Exploring the practice of human resource development as a field of professional expertise

Abstract

The study examined the practice of human resource development (HRD) as a field of professional expertise in Finland from the point of view of a group of practising HR developers. The report is based on six articles published in 1997-2002. The point of departure in this study was that, despite the increase in the employer-sponsored forms of learning in the workplace, HRD, the activity which would take responsibility for such learning has remained ill-defined. The study addressed three main questions: 1) What is the nature and content of the practice of HRD? 2) What is the nature and content of the professional expertise deployed in the practice of HRD? and 3) How is professional expertise in the practice of HRD developed and constructed?