Workplace learning experienced by employees in information technology-enabled work environments – a developing country experiences

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vathsala Wickramasinghe ◽  
Udayabanu Ramanathan
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Workplace Learning ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Work Environments ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Knowledge Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Job Tasks ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Professional Employees

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a study that investigated workplace learning activities and drivers that enhanced learning as experienced by employees in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach This study was conducted in the knowledge process outsourcing sector, where employees perform knowledge work in flatter team-based structures with information technology-enabled work environments. From the 17 firms that volunteered to participate in the study, 239 technical/professional employees volunteered for the survey. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify the association between drivers of workplace learning and learning activities experienced by employees and whether individual demographic characteristics and the number of employees in the firm are associated with workplace learning activities experienced by employees. Findings This study found that organisation-related, individual-related and team-related drivers significantly influence workplace learning activities experienced by employees. In addition, employees’ age, firm-specific experience and the number of employees in the firm significantly influence the same. Originality/value This paper presents learning activities experienced by employees in the completion of work-related job tasks at hand and drivers experienced by employees in the new normal that has existed since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gender-equal organizations as a prerequisite for workplace learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Johansson ◽  
Lena Abrahamsson
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Workplace Learning ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Review Of Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Basic Characteristics ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to explore how gendering of the learning environment acts to shape the design and outcome of workplace learning. The primary intention is to reflect on the idea of gender-equal organizations as a prerequisite for workplace learning. Design/methodology/approach A review of literature relating to gender and workplace learning was conducted with the relation between gender-(un)equal organizations and the design and outcome of workplace learning as the focus of the analysis. This was followed by an analysis of the characteristics of an organization that promote both adoptive and developmental workplace learning. Findings The literature shows how the gendering of the learning environment acts to shape workplace learning, often by preventing development learning and limiting adoptive learning to already privileged groups. To facilitate development, workplace learning requires that organizations are guided by nuanced knowledge of work organization and strategically use workplace learning to challenge existing power relations; that they are not characterised by gender segregation; and that the presence and protection of gendered practices and identities do not dominate learning activities. Practical implications Stressing gender-equal organizations as a prerequisite for learning requires stakeholders to integrate a gender perspective in the design of workplace learning. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature considering workplace learning by highlighting how gender-equal organizations constitutes a prerequisite for workplace learning and in defining a few basic characteristics of such organizations.

scholarly journals Work + learning: unpacking the agglomerated use of pedagogical terms

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Fergusson ◽  
Luke van der Laan
Keyword(s):  
Workplace Learning ◽  
Educational Outcomes ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Shared Understanding ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
Work Integrated Learning ◽  
Distinguishing Features

PurposeThe association of work and learning has been well established for many years. However, some of the terms used to describe the various pedagogies related to work and learning have been used interchangeably, with many lacking definitional clarity and scope. These include work-related learning (WRL), work-based learning, workplace learning (WPL) and work-integrated learning (WIL). This agglomerating approach to usage has resulted in pedagogical confusion and what some theorists call a “problematization” for the field, resulting in undermining shared understanding and potential benefit. The purpose of this conceptual paper is an attempt to unpack the meaning and application of some of the key pedagogical terms used in the applied field of work + learning theory and practice.Design/methodology/approachConceptual modelling and qualitative descriptions of each pedagogy.FindingsMany of the work + learning pedagogies do overlap and cohere but attempts to create umbrella terms, which apply to all theories and approaches, are misguided; definitional clarity with the different modes of practice is required for sustainable educational outcomes.Originality/valueA proto-theoretical model, along with a breakdown of distinguishing features of each term as well as their source in the published literature, has been developed to improve clarity and aid the future praxis of educators.

scholarly journals Employee stress and the implication of high-power distance culture: empirical evidence from Nigeria's employment terrain

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 1381-1400
Author(s):  
Emeka Smart Oruh ◽  
Chianu Dibia
Keyword(s):  
High Power ◽  
Power Distance ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Environments ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Overload ◽  
Work Related ◽  
High Power Distance ◽  
Employee Stress ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThis paper explores the link between employee stress and the high-power distance (HPD) culture in Nigeria. The study context is the banking and manufacturing sectors in Nigeria, which have a history of exploitation, unconducive work environments to productivity, work-life imbalance, work overload, burnout and employee stress.Design/methodology/approachUsing a qualitative, interpretive methodology, this article adopts a thematic analysis of data drawn from semi-structured interviews with 24 managerial and non-managerial workers to explore the process by which Nigerian manufacturing and banking sectors' work (mal)practices go unchallenged, thereby triggering and exacerbating employees' stress levels.FindingsThe study found that the high power distance culture promotes a servant-master relationship type, making it impossible for employees to challenge employers on issues relating to stressors such as work overload, unconducive work environments, work-life imbalance and burnout, thereby exacerbating their stress levels in a country in which stress has become a way of life.Research limitations/implicationsResearch on the relationship between employee stress and HPD culture is relatively underdeveloped. This article sheds light on issues associated with stressors in Nigeria's human resource management (HRM) and employment relations practices. The link between the inability of employees to challenge these stressors (which are consequences of an HPD culture) and increased employee stress has substantial implications for employment and work-related policies and practices in general. The study is constrained by the limited sample size, which inhibits the generalisation of its findings.Originality/valueThe article adds to the scarcity of studies underscoring the relationship between high-power distance and the inability of employees to challenge work-related stressors as a predictor of employee stress and a mediator between workplace practices and employee stress, particularly in the emerging economies.

Slowing work down by teleworking periodically in rural settings?

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 511-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Vesala ◽  
Seppo Tuomivaara
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Knowledge Workers ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Occupational Position ◽  
Work Related ◽  
As Stress

Purpose – The rise of knowledge work has entailed controversial characteristics for well-being at work. Increased intensification, discontinuities and interruptions at work have been reported. However, knowledge workers have the opportunity to flexibly adjust their work arrangements to support their concentration, inspiration or recuperation. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the experienced well-being of 46 knowledge workers was subject to changes during and after a retreat type telework period in rural archipelago environment. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted a longitudinal survey among the participants at three points in time: one to three weeks before, during, and two to eight weeks after the period. The authors analyzed the experienced changes in psychosocial work environment and well-being at work by the measurement period by means of repeated measures variance analysis. In the next step the authors included the group variable of occupational position to the model. Findings – The analysis showed a decrease in the following measures: experienced time pressure, interruptions, negative feelings at work, exhaustiveness of work as well as stress and an increase in work satisfaction. There were no changes in experienced job influence, clarity of work goals and work engagement. Occupational position had some effect to the changes. Private entrepreneurs and supervisors experienced more remarkable effects of improvement in work-related well-being than subordinates. However, the effects were less sustainable for the supervisors than the other two groups. Originality/value – This paper provides insights into how work and well-being are affected by the immediate work environment and how well-being at work can be supported by retreat type telework arrangements.

Individual and contextual variables in municipal officers' workplace learning

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valéria Vieira Moraes ◽  
Jairo Eduardo Borges-Andrade
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Workplace Learning ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Longitudinal Design ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate workplace learning among municipal officers in the high-learning-demanding organizational context of their work practice in the first year of mandate. Design/methodology/approach – A before-and-after quasi-experimental design was used to assess the effect of time of work practice on learning work requirements. Level of mastery of role-relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSAs) was measured on three occasions (once before and twice after occurrence of work practice), with 126 participants. Associations have been tested between this learning and level of education, previous experience, use of learning strategies at work, population size of municipalities and participatory public planning. Findings – Findings suggest that the municipal officers showed learning of KSAs but no change in their attitude toward public administration. This learning has been positively associated to size of the municipalities, previous professional experience and learning strategies, especially regarding the cognitive strategy “intrinsic and extrinsic reflection”. A possible positive effect of the use of participatory planning on this learning could have been detected if measures were taken after 11 months. Research limitations/implications – The generalization of findings is limited, as data are restricted to the southern and southeastern regions of Brazil, in municipalities in which mayors belong to a given political party. Practical implications – The study brought useful information that may contribute to provide some clues, to municipal officers and their parties, on how to accelerate the required learning that should take place right after election. Social implications – The practical implications may be cautiously used in organizations in general. Originality/value – The feasibility of a longitudinal design to measure work-related learning was shown. Options for more comprehensive studies that may better define the phenomenon of workplace learning and identify its relationships with other variables have been demonstrated.

Workplace learning measures for human resource development: review and summary

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 420-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunyoung Park ◽  
Jae Young Lee
Keyword(s):  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Workplace Learning ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Resource Development ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Self Regulated Learning ◽  
Diverse Learning ◽  
Learning Measures

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the existing workplace learning measures used in empirical studies in human resource development (HRD).Design/methodology/approachBy reviewing 141 studies on workplace learning published in six journals in the field of HRD, we identified nine measures for workplace learning. Tynjälä’s (2013) 3-P model of workplace learning was adopted as the framework to analyze the features of each measure in terms of presage, process and product.FindingsWorkplace Climate Questionnaire, Learning Opportunities Questionnaire, Approaches to Work Questionnaire and Self-regulated Learning in the Workplace Questionnaire belong to the presage category. Small Business Workplace Learning Survey and Workplace Learning Activities are categorized as the process dimension. The Questionnaire on Informal Workplace Learning Outcomes is in the product dimension. Informal Workplace Learning Survey and Workplace Adaptation Questionnaire are across the three categories.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors identified the issues of existing workplace learning measures to emphasize the importance of reliable and valid measures for workplace learning and to gain the attention of researchers concerning these issues.Practical implicationsThe findings can provide organizations and practitioners with insights and ideas on how to prepare employees to engage in diverse learning activities, how to support their learning activities and how to combine their learning activities with the existing job structure and work system.Originality/valueThis study is the first to review workplace learning measures in the field of HRD. The authors review the dimensions, items and reliability of each measure, and summarize the features of nine measures in terms of presage, process and product of workplace learning.

scholarly journals Proximal and distal antecedents of problematic information technology use in organizations

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Henri Pirkkalainen ◽  
Monideepa Tarafdar ◽  
Markus Salo ◽  
Markus Makkonen
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
It Use ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fear Of Missing Out ◽  
Work Related

PurposeExcessive use of work-related information technology (IT) devices can lead to major performance and well-being concerns for organizations. Extant research has provided evidence of the incidence of such problematic IT use in organizations. We extend the understanding of problematic IT use by examining its individual (proximal) and organizational (distal) antecedents.Design/methodology/approachDrawing from the self-worth theory and the concept of fear of being left behind, we address proximal antecedents that lead to problematic IT use. Drawing from the concept of autonomy paradox, we address distal antecedents of problematic IT use through a positive association with the two proximal antecedents. We report the results of a field study involving 846 individuals who use IT for work. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data.FindingsThe results indicate that the proximal antecedents (IT insecurity and fear of missing out) are positively associated with problematic IT use. The distal antecedents (IT use autonomy and involvement facilitation) are positively associated with the proximal antecedents except for the relationship between IT use autonomy and IT insecurity, which was found statistically non-significant. Furthermore, fear of missing out fully mediates the effect of IT use autonomy on problematic IT use, whereas IT insecurity and fear of missing out fully mediate the effects of involvement facilitation on problematic IT use.Originality/valueThe paper theoretically extends the understanding of problematic IT use and identifies novel its proximal and distal antecedents.

The role of high performance human resource practices as an antecedent to organizational innovation: an empirical investigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 279-295
Author(s):  
Noopur ◽  
Rajib Lochan Dhar
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
Human Resource Practices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Moderating Factors ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeAmong the various human resource practices (HRPs), high performance human resource practice (HPHRP) is gaining substantial importance both from academia as well as industry. Although HPHRP and its work related outcomes have been studied in the previous literature, none have tried to unveil the mediating and moderating factors which strengthen the relationship of HPHRP and organizational innovation (OI). The purpose of this paper is to observe the effect of HPHRP on OI in Indian information technology-information technology enabled services (IT-ITES) sector, where employee competency (EC) is proposed as a mediator and climate for innovation (CI) as a moderator.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology used for data collection was through survey questionnaires. For a good model fit and empirical validation of the proposed model confirmatory factor analysis was done and SPSS macro, PROCESS was used for further analysis.FindingsResults showed that HPHRP has an influence on OI wherein ECs mediate the relationship between HPHRP and OI, additionally CI positively mitigates the interaction between HPHRP and ECs.Originality/valueThe present study is the first of its kind which has empirically examined the mediation/moderation interactions between HPHRPs, ECs, CI and OI in Indian IT-ITES sector. The present research has also responded to the calls of previous research by identifying as to how HRPs create a context for innovative performances.

Impact of informal learning in the accounting profession

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 429-441
Author(s):  
Michelle M. Kusaila
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Workplace Learning ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Accounting Profession ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of informal learning contextual factors in facilitation workplace learning in the auditing profession. Design/methodology/approach Multiple linear regression analysis was used to look at the relationship between four aspects of informal learning and the impact on workplace learning using data from a cross-sectional survey of 95 audit professionals. Findings Correlation analysis identifies men perceive access to time and technology resources differently than women, but regression analysis identifies both genders are impacted by having time to participate in informal learning activities. Older, more experienced auditors’ were not as impacted by informal learning activities, but younger auditors were impacted by management support. Contrasting previous research the significance of a supportive organizational culture suggests the learning culture in public accounting firms’ support knowledge dispersion through the feedback and review process. Research limitations/implications This study was tested in one context; it could be expanded to other accounting professionals, to look for generalizability. The technology attribute can be further explored as technology adoption is pushed to new staff; future studies could explore whether the technology attribute becomes significant. Originality/value Few studies have looked at the quantitative impact of informal learning in the accounting profession. This study adds to the literature confirming the importance of the pyramid structure in encouraging the development of younger auditors and its perceived positive impact on them. In addition, it extends the importance of the time commitment to personal development, and the role it plays in informal learning.

A bibliometric overview of the Journal of Workplace Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liuyu Huang ◽  
Hattie Liew
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Workplace Learning ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Learning Research ◽  
Bibliometric Studies

Purpose This study aims to analyze the Journal of Workplace Learning (JWL), focusing on articles between 1997 and 2020. Specifically, this study will examine articles in JWL, themes in JWL and the influence of JWL. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts bibliometric analysis methods, with indicators such as total articles, total citations, citation per article, h-index, Citescore, citation per year and considers different dimensions, including the leading articles, the most productive and influential authors, universities and countries, top keywords and keywords concurrence clusters and top journals, universities and countries that cite JWL. Findings JWL is an international journal with growing influence over workplace learning research. JWL’s leading articles focused on learning activities and learning environments, with single-authored and multi-authored articles evenly distributed. Dealtry and Billett are among the most productive and influential authors, and universities from Europe, Australia and North America dominate in JWL. Persistent topics and new topics that emerged in recent years in JWL are identified. JWL’s influence is well-evidenced by citations from over six continents. Originality/value This study represents the earliest attempt to study workplace learning using bibliometric analysis. It serves as a baseline for future bibliometric studies on workplace learning and guides authors in identifying research directions through the shift in keywords. It offers objective information about JWL, thus providing a reference for authors who are considering JWL as a potential publication outlet.

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