Ethical and legal issues in human resource development: evolving roles and emerging Trends.

Abstract

The field of HRD is constantly evolving as innovative ideas and changing demographics are emerging within the workplace. There are endless training and development, career development, and organization development decisions that must be made concerning employees. Many of these decisions are related to ethical and legal issues. Being unaware of legal issues and incognizant of making ethical decisions is inexcusable for HRD scholars and professionals. They are the educators and trainers of many students, and practically every employee, who depend on their knowledge sharing for improvement and behavioral changes. Having a resource readily available to assist them in their ethical and legal efforts is a goal of this project. Ethical and Legal Issues in Human Resource Development: Evolving Roles and Emerging Trends examines ethical and legal issues facing HRD scholars and professionals. It provides empirical and practical ideas about ethical and legal issues related to the field of HRD. A book like this one is needed in the field, given the lack of such a text within HRD. Books in the management literature are relevant to HRD (Gilbert, 2016; Hoffman, Frederick, & Schwartz, 2014) but are not specific enough for the many demanding roles and topics addressed by HRD scholars and professionals. Many professional organizations and employer entities have code of ethics and so does AHRD; however, the purpose of this book is not to focus on AHRD but on the entire field of HRD. The field of HRD encompasses other organizations—such as the Association for Talent Development (ATD), International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and Academy of Management (AOM)—and the roles of HRD scholars and professionals who are members of various other professional organizations and work within business and industry, government agencies, and other hiring organizations. This book solves the problem of the lack of a textbook that addresses ethical and legal issues related to HRD scholars and professionals. This book can serve as a practical resource for HRD students as they enter the workforce after becoming HRD professionals. As they seek to make moral and ethical choices in the workplace, HRD students must have resources to support their efforts. Continuous issues including fraud, dishonesty, collusion, and the privacy rights of workers and citizens remain a challenge (Klimoski, 2006).