Eva Kyndt

Learning conditions for non‐formal and informal workplace learning

Purpose – The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the presence of learning conditions for non‐formal and informal workplace learning in relation to the characteristics of the employee and the organisation he or she works for.Design/methodology/approach – The questionnaire developed by Clauwaert and Van Bree on learning conditions was administered to 1,162 employees of 31 different organisations. An explorative factor analysis was performed to reduce the number of variables and to look for underlying constructs in the data. Second, a series of analyses of variance were calculated in order to be able to compare the factors in different kinds of groups of employees.Findings – The authors concluded that for the five learning conditions that were identified in this research, different kinds of groups of employees have different chances for non‐formal and informal learning. These learning conditions are “feedback and knowledge acquisition”, “new learning approach and communication tools”, “being co...

Influence of learning and working climate on the retention of talented employees

Purpose – The aim of this study is to investigate some factors that have an influence on employee retention. Based on the literature and previous research, both employee and organisational factors are taken into account.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected by means of a questionnaire that was distributed on a voluntary basis in professional organisations and among employees, both electronically and in hard‐copy, during 2008‐2009. The study sample consisted of 972 employees, mainly clerks, from diverse profit and social‐profit organisations.Findings – The results show that when organisations want to retain their employees it is important to pay attention to the learning of employees. Letting people do more and learn more of what they are good at will encourage them to stay with the organisation. Results concerning the selected employee variables show that only age has a significant relationship with retention. Regarding the intention to stay, there exists a positive relationship between age an...

Antecedents of Employees’ Involvement in Work-Related Learning A Systematic Review

Involvement in work-related learning seems to be more complex than a simple supply–demand fit. An interplay of several factors can influence this involvement at different stages of the decision-making process of the employee. The aim of this systematic review is to examine which antecedents of work-related learning have been identified in previous research. In total, 56 studies met the criteria for inclusion. In the current study, we describe how work-related learning was measured and what the empirically observed relationship is between learning intention and actual participation in work-related learning. The results show a positive relationship between intention and participation. A learning intention is most related to the attitude, subjective norms, self-efficacy, and career-related variables of the employee. Important predictors of actual participation in work-related learning are firm size, initial level of education and self-efficacy of the employee, support by managers, and opportunities within the organization.

Teachers’ Everyday Professional Development Mapping Informal Learning Activities, Antecedents, and Learning Outcomes

Although a lot is known about teacher development by means of formal learning activities, research on teachers’ everyday learning is limited. In the current systematic review, we analyzed 74 studies focusing on teachers’ informal learning to identify teachers’ learning activities, antecedents for informal learning, and learning outcomes. In addition, we examined whether beginning and more experienced teachers differ with regard to informal learning. Results revealed different types of learning activities in the two groups and interesting relationships among different antecedents and various learning outcomes. Moreover, it can be concluded that the main difference between beginning and more experienced teachers lies not in the type of learning activities they undertake but rather in their attitudes toward learning, their learning outcomes, and how they are influenced by their context.

Approaches to Learning at Work Investigating Work Motivation, Perceived Workload, and Choice Independence

Learning and development are taking up a central role in the human resource policies of organizations because of their crucial contribution to the competitiveness of those organizations. The present study investigates the relationship of work motivation, perceived workload, and choice independence with employees’ approaches to learning at work. Participants in this study were 358 Belgian employees who completed the Approaches to Learning at Work Questionnaire, the Workplace Climate Questionnaire, and the Motivation at Work Scale. Results show that both autonomous and controlled motivation relate positively to employees’ deep approaches to learning. In addition, an interaction effect of perceived workload and choice independence on a deep approach to learning was found. The results concerning a surface-disorganized approach to learning showed a negative relationship with autonomous motivation and a positive relationship with perceived workload. None of the predictors related significantly to a surface-rational approach.

Team learning beliefs and behaviours in response teams

Purpose – Teams, teamwork and team learning have been the subject of many research studies over the last decades. This article aims at investigating and confirming the Team Learning Beliefs and Behaviours (TLB&B) model within a very specific population, i.e. police and firemen teams. Within this context, the paper asks whether the teams beliefs about the interpersonal context and the occurrence of three team learning behaviours (construction, co-construction and constructive conflict) play a role in building and maintaining mutually shared cognition in a collaborative learning environment leading to a higher effectiveness. Self-efficacy was added to the original model. Furthermore, the effect of team meeting frequency on the TLB&B model was investigated. Design/methodology/approach Design/methodology/approach – All constructs were measured using the validated Team Learning Beliefs and Behaviours Questionnaire completed with the self-efficacy scale. Data were collected from 126 teams (n Findings – The res...

Learning in the second half of the career: stimulating and prohibiting reasons for participation in formal learning activities

Past research has shown that, as workers age, their participation in education and training declines, which is a problem in our fast changing society and economy. This study focuses on the stimulating and prohibiting reasons for participation in formal learning activities. It investigates whether employees in the second half of their career differ from their younger colleagues in terms of the reasons for participation in formal learning activities. 628 employees from the public health sector completed the questionnaire and after performing factor analysis, several ANOVA analyses were undertaken. Employees older and younger than 45 years of age and groups with varying levels of experience within their organisation (employees with more or less than 20 years service) were compared. Results showed that younger employees were more stimulated by their organisation’s steering than their older colleagues. However, younger employees were less keen than older employees to participate in formal learning due to the required investments of time, financial costs, distance and assignments. In comparing more and less experienced employees, it was found that employees with less experience were more stimulated by the organisational steering and wish to progress. More experienced employees were discouraged by dispositional barriers; for example, they felt that they had learned enough or could not learn any more and also dreaded the idea of ‘going back to school’. The differences found in this study support the statement that age and educational participation are not (or less) directly related than has been suggested. Rather, the differences between different age groups seem to be more related to differences in the personal or private lives of employees, while any differences between experienced and less experienced employees appeared to depend on job-related issues.

The Learning Intentions of Low-Qualified Employees: A Multilevel Approach

In the continuously changing society and knowledge-intensive economy, the demand for the recurrent updating of competencies is coming to the fore for all employees, including low-qualified employees. Employees are considered low qualified when they do not have a starter qualification for higher education. Although many educational studies have focused on fostering learning under favorable circumstances, learning under less favorable circumstances—such as fewer career prospects and restricted possibilities for professional and personal development associated with low qualifications—has received fairly little attention. Participants in this cross-sectional, survey-based study were 246 low-qualified employees from eight different organizations. Results of the multilevel analyses show gender differences and differences between employees with different types of employment contracts. In addition, the seniority of employees showed a negative relation with learning intentions. Finally, learning intentions were positively predicted by self-directedness, financial satisfaction, and perceived support for learning.

Measuring team learning behaviours through observing verbal team interaction

Purpose – This study aims to explore, as an answer to the observed lack of knowledge about actual team learning behaviours, the characteristics of the actual observed basic team learning behaviours and facilitating team learning behaviours more in-depth of three project teams. Over time, team learning in an organisational context has been investigated more and more. In these studies, there is a dominant focus on team members’ perception of team learning behaviours. Design/methodology/approach – A coding schema is created to observe actual team learning behaviours in interaction between team members in two steps: verbal contributions by individual team members are coded to identify the type of sharing behaviour and, when applicable, these individual verbal behaviours are build up to basic and facilitating team learning behaviours. Based on these observations, an analysis of team learning behaviours is conducted to identify the specific characteristics of these behaviours. Findings – An important conclusion...

Informal workplace learning among nurses: Organisational learning conditions and personal characteristics that predict learning outcomes

Purpose This paper aims to examine which organisational learning conditions and individual characteristics predict the learning outcomes nurses achieve through informal learning activities. There is specific relevance for the nursing profession because of the rapidly changing healthcare systems. Design/methodology/approach In total, 203 nurses completed a survey assessing their perception of the available learning conditions, the learning outcomes they acquired by executing their job and their self-efficacy, proactive personality and learning motivation. After checking the structure and reliability of the instruments by means of confirmatory factor analysis and the calculation of the internal consistency of the scales, a multivariate multiple regression analyses was performed because the different learning outcomes (dependent variables) were correlated with each other. Findings Results show that learning outcomes as a whole are significantly predicted by opportunities for cooperation and feedback. Regarding generic and job-specific learning outcomes, analyses showed the same predictors for both levels of learning outcomes: opportunities for feedback and self-efficacy. Higher proactivity and opportunities for cooperation are related to higher organisational level learning outcomes. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of this study is that its findings rely on cross-sectional survey data; hence, further research is needed to confirm these initial exploratory results. Originality/value The current study is one of the few studies that empirically relates organisational learning conditions to learning outcomes acquired by employees while considering the personal characteristics of the employee. It offers insight into which learning conditions are able to foster the acquirement of different learning outcomes.