Report on: Learning, Knowledge and Effective performance

Learning is an extremely essential process for accomplishing business objectives and important to
the practice of improving organizational performance.It crosses over any barriers between the
organizations existing capacity and that required to deliver the business results. Accordingly, it allowsall
the employees to gradually but consistently gain their personal competence and develop to their full
potential. According to Bass & Vaughan (1966), Learning is defined as a relatively permanent change
in behavior that occurs as a result of practices or experience. In the same chapter, we can deliberate
other terms from which organizations have to build up to improve their performance, especially their
staffs capability in the long run. That is, Educationis the development of the knowledge, values and
understanding required in all aspects of life rather than the knowledge and skills relating to particular
areas of activity, in which, Development is defined as the growth or realization of a persons ability and
potential through the provision of learning and educational experiences. On the other hand, Training
refers to the planned and systematic modification of behavior through learning events, programs and
instruction which enable individuals to achieve the levels of knowledge, skill and competence needed to
carry out their work effectively. (Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2014). Numerous organizations have

known the importance of adapting learning within their work structures and processesso thatthey
can straightforwardly promote cooperative learning at work. The action of promoting or
supporting learning at work is regularly undertaken owing to the supposed advantage of sharing
both knowledge and experience about work amongstaffs. Though, learning at work is likely to
already exist obviously within the work processes of the organizations. The foremostobstacle of
supporting learning at work is the number of new elements that you have to cope with
including work organization, work roles and relationships, boundaries, politics,
organizationalperceptions, business strategy and priorities (Child, J. (1972).The management of
learning in an organization confirms a well-informedstaff and supportsin preparingstaffs for
business and industry changes. From orientation training for new staff to current skill
developments, managing the learning process of employees makes sure that the capability of the
organizationwill meet objectives and thus increasing productivity. Learning can be executed in
formal and informal approaches, but it is extremely vital to evaluate and track the success of all
learning initiatives. Effective learning management will definitely generates a learning
organization that gradually increases employee knowledge (Senge, P. M. (2014). Building up a
learning organization is never an easy task but its huge advantages coming behind are worth the
consideration and implementation. That is to say, it helps promote learning in the organization

through staff exchanges in a teamwork environment. Implementation needscompetentstaffs and

decentralizing authority to motivate individual learning creativities, with the main goal is to
encourage staffs to search for information as needed from others or references to
progressivelyimprovethe organization knowledge. Additionally, a learning organization creates
more opportunities for the organization to achieve corporate unity with common visions between
board of executives and staffs.
The opportunity to learning thrives throughout the work environment. Comprehend
clearly how to efficientlyuse and control them to take full advantage of the influence of
workplace learning in any organization. Workplace learning occurs when staffs, teams,
organizational and cross-team work, knowledge and experience are developed through engaging
in daily work activities. (McDermott, R. (1999). Getting and following direction and support in
the work environment increases more learning opportunities, thus contributing significantly to
staffs self-confidence and efficiency in their work performance. Theoretically, Reay (1994) has
propose seven key factors in learning psychology, which are Motivation; Relevance to personal
interest and choice; Clear goals and objectives; Practice and learning by doing; Self-checking on
progress (providing feedback; Freedom to make mistake; Able to learn in their own time, at their
own pace. Motivation or a sense of purpose staffs learn best when they see a worthwhile endresult of the whole process of learning. Relevance to personal interest and choice learning will
be motivatingto its full extent if it is understood as relevant by the learner. Learning by doing
because practice makes perfect, understanding is crucial to effective performance but then only
doing or bringing what you learn in mind to reality can promote real understanding. Freedoms to
make mistakes in safety when learning by doing, staffs are likely to run the risk of failure.
Learning actions or practicesneeds the assurance that individuals know that it is harmless and
allowed to fail, but trainers are required to help them learn from their mistakes. Learners mustto
be given feedback on how they are doing by giving learners the means to assess their own
progress is the finest method, i.e. self-checking. Freedom for learners to learn in their own time
and at their own pace - learning will absolutely be more efficient if learners or staffs can manage
it themselves in line with their own favoritesof the way it progresses. Additionally, Kolb and
associates in 1974 defined the experiential learning cycle which comprises four phases and it is
outlined in the following scheme:

(Source: http://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html)
Kolb defined the following thesis: Concrete experience it canbe planned or accidental;
Reflective observation involves active thinking on experiences and their significance; Abstract
conceptualization (theory) generalization of experiences so as to developvarious concepts and ideas
which may be applied in similar situations; Active experimenting testing of concepts and ideas in new
situations. This will give rise to new concrete experience and the cycle repeated. Kolb shows the learning
process as a context of learners mindset transforming between the modes of concrete experience and
abstract conceptualization, and reflective observation and active experimentation. Therefore, the
effectiveness of learning depends onthe aptitude to balance these modes, which Kolb sees as opposite
activities that promote learning to its best.
Investing in human resources over the practice of training and management development
considerably increases individual staff abilities and organizational competencies. However, investing in
human resources is far different from investing in equipment, apparatus or machinery. Once an
organization invests in new modern assembly line, let's say, the cost can be devalued over the years
despite how modern and high technology it is; but when investing in human resources, or in general,
management development, the cost cannot be depreciated and even gain in multiples years after.
Improving the knowledge and skills of its employees is the superlative path to gain benefits for the
organization in the long run. How should the organization measure the effect? According to Kirkpatrick
(1959) from the measures of training program success, there are four criteria recommended: Reaction what the staffs thought of the certain program; Learning - what principles, facts, and techniques staffs
learned; Behavior - anevaluation of progress of staff work performance; and results - theeffect of the

training program on organizational goals, for instance turnover, costs and absence. Organizational
learning is an extremely fundamental part, plays an important role in any company performance because
it facilitates effectively innovation, original strategies, and high development in terms of productivity and
efficiency. The effects of learning at work are moderately clear. Through the action of learning, staff will
find solutions to better their performance, including their knowledge and skills and more crucial the
understanding of the way individual objectives fit in with that of the organization. In the external
environment, it even brings more astonishing results such as lower the cost, greater customer satisfaction,
less wastages along with greater productivity, more motivation for the staff when their job satisfaction is
fulfilled. Argote and Ingram (2000) propose that knowledge transfer can be measured by

measuring changes in performance.

But because comparatively few have studied, empirically, the links between learning and
performance and the management of such processes, and because it is not entirely absurd that new
learning might not lead to performance adjustment, research is justified. With the aim of classifying the
area of study, it is alleged that the process involves the development, employment and capitalization of
knowledge.
Another specific part we need to consider is knowledge-sharing culture within the organization.
Knowledge-sharing is popular to be intrinsically essential to the health of most business. Research shows
that a willingness to share is definitely related to productivity and labour cost. Focus group members
thought that knowledge-sharing is optimistically correlated to growth and innovation, bottom line
savings, increased customer satisfaction, increased shareholder value and learning ( Smith, H. A., &

McKeen, J. D. (2003).

The Four Basic Types of

Organization Culture (Goffee & Jones, 1996)

In brief, a culture of knowledge-sharing goes deeper than external individual behaviours and
catches the hearts and minds of the employees in an organization.
We consider a case study of a company which applied principles of organizational learning within
its internal environment for all staff. VT Group is a privately held United States defence and services
company, with its origins in a former British shipbuilding group, previously known as Vosper
Thorneycroft. The British part of Vosper Thorneycroft was integrated into Babcock International Group in
the early 2010s and no longer uses the name VT Group (Source: https://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/VT_Group).

The Group has more than 12,000 employees, mainly in the UK and the US, with a turnover of
1.6 billion. From merely a shipbuilder in the past, VT has renovated itself adapting to the changing
nature of the market by noticeably transforming its business segment, reorganizing and turning from a
manufacturing to an engineering-based support services great corporation. VT Group has achieved
numerous significant successes with its distinctive operation principle Enhancing performance through
employee engagement. I totally agree with VT Group CEOs opinion when sharing the know-how of
elevating human resources performance within the organization, which is mainly focusing on
engagement of its people for the common purpose in terms of developing the skills, leadership, the
understanding among staff. The research conducted has shown that staff who is engaged in the practice of
learning for better performance comes out of reforming more quickly and accomplishing the commercial
benefits faster than others who are not engaged. All staffs in the organization as a result need to develop
their skills and approach, which means the company must change the mindset of staffs from that of a
traditional manufacturer to one that is more flexible, dynamic and of industrial working style. The role of
senior managers in this practice is vital, initially with effective communication between them and the
team which requires clear, consistent and convincing directions from the managers and encourages

feedback from staff to make sure that they understand and take on board messages. Another point that I
say yes with VT Board of Executives when they really show their concern about raising the awareness of
the staff on business values and culture in which they are encouraged to share knowledge and consult
each other when appropriate, especially from people with relevant knowledge with no hesitation. They
have directed a widespread activity of communicating and discussing organizational learning and values
at workshops with all staffs, clearing up the importance of each staffs knowledge and individual
performance to the common performance of the entire corporation. The values concentrate on
empowering staff and supporting individual in their learning to develop their personal values to its full
potential; approaching by organizing activities which supports innovation and creativity with teams and
among teams such as the workshop I can do/ I cannot do and why? in which staff will have the chance
to share their thoughts on how to obtain the best of their potential as well as their experiences on
overcoming obstacles in the process of learning for better work performance. In the macro level, VT
Group also fortifies their strength with vital transformation processes in the organization, including an
extensive program of training their efficient staff, a new performance-related appraisal system, an
agreement within the staff on changing poor behavior and bad attitude, designing rewards to motivate
staff on improving their actual work performance shown by their periodic productivity and other
assessments. VT emphasizes on values-driven commitment which is proved to enhance team working,
mutual support, better individual responsibility, independence, cooperation resulting in superior
improvement: more ideas of high quality and certainly more creativity within the organization. Even
though the innovation practice has not reached its purpose, the organization is sure it will complete its
objectives.
Through a survey conducted within the organization in 2013, some results were shown to us for
evaluation of VTs supporting learning at work through training. Accordingly, the practice of training is
used by 76% of organizations; training in VT is a tool for organisational change like 35% of
organizations. Additionally, line managers are responsible for delivering training to direct reports in 36%
of the organizations - again as in VT. Above all, VT wants to actually elevate their core staff by support
them in the learning of their needed items which is supposed to be the most effective way to improve the
performance of the whole group because more than anyone, human resources is the most valuable asset of
an organization.

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