Learning and Development in the Workplace - Essay Example

?Introduction For hundreds of years businesses have embraced learning and development as key tools towards success. The conventional practice was to incorporate teaching in day-to-day running in an organisation in order to offer the required training to the workforce. However, with the many changes that have taken place in the business world, managers and employees have adopted flexible and involving approaches to learning. Organisations and employees are using resources to maximise on skills and competences available so as to gain a competitive edge. It has become a collaborated effort between the employer and the employee where they go through the learning process together so as to maximise the effects of the existing skills and competences. This paper will consider some flexible learning strategies that enhance the concept of workplace learning and development with short case studies as examples. Personal Development Plan Personal planning is approached by people differently based on the differences that individuals exhibit. Personal planning requires a great deal of individual effort for it to be effective. Not many people in the workplaces pay attention to developing personal plans despite being aware of their immense benefit toward personal development. In the workplace many employees feel that in developing a personal plan they are just but showing what the employer wants to see and term it as hypocritical or fail to see its value. Other employees who understand the benefits tend to take it pretty seriously. Personal development plans are actually the efforts that one put in place aiming at tracking their education and performance paths. These plans assist an employee in developing their career path better. This plan includes events and benchmarks along a career path which may be long or short term depending on the goals to be achieved therein (Makinson 2001). This development plan usually encompasses learning as one works towards set goals and objectives. Personally I take a Personal Development Plan as an avenue through which am able to know myself better. A plan streamlines daily activities and compresses them within a specified timeframe. As such personal discipline is cultivated which enables one to easily surpass their initial targets on performance or even learning. PDP allows one to uncover their underlying strengths and weaknesses which in the past acted as major hindrances to efficiency and general performance at work (Rughani 2001). Personal development plans offer one a chance to evaluate performance in relation to the set targets. When this is done an individual employee is able to engage in corrective measures that include further training, acquiring of new skills while developing existing ones and acquisition of more knowledge and competence to perform various tasks at the workplace. A PDP outlines the timeframe within which achievements are to be made. As such one is able to know with certainty how far they have gone with the plan, how effective it has been and the timeframe left together with what remains pending (Cottrell 2003). This way an individual is able to analyse clearly the skills, knowledge and competences they have acquired and compare this with the set targets. One of the most important benefits of the PDP is the realisation of the skills and knowledge needed to attain unachieved objectives which in turn make an employee to develop themselves towards their attainment (Clifford & Thorpe 2007). Use of PDP is a sure way of identifying how one is learning and whether this process is bearing any fruits. It does that by offering evidence that is vital in analysing the required knowledge and skills in ultimately achieving particular objectives. This brings in the need for goals to follow the SMART model which stipulates that goals have to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-based (Cottrell 2003). An individual following a laid out PDP needs to constantly evaluate the viability of their goals in respect to the elements of this model as failure to do so risks eventual failure in attaining set objectives. Projects usually require that their proponents map out a number of goals which will all work together to realise the primary objective. As stated once by Elbert Hubbard, an American philanthropist, “Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage, but simply because they have never organised their energies around a goal” (Makinson 2001). As earlier mentioned, ones efforts count a great deal in ensuring that a PDP eventually achieves its intended purpose. It is important to incorporate sessions within a plan which are to be achieved within a specific timeframe where completion of each session will be equivalent to reaching a certain goal. In the workplace employability is crucial as it determines ones potential to handle a certain position or certain tasks. This revolves around an individual’s abilities and competences which have been acquired mostly through learning. As such PDP is an important tool for both prospective and current employees to embrace for them to witness progressive change in their careers. PDP in the workplace needs to be aligned with the overall organisational goals. Therefore, successful PDP implementation results in a successful organisation. This is a desirable scenario for any management of any organisation. In order to attain all the goals in all sessions within a PDP an employee has to be committed to attain personal growth and development (Makinson 2001). Those employees who attain their intended targets or objectives within an organisation become automatic assets that are valued. Of importance to note is that in the course of individual development through learning and following of PDP, other employees learn (Hull, Redfern & Shuttleworth 2005). It is therefore a fact that individual skills and knowledge spread to colleagues at work therefore aiding in achieving higher levels of competence within an organisation. Looking into this it is clear to see that as much as PDP aims at personal career development, others develop as they interact and share ideas and tasks at work. Organisations worldwide are investing a great deal of their resources in developing their workforce as this is the only sure way that they are to sustain production or service provision in the highly competitive world of business. In doing this firms need to understand the roles of job satisfaction and job motivation. This aspect can be well explained by the Maslow’s theory of needs where motivation acts as a driving force in accomplishing an end. It is job satisfaction that is the fruits enjoyed after completion of a task. Abraham Maslow stated in his theories that for one need to be achieved the one before it has to have been achieved (Thorne and Mackey 2003). The basic needs which include water and food have to be fulfilled before one has the energy to accomplish other tasks. Other needs like e.g. recognition among others that are psychological are only achieved when physical ones are dealt with first e.g. food and water. PDP is an important tool for individuals to discover their shortcomings in relation to knowledge, skills and competences required to have a fulfilling personal and public lives. An organisation develops when individuals appreciate their weaknesses and take the next step of developing them. In order to attain the set targets within a PDP, employees need to subdivide the entire process into many sub goals to aid in structuring their targets. Structured PDP facilitates evaluation of progress and initiation of remedial actions e.g. further studies and sharpening of deficient skills in instances of deviation from the targeted goals. Reflection Reflection is a difficult process for learners to incorporate in their learning activities. It acts as one of the ways that an employee develops professionalism in their practices for their own benefit and that of the organisation. Reflection is an important element for workers to attain high productivity and job satisfaction. Reflection in this instance is on all activities undertaken during ones activities in the workplace. Those workers who embrace reflection become lifelong learners and are better in problem solving. They also exhibit relatively good interpersonal skills and ability to understand complex issues. A better form of engagement is derived where workers become more creative and innovative in handling tasks. Innovativeness and creativity are remarkable intangible assets that organisations have bestowed in their employees (Schon 1993). In the current global business arena competition is stiff and each organisation is required to offer products that are unique and in a unique manner and with a reflective workforce achieving this is easy. One of the most important advantages of reflection is that it results in both individual and organisational learning and development which in turn lead to success. In the current dynamic world where employees are moving from one firm to the other reflection assists in equipping the new employees with a variety of skills that span from organisational, interpersonal to vocational skills. These are skills that are obviously not learnt during formal training but are essential in coping with the demands of the current job. This is termed as upskilling where employers engage employees in their professional development in the workplace (Roberts 2009). Reflection in many instances assists a great deal in education training and preparation. In order for reflection to be effective the learner or employee needs to look back into the activities they carried out in the past as well as experiences and learn from them while acquiring relevant knowledge. There is evidence from numerous researches that reflection boosts learning. In so doing, learners develop their professional practice as they continue learning. Reflection as indicated above, works best in the workplace environment than in the academic context as some aspects of the job are better learnt as one works. Proof of this is that many professional training requires that students take time in work-based situations in order to develop those skills that cannot be imparted in a classroom environment. In order to enhance learning the employee needs to engage in more activities which facilitate their reflection. Journals, diaries and e-portfolios act as avenues through which learners outline results of their reflection. It is important to note that ones tendency to reflect affects the end results of their reflection particularly what they write in the aforementioned materials (Argyris & Schon 1974). The employer therefore has an obligation to guide the learners in order to achieve optimum results from employees’ reflection. Case Study In the workplace during one Christmas the manager went for holidays earlier than usual and surprisingly left no one in particular to handle his responsibilities. As a result there was huge disorganisation which resulted in loss of contracts and heavy workload for everyone. This was disappointing and frustrating and a number of employees took the opportunity to be reluctant and I was left to do a great deal of work alone. Later I was able to convince them to regain their productivity for the good of employees and the organisation. They agreed and everything was being done in an orderly fashion. It was a good experience which taught me that one needs to leave someone in charge when away and employees require dialogue than other means for motivation. The above scenario in the workplace proves important as it helps in reflecting what the situation resulted into and in development of better strategies in future in case the same happens. However, most importantly it helps in developing preventive measures primarily by making sure that there is always a lead figure that will unite the rest in case there seems to be a power vacuum. In case the same situation develops again reflective cycle helps in analysis of how disorganised things were (Gibbs 1998). Reflection even in this scenario helps in turning experiences into learning which in turn facilitates acquisition of intellectual skills. Reflection as has been seen can be a worthwhile technique that employees need to use when tapping into their emotions in order to understand and interpret experiences better and as learning opportunities. It is true that there are jobs that require more reflection than others. Jobs such as nursing and social work require more reflection on past experiences in order to improve efficiency. As much as these two jobs are learnt in a classroom context, it is more important for one to acquire the required in-depth skills through experience. On the other hand other jobs for example, those that revolve around manufacturing, require less reflection due to the fact that many things are done mechanically. However, engineers who work in the manufacturing firms require reflection in order to enhance their skills in developing better machines that improve efficiency in respect to time and energy. Reflection is therefore a fundamental aspect that facilitates learning and development not only for the employees in question but also for the organisation. Mentoring and Supervision Mentoring has been with the human kind for centuries as evidenced in major historical literal works for example the Bible and the Koran. Its long history is an indication that it is an effective method to use. Researches have attributed high performance, job satisfaction, career advancement and reduced turnover to mentoring (Caldwell & Carter 1993). There is also evidence that mentoring also contributes to improved socialisation and assimilation. The interaction between mentors and mentees is usually one based on respect and cordiality. Organisations usually offer the opportunity to mentor and supervise others to those who have more experience in the tasks being done (Vince 2002). For new employees mentoring programs assist them to be assimilated faster within the organisation. They are easily taught the values, norms and the general organisational culture which they are to abide by for them to be successful. Research has shown that in respect to assimilation, mentoring reduces stress as new workers are able to align their habits and routines with the desired ones within the organisation. It can be a different scenario altogether when one has no one to teach them the mannerisms expected of them. In such cases employees are left to learn through numerous mistakes resulting into low morale hence low productivity. Case Study In the workplace there is a gentleman name Jason who joined recently. He was assigned to me for mentoring and supervision. Jason from the onset had appeared as a jovial fellow who respected his work. He has quickly adapted the office culture at the workplace and as a result blended well with the rest of the staff. He also seems to be hard working and intelligent which have made it easier for him and me to interact well in mentoring and supervision. Jason has also been dealing with customers quite well which is making them like him a great deal. His creativity has also assisted in the office as in his first month he introduced a new filing system which has increased efficiency in file handling. In the process of mentoring, Jason has instilled in me new skills and knowledge he acquired from his previous job. He is therefore quite a resourceful employee who has developed his skills through mentoring and supervision. The new work and business environments require organisations to adopt the new technological trends in order to remain relevant. Employees in turn are required to be technologically savvy in order to drive the organisation to the next level (Massy & Phillips 2010). Like in the scenario offered above a new filing system can go a long way in opening room for efficiency. Lifelong employment is nowadays a thing of the past as employment contracts are currently on short term basis (Harrison 2002). Renewal of these contracts largely depends on how an employee has been developing themselves through continuous learning and it is through supervision that this is assessed. Organisational structures are also changing which are incorporating in them the people responsible to offer mentoring support and supervision. Critical Reflection on my Own Learning Today’s reality is that what people learn in an academic setting has a huge disconnect with what they really need to do in order to remain competitive in their workplaces. This indicates that formal education does not sustain long term success either in personal life or in the workplace. This therefore calls for the need to engage in continuous education and learning to remain competitive. Employees need to keep exploring and discovering in order to be effective and keep up with emerging trends. Critical reflection is considered as one of the most important steps towards self development (Russell Consulting 2011). This involves one looking back into past development plans and evaluating their effectiveness over time and against set goals. This is done in order to make adjustments in future plans. Critical reflection is therefore a fundamental requirement for one to develop, implement and evaluate plans. When one finds out that the results have a variance from the expected results, then they need to deeply look into their environment as well as organisation practices for them to switch from one way of thinking to another. After this, an employee develops an improved development plan which in turn opens a cycle of implementation and later evaluation which basically open up new learning and development processes. Conclusion Employees are continuously faced by many challenges among them being how to remain competitive in the long term. Organisations on the other hand are required to have well qualified workforce which is able to steer it through the highly competitive global business arena. These needs from both sides drive each to seek ways of bettering performance on a sustainable basis. Employees invest their resources in expanding their potential through learning and development initiatives for example going back to school and acquiring more accolades. Organisations on the other hand strengthen their mentoring and supervision initiatives so as to instil the required expertise to the workforce which suits particular tasks. They also supervise employees as they work so as to differentiate performers from non-performers. They also do this to look into areas needing improvement. When employees seek further training, they do so in order to help themselves remain relevant in the job market. Organisations invest in mentoring and training in order to have a qualified workforce that is able to make it achieve its short term and long term goals. References Argyris, C & Schon, D 1974, Theory in practice; Increasing professional effectiveness, London, Jossey-Bas. Caldwell, B & Carter, EMA 1993, The Return of the mentor: Strategies for workplace learning, Routledge. Clifford, J & Thorpe, S 2007, Workplace learning & development: Delivering competitive advantage for your organization, Kogan Page Publishers. Cottrell, S 2003, “Skills for success: The personal development planning handbook”, Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan. Gibbs, G 1998, Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning, London, FEU. Harrison, R 2002, Supporting lifelong learning: Perspectives on learning, Routledge. Hull, C, Redfern, L & Shuttleworth, A 2005, Profiles and portfolios: A guide for health and social care, 2nd edn, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan. 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