Marianne van Woerkom

The Concept of Critical Reflection and Its Implications for Human Resource Development

The problem and the solution. Adult learning theory and HRD are both concerned with the learning processes of adults. But where adult learning theory concentrates fully on individual outcomes of le...The problem and the solution. Adult learning theory and HRD are both concerned with the learning processes of adults. But where adult learning theory concentrates fully on individual outcomes of learning, HRD always deals with the dilemma between individual and organizational outcomes. The concept of critical reflection, as developed within adult learning theory, contributes to HRD by showing the importance of both problem solving and problem posing for individual and organizational performance. The concept of critically reflective work behavior seems to be a bridge between individual learning and organizational learning. Dimensions of critically reflective work behavior, like reflection on the self in relation to the job, critical opinion sharing, asking for feedback, and challenging groupthink, not only prompt individual learning processes but also enable workers to optimize work practices or to critically analyze and try to change organizational values, thereby initiating double-loop learning processes at the organizational level.

The added value of the positive: A literature review of positive psychology interventions in organizations

This paper systematically reviews research investigating the effects of positive psychology interventions applied in the organizational context. We characterize a positive psychology intervention as any intentional activity or method that is based on (a) the cultivation of positive subjective experiences, (b) the building of positive individual traits, or (c) the building of civic virtue and positive institutions. A systematic literature search identified 15 studies that examined the effects of such an intervention in organizational contexts. Subsequent analyses of those studies revealed that positive psychology interventions seem to be a promising tool for enhancing employee well-being and performance. As a side-effect, positive psychology interventions also tend to diminish stress and burnout and to a lesser extent depression and anxiety. Implications of those findings for theory and praxis and recommendations for future research on positive psychology interventions in organizations are discussed.

Operationalising critically reflective work behaviour

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to operationalise critical reflection. Although critical reflection is widely recognised as a crucial element in individual and organisational learning, not many instruments exist to measure critical reflection in the context of work organisations.Design/methodology/approach – Critical reflection was operationalised by using a combination of a literature review and a survey.Findings – Critically reflective work behaviour was defined as a set of connected activities carried out individually or in interaction with others, aimed at optimising individual or collective practices, or critically analysing and trying to change organizational or individual values. Based on the survey, an instrument was developed for measuring six dimensions of critically reflective work behaviour, namely, critical opinion‐sharing, asking for feedback, challenging group‐think, openness about mistakes, experimentation and career awareness.Research limitations/implications – Future research shou...

The relationships between team learning activities and team performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different team learning activities relate to different types of team performance as rated by team members and managers.Design/methodology/approach – The 624 respondents, working in 88 teams in seven different organizations indicate their perceptions of team learning and their performance ratings of the team. Moreover, managers in the organization are asked to evaluate the team performance.Findings – Team member ratings of effectiveness are positively related to the boundedness and stability of the team and information processing and negatively related to information acquisition. Manager ratings of effectiveness are positively related to boundedness and stability, information processing and information storage and retrieval. Team member ratings of efficiency are positively related to information processing and negatively related to information acquisition. Manager ratings of efficiency are positively related to boundedness and stability and informat...

The Romance of Learning from Disagreement. The Effect of Cohesiveness and Disagreement on Knowledge Sharing Behavior and Individual Performance Within Teams

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore the effects of disagreement and cohesiveness on knowledge sharing in teams, and on the performance of individual team members.Design/methodology/approachData were obtained from a survey among 1,354 employees working in 126 teams in 17 organizations.FindingsThe results show that cohesiveness has a positive effect on the exchange of advice between team members and on openness for sharing opinions, whereas disagreement has a negative effect on openness for sharing opinions. Furthermore, the exchange of advice in a team has a positive effect on the performance of individual team members and acts as a mediator between cohesiveness and individual performance.ImplicationsManagers who want to stimulate knowledge sharing processes and performance within work teams may be advised to take measures to prevent disagreement between team members and to enhance team cohesiveness.Originality/valueAlthough some gurus in organizational learning claim that disagreement has a positive effect on group processes such as knowledge sharing and team learning, this study does not support this claim.

Critical Reflection as a Rationalistic Ideal

There is a growing interest in the concept of critical reflection in the adult learning and management literature. In this article, the author examines four different intellectual traditions that inform the use of the term critical reflection on the different ideals they express and the different definitions of critical reflection they use. On the basis of this analysis, the author argues that all conceptualizations of critical reflection have a normative character in common, indicating “good thinking” rather than describing observed ways of thinking. Moreover, the author argues that most of these definitions share a common rationalistic bias, implicitly defining critical reflection as a cognitive and rational process under full awareness and rationalizing the impact of emotions on the learning process. Next, the author discusses the problems related to the underdeveloped role of the unconscious and emotions in conceptualizations of critical reflection. It is proposed that we need to start thinking about critical reflection in ways that go beyond dualistic assumptions about good and bad learning and acknowledge the importance of implicit learning and emotions. Moreover, it is proposed that we need to ground our conceptualizations of critical reflection in empirical studies.There is a growing interest in the concept of critical reflection in the adult learning and management literature. In this article, the author examines four different intellectual traditions that inform the use of the term critical reflection on the different ideals they express and the different definitions of critical reflection they use. On the basis of this analysis, the author argues that all conceptualizations of critical reflection have a normative character in common, indicating “good thinking” rather than describing observed ways of thinking. Moreover, the author argues that most of these definitions share a common rationalistic bias, implicitly defining critical reflection as a cognitive and rational process under full awareness and rationalizing the impact of emotions on the learning process. Next, the author discusses the problems related to the underdeveloped role of the unconscious and emotions in conceptualizations of critical reflection. It is proposed that we need to start thinking about ...

Accumulative Job Demands and Support for Strength Use: Fine-Tuning the Job Demands-Resources Model Using Conservation of Resources Theory

Absenteeism associated with accumulated job demands is a ubiquitous problem. We build on prior research on the benefits of counteracting job demands with resources by focusing on a still untapped resource for buffering job demands-that of strengths use. We test the idea that employees who are actively encouraged to utilize their personal strengths on the job are better positioned to cope with job demands. Based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, we hypothesized that job demands can accumulate and together have an exacerbating effect on company registered absenteeism. In addition, using job demands-resources theory, we hypothesized that perceived organizational support for strengths use can buffer the impact of separate and combined job demands (workload and emotional demands) on absenteeism. Our sample consisted of 832 employees from 96 departments (response rate = 40.3%) of a Dutch mental health care organization. Results of multilevel analyses indicated that high levels of workload strengthen the positive relationship between emotional demands and absenteeism and that support for strength use interacted with workload and emotional job demands in the predicted way. Moreover, workload, emotional job demands, and strengths use interacted to predict absenteeism. Strengths use support reduced the level of absenteeism of employees who experienced both high workload and high emotional demands. We conclude that providing strengths use support to employees offers organizations a tool to reduce absenteeism, even when it is difficult to redesign job demands.

Predicting excellent management performance in an intercultural context. A study of the influence of multicultural personality on transformational leadership and performance

What makes a manager in an intercultural context an excellent performer? This question is the subject of the present study. The study examines the influence of the five dimensions of multicultural personality via transformational leadership on excellent performance in a sample of managers (N = 138) working in an expatriate assignment or in a job dealing with subordinates of different cultural backgrounds. As expected, cultural empathy, open-mindedness and social initiative were found to have a positive effect on transformational leadership. However, no significant effects were found from emotional stability and flexibility on transformational leadership. Furthermore, a more transformational leadership style led to higher performance in an intercultural context, which was measured using management performance appraisals. Since an indirect effect of cultural empathy, open mindedness and social initiative on performance via transformational leadership has been found in this study, it seems that both these dimensions of multicultural personality and transformational leadership are needed for excellent managerial performance in an international environment.

Goal rationalities as a framework for evaluating the learning potential of the workplace

There is conflicting empirical evidence regarding the learning potential of the workplace. Some studies conclude that workplaces should be seen as strong learning environments, whereas others show evidence of the ineffectiveness of the workplace as a learning environment. In this article, we argue that this disagreement might be caused by different goal rationalities in relation to the institutions that are involved in workplace learning. For economic reasons, societies have organized learning in a preparatory rationality: education as preparation for work. The learning potential of the workplace is often discussed from this goal rationality. In this article, this preparatory goal rationality is challenged by arguing that other rationalities in workplace learning should also be taken into account. Rationalities of optimizing goals, transformative goals, and personal goals are discussed. The model of goal rationalities that is developed in this article must be kept in mind when evaluating the learning potential of the workplace: different goals imply different evaluation criteria.

Strengths use and work engagement:a weekly diary study

The present study among 65 civil engineers investigates the impact of organizational support for strengths use on weekly work engagement and proactive behaviour. Positive psychology postulates that strengths use makes people feel authentic and efficacious. We argue that employees use these positive psychological states as resources that fuel work engagement and proactive work behaviour. Participants completed a general questionnaire regarding strengths use support, and a weekly quantitative diary questionnaire regarding their strengths use, self-efficacy, work engagement, and proactive behaviour over a period of five consecutive workweeks. In line with the hypotheses, the results of multilevel structural equation analyses showed that organizational strengths use support was positively related to weekly strengths use. Furthermore, the results indicated that weekly strengths use was positively related to weekly work engagement and proactive behaviour, through weekly self-efficacy (sequential mediation). Although strengths use support contributed indirectly to work engagement (mediated by strengths use and self-efficacy), there was no significant indirect relationship with proactive behaviour. Our study indicates that strengths use is associated with employees’ levels of self-efficacy, work engagement, and proactive behaviour and that organizations can help employees to use their strengths more often by giving them the opportunity to do what they are good at.