How can learning be supported, accelerated and directed towards
an organisation's strategic needs? This has become a key business
question for modern organisations, but the answer is not
simple.
The Research Report, produced by Jake Reynolds of Cambridge
Programme for Industry (CPI) considers how learning can be
supported, accelerated and directed towards an organisation's
strategic needs. The researchers argue that the capacity to adapt
is the greatest gift of learning. It allows the learner and the
organisation to remain agile in the face of uncertain future
conditions, whereas other outcomes of learning, like new knowledge
and skills, tend to have specific applications and a shorter shelf
life. The challenge for HRD professionals, therefore, is to move
from a strategy based upon the delivery of training to one based
upon support for learning.
Shifting from training to learning
Training is characterised as an instructor-led, content-based
intervention, leading to desired changes in behaviour; and learning
as a self-directed, work-based process, leading to increased
adaptive capacity (see Figure 1).
Figure 1
Creating the right conditions
Many factors are influential in making this shift, ranging from
broad features like the vision and values of the organisation, to
specific features like the degree of support for learning provided
by managers. A complementary two-pronged approach is proposed in
the research:
- Creating a positive climate for learning in the organisation,
for managers to be predominantly responsible in generating
commitment among employees.
- Building up the learning capabilities of employees, groups and
the organisation as a whole, for both managers and HR to take
responsibility to translate the commitment into productive value
for the organisation.
Creating the climate for learning
Learning can be cultivated by management practices that raise
commitment among employees, creating what is described as an
organisational 'growth medium'. The logic of the growth medium is
simple: in the right climate, employees will commit their energies
to the vision of the organisation, speeding up the process of
improvement and innovation. The research identified three
conditions that organisations need to meet in order to build an
effective growth medium:
- creating a sense of purpose in the workplace
- giving employees the opportunity to act on their
commitment
- providing employees with a supportive learning
environment.
But commitment alone doesn't guarantee that learning will be
timely, productive or systematic. Neither can it guarantee that
individuals will share their learning effectively in groups or
apply it to the wider challenge of organisational change.
Many factors intervene between the commitment to learn and the
impact of learning in practice. Organisations differ widely in
their culture, objectives and operating reality. There is no quick
fix or 'tips and tricks' that can be read across from elsewhere;
it's a job for the competent HRD manager to work through in his or
her own organisation. A proactive approach needs to be taken to
create, implement and monitor a learning strategy.
Building learning capabilities or 'learning how to learn'
The conditions in which effective learning takes place at
individual, group and organisational levels - ie the conditions in
which employees find themselves working on a routine basis, not
just when they attend training courses - are critical. The research
suggests that learning capabilities bring insight and discipline to
the process of learning, helping employees (and the groups in which
they operate) to draw on their experience, work effectively with
others and increase their strategic contribution. The presence of
generic learning skills helps an organisation remain flexible in
the face of unpredictable future conditions. But their importance
is rarely recognised at present in organisations, even by HRD
professionals. The HRD professional needs now to enable learning
among employees, rather than just deliver or direct it.
In developing such a strategy the modern human resource
development professional must consider a wide range of issues:
- ensuring that learning is aligned with appropriate corporate
objectives
- developing awareness of the value of relevant learning to the
organisation
- promoting learner confidence and ability
- creating processes so that the learner has the time and freedom
to learn.
Conclusions
Dominance of the classroom-based training course in workplace
learning is no longer appropriate for a global economy where change
happens so quickly and with such regularity that classroom-based,
fact-dominated learning soon becomes out of date.
Successful organisations are those that can persuade and
encourage their people to learn to learn - actively to seek to
acquire the skills necessary to enable constant learning and the
accompanying desire to make use of these skills.
The challenge for the HR profession is to ensure the modern
workforce has the skills and adaptive capacity to deal with the
fast-moving global economy. What can and should be done must depend
on the situation, culture and background of the organisation.
Research background
This report builds on the 2002 Research Report, How Do
People Learn?, and the Change Agenda, Focus on the
Learner, published in 2003. On the 'Research in practice' page
of the Helping People Learn Site we have placed a number of
illustrations of organisations that are implementing interesting
and innovative actions which promote learning.