Status: ongoing
Description
The way individuals collaborate and do their work is continually changing (Ashford et al., 2018). To be competitive, organizations must constantly adapt to changing conditions in continuous interaction with their environment and find new ways to improve the quality of their performance. This requirement also demands changes in the way individuals learn. Digital transformation, in particular, makes it possible to set up so-called learning ecosystems that can enable corporate learning. Cerasoli et al. (2018) indicate that “over the past two decades, research has shown a growing consensus that 70% to 90% of organizational learning occurs not through formal training but informally, on-the-job, and in an ongoing manner”, (Cerasoli et al., 2018, p. 203). Hence, most practical knowledge is inevitably developed informally (e.g. Cerasoli et al., 2018; Noe et al., 2010). Informal learning takes place within the individual learners, who have control over self-determined learning processes in the workplace (e.g. Hoyle, 2015; Bednall et al., 2014). How well the potential for informal learning is used depends on organizational factors as well as the individuals’ characteristics (e.g. mindsets) (Jiang et al., 2016). Learning within an organization can lead to increased performance and the commitment of individuals as well as of teams, which in turn increases employees’ retention (Neininger et al., 2010).
With this research project, we aim to investigate which organizational (e.g. learning climate) and individual factors (e.g. mindset, values) promote informal workplace learning and how managers can systematically foster and integrate them into daily workflows, i.e. to design individual learning processes effectively and set organizational guidelines to enable “learning how to learn”.
Involved Persons
References
- Ashford, S. J., Caza, B. B., & Reid, E. M. (2018). From surviving to thriving in the gig economy: A research agenda for individuals in the new world of work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 38, 23–41. doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2018.11.001
- Bednall, T. C., Sanders, K., & Runhaar, P. (2014). Stimulating Informal Learning Activities Through Perceptions of Performance Appraisal Quality and Human Resource Management System Strength: A Two-Wave Study. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 13(1), 45–61. doi.org/10.5465/amle.2012.0162.
- Cerasoli, C. P., Alliger, G. M., Donsbach, J. S., Mathieu, J. E., Tannenbaum, S. I., & Orvis, K. A. (2018). Antecedents and Outcomes of Informal Learning Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Business and Psychology, 33(2), 203–230. doi.org/10.1007/s10869-017-9492-y.
- Hoyle, R. (2015). Informal Learning in Organizations: How to Create a Continuous Learning Culture. Kogan Page.
- Jiang, Y., Jackson, S. E., & Colakoglu, S. (2016). An empirical examination of personal learning within the context of teams. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 37(5), 654–672. doi.org/10.1002/job.2058.
- Neininger, A., Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., Kauffeld, S., & Henschel, A. (2010). Effects of team and organizational commitment – A longitudinal study. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 76(3), 567–579. doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.01.009.
- Noe, R. A., Tews, M. J., & McConnell Dachner, A. (2010). Learner Engagement: A New Perspective for Enhancing Our Understanding of Learner Motivation and Workplace Learning. The Academy of Management Annals, 4(1), 279–315. doi.org/10.1080/19416520.2010.493286.
