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In the past decade, the HR profession has experienced dramatic change. Among the
most profound changes are the focus on HR as a business partner, the impact of
new technology, and business process outsourcing.
Christina M. Giannantonio and Amy E. Hurley of Chapman University, Orange County,
Calif., decided to conduct a national survey of HR executives. While much has
changed in recent years, and success stories abound, few studies exist
(less than a handful), according to research conducted by the authors, "which
specifically survey HR managers about their perceptions regarding which issues
are most important." For this reason, the authors wished to directly assess the
views of HR executives on several aspects of HR practice and education. This
insightful study bears more than a second glance by HR executives, CEOs and
academics alike.
HR issues: The study revealed that HR executives are most concerned about the
traditional outcome variables of HR management (e.g., performance and productivity
, job satisfaction, turnover, and loyalty and commitment). However, a nontraditional
outcome variable, managing change, received the highest overall rating. Based on
these findings, the authors recommended that academic institutions offer courses
for HR graduate students on current HR topics and issues as a means of ensuring that
HR curricula remain timely and relevant to the business and HR community. For example, the finding that managing change is of great concern to HR practitioners suggests that it is important that HR graduate programs teach students how to manage change.
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"The body of knowledge comprising the discipline of HR has experienced tremendous growth in the last half century." At the same time, HR educators must recognize that the HR issues, roles, skills and substantive knowledge considered important by HR professionals will vary based on the unique experiences and backgrounds these individuals will bring with them to the classroom. As such, variables similar to those noted in the study (e.g., managerial level, industry, size of firm, etc.) are factors that need to be taken into consideration as course curricula are designed. In addition, "executives' ratings of the most important types of substantive HR knowledge included items from every subdiscipline of the field." As a result, the authors recommended that programs designed to train HR generalists should offer courses in each of the subspecialties of HR.
The results of the study argue persuasively that graduate students need to be offered experiential learning opportunities within each course. Ideally, this will place the emphasis of the graduate program on enabling skills, i.e., learning by doing by applying what they have learned within their organizations as they progress through their graduate program and/or through group projects. HR practitioners considering graduate programs, and/or HR executives approving such programs for their staff members, may wish to consider this advice carefully as they evaluate potential graduate programs for the benefit of continuing education.
Source: "Executive insights into HR practices and education," Giannantonio, C. & Hurley, A. (2002, Winter). Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 12, No. 4, 491-511.
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