Elwood Holton

Research fields

His research focuses on workforce development policy, analysis and evaluation of organizational learning and performance systems, improving learning transfer systems, management and leadership development, and HRD policy and strategy. He is a Past-President of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) and one of 75 charter members of that organization. In total, he served 7 years on the organization’s Board of Directors during its formative years, holding a variety of positions including Proceedings Editor, founder of the AHRD Foundation, Conference Program Chair, and other committee assignments.

Awards

His research has won numerous awards, including the Richard A. Swanson Research Excellence Award from the Academy of Human Resource Development and six Citations of Excellence from ANBAR Management Intelligence. He teaches many different courses including Fundamentals of Human Resource Development, Principles of Adult Education, Needs Assessment in Training and Development, Advanced Training Design and Methods, HRD Evaluation, Leadership in Organizations, Consulting in Organizations, Advanced HRD Theory, Managing Change in Organizational Systems and Leadership Development Strategies.

Books and articles

He is the author or editor of 19 books including: co-editor of Improving Learning Transfer Systems in Organizations (Jossey- Bass, 2003); co-author of Approaches to Training and Development (Perseus Publishing, 2003); co-author of Human Resource Development: Foundations of Theory and Practice (Berrett-Koehler, 2001); co-author of How to Succeed in Your First Job: Tips for New College Graduates, So You Are New Again: How to Succeed When You Change Jobs, and Helping Your New Employee Succeed: Tips for Managers of New College Graduates (Berrett-Koehler, 2001); co-author of The Adult Learner-5th ed. (Gulf Publishing,1998); co-author of Results: How to Assess Performance, Learning, and Perceptions in Organizations (Berrett- Koehler, 1999) that was the main selection of the Executive Program Book Club; author of The Ultimate New Employee Survival Guide. (Petersons, 1998); co-editor of the HRD Research Handbook (Berrett-Koehler, 1997); editor of the case book Leading Change in Organizations (ASTD, 1997); and co-editor of Conducting Needs Assessment (ASTD, 1995).

He is an author for over 200 publications including academic and professional articles in journals such as Advances in Developing Human Resources, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Human Resource Development International, Performance Improvement Quarterly, Human Resource Management Review, Human Resource Planning, Human Performance, International Journal of Training and Development, Journal of European Industrial Training, Public Personnel Management, Journal of Organizational andOccupational Psychology, Training and Development, and the Journal of Business and Psychology. In addition, he is the founding editor of Human Resource Development Review, a quarterly refereed journal devoted to theory and theory building in human resource development. He has also served on the editorial boards of HRD Quarterly, Human Resource Development International, Advances in Developing Human Resources and a reviewer for Performance Improvement Quarterly, Personnel Psychology, Human Performance, Human Relations, International Journal of Manpower and the International Journal of Training and Development.

Experience

Dr. Holton has over 20 years experience consulting with a wide variety of private, public, and non-profit organizations on human resource development, organization development and performance improvement issues. Some of the organizations he has consulted with include Formosa Plastics Corp., Baton Rouge City Police, J. P.Morgan, Cigna Corp., Entergy Corp., Enterprise Renta- Car, Ciba-Geigy Corp., Ford Motor Company, Honeywell, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. General Services Administration, eleven Louisiana state government departments, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and Louisiana Workers Compensation Corp. In the area of organizational development, he consults on issues such as Organizational climate and culture, leadership development, strategic planning, organizational change, balanced scorecard, strategic HRD, team building and organizational design. Dr. Holton has personally designed and delivered training programs to thousands of people during the last eighteen years. His many workshops and training programs include such diverse topics as management development, leadership, MBTI-based interpersonal skills, change and transition management new employee adaptation and socialization, training evaluation, training design andmethods, adult learning principles, performance analysis, data collection methods in HRD, enhancing employee retention, assessing learning outcomes from training, managing the transition from college to work, needs assessment, and career development. Dr. Holton received his B.S. in Business, an M.B.A., and an Ed.D. in Human Resource Development, all from Virginia Tech. His other career positions include being President of his own human resource and organizational development consulting firm; Director of Virginia Tech's Northern Virginia MBA program and directing their MBA career planning and placement services; and an analyst in international finance with the DuPont Co.