Human Resource Development and the
Internet of
Things
Since the launch of the world-wide web in the early 1990s, the Internet
has impacted the way we live and work with the ‘speed of light.’ Society
is facing yet another wave of Internet technologies that will have a big
impact on the way we live and work. This phenomenon known popularly as
the Internet of Things (IoT) presents a situation where data generation
is the order of the day – every human interaction whether with living
or non-living things generate some form of data making the workplace a
data-driven environment. The changing phase of technology presents a
challenge to predictions of human interaction and how work is conducted.
The IoT has the potential to make a fundamental shift in the way we
interact with our surroundings. “It is suggested that we can see the
Internet as enabling the human social environment, as well as an
ever-increasing array of Internet-enabled devices, to function as
literal body parts” (Smart, 2017, p. 360).
Human Resource Development (HRD) is in a distinctive position to prepare
the workforce for this new way of working and to utilize the big data
generated by the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT has the potential to
fundamentally shift the way we interact with our surroundings (Manyika
et al., 2015). The capability to monitor and manage objects in the
physical world electronically makes it promising to bring data-driven
decision-making to new realms of human resource development—to augment
the performance of systems and processes, save time for people and
businesses, and improve quality of life (Manyika et al., 2015).
Human Resource Development (HRD) involves developing people with a focus
on improving knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to guide
organizations, create a long-term vision, develop strategy, staff the
organization, communicate, motivate people toward the vision, and to
support improved productivity. HRD is targeted across levels of
abstraction of individuals, teams, organizations, communities, and
fields of policy and practice (Yawson, 2017). All these levels and focus
of HRD are being impacted by the emergence of the IoT. As Bennett,
(2014) aptly described:
The field of HRD is at a historic point in which we can demonstrate
value and relevance to the modern, technology-enabled organization. Many
in the field of HRD have sought a balance between the needs of the
individual and the needs of the collective for learning and performance.
Both management and HRD needs are often embedded in the same virtual
systems, but HRD has been late to incorporate technology strategically
in practice and in academic preparation programs (p.275).
It is no longer business as usual for HRD professionals. As a result of
the emergence of IoT, the world is experiencing significant, largely
economic and sociotechnical, induced changes. These changes are more
than jargon, cliché, and hyperbole, and they are effecting major
transformations (Yawson & Greiman, 2014). These transformations will
impact on how human resources are developed and we need to be able to
forecast its effects (Yawson & Greiman, 2017). To produce such
forecasts, HRD needs to become more predictive and adaptable - to
develop the ability to understand how human capital systems,
organizations, and the national innovation ecosystems will behave in the
future that IoT brings. The Classical Internet has radically altered the
way we access information, profoundly transformed the way we think, act
and remember (Smart, Heersmink, & Clowes, 2017). With the IoT, every
aspect of our cognitive and epistemic endeavors, either individual or
collective, will be undertaken with some involvement of the Internet
(Smart et al., 2017). Relative to this influence, it makes sense, to see
the IoT as fully becoming an important part of the “cognitively-potent
extra-organismic environment in which our biological brains are now
situated.” (Smart et al., 2017, p. 255). The IoT can, therefore, be
seen as a form of cognitive ecology that shapes our thinking and other
socially transmitted ideas. Given the emergence, momentum, and the
prospects of IoT, the objective of this research is to discuss the
impact the advances in IoT will have on HRD research and practice and
the role HRD should play in addressing the impact of IoT on the human
resource in organizations.
Research
Question
There is the need for optimal balance in modern core skills, like
agility, collaboration, cognitive flexibility, creativity and
organizational development. It all comes down to educating and preparing
the human resource across levels of abstraction of individuals, teams,
organizations, communities, and fields of policy and practice to absorb
the big data that comes from IoT. Given this need as a result of
the momentum and emergence of IoT, what role is there for HRD as
a field of study and practice to ensure success and relevance in this
new era ?