Although work design is a significant theoretical foundation of human resource development (HRD), it has garnered little attention from researchers in the HRD field. To help remedy this oversight, we review job crafting, which is one of the most recent and significant work design theories. After reviewing 28 empirical studies examining the relationship between job crafting and performance, we discuss future research possibilities and implications for HRD theory and practice. As job crafting has been shown to have a positive relationship with performance, we encourage HRD researchers and practitioners to extend their understanding and application of job crafting.

Research detailing employee engagement has reliably stated that resources are significant to fostering engagement. Notwithstanding, no previous work has attempted to make meaning of those resources through a review of the existing literature. To better understand how the engagement literature positions and defines resources, we reviewed the resources term across 137 articles. The results of our structured literature review revealed that 216 distinct resources were mentioned across literature streams, and five distinct categories from macro to micro levels could be identified. The categories include (a) organizational resources, (b) social resources, (c) job resources, (d) home resources, and (e) personal resources. In addition to detailing our method and each category of resources, we explore implications for human resource development theory and practice.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among human resource development (HRD) efforts, top management support, and employees’ attitudes (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) in the Korean context. Based on the Korean Human Capital Corporate Panel survey data, 3,899 responses from 159 large companies were analyzed by adopting hierarchical multiple regression analysis and a regression-based path analysis. The results indicated that HRD efforts positively affected organizational commitment through job satisfaction. In addition, job satisfaction had a moderated mediation effect on the interaction of HRD efforts and top management support on organization commitment. Finally, top management support moderates the relationship between HRD efforts and employees’ attitudes such that increased top management support for HRD efforts improves employees’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate individual and organizational factors that influence the relationship between career development and job performance improvement. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts multilevel analysis, using the 2013 Human Capital Corporate Panel data set compiled by the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training. Findings: Taking into consideration 572 employees over 61 companies, our findings reveal that job satisfaction and organizational commitment are significant individual factors that affect job performance through career development. Moreover, mentoring/coaching is found to be an organizational factor that influences job performance improvement through career development, while job rotation interferes with job performance through career development. Research limitations/implications: The framework of the present study is consistent with the framework for organizational career development created by McDonald and Hite (2016), which emphasizes considering both organizational and individual factors together. Practical implications: The results of this study provide empirical evidence and practical implications for leaders, line managers and human resource managers who are responsible for employees’ career development when they plan career development interventions. Originality/value: This study offers a conceptual framework for career development, paying special attention to multi-level development.

This study reviews the potential applications of the metaverse to various areas of human resource development (HRD) and reflects on the applications’ significance for employee and organizational development. Adopting a narrative review approach to this study, we selected and reviewed 34 cases. From our review, we found several findings that contributes to the HRD field in several ways. First, it draws the attention of HRD researchers and practitioners to a critical emerging trend that has been overlooked in the field. Second, it offers an analytical view of the metaverse in comparison to other training or learning technologies, assessing its effectiveness in employee development. Third, this study enhances the perspectives of HRD researchers and practitioners regarding this new technology by providing practical and theoretical insights into how metaverse-based interventions can reshape organizational culture and improve employee performance in the workplace. Lastly, it addresses compelling theoretical and practical questions related to HRD issues arising from the metaverse.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to explore the underlying mechanism of the relationship between psychological safety and performance.Design/methodology/approach: A serial multiple mediation model that explains the impact of psychological safety on performance via job crafting and thriving at work was proposed and tested using PROCESS macro (Model 6). Data were collected from 320 employees at three different large Korean organizations.Findings: The results of this study found that job crafting and thriving at work sequentially mediate the relationship between psychological safety and performance. However, the direct effect of psychological safety on performance was found to be nonsignificant. Put differently, psychological safety is unrelated to performance independent of the effects of job crafting and thriving at work.Originality/value: The present study theoretically contributes to psychological safety research by proposing and testing a serial mediation model that explores the underlying mechanism of the relationship between psychological safety and performance in detail. Practically, this study informs managers about the importance of ensuring a psychologically safe workplace environment and encouraging employees' proactive behaviors to enhance their performance and ability to thrive at work.