Critical Issue: Workplace Learning in Organizations ADE 6265 Dr.

Debra Hargrove

By Edwiygh Franck Florida Atlantic University Spring 2013

Introduction In todays society, training alone is no longer sufficient for employees to gain knowledge and skills that they will apply to the workplace. Organizations are streamlining everyday and have to find ways in the workplace to keep their employees skilled and up to date with the latest skills to perform their jobs. Without such an environment, the skill level of the employees will remain stagnant regardless of how many trainings, conferences or seminars that they attend. Many times employees go to trainings or conferences, and they receive an array of tools to bring back with them to their workplace. However, the structure of their workplace does not allow them to effectively apply the new concepts. There are no mechanisms in place that gives the employees a trial period where they can safely apply the newly acquired skills without the possibility of having a negative impact on the organization. Organizations, most of the time, fail at the implementation portion of all their processes. They invest a great deal of time and money in sending employees to trainings or bringing consultants in to train their employees, but when it comes time to actually go through the implementation process they fall short. Employees have what one may call the shelves of shame which are the shelves that carry all of the wonderful binders of information and tools that employees have received by going to conferences, trainings and seminars, that they never end up using in the workplace. The binders sit on the shelves collecting dust; while the processes in the organizations are antiquated and the employees skills are stagnant. When this occurs, the trainings that were attended become irrelevant because the behavior change in the workplace has not occurred, and a gap is created (Matid, 2003). Employees get frustrated and
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eventually use trainings and conferences as a way to get away from the office as opposed to actually learning something new and bringing it back to the workplace. That is where workplace learning comes into play. Workplace Learning Workplace learning has been defined many different ways based on the context in which it was being used; however, for the purposes of this paper, workplace learning is defined as an approach, where the workplace is structured to maximize processes of learning where employees learn how to become learners and learn skills related to their own jobs and those of other workers. Work is organized along a high performance model where learning occurs informally within the workplace and through team work, problem solving and social interaction with colleagues and clients/customers (Ashton, Butler, Felstead, Fuller, Lee, Unwin, Walters, 2004). In other words, it is an organizational environment where employees participate in activities such as mentoring, coaching, and hands-on application of skills and knowledge acquired from trainings, etc., which allows them to enhance their skill levels in their job functions and their colleagues job functions. Workplace learning is an effective avenue that organizations can utilize to tackle employees continuous professional development as the economic climate continues to change. Organizations face the issue of a shortage in skilled workers in the workforce; therefore, they are spending billions of dollars putting their employees through training in order for them to continue to be competitive in the market, reach their goals and grow as organizations (Godinez, Sakai, 2012 ). However, the employees do not always have an environment where they can effectively apply the skills that they acquired in their trainings.
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The traditional way for organizations to deal with training is to send their employees out to attend trainings, conferences, seminars, etc., and expect them to come back to the office with knowledge that they can immediately apply to their job functions without any follow-up support at the office. This is called the Silver Bullet concept, which is the concept that states that trainings are the magical silver bullets that will fix all of the problems in the organizations (Matid, 2012 ). What the organizations fail to realize is that trainings are only the first steps into growing staff and improve their skills and knowledge. The organizations have to invest time in the workplace to provide support to the employees following the trainings so that they can have the opportunity to assimilate the information that they received from the trainings. In order to remain in optimal competition mode with their competitors, organization have to expand from traditional approaches to learning such as formal, classroom, and off the job, to approaches that use technology, communities of learning, and continuous on-thejob learning challenges. Organizations must also create a workplace environment that offers and encourages engagement in varied learning opportunities on a continuous and long-term basis (Godinez, Sakai, 2012). They have to be willing to put in the work that is required to set up such an environment, where it is an intentional part of the organizational structure, and it is clearly communicated to employees so that they are aware of the processes that are place. Employees have to have the opportunity to come back to work from a professional development event and know that they will be able to come back to work and have the opportunity to determine how they may apply what they have learned to the current processes of the organization; test out the tools that they have identified as applicable to the organization; and go through a process of implementation that will eventually involve the
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entire organization. Then and only then, will they observe true transfer of learning, employee productivity and satisfaction, and growth in all aspects of the organization. Creating a Workplace Learning Environment Once an organization has realized the importance and benefits of a workplace learning environment, there are several steps that they need to take in order to create and maintain an effective and productive workplace. Simply articulating that employees are free to apply any skills to the workplace and use any tools that they have acquired in professional development activities is irresponsible and dangerous. Such a careless act may result in damaging the organization; because all tools and skills do not apply to every organization. Therefore, it is imperative that there are clear expectations attached to the workplace learning environment so that the employees know what their subsequent steps are following a training or conference. An organization can choose to create a workplace learning environment in many different ways; however there are basic components that must exist in order to effectively implement such an environment. Organizations have to dedicate time to brainstorm and layout a plan on how they are going to implement the processes. Content experts in the field recommend the following steps with which to start the process: 1. Make time for workplace leaning and celebrate time spent on learning 2. Make learning personal by tying it to performance, career advancement and recognition 3. Develop a work environment that facilitates challenging and meaningful experiences in order to facilitate positive effects on competence development 4. Make learning available to all employees 5. Make learning challenging and applicable. Challenging the learner to solve real organizational problems makes learning relevant to both the employee and the organization 6. Create opportunities for group forms of learning
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7. Learning is a continuous process, not a single event. Learning over time requires a long-term commitment by both the organization and the employee (Godinez, Sakai, 2012 ). In addition, procedures have to be created to specify that attending trainings is part of a change program in the organization, and set specific instructions of what needs to happen in the workplace after training is completed. This is a great communication tool with the employees and it lets them know what the expectation sre and which steps to take to meet these expectations. Specific roles and responsibilities have to be set describing required behavior and performance expectations, and employees have to be held accountable for following through with the post-training expectations. To further solidify the process, targets, objectives, and completion dates must be set prior to each training is attended. A review of the training must be done to determine what the specific expectations will be after the completion of the training. The organization must identify how the components of the trainings will benefit and improve the organization; then set the expectations that employees must meet following the completion of the training. In turn, this will allow the organization to measure organizational improvement objectively and focus the efforts of employees on trainings that will make a difference in the workplace. The organization must provide coaching support to the employees once they complete training. This can be done face-to-face if resources allow or through technology. Furthermore, incentives are a great motivator for employees. Some employees are intrinsically motivated and strive to apply their newly learned skills to the workplace no matter what; however, other employees need a driver, or their behavior change in their performance will be minimal. In that case, incentives will work perfectly to drive these employees. Incentives such as performance appraisals, promotions, bonuses, team dinners, gift certificates, time off,
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and salary review are all effective ways to incentivize workplace learning. Through all of this process, the organization must maintain an opened line of communication with all employees to ensure that they are properly informed and are not confused about the expectations. With effective communication, both the organization and the employees will be engaged in the process and feel empowered to complete their end of the deal every time a training is attended (Matid, 2003 ). Workplace Learning Implementation Strategies There are several possible strategies that are available to implement workplace learning in an organization. Organizations must review these strategies and determine which ones will fit the mission, vision, goals and employees the best. All strategies are not created equal and require different resources and commitment from the organization and the employees. The following paragraphs describe a number of strategies that organization can use. A first strategy is called project-based learning. Project-based learning is defined as a comprehensive instructional approach which engages students in an organized and cooperative manner to investigate and resolve certain problems An individual or group activity that goes on over a period of time, resulting in a product, presentation or performance It has a timeline and milestones, and other aspects of formative evaluation as the project proceeds (Amin, Latiff, Mufti, Musa, 2010). A simpler definition is a systematic teaching method that engages students learning knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process structured around complex, authentic questions, and carefully designed products and tasks (Amin, Latiff, Mufti, Musa, 2010). Research shows that project-based learning not only improves language learning, but it also enables learners to transfer what they have learned into real world
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situation; it helps them become better collaborators in project work; and it assists them in acquiring project management skills such as planning, organizing, negotiating, making consensus, responsibility, research, and the effective presentation of information (Amin, Latiff, Mufti, Musa, 2010). Furthermore, project based learning fosters the development of crucial skills such as teambuilding, managing conflicts, making decisions, and communication skills (Amin, Latiff, Mufti, Musa, 2010). In order to apply a project-based approach to workplace learning, an organization must conduct some preplanning activities to ensure that the project selected is in line with the objectives of the training being attended. For example, an organization can determine improvements that are needed; then they select a training that will assist in making these improvements, and they create a project based on the objectives of the training and the needs of the organization. Finally, they allow a group of employees to attend the training with the understanding that they will be completing a project as a group upon the completion of the training. A second strategy is the use of coaching and mentoring. This approach works best on an individual level. Coaching and mentoring allows for a more seasoned employee (peer or supervisor) to support either a new employee or an employee who has attended training to acquire a new skill in which the seasoned employee is an expert. This strategy promotes selfconfidence and reinforcement of knowledge for the seasoned employee and it promotes comfort and support for the new employee or the employee acquiring a new skill. This strategy is also very flexible and it allows each employee to be an expert at a specific skill and gives them an opportunity to share what they know with their peer or supervisor. The level of respect and teamwork that is built from this strategy is tremendous if it is executed correctly. Such a
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strategy requires continuous monitoring because the organization must know in which areas their employees are experts based on performance so that they can designate what trainings are needed to grow others in these specific skills. In addition, the organization has to come up with a process on how coaching and mentoring will occur in order to ensure effectiveness. As a result, employees will feel that they have a strong support system and they will be able to acquire any necessary skills to better perform their job function. Moreover, this strategy allows for employees to become more vested in the mission, vision, and goals of the organization because they feel that they are contributing something valuable for the betterment of their peers and the organization as a whole (Amin, Latiff, Mufti, Musa, 2010). Another strategy is what is called secondment, better know as job-swap. Secondment or job-swap refers to transferring an employee to another department to learn the job function of that department (Silverman, 2003). This strategy allows for employee cross-training in the organization. This strategy is beneficial to both the organization and the employees. It is beneficial to the employees because it allows them to gain new skills and participate in handson learning in a different department, and they become a more valuable asset to the organization. It is beneficial to the organization because it allows it to have more highly skilled staff members that can jump in to help in other departments when needed at no extra cost. Limitation of Workplace Learning Although workplace learning is a beneficial component to organizations, it has its limitations. Depending on the resources available in and to an organization, workplace learning will look very different from one organization to the next. In addition to available resources, other limitations to workplace learning include undesirable knowledge, access barriers to
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authentic activities, reluctance of experts, and absence of expertise (Billett, 1995). Undesirable knowledge refers to employees to may know how to complete a task but do not know the proper process in completing that task (Billet, 1995). Employees may have been completing the task for so long that they have learned how to cut corners and take shortcuts to get to the end result quicker and have forgotten how to properly complete the task. This present itself as a problem when these employees are charged with teaching someone else how to complete the task; the learner will not learn the basis of the task and its process. As a result the learner will not be able to fully understand the purpose of the task and the necessary steps needed to effectively complete it. The next limitation is access barriers to authentic activities. When employees attend trainings and come back to the workplace to implement the newly acquired knowledge, if they are not exposed to real life activities that gradually become more complex, they will not be bale to utilize what they have learned (Billet, 1995). For example, if an employee attends a grant writing workshop, and when she returns to the office, there are grants being written but she is not involved; then the information she just received from the trainings is not being use for implementation. The employee needs to be included in the grant writing project in order to make sense of what she learned. Another limitation is when experts are reluctant to share their knowledge so not to jeopardize their job security. Employees fear sometimes that if they teach someone else what they do, then there is a possibility that this person may end up taking their job and that they are a less valuable asset now to the organization. Although this mentality is most of the time incorrect, it restricts organizations on the level and quality of workplace learning they want to provide their employees. The opposite, though, may also exist where there are not true experts in the organizations. The organization
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may be young or the turnover may be so great that employees have not been in their positions long enough to become experts in their job functions. In this case, organizations may have to bring outside expertise to deal with this issue; which will be beneficial to the employees because they will feel better equipped with tools to effectively complete the tasks of their job, then they are more likely to remain at the organization and not seek employment elsewhere. Conclusion Workplace learning is a crucial component of an effective organization. It is the perfect pairing with trainings attended by employees as it provides the employees with an avenue to apply acquired knowledge to real organizational situations and problems. Workplace learning comes in many forms such as project-based learning, coaching and mentoring, and secondment or job-swap. These strategies allow the organizations to empower their employees and provide them with the support and resources needed to effectively perform their tasks. However, organizations must first evaluate its needs and the path they will take to address them. Based on the identified needs, the organization and employees will work together to determine what possible trainings that can be completed and brought back to the workplace for implementation, and eventually to address the needs using the knowledge and skills acquired. Furthermore, they must take the time to create policies and procedures on how workplace learning will be conducted in their setting and clearly communicate these guidelines to the employees. As a result, everyone will be on the same page and employees will know of the expectations and act accordingly. Finally, due to some of the limitations of workplace learning, such as undesirable knowledge, access barriers to authentic activities, reluctance of experts, and absence of expertise, organizations must assess their level of expertise and access that are
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currently available in their setting in order in order to make informed decisions on how workplace learning will be implement. If organizations really invest in creating a workplace learning environment and are willing to put the time to structure it so that there are not any confusions on roles and responsibilities, then such a environment will truly benefit both the organization and the employees, and put the organization in a much better position to effectively compete.

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References Amin, M.M., Latiff, R.A., Mufti, N., Musa, F. (2010). Project-based learning: promoting meaningful language learning for workplace skills. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences (18) 187-195. Retrieved from www.sciencedirect.com Ashton, D., Butler, P., Felstead, A., Fuller, A., Lee, T., Unwin, L., Walters, S. (2004). Learning as work: teaching and learning processes in the contemporary work organization. The Centre for Labour market Studies. Retrieved from www.clms.le.ac.uk/research/learningaswork.html Billet, S. (1995). Workplace learning: its potential and limitations. MCB University Press (37) 5, p 20-27. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.fau.edu/journals.htm?articleid=837419&show =abstract . DOI 10.1108/00400919510089103 Godinez, E., Sakai, C. (2012) Adult Learning in the workplace. Transforming People Maximizing Results. Retrieved from http://www.think-training.com/adult-learning-in-theworkplace/ Matid, L.A.A. (2003). The myth of the silver bullet- an how to improve the effectiveness of training. Business Performance PTY LTD (29) 1. Retrieved from http://www.businessperform.com/articles/trainingmanagement/training_effectiveness.html Silverman, M. (2003). Supporting workplace learning: a background paper for IES Research Network Members. The Institute for Employment Studies. Retrieved from http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pdflibrary/mp22.pdf

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