Workforce
Solutions
with
Anthony Jongwe
This week’s instalment focuses on training and development.
I examine the concept of a learning organisation within the context of learning theory. Of late, Zimbabwe has witnessed the mushrooming of several institutions offering one form of training or another. In an economy smarting from a decade of economic contraction and serious skills flight, it is only logical that training and development should assume a higher profile.
Companies need to ramp-up on their training and development budgets to restock on key skill inventories if they are to compete effectively going forward. This gives rise to the notion of a learning organisation.
A learning environment is one that continuously adapts to a changing and interdependent environment. The learning organisation is one whereby everyone is engaged in identifying and solving problems, enabling the organisation to continuously experiment, change and improve thus increasing the capacity to grow, learn, and achieve its purpose.
A learning organisation facilitates the learning of its members and continuously transforms itself. The learning organisation is inspired by the belief that we can design and create organisations which are capable of adapting to changing environments, developing and transforming themselves in response to the needs, wishes and aspirations of people inside and outside.
Some organisations have been successful at developing systems that review and challenge basic norms, policies and operating procedures in relation to change occurring in their environment.
This is not, however, true of bureaucratic organisations. There is evidence that bureaucratic organizations constrain learning in least two ways.
For instance, the existence of regimented structures does not encourage employees to think for themselves.
Secondly, systems of accountability within a bureaucracy which foster some kind of defensiveness may constrain its capacity to tolerate high levels of uncertainty. This actually gives credence to the notion that bureaucracies need to be restructured if they are to foster and benefit from learning.
For a learning organisation to thrive, it is necessary to develop and improve infrastructural mechanisms and ensure that individuals have the necessary resources they need. These resources include time, management support, mo-ney, information and communication.
Guiding principles should be put in place to give a sense of direction.
However, learning through education and training is not sufficient to achieve the improvement in performance which the learning organisation has to offer.
Managers need to create their own organisational systems and to make these actively clear to members of the organisation in such a way that people are able to see the consequences of their action.
Today’s best managers give up their command-and control mind-set to focus on coaching and providing guidance, creating organisations that are fast, flexible, innovative, and relationship-oriented.
In many of today’s companies leadership is dispersed throughout the organisation, and managers empower others to gain the benefit of their ideas and creativity. Under such a situation, success in the workplace depends on the strength and quality of collaborative relationships.
As Zimbabwe forges ahead with the Herculean tasks of economic re-building and recovery, it is imperative that organisations transform themselves into learning centres.
A learning orga-nisation is predicated on the development of learning capability, which in itself is a source of strategic advantage in the modern-day world of knowledge communities and networks.
Zimbabwean companies need to reconfigure themselves into ways which facilitate rather than constrain learning.
I have interfaced with several organisations in the course of both my working and consulting career and have noticed the differing extents to which they may be classified as learning organizations.
In this regard, Ernst & Young is probably a good case study on how to develop and nurture a learning organisation.
This particular organisation depends on its learning capability for success in the market-place. To that extent, the organisation has put in place an architecture which promotes a learning approach in evolving solutions for clients. It is a model which serves them extremely well.
In conclusion, today’s managers recognise the critical importance of staying connected to employees and customers.
New ways of working emphasise collaboration across functional and hierarchical levels as well as with other companies.
Team-building skills are crucial. An important management challenge in the new workplace is to build a learning organisation by creating an organisational climate that values experimentation and risk taking, applies current technology, tolerates mistakes and failure, and rewards non-traditional thinking and the sharing of knowledge.
Everyone in the organisation participates in identifying and solving problems, enabling the organisation to continuously experiment, improve, and increase its capability. Thus the role of the manager is not to make decisions, but to create learning capability, where everyone is free to experiment and learn what works best.
- Antony Jongwe is principal consultant at Global Workforce Solu-tions (Pvt) Ltd. The company evolves and delivers management-oriented solutions. For feedback, phone or sms to: 0916 375 637 or 073 3 306 193. E-mail:
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