Understanding the Concept of National Occupational Standards (NOSs) in the Context of Human Resource Development

This study investigates the concept of National Occupational Standards (NOSs) in the context of scholarly interests of human resource development (HRD). NOSs are documents that represent the required set of knowledge and skills that individuals should possess to become competent in an occupation. In recent years, HRD scholars have expanded the boundaries of the field, from that of organizations to the broader frame of societies. NOSs are part of efforts to increase the human capital of a particular nation yet have been missing in HRD literature. This integrative literature review describes NOSs, discusses HRD at the national level, discusses why HRD scholars should become interested in NOSs, and finally proposes a conceptual framework of general research questions to guide future research on the topicLimitedManuscript is under revision on the International Journal of Training and Development