The Problem Economic inequality and wage stagnation challenge employee well-being and organizational sustainability. HRD scholarship has given minimal attention to living wages as a strategic and developmental issue. Organizations lack conceptual guidance on integrating living wage practices into HRD frameworks, leaving practitioners without a foundation for aligning compensation with development goals. The Solution This paper positions the living wage as a developmental imperative aligned with HRD’s core domains: Training and Development, Organizational Development, and Career Development, grounded in Human Capability Theory, Organizational Justice Theory, and Strategic HRD Theory. Using illustrative examples from Costco, JPMorgan Chase, and Unilever, it theorizes that adequate wages enable employees to engage in training, contribute to organizational change, and pursue career advancement; it offers a conceptual framework to guide future empirical investigation. Stakeholders HRD professionals, educators, organizational leaders, policymakers, and researchers interested in advancing empirical inquiry on living wage as a strategic HRD mechanism.
Problem Organisations in Malta face growing pressure to implement diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) aligned with global and European standards. However, translating these norms into meaningful, context-sensitive practices within a small island state presents challenges. Tensions arise between formal compliance requirements and genuine inclusion when addressing intersectional inequalities related to gender, disability, nationality, and LGBTIQ + identities. Solution Using a qualitative approach based on interviews with HRD practitioners and black-letter analysis, this study shows how HRD actors include DEI into organisational development. Beyond formal policies on recruitment and pay equity, practitioners advance inclusive leadership development, mentoring, employee networks, and culture-building initiatives. Guided by institutional and paradox perspectives, these strategies balance regulatory compliance with transformative inclusion. Stakeholders Key stakeholders include HRD practitioners, organisational leaders, employees from diverse backgrounds, and policymakers shaping national and European equality frameworks.
Problem Organisations increasingly expect supervisors to coach their direct reports, and employees increasingly expect high-quality coaching support. Yet Human Resource Development (HRD) professionals lack clear evidence about whether the frequency of coaching or the expertise with which supervisors coach matters more for employee outcomes, and how coaching relationships shape these effects. This uncertainty leaves HRD professionals without clear guidance on where to focus developmental efforts.Solution This study refines the Ellinger et al. (2003) Coaching Behaviours Measure (CBM) to more precisely distinguish coaching frequency from coaching expertise and examines how each relates to employee in-role behaviours (IRB) and turnover intentions. Using data from 63 employee-supervisor pairs in a New Zealand consulting organisation, the refined F-CBM and E-CBM demonstrated strong reliability and validity. Whilst coaching expertise emerged as the stronger predictor of employee outcomes, coaching frequency exerted a more meaningful effect than previously recognised. The pattern of associations is consistent with the possibility that coaching relationship quality may play an indirect role in these relationships.Stakeholders These findings offer actionable guidance for coaching supervisors, HRD professionals and organisational leaders by clarifying which aspects of supervisory coaching matter most for employee performance and retention. This evidence can inform the design of coaching development initiatives that meet both employee expectations and organisational talent retention goals.Implication HRD practitioners can enhance employee outcomes by prioritising supervisors' coaching expertise, strengthening their relationship-building capability, and supporting regular high-quality coaching conversations.
