Learning and Development - Essay Example

Critically discuss the ways in which Learning and Development can contribute to improved performance and the achievement of goals for both individuals and organizations Introduction For most people the workplace is the site of tertiary socialization, after the family and the education system. It is here that workers learn to modify their performance and to understand their roles, including their gender roles, in the structures and interactions of the organization. In this respect, job roles, position within a hierarchy and inclusion or exclusion from career ladders contribute to people's expectations of their own and others' potential to learn. Workplace learning is of central importance and a crucially important site for learning, whatever vision is held of a learning society. At the same time, workplace learning is poorly understood and under-researched, but has moved to centre stage in discourses about the so-called 'knowledge-based economy' and in policies based on that concept. Along with employees, it is an important issue in contemporary business environment that organizations developed and learnt together with their human assets. It is by means that organizations need to adapt to their changing environments. Local line leaders in the organization and high level executives as well as internal networkers and community leaders are needed who can motivate and direct the organization and its members, to learn to adapt to the changes. Changes in the economic environment from local, to national, to global markets require new perspectives. Interspersed with these changes are the rapidly ever-changing developments in information technology with which the organization and its members have to become intimately involved for acquisition and processing of information from the internal and external environments. The organization has to learn how to adapt to changes in the diversity of its workforce and customers as well as to the changing demands for social responsibility. In terms of what have been said in above, I will further discuss how learning and development can contribute to improved performance within an organization and how it impacts individuals. To do this, the meaning of learning organizations, learning and developing employees, setting the goals of an organization and organizational leadership is reviewed. Organizations are changing by "dejobbing", that is, changing is the concept of the job as a separate full-time position with a specific bundle of tasks. The concept of the jobs is being replaced by the unbundling of the tasks of a traditional job. Instead of an organizational member having one permanent bundle of tasks to complete, the member will need to work alone or in teams on temporary tasks and in temporary teams. Changes will coincide with changes in organization needs. Some tasks may be outsourced; some may be shifted to within the organization (Keep, Rainbird, 2000). The learning organization is the one that is dissatisfied with the status quo. It proceeds by looking at ways to improve itself, setting up criteria for appraising the effects of changes, creating alternatives, adopting and implementing those that work out well and abandoning those that do not work out well. In this process, reliable and valid measures will be employed. Learning organizations have adaptable cultures as illustrated by the firms, Walmart, Pepsico, and Hewlett Packard. In the late 1980's, the firms saw leadership as an engine of change. They stressed the value of meeting their constituents' needs. Adaptable new systems were introduced. Adaptable managers were favored. The results showed in the early 1990's. In comparison, a firm like Texaco was seduced by its dominant position in the oil and gas market and its prior successful growth and profits. As Robert Blake would say, it was fat and happy, and lacked the adaptability to change. Likewise, Coors Beer lacked the adaptability of a learning organization and couldn't accept the value to its continued success of its relations with shareholders, customers, and employees. It was unable to cope with need to change in attitudes. Again, in the 1980's, the cultural rigidity of General Motors was illustrated by its refusal to promote managers who showed too much leadership! This may have contributed to its decline in share of the automobile market helped along by its unwillingness to change its auto designs, manufacturing processes, and attention to foreign competition. The leadership in the organization has to change with the development and maturation of the organization. Early on, in creating the organization, the leaders themselves have to serve more as Animators. In the organization's building phase, they must be more Creators of Culture. To maintain the organization they need to be more Sustainers of the organization's culture. And when changes in the organization are needed, they must become Change Agents. (Schein, 2005). The core of the learning and developing organization is its employees that constantly improve and therefore provide general growth and better performance of an organization. By learning organizational workforce, it is not meant training employees which is narrowly focused on the immediate task and restricted to business needs, but learning, which addresses the needs of a variety of stakeholders: employees, potential employees, employers and government. The distinction between training and learning is significant. The short and more exact definition of learning and development is "learning in, for and through the workplace". It therefore includes a range of formal and informal learning; learning which is directed to organizational as well as employees' needs; and learning which is accessed through the workplace. This definition is important because, in the UK at least, the workplace has become a site for initiatives, which means it becomes embroiled in acronyms and it is easy to lose sight of the heart of the central issue in the various 'schemes' that are either being hatched or re-branded. Four broad but overlapping forms of learning involve workplace learning as a central feature: A. Initial work-based learning, in traineeships and apprenticeships. B. Work-based degrees and 'foundation' degrees. C. Non-formal work-based learning. D. Access to continuing non-formal learning opportunities through the workplace. Group A encompasses various types of apprenticeships and traineeships undertaken by young people end-on to compulsory education. In the UK the various schemes and programmes that have evolved over the past two decades are involved in an ongoing process of re-branding. Programmes in the second group (B) are on the increase in higher education, particularly in the USA, Australia and the UK (Boud and Solomon, 2001). In these programmes, the work experiences and achievements of 'clients' are given credits towards the award of degree, according to the system of assessment and regulation of the degree awarding body. Corporate clients are important users of these programmes. In the USA, the two-year associate degree achieved a high take-up among people already in employment. Its recent counterpart in the UK, the Foundation Degree initiative, has had a slow start although work-based versions of the degree are seen as having particular potential for expansion. Developments in Group A and Group B in the UK are being seen by government as instruments for meeting the official target of a 50 per cent participation rate of younger adults in higher education by 2010. It has become clear that the target is not likely to be achievable through the full-time education route. Non-formal learning (C) is a dimension of initial vocational education and training and work-based degrees. It is also an important area in its own right (Coffield, 2000). In the UK, National Vocational Qualifications were introduced to recognize and accredit competence developed through experience and practice in work environments. But much of the most significant workplace learning never comes within the scope of qualification-it is part of mastery of the job, work roles and understanding of the work environment. Non-formal learning is defined for our purposes here as embracing learning through work and community experience, but may also include planned and explicit approaches to learning carried out in any of these environments, where these are not part of the formal education systems. In the final group (D), where non-formal learning opportunities are made available in the workplace through external providers, the role of online learning has assumed a particular importance. The UK has provided two examples of government schemes aimed at specifically supporting lifelong learning undertaken on the initiative of the individual. These are Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs) and the University for Industry (UfI), which has been translated into 'LearnDirect'. Although there is less support for collective initiative, trade unions have become advocates of lifelong learning in the workplace as part of the new bargaining agenda. An exception has been the DfEE/ DfES Union Learning Fund, which has supported a range of trade union initiatives on learning (see Cutter, 2000, for an evaluation). Transformational/Transactional Leadership and the Learning Organization I now propose to specify what each component of the Full Range of Leadership -- of transformational and transactional leadership behavior -- ideally contributes to the creation and maintenance of the learning organization. The future learning organization will need such leadership at all levels of the organization. Inspirational Leadership. To become and maintain a learning organization, from the top on down, the Chief Executive Officer, assisted by consultation with subordinates, must articulate what is missing and the changes that are required to become a learning organization. A vision is shared about the style of leadership that is needed. The utility of mentoring and coaching is stressed. Also, in the vision, the importance of giving and receiving feedback, open communications, careful listening and trust are noted. A consultative mode of leadership is encouraged. Desired leadership role models begin at the top and are encouraged at each level below. The behaviors of the leaders at the top act as symbols of the new organizational culture. Intellectual Stimulation. To bring forth the expert knowledge of the members of the organization, thinking is stimulated at all levels about the organization's objectives and the means to meet them. Airing of problems is encouraged. Stories about successful problem solving are passed on. Mechanisms for upward communication are developed. Creativity, innovation, calculated risk-taking, and careful experimentation are fostered. Individualized Consideration. Individually considerate leaders take part in more acculturation activities. They treat each individual follower as having different developmental needs. They give and accept feedback as part of the learning process. They provide mentoring and coaching. Contingent Reward. To foster organizational learning changes are introduced into the daily practices of the organization following suitable education and training efforts. Individuals and departments are praised, publicized and earn promotions and pay increases for trying and succeeding in introducing learning approaches into their everyday activities. Sometimes, even failing after trying is rewarded. Active Management By Exception. Wherever possible, leaders at all levels are encouraged to practice transformational leadership and contingent reward in dealing with problems that arise. However, when this is not possible, they may use Active Management by Exception. They monitor their subordinates' performance and provided corrections, as needed. Passive Leadership. Contraindicated for organizational learning is a leader waiting for problems to surface, i.e. passive managing-by-exception or abdicating the leadership role as in laissez-faire leadership. For organizational learning, a leader needs to be more proactive. The Information Revolution and Transformational/Transactional Leadership. We are all aware of the marked changes and requirements brought about in industry and education by the Information Revolution. In the Digital Age, in school, pocket calculators replace memorization of the multiplication tables. Library assignments become searching the web. One master teacher on internet provides distance learning across the globe with talk-back features. In business and industry, networking replaces chains of command. One message can be sent instantaneously to all members of the company. Monitoring and feedback can be automatic. Competitive advantage and continuous improvement become paramount. For survival, firms are required in which managers and employees are able to learn what is needed to adapt to the rapid changes in the market and in technology. A vision and strategy to provide quality and convenient customer service within cost constraints is not only seen now as a good in its own right, but provides important if not a firm's most important, competitive advantages in the marketplace. The new strategy helps direct the search for new technology as well as to rapidly apply it. Leaders, managers and employees need to be receptive to change, as well as how to search, invent, implement and evaluate necessary change. Automation In 1956, Leavitt and Whisler predicted that by the 1980's computer technology would replace middle management decision-making. Middle management has indeed shrunk in numbers proportionately. In successfully coping with the change, organizations must have an adaptable culture and value meeting constituents' needs. Adaptable new systems are introduced. Adaptable managers are favored. The new technology and automation result in early retirement and unemployment with or without reemployment, often at lower paying service jobs and in smaller companies. Nonetheless, today, because of technological advances and market driven opportunities, the new economy in the U.S. is faced with severe labor shortages. Extensive investment in technology has been made. Some companies in the 1990's such as the Ford Motor Company were sufficiently adaptable so that they were able to avoid downsizing personnel when automation substituted for work in the office and on the assembly lines. It learned how to transfer and train its employees to fill positions to handle the reorganized work. It was less expensive to terminate an employee without the skills to work with the new technology and hire a new employee with the skills, than to keep and train the old employee. (Cascio, 2004). For other reasons, simply regarding automation and technology as black boxes with which to replace personnel does not provide for optimization of work and organization. Full automation is not usually the answer. What needs to be sought is learning how to optimize the human-technological interface. Sometimes there is too much human intervention with automated systems as in the case of the automated thermostatic controls on the steam boilers of the German cruiser Prince Eugen being taken in 1945 to Kwajalein as a H-bomb target. Fearful of blowing up the boilers, one of two U.S.Navy cardinal sins, the American captain assigned one seaman to monitor the thermostat and a second seaman to monitor the first seaman resulting in continuing over-correction. At the other extreme is the introduction of over-engineered information systems without sufficient regard for the human user. For example, fully automated telemarketing and fully automated teleinterviewing may cause a lot of annoyed customers and poorer survey response rates than human callers. Nonetheless, the efficiency of the human callers can be enhanced with automatic dialing, automatic recording, keyboard tallying, prompting, etc. On occasion, Luddites may have the right idea about technological advance for the wrong reasons. The costs of technological advancement may be greater than the anticipated gains. This is particular so if we look for the hidden costs and unintended consequences. The organization and its leadership need to learn that automation brings problems with it. For example, automation complacency may set in. A systems-operator responsible for monitoring automated equipment as well as manual tracking will focus attention continuously on the tracking display and "look but not see" the automated displays like inattentive listeners at a lecture with blank stares on their faces. Group decision support systems allow all the members of a group to be connected by computer to each other and to a central computer operated by an instructor. (Sosik, Kahai, & Avolio, 2002). Controlled experiments find that the quantity of ideas that can be generated by the team is enhanced by the decision support with simulated transactional leaders but the quality is better with simulated transformational leaders. In sum, the introduction of new technology must be accompanied by opportunities for learning, revision and adaptation by the organization, its leaders and members. With its components of inspiration and intellectual stimulation, transformational leadership is like to contribute to the design and optimization of technology with its human users. In the same way, transactional leadership may be useful in team discussions about the trade-off between technology and workers in optimizing the work to be done. Leadership with Some Elements in Common with Transformational Leadership Many theories and models of leadership emphasize the work to be done and/or the relations between the leader and the led. Depending on circumstances, at times, transformational leaders should focus on the task; at other times, they should focus on their relations with their followers. These and other theories and models, which emphasize different aspects of leadership, share some commonalties with transformational leadership. These include democratic, empowering, participative leadership, leader-member exchange, strategic leadership, servant leadership, and leadership based on communication competence. Democratic, Empowering, Participative Leadership If we look to the future of leadership, especially in the fields of education, grassroots mobilization, self-management and community affairs, there is a strong tendency to advocate that we must be democratic. Followers should be empowered to share in decision-making or make their own leader-free decisions. Furthermore, the distinction between leader and followers will be blurred. Leadership will be seen as a process of influence in which determining who is leading and who is following may be difficult to assess. Followers will take leadership positions as needed; leaders will become followers, as needed. The possibilities of instant distribution of information to all by e-mail, electronic voting, conference calls, and videoconferencing, can enhance the tendency to share power and decision-making. On the other hand, the proponents of democracy, empowerment and participation neglect the need to protect the minority from the dictatorship of the majority, the sometime need to deal with conflict by compulsory arbitration, and the need for rapid decision making and direction in emergencies. The differences in knowledge and skills may call for decisions by experts, which can be fully acceptable to novices. Some authors use the physician-patient relationship to illustrate the point. When it is a matter of technical knowledge about the patient's complaint, and needed are the physician's diagnosis, prognosis and prescription, the physician takes the lead; when the problem is about treatment, physician and patient should share in the decision, and when its a question of implementation, the patient needs to take charge. As it was said before, the transformational leader may be directive or participative. If creativity and commitment of followers are desired, then empowerment and participatory decision-making are needed. On the contrary, for accomplishing routine tasks, particularly of novices, directive leadership may be best, especially if the leader is experienced, knowledgeable, and esteemed by the followers. Conclusions This paper has set out to map issues in the field of workplace learning. It was argued that many of the currently dominant discourses of learning organizations are ideologically constructed and fail to acknowledge adequately the effect of power relations in the workplace and the wider society. It was also noted that the essence of organizational leadership is in learning and development of employees, setting up proper goals and following directions of transformational leadership concept. Several important tools of workforce learning were discussed to cover the issue of the paper. It was suggested that initial work-based learning, in traineeships and apprenticeships, work-based degrees and 'foundation' degrees, non-formal work-based learning, and access to continuing non-formal learning opportunities through the workplace are essential in contemporary business environment. The 'voice' of the individual learner or employee also needs to be found and listened to. (The issues and questions raised are returned to in greater detail and depth in the following chapters.) Finally, some connections between the 'agendas' of workplace learning, social inclusion and citizenship have been sketched. Policies and practices of workplace learning cannot be understood or developed in sustainable ways without critical insights into the wider social frameworks in which they sit and from which they derive their meaning and purpose. Bibliography: 1. Boud, D and Solomon, N (2001) Work-based Learning-A new higher education, SPHE/ Open University Press, Buckingham 2. Coffield, F (2000) The Necessity of Informal Learning, Policy Press, Bristol 3. Collard, J. (2004) The debate on transformational leadership: Semantic shifts and conceptual drifts. Leading and Managing, 3, 75-80. 4. Cutter, J (2000) A Second Evaluation of the Union Learning Fund, DfEE Research Report RR208, DfEE, Nottingham 5. Harrison 2005. Harrison, R. Learning and development. 4th ed. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. 6. Holly, L and Rainbird, H (2000) Workplace learning and the limits to evaluation, in Training in the Workplace: Critical perspectives on learning at work, ed H Rainbird, Macmillan, Basingstoke 7. Keep, E and Rainbird, H (2000) Towards the learning organization, in Personnel Management: A comprehensive guide to theory and practice, eds S Bach and K Sisson, Blackwell, Oxford 8. Schein, E.H. (2005) Leadership and organizational culture. In F. Hesselbein et al. The leader of the future. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 9. Sosik, J.J., Kahai, S.S. & Avolio, B.J. (2002) Transformational leadership and dimensions of creativity: Motivating idea generation in computer mediated groups. Creativity Research Journal, 11, 111-121 Read More