67 The Impact of the Economic Crisis upon Human Resource Development (HRD): Evidence from two Greek Banks

Abstract

I'd like to cover three points in this editorial.Firstly, welcome to this, the second issue, of the new Journal.A glance through the contents page reveals its international credentials and I am delighted to welcome contributors from Australia, the USA, Ireland, the UAE, Greece, Poland and the UK.The themes are wide ranging, spanning research, practice and policy.The Editorial Board, together with a growing network of reviewers, have been keen to encourage contributors, whatever the type of article, to address implications for practice; the classic 'so what' question.This is still work in progress but I believe we are moving in the right direction.Catherine Lombardozzi addresses self-directed learning; Caitriona Hughes and Corina Sheerin report on their work looking at mentoring for females working in investment banking and Ruth Leggett and Joanne James explore the benefits of coach development … for the coach.Each offers a pertinent contribution on such key HRD practices.Steven Hodge, Erica Smith and Llandis Barratt-Pugh report on their search for a model of Learning & Development practice arising out of their work with the Australian Institute of Training & Development, whilst Alaa Garad contributes the first of a two-part article linking Investors in People with Business Excellence and its application to organisations in the United Arab Emirates.The financial crash of 2008 still seems to occupy many a newspaper column and hence Fotios Mitsakis and Eleni Aravapoulou's research on its impact on HRD in two Greek banks offers an important insight.I note also our new HRD Forum section.This includes an interview with David Fairhurst, Chief People Officer for McDonald's; one of the best known global organizations.I hope this is the first of many such contributions to the journal, giving real voice and legitimacy to the realities of HRD practice.It is followed by Paul Turner and Wojciech Zytkowiak raising some timely questions about one of the current 'hot topics' in HRD -HRD Analytics.The Journal's progress over the course of the year began with successful launches at both the IFTDO Conference in March and the UFHRD Conference in June and generated considerable interest in the Journal.Some of this initial interest has been translated into contributions to the Journal and hopefully there are more to come from both these sources.With Issue 2 now published we have met our initial target for year 1 and feel there is a momentum slowly building.Whilst an over generalisation it is probably the case that the IFTDO Conference is more practitioner oriented and the UFHRD more research oriented.The challenge remains one of encouraging HRD practitioners and policy makers to contribute to the Journal; HRD professionals who are engaged in interesting initiatives in their organisations (and nations) and which deserve a wider audience.I know that there is a lot going on -one only has to look at the level and range of contributions to IFTDOs global awards (see also page 111 and www http://www.iftdo.net/global-hrd-awards)as testimony here.But to gain the engagement of practitioners to write a reflective account of practice remains a 'tough nut' to be cracked.I am in no doubt this hurdle has to be addressed and welcome thoughts, ideas, outlines, proposals which can help us achieve this important goal.Two other developments of note are:

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