- Why Learning Organisations?
- The emergence of the Learning Organisation
is due to three factors, Market Forces, Information technology and Social Change.Until
shortly after the Second World War product cycles were slow and stable. It was possible to
plan ahead with a fair degree of certainty and employees expected work to be clearly
defined and predictable. This was the era of demarcation, when jobs were broken down into
different skills requiring different people's input. The post war economic boom,
particularly around the Pacific rim, combined with the Information Technology revolution
has created highly volatile, short product cycles in which change and innovation are the
cornerstones of economic survival.
Social Change is a less tangible but never the less a critical aspect of the growth of the
Learning Organisation, and is rooted in the assertion of people's rights, a questioning of
the status quo and challenging the traditional view of those in authority. From being a
largely compliant society which acquiesced to authority, there has been a significant
shift towards questioning those in authority. To a large degree this is due to the amount
of information in the public domain, and the general rise in people’s
aspirations. In the workplace this has led to a re-alignment of relationship between
employers and employees from a hierarchical Parent - Child, towards a more Adult
partnership. Employees now expect to be consulted and involved in work place changes.
The 'soft' or unwritten contract prior to these social and economic changes assumed that
in return for job security, a regular wage and the prospects of advancement, employers
could expect loyalty, obedience and reliability. Today's 'soft' contract has changed. The
faster moving, more volatile markets mean that job security or promotion can no longer be
guaranteed. Instead, employers require flexible, multi-skilled staff who will work on
their own initiative in flatter management structures. The other side of the soft contract
of course is that employees' expect to have more opportunities to learn and develop, so
that in the event of their present job ceasing, they will have skills and experiences that
are valued elsewhere. Where loyalty was once to the organisation, today it is increasingly
towards the individual.
How to Grow a Learning Culture
- The essence of the Learning Organisation is
that all employees will respond swiftly and positively to change and actively seek changes
of benefit to the organisation. This requires organisational systems that will capture and
disseminate learning, and a culture that will encourage employees to want to share ideas
and learning.
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- For organisational learning to be effective
it must be systematic. This includes systematic problem solving in which clearly
identified problems and opportunities are analysed rigorously. Quality Circles and
Continuous Improvement projects are typical examples.An essential aspect of such
initiatives is the measurement of any changes. Sue Jones in her book 'Developing a
Learning Culture' suggests that all changes, whether in manufacturing processes,
management systems or training, need to have clear and appropriate measurement criteria.
Linking Training benefits to changes in bottom-line performance for example is unrealistic
according to Jones. So many factors influence bottom line performance that such
measurement is impossible. Better she suggests, to measure the success of training and
development strategies by more direct measures. If the objective is to create a Learning
Culture then the number of suggestions coming from the workforce or, as in the case of
Zeneca, Grangemouth, the number of employees involved in continuous improvement projects,
are more relevant and precise measures.
- To these more practical applications must be
added a commitment to experimentation - being proactive in exploring new possibilities as
well as the more reactive nature of Quality Circles and Continuous Improvement
initiatives. Learning from ones own experience, particularly through Action Learning Sets
and learning from the experience of others through secondments and job sharing are obvious
possibilities.
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- The importance of capturing learning seems
crucial. The problems which caused the 'Herald of Free Enterprise', Kings Cross
Underground and Hillsborough disasters had all been identified prior to their occurrence,
but the information had not been effectively circulated and therefore had not been acted
upon. Some organisations are now appointing Learning Managers to encourage people to learn
and to disseminate learning - without it must be stressed, making learning a bureaucratic
exercise.
The most crucial element in all this is Time. Many organisations feel that due to
de-layering and down-sizing they are operating flat-out, and this is not conducive to
learning. Time out for reflection is an essential part of the learning process. This is
best achieved away from the distractions of the workplace and with a degree of
informality. Formal business meetings are good for passing on information, making
decisions and meeting tight deadlines, however the business of learning cannot be so
tightly managed. Unstructured time to unwind and reflect are essential to release the
creative energy in all of us.
Many of us find that our best ideas emerge when we are on holiday, in the bath or on a
drive in the countryside. Norsk Hydro, the Norwegian conglomerate has capitalised on this
by arranging senior management retreats in the hills outside Oslo once a month. The
retreats last from Thursday evening to Friday afternoon. There is no formal agenda;
managers simply eat and socialise together. They also take all their paperwork with them
and telephone calls are restricted to absolute emergencies. Norsk Hydro finds that the
combination of non-pressured time for reflection, socialisation and paperwork, immediately
before a weekend, has stimulated a number of significant developments.
Ultimately however the Learning Organisation rests on the ability of the
Organisation to create an atmosphere of high trust. Sumantra Goshal identified high trust
as the critical factor in successful 'self-renewing' organisations. Without high trust
Goshal suggests, employees will not put their heads above the parapet, creative conflict
will be stifled and Group Think rather than Synergy will be the product.
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- Terra Nova has recently been involved with a
Biomedical manufacturer which started from a green-field site. Senior Management were keen
to institute working practices and policies that would encourage a Learning Culture from
the outset. Our work to date has included; shadowing senior management to help them
understand how their own behaviour influences trust; initiating the establishment of a
Values Group, developing a Recruitment and Selection policy and process. The latter
included Assessment Centres as a means of recruiting production employees plus feedback to
all applicants.
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- A major learning point was that, while the
company may be starting from a green-field, the personnel are bringing with them all the
habits (both good and bad) from their past work experiences. While there are certain
advantages to be gained from starting from a green-field site which makes the
implementation of alternative working practices easier, there are a number of attitudinal
barriers to break down, notably the cynicism that can so easily emerge when managers do
not practice what they preach or when the workforce do not understand the new more
enlightened working practices. The importance of the senior management team as positive
role models of the organisation's values are brought sharply into focus, as is the need
for effective communication systems so that when things go wrong - as they inevitably
will, everyone will learn and benefit rather than revert to more traditional sniping,
Scapegoating or cynicism.
- Finally the story of Tom Watson, the founder
of IBM is worth re-telling to illustrate how senior managers influence the development of
a Learning Organisation. A middle ranking executive was called to Watson's office having
lost IBM $10,000,000 on some ill advised venture. When the executive offered his
resignation, Tom Watson retorted, 'you must be joking, I've just spent
$10,000,000 educating you.''