Antecedents of Employees’ Involvement in Work-Related Learning

Abstract

Involvement in work-related learning seems to be more complex than a simple supply-demand fit. An interplay of several factors can influence this involvement at different stages of the decision-making process of the employee. The aim of this systematic review is to examine which antecedents of work-related learning have been identified in previous research. In total, 56 studies met the criteria for inclusion. In the current study, we describe how work-related learning was measured and what the empirically observed relationship is between learning intention and actual participation in workrelated learning. The results show a positive relationship between intention and participation. A learning intention is most related to the attitude, subjective norms, self-efficacy, and career-related variables of the employee. Important predictors of actual participation in work-related learning are firm size, initial level of education and self-efficacy of the employee, support by managers, and opportunities within the organization.

Competence and Professional Expertise

“…The second category of antecedents dealt with organisational variables or factors (Kyndt and Baert 2013). A first factor, that has been investigated by a lot of researchers, is (organisational) support.…”

“…While organisational conditions set the context and conditions for learning, it is a reciprocal interaction between the individual and the workplace or organisation that determines learning (Billett 2004;Tynjälä 2008). For example, a positive attitude towards learning and self-efficacy (Kyndt and Baert 2013), the latter defined as the confidence in one's capability to activate resources to meet situational demands (Bandura 1977), are crucial determinants for professional development to take place. That being said, it seems that particularly organisational conditions can be influenced by for example HRD professionals and directors, and therefore it is interesting to elaborate on particularly these conditions.…”

“…For example, at the macro level (the likelihood of losing one's job, support from outside the workplace), characteristics of the learning activity itself, and socio-demographic characteristics (like initial level of education) (Kyndt and Baert 2013). Personal characteristics are also essential in this regard (Billett 2004;Kyndt and Baert 2013;Tynjälä 2008). While organisational conditions set the context and conditions for learning, it is a reciprocal interaction between the individual and the workplace or organisation that determines learning (Billett 2004;Tynjälä 2008).…”

“…For example, at the macro level (the likelihood of losing one's job, support from outside the workplace), characteristics of the learning activity itself, and socio-demographic characteristics (like initial level of education) (Kyndt and Baert 2013). Personal characteristics are also essential in this regard (Billett 2004;Kyndt and Baert 2013;Tynjälä 2008).…”

“…That being said, it seems that particularly organisational conditions can be influenced by for example HRD professionals and directors, and therefore it is interesting to elaborate on particularly these conditions. Previous work investigated organisational conditions for professional development (Eraut 2004;Evers et al 2011a;Kwakman 2003;Kyndt and Baert 2013;Opfer and Pedder 2011;Sambrook 2005), although some studies also focused on the predictive validity of organisational conditions for professional expertise development ( Kyndt and Baert (2013) performed a systematic review study on the antecedents of employees' involvement in formal and informal learning activities, both on and off the job, whereby employees and groups of employees acquire and/or improve competencies (integrated knowledge, skills, and attitudes) that may change their present and future professional achievement and organisational performance. At the organisational level, they distinguished two categories.…”