Incorporating Learning & Development in an Organization

As discussed in the previous article it is understood that learning and development is of utmost importance to the organization and that an organization with a learning culture is best suited to tackle the ever-changing business environment. This does not simply mean that the same learning and development methods fit all businesses or even different parts of the business. As we saw in the previous article; Beer, Finnstrom and Schrader (2016) in their work talk about how while a certain training regime worked really well in one part of the organization it did not produce any meaningful results in another part of the same organization. ‘The same improvements were not, however, observed in both business units. Business. Unit B’s leadership team, in contrast to business unit A, was not motivated to lead change.’  This should indicate that different learning and development strategies must be used for different organizations.

When crafting a learning culture for an organization we can look at how people learn. Armstrong and Taylor (2014) in their work say that most individuals learn for themselves but they also learn from other people like their managers and co-workers. They learn mainly by doing (experiential learning) and to a much lesser extent by instruction. The ways in which individuals learn will differ and what they learn will depend largely on how well they are motivated or self-motivated.  Armstrong and Taylor (2014) also states that Discretionary learning (self-directed or self-managed) where individuals seek out knowledge and experience on their own volition to better help them carry out their work must be actively encouraged. For this sort of self-motivated learning to occur there must be some sort of reward-based system in place in the organization.

Lombardo and Eichinger (1996) describe the 70/20/10 model for learning and development. This model states that people’s development will be about 70 per cent from work experience, about 20 per cent from social learning (through managers by example and feedback and by fellow workers) and 10 per cent from courses and reading.

Kolb’s Learning Cycle was introduced by Kolb (2015). This model provides the reader with a comprehensive understanding about how effectively learning is been conducted.

Source: McLeod,2017

Concrete experience

This is when a person gains a new experience or gets to hear about it from an experienced person. As stated in (www2.le.ac.uk) it begins with doing something in which the individual, team or organisation are assigned a task. Key to learning therefore is active involvement. In Kolb's model one cannot learn by simply watching or reading about it, to learn effectively the individual, team or organisation must actually do.The aircraft engineers in  my organization have years of experience under their belt and when a new trainee goes through his training they are able to provide valuable insight into how things are done and help train  them in performing their work. This provides the trainee with the experience needed.

Reflective Observation 

This is where the learner reflects on the experience on a personal basis. As stated in (www2.le.ac.uk) this means taking time-out from "doing" and stepping back from the task and reviewing what has been done and experienced. At this stage lots of questions are asked and communication channels are opened to others members of the team. Vocabulary is very important and is needed to verbalize and discuss with others. After classroom training or on the job training a trainee is required to go through what they learned and try to understand it deeply or how the experience gained should be applied.

Abstract Conceptualization

This is where the learner forms new ideas, or modifies existing abstract ideas, based on the reflections arising from the reflective observation stage. As stated in (www2.le.ac.uk) this is the process of making sense of what has happened and involves interpreting the events and understanding the relationships between them. At this stage the learner makes comparisons between what they have done, reflect upon and what they already know. They may draw upon theory from textbooks for framing and explaining events, models they are familiar with, ideas from colleagues, previous observations, or any other knowledge that they have developed. This is where the trainee has gained an understanding of what had been thought and is now allowed to formulate his own way of remembering the knowledge and how to apply it properly. He may engage with the instructor or field engineer he works under to clarify his positions.

Active Experimentation 

This is where the learner applies the new ideas to his surroundings to see if there are any modifications in the next appearance of the experience. As stated in (www2.le.ac.uk) the learner considers how they are going to put what the have learnt into practice. Planning enables taking the new understanding and translates it into predictions as to what will happen next or what actions should be taken to refine or revise the way a task is to be handled. For learning to be useful most people need to place it in a context that is relevant to them. If one cannot see how the learning is useful to one's life then it is likely to be forgotten very quickly.

Source : Atkinson,2017

References 

Amstrong, M.  Taylor, S.  (2014). Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource

Atkinson, T. (2017) Kolb Learning Style [Online]. Available at: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_HjW54xJ1Q>.[1 April 2020] 

Lombardo, M M and Eichinger, R W (1996) The Course Architect Development Planner, Minneapolis, Lominger

Management Practice. 13th ed. New Delhi, Kogan Page Limited

McLeod, S. (2017) Kolb's Learning Styles and Experiential Learning Cycle. Simply Psychology [Online]. Available at: < https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html > [Acessed on 4^th April 2020]

Michael Beer, Magnus Finnstrom and Derek Schrader (2016. P. 7) The Great Training Robbery. [Online] < https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/16-121_bc0f03ce-27de-4479-a90e-9d78b8da7b67.pdf > [1 April 2020]

(www2.le.ac.uk) David Kolb [Online]  < https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/doctoralcollege/training/eresources/teaching/theories/kolb > [Accessed on 4^th April 2020]