Timing: Allow 90 minutes for this activity
In the following paper the authors follow the experiences of a training and development (T&D) team within an HR department and, in particular, look at the ways in which they attempt to achieve what might be termed a ‘strategic positioning’ despite an apparent lack of power. (Training and development, or T&D, is an alternative name for learning and development, or L&D. There will be a more nuanced discussion of the differences between these concepts in Unit 4.)
This paper is one of three that the first author has published, which explore the experiences of different groups of HR practitioners within the same organisation, including business partners (Pritchard, 2010) and those working in an HR call centre (Pritchard and Symon, 2011).
In this paper the authors discuss issues associated with ‘identity’, which can be seen to have close links with relational perspectives on power discussed by Vince (2014) but also unpacks the notion of ‘expert power’. Rather than seeing expert power as something an individual (or here a team) has, in this article the authors see expert power as something this individual (and the broader team) attempt to do or present as part of constructing a valued identity.
Now read and make notes on ‘Credibility lost: attempting to reclaim an expert identity in an HR professional context’ (Pritchard and Fear, 2015), which is also available in your printed Reader.
Answer the following questions:
- a.Who are the key players involved in the development of HRD strategy in this organisation?
- b.How do their relationships change over time during the period of the study?
- c.What else do you think the T&D team could have done either collectively or individually to improve their position in respect to HRD strategy development and implementation?
