To what extent does successful workplace learning depend on the social context of the workplace environment - Essay Example

?To what extent does successful workplace learning depend on the social context of the workplace environment? Introduction Workplace learning is the acquisition of skills and knowledge in the workplace which is transferred from the employer to the employee. Learning has become an important part of every organization (Rogers, and Horrocks, 2010). This allows the organization to reach the potential growth and success that the organization dreams for. But to transform just a mere dream into reality, the organization must implement learning processes that would change the direction of the organization. This change in direction could change the future of the organization and its employees. As workplace learning is creating sustainable new knowledge, it is considered as an investment by the organization for their most important assets which is the workforce. The workforce could single handedly change the future of the organization, all they need is a training and development program but a program within the boundaries of organizational culture. An organization is a mixture of diverse culture and employees. The only element that combines these diverse employees from different race, religion and origin is the organizational culture. With the passage of time, organizations have become more cultural diverse and they have hired employees belonging from different cultures and geographic locations. Although, this has been helpful for the organization as it has allowed organization to have diverse thinking and more creativity and better learning from different cultures. An organizational culture is formed with these employees working from different cultures. Organizational culture is a combination of norms and beliefs that are shared among the employees working in the same organization. There are different elements included in the culture like language, beliefs, values etc (Burkitt, 1995). The employees are provided with all the information regarding the required behavior within organization. The organizational culture acts as a guideline for the employees providing them with support and help within the organization. The aim of this study is to identify the extent of successful workplace learning depending on the social context of the workplace environment. Along with that, the research has highlighted some of the important dimensions that would include the definition of workplace learning, social context of workplace environment and lastly the impact of social context on successful workplace learning. A brief conclusion is also included to summarize and conclude all the major findings of this study. Successful workplace learning Workplace learning is a process that addresses the needs and interests of the employees. This learning process enables the employee to respond to the changing environment and to contribute in increasing the efficiency and productivity of the employee (Lai, and Lo, 2008). This learning process ultimately helps in meeting the employee’s personal and career development needs within the organization (Chen, Bian, and Hom, 2005). Learning at work allows the organization to develop different capabilities and skills and thus it is better able to achieve competitive advantage (Hamlin, and Stewart, 2011). Learning at work happens through the daily working practices of the workers and the biggest influence in this learning process is the work itself. A process that addresses the needs and interests of the employee helps in reducing the absenteeism rate, turnover rate, job dissatisfaction and all those factors that reduce the optimum performance to achieve the organizational goals. Successful workplace learning provides an opportunity for the employees of the organization to develop or improve their skills that would enable them to obtain the best possible outcomes for the business (Clarke, 2005). Employees are worthy investments for organizations as these employees are relied heavily upon for the success and betterment of the organization. Employees are considered to be the most valuable asset within the organization and for such purpose; the organization spends heavy money on continuous training of employees so that both the organization and the employees could survive to see another day (Pidd, 2004). Therefore, the more investment an organization makes on its employees, the better returns it can achieve as its employees will have better skills and better knowledge and thus they will be able to contribute more to the organization in return (Leach, Wall, and Jackson, 2003). It is often heard that “leaders are managers but managers may not be leaders”. For a manager to be leader it requires continuous training. There are many ways in which learning at work could help the employees improve their leadership skills (Hager, 2010). Personal guidance and support, group learning sessions, work-based problem solving and training for innovation are some of the most valuable and effective approaches used by the organizations in order to improve the skills of employees (Eraut, 2000). One thing that is common in all these approaches to successful workplace learning is that the focus of attention is on the employee. Another approach to workplace learning is the informal learning practices which is valuable for skill formation as it creates an inter-relation between learning and work. This learning process takes into account the work that has to be done and the skills that are required to do the work. This approach is used along with formal learning approach as it enhances the value of formal learning. This approach enhances the interaction between the employees and the management and to a greater extent the employees learn from their work and work according to what they have learnt. For successful workplace learning, it is understood that both formal and informal learning approaches are essential to enhance the employee’s performance. Since these approaches in the workplace are aimed to help the employees learn, develop and evolve from their current state to an advanced stage where the employees would be able to do something greater for the business in the future. Social context of the workplace environment A workplace environment determines employee’s quality of work and their level of productivity. The social context of the workplace environment consists of the shared norms, values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that influence the way people work in an organization. This culture helps in creating an environment where the employees determine their worth in the company, their opportunities and their perception about the colleagues and seniors. The culture or social context of workplace environment has much more importance than many people realize. Since the social context varies from different industries and different parts of the country, even the companies within the same industry have different organizational culture which can engage or disengage an employee to be motivated (Kennedy, 2002). The performance of the employees within an organization depends on the motivation factor and to increase the motivation factor, organizational culture plays an important role. Perception of employees regarding career development, skill development and learning also play important role in this regard (Coetzer, 2007) Culture is important within workplace as it can influence an employee to be motivated. Culture not only motivates an employee but it also identifies and eliminates deficiencies that are causing negative attitudes in the workplace such as the turnover rate and absenteeism rate. The other tangible benefits that an organization could enjoy by embedding culture in the workplace environment are higher level of staff satisfaction, improved reputation and high quality of work. This also helps in creating a positive workplace environment which includes: Fair and equal treatment of all employees Open and honest communication Regular training Equal opportunities Career development Regular feedback Better interpersonal relationship (Rogers, 1983) Since the culture is shared, it helps the employees of different demographics to be united and to work together as a team rather than perform work as individuals. This shared culture gives the employees a sense of unity and understanding towards one another which reduces the conflicts among employees of the organization. This unity makes the employees to consider themselves as part of the team due to which the employees are more concerned for the success of the entire business rather than accomplishment of personal goals and objectives. In addition, a shared cultural environment helps the employees to remain loyal to the management of the organization. By having a learning culture the employees are able to reduce their resistance to change since they are aware that they are supported by the organizational culture. This organizational culture’s support enables them to respond quickly to the change and to adapt it respectively. Successful workplace learning depending on the social context of the workplace environment The social context of the workplace environment plays a dominant role in the successful workplace learning. The social context not just engages an employee to be motivated but it also enhances their attention towards the learning process. The social context helps an employee to understand the importance of these learning processes and helps them link these processes to their career development. The shared norms, values, beliefs and attitudes sets the workplace environment in the organization and for the organization to have a successful learning process, organizational culture is vital. The learning process provides the employee with many opportunities and these opportunities are only availed if the social context supports them. These opportunities includes improvement in the current job, responding to new technology, developing a more flexible environment where each employee would be provided with equal chance of success and feedback, improve the employee safety in the workplace (Billett, 2008). These all opportunities depend on a single element of social context; culture. If the organization is able to understand the culture, it would open the doors of success for itself. Successful learning process depends on the social context of the workplace environment and for that to happen it is essential for the organization to take culture into consideration. Successful learning does not force the employees into the process but they are provided with information that how the learning process would be helpful for employees and the organization. If the organization forces employees into the learning process, the organization would have to face huge setbacks as all the hard work by the organization would be in turmoil. Successful learning processes can change the direction of the organizations but for these processes to be successful, it must assure that the processes are in favor of the employees than just the organization. These learning processes create useful knowledge for the organization and for the employees as well. The employees are provided with knowledge that would help them to be more competitive and successful in the workforce. The employees would also have greater chances of success in the workforce and their advices and opinions would also be heard but in order for that to happen, the organization must be able to meet the requirements of the social context and the employees should be treated equally and fairly. In addition, the knowledge in a successful learning workplace is disseminated effectively in the workforce so that all the employees are provided with equal opportunities and chances for success and growth. Again to do so, the organization must make sure that the culture and norms are met otherwise all the efforts of the organization would go waste (Smith, 2006). With a learning culture in the organization, the employees are able to cope with the changes instead of resisting it. Most of the times in organizations, the changes are thought of as disaster and shakes the thought of the employees due to which the employees are resistant to change. In a successful learning process the employees are encouraged to participate in the learning process and to provide their opinions and ideas (Timma, 2007). This enhances the creativity and the innovation of the employees and their ideas and opinions are considered by the management to meet the requirements of the organizational culture. This culture based learning process enables the employees to respond and adapt the change more quickly and readily. Thus it helps the organization to become more flexible and ready for advancements and improvements rather than remaining rigid in its approach (Cieslik, 2006). In a successful learning process, the employees are provided with a learning culture rather than centralized culture where all the power and authority is in the hands of the senior management, the employees are more interested to perform and show their ability. It enables the organization and the employees to perform better and survive in this changing market environment. Through a learning process based on culture, the employee tends to perform better from the day earlier; this ensures that the employee would survive a day more in the organization. If the organization somehow ignores the social context and forcefully implements the learning process, it would contract the capacity of the employees rather than expanding it. For a learning process, social context is dominant as by this the organization can expand the capacity of the employees to create a result that the organization truly desires. In such learning processes, creative methods are nurtured and old methods are eliminated, aspiring the employees to work together in a group or team to work towards the betterment of the organization and eventually their own development. The social context in a workplace environment helps the learning process to create a sense of unity in the employees. This reduces the individuality factor and the employees work together to learn and to show their worth in the organization. Organization that is based on collectivism has more chances to success as “two heads are better than one”. This helps the employees to be more ambitious and interested to work for the organization rather than against the organization. The social context plays an integral role in promoting socialization among the employees. Through the learning processes based on social context, the organization is able to promote professional socialization where the employees are provided with knowledge, motivation and ability to play a defined role in the workplace. This social context also encourages organizational socialization, where the employees are provided with an opportunity to learn the values, norms and required organizational behavior. This increases the participation of the employees and allows them to an effective member of the organization. As this process is continuous, the employees are constantly provided with knowledge regarding the shared norms and values as well as regarding the required behavior. With social context dissolved in the learning process, the employees are motivated to specialize in a particular field of operation. This allows the employees to create their own worth in the organization and this helps the employees to create self-actualization in the workforce. With flexibility on the side of training process, the employees can learn and groom themselves to be more effective and accurate in their field of work. For successful workplace learning, the process must have culture along with the learning process. It assures the employees that the training is not just being forced on their heads but the process is for their own betterment. The workplace learning can be formal as well as informal. The formal opportunity of learning could be through in-house, university papers or distance learning. On the other hand, the organization can also focus on self-directed learning where the employees learn through reading articles and up-to-date information from the internet. The learning process within the organizational culture can also focus on coaching, mentoring, job rotation, job enrichment, feedback on day-to-day practices and informal discussions with colleagues. To promote learning at work, culture again plays an important role. Other social factors are also important in influencing the learning and growth of the employees (Guile, and Young, 1998). All the practices revolve around the social context as it creates an environment where the employees relate themselves to. For an employee, the organizational culture is their identity and the experience of employee is shared within the culture. A learning process would not be successful until it entails the organizational culture. The learning practices that are promoted by the organization must be within the boundary of the organizational culture as the employees pay more attention to those processes that are for the sole purpose of employees. Performance of the organization heavily relies on the social context of the workplace environment. The determination and commitment of the employees could change the performance of the organization but for that to happen, employees must be trained. Employee’s learning process is fueled by culture and for an organization the socio-cultural dimension is kept in mind for successful learning. Conclusion Workplace learning is fueled by the social context of the workplace. For an organization to reach its goals and objectives, it must promote the social context in the learning processes. Workforce learning creates a system where employees are provided with equal chance of success based on their performance within the organization and this greatly helps the learning process to be successful. By embedding the socio-culture factor in the learning process, the organization enjoys many tangible benefits that could boost the performance of the organization. It has been observed that for a learning process to be successful, it must incorporate the organizational culture. This organizational culture enables the employees to be satisfied with the workplace learning process. It highlights that the work has to become learning and learning has to become work. By incorporating the organizational culture in the learning process, the employees are motivated to participate in the process to improve their performance and productivity. Successful learning process within the organizational culture influences the employees to change their behavior. This characteristic allows flexibility in the communication of the employees and the employee communicates effectively in the workplace. By providing importance to the values in the learning process, the organization is able to develop knowledge capital which facilitates the learning, motivation and encouragement of the employees to be more effective. An organization that is eager to learn and has a culture of making its employees learn and train is more flexible organization as it encourages its employees to be innovative in their approach and to remain flexible rather than being rigid. An organization that is more flexible is likely to succeed in today’s changing environment where a disaster in one country can influence the profitability and performance of another company in another country. Therefore it is important for an organization to be flexible and able to adapt changes according to the situation. Since an employee’s world in the organization revolves heavily around organizational culture, it has been found that for a learning process to be successful, culture can play a dominant role. Organizational culture can help in changing the behavior of the employees related to the learning process and can help the employees to participate in the process willingly. List of references  Billett, S. (2008) ‘Learning Throughout Working Life: A Relational Interdependence between Personal and Social Agency’, British Journal of Educational Studies 56(1): 39–58. Burkitt, I. (1995) 'Language and the Social Self', in Social Selves: Theories of the Social Formation of Personality, pp. 28-54. London: Sage. Chen, A. S-Y., Bian, M.D. and Hom, Y-M. (2005) 'Taiwan HRD Practitioner Competencies: An Application of the ASTD WLP Competency Model', International Journal of Training and Development 9(1): 21-32. Cieslik, M. 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