Promoting Individual Workplace Learning-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Write a Report on Promoting Individual Workplace Learning. Answer: Introduction Informal learning is a vital aspect in the growth and development of every individual. Informal learning refers to the learning which is not structured or formal. It has no set goals or objectives and hence cannot be bounded by timelines or structures. It can be promoted but it also largely depends on the individuals basic nature (Noe, 2013). Many organizations promote informal learning as it leads to individuals advancement and offers learning opportunities. Informal learning clearly identifies the importance of socializing in the work place and learning from other individuals, however, it is much wider than simply increasing network for the purpose of socialization (Bancheva, 2015). The focus is built on learning due to the environment an individual is in and surrounding people. This is very different from the traditional concept of formal training, induction or learning (Manuti, 2015). Informal learning throws light on the ability of individuals to learn from other peoples experiences and spread learning and knowledge from their own experiences. Organizations are focussing more on creating an environment that promotes informal learning. This benefits the employee as well as the organization and leads to improved performance for both. Besides this, it further leads to employee engagement, learning, growth of a more positive culture and also provides employee with a platform for innovative thinking and fosters creativity (Watkins, 2014). This particular report throws light on how organizations can promote and enhance informal learning in a workplace. It covers aspects like the factors influencing informal learning; personal individualistic characteristics that impact informal learning and the benefits of informal learning and how does it impact the growth of an individual. The report ends with certain recommendations to promote informal learning in an organization. These recommendations have been defined after in depth research and understanding. Individuals learning in the workplace Team building The best way for an individual to foster learning is to work with other people in a team. When three or more people come together, they share experiences, thoughts, ideas and knowledge which in turn provide a platform for learning among individuals (Tannenbaum, 2010). The formation of teams is hence a crucial aspect of any organization. Team work also enables immediate feedbacks given to employees. At the time of a conflict, team members discuss, argue and make decisions. This provides for a wonderful opportunity of informal learning to an individual (Mathieu, 2015). Feedbacks Feedbacks given to employees play a vital role in shaping their growth and affecting their performance. Feedbacks are given by superiors or colleagues. Both these forms of feedback help in letting the employee know his or her shortcomings and areas of improvement. A transparent and genuine feedback mechanism leads to employees improved growth (Baker, 2013). Feedbacks are formal as well as informal. However, informal feedback has a more positive approach and improves the learners ability to understand (Holmes, 2015). Experience Very often, employees learn from their experience or the experience of others. This is first hand learning and creates a long lasting learning in the minds of the employee. What an employee learns from his experience sustains with him for a longer duration (Kolb, 2014). Experience is the best teacher in the true aspect. When employees share their experience with other members of the organization, it also creates a better flow of communication and helps in achieving more learning by employees (Pellegrino, 2017). Leaders leading by example When the leaders or the people in authority in any organization behave and accomplish goals, they can be sources of informal learning for the employees. This is why it is crucial that the leaders of the organization lead by example. This creates respect for them and a better learning opportunity for employees (Fullan, 2014). Self-Reflection The procedure of a learner learning from himself is known as self-reflection. This is an important style of learning. Employees often learn from their mistakes and their achievements (Boud, 2013). After completion of every task, employees are recommended to self-reflect upon different areas of the task and their performance and learn from the same (Hager, 2011). Factors enabling informal learning Organizational culture is extremely crucial when it comes to informal learning. Certain organizations promote informal learning while certain organizations restrict it. Let us first take a look at factors that enable informal learning in an organization and must be implemented efficiently. Transparent feedbacks Feedbacks given to employees play a vital role in their learning and growth. It is therefore important that feedbacks given to an individual, whether formal or informal, are transparent and genuine. The purpose of the feedback should always be to foster growth and performance rather than discouraging or belittling an employee (Bernstein, 2017). The purity of this intention deeply impacts employees. A transparent feedback mechanism assists employees in understanding their performance areas that require improvement and hence leads to learning. Structuring of work Work must be well structured and clearly defined in the organization. This is important because then the employees know and understand their job roles and work to excel in their respective fields. This structure of job leads to efficient association with other members of the organization and enhances chances of informal learning at a work place. Team activities Team activities are usually done to promote a positive culture in a team. During team activities, members learn from each other, share their personal experiences and provide positive feedbacks. Team activities also enhance association and bonding between team members which makes it easier for employees to learn from each other and improvise overall team performance. Factors restricting informal learning In an organization, there are various factors that restrict an individuals ability to learn informally from colleagues. It is imperative that organizations filter out these factors and aim to remove them from the organization. This is important because if an employee becomes restrictive to informal learning then it adversely impacts overall companys performance. Insufficient growth opportunities If an organization does not offer growth opportunities to it its employees, then employees lose their will to learn and feel demotivated. When the growth opportunities are higher, then there is competition among team members. They then focus more on their learning. Insufficient growth opportunities make employees lethargic and less keen on learning new things. Behaviour of colleagues Behaviour of colleagues and supervisors deeply impacts an individual employees ability to learn and make the best of the environment provided. If the colleagues are unfriendly, they can never provide a good source of learning. Colleagues who are discouraging can also make employees demotivated. Sharing of information and knowledge among employees is crucial to an employees learning. Colleagues who do not share knowledge or experience and allow their team members to make the same mistakes, then they adversely impact the culture of the organization. Employees will find themselves difficult to learn in such an organization. Centralized decision making Some organizations leave the entire decision making to the top management. Jobs are defined to the employees and they are simply supposed to do what is told (Pettigrew, 2014). This leads to demotivation and majorly reduces an individuals ability to learn new things. Centralized decision making in an organization acts as a hindrance to growth and innovative learning of employees. Organizations must leave certain decisions to the discretion of the employees as this will give them confidence and aid in their learning experience (Li, 2015). Individual characters affecting informal learning Informal learning largely depends on the individuals ability to learn and understand on its own. There are various factors that affect informal learning in an individual. The employees background, educational qualifications, family history, previous organization, their cultures, age, experience, level of motivation, communication skills, people skills and team management skills etc. have a major role to play in how much an employee learns from any given situation. In an organization, younger employees might be keener on formal learning but due to a richer experience, elder employees are more prone to learning informally and from their experience. Level of motivation in an employee also largely impacts the employees behaviour and ability to learn in an organization. Employees who are largely motivated tend to learn something new from any given situation. However, employees who are demotivated often require an external force to stay inspired to learn new things. Confidence in oneself is an important aspect of informal learning. A confident employee will interact with more people and hence gain a better learning (Oloko, 2017). Whereas a less confident, socially awkward employee will make fewer interactions and this would adversely impact learning. Communication skills of an individual greatly decide how much can an individual communicate and learn from others. If the communication skills of an individual are superior, he or she will find it more comfortable to discuss ideas with others, listen to their opinion and learn new things (Dozier, 2013). However, if an employee does not possess good communication skills then, then interaction with others would be limited leading to reduced learning. Benefits for employees and organizations of informal learning in a workplace Information sharing Informal learning requires employees to interact with each other, share their experiences and discuss ideas. This leads to effective information sharing within the organization and allows employees to widen their horizons and learn things from a different perspective. Effective information sharing further also leads to better communication and transparency in the organization (Wang, 2014). This information sharing is extensively important and crucial to the effective functioning of any organization. Motivated employees Informal learning or creating sources of learning for employees other than formal trainings, motivate them to work hard, improvise their skills and gives them a purpose to remain in the organization (Marsick, 2015). Survey says 73% of the people are largely affected by the people they work with and people often find themselves stagnating when they cannot learn anything new in an organization. This is when they start looking for opportunities outside. Informal learning makes sure that employees remain motivated and encouraged to work hard and deliver better results (Mone, 2014). Improved organizational culture Organizational culture that fosters informal learning is extremely positive. This creates an environment of learning and growth for the employees of the firm. Informal learning also requires extensive communication and team building within an organization. This in turn leads to a more friendly culture that provides employees with a platform to learn and perform better (Alvesson, 2015). A set of motivated employees, who communicate efficiently, share information and help each other learn and grow is an attractive culture and leads to higher employee motivation, deeper employee engagement and longer term employee loyalty. Better performance When an employee is fostered in culture that assists learning and development, the employee becomes motivated and performs better. This is better for the employee as well as the organization. As the performance of the employee improves, overall performance of the team and the organization becomes better. Informal learning requires a transparent feedback mechanism. These genuine feedbacks, both formal and informal, help the employee in understanding areas of improvement. This also clarifies exactly what is expected out of an employee and hence leads to better performance delivery by individuals. Conclusion Informal learning is a significant part in the growth of an organization. This is specifically beneficial for small scale organizations who cannot afford excessive training seminars or formal sessions for their employees. Informal learning instils a sense of motivation and accomplishment in an employee. It leads to employee satisfaction and contentment which in turn leads to employee loyalty. There are various factors that influence informal learning in an organization like the culture, level of centralization and decentralization, feedback structures and composition of teams in an organization. On an individual level as well, there are numerous factors that define the employees ability to learn and understand informally. This includes employees background, level of motivation, communication skills, people skills, team building ability, decision making ability and his or her past working experience. Various organization are now putting in efforts in ensuring that their workplace fosters informal learning among employees as it is extremely beneficial for both employees as well as the organization. Informal learning is very different from formal learning and hence it is difficult to clearly specify or measure its impact in an organization. However, once the culture of informal learning has been implemented in the firm, in the longer run, these effects become much more evident. Leadership development program It has been noticed in the case, that the organization does not financially sound to fund formal training of employees. Therefore. A few recommendations to enhance the level of informal learning in the organization are given below. The 10 managers who would be attending the training program must learn to focus on certain specific aspects of informal learning as given. Realizing the importance of informal learning Before an organization begins to change its culture, it is imperative that the organization understands the importance of informal learning. Many times, the top management makes the mistake of encouraging only formal learning and finding sources for the same. The attending managers must be trained upon the importance of informal learning and how they can develop the same in their everyday culture. Therefore the first step would be to make sure that the top management of the organization understands how crucial informal learning is and then they can plan to promote and foster it in the organization. Encouraging informal learning Once the top management has realized the importance of informal learning, it should be encouraged among employees. This can be done by motivating employees to work in teams, share experiences and knowledge, provide informal feedbacks to employees and ensuring that every individual is self-reflecting at regular intervals. It is the duty of the top management to encourage informal learning in the organization by creating a culture which fosters the same. Once the top management puts in efforts to encourage informal learning, it becomes a part of the organizations culture and assists in long term growth of individuals of the organization. Knowledge sharing Knowledge sharing must become a crucial part of the organizational culture to make sure that employees are consistently communicating with each other. Knowledge sharing in a firm helps employees learn from each others experience. This leads to improved performance as the mistakes made by one employee can help others to learn from the same to make sure they are not repeated. Knowledge sharing also builds a deeper connect between employees that provides a platform for informal learning. This is done by establishing trust among employees and paving a way for effective and transparent communication. Customized learning It must be understood that every employee has a different style of learning. Just like formal learning can be structured and delivered to suit a wide audience, informal learning is customized and tailor made for every individual employee. It is imperative for firms to understand that there is no set method or process for employees to informally learn from themselves or others. This informal learning cannot be quantitatively measured and one way of learning will not suit all the employees. Feedbacks One of the most important things than an organization can do to ensure informal learning is by creating a transparent feedback mechanism. Feedbacks from subordinates, superiors and peers are all extremely important and help the employee in understanding how they can improvise their performance. The organization must develop a culture that encourages informal feedbacks given to employees. It is extremely essential that the feedbacks given to employees are received with positivity and optimism. If a feedback is given in an insulting or condescending tone, then it may lead to anger and frustration among employees. Lifelong learning This is the most important aspect of informal learning that it must be based upon the idea that it is a long term and lifelong learning. If informal learning is fostered with the intention to help achieve organizational goals in the short term, it may not be very effective. 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