How Dutch higher HRM education prepares future HR professionals for the impact of technological developments

Abstract

Technological developments are on the rise and considered to make way to a fourth industrial revolution. However, the extent to which (future) human resource (HR) professionals feel prepared to translate what technological developments mean for organizations and work remains largely unclear. In this article, we explore how higher human resource management (HRM) education prepares future HR professionals for the influence of technological developments in organizations. In addition, we investigate how alumni feel prepared by these programs to translate the impact of technological developments to their organization, by looking at the context of Dutch higher HRM education programs and deploying a qualitative case study methodology. Findings indicate that HR professionals face changes in their role, which require enrichments of their knowledge and competencies in the areas of technology change management, data literary and ethics, and (line) management involvement in the implementation of technology related practices. Furthermore, results show that HR programs integrate the subject of technological developments in different degrees of depth and that there is room for (strategic) development. Practical implications focusing on how higher HRM education programs could integrate knowledge and competencies that arise from these developments to increase the strategic value of HR professionals are discussed.