The impact of leadership on the workplace learning of individuals and teams: a literature review and synthesis

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to review literature on the relationship between leadership and workplace learning, to critically analyze and discuss findings and to suggest future research paths based on the synthesis. Design/methodology/approach This study applied a refined literature review process leading to a selection of 40 articles, which originated from 14 internationally acclaimed journals. Findings When explaining leadership influence regarding individual and team learning, the concepts of role modeling behavior, relational support and negotiation of meaning is significant. If leaders provide support, show exemplary behavior and negotiate individual arrangements with employees, workplace learning development is positively affected. Research limitations/implications Future studies should focus on empirical cases further illustrating how the leader–employee relationship is formed in practice, to further understand differences in leadership influence on employee workplace learning. Practical implications The gathered knowledge implicates that carefully designed leadership training programs and personalized work arrangements between leader and employees are beneficial for leader’s ability to influence employee workplace learning. Originality/value The reviewed studies were solely published in top management journals, which resulted in an original literature selection. This study also discusses implicit or articulated assumptions about the view of learning in the selected studies, offering additional understanding about the underlying learning views in leadership–workplace learning research.

Special issue guest editorial: Perspectives on sustainable learning and organizing, part one

“…The seventh article is written by Fredrik Hillberg Jarl (Hillberg Jarl, 2024), who makes a problematization of the underlying assumptions of learning views through a literature review of studies published in high-quality business, management and organization journals. The purpose of his paper is to review literature on the relationship between leadership and workplace learning, to critically analyze the explored literature to establish a knowledge base and to suggest future research paths based on the synthesis.…”

How does learning facilitate development?

“…It is clear that the role of managers and leaders is crucial in all organizational processes and learning in the workplace. The literature review by Hillberg Jarl (2024) in this issue helps practitioners find ways to best support employee and team learning in the workplace. Working and learning in the workplace are almost inextricably linked.…”

“…Based on the literature review by Hillberg Jarl (2024), the following suggestions can be made for practitioners working as managers and leaders: show confidence in employees and their ability to learn, as this would lead to a higher level of learning; show humility and approach others with empathy so that employees feel safe to work and learn; be a role model and show that you too are learning on the job, learn from mistakes and value the joint sense-making because employees will emulate you; being a role model also means behaving ethically, which employees will also emulate; a laissez-faire management style is good for professionals who can work independently, but is not so good for employees who need more guidance, as it would lead to less learning due to the lack of role models and opportunities to emulate; support employees and radiate positive energy and an optimistic attitude, as this also promotes learning, especially learning by doing and learning from mistakes; be present and avoid teleworking as employees need to know that you are there for them and can offer support and guidance; coach teams and create a safe space as this contributes to better team learning; if possible, be a charismatic leader as this makes employees feel like they are part of something big that has meaning and encourages learning, reflexivity and creativity; and openly discuss goals, strategies, decision-making processes, stakeholder relationships and other important issues. This would make employees feel important and encourage their participation and learning. …”

“…Jaakkola, Lemmetty, Collin, Ruoranen, & Antikainen (2024) investigated learning at the individual, team and organizational levels in the hospital environment. Hillberg Jarl (2024) provided a literature review on the influence of leaders on individual and team learning in the workplace.…”