Learning Organizations

What is learning and a Learning Organization ?

Learning: “We define learning as the transformative process of taking in information that—when internalized and mixed with what we have experienced—changes what we know and builds on what we do. It’s based on input, process, and reflection. It is what changes us.”(–From The New Social Learning by Tony Bingham and Marcia Conner) If an organization transforms itself continuously while facilitating its members a learning opportunity, it is called a Learning organization. Senge (1990)

Becoming a Learning organization - 

According to (Marquardt 1997) there is no single, guaranteed way to become a learning organization, each organization must look at the organizations own history, competitive environment, skill base, technology, mission, and culture and then develop an appropriate learning structure and style. According to Hess (1997) building a learning organization is a lot like building a house, a house needs a supporting foundation, electrical and plumbing systems, a roof, and an insulated structure. These components must be integrated and aligned to work together to produce the desired results. The same applies to the components necessary for building a learning organization, The formula of a High-Performance Learning Organization (HPLO)  has three components , the Right People, the Right Environment, and the Right Processes that enable and promote learning(Hess 1997).

The advantages being a Learning Organization - 

According to Sarder (2016) in this rapidly changing, highly competitive environment, learning organizations have a crucial advantage. They can respond more quickly and effectively to change. Organizations are better able to keep ahead of the competition by coming up with innovative products and services, and are less likely to become mired in inefficient practices, more able to address problems quickly, and better at operating efficiently. Crucially, they are far more likely to attract and retain the best employees

Five Characteristics of a Learning Organization – 

According to Senge (1990) there are five following characteristics a learning organization should possess –

Systems thinking -  

A body of work called the "System thinking" helped the Learning organization idea to develop. People Studying businesses as bounded objects were the conceptual framework behind this. An organization who practice learning concepts use this method of thinking while assessing their own company and will have Information systems measuring the performance and its various components as a whole. All the characteristics being apparent is one of the key features of a learning organization & that is what System thinking emphasizes on. The main reason for an organization to fall short in its goal is missing some of these characteristics. However it is often understood that learning organizations do not have simultaneously developed characteristics, instead, they are gradually acquired.

Personal Mastery -  

Personal mastery is the commitment one individual has towards the learning process. If an organization's workforce can learn quickly, that gives a huge competitive advantage to the organization compared to other organizations. Learning cannot be forced into an individual who is not willing to learn, Most of the learning is acquired through staff training, development & continuous self improvement & research shows that workplace learning is incidental, rather than a result of a formal training. It is important to have a culture where personal mastery is practiced on a daily basis. Also, there should be a mechanism in place for an individual to transfer the self-learned knowledge towards the organizational learning.

Mental models - 

Mental models are assumptions held by individuals & organizations. In a learning organization environment, these models are regularly challenged. Usually, individuals support the theories they intend to follow & theories in use, On the other hand, organizations do have their own past experiences which preserve norms, values & certain behaviors. Learning organizations are more about open culture replacing the confrontational attitudes, eventually promoting inquiry & trust. Triple loop learning is a famous process that an organization can adopt to get rid of unwanted values so the organization can lean more towards an Open culture.

Shared vision - 

One of the most important factors in motivating staff to learn is developing a shared vision. eventually, it provides focus & energy for learning through creating a common identity. Building individual visions among all employees at all levels are one of the most successful visions. Usually, Learning organizations tend to have flat, decentralized organizational structures. One of the key factors that help organizations succeed against a competitor is having a shared vision. 

Team learning - 

If an Organization have better access to Knowledge & expertise, its problem-solving capacity also increases, Such Knowledge & expertise is the accumulation of individual learnings put together as a team. To facilitate both individual & team learning, such organizations have structures with features such as boundary crossing & openness. Engaging in dialogues & discussions, having open discussions with the team, shared meaning & understanding let team members develop their open communication together with the aforementioned skills. Also learning organizations allow individuals or teams to create, aquire, disseminate & implement this knowledge since these organizations have excellent knowledge management structures allowing such activities within the organization.

Senge (1990)

Key Changes that an organization goes through throughout their life cycle are

According to Sarder (2016) Following are the key changes any organization goes through in it’s life cycle - 

Figure 1: Key Changes That Affect Success (Sarder, 2016)

Learning organizations are better able to compete because they are more able to innovate and respond quickly to change in a world where change is one of the few things we can count on. The leaders of those organizations know that they can't move forward by standing still, and they can't pull ahead of the pack by doing things the same old way, year after year. Not satisfied with the status quo, they are constantly seeking ways to improve their products and services and differentiate themselves from the competition. 

One reason that learning organizations gain the advantage is that they can attract, retain, engage, and motivate the best employees. Even during the recession few years back, when many thousands of people were looking for work, organizations found it difficult to recruit good employees—and that is still the case. Learning organizations recognize that few people come equipped with all the necessary skills; instead, they seek employees who are willing and able to learn, have open minds, and are unafraid of change. 

Learning organizations also understand that today's best and brightest want more from their jobs than the security of a paycheck. Instead, they constantly seek opportunities to grow and develop their abilities. In learning organizations, employees play a major role where they adopt due to tougher competition, technology advances, and shifting customer preferences, it's more crucial than ever that companies become learning organizations. In a learning organization, employees continually create, acquire, and transfer knowledge—helping their company adapt to the unpredictable faster than rivals can.

Few Examples of Learning Organizations - 

 Two years back it was BBC reported (Westcott, 2016) that Amazon is planning to drop packages to our doorsteps using drones where courier companies such as FedEx & UPS argue such a method is not feasible & effective. Delivery companies such as FedEx and UPS are under this view that such mechanisms are not viable and haven’t noticed that technologies are evolving and would be possible in the near future which will have a cost advantage over traditional delivery mechanisms (Source?), But same year, Amazon completed the first drone delivery (BBC News, 2016) & is in the process of testing more deliveries in order to make It a success.

Another example is "Blockbuster" who was the leader in movie rental business, later filed bankruptcy in 2010 due to movie rental business being taken over by online move streaming companies such as "Netflix" & "Amazon Prime". Blockbuster didn't change their strategies when online streaming business came into the picture since they thought that streaming would never be an alternative to physical movie rentals due to slower internet connections, bandwidth issues & other infrastructure related facts. But it did & eventually and Blockbuster couldn't keep up with their online competitors which lead to them filing for Bankruptcy (Sarder, 2016) 

According to Sarder (2016) it is not competitors who put organizations out of business, it's themselves for not being a Learning organization who understands the current business trend & what it will be like in the future, especially with the advancing technology.

Key Changes That Affect Success of an Organization.

A company’s business model & strategies need to change & be re-modeled according to the current environmental changes, changes come in various forms which the organization may not anticipate. Even the mentalities of employees have changed. As a learning organization, it is its leaders’ responsibility to identify such areas & act accordingly, such measures are crucial for the organization to survive in this rapidly evolving business world (Sarder, 2016) According to Sarder (2016) following are the key changes identified which affects an organization success -

Changes in technology -Business & Technology are interconnected & it is vital for an organization to identify the impact it has due to such changes & adjust accordingly. Technology affect in many ways, such as the way we live, way we work, way we communicate, way we get our information, how we get our products & services we need etc. The only way to compete in the business is to anticipate, keep up with the technology and leverage it to drive our business Sarder (2016)

Business model change - Standing still while the world around changes will be the downfall of any business. There are plenty of examples in the business world such as Blockbuster, CircuitCity who were holding on to a static business model hoping the consumers will always stick to the same products and services were offering. Both These organizations were market leaders in their specific area of business who went down due to competition. (Sarder 2016)

Job role change – According to Sarder (2016) Due to quick changes in technology & business models, some jobs might become obsolete, for example, Microsoft was a software company & it is not building software for mobile devices & its own devices. The software programmer who used to do coding to develop software for a PC now needs to develop applications for mobile devices.

Globalization impact - Due to globalization a business can have competitors across the globe, the organization can expand across multiple countries creating a customer base across the world and need to capitalize on these opportunities (Sarder 2016).

What advantages does a Learning Organization have against others in the business?

Responding quickly & effectively to a change is one of the key behaviors of a learning organization & being such as organization has a crucial advantage over others. By doing so organizations will be able to innovate and be ahead of the competition

The hiring and retention advantage - One of the biggest problems organizations have are retaining their employees, and employees leave most of the time not because of money or their positions, but because they feel they are not being taken care of or not listened to.

The Innovation advantage - 

Making employees better in whatever they do is one of the key characteristics of a learning organization and being a learning organization results not being sticking into rigid hierarchies, or being held back by outdated thinking patterns, this kind of organizations will be able to get right people together at the right time to come with innovative solutions for problems that show up during business. Such activities will make the organization come up with better ways to cater changing customer needs, preferences & expectations, come up with better products & services & also cost-effective ways to deliver such products or services.

- Sarder 2016

How can an Organization become a proper Learning organization?

According to Sarder (2016) building a learning organization doesn't happen just because senior leaders think it's a good idea, and it doesn't happen overnight. It takes a long-term commitment, a deep well of patience, thoughtful planning, and a steady supply of resources. Management needs to build a learning culture, develop learning plans, and create a system for managing the firms learning operations. To facilitate a learning organizational environment, training and developing of employees is a critical driver that shapes the organization into a learning organization.

Training and developing employees is much more than an employee benefit. It is a critical business driver that leads to high-performing employees and solid workforce retention. 

(Sarder, 2016)

How can training & Development benefit for a Learning Organization?

Smith (2010) states Learning happens all the time—at work and elsewhere, planned and organically. Corporate training departments exist to help ensure that employees learn mission-critical skills at the right time and place so that the organization achieves its objectives. Indeed, “the only reason learning functions exist is to drive business outcomes” (Smith, 2010). Further Tuller (year) states that training and development build employee morale and the cost of rehiring is much more than the cost of training.

Is Training Necessary Any More?

Based on interviews of successful managers, Lombardo and Eichinger (1996) formulated the 70/20/10 model, according to which: “Lessons learned by successful and effective managers are roughly - 

70% from tough jobs

20% from people (mostly the boss)

10% from courses and reading” 

(Pollock, Jefferson, & Wick, 2015 ; Lombardo & Eichinger, 1996)

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McCall, Lombardo, and Morrison (1988) went further, pointing out that “Only a minute part of a manager's time is spent in the classroom, suggesting that it's the other 99.9 percent of the time that the bulk of development takes place.” That kind of observation, combined with today's technology-enabled information access, have led some to question whether it still makes sense to invest in training at all, or to suggest that “only 10 percent of learning and development's budget, time, and resources should be spent on one-off learning sessions that equip employees with new skills” (McCall, Lombardo, and Morrison, 1988. P1).

According to Pollock, Jefferson, & Wick, 2015; Lombardo & Eichinger (1996) the importance of incidental learning notwithstanding, planned and structured learning is still vital in organizations. Professionally planned and executed learning initiatives are essential to ensure:

Consistency—making sure that all associates are taught the same approach and that these are consistent with company values and policies as well as legal, regulatory, and safety requirements.

Efficiency—done well, training groups of employees is more efficient than training each individually or letting them discover everything they need to know on their own. A planned program of learning can be especially important for making new employees productive quickly with company- and job-specific knowledge and skills.

Quality—knowledge of instructional design and access to subject matter experts enables workplace learning professionals to design higher quality and more effective interventions than relying solely on informal learning. “Without intentional support, informal learning can be unruly and therefore costly. Unconsciously, incompetent people often help others become the same” 

(Gottfredson & Mosher, 2011, p. 11).

Awareness—people don't know what they don't know. So even if the information is available, they may not know they need it. Salespeople need to learn new products; operators may be unaware of the dangers of certain actions; managers may need 360-degree feedback to help them identify blind spots.

(Pollock, Jefferson, & Wick, 2013)

Conclusion - 

There are many types of research & studies done related to Learning organizations & how training & development aids such organizations to succeed in the current business world. One key point organizations should understand is, a Learning organization has a much better chance of surviving in the current business world whereas others may fail simply because they didn't anticipate that the changing business world will ever have an impact on their array of business. There are many examples mentioned at the beginning of this blog.

Any organization who wish to continue & thrive in running a successful business should definitely evaluate themselves & identify if there is a need for them to adjust themselves to be a learning organization & act immediately. Transforming into such an organization is not an overnight task & it requires a lot of time, team effort & planning. Starting to transform into such an organization itself is the first step which initiates learning & development within the team who is working towards this goal.  Since a learning culture is built by its people, it is mandatory for them to work towards creating a learning culture & they all must be learners themselves.

One of the major challenges any organization will face during a transformation is, dealing with employees during such a change. Every organization has a diverse set of employees & there are no organizations who employ a similar set of people who think alike, hence, it becomes a challenge to deal with such a society in the process of transforming an organization. This is where proper leadership comes into place & it is mandatory for the leader to show every employee is being heard & being taken care of during the process, ultimately making employees feel the need to maintain the loyalty by themselves to understand the true benefit of being part of a learning organization. Employees should lead learning initiatives understanding that how much this process will enhance their lives, in an ideal situation, employees should come up with innovative ways to get training & developments to archive the end goal of being a true learning organization. That is the beginning of a true learning organization since teamwork & collaborative efforts are key components of a learning organization.

References -

BBC News. (2016). Amazon makes first drone delivery. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38320067 [Accessed 30 May 2018].

Harvard Business Review. (2018). Building a Learning Organization. [online] Available at: https://hbr.org/1993/07/building-a-learning-organization [Accessed 6 Jun. 2018].

HESS, E. (2014). Learning: The Right People. In Learn or Die: Using Science to Build a Leading-Edge Learning Organization (pp. 32-44). Columbia University Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/hess17024.7

Latham, A. (2013, October 2). Why training fails. Retrieved from www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Management-Blog/2013/10Why-Training-Fails. 

Marquardt, M. (1997) 16 Steps to becoming a Learning Organization - Organizational Development. Alexandria, Association for Talent Development.

Pollock, R., Jefferson, A., & Wick, C. W. (2014). The field guide to the 6Ds: How to use the six disciplines to transform training and development into business results. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.

Pollock, R., Jefferson, A., & Wick, C. W. (2015). The six disciplines of Breakthrough learning: How to turn Training & Development into Business Results. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.
Stone, B. (2013) The everything store Jeff Bezos and the age of amazon. London, Transworld Publishers.
Smith, R. (2010). Strategic learning alignment: Making training a powerful business partner. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.

Roberts, J., Gibbons, R.(2012) The Handbook of Organizational Economics. Princeton, Princeton University Press.

Sarder, R. (2016) Building an Innovative Learning Organization: A Framework to Build a Smarter Workforce, Adapt to Change, and Drive Growth. Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons.

Westcott, R. (2016). New trials for delivering goods by drones. [online] BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-36887325 [Accessed 28 May 2018].