Critical Perspectives on Workforce Development

This chapter examines recent developments in what is referred to as ‘critical HRD’ (CHRD). The concept of human resource development (HRD) is first explained as an alternative to ‘workforce development’. This includes the argument that HRD is broader in scope and so encompasses the more limited term ‘workforce development’. Then CHRD is explored as a term that denotes a shift in theorising and research on HRD which aims to question and challenge conventional understandings of the purpose and means of facilitating learning in work organisations. This is preceded by a section explaining the relationship of CHRD with the broader critiques of organisation and management studies adopted in critical management studies (CMS), which provides some of the context of CHRD. The chapter closes with some conclusions, implications and speculations.