What are drivers for informal learning?

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services. AbstractPurpose -The topic of informal learning at work has received increasing attention in the past years. The purpose of this study is to explore in which informal learning activities employees engage and what are the drivers for informal learning. Design/methodology/approach -Semi-structured interviews were taken from ten human resources (HR) and ten marketing employees working at a German machinery manufacturer. Findings -Employees mostly learn informally by talking or collaborating with others, searching information online, feedback giving and seeking from colleagues and supervisors and reading. Next, it was found that organizational drivers, task and job drivers, personal drivers and formal learning influenced employees' informal learning. Background characteristics on the contrary were not found to influence informal learning. Overall, within these categories, the following drivers had the greatest influence on informal learning: commitment to learning and development, feedback as well as interactions with and support from colleagues and supervisors. Research limitations/implications -The design of this exploratory qualitative study brings some limitations. Based on the findings, suggestions for future quantitative and intervention studies are done. Practical implications -The results show how human resources development (HRD) professionals could better support employees' engagement in informal learning and gives an overview of the determinants that could be influenced and in turn have a positive effect on employees' informal learning. Originality/value -This study is one of the first studies unraveling informal learning as perceived by employees. It develops a comprehensive framework for categorizing drivers for informal learning.

Do new ways of working increase informal learning at work?

“…For instance, all facets of NWW increase job autonomy (Gerards et al, 2018), which is found to relate positively to informal learning (e.g. Schürmann and Beausaert, 2016;Cerasoli et al, 2018). The limited empirical evidence, that only connects NWW and informal learning relatively loosely, does not suffice to form clear expectations on the relation between NWW and informal learning.…”

Self-Directed Learning as a Practice of Workplace Learning: Interpretative Repertoires of Self-Directed Learning in ICT Work

“…Collin 2006;Havnes and Smeby 2014;Nerland 2008), work is highly problem driven, and employees are involved in short-term loops of problem-driven learning (Hirschmann and Mulder 2018). These kind of workplaces have proven they offer a large variety of both individual-and collegial-based resources for learning (Billett 2001;Schürmann and Beausaert 2016). Despite the positive meanings of learning described in some previous studies, the negotiations that take place when a learner discovers his or her identity might be demanding for this specific group of employees (Ha 2015;Kirpal 2009;Soreide 2016) because employees in ICT organisations are immersed in a culture that requires ongoing learning driven by both the employers' and employees' expectations (Fuller and Unwin 2010;Riddell et al 2009).…”

Development and validation of a scale measuring approaches to work‐related informal learning

“…Informal learning may happen in several ways. For example, the qualitative study by Schürmann and Beausaert (), in which 20 knowledge‐workers were interviewed, generated a list of informal learning activities that includes, among others, online learning, reading, trial and error and reflection on action. Similar findings were produced in the context of teaching and teacher education using qualitative (Lohman, ) and quantitative approaches (Kwakman, ; Lohman, ).…”

“…Next to these learning activities, which discuss non‐social entities as the source or trigger for learning (e.g. tasks, errors, media), Schürmann and Beausaert (), Lohman () and Kwakman () all discuss also more social learning activities, such as talking and collaborating with others, learning through feedback, sharing resources, observing and imitating others or mentoring. Indeed, the social context plays a large role for employees' work‐related informal learning (Ellinger, ; Jeon & Kim, ).…”