The chief learning officer. A model role for integrating HR and strategic planning functions in libraries
| Published date | 15 August 2017 |
| Pages | 380-392 |
| Date | 15 August 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-03-2017-0035 |
| Author | Robert Farrell |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,HR in libraries,Library strategy,Library promotion |
The chief learning officer
A model role for integrating HR and strategic
planning functions in libraries
Robert Farrell
Department of Library, Lehman College,
The City University of New York, New York, New York, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to put forward the position of chief learning officer (CLO) as a
potential new role or models for new roles in libraries wishing to integrate human resources, strategic
planning, and budgeting.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper reviews the history and present functions of the CLO role in
the corporate world, correlating work within the library field with key aspects ofthe position as way by which
to conceptualize the integration of disparate library operations.
Findings –The position of CLO has not yet entered the library and information science (LIS) discourse.
Practical implications –Libraries that do not have CLO-like positions in their organizations may benefit
from adopting or adapting the position to their libraries.
Originality/value –The paper introduces the CLO position to the field of LIS.
Keywords Professional development, Budgeting, Strategic planning, Human resource development,
Learning organizations, Chief learning officers
Paper type Conceptual paper
Since the mid-1990s,the corporate world has graduallyseen the emergence and establishment
of a new professionalposition called the “chief learningofficer (CLO),”also referredto at times
as the “chief talent officer”. These “C-level”or“C-suite”professionals, whose rank and status
place them on par with chief information officers, chief operatingofficers, and so forth, focus
on strategicallyidentifying and managingthe professional developmentand learning needs of
acompany’s employees in order to maximizeemployee retention and productivity. They also
seek to anticipate and facilitate adaptation to changes in the business landscape a company
may face. CLOs keep companies apprised of emerging trends, threats, and innovations to
which employees willeventually need to respond. They also identify needs for new positions
within corporations, work both to recruit and develop existing talent within organizations,
and quickly bridge skill gaps identified in new hires, connecting the silos that characterize
traditional human resources (HR) operations (Bonner and Wagner, 2002; Sugrue and
Lynch, 2006; Elkeles et al., 2017).
The position of CLO evolved out of the “human resource development”(HRD) functions
traditionally seen as one of the many components of HR departments. As corporations have
become more aware of the value of employees and cognizant of the missed opportunities and
costs associated with employees possessing outmoded skills, HRD operations have
expanded to the point of becoming autonomous operations in their own right, whose
managers, the CLOs, now play an important role as members of their organizations
“Top Management Teams”(TMT) to provide “strategic HRD”(SHRD) aligned with an
organization’s business goals and strategies (Douglas, 2015). In addition to a relatively new
trade publication for the profession (CLO) there is also a growing body of literature on
CLO’s, including a recent doctoral dissertation that provides a cogent introduction to the
position, its history, and function (Douglas, 2015). In 2006, the University of Pennsylvania
established the first CLO doctoral program further legitimating and institutionalizing the
role (Speizer, 2006).
Library Management
Vol. 38 No. 6/7, 2017
pp. 380-392
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/LM-03-2017-0035
Received 16 March 2017
Revised 27 May 2017
Accepted 29 May 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
380
LM
38,6/7
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