Title of report: Same old, same old, challenging development practices for HR/HRD Professionals?
Authors: Patricia Harrison (Liverpool John Moores University
Address: Liverpool John Moores University, John Foster Building, 98 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, L3 5UX
Email address:
Stream: 3 - Critical, theoretical and methodological issues in HRD
Submission Type: Academic paper
Same old, same old, challenging development practices for HR/HRD ‘Professionals’?
Abstract
When Personnel Management changed to Human Resource Management a driving force was continued professionalization. This paper explores the professionalization of the HR/HRD professionand the development of its members. The paper reviews progress by identifying the hallmarks of a profession and comparing these to the HR/HRD profession. It then considers how the body of knowledge, a hallmark that is given centre stage in most theoretical constructions of a profession, is developed for the members. The main conclusion is that it is equivocal in terms of whether HR is a profession or occupational status group, primarily due to the difficulty in being able to fully apply the hallmarks. With regard to the development of knowledge the findings highlight the lack of organisation and control of essential practitioner knowledge, albeit an integral construct of all professions.
Key words
Professionalism, HR/HRD, Profession, Professional Development
Introduction
When Personnel Management changed to Human Resource Management a driving force was the its continued professionalization. This preference for professional status is not dissimilar to many occupations who wish to tap into the benefits of being perceived to be a profession, thus there has been a significant increase. One essential hallmark of a profession is knowledge. Professions are known for their esoteric (knowledge know by a few) rather than common knowledge (known by many). The greater the development and control of knowledge, the greater the presence and power of a profession. The aim of this paper is to explore the professionalization of the HR/HRD profession andthe current development practices for novice HR/HRD professionals.
HR/HRD – Occupation or Profession?
There has been a significant growth in occupations claiming to be professions and trying primarily to emulate the ‘ideal type’ original professions. Consequently, there has been an increase in the proportion of professionals in the UK (Gold et al., 2007) and Business Schools (Bennis and O'Toole, 2005). A key differentiator for any professions is that they must be able to apply their learning as emphasised in the following definition by Cheetham and Chivers (2005):-
“…an occupation based upon specialised study, training or experience, the purpose of which is to apply skilled service or advice to others, or to provide technical, managerial or administrative services to, or within, organisations in return for a fee or salary.”
Nevertheless, this is one definition of many as there is a lack of agreement over the meaning of the term profession. The three earliest and most powerful professions are frequently emulated by others; however, this is not always possible or necessary. One method used to define a profession is the theory of ‘professionalization’. It is the process occupations move through to become a profession. Wilensky (1964)proposes that in order to become a profession that there is:
*a recognised need for a full-time occupation
*an establishment of training schools
*a number of willing practitioners to form a professional association
*political agitation to win legal support for restriction of entry
*formulation of a code of ethics
This approach is viewed by some as over-prescriptive, stereotypical and country-specific due to the inclusion of factors such as political agitation. Newer occupations may not meet these demands. Another view from Sociologists in the late 60’s is a functionalist theory of defining a profession that typically includes a list of commonly viewed characteristics or traits. Cheetham and Chivers (2005) produced a synthesis from a range of sources stating that generally a profession:-
- is organised
- is learned
- is altruistic (orientated towards service, rather than profit)
- offers autonomy
- is self regulating
- is client focused
- has collective influence within society
However, not all of the above attributes are represented in all professions and some of the characteristics are questionable. Some professions desire power over clients (Freidson, 1970)or the desire to maximise financial rewards to gain status. Nevertheless, Starr (1982) concluding from the work of a number of sociologists, agreed that the characteristics ‘service’, rather than profit orientation, should be included in a definition of professions. Spencer (1896) devoted considerable space in his ‘Principles of Sociology’ to showing how various professions function to augment human life. The primary argument of professions is for relative freedom based on unique expertise, moral integrity, confidentiality and protection from political abuse. As a result members gained a higher social status linked to class-based notions of trustworthiness.
Hodson and Sullivan (2012:277) use the term semi-profession to describe occupational groups that demonstrate some characteristics of a profession and are, therefore, in the process of professionalization. Occupations that could qualify as semi professions include social workers, librarians and HR. According to Hodson and Sullivan (2012:260) professions are characterized by (1) Expert knowledge (defined as theoretical, practical and technique/application), (2) autonomy (decision making freedom) , (3) authority (in the use of a specialized knowledge base) and (4) altruism (demonstrated through helping others). They suggest that these hallmarks are then used to evaluate occupations who wish to become professions. All occupations have a body of knowledge but semi professions usually do not monopolize theirs nor do they have barriers to entry. Although semi professions have some discretion with clients, it is argued that the bureaucratic setting in which they frequently operate affords only partial autonomy. Many semi professions have codes of ethics and disciplinary rules enforced by the members of the professional associations. However, unlike the established professions their associations are less likely to be politically powerful. The semi professions’ associations are less powerful for fear of offending major employers or the more powerful professions. To make the process even more difficult in some semi-professions, several associations compete for the allegiance of the members. Nevertheless, many semi professions are accorded status and legitimacy. Some have considerable authority over clients, and most have some form of licensing or credential, but they still lack the autonomy and organized power of the professions. This results in a lack of collective power that is deemed by Hodson and Sullivan (2012) to be the single-most important difference between the semi professions and the professions. A possible criticism of Hodson and Sullivan’s (2012) work is that they have only four categories to describe a profession, making it too simplistic and thus, easier to make claims about occupations and professions. Also, as a result of using only four categories there are very few occupations who would meet the criteria to be classified as a profession.
A further integral dimension of professionalization is professionalism, a term that appears to be used widely, but frequently without full explanation (Solomon and Tresman, 1999).The emphasis is on values, however, like professions, it is understood to mean different things to different people. Therefore, there does not appear to be one clear definition(Elman et al., 2005, Sachs, 2001). Some focus on the attitudinal element (Hall, 1968, Kerr et al., 1977); moral nature (Durkheim, 1957) or service (Cervero et al, 1990). According to Swailes (2003)one of the most cited theorist is that of Hall’s (1968) who asserts professionalism is about understanding the individual member’s view of a profession. His work comprises five elements:-
- Use of professional organisation as major referent
- Belief in public service
- Belief in self regulation
- A sense of calling (commitment to profession)
- Feeling of autonomy
Hall (1968) highlights the intrinsic nature of professionalism and how it is connected and influenced by the values of the individual and the profession (frequently outlined in codes of practice or conduct), underpinned by moral and ethical principles.Hall’s (1968) work has been criticised for not stating which element is more important than another, for possible bias in selecting what should be measured and problems in the ability to generalise from the data as they are culturally specific (Swailes, 2003). Stewart and Rigg (2011:298) however, who specifically considered the work of HR/HRD, highlight the moral and collective aspect, suggesting that HR professionals construct their ethical position based on personal and professional values:-
“observes a set of moral, or ethical, principles that promote collective rather than individual good’
The implicit emphasis in all of the above definitions of professionalism is a focus on the collective rather than individual good that membership of a profession affords.However, Cervero et al(1990:30) from their work in United States have a different view stating that professionalism “generally refers to the provision of expert, high quality service to consumers”. This definition appears to be much more client focussed. Implicit in this view of professionalism is the unique service to clients provided by professionals using their expert knowledge base. Cunningham and McLaughlin (1995) point out that because professionals are deemed to be service-orientated that this has been interpreted as being trustworthy, the suggestion being that inherent in professionalism is trust, a term generally regarded as an ethical issue. The professional is given legitimacy through the development of the client and professional relationship; so too is the professional body who seek to protect the status of the profession.
The focus on the collective and community interest is an important dimension but is a current issue for many professionals. In the teaching profession a term called ‘new professionalism’ is evident (Kostogriz, 2007). The suggestion is that this is, in part, due to shift from the Keynesian welfare state to Neo-liberal policies that are aligned to principles of market economy in line with that discussed earlier in this section. The provision of a profession is justified in order to maximise profits and privatisation of public services. Kostogriz (2007:24) argues that the market-driven discourse in education results in an emphasis on individual accountability and responsibility, “erasing the singularity of teachers”. The result being a move towards a managerial construction of professionalism where questions about wider socialist issues are not encouraged nor expected. One suggestion is that the power of some professionals have been curtailed through taking on management roles that use their professional status to follow bureaucratic rules and encourage others in the profession to do the same (Avis, 1996). This view highlights the difficulty of professionalization in bureaucratic structures as mentioned in the section on semi-professions. Brunnetto and Farr-Wharton (2004:587), agree and argue that one of the roles of ‘managerialism’ in the 1980s and 1990s has been to:
“curtail the autonomy of professional employees”
This can be viewed negatively as the professional is judged and driven by externally developed standards and performance measures (Bell et al., 2001). One of the possible reasons for a preference by an organisation towards an individual rather than collective approach, as offered by professionalism is that it has been found that professionals can be more committed to their profession than their organisation. Gouldner(1957:296)found a difference between what he termed cosmos and local employees. Cosmos employees he found were generally more committed to their profession than to their organisation. He used faculty members in his research and found that Cosmos showed:-
“less organisational loyalty than locals in that they would more readily leave Co-op College for another”.
In practice, some have argued that certain professional employees when faced with a dilemma that involves following managerial hierarchical decisions that clash with the values and beliefs of the profession have followed the latter (Parsons, 1983).However, Swailes (1993), using the view of Friedson (1970) that professional autonomy will be maintained only if the environment reinforces it, supports the view that management control could be deemed to be a threat to professionalism.
In relation to the HR profession concerning its status from occupation to profession, there have been few comprehensive studies. Most notably, therefore, is the recent work of Fanning (2011) who following an extensive literature review of fifteen authors on the work of professions, including HR, identified nine characteristics. She describes these characteristics (table 1) as desirable, not absolute prerequisites, suggest that a profession includes:-
Table 1: Fanning’s (2012) characteristics of a profession
Slightly unique in Fanning’s (2011) characteristics is the inclusion of research and recognition. However, on deeper analysis of the work ‘research’ and ‘recognition’ was highlighted by only two of the fifteen authors used in her research design and was not found in other work on professionalization. Therefore, the author decided that these dimensions would not be included in her summary.
Implicit in the research into professionalization (movement of occupation to profession) is the notion that a profession can be described and understood in order to exist. However, this notion is fraught with issues, particularly for the newer professions like HRM who some continue to describe as an occupation (Caldwell, 2003b). A summary of fifteen different theorists who have identified the characteristics of a profession (for example, Ulrich (1998); Cheetham and Chivers, 2005; Scultze, 2008) produced by Fanning (2011), other theorist and Hall’s (1968) elements of professionalism have been synthesized in order to analyse the extent to which HR can be deemed to be an occupation or profession (table 1). The hallmarks are defined as (1) Organised and recognized – does a professional body exist and is it recognized by the wider community; (2) Body of knowledge – the author has used Hodson and Sullivan’s (2012) definition that includes theoretical, practical and technical knowledge; (3) Altruism – the concern and practical help for others; (4) Authority – power and authority of clients and occupations through use of specialized knowledge; (5) Client focus – Clear focus on client needs; (6) Collective influence – practical influence at wider level in society and (7) Use of professional organization as major referent – degree of professionalism of individual and relationship with professional body. The criteria used by the author is (1) yes – to indicate that mainly the professional body does meet the requirements (2) no – mainly the professional does not meet the requirements and (3) partially – some evidence so not possible to state yes/no.
Table 2: HR/HRD Occupation or Profession?
From table 2 it can be seen that HR partially meet the requirements of the hallmarks of a profession. CIPD is recognized and provides an organisational structure as the HR/HRD professional body. Representatives from CIPD can be frequently found on national television and radio (for example, radio 4) providing informed opinion and contributing to debates related to employment. The result of this role in the media also means that outcomes of CIPD research have wide-reaching consequences, thus some collective influence. Much of the commentary from CIPD receives media attention, reaching the headlines at both national and regional newspaper and broadcast media (Askew, 2012). A distinguishing feature of professionals is their claim to a specific knowledge base (Larson, 1977). The CIPD aims to control the knowledge base through the Professional Qualification Scheme (PQS), the recognized route to CIPD membership. Although the PQS is not compulsory for practice it is thepreferred approach and helpful for entry to the profession(CIPD, 2005). While findings from the IRS (2004) careers survey, suggested that 14% of the respondents felt that a lack of professional qualification in HR was a barrier to career progression. However, there are challenges to the knowledge base as HR as an academic subject appears in most undergraduate degrees and postgraduate management syllabus(Raelin, 1995) . In addition, the general and changing nature of HRM work makes some of the professional aspects difficult to meet (Francis and Keegan, 2006, Legge, 1995, Watson, 2004). Furthermore, HR/HRD work is often the responsibility of a number of individuals in an organization, frequently all management (Renwick, 2002). In a recent article in People Management, there was a call to become an ‘applied business discipline’ as opposed to an ‘applied people discipline’ as is now (Robinson, 2011:40). The suggestion is that HR/HRD practitioners need to ‘speak the language of businesses. This move would have implications in terms of the distinctiveness of the HR/HRD knowledge and contradict the goal of achieving professional status for HR/HRD as a profession, particularlyas management is firmly placed in the category of occupation (Rousseau and Barends, 2011).
A separate issue of the HR profession and many other professions is the move away from what traditionally is known as altruism, the need to provide a public service and to serve others. In general for a number of professions there has been a move away from public service to profit that has resulted in a perceived general lack of respect (Gold et al., 2002). While this is a problem for many professions, it is possibly critical for a ‘people profession’ such as HR, and particularly noting the less than favourable external opinions of the profession (CIPD, 2005). Both autonomy and authority are difficult for HR/HRD practitioners as they do not operate completely independently, particularly with the devolvement of much management practice to line managers. For example, a decision about dismissal of an employee could include the HR manager, line manager, senior management, unions and possibly many others during the investigation process. The result is that it is difficult for HR to assert authority over the occupation of management, thus reducing their professional status. Also, there is an argument, that the current value of the HR/HRD knowledge base could be de-valued with the continued devolvement to line managers (Currie and Proctor, 2001). Furthermore, the move to a strategic role has added complexity. Although there are benefits to being more strategic as a profession, there are criticisms about the inconsistency of practice, training, development and support of line management (Legge, 1995; Caldwell, 2002; Francis & Keegan, 2006). One of the particular concerns is that the notion of strategy has been favouredat the expense of other traditional areas (Francis & Keegan, 2006).
In terms of the client base there is evidence that senior management appear to be more satisfied with the HR move to strategic with less enthusiasm from line management and employees. Certainly employees appeared to have fared the worst as they are the least preferred group for HR professionals. Therefore, it is possibly not surprising that longitudinal research from Hailey et al (2005)found that employees were feeling alienated and that their interests, at times, are being neglected as the HR Department is more inclined to side with management. This is an area which, according to Reddington and Williamson (2005) is under-researched.However, it is an integral element of professionalism with a focus on the values of the individual towards the profession. As professional membership is not compulsory to practice and with the dilution of knowledge to line managers it is imperative that those who do have membership are aligned.