The UK has a professional body (the Chartered Institute for Personnel and
Development (CIPD)) with over 130,000 members and a recognised professional
qualification. The ASTD (formerly American Society for Training and Development) is
somewhat smaller but is global in ambitions and is focussed more narrowly on “trainers”
rather than human resource generalists. As an illustration of a “purpose” definition
consider the following, which is taken from the standard textbook recommended by the
CIPD for their qualification: