The Role of Organisational Learning in Improving Performance

Introduction

Organisational learning refers to the method by which a business improves itself with time by utilising experience and gaining experience as a purpose to develop knowledge (Leithwood et al., 2021). The knowledge developed is further transformed within the company. It is recognised as one of the significant aspects for all business organisations as the retention, development and transfer of knowledge within the business enables the company to strengthen as a whole. Organisational learning is recognised as an important factor that enables the company to develop learning as a purpose to maximise job satisfaction among the employees while enabling them to maximise their efficiency and productivity as a purpose to drive organisational success. The study in this essay is undertaken as a purpose to demonstrate the role of organisational learning in enhancing the overall performance of an organisation followed by various models and theories. The essay describes the learning and development of the UK L&D process. The essay further describes the development of learning culture followed by organisational examples along with individual learning theories followed by the organisational learning process. In the end, the essay also describes various stages of learning and development.

Main body

According to Darling-Hammond (2020) learning and development are defined as the constant method of improving the competencies knowledge and skills of employees with the purpose to increase job satisfaction, and productivity while minimising turnover. It is developed by creating several learning programmes which enable the employees to up skills in their desired area of interest (Darling-Hammond et al., 2020). Pratono (2019) defines learning and development as a branch of human resources that makes sure to improve the skills and capabilities of employees while enabling them to meet desired goals and objectives of the organisation (Pratono et al., 2019). Logan (2021) describes learning and development as a systematic approach to improving knowledge and professional skills of workers which aims to facilitate overall business success by enhancing the effectiveness and productivity of the workforce (Logan et al., 2021). In the UK, the learning and development strategy for an organisation emphasises harnessing the overall development of the workforce with the help of constant up skilling and training where the companies intend to offer learning opportunities as a purpose to meet their personal and professional objectives to meet the overall objectives of the company. The learning and development process associated with the UK organisation comprises job learning, collaborative learning, formal training and much more. From a strategic perspective, it is observed that learning and development intend to set the overall skills capabilities and competencies of the staff which are required by the organisation while determining the ways in which it can be developed as a purpose to drive successful and sustainable business growth. The development of a robust learning organisation begins with building an effective strategy towards learning and development which includes designing learning journeys determining capacity gaps and much more (Leithwood et al., 2021).

Learning and development play a significant role for both individuals and organisations as a whole. There are several ways of developing an interactive learning culture in the organisation as a purpose to facilitate development which comprises motivating active learning. For example, one of the leading retailers of the UK, Marks & Spencer ensures to encourage active learning by offering several learning programmes in the form of intercultural learning, on-site learning and much more to empower employees with a purpose to personalise their pathway towards learning. The other ways of developing a learning culture comprise filling skill gaps me developing a sustainable learning culture (Darling-Hammond et al., 2020). Several leading international organisations such as Barclays, Hilton and many more ensure to conduct training as purpose to develop skills and capabilities of both current and existing employees. The various ways of developing a learning culture for individuals comprise of experimenting with different learning methods which comprise analysing different ways which enable the individual to better learn a concept. It is associated with the beam of a visual learner or kinaesthetic learner. The other ways include making learning a top priority while setting objectives and receiving feedback from senior experts or peers.

Kolb's learning cycle is recognised as one of the imperative models of learning and development theories for individuals that were developed in 1984 by David Kolb and are significantly based on the assumptions that individuals intend to loan a number of things by direct experience. The theory describes four major stages which enable individuals to learn a specific concept from a situation or experience (Idkhan et al., 2021). The first stage is associated with concrete experience which describes the personal involvement of a learner. In an organisation such as Marriot and Burberry, the managers analyse the current skills and capabilities of the new employees through the help of interviews and the recruitment process. The second stage is associated with reflective observation where employees are able to share their thoughts and opinions based on the current knowledge and learning exhibited for a specific job role. The third stage is associated with abstract conceptualisation beer managers intend to develop a personalised training program for the employees as a purpose to address their weak areas where they lack specific knowledge or skills. The last stage is associated with active experimentation where learners are encouraged to adopt learning programs in terms of on-site and offline their managers and to analyse their overall performance (Logan et al., 2021).

In the case of individuals, people can develop concrete experiences by analysing their own strengths and weaknesses. In terms of reflective observation, individuals can intend to generate various feelings related to being happy and excited about learning new concepts (Idkhan et al., 2021). In abstract conceptualisations, the individuals can intend to develop an action plan by setting objectives. In active experimentation, they adapt new learning practises to internships by listening to lectures from educators.

A learning organisation refers to an organisation that drives learning off staff while constantly transforming itself. The significant characteristics of a learning organisation comprise room for innovation, knowledge sharing, collaborative learning, lifelong learning and forward-thinking leadership. It enables organisations to develop effective learning culture with the purpose to drive employee job satisfaction. The examples of learning organisations comprise Goldman Sachs. This is recognised as a learning centre which delivers knowledge to the managerial population on a daily basis. In addition to this, Pizza Hut is known to significantly invest in the latest technologies by analysing the lifetime value of its customers where it further treats them as a search for the long-term (Pratono et al., 2019). The other example includes Johnson and Johnson which is facilitated by a famous credo which intends to enhance product quality while further investing in the new products which remain the centre of focus. Organisational learning involves various forms of learning habits. It is significantly comprised of individual knowledge where the workforce incorporates new information for their job profile, group knowledge where employees launch new skills and knowledge while working in a team group organisational knowledge which is driven in the form of providing training and knowledge about the job profile along with inter-organisational knowledge where information and knowledge are spread across different businesses (Darling-Hammond et al., 2020).

Man of the significant motivational theories such as goal motivation theory depends on the concept that settings particular and measurable objectives are more significant and effective than setting clear objectives. The theory was developed in 1968 by Edwin A Locke. The following theory describes that the force that is motivated by defining clear objectives while receiving constructive feedback is more likely to meet their goals which are miserable and specific (Locke and Latham, 2019). The major principles behind this theory comprise clarity where the workforce understands the objectives of the task, challenge where employees intend to meet and address various issues to complete and meet the objectives, feedback which must be offered throughout the process of goal achievement and commitment where employees must be dedicated to accomplishing their significant objective. in the case of organisational learning, the companies enable employees to set objectives based on improving their knowledge and skills as a purpose to effectively perform their overall roles and responsibilities in an effective manner in the organisation. The organisation intends to enable the organisation to meet such objectives by enabling them to remain dedicated to words overall learning process which is achieved by attending several training programmes while offering them feedback throughout the session (Logan et al., 2021).

The expectancy theory of motivation is further recognised as another mod which drives organisational theory as it depends on the belief that people choose their behaviour depending on what they believe which further leads to beneficial results. The major elements of expectancy theory comprise instrumentality which refers to the reward that an individual receives based on their performance and expectancy which refers to the belief that people have based on their efforts (Zhang and Zhu, 2019). In the case of organisational learning, it is recognised that the company must offer extensive training to the employees as purpose to generate better results by providing them with knowledge related to industry trends by developing various employability skills such as leadership, communication and much more.

The significance of organisational learning is described by several advantages that occur in a company to build an effective learning culture. The objective of learning and development in the organisation is to align the objectives and performance of employees with that of the business. It is recognised as an imperative function of HR which is responsible for providing appropriate training and development facilities to the employees. One of the major importance associated with organisational learning and development includes job satisfaction. It helps in facilitating engagement among the workforce (Hendri, 2019). It is observed that significant investment in learning and development enables a workforce to significantly perform their roles and responsibilities which further enables them to constantly add value to the organisation. The use of effective learning and development practises enables employees to improve their knowledge, competencies and skills which further enable them to remain motivated and satisfied by working for their respective job position in the company. Job satisfaction among the employee's further results in increased efficiency and productivity which were the results in meeting their personal and professional objectives along with business objectives. The other advantage associated with learning and development comprises performing performance standards. For example, a well-managed and well-run organisation such as Burberry has clearly defined requirements of performance where the skill level of an employee may not fulfil the needed skill requirements (Hendri, 2019). This is where training is recognised to play a significant role where it enables the organisation to fulfil the skill requirements of the business. It enables the managers to analyse the performance of employees while providing them with training accordingly along with roles and responsibilities for the desired position purpose is to make them better perform in the company. It further enables the employees to drive continuous improvement as it allows raising and learning overall skill levels which further motivates a spirit of positive competition among the workforce. In addition to this, it also promotes the platform of innovation which requires rapid learning, collaboration, iterating, testing and launching. The process of learning and development enables the companies to master such aspects as a purpose to drive a positive culture of innovation in the company. Moreover, the latest technologies and competition need a workforce to impress situations of uncertainty. They intend to address risk and embrace uncertainty if the employees are effectively equipped with the required professional skills which are needed to meet the overall goals and objectives of the business. It also results in effective brand building which is recognised as one of the valuable assets where companies can be its employees related to the brand while marketing the financial strength of the business followed by the quality of its services and products and significant position within the sector (Antunes and Pinheiro, 2020). The investment in learning and development placed by the managers enables the employees to effectively contribute towards the success of the company by meeting the needs and requirements of the customers as the employees are well versed on how to promote and influence customers to words for chasing a specific product. When the specific needs and requirements of the customers are met, it enables the company to generate effective brand value. This also enables the organisation to communicate the strength of a brand while generating strong brand value and increasing the value proposition of the company which further attracts the best talent. It further results in the development of leaders as the use of appropriate learning and enhancement of skills enable the employees to get promoted as a purpose to meet their specific professional goals.

The various stages of learning and development comprise role-based competency mapping which is recognised as the first stage where the managers of the company analyse the competencies and skills of employees. For example, the company performs role-based competency mapping. The other stage comprises of assessment of skills where managers determine the skill gap with the help of a supervisor assessment of simple questions and one-to-one conversation. The third stage includes the development of SMART goals (Hendri, 2019). It includes team, individual, project and organisational goals.

Figure-1: stages of learning and development

Source: (Antunes and Pinheiro, 2020)

The fourth stage includes a self-e-learning course where the manager tracks and assigns target learning to the employees. It comprises face-to-face training programmes where the manager implements a number of the latest technologies to drive e-learning which is further followed by the provision of the certificate. The fifth stage comprises developing structured programmes through the F2F training delivery management system. It results in collaborative and seminar-based workshops which are recognised as an interactive sessions with the purpose to develop skills and competencies among employees. The other stage comprises certification and online tests where the skills and competencies of the employees are tested by several practical scenarios. The seventh stage comprises knowledge sharing which enables the managers in retaining the learning and knowledge to use several tools, processes and methodologies which further enables each individual to exchange their thoughts opinions and ideas with other employees. It comprises team meetings and teamwork during projects. The last stage comprises return on investment where employees are awarded and appreciated for their excellent performance in the company through the help of bonuses and awards (Antunes and Pinheiro, 2020).

Conclusion

The essay demonstrated the role of organisational learning in enhancing the overall performance of an organisation followed by various models and theories. The essay described the learning and development of the UK L&D process. The essay further described the development of learning culture followed by organisational examples along with individual learning theories followed by the organisational learning process. In the end, the essay also presented various stages of learning and development.

References

Antunes, H. D. J. G., & Pinheiro, P. G. (2020). Linking knowledge management, organizational learning and memory. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 5(2), pp. 140-149.
Darling-Hammond, L., Flook, L., Cook-Harvey, C., Barron, B., & Osher, D. (2020). Implications for educational practice of the science of learning and development. Applied developmental science, 24(2), pp. 97-140.
Hendri, M. I. (2019). The mediation effect of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on the organizational learning effect of the employee performance. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 68(7), pp. 1208-1234
Idkhan, A. M., & Idris, M. M. (2021). Dimensions of students learning styles at the university with the kolb learning model. International Journal of Environment, Engineering and Education, 3(2), pp. 75-82.
Leithwood, K., & Louis, K. S. (Eds.). (2021). Organizational learning in schools. Taylor & Francis
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2019). The development of goal setting theory: A half century retrospective. Motivation Science, 5(2), pp. 93.
Logan, R. M., Johnson, C. E., & Worsham, J. W. (2021). Development of an e-learning module to facilitate student learning and outcomes. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 16(2), pp. 139-142.
Pratono, A. H., Darmasetiawan, N. K., Yudiarso, A., & Jeong, B. G. (2019). Achieving sustainable competitive advantage through green entrepreneurial orientation and market orientation: The role of inter-organizational learning. The Bottom Line.
Zhang, F., & Zhu, L. (2019). Enhancing corporate sustainable development: Stakeholder pressures, organizational learning, and green innovation. Business Strategy and the Environment, 28(6), pp. 1012-1026

Assignment On Organisational Learning and Performance

Contents

Introduction

Main body

Conclusion

References