company. If it is determined the individual is, by reference to certain tests, in reality an employee they will be taxed accordingly and be a liability for the company employing them. There are some subtleties which make the application of the legislation difficult to predict but for host organisations engaging gigging lawyers they could become unwilling to risk potential engagement  in development activities  based on their potential employee status and subsequent tax implications. This legislative change significantly alters the dynamics within platform-­based legal firms and their gig-based workforce. As a consequence of this and the potential shift in the competitive landscape the case study organisation did not fulfil some of the planned HRD activities with their gig-based workforce. A key implication of this, through the critical HRD lens, is the way in which outside forces and shifting context will alter power dynamics and degrees of mutuality. This heightens the importance of adaptability and environmental scanning to understand power variations among the actors within the gig economy and the inherent precarity that exists for all parties that a critical HRD lens can provide.

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4.9 Conclusion HRD practice and scholarship are said to be at a critical juncture with scholars debating where the HRD profession should head next and the importance of not being left behind in global debates on the future of work (Gold and Bratton 2014). The findings of this chapter provide new beginnings for both the legal talent platform and other gig-based organisations seeking to embed talent and learning practices that can aid both innovation for organisational and individual outcomes. In doing so, the ongoing legitimacy of the HRD discipline and its capacity to make a difference to individual, organisational and societal outcomes in new work contexts is demonstrated. Examining the impact of HRD strategy and practice through the critical HRD framework also addressed calls for scholarship that can make a difference to people’s personal and collective well-being (Zarestky and Collins 2017). Wider conclusions also reveal that analysing the role of HRD in the gig economy is important to critique the assumption that globalisation is always a positive force for change and development. Whilst the gig economy presents new opportunities for individuals and organisations, particularly in relation to innovative and creative practices, equally there is the potential for many people to be left behind or to experience the same marginalisation as we see in traditional labour markets. Operationalising the critical HRD lens can provide a renewed emphasis and relevance for HRD in the gig economy and other scholars and practitioners are encouraged to employ the use of Bierema and Callahan’s (2014) model and critical reflexive practices to make applied ethical and sustainable HRD recommendations and interventions.

4.10 Summary of Learning Outcomes This chapter has explored the way that the gig economy acts to disrupt talent and its development. It proposes and evaluates the use of a critical HRD lens to critically reflect on a case study of a global legal platform organisation seeking to apply a new HRD strategy to its gig-based

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workforce. It has examined the realities, opportunities and threats of practicing as a gigger in a context in which talent is disrupted by the lack of mutuality and a lack of a permanent employment relationship. Key definitional debates and tensions in the meaning and nature of the gig economy and implications for HRD research and practice have also been interrogated. This is not limited to work within the context of platform-­ based legal firms and has led to some future practice recommendations for HRD interventions in the gig economy and, in particular, has highlighted the contribution critical HRD can make to the analysis of HRD strategy and practice in the gig economy. Therein lie significant challenges to shifting mindsets, behaviours and established bases of power that exist within the traditional labour market and are being mirrored in the gig economy. Thus, a critical HRD lens provides a way in which to unlock and understand these issues and to shape practice based on ethical and diverse outcomes. Connectivity is made throughout the chapter to the changing nature of the HRD practice that has seen changes predating the gig economy to a more distributed form. In particular, the future role of HRD as a mediator between organisation and gigger is discussed, in terms of elements such as holding environments for giggers to support their identity management, as well as considering relating, learning, changing and organising, as specific universal lenses of value, in both interrogating events and proposing realistic, tangible and implementable ways forward. This supports development through the transient nature of the gig economy, as it holds to the central tenet of CHRD, engaging with giggers as persons rather than rentable things, and so builds trust to enable genuine learning and enhanced well-being.

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5 The Role of HRD in Developing Capabilities for Creativity and Innovation at Work: A Multilevel Approach Anna Walker and Polly Derbyshire

5.1 Introduction An organisation’s culture can be broadly defined as the values, behaviour patterns, norms and attitudes that a group has in common (Herzog 2011) and an organisation’s climate is the observable and measurable manifestation of this culture (McLean 2005). An innovative climate is a specific form of climate where human resource development (HRD) practices can play a significant role in the development of individual, team and organisational capabilities for creativity and innovation at work. This chapter argues that by focusing on the areas of recruitment and selection, learning, training and coaching, and reward, organisations can foster this climate of innovation.

A. Walker (*) • P. Derbyshire Bath Spa University, Bath, UK e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] © The Author(s) 2020 M. Loon et al. (eds.), The Future of HRD, Volume I, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52410-4_5

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Innovation research has previously focused on the individual level, turning later to team and organisational levels; a multilevel approach moves away from studying these areas individually to studying them simultaneously at individual, team and organisational levels (Walker and Batey 2014). This chapter positions creativity and innovation as multilevel phenomena, discussing how organisations can develop these capabilities and the role that the various Human Resource Management (HRM) practices have in their development. Furthermore, this chapter positions creativity as an essential part of a multi-stage innovation process and, therefore, when this chapter refers to innovation it is inclusive of creativity and the implicit use of technology. This applies to both incremental (small changes to improve existing products, services or ways of doing things) and radical innovation (implementing new ideas in response to potentially game-changing opportunities/situations) (Tidd and Bessant 2013). While acknowledging its increased complexity, this chapter takes and advocates a multilevel focus. It does this in two ways: (1) by introducing the concept of multilevel theory and empirical research in relation to creativity and innovation and (2) by focusing on variables operating at individual, team and organisational levels. Finally, it provides some important implications for human resource managers, HRD practitioners and line managers as well as highlighting some selected further reading. This chapter enables HR practitioners, academics and students to: • Consider how the three HRM practice areas of recruitment and selection; learning, training and coaching; and reward can be applied to develop innovative practices and behaviour within organisations. • Understand and explain how innovation climate can be facilitated by, and facilitates, various stages of the employee life cycle (at the beginning through recruitment and selection, and throughout an employee’s employment through learning, training, coaching and reward practices). • Be able to outline the benefits to organisations of viewing innovation from a multilevel perspective and understand the key challenges.

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5.2 A Multilevel Focus The term multilevel describes phenomena that operate at two or more levels, such as innovation (Costa et  al. 2013; Sears and Baba 2011). Multilevel approaches consider the relationships between lower-level variables and higher-level variables. In the context of organisational research, level one (micro level) usually refers to individual variables, level two (meso level) refers to team variables and level three (macro level) refers to organisational variables (Hox 2010). Further, multilevel conceptualisations often refer to nesting or clustering; for example, individuals are nested within a team which is nested within an organisation (Nielsen 2010). Multilevel models either have a bottom-up focus, examining the effects of a lower-level variable on a higher-level variable or, more commonly, they have a top-down focus and explore the effects of higher-level variables on lower-level variables such as the effect of organisational climate on an individual employee (Kozwolski and Klein 2000). Despite its complexity, a multilevel approach gives a more holistic understanding of complex organisational phenomena that cannot be achieved through single-level research (Nielsen 2010). It also arguably allows more informed decision-making as decisions can be based on data from the appropriate level (e.g. decisions about teams can be based on team-level data) (Kozwolski and Klein 2000). Early innovation research focused at individual level, turning later to the team and organisational levels, with research typically focusing on only one level of analysis. However, advances in statistical analysis now allow innovation to be modelled simultaneously at individual, team and organisational levels (Walker and Batey 2014). This has led to a number of interesting discoveries within critical areas for organisations and provides empirical evidence that team creativity is more than the sum of individual creative parts; there is a unique contribution from team composition, behaviour and dynamics (Taggar 2002). First, multilevel research has identified important aspects of HRD that are relevant for creativity and innovation. For example, a study of 202 product innovation projects in American organisations found that different HRM practices facilitate different types of innovation. Of these,

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career development opportunities had the largest positive relationship with radical innovation whilst team-level performance-based compensation had the largest positive relationship with incremental innovation (Un 2010). From the perspective of recruitment and development, both discussed in more detail later, multilevel research has identified particular personality traits that are important for driving innovation (namely, individual extraversion, conscientiousness and agreeableness) and should therefore be prioritised during selection (Taggar 2002). Second, studies of Research and Development (R&D) teams show that when team members perceive their team to support innovation they have greater innovation performance individually which, in turn, leads to greater team performance (Chen et al. 2013). Crucially, important relationships are identified by exploring how cross-level variables relate to one another. For example, the same study found that individual characteristics relating to intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy influenced individual innovation performance. Other similar studies have also found that individual-level factors such as learning orientation and knowledge of who knows what influences team creativity (Richter et al. 2012). This has important implications for organisations seeking to increase their innovation capability: team members are more creative when they have confidence in their creativity, work within a professionally diverse team and know what their teammates do (Richter et al. 2012). Lastly, ones understanding of the constraints of creativity and innovation at work can also be furthered through a multilevel approach. Two key factors have been identified through multilevel research as constraining creativity and innovation: bureaucracy and a lack of innovation climate. A study of 95 teams in the Taiwan Customs Bureau, for example, examined two forms of bureaucracy (centralisation and formalisation) and found a significant and negative correlation with creativity (Hirst et al. 2011) whilst a study of 154 teams found that individual creative performance, measured by supervisor ratings, was lowest when the team lacked an appropriate innovation climate (Yoshida et al. 2014). Despite their complexity, multilevel approaches are worth pursuing given their potential to better explain complex organisational phenomena. As such, it is likely to see more multilevel approaches to investigating workplace creativity and innovation as people develop a better

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understanding of the benefits of this approach and as the required statistical techniques advance (Mathieu and Chen 2011).

5.3 Fostering an Innovation Climate An organisation’s climate comprises the measurable perceptions of its environment, including perceptions of policies, procedures and practices (Ostroff et al. 2003). Organisations regularly cite innovation as a strategic priority (e.g. Boston Consulting Group 2010; Ernst and Young 2010), and having an organisational climate that is conducive to innovation enables this strategic priority to be met. Focusing on the factors discussed later in this chapter (namely recruitment and selection, learning, training and coaching and reward) will go some way to fostering a climate of innovation. These factors signal to employees, and to candidates during recruitment and selection, that the organisation values innovation and actively seeks to develop innovation capabilities.

5.3.1 Innovation Climate and Culture An individual or team may have the characteristics enabling them to be creative and/or innovative but without a suitable organisational environment, referred to as a culture or climate, these characteristics will not lead to creativity and innovation (Evanschitzky et al. 2012; Shalley et al. 2009). Organisational culture can be defined as the values, behaviour patterns, norms and attitudes that a group has in common (Herzog 2011) and an organisation’s climate is the measurable manifestation of this culture and has an established relationship with organisational performance (Denison et  al. 2014; McLean 2005). Culture and climate are closely related concepts and can be shaped by some of the same influences, such as leadership and socialisation processes. However, they are distinct from one another offering different perspectives on the same organisation. In particular, culture relates to deeply held values and fundamental assumptions about what an organisation does and why it focuses on certain things, whereas climate comprises a series of perceptions based on the

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experiences employees have within an organisation (Schneider et  al. 2017). Organisational climate is a broad phenomenon and this chapter is primarily interested in one specific form of it: innovation climate.

5.3.2 W  hat We Can Learn from Innovation Climate Research Innovation climate research shows us that this construct comprises multiple factors but the literature presents no consensus as to whether these factors differ from those comprising creative climate although there is likely to be a substantial overlap (Hunter et al. 2005). To understand the factors comprising an innovation climate, Hunter et al. (2005) analysed 44 climate taxonomies and revealed the following 14 areas: (1) challenging work, (2) intellectually stimulating work, (3) mission clarity, (4) product emphasis, (5) autonomy, (6) top management support, (7) support for risk taking, (8) reward orientation, (9) resources, (10) participation, (11) positive peer group, (12) positive interpersonal exchange, (13) organisational integration and (14) positive supervisor relations. Many of these factors can be loosely grouped into the following categories: considerations about the team and its cohesiveness, networks within the organisation and the systems and processes in place to encourage innovation. These areas have received the most research attention and are discussed further below.

5.3.3 Team Cohesion Previous innovation climate research has often focused on the role of team cohesion (e.g. Fairchild and Hunter 2014; Hulsheger et al. 2009; Joo et  al. 2012). However, results regarding the relationship between team cohesion, creativity and innovation have been inconsistent with some studies finding a positive relationship (e.g. Fairchild and Hunter 2014; Joo et al. 2012), whilst others found no relationship (e.g. Hulsheger et al. 2009). This may reflect other findings suggesting that whilst innovation benefits from some degree of team cohesion, having extremely

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cohesive teams (e.g. with high levels of trust) may hinder innovation because if team members are very cohesive and too trusting of one another, groupthink may be exhibited with consensus and conflict avoidance prioritised over finding the best solution (Bissola et  al. 2014). Overall, it seems that for innovation, organisations should facilitate team members’ trust and having confidence in each other’s ability; this is more important than positive social feelings towards one another (Barczak et al. 2010).

5.3.4 Intra-organisational Networks A second key aspect of an innovation climate is the networks that individuals have within an organisation (separate to networks formed with people outside the organisation which can also facilitate innovation: see open innovation for more). Investigations into internal networks for innovation have predominantly been within the social network literature (e.g. Perry-Smith and Shalley 2003) and have consistently identified the importance of a diverse range of connections. However, whether strongly or weakly connected, it is unclear whether networks are best for innovation perhaps because of concerns that asking for support with innovation-­ related tasks from a strongly connected network would result in high expectation of reciprocity that may ultimately hinder creativity (Sosa 2011; Mueller and Kamdar 2011).

5.3.5 Processes and Technologies for Innovation Formalisation is often overlooked as the antithesis of creativity (less so with innovation) and is under-researched compared to other aspects of the innovation climate. However, having appropriate processes and systems in place supports both creativity and innovation can be particularly helpful for individuals and teams who may be less confident engaging with innovation. Having processes and systems to support innovation seems to have a dual role. At individual level research has identified a positive relationship between administrative systems and individual

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creativity (Wang et al. 2014). At team level there have been calls for managers to incorporate more structure into front-end innovation (Markham 2013), carefully balancing this with the risk of encouraging the convergence of ideas too early (Brockman and Morgan 2003; Im et al. 2013). Balance is key. Whilst some structure may be beneficial, building Freiraum (psychological and physical space) is important for innovation (Auernhammer and Hall 2013). Indeed, this need for balance applies to many areas of innovation climate, as well as balanced processes and structures; balance is needed to gain the benefits of well-networked, cohesive teams whilst mitigating the negative consequences of groupthink (Im et al. 2013). Technologies also play a crucial role that is at times implicit in structures, processes and systems. Technologies play a myriad of roles in facilitating innovation (Huang et al. 2016). For example, it can create efficiencies in processes, enhance networks and store and disseminate explicit knowledge on-demand. In conclusion, the impact of the environment in which individuals and teams operate cannot be understated. Organisations should prioritise the development of their innovation climate in order to build innovation capability at individual and team levels.

5.4 T  he Role of Recruitment and Selection in Building Innovation Capabilities 5.4.1 Differentiating Recruitment and Selection First, the terms recruitment and selection must be distinguished. Recruitment focuses on attracting suitable candidates to apply for a particular position and includes consideration of whether there is a vacancy, whether it can be filled internally or whether external candidates are required and what kind of vacancy it is (e.g. the job description and person specification) (Bratton and Gold 2017; Pilbeam and Corbridge 2010). After candidates have put themselves forward for a particular position the organisation needs to select the candidate that is most suitable for the role (i.e. selection). This choice is aided by selection methods and technologies such as interviews, psychometric testing and work

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sample tests which measure differences between candidates and seek to predict which candidate will perform most effectively in the future (Bratton and Gold 2017). Creativity and innovation are often overlooked at this early stage of the employee lifecycle; however, given the strategic importance of innovation there is a strong case for an explicit focus on this during selection and recruitment. During recruitment, making these behaviours and expectations more prominent indicates to candidates early that the organisation values creativity and innovation and, in turn, reinforces the climate of innovation that leads to increased performance in these areas (Yoshida et al. 2014). Using technologies to identify and verify creative potential is a key activity that many organisations should adopt. However, building innovation capabilities through selection is more complex.

5.4.2 B  uilding Innovation Capabilities Through Selection When innovation is considered during selection, it is usually assessed at interview and usually only for senior roles (Searle and Ball 2003). However, innovation can be an integral part of the selection process at both individual and team levels. Given that individuals who engage in innovative behaviour at work tend to perform better (Afsar et al. 2015), how can an organisation choose between candidates in relation to their potential innovation capability? This is achieved by understanding which aspects of the individual’s personality are most relevant and understanding how to assess these with validity and reliability. First, organisations should identify which candidates are more likely to exhibit innovative behaviours at work. This is achieved by assessing the personality traits known to correlate with innovation and centres on three traits: openness to experience (a tendency to be imaginative, curious and appreciative of originality), ability to handle ambiguity (a tendency to be flexible and adjustable) and agreeableness (a tendency to be trusting, altruistic and kind) as well as an absence of neuroticism (i.e. lacking emotional stability; this is important for agile environments in which there

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may often be rapid decision-making and change) (Aghina et  al. 2019; Costa and McCrae 1992; Hammond et al. 2011). These traits are often assessed during selection through self-report questionnaires in which the candidate responds to statements on a Likert scale (e.g. a scale ranging from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree). This type of personality assessment is valuable for organisations as it has been consistently found to predict job performance (Barrick and Mount 1991). However, recent discussion has centred on potential lack of engagement and intrinsic motivation from candidates when completing this type of personality assessment (Bowling et al. 2016; McCord et al. 2019). In short, popular personality assessment methods may be uninteresting to the candidate. This has negative implications both for the quality of candidates’ responses and candidates’ impressions of the organisation. Gamification (e.g. using interactive simulation technologies), where adding elements usually associated with gaming to make something more engaging, may offer a way of assessing these traits so that it is more interesting for the candidate (Landers and Callan 2011) as well as being accurate (recent research indicates that gamified personality assessments are accurately measuring personality) (McCord et al. 2019). For example, a character (male, female or gender neutral) wakes up in an underground cave with no memory of how they got there. They then navigate through tunnels with their decisions indicating the prevalence of certain personality traits. What does the candidate do when a dark figure approaches them in a tunnel? Using a communication device to introduce themselves indicates the personality trait extraversion whereas formulating an escape plan and then approaching the figure shows forethought and indicates conscientiousness and pausing to read the figure’s body language before approaching the figure indicates openness (McCord et al. 2019). Implementing a gamified approach to assessing personality for innovation could improve the candidates’ experience and signpost to candidates that the organisation is one that expects and values innovation. The authors of this chapter predict that a gamified approach to assessing innovation capability during selection, currently in its infancy, will feature strongly in the future and that this may feature at both individual and team levels.

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5.4.3 Selection at the Team Level At the team level there is a valuable but very under-utilised opportunity during recruitment to assess team fit in relation to innovation. Not assessing this could result in a homogenous, and therefore less innovative, team in which a new team member is a poor fit. Diversity, whether that is demographic diversity or otherwise, can be a driver of creativity and innovation at work (Bassett-Jones 2005). If all team members have the same backgrounds and experiences they are more likely to have similar ideas to one another and are less likely to challenge each other which hinders creativity and innovation (Francke 2019). To achieve a diverse and innovative workforce it is argued that organisations should assess existing team members so that the fit of the candidate to the existing team can be estimated. This is particularly important given that innovation is a team activity and an individual’s personality and skills may be emphasised or suppressed depending on the organisational environment they are in, which includes the type of team they are part of. There are many tools and technologies (e.g. video technologies to analyse how candidate work in teams through group exercises as part of a selection process) available to organisations to aid decision-making when recruiting and selecting individuals who will positively contribute to an organisation’s innovation capability, including innovative tools such as gamified assessments that demonstrate the organisation’s values to candidates. Considering candidates’ responses in relation to those of the existing team members allows team fit to be assessed which is critical when taking a holistic multilevel approach.

5.5 T  he Role of Learning, Training and Coaching in Building Innovation Capabilities To set this section into context, it is important to assess whether an organisation demonstrates the characteristics of a learning organisation as this is positively related to innovation, meeting strategic organisational

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goals and an organisation’s financial performance (Ellinger et al. 2002; Bates and Khasawneh 2005; Kontoghiorghes et al. 2005). The concept of a learning organisation was first developed by Pedler et al. (1989) and was defined as an organisation that facilitates the learning of all its members and continuously transforms itself to meet its strategic goals. A number of academics developed this concept further by identifying dimensions or measurements to differentiate a learning organisation from a non-­learning organisation (Pedler et al. 1991; Senge 1990; Watkins and Marsick 1996 cited in Bratton and Gold 2017, p. 229); Senge’s (1990) model outlined five disciplines that were required for a learning organisation: personal mastery, shared vision, team learning, mental models and systems thinking. More recently, Sutherland-Olsen (2016) argued for a more compelling and evidence-based link between organisational innovation capability and learning organisations. The concept is not without its critics, including its original creators who have questioned whether it is still relevant (Pedler and Burgoyne 2017). Nevertheless, the concept, which may begin with an organisational needs assessment such as the Dimensions of the Learning Organisation Questionnaire (DLOQ) (Watkins and Marsick 1996 cited in Bratton and Gold 2017, p. 229), is a multilevel attempt to facilitate learning. The DLOQ emphasises systems to capture and diffuse explicit knowledge within firms to facilitate learning. While the notions of the learning organisation and knowledge management are distinct, they overlap in many significant ways, particularly in the use of technologies to transform learning (e.g. implicit knowledge) to become explicit knowledge, to network individuals to enhance social learning and to capture and store knowledge to improve formal learning within the organisation. In a similar vein, recent work by Garavan et al. (2016) introduces a conceptual framework through which to understand the contribution of HRD to dynamic capabilities, providing a more up-to-date multilevel tool for organisations. This framework comprises four elements: (1) enablers, (2) specific components, (3) underlying processes and (4) unique strategic HRD dynamic capabilities. The fourth element considers the organisation’s capability to change and innovate. This is highlighted as a dynamic strategic human resource development capability (DSHRDC), with strategic HRD practices such as engaging in

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improvisation to generate new ideas, questioning issues, reflecting on actions and achieving a greater understanding of their actions.

5.5.1 Aims and Content of Innovation Training When designing an organisation’s innovation training there are two key and interrelated considerations: aims and content. At individual level, innovation training aims to build enthusiasm for engaging in the innovation process, to provide a consistent understanding of a much discussed yet inconsistently defined concept and communicate the organisation’s expectations around innovation. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, innovation training should increase employees’ confidence. Building confidence is critical to enhancing innovation capabilities: self-efficacy (confidence) is one of the strongest predictors of creativity and accounts for about 20% of the variation in an individual’s creative performance (Luthans et al. 2007). These aims are met through content that seeks to: • Dispel myths that only some people are creative or innovative. • Discuss how innovation and the innovation process are defined. • Prompt individual reflection on where they best fit within the innovation process, emphasising that it is not a case of being innovative or not but rather identifying which stage of the innovation process is best suited to the individual. • Facilitate industry-specific application of innovation, for example based on knowledge of new trends within their specialist area. • Provide tools and techniques to facilitate different stages of the innovation process (e.g. idea generation). • Situate the organisation’s approach and expectations around innovation including its definition, strategy (e.g. the proportion of radical and incremental innovation projects) and avenues for support of new ideas. Taken together, these examples of training course content encourage a level of competency in innovation and allow for tailoring to the specific organisation.

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5.5.2 Enhancing the Effectiveness of Innovation Training Training can be expensive so it is important that innovation training is effective. A comprehensive approach to training evaluation comprises four levels (Kirkpatrick 1998) and assesses both how the participants initially responded to the training as well as the eventual impact (i.e. training transfer): 1. Capture reactions immediately after training through a short questionnaire. 2. Evaluate learning by testing trainees’ knowledge on specific content from the training course. 3. Assess the extent to which training transfer has occurred, that is that trainees are utilising the content in their day jobs (focusing on ability-­ specific content learnt, motivation and opportunity to transfer training). 4. Evaluate the extent to which training has positively impacted business results. The third suggestion to evaluate training transfer is particularly critical and there are a number of factors that increase the likelihood of training transfer occurring. First, employees should be given opportunities to implement the training and should feel confident to engage with those opportunities. Second, the employee should expect that the training will be followed up with ongoing support and should have an expectation of positive personal outcomes (e.g. personal or career development). Third, the organisation’s culture should support training and learning, as noted previously in the discussion of learning organisations (Martin 2010; Spencer 2011). Crucially, for innovation training to be effective and embedded at both individual and team levels, ongoing support is required. One way to achieve this is through coaching (Martin 2010) and it has been argued that coaching can help employees develop entrepreneurial skills beneficial for innovation (Audet and Couteret 2012). Given that innovation is a team activity, it is posited that team coaching is then required to

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translate the individual learning into team learning. Team coaching has been found to correlate positively with innovation and was most effective when team members had high goal commitment and when they felt their organisation’s culture supported innovation (Rousseau et  al. 2013). Coaching enhances perceptions of the organisation’s culture supportiveness towards innovation and also encourages goal commitment, making coaching a powerful method for enhancing innovation capability. Coaching needs to be flexible. Previous research into coaching and training transfer identified that coachees differed considerably in the type of support required to aid their training transfer. For example, some coachees may want to focus on how to change their behaviour to incorporate the training whilst others may want to focus on perceived personal weaknesses that they believe are inhibiting training transfer (Spencer 2011). Organisations would do well to encourage leaders to engage in coaching with their subordinates, with new research showing that coaching by leaders also benefits subordinates by increasing the career success of the subordinates (Peng et al. 2019). Organisations seeking to develop innovation capability at individual and team levels would benefit from providing innovation training to their employees followed by a programme of coaching. Together, these activities provide knowledge of and confidence in innovation and an understanding of where they are best placed to contribute to the innovation process. Crucially, they must also be given continued support to realise those ambitions.

5.6 T  he Role of Reward in Building Innovation Capabilities Organisations need to foster innovative employee behaviour in order to ensure organisational survival as well as to gain competitive advantage in the changing dynamic business environment (Shalley et  al. 2009; Anderson et al. 2014). Given the importance of this type of behaviour, it is important that organisations consider the best ways to reward their employees through a multilevel approach.

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Reward is referred to as ‘a package of monetary, non-monetary and psychological payments that an organisation provides for its employees in exchange for a bundle of valued work-related behaviours’ (Bratton and Gold 2017, p. 262). Reward management is described as the active management of remuneration policies and practices, rather than merely administering pay (White 2016 cited in Marchington et al. 2016, p. 338). Work-related behaviours, including innovative behaviour, can be reinforced through appropriate reward management which is an organisational-­level intervention. Reward can be divided broadly into extrinsic rewards and intrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards will have financial value, for example an individual cash bonus, whereas intrinsic reward will have no financial value for the individual, for example a team party to celebrate a radical or incremental innovation. The mixture of both makes up a reward system (Bratton and Gold 2017, p. 262); the reward system will form part of an overall HRM system operating as part of a bundle of Human Resources (HR) practices with the intention of improving performance (Benson and Lawler 2003). Part of the challenge for organisations when devising a reward system is to ensure that the system is strong. HRM strength refers to the extent that employees understand HRM as intended by management (Bowen and Ostroff 2004); a strong system, which makes clear management intentions for innovative behaviour, is likely to be more successful. A weak system could include what are sometimes referred to as deadly combinations of HR practices that work against one another (Becker et al. 1997 cited in Kepes and Delery 2007), for example individual performance-­related pay (PRP) versus team work if the first practice was not designed in a way to encourage team cohesion (Boaden et al. 2008). When developing a reward strategy for innovation there are four main considerations: (1) reward type, (2) the perceived fairness and timing of reward, (3) which behaviours to reward and (4) whether the reward is at individual or team level.

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5.6.1 Reward Type There are many types of reward that can be used to build innovation capability. Research suggests that rewards without an immediate financial benefit (intrinsic rewards), such as development or promotion opportunities, may be more effective at encouraging innovation than immediate financial rewards (extrinsic rewards) (Barros and Lazzarini 2012). At an individual level, the impact of reward may be less important for employees who are intrinsically motivated, meaning they are inherently interested in their own work and experiencing enjoyment and satisfaction from working on their tasks making extrinsic reward interventions incidental or worse (Behren and Patzelt 2018; Amabile 1993) although this is not universally accepted and fiercely debated (Pouwels and Koster 2017; Tsai 2018). Behren and Patzelt (2018) investigated radical innovation and innovation speed (the time it takes for a new product or service to enter the market). They carried out 36 interviews with 10 R&D departments in large research-intensive German organisations with more than 500 employees. Distinctions were made between organisations that developed radical innovations and that were quick to bring this innovation to market (Radical-Fast) and those which were Radical-Slow (organisations who were making radical innovations but were slow to bring these to market). In Radical-Fast organisations, incentives with measurable outcomes designed to generate extrinsic motivation were rarely used, for example giving money to an employee for producing a new idea. However, incentives with no financial value, such as recognition from colleagues, facilitated the generation of radical innovations that were quick to be developed. This study recognises the need for organisations to design reward systems that include recognition opportunities as well as those that enable employees to have sufficient organisational resources, such as time, to develop their new ideas. Other studies agreed that performance-­ related rewards are a blunt tool (Baumann and Stieglitz 2014), despite some evidence of a positive relationship between payment by results and product innovation (Pouwels and Koster 2017).

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5.6.2 Fairness and Timing of Reward Innovation is a multi-stage process yet rewards can focus on the last stage/s despite a final big reward being less effective (Behren and Patzelt 2018) rather than more frequent, smaller stages earlier in the innovation process (Baumann and Stieglitz 2014); organisations such as Google have moved away from using award ceremonies as rewards for innovation and have moved towards smaller, more frequent rewards. Rewards and development opportunities go hand-in-hand. Many employees see being given opportunities to learn and develop their careers as acknowledgement of and reward for the good work they have achieved in their current roles. Many talent management technologies support such self-reinforcing and complementary view of learning and training with career development and rewards management. The fairness of the pay system is also important, although perceptions of fairness can differ considerably depending on whether HR managers or other employees are asked (Marriott et al. 2019). Among employers whose line managers played a role in making decisions about employee pay, just 38% of employees consider their line managers to be effective in making pay-related decisions. The researchers also identified what appears to be a downward trend in the UK in the use of performance-related pay (PRP), down from 65% in 2015 to 44% in 2017, which appears to be attributable in some part to line managers not engaging in the process described as ‘moving grains of sand in the desert’ (Marriott et al. 2019, p. 4). This trend may not be replicable across other European countries though (European Fund 2010, 2014 cited in De Spiegelaere et al. 2018). As discussed above, extrinsic rewards were shown to reduce the innovation speed as implementation of the systems is often complex and managers feel that they lose control (Behren and Patzelt 2018).

5.6.3 Rewarding Behaviours, Individuals or Teams? Innovative work behaviour is defined as ‘identifying problems and opportunities, searching for innovative solutions, suggesting these innovations to peers and supervisors and ultimately contributing to the

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implementation of the innovations in the workplace’ (De Spiegelaere et al. 2018). The definition of reward used herein emphasises reward is given in exchange for valued work-related behaviours (Bratton and Gold 2017, p. 262). This is particularly relevant for rewards designed to reinforce innovative work behaviour but can be problematic as risk and the freedom to fail should be inherent in innovation (particularly radical innovation). If organisations are only rewarding successful innovation then only a small portion of innovative behaviour can be rewarded and risk taking is suppressed. If individuals and teams are only rewarded for a small portion of their innovative behaviours then valuable opportunities to reinforce the desired behaviours are missed and the behavioural reinforcement will be less effective. Innovation relies on teams to generate and exchange ideas (Thompson 2003) and, as such, it is important to consider how innovative team behaviours can be reinforced through reward (Axtell et al. 2000). First, the limitations of rewarding innovation at individual level should be acknowledged and minimised, namely, difficulty identifying individual contributions during a potentially lengthy innovation process and the negative impact of rewarding at individual level on team cohesiveness (Behren and Patzelt 2018). When considering team-level innovation reward, team performance-based compensation seems to have the largest positive relationship with innovation (De Spiegelaere et  al. 2018; Un 2010). However, team-level rewards must be implemented carefully as integral aspects of some team reward schemes, such as peer monitoring, can lead to suspicion and undermine a developing innovation climate (Green and Heywood 2010). Reward has an important role in supporting employees’ innovation capabilities. Research suggests that non-­ financial rewards are more likely to have a positive impact than financial rewards which may be due to the complex nature of extrinsic (e.g. financial) rewards and the potential for a loss of management control and damaged perceptions of fairness. Extrinsic rewards may also slow down the development of innovation and they should, therefore, be used with caution. Other considerations include the reward timing and ensuring that the right innovative work behaviours are being rewarded with particular focus paid to team-level reward.

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5.7 Implications and Conclusion Overall, it is clear that organisations benefit from taking a multilevel approach to innovation. By focusing on recruitment and selection, learning, training and coaching and reward, organisations can build an innovative workforce and realise the benefits of effective innovation. Multilevel research can assume quite a traditional organisational structure, for example individuals nested within teams, nested within divisions, nested within an organisation. However, a future challenge for multilevel research is to include more fluid organisational structures as organisations begin to seek less traditional hierarchical approaches, often as a way of encouraging innovation (Dionne et al. 2014). The personality characteristics of extraversion, conscientious and agreeableness have been identified as key to innovative capability. As a result, organisations should consider the use of valid and reliable selection methods to measure these characteristics when making appointments which require employees to demonstrate innovative capabilities. While there are interesting developments in relation to gamification, these developments are in their infancy but should only be included as part of the selection process if their validity and reliability continues to be proven. Organisations also need to consider the team’s diversity and the totality of their innovative capabilities using valid selection methods to measure these. Balance is important when considering how an organisation’s climate enables innovation; team members need to trust one another and have confidence in their abilities but also be cautious of groupthink ensuring that consensus does not take priority over the need to avoid tension. This is where training could be particularly beneficial alongside a programme of coaching. Together, this moves the organisation towards a learning organisation. In the implementation of all HRM practices covered in this chapter, it is important that strong systems and technologies are in place where the intentions of management are clearly understood by all employees. Studies have established that non-financial rewards, for example career development opportunities, have the largest positive relationship with

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innovation and that team-level reward has the largest positive relationship with incremental innovation (e.g. Un 2010). From a practitioner perspective, it is important to use extrinsic rewards cautiously, ensuring the system is fair and line managers are engaged with the process. Overall, there is a growing body of literature that can form the basis of an informed strategy for facilitating innovation capability within organisations.

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6 Redefining HRD Roles and Practice in the Machine Learning Revolution Patricia Harrison, Lynn Nichol, and Jeff Gold

6.1 Introduction The challenge to the human resource development (HRD) community is how far it should proactively take responsibility and get involved in shaping future skill development and human interactions with technology? Or will the community, as it has in the past, retain a passive observer position? There is much talk of the displacement of humans by technologies. There is disruption to current approaches to skill development and

P. Harrison (*) Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK e-mail: [email protected] L. Nichol University of Worcester, Worcester, UK e-mail: [email protected] J. Gold York St John, York, UK e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s) 2020 M. Loon et al. (eds.), The Future of HRD, Volume I, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52410-4_6

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the identification of what new skills are needed requires attention. For people to retain relevance, more attention is needed on those skills that resist automation and technology replacement by the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) package. The various technologies of artificial intelligence (machine learning, robotics and others) together form a package of considerations referred to as the fourth industrial revolution (Schwab 2017). It is claimed that society is currently in the midst of a significant transition period that is bound to bring disruption to our lives (Mason 2015). For example, there is much talk of the displacement of humans by technologies with Deloitte (2018) reporting that employment in 44% of occupations in the UK is falling and that this creates uncertainty about which jobs will continue to exist. Brynjolfsson and McAfee (2014) asked the question “will humans go the way of horses?” pointing to the way the replacement of people by machines has a long tradition although humans have tended to benefit from this process in terms of real wages and jobs available. The present uncertainty is another manifestation of this. However, the disruption to skill development and learning of those new skills requires attention. As Webster and Ivanov (2019) argue humans will continue to retain key employment abilities concerned with creativity, interpretation and human interactions but might be less required in the production process. Therefore, for people to retain relevance there needs to be more attention to those skills that resist automation and technology replacement by the 4IR package. Deloitte (2018) identified analytic, strategic and communication as human skills that are needed to provide resilience as the transition occurs. A key issue for those involved in human skill development, the human resource development (HRD) or learning and development (LD) community, is how far they should proactively take responsibility and get involved in shaping future skill development and human interactions with technology? Or will they, as in the past, retain a passive observer position? Using the future and forecasting approach often used within organisations to stimulate strategic planning, two futures workshops at UFHRD Conferences in 2017 and 2018 considered the future of HRD by creating scenarios that projected the future of HRD. The outcomes of these workshops are reported in Gold (2017) and Harrison et al. (2018). One theme

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within the scenarios is the growth of 4IR technologies. For a profession and discipline that is concerned with organisational and individual learning and the development of human potential (Hamlin and Stewart 2011) the advance poses a challenge for the future. Harrison et al. (2018) note that there is a shortage of academic research around 4IR from an HRD perspective. They also speculate that LD practitioners may well be ahead of HRD academics in considering the impact of 4IR on the future of HRD practice and research. Based on this speculation, this chapter wishes to consider whether this is the case. Therefore, the question it seeks to answer is to what extent do LD practitioners incorporate both the learning of humans and machines within their areas of responsibility? It will report the findings from a series of interviews with such practitioners in order to begin the conversation within the HRD academic community. Firstly, it considers some of the key ideas relating to 4IR with respect to HRD/LD.

6.2 Fourth Industrial Revolution and HRD Until recently, the role of HRD/LD with respect to technology at work could be characterised as enabling people to work effectively with organisational requirements through the acquisition of requisite knowledge, skills and attitudes. The relationship with technology has always been contentious with the possibility that human skills can be replaced by machines. However, technology has also been employed to enable human learning with the development of teaching machines based on programmed learning underpinned by behaviourist theories (Hills 2003). More recently with the arrival of the digital age, as well as information and communication technologies, HRD’s relation with technology could be characterised in two ways. Firstly, the delivery of learning content, usually referred to as e-learning. Secondly, the management of LD of staff within the workplace using a learning management system or LMS. In both cases, delivery makes use of electronic technologies and includes intranets as well as external sources via the internet; the latter is usually referred to as Web 2.0 and then Web 3.0 as web interaction and storage become more prevalent. Central to such developments are core

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assumptions that value in organisations are made by bringing people and technology together and that any organisation is reliant on human expertise and learning for sustainability and difference. It is human learning that provides the possibility to improve performance by the utilisation of people’s abilities and consequent changes in skills and knowledge by humans underpin growth and development. It is the task of HRD/LD to support these possibilities with individual, team and strategic learning policies and practices. However, with the arrival of machine learning (ML) and artificial Intelligence (AI) such assumptions might need reconsideration. ML and associated technologies such as AI, algorithms and Internet of Things (IoT) are usually referred to as features of the fourth industrial revolution (Schwab 2017) or Industry 4.0. Such technologies make possible new products and services that increase the efficiency and pleasure of people’s personal lives. However, in doing so, the technologies are having a profound effect on what is understood as the performance of work and the employment of skill. There are ongoing debates about the extent to which 4IR will replace human skill, complement it or advance it (Fry 2018). Schwab and Davis (2018) argue that while 4IR has the potential for bringing significant advantages, there is also the possibility of adverse effects resulting from unfair distribution of benefits, the production of external costs and the disempowering of human beings. To mitigate against these possibilities they call for the need for collaboration across stakeholders and the embedding of human values within technologies so they can be “shaped to enhance the common good, environmental stewardship and human dignity” (p. 2). According to a report from the Royal Society (2017), ML is a “technology that allows computers that learn directly from examples and experience in the form of data” (p. 19). ML is specifically associated with the acquisition of knowledge compared to AI that also includes the application of knowledge. AI is the study of “how to train computers so that computers can do things which at present human can do better” (ibid.). ML involves the use of an algorithm to analyse data from which a pattern may be formed for using in decision-making. An algorithm is “a set of mathematical instructions or rules that, especially if given to a computer,

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will help to calculate an answer to a problem”.1 ML seeks to emulate how humans learn by providing an algorithm-driven machine with the data necessary to work against a goal, providing feedback to ensure it is working correctly then allowing the machine to work out the best way to reach the goals. Learning is embedded in ML to create a system driven by an algorithm to find the best way to fulfil its direction. There is a significant degree of obscurity that can surround the way ML actually works suggesting the need for those in LD either to work towards more understanding in Data Science or forming relationships with those who are already qualified to do so. As a form of black box, there is a lot that must be accepted without critique (Lee et al. 2009). Further, this is an area of research and practice that is occurring within organisations and beyond to improve AI and ML through deep learning or deep neural networks allowing application to such operations as speech recognition, visual object recognition and object detection (Bengio 2017) with significant resources being invested (Parloff 2016). Of course, in many ways, ML has become widespread and is found in a variety of work processes and everyday activities and is the main method for the development in combination with AI for computer vision and speech, picture and pattern recognition, robot control and many other applications (Jordan and Mitchell 2015). The simulation of how humans might behave as a conversational partner is defined as a chatbot which is a piece of software that designs programmes to conduct conversations via auditory or textual methods (Moore 2018). Humans have a part to play in ML and the formulation of chatbots, both in the writing of algorithms and providing instructions, and in using or being affected by the results provided by its operation for good or ill. Interestingly, the development of ML is a good example of human learning that involves the building of a mathematical representation relating to a particular domain of knowledge, computing the parameters and weights from the representation using testing data, critiquing the model as discrepancies occur and using new knowledge from the discrepancies to think of the patterns that caused them. Eubanks (2019) highlights the benefits of AI to the HR community to offload HR administrative tasks and improve user  https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/instructions.

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satisfaction. CIPD (2019) suggests that changes through AI can provide more accurate information for decision-making, for example common applications exist in HR such as filling in forms or exchanging information. This process continues until the model performs, that is the machine has “learned” (Colaresi and Mahmood 2017). More generally, ML and AI are starting to become accepted as a way of making decisions about people so that performance is improved. Using terms such as HR analytics or workforce analytics, predictive modelling can be used for most HR functions including learning and development (Mishra et al. 2016) and is considered to provide the HR profession with a clearer route to strategic participation in decision-making and avoiding takeover by the finance and technology functions (Vargas et al. 2018). The danger here is that the HR profession generally and LD practitioners in particular may join the list of workers under threat because they cannot yet work with analytics and ML. As Joh (2017) argued with reference to predictive analytics in the police, people are “not simply end users of big data” (p. 289), they also play a part in generating data through the recording of outputs and this can produce distortions such as race, sex, religion and other forms of bias. This means that human subjectivity can play a part in the working of AI and ML, even if the purpose appears neutral. Already there are recognised dangers, perhaps exemplified by ML’s potential for perverse results and predictions (Naughton 2018). In his well-known consideration of the place of humans in the future, Harari (2017) points to the danger of the decoupling of intelligence as found in AI and ML from the consciousness of humans such that “non-conscious but highly intelligent algorithms may soon know us better than we know ourselves” (p. 397). One manifestation of this process is the fear that ML is an automating process that threatens the need for human workers including educated professionals such as accountants and lawyers which can also exacerbate wealth disparities (Brynjolfsson and McAfee 2014). Another danger is the potential for ML to incorporate bias which it has learned; ML can become creators of a learned bias (Cheatham et al. 2019). For example, Amazon had developed programmes to automate the review of applications made by job seekers and AI was used to rate candidates based on their CVs. However, this process seemed to contain

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a bias in favour of men based on patterns of CVs over ten years which came mainly from men. Another bias was the recommendation of candidates who were unqualified. Amazon postponed this version of the project in 2018 before seeking to develop another to consider diversity more closely (Dastin 2018). Google has also been critiqued; for example, some searches have been shown to make incorrect, defamatory or bigoted associations for particular people and groups (Diakopoulos 2016). An important issue raised by Osoba and Welser IV (2017) is that ML requires critical attention both in creation but also on the ongoing processes of operation. Just as human decision-making is fallible and subject to bias, the work of ML also needs attention. For example, ML biases are learned during what is termed training where inputs are used to teach an algorithm to work towards a particular desired state. However, as the Amazon case showed, the training data which provided the inputs produced the learned bias. The training of ML does not yet appear to be considered an HRD/LD issue. An improvement in such data is considered to be important in improving the quality of ML decisions (Fuchs 2018). In addition, against the potential for ML to become dangerous, Schwab and Davis (2018) highlight ethical challenges which need to be addressed to ensure fairness and balance. They advocate the need for technical feasibility to be accompanied by environmental, social and human considerations. This reinforces the need for humans to develop a value-led stakeholder approach which we would suggest needs to involve LD practitioners and researchers. Crucially, as argued by Fry (2018) if ML by definition means machines can create new answers to problems using its own route, it can affect performance at work and beyond. Shouldn’t HRD/LD take an interest in this process?

6.3 Method Considering this chapter’s research question concerning the extent to which LD practitioners incorporated both the learning of humans and machines within their areas of responsibility, it was felt that a constructivist approach was required based on the assumption that there would be a

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variety of views constructed in the minds of individual LD practitioners (Hansen 2004). This approach sought to allow an interaction between researcher and participants to stimulate questioning and reflection against the object of the investigation concerning 4IR and ML in particular (Ponterotto 2005). A set of questions were developed so that how LD practitioners work with 4IR and ML could be explored. Such questions included: • Are 4IR and ML embraced by LD professionals? Is such learning accepted as an LD issue? • Are 4IR and ML seen as a replacement for human skill or it might enhance it? • Is there a role for LD people in terms of what is put into algorithms? • Do you have ethical concerns? • Are 4IR and ML informing your work at the moment? • What is the future of the HRD profession in a future where machines can learn? Convenience sampling was used to identify practitioners from the authors’ professional networks and nine senior LD practitioners from multi-national or large public sector organisations were interviewed and the results recorded. Seven interviews were conducted face-to-face, one by telephone and one by email. The transcripts of each interaction were analysed by the researchers (as humans) using a simplified version of inductive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2006) involving a close re-reading of the text to reveal what appeared as over-arching themes that summarised the views of the interviewees. The participants’ job role and sector are found in Table 6.1.

6.4 Findings Following the analysis, five themes were identified: emerging awareness; responding; division between IT and HRD; the role of HRD and ethical implications.

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Business

Code

L&D Manager OD Manager Group L&D Director L&D Manager Director of OD L&D Manager L&D Manager L&D Manager L&D Manager

Finance Health HR call centre Professional services Education Public sector Manufacturing Public authority Global retail

A B C D E F G H I

6.4.1 Emerging Awareness While most of the participants demonstrated awareness that ML/AI will be embraced by the majority of organisations in the future, for many of our participants the 4IR does not impinge on their current working lives and roles. With the exception of one participant who has been directly involved with training bots, it is something that they are generally thinking about but without the need for immediate operational implementation. The questions in the research interviews therefore created an emerging awareness and a space to discuss the potential impact of AI and ML for those who “know it’s coming, [but] are not proactively doing much about it” (F). Thus, to varying degrees, senior LD professionals recognise the issue not as an explicit part of their current responsibility and role but as something they needed to consider and form a view on. Issues related to ML/ AI were part of the overall context of technological development. For example, automation or robotisation (A and B) were being considered generally rather than specifically within their organisations and what they experience outside the ML/AI could apply within their firms. Participants explored their understanding from considering possible impacts on themselves personally. an article the other day about being interviewed by machine. … I kind of tried to put myself in that situation. … Thought how would I feel if interviewed by a robot and then the robot said no to me? (Laughing) I would probably think

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that had I’ve been sat with a person, an individual, there would’ve been a lot more interfaces that were taking place. (C) if you think about say checkouts, we have changed the roles in supermarkets. You can go into and have a consultation with a machine and it will pop out your pills. … So there is the impact, not just from an HRD/LD perspective or an HRM perspective, this is going to impact on everyone’s roles. (B)

All of the participants used e-learning to support human development but reported differing perceptions on the timescale for their engagement with the 4IR.  For most, the 4IR was moving at a quick pace (C) and although the pace was scary (C), ML/AI was recognised as an LD issue that needed to be addressed. For some it was as distant as “something out of Star Wars” (H).

6.4.2 Responding Although the use of ML/AI is still an “emerging piece” (A) and had not “been addressed in sufficient detail as yet” (A) many LD Professionals could see value in using ML/AI to engage with the “mundane and processing stuff, particularly in recruitment, reward and payroll” (B). LD professionals could see the possibility of engaging with ML/AI in a more “interactive and interesting way” (E). Chatbots for instance could be and are already used to answer basic and frequently asked questions such as “who do I ask about the appraisal form, the maternity form, what’s the right to work check, what’s the induction process” (F). The participants celebrated the value of such innovations and their potential to enable LD professionals to concentrate on creativity, adding value and strategic issues (A, B, D). Others observed that such technology would threaten the existing career pathways in HR and LD.  The opportunity to enter at a lower level in an administrative role “then grow into HR advisors” (F) may be curtailed raising questions of how “you would come into these careers and the skillset needed” (E). However, as their organisations considered the use of automation and robotics to “do higher volumes” (A), this did raise awareness relating to

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“how people were seen” (A) and valued. Participants reflected on the core role of the LD professional. “The role is focused on connectedness and presence … developing people, building relationships, focusing on people skills, complex problems, solving things for the business and people” (F). Most participants could not envisage a world where machines replace human judgement and interaction (H). They questioned whether machines would be able to draw on experience and work empathetically for instance picking up on the verbal clues, body language, disposition and tone of voice (C and F). Participants were convinced that a human presence was, and will always be, required and that building human relationships was central to the LD role. AI can be used to mitigate any bias and that standard of quality experience for everybody, but I think you still need a human element as that person has still got to be managed. And that person can’t be managed by AI. Personally, I can’t see a place where AI manages. AI can help, but I can’t see where it manages. I can’t see that far into the future; I think it would be quite a miserable place really because some of the stuff you do in training, it’s about the discussions, the blue sky thinking. AI is becoming intelligent but is it going to go as far as blue sky thinking. (F)

Nevertheless, participants recognised that LD professionals could not ignore the growing influence of ML/AI. For one participant, the development of the LD role by the replacement of mundane tasks with more complexity and the chance to add value was possibly just a “convenient way of getting [HRD/LD] on board” (A). For another, it was important for HRD/LD to “figure out what do we do with the outputs of number crunchers” (D) who worked the machines. It was important to hold on to the core values and “love people and try and fight it out” (D). This discussion was helping the interviewees “think about the possibilities” and the way “AI could … give use some useful things to think about” but “the challenge is that it is only going to be as good as the data we put in it. And the challenge is that it needs a human intervention to choose what to give it” (B), indicating the need for LD professionals to be involved as early as possible.

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6.4.3 Division Between IT and LD Despite the recognition of the importance of LD being involved in ML/ AI it was recognised that currently LD professionals are rarely engaged at the development stage and few LD professionals possess skills to enable them to contribute to the technical development of ML/AI. Even in the comfort zone of e-learning, LD professionals often present a “shopping list” (H) to the developers. Where an organisation is relatively advanced in the implementation of AI, LD professionals are not engaged in the development of AI (G). Few roles are advertised for LD specialists to work in ML/AI. From one participant’s perspective: You are either a developer, programmer who writes algorithms or you are focused on identification of learning needs. … I still think we have a fair way to go to matching the two up. … I don’t think we’re in a place where ML is … taken on by HRD. (C)

There was evidence of LD working with technical project teams; however, they were present to understand the learning needs created by the implementation of any new technology rather than “helping them to think through how they might develop machine learning” (E). The participants presented the current dilemma that LD professionals, “need to be involved at the beginning, [however] the implications for us as a profession is that it changes quite a few of the skillsets that are needed” (E). Creatively, participants could see this lack of technical skill enabling them to develop a relationship with technical experts and position LD professionals as companions. They could be a conduit to enable the organisation to better understand the developments within ML/AI so that their organisations could be “more informed about what could be happening” (E). They could see the “evolution [of] a continuing partnership [and the] co-creation of solutions” (E). Working with technical expertise to input into the development of ML/AI should be seen as, “A bit of OD as we do need to think about that if we change the system what else gets affected” (E).

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6.4.4 Role of LD The participants envisaged several vital roles for LD professionals in the machine learning revolution. These clustered around what the participants perceived as their current core focus of building relationships and developing human skill and will draw on existing LD strengths in consultancy, coaching and mentoring and partnering (D). ML/AI was perceived as a change management issue and therefore an HRD issue. It will require working in tandem with other colleagues within HR. It’s affecting HR too and they need to understand the bigger picture in terms of how, as a workforce and a function, they can better understand what makes people embrace it and consider measures, i.e. LD involvement. Naturally, there will be resistance to anything new—machine learning will be no different so HRD needs to understand this and find factors that will enable employee acceptance of ML. (G) There is an HR issue as it could be perceived as taking away jobs, so you had got that redundancy, redeployment type issue. People could find it quite threatening. There’s a change management issue. (F)

The introduction of ML/AI has the potential to reshape “the future of work” (E), to enhance work and create new jobs. Participants identified a role for LD professionals to “look at the best way to solve the skills shortage” (G). A connected feature was skills for the future (A), reflecting a need to “stay relevant” (A). As more of the workforce are being recruited against digital needs, this was leading to growing contact with “pockets of the data community” (A) and involvement with projects such as collaborating on arrangement for degree apprenticeship in data science. This had provided a “prompt to become conscious of what we should do” (A) and that “it was good be involved at this early stage” (A). The 4IR requires LD Professionals to get involved, to advocate, communicate the benefits and promote and embrace the change to facilitate the organisation’s adoption of ML/AI.

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The workforce can work in synergy with machines but it’s all around knowing the purpose of it, what the benefits are. Understanding any concerns or fears of job replacement that employees may have so HRD can work to resolve these. Having regular conversations, touch points and reviews of ML performance within HR would prepare the workforce of what is/isn’t working and therefore help them to work in synergy. If you’re not there at the development stage then we are not going to have the end to end knowledge of what needs to go in the to the design. (G)

LD can play an influencing role in shaping discussions and being “in that space’ to get employees on board” (G), for example, through leadership programmes which tackle some ML issues through projects such as identity verification for financial services (A). LD could affect “the direction” (A) of such projects. For ML projects in particular, it was felt that “we can probably shape some of the stuff to go in there” (A) and will guide “the development of logic” (D). However, there was recognition that “we wouldn’t probably be able to do it ourselves” (B) and that “we’d need a bolt on informatics person … a role such as a data guru” (B). Nevertheless, there are resource implications as the time-consuming nature of the role was identified by one participant (C). This is possibly one area that is a problem for LD departments that can be under-resourced.

6.4.5 Ethical Implications If LD can sustain its influence, it could provide a source of critique and ethicality (A/B/D). An important recognition was that “data was everywhere but we do not want to lose the essence of who we are” (A). Data-based decisions on what to provide and what to do had to be combined with a “human touch” (B). In the health sector there was a need to consider “life and death” (D) choices and the vital part played by “compassion” and other human values and ML would “make it cold” (C). A question was posed: How do you teach them (ML/AI) ethics, how do you get them to think of ethics from a compassionate point of view? (B)

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If LD can play the companion role as ML develops, they could provide protection against some of the risks of relying on data-based decisions, for example in “recruitment screening tools” (D). However, such decisions “might miss something” (A) that relied on humans using “gut instinct” (D). Interviews were aware of possible distortions, biases and “unintended powers” of ML such as prediction which “could limit choice and may not fit with our expansive mindset” (A). Participants argued that LD should be the “moral conscience” (D) and occupy the space to ask “what are they doing and how are they tapping into what are the right morally and ethically things. We should be in that position. To say, are we sure this is right. Are we doing the right thing here?” (F). LD can set a context for such activity and while they were not expecting to write algorithms, their influence could provide a “safeguard and check” to build trust in the new system (F); “a human overview and monitoring process—testing it, programming it. [and] mitigating the risk” (G). The involvement of those who did write algorithms in organisation-wide leadership programmes meant their exposure to critical thinking skills, emotional intelligence, questioning and assumption surfacing of activities. Moreover, one participant felt it was almost impossible for algorithms to “not act in a discriminatory manner” (C). The view was that the act of having to reduce every action into a logical, articulated structure meant that unintentional bias would be present. They expressed concern over the right/wrong nature of the scenario with no room for discussion or a “difference of opinion” (C).

6.5 Discussion By general agreement, 4IR provides the basis for a transformation of our economy and society and, with it, much potential for disruption and displacement of human life at work. In 2018, Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, was estimating a displacement of around 10% (Carney 2018). However, there seems to be little debate about the consequences for disruption and displacement. For example, a report from the House of Lords argued that there was lack of awareness and debate on AI and ML.  There was a need to “actively shape AI’s development and

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utilisation or risk passively acquiescing to its many consequences” (House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence 2017, p. 7). This gap in involvement and participation could mean that it is left to powerful others to shape the technological future and allowing displacement and disruption to become realities (Morgan 2019). This chimes with our findings where LD professionals had emerging awareness of ML/AI but did not see these as features for their full consideration. Rather there was a general understanding of how automation or robots might affect work and home life but there was reticence to incorporate these issues into thinking and learning and development policy. There was evidence that participants could not see how ML/AI might displace humans and doubt that humans could be replaced by machines to work empathetically with other humans. However, in some organisations the authors have worked with there is already evidence of the displacement of people as consequence of significant cost-cutting that is considered necessary to advance a digitised offer to customer and clients. One result is a reduction in the LD workforce. It is important to consider how LD does have a tendency to frame its activities at a level of sustaining or improving activities. However, ML/AI contains the potential to change or replace the activities. Therefore ML/ AI must be considered as organisation learning which encompasses discontinuous change with the likelihood of new but not yet developed ideas entailing a restructuring of how action will occur. In Bateson’s (2000) terms, ML/AI is Learning II or a change in the process of Learning I and, as Tosey and Mathison (2008) argue, organisation learning requires Learning II by those involved in LD.  This, of course, means that LD professionals need to take an organisational view of ML/AI, assuming that digitisation is a central feature of strategy and that LD professionals need to find a way for their voices to be considered at this level, assuming that they have something to say. However, it remains to be seen if progress in considering HRD more strategically as strategic HRD (SHRD) can provide a route for LD to align its direction at the organisation level (Alagaraja 2013). However, the authors’ conversations with LD professionals would suggest that a strategic response is not currently on the horizon.

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Moreover, it was interesting to note that their involvement as researchers with LD professionals was prompting not just the need to recognise the influence of ML/AI but also how new possibilities might arise through closer attention with issues relating to the design and implementation of projects. In some respects, an evidence-based approach to helping LD professionals become more critically reflective of their positions in a challenging but supportive fashion was being adopted. This suggests that academic researchers and LD professionals might form collaborative relationship to the mutual benefit of both (Hamlin 2016). The possibility of bias was previously noted in the example of Google and their selection process. Ethics was something that all of the participants expressed concern about, particularly the challenge of including the human touch. This is possibly not surprising and is highlighted by Gov.UK (2019) and researchers such as Pavliscak and McStay (2019) who have explored the role of emotion in AI. In their ethical checklist for designers and developers they include the importance of avoiding stereotypes and assumptions about emotion as well as the importance of including a diverse dataset. The research in this chapter would suggest that HRD practitioners are waking up to the ethical importance of being involved. Positively, ML/AI was perceived as a change management issue, and therefore an LD issue, and this provides a way for LD professionals to involve themselves more fully in ML/AI. On one level, digital projects become available for LD consideration once the technical aspects have been completed by others. Such projects are prone to creating black boxes consisting of algorithms composed of complex mathematical formula which are closed to non-experts. The connection to others comes through digital mediation in the form of a technology such as an app. Certainly this was the case with participant G who was involved in teaching the app how to respond to general HR queries from employees, such as holiday entitlement. However, the use of technology will be subject to a variety of “technological frames” (Orlikowski and Gash 1994) allowing differing views of the value of new technology based on knowledge from past efforts to apply technology and stories of success or otherwise of the application.

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Culture has a strong role to play in the acceptance of usefulness and ease of use of technology (Watt et  al. 2019) and this provides a clear opening for LD professionals as facilitators in culture work. In fulfilling such a role, there can be focus on learning by humans and machines allowing the creation of new products and services. LD can also provide a point of connection between stakeholders in such projects and the embedding of human values within technologies (Schwab and Davis 2018). SHRD has to embrace the potential for learning to emerge from the practices of working with technologies and for these to become a feature of making strategy (Mintzberg et al. 2008). This enables SHRD alignment between individual and organisational learning (Herd et al. 2018). Nevertheless, as identified, none of the LD professionals in our research are involved at the front end and there is, therefore, a need to address a recognised weakness that prevents engagement in the development stage of ML/AI projects. This is not an easy path and has implications not only for how LD professionals form relationships with non-LD experts but also for the evolution of the role of LD. Given the reliance of ML/AI on choice of training data, it is humans that are involved in such choices. LD professionals can be involved in such choices if they can work with others. Collins (2004), for example, has identified the ability to talk expertly about a skill or practice but without being able to practice as interactional knowledge. Importantly, such knowledge is learned through connect and interaction with others in the process of practice and LD professionals become interactional experts. Collins warns that this takes time but, as expertise is gained, LD professionals can ask new or critical questions that others have not asked. This process will advance a hybrid role for LD professionals but could also help academics in HRD to form new relationships across the academic world that could provide the basis for interdisciplinary activities and outcomes. One aspect of how LD influence can grow is their recognition of the ethics of adopting ML/AI. Royakkers et al. (2018) identify six key ethical issues to consider in digitisation— privacy, autonomy, safety and security, balance of power, human dignity and justice. LD professionals and HRD academics need to embrace such issues to ensure that human values are safeguarded and remain relevant.

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6.6 Conclusion Based on futures workshops at the UFHRD conference, the authors of this chapter became interested in the apparent lack of involvement in 4IR by HRD/LD academics and practitioners. They believed that the latter might be ahead of the former, if judged by the number of papers published in HRD journals. They also wondered if the terms ML and AI were in anyway being accommodated in the talk and responsibilities of practitioners. What they found from a small but influential sample of senior LD professionals was that, in many ways, ML/AI was still something of a black box for HRD/LD and their enquiry was prompting speculation and possibilities rather than giving insight into how practitioners were engaged with ML/AI.  There was both “excitement … and concern” (B). ML could do some of the work quickly and “free the HRD profession to become more strategic” (A). What was concerning was how to monitor “the complicated things that AI starts to do” (C) and setting the boundaries based on ethics and humanity. As one of respondents asked: Does the HRD profession develop ML/AI like it would a person? (B)

This raises the prospect for the continuity of the LD profession as a people function and people/machine function and a function for ML/AI. Emerging is a recognition of the need to be involved and develop a more collaborative response. This echoes Schwab and Davis (2018) who recently advocated a multi-stakeholder approach to the fourth industrial revolution that is based on human-centred values. It could be argued as to who would be best to facilitate such a learning process. Step forward HRD/LD and make the offer. This chapter would offer the following guidance to HRD/LD practitioners, and also those in academia, to ensure the continuity and survival of the professions. Firstly, the 4IR has to be recognised as a significant threat but also as an opportunity. There has to be less reticence by LD professionals in showing interest and involvement and, to do this, LD professionals need to take an organisational view of ML/AI.  In many organisations there will be a digitisation strategy as part of an effort for

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agilisation (Trost 2020) and this provides a chance for LD to enhance its involvement. In this process, LD professionals can seek support from academics, potentially setting up collaboration networks, virtual or otherwise, between LD professionals and universities and colleges. Collaboration theory suggests the important of facilitation to accommodate differences of interest (Wood and Gray 1991). However, as experts in the human dimension of learning, both LD professionals and HRD academics might relish such an opportunity. In addition, at a time of significant disruption and change, both within organised activity and society, LD professionals can play a key role if they can learn to work with others and acquire interactional knowledge. This would allow LD professionals to raise key issues of ethics and values as well as find new opportunities for their own development. ML/AI advances the case for LD/ HRD to become a hybrid discipline and practice.

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7 E-learning: A Temporary ‘By-Product’ of Covid-19 Pandemic or a Contemporary Solution to Workplace Training and Learning? Fotios Mitsakis and Theodosis Karageorgakis

7.1 Introduction The outbreak of Coronavirus (Covid-19) metamorphosed society in enduring ways. Commentators and organisations across the globe describe the pandemic as a new global financial and societal crisis with detrimental aftermath to communities, organisations and people (Bachman 2020; ILO 2020; PwC 2020). The pandemic, as an ongoing crisis, has already transformed national and global economies as well as national and international labour markets. All businesses, despite of their size and crisis preparedness, face unforeseen challenges which threaten F. Mitsakis (*) Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK e-mail: [email protected] T. Karageorgakis Center for the Advancement of Research & Development in Educational Technology, Nicosia, Cyprus e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s) 2020 M. Loon et al. (eds.), The Future of HRD, Volume I, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52410-4_7

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their viability. People are also suffering from the pandemic’s aftermath as many are laid off, further struggling to financially support themselves and their families. Employment deteriorates rapidly in terms of its quality (e.g. social and health protection, wages, working hours) and quantity (e.g. employment, underemployment and unemployment rates) (ILO 2020). With many people having lost their jobs, or at least a considerable amount of their income due to wage cuts, it translates into lower consumption of goods and services which could eventually prove detrimental to businesses and national economies resilience. Many governments proceeded to make changes within their fiscal policies to protect their people (e.g. income and employment) and stabilise their economies. From an organisational point of view, human resource (HR)/human resource development (HRD) is expected to play a crucial role in securing the well-being of all employees in these difficult times. Following Knight’s (2011, p. 155) definition of a crisis as ‘a signifying period of social change or instability that evokes feelings of fear, panic and danger amongst organisational members’, HR/HRD has the potential to outline its significance through designing and implementing strategic initiatives to ameliorate feelings of anxiety as well as to lead individual and organisational change (Mitsakis 2014a). Like in other crisis circumstances, the recent pandemic has questioned the value proposition of HR/HRD in organisations and, in many cases, the latter has failed to meaningfully and significantly contribute to securing the well-being of employees as well as the success of organisations (Hughes and Gosney 2016). Paramount in enhancing HRD value proposition is the design and delivery of agile and effective training and learning initiatives which are aligned with business and environmental imperatives (Mitsakis 2016). Therefore, e-learning appears as an agile training and learning approach which also offers greater customisation (Johnson et al. 2008). Thus, amongst other learning outcomes, the chapter offers a perspective on whether e-learning is a temporary by-product of the Covid-19 pandemic or a contemporary solution to workplace training and learning. It considers the impact of external context (e.g. Covid-19) to discuss the role of e-learning in relation to workplace training and learning innovation. Thus, it offers an overview of the interrelation between crisis events and workplace learning reinvention, more

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precisely, it discusses e-learning as an alternative human resource development (HRD) intervention in times of business uncertainty. This chapter also identifies the implications of moving to online learning to inform HRD professionals and organisational policy makers on future actions concerning progressive learning practices in relation to employees’ learning and development and organisational creativity and growth. However, since the Covid-19 pandemic is an ongoing crisis, all perspectives offered here might be rapidly out-of-date.

7.2 S  ocio-economic Implications of Covid-19 Pandemic to Organisations, People and Societies, and the Role of HR/ HRD Professionals The coronavirus’ pandemic is a contemporary crisis story with an unclear ending and continuous socio-economic implications for businesses across the globe (Craven et  al. 2020). Travel restrictions, business lockdowns and remote working all are expected to accelerate the evolution of work by changing established ways of working, as well as updating HR and employment relations to meet today’s needs. Following many governments’ decision to proceed to large-scale quarantines, this could relate to a sharp fall in the consumption of goods and services, thus having a direct impact on business viability. Many businesses suspend their production and operational service processes with that impacting upon their short- and long-term financial viability (Singh 2020). In addition, the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic associates with corporate bankruptcies, actions which also put significant distress on the financial and banking systems across the globe owing to organisational financial illiquidity to remit loans, salaries and other operational expenses (e.g. Value Added Tax [VAT]) (Murray et al. 2020). HR/ HRD professionals could implement strategies which are environmentally integrated to secure a better evaluation of all endogenous and exogenous challenges and thus to contribute to organisational resilience through

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people empowerment and HRD’s alignment with business imperatives (Mitsakis 2019a). Furthermore, Covid-19-related demand and supply fluctuations result in two major changes. Firstly, demand drops due to considerable spending cuts on behalf of consumers and, secondly, e-commerce grows due to consumers’ changed behaviours towards online ordering to avoid social interaction as well as to remain in line with governmental lockdown restrictions. Especially for the latter, whatever demand and supply chain will look like after the pandemic, it will be considerably different and mainly more digitalised in nature. HRD professionals will be called to familiarise their employees with the new ways of doing business through training and learning initiatives. Additionally, business and market lockdowns resulted in extensive layoffs and thus in a sharp rise in the unemployment rate (Craven et  al. 2020). HR/HRD practice is also a casualty of this pandemic outbreak, having resulted in additional pressure on HR/HRD professionals to successfully handle new labour market conditions and employment regimes owing to remote working. Well-established HR/HRD practices are now called to adapt to new circumstances through digitalising their services as well as by revising employment relations (e.g. contracts, rewards, benefits, annual leave) to align with working from home labour market’s requirements (Dignan 2020). Yet, rather than going with layoffs, HR should consider alternative options such as allowing employees to work part-time, offering them sabbaticals (unpaid leave) and wage reductions instead. Such options will secure people’s employment during those difficult times and will not contribute to economic and social inequalities (Tarki et al. 2020). Employees’ health and safety was also brought forward to business agendas resulting, except in remote work opportunities, in changes within the health and safety and risk management policies of all organisations (Segal and Gerstel 2020). Yet, working from home has also impacted the re-organisation of annual leaves, special days off (e.g. childcare to support working parents due to school closures), compensation policies and employment relations in general. Therefore, HR professionals should constantly co-ordinate communication efforts to ensure that consistent, clear and timely information is circulated within the organisation (Reeves

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et  al. 2020; Tarki et  al. 2020). In addition, HR/HRD professionals should revise their strategies, plans and policies to ensure these could survive and develop under crisis circumstances through agile, flexible and adaptive initiatives that could lead to identifying emerging opportunities relating to all of the above (Mitsakis 2019b). For many sectors, the economic impact of the Covid-19 outbreak further associates with a drop of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) relating with the direct impact of consumers’ changed behaviours. For specific industries (e.g. tourism, leisure and food), social distancing and business lockdowns would prove detrimental, with all associated outcomes to follow for people working in those (Segal and Gerstel 2020). For other industries (e.g. agriculture and information technology jobs) where social interaction is minimal, the outcomes are expected to be comparatively less vulnerable but will still face challenges owing to demand and supply fluctuations. Eventually, employment regimes in all sectors are expected to alter to some extent. Yet, alternatives are also available such as reallocating employees to different activities like organisational recovery planning or even transfer employees to other businesses not being hit hard from the pandemic (Reeves et al. 2020). The social impact of Covid-19 further associates with the crash of many national health systems due to patient overload, people’s social isolation owing to social distancing and, of course, to society’s re-ordering following the numerous deaths of many elderly people contaminated by the virus (Pieri 2020). Social inequality and disparity were also strengthened since much of the burdens shift to people within lower socio-­ economic strata which usually suffer from income or health losses owing to business lockdowns and other measures to tackle the virus outbreak (Fisher and Bubola 2020). For those working in childcare, retail, as well as low-income roles and the gig economy, jobs can neither go remotely nor to secure health insurance and paid sick leave (Human Rights Watch 2020). The role of HR is to constantly support employees who are made redundant through re-employment in different roles, assistance during job search and financial and health care while being unemployed. In addition, HRD could offer practical support to those employees by enhancing their transferrable skills through e-learning initiatives (Smollan 2017; Armstrong-Stassen 2002).

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Evidently, the Covid-19 outbreak has, and will have, a far-reaching socio-economic impact on society, individuals, organisations and the relationship amongst all. The nature of work (quality and quantity) has already altered, including the provision of training and learning from organisations. As the key objective these days is to keep people healthy and safe, e-learning appears to be an alternative solution to workplace training and learning. Despite some negative employment-related aftermath of the pandemic (e.g. layoffs, wage reductions, business closures, training retrenchment), the provision of e-learning training features as a known, yet contemporary, solution to inform people of key developments relating to the pandemic as well as a key tool to equip them with the necessary skills to cope with the aftermath of this global challenge. In addition, against those arguing that traditional (e.g. face-to-face) learning is preferred to online provision, a growing body of research outlines positive perceptions of digital technologies and of their impact on the learning provision suggesting learning enhancement through online provision (Linjawi and Alfadda 2018; Popovici and Mironov 2014; Al-Dosari 2011; Keller and Cernerud 2002; Wheeler 2001). Having the pandemic transformed labours markets across the globe, as well as national economies, business practices were also heavily affected. Amongst others, workplace training and learning shifted to online provision. Thus, e-learning could prove a powerful tool at the hands of HRD professionals to ensure that workplace training and learning does not put people’s health and safety at risk.

7.3 E  -learning: A Powerful Tool at the Hands of HRD Professionals The recent Covid-19 pandemic pushed governments across the globe to force restrictions on people’s movement in an effort to cope with the virus spread leading to new working arrangements for the majority of the workforce, mostly resulting in remote working (Joseph 2020). Accordingly, education and workplace training and learning have increasingly moved to e-learning platforms to meet new emerging requirements

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(Lau et  al. 2020). In UK universities, e-learning makes up 8% of all online provision of UK Higher Education institutions with 65% being offered by the Open University and the remaining 35% from all other UK universities across the country (Universities UK 2018). Additionally, there was an increase in HE institutions going online with 117 universities offering online learning programmes/courses compared to 102  in 2010. With the vast majority of e-learners being in their 30s, e-learning programmes appear as the best alternative to meet their needs (e.g. working and studying at the same time, setting their own pace of studying). Yet, a growing body of the relevant literature favours classroom interaction over online provision suggesting that activities that are completed face-to-face have a greater impact on learners’ understanding of the topics examined (Samperio 2017; Mkonto 2015; Tatar 2005). Bearing this in mind, one might suggest that turning to online provision could have an impact on students’ enrolments, especially for those who prefer social interaction with educators and fellow students. Indeed, The Guardian (2020) reports the economic impact online provision might have in relation to international students’ enrolments suggesting that a 10% fall in enrolments, due to a shift to online provision, could cost £200 m or more to higher education institutions. However, considering the difficult times people are living in, e-learning presents as the best alternative to ensure the health and safety of all parties involved.

7.3.1 E-learning: Stay Safe While You Learn E-learning is, without a doubt, the safest method of training in times of global health crises. This is because it allows both the trainers and the trainees to isolate themselves from the physical dangers of a class-based interaction since digital e-learning platforms are accessible from the comfort and safety of one’s home (Grant-Clement et al. 2017). Yet, despite the recent constraints, e-learning is not something new to professionals who work in this field, as well as to HRD professionals being responsible for designing and implementing training and learning initiatives (Johnson et al. 2008; Salas et al. 2005; MacPherson et al. 2004).

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7.3.2 The ‘Economics’ of E-learning According to Statistics Market Research Consulting Pvt Ltd (2018), the size of the global market of e-learning is estimated to be at $176.12 billion with prospects growing to a stunning $396.15 billion by 2026, thus putting e-learning on the frontline of education and training despite having those estimations made before the Covid-19 outbreak. The potential value of e-learning is further supported by the European Commission, since two of its strategic goals are to unlock online opportunities for everyone and to also create a ‘single digital market’ (European Commission 2018). The idea of a single digital market could lead to global financial growth, improve employability, boost investments and bring forward innovative projects that may be worth as much as €415 billion (European Commission 2020). What is most important though is to check whether this idea could be implemented and work under the pandemic context.

7.3.3 Generation Z: The E-learners Further to this proposition, the opportunities for e-learning training are vast. There is a substantial demand for online training and learning courses mainly because of the transformation that society is going through (Pangerc Pahernik 2019). People who currently study in academic institutions, and will form the future global workforce, belong to the so-called Generation Z comprising of individuals who were born between 1995 and 2010 (Francis and Hoefel 2018). This group spends 10.6 hours on average daily in front of a screen watching online videos, with 85% of them using YouTube and other online platforms to learn a new skill (The Centre of Generational Kinetics 2017). Realising such preferences, modern e-learning instructional designers transform their courses to suit their learners’ needs, mainly through implementing multimedia (e.g. videos) and getting rid of old-fashioned approaches to learning (e.g. text and images). Indeed, Zhu et  al. (2020) argue that online video content is becoming widely used on e-learning programmes, further suggesting that video information could convert into text and keywords through morphological analysis (i.e. a problem-solving method to multi-dimensional

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problems—Heine and Narrog 2009) to create a word cloud (e.g. keywords) which could facilitate learners’ understanding of key themes being taught. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the needs and demands of learners, further prompting HRD professionals to realise that e-learning is becoming an accepted and, in many cases, a preferred way of delivering new content compared to old-fashioned training. Another interesting fact about Generation Z learners is that they have a low attention span, approximately 8  seconds, making them less focused on instructional material, leading to an emerged need of constant stimulation (Mohr and Mohr 2017). Contrasting with traditional learning, e-learning can overcome this drawback since it can assist learners to focus more on learning content using gamification methods (Tsay et  al. 2018; Landers and Armstrong 2017).

7.3.4 E-learning Through Gamification Gamification is the application of the mechanisms found in video games into non-game settings and scenarios (Şahin et  al. 2017; Stott and Neustaedter 2013). This approach could improve trainees’ engagement and motivation through virtual awards such as badges, progress bars and leader boards (Furdu et al. 2017; Wu 2016). Trainees’ motivation to learn is necessary because without it educators will face the problem of teaching uninterested trainees which will, in turn, lead to the failure of the programme in most cases (Huang and Jao 2016; Bauer et  al. 2016). Unlike conventional (e.g. old fashioned) training, gamification techniques can be implemented into Digital Learning Management Systems (DLMS) and boost user experiences (Ramirez-Correa et al. 2017). Using such systems could increase both cognitive load and achievement levels (Signori et al. 2018; Oliver 2017; Turan et al. 2016). E-learning, compared to conventional training, offers a learner-centric experience through multiple-formed content (e.g. text, video, stories and games, Kahoot quizzes) thus matching individual learning desires through its media richness (Pandey 2016).

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7.3.5 Micro-learning: An Alternative Approach Acknowledging their learners’ needs and limitations is important for HRD professionals (e.g. Generation Z’s short attention span) while designing training and learning initiatives as sometimes lengthy regular courses, or even webinars that last a long time, may not provide the expected outcomes (Giurgiu 2017). Therefore, an alternative approach to overcome this problem is micro-learning. Micro-learning splits huge chunks of information into smaller, more manageable content pieces that offer multiple discrete objectives (Dolasinski and Reynolds 2020; Jomah et al. 2016). The main goal of micro-learning is to provide learners the capability to access the training material as soon as they wish to do so (e.g. to fill a certain knowledge gap) without having to spend hours in front of a screen but rather a few minutes instead (Karageorgakis 2018). Unlike traditional training, this can only take place in digital form as the training material can easily be divided into different parts that, if put together, constitute a regular training programme.

7.3.6 The Pros of Going Online Doubtable, there are more advantages that e-learning could offer. A regular training programme demands the simultaneous presence of the trainer and the trainee at the same location which can prove difficult in some cases (e.g. in health crisis such as Covid-19). On the other hand, an online programme can overcome any geographical constraints since it can be easily accessible by everyone whenever he/she deems fit provided that an Internet connection is present. Compared to regular training, e-learning can happen at one’s own pace (thus overcome time constraints) further suggesting that it will be hard for a trainee to fall behind or run ahead of the rest of the class since the learning material is always present and can be fully accessible (Srivastava 2018). One of the key advantages of e-learning is the liberty that is given to the learner to work as he/she considers best in order to achieve his/her goals. Furthermore, an online programme which is available to learners all the time could enable them to return and review the material at any time and, most importantly, to

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interact with the rest of the learning group even after the formal part of the training has been completed (Gon and Rawekar 2017). Indeed, the literature suggests e-learning as a powerful tool in the hands of HRD professionals when creating virtual classrooms and learning systems to support students’ learning experience as well as for enhancing internationalisation processes (Abuatiq 2019; Marchisio et al. 2017). According to the theory of social constructivism, interactivity is crucial because knowledge is established and occurs when students interact and collaborate regardless of being physically or virtually present in a class (Wei et  al. 2015). Most DLMS include tools (e.g. forums, chats) that provide users the chance to discuss and reflect by taking part in discussions that contribute to continuous knowledge acquisition (Pappas 2014). Being accessed asynchronously, forums can create the sense of community since trainers and trainees can connect in their own free time, replying to each other’s inquiries, providing support and giving feedback. In a well-organised e-learning programme, the immediate feedback that the trainee receives from the DLMS, the teacher or the rest of the class can prove extremely beneficial in terms of knowledge establishment. Online feedback is vital in enhancing learning experience as it not only assists the user to understand the subject of interest but also provides guidance on how to improve one’s behaviour and actions, thus creating a better learning curve (Giokas 2018).

7.3.7 The Cons of Online Provision However, others suggest that e-learning could lead to social isolation due to the lack of in-class interaction as well as identifying compatibility issues (e.g. material prepared for one system not compatible with an e-system), reliability issues (e.g. internet data not always reliable) and generational issues (e.g. older employees not fully competent on using technology) (Lin et al. 2019; Sanchez-Mena and Marti-Parreno 2017). Cheng et al. (2012) further argued that another well-known problem of most online programmes is that trainees perceive them to be short term and lacking in continuity. A possible solution could include offering follow-­ up conventional methods that require the physical presence of

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trainees but this, in some cases, appears to be costly or unfeasible (e.g. due to health crisis). Thus, e-learning offers the possibility of repeating a course whenever this is deemed necessary, based on the needs of the learners and with limited costs as the training material has already been developed and, in most cases, is good to go or only in need of minor alternations. Instead, it is argued here that workplace training and learning should be proactive and/or adapt to internal and external circumstances to offer the optimum solution to all parties being involved.

7.3.8 Organisational Response to Lockdowns Covid-19 has rapidly transformed into a labour market and economic shock for most organisations across the globe. No matter their size and their level of preparedness, all faced unprecedented challenges associated with business viability, employment relationships (e.g. wages, health and safety), new forms of work (e.g. remote work) and workplace training. One of the very first measures most national governments imposed was the lockdown of all businesses and commercial stores to cope with the spread of the virus. Such decisions highly questioned most organisations’ preparedness in crisis situations with most responding reactively to new conditions with minimal effort to mitigate the impact of the pandemic/crisis (Fadel et al. 2020). As such, extensive layoffs, wage reductions and ceasing business operations were mostly introduced as a response to the unforeseen circumstances. Although financial incentives were provided in many cases by the state, these did not prove to be able to ameliorate the negative socio-economic implications of the pandemic. Therefore, in such difficult times, one argues that organisations should be integrated with governments and global health organisations to work together in building contingency plans for forthcoming crises events as well as to cope with existing ones. For instance, companies can work with the state to protect employees in the workplace (e.g. remote work, paid sick leave, childcare support, avoid stigmatisation of contaminated employees, training relating to occupational health and safety). In addition, they should support employment relationships together through various initiatives such as redeployment, social assistance and

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unemployment benefits, part-time work instead of layoffs, individual and organisational tax relief and financial support. Lastly, interest rates could be cut, as well as providing financial support to key industries to ensure continuity of their operations and the employment of their people. For such integration to happen, companies, as well as national governments and other organisations, should develop contingency plans that could help them return stronger. Since remote working emerged as an alternative, sometimes as the only option, to ensure business continuity, organisations need to reconsider their respective strategies by also including options for employees to relocate if necessary and thus to continue working full time (redeployment) and/or to temporarily terminate employment until things turn better. For many businesses, workplace training and learning is a systematic process to ensure individual and organisational competitiveness due to ongoing technological advancements, e-learning re-emerged as a contemporary option rather than as a by-product of the pandemic. However, organisations need to assess their current communication and information technology infrastructures to ensure that online provisions of workplace training could be an option. This could also help in facilitating remote working for their employees. Considering e-learning though presumes that individuals and organisations are digitally equipped to do so. Therefore, organisations should continuously explore opportunities not only to become more flexible through remote working but to also digitally upskilling their workforce to ensure that they can meet the increasing and unprecedented demands of current and future business landscapes and labour markets (PwC 2020). Montgomerie et al. (2016) argue that e-learning has gained momentum in the last 20 years with more and more companies turning to online provision of their workplace training programmes due to the flexibility, cost effectiveness and convenience online learning could offer. The authors further argued that due to globalisation and the fast-paced business environments, traditional approaches to workplace training are considered out-of-date. Finally, they have identified the factors which could either facilitate or hinder online provision of workplace training, namely the individual and organisational developmental readiness (e.g. motivation to learn and engage, identification of a learning gap); personal and organisational attributes (e.g. individual and organisational capabilities);

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top management and peer support (e.g. social connections, emotional and technical support); and a supportive organisational culture. Overall, organisations are open to a shift towards an online provision of their training initiatives for the aforementioned reasons. This is also evident through the work of Derouin et al. (2005) arguing that ‘e-learning is an instructional strategy for imparting needed knowledge, skills and attitudes in organisations, and it is here to stay. Its viability, effectiveness and potential to return tangible benefits to organisations depend largely on how it is designed, delivered and evaluated’ (p. 920). The authors further suggested that organisations welcome e-learning as an effective training medium which could offer learners information in various formats (e.g. graphics, text, video)—thus to enhancing their understanding, as well as meeting their diverse learning styles—as learners could access this information whenever and from anywhere, thus also securing their occupational health and safety in crises circumstances. Fine examples include The Open University in the United Kingdom, Google, Apple and many others. The former offers a wide range of online courses to people who cannot physically attend a programme either because they are also in full-­ time employment or due to any other personal reasons. Google and Apple also extensively use online e-learning to digitally upskill their employees as well as to train their customers on new product and service developments. Apparently, online provision of workplace training is an option likely to remain. Despite its pros and cons, it seems to be a contemporary option for HRD professionals to use either if this is seen as unnecessary or a necessity in the challenging times in which one lives.

7.3.9 E-learning: A ‘What If?’ or ‘So What?’ Inquiry Evidently, e-learning solutions come with pros and cons. Considering the challenging times in which people are living, e-learning could prove a powerful tool at the hands of the HRD professionals to ensure that, despite business and social uncertainty, they still invest in their people’s development. This might not be the case for all organisations, yet it cannot limit the importance of continuous individual and organisational development. This chapter argues that e-learning could prove

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advantageous as it offers greater flexibility, it can be customised according to the unique needs of learners and it can be enacted as a cost-efficient learning tool which could ensure alignment with internal and external priorities. Therefore, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, e-learning could be seen as a contemporary solution to workplace training and learning rather than a ‘by-product’ of the health crisis itself.

7.4 Conclusion Despite having e-learning featured as a learning solution for many years, the Covid-19 outbreak necessitated its reinvention, along with the need for HRD professionals to step up in designing and implementing innovative learning initiatives. In times of crisis (e.g. health, economic, disasters) remaining competent and resilient requires flexible, consistent and cost-­ effective solutions which are integrated to organisational crisis preparedness programmes (Spota 2020); thereafter, e-learning could prove an effective learning tool to prepare people and organisations in relation to crisis resilience (Ayebi-Arthur 2017). In light of the recent global circumstances, HRD professionals should be opportunity- and capability-driven to ensure their organisational value proposition regardless of the internal and/or external circumstances (Mitsakis 2014b). With regard to the former, the author argues that opportunity-driven organisations align their business and HR/HRD strategies by emphasising the learning potential of their people. Indeed, they argue that e-learning tools, which are offered free by many companies these days, could assist people in learning new skills to use when things return to previous states, and thus making good use of their isolated at home time. Similarly, capability-driven HR/HRD aims to constantly build strategic capabilities to enhance individual and organisational resilience, further reducing organisational risk (Garavan et  al. 2016). Alike, offering continuous developmental opportunities to people through e-learning initiatives could pay both individuals and organisations forward through established communities of learning (Cain 2020; Morrison 2020).

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In light of the current situation, the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to change the world of work drastically. Global employment rates are expected to fall resulting in the rise of unemployment rates. Reporting on previous crisis conditions, ILO (2020) suggests the current health crisis will cause the sharp decline of employment rates as well as downward adjustments of working hours and wages. This, consequently, is expected to foster social inequality through restricted access to under-resourced health systems, limited nutrition and food security, education and human rights (UNDP 2020). As an additional aftermath, a global economic decline is also expected owing to working poverty (ILO, p. 5). Employment contracts are also expected to change to meet new requirements such as of remote working, paid or unpaid sick leave and annual leave. As to that, HR/HRD professionals need to constantly keep themselves aware and ahead of these developments to ensure the design and implementation of the most appropriate strategies, plans and policies to address them. Individual and social isolation could also have an impact on people’s mental health and well-being. Singh and Adhikari (2020) argue that social distancing could help in fighting the virus spread yet it will also have a detrimental impact on people’s mental health and well-being, regardless of the age group they belong to. Indeed, this chapter’s authors argue that humankind’s happiness was always dependant on the social interaction which is now under scrutiny. Salt (2020) further reports that everyone’s experience of working from home is diverse due to the different circumstances people live in. Eventually, the impact of being self-­ isolated and continued working from home could be different to each one. For instance, those people who have family, friends and/or even a pet are expected to find the situation easier (Public Health England 2020). In contrast, for those being alone or having mental health issues, feelings of social isolation and loneliness are expected to be higher (Mental Health Foundation 2020). They further argue that a prolonged self-­ isolation period could even cause mental health conditions for those who have not experienced any before. Therefore, it is HRD professionals who should ensure that people’s mental health and well-being is continuously supported through respective learning initiatives. It is also posited that it is all stakeholders’ responsibility to ensure that business practices

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safeguard individuals’ mental health and well-being by taking into account the seriousness of the pandemic. To conclude, many commentators across the globe suggest that these are unprecedented and difficult times; indeed, the times are difficult but it is not as though these have never happened or been known before. Thus, this assessment calls to learn from one’s history (e.g. HIV, the 2005–2012 and 1968 Flu pandemics, Asian flu between 1956 and 1958, the Flu pandemic in 1918 and the Cholera pandemic of 1910–1911 amongst others) to fight the pandemic as has been done in the past; thereafter to also apply e-learning initiatives implemented before (although maybe slightly revised) to meet new needs. From a social point of view, humankind has survived worse states while, from an organisational standpoint, HRD professionals have also lived through challenging conditions (e.g. global economic crisis) that affected their practices. This chapter concludes with Moons’ (2020) suggestion that it is the beginning of a rapidly changing health crisis, having the author further wondering what will happen to learning as a result of global lockdowns. One’s answer to the author’s query is that everything can be learned online today, thus learning as usual is an option of the past; thereupon, e-learning presents a well-established and contemporary solution to workplace training and learning.

References Abuatiq, A. 2019. E-Learning in Nursing: Tool Development for Evaluating Virtual Patient Learning Systems. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 14(4), pp. 291–297. Al-Dosari, H.S. 2011. Faculty Members and Students Perceptions of E-Learning in the English Department: A Project Evaluation. Journal of Social Sciences, 7 (3), pp. 391–407. Armstrong-Stassen, M. 2002. Designated redundant but escaping lay-off: A special group of lay-off survivors. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 75(1), pp. 1–13.

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8 Technological Innovations in Care and Implications for Human Resource Development Louise Oldridge

8.1 Introduction and Purpose Alongside many other countries, the UK faces a well-reported unsustainable crisis of care, with more people needing care, a dearth of skilled workers and an increasing reliance on friends and family, with unpaid care estimated to save the state £132 billion per year (Carers UK 2017). This crisis has been heightened by the impact of Brexit’s (the UK leaving the European Union) immigration requirements and the global Covid-19 pandemic. Indeed, the UK’s health and social care system is adopting new technology in its efforts to manage the Covid-19 response (NHSX n.d.-b). The purpose of this chapter is to explore technological innovations in care and their implications and responses for human resource development (HRD) in organisations. In so doing, it contextualises the provision of care with a focus on the UK and exploring current challenges and the L. Oldridge (*) Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s) 2020 M. Loon et al. (eds.), The Future of HRD, Volume I, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52410-4_8

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role of technology which is seen as a solution to ongoing care crises. It seeks to examine the types of technological innovations available to support care practices and evaluate the effect of technological advances on human resources. It concludes by considering the implications of the use of technology in care on HRD practices in organisations but also recognising it will not automatically solve crises in care. As a result, the chapter also calls for policymakers to review the careful implementation of technological innovations in care and recognise that technology alone will not resolve resourcing issues.

8.2 Contextualising Care and Technology Care and caring are an integral part of human life globally, for which many countries are facing increased demand (Yeandle et  al. 2017). Conceptually, ‘care is both a public and a private concern; it affects family members and paid workers; it concerns labour and love; it involves intimate practices, technical skills and challenging tasks that must respect a care recipient’s dignity and comply with externally determined quality standards; and it is delivered “in the moment” but may be the product of a lifetime of interactions’ (Yeandle et al. 2017, p. 9). The UK Government has a Department of Health and Social Care. Within this, healthcare involves the provision of medical care, through the publicly funded National Health Service (NHS). Social care involves the support of daily living activities, including personal care and social support, and is typically self-funded and funded by local authorities (although mostly outsourced to care providers) and third-sector organisations (Dam 2019; HM Government n.d.). The term carer is used to refer to those providing care on an informal and unpaid basis, usually for family members or friends who, due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction, cannot cope without their support (Carers Trust 2015). Paid care workers are considered professionals working in exchange for pay in a range of settings including home, residential care and nursing homes (The Care Workers Charity 2019). This chapter the provision of care by paid workers in both health and social care settings, and not specific medical treatments.

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Many countries, such as the UK, are seeing ageing populations with greater chronic illnesses, lower fertility rates, an increase in women’s labour force participation and greater mobility of people (Yeandle et al. 2017; Meskó et al. 2018). Across economically developed countries state welfare provisions have been put in place, albeit with developments in the outsourcing of care, and individuals privately purchasing their own care arrangements through direct payment schemes with funding received at a local level (Yeandle et  al. 2017). Yet, existing health and social care requirements, even in countless middle- and high-income countries, are unsustainable without informal care provision (International Labour Organisation 2018; Pickard 2008). Numerous neoliberal government policies continue to rely on informal, and unpaid, care by friends and family to meet increasing demand (International Labour Organisation 2018). Recognising the multiple ways in which care and carers are conceptualised and the different activities associated with care, it is challenging to provide an exact figure but the Economic Commission for Europe (2019) proffer that, globally, unpaid/informal carers meet 70–95% of all care requirements. It is projected that the population of those aged 85 or over in the UK will increase to around 3.2 million by 2041. Additionally, with less in residential care, the amount of older people owning their own home has increased while budget cuts mean the supply of social care has decreased (Stewart and MacIntyre 2013; Heitmueller 2007). It is estimated that by 2030 the number of persons in receipt of care globally will be 2.3  billion, in part due to an additional 0.1  billion older people, although this figure does include childcare (ILO 2018). Alongside health and social care budget constrictions, with an ageing workforce and increased requirements, there is a global shortfall of 17.4 million healthcare workers (World Health Organisation 2016 cited in Meskó et al. 2018). In the UK, a healthcare workforce gap has been described as the biggest issue facing the NHS and it has an impact on care provision. There are estimated to be 1.2 million full-time equivalent staff employed by the NHS and 1.1 million in adult social care (Macdonald 2020). In both cases, the current vacancy rate is approximately 8% compared with the overall UK economy at 3%. Migrant workers are key to addressing this shortfall and as of June 2019 there were 78,000 European Union national adult social care workers (Macdonald 2020). However,

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the UK’s points-based immigration system introduced in the wake of Brexit, effective from January 2021 (HM Government 2020a), indicates that many jobs in adult social care do not meet the skills and salary threshold which could have major implications on the gaps in provision already experienced. The Covid-19 pandemic, with many countries in lockdown at the time of writing, highlights both formal and informal care work, labour market gaps, fragmented social care provision and long-term funding and resourcing issues, exposing further the UK’s care crisis (Bedford 2020; Jones 2020; Kuenssberg 2020). In September 2019, the House of Commons Library issued a briefing paper on the ongoing delay to the Green Paper for social care (first due to be published in the summer of 2017), which could be expected to address issues of funding, scenarios influenced by technology and the impact on markets given the outsourcing to the private sector (Jarrett 2019). The NHS’ long-term plan, published in January 2019, referred to digital technology enabling patients’ access to care. Indeed, in recent years technological solutions have been seen as a way for older and disabled people to live more independently and to address gaps in care and availability of human resources (Yeandle et al. 2017), creating smarter and more efficient processes (Hansen and Grosen 2019). Furthermore, the UK Government published a policy paper in October 2018 stating, ‘Our ultimate objective is the provision of better care and improved health outcomes for people in England. But this cannot be done without a clear focus on improving technology’ (HM Government 2018). Since then, the government has made investments in researching technological advancements in care; for example, investing £34 million in looking at autonomous systems to help with the tasks and activities associated with caring for someone, including assistive robots (HM Government 2019). They have also established NHSX—a multidisciplinary team, including clinicians, technologists and policy experts reporting to the Secretary of State, NHS England and NHS Improvement, tasked with leading a digital health and social care transformation with a £1  billion investment. They report that one of their missions is to ‘reduce the burden on our workforce so they can focus on delivering care’ (NHSX n.d.-a). Such technologies require a review of the skills and competencies of workers to support care provision (Barakat et al. 2013) and a review of

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organisational processes and culture (Barakat et al. 2013; Kitzmiller et al. 2013). Workers can be overlooked during the development and implementation of technological advances despite the fact that new technologies can lead to a change in practices and care labour (Saborowski and Kollak 2015). In their paper on human resource management in a healthcare environment, Ramadevi et  al. (2016) surmised that hospital staff and healthcare workers could lack training in technology. Additionally, Mohammed et al. (2018) pointed to low levels of information technology skills and abilities in the social care sector. Given that worker behaviour is directly related to care receiver experiences it is important to pay attention to the impact of technology in care on HRD (Ramadevi et al. 2016); its systematic implementation (Anvari 2007); updated person and job specifications recognising revised roles and responsibilities (Mohammed et al. 2018); and necessary training (Saborowski and Kollak 2015). First, this chapter explores some of the current technological innovations in care which are proposed as solutions to ongoing care crises but must be considered alongside resourcing and investment in the sector.

8.3 Types of Technological Innovation in Care Digital technology has the functionality to be able to offer up-to-date information about care receivers/patients to assist workers in the delivery of more person-centred care (Maiden et al. 2013). Technology offers the opportunity to store electronic health records which are easily accessible and patient self-monitoring to drive decision-making (Barakat et  al. 2013). Some health information technology systems can also automate processes such as ordering prescriptions (Hitt and Tambe 2016). Mobile devices, and computers in particular, can offer a single source of information for a patient/resident in care reducing the amount of information for a worker to remember (Maiden et  al. 2013). Applications can also be used to assist, such as Carer which could be used in care homes for workers to reflect on resident behaviour, review existing information and reason the appropriate course of action and resolution (Maiden et al. 2013). Assistive technologies can provide support not only for individuals but also for care workers. At an individual level they include developments

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such as lifting and transfer assistance (Saborowski and Kollak 2015) and wash-and-dry toilets (Hansen and Grosen 2019) for example. At an information technology level they include emergency call systems, nursing call systems, sensor mats to track movements from beds and home automation systems (Saborowski and Kollak 2015). Virtual reality can offer a meaningful training experience simulation for healthcare workers to be able to interact with patients (Balistreri and Casile 2020). Recent developments have seen the implementation and use of artificial intelligence (Meskó et al. 2018). Artificial intelligence can be categorised into three stages: artificial narrow intelligence (performance of a single task); artificial general intelligence (can understand its operating environment similar to a human); and artificial superintelligence (arguably smarter than humans) (Bostrom 2014, cited in Meskó et al. 2018, p. 2). It is surmised that, in the coming years, there will be a rise in the use of artificial narrow intelligence, assisting in diagnoses, administration, data analytics and education (Meskó et al. 2018). Indeed, artificial intelligence could support messaging applications and voice-­ controlled chatbots could ease healthcare worker burden by diagnosing health conditions (Meskó et  al. 2018). Already, Safedrugbot is a chat messaging service which offers information on the use of drugs while breastfeeding (Meskó et al. 2018). Robots can both help in the delivery of care and also in training of healthcare workers by practising skills on the robots which have been programmed to interpret different ages and characteristics of possible patients. This includes technical skills, behaviours and assessment of communications (Balistreri and Casile 2020). Attention has been drawn to the use of robots in care with three well-known examples which were looked at in a study of an elderly care home in Japan. They included Pepper the humanoid robot from Softbank Robotics; the Hug lifting robot from Fuji Machine Manufacturing; and Paro the seal communication therapy robot from Intelligent Systems (Wright 2019). Pepper’s ‘social’ robot humanoid form is moveable with head, arms, hands and fingers, and on a base which can move to demonstrate exercises. It has eyes which can light up, microphones and speakers to enable communication, cameras and a touch screen. Pepper can speak in Japanese and English. Pepper is marketed as a multipurpose service robot

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and can be used in care in a number of ways. Pepper is said to be able to emotionally engage with those around it (Wright 2019). In Wright’s (2019) study, Pepper was used in recreation, using an exercise application, in the Japanese care home to supplement, but not replace, human labour. Indeed, care residents would engage with the exercises led by Pepper only if staff stood alongside Pepper mimicking the exercises (ibid., 2019). Meanwhile, Paro is a robot made to look like a baby seal, responding to the touch of its fur, moving its head, eyes and flippers (Dickinson and Swift 2018). Paro has been used in elderly care to provide comfort, particularly among those with dementia in areas of Asia, Europe and the USA (ibid., 2018). At the time of writing, in response to Covid-19, in the UK NHSX is collaborating with technology companies to provide resources to reduce social isolation and support the NHS and social care provision. This includes communication devices, technological solutions to support staff working remotely and virtual medical appointments (HM Government 2020b), and incorporates not only software already widely used such as Microsoft Teams and online rota systems but also new tools and products (Digital NHS 2020; Digital Social Care n.d.-a, b). One such example of a new innovation is ‘C19 Control’—an application developed by everyLIFE to assist carers and care workers to support screening, status tracking and reporting, and provision of Personal Protective Equipment (C19 Control 2020). On the NHSX website, the Covid-19 response is said to need ‘large scale, system-wide collaboration combined with the best possible technology and access to information. The health care system is working in unison, adopting new technology and enhancing the flow and collection of data to enable staff to deliver the best care’ (NHSX n.d.b). Use of technology is thus seen as a strategic resource in the UK’s Covid-19 response.

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8.4 Benefits As identified earlier, technology has been seen to be a solution to the ongoing care crises across the globe and there are a number of operational and service-level benefits. These include assisting diagnoses, decision-­ making, analysis and administration (Meskó et  al. 2018). Information technologies can improve documentation and record keeping (Hitt and Tambe 2016). In a study in 2016 with nursing homes, Hitt and Tambe (2016) found that use of electronic medical records led to 1% higher productivity and 3% greater efficiency, albeit there was not an impact on quality of care. Furthermore, technology, such as care robots, does not need breaks and rest as human workers do and it has been argued that it could provide accurate, reliable and consistent health monitoring and assistance, allowing for a more rounded observation of care requirements (Barakat et al. 2013; Hitt and Tambe 2016). Balistreri and Casile (2020) suggested that robots could remind individuals which and how much medication to take, for example, alongside cognitive stimulation and robots such as Pepper and Paro can promote social interaction (Dickinson and Swift 2018). Care robots could assist in repetitive tasks and activities and minimise physical strain including lifting and offering recipients more independence; all of this can ultimately lead to the freeing up of carers and care workers to provide more complex care provision and emotional support (Balistreri and Casile 2020; Ajslev et al. 2019; Bjerke Batt-­ Rawden et al. 2017; Barakat et al. 2013).

8.5 Consequences and Issues Nonetheless, technology has been reported to prohibit care and cause issues for workers. Saborowski and Kollak (2015) examined care professionals’ experiences with assistive technology in caring for elderly persons in Berlin, Germany. Interview participants reported a lack of reliability in technology and that devices malfunctioned. They also spoke of the length of time it can sometimes take to get technology working or to use it in a new way. An example was given of lifting technology where a participant

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reported it was quicker to ask a colleague for help. This finding is not isolated, with Ajslev et al. (2019) also reporting use of technology as time consuming by participants in their study on use of technology in Danish care homes, leading to workers creating workarounds. This has implications for professional identity and activities, something also found by Wright (2019). Saborowski and Kollak’s (2015) interviewees also spoke of a lack of competence or training, and technology which was too complex for their use. Similarly, Bjerke Batt-Rawden et al. (2017) followed the implementation of new digital alarm devices from a case study in Norway and found that information on the new devices to staff was inconsistent, leading to uneven adoption and several participants reporting they were in need of training and did not feel comfortable to use the new technology. Arguably, technological advances and use of artificial intelligence does not replace the requirement of human resources in care. Meskó et  al. (2018) assert that the human touch, communication and empathy are still necessary. Certainly, literature on the subject of technology in care often refers to it not being able to replace people (Wright 2019; Bjerke Batt-Rawden et  al. 2017; Saborowski and Kollak 2015), sometimes increasing requirements and sometimes acting as a barrier to the provision of human care. Following a study on the use of robots in a Japanese care home, Wright (2019) argues that the use of care robots is dependent on an increasing amount of human labour whilst also deskilling key tasks. While the care home manager in Wright’s (2019) study on Pepper the robot felt that the robot would be better qualified to run recreation sessions than his own staff, residents were reticent to join in exercise without a human worker alongside Pepper. Pepper was not to be used as a standalone robot but required human assistance, with reference to time taken up having to be physically moved around, watched in case of technological issues and some issues with processing what was said to it, ultimately requiring more human labour, not less. Wright concluded, ‘the introduction of care robots displaces skills and practices; their meditation displaces human-human contact; caring for robots displaces caring for people’ (ibid., p. 350). As literature has reported, organisations must also be aware of the possible, and sometimes unintended, consequences of implementing new

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technology on care workers. This includes disrupting existing work routines, blurring role boundaries and reallocation of work, as found by Edmondson et al. (2001) in their study on the implementation of technology for cardiac surgery. Furthermore, it can lead to changes in communication and interpersonal working relationships among staff as roles and responsibilities are adapted (Edmondson et al. 2001; Beuscart-Zephir et al. 2005 cited in Kitzmiller et al. 2013; Campbell et al. 2006 cited in Kitzmiller et al. 2013; Koppel et al. 2005 cited in Kitzmiller et al. 2013). Indeed, Mohammed et al. (2018) reported that much of the literature on technology in care demonstrates an inability to effectively implement and utilise technology, particularly with reference to the worker as the end user (Bhattacherjee and Hikmet 2007 cited in Mohammed et al. 2018, p. 268). Given the importance of the role of care workers in using technology it is disappointing that, in their research, Dickinson and Swift (2018) found a lack of strategic approach in implementation, and the use of technology in care was being driven by the interests of the suppliers not users. As a result, they called for a responsive regulatory approach and industry standards by governments (Dickinson and Swift 2018). With financial resources already an issue in both the NHS and social care in the UK, it is worth nothing that literature also points to the investment in technology leaving less money available to pay for and hire human resources (Wright 2019; Saborowski and Kollak 2015). Such technologies may also be too costly for developing countries (Meskó et al. 2018). Evidently, attention must be paid to the implications for implementing technology on workers and, ultimately, HRD as the next section explores.

8.6 Implications for HRD Practice Technological innovations in care interact with workers’ identities, values, skills and roles (Ajslev et al. 2019). The last section looked at some of the issues including, in some cases, notions of impeding care provision changing required skills; thus it is important to pay attention to the implications for HRD practice as changing demands may influence

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‘opinion on what skills are needed to be a good care worker’ (Ajslev et al. 2019, p. 24), and also considerations must be made at policy level. Organisations must give due care and attention to the implementation process when introducing technology. In their paper, Barakat et al. (2013) refer to Rogers’ ‘Diffusion of Innovations’ theory (ibid., p.  2), which notes four key elements that inform the adoption of a new idea: (1) innovation, (2) communication channels, (3) time and (4) social system. Information and knowledge on new technology in care should be equally disseminated and the technology consistently adopted (Bjerke Batt-­ Rawden et al. 2017), recognising that implementation is a process that changes existing working routines. From their data, Edmondson et  al. (2001) suggested a model of: (1) mindfully select the team, (2) carefully trial the technology and communicate, (3) encourage communication while examining the effect on work behaviours and (4) evaluate and reflect, with team and senior leadership on board throughout, to provide a culture of learning. Notwithstanding that use of technology is not necessarily considered the focus of a care worker, or integral to care worker training, organisations must educate and train care workers in the use of new technological advances (Ajslev et al. 2019; Saborowski and Kollak 2015; Barakat et al. 2013). With increasing developments, the necessary skills and competencies need to be established and developed among workers (Barakat et al. 2013). Indeed, technologies can develop professional expertise and lead to upskilling (Ajslev et al. 2019). Barakat et al. (2013) reported from a workshop of international academics with experience of working with, developing and evaluating eHealth technologies (electronic communication and information technology such as health records, assisted living and smart systems) and proposed a number of skills and competencies which they felt healthcare workers would require. These includes basic skills in using the technology and hardware; interpretation and analysis of data produced (such as health condition observations) to inform care decisions; ability to provide guidance and support to service users (e.g., care recipients using self-monitoring devices); effective communication skills; and privacy and confidentiality of data around care recipients. It must be noted, however, that these findings are based on academic

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opinion and would be bolstered by further research with key stakeholders, such as the workers themselves. Mechanisms should be in place for assessing skills gaps and training and development needs (Barakat et  al. 2013). Detailed introductions should then be provided for any new technology and promoted through training with regular reviews (Saborowski and Kollak 2015). It is also worthwhile considering appointing some super-users with additional knowledge and training (Bjerke Batt-Rawden 2017). It has been noted that information technology in healthcare is most effective when organisations embody work practices which empower workers to use problem-solving skills and facilitate information sharing (Hitt and Tambe 2016). Indeed, technological innovations will influence work design and division of responsibilities (Saborowski and Kollak 2015), with workers understandably nervous about redistribution of tasks and activities (Bjerke Batt-Rawden et al. 2017). Thus, it is important to consider the systematic integration into existing work practices. Given the aforementioned challenges in the health and social care sector, investment in workers is key, particularly as the use of technology indicates changes in requirements and sometimes greater skills, rather than less human capital (Ajslev et al. 2019). At an individual level, the technology needs to be used and accepted by workers (Mohammed et al. 2018) which will be more successful with careful consideration of implementation. Studying technology acceptance in care settings in nine social service organisations in the south west of England, Mohammed et  al. (2018) found that users will create positive intentions to use technology if it is perceived as being useful and is impacted by existing information technology skills and access. Therefore, this includes ensuring the appointment of workers who meet the role requirements, an assessment of training needs and designing appropriate solutions (Barakat et  al. 2013). It is evident that team leaders and line managers have an important role to play in the implementation process of innovation and how technology is positioned in terms of impact on work design and behaviours and providing space for open communication and ensuring the culture is conducive to change (Barakat et al. 2013; Kitzmiller et al. 2013; Edmondson et al. 2001). They must work hard to carefully and systematically integrate technology into workers’ existing work practices (Barakat

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et  al. 2013) and consult with them on changes to tasks, activities and responsibilities, providing sufficient information and recognising it could be anxiety-provoking for workers and that they may have differing levels of skills, expectations and approaches to technology (Bjerke Batt-Rawden 2017). Roles and responsibilities should be regularly reviewed with updated job descriptions and role profiles to account for the development in skills (Mohammed et al. 2018; Bjerke Batt-Rawden 2017). Outside of organisations, as noted by Dickinson and Swift (2018), government policy needs to regulate the technology market and consider the needs of workers who will be engaging with technology, particularly as it has the potential to change care labour (Saborowski and Kollak 2015). Furthermore, with increasing health and care requirements, attention must be given to the provision of necessary skills and competencies in education and training for workers in the health and social care sector, especially as worker behaviour impacts the experiences of those receiving care (Ramadevi et al. 2016). It is important to recognise the additional requirements of technology, in light of health and social care depending on migrant labour and Brexit’s skills-based immigration policies.

8.7 Conclusion In the UK, outside of the NHS care work is poorly understood and undervalued, highlighted by the government’s position on skills in the wake of Brexit. Technological advances have been proposed as a solution to ongoing crises in care. The purpose of this chapter was to explore technological innovations in care and their implications and responses for HRD in organisations. This chapter has contextualised the UK’s health and social care system and a number of existing innovations. It has illustrated not only some of the benefits of various forms of technological advances but also some of the challenges and implications for workers. Realistically, technology cannot replace people, their emotional intelligence, empathy, communication and care provision. While there is a shortage of skilled workers, care work can only be supplemented, not replaced, by technology. With more innovations in the care sector and the assistance of technology, key stakeholders such as workers should be

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greatly involved in technological development and implementation. This includes careful and systematic introduction and communication, and identification of needs and training provision supported by organisational culture open to change and taking account of revised roles and responsibilities and supporting infrastructure. With an existing shortage of workers, government policy should address the changing skills and competencies required and also ensure appropriate and sustainable funding and resourcing of the sector as promised in the NHS long-term plan and through the hugely delayed social care green paper. Ultimately, while often portrayed as such, technology is not an immediate fix to care crises.

References Ajslev, J., Johansen, H., Anderson, M., Poulsen, O. and Anderson, L. 2019. Occupational Identities and Physical Exertion in (re)configurations of New Technologies in Eldercare. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, 9(4), pp. 19–37. Anvari, M. 2007. Impact of Information Technology on Human Resources in Healthcare, Healthcare Quarterly, 10(4). Balistreri, M. and Casile, F. 2020. Care Robots: From Tools of Care to Training Opportunities. Moral considerations. In Methodologies and Intelligent Systems for Technology Enhanced Learning, Edited by Popescu E., Belén Gil A., Lancia L., Simona Sica L., Mavroudi A. (eds), 9th International Conference, Workshops. MIS4TEL 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1008. Springer, Cham. Barakat, A., Woolrych, R. Sixsmith, A., Kearns, W. and Kort, H. 2013. eHealth Technology Competencies for Health Professionals Working in Home Care to Support Older Adults to Age in Place: Outcomes of a Two-Day Collaborative Workshop. Medicine 2.0, 2(2). Bedford, S. 2020. Covid-19 exposes our failing care system, New Economics Foundation https://neweconomics.org/2020/03/care-and-covid-19 (Accessed on 2 May 2020). Beuscart-Zephir, M. C., Pelayo, S., Anceaux, F., Meaux, J. J., Degroisse, M., and Degoulet, P. 2005. Impact of CPOE on doctor-nurse cooperation for the medication ordering andadministration process. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 74(7–8), 629–641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. ijmedinf.2005.01.004.

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Bhattacherjee, A., & Hikmet, N. 2007. Physicians’ resistance toward healthcare information technology: A theoretical model and empirical test. European Journal of Information Systems, 16, 725–737. Bjerke Batt-Rawden, K., Björk, E. and Waaler, D. 2017. Human factors in the implementation and adoption of innovations in health care services. A longitudinal case study on the introduction of new technology. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 22(3), pp. 2–25. Bostrom N. 2014. Superintelligence: Paths, dangers, strategies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. C19 Control. 2020. C19 Control. https://www.c19control.com/ (Accessed 14 May 2020). Campbell, E. M., Sittig, D. F., Ash, J. S., Guappone, K. P., and Dykstra, R. H. 2006. Types ofunintended consequences related to computerized provider order entry. Journal of theAmerican Medical Informatics Association, 13(5), 547–556. Carers Trust, 2015. About carers. https://carers.org/what-carer (Accessed on 14 December 2019). Carers UK. 2017 State of Caring 2017. London, Carers UK. Dam, D. 2019. What is the difference between healthcare and social care? https:// www.st-patricks.ac.uk/blog/posts/2019/april/what-is-the-differencebetween-healthcare-and-social-care/ (Accessed on 1 May 2020). Dickinson, H. and Swift, S. 2018. Before replacing a carer with a robot, we need to assess the pros and cons, The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/ before-replacing-a-carer-with-a-robot-we-need-to-assess-the-pros-andcons-106160 (Accessed on 2 May 2020). Digital NHS. 2020. Coronavirus (COVID-19) increase in use of NHS Digital tech. https://digital.nhs.uk/coronavirus/nhs-digital-tech-analytics (Accessed 14 May 2020). Digital Social Care. n.d.-a. Covid-19 Guidance. https://www.digitalsocialcare. co.uk/covid-19-guidance/ (Accessed 14 May 2020). Digital Social Care. n.d.-b. Free Digital Tools/Resources for Covid-19. https:// www.digitalsocialcare.co.uk/covid-19-guidance/free-digital-tools-resourcesfor-covid-19/ (Accessed on 14 May 2020). Edmondson, A., Bohmer, R. and Pisano, G. 2001 Disrupted Routines: Team Learning and New Technology Implementation in Hospitals, Administrative Science Quarterly, 46(4), pp. 685–701.

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Hansen, A. and Grosen, S. 2019. Transforming Bodywork in Eldercare with Wash-and-dry Toilets. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, 9(S5), pp. 49–67. Heitmueller, A. 2007. The chicken or the egg? Endogeneity in labour market participation of informal carers in England. Journal of Health Economics, 26(3), pp. 536–559. Hitt, L. and Tambe, P. 2016. Health Care Information Technology, work, organization, and nursing home performance. ILR Review, 69(4), pp. 834–859. HM Government, 2018. The future of healthcare: our vision for digital, data and technology in health and care https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ the-future-of-healthcare-our-vision-for-digital-data-and-technology-inhealth-and-care/the-future-of-healthcare-our-vision-for-digital-data-andtechnology-in-health-and-care (Accessed on 2 May 2020). HM Government, 2019. Care robots could revolutionise UK care system and provide staff extra support https://www.gov.uk/government/news/care-robotscould-revolutionise-uk-care-system-and-provide-staff-extra-support (Accessed on 2 May 2020). HM Government, 2020a. The UK’s points-based immigration system: policy statement https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-uks-pointsbased-immigration-system-policy-statement/the-uks-points-based-immigration-system-policy-statement (Accessed on 2 May 2020). HM Government, 2020b. NHS works with tech firms to help care home residents and patients connect with loved ones https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ nhs-works-with-tech-firms-to-help-care-home-residents-and-patients-connect-with-loved-ones?utm_source=4739fde5-2940-4e76-bb87d f b 1 7 7 3 0 9 b 3 7 & u t m _ m e d i u m = e m a i l & u t m _ c a m p a i g n = g ov u k notifications&utm_content=immediate (Accessed on 1 May 2020). HM Government, (n.d.). Department of Health & Social Care—About us https:// www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-socialcare/about. (Accessed on 1 May 2020). International Labour Organization, 2018. Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work, https://www.InternationalLabourOrganisation.org/wcmsp5/ groups/public/%2D%2D-dgreports/%2D%2D-dcomm/%2D%2D-publ/ documents/publication/wcms_633135.pdf (Accessed on 14 December 2019). Jarrett, T. 2019. Adult social care: the Government’s ongoing policy review and anticipated Green Paper (England), House of Commons Library Briefing paper 8002. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp8002/#fullreport. (Accessed 15 May 2020).

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Jones, O. 2020. Coronavirus has exposed the extent of the UK’s social crisis https:// www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/18/coronavirus-exposedextent-uk-social-crisis (Accessed on 2 May 2020). Kitzmiller, R., McDaniel, R., Johnson, C., Lind, A. and Anderson, R. 2013. Exploring interpersonal behavior and team sensemaking during health information technology implementation. Leading in Health Care Organizations: Improving Safety, Satisfaction and Financial Performance Advances in Health Care Management, 14(1), pp. 119–144. Koppel, R., Metlay, J. P., Cohen, A., Abaluck, B., Localio, A. R., Kimmel, S. E., and Strom, B. L. 2005. Role of computerized physician order entry systems in facilitating medicationerrors. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 293(10), 1197–1203. Kuenssberg, L. 2020. Coronavirus: Social care concerns revealed in leaked letter https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-52304918 (Accessed on 2 May 2020). Macdonald, M. 2020. The health and social care workforce gap https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/social-policy/health/the-health-and-social-care-workforce-gap/. (Accessed on 2 May 2020). Maiden, N., D’Souza, S., Jones, S., Müller, Pannese, L., Pitts, K., Prilla, M., Pudney, K., Rose, M., Turner, I. and Zachos, K. 2013. Computing Technologies for Reflective, Creative Care of People with Dementia. Communications of the ACM, 56(11). Meskó, B., Hetényi, G. and Gyórffy, Z. 2018. Will artificial intelligence solve the human resource crisis in healthcare? BMC Health Services Research, 18(545). Mohammed, A., White, G., Wang, X. and Kai Chan, H. 2018. IT adoption in social care: A study of the factors that mediate technology adoption. Strategic Change, 27(3), pp. 267–279. NHS, 2019. The NHS Long Term Plan. https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-long-term-plan/ (Accessed on 15 May 2020). NHSX n.d.-a. About us https://www.nhsx.nhs.uk/about-us// (Accessed on 1 May 2020). NHSX n.d.-b. COVID-19 Response. https://www.nhsx.nhs.uk/covid-19-response/ (Accessed on 14 May 2020) Pickard, L. 2008. Informal Care for Older People Provided by Their Adult Children: Projections of Supply and Demand to 2041. Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU), London, UK. Discussion paper 2515.

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Ramadevi, D., Gunasekaran, A., Roy, M., Rai, B. and Senthilkumar, S. 2016. Human resource management in a healthcare environment: framework and case study. Industrial and Commercial Training, 48(8), pp. 387–393. Saborowski, M. and Kollak, I. 2015. How do you care for technology?—Care professionals’ experiences with assistive technology in care of the elderly. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 93, pp. 133–140. Stewart, A. and MacIntyre, G. 2013. Care management in the twenty-first century: Persistent challenges in implementation in the context of the emergence of self-care. Journal of Integrated Care, 21(2), pp. 91–104. The care workers charity, 2019. The essential careworkers guide https://www.thecareworkerscharity.org.uk/carers (Accessed on 26 January 2020). United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, 2019. Policy brief: The challenging roles of informal carers. https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/pau/ age/Policy_briefs/ECE_WG1_31.pdf (Accessed on 14 December 2019). Wright, J. 2019. Robots vs migrants? Reconfiguring the future of Japanese institutional eldercare, Critical Asian Studies, 51(3), pp. 331–354. World Health Organisation. 2016. Health workforce requirements for universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals Human Resources for Health Observer - Issue No. 17. Available at: https://www.who.int/hrh/ resources/health-observer17/en/. Yeandle, S., Chou, Y., Fine, M., Larkin, M. and Milne, A. 2017. Care and caring: interdisciplinary perspectives on a societal issue of global significance. International Journal of Care and Caring, 1(1), pp. 3–25.

9 Constraints Facing Creative Enterprises in GCC: Implications for HRD Hussain Alhejji, Thomas N. Garavan, and Rayed Darwish

9.1 Introduction While policymakers and scholars have called for more research on the challenges of the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector in Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—research in this area, however, remains very limited (Ibrahim et al. 2017; Karimi 2014). In recent years, the GCC countries have suffered from oil price volatility,

H. Alhejji (*) Gulf University for Science and Technology, Mubarak Al-Abdullah, Kuwait e-mail: [email protected] T. N. Garavan National College of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland e-mail: [email protected] R. Darwish ABQ Educational Group, Muscat, Oman e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s) 2020 M. Loon et al. (eds.), The Future of HRD, Volume I, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52410-4_9

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an increased number of youth population, an over-reliance on immigrants and the increased participation of female in the labour market (Jabeen et al. 2017). This has led the GCC to largely focus on developing their non-oil sectors in order to diversify the economy away from hydrocarbon productions as well as explore other areas of economic opportunities (Carey and Matlay 2010). National visions and new development plans have been set aiming to diversify their national economies from a large dependency on oil and gas productions to economic growth and sustainability driven by the SME sector. One of the solutions eyed by governments is to support local entrepreneurial talent to develop and manage SMEs in the creative enterprise (Dirani and Hamie 2017). Despite large and government spending towards the growth of entrepreneurship and small businesses, recent research reveals that most SMEs within the GCC are saddled with little innovation, weak management, low efficiency and dwindling growth. This chapter analyses constraints that hinder the growth and development of SMEs within the GCC creative enterprise sector and looks at ways to properly address them. It draws on a range of published sources— including reports, GCC-based research studies and academic journals, in addition to publications in the field of SME creative enterprise. Though this study does not evaluate programmes implemented by GCC governments to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship and stimulus packages for venture capital initiatives, it does, however, focus on the generic challenges facing GCC SMEs. It is important to note that criteria for defining SMEs in the GCC slightly differs by nation and is usually based on the number of total employees and the value of assets. In general, SMEs are defined as any enterprise with an independent commercial registration between 10 and 249 employees. As such, this study will not discuss cultural factors that may or may not have defined the concept of creative enterprise in particular nations since the definition of this term is so fluid across the GCC and the rest of the world. For purpose of this chapter, creative enterprise ‘is understood to be generated by the creation of new ideas, new forms of expression and the creative application of ICTs’ (Boon et al. 2009, p. 363). Much of the current research in this region has mainly focused on barriers facing female entrepreneurs (Mcelwee and Al-Riyami 2003; Belwal and Belwal 2017),

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students’ perceptions towards entrepreneurship (Belwal et al. 2015) and the role of entrepreneurship education on promoting young entrepreneurs (Bindah and Magd 2016; Kebaili et al. 2017). Despite such contributions, there are two major issues with the existing research base. First, existing studies often focus research on SMEs within college students and young entrepreneurs and derive their implications from a narrow perspective. There is a limited focus on the overall external forces that might shape the growth and development of SMEs in the creative enterprise, particularly in GCC countries. Second, most current research has not positioned their analysis within the human resource development (HRD) literature thus creating a need to understand the role of HRD in promoting and enhancing SME in the creative enterprise. This chapter builds on and contributes to HRD literature in two ways. First, this chapter attempts to analyse the contextual factors that hinder the growth and development of creative enterprises and how these factors are interconnected. The fact is that HRD is ‘contextual and embedded within complex institutional and social structure’ (Garavan et al. 2018, p. 289). Therefore, it is felt that there is a need to investigate HRD in different counties and regions. The multiplicity of interlinked contextual factors within the creative industry in the GCC is underexplored. In this vein, it was vital to take a broad view by looking at the law and regulations, economy, market, culture and educational system. Being cultural insiders themselves, the authors focus on these major forces given their role played in influencing entrepreneurial activities among GCC countries. Secondly, this chapter explores how HRD can play a vital role in overcoming issues facing creative enterprise. Recently, the HRD literature has brought theoretical, and to some extent, empirical explanations for the relationship between HRD and creativity (e.g., Madjar 2005; Hunter and Cushenbery 2011; Sheehan et  al. 2014). However, most of these studies focused on the roles of training and development to promote creativity and innovation (Wang 2008). Scholars have proposed that HRD can contribute to social and organisational development including innovation and creativity (Ghouse et  al. 2017). Garavan and Mcguire (2010) indicate that HRD is viewed as having a role in achieving societal, environmental and economic goals. HRD, as a discipline, intends to

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recognise, support and lead the creative enterprise of the twenty-first century (Loewenberger 2013). Gibb and Waight (2005) argued that HRD can assist in overcoming hurdles to creative enterprise adoption, traction, growth and development. The timing of this study cannot be overstated. There is a pressing need to highlight just how important the role of HRD is in promoting creativity and innovation in both organisations and society in general. In the first section, this chapter provides an overview of creative enterprises and briefly outlines how innovation and creativity are perceived in the SME sector. Next, it reviews the HRD literature to highlight the current contributions of HRD theory and practices in the creative enterprise context. This is followed by a discussion and analysis of factors that influence the growth and development of SMEs in creative industries in the GCC. The last section offers some implications of HRD with respect to promoting creative enterprise within the sphere of SMEs in the GCC.

9.2 Creative Enterprises: An Overview Conceptually, the definition of creative enterprises is considered one of the largest obstacles in the literature. This is because creative industries emerge in different settings which creates more challenges in ‘identifying the entrepreneur and delineating the nature of entrepreneurship’ in this sector (De Bruin 2005, p.  144). There have been various attempts to study the evolution of naming rights from cultural industries to creative industries in order to better understand entrepreneurial activities. Garnham (2005), for instance, analyses the shift in such terminology within arts and media policy discourse and argued that this term can be best understood within the context of information society policy. In other words, this shift is not merely a natural change of labels but, rather, influenced by several theoretical and policy aspects. Schulte-Holthaus (2018) argues it is very difficult to separate the term creative enterprise from its true source: the creation of small businesses within the sphere of the cultural and creative industries. According to UNESCO (p.  252), cultural and creative industries are ‘sectors of organised activity whose principal purpose is the production or reproduction, promotion,

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distribution and/or commercialisation of goods, services and activities of a cultural, artistic or heritage-related nature’. Howkins (2002) uses the term creative economy, but this is just a natural by-product of what the cultural and creative enterprise can potentially offer. Howkins includes (amongst many other industries) film, fashion, design advertising, publishing and crafts, as well as performing arts, under the creative economy umbrella. Perhaps, the term culture is more orientated to a milieu embedded with connotations, nuances and expressions best found in a nation’s habits with respect to traditions, customs, cuisine and the arts (performing or otherwise). On the other hand, research by Maryunani and Mirzanti (2015) proposes that the terminological acrobatics is a tightly fought contest hinging on issues of culture, technology and economics. A study by O’connor (2010) sees it as a ‘purely pragmatic move in order to get some key spending plans passed … where the word ‘culture’ had to be avoided as too reminiscent of ‘the arts’, and thus not about economics at all’ (p. 252). Having discussed that, what is not up for debate is the argument that culture and enterprise are now so inextricably linked that both—for the young entrepreneur—must have an added value if to be viable at all (Mwasalwiba 2010). In other words, creative enterprise is bigger than the firms providing services or products of human activity. Rather, it includes the overall supply chain processes as well as the role of the specific units of each sector involved in offering these creations to consumers (Carey and Matlay 2010). Clearly, this term is focusing on a knowledge-based society perspective demanding more creative content, products and services. And despite creative enterprises—encapsulated within the cocoon of cultural and creative industries (CCIs) having the true potential to develop a more cohesive, imaginative and prosperous future, key challenges that lie ahead. In an organisational context, the cultural industries question is still up for debate by many ‘in the industry’ (Del-Corte-Lora et al. 2015). One could merely see them as a latent extension for those in society who deem themselves creatively independent of the big corporations. That is, creative thinkers and doers who need their own space to conduct experiments and manifest their often-innovative ideas. Others, like Grabher

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(2001), sort cultural industries into the global corporation and local village levels.

9.3 Innovation Through Creative Enterprise Scholars and practitioners alike are still debating the definition and process of innovation within an organisational context. There is no doubt that innovation is a term still ill-defined and, for many, unclear. The literature has defined creativity as the production of novel and potentially useful ideas to the organisation (Amabile et al. 1996; Shalley et al. 2004). Creativity is viewed as the seed of innovation (Amabile et al. 1996), but it remains important during the creativity process. Anderson et al. (2014, p. 1298) argue that ‘creativity and innovation can occur at the level of the individual, team, organisation, or at more than one of these levels combined but will invariably result in identifiable benefits at one or more of these levels of analysis’. So, creativity and innovation is seen as a process that occurs at different levels which might lead to better ways of doing things. This process may consist of three stages: problem identification, problem construction and responses generation (Kijkuit and Van Den Ende 2007). Gibb and Waight (2005), in addition, labelled creativity at three different stages: exploring relations and patterns, creating a solution and, finally, appraisal of solutions in relation to present goals and objectives. Florida’s (2019) description of creativity goes beyond the long legacy of investing in technology to concentrate more on humans as a major driver of creativity and economic growth. Creative enterprises, therefore, are derived from the following three distinct areas: innovation business, SMEs and young and high-growth business. The entrepreneurship literature tends to consider creative enterprise through the lens of an emerging political economy of culture and the subsequent rise of SMEs. Research by the school of political economy of culture, for example, was opposed to any ideology that viewed cultural objects as merely texts rather than commodities (O’connor 2010). This offered some explanations as more culturally identifiable products and service become more commercialised to a wider community. SMEs within the realm of creative enterprise were once seen as an offshoot of an

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artistic segment that, at times, complemented big corporate niche products (Carey and Matlay 2010). Often seen as the bane of state subsidy financing, creative and artisanal SMEs have become more relevant (and potentially profitable) and the wheels of genuine recognition are beginning to turn. Studies (O’brien and Feist 1995; Pratt 1997) began to notice that freelancers and small, often micro-enterprises were an extremely significant part of overall employment in the sector and were growing fast. Given the above argument, when talking about young entrepreneurs establishing SMEs in the creative industry, how does one measure creativity? There is no definitive and precise answer. However, according to Berg and Hassink (2014, p. 653), ‘the concept of creative industries is useful because it helps us to understand the dynamics of the contemporary economy’. That is not to argue that one can fully understand these dynamics with an overall perusal of the economy. The upshot, though, is that more significance has been given to creative enterprises regarding social status and the realisation of an entrepreneur’s vision in the slowly burgeoning SME industry (see, e.g., Potts 2009; Scott 2006). In terms of the role of the GCC environments in promoting creative enterprise, the literature has highlighted several suggestions. First, according to Berg and Hassink (2014, p. 657), creative enterprises are mainly focused on value creation derived from innovation which provide service to customers in various market. The creative enterprises are therefore the provider of the innovation service given their role in stimulating and retaining new ideas in a particular socio-economic environment. Second, since most creative products required highly specialised skills and knowledge, this has often meant a high concentration of creative clusters located in a particular location. Within the GCC countries, much would need to be done to reach such heights in terms of infrastructure development and collaborative relationships with education institutions and different sectors of the business community. Third, criteria seek agglomerate urbanised economies (Lorenzen and Frederiksen 2008). The former is comprised of a shared specialised labour market and knowledge spill overs, while the latter taps into a geographical proximity to facilitate the creative recombination of ideas, knowledge and technologies, which is a vital source of innovation. The onus is thus on government policy to spread the seeds of

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innovation allowing creative entrepreneurs to cluster in highly concentrated geographical spaces—in other words, groups of business owners that compete for highly specialist labour and supply networks in a particular area (Farr-Wharton et al. 2015).

9.4 S  ME in the Creativity Enterprise: An HRD Perspective The HRD literature argues that an effective design and implementation of a national HRD system (Cho and Mclean 2004) may positively influence economic health, including average income, corporate profits, labour market, unemployment, poverty and level of new business start-­ ups (Wang 2008). Although the discussion of national HRD was originally rooted in the economic literature where research contributions have been mainly confined to human capital theory in the labour economics (Garavan et al. 2018), scholars argue that such an approach to human capital ignored other important forms of capital including social, cultural and symbolic (Bourdieu 1996). This suggests that investment in training and development can make humans more economically productive without focusing on other important outcomes such as creativity and innovation. Researchers, therefore, have extended the boundary of HRD that was traditionally targeting organisational practices to reflect on the broad environmental influence of human capital development (Garavan et al. 2001). Other national aspects are now under consideration by the HRD community such as the issues of power, life expectancy, health care, literacy rates, quality of education and creativity and innovation (Rana et  al. 2017). Thus, the focus on national HRD has captured scholars’ attention because of its role in promoting creativity and innovation in both developed and developing countries. Within this territory, scholars have begun to investigate the implication of HRD theory and practices in SMEs’ growth and development. SMEs’ growth refers to the emergence of new firms which contribute to job creation, increase employment opportunity, productivity and sustenance of a knowledge base for competitive advantage (Patterson et  al.

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2012). HRD studies indicate that enterprises do not exist and operate in isolation but rather are impacted by various internal and external forces (Nolan and Garavan 2019). Hirschsohn (2008) found that the growth of small enterprises relied on a set of formal and informal factors as they were deemed to be necessary for organisational competitiveness and survival. The baseline is suggested for the need to better understand the contextual factors as an aspect of HRD leading to the growth of entrepreneurship. Despite major contributions in this filed, extant studies generally emerged in western counties and therefore may not be applied to non-­ western countries (Blackburn and Kovalainen 2009; Alhejji et al. 2016). Alagaraja and Wang (2012) argue that, due to various socio-cultural factors, ‘developing countries have to seek innovative approaches to address their societal issues’ (p.  309). Therefore, addressing these gaps in the HRD literature is likely to lead to interesting insights and relevant explanations about HRD systems which have been implemented by various countries. Unlike the conceptualisation of creativity, understanding how HRD can promote SMEs in the creativity enterprise needs clarity. This line of research presents challenges to both HRD scholars and practitioners, especially in organisational settings. HRD’s role in the creative enterprise is more than the design and implementation of training programmes to enable creativity in product and service (Sheehan et  al. 2014). HRD extends its boundary to emphasise individual and organisational learning to support behaviour change. Learning culture is increasingly recognised as being central to generating collaborative creativity in all contexts and to sustain innovation (Jaccaci 1989). Strategic HRD has also played a pivotal role in shaping and supporting organisational transformational changes to promote creativity (Garavan et al. 2018). Creativity can transform individuals, groups and organisations to create strategic goals for potential development. For instances, Stern (1992) found that HRD practices such as participation in in-house training, study leave, effective team communication, self-development and professional development can contribute to creativity. These findings suggest that creativity is a complex, dynamic process and it can occur at multiple levels (individual, group and organisation). Therefore, HRD scholars argue that the social

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and organisational factors may present potential motives or barriers to the generation and implementation of creativity (Loewenberger 2013). The following section provides more discussion on how these forces may drive or hinder SMEs in the creative enterprises.

9.5 The GCC Context The GCC economy comprises around 50 million inhabitants and produces an aggregate GDP of approximately $1.6  trillion (World Bank 2019). The hydrocarbon sector (including oil and gas productions) contributes more than one half of GDP in the GCC region. Other major contributing sectors are construction, banking and tourism. Given its dry and arid climate, the agriculture sector is often of negligible importance in most GCC countries. Development of nominal GDP and total exports are inextricably linked with energy prices, especially to oil and gas. Despite some major differences in terms of size and population, GCC countries share common cultural, historical and economic backgrounds (Alhejji et al. 2018). These factors inevitably represent three significant challenges to the GCC economies, namely (1) an urgent need to diversify the economy away from oil and gas production; (2) the privatisation of government owned institutions and assets; and (3) reforms to the labour market, educational system and vocational training (World Bank 2019). An underlying agenda in highlighting these challenges is the hope of supporting the growth and development of SMEs in the non-oil sector that can generate employment opportunities for women and the younger generations. There are additional challenges within the current economic model. First, around 75% of the entire GCC economy is dependent on oil for government revenues and exports which, consequently, hinders the development of a diversified and sustained economic base (World Bank 2019). This is also because the current price of oil remains significantly below the budgetary needs of GCC countries. Second, most jobs in the private sector, including SMEs, are dominated by expatriate and foreign workers. In

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contrast, GCC citizens still seem to favour the public sector for employment. This has created an imbalance in the workforce and a subsequent threat for younger generations who require an open and plentiful labour market to work in. Thirdly, the ecosystem for innovation—a major driver of national competitiveness—is inadequately developed in the GCC.  According to the World Bank Report (2019), the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are ranked 41, 49 and 50 respectively. Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman ranked 57, 67 and 73, respectively (Table 9.1). In recent times, GCC governments have strived to play a more crucial role in funding and mediating both creative and economic requirements in the SME sector. As part of their national visions, GCC governments are developing essential policies to further support and fuel entrepreneurship and SMEs. For instance, Saudi Arabia has the largest number of SME support programmes followed by the UAE (Rafiki 2020). Translating such policies into action has placed the SME sector in the GCC into a new sphere, with a range of initiatives and a funding boost on offer. GCC governments have injected billions into stimulus packages to support their citizens to become entrepreneurs in order to create jobs for themselves and their fellow citizens. However, entrepreneurs tend to be more successful when they work in a creative and economic ecosystem that supports and encourages their entrepreneurial (and SME) aspirations (AlSharji et al. 2018).

Table 9.1  Economic indicators in GCC countries

Saudi Arabia UAE Kuwait Qatar Oman Bahrain

Growth of innovative companies

Population (millions)

Competitiveness index

Doing business

33.2

36/141

62/190

7/141

10.4 4.6 2.7 4.3 1.5

25/141 46/141 29/141 53/141 45/141

16/190 83//190 77/190 68/190 43/190

5/141 59/141 11/141 38/141 40/141

Sources: World Economic Forum 2019

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9.6 F actors Influencing Creative Enterprises in GCC Although the literature has highlighted several constraints to entrepreneurship at micro level (including psychological variables deterring entrepreneurial endeavours), at macro level environmental variables are still underestimated in the GCC countries (Kebaili et al. 2015). These external factors can potentially influence SME start-up decisions within the creative industries. Current research has shown that external factors (highlighted in the following paragraphs) are essential in entrepreneurship growth and development; ignoring such forces may hinder and be detrimental to SME expansion.

9.6.1 Economic Forces The domination of the oil and gas sector in the GCC is one of the main constraints that impedes the growth and development of SMEs in the creative enterprise industry. As outlined, the hydrocarbon industry continues to remain the leading sector in the economy and a prime commodity in overall government revenue. The non-oil SME sector remains relatively small and its participation to local GDP is nominal (Jabeen et al. 2017). While some GCC countries have developed more plans and strategies to diversify their economies, the hydrocarbon sector—which is highly capital intensive—remains highly competitive in many GCC economies. No surprise then that the energy sector is still very attractive to GCC nationals in terms of employment as well as a form of business investment. At national level, oil revenue is often used to finance the public sector in addition to government funds allocated to SME development (AlSharji et al. 2018). The expansion and growth of other sectors is largely dependent on oil prices and its cascading influence on balancing the budget. When oil prices drop (as is currently the case) the related decline in government revenue often leads to a reduction in public spending which affects the growth and development in non-oil sectors and increases job insecurity. The key challenge, therefore, is to develop truly self-sufficient non-oil sectors and support SMEs that will provide a

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sustainable source of growth and employment opportunities even when oil revenue is down. Giving this current situation, SMEs in creative enterprise industries have been only a limited source of growth and development. One the one hand, GCC governments have invested largely in the energy sector thus creating (ironically one could argue) vast opportunities for SMEs to join and support this sector (Hasan et al. 2016). On the other hand, recent findings highlighted that most young entrepreneurs rarely tried to seek government funds in order to establish SMEs away from these dominant sectors. The majority of GCC nationals have much of their investment in the real estate sector. According to local statistics, for instance, the SMEs in the non-oil sector contribute towards 40%, 52% and 45% of the national GDP in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar respectively (World Bank 2019). Although these SMEs contribute to both economic growth and job creation, most GCC governments are aiming to increase the contribution of SMEs in the creativity industry and other sectors as outlined in their national vision plans. Access to finance is another challenge for SME growth and development in the GCC. According to the World Bank (2019), nearly 70% of all SMEs in emerging markets lack access to adequate capital. The average share of SME lending of total loans is 2% for GCC countries which is below other developed nations. Since SMEs in the creative enterprise industry are start-ups with limited cash flows, securing financing based on strong cash flows is not feasible for them. Consequently, creative enterprises are quite vulnerable to credit rejections by financial funding agencies. To overcome this challenge, some start-up SMEs tend to obtain financial support from informal sources such as family or friends. Although GCC economies have taken other measures to provide finance to SME creative enterprises, much still needs to be implemented regarding credit reporting policies and risk management systems. Case study 1 presents some key challenges that SMEs face in the UAE. Case Study 1: Micro Automation Established in 2001 in the United Arab Emirate of Dubai, Micro Automation is leading in the field of high-tech hardware design and manufacture for power protection and management products, and internet of things enabled

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devices. Backed up by a number of experiences in the fields of technology development and manufacturing, the company has been recognised as the pioneer in power protection. In 2013, Micro Automation was selected as the business with the most innovative products in the GCC and ranked no. 1 in innovation among the top 100 performing SMEs in Dubai. As part of its strategic plan, Micro Automation has focused on providing products based on customer feedback. This was applied through a reporting system that analysed all market complaints to assess the cause of the customer complaints and, subsequently, implement some improvements and innovative interventions to satisfy their customers. In addition, the company has also focused on the growth and development of new products that cater to other market needs. This strategy allows the company to produce highly differentiated products that serve different types of customers at various locations in GCC countries. In addition to the development of innovative products, Micro Automation invests heavily in research and development to continuously improve the quality of products based on customer feedback. Around 30% of the company total profits are devoted to the R&D of its products as well as towards the growth and development of the company’s brand image. A key challenge faced by Micro Automation has been to gain access to financial support from banks in order to buy some of the expensive machines needed for production. To overcome this challenge, the company had commissioned some major assets within its centre in Belgium, based on subsidies gained from the EU regulatory authorities. Although the UAE’s Government has initiated some programmes to support growing SMEs, the founder and managing director of Micro Automation stated that there is much to be done to support export-orientated enterprises. He also revealed that the government should support local products in order to enable the UAE’s manufacturing industry to compete with products that are manufactured in low cost countries.

9.6.2 Legal Framework SMEs in the GCC, particularly in the creative enterprise sphere, require enabling legal and financial frameworks to prosper locally and internationally. Creative enterprise in the GCC faces a lack of enabling

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requirements due to an absence of an SME-specific credit rating system in the credit bureau and a robust and efficient legal framework for quick arbitration. National regulations are broad in nature with few specific rules relating to SME start-ups, development and maintenance. In addition, financial frameworks are still inadequate as an inclusive credit reporting framework needs to be implemented as part of the GCC’s national plan. The main benefit of a credit reporting framework is that it can lead to increased financing for SMEs by offering valid and reliable data to financial institutions, thus enabling them to evaluate the credit health and viability of such businesses. Other financial challenges creative enterprises face are investors who lack protection for their potential funding as well as a stagnant bond market (Kebaili et  al. 2015). Within the GCC, investor protection remains quite weak thus hampering capital market development for creative enterprises. According to the World Bank (2019), increasing investor protection will stimulate creditors’ intention to buy debt securities and investors’ interest in equities. That is not to say that there are no solid and diverse SME support programmes that work to overcome a range of financial issues. However, little research has been done to systematically evaluate the impact of such programmes, especially with respect to the development and growth of creative enterprise SMEs. In the UAE, for instance, the government has implemented several policies and practices (such as a credit guarantee scheme) that aim to increase creative enterprise investment by 2025. However, banks are still reluctant to finance SMEs in the creative enterprise industry as little effort has been made to co-operate on credit bureaus that might limit risk.

9.6.3 Labour Market The limited participation of GCC nationals in the SME sector is considered an important challenge to the growth and development of creative enterprises. Although one of the main goals of SME development in the GCC is to generate job opportunities for nationals, the labour market is highly segmented in nature between the national and expatriate labour

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workers (Alhejji and Garavan 2016). Both groups exhibit very different views regarding employment in the public and private sectors. GCC graduates tend to favour government jobs due to high job security, benefits and less demanding work. Jobs in the private sector, including SMEs, continue to be dominated by expatriates and foreign workers (Alhejji et al. 2018). For example, expatriate numbers in the GCC private sector range from a low of 49.5% of the total workforce in Saudi Arabia to a high of 90% in the UAE. Access to talented manpower for SMEs in the creative enterprise market is limited. This is primarily due to low salaries that SMEs tend to offer to GCC nationals as well as a lack of development opportunities and career planning. According to the World Bank (2019), SME sector employment is considered less attractive and appealing with the overall ratio of expatriates to GCC nationals in the SME sector being, on average, less than 5:1. However, as GCC governments aim to shift towards knowledge-based economies, employee nationalisation programmes have been devised in parallel to ensure proactive employment in the private sector. These programmes, however, are not specific to the SME sector. As such, attracting the right talent will remain a thorn in the side of creative enterprise growth, development and subsequent expansion. Furthermore, several studies highlighted that most of the SMEs in the GCC lack the ability to innovate and compete regionally and internationally (AlSharji et al. 2018). Within the GCC market, there is a limited focus on domestic rivals and demanding local customers (Kebaili et al. 2017). One reason is perhaps the fact that most SMEs are dominated by expatriates holding temporary work visas. The implication is that the GCC marketplace is not a forum dedicated to nurture and harness the local population to develop a unique creative enterprise culture based on innovative practice and independent thinking.

9.6.4 Education System Despite a surge in SME growth in terms of start-ups and an incremental contribution to local GDP, the same cannot be said of an education system that could be a stepping-stone to cultivating creative and critically

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thinking minds for creative enterprise development. During the last decade, there was no university or college in the GCC that offered entrepreneurship as a major or a minor specialisation at either undergraduate or postgraduate levels. As part of their national vision plans, GCC countries have introduced some entrepreneurship education programmes and training centres in most colleges and universities to support the diversification and formation of a knowledge-based economy (Kebaili et  al. 2017). Unfortunately, there is limited analysis and/or research (Alhejji and Garavan 2016) on the impact of such programmes on the growth and development of a thriving and bustling creative enterprise culture. Consequently, the ongoing inability to implement an effective policy environment for SME creation and development—in addition to inadequate educational and training programmes—makes the creative enterprises industries an unattractive option for many throughout the GCC (World Bank 2019). It is not surprising, then, that there is a limited effort to develop general frameworks and guidelines to provide education, training and expert support to promote and develop SMEs in the creative enterprises. For example, some studies have found there is inadequate collaboration between education institutions and the SME sector (Belwal et al. 2015). The private sector, in general, does not seem willing to work and collaborate with higher education institutions. Such conditions do not bode well for strong and robust creative enterprise developments in the future.

9.7 Implication for HRD With respect to implications for HRD, it is important to stress that most GCC countries are attempting to move from a predominantly government-­based career perspective to a knowledge-based society that focus on local human capital to unleash creative thinking at different levels. Therefore, HRD theory and practice can play a critical role in supporting GCC to create policies that could set in motion change mechanisms conducive to encouraging SMEs in the creative enterprise. These HRD policies and practices should focus on a move away from a psychological dependence equating economic success with hydrocarbon prices.

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In order to develop a skilled and knowledge-based society that is linked to the realisation of a genuine SME market coupled with a bustling creative enterprise industry, the GCC needs to reconsider its HRD systems with a focus on skills-based education and vocational training rather than focusing only on vocational education and short-term training courses. Current training entities and vocational training institutions in the GCC play vital roles in disseminating the idea that entrepreneurship is essential for SME growth and development (Hassen 2020). However, these bodies should perhaps focus more on highlighting those essential creative enterprise factors needed to nurture genuine entrepreneurial projects rather than just asking applicants to come forward with their business ideas. In addition, the country needs to enhance entrepreneurial skills development among its citizens and provide them with the cognitive and non-­ cognitive skills to remain competitive in global markets. It is not a stretch, therefore, to highlight just how important a skills-based school education system is as it has the potential to redress many of the issues plaguing GCC youth who yearn for the support and encouragement to pursue their entrepreneurial creative spirit! This means that policymakers and institutional actors need to focus on designing and creating policies at macro, meso and micro levels which might promote the sense of creativity and innovation among GCC citizens. That GCC colleges and universities should embrace creative industries into their curriculums and syllabi via cultural and creative industries-­ based degrees should be a given. Perhaps a Bachelor of Creative Enterprise multi-disciplinary degree offered in collaboration with international universities? Such a degree is predicated on the development of transferable skills and real-world project-based learning where opportunity to work broadly across an array of disciplines will help create the necessary exposure to emerging technologies with guest lecturers, cutting-edge industry demonstrations and workshops. There is also an urgent need to promote university-industry collaboration which provides not only effective real training for students but also knowledge production in colleges and universities for industry to contribute to the local economy (Elali and Al-Yacoub 2016). In doing so, HRD practitioners and managers can participate in module design for business schools, providing online resources and promoting informal

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networking channels with young GCC citizens. HRD practitioners can also play an important role in enhancing the teaching skills of faculty members through well-designed, strategic HRD platforms that may lead to greater efficiency at individual, group and organisational levels. Increasing entrepreneurial activities in these countries would require close collaboration between various sectors that include public and private firms. Such collaboration has potentially enriching implications. Firstly, genuine industry people will be able to apply their trade from a schooling environment whose main aim is to develop the next generation of working GCC. Secondly, this may assist in improving teaching standards throughout the gulf in an extremely cost-effective way. And last, but not least, such collaboration has the real chance of enhancing and developing respect amongst various cultures, societies and their respective traditions. Furthermore, the localisation policy needs to be re-assessed in a way that will propel the GCC into a new era of innovation, success and prosperity. Using affirmative action to boost GCC numbers in the workforce may not be the panacea to resolve this growing issue, the government should encourage and support SMEs to develop the skills and knowledge of young GCCs as well as allow them to be part of the process of decision making in order to develop new GCC business owners. Furthermore, analysing the GCC’s current SME environment is vital in assessing the current situation of business sectors and thus identifying current barriers and challenges. Opportunities will be examined that are essential for recommending effective approaches in increasing start-up numbers and creative enterprise in GCC. Finally, community integration is also key. Involving concerned parties—governmental, social, cultural, religious and educational—is paramount to integrating culture into the creative enterprise process and its longevity. Campaigns and initiatives illustrating the overwhelming importance of enriching the nation as a knowledge-based society will raise awareness of human capital and its enormous wealth of resources.

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9.8 Conclusion This chapter provides an overview of the constraints that influence the growth and development of SMEs in the creative enterprises within the GCC countries. It highlighted that there needs to be an implementation of HRD policies and practices to supplementing growth and development while sustaining a thriving creative enterprise industry. GCC has the human capital and entrepreneurial spirit to become a real creative enterprise powerhouse. However, this may only be achieved from developing a literal mind shift away from fossil fuel markets and towards a highly integrated knowledge-based society as its source of creative and economic inspiration. A new paradigm shift in the legal framework and education narrative will also give rise to better educational and learning outcomes predicated on the idea of a more inclusive and dynamic teaching system and pedagogy.

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10 The Future of HRD in a Post-Pandemic World: Insights from Dr Wilson Wong Mark Loon

10.1 Introduction Dr Wilson Wong is Head of Insight and Futures at the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) and Independent Chair of the Human Capital Standards Committee (HCS/1) and Deputy Chair of the Knowledge Management Standards Committee (KMS/1) at the British Standards Institution (BSI). Wilson leads the Institute’s futures and foresight capability. He has been involved in futures research since 2000. His most recent publication with the Malaysian government was ‘The Future of Talent in Malaysia 2035’ and is co-editor of Human Capital Management Standards: A Complete Guide. His career has spanned academia, corporate finance and national ICT development policy. Wilson’s PhD in Economic Psychology (Behavioural Economics) was on opportunity recognition. He is on the Board of the International Journal of Human Resource Development: Practice, Policy and Research (sponsored by the World M. Loon (*) Bath Spa University, Bath, UK e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s) 2020 M. Loon et al. (eds.), The Future of HRD, Volume I, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52410-4_10

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Federation of People Management Association, European Associations of People Management and University Forum for Human Resource Development), Editorial Board of Human Resource Development Quarterly journal (HRDQ) and Advisory Boards at Nottingham Business School (NBS) and the Work and Equality Institute. He is Visiting Professor at NBS and Visiting Faculty at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). A member of the International Association of Applied Psychology and an Academic Fellow of the CIPD, he was called to the English Bar in 1990. Prior to his role at the CIPD, he worked in technology policy and financial/investment research. Given his in-depth experience and expertise in futures research that has taken him around the world, we sought Wilson’s critical perspectives on the future of human resource development (HRD). The views in this interview are entirely his own. Dr Wilson Wong was interviewed by Dr Mark Loon.

10.2 Interview Transcript 10.2.1 The Pandemic Dr Wong, thank you very much for giving us your time to share with us your experience and insights to what may be in store for us in general and what you see as the future for human resource development. But let’s start with the big trends, things that you think that we need to pay attention to and then ultimately, how that impacts HR and HRD. Wilson: Let us start with what’s uppermost in everybody’s mind which is this pandemic. Pandemics or epidemics have been part of the scenarios in Futures work at least from the ’90s. These are understood to be inevitable events, of uncertain time frame but when it happens will have a huge impact on human communities. Futures work recognised the effects of globalization and a confluence of other factors that could exarcebate these event, and that the risks were significantly high. However,  with  exceptions, corporate leaders and

Mark:

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­ oliticians regard these kinds of scenarios as dystopian or p pessimistic and rarely did they consider these risks in their thinking. By far, they are more interested in things like business cycles and the consequence of conflict, something more tangible, more familiar and within their range of recognisable concerns. The UK had pandemics very high on their national risk register but did not stress test their response plan and system readiness. Both George W Bush and Obama (following Ebola) signalled the need for global preparedness for this inevitability. The White House global health security unit was disbanded in 2018 because of cost savings. I believe that this pandemic will provide a shock to these leaders and all that they take for granted. Just like in the financial crisis, just like 9/11, this will be a moment in history that upends comfortable assumptions of what is normal, at least for a little while. As you can see, even from the financial crisis of 2008/209, that there are many who will try to return to business as usual, as before. These groups won’t want additional costs, additional regulation, and additional taxation to deal with preparedness for some future ‘unprecedented’ crises. Just like we have found actions following the financial crisis or climate change commitments to be half-hearted, and often disputed. I guess temporal myopia is hard-wired—you think that bad things won’t happen during one’s time as the incumbent. On the other hand, remember before all of this, we had Extinction Rebellion (XR). Now nearly two years old, XR brought to the fore the term ‘Climate Emergency’, harnessing broad dissatisfaction with and mistrust of existing governance structures and certainly, with the political leadership. This is happening not just in Europe but globally. In developed countries, fewer than half the citizens trust their government.

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10.2.2 Is the Tide Turning? Wilson: As I discuss in my chapter on futures in Human Capital Management Standards, social media and ICT have facilitated a networked society with a flowering of seemingly contradictory trends and voices. The celebration of liberal democracy can marginalise the very institutions and ideologies that underpin the functioning of that democracy. This can result in  fractured  and polarised identities. Too many politicians, instead of knitting the frayed strands of disparate groups or tribes to build unity and common cause, are fanning the fires of identity politics. While some people can be fooled all the time, there are many, many people who are reacting to that manipulation and are coalescing around some major themes like the Climate Emergency or Black Lives Matter. The thing is many would even reject the term ‘sustainability’ as corporate whitewash. They have an urgent mission to accelerate decarbonisation, restore the planet’s ecology and ensure racial and intergenerational justice within the next ten years, or face severe social and economic consequences. This kind of narrative, given the uncontrolled fires in Australia, the melting polar caps, widening social inequalities and so on, the evidence is, for them, far too clear that trust in political and corporate leaders to take the long view  has been broken. They have also witnessed in January 2020 in Davos, the reception that Thunberg received compared to the reception that Trump. Trump received  a much warmer reception than Greta Thunberg. The reports from a number of journalists there was that when you walk the corridors of Davos, people are far more sympathetic to Donald Trump than they are to Greta Thunberg. Mark: That is quite a surprise. Wilson: Yes, because I believe many feel that Greta Thunberg threatens the very structures on which their power and success

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rest whilst they see Donald Trump, even if they dislike him intensely, as someone holding back these forces that are destabilizing the very structures that have made them rich and powerful. The pandemic too has laid open the gross inequities within very wealthy nations, tax havens, and shines a light on people like those in Davos, people who have the power to shape the future of billions. They are not just politicians, but opinion/thought leaders, scientists and lobbyists. These are a group who share a view that change is best managed in a ‘civilized’ way, in a structured process with a slow and steady bureaucracy, a particular ‘group-think’. These are the masters of the universe, but they are masters of a particular universe which XR supporters reject. But where does that leave us? All of us are colluding with the status quo. We collude because we depend on them for jobs, we depend on them for economic leadership. Our future financial security is locked up in pension funds and flows of capital, things integral to the stability of this status quo and a particular worldview. We are all supporting this edifice. If we agree with XR and deconstruct that structure, we endanger our financial security because you cannot cash out. While we may be sympathetic of the XR vision of a more equitable, more sustainable future, what then of our pension funds which are heavily invested in the carbon industry? How many of us can realistically cash out, and live in splendid isolation by decoupling from the financial system without considerable personal sacrifice? We’ve discussed drivers shaping agenda and the identity politics around the kind of futures for humanity, but then there are other camps which are also trying to challenge the existing world order. You have the fundamentalist religious groups which have been doing this and 9/11 was probably the most spectacular manifestation of that. At that time, there were already sce-

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narios about the probability of a major terrorist attack on American soil. After the two Gulf wars, it was a question of having the intelligence to stop it materializing and it was only a matter of missing one plot. There is no intelligence body that can prevent 100% of all attempts for all time. What scenarios could not anticipate was the nature of that attack—using civilian airliners as missiles. What many expected was the traditional stuff—hijacking an oil tanker, that kind of thing. One of the things that they thought quite likely was dirty bombs, exploding dirty nuclear devices in big metropolitan areas. I suspect that the dirty bomb was probably easier to execute, but it would not have made such a spectacular statement.

10.2.3 T  he Future of Work: Is It All About Technology? Mark: It was about the audacity and making a real statement. Wilson: It was audacious. And at another level, it demonstrated that their ideology was somehow creative and resourceful. Those events have changed our lives forever. The billions spent on airport security, surveillance and other technologies only happened because of 9/11. After this pandemic, risk management consultants will be well sought-after because they have been talking about this for years. But I think after the pandemic, technology will be less glitzy but more ubiquitous. Let us put it that until now, the discourse on the future work has been overwhelmingly driven by tech, tech, and more glamourous tech. And yet, when it came to this pandemic, it was back to basics, distancing, washing of hands and protecting our face from being infected by a minuscule virus. Technology couldn’t stop it or enable us to carry on with life normally. Of course, the proffered tech solution to the virus is this silver bullet vaccine, but ultimately no technology provided

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the security to human populations to live as they did a few months ago, sans lockdown, sans isolation. The future of work will be driven by many things, not least human agency, and technologies is only but one driver. The shift, the almost unstoppable gradual evolution of the employment relationship from employment contracts to looser, gig jobs is facilitated by the romance of platform technology. While useful, these platforms need to sell you the dream of flexible working, that you are in control. It brings a quality of life and you even get to meet cool people. Never mind about the minimum/uncertain wages, long hours and the oftentimes exploitation. All these characteristics are not accidental. These technologies are part and parcel of an industrial complex to make these platforms normative. As a member, you are told you are part of large, global community. These platforms started out ostensibly matching need to ‘spare’ resource but, they’re not. The ­platforms for human gig workers are very community-­ based, very identity-based, very values-based. As an individual, your agency is limited. You’re in no position to alter the narrative of empowered selves—the fact that there’s so many thousands of people participating in the gig economy, they cannot all be wrong, right? They cannot all have chosen this life if it is so bad.

10.2.4 What Has the Current Crisis Revealed? Wilson: There is a certain necessity to it [the gig economy]  because some people cannot get other entry-level jobs, but also for some segments, there is freedom. The trade-off is security. In the last ten years of quantitative easing, there’s a lot of capital chasing investments. When you have economies flush with capital, investors are hunting for returns. You find that efficiency is then not always so important as activity.

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The economies that had been lifted by quantitative easing with this ocean of extra synthetic money means that we have close to full employment. There is always something for someone to do because you’re investing in this, investing in that, just to get activity, to get a return. That generates jobs. Most of the jobs are poor, entry-level jobs but that doesn’t matter much to investors. People are occupied and it’s mostly only in Europe that we have this conversation about living wage and it’s only in the last few years that it’s become a real thing, but by and large for a long time, the metric was how many unemployed people do you have? That metric in the last eight years has been very healthy. That has a lot to do with quantitative easing, a lot pumppriming. With the cost of capital so low, the cost of failure is also lower, many can try all kinds of things, generating activity. The pandemic has seen a massive injection of financial support from from government and that raises the question, ‘Is this going to be the new normal? Are we all going to enter a cycle of higher taxes?’ What the pandemic has exposed is the vulnerability of that celebrated flexible workforce, one encouraged by policy. Now, this flexible workforce has created a political conundrum because this group has no reserves, they have no resilience for this or any kind of shock. Even full-time employees are at risk. And now we have a major crisis that puts our economy in an induced coma. The middle classes are very risk-averse and dislike jolts, but with the billions injected by the State, most can pull through. For the gig workers, everything is a jolt. If you jolt them to a point where they go, ‘This society doesn’t support me. I don’t feel that I belong here. What have I got to lose?’ Structural inequalities in a crisis is very dangerous, in terms of social cohesion and continued governance. We do not have resilience. The more developed your economy, the more you go for efficiency in established products and services. The more you go for efficiency, the more you go for just in time. The more you go for just in time and long,

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long supply chains, the more fragile your systems. Just watching governments scrambling for face masks, for medicines during this crisis when logistics and manufacturing are severely curtailed is a lesson in the price of globalised efficiencies. All it takes is one missing component and the whole plant grinds to a halt. But nativism and pulling up the drawbridge is also not the answer. Ironically, the solution to the excesses of globalisation is more international cooperation for those wicked problems. While I’m not hopeful that majority of our political and corporate leaders will be wise and see the crisis as an opportunity to rethink their raison d’être, I can see that the citizenry have responded to the effects of the pandemic with kindness, generosity, fortitude and solidarity with their fellow suffering humans. For now, I believe, the pendulum is swinging to nationalism with all the elements of xenophobia and protectionism. Greater localism, resilience and self-sufficiency. Curtailing the movement of people, goods and capital in the name of national security. At a national level, the concentration of say milk production in a small number of large firms is efficient but not very resilient since you concentrate the points of failure. The same with global manufacturing when concentrated in the world’s factory, China. But the response is not to pull up the drawbridges but to encourage diversity in the system. You can have some larger firms but also nurture the little local networks to meet the needs in the local regional economies as well, which means foregoing the nth degree of efficiency.

10.2.5 Implication on Human Resources Management and Development Mark:

I read some articles about entrepreneurship in India, and how they are so resourceful, doing so much with so little and many a times with basic resources. I recall reading how India’s dhobi work. Most of them are off grid. I think if we faced a crisis

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with involving power, countries like India would probably fare better than many because they are less reliant on modern necessities. Like you said, with local and shorter supply chains and they’re used to it. Wilson: Imagine where we are now. During this lockdown, if I have reliable Wi-Fi, clean water, electricity, I’m fine, I can continue to earn a living and survive comfortably. But every single one of these things is a vulnerability. If your electricity goes down, water stops, broadband cut, you cannot work, wash your clothes in the washing machine, or cook. With no power, millions of pounds of food frozen food will go to waste. If these are not collected in time, you’ll have the stench, and we will have rats to contend with. We are dependent on distant fragile systems which, in a developed country, we take for granted. And then there are the millions where the pandemic has indeed denied them of even the very basics for survival. This is what the pandemic has highlighted in large letters. Mark: It’s an extraordinary world we are living in. How do you see how HRM or HRD being affected? Wilson: I think first, we must recognise that this is a moment in history that people will remember for generations, not always in the same way admittedly, but one that will shift what’s normal. Just like after the Second World War, with the sacrifices made by every man, woman and child, we built the National Health Service and the modern welfare state, so to this crisis is likely to bring about shifts in the social contract—what is valued work and fair reward, for example, with health and care professionals. For leaders in organisations and especially for those in HRM, remember that it is in a crisis that others see who you really are and what you are made of. You’re having to make a lot of first-time decisions and you will make mistakes as the situation evolves. HRM will have to make tough choices for the business as revenues collapse and government support evaporates. More important than ever, you need to follow through on the organization’s core values.

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Keep your decision processes transparent and where possible work out loud the dilemmas as a way of bringing your workforce with you. Many will be afraid for their financial security knowing that salaries may have to cut, and jobs lost, but treat your workers with respect, show a clear objectivity in your survival plan and the factors you’re considering in your recovery planning. Make sure that the principles apply evenly to all. People remember how they are treated and if you cling to your core values, you hope for those positive stories that will be part of your organization’s mythology for a long, long time. Not just delivering on tasks at this time but also making your organisation’s values central to every decision and action. Second,  with much of your workforce working remotely, HR will have to build, rapidly, a rich multi-channel communications and socialisation  capability. We spoke earlier about identity politics and societal tribes and interest groups. Well, organisations are not immune, and you’ll have a variety of ideologies and beliefs in your workforce—that’s part of having a diverse workforce. But when faced with a workforce in lockdown, the clarity of the leadership voice and vision, the active listening by management, the assurance of support all matter to create a semblance of normality so that people can get on with their work and serve their stakeholders. Remember, listen and support and do not judge or assume how well others are coping by how you are doing. A sudden shift to working at home can bring unknown hardships. We don’t know what those conditions are like for each worker. What may provide assurance at an unsettling time could involve a weekly message from the CEO, more frequent one-to-ones by line managers, support by HRM for those teaming conversations and repeated webinars on the smart use of online communications and collaboration tools. There are lots of open resources for organisations on the CIPD website for those navigating this crisis and for people risks, I recommend that you look at

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ISO22330—Guidelines for people aspects of business continuity. For the duration of the crisis, the British Standards Institution has enabled free downloads of this and other critical standards to guide organisations. Third, once you’ve crossed-over the initial crisis response, it’s time to revisit your risk management and business continuity plans. Many organisations will have documents that now look inadequate, or naive. Assumptions made about risk diversification by having subsidiaries across different markets or in different product markets will all be  challenged by the global nature of a pandemic and the curtailment of logistics and cross-border movement. Suddenly, all those things that the business relied upon for resilience cannot be activated and contingency resources cannot be reached. Part of this is just the nature and scope of traditional planning—it’s org-centric. Such plans assume the continued functioning of a lot of external systems—transport, logistics, healthcare systems, order and security. While it seems like an indulgence, organisations who stress test their strategy and operational resilience with scenarios and then develop and properly rehearse their contingency plans will be far more prepared for crises. Scenario Planning is a Futures technique used to build organisational and national resilience. But as with all planning, if you don’t rehearse this with the relevant stakeholders and impress on all the importance of prioritizing particular risks, you’re likely to make poorer, on-the-hoof decisions when in the thick of a crisis. These investments in strategic, longer-term thinking, better decision-making processes and the capability to operationalize contingency plans at speed go hand-in-hand with horizon scanning and critical sense-making by the leadership. The other challenge for HR is understanding what success looks like in a postpandemic economy. In the last 10 years or so, because we’ve had full employment on the back of quantitative easing,

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that is, lots and lots of capital sloshing about, you find that a many companies have differentiated themselves by looking seriously at stakeholder ­interests, not just shareholder ones. They talk about them being corporate citizens, sustainability/diversity champions with ambitious ESG (environmental, social, and governance) targets. According to a survey by the Boston Consulting Group, more than 90 percent of investors would prioritize key business capabilities over ESG objectives. While understandable, this is a classic example of short-termism and anti-systems thinking. I believe that your stakeholders will see if you are valuesdriven or merely expedient in your recovery actions. Just look at the strong negative reaction to Richard Branson’s appeal for a government bail-out of Virgin Atlantic from the safety of Necker Island. At an operational level, the ability to adjust your goods and services to meet your customers’ or users’ needs in a timely way is possibly the first metric of success. By supporting your customers and suppliers in a principled manner you’re bringing them with you, crucial when we hit the even rougher waters of 2021. Mark: Where do you see people development heading towards? There has been a significant shift towards self-­directed learning, and self-reliance in shaping one’s own career. Will this intensify? Wilson: There has been a huge uptick in this area as everyone is learning to use online meeting and collaboration technologies. Not only that, but the etiquette of leading webinars, chairing virtual meetings, building teams and supporting the physical and psychological well-being of dispersed workers. Furloughed staff are also taking the time to learn either formally through e-learning portals, or through volunteering/working with other organisations. One area where HRD can probably make a big difference is in intensifying leadership development. In this pandemic, we can see an emerging correlation between leadership types, their resultant choices and stark fatality rates

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in the first wave. We also spoke earlier about identity politics and how within the workspace there are a diversity of ideologies and beliefs. The authority and credibility of the leadership to mobilize and influence their dispersed workforce requires a consistent and visible application of the organisation’s espoused values when sensitively addressing the needs and expectations of their staff, and their families. A compelling shared vision by the leadership coupled with an open, enquiring mind and a willingness to be open and vulnerable in your thinking behind dilemmas are likely to mean more forbearance and engagement from your workforce. One example of HRD is where organisations  build adaptive spaces or ‘sandboxes’, which is a place where ideas and concerns are aired in a safe space, all done without judgment or reprisals, and instead used to build camaraderie and experimental solutions. The opportunities of a crisis to learn about ourselves and to take a few chances to stretch shouldn’t be missed. We are all learning and drawing on knowledge from different disciplines, grappling with complexity and huge unknowns—it is a perfect time to flex those strategic muscles. In the end, this pandemic is a crisis that endangered human capital, and the economic cost is partly a reflection of the value people bring to the economy. I hope that this lesson is not lost in the rush to resume operations. That’s a very good point. That’s great Wilson. Thank you very much.

10.3 Conclusion The interview with Wilson provided some invaluable insight and foresight into how global trends have and may coalesce with another. We know the external environment is dynamic but recent events with Covid-19 and racial tensions sparked by the killing of George Floyd have only shown how quickly events are amplified and accelerate at great speed

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in having significant impact on all aspects of society, the economy and HRD across the world. Based on his research and conversations with key actors around the globe, Wilson argues that many nation states’ response to Covid-19 is  largely myopic  leading reprioritisation of other matters ahead of public health. While some may say that Covid-19 is ‘unprecedented’, and it is difficult to argue otherwise, genuine black swans (a metaphor that describes an event that comes as a surprise) are truly rare as ther are usually tell-tale signs. In the interview, Wilson argues that while there are many proponents of change (e.g. climate emergency), the hegemony of incumbents is not easily disrupted. Thunberg may be very popular and supported by many, but does she have the backing of those who can make the swift changes that is needed? Transformational change is needed if equality, justice and environmental conservation is to be achieved. Wilson cautions that while Machiavellian politicking in the background and Sun Tzu-like subtle tactics will, of course, always be present, brazen confrontations will only continue to grow. The impact of events the last few years such as the 9/11 attacks and Covid-19 will leave lasting imprints on society and economies, in particular how we think about our health and safety, and how businesses need to adapt. Technology plays, and will continue to play, an integral if not taken-for-granted role in our lives. However, it is not the be-all and end-all. The way technology impacts us will vary between people, sectors and economies. Those that realise and have the prescience to appreciate and exploit the nuances are likely to forge new pathways to innovate. Covid-19 has been catalytic in compelling organisations to rethink their business and operating models. What does all this mean for human resource development and management? The argument that organisations need to be flexible is of course still pivotal, but what Covid-19 has shown us is what true effective leadership should be (and unfortunately it has also shown us what it should not be as well) and how leadership is so very important to the lives and livelihoods of people. Leadership development especially capabilities that enable individuals to deal with ambiguity, make fast but effectual

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decisions, and be reflective and reflexive in real time, are crucial. Organisations will also have to start dealing with even more diversity, not just where people are concerned but also in its modes of operations for different groups of staff and how they are managed. Finally, scenario planning and business continuity will no longer be a luxury and will become a staple agenda item. HRD will need to support all of this.

Index

A

Adaptation, 42 Artificial intelligence (AI), 14, 101, 146, 148, 157, 198 Assistive technologies, 197 Autonomy, 43 B

Balance, 134 Blockchain, 44 Bologna Agreement, 63 Boundaries of the organisation, 106 Building Innovation Capabilities, 129–133

Change, 104 Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD), 66, 237 Chatbots, 147 Coaching, 129 Communities of practice, 108 The components of HRD, 16 Covid-19, 2, 80, 167, 169, 193, 196, 250 Creative enterprise, 212, 214, 216, 228 Creativity, 118, 123, 216, 219, 223 Critical HRD, 94, 100, 102, 110 Culture, 119–120, 160, 215 D

C

Care, 193 Carer, 197 Care robots, 200 © The Author(s) 2020 M. Loon et al. (eds.), The Future of HRD, Volume I, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52410-4

Deep Learning, 147 Department of Health and Social Care, 194 Development, 35 253

254 Index

Diffusion of Innovations, 203 Digital communication, 23 Digital competence, 53, 55, 68, 80 Digital competence revolution, 61 Digital HRD initiatives, 76 Digitalisation, 5, 77 Digitalisation for Education and Research, 72 Digitalisation of work, 61 Digital Methodical Competence, 58 Digital presence, 60 Digital professional, 56 Digital revolution, 13, 81 Digital Self-Competence, 60–62 Digital Social Competence, 58–60 Digital technology, 197 Digital transformation, 78 Disconnectedness, 96 DSHRDC, 126 E

Effects of technology, 40 E-learning, 168, 173, 176, 177, 179, 180 Emotional exhaustion, 41 Entrepreneurial activities, 229 Entrepreneurship, 216, 222 Entrepreneurship education, 213 Environmental Scanning, 109 Essential Digital Skills Framework, 63 Ethical Implications, 156–157 F

Fairness, 132 Flexibility, 80

4IR, 144, 151, 157 Freiraum, 122 G

Gamification, 124, 175 GCC economy, 220 GCC governments, 221 Generation Z, 174 Gig economy, 93, 96, 97, 110 Gigger, 98, 103, 104, 111 Gig work, 97, 98 Gig workers, 105 Gulf Cooperation Council, 211 H

Hard, 56 Health and social care sector, 204 Health and social care system, 193 Healthcare workforce gap, 195 Health information technology systems, 197 Health issues, 36 Health safety, 170 Higher Education, 67 Hinder online provision, 179 Holocracy, 59 HRD, 14–16, 42, 46, 54, 77, 93, 99, 101, 105, 107, 110, 126, 143, 168, 193, 205, 213, 227, 238, 246, 250 HRD education, 69 HRD practices, 170, 202–205 HRD professionals, 62, 76, 79, 176, 180 HRD programmes, 69 HRD strategy, 61, 102, 108

 Index 

HRD system, 218 HRD theories, 70, 218 HRD value, 168 HRM, 246 HRM practices, 117, 134 Hyper-individual, 97 I

Individual perspective, 45 Information and communication technologies, 14, 18, 23, 72 Information technology in health care, 204 Innovation, 118, 123, 132, 133, 216 Innovation Capabilities, 123–124 Innovation Climate, 119–122 Innovation climate research, 120 Innovation research, 117 Innovation training, 127, 128 Innovative behaviours, 123 Innovative capability, 134 Innovative climate, 115 Innovative work behaviour, 132 Interaction, 37 Intra-organisational Networks, 121 Investors in People, 66 J

Job characteristics, 14 Job Characteristics Model, 18 Job Demand-Control Theory, 18 Job Demand-Resources model, 18 Job quality, 81 Job security, 43

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L

LD practitioners, 148, 150 LD Professional, 151 Learning and Skills council, 64 Learning materials, 104 Learning organisation, 125 Learning Organization Questionnaire, 126 Legal gig workers, 101 Life situation, 35 Localization policy, 229 M

Machine Learning (ML), 146, 147, 158 Mechanistic approach, 104 Micro-learning, 176 Modern Apprenticeships Framework, 65 MOOCS, 4 Multilevel, 117 Multilevel approaches, 117 N

National Occupational Standards, 65 New components, 56 New law, 101 New technologies, 40 NHS, 202 O

Operating Room of the Future, 34 Organisational culture, 119

256 Index P

Paro, 199 Pepper, 199, 201 Performance, 34 Person-Environment fit, 19 Person-Vocation fit, 19 Power relations, 103

Swiss NHRD, 71, 73 Switzerland, 54, 71 T

Rational economic, 100 Recruitment, 122 Research and Development, 118 Reward, 130–132 Robot humanoid form, 198 Robots, 198

Team Cohesion, 120–121 Team level, 125 Technological acceptance, 42 Technological advances, 201, 205 Technological development, 57 Technological innovations, 193, 202 Technological skills, 57 Technological terms, 20 Technologies, 14, 15, 17, 41, 43, 122, 144, 145, 196, 200, 214 Technologies for Innovation, 121–122 Time-space distanciation, 98 Traditional employment, 97 Traditional HRD, 99 Traditional information technology literacy, 56

S

U

Q

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, 64 Quality, 14 R

Self-forming community of practice, 103 Shifting mindsets, 111 SME creation, 227 SME sector, 212 SMEs, 219, 222, 224, 226 Social constructivism, 177 Soft skills, 56 State welfare provisions, 195 Status quo, 100 STEM, 68 Strategic HRD, 219 Swiss education system, 71, 72 Swiss higher education institutions, 74

UFHRD, 2 UK, 54, 63, 76, 193, 205 University-industry collaboration, 228 V

Virtual learning environments, 3 Virtual reality, 198 W

Webinars, 4 Wellbeing, 37, 107–108 Work outcomes, 41 World Economic Forum, 94