Morning conversations: A study of the lived experience of human resource development practitioners

Studies done before 1990 describe the practice of human resource development (HRD) in terms of practitioner competencies. Many graduate HRD programs are based on a 1989 competency model. In the last decade work, workers, and organizations have changed dramatically. The literature review revealed no study describing the lived experience of HRD practice. The problem addressed in this study deals with the preparation of graduate students for HRD practice. The research question is What is it like to practice human resource development today?; The goals of the study are to describe the lived experience of HRD practitioners and to provide information for academicians to use in responding to new expectations for the education of HRD practitioners. Three qualitative approaches were used to examine data from the study group of five full-time HRD practitioners who are also graduate students in HRD. The findings relate to time and change; role conflict; a historical metaphorical shift in the profession from competencies to conversation; working theories about problematic moments; mind activity as the naming of experience; and conversation and reinterpretation of the self.